Zumba!

I survived my second night of Zumba! After the first time on Tuesday night I was absolutely EXHAUSTED afterwards. I was ready for bed at 8pm. Tonight was a different story though. I got home, took a shower (because I was extremely sweaty) and I just don't feel as tired! I feel like I could sleep if I tried, but I don't feel like slipping into a coma like I did on Thursday.

The best part is that I feel great after Zumba! It's definitely not for the faint of heart. For those of you who don't know what Zumba is, it's essentially dancing to Latin and other international music. And boy is it intense! One whole hour of high paced dancing - no breaks! But it's really fun, and it doesn't seem like an hour. Everytime I look at the clock, I think "Wow, this is going fast!"

When I mention that I've been going to Zumba, lots of people have said, "I've always wanted to try that, but I am very uncoordinated/a bad dancer/have two left feet." Well, I am all three of those things and I do just fine. Sure, sometimes I find myself doing random moves with my feet because I have no idea what I'm actually supposed to be doing, or I'll look up and realize that everyone else is doing something different than I am - but the point of it is to keep moving, and I'm doing that, even if it isn't always the right moves. Nobody cares. Seriously. Nobody is judging. Everyone is there for the same reasons - exercise and fun! It's a blast and I am looking forward to next week!

Now I need to cut the junk out of my diet and I'll be golden! :s

Monday (Non) Weigh-In

Today is Monday - that means it's weigh-in day. However, I had a lot of fun last night. A lot of fun involving two friends and a whole lot of booze under the disguise of a True Blood marathon. We only got through one episode. I guess we got side tracked. Anywho, I was mucho hung over this morning and forgot to weigh in. And that's probably a good thing. I'm going to use a "no weigh-in pass" today.

In other news, I'm officially joining the YMCA tomorrow. My aunt wants a buddy with whom to go to Zumba, and I'm going to be that buddy. I'm a little nervous just because I suck at dancing, but I think it will be fun! I'll be sure to report back so my faithful two or three readers can know how it went.

Tutus

Yesterday at the farmers market, there was a booth where a lady was selling tutus that she makes. I was looking at them, since two of my nieces have birthdays coming up (well, one birthday has already passed, but we haven't seen her since, so we haven't given her a gift yet). I looked very closely and realized that the strips of tulle were just tied onto an elastic band. It actually looked really easy to make, so I decided I'd try my hand at it.

After we got home and I recovered from my wasp sting, I headed to the fabric store and got some dark pink and light pink tulle, and some elastic. I hand sewed the elastic together so it was in a circle, and then cut the tulle into strips and looped it through itself on the elastic.

I am pretty happy with the results, and I think I'm going to make them as Christmas presents for my nieces. I just have to figure out the sizing. This one is a little loose on Isaac (yes, I put a tutu on my son, but I just wanted to see how it fit someone his size), but I'm not quite sure if it would fit a 5 year old. It might fit one of the 2 year olds, but I kind of wanted her to have a different colored tutu. She's not really a pink kind of girl. So I may not even use this one. We'll see.

Wasps Suck

I got stung by a wasp today. On my freakin' tongue. Ouuuuch.

Isaac and I went with my parents to the last farmer's market of the season this morning. I had a Diet Coke in the cup holder on the stroller. Apparently, when I wasn't looking, a wasp managed to sneak it's way into the can. I took a drink and felt something in my mouth - something that most definitely shouldn't be there. I immediately spit it out, but it was too late. It had stung me on my tongue. It started out as a very dull stinging feeling, which quickly progressed to a very intense pain. I could feel it all over my tongue, not just the place that had gotten stung. It really, really hurt. This is the first time I've ever been stung.

Seriously, who gets stung on their tongue? Me, I guess.

Happy Birthday, Jamesy!

It's my fabulous hubby's 32nd birthday today!
He is the most wonderful, loyal, hard-working, loving husband and father. I couldn't possibly ask for a better person to spend my life with. Isaac and I are SO lucky to have him and I thank God every day for giving him to me.

So Jamesy, if you're reading this - I love you so much! I love you more every day and I couldn't imagine being with anyone else. My heart has always been yours, and it always will be, even though you're practically an old man now :). (I'm kidding about the old man part, of course.) I love our life together. I love you!

And I also want to wish our niece, Kaylee, a happy 5th birthday today too! She's James's birthday buddy. Here is a picture of them at their birthday party back in 2006.

Spiffy Little Man!

Last Saturday I got a call from my good friend, Cat. She said she was sorting through her three year old son's old clothes and found a few things she wanted Isaac to get some use out of. James's grandma's funeral was going to be that Tuesday, and I had nothing for Isaac to wear. As luck would have it, the clothes that Cat wanted Isaac to borrow were dressy! He looked soooo freakin' cute! Grandma Loverne would have LOVED it!

Cat let me look through some of MJ's old stuff while I was there, and I came away with a few pairs of PJs, some shoes, some other semi-dressy clothes (sweaters and button up shirts), and a Sioux sweatshirt, which as you can see, also looks extremely adorable on him (despite the bed head). He wore it while we were tailgating on Saturday. Love!

Thanks Cat!

Life Update and Weigh-Ins

I've been a busy girl lately! I feel like life is whizzing by at the speed of light, and as a result, I've been neglecting my blog. I also haven't had time to do much couponing or researching deals. And work has been busy with lots of high-maintenance kids.

Last Friday (Sept. 10th), James's grandma passed away, so we were in SD for her funeral and related events for a good portion of last week. She was 88 years old and had had skin cancer on her nose for about four years. She had several surgeries to remove it, resulting in the almost complete removal of her nose, and they still couldn't get it all. Toward the end she was in a lot of pain and very disoriented. She was a very stubborn lady, but also one who loved her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. She was pretty old-fashioned and had the mindset that men are superior, so she had an affinity for Isaac, who is her only great-grandson. I'll never forget when Isaac was about 3 months old, he accidentally waved to her when she was leaving once and she exclaimed, "He's so smart! He's going to be president someday!"

RIP Grandma Loverne. You will be missed.

And last Thursday through about Sunday or Monday, Isaac had a cold. He wasn't sleeping well because of this. And therefore, mom and dad weren't sleeping well either. After the cold subsided, he was still sporadically cranky for seemingly no reason at all. And still not sleeping well. At all. On Saturday he started tugging on his right ear, so this morning I brought him to the walk-in pediatric clinic for an ear check. The good news - no ear infection. The bad news - he has something called eustachian tube dysfunction. Essentially, he has an imbalance of air in his ear, and the tube to relieve the pressure isn't working correctly. From what I hear, it can be pretty painful. The doctor said it's usually irritated by some sort of sickness, in this case most likely the cold he had last week. There's nothing we can do besides wait it out. It will go away on it's own. Hopefully my poor baby will be feeling better soon - and mom and dad can get some sleep!

Taking a seat on the back burner, right next to my blog, is my diet. No, I haven't given up just yet. Last week I weighed in on Sunday rather than Monday because I knew we were leaving for SD on Sunday and I wanted to be able to use my own scale. So last week I was -0.8 lbs for a total of -6.4. I can live with that.

However, whenever we visit the in-laws, my diet goes to pot. My mother-in-law just has too much junk laying around, tempting me, calling my name. And it doesn't help that we stopped at the Olive Garden in Fargo on the way. Then this weekend, I went tailgating. Tailgate food is generally pretty bad. Anyway, I weighed in this morning and I gained one lb. So my grand total is back down to -5.4. Here's to hoping for a better week. Although today wasn't great either. I just need to get my willpower back to where it was two weeks ago.

And since we're on the subject of weight loss, I think I'm going to join the YMCA. Originally, I wanted to join during the summer so I could bring Isaac to the free (for members) drop-in childcare while I swam laps in the pool. However, the $48/mo membership fee was a bit much for someone who is making no money during the summer. Now that I'm getting paid again, we can swing it. And today I found out that employees of the school district get a 10% discount. Plus, I'm already at the YMCA three days a week. We take the kids there for Phy Ed on Mon, Thurs, Fri. It doesn't get easier to get my butt to the gym than already being there. So... I might go in sometime this week and get things set up. Hopefully that will speed the weight loss up a little, or at least boost my energy a bit.

Also, while I was at the YMCA today, I signed Isaac up for swimming lessons. He's in the infant/toddler class, which is ages 6 mo to 3 years. Obviously, a parent needs to be in the pool with them, so I'll be there with him. It will be twice a week for four weeks, starting the first week in October. I'm excited! Isaac loves the water!

Well, that's all for now, folks. Thanks for reading. Hopefully I'll be able to post again soon.

Yo Quiero Taco... John's?

After work today, I was sorting through my coupons when I happened upon a $10 gift certificate for Taco John's that I had gotten for being a secret shopper there this summer. I didn't really feel like cooking, and with it being Taco Tuesday and all, I decided on Taco John's for supper tonight.

I looked through my coupon book for a Taco John's coupon to no avail, so I turned to my good friend, Google. I found out that I could print a coupon for free Potato Ole's with any purchase if I signed up for My Town Mania. So I did.

So I headed to TJ's and here's what I ordered.
-6 hard shell tacos
-3 soft shell tacos
-large Potato Ole's
-side of nacho cheese
-2 churros

The thing about my $10 gift certificate is that it's the kind where you don't get change if you don't use the whole thing. So I had to be sure to use it all up. That's why I ordered an inordinate amount of food. After my free Potato Oles and my $10 gift certificate, I paid only $0.68 for ALL of that. Don't worry, I behaved myself. Sort of. And we did have leftovers, although I never knew how many tacos J could polish off in one sitting until today.

Monday Weigh-In

-0.4

I think my pseudo dieting is catching up with me. I knew this day would come! But it's still a loss, so I'm ok with that. I was especially bad yesterday. The in-laws were staying with us again this weekend, so my diet kind of went out the window. I'll try to be extra good this week to make up for it.

Happy Labor Day!