Potential Diet Killer Alert

Already?!?! It's not even February you evil retail people! Imagine my surprise when I tooled around a corner at Target today and saw these beauties already artfully displayed. What happened to Valentines Day, the other chocolate coated holiday?? One temptation at a time please!!

Weekly Wrap Up

TGIF! And boy am I ever!! Being off on Monday has totally thrown me off and made this entire week just strange. I am so ready for the weekend though. It's going to be a quiet one at home getting some cleaning and organizing done. We have a good friend from Virginia coming to visit next weekend so I need to do a clean sweep of the guest room. It always seems to end up being a catch all/junk room so right now I'm not sure I could find the bed from all of the junk piled up on it. I'm also going to drag the boys to Home Depot to look at paint samples I think and I might treat them to dinner out as a reward for good behavior. Ron gets the weekends off on his Nutrisystem program so it's a definite treat for him to get to eat actual restaurant food. :)

This week brought a couple of good things to our house though. First of all I have to congratulate my boy on his wonderful report card. He is just so kick butt smart that it kind of scares me. I was always a good student in school but I really had to try. I have no doubt that he is much smarter than I ever was though. School and learning are just so effortless for him at this point and that worries me sometimes. I am afraid that he won't learn how to study and that will make college difficult for him, because no matter how smart you are, college is tough! But for now I'm going to be really proud of him and I will worry about the rest as it comes.

The second good thing is my weight loss. I have officially lost 10 pounds since January 2. I'm really pleased with that number. It normally takes me a good 5-6 weeks to lose 10 pounds, but this time I decided to up my cardio and add an extra day a week. I also changed up my eating a bit. While still sticking with Weight Watchers I have rearranged my points a bit. I heard a health expert say once: "Eat breakfast like a queen, lunch like a princess and dinner like a pauper." So I decided to try that and eat a big, healthy breakfast, a midsized lunch and a smallish dinner with a couple of snacks thrown in for good measure and it really does seem to have helped. I'm also doing the Oprah thing of not eating anything after 7:30pm, which can be darned tough. On Wednesday night I found myself rushing to scarf down my bowl of Cherrios at 7:29pm because I knew the clock was ticking. Ron thinks I'm nuts, but hey, I'm not going to mess with a good thing!

The Faces of Cole...

I love this face!

This pretty much sums it up...

Me too Keith and Terry. Me too...

What a disappointing end to an otherwise really fun season. I'm not sure if I'm happy that I was there to witness the final game of the season in person or mad that I spent all of that money to watch my team go down the toilet. Either way that's it. It's done just like that. There are 2 more weekends of football and I will watch because I'm a football fan, but it's just not the same when your team is out of the mix. I love my boys but I sure hope this loss is a lesson for them. A lesson in what I'm not entirely sure yet. Maybe humility? I think they could use that. No, I know they could. I think the players bought into the talk of how great they were when really they haven't accomplished anything yet. Not anything that matters anyway. A lesson in patience? For sure. Because that elusive Super Bowl is definitely not happening this year.

Now what to do with my weekends until it all starts back in 7 months??? I'm thinking home improvement! Ron is going to love me!! I'm so bored with the paint color in my house. The khaki love has worn off so I think we will start with the family room. I want to paint it a nice, rich brown. The problem I have is where to start and stop with the paint since my family room, breakfast room, and kitchen all run together. I'm not sure I want to paint the whole area a dark brown so before we paint I need to figure out where to begin and end. I really want to replace my carpet this spring too but I'm not sure if that is going to be in the budget so maybe if I darken the room with paint my worn carpet won't look quite so bad! I think I'm feeling better already...

Monday Musings...

Another weekend is in the books, this the first of 2008. If the rate at which it sped by is any indication we will be celebrating Christmas 2008 before we know it! Our weekend was nice and low-key and spent...


Buying Healthy: I gutted my pantry, refrigerator, and freezer of the ghost of Christmas past and spent over $150 stocking the kitchen with healthy goodness. Wanna guess how long it will take until I hear "There is nothing in here to eat!"????


Watching Football: Shocking, I know! We had to watch the Seattle/Washington contest and send our Hoodoo Voodoo to the Redskins. There is no way I wanted my slumping 'boys to have to face the momentum riding Redskins in the divisional round of the playoffs. Our voodoo worked and the 'skins lost, so now we get the New York Giants instead. I think this could be a case of be careful what you wish for!


Watching Some Questionable Truths: Roger Clemens on "60 Minutes" What a load of crap! No way an elite athlete allows a trainer to inject him with something without knowing exactly what he's being injected with. Shame on you Roger!


Celebrating my Birthday: My actual birthday isn't until tomorrow but Tuesday's aren't exactly noted for being stellar birthday celebration days, so since it is *my* day I picked Saturday to celebrate. My Mom took me shopping for a new "birthday suit" (HA!) from Ann Taylor and my little man bought me a new charm for my charm bracelet. He picked the sunbeam because I've always called him my "Coley Sunshine". Isn't that the sweetest? Then I was treated to my choice of dinner and I picked On the Border. You can never go wrong with OTB! My big man will be buying me a new pair of Shox. I can't decide between these or these. Oh the decisions!!

And for my last 36 year old healthy thought of the day...60 ounces of water down and only 40 to go!!

Trying to Be Better

Since I'm new at this blogging thing I'm still learning to come up with creative ideas of my own. Until I get that down I will resort to thievery. Thanks to my lovely friend Rebecca for the idea to blog my New Year's resolutions. So for 2008 I am going to:

1. Be thankful. Thankful for today instead of worrying about tomorrow, which I don't have control over anyway. Thankful for my little family and the great life that we have. Thankful for my friends, the ones nearby and far away. Just be more thankful!

2. Get organized at home. I am the queen of organization at work. To be blunt, I rock at it! But at home? Ugh! I am determined to regain control of my closets and kitchen cabinets and the pantry in 2008. And the garage? Well that isn't my domain, but I plan to ride the man hard until it's up to par.

3. Be healthy. I always resolve to lose weight every year. Who doesn't, right? But this year I'm changing that to just be healthy. I'm going to be more aware of the things I put into my body. Yes, french fries may be allowed on Weight Watchers, but are they really good for me? I'm going to be better about taking vitamins and just generally be smarter about what I put in my body. It's the only one I've got to get me through this life and I want to treat it with the respect it deserves.

4. Be kind. Yes, I am generally a pretty nice girl. I try to be a good friend and treat everyone with respect, but sometimes I can get bitchy and short with people who tick me off. So in 2008 I'm going to try to remember that even though those people may deserve for me to be unkind to them it's not the mature way to act, so instead of being mean I'm going to kill with kindness. And it only took me 37 years to grow up and figure this out! HA!

5. Keep growing my hair out. Yes this is completely superficial but I'm struggling with my hair right now so I needed to put my vow to keep growing it in writing. I've gone from short "boy hair", per Cole, to a little bit longer almost chin length inverted bob this year. When I decided to start growing it out last summer I picked a style that I was shooting for and promised myself that I wouldn't chop it all back off until I got to that style and gave longer hair a try for a bit. Well I am currently at what I like to call the awkward stage. It's shaggy and not fun to deal with every day and I'm having a very hard time keeping my promise. So hopefully reminding myself of my promise and putting it in writing will help me hang on for 2 more weeks and not do anything drastic with scissors in the bathroom until I can get to my stylist and get it shaped.

The End of the Road

Today marks the last day of my Christmas vacation. Wow, 2 weeks sure does fly when you are having a good time! Technically I was supposed to be off until Monday, but my mother-in-law wanted a Nana day with Cole, and since they get so little time together, who was I to say no? So tomorrow morning I will drag myself out of bed at the unholy hour of 5:30am and trek in for my one day work week. I think I can handle that!

But for today, my last day of sweet leisure, I am going to de-clutter! It seems like I am always saying that, and always working on it, but clutter seems to multiply at the same rate as the mice who live in the greenbelt behind our house. I am determined that we are going to have less junk in 2008 though, so today I begin working on Cole. I will tackle getting the biggest pack rat, I mean Ron, on board with my plan another day.

Student of the Month

Yes, this is a Mama bragging post so if that isn't your thing you can stop reading here. I'm not one to incessantly brag on my kid, I try to let his actions speak for themselves, but I figure if I can't do it on my blog where can I?

Cole was named student of the month for his class for December. When I got to his winter party on the last day of school before Christmas break he was proudly sporting his "Student of the Month" pin. His teacher also cornered me at the party to tell me what a wonderful, special boy I have. She said that she wished all of her students were as focused as Cole is. He works hard and makes all 4s (which is A's for you letter grade types). He is well behaved and respectful, and most importantly he's kind to everyone. That alone made this Mama proud!

If It Is Good Enough for Oprah...

It's good enough for me! Before waving goodbye to 2007 forever I decided to make a list of my favorite things from last year. If I'm still sticking to this blogging thing at the end of 2008 I will have to compare the two and see if anything holds up.

1. Turbo Jam. By far the best, most fun workout I have ever done. I honestly look forward to doing it. I have most of the DVDs offered and plan to complete my collection soon.

2. Nike Shox. Again, best workout shoe ever! I am more than a little addicted and plan to add to my growing collection soon. One would think that with my first two things being fitness related I would be thinner!

3. James Avery. The boys got me a beautiful James Avery charm bracelet for Christmas and I am just in love. I can see myself becoming addicted to this jewelry.

4. 100 Calorie Packs. All of them! The best snack invention ever. I can snack on these little beauties without feeling guilty or expanding my waistline, all for only 2 Weight Watchers Points!

5. Lucky Brand Jeans. Just about every woman out there can relate to the pain of finding that perfect pair of jeans. After almost 37 years on this earth I have finally found *the* jeans for me. I truly am a Lucky woman!

6. The Dallas Cowboys. As the saying goes: "Life Begins when the Season Starts!" For me that is football season. I am a true die hard. The day after the Super Bowl is like the day after Christmas for everyone else. Oh the let down! I immediately begin the countdown to the NFL draft in April, then minicamps in May and then finally training camp in July. How 'bout them Cowboys!!

7. The Biggest Loser. The show that I never miss, and the one show that my son will actually watch with me. It's our fun TV time and I like to think he's learning a thing or two about the importance of exercise and nutrition. My only complaint is that they replaced the host. Allison Sweeney just doesn't do it for me. Please bring back Caroline!

8. Dancing with the Stars. My other can't miss show. I think it's my past as a dancer that draws me to this show. It's just fascinating TV. Plus seeing the bodies that the dancers have reminds me to stay out of the ice cream!

9. Twilight. Thanks to my Home Skillets board buddies for turning me on to this series. I will be waiting (not so patiently) for August so I can have my next Edward and Bella fix.

10. Coach Bags. I bought my first one this year. Yes I know what you're thinking, "What were you waiting for?", but this was the year I took the plunge. If 2008 wasn't the year to save money, I fear that this could have quickly become an addiction.

So there you have it, Lori's 2007 favorites. Now let's see what survives to be a favorite in 2008.

Joining the Blog World 2008

I've always been a horrible journal writer. I start with a bang, good intentions, and all of that, but end up petering out. I'm not particularly witty or creative so this very well may be a failed bit. I'll just ride it for a bit and see how this all works out. Happy New Year!