It Is All Fun And Games Until Someone Gets Hurt

This is Kid showing off her newfound independent skating abilities:

This is us almost an hour later right after our horrific wipeout:

We were finally in a pretty good skating groove when some kid skated straight in front of us and knocked Kid off balance. Of course I was holding her up so by chain reaction I was knocked off my feet. Kid slammed down on her hand and I actually caught some air before slamming down so hard on my tailbone that I actually couldn't get up. (I should note that I have a very prominent tailbone... it's practically a deformity) There I was in the middle of the ice with Kid crying hysterically whispering to her "Mommy is really hurt. Mommy is really hurt. I can't help you up just yet." I felt really badly for her since it looked like she might have broken her hand... but I was in no condition to help her. It was taking all of my inner strength to hold myself back from crying and vomiting (yes I hit the ice that hard) and drag us back up and off the ice. Turn in our skates the whole nine yards. I was in so much pain that I couldn't stand or sit without whelping softly. Of course no one seemed to notice or offer any help. I had to call Mr F to pick us up since I knew I couldn't drive home. He wanted to take me straight to the ER but I'm stubborn in the face of pain and wanted to come home and eat first.

So I'm here on the couch trying not to use any of my muscles. I fear I may have actually fractured my tailbone. We saw tons of people fall and get back up and continue on. Damn my genetically flat buttocks... they offered absolutely no protection! If I hadn't been motivated by pride I'd probably still be lying there.

If this derails my workout efforts I'm going to be pissed.

Linkety Link

Haley was kind enough to steer me toward THIS article on maintenance after weight loss. There is lots of interesting information... check it out!

One tip for success:
"Instead of trying to eat less for the rest of their lives to bridge the energy gap, these people exercise more."

I love when my ideas end up being backed by real tangible evidence!

I'm Not Messing Around

I'll be back with something more profound ... or at least try... later on. First I'm off to go break a hip on the Civic Center ice rink.


But here are the highlights:

I ate 8 iced sugar cookies yesterday... for a snack.... enough is enough.
I'm done with the treats.

I'm going to be in the best shape of my life in 3 months. That is my pledge to you.
Stay tuned for before pics and measurements.

I am working out for 60 minutes every freaking day for 14 straight days to get myself back in the game.

I am calorie counting (for real this time) and sticking to 1500 calories. My one exception is vegetation. I'm not counting the calories of fruit or vegetables. Butter and oil on said vegetables?... yes.

I'm making 2 week challenges at a time.

Play along... or just wait and see what can happen in 3 months.

The Stockings Were Hung By The Chimney With Care

Christmas Eve Wrap Up

Cookies for the mailman... delivered:

Skirts are... finished:

Presents... wrapped:


Kid's letter to Santa... written:

"Dear Santa,
I've been very good this year. And I want a Snow White Playmobil sleeping princess with glass coffin. I want a china doll, that I saw in a toy window, dressed in green with orange, long, curly hair. I want some Barbies, the kind that is not poisonous, just like the old ones that I used to have. By the way, also, the sleeping princess I also forgot the little elves with that, the little dwarves. And don't forget there are seven dwarves.
Love, Ruby"

The Nutcracker Ballet... In Pen

One More Christmas Craft

Kid received a soft fleece blanket with fringe cut on one side when she was Baby's age. She still has it and loves it. It is always in the car on road trips; it's always snuggling on the couch on sick days. I'm not sure why the fringe was only cut onto one side but I will say snuggling up to the non fringe side is a little less annoying.

I thought that maybe Kid would like to make one for Baby for Christmas. She did. She did not want to fringe it on both ends for aesthetics sake like I did. You know how kids are... this blanket had to be a carbon copy for fairness sake.

You will need 1.25 yards of fleece fabric (you might want to go 1.5 in case you need to straighten the cuts as I did)


We had the top and bottom of our blanket at the selvedge ends (top and bottom of fabric bolt). The blanket is 1.25 yards wide. We cut off the selvedge ends (very noticeable in fleece). Then we marked a line 8" up from the bottom end of the blanket and snipped fringe to that line. Then we tied each fringe in a knot. That's it.

This fabric was a designer pattern so it was about $8 total. Of course this is a project that could be done for a little as $4 depending on the fleece (even less if on sale).

This Week The Plan

Last week I got so caught up in trying to get stuff done that I failed to plan. You know what they say about that. Two days last week I ate nothing but White Trash which I washed down with coffee. That stuff is made out of Crack. It is ridiculous. It's the kind of thing you just can't stop eating even while you think... "that's it! I'm making myself sick... okay maybe just one more chunk" and then you quickly shove in as many pieces as you can fit.... only to come guiltily crawling back for more in 10 minutes. I don't know who invented this stuff but I'm glad they used their addictive and manipulative powers for good and not evil. (The White Trash recipe is in the comments of this post)

This week I have a plan. I don't plan on being perfect. I do plan on not making any more White Trash until next December... of that I am certain. I also plan to do a little something I've practically forgotten I know how to do... exercise. Believe it. I also plan on spending about twice what I have been on groceries. With Kid home all day and Christmas eve and Christmas day meals to make I'm not cheaping out. We don't have any family events to attend and I need to make things a little special around here to make up for the LONELINESS.


Menu:

Monday - Salmon Noodle Casserole, Green Beans

Tuesday - Shrimp, Ginger Sesame Rice, Broccoli

Wednesday - Filet Mignon, Mashed Potatoes, Asparagus, Panettone Bread Pudding for dessert

Thursday - Chocolate Croissants & fruit; Tomato & Meatball Soup w/ crescent rolls; shrimp cocktail, crudite & roast beef sandwiches... I like easy virtual no work meals for Christmas day so that I can enjoy the festivities too!

Friday - Brown Sugar & Ginger Salmon, rice, Broccoli

Saturday - Spaghetti w/ Turkey Meat Sauce & salad

Sunday - frozen pizza & tomato soup


Errands & Chores:
I'm done shopping and all I need to do is wrap the few gifts from us and assemble Santa gifts. I also need to help Kid finish up the fleece blanket she's making for Baby (super easy just cutting fringe) and make their peppermint candy skirts. I'm going to make the skirts this afternoon (I hope).
I would like to clean the house up on Tuesday night so I don't have to do that on Wednesday.
We're taking the kids to a Children's service at the Episcopal church at 3:30 so I don't want to have anything left to do when we get home other than cook.


Diet & Exercise:
I plan to actually workout. Outside of Christmas eve and Christmas I don't have any legitimate conflicts. In fact since Kid is out of school and we can be more flexible about bed time I have NO excuse not to get some workout in. I'm also planning to finally set up my pilates reformer & trap so I can get back into that too.


Gift Giving Review:
Overall I have to say that I feel better about the gifts I gave then ever before. I enjoyed making things and designing the packaging more than I've ever liked shopping or wrapping. The only stress involved was trying to get things out fast enough that the cookies would still be fresh. My first sets of boxes delivered really fast but my Dad just got his and I sent it LAST Tuesday... so I'm kind of bummed about that. I usually feel the gifts I give him are inadequate... so maybe I'd feel this way no matter what. I didn't give everyone the gift boxes. My youngest brother got a BustedTees shirt in his box of goodies and my littlest sister got a boxed set of my favorite Amish books... I didn't go much over my box price with those and honestly they are both single and young and the gift box is kind of the wrong gift for them. My grandparents and mother also got different gifts. More on all that later. I'm also really happy with the way the cousin's envelopes turned out. We used the priority mail flat rate envelopes (the firm ones) and filled them with the capes, stickers, felt framed photo, 3 CDs, and a drawing for the boys and the doll, a bib, framed photo and CDs for the baby girl. I think that all the kids will be happy with what they got... and even though we may have spent less they are actually getting so much more than they would have.

Traitor

"Do you want this cookie?" Mr F asks

"What?" Mrs F replies.

"Do you want this last cookie?" He asks again.

Oh yeah I forgot... he actually went out this morning and bought break apart cookies... and brought them home to the house wherein I have been baking factually good Christmas cookies nearly every single day.

"NO... I shun non Christmas cookies during the week of Christmas!" Mrs F retorts.

Better... Right?

Just thought of this:
The flash is giving too much shadow on the lashes since they aren't sewn down... they look better in real life.
I'm not putting them on this one because I think it is more babyish without, but I'll definitely do it on the ones I make my girls. I'm going to make bigger throw pillow sized versions of the girls for their beds (no I won't be doing that in time for Christmas). I'm just going to make them with an overlapping slit in the back and make them as covers for the pillows you can buy uncovered at the fabric store.