Ok, my new class (thursday instead of wed) has some real interesting characters in it. I think it's in my best interest to just do what I've been doing and not pick up any bad habits -- or attitudes! There was this one guy who was quite a bit larger than I am. He must have weighed at least 400 pounds! When our health educator was talking about exercise and how we should be aiming for 300 P.A. (physical activity) calories burned per day to meet our minimum of 2000 per week, he said, "ok, so if I work out really hard and long and burn 600 instead of 300 calories a day, can I have 300 more calories of food?" She said "you can always have an extra shake, cereal, soup, pudding or even entree if you feel hungry or feel that you need it. You don't have to exercise extra for that." He said "no, I mean can I have 300 calories worth of *real* food, not this stuff?" The answer is, of course, NO. That would be going out of the box. I'm sure he'll be finding a way to circumvent the system.
Then there was this "know it all," loudmouth guy. You know the type. I guess there always has to be one of them. Our educator told the class that they could wait and start the diet on Monday or Tuesday if they had plans this weekend (this is a new class - they're all just starting except for me). He said "YES, I was hoping you'd say that, I'm just not ready to starve myself on this prisioner's diet." She said that it's best not to think about it in that way and we certainly should not let ourselves feel like we're starving, we should take enough shakes to make sure we feel fill. Then he said, "well, I'm going to eat all weekend like there's no tomorrow. Kind of like the last supper, but I'm going to have about 10 last suppers." She really cautioned everyone against that because then they'd just gain weight and have more to lose.
Oh, and guess what?! I had 3 bits of lasagna tonight. And boy was it good. And no, I didn't go out of the box. They always give everyone a little taste of one of the products, so this time it was a lasagna entree. I wasn't sure I should take one of the little taste cups, but when I asked her, she said of course I should, the entrees are part of the plan and I can have that. She even told me later that I could incorporate the entrees now, but I'm going to wait a little bit.
Anyway, it was a very sucessful week again.... exactly 5 more pounds lost for a total of 21.2. Not bad for less than three weeks! (remember I started the shakes on the monday after I started the classes.)
Not much else is new. Worked all day today on work-work, which was good. Jacob and Michela have a big science test coming up. Harrison went to a friend's Bar Mitzvah and party this evening and had a great time.
Enjoy the holiday weekend and I'll write again next week.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Happy Birthday to Some Special People
A few pictures, then the text is below. I'll update about the weight loss plan tomorrow because I go tonight. I also have photos and video to upload from the weekend, but I'll probably wait and do that early next week in case I take photos and video THIS weekend!
I just wanted to wish a very happy Birthday this month to three special people -- my mom, Shirley, turned 84 on Aug. 16th, my grandmother-in-law, Loyce (we all call her Meme), turned 92 last week, and.... drumroll please... my father in law, Bernie, turns the big 7 -- 0 -- today! (Today is also my nephew Daniel's 2nd bday, so happy bday to Daniel too.)
Unfortunately we didn't see Meme on her birthday, but we thought about her a lot.
For my mom's bday, we all went to dinner at her place (the family and some of her friends), I took a cake, and we celebrated there. They also had a luau at her place this past weekend and they wished her a happy bday at that.
My father in law is actually here in California on business this week, so we were able to see him a couple of nights ago to celebrate his birthday. For his gift, I gave him a goodie bag of treats to enjoy at his hotel (fresh fruit, nuts, low cal cookies, etc.) which he appreciated because the restaurant there shuts down for lunch (huh? why shut down for lunch!) and he doesn't have anyplace to grab a quick bite to eat, and then we gave him seventy $1 bills, which I had fun wrapping in about 7 different layers and which he had fun opening.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Great Weekend - Recap!
We had a great and fun filled weekend. I'll try to post a couple of pictures tomorrow. First of all, last week was goal setting/conference week at school, so every day was early dismissal and there was no school on thursday. It felt like an extra week of summer. We relaxed a lot and spent a lot of time at the pool with friends.
Friday night we went out to dinner just us and Midnight. Then we came home, put the car back in the garage, and then took a walk together to our nearby shopping center for ice cream cones (not me, of course... I did the walking, but not the eating!) Then, after we walked back, we all watched a rented movie called Bye Bye Love, about these divorced families and the dads all had the kids for the weekend. It had funny moments, but it was also a bit sad and made us all glad that we're not a divorced family because we know it can be so tough!
Saturday we went to a bbq/luau at my mom's senior living place. It was festively decorated and they had coconut bowling and Polynesian dancer entertainment so it was fun. Then, we all went to the JCC gym, where Marlon, Harrison and I worked out (and Jacob and Michela just hung out and were kind of bored.) It was my first day at the gym in about 2 years. I did about 20 minutes of cardio (on the bike, elyptical trainer and treadmill) and then weight machines. It felt great. My health educator told us that we should be lifting weights 2-3 days/week to build more muscle because muscle helps speed up your metabolism and helps you burn the fat. Harrison has been certified by a trainer so he can go anytime he wants and often walks over after school (it's just down the street from our school.) Sat night we had a going away/graduation party for our neighbor across the street who is going to Stoneybrooke, so we went to wish her well and hang out.
Today was also a fun filled day. I slept in and lounged in bed reading. I don't usually allow myself such luxuries, but I kind of feel like since I'm not getting to eat and I'm totally deprived in that area, I can indulge myself in other "treats." Then we had a fun pool party/bbq with our Chavurah from temple. The kids swam and we talked. I would have LOVED to have swam too, but the dr. said no swimming for another week because of my dumb finger infection. No adults were swimming, though, so I wasn't left out or anything. There was a ton of food, of course, but I ate my oatmeal and a couple of shakes throughout the day and it was ok. (not the easiest thing to do, but ok.)
Harrison went straight to baseball tryouts for fall ball for Irvine Pony. He MAY try out for another travel ball club team (he quit his last year when it got too busy with Pony and other things) but he may not because he wants to concentrate on his Bar Mitzvah prep and he'll be going to more Bar and Bat Mitzvahs this year which could conflict a lot with weekend tournaments.
After that, we re-grouped and then we went to the highlight of the weekend- a Summer Sunday concert in the nearby park. The band this time was our neighbor and good friend Josh Schreiber's band that does a tribute to Bruce Springsteen. He's the lead guitarist and singer. We went with several neighbor families and we sat right in front, so it was super super loud. (Marlon and a couple of the other husbands actually had to go stand/sit on the side because it was too loud.) I worried that Midnight would have a heart attack from all the noise and excitement, but he had a ball. (there were a lot of dogs there.) I swear the way he was wiggling around I think he was trying to dance! It was a two hour concert and about halfway through we were all on our feet dancing. It was SO much fun. The best time we've had in a long time. I took some pictures and some video and I'll post them tomorrow. He is really talented and it was such a fun evening with many good friends. Everyone took picnic dinners to eat before the concert, but I had a shake before I left, so I just drank a diet root beer.
I'm very proud of how well I handled the weekend with so much food around. It's a little bit tough to watch everyone eat and smell the food, but I just keep telling myself that these fast results are so worth it and it's only temporary and nothing tastes as good as it will feel to be thinner!
Bye for now!
Friday night we went out to dinner just us and Midnight. Then we came home, put the car back in the garage, and then took a walk together to our nearby shopping center for ice cream cones (not me, of course... I did the walking, but not the eating!) Then, after we walked back, we all watched a rented movie called Bye Bye Love, about these divorced families and the dads all had the kids for the weekend. It had funny moments, but it was also a bit sad and made us all glad that we're not a divorced family because we know it can be so tough!
Saturday we went to a bbq/luau at my mom's senior living place. It was festively decorated and they had coconut bowling and Polynesian dancer entertainment so it was fun. Then, we all went to the JCC gym, where Marlon, Harrison and I worked out (and Jacob and Michela just hung out and were kind of bored.) It was my first day at the gym in about 2 years. I did about 20 minutes of cardio (on the bike, elyptical trainer and treadmill) and then weight machines. It felt great. My health educator told us that we should be lifting weights 2-3 days/week to build more muscle because muscle helps speed up your metabolism and helps you burn the fat. Harrison has been certified by a trainer so he can go anytime he wants and often walks over after school (it's just down the street from our school.) Sat night we had a going away/graduation party for our neighbor across the street who is going to Stoneybrooke, so we went to wish her well and hang out.
Today was also a fun filled day. I slept in and lounged in bed reading. I don't usually allow myself such luxuries, but I kind of feel like since I'm not getting to eat and I'm totally deprived in that area, I can indulge myself in other "treats." Then we had a fun pool party/bbq with our Chavurah from temple. The kids swam and we talked. I would have LOVED to have swam too, but the dr. said no swimming for another week because of my dumb finger infection. No adults were swimming, though, so I wasn't left out or anything. There was a ton of food, of course, but I ate my oatmeal and a couple of shakes throughout the day and it was ok. (not the easiest thing to do, but ok.)
Harrison went straight to baseball tryouts for fall ball for Irvine Pony. He MAY try out for another travel ball club team (he quit his last year when it got too busy with Pony and other things) but he may not because he wants to concentrate on his Bar Mitzvah prep and he'll be going to more Bar and Bat Mitzvahs this year which could conflict a lot with weekend tournaments.
After that, we re-grouped and then we went to the highlight of the weekend- a Summer Sunday concert in the nearby park. The band this time was our neighbor and good friend Josh Schreiber's band that does a tribute to Bruce Springsteen. He's the lead guitarist and singer. We went with several neighbor families and we sat right in front, so it was super super loud. (Marlon and a couple of the other husbands actually had to go stand/sit on the side because it was too loud.) I worried that Midnight would have a heart attack from all the noise and excitement, but he had a ball. (there were a lot of dogs there.) I swear the way he was wiggling around I think he was trying to dance! It was a two hour concert and about halfway through we were all on our feet dancing. It was SO much fun. The best time we've had in a long time. I took some pictures and some video and I'll post them tomorrow. He is really talented and it was such a fun evening with many good friends. Everyone took picnic dinners to eat before the concert, but I had a shake before I left, so I just drank a diet root beer.
I'm very proud of how well I handled the weekend with so much food around. It's a little bit tough to watch everyone eat and smell the food, but I just keep telling myself that these fast results are so worth it and it's only temporary and nothing tastes as good as it will feel to be thinner!
Bye for now!
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Pancake - yum!
Guess what?! I just had a pancake. Really. And I'm not "out of the box." On the internet, I found an HMR clinic in Atlanta with a ton of recipes for ways to turn the shake packets into pancakes, "chips," cookies, brownies, etc. I asked my leader if it was ok and she said it was fine, although cautioned me that it won't have the volume a shake has, so it won't fill me up as much. Since I'm having trouble getting all of my shakes in, I decided to try one of these recipes, figuring it's kind of just "extra."
This one was made by mixing one vanilla packet with 3 oz of diet ginger ale and cooking in a pan sprayed with no calorie pam (I use a natural spray called "pure mazola" which is no calories.) You cook it just like a pancake and it looked like a pancake.
It tasted ok. Not the greatest and certainly not like a regular pancake. But not terrible either. And it was pretty big. The best part was that I ate it on a PLATE with a FORK. The first time in 2 weeks! Woo hoo.
I'm also really enjoying my oatmeal a couple of times a day. It's filling and tasty.
So this week has been going very well. Emotionally I'm in a much better place and am much more positive. It hasn't been as hard. We even went out to dinner last night. I had my soup, a pudding and a bowl of ice.
I'll post again tomorrow to tell you about our fun weekend -- we've had several social things and we all went to the JCC gym today!
We're off to a graduation/going away party for a neighbor who is going to college next week... I just had to post about my pancake! :)
This one was made by mixing one vanilla packet with 3 oz of diet ginger ale and cooking in a pan sprayed with no calorie pam (I use a natural spray called "pure mazola" which is no calories.) You cook it just like a pancake and it looked like a pancake.
It tasted ok. Not the greatest and certainly not like a regular pancake. But not terrible either. And it was pretty big. The best part was that I ate it on a PLATE with a FORK. The first time in 2 weeks! Woo hoo.
I'm also really enjoying my oatmeal a couple of times a day. It's filling and tasty.
So this week has been going very well. Emotionally I'm in a much better place and am much more positive. It hasn't been as hard. We even went out to dinner last night. I had my soup, a pudding and a bowl of ice.
I'll post again tomorrow to tell you about our fun weekend -- we've had several social things and we all went to the JCC gym today!
We're off to a graduation/going away party for a neighbor who is going to college next week... I just had to post about my pancake! :)
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
8.4 pounds lost this week!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes, you read that correctly. On top of last week's 7,8, this week I lost 8.4 for a grand total of 16.2 so far. In 2 weeks! That's how much I thought I'd lose the first month -- between 16 and 20. I was extremely surprised. I was hoping for 3 or 4!! I know it won't be like that every week, but I'll definitely take the weeks that are, especially since it felt like such a tough week emotionally (even though I never once went "out of the box.")
We can introduce the oatmeal now, so I'm going to have a nice bowl of it when I'm done typing this. It is REAL oatmeal with REAL apples, cranberries and currants - I'm so excited.
My health educator and the program dr. both gave me the "ok" to add one of the meal replacement entrees at dinner if I want to, since thye know I'm having some trouble in the late afternoon/early evening. There are about 20 to choose from, so that will be nice variety. I'm going to hold off a bit, though, so I have something to look forward to (maybe 2 or 3 more weeks.)
Next week I'm switching to a new group that will be on Thursdays b/c that just works better w/our family schedule (Marlon teaches Wed evening and the kids have hebrew school.) I hope I like the educator as much as this one and the other people in the class!
Michela has been going on a bike ride with me while I do my evening walk. She enjoys it, but gives me a hard time when she hears me singing loudly to my ipod. I guess b/c she can only hear me and not the music. Other people probably think it's odd, too, but I don't really care! :) Actually it's HER ipod and her music is much better for walking. Surprisingly, Hannah Montana has a good beat for walking. I really need to figure out what purse or totebag mine is in. Incidentally, Midnight is LOVING all the extra walks we're taking.
Gotta go eat my yummy oatmeal now (I've tasted it at class - it's good!).
I'm feeling much more positive now than when I posted before, but keep those good thoughts coming b/c it really, really helps!
We can introduce the oatmeal now, so I'm going to have a nice bowl of it when I'm done typing this. It is REAL oatmeal with REAL apples, cranberries and currants - I'm so excited.
My health educator and the program dr. both gave me the "ok" to add one of the meal replacement entrees at dinner if I want to, since thye know I'm having some trouble in the late afternoon/early evening. There are about 20 to choose from, so that will be nice variety. I'm going to hold off a bit, though, so I have something to look forward to (maybe 2 or 3 more weeks.)
Next week I'm switching to a new group that will be on Thursdays b/c that just works better w/our family schedule (Marlon teaches Wed evening and the kids have hebrew school.) I hope I like the educator as much as this one and the other people in the class!
Michela has been going on a bike ride with me while I do my evening walk. She enjoys it, but gives me a hard time when she hears me singing loudly to my ipod. I guess b/c she can only hear me and not the music. Other people probably think it's odd, too, but I don't really care! :) Actually it's HER ipod and her music is much better for walking. Surprisingly, Hannah Montana has a good beat for walking. I really need to figure out what purse or totebag mine is in. Incidentally, Midnight is LOVING all the extra walks we're taking.
Gotta go eat my yummy oatmeal now (I've tasted it at class - it's good!).
I'm feeling much more positive now than when I posted before, but keep those good thoughts coming b/c it really, really helps!
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Just checking in
Sorry it's been awhile since I've posted, but I actually haven't really been able to type easily because I got some infection in my fingernail bed and it was *really* painful so I went to the Dr. and he sent me to the ER to have it surgically drained and put me on major high doses of antibiotics, which upset my stomach and made it hard to have my shakes because I was so nauseated and bloated and had no appetite. He reduced the dose now that I've had it a few days, so hopefully I'll feel better. I was taking 2 pills three times a day of sulfa, which is a lot!
The weight loss plan (I hate calling it a diet) is going "ok." I'm still sticking to it diligently, but it's harder than I thought it would be and *way* harder than it was last time. I'm not physically hungry, but psychologically I'm kind of a mess. I'm already totally bored with the shakes and miss eating regular food. I keep getting these panicky feelings that I just can't do it, but I keep doing it, so I guess I CAN do it. The whole finger saga hasn't helped. But I'm taking it one day at a time, trying to divert myself by taking a walk when it gets too stressful, and thing like that. My original plan of 6 months on this just seems so daunting. I guess that's why the program is a 3 month program! (For those who stay on it longer, they just repeat the program.) We'll see how I feel about it in 3 months (actually 3 months from Aug. 28th b/c I'm switching to that new group starting Aug. 28th) but I think I may try the modified version after 3 months, which is less shakes and adds 2 of their entrees a day plus unlimited fruits and veggies. It's a LCD (low calorie diet) vs a VLCD (very low calorie diet.) I'd still lose consistently but not quite as rapidly, but thst might be fine if it's easier to sustain! We'll see....
A big thank you to Maxine and Carrie for the meals they sent over. It helped more than you can imagine b/c it's really hard for me to prepare dinner, as that's my worst time. They smelled so good I had to leave the house, and the family said they were delicious!
Other news....
Harrison got his Bar Mitzvah study materials, his Torah portion and all that and started his weekly tutorin w/the cantor. Really makes it more real and seem so soon! He got a GREAT story of the bible, so he's excited. The kid before him got leprosy, so Harrison got lucky. I'm not sure he wants everyone to know until his d'var torah (speech interpreting the torah reading) so I won't say what it is. School is going good for him and he's anxiously awaiting the start of fall baseball season.
Michela was disappointed b/c she didn't make the "fall select" competitive softball team. Her coach had pretty much said she would and she made All Stars, so it came as a surprise. She took it well, though, and I got her on a soccer team even though we missed the sign ups (b/c we weren't going to do it.) She is loving playing the flute and is happy in the new classroom.
Jacob loves his teacher and is happy with playing the trumpet. He sounds like a sick cow when he practices, but he's getting better. He was very excited b/c he was invited into 2 honor groups for the dance competition season (in addition to his regular competition group) and also asked to be in a tap trio and to do a tap solo which is a big deal! He was a bit disappointed b/c he's one of 4 "apprentices" to the higher level of competition groups and one person made it in already but they said he's just not ready yet technique-wise. They want him attending that group every week b/c it's beneficial to him to dance with them to get to that level, but it may turn out that he never gets to perform those dances, which is hard, but I think he understands. At least we don't have to pay for those classes (2 hrs/week).
Marlon is fine and has been very helpful around the house with meal prep, etc. so I can't ask for anything more!
As for me, aside from being totally focused on this diet, there's not much. I'm trying to keep up with household stuff like bills and all that and trying to work and really am behind in Bar Mitzvah planning and lots of other things! :)
I'll update thursday after I have my Wed. night weight loss class. I had such a big loss last week that it might be a lot less, but hopefully I'll see *some* positive results for this torture I've had all week!
The weight loss plan (I hate calling it a diet) is going "ok." I'm still sticking to it diligently, but it's harder than I thought it would be and *way* harder than it was last time. I'm not physically hungry, but psychologically I'm kind of a mess. I'm already totally bored with the shakes and miss eating regular food. I keep getting these panicky feelings that I just can't do it, but I keep doing it, so I guess I CAN do it. The whole finger saga hasn't helped. But I'm taking it one day at a time, trying to divert myself by taking a walk when it gets too stressful, and thing like that. My original plan of 6 months on this just seems so daunting. I guess that's why the program is a 3 month program! (For those who stay on it longer, they just repeat the program.) We'll see how I feel about it in 3 months (actually 3 months from Aug. 28th b/c I'm switching to that new group starting Aug. 28th) but I think I may try the modified version after 3 months, which is less shakes and adds 2 of their entrees a day plus unlimited fruits and veggies. It's a LCD (low calorie diet) vs a VLCD (very low calorie diet.) I'd still lose consistently but not quite as rapidly, but thst might be fine if it's easier to sustain! We'll see....
A big thank you to Maxine and Carrie for the meals they sent over. It helped more than you can imagine b/c it's really hard for me to prepare dinner, as that's my worst time. They smelled so good I had to leave the house, and the family said they were delicious!
Other news....
Harrison got his Bar Mitzvah study materials, his Torah portion and all that and started his weekly tutorin w/the cantor. Really makes it more real and seem so soon! He got a GREAT story of the bible, so he's excited. The kid before him got leprosy, so Harrison got lucky. I'm not sure he wants everyone to know until his d'var torah (speech interpreting the torah reading) so I won't say what it is. School is going good for him and he's anxiously awaiting the start of fall baseball season.
Michela was disappointed b/c she didn't make the "fall select" competitive softball team. Her coach had pretty much said she would and she made All Stars, so it came as a surprise. She took it well, though, and I got her on a soccer team even though we missed the sign ups (b/c we weren't going to do it.) She is loving playing the flute and is happy in the new classroom.
Jacob loves his teacher and is happy with playing the trumpet. He sounds like a sick cow when he practices, but he's getting better. He was very excited b/c he was invited into 2 honor groups for the dance competition season (in addition to his regular competition group) and also asked to be in a tap trio and to do a tap solo which is a big deal! He was a bit disappointed b/c he's one of 4 "apprentices" to the higher level of competition groups and one person made it in already but they said he's just not ready yet technique-wise. They want him attending that group every week b/c it's beneficial to him to dance with them to get to that level, but it may turn out that he never gets to perform those dances, which is hard, but I think he understands. At least we don't have to pay for those classes (2 hrs/week).
Marlon is fine and has been very helpful around the house with meal prep, etc. so I can't ask for anything more!
As for me, aside from being totally focused on this diet, there's not much. I'm trying to keep up with household stuff like bills and all that and trying to work and really am behind in Bar Mitzvah planning and lots of other things! :)
I'll update thursday after I have my Wed. night weight loss class. I had such a big loss last week that it might be a lot less, but hopefully I'll see *some* positive results for this torture I've had all week!
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Update!
Judging from the phone calls and emails I've been getting, I know everyone is anxiously awaiting an update from me on how the weight loss program is going! Again, I really appreciate the interest everyone is taking and the support everyone is showing - it makes it a lot easier.
It's going really, really well. I'm off to a fantastic start and I'm sure that will make a huge difference in how successful I am long term. It's hard to decide which to write about first -- my success in my efforts and how I'm doing from the standpoint of sticking to it, exercising, feeling positive emotionally, etc. OR the bottom line success at the scale. Of course they go hand in hand and success at the efforts should equate to success at the scale, but this is a long process and I want to make sure that my focus is more on the process rather than the end result. So you'll have to wait to the end of this post for that! :)
Anyway, it's been three full days. The three days that they said would be the hardest. I haven't deviated from the plan, of course. But I don't anticipate deviating at all, so that's a given. A few people in my group tonight said that they couldn't help themselves and had some food because it was so hard. Overall, it hasn't been that difficult for me. I get hungry around dinner time, but I don't know if that's real physical hunger or more psychological hunger. It's actually really, really difficult to not eat, but I'm so determined and positive that I'm doing ok. I have been able to successfully make meals for the family and go grocery shopping. Marlon has been helping out a ton, but he's not always here. he's handling most of the dinners, but he was late getting home last night, so I started getting it ready. I'm just separating myself from it in my mind and distancing myself from it. I haven't been tempted to eat anything that I've been preparing or that we have in the house. I do, however, have some really weird cravings. I would love a big juicy hamburger or some scrambled eggs or a plate of refried beans and rice. Those aren't necessarily even my favorite foods, just what I'm craving!
It's hard at night, after the kids go to bed. That's when I used to enjoy a nice snack, while relaxing with a book. So now I stay upstairs after they go to bed. Probably better anyway, I'm going to sleep about an hour earlier.
Physically so far I feel fine. Not tired, no headache. Just normal. Energized, actually.
The shakes themselves are actually quite good and satisfying. They gave us tips on ways we can add variety, such as adding extracts, sugar free jello, sugar free instant pudding, etc. I thrive on variety, so I bought a bunch of that stuff at the store and have been trying out different things. Sometimes (esp when I'm on the go) I just mix it up in a shaker cup like chocolate milk and it's tasty. Otherwise I use the blender to make a more milkshake consistence. I made a really delicious "mocha" this morning in the blender by using half chocolate, half vanilla and adding a tsp of decaf coffee. I also had a good "root beer float" yesterday by making a vanilla shake with a diet root beer. The shakes are really, really good as puddings, and can be mixed with instant pudding to make all kinds of varieties. I have the chicken soup broth once or twice a day for something more savory and warm. When I feel the need to crunch, I eat some ice. The kids are very into it and want to taste it every way I make it. It won't hurt them, so I'm letting them so they can feel involved. We can actually buy the product for friends and family and they said it's fine for kids - makes a very nutritious breakfast on the go, so I may let them have them once in awhile. The main reason I don't want to do that often is because it's actually pretty darn expensive!!!
I've been doing awesome on the exercise. I've been keeping up with my daily swim and have added a 30 minute walk with Midnight every morning. I'm going to gradually increase the swimming time and add a second walk. I love the walks - I crank up the ipod pretty loud (it gets me going) and off I go. If anyone knows any good fast paced upbeat music that's good for power walking, let me know b/c I need to add more songs to the ipod.
Marlon's knees have been bothering him, so he decided to try swimming with me today. He was exhausted after 15 minutes (I go for 30-45) and decided he has a new respect for it because it's harder than it looks. It'll be fun to swim together. I appreciate all the offers to go walking together, but please don't take offense if I say no. I like to have my own pace and I don't like to talk and walk - I really just want to have my music loud and spend time with Midnight. (I bet I'll trade being overweight for being hard of hearing b/c I like the music so loud!)
We're supposed to keep daily records of our shakes, blood sugars, blood pressure, amount of water drank, exercise, etc. and show them to the dr and our health coach. They were impressed and both said they've never seen such detailed summary sheets turned in as mine were. I guess they don't know me very well yet! :)
So as you can see, it's going really, really well. Once I got in my mind to do this, I became so excited and motivated and now that I'm into it, I have this inexplicable inner peaceful feeling like I know I'm doing the right thing and this is the right time and the right plan. Of course I probably should have done it years ago, but I had to be in the right mindset to do it and maybe I just wasnt' there a few years ago. Anyway, I'm doing it now and that's what matters.
Ok, so ready for the "bottom line," the numbers on the scale? Before I tell you don't get too excited. I'm sure a lot of it is water weight. It will fluctuate from week to week and every week will be different and you always lose a lot at first with any diet. Still, I was quite pleased with my number at the scale because I've only been doing the fasting since Monday, so that's just a couple of days, not a whole week. I lost 7.8 pounds! So, yes, I'm off to a great start!
Nothing major is going on in other respects. This has been the focus this week. Everyone else is fine and school is going great.
It's going really, really well. I'm off to a fantastic start and I'm sure that will make a huge difference in how successful I am long term. It's hard to decide which to write about first -- my success in my efforts and how I'm doing from the standpoint of sticking to it, exercising, feeling positive emotionally, etc. OR the bottom line success at the scale. Of course they go hand in hand and success at the efforts should equate to success at the scale, but this is a long process and I want to make sure that my focus is more on the process rather than the end result. So you'll have to wait to the end of this post for that! :)
Anyway, it's been three full days. The three days that they said would be the hardest. I haven't deviated from the plan, of course. But I don't anticipate deviating at all, so that's a given. A few people in my group tonight said that they couldn't help themselves and had some food because it was so hard. Overall, it hasn't been that difficult for me. I get hungry around dinner time, but I don't know if that's real physical hunger or more psychological hunger. It's actually really, really difficult to not eat, but I'm so determined and positive that I'm doing ok. I have been able to successfully make meals for the family and go grocery shopping. Marlon has been helping out a ton, but he's not always here. he's handling most of the dinners, but he was late getting home last night, so I started getting it ready. I'm just separating myself from it in my mind and distancing myself from it. I haven't been tempted to eat anything that I've been preparing or that we have in the house. I do, however, have some really weird cravings. I would love a big juicy hamburger or some scrambled eggs or a plate of refried beans and rice. Those aren't necessarily even my favorite foods, just what I'm craving!
It's hard at night, after the kids go to bed. That's when I used to enjoy a nice snack, while relaxing with a book. So now I stay upstairs after they go to bed. Probably better anyway, I'm going to sleep about an hour earlier.
Physically so far I feel fine. Not tired, no headache. Just normal. Energized, actually.
The shakes themselves are actually quite good and satisfying. They gave us tips on ways we can add variety, such as adding extracts, sugar free jello, sugar free instant pudding, etc. I thrive on variety, so I bought a bunch of that stuff at the store and have been trying out different things. Sometimes (esp when I'm on the go) I just mix it up in a shaker cup like chocolate milk and it's tasty. Otherwise I use the blender to make a more milkshake consistence. I made a really delicious "mocha" this morning in the blender by using half chocolate, half vanilla and adding a tsp of decaf coffee. I also had a good "root beer float" yesterday by making a vanilla shake with a diet root beer. The shakes are really, really good as puddings, and can be mixed with instant pudding to make all kinds of varieties. I have the chicken soup broth once or twice a day for something more savory and warm. When I feel the need to crunch, I eat some ice. The kids are very into it and want to taste it every way I make it. It won't hurt them, so I'm letting them so they can feel involved. We can actually buy the product for friends and family and they said it's fine for kids - makes a very nutritious breakfast on the go, so I may let them have them once in awhile. The main reason I don't want to do that often is because it's actually pretty darn expensive!!!
I've been doing awesome on the exercise. I've been keeping up with my daily swim and have added a 30 minute walk with Midnight every morning. I'm going to gradually increase the swimming time and add a second walk. I love the walks - I crank up the ipod pretty loud (it gets me going) and off I go. If anyone knows any good fast paced upbeat music that's good for power walking, let me know b/c I need to add more songs to the ipod.
Marlon's knees have been bothering him, so he decided to try swimming with me today. He was exhausted after 15 minutes (I go for 30-45) and decided he has a new respect for it because it's harder than it looks. It'll be fun to swim together. I appreciate all the offers to go walking together, but please don't take offense if I say no. I like to have my own pace and I don't like to talk and walk - I really just want to have my music loud and spend time with Midnight. (I bet I'll trade being overweight for being hard of hearing b/c I like the music so loud!)
We're supposed to keep daily records of our shakes, blood sugars, blood pressure, amount of water drank, exercise, etc. and show them to the dr and our health coach. They were impressed and both said they've never seen such detailed summary sheets turned in as mine were. I guess they don't know me very well yet! :)
So as you can see, it's going really, really well. Once I got in my mind to do this, I became so excited and motivated and now that I'm into it, I have this inexplicable inner peaceful feeling like I know I'm doing the right thing and this is the right time and the right plan. Of course I probably should have done it years ago, but I had to be in the right mindset to do it and maybe I just wasnt' there a few years ago. Anyway, I'm doing it now and that's what matters.
Ok, so ready for the "bottom line," the numbers on the scale? Before I tell you don't get too excited. I'm sure a lot of it is water weight. It will fluctuate from week to week and every week will be different and you always lose a lot at first with any diet. Still, I was quite pleased with my number at the scale because I've only been doing the fasting since Monday, so that's just a couple of days, not a whole week. I lost 7.8 pounds! So, yes, I'm off to a great start!
Nothing major is going on in other respects. This has been the focus this week. Everyone else is fine and school is going great.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Thanks so much and weekend recap
First off, I want to thank everyone so much for all the support. There were so many positive comments on this blog and triple that number of emails people sent me with an encouraging word, an offer to do anything they can to help, and very kind and complimentary words. It was just what I needed to get me started on this journey so thank you so very much! Several of you have said I'm provided needed inspiration for you to get started making positive changes in your life as well, whether it be diet or exercise or other things. One of you said you'll be making a positive change to give up your own candy as a show of support (and said it was quite a big deal for you!) Many of you have offered to prepare meals for the family (thanks, they'll take it!), one of you even offered to drive to Anaheim (2o minutes away) to get me ice from the only Sonic we know is near here! (Apparently they have the best tasting ice.) Anyway, it's wonderful to have such a great network of support, not just from my own immediate family who is being extremely supportive, but also from all of you extended people! With everyone rooting for me, there's no way I won't succeeed. I start the shakes tomorrow, so I'll keep you posted!
Everything else is status quo We enjoyed a nice weekend at home after so many weekends away. This was Harrison's first weekend at home all summer. The kids had friday off from school and Jacob and Michela enjoyed a fun swimming birthday party of a good friend, while Harrison spent the day at one of his good friend's who will be Bar Mitzvahed in a couple of weeks. Friday night we were there at Angel Stadium to watch the Angels beat the Yankees big time (always a pleasure!) Saturday was another pool party for a family moving to Baltimore and Sat night we just went out to dinner and watched a movie at home. Today was low key. Jacob and Michela, who just started their band instruments at school (flute for Michela, trumpet for Jacob) had private lessons with the synagogue youth band director so they can get a "head start" and be ready to play when youth band starts. They all had some homework. We went out for breakfast. Marlon and Harrison worked out at the gym. We went to the pool. Then, tonight, Jacob and I went to the big end of the season party for dance (for the younger dancers and their moms.) Put a group of 50 dancers in a room with a good DJ and boy do you have a party. It was great fun for them!
Until next time....
Everything else is status quo We enjoyed a nice weekend at home after so many weekends away. This was Harrison's first weekend at home all summer. The kids had friday off from school and Jacob and Michela enjoyed a fun swimming birthday party of a good friend, while Harrison spent the day at one of his good friend's who will be Bar Mitzvahed in a couple of weeks. Friday night we were there at Angel Stadium to watch the Angels beat the Yankees big time (always a pleasure!) Saturday was another pool party for a family moving to Baltimore and Sat night we just went out to dinner and watched a movie at home. Today was low key. Jacob and Michela, who just started their band instruments at school (flute for Michela, trumpet for Jacob) had private lessons with the synagogue youth band director so they can get a "head start" and be ready to play when youth band starts. They all had some homework. We went out for breakfast. Marlon and Harrison worked out at the gym. We went to the pool. Then, tonight, Jacob and I went to the big end of the season party for dance (for the younger dancers and their moms.) Put a group of 50 dancers in a room with a good DJ and boy do you have a party. It was great fun for them!
Until next time....
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Ready to share my news
I'm now ready to share my news. I've really enjoyed the guessing that everyone's been doing. The most common guess, by far, was that I'm pregnant. The one that made me chuckle the most, though, was when one friend asked if I was going undercover for the FBI or CIA. Marlon's reply to those that guessed I was starting a new full time job was "wouldn't *that* be nice?!"
Anyway, it's probably not going to be nearly as exiting or interesting to all of you, but since it's something big that will be going on in our lives and since I'm asking for the support of my friends and family (emotionally and, in some cases for you locals, more practically), I thought it was important to share.
It's no secret to anyone that I have some significant weight to lose. Now that I'm 42, it's really important that I do this for my health to prevent major problems which I know will be lurking around the corner if I don't do something. Regular weight loss programs like Weight Watchers and watching calories, fats and carbs, etc. have been a little bit successful for me over the years for the short term, but when you have so much to lose, those slower methods are difficult and hard to sustain. I feel very confident that eating plans such as those will be very beneficial to me as a form of maintenance of the weight loss, but I need something a bit more drastic to get the weight off.
So, I've decided to go on the UCI medically supervised very-low-calorie fasting diet. It's a rapid form of weight loss, which you can only do under strict medical superivision with weekly doctor appts, blood work every two weeks, frequent EKG's and other monitoring, in addition to two- hour weekly group sessions that provide nutrition and exercise education, behavior modification and group support, as well as regular phone calls with my health educator/weight loss coach. It's a very intense and closely supervised program. My "eating plan" will consist solely of the special shakes (chocolate and vanilla) and the special chicken broth and special oatmeal, plus non-calorie beverages (I'm going to be aiming for lots of varieties of teas and diet sodas in addition to 64 oz of water a day.) I'll continue to do my daily swimming (although I'm planning on going back to a full hour a day instead of 30 minutes) and I'm going to add half hour morning and nightly walks with Midnight. The increased exerise (that will be 2 hrs a day on average!) should really help me lose quite rapidly, which is why they monitor you so closely.
Many of you know that I've done this program before - about 18 years ago when I was in law school, a couple of years before I met Marlon. I was extremely successful on the program and lost 140 pounds in about 6 months. (It's very, very rapid - I'm hoping and expecting to lose about 3-6 pounds a week, which will be about 20 pounds a month). I got down too low that time, so I gained a bit back right away, but then sustained the weight loss very well until the two pregnancies, which became my "license to eat," and I gained it all back and then some over the last 15 years.
I'm excited about this and very motivated to be successful. I never went "out of the box" (their expression for staying on your boxes of shake packets and not eating any real food during the program) and I plan to be as dedicated to it this time. It will be harder, though, I'm sure, because the other time I was in law school and living at home and had no one to care for but myself. Now I have to grocery shop, prepare meals for a family, sit down for dinner with my family, and attend far more social functions than I did then, which have you ever noticed they all revolve around food?! :)
Here's where all of you come in... I will welcome and can definitely use your support! Emotionally, especially, because this is a hard thing to do! But also, for those of you that live here, please don't forget about us and think that we shouldn't be invited to things just because I'm not eating. The rest of the family will still be eating and I will still enjoy a normal social lifestyle -- I'll be happy to join you with a bowl of ice to munch on! Just please don't be offended if I don't offer to help in the kitchen or if I don't offer to bring an elaborate dish to a potluck. Sign me up for the paper products or something I can pick up easily at the store!
If you're some of those friends that love to cook (you know who you are!) or enjoy helping out a friend in need, I'm sure Marlon and the kids would love an occasional home cooked meal! Marlon's going to do what he can to help (he's EXTREMELY supportive of this) and I will be making the basic tried and true very simple and easy to prepare dinners, but if anyone feels like bringing us a meal now and then, the family would be grateful!!
Jewish friends, I'm not going be making Shabbat dinners for awhile or cooking for the Jewish high holidays or Hanukkah. We'd love to be invited to join you for your holiday celebrations this year!
You all know we love to have people over, especially around the Hanukkah season. Rather than never having anyone come over, I'll just be making everything potluck and asking others to bring stuff and handle the "kitchen duty." I know you'll understand because you're all such great friends!
I officially started with my first session last night, although as motivated as I was to go off food and start my shakes this morning, my health educator/coach suggested that I (and most of the group) wait until Monday. She said it's difficult to start right before a weekend and if you have social plans, it's not the best time to start because the first 3-5 days are very difficult as your body adjusts to the very low amount of calories (it's 500-1000 calories a day, which is much lower than what most people are used to.) After the initial period, it's not hard, but those first few days are tough and she said it's better to do that when you're not in a social setting. Since we have 3 parties and an Angels baseball game this weekend, she strongly suggested that I wait the few days and start fresh with shakes on Monday, and Marlon convinced me that she was right, so I'm going to take their advice and do that.
My plan is to do the program for a full six months and move on to the "refeeding" phase in mid February, which will give me the required 6 weeks to get back into a normal diet before Harrison's Bar Mitzvah weekend. If I still want to lose a little more weight after that, I can start up again go on a "modified fasting diet" (through the same program) where you use shakes and special entrees from the HMR company in conjunction with lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. Even if I don't do that, I'll be on maintenance and their maintenance program is 18 months, which provides great support, and you can use shakes and HMR entrees whenever you want in place of meals or snacks as a tool for success to help you budget your calories and plan your eating so that you can maintain the weight loss while still eating the foods you enjoy, just in proper moderation and making appropriate choices. It's a good program with a great success rate for both losing and maintaining and I'm very sure that this will work for me long term. I've had talks with my doctor and Marlon to come up with a goal weight that is good for me and me alone. The weight that my doctor feels will be the best for me to maintain and the best for my health is still a weight that would be considered overweight for most of you, but will be right for me and far better than the "morbidly obese" I'm considered to be now. I'm not doing this for cosmetic reasons or to become super skinny, I just want to reach a healthy weight for me and to keep that weight long term.
I did spend a little bit of time considering bariatric surgery, which you're probably heard of, but for many reasons decided that this was a better way to go. Both are drastic, both are intense, both get rapid results, but Marlon and I just weren't keen on the risks and long term affects of the bariatric surgery (you can NEVER put any kind of sugar in your body forever because it makes you physically ill and you can only consume 2 oz of food or beverage at one time) and feel that I have the motivation, dedication and know-how required to maintain the weight loss on my own and with the support of this UCI program.
So, now you know what's going on. I'll keep you posted through the blog, although life will go on in other ways, so don't worry - not all posts are going to be about this. It's going to be a huge part of our lives for the next several months, but not the only thing! I'm excited, movitated and ready for this to change my life in positive ways, even though the next few months might be a bit difficult. I know I can count on your support, friends and family, and that helps quite a bit! Wish me well! (Hey, now would be an EXCELLENT time to comment!)
Anyway, it's probably not going to be nearly as exiting or interesting to all of you, but since it's something big that will be going on in our lives and since I'm asking for the support of my friends and family (emotionally and, in some cases for you locals, more practically), I thought it was important to share.
It's no secret to anyone that I have some significant weight to lose. Now that I'm 42, it's really important that I do this for my health to prevent major problems which I know will be lurking around the corner if I don't do something. Regular weight loss programs like Weight Watchers and watching calories, fats and carbs, etc. have been a little bit successful for me over the years for the short term, but when you have so much to lose, those slower methods are difficult and hard to sustain. I feel very confident that eating plans such as those will be very beneficial to me as a form of maintenance of the weight loss, but I need something a bit more drastic to get the weight off.
So, I've decided to go on the UCI medically supervised very-low-calorie fasting diet. It's a rapid form of weight loss, which you can only do under strict medical superivision with weekly doctor appts, blood work every two weeks, frequent EKG's and other monitoring, in addition to two- hour weekly group sessions that provide nutrition and exercise education, behavior modification and group support, as well as regular phone calls with my health educator/weight loss coach. It's a very intense and closely supervised program. My "eating plan" will consist solely of the special shakes (chocolate and vanilla) and the special chicken broth and special oatmeal, plus non-calorie beverages (I'm going to be aiming for lots of varieties of teas and diet sodas in addition to 64 oz of water a day.) I'll continue to do my daily swimming (although I'm planning on going back to a full hour a day instead of 30 minutes) and I'm going to add half hour morning and nightly walks with Midnight. The increased exerise (that will be 2 hrs a day on average!) should really help me lose quite rapidly, which is why they monitor you so closely.
Many of you know that I've done this program before - about 18 years ago when I was in law school, a couple of years before I met Marlon. I was extremely successful on the program and lost 140 pounds in about 6 months. (It's very, very rapid - I'm hoping and expecting to lose about 3-6 pounds a week, which will be about 20 pounds a month). I got down too low that time, so I gained a bit back right away, but then sustained the weight loss very well until the two pregnancies, which became my "license to eat," and I gained it all back and then some over the last 15 years.
I'm excited about this and very motivated to be successful. I never went "out of the box" (their expression for staying on your boxes of shake packets and not eating any real food during the program) and I plan to be as dedicated to it this time. It will be harder, though, I'm sure, because the other time I was in law school and living at home and had no one to care for but myself. Now I have to grocery shop, prepare meals for a family, sit down for dinner with my family, and attend far more social functions than I did then, which have you ever noticed they all revolve around food?! :)
Here's where all of you come in... I will welcome and can definitely use your support! Emotionally, especially, because this is a hard thing to do! But also, for those of you that live here, please don't forget about us and think that we shouldn't be invited to things just because I'm not eating. The rest of the family will still be eating and I will still enjoy a normal social lifestyle -- I'll be happy to join you with a bowl of ice to munch on! Just please don't be offended if I don't offer to help in the kitchen or if I don't offer to bring an elaborate dish to a potluck. Sign me up for the paper products or something I can pick up easily at the store!
If you're some of those friends that love to cook (you know who you are!) or enjoy helping out a friend in need, I'm sure Marlon and the kids would love an occasional home cooked meal! Marlon's going to do what he can to help (he's EXTREMELY supportive of this) and I will be making the basic tried and true very simple and easy to prepare dinners, but if anyone feels like bringing us a meal now and then, the family would be grateful!!
Jewish friends, I'm not going be making Shabbat dinners for awhile or cooking for the Jewish high holidays or Hanukkah. We'd love to be invited to join you for your holiday celebrations this year!
You all know we love to have people over, especially around the Hanukkah season. Rather than never having anyone come over, I'll just be making everything potluck and asking others to bring stuff and handle the "kitchen duty." I know you'll understand because you're all such great friends!
I officially started with my first session last night, although as motivated as I was to go off food and start my shakes this morning, my health educator/coach suggested that I (and most of the group) wait until Monday. She said it's difficult to start right before a weekend and if you have social plans, it's not the best time to start because the first 3-5 days are very difficult as your body adjusts to the very low amount of calories (it's 500-1000 calories a day, which is much lower than what most people are used to.) After the initial period, it's not hard, but those first few days are tough and she said it's better to do that when you're not in a social setting. Since we have 3 parties and an Angels baseball game this weekend, she strongly suggested that I wait the few days and start fresh with shakes on Monday, and Marlon convinced me that she was right, so I'm going to take their advice and do that.
My plan is to do the program for a full six months and move on to the "refeeding" phase in mid February, which will give me the required 6 weeks to get back into a normal diet before Harrison's Bar Mitzvah weekend. If I still want to lose a little more weight after that, I can start up again go on a "modified fasting diet" (through the same program) where you use shakes and special entrees from the HMR company in conjunction with lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. Even if I don't do that, I'll be on maintenance and their maintenance program is 18 months, which provides great support, and you can use shakes and HMR entrees whenever you want in place of meals or snacks as a tool for success to help you budget your calories and plan your eating so that you can maintain the weight loss while still eating the foods you enjoy, just in proper moderation and making appropriate choices. It's a good program with a great success rate for both losing and maintaining and I'm very sure that this will work for me long term. I've had talks with my doctor and Marlon to come up with a goal weight that is good for me and me alone. The weight that my doctor feels will be the best for me to maintain and the best for my health is still a weight that would be considered overweight for most of you, but will be right for me and far better than the "morbidly obese" I'm considered to be now. I'm not doing this for cosmetic reasons or to become super skinny, I just want to reach a healthy weight for me and to keep that weight long term.
I did spend a little bit of time considering bariatric surgery, which you're probably heard of, but for many reasons decided that this was a better way to go. Both are drastic, both are intense, both get rapid results, but Marlon and I just weren't keen on the risks and long term affects of the bariatric surgery (you can NEVER put any kind of sugar in your body forever because it makes you physically ill and you can only consume 2 oz of food or beverage at one time) and feel that I have the motivation, dedication and know-how required to maintain the weight loss on my own and with the support of this UCI program.
So, now you know what's going on. I'll keep you posted through the blog, although life will go on in other ways, so don't worry - not all posts are going to be about this. It's going to be a huge part of our lives for the next several months, but not the only thing! I'm excited, movitated and ready for this to change my life in positive ways, even though the next few months might be a bit difficult. I know I can count on your support, friends and family, and that helps quite a bit! Wish me well! (Hey, now would be an EXCELLENT time to comment!)
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
School and Camp
Ok, I'm getting a lot of emails and phone calls with people just dying of curiousity about my "news" that I'm revealing tomorrow. I've certainly sparked your interest. Most people are guessing that I'm pregnant or that we're moving. Nope, not even close. A couple of you asked, with trepidation, if we're getting a divorce and that's definitely not the case (Marlon was shocked anyone would even think that!) You'll all just have to wait until tomorrow. It's actually not THAT big, but it's something significant that will be going on in our lives that I want to share with you.
Anyway, I figured I'd better do the update about school and camp that I've been talking about. School is going really well. Harrison is very happy with his classes and teachers. He has World History with the teacher he had last year, who was his favorite teacher, so he couldn't be happier about that. He is in the higher level pre-algebra math class, which should challenge him. He is thrilled with his language arts/humanities teacher, who is very rigorous but who will get him very ready for high school. And he loves his science teacher because she is very organization and structured and he loves that. He is still in the symphonic band, but more of his friends are in it this year (last year there were only 4 6th graders because it's the honor band, but this year most of his friends who were in concert band moved up.) He has a lot of friends in PE this year and is not doing zero period PE until the spring when he will hopefully have a role in the musical and be back in musical theater.
Socially, he lost his two best friends from school - one moved to Seattle (and he misses him so much) and the other is going to the traditional middle school (mostly because of the traditional calendar vs. year round schedule.) Another couple of good friends also moved to the traditional middle school and his other best friend moved to a different school last year. He still has plenty of friends, but it's just not the same. As part of my role on the PTA, I'm heading up a Middle School Task Force to see if we can implement any programs, such as clubs and things, to enhance the middle school experience at our school, since we're a smaller middle school (which has advantages and disadvantages.)
It should be a challenging year for Harrison academically to get him ready for high school and I'm sure it will be a great year.
After last week's drama, things have settled down in 5th grade and Jacob and Michela are both very happy with their teacher and the classmates in their class. It's different having them together again, but it will have advantages. I think it will be a good year for them too - and then next year *they* go to middle school. They're all getting so old.
Harrison never really had time to do a "guest post" about camp, so I'll just do a quick update. He loved it. It was a little disruptive to him to have him come home for 3 days (to start school), so that was unfortunate (he didn't want to leave to come home, but then he didn't really want to go back) but overall it was an amazing experience. He definitely wants to go back next year. They had so many different kinds of fun activities - boating, rock climbing, archery, hiking, arts and crafts, swimming, leadership, music, dance, etc. The dining hall was fun, he enjoyed his cabin mates and loved his counselor. They had activities every evening by the camp fire - really creative and fun programs. Being immersed in a jewish experience for 2 weeks was great and he loved the independence and all the camp "routines." He can't wait to go back next year!
Ok, that's enough of an update. Don't forget to check tomorrow for my news!
Anyway, I figured I'd better do the update about school and camp that I've been talking about. School is going really well. Harrison is very happy with his classes and teachers. He has World History with the teacher he had last year, who was his favorite teacher, so he couldn't be happier about that. He is in the higher level pre-algebra math class, which should challenge him. He is thrilled with his language arts/humanities teacher, who is very rigorous but who will get him very ready for high school. And he loves his science teacher because she is very organization and structured and he loves that. He is still in the symphonic band, but more of his friends are in it this year (last year there were only 4 6th graders because it's the honor band, but this year most of his friends who were in concert band moved up.) He has a lot of friends in PE this year and is not doing zero period PE until the spring when he will hopefully have a role in the musical and be back in musical theater.
Socially, he lost his two best friends from school - one moved to Seattle (and he misses him so much) and the other is going to the traditional middle school (mostly because of the traditional calendar vs. year round schedule.) Another couple of good friends also moved to the traditional middle school and his other best friend moved to a different school last year. He still has plenty of friends, but it's just not the same. As part of my role on the PTA, I'm heading up a Middle School Task Force to see if we can implement any programs, such as clubs and things, to enhance the middle school experience at our school, since we're a smaller middle school (which has advantages and disadvantages.)
It should be a challenging year for Harrison academically to get him ready for high school and I'm sure it will be a great year.
After last week's drama, things have settled down in 5th grade and Jacob and Michela are both very happy with their teacher and the classmates in their class. It's different having them together again, but it will have advantages. I think it will be a good year for them too - and then next year *they* go to middle school. They're all getting so old.
Harrison never really had time to do a "guest post" about camp, so I'll just do a quick update. He loved it. It was a little disruptive to him to have him come home for 3 days (to start school), so that was unfortunate (he didn't want to leave to come home, but then he didn't really want to go back) but overall it was an amazing experience. He definitely wants to go back next year. They had so many different kinds of fun activities - boating, rock climbing, archery, hiking, arts and crafts, swimming, leadership, music, dance, etc. The dining hall was fun, he enjoyed his cabin mates and loved his counselor. They had activities every evening by the camp fire - really creative and fun programs. Being immersed in a jewish experience for 2 weeks was great and he loved the independence and all the camp "routines." He can't wait to go back next year!
Ok, that's enough of an update. Don't forget to check tomorrow for my news!
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Weekend in Pittsburgh!
This blog entry has text first, then lots of pictures, so be sure you go all the way to the end to see the pictures!
We're back from our long weekend in Pittsburgh and what a wonderful weekend it was! It was so nice to be with family and be able to spend time with them. It was perfect to be with my extended family since we were with Marlon's family on our recent Texas trip. Life can be short and being with family is so wonderful and so important. We're hoping that most of the extended family on both sides will be able to make the trip to California in April for Harrison's Bar Mitzvah so we can all be together again!
We flew out on the red-eye on Thursday night. My mom travelled with us, which was actually great because she goes in a wheelchair (she can't walk the long airport distances) so we get special advantages, skip lines, board early, have help with luggage, etc. She came and went with us most of the weekend and it was nice for the kids and us to spend so much extra time with her. The flight wasn't the greatest because no one really slept (the kids were able to sleep about 2 hours, Marlon, my mom and I not at all) but that was the best way to do it to get there in time and not have the kids miss a third day of school. Our hotel was awesome and let us check into our rooms at 7 a.m. so we could sleep for a few hours.
The first event was the unveiling (like a memorial service, when you reveal the headstone on the grave) for my aunt Florence, my mom's sister. *Everyone* was there (her entire family of kids, grand kids and great grand kids, our entire family, and part of my Uncle Erwin's family) and it was such a wonderful tribute to her. We all participated in the service and it was very nice. My mom was emotional, but grateful that my strong cousins carried her up the steep hill and over the rough terrain so she could be at the graveside. Being the only one of her generation, she was the "queen" of all the festivities and really, really enjoyed being with everyone.
After having some lunch and relaxing, we all went to a place called the Alpine Club for the rest of the afternoon, dinner and the evening. It was a perfect place for all of us to just hang out together and everyone had plenty of time to talk and the kids time to hang out, go fly fishing, and play poker. We celebrated the birthdays of myself (which was sunday), my mom (later in Aug), my cousin Brad (in a couple of days) and my cousin Amy (July 31st). A highlight was catching fireflies (lightning bugs) which are an east coast thing and we don't have them here. I remember catching them in the summers we spent in Pittsburgh when I was growing up and I loved doing it. The CA and Florida kids all found it very fun and exciting to do it too.
Saturday morning we slept really late since we lost a whole night's sleep on Thursday. Then the whole group of us went to the Carnegie Art Museum/National History Museum and had a docent led tour of the dinosaur exhibit and then wandered around the museum. Sat afternoon/evening we all went to a nice park where the kids played together on the playground equipment and the adults talked and of course we all ate. We got to catch more fireflies too!
We had a hospitality room at the hotel that everyone had a key to and was well stocked with breakfast foods, sodas and snacks (by my cousins Lois and Nigel, Aunt Florence's daughter and son in law, who worked so hard to organize everything the whole weekend and did such a great job!) and we all hung out there during free moments. Sat night a bunch of us were in there talking until about 11 p.m., even all the kids. It connected to my mom's room, so the kids had plenty of space to run around and play. There were a LOT of little kids and babies.
Sunday we had an unveiling for my Uncle Erwin (my mom's brother) who died a couple of months before Aunt Florence. We were all there and, again, it was a wonderful tribute to a great man and we all participated in the service.
We spent the rest of the day hanging out at Lois and Nigels, as they live in Pittsburgh. Everyone left at different times, some to take flights home and others to do other things. We stayed until most of the cousins were gone because we were really enjoying being with everyone, looking at old pictures, telling stories of the past, playing with the babies, the older kids were running around, it was nice. We left around 4 to go to Kennywood Park, an amusement park in Pittsburgh that I remember going to as a child. If you go after 5, it's less than half price, so we figured we'd go from 5 to closing and it was the perfect amount of time. We stayed til 11 when it closed and had fun on all the rides.
Monday we were able to get late check out from the hotel, so we slept in, ate a nice brunch, watched a movie in the room while packing and organizing and left for the airport around 3. The flight home was fine and we got into LAX around 8 p.m., arriving home around 10:30 (took awhile to get the luggage, the car, drive home, etc.)
I didn't take that many pictures, but tried to get at least one of everyone. Mike, Jacquie's husband, who does photography for a living, took a lot of pictures and I'm sure better ones, but we haven't gotten his yet. Anyway, even though these aren't great, enjoy them!
My cousin Nancy's kids and spouses (Uncle Erwin's grandkids) -- Maggie, Segev, Ayelet and Jerry (I hadn't seen Segev and Ayelet in at least 15 years!)
Andi (Lois' daughter) with her daughter Meghan (14 months)
Andi's husband, Chris, with their son Kyle (3 years)
Me and my cousin Brad
Marc (my cousin Jennifer's husband, she's in the background) and Mike (Jacquie's husband)
My cousin Nancy and my sister Patti (Nancy's husband, Dave, was there, but for some reason I didn't get him in any of the pictures. Her siblings, Linda and Ed, and their families couldn't make it in for the weekend)
My cousin Josh, my cousin Natalia (Brad and Debbie's daughter) and she's holding one of Josh and Julia's 8 month old twins (Matteo, I think, but it could be Niko)
Florence Fralin (Lois's aunt on my Uncle Norman's side, who is 96 and sharp as a tack), my cousin Debbie and Lois
My cousin Amy with Jacob
My cousin Eliot (Aunt Florence's son) who lives here in CA and we see all the time and his wife Linda (That's Brain and Nigel in the background)
My cousin Brad holding a beer bottle with the fireflies in it. We didn't know what to put them in, so we used beer bottles. We had some pretty drunk fireflies!
Harrison with Brad and Debbie's son Max (that's the one whose Bar Mitzvah we went to in March)
Leah (Amy and Michael's son) with Sophia and Lauren (my cousin Jennifer's kids and they live here in CA so we see them more often)
My cousin Bryan (Brad and Amy's brother)
My cousins Lorraine and Roger (Roger is Aunt Florence's other son and their kids are Brad, Amy and Bryan)
Leah, Natalia and Michela at the museum
My mom
Me
Jacob catching fireflies
Josh and his oldest Gabe (who is 3 1/2) with the drunk fireflies
Two brothers - Roger and Eliot - at the park on Sat
Sophie (Seth's wife), Seth (Lois' son), Andi (Lois' daughter), Kyle and Meghan (Andi's kids), Julia (Josh's wife, they also live in CA) and the twins Matteo and Niko
My cousin Jacquie and her daughter Helena who is about 1 1/2. They also live in CA so we get to see them more often.
Michela, Jacob, Lauren and Sophia
Rachel and Sebastian, who are Amy and Michael's older kids (Leah's siblings.) I can't believe I don't have a picture of Matthew, their 4th child who is 5 and is adorable, but I guess he was always running around and I didn't get a picture of him. I also did get one of Michael. I tried, but I didn't get everyone.
Patti and Marlon at Lois and Nigels. I thought I got a picture of Brian (Patti's husband, my brother in law) but I guess I missed him too!) This is actually the only picture Marlon is in too. Mike took some posed family pictures, which I'll put on when we get them.
Hanging out -- Me with Niko, Brad with Meghan, Natalia with Matteo
Mike (who used to play baseball in high school) giving Harrison some pointers
Josh and Gabe
Jennifer, me and Nigel (Lois' husband)
Our kids at Kennywood Park after they got off the Roaring Rapids ride and they were soaking wet and cold!
I didn't take many pictures at Kennywood but it was a neat amusement park because it is so historic. I thought this attraction was so different and neat, being created to make people laugh during the depression. Many of the rides and attractions were original from this amusement park that opened in 1898!
The kids imitating Laffin' Sal
Harrison teaching Sophie to play poker
Just hanging around
We're back from our long weekend in Pittsburgh and what a wonderful weekend it was! It was so nice to be with family and be able to spend time with them. It was perfect to be with my extended family since we were with Marlon's family on our recent Texas trip. Life can be short and being with family is so wonderful and so important. We're hoping that most of the extended family on both sides will be able to make the trip to California in April for Harrison's Bar Mitzvah so we can all be together again!
We flew out on the red-eye on Thursday night. My mom travelled with us, which was actually great because she goes in a wheelchair (she can't walk the long airport distances) so we get special advantages, skip lines, board early, have help with luggage, etc. She came and went with us most of the weekend and it was nice for the kids and us to spend so much extra time with her. The flight wasn't the greatest because no one really slept (the kids were able to sleep about 2 hours, Marlon, my mom and I not at all) but that was the best way to do it to get there in time and not have the kids miss a third day of school. Our hotel was awesome and let us check into our rooms at 7 a.m. so we could sleep for a few hours.
The first event was the unveiling (like a memorial service, when you reveal the headstone on the grave) for my aunt Florence, my mom's sister. *Everyone* was there (her entire family of kids, grand kids and great grand kids, our entire family, and part of my Uncle Erwin's family) and it was such a wonderful tribute to her. We all participated in the service and it was very nice. My mom was emotional, but grateful that my strong cousins carried her up the steep hill and over the rough terrain so she could be at the graveside. Being the only one of her generation, she was the "queen" of all the festivities and really, really enjoyed being with everyone.
After having some lunch and relaxing, we all went to a place called the Alpine Club for the rest of the afternoon, dinner and the evening. It was a perfect place for all of us to just hang out together and everyone had plenty of time to talk and the kids time to hang out, go fly fishing, and play poker. We celebrated the birthdays of myself (which was sunday), my mom (later in Aug), my cousin Brad (in a couple of days) and my cousin Amy (July 31st). A highlight was catching fireflies (lightning bugs) which are an east coast thing and we don't have them here. I remember catching them in the summers we spent in Pittsburgh when I was growing up and I loved doing it. The CA and Florida kids all found it very fun and exciting to do it too.
Saturday morning we slept really late since we lost a whole night's sleep on Thursday. Then the whole group of us went to the Carnegie Art Museum/National History Museum and had a docent led tour of the dinosaur exhibit and then wandered around the museum. Sat afternoon/evening we all went to a nice park where the kids played together on the playground equipment and the adults talked and of course we all ate. We got to catch more fireflies too!
We had a hospitality room at the hotel that everyone had a key to and was well stocked with breakfast foods, sodas and snacks (by my cousins Lois and Nigel, Aunt Florence's daughter and son in law, who worked so hard to organize everything the whole weekend and did such a great job!) and we all hung out there during free moments. Sat night a bunch of us were in there talking until about 11 p.m., even all the kids. It connected to my mom's room, so the kids had plenty of space to run around and play. There were a LOT of little kids and babies.
Sunday we had an unveiling for my Uncle Erwin (my mom's brother) who died a couple of months before Aunt Florence. We were all there and, again, it was a wonderful tribute to a great man and we all participated in the service.
We spent the rest of the day hanging out at Lois and Nigels, as they live in Pittsburgh. Everyone left at different times, some to take flights home and others to do other things. We stayed until most of the cousins were gone because we were really enjoying being with everyone, looking at old pictures, telling stories of the past, playing with the babies, the older kids were running around, it was nice. We left around 4 to go to Kennywood Park, an amusement park in Pittsburgh that I remember going to as a child. If you go after 5, it's less than half price, so we figured we'd go from 5 to closing and it was the perfect amount of time. We stayed til 11 when it closed and had fun on all the rides.
Monday we were able to get late check out from the hotel, so we slept in, ate a nice brunch, watched a movie in the room while packing and organizing and left for the airport around 3. The flight home was fine and we got into LAX around 8 p.m., arriving home around 10:30 (took awhile to get the luggage, the car, drive home, etc.)
I didn't take that many pictures, but tried to get at least one of everyone. Mike, Jacquie's husband, who does photography for a living, took a lot of pictures and I'm sure better ones, but we haven't gotten his yet. Anyway, even though these aren't great, enjoy them!
My cousin Nancy's kids and spouses (Uncle Erwin's grandkids) -- Maggie, Segev, Ayelet and Jerry (I hadn't seen Segev and Ayelet in at least 15 years!)
Andi (Lois' daughter) with her daughter Meghan (14 months)
Andi's husband, Chris, with their son Kyle (3 years)
Me and my cousin Brad
Marc (my cousin Jennifer's husband, she's in the background) and Mike (Jacquie's husband)
My cousin Nancy and my sister Patti (Nancy's husband, Dave, was there, but for some reason I didn't get him in any of the pictures. Her siblings, Linda and Ed, and their families couldn't make it in for the weekend)
My cousin Josh, my cousin Natalia (Brad and Debbie's daughter) and she's holding one of Josh and Julia's 8 month old twins (Matteo, I think, but it could be Niko)
Florence Fralin (Lois's aunt on my Uncle Norman's side, who is 96 and sharp as a tack), my cousin Debbie and Lois
My cousin Amy with Jacob
My cousin Eliot (Aunt Florence's son) who lives here in CA and we see all the time and his wife Linda (That's Brain and Nigel in the background)
My cousin Brad holding a beer bottle with the fireflies in it. We didn't know what to put them in, so we used beer bottles. We had some pretty drunk fireflies!
Harrison with Brad and Debbie's son Max (that's the one whose Bar Mitzvah we went to in March)
Leah (Amy and Michael's son) with Sophia and Lauren (my cousin Jennifer's kids and they live here in CA so we see them more often)
My cousin Bryan (Brad and Amy's brother)
My cousins Lorraine and Roger (Roger is Aunt Florence's other son and their kids are Brad, Amy and Bryan)
Leah, Natalia and Michela at the museum
My mom
Me
Jacob catching fireflies
Josh and his oldest Gabe (who is 3 1/2) with the drunk fireflies
Two brothers - Roger and Eliot - at the park on Sat
Sophie (Seth's wife), Seth (Lois' son), Andi (Lois' daughter), Kyle and Meghan (Andi's kids), Julia (Josh's wife, they also live in CA) and the twins Matteo and Niko
My cousin Jacquie and her daughter Helena who is about 1 1/2. They also live in CA so we get to see them more often.
Michela, Jacob, Lauren and Sophia
Rachel and Sebastian, who are Amy and Michael's older kids (Leah's siblings.) I can't believe I don't have a picture of Matthew, their 4th child who is 5 and is adorable, but I guess he was always running around and I didn't get a picture of him. I also did get one of Michael. I tried, but I didn't get everyone.
Patti and Marlon at Lois and Nigels. I thought I got a picture of Brian (Patti's husband, my brother in law) but I guess I missed him too!) This is actually the only picture Marlon is in too. Mike took some posed family pictures, which I'll put on when we get them.
Hanging out -- Me with Niko, Brad with Meghan, Natalia with Matteo
Mike (who used to play baseball in high school) giving Harrison some pointers
Josh and Gabe
Jennifer, me and Nigel (Lois' husband)
Our kids at Kennywood Park after they got off the Roaring Rapids ride and they were soaking wet and cold!
I didn't take many pictures at Kennywood but it was a neat amusement park because it is so historic. I thought this attraction was so different and neat, being created to make people laugh during the depression. Many of the rides and attractions were original from this amusement park that opened in 1898!
The kids imitating Laffin' Sal
Harrison teaching Sophie to play poker
Just hanging around
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