Beer is GOOD!

Ok, I was bored and in the garage and was admiring our WALL of beer bottles and thought I'd take a picture....did I mention I was bored?

For my non NY friends....most of you that check in with me....there is a deposit on soda/beer cans and bottles so we return them. The bottles get taken very seldom so they pile up....by the time I take the bottles in I get some funny looks especially if I have the kids with me. I think most people think I am some party animal alki mom :)
Oh yeah, the Becks are all mine! For anyone doing Weight Watchers out there, Beck's Premier Light is the best! Only 1 point per bottle....64 calories, the lightest beer out there and it doesn't taste too bad for a light beer!!

A little History of me....and my biggest struggle

MY WEIGHT.

Grace is in bed and Dalton is watching TV, so I thought I'd jot down the history of my struggles with my weight. This may be boring to some of you, interesting to some and possibly maybe inspiring to others. I'm hoping maybe someone out there relates to me and gets something out of this. Its mostly about the numbers I have reached, and left behind and found again.

So my first memories. I guess the first time I can recall having an issue with my weight was in 5th grade. This was back in the day when at the beginning of the school year you got weighed in gym class. At my school, (Sherburne NY) they actually called out your weight to the other teacher writing it down. I was 118 pounds. Much more than the other kids. Obviously this affected me because I still remember that number to this day. Now I never looked like an obese child or anything, because at that time I was tall for my age, who knew I'd stop growing taller a couple years later. But because of my height I guess, I never looked huge but was alway bigger than my friends. So that is the first thing.

I guess when it became an issue next was in high school. I still weighed more than my friends, but ate the same as them. I remember weighing 160 or 180 in 7th or 8th grade. And once in high school I started to try to lose weight. Never had a disorder or anything like that, just would do exercising etc. By my junior prom I weighed 138 and my prom dress was a size 8!!! I looked good, felt good, had boyfriends all that. Isn't it funny how when weight is a major problem with yourself, certain numbers stick out....this will continue until today.

Mt. Biking got big around this time so I was riding everyplace, even after getting a car. Kept my weight rather low until college, probably 150 or so. And then in college I got back up to 180. Now I was only at college for 3 semesters but lived in the town for 2 years. Got in a HORRIBLE relationship, was on Zoloft which left me with NO appetite. Left town, and moved across the country to live with my sister for awhile in Washington State. This is when I met Mike, 2 weeks after arriving.

By the time I met Mike I was in the 160's....that was in 1995. We lived in WA for 8 months, lived with our folks a couple months and then moved to Texas in August of 1996. Had a blast, drank a lot, ate a lot and gained a lot. When we moved to Pennsylvania in 1998 I was in the 190's.

So here we were in PA, still having fun. In 2000 I became vegetarian...kinda. I still ate seafood and dairy. And I ate anything fried I could get my hands on! By the time I joined Weight Watchers for the first time in late spring I think of 2001 I was 217 pounds!!!! What the hell Caryn. But hey it worked, and being vegetarian made it work much easier too since so much of the food I ate was out of a box---soy stuff---it was easy to do the math I needed to do for the program. So I was thrilled and was starting to look very good.

By the time Mike and I got married in June 2002 I lost over 50 pounds and was 164 pounds!!!!!! How short lived this would be...I stopped weight watchers and got pregnant in September. I was 180 pounds the day the doctor gave me the official news in October. By the time Dalton was born in May of 2003 I was 235...just crazy. Now the first 15 came off fast, and I started weight watchers again and got back down to the 180's for awhile.


Only to get pregnant again in Sept. 2004. I was 191 the day I got the news this time. And again was a cow by delivery June 2005...230 I think. Shortly after her birth, Mike got a job offer and the house went on the market and sold in the one week. I was staying at my parents while Mike trained and looked for a home.....ATe take out, moms cooking....just ate badly for awhile.

Jan 2 2006....What the hell have I done to myself. I'm not pregnant and I weigh 225 pounds. I was so upset with myself. Joined the gym, and weight watchers and by June 2006 I was 179.......only to be 201 pounds by June of 2007, which brings us to today.......

I have lost 20 pounds since then. And as of last saturday I am 181 pounds. I weigh in tomorrow, and I hope there is less of me. I never want to see the numbers 190 or 200 again in my life. So I struggle all the time. I am addicted to the scale and weigh myself at least once a day....can't stop.

So send me good vibes that I only continue forward. And if you are struggling with your weight, just know you are not alone.

Another Time Killer from Nancy

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car), Puggy Forester

2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fave ice cream flavor, favorite cookie), Peanut Butter Cup Oreo

3. YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name), C-SMI

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal), Green Dog

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born), Ivy Norwich

6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first), Smica

7. SUPERHERO NAME: (”The” + 2nd favorite color, favorite drink), The brown beer

8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers), French Hubert

9. STRIPPER NAME: ( the name of your favorite perfume/cologne/scent, favorite candy), Patuchouli Snickers

10.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names ), Mae Lee

11. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: (Your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter), Brookings Branson

12. SPY NAME: (your favorite season/holiday, flower). Autumn Cala Lily

13. CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now + “ie” or “y”) Banana Shortsie

14. HIPPY NAME: (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree), Omelette Magnolia

15. YOUR ROCKSTAR TOUR NAME: (”The” + Your fave hobby/craft, fave weather element + “Tour”), The Garage Saling Sunshine Tour

SMILE!

Here is a new photo of the kids and I, not often I am in front of the camera with them!

20 pounds!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well I am down 2 more pounds making my total weight loss 20 pounds!!!!!! YIPPEE!!!

IF YOU HAVE NETFLIX.....

And I know you personally...or you are an online pal of mine please go to this link:
http://www.netflix.com/BeMyFriend/POqwXqHPOaa6Bw6bKSo7

Anybody Wanna Cruise?

Ok, so most of you know...well people who know me that are reading this, that Mike and I went on a "specialty" cruise for our honeymoon. We did the rockboat cruise. It was a ton of fun, a Carvival cruise ship, but instead of the typical vegas style entertainment, it was all musicians---rock music and lots of alcohol!!

So anyway, we are thinking about going on another one. RockBoat is sold out this year, but John Mayer is doing one in February. There are still cabins left and for 2 people they start at about 750 per person and then 99 per person for taxes and transportation and hotel on top of that. Pricey but fun.

So what I would think would be awesome is if some of our friends went too. How much fun would that be? It is a short cruise-3-4 nights. If we go this will be our first time leaving the kids overnight...extended no less...with family.

So check out the site and let me know what you think.
Martin Sexton is one of the performers too, never seen him live but have several of his albums and he is wonderful!

http://www.mayercraftcarrier.com/

18 Pounds

Well I am officially at 18 pounds lost!
Here is my full body shot:


And here is the face:


I really don't see too much difference even though I know the weight is gone, and I've went down 2 sizes. I guess one day I will just look different or skinny out of nowhere.

So other happenings:

Dalton went back to preschool this week and is LOVING IT!
Guess that is all the real excitement.....
God I suck at this....

Here are some pictures to look at:

My attack cat abby who just adores the children



Our beer loving lady Nico who is aging gracefully


Last but not least our loveable goofball Mojo



HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!

Today is Tuesday

Tuesday


The god Týr, identified with Mars, after whom Tuesday is named.


Tuesday is the second day of the week following Monday. The name comes from Middle English Twisday, from Old English Tiwes dæg, named after the Nordic god Tyr, who was the equivalent of the Roman war god Mars.

In Latin, it is called Martis dies which means "Mars Day". In Romance languages except Portuguese, the word for "Tuesday" is similar to the Latin name: mardi in French, martes in Spanish, martedì in Italian, and marţi in Romanian.

Portuguese uses numbers instead of pagan names and so their word for "Tuesday" is terça-feira.

The English and Scandinavian names are derived from the Nordic god Týr:

* Old English: Tiw, Tew, or Tiu
* Swedish: Tisdag
* Danish: Tirsdag
* Norwegian: Tirsdag or Tysdag
* Icelandic: Týsdagur
* Finnish: Tiistai (borrowed)

The German word Dienstag and the Dutch word Dinsdag seems to be derived from the god referred to by the Romans as Mars Thingsus, the god of the thing, which might also be Týr, or possibly some other Germanic god.

The Russian word for "Tuesday" is vtórnik, meaning "second"; that is, counting Tuesday as the second day of the week.

Quakers traditionally referred to Tuesday as "Third Day" eschewing the pagan origin of the English name "Tuesday".

In the Greek world, Tuesday (the day of the week of the Fall of Constantinople) is considered an unlucky day. The same is true in the Spanish-speaking world, where a proverb runs En martes, ni te cases ni te embarques (On Tuesday, neither get married nor begin a journey). For both Greeks and Spanish-speakers, the 13th of the month is considered unlucky if it falls on Tuesday, instead of Friday.

Tuesday is the usual day for elections in the United States. Federal elections take place on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November; this date was established by a law of 1845 for presidential elections (specifically for the selection of the Electoral College), and was extended to elections for the House of Representatives in 1875 and for the Senate in 1914. Tuesday was the earliest day of the week which was practical for polling in the early nineteenth century: citizens might have to travel for a whole day to cast their vote, and would not wish to leave on Sunday which was a day of worship for the great majority of them.

In business, particularly office work, studies have shown that Tuesday is usually the most productive day of the week.[1]

In Thailand, the color associated with Tuesday is pink, see [1]

Tuesday in popular culture


* Tuesday Creative (tuesday.com) is a Los Angeles based interactive agency.
* Tuesday Morning is a chain of discount gift and home accessory stores.
* Tuesday Night Book Club was a short-lived show CBS reality TV series that aired on Tuesday evenings.
* Grim Tuesday is the name of a book by the childrens author, Garth Nix
* Actress Tuesday Weld
* Ruby Tuesday (restaurant)
* In Rejected Cartoons, "Tuesday's coming, did you bring your coat?"

Music

* The song "Tuesday (I'm Not Ordinary)" by The Most
* Last Tuesday (punk rock group)
* The Real Tuesday Weld (band)
* Til Tuesday (new wave group)
* Tuesday Night Music Club is the name of Sheryl Crow's 1993 debut album
* The song "Tuesday's Gone" by Lynyrd Skynyrd
* The song " Love You Till Tuesday" by David Bowie
* The song "Tuesday Heartbreak" by Stevie Wonder
* The song "Tuesday Afternoon (Forever Afternoon)" by The Moody Blues
* The song "Tuesday Morning" by Michelle Branch, on her 2003 album Hotel Paper.
* The song "Tuesday's Dead" by Cat Stevens

A different song of the same name by Melissa Etheridge can be found on her 2004 album "Lucky"

* "Tuesday's Child" is a song by the band All About Eve sung by "Julianne Regan" on their album "Scarlet and Other Stories"
* The song "Ruby Tuesday" from the Rolling Stones

Astrology

In French, Tuesday is "Mardi", associating it with the planet Mars. Tuesday is also associated with the dwarf planet Pluto. This marries Tuesday with ideas of strife, battles to be won and pressing issues and jobs to get sorted. It is not a day to relax. This same meaning can be seen in the Spanish "Martes" and the English "Tuesday" ("Tyr's day.") In India, Tuesday is called "Mangalvar", for the Vedic planet Mangala or Mars.

Named days

* Black Tuesday, in the United States, refers to October 29, 1929, part of the great Stock Market Crash of 1929. This was the Tuesday after Black Thursday. The crash is said to have marked the start of the Great Depression.
* Patch Tuesday is the second Tuesday of every month when Microsoft releases patches for their products. Some system administrators call this day Black Tuesday.
* Shrove Tuesday (also called Mardi Gras - fat Tuesday) precedes the first day of Lent in the Western Christian calendar.
* Super Tuesday is the day many American states hold their presidential primary elections.

***Taken from Answers.com***

Sunday.....thought for the day.

"NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF STUPID PEOPLE IN LARGE GROUPS"