The Romancechick Speaks

Tuesday didn’t go so well, or it went great, depending on how you look at it.

I got Sword & Illusion edited (or at least I worked on it for an hour), then I read my husband’s book and critiqued it for an hour. Then I took my little Netbook and went to the carpool to pick the Boy up from school.

He told me he needed a glue stick for school so I thought we’d head over to Target. I needed light bulbs anyway.

Our nearest Target is next to a Best Buy and I’ve been wanting a Wii Fit since about Christmas. I asked for one for my birthday in Feb but Beloved couldn’t find any and got me a George Foreman Grill instead.

Anyway, when I asked at the Best Buy about it, they never could tell me when they were getting them in. We got the final check from my mother’s estate, and I’d put a bunch of random checks, including that one, in the bank.

So, since we were right there, I thought, oh, let’s stop in and see if they have any. They won’t but we’re right here anyway.

Well, they had them! Not the Wii Fits, but the very helpful saleman answered my questions and told me that another store across town had Wii Fits and I could pay for it there and go to the other store and pick it up. Cool.

So, I got everything this guy recommended I needed and an extra game for the Boy and A Biggest Loser workout disc for me. It was more money than I expected but as Beloved said, I’m an heiress now and we have a bit of extra cash.

I’m also considering getting a Nook or a Kindle so if anyone has any comments on either one, I’ll take it.

We brought everything home (didn’t get to Target) and started the set up. Then the Gril and Beloved came home, we had dinner and he headed off to RCIA at church. His mom is finally feeling up to getting out of the house again, so that’s good.

The kids and I headed to the Mall where the other Best Buy is and picked up the Wii Fit and bought an Alice in Wonderland game for the Girl.

Then we came home and set THAT all up! We made Miis for all of us and the Girl and I did our body test on the Balance Board for the Wii Fit. It gave me a Wii Fit age of 60 – NINE years older than I am!!! It made the Girl about 8 years older and when Beloved did it, 13 for him. I don’t think that’s quite right since he runs 3 times a week, but he had trouble figuring out the balance stuff.

So, in the end, I only got about 2 new pages written, so I’ll have to do some catching up!

This is a repeat from my weight loss blog – Lowering the Feed Limit.

It hasn’t been a good couple of days here. First off, Saturday night Beloved and the Girl had a major fight when he asked her to do the dishes. It’s kind of an ongoing fight around her to get her to do her chores, and she has some kind of issue with people knocking on her bedroom door. She literally yells “What?” whenever anyone knocks. I should say when her parents knock. She knows when it’s the Boy and doesn’t yell at him. It gets a little annoying when I’m scared to knock to see what she wants to drink for dinner for fear she’ll snap my head off.

Anyway, this fight was a bad one and pretty much lasted until…well, kind of, until now. A cease-fire has been established and relationships are cordial. Beloved still maintains that he will not mention her chores anymore, preferring to do them himself so as to not be a nag, but with that is no allowance for her and no going out with her friends. She, for her part, did work on the dishes after dinner and hasn’t yelled at anyone today.

This morning I woke up depressed. I think being in that menopausal state means that my hormones are messed up (Beloved calls it puberty in reverses) so some days I’m just depressed.

Well, I did all my weights yesterday – something I haven’t done in a while – and my entire body from inner thigh to triceps ache from the effort, so I didn’t go to the gym this morning. Beloved and I have a date to go tomorrow evening.

Weight watchers was a disaster. Up 2.2 pounds. I wanted to quit right then and there. I haven’t been tracking but I didn’t think I did that badly. I made it to the gym three times – twice for cardio – so I guess I got a little cocky and figured I was safe.

This afternoon I was working on my book and my computer froze up three times, meaning, I think, that I might have lost some of my work and I’m not happy about it.

Beloved and the Girl went to choir practice tonight and stopped at the grocery store. He bought me a red silk rose. Isn’t that nice?

If there is anyone out there, I could really use some encouragement and cheering up.

I’m working on getting a new blog just for the weight loss stuff. My darling Beloved says he can get me a new wordpress blog just for that, but it’s not high on his priority list.

I’d like this blog to be focused on writing, but for now, I need to put the weight loss stuff here.

Cut into my Weekly allowance points yesterday and soy nuts have more points than I thought. However, I also went to the Y twice so I racked up 10 activity points yesterday.

Went this morning and got 9 points so I’m not fully out of points yet. A big bad choice on Monday stole most of my points and it’s a catch-up game to make it to the weekend and have some points to play with.

Heading out to the nephrologist later. Just a regular check-up, nothing to worry about, then I’ll stop at the farmer’s market on the way home for cucumbers and celery for my yummy CORE (almost – bacon bits are low points) lunchtime salad. I made chicken soup on Monday so that’ll be dinner and that’s CORE so I think I’m doing okay.

I put a picture of a Cookie Dough Blast as my desktop to remind me what I’m working for. I want to be able to put tickers up on this blog (if I can’t get my new one soon) to let you all know how I’m doing, but the tech geeks in the family can’t find time to help me with it. Maybe tomorrow as it’s a Holy Day and Beloved will be home!

I’ve belonged to Weight Watchers since May 2006, and as of Monday, I’ve lost 7.2 pounds. There was a point when I was down almost 20 pounds, but I’ve fallen off the program.

I don’t know why because I know the program works and I want to lose weight. I think the problem might be that I don’t want to lose weight ENOUGH.

I have been trying all day to figure out WHY I want to lose weight. Everyone has their reasons for wanting to lose, health, family, class reunion, whatever. I don’t have a strong reason. I can’t really say that my health is the reason because I’m healthier now than I was before the transplant, so that’s not the big reason.

I want to look pretty. I want to have a nice photo to put on the back of a book when I need one. Are those enough? They don’t seem to be or I wouldn’t have gained back 13 pounds.

I want to feel better about myself. I want to get rid of this belly that glares back at me when I look in the mirror. I know I’ll never have a flat belly again – too many abdominal surgeries, but I want to stop looking sloppy when I see myself.

Why isn’t that enough to work hard enough to have already lost the weight I want? I need something I can look at every day and renew my motivation. My husband promised me a while back that if I lost 3 pounds he’d buy me a Sonic Cookie Dough Blast. Well, that 3 pounds is now 6.6 pounds. I’m going to print up a picture of that and post it where I can see it!

Wow! I can’t believe how time has flown. I never intended to let my blog languish so long!

When I got home from the trip, my time was mainly spent getting things ready for school. We live in the South so my kids both started school on 13 Aug, which still seems early for this Northern born girl. However, they were ready, I think. I know I was.

The Girl is a Senior now, so that presents its own set of challenges, but she likes school. Yesterday she came home early because of a cold, which we knew about and actually told her she didn’t need to go. Today, she said she was feeling better and could breathe out of her nose, so she wanted to go.

The Boy is in Kindergarten, and also loves his school, but we’re dealing with some discipline issues. It’s not that he’s a bad kid, but I think he just is so social he likes to talk and play with his friends and isn’t good, yet, at working quietly and not talking out when he should be quiet.

I do have some issues with this school’s carpool policy. I understand they are in a residential area and can’t be blocking the street for long, but they’re plan is that we carpool parents line up with a sign with our kid’s name and a woman, maybe the principal, stands in the middle of the parking lot (where we are lined up) and calls out each name and tells the kids which pole to go to meet their car. Okay, so when it’s my turn, she calls out “Brandt” and a pole color. My son has done this a total of about five times and he doesn’t always hear her over the other kids talking, so I end up waiting for him at the pole and holding up the line. Naturally, the teachers rush him when they finally realize who I’m waiting for and they don’t even bother to fasten his seatbelt. We have to rush through this process so everyone can get their kids.

I get all this, but for crying out loud, the kid’s in kindergarten and I am new to this process, too. I wish they could just be little understanding for the little ones. Today I make a new sign and make sure I put this whole name on it and that he’s in kindergarten. Maybe they could show a little patience for him.

I’m working on a novella that Susan and I brainstormed while in Disney. I think I’m changing it a bit, but that’s okay. I just want to get it done!

I’m still working on the weight loss. I’ve been going up and down for awhile but I’m getting serious. My husband said if I can lose 3 pounds (now 3.8 – family came to visit!), I can have a Sonic Cookie Dough Blast.

Well, it’s lunch time here, so I’ll sign off now! Please comment so I know you’re out there!

Sorry I’ve been so neglectful of this blog. Life just seems to get in the way of doing the things I want to do.

Some quick updates:

Writing update:

I’ve kind of put off writing because of some other things going on. I finished judging the entries I got from the Get Your Stiletto in the Door contest. I wanted to get them all done before the cruise so it wasn’t hanging over my head.

I’ve dug out an old story about a woman with three children whose husband was a hostage in the Middle East for three years and was just released to come home to a life that is very different from the one he left. The version I have now is very Catholic and while I’ve been hoping to get something ready to send to one of the conventional publishers, I think I want to finish this one the way it is and send it to Wings. Until someone is willing to publish Catholic romances, I guess I’ll have to keep writing those for small presses.

Today, between doctor appointments, I’m going to work on the workshops for the cruise.

Weight loss update:

Or should I say weight gain update. Yes, I was up 1.6 this week at my weigh-in. I had a long cry about it when I got home, and yes, I yelled at God about it. I know what I need to do, but I get discouraged at the idea that I’ll have to spend the rest of my life eating only fruits and vegetables, without treats. AND with the cruise next week, I don’t foresee my next weigh in being any better. Next week the topic is how we’re not our weight and I’ll miss it. That’s the one I need1

Sewing/craft update:

I finished a skirt and a pair of pants for the cruise. The pants are a little loose, but the elastic is sewn in so I can’t really fix them. The good part is I have another pair cut from that same pattern and now I know to cut the elastic a little smaller. I have another skirt done,but it needs to be hemmed. I will try to do that today.

I have been cleaning up the rec room/craft area because a friend from church who is a rubber stamper, too, is coming over to hang out for a while tomorrow.

General life update:

The Boy is going through a very rebellious, contentious stage. He throws a temper tantrum, complete with screaming and crying if he doesn’t get his own way. I’m trying to stay calm when these things happen. Yesterday I did pretty well. I firmly told him to go to the bedroom if he wasn’t going to stop fussing and crying. Of course he said no and we had a little bit of a chase around the living room, but eventually I got him “herded” (walking with me close behind him) to the bedroom. I got him on his bed and told him to stay there. He fought a little and I took two of his stuffed animals away. They were actually The Girl’s, but he and I’d collected all the animals in the house in our room for a party over the weekend. I left the room when he was “settled” on the bed, and set the timer for five minutes. He began to scream at me, and I went back in for a little talk. Came out again, and reset the timer. After about three minutes, I heard something hit the adjoining wall between the bedroom and the rec room. I went in to see what he’d thrown – a printer cartridge for a printer that doesn’t work anymore. I took his favorite stuffed animal and put it on a high shelf in the closet, told him he was to stay on that bed until I got back and if he threw anything again he’d lose more toys.

He made it through the next five minutes, but he acted up again after Daddy got home and got a time out again.

I just PRAY that this phase ends soon.

Time is getting shorter! The cruise for the Caribbean in getting closer. Check out this page. We’re going to have a great time and I’d love to see all of you there! I know Susan and I have been posting some of our preparation updates over at RomanceNovelTV. You should come by and check in.

My update on the cruise: I’ll be flying into Orlando around 2:30 pm on 21 Jul. A check of my wardrobe shows that I’m in desperate need of cruise worthy clothes, so I’ve been digging through my fabric stash to make some new stuff. So far I’ve cut out a flippy skirt and I’m about half way finished with it. I’ve order some lime twill fabric for pants but I don’t know if it’ll arrive in time. I think I’ve got some white with pink palms on it that I’ll make another skirt. I think with a few bright colored t-shirts, I’ll be set to play jet setter on the cruise. I still need a bathing suit, but I’ll see about getting on next week.

Writing Update:

I’m still waist deep in edits and rewrites for Sword & Illusion. Part of the delay is that I’ve taken out a pivotal incident (it was necessary for the plot but didn’t make sense for the characters and the story) and that requires a lot of fiddlin’ to make things work around it and new scenes added to have things make sense.

Weight loss Update:

Weight Watchers Day: Down 1 pound! That’s 14 pounds total.

Book Review Update:

No one commented on my review of Divine By Mistake so I will give it away to a friend. Tomorrow I’ll do a review of another book, and the same give away rules will apply. Anyone who comments and says they want the book will be entered into a drawing to win it.

Other Author Work Update:

I’m judging the Chick Lit Writers of the World Get Your Stiletto in the Door contest, the inspirational category. I have three more entries to judge before the 15th of Jul.

We had plans to go to a Mardi Gras parade on Friday night but the Boy’s nose was running and he was acting a bit sluggish, so we said, “Nah, we’ll go to the last one in the city tomorrow.” Well, on Saturday he woke up with a fever so since the Girl had “Science Saturday” at LSU (it’s a lecture series for high school kids. She gets extra credit for going – she deserved it for this one – BORING!) so I said I’d go with her to that and then we’d head off to the parade.

After listening to a guy talk about producing ethanol from sugar cane and all the political and economic costs, we headed into the main part of the city for the parade. It was a mad house, so after driving around and around and NOT finding a parking space, I said, “Let’s just go home.”

On Sunday, the Boy was still sick, so I went to 9:30 Mass and The Girl and DH went to 6 pm, where they sing.

Monday was my birthday and everyone had it and yesterday off because of Mardi Gras, so I was looking forward to a great day.

DH woke up with a 101.3 fever.

So, no breakfast in bed for me, no bowling and no dinner out. I did go to my Weight Watchers’ meeting and was down 1.6 pounds, so that’s something. The Girl and I went to the mall because I had a Sears gift card I hadn’t used from Christmas. I found two dresses on the “up to 75% off rack.” One was marked $70 and one was marked $80, but they were both on sale for $9.99 each, so I got them!

Yesterday, I went out and go some groceries and DH felt good enough later that we did go out for dinner.

Today, however, Ash Wednesday, he’s feeling absolutely miserable and has a Dr. appointment tomorrow, and the Girl stayed home from school with an upset stomach.

We did see the child psychatrist for the Boy and after talking to her, I feel better about my son. He still talks to pictures and goes nuts when he has sugar, but at least he isn’t depressed and he doesn’t freak out if I move any of his toys. She’ll see him next week.

My Lenten disciplines are: Write either 6 new pages or edit an old chapter (on different books) or both every day, and be absolutely scrupulous in keeping track of my WW points.

What are you going to do these 40 days of Lent?

Maybe.

Maybe not.

I woke up this morning and my friend, Low Grade Annoying Fever, was back. This guy visits me for 3-4 days at a time then goes away only to come back a day or so later. My husband fought this cold for about a month and it’s only been about two weeks for me, but he didn’t have a fever. I’ve gotten so I don’t even know if I’m really sick or not. I keep trying to tell myself I slept under too many blankets or something. However, nasal congestion and fatigue tell a different story.

I was supposed to help out at my son’s preschool this morning with the hearing tests, but with a fever I just can’t risk going into a preschool! I hope we learn something from these tests.  Part of the time I wonder if Noah has some hearing problems. His teacher says she asks a question and he answers something totally unrelated, but is that because of a hearing problem or because he’s four and easily distracted??? He can recite almost the entire script of The Polar Express after we’ve watched it 800 times since Christmas morning!!!

I’m editing Sword & Illusion again, almost finished with Chapter Five, and I’ve started working through the book First Draft in 30 Days by Karen Wiesner with a new book, Gingerbread Hearts. I’m excited about this project.

I went to Weight Watchers yesterday and was down 1.6 pounds since before Christmas. My husband was stunned! At the end of the year, I hadn’t lost the 20 pounds I’d hoped for at the beginning but it was over 16 so that’s something!