I Hope it Keeps Up...

Welcome to my Pity Party. Care for a Drink?

So here I am, sitting home alone, my baby girl upstairs asleep (for the moment), while my husband has been put up in a hotel 15 minutes away so that he can easily get to his office in the morning to work on some ridiculous time-sensitive project that I really don't understand or care about. All I care about is that a blizzard is about to hit us in Connecticut, and right now they're predicting 18-24 inches for our area which means I will not be leaving the house for the next few days, and who knows when my husband will be able to make it back home again. He came home from work for about 30 minutes this evening to pack up some clothes, grab some dinner and kiss his family, and he's gone again. I know this project will only last a few weeks and then hopefully things will get better, but right now I miss him and I feel lonely, so what's a girl to do except blog, blog blog. Because if I don't blog, I will snack, and thus sabotage my hopes at winning Biggest Blogging Loser (BBL). And if this next few weeks will teach me anything, it's that I need to win $1,500 so that I can rent a house on a beach somewhere this summer where neither of us will have to even THINK about work. Also? Being an adult SUCKS sometimes.

Anyway, while i'm thinking about it, my first week of BBL went really well. I limited my portion sizes and ate much, much healthier, and ended up losing almost 4 pounds in the first week.  The eating better was fairly easy, but I had intentions to exercise every night and that didn't even come close to happening. On Monday, I did 25 minutes on the elliptical machine. On Tuesday, I did 10 minutes and was then interrupted by a crying baby who would not be comforted by her daddy so I had to intervene and thus cancel my exercising plans for that evening. And....that's it. The rest of the week was too hectic and my husband didn't get home until pretty late every night and I couldn't summon the energy after 8:00 PM to work out. I just couldn't. I sort of feel like a failure in that regard, but it wasn't happening. I'm honestly getting a little worried at my aspirations to run a 5K. How am I going to do that if I can't find time to train adequately? I am hoping that once the spring comes I won't have such a problem, but right now i'm admittedly discouraged. And as i'm sitting here writing this, I am thinking that I could be taking advantage of the fact that the baby is asleep and do some Wii Fit or put in a workout DVD, but then if the baby wakes up it will all get shot to hell anyway. These are all excuses, I know. I think part of my problem is that i'm feeling overwhelmed and lonely and generally kind of bummed out (or maybe it's Seasonal Affective Disorder). So instead I sit here sipping some red wine (empty calories) and blathering away in my journal on my blog. Cheers.

On a positive note, i'm planning a post in the near future that will be much more interesting and upbeat. A Martha Stewart--inspired Laundry Closet Re-Do, complete with before and after photos! That is, if I am ever able to dig myself out from two feet of snow to get to Target to purchase necessary Laundry Closet makeover items. Woe is me.

What's the Big Freakin' Deal?

Okay, SO glad that the ridiculous New Year's Eve hoopla is officially over. Seriously, I hate that "holiday". I will never understand why people make such a big deal about the stupid ball dropping and kissing someone at midnight and having all these grand expectations for the night being a reflection of the rest of the year. I'm such a cranky grinch about it, and I don't know why. This year I ate a filet mignon, drank a glass of red wine, and went to bed at 10:30. And I have no regrets about it at all, so NYAH.

Before you start scolding me (or agreeing with me, which, if you do, virtual high five), just know that I LOVE the clean slate that IS the new year. The endless possibilities and opportunities for list making just give me the happy shivers. Although I'm not really a resolution type of girl, I have set out a few goals for myself and my life this year.  They are as follows, in no particular order:

1) Finally get the tile back splash in the kitchen installed

2) Spend a family-only week on Cape Cod

3) Hang out with more mommies

4) Run a 5K

Let me expand on number 4. I know a lot of people's goals for the new year involve exercising more and eating healthier and all that, but this is a big one for me. I am NOT a runner. In fact, I loathe running, and believe the very activity was invented by the devil himself. However, for some reason I have it in my head that I need to do this in order to prove something to myself. I'm either a glutton for punishment or something about having a daughter and being a good role model for her may have influenced this decision. Anyway, in order to accomplish this goal, i've joined the 2011 Biggest Blogging Loser competition, started by my blogging friend Jennie and Editor of Food Lush (the other, much more awesome blog for which I write). Basically a whole bunch of people put 20 bucks in the communal pot, commit to a 12-week program of diet and exercise of their choosing, and weigh in every week (you gotta take a photo of your scale at each weigh in, so you can't really cheat). Then, at the end of the competition, the top "loser" gets 70% of the pot, and the second loser gets 30%. And make no joke about this: right now the pot is almost up to $1,500, so there's definitely incentive. I'm just hoping that along with my drive to run a 5K in the spring/summer, and to lose some weight in the process, it will be enough to light a fire under my butt to stay on track and keep up my regimen during that time. I've decided that if I do win the money, it's going to go right towards our intended family vacay on the Cape. More incentive! YEEHAW.  I will try to post regularly about my progress and obstacles and other interesting tidbits about my 5K quest. Seriously, if I do this it will be a huge accomplishment for me, so I appreciate the support any way I can get it.

Also, I went shopping today and filled my cart with lots of healthy stuff and DUDE? Why does it cost so much to eat really healthy? It truly baffles me. Stupid cheap high fructose corn syrup. I don't have any particular diet plan in mind, but i've made a conscious effort to plan healthy meals, and many of them will involve broccoli, which my husband WILL EAT AND LIKE if he knows what's good for him. I'm fairly sure that he will lose more weight than I will without even trying, and another goal I have is to try and not be bitter about this fact.

I have also downloaded the Couch to 5K app for my iPhone and am super psyched to use it. However, I also have a TV and a DVD player in the room where my elliptical machine is, so watching the first season of The Wire may win out. I realize at some point I may need to venture out and actually RUN, like on pavement, but it's January and it just snowed and I live in New England so cut me some slack. I also need to buy myself some new sneaks before I start putting my feet to the ground, so there's that. Hmm, I feel like maybe this is a bigger deal than i'm realizing.  But I'M DETERMINED! AND WRITING IN ALL CAPS JUST PROVES THAT, RIGHT?

Stay tuned, friends.