Wii

I doubled my step aerobics from 10 minutes to 20 this morning, and did almost 2000 steps! I also burned almost 80 calories. Not sleeping at night due to sinus problems and my back makes me tired all day, so I really had to push myself. But I am soooo glad I did this.

Right now I weigh a little bit over 154 pounds, a long jump from my original 174! Almost 20 pounds! I actually saw my reflection in a tall mirror at Target the other night and could hardly believe what I was seeing. I might even feel confident enough to wear shorts this summer...maybe.

Daily picture to come later.

2 more pounds

I was very pleased that I lost another two pounds! I'm just slightly under 156 now. I think it's about 16 or 17 pounds I've lost. It fluctuates.

I did some Wii Fit exercises this morning, but then I switched to Wii Sports, which I haven't done in a long time. Honestly, if I could bowl as well in real life as I do on the game, I'd probably do it for real.

For my 366-photo project I took a shot of a bluejay helping himself to peanuts we throw out on the deck:

Got my Christmas outfit

Well, the blouse for it. I am almost finished making a blue and silver brocade vest and I needed a white blouse to wear under it. I found one on sale at Macy's. I also found a nice casual top that looks like a sweater over a shirt and a really pretty pink blazer. Plus a Totes umbrella for a gift. All these cost me about $45--the receipt says I saved over $90. And it didn't really cost me anything. Mike has a client that gives him a $100 Macy's gift card every year so I used that, plus a 20% off coupon. And everything I bought was already on sale. I should shop at Macy's more often. There are some great deals there.

Finally have Katherine's birthday gift to give to her. She will stop by tonight for it. She knows what it is--an iPod. It's a pink one. I love mine. I use it when I exercise. Speaking of that, I burned over 100 calories with the Wii yesterday. Bad allergy/cold/whatever day today--I didn't do anything. But I'm still exercising a hell of a lot more than I did, so that has to help.

Meals together

It is rare we get all four kids here (not to mention the future son-in-law) for dinner. Well, me missed Erick yesterday but, wonder of wonders, Michael, Katherine, James and Nick were all here for Mike's sauce. Which, of course, came out great.

Michael had fun trying out my Wii Fit. He beat a lot of my scores so the bar has been set higher for me. Frankly, I'm more interested in calorie-burning than scores. Although it would be nice to rank higher than 'amateur.'

Today I did a few balance games and aerobics and burned 54 calories. So far I have lost over 2 pounds!

No matter what else I do in a day, if I get in exercise it is a productive one.

30 years today

Today is our 30th wedding anniversary. We went out to dinner last night since nothing is open on Monday. We at at Martoni's, a nice Italian restaurant. Dinner was amazing. I had a spinach salad with strawberries and almonds, with ginger cream cheese sprinkled on top and a balsamic dressing. Mike had French onion soup. My dinner was shrimp francaise and Mike had shrimp and calamari over linguini.
Mike had bread pudding and pumpkin ice cream for dessert and I had a red velvet carrot cake. Yum! This is our second visit to the restaurant and the food has been wonderful. We'll definitely make this a 'special occasion' place.
Mike gave me a beautiful card this morning, too.

Off to play with my Wii Fit (my anniversary gift from Mike, in case I didn't mention it.)

Not sure what I'm doing for dinner tonight, but I ain't cooking!

The Season Starts!

Mike and Jamie hung lights on the big tree in front of the house this morning. It's a nice, sunny day but a little chilly. Jamie held the ladder, Mike strung the lights, and I stood back on the sidewalk and directed. I think it will look really pretty when they are lit up tonight!

James is such a clever kid. He comes up with ideas for using things in ways no one would think. When he was little, we were coloring Easter Eggs and I didn't have enough cups. But Jamie suggested we use the empty tins from the International Delight coffees I used to drink all the time. They were the perfect size! Today, when his dad couldn't reach to put the lights where he wanted, Jamie suggested using a trimmer that is for cutting branches high in trees. It's got a very long pole. It worked perfectly!

The other big thing that happened today is that I started on my new Wii Fit! Mike bought it for me for our anniversary (Monday, btw--our 30th!). We got $30 off at Target on Black Friday and didn't have to wait on a line or anything. I am so happy to have this as I desperately need to get in shape. Today, just trying it out and playing around I burned over 40 calories! It's very accurate as far as my weight (never mind, suffice to say I'm obese) and my sense of balance. It even asked me if I trip over my own feet when walking because my balance is so bad. No...but I'm always bumping into things. It's like I don't have a sense of myself in the space around me.

I tried some of the balance games and already see improvement in just a few minutes of 'play.' I did some basic step aerobics, too, and by the second game got the hang of it. I only did a little weight training because it makes my bad shoulder hurt but I'll keep adding on to that. I skipped yoga for now. With my sense of balance I'd probably fall over and knock down the television set.

So that is where we are today in the Mom2fur family.