Half a Year

Well, ladies and gentlemen, today marks the 180th day of no Dr. Pepper...half a year...wow. Imagine a slide show of photos of me and DP over the years...big gulps, obviously.

Treating Every Day as a Special Day

The above sounds really positive, doesn't it? You may be expecting me to launch into some rainbows and puppies gusher about life. But in this case, this title is a negative. Sorry to be Debbie Downer, but allow me to explain.

A year ago, my coworker met Bill, the Season 4 winner of The Biggest Loser. The lesson he stressed was that so many people say/think, "Well, I worked out today, so I can reward myself." But the thing we don't realize is that one day of doing good does not even make a dent in the special occasion splurges we make. He said when we go to a wedding we may over eat to the equivalent of four days worth of calories without realizing it. But then we have one "good" day, and we want to treat ourselves. Hence, the balance is completely shifted into the overindulgence column all the time.

The women in my life, nearly all of them, are all about some justification. We love food, and we love to socialize around food. It's always someone's special something. It's a birthday, an anniversary, someone's last day at work...the list goes on and on. Just last night, we went out with our BFF family, the Turnips. And as always, we had a great night. But I FAR EXCEEDED my allotment for the day.

It all boils down to me RE-learning discipline...in all arenas of my life. Sure, I can celebrate all the special days of life, but that does not mean I can celebrate with cheese sticks and dessert. I have to make lifestyle changes (all credit to Weight Watchers), and I have to stick with them. I have made some progress (no DP, no sweet tea, etc.), but I have many more to go. So I'll toast myself with a glass of water with lime. And maybe, just maybe, a ribbon baton.

Lunch Lessons

I found another breadcrumb on my path of self-discovery. I love to tell the story, as does my dad, about what I believe is the reason for my big love of fountain drinks. On rare occasions as kids when we went through a drive-thru, we could only get food not drinks. So now as an adult, I make up for that by getting the biggest drink.

I took my lunch to school for 99% of my K-12 career. Buying my lunch was a treat. And I vividly remember Heather W eating chicken strips and french fries EVERY DAY in 11th grade. And I ate a sandwich and chips almost every day. Then senior year, we had lunch privileges, i.e., we got to leave campus during lunch. And my friends and I would go hang out at my grandmother's house, and I would eat my packed lunch while Lucas would eat a BBQ cheeseburger from a shack and Heather W would eat a chicken-on-a-stick and caramel cake from the gas station.

Apparently I've been over-compensating for feeling left out. So, if I felt left out for 13 years, and now I've had 12 to make up for it, I should be almost even! :)

Food Fights

Once upon a time, in a land 1300 miles away, a precious little boy got a bit of a late start on solid food. He didn't start fruit until he was 5 months old and had never had cereal before. So once he arrived home, and after doing the cereal and fruit, then vegetable, thing for awhile, it was time to start the exciting meal baby food...which is about the time he decided to boycott baby food. I had a devil of a time figuring out what he could eat.

Yes, this cute little fella was a baby food boycotter.

Then, he went through a phase where he ate almost anything. I mean it, weird stuff included. And then he became picky. And I ABHOR picky. It absolutely infuriates me. I blame other kids at daycare. ;)

So all of that to say that I finally put this to the test last night:

(ignore the necklace)

Now, I had pulled the cauliflower-in-the-mashed-potatoes over on both him and Doug before. But this time, it was meatloaf with carrots, onions and celery in it. At first, he spotted a carrot. I feared the worst. But we ignored him, and he ate 95% of the veggie-infused meatloaf, along with the cauliflower potatoes and green beans. Not too shabby of a night!

More deceit to come!

The Tin Years

I've always dreamed of reaching the tin or aluminum anniversary (HA!), and now we have! I had to look up why such a random gift is the denoted 10-year anniversary gift. I was shocked and pleased to discover:

The pliability of tin and aluminum is a symbol of how a successful marriage needs to be flexible and durable and how it can be bent without being broken.

I raise my glass to a patient man who has moved with me four times, who followed me to Guatemala and back with our baby, who has lived with me through six years of school, and who has been gracious enough to let our pet count grow to 6 (then 7, then back to 6, then 7, then back to 6). And endured a dirty house for 3,650 days.

Someone give this man a medal!

Note: Pictures are crappy quality due to taking pictures of pictures!

I love you, DM(P)S!

By the way, I've missed my ring a whole lot -- it's too little right now.
I had to lotion my hand to get it on this morning.
BUT, that is part of my weight loss goal!

Cast Your Vote!

Ok, the 180 day mark for no Dr. Pepper is approaching (end of June). I have lost no weight as a result of this effort. So, cast your vote for the following:

[ ] You should start drinking your beloved Dr. Pepper again.

[ ] You should keep the un-love fest going for an entire year, then reevaluate.

[ ] You should never again drink your beloved Dr. Pepper.

Dollars and Sense

While procrastinating from doing my homework tonight, I reached for my "Dave Ramsey" binder that happens to be located in my computer desk. It occurred to me that it's been nearly 6 months since embarking on the DESTROY THE DEBT crusade. So I did some quick number crunching, and here is what I was shocked to discover:

WE HAVE PAID DOWN OUR DEBT BY 46% IN 5.5 MONTHS!

Note: Neither the beginning debt or the current reduced debt includes my car payment or our house payment. Just speaking in terms of "other" debt.

I am beyond amazed and once again renewed in the quest. Just a few weekends ago I was so bummed out by my pathetic yard sale, not to mention the increased grumbling of the household as we ride out our last few weeks until the satellite comes back on. But yet, I can see our sacrifices and diligence paying off. Have we got this thing 100% figured out? No way. Are we working on it? Heck yeah. Can paying attention and making wiser choices - what feel like small steps at the time - pay off? We are proof. And yes, a nice tax refund and a little less than half the proceeds from selling a boat surely helped, but to me the real impacts have come from our small, collective decisions.

And I am so thankful for a husband who agreed to save >$300 over this 6-month period by going without satellite. I have heard so many times during these months from other people that their husbands would never have gone for that.

The next few months are going to be a little tougher with seasonal expenses upon us, but I have faith that we can continue gritting our teeth and keeping our eyes on Spring 2011. More good things to come!

Not a Slacker but a Hacker

It appears that my gmail account was hacked over the weekend, which has been a rollercoaster of access issues today -- and all that affects this little ole' blog. So, if you get a "blog not found" message from time to time, know that I am trying to get it straightened out. STUPID HACKERS, FIND SOMETHING BETTER (i.e., MORE PRODUCTIVE) TO DO! GRR!

Phillip's Perspective on...Summer School

Summer school is exhausting. That is all you need to know.

Feeling the Faith

So, I've been a bit bummed out lately. We cannot proceed with any forward steps with the adoption because we have no "start up" money saved. We are still chasing our debt snowball, and as mentioned previously, the ground I thought we were going to gain this fall got eaten up with things outside our control (tuition doubled). But last night I got a new balance transfer offer for no interest until next April. And today I crunched some numbers, and I think with this offer and our tax refund next year, our credit card debt will be cut in half in 10 months (half from this month, more from the beginning of the year)! Suddenly some of the weight lifted off me. I could again focus my eyes on putting one foot in front of the other and being dedicated and a good servant of my funds. Yes, I'm bummed that we will have to wait until at least the next calendar year to begin, but since I have not received any divine revelations about funding this adoption, I feel this is the best that can be done.

Shuffle, ball-change, shuffle step...FORWARD!

Nerd Alert

This is what a 30-year-old/mom of a 4-year-old/
been married 10 years/have 2 degrees
but I've gone back to school anyway,
looks like sitting on a dock doing homework
while everyone else fishes in the ridiculous heat.

Stalker! :)

Do you know what this is?

If you don't, I will forgive you just this once.

[edited]

That's JT Thomas, the winner of Survivor: Tocantins.
(And only the 2nd time that the person Doug and I were rooting for won.) He also was on the most recently completed season, Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains.

Here is his bio and pic: http://www.cbs.com/primetime/survivor/bio/jt_18/bio.php

So, no, I did not get to meet him in person. Just the thought of it makes me almost wet my pants. My mom saw him at Bama Jam in Enterprise, AL. And knowing that I am loco about him, got a pic of him on her phone and his autograph for yours truly. I was so bummed that I was not there to meet him, though it's probably for the best since I would have certainly have embarrassed myself. And then, my dad told me that he thinks he lives near there.

OMG! WHAT IF WHEN I GO VISIT JEB I RANDOMLY RUN INTO HIM SOMETIME!!!

I am now planning my next, very strategic, trip to Enterprise.
It involves losing a ton of weight in the meantime. ;)

Challenge Issued, Challenge Answered

Ladies and gentlemen, meet the first draft of the Twin Orbs of Evil:
And the illustrator, Angie:
I have quite the schemes in my head to make Angie and I rich off this idea, starting with t-shirts and ending with selling the rights (for lots of $$, of course) to a maxi pad company! HAHAHA!

Seen Around the House

The above are all things I've found around the house at the hands of Elliott.

His humor, or at least his imagination, is fantastic.

And then there is this little devil; I never know where I'll find her.

ATTENTION!

OMG, Elliott wore BASEBALL PANTS to TBall last night. This is monumental...huge...unheard of. Unfortunately, the pants had an odd effect on him: dramatic. He always falls down like 100 times in the field (going after the ball, of course), but the pants apparently prevented him from getting up in a timely fashion. It was the first time I've been irritated at him at TBall.

And here is the photographic evidence!

Check out those already filthy knees!

The Bad Seed

So, I'm now the example for a couple of friends of mine...the bad example, that is. Two people in my life had been telling themselves how they needed to cut some calories and sugar by giving up their sodas of choice. Until, that is, I proved this theory wrong. It seems my 152 days without my beloved Dr. Pepper along with the switch to unsweet tea while not losing a pound is a demotivater. Huh. Go figure.