Thank You, Amazon!

I just checked my Amazon account and tracked my package. It's here!!!
I ordered my dad a birthday gift on Amazon and to get the free shipping I just HAD to order a few more items (and let me tell you it was such a chore!). So I added Tori Spelling's book "sTORItelling" and Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred. As if I needed another workout DVD. Oh well. I could have worse addictions.

So I know I'm behind the times as the 30 Day Shred has been out on DVD for quite awhile. I've searched the internet for success stories. I've found a ton of good reviews but nothing that fits the bill of a success story. So I'll make my own.

Starting this evening I'm going to start the 30 Day Shred challenge.
Woohoo!

What you are doing....

What you are doing right now is not working.

The only way to get a different result is to change.

I love that. Prior fat girl said it on her blog. I think I have to read those words about a hundred times over.

Pay for Education

Today was the day that I sent a message to my daughters "sperm donor" saying that since he had enough money to buy an acreage (which he told me himself)...he could start sending money for her college education fund. I don't need his money. But it's not about me, it's about her. And she could use some money in her education fund since college isn't getting any cheaper (and I can't afford to contribute to her education fund at this time).

I am so tired of it.

He's seen her maybe 6 times in the 6 years she's been alive and 2 of those visits were last year. The gifts he sends her are purchased by his mom (yes, he's dumb enough to admit that to me!). He's never even given a penny to her. The rocking chair that he "gave" me when I was pregnant went back to the store because he needed the money. I'm pretty sure the only reason why he took her for Christmas Eve day was because his mom wanted to see her. Never calls her. Never writes her any kind of letters or sends cards. She keeps asking for a "real daddy".

I'll see what kind of a reply I get back.

Let's Blog about Blogging!

I've been deep in thought the last couple of weeks about my blog. It's boring. Blogging is for people who have many kids & an exciting household.
I don't have an exciting household -- I'm a single mom with a business who sometimes goes to bed at 8pm with her daughter. Blah!

Blogging is for people with talent -- people who are interior decorators or artists.
I'm not artistic and interior decorating takes me FOREVER to find the "perfect" thing.

Blogging is for people who are losing weight. I'm attempting this but not going in the right direction very fast.

Blogging is for people who do stuff outside of their home. I admit, I don't get out much.

I have nothing to write about but yet I've managed to insert how many entries into this thing? Hmmmm.

I really enjoy houses. I love them.
I hate the bad competition to be a real estate agent.
I'm too clumsy to build them.
Too slow to decorate them.
I've thought about learning to design them but math was never my strong skill.
I've also thought about blogging about them but.......that sounds a little boring.

I'll keep thinking about whether I will keep my blog....or let my blog rest in peace.

Jon & Kate Plus 8 = Controversy

Wow. I watched Jon & Kate Plus 8 last night and watched all 8 of their kids run around their new house. I'm so happy for them! I'm definately jealous...who would NOT want to live in a 6200 square foot house? But then I snap back to reality and remind myself that there's only myself and my daughter living in MY house. Why would I want something that big?

So I decided to inquire about the amout of square footage the family of 10 will be calling Home. And found a bit more than the number of square footage.

This is a big debate. People say they are exploiting their children. Aunt Jodi has been banned from the family due to giving her babysitting services for free and TLC offering to pay her a wage. Then apparently (I'm getting all this off the net -- pick and choose what YOU want to believe) Kate getting all mad saying, "Nobody gets paid from this show but us." Or something to that nature.

All I have to say is that this family has suffered wondering where their next $ for food would come from or how they would pay for the next bill that comes in the mail. Yes, they used fertility drugs but there are also millions of people in this world who have used the same drugs and only have one child to show for it. It's their personal choice...if they want to "exploit" their children, let them! There are many other people out there who are doing more harm to their children than what the Gosselins are doing. And personally speaking.....why aren't these people frowning upon the Duggars?? If they were that deeply religious, they wouldn't be participating in this kind of TV show. And the fact that they KEEP HAVING CHILDREN for TLC to support is ridiculous!

Here's some of the anti-Jon&KatePlus8 sites:

Truth Breeds Hatred

The Evil Beet

Jon & Kate's New House

Wow! Really?

Was my reaction when I saw that I haven't even made a single post for 2009 until now!! That's crazy. How time flies.

I joined Sparkpeople. I had no idea what it was about but I'm liking it. I did really well on my plan....then I fell off and into a slight depression for about 6 days...and now I'm back.

I seriously enjoyed Oprah's BestLife week. 2009 is all about my weight & getting it to a lower number. It's also all about my finances! Yes yes yes. That would make me happy.

In keeping with my wish of wanting to play with my daughter more...I'm changing my hours of operation. It is/was 9am - 7pm (my daughter goes to bed at 8pm).....it will be (as of Jan 26) 9am - 6pm. I'm really looking forward to eating dinner with my daughter 7 days a week instead of 2 days per week. Business was slow for November & December but has really picked up since January hit. Yay!! I am thankful for this every. single. day.

My brother is in the process of looking at purchasing one of the two video stores in town. That would mean he'd be moving back. Yay!! That would also mean that he'd be moving into my basement. Yay. I made him promise that he'd help me finish the basement (since it is still undeveloped). We go and meet with the listing agent on January 24th.

That's all for now....

2009

I am excited for the fresh start of a New Year. I'm inviting 2009 to arrive! I have no clue why I am excited for this year but I shall just embrace it.

This time last year was "just another year" and I definately just went through the motions of 2008. It feels different 12 months later.

I'm trying to "find myself". I'm going to read what Eckart Tolle has to say. I'm going to look into meditating and look after ME ....and my daughter.

I took this cool little quiz online & felt it appropriate to post here. It's about me and since I'm posting it, I kind of agree with it.

Your Life Path Number is 5

Your purpose in life is to life freely and collect experiences. You love life - new adventures, new people, new ideas. You are very curious, and you crave novelty in all forms. You tend to make friends easily, and you enjoy the company of all types of people. In love, you are fun and even a bit intoxicating. But you won't stick around for long. You are impulsive and spontaneous - which sometimes leads you to do things you regret. Sometimes you can be overindulgent with food, sex, or drugs. You have many talents, so many that you are often scattered and unfocused.

What Is Your Life Path Number?

My New Year's Resolution

is to change! There are so many things I would like to change. Like my outside appearance, change the fact I am now all too familar with stress (I am truly sick of being self-employed but I must stay this way to provide a life for myself & my daughter), to help my business succeed by remaining the only employee & further dedicating myself to the business.

The last month or two have been stressful with having to lay off an employee, being a single mom with a brand new house & my business slowing down for the winter (which it always does but I don't seem to have any kind of savings in which I have had the last two winters) -- stupid economy!

And three things are weighing quite heavily on my mind lately:

1) My daughter complained out of frustration that I never play with her & she's right. I'm so busy with keeping the workings of a business going, and housekeeping (because a clean house makes me a happy person!) and and and. How I would love to hand a "to-do" list to a man and walk off to play with my daughter. In the New Year, I will make appointments for regular exercise and regular play with my daughter.

2) I was shopping in Costco yesterday and my jeans split. Damn that peanut butter that I went to pick up when this happened! LOL. It was just a split in the thigh, bless friction & fat thighs! I promised myself to not buy another pair of jeans until I lost weight and could buy a SMALLER size. I guess I'm sweatpants & dresspants bound until I can buy new jeans. Talk about motivation!

3) Bills & everything to do with money. I wish my parents had taught me more about money when I was younger, but they didn't and now I have to get over it. On January 1st, my credit cards are getting the old "chop chop". In 2009, I will get rid of credit card debt & get rid of my vehicle payment. I'm so done with debt! All I will have left is a mortgage payment, insurance payments & utilities. As for my house, I would love to sell it in 5-7 years and downsize to a house in which I have no mortgage and live a simple life.

I had no intention of making a New Years resolution until I read the latest (well, January 2009 issue) O magazine.



It's time to get happy, debt free, de-stress & enjoy our families!
That's what 2009 will be all about for me.

xo

Skipping Rope

I read somewhere (I think it was The Weigh We Were) that skipping rope is the ultimate exercise. Hmmmm, really? So I decided to read up on it. Here are some interesting facts:

* A 10 minute session will burn approximately (depending on your weight and exertion level) 70 - 110 calories. BUT......1 hour of skipping will burn between 600 - 900 calories. WOW!

* Skipping at a rate of 120 turns a minute would be around the same as running at 6 miles per hour.

* Skipping 2-5 minutes per day will help prevent osteoporosis.

* Skipping is an extremely efficient way of building bones and toning thighs, hips, calves, and gluteus maximus (bottom). The upper body is also given a pretty intense workout.

* Professional Football players, boxers, swimmers, skiers, tennis players, martial artists, rugby players and many more, enjoy the benefits of skipping as part of their daily workout routine to improve stamina, footwork skills, muscle tone and to lose weight.

I got the above information from Skip-Hop.

Good thing I bought a skipping rope the other day at Wal-Mart. I'll have to try it tonight. I used to love skipping rope. I wonder if I still do?

xo

Bailey's & Coffee

...is NEVER good for a diet!! But it was sooooooooo cold this weekend. It was -32 for most of the weekend and it's STILL that cold. Brrr.

Last week was not a good week. I was so not in the diet mood. I didn't do too bad at maintaining my weight (yay!). Friday I avoided the scale. And then threw EVERYTHING out the window for the weekend. I have a goal in mind and my "goal date" for this mini goal is Christmas Eve. I have to get my butt in motion! I'm putting myself on a strict exercise schedule & I'm very thankful that Christmas Eve is only 9 days away! Think I can lose 10.2 pounds in 9 days?? haha. Of course I can since most of that is just water retention anyway! If I wasn't retaining then it would be impossible.

I'm off to get my water in!
xo

Noticed!!

A client made one simple comment to me today that just totally made my Wednesday. She said, "Wow, you look good today, your program must be going well for you!"

Yes! And it's NOT weight loss she's noticed (because really, you can't notice a 3 pound loss on my body), she noticed what Pilates must be doing to my body! That's all I can think of. I didn't buy new clothes. I did my makeup the same. Did my hair the same. Wore the same shoes. Didn't buy a new bra or underwear. Yes yes yes.

On that note. I'm doing 20 mins of Pilates tonight.
xo

Anything Else You Want To Know?

I love my clients but sometimes you get the odd one that just wants to know TOO much! Just like my conversation I had with one of them this morning...

Client: "So what are you buying your husband for Christmas?"
Me: "Umm, I don't have a husband."
Client: "Oh, boyfriend?"
Me: "Mmmm, No boyfriend."
Client: "Significant Other?"
(At this time I'm sure she's thinking I'm a muff diver!...err, lesbian. LOL)
Me: "Don't have one of those either. It's really just me & my daughter and we're both happy with that."
(Okay so that's a little white lie but she doesn't need to know EVERYTHING!)
Client: "So where did he go?"
Me: "I killed him." LOL.
Client: [blank look with a little mix of fear on her face]
Me: "Umm, I guess he just decided he didn't want to be a father?"
(Are you serious? Am I really having this conversation with you?)

I am one of those people who would just rather keep my personal life to myself and act happy when really I'm not. It's not about me...it's about them! Why do they want to know these things?? Grrrr.

That's my rant for today.
xo

Fess Up

The weekends kill me! Okay, not really, because I'm still here.

But really. I get totally thrown off by the weekends. And this past weekend was no exception. I fell off the wagon. Gained a little bit (2.6 pounds to be exact but lost 0.6 this morning but still retaining water). But more importantly fell off my exercise wagon. I realize I am one of those people who will NOT lose weight unless I exercise.

I'm crawling back on right now!
I'm waking up tomorrow at 6am to exercise.
I'm going to do Pilates tonight.

Monday...again.

And so Monday is here again.

I had a good weekend. Did 5 miles on Saturday morning. Went for ladies lunch with my mom, my daughter and some of my mom's family. Had the Parade of Lights on Saturday night. Was on the float with the B94 radio station helping to hold up the guy in the inflatable bee costume. That was fun...and cold. Then we took apart the float, met up with some people (the people we had the Christmas get together with last weekend) and headed back to someone's house until about 2am. I didn't drink. I was still traumatized from last weekend. Now someone from the group got this great idea to get together atleast once a month at someone else's house every time. Very cool idea.

Weight wise I didn't do too well. Made good choices when we went out for lunch on Saturday. But I was down on my water & am retaining water this morning (maybe that's why I had a gain of 2.6 pounds). Saturday evening there wasn't anything healthy so I picked on a few bad things but didn't go overboard. This morning I woke up at 2am almost convinced it was time to get up, it wasn't. So I tossed and turned and by the time it was time to get up, I didn't. So I didn't exercise this morning. Better luck tomorrow morning, I'll just have to be extra careful and make wise food choices today.

I'm off to guzzle some water!
xo

Motivation

Wow, look at that ticker!! 5 pounds lost only another 5 pounds before the end of December! Totally attainable! Now I really feel guilty for skipping my workout this morning but I WILL do it tonight. Makes me remember what someone told me, "You will NEVER regret exercising but you WILL regret not exercising!" They were so right.

And last night I fell asleep with Emily at 9pm...I woke up at 11:00pm and realized I didn't do Pilates yet. I got up and promptly went to the living room for a 20 minute session before it got any closer to midnight. I'm so happy I didn't break my streak!

For once, I feel like I have motivation surrounding me. Not only for an event in February where I want to catch the eye of a guy but for my self-esteem and to gain control. Here are a couple sites that have contributed to some of my motivation as well:

ShapeFit Success Stories

The Weigh We Were

Quick & Simple Slim Down Stories

Happy Thursday!
xo

Workout

Saturday gave me some great motivation to get going on my long term weight loss goal!!

Sunday - 20 mins of Pilates
Monday - 2 miles (Walk Away The Pounds) & 20 mins Pilates
Tuesday - 3 miles (WATP) & 28 mins Pilates
Wednesday - 2 miles (WATP) & 20 mins Pilates
Thursday - 0 miles (WATP) & 20 mins Pilates
Friday - 0 miles (WATP) & 20 mins Pilates
Saturday - 5 miles (WATP) & 20 mins Pilates
Sunday - 0 miles (WATP) & 20 mins Pilates

I have really buckled down and have been trying my best. I'm really proud of myself. Since Monday I have lost 3 pounds. Woohoo!!
I'm not going to focus on any sort of goals right now other than one simple goal of trying to do my best each day. One day at a time.

xo

Weekend & Fitness Goals

The weekend was great! My best friend had a get together with some friends and invited her crush. It was a great time. I'm not so sure he's crushing on her too, I'm afraid (after hearing a few people talk at this party) that this is going to backfire as he expressed interest in me to someone else. Awkward! Anyways, I had plans of having one drink and not eating a whole lot. Well, I didn't eat a whole lot but I sure drank a whole lot! And ended up very hungover yesterday. I don't think I felt normal until about 10pm last night. Blah!

Last night I got up off the couch and did 20 minutes of Pilates. I'm going to start a Pilates streak, after reading this quote...

“In ten sessions you will feel the difference. In twenty you will see the difference, and in thirty you will have a whole new body.” - Joseph H. Pilates

I'm going to streak for 30 days (December 29) and then take a picture! We'll see if Joseph Pilates knew what he was talking about. And then I also got up this morning at 6am and exercised to one of my Walk Away The Pounds DVD's. Love it! I'm feeling great! It totally doesn't feel like a Monday. Maybe it's because of my exercising or maybe because I don't have to work tomorrow? Who knows!

xo

Organized Basement!

Last weekend I did ALOT of cleaning and organizing.
I went through boxes that have been packed for 7 years (from when I lived with my brother) and had other boxes that had been packed for 3 years (from my previous live-in relationship) all of which has been stuffed in a storage locker until my house was built. I have about 5 more boxes to go through but they are small boxes. Thank goodness. Also have to take my hundreds of empty boxes to the recycle center.

I also cleaned and organized Emily's room. Now it's clean and she's proud of it so it has been staying clean. I always tell her that everything needs a home, if it doesn't have a home, throw it out!

This weekend I think I'll tackle the job of insulating the spaces between the joists in the basement. I'm going to use styrofoam insulation though. Never done this before but it can't be THAT hard! Then after I get that done, I'll have to use spray insulation around the pipes and stuff to seal it all up. Will definately have to post pictures of this mess! hahaha. It doesn't need to look beautiful because it'll be covered up eventually! I think I also have a few things that need to be hung on walls (a job I hate).

I also have a Christmas party to attend this Saturday at my friends house. Being the anti-social person I am, I don't want to go but I know I'll have a good time if I do.

I guess I'll have to take a trip to the Hardware store after work!
xo

Rich

Emily & I were looking out our front window this morning and I said to her,

"Isn't that cool, someone else is building a house that looks like ours. That means they like our house." (The white house in the picture below)



Emily looks out to all the big houses next to the one I was talking about and says,

"And those people built big houses because they are rich."



There are super huge houses next to the house I was talking about. I also explained to her that we have more house then we know what to do with. I informed her that when we get the basement finished (we have the drywall and construction is set to start soon!) we could each have our own living room (there will be 2 in the house), we can each have our own bathroom & we can each have 2 bedrooms to ourselves. She was totally amazed that just because we live in a "small" house (we have 2 floors at 1018 sq/ft each) doesn't mean we're poor and someone else who has a huge house doesn't mean they're rich. The whole time I actually was thinking to myself how I'll probably retire before the "rich" people anyways. And this one is our house...



My goal has been trying to teach Emily that you can be rich without having a ton of money.

If you have friends & family you are rich.
If you have a warm house to live in you are rich.
If you have food on the table you are rich.
If you have clothes on your body you are rich.
If you get a good education you are rich.

And, my friends, if that's all it takes -- I am a millionaire!
xo

Renovations

After looking at the pictures of Layla's New House & Old House...I'm wishing I had renovations to do. I'm almost regretting building a brand new house. With a brand new one, you don't want to paint the kitchen cabinets or paint a wall a different color. All I have left to do in my house is finish the basement and that's not near as fun as renovating. Maybe in my next house.

Check out the Lettered Cottage.