I lost Jake

OK, everyone!! Don't be worried! Jake is right here next to me. I guess I should have said I lost "A" Jake.

Meaning the weight I have lost is equal to losing this guy....

And anyone who has held him recently knows...he might look small but he he is solid!! When you pick him up, you expect light puppy...you get dead weight! I am all about tangible examples, so knowing every time I look at Jake or pick him up, that I was carrying all that extra weight on me. WOW! Feels good!

My goal was 10 pounds this month and I hit it on the nose. (this after a month of birthday cakes and celebrations, I think I ate great...even on my birthday!)

So that's 25 pounds (or 1 Jake) in 2 months on the program. (28 since my highest weight)

And my BMI went down 2 points....so I am now in the overweight category (sniffle)but not the Unhealthy or obese category! WOOOHOO! 5 more points till I am in the normal category.

And here's the fun part...(groan)

I am 170. My goal by Sep 18th...160. (Weighed myself yesterday...168..hehe)

Still not doing great on the exercise. Ugh. Wii Fit has me motivated, but I know I can do better (and probably loose more...I just HATE the hungry feeling after I work out)

Side note/vent:

While I in NOOO WAYYY am an expert on losing weight. I have learned this simple fact. The Calories you put in must be less than the calories you burn or put out.

I get soooo annoyed with some people I know (non readers of the blog) that are all about working out like maniacs and then eating "whatever they want" since they worked out like crazy and "deserve it".

I give you credit, you may have burned off 1,000 calories today (great job by the way, a ton of hard work!). BUT the 5 shots, 6 cocktails, desserts and fries you had at the bar that night were definitely more than the 1,000 calories you burned off. So all that hard work. Down the crapper.

Seriously people...Alcohol is the worst thing to have when losing weight. Especially any mixed drink. I haven't had but a sip in 2 $%^&%# months (almost had one on Saturday, I left myself tons of calories to have one over the top martini...but never ordered it. Probably cause I thought I would be plastered after the 1 drink).

Yup these people are trying to loose weight but are not seeing any changes.

And it sucks cause they are making me feel bad about not being as exercise crazy as them. "You need to exercise with me" "I'm hardcore" "I can eat that piece of cake, I worked out for 2 hours today" Blah Blah Blah.

Thank God for my hubby... he keeps telling me he is proud of me for sticking too it! And not to be bothered. Obviously what I am doing is working and all I need to do is simple 30-45 mins of exercise (enough to make me sweat and breathe harder than normal). There is no need to try to train like I am going to do the iron man!

Fun times!

Since I am in the posting spirit...I wanted to add how much FUN I had last night at a "game night" Geoff and I hosted for 2 other couples (won't add their names to protect the innocent...haha). We had SOOOO much fun!!! We played Cranium Turbo Edition (there was nothing turbo about that game) And we now know...game nights are on the weekend since we ended the game early and it was almost 11:30 pm! It was hilarious to see how each couple had it's own dynamic!! All I have to say is.... Geoff could have helped us win if he knew his humdingers! He looked at the card and said he didn't know any of the 3 songs!! I looked at it afterwards... Rocky theme song (OK, it did call it by the real name of the song "Gonna Fly Now"...but I KNEW IT!!) I've had the time of my life: Dirty Dancing(ARE YOU KIDDING ME??!!) My heart will go on : Titanic (how could you live in 1997/98 and not know that song) Ohh...and Jake LOVED being the center of attention!!! He is usually passed out by 9:00pm but darn it, he had to stay up (even though he was falling alseep while being petted). When we got up to bed....he was SO TIRED he passed out before getting into his normal bed. Too cute!

This Old House

Haven't posted in awhile since this last weekend we were BUSY with home projects. The whole idea that it's your home and you can "do it yourself" has lost it's charm on Geoff and I :) We kept on painting the "red" room. Geoff should have that done tonight. Then we can move everything back in there and I can do some laundry!! The biggest project....organizing the closet. We are going to be adding a tub to our master bath. Since it's already the smallest bathroom known to man, we needed Geoff's closet space. That means...dum..dum...dum...we are sharing my closet. We went to Lowes and Home Depot too many times and finally got what we needed to maximize our old homes closet space. Needless to say, we make a great team and we ROCKED our new closet. Now Geoff can actually see what clothes he has and find his shoes! Why did that take us all weekend? Cause I decided we needed to purge some of our clothes to goodwill. We ended up delivering 4 HUGE garbage bags, 2 huge Tupperware storage containers, and 2 smaller bags full of clothes to Goodwill. We were proud to have really cleaned our closet and drawers, maximized our storage space, and have plenty of room! I love organization :) Pictures of the red room....to be up this weekend :)

Competitive swimming...here I come!

And that's not because I'd be any good at it!

Have you seen those guys bodies....wowzers! Look at Micheal Phelps back and arms while he swims...swoon. The woman on the other hand look---eghhh. But that's neither here nor there.

The real reason I want to be a swimmer...

Michael Phelps eats 12,000 calories per day By Chris Chase After he retires from swimming, Michael Phelps might want to try his hand at competitive eating. The Olympic star recently said he consumes 12,000 calories per day, or 9,500 more than the FDA recommends for an active, young male. Phelps has to keep his intake up in order to compensate for all the calories he burns during the 30-hours per week he spends in training. He told NBC that an average day might have the following menu: Breakfast: 3 fried egg sandwiches, 2 cups coffee, 5-egg omelet, bowl of grits, 3 pieces of french toast, 3 chocolate chip pancakes Lunch: 1 pound pasta, 2 ham and cheese sandwiches, energy drink (1,000 calorie) Dinner: 1 pound pasta, 1 large pizza, energy drink (1,000 calorie) Three years ago, Phelps told an interviewer: I eat pretty much whatever I want. I don't have a strict diet. It's all about cramming in as many calories into my system as I possibly can. To be honest with you, I have a tough time keeping weight on. Michael better be careful there. There's no surer way to turn new female fans into former female fans than by complaining about how hard it is to keep on weight.

Geoff's response to my new goal: "Ummm you know you'd have to train 30 hours a week right?"

Madeline: "Hmmmm...is that a suggest amount of time?"

Worrying about a child we don't even have...

Disclaimer: Let's just start this post off with I am pretty sure there will be no human children (Jake is sitting by me, don't want to offend him) for a couple of years. Why, did I even think about schools today? Well, our cute little neighbor was trying on his "big boy uniform" for school next week. Such a cute 3 year old in his lil khaki shorts and polo shirt. What blows my mind is that Geoff was already checking out schools??!! Wow....very impressed. Unfortunately the look of horror after he did research made me in turn due some homework on schools and reach that same look of horror... Ya see, in our neighborhood (or lets just say our street ). MOST (minus our "progressive" neighbors who had their child go to the arts academy down the street) of the kids go to the #1 private school in the city. This private school is also WAYYYYY on the other side of town. When I say WAYYY I mean I would basically have to be a taxi driver. There are no buses and I don't think most people believe in carpool out here. There's no freeway/highway ...just one road that takes you and the rest of our city there. Remember that cute 3 year old at the beginning of my post. That 3 year olds tuition for Pre K is $7,390. Kindergarten (includes lunch, books and fees) $ 10,760 First - Fifth Grades (includes lunch, books and fees) $ 13,160 Sixth through Eighth Grades $ 15,380 Ninth through Twelfth Grades $ 15,690 Soo...for 1 child I will be paying close to $200,000 for their entire K-12 education. (I am sure they will jack up the price by the time we have school aged kids) That's not even counting college??!! Lord knows college will be another ludicrous amount. My options...or lack of them Option 1: Public school- not going to happen in this city (they make Los Angeles school district look like a country club) The kicker....all the property tax I an paying to the schools and my child will never benefit from it. That's another story for another day. And yes, I know I am part of the problem with busing my child out of the bad schools to a better school, but I also don't want my child to be the social experiment. And for the record, most of the kids in public school were not even on grade level in reading, science and math. They failed the state tests and had to b mandated to summer school. Option 2: The #1 private school- Basically we would only have 1 child with this option. Period. And even then, I doubt Geoff would be all for this. But this is the only school that doesn't shove religion down the poor kids throat (all for religion....just not the Southern "in your face" type) Option 3: The mid priced private school down the street- My poor kid would be going to chapel more times than I want to imagine. (hey I went to catholic school until junior high and then conservative Christian school through high school...I know what they would go through...if they like it...great! But if they don't...I don't wanna force them and then them despise organized religion...case in point) Option 4, 5, 6: Move, Rob a bank, marry a rich widower Geoff's option...Wait and see if our kids seem "bright" no use spending money on them if they are not an above average student (my poor mom is glaring at him from heaven). "Sorry Geoff Jr. you want go with all your friends to the same school. We just don't see any real potential in you and our investment in your education would just be a wash." We might save money on schools but the therapy alone for the poor child would be over the top! Oh and this is the tuition of the private school if we lived back in my hometown in California. (Our school was in the Prep League...all the schools were private and expensive...except ours, but we had the conservative religion jammed down our throats) Grades K-5 = $18,675Grades 6-8 = $21,950Grades 9-12 = $25,225(School Year 2008-2009) So I guess I really shouldn't complain... Excuse me while I get some Tums...

Wii fit 1- Madeline 0

I have has no energy what so ever for the last few days (mental note, need my B-12 shot). Last night while Geoff was out with the guys, I set up the Wii-Fit and was ready to show myself how awesome I would be at this! Ummm...yeah. I finished feeling defeated by a little video game. (side note: dunno what has changed in my, maybe my accountability to myself, but there would have been NO WAY 2 months ago I would have been this open about my weight!! Talk about embarrassing! I guess now, while it still is hard to swallow, I feel like unless I am honest to others it won't motivate me to be honest to myself and work harder to reach my goals) My little "Madeline" mii was chubby...sigh... I am Obese in the BMI section (sheesh...if they could see what I was at before) I have to loose 20-something more pounds until I am in the normal range. Yoga kicked my @$$ (sweating like crazy from just holding the darn poses) My center of balance is way off Can't do a push up if my life depended on it!!!! And my wii fitness age is 30....ummm I just turned 28! On the bright side I can hula hoop like a champ! I finally got the hang of things on the yoga and did a wee bit better! Geoff's fitness age is 31. That goes to show you for ANYONE who has ever met my husband that this wii thing is wack!! He has to loose 15 pounds to get to a BMI of 22. Umm that would put him in the low 160's. So obviously muscle mass is not being calculated into this. (which at the dr.'s it is thank the Lord!) Now, how can someone who is considered obese be at a better fitness age than someone who is in the normal range? We will never know! At least they didn't say I was 50!! That would have hurt. My goal...to get my little "Madeline" mii to look less chubby :) (and bring my BMI down too)

Sore loser....

I stayed up as late as I could to catch the women's gymnastic team try to capture the goal.

Tried.

It was bad. Geoff, half asleep (and really could care less about gymnastic...he never stared in awe at Marylu, Keri Strugg....heard the legends of Nydia, yells out. "What they can't even stay in bounds??!"

Well then the Chinese took the mat. I did not catch the previous rounds of competition, so this was the first time laying eyes on their team. WTF???!!! There was NO WAY 2 of those girls were 14. They looked 11!!! I know that most woman gymnasts look small, petite, and young. But these girls (not 20 year old) looked like little girls with WAY too much makeup on.

Hmmmmm...

Well they were better than the USA team. And there were a lot of mistakes, China near perfect.

So this morning, I just went on the Internet to see what I could find about these "16 year old" girls from China

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/SPORT/07/28/olympics.age.ap/index.html

Guess I wasn't the only one thinking that!!

I leave you with this....

Our 16 year old and theirs...

And that's why I put up with the hassle...

Many of you might not know that when we were in Europe last Christmas we had a little problem with our B of A check card being declined. ON CHRISTMAS DAY. When we were trying to check out. With nothing open. I checked my account online and tried to show them we had way more than enough to cover the stay. Let's say the front desk was less than amused with us "crazy Americans" trying frantically to figure out what the heck was going on!! Come to find out (after Geoff checked his email) that there was a fraud tap put on our card. We called and had to verify a bunch of stuff. My name, my 1st pet, my mother's maiden name, what high school I went too, and the hospital I was born at (I kid you not...these questions were intense) What a pain in the @$$! They told me next time I travel abroad to please inform them. Fine. Point taken. Well, it happened again on our anniversary. What the heck??!! We went to Orlando FL from Savannah GA...this is not exactly a jet setting trip!!! I have been to NC, Tenn, NY, California using this card and never a problem. Had to call AGAIN. Same song and dance. Then yesterday I get an email from Bank of America about fraud on my account. Hmmmm....we were less than an hour away in SC and I KNOW i did not use my card. I checked my online statement and there it was. $1,900- British Airways ticket $600 -New balance online store $400 -Another shoe store online $48.66 (4 times total) - Boot Barn in Orange CA And a bunch of other online charges. I call immediately (lets just say this was my mom's estate account...little did this person know the limit they were messing with!!! I could have been dealing with new cars being purchased) Same song and dance. And this time I tell them they are right!!! My account is now closed, and I have a bunch of paperwork to fill out to get the $ back to my account. Stinks that somehow someone got my info and cloned a card that they used in California in person (totally hope they catch this guy/girl). Thank you B of A for being so strict with your fraud precautions and saving me from these scum bags before they do more damage! Most of the money is back to my account 1 day later!!

Changes and thanks!

Having some time yesterday to reflect and reading a fellow blogger's blog about listening to your inner "me" voice. I think that now is as good time as any to start some work on myself.

• My first step was my health (3 more pounds to my month end goal weight!!!) 21 pounds total. WOHOO!
• Clean out my "friends" closet and make the true one's more of a priority.I have learned, the hard way, I keep a lot of friends that just aren't "there" anymore or were never truly friends at all. I am revamping finally pulling the plug on myspace and just using Facebook to keep in touch.
• TRY (hard one) to go along for the ride with others (even if if it's something I would not have chosen to do as an activity)Yet, balance that with learning to say "No" when my inner voice says "No". Example : Watching a football game with Geoff is something I normally won't do, but now if he asks, I will without complaining. Example of the inner voice telling me no: See previous post!
• Don't sweat the small stuff aka learn there might be other ways to do the same project!
• Don't argue with hubby about the small stuff
• Be more positive!!(find 1 thing every night before I go to bed that really made me smile)
• Tell people how much I appreciate them.

Which beings me to the "thanks" part of my blog. While I may be cleaning out the friends closet...there are some people that really have been there for me and live all over the US. We may not talk alot be I do value their friendship!! So lemme start out with my bloggy friends! Thanks for the words of support!! I REALLY appreciate it! And I love reading all the stories you share! My new friends in Savannah have been wonderful to have since moving here and knowing no one! Jen, you always know what to say to me. Your friendship has been wonderful even though we have been living cross county for a few years now (who would have thought we would have swapped coasts?) Laura, you are my best friend (OK, best girl friend, Geoff has told me he is my best friend and Jake keeps the man's best friend title). Without you I could have never made it through my mother's passing. You flying out there when she was in the hospital and staying for the funeral kept me going. I love that your family has taken me in. I love your passion for life. I love that you are always there to listen and talk. I may be an only child, but it's nice to have found a sister in my 20's :)

And it's over...

Well, I wish I could say this weekend would have gone better. I sometimes need to go with my gut and know when to say "no this is not want I want and it's not a good idea". I know my feelings best. Again, I blame myself for not making it a fun weekend. Should have canceled or stayed home. I left with Jake on Sunday with an earlier ferry. The guys stayed back. It just (for me) would have been to crazy to have Jake everywhere with us for almost 6 hours. We had no room since we had to check out at noon and the ferry would pick us up at 5:45pm. That and the warm weather with a panting dog was a bit much :) Oh, and the mosquito's had my calling card! Sooo...without getting into too much detail. Geoff and I have decided that there will be no more "surprises" for awhile. And more options. While the intentions are good, I think I am better when I have choices of what to do. This weekend was planned for what would be fun for people like Geoff. I did throw out some options, but they were all ignored (bache ball, night tennis...i thought those would be fun). Oh...and no more being stuck on islands that you can't get off by car!!! Tonight before book club, Geoff and I are going to do what I really wanted to do for my birthday. Go out to eat (so we still the element of "surprise" I am giving Geoff 3 places I like and he will choose which one we go to)AND have a birthday dessert I actually would eat (hey, this is my first dessert in 2 months...no way am I going to waste my calories on some death by chocolate cake...not once in 5 years has Geoff ever known me to order anything chocolate for dessert. I make a point NOT to order anything chocolate. And that's what I got. ). Then he will get up my new wii fit. Awesome gift by the way....I have been searching for months for that darn thing, and they always are sold out! Super impressed that he found one and drove to the sticks of Georgia to get it! I did manage to take some pictures (and I know many of you will be thinking how could I not enjoy this place...it was more to do with my feelings before. I think any other weekend would have been better to go there)

Our mode of transportation. Electric Golfcart

Beautiful views at the resort

The view from our cottage...Hilton Head in the distance

Quick update

Ellie is doing wonderful. She loved having all her stuff waiting for her when she got to Las Vegas and jumped out of the car and straight to the door like she knew where she was (she has never been there before). So accidents, no whining, no upset tummy. She loves playing outside. Loves sleeping in my aunts room on her bed. Follows everyone everywhere. I am still a wreck... cry almost anytime someone mentions her (even at my birthday lunch yesterday with friends...man was that embarrassing....I can't control the tears) Today I am being forced to celebrate my birthday and be happy. I hate being a Debbie downer.....but I really would just like to stay home. Birthday's are not the same for me since my mom died last year. She was really big on birthdays and said that it was her "special day" too. She was not suppose to have kids. Her "plumbing", as she called it, was all screwed up and dr.'s had told her since she was young, that kids would never be a possibility. Maybe in time I'll want to celebrate again....but right now...between Ellie being gone, thinking about my mom, and having a horrible upset stomach ...all I want to do it just relax and not be forced to be happy. (yup forced, since Geoff thought it would be fun to do a double birthday with our friends even after he knew that I was not wanting anything special. Seriously, last year I cried through most of my birthday....it hit me worse than mother's day did!) Time to suck it up for the team.

Sometimes doing the right thing hurts...

I wanted to post this for some sort of cathartic reason.. For the past 2 days I have made myself physically ill with sadness. Most everyone that knows me knows I LOVE my animals and spoil them to death. When Ellie was sick, I was in tears until I knew she was in the clear. Well, she has not had another episode like the one about a month ago. But she has gotten way too close for comfort. The thunderstorms and fireworks have been horrible for her. To the point where she is almost seizure like when it happens. Nothing Geoff or I do will put her at ease. We tried everything from herbal stuff, to the anxiety reducing plus ins, lavender on her bed in the crate, blasting the TV when storms came, holding her, ignoring her. It is just getting worse and worse. The HEAVY panting for what seemed like days after each episode, losing control of her bowel movements, and then being over the top grouchy to any thing around her after this happened. She's starting to turn on the other animals and on me (which she has NEVER done). I completely understand. Who wouldn't be angry if everyday they are expecting their worse nightmare to happen at any given time. I went to the vet 2 times this week (for 2nd opinions). And because of her condition they don't want to drug her long term. It would mess with her organs. I know a lot of animals that get drugs for fear of thunderstorms. But because of the unpredictable INTENSE storms here (and they are BAD), the fireworks 2 times a week or whenever the home team wins....we would literally be doping her up everyday. As easy as it would be to just dope her up and keep her a sleepy zombie, it just wouldn't be my Ellie. Her crazy, cocker self is a huge part of her personality. Plus the damage on her organs might be too much for her with her HGE. So after talking and talking for hours with Geoff and my aunt. We are trying to see if maybe a change of area is what she needs. My aunt is going to take Ellie and hope she improves. She lives in Las Vegas, has a fenced in backyard. Someone is always home, and there are her nephews that come by every school day to play. (Anyone who come from the West...knows that our thunderstorms are NOTHING compared to the ones in the South!! That's if we get any rain at all!) She will be loved to death, no fireworks except 4th of July and New Years and will be the only dog (something I think Ellie had always wanted..as much as we tried she always was jealous and wanted to be the center of attention). If this doesn't work and the episodes continue, we will see what our options are then. I am PRAYING this will work!!! Because living in fear is no way to live. So last night I dropped Ellie off in SC to fly to Vegas. The whole 2.5 hour drive up there I made myself not cry because I did not want her to be nervous (we did semi sedate her per vets instructions since she has never flown). Leaving here there broke my heart and I ran to the bathroom afterwards and cried for a good 15 mins until I could compose myself. Paid the extra money to have her escorted everywhere and right now she is somewhere over New Mexico (at 12:15 am on Friday) Only 1 more hour till she gets in ...then I can go to sleep. I have cried so much today...I am a mess. I feel like a failure. If this was my human "child", would I just give it away?? No, I would move. I know we can't move right now...and I know I am doing the best thing I can do for Ellie. I know she will be happy. She loves everyone!! But it hurts. It literally hurts. So...if I don't talk about her for a few days....please know I am thinking of her. And the tears are not for her, since I know she is going to be WELL taken care of and loved and spoiled. The tears are for me.

My lil furball turns 5 (ish)!

This past weekend was Jakes 5th birthday (or so we think). Basically it's the day we adopted him. The vets think he was either close to 1 or around one when they found him in Virginia and we drove 3 hours in a storm to the smallest town in the world (the blink and you will miss it place).

(Side note : Wow...just realized how many state our lil guy has been through! 15 states! over 2 cross country moves!)

He was my first birthday gift from Geoff and my best one too! I wish I still have the first picture of Jake from Petfinder. He looked soooo scruffy! He had been wandering for awhile and they caught him right after the flooding in Richmond. We jokingly call him our little hobo!

So for what Geoff calls his best birthday ever....we took him on the boat. Just him. No other pups. And boy did he love it (ok not the swimming in the ocean part as much....but the wind in his face and the birds flying around...he loved it!!)

(notice the awesome anchor leash under the scary looking pinch collar...aka the only way to control this lil man on a walk!)

My lil guy eating his birthday cookie!

His friend Badger helped him celebrate too. You try putting a party hat on a dog!!

Ahh...what a weekend!

Haven't posted in awhile but we had our friends Laura and Jared and their dog come stay with us from Thursday until this morning at 5am :) (they had a fun 5 hour drive back up to NC).

On Friday we took them out with some other friends in celebration of Jared transferring to Duke Law school!! We ate at a great "fancy pants" restaurant downtown called Il Pasticcio's. Awesome food! I am still on my eating right kick and of course an Italian restaurant isn't the best place for me (I love me some pasta!!!). BUT, I did manage to eat very well! No bread, and I split the steamed 3 pound lobster with James. It was the best lobster I ever had (I didn't even feel sad for not getting any butter!!!)

That is what a 3 pound lobster looks like....and that was the meat from the smaller claw!

The next day we went out of the boat and more swiming in the pool. And our highlight....Laura teaching us to make fondant cakes!

Above: Laura and Joe slaving over the art of making cakes. Below: The cake in progress (almost done)And on Sunday, Laura and I had a day at the spa. We then met the guys for a great brunch at B. Matthews (they decided to take a tour of the city on bikes...more power to them on a HOT day!!)

See that sweet pink bike and helmet?? That's mine :) Poor Jared got stuck with the girly bike while Geoff is the weirdo with the hat and bike helmet on. Ughh...really?? We finished off our Sunday with swimming in the pool for 3 hours and eating at James and Joe's ( my stuffed mushrooms were a hit!!) We will miss our friends! It's tough they live so far away. But we REALLY appreciate them driving down to visit us!! The next visit we will be driving up there...PROMISE! My next post will be dedicated to Jake who turned 5 this weekend and had his best dog birthday EVER!!!