Letting them go....

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

My son Mitch went on a road trip to LA (from Tucson, 8 hours away) with 2 friends to attend the Electric Daisy Carnival at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. It is a music event, like a concert with 5 venues and hundreds of performers over the several days. They left early, early this morning so as to miss a lot of the heat.

I am thrilled that he is going. It honestly sounds like great fun (if you are young and into that). He worked really hard and saved a lot of money to be able to afford it. I pricelined them a beautiful hotel, in a fine neighborhood, so I know they can sleep safe, and I know that it is a perfectly natural thing to want to do when you are 20, but...... This is the first time ever that he has left like this, so I am a little bit of a basket case and found myself in tears over the boneless, skinless chicken breasts on sale at the grocery store this morning. (ah, geez, the poor butcher-giggle.) So no matter what a great game face I put on for him while he was preparing, I am a flustered mess. But holding my own. - sigh

They are good boys and they will be fine. That is my story and I am sticking to it.

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

SPLASHOFJOY 7/17/2010 12:49PM

From what I can tell, it is all part of being a great mom! My mom cried when I was almost 19 and moved across town. Then she cried when I was 20 and moved across the state. She cried when I was 24 and moved across the country. She almost held it together (in front of me, at least) when I was 35 and moved across the globe (to France.) I've been back in the country for just over 4 years now and when I told her I was moving to Hawaii ... well, I'm willing to bet there will be tears again when I see her next month. I think it is great that you have the kind of relationship where you can both be proud of him and yet cry that he's out there on his own. And since there hasn't been a post to the contrary since, I'm assuming he got back just fine :) Report Inappropriate Comment

CALGALFOX 6/24/2010 12:04PM

They are good boys and they will be just fine. So Casie leaves for a year in Chile, in two weeks (but who is counting?...oh, that would be me, huh?)...so now it's your turn, you tell me, she's a good girl and it will be just fine... Report Inappropriate Comment

LECATES 6/24/2010 10:56AM

You can handle this! Report Inappropriate Comment

NATALIA- 6/24/2010 7:38AM

That is hysterical! rofl. "in tears over the boneless skinless chicken breast"? Ahh. Sorry. The butcher probably just added to his list of reasons why Men don't understand women. I've not experienced this yet . . . but I do remember my kids' first day of school . . . and I held it together and then bawled in the car with drivers looking at me with a mixture of pity and fear. I had another similar moment last month as my daughter did her final ceremonial walk around the school (the 4th grade goodbye parade) last month as they now "graduate" and move on to the Intermediate School. I can only imagine. You're a good mom, and it sounds like you love well. Hang in there. It'll be o.k., he's gonna be o.k. and you're gonna be o.k. too~ Report Inappropriate Comment

I survived Disneyland with a family of 5 (not my own)!

Tuesday, July 07, 2009

I was invited on a family vacation to Disneyland. My friend's daughter graduated from HS and this was her choice for a Senior trip. A family vacation to Disneyland. Since they are 5 they needed a suite or 2 rooms which left plenty of room for Daughter to invite a friend, she invited me! How cool is that?

We got the online special of 5 day Parkhopper Passes for the price of the 3 day Parkhopper pass. What were we thinking! lol

My feet think that they have been permanently broken. My right knee may never function again! OMG. It was brutal, but totally fun. I highly recommend 4th of July for Dis. It was amazing. I actually took a pic of the wait board. I never saw lines like this EVER! On the CA Adventure side, Tower of Terror was 13 minutes every time we went and Soaring was like 25 minutes. CA Screaming was basically walk on all weekend and they shut down the fast pass and had gibberish in the wait sign. Indiana Jones only closed once. It always had the longest wait time and I swear we only waited like 20 minutes, but the board said 30. So we would go Fast Pass something, then get on it and by the time we got off, the Fast Pass time was done and we could go fast pass something else. We would save all of our fast passes for evening and then ride like crazy! WooHoo! The Patriotic Theme fireworks were fabulous and we watched Fantasmic (sp?) from the bridge over Pirates 2 different nights. You know that one person who always catches the full frontal wave on Grizzly River Run? That was me. EVERY TIME! Do you know how hard it is to go potty and then get your panties back where they belong, when they are totally soaked and sticking to all the wrong places? I needed one of those Dyson hand dryers to stick them in! I just wrung everything out and perservered! I cut my bangs so short it didn't matter, wet or dry they were not in my face! I look like a total drowned rat, but I had fun! I got a new Pirates t-shirt. "When all else fails, MUTINY!" I am sure you have seen it. LOVE IT!! I got oldest son the t-shirt that says "Judge me by my size do you?" With Yoda on the back trying to get on a ride with Mickey Ears. Irony (he is 6'4")! I got youngest son the 2009 tall shot glass. They are the perfect size to moisten his clarinet reeds and it has a red bottom, which is his favorite color. DH got the Mickey coffee mug. I spent way too much money but I had fun!

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

KSUITTS 7/24/2009 9:13PM

I love the way you tell your story!!! You make me laugh...too much fun!!! Report Inappropriate Comment

MONA_MONA 7/7/2009 2:37PM

Sue - Sounds like you had a great time! I'm sure you are looking forward to resting your feet and catching your breath. Glad to have you back. Report Inappropriate Comment

Distracted or FREAKED OUT?

Monday, June 08, 2009

I am very distracted from my goals right now. One of my teams is challenging us to set our own goals for the week and I couldn't be happier. (Thanks NAMO, ya totally got me in a really good way!) I was going to blow it off with pat answers, but I had to stop to think. What a really great challenge for me. What am I doing?

This is a hard one.

I am still working on my plumbing dilemma. DIY is always time consuming. It doesn't help that I was in the middle of cleaning out my shed when the Plumbing Issue occured. The Plumbing Issue caused us to find the “clean out” directly underneath the middle of my concrete patio. How many pounds do you burn using a jackhammer? All of my shed stuff is on the patio, which now has a 2'x3' - 4' deep hole jack-hammered in the middle of it and a HUGE pile of dirt surrounding the hole. (Where did all that dirt come from?) Now I need to clean up the patio! BTW the pipe we were looking for was 1.5 inches South of the 4 foot deep hole and only about 4 inches below ground. (Irony)

I am trying to get my 16 year old son (OMG, my BABY! I am not going to FREAK OUT! OK maybe a little bit. - sigh) prepared to go to Europe for a 21 day concert tour (clarinet). He leaves next week, which entails a 4 night stay in Phoenix for rehearsals and then I will see him off at Sky Harbor. (The exercise will be easy, but the food is going to be a task)

And, as always, with summer, comes heat, so I am totally off my walking schedule because the time of day that I usually walk is hotter than heck! I went out last night at 7:00 pm and that really worked out better. Baby steps!


I am going to start off very basic again, but I think I need it.

#1 I need to work on my food. Not the calories, or the amounts, but the quality.

#2 I need to buy a scale. (I know, I am a weirdo freak but I don't really do scales. However, I am in 2 different teams that require weigh-ins for accountability, so I need to just commit myself.

#3 I need to walk 5 out of 7 days this week.

#4 I need to get on-board with the strength training plan. So I will either do the plan that Spark has on my page or I will do a Coach Nicole video to replace it.

So my goals are restated once again (with feeling)!

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

CHERIETH 6/8/2009 9:11PM

I need to do the same....I am so off. Gaining all my weight back! It's a hugh bummer. I worked so hard but can't seem to get up and get it done. I do have a lot going on but i know that there isn't any excuse. congrats Sue! Report Inappropriate Comment

MONA_MONA 6/8/2009 7:25PM

Sue! Report Inappropriate Comment

The plan

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

My spark friend CJ is the most amazing blogger. I want to grow up to blog like her! I love the simplistic ways in which CJ states her plan.

I am :
1. tracking my food.... even the cheesecake (sigh) I track breakfast and lunch during the day and then dinner the next morning, unless I have time at night.
2. pouring my pitcher of water ever morning and drinking it all and more by evening. (love water)
3. sleeping well 10:30 - 5:30
4. getting fit
I have to admit I am a total wimp. I am adding more exercise as I go along.
I don't weigh everyday. I don't actually even have a scale. I weigh with my friend Janine every Monday.

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

CALGALFOX 4/15/2009 9:23PM

Probably need a balaclava too! But you'll still look so cute! Report Inappropriate Comment

SUEMROE 4/15/2009 6:47PM

Only if that cute little black dress fits over my long johns, turtle neck, flannel lined jeans, sweater, mittens, scarf and knee length coat! Report Inappropriate Comment

CALGALFOX 4/15/2009 6:42PM

Weighing once a week is plenty. Just stick to the plan and you'll be wearing a cute little black dress in Ireland. Report Inappropriate Comment

Spark Fitness Maps! ROCK ON!!

Friday, April 10, 2009

I have been using Google Earth to figure out mileage and different loops to add to my walking for cardio and dealing with it. I would walk a given route, map it, do the division to see how many miles/minute and then tracking it as walking 19 min/mile etc. to accurately log my cardio work. I had even printed certain maps so I had the mileage, to relieve the tedium and time of having to map it each time. (I never did figure out how to save my maps)

Today, I was catching up on my Spark emails and LOOK AT WHAT THEY HAVE DONE NOW!!
from the "Weekly Spark 3/24"
www.sparkpeople.com/resource/fitness
_maps_home.asp

Totally Awesome! I love this place!!
I went in and retraced my steps from my house and all the way around the neighborhood and back for a total of 3.9 miles and 359 calories, thank you very much! Then I clicked on the button to add it to my fitness tracker (could this get any easier?) and erased my estimate from yesterday, which was only 20 calories too high, but how much easier was this? It took less that 2 minutes, including all the mapping and to set it up and now it is saved in my saved routes! w00t!! They even did the calculation using MY weight so the calories burned is even more accurate! I didn't share my map publicly. Sorry, it is from my home address. But I am sure that this is my New Favorite Thing about Sparkpeople. I just wish we could "favorite" this one or save it to our fitness tracker favorites. I will find tech support and suggest it.

Sparkpeople just keeps trying to find more ways of keeping me at it. You guys are the best!!

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

CJROMB 4/15/2009 4:06PM

I just tried this out, and updated my own blog to tell my other buddies about it. Thanx for writing about this! Report Inappropriate Comment

CJROMB 4/15/2009 3:52PM

Hey, thanx for showing up on my blog, and thanx for sharing THIS on yours! What a cool new feature, and I totally missed it! I could definitely use this. It's interesting how the tracking and measuring helps, right? The heartrate monitor that I got last Christmas (2007) is what started all my changes in the first place. It's the one piece of equipment that I'd probably bag my workout over if I didn't have it. (So I have two straps and live in constant fear of losing the watch. Haha.) Hope the wind dies down where you are! Report Inappropriate Comment

RAE777 4/10/2009 1:39PM

Hey, I just did this. I live out in the sticks and there was my address and the markers and in less than a minute I had the route. Thanks for sharing this. So much fun!!! Amazing. I cannot wait to route different areas. Report Inappropriate Comment