Beast Mode

I told myself that this was going to be the month that I got back on track with my regular workout routine. It's just been so freaking hard lately. And by lately I obviously mean for the past year or so. Between work and the boys' new school schedules and trying to actually work at the gym once in a while to help make that crazy monthly payment a little more palatable, it's just been ridiculously hard to get on a schedule and stick to it. But New Year New Me, right?

The boys spent the night with my parents on Friday night so I did what any childless person would do on a Saturday morning: nurse a hangover with a huge greasy breakfast spend it at the gym. I am at a new gym now and I'm trying to find some new classes to love. I've been hearing a ton about this craziness called Bodypump, and have never had it at my gym before. Well I do now. And crazy it is. I had literally no idea what to expect so I kept my weights pretty light. And then I realized just how little upper body strength I actually have. So instead of quitting while I was ahead, I decided to capitalize on my moment with no children and washed my shaky, sweaty class down with an hour of yoga. This was 4 days ago and I think my shoulders are still sore.

And instead of just jumping on a treadmill when I returned to the gym two days later, I decided to go to Body Conditioning. Yes, another strength class. I got completely SMOKED by 60 year-old women. And I'm not kidding. We had to push a medicine ball up over our heads, put it on the ground, do a full push up ( with out hands ON IT) and then jump back up. About a billion times in a row. Um, not happening.

I about died, friends. But I didn't. And I'm going to go back. There is no shot that I'm gonna let a bunch of 60 - year- old women show me up again. Well, actually, they probably will. Whatever. I'm a beast. Or, I will be some day at least.

Now that I'm done crying about how out of shape I am, wanna see some pictures I've taken with my new snazzy phone?

Actually, never mind. I can't figure out how to import them while I'm using the phone to type. CAN ANYONE HELP ME?????

Have a healthy day,

J

Resolution Epic Fail

Oh hi!  Remember me? I'm the chick who decided a while back to write a blog, and then decided to never update it.  Um, yeah...

Anyway, I'm happy to be back. I made a resolution the other day that this would be the year I would re-commit to this little ol' blog.  And so far, three days in, I've failed miserably.  Yikes.  Ok, well, I'll start today.   Here goes. 

You're dying to know what's been happening in my neck of the woods over the past month, aren't you?  I know. 

Well, I turned 33.  I'm feelin' so old, yo.  But I had a really great night with a big family dinner at a hibachi restaurant and got totally spoiled with some new Lulu gear and.... drum roll please... an iphone!  Yes that is correct.  Mama got an iphone. And she is officially obsessed.  (But she doesn't really know how to upload pictures from the phone on to this little blog.  She's old. But she'll figure it out. And then she'll stop talking about herself in the third person.) 

Um, what else? I spent my entire week off last week sick as a dog.  Yep.  It all started last Friday with CJ complaining that he didn't feel well and wanting to stay home from school.  Me, being the super awesome mom that I am, looked down and noticed that he had his fingers crossed.  So, assuming he was lying, I sent his booty to school.  By 1:30 the nurse had called and he was coming home with a fever of 101.  He lifted his little pathetic body off the couch approximately 4 days later, at which time, I laid my not so little pathetic body in that same spot for the next 4 days.  And so it went.  We all took a turn having a pounding headache, fever, and pure exhaustion.  It was a wonderful way to spend my vacation. 

But other than that, Christmas was glorious.  My little buddy was in the play at Church for the first time, and then he turned 4 the day after.  He's 4. Omg.  I told you I was old. 

YAYYY! Told you I'd figure out how to get the
photos off the new phone.  Hmmm...now if
only I could figure out how to take pix
that aren't blurry...

The hubs and I spent New Year's on the couch with Ryan Seacrest and some cough syrup.  I personally hate NYE.  I am so over spending hundreds of dollars I don't have to get entirely too drunk and ultimately waking up the next morning thinking, "wow, that was overrated".  But Husband was all about going to this fancy party that a hotel downtown was hosting.  Luckily, he jumped on my page at the last minute.  I was just about over my sickness by the time it came around, but he was right in the middle of his.  So he drank tea and I drank one drink because I felt like I was supposed to and at 12:04 I went upstairs and went to bed.  ...And LAME-O was their name-o...

Whatevs.  I'm cool.  Really I am.  (No?)

So that's it for now.  I worked out in front of the TV tonight and now the sweat is drying on me and I'm cold.  So I'm heading in to the shower and then I'm going to bed.  Have I ever mentioned how much I hate working out at home.  I do.  I friggin' hate it.  But it's a new year and I need to stop making excuses and start focusing on the fitness. 

What are your new year's resolutions?????

Have a healthy day,

J

Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving kids!  I hope you got to enjoy some good food and some good company.  In true fatty fashion, I celebrated not just once, but twice.  My whole family got together at my sister's new house on Thursday.  She just bought the house a few months ago and was stoked to be able to host her first big thing.  Besides the food being disgusting and the drinks being weak, it was a good time. 

I KID, I KID. 

The food was so good and the drinks were plentiful.  My faves from the night were the caramel apple pie and the spiked hot apple cider.  My job was to make the mashed potatoes and the green beans (with bacon, obvi).  Both were slammin'. It was a good time had by all.

I could totally go for some of that pie right now. 

The next morning, we loaded up the car and embarked on our very first family car trip.  4 and a half hours of Ty playing I Spy with himself, CJ asking if we were there yet and the Husband rolling his eyes and mumbling about the boys talking too much.  It was a good time had by all. 

 If you know me even a little, you know that I have some serious anxiety.  So preparing for this trip was just amazing.  I was all kinds of stressed out.  Sleeping away from my house stresses me out.  Having my kids off their schedule stresses me out.  Being out of my comfort zone stresses me out.  Brushing my hair stresses me out.  (Just kidding on that last one, but I think you get my point.  I'm one big stress ball). 

But all of that flew out the window the second we got out of the car at my sister-in-law's house.  My kids adored playing with their cousins and the four of us adults all got to enjoy each other's company.  Plus, my SIL made a whole Thanksgiving dinner. Homemade mac 'n cheese, corn pudding, the works.  I stuffed myself silly.  To that one, I brought some peppermint meltaway cookies and a pumpkin roll.  (Thank you, Pinterest.)

 

So, what are you thankful for this year?  I have been blessed with so many amazing things.  When we went around the table at my sister's before we ate, I said that I was thankful for my kids. I am.  They are funny, charismatic, caring, sensitive, smart, loving, athletic little boys who love their mama.  I'm also thankful that I've decided not to have any more.

 

I'm thankful for my husband who works so hard so that I can have options.  I'm thankful for having my family so close to me.  I'm thankful for my work schedule, for my health, for free memberships at two gyms.  For caller ID (yes, I will screen your call), Pandora Christmas stations, and universal nap time.

 

The list could go on forever.  I live a great life.  And for that I am thankful. 

 

Have a healthy day,

 

J

 

PS- Are you a Follower of this blog yet?  You should be.  All you have to do is click where it says "Follow me". All that will happen is that I'll show up on your Blog roll.  Please do it.

Prom Date Fail

When I was a second year teacher, I taught high school Biology.  (Yeah, it was a complete joke. I'm an English teacher, people.) Anyway, I was 22 and my students were 17 and 18.  One day, and I'll never forget this as long as I live, a (smart, college-bound, had lots of friends) kid pulled me aside and asked me to the prom.  I absolutely thought he was kidding until I realized he wasn't.  I think he was offended when I laughed.

Now, I am a twelfth-year teacher. I am (kind of) old enough to be my students' moms.  I no longer teach Biology. 

I got some papers delivered to my desk the other day and when I looked at them, I realized they were old assignments that a kid was supposed to have done about a month ago in ISS.  However, instead of completed work, do you wanna know what was written all over the papers?

I love my English teacher.

Ms. Wheaton is so beautiful.

My English teacher has a hot booty.

I wanna skin.  (ummmm, skin?????)


I threw up in my mouth and walked the papers across the hall, and then the kid got thrown out of my class for the rest of his life.  (Or until his 5-day suspension is over, whichever). 

Later that night, the husband told me that I'm hot so of course any teenage boy would have a crush on me. 

Moral of the story:  Mama's still got it going on.  Boo-yah.

Cast Your Vote

Happy Election Day!  I'm nervous.  I'm usually not in to politics at all.  I mean, I try to stay informed and up to date with things that are going on in the country. I watched both National Conventions and all of the debates.  But that's about as involved as I get- just enough to make an informed decision.  This year I feel pretty strongly about my choice for President.  I woke up with all kinds of anxiety (shocking, I know).  For the candidates, for the results, for the future of our country.  Did you vote?


Oh, and I have a question:  why did we get rid of the booth voting?  We now vote on heavy paper and stick it in a machine.  Each ballot comes with an even heavier paper privacy screen. Am I the only one who thinks that's a huge waste of paper?  Way to go green, America. 

Ok, now let's talk about my children.  CJ wrote everyone's name with pen on the walls outside of our bedroom doors.  If Ty hadn't pointed it out to me, I never would have noticed.  CJ told me he didn't do it.  Then he started crying. Then he said he did it 3 years ago. (At the ripe old age of TWO.)  Then he said he didn't care if I told his dad because they already had an argument about it.  Then he said that Dada probably wouldn't remember having the argument because it was so long ago, but it really did happen, so just don't even remind him. 

I love being a mother.

And on that note, I need to cut it short tonight.  I have a load of laundry to do, a kitchen to clean, a lunch to make, and election results to watch. 

Have a healthy day,

J

PS- Have you been working out this week?  I taught for a sweaty hour last night, but had to cut it short tonight.  Only got in about 20 minutes of cardio and some weights.  But hey, better than nothing, right?

Cutest Kids Ever

Feel free to go ahead and tell me how freaking adorbs my kids looked last night.  I won't be mad about it, I promise.

Last year, being the super awesome teacher that I am, I wore a flourescent orange wig to school on Halloween.  My co-teacher wore this hot pink one and we told everyone we were Nicki and Ricki Minaj. Well, one of my students ended up stealing my wig and my co-teacher ended up leaving me for a new job. This year I skipped the wig at work and settled on a Halloween shirt. (And yes, I still embraced the holiday more than any other teacher on staff.  Duds.) So you better believe I slipped the wig on the second I felt it was appropriate. CJ told me about 50 thousand times that he liked my costume.  If you ever need a confidence boost, I highly suggest you hang out with a 5-year-old.

And check out these pumpkin carving skills:

I'm pretty sure I've consumed at least 37 candy bars in the past 24 hours.  And we have an entire salad bowl full of leftovers.  A fatty's dream come true. 

Hope your Halloween was a happy one!  (Thankfully it's the one holiday that doesn't require electricity. We're continuously praying for our family members in PA who are still without electricity 5 days after Hurricane Sandy...)

Have a healthy day,

J

I'm Baaaaaccckkk!!!

Well, well, well, can you believe it's been a month since my last post?  Sheesh, time sure does fly when you're having fun.  And I don't even have any sort of good explanation of why I haven't been writing.  I've just been focusing on other things. And it just felt right to take a break.  But now that I've had some time to do some reflecting, I'm ready to come back.  I hope you'll come back with me. 

One thing that I've realized revently is that I've been comparing myself wayyyyy too much to other bloggers.  I like blogging.  But I don't like technology. I realize that most bloggers decorate their posts with all kinds of pictures and links and giveaways.  Well guess what? It's basically a miracle if I remember to empty my pictures off of my camera in any sort of appropriate time frame.  And half the time, I don't even think to take pictures of half the s*#t that most bloggers think is interesting. So here's the deal:  I vow to do a better job of updating the blog.  However, don't get your hopes up for pictures of what I ate for dinner (I mean, seriously, who cares?) Or run results.  I hate running. Or giveaways.  I'm not nearly organized enough for that.  Not now, anyway.  ( I know, what the heck kind of blogger are you then??) Get over it.

I'll try to be funny. Sometimes it'll happen and sometimes it won't.  Whatever. I'm not gonna stress about that anymore.  It's my blog, and that's what you'll get- ME. The funny, the sad, the boring, the REAL.  My hope is that you'll be able to relate at one point or another.  And I would really love it if you would tell me about it.  Because sometimes it's nice to hear that you're not alone.  Hence the reason for sharing my life with every person who has access to a computer. 

So here we go.

My kids are going to be really freaking cute tomorrow (obvi). I'll be sure to post a pic.

 I've found a way to get emotionally-charged teenagers to calm the freak down (at least temporarily)- buy a class pet.  We now have two little turtles in our room. They are really cute and the kids love them.  I'll try to remember to post a pic.

I have been horrible with trying to keep up any kind of regular workout routine.  I hate being chubby, but apparently I don't quite hate it enough yet to really do anything about it.  I love eating Halloween candy.  A lot.  I'm too fat to post a pic.

I ate butternut squash soup for dinner that I made from scratch.  It was really good.  I won't post a pic.

I've now officially been married for 7 years.  That's a long time and there were times we weren't quite sure we were going to make it.  But as much as irritate each other, we've decided that we actually do like each other enough to stick it out.  Here's hoping we make it to year 8! Here's a pic:

Us on our anniversary a couple of weeks ago.  Look at the hubs- what a good looking guy!

It's good to be back! 

Have a healthy day,

J

Your turn:  can you relate to anything in this post?  Leave me a love note and tell me about it.