Ups and Downs with a Friend in Town

This week has been a challenge in my weight loss journey in that one of my husband's (and my!) best friends from Spokane has been in town for a visit. And we have eaten out. Every. Single. Day. The good news is that we are having a blast, and have explored some new restaurants in addition to some of our all-time faves. It's kind of cool, but I wish the food was calorie free so I could just eat and eat and eat. It's all been so good!

Karl came into Dallas on Monday, and the boys ended up going to Fuzzy's Taco. This is one of the best taco places in Dallas, in my opinion! They put cilantro and feta on their tacos and they are just plain crazy delicious. Fuzzy's also serves alcohol and is home to a Blue Moon Margarita (they take a regular ole margarita and then float a bottle of Blue Moon beer on the top). That's pretty much one of my favorite ways to drink a margarita. For supper on Monday, we had some which wich? Which is good. See what I did there? ha! I think we're becoming which wich? addicts. We've eaten there 3 times in the last two weeks.

Tuesday, I got up early and went to the track to meet some of the ladies from my running group for a tempo run. This was really my first "real" tempo run. In other words - the first that I knew what I was doing. Let me just tell you...I tore that track UP! My normal pace is somewhere between an 11 - 12 minute mile. For this tempo run, I did one lap around the track (1/4 mile or a "400" as fancy runners call it) at an average warm up pace. Then I started doing 800's. I did two laps at a 9:30 pace with two cool down/recovery laps at a 10:30 pace. Then I repeated that. Then I walked a lap with the ladies and then I slow jogged a few more laps for a total of 3 miles. I am so surprised and astounded that I kept my pace up. I've never run anything at a sub 10 pace. As I've said before, I'm slow. And this was really fast. And it was awesome! Our group has decided to now do tempo runs every other week (and do hill intervals the opposite week) to help build up speed. I'm completely down with that and hope it ends up with me being able to run a little faster.

After that I went home and we went to the pool for some fun swimming time. It was still early in the day so the pool water was a little brisk, but we all had fun and it tired out the kids. Piper came home and took a long nap. Danny as usual refused to nap. For supper we decided to try a new place one of my McKinney friends suggested: Whiskey Cake. Oh.My.God. This place was fantastic!! As the name suggests, they have whiskey. And scotch. And tequila?? Our waiter suggested that we start our meal with a "Texas Appetizer" - which is a shot of tequila. Karl and I obliged and greatly enjoyed it. Even though I'm not a huge tequila fan. We also had some food appetizers: fried green tomatoes and a meat and cheese plate. The fried green tomatoes were out of this world good. They had a nice thick batter and were fried to perfection. The sauce they were served with was also killer. The meat and cheese tray had a few different slices of meats/sausages and then 4 different kinds of cheese, a small loaf of crusty bread, some apple slices, and a slice of cantaloupe. The adults went to town on that, but really, it was Danny that surprised me by eating as much of the meat and cheese tray as he could get his hands on. He is his father's son! For supper we all ended up ordering the same thing (Derek felt silly doing this, so he changed his order and got a turkey burger). I got the BBQ Banh Mi. And I didn't think this meal could get any better than the appetizers! This sandwich was moist and spicy and everything I wanted. It was perfect. I had intended to only eat half of it, but by this point I had drank three more drinks (a Peach Pit and two Great Escapes) and when I drink I tend to eat more. So I finished it off. And then ordered cake :) The cake was good too - moist and with a crusty toffee layer. Luckily for my diet, we got one slice of cake and split it three ways. And then we rolled out of there (literally) and went on home. Oh, and did I mention that Derek and Karl both got glasses of scotch. That were $25 a glass?? It tasted like turpentine to me, but they choked it back and pretended to like it.

I was supposed to get up Wednesday morning and do hill intervals, but after a total of 4 drinks (followed up by a beer once we got home and played Castle Panic), I decided against it. Sweating out whiskey was not something I was up for! Instead I got up and determined that I would not blow my diet since my weight increased nearly two pounds from Tuesday to Wednesday. Yikes! So, I ate a small breakfast and then when we went to Torchy's Tacos for lunch, I made sure to mind what I was eating. I calculated points and everything. I was on fire! Actually it was my mouth that was on fire from their Diablo Sauce. I love that sauce!!

After that I did some work. And then we did some house decorating. And then I went to target and bought things to redo Piper's room. I'll post some pictures soon once I get it all done. But it's super cute (and she loves it!). Following my Target trip, I went to my running group and did 5 miles in 96* heat. Oh Lord it was hot! I drank over 100 ounces of water on my run. And that was just during my run - I'd had probably another 100 ounces earlier in the day. I came home to find the boys had ordered some Papa John's pizza. But I wasn't really hungry. I think the heat had gotten to me. I ate one piece just to have something in my stomach, but wasn't inclined to eat more. And then this morning when I woke up, I had lost my 2 pounds that I gained Tuesday night.

We're going out again tonight - sans kids - so I'm sure we'll have some drinks and yummy food. I'm planning on trying to get in a run this afternoon before we go so that I can work off some of the calories I plan on taking in. I want to be able to enjoy my time with Karl and eat out and have fun, but I also really want to lose or at least maintain my weight. So this week might have ups and downs for my weight. I decided that I would relax my eating habits two nights during the trip (Tuesday and again tonight) and then watch what I'm eating the other 5 days. And to just make sure I'm still running and getting those calories burned off as much as I can.

Playing at the Cemetery??

Today has been one of those days. I woke up to two crying kids who were fighting over what TV show to watch (yes, we start our day with a healthy dose of recreational screen time; yes, I feel guilty about it). Then the cat peed on the bathroom rug so I had to wash that. Some friends were heading out to a park so I scrambled and got the kids ready and into the car so that they could hopefully run off some energy.

Once in the car, my GPS couldn't find the park that my friends were at. After searching google maps, I found a park about 10 -15 minutes away. So I headed out to the park. As I got closer, though, all I saw was a cemetery. I kept looking for a playground or just an open field, but all I saw were tombstones. And then it dawned on me. Ridgeview Memorial Park was not a playground. It was a cemetery! Oh my!

Luckily the cemetery was near Whole Foods, so I stopped in there so the trip was not completely wasted. I found an awesome deal when I first walked in: buy a package of sliced brisket ($12.99) and a package of chopped brisket ($6.99) and get a jar of cherry lemonade juice, prepared potato salad, buttermilk hamburger buns, and a 28oz container of cut up watermelon free. The free items amounted to about $15/$16, so I spent about $20 and got $15 in free product. I like it! And, now I have a yummy 4th of July meal ready to go for tomorrow. The deal is good for a couple of days only, so if that sounds delicious - you better get to Whole Foods pronto!

We dropped our food off at home and then went to our community's little playground area. The kids had the run of the place and had a blast going up and down slides, climbing up ladders, and swinging on the swings. Have I mentioned that I love our new community? It's just so nice! Last night Derek and I took the kids to the pool and played for a bit before supper. It was just a nice way to keep the kids busy and entertained while at the same time wearing them out so that they'd sleep better. Maybe they didn't sleep enough though, based on their attitudes this morning!

The community pool and splash pad

The kiddos playing at the community park

I'm trying to save money and sell some items to make some money, so I have listed a few things on craigslist to sell. I have been talking with a lady on craigslist about selling our pack n play. She lives in Fort Worth and wanted me to drive out there (which is WAY far away). I knocked $5 off the price and she is driving out here to get it. Selling things on craigslist is always a little scary for me. You never know who is going to show up at your door. With the way my day has been going, I wouldn't be surprised if she was an axe murderer. Everyone say a prayer that she is a nice lady who buys the pack n play and then leaves with no drama or craziness!

Jumping and Napping

Today I met up with my meetup group of mommas and kids and went to Jump Mania out in Plano. The last time we went (which was our first time), the kids kind of stuck near me and didn't really venture out to the bounce-houses very much. This time, though, they were everywhere! Piper mostly played with the cute play kitchen/house/BBQ stuff that they have there, but Danny bounced through every play structure that they had. Twice. He loved it. And I was able to actually talk to the moms (and one dad!) which was nice too. I love my moms group, but I sometimes wish that we had like weekly moms only activities to really get to know the moms a little better. It's hard to interact when one of us is constantly chasing a kid!

The kids both came home tired though, and for 20 minutes, they both napped. It was glorious! I was working while they rested/napped, so it wasn't like I really had genuine time to myself, but I enjoyed it nevertheless. I'm trying to work extra this week since I'm not focusing on working out, but that is SO hard to do when there are so many other things I would like to be doing. Namely, not working haha I'm reading the second book in the Outlander series - Dragonfly in Amber. I think technically it's supposed to be a period romance novel, but I think it is so much better than a romance novel! Not that I've really read many romance novels, but I have a ton of preconceived ideas about them ; ) and this book is better than those preconceptions, so clearly, it can't be a romance novel. It has a lot of Scottish history in it too, and I am really liking that. The point is, though, that I am enjoying reading this book and don't really want to put it down. Especially when my choice is reading or working. But reading books doesn't bring in extra money, and working does. I'm a slave to my part-time paycheck. What can I say?

I have been tapering very nicely. And by tapering I mean not exercising at all. Tomorrow morning I'm going in for a one - two hour workout, but tonight, I'm just icing and resting and preparing mentally for my race. Hungry Runner Girl had a great post today about mental toughness and I really thought this was timely for me. I think running half marathons (and I'm sure further distances) requires a certain amount of mental preparation and "toughness" to finish the race. I think that's why I love distance running because it is a mental sport. And I love it.

The animals at the Zoo

My Dad and Granny went back to Nashville yesterday, and I have to say...those two exhausted me! They got in around supper time on Saturday, so we just sat and chatted. The last time I had seen my Granny was at my Grandpa's funeral in December 2010. We had a lot of catching up to do! I was so happy that my Granny had decided to come with my Dad since she had two back surgeries very recently (she cleared it with her doctor before she sat in the car for the 10 - 12 hour drive), and she's still a little hesitant about doing things.

Sunday, my Dad and I had our indoor triathlon in the morning and then we had some delicious Papa Murphy's Veggie DeLite pizza (love, love, love that pizza!) before heading into downtown Dallas. On the way down there, we had to stop at a gas station because Danny had to go to the bathroom. If you've ever stopped half-way between Rockwall and downtown Dallas (along I-30), you probably know that it's not the best area to stop in. Let's just put it this way: there was a guy "working" the corner of the gas station and I'm pretty sure we saw multiple drug deals going down. Great place to take your kid to pee, but there wasn't anywhere else and Danny was getting desperate!

We stopped at the Convention Center and hung out with some cows and cowboys. And then made our way to Highland Park area. Beautiful homes through there! We found a cute little park with running trails and took the kids to play for a bit. The kids loved their little adventure. I was pretty tired from the triathlon still, but had a great time. We stopped for Chinese food on the way home (it was about 8pm by the time we started eating). Danny had fallen asleep in the car at about 5:30 pm and he stayed asleep for the rest of the night. Until about 3:30 am. When he woke up.  I tried everything to get him to sleep, but it was a no-go. So he and spent the (early, early) morning on the couch watching Wall-E.

We decided that we would spend our Monday at the Dallas Zoo. In Spokane, we didn't have a zoo, and here in Dallas, there are TWO! There is the Dallas Zoo and the Fort Worth Zoo. Everyone keeps telling me that the Fort Worth Zoo is a million times better, but we haven't checked that one out yet (my mom is taking the kids there in May; which is why we didn't go there this time). I wasn't even sure if the kids would like the zoo, but man, they LOVED it. We were able to rent a wheelchair for my Granny so she didn't have to walk so much, and Piper hopped right on and toured the zoo from her lap.

Danny was stuck in the double stroller, but I let him out at pretty much every exhibit.

They had lots of cool animals and a fantastic kids area where Piper went down the slide about 30 times and Danny splashed in the little mock-river they have set up. It was great! We stayed until about 1pm, when the kids started to meltdown (especially Danny - being extra tired and hungry was not a great combo!). We went to the McDonald's by the zoo - which was decorated like a zoo and was incredibly cute!

After that, we sat out in the sunshine at my house and just talked, drank a few beers, let the kids play, and grilled some ribs. It was a great day and great trip for my Dad and Granny. I wish it could've been longer, but my Dad has this crazy thing called work that he had to get back to. My Dad and Granny left early the next morning and made it back to Nashville in a pretty good time. I spent yesterday getting my car fixed (oil change, new timing belt, and some other things that I'm not really sure what it is but it keeps my car running!) and being incredibly lazy. I was so sore and tired from the triathlon and pushing the stroller all around the zoo.

Today I'm going back to the gym and doing a weight lifting class. Can't wait to try it out - if I can make it to the class on time! But before I do that, I need to do about three hours of work. I better quit procrastinating and do it!

Cat Tails

My plans yesterday kind of went out the window. I was supposed to go out with my mom's group, but life got in the way. As always! But, the good news is, I did still make my oven hot dogs. And BONUS - my sister Kristen came over to hang out with me and kiddos and eat the yumminess that is oven hot dogs. Danny and Piper were going crazy bananas so we let them loose outside and they 'mowed the lawn' and searched for geckos. Oh to be a kid again! After that, the kids went to bed and Kristen and I sat up talking about old times. We were some wild kids - oh how I hope that Danny and Piper take after their Dad when it comes to their teenage years...

Today was a busy day. We did a playdate with our meetup group at a Chik-Fil-A toddler time. It was really cute and the kids had fun. It was a little crowded, but the kids still had fun. And they gave out fresh fruit as a snack, which was a nice touch. My kids gobbled one of them up and we saved the other serving (having two kids is really good for getting an 'extra' for later) for lunch.

Just as we were heading home, I got a text from my work asking to do some work-ish things, so I spent the next 3.5 hours creating itemized budgets for a big ol' grant. I just feel like my head is swimming in numbers. But I've put in a bunch of extra hours working on this grant, so now I'll have a nice paycheck to spend on lavish spa days, a vacation in Tahiti, and an Audi TT. Oh wait, that's in my dreams. Really, we're using my extra moolah to pay down some credit cards. Someday I hope to be truly debt free..right after I pay off all those student loans from both undergrad and grad school.....

Anyway, my cats are all piling on me now that the kids are asleep. And they are helping me type. They are really good blogger cats. If I could take a picture I would. But I am using all my energy to keep them off the keyboard. Just picture three LARGE cats putting their tails in my face and stepping on the keys. I love my almost 10 year old cats :)

Busy Days

What a busy last couple of days! I can't believe that we have crammed so much stuff into just the last few days. Thursday after I got P up from her restless nap (well, it was more like she was in her room dumping buckets of plastic toy food all over her room and putting on her princess dresses. It was an awful messy nap!), and decided that we were just going. Getting out of the house in order to make Momma a little less crazy.

                                           I know - they are cuties. Love these guys - we're ready to go on an adventure!

We started our fun at the St. Patrick's Day library cake walk. They had all kinds of characters there dressed up - P was a little terrified, but D was all about them! He even followed (aka stalked) the Dewey the Duck character in order to dance with the duck. It was really cute. He kept following him, and following him, dancing the whole time. Then at the end, he bonked the duck on the tail! Silly boy! The cake walk was pretty awesome - P won on the first go-round and we went inside the library and picked up a pretty awesome set of mini-cupcakes. The kids were completely stoked, and I was happy with the share-ability of the cupcakes (Momma needed some sugar!).

After our winning, we ventured on to Lofland Park over in Rockwall. We'd never been here, but it looked pretty cool so we decided to give it a shot. The main play structure is a train, so D immediately loved it. P had a little trouble because it was really built for older kids (and of course she HAD to do whatever big brother was doing!). The train play structure ended up having a nest of red wasps (another critter for me to loathe!) and the Park and Rec maintenance guys showed up to remove it, so we hightailed it over to the other little play  area with a single slide, a jungle gym thing, and a carousel spinner thing (does this have a real name?). P totally biffed it off the end of the slide and got a mouthful of bark and some minor scratches on her face. She immediately got back up and went back down the slide. That girl LOVES the slide. D fell in love with the carousel thing and wanted to spin and spin and spin.

The P after she fell off the bottom of the slide. 

After that, it was ice cream at Braum's and then off to the gym for my 5 mile run (which went awesome!). We ended the day by discovering that on our adventures, we had lost P's beloved blankie. So, we spent the next hour tracking it down. Turns out she had put it in the gym's play area's toy fridge. Of all places?!?

Friday was a day spent with me finishing up a big work-from-home project and then my mom came to visit. Saturday morning we woke up somewhat early. The hubs and I had planned to go to the DMV and get our licenses, but they are closed on Saturdays (boo), so we decided to go out to lunch at a place called Hoolihans and then to see The Lorax movie. Lunch was phenomenal! I got a turkey wrap and a side salad. I was completely full and felt good about eating healthy. The movie was so cute and bright and colorful and spring-ish. And it made me want to go plant a tree. Or a bush. Or a flower. Or...something. Only I suck at watering plants, which is somewhat vital to their survival (so I've been told) so I knew better than to plant and then kill a cute little tree/bush/flower/thing.We also went shopping and bought the kids coordinating Easter outfits. Let me just tell you, my kids are going to be so flippin' cute!!                                                                                              
And yes, my children are both trying to run away. Good thing I have the Mommy death grip or else we'd be in serious trouble! This was their second movie in a movie theater. 

I totally botched the diet last night by getting some Chinese takeout (why oh why did I do that???). I haven't gone running since Thursday, and the way my kids are behaving has me thinking that it is not looking likely for today either. The hubs is currently outside playing soccer with D while the P sleeps. Hoping that D working off some energy and P having a nap will make them less of a handful, but I'm not being overly hopeful. They have been at each other all morning. Oh toddlers!!

P has a hacking cough that doesn't seem to be going away. She's had it for almost a week now too. I think we will take it easy the next few days and see if she feels any better. I bought some honey elixer/natural cough suppressant stuff and she has been taking that since yesterday. She looks a little better, but her behavior has gone downhill fast. Does that mean she's better?? She keeps saying her head hurts, too, so I've given her a little tylenol. I know sometimes when I cough a lot it gives me a headache big time. Hoping that it's just that and not a sinus infection. Guess if she's not better by next week, we'll be headed to the doctor.

Oh, and did I mention, this time next week, I will be recovering from a half marathon??!!?? Crazy days.

Happy St. Patty's Day! And yes, my kids look like zombies. I was trying to get them to sit nicely for a picture, so I turned on Bubble Guppies. Big mistake. They look like cute zombies :)

Spring Ahead and Snooze

Anyone else still feeling completely groggy by the time change? I am in total snooze mode and can't seem to get over it. I'm currently on my second cup of coffee, and I started taking my B Vitamins again. Come on energy boost! And I know that exercise is supposed to wake you up, but I can't even make it to the gym, which makes it really hard to get that energy boost! Last night I went for a run (for the first time this week - yikes!), and was so late in getting to the gym, that after only 2.5 miles I had to stop running because it was 6:30 and I knew the kids would be starving by the time I made supper. I did feel slightly more awake after my little bit of exercise, but today I am back to being tired.

This morning, I got the kids in the car and was all ready to go, and realized that by the time I would get to the gym, there would only be about 20 minutes before the daycare area at the gym closed. FAIL. So, I got the kids out of their carseats and came back inside and did the Mommy Preschool lessons and had lunch. P doesn't seem to have really adjusted to the time change either, because she has had a horrible time taking her naps this week. Momma is not ready for TWO kids not taking naps! She is currently "resting" in her room while D watches the Smurfs movie. My plan is go to the gym at 4:30 today (when the afternoon daycare session opens) and run my heart out. Or until I reach 5 miles. Whichever comes first!

Despite my lack of energy, we have been keeping busy. We've done 3 days of Mommy Preschool, which D seems to have taken to really well. He has even started singing the little songs with me instead of me just singing to him, which is a plus. Yesterday, we took a little adventure with my meetup group to Jump Mania out in Plano. The kids had fun, but it was CRAZY busy. There were little kids everywhere, and it was just a little insane. It is spring break here, and I guess all the mommas had the same idea as us to let their kids get their energy out. For the three of us to go, it was only $10, which wasn't too bad. They had more than just jumping too - they had a couple of little kitchens with plastic food (which was really nice), some bean bag chairs and couches for mommas and daddies (with a big, flat screen TV playing HGTV - my fave channel!!), and some little red cars to ride in (which is where my kids spent the majority of their time). After that, we met my sister KL for lunch and then went for a playground trip where D had an accident and pooed in his boots (after he had *just* gone to the bathroom too!). It was an adventure for sure! Then after all that, we went to the gym. Maybe that is why I'm exhausted :)

Today, we are headed to the library for a St. Patrick's Day Cake Walk. There is supposed to be all sorts of characters there from local sports teams, the Chick-Fil-A cows, etc and of course, cake. I don't know if my kids will really get it, but I saw the word "cake" and new it was an activity meant for me! I just have to be careful to not eat too much cake - I am determined to be in the 160's by my birthday, and I have about two weeks to go, and two pounds to lose. I can do it IF I don't make bad decisions between now and then. Maybe we can win individually wrapped cupcakes! Portion control is where it's at. I better start getting ready, though, because at my snail's pace, I'm sure it will take me an hour to get ready.