15 weeks

In 15 weeks, I will be 41. I want to be 22lbs lighter by then.

It's really not a whole lot to ask for. I've lost more in a shorter amount of time.

I could go to my doc who is offering a program called The Bead Diet. But I think it's a scam, plus it's been banned in the UK. Umm no thanks. I could join Jenny Craig, a few people I know have used that program and dropped quite a bit of weight. But it's too expensive. If I was single, I would totally do it. But I can't justify spending $200 a week on food just for me when I can feed my entire family of 4 for the same price. Plus I'm not a big fan of eating all that processed food.

I tried weight watchers, and felt hungry ALL THE TIME.

What works for me is Low Carb. BUT I have to stick to it. Any diet or "WOE" (way of eating) only works when you stick to it.

And that my friends inlies my problem, sticking to it. I've done low carb on and off for 10 years now. The very first time, I lost 43 lbs in 6 months. This is me from August 2000.




That night I got pregnant with our 2nd son. And I've never taken off the weight. Even in the picture above I am not skinny, but I am within a healthy weight range. Had I not gotten pregnant, and started exercising, I believe I could have lost a few more pounds & inches. But my kids are worth every pound I fight.

In January of 2009 I was at an awful all time high. I won't say the exact weight, but I was wearing a lot of 1x & 2x shirts, along with living in sweatpants. I was able to lose 40lbs by November, but since then I have been playing with the same 5lbs. Today I am actually up 7lbs from my lowest in 2 years, but I made some homemade bread last night that I just "had" to try. That and a few beers caused at least 2 of the lbs today, it will be off by Wednesday.

So today, August 23rd, 2010 I extend my hand to those of you on the weight loss wagon & ask for some help back up.

It doesn't matter what plan you're using to lose weight, we can all us support and encouragement. And someone to kick our asses either outside or to the gym to exercise!

Drop me an email if you want to talk about losing weight!

I watch "Jersey Shore"

Yep, I watch it. I'm a 40 year old mom who likes to watch the stupid MTV show Jersey Shore.

But last night's episode left me sick to my stomach.

It's not their normal every stay stupid actions that left me feeling sick, it's the way Ronnie abuses Sammie.

If he were physically hitting her, it would be all over the news and he would be arrested. What he is doing is worse, he's mentally abusing her.

He treats her like crap, cheats on her, calls her nasty vulgar names (remember he called her the C-word in the Taxi) tells her to leave him alone and then when she confronts him, he tells her it's her fault & she apologizes.

Classic mental abuse.

In the episode last night Sammie tells the other girls to tell her if Ronnie is cheating on her and they're all nervous and not sure what to do. But what's the point, she's only going to go back to him every single time. That is exactly what I would have told her. "What's the point?"

Everyone in the house & the entire viewing audience knows what's going on, yet as recent as last weekend they were still together. (A friend of mine saw them at a bar in Seaside.)

I won't even talk about the example they are setting, because I don't let my kids watch it. I know some parents do and that's your decision. Maybe it can be a good way to start a conversation, especially with your daughters.

I used to joke and say that I wanted to ride on the "coat tails" of the Jersey Shore fame to further my business Names on the Jersey Shore but now, I don't know.

I still love living at the Jersey Shore but I don't know how I feel about having the name of my business, and my blog being associated with the name of a TV show that not only features mental abuse, but glorifies it.

Sorry for the dark post today, but I had to get it out and it is my blog!

3 Things

In order for me to get really good pictures for my clients, 3 things must line up, beach, sun & water. Names on the Jersey Shore

If it's mostly or completely cloudy, forget it. (see previous post) The pictures come out too dark & don't print nicely. When I first started doing this in the Spring, I used to go at sunrise. I quickly learned that while the sunrise can make gorgeous pictures.



It makes terrible light for taking pictures of writings in the sand.



I still like to go for sunrise because it's an AMAZING way to start the day, I wait for the sun to rise a bit before taking pictures.

If it's high tide & rough, nothing I write stays there very long. Sure I could write further up the beach, but then I have to deal with footprints (serious pet peeve) or no ocean in the picture, and that doesn't work.



Lastly I need space to write. If it's high tide, but calm it's ok but I prefer low tide. Low tide is normally calm. This gives me tons of space to write & nice waves. My favorite writings come on days when it's a calm low tide.

But none of this matters when the beach looks like this.


My friend said "thankfully it's not oil" and she is completely right. The seaweed will clear in a day or two. In the meantime, my orders wait. I hate making people wait!

Oh, would you look at that...

I got up at 6:30 like usual, and laid in bed for 20 minutes, like usual. I was contemplating how long I could lay there before I had to get moving. Trying to go figure out in my head the longest I could lay there and still get to the beach and back before dh had to leave for work.

While I LOVE doing the custom beach writings, some mornings it's harder to get up then others, this was one of those mornings.

So I get up and stumble to the bathroom.

"Gosh it's dark in here" I think.

Then I looked out the window.


This screen shot was taken early this morning.

Mind you, my bedroom curtains were open this morning, it just did not hit me until I got up that the weather may not be ripe for going to the beach.

While this makes my children very happy because when it rains they get to play video games, it does not make me happy.

I have 3 orders to fill this morning for my custom beach writings. Names on The Jersey Shore

Oh well, tomorrow is another day!

Maybe a reprieve?

The neighbor kids are home so I haven't heard a whine about "there's nothing to do" so far!

This is really good because I was planning on take the kids to play tennis after work (I have a "real job" from 9 to 2 each day) but found out from a friend that the tennis courts don't have a net. WTF??? I called the town to complain but supposedly the person in charge of that was in a meeting. I left a message 3 hours ago and haven't heard a word, imagine that....

Anyway, the boys being occupied is very good for me today, I have pictures to edit! Monday morning I had 8 custom beach writings to fill for my business.
http://www.namesonthejerseyshore.com I took over 250 pictures! So I need to spend some time making sure they look their best & send them out!


Update: Got a call back from the rec dept, a net should be up next week, it's on "order." LOL

Day 2 of August Hell

I know it's August 10th, but my kids have decided to really drive each other crazy.

Here's the problem. It's summer vacation. I work from home 9 to 2 each day & we are a 1 car family. This means no car from 8:30 until 5:30. Later if dear husband (aka dh) has a meeting to go to.

And there aren't any other kids to play with. Either they're away on vacation, go to a babysitters or the moms don't work & they have money to go places. Even if I had a car, unfortunately things are just too tight to do too much. I didn't even buy beach badges this summer. First time in a long time. OH and the little one has a bad case of swimmers ear, so that means no beach anyway.

Tomorrow I will either take dh to work in the morning, or have him come home at lunch time & I will bring him back to work so I can have the car for a least a little while.

The video show they're doing require two of the neighbor boys that spend most of the day at the babysitters, so they won't work on it without them.

Earlier today I googled "things for bored boys to do" and had them set up cans on a saw horse for them to throw balls at. That lasted about 5 minutes before they were arguing "You put the cans up," "you go get the ball."

My boys normally get along. They're not perfect but they get along. But being trapped together is driving them and me batty!!!!! The older one is about to turn 12 so let's add in a few out of control hormones into the mix. (thankfully I'm not pms'ing)

Thankfully I have my side business of Custom beach writings on the Jersey Shore to keep me sane! http://www.namesonthejerseyshore.com

So if you're in the neighborhood & want to entertain 2 very bored boys, 11 & 9, just let me know!

Their own web show

My sons & their friends want to make their own "icarly" type show. But for boys. Instead of random dancing, they're doing random shooting. (Did I just hear one of them say "Penis shot!"????)

Tony, a doll we gave our older son when I was pregnant with the younger son, is a zombie baby and right now they are playing "toybox of treasures."

Thankfully they are finally not sitting in front of the tv or bugging me to play video games. They are fully immersed in this project.

26 more days of summer. Can they make it last long enough????