We're having a BABY!

We're having a new baby! It's early, we're still in that "unreal" phase where the chart is telling me one thing, but my body hasn't caught on yet. Not that I hope for morning sickness or a huge gut, but it would certianly lend some credibility to my claim!

Due on June 19, Mom's birthday, we're hoping for the 28th. With an anniversary and all 3 kids on the 28th of a month, it would be a real shame to mess up the trend with this last baby. Our track record shows we have a good chance of making it! Nine days overdue is hard to plan, they don't have reverse inductions, do they?!

I'm still feeling pretty nervous, not excited or upset. I know what I'm getting myself into, and I really, really, really, really want a boy! That's a lot of pressure to perform in yet another aspect I can't control. Well, such is life with children, I'm getting used to it.

Goals

I'm under 150 pounds for the first time today! 148.6! I was tracking calories at www.fitday.com and gave that up. Too stressful, and too easy to get obsessed. I made my goal of doing it for 3 weeks, I learned a lot, but it was hard to force myself to stop. I know I can always do it again when things stall, it's a good tool. Just can't do it all the time.

I need to record some new goals. I realized the bodybuilding books I'm reading all have goals sections, and I wondered why I have never made any for other areas of my life! S o here goes

Fitness
1. I will weigh 135 pounds by October 31, and I will not gain any weight during the holidays.
2.I lift weights 3x/week, I do cardio 4x/week, and go to karate at least 2x/week.
3. I am writing a new workout plan every 8 weeks.
4. I plan my meals a week in advance, and cook several meals at once for the freezer.
5. I am getting my next karate belt in November.
6. I am doing a triathlon in June, or if I'm pregnant doing one after my karate test.

Housekeeping
1. By the end of September, I clean my kitchen every night before bed, and clean bathrooms every morning.
2. I sweep everyday, and mop every 3 days.
3. Get enough laundry hampers to contain dirty laundry. Wash, dry, and fold one load everyday.
4. Do not turn on the computer until 7pm, or do not have it on past 10am.
5. Organize sewing room by Thanksgiving with cutting table for sewing some Christmas gifts.
6. Follow my daily/weekly/monthly routines I wrote. Choose one thing I'm not doing and do it for 3 weeks before choosing another.

Work
1. I make time to scrapbook for myself every Sunday evening. One layout per week.
2. Spend 15 minutes per evening working on writing DSU classes or tutorials.
3. Spend 15 minutes per evening commenting on general gallery layouts.
4. Comment on students' layouts twice a week.

I think that's it for now.

All is Well

Troy is back, and after a minor scuffle all the fish is safely stowed in a new chest freezer where my industrial sewing machine used to be! The machine was a commercial 3-phase motor which couldn't be adapted to even a 220 outlet for home use, so I sold it to a parachute/skydiving instructor. Fortunately, my best friend's husband is an electrician who sky dives, so not only did he save us the trouble of learning the hard way it's not a 220, but he called his friend who bought it. I'm sad to see it go, but at least I made a few bucks!

Not sewing, not scrapping, just obsessed with this weight loss thing. That's fine, it leaves more time for cleaning the house. The pool is closing soon, so I'm anxious to get in as many laps as I can while the weather holds. Then it's back to biking/running, and I think I actually prefer to swim. I've lost a few pounds, look more toned, but have a way to go yet.

Every once in awhile I'm reminded by something of an old article I read on rediscovering passion in our lives, to not let the mediocrity of routine prevent us from being creative. So my diet wasn't working, I got a new one. I read some books, got excited, and that's what keeps me going. My cleaning routine isn't working, so I found a new resource. Hopefully honeymoon phase will set it, like it did with the www.flylady.net approach, and I can get things back to where I want them to be. I'm happy with a great routine that works, when I can be really organized and thus very productive. I'm hoping this detour will give Troy the time he needs to dig into my sewing room remodel so I can sew again. And hopefully when I feel healthier and my house is back to its old self, I can spend some more time scrapping and teaching.

Yep, all is well, and not just because I'm trying to convince myself it is!

Caughta Lotta Fish

Troy brought home about 200lbs of salmon and halibut, but I only got to see it in neatly packaged and frozen blocks of fish flesh. He had a great vacation as only a man can when reeking of fish guts for a week. Fortunately he showered before coming home, but with flight delays he barely pecked me after running in the door and straight back to the store to buy a chest freezer to save his precious catch. We'll eat well for awhile on these guys!

Visitors and Vacations

Troy is in Alaska for a week! I'm glad he went, it will be fun, but sad to be apart. BUT my best friend since grade school is visiting with her husband. Too bad Troy won't be around the visit since she met him before I did. They taught Levi how to swim, and we had a great time hanging out.

My diet is going okay...haven't lost any real weight, but that's good I guess since I don't want to go too fast and lose muscle with the fat. I seem more toned, I haven't skipped any workouts (Weights MWF, Swimming TT, and Karate WS). Hopefully this body "reshaping" will be fast and I can start to lose some fat and inches. I ordered an at-home fat % caliper today, so hopefully I can stop paying too much attention to the stupid scale! I can't WAIT to get my "after" photos!!!

Wow, Troy is going to Alaska!

Wow, Troy is going to Alaska! Just sprung that one on me. Apparently his friend Wally is going on a fishign trip for a great deal, so Troy couldn't resist tagging along. Hope he has fun and gets a ton of great photos.
He's leaving on Wednesday...yes, in less than 2 days, and will be gone until the following Thursday night.
It's actually kind of freeing, that we can do this type of thing on a whim. Not only that we can still be spotaneous when life seems to weigh us down so often, but that we can afford it. Not that we can afford it, but that it won't break us. He got a profit-sharing check today that sealed his decision to go as it was exactly the amount he needed for airfare!
Is it petty to admit I'm jealous? But I'm excited, because not only will he have a wonderful time, but that it shows me we can do this, everything is not a big deal!

I think I must be hormonal again, I'm not used to this! I'm used to having a few cycles a year, and it seems I've become a frequent flyer in the Time of the Month Club. I HATE it! Makes me feel hopeless, overwhelmed, irritable, weepy. Just at the time when I should be excited to get another chance to have a baby, I wonder what's wrong with me and if I can handle it! But I know it's not really "me" talking, that these feelings are under the surface and just amplified right now. I'll be fine...right?

Things at work are going well. I'd like to make a little more money, but I think the summer is slow. I'd love to find more time than my allotted 24 hours and write more classes, but I've secretly really enjoyed the break from the breakneck pace I've had this past year. Sometimes this industry gets really catty, a bunch of competitive women, but if I try to insulate myself from it, to remember this is my passion and we're all just trying to make a few extra bucks, then I can do my stuff and not get distracted. Except by email, whenever I need a good distraction, there's ALWAYS email!

I need to lose weight!

I'm starting a new diet, that's my obsession this week. It changes, you know, so check back in a few days and see what new neurosis I have developed since then. If I'm lucky, I'll go back to a previous obsession and save myself some money buying new supplies!

It's called The Abs Diet, and so far I really like it, though it doesn't seem to be helping at all. It's not much different than what I was already doing that didn't work, as is plain to see from my under 150 photo from January, and now I'm just barely under 160! Basically, eat more often, build muscle by working out, and eat high protein, high calcium, high fiber, and no refined sugar or flour.

I'd publish my Before photos in my bikini too, but it might scare off too many viewers, and since this is such a high traffic blog I need to be respectful! Perhaps when the Afters look better than the Befores, I can post them all as a boxed set.

Yes, those are my feet, even the podiatrist says they're ugly!

Starting stats:
height 5'7"...almost, and don't intend to change that much
weight 158
waist 31.5
hips 41.5
body fat >20%

This is where comments such as, "Emma, you cow, go for it! You sure need this!" or "Wow, you're brave to take photos in a bikini, ick!" or other insensitive jeers are most inappropriate. Unless you think it will motivate me, in which case feel free! Just please refrain from putting me on a scale from 1-10...wait, then that scale says I'd be really thin, let's try that!

Let's see...what to say?

My first post should be my life story thus far, right?

Well, who has time for that?! Between kids, the house, hobbies, and work, I'm lucky I have time to type in this at all!

Here we are with our 3 kids. I work teaching digital scrapbook classes at www.dsplace.com, Troy is a semi-conductor technician for KLA-Tencor, and the kids specialize in Grumpy, Whining, and Snuggles. There aren't a lot of career opportunities out there for minors, so it's fortunate most of them are good at these things!

We have way too many hobbies, it's a wonder the dishes ever get done or the lawn ever gets mowed. I sew clothing, scrapbook digitally, have a brown belt in karate, Troy fixes all things broken, does carpentry so the kids have more things to break, and we both love individual sports like kayaking or rock climbing or racquetball, and we sing and play the piano. I said we like it, not that we're good at it!
Like all good parents we feel guilty that we don't spend more time as a family, either together or on kid or couple dates.

It's amazing that with our frenetic pace and busy lives, we still feel we accomplish so little, and that our lives are inherently boring. Well, if you can squeeze us into a nutshell, this is it!