Catch Up

First, a brief diet and exercise report. I fully intended to continue posting my workouts and food on here during Christmas vacation, but honestly it was kinda nice to not have to scram to the computer each morning and robotically list everything like I'd been doing. I managed to find a happy middle ground with food. I ate plenty of egg whites and veggies and cottage cheese and oats, but I also ate Christmas candy and holiday fare and consumed my fair share of red wine and hot apple cider with rum. I'm proud to say that I worked out 5 of the 7 days we were gone, and 2 of those days I actually ran. At first I surprised myself with how long I could run without stopping, but after that I was constantly thinking this sucks, why am I doing this, gawd, running sucks, why do people do this, I would rather eat shit and die! When I finished the first run I felt amazing. The next day I was sore in places I did not realize could feel sore. The day after Christmas Drew and I braved the mall, and I painfully hobbled along like I was a hundred and fucking five years old. Wednesday night we decided to drink with family and friends because it was our last night in town. I had 2 wine glasses full of Merlot and then a double whiskey and diet coke. In a state of drunken panic I decided that the only way to make it through the rest of the night without passing out by 9 p.m. was to eat something, anything, and fast! My mom had prepared some leftover beef roast in gravy for dinner, so I happily gnawed on dead cow and curried fruit. Needless to say it didn't make me feel any better. I promptly passed out in my sister's room watching Father Ted by 10 p.m. I guess the beef bought me an extra hour, so all was not lost. Also, Father Ted is very, very funny. Anyway, what did I do the very next morning before we left? I got up and ran again, this time miraculously beating my time from the first run by almost 5 minutes. I had to somehow pay for my drinking sins, and that totally did the trick. It's all about balance, right? Right.

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We had Christmas last night at Drew's parent's house and my gawd, we now need to move because we simply absolutely quite literally do not have enough room for all the stuff we got. Drew got some jeans and an electric razor. All rejoice, for my husband no longer looks as though he just climbed out of a dumpster! He is now smooth and baby faced and frankly just downright sexy. I got 3 Cathe dvds. 3 CATHE DVDS! I squealed like a little school girl when I opened them, and I'm quite sure everyone thought I'd gone mad. I can start out the new year doing Butts & Guts, Kick Max and Drill Max. I am beyond excited!!! We also got a deep fryer that doubles as a steamer (so that Drew can continue on his quest to clog his arteries completely before the age of 25 and I can enjoy freshly steamed tender-crisp vegetables), the most hardcore iron/steamer I have ever seen (can also be used as a weapon), and an 8-piece pot and pan set (so that after I work my butts and guts I can prepare the perfect egg white omelet, does it get any better than this?). Ethan got exactly eight hundred and fifty five million toys. He got this, this, this and this. And this. I'm sure I'm forgetting something. I just can't keep track. In conclusion we were spoiled rotten by everyone this year, and we weren't even that good. Santa must have turned his back more than once, or he's simply cutting us a break. Thanks, Santa!

Note to Fisher Price and Little Tikes:

As a new-ish parent I find that I struggle greatly with removing my son's Christmas toys from their death-grip packaging. Do you have kids of your own? I will go ahead and assume that no, no you do not have kids of your own. Because if you did I am positive that you would discontinue the use of those hideous wire twisties that you use to bind each toy to it's cardboard box, and is all that damn tape really necessary? When my son is patiently waiting for me to open a toy for him, it should be a pleasant and exciting experience, not an experience of fright and terror because mommy is saying those naughty words again and veins are popping out of her forehead and she is hitting her head on the kitchen cabinet and asking god to please put her out of her misery and just open the fucking toy alreeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaddddddddyyyyyyy.

Thanks, and Happy New Year!

S.L.T.

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Things Ethan can say:

Spongebob Squarepants
Daisy (from Mickey Mouse clubhouse)
Bu-bye
Hi
Dada
Bogart
Button
Bye dada!
Bye daisy!
Mama

And a ton of jibberish that I cannot understand. Sure is cute, though! He shows little interest in walking unless someone is holding both his hands, so I'm thinking he'll be a late walker-early talker, and that's perfectly fine with me. He got 2 push-walkers for Christmas, and once he gets the hang of those I'm sure he'll realize that holy holy hell, I can get around on two limbs instead of four!? Freaking awesome! Then he'll tell me to get my own tater tots and trot off to his room to sketch ligers.

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I'm kind of over posting my food on here. If I come up on a killer recipe I'll be sure to share it, but otherwise it's kind of boring same-old-same-old going on every day. Egg whites, cottage cheese, frozen veggies, a couple servings of fruit a day, oats, whole wheat toast with peanut butter, fish, chicken, lean beef, Barilla Plus pasta, basil pesto, omelets, etc.etc.etc. Thursday marked the start of week 9, and I missed my 8 week pics but plan to take them today or tomorrow instead. Better to have late pics than none at all. I'm really excited to see how my body has transformed at the end of 12 weeks with these pictures. Oh, and one more thing: there's nothing like compliments from family and friends to kick that motivation into turbo gear! Thanks everyone in Texas for the kind words. They are fuel to my fire! (Know that in my head I said fire like 'fie-ya', as I find that it takes that saying to a whole new level entirely.) Going forward I'd still like to drop another 10 pounds of ugly fat while working on strength gains. Cardio will consist of a day of intense intervals, one day of kickboxing, one day of regular step and possibly another day of running if I feel like being miserable. Tuesday I am starting a 3-day/week weight split using Cathe's Pure Strength series. Keep on keepin' on!