This Life, Redefined...: February 2013

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Week Seven

*ahem*

Oh, right...I'm still trying to lose weight in the Biggest Blogging Loser competition. Do you know what's NOT good for that process? Celebrating your husband's birthday, Valentine's Day, a weekend trip to the beach, and your own birthday, all within a two week period. Not that I'm complaining or anything, because cake, chocolate, and booze on the beach are most definitely good things.

It's just that they'd be even better things if they also helped you lose weight. But whatever.

Anyway, the stats (Sorry, there is no picture this week, because I am officially back at work now, and I keep forgetting to take an updated picture...) (Also, do you like how I apologized for that? Like you've wanted nothing more over the last few weeks than to see a picture of me in gym shorts and a ratty t-shirt? And I've somehow failed you and ruined your entire life by not providing one?) :

Week seven weigh-in Weight, as of 1/7/13 (initial BBL weigh-in): 175lbs Weight as of 2/25/13: 164.5lbs Weight lost: 3.5lbs over the past 4 weeks, 10.5lbs overall
Losing 10.5lbs in seven weeks isn't bad, at all. In fact, it's pretty good, and I should be thrilled. And I am. Mostly. But that didn't make it any less frustrating when I had to wear a maternity skirt to work yesterday because my non-maternity clothing options are limited to the one skirt that I can wear high on my waist, two somewhat forgiving dresses, and a pair of jeans. I'd just like to wake up tomorrow, back to my pre-pregnancy shape. Who do I talk to about making that happen, huh?

Anyway, as one does these days, I turned to Pinterest for inspiration. And I found this. And, well...cucumbers, lemon, and mint in water. It's not exactly ground-breaking stuff, right? But I LIKE cucumbers, lemon, and mint in my water, and I have a cute drink dispenser that I don't use nearly enough, and I like when my husband complains about how much space said drink dispenser takes up in the fridge (OH WAIT! THAT'S RIGHT! I DON'T LIKE THIS, STEVE! Geez.), so I started making this up every night, starting on Friday. And, well, it might be all in my head...

...but I think it might actually be working. I haven't changed anything else, but that one pair of jeans that fits me? They're starting to fit a little looser in the last few days. And that weigh-in from Monday? It was a pretty nice change from a weigh-in I did on Friday. And it's gone down more in the last two days. WITH CLOTHES ON!!!

So...yeah. Water. Drink it.

Go figure.

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Things I Bought to Make Myself Feel Better, Part 2

I am maybe, kind of, a little, COMPLETELY in love with Alex and Ani bracelets. I'd picked up a few a couple of years ago, including a lucky shamrock bangle that I'd given to my sister for Christmas, and apparently, she's worn it enough over the years that my mom decided to get her one with her new sorority's Greek letters on it for this past Christmas. And because my mom is a little technologically challenged, she had me order it for her.
And, well, I'm really bad at shopping for other people without also shopping for myself.

So...

Let's just say I now jingle a lot when I walk, and leave it at that.

(I got the original idea for the initial bracelets from this Style Lush post, but when that post went up, I had no idea that Caitlin was going to be a Caitlin, and I didn't want to order one to represent Brigid without also ordering one for her sister, and then I forgot that I wanted to order them at all. Until my mom asked for my help. Thanks, mom!)

Monday, February 25, 2013

Back to Work

I kind of consider today to be my first official day back to work, even though I came into the office on Friday, because Fridays are for jeans, and what's the only silver lining of leaving your babies at home for the day (*sob*) if not the opportunity to finally pull the fancy clothes out of the closet?

Or, in my case, the fancy shoes and jewelry out of the closet, since most of my fancy clothes still don't fit me (*double sob*), yet?

Please don't judge me when I tell you that these heels from the Nine West outlet were one of FOUR pairs of shoes that I bought while I was out on leave, just to make myself feel better about the fact that my leave would end eventually, ok?
Or when I tell you that I ALSO bought myself a new work bag, while I was at it?

What can I say? I'm on a diet.

Eating my feelings just wasn't an option this time...

2014 List

1) Send more mail...thank you notes, birthday cards, and 'just because' messages.

2) Be nicer, in general, to my husband and family. They deserve a much less crabby me than the one they were stuck with for most of 2013.

3) Make more of an effort to communicate with the long-distance people in my life. I got away from facetiming with my sister on a regular basis, and I miss it. Plus, now that she's making me an aunt, I think it's even more important that we get back into the habit of seeing each other every week. I do not need her new baby asking 'are you SURE you have more than one sister?', just because Aunt Mary lives in Indiana and Aunt Tara lives all of the way in Georgia.

4) Call or email or even text my friends from college more than I do now, which is hardly at all. Just because we can pick up after not talking to each other for months like no time has passed at all does not mean I should keep letting all of those months pass without the talking. I'm afraid the picking back up can't keep happening in a friendship like that.

5) Do one fitness/health related challenge each month. - You know all of those '0 to 1,000 sit-ups in just 30 days!!' kind of schedules that pop up on Pinterest all of the time? I'm going to start doing those. One each month. Fifteen minute plank? I'M COMING FOR YOU. I'm also throwing my meat-free/sugar-free/alcohol-free months in this category, as well.

6) Run another organized 5K. - It was so much more fun than I expected. Minus the running up a hill part, anyway.

7) Renew my vows with Steve, in Vegas, by Elvis, for our 10th anniversary in October.

8) Create an art wall somewhere in my house.

9) Organize a workspace for me

10) Attend The Blathering in Seattle. - Charleston was such a great time, I'd love to make it back for the Seattle trip.

11) Read at least two books a month.

12) Take Brigid camping.

13) Find a yoga studio and start taking classes regularly.

14) Write something, anything, not blog related.

15) No spending money on new clothes this year. Using gift cards and rewards points are fine, but I need to get out of the habit of spending money on new stuff, just to make myself feel better. I swear, shopping is my addiction, but the high I get from buying a new sweater probably isn't enough to justify the amount of money I spend on clothes I don't need.

16) No buying anything at all unless I absolutely need it. I have a bad habit of stocking up on things at sales (candles, lotions, make-up, beauty products), even if I have a cabinet full of the same stuff already at home. I will use the cabinet full of crap before I add more crap.

17) Be more consistent in updating my family blog, because my parents give me a hard time when I let it lag, and my personal blog, because I'm not as happy with myself when I let it lag.

18) Find a general practitioner and get a physical.

19) Post at least one picture a day on Instagram, to get myself into the habit of taking more pictures of my sweet girls, since I find entire events have passed where I've forgotten to photograph said events. Like Christmas. Sadly.

20) Get a haircut. - You can laugh at this one, if you must, but I did not get one single haircut in 2013. In fact, I haven't had a haircut since before Caitlin was born in November of 2012. I do not even know how this happens, but I know it must end. Soon. I think a Locks of Love kind of donation might be in order. My hair, it is long.

21) Make an effort to get to know the neighbors. - I tend to not get dressed/leave the house on the weekends, and this extends to not fraternizing with anyone who lives near me, because I'm afraid people will judge me for my make-up free, sweatpants clad weekend laze. I should probably get over that.

22) Write more thank you notes. - I am terrible at writing thank you notes. I should not be so terrible.

23) Buy new rugs for my new house. - The sunroom and foyer, in particular, need something fun.

24) Be more fearless in forming and maintaining relationships. - There are many times where I think of something I want to send to someone, whether it's an email, text, card, or what have you, and I don't, because I'm afraid I've maybe overestimated whether we have the type of friendship where I can do something like that. I don't want to worry about stuff like that anymore.

25) Put together an Advent/Christmas activity calendar for Brigid and Caitlin. - I did that for Brigid when I was home on maternity leave after Caitlin's birth, and it was so much fun. I didn't get the chance to do it this year, and I feel like I missed out on some part of the excitement of the season. I'm bringing it back.

26) Institute a once-a-month date night with Steve. Or date lunch, I guess, if necessary.

27) Institute a once-a-month girls' night, whether it be with my old college roommate, my SiLs, or the neighbors. I should get out of the house at least once a month with people who do not live in my house.