On second thought

Mr. Turtle...we are just going to release you right back where we found you.

You are a protected Box Turtle and while we are permitted to have you for a pet, we really shouldn't. And we shouldn't relocate you either. You have excellent homing instincts and if we take you to - say, the park - you will probably try to find your way home and may get killed along the way.

So, welcome, little guy. Welcome to my flower beds. Stay as long as you like.

Hello, Mr. Turtle

Good morning! And welcome to my front flower beds. The boy thought you were pretty cool. You sure are pretty!

We were concerned that you were someone's pet. But, really, how could someone lose a turtle? Just to be safe, we put you in a big tub with a little dish of water, some leafy greens and carrots to munch on and some small branches so you could hide. We put you in the shade, under our only tree in the back patio. I emailed our neighborhood email connection to see if anyone lost a turtle. If not, I think the kids around the corner want you. I like you and think you are very cute, but I can't see you as our pet.

Day 2

So, day #2 of WW. I have 2 points left for the day and it's 8:30pm. Pretty darn good. That makes up for the little slip yesterday. I'm not concerned with yesterday since we do get those 35 flex points to use throughout the week. It's no biggie. It was just an eye opener.

I can't settle for only working out 3 days a week (that's what works with my husbands work schedule), so I need to start bringing Z to the gym with me. They have the "kids klub" there...and I did pay extra for it. The last time I brought him there, he was having a great time running around and playing with all the toys and talking to the kids so I left to do my workout. I came back to find him hyperventilating / sobbing - eyes squeezed shut so tight - in the arms of one of the workers. My heart melted. She said "He was really missing you. I take it you are a stay at home mom?". Um...no. She was very surprised that he went to a sitter every day. So, my heart melted all the way out the door and I apologized to him all the way home, and never brought him back. That was 6 months ago. He's older. It should be ok, right? I guess it's worth a shot.

Is it possible that I feel like a totally different person...just 2 days into WW? I think it's a combination of things:

A. I actually found a meeting I could go to without having to worry about babysitters or whatever.
B. I've been eating good for 2 days and actually journalling.
C. I like the leader.
D. The Mirena is gone and I feel better and more normal every day.
E. Failure is not an option.

So, there you have it. 2 days...and I'm like a new person. I have a new lease on life, if you will.

The beginning

So, today is a new beginning. I'm very excited.

I joined weight watchers this afternoon. I have been trying to figure out how to get to ww meetings for quite some time now. After my son started crawling, I found it impossible to attend meetings, and with my husbands work schedule I was not able to attend a weekly meeting (on the same day) and leave the boy with him.

I've been complaining for a year and 8 months.

I did join ww online. I did the etools for about 10 weeks. I didn't really like it. As much as I love being online, I did not love having to be responsible enough to report my daily food intake and weekly weigh ins online. I like to procrastinate online. Not actually HAVE TO do stuff. So, I failed miserably with etools. Besides, I NEED that face to face weigh in. I NEED someone else to see my weight on a scale. I have to have that accountability. I know it works for me.

It dawned on me last week that I should look for a weekday lunch meeting. I found one in Perrysburg. Round trip, joining, weigh in and sitting through the meeting took me exactly 1 hour. I'm very excited.

So, I bought a fancy spiral bound journal and began immediately. I overate today, by 1 point. I made a real effort to pack good food for work and had 15 points left for dinner. I ate 16 pts for dinner. I was trying to be careful too. So, this makes me realize how terrible I was eating when I wasn't trying to be careful. WOW.

So, no snacking tonight. Only a quick blog post and then I'm heading up to read in bed. Away from the kitchen. Away from the temptation.

Day one. So far so good. I'm in it for the long haul. I want that lifetime status back. I still have my lifetime membership card. I can be back there by the end of the year if I keep focused.

Must.Focus.

Eating

So, just a quick post about eating. My son is a very good eater. He will try just about anything, but loves him some mac-n-cheese and hotdogs. He will eat an entire single serve mac-n-cheese packet and 1 or 2 hot dogs and a dozen grapes for lunch. Every day...if I let him. He's really good at using utensils, but prefers to eat mac with his hands. Whole handfuls...crammed into his mouth.

I don't so much worry about letting him eat mac-n-cheese or hotdogs, because he does love fruits and vegetables. Mushrooms and asparagus are his current favorite veggies. Yes. My 2 year old loves mushrooms! Basically, he will eat anything daddy and I eat...and thankfully we both like most all fruits and veggies. Oh, and he's a milk addict. (organic...I don't want him to have boobies)

Then there's me. I have been eating a lot of junk lately. I do think - although, I have not stepped on the scale - that I have lost a few lbs after I had the monster removed, but I am doing nothing to help speed up the process. I've been whining a lot about how I can't join WW and make it to a regular weekly meeting because of my husbands schedule. I can't possibly take the boy to a meeting, he wouldn't / couldn't sit for a half hour. Then...it dawned on me. Hey...I have a lunch hour. I wonder if there are any meetings during the work week during lunch. Durh. So, I found one in Perrysburg, which is only a 10 minute drive from my office. I'm very excited and anxious and nervous, but I'm joining tomorrow. Wish me luck.

Holy Crap!

WOW. 18 years old and in modeling school.

Where did this girl go?

Hands On

The boy and I met one of mommy's dear old friends and her daughter at the Hands On Museum in Ann Arbor today. We had a great time visiting (it's been way to long) and exploring a really great kids museum.

Since COSI closed in Toledo, I've really been meaning to take the boy to the HOM in A2, but you know...I'm sort of a procrastinator. Then I reconnected with an old friend (thank you Facebook)
and we decided to meet there for the morning. We had a great time.

You know it's impossible for me to get good photos of him because he has so much, um, energy. But, I did end up with a few cuties.

He played with magnets.

Drove an ambulance.














and made silly faces at himself on the TV "green screen" monitor.

RDJr.

It's true. He does not need the 'stache. He is one fine specimen without it. Shave it please.

Iron Fug

Price gouging at it's best

It sure is enough to make you want to gouge your eyes out with a spork.

Whew!

No Sulfur. No Carbon Monoxide. No nothin detected.

Thanks PID. I can rest easy now.

*Oh, and the smell has dissipated.

Atomic Number 16

Sulfur gas smell emanating from the basement can't be good.

Thankfully I work in the environmental biz and can borrow an h2s monitor to see what's going on.

Wish me luck. Ack.

Mirena update

Ok, I should have posted last Thursday - at the 2 week mark - but a little late is better than never.

Now 2 1/2 weeks Mirena free - I feel great.

I no longer feel crazy. I really and honestly thought I was losing my mind. Not only was I forgetful, but I was not the same person. I flew off the handle over stupid crap, I felt depressed, I had no energy, I had no motivation, there were even times I thought my marriage was in trouble. It was crazy! I was crazy!

Imagine...my marriage in trouble. I have been in love him since I was 15 years old!

Sometimes I would sit in my car and cry. If I got a break to run errands on my own, they often ended in water works on the way home. I literally had no control over ME.

Oh sure, I acted like everything was great when I was around others...but alone, or alone with my huband and son was a different story.

Sure, certain things still make me crazy - but crazy in a sense that something wasn't done MY way - not crazy as in I should be committed. Like last night I noticed that the dish scrubby was in the sink instead of sitting in the little dish on the ledge. A month ago I would have exploded. I would have cried and probably would have stormed out of the room, to boot. Last night...I cursed under my breath, rinsed it out and set it in the dish.

I started going back to the gym last week...and I love it. I hadn't been since the end of April! Things just got so out of control within my person that I couldn't even force myself to go. I did force myself to go - that last day in April - which entailed 10 minutes on the treadmill and then 10 minutes on the bike and a half hour sitting in my car - crying, not crying, wondering what the hell was wrong with me, wondering how I could feel so terrible all the time, etc.

I'm feeling good. The minor withdrawal symptoms are gone. All other symptoms I felt while I had that thing are gone.

I actually (dare I say it out loud?) feel normal! As normal as "I" could possibly be, anyway. :)

Bad bunny and broken cars

My son. He is quite a character. I think maybe he's been put in too many timeouts recently. He was carrying his stuffed bunny and stuffed kitty around in a basket. Swinging them around - similar to how daddy swings him around in the laundry basket. All of the sudden...he puts the basket down, grabs the bunny, takes him over to the "time out chair" and proceeds to tell him he "shouldn't hit" and to "sit there, no talking". Hmm. Does that mean he gets it? I'm not so sure.

Daddy and I just looked at eachother in astonishment.

He is obsessed with cars, trucks (every kind), tractors, busses, trains, construction equipment, etc. He especially loves "broken" ones. Ones that have been in an accident but especially ones with a flat tire. He's not real big into coloring (he can't sit still long enough) but loves for daddy or I to draw broken cars. We fill page after page with broken cars.

Today, he wanted flat tires on the broken cars. Then he said they were very sad and said they were crying. He wanted me to make them cry.

Clearly, I missed my calling.

Thanks

Thank you friends for dropping off your old trucks for Z to play with. We took this one for a walk ("I'm vroomin it") around the 'hood. This happens to be the same one he insisted upon taking home with us when we watered your plants while you were away. He knew exactly where this dump truck came from eventhough we weren't home when you dropped them off.

Z thanks you BIG TIME.

**Why, yes, he is not wearing pants. That's a battle I choose not to fight sometimes. And, yes, his boots are on the wrong feet, but he puts them on himself. So, there.

Shoe update

I received the 9s today. They fit like a dream. They're as comfortable as hell. And they are so fun and funky. Love them.

I'm excited to see what fitflop comes up with for their new "shoe" line in the fall. Weeee.

My son cracks me up. I wonder where he gets this stuff. On the way to the sitter this morning he was talking about some random car on the road...he said "That car is going to the market to buy orange boots".

Bizarre. A full sentence that made sense (somewhat), so I'm proud. Proud mommy am I.

Customer Service = a lost cause?

You all know I buy a lot of stuff. I should probably look into being a "Secret Shopper". I am incredibly loyal to places who give good customer service. I like the tall dark haired girl at JJill. I love Meg, who used to own Scarpe, who moved to NYC, who I have become good friends with and actually got to hang out with when we were in NYC. I am really happy when I get to see the lady who works the Priority Mail desk at the post office. Just to name a few.

On with the story. I ordered a pair of shoes (surprise, surprise) from Zappos (surprise, surprise) on Friday. the J-41 Journey in Dark Gray.
Sooo cute. Sooo funky. Love them. I've been wearing a 9.5 since I had my son and since I discovered that most of my old shoes are snug. So, I ordered a 9.5. They're huge and floppy.

So, exchanges are done over the phone. Much as I dislike making phone calls, I picked up the phone and called Zappos Customer Service.

Ok. Hello Pleasant! Not only was the rep as nice as can be, without being sickening sweet, she processed my exchange and told me that the shoes would go out today and arrive tomorrow.

Wha - wha - wha - what?

You understand what just happened here, right? They are sending me another pair of shoes without charging me more money and before the other ones are returned.

She asked that I return the unwanted pair within 14 days. No problem honey. They're going out today. Free returns, of course.

I. LOVE. ZAPPOS.

Step 1

Well, I've been dying to give the boy a Mohawk for ever. 4 EVAH!

I bought clippers a couple months ago to cut my husbands hair. He would NOT get his hair cut on a regular basis but instead go 3, 4, 5, 6 months inbetween cuts and just end up looking very silly. He doesn't have "time" to get his haircut. So, he suggested I buy clippers and just cut it for him. So, I did. And guess what...he lets me cut it about every 4 weeks. Awesome.

I have been wanting to test them out on the boy. I was hesitant because he really really protests haircuts. But I thought...it's me doing it...in our house. Not some person he doesn't know, in some place he doesn't know.

So, I set a dining room chair in front of the TV - which was playing Scooby Doo (of course) and went at it.

He was GREAT! He sat still. He didn't cry. It was great. I decided, however, that the first cut should just be a test to see how he handles it. So, the mohawk will come in a couple weeks. For now, he just got a buzz.

Since my husband was at work, it was impossible for me to take photos while I was doing it. Actually, it's almost always impossible for me to take any photos of him. He hates it.

So, here are a couple action shots that actually turned out great!