It's that time again!  I joined this challenge last year after hearing about it on the radio.  I was failing at blogging & it really helped.

Here is my first post on the whole thing.
April 1st 2011 A to Z

I'm not really sure what this years theme is going to be, but I better get a move on it, this challenge starts on Sunday!

I Love my kids!

Ok I don't know anyone that hates their kids (at least not all the time) so I guess the title goes without saying. LOL

My sons are as different as night & day.  The only way they could be any more different is if one of them was a girl.  Even the pregnancies were completely different.  

My older son was a "sucker baby." (I love that expression) Meaning he was SO GOOD he suckered us into having another child LOL!  Actually I never even considered having just one child so my older one being so good just sealed the deal. 

He slept through the night at 10 days old (conversation between me and thejerseyshoredad - "you check" "no, you check" and then the bassinet at the foot of our bed shook & we knew he was still alive).  He went from breast to bottle at 6 months, no problem.  Bottle to sippy cup, no problem (at like a year).  Stopped using a binky (pacifier) at about 9 months, again no problem.  He rarely cried.  I only realized he was teething when a tooth popped out and I remembered he had been a little clingy the day or two before. Went from crib to bed at 2.5 years old easily too.  Of course it was a big red racecar bed, that made it easier I'm sure.  He's still a good kid at 13.  We're the same height now and he tries to make fun of me for it (mind you I'm 5'6, not short at all) but I just tell him "you're supposed to be taller then me, get growing!!" LOL

Then came along #2.  Still a GREAT baby, just more fussy.  Would not take a bottle.  I was a stay at home mom full time by the time I got pregnant with him but worked part time at Home Depot (that was fun), thejerseyshoredad would call me "when are you coming home, he won't take a bottle & won't stop crying!!!!"  LOL He cried when I guess normal babies cry, when he was hungry, had a dirty diaper, teething, etc.  He has a few medical issues, technically a birth defect, which required surgery.  He also had to have his tonsils out at 5.  


Older son attempted to break each of his ankles at different points, thought his appendix needed to come out, but that's it.  He's still good at 13.  He even confides in me some things, and that makes me happy.

I told thejerseyshoredad when they were still little that the younger one was going to be the first emergency trip to the ER and will be first to get a call from the principal.

I was right on both accounts.  He tripped over his scooter and landed with with the end of the handle bar almost in his eye.  It hit his eye, but thankfully didn't do any damage.  I believe he had a concussion because he showed all the symptoms, the doctor did not agree, but we won't get into my dislike of the hospital in my town. 

Then I got the call from the principal.  Long story short, he & my nephew were sitting on the computer, not 8 feet away from the adults, googling silly things that little boys will do when they came across an "adult" web site.  They both went "OOPS" and closed it down fast.  I asked them "Did we see something inappropriate?"  I figured they learned their lesson and forgot about it.  

Then about 2 weeks later, the call came from the school.  Apparently my little guy decided to tell his friend about what he and his cousin did.  The friend told his mom and instead of her calling me, AND SHE HAD MY PHONE NUMBER, she called the school.  (again, don't get me started on that one - this was 3rd grade and they thought nothing of letting my son play an R rated video game without asking me but I didn't call the school, bitch).  The principal called and we talked about it and even laughed about it a bit as well and thankfully that was it.

LOL I've gone way off track, sorry.  LOL The reason I'm telling you all of this is because of what the younger one did this morning. 

While food shopping yesterday I picked up a box of single serve microwave popcorn bags.  I told the kids, "you can pop it in the microwave in morning & just take the bag to school"

I have no idea if the older one did this or not as he leaves before I get up.  But the younger one popped the bag of single serve & then took the popcorn & put it in a Ziploc bag.  I looked at him and said "so you took it out of a bag & put it in a bag?"

He smacks himself in the forehead and said, "I didn't even think."

Then he tells me "well you can have the rest."

Hello breakfast of champions!

  

Happy Sunday

It's yet another cloudy morning at the Jersey Shore. I have orders piling up, but I can only do so much!

Today will be spent chasing my freaking adorable nephew around the Popcorn Park Zoo. 

I love the Popcorn Park Zoo.  It's not your average zoo.  Here, I copied this from the website.

Popcorn Park Zoo was established in 1977 for the sole purpose of providing a refuge for wildlife that were sick, elderly, abandoned , abused, or injured, and which could no longer survive in its natural habitat.  As time went on, we expanded to include exotic and domestic animals. All our residents once faced these circumstances, as well as exploitation and illegal ownership. Over 200 of these animals and birds now live in spacious surroundings in the heart of the scenic Pine Barrens in southern New Jersey. The Zoo, which is federally licensed, comprises seven acres and is graced by the indigenous Scrub Oak and Scrub Pine.

It's only $5 to get in and the money goes towards the animals. What could be better?  And when it's a little cool & cloudy, like today, the animals are usually more active.  

And hey they have a camel that predicts the Superbowl winners

Smart camel!

So to tide you over until the sun shines again, here is a picture from February 21, 2012

Update on me

I know I've been whining a lot lately when it comes to talking about myself, and I apologize for that.  But I was in a lot of pain.  And the pain was hard to deal with because it was every day.  And I was gaining weight like a pregnant woman (no I'm not pregnant).

I've gained back 20 pounds of the 66 I lost.  First 10 or so when I quit smoking & was taking steroids for what docs thought was a chest muscle injury.  Then another 10 of holiday & feeding the pain pounds.

What is "feeding the pain?"  Very basically, it's being too miserable to care about what you're eating.  I spent a lot of time eating comfort foods.  Only they didn't comfort me and now I'm uncomfortable in my skin.

But I have a turned a corner!
I'm not in so much pain anymore!
I see the light!
My jeans don't look good anymore!
I have summer clothes I bought last summer that aren't going to fit if I don't get moving!

Time to stop feeding the pain!

I've been doing Low Carb, but I'm burnt out on it.  Low Carb is a GREAT way to lose weight.  But I just need to do something different to shake things up.  I'm not really active again yet, I'm slowly getting back to exercising, so I really need to shake up my way of eating.  

I honestly considered HCG, but the thought of 500 calories EVERY DAY and ingesting a hormone...  well it just doesn't sit well with me.  And I know it works.  I have a friend who had been struggling with losing weight for YEARS and was able to take it all off in just a few months doing HCG.  Also, you have to remember I have 2 kids, so I want to be a good role model for them where it comes to eating healthy.

In my latest research of looking for something different to do, I discovered JUDDD.  Yes it's supposed to have 3 D's.  

JUDDD stands for Johnson's Up Day Down Day.  It's also known as an Alternate Day diet.

In a nutshell, you do one day of 500 calories and the next day your normal amount of calories.  If you do a search on JUDDD you can find a calculator to figure out your calories.  My UD is around 2000. 

I wandered into a forum and asked "is it really that simple?  One day up & one day down?  And I got a RESOUNDING YES!

So I'm giving it a try.  

I started with an UD on Wednesday and Thursday was my first 500 calorie DD.  I won't say it was easy, but it wasn't OMG hard.  I bought some 100 calorie protein shakes & bars.  I have these Coco cakes (aka Cannon cakes) that are 16 calories each.  They're not great alone, but they did the trick yesterday.  

I'm not good about measuring food so I'm not 100% sure I stuck to 500 calories but I'm within 20ish.  I'm good with that. 


One of the things I am doing for exercise is walking the beach. I'm down there at least 3 times a week doing my Beach Writings and looking for Beach Glass. So I've been walking while I'm there. It's a good cardio & strength without the impact I have to be careful of.  


So that's the latest on me.  Oh wait I forgot something..


I was interviewed this week by a writer from the Asbury Park Press for a Sunday piece on my business.  :D  Not exactly sure when it's going to run, but once it does - well I can't imagine what life will be like then!


Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I swear, I'm female

I'll admit it, there are times when I'm not so girlie.  I grew up with brothers & most of the kids in my neighborhood were boys.  I could climb trees & fences in a heart beat. I was pretty good at spitting for distance (omg did I really just admit that) and was not afraid to be the only girl playing street hockey.  

I still am not always very girlie, even at 42.  While my favorite of all times movie is a chick flick (When Harry Met Sally) my other favorite is Independence Day.  I only wear makeup when necessary but I am good at putting it on. The dresses in my closet have dust on them, but I do have a favorite skirt... it's a denim skirt... are you surprised?? LOL  

Even though I did originally want a daughter, I'm very happy to only have sons. (though I love my nieces dearly!)  I coached a baseball team & have shown the male coaches that my older son did not get his pitching arm from his dad.  I mostly live in jeans & t-shirts, but the t-shirts are female cut ones.  If you've got it, flaunt it, right?

So what brings this all up?  With all the shows on TV, especially the reality shows like the Bachelor, Jerseylicious and the Real Housewives of whatever town they're in now I surely can find either online or OnDemand... I'm watching Top Gear, not a very girlie show at all.

What is Top Gear?

It's a show on the History Channel that has these 3 guys doing different things with cars & trucks.  Adam Ferrara (Cpt on Rescue Me - another show I LOVED), Rutledge Wood & Tanner Foust, crack my shit up.  I have no idea where Rutgers.. er I mean Rutledge & Tanner come from, and don't care either, they're funny.

The last episode we watched they had to find cars that would make good trucks.   It doesn't even matter what they picked, what cracked me up is how they abuse the shit out of each other.  They had 3 challenges that included driving and whenever they would stop, they'd crash into each other and without fail, each time they crashed, the guy having been crashed into would get out of his car & say "REALLY?" in a highly annoyed voice & it got me every time.

So today I'm sitting here scanning the channels and see it's on.  OH and this time it's muscle cars.... OH I have such a thing for muscle cars.  An old boyfriend taught me to drive a stick on his 67 Camaro.  OH how I loved that car.  I love the new ones too, and I will have one, a convertible one please.   I'd like an old one too.  69, convertible of course.  I want the new one to be all black and the old one to red, Candy Apple Red, with a white leather interior.

There is nothing like the rev of the engine of an old muscle car.  That deep base rumble...  Sorry, got a bit distracted there, I'm back. 

Anyway, if get a chance to catch this show, watch it, trust me.