Busy Bee, Bullets, and Band Get-togethers

Hi all, I've been horrible about keeping up with blogs lately.  I wish I could get into a regular blogging habit but it's not happening.
I've been crazy busy lately so I'm going to photobomb all of you and do it bullet-style.

• Have had a couple of fun band buddy get togethers!! Met up with my AZ girls Elizabeth and Jenn for lunch a few weeks ago. Always nice to get together with them and just chit chat!
• THEN, some of us AZ girls got to meet LapBandGal and AmyW when they were here for an Allergan panel. It was so fun to finally meet these superstars of the band and nice to see that they were exactly like they were in their blogs! (sometimes you meet people who aren't anywhere near the way they come across on their blogs!) We met up with them at their fancy resort and just hung out in the cigar room and chatted! Lots of laughs and really good support! 

                                         

                 

 We look a little demonish, but still cute! 

• It snowed in AZ.. WTH?? Hell has indeed frozen over.                                                   
• Spring Training has begun and we've been to 5 games already. Shoot me now. Let me tell you, taking a 19 month old to a Spring Training Baseball game is my new version of what hell might be like.. good thing he's cute though:          
• I have a new doctor for my band!! I finally just sucked it up and paid the $500 to go see the surgeon that Jenn and Elizabeth go to. I actually saw a different one but I loved him.  I had an EGD done last Thursday to check everything out and it all looks good. He re-filled me to 6ccs once done (I was at 9cc) and I'll go back again in about 3 weeks. I'm super excited to finish what I started with this band! 
• Work still blows.  There really aren't enough minutes in the day to do everything I need to do which is why I'm writing this on a Sunday night! This weekend I decided to NOT do anything work related and not even look at my emails. What a concept, Weekends are for spending time with family.. hmmm.
• The only good thing about work lately is that the President gave me his tickets to the Suns game last week.. 3rd row, right behind the Suns bench. AND, we got access to the Blue Moon club - unlimited free drinks and food..  I took my girlfriends Jen and Erin. We were a bit like the Beverly Hillbillies acting all excited about the perks, but it was fun! 

                                    

• I'm heading to Chicago this weekend for Shannon's shower. Not gonna lie, I wouldn't mind if I could just stay there! But I will come back, for now!! :) 
• One of my girlfriends Jen (in Chicago) had a sweet little baby boy yesterday! Can't wait to meet him this weekend. There has been an influx of boys in my circle of friends lately.. where are all the girls?? 
• Timmy and I had a little impromptu date night the other night. I'd be lying if I didn't say that one of the reasons I suggested the date is so that I could get a little shopping done before our trip to Chicago so I chose a shopping mall with a good bar that I knew he'd be ok with hanging out in while I shopped!  I found some really cute fun colored pants for spring and NOTHING to wear for the shower this weekend. 

                                    



Ok, gotta go to bed now!  hope you are all well! and still want to be my friend after the lack of blogging!

xo,js

10 Things Thursday - the LOVE edition

1.  I never was a big fan of Valentines Day, but for some reason, I LOVE it this year. I was telling Timmy last night that I feel like I've waited all my life to be that mom who makes things the night before for her kid to bring to class and now that I finally am that mom, I'm not going to complain about it at all! And, he's only 19 months (yikes! how did he get to be 19 months?)??  so, we made cupcakes last night and he brought Meg (or Met as he calls her) some beautiful tulips to let her know how much she is appreciated. I wish I had taken a picture so ya'll could see how cute he looked this morning carrying the flowers into her house and then giving them to her with a big grin on his face.. like he was so proud.  My heart swelled just a tiny little bit...

2.  As you mostly know, I'm a picture FREAK!!!  Well, when my absolute favorite photographer had a mini-session deal that I couldn't pass up, I jumped at the opportunity to have her take his picture.  She did a valentine's session and while he was a little bit fidgety and not wanting to cooperate at all, she got some decent shots, including the ones in the card above.  I ended up doing 2 different cards b/c I didn't think I'd get hers in time for V-day but sure enough, both arrived on the same day so I now look like a crazy person for putting so much effort into Valentines Day Cards!! :) Oh well, I LOVE doing things like that!  a little love spread around never hurt anyone right?? Here are some other ones she got:

3.  I joined the Lifetime 90 day challenge at the gym and I have to say, I'm doing pretty well on it!! I've cut back all sugar (perfect time to do it since it's EVERYWHERE, right?) and have been tracking my food intake on MFP this week. I've also started making green smoothies and I LOVE them!! who knew adding some spinach and kale to my smoothies would a.  make a difference in how much energy I have each day and b. taste soo delish! If you haven't tried a green smoothie, I highly recommend it. It's delish.  I weighed myself this morning and I'm down 2.6 since Sunday which is a nice little change considering I'm a big time staller in the WL area!

4.  Also found a new Kale chip I LOVE at whole foods..  Alive and Radiant Cheezy Chipotle.  Delish!

5. I'm in full planning mode for my BFF's wedding events. I can't believe we start celebrating her next month! We are headed to Chicago in early March and then back in May!  Super excited to be planning the parties!! I LOVE me a party!  We are doing the bachelorette here in April and we just booked a cabana for a day at one of the local hotels.. need to get my bathing suit body together stat!!!

6.  Spring Training starts in a couple of weeks and you all know how much I LOVE spring training (at least I LOVE it at the beginning, by the end of March, I'm DONE!) We got a little taste of outdoor fun a couple of weeks ago at the Phoenix Open, which touts itself as the biggest show on Grass..  it was super fun and the first time we've ever been which is ridiculous since we live like a mile from the course. We got to see Phil Mickelson win and all the scantily clad hussies walking around trying to snag themselves a rich dude.. very fun!!

7.  Ya'll know how much I LOVE my blog buddies!! We are getting together for lunch this weekend and then in a couple of weeks, we are meeting up with some band/blog superstars who are in town.  Will definitely post pics of that fun time! 

8.  I went to Pilates last night and my instructor, whom I LOVE, told me she's put in her notice at the gym. I almost cried. I truly believe she is the reason that I've renewed my motivation to get healthier again and have stuck to it.  She sends me daily emails and it's going to suck that she won't be my instructor. She's almost become a friend.  We talked about me possibly going to her privately (she has her own practice not affiliated with the gym) but we'll see. it blows. 

9. Going back to TR next week, whom I DO NOT LOVE!  But, I'm going to see about getting another small fill. This one has done pretty good but I'm still hungry much sooner than I should be.  Hoping I get the good PA and not the one that doesn't know how to count or find my port. 

10.  I think I'm done with the love-fest for the day. I wish I could find time to blog more, but my job (which if you notice I did not talk about LOVING) is still crazy and it's about to get even crazier..  ho hum.. 

Have a very happy Heart day!!

xo

js

10 Things Thursday.. (the "why is it so hard?" edition)

Hi all,
once again, it's been a while since I blogged and lately, I'm finding myself asking "why is it so hard" to almost everything in my daily life, so I'm going to rant. Don't read it if you don't want to hear a rant.. warning.. (I'll also try to not make every one of these points about my husband)

1.  Why is it so hard for my husband to not put a dish in the dishwasher?  The dishwasher is empty, the sink is empty every night before I go to bed and pretty much every morning I wake up and there is a dish IN.THE.SINK. The dishwasher is like a foot away??  I'll never get it.

2.  Why is it so hard that while there is a Milwaukee Brewers or Bucks game, I cannot get my husband's attention to save my life. And never mind the child that lives in our house, he'll be yelling DADA, DADA and Tim won't even hear him?  I mean, I don't glaze over during Housewives or any of my reality shows.. (Homeland may be an exception though!) and things can get done while the TV is also on. He will ask me a question about something we discussed the previous night while he was watching the game and act like it's the first time he's heard me talk about something..

For the Record, I want to say to those that say "These bitches be crazy", it's b/c you men MAKE.US.CRAZY!!!
I could go on and on.. but there's so much more to bitch about.

3.  I mentioned that work blows right?? it's b/c when you cut 80% of your workforce, you lose most of the support you used to receive for little things like, um, copy machine repair, ordering supplies, business cards, etc.. it help desk, could I go on? So, when I ask why is it so hard to get anything done and why do I have to go through an email chain of like 50 emails to get one thing done, I know the answer, I just don't have to like it!

4. Why is it so hard for the snowbirds who come to AZ to drive the speed limit? I need a big foam bumper on my car so I can occasionally bump them to light a fire under their slow bums.

5.  Why is it so hard for people to commit to things? I have a few friends who tell me every week they are going to join a class I take with me (no this isn't about you Michelle! :) ) and do you think any of them ever show up? No! A couple of them don't even have jobs at the moment so I know they have plenty of time on their hands! Good thing I don't rely on anyone to get my workouts in b/c I'd probably never work out. Last night I had a Pilates class alone (technically a private ) b/c the other girls just didn't show up, which is silly b/c you then pay double for the class if you late cancel!

6.  Why is it so hard for my work to understand that a 40 hour work week exists?  and 55 isn't the same as 40? I'd like them to figure that out soon.

7. Why is it so hard to get a decent flight to the Midwest in March?? I mean, isn't it still snowing and crappy? shouldn't it be almost free to go there? I'm going to Chicago in March and it's costing us almost $400 to fly there.. WTH indeed?  I need to get closer to the people that I spend a fortune on going to see, imagine how rich I'd be if I lived closer to family and friends?

8.  Why is it so hard for me to lose weight?  I'm at the same weight as I was last May.. pathetic!!  I definitely feel better about myself and I know that my size has gone down, but my body cannot be happy and settled at this weight.  I am doing all the right things so it makes no sense.

9. Why is it so hard for the clinic I go to to find a decent NP to do my fills??  True Story.. I walked in yesterday to get a fill. The woman that nearly murdered my belly last time was there, I got nervous..
she looked at my weight and said, "Oh good, you've lost 12 lbs since you were here last in November", and I said, "that's not right, according to my calculations, I've lost 6", "no, 12".. me:  "hmmm, do you need a calculator?" her:  "oh, you are right, 5.8".. WTF?? how do you get confused between 12 and 6 lbs??  Then, she proceeds to again try to find my port and I'm pretty sure after the digging, she just gave up and pretended that she filled me!  I need to switch drs. The one that Jenn and Elizabeth are going to accepts my insurance but I'd have to pay $500 to switch. I know that it would be worth it but I just need to convince my miser husband to let me spend the money.

10. Why is it so hard for me to blog and not post a picture of my little munchkin? B/C he makes everything better and why not end on a good note! he's been sick with a cold and bronchitis but I think he's finally turning the corner!!

Ok, rant over.

Do you have things that beg the question "why is it so hard" in your life? or is it just me?? (please let it not just be me!)

xo,
js

PTL it's Friday..

I apologize if I offend anyone with my PTL (Praise the Lord)  usage but can I get a Hallelujah that's it's finally effing FRIDAY!!!!!

This may have been the longest week ever, and does anyone else think that January is just slowly creeppppiiinnnngg by? JESUS!

Anywho, I am planning on a whole lot of nothing this weekend!
I need to get back on track eating wise, but the problem is, I'm really not even eating hardly anything. I'm so busy at work that I'm skipping lunch and just moving through my day. It's no surprise that I've not lost a lb doing that.. the body needs fuel!

I sucked at my workouts this week. I bailed on Pilates on Wednesday night b/c I was at the point that if I had to do one more thing that day, I wouldn't  make it. Last night I went to bed at 8:30.. so pathetic.  To say I'm counting down the minutes until a week from Monday when everyone I work with will be in LA for the National Sales Meeting would be an understatement. (I got cut from the list last minute!!WOOHOO)  I may even take a day off that week!!

My plan for next week:

Eating plan back on track
Pilates - Saturday, Monday & Wednesday
Zumba - Tuesday
Walking - Sunday, Thursday

I can do this! :)

Have a good weekend!

xo,js

10 Things Tuesday (Tuesday,Wednesday, Thursday, what's the diff?)

Holy Balls people!! I have been wanting to blog forever, but just haven't had the time. First I wanted to do a blog like AmyW suggested where I list out the things I love about me, and that didn't happen, and then I thought I'd do one with goals, and that didn't happen, so finally tonight, I'm putting some things down in writing, regardless if anyone reads or not..

1.  Work blows big time. I'm working almost 55 hours a week most weeks and honestly, that's not even enough hours, I could keep on working some days. But I have to go home and take care of my little mister! I'll survive this job but who knows how long many of us will stick it out! I'm not leaving anytime soon.. unless they force me out!

2.  My little mister is doing so well! HE just turned 18 months this weekend and he's growing like a weed.  We had a little valentine's day mini-photo session and that was fun (not really!) at 18 months, he's just not that interested in sitting too still!! But the photographer sent a couple sneak peeks and he looks just delicious!!

Timmy  has been taking him to daycare each day so that I can get to work early and every day I show up and Mac is all dressed in sweats and tees and his hair is barely combed, so I had to take this pic the other day when I showed up at daycare and he looked like a little man in his green skinnies:

3.  Over the holidays, right after Christmas, I met up with JennAz for lunch one day and made her try one of my faves, The Herb Box. I'm so glad that I've become such good friends with some of my blog buddies here!  I'm not going to lie, the AZ ladies rock!  All have something to add to the mix as far as Band experience goes and it's nice to all just have someone to relate to! I'm pretty sure that Elizabeth is my long lost sister! It's like she knows when I need a little encouraging text or just a check in and for that, I just love her for! 

4.  My Dad is continuing to do well and I really appreciate all the check-ins from everyone! He had a little blip last week but everything came back good and he said he felt the best this weekend that he had in a while! So, all good news! 

5.  I've been the movie queen lately! Everything I've seen has been good! In order of my faves:  Zero Dark Thirty, Silver Linings Playbook, Argo, The Impossible..  ALL GOOD! 

6.  I'm in full Maid of Honor planning mode for my BFF Shannon! We are headed to Chicago in March for her shower and then all the girls are coming to AZ in April for the Bachelorette and then wedding in May!  I feel like it's all coming up so fast! Cannot wait! I need to find a dress to wear though. I did have somewhat of an NSV last weekend when I went to try on some dresses at David's bridal. I pulled a couple of sizes that started with a 2 and they were literally falling off of me. Old habits die hard people.. the woman was like "why would you pull these sizes b/c there's no way you are near this size" it was nice to hear!!  

7.  Speaking of NSVs, at my doctor's office the other day, they laid out the little robe and in the past, it's never fully fit and this past week, I could belt it and wrap it all the way around me and then some. It's nice to have these NSVs when I don't see the weight falling off like I'd like. I took a pic of myself while I was waiting (b/c really, just what am I supposed to do while waiting besides take some selfies!!)  Also, I wanted to take a pic of my new specs! I can see again!! 

8.  this is literally the most random blog ever!  :) 

9.  So happy the Biggest Loser is back on!  Love that show but Jillian would scare the living shit out of me if she was my trainer!  

10. I've got a new Pilates instructor and she is completely badass!!  I swear I was doing baby Pilates for the past year b/c this new instructor kicks our asses every.single.time.  I can totally already see results and I'm loving it!  I also went back to Zumba tonight which was hilarious b/c I'm so not a dancer but it was fun and according to my fitbit, I took almost 8000 steps in one hour!! wahoooo!! 

Ok, I'm out. Hopefully, I can catch up with all ya'll!!  

Happy New Year!! 

xo,js

Post-Christmas Catch Up!!!

Hi all!! Hope you and yours had a fabulous Christmas!!  We had a good one, but as I told my husband yesterday, I'm done with not being around family for Christmas!! It was good, but I missed the craziness that comes along with being in Northern Michigan, with the snow falling, lots of people talking and being able to go skiing..  it's just not the same.

Since I've been absent for a while from the blog world, thought I'd do a little catch up bullet style:

since we last chatted, this has been what's going on in my world:

• My job is secure.  As I mentioned, I now work for two Execs and as promised, last week was BANANAS- I worked something like 68 hours in 6 days.. it'll be a nice paycheck in a couple of weeks!! I don't anticipate that it'll be this crazy all the time, at least I'm hoping not! Otherwise, mama might be picking up a bad habit or two in order to stay sane!! :) 
• I had my annual cookie party a couple of weeks ago.  Because of the events of that week, it turned into more of a boozefest..  I woke up the next morning in a wine-induced fog and thought I was going to meet my maker - let's just say me and wine might need to take a break from each other for a bit.  Two of my AZ blog besties made it to the party and thankfully I did not embarrass myself too much!! Love these girls - JennXAz and Elizabeth!! 

• that same weekend, some of us AZ bloggers met up for lunch to have a little goodbye lunch for Amanda (MandaPanda). We are so sad to see her go but she'll still be blogging and we'll all keep in touch (we even talked about meeting up in Vegas in 2013!) 

• Mac is doing great as usual!! It's amazing how much he is picking up as far as speech goes.. he says Merry Christmas the funniest way and he is starting to talk in a clearer, non babbling way! He's off daycare this week so we'll see how much he and his mama survive with 11 days to ourselves!! I'm working 1/2 days this week and we have a sitter while we are at work, but lordy be is it expensive paying by the hour instead of his daycare rates!!! I'm going broke just paying Wednesday - Friday. He loves his doggies..  

• He was not a fan of Santa - but I knew he wouldn't be..  he still has a little of that separation anxiety/stranger danger thing going on..  it was funny for the minute he was on his lap!! 

• Speaking of Santa, he was very good to everyone!!  I told Timmy that Mac is not getting one more thing until his birthday in July!!! My family was out of control in giving him gifts! We had a very low key couple of days, but spent it with our friends here and each other.. 

• I'm so ready for 2013 to come and I plan on killing it on the band front. I'm thinking about switching offices b/c I just don't care for the TR office here. I contacted Jenn's doctor and they are checking with my insurance and I may switch to them. I need someone to really help me push and get these last lbs off and I know I can do it if I put my mind to it.  I am upping my PIlates again and I am committing to working out here at work every day I'm not doing Pilates. I'm in my bestie's wedding in May and I want to look goooooooodddd!!! Plus, Michelle and Joy and I are planning a girl's trip to NYC in April and they both are so cute and I want to keep up with them!! 

Hope you all have a very Happy New Year!!  I can't wait to see what is in store for all of us in 2013! 

xoxo,

js

My Goodness...

Holy Crap, I need to breathe.
I've neglected my blog something horrible. I've equally neglected my band and my health. Something needs to change quickly.

To say lots has been going on would be an extreme understatement.

To Recap:

My dad's kidney transplant was last Friday. All went amazingly well!  He's out of the hospital as of yesterday and is feeling pretty good!!  Words don't describe this whole experience and the gratitude we all felt for the support and prayers that we received all weekend long. And his donor, Emily, no words. She truly has a special place in heaven, that girl...  

I had hoped to get together with some of my MI Blog friends but there just wasn't the time to do so, so I apologize.

I got home late on Sunday and had to mentally prepare myself for what was to come this week at work. As I had mentioned, my company was purchased by another Pharma company these last few months.  Friday was the shareholders meeting to ok the purchase and yesterday was the close date. I have to say, I've been through layoffs before, I've been through losing a business and realizing you have nothing to show for it, but yesterday was the absolute worst day of my professional career.  Yesterday, 80%, yes, take it in, 80% of my company was told that their last day was this Friday, less than two weeks before Christmas. This new company is NO JOKE. Those of us that survived have jobs, but we are not considered lucky.  We had over 500 people at our HQ building and around 440 got their walking papers yesterday.  Who knows what's going to happen to the sales force as they find out early in 2013..   If I were still working for the company I was working for last week, my new job would be considered a really big promotion. But since I'm at the newco, I'm going to be working for an additional exec, making considerably less money and working double what I am used to. I'm not really that lucky, except for the fact that I have a job.  People are not taking it well and it's very uncomfortable to be here right now. I keep saying, "just make it to Monday, just make it to Monday". I totally understand that people are pissed but some of the reactions are completely unbelievable and I guess you really see people's true colors when things like this happen.

So, tomorrow is my cookie party and I'm so looking forward to it.  I'm excited to laugh and have a few drinks. AND, I'm meeting up with some AZ bloggers on Sunday so that should be fun.

I'm sorry for the downer post. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have a few minutes to post some pics of the past couple of weeks and some happier thoughts!!

I'm hoping to catch up on all the blogs I've neglected as well and start writing down my goals for the upcoming year which include getting myself back on the band wagon!!!

xo,js