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.

Miss You

The past couple of days have been a struggle for me. My heart is just not in anything. I think I've just been missing my people back in Spokane. I was talking to a friend from back home and some things happened in her life about a month ago. And it just broke my heart. First, my heart broke for my friend and then after a day or two, my heart broke again. Because our friendship had become so distant that she didn't call to tell me her news right away. I know. I'm the one that moved. But it still hurts that my friends and I have become distant.

I just miss having good friends and I feel like I'm in a sort of friendship limbo. I just have to repeat to myself that I will have friends here in Texas. I will have friends here in Texas. It just takes time.

Being kind of bummed out, I haven't really felt like doing anything other than lying on the couch and reading a book. I didn't do my 30 Day Shred Saturday, Sunday, or Monday (I did my race Saturday, and then no other exercise at all for the last couple of days). Today I got up and went to the gym and did some bike workouts. I tried running, but I just couldn't get into it. So, I left the gym. I am going to do my 30 Day Shred today. And I'm cleaning up the house. I started that yesterday. I am a firm believer that if you want to feel better about life, start by cleaning your house. Not that I'm an impeccable house keeper (actually, far from the truth), but if your house is clean, you will feel better about life.

Plus, I get to spend time with these lovelies. Life is good. Really.

Adult Conversations

Today was a fun day! I met up with my meet-up group for a play date at 10am. I don't know why, but being anywhere by 10am, let alone being dressed and presentable, seems to be a huge challenge for me. I mean, I go to the gym in the mornings, but I usually just pull my hair back into a pony tail, throw on a headband, brush my teeth, and put on my gym clothes. Not too sexy, but it gets the job done. I very rarely actually have occasion to wash and dry my hair. And God forbid I actually use a straight iron or a curling iron on it!! Or that any of that occurs before Noon. Anyway, long story short, it took me forever to get ready this morning. And to get Thing 1 and Thing 2 ready. Especially when D is screaming, "I don't want spiky hair!" and P is trying to take her clothes off. Seriously - that girl LOVES to just run around with no clothes on.

We did get on the road only about 5 minutes after I planned on leaving, so I thought I was doing stellar. Until I realized I didn't have coffee this morning. So, I treated myself to Starbucks. I used to order a Grande Nonfat Peppermint White Mocha (everyday back in Spokane). But those are like a bajillion Weight Watchers points, and on a week when I feel really motivated to lose (and know that my Mom is bringing a birthday cake with her on Saturday!), I chose my not so exciting stand-in: a grande skinny french vanilla latte. I know I should probably say, "It's low-calorie and still coffee and still delicious!" but every time I order it, I am just a *tad* bit sad that I'm not getting my favorite Starbucks drink. But I drink it all the same. And it is pretty good. Better than my normal cup of drip anyway! After my stop at the Bucks, our next stop was our play date.

Every time I meet up with these ladies, I just feel good for the rest of the day. I really miss interacting with other people, and comisserating about our mommy woes. The lady's house we were at today was just gorgeous. And it was really clean. Totally jealous! My house generally looks messy, but since I started putting in some extra work-from-home hours this week, it just looks ridiculous. I finally did a load of dishes this afternoon, but that was only because we had no more clean sippy cups or forks. Details! The lady's house was  also a great place for a play date as it had a bonus room area where all the toys were set up. I think that's one of the things I miss most about our house back in Spokane - the kids' play area nook. I hate having all of their toys spread all over the "open living" living room we have.

My kids got some serious play time in too. D made a friend and played trains and cars with him, and P discovered that they have the SAME cookie set that we do, and was just flabbergasted by that. And that's primarily what she played with. And she ignored the other kids for the most part. But that's cool because she's still only 1 and parallel play is still the way to go at that age. And I was able to chat with the ladies there and use my full vocabulary and not just, "No!" and "Be nice to your brother/sister - he/she is the only one you've got!" and "Do you need a diaper change/to go to the bathroom?" Oh, the joys and sweet, sweet bliss of adult conversation!

D and P both came home and crashed (after a quick trip to Wal-Mart and lunch), and I got in almost 4 hours of work. I still probably have 5-6 hours worth of grant writing to do before I can hit "submit" for them, so it felt good to get a solid 4 hours in this afternoon. After the kids go to bed, I'll be doing another couple of hours.

Anyway, here is my food for the day, minus my snacks: my latte and a piece of cinnamon raisin bread.

Breakfast:
a slice of bread with a teaspoon of butter, 3 turkey sausages, and lots of salsa to dip by sausage in. Only way it could have been better is if it would have been smothered in maple syrup....next time!

Lunch: a leftover taquito, some yummy sauce, and a banana. 

Supper: I had about 1/3 of this 7 layer dip with 2 servings of tortilla chips. I had intended to use sliced veggies for my dippers, but the chips were just SO good! Dip is one can of refried beans on bottom layer, 10 ounces of fat free sour cream mixed with 1 packet of taco seasoning for next layer, 1 cup of reduced fat cheddar cheese, salsa, lettuce, and tomatoes. I added onion after the fact because my husband can't stand onion in his food. Even if you cut it really small, he finds it. 

Making Friends

I grew up a military brat. People were always coming and going out of my life; either my family was moving, or my friends' family was relocating to a different base. I always relied on school to meet new friends, and when I got older and graduated from high school, college, and then grad school, I met friends through work. But now, as a stay at home mom, I find myself grasping at straws. How do you meet people?

I tried going to the public library for story time to meet other moms, but my kids are very, very  a little rambunctious, so that that was a fail. There was one mom I talked to for a little bit, but I convinced her to let her almost 2 year old go into the play structure at Chik-Fil-A.  Of course, the kid got stuck, and she did not react very well. I haven't been back since. It was more than a little disheartening. I remember leaving and feeling like I had ruined - RUINED - my ONLY chance at friendship.

Making friends is hard when you know NO ONE. It really is. It can be demoralizing and degrading and leaves you feeling like a 10 year old waiting to be picked for the dodgeball team in PE. I want to play it cool, but inside I'm screaming, "Pick me! Pick me! I'm fun!"

So, I'm trying to be brave. I'm doing things I never thought I would do. I'm meeting complete strangers. I went online to meetup.com  and found a group that sounds like it might work for me. I've gone to two meetups, and while the ladies there are not yet my BFF's, I know we are all in the same boat. We are all looking for friends, and we're not necessarily weird or hear voices in our heads or anything crazy like that. We are just lonely. We are looking for companionship. We want our young kiddos to have friends and play dates and grow up strong and confident and loved. Is there anything better than that?

I'm also going out for playdates with some of my husband's co-workers who also have kids around my son D's age. One kiddo even sounds like he has as much energy as D does (which is a lot!).

I'm hoping that by being brave, taking chances, and believing that every day has a new possibility, I'll be able to make some good friends - friends that I can laugh with, cry with, drink a bottle (or two!) of wine with. I miss being connected. I miss grabbing coffee with my BFF back in Spokane every morning at work. I miss the routine of my previous life and having a reason (really, a responsibility) to get up and take a shower and do my hair and make up every day. I know that will come with time, but until then, I'm off to make some friends.