The Tow Family Adventures

Movin' on up

2011-03-19T00:48:00.000-04:00

I've got a new home! You can now ~~stalk~~ visit me here.

Ladies night

2011-03-18T07:13:00.001-04:00

I heard on the radio this morning that a local station is hosting a ladies night somewhere. I didn't catch all the details...

All I heard was "ladies night" and "make the bed contest...."

Ahhh....what lady wants to make a bed on her big night off? Is this some kind of joke? If you win the contest your prize is a mattress.

Woop-di-doo!

Not to be funny here, but I don't like making the bed on a regular day let alone doing it at a bar on a ladies night out for "fun." My inner feminist is telling me this is sexist.

I'm pretty sure that on guys night they have wet t-shirt and bikini contests. I'd like to see guys have a "make the bed" contest and see how many of them actually show up and participate.

This is BLASPHEMY, I tell you!

Bad mommy move #3471

2011-03-16T21:53:00.000-04:00

My little munchkin-poo is addicted to paper. I mean, she only has a thousand toys, but she would rather play with a napkin over her $100 bouncer.

$70 play mat? No, thanks. Let me chew on that magazine, please!

What's the deal? In a desperate moment today, I let her play with a paper towel while I washed dishes.

Let me preface by saying that I was supervising her the whole time....

So, during this "time" (approx. 7 min), I started thinking crazy thoughts like how to market paper towels for babies. Who needs expensive baby toys when you can make ‘specially soft paper towels for any baby's chewing pleasure? I could put brain stimulating images of bright colors as patterns without any chemical dyes. I could use vegetable or fruit juices! Yes! And this could equal a day's fruit/vegetable serving. Genius!

As I reveled in my ingenious idea and gave myself a mental pat on the back, I glance over at my angel to see a funny look on her face. I walk over and notice a huge wad of paper towel in her mouth just seconds from being swallowed/choked on.

Hmmmm.....finger sweep- positive, mommy points- negative.

Way to go giving my baby a potential choking hazard. And they pay me to teach Early Childhood Education....Oh, and I'll be paid even more next year as the newly appointed department head...

PS- I'm super behind posting Jamie's 5 month update. I'll get it done by the end of the week, I promise!!

Well that explains it!

2011-03-15T07:56:00.001-04:00

Let's just say that while cleaning Boos' litter box I figured out why he was throwing up so much last Tuesday. Think large, thick rubber band. Where he got that from, I'll never know. But, I'll be hiding the rubber bands from here on out.....

Also, I was running late yesterday morning and didn't get a chance to make myself some coffee. In a desperate attempt for caffeine, I stopped by the McDonald's on my way to work for a McCafe (sugar-free vanilla, yum!).

Let me preface this by saying that I don't exactly live in a town of hundreds. There are thousands of people in the area I live in and I was in the next town over. I also don't eat fast food regularly. In fact, I can't even remember going to this McDonald's since before I had the baby....

Anywho, I order my precious liquid gold (brown ?) and when I pull up to the window the girl is says,

"Hey! How's the baby? How did the labor go? We haven't seen you in a while!"

Hmpf. Maybe me daily morning egg mcmuffin crave while I was pregnant went on a little longer than I thought.

Excuse me while I go hop on my new Gazelle for the next two hours. (Yes, I bought a Gazelle. You're jealous, aren't you!) :-)

I didn't marry a gringo to have paper flowers...

2011-03-12T01:18:00.000-05:00

What do Elsa Patton, Steven Tyler, Donatella Versace, Tori Spelling, and Daisy De la Hoya have in common??

They all look like my old muppet friend, Janice!

Am I right, or am I right?

If you agree, go here to vote for my Elsa look-alike.

**All images from cheezburger.com

What's going on?!

2011-03-10T07:46:00.001-05:00

I really can't believe I've been so neglectful on updating this blog lately. I really have so much to say, yet I have so very little time it seems.

School has been a little stressful. Not in a horrible, "I don't want to go to work" kind of way, but enough that I'm exhausted with brain fog when I get home. Right now I'm pretty behind on grading, I'm dealing with some major behavior issues at the high school level, and I'm trying to put the kibosh on one of my most favorite infectious diseases (pink eye) in the preschool.

We had a little scare with my precious Boo Boo Bear no Tuesday night. Starting at around 3:15 pm he started throwing up. I didn't think much of it, cause he's a cat, a mischievous one at that, and I figured he had a hairball or he swallowed a weird plant or ribbon or something. But, he kept throwing up all night. At around 8 pm I started to get worried cause he had vomited at least 10-12 times and he seemed to not feel well. So, we took him to the emergency vet to find out that he was a little dehydrated and had some pain in the abdomen/kidney area. An x-ray determined he didn't have a blockage and his organs seemed fine. So, they gave him so fluids, an anti-nausea, and a pain killer and sent us home. He's been doing fine, although yesterday you could still tell he wasn't 100% he did eat a little. The weirdest thing about his behavior is that he's a giant 16 pound cat and he's not begging for food. He's kind of like me in that way....if I'm not eating, then you know I must be really sick. The vet thinks he may just have a little viral kitty flu or a bout of pancreatitis. M poor baby Boo!!

On a really very random note, I have an idea for an invention. Today, it is storming pretty bad, and of course my car was outside in the rain this morning....so, my question here is "what is the point of an umbrella keeping you dry to your car, if when you get in the car you have to drag it across your body to the other seat and thereby drenching yourself?" No. Really!! I'm not even trying to be funny here. I was SOAKING wet from this mere little action this morning. You know, it's these type of things that get my right side of the brain going and get me thinking things like they need to come up with an environmentally-safe, dry-keeping, disposable umbrella that I can just toss on the ground by the car when I get in. Know what I mean? Wouldn't that be awesome? It could just disentigrate after a few hours or something....

I'm just sayin'....

TV talk and such

2011-03-07T23:46:00.000-05:00

One: I can't believe I'm watching the Bachelor again. I promised myself after Jason Mesnick that I would never watch this show again and yet here I am watching the Women Tell All for Brad Womack and I'm totally enthralled. Totally. Girl drama is kind of awesome. Michelle's a hot mess, and I love it.

Two: Anyone watching the Real Housewives of Miami? Ok, I'll just tell you the truth right now and let you know that I've watched two episodes of this season and I'm not at all interested in these woman. Not one tiny bit. BUT, I'm totally addicted to Cruella, er, I mean Elsa Patton.

I don't know...there's something about those painted on eyebrows and the glass of wine that is perpetually in her hands. She's like the Chesire cat.

Hmmm....her face does almost look like it's melting off, though. Isn't she delicious?!?

Three: I'm so sad Arthur got booted off the Biggest Loser Couples this season. So, so sad. :(

Four: Anyone watching the new Bethenny season? Should I be watching this?

Five: Oh. my. God. I'm still watching this stupid Women Tell All episode of the Bachelor and I think I just threw up in my mouth a little. Who is this Michelle person?? *heave*

Random side note that doesn't have to do with t.v.: I can't believe I'm going to admit this because I am a Lady Gaga fan, but I don't like her new Born Free song. I really really don't. I think it sounds like a Madonna spin-off. It just doesn't get me going in the mornings. With that said, I'm loving the new Enrique song. I never ever thought I would say that out loud. But there it is. I do really love his new song. Humphf!

Mommy-Butt Monday Over and Out!

2011-03-07T23:22:00.000-05:00

Well, lucky you. This is the last time I post about my mommy-butt...

Looks like somebody lost all 60 of her baby weight! I can even wear my wedding ring and everything. Very exciting!

Anywho, I really could continue on with these shenanigans, but it's starting to get redundant. I think I've accepted the fact that although my old jeans fit me, I've got one hell of a muffin top. I'm told that's going to take longer than the 5 months I've allotted myself. Actually, if I'm honest here, I only allotted myself 3 months, but it took me longer than that as you all know.

So, I relieve you of my mommy-butt ramblings. I've still got more to lose thanks to the fertility treatments and all, but let's not beat a dead horse. Know what I mean?

On a side note, though...thank God my cankles are gone. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Apparently my champagne taste does not extend to wine

2011-03-04T23:02:00.000-05:00

I've been in a *real* funk this past week, hence my inability to blog much these days. I think it's a combination of still not feeling 100% since my bronchitis, still being a little pissed at Chester about the "new" diet, some monster stuff at school, and just pure working mommy exhaustion.

The last two times I've gone to the grocery store I have literally wandered up and down the aisle's lost. I mean, the fact that I can't eat any green vegetables is just absurd. So, on my most recent grocery trip I went to the register with a small organic butternut squash, two large organic sweet potatoes, and 5 bottles of wine. Yes, five. Because, that is only thing on the diet I know I can have. Ok, let me explain I'm not some kind of alchi. What happened here is that the diet is specific about what wines I can have. One of them is the Beaujolais. I've never had that kind of wine, so I picked up a bottle that looked interesting. And, next to that was a Pinot Noir, and I've been meaning to try a Pinot Noir. So, I got one of those little goodies that was on sale. As I went on my way down the aisle I saw one of my most favorite table wines, Josef Weinberg Sweet Red. SO, I got three bottles of that one...

Alright, one day I saw some wine on sale (my now new fav: Josef Weinberg Sweet Red), and I bought one. I L-O-V-E-D it. I mean truly adored it. One night Matt stopped at Total Wine on his way home from work and asked if I wanted anything, so I told him about this little gem I found. Well, when he got home he tells me that Total Wine had no freaking idea what I was talking about and that they didn't even have Josef Weinberg in their computer system. I went all over the Internet trying to figure out this mess and figured out that they only sell this wine at SweetBay and Food Lion.Yes, because it's cheap. I should have known from the $5.99 sale price and the screw off top that this wasn't exactly an elegant table wine.

Honestly, I think there are worst things in life than enjoying cheap wine. Right? So, I got three of those when I saw them cause, well, I was excited about it!

On another tangent, school has been just a little stressful for me. I guess not in the sense of real stressful situations, but in my little world I've been stressed. For one, we have a little boy who is obsessed with monsters. So obsessed that he walks around growling at people and pushing them. Because, as he tells me, he is a "monster and monsters are mean". So, I've tried explaining to him that monsters don't come to school, but he's not buying what I'm selling. Anyone have any ideas on this? It's really starting to become a problem as we have several children who are now terrified of him, and one specifically who now cries from the minute her mother leaves until about 30 minutes before her mother gets there (so, yeah- like 3 and a half hours). This isn't helping my residual sinus headache. Where's my cheap wine when I need it???

The high school students aren't acting any better right now, either. One in particular has been giving me some grief. I got an email from her mother the other day saying that she understood there was "some friction" between me and her daughter. I actually had to stop and think a minute about what she was talking about. And then I realized she must be talking about the death stare her daughter gives me whenever I speak to her.

Here's me: "L, let's look over your folder assignments and see where you are so I can give you some goals for next week."

My student: *silence* Shooting dagger eyes straight towards my heart

Soooooo...that's a little mystery I'm still trying to figure out. In the meantime, I'll just chalk it up to teen stuff, or pms, or something...(pass the wine, please).

Anyway, with all that said this truly has not been a terrible week. I really do have a great life and an amazing job I love. There are some really great things in store for me in the near future regarding my job and I will blog about that on another day. I'm just not ready to talk about it, yet.

Also, let us not forget that I get to come home to the most amazing and beautiful little girl. I'm so happy I'm a mother. It makes everything else so small and just not matter. I can have a terrible day and come to her smile and I forget about everything else. I can't complain about my life. I've been given the best gift from God.

Well, actually I do have one complaint. Why doesn't Josef Weinberg have his Sweet Red in a box??

Mommy-Butt Monday Week....whatever!!

2011-02-28T22:30:00.001-05:00

I honestly forgot to weigh myself today, so I don't know where I'm at today. I could go weigh myself right now, but I don't feel like it.

Anyhow, it doesn't really matter cause even if I lost a pound or two, I still have more weight to lose....

SO....let's table this for next week when I'm in a better mood.

I'm kind of feeling funky lately. I think it has a lot to do with Chester breaking my heart. That, and my raging post baby hormones. These hormones are wreaking havoc on my hair and face! I swear I'm losing hair so fast I have bald spots. Pedro confirmed my fears on Saturday but assured me my hair will grow back. To be on the safe side, I bought myself some biotin tonight.

Oh, and I am becoming infiltrated by grey hairs. Premature grey runs in my family, so I've always obsessively checked for greys, but now that I'm seeing them I'm freaking out like crazy. I've been plucking every little grey in quite the OCD way.

I don't think this is helping the hair loss situation.

Pffffsssssstttttt!!!

Thoughts on Teen Pregnancy

2011-02-23T22:05:00.000-05:00

Before you start running, this is not a serious post.

Not that teen pregnancy isn't serious. I take the topic very seriously, which is why I assigned my students this topic for their reflection books this week. They were to find an article on teen pregnancy, summarize it, and then give me their personal thoughts on the matter.

I got a lot of responses like, "Teen Pregnancy is bad," and "Teens who get pregnant are stupid and will ruin their whole lives."

But one reflection in particular stood out to me.

"I want 8 kids one day. But, not until I finish college and get married. The best birth control is aspirin. You put it in between your legs and hold on tight."

I didn't realize there were other uses for aspirin, but that's not a bad idea....

I responded, "Ha! You are very funny. You do know that doesn't really work, riiiiggghhtt??!?!"

I did give her lady bug sticker for that...

We're going to the Fair....

2011-02-22T21:57:00.001-05:00

*title sang to the tune of the "Alachua county fair" (my gator girls know what I'm talking about!)*

It's no secret that Matt and I are big time Fair farers. I mean, all you have to do is search for fair on the top of this blog and you'll find posts describing the fried food on a stick I've consumed, me being a gullible chump at the fair, and various ginormous stuffed animals Matt has won in the previous years. We go multiple times. Yep. Actually, we were supposed to go last weekend, but remember I was so sick I couldn't walk down the stairs or stand up without getting all woozy, so we had to reschedule for this past weekend. We went twice in one weekend. What??

In case you haven't noticed Matt has the gift of winning all Fair games. Jamie had a plethora of fair toys before she was even born. This year Matt won her a Hello Kitty and fuzzy white Bear.

But that's not all Matt won. Actually, Matt once kept his streak going and won the largest prize at the Fair. Twice. Because, we went twice, remember?

Here's Matt and the largest prize at the Florida State Fair.....

And again...

Lovely, isn't it? So lovely, we quickly ~~pawned it off~~ gave it to the "luckiest" kid standing near us. I mean, I really don't think you can have enough Giant Rasta Man Banana's, but I didn't want to be greedy, you know?

As you can see, Jamie really enjoyed the Fair.

She especially loves sitting like a big girl in her stroller. Notice she likes to prop the feet up on the tray...

Who is this sassy girl, anyway? Sometimes I think I gave birth to a teenager. Baby's prop their feet up, really?

You'll be proud to know that I kept my fried food on a stick mantra again. This year I had chicken on a stick. But, that's it folks! I didn't eat the fried twinky on the stick in lieu of the hot waffle ice cream sandwich with strawberries on top. Heavenly. I'm pretty sure it's not on my low oxalate diet. Or any diet, for that matter.

Mommy-Butt Monday Week 7

2011-02-21T13:57:00.000-05:00

Weight gain/loss: 0

Skinny Jean status: Grrrrrr!!!

We went to the fair on Friday. And Sunday.

Enough said.

except, hot waffle ice cream sandwich with strawberries on top....yuuummm!!!

Butterfly down!

2011-02-17T21:38:00.000-05:00

I think I mentioned in an earlier post that we have butterflies in the preschool right now (along with my little lovelies)...

Anyhow, one of the little girls came up to the other teacher in my room and told her she thought one of the butterflies was dead.

When she was asked why, she responds:

"Because it looked like this," while lying on the floor on her back and sticking her arms and legs straight up.

Guess what??? She was right. The butterfly was dead....

I do love me some 4 year old humor!

Someone get this man a murse!

2011-02-17T07:24:00.000-05:00

This morning I woke up a little grumpy. I went to bed later than usual, so I was tired. Because I was tired I was running late (well, that's relative since I get to work early- so basically it means I was on time). When I went to make my lunch, I realized I left my lunch bag at school the day before...you know, just one of those no good mornings where everything is going wrong.

In the car on the way to school, I was annoyed cause there were no good songs on the radio. I stopped at a station when I heard something going on in Sarasota. Apparently, a homeless man was arrested last week. When they sent him to jail they found a condom in his "no go" place, as the radio station called it. Inside the condom there were 30 items!!!!!

Items found:
17 blue pills
an intact cigarette
6 matches
lip balm
another condom ( I think they said unused, but I'm not sure if it was in the wrapper)
an empty syringe with an eraser on the top of the needle
a CVS receipt
a coupon (they weren't sure for what, hopefully it was for a wallet, or lube)
a flint (I'm not sure what this is, is this to strike the matches on?)

Ummmmmm.....ok, ouch! I'm alternating between laughing hysterically and being horrified. I'm wondering how long that was in there for....is it because these were his prized possessions and he was homeless and needed a safe place to put them? Did he do this right before he went to jail?

The radio host commented that he should be nominated for the Guinness Book of World Records...or maybe be a spoke person for Trojan. At the very least, someone get this man a murse! I hear they're quite metro these days.

Look...even Hugh Jackman uses one!

image via the webs

Article can be found here.

The day Chester broke my heart

2011-02-15T23:57:00.002-05:00

One thing I had to look forward to today was an appointment with my Urologist, ~~Chester~~ Dr. Wilmot, to discuss what they came up with from my kidney stone analysis. I went ahead and squeezed in an appointment with my PCP to get my ears checked out cause I swore I had an ear infection, plus a couple other little tmi things I needed to discuss.

Since I know you are all on bated breath to get my diagnoses I'll just go ahead and tell you I have Bronchitis. Apparently, a sinus infection can turn into bronchitis if not treated quickly enough. Awesome... Z-pack here I come. I haven't had Bronchitis since before I had my tonsils taken out (at age 20)... or the z-pack.

Anyway, regarding Chester....I saw him after the PCP. He let me know very jovially that the kidney stone was made of calcium oxalate and that it was monohydrate...yah. I thought the same thing, "what the hell is that?" Basically it means the stones are really hard. The hardest kind you can get, which is why mine hurt so bad. Nice!

Then he hands me the "Low Oxalate" diet and "gently suggests" that I eat that for, let's say, the rest of my life.

A quick glance at the 16 pages of "off limit" foods and my smile begins to fade really fast.

Here's the gist- it's everything I eat and love...except wine...

Right, so on the "no" list are things like potatoes, pretzels, beer, pepper, soy sauce, beans (inc. green), oatmeal, popcorn, strawberries, tangerines, all soy products, wheat, chocolate....the list goes on and on and on and on....did you see Chocolate on the "no" list. Yep. Chocolate. Chocolate.

I say, "Chester, this is very sad."

And Chester says, "Yes it is."

Ok, I didn't call him Chester. I respectfully called him Dr. Wilmot, but if he said I could call him Chester, I would. It just rolls off the tongue nicely, you know.

Meet Chester. The man who took my chocolate away and consequently broke my heart the day after Valentine's day.

You break my heart, Chester!

My Funny Valentine

2011-02-15T22:56:00.000-05:00

On Valentine's day I came home to these beauties...

And this cutie...

I made a dinner of salmon, rice, and broccoli, one of Matt's favorites. I also got him Godiva truffles, as Matt loves him some Godiva. Who doesn't though?? It was a lovely and quiet Valentine's Day at home and it was perfect! Valentine's day is so much better now that I have two!

The two best Valentine's a girl could ask for...

And because I couldn't help myself....here is one of Jamie's 4 month pics I had done at JC Penny. I totally hijacked this onto the nets. I hope JCP doesn't sue me...oops...but, can you blame me, CAN YOU?

PS- I'm totally going to use this as blackmail when Jamie starts dating...

A visit from the Sea Monkey Stork

2011-02-14T08:55:00.000-05:00

I almost forgot to mention that I was gifted with at least 6 little baby sea monkey lovelies over the weekend! Imagine my surprise when I found them swimming in their little pirate tank this morning! I say "at least 6" because I start going cross-eyed if I look for too long or too hard.

Not bad for a girl who can't keep any plants or fish alive for longer than a week!

Also, I think I've bred a Queen Sea Monkey cause she's got a headdress of sorts that the others don't. Or, maybe it's long luxurious flowing sea monkey gill hair from the Vitamin's and Banana Treat's I've been giving them. (*pats on back*)

Happy Valentine's...er..Chocolate... Day!

2011-02-14T08:21:00.000-05:00

Happy indeed, because I made it out of bed today after a weekend of fever, chills, aches, sore throat, and more...

Actually the weekend was pretty terrible because we ended up having to cancel a lot of fun plans we had for the weekend because of my illness. Poor Matt was stuck inside all weekend taking care of the baby while I got over whatever I have. Thank goodness I have an amazing husband who is willing and able to care for our child during times like this when I can barely walk down the stairs. I don't know what I would I have done without him and my mom! My mom was sweet enough to bring me over tea and chicken broth and give Matt a break for an hour on Saturday. I'm one lucky lucky girl.

I'm also counting my blessings that there is no school for the kids today. That means that while I'm not 100% better today, I can still go to work and not feel like death with children screaming at me. Hopefully I get all this out of my system before the kids return tomorrow.

Anywho, I hope everyone has a wonderful day full of love and chocolate. Or at least chocolate. Well, except if you love chocolate, then love would still be in the equation...so, yeah...love and chocolate. OR love of chocolate. Whatever. As long as there is chocolate in the world.... (can you tell I'm on a diet?)

Mommy-Butt Monday Week 6

2011-02-14T08:09:00.000-05:00

Weight gain/loss: -2

Skinny Jean status: We're getting there...

Well, I'll start out by saying that I didn't make it to my personal goal for Valentine's day. BUT, I'm very excited about where I'm at and how far I've come since giving birth.

Stats:
After giving birth I lost an immediate 37 pounds in 2 weeks.

Since Nov. 2 I have lost 20 pounds.

Total weight loss = 57 pounds!!

Only a few more pounds to my starting pregnancy weight, and 15 more to where I was before the IVF. My old jeans are getting closer and closer within reach!

Not AGAIN!!

2011-02-11T20:23:00.000-05:00

Back in December Matt started a ring of illness (just a cold) that lasted us throughout Christmas to New Years.

In January when I went back to school Jamie and I got another cold. A quick visit to the pediatrician confirmed it was a second cold, not the same lingering cold as in December.

Then early this week Jamie starts sounding a little raspy on Monday and would randomly cry out in pain in the morning while swallowing. I deducted that she had a sore throat. And I must be right, because now I do, too...and I feel like crap. I have an achy body, chills and all (even my hair hurts). Perfect for taking care of an infant by yourself while your husband is working.

It took me close to 30 minutes to change the sheets on her crib.

Is this some kind of new trend ....to get sick once a month?

Cause, I'm not having it...

And, I'm not even going to go into the poop issues we have going on here in the Tow house. I promised myself I wouldn't blog about poop once I became a mom so the poop stories from this week are going to remain mum. Although, I'm pretty sure I just typed poop five times. Poop.

PS- the sickies must be catching cause I've lost two Sea Monkey's this week. We now have 3, and I'm pretty sure they are all females. So much for my cupid's arrow.

What you might not realize about teenagers and what I've learned from teaching high school

2011-02-09T14:09:00.001-05:00

You know, people ask me all the time what it's like teaching high school and always report that they would never be able to do it. Or, most tell me they would prefer younger children.

I'm going to let you in on a little secret...

They aren't any different than little kids except that they have a sometimes, not always, better vocabulary.

Proof:

I have a regular weekly reading assignment. Students are given a topic every week in which they have to research an article and write a summary and reflection on it. Many of my students don't take this assignment seriously and most of these reflections are pathetic.

Last week I decided to put little lady bug stickers on the ones that followed directions and turned their assignments in on time.

Response:

My students clamoring for stickers and wanting to know why they didn't get one if they didn't.

Result:
100% of my students turned in (on-time) very much improved reflections.

Who would've thunk that an itsy bitsy little lady bug sticker would prompt 14-18 year olds to turn in an assignment on time??

PS- From my research, I'm pretty sure we have 3 female and 2 male little lovelies in our Sea Monkey tank. And, no...the cupid's arrow did not work. I'm such an airhead...or maybe their waiting for Valentine's Day...

A Lovelie casualty!!

2011-02-07T09:55:00.000-05:00

Last week I reported that I had 5 little sea monkey lovelies in the tank when I got to school. Well, I was wrong. There were 6. Until today.

The teacher I co-teach with was showing the sea monkey's to a student and the tank slid from her hands!!! Fortunately, we only lost one. So, we're back to 5. Beware the sea monkey tank! It's not exacly stable.

On another note, my little lovelies are getting quite large. This morning I put some cupid's arrow, in light of the upcoming holiday, so they could get their grooves on and make some sea monkey babies. I'll be interested to see if this actually works or I if I just fell for yet another scam.

I can be quite naive despite my sarcasm.

Mommy-Butt Monday Week 5

2011-02-07T09:22:00.000-05:00

Weight gain/loss: -5!!
Skinny Jean status: Negative, bleh!

Ok, so I was doing awesome with the weight loss until January when I hit a HUGE plateau (only 1 pound weight loss! Boo!). Obviously, I needed to make some changes so I took a long hard look at what was going on and tried to look at the whole picture (something I'm not very good at!)

Here's what I learned about myself:

I am not a dieter. I am a restricter.

This is HUGE news. See, I've always been able to lose the pesky 5-10 pounds that have creeped up on me here and there by just restricting calories for a little bit. I have been able to lose weight easily like that for years. I did that initially for my baby weight-loss and it worked great for a while. The problem is, I realize, is that it only works in the short term and for a few pounds. I gained a lot of weight in my pregnancy and before hand from fertility treatments. Losing 50 pounds by restricting alone is damn near impossible.

So I did some research and I chose a diet that I thought would work for me and my lifestyle. Now, those of you who know me well, know that I am a carb lover. So, those atkins type diets or low carb messes are nearly impossible for me. In college I survived off what I called the "5 P's" (potatoes, pickles, popsicle's, pasta, and pretzel's). Not the healthiest diet, but I was skinny so obviously it wasn't carbs making me gain weight.

In typical "Suzanne-style" I did what any carb addicted girl would do, and I started the Carb Lover's Diet. Ok, I know you're on the floor laughing at me right now, but I'm telling you that the diet said you will lose up to 6 pounds in one week. I lost 5. So, something is working, right? Anyhow, it's not like what you think. I'm not running around eating donuts and pounds of pasta. BUT, I can eat baked potato chips, and even wine is on the diet if I substitute it as a snack. I will tell you that any diet that allows me to drink wine (and coffee) and eat potato chips is especially made for me!!

Normally, I don't follow exact diet plans as far as the foods and recipes they list, but I did this time. It was super easy. I was full- I couldn't always finish my food or eat all the allotted snacks. I love the food choices and I didn't feel like I was starving or restricting some of my favorite foods (I even had a sliver of my football cake last night with my wine!).

Can I tell you how psyched I am?!?! Do you think the Carb Lover's people will pay me to blog about this? Cause I will seriously talk about this diet all day long if it gets me to my goal weight.

Which reminds me....I'm only a couple of pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight!!!! Woo-hoo!!!

PS- I have normally been working out every week. I didn't this last week only cause I was having some knee pain and I was taking it easy, and I still lost 5 pounds. This week I'm going to throw in the exercise again.

PPS- The only drawback of this diet is that it really requires that you eat a banana every day, and I really can't stand bananas, BUT, I have been making banana smoothies every morning for breakfast and I've been able to tolerate that if I add some cinnamon to it to hide the taste. Did you know that cinnamon is a natural metabolizer booster? Extra perk!

Super Bowl Sunday

2011-02-06T20:39:00.000-05:00

Ok, let's be honest...I don't give two shits about the Super Bowl. The only time I care about football is when the Gators play.

BUT, it is the perfect excuse to make a football cake!

OMG, I also thought the Black Eyed Pea's halftime show was the best EVER! I mean, Slash and Usher made surprise visits. It doesn't get any better than that! Well....except when Justin Timberlake flashed Janet's nip and the Bucs won....

Please disregard...

2011-02-05T12:42:00.002-05:00

the wonkiness of my blog right now. I'm currently trying to freshen things up. New design coming soon!

Alrighty, I'm ready to confess!

2011-02-03T18:44:00.003-05:00

Listen, back in August I was very pregnant and very hot and I let my passive aggressiveness once again take over me while I posted a countdown till "Stinky McFat Gut" left my house. Many of you were very confused and ~~Matt~~ some people thought I was being mean. 6 months later I'm ready to confess and reflect on what happened, although I will continue to preserve identities.

See, we had a house guest (Stinky McFat Gut) who was supposed to help us out while Matt had his surgeries and I was all ~~fat~~ big and pregnant. Everything started out wonderful, like a beautiful bouquet of roses, until we came home from the hospital of Matt's first surgery.

It started with one weird comment here and then another weird comment there. I didn't know him very well, so I couldn't tell if this was some awkward type of sarcasm, or he really was a pompous pig (<------this one), but I didn't like it. Now, I know you're thinking that it was my house and why not say something, right? Well, every time he would make a weird ass comment I would think I would address it, but he'd be fixing the kitchen sink faucet, or changing the curtain rods I've been meaning to change the last three years, or finally patching that whole in the living room wall. It was so frustrating!! ARGH! I mean, how can you do such nice things for us and yet still be such an asshole?

It was brought to my attention that perhaps my pregnancy hormones were making me a little more ~~bitchy~~ sticky on the situation than I would normally be...so, I used this blog to countdown the days until Stinky was gone and then let it drop.

So, now that I'm post partum over 4 months and the pregnancy hormones are pretty much gone right? I'd like to say that I....

still.feel.the.same!

YEP! I'm so happy he's gone and he's still Stinky McFat Gut as far as I'm concerned! no, I'm not vicious, I'm just honest! ppppffffsssstt!

Really, though. "Stinky" was stinky and he liked to walk around the house with no shirt and just boxers on with his "McFat Gut" hanging out. Hence his nickname.

He also, besides making rude comments to me daily, ate all my food, never pitched in for groceries, used all my detergent, never pitched in for that either, left dishes in the sink, and beer cans all over the place. The guest room and guest bathroom smelled horrific. He had a really annoying baby voice he liked to use when speaking to Matt. He acted like a child. He was extremely narcissistic (picture of himself flexing on his dresser). He liked to "talk the talk" but never "walked the walk," which in my opinion made him a liar and bragger on many accounts.

So, do you really want to know how I feel?

I think it's safe to say Stinky McFat Gut is no longer a welcome guest in our home.

And, no.... It wasn't the pregnancy hormone. He was just a douche.

Food for Thought for you Chocolate Lovers

2011-02-03T06:52:00.000-05:00

Put "eat chocolate" at the top of your list of things to do today. That way, at least you'll get one thing done.

More Passive Aggressiveness from Yours Truly

2011-02-02T12:43:00.004-05:00

Once again, I'm in danger of getting myself in trouble on here by posting yet another thing that's driving me crazy, but I can't help it! I have to vent because I was SO furious today at something that happened at school.

Most of you know that besides teaching high school kids, I run a preschool with another teacher. Today was my day in the preschool and I thought everything was running pretty smoothly for my first time back in since last September. Until I got this email that is....

"Dear Mrs. Tow,

Do those Little Spongers HAVE to SCREAM? Can they just yell or talk loud. The screaming hurts.

Thanks,

------"

Um , really? They are 3-5 years old. YES, they have to scream. They use indoor voices inside and outdoor voices outside or else we'd all go crazy if we didn't let their energy out somehow. And they were not screaming like they were hurt. It was gleeful little kid playing screams with giggles, you know what I mean?

So I responded:

"Dear Mrs. ------,

Do you HAVE to be such a BITCH? Can you just be nice and not complain about innocent children? Your bitchiness infuriates me.

Thanks,

Mrs. Tow"

*GASP* No, I DIDN'T! I said this instead:

"Mrs. ------,

I apologize for the inconvenience. I have gone outside and asked the High School teachers to please watch that the little ones don’t scream. They are children, however, so I can’t promise there still won’t be some screaming.

Thanks,

Mrs. Tow"

Someone talk me off this ledge....

Baby Fever!!!

2011-02-01T22:44:00.002-05:00

You'll never believe this...c'mon now- No, I'm NOT pregnant!

So we have some very close friends of the family that has two daughters (Marisa and Lara) we grew up with. We were really excited last year when we found out both of them were pregnant and due within 10 days of each other.

My sister's neighbor, Ligia, also found out she was pregnant and due just a few days before them.

Respective due dates:
Ligia- Jan. 31
Marisa- Feb. 3
Lara- Feb. 13

Anyway, I called my sister yesterday afternoon to see how some of her interviews are going when she tells me she's in the hospital. Ligia's water broke the night before and since her husband is a pilot, he wasn't home to take her to the hospital. My sister took her and stayed with her through the birth of her little boy, George, who was born around 10:30 am.

As if that wasn't excitement enough, she gets a call from Marisa that Lara had her little girl, Morgan, earlier that morning.

Two babies in one day!

We couldn't believe it...until this morning....when we find out Marisa ended up going into labor later that afternoon and had her little girl, Ella, in the late evening.

Three babies in one day!

We're so excited! How crazy is that? Especially two sisters having their first babies, both girls, on the same day. AMAZING!

Anyway, I can't wait to see some pictures of all that baby goodness. I still can't believe all three babies came on the same day. Too crazy!

Oh, and did I mention we're having a new little niece coming in June. Jamie is going to have a little girl cousin just 9 months younger than her and we can't wait!

Looks like 2011 is another year of babies!

5 little lovelies

2011-01-31T09:33:00.002-05:00

I got to school to find 5 little baby lovelies swimming in the tank.

I don't know what to think of this. I'm very perplexed.

How did this happen?

Did the Fairy Sea Monkey come down and bestow me with more babies since there's a 2 year life span (supposedly) on these little monsters?

I suppose these are gifts of the after life as I'm assuming one of my previous pets left eggs before their spirits left this worldly dimension.

Whatever it is, the preschoolers are back from break today and were happy to see the butterflies and sea monkey's at school.

All is well in the world again (except for the part where I'm now more terrified than ever of these tiny sea creatures.)

Mommy-Butt Monday Week 4

2011-01-31T09:29:00.002-05:00

Weight gain/loss: err.....not sure!
Skinny Jean status: Negative, I'm sure!

Ok, I cheated this week and didn't weight myself. I have a VERY good reason why, though...and if you are female and think hard enough you'll know what I mean. I don't think it's fair to weigh myself under those circumstances. You just can't count that, right? or I'm making excuses for myself cause I pigged out on my staycation this weekend- which I again blame on my female dilemma...

The Giggle Monster

2011-01-30T21:11:00.003-05:00

FYI- that annoying noise in the background is my mother snorting to make the baby laugh. Ha!

Apparently they do come back from the dead...

2011-01-28T09:11:00.002-05:00

After further research, I found out that all I need to do is let the water evaporate from the Sea Monkey tank until crystals from at the bottom and then add more water. I'm not sure how I feel about this. So, does this mean they never die. Another reason to be creeped out by the lovelies.

I also found out that the Sea Monkey community is extensive (and weird- but I'm in the depths of it, so what does that say about me??).

Also, I found this comment which made me laugh until I cried and then pause with paralyzed fear:

Ahhh Seamonkeys. I received my first tank as a child and have been a fan ever since. I grew up and Seamonkeys stayed a part of my life, an important part. After attending culinary academy I landed in a position assisting a chef at a hotel. As time went by I yearned more and more to create my own signature dish. I wanted a pasta dish, reflecting my medditeranean heritage and passion. Fumbling with many alfredo and carbonaras, always missing was that grand flavor I was after...that magic ingredient. One night, returning home from a dreadfully long night; I noticed the last of my latest colony of Seamonkeys had perished. It was saddening, but I knew they lived long and happy and that this was the cycle of life. And then it hit me...
I poured the contents of the tank into the kitchen sink, sifting the water through some paper towels to catch all the little critters bodies and other sediments. I placed this under a heating lamp for 48 hours to dry everything out so I could try my brilliant idea.
Finally, on that 3rd day everything was ready. I may have rushed with the pasta, but the sauce was grand. A thick tomato sauce, slow cooked and brimming with aromatic basil and garlic. I took my Seamonkeys; I stirred them in. In a matter of seconds I was delighted to notice the tantalizing hint of seafood in the scent of my sauce. I lifted the wooden spoon to my lips. Perfection!
My dish became an instant success, and added to the menu. Many a peer has tried to pry my secret ingredient from me, but to no avail.
I will not tell you what hotel, or even where. But just remember next time you are out having that chefs special medditeranean pasta...it could be me! Buon appetito!

And then there's this lady:

First of all, I take issue with the claim that this product is for 6-10 year olds. I am a middle-aged executive and have been continuously entertained by my little desktop pets for weeks now. What could be more fun than watching these playful little creatures swim to and fro in a magical underwater paradise fit for a working professional's office?

That said, I do have a few things I have learned from my time with the Sea Monkeys. Some of these may seem like common sense, but as the old lady says, I certainly don't have any of THAT!

#1. Sea Monkeys are not really monkeys. Monkeys are primates that have prehensile tails and opposable thumbs. Real monkeys cannot breathe under water. This bears repeating. REAL MONKEYS CANNOT BREATHE UNDER WATER.

#2. Consequently, as Sea Monkeys are not really monkeys, they do not like to eat bananas. DO NOT PUT BANANAS IN SEA MONKEY EXECUTIVE SET.

#3. Sea Monkeys are totally fun and friendly and curious. You might think that they'd be great friends for your pet goldfish or your pet betta. YOU WOULD BE WRONG.

#4. Sea Monkeys are good listeners. They will keep a secret until they are cold and dead. But don't expect them to actually give you any encouragement or a kind word now and then. It is a one way street with these guys, I'm telling you.

#5. Sea Monkeys are sold as a toy. But Sea Monkeys are living, breathing creatures. And when they die due to your neglect and attempts to get them to play with Goldie your pet fish, their spirits will come back and HAUNT YOU.

#6. Your friends, family, and coworkers may think you are a little too obsessed with your Sea Monkeys. They may not realize that Sea Monkeys are hyperintelligent creatures in a tiny, tiny package. They may not realize that it is rude, in fact, to not have them at the table at dinner time, or to make them sleep downstairs with the dog. DON'T LISTEN TO THEM, THEY ARE WRONG.

Sea Monkeys are the best thing that has ever happened to me. Now that my children are in college, they have given me something new to live for. I'm so excited about my new little family. I will love them forever and ever and ever. I have willed all of my assets to them. My lawyer discouraged this, but he doesn't understand what true love is. He told me so himself.

You know, that's one thing about the webs. There truly is a place for everybody there, right? Even if it is virtual...

In the real world there's apparently a place for everybody at Barnes and Noble, too. While I was there last night with my mom I found a book titled, "It's not PMS, it's you." love it!

And then there was the calendar titled "Ferret Tales" in which the heads of Ferrets were superimposed on Fairy Tale Characters and Princesses. Hmmm...speechless....no words for this one. except I think these people are weirder than the sea monkey lot

Random Ramblings

2011-01-28T07:46:00.002-05:00

1. I think all the Sea Monkey's are dead. Yeah....I don't know. I think I'm going to wait it out a few days just to "see what happens." Do Sea Monkey's return from the dead? They do everything else, why not? This is a mixture of relief and sadness for me. Relief, cause I realize these things just plain freak me out. Let's just say I However, I'm sad cause I feel like a failure! I feel like I need to get more eggs and keep raising these creepies until I get it right! AH! This is the part where being a perfectionist can make you go crazy!

2.You know those people at work who are not satisfied by their careers and like to grumble and complain about everything. Well, that's not me. I LOVE my job! Case in point- today a girl was in the office screaming about the unfairness of getting in trouble for wearing shorts. I look over at her and see that sure enough her shorts are in every little crevice of her lower extremities. I could say something crude here, but since she is still just a child (even if a teenager- in case you didn't know teenagers are still babies, FYI)I'll just leave it at that. Then the AP comes in and says, "Shut your mouth, C!" LOL! Um, wouldn't you office dwellers love to yell at your cubicle buddy to "shut up" and not get fired? Well, teachers pretty much can. And, it's awesome!

3. Uh, when I was at the pediatrician the other day with Jamie, I hear "Mrs. Tow!" I look around and see one of my old students from a couple of years ago. "Mrs.Tow, remember me? A...?"

Me: "Yes! How are you!"

A: "Good! I just took my daughter for her 2 month shots. I loved your Parenting Skills class. I still use my notebook to help me with my baby girl!"

UH- is this a failure or a success? I mean, on the one hand there apparently is a parenting handbook and I wrote it cause she still uses it. On the other hand, she's still a teen. So am I happy, or am I sad? I don't know. I'm so torn. But at least one person listened in my class?? **shrugs**

4. Speaking of hating jobs, I used to be one of those that hated my job when I worked for an Insurance company *cough, cough* (Sorry, April!) It was a hell hole, but I have to admit that there were some good perks to it. Like standing around drinking coffee all morning and gossiping and complaining. Or, making fun of some the less intelligent folk and wondering how/if they graduated college and got that cubicle next to you. Teachers are all smarty pants and are generally intimidating, but there is ALWAYS one crazy in the office that possibly lied on their resume, so it's a little different, ya know. AND, then there are the secret relationships going on (me & matt). Oh, wait! That happens here at school, too....Ok, well there was that one time that I thought there was a dead guy in a car in the parking lot (turned out he was just taking a nap and looked dead-oopsy!)

5. Jamie went in for her 4 month professional pics (I do this every month) and she AGAIN made pouty faces for every picture. I fear she will never be a baby model, but she makes an excellent pout, I must say.

6. We're taking a family "stay-cation" this weekend in St. Pete. I highly recommend this to everyone. We pick a nice resort or hotel in a city next to ours for the weekend and pretend like we're tourists. This time I'm bringing Euchre! Um, how old does that make me sound??

Bad Mommy!

2011-01-26T21:22:00.005-05:00

It's not lemons, but it's close!

Alright, so looks like putting those adorable lady bug teethers in the freezer last month was a little too soon (and too long). Let's just say, I'll be taking them out of the icebox and putting them in the fridge instead!

Jamie is 4 months old!!!

2011-01-26T20:30:00.006-05:00

Jamie went in her for her 4 month check-up with Dr. P and here's her stats:

Height: 25 3/4in. (97%)

Weight: 17 lbs. (97%)

Head: 16.25 in. (82%)

Look familiar? Still 97th percentile and still a BIG baby. Actually, Jamie is now the size of a 6 month old baby (and wears some 3/6 month old clothes, but mostly 6 month outfits). She's also bigger than pretty much all of her baby buddy's around her age and some even older than her (except her boyfriend, Henry!!) Ironically, she eats less than the average baby, according to her pediatrician. Go figure! But, she's healthy, she has great motor skills, and she's strong. We are very happy with our big girl!

Jamie is still not rolling! She's SO close, though. I know she'll be doing that soon, but meanwhile she does sit pretty well if something is holding her up. She'll even sit in her high chair!

Jamie still loves her books. Her favorite right now is one my mom got her that plays nursery rhymes in song form. It's one of those cool v-tech books. Sometimes she loves it so much she tries to eat it!

Speaking of eating, Dr. Pantages says we can start her on cereal whenever I feel comfortable with it. I'm still deciding when that will be. I'm sure I'll post pics of the grand event when it comes time. In the meantime, Matt and I have made a decision to make our own baby food with organic fruits/veggies when the time comes. We've already starting making the move to organic foods in the last year or so, anyhow, and we feel it will be best for Jamie. I've acrtually stopped buying canned foods, also, but that's another post.

I'm pretty sure that Jamie is in the beginning teething stages. She's still a "Drools Magee" and now has the rosey cheeks to match.

At around 16 weeks I put together the jumperoo/exercauser thingy. She really loves it! She hasn't quite got the hang of the jumping part, but she likes the toys. Oh, and it now sounds like we live in an amusement park. That thing is LOUD (even on the lowest setting).

I'd say the biggest milestone Jamie's reached in the last few weeks is sleeping through the night. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah! Jamie goes down sometime between 8:30-9:30 pm and sleeps until 8:30 am on the dot every morning like clock-work. It is AMAZING. Both Matt and I are thrilled with this new sleep schedule. Let's just keep our fingers crossed it stays like this for a while!!!

I know Jamie will be rolling over soon. So stay tuned for that!

They're heeeerrrrrreeeee!

2011-01-24T07:28:00.005-05:00

I came back to school to find at least 100 sea monkey's in our little tank today! Woo-hoo!

They look something like this (but these aren't mine, I snagged this pic off the webs):

And guess what else I found? A comment from my good old friend, Amy, reminding me of this Sea Monkey Necklace...

Yes, a necklace in which you can actually carry your little lovelies around on your neck. Hmmmm...let's just say the actual thought of this makes me want to cringe, let alone going through with something so heinous. Eeecck!!

But, yah...I do believe back in the 80's I hoped to get a "Sea Gem" to carry around my sea monkey's until I saw them and they scared the crap out of me.

By the way, I did give a little shudder when I saw the hundred tiny little squirmy things in the tank this morning, but it was nothing I couldn't handle. Hopefully these don't morph into something too scary looking or we might have some problems.

Also, I found this while searching for the sea gem. Because who doesn't want a friendly little place where they can go and worship their brine shrimp-thingys?

PS- My theme won! Next year's FFEA Conference theme is "Teachers plant the seeds of knowledge." Woo-hoo!!

Mommy-Butt Monday Week 3

2011-01-24T07:21:00.002-05:00

Weight gain/loss: -1.2
Skinny Jean status: Negative

This week I drank TONS of water and worked out for at least 20 minutes for 4 days. Even though I only lost 1 pound, I'm feeling pretty good about this. CAUSE, my regular jeans are about one little tiny inch from fitting (tightly, but still...). Yay, for that!

I hope I can lose 2-3 pounds this week. I have a personal goal to meet by Valentine's day!!

Making it...

2011-01-22T17:52:00.002-05:00

So my little girls are AP students who just want to go back to the room to study and rest after the conference seminars.

MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Let's just say the other advisor's are way jealous of me right now.

Also, 2 new things I've learned about teenage girls:

2 towels per person is not enough
1 mascara is not enough

These girls each wear three different kinds of mascara, and I must say their eyelashes do look quite lovely.

How am I only finding out about this trick now??

Teachers Illuminate the Future

2011-01-21T16:32:00.004-05:00

I am officially in Orlando with two teenagers for a weekend full of Future Educator stuff, cause we're at the Florida Future Educator's State Conference, duh!

Ok, although I love going to this conference usually, I'm not happy about leaving my almost 4 month old baby for even the 8 hours I go to work, this is kind of sucky to be away from her until Sunday, boo! The other teachers keep telling me to think of this as a little vacation and how I get to sleep more and all that jazz. But truthfully, I don't mind it when my baby wakes me up to eat or be cuddled. I love taking care of my baby- even changing her poopy diapers is fun to me. I didn't wait this long to have a baby to already be tired of taking care of her. Although, ask me this again when I have more than one child and it may be a different story...

The irony of this weekend is that exactly a year ago, on the morning I was to go on this trip last year, I found out I was pregnant with Jamie! YEP! Weird, huh? A year later and I have a 4 month old. Funny how life changes so quickly.

Finally, I'm excited because when I registered us for the conference we had to put in ideas for next year's conference theme. This year is the title post, "Teachers Illuminate the Future." Everything competition wise and seminar wise is based off the theme. Well, guess what? My idea is one of the nominations for next year's conference. HA!

Ready for it....

"Teachers plant the seeds of knowledge"

Cliche, I know! But that's how they are every year. I think the year before was, "Teachers pave the roads that students travel," or something like that and once we had something about how teaching changes the world....Anyway, how cool is that?? I find out the winning theme on Sunday!!

The other two options are:

"Teachers guide tomorrow's leaders,"

AND

"Teaching for the next generation."

What do you think? Do you think mine stands a chance?

Obsession Update!

2011-01-20T14:03:00.003-05:00

You will all be excited to know that after I finished grading exams I did a little more research on my new experiment and it turns out that Sea Monkey's can play!

WHAT?!?!

My lovely little alien-like, long-tailed, sort of a brine shrimp, genetically engineered hybrid pets can actually play?

They have these little things called "sea diamonds" that they TOSS AROUND LIKE BEACH BALLS.

You have got to be FREAKING KIDDING ME!! These things are geniuses! And really, I don't blame them. Who doesn't love sparkly diamonds?

So anyway, I ordered those of course. I wouldn't deny my lovelies diamonds. I also ordered them "red-magic vitamins," that turn the sea-monkey's red in color. You know red is a lovely color and everyone needs vitamins, dontcha think?

And then there's "Cupid's arrow mating powder." Had to have me some of that, cause well, I can't deny my lovelies parenthood. Or "marriage", as the site says.

Sea Monkey's apparently like desserts, too. So, I got "banana treat." It's only right. I enjoy dessert. Why wouldn't they?

Lastly, I ordered some "sea medic," in case my lovelies get sick. You never know...they could get sick. They apparently do everything else a human can do, so why not get sick?

$20 later I have to wonder now...what's stopping these freaky things from taking over our world?

I'm kind of scared and excited all at the same time for Monday. I wonder how many little lovelies I'll have waiting for me?!

New obsession

2011-01-20T07:41:00.004-05:00

It's not what you think....

It's not about working out- although I did get a few new Wii games (Just Dance 2 and The Biggest Loser Challenges) that I am totally in love with right now. But that's not it...

And, it's not about food. Except, I'm pretty sure I did have a dream the other night I was eating fried chicken, but believe it or not I don't eat for pleasure anymore, I eat for fuel for my body. Ha! What a joke!

OH, it's definitely not about any other Tiffany pieces of jewelry I'm pining over still. Isn't this a purrrrty one, though?

No, no. Are you ready for this one?

My newest obsession is....

Sea Monkey's!!

So let's see...here's how it happened....I bought a baby shark in formaldehyde for my nephew for Christmas thinking that all 9 year old boys love creepy dead things, right? Well, I think we all scared him with the whole "formaldehyde is poison, don't break it" thing and that kind of scared the living shit out of him. Well, that and the fact that dead baby shark's in a jar are just plain scary anyway. But, I digress....since I was feeling bad about the creepy factor, I went out and got him some sea monkey's to make up for it.

That should have been the end of the sea monkey's, but of course it wasn't because while I was standing in the "educational" aisle of Toy's R Us I think, "these little sea monkey's would be awesome for the preschool." Riiighhhhttt???

Anyway, I went back and bought a whole other kit for the preschool and started putting it together yesterday while the big kids took their final exams. Well, I had to look them up online to make sure I was doing it right cause last year we had a little fish that died half-way through the year (thanks to my stupidity and lack of fish awareness) and the kids never stopped asking about it. So, I wanted to make sure I didn't let them down again this year.

My point (finally!) is that did you know sea monkey's were conceived in 1960?

Did you know that they are called sea monkey's because of their long tail and because they have similar behaviors to a monkey?

Do you know that they are a hybrid of a brine shrimp, but that they actually get bigger and live longer than one? (up to 3/4" and can live for 2 years!)

Do you know that at birth they are the size of a period?!

Fascinating, no? I had no idea and what's so funny about this is that I remember dragging my grandmother all over town looking for these said sea monkey's when I was a kid. And, when I finally did get them they didn't last long at all....but I don't remember why. Maybe my sister remembers...Elaine, input?

Then there was the sea monkey stint in college... My bestie/roommate/sorority sister, Holly, and I wanted to "buck" the system (i.e. rule against animals in the dorms) so we got us some good ole sea monkey's. Ok- these didn't die....but honestly this is a sad story and I'm not proud of it. Well, er, Holly and I became terrified of these little sea monkey's that we bred and so we started to feed them all sorts of nasty little things...like Parmesan cheese and crackers and so on. Ironically, this didn't kill them. Oh, no! It made them have super powers. I'm pretty sure they glowed in the dark, and they got HUGE. But now that I've researched them I know it's because they have been specially formulated to grow big. And, they can actually change color depending on what they eat. But whatever...we were freaked! So in our haste we tried to come up with solutions to get rid of them. We wouldn't flush them down the toilet because we were afraid they would take over our sewer systems (guess, what? I read this is impossible because they can only survive in their purified water with the "magic crystals" that come with it.) and so on, so we tried everything in our power to kill them. When they wouldn't die and seemed to only get stronger, we ended up throwing them in the dumpster. AND, might I add I have always wondered if they grew into crazy alien-like beings that have tried to take over our bodies (like in those documentaries), but no way, cause they need magic crystals, riiiiggghght? right??

SO, I have sea monkey's right now on my desk. I'm about to put the eggs in. I hope they're hatched when I get back on Monday. I'll be sure to take pics and document my little lovelies. Do you think I'm going to freak again like I did last time? I'm an adult now, so hopefully that won't happen. Or, at least I'm going to keep my cool around the little ones around here.

PS-Like how I can practically right a book about nothing? It's my one true gift in life. Give me the right forum and I can BS about anything. My sister and Holly used to always ask me how I could wait until the night before a 20 page paper was due and not stress out about it and yet still manage to get it done on time. This is it, people. This post is your proof. And, that ladies and gentleman is how I gradumicated from the University of Florida!

PPS- stay tuned for more sea monkey tales. I'm pretty sure they'll be a plenty. Especially now that I've written this post and I'm reminded of how truly scared I was of the sea monkey's back in 1996. I'm getting nervous, now...brrrrrr....

Cliche!

2011-01-20T07:31:00.003-05:00

I know it sounds so cliche that my male gay hairdresser loves show tunes, but alas he does! Pedro informed me that he's taken up community theater and tap dancing- a lifelong dream!

So, now I'm compelled to promote his current production, "110 in the Shade." According to the flyer Pedro gave me it's a musical romance based on "The Rainmaker." He says its very funny, and I believe him because Pedro is a funny man!

If you live int he Tampa Bay area, you should go check him out at the Francis Wilson Playhouse in Clearwater, Fl. Tickets are $26 for adults and $13 for students. He's also going to be appearing in "No No Nannette" and one more that I can't remember right now....oopsy!

Oh, well. Prepare to hear more about Pedro's productions in the future.

PS- I can't go this weekend cause I have to take two teenagers to a conference in Orlando for the Future Educators. Fun, fun!

PPS- Hanging out with two of your teenage students for a WHOLE weekend without their parents and you in charge is alot of fun. Really, it is... lies!

Cleaning House

2011-01-18T10:14:00.003-05:00

So yesterday I cleaned house like a crazy lady. Case in point- I even wore Jamie in the baby carrier to vacuum my house and the stairs! I'm sure it was a funny sight to see, and I better have burned about 3000 calories doing that, cause I sweat like a pig in the process, and I feel like I got hit by a truck this morning (I'm so sore!)

So, my point here is that now that we have a munchkin in the house, I've been very careful about the chemicals I use to clean the house. I have slowly started replacing my scrubbing bubbles with Method and 7th Generation brand cleaners. They seem to work great except for one thing...

..they smell too good.

I know that must sound weird to you and it's probably just a psychological thing but I can't get over the fact that my nose hairs don't sting/singe when I'm cleaning my bathroom.

Here's the thing- nothing says clean more than the smell of lemony arsenic and bleach, right? And, I know that eucalyptus and spearmint is minty fresh, but I just don't feel like my toilet is clean enough without a piece of my lungs dying as I scrub the bowl. And you know how much I love my scrubbing bubbles...

So, how do I know that these "safe" cleaners are killing all the germs in my house?

Also, ironically I got this newsletter this morning from Creative Homemaking about green methods for cleaning the bathroom. Anyone ever use lemon to clean water stains? I've got glass doors on both my showers, and this is a real problem. Hence why I use lemony arsenic, ahem...Arm & Hammer Scrub Free Bathroom Cleaner in Lemon Scent.

Mommy-Butt Monday Week 2

2011-01-17T13:52:00.004-05:00

Weight gain/loss: 0
Skinny Jean status: Negative

No change. I'm ok with this though, because I worked out more, I drank more water, I ate pretty healthy all week. And the truth is that I want to be healthy. Maybe I'm gaining muscle, and muscle weighs more than fat, right?? Anyhow, I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing and hope that next week I will have something to show for it.

Ok, who am I kidding, I'm freaking out here! If things don't change next week I'm going to bring out the big guns. I don't know what the big guns are, yet, but I'll figure something out! And, for the record I hate that muscle weighs more than fat. I'd rather be a skinny flabby blob, ok not really, but you know what I mean. Also, I saw that Mila Kunis normally weighs around 117 lbs (except in Black Swan- which I'm still having nightmares about- the movie, not Mila) and that's pretty much what I weighed (118 lbs) all the way up until the summer of 2008. So, now I have a goal that reaches beyond the pregnancy and IVF weight, but I'm an overachiever and I have to do it now!

Another reason 2011 is a good year

2011-01-14T10:38:00.002-05:00

Check out this video our Principal sent us today. It's of one of our students who caught the Epiphany cross last Thursday. I am so proud of him- the video made me tear up! I hope I can raise children like him one day!

Stop the presses!

2011-01-14T08:10:00.004-05:00

Just when I think everything is hunky dory, I find out they changed the zodiac sign chart! So, after 29 years, ahem...ok,fine 32!...of being a Leo I am now a Cancer? You're kidding me right?

This just doesn't make sense to me. It's like I don't know myself anymore. Alright, it's not quite that dramatic, but still, how am I supposed to just be a Cancer overnight?

This is so bizarre I can't even comprehend it. After 3000 years of the same zodiac's things change because of something silly like a 23 degree shift in the celestial position of the sun.

Is this the end of the world as we know it?

Looking forward to the New Year!

2011-01-14T07:50:00.004-05:00

I know lots of people are depressed and sort of unhappy in the month of January. It makes sense...I mean, it's after Christmas and there are no more really good holiday's for a while. It's kind of like coming down from a high. Oh, and then there's the other 49 states with snow who probably don't like January. But, I'm fortunate enough to live in the one state with no snow and quite honestly, even if we did have snow I would still love January this year.

When I think of January, I think of new beginnings. Like a fresh start. I think it's no surprise to you that Matt and I have gone through quite a bit the last few years:

2007 was an amazing year. We got married and purchased our first home. I also started teaching my dream job.
2008 was a bummer. Matt started having problems with his hips and I found out about my infertility issues and had a couple failed fertility treatments. Matt and Mike started up the Tow Insurance Agency.
2009 sucked. Matt's hips got progressively worse and we had a failed IVF.
2010 was another amazing year with a few bumps in the road. Jamie was born, so it will be a year forever emblazed in my mind. However, Matt also had two major surgeries and that made things a little worrisome for us.

I have to admit that the last couple of years I was kind of depressed during this time of year. I would think, is this another year I don't get pregnant? Is Matt going to have more pain he has to deal with?

This year is different, though....I feel like all this weight has been lifted off our shoulders. For the first time in a couple of years I have renewed faith and hope for our future. We have so many things to look forward to!

Matt and I will be embarking on the journey of parenthood. Jamie will be 1 before the year is up and she's going to learn to do so many amazing things...like eat real food, crawl, walk, and talk!
I'm moving up career wise. I will be moving into the position of my dreams! The teacher I co-teach with is retiring (sad!), which I'm not happy about, but it means that I will be taking over and directing the preschool. You don't understand... ever since I took these classes in high school I thought it would be a perfect job for me, and now it is my job! I'm not sure many people can say they have their dream job, but I can!
Matt's on the road to recovery. No more surgeries! By this summer he will be like brand new again!!!
The Tow Agency is doing awesome and expecting to add to their staff by the end of the year!
Matt and I are getting new carpet and a new "grown up" bedroom set! (I'm not sure he knows that, but he will now...)
I think my BFF Holly is moving back home and I can't wait!!!

There are just so many amazing things to look forward to, that I can't help but just feel happy about all our new possibilities!

With that said, I don't really have any resolutions, cause I've got a shitload of things I need to accomplish (hence the 101 in 1001 to the left), so let's just say those are my resolutions.

Welcome 2011!!! I am so happy you're here!!

Mommy-thumb update

2011-01-11T07:27:00.002-05:00

I mentioned yesterday that I was going to go see my Primary for a regular check-up. After being pregnant, going back on the glucophage, and having kidney stones I decided I wanted to get labs done and have a physical. I typically do that once a year. So, anywho, I mentioned this thumb problem I have and basically it is a direct result of the "severe edema" (as told to my by several physicians) that I had during pregnancy. I'm told that once my body gets back to normal it will slowly start to get better. Otherwise I'm in for cortisone shots, and possibly surgery if it doesn't go away.

Loverly.

So, I'm going to suck it up. I really don't feel like having any more shots these days. You'd think going through two IVF's and getting stuck all the time during them would make me used to shots, but not really.... There's something about getting stuck so many times that the veins in your arms collapse and then they have to try and get blood from other places (like in your neck) that makes you not want to get another one. Know what I mean??

**side note- did you know that publix gives you glucophage for free???**

Mommy-Butt Monday Week 1 (a day late...again...)

2011-01-11T07:19:00.003-05:00

Like how I started my Mommy-Butt Monday post back to week one? I just thought since it was a New Year, it was a fresh start...or...I'm cheating. Either way, I started over for shits and giggles.

Weight gain/loss: 0
Skinny Jean status: Negative

Ok, so I'm not upset that I didn't "lose" weight cause technically I did. I'm just not counting it, cause it's the 3 pounds I had gained back at Christmas, so it's kind of a wash, know what I mean? I also took out the Fat Jean status, cause really it depresses me to fit in those and I just plain don't like them (the fit, etc) so why am I even counting it? In the end all that matters to me is that I'm back in the skinny jeans I love. Not some old mommy jeans that I don't wear out in public regardless. So, yeah I took that out.

Exercise was a bust last week. I was too exhausted with starting back at my job, the car problems, a sick baby....excuses I know. BUT, I did eat very well. I made us nutritious dinners, I brought my lunch to work. So, I'm not upset with that fact. It was a very difficult transition for me, and I was taking baby steps.

This week, I'll be drinking more water and adding in exercise. So far so good as of yesterday. Let's hope I can make my goal for this month!!

Being stupid has perks!

2011-01-11T07:10:00.003-05:00

So crappie is a kind of fish....LOL! Let's just talk my stupidity up to the fact that I was a vegetarian for 14 years and just started eating poultry and fish 6 years ago. But, really? Crappies are fish?? Well, someone just slap me silly...

AND.....welcome Rebecca! My stupidity helped you delurk! Ha! At least it's good for something!

And just so you all know that's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the stupid things I've said or done. Like, when I thought Key West and it's key's were the Bahamas, or how I thought the caller id on the tv was my sister-in-law calling in to the tv show I was watching, or ...well, there is so much more (Matt could tell you!) but I will keep it to myself. I like being mysterious. It keeps people interested, you know?? ya....not really...

What I've been up to...

2011-01-10T13:48:00.003-05:00

So, I have a ton of things I wanted to post about last week, but things got too crazy around the Tow house.

Besides starting back at work on Monday, which has been kind of hard for me, (I'm pretty sure I was depressed on Monday and Tuesday, but I'm feeling much better now), my car broke down on Tuesday evening, we had to transfer the car from the dealership to a local service place on Wednesday, on Thursday Jamie got sick, and then Friday I had to take her to the pediatrician.

So, as you can see I've been pretty busy. Through it all I was able to make dinner 3 times this week (which is one of my goals for 2011- make 3-4 dinners a week), get my tree down, clean the bathrooms, mop my floors, do dishes about 3900 times, clean the litter box daily, and get all the laundry done. I feel like superwoman. This working mom stuff is not for the weak of heart, obviously!

Despite the crappiness of the fact that my engine light is back on (even though we paid $725 for the repairs) and that Jamie woke up about every 2 hours last night because she's so stopped up she can't breathe well, it wasn't a terrible week. I mean, worse things happen to people. But, like they say..."when it rains it pours," and boy is it pouring! I mean literally! It's really raining hard outside and that's made me even crabbier today. Yes! I had to use my teacher voice repeatedly for the first time since I've been back to school and then it prompted me to write a referral (already!). AGH!!

On a side note, did you know I have to wake up around 5:15 on a regular day to get to work? Do you know I've been waking up around 4:45 am now that I have a baby so I can feed and change her before I leave? So, isn't it funny that this weekend I "slept in" until 7:30 am and I was truly excited that Jamie "let" me sleep that long??? The old Suzanne couldn't make it to a 7:20 am class 15 years ago. The new Suzanne feels refreshed to wake up that early. Funny!! Another mommy thing I need to get used to.

Speaking of mommy things, I think some of you thought I was kidding when I mentioned in an earlier post that I think I have mommy thumb. Well, I actually wasn't kidding around about that! My right thumb/wrist is hurting like CRAZY! So, I'm going to the Dr. today to have that checked out. That should be a fun little activity Jamie and I get to do in the pouring rain! *sarcasm* I'll keep you updated on that later, along with Mommy-Butt Monday, and various other things I've been working on lately. Get ready for a Blog Blast later tonight!

PS- after running spell check on this post I found that "crappiness" is not a word, but "crappies" is. Really? I don't know that I could use crappies in a sentence unless I said something like "I got the crappies from eating too much ice cream last night." I don't know! Is that a word??

Jamie is 3 months old!

2011-01-04T22:51:00.009-05:00

Jamie turned 3 months old on December 26 while we were in Illinois, so this is a little late...

Our little munchkin has grown SO much in the last month! At 10 1/2 weeks she started doing belly laughs while on the changing table! I was the only one to hear it though, and it wasn't until 12 1/2 weeks that Matt heard her.

By 13 weeks, Jamie has started trying to roll over. While on her back she will get as far as her side! It's just a matter of time before she gets all the way over.

Jamie's new nickname right now is Drools Magee. She's quite the slobber monster, and if your lucky you'll get a nice face full of slobber on your mouth while kissing those scrumptious chubby cheeks of hers.

The last week while we were in Illinois Jamie really started developing her motor skills! She loves to play with her toys now, which is a big change from the last few months. When you put her in the swing, she'll play with the toys and distract herself for a good 20-30 minutes! While on her activity mat, she'll grab at the toys that are hanging down. It's so funny to see her play now.

Jamie's favorite game is when you put her in the bathroom sink and say, "Jamie's in the sink!" It's sure to make her laugh about 90% of the time. She loves to look at herself in the mirror.

She's also started to notice the cats. If they come over and sniff her while she's in her lamb seat, she'll stop what she's doing and check them out. She's even reached out and tried to touch Boo. They are so good to her and always come right over if she starts crying. They are very curious of her, so I kind of feel bad that it will prob be only a good 3 months or so before she starts pulling their ears and tail (singular cause Boo only has a little snubby tail to pull).

Jamie is so strong now, too! She's trying so hard to sit up! Sometimes I'll see her try to push herself out of the car seat or swing so she can sit more upright. Her Bumbo is one of her favorite places to hang out during the day. I'll put her in there with her favorite pink elephant with chewy hands and feet. It's one of her favorite past times.

Reading is a fun thing we like to do with Jamie these days. I think she's very interested in a couple of her books. She has a Silly Dino book that makes a cute dinosaur roar when you pull a leaf hanging from its mouth. She even tries to pull it herself. She also loves a Little Lamb book we have that has a lamb finger puppet in it. I swear she listens and is interested in them!

Jamie is such a happy and smiley baby. We love her so much and I can't wait to see what else she accomplishes in the next month!

***Updated to add that Jamie has been wearing 3-6 month clothes since she was 12 weeks old. She can even fit in some of her 6 month jumpers!! What a little chunkster she is!***

First day back at work- done and done!

2011-01-03T20:12:00.003-05:00

First, I wanted to thank those of you who sent me fb messages, texts, and emails to help me get through the day. It was REALLY appreciated!!

As you can see, I made it through the day. I had to wake up at 4:45 am to make sure I could get myself ready, make my coffee, and feed the baby and put her back to sleep before I left for school at 6:15. But, I did it and I got to school on time (early actually!).

I did cry a little this morning while I fed my baby, and then a little more in the car, but I was able to keep my composure all day. It was very strange being back at work. I felt like I was in a fog. The last time I was at school I was waiting for my baby to arrive and now I'm a full time mom!!

I have to say that I originally never considered myself the type to stay at home with my child. But, the last 14 weeks with my daughter seemed so natural that it almost felt like I had never been anything but a mom. I felt a little out of place at school today. Fortunately for me, I have the best job you can have and be a full time mom. Jamie and I will always have entire summer's together and once she starts school she won't be able to tell the difference that I'm also a full time working mom.

Jamie also has the care of her daddy while I'm at work and that's a special time for her and Matt. I know they will both cherish this time forever.

With all that said, let it be known that I will be counting down the minutes until summer starts so I can be with my baby full time again. But, what else knew- didn't I already do that?

PS- my students were very sweet and loving today. Except 6th period. They still drive me crazy. Some things never change. :)

PPS- Matt did an awesome job with Jamie today! He fed her, changed her diaper, and even put the clothes on her that I had put aside for her. His only mishap was that he put her shirt on backwards. LOL! At least her arms weren't pinned back or anything- no harm, no foul! Matt still gets his man points for the day. Cha-ching!

Mommy-Butt Monday- A New Year

2011-01-03T13:29:00.002-05:00

The last two weeks of 2010 I didn't post Mommy-butt progress cause well, you know...it was the holiday's and I wanted to splurge, ppppffffssstt!

The good news is that I made it to my December 24th goal two days early for a total weight loss of 51 pounds since giving birth!!

The bad news is that I have since gained about 3 of them back thanks to Christmas and New Years goodies and cocktails.

So, in light of the New Year I am going to revamp Mommy-Butt Monday by making a few changes.

1) I have joined the Spark People 28 day challenge to do at least 500 fitness minutes this month. 2) I am joining a gym.
3) I'm cutting down on carbs (not eliminating, just cutting down on the bad ones), increasing my protein intake (very hard for me to do), and increasing my fiber intake (apples and whole grains).
4) Drink more water.

Here's what staying the same:

1) Caffeine*
2) Calorie intake
3) Caffeine*
4) Lot's of fruits and veggies
5) Food journaling
6) Caffeine* 7) P90X

***people I'm back to work, throw me a bone!***

My new goals:

1) Lose the rest of the baby weight by the end of the month (approximately 9 pounds)
2) Lose the 15-20ish pounds gained from fertility drugs by Spring Break (last week of March).

These are quite lofty goals, but I have 3 months to reach them. Hopefully, I can stick to it. Since I'm still not in any of my regular clothes, I have quite the motivation to achieve them. Plus, I'm vain and I've never weighed this much in my life, so that works, too!

I'll keep you posted as always (even if you don't care- It's my blog and I'll post if I want to, right??) :-)

In disbelief, and Happy New Years!

2011-01-02T19:59:00.002-05:00

Happy 2011!!!

I can't believe it's already 2011....and that we made it home on a plane without any major baby meltdowns....and that I am going back to work TOMORROW!

No really....I can't believe I have to go back to work tomorrow. My baby is 14 weeks now. This means I haven't worked for 14 weeks. Which means I haven't woken up at 5 am (and stayed up for 8 straight hours afterwards) for 14 weeks...

I'm scared. Real scared. Lack of sleep + baby is one thing. I mean, I got pretty good at taking naps when the baby slept. BUT, lack of sleep + other people's children + teenagers + a baby when I get home is going to be interesting. I hope I can make it without crying (I already cried about it today- that doesn't count, right?) in public or having a melt down in class.

Thankfully, Santa brought me the brew n go I asked for. I'm going to be needing it!!!! (yikes)

So that the whole world knows (and for my records)...

2010-12-30T01:37:00.003-05:00

Matt says I never remember when he does nice and thoughtful things for me. So, I'm going to take this moment to declare to the Internets, and you all, that Matt bought me the Tiffany's necklace I've been wanting. Actually, I've been pining for this little beaut since 1996. A gift worth it's wait (and weight- the sucker is heavy and yet I appreciate it's heaviness on my neck). Doesn't it look purrrrty??

My snow baby

2010-12-29T23:40:00.003-05:00

Jamie got snow for Christmas!

This pic is actually before we went outside, but I couldn't stop laughing cause Jamie couldn't move her arms and legs. It really was hilarious (and maybe a little mean now that I think about it...)

And here she is enjoying the snow....

Have you ever seen a cuter snow baby?? (I don't think so!!!)

Is this for real life?

2010-12-28T14:24:00.002-05:00

I got one of my weekly baby newsletters this week. You know the ones I'm talking about- "Your baby is 13 weeks old!"

Anyway, know how sometimes they put ads in them? Well, when I finally checked my email after about a week and half of little to no internet, I had this link waiting for me.

If you want to play a fun little game, go here first and then try to guess what it is.

As for the Tow's and Christmas....we made it on the plane with no problems. Jamie got a bottle as we took off, she fell asleep before we were completely up, and then slept until we landed. So much for all that worrying. And guess what? We had snow for Jamie's first Christmas! I'll post pics as soon as I can!

Merry Christmas!!

2010-12-25T23:45:00.003-05:00

I've been a very bad blogger cause I procrastinated Christmas, so I had some catching up to do!

The good news is that I did indeed pull it off.

The better news is that I must have been a VERY GOOD Girl this year, cause Santa brought me that Tiffany's necklace I've been wanting!!! Can you believe it?! He left it hanging on the tree just for me!

The bad news is that I messed up my holiday cards...I didn't get enough of them, and there are about 10-15 of my friends/family that didn't get one from me. It was just too cute not to share, so here it is!

Oh Ho Ho Christmas Card

Shutterfly has classic, elegant Christmas invitations for your party.

View the entire collection of cards.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

First Family Road Trip- Check!

2010-12-19T22:36:00.005-05:00

We took the long drive down to Miami this weekend to see my little sister graduate from Physician Assistant school. She's practically a doctor now! Can you believe it??

CONGRATULATIONS, SISSY!!!!

AND, the Tow family survived it's first 5 hour car drive. Another big milestone, if you ask me...interesting travelling with an infant...I swear someone could write a book on efficiently travelling with children and make a lot of money on it (not me- I'm still learning).

Oh, and I am seriously exhausted from this little weekend trip! Next big step- flying with an infant. Oy vey!

Jamie blowing bubbles with her Aunt Dr. Elaine

I think I got punked at Taco Bell

2010-12-17T23:49:00.002-05:00

So I stopped at Taco Bell for a couple of taco's fresca style (only a couple hundred calories total!) and this is what happened:

"Yes, I'd like to get a crunchy tac... "

"Is that aaaalllll?" (Asian accent)

"Uh, no. No meat, please. Just beans. Fresca style."

"Is that aaaalllll?" (Asian accent)

"Um, no. 2 of those please and..."

"Is that aaaalllll?" (Asian accent)

"Nooo. And a..."

"Is that aaaalllll?" (Asian accent)

"No. Can I have a medium diet pepsi?"

"Is that aaaalllll?" (Asian accent)

"Yes."

"That's all."

"$3.82, please."

So, I drive up to the window and this little Asian (adorable) older woman hands me my drink and says,

"Ok. Bye."

And I say, "Wait. What about my..."

And the lady throws me my tacos and says, "Ok. Bye."

This happened to me in real life. If I didn't have a sense of humor, I might actually be pissed off about this!

The Irony

2010-12-16T22:04:00.002-05:00

Remember when I saw the shuttle launch and got that shirt I love that says:

"Does this shirt make me look weightless?"

Well, the answer is, "No." It does not make me look weightless. It makes me look fat, actually. Hmmm....Too bad that's my favorite shirt. Looks like I'll be trying to fit into that for the next couple of months...

Anyway, I've had a bit of writer's block these day's. I tend to have this annoying habit (just ask my sister and my husband) of only being able to concentrate on one thing at a time. Since I'm currently making Christmas crafts, my writing is lagging.

(Don't ask me why I'm trying to make about 100 Christmas crafts and treats while I have a baby. I can't help it. It's like a disease..)

Which reminds me....I'm supposed to start writing this book by the end of the year. I told you I have about 3000 outlines of books I've wanted to write in the past. Can you all do me a favor and leave me a comment (either on here or on facebook) the genre of book you prefer to read. It's just a little research I'm doing so I know what angle to start at. I'm torn between a couple of different stories I've had in my head for a while.

Thanks for the help!

PS- You'll be happy to know that I've got most of my laundry done and Elaine's gift purchased for her graduation. OH- and I cleaned both my bathrooms. Looks like I'm getting some things done finally!

PPS- Ok, yeah I know you don't care about that...LOL!

Starting to Freak!

2010-12-14T22:24:00.004-05:00

I'm feeling stressed these past couple of days for a few reasons:

1) I'm back to work in less than 3 weeks!!!! Matt's going to be taking care of Jamie when I go back, so I know I shouldn't feel bad about this, but I guess I'm jealous. I'm not ready to leave my baby!!!! *tears*

2) I'm not anywhere near ready for Christmas. All I've done is decorate my house and sent xmas cards. Gifts are well....ah...crap!

3) My house is a disaster and I don't know where to start. Matt practically spit his tea out the other day when I told him I was breaking the house up into 4 quadrants for cleaning purposes. But, that didn't last too long....so....now I have about 3000 loads of laundry and dirty floors. Did I tell you I still need to go shopping for Christmas presents??

4) I've got to fly with a baby pretty soon and I'm totally freaked! I mean, there's so much baby stuff.... And then there's the probability my little diva will have a melt down on the plane. The horror!!!

5) I went to the Urologist and I still have another stone in my left kidney. It's also probably going to get bigger and it's not exactly small right now. I also have a kidney infection from the whole stone debacle so I'm on antibiotics for that, too. This is crap. Just crap!! Real life conversation with my Urologist (who by the way could be cute if his name wasn't Chester and his hair didn't look plastic. Poor thing.)

Dr.: "You are very prone to stones and at your age and gender this isn't normal."

Me: "No shit?"

Ok, I lied. That conversation didn't happen, but I did think that...

6) Did I mention I still need to go shopping for Christmas presents?

7) Oh, and I need to get my sister a gift for her graduation from Physician Assistant school. Any ideas???

Mommy-Butt Monday Week 6

2010-12-13T23:23:00.002-05:00

Weight gain/loss: -3 lbs.
Fat Jean status: positive.....you know what? I think I just hate these.
Skinny Jean status: Negative

I can't believe I lost another 3 pounds. I actually upped my calorie intake this week due to a couple dinners out, some wine, and an xmas party, but the weight still came off....sounds good to me!!!

So far, I've lost 14 pounds (since Nov. 1). I have 11 more pregnancy pounds and 15 IVF pounds still left to go. I think I can do it!

I'm pretty excited because I have to honestly say I haven't been working too hard on this diet and yet the weight is melting off. This is very good! Especially since I need to be back in my work clothes by Jan. 3rd when I go back. I think it's kind of doable. I mean, I'm ahead on my goals here, but I know won't fit in all my clothes. I need just enough to get me through a week.

The goal I had in mind for Dec. 24 should be met by this week if I continue on the same streak I've been on. Yippee!!!

Next week (if I remember), I will update with a new pic.

I can't stop laughing...

2010-12-12T03:39:00.003-05:00

I totally hijacked this off another blog I randomly ran into, but it is freaking HI-larious. (if you're around my age- you know 22...er, 32 *cough*)

OMG...I've actually told my students some of these things:

When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were. When they were growing up; what with walking twenty-five miles to school every morning.... Uphill... Barefoot... BOTH ways¦ yadda, yadda, yadda

And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way in hell I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on my kids about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it! But now, I can't help but look around and notice the youth of today. You've got it so easy! I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a damn Utopia!

And I hate to say it, but you kids today, you don't know how good you've got it!

I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have the Internet. If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the damn library and look it up ourselves, in the card catalog!!

There was no email!! We had to actually write somebody a letter - with a pen! Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox, and it would take like a week to get there! Stamps were 10 cents!

Child Protective Services didn't care if our parents beat us. As a matter of fact, the parents of all my friends also had permission to kick our ass! Nowhere was safe!

There were no MP3's or Napsters or iTunes! If you wanted to steal music, you had to hitchhike to the record store and shoplift it yourself!

Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio, and the DJ would usually talk over the beginning and @#*% it all up! There were no CD players! We had tape decks in our car.. We'd play our favorite tape and "eject" it when finished, and then the tape would come undone rendering it useless. Cause, hey, that's how we rolled, Baby! Dig?

We didn't have fancy crap like Call Waiting! If you were on the phone and somebody else called, they got a busy signal, that's it!
There weren't any freakin' cell phones either. If you left the house, you just didn't make a damn call or receive one. You actually had to be out of touch with your "friends". OH MY GOD !!! Think of the horror... not being in touch with someone 24/7!!! And then there's TEXTING. Yeah, right. Please! You kids have no idea how annoying you are.

And we didn't have fancy Caller ID either! When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was! It could be your school, your parents, your boss, your bookie, your drug dealer, the collection agent... you just didn't know!!! You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister!

We didn't have any fancy PlayStation or Xbox video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had the Atari 2600! With games like 'Space Invaders' and 'Asteroids'. Your screen guy was a little square! You actually had to use your imagination!!! And there were no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen... Forever! And you could never win. The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died! Just like LIFE!

You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on! You were screwed when it came to channel surfing! You had to get off your ass and walk over to the TV to change the channel!!! NO REMOTES!!! Oh, no, what's the world coming to?!?!

There was no Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons on Saturday Morning. Do you hear what I'm saying? We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons, you spoiled little rat-finks!

And we didn't have microwaves. If we wanted to heat something up, we had to use the stove! Imagine that!

And our parents told us to stay outside and play... all day long. Oh, no, no electronics to soothe and comfort. And if you came back inside... you were doing chores!

And car seats - oh, please! Mom threw you in the back seat and you hung on. If you were lucky, you got the "safety arm" across the chest at the last moment if she had to stop suddenly, and if your head hit the dashboard, well that was your fault for calling "shot gun" in the first place!

See! That's exactly what I'm talking about! You kids today have got it too easy. You're spoiled rotten! You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1980 or any time before!

Regards,
The Over the hill Crowd

Two of my (current) favorite things and one final resolution to complete before 2011

2010-12-09T20:24:00.005-05:00

So, I think you all know I've been on a diet of lates. Ha. Ha.

I don't know about you, but even if I'm dieting right and eating all the good foods, I'm still starving. I know it's psychological, but that's me. Tell me I can't have something and I obsess over it until I get my way. I'm spoiled. Take last night for instance. I had a dream about pizza. So unfair...

Anywho, I've got a couple little tricks I keep in my back pocket for desperate times that I would like to share with you. One I've been very vocal about and the other is a new thing I've been doing.

#1: This one won't come to a surprise for many of you, but my first trick is caffeine. I know, you're laughing your head off right now (probly cause you thought I was kidding, but I waaassssnnn'tttt- not this time). Now, before you get all high and mighty on me, today I confirmed my suspicion of caffeine with a yahoo article about 7 metabolism speedy foods that said this:

Weight loss food: coffee

The caffeine in 1 cup of joe temporarily revs metabolism by up to 15 percent, torching an extra 15 to 25 calories on average, says Paul Arciero, Ph.D., associate professor of exercise science at Skidmore College. Researchers don't know whether drinking more delivers a bigger boon (for those of us who drink plenty all day, there may be even more reasons to love our java!), but for the most benefit, order yours black; sugar and milk reverse the fat-scorching effects.

So take that, haters!! FYI- I really only have 2-3 servings of caffeine a day, so I'm not that nuts (my urologist knows and says it's fine- pfffffft). Guess who's asking Santa for a Kuerig this Christmas? (it's me, it's me!)

#2: Extra Dessert Delights Gum is my second trick. Yum! And the best part is their logo:

"Have your dessert and chew it, too!"

Me: "Why yes, I think will. Thank you."

They're clever, dontcha think?? Me thinks so, so I bought all of them and chew on them when I want something sweet. They've got key lime pie, strawberry shortcake, and mint chocolate chip (my fave).

Now, the problem here is that I think these are tried and true tricks that most anorexics use, so I know I'm not the most original dieter there is. The good news is that I actually do eat food and don't try to survive off caffeine and gum. Let's be honest though, if I could survive off these things I would. I tried being anorexic once, but I got hungry so it didn't work out. (kidding!)

Don't worry, though, folks. I won't be blogging about my dieting woes forever. I mean a long time, but not forever. Well, at least until I feel normal again. Nope, because I have one last goal I'm supposed to achieve by the end of this year, and since the year is almost done I've got to get started here.

Ready for it???

I'm going to start writing my book! Yes, indeed! We'll see how this goes- I only have about 3000 outlines of books I've been wanting to write for the last oh, 23 years or so, but I've never followed through with it. So, I need to do it now! I promised Matt and now I've told you all (to keep me accountable). A positive note here is that I already completed the first step and put Microsoft Office on my netbook. Now, I just need to get started....after I finish my thank you cards, finish sending out Jamie's announcements, mail out my Christmas cards, do my Christmas shopping, clean my house, take care of my baby, hopefully take a shower,.......oi!

Quickies

2010-12-08T21:07:00.002-05:00

1) Jamie met Santa today! I think she was indifferent....

2) I just heard my baby do belly laughs (like 10 minutes ago) for the first time and I am so in love I can't even handle it!

3) Matt and I think I have mommy thumb. No joke.

4) I'm finally moving up in the technology world! I'm a twittererererer now. My user is @towadventures. Follow only if you expect to read ridiculously stupid things.

5) I still don't have a smart phone (too annoying).

MNO with the JLT

2010-12-07T23:56:00.003-05:00

Ok, that's just me being silly there in the title, but what I meant was Mom's Night Out with the Junior League of Tampa.

Well, that's really an overstatement, cause I was the only mom in the group of girls I was with. But, I did go to a wine tasting courtesy of the Junior League.

Thank you JLT!

Actually, one of my favorite times in the Junior League year is the holiday's and for this reason. Wine tastings, shopping nights at Nordstrom's.....it's truly wonderful. I'm so happy that even though I have a baby, and recently had kidney stones, and with Matt's recovery and all, that I was able to have this night out with some girls to drink some wine on a chilly night. It was really fun!!

Which brings to me to this mommy business...

Isn't it funny how people say things like, "It's different when it's your child"?

I've only been a mom for a couple of months, but I've determined this is correct.

Let's take on the subject of snot for instance.

There's this little boy in the preschool who is notorious for wiping his snotty (very constantly snotty. Like a snot spout) nose on my sleeve. Well, really anyone's sleeve that is in near reach of his snotty nose. This not only makes me gag, but makes me want to dry heave a little. Usually I push him away and remind him to go get a tissue. I really hate snot.

But, guess what? Today, Jamie sneezed and snotted all over my jeans and a little bit on my t-shirt and not only did I think it was cute, but I wiped it away and then went on with my business of going to the wine tasting with the Junior League. Yes. With snot wiped off my pants (still on). I didn't care.

And, then there's poop.

There is this other little boy in the preschool who is "supposedly" potty trained and yet I had to change his poopy pants all the time. I typically try to pawn him off on one of the high schoolers to get cleaned up, but since most of them are sensitive with the gag reflex, it's usually me doing it. Frankly, I found this quite irritating since the kids are supposed to be potty trained in order to go to our school, but I'd hold my breath and do it anyway and then relish (jump for joy!) the days he does actually use the potty. Now there's the new mom me who actually looks for poop in my baby's diaper and is then upset if I don't see poop for a day. When I do see poop I sing a little song about my "Jamie poopy pants" all the way to the tub. Weird...

Oh! And how about puke??

Well, many of you know that I have a true phobia of vomit. I mean a real. terror. of. throw. up. I'm seriously terrified by doing it, hearing it, or seeing it. But, Jamie gagged when I put her pacifier in her mouth the other day and guess what I did? I called Matt over to take a look at how funny it was.

This mommy business is a funny thing!

Mommy-Butt Monday Week 5

2010-12-06T19:37:00.003-05:00

Weight gain/loss: -3 lbs.
Fat Jean status: reluctantly positive.....well, they fit. But, not like they used to.
Skinny Jean status: Negative

SO. I lost weight this week, but I think only cause I didn't eat for the two and half days I was dealing with kidney stones. Remember when I said I hoped for a 48 hour bug or something? Ah, well....looks like wishes do come true, I guess. I think this is where that saying, "Be careful what you wish for," chimes in. Ooops!

I didn't really work out at all cause I was still kind of sore from the whole stone thing, but I got back on the wagon today. Let's hope I keep on my 2-3 lb weekly weight loss so I can make it to my goal by Christmas! I'm down about 11 pounds since I started this on Nov.1 Woo-hoo!

This time no 48 hour bugs, please....

***UPDATE***
I forgot to mention that I haven't worn maternity clothes for two days now!!

We're already lying to our baby...

2010-12-04T23:17:00.003-05:00

Today, we took Jamie to the International Mall to see Santa. Except, the line was too long (Santa took an extra long time "feeding the reindeer." Uh, I think we all know what that means. *cough* Alchi* cough* But, anyway, that's what they really told us- he was "feeding reindeer" and the girl even giggled when she said it) so we nixed that little idea and went shopping instead. Terrible, isn't it?! We're going back on a weekday in the morning when no other people are there to get Jamie's first picture with Santa.

Jamie was an absolute angel for the 5 hours we were at the mall. 5!! This is something I haven't done for a while, but Matt and I had a good time browsing through the mall and even got some Christmas shopping done. I purchased my yearly ornaments there. I started a little tradition for our family that we have an ornament made for every year with our names on it. This year we have three names! I was so excited to do this! You have no idea how long I have waited to put three names on an ornament (or maybe you do, if you've read this blog for a while). I also got one made for Jamie's First Christmas. I love them both!

The only time Jamie got fussy was while we were in Tiffany's, but honestly I don't blame her. I mean, why tease a girl by taking her into a store full of sparkly goodness and then not buy her anything??? I tortured my own self by trying on the matching necklace to my oval tag "Please Return to Tiffany" bracelet I have, but a girl can dream. Actually, we were in there for more than window shopping, though.

Want to hear a funny and embarrassing story about me? It has to do with the reason we were in Tiffany's. I promise.

So, one day during the summer I was sitting on the couch watching one of those VH1 popup video shows where people call in and make comments. All of the sudden on the screen I see my sister-in-law's name pop up with her phone number. I was like "Wow! Jenny's calling in to VH1 right at this exact moment I'm watching tv. No WAY!" And then I realize, that it was the new caller id we had installed that shows up on the tv. YEP. So, I ran to the phone and got my Tiffany bracelet caught on the door handle and broke the clasp.

Anywho, that's why we were there. I was finally getting my bracelet fixed.

Want to hear something else funny and embarrassing I've done recently. No? Well, tough shit! This is my blog and I'll write what I want to....:-)

So, I had made plans with our friends Rhiannon and Dave (the other West's) to come over for dinner. My mom is out of town, so I also called my dad over for a nice warm meal. I made TONS of food. The West's were supposed to come over around 6:30, and at around 7:30 I'm thinking something must be wrong cause Rhiannon is never late for anything. Well, guess what? Somehow things got confused and I thought dinner was for Friday and they thought it was for Saturday. So, yeah. We had three people for dinner and I made dinner for 10! (I have a strange talent for making army loads of food.) The good news is that this dinner party prompted me to decorate my house for Christmas. So, my tree, wreath, precious moments manger scene, advent calendar, Christmas table centerpiece and various other little decorations are UP!

I'll spare you more Christmas decs pics as I'm sure I've posted those the previous years on this blog. I haven't bought any new decorations in a year or two.

Also, as you would guess, Matt and I are sitting warm and cozy with some tea tonight! Matt is having his tea with the Godiva chocolates he bought himself at the mall. He has quite the palate, doesn't he? Me? I'm imagining what my tea would taste like with some Godiva chocolates, but since I'm down 10 pounds since Nov. 1, I prefer to stay strong and get into my skinny jeans one day in the near future.

By the way, we were at Teavana today sampling some teas. I haven't been as diligent about my tea drinking since my kidney stone. I'm getting it tested and hoping they don't ban me from tea (Tea made from black leaves has tannins which cause kidney stones in people like me). But, guess what? I learned the combo of tea I purchased a few weeks ago has no black tea leaves in it, so I'm back on the tea wagon! Also, Javier- the sweet boy who swindled me into $50 worth of tea saw me at the mall today and says, "Hey, didn't I sell you tea recently."

"Why, yes sweet swindling gay boy you did!" (smiles)

Ok, I didn't say that. But, if I see him again I may ask him to be my gay husband. No joke. He's that good!

Thoughts on Teaching

2010-12-03T01:16:00.005-05:00

I'm supposed to be putting up my Christmas decorations and tree up right now, but it's too much. I can't.

Instead I'm going to blog a little. Stare at the mess a little longer, and then do it.

Yesterday, I went in to school to turn in the monies we made from the car wash on Saturday. I got there the last 30 minutes of the last period class, so naturally I see some of my students and they eww and aww over the baby. They tell me they hate the sub and so on.

They REALLLLLLLLLLYYYYYY hate the sub. This does make me feel bad, but not bad enough to come back to school any sooner. Actually, they flat out told me they hate the sub and then asked me to come back sooner, and I actually responded with a "no." Plain and simple.

I have these two students that I've had for a couple of years. One of them for two years and she's a really good girl. The other I've had for 3 years, and she's well, not bad, but not exactly innocent and sweet. They've been getting in a lot of trouble and are now failing my class. So, I say (in my teacher voice):

"Ladies, what's going on? You're both in level 4 now. You can't afford to fail the last level of this course your senior year. It would be detrimental to your certificates to teach in a preschool and/or possibly your graduation."

Response from the not so sweet one: "Mrs. Tow, we hate the sub! He's mean. I refuse to listen to him."

Me: "What's wrong with him?"

Not so sweet one: "Well, nothing I guess. I just don't like how he talks to us."

Sweet student then sighs and says, "Mrs. Tow- He's just not YOU!"

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Ok, I didn't laugh in real life, that was in my head, but, really that was a good one....

I *almost* smiled sweetly and gave them all the money in my billfold to repeat that all around school, but instead I used my teacher voice and said sternly,

"It doesn't matter whether I'm here or not. You have a job to do in here. Please be respectful while I'm gone. I'd like to see you both finish my course with the "A" I know you can earn in here."

Ha! I'm still laughing hysterically at this one cause both of these girls are notorious for giving us a hard time and not doing their work. So, all I had to do was go on leave for a few weeks and they would feel like that towards me??

Here's actual conversations I've had with them in the past:

"Mrs. Tow, I like this guy and he says that he likes me and is dating me, but I looked on his Facebook page and he says he's in a relationship with another girl."

Me: "Uh, no. He's lying. He's Facebook Official with the other girl. Dump him. Now go do what Mrs. Hanson told you to do." (puke, I can't believe I said "Facebook Official!")

"Mrs. Tow, little Johnny won't do his activity that I'm trying to teach them. What should I do? I've tried everything."

Me: "He's 4 and your 16. Make him do it."

"Mrs. Tow, who's that guy who picked up little Sally? Is that her dad? He's cute!"

Me: "It's her uncle and he is cute. Now get back to work. Didn't Mrs. Hanson tell you to do something?"

"Mrs. Tow, you didn't tell us we had a test on this! I didn't study! I can't even find my book."

Me: "Um, not only did I tell you every single day for the entire semester that you had a test on this, but I also wrote it right here on the board in big bold print for you to see. And, you've taken this course for 3 semesters already, so you know we have a test on this. Don't worry, though. It won't affect your grade. You just won't be able to work in a preschool if you don't pass. No biggie. Oh, and your book is sitting right here on my desk where you left it 6 weeks ago."

Ok, so these aren't the exact words in my conversations with them. I'm a little nicer although still sarcastic with them. But you get my point. Sounds annoying, doesn't it?

Except I kind of miss it.

Yep. I miss those pesky little teenage conversations I have.

And, therein lies why I love teaching high school.

I'm sure going to miss my little munchkin when I get back to work, but I feel pretty blessed that I have a job I love to go back to.

Darn you, teenagers......"He's just not you!".....Got me! AH! (tugs on heart strings)

I got a new friend...er, stalker...

2010-12-02T17:56:00.004-05:00

Meet my new friend. He (she?) waits for me by the door most days.

I try to yell at my friend to go away, but instead he does this....

Isn't he cute?? He wants to come live with me, I know it! If that doesn't say, "let me in, I love you!" in cat language then I don't know what else does.

If I didn't already have a baby and two neglected kitties (now that Jamie is here) at home I would totally steal this one from the neighbor.

I think I am a cat lady reincarnated. I love love love cats!

Alright, so all the town houses in my neighborhood look EXACTLY alike. The cat could be confused. I would like to believe, however, that the cat is trying to get in because it loves me dearly and can't stand to be away from me for even one second. That's a much better explanation, don't you think??

You'll never believe it and why some of my posts are late

2010-12-01T00:31:00.005-05:00

Ok. So, I told you guys that on Saturday I was at a car wash all day with my students from the Florida Future Educators club raising money for a conference they want to go to in January. What I didn't tell you is that I the day before I had started not feeling that great. *TMI* One thing that happened was that I had noticed blood in my urine.

Now, this should be an alarm for most people, but because on Saturday I had a "female" thing happen to me, I didn't think anything of it. That night I was feeling kind of sick and exhausted, but again I thought it was related to my lady problems. On Sunday, I was feeling worse. That afternoon I had a couple of dizzy spells. Late in the evening when I woke up to feed Jamie I was feeling extremely sick- I was clammy, sweaty, and dizzy. That morning I woke up early to take Jamie to the pediatrician. While we are there, I start feeling super sick again. Very nauseous and dizzy. Only this time, I start getting a pain in my lower back. By the time I'm in the car and ready to get home, I am in ALOT of pain. I somehow manage to get Jamie out of the car, into her swing, and me on the couch. I tried to wait an hour before I woke up Matt to take me to the ER, but I couldn't do it. The pain was unbearable and I literally felt like I was dying.

Cue in my mom. I call her and tell her to come over right away and that I need to go to the hospital. I wake up Matt and explain to him what's going on. FYI- I have had 5 kidney stones in the past, so at this point I have already diagnosed myself with another kidney stone. I remember that feeling well- I will never forget it....

I get to the ER and explain to them what's going on. They, of course, say stupid shit like "Are you sure you just didn't lift anything heavy?"

Um, guys, at this point I am crying from the pain. I feel like I'm going to vomit my insides out and they are questioning my pain. You can imagine the thoughts running through my head. Anyhow, the PA indulges me in a Catscan and some bloodwork. I will say that they were quick to give me an IV with Zofran and Diloted for the pain and nausea, which was nice. Then they come back in the room and tell me the inevitable- I have a kidney stone.

Actually, they come back and tell me I have two kidney stones. One is 4 mm and in the right kidney on it's way out- this is the pain I'm feeling. The other is a smaller 2mm in my left kidney and is not trying to move anywhere at this point. The good news is that they sent me home with a painkiller stronger than they gave Matt for his surgery and that I was pretty out of it for two days. The best news is that I passed the big 4 mm stone tonight! Hooray!

I went to a Urologist this afternoon who will be testing my stone this time to see what's going on. I obviously have a predisposition to these as it's genetic and I'm about 30 years younger (and the opposite sex) than the average person who gets kidney stones. I've known for a while that I don't metabolize calcium very well so that's part of the answer, but I'm hoping we can get down to the nitty gritty so that I don't ever have this problem again!

Here's the latest "baby" I've given birth to...

And by the way, as a person who has given birth to a baby and a kidney stone in the last two months, I will say that the actual pain of the kidney stone contractions are worse than labor pain contractions. HOWEVER, the actual birthing of a baby is way worse than peeing out a kidney stone. AND, I do consider myself an expert on this. ;-)

Jamie is 2 months old!!!

2010-11-30T23:43:00.005-05:00

Jamie turned 2 months old on Black Friday! As you can see, she has grown SO much! Yesterday, we went to see Dr. Pantages and here are her latest stats:

Height: 24.25 in. (97%)

Weight: 13 lbs. 13 oz. (97%)

Head: 15.5 in. (89%)

Um, can you believe our "Tiny" Tow is almost 14 lbs?? I can't...I had to put her newborn and 0-3 month clothes away to get her bigger clothes out and I wanted to cry. Especially when I had to put away my favorite of her little footie nighties that has bunny's on it. SO CUTE! But guess what?? Turns out someone gave me the exact same outfit in the 6 month size, too! I've never been so excited for baby clothes!

Jamie has learned many things in the last month of her life. At around 5 weeks she started smiling like crazy. Especially when you put her on her changing table. She likes getting naked. Actually, she loves it. Should I be scared, yet?? At 6 weeks, she started sitting in her Bumbo seat. She won't sit in it for too long, but sometimes when she gets a little fussy, I put her in it and she calms down. She likes to look around and see what's going on. In fact, one of her favorite little games to play is to sit upright in your lap holding onto to your hands. Then, she'll lean over and chew on your fingers while grunting and scrunching her nose. It's pretty adorable.

One of the neatest of her accomplishments is that around 6 1/2 weeks she started talking! Well, not real words, but you know what I mean. She is quite "talkative," too. She's very expressive when she gets mad, and I could swear she's yelling at me, which unfortunately for her makes me snicker, cause, well, it's funny when she yells gibberish at me!

The best thing that's happened recently, though, is that she giggles! I heard it for the first time on Black Friday, believe it or not.....

True story: I took Jamie for her professional 2 month/Thanksgiving pics at JC Penney. As I left, I saw that right in front of the Photo Studio there were pillows on a Black Friday deal for only $3.88. I'd been needing pillows for our bedroom and so I got really excited. I stuck my hand in the stroller and I squealed something about the pillows being on sale and Jamie giggled! I think I just about cried right there on the spot. One, because she giggled and it was the most amazing sound I had ever heard. And two, because I think Jamie loves shopping, too! It was amazing!

Anyhow, Matt and I are absolutely thrilled with how healthy our baby is and how fast she's growing. Her 3 month birthday is coming up around Christmas and I can't wait to see what little gifts she gives us in the next month as she continues to grow. I wonder if she'll learn hot to roll over by then?!

PS- I don't want to jinx myself here, but since 7 weeks Jamie has started sleeping for 5-6 hour stretches. She's even slept a few 8 hour stretches (knock on wood!).

Mommy-Butt Monday Week 4 (a day late)

2010-11-30T23:10:00.003-05:00

Weight gain/loss: -2.5 lbs.
Fat Jean status: still neutral. I refuse to wear these out of the house just yet.
Skinny Jean status: Negative

This week I still managed to lose a couple of pounds- even with Thanksgiving dinner! I was very proud of myself cause I didn't eat until I felt sick, but I did splurge a little.

Otherwise, I did do more of the P90X. I really liked the Kenpo. I have been taking the P90X really slow and not doing it every single day just yet. I feel like after about a year of not working out (I didn't work out my entire pregnancy) that I shouldn't go too crazy. I'm going to work up to 6 days a week.

Still losing... yeah, baby!!

Still recuperating and still thankful!

2010-11-27T21:46:00.004-05:00

I've been on a blogger hiatus cause it's been a busy few days for me! We've had lots of family in town for the holiday. Did you have a wonderful Thanksgiving? We did!

For us it started on Wednesday when my sister and her husband, my uncle, his wife, their grand kids, my dad's cousin, and more started coming into town! I also started my cooking on Wednesday cause the Baby Boss is in charge these days, and I wanted to make sure I timed things properly so I could make it to dinner on time! I was responsible for a side dish so in general "Suzanne style" I made two cornbread souffle's, crab dip (as an appetizer), 2 1/2 dozen homemade pumpkin cookies, and homemade cranberry fudge.

pumpkin cookies with glaze drizzle

cranberry and pecan fudge

This year we are thankful for our little munchkin, Jamie! (obviously!) Because we are quite a culturally mixed family, we had prayers in 4 different languages: English, Spanish, Farci, and Hillbilly! The reason is this....my dad is from Georgia, my mom is Venezuelan, my husband is Midwestern, and my sister's husband is Iranian. So, you see where this is going.....ironically every prayer ended with, "and Jamie!"

*side note: In case you are wondering, a hillbilly prayer goes something like this, "Pass the food. Amen."

The best part of the day was dressing Jamie up in another dress. My life's mission these days is to get Jamie in every single outfit she received as a gift, or else!!

Here she is....2 months going on 80!

(We hit a milestone- Jamie wore tights and shoes for the first time!)

There were 20 of us at dinner, and we ate until we were stuffed. Especially Jamie!

(Um, yeah, that's my left boob in that picture. Loverly, isn't it??)

On Friday, my best friend Holly, who came into town for the holiday, came over to meet Jamie for the first time! Jamie loves her, just like me!

And just when you thought I couldn't get any busier, I chaperoned a car wash all day today for the club I sponsor at school (Florida Future Educators of America). It was an interesting day, and I had maybe 3 hours of sleep last night, so yeah (nothing a venti soy sugar-free vanilla iced latte can't fix)! And, I could tell you lots of other things that happened in a car wash with 6 teenage girls but I won't bore you. I'll jaust say this...two of my girls are exceptionally *cute* and wore their shortest shorty shorts today.....with tank tops! Yep. If we would have gotten a dollar for every honk I think we would have made more than the $150 we made. So, this is me signing off uncomfortably and thankful for all the pervy men who got their cars washed today. I swear one of the trucks was already washed when he got there, but he gave us a $20 to go towards our conference in January, so...... Hmmmm....I've showered since, but I'm still feeling dirty about that one.

PS- I know you are wondering, so I think you should know that although I've been too busy cooking and cleaning to partake, Matt has been faithfully drinking tea every night! The rum cake, unfortunately, met it's demise on Thanksgiving day....all gone! (Thank, GOD! I'm not sure how much longer my will power was going to last with that one)

Dr. Evil

2010-11-22T22:59:00.004-05:00

Tonight Matt and I had tea and rum cake with Dr. Evil....

Ok. Fine. I didn't eat rum cake. You know what? I don't really need rum cake. I don't even crave it or anything. I have no desire to eat it. (lies!)

Speaking of Dr. Evil, though, I'm back on P90X now that Matt is back to work. I started today with Kenpo, and know what? I kind of liked it. Well, "like" is relative but it was way better than the arms and chest one. For those of you who have interest in P90X, as some of you have asked me about it, here are a few tips:

1) I think I've said this before, but SILENCE the sound. I don't know his name, but the Billy Blank of P90X is freaking annoying as hell. No. Really. His voice is like nails on a chalkboard. I want to throw things at the t.v. EVERY time he speaks.

2) It's hard as balls. I mean really hard. This isn't for the faint of heart.

3) For good measure you might just want to use your ipod while you do it just in case you accidentally hear a little bit of his voice.

4) Do this in private. If you're like me, you're going to look like a great big idiot while you do this. A great big pansy idiot!

5) Don't look when the big huge words "BRING IT" pop up on the screen. If you're like me then this will make you think, "Oh, it's already been broughten." And then you'll be annoyed that an exercise video has you doing "Bring it On," quotes in your head. This will remind you that you've seen all stupid sequels of this movie and you'll again want to throw something at the t.v.

Ok, that's it. Well, actually, no. I'm annoyed that during the break he makes you do jumping jacks and jack hammers and stuff. I thought a break was a break and that you take that time to eat a snack or sit down or something easy like that. Right? Isn't that what a break is? It's like the people mover at the airport. You get on it cause you think you're going to be able to rest, stop, and let the people mover move you cause that's what people movers do. They move people. But, no. People use it to go faster and walk on it which therefore forces you to walk, too. It's a PEOPLE MOVER, people!!

PS- Just for shits and giggles I'm going to start all my evening posts with me and Matt having tea and rum cake. You know, until we finish drinking all the tea. Just a little experiment I'm doing.

PPS- I know I sometimes over-exaggerate some things on here for comedic effect, but I'm not actually kidding about the tea and rum cake. That's real stuff. Real, unrated Matt and Suzanne life. Exciting, no?

Mommy-Butt Monday Week 3

2010-11-22T11:30:00.002-05:00

Weight gain/loss: --------5!
Fat Jean status: Neutral (Not suitable for public wear)
Skinny Jean status: Negative

Ok. I honestly don't know why I lost 5 pounds this week! I swear I'm eating. I think 2 of these pounds must be from last week that got lost in the shuffle on Monday when I weighed in. Here's what I did differently:

1) On the advice of my good friend/sweet sorority sister Sarah Beth, I joined SparkPeople.
2) I followed the SparkPeople calorie intake and fitness minutes.
3) That's it. I did the bare minimum the program asks for.

So, yeah! 5 pounds lost this morning! I was hoping it was going to be good, because I could tell in my (maternity) jeans that things were feeling looser (even just out of the dryer!).

At this rate, I'll definitely be meeting my mini goals on schedule! :-)

As your poster child I'm here to tell you that following a sensible meal plan and exercising will help you lose weight. Go figure. No starving, crazy fasting, or special magic pill needed. <----ask me if I'm still feeling like this in a couple of months.

PS- I'm still pissed about the whole cake with cookies thing. I miss you, yummy sweet goodness!

Another cozy night

2010-11-21T21:54:00.003-05:00

Tonight my mom came over for some tea and rum cake. ;-)

What else, what else, what else.....ahhhh....I got nothing....

Hey, I know! Let's check out the bad habits I'm instilling in my daughter...

Party Time!

2010-11-20T23:06:00.007-05:00

Today I ventured out of the mommy-safe zone and decided to ~~torture myself~~ have some fun by taking Jamie to a birthday party in Sarasota. So, I actually straightened my hair (haven't done this in like two months) put on make-up and packed up my little munchkin for the trip.

Normally this trip would take 1 hour and 10 minutes BUT, since I am terrified of the Sunshine Skyway and can't drive over it, I took the long way which is about an hour and half drive. I left the house promptly at 2:30 pm to make it to the party at 4. At 5 o'clock we finally made it! Appears my little angel doesn't do trips over 10 min. Yah! I'll leave it at that cause I think those of you who are mommy's kind of know what happened in the car. I'd rather not speak about it. Jamie and I decided what happens in the car stays in the car, if you know what I mean...

All that said, we had a fabulous time. My friend Brooke always throws an amazing party and this one was no exception. Since it was her son's 3rd birthday party there were lots of littleuns. I personally think Jamie was on the high end of the cutest kid list. There may have been one or two *tied* with her. Actually, there were several tied with her, but none cuter.

Proof:

Several of the ladies were impressed I was put together enough to put on make-up. I actually was just relieved to have made it to Sarasota. I started to freak a few times and thought I may have to turn around and go home, but I made it!! AND, then I made it home later!! Look- no blood shed!

Brooke made the most adorable party favors. Check out the one she made just for Jamie!

It was fun to be around all the little kiddies, but honestly I was more excited to put Jamie in a dress. Baby girl dresses are SO cute! Also, I showed HUGE self restraint and didn't eat any of the cake or goodies at the party. I ate fruit. And the cake had cookies on it, too....and, I ate fruit.... YAY! Good for me. (sarcasm)

When we got home I changed Jamie into her comfy clothes:

Deceptively devilish face here. I just want to squeeze it!! Isn't she the cutest baby you ever did see??

Right now we're all relaxing. Matt and I are drinking our tea and eating rum cake again tonight. Well, Matt's eating rum cake. I am again playing that fun little game called "self-discipline." It's really not that bad. It's fun, actually! (cue fake smile).

(monotone voice) You can try it too one day. We can all try it together. It will be fun. I love this game.

And, for those of you who never need to be self disciplined, well ~~screw you~~ good for you! (cue fake smile, take two). <------Rhiannon, this is you I'm talking about.

PS- I'm excited for Monday's weigh-in. I think it's going to be good! (it better be, cause I missed cake with cookies on it) :-)

Be ware of Tea

2010-11-18T23:17:00.006-05:00

I went to Teavana today with my good friend Ellen and the girls. Well, actually we went to the mall and Teavana was one of our stops.

Now, I would like to preface by saying that I have purchased tea there before.

Back to my story...I got a little excited trying some of the samples they had there today. I tried one that curbed your appetite. I tried one that lowered blood sugar. I tried one that is an antioxidant to help clear up my skin....

It seemed like the perfect combination. In fact, so perfect that I wasn't paying attention to numbers. So, I had them mix me up the perfect Suzanne brew.

Did you know that curb your appetite tea + lower your blood sugar tea + antioxidant tea = $50?

Now, I'm by far not cheap. In fact, I've had to work really hard to be a little more frugal because I'm kind of known for poor spending habits. But, even I felt a little sick to my stomach for spending that much money for tea. I'm not saying that good (actually great) tea isn't worth $50, but well...it kind of isn't. Jeans are worth $50. Shoes are worth $50. Purses are worth way more than $50. Tea is not worth $50.

Yah. So, looks like no Starbucks splurges for me for a little while. At least not until I've drank all my $50 tea.

I don't know why Matt thinks this is so funny, by the way. Tonight I made him some of my special tea and although he does find it super delicious it was kind of funny that tonight for dessert we drank our $50 tea and had $25 rum cake we special ordered (cheaper than the tea and imported from Grand Cayman, ironically). Dessert suitable for yuppies (or dinks)!

Even funnier was our entertainment. Apparently my sister-in-law "butt-dialed" Matt and we got to hear her conversation with another family member for an entire 10 minutes before she realized it. That was actually the highlight of the night.

Well....that and when Matt oficially become a butt sniffer. For that, I bequeath him with this Butt Sniffing Award:

Look! Even Jamie thinks that's funny!

***Side Note***

For the record, I want you all to know that I love this Tea and Teavana. I purchase tea there frequently. Teavana has by far the best quality tea of any other location I've been to. I just usually only spend $30 worth. If we weren't on one income while I'm on maternity leave right now, I wouldn't even bat an eyelash at today's tea purchase!

My.Heart.Just.Melted...

2010-11-18T18:17:00.001-05:00

My new favorites

2010-11-17T23:17:00.003-05:00

My newest (and most current) favorite pictures of my munchkin:

PS- Jamie is VERY strong. She's always pushing herself off my chest and moving her head back and forth to check things out. She loves sitting in her bumbo to check things out. It cracks me up! She's also smiling up a storm! I can't believe she'll be two months old next week!!

Random Thoughts Post plus a Matt update

2010-11-16T21:22:00.003-05:00

We took Matt to the surgeon for his follow-up appointment and everything looks great!! Yay! We're pretty excited, because things are only going to get better from here on out. This is the end to a long journey. We couldn't be happier to move on with our new family of 3.

With that said, Matt's doctor is all the way in Tampa about 1 hr from where we live. We decided that I would drop him off at the office and then take Jamie somewhere until his appointment ended. This office is CRAZY! It's always jam packed and the appointments always run late. So, I took the baby to the mall to keep her occupied and away from the crowd.

A few things I would like to say about this mall and various other happenings (***Warning- I'm feeling a little judgmental and hateful for some reason today***):

1) The mall by USF is super G-H-E-T-T-O!! I actually got nervous in there cause first thing I did was go to the directory to find a Starbucks, and guess what?? They didn't have one!! WHAT! Blasphemy!! The Countryside mall used to have two- NO JOKE!

-This mall also has a "5-7-9". Um, I'm pretty sure I have perused the racks of a "5-7-9" back in the day....like 1993! I didn't even know they still had them!

-This mall had a store devoted solely to bling. Like the thick gangster cz bling necklaces.

-This mall had a Barber shop in it. It was named "Barber Shop."

-This mall also had a store named "Soul Train."

-Did I mention this mall DID NOT have a Starbucks in it....

2) I hate jeggings. I hate the name "Jeggings" I hate the look of jeggings. I especially hate the look of jeggings on me. I will never wear jeggings. No offense if you wear these, but I hate them. I don't, however, hate Pajama Jeans. I would like a pair of these. I don't know why, but I feel like I really need these. I'm pretty sure I'm going to ask Santa for these...along with a long plush robe.

3) I also hate skinny jeans. But, only for now. I'm pretty sure I'll like them again when the baby weight is gone. (fingers crossed)

4) I saw a man riding a motorcycle with a kid riding on the back. The boy was maybe 9-11 years old. He was wearing a helmet, but still....I think this is child abuse. (I really do!) Motorcycles are SO dangerous! When I did auto claims, all my motorcycle accidents included either a loss of limb or death. Those helmets are just brain catchers, people! They don't save your life!

Ok, off my soap box. Feel better, phew! I don't think shopping with my post- partum body was a good idea. I'm going to wait a little longer before I attempt that one again! :-)

Mommy-Butt Monday Week 2

2010-11-15T22:15:00.004-05:00

Weight gain/loss: 0 **sigh**
Fat Jean status: Neutral (giant muffin top alert)
Skinny Jean status: Negative

This is a bummer. I don't know what to say. I started off strong having lost 2 pounds during the week, but the weekend happened and I fell off the wagon. Let's just say that it was my mom's birthday and we celebrated it twice (wed and sat). This included two cakes plus a gigantic pasta dinner I made. Then, on Sunday my friend Stephanie came over and made us breakfast. That afternoon, my other friend Ellen came over and brought us more food. So, yeah.... excuses, excuses, I know. (Don't I have amazing friends??)

As for working out, I did walk about 2 miles one day last week. I also had one day of grocery shopping where I had to hold Jamie while pushing the cart and grabbing my groceries at the same time. I count that as a work out, by the way. Not only did I sweat like the pig I am, but I was also sore the next day! That counts, right??!!

This week I plan on not only sticking to my diet, but I'm also going to get serious about the exercise. Obviously, I'm going to have to work to lose the rest of the baby weight. I think I hit my plateau of baby fluid loss. Also, I'm putting the P90X on hold until Matt is back to work (which I think is next week). It's too awkward for me to try (aka: fail miserably) to do those videos in front of Matt. I'm going to have to do that in private...

Free Holiday Cards!!

2010-11-12T21:01:00.004-05:00

For the past two years Matt and I have sent "funny" Holiday photo cards.

Case in point- here is last years photo which we signed from "Matt, Suzanne, and Bobo":

This year I'm having a difficult time coming up with ideas for our card, and not much time left to consider this. Any ideas?

What I do know:

1) I am purchasing my 100 + cards from Shutterfly.
2) The picture (at the very least) must include Jamie. (She's the cutest Tow in our house-sorry, Matt!)
3) I'm thinking of using either this or this or maybe this design. (what do you think?)

Some ideas I have:

1) Photoshop our heads onto bodies like this:2) Dress Jamie up real cute and add a cheesy saying like this one:

3) I could use a regular picture and add a funny saying to it like this:

So many decisions....

Speaking of photo cards- I still haven't sent Jamie's birth announcements, yet. I do have them, and they will be sent out very soon. Along with the additional 25 thank you cards I still need to send. So, if you haven't gotten your thank you card, yet, just know I'm working on them. I've already sent almost 100 thank-you's out, believe it or not!

PS- Bloggers get 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly, follow the arrow -------> http://bit.ly/sfly2010

I see a resemblance

2010-11-10T23:22:00.004-05:00

I don't know if it's because in every picture of my sister between the ages of birth to 7 she's crying, but sometimes Jamie reminds me of her.

Especially here:

LOL! This picture cracks me up. I don't know why I think it's cute when my baby cries, but I do.

For the record, this does not mean I let me baby cry. Actually, I'm pretty much right on her once she starts to whimper, but every once in a while she gets me. Look! Here she is just seconds before the big wail!

I might have to dig up and scan a picture of my sister around this age and post on here for comparison....

Thoughts on t.v.

2010-11-09T19:26:00.002-05:00

Since I have a newborn who likes to stay up at night, and a husband who can't leave the house right now I've been watching A TON of t.v. This may also have a lot to do with the caffeine I've been drinking, but anywho I've come to a couple of conclusions about some of my t.v. shows lately.

1) I LOVE the new show "The Talk" on CBS with Julie Chen, Sara Gilbert, Sharon Osbourne, Leah Remini, Holly Robinson-Peete, and Marissa Jaret Winokur. It's like "The View" but only better cause there are no annoying Elizabeth Hasselhoff's and it's about Mom's! FYI- CBS is not paying me to promote their new show, but seriously I love it. How do you think I could get them to pay me for this? Cause, I would talk about it everyday if they did. I think the show is great!

2) I'm HATING the Cristina Yang story line in "Grey's Anatomy" with a passion. It's really getting on my nerves. A LOT. This is when the DVR fast forward comes in handy. What would I do without a DVR??

3) Is anyone watching the new HBO series "Boardwalk Empire"? I'm torn on this one. I want to like it, but it's confusing. I barely know what the hell is going on and who the characters are.

PS- I went for my 6 week follow-up appointment and I've been cleared for everything. Which is good since I didn't really follow anything she told me to do/not do. Also, I was put back on a glucophage for my insulin resistance. This is bad because it upsets my stomach.......whhhiiiicccchhh could be GOOD, riiiggghhhght???

PPS- That reminds me, one time when I was in college a friend of mine lost a ton of weight when she got mono, and I wished I got it too so I could lose weight. This was obviously a stupid thought since I only weighed 112 lbs. at the time. I'm not saying that I want mono right now, but what about a good 48 hour flu or something minor like that? (TOTALLY KIDDING! sort of)

Mommy-Butt Monday Week 1

2010-11-08T23:12:00.004-05:00

Weight gain/loss: 0 (at least I didn't gain!!!)
Fat Jean status: Neutral (does camel-toe count as fitting?)
Skinny Jean status: Negative

***Note to self (and anyone else interested)- Don't try to diet and exercise the week your husband has MAJOR surgery and your in-laws come into town and it's your Mother-in-law's birthday...***

Last week I only exercised once and I ate pretty crappy. I'm very lucky to have not gained any weight. Well, technically I'm down .2 lb., but since that doesn't even equal 1 lb, I don't think it counts. My goal for next week is to follow my diet (lots of caffeine, fruits, and veggies), and exercise more than last week. So, twice...

I hope the Pilot made it

2010-11-07T17:26:00.004-05:00

After Matt took a couple of his Percocet he started drifting off to sleep. He was in a lucid dream state, and he says to me:

"I just gave a pilot who got shot some water."

Me: "Did he make it?"

Matt (sounding very concerned and with his eyes still closed): "I don't know....I hope so...."

Even better, earlier today I had decided to call the pediatrician tomorrow because when I changed a pretty nasty diaper of Jamie's, I thought it smelled almost fruity. I KNOW my baby isn't eating fruit. But guess what? Just now when I went to change the diaper again, I realized that the wipes were tropical fruit scented. Ok, I got those as a baby shower gift (I am still using wipes and diapers I received as gifts) and I didn't even know that baby wipes came scented like that!

Random Funny

2010-11-06T23:37:00.001-04:00

A woman came home, screeching her car into the driveway, and ran into the house.

She slammed the door and shouted at the top of her lungs, 'Honey, pack your bags. I won the lottery!'

The husband said, 'Oh my God! What should I pack, beach stuff or mountain stuff?'

'Doesn't matter,' she said. 'Just get out!'

Need prayers and positive thoughts, please! UPDATE

2010-11-03T01:29:00.002-04:00

Matt is going in for his second hip surgery this afternoon. Please keep us in your prayers and positive thoughts that all goes well!

***UPDATE***

Matt's surgery went well! We have a long road of recuperation, but we're just so happy to have both of these surgeries done and over with. Yea!

P90X Day1- DONE! UPDATE

2010-11-02T14:09:00.006-04:00

It was hard! I did the arms & chest cd, and I'll tell you that I didn't even realize there were that many kinds of push ups. Actually, I'm upset that there are 100 variations of push ups. What gives? Is that really necessary??

HELL, NO!

Also, The P90X guy annoys the hell out of me. Note to self and any others out there just starting the program- choose the sound off option. If I hear that man say, "Bring it!" one more time I'm going to throw my dumbbell through the t.v. I'm not kidding, either. I'm kind of in a bad mood as it is today (Jamie Fussy Pants a.k.a. the Baby Boss decided to not sleep for most of the early hours and this afternoon for more than 10 minutes at a time) so he better not say any cheesy things today or we're going to have to buy a new t.v.

Today is Polymetrics. I don't even know what that is. I hope it's not too hard cause I'm keeping alive today with caffeine and more caffeine. I can't exert too much energy or I could have a heart attack from all this caffeine I'm drinking. Did I tell you that I took Jamie for a long 3 mile walk the other day, but that I was so tired I actually brought a coke zero with me for energy to walk. Sad, I know. BUT caffeine is a diuretic, so that could be helping me in some weight loss. On the flip side, I think caffeine also pulls major nutrients from your body (like calcium for your bones) so I could break a bone from walking if I don't get a heart attack first....

Wow, SOMEBODY GET ME SOME SLEEP!! Can I buy it? Here is a real life conversation that happened in my head this morning when Jamie would.not.sleep even though her eyes were red and swollen from exhaustion:

"Go to sleep baby. Go to sleep! PLEASE! Pretty, pretty, puhlease. What if I put you here? No. Ok. How about here? Here? Crap! Ok, what if I give you the paci? No paci. I know! I'll wake up your daddy and he can hold you. Actually, that's a good idea! I wonder if he can hold you for about 2-3 hours so I can sleep for a little bit. I just need a little bit. No...he has to work. Well, I could pay him! Yes! I'll pay him! He probably won't go for that though since I'm not working and we share all the money, though. He kind of makes most all the money, too. So, yeah, that's not going work. Oh! MY MOM! I'll pay my mom or MY DAD! Yes! What time is it? Oh, I think they already went to work. Shoot! Ok, ok, ok, ok...who else can I pay to watch the baby so I can sleep? Maybe Mary next door...she has grand kids. No. I think her son sells drugs. That won't work. There's the weird guy with the scrappy dog, but he doesn't put a leash on the dog. I don' think I can trust him to watch the baby right. Oh! Lady with the two Chihuahua's down the street! Her dogs are so cute and they love her! I bet baby's would love her, too! But, I don't really know her name so that's probably not cool. I don't think my mom or mother-in-law (or Matt) would be too happy with me if I did that. Yeah, doesn't sound like a good mommy. Alright fine! Baby burrito and coffee it is. Dammit."

**UPDATE**
In a last ditch effort to make the baby boss happy, I decided to give her a warm bath and try on one of her new outfits she got from Grandma Tow. I don't know, taking a bath and trying on new clothes always makes me feel better.

Guess, I was wrong...

Or, maybe I was right!

10 minutes later and the Baby Boss gives up! Yessssss! Momma gets a nap! (after I do the dishes, fold the clothes in the dryer, make my bed I barely slept in, bake a cake, and vacuum and mop the floors).

Out the window

2010-11-01T16:07:00.003-04:00

Things I said I would/wouldn't do while I was pregnant:

1) An all natural water-birth
2) No drugs during labor!!
3) Breastfeeding exclusively
4) Cloth diapers
5) My child would not watch t.v. until she was at least 2 years old
6) No co-sleeping

What I've actually done now that I've had the baby:

...

...

**crickets**

Um, yeah. And then there's this...

What??? She likes the lights!

Mommy-Butt Monday

2010-11-01T15:45:00.004-04:00

Well, I am officially 5 weeks post partum and I've decided I'm ready to start my exercise regime. Last week I tested the waters by jog walking 3 miles for 4 days. I felt great and I actually felt stir-crazy this weekend when I didn't get a chance to exercise.

Ok, I don't think it will come to a surprise to you that while walking one day I heard "Dance, too much booty in my pants" on my iPod and was inspired to start documenting my post baby weight loss journey. It doesn't take much to get the wheels turning in this crazy brain...

Would you like the good news or the bad news first?

How about the bad news?

Originally I had planned on taking a picture of my mommy-butt (clothed) and post it on here every week to see my transformation.

The good news is that I'm not going to do that. :-)

BUT, I am going to post an update of things such as exercise, weight gain/loss, and fitting into my skinny jeans (please, please, please!). This is mostly for me- documentation to keep me accountable. But, it can also be for anyone else who wants to join along.

My plan of attack:

1) Eat good foods.
2) P90X
3) Lots of Caffeine

How I will document it:

1) Post a before picture for each phase of P90X
2) I won't bore you with the exact details of pounds lost, etc. I'll just jot down loss or gain. (hopefully losses only!)
3) Fat jean and Skinny Jean status. I'm not even in my fat jeans, yet. So, I'll have to document both

It will be posted weekly (on Monday's- duh!) and look like this:

Weight gain/loss: -1 or +??? (That's not going to happen, so I'm not even going to jinx myself with a number)
Fat Jean status: Negative (negative means it didn't fit- ow! Positive means it fit)
Skinny Jean status: Negative (boo!)

I'll also notate if I was able to stick to the exercise routine and/or diet for the week. Every once in a while I'll post a picture.

My goal here is to lose at least 20 pounds. I am one of those who gained more than the allotted 25-30 lbs in pregnancy. I gained 60 pounds. Let's just get that out in the open. I ate ice cream every day and it felt good to do it, and I don't regret it. So, there!

I've already lost 37 pounds. So, I have about 20 to get to my pre-pregnancy, but I gained 15 before that from the IVF, so I would like to lose that, too. Is 35 pounds too much to ask?? I'd like to do this by Spring Break (end of March).

Alright, against my better judgement I will bestow upon you my "before" picture.

Wish me luck. I'm about to power up my P90X cd after my next post...

Happy Halloween! I think I'm back...

2010-10-31T23:46:00.003-04:00

I hope everyone had a creepy and spooky Halloween weekend!

I started the weekend with a little girls night to the movies with Rhiannon, Angelle, and LeShayne. Of course we see that movie "Life as We Know It" and it has a baby in it so I missed my own baby. And, I may or may not fought back tears like 4 times. Damn hormones! It was a good movie, though (if you like the romantic comedy type). Oh, and there was possibly adult beverages afterwards at the Ruby Tuesday's next door.

On Saturday, I took Jamie on a girls shopping trip to run some errands and buy some decorations. I never did decorate for Halloween, but I put the Thanksgiving one's up Saturday night, so I'm starting to feel back to normal around here. I can't believe the year is almost over. At the beginning of the year it seemed to drag on (especially the first trimester). But, here I am with a 5 week old getting ready for the holiday's.

Did I mention I bought my 5 week old daughter a boom box??? Yeah...it seems regular little old cd players aren't the norm anymore. People have iPod's that they hook up to docking stations. Except me. I don't own a smart phone either. Although I do own an iPod, I don't hook it up to a docking station. I use it only when I go jogging (which isn't often- especially this year). I needed one for Jamie's CD's though. So, I went to Toy's R Us looking for a kiddie one, and it turns out that all they had were kid boom boxes. So, yeah. Now there's a big giant pink boom box in the nursery. It looks so weird! LOL!

Anyway, today I made pumpkin cupcakes with whipped cream icing and headed over to Rhiannon's for some "trick or treating" with Ty and the little munchkin. Ok, we only hit up 4 houses and all I did was walk around and then chat it up with an old friend from high school, but still... I got out of the house and I made cupcakes! The old me is coming back. I even cleaned both bathrooms and did all my laundry with no one to help. I think I'm getting used to this mom thing.

On a final thought, I had an old teacher (my favorite!) from high school stop by to see the baby. She was so sweet and brought Jamie a whole bunch of books as a gift. It made me think about how lucky I am to have had such a wonderful teacher and role model. She was my Early Childhood Education teacher which is what I teach now. I LOVED her class and I LOVED her, and now I get to do exactly what she did before she retired. Actually, she helped me get my job. When she saw my resume come through the system she called Tarpon High and put in a good word for me. Do any of you have special teachers that are still in your lives?

Oh, and I'm starting P90X tomorrow. Wish me luck. I really really need it....In the war against the mommy butt, I will win. Mommy butt is going DOWN, bitch! ;-)

Jamie's First Halloween!

2010-10-29T17:35:00.003-04:00

We took our little Jamiekins to the high school I teach at to take her "trick or treating" (aka: showing her off to my co-workers) with the preschoolers.

It was really fun, and I know Jamie loved it (slept through it), too! When I walked in, the preschoolers came running over to me screaming "Mrs. Towel!" They gave me hugs and told me they missed me. It was so sweet. And then one of my sassy little ones says:

"Mrs. Towel, how long did it take to get the baby out of you?"

And another chimes in:

"That's the baby that was inside you!!??"

Ah. 3 year olds. Gotta love them!

My high-schoolers, surprisingly, were just as excited to see me (for some reason). They all came over to see the baby and told me repeatedly that they missed me. They were begging me to come back. And, just when I started truly believing they did miss me I find out that the sub who is taking over while I'm on leave is a real "you know what."

Well, maybe they do miss me, but I think they just hate him more....

Whatever. It made me feel good, so I'll take what I can get.

What?

You ask what Jamie was for Halloween?

Well, she was a.....

LADYBUG, of course!! (Courtesy of my sweet Sorority Sister, Sarah Beth!) Thanks, Sarah! She looks freaking adorable in the ladybug bunting outfit you sent her. It even looked adorable after she had a blow out inside of it and poop got all over it! LOL!

Ok, I gotta go. I just strong-armed a few fellow lady friends of mine into having a girl's night. Momma needs a break (and a cocktail).

Random and Sometimes Funny Things Matt Finds on the Internet

2010-10-28T00:09:00.001-04:00

Speaking of baby's...and Spanx....

(remember this skit from SNL??)