Happy Fall Y'All!

It has been way too long since I was on here.  A lot has happened and I am not about to try catching you up…just know that the summer is over and fall is finally upon us.  These are my favorite days, needing a jacket in the morning and by lunchtime I can run errands with no coat, and the best part of all my beloved flip flops are still being rocked.  Fall is fantastic!

On the home front we are in the middle of a very big transition that is taking all of the extra energy I didn’t have to begin with.  We have officially begun potty training Nate after many stops and starts.  Nate is what you could call stubborn as a mule and he is VERY good at coming up with excuses on the fly as to why he cannot possibly sit on the potty.  He is also more interested in my help than any help from Love so I spent more time sitting in my bathroom reading to him this weekend than watching the Walking Dead marathon…in the end though he went potty twice, once on the big potty with the kiddy seat and once on his little potty. 

You may not think that sounds so great after a whole weekend but let me tell you that I am THRILLED that he did that much.  Up until now it has been a battle to even get him to SIT on the potty let alone pee in it.  For weeks he has screamed and cried every time we have tried to just have him sit on the potty.  At home, my parent’s house, school – it didn’t matter where we were – he was not going to sit on any potty without a fight.  We tried everything (especially bribery, which usually works with him so I hope he’s not catching on to us) and nothing worked.  I bought him underwear, pull-ups, books, M&M’s, a sticker reward chart and of course the potty.  I read about how to approach training and how boys usually take longer than girls…I just didn’t expect it to take this long.

Yesterday he refused to sit on the potty for me in the morning, he refused to sit on the potty at school, he finally sat on the potty for my mom…but nothing happened.  I promised him Saturday that I would buy him an Abby Cadabby doll if he agreed to just try and go potty all weekend.  He fulfilled his end of the bargain so I brought home Abby Cadabby last night.  He was super excited and sat on the potty for us and finally right before bed he went in with Love and he peed!  Love was so excited that he finally went for him and I was ready for some much needed sleep.

Today I brought a potty seat for the toilet at school hoping it would help him pee there.  No such luck.  He refused to pee because he said the portable seat pinched his butt.  Love will buy him a new seat tonight for school and we can try again tomorrow.  My mom was so excited because he peed for her as soon as they got back to my house.  I think we’re making progress.  Hopefully tomorrow we can get him to pee at school.

Summer Sucks...that's right, I said it!

It has been so long since my last entry that I don’t even remember when it was.  This means I am officially in Summer Hell.  Most people look forward to the summer but not me.  To me the summer is the start of something so horrible I don’t even like to think about it.  Warm weather makes my blood go cold because this time of year is an absolute nightmare.

Now don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t always like this for me.  As a kid I loved the summer as much as everyone else.  Getting to play outside and run around with my friends.  Splashing in the pool and playing manhunt at night with our neighbors.  We had an idyllic childhood on

Pitchpine Place

.  With our house included we had 3 houses in a row on both sides of the street filled with kids both my age and my brothers.  It was a wonderful time in our lives and I never wanted the summers to end.  That feeling continued through high school and college.  Even my first job wasn’t so terrible.  I worked on the North Shore in Wading River and my office overlooked the Long Island Sound.  At lunch I could walk down a hundred stairs and hang out on the beach.  It was as good as it could get for a 9 to 5 job.

In 2003 that all changed.  I took the job I have now even though I was told I would never again enjoy my summer.  Before I was even hired I was told we were not allowed to take any vacation days at all during the summer.  Although disappointed I believed I could handle it because the extra money I would be making would be my motivation.  That worked from September until May when I was dying to finally take some time off.  That summer I was able to take a week off to go to my parent’s vacation house on Prince Edward Island, Canada.  That was the last time we were there.

Fast forward to today when I want the summer to end before it even begins.  We are so busy every single day and we have to deal with some pretty difficult people.  Sometimes I just have to remind myself to breathe and to not let things get to me.  It’s hard but it’s the only way to get through.  The heat wave we are currently having only makes things worse because it seems to have the same effect of a full moon around here.  All day yesterday, one by one, everyone in my office lost their shit at some point because of some rude asshole.  Mondays already suck hard enough without dealing with that bullshit.  I wish the weekdays away praying for the weekend and then I am so busy all weekend I don’t even get to relax and enjoy that. 

“Summer time and the livings easy”…not so much.

Allergies Suck!

If you live in New York you already know that the weather sucks lately.  Spring has sprung and so has the pollen and the rain.  My head feels like it may explode at any minute and even Nate keeps complaining how his nose keeps running.  Our lawn is ridiculously long and I haven’t had a chance to plant my new flowers.  This weekend better be nice for at least a few hours or our neighbors may begin to wonder if we abandoned our house.  The upside to all the rain is that my black SUV is no longer a greenish yellow dust ball.  

I am looking forward to the warmer weather and a somewhat relaxing weekend.  I want to catch up on some things outside and inside but also get through some of the shows on my DVR.  I feel like all I watch lately is kid’s shows and movies and I want my old TV life back.  The only show I have been keeping up with is The Killing on AMC.  It’s a very dark drama set in Seattle so it is always raining.  Two of the stars were from two of my favorite HBO shows so I decided to give it a try.  The main character was on Big Love as the creepy twin sisters and she is fantastic on this show.  The other was on True Blood as Maryann and she is really good on this show too.  It’s about a teenage girl who is murdered and every week you think another person may be the one who did it.  I cry every episode and I like that about it.  I cried at almost every episode of Felicity and I was so in love with that show.  Maybe it’s just me but sometimes I just need a good cry.  Right now, I just need more caffeine.

I'm Baaaaaaaaaaaaack!

I can’t believe how long it has been since my last entry…I feel like it was the longest winter and the quickest at the same time.  Easter got here before I had a chance to blink and the summer is upon us.  This is my favorite and worst time of year for totally different reasons of course.  I used to adore the summer.  I am a huge beach fan (growing up on Long Island close to the beach will do that to a girl) and I am always cold so I LOVE warm weather.  I love hot sand and cold water and just getting out of the house without a million layers is wonderful.  I hate shoes so I wear flip flops from April until October.  I only hate the summer because of my job.  This will be my 8^th summer in a row that will pass before my eyes in the time it takes to blink.  I guess one exception may be the summer I had Nate because I felt like I was pregnant forever and he was born August 3^rd and then I was on maternity leave.  That was a great summer J

We have packed a lot into the weekends of the past 2 months…Easter which was great because Nate was old enough this year to go on an egg hunt and enjoy coloring eggs, not to mention my kick ass bunny cake…Nate and I having a great afternoon at the beach...my Mother’s 60^th birthday dinner which was filled with delicious food and good company…Mother’s Day which I enjoyed by spending the day with Love, Nate and my parents…and finally last weekend which was a 4-day weekend for us since we traveled to NH for our niece’s Communion.  Here are pictures of everything so I don’t have to convince you what a good time we’re having.  I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves…

Nate's Easter Basket

Nate after the egg hunt

My delicious bunny cake

Nate had to eat one of the ears

My Mom

My Dad

Love continues to be the faceless man

Nate at the beach

My Mom the Birthday girl

The desserts were so yummy

Opening all of her gifts

Cutie pie Nate at Madison's Communion

Madison & Nate - how pretty is she?

Good thing I took down my Craig’s List Hooker Ad…

Long Island has a serial killer.  The cops keep saying they are investigating a “likely serial killer” which is confusing because I thought for sure when you find 8 dead hookers, all who advertised on Craig’s List, all wrapped in burlap and dumped in the same area that it was the work of one person.  And when one person kills 8 people he sure as hell is a serial killer.  I’ve watched enough Criminal Minds to know that it’s a white male and he obviously has anger issues.  I also know that I shouldn’t be worried because seeing the pictures of his victims I am reassured that he is not looking for a 30 something, overweight mother who has a desk job.

Yesterday was an exciting day.  The work day flew by and I think it had something to do with Aimee going with me on a lunch time adventure.  The Hamptons are filled with fun places to go and interesting things to see.  Yesterday’s Treasures is one of those places that I have driven by hundreds of times and always said I was going to go into one day but never did.  Anyone who has driven down County Road 39 in Southampton will know exactly the place I am talking about.  From the outside it appears to be a statuary store and they have a lot of cool stuff outside including horse, cows, mermaids, dinosaurs and celebrities.  It’s a bizarre mix and in the summer the whole front is loaded with them.  I realized I had never stopped before because I was afraid to go inside by myself.  I had always thought it was the kind of place that people go in and are never heard from again.

I brought along a camera knowing that there was something good inside I needed to snap a picture of and man was I right!  This place is an odd mix of larger than life statues (from the Blues Brothers and Elvis to Barack Obama and Bruce Lee), furniture, lamps, bird cages and anything else you can imagine.  It’s sort of like an antique store but not really and it is HUGE.  The building looks small from the front but it goes way back on the property and there is room after room of items and no rhyme or reason to where any of them are.  It is bizarre and wonderful all at the same time.  I could have stayed there for hours if it smelled better.  Here are some pictures of things we thought were wonderful and I hope you will agree and maybe go check it out yourself.

Frank Sinatra's Mug Shot

Caveman, Pig Chef, Bruce Lee and Evander Holyfield

This was frightening

The chandelier was great

My favorite piece

I need to own the spoon/fork chair

Aimee and her bar stool

I have to figure out how to fix this one...

These aliens were everywhere

That's a lot of cocks

I love angels

Is this a planter?

This guy went in and never left

This made me laugh

Nate wants to know where Hook's hand is

Can I hang your coat on my hoof?

Everything they had was literally hung like a horse

Wah! This Weather Sucks!

It’s Thursday and I am sooooo tired today.  I fell asleep early last night (around 9pm while trying to get Nate to fall asleep) and Nate stayed in his bed all night so my sleep was uninterrupted but the weather is so horrible and it is making me sleepy.  This morning you could smell the rain in the air but all we’ve had so far is hail which was so lovely when I had to walk over to the hospital for a meeting earlier in the day.  Nothing like ice balls in your ballet flats.

Tonight is my 3^rd weigh in and I am very excited to see if I am still losing weight now that I’m more used to the points and what I can eat.  I had an okay week (last weekend I wasn’t so good) but I don’t feel like I’ve lost anything so we’ll see.  I’m just happy that I am motivated and sticking with it.  Change is good and I need change like you wouldn’t believe.

I am feeling a little overwhelmed lately.  I have a lot on my plate right now between work and home and I am feeling the crunch.  Whenever spring arrives I always feel that way especially since I’ve been at this job and in my house.  We bought our house 5 years ago (April) and there is always something to do outside when the weather gets nice.  Summer is our busy season at work so during April and May the pace picks up around the office.  I prefer to be busy rather than twiddling my thumbs, but I do love to not feel so much pressure to get things done since I am a master procrastinator.  I could put things off forever if I had the chance.  I am a list writer so you will find lists all over my desk especially during “the season” as they call it here.  I’m anal retentive and SUPER organized and lists are just one way that I keep control over things.

I just got a printer/scanner/copier last week and I cannot wait to start scanning pictures.  This is a project I have been trying to pull together forever but our old scanner was too big and we had no place to put it in our little office.  When the printer was on the fritz last week I jumped at the chance to get one that was also a scanner.  I’m working on a project with my brother and sister-in-law for my mom’s 60^th birthday and I can’t wait to start going through old photos.  Hopefully this weekend Nate will let me sit in the office and play with my new toy after I take him to the party store for decorations.  I’ll probably have to bribe him with a balloon or something but it’ll be worth it!

CC

5.4 Pounds Skinnier!

Okay so I’m no where near skinny but at least I am on my way to being healthier.  This is an example of what I used to enjoy for breakfast…

Now I have a yogurt or oatmeal and as a snack I have this…

I’m not looking to be Rachel Zoe or anything (pre-baby of course) I just want to get to a healthy weight for me and feel better about myself…oh yeah and stop shopping at Lane Bryant…well maybe not for bras (sorry, I happen to be happy with the girls just the way they are).  It was a rough weekend but I am back on track today and I hope to stay that way for the rest of the week.  I took an hour last night to cut up cucumbers, peppers, celery, pineapple and wash grapes so I could take it all with me today.  Nate and Love were even excited about the cucumbers and pineapple.

I watched a few movies Saturday and I enjoyed them all but they were so different.  I started with Life as We Know It with Katherine Heigel (who I do not like) and Josh Duhamel (who I could stare at all day long) and man was it depressing.  I thought I was going to watch a rom-com at 10 in the morning and instead I cried on and off for almost 2 hours.  I liked it but if you have PMS heed my advice and don’t watch it.  Not a great start to the day.  Nate took a nap around noon so I decided to watch the Joan Rivers documentary A Piece of Work.  I love Joan Rivers so it did not disappoint.  I had heard it was depressing but I don’t agree.  Her comedy is even dirtier than most people would think and she has had an amazing life.  I ended the night watching Chloe with Julianne Moore, Amanda Seyfried and Liam Neeson.  It was one of those twisty movies where you think one thing but you’re completely wrong…did I mention the lesbian sex scene between Julianne Moore and Amanda Seyfried?  It was very overhyped when it was in theatres but it didn’t make or break the movie for me.  Not that I thought it would but I just thought I’d throw it out there for any men reading this…

Sunday was a lazy day at our house.  Nate has had a cold since Saturday night so for two nights in a row he woke me up every hour or so complaining about his nose running.  Poor little guy.  I feel bad but I also really want some sleep.  I’m very tired today so I hope he’ll sleep okay tonight.  So far Monday has been good to me so I hope the trend continues through the week.  Until next time…

CC

When does 5K not mean $5,000...

Day 2 and I’m doing okay.  I’m having some grapes now for my afternoon snack and I still have veggies that I can eat too.  Knowing that I have something waiting for me that won’t take up any points is a huge help.  I think we’ll have leftovers for dinner tonight so that will leave me with 3 points for a snack tonight.  I’m going to go to the store and get some WW ice cream treats since they make me feel like I’m indulging at night…or at least I hope they make me feel that way.

I went to the dermatologist today and after she inspected a skin irritation on my neck she informed me that I needed a topical antibiotic and an oral one as well.  I was concerned so I asked what it was and she gave me some medical name and then said,  “It’s usually from sweating, do you workout a lot?”  To which I replied, “Hi, my name is Christine, nice to meet you.”  Is she crazy?  Just looking at me you can tell I don’t exercise.  I should have asked if eating too many fruits and vegetables and drinking water could cause this because that is about all that has changed since last week.

Now that the nice weather is almost here (forecast is rain and snow for tomorrow WTF) I fully intend on sweating.  I am looking forward to getting outside.  I love being in my gardens and making the outside of my house look pretty and I love getting sun and fresh air while I do it.  I also want to start walking/jogging.  Now this is ambitious because I have never been a jogger.  I started jogging on my treadmill last year and that lasted about a week or so.  This year however I am committed to change and I have finally come to the conclusion that at my age some exercise is needed to not only lose weight but to be more healthy.

My friend Mike (who is my WW buddy) is running a 5K June 5^th with his sister and has asked me to join them.  When he first approached me I immediately saw myself lying on a street somewhere with people on the sidelines cheering in slow motion and the finish line just out of reach.  Not a motivating image.  I have decided that I will not say yes but I will begin to try and get ready just in case.  The Ecology Site I referenced yesterday has a 5K paved trail and on Sunday if it is nice I am going to attempt to jog the whole thing.  Mike is excited by that idea and thinks he and his sister should join me so we can test ourselves.  Exercising with other people is easier so I say the more the merrier!

CC

I Know I Can, I Know I Can

Today is the first day of work that I am truly prepared for my new Weight Watchers life.  On Friday I was not prepared at all and I made terrible choices Friday night like eating not only the 2 pieces of pizza that I had points for but also having 4 garlic knots, 5 Hersey’s kisses and buttered popcorn.  Even watching someone cut off their own arm in 127 Hours didn’t deter me from eating the delicious popcorn Aimee brought over.  That is why I am fat. 

Saturday we went shopping at Sam’s Club and I got cucumbers, baby carrots, red and green grapes, grapefruit cups, a huge bag of salad and wraps to make veggie wraps with hummus.  I am so excited that all fruits and veggies are now 0 points.  Even potatoes are no points, except according to the materials french fries and if you think french fries are a veggie than you have bigger food issues than me.  It makes snacking much easier and I honestly don’t mind having veggies with some ranch dip for a snack for 1 point or fruit for no points.  It’s filling and it’s good for me.  Do I want to eat a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos or BBQ Fritos?   Hell yeah I do, but in the end when I look in the mirror or get dressed it doesn’t make me happy so why do it?

This weekend was a relaxing one and included time with two of my favorite people, my brother Erik and his wife Carolyn.  We hadn’t seen them since the beginning of the year so I was glad they were able to visit for the weekend.  Since the weather was nice we met up for lunch when they got out here (they live in Brooklyn) and then headed to the Holtsville Ecology Site.  If you live on the East End of Long Island the Ecology Site is a great place to take the kids.  They have animals ranging from buffalo and goats to all kinds of birds and of course cows, bears, horse and a pig.  Nate loves to run around and look at all the animals and I take pictures so we can sit and look at all the animals at home.  They also have a great playground which they installed about 2 years ago but they are under construction so we had to pass on playing.  It was still a good afternoon.

Nate and Erik looking at the Ducks

Carolyn and Nate

Nate loved being a goat

Then we had dinner at my parent’s house.  Even though we’re not Irish we had corned beef, cabbage, potatoes and carrots.  It was delicious and dessert was even better.  I splurged on Saturday a little so this week I have to reign it in so I can see a difference on the scale. 

After dinner Nate insisted Erik was a bear

Yesterday Nate was still enjoying the red velvet mini cupcakes

I promise to stick to my points for the next few days.  Once you get past the first few weeks it gets better and I just have to keep reminding myself of that.  I know I can, I know I can.

CC





If Jennifer Hudson can do it than so can I!

Today is day one of Weight Watchers for me and it is torture!  I hate to be so honest but I can’t help myself.  As long as I think about what the scale said last night I can keep moving forward, but it is going to be hard and I know it.  I have been through this before.  In 2003 I decided that I had gained too much weight in the first 6 months of being married and I joined Weight Watchers – by myself.  My Mom then decided to go with me for a little while and then she dropped out and I continued on.  I hated it at first (déjà vu for me today) because I was hungry all the time and Love just continued to eat whatever he wanted.  Of course in the end it was all worth it when I went from a size 16 to an 8 in 9 months.  I should have taken hundreds of photos of myself back then but I didn’t and when I cleaned out the basement and found my old clothes I couldn’t believe how small they were.  I could scream when I think about it.

Those clothes are what prompted this latest weight loss journey.  Nate will be 3 in August and I cannot have a 3 year-old and still complain about the “baby weight”.  True I have a gut that I never had before and that is from being pregnant, but certainly I could have done something about that before now.  I’m sick and tired of excuses and it is time to be a healthy mommy who doesn’t get winded while chasing her little boy around.  So today instead of a large tea with sugar and half and half and a buttered bagel I started my day with a yogurt and some chai latte for a total of 4pts.  I can’t even bring myself to find out how many points my old breakfast would have been.  I followed that with a Lean Cuisine pasta dish for lunch and a large bottle of Smart Water (did I mention I NEVER drink water?).  I am addicted to Diet Pepsi and have been for years and I am going to work my way back to water which I don’t mind but don’t enjoy as much as diet soda or iced tea.  I also had 2 afternoon snacks, an apple and 7 Swedish Fish.  I forgot my apple at home so thankfully a woman I work with brought me back one when she went out to lunch or I would have chewed off at least one finger by now.

Now instead of just counting the minutes until quitting time on this lovely Friday I am also counting the minutes until I will be home with Love and Nate devouring 2 slices of pizza for 14pts.  I may even treat myself and have a glass of wine and some popcorn while Aimee and I watch 127 Hours tonight.  I bet that sounds a lot more exciting to me doesn’t it?

Happy Weekend!

CC

Tuesday Blahs

Today is Tuesday and I am back to work after a 3 day weekend…and all I want to do is go home and sleep.  Instead of a relaxing weekend I had a productive weekend and believe it or not that makes me feel better mentally than a relaxing weekend.  I hate when my head is filled with all of the things that I have to get done so Love took Nate to his parents for the weekend and I stayed home to clean.  My big project was the basement and when I began at 10am and it looked like this…

Before

A Little While Later

I figured it would take me a few hours and I could take a shower and do some shopping.  Halfway through the day I was making great progress but I still had a long way to go…

Better

I finally emerged from the basement at 6:30pm after 8 long hours of organizing and rearranging and I felt so much better.  I jumped in the shower looking forward to a phone call from Love and Nate and Chinese food that our friend Mike was bringing over.  I was so happy to be clean and I was starving since all I had all day was a quick lunch at noon.  I took Mike downstairs to see my magnificent work and he said he was impressed.  He likes to blow smoke up my ass so who knows if he was telling the truth but I know I am impressed.  Here it is…

The left is all Nate's baby stuff and right is all Holiday decorations

The middle is random crap :)

The Chinese food was just what I needed and then it was time to watch the last episode of Spartacus Gods of the Arena.  If you’re not familiar with it or Spartacus Blood and Sand you are missing out.  It is a fantastic show on Starz that I highly recommend.  It is shot similar to 300 with the violence, gore and bloodiness but it is also a great story with great characters and it’s actually funny at times too.  It’s worth a look just for Solonius’ hair alone.  Perfect segue…here’s Nate getting a haircut yesterday!

Then Mike and I moved on to “You’re So Hot” on Funny or Die.  You will laugh your ass off so please find a few minutes and enjoy.  Last on our agenda was The Social Network.  I was pleasantly pleased at how quickly the movie moved along.  Knowing ahead of time how much dialogue was involved I thought it may drag at times but it kept my attention and even if it is partially made up I think it’s a great story.  Jesse Eisenberg killed it as Mark Zuckerberg and he deserved his Oscar nomination.

Sunday was a lazy morning with the time change and then Love and Nate came home.  I missed them a lot but it’s so funny how Blue (our Beagle) acts differently when it’s just the two of us.  I think he was sad they came home.  I was happy but also secretly still wanted some me time so I actually could rest but it was back to laundry and cleaning. 

Yesterday was the end of my 3 day weekend and it was a busy day.  I dropped Nate off at daycare and had someone come to clean my oil burner, I threw on some laundry and had some breakfast.  After he left I went to a few stores, got gas (which is currently hovering around $4 a gallon) and picked up Nate.  We went to see a nursery school for the Fall and I was pleased to find out that it will be the same price as we pay for daycare but he will be there an extra hour a day and he will be in a group with all 3 year olds.  He’s a really bright kid so I think it is going to be really good for him to finally be around kids who are only his age instead of just older and younger kids.  We then hit up the library for some DVD’s and CD’s, went to Kohl’s (Nate’s favorite store) for pajamas and socks and then Nate begged to get a haircut.  I don’t know any other kid his age that wants a haircut that badly but you put an idea I his head and he doesn’t forget it.  After a nap (for Nate – not me) Love came home and I was happy that the day was almost over.  I was so tired even though I knew that going to bed meant that I would be back to work today.  Some days I feel like work is a break from home but not today.  I’m too tired and just want my bed.

CC