.: angilou and tucker too :.

biggest loser

yes, yes, i'm in a biggest loser contest at work.  very cliche, i know.  and no, i haven't seen "the office" biggest loser episode yet, but i have it on my to do list. so, my boss took his staff out to lunch before the holiday break and for some reason our side of the table started talking about weight/exercise/eating.  i happened to be sitting next to the one person in the company who really, truly annoys me, so i thought, well, i would defintiely be motivated to kick his butt in a contest. 

then, we enlisted another guy, and then my boss jumps in on the fray.  my boss really wanted to start that day, theoretically so he can spend his holiday on the treadmill and get a headstart.  one of the guys is going straight for the airport, so would miss the weigh-in when my boss says, "look, there's a brookstone across the street; i bet they have a scale."

so, we troop across the street, he buys the scale ($50), and we take it out of the box and proceed to weight ourselves inside the brookstone store, much to the amusement of the store staff and holiday shoppers.  so, here's the competition:

• c: 245 lbs
• b: 231 lbs
• l: 232 lbs
• me: 155 lbs (that's with clothes, including a heavy sweater)

yes, your eyes do not deceive you: 155.  i've gained 20 lbs since i moved to texas (thanks, queso!  thanks, bbq!) four years ago, so that's five pounds a year for those of you that are keeping track.  people, we cannot continue down this path. 

so, back to the work contest: three months (final weigh in: march 16), highest total percentage lost wins.  prize: half day at the lake austin spa, which is great because i didn't even suggest it; it was one of the guys.  and just to make sure everyone stays motivated, we are putting in a penalty for the person who loses the least amount: they have to wear a t-shirt that says "don't lose weight, ask me how" to work.  for a week.

so, it's on, but i haven't been doing stellar, what with the kids in all.  it's hard for me to get out and motivated to work out when there's something like laundry or dishes calling my name.  i started tracking stuff as of yesterday: day 14 (dec 29) - calories consumed: 1159, calories burned: 0.  (burned = extra physical activity, beyond just sitting around and breathing). 

i'll post regular updates, so send encouraging notes. 

current shows

my tv time has dwindled, but here's what's on my tivo list nowadays:

• the colbert report
• saturday night live
• top chef (my first season!)
• grey's anatomy (although it has clearly jumped the shark)

things we have noticed

WARNING: contents of this post will only be of interest to doting grandparents, great-grandparents and aunts.  all others should be prepare for boredom...

• cal will easily fall asleep in the car; bonden refuses to sleep in the car and will only do it under extreme duress
• cal used to spit up all the time; bonden has probably spit up five times his whole life.  (i know this because i had to wash cal's crib bumper all the time and i can't remember the last time i washed bonden's.)
• cal always had to be burped (see above); bonden never needed to be burped
• we read to cal every night; bonden won't sit still for a book
• cal never had an ear infection; bonden's had 6 in the last six months, enough that he had to have tubes put in
• whenever we told cal to say "hello" or "goodbye" to someone, cal would always duck his head and look away; bonden will happily wave to any receptive audience

if only...

it's sweet when the meanest threat they can propose is: "well then i'm not going to play with you!"

if only life were this way where you could threaten and coerce people by refusing your camraderie.  i'm going to try it on tucker the next time he pisses me off...

christmas talk

after a discussion about decorating the tree:

"mama, we have to decorate the house, so that santa knows to come here"
"well, that's why we have the tree and lights outside."
"noo, that's not enough!  we need decorations inside so he'll come inside!"

talking about putting out cookies and milk for santa:

"...and we better make sure trixie doesn't eat them."
"we can put a stop sign on it!  that way trixie won't...we should put them funny side up!  that way she won't know they're cookies!"

and:

"do we have a fireplace?"
"no."
"well, we better get one quick!  for santa!"

shoe tragedy

at work there is this girl caroline, a kind of short katherine heigl who lives in chanel.  the woman's wardrobe is ridiculous; it helps that her mom is a buyer at saks.  anyways, this woman is traipsing around work in her chanel and gucci outfits which go almost completely wasted on the dockers and eddie bauer crowd in round rock.  fortunately, i get to live vacariously through her and her fabulous outfits.

she texts me one day: "neiman is having a ridiculous sale on shoes!"  for some reason i didn't have the kids that day and my car magically drove itself to the arboretum neiman.  caroline has already bought three pairs of shoes - "they're 50% off and then ANOTHER 50% off!", including a pair of leopard print prada pumps.  caught up in shoe euphoria, i agree to buy my first pair of pradas, still overpriced, but somehow justifiable.  they are a pair fo sensible kitten heels, very practical, so that i can still get a good PPW (price per wear).  i leave ecstatic.

last weekend we had a spate of holiday parties - what better time to wear my new pradas?!  so off i go traipsing to a co-workers party.  it's my first time going to her house, and i know there will be some work people there.  it turns out to be one of our more disasterous party outings, but more on that later.  the hostess went all out with the preparations, including gender specified scavenger hunts (lip balm clue for the girls, fighter figure for the boys).  the thing is, all the scavenger hunt clues are located in their foresty backyard.  not foresty like tall trees, but foresty like lots of brush, low-hanging branches and young trees that are under 10 ft tall.  tucker's in the house without socks or shoes (again, more on that later), so i have no choice but to help cal out with the hunt.  what was i supposed to do?  say "hey kiddo, you're on your own traipsing through a sloping, rocky, brush-ridden back yard looking for candy canes on ornaments on branches.  i'll be standing here on the sidelines."

suffice it to say, we complete the scavenger hunt and my kitten heels are ruined.  i am distraught, but what can i say?  pull a carrie and demand that that hostess pay me to replace my shoes?

i haven't taken them to the shoe repair place yet.  i don't have the heart for the guy to tell me "nothing i can do; these are ruined."  that's what i get for getting cocky and buying a pair of fancy shoes. :-(

rewind: september

ok, so let me at least write one post for each of the last four months to recap.  but i am not good at remembering things, so let's use pictures.  our cool activity of the month was a dinner we had at susan's, where the chef of wefuse came and cooked for us - very cool!   
 

welcome back!

gosh, has it really been august since i last posted?!  well, i had dinner with my foxy mamas group on tuesday and was admonished by kelly for not updating, so i've been shamed back into blogging.  gosh, a lot has happened since august.  but before i give an update, i must mention my lovely mamas.  so, our common bond is that we all live in central austin and our kids all go to the same day care.  it's an amazing group of women: strong, accomplished, attractive and great moms.  we've had playdates, and tuesday was the first time we actually went out without the kids.  i looked around the table and realized that i was sitting at a table of all blondes.  i don't know why that struck me as funny, but it did.  this pic is missing two of them, but gives you an idea of how i stick out in the group.  this was taken on halloween just in case you're wondering...