Today’s Agenda: keeping up the momentum
Jan 26, 2012 Today's Agenda
So there are six days left in the DietBet blogger contest and I’m happy to say that I’ve met my goal of losing 4% of my body weight in four weeks! But, I can’t really stop trying to lose because I want a buffer for the weigh-in. I am exactly at the goal, and what happens if I wake up bloated on the final weigh-in day? Or the clothes I wear that day are heavier than the ones I wore during the first weigh-in? Or my hair grew so much in a month that it adds a few ounces to my weight?!? Clearly I need to lose a couple more pounds to feel safe.
Luckily I’m still going strong on my weird diet plan after six week. I had a hiccup on Tuesday, though. I was going out to lunch with the nice people from visit Raleigh (huge thanks to Molly Gold for inviting me!) at a southern food restaurant on Ninth Avenue, Tipsy Parson. One look at the menu online and I knew I would be eating most of my 1,400 calories at lunch! Sure enough, we started with Fried Green Tomatoes (yum) and Fried Pickles, and then I moved on to a bowl of scrumptious Mac & Cheese.
And this was all OK, because I proved at CES (where I lost two pounds) that I could eat pretty much what I wanted for a meal as long as I didn’t eat a ton the rest of the day. So, each day in Las Vegas I would do Slim Fast during the day, and then eat at the cocktail parties and dinners. And it worked great!
But know what doesn’t work great? Trying to flip that schedule around. I can deprive myself during the day and then let loose in the evening. What I can’t do, it turns out, is have a huge lunch and then a salad for dinner. It simply doesn’t work with my brain. I ordered pizza for dinner, had two huge slices, and then some leftover mashed potatoes, and then some Thin Mints!
So, to salvage things, I made Tuesday my cheat day – I get one a week. Which means it will be a long time until my next one! But I’ll survive. And I’ve learned a lesson: the will power I have during the day, when I’m busy and looking forward to dinner, completely leaves me in the evening, when I’m with other people and watching TV and being lazy.
The other thing on my agenda today is playing with my new BeachWaver rotating curling iron. It was delivered yesterday and even though I wasn’t going anywhere, I just had to try it out! I mean, it’s not cheap, and I took a big chance buying it without actually seeing if it would work with my hair first. But I trust its creator Sarah Potempa, who has cut my hair a couple of times thanks to a contest I won a while back. I figured she knew my hair, and if she said it would work, it would. So I bought it, and it totally works! I only did a quarter of my hair last night, but it was gorgeous, and so quick. So today I’m going to do all of my hair, to see how long it takes (curling my entire head used to take about 40 minutes). I’ll be sure to post pictures and a video!
In the meantime, here’s a video of Sarah curling her own hair with the BeachWaver.
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. This post has a Compensation Level of 14 (DietBet.com). Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.
Tags: DietBet, Food, Raleigh, Weight Loss
Today’s Agenda: thriving on the familiar
Jan 17, 2012 Today's Agenda
This has been the longest break for my normal routine I’ve ever had since having kids. First there was Christmas, then a week at my mom’s. Then we came back to Brooklyn and the kids went back to school, but my husband was still home on vacation, which was weird and messed up my routine entirely (totally my fault, not his – I have trouble working when somebody else is sleeping in and playing video games). Then I went to CES in Las Vegas. Then a long weekend with all of us home.
Today was the day things were supposed to get back to normal, but my husband is home sick. So I’ve still got one more day. But he’s upstairs working and being sick, so I’m just going to force myself to get back on track.
#1 on my list is taking care of a couple projects left over from last year. I wrote a Blogger Pledge back in September and have been doing really well following it…except for the very first one. I put that one first because I knew it would be the hardest one for me. And I have improved, I just haven’t totally conquered it. But a couple hours of writing and I’ll be caught up.
Other than that, bread is rising, dishes are (mostly) done, and I might even do some laundry today. I like to spoil my family with clean clothes every once in a while (but not so often that they get used to it).
Have a great Tuesday!
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. This post has a Compensation Level of 0. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.
Tags: Blogging
Today’s Agenda: return of the video diary
Jan 11, 2012 Today's Agenda
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. This post has a Compensation Level of 1 (Striiv). Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.
Tags: CES, DietBet.com, Slim-Fast, Striiv, Weight Loss
Today’s Agenda: hoarders edition
Jan 6, 2012 Today's Agenda
So until very recently our parlour floor looked like this:
And this:
And this:
Believe it or not there’s a piano in that last picture. Buried under crap.
So why was an entire floor of our house like that? Because it has no electricity, part of the ceiling is caving in, and it’s missing part of a wall. It was unusable, so since we bought this house five years ago we’ve used it as storage. Sure, it started out very organized. And was reorganized a couple of times over the years. But it soon returns to a disastrous state, as we move things around and rummage through boxes looking for something we haven’t needed in several years.
But my husband, to his credit, has spent an enormous amount of time over the past few months, going through all of that stuff. And he’s hauling a bunch of it off to the Salvation Army tomorrow.
To his complete discredit, he wants to get rid of a bunch of stuff I want. I don’t really care at this point if he doesn’t get why I want to keep it. I’ve given up on him understanding my emotional attachment to physical things, especially clothes I don’t fit into yet while I’m working hard to lose weight. I’ve basically given up giving him crap for a bunch of stuff that he does that I don’t like. I don’t get why he has to sit on the couch for hours on end, hogging the good TV, playing mind-numbingly boring video games. But I don’t say anything (much).
So, being me, I will probably dig my heels in on keeping way more of the stuff than he wants me to keep. I’ve already gone through the stuff in the past and weeded out most of what I don’t want. But regardless, he’s hauling stuff away in less than 24 hours. And since I only have about 2.5 hours of daylight left (remember, no electricity on that floor!) I need to get to work.
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. This post has a Compensation Level of 0. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.
Tags: brownstone, renovation, The Ass
Today’s Agenda: not being on vacation edition
Jan 5, 2012 Today's Agenda
So I just got the kids off to school and had a little breakfast. This is when I would normally tidy the kitchen, then set myself up on my couch and hunker down to get some work done (essential supplies: Frasier and massive amounts of Diet Dr Pepper). But instead I’m fighting a huge urge to climb back into bed. Why? Because my husband is still in it!
This is new territory for me, having him home during the week. He took two weeks off for Christmas. He usually takes a day or two off if I’m going to be out of town with the kids, but this is the first time he’s taken time off when I’m home. And it’s weird.
When I get back from being out of town with the kids I’m usually excited to get back to work and routine. I hit the ground running. But the past two days? Not much got done. It’s just too tempting seeing him lazing around, sleeping in and playing video games!
To be fair, he’s also done a ton of work on our parlour floor, which – five years after moving in – we’re trying to actually start using this year. But it’s usually a couple hours of work surrounded by six hours of laziness.
Let me be clear: I do not begrudge him one second of this laziness. I know it’s what he does when I’m not around, and he deserves it. He works long hours and I’m glad that he can take time off. The problem is with me: I’m having a hard time working when he isn’t!
It’s why I have trouble working when the kids are around. They’re old enough that they don’t really bother me any more; it’s not like I’m trying to work with toddlers hanging on my sleeve. But unless they’re sitting at the table doing homework – working – I think I just get jealous of what others are doing around me.
So today’s goal? To not climb back into bed with him after I post this. Baby steps.
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. This post has a Compensation Level of 0. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.
Tags: working from home
Today’s Agenda: the dumbest sister edition
Jan 4, 2012 Today's Agenda
I wish I didn’t have any appointments today. I’m still cold from locking the door behind the kids this morning. But I have to go to the DietBet.com office today for my initial weigh-in, and then to an electrolysis/laser hair removal appointment. It’s a shame – my hairy legs used to keep me warm.
It’s 21 degrees right now. By Saturday it will be 30 degrees warmer. I would happily just stay inside until Saturday if I could. It doesn’t matter that I grew up in frigid Buffalo, I’m a total baby about the cold. Plus, my skin is really sensitive and if my face gets cold it stays red and blotchy for days. Very attractive.
My sister Una lives in San Francisco, where it’s going to be 66 today. My sister Cara lives in St. Thomas, where it will be 82. Clearly I am the dumbest sister.
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. This post has a Compensation Level of 17 (DietBet.com). Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.
Tags: weather, Weight Loss
Today’s Agenda: Brrrrr edition
Jan 3, 2012 Today's Agenda
So I just spent six days in Buffalo visiting my mom and complaining about the cold, and it’s followed me back to Brooklyn. I had to move the car twice this morning and oh my, it’s freezing. The Ass is home with me for the rest of the week so we were going to go out and have lunch today. I assumed we would be driving, he assumed we would be walking. That’s because he hasn’t stepped outside yet. No way am I walking anywhere today.
The kids went back to school this morning after the Christmas break, and something very nice happened. Within a few minutes of each other, two different friends of mine, Michael and Dara, contacted me – one on twitter, one on facebook – to let me know that they had seen my kids walking to school this morning, smiling broadly, holding hands while crossing the street and acting the way they’re supposed to. It made me so happy for several reasons. One, I love my neighborhood – we look out for each other. Two, I’m glad my kids are happy when they’re out and about. Makes me feel a little better about sending them out into the cold after a nice lazy vacation week. And three, I love how easy social media makes it for my friends to keep me up to date.
I’m actually trying to convince my husband to get on Facebook. He has so far avoided all social media with the exception of LinkedIn, but I would love for him to be on Facebook in a very small, private way. He never knows what’s going on with my family and friends unless I tell him. I have to send him pictures and videos separately after sharing them on Facebook. Plus, I think some of my friends are starting to forget that he exists. If you’re not on Facebook, to some people, you might as well not be breathing! And as much as Facebook aggravates me, it has made it very easy to stay connected with the people I actually care about.
So, maybe that’s on the agenda for today: get my husband connected.
And, convince him to get lunch delivered. :-)
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. This post has a Compensation Level of 0. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.
Today’s agenda: stage manager edition
Dec 16, 2011 Today's Agenda
So today will be a little crazy. The kids’ school’s enrichment showcase is always a little, shall we say, disorganized. And I want to stress that that’s not a criticism of the people who organize it. I’ve volunteered at the school enough to know that there’s no good way to get this kind of thing done. It’s not like there’s some staff member in charge of all of the performances at the school. It’s all very ad-hoc. And the guy who knows the most about the equipment and where everything is has a 3-day-old baby, so he’s less accessible than usual right now.
After the last showcase I very nicely told anyone who would listen that I had a lot of stage management experience, and I’d be happy to help run the next one. And dammit, they remembered.
So, most of today will be about learning how to make the auditorium’s sound system work, finding, borrowing or buying equipment, and figuring out what else needs to be done to get the show over with as quickly as possible so that we can all get the hell out of there and play video games. Or maybe that’s just my husband.
But in the middle of the day I’ll be helping to host a twitter party for a great site called EXPO, where you earn points (that you can use to get real stuff) for uploading video reviews, taking surveys, sharing your opinions, and participating on the site in other ways. You can even win prizes or qualify to try out products for free, sometimes before they hit store shelves!
The twitter party runs today (Friday) from 1-2pm EST and is about one of my favorite topics, shopping. From the EXPO blog:
We know that a lot of you are avid twitter users and chat about exciting tips and activities daily. We also know there are plenty of you out there that want to join these conversations but may not be in the twittersphere. We want to hear from all of you no matter how advanced you are in the social networking world! Just sign up here for our twitter party and either create a twitter name to join the discussion or just read along.
Rules:
1. Sign up for our Twitter Party here
2. Mention @expotv at least once during the twitter party using the hashtag #expoholiday
3. Must be at least 18 years of age and live in the USPlease see official rules here.
We hope that you’ll join us and feel free to invite your friends! Don’t forget to sign up so you can be entered to win one of our gift cards!
So I hope to see you there. To make following the discussion easy, you can use tweetchat.
Plus, I’ll be posting a very fun interview I did with Joely Fisher. Can’t wait!
OK, I’m off to relive my days of winding cables and calling cues.
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. This post has a Compensation Level of 15 (EXPO). Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.
Tags: EXPO, Joely Fisher, school performances, Shopping
