Jersey shore, & best friends

The weekend is upon us and Stefanie and I are heading to NJ for the Memorial Day weekend. Jenny will be stuck @ home working & babysitting our puppy Cali, big girl Buffy gets to go on the road trip with us.

Jeff & JJ are headed to CA for a two day football camp for JJ- so we will be a bi-coastal family this weekend.

We are going to visit my best friend/former college room mate Tobie & her family. They live about 10 minutes from the beach so when we visit I get to go and walk on the beach - which I LOVE!

Tobie & I met our freshman year of college. We both tried out for cheer leading & made it. When I first saw her she was pretty intimidating- she was such a phenomenal cheerleader and could do a "Russian split". She was kind of stand offish so I actually thought she was stuck up. I later found out she was just shy.

About a month into our freshman year I decided one day to ask what she had planned for the weekend. She told me she was actually supposed to go to a party with this guy she had just met and that his roommates were going along. She felt a little uncomfortable going alone and asked me to come with them. So I did- best decision I EVER made! After the party we ended up sleeping (a term loosely used because we ended up staying up all night talking) and found out we had a lot in common and just *clicked*. From that weekend on we spent more and more time together and became best friends. Tobie is a beautiful person both inside and out and back in the late 70's early 80's it didn't hurt that she was a dead ringer for Farrah Fawcett! I remember going out with her and watching the guys drool all over her *L*

We ended up rooming together our Jr/Sr year and it was so awesome! We NEVER fought- EVER... we only ever really have had one disagreement-(not even an argument)  and that was when I was upset because the guy she had been seeing was treating her pretty shitty and I was upset for her. We both seemed to go for similar type guys too... but we decided early on, we would share everything - except guys!

Tobie grounded me during college. She was my voice of reason when I wanted to do something stupid. She always had my back as I had hers. I can tell her anything. We have often joked that we will HAVE to stay best friends forever because we know too many secrets about each other! ;)

She came and helped me after I had Jenny and was so very sick- and after we moved to western PA we met every summer @ our cabin near Gettysburg because it was halfway for both of us. Each summer we would stay for a whole week- just us and the kids. The first year we met there Stefanie was about a year and a half and Jenny was about 4 and a half. Tobie's two daughters Jennie and Allie were a year older than each of my girls so they had a lot in common. Then JJ came into the picture and he came too. We had such great times there with the kids!

Through the years we have remained close, even though we don't get to see each other nearly as often as we would like. The thing that I find so remarkable about our friendship is that no matter how much time has passed, when we are together it is like it has only been a week or so. There is never any awkwardness etc. we just pick up where we left off- to me that is a rare thing. Besides my husband & mom, Tobie is my go to person when anything really good, or bad happens.

Through my life I have been blessed to marry my best friend, but besides Jeff I have really only ever had one woman best friend... and she is it. I value and treasure our friendship and don't know what I would do if anything ever happened to her.

I can hardly wait to get there, have a glass of wine, & catch up!!

workout update

Ok it has been 6 weeks....  this breaks down into:

• 6 weeks of no cheating food wise (which is a revelation in itself!)-
• Blood sugar levels which have ranged from 87-102! (previously I had trouble getting below 126)
• ONLY two glasses of wine in the past 6 weeks.... 
• Hrs. of torture thanks to Paul my trainer...
• Seeing my improvement in doing exercises that I couldn't do 6 weeks ago...
• Days of soreness- again thanks to Paul...
• And a pride in myself I haven't had in a very long time!

AND... *drumroll*
I am down 11 lbs. as of this morning!!!!  
WOOHOO!!!!

The proof will be in the pudding however when I get the results of the blood work I had drawn today.

I feel better, have more energy, am sleeping better... and my clothes are fitting better, and some pants are actually feeling a little big...

I went about 5 weeks hovering around the 7 lb. mark and all of a sudden I have begun to lose a little more... like a 1/2 lb. every other day or so. I know this won't last... that I will probably taper off to a pound or two per week, but these extra few pounds off have really jazzed me up!

Hubby has been inspired to try some of the eating strategies I have used and lost 10.5 lbs. in ONE WEEK!(jerk!) ;)     I'm sorry but it is so unfair that men can drop weight so easily...

My oldest Jenny began the week after me and is doing well also... she had lost some weight before we began and is down 17 lbs!

So- what do I miss?

• I miss wine- but Paul said I could have a glass (in moderation) maybe 3x  times a week...
• I miss cheese... I have cut way back because of the fat/sodium in it.
• I miss cereal... I loved having a bowl in the evenings, but I try and cut off carbs after 3-4 PM now...

But surprisingly that's it... if there is something I really am hungry for I have it on my weekly cheat meal. One thing I have learned after this 6 weeks is that I really believe I am lactose intolerant. I have not had much in the way of yogurt or cheese and been using either soy or almond milk instead of cows milk and my stomach is SO MUCH BETTER!
It's all good...:) 

Happy Birthday Stefanie

Our middle child, Stefanie was born 19 years ago today. We were living in western PA @ the time and were having a heat wave with record temps in the 90's. I sometimes think that's why Stefanie loves the summer/beach so much. Stefanie came along almost exactly three years after her big sister. She and Jenny actually had the same due date, but Jenny was born two weeks early. Like Jenny, I was sick as a dog for the first three to four months, and could barely keep anything down.

At one point they threatened to put me in the hospital because the nausea was so bad. Then I got the flu and was vomiting so hard that all of the blood vessels in the whites of my eyes burst- I looked like a walking Halloween mask- not attractive. I had decided that I wanted to try and do a V-back, meaning I wanted to try and have Stefanie via a "regular" vaginal delivery since I had to have a C section with Jenny. They told me they would not allow me to go past my due date because she was so big. They were afraid I might rupture my uterus. After twelve hours on Pitocin, they stopped it around midnight and told me they were just going to do a C-section the next morning (not that I got any sleep because even though they stopped the Pit drip I continued to have contractions all night.)I found out later that Jeff had a talk with the doctor just before midnight and asked him if she would be born anytime soon because he didn't want me going through what I did with Jenny- the doctor said he didn't think so- so they stopped it. Stefanie was born just after 8:00 A.M. all 9 lbs. 15 oz. of chubby baby. (Yes I said 9lbs. 15oz!)She had to go into an incubator for the first 24-48 hrs. because she was having a little trouble breathing.

They sent Jeff along with her to the nursery and I was taken back to my room. I kept asking for her and no one would bring her to me. By mid-late afternoon I got worried. I STILL hadn't seen my baby. I kept asking the nurses over and over to please bring me my baby. I guess they all thought someone else did because she never came. Finally I decided enough was enough, and when the last nurse came in to tell me she was fine, but in an incubator I started to try and sit up, then STAND up and began getting out of bed while holding on to my IV thing which was on wheels. I was going to FIND MY BABY! The nurses all started getting very excited and kept asking me to get back in bed etc. but I made it out into the hallway before one nurse stopped me and asked me to please get back in bed, the she would personally go right then and get Stefanie for me.

I remember taking her hand and telling her I NEEDED to see her, she needed to nurse. The nurse promised me she would go get her and she did. They wheeled the incubator into my room about 5-10 minutes later... and there she was :)

                                

Stefanie was a good baby. She slept and ate well and had a very happy disposition. We called her our sumo wrestler baby because she had these rolls of fat on her little thighs, but she quickly slimmed down and was just adorable. I knew early on that Stefanie was going to be a handful- after her brother was born and she was just about three my mom came to visit and brought gifts for the kids. It was JJ's christening so she made up gift bags for the girls so  they would have something too. Jen just dumped her whole bag onto the bed and sorted through stuff. Not Stefanie... she took each item out, one at a time and then sorted them all into a line and placed everything according to size... from the smallest to the biggest. My mom looked at me and said "oh you are in for so much trouble..."

Stefanie was my over achiever in high school, she was very driven and had excellent grades. She also cheered in high school and was on the all star team her sister cheered on outside of school. By the time of her junior year she was in the National Honor Society and senior year chaired a fundraiser held the day before Homecoming (Powder Puff football) which raised about $10,000 for Alex's Lemonade stand. She was named to the Homecoming court that year and believe it or not broke her nose the day before Homecoming- thank God for ice and make up!!!

Stefanie just finished her freshman year @ James Madison University and her "Big Daddy" & I are so very proud of her. She switched her major from Business Marketing to Geology and absolutely LOVES it! She cheered @ JMU and just made the squad for next year as well. It keeps her very busy, but she loves cheering!     She just got home for her summer break and will begin working soon.

Our Stefanie A.K.A. "Tweety" is a loving, caring, spiritual, intelligent & beautiful young woman.She out of all of us is the one with the soft spot for people. She LOVES old people and is the one who will probably be "stuck" with Jeff & I when we grow old ;) She helps @ home without being asked and pushes herself harder than Jeff or I could ever push her. I miss her terribly when she is away at school, but know that she is spreading her wings. She has decided that she wants to work to help save our environment and to help develop "go green" technologies. Whatever she ends up doing I KNOW she will be successful.
Happy Birthday Stefanie! Daddy & I love you VERY much!!
Love,
Mom <3

The mind is willing

This past weekend was proof positive that I am getting older. I had such high expectations of all the yard work I was going to accomplish this past weekend. (yeah not so much)

Ten to 15 years ago I was able to prepare my flower pots, go buy the necessary soil, plants, come home get it all planted, watered and cleaned up- all in one weekend.

Twenty years ago I could do all of that- PLUS prepare the flower beds as well as my vegetable garden, buy all of the needed plants/flowers and plant them all in one weekend.

This is not happening now.

Friday night I weeded my flower beds, sprayed some of the weeds that are particularly TOUGH.

Saturday I went to three different places looking for plants for my flowerpots. Unfortunately they did not have out their full selection of stuff because we can still have frost through the 15th. I was able to buy some herbs and some potting soil. However getting the potting soil into my car turned into a major undertaking.

Holy shit, when did I get so weak?

I almost didn’t get the two bags into the back of my car… and I was doing a lot of groaning etc. when I did get them in. And don’t think it did not escape my notice that some man walked right by while I was trying to get the stuff into my car and didn’t even offer to help. (Asshole)

Sunday came and I got my son to move around the pots for me (because I just can’t lift them without straining something anymore). He also had to get the soil and put one bag on the wheelbarrow for me and the other into the shed. I then planted my parsley, rosemary & basil and then transplanted some plants that were getting way too big to another area. By the time I did all of this and watered everything I was exhausted and grumpy. (In my defense it WAS in the low 90”s and humid). I finally went in, showered, then lay down and promptly fell asleep.

So now I am waiting for my daughter Stefanie to get home from college to help me go buy flowers and plant them. Luckily she likes that kind of thing.

It is very frustrating when you have been used to doing a lot of your own yard work etc. when you finally realize that you simply cannot do it the way you used to. The last time I did the mulching was three years ago- I could barely walk for almost a week after. I am sure in the next few years I am going to slowly experience this sort of thing more and more. The mind is willing- the body is not!

Thinking back- I can remember being 29 and eight months pregnant and I dissembled a full size bed and moved the mattress, box spring, head boards… everything -all alone! (Jeff was NOT happy with me- but I was “nesting”!)

So for now I will pace myself… and call our landscaper and see if he can do the mulch for us soon.

If you see someone in our garden it will be me; I'll be the old broad puttering around with the hat.