That’s right; it’s Friday and I’m officially cleared to begin REALLY exercising.
To start this thing off right, I weighed myself before breakfast. And I’ll be honest with you all; I put on a lot over the course of my pregnancy. A. LOT. Now, I wasn’t the ideal weight going into my pregnancy, but I had been working on it via Weight Watchers.
So. Full disclosure: from February 16 through October 11, I packed on a whopping 47 pounds. Full disclosure: I went from 242 to 289 in about nine months. And again, full disclosure: This morning (after 8 weeks) I stepped onto the scale and was “happily” surprised to see 2.5.0. So in eight weeks, one pound shy of 40 pounds lost.
To celebrate my first day truly back on the fitness band wagon, we all (my cute little family) went to the park nearby and walked around and through it. It was such a nice day, and with Jason at the “wheel,” we walked at a pretty decent pace.
1.35 miles in 32:46
When we returned home, Tucker had lunch, then Jason and I had ours. I made myself a tuna sandwich with a slice of EXTRA sharp cheddar on an Asiago bagel. I had a few carrot sticks, 1/4 cup of almonds, and a packet of dried seaweed on the side, and a Cutie for dessert.
And tonight, according to our meal calendar (I’ll write more about this soon), we’re having meatloaf for dinner. Yum, Yum!
No, this isn’t a post about how I’m getting more into shape (although I have been working on stretching more because it’s the only way my body will feel remotely normal–more on that in another post).
This post is about how the last, this, and next weeks are shaping up to be quite lovely, riddled with friends and family, and not too bogged down with messy adult things like our doctor dropping our insurance and not telling us until months later and AFTER we had an appointment with her, then billing us a bunch of money.
Last weekend, as you may recall, my dad was in town and my youngest girl cousin had her bat mitzvah. Jason and I even had an aliyah–well, mostly I did, but Jason came up and supported my off-key rendition of the Barchu. The good times continued at the reception later that night, where we had a yummy dinner and great conversations with my family. The only bad part was the fact that I’d been on my feet or sitting in an uncomfortable chair all day so my feet and ankles were amazingly swollen. I hear this is going to be a regular occurrence throughout the summer months. Hooray.
Our friends, Will and Nola, had their beautiful baby girl the day of our Baby Care Basics class at the end of last month. They had invited us to visit and meet her last week, but since my dad was in town, we just couldn’t swing it. They asked about this weekend, but unfortunately we were ‘booked’ already.
Friday night, my best friend and the maid of honor in my wedding was in town. So we met up at this place to meet her and her new boyfriend for dinner, tapas, and beer (Jason and Matt had beer, I had a sad version of a virgin margarita–they don’t do frozen drinks at all!).
Saturday, Jason was able to meet the baby (he’s reported back that even at three weeks, she is SUPER tiny) when he and Will went on an expedition up to Santa Fe to run errands and get in some shooting at a range up there. Meanwhile, Deb swung by, picked me up, and we spent the afternoon at The Baby Bear Store looking at cloth diaper options and Babies ‘R Us adding to the baby registry. It was really great to go with an already-mom who could offer suggestions and recommendations for things I would never have thought about. Like diaper rash ointments other than A&D and Desitin that apparently work much better. Because I registered online to begin, I picked up a swag bag full of baby literature and samples like this spectacularly tiny newborn’s diaper (I have a BIC pen beside it for an idea of just how small the diaper actually is) and something called Butt Paste.
Jason and I met back at the house and were gone again to have dinner with our friends Jamie, Charlie, and Sebastian. Sebastian (about 15 months old) kept us well entertained while Jamie put the finishing touches on dinner: vegetarian breakfast pizza with cantaloupe for desert. We had a great time, and Jason has a new little buddy in Sebastian. They had fun playing with the farm animal magnet toy and making it sing to them so they could bust some moves. Jason also taught Sebastian a Korean word: 아니오 (ah-nee-oh) meaning “no” because everyone should know how to say no in multiple languages. The whole exchange was very sweet and Jason is going to be a great dad.
Today–happy Father’s Day by the way–Jason, my step-dad, and Jason’s friend Jesse are driving into the mountains to chop wood and look for treasure. Well, Jason and Jesse are chopping wood, and my step-dad Bruce is joining them so he can get in some metal-detecting time. I expect them to be quite sunburned and bringing home loads of fire wood later this afternoon. As a treat, my mom is coming over here so we can keep each other company (her birthday was Friday), watch chick flicks, and gossip.
Up next week is dinner with my cousin Mike and his wife at this place, then finally on Saturday, I’ll get to meet Will and Nola’s new baby. Since Nola just had her baby, she’s also able to give me some pointers and words of encouragement about my own upcoming birthing experience (less than 17 weeks away now!). At her suggestion, I’m going to check out:
and
**Question: What are you doing for Father’s Day?**
The ladies in my bridal party include a rocket scientist, a newlywed, a newly (holy cow, how is she able to drive already?) licensed driver, a total ham, and a little cutie.
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The inclusion of my friends Susan (the rocket scientist AKA Maid of Honor) and Katy (the newlywed AKA Matron of Honor) were fairly easy decisions to make.
SUSAN:
The Rocket Climber
I’ve known this woman for nearly two decades. We’ve been through it all–band, boys, college, grad school, bar hoppin’, and job searchin’. But, at the end of the day, she’s truly one of the few people I can’t imagine experiencing this day without.
I’m so proud of her too. When I first met her, she was shy and hardly what you might call adventurous. But look at her! Scaling cliffs!
She’s become SUCH an independent and adventurous woman.
So, not only is she super smart (did I mention she’s a rocket scientist?), but funny, beautiful, adventurous, and talented.
I love her!
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To be fair, I love all my girls!
KATY:
HilARious
It’s funny how life works sometimes. With Katy, we were destined to be friends. Case in point: The first time I met her, we were out with mutual friends and although we had never met before, we thought it would be HILARIOUS if she were to prank call my little brother (he was about 15-16 at the time). She had him convinced that they had met previously and he and his buddy, John, were actually considering sneaking out to meet up with her. And that was that… we went our separate ways.
A few months later, we were going to be hiring a new girl in the classified ads office at the Daily Lobo. Who should walk in but that same hilarious girl?
In the course of our friendship we’ve been each other’s shoulders to cry on, support systems, driving companions (around ABQ and to LA), we’ve even been each other’s “boss” (I wrote for her at the paper when she was the News Editor, and she freelances for me at the publishing company).
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Who to ask to be my bridesmaids was a tough call.
RACHEL & JORDAN:
Not because I didn’t know who to ask, just that I wasn’t sure they would want to. Teenagers… IE: Rachel (the newly [holy crap she’s 16!] licensed driver) and Jordan (probably the funniest girl I know).
Responsible Beauty
Goofy AND Gorgeous
Both of these young ladies are my cousins. They are sisters. And I’ve LOVED being able to watch them grow from little babies to the brave, conscientious, smart, and funny young women they are today. Words can’t begin to express how happy I am to have both of them participating in my wedding. (I’m a sap)
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This brings me to my ADORABLE flower girl.
KAITLYN:
She’s probably the cutest little girl I know. I’m so glad she will be joining us! Her mom (Jason’s sister) has been SO helpful with searching for dresses in the right color and style for our little flower girl.
Living, In Action 