Not Actually Me

One of my resolutions this year is to get into shape. That means making changes. Big changes.

The first big change was to (more or less) give up soda. A cup here or there is fine. Ginger ale in moderation, also fine. But Mark and I were both enjoying our bubbly, caffeinated beverages way too much. I haven’t had any soda at all since just over a week ago, which, granted, isn’t that long of a time, but it’s a good start.

I’ve also cut back on sugar. That is going to be the hardest part of this weight loss plan, at least at first. I haven’t had any chocolate or other candy since Thursday or Friday. Again, not much of a streak yet, but I’m getting there.

I’m drinking a lot more water, actually getting the 8-10 recommended glasses a day. I’m trying to eat more vegetables. The steamer from Dad II (Mark’s dad) and the food processor from my dad and step-mom are fantastic, and are helping with that goal. It’s nice to only have to peel carrots, then slice them in the processor and pop them into the steamer. Perfect carrots in 20 minutes, with almost no work on my part.

We have the exercise on demand channel, which lets me sort through almost 100 different exercise videos at any time and choose which ever looks the most interesting. I do a lot of dance videos. I can’t dance, at all. But it’s more entertaining than the half hour of crunches and jumping jacks.

We also have a treadmill now. Sunday afternoon, I checked my email and saw a message from Freecycle. Someone had a couple of treadmills they wanted to get rid of. It had been 10 minutes since the email went out. No way were they still available. Buy, I emailed anyhow, thinking that maybe someone wouldn’t show up, and I could be one of the next in line.

A few minutes later, I got a response. I was the first person to reply. Could I pick it up that afternoon? So, I called my dad to see if he could help, and we drove the half mile to the woman’s home. It’s big, it’s heavy, and it’s mine. It’s programmable, and has an incline. Becca loves it, but we’re trying to convince her to stay off of it. I can only use it while she’s sleeping. She tries to climb on behind me, or set things on there to watch them fall off the back. I finally managed a few minutes on there yesterday; just enough to realize how horribly out of shape I really am. I want to add a couple minutes to the program I’m currently using each day, until I can do it easily. I’m doing one that’s about half running, broken up into 3-4 minute sections. I’d like to work up to running the whole time.

I’m hoping to follow through with this, and actually lose the extra pounds I’ve put on since becoming a mom. My goal is to be where I want to be by the beginning of June.  While I’m definitely not aiming for a bikini summer, it would be nice to have an excuse to get some new summer clothes.

I was able to pick out most of my own gifts this Christmas, so I looked around for a bit, and finally settled on an Amazon Kindle. The Kindle is an ebook reader that also allows you to play games, surf the internet, and listen to music. It does more, too, but I really just wanted it for the books.

I bought the Kindle 2, got it delivered two days later, and then spent most of the evening trying to pry into the box in a way that would make it look like I wasn’t trying to pry into the box. No such luck. Mark wrapped it the next day, and it sat in our laundry room for a couple nights before Christmas.

Shortly after the Kindle shipped, I got an email from Amazon. I could start loading it up with books while it was still being shipped. I headed over to Amazon, and started looking around.

I bought the Kindle for the free books. Amazon always has a couple dozen free books available for Kindle users, and they almost all looked interesting. By the time I opened the box Christmas morning, I had 12 free books on there. It’s been just over a week, and I now have 30, not counting the older classic (public domain) which are free all the time.

With 30 free books, at an average of $10 a piece if I were to actually buy paper copies, the Kindle has already paid for itself. In a week. Which is way more than I expected. The screen is really easy to read, and I like being able to increase the font size for late-night reading sessions, once my eyes have started to get tired from staring at my computer screen all day.

I’m not giving up regular books; far from it. I’ve added a half dozen books to my (already full) shelves in the past week or so, with Christmas. But if I run out of reading material, and just need something quick and cheap, I will definitely purchase a new Kindle title. I read 4-5 books a week, and having such a wide selection of new books is thrilling. I love my Kindle.

Happy New Year, everyone. It’s the time of year again for resolutions. One of my biggies right now? Get back to blogging. This place is a madhouse, but there is always a lot of inspiration for posts. I just have to drag my butt over here and actually write them.

Yesterday, my husband and I celebrated our third anniversary. We had the genius idea to be married on New Year’s Eve, 2006. Michigan (where we got married) cold and rainy, and the hotel room that night (with kids running up and down the halls screaming, and drunks doing the same) was not conducive to what most people do on their honeymoons. So we ordered pizza, watched (I believe) Seinfeld, and discussed the miracle of Dick Clark still being alive (we thought he was dead. Seriousl. Mark is still convinced that he’s a zombie.), and then cuddled up and went to bed. We were tired. And Mark had an oozing ex-blister on the back of his heel from wearing dress shoes that were too small. The tux company made a lot of mistakes. No one’s shoes fit correctly.

Yesterday, we celebrated by eating pizza, watching Seinfeld, and being amazed (again) that Dick Clark is still alive. He’s hosted 37 New Years parties at this point. And we both try very hard to not laugh when he meesses up the count, or counts out of sync with the actual counter.

Okay, I try. Mark falls out of his chair. He’s such a sensitive person, no?

We also had a bottle of wine, courtesy of Dad II (Mark’s Dad, who is also a Mark). It was really good. I usually go for the directly fruity wines (cranberry, apple, blueberry, ect). This was different, but still really, really good. We each had a small glass, and even Mark enjoyed it.

Over the past week, I made several resolutions. I’m going to list a few, to help keep me on track… I’ll try to keep updating with my progress.

1. Get back to 160 lbs. 150 would be better, but I’m starting small. This is actually several resolutions, because I’m also giving up cheap chocolate (sorry, Hershey. We’ve been friends for a while, but it’s time to let you go), cutting way back on soda, and exercising 30 minutes, 3 times a week.

2. Do more writing. I have two creative writing workbooks I will be working out of daily, I will be blogging regularly, and I will be finishing two novels. I also want to write a couple work-related ebooks.

3. Improve financial stability. I want to put aside money each month for Christmas, to avoid being broke in the few weeks following the holidays. I want at least $1000 in the savings account, and a $1000 buffer in the checking account. No more paycheck to paycheck. We’re also putting aside money each month for a very nice pot and pan set before the holidays next year. I’d like to put $100 a month aside for this, ideally.

Those are the biggies. I also want to bring Mark and Becca down to NYC with me for a few days this year (Mark’s never been. Which kills me. I’ve been several times, and I love it down there), and get a few articles into print.

I happened to look at the lists (I have a separate one for professional goals) and realized that now I actually have to do all this stuff. Crap.

What are your goals for the new year?

It’s been a while, I know. An embarrassingly long while.

Becca turned two on October 27th. We had a huge party for her the Sunday before. It was great to see everyone, and Becca enjoyed all of the extra attention. The party was Mickey Mouse themed, complete with a Mickey Mouse cake.

A week after her party was Halloween. She was a tiger, complete with face paint. We went around to see all of the relatives, and then even trick-or-treated along the road I used to go to when I was younger. The residents who remembered me were pretty excited to see Becca.

A few days after that, we drove up to Syracuse to see the Imagination Movers. I can’t say enough good things about their performance. I think I had as much fun as Becca did, and she was beyond thrilled. The look on her face when the Movers came out on stage was priceless. She even had the opportunity to meet Mover Rich. After the show, we went out to Chuck E. Cheese’s for the world most expensive pizza. But we had a lot of fun with the games and rides. We’ll be going again soon, I think.

We hosted two Thanksgivings, one with my Mom’s side, and one with my Dad’s side. We’re having Mark’s family over (all at once) for Christmas.

I competed in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) in November. The goal is to write a 50,000 words or more novel in 30 days. I didn’t make it, but I had a lot of fun trying. I’m going to be finishing up that novel soon, as well as the one I started earlier this year. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you see it), the last half of the month ended up being a lot busier than I thought it was going to be. I was working on a huge project for a new client, which kept me away from my story.

Christmas is coming a lot faster than I’m ready for. I’m almost done shopping, with just a few things left to order, but I have another big client project next week, so I’m going to be racing to get all of my baking done. I need to mail out all of my cookies and candies towards the end of next week in order to get everything where it needs to be on time. I have several people around the country looking forward to their chocolate covered mint marshmallows..

I might not be back much between now and the end of the year, due to the holidays and a busy work schedule, but I really mean to start blogging more regularly next year.

If you are interested, I’m on Facebook, a lot. I’d love to connect on there…  http://www.facebook.com/margo.upson

Until then, Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!

There are 96 days until Christmas. Three months. Yikes.

A few years ago, in the middle of yet another flat-broke holiday season, I decided that, as I couldn’t afford to buy gifts, I was going to make some cookies and fudge for family members, put them on a tray, and hand those out on Christmas morning. I made cut-outs, gingerbread men, chocolate chip cookies, Rice Crispie Treats (with M&Ms), and a few different kinds of fudge. They were a hit.

Well, as it turns out, I’m broke around Christmas a lot. So the cookies and candy have sort of become my “thing”. Every year, I try a few new recipes, branch out a bit, make the trays a little bigger… Last year I added peppermint bark, peanut butter balls, mints, and chocolate covered jellies.

My mom was the originator of this idea. I remember one Christmas when the desk in the dining room was covered in plates and bowls of homemade candies (all of which I made last year), cookies, and cinnamon buns. That was the year we had the whole entire family together, at our place, for Christmas.

My mom has worked as a crossing guard since I was in 2nd grade. Almost every year she made cookies for the bus drivers. It was a child’s dream come true. Come downstairs in the middle of the night, and the table was covered in cookies. Hundreds of cookies. Not for us, of course, (although we did end up with quite a few), but for the bus drivers.

So, Christmas has always meant baking. And this year, I’m taking it up a notch. I’m going to cut back a bit on the cut-outs, and add in Linzer (window) cookies, and I’m going to start making more candy. I’m also splurging on a cookie press, which I have wanted for years and am only just now getting.

Mark and I are also investing in a double boiler. Finally. Last year, I stuck foil in the bottom of a steamer insert. It worked, but I ended up with some “streaked” chocolate, thanks to water seeping up around the foil. I’m also getting a real candy thermometer.

It probably sounds like I’m jumping the gun a bit on Christmas. After all, it’s not even Halloween yet. But I know those three months are going to go by quickly, and I don’t want to be scrambling at the last minute. A lot of the new treats are going to require a good bit of detail work. I might even give using chocolate molds a try (home made chocolate cherry cordials, anyone?).

Is anyone else planning ahead for Christmas already?