Friday, January 29, 2010

This Week's Menu and stuff

I am doing pretty good about planning my week's meals on Monday and then doing the shopping accordingly so that I don't make 12 trips to Kroger. We are also trying to eat less and eat better. This week's menu...

Sunday
3 Bean Minestrone

Monday
Grilled Marinated Pork Tenderloin
Scalloped potatoes
Sugar snap peas

Tuesday
Hamburgers (on the Foreman grill since it was snowing)
Rally's seasoned fries cooked in the oven

Wednesday
Leftovers or Lean Cuisine

Thursday
Lean Cuisine

Friday
Beef Stew
Homemade Bread
Chocolate Cake

Saturday
Steak
Potatoes
Bacon Wrapped Green Beans

Jack has gone on a play date with his friend, Nico. I have just been getting my soup ready and talking to my sister on the phone. She is watching the snow pile up at her house. We don't have any here yet, but they keep talking about it. I was sure Mady wouldn't have school today, but here we are without a single flake. It was her 100th day of school so I am really glad she got to go. I think they had a lot of special activities planned and it happened to fall on a Friday so that is good too. She missed Tuesday because the roads were slick here. If the snow gets here tonight or tomorrow, we will miss Soccer tomorrow morning and Madalynn had a classmate's birthday party at Bounce U at 12:30 that we will miss too. We will see. Just as long as we don't have freezing rain. I need my electricity and heat!

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Top 10 Ways You Know You Live Too Far North

1. We are closer to Ohio and Indiana than Tennessee.

2. We can have temps that get into the single digits and/or BELOW ZERO!!! (That is just wrong.)

3. So called "central" Kentucky is really "Northern" Kentucky. *See #1 & #2.

4. The pro football team most people root for is the Cincinnati Bengals.

5. I worry about the accent with which my son says "Guys".

6. Alot of people call coke, Pop. Definitely a northern thing.

7. Basketball is a bigger thing than football. Kentucky is still part of the SEC! What is wrong with you people?

8. People, many people don't know how to be friendly. All southerners can do that!

9. Sweet tea is sometimes a hard thing to come by at a restaurant.

And the top reason you know you live too far north...

10. A southern accent is noticeable!

Monday, January 4, 2010

A Weekend Getaway

Jeremy and I just returned from a quick weekend trip to the mountains of East Tennessee. Not a big trip or a fancy one. We drove down Friday afternoon, stayed in a Holiday Inn Express, and didn't eat at even one fancy restaurant...but we had a great time. Wonderful, just the two of us. We shopped a little, ate a little, saw a movie, spent some great time together, rode in the car at times without the radio even on! We talked...nothing heavy, just talked something we don't do much of at times. I got to drink plenty of Starbucks, which made me very happy!!! (Recently I tried Starbucks after admiring it from afar for years...let's just say I AM A FAN!) My pocketbook has felt the sting a little, but I don't indulge in much so I think I am entitled to coffee. Jeremy got to do some hunting type shopping courtesy of Bass Pro Shops so he was happy too!

The movie, It's Complicated, was cute, but more something you would go see if you were over 40. Jeremy and I were just two people in the tiny group that was under the age of 50 in a packed theater. Now I know we are getting older too, but that movie had a lot of gross moments for us. People our parents ages, kissing, etc. GROSS! We are just not ready for that yet, no offense to anyone!

We went to Bass Pro Shops, and several other little shops which was fun. We drove up in the mountains yesterday before we left and saw some snow. It was really pretty in the places where the steam or mist had frozen on the trees.

We had a really good meal at The Chop House Friday night. We ate at the Hard Rock Cafe in Gatlinburg on Saturday night- we had an appetizer and dessert. Sunday morning we ate at Cracker Barrel for breakfast and it was yummy!
I just really enjoyed spending time with Jeremy. Things are about to pick up for him at work and that quadruples the stress around here. It was nice to get away for a couple of days before all that begins. Jeremy's grandparents volunteered to come up and watch the kids so they had a great time as well and we didn't have to worry about them one little bit. I wish we could do it more!

Mondays...yuck

Well, another Monday morning has arrived. I thoroughly enjoyed the previous 2 Mondays, mainly because I didn't have to get up early. I love to sleep. It is my favorite hobby. One I don't get to do nearly as much of as I would like. Today we went back to our routine. I'm up between 6 and 6:30 am so that I can get a reasonable amount of stuff done before M & J get up at 7:15 so we can get to school on time. Another Monday where I am going to eat less and eat healthier. Another Monday where I am really going to get an exercise routine. Another Monday where I will begin to read my Bible like I should. Well, not too successful .... again. The day is not over, though. Maybe I will do better later today.

Well, it is now Friday. I did do a little better. I signed up for a daily Bible reading email at church and I am caught up! I used the elliptical on Wednesday, did the shred (which always kicks my butt) yesterday, and today did the bowflex and a 20 min pilates tape. I so want to be a person who exercises everyday. Not once and a while, but every day. I try not to focus on how fat I am, but that I just want to be in better shape. I had some pictures made recently and was disgusted with how big my bottom half is. It is sickening! I make it a point to say when asked by the kids why I am exercising, that it is because I need to get into better shape. I am really conscious of my kids, especially my daughter, hearing that I need to lose weight. I don't want her to end up with some warped idea that all women need to be skinny. That simply isn't realistic, or healthy. You need to eat right and exercise, but that doesn't translate into every woman being a size 2.
I remember telling Jeremy right after Madalynn was born that I wanted her to never remember her parents not exercising. I wanted it to be a normal part of our lives. I want her to believe an active lifestyle is expected, a normal part of life.
My parents occasionally took spurts of taking walks, but really never any exercise to amount to anything. I remember being little and encouraging them to get down on the floor and let me help them do sit ups or stretches. How funny!
I have got to do better than I have done up until this point! I am 33 and my metabolisim is getting slower and slower. I have got to at least try.