They ALL know me so well...

I'm still in celebration mode...there's still one more birthday celebration to go...another group of friends are taking me to Grove City, PA to go outlet shopping. It's about 5 hours away and I'm so excited to have another weekend away without hubby and kids. It's such a nice break and when I come back I feel so refreshed...actually...not really...more likely I will be exhausted from all the shopping and eating.

I was actually surprised that I received gifts from friends and family this year since we have done away with gift giving and just opt to eat our money away instead. I guess since it's such a momentous occasion they wanted to mark it with items that I might use as I stubble over that hill.

There seems to be a theme among the gifts.

Food is the first one. In addition to buying me dinners and lunches at my favourite restaurants I have also gotten a Martha Stewart Cupcakes book. I guess sweet tooth and weakness for pretty cupcakes is quite obvious.


AND I guess because of my love for eating they are also hinting that I am in need for excercise! I received a gift certificate to Lululemon, a very pricey chain catering to yoga wear. I'm a practical person so instead of clothing that might wear out or outgrow (hopefully not) I bought myself a pretty gym bag(I hope)...or more likely a travel bag. Love the pink!

I also got a Fitness Ball kit. Hopefully this will motivate me to excercise more.

I'm not doing so well with my "Ten Pound Challenge". Happy that I haven't gained weight but sad that I haven't lost any. Now that pool season has started I hope that all the swimming and physical work in the garden will help shed some much needed pounds.

Goodbye thirty-something...hello f@$%!!

Haha I couldn't resist posting part of my scrapbook page that I made for my friend's 40th birthday in March. We had so much fun teasing him about his wrinkles and white hair...he doesn't really have any...but now it's finally my turn and ain't not so funny. Today's my last day in the thirties...hitting that dreaded milestone year tomorrow. I'm not too sure I'm ready...but ready or not here I come...

It been a great build up to my birthday so far. My friends and I have been celebrating all month. In fact most of us will be turning f$&% this year too and we are making it a year long celebration. At the end of the month another bunch of us are taking three days to go shopping in Grove City, PA. Can't wait!! Hehehe...eating, shopping and more eating. Isn't that the best?

I still really can't believe I'm going to be forty tomorrow. I'm not expecting much tomorrow since my hubby is away on business. I'm sure it will be just like any other day. The kids even have an 8am dentist appointment so I don't even get to sleep in!

When I was young I remember thinking how forty was so old and now I'm thinking I still feel so young. I'm hoping that this will be a new start. Hmmm....perhaps I should make some " New Decade Resolutions" like:

• de-clutter and simply my life


• start eating healthier


• make an effort to excercise


• smile/laugh more


• ensure I get some "me" time once a week


• stop being such a Screamin' Mama

Hopefully these won't be like New Year's Resolutions which are broken the very next day. I'm going into the next half of my life with tons of experience and hopefully I won't make the same kind of mistakes as I did before. Live life and experience joy! That's my new motto!

Stretched out tummy...

Well...it's been three days since my weekend of eating and shopping and more eating...

Can three days of eating really stretch my tummy out enough to make it so big to make me feel hungry? Can that explain why my mouth feels empty and my tummy grumbling? After having all that good food it's so hard to go back into diet mode. My body is craving cheesecake! My tongue longs for chocolate! My eyes search for something sweet or salty...and my brain is crying because it can't control my hands as it shoves everything bad into my mouth. What is going on!!

I've lost all self control. The weekend is coming and buffet lunches and birthday dinners will be tempting me with all things fatty and delicious. I need some duct tape for my mouth and a blindfold for my eyes. How am I going to win my "Ten Pound Challenge"!! BooOooo hooOoooo!!

Too old to party?

I'm back from a weekend full of shopping and eating. I am totally exhausted!! I could barely function today but it was a birthday celebration that I will never forget. It was the best birthday EVER!!

We left early Saturday morning for Buffalo and didn't get to our hotel until 11pm!! We were so tired but wired from a great dinner and amazing deals. We hit the outlet mall first and spent only four hours there and then rushed to meet the group for dinner at The Cheesecake Factory...after dinner we were keen to hit Target since it closes at 10pm. My girlfriend was looking for some Turkey Spam so we decided to try our luck at Tops which never closes.

We staggered back to the hotel by 11pm but still stayed up until almost 1am chatting and giggling like school girls. We got up early to hit Target and the mall again and then back to the outlet mall. We wanted to be home early but as we approached the border we were shocked at the line up. It would have been at least a two hour wait. We decided to ramp off and have dinner before heading home. Ponderosa was the restaurant of choice...brought back fond memories of my childhood since there are no longer any in Toronto. After dinner we headed to Target to walk off that bloated feeling everyone had and to kill another hour before daring to go back to the border. We didn't get home until 11pm.

It was my first time away from the hubby and kids ever! It was definitely strange not having to worry about anyone else...thinking about what the kids might like to eat...nice to do whatever we wanted without a schedule.

So much fun that we are thinking about making this an annual trip. It's funny when we were in our twenties a great time meant eating out and then dancing 'til the wee hours of the night. Now we get our pleasure from eating and getting the best deals. Whatever makes you happy, right? Well below is what made me so happy for under $200!!!

Five pairs of running shoes for the whole family, pair of jeans, welcome mat, towel rack, two towels, variety of Goldfish crackers, three cans of tennis balls, and a huge bag of soaps and air fresheners from Bath and Body Works.

"Ten Pound Challenge" Challenge

So I'm doing this "Ten Pound Challenge" with my sister this month and I'm really keen to lose the weight...really I am...but I realized that I'm setting myself up for failure!! I didn't realize when making this pact that June is my birthday month...I'm turning 40 this month (I have at least three birthday celebrations planned already)...and there's Father's Day (which we celebrate at least twice for my dad and my father-in-law)...and my nephew's one month party...it's a WHOLE lot of eating!

My birthday celebration is actually starting tomorrow. I'm so excited! My birthday is June 18th but ten of my closest friends are taking me to Buffalo for the weekend so that we can eat at The Cheesecake Factory. It's my favourite. It's funny because we never get a chance to eat the cheesecake because we are so full after our entrees. However, I will definitely have to force myself to have a slice of that creamy, rich cheesecake with the heavenly whipped cream this time since it's for my birthday.

It's also the first time in twelve years that I've vacationed without my husband or kids. I'm almost giddy just thinking about it. Most of my friends are those I've known since University so it'll be like old times...hanging out...shopping...and eating...I'm so glad I'm surrounded by such wonderful friends! Love them so much and I can't wait to spend some quality time with them.

Back to my challenge, I know I am setting myself up for disappointment at the end of the month when I step on that horrid scale but I promise to eat healthier and watch my calories when I'm not out celebrating. Keeping my fingers crossed that I will lose some weight rather than gain.

Snap Crackle Pop!

Snap, crackle, pop!! Those are the sounds of my body as I try to whip myself into shape during my Ten Pound Challenge. Gosh golly gee I'm not THAT old am I? Almost 40? My muscles are feeling like old elastic bands...just about ready to snap and my joints are making these weird clicking noises as I try to shape and tone my arms. How embarrassing! I don't know what's worse...that or my bra strap snapping every time I do an arm lift.

My goodness I don't know how my body became so darn old and tired. My problem was that I thought my housewife shuffle plus all the other physical labour around the house like carrying laundry up three flights of stairs, mowing the lawn or wiping down the floors was enough to keep me in shape. Why not!! Doesn't pushing that darn lawn mower make me sweat like a hog? Or pulling the weeds cause my thighs burn? Why does it have to be so hard...

Day 2 Ten Pound Challenge

I've been trying to be strong today and resist any kind of junk food. It was easy because the boys were in school all day and my daughter had a playdate. I have to admit that I had a big breakfast with my girlfriend but I figured I have all day to burn it off. Greek salad for lunch and half a cup of yogurt with organic cereal. I was surprised that it was quite filling and pretty satisfying.

Dinner is always a challenge especially if I am low carbing. The kids and hubby NEED some kind of carb such as rice or pasta to go with their protein. That's the problem with the Chinese culture...you need to eat rice! When I was pregnant I had gestational diabetes which needed to be controlled with diet. I was only allowed one cup of rice per meal...that's like telling an Italian girl to only have one cup of spaghetti with her pasta sauce. It's soooOOooo hard!


I also started using my magic bullet today. I ground some flaxseed and then threw in some frozen blueberries, mango, pineapple, and vanilla soy milk. It's yummy and a healthy filling snack.

Ten Pound Challenge!!!

I'm baaaAAaack!! I've been so busy since my grandmother's passing and not really in the mood to blog but I thought I would just jump right back into things.

It's been a rough couple of weeks. As I've mentioned before I'm a BIG crybaby so it's been an emotional rollercoaster this last week or so. My problem is that when I am sad like that I tend to seek out sweet things to take away the saltiness of the tears. What does that mean? Well...I stepped on the scale on the weekend and was horrified that I gained another five pounds. My uncle passed away last month and I had gained five pounds so now I am ten pounds heavier. Summer is right around the corner and pool season is less than a month away. Yikes!!!

So my sister and I have decided to have our very own "Ten Pound Challenge". We are going to try to lose five to ten pounds by the end of June. I know it's probably not too healthy to lose so much weight in such a short amount of time but it's worth a try. I know I won't be able to function doing those fad diets so I'm just going to try to eat healthier and cut out all the junk food. Low carbing for dinner usually works for me and since the weather is warming up I can walk the kids to school in the mornings.

I'm going to try to incorporate some excercises into my day and I'm going to call it the "Housewife Workout".

• Every time I run up the stairs I will do ten push up off the stairs before going up.
• While brushing my teeth or standing at the sink I will do standing crunches...I got that from watching a commercial for Hip Hop Abs.
• Anytime I am standing idly by I can do some butt crunches.
• While watching tv I will do leg lifts or arm excercises.

I'm going to try to drink more water and eat more fibre. Fibre is a great way to get all that food moving through your body.

Keeping my fingers crossed that I will have the self control to do this. The incentive is that if we can lose this extra weight then we will treat ourselves out for a day without the kids. Just the thought of that is making me feel like going for a jog or doing some extra tummy crunches!

Tribute to my beloved Grandmother

Wonderful Mother,

Grandmother,

Great Grandmother.

She was so loved.

Happy,

Strong,

Independant.

She will be remembered.

Loved,

Cared,

Respected.

She was surrounded.

Grateful,

Thankful,

Fortunate.

She is missed.

Full of life we will remember her and thankful that she had such a peaceful passing without pain or suffering.

Are You serious?!!

Someone up there has one cruel sense of humour! This year has been a year of colds, flus and everything in between AND they all seem to happen whenever my husband has a business trip. This week was supposed to be quiet...nothing too much planned and then my husband sprang the news that he had to go to Ottawa today and tomorrow. He told us on Monday and then lo and behold...Andrew, son #1, gets the flu on Tuesday. What the heck!!

It must be payback for admitting in one of my previous posts that I actually enjoy the time when he's away. I don't have to stress about dinner 'cause grilled cheese sandwiches would be a quick and easy dinner for me and the kids...and I can usually get the kids in their rooms and asleep by 9:30 (when he's home for some reason or other they don't seem to get upstairs until 10pm!).

Now Andrew is a nightmare when he's sick...he likes to over dramatize everything...he cries because he feels dizzy...imagines that he's got some deadly disease...moans and groans with every little ache. I guess he's learning early...isn't that how every man reacts as soon as he gets the sniffles? My husband is the same way! I love how he can take a day off from work and then really work it at home...staying in bed all day...sleeping...moaning "Can you make me some soup?", "Can you get me some Advil?" Can you wipe my a**? Sorry I couldn't help but add that! But isn't it true? Big babies!!

When we get sick can we lie in bed all day? My hubby just says "Awww....hope you feel better" as he rushes out the door. I have to throw a bottle of Advil in my bag as I run around getting the kids ready for school, drive them to school and carry on with my day. I remember once when I had a wicked case of Strep throat...I lay on the couch for three days and threw Cheerios at the kids all day until hubby got home. Wouldn't it be nice if we were able to lie in bed... recuperate...rest...and recharge? I can't imagine!