Finally...Aulani Vacation Arrives WooHoo!!!

Who: Me, Tay and Tori (her first visit) When: Thanksgiving week.

Long Flight overGirls Got Lei's upon Arrival

Snorkle PoolMain Pool with Ewa Tower in background

Hot Tub overlooking the lagoonFrom the beach

Sharks! J/KEnd 1st night in the hot tub

Character BreakfastPineapple Time!

Look at those nuts!They finished under 1 hr in the rain!

Lazy RiverStarlight Hui

watching with friendsArizona Memorial Museum

Tori getting rushedTay can fit in this bunk

End of Bowfin sub tour Scenic overlook

Just another day at the pool Our pool view

Tidepool at sunset menehuene trail

Turkey Day! Birthday Bfast view AMA AMA

Grand Villa wouldn't upload. I'll try on another page.

Aloha..and other things

Gearing up for winter around here. It's been cold for cali and I miss the warmth so we are going to head off to hawaii for some sun and fun. I am very much looking forward to vacation but until then I need to get some crap done around my "hoarders style" house. Well that's how I feel anyways. I'm starting to amass quite the collection of plastic, paper etc. Things that need to be recycled, thrown out, cleaned up in general. We've just been going going going for so long that sometimes I just want to chill out and relax and not do those basic housekeeping tasks. BUT this weekend is it! I need to get some crap done. ( I needed to restate for my own help LOL).

Tay has completed her try-outs and for the first year of trying out for different clubs I was both frustrated and pleased with the process. I had several people tell me that I need to be patient and wait for the phone calls but I was so used to them calling that night. It was very frustrating. I know now that when it's time to find out about high schools, I'll be a big stress ball too. Tay has picked a team that I know she will grow on and luckily 2 of her teammates from last year are also on the team. She is very happy about that. Now I just have to figure out how to pay for VB, property taxes and still have money for vacation. I sure hope that money tree in the back yard is fruitful this year.

School is going. Conferences just happened and I was pleased with the outcomes. We had a conference with one teacher that was hard, but hopefully will help both of them (teacher and student) work together better. Although, I was already let down by the teacher this week. Sometimes I don't understand who is the adult and who is the teen?

I will post some pics from our hawaiian getaway when we return. Aulani looks amazing. I can't wait to check it out in person.

Last year in Middle school really feels like preparing for college

So another long awaited update......

School has started up and sports are in full swing. We have not been getting home until after 8pm nightly. It's exhausting, truly!
Soccer is going well. For her 1st year in competitve they aren't doing too bad. We lost to a team that I'd hoped they'd beat but only so I could smirk at someone. Probably why we lost, my bad karma. This should have been our year at school volleyball, but our team just can't communicate. We have some great skilled players who just don't trust each other. It's too bad. But comp clinics are going great. Tay has been doing clinics at UC Berkeley and loving learning from college players. They run a great clinic. She has also been taking some weekend clinics with her old club and another club she is interested in. It's going to be a good tryout weekend. Tryouts for VB are on the same day as our last soccer game. And while tay was not going to do bball, her math teacher is coaching and has talked her into playing. I'm a little bummed as I was looking forward to going home right after school.

School is going well so far. We had the "talk" about taking school seriously. She really wants to go to private school for high school and she needed to pull up some grades. They weren't bad, but she just needed to be stronger. So far so good. Everyone is impressed, but we've also learned our lessons and told her we're proud but it needs to continue. I'm even more impressed with her time management skills. She gets started on homework as soon as she has a free moment and continues with out wanting to watch tv or go play. The only bothersome thing..which is totally teen, is the skype. First kids couldn't use the phone to call their friends, only text. Now they want to skype their friends, not call or text. Soon phones will be obselete. UGH!

We are knee deep into the private high school application period at this time. Narrowing down our choices to a couple of local schools. Hopefully one or both will love to have my adorable child. If not, I'm screwed. I can't send her to either of her home high schools. So I have to put my eggs in the transfer basket and hope it comes thru. I'm staying super positive that she will get into one of the high schools AND they will give me enough financial assistance to send her there.

On the homefront....
My health concious lifestyle is meandering along. This week has been off a little due to a side trip to disney, but I am keeping my eyes open and owning my lazyness. The cats are still fighting and driving me crazy.

On the vacation front.....
While tay was on a school trip, her mom, uncle, and great aunt took a trip down to the house of mouse. It was so fun to go without kids but also with my two favorite adults. I love spending time with my aunt without our kids and any opportunity to spend time with my brother is amazing. Our next trip is to Aulani on Oahu. We are looking forward to going back to hawaii. I will post lots of pics of that trip in the future.

That's all for now. Enjoy your fall!

Where did summer go?

Obviously, I am slacking on the blog. Let's face it the sole purpose is to blog the vacation fun...life is not as exciting.
This summer has flown by. We normally vacation during the school year because I work during the summer and it's actually my busy season. It's quite hard to find time to take off during the summer. This summer I had to find time. I was going to max out on my available vacation time and I am not the person who will lose out. I was able to eek out 2 weeks of time off early in the summer. One week was a staycation. Just hung out at the house. I had high hope of super cleaning and organizing but I think I needed to just chillax. The second week off was to go with the cousins to look at colleges in southern california. It was a fun trip and we got to see some friends down in sc. Lot's of great schools but OMG so expensive. My tay needs to buck up her grades so she can get some $$ off tuition. It was a great experience for tay at her age. I recommend anyone with kids close to entering HS go with a senior to look at college. It will really put into perspective what is necessary for your younger child to succeed at in HS.
Tay spent her summer hanging out at home in the beginning and volunteering at a local summer camp at the end. She went to volleyball camp with a bunch of friends for a week in the middle. She has been having a great time working at camp. She has been doing such a good job that the camp director actually told me she is hired as a CIT for next year. I'm so proud that she took the inititive to volunteer and she was so excited when he offered her a job. It's not a paying job but it will look good on her resume. Everyone needs to start somewhere!
Tay is also in high gear for soccer. They have started their tourments and are doing well for a small team. She is having fun but it is very busy. I recently realized that we will have no weekends free from Labor day to Halloween. Thats ok though, it's good for tay and it gets my fat ass off the couch!
Speaking of fat asses...yes I'm still large and in charge. I really don't want to have this body size but I am quite simply not motivated. Well thats not quite true. We came back from vacation in july and I refused to go to the grocery store. I was quite pissed that a week and a half before I had spent quite a bit of money on food and it just went to waste. Our schedules didn't get us home to have time to cook. I came back from vacay and thru out probably $100 of fresh food that went bad. I was so angry that I told tay we are eating what is left in our house. No grocery for us until it was gone. Well I am proud (or embarrased) to say we did it. Cleaned out our house and I only had to buy milk.
Our fridge was so bare I could clean the entire thing and put everything left on one shelf. Sad but true. After my fridge cleaning tay and I headed to safeway to restock. She was actually happy to go to the store, a chore she normally hates. I had a huge list and a big intention to cook. Not just cook packages, but really cook. BUT my biggest intention was for me to go carb free. I have done the carb free before and it was easy and great. Without even trying I lost almost 30lbs just eating white flour fee. I also pared down my non natural sugar too.
So after spending too much money and buying very little crap (tay needs snack stuff) I came home and started cooking. 1st thing was to make tay homemade chicken strips. Which she hated, of course. I'm can't eat because of the light breading so now what do I do with them? I can't throw out perfectly good food, but neither of us are going to eat so i'm perplexed. They will sit in the fridge while I decide.
2nd thing was parmesean crusted zucchini which was awesome! I was so in awe, I decided to attempt a burgandy sauce with mushroom to go over my steak I was grilling later. It didn't go as well as I hoped and I did have to add a teaspoon of white flour to get it thicker. BUT it was good. I also roasted some potatoes. However I didn't start cooking until late as I was fighting a migraine and my neighbors invited us over for smores while i was deep in my cooking. So day 1 was a bust on my white flour/refined sugar. I didn't eat too much but I did have some. and BTW smores rock. I haven't had them in a while but man they were good! I came home from the neighbors and ate my steak and mushrooms. YUMMY.
So today I start again. This morning I fried up some bacon and made a crustless quiche for breakfast. I threw some fresh tomatoes and sour cream over it and had a wonderful breakfast. Made with no white flour or refined sugar. For lunch I'll have left over steak/potatoes and zucchini and for dinner maybe the final or maybe I'll grill some chicken or maybe a salad? Who knows but I have enough for anything. Keep your fingers crossed that I will be able to keep myself full without the useless crap that keeps my gut big.
Hope your summer ends on a high note! I look forward to a new year, which will be tays final year at my school. We have alot of highschools to look at and lots to do to find the right place for her. Wish us luck.

Been a while, but summer is here!

So it's been a while since I've been on, getting the end of the school year finished up. So here's my updates....

tay has ended 7th grade. It was a rough year but she made it through. She has accepted that school is just going to get harder..just as life does..and really wants to go to a specific private high school so she is going to be working hard towards that goal next year. I can't believe that I have to start applying for high school for her next year. Crazy!

She finished out her volleyball season and had a great time. She does love the competitive sport but wishes that her team was more competitive. There were some new girls on the team and they never quite got that competitive edge to them. I was disappointed and expressed it to the coach. It is quite expensive to play these sports and you just want to see the team as a whole building up towards something. Tay did improve quite a bit and while she is not the tallest kid..she loves playing the net and has an awesome jump. She is also quite the libero. We are on the fence for next year, but I'll probably have her try out for more than just her reqular team. Just to see what is out there.

She recently tried out for a comptetitive soccer team and made it. It is very exciting for her as soccer is her first love. I like this team because they play local teams only. No extended travel. Plus they are offering a free soccer camp over the summer. Mommy loves her freebies! This soccer team will play all the way thru december so this ought to keep us quite busy.

She is also looking at going to a few camps but we will see how the money tree shakes down. Right now the fruit is not in season. LOL.

We have adopted a new cat, renamed from baby girl to cookie, and she is driving me crazy. She is so mean to my cat and she misses the litter box ALOT! I have to remember that she was not treated very well at her last home but she's working my last nerve. I am trying to break her this weekend and it isn't going very well. I have moved the litter box outside and sent her out to do her business. Keep your fingers crossed she doesn't have an accident tonight. Oh and did I mention she has no teeth and has to eat soft food. UGH! Such a softie, I know.

Job is going well. Just completed my 14th year and got my super 14 award at this years graduation ceremony. This year I helped the parents organize graduation and got a taste of whats to come next year. I think I might spend the whole year crying. oh well. Due to my lack of vacation last summer I MUST take time off this summer even though I am broke. So I will spend some time organizing my house and hopefully have a garage sale later in the summer. I will also be travelling to so cal with my cousin and aunt to look at colleges for her. From malibu to san Diego. Although I think my aunt is more interested in disneyland. How to explain I don't have the $$ for disney. Still working on that!

On the personal front...I'm still fat. I own it and I would love for a magic pill cause this eating right and excercising thing is really not working for me. I never really got back into the gym after my injury. I do walk while tay is at soccer and log in every good and bad thing I eat. I have good days and bad. I know it's a mind set and while I wish I was in better shape, I have very little incentive mentally to get off my ass and do something about it. Oh except for living longer blah blah blah.

We are still on for our hawaiian vacation this fall. I guess thats another reason to drop some poundage. I'm ready to go back to hawaii. it's been a while and I've missed it. I'm excited over the hawaii property. It'll be nice to be able to get last minute airfare and free hotel.

That's it for now. Hope you all have a great summer.

Back from Vacation and had a whale of a good time!

Just back from our land and sea disney vacation this past spring break and I already wish I was going right back again. Tay and I had a great time and the best part was no rushing thru airports and long transfers. We just drove to socal disney, something we do anyways and from disneyland it was a quick trip (with stops) to the port. It was so lovely to see that boat in the harbor.

Here's the rundown with limited pics ( I forgot my camera and relied on my iphone)

We left our home and my booboo kitty in the dark of night with all intentions on being early into the park. Tay slept the whole way down, lucky girl. It was a pretty uneventful drive with a couple of cars swerving at times. I like driving in the middle of the night, less traffic and no whiny kid. I stopped for gas/coffee at magic mountain around 6am and got to disneyland around 7am. A nice traffic free drive. We were staying at the Villas at Grand California, DVC's new addition to the Grand California Hotel. I gave my bags to the bellhop and moved our car to the free guest parking across the street. I decided to take a quick 20 min cat nap since the park didn't open until 8am. Tay was wide awake now and let me get a quick "zzzz". We headed over to DL and walked right in at 7:55am. I was trying to get something to eat quickly but nothing opened until 8am. In retrospect it was a good decision as our first ride was space mountain and it left me a tad queasy. I have noticed that the rollercoaster rides are now leaving me feeling ugh when I get off of them. It's a bummer but I'm sure comes with my old age. I think thats why my favorite ride is toy story mania now. Mellow shooting game..aahhh

Tay and I had finished out all of the main rides and headed over to California Adventure right as they opened.

As we were waiting in line for Screamin' tays dad called to let us know they had arrived. Tays dad, stepmom and stepbrother were meeting us down in DL. They had to leave later as R made it into the science fair the night before. We did a couple of more rides at CA Adventure then headed over to meet up with dads fam in DL.

First ride was Matterhorn. R was very excited! We padded around both parks until our room was available. Downside of DVC at DL is they clean those rooms last and they are NOT available until after 4pm! We got the call at 4:05 that the room was ready. We headed over, had the bags delivered and got in our suits to head to the pool. Did I mention that it was freakishly hot on friday. R stayed in the room while the adults and tay headed to the pool for swimming and cocktails, shirley temple for the kid. It was nice to relax before heading over to the park again. We went back around and split off..I came back to the room at 10pm while the rest went to ride space mountain. Our room at the VGC was beautiful. A balcony overlooking World of Color so I sat in the room watching the show while getting ready for the next day. We had early entry to the park at 7am. Up early saturday morning to hit the park running. We had a big day saturday. Hit all the non fastpass rides in the morning then did the plaza character breakfast.

Then off to ca adventure to get our fast passes for world of color. Tays dad had never been to Ca Adventure and R hadn't been to DL since he was 6 so he barely remembered. It was fun to see the park with newbies. I love their excitement and enthusiasm. Once again we took a break in the middle of the afternoon. It wasn't warm enough to swim on saturday but J and I took a cat nap. Tays dad headed off to watch the muppets and then we were supposed to meet up with him to watch aladdin. Unfortunately he had R's ticket on him. After a little begging the lovely ladies at the gate allowed us to enter the park w/o a ticket for R. Tays dad did not have a phone but luckily tay got her had stamped from CA Adventure. PHEW! Needless to say R's mom collected his ticket and kept it with her. After Aladdin we went to ESPN zone to have a nice relaxing dinner with many drinks. I love vacation! We headed back to CA to watch world of color and then once again called it a night. Another early entry day on sunday and they we were going on a BOAT!

Sunday we all did early entry to get some final rides at DL. After that tays dad and his fam left us to head out to the boat while tay and I headed to CA Adv. to do some final rides. I wanted to ride Toy Story and Tay wanted to do screamin' . We finished in just enough time to get back to the room and check out at 10:59am! The night before tay had fallen with her phone in her hand and completely destroyed it. On top of some underwire issues I was having, we decided to pack the car and head out to do some errands before the boat.

My plan was to arrive late to the ship for 2 reasons...1. I didn't want to hit another 24 hour period for parking, save myself 12 bucks! and 2. I wanted to carry my bags on straight to my room. This was selfish as I just didn't want to pack my bags to protect breakables. Thank goodness for a stop at Macy's and AT&T. We arrived at the port at 2pm. Perfecto! No lines, no waiting, just picked up our Key to the World card and headed on board. Straight to our room. Dropped the bags and went to go find everyone. Found tays dad making sure his lifejacket was proper. Even thought you don't need to wear it to the drill he wanted to check them out. Below is a video of how he felt about us making fun of him.

I went to the disboards meet but briefly. Met my dinner companion and some other nice people. We stayed up on deck for the sailaway party for a sailway that didn't happen right away! I went down to my room to unpack after the party and an hour later found us still in port for some unknown reason. We met up with tays dad, j and r for the show and then dinner that night. Once again I found myself in a new situation. The bumpy sea was messing with me. This was new to me. It took a day to get my "sea legs" but thankfully they arrived. It was pretty bumpy that night however it rocked me to sleep! The next day was a sea day and a little chilly so I did alot of inside things in the morning. Trivia, DVC meeting, more trivia. Later in the afternoon, I took tay to the sports deck to play capture the flag and as usual she made fast friends. That night at dinner was the last night we saw tay. She was off with her middle school BFF's she had made. Tuesday we arrived in Cabo, a little late and lots of long lines for tenders but it was no sweat for me as I had no intention of leaving the boat!

The view from our SPH room on the boat in Cabo. It was gorgeous this day. I put on my suit and headed up to the pool to find a mecca of chairs and just a few people. A true luxury on a packed cruise ship. I spent my day at the pool, to only leave to refill my drink or grab a snack. Tay was off with friends. This pattern repeated itself on wednesday in Puerto Vallarta. My view was not so great this day as they were doing maint. outside my window most of the day. Thankfully since I was at the pool I didn't care. They had extended our day in PV that morning to a 10pm onboard. Had I known this in advance I would have done some research and planned an authentic dinner of the ship but no internet met dinner onboard. Tay went off with her dad and fam to go ziplining for the day. She came back tired and cranky. She didn't have alot to say about ziplining. But I found out later that if there was no hiking involved it would have been more fun. Talk about lazy kids.

Sea day on thursday and pirate night. Now at this point in the vacation I started to get a sore throat. Thinking nothing of it, just overdoing drinking talking etc. Little did I know....

Friday we were in cabo again and I had heard that many people were staying on the ship which prompted me to leave and walk around for a bit. Tay and I headed out with the Hughes Clan to check out cabo. It was pretty hot and the kids were kinda whiny, but it was pretty. We ended up getting a beer and some snacks at CaboWabo, some cough drops at the pharmacia and then went back to the ship. We saw a seal/sea lion playing in the water as we headed back to the ship.

Such an awesome boat! I went back up to the pool deck and right back into my tanning mode. As usual I have noticed that my age is making my skin burn instead of tan right away, but I did get a great tan for a week. I should have gone to the tanning booth before but oh well. On our way out of Cabo we saw whales. Below is a video and If you can look beyond my crappy iphone skills and my reflection in the window you will see what they were doing for a while alongside the boat. It was awesome!
It became super windy that afternoon..I mean SUPER windy. Everything blowing everywhere so my tanning was over :( In fact most of the outdoor deck activities were over. It was so cold and windy as we headed back to LA. Saturday was more of the same. At one point Pat, Nolan and I went to the front of the ship and watch nolan waving in the wind. Hysterical! This was the last night and I made tay come to dinner for a bit. She was waiting for her friend to finish and once they were both done they headed off to edge for the final night. We relaxed and finished up dinner. I went back to the room to pack up for the next day and then headed down to pub night with kim. My favorite night on the ship. If I were not upon the sea..... My cold had come on full force now and I was regretting not getting antibiotics in mexico. The next morning we headed down to breakfast with our luggage for our last meal on the wonder.

Tay and her shipboard BFF! They were sad to leave each other at the end but she lives close so there is hope they will have a playdate!

Since Tay and I had our bags we could leave anytime we decided. So after breakfast we headed off the ship. Tays dad had not been called and we actually walked off briefly with the hughes but got seperated at immigration. There was a small line to show your passport and then we walked out of the port, saying goodbye to the ship and hello to our very dirty car in the lot. It took a little time to get out of the parking lot then we were on our way home. Tay slept for about 4 hours in the car. Which was nice because I didn't look forward to the "are we there yet" and "i'm hungry" utterances.

All in all a fabulous vacation. So great that we rebooked for next spring break. I doubt we will do disneyland too but we'll see. Maybe next year we'll stop and do universal studios. I haven't been there in a LONG time. Long time to plan. Fun things to do. And once again a reminder that I used my disney time share to pay for this vacation. My cash out of pocket for the whole trip including gas/parking was under $500. That's a great deal for 10 days! If any of you are considering DVC, don't forget to say my name! Pay it forward. Our next vacay will be a trip to our new home resort on the island on oahu later this year. Cya later!

I'm Baaaacck!

I'm happy to report that the cast is off and I'm walking, driving and most importantly back in the gym. I am extremely happy to report that even thought I didn't workout for 4 weeks (28 days to be exact) I only gained 1lb but lost body fat. AND let me tell you I didn't exactly eat super healthy while I was laying on my ass on the couch.

Today, while at the gym, a trainer told me to up my strength workout and I will stat seeing more of a difference in my overall weight loss and body fat regardless of what I eat. However he did stress that if I ate better overall I would be on a quicker loss. I know I know, it's just so hard!

To celebrate my cast removal I headed to tahoe with tay and some friends over presidents weekend. Tay had been sick for quite a while so it was nice to see her feeling better and excited to head to the snow. It has been extremely cold her in cali and tahoe was getting quite a dumping of fresh powder. It took 5 hours to get up and I'm pleased that we decided to leave friday morning instead of thurs. night. Most of the people I knew that left thurs were sitting in massive traffic and the fastest anyone got up was 9 hours! We arrived to lots and lots of snow. Tay was thrilled. We went to get ski's for tay and cash at the atm then lunch. The girls put on their snow gear and headed outside with sleds for a bit while the rest of us chilled inside. Since I had just gotten my cast off and still had a limp I was being extra careful. No snow play for me.

Saturday morning tay, em and ben headed out to ski. Tay had not been for a year, but em and ben are experts. It was kind of them to work with tay and help her along. She had a great time. They came home and we changed and headed out to reno to see Elton John at the Reno Events Center. Since there was a severe winter storm J had booked a hotel that night so we didn't have to drive back that night. The concert was good. He played for 3 hours lots of old, classics along with some newer songs. Tay had a good time but was tired at the end of the night.

Sunday we headed back to incline from reno. Once there the girls played in the snow again while we packed up. Due to the high number of people in the area and the storm we decided to head home sunday night and once again avoid the long traffic home. It turned out to be the right decision as it only took us 3 hours to get home! Giving me plenty of time monday to start back at the gym (pilates in the am and toning at night) and cleaning and laundry. Plus tay had a ton of homework to catch up on before school on tuesday.

Tay is plugging along at volleyball. She missed a tournament due to her illness but she went back to practice this week. Softball also started this week. It's nice to see her healthy again. She is getting very excited for our vacation next month then she is off with her classmates to washington dc for a week. She can't wait for either.

I am back at the gym but no cardio yet. Doc said to take it slow for another 4 weeks...no dance :(
I will be doing lots of weightlifting and some light cycling and walking on the treadmill. Again, not where I wanted to be for vacation but at this point i'm just glad I'm not on crutches on a cruise ship!

I was contacted by old vacation friends to see if we want to meet up next feb to vacay again. It's very attractive. I'm going to book while onboard to get a discount but we'll see if it works out. Tay has a huge paper due at that time. She will have to be totally on her game in order for us to consider missing a few days of school. We'll see. As it is we are already heading to hawaii with her cousin at thanksgiving and just before that tay is headed to oregon to the shakespeare festival with her class. Lots of travelling in our future.

Here's hoping March marches right on by so vacation will be here before I know it!

A giant setback....

My lofty goals of being gym bound daily have been thwarted by a ridiculous injury. Let me share my stupid story!

My gym had a contest that started in January. Lose the most body fat and win a big fat cash prize. There are 3 places overall for male and female members over the whole company (40 locations) and then each gym has individual winners and there is an overall prize for a "trip" to hawaii...I read about that and it's really just $1000 towards a trip, but I'll take it. Even though I go to the gym regularly, I don't go with any friends but I usually work out with the same people. So due to this contest I got aquainted with several other participants. We decided we would form a team to help each other along, cheer up and text to make sure we are all going to the gym regularly if not together. All is going according to plan..daily texts to see when we are going to be at the gym, healthy diet and excercise. I have done my initial weigh in and body fat..too depressing to mention, and then at my second one I had lost 3lbs and 1% of BF. Not the start I was looking for but a good start none the less. The following monday I am in my weight training class with ruby and we are having a good time. We were 45 minutes into class when Hailey came to the door and started teasing us and we were giving back to her...and I decide to start jumping up and down like a jackass and next thing I know...POP goes my calf muscle. I have never felt this kind of pain before. Now I don't want to stop the class for everyone so I scoot over to the corner to see if I can stretch out my leg, but nothing is working. I can barely walk and the pain is just getting worse and even more horrible is Zumba is next and the line to get in is sooo long. Well my class ends and I make my way out. H and R and a couple of others are offering to help me but I don't want them to have to miss zumba so I decline and suck it up and hop out of the class. It takes me a good 15min. to get to my car and I pretty much ready to hurl from the pain. As soon as I get in my car I just start bawling. I'm no wuss but this is bad. I call my friend whose a doc and she recommends a trip to the ER, I call my friend whose a PE teacher and she says Ice/break/heat repeat, I call my brother whose telling me to go to the ER also. BUT I'm CHEAP and there is not giant copay in my future. Luckily I have crutches in my garage leftover from a previous knee surgery. I get home ice/heat etc. and hobble on crutches to my room. Then next morning...I can't stand up. The pain is still incredible. I send tay off to school with carpool and call urgent care. Flashforward a couple of days and the diagnosis is Acute Calf Sprain. Doesn't that sound so stupid. Treatment...wearing an aircast, using crutches, pain meds and muscle relaxants and NO DRIVING! I have been depending on the kindness of friends for almost 3 weeks now! I'm so ready to drive and get my independance back.

The prognosis is good but slow. I should be released to drive next week and start physical therapy. I should be able to get back to the gym around March 1st but no cardio for quite a while. So my hopes for a respectable cruise body have been thwarted! Send positive healing my way!

Happy Valentines Day!

New Years Resolutions and other BS!

Who makes resolutions anymore? They always seem to be defeated within the first week of the new year. My theory is...as long as you are aware of what you should or need to do and try to succeed you should feel positive about your efforts. RIght?!?

Anyways my goal, as it is every year, is to get healthy in every aspect. From body, finance and home. Lofty goals for myself as usual. On the body side I still go to the gym regularly. I try to get there 5-6 days a week for 2 hours a time. I'm tied into classes not doing the treadmill or weights so it makes it a very regular schedule. Tay is supportive but on the nights I don't go she's happy to snuggle with me on the couch when she's done with her homework and get a little mommy time.

My home needs alot of work. While I finally moved into the master bedroom, just as I suspected all along, I didn't finish some tasks. I still have alot to do and maybe I'll get to it or not. I have no drive in that area. None at all.

My finance..well it's just pathetic and I have no drive to correct either. I am gainfully employed and very thankful for that! I love my job. Spending all my time with kids keeps me young in my mind.

We are a busy house as usual. My little sporty spice is getting ready for her first volleyball tournament. While I'm not one to toot her horn (boast for the kid) she's been practicing amazingly over the last few weeks. I hope it holds up when we get in our first tournament. We are also going into competitive soccer try outs. This year she is going to try out for 2 different clubs. We'll see how it goes. I hope she makes it because I'm her mom and she would be so happy but it's a HUGE commitment, lots of practices and games all over the bay area. I'm not so down with that. I'm so happy for her on her house team. Local practice, local games short season. Mommy happy!

Keep your fingers crossed for her.

On a much happier note..there are only 10 weeks until VACATION! I can't wait to sit my ass in a lounge chair on the mickey ship and read! I plan to come back brown and relaxed. Looking forward to my tequilla crawl in cabo too!

Happy january!