Never a Dull Moment

I watched snipits of the Royal Wedding. Princess Kate was stunning as expected. Poor Wills is looking old. But they looked happy.

However, as a very recent bride myself, I have to say...I wouldn't switch spots with them for the world. Sure marrying a prince is the stuff fairy tales are made of, but in my eyes my hubby is a prince. So what if he swooped in riding a green Jeep instead of a white horse. And poor Kate can have that overcrowded church. We had fresh air, palm trees, waves crashing and less than 40 people. People that are very important to us.

But I guess it's all about perspective. All I know is the night of my wedding to Gregg, when we finally went to bed, we both agreed that everything was perfect. That we had had the wedding of dreams and we couldn't have been luckier. I hope that tonight when the Prince and Princess go to bed they say the same thing to each other.

The suitcases are packed. All the vendors have been called and confirmed. Everything is ready to go. So why can't I leave now. I can't blieve it is only Wednesday. This week is crawling at a snail's pace.

I am sooo bad at blogging. But I have excuses. I've been trying to get ahead on my assignments for school so that I don't have to do homework on my honeymoon. I've been cleaning and packing for the girls and I for the big trip. And our weekends have been filled with pre-wedding activities.

I have a hard time believing how close our big day is! 2 weeks from today, at this very moment, I will arriving at Smather's Beach and I'll be getting ready to walk down the aisle. Part of me wishes it was today. But part of me doesn't want it to be over. All of me is more excited than I've ever been though.

I've lost somewhere between 10 and 15 pounds. I'm not sure because I've stopped getting on the scale. The dress fits so what do I care about a number on a scale that can't make up it's mind anyway. I'm just going to keep following South Beach from now till the night before the wedding. After the wedding, on the cruise, I'm enjoying every morsel of food they serve because the dinners on these ships are out of this world.

Yesterday I was suppose to work. It's the one Sunday a year they ask me to work for our "BIG" President's Day sale. It's a flop every year and it aggravates me to take the day away from my family. Luckily, this year, one of my managers decided to tell me it wasn't busy enough to need me to come in! THANK YOU for not wasting my time!!

The nice thing about yesterday was it was one of those rare Sundays where we had NOTHING to do. That never happens. Sundays are run Jill to CCD, run to church, then Michelle goes to CCD, then we usual make the hour drive to Gregg's parents', then to the grocery store, then home to get the kids showered and ready for bed. Go, go, go! But since it was the start of the kids' winter break there was no CCD, and we had gone to church on Saturday afternoon so we didn't have to get up early.

So we got up at 9:30am!! Do you have any idea how infrequently I get to sleep in that late? It happens next to never. 7am is sleeping in for me. Anyway, I had a homework asignment to finish but I had been working on it for 2 days so it was just about done. Then Gregg had the great idea to go for a walk. It was beautiful out. A little chilly but the sun and the fresh air felt good. By this time I definitely didn't feel like cooking so we went to the kids' favorite restaurant. They love it because the food is served family style so everyone can try a little something. And it's real home cooked food. Like turkey and fried chicken and fish and chips. So yummy. After dinner we were good boys and girls and went to spend some time with my grandmother. She broke her hip a couple weeks ago and now she's in a rehab recovering. And then it was the best part of the day. By 4:30pm I was parked on the couch catching up on my DVR'd TV shows. It was pure bliss.

While we didn't do anything amazing yesterday it was just such a great day. The girls had fun, we relaxed, I would give anything for everyday to be like yesterday. However, I'm not independently wealthy so I'm at work this week, while Gregg is on vacation, and unfortunately the girls are off for a week with their dad. I know most other couples would jump for the chance to have a week off from their kids. Not us though. We treasure our alone time, but the kids add something to the home. They entertain us with their imaginations. They're good cuddlers on the couch at night. We're gonna miss them this week.

There are only 70 days left to my wedding. I think I'm just about done with my "To Do" list. The dress is hanging up at my parent's house with the bridesmaids' dresses. Cake is ordered. Ceremony is planned, and the sand ceremony jar is ordered. Flights, cruise and hotel are paid for. Presents for the welcome bags are in my basement ready to be put in cute bags for our guests. Gregg's suit is here and ready to go and so is his shirt and the shirts we ordered for the dads and his best man. 70 days is way too far off.

So to make good use of this time I'm trying the HCG diet again. The diet that was the catalyst for me starting this blog. Last time I was miserable on it. So far, this time isn't too bad. My secret? This time I'm not as strict with it. You're not suppose to have alcohol while on this diet. The other night I had a glass of wine because I wanted one. Guess what? I still lost half a pound. So in the first week I've lost 5.8 pounds. Tomorrow morning I'm going to do my measurements so I can see the inches melt off too.

And while we're at it...please pray from my Memere. She went in to surgery for her broken hip at 1pm but she has all kinds of complications so this is scary.

I'm a stalker. I openly admit it. I stalk my friends on Facebook. I stalk their blogs. It's my way of staying part of their lives. WELL...there is one blog I read by someone who is no longer my friend. I have to stop reading it because everytime I do it makes me ill. This person is married to a man that has an ex-wife and daughter. This woman spends 2 out of every 5 blogs bashing the ex-wife. And really with no good reason. Mostly because she can't understand the ex-wife's point of view.

What makes me ill about it, is that I'm an ex-wife. There are times that I make decisions that I know my ex-husband and his soon-to-be wife do not agree with. I know my ex-hubby thinks I'm neurotic and over-protective. But those are my babies. I would seriously curl up and die if anything happened to them. I never want to see them hurting or sad. Especially if it was because of something I did or allowed them to do.

So when she bashes this ex-wife and bad mouths her on the blog. It physically makes me ill. What if Liz (the soon-to-be wife) was bad mouthing me like that. What if she put it out in public like this woman does? What if my kids came across it and saw what she was writing about me? While Liz and I will never be friends, I would hope she would respect me and try to be understanding. I also hope she would never hurt my kids by writing terrible thing about me publicly.

I just had to get that off my chest. Now I'm deleting the bookmark to the blog so that I never ever read it again.

That's it. No more slacking off. The scale has tipped at 185.8. My new official heaviest weight ever. So I'm back to Weight Watchers Online AND MyFitnessPal.com. Hopefully with a few shoves from some dear friends I will get this done.

This weekend was perfect! Friday night we stayed home and had a simple night with the kids. Gregg and Michelle hung the Christmas lights outside, we had a yummy clam boil, and relaxed watching Christmas specials. Saturday we went to see Cinderella's Christmas as part of our niece Sam's birthday party. Later that night, while my kids stay with my future in-laws, Gregg and I caught up with my good friend and her hubby for drinks and dinner in Providence. And Sunday was amazing. After Gregg made a big breakfast and I helped his mom prep for dinner, we headed over to Wickford Village. There we saw Santa come in on a boat accompanied by reindeer in kayaks!!! It was very cool! After a little Christmas shopping with my future sister-in-law we head back to Gregg's parents' house for Hanukkah. Phyllis and I made the latkes. We had matzah ball soup, and brisket, and potatoes, and carrots, and tons of desserts. Gregg's dad and his friends led us in the prayers and the kids lite the Menorah. We even played dreidel. Which is a surprisingly fun game!

My in-laws are wonderful people. They've accepted my children as their own grandchildren. They treat me with such warmth and love. I definitely can see why Gregg is such an amazing person. I am such a lucky girl and my holidays will be merrier than ever this year.

A new month is here! The "holidays" are in full swing. We're one month closer to our wedding. And we're almost into a New Year!

We had a productive Thanksgiving weekend...Thanksgiving with my family on Thursday, a date night on Friday, followed by removing more bushes and putting up a few sections of fence on Saturday, and Thanksgiving with my future in-laws on Sunday. It was a perfect weekend.

Somehow this week we've also managed to get some Christmas decorations outside and the tree up and decorated inside. Oh, AND I have completely finished shopping for my kids and nieces!

So I should be feeling great, right? WRONG!

Why? My life is damn near perfect so shouldn't I be doing cartwheels?

For a longtime now I have wonder if I suffer from a disease. Seasonal Affected Disorder or SAD (how appropriate).

I live in New England where at this time of year we have maybe 7 to 8 hours of daylight per day. Notice I didn't say sun. We don't really see the sun but some days are brighter than others. Anyway since I'm up about 17 hours a day (5am to 10pm) this means MORE than half my day is spent in darkness.

My symptoms are a complete lack of motivation to do anything, I'm tired no matter how much or how well I sleep, and I'm mopey for no reason. Really no reason because there is nothing in my life that I would change right now. Also, I don't feel like this in the summer. In the summer I feel fabulous. I have tons of energy and I'm in a great mood all the time.

So I have pretty much diagnosed myself with SAD. Fortunately I have a friend that has been trying light therapy. Light therapy is very basically when you use a lamp with special lights for 20 minutes or so a day to "give you a boost". She likes it, another friend who lives in a crappy Michigan bought on for herself and is going to try it. I figured what the heck can it hurt. For $30 I might feel better. SOLD!

I'm excited for it to get here so can try it! Let's hope it helps!

I love Thanksgiving! I love it more than Christmas. I love it almost equally with my birthday! Why? Because Thanksgiving is still so pure! They don't start playing Thanksgiving songs 6 months ahead of time on the radio. They don't put Thanksgiving decorations out in stores until after Halloween. And Thanksgiving doesn't try to steal attention from other Holidays.

Funny enough though, I don't really like Turkey. I prefer the dark meat slathered in gravy and I take big helpings of the mashed potatoes, turnips and carrots, and broccoli casserole. Oh and my aunt's stuffing. Mmmm.

I love that my kids don't wake me up at 4am to see what the Pilgrims left them under the Rock. I love that we sit and cuddle to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

I could go on and on for hours. The only thing I dislike is that my kids have to go to their dad's but I certainly understand that he and his family want to see them too.

So here's my short list of what I'm thankful for this year...
1.My beautiful girls. They are so good. Always well behaved and never REALLY give me any trouble.
2. The handsome, warm, generous, loving man that I soon get to call HUSBAND! Since he has come into my life everything is better.
3. My pretty new home. It's cozy and more than I ever dreamed I'd have.
4. My family and my future in-laws. I am surrounded by crazy wonderful people.
5. My friends. Everyday I find out who my true friends are and I am so grateful to have them in my life.
6. Health. Everyone I know is reasonably healthy.
7. A job. While I don't love mine I'm glad that I have one.

I think about where I was a year ago and how much I've gained and accomplished, and it makes me so happy I could cry.

I wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving.

WOW! I haven't blogged since August! There has been so much going on. Let's see...we'll start with the house. It's coming along so nicely. It feels like home. All cozy and warm and cute. Even the landscaping came along nicely. Then there is school. I'm in my 4th term. I have 2 classes each term and I've walked away with 5 A's and one B+ for a GPA of 3.90. This is the best I have ever done in school. Soon-to-be hubby and the kids are great. My oldest played soccer this fall. Gregg and coached her team. They weren't great but it was a lot of fun. My youngest is looking to get involved with a children's theater group. God help me that child is soo much like me. And the wedding is just about completely planned. April 19, 2011 on the beach in Key West. Airplane tickets are bought, the dress is already here, the bridesmaid dresses are ordered, Gregg has a suit, we both have our wedding bands. I just need to do "Welcome Bags" and finish paying for everything. So that's it in a nutshell.

The other morning I got out of bed early to water my plants.

"What is wrong with me?" I thought as I unwound the hose. I proceed to talk to myself as I watered my cute little plants, and the patch of dust that will hopefully eventually be grass. Then it hit me..."Nothing better EVER happen to Gregg or I'll wind up a crazy lady that talks to herself while she gardens." That's right, if something happened to him I'd bury myself in my gardening and my cats. No that's not right, cause I really don't like cats. A dog; I'd have a dog. A big, cuddly, slobbering mutt. That's when I realized...

When I grow up I'm going to be Wheezer.

(For those of you who do not know who that is hide your face in shame.)

Shame on me...it's been over a week since I've posted anything. It's also been a week since I stopped the drops. I was going crazy on them. I don't like chicken to begin with and to ask me to eat it plain for 40 days for at least one meal a day was just getting to be too much. Hey i did 20 days and I lost 12 pounds though. In the last week without the drops I've been fluctuating between 169.2 and 170.8. And that's with having birthday cake, pizza and fried seafood. If I have to do another 20 days I'll do it after my cousins wedding. But I think if I keep eating carefully I can lose a few more pounds between now and then.

Day 17....I have finally hit the 10 pounds gone mark. 170.4. So if we're being technical it's 10.4. HA take that! I've got 23 more days. 155 here I come. That's my new goal. 155 by June 26th. PLEASE, OH PLEASE let this happen.

Day 16...I'm soooo tired of this diet and I've got 24 days to go. Actually the diet doesn't bother me. Losing only 2 ounces after being so good and not cheating is really frustrating me!! I mean what was the point of not having half a mozzarella stick? What was the point of not having BBQ sauce on my pork chop. I liked it better when I was losing a pound a day. This is a lot of work for a little return.

For example, tonight we're leaving right after work to head to Rhode Island to do some snorkeling. The rest of the family is having Subway on the way down. I took the time this morning to pack my chicken and tomatoes. My poor lunch bag is bursting at the seams. I figured if I'm prepared I won't be tempted to cheat. I'd like to see 169 by Friday...chop chop.

It was a long weekend. And I hovered at 172ish. But despite having a slice of pizza, which is a huge no no, I lost again. Luckily, for the next 17 days we will be so busy packing that I won't have time to cheat. By the time we close on the house on June 18th I should weigh 163. By the time of my cousins wedding on June 26, I should weigh 159. I'm going to aim to be 155, but I'll take 159. Let's see if I can do it!

It's working, it's working.

Every moring that I get on the scale and see a loss makes me want to do a happy dance.

That's really all... Well no, not really.

Last night was Michelle's first flute concert. It was amazing. But we got home at 9pm...and after moving the day before we were exhausted.

Tonight we'll do some work at his apartment before we turn the keys over. Then I think we'll keep it light the rest of the weekend. Tomorrow I'd like to sleep late and then do a few light things around my place. Maybe some laundry. Then at night we'll head down to my sister-in-law's for a cookout. My brother is still away at training. She invited friends over for a Summer Kickoff Bash. I'm touched she invited me so we'll make the hour drive to show her that. Sunday we're out early so Gregg can go diving with his dad and then we'll spend the day with his family. And Monday maybe we'll start packing up small things at my house and then spend the day with my family.

And then we have to kick it in high gear because 3 weeks from today is the scheduled closing. I AM SOOOOO EXCITED!!!

I am completely exhausted. We spent all day yesterday, in 90 degree weather, lugging furniture down from Gregg's second floor apartment into Mike's van and over to the storage unit. Thank God Gregg was a big fan of the game Tetris. The storage area is now packed. So it's official. We live together.

And the home inspection went perfect. Our dream home is a dream. So if everything continues to go well we'll be closing on June 18th. That means in a little over a month I'll be living my happily ever after. Well, almost. The wedding is until next April and Gregg hasn't even proposed yet. But it's coming. He was looking a rings again the other day. Actually, I have my suspisions about when it will happen. One guess is after the closing, when we go by the house that night. The other guess is July 9th. That's our 6 month anniversary. But my money is on the closing. We'll see.

Anyway, back to the diet stuff. Day 10 of the drops, day 8 of the VLCD (very low calorie diet). I am down 6.8 or 7.8 pounds depending on which scale you ask. I feel great. I'm actually wearing a dress to work for the first time in months. I've been so bummed out about my weight that I've been wearing jeans and t-shirts to work for at least 2 or 3 months now. So it's working. And it's not as hard as I thought it would be. I cheat a little bit here and there. I had one cracker and one piece of cheese the other night. Yesterday had 2 potato chips. But that's it. I kill the craving and move on. I bring a lunch cooler with me EVERY where I go. This way I'm not stuck. Because that's when it will all fall apart. This morning when I looked in the mirror I could see a difference. I've got 29 more days to go. Can you imagine if I lost a pound a day? I'd weigh 145. Even if I only lost 1/2 a pound a day. I'd weight 158. Ok I like the idea of losing a pound a day better. Weighing 145 would make me very happy. As a matter of fact, I wouldn't care if I lost another pound after that.

So everything is coming together. Slowly but surely. Now if i could just get my ex husband to act like an adult then my life would be perfect. But I've come to the conclusion that he will do his best to be a thorn in my side forever, and I'm going to do my best to ignore him. At least I'll be thinner, have a beautiful home, a handsome husband that adores me and is helpful and considerate and wonderful. Two gorgeous daughters that bring me so much joy and pride that I could burst. Life is better than good.

Check me out. Down 4 lbs since I started this. I'm not starving. Sometimes it presents a challenge cooking for the family. Like right now I'm suppose to order meat from the butcher but I have no idea what to order. I wish my kids ate more seafood. Then there would be more choices...but oh well. I'm already on Day 7. I can do this. Especially if I keep losing this kind of weight.

On the homefront, it's quiet. We've got Gregg almost all packed. We're taking Wednesday off to get his furniture out of his apartment. He'll be out of there this weekend and then we can start packing me up. This part is not fun. But we picked out the tile for the bathroom floor. I love it! That is fun. I can't wait to pick out the paints. To me, that's fun too. And I won't mind cleaning there though because then I'll be moving in.

Gregg and I took a walk to the new house last night. We walked around it talking about where to put the swingset and what to do with the huge bushes that cover the house. It was nice to stand in our yard and daydream. We're getting close though.

Home inspection tomorrow. That makes me nervous. Obviously, we're not independently wealthy so if there is anything major that is wrong we'll have to walk away. And I don't want to walk away. I'm just gonna keep praying about it.