Jolly to be Happy

Did you ever just stop what you’re doing and think “I’m happy”? …I did. This past Sunday I was out shopping with the husband and child and as we were leaving the store I became very aware of the smile on my face. I could feel the joy in my heart. I felt loved. I felt good. And I looked to my husband and said “I’m happy.” And then I felt happy that I was happy. It felt like I’d never spoken those words aloud before. How often do we acknowledge the ones we love that we are happy with our lives? That we are happy they are our spouses? (Honey you getting the message here, you’re a catch!) It just felt like a shocking revolution because I don’t physically say out loud enough how happy things make me. And when I do say things make me happy I also tend to throw in buts…I love this restaurant but…I had a great night but…you get my drift. So to keep the positive flow going, here is a whole list of things that make me happy….and no buts about it.

I’m happy with my family life. Heck, I should really say overjoyed with my family life. I have the CUTEST son ever, who is ever amazing me. I have a husband that works hard for the money and keeps love and laughs in our marriage. I’m happy about my job. I love my co-workers and I’m glad that I don’t wake up everyday and have to dread coming to work. I’m happy to have discovered derby. It gives me something to strive for and is changing my body is so many amazing ways. I’m happy with my friends. They rock! I’m happy with my family. Every minute I get to spend with them is treasured. I’m happy I found a good at home day care. I’m happy I can pay my bills. I’m happy to have a car that works. I’m happy to still have cable. I am happy.

You try writing your happy list. It just makes you realize how much you have to be happy about.

Ok, don’t cheat…how many times is the word happy repeated above? If you guessed thirty three you’d be wrong, it’s only twenty one!

And now a quick update on my weight loss. I wrote a blog about 7 weeks ago hoping to lose 18 lbs before my high school reunion. It didn’t happen BUT I’m happy to say I did lose 9.2 lbs in six weeks! So now it’s time to set another goal. I’ve found that since Thanksgiving I’m having a hard time watching what I’m eating, so a weekly check in to keep me accountable needs to stay in place. In approximately 7 weeks is my 29th birthday. My new goal is to be under 200 lbs by January 19th!

All I Want for Christmas...is an Elephant?

(Pachyderm House 2009)

Times are tough and this year’s Christmas, my family is doing a grab bag for adults. Our limit is set at $50 and we are responsible to give some ideas to the gift giver. I have pondered many items. I have my nose set on Anthropology’s Amazing Grace perfume. I’d like some new movies or I could really use some new apparel in my ever shrinking wardrobe. But this is not a ploy for those items. I have found another thing I want and I mean WANT. So this is me begging my secret Santa, pretty please adopt me an Elephant from Riddle’s Elephant and Wild Life Sanctuary.

Last month, while watching Oprah I saw the most amazing show about animals. Part of the show was about a sanctuary in Africa. It was touching to see these hurt elephants rescued and saved at a sanctuary. It was even more unbelievable to learn about an elephant’s personality. They are truly a social creature and love other elephants. Their mourning ritual even made me cry. (Elephants pay homage to the bones of their dead, gently touching the skulls and tusks with their trunks and feet.) And who hasn’t seen that video about the bond formed between a dog and elephant? It’s awesome. If you haven’t scene it, Google Tara & Bella and you’ll find it.

I was just inspired to adopt an elephant. Why hadn’t I thought before now to get myself involved with them? I’m even inspired to learn more about these remarkable creatures. Unfortunately adopting an elephant in Africa leaves me no opportunity to actually visit if the occasion arises. So while researching I found Riddle’s Elephant and Wild Life Sanctuary. They are located in Arkansas and by adopting me an elephant I might actually get the chance to meet them. They also have internship programs, weekend long retreats and an International School for Elephant management. I could actually see myself taking care of elephants. I can’t imagine it’s a huge job demand but I sure would enjoy it. It’s something I’m keeping in mind and one small step in the right direction is adopting an elephant.

So Secret Santa, please adopt me an elephant for $50! How much easier could it be? You don’t even need to leave your home to purchase it for me. And I’ll let you pick which elephant to adopt, it’s too hard for me to pick anyways.

For more information on how you can adopt an elephant or make a one time donation, check out: http://www.elephantsanctuary.org/

To the left is a picture of my son's room...can you see the elephant influence???


Weight Update: I’m down 10.2 lbs since I started. I’ve officially lost the baby weight, now it’s time to continue losing the pre-baby weight. Yahoo!

9/28: 218.4
11/10: 208.2

Read and Send to 10 Friends or You'll Die

(I'm looking at you!)

I’m easily annoyed. Sometimes it’s justified but usually not. This is a short list of things yesterday that raised by blood pressure just slightly, caused my eyes to roll and made me think “Gosh I hate this shit!.” I realize my list incorporates a lot of my friends. I still love you all but know when you do the first two things on my list, I want to put you in a choke hold and yank on your hair.

First things first…chain emails. Please for my sanity please stop sending these. I’ll say right now to everyone…thank you for wanting my money issues to go away. Thank you for wishing me good luck for the next 40 years. But no thank you for wishing me an untimely death if I don’t send this email to 19 friends. Don’t count me as one of your 19 friends! Know that the moment I realize what you sent, I hate you for a tiny second and will until the moment I get it out of my sight. (Ok, hate is a little strong but I’m not changing it) Yesterday I received the same chain email from 3 different co-workers! Really!?! Really!?! Please choose to break the cycle. I do. And I can tell you that I’m not followed around by a black cloud; You’ll live!!! Stop being paranoid and delete that chain email or at least smarten up and stop sending them to me. Now I’ll be fair and say a few emails I do appreciate: LOLCATS, people you find at Wal-Mart, funny video clips or just plain forwarded emails containing something interesting. The moment it states “send this to…” I’m annoyed! So…STOP IT ALREADY!

As for facebook, they have their own version of “chain” emails. If you have ever posted “I have the best son, he is incredible. I want to eat his face. Re-post this if you have a wonderful son.” Then know I just flared my nostrils in aggravation and shot you with lasers from my eyes. I love sentimental posts on facebook. I would like to know you love your son and how he’s affected your life, but if you just repost that shit because someone else’s post told you too, I think you are lame! (I’m so sorry family because a lot of you are guilty of this.) So when you see those posts asking you to repost if you think you have the best husband, wife, mother, family, daughter, dog or whatever, please refrain. Find the uniqueness you have within and put something original about that special person; It’s more heartfelt and sincere and those are two things society could use more of anyways.

I have no idea why but the sight of George Lopez annoys me. It never fails that when I’m ready for bed and channel surfing, his stupid ass talk show is on TV. Sometimes I try and stomach watching him for a few minutes because I notice he has an actual guest I’m interested in, but it never fails, I must change the channel. Not only is he unattractive, his personality irritates me and I think he’s a lousy talk show persona. So if you watch George Lopez, I think you’re crazy! I also have a hard time watching Jay Leno and David Letterman. In fact, I didn’t start watching late night talk shows until Conan came around and what happened, nobody watched and he was booted out. WTF!?! Maybe I’ve got no taste.

What irritates you? Maybe it’s people blogging about what irritates them, or maybe it’s people who overuse LOL…you tell me!

Shell’s “Shameful” Secrets (29 Days & Counting)

Some of my friends would say I have no shame. And I would agree that I’m hard to embarrass but I do believe I have some habits or tendencies that some other people might find embarrassing or shameful. So I figured, why not write them down to share. I was a little inspired by Oprah’s show last week titled “Are You Normal?” It got me thinking…I’m way normal. So why not share some of my shameful secrets. Here goes:

Shameful Secret #1: I am a complete sucker for Amanda Bynes or Hilary Duff movies. That’s right! I see What a Girl Wants or A Cinderella Story on television and you bet your ass that my household chores have just been put on hold. I think I could honestly say I watched Sydney White every other day on my maternity leave, which was 10 weeks long mind you. And unlike other movies I’m so passionate about that I want you to know why I love them, there is absolutely no good reason for these. They aren’t even good high school flicks that I adore so much. (Think Never Been Kissed and Sixteen Candles as top choices in that category.)

Shameful Secret #2: I still like to listen to NSYNC’s Celebrity album. First of all, I think their two best songs are on this album which are “Girlfriend” and “Gone.” But take those songs aside and I still would listen to every single song in it’s entirety with the exception of the one ballad. I do have some pride though; I don’t listen to Backstreet Boys. They are and always will be inferior to NSYNC!

Shameful Secret #3: Now this one is a little embarrassing. Dr. Oz said on Oprah that the average person touches their nose 5 times per hour. And I believe it. Have you ever found yourself picking your nose without thinking about? I have. What do you do with that booger that is now attached to your finger? Well in my last car I wiped them on the underside of my seat and my dear husband got to find that little pile of wonderfulness…he still teases me about it. But seriously, I want to say sometimes a Kleenex just doesn’t cut it like a finger does. I no longer wipe my hand clean on my seat…want to guess wear those boogers go now??? I flick them out the window! Now don’t misquote me, I don’t pick my nose 5 times per hour. And if I have a Kleenex I’ll always try that first but when I feel a clingy crusty, you know I’m going in to get it. Also, I should add…after I blow my nose, I look!

Shameful Secret #4: I compare all young adult shows to my alma mater; Dawson’s Creek. Though watching it now is a little boring because what was racy and controversial then is no longer shocking. Remember Pacey sleeping with his teacher? Remember when Jack came out of the closet? Big news then, not so much now. And I’d also like to credit them with giving young adults vocabulary that was out of this world. I use to think “Who talks like that?” Perhaps Diablo Cody took a few notes from Dawson’s Creek and upped their annity when she wrote the screenplay for Juno. (Yes, I know Juno is awesome, DC is not.) Anywho, I love Dawson’s Creek even though it ain’t kosher.

Shameful Secret #5: I have peed in the shower and I’m sure it will happen again. Sometimes I just don’t feel like I have to pee until I’m in the shower and all wet. So out of laziness of getting out, feeling cold and drying off, I just let it go down the drain. I know for a fact I’m not the only one who’s done this but it’s not my right to “out” anyone here. Since I’m in the realm of bathroom habits, I guess I could also add that I when I do use a toilet I actually sit on toilets. I don’t hoover. I don’t use seat covers or wrap the toilet in paper. I just stick my heiny down and use the bathroom. I ain’t afraid of no ghosts…I mean germs.

That’s it for today on “shameful” secrets. Do I have more? Heck yeah I do. But I got to leave something I can write about at another time. Wanna share any of your “shameful” secrets?

For those who are following my weight loss count down, below are my weigh ins:

9/28: 218.4
10/6: 217.0
10/13: 215.2
10/21: 214.4
10/27: 214.0

Little by little I’m getting there.

Saying Goodbye to a Long-Term Relationship

The time has come to part ways. I have let you become too important in my life. You have made me lazy and have taken up too much of my time. It’s time to say signora to cable! That’s right, me the self proclaimed TV Queen is giving up cable. Now, to be fair this isn’t all my decision. I didn’t wake up and come to the realization that I need to give up cable. My husband and I are feeling more and more pressure about our everyday bills. If either of us were to lose our jobs, we’d be so SCREWED! So in effort to take charge of our debt, we are tightening our belts and getting rid of what is not absolutely needed and that means goodbye cable. You will be missed. (And looks like the smart phones are going too. It was fun while it lasted.)

Now, this is big. Why is it big? I seriously feel like I am involved with cable. When we first got our DVR I felt the freedom to be able to watch any show on any channel at anytime. I went from watching maybe five shows per week to over 20. Plus my husband is a bit of a workaholic so this has given me company while he’s at work and Desmond is in bed. I’m also a sucker for everything. I want Mundo to win Project Runway, Damon to get the girl, Blair and Chuck to reconcile, New Directions to win state, etc. etc. I like crying and laughing while watching tv. I can’t help but imagine myself in the characters shoes; They cry, I cry. It kinda felt like each show gave me a new life experience so to speak. Sad but true.

I do realize I won’t miss every show that I watch. Having a DVR gave me the opportunity to keep watching shows that are really bad but since I have the time, I kept watching. (The Secret Life of American Teenager this comment is aimed at you.) The departure of cable in my home will mean more reading time. I will definitely have time now to fit in The Deathly Hallows before the next movie and I’ll even get to start The Game of Thrones that is sitting on my kitchen table. This also means I’ll make better use of my Netflix subscription. We have lowered our package to the lowest one possible but still get unlimited online viewing. Lately we have been sitting on several movies for months. Now without cable, we’ll watch and return our movies much quicker and with the online option we’ll still get to watch shows; it’ll just be a season or two behind. I can deal with that.

But as a special thank you for giving me joy when I was bored, I’d like to say goodbye to the following tv shows: True Blood, Boardwalk Empire, Desperate Housewives, Brothers & Sisters, Saturday Night Live, Friday Night Lights, Glee, Gossip Girl, America’s Next Top Model, Project Runway, Vampire Diaries, Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice, American Idol, So You Think You Can Dance, Secret Life of an American Teenager, Sesame Street, Tosh.0, The Soup, Oprah, Cougar Town, Last Comic Standing and Hell’s Kitchen. (I’m sure I missed a few, please forgive me.)

What keeps you entertained at home?

43 Days and Counting

Des & I at our local pumpkin farm.

It’s been two weeks since I’ve checked in. I know I said it would be a weekly thing but sometimes life doesn’t give you enough time to write a blog each week. But don’t think that just because I didn’t update, I didn’t weigh in either. Not the case!

The first week was ROUGH! I had what I assume was a sinus infection. I waited so long to go to the doctor that I think it was already on its way to resolving itself but they put me on antibiotics none-the-less and now I’m feeling much, much better. That week I went from having no appetite and hardly eating to eating just for comforts sake. And not only was I sick and not watching what I ate; I was also so miserable that I didn’t get in ANY exercise.

The second week I was just a jerk to myself. I had no reason not to jump on the band wagon but I continued to make poor eating decisions after being sick. But luckily this attitude didn’t last for long and as of this Monday, I am doing great. My eating is under control. I am exercising again and feeling empowered about my decision to take back control. So how did my weigh-ins go?

9/28: 218.4
10/6: 217.0
10/13: 215.2

Not bad for two half-assed weeks! I’m losing an average of 1.65lbs per week which is a little under what I needed to reach my goal before my 10 year reunion but at this pace I’d be down approximately 13.2lbs so I can live with that. Also, there’s plenty of time left. I would imagine with a full week’s effort I could be able to top 1.65lbs week, so there’s just enough hope left of reaching Onederland by my reunion.

Till next week!

Shell goes to Extremes for Relief

Hi Everyone - Just wanted to post a quick update. I've been sick all week. I missed an awesome skating practice this week which is still depressing me but I thought it would be funny if I showed you a Neti Pot. I had heard the good things it can do if you're congested and I can honestly say I had no idea what the heck it was.

If you choose to use a Neti Pot please read the instructions. I kinda skipped right to the doing and I'm no means a doctor so check with them if this is meant for you.

Here's to a healthier week,
Shell