My dad is okay. the surgery went great and he back at home, once again enjoying his Manhattans (albeit, in less quantity and minus his Monet Cristo’s…).
I am relieved and thankful to God, Buddha, Allah, Itzli, Joe Pesci or whatever mystical diety you worship.
My dad is in surgery right now to clear out his carotid artery, which they found was 95% clogged on Wednesday. The Doctor informed him that he was about 4 days away from a massive stroke. I’m freaking out. We had health issues in our immediate in the past, which we have survived through (my mother in law and step mother have both survived breast cancer and my mother had very early stages of uterine cancer) but this is first time that anything has felt ***life threatening*** and it’s weird to have your parents mortality slammed in your face. I’m sure he is in good hands and I know that this a surgery they perform frequently, that is what my head is telling me but my emotions are haywire. I haven’t slept and I’m definitely snapping at kids in class. My poor husband has been down right berated repeatedly over the past two days.
I am happy go lucky as usual, most of the time, but I realized last night as I tried to calm my nerves with a glass of Chardonnay that I didn’t want it. That I couldn’t drink it. ME!! Not able to drink! and then…..I dumped it down the drain. This MUST be serious.
So, I am not turning this into a weight-loss blog, or anything remotely of the sort, but I feel like if I go public with my weight loss goals and update occasionally, I will be more likely to actually stick to my plan. Your average mom has been above above average in weight since Josie was born 3+ years ago. I conquered this same struggle 12 years ago, losing 60 pounds during my sophomore year of high school, so I know I can do this.
I have been working out for about 3 months, and have managed to lose 15 pounds with just that change but I’ve hit a rut and really need to stick it up a notch.
Here’s the stats as of today:
Weight: 172 (holy crap I am putting this on the Internet!!) pounds
Here’s the plan: CardioRunning, Elliptical or Soccer) 4 times a week, with Pilates on thursday evenings and if daycare is available, Circuit Training class on Tuesday nights. Diet will be oatmeal for breakfast (’cause it’s easy and healthy) and other meals will be lean protein and lots of veggies. The goal will be 1100-1300 calories a day. I’m not eliminating anything, like carbs, because well, I don’t want to to!
Here are my goals and rewards:
1. 162 lbs by October 8th and the reward will be a massage
2. 152 lbs by December 8th and the reward will be a new dress for my friends wedding
3. 142 pounds by February 14th and the reward will be a bottle of Veuve Cliquot for Valentine’s Day
4. 135 pounds by March 24th and the reward will be an entirely new outfit
So, there it is!! My weight-loss plan for the world to see…. hold me accountable Internet!!
To get this for Josie’s room to celebrate her first dance lesson:
The first time I looked at it, I teared up! And trust me Internet, I’m not the sobby kind (hmmm…maybe this is why?) It’s a nostalgic, hopeful print from the sailingbystarlight Etsy shop. Her work is very tender and loving. I was pretty much sobbing constantly while looking through her shop. Especially this one, ach! My ovaries!
I’m having Josie start dance lessons this Saturday. I say that “I’m having” her take them because she really does not have a choice in the matter. Don’t get me wrong, she’s not against taking them, I mean…what self-respecting 3 year old doesn’t want to wear pink and be a ballerina, but she also isn’t, like, begging, or even asking, for them.
I had childhood of dreams of being a dancer, jazz to be exact. I took Jazz for 3 years in pursuit of that dream. I even took gymnastics in hopes of acquiring skills that would improve my jazz.
Internet, there was NO improving my jazz. Just try for a moment to imagine a 3rd grade Average Mom, just as wide as she was tall, in a black sequin leotard, bangs high as the sky, desperately trying to leap more then a few inches off the ground. If you can’t, don’t worry; you’re better off.
I pursued this dream even into high school, as one of four dancers in our schools version of “Guys and Dolls.” I thought I was amazing. Looking back at the video evidence, it’s clear that someone (ahem, Quentin) made a very, very poor casting decision. Off beat and out of sync while being in the wrong tempo made for some memorable moments on stage, ones I can look back and laugh at once I’ve drank a glass, or 5, of wine.
In college, I limited any dancing other then the standard bump & grind to our weekly nights out at Flashbacks, a disco bar with a light up floor. In the din of the smoky room (when you could smoke in bars), with “Brick-house” pounding in the background and the floor aglow under my black stilettos, I completely let go and danced like I was that chick who boogied with John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever. Now, I was definitely NOT that chick, in fact I most likely resembled the housekeeper from The Facts of Life, dancing around the living room with her vacuum (remember, when she sucks up the fish?!?!) But I danced like I was THE dancing queen and those were some of the best nights I remember (kind of) from college. Until they closed Flashbacks, like, 3 months after it opened.
So I am forcing my dream onto my daughter. Someday she will be the Ginger Rogers I had always hoped to be. Will she love me for it? Probably not. Will she thank me for it? Definitely not. Will she look adorable in her pink tutu outfit? Abso-freakin-lutley!
