The Long Family Log

Two week sugar hiatus continues

2009-07-21T22:01:00.000-07:00

My friend, Mel, and I have been working together to push refined sugar out of our diets. We started this two weeks ago yesterday and are still going strong. I've noticed some interesting things throughout the process.

1. It was not as hard as I thought it would be. Going sugar-free in the summer is definitely the way to do it since there are so many yummo fruits available this time of the year.

2. Once I got past the first couple of days, any cravings I was having were gone. G.O.N.E. I am an ice cream lover, and though I am sure I still love, love, love it...(it's only been 2 weeks after all) I have passed it up and haven't really been craving it like I usually do.

3. In addition to the sugar cravings, the salt cravings are also gone.

4. There are so many sugar-free options for yummy stuff. SF pudding is probably my fav. I know that people will argue that sugar is better for you than the fake stuff, but seriously? Right now (for me) I needed to detox...so it's working for me!

5. You can go to restaurants (including Golden Corral) and not hog down. That's right - you can order good for you food at restaurants...who knew? (certainly not me judging by previous eating out adventures)

So - those are some of the things I've noticed right off the top. I'm not saying I'll never eat sugar again, but it certainly has made a difference in the way I see food right now.

BONKO

2009-07-14T12:15:00.000-07:00

Last night, John and I were invited to join 5 other couples in playing Bonko, we had a great time. It's a dice game that's totally chance (no skill involved) and it moves quickly. You move partners, so that's fun too - it keeps the game fresh which is especially important since you're just rolling dice over and over again.

Except for the couple that invited us, we were the only people under 40 - that's a great way to feel young again! The older couples were hilarious, and it was fun to watch how they interacted with each other. We were invited to join their little group that meets once a month to play - they rotate homes so that everyone gets a chance to host. I think we'll join them - it would be a great way to get to know some new people.

Anchorage is SO small. We got there not expecting to know anyone except for the people who invited us, and we ended up knowing another couple there. They had gone through the adoption seminar with us and had a lot of the same feelings/experiences we've had since going through it. It was great talking with them and feeling not quite so alone.

Jessica and Nick

2009-07-13T12:04:00.000-07:00

Dear Jessica and Nick,

Get back together. Now's the time. You're both free, and you know that you guys belong together. Don't let the mistake you made a coule of years ago get worse by remaining apart.

Love,
Stephanie

Hazy Daze

2009-07-09T13:53:00.000-07:00

Whew - there's a LOT of smoke in the air these days. I guess there are over 50 fires burning in Alaska right now - and we're certainly seeing our share of smoke here. It makes me not want to go outside, something about not being able to see the mountains that are so close, and smelling the smokey air makes me want to protect my lungs.

I have to admit that the 64 degree weather is much welcomed after our "hot" week. We made it up to 85 at our house and hotter in some areas of town - trust me it feels different in AK compared to 85 in other places. People don't have AC - in their homes or in their businesses. So at work, one of the offices was 87 degrees with fans on and windows open. Not that fun to work in! And with the pregnant women milling around in here too - they must be miserable!

ChaLEAN has been going well. I was pretty sore Tuesday, but not so much today or yesterday. SO far so good - it is pretty hard work and I'm tired after, but it feels good.

What else...not much! We're pretty boring though it seems like we've always got something going on!

ChaLEAN Extreme

2009-07-06T19:53:00.000-07:00

Today was my first workout with ChaLean Extreme. She's the lady that does the Turbo Jam videos (they're so much fun) - and since a friend was trying the 90 day commitment to ChaLean Extreme, I thought I would too. It took me 2 weeks to get excited enough about it to be committed to do it for the 90 days. This is less cardio and more weights...actually, mostly weights. I'm usually not into weights and prefer doing something more "fun" but I know that muscle burns fat and since there's plenty of fat to go around...here I go!

So far...so good. Of course it's only the first day...and it did hurt. A lot. But again, it's only the first day! Tomorrow is a rest day so I'll find something else to do (or maybe just take it easy) and then off to more Extreme!

It's the little things...

2009-07-04T16:02:00.000-07:00

I must be bored lately. This morning I made pancakes for breakfast. John was late getting home so by the time he got here I had already eaten. He sat down with his plate and started to butter his pancakes and one rolled off his plate like a coin and rolled onto the table and bounced off my purse and landed butter side down.

Apparently this is funny...because I couldn't stop laughing. After he picked it up the pancake left a perfect butter imprint - including the streaks his knife had made - on the glass table.

It's these little things in life that really crack me up! What a cute way to start the morning.

Social Networking...is it the end of conversation?

2009-06-25T14:17:00.000-07:00

I'm sad about what texting has done to communication in America. It used to be that when you were with people, you were with them, and they were with you. Now when you’re with people, they are distracted by their texts, checking email and Facebook while they talk to you and thinking about their latest tweet.

I am all for Facebook, and communicating through text, and keeping track of friends – but I am not sure I like what it’s doing to me, and what it’s doing to people in general. I think social networking is making it harder for people to communicate in normal ways.

Here’s the thing – people aren’t really able to have phone conversations anymore. They’re so used to talking in clipped sentences that phone conversations are becoming hard. Where I work – many people just “drop in” and expect to be able to get an appointment. While it’s true we do walk-ins we can only do them if we have time/people to take the appointments, and usually we just can’t. It seems like it would make much more sense to call ahead and see if there are available appointments rather than wasting time driving over here, walking up the stairs and discovering you can’t get in.

But young people just aren’t into calling. They text their friends, and in many cases their parents. They keep up over the summer on Facebook, Myspace and Twitter. They aren’t able to hold conversations for very long before getting distracted by their phones, they go to the movies and text during movies (why you’d waste $9.50 is beyond me), they have their ear buds in their ears listening to their ipods a majority of the time...it's just sad.

I'm also finding myself more interested in being nosey about other's lives -even people I don't even know! I also find myself thinking I'd rather not talk with someone right now, but perhaps I need some information or just want to see how they are - so I'll email them to get information or to discuss something when phoning them would save so much time and be so much more personal. I think I'm getting socially lazy!

Those are my all too interesting thoughts on social networking - in a social networking environment!

Stuck in Maui - maybe not as fun as you might think!

2009-06-23T12:56:00.000-07:00

Whew – what a weekend!

My friend, Mel, and I went to Maui for a whirlwind of girlfriend fun in the sun! We left Friday afternoon and arrived on Maui in the evening. We used the GPS (we named her Ginger) to help us find a place to eat. She took us about 30 minutes away to a place that we couldn’t find – so we ended up eating at Gumps – I’m not complaining! I love their shrimp!

Saturday morning we laid on the beach until my freckled skin needed shade and we decided to drive to Hana. What an amazing drive – it’s interesting how most of the vegetation in Hawaii is not native and yet it all grows so well. We met some fun people and had a great time driving the road – I had a great time riding – I’m not sure Mel had as much fun as I had – it was pretty white knuckled driving.

We decided not to drive the whole road because it was getting dark and the driving was pretty scary – so we turned around and headed back to Kihei. We got dinner at a great restaurant (the one that Ginger couldn’t seem to find) and headed to bed.

Since we were leaving on Sunday – we went to the beach in the morning and then spent most of the shopping at the outdoor market and bumming around Lehaina. We decided to head to the airport a bit early and catch some dinner – this is where the fun starts. We came to an abrupt halt at a long line of cars on the highway that led to the airport. Wegot on the phone and started calling around to friends in AK to see if they could find a phone number we could call to find out what was up and if we should turn around. We did find out what was up (after several failed attempts to contact the police because everyone else on the road was also trying to call) that there was a brush fire and the road was closed. This was the only road out of Lahaina – and the only way to get to the airport.

This was a problem.

So – we decided to wait it out for a while – three hours to be exact. After about an hour we decided it would be a good idea to contact the car rental place and the airlines. They were both aware of the problem and asked us to call back when it got closer to our flight if we were still stuck. We saw the most amazing sunset while we waited, and then it got dark. By then everyone had turned off their cars, and without the headlights darkness overtook us pretty fast. Talk about eerie.

Once we had rebooked our flights and let the rental car know that we were going to need the car an extra day, we headed back to Lehaina. Passing about three miles of cars in darkness was pretty weird too. Our next job was to get a room – I used Ginger again and started calling hotels – booked – booked – booked! I finally found one, and we got one of the last three rooms in the hotel! Phew. Thankfully they were not taking advantage of those of us who were stuck and we got a great room with an incredible ocean view. It was 10:00 by the time we got all checked in so we weren’t able to take advantage of the view that night – but in the morning it was breathtaking.

As soon as we awoke Monday morning – I called work and explained what was going on – I’m sure you can imagine the laughter over being “stuck in Hawaii”…not as fun as it sounds! Then I called the front desk and we found out the road was open – YAY! It had opened at 6:00 that morning so I’m glad we didn’t try to wait it out. We spent the morning hanging out on the lanai – it was raining so we saw the most intense rainbow I’d ever seen. Then off to the airport – we had to go through Seattle which was a bit annoying since we’d had tickets direct to Anchorage…but whatever – more miles.

It could have been worse – getting stuck in Hawaii is probably the best place to be stuck. Beats Ketchikan or something! J Even with all of that annoyance, it was a great trip and I’d do it again in a heartbeat. Of course I forgot my camera – I still can’t believe it. It’s embarrassing…but we did get one of those throw away cameras so as soon as I can put up photos I will.

When I finally made it into work this morning there was a fire extinguisher on my desk…and a photo of a fire on my desktop. Brother...people love me! J What an adventure!

sunny days...sweeping the clouds away

2009-06-10T10:14:00.000-07:00

I dusted off my rollerblades last night. John and I hit the trail and I thought...has it always hurt this much!? Wow...but it was a beautiful night and we saw some balugas in the water...so worth the shin pain! I guess I should have dusted them off earlier this year. A few more times out on them and I should be good to go!

It was such an incredible day at work yesterday. I just can't stop smiling over it. I saw an ultrasound with triplets...AMAZING! I can't believe God made a woman able to carrry three little humans inside of her. I wanted to cry...but then the phone rang and I had to answer it. It was so gracious of the woman to allow us to come in and see her babies on the screen moving around and everything. Then a woman who had decided to abort her baby came in and changed her mind when she saw her baby moving on the ultrasound. It was amazing...I did cry with that one. What a blessing this job has been!!

What's new with me?

2009-05-29T09:51:00.000-07:00

Good question...

What is new with me?

Not a whole lot! I was sick with a fluish bug...then missed some of the nicest days sick with a coldish bug. Friends - this is what happens when you used to be good about taking your vitamins and then forget for a month or so...oops. Then of course once I'm better it's now all rainy and overcast out. I think I'll still do my planting today though - I won't melt.

I have been out biking, and broke my butt in so as long as I go now and then I should be set for the summer.

What else...work seemed really hard this week. I was writing out the prayer requests to send to our "pray-ers" and for the first time since i started working for CPC the entire email was full only of women considering abortion. I had to remind myself that it's not a fight against flesh and blood, but agains principalities and rulers of the world. That's a hard one to remember.

More excitement as it happens!

Morning Routine

2009-05-20T13:41:00.000-07:00

This morning I was getting ready for work, and had the epiphany about my morning routine. I used 10 count them 10 products to get myself together. For those of you extremely interested - here's what I used:

1. Shampoo
2. Conditioner
3. Face Wash
4. Soap
5. toner
6. moisterizer (face)
7. lotion (body)
8. mousse
9. deoderant
10. make-up (I'm counting that as one when really it was three)

WOW! What would I do if I didn't have all of those things every morning - probably look pretty interesting!

Almost 50 things you always wanted to know about me

2009-05-18T15:42:00.000-07:00

1. What color is your toothbrush? I just got a new one, but I think it’s green
2. Name one person who made you smile today. June
3. What were you doing at 8 am this morning? Getting ready for work
4. What were you doing 45 minutes ago? working
5. What is your favorite candy bar? snickers
7. What is the last thing you said aloud? “CPC Pregnancy Center, this is Stephanie”
8. What is your favorite ice cream? Vanilla something with crunchy/chocolaty somethings
9. What was the last thing you had to drink? water
10. Do you like your wallet? I don’t have one
11. What was the last thing you ate? watermelon
12. Have you bought any new clothing items this week? Not yet ;)
13. The last sporting event you watched? I don’t even know
14. What is your favorite flavor of popcorn? cheese
15. Who is the last person you sent a text message to? Don’t text
16. Ever go camping? Yes
17. Do you take vitamins daily? I used to be religious about this, but have gotten a little side tracked
18. Do you go to church every Sunday? mostly
19. Do you have a tan? I actually do!
20. Do you prefer Chinese food over pizza? Not usually
21. Do you drink your soda with a straw? No, but last night I thought for the first time that a straw would be nice so I could just lay on the couch and drink my 7-up
22. What did your last text message say? Don’t text
23. What are you doing tomorrow? Working and then to a PC party
25. Look to your left, what do you see? June’s desk
26. What color is your watch? silver
27. What do you think of when you hear Australia? “Outback? YESSSSSSSSSSS, you’re from Australia, mate”, Dwight Shrute
29. Do you go in at a fast food place or just hit the drive thru? Usually the drive through
30. What is your favorite number? Have none...that’s dumb
31. Who's the last person you talked to on the phone? Rebecca
32. Any plans today? Going hiking
33. How many states have you lived in? 4- Michigan, Nebraska, Colorado and Alaska.
34. Biggest annoyance right now? People who stomp around
35. Last song listened to? I don’t even know
36. Can you say the alphabet backwards? no
37. Do you have a maid service clean your house? No – but I did ask John if we could get that last night? I don’t think he’s going for it – maybe we can get a wife instead.
38. Favorite pair of shoes you wear all the time? Dansko loafers...the best
39. Are you jealous of anyone? My nemesis is jealousy...working on that
40. Is anyone jealous of you? Probably not
41. Do you love anyone? Very much
42. Do any of your friends have children? Yes.
43. What do you usually do during the day? I work...
44. Do you hate anyone that you know right now? No – and that’s a weird question too
45. Do you use the word 'hello' daily? yes
46. What color is your car? blue
47. Do you like cats? no
48. Are you thinking about someone right now? no
49. Have you ever been to Six Flags? Yes, several times
50. How did you get your worst scar? I don’t even really have any scars...maybe a couple scratches, but nothing worth writing home about.

Lower (to the) 48

2009-05-13T21:29:00.000-07:00

I spent the past few days in Colorado and Nebraska visiting family. I had a great time driving across the plains with my parents and seeing cousins and other extended family.

I flew into Denver on Wednesday and my dad picked me up at the airport and we headed to Colorado Springs. we had a relaxing evening hanging out and getting ready to leave the following morning. Thursday we headed up to Kearney, NE and drove and drove and drove. I've always (maybe not always) enjoyed my parents, and this was no exception. On Friday I headed over to the graduation and my parents caught up with us later at the reception.

My cousin, Ashley, graduated with a Masters in Counseling, and I am so proud of her. She has overcome quite a bit in her life to get this far, I'm so thankful I got to be there to watch her walk across the stage.

I got to hang out with Ashley some that night - I got the fabulous tour of Kearney, let me tell you it was so exciting. There's something about small town life that definitely appeals to me. I like the slower pace and the safe feeling, but I'm not sure I'd really like to live there long term.

We drove back to CO on Saturday, but not before we went to the Arch - wow. If you are at all into history - especially the Oregon Trail and the like, it was a very fun museum. It's basically a museum that stretches over the interstate (those are roads that go from state to state for those of you in AK :)) and it covers the history of the area from the Oregon Trail to I-80 being put in.

Here's me with a steroid taking bison.

When we got back to CO, I caught up with my sister who had been at the National Day of Prayers with Focus on the Family. We had a great time catching a movie together and going to theBridge at New Life on Sunday evening. It was fun to meet her friends and see a little part of her life.

I was sad that John's work kept him from going, but it was time for me to see my family and in some good time with them. It makes me miss being able to drive somewhere for a few hours and come out in another state...but I don't think I could move out of Alaska if I tried!

My dad and I - now you can see where I get my good looks!

Outside Fun

2009-05-02T18:06:00.000-07:00

It's official. I have my first ever Alaskan sunburn...oops. I've never really worried about the sun here because of the low altitude, and I never seemed to be out enough in the real sun to worry about it. Until yesterday....oops.

But the good news is - i've been loving every second that I've spent out in our perfect 65 or so degree weather - LOVE IT!

In other news - we're getting ready to scoot out the door for a BBQ. I have no idea what we're bringing, and my car is almost out of gas...so many things to worry about! :) And, frankly, who cares when it's so nice out.

Boneman's Daughters

2009-04-27T13:14:00.000-07:00

I just finished Ted Dekker’s new book Boneman’s Daughter. It was one of his more ‘disturbing’ books – seriously- it kept me awake at night. Note to self – when your husband works nights, do your best not to read scary books…by yourself…in the dark…when you have a bush right outside your bedroom window and it’s windy outside and you live in Spenard. I was hearing every sound outside – sitting straight up in bed straining to hear if that was next door or in my house…whoa.

Back to the book – while it was kind of freaky, the message was very clear. Ted’s message is almost always about the Love our Father has for us, and this book was no different, but the way that he illustrated our Father rescuing us from the lure of sin and Satan himself was better in this book than any of his recent books. It was similar to the Black/Red/White books in the message – with the same “love that knows no boundaries, would go anywhere to rescue one of His own” sort of message.

I would recommend reading it – and Ted’s other recent book “Kiss.” To be honest, I felt like both books were some of his best work.

First 5K of the season

2009-04-25T15:41:00.001-07:00

So this morning was the first 5K of the season for me - it was fun, we had a great time. There were way too many people there and I felt pretty squished, but once we got going it was cool.

A funny thing happened, I know one of the guys running for mayor (not Dan Sullivan) and I did not vote for him, nor will I in the upcoming run off election, but I know him personally and saw him at the race so I said hello. He asked me to wear one of his little campaign signs on my bib. I wanted to say no thank you but don't have the guts to say no (like ever) so I just said "okay." and put it in my pocket. I kept seeing him ALL OVER THE PLACE and was all weirded out about him knowing I didn't have it on my bib.

I care about the weirdest things.

This doesn't happen every day...

2009-04-21T13:47:00.001-07:00

John and I went out to eat last night and were sitting across from a very chatty/social three year old. I had made eye contact with her a couple of times and she smiled at me, and I smiled at her. We had just gone on a long walk right before we went out to eat so we weren't exactly snazzy - I was wearing work out pants and a t-shirt and John was wearing "work out pants" which for him means jeans and an old t-shirt.

John left our table to get something and I "felt" that feeling you get when you know people are looking at you. I thought maybe they were jealous of my sweet looking outfit. Then the little girl points at me and says "Mommy, I like that girl's hair!"

Oh man - so many compliments bundled into one sentence:

1. She liked my hair (does a woman get a better compliment than that? I can't remember the last time someone said that to me)

2. She called me a girl. At 33 that goes a long way.

I had a smile for most of the rest of the evening...simple minds...simple pleasures! :)

A long hard road...

2009-04-16T19:53:00.000-07:00

John and I have been slowly working on filling out forms and forms and applications and applications and papers and papers for adoption. Yesterday I went to drop off our fingerprints for the background search and almost had a breakdown.

There is so much to do in this process, and I thought if I could just drop off our fingerprints, it would be one thing I could actually check off our long list. So, after work, I skipped my workout and headed over to the troopers office - not at all out of the way on my drive home. When I got in there I saw a sign that said "No credit cards or debit cards." For some reason - this really ticked me off. I only had my credit card, and we had taken the checkbook out of my purse a couple nights before for taxes. So all I had was $10 and my credit card. And seriously - aren't they going to get their money for sure if I use my credit card? What if some person comes in there and writes a lame check? These are things to consider!

I wanted to cry. All I wanted to do was drop off my fingerprints and pay to have someone dig through my past. Let me use a credit card - would you? After I talked to John and calmed down (a lot) I realized how silly it was to get so upset over something like that. I mean seriously - what was the worst that happened...I went back today and dropped them off and paid for them by check. See? No harm done, and something checked off my list.

I just wish I could have dropped it off yesterday.

Breaking up is hard to do...

2009-04-14T12:05:00.000-07:00

I have a love/hate relationship with “Break – Up" - for those of you outside, break-up is when the snow melts, the ground melts and everything green reappears. It's a mess.

I love that we’re getting closer and closer to summer, and hate that it’s such a mess. There is water everywhere and it seems the whole town is brown and dingy. This year, the roads are worse than I’ve ever seen them, I have a theory that they're so bad because we had a deeper freeze than normal. The ruts appear to be breaking all the way through the asphalt and driving to work this morning there was broken road most of the way. The potholes are big enough to swallow a car (close to the size of Montana).

Still, spring has sprung…my tulips will reappear, and we will be playing outside shortly. In the meantime, I’ll scoop poop, rake the yard, and put up with the wet, brown mess knowing summer is coming.

And try not to think about what happens once summer is gone! J

Night out with the girls

2009-04-11T23:27:00.000-07:00

I had fun tonight - I went out with a few friends to a movie (Paul Blart, Mall Cop at the Bear Tooth) and dessert (at Sugar Spoon...yum!). It's funny how even five years ago a "night out" meant that we'd at least be out past 10:00...tonight I was ready to go home at 8:30 (mostly because I hadn't seen John all day and wanted to spend a few minutes with him before he went to work tonight).

I've really come to appreciate this particular group of girls because we've all been friends for over 10 years. We met when we were all college aged, single women, wondering what God had in store for our lives. Now we've seen it all - seen each other get married, have children, move around the country, reconnect with family members - it's been amazing. One of the coolest things is that these women share the same faith as me, and no matter what has changed in our lives, that remains constant.

Anyway...lots of laughing, lots of calories and a good time. YAY for girls night out (even if I am home by 8:30)!

VOTE!

2009-04-08T11:26:00.001-07:00

I admit - I really do get my underwear in a bunch over this one. My Marlene has heard this rant so many times she's probably already decided not to read this blog! :) I really struggle with people not voting in municipal elections.

It matters who our mayor is. It matters more than people might think. I won't go into a huge lecture on this, but who our mayor is is so important to our every day lives, it impacts us in more ways than you may think. In my opinion, who is in office over our city is in some ways more important than who our governor is.

And the bonds...don't get me started on those. Property taxes alone and the threat of higher taxes with all the millions in bonds on this last ballot should push (at the very least) homeowners to the polls. But yesterday's election boasted only a 25% turnout - which is average for our city. It's so sad.

Also - while I'm on the subject...I know that Sen. Stevens would have been voted in again had that bogus trial not been going on. I'm just sayin...things would have looked a lot different for the US senate had he hadn't been in that mess.

It's been so nice!

2009-04-07T18:49:00.000-07:00

I'm fighting a cold...or allergies or something, not sure which - but I can't complain because seriously - it's been SO NICE outside!

We're melting like crazy - lakes everywhere, hiding ginormous potholes - and I love it. I know that my tulips are going to poke up in a couple of weeks, the rhubarb is probably already getting excited under the snow, and the soil in the shed will be ready for flowers in another month! YAY!

In the meantime, I wear my water boots - slog through the puddles and put up with the dripping because I know the spring is on its way!

I so like Saturdays

2009-04-04T19:56:00.000-07:00

I just love Saturdays. I don't usually have anything I have to do, and it's nice just taking my time doing things and not feeling rushed. Today I worked on laundry and hung out at the house in the morning, and then went shopping and hung out with a friend in the afternoon. By the time I got home this evening, John was awake so we got to spend the evening together.

I tried a new recipe for quiche for dinner and it turned out really yummy...mmmmmssss.

We're off to John's parent's house to pick up the girls and take them for a walk - we have sunshine and clear skies today...not a day to waste inside!

Birthday Fun

2009-04-01T11:34:00.000-07:00

So yesterday was my birthday (the crowd goes wild) and I had a great time. People at work were so sweet, someone brought in muffins and someone brought in peach cobbler and there were lots of Happy Birthdays on my FB page. I even got a birthday card from my friends at the Girl Scouts...awwwww.....

John was awesome this year, he brought home potted Easter Lillies and the sweetest birthday card I have ever seen. He also gave me an i-touch and we had a fun time last night playing with some of the applications. We went out to dinner with John's mom and with some friends - Mongolian BBQ. It's been a while since we've had a chance to hang out with these friends, so it was a extra special treat.

I tried to keep it a WW friendly birthday and that went pretty well - yay John for helping me with that.

Not much else goes on - day to day stuff. We're trying to catch up with friends that have been ignored the last few months under the mounds of our stress. Thank God for friends that understand how that gets put on hold now and then.

Friday WI

2009-03-27T19:01:00.000-07:00

So this morning I really didn't want to go to WW. I made myself go because this is how I start down the slippery slope. I do really great for a couple of weeks and then lose my motivation and start to get bored, easily slipping into old habits. That happened this week. The pattern is thus: quit going because I'm afraid of a gain, think I'm going to do better this next week, know I didn't do better this next week, don't go back.

So I decided to bite the bullet knowing that we went out for pizza, not once, not twice but THREE times this week, had birthday cake, enjoyed WAY too many Girl Scout Cookies, etc. So...um...I went anyway and I'm glad I did. It wasn't so bad - up .8, really could have been much worse.

So here I am - back on the wagon and starting a new week!