Here we go again...

I just read through my last post that I wrote WAY back in 2015 about doing the vegan cleanse thing.  Welp.  I'm at it again.  But this time I'm prepared with the knowledge of where I went wrong last time and feel like I'm better prepared to success this time around.  Let's go through the 5 questions every good news story needs:

And a photo, just because no one likes to read a post without photos.

What:  I'm going to be doing a vegan "cleanse" again.  Last time I used the Fresh Start 21.  This time, I will be using a combination of the Fresh Start 21(FS21), but I'm also using a lot of recipes from The 22-Day Revolution(22DR).

Who:  Me, myself and I.  But I'm hoping to bring E along for the ride as well.  He will definitely not be going vegan, but said that he will be willing to go vegetarian for the 22-days.  I've also asked that my kids (who are 4 & 2 see www.featuringfinorah.blogspot.com for more adorably cute photos of them) that they need to taste a lot of my food, just to see if I can get them on the healthy eating plan as well.  I don't have high hopes, just that they find 2-3 foods through the 22 days that they like that they hadn't tried before.

When:  Monday, June 20th through Tuesday, July 12th

Where:  This one seems silly -- I'll be doing it right here on the blog.  I'm hopeful to do some video diaries, post from photos of my food, and discuss some of the challenges and thoughts throughout the cleanse -- but also post my losses (both weight & measurements).

Why:  I've decided to do this again because I feel like I need to hit the reset button.  Our eating habits aren't the healthiest, even though I love eating fruits and veggies.  Junk food is usually the easiest & fastest to grab.  Also, I don't fit into any of my summer clothes the way that I want to.  I had big aspirations to be able to fit into my shorts before summer.  And while I lost 5 pounds on a dietbet and can get into my summer wardrobe, I still didn't lose those last 5 that would put me comfortable in my clothes.

What I learned from my last cleanse (an overview):  During my last cleanse, I made it through 9 days.  And in those 9 days, I lost 9 pounds and an inch off my midsection.  I felt fatigued and rundown.  I didn't get the energy boost that those who were on the cleanse said they got.  And in retrospect, I know why.  I was in a severe caloric deficit.  Each morning began with a smoothie.  I learned that I don't like smoothies.  And I can't force myself to eat something that I don't like.  I would never be able to finish my breakfast -- most times not even getting half of it gone.  So I basically wasn't getting all the calories that I needed.  Everything else that I ate I loved (except the beet soup).  I never felt hungry while on the cleanse and I always had to push myself to finish all the food on my plate.  In listening to my video diaries that I did, I missed regular food, but didn't have any desire or cravings to eat them.  The only thing that I missed was my coffee.  Severely.  And when I actually tried to cheat on my cleanse, it was with a cup of coffee -- not butter, carbs, or sweets.

Modifications:  I already know that I am making some concessions to see this thing through.  I am not giving up my coffee this time around.  I feel like a single cup of coffee is perfectly acceptable because coffee is vegan.  I take my coffee with a teaspoon of sugar.  I won't be using the sugar, but will be using agave nectar, which I've done before and feel comfortable with.

In looking at the recipes in the 22DR, I feel like I'm going to be using most of their recipes because they all look SOOOO good.  There are some salads from the FS21 that I will be adding in, because they were just too good to pass up.  My only other concern at this point is the fast that the FS21 allowed for two snacks during the day.  I don't see any snacks in the 22DR.  It is quite possible that the 22DR meals are filling enough that snacks aren't required.  I'm going to initially try to skip the snacks and see how things go with 3 squares a day.

I also will be allowing myself two drinks a week (not to be used on the same day).  I may or may not use them through the three weeks.  But I feel like the purpose for the cleanse is a hard reset, not necessarily the toxin removal that the FS21 claims to have as a benefit.  But I feel like if I don't allow myself one or two, I'll want the wine or the beer because I know that I can't have it which seemed to have happened during my last cleanse.

"V" -- Day #9

My notes and such from the first week of my vegan cleanse.

 Strawberry Fields salad

The Fiesta Bowl

Sweet & Crunchy Salad with my raspberry-mint infused water

Zoodles!

"V" -- Day #1

My total apologies for being as entertaining as a wet rag.  This "cleansing" shit is hard, yo.

"V" is for Vegan

Hello, Awkwardness (& dirty house) my old friend,

It's nice to talk with you again.

Oh, and also -- it's not called a detox -- it's a cleanse.

Let's Get Waist-ed: Week 10

Last week's weight:  145.0
This week's weight:  143.8
Weekly weight lost:  -1.2
Total weight loss:  -8.6

Not sure how this is working -- but it is!  Breastfeeding a kid that eats all the time works wonders on your waist line!!!!!  Oh, and another thing? 

Hello, pre-pregnancy weight!!!!!!!

 It only took 33 weeks to return to my pre-pregnancy weight.  But finally!  And now to lose some additional weight and inches to reach my goal!  I now have less than 10 pounds and 1 inch to reach my goal by November.  Not sure that I'm going to reach my weight goal, but I am very confident that I will reach my waist goal, which is the big one!

That's all I've got this week...  Catch ya on the flip side... 

Let's Get Waist-ed: Week 9

Last week's weight:  146.4
This week's weight:  145.0
Weekly weight lost:  -1.4
Total weight loss:  -7.4

Sorry I don't have a photo of the scale.  I weighed myself this morning and forgot.  This week has been a real doozy.  Our scale broke on Sunday -- well, okay, by "broke" I mean that it needed a new battery.  And of course, it's only of those crazy small ones that you can't find in the grocery store.

But also this past week, I have just felt in a fog.  I've slacked on certain aspects of my life that I don't normally slack in.  I couldn't figure out which day of the week it was.  I missed a couple of appointments due to not realizing what day it was.  I don't really know what my issue was.  But I have a renewed objective to "get my shit together".

Obviously, I didn't start exercising this week.  And maybe that was my fog issue.   This life shit is hard, yo.  Parenting is especially hard and trying to keep your life together while it revolves around everyone else seems to be even more difficult.  But tomorrow is a new day and I'll take it!

Lots of visions of organization and scheduling and not feeling so slumpy... 

Let's Get Waist-ed: Week 8

Last week's weight:  146.4
This week's weight:  146.4
Weekly weight lost:  -0.0
Total weight loss:  -6.0

So there was no weight loss this past week.  And there was no whole30 begun.  When I really started to look into the "paleo" diet, I realized that it was restricting A LOT of foods.  And with lots of restrictions come lots of failures and beating myself up about falling off the wagon.  I had also read a couple of articles that actually say that it's very easy to take the unhealthy road (meaning lots of meats -- a.k.a. very Atkins-ish).

 

So my new plan is next week, I'm beginning an exercise routine.  I'm going to begin P90x on Monday.  I have tried that program once before.  I only completed two weeks of it before the train derailed, but I had lost a notch on my belt in that two weeks.  It was before I had kids and I was working full-time, completing the program in the evening when I got home from work.  My goal this time is to get my work-out in first thing in the morning, so I have no excuses.

I am also going to cut out a lot of my sugar intake.  I'm not going to cut it out completley.  I need my sugar in my coffee (as I don't use creamer), I take my coffee black with a teaspoon of sugar.  But I'll be cutting back on the amount of sugar that I use.  Also, there is sugar in beer and I don't know if I want to give up my daily pumpkin beer (of lately).  So I am going to use my old rule -- no food that contains sugar in the first three ingredients.

Wish me luck!  

Let's Get Waist-ed: Week 7

Last week's weight:  147.0
This week's weight:  146.4
Weekly weight lost:  -0.6
Total weight loss:  -6.0

 

So we are still going down, slowly, but going down.  I'm 3 pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight of 143.0 -- only taken me 7 months to get this far.  But I think that I'm going to do something a little drastic in order to reach my goal by November.  I still have 11 pounds to go in about 8 weeks.  I've been researching (which according to the Scientist, I shouldn't be able to use that word, because doing a google search is NOT researching).

But I'm really considering doing the Whole30.  From what I can gather about it, it's basically eating Paleo for 30 days straight.  What's Paleo you ask?  Paleo is the latest trend in eating.  You are eating only things that a cave man could eat.  That means that you are eating a lot of vegetables and fruit and meat.  You stay away from processed foods basically (you can eat processed foods, but with the list of things that you are NOT allowed to eat -- it's probably easier to skip them or get really good at ID'ing ingredients in the list).  And you stay away from dairy, sugar, gluten and alcohol.  THAT'S what I think that I'm going to have a problem with.

No dairy, no sugar, no gluten, & no alcohol.  They stay that you should actually stay away from all bread and pasta even if it is gluten-free to really get "in the zone of Paleo".  I think that it's going to be super difficult -- I don't know if I am going to be able to do it.  I can't rid my house of all the bad foods on their list because I have a toddler that needs dairy, eats sugar and gluten.  I have to do a little more research on it. But the research are usually pretty great.  You aren't supposed to step on the scale the entire 30 days because it's just a number.  You should put more importance in how you feel, the energy you have and how your clothes are fitting.  But I just read about some one who did it for the month of August and she was three month postpartum and she lost 13 pounds.  She ate a lot and she didn't take a hit to her milk supply (which is something that I need to consider as I'm still breastfeeding my littlest).

I'll update more later on my findings and if I'm going to committ to this for the next 30 days.

Let's Get Waist-ed: Week 6

Last week's weight:  149.0
This week's weight:  147.0
Weekly weight lost:  -2.0
Total weight loss:  -5.4

 

Yeah!  Looking good and going down!  I didn't do anything special this week but avoided salt and sodium.  This week is going to be super short as I'm dealing with a house full of sick kids (okay, it's only two -- but one is also getting his first teeth).  Plus my parents are coming this weekend and the Scientist & I decided that we needed to do a whole house deep-cleaning.  It has been almost two years since I have seriously deep-cleaned...

It's no joke.  I'll even take a four-hour no-sick-kid vacation...

Let's Get Waist-ed: Week 5

Last week's weight:  151.4

This week's weight:  149.0
Weekly weight lost:  -2.4
Total weight loss:  -3.4

Welcome to the 140's!!!

I also took my measurements this week as this is a month since the beginning of the "goal" -- my waist is down to 28.5! So I lost an inch on my waist!  I think that last week was actually a lot of water retention.  I tried to stay away from salty foods this week and look where I landed!

I also tried on a crap ton of my jeans -- I didn't realize how many pairs of jeans that I had.  Being as how I haven't put a pair on since last year (June at the latest) because I got pregnant, it was almost like going shopping!  "And you get a pair!  And you get a pair! And you get a pair!"

Most of my jeans fit, but there are still some that I would put back on the rack.  Plus the ones that fit still have a little ways to go to fit like before.  But I'm thrilled with the progress that I've made without committing to a serious exercise routine.  I can't seem to find the gumption to want to set the alarm to get up in the morning.

I'm not sure how there are people out there (specifically people who are at home during the day) that will workout or run in the late morning.  This girl needs a cup of coffee in the morning -- like "don't-mess-with-me-until-I-get-one".  How do you workout with all that coffee roiling around in your tummy?  If I could figure that out, maybe I could workout in the early afternoon while the little ones are napping.

Let's Get Waist-ed: Week 4

Last week's weight:  150.0
This week's weight:  151.4
Weekly weight lost:  +1.4
Total weight loss:  -1.0

My feet look quite 'roidy with those veins popping out of them. 

I took one look at the scale this morning and thought...

I really can't act surprised.  I knew that it was going to happen though.  I had pizza a couple of times this week -- including a frozen pizza last night for dinner.  Hello, water retention, wanna pull up a chair?  In fact, I even feel fatter than last week. 

I had great aspirations of being my exercise program this week.  But my foot is still feeling wonky from falling down the stairs two weeks ago.  It causes me the most pain in the morning right out of bed, which is basically the only time that I got to get my work-outs in and I've been putting it off.  I think that may have to just resign myself to the fact that it may be a case of olditis -- because in feeling my foot right now, it doesn't hurt -- okay, it does when I really spread out my toes.

All I got to say is that I'm super glad that I got an extra month.  This whole motivation thing is NOT working in my favor.  Working out sounds great until you actually have to start doing it.  Then you just feel like throwing in the towel and ordering a cocktail.

Throwing skinny thoughts out into the universe!

Let's Get Waist-ed: Week 3

Last week's weight:  151.0
This week's weight:  150.0
Weekly weight lost:  -1.0
Total weight loss:  -2.4

Because this is all I want to do lately...  EAT EVERYTHING!

Courtesy of Fish

Talk about slow progress. But I guess slow progress is better than no progress. And slow progress without exercising is all that one can hope for.  I am only a single pound away from losing +40 pounds since February 1st.  I can't wait to see the 140s again on the scale.

This summer has been kicking my ass of late.  Ever since my return from Iowa, I feel like my schedule is in constant upheaval.  We had family staying with us for a week two weeks ago and then we went to New York to the Scientist's family's summer cabin.  And we are heading up to the Catskills again this weekend.  But that should be the last thing item on the agenda that stands in the way of me and exercise (well, that and my lack of motivation).

I'm not kidding myself and fully realize that if I try to commit to a workout program right now, I would only falter and get really pissed off at myself.  So currently, I'm trying to be more active -- take more walks, not sit down on my ass as much.  It's working, but not as well as it should be.  I pretty sure know what program I'm going to be using, but have to pump myself up to nail down the final decision.

The Scientist and I have also discussed the timing of "The Goal".  We are pushing back "The Goal" until November due to my own need for photography perfection.  Certain environmental things need to look a certain way for me to be truly happen with these photos.  So we are down aiming for early to middle of November.  That gives me a little extra time, but I am going to still aim for the original date and use the extra weeks as bonus weeks should I need them.

I've also realized that these posts are probably really boring.  Apologies, but these posts are supposed to keep me accountable.  I hope to soon be able to return to some funny posts as well.

Yaaaaaas, bitch!

 So despite the fact that my weight hasn't gotta the Thelma & Louise memo and taken it's dive over a cliff, I tried on a couple pair of jeans yesterday.  Gurl, they fit!!!!!!!

Now they weren't loose, but they weren't in the category of so smack-ass-tight that they shouldn't be seen in public.  And I got two pair on!!!!  Mind you, I only tried on two pair.  I didn't want to make myself feel terrible when another pair wouldn't fit.  So I quit while I was ahead and just tried on my two pair that I knew ran on the bigger side. 

Way to start a Friday!!! 

Let's Get Waist-ed: Week 2

Last week's weight:  152.0
This week's weight:  151.0
Weekly weight lost:  -1.0

So this week's weigh-in is two days late.  We had family in town all last week and traveled to the scientist's family's summer cabin over the weekend -- just arriving late last night.  I'm happy with my weight this morning, not overjoyed -- but happy.

Due to the fact that we had family around for the entire week, I didn't get to exercise at all.  I have decided that I'm going to start my exercise program next Monday.  I was going to start this week, but I fell down the stairs on Saturday at the Scientist's cabin and probably sprained my little toe.  At the time, it hurt so severely that I thought that I had broken my foot.  But after a night's rest, I felt better and spent the rest of the weekend limping around.  It is still slightly tender & achy right now -- so I'm going to rest it for the remainder of the week.

I have two weeks down and ten weeks to go with 18 pounds to my ultimate goal.  I'm still aiming high, but realistic thinking is starting to sink in.

And now for the photos - my first update photos...  Don't think that you can really see a pound and a half.

Let's Get Waist-ed: Week 1

Last week's weight:  152.4
This week's weight:  152.0
Weight lost:  -0.4

Not super fantastic, but not bad.  Last week I was going to just focus on eating better.  I did spectacularly for the first three days -- then the train kind of derailed in the middle and I tried to pick myself back up near the end.  A loss is a loss and I'm going to take it.  But I know that it could have been even better as I saw it on the scale throughout the week.  This coming week, I'm going to focus again on my eating and also start to throw in some physical activity -- just trying for daily walks with the kids/dog.  We have family in town, so it's always difficult to start an activity plan when you aren't in your normal daily routine.  So I'm aiming for a new exercise regimen next week.


I'm not sure if I'm posting a photo update.  I always feel so silly taking selfies.  I'm obviously not very good at it and feel very awkward trying to get the phone out of the way so that I can actually see myself.  No one will be crowning me the Selfie Queen -- that's for sure!

And the countdown begins!!!!!!!!

13 weeks...

Instead of posting a current photo, I'm going to post some throw-back photos as inspiration.

Alright, so here is it...  Written in black and white...  (Okay enough to the ellipses... Ha -- for the final set!)

My weight as of this morning was 152.4 and my waist measurement was 29.5.  I am setting my goal weight as 133 (so just shy of 20 pounds, although the weight isn't as important as my measurements).  And my goal waist line is 27, which is 2.5 inches.  That doesn't appear to the naked eye to be that much, but most of my weight is on my lower tummy, hips and ass which have nothing to do with my waist line.  So there it is...  20 pounds and 2.5 inches. And while I can post the numbers, I just can't post a photo right now.  I took one and next week, if I'm feeling frisky, I'll post a side-by-side.  But the photo is just putting me over the top right now.

Right before I got pregnant with Finn, I was weighing in at 138 and at her one-year birthday, I hit 133, my lowest recorded adult weight (I have hovered around 127 eons ago, but that was also in my early twenties while in college and all I eat was raisin bran and ran four miles every day).  Before babies, my waist line was usually around 26 inches.  So I don't think that 133 pounds & 27 inches are unattainable.

I'm going to start out slow.  This first week, I'm simply going to watch what I eat and cut out a good chunk of my sugar.  I haven't really sat down and figure out what will work for exercise in my current life style.  By simply cutting sugar and making healthier food choices, I give myself an extra week.  I'm also breastfeeding my little guy.  He has an insatiable appetite and my gut feeling is that I'm not dropping baby-weight anymore because of my food choices.  By simply breastfeeding Finn over the course of a year, I was able to hit 133.  I didn't stop eating junk food or sugar.  I didn't exercise a lick.  I just breastfed her and she didn't eat near as much as my big dude does.  I just want to hit my goal a little faster, so I have to do some extra work.

While I am going to be cutting back on sugar and making healthier choices, I will let you know that I am not cutting out beer or wine.  I will still be having my daily.  I don't over drink -- in fact, I've only had a handful of two drink evenings since probably last year May.  I usually have a single drink; either while preparing dinner or with my meal.  It's my desert and my end-of-the-day relaxer -- it's NOT going anywhere.

I've already made ONE tough sugar decision today and chose fresh-out-of-the-garden peas over some processed sugar snack.  Thanks to my brother for being such a gentleman-farmer and giving me almost two gallons of fresh pod peas.  I don't wish to be the scientist in a day or two when I'm going through sugar withdrawal.  (Yes, it is a real thing and yes, I've done it before.)  Hopefully he will still be alive next week!

Bumpdate: post 22 weeks

 I'm not posting a photo of myself yet.  It's the same as it was the last time I posted a photo at 13 weeks 9 weeks ago.  I still have a nagging 11-13 pounds to lose.  But now I have bigger fish to fry.  I've gone ahead and made a pretty big goal for myself.  I'm not going to share the reason yet.  But the goal is 20-25 pounds, three inches off my waist and I want to be able to do 25 pushups by the end of October.

I'm going to put my plan into action when we return from Iowa early next week.  At that time, I'll shame myself by putting my current weight and waist measurement up.  I'll also be holding myself accountable by putting up my weight weekly and my measurement monthly.  I will be taking all my measurements monthly, but the only one that really counts is my waist for my goal.

Part of this is spurred from the fact that I'm tired of wearing yoga pants as it really does count as 15 minutes of cardio trying to put my pants on and they still don't button.  I refuse to buy larger sizes and so I'm stuck in anything stretchy, which doesn't really look very good on someone who has about 15 pounds to lose.  I have a shit-ton of fabulous clothes that don't look good anymore.  Instead of buying a new wardrobe, I'm getting back down to my fighting weight.  There is another motivation for the new fitness goal which will be a surprise.  Photos will be involved and shared when the time comes.

I haven't decided how much detail I'm going to go into on here.  I'm going to let this be a fluid thing and do what feels necessary for me to achieve the end result.  In other words, I don't know how much I'm going to share about workouts, foods, progress photos and such.  But I will definitely be posting the numbers, both weekly and monthly. 

THERE!  I'm now accountable.

Crazy ringing in the middle of the night

So this past weekend, my neurotic brain got a serious workout.  SERIOUS workout.  For all those who don't really know, I get super paranoid when the Scientist is gone for travel.  I come from a super small town in Iowa (800 people small) with half of the town being my relatives it seems.  So when I initially moved to Jersey to live with him, I started becoming paranoid that someone was going to try and break into my house at night and stab me (no joke).  And if you ever saw our little bungalow in Jersey, you would know that NO ONE would ever try to break into that little crap-hole (but I loved that place because it was OUR little crap-hole).

That little crap-hole was only about 600 square feet. And at one time, we had two people, two cats, two dogs, and six puppies that little crackerjack house.  Good times.

Anyway, fast forward to buying our current house and moving to a little suburb of Cleveland, that fear hasn't went away.  In fact, it has grown exponentially due to the fact that our house now is a lot nicer than our little crap-hole in Jersey.  And in my mind, if I was a bad-guy and wanted to break into a house, I would pick a house just like mine (paranoid much?).  The Scientist goes away quite often, so I usually lose sleep while he is away, jumping at every little noise in the middle of the night.

This was taken when we first moved in -- we have since added an iron scroll security/screen door, which was the only thing between me and the crazed bell-ringer.

Okay, now fast forward to last Friday night, the Scientist was working super late to get his talk ready for his conference that he was leaving for on Sunday morning.  I brought the kids upstairs and we were all sleeping in my king-size bed.  I'm suddenly awakened by a ring of our door bell and Munk started going C-R-A-Z-Y barking at the top of our stairs.  His barking startled Finn who woke up and started crying.  I glanced at the clock while I soothed her and told her to lay back down, 11:01pm!  What the hell? -- and the door bell rang again.  Munk raced downstairs, barking hysterically along the way.  I stood at the top of the stairs for a moment with Munk going crazy downstairs, hoping that the dog would scare away whoever was at the door.  But the bell rang again.  I started down the stairs, but realized that I didn't have proper clothes on to have some stranger see me.  I run back up the stairs and throw on some pants, meanwhile the door-bell is now ringing constantly.  Whoever was at the door was now going wild with our doorbell, which meant that my dog was going WILD (sidebar: Munk could be standing with me at the front door and if I rang the bell, he would go crazy.  Now imagine a stranger at the door, constantly ringing the bell!).

This was where I was standing when the crazy bell-ringer was at my door, only it was dark outside.

This is the front room of the house It's taken from the kitchen doorway (which looks just like the one on the upper left) and there are babygates on both sides to keep the kids from falling down the tiled stairs.

So I get downstairs and my heart is pumping out of me chest.  I left the kitchen lights on for the Scientist and the front door was still open (with the screen door locked).  There was a guy standing at my front door and Munk was standing at the baby-gate barking and barking and barking.  The guy was young -- maybe in his early twenties and he was trying to tell me that I stole his cell phone.  Two things now -- I was in a deep sleep when this all started and my paranoia was getting the best of me, so I was utterly confused at this point.  I started to open the babygate, so I could go down into the front room to talk with him (instead of him yelling over my barking dog and the 25 feet distance).  But then I realized that this all sounded so fishy, that I thought if I went down the stairs, I would have to lock Munk behind the babygate to save him from jumping on the security door, clawing to get to the stranger.  So I stayed put -- putting the lock security door and a babygate between me and this guy.  He asked me if I was on East 4th (which is a street that has a lot of restaurants/bars on it) that night, because it says that his cell phone is here. He was a valet and his cell phone was here, that some older lady took it.  I was so confused and totally thought that he was trying to break into my house because while I am older, I wouldn't classify myself as an older lady.  I thought that it all sounded SO crazy that he was trying to find out if I was there alone, so he could break through our security door and come in and get me.

I repeatedly told him that I didn't have his phone, that I had babies upstairs that were sleeping and that I was home all night with them, not on East 4th.  After about 5 minutes of trying to talk over a barking dog, he finally turned around to leave.  I watched as he walked down the steps and around our house to the back (which is bordered by the neighbor's driveway).  I watched him from the darkness of my living room as he got into his car (which was parked on the neighbor's driveway) and watched him slowly back out.  He drove down the street and turned in front of our house (we are located on the corner) and he slowly drove by the front of our house.  I went back into the kitchen and out the side door, creeping in the darkness to see if he had pulled into our other neighbor's driveway to find his phone.  They have girls that are young that I could see at East 4th on a Friday night.  When I got to the garage to peek around, I saw his car slowly creeping past our house again going in the opposite direction!

So I ran into the house and called the Scientist, asking him when he was getting home because there was this weird guy that keeps driving past our house.  He was about 5 minutes away and he stayed on the phone with me while the guy actually pulled into our driveway and just sat there.  The guy pulled out of our driveway as the Scientist was driving down our road.  When he finally got home, the car slowly drove by again.  The Scientist went out into the road to talk to the guy.  It turns out that the guy was a valet and his phone had dropped out of his pocket into a car he was parking.  He used the "find my iphone" app and the app told him that the phone was at our address.  As the Scientist questioned him more, the guy told us the make of the car, which was our neighbor's car on the backside of our house.  Their driveway actually touches the back of our house, so the guy thought that the driveway was ours (I guess).  He had called the police and they were on their way.  We realized that the older lady was our neighbor who is actually an older lady who must have eaten on East 4th with her friends and valeted their car there.  So the crazy bell-ringer wasn't really crazy afterall.  But it was a great way to start the weekend that the Scientist was traveling away for me!

He left on Sunday morning and about four hours after he left, I received a really weird audio FaceTime request and when I didn't answer, they texted me.  Now, that wouldn't normally make me concerned, but check out the name of this person that tried to contact me...

WHAT THE HELL?!?!?!?!?!  PS I have no idea what "rumr" is or who Ashley is...  And I don't normally get strange things requested on my phone -- twofer on Sunday, I guess.

Who chooses a name like that?!?!?!?!?!?!?  Honestly!  Needless to say, I'm anxiously awaiting the return of the Scientist who is scheduled to return either Tuesday evening or Wednesday afternoon.

Days like this... (an update on life as a SAHM)

Okay, it's no secret that I absolutely LOVE me some Van Morrison (and this happens to be one of my top 6 Van Morrison songs).  But this seems to be my life right now.  I think that I really enjoy being a SAHM.  But there are days when I don't know if it's the right thing for the kids.  Crazy?  Maybe.

I had such big dreams and aspirations on how our days were going to look.  Wanna know what I say about that?  Ha!  I know that Finn & Fish love staying home with their mom.  But there are days where I don't know if I'm the best thing for them.  Let me explain...

Finn came from a daycare where she had constant interaction with other kids her age.  They said at daycare that she was a pretty quiet girl who always did what was asked of her.  That is SOOOO not the kid that is with me right now.  She struggles with me daily.  I'm the heavy and tell her "no" a lot of the time.  There are struggles for candy before noon.  There are struggles for nap time (in fact, today it took us almost 90 minutes for her to fall asleep).  I want to be the free-lovin' hippie mom that I had envisioned before getting knee deep into diapers and toddler tantrums.  I actually had the thought today that if my manager offers me my old/new position that I should jump at the chance so that Finn can get some routine back into her life.

Our house seems to be constantly in shambles.  This is something that has been eluded to before -- I like a neat house.  I know those that read this will just say that when you have kids, you can't have the tidy house that you would like.  Well, I'm a SAHM -- I feel like I should have a tidy house because I have the extra time to make sure that my floors are clean and the dishes done.  But holy shit, where does the day go?  If the baby isn't crying, then the toddler is.  I try to clean up here and there, but wow, this is exhausting.  I don't think surviving the day is hard (although there have been a day or two where it seriously was a countdown to five o'clock somewhere and beer was cracked).

The scientist will come home and ask what we did all day and where we went.  On the days where we didn't go anywhere, he said that Finn really needs to make friends.  And then another day after being told that we didn't go anywhere, he said "Wow, you must be getting bored!"  But the fact was it was the end of the week and my weekly chore list wasn't even half done.  I don't get bored as there is always something to clean or someone crying. 

And then there is the friend situation -- for me.  I have realized that I'm quite excellent at making acquaintance, but quite terrible at making new friends.  I don't like the awkwardness that is in the beginning.  The "should I ask for her number"?  "What is she says no or is only giving it to me because she feels obligated?"  Let me tell you -- making mommy-friends is a lot like dating.  If you are really looking for a relationship, it blows.  But if you are just playing the field, it's a lot of fun.  It started as playing the field, but now with the scientist's comment about Finn having friends, I feel like I need to find a relationship.

But I love being a SAHM.  I know that I am trying my best and there are days where I just sit there and smile at my kids, knowing that I am truly lucky to be able to be home with them.  I guess the whole meat of this post is that I'm beginning to question "am I doing this right by my kids?"  Or would it be better if I made the $$ to keep them "at school" as we call it.  I don't doubt that I'm a good mom and my patience has actually increased by leaps and bounds since being home with them.  But I'm starting to feel really insecure about the fact that I don't have any friends who have babies or toddlers that I can socialize my kids with.   I don't remember having playdates with other kids when I was little and I think that I turned out fine.  But then again -- now that I think about it -- my neighbor was exactly my age and we were best friends growing up. 

So I guess -- just one.  That's all I need to find.  Just a best friend for my little girl.  And it wouldn't help if her mom was my kind of girl either.  Sending positive vibes into the cosmos to send a cool mom-daughter-son trio my way.  I have a big playset and beer on tap.  Anyone?  Anyone?  :)

Postpartum Bumpdate: 13 weeks

Yes, it's still called a "bump"date, because apparently, I still look pregnant.  I was asked at a Kentucky Derby party last weekend if I was expecting (more on that later).  So here we are...  Lookin' eerily similar to 7 weeks ago.  Ugh.  Just ugh.

• I'm happy to report that I have lost weight.  I am down down 34 pounds of the 47 that I gained with Fish.  But that means that I still have 13 pounds left to go.
• I am also happy to report that I was able to get into my biggest pair of jeans.  But they still aren't for daylight wear (meaning they won't see the light of day yet).  They were smackass tight, like 70s-style lay-down-on-the-bed-to-zip-up (although I didn't have to lay down to zip them) tight and if I bent my torso the slightest degree, the big Mom muffin top popped out over the waistband.  The Scientist (God bless his little soul) said that they looked great and he couldn't understand why I was changing out of them that morning.
• As mentioned, I went to a Kentucky Derby party this past weekend -- with Derby attire required.  That meant that I had to scour through my dresses to find some that was suitable and large enough.  I found a red jersey one that stretched and put on control top pantyhose -- but still felt like a 10 pound sausage in a 5 pound casing.  I had made that exact comment to my friend (the hostess) and someone asked me how far along I was.  Yikes.
• Unfortunately, I don't get much longer to hide my skin.  The weather is starting to get gorgeous and with that means less clothes.  I'm excited to gain a little bit of a tan (I am Patty Pasty right now).  And a photo was taken at the above mentioned Derby party and sent out to everyone -- you could spot me from across the room from the glare of my ghostly white skin.  I always amazes me how much my skin looses its pigmentation during the winter months.  But its time to bust out the self-tanners to give myself a little glow before I can get the natural stuff working. 
• In the exercise front, I went walking/running on Monday morning.  I was scheduled for another run on Wednesday morning, but it was raining.  Maybe I'll try to bust a move this evening (or just make up the run over the weekend.
• Also, I have given myself a goal of two weeks to get my hair done, my initial pedicure completed and to begin the bronzing process.  A rejuvenation of sorts!  Stay tuned!