See that number?

See that number right there? Not only is it my age, but it's the number of pounds I've lost so far. That's right - had another great weigh-in! I'm so excited! I was honestly surprised because to tell the truth - I wasn't that good all weekend because once again - drama with the family. One of these days I'm going to move - far, far away so that I don't have to deal with it. I'm going to pack up the kids and the husband if he's willing and move. (After all, it's mostly HIS family that I would try to get away from - although mine have their moments)

On a separate note, yesterday we took Addison to see her physical therapist. Because she's not walking, yet, they wanted to have her evaluated to see if there were any issues. Apparently, Ms. Addie is SUPER flexible. She has a broader range of motion in her joints and because of this her feet pronate due to her ankle flexibility. I knew the kid was flexible because you should see how she contorts herself when she's ticked off, but I never thought it would be an issue where it could affect a physical action. They believe it will be quickly corrected with some orthopedic braces and a few months of PT. Her next appointment is on the 18th and now the battle with the insurance company begins. I just love that...

That's about all that is going on right now in Ginger land. I am scrapbooking this weekend! Whoo hoo! First time in MONTHS that I've been to a crop and I can't wait. I'm meeting my friend, Jana, at a local store to crop the day away and Saturday can't get here fast enough. Then, it's family time for the rest of the weekend. Last week I took Maggie out for Mother/Daughter day so I'm sure she's going to be asking when the next one is. I can't afford them - we went to Justice and I spent WAY more money than I intended to. But, she was so darn cute in those clothes. Her whole "fashion" thing is killing me these days. She's way more girlie than I ever thought about being.

Anyway, got a long weekend which also means that I have to be SUPER careful on this food journey/diet/lifestyle change that I'm on. Don't wanna overload with bbq and all sorts of food and tip the scale in the wrong direction.

Later!

In such a good place...

I had a great weigh-in yesterday. Lost another 2.6 lbs, so I'm down 28.8 since June 6th. I started my new job on June 4th - and I attribute most of my success to being in a good place right now both in my personal life and professional life. Not to say that I wasn't in a good place before, but it was like a rebirth for me. I'm home earlier each night and we eat dinner as a family now. We don't grab and go for food or eat junk. We actually take time to prepare our meals.

I'm less stressed because product design is SUPER stressful. Marketing has it's moments but all in all - it's a manageable level of stress. Plus, the support here at work has been fantastic and the support of my friends has been awesome. Scott's support has been the best, too. Even though occasionally he likes to have that double-cheeseburger from Wendy's, he eats my low-fat meals and even made us a low-fat yummy breakfast on Sunday complete with turkey sausage. That's my man! We exercise together and he makes it fun. (Unless he gets all "weight trainer" on me. Then, not so fun!) ;)

Maggie's school reopened today and all is fine. It was a downed power line that apparently caught something on fire but didn't affect the school, so no big deal. Things get SO blown out of proportion.

Addison is still plugging away. She likes to poke her belly and go "bee-bee" now. (For her belly button) Cracks me up. She'll say "belly" but I call it her "bee-bee", so she says that. I need to post updated pics of the kids. I might exercise, but I'm a lazy ass when it comes to everything else!

OMG...WTH?

Actually, I guess the graphic is a bit more intense but I saw the shirt on Print Liberation and cracked up and had to use it. But, it sort of fits the day.

Maggie's first day of 2nd grade is today so we did the ceremonial photos, I walked her in to talk to her teacher, etc., etc. (Her teacher by the way looks like Cheri O'Teri) This is the first year that she was very adamant about her "first day outfit" (high school musical tee) and she had to accessorize with earrings and a bracelet. Anyway - they already had it set-up to release the classes early because of a heat alert in Cincinnati and only half of their school building has A/C. (Fortunately, Maggie's class happens to be in the AC'd part)

So, my phone rings. They have this "call command center" voice mail system and they use it A LOT. It's the 800# so I pick it up thinking it's a reminder about the early dismissal. No. It's the principal telling everyone that the kids are on the front lawn with their teachers because the power is out at the school, there are firetrucks blocking the street to access the school and that we can come and get our kids if we want to. They haven't had lunch and they will keep our kids till 1 but if we want to get them, we can. WTH?

Then, I get a phone call from one of the parents that's a friend of mine and she's like "I think the fire is at the school. That's what everyone is saying. There are firetrucks EVERYWHERE". She had to park a few blocks away and walk up to get her daughter. She said it's chaos there.

I call my mom because she's the one who picks Maggie up and my nephew is going to go get her. His really good friend's mom works there so she'll release my daughter to him (trust me - I've talked to her before - it's all good) and thank GOD he's there to help. But - it's just crazy. First, the heat. Then, the power outage. Now, a fire. All on day ONE of 2nd grade. Sort of overshadows that High School Musical shirt and monogrammed earrings, doesn't it?

Hopefully the fire isn't at the school. Hopefully this is the only chaotic day we'll have this year. Hopefully Tim has no issues picking Maggie up and doesn't have to park 10 blocks away. At least everyone is safe - they said in the voice mail that it was not an emergency. (Maybe the lunch lady burned the sloppy joes?)

On a side-note, my weigh-in is in less than an hour. Wish me luck!

Feel like crap today

It's Monday - and I feel like udder crap. I started getting a migraine last night. I NEVER have those, so I have no idea why I'm getting one. But, I've had it all night and today. I'm sitting at work (finishing up my lunch hour) and I've already taken four tylenol today. (I can't take ibuprofen - allergic to it) My stomach is also bothering me. It's like my body is worn out or something. Anyway - this post is more whining than anything. Sorry for that. I just want to go home and take a nap, but I have to push through the next four hours.

I found out that my e-mail button isn't set up for my new e-mail. Duh... Sorry about that. So - I'm fixing that today.

Let's see - I need to make this post at least halfway interesting. Oh - before I forget - thank you everyone for your support about our vacation. It's definitely tense around the Rohlfs household. Actually, not ours, but when we're around the ILs. Anyway - hopefully some resolution comes out of everything. Who knows...

Back to halfway interesting. I'm one of those "list" type people, so I think I'll list 10 of my guilty pleasure songs on my iPod. Here goes:

1) White Lines - Don't remember off hand who sings it. Grandmaster Flash? Freeze...Rock!

2) Around the Way Girl - LL Cool J. Need some bamboo earrings...

3) If You Go Away - NKOTB. That's right - New Kids on the Block when they dropped the "kids" thing and went with an acronym. Circa 1994.

4) Say You Say Me - Lionel Richie. LOVE me some Lionel.

5) This is How We Do It - Montel Jordan. Wasn't this his only song? 1 hit wonder.

6) Islands In the Stream - Dolly and Kenny. That's right. I like Dolly and Kenny. LOVE them together. Grew up to hillbilly country and ghetto music. Talk about a mix.

7) John Deere Green - Joe Diffie. Refer to above post. I can't explain it.

8) Forever - Kiss. Just some good 80's hair band love songs. Gotta love hair band love songs. My iPod is full of them. Don't make me break out singing "Home Sweet Home" by Motley Crue.

9) White & Nerdy - Weird Al. This song is HILARIOUS. Rollin'...In my Segway...

10) Your Baby Never Looked Good In Blue - Expose. Come on. Every high school girl cried to this song. Admit it. You played it over and over and cried. No? Just me???

Alright - that's my guilty pleasure iTune list. I've got a lot more but I don't want you to think my taste in music COMPLETELY sucks.

I would post a photo but I don't have any here at work. Sorry 'bout that.

Well, I'm back. That's all I have to say about that.

I got home from vacation on Monday and sadly, it was one of those situations where I was GLAD to get home. I keep debating what I should write about my vacation. Should I be completely blunt and truthful or try to sugar coat things for fear that it will cause a family uproar. You know me - gotta be ballsy - so I'll do a balance of both.

We go to Florida every year with Scott's parents and his cousin Kelly and her two children have joined us the past two years. Kelly's kids and ours get along GREAT - they adore each other and Kelly is great. His parents and I have always had our differences but 99% of the time it's because of how they treat his sister over Scott. THAT bothers me. Well, this year his parents brought his sister's kid. I thought it would be a nice time to bond with him. Boy was I wrong.

He managed to bite, kick and pinch Maggie. He smacked Addie and yelled in her ear. He taught the kids the middle finger, to which I found out from Scott's aunt that his heinous sister taught her son that because she thought it was funny. This is the crap I'm dealing with. I'm no prude and Maggie knew what the finger meant, but it's embarrassing to deal with at a restaurant and quite frankly - it's pathetic that his mother TAUGHT him that. (Don't even get me started on him knowing what SEX is. He apparently can explain it IN DETAIL)

The fact that he picked on our kids ticked us off and NOBODY would discipline him and when Scott and I stepped in we got the "well, he's only five". Yea - Addie is ONE. She couldn't fend for herself and Maggie is too respectful to knock his head off. Anyway vent over. We're making different plans for next year. I'm sure this isn't the end of the whole ordeal. But, for now - we're home and settling down.

I weighed-in yesterday after the vacation, and I was definitely nervous. It's hard to eat right when you go to restaurants every night but I made the best effort I could. It paid off. I dropped another 3.6 lbs for a total of 26.2 lbs so far. I still have a long way to go, but it feels good to have 26 lbs behind me. I just keep plugging away and taking it one day at a time.

Oh - and as for vacation pictures - I didn't take many. Sad. I know. I was preoccupied with trying to make sure my kids weren't being attacked. Ugh...

Leaving for Vacation Soon - Can't Wait!

I've only got a few more days before the family and I head off for our annual trek down to Florida. I can't wait! This is the first time in about four years that my vacation won't be cut short due to a trade show. It's also the first time that I don't have to "work" while on vacation.

By the way, the quiet little neighborhood that I live in actually made CNN.com yesterday. We have a nutso neighbor about 10 houses down from us that was apparently an "animal hoarder". Not only that - she had 40 DEAD animals in her freezer. What's sad is that the neighbors have complained about her for quite some time. I know on any given day she had 6-10 dogs in the back yard. (She lived on a corner lot so we could see her backyard) One night I came home from a crop and saw a huge snake in her window and a parrot. I used to tell my husband "Something is NOT right about the house on the corner." Sure enough. It wasn't. This morning when I left I saw that they had set out a bunch of disgusting animal cages for the garbage people. I think that hazmat should take care of that - not our poor garbage guy.

On a more positive note I had a great weigh-in this week. Lost another 2.4 pounds so my total is up to almost 23. I actually got to shop this week and bought two pair of shorts that were TWO sizes smaller than what I did wear and got some shirts in the regular department at Old Navy. Feels good to shop there again! Hopefully when I go back to the doctor, my PCOS will be under control. I've still got a long way to go on the WL journey but I'm pretty satisfied with my start.

Well, if you don't hear from me for a week or two that's because I'm enjoying time with my hubby and two girls.

Oh - and for all of you that have shown support - thanks. It means a lot. :)