Anti-Social

Hubby and I were talking about the nuggets and how great and smart they are. I mentioned how they are really getting into imaginative play and that is a good sign.

Hubby said the only thing that concerns him is that Peanut appears to be quite antisocial.

Sigh.

Hubby is a people pleaser and he enjoys the company of others. I do not. Oshy inherited Hubby's personality, and Peanut inherited mine. After interacting with her several people have said that she is "just like her mama." I can see that she takes longer than Osh to warm up to people. I've seen her staring intently at people while they are talking to her but not really reacting, and it is behavior that I recognize.

I took a personality test in my college English class. I re-took it twice more as suggested by my professor because my personality type is seen by only 1% of the population. Not in a bad way, I'm not a sociopath or anything, but people who are my type are extremely analytical and there are lots of negatives to that in other's opinions.

While Hubby is concerned, I say that she comes by it honestly and she will be great. It's good to be okay with yourself and do things alone. There is nothing wrong with analyzing a situation carefully before deciding to jump in head first.

I told him there are other good reasons for being antisocial. There are a handful of people that I love and trust. For the most part though, I find that people are either A. not my type B. boring C. completely insane or D. eventually a huge disappointment. He thought that even though that is usually true, it's not the best outlook on life. I agree it's not the best outlook, but he agreed it's usually true and truth is my favorite thing. I read a quote that said the best way to protect your heart is to pretend that you don't have one. That makes a lot of sense to me, even if it sounds cynical to others.

It looks like Peanut not only inherited my allergies, love of carbs and brown eyes, but also my 1% personality. Poor girl! It will just have to be Mommy and Peanut together, against the world.

Family Time

As a full time working outside the home mom, I have learned to prioritize my family time above all else. From Monday to Friday I spend more waking hours away from my family than I do with them.

You have probably noticed that I have been blogging less. Well . . . I try to only do that when the nuggets are asleep or not around. When they were little bitties I basically was just happy if I still had both eyes open by the time I got home from work. Now they are so much more aware of what is going on. If I lay on the couch or sit down in the computer chair, they will run in and grab my hands and say "mon Mommy, mon," which is toddler language for "come on" and they show me where they expect me to be. I don't bother with the iPad because they think it's their iPad so I don't get to use it in their presence.

Each working morning, we have a mandatory, uninterrupted 20 minutes of snuggles. I know that may not seem like much, but there is no hair doing, make up putting on, running around looking for clothing, or anything else. It is just pure snuggle time.

Last weekend Hubby didn't do anything but family time. The poor guy works full time, goes to school full time, and then does side jobs pretty frequently on weekends. Saturday we spent at the lake. Did you know that tossing rocks into the lake is the greatest activity of all time? I figured that out when we did it for hours. Sunday they went to my grandparents for a little while so we could clean and then we took them for their first ever movie in the theater, The Lorax. It was cute, but I'm not sure how impressed the kids were. They mostly liked eating popcorn and M&M's (or mimi's, as they say). Hubby commented on Sunday night how amazing our time was together, even though we didn't do anything substantial.

Aaaaahhh, if it weren't for those pesky bills or health insurance or the fact that we need to eat, it would be so lovely to have even MORE family time. A girl can dream . . . . .

Firm Friday

Starting weight: 158

Current weight: 154

Lbs. lost: 4

Lbs. to go: 14

My workouts this week were:

Jillian Michael's Ripped in 30 twice (ouch, ouch, OUCH!)

2 30 minute elliptical sessions plus abs

2 mile bike ride

Working out was great this week. I didn't get in my 5 mile run, which is naughty because that is two weeks in a row. Jillian Michael's is crazy. It makes me so sore, which I like because that means it's working.

Other than my cheat, I did really well in the eating department. Last night I thought about eating some meat, but when I looked at it, I just didn't want it. I have been completely Diet Coke free for more than two months now. I am a major vegetable hater and have been trying to eat a ton of those. I cooked dinner every day this week. Lots of good changes in the food department.

Now I'm going to vent. 4 pounds???? FOUR mother beeping pounds?!?!?!? That's it? This is really starting to piss me off. I have upped my working out 100% in the last two months. For the last two weeks I have been starving my butt off eating this vegan crap. Not just vegan, but gluten free vegan, hello! And all I have to show for it is 4 lbs? For 4 lbs, I will eat a damn cheeseburger. Why not? If all this work just leads to FOUR STINKING POUNDS???

Okay, I feel better now.

For serious though, I feel good. My pants and bra and big so I know I have lost inches. If I do my workout at 5 am I usually feel great all day. I can tell I'm getting physically stronger. I don't know how to explain this, but in general I had been feeling swollen. Since the cleanse I don't have that feeling so I know there have been positive changes internally, whether or not I can see them on the scale. Another good change from the cleanse is my skin. My under eye bags aren't so dark and heavy.

My lovies eating chocolate. They're so cleanly.

Cheater

I cheated.

On my cleanse.

I know! I was so motivated. But the weekend arrived. I am starving for meat. Absolutely starving for it! I am starving for some chocolate too. And wine. I know the point is to go through this and not want that, but I want it more than ever.

I did okay on Saturday. While my family dined at the choo choo restaurant, I watched them eat burgers and fries while I ate nuts and dried cranberries. I love burgers and fries, it was hard. Then we went to the chocolate factory and I'm sorry, but there's no way in hell I was going to leave there without some chocolate. I got a chocolate and caramel covered almond cluster and I did not finish the whole thing.

Sunday was no bueno. We were out riding bikes and rode our bikes to Waffle House. Yes, the place that no one should ever eat. It is delicious. If I was going to cheat, I could have just had a waffle. But no. I had a waffle, hashbrowns, eggs and a piece of raisen toast. It was amazing. I gained a whole pound. That is not amazing.

I rebounded this week and I am supposed to go until next Monday, but I can't take much more. This burst of energy I am supposed to have has not happened yet. I feel exhausted and I felt way better after eating my plate o'crap at Waffle House.

My Skinny Girl Sangria is sitting on my counter, just screaming my name.

Source: google.com via Ashley on Pinterest

I lovingly picked it up the other night and said "Don't worry. Only a few more days and we can be together." Hubby was sitting at the table.

"What are we going to do together in a couple days? Uh, I thought you were talking to me. Oh my God. You're talking to your wine bottle."

Shame.

Pinterest Food

I like pictures. It is very, very rare that I will cook something if I do not have a picture of the food I am supposed to be making. 90% of all things I cook these days are recipes off of Pinterest because of the lovely photos. Juvenile? Maybe. The point is, it causes me to cook food so that is a big plus. This weekend I tried three recipes. That's a lot of cooking for me in a 2 day span!

1. Brussel sprouts and lemon garlic sauce

Pinterest version:

Source: annacostafood.wordpress.com via Ashley on Pinterest

My version:

Verdict: Pretty good! It fit nicely into my diet and was surprisingly tasty. Would I normally choose this over a burger and fries? No way. But because I have to eat veggies, I must say this was way better than I thought it would be and did the job.

2. Light Banana Bread

Pinterest version:

Source: 8weekstoabetteryourecipes.blogspot.com via Ashley on Pinterest

My version:

Verdict: Nasty as hell! You replace sugar with honey, but that wasn't really the problem. Instead of oil you use applesauce, which I always do anyway when baking things, and I didn't right down the amount and was too lazy to get on the iPad to find out so I guessed. That was strike one. Secondly, due to my diet, I bought I ridiculously expensive bag of gluten free all purpose flour that smelled like crap and tasted even worse. Nasty, nasty, nasty. It might be okay with regular flour though.

3. Mini cherry pies

Pinterest version:

Source: savethedate4cupcakes.com via Ashley on Pinterest

My version:

The nuggets helped with this one!







Verdict: Delicious. Can you really go wrong with hot cherry pie, smothered in ice cream and made by the most adorable twins in the world? Too easy! But so fun for the kids!