Hello ladies

I haven't posted in a while but I have been lurking and keeping an eye on you all! lol I've been having one of those horrible months where I think nothing is going to go right but it hasn't been as bad as I thought it was going to be. It wasn't wonderful, business was crap but I did get the township sorted out with the licenses, having developed a rapport with the girl there, she turned out to be quite helpful in the end thank goodness!

I'm now down 30.5lbs which I am VERY pleased about. Big clothes have been put in yard sale box as they were getting too embarrassing to wear anymore with falling off. Thought I might be able to get away with my denim shorts for a few more weeks but I buttoned them and they fell off too - great feeling but I hadn't worn them much since I bought them last summer!

I am in a better frame of mind now - luckily I don't go off plan when I am feeling down as I convince myself I will feel worse if I do!

We had a night away Sunday as we had a cab run to Maryland to get a guy back to his car who had sailed down so we took advantage and got ourselves a nice hotel in Wilmington, De, with a jacuzzi and relaxed for a night and morning. Didn't give in at the continental brekkie and just had cornflakes and a banana instead of muffins and bagels, had a nice Indian Buffet lunch which is a treat for me as no Indian restaurants too near us. Went to the British store there too and stocked up on sausages and Brit 'staples'. I was very pleased with myself as I normally buy 4 of every choc bar, loads of crisps (chips) and candy and all I bought was one bag of jelly babies, 2 small choc bars - one each for me and DH, a steak and kidney pie for treat day, 2 bags of crisps for treat day, 2 sausage rolls and a truck load of sausages which of course will be a great protein boost for the coming few weeks! lol

I was bad last night when we got home, it was pretty late so I downed the 2 sausage rolls, a bag of crisps, the choc bar and half the bag of jelly babies. Seeing as I would normally have eaten the whole bag of jelly babies, a few bags of crisps and several choc bars I was pretty pleased with myself even if I did eat naughty stuff! I am amazed I didn't fall to the floor with the sugar rush but I did go to bed earlier and was asleep within minutes and I slept really well too!

Back on track today with sausages and wheat bread for brunch as I woke up so late. I am going to work out how and when to eat my 'treats' so that I don't eat them all at once or all together!

DH told me this morning that I was starting to look 'dainty' again which was a great motivation. I really have to work out some kind of exercise routine. Been moving and packing a lot of stuff at mil's house this past week and it is a lot easier to do now with less weight on my bones. Bike tyres are now pumped up ready to go so I will start evening bike rides this week with DH, my tae-bo dvd is gathering dust as I have no room to exercise here at the moment due to the assault course which is my house. Got a self storage place now so will be moving all excess furniture into there this week so will have my space back thank goodness. Giant yard sale at storage place on June 24th so I can just pull out the stuff from the space instead of lugging it back over here to sell in my yard! Hopefully it will help us get rid of some stuff and make a nice little bit of money for something special!

Love n hugs to all, I hope to be around a bit more once I have my house straightened out.

Keep on track girls, we CAN do this!

Sarah

Hello ladies!!! I don't have too much time, but I thought I would share this.

DH said the other day "your rear IS looking smaller"

It did make me feekl better, but boy did he word it the wrong way.

Later chicas!

Hello,
Well...I've learned that a person can hide from the truth but one day you have to face it.

I have been out of control for a long time. I will get excited about getting back on track, do good for a week if I'm lucky and then fall right back off that wagon. I know that we all do it, but I've done it and not really worried to much about it until yesterday.

Yesterday I saw a picture of myself and was HORRIFIED! and I also went to TOPS after missing a week and I had gained 7 pounds! 7 pounds that put me over 260. I NEVER wanted to be over 250 again, much less than 260.

I will be honest, in the back of my mind has been that this is not fair; I have medical issues that make it hard for me to lose weight..that's true, but I also eat horribly and I've not been working out.

So, there it was staring me in the face. However, I didn't get mad, I didn't want to cry, instead I wanted to get down and dirty and do this. I didn't have this excitement that I've been having when I think I'm going to "start over", no, instead I felt that I'm going to "start" and I feel calm.

I took my measurements (before the weigh-in and the picture) maybe I had a preminison? Bought a new journal, pasted that picture in there and left a place for the next one which will be when my new TOPS Achievement log calls for new measurements 13 weeks(about the end of August if I'm counting right). There is going to be a difference ladies...a great improvement.

UPS & Hippy: Isn't it nice when your man notices?

Later,
Susie

Another -0.5 lbs.. sigh (206.5) :(

Good Morning world!!!!
Had a good sleep and woke feeling rested for the first time in over a week. Love that!!
Just 1 little monkey and another one coming, 2 are off today.

I have the A/C ON!!! It is going to be 34C today and tomorrow( 98F). What the Heck!!!! I may melt. Super EW!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lots to do inside.
Kitchen is a disaster. hubby worked on the Capri til well after I went to sleep at 9. The kitchen did not get cleaned. I have Avon to pack up and books to do!!!

Hope hubby took lots of water.
Gas is going up to $1.30 a litre that is $5.20 a gallon. Hence how hubby spent the weekend.

We have decided to take the van off the road but keep it. It is paid for and it is a great vehicle for big jobs and camping. I will drive the Saturn. Hubby looked all weekend for a motorocyle but no luck. He has a 1978 Capri( like a mustang) in the shed. He drove it until 2002. It needs a bunch of work. I talked him into seriously pulling the car apart and seeing what it needs. he can get it on the road for around $800.00. He even found front brake parts on the seat all ready to go.We will save a minimum of $200.00 a month in gas this summer. So it will pay for itself and we will be seeing saving by the fall.

This means no more outings with the extra kids all summer but that is life.

Lovely anniversry service and lunch at church yesterday. I mostly puttered at house work all weekend. Did the farmers market Sat morning. Made a bunch of rhubarb bread and crisp.YUM!!

The Pamper Day I am providing an Avon foot spa for is this Saturday and the town wide yard sale is on the 10th. LOTS to do for these 2 big events. The kids and Hubby will have the yard sale here. I will take stuff into the market too.
Then we have no commitments til much later in the summer!!!!!!!!!!!!! weeeheeeeeeeeee

Have a blessed day.
OH...I am down 3 lbs.

We are having hot, full of sunshine days. It feels like the start to Summer. In my mind it is.

I've been using my new journal everyday and I'm on track.
Just taking it easy today and I'm feeling relaxed. Going to the movies this afternoon to see The Posiden (I don't know if that is spelled correctly".

I am going to go for a walk this evening. I wanted to do that this morning but we had people over for a cookout last night and most stayed until 1:00 A.M.--I'm sure my neighbors loved us! lol

Jiggly: You are inching your way to 199..don't despire...you are getting there.

Holly: Congrats on the 3 lb loss.

See ya later!
Susie

Good morning ladies!

I have had such a lovely weekend. Saturday DH and I decide we need a new grill, so off I go to shower and get dressed and think to myself, bugger, all my shorts are too baggy and it had to be a shorts day as it was in the mid 80's. I decide to try to find some of my smaller shorts...found an 18/20 pair of bike shorts, pulled 'em on and WAHOOOOOOOOOOO they fitted perfectly! Wandering around KMart I see some bike shorts in the reg size dept and think ok 18/20 is an XL (XL? me?). I get home and try them on and they're loose!

I also bought loads of plants and got all those potted up, weeded the flowerbeds, caught a bit of colour so I'm not deathly white anymore, lobster red is a good description! Yesterday morning DH cooked me a fantastic high protein British brekkie of eggs, bacon, sausage and baked beans on the grill and we ate out on the deck.

It's so much easier to garden when you're lighter!

We finally met our 'new' neighbour (we're the new ones!) He has an inground pool, goes to 9ft deep. Said all I had to do was ask if I wanted to use it! (once he has it cleaned for the season, it's a tad green at the moment!) We had to dismantle the above ground pool we had (that was at the house when we moved in) as it was so nasty and there's no way we can afford one at the moment altho we did put a 15ft long blow up quick set type pool on layaway for coolling off splashes! Hopefully the neighbour won't mind if I do a few laps every morning when he is at work!

Life is good.

I'm not weighing till Friday this week as I have a doc's appt.

Holly, congrats on the 3lbs loss!
Jiggly, you can do it, just keep doing what you're doing!
Susie, well done on the journal, keep it up!

Love n hugs

Sarah

Today’s Deep Thought................

I am seriously questioning whether or not I am lazy. My reasons are 2 fold. 1) DS asked my last night at 8:30 pm while was laying on the bed watching Canadian Idol, “why are you always just laying around?”
We had a chat. I asked a bunch of questions...Am I laying down when I am up in the morning and making you breakfast and lunches and helping you get dressed and packing your back pack? Am I laying down when I am washing and folding your laundry?Am I laying down when i am clearing the bush to make paths for your bike?.....you get the picture. The root of the question came down to , he wants to be with me in the evenings more.Part of my issue is that there is always hockey on in the livngroom and DH is hard of hearing so it is LOUD and it is so messy. I go upstairs for quiet and to be alone and to get away from the mess.I have a table to do bookkeeping and Avon stuff.I dont ever just watch tv.Heaven forbid.

Part 2) I woke up this morning to dishes all over the livingroom table, empty cheesie bag on the floor, nail clippers on the floor, pen and paper on the floor and more.
I did the supper dishes last night and went to bed. I was feeling punky. We have air quality warnings. I have major allergies and I am extremely sensitive to the heat. I worked all day at Avon and housework and childcare( from 7am-9pm). i took the kids swimming. When is enough enough.How much more can I do???
Hubby worked outside for 10 hours in 34C/98F weather, came home and ate, showered and sat on the couch. Why isn’t DS asking him why he is always sitting around?
My dresser is piled high with mending etc, it really bothered my last night to see it. I was questioning whether I should have stayed up 2 more hours and cleaned and mended or gotten the rest I felt I needed.
Today I have 6 kids here all day. I have fed DS and 4 of them breaky already. Need to clean the kitchen. I still have about 10 orders to fill and book work to do plus entertaining and feeding all these kids.My day will be full. First i have to clean up all the crap left laying around from last night.
Why does hubby not care about our home enough to put stuff away? If I say it seems like he doesn’t care he goes balistic? He truly believes going to work is showing he cares.If he is home he cares. He is faithful= caring.......................
Boy, I must care A LOT because I do all those things and clean up after him and the kids all day long plus provide 1/2 the income we need to survive.

My other thoughts are do I run out of energy at the end of the day because i am fat and unfit? Could I do 2 or more hours of work each day if weighed 30 lbs less? I sleep 7 hours a night. I watch a soap in the aft while I fold laundry, make calls etc. I watch a hour of tv most nights and In read from 11-12 at night.That is not unreasonable in my estimation.
So how the heck is everything supposed to get done? I have tossed out most of the kids toys and tons of my own stuff. Hubby’s stuff is piled in boxes in his closet or shed.I follow a schedule. What am I missing????

Holly, first of all big hugs that one little comment got you feeling this way. I think I speak for all the girls here when I say that I find you to be one of the most amazing, organised woman I have come across.

You have your lists of stuff to do, you're always busy it seems, nothing seems to phaze you. I often marvel at your lists of things you plan to do in the course of the day. It wears me out just reading them sometimes!

I know I AM lazy. My laziness stems from the laziness of others around me. I try to tell myself I will not let their untidiness 'influence' me but it does. Sometimes I try the 'I will not clean up after anybody until the house looks like a s***heap' but of course it gets the better of me and I clean it all right up. DH is lazy, he leaves a trail of litter wherever he goes. Thankfully I only have to deal with kids mess every other weekend but I can't believe how untidy they can be in the space of a couple of hours. I am sure I was the same at that age tho... Our lodger has to be the most disgusting person I have ever come across - he gets threatened with death it gets so bad. Then there is the mess the pets leave, of course I can't expect them to be cleaning after themselves but a little help in picking something up the cat knocks down or running the swiffer around to get dog hair up would be so greatly appreciated.

Holly, you are truly an amazing housekeeper. You are a wife and mother and you work, WITH KIDS! which makes you a totally and utterly amazing woman!

Hold your head up high, you ARE NOT lazy. You're an inspiration. Kids say the darndest things but they are also the things that can hurt. I'm glad you talked to your DS the way you did. Kids don't get it. I remember one time my stepson (who has learning difficulties and is way behind his years mentally) said to me - "wow mom such and such really needs a dusting". I went ballistic on him and cursed the whole family for not helping me - DH said I should have just shoved a duster in his hand and told him to get on with it...which I should have...you learn...

Well, now I am rambling...

Chin up sweetie.

Sarah

((hugss) Holly! I think Sarah said it best. You are an amazing mom and wife. I can't even fantom doing the work that you do everyday. Take everything one day at a time.

Overcast and humid here. Only going up to 32c/94F today.

This morning has been a comedy of errors. All one can do is laugh.

My head is beyond full. My ear are clogged, my nose is running like a tap, post nasal drip is causing me to gag, I have the scoots....gotta love summer temps in Canada.
DS was at a friends til 8:45 last night. He woke up crusty and in search of the orange monster truck. Had a few melt downs and then took the green one. Someone else used DD’s swing. She melted down.
3 happy little people here right now, although one skidded across the gravel on his knee. Nothing a warm cloth and bandaid cant fix.

Stil need to focus on Avon . Will run DW.

HUGS!!!

Part 2 of yesterdays deep thought...
A good Friend asked me to answer some questions for myself...so here are my thoughts now.i AM interested in sharing and having feed back.

what do you do for self care? SOAK IN TUB, JOURNAL, POST ON FLYLADY, READ, WATCH A CHEESY MINDLESS SOAP, GIVE SELF PEDICURE, GO TO BOOK CLUB, GO TO SAC AND ANNE &TED HOUR, GARDEN, MEDITATE, GO TO CHURCH, DO YOGA, GET UP A ½ HOUR BEFORE KIDS TO BE ALONE WITH ME,

in what ways do you consider yourself lazy? I TAKE TIME FOR ME INSTEAD OF DOING ALL THE HOUSEWORK THAT NEEDS TO BE DONE, I CHOOSE TO ENJOY LIFE RATHER THAN CLEAN, THINGS DONT ALL GET DONE EVERY DAY,

tell me about the time you spend alone with DS. -WE SIT AND CUDDLE EVERY MORNING FOR ABOUT 15MIN, WE SIT AND CUDDLE AND TALK EVERY DAY AFTER SCHOOL, WE READ TOGETHER EVERY EVENING FOR A 1/2 HOUR,I DO HOME WORK WITH HIM, I LAY IN BED WITH HIM AT NIGHT ABOUT 15 MIN AND WE TALK, WE ALL SIT DOWN AT SUPPER 7 DAYS A WEEK ,I TAKE TURNS TAKING THE KIDS TO RUN ERRANDS SO WE HAVE 1 ON 1, I HUG HIM ABOUT 500 TIMES A DAY AND TELL HIM I LOVE HIM ABOUT 1000,I STOP AND LISTEN WHEN EVER HE NEEDS TO TALK, I MASSAGE HIM AND DO HEALING TOUCH EVERY DAY

when you look at a typical week,

how much time to you give to the various balls you're juggling? -DAY CARE 10 HOURS A DAY, AVON-15-20 HOURS A WEEK, school council- 2 HOURS A WEEK, CHURCH 4 HOURS A WEEK, HOUSEWORK 2-3 HOURS A DAY, YARD WORK( I WISH MORE) 5 HOURS A WEEK, CARE GIVING FOR MY FAMILY -15 HOURS A DAY, CARE GIVING FOR GRANDMA-3-4 HOURS A WEEK, COOKING 3 HOURS A DAY, I DO ALL THE HOUSEWORK, LAUNDRY, GARBAGE,PETCARE, COOKING, FINANCES,BOOKKEEPING FOR 3 BUSINESSES, TAXES,GROCERY SHOPPING...............take DS to hockey practise and DD to dance/gym(fall, winter,spring),FARMERS MARKET-4 HOURS ON SAT.

what are the 'big rocks' for you? -MY KIDS, MY SELF, MY HOME, MY HUSBAND, AVON

how do you feel about that? FINE

what are you really happy with? I HAVE GREAT KIDS, I THINK I ROCK AT EVERYTHING I PUT MY MIND TO, I LOVE HOW I WORK THRU STUFF AND EVOLVE, I LOVE THE SUCCESS WITH MY BUSINESS,I ADORE MY HOME

what changes can you make to improve your happiness? HAVE A CLEAN TIDY HOME

what feeds you?SEEING MY KIDS FULFILLED,BEING WITH MY KIDS, GARDENING, SLEEPING, READING,

what do you need from Hubby? NOT MUCH- HIS PRESENCE, HIS INCOME, HIS FATHERING, A KIND VOICE.... HE IS A GROWN MAN, HE CAN MAKE THE CHOICES HE WANTS IN THIS LIFE, HE ALSO HAS TO DEAL DEAL WITH THE CONSEQUENCES OF THOSE CHOICES

how is that reasonable/unreasonable? IT IS COMPLETELY REASONABLE

what do you expect from your kids? TO COMMUNICATE THEIR NEEDS/WANTS EFFECTIVELY, TO VALUE- LIFE, NATURE, THEIR HOME, THEIR PARENTS, TO BE LOVING, KIND CARING INDIVIDUALS, TO FULFILL THEIR DREAMS

what responsibilities do they have for the smooth running of the

household? TO PICK UP AFTER THEMSELVES

how are your 'minimum standards different from the rest of your

family's? I DON’T WANT GARBAGE AND DIRT ON THE FLOOR ALL THE TIME AND THEY DO

what's the minimum you can live with? I DO LIVE WITH THE MINIMUM

how might you go about getting your needs met? I TELL THEM (HUBBY AND KIDS) HOW I AM FEELING AND ASK THEM TO BRAINSTORM WAYS TO TAKE SOME OF THE LOAD OFF OF ME AND THEN FOLLOW THRU ON IT, IF THEY DON’T HELP EVERYTHING LEFT OUT GETs PUT IN A GARBAGE BAG- CLOTHES UNDIES, SCHOOL WORK AND ALL or THROW OUT STUFF THEY DON’T TREAT WITH RESPECT

Hi,
Well, you can do everything right sometimes and it still doesn't go the way it should. I had a small gain .60 lbs at the scales. I'm not sweating it this week. I feel that I stayed on track and sometimes it just takes a week or so to get my body going.

I'll continue this next week just like I did the previous week. I can tell you that I was very happy with myself and feeling good by doing so and that counts for something.

How is everyone else feeling?

I'm still in a good place lol. Went to doc's yesterday and BP is even lower and nice and normal. He reckons in 6 months I will be off the meds if I keep going the way I am going.

He was ecstatic about my weight loss - he says I have lost 47lbs since last summer - somehow I lost 16lbs between then and Feb when I started seriously eating right - I think it was mostly stress as MIL had just passed away and we were moving and decorating new house. I had lost 20lbs since I last saw him in March.

I am finally getting my hair dyed today after 7 months. I refuse to buy a bottle in the store as my hairdresser has worked so hard on getting my hair back in good condition. I am as grey as an old lady for about 4 inches of roots! It's been driving me nuts but I just didn't have the spare money to go spend $60 and get it done but as business has picked up a bit this past couple of weeks I reckon I am due a treat! I have coarse very curly hair and it gets very dried out and porous. Shawn (hairdresser) helped me grow out all the layers and treated me like a queen so that it now behaves itself and the curls are beautiful instead of a frizzy lump on my head! He's gonna kick my arse when I get there for not going but when you ain't got the money honey...

I also found out I can get into XL tops comfortably too! I've spent the past 2 days digging out my smaller t-shirts...my poor bedroom looks like a badly cared for fitting room...

It's pouring today...hopefully the mugginess will go away. We had cooked out on the grill last night and had the table all set up on the deck and a thunderstorm came in - talk about running back in the house with food! lol

Have a great weekend ladies!

Sarah

Sarah,

How exciting - I long to get back to XL. Maybe by the end of summer?


Ladies, I'm back, and back on track. I hate getting into these moods and falling off the wagon. But I get back on every time. I've gained a few pounds from what I had lost earlier in the year. I was nowhere near my Memorial Day goal, and that depressed me and I didn't want to face it. Last night was one of those epiphanies, and I got up at 5.30a, went to the gym and did 35 minutes on the elliptical, went to Weight Watchers to weigh in and sat through the meeting this time which was very good.

Then DH and I went on the bike trails and biked about 15 miles. The last two miles were tough. Our bike trails are nice - there are benches every so often, mile markers and every once in a while a picnic spot or observation deck. We stopped when we had about five miles to go and chatted, and then we'd started cooling off so starting back up was tough. The last two miles were very tough! We stopped with about a mile to go and drank water and had apples and that got us through. I hope to do it again next weekend - it was great spending a couple hours outdoors!

I am going to go back and read some posts. I am staying offline at work for productivity reasons, but I finally got DSL here at home this past week, so I can come on here in the evenings after work.

Thank you for allowing me back!

Girlie