We are not activating Matt's phone as of now. He uses it for games and such that are already on the phone, but we explained to him that 5th grade is the year he will get a phone. Only 3 years away - it will be here before we know it!
Posted in: on Thursday, October 16, 2008 at at 3:25 PM 1 comments
How young is too young for a child to get a cell phone? Michael got his when he was in 5th or 6th grade which was 10 or ll years old. Matt is now asking for a phone and he is 7. The difference is he hangs around with a couple of kids in the neighborhood who are 9 and they both have phones, so he wants one too.
I recently got myself a Blackberry and my older LG Flip phone had some games that Matt plays on it so I "gave" him the phone to play the games and listen to a couple of songs & pictures that were saved to the phone's memory. He thinks it is his "phone" and takes it everywhere. We have explained to him that it is only for games and a few songs/pictures, but he thinks of it as his phone. We explained over and over again that it doesn't have calling on it and he has finally figured that out and is now asking for it to work as a phone.
We have a neighbor who's son is 7 (close to 8) and just got a phone. I have been trying to catch his Mom on the line to find out what was the deciding factor on getting him the phone, but I haven't caught her yet.
Matt has been very careful with the phone and when it is out of his sight he goes looking for it. He only lost it once for about half an hour and turned over his room to find it (he even fixed the room it once found too.)
What do you think?
Posted in: on Monday, September 29, 2008 at at 6:34 PM 1 comments
| HowManyOfMe.com | ||
|
Posted in: on Wednesday, August 13, 2008 at at 7:56 PM 1 comments
Saturday is cleaning day in my house. I once cleaned the entire house in one day, but that hasn't happened in a very long time. I now pick one bathroom to clean and one other area that is really driving me nuts to take care of.
Today - the hardwood floors on the 1st level of the house and the 1st floor half bathroom. That room sees the most traffic in the house and since I am having family over tomorrow it deserved a good hosing down.
I am a sucker for new cleaning tools too. So whenever I see something new on the shelf at my favorite Target store I usually pick it up to give it a try. Today my two new cleaning tools are:
I love this little tool!! If you have a stand up shower stall in your home, just bring this little guy into the shower with you and wipe down the glass doors and the walls with ease!! Love it!! It also did a great job on the pedistal sink in my half bath and the outside of the toilet. Even used it a little on the floor around the toilet. At that point the cleaning pad was out of scrub, so I went back to the old faithful Clorox Clean-Up. BEWARE of this stuff. If you are wearing any colored clothing - you will see bleach marks on them somewhere by the time you are done. But it also works great.
My other new gadget is the:
Shark Steam Mop
It was a little pricey at $79.99, but it assembled very easily and before I knew it I was steam cleaning my hardwood and tile floors. It worked well. The bigger & stickier stains took a little extra work from outside sources beyond the steam mop, but the usual mysterious spots came up very well. I felt good about cleaning with steam instead of the "hardwood safe" cleaners I have used in the past. I don't always find them to be so safe and we had the floors refinished earlier this year and I have been on the hunt for a good cleaner.
I figure with 3 men/boys in my house I deserve all the tools I can find to keep this house as clean as I can. I once had a cleaning lady named Veronica. She was nice but didn't speak too much English as she was from Poland. She was cleaning for me for about 2 years and at $100 a cleaning 2X a month - she took $2600 a year x 2 = $5200 + holiday tips from us. She left me last year right before Thanksgiving. Not the best timing for me or her. She bailed right before the holiday tipping season so I am guessing she walked away from about $600 just from our family. She was opening a Polish Grocery Store in New Britian, CT where she lives. If you know New Britain, CT you know that one more Polish Grocery Store would have lots of competition so I hope she is doing well and although I do miss her services I do like the extra $200 in my pocket each month.
I don't have a diet update because I have crashed and burned again. I briefly saw 179 on the scale but then I got hungry, so I am trying things on my own again. I am back into my size 14's and even a few big 12's, so will see how it goes.
Posted in: on Saturday, July 12, 2008 at at 5:25 PM 1 comments
Yea - checked in at 181 this morning. Yea! Can't wait to break through to the 170's - I haven't seen those in quite some time. This diet goes great during the day but at night it is a bitch. I just want to dive into my old vices and toss all the work.
Mike is actually keeping me on track. Yesterday I said I was craving a dish from Bertucci's and he talked me out of it. I yelled at him "you just want a skinny wife" and he just looked at me and laughed a bit. I get cranky in the evenings.
Posted in: on Thursday, June 12, 2008 at at 1:17 PM 2 comments
I can't belive the change - it was in the 70's last week and just a couple of hours ago my little thermostat said 101.4 - in the sun - but that is HOT!! It may not break for a few days too - so we can only just grin and bear it. The pool is open and nice and cool - so we hang out there until the thunderstorms come thru like they are now!
Diet - 184.0 - good progress as I started at 188.5 last Saturday. I was down to 183.5, but I had a few drinks at the Yankee game on Friday night that weren't on plan.
Husband - he's been better but still drinking. Vicious cycle I guess. Stressfull week = beers in the house. He had quite a few yesterday afternoon and he is now searching the house for his cell phone. Lost it somewhere and I ain't helping find it.
Kids are well - baseball almost wrapped up for Matt and football is getting started for Michael - so they are busy.
Just wanted to check in!
Posted in: on Sunday, June 08, 2008 at at 4:14 PM 1 comments
Posted in: on Tuesday, June 03, 2008 at at 2:52 PM 1 comments
Day 1 on MDWL was a good one and I am having a good day 2 so far. I checked in at 185.5 this morning, so I'll take the 2.5 pound loss (even if it is just water.)
Mike was down in the East Haven area on business so he stopped in to pick up some food variations for me, I didn't think of that when I was getting my 1st week of food - so thanks Mike!
We have comp tickets to see "Sex in the City" tonight - my plan is to eat my dinner prior and just stick to water during the show. Wish me luck. That popcorn is going to be tough to resist but I will have my support with me. There is a post party being thrown by Skyy Vodka but we are going to pass - it is a school night you know.
Posted in: on at at 2:48 PM 0 comments
I am ready to start my Medical Weight Loss Center program - here we go! Tomorrow AM is the beginning of a new diet - don't you just love Monday's!!
Posted in: on Sunday, June 01, 2008 at at 7:45 PM 0 comments
Here we are - end of May, this month flew just like April did. Things are status quo in the weight and marriage areas. Not better - not worse.
Mike is on day 3 of not drinking. We had a big fight last night and he was sober! I think he is just generally angry about all aspects of his life. His job, his marriage, his kids, everything. And I am not going to take it much longer. I informed him so in a long note this morning and I have not heard back as of yet. So where this ends up - we will see.
I have been talking with a close friend who went through a lot with her husband who is also an alcoholic and has been diagnosed as depressed. She sees a lot of similarities with what I am going through and has become my sounding board.
The weight issue just sucks - I am back to the starting place of 188 and I feel lousy. I am having an initial appointment with Medical Weight Loss Centers : http://www.medweightlosscenters.com/index.htm, this weekend and I am really hoping this may help. I need a good kick in the ass and if I can see some substantial results quickly I think it would provide the needed motivation.
Posted in: on Thursday, May 29, 2008 at at 1:32 PM 0 comments
Wow - I just realized I missed the month of April for a post - where did that go? We went on our family April vacation so that took up about 9 days of the month, guess those other 21 just flew by! We had a great time at Vero Beach - more than I thought the kids would enjoy it actually. Here are a couple of shots from my cell phone:
The beautiful beach:
They released a re-habbed sea turtle for celebration of Earth Day:
We stayed at Disney's Vero Beach Resort - we really enjoyed our visit there. The kids had lots of activities to keep them busy and they enjoyed it much more than I expected they would. After a few days at the beach we headed into WDW and I haven't uploaded those pictures yet so when I do I will share!
Update on my marriage: Mike has really made a real effort on the cutting back on the weekly drinking. We have talked about it and he said it is going to continue. He even wants to loose some of that belly weight so we went to the resort's gyms almost every day on vacation and now are checking out some local places to get memberships at. I think we have it narrowed down to Planet Fitness. It's nothing elaborate but it will get the job done and it is local. Michael is even interested in going and he could ride his bike over to it during the nice weather. I think it is the winner!
If anyone is a member there - let me know what you think!
Last weekend we went to an old High School friend's 40th birthday party in NYC. These parties are like little weddings and the circut is following the path we went through about 10 to 15 years ago. This was the 4th one we have gone to in the last 6-8 months and the most elaborate. It was at a hall with open bar, a buffett and a band. Really - like a mini-wedding and the birthday girl takes the place of the bride! We booked a hotel room & stayed over for the night just in case but we really didn't drink that much and both thought we could have come home if we hadn't booked the hotel room. But we took advantage of it and played it safe. And took advantage of sleeping in and no worries of kids interupting (if you know what I mean!) :)
Mom's day was quiet and nice. We got home from NYC around 11 and had a nice lunch with my Mom & Dad who had slept over with the kids. Then we did some yard clean up and got the flower beds ready for planting.
So here we are in May and I am more than ready for some warm weather.
Posted in: on Tuesday, May 13, 2008 at at 9:40 AM 1 comments
Like I mention in my profile over there - my kids are the center of my life these days. There is a husband in the picture, but with the issues going on with him & I these days it seems easier for me to put him out of mind. I think it is time (and fair to he and I) that I put him first and see where we are heading.
A little background... we have been married for 15 years (last September) and we knew each other in high school, but didn't start to date until we worked together at a liquor store (where he still works and now is the manager.) He has been a drinker for as long as I have known him (his parents drink, and his Dad drank a lot when he was in the working world.)
So I guess I "knew" what I was getting into when we got together. Hell, I drink and have been drinking more lately which is one of the reasons I came back to NS to lose some of this "wine weight." So I have been trying to cut back on the weekly drinking, alas he hasn't.
He used to be a happy, funny guy when he drank, now he isn't. He becomes a loud, angry drunk when he really gets into it . And I don't like him when he is drinking alone. I have figured out that I have become his enabler - his drinking buddy - so it is even more obvious to me when I am trying to cut back the wine and when he just keeps pouring the beer down his throat.
I don't want anything to do with him when he has been drinking alone. I have told him so. I don't want to talk to him, have dinner with him, and especially sleep with him. That part really pisses him off. And since he tends to drink nightly, we have only been having sex about 1 to 2 times a month - the rest of the time I let him pass out on the couch or come to bed once he has started to snore.
There have been really bad episodes over the past holiday season that I almost left - like really walked out - but something just makes me not. I will not leave my boys and he uses that as the same reason that he won't leave. Then when he sobers up and is dealing with the post-alcohol body reactions the next day he always apologizes and tells me how much he loves me. I am just getting tired of it.
Even when he is sober I don't want to have sex. He has said things that have hurt me so much that I don't want him even touching me. Why should I bring pleasure to a man that has hurt me in such a way?
If I was reading this on someone else's blog I would just say - wake up girl! - he isn't going to change - just get out. But now that I am here I know that every situation is different and you don't know what it is about until you are in it.
He has told me point blank that he will not stop drinking. He has "cut back" to just beer - over the holidays he was doing scotch and vodka, but he claims it is only beer in the house now. I think he has some harder stuff stashed in the basement because he goes down there and isn't the same when he comes back upstairs.
He also said that if he "keeps busy" he will drink less. That seemed to work over the last two weekends, but not this one. Yesterday afternoon he was "busy" with putting up a new storm door on the back door of the house and even took the cover off the pool. But when I went outside to help with the cover I could tell (and I saw the empty bottles) that he had been drinking the entire afternoon. I tried helping a little, but walked away after I witnessed some of his actions. It also explains why the storm door doesn't close right. He tried it this morning and said he would fix it.
So he stated last night that we are down to one common thing - we both love our boys - and other than that our relationship is dead. Now - a few months ago I would have cried my eyes out when this was said, but last night I just agreed and rolled over and went to sleep - guess it was an agreement.
But then this morning he told me he loves me more than the beer and doesn't know how to stop. I just looked at him and told him to figure out a way because we are going nowhere.
I know my blog doesn't get the traffic it used to anymore, but if you have made it to this point - thank you for reading and I appreciate any feedback you have.
Posted in: on Monday, March 31, 2008 at at 1:44 PM 2 comments
Posted in: on Friday, March 28, 2008 at at 7:38 PM 0 comments
First - thanks to Em for showing me this great template - hope you don't mind me using the same one - I needed something cheerful for Spring.
Second - I have learned that Blogger has made it so simple to make changes to your page and move stuff around and add fun links! So different than the last time I managed this blog - so big thanks for that too!
Posted in: on at at 3:36 PM 1 comments
Last week was very eventful - my nursing home bound Grandma finally passed after being there for 15 years since my Grandpa passed. So I had some family stuff to take care of with my parents through the Easter weekend.
Easter was low key - we just went out to brunch with my parents, my BIL's and my Bro with my younger neice. The rest of the clan is either in FL or wasn't feeling well. So we just kept it easy for the local family to gather and eat.
And eat I did. I haven't been NS compliant for over a week. I have gotten in a few visits to the T-Mill, but food choices have been more for comfort than anything else.
I am going to make an effort to get back to NS for breakfasts & lunches for the remainder of this week, but dinners are with the boys - we need this right now and I will attempt another 100% compliant NS Span next week.
I can only hope for an even week - don't exptect any loss and hoping for no gain.
Hope everyone is doing well & catch up soon!
Posted in: on Wednesday, March 26, 2008 at at 1:34 PM 2 comments
take 'em or leave 'em, but for every Friday there must be a Monday. No biggie - but I didn't sleep well last night so I was just exhausted today at work but I made it through. Luckily my new boss is so not a micro manager (like my last one) I can get through a day without seeing her - if just in the hall with a pleasant "hi, how was the weekend?"
Yes, I have a new boss. Same company, but I am on my second boss. I left one Insurance/Financial Industry company for another - that happens often here in CT - we kind of do a cycle around the major Insurance groups, I was with Mass Mutual and now I have moved onto The Hartford - great company, but the boss that brought me in was actually new to the company herself and I thank her for bringing me in at the marvelous salary and "Consultant" title, but when she put a level of management between she and I - it was the start to the end of working for her.
So due to the almost annual re-organization I was able to easily shift managers without having to hit the one-year anniversary. That leads me to where I am today. I am with a manager who understands the concept of flexible scheduling and telecommuting and just needs some advance notice when I need to work from home due to health or child reasons - yeah!!
So I was able to coast through this Monday and leave at a reasonable 4:00 to get home before the traffic.
I had a off-NS weekend but I think I did pretty well sans the wine. So I wasn't surprised to see a bit of a plus on the scale, I am sure it will drop off quickly.
Good NS day today and I know I am back on track for a good week.
I have to get the kids movin' so I can watch "Dancing with the Stars" tonight - everyone enjoy!
Posted in: on Monday, March 17, 2008 at at 6:57 PM 2 comments
Fell of the NS Bandwagon yesterday - knew it would happen, had a good weigh in Friday AM and then had lunch plans with a GF that would not be NS so I will start up again Monday. Will try to have a decent weekend, but know that NS won't be part of the menu.
BTW - the NS Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal almost made me puke - what was up with that? I did boil it by accident so I let it sit longer on the counter before eating, but man it made me nauseous - so I tossed more than half of it.
Posted in: on Saturday, March 15, 2008 at at 11:38 AM 1 comments
Here is my official weight loss ticker - cute huh? I wan't to wear some of my cute summer sandals but my feet get swollen with this extra weight - so another reason to just lose it for real!
Posted in: on Wednesday, March 12, 2008 at at 12:50 PM 1 comments
yes - it has been too long. I am back - on blogger and back to NS. I had my 1st 100% NS day today and so many fond memories have returned - mainly the frequent bathroom breaks! But it will stablize, I know.
I am back to my all time weight of 189. I haven't weighed this since I was pregnant with my kids - it is a scary number and if you look at me from the side I could be mistaken for being pregnant again, so that is a big reason for returning.
I gotta run and get said child into a bath, but please stop by again and we can catch up!
Posted in: on Monday, March 10, 2008 at at 7:25 PM 3 comments
