Accomplished

Posted in Family, Holidays and Seasons, House and Home by teamtradermom

I love me a good to do list. This is for 2 reasons.

It outlines my tasks and helps clear my head
It feels so amazing to cross things off and see what you’re getting done

Yesterday was one of those days.

First of all, let me just say how nice it was to have the day AFTER Christmas off. That extra day really helped get things reset and back to normal before starting work again.

Boy did we take advantage! Originally we considered using the day to catch a movie or something but that would involve a baby-sitter (we feel Isabella is too young yet for movies, even the kids ones). Plus, that would take valuables hours away from the many tasks that have been piling up. Owning a house – and particularly having just moved – means no end to chores, fixes, repairs, remodels, etc. So we opted to stay home and get stuff done.

I didn’t actually write out a list, which is unusual for me, but I was checking one off in my head. Here’s everything I got done:

2 loads of laundry folded and put away
First floor vacuumed
Dishes washed and put away (by hand and dishwasher)
Pictures hung in the master bedroom
2 pictures hung in the living room
After Christmas shopping done at Lowe’s
Isabella’s kitchen set put together*
Christmas presents put away
Goodwill items donated*
Basement cleaned up and some organization started**

CJ got a whole bunch of other stuff done too, from his own list.

Boy did it feel good! I went to bed last night exhausted yet satisfied.

Switching gears a bit. I’m not going to write a whole Christmas re-cap post this year because frankly, I’m ready to move on. I love the holidays and we had an awesome weekend, but I’d rather leave it be and quietly go forth with my week. It’s one of those things that you build up for a whole month and then when it’s over, it’s time to just let it go and stop retelling it.

One thing I will share is that this year we got Isabella involved in culling through her toys. Before we even brought one gift from Grandma’s into the house or opened many of her Santa gifts, we had her sit with us in the play room and decide which toys she would keep, which ones would be put away for a while (i.e. take out of the rotation and bring back in 6 months from now when we needed something “new”) and which would be given away to “other kids and babies and ladies and guys” (as she says it).

I thought it would be hard for her to understand and that we’d have to grab toys out of her clutched little hands but it didn’t go that way at all. She was cool with giving some of them away. She even went with us to Goodwill yesterday and watched daddy take the bags of stuff in. She asked where daddy was taking her toys and I reminded her about other kids who needed them. She said, “And babies and ladies and guys.” Yes, them too.

With a herd of toys either gone or relegated to the basement, her playroom had much more room for her new toys, like the kitchen set. It looked so nice and neat and open last night I almost wept. I know it won’t last – especially with my tornado Father-in-law coming over today – but it sure looked good for a day!

Another project that was started today was the basement. That one wasn’t even on my to do list – it was a total accident. See, last week I started working out again. Some of my gear is still packed away, and we don’t have the TV set up in the basement yet, so I’ve been forced to do either the elliptical while reading a magazine or free weight moves (using fitness cards from magazines). Well I finished my magazine this morning before my time was up on the elliptical and I CANNOT use a machine without either reading material or TV to watch. So I had to find other cardio. I looked around the basement – which has basically been the dumping grounds for everything else in the house that we don’t know what to do with – and decided I might as well work on organizing it.

So I moved furniture (including the elliptical which before was tucked back in a dark corner and now is near another wall, under some light), went through boxes, picked up toys, and basically started figuring out where things should go and how to keep it somewhat tidy while still being in limbo.

I got so much done and was moving and using muscles the whole time. Not too exciting but I felt great about it! Plan to do that again tomorrow and every day thereafter until we have a gym membership (which could be sooner rather than later)!

I have a whole slew of other projects to get done but those will have to wait for another day and another post.

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18Nov2011

Puberty

Posted in Health and Weightloss by teamtradermom

I was under the impression that the embarrassments and awkward moments that come with the teenage years, end when you reach adulthood. Things like your body changing in ways you don’t understand, saying stupid things to boys that you berate yourself for later, dealing with cliques and popularity contests and of course, acne.

Turns out they don’t.

You get to deal with the strange bodily things if you get pregnant and when you start aging. Things don’t work the way they used to and other parts move around. Hair that was straight becomes curly. And you find hairs in places you never did before.

You also never stop saying stupid things to boys. You just stop caring. It’s called marriage. The beautiful part is that when you say something stupid, your husband will just tell you it’s dumb so that you don’t have to worry about it for days/weeks/months at a time.

And those cliques? They never go away either. They exist in every work place and every organization. But again, you stop caring as much the older you get. You recognize them for what they are and learn how to deal.

As for the acne – I’ve had my up and down moments with that. Never had issues with zits in high school or college. Was blessed with perfect skin and unicorns dancing in my backyard. Then I went out in the real world and all hell broke loose on my face. After months of trying everything under the sun to figure it out, I finally found a solution that cleared it back up and the unicorns appeared once again.

And now it’s back.

No one told me that turning 35 in your adult years was akin to turning 13 as a kid. Suddenly I have zits appearing in all kinds of weird places. Found one inside my ear. Had another one on the bridge of my nose in between my eyes. Was blessed with a Rudolph style one on the tip of my nose and now I have one on the corner of my mouth, just above my lips.

So I look like Cindy Crawford, only if her mole was a big red zit.

(source)

And they have all been the painful red ones that hurt like a bitch!

Really universe? What did I ever do to you?

I’ve been trying to figure out what could be causing it. Could it be from sweating so much during my morning torture sessions, er, workouts? I suppose but I always go right home and take a shower afterwards. Could it be my diet? Probably not since I haven’t changed the way I eat. Could it be the new house? Maybe though that seems unlikely.

Regardless, the important part is dealing with them so they don’t ruin your whole day (or outfit). In a panic last week, when the Rudolph one started to appear, I Googled how to stop zits before they erupt (in other words when you know one is lingering under the surface because you can feel it but don’t want it to pop through the skin). There were all kinds of home remedies but the one that made the most sense to me was to apply Neosporin to it (and it was something I already had at home). The theory is that a clogged pore gets red and sore because it’s infected. So by applying a topical antibiotic, you are getting rid of the infection and the pimple will go away.

So I tried it.

And it worked! That pesky red nose never did appear! While that wouldn’t make for a good Christmas story, it did provide a happy ending to me! Worked on a couple other ones too but not the Cindy Zit. That one is in full swing.

Stupid aging.

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Kosama

Posted in Health and Weightloss by teamtradermom

I am exactly at the halfway point of my 4 week membership to Kosama (a boot camp fitness center). Good news is they haven’t killed me yet. Bad news is that I hurt all over.

Let’s back up.

At our old house, I worked out in our basement either doing DVDs, the elliptical machine or workouts that I’d pull out of magazines. Or if the weather was nice, I’d go outside and run/walk with Samson.

Well at the new house, things haven’t exactly been conducive to formal exercising. Our basement is pretty much being used for storage and so the elliptical is shoved in the corner, the DVDs are buried in a box somewhere and right now it’s too cold to go outside. So I needed something else.

I had heard about Kosama and other boot camp programs on the radio and such, and they sounded great, but hadn’t really investigated them seriously. Then one morning I saw that Living Social was having a deal: pay $40 and get 4 weeks of unlimited classes, a t-shirt, pre and post fitness assessment, yoga mat and kickboxing gloves. Seemed pretty good but I wanted to do my research first. Turns out, a normal 8 week session is $350. I’d say $40 was a pretty good deal!

So I jumped on it and enrolled in the November session.

On 10/30, I went for my pre-fitness assessment. They took measurements, weighed us, determined body fat, took before pictures and put us through the paces on various fitness tests (push ups, crunches, wall squats, pull ups, flexibility, and planks). It was all recorded and saved so that when we do the post-fitness assessment, we can see what progress we’ve made.

The very first class was plyometrics. Now, I consider myself to be pretty fit. As previously mentioned, I work out 5 days a week plus play volleyball once a week (twice a week in the summer). But I’m not going to lie to you. After the first 10 minutes of this plyo class I thought I was going to die. It was basically an hour of jumping various ways.

(source)

And the next day I was so incredibly sore. It hurt to walk. To drive. To type. To breathe.

Yet, it felt good because I knew I had done something good for my body (no pain, no gain right?).

Did I mention that I go to the 5 a.m. class? That means I’m up everyday at 4:30 a.m. and getting my ass kicked from 5-6.

What can I say, I’m a glutton for punishment.

How it works is that they rotate amongst 7 different workouts:

plyometrics
kickboxing
kettlebells
upper body
lower body
circuit
yoga

The middle 5 are mixed up every week so it’s always something different, and then Tuesday is always plyo and Saturday is always yoga. They have mercy and give you Sunday off.

Last week, Mon. – Fri. was circuit, plyo, kickboxing, circuit, kickboxing. This week was upper body, plyo, kettlebells, kickboxing, circuit. And no two routines are the same.

(source)

What can I say – it’s a great workout. I’ve pretty much accepted the fact that some part of my body will hurt for the entire month on November. I sure as hell better see some results too. And it doesn’t hurt that Jeff, the manager of the location I go to is easy on the eyes. So when I’m halfway through a minute of burpees, I can look at his bulging biceps and feel a tad better. They also have women coaches who walk around and both encourage and correct form. That part has been great because a few exercises I thought I had the form perfect on, they gave me a few tips which made it that much more effective.

The question I’ve been asked over and over is if it’s worth paying full price for. I would honestly say no. While I love being pushed and working my body in new ways everyday, I’m not sure I’d pay $175 a month for it. However, if they ever do another Living Social/Groupon type deal again, jump on it. It was definitely worth the $40.

I’ll give a full report of my before/after results at the end of the month and let you know my final reviews!

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25Oct2011

The Plague

Posted in Health and Weightloss by teamtradermom

It’s been a miserable few days at our house and there finally seems to be an end in sight.

It all started on Friday. I woke up with a sore throat and achiness but popped a few Ibuprofen, sucked on a cough drop and headed off to work. Little did I know, CJ would also wake up sick only his would be much worse. I found out when I got home from work Friday night. My father-in-law was here watching Isabella so CJ could sleep. I guess Ceige was having tummy troubles. I took Munch to a jewelry party and didn’t think too much of things. My husband has a sensitive stomach and it tends to happen every 3 months or so that something doesn’t sit right.

Saturday was mostly me hanging with Isabella while CJ slept all morning. Turns out it was more than eating something bad. I did manage to make a run to the grocery store. We ate homemade chicken noodle soup for dinner along with corn muffins and cheesy potatoes. It was yummy and just the thing for all of us feeling less than stellar.

That night Isabella threw up. I was just laying down for bed when I heard her cough a couple times and then start crying. Something told me it wasn’t your normal cry for attention. Sure enough, I found her covered in vomit, with her sheets soaked too. I tended to her while CJ stripped the bed. She was so brave. She didn’t carry on or anything, just let me change her in to clean jammies and told me her tummy hurt. We went and got some water and I took her to our bed to rest until hers was ready. She just sat with me and snuggled. When CJ was done, I asked her if she was ready to go back to bed and she nodded saying simply, “Yeah.”

She slept through the rest of the night and didn’t have any more issues. Thank God.

It hit me on Sunday. CJ was feeling better and so we all decided to walk to the park in the afternoon. We played and then took the long route back home. By the time we reached the house, I was about dead. Now mind you, this was not a long walk. The “long route” comprises a total of like, 6 blocks. But I was pooped and starting to feel queasy. I sat on the couch and waited for it to pass. It didn’t. We decided to order Chinese for dinner but I only wanted some egg drop soup and rice. Figured that would be safe. CJ left to go get it around 6 and I turned on some Sesame Street for Isabella as I fled in to the bathroom. That was when the puking started. He got home and I tried to eat the soup but it just didn’t taste the same after having just regurgitated my previous meal. I could only choke down a couple swallows before I had to flee to the bathroom again. This would continue for about every 30 minutes until midnight. I couldn’t even keep water down. It got to a point where there was nothing left in my stomach so it turned in to dry heaves.

I have never thrown up so much in my life. And I never want to again.

I also had diarrhea going on. Now I know that’s an “unmentionable” but hey we all deal with it at some point in our lives and I certainly did Sunday night. I was pretty much alternating between throwing up and having things come out the other end.

Then we reached the inevitable moment when they both happened at the same time. I was not prepared for this. I ran in to the bathroom and barely made it in time to hurl. As I knelt before the porcelain throne, I felt things going on down below but there was nothing I could do to stop it. When all was said and done, I peeled off my soiled lower garments and tossed them in the trash. You know those scenes in rape moves when the girl curls up the hot shower and never wants to leave because she feels so dirty? That’s what I wanted to do. Just curl up in the shower and die.

I tried to sleep in between bathroom trips but I was so achy and feverish, it was hard to get comfortable. Finally I dozed off around midnight when everything seemed to settle down but it was a restless sleep. I finally got up around 7am and went downstairs for some juice and to try nibbling on a graham cracker. I was able to keep that down.

I didn’t want to spend too much time around Isabella because I didn’t want her to get it. We weren’t sure if her incident on Saturday night was due to the flu as well or just eating something that didn’t settle but I wasn’t about to take any chances. So I spent the morning in our bedroom, either sleeping or reading. She did come up and visit, bringing me some stuffed animals for company and asked if I wanted a smooch.

Of course I did! She gave me one on the forehead and I’m just sure that was what helped me turn the corner. I went down for a lunch of toast and to watch a bit of TV while Munchkin napped. Then I went back upstairs and had an afternoon nap myself.

The stomach/bowel issues have stopped and I’m slowly working regular meals back in. I wrestled with staying home from work again today. I’ve never been one to NOT feel guilty about it. Even in school I would tell my mom I was ok to go when clearly I wasn’t. I feel like I’m letting everyone down. But at the same time, I know it’s not good to go back too soon and risk getting worse again. Plus I don’t want to infect anyone in the office. So I’m staying put again today. Hopefully with a few more naps and some decent food I’ll be good as new tomorrow.

On the upside to this whole thing, I probably needed to slow down in life a bit and this was God’s way of forcing it. Plus I got caught up on all my DVRed shows. And I lost 3 pounds. But on the downside, this was the most miserable 24 hours of my life. From what I hear, this nasty thing is going around so whatever you do, channel your inner OCD self and sanitize!! May you all stay healthy!!

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Posted in Health and Weightloss, Isabella/Munchkin, Travel by teamtradermom

Feels like it’s been forever since I wrote anything. I suppose it has been if forever is 5 days. A lot has happened since my last real life entry.

1. I went to Texas. I had never been to Texas before. It’s a pretty big state. You’d think I’d have crossed its borders at some point before last week, but you would be wrong. I was sent to Forth Worth for work.

Leaving Omaha:

Arriving in DFW:

The flight out was fine but the cabbie I got to take me in to the office was a jackhole. He made me load my own bag, enter my the address in the GPS, applied deodorant while driving and then had me unload my own bags. Really dude?

My stay was decent. Generally, work trips involve working hard all day and drinking all night. Not this one. No one involved in the meetings wanted to go out so I had to make my own party. I called upon a co-worker who’s based out of FW and he shuttled me around, showing off the highlights (if by highlights you count a Mexican restaurant in Roanoke, a sports bar in one of the suburbs and a pub in downtown). But we had fun chatting, drinking and watching the Rangers kick some Tiger butt so it was all good.

Turns out Fort Worth isn’t all that different from Omaha. They’re both spread out, built around the slaughterhouses, and have a lot of construction going on. FW is just twice as big. And for the record, I didn’t see any cowboy hats – not one!

The drive back to the airport I was able to get a car service and that driver was awesome. In his spare time he works security for Cowboy Stadium so we had a LOT to talk about. He’s originally from Kansas City and is a huge Chiefs fan. CJ and I plan to go down to KC in November for the Chiefs/Steelers game so I told Willy we’d look him up. He invited us to his families tailgating party. I guess they do it up right with all kinds of BBQ and what not. Count me in Willy! Just don’t get mad when the Steelers kick some KC butt!

2. We finally got all our stuff from storage. For the record DO NOT EVER HIRE MAYFLOWER SELECT VAN AND STORAGE TO DO YOUR MOVE! They cheated and stole from us. So, we hired Two Men and a Truck to do the storage move. They showed up 5 hours late. Poor CJ was parked out at the storage place that whole time waiting for them. But at least they apologized and gave us a break on the cost. That was appreciated.

3. I’m pretty sure our little child genius did subtraction the other night. It was time for bed and she told me she was going to bring 3 of her stuffed animals with her. When she got to the stairs and looked up she realized it might be challenging to climb up all those steps with her 3 friends in tow. So she handed me one and said, “Here mommy, you take one. That leaves me with 2.” I just stared at her for a minute while I did the math on my fingers and realized she was right.

4. Tonight we hung Halloween lights in the front windows – ghosts, bats, pumpkins and skulls. She was helping and when we were all done, I turned off the lights and when she saw them all lit up she said, “Wow! That’s perfect!” I love how in awe kids are of the little things. Things we take for granted.

5. I bought a boot camp package today – it’s a one month trial thing. I’m looking forward to the challenge. I need a challenge. All my workout gear is still packed up and so need something different to energize me. I think this just might do the trick. Plus it includes a pre and post fitness assessment. I’m really curious for my results!!!

6. My Fantasy Football team is totally tanking this year. Oddly, I’m not all that upset about it. We started bad and never got any better so I’ve accepted it and moved on.

Well, time to head down and chillax for a bit until bed. 5 am comes awfully fast!

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