Happy Halloween!!

Spiderman wishes all of you a wicked Halloween....



Oh ... and Max would like to thank his Daddy and his Mommy for an awesome Halloween Spiderman Birthday party today......

The wicked witch of this house declares tomorrow pajama day.....

Not the Official Halloween Post....

And so it begins....



Like the 12 days of Christmas in most families... Halloween goes on and on in our house. Costumes from previous years are brought out through out the year and played with (even though they are many sizes to small in some cases). The costumes become so beloved that the past two years my children chose to add to their Darth Vader and Storm Trooper costumes rather than pick new ones. They wanted to do the same thing this year - but alas - I need different costumes just to be able to tell the years apart in the pictures, so I forced them to pick something new.

Here was Ben this morning.... he was so excited that he refused to wear his jacket because it would ruin the effect as he walked into school.



A hilarious side note - he put his back pack on and wanted the cape on the outside, so I helped him. This caused a huge blue hump to appear on his back under the cape. Without skipping a beat, he hunched over and altered his voice and said - "Master... master... what can I do for you master?!?!" in his best hunch back imitation. People... he is 4. Okay - he is almost 5, but still!! I nearly fell over laughing... how do these kids come up with this crap?!?!?

Max didn't get to wear costumes to school today - but here are some pics from some hilarious costumes we stole...er uhm ... acquired, from one of my sister's garage sales.... they are terribly fun and HILARIOUS!!! They are those blow up kind -







Any hoo.... everyone have a safe and fun Halloween!! More pics later!!

Ahhhhh.....

This house is clean....

Yes... 11:00 at night - 2 days before the party (not 10 minutes before guests start to arrive)... this house is clean!

... Now I just have to put up cobwebs everywhere and make it look spookey and dusty....wait a minute.... didn't I just clean all that up?

So Close!

Oh so close, yet so far away! Here I am days away from my goal and I completely forgot about this dear ole blog last night.
I'll tell ya why I forgot... the wall street ticker in my brain is pulsating with information as I race to finish details for Max's Birthday Party and accept my mother of the year award!... Okay, just joking. I did (once again) disregard all time management skills and forced way to much into my October. Garage Sale, Conference, Birthday party, Halloween, SMASH, CRASH, BOOM!!
And to make things worse.... to add to everyone else who has waited until the last minute to do whatever Halloween costume shopping or whatever - the Walmart out here has chosen NOW to remodel. Every two days they have moved everything. You walk in looking for a very specific list of items and you walk out exhausted because you had to look near the tires to find the cereal. I bought items I didn't need and forgot half of my list because the store wasn't set up like my pre-arranged list, so by the time I made it to the front of the store, my child is crying with pain because he has to use the restroom, I have a cart so heavy I can't push and I STILL don't have everything I need.

And the worst part.....Ben has already begun his... "Well, when it's MY birthday party...."

Excuse me, Officer?

So here is one of those times when my terribly hot headed over opinionated very verbal mouth could possibly have gotten me into oodles of trouble - and still may.

This weekend I was in my front yard doing hedge work and the non-sick child was out front with me playing on his scooter or bike or big wheel or skate board or what ever had caught his fancy that current 15 second period. I start to hear sirens going off around the neighborhood, so I know something exciting must be happening and police are in hot persuit. That is when a marked police car comes flying down the street- sirens blaring - and races past our house.

Now let me give you a little history here. My street is a main entrance into a large neighborhood. Because of this, many people treat it like the main lanes of a cross country freeway. They come racing through and pay no regard to silly things like, oh I don't know - speed limits. Some have even blown past my son's bus even though the blaring blinking red lights and stop signs might have given a clue for them to stop. Un-marked police officers often sit in front of my house to help curb this issue. My point is - when I see a cop doing the same thing as the regular idiots in the neighborhood, I get PISSED.

So.... this is me.... and what does Mama Beck do? She calls - she calls her lovely local police department's non emergency hot line with a concern. Did you read that? Yes...I said concern - not complaint - concern. The receptionist takes my info, listen's to my brief concern and says someone will call me back. Thank you.

Ring Ring - Private number

Hello this is Rebecca

Hello Ma'm this is Seargent (so and so) with the (blah blah blah) police dept, how can I help you?

(terribly sweet cooperative tone) Thank you for calling me back - I first want to say that I have lived in this city for a very long time and I appreciate all that you and the other officers do for our city. I have a concern - today I was outside doing yard work when one of your officers went blaring through here on a neighborhood street going 60 miles an hour in persuit of an emergency. I appreciate that my street is an easy cut through and allowed him to avoid a lot of traffic and several lights, but this is still a neighborhood with children playing.

Well, mam'm, let me ask you this? Did you have a radar?

(Dropping sweet tone) Excuse me?

Well, Ma'm you say he was going 60 miles an hour - I was just curious how you would know that if you didn't have a radar?

(Pissy growl begins) No, sir... I do not have a radar -

Well, Ma'm I pulled up his GPS and he was only going 45 miles per hour.

Officer - I am not calling to debate the numerical speed of your officer. All I know was that he was going excessively fast for a neighborhood street when he had many other options, including pre-designed main streets that would have better accomodated his requirement for speed.

Well - he was in the neighborhood patrolling for safety when he received the call....

(Starting to lose all sense of decorum) And I appreciate that. I am calling because my 6 and 4 year old play in this neighborhood - a neighborhood with no sidewalks, and God forbid my children had run into the street after a ball or lost control of their bicycle - your officer would have hit and killed them. Now like I said before - I appreciate all your officers for all they have done - including patrolling this notorious street known for speeders - so when an officer disregards the same issues of safety that he upholds - I have concerns - and I would hope that I could call and have someone listen to my concern and not be confronted with such hostility. I grew up in this neighborhood, I now live here and choose to have my children grow up in this neighborhood, and I have a concern about their safety.

Yes, Ma'm ... I will talk to the officer in question and I will advise him that in the future perhaps a little more caution would be best.

(cold)Thank you.

Have a good day Ma'm.




.... here's hoping they haven't tagged my license plate in they system.....

Did I say that?

Did I say that I was going to blog every day in October? Yeah, well, BITE ME.... My body hurts like hell from trimming the damn hedges...I need a hot bath and 4 advil way more than I need to contemplate life here....

Oh God... Monday... really???... are you really coming tomorrow?

Hello Pot....

So Max was sick yesterday and today. It started when he got home from school yesterday. I didn't go straight home from work yesterday- so by the time I saw him last night before bed time, things had gone somewhat downhill. My mother, who had picked him up from school warned me.. he has a bit of a cough. Well, by last night we had a tummy ache, headache, and we asked for soup even though his favorite- PIZZA - was sitting right there for him - so I knew something was wrong- Max NEVER refuses pizza.

So he slept with me last night. All night long he moaned and coughed. No fever, no achy-ness - but you could tell, he just didn't feel well. Well, let me tell you.... I spent most of last night running every H1N1 email, news clip, or Internet article article over and over in my brain:
It comes on quick - yeah - but he is not that bad
H1N1 is mostly a cough - ok - he has a cough, but he is not in respiratory distress.
Mothers stated that within hours their child went from a slight cough to being in the ICU - Oh, God - I am soooo not getting any sleep tonight

Over an over in my head I would point then counter point. Every hour I would lovingly rub on him checking for fever, luckily it never came. All day today, Max would go through bursts of boredom, "I wanna play" quickly followed by me turning around looking for him and finding him snuggled under the blanket in the TV room.

This is the part of motherhood that s-u-c-k-s. And honestly, I have had both of these kids much sicker than this... but that was not when every newscast talks about how bad this flu is and how terrible it for kids. All right... before you go all "I told you so!" or "what a minute, isn't this the same chick who just blogged not to freak out about the piggy flu" ..."it's just a cold" she said....well, I did say at the end of that post that I reserved the right to say I was full of s&%# and I would bathe myself, my family and anyone who came near me in a Germ-X bath. I still think most people with H1N1 only suffer mildly and recover just fine - but I don't want to be in the small percentage including the young ones who don't. I know no one does. So I lay in my bed, a sleepless night, listening to a moan-y cough and checking for fever, and having angel/devil conversations in my head - that's what I do - because I am supposed to - I am a mom.

Are you watching?

WELL, YOU SHOULD BE!!

Have you re-named Wednesday, "Gleeday"?

WELL, YOU SHOULD, BECAUSE ALL THE COOL KIDS HAVE!

Do you like slurpee?

DO YOU DRINK IT OR WEAR IT?

People, people, people...... If you have no clue what I am talking about, I mourn for you, really I do. Because you are currently missing out on one of the best "mid week, hump day, get you through to the weekend" night of pure comedy and entertainment. I am talking about:





Yes.... Glee - it is so wonderful. Anything that can take the music of Neil Diamond, Sisqo, and Lerner & Lowe and make a night of singing joy has to be okay with me. Each week, I think - there is no way they can keep this up - and yet - another week - another night of happiness. The concept - great. The writing - adorable. The acting - superb.

For those of you who need catching up - Glee takes place in a current day high school - just your basic, run of the mill, nothing exceptional high school. They don't have the greatest anything - except of course the Cheerios - which is the national winning cheer leading squad who cheers for the worst football team in the district - but I digress. The Spanish teacher - who used to go to the school -decides to bring the Glee club back to the glory days of when HE went to this same high school. The only people who join are basically the rejects of the school - the ones that probably got shunned from the Chess club for not being Chess-y enough.

Anyway - this mismatched group of American Idol wanna-be's form a bond that anyone would be jealous of. And they sing - a lot - and really really well. Like so well, that I have found myself going - "Dude - I didn't know those were the lyrics of that song!!" And they always seem to have the greatest twist on every song - a unique flair that makes you fall in love with the song all over again - because by the way - THEY USE ALL THESE SONGS THAT WE ALREADY KNOW AND LOVE!!! It is like a karaoke wet dream!

People - please - start watching this show.... you have to... you just have to ...

... and that is how I "C" it......

Okay... another short one

...but a great one...

The lovely, fantabulous woman who I had the honor to work with this summer gave birth to an adorable pumpkin yesterday.....



Gorgeous and snarky....look.. she is already giving the world the finger.....

Sucky Blogtober

I realize I am sucking this Blogtober. Cheating with one or two line entries. Today will be another one. The long weekend followed by 2 days of travel and conference - all of whcich had sleepless nights - has resulted in a migraine and my desire to do nothing but lay in bed right now.

So that is what I am going to go do....

Home

24 hrs later... home.... now... bed.

Suckity, Suck, Suck, Sucker Face

In the next 24 hrs I will drive 8 hrs in order to attend a 6 hr conference.....

....ssssnnnnnoooorrrreeeee.......

good - bye

sniff

pout

That is all...

Slept 10 hrs last night

Took a 3 hr nap today

That is all....

The following is sponsored by....

This year's family Christmas is sponsored by the Garage sale of 2009.

I am so tired I am going to puke....

So.... I am going for Mexican food - chips and queso heals all.....

SWEET!!!

DUDES!! RAKED IT IN TODAY... and didn't even sell the big ticket items yet... Strollers, cribs, etc.....

SWEET!!!

I need one pregnant chick or a couple of expectant grandparents tommorrow and I will be golden.....

Can't blog now...

Pricing
Pricing
Pricing

I can do this
I will do this

Be the garage sale
Be the garage sale

Weather is supposed to be gorgeous
Estate Sale 2 streets down

Bring it on......

Get over yourself

Price high... make money
Price low.... get it all gone
Price nothing....sell nothing
Price everything... get no sleep
Comparison shop on ebay to get price range... it's not selling there either

get over your self.... done.

Uhm... not so much....

Yesterday I did not get to the gym in the afternoon as I normally do on Mondays. So we went as a family later in the evening. Now the grand plan in my mind is to eventually get to a place where I am doing weights during the time Max has his class on Monday/Wednesday and then we come back as a family later in the evening and I will do a cardio class while Mike does whatever and the kids go to their zones.... that is my grand plan. Now I am also smart enough to know I gotta work my way up there. But - since we were there late and it was right around the time the 7:00 cardio class was to begin - I thought - just do it - go ahead. Give it a try and see how hard it is and then you can gauge when you are ready for it. It is not like I can't do these things - I just spent 3 months this summer rehearsing and performing a bunch of singing and dancing numbers - but those are: you work for 5 minutes - take a break - you do it again - you stop - you do it slowly - you pick up the pace - not an hour of constant movement.
So I have some time to kill and I am walking on the treadmill psyching myself out. You can do this = just do it. They are supportive here. This is a family oriented place. They are not going to snub their noses at your fat a^$# trying to keep up - just do it... just do it... So it is 5 minutes to 7:00. I get off the tread mill and tell my husband where I am going, and I head down the hall. I notice a bunch of people waiting - all different types of people - from hot young guys to older fit women. I get a little intimidated, so I take a moment and head into the ladies room. What the hell are young guys doing in this class? I mean - okay - it is supposed to be a hip hop dance aerobic class, but dude what are you doing in this class?!??! Don't worry about it - you can do this - you have rhythm - you won't make THAT big of a fool of yourself. I take care of business, re-group my thoughts - you can do it, you can do it - and head to the group. I try unsuccessfully to blend into the wall when a nice older black woman asks me, "Are you gonna try the kick boxing class tonight?



Uh, hubba whubba, what?!?!? Kick boxing class... uhm..... noooooooo. I would love to, really, I would - but I think I am going to build a little more stamina before I jump into this this class... you see, clearly I can't read because I thought tonight was the dance aerobic class which of course is WEDNESDAY at 7:00. Have a great class!!!

... and then I bee-lined my a&%$ back to the cardio machines for 40 minutes......

PLEASE!!!

The weathermen are teasing me....
Everyday it is a different story. One day they say on Friday and Saturday it is supposed to be sunny and great. Next day - strong front - big rains! I know they have no clue and they are pretty much shaking the magic 8 ball right before the stage manager cues them to camera 3 - but please - PLEASE!! Mama worked real hard pulling all our crap out of the closets and attics for this one. Mike has taken time off of work, I have ridden on my emotional hormonal roller coaster and I am wobbling down the yellow brick road of acceptance. Even the boys reached down deep and gave up some terribly annoying, err uhm, I mean precious childhood toys, and we can actually see their floor now. Good times, people, GOOD TIMES!!
Now I just want to reap the rewards - and not the "Gee, I feel so good about myself!" rewards - the cold hard cash kind. The kind that will help Santa get his big belly down the chimney with gifts for the children. Come on - COME ON!! I know there are worse situations out there right now - like you poor people North of the Mason Dixon line that have had snow until June and now you are being walloped again in early October. I know I should be thankful for rain since we have been in a drought. But 2 days - 2 little days - and not even full days - just like until 2 or 3 in the afternoon. Then you can rain all you like....please? please? Puh, puh, puh please?!?!?!?

Letting go....

Why WHY W-H-Y must I be the that person? Ya know the one that sits on the floor of her kids room crying as she goes through the bins of baby bedding that was stored away for the next baby that is never to come? The one that mourns over waffle makers she she got as a wedding present 10 years ago and has used, oh maybe twice?!?! The one that has to get angry to purge?

... that's me this weekend .... the crying mourning angry woman - who secretly hopes this gargage sale bank rolls Christmas....

It's gonna happen

Next Friday and Saturday.... it all goes.... all of it... baby stuff too.... you heard me .... that's right, the BABY STUFF. I can't talk about it right now or else I will get emotional and all hoardy and convince my self that pigs may fly and hell may freeze over and we may have another kid and put everything back in the attic.... I will park my car in my garage... or at least have the option to....

Dear___________,

Dear Breast Cancer Awareness People,

Uhm.... I think that there is enough pink in the world. I hear your cause. I believe in your cause. I look bad in pink - and I do not want a pink blender. And unless you live in some apt or house built in the 1950's and you are cursed with the pepto bismal pink and lime green subway tiles - I don't think anyone else wants a pink blender either. Isn't printing a ribbon on it enough?

Yours Truly,
The rainbow


Dear Norway,

Really??? I mean, I like the guy too... but really? I think even President Obama gasped and did a double take when he saw the news this morning. Please let's not give right wing fanatics any more fuel to add to their imaginary fire, please?

Best Regards,
She who is dizzy from reading the news scroll at the bottom of her screen


Dear Walt,

We tried - really we did - Kyle and I got tickets - we showed up early - 30 minutes early - to an 8:00 curtain - NOT A 7:00 CURTAIN!!! I am so sorry we missed your show!

Love,
Your friend who can't read the time



Dear Scale,

BITE ME! 1 hour workouts, 6 out of 7 days - and not one damn pound.... luckily you are one of those big doctor's scales at the Y, otherwise you might have had a date with a window.

- Pissed off newbie on this journey



Dear Biggest Loser Season Cast,

You can all go home now - I am done with all of you. I am done with all of your crying. I am done with all of your quitting and triumphant returns. I am done with your well fed and rehearsed lines during your personal one on one interviews.

Signed,
Rejected wannabe

Ugh... Gorgeous....

My mother saw this in the airport and picked it up for me....

My favorite part...."From Geek to Chic - Jim Parsons"
(my friend from college)

Quest for perfection

I have mentioned this before, but to catch others up, Max is in a dual language program at school. This is his second year. 90% of his day is spoken in Spanish. Now for those of you who know us in real life - the cultural backgrounds of both my husband and I are about as far from any Latino based culture as humanly possible. Where Latinos dance around hot climates to keep themselves cool - our ancestors jumped and kicked in remote villages near the Caucus mountains to keep warm. So - other than a few words picked up at daycare or on Sesame Street - Max has no background in Spanish whatsoever. Amazingly - this has not been a problem. Max has picked up a remarkable amount of Spanish and still manages to continue on a regular academic path.
Now that we are in 1st grade - expectations are starting to get higher. For one thing - homework. He has homework everyday. It is always a task + 30 minutes of reading. The task is normally not terrible - writing sentences or math problems. The trixsie part is, the students are required to write down the instructions in their homework notebook themselves - in Spanish. Now - I have some background in Spanish - elementary and college. So with my memory and the help of a Spanish/English, English/Spanish dictionary - we usually do just fine. But then there are those days - those terrible days - when the instructions are vague and Max clearly didn't understand the more elaborate explanation in class given by the teacher. This is where complete and total meltdown happens in our house and chaos ensues.
My son - since birth - has been a perfectionist. He has an unhealthy drive to perfection. For example - He used to refuse to write or participate in the learning process because his left handed newly forming skills did not perfectly match the printed forms or handouts given to him. He would cry and erase over and over again until he had worn through the paper. No amount of love, coaxing, re-focusing, or praise of his efforts could comfort him.
Fast Forward to last night. Last night he had a simple task - write his numbers backwards starting with 64 ending with 20. Normally I sit with Max - we read and re-read the assignment - make sure he understands - and I sit with him (doing other things) while he completes his homework. Tonight- I was distracted. So because my son started without me - and because he assumed that the easiest way to do this had to be wrong - my son took the simple task of creating a mole hill and made an elaborate mountain.

64,54,44,34,24,14,04
63,53,43,33,23,13,03
62,52,42,32,22,12,02
on and on through 20

At first - I was looking at this page of numbers - that to my eye made no sense whatsoever - thinking, Damn it Max - You are so much better than this.... why would you just randomly write numbers all over the page? I didn't see the pattern at first. For your purposes, I wrote them in rows, so you could get the jest of what I am saying - But on Max's homework page - Max wrote it in a long continuous line...line after line after line: 64,54,44,34,24,14,04,63,53,43,33,23,13,03,62,52,42,32,22,12,02....etc
Once my eyes adjusted to the pattern I was amazed that his 6 year old brain had done this. I made the mistake of praising him for going above and beyond the assignment, because he instantly panicked - the realization that he had done it wrong - was overwhelming. I said it was great, but if he wanted, just turn the page over and try again. At this point he was so over wrought with anxiety over what was on the other side of the page, he couldn't focus on the simple task of writing 64 to 20. He would write 3 or 4 numbers, meltdown and cry to me - "Mommy - please - just let me erase the other side - PLEASE- it's all WRONG!! IT's NOT PERFECT!!!!" "Angel - it's great - it really is - and I want your teacher to see how smart you are... Angel - please - mommy is so proud of everything you do and how you do it!" Nothing - he couldn't hear me. I had to distract him from the task at hand just to get him to forget about the other side long enough for me to put his paper back into his folder.
I wrote a letter to his teacher that I wanted to discuss this with her next week at the parent teacher conference. I completely get that Max is going to be that kid. He is going to be that kid that doesn't phone in the science project, but rather invents something NASA might be interested in. I get that..I am prepared for that. What I am not prepared for is this emotional roller coaster. This uncertainty that leads him to do waaayyy more than is asked of him, then he stands there embarrassed because he is different and his stuff looks different from the other kids stuff.

This is one of those parenting times when I am at a loss... I don't know what to do and it seems like everything I am attempting to do is making the situation worse.

Ya gotta have heart!

And this kid has a whole lotta heart.....

A Moment of Ben

Oh my Ben... my sweet adorable unique little Ben. My baby in every sense of the word. This weekend I was cleaning up and throwing out some stuff that the boys had out grown and came across some things that were all Ben - and it crushed me that he had grown out of them. My pack rat mother side wanted to gather these few things put them away for a later time when I would pull them out, oooh, ahh and cry, much to the dismay of the future teenage version of Ben. But the logical side of me said - no - you don't really care about that ratty ole t-shirt or smelly shoes - rather - what the represent.
You see - this was when Ben became B-E-N. Like I wrote in a couple of posts ago - there are those times in kid's lives when it is not just another milestone or developmental or gender marker - but something that resonates in the soul of the child and you see true personality traits come shining forward. For Ben - it was when he got this t-shirt followed quickly with the discovery of the shoes.



You see - Ben loved playing with toy instruments - especially guitars -



and he didn't just play with them - he ROCKED with them. He would come downstairs - turn on the classic rock station on our radio and JAM with what ever song was on the radio - complete with lead guitar moves and lower lip biting intensity. When we saw this t-shirt in the store - it screamed Ben. He wore it all the time. Then a few weeks later, we were in the shoe store when HE found he vans - "LOOK MOMMY!!! THEY MATCH MY COOL ROCK 'N ROLL T-SHIRT!!!!!" And so it began - my cool rock and roll son, with his cool rock and roll t-shirt - torn jeans - and matching black vans. An image he strutted with pride was forming.

So like the wings on the guitar - it is time for these smelly things to fly away... but the first memories of my little rocker are burned in my mind forever....

I hate getting old

So last night I went to ....



and had 2 of these....



that had basically no.....



And I still woke up with one of these.....



I hate getting old.

I like that feeling....

Okay... I promise I am not going to become one of those people that gets all passionate and crazy about something and does it and talks about it 24/7 - but it is very important for me to write and document in internet "stone" some things that are validating to this journey as a reminder to me for when I fall off the wagon in the future. Not like I am self prophecising that I am going to, but just in case, ya know ....

So.. Dear Self....

I like that feeling. I like that feeling of getting into the groove. I like that feeling, 3 seconds after you were just about to give up, when the real work kicks in, you hit the zone, and suddenly you realize, yes, in fact you can do this.

I like the feeling of getting sweat drenched - feeling those trickles of sweat run down through your hair line or down your back, giving you shivers because of the opposite sensation of your tense skin and the gentle roll of the sweat. I like being that aware of every muscle, hair and nerve ending.

I like having a plan. I work better when I have a plan. I get more done when I have a plan. A plan is different from lists or a goals I make those, too. But I am never as successful as when I make a plan - remember that.

My children are better "Max's" and "Ben's" when they are active and engaged. They are continuously creating endless amounts of energy in those little bodies and if they do not release it in all forms - physically, mentally, and emotionally - they explode like a liter of soda recently thrown around in a clothes dryer. They need to be challenged by the rock wall, the new lego toys, and conversations on how I expect them to act like classic gentlemen.

I am who I am and nothing can change that - and if I do not keep your foot in the pond of the greatest passion of my life - I start to dry up - and it shows in all aspects of my life. Since I began to form the soul that is me - not just the normal childhood milestones of development and education - but the things that made Becky, B-E-C-K-Y, theatre or some aspect of it has always been a great source of food for my soul. Being a spectator, or being a part of it - either way - but being a part of that give and take of art energy is crucial for me...period.

I am proud of me - I am proud of yesterday and I am excited about the plans for the upcoming tomorrows...remember that....

With all my love,
me

Nut 'n honey

I got nothing.....





No seriously... I gotta a lot.... but I am so tired that I can't believe I managed to get my pants on the right legs this morning, much less come up with something witty or thoughtful to write here today.

This weekend I am the THEATRE QUEEN - saw a great show last night, gonna see opening night of a dear friend's return to stage tonight, then heading to see another dear friend's show Saturday night.

I am still working out.

I am still being super wife and mom.

I am ti-red.

All I can say is thank God tomorrow is Saturday and thank God my kids can get their own breakfast and chill in front of the 'toons for awhile. Yeah... cause I am THAT kind of mom - don't judge.....

It's fun to stay at the .....

So I already mentioned this on Facebook - but I did not document it here. Last week we joined the Y. It is something that we have wanted to do for quite a while and without getting into all the excuses/issues, we didn't, but now we did, and I am glad.

There were many reasons I wanted to join. First - a selfish reason - clearly Biggest Loser was not going to be calling (for back story see here and here) and I was going to have to fight some demons on my own. This summer when I was working on the show, I was very active and happy. A month or so after the show closed,I noticed my heels were starting to hurt, I was sleeping on a heating pad for my back and my headaches were coming back.... well it doesn't take a genius to realize that action = healthy ... sedentary = pain.

A second reason for joining was that I wanted something the whole family could benefit from. I had thought about Curves for a long time because it seemed easy and safe, but I always hated the fact that I would be the only one benefiting from the money spent. Now - the boys have programs and play groups and Mike has his weights that he loves. It is just a win/win situation all around.

So... we joined... great.... now what. Well, I will tell you what. They have a great starting program there that I started immediately. It is a 12 week program were the trainers slowly introduce you to the gym. You meet with them 4 times and each time they assess and adjust your personal program. I love it. I love the fact that I am not bombarded with 40 machines all at the same time. I love that I am going to be held accountable to someone for 12 weeks.

So I meet with the trainer for the first time. Clearly I was motivated to start because I made the appointment during the season premiere of Grey's Anatomy without even realizing it. I get there and we sit down for 15 minutes and have a mini-therapy session. What are my goals, why hasn't it been successful in the past, and what plans can we come up with to make this time different. I like it.... good - therapy talk - AWESOME!!! When I sit down and write in on paper, I realize that in the past, all my plans get started really good but then fizzle out because I get bored. The other major issue I run into, is that I keep trying to make this my personal journey and by doing that, my family unconsciously becomes an obstacle. This time - when I come to have "my time" - they are are having their time. The first time I dropped the kids off in their zones, I had terrible feelings of guilt - until I picked them up and they didn't want to leave. Then the next day - "Mommy - when do we get to go to the YMCA again?" It was then that I realized - they love it as much as I do.

Back to the trainer session - okay - enough talk - time to hit the pavement - "Okay, Rebecca - let's get you started with a really great cardio program... let's start with 15 minutes on the elliptical!" (PANIC PANIC PANIC..... Dude.... REALLY?!?!?!? We are gonna START on the ELLIPTICAL?!?!?!? Isn't that something that we should work up to?!?!?! What the hell?! What the HELL?!?!??!).... of course none of this came out of my mouth ... "Sure, let's give it a try!"

Okay.... the devil created this machine right?



I get on and it takes a while for me to even get my coordination to find a groove. The trainer is standing there talking about the machine and how to check my heart rate and where we should be and yadda yadda... and in my brain I am thinking - don't gasp for air - that would be rude! So around the 6 minute mark - he looks at me and says, "Okay - I can see you have your headphones and your tunes, I'll let you get plugged in for a while and I will see you at 15 minutes!" Oh Dear God...... he really is gonna make me do this for 15 minutes..... Well, actually, somewhere between 8 and 9 minutes, a switch clicked in and my legs got the groove and I actually started to enjoy myself. And I did it... 15 minutes. We did other things and then I walked my jello legs and sweat drenched body to my car, took a hot shower at home and slept hard that night.

It has been nice. In 8 days I have worked out 7 times and lost 4 lbs. Now, those aren't Biggest Loser numbers - but they are my numbers and I am proud of those numbers. I haven't even adjusted my diet, because that is another mountain and we will take one mountain at a time. It will come very soon - but today - we focus on moving.

And dude.... if you people had told me that you get your very own TV at each station - I might have started this ages ago.... A little Oprah does wonders to help you forget about the searing leg muscle pain around minute 12.