JuJuBee328

Sorry it’s been so long, kind of lost track of time with everything that’s been going on.

Well, my dad’s been through his first full week of treatments - he goes for radiation treatments Monday through Friday and Chemo on Tuesday.  They’re going to try this for 7 weeks, hoping to shrink the size of the tumor so that it’s operable.  It’s also in his lymph nodes so that’s not good news.  There is some good news though - other than a nagging cough and some taste bud changes, he’s feeling pretty good.  I’m not sure how the second week is going to affect him, only time will tell.  We’ve got a “late spring break” this week so I’ll be able to go with him and my mom to his next chemo appointment.  He doesn’t want anyone staying there with him (it take 2 1/2 hours) so he’s going to bring along a book and a portable DVD player.  I’ll take my mom to lunch or shopping, hopefully take her mind off of things for a bit.

My daughter got some good news this week!  She’s been accepted into 3 AP courses :)!!  (AP classes are “advanced placement”, pretty much college courses in high school).  She’ll be taking AP English, History and Calculus, along with honors classes - Organic Chemistry and Physics.  I’m hoping that she’ll be able to squeeze in her Orchestra class, would hate to see her give that up after playing for almost 7 years.  She’s the Senior Drum Major in the marching band this year so at least she’ll have a few months of music.   (I’m not a proud mom, am I, lol)?

I’m also going on my first job interview in about 16 years tomorrow.  Needless to say, I’m scared to death!  I’ve been working as a kindergarten instructional aide for 10+ years but I’m interviewing for a secretarial position at a local funeral home.  It’s a family owned business, one of the largest ones in our area.  I just wish I had more recent office experience though.  I guess there was something in my resume that made them want to talk to me so I’m happy for that.  I was telling my daughter today it’s kind of like the Academy Awards - I may not get the job but I’m “happy to be nominated.”

Other than that, not a lot has been happening.  I’m keeping busy with my position as recording secretary of the Music Boosters (just re-elected to a second term, thank you very much!), going to my Kiwanis meetings every Friday morning, teaching my brains out, trying to pack as much as I can into the brains of 30 kindergarteners before the year’s out and trying to cope with everyday life.  OH!  I GOT A WII TODAY!!!  I’m so excited, I’ve been wanting one for over a year.  I also put a deposit on the WiiFit, which comes out in about a month.  It was probably a silly thing to spend so much money on but I know that my daughter and I will have a lot of fun with it.  It might also get my sons over here a little more often, lol.

Well, I’m going to jump in the shower and then try to get some sleep before my “big day.”

Oh, I have been sticking business and am within 3 lbs of my mini goal.  I’ve lost half the weight to my goal and am actually feeling pretty good about myself.  It doesn’t hurt to have the kids at the high school telling me that I’m looking hot and should be “smoking” by the time band camp rolls around the last week of August.  I haven’t heard comments like that in YEARS!

Hope everyone is doing well and I promise I’ll check in more often.

This is the first time that I’ve checked in in awhile.  Unfortunately, things haven’t been going too well.  I’m in danger of losing the job that I’ve had for the last 10 years and there’s NOTHING to be found near me.  At least nothing that I have actual qualifications for.  I can do clerical and other work but don’t have “experience.”  We also found out that my father has lung cancer.  He sees an oncologist today and we’ll find out what stage it is and what can (hopefully) be done for him. 

My weight loss has plateaued at 31 lbs, which is nothing to sneeze at.  I know that I haven’t been eating the way I should (nothing bad, just not very much) and I haven’t been exercising much.  I know I need to get back on track.  

 I don’t know what they’re going to say about my dad’s prognosis but I’ve given myself a couple of goals by September -  He’s going to see me divorced and with my maiden name back and he is going to see me at 150lbs (another 36 to go).  That’s about what I weighed when I got married 25 years ago and I think it’s realistic - almost a “back in time” sort of thing, lol. 

I’ll try to check in more often and get in touch with my buddies more.  I think about you all a lot, just not a lot of spare time to sit down at this machine.

Hope everyone is doing well.

 Julie

I’d just like to apologize to all of my buddies for not being in touch more.  There’s really nothing going on in my life to prevent me from writing, just general laziness I guess.  I promise that once I get back into a better frame of mind I will write to everyone.

Take care and have a wonderful Easter!

Well, today was the final weigh in for our “Biggest Loser” competition.  My official loss was 22.4 lbs in 9 weeks.  I know I could have done better but I guess I should be happy with an 11% weight loss.  My partner only lost 8lbs though so I’m pretty disappointed in that.  We only lost a total of 6% and the winning team lost about twice that.

Even though the official competition is over I still plan on reaching my goal weight of about 140lbs by September.  I’m hoping it will be easier once the weather warms up and I don’t want to spend every spare minute in the house.

Today was our last day of school (Easter Break this year is the week before for some dumb reason) so I’ve got 9 days to keep myself out of the fridge, lol!

I got the call at 5am today and actually managed to go back to sleep for a couple of hours. I knew I had a lot of snow to shovel and put it off until about 10:00. I wanted to make sure I was warm enough so I put on a pair of sweats and pulled a pair of jeans on over them AND THE JEANS WERE STILL TOO BIG!! Anyway, we got about 8 inches of snow last night so that kept me pretty busy for awhile. Just as I was finishing the driveway a snow plow came through and dumped about 20 inches where I had just finished clearing - ARRGGHH!! A kind neighbor came by with his snowblower and helped me clear it all out again. As much as I hate shoveling snow I reminded myself of two things - I got an hour of exercise and I know that I wouldn’t have been able to do it at all a couple of months ago. I can’t believe what losing just 22 lbs has done for me!

My competition weigh in is on the 14th of this month and I’m hoping to be down another couple of pounds by then.  My partner told me yesterday that she’s lost 12 so far so we’ve lost about 6% of our weight.  I know it won’t be enough to win any money but that’s okay - it put me on the track to start getting my life in order and that’s the most important thing.

Hope everyone is doing well, take care!

Well, the concert season is about done so I actually have an evening free to catch up on my journal.

Things are still going well though there’s no chance that my partner and I will win any cash in our Biggest Loser competition.  Last year’s winners lost at least 17% of their combined weight and in order to do that we’d have to lose about 86 lbs.  Since my partner has only lost about 6lbs I don’t think it’s going to happen, lol.  I really wasn’t in it for the money though - this is the beginning of a whole new way of life for me and that was the incentive I needed to get started.

I haven’t had too much trouble avoiding sweets or chips but I’m getting REALLY hungry for a piece of pizza!  I’ve tried the WW and Lean Cuisine pizzas but they’re just not the same.  We’ve got a great little family pizza place about 7 blocks from us and they make THE BEST pizza in the world.  The pepperoni is the kind that forms little cups when it cooks and the crust is pretty much perfect.  Geez, I feel like Homer Simpson talking about doughnuts!

I can’t wait for the weather to start getting better so I can get outside and walk, walk, walk.  I have a really hard time getting motivated to do the walking DVD’s and I really don’t push myself the way I need to.  A friend of mine asked if I’d like to get together and work out at her house (she’s got a whole room dedicated to exercise equipment!).  ABSOLUTELY!  Maybe if I can work out a few times a week for the next couple I’ll be able to drop another 5 or 6 lbs.  I’m only 1 away from my mini goal so that makes me feel good.

Another thing that’s brightened my mood is finally filing for divorce.  It’s been coming for a few years and I finally got the gumption and the money to do it.  I’m thrilled to think that  by the time things are final (6 or 7 months) I’ll be down to my goal of 140.  I’ll need to lose about 7 lbs a month but I really think I can do it.   I can’t wait to start off a new school year with a new (well, old really) name, new body and new outlook!

Well, I guess I’ve rambled enough.  I went grocery shopping today and now I have to put it all away.  I shouldn’t complain, it’s a little bit of exercise!

Take care everyone and I promise I’ll be a better buddy now that my schedule allows me to be home at night.

Wow, didn’t realize it had been so long since I’d posted!  I’ve been good at keeping up with my food and exercise journal but not so hot keeping in touch with people.

It’s been a pretty busy couple of weeks what with school concerts, various meetings and everyday stuff.   Tomorrow I go out of town with our high school orchestra and show choir for a weekend retreat.  It’s only an hour or so from us but it’s a change of scenery, I get to spend the weekend with 44 great kids and I don’t have to worry about much of anything.  My daughter is in both groups so I won’t be seeing much of her, lol.

I’ve been doing pretty well on the weight loss, down 17 lbs since I joined this site.  I’d already lost 11 between Christmas and Jan. 14 so it’s a total of 28 lbs in a couple of months.  It took awhile but I’m actually noticing a difference - my clothes are hanging off of me, my knees don’t hurt much anymore, I’m feeling a lot better both physically and emotionally and the best part, OTHER people are being to notice, too!  It makes be feel better about myself than I have in 20 years.

Some of my mood might have to do with the fact that I finally worked up the gumption and filed my divorce papers today.  I realize that Valentine’s Day might not have been the most appropriate day but we had a 1/2 day of school and it’s the only time I had a free afternoon before Easter.  It’s very amicable, which I’m extremely thankful for.  My kids are all fine with it so that’s making it easier, too.  It’s something I never thought I’d do but I know it’s for the best.

I hope all of my buddies are doing well and I PROMISE that I will be in touch just as soon as everything settles down.   Take care everyone!!

Well, we didn’t get all of the snow we were expecting but it was enough for our district to call a snow day at 5:30 this morning.  YIPPEE!  It’s been a really rough week at work and I honestly don’t know how I would have survived the day with 18 kindergartners.  It’s not like I got to sleep in or anything though - I had a 7am Kiwanis meeting so I just stayed up.  I really should have done some exercises.  I so much hated the thought of warming up the car and cleaning the snow off if it,  I decided to walk the six or so blocks to my meeting.  It would have been a fine idea if the sleet and wind hadn’t started blowing at 30mph.  I was quite a sight when I arrived, lol.

Anyway, didn’t really do anything productive with my day.  Did some dishes, cleaned the bathroom, played on the computer and boned and cooked a turkey for my oldest son.  I’m glad I don’t like turkey very much or the aroma would be killing me right now!

Well, this was a pretty painful weekend, lol!  We only had a 1/2 day of school on Friday so I figured it would be a good day for me to take the morning off.  I went to my Kiwanis meeting, came home and worked on the computer for awhile and then decided I’d do some of the calisthenics that I used to do when I was younger and more limber.  Toe touches, sit ups, leg lifts, push ups, all great.  Then came the jogging in place…  I did the first set of 75, then the 10 scissor steps.  I got to 30 of the next 75 and WHAM!  I pulled a calf muscle.  I’m so glad my daughter wasn’t home because the language that found its way out of my mouth rivaled Ralphie’s dad in A Christmas Story!  I hobbled around for the rest of the day and by Saturday I was able to walk without a discernible limp.  Things were even better on Sunday until…..  I was wearing a new pair of slippers when I went down to do some laundry.  I was carrying about 10 towels (my daughter collects them in her closet) and I missed the bottom step.  I went down on my bum and hit my lower back and both elbows on the next to the last step.  So today I’m battered and bruised and hate the thought of doing anything physical.  But on a better note I’ve lost 2 more lbs so that brings my total to 8.  I wish I could see (or feel) it but as long as the scale says it’s happening, I’m happy!

Okay, I’m really kind of frustrated and just don’t know what to do.

I absolutely know that I need to drink more water.  Unfortunately, water does not like my body and does not like to stay in in very long, lol.  I can drink 2 pots of coffee and never even think about the bathroom but 2 ounces of water sends me racing down the hall.  This wouldn’t be an issue except I can’t leave 15 kindergartners unattended 4 or 5 times a morning (and then again in the afternoon).  Would it be “safe” for me to drink my h20 ALL during the evening (between 4pm and 10pm).  Does coffee count at all for water intake?

Man, I can’t wait until the weather warms up and I can get out to do some walking (today’s high is supposed to be 23 but at 11am it’s still only 9).  The Blast Walk DVD I have is okay but I don’t think I’m getting enough out of it.   I just found my Royal Canadian Air Force exercise book and will start those today.  I might even give Karen’s DDR another try, I can’t be THAT uncoordinated!  I just know that I have to step up the exercise or I will have no chance at winning anything in the competition.