Weigh In Wednesday 5/13/2009

So did you catch the Biggest Loser finale last night? I am so pumped, HELEN WON!!

I just thought it was the best motivation to see that the oldest person in the contest was rivaled by the next oldest and THE sickest for the off campus winner. The off campus winner, in case you missed it, was a SIXTY FOUR year old man who ended up losing 47% of his body weight (I can't remember how many pounds but it was A LOT).

Helen lost 54% of her body weight (140 pounds) and now is a tiny 117. Can you imagine being half the size you are? That's quite an accomplishment.

I don't have quite that much to lose, if I lost half my body weight I'd be sick. It is definately motivating though to see people like the ones that were up on that stage losing all that weight. And since Helen is 48, Ron is 50-something and JERRY (the off campus winner) is 64, I'm not sure any of us have an excuse anymore for not losing the weight and getting moving.

I noticed that most all of them said that getting started was the hardest part.

This week's Notes:

Food:
I'm pretty proud of myself this week. I had zero over indulgences this time and Mother's Day I made all kinds of desserts and cooked a feast for the company we had.

Water:
I did ok. I'm still forgetting to drink all the water I'm supposed to. I only had a couple of Diet Dr. Peppers this time though, so I'm doing better on cutting out that. I figured out that I just can't have them in the house at all, or I will be tempted to drink them...and then I replace them when I go back to the store. So no more buying them for me. Then I don't feel so guilty if I get one while we're out.

Exercise:
The exercise hasn't been happening because of all the rain. I'm going to town today and I think I'm going to scour the thrift stores for an exercise dvd. I might even be tempted to venture into Wal Mart for one if I can't find one at Goodwill or the DAV.

Successes:
My success this time has been the lack of snacking and the healthy and low cal food choices. I rocked the calorie count this time...so yay me!

Failures:
Lack of exercise. Maybe getting a DVD will help.

Weight Change:
One pound loss

How did you do this week? Let me know in the comments. If you make a post on your own blog, link to it so we can encourage each other to keep it up!

Being a Step-mother

We all grew up hearing the fairy tales about the wicked, evil "stepmother". When I married my husband, he already had two daughters. I was so nervous about being someone's "stepmother", especially since I had my own experience with step-parents growing up and it wasn't so great. I was so lucky though, that when I met his girls, they made it so easy to form our own relationship that it's easy to forget about the "step" part. So the only steps in our house now...are the ones that go up the stairs.

I never forget, though, as much as I love these kids that these girls already have a mom. And I try to honor that relationship. I would never try to replace the girl's mothers, just as I wouldn't want my ex-husband's wife to try to replace me as their mom either. A child can never have too many people who care about them though. And my heart would not seem nearly so full without Rachel and Kera in it. I'll talk to you this week about Rachel and how she is such a blessing to my life.

Rachel is graduating this Sunday from the 8th grade. Next year, she will be a high school student. She is the same age as my daughter Shelby, only Shelby was born in February and Rachel is an October baby from the year before. Rachel never lets her forget that she's four months older!

Rachel is extremely good-natured. She's always got something to be laughing about and many times it's herself. Yes, she's one of those rare people who's unafraid to be goofy. She doesn't know how far ahead of the game that puts her already!

You can see from her picture that she's gorgeous. Just like all the other kids in our house. Aren't we lucky?

Rachel has a giving spirit that I wish would rub off sometimes. If there's ever something I need help with, Rachel is the first one to help. Some of our best times have been in the kitchen baking cookies or making pies. She's a great sister and an even better daughter. I am so lucky to have this life with Rachel in it.

For more Grati-Tuesday, please go visit Heavenly Homemakers.


For more Talk about Tuesday, please visit The Lazy Organizer

Simple Woman's Journal 5/11/2009

For Today...May 11, 2009 (Wow, this month is going fast!)

Outside my window...It's 54 degrees and sunny. The guy across the road is banging on something. I think they are redoing something on their storage building.

I am thinking... I need to get up from the computer and get in gear. Busy day!

I am thankful for...God's grace and goodness. I know he will take care of us all.

From the kitchen...the kitchen is dark, I haven't done anything in there yet. There are still dishes in the drainer from last night.

I am wearing...yellow tshirt and denim crop pants with little multicolored sandals on them.

I am reading...The Martha Rules

I am hoping...that I find some way to move closer to my hometown. We're looking for jobs and a way to work it out. We will also have to sell our house here. I'm praying it all works out easily for us.

I am creating...many resume's and applications for job hunting. I'm trying many different avenues. One will work!

I am hearing...Abby's cartoons from the living room and my radio show on my radio in here.

Around the house...I've got laundry going, but that's the only thing going so far. I need to get a move on there is a lot to do today.

One of my favorite things...when family visits (like yesterday my in-laws were here) or when we visit family (the weekend before we stayed with my family).

A few plans for the rest of the week...I am busy as always. You can see my entire to-do list for the week here.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you...My daughter Shelby has been a Jr High cheerleader, but they just had tryouts for next year and she made varsity cheerleader for the high school! Way to go Shelby! Here is a picture of her cheering at a competition. She's the one in the front row on the left.


For more posts like this, visit The Simple Woman's Daybook

Routines, When You Can't Sing...Yodel

I had planned today on writing about how sometimes plans go awry as they've been for me lately. And that one way to make your home sing is to roll with the punches and if you can't sing, yodel.

MomsTheWord actually had the same idea this week, so I'm going to change my topic and instead I'll talk about how to survive that upheaval by the doing the opposite of the chaos...having routines.

I have a morning and a night routine. In between I put the daily activities that I would like to do each day, my "to-do" list, but my morning routine and my night routine are the same every day and they help me to keep on track no matter what is going on.

When you make a routine, you go on auto-pilot, which is the beauty of making a routine. It becomes a habit. This past week I had to change my routines a little bit, to accommodate my son's injury. My auto pilot needed On-star, let me tell you! But even when the routines are new, they still become habits. It just takes a few times doing them the same way to get there.

My morning routine looks like this:

Get J (my husband) off to work (lunch and stuff)
kids awake to get ready for school
washer started
Get myself ready
Help Dillon get dressed and ready
breakfast and meds
bible study/morning prayer (I do this while everyone is eating/getting ready)
laundry to dryer
drop-off at school
blog linkups as needed
email and reader
prep for dinner (as needed)
clean kitchen from breakfast

I know it's a little long, but it's the morning routine that I have and it's on auto-pilot...well, mostly. I'm just adding the taking the kids to school because I can't make Dillon ride the bus on crutches...I just can't do it. Also, I didn't have to help my 15 yr old get ready before last week, but it's a little hard to get yourself ready when you can barely move. So I took the new circumstances of our family, and I adjusted the routine accordingly. As the routine is already in place, those few little adjustments were easy to accommodate.

The night routine is a lot shorter:

Clean kitchen
To-Do board (I like to mark my to-do's off on a white board in my kitchen...so I write the next days on each night and then mark them off all day long as I do them)
shower & PJ's for me and Abby
Help Dillon get clothes for morning (he can't go upstairs where his room is, so I bring out choices for him to wear tomorrow)yes, he's on the couch until after the surgery and healing...probably most of the summer :(
Help Dillon with his shower
quick pickup
night meds
post blogs

I've obviously added three items to the list due to the accident, but having this little routine certainly helps me to get everything done each night.

If I did nothing else but the morning routine and the night routine, things would hold together in our home. That's basically what happened last week as I was getting used to the constant care Dillon was taking and all the phone calls and doctor visits that we made. The morning routine and the night routine kept the household going until I could get back on track (hopefully this week!)

If you don't have a set of routines that guide you, I would definitely recommend them. After they've been done for several weeks each task becomes automatic. As your life and circumstances change, you just rearrange or add and subtract items as needed.

This is how I make my home yodel when things are chaotic. And this is the baseline to make my home sing when things are going a little bit smoother. How do you make YOUR home sing?

For more Home Sing Monday's, check out Moms The Word

Pray for Kyndall

A blog that I always read MomsTheWord, has a post about a young girl, Kyndall who was in in a terrible boating accident today. She is on a ventilator right now, bleeding in the brain, fractured skull, and fluid on her lungs. You can read about the accident at Read About the Reeds.

This is actually the first time that I've ever been to their blog, but I clicked over from Mom's blog post and after I said my prayer, I thought I would make a short post here so that anyone reading here can say a prayer as well.

The power of prayer is phenomenal. I am constantly amazed by God's grace and power. All we have to do is ask and he can heal our lives. So take a minute right now please and say a quick prayer for Kyndall.

Thanks,

Lisa

Weekly Plan and Menu's 5/10/2009

This week I have a ton of catching up to do. With Dillon's injury last week, I spent a lot of time taking care of him. He's helpless not being able to walk or even move his leg by himself. I was also taking him to the doctor and calling to get the orthopedic appointments set up for his surgery, etc. So I didn't get a whole lot accomplished last week.

I'm hoping that I will make up for it this week. There are some things that absolutely must be done this week, I'll mark them with asterisks. There is some really good TV this week too. Normally I don't put TV on my schedule, but this week is an exception. I've got to schedule a few of these so I don't miss them!!

As always, the menu items are in red.



Monday
Morning routine
Grocery list
Pay bills*
call Dr. George*
call realtors
text redbox code to J for free movie Monday
send off mail (be sure you get those other Tahlequah apps mailed in)*
Monthly accounting (a week late)*
Tackle pantry and pictures for blog
Reunion calls*
I need to try to get some gardening done also...rain in forecast most of the rest of week
Mother's Day leftovers
blog posts before bed



Tuesday
Morning routine
Work on proposals
check ironing
Weekly shopping trip
check on job downtown*
Redbox return and pickup
"Taco Bell" burritos (I make my version...Dillon's favorite) (in fact, I'll blog the recipe later in the week!)
Finish reunion calls if any left from Monday*
BIGGEST LOSER SEASON FINALE!! :) (go Helen go!)
Post Wed blogs before bed


Wednesday
Morning routine
Laundry catch up
Extra Blog work
WHS site work*
reunion tasks*
Chicken Cheese and Rice casserole
LOST SERIES FINALE!!
Post Thurs blogs before bed


Thursday
Morning Routine
Clean Kitchen
Clean out fridge
Take out trash (trash day tomorrow)
Garden Work (get some pics for garden blog on Fri)
Baked Potato Soup
GREY'S ANATOMY SEASON FINALE!! (please don't let Izzie die!!!)
Post blogs

Friday
Morning Routine
Bill day
Catch up anything that didn't get done
Clean house for the weekend
Pizza for dinner
Post Blogs

Saturday
Morning routine
Garden and yard
open for family fun...
Grill out burgers



Sunday
Morning routine
Church
newspaper
Cut coupons
Plan out next week
YOYO dinner (Your On Your Own)





To see more weekly menu's please visit Laura @ I'm An Organizing Junkie




For more To-Do Tuesday, visit Lisa @ Crazy Adventures in Parenting


And if you'd like to know how my week went, and tell me how your week went as well, please come back to visit me on Saturday night or Sunday for my own carnival about celebrating the successes and even the not so successful points too. I find I've got to brain-storm a bit to make my to-do list work...that's what this is for. Won't you join me?

From To-Do to Ta-Da 5/10/09

I've had a rough week and haven't gotten much done at all. With doctor's visits and just taking care of my son, I've had my hands full just getting the day to day laundry, cooking and housework done. I didn't get much of my extra work done this week.

Well, here is the damage:



Tuesday

Morning routine
Work on proposals
Monthly accounting
Garden work
Chicken and Noodles
Reunion calls made
Post Wed blogs before bed

Tue: Today was mostly about unpacking and laundry. Recouping from the trip. I put off all of these tasks that weren't done until Wednesday, but of course I didn't catch up all week.


Wednesday

Morning routine
Tahlequah calls
Dillon follow up with Dr.
Extra Blog work
WHS site work
reunion tasks
Shake and Bake Chicken
Post Thurs blogs before bed

Wed: Today we went to town for the doctor and stayed most of the day getting some shopping, etc done.

Thursday

Morning Routine
Clean Kitchen
Clean out fridge
Take out trash (trash day tomorrow)
Garden Work
Grilled Burritos
Post blogs

Thurs: Got a little more done today, but still didn't catch up the stuff I was behind on. We did a fend for yourself for dinner.

Friday

Morning Routine
Bill day
Catch up anything that didn't get done
Tahlequah and WAH calls
Pizza
Post Blogs

Fri: Today I spent almost the whole day job hunting. I've been doing that every Monday and either Wednesday or Friday all along, but usually just one or two jobs at a time, and it doesn't take long. Today there were a whole lot more new jobs posted and I found a new website to look on, so I spent almost the whole day on that and didn't get a whole lot else done.

Saturday

Morning Routine
Garden and Family day
Grill Night (burgers, chicken, variety)
Post Blogs

Sat: Today all I did was clean house to get ready for Sunday, having in-laws over for Mother's Day.

Hopefully I can get a little bit more done next week than I have this week. Dillon is doing a little bit better and I've kind of gotten into the groove of things now after a week of it, so maybe this next week will be a little better.

I hope you did better than me this week, but either way, let me know in the comments. Or if you make a post about your week, you can link up to Mr Linky as well.