The Week in Review--Amelia, Olympics, Etc.

Amelia with the Grandparents. My parents took Amelia back with them last Monday and kept her for the week! They spoiled her rotten with tea parties, beach trips, and more, and she had a great time. We met them halfway between our house and theirs yesterday to get her. I was so glad to see her, and I was thrilled when she came running toward me with a big smile and gave me a huge hug. Quite frankly, I was a little concerned that she had been having such a good time with them that she'd run away from me and want to go back with them!

Anyway, while we missed Amelia terribly, we did enjoy having a little break and some quiet around the house. We went to a movie this week (Valentine's Day, which I enjoyed even though the critics hated it), and we ate out just about every night at restaurants that aren't exactly the most kid-friendly. I also got to have dinner with my friend Sheri one evening, and that was fun, too.

But we're definitely glad Amelia's home!

The Winter Olympics, especially Men's Figure Skating. I'm going to totally geek out on you right now and confess that I stayed up until 12:30 a.m Thursday (really Friday) to watch Evan Lysacek win the gold...even though I had to get up four hours later.

I'm a big figure skating nerd and have been ever since I watched Scott Hamilton and Katarina Witt win the gold in 1984. I don't follow it as closely as I used to; in fact, I've never even heard of the skaters on the women's team, but I had heard of the skaters on the men's team (I even saw Lysacek and Weir skate "live" before at an event in Atlanta about six years ago) and heard all the buzz that this was probably our strongest and first real chance reclaiming the gold since 1988.

Making this even better was the fact that Evgeny Plushenko--a skater who has been around for years and had recently come out of retirement to repeat his victory in Torino--was one of the contenders. I've never liked him only because he comes across as extremely arrogant (as evidenced by his sour grapes attitude since Thursday night).

Anyway, it was totally worth the lack of sleep because Lysacek won the gold with a difficult and beautifully choreographed program, and apparently it was, in the words of the commentators, "the skate of his life." Plushenko landed a quad, but other than that, his program was lackluster. I liked the fact that the "total package"--athleticism and artistry--won out over one impressive jump.

I'm also happy for Lysacek's coach, 71-year-old Frank Carroll, who has come this close to having an Olympic champion before (he coached one of my faves, The Kwan), and now he finally has his champion.

And since I've totally just shown my figure skating geekiness...let me just go all the way and show you what is my Picture of the Day (for my Project Life album) for Thursday:


I know. Sometimes I scare myself. I just LOVE great Olympic stories. :-)

The diet. It's going very well. I haven't exercised at all, but I've done very well with my food intake, even with all the eating out we've done this week. I've made Tuesday my weigh-in day, and I'm curious to see the results. My goal this week is to add a little exercise.

And in conclusion...I've got lots and lots and lots to grade, so I better get to it. Someone remind me why I chose English as my subject to teach....?

Weight Loss, Take 482.

If you're rolling your eyes at me, I completely understand.

I wonder how many posts I've devoted to "I'm turning over a new leaf--skinny, here I come" posts.

I really don't want to know.

I've got to do something. I started Weight Watchers online today. My goal is to lose 20 pounds.

I thought photographic evidence of my goals might motivate me, so here I go. (Don't worry--you're not about to see any photos of me in a sports bra, a la The Biggest Loser.)

My first goal is that I want to fit into these black pants. I bought them at a killer price at Ann Taylor Loft, and I love them. At the time, I needed to lose maybe 5 pounds for them to fit well, but the price was good and I was convinced I would lose the pounds, so I bought them. Not only did I NOT lose those pounds, but I gained about five more. So in about 10 pounds from now, I should be able to wear these pants.

My next goal is to be able to wear this shirt (which also goes with a very cute size-8 denim skirt). I bought this outfit right after I lost all my baby weight...and it fit for about 2 weeks before I started putting weight back on (more about that in a minute).
The spot on the shirt is something with the camera I think; this shirt doesn't have a big grease spot on it. Anyway, I think this shirt is about 13 pounds away.

And last, but not least, is this sundress. I would really like to be able to wear it in May...maybe for Mother's Day or something? I'd say this dress is 20 pounds away. (And it is prettier in person.)


After I had Amelia, I actually did very well with losing the baby weight. Then at the beginning of that summer, Darryl's dad passed away and we spend a lot of time in our hometown. Now, some of the best cooks ever live in my hometown, and people there tend to show their love in homemade cakes, casseroles, and any other form of comfort food. I remember distinctly a butternut cake--and I mean a BUTTERnut cake that left a big grease spot on the paper towel--that changed my life (and increased my weight).

And I never got it back under control. I could play the blame game all day long; the stress of being a first-time mom, the stress of work and a new principal, the fun of cooking and enjoying what I've cooked have all contributed to my poor eating habits.

But I'm tired of feeling yucky and out of shape. I believe I'll be successful because I'm just READY to feel better. And spring and summer are on the way, so that means pool time. Shorts. Sundresses.

Here's to thinner, healthier days ahead!

Snow, Valentine's Day, Cupcakes!

As I already mentioned, we got a good bit of snow...several inches. Amelia loved shuffling around in it. The snow was actually too powdery to make a decent snowman (and do I even know how to build one, anyway), but we tried some snow angels and just walked around in the yard. It's amazing how a covering of snow can make your all-too-familiar yard look like a different world.


My parents came up Saturday, and Darryl and I went out Saturday night to The Capital Grille, which is really one of our favorite "special" restaurants. We get the same thing every time, but it's so, so good.

On Sunday, my mom and Amelia made Valentine's cupcakes. Once again, Amelia was a pro with the sprinkles.
Notice the cupcake apron. Nana even made sure that Amelia had the appropriate attire.

She was also a pro at eating the cupcakes.
(FYI...I promise we feed our child food besides cookies and cupcakes.)

Cookies!

With the exception of a short excursion to Chick-fil-a, Amelia and I stayed home today. We decided to bake and decorate some Valentine cookies. Festive, yes?

I'll confess that these cookies were not only store-bought dough, but they were also already rolled out and cut into little hearts. Now typically I'm all about making the cookies from scratch, but I figured Amelia would really have more fun decorating them, so that was really my main priority.

Here she is with the cookies, before they went to the oven. (She wanted some of that dough SO badly, but I'm still Paranoid Mom who thinks her daughter will get salmonella. Of course, I ate some, but whatever.)


She really enjoyed shaking the sprinkles on.

And she enjoyed tasting her creations. (I think Elmo was hoping for a cookie.)
On a different note, we got several inches of snow today--definitely the most we've gotten since we moved here seven years ago. I'll definitely have to get some pictures tomorrow. It was still falling after dark and I didn't want to mess up my camera. :)

Valentine's Party

Amelia's daycare class had their Valentine's party Wednesday since Thursday was a half-day (thanks, teacher furloughs) and today is full day off (thanks again, teacher furloughs).

Anyway, the party was super-cute. Amelia had a smile like this on her face the entire time.



Here's a pic of Amelia with her friend Tanner. Amelia LOVES Tanner. Whenever we're getting ready to go to school in the morning, I ask her if she is ready to see her friends, and she says, "See Tanner? My Tanner?" Sweet.

Here's a pic of the whole group.

Here's Amelia, checking out a valentine from her box:
I love these little parties. The daycare teachers do such a great job in making each child feel very special. Amelia had such a fun time (and so did her mommy)!

Oops...I Did It Again

I neglected my blog again. It's easy to do. Life gets so busy, and I've really been trying to get in bed by 10 or 10:30.

But here I am.

I don't really have much to report. I really have been making an effort to cook at home more (this is HUGE for me), and last Sunday, I made this deliciousness, homemade chicken and noodles:



And might I add that the yumminess you see in the left corner is blackberry cobbler.

I know. I don't know what came over me. It was all delicious and definitely thwarted my efforts to lose 10 (or more) pounds.

Speaking of thwarted efforts, about as soon as I posted how well I was doing with Wii Fit Active, I haven't done it again. I'm hoping to get back on it this week.

I've had a yucky teaching week with a few of my classes. I really am feeling the need to reinvent the wheel but am struggling to find the motivation to do it. Sometimes I think that I could light myself on fire and do a dance and they still wouldn't be engaged with what is going on.

Instead of leaving on a negative note, I'll leave you with this photo. Amelia and I were playing with her Elmo answering machine, and she was getting completely cracked up over the sound of her voice being played back to her. Cute!