Merry Christmas to my friends/family who celebrate it!

I just wanted to wish everyone who celebrates Christmas a wonderful holiday. I hope that you are all enjoying time with your friends and family.

We are having a great day - getting some projects done around the house, waiting for Marlon's parents to get here from Texas, and then we're going to see Marley and Me, which we've been waiting anxiously for!

More later!

Happy Hanukkah

PICTURES ARE FIRST, THEN A NEWSY POST ABOUT WHAT WE'VE BEEN UP TO!

All of the out of town family and friends have been begging me to post a more recent photo since I've lost 80 pounds (as of last week). I've been hesitant to do so because I don't think it shows that much yet and it's just really started to show now, but i've gone ahead and posted a couple of photos here. there were taken about a month ago, on Thanksgiving weekend.

Now for some really recent photos, from TONIGHT! (how's that for quick downloading)

Michela concentrating on playing dreidle.

Marlon and I

Midnight enjoying the toy he got as tonight's gift

Harrison and I watching the dreidle spin. (ignore the messy kitchen in the background!)

Jacob takes his turn

Now Marlon gives it a whirl

One of our groups of friends over for Hanukkah lunch

Happy Hanukkah to all of our friends and family who celebrate it. I hope you're enjoying it so far. We have been busier than usual the last couple of weeks with end of school activities and holiday preparations. The kids (and I!) are all thrilled about their 3 week break, which started last friday. They'll do reading and some extra credit and Harrison has a science fair project to finish up, but not the usual regular daily homework and no rushing in the morning to be out the door by 8 a.m. Yay! And most of their activities stop for a couple of weeks around the holidays, so that's nice and gives us a break.

We've been enjoying things even though we're busy. We've had several parties at our house already and have a couple more to come. Marlon's department party was here was two weeks ago, then we had a party for the kids' jewish (and a few nonjewish) friends last week. they decorated cookies, ate latkes and other snacks, played dreidle and we lit the menorah and sang songs. it was fun. Friday night we went to an annual Christmas party at our neighbor's which was nice. Saturday night we had our chavurah from our synaogue for a hanukkah party at our house (about 8 families) and sunday lunch we had a different group of friends from the temple (harrison's close friends and their families.)

Last night, for the first night of Hanukkah, we went to a community wide event at the Irvine Spectrum. They lit a giant menorah made out of cotton candy and there were jelly donuts to eat and other activities. then the kids rode the ferris wheel and we came home. We lit the menorah ,had our "treat" from the "8 nights of hanukkah" boxes that I fill and read hanukkah books. oh, yeah, and opened presents. Jacob and Michela got new inline skates and Harrison got a football and some football "stuff." Midnight got a bone.

Today was the first real day of break and I worked ALL day on our holiday cards (the photo card with letter that we always send) and am ready to mail them. All 3 kids were at different friends houses for parts of the day and home relaxing the rest of the day. Tonight for hanukkah we lit the candles, read a story, and then played dreidle as a family, which was fun. For a gift, the kids all three got new tennis shoes, which they all needed and Midnight got a toy. not all gifts are big, of course, and i try to be practical. one night they might get new underwear and socks! :) I try to keep the emphasis away from the presents and more on being with friends and our family, but they're normal kids and they like presents.

Tomorrow we're taking our gifts to the family we adopted and that's always a highlight of our holiday season. I bought a TON of stuff for them. I love knowing that we make someone else's holiday so special. For the first time, we're actually going to do more than just drop off the gifts - we're treating the whole family to bowling and pizza. their kids are basically the same ages as ours, so i thought it would be nice.

Harrison's soccer team - the one that I mentioned was undefeated a few weeks ago - is STILL undefeated. they haven't lost a single game, which is almost unheard of. They won the Mayor's Cup and went on to the area tournament. They had 2 games on saturday and won both of them, so now they go on to the larger area tournament (more areas) which is in Feb. in San Diego. If they win that, they go on to the state Championships in Northern Calif. Its been very exciting.

That's all for now. More soon.

I'm back from my blog-cation!

I'm so sorry, faithful blog readers, that I haven't updated in so long. I've received many phone calls and emails asking if anything was wrong because it's been so long. One sweet friend even left me a voicemail saying "if you ended up stopping the diet because of thanksgiving and are now afraid to tell people, it's okay we all still love you." very sweet.

No, I haven't stopped the diet and things are still going great with that. I think it's been 2 or 3 weeks since I updated on my weight loss progress, so i lost track of what I blogged about it, but as of yesterday, which was exactly 4 months to the day, I've lost a grand total of 75.8! I'm still very pleased with my progress. Didn't cheat even one bite over Thanksgiving weekend or at any of the many holiday parties we've been hosting and attending the past two weeks. I'm still going strong with my swimming and going to the gym three times a week and it's all good.

Others have just been asking "what's wrong? Hope you're all okay." I'm pleased to report that nothing is wrong and we're all totally fine. I'm sorry to have worried so many of you and sorry to have disappointed others with no blog posts.

I've actually just been really, really busy - busier than usual, and just haven't found time to update. And, actually, I was hoping to post pictures from Thanksgiving weekend and was waiting to post until I got them downloaded, but since that has happened yet, I figured I'd just do an update. I should've just done it long ago and not waited for the pics.

Thanksgiving weekend was awesome. We had a great time with my family in Scottsdale. The not eating during Thanksgiving dinner and other weekend meals was fine. I just ate plenty of shakes, entrees and bars and felt satisfied. more or less. :) I was able to get all my exercise in, including lots of extra walks with Midnight (who also had a great time on the trip) although I often had to swim at 10 p.m. in the dark! But the pool was right outside the door of our hotel room, so it was fine. We saw a couple of movies (Twilight is awesome), had our annual family poker tournament every day (Jacob won!), read a lot, and had a nice 4 days of unstructured down time, which we all desperately needed.

Since we got back, it's been hectic. All three kids have had lots of school projects and tests to study for. Harrison and Michela are busy with basketball practices and games and Harrison's soccer team is still going strong, now in area playoffs. They won the Mayor's Cup! And they're STILL undefeated, although they did tie last night. It's been something like over 20 games for them! Jacob is busy with dance and it's a relief to have that West Side Story production over with, although it was fun for him.

Our house is all decorated for Hanukkah - I'll post pics of that when I can. Have to take some first. :) We've already hosted our first big party - Marlon's department's annual holiday potluck. I think there were something like 60-70 people here and it was a big success. No parties this weekend, but a ton coming up next week and weekend.

I'm behind, as usual, on getting out our holiday cards (I'm aiming for monday!) and gift buying (which I'm trying to keep minimal this year.) I hope to get a lot accomplished next week with buying for the family we adopt, teacher gifts, getting the kids' stuff organized, etc. They get out of school on friday for three weeks, so I need to get stuff done before that.

I've been really, really, really busy with work stuff the last two weeks. Not just my regular work with patti, which I'm really trying to get a lot of done before the kids' break, but I also had a research project for another client and I had a big meeting with the Asst Dean and Dean of the new UCI law school to prepare for --I'm trying to get involved on the ground floor of the law school seeking a position planning and coordinting student programs and events and other events like open houses for prospective students, community wide lectures, conferences, symposia, etc . It's not a job that was posted or anything, but one that I approached them about. I spent a ton of time researching what the other area law schools have in the way of this and making notes about program ideas, etc. and then put together a very impressive packet of my newly revised C.V. (which took awhile to do - it hadn't been updated in many years), recommendation letters, tons of writing samples from my Kids Konnection (because that makes me more marketable because I can write promotional literature about the events, publicity, etc.) They were impressed and the meeting went very well. They aren't "there" yet in terms of need and funding (the school doesn't open til next year) but I planted the seed and we agreed that we'll have further discussions soon. It would be my dream job, combining my legal experience with what I love to do (planning and programming events) and it would be such a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor. Who knows, in several years maybe i could work my way up to be Dean of Student Affairs! We discussed possible part time or full time positions or working for them on an independent project basis. We'll see what develops, but we had a great rapport. If it's part time or project work, i can do my other work with Patti too - it'll just make for full-time working, which at some point down the line I'll be ready for. I'm also working on my writing portfolio so that I can seek some additional freelance writing jobs. And I'm trying to figure out how to get those books written.

That's pretty much all that's been going on. So, as you can see, nothing wrong, just really busy with work, normal activities and holiday season stuff.

I'm looking forward to spending some quality time with the kids and Marlon over the holiday break and the plan is to get most of the Bar Mitzvah planning and preparations done this break so that we're ahead of the game. (right now we're a tad behind, but not horribly so.) Harrison's not behind- he's learned his whole Torah portion and is working on his Haftorah.

I will try to post pictures soon. Not tomorrow b/c I have to spend the whole day in traffic school starting at 7 a.m. because I got a ticket for making an illegal turn WHILE talking on my cell phone (against the law now in CA!) "My bad" as they say! I guess the saying is true - "you do the crime, you do the time!"

How are YOU???????? What's up with YOU???????? Feel free to COMMENT about all that. Hint, hint!

USC vs. UCLA Youth Basketball Game

Allow me to introduce a guest blogger for today, who has something to share....

Hi, this is Harrison, and this is my blog update...

Trojans win! Trojans win! In my basketball teams game opener, it was a battle between the USC Trojans (I'm on that team) and the UCLA Bruins. In practice games the week before, the USC Trojans lost to the Florida Gators 38-23. At the half, that game was 31-1 in the Gators favor, but the Trojans almost came back with some extrordinary defense. For UCLA's practice game, they lost to the Gray Ghosts 30-23. Back to the USC-UCLA game, it was a tight game going into the half, Bruins leading 18-16. During that half, one of our players got hurt, so I had to go in for him for 30 seconds. During that time, I faked out one defender and swooped under another and made a fabulous hook shot. Our other player, Seamus, was eventually fine and ended up with 3 points and 9 rebounds. Once the second half started, our zone defense kicked in and we were stopping their team on every one of their possessions. Also, our passing and give-and-go plays were working great. With about 2 minutes and 30 seconds to play, the game was tied at 26-26. No team could score for about 2 minutes. Finally, with 31 seconds left our team got the ball. Our point guard, Momo, misses a 15 foot jump shot, we get the rebound. That goes on for about 4 tries, then eventually, our small forward Ken hustles to get a nice board with 7 seconds left. He passes it to me, and I take the shot from just in front of the three-point line with 4 seconds left. It's going, going, going... it banks in. With 3 seconds left, the score, USC 28- UCLA 26. I thought the game was over so I untucked my jersey, screaming with joy and power, and all the players come on the court and mobbed me, but the ref says "Game's not over yet". When UCLA inbounded it from their own base line, I was counting down the seconds.. 3,2,1, their player takes a shot from the halfway line, beeeeeeeeep. The buzzer goes off, the basket misses just barely hitting the bottom of the backboard. Now, for real, all the players come off the bench and mob me. It felt great. At the end, I led my team in points(8) and rebounds(10). I also had a steal and an assist. Our team is now in first place with a record of 1 win 0 losses. GO TROJANS!!!!!!!!!!

MAJOR MILESTONE!

I'm pretty psyched...I hit a major milestone in my weight loss yesterday...I'm finally under 300 pounds! It was a great feeling of accomplishment to see the scale go below that and know that it will NEVER EVER go above that again. I now weigh less than I did when I got pregnant with jacob and Michela! I lost 3.4 yesterday for a grand total of 66. In 14 weeks. Still averaging about 4.7 pounds a week, which is quite good. I've been back to the gym three times since last thursday's class and talk with my educator and the doctor, so i'm back in that regular routine. I'm going to try to go mondays, wednesdays and fridays. It eats up half my day (I work out for about 1 1/2 hrs, but with the driving there, parking, walking in, waiting for machines, chit chatting w/people I know, it's about 2 or 2 1/2 hrs!). But it's an important priority.

Not much else is new here. I'm trying desperately to make head way on my growing list of things to do. Marlon is in New York. We wanted to take the whole family and go, but the timing wasn't right for school. We'll go next time. He'll be gone thru Sunday (left yesterday.)

I did my hotel negotiations for the Bar Mitzvah weekend a couple of days ago and was pleased to see that I haven't lost my touch! I talked one of them down from $179/night to $99/night! In fact, I talked ALL of them down to $99/night. Now we just need to make a choice, which is difficult.

I'll keep this post short and I'll do another one later today or tomorrow with Kids Konnection articles -- I want to give you a chance to read this one first!

I'm hoping to get a lot done with pictures on the computer, too while Marlon is gone!!

Weight Loss News and other updates

Last night's results at the scale were frustrating again - a mere 1.4 pounds. I know, I know, I shouldn't be discouraged as long as it's going in the right direction, but I just prefer those weeks of 5, 6 or 7 pounds so much more!! Total is 62.6 in just a little over 3 months (I started Aug. 11). I'm also getting a bit tired of not eating and am getting bored with the food. It's getting old. I'm still going strong, though, and don't plan to deviate from my plan, even during the holiday season (others have blatantly said they're going to.)

I had long discussions with my health educator, the doctor and the program director last night, though, and learned some important things. (1) Although my swimming is excellent exercise, I need to get back to the gym. They all stressed the importance of "mixing it up" a little bit and that I need to be doing weight bearing exercise in addition to the swimming. Apparently the weight machines help a lot to speed up your metabolism and they said it's just important to have variety in work out routines. They suggested the gym about 3 days a week and swimming the other days. (2) I expressed concern that their "formula" of predicted weight loss wasn't working for me because the last few weeks it's been much less than my "projected" loss of 5-6 pounds week. If that's correct, then why am I retaining so much water? I even questioned the possibility of do I maybe have some sort of tumor growing inside me that is weighing something and making the weight loss less. (they said that's unlikely!) Actually, what they told me explains a lot, but is disheartening. They said that they've taught us to use a metabolic factor of 11 (for women) in doing our calculations because that is an "average," but that my metabolism is probably much slower due to my genetic make up, my weight, my body fat percentage, etc. They said I should be using 8 or 9 as my number. Major bummer, as that makes a huge difference. Using that factor, my predicted weight loss is 3-4 lbs a week (based o my calorie intake and exercise expended), which makes more sense. At least I have my explanation. There is a test they can do to test the resting metabolic factor, but they don't recommend it right now because it will change as I continue to lose weight. They said I should definitely have it as I near maintencance because that will help determine my calorie budget. (3) I've been taking in the minimum number of shakes and then enjoying entrees and bars for the first time this past week. They said the entrees and bars are fine as supplements, but that I should increase my number of shakes a bit to get more protein because that will boost my metabolism. and, finally (4) despite MY frustrations and disappointment at the scale, they said I'm actually doing really, really well and not only better than most, but better than expected. They expect women to lose 2-4 pounds a week on average after the first couple of weeks and I'm still averaging 4.4 (just not 5.) They said to keep it up, that I'm doing fantasic and I have NOT hit a plateau, even though I was feeling like it. So I'll keep plugging along.

I went to the gym this morning for 1 1/2 hrs today (one hr of cardio, 1/2 hr of weights) so if I do that 3 days a week, hopefully it'll jumpstart me back to more rapid weight loss!!! It felt good to be back and I was pleasantly surprised to find myself in better shape than when I was there last.

Other news:

1) Much of our Texas family has found awesome airfare deals, so prices are coming down. If you're part of our out of town family, now would be a good time to get your tickets!

2) I must be feeling a bit stressed about the Bar Mitzvah planning as I had a horrible nightmare a couple of nights ago. As I was dreaming, I kept telling myself "relax, this has to be a dream," but it felt so real that I wasn't sure. I dreamed that it was the night before the Bar Mitzvah and we were going to temple for the service and NOTHING more had been planned for sat. The menus weren't set, the video montage wasn't done, the decorations weren't done, we had no balloons or anything. Basically everything on my "to do" list wasn't done. Must be stressed out about that list! In my dream I was frantically calling some of you (specifically Sydelle, Teresa and Jane) and telling you what you need to do that very night to get things ready! We also couldn't find Harrison, we were late for the service, Jacob and Michela didn't wear the clothes I laid out for them and Michela's hair was a mess. I guess deep inside I'm a tad stressed!

3) Jacob is LOVING this West Side Story experience. Although his part is small, it's featured at the beginning and the end and he loves being part of the cast with the big kids. They are all soooooo nice to him and make him feel like a part of everything. they're constantly high-fiving him, they hang out in the dressing room when they aren't on stage, they talk about movies, music, dance, theater, etc. and they have even helped him with his homework. the girls all think he's adorable and the boys think he's cool. He even has his own "assistant" to help him with his costumes, remind him when to go on stage, etc. He is so loving this, which is helpful to combat our displeasure at the number of nights he has been there until 10 p.m.! The show starts tonight and there are 8 performances over two weeks.

4) Harrison has been doing his Mitzvah project for a couple of weeks and is really, really enjoying it and finding it rewarding. He goes for an hour or so to this Family Resource Center in an apt building in Santa Ana and works with some kids on their reading.

5) Michela was happy to be nominated for the girls soccer all star team. The evaluation was yesterday. We'll see if she makes it. Even if she doesn't it's a big deal to be nominated. In fact, it would be better if she *doesn't* make it because it will make her too busy with dance, basketball and hebrew.

6) marlon leaves wed for New York. We thought about taking everyone and going too, but it's not a good time because we have so much going on and it's so expensive right now.

That's about it. Be sure to comment!!!!!

Kids Konnection for November 2008

Hot off the presses, the November issue of Orange County Jewish Life magazine has just come out. I'll start by posting my Kids Konnection column for November. I'll try to post one every day or every other day until I get all the back ones posted. I think I stopped posting them in about June. Then, hopefully I'll be able to figure out how to include them as a sidebar link to this blog and you can click on them when you want to! Or, feel free to go to the magazine's website -- www.ocjewishlife.com -- and you can read the current issue on line or do a search for me and find ALL of my columns!

Kids Konnection: Being Thankful During Uncertain Times by Barbara Boarnet

In these times of economic uncertainty and financial crisis, no one is left untouched.We are affected even if our jobs are secure, because our friends, neighbors or family might not be so lucky. We are affected even if we don’t have much to lose in the stock market, because what the markets do affects so many other things. We are affected even if our bank accounts are at a comfortable level, because everything is more expensive right now. We are affected even if we are not losing our home, because everyone’s home is losing value. Everyone is worried about the state of the economy, and no one is untouched.As we approach Thanksgiving this month, it is hard to feel grateful and appreciative with stress and worry upon us.

But, in my view, there are no times better than tough times to focus on the good in our lives. Even if times are tough, there are many things for which we can be thankful.We can be thankful for our homes. We can and should enjoy the beauty, the comfort, and the security of our homes, not to mention all of our fun gadgets like television, computer, music, and video games.If money is tight and a vacation isn’t in the plans this year, stay home and appreciate the wonderful things that we never have time for like board games, outdoor play, sitting by the fire, and smelling the roses in our garden. Two, we can be thankful for the good health of our families and ourselves. If you are suffering from health issues that are in your power to change, now is an excellent time to concentrate on doing that. Three, we can be thankful for each other: our spouses and children, our parents and grandparents, our extended families, our friends, and our communities. This Thanksgiving is a good time for all of us to remind ourselves to appreciate our families and friends and to show them how grateful we are for their presence in our lives.

We also can incorporate Judaism into our Thanksgiving celebrations to make the holiday even more meaningful and spiritual.Most Jewish families celebrate Thanksgiving the same way that non-Jewish families do. Some historians have proposed that the first Thanksgiving meal was modeled after the pilgrimage festival of Sukkot, which, coincidentally, comes near the time as the secular “fall harvest” holidays. Giving thanks has always been an important part of Judaism, from reciting blessings after meals to thanking God for the creation of the world and our many blessings in it. American Jews are thankful for their acceptance into the safe haven of American society.Thanksgiving presents a perfect opportunity to perform mitzvot, or, good deeds. Giving tzedakah or helping those less fortunate than ourselves is a classic Jewish way to show our appreciation for our own good blessings. Thanksgiving is a perfect time to donate food to an organization that fights hunger, adopt a family, volunteer at a community charity, or invite someone to your home.A second way to add a Jewish element to our Thanksgiving celebration is to treat the Thanksgiving dinner as a festive meal similar to Passover. Saying the Hebrew blessings over the wine and bread and adding some words of Torah, as well as reciting the Birkat HaMazon (prayer of grace after meals), and combining Hebrew songs of thanks after dinner with our traditional American folk songs, all link the holiday to our Jewish heritage and customs. A nice project for the children would be to create a “Thanksgiving Seder Plate,” which could feature objects that signify things for which they are personally thankful.

Yes, times are tough and yes, I, too, am worried about how this financial crisis will affect our lives. But as Thanksgiving approaches, every day I am thankful for the good that we have in our lives, and will welcome the opportunity to incorporate some of these ideas into our Thanksgiving holiday this year to help show my appreciation to God for our many blessings.

Update

I never did my update about our weekend and now it's time for an update about last night's weight loss. Sorry for the delay. It just gets busy around here. I know you understand.


First, the weight loss. I lost 4 pounds this week for a grand total of just under 62. Everyone is saying how awesome it is -- the health educator, the doctor, the rest of the class, Marlon. So how come I was disappointed with only 4 pounds?! I guess because I was hoping for a bigger week since last week was so low. I have to keep reminding myself to think of that half-full glass! It really is a LOT in not-quite-3 months. (It will be three months next week.) It might also be because I'm getting a little bit sick of it. 3 months is a long time to go without any real food. I've been enjoying "hot vanilla" shakes w/cinamon and nutmeg for breakfast instead of my standard chocolate. But it's getting old. I'm still planning on doing the very low calorie diet until mid Feb, then I'm going to transition into maintenance. So I'm about half way there. Hopefully I will have lost most of my weight that I want to lose by then, but I can still keep losing slowly on maintenance as well, just on regular foods.



Last weekend was a very fun weekend. I didn't do an update about Halloween or post any pictures because, to be honest, we really minimized Halloween and I didn't even take any pictures. We had services at temple and Harrison and Marlon and I went. It was his good friend Matthew's Bar Mitzvah. He, Matthew and Matthew's brother were the only three kids there, though. But he enjoyed it. Jacob and Michela went trick or treating with some friends. I think jacob was a cowboy and Michela was a gangster girl, but i'm not even sure. I told them to find something to wear in their closets! They had fun trick or treating and going to a scary haunted house. (Thanks, Anice, for taking them!)



Saturday was a really, really busy day. It was also a day of being around food -- two cocktail hours with delicious looking passed appetizers and other goodies, two sit down meals, two scrumptious looking desserts, and being gone almost the whole day so I needed to take all my shakes, entrees, etc. I got up early to swim to make sure I got that hour in. Then we had the Bar Mitzvah, which was great. I did the program for them (little booklet to hand out explaining the service and all that) and it came out great and they were very appreciative and now I have a head start on Harrison's. It was a wonderful service and Matthew did awesome. I took Harrison and some of his friends from the service to the party and Marlon took Jacob and Michela in his car. Listening to their conversation about Obama and prop 8 (the gay marriage ban) and the passion and knowledge with which they spoke about both was so wonderful. They were all for Obama and all against Prop 8 (against banning gay marriage) and listening to their passion and way they were able to talk about very adult issues made me know that our country will be fine if these types of kids are our future!

The Bar Mitvah party was really fun. I noticed a benefit to my weight loss and being in better shape - I could dance the day away, unlike before when I couldn't keep up with the hora and fast dancing. Marlon couldn't keep up with ME! Matthew is very into politics so the theme was based on the election and everything was red, white and blue and there were cut outs of all the political figures, which was fun. All the kids had the big Obama cut out dancing with them and they had a great time with that. (that's where those pictures came from). Matthew's mom, Robin, has a button making business and she makes the political buttons and sells them at the national conventions, so she had special buttons made for Matthew and also had a ton of official buttons from the election and things that she had gathered at the democratic and republican conventions like floor passes, Lincoln pennies, etc. Very cool give-a-ways and different from the usual glow necklaces and sunglasses. We all had great patriotic hats and flags and there were political trivia games and all that. Out of the hundred or so people there, I think at least 95 of us were for Obama, so it was great fun. The very few McCain supporters kept quiet!

After the Bar Mitzvah, we dropped the kids off at home and Marlon and I had a wedding on the beach in Laguna Beach for one of the students he advises. It was a beautiful ceremony, then there were cocktails and appeitzers and then a sit down dinner inside this house on the beach. It was very nice and fun to get to know some of the student's aunts and uncles. there was dancing there too, of course.

The kids stayed home alone with Harrison in charge. and you're not going to believe what we did. We had brought 3 of his friends home from the party and they were getting picked up here. They all started begging for them to stay and hang out and watch a movie. Our initial thought was "no way," we're not going to be here. But they're good kids and we trust them and, after talking to them about the parameters of what they could and couldn't do and could and couldn't watch, and talking to the other parents, we said ok. So, basically, harrison was here with his brother and sister and TWO GIRLS! (the 3rd friend, the other boy, had to leave b/c he had too much homework.) They ate warmed dinner in the micro and hung out and watched a movie. As we drove off, Marlon and I almost couldn't believe we were allowing him to stay home with two girls (one of whom I think has a crush on him and he on her) but we trust them and they're all good kids and we figured Jacob and Michela would keep an eye on things. Michela, as sweet as she is, just relishes the opportunity to tattle on her brothers if they do something wrong, so we knew she'd both keep everything in line and tell us if it wasn't! I also checked in by phone every 30 min or so. It all went fine. We did tell Harrison that he should not expect to be left alone in the house with any girls or girlfriends when he's older!!

Sunday was also a great family day. We participated in this Mitzvah Launch at our synagogue. We met at the temple for a big spirit pep rally, then broke off into groups based on the activity we signed up for. There were lots of things to choose from -- writing letters to politicians lobbying for Darfur and other causes, beach clean up, visiting an animal shelter, and a bunch of other opportunities. We chose to go with about 5 other people to a transitional housing shelter in Laguna Beach to prepare and serve lunch for about 30 people. jacob and Michela make decorations for the tables and we made pasta and chocolate chip cookies to take. Others made lasagna, garlic bread and salad. We set it all up and served it. It was very rewarding. The residents were very appreciative. Although they have funding and a staff person does cooking on a regular basis, they really appreciate when others bring food in because then they can use the money for other needs. We decided that we'll bring all of the leftovers from harrison's bar mitzvah and the other parties to this shelter and will keep it in mind for other parties we have.

There was a lunch at the temple afterwards, then we came home and relaxed from a busy weekend!

I'll try to post some of the kids konnection articles and pictures this weekend!

Isn't it GREAT?!

I know not all of you agree with our politics and supported Obama, but I just had to share how great we all feel in the Boarnet household. Yesterday was exciting and we are all thrilled that we can believe that people can make a difference and that good things are on the horizon for our country. All 5 of us became involved in this election and I was so proud of our kids for being so into it and becoming so aware of the issues and what it all means. Listening to them having political discussions with their friends was amazing. Not just our kids, but so many of the kids with whom they are friends, are passionate about wanting to change the world and do good things. They are all adopting a "yes we can" attitude and it is wonderful to see and hear their enthusiam and passion in their voices. If these kids who we know are our future, then our future is in good hands.

We were going to let the kids stay up as late as necessary for them to wach what we hoped would be Obama's victory speech. Even we were surprised at how early they called the election (one minute after our CA polls closed) and how early in the evening the concession and victory speeches took place. Our kids didn't even have to stay up past their bedtime! It was so exciting to watch history in the making and we all had tears in our eyes and joy in our hearts. The kids found it amazing that in 30 years, their kids will be reading about this election and this era in *their* social studies books and our kids will be able to say that they watched that speech being given and watched our white nation elect its first black president who stands for change and for the real people. Very very amazing.

I'll do another update later on today or tomorrow about our weekend, which was great, and everything else. In the meantime, I just wanted to share how elated we are and wanted to share these pictures!

This is the kids yesterday morning, right before we left the house to vote and then go to school. Everyone got into the spirit and wore red, white and blue.

Marlon with his "buddies."

Harrison and his close friends from temple hanging with our new pres!

Jacob and Michela spending time with our new pres as well!

Gotta look at the glass as half full!

First, let me give a big Happy Bday shout out to my mother in law, Esther. It's a "big bday" for her today. She's a great woman and a great mother in law (I know some people are stuck with bad ones) and we admire her, love her and appreciate her very much!!! Ok, mom, after that wonderful tribute, now don't be mad that your card/gift is sitting under my planner pad and never got mailed so you'll get it a tad late.... :)

Second, thank you to those faithful readers who check every day for new posts. I know you're out there! I apologize for my lack of posts this week. Time just got away from me. I also apologize that I still haven't posted the photos, videos and Kids Konnection articles -- I'll get to them, I promise, I just don't know when.

Second, let's get the weight loss update out of the way. Nothing extraordinary this week - just 1.2 pounds, but it's better than nothing. It's frustrating when it's slow little after I worked so hard all week on my exercise and haven't had a single bite of food in 11 weeks, but then I remind myself that I'm still averaging about 5 pounds a week, which they say is incredible and that losing faster than that would be bad for my health anyway. So I won't get discouraged and will keep plugging along.

And both of those two things leads me to the real message of today's blog -- I just have to look at the glass as being half full, not half empty, or I'm going to go crazy. With respect to life in general, I am so overwhelmingly busy. I am trying to juggle way too many balls, wearing way too many hats. I'm trying to work significant hours (and have some exciting work projects "in progress" that I hope to share with everyone soon, all related to my work with Patti and our litigation prevention package of services), keep up with our daily household (which in and of itself is a full time job), exercise daily, work on my writing (and have I many ideas for books, articles and other freelance writing work that I just need time to pursue), household projects, and Bar Mitzvah planning. There are so many things on my list of things "to do" that I often feel overwhelmed and discouraged at the end of the day when I realize all of the things that I didn't get to. But then I think about all of the things that I DID get to, all of the things I got done, all of the progress I did make, and that feels good. So, to preserve my sanity, I just have to think of that glass as being half full, not half empty. I'm sure it would be a good motto for everyone and if any of you have any "tips and tricks" about ways to do that, please share a comment!

It applies to the weight loss too. I was a little discouraged that I only lost 1.2 pounds this week. All my hard word, all my depravation and that's all I lost? But then I have to remember that I lost 6.2 last week and I've lost 57.8 in only 11 weeks. And I have all of these news tools and skills that I've learned that will help me keep it off. And although I wouldn't say I "enjoy" not eating, I do very much enjoy the group that I attend and have met some wonderful people there and I enjoy how good it is making me feel that I am losing this weight. So, again, the glass is half full, not half empty! It's all a matter of perspective.

Ok, enough of the philosophical stuff. A few interesting things going on to share:

-Jacob was asked by the UCI Director of Theater and Drama to be the "young Tony" in their upcoming big production of West Side Story. He "heard about him" from someone he knows. It's a big production in the big UCI Barclay theater (where his dance shows are) and runs for 8 shows over two weeks. He doesn't have a speaking part, but the director said he and the young Maria are highly focused and the main parts of the first and last scenes of the show. It'll be fun for him and a good experience and he'll enjoy doing theater with college and graduate students and it might open the door for future opportunities for him and even possible for Harrison and/or Michela. It's all in the month of November, so he'll be a busy boy!

-Michela's soccer season is over. Her team finished first in the regular season, but, unfortunately, because we didn't have enough "referee points" (parents reffing other games), they can't go on to the playoffs. We actually had NO ref points. I was "team mom," so I felt like I did my share, but we, or someone else, should have stepped up to the plate and now the girls are disappointed. We all learned a lesson. We have a fun end of season party coming up Nov. 15th at our house.

--Harrison's soccer team remains undefeated even in playoffs. They're still going strong. I think the coach almost hopes they lose one just to humble them because they're getting pretty cocky. They've won something like 16 games straight. The games are fun to watch.

--Basketball will start for both of them soon.

--Dance is going well for Jacob

--School is going well for all three of them. Report cards come out next week. They all have big projects they're working on.

--Work is good for Marlon, just busy as usual.

--Midnight is a happy boy. The person who stayed with him when we were on our trip invited him to a Halloween party at her work yesterday. Everyone was bringing their dogs so she asked if he could come. When I told Marlon that she called to ask if he was free, he said "of course he's free. He's a dog. He doesn't usually have plans!" Midnight found that whole "he's a dog part" offensive - he doesn't view himself that way. He went to the party and had fun!

--Last be not least, don't forget to vote and give some serious thought to voting for Obama if you aren't already! tuesday should be a very exciting day. We're going to hit the polls early with the kids so they can feel like they're participating (they sure wish they could vote) and then we'll probably let them stay up late to watch the exciting election returns. They're very into it.

That's all for now. I'll try to get all the photos, videos, kids konnections and all that posted soon.

6.2, woo hoo!

I was very pleased with last night's results at the scale-- 6.2 more pounds down, for a grand total of 56. In 11 weeks. So I'm still averaging about 5 pounds a week, which is awesome. My "core" class (the first 12 weeks) ends Nov. 13th (remember I did two weeks in a different class, so my class is actually on week 9) and I will be transitioning to an "ongoing weight loss" class, which will be basically the same. I'm hoping to still have my health educator and hoping that some of the same people in my class with be in the same class.

Thank you to everyone who has read Marlon's post, and especially those who have commented and emailed. Of course people have differences of opinions and thoughtful discussion and dialog is great.

Have a good day!

Guest Post With Political Commentary -- Why We Support Barack Obama

Everyone, please welcome my guest blogger, Marlon, with an excellent summary of why we support Barack Obama - and why you should too. Comments welcome, let's get a dialogue going here!

* * *
Election Day is less than two weeks away, but the Obama campaign only has a few days left to determine where to deploy crucial resources. Governor Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania said today that he thinks that state might be closer than the polls show. I just made a donation, to be sure Obama can get his message out.I've been meaning to write and send my own thoughts about why I support Obama, but have not gotten around to that. I offer some brief reasoning below. I encourage you to donate, if you can, or to talk to your friends. Let me outline why I support the Obama-Biden ticket.

Senator Obama has a viable health care plan that will preserve employer-paid health insurance while moving to cover more Americans. Health care is a crisis of fairness and of economic competitiveness, and Obama's approach is a more effective way to make progress. McCain's health care plan will likely reduce the number of Americans covered and will tax employer-paid health benefits for the first time ever. Obama's tax plan will likely need to take cognizance of the coming recession, and I would not be surprised if tax increases (only proposed on income above $250,000) would be delayed. But I agree with the principles of that plan -- to move toward balancing the budget through modest increases in progressive taxation, a tenet of the tax code for a century. This would reverse the Bush tax cuts, which provided large tax breaks to the very wealthy, and would restore top rates to the levels of the 1990s. Obama's response to the current economic crisis is thoughtful, while McCain has admitted that economics is not something that interests him.

The environmental, infrastructure, and security challenge of the next several decades will revolve around reducing our dependence on fossil fuels. Normally I am skeptical of large government-led efforts at innovation, preferring market-led growth. Yet Obama's energy plan is correct in its two core philosophies. First, Obama wil put all options on the table, nuclear power included. Tomorrow morning I fly to Washington D.C. for a meeting of a National Academies study committee on Land Use, Vehicle Miles of Travel, and Energy, on which I sit. After more than a year, we are crafting our conclusions and recommendations. One thing is clear: Progress on problems of climate change will require that all options be on the table, but also that some options will deliver more "bang for the buck" than others. The most effective options do not include increased drilling, even if that must be part of an overall strategy. Second, government must play a role in promoting transformative technology, through subsidies that make alternative energy sources economically competitive and through policies that directly address the issue of climate change. These two tenets are central to Obama's approach.

More generally, Obama appears to be dedicated to governing seriously, and if we've learned anything these past eight years it is the perils of anything less than a serious, steady approach to governance. Beyond that, I believe the nation seems ready to leave behind the divisive culture wars of the 1960s and 1970s, and engage in the important business of rebuilding our infrastructure, education system, and uniting as Americans. As someone who came of age in the era of Nixon, when politics pitted American against American, I longed for the sense of earlier eras, when Roosevelts (both), Truman, Eisenhower, and Kennedy united Americans of differing ideals and perspectives behind a common cause. Political eras tend to last about two generations, and I have hope that the country is turning the page on the politics of division and seeks to work to strengthen our entire country. I know many persons who are much more conservative than I. They love America, they are patriots all, and they care about building a better future for their children. All the things that slightly left-of-center (yea, liberals) like me desire. There is much common ground to be found in a philosphy of pragmatic problem solving. Obama will not work miracles, but he has a leadership approach that I believe is right for this moment.

The U.S. is the greatest country on earth because, at times, we have reshaped our polity in ways that are more supple than any other nation, past or present. Those reshapings have always been from the bottom up, from the strength of citizens seeking to perfect this union, to respond to challenges, or to right past wrongs. Those reshapings of our polity have also been accompanied by leadership that gives voice to that moment. Senator Obama will not be the only leader for this moment, but he is one. Senator McCain has served our country honorably throughout his lifetime, but I believe that Obama is best suited to the challenges of the future.

Watch a video message from Barack and make a contribution to support the campaign's final push:http://my.barackobama.com/page/ic/ya4x3lji7ge9wl/SgFTVAcID1oAHkZcVQBc Better yet,watch this clip of Colin Powell explaining why he will vote for Obama for President.http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27265369/

Thanks for reading!

Busier than Usual Weekend

I just realized that I forgot to post yesterday! I was so busy working and being productive that it completely slipped my mind.

We had a great weekend, but it was busier than even our usual busy weekend. Friday night was the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, so we went to synagogue for services outside in the Sukkah followed by a pizza dinner and the kids hanging out in the youth lounge. Movies at home afterwards rounded out the evening.

Saturday Michela and Harrison's soccer games were at the exact same time, so I went with Michela and Marlon went with Harrison. They both won, Michela's team 5 to 1, Harrison's team 5 to 0. It's a huge bummer, though, because although Michela's team is ranked first among the other teams, they are probably not going to be eligible for the playoffs because they have no "referree points," meaning no parent from the team referreed other games. There was a pizza party for Harrison's team afterwards because it is the end of the regular season, but now they go into playoffs. (they have plenty of ref points.)

Jacob was at dance from 11 to 6, as usual, but enjoyed his day there. he has breaks and all his dance friends are there so they hang out, buy and eat lunch, get Yogurtland, etc. It's a very social place.

Harrison went to an overnight retreat at the temple sat night for the 7th graders. They had a great time doing ice breakers and activities, watching movies, eating, etc. and then got up at 6 a.m the next morning to perform their first of 5 "social action" mitzvah project days, which was helping hand out water at the Lung Asso Walk. I made dinner for Marlon, Jacob and Michela and then we played board games, they practiced their instruments, did some reading and went to bed.

Sunday was an extremely day and I basically shuttled kids back and forth. Jacob and Michela had auditions for the Hip Hop Production Group from 9 to 11. Then they told the kids which ones made it and which ones didn't. There were about 70 trying out and they were taking 36. Jacob made it. Michela didn't. She was fine with that, didn't really expect to make it. Jacob would have been upset, but fortunately he made it. Some of the kids were pretty upset, though and there were lots of tears from those who didn't make it and cheers from those who did.

Jacob was then there for the rest of the day til 6:30 for an all day rehearsal for the group. They had a lunch break where pizza was brought in about 3 p.m and Marlon took over grapes I had bought for the whole group and said "hi" to Jacob.

I took Michela to her basketball evaluations (basketball starts in mid Nov) and then dropped her off at a bday party of one of her friends from school. Then I went home to get Harrison, who Marlon had picked up, and took him to basketball evaluations. He skipped his baseball game b/c he was too tired. We picked up Michela, stopped at the dog park because Midnight deserves some fun, and then went home. After Jacob got home, we had dinner, the kids watched some tv to relax and then went to sleep.

Not much else new . I have been working as much as I can on the work I do with Patti and also have some great ideas for ways to further my career as a writer, I just don't have time to do it all. Bar Mitzvah planning is going slowly, but it's going. I have a pile of paperwork in the office waiting to be filed and several rooms to straighten, but I'm keeping up with the daily exercise and doing the best I can to get everything done in each day! :)

I know I promised to put the Kids Konnection articles up. I'll do that tonight, hopefully. And I have pictures and video still do download. One of these days.....

Money lost, life lessons found!

I decided to turn the negative situation around to a positive and glean some "life lessons" out of it and turn it into my Kids Konnection column article for the next issue (which will be early Dec. - the November issue is about giving thanks.) I was going to post the article, which I just wrote, here, but that's probably not ok with Orange County Jewish Life to post it before it's published by them, so I'll post it the second it comes out and you can read about the life lessons we've learned from this experience.

In the meantime, here's the basic situation: I had $1200 in an envelope to go to the bank. It was in my tote bag with other "errand" stuff. Somehow it fell out of the bag and out of the car at one of my stops. The envelope and the two checks that were also in it got turned in, but the cash was gone.

So, we're out $1200. A lot of money to lose. Not going to "make or break" us, but not fun. You can imagine how upset Marlon was at first. I, too, was very upset with myself - I should have put the money in my purse.

Of course we need to "recoup" that loss - what message would it give the kids about the value of money if we just let it go without having any negative consequences? So we need to make some cuts that will total up to $1200. Short of taking on a part time job when I can barely handle the work I already have or selling my getting-thinner body, there weren't too many options. I decided to make some budget cuts on things that were mine or for me because, after all, the burden should rest on me since I'm the one who lost the money!

In any case, I certainly learned my lesson and will be much more careful about where I put things. Hopefully whoever found it really needed it to feed their family or something and isn't just greedy.

Rotten day with a capital R

Well, today was a pretty rotten day. First, I only lost 1.8 pounds this week. I know that some weeks will be lower than others and I've been losing 5-6 pounds a week for at least a month, so I was bound to get a lower week, but it's annoying all the same. My average is still about 5 lbs/week, though, so that's good. I just work so hard at it and am so good about staying in the box that it's frustrating when the results are not as good as I expect.

Second, Jacob didn't make the 2 honor/competition groups that he was hoping to make, so I have to deal with his disappointment. Not the end of the world, I know, but in his world it was important. He is an "apprentice" to those two groups, which means he gets to go to those choreography classes every week and has been doing so for a couple of months, working hard and hoping to become an official member of those two groups. We found out tonight that he's not quite ready to compete at that level, so he should continue to go to them all year (free of charge) but he won't get to ever perform those dances with those two groups. He has lots of other groups, but he had been working hard to try to get in, so it's disappointing to him.

And I saved the best for last and this one is a doosy. I lost $1200 today. No, I don't mean in the stock market or in a missed work opportunity. I mean I really LOST it - cold, hard cash in an envelope on the way to the bank. There then gone. Let me tell you, it is NOT fun to lose $1200. About the only thing I can think of that's worse than losing a large amount of money is telling your husband that you lost a large amount of money. Not fun at all. It's a long story and I've got thoughts in my head of ways to turn it in to my next Kids Konnection article, so I'm going to write it up and then will post it so you'll see the whole story. I can tell you this - it was carelessness on my part and totally my fault. Although I'd love to blame someone or something else - and I did go through that - it was my fault and I'll deal with the consequences (there's a plan for that too - I'll elaborate later.)

Anyway, I'm going to bed now before the day gets any worse.

Unwelcome Excitement Last Night, Weekend Update

First, I am very behind on posting the video and photos I have for you, plus I have a ton of new video to download from the birthday party this weekend, so I'll really try to get to that early this week. (Don't worry - I'll only put a few short video clips on the blog.)

Second, I am so, so, so far behind on posting my Kids Konnection articles from Orange County Jewish Life. I will do a post about that tomorrow (FOR SURE) with links to the various articles. I haven't posted the ones from June, July, Aug., Sept or Oct and I really love for people to read them and I know many of you enjoy reading them.

Third, we had some unwanted excitement last night - we were in a car accident. We're all fine. It was just Harrison, Michela, Midnight and I. We were driving to Harrison's soccer practice. (Marlon was picking Jacob up at dance in his own car.) We were at a complete stop, waiting to turn left into the soccer field parking lot, signal on, and this idiot ran right into us. He told the police "I just didn't see her." How could he not? Anyway, apparently the motorcyclist behind him couldn't stop in time, so he ran into him and flew off his bike. So although we weren't hurt and there isn't THAT much damage to our car, it was a pretty significant accident. I called 911 and within minutes we had three police cars, an ambulance and a fire truck there. The guy was ok, just banged up a bit. They treated him at the scene and of course we had to do all the witness statements, etc. The police officers said that the liability will be on the guy who hit me, the other two of us didn't do anything wrong. The police officer walked harrison across the street to his soccer practice and Michela and I stayed for all the cop stuff. She was a bit shaken up by it, but we're all fine. Now we just have to get the car bumper repaired....

Finally, a quick weekend recap. Friday night was Jacob and Michela's bday party and it was great. Kids are still talking about it and saying it was the best party they've ever been to. We had this guy who owns this company called The Game Squad come with huge screens that he set up for Rock Band, Guitar Hero, Wii and Dance Dance Revolution. The kids had so much fun for two hours. There were about 35 kids here. Marlon and I even got into the action and I got the highest score of the night on Rock Band vocals singing Eye of the Tiger. Woo hoo! After the video games, they watched a movie and had dessert. It was a "ten's" theme because Jacob and Michela turned 10 and the party was on 10/10/08, ending at 10 p.m. We had 10 things on the dinner buffet and 10 toppings on the frozen yogurt bar. All in all, the night was a TEN! :)

Saturday Harrison's soccer game was great - closer than usual, which made it more exciting. They still won 3-2, and are still the only undefeated team in Irvine. Michela's game was also exciting - they won 7 to 1 and Michela made one of the goals. Jacob didn't have dance this sat b/c the choreographers are all in New York previewing costumes, so he and Michela had a whole-afternoon-long playdate at a friend's house.

A friend from temple gave us her elyptical machine because she wants to turn that room into something else and it was taking up space. We got it saturday afternoon and it's in our bedroom. The whole family has been using it. I use it about 5-6 times a day, but only in 5 minute increments because that's about all I can do at one time. It's tough. But the time adds up to a lot of calories burned. And I can do it naked if I want! :)

Sat night Harrison went to hang out with friends and the rest of us were just home, playing board games.

Sun. we were at temple all morning from 8:30 to 2:30. Jacob and Michela had private instrument lessons with the band director and Harrison did homework while I did some actual work on my laptop. Then, while the kids were in religious school from 10:30 to 12:30, there was a meeting about Bar and Bat Mitzvah dates for Jacob and Michela's year (can you believe that?! We haven't even had Harrison's yet!) and a study session with the Rabbi about Israel. Then I worked some more while Harrison was at youth group and Jacob and Michela were at youth band rehearsal.

In the late afternoon, we went to Harrison's baseball game, then out to dinner at the Elephant Bar with a good friend of harrison's from the team and his parents.

The kids went back to school yesterday -- yay, I get my life back! I love having them home on break and spending time with them, but it's hard to get things done, so it's nice when they go back.

That's all for now. Check back tomorrow for the articles!

Reflective Yom Kippur, weight loss, and other things

Yesterday, as most of you know, was Yom Kippur. We spent the evening before and most of the day yesterday in synagogue and really enjoyed our services. The melodies that the cantor and adult choir chant and sing are so beautiful and the prayers of repentence, hope, and reverence that the Rabbi leads us in and that we say responsively are so meaningful when you really read them and think about them. I grew up in a conservative synagogue with "old style" prayer books and the special Yom Kippur prayers where you ask God to forgive you for your sins were so archaic. I don't remember them exactly, but I know the words didn't make sense in modern times. The more prayer book that we use has *real* sins that we all commit today and in modern language that we can all understand, even the kids. I was very proud of our children - our services are long (about 2 1/2 hrs each) and, at their age, they are expected to sit quietly in shul with their parents, not attend special children's program like they did through 3rd grade or play on the playground like their many orthodox friends do at their services (I figured out awhile ago that that is why they love to go to the two nearby Orthodox shuls with their schoolfriends.) I also expected them to fully participate this year, reciting the prayers they know, trying to read along with the hebrew ones they don't know by heart (they can all read hebrew fluently now), reading the English responsive prayers. I was very proud that Harrison participated fully and completely without any prodding (and even fasted all day!) and Jacob and Michela only needed a few pokes and reminders.

The Rabbi's sermon's words were also motivating and inspiring and made us think about how we can be better people in the coming year. Wed night he talked about how important it is to be kind to people, not only strangers (by practicing random acts of kindness) but especially those we love because when times are tough (as they are right now with the financial crisis) the ones we love the most are the ones to whom we tend to be less kind. Yesterday he talked about labeling and how we all tend to label people unnecessarily and how hurtful that is.

Even though it was a holiday, I went to my weight loss class last night because that is my highest priority right now and I'm not letting anything interfere with it. I lost another 4.4 pounds, which was great because I didn't exercise as much. So my total is 48 pounds, which is amazing for only 2 months. I'm still averaging 5-6 pounds a week, about .7 pounds a day! At this rate, I'll certainly reach my February goal! I'm glad I went because the information was very important and practical for maintenance.

Then I joined the family at our friend's the Varkels (she's the caterer for Harrison's whole Bar Mitzvah weekend) for a break-the-fast get together. They all said the food was great (I didn't eat it, of course), the kids played, and we enjoyed meeting new people and having great conversation.

Looking forward to the upcoming weekend with the beach today, Jacob and Michela's 10's bday party this evening (it's 10/10!), soccer games tomorrow, some playdates this weekend, hebrew school and youth group on sunday and then Harrison's baseball game sun afternoon. Around and in between all that I need to straighten up the house, write an article for the magazine I write for, handle some correspondence and paperwork, do a few hours of work-work, and get organized for the week ahead - the kids go back to school so I can go back to being even more productive and boy do I have a lot on my "to do" list! (And hopefully I'll remember to download that video from last week!)

Have a great weekend - what are YOU up to? How was YOUR Yom Kippur? (Feel free to comment.... I love it when you do!)

NEWSFLASH.....

This just in... as of 1/2 hour ago... my doctor said that everything is significantly better and... I CAN SWIM AGAIN! I'm very excited - never been this excited about exercise before. I've really missed my swimming all week.

There's only one spot on the back of one thigh that he still wants to keep an eye on, but he said if I promise to put hydrogen peroxide on it right after swimming (like the second I get out of the pool) and promise not to go in the hot tub (which has even more germs), then it's ok.

Great weekend

I seem to be in a pattern of updating on mondays and thursdays, so I figured it was as good a time as any to do a post right now. Jacob and Michela are at a writing workshop with several of their friends this week - just Mon, Tues and Wed for 1 1/2 hrs each time. They're writing their own mystery stories. Harrison is working on an extra credit project for social studies. I must admit, he's not self motivated to do all the extra credit work that he does. Let's just say it's "highly encouraged" by me. I'm trying to instill in him the DESIRE to want to do all the extra credit, but right now it's very much that I tell him he should do it. Once he gets into a project, he enjoys it, but he doesn't always take the initiative.

We had a great weekend of just normal activities, but nice family time. Friday night was family services at temple and all three kids played in the youth band. I took some video snippets so hopefully I can post that tomorrow. It was a nice service and we enjoy talking to our temple friends after services and the kids hang out in the youth lounge, which is a privilege for the 4th-12th graders.

Saturday Harrison had his soccer game and it was the battle of the undefeated teams and his team won 5 to 0, so that was great and very exciting. After their 5th goal, the ref came over to the coach and said something like "enough's enough, have the kids pull back." They DID pull back and didn't play hard after that, but the other team still couldn't score. Michela also had her game and they won SIX to 0. Michela got one of the goals and was an integral part of several of the others, so lot's of good soccer fun.

Jacob was at dance for his usual 6 hours on saturday. He loves being there, though, and it is a very social place. He hangs out during his couple of breaks with all his dance friends and says there isn't any place he'd rather be. I feel bad that he spends so much time there at the studio, but he really and truly loves it there and is as happy as he can be.

Harrison had a friend over sat afternoon/evening and they hung out and played and then we all had dinner together when Jacob got home. I made a nice dinner of lasagna with homemade fresh bread and freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. Both were extremely difficult to handle and smell, but I did it. I feel like I can't deprive the family completely. :) After dinner, we played some board games, then we watched College Road Trip which was a great movie even though it was rated G (and our kids tend not to like G movies anymore.) I highly recommend it, even for adults. Very funny.

Sunday, the kids had hebrew school and then youth band rehearsal. Then we had a Chavurah (small friendship group from temple) event at a nearby park, which was really low key and fun. The adults talked and ate and the kids played soccer and on the playground. There are a lot of kids in the group so they were able to have a full soccer game and one of the dads who coaches a team had pennes and cones in his car, so they had a real game going!

When we got back, Jacob and Michela rode bikes with their friend Gaby who lives on our street, ended up at her house, got invited to stay for dinner and didn't come home until 10:30 p.m. (remember, we're still on break!) Harrison and Marlon enjoyed watching the Angels/Red Sox game that went on for hours. I decided that it would be a good opportunity to work, so I worked for about 4 or 5 hours, even though it was a sunday evening!

That's about all that's new. I'll post the video tomorrow and then another update on Thursday. Thanks for checking in and let me know what's going on with YOU.

Scary incident, but great scale results

I had my regular Thursday weight loss class tonight. The good news is that I'm down another 5 pounds for a total of 43.8 in 52 days, so I'm still averaging almost a pound a day and about 5-6 pounds a week, which is fantastic. I'm very, very pleased with my progress. I was worried about this week because my exercise was down due to the infections (see previous post). I'm hoping to get back into my exercise in the next day or two.

I'm thoroughly enjoying my daily entree. The food is actually really, really good. Seriously. Everything is made with natural ingredients and is tasty. They are actually pretty filling even though they are small, or maybe that's because my stomach has shrunk. One entree and a cup of soup at dinner leaves me quite full. Having something to actually eat (besides the oatmeal which I still love) and some variety has made a world of difference.

Ok, now for the scary incident. I got stuck in the elevator tonight going up to my class. I've never gotten stuck in an elevator before and it was really scary. I was with two other people from my class, so I'm glad I wasnt' alone. One of them was the loudmouth guy with the strange personality (remember him?) and he was so calm and reassuring -- go figure the one with the attitude turns out to be a hero! It was completely pitch black, I mean you couldn't see your hand in front of your face, and the phone didn't work. I was on the verge of total panic, but he reassured me that they knew we were in there, they were getting help, we wouldn't run out of air and it would be fine. He said, "let's just sit down and tell ghost stories." After about 10 minutes, the lights came on and the elevator shot down to the basement, but still nothing happened. We pushed "door open" but nothing. I suggested that we push the "basement" button since that's where it said we were and the door opened. We had to walk up 2 extra flights of stairs to get where we were going (should've taken the stairs in the first place, but I was carrying a heavy bag!) and then we were ok. NOT a fun experience.

On other news, we had a nice Rosh Hashanah holiday this week. The kids are enjoying their break. Jacob and Michela have been enjoying a cooking camp in the mornings (except not Rosh Hashanah) with their friends and lots of playdates. Harrison has hung out some with his friends, is doing some extra credit and hanging around. We've also been doing some Bar Mitzvah stuff and he finalized a plan for his Mitzvah project, which is exciting. He's going to be helping underprivileged elementary kids with their reading at a place called The Family Resource Center in Santa Ana. He's going to go once a week for about an hour. There are other things he's thinking of incorporating into the project as well, like fundraising to be able to provide the funds to send one of the kids he works with to summer camp.

That's all for now!

Hazards of all my exercise

Well looks like all that exercise has a downside.... I've developed several spots of staph infection (the resistant kind) on the backs of my legs way up high near the top where my bathing suit and underwear elastic goes on my legs and in some other nearby places. They are very painful and really, really horrible to look at. (good thing no one else can see them!) I went to the dr. today (I first noticed them on saturday) and he said it's because of all of my increased exercise. He said that the rubbing and friction of my bathing suit when I swim, my underwear when I walk and do the elyptical and the pressure/friction of the bicycle seat at the gym caused "hot spots" where my skin was sore and then bacteria got in them from all the sweating I do and possibly also from germs at the gym and germs in the pool. The fact that I spend 80% of my time in gym clothes or a bathing suit isn't good because those fabrics don't let enough air through and being overweight also contributes to the problem, of course.

Maybe I'll have to get an exercise video and do it naked at home so nothing is rubbing against anything!

So, now I'm on heavy duty does of antibiotic again and no swimming or any kind of exercise that puts pressure on those areas until they heal, probably a couple of weeks.

I'm pretty upset about it. I tried negotiating with the dr. to at least allow me to swim but he was pretty firm that if I didn't take care of these, then he have to put me in the hospital for IV antibiotics. Apparently these resistant staff infections can be pretty serious. It's possible that the ones on my legs were a result of spreading from the finger infection, but he doesn't know.

He said I can still take walks as long as I wear loose fitting clothes that don't rub or cause friction, but I'm bummed because walking burns the least amount of calories for me and is the least favorite. I don't mind a short walk a day with Midnight, but to burn the amount of calories I burn when I swim, I'd have to walk for 2 1/2 to 3 hrs and I'm not able to do that, either physically or time wise. I guess I can still go to the gym, but no bike and he said to sit on a towel on the weight machines because of the germs.

Who would have thought that all the increased exercise would have such a negative consequence. Exercise is supposed to be good for you, not cause these kinds of problems! I'm quite frustrated (and very uncomfortable - it hurts to sit!)

Good things aplenty tonight!

I lost another 6 pounds this week, for a grand total of 38.8 pounds in about 6 1/2 weeks. I'm quite pleased. We all have to write our "stats" on the board like how many shakes we had each week, how many exercise calories burned, how many days in the box, etc. Tonight, since it was week 4 (but remember I did 1 1/2 weeks in the prior class), we had to put our 4 week weight loss. Mine was the second highest and was only 1 pound less than this one guy. That was nice to see!

People are starting to notice and mention it to me, so that's also nice. And here's a great thing - I noticed something tonight that was really positive reinforcement. Most of you would never notice that the seats at some movie theaters are larger than the seats at others. (Generally the newer theaters have larger seats and the ability to raise the arm rests.) Unfortunately I do notice these things because some of our local theaters are downright uncomfortable with the arm rests pressing into my legs. One of these theaters was the one I was going to this evening with a few fellow mom friends from school.

Well, guess what? My butt fits noticeably better into the seats at that theater, which last time was quite uncomfortable. A very nice surprise and made an already excellent movie (The Women) and fun night out with friends even better!

But it gets better yet. When I bought my ticket, the guy at the window said "$5.50." I said "huh? Isn't it $10?" and He said "well, yes, technically it is, but I accidentally pushed the button from the kids price so instead of voiding it, I figured I'd do something nice for you and charge you less." That was nice.

But it gets better yet. After the movie (which, did I mention, was EXCELLENT?), we went next door to Peets Coffee for a hot beverage. I asked the guy working which herbal tea he recommended and he told me his choice. He asked if I wanted it as a tea bag or loose tea, so I asked what he recommended and he told me and I said that would be great. When I tried to pay, he wouldn't take my money he just smiled and said "this one's on me." But when my friends bought their tea, he took their money! Must have been my lucky night. I hope he didn't think I was flirting with him. :)

Anyway, it's midnight and I just got home so I better see what needs attending to in the house. It was a great night out and I'm very pleased with my progress.

We've been enjoying the kids' break and getting some projects done around the house and relaxing.

I hit 5000!

Very exciting news, folks. Our P.A. (physical activity, calories burned from exercise) goal for each week is 2000 P.A. calories. As I've mentioned, I've been closer to 4,000 because I've been exercising so much. (Some people in my class don't event meet that 2,000 goal, although one or two consistently do over 6,000 and one was a 9,000 last week.) This week I set a personal goal for myself to hit 5,000 and I did it! Woo hoo! I've been swimming an hour almost every day, which burns 900 calories, and yesterday I did an hour and a half. Add to that a day or two at the gym (instead of swimming) and some walks with Midnight (in addition to swimming) and I got to 5,000 fairly easily.

We'll see tomorrow how it affects my results at the scale!

I think I might make my goal 7,000 for this coming week. That would be 1,000 a day, which is do-able if I don't miss a day of swimming. We'll see - that might be a bit too optimistic.

Weekend Recap

Harrison at his soccer game. It was a great game, with his team winning 2-1. Harrison had two great quarters as goalie, preventing all goals from the other side and sacrificing his body to do it. He took a pretty good hit in the head that stunned him for a minute, but he was ok. He also did great on offense for two quarters and scored one of the two goals.
Michela had a great soccer game yesterday too. This is her scoring a goal. She scored the winning goal and her team also won 2-1.

Jacob had his usual saturday of dance, dance, dance, but he loves it. He went to the studio early to do some drop in classes (he's unlimited so he can go whenever he wants) and was there from 9-6. We all met him there for an hour lunch break from 1-2.

Friday night we just hung out at home and I went for a long swim. Last night Jacob and Michela and I went to a play to watch two of their good friends (but one was sick and wasn't in it afterall) and Harrison went to a youth group event.

Today all 3 kids had hebrew school and youth band and Jacob and Michela had a youth group event for their youth group. Marlon and I went to the gym together this morning. The kids and I played soccer in the park this afternoon and also threw tennis balls for Midnight so he could play too. Then we came home and played some board games.

Tonight Jacob and Michela went to dinner at my mom's and spent the night there with her. Harrison hung out with some friends at one of their houses. Marlon and I decided to go see a movie -- My Best Friend's Girl -- which was not that great but was a little bit funny.

That's about it. Low key and mellow weekend, but good family fun. I have a zillion things on my to-do list for this week, so let's see how productive I can be.

How was YOUR weekend?

Progress continues and other stuff

Just got back from weight loss class -- down 4.6 more for a total of 32.2. In 5.5 weeks, so that's pretty good! (although I do like those 6 and 7 pound weeks better!) Everything is going good with it. In fact, my health educator gave me the "go ahead" to start entrees. A couple of people in the class started them already. I'm going to wait one more week (mostly b/c I had already bought my shakes and didn't want to stand in line again) and then have one entree every day. Yippee! Lasagna, pasta and chili, here I come! (all in portion controlled low fat little packages, of course.)

Tomorrow is the last day of school before our fall break. We aren't going out of town because we travelled enough over the summer to last for awhile. We're just going to hang out, I will continue to exercise and to work (I've been trying to increase my working time) while the kids play, ride bikes and have playdates and we'll work in some swimming, beach time, museums, movies and the like. We're re-doing Jacob and Michela's bedrooms, so that's a good project, and we have some cleaning out to do of the garage, playroom, etc. A huge project is going to be to go through all of the various photographs that we just have in boxes and organize them. That will take HOURS. We need photographs for the Bar Mitzvah slide show, etc., and I want to get back into scrapbooking. So, don't be surprised if you get a whole envelope of pictures of your kids from the last several years!

I also want to make sure everyone does a lot of reading and some extra writing, Harrison is doing a science fair project for extra credit and some extra credit social studies projects and Jacob and Michela are taking a writing workshop with some of their friends. I may sign them all up for a 3 day cooking class as well and it's also the Jewish holidays.

Please send good thoughts to my sister and brother in law (Nicole and Darren) and their kids. They live in Houston and have been uprooted due to Hurricane Ike. Their house is fine and they are fine, but they have no power so they were at a hotel and are now at my inlaws, but it's been hard, Darren needs to get back to work, the kids want to get back to school since it had just started and they love it, and I think Nicole has had enough and really wants to get back into their normal routine.

Lastly, I LOVE my new laptop computer. It has so many neat programs and I've been spending time getting up to speed on how to use them, organizing files and so forth.

Just checking in

I can't believe how quickly the time flies by...it's already Tuesday. I see from my sitemeter reports that many people check the blog every day. That's so exciting - I love that I've generated such interest. And I'm sorry that I haven't posted new posts as often as you check - I know when I check my friends' and families' blogs it's disappointed when it's the same post day after day. I'll try to be better! :)

One interesting thing that is new is that we tried out a new babysitter this weekend -- Harrison! He has been staying alone for awhile now and staying with Jacob and Michela during the day, but not at night. We decided that he's getting too old to have a babysitter -- the babysitters that we used to use when the kids were all little were in middle school, 7th and 8th grade. As they got older, we continued to use them, so they were highschoolers, but now they have busy social lives on weekends. So, what are we to do? Go back to middle schoolers? Let's see... a 7th or 8th grader? Well, um, yeah, that would be a DATE for Harrison. So, it's time for him to be the babysitter. We tried it out sat night when we went to a party at a neighbor's house not too far away and it went great. Jacob and Michela respected him and listened and in return he didn't boss them around. They all know what to do if there are emergencies. So we'll save some money too and the kids really enjoyed the privilege of staying home alone together.

I had a two nice compliments this week. One was at the gym on sunday morning. A guy who I used to see there all the time when I used to go two years ago was there and he noticed and remembered me. He said it was so great to see me back because he had wondered long ago where I had gone and if I was ok. He said that my smile lights up the room. Isn't that sweet?! Marlon better watch out! Just kidding - he's like 60 or something. But it definitely made my day. That and the fact that I could do my 10 minutes on the eyptical trainer without feeling like I'm dying. Oh, and I increased my mph on the treadmill! I'm definitely noticing that I'm in better shape. Then today, at the pool, after I finished my full hour of laps, this guy who was also there (relaxing by the pool, not swimming) said "wow, you're an incredible swimmer." Yeah, right. Incredible? Even Jacob and Michela beat me across the pool hands down. But I CAN sustain my swimming for an hour without problem, so I guess that's pretty good. And I do burn 900 calories when I swim an hour, so that's really good! The compliment was nice anyhow.

So, as you can see, the exercise is going well. The diet is too - I'm pretty used to it now and it's just routine. I'm hoping for another good week at the scale, but, if not, I know the week after will be good.

Aside from that, not much else is new. We had a great weekend of normal weekend activities -- soccer games, baseball games, dance classes, hebrew school, some playdates, etc. Harrison had fun at the school dance on friday night and Jacob and Michela and I and two of their friends (and one other mom) went to see the sing-a-long version of Mamma Mia, which was really fun!

I'll update again on Thursday after my weight loss class! Have a good couple of days and don't forget to comment and let me know what YOU'RE up to!

Much better week at the scale!

I didn't have to take a sledehammer to the scale at my weight loss meeting tonight. I swear if I had another week of no weight loss, I would have! But I lost 6.8 pounds, so I'm much happier. And that's real fat pounds lost because my ankles and feet are STILL swollen. So I'm still retaining water. So the good news is that another week I should lose a lot again because at some point all this water retention will go away. The bad news is that, well, I'm still retaining water, which is annoying.

I saw my own Dr. yesterday for a follow up to my finger infection (which is still red) and he said not to worry about it (the water retention OR the finger!) He thinks it's my body's way of adjusting to either the diet itself or the huge reduction of calories. Eventually it should go away. The dr. at the weight loss place seemed to agree.

In the meantime, I'm trying to drink even more water (I'm drowning over here), keep my feet up and swim a lot.

Anyway, it's a total of 28 point something in 5 weeks, so an average of 5.5 or so pounds a week. I'll take it! :)

Not much else new. I wrote about all the new stuff on Tuesday. marlon is still gone but comes home tomorrow night. We're all well and good.

Living Up to Our Name

We're back in the full swing of activities, so we're living up to our name the BUSY Boarnet's. It's been hectic around here with dance starting back up (Jacob dances mondays, tuesdays, one hour on wed, thursdays and saturdays. Michela just on mondays, tuesdays and thursdays), hebrew school starting (sundays for all three kids, wednesdays for Jacob and Michela, Tuesdays for Harrison), soccer (practice mondays for Michela, mondays and wednesdays for Harrison, then games for both on saturdays), youth band (for all three sunday after hebrew school), etc. It's hard to keep it all straight, much less get to it all!

Harrison was going to play fall baseball, as he usually does to keep his skills up, but he's decided to take a break from baseball and try water polo instead. It's a smart move in my opinion. Although he plays rec soccer and basketball in addition to baseball, water polo is an excellent sport for high school and he may decide he likes it. Plus, fall baseball games are on sundays and it just makes our sundays so hectic with hebrew school and youth band and many of the games conflict with hebrew school anyway. This way they can go to hebrew school and youth band from 10:30 to 1:30, then we can have family time in the afternoon to do things like go to the beach, go to a museum, etc. It's much better. Esp since our saturdays are crazy with two soccer games and all of Jacob's dance.

Marlon is out of town this whole week (Monday to friday) which always makes things tougher because I don't have anyone to help get the kids everywhere they need to be. For example, Jacob and Michela had dance monday and then had to come with me to Harrison's soccer game, so they had to do their homework and eat at the soccer field. It works, but it's better when there's two of us here so they could have stayed home. I can't even fathom how my divorced friends handle it. But the ones I'm thinking of only have one child, so at least they don't have to juggle multiple activities.

I've been enjoying the new Beverly Hills 90210. That was my all time favorite show back then. I watched the 2 hr season premiere that I taped this afternoon while I sorted laundry and then watched tonight's episode live. So far I don't think the show is as good as the original, but it's entertaining enough to watch.

There are so many things on my "to do" list that I'm feeling very overwhelmed. You know I get that way sometimes. I'm so far behind on work, household stuff, Bar Mitzvah planning, etc. But at least Jacob and Michela's bday party is planned and taken care of.

I'm heading up a new Middle School Task Force committee at school to design and implement ways to enhance the extra curricular and social aspects of our middle school. We are a small middle school (being K-8) which has definite advantages but some disadvantages. The committee members have a TON of energy, enthusiasm and ideas and I'm looking forward to working with them.

The diet is going well. I haven't gone out of the box at all, even when I picked up burgers and fries for the kids at In and Out and had to drive with them sitting next to me on the front seat while I took them home! I've been around food and preparing food more than most people on the program so I'm proud of how I can just "tune it out." It just goes to show that when I'm eating again, I don't have to eat everything in sight. :) I'm still retaining some water in my ankles, though, so I'm worried about what the scale will say in two days. My dr. said fluid retention from salt takes awhile (like a couple of weeks) to go away and be patient. I'm drowning in all the water I'm drinking, I'm swimming a ton and I'm putting my feet up like they suggested. Short of hanging upside down (which I may actually try tomorrow!) there isn't much else I can do. If I have a week where I don't lose anything again, I swear I'll take a sledgehammer to that stupid scale!

Ok, well, gotta go now. More on Thursday after my group!