Year in Review

I thought I would do a summation of this past year for me and some of the milestones for me so I don't forget how far I've come.

2008: 160 lbs.
Treadmill running max: 4.8
Clothing size: 12-16 women's
Farthest I've ever ran: 5 miles / 1 hr. 25 min
cholesterol: 165

2009: 129 lbs.
Treadmill running max: 7.5
Clothing size: 4-8 women's
Farthest I've ran this year: 13.1 miles (1/2 marathon) in 2:25 minutes
cholesterol: 143

I feel pretty good about what I have been able to accomplish and as the new year approaches, I will have new goals which I hope to achieve. The most important thing I am doing that I've never done before is maintaining my weightloss. I've been at the current weight +/- 2 lbs. since May. Thank you Weight Watchers and my husband for his support. Above all, I am grateful that God was with me on every run.

Organization

Must organize the storage closet before it takes over and kills someone. I have been trying on and off to make the closet work but let's face it-I am really bad at organizing anything other than a menu. Tragic. I'm taking advantage of all the sales on storage bins at time and bought five bins. Wish me luck.

I really don't...

want to pack up the Christmas decorations. I have a lot of sewing, organizing, and cleaning to do but I'm cold and tired- mostly lazy. I just want to try to sit still and veg. but my mind keeps on going. The only time I stop is to read and sleep. I dumped all the Christmas candy, cookies, and gingerbread houses. Begone Christmas cookies, I've got weight to lose.

Red Mary Janes

I love Mary Jane style of shoes. Even better if they are in red. LOVE. THEM. I am not a fancy dresser: not too much bling, scarfs, or fluff attached to my clothes. . I like khakis, jeans, white shirts (lots and lots of white shirts). However, I like to jazz it up with red shoes. Well, so even my red shoes are practical and uneventful. I'm not a tall person and I have visions of looking like Dolly Parton or Miss. Piggy if I try to add too much flair to my outfits. I'm really "dolled up" if I change my earrings. So Vogue won't be calling but at least I'm comfortable. Maybe I'll try to be more adventureous now that I'm not packing an extra 30 lbs...but only if it's comfortable.

Present for Mom

The boys were helping lovely husband place presents under our Christmas tree from family and friends. S.E. and Koo can read their names now and so they would get excited when there was a package for them. Well, once it was all said and done, there wasn't a package for Mom. The boys got sad for me and it reminded of stories I'd told them about being grateful for what you have because they have SO MUCH. I didn't grow up with Christmas trees and presents until I was out of adolescence. No presents was the norm growing up in my family. These were not customs in my birth country. Now we follow these traditions because being in America for 25+ years, we've not only gained a few wonderful American traditions, we've gained a few pounds too. My kids just held on to the fact that I grew with one toy and didn't get Christmas gifts.

The next day after school, S.E. and Koo asked me for a box-with a lid. I thought they were making a manger because they have been learning a lot about Jesus's birth coming up. It was a secret they told me-I wasn't to know what they were doing. Well, next thing you know, they had taped something in an old shoe box, wrapped it in computer paper and stuck it under the tree. A gift for mom because she didn't have any was the explanation.

Let me get the gunky emotions that welled up in my heart when they showed me their gift for me. So loving and thoughtful of them. I gotta go glue my heart back together because they melt it.

Yesterday, two more presents arrived with my name on them and the boys celebrated my good forturne for I was a good mom so Santa didn't forget about me. And the hits just keep on coming.

Crazy mother

Crazy Mother am I. I am crazy. Mother, you are crazy when you yell at your boys for leaving the lights on downstairs when they tell you they've turned out the lights. They are kids. I will refer myself as Mommy Dearest or Joanie when I yell and rant at them. I have flashbacks of "No wire hangers!!!". I remember being so scared and scarred by that movie and now I've become Joan Crawford. My friend Dee told me she goes through this too. She says it sneaks up on her and before you know she's having an adult fit. I don't have any conclusions or revelations of how I will avoid doing this, but I'm going to try to laugh instead. Parenting is hard.

Fancy rubber gloves

What do you do to fancy up your rubber gloves? Take the end scraps from a pair of pajama pants that I hemmed up, add a white trim, and sew it to the end of a pair of rubber gloves. Voila!! Fancy rubber gloves to clean in.

It was so much fun, made another one for my friend Patricia. Her hands have been cracked lately due to the cold weather and use of cleaning products.

I got the idea when I goggled them and found that they cost $16!!! It offended my cheapness when the gloves cost $2.23 at Walmart. Not a bad knockoff huh?

sledding

The boys and I played out in the snow yesterday. I've made peace with snow since driving a Subaru-I love being able to drive around in the snow and not slide. The snow was not wet enough to make a snowman but we went sledding. So much fun!!! We just went to the side of our house and used a foam sled that was lightweight so the boys didn't complain about trekking it back up the hill.

Gingerbread Houses Part Deux

It's another year and I once again volunteer for punishment in the form of 22 Gingerbread houses for S.E. and Koo's Christmas school party. I must have been tired or ditzy when I was cutting out the model because the houses didn't come together as nicely as last year. Oh well. It's done and I enjoyed doing making the houses this year so much more because my back and knees did not hurt from long hours of standing to cut, bake, and form these minature delights. Last year, being 30 lbs. heavier really made this task painful. I'm so grateful I reclaimed my body.

I remember as a kid seeing gingerbread houses and wishing I lived in a house made of candy. I'm so happy to be able to do this for my boys. They have it so much better than I did as a kid. I hope I am able to leave some things left to be desired for them so they can continue to make the lives of their children better. I've been asked "Why?!!". I made the houses because last year I did it last year for S.E.'s class and I can't not do it for the Koo's this year.

My lovely husband knew me so well. When I am elbow-deep in a project, I forget to take pictures. So thank you hubby for taking the pictures so I can post them. Now the houses are ready for more frosting and candy...lots and lots of candy.

If you want to make gingerbread houses-check out the original post in Dec. 2008.

gym rat

I was called a gym rat by my friend Ron. He just joined the same gym along with his wife (one of my most favorite people). Ron and I took a total body bootcamp class on Monday. He took Tuesday and Wednesday off to recover. Just saw him this morning down there and when he told me I was crazy to sign up for another bootcamp because it was 85 minutes for the same price as 60 minutes. Hey-it was a good deal and a great workout. Afterwards, since I knew a snow storm was coming tonight and I may not be able to run outside until March, I took off from the gym and ran another three miles. He couldn't believe how cheerful I could be working out. What can I say? It feels good to exercise.

SunBonnet Sue

I made this bag for my niece H.A.W. I love Sunbonnet Sue-she's so cute and easy to applique. This pattern was adapted from a book by Eleanor Burns. She's a quilter from the PBS program "Quilt in a Day". I'm excited to give this bag to my niece when she comes over for Christmas.

Cranberry Apple Pancake

My neighbor invited me over for breakfast yesterday and she made the most fabulous oven pancake ever. It came from a Better Crocker's Dieter's cookbook and it was soooo good. I made it this morning for the boys and they ate two helpings. It looks fancy as well as taste delicious. Here's a picture of what was left.

Cranberry Apple Pancake

Preheat oven to 350F.

2 T butter

1 small apple, skinned and chopped

1/4 cup dried cranberries

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp orange peel

1/4 c orange juice

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

4 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp salt

1 egg, beaten

1/2 cup buttermilk

Place butter in 9" pie plate and place in oven to melt butter. Remove and sprinkle apples and cranberries. Set aside. In the meantime, place brown sugar, orange juice, and peel into a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer for 5 minutes. Pour over fruits mixture.

In a separate mixing bowl, add remaining dry ingredients and mix together. Make a well in the middle. Measure buttermilk out in a measuring cup and add egg. Mix. Add wet mixture to the dry mixture and mix until just blended. Pour over apple-OJ mixture. Bake for 15-18 minutes.

Immediately invert onto large plate. Serve warm.

Free and Clear Shampoo

I started using a shampoo prescribed to me by my dermatologist called "Free and Clear Shampoo". The shampoo has no dyes, lanolin, fragrance, masking fragrance, protien, parabens, and formaldehyde. My head has never felt better. The shampoo does not lather as well as the amped-up shampoos but my sensitive scalp is not burn after washing with this. I've switched my entire family to this shampoo. You can order it from your pharmacy or online. It's not outrageously expensive. LOVE. IT.

Insomnia

I have not been able to sleep. It's been going on for about a week. Wide awake at 2 am. So I have been reading, sewing, or watching reruns of really dumb shows that I would not take time to watch. What you may ask? Any strange medical problem showcased on Discovery Health Channel. These nocturnal hours are making me very cranky during the day. Yesterday I think I bit my lovely husband head off a few times and I felt like dirt afterwards. Poor lovely. Sleep please come my way.

Busy little bee

I have been so busy trying to sew and get my house ready for the holidays that I forgot I had a blogsite. Shame on me huh? There's been sick husband to tend to, football to watch, bathrooms to clean, and endless amounts of laundry to do. I'm trying to have a grateful heart in my approach because I've been pretty lucky to have the kind of life I do have so I'm just going to not whine and just do what I can.