Category Archives: Family matters

In which we discuss matters of the family.

Prayers for friends in Texas

In addition to whatever prayers you’re saying about Hurricane Ike, I’d appreciate it if you’d add a few people to your list.

  • From what I hear, Kate and I would be great pals in real life if she and her husband hadn’t left Missouri about the time we arrived. Instead, we’ve had to make do with an internet friendship. Kate and her family live on the Texas coast. She was supposed to have a baby today. Instead, she and her family have packed up and headed inland.
  • My former co-worker Gerry is a very talented photojournalist. This isn’t working in his favor this week, though; the paper he works for is sending him to Houston to cover the hurricane.
  • Exercising in the living room

    Works for Me Wednesday logo

    I mentioned yesterday that I’m having trouble losing weight. Although the pounds aren’t dropping off, I have been putting an effort into exercising. So I must be at least a little bit healthier than before, right? I sure hope so.

    Anyway. When I decided I wanted to start working out again, I was faced with a dilemma. A gym membership isn’t in our budget right now, and the roads around our house aren’t safe for pedestrians. There are quite a few parks around here that I could have gone to, but I knew that the combination of having to leave the house and walk around in the heat would stifle my desire to exercise right quick.

    I needed another solution. And I found it at Netflix. We already had a Netflix account, and it only cost me a few dollars more every month to add another queue to our account. I filled that queue up with workout DVDs. When I get bored with one, I can just pop it in the mail and get something else!

    So far I haven’t found what’ll work for me to get the weight off, but a Netflix queue is working to help me exercise every day!

    Visit Rocks in My Dryer for more Works for Me Wednesday tips!

    Motivation

    My #1 motivation to lose weight has been a shallow one. I want to look good at my brother’s wedding, which is next September. This hasn’t been, apparently, enough to really kick me into gear. I’ve been on Weight Watchers for ten thousand years more than a couple of months, and I’ve only managed to lose a pound. That’s one. One stinkin’ pound.

    Today, I found myself up against a new, more immediate motivation. A friend and I have been toying with the idea of taking a ballroom dancing class, and we were going to “observe” a session this evening. The woman at the dance studio told me that we didn’t need to wear ball gowns but that we should wear nice slacks. Definitely not jeans.

    Now, I haven’t gone the way of the sweatpant. But I’ll admit that I don’t do a whole lot to gussy myself up every day. I do have some slacks in the closet, but I haven’t worn them in a good long while. And this afternoon? I discovered that none of them fit.

    I called my friend to tell her I needed to lose 15 pounds or buy new pants before I could hit the dance floor, and she sounded relieved. She was headed to her closet when I talked to her. She has a 3-month-old, and she was worried she wasn’t going to fit into the pre-pregnancy clothes.

    Me? I’ve gained 10 pounds since having Pete. I can’t fit into my post-pregnancy clothes. This is not good. I need to back away from the desserts. Because I can’t afford a new wardrobe.