Brody Likes the New Chair

Wednesday, August 27, 2008



Pick, Pick, Pick

Monday, August 25, 2008

Just talked to Sandy, I was checking to see how Seth got off to his first day of school--it sounded positive!! She asked how my day was and I was just telling her that it was a typical Monday. That so small things annoyed me today, it was like someone was pickin' at me. I just want to be left alone people... LOL. Pick pick pick.

Anyway, enough of that... So, I've decided to start my week 2 over again on WOE, I just wasn't doing it right. I'm proud of myself for recognizing that things just weren't right, and instead of complaining and then ditching it, I'm starting over again. Yeah, so what, my days begin on Monday now, I'm still going to weigh on Wednesday, no biggie. Saturday night I had the worst craving for Cheerios and I gave into them. I guess it was better to give into that than a whole bag of cookies or something. They kinda gave me a tummy ache, I'll think twice before doing that again.
I'm still obsessing about stepping on the scale every time I walk into my bathroom. I'll even weigh at my 3am pee break--that is just sad and ridiculous. The scale is not moving much this week, which is fine (say that 10 more times and maybe you'll start believing it). Just saying "I've lost 21.8 lbs so far" is the most awesome thing ever. I feel so good about my accomplishment, but when the scale looks back at me with a number I don't like, I get frustrated. But I need to know that losing weight is not always going to mean that the scale moves in the downward direction. AND! AND! the thing that should really kick my butt over the scale thing is that I feel GREAT. I can tell in the way I feel, the way clothes are fitting and by sight that things are happening. Just cause the scale doesn't give me a number I like doesn't mean I'm failing. I can really tell that I'm loosing my mid-section. If girls have love handles, that is a place I'm loosing it. I can tell that my back fat rolls (yeah, sorry, that was a bad visual) are not as rolly (sorry again). I can feel my clothes hanging on me differently. All of these things are I can feel and touch, but that damn freakin' number just stares at me.
Breathe, take a Midol, and just melt away (literally)

Medium-Sized Ticker Tape Parade...

Thursday, August 21, 2008

I'm sitting here watching the men play the finals in beach v-ball, so I thought I would be productive and blog while I have it on.

So, I get a medium-sized ticker tape parade tonight... why do you ask!? Cause I was STRONG! Tonight was Bridget's b-day, we hit a this new restaurant that everyone has been raving about. It was good, but the service was horrible. Anywho... I sit down and right there in front of my plate is a basket of homemade bread and butter.
"eat me Nicole, shove me in your mouth
I calmly pass the bread to my right and didn't even think about it, and I drink my $3.50 water (yeah, that is another story). I skim the menu, knowing that I have to eat a veggie (but only certain ones) and a protein. I see they have a chicken breast on the kids menu that comes with a salad...I'm going for that one. so I ask the asshole waiter if that is what I can have. "NO!"
nb: "do you just have a chicken breast I can have"
asshole waiter "hufff, no"
nb: "pass me please"
he now has to pass kim up too cause she was going for the same thing I was.
I see they have a half chicken with spinach and MASHED POTATOES. Ugg, why did it have to be mashed potatoes!!! (picture a 2 year old rolling on the ground when I say that)
So he comes back to me, and I ask for the chicken, but I ask if I can sub the mashed potatoes for a salad.
"huffffffff, I will have to speak with the chef"
nb: "huh? I can't sub?"
"I will have to speak with the chef"
whatever jackass. So kim orders the same thing, with the salad sub. At this point, he is NOT happy. Whatever, your tip is getting less and less jerk.
So he wonders back over after about 15 minutes, "no, you can't have salad"
nb: "WHAT!, fine whatever, just leave off the mashers please"
Amr had went to the bathroom and when he got back I told what the jerk said
Amr: "I'll take care of it"
and he did, kinda, he got us double spinach, but no salad.
Anyway, the chicken came, and oh my gosh, I could have fed an army with this bird. It was very, very good, the spinach was okay, but I guess it was the company that made the dinner the best part.
I ate about 1/4 of my meal, pushed it off to the side and just chit chatted the rest of the evening.
Then it was time for desert and the waiter put the desert menu in front of me, and why I looked I still have no idea, but the deserts just sounded so good. So what did I do? I grabbed my phone and text jodie for some inspiration. LOL. she sent me back some, but I was still trying to figure out if I worked out before work tomorrow, if it would even out. But then, Amr asked for the check (I hitched a ride with them) and the look I gave was like "wtf". LOL. But I did agree that I did not need to shove that goodness in my mouth and I got a pack a gum out and ate a piece for dessert.
And I can't tell you how good I feel right now!

THEY WON, THEY WON! THE MEN WON THE GAME!!!

oh, and I made my lunch tomorrow using the chicken I brought home tonight.

Yay me... let the parade begin!
I'm marching off to bed...

The Weekend Roundup

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Friday is really not the beginning of the weekend, but I'll start my story there...



So I reported a few days ago that I started the "Crack the Weight Loss Code" program. OHMYGOSH! I need to give a huge shout out to Jill, (Jodie's sister) who introduced us to this awesome program. I will be completely honest and say that I was very skeptical, but I have been known to be wrong; so I now I am speaking up and saying it loud--this program kicks ass! I just have so much to say about it, I don't know where to start. Just go buy the book, you'll see for yourself! I feel incredible, just with eating the correct food, I have not hit the gym in weeks. I know I shouldn't be weighing every day, but I do ( a few times a day to be honest) and I'm down 3.5 lbs in 5 days! That is insane--INSANE people. Eating the correct balance of things can completely change your body. Insane but true! So... that leads into my first Friday story:



Friday morning:

Nicole needs new bras--BAD. I look down at 'the girls' and they are barely in my bra--my bra is so big on me it is ridiculous. I need to be at work in a few minutes and my bra is HUGE. So I run to my closet and go to the reserves. I have a dresser in my closet that I have all the bras and other under garments that I've grown out of b/c I gained too much weight. So, the bras start flying as I find one that I think fits me. Success! I found one... wow, what a difference it makes when you actually wear something that fits. An amazing feeling! So I had another body change and it semi-freaked me out, I'm shaking my head.



Friday night:

Sandy and I went to the Dave Matthews Band concert. We had a blast. Friday night was the first time that Sandy was away from Sage for an evening; if she was worried about it, she hid it very well. I have been to many Dave concerts, but this one was like no other... he played the piano for the first time, Tim Reynolds was playing with the band and then he pulled out a cover of Talking Heads "Burning Down the House" and Peter Gabriel "Sledgehammer". It was incredible. It was hot, but incredible. Why in the hell do they decided to come in AUGUST. Anywho, it was fun!



Saturday:

The dogs needed their nails trimmed--badly. I had made an appt at the vet for their pedicures (LOL) and woke up early after the concert to take them. After they go that done, the tech girl tells me that Brody is due for his annual and it is important to do it because he is six now. So I tell them to go ahead and do it, the only thing waiting for me is a messy house that needs to be picked up. After they get done with him and the vet talks to me saying that his checkup was good, the tech comes back out and says Sammy's annual is due at the end of the month. UGGG, really people! You don't look at these things when I make the appt! So they take Sammy on to do his checkup. So 2 hours and $423 later, I was headed back home. I was just sick to my stomach, I was thinking it was going to be $15 & 15 minutes. yeah whatever



Saturday Night:

Had some girls over to work on some glass. Jodie came over early to talk about what things need to get done and we go downstairs so I can show her how to use the cold working equipment. (Oh! as Jodie and I were talking, I really looked at her--you can tell in her face/neck/shoulders/chest that she has lost weight--it is incredible, she is only a few days before me on the plan!) What a pain in the ass the cold working tools became. I was having the hardest time changing the belts on the wet-belt sander, my gosh I wanted to scream! But in the end we got it working and I put Jodie and Mel to work. Chrissy (such a cute belly) and Susi (our secretary at work, she is so sweet) headed upstairs with me to start to work on some projects. It was getting late in the evening and we decided it was time to order some dinner. The pregger gal really wanted pizza, the rest of us decided on mexican. The pizza arrived first, it smelled soo good, I just wanted to rip it out of her hands! Then our mexican arrived, Jodie and I got chicken fajita meat on salad with cheese and dressing (it was suppose to come with sour cream, guac and salsa too, but we took that stuff off). The salad also had a fried big tortilla shell and beans--what the hell! That wasn't suppose to be there! But we were not going let that stop us from being good, we just pulled that stuff out and threw it away. That salad ended up being so yummy and it was perfect for us! We even text about it later Saturday night, we were so proud of ourselves!



Sunday:

I ended up going to bed late, not sure why really. I woke up late this morning, but I had so much to do, I hit the ground running. I went and picked up the seed spreader from Danny and I put that Summer protecting stuff down in the front yard. My front yard is horrible looking.

After that I hit the cold working studio, I did some sandblasting, some work on the grinder, shaped some pendants on the welt belt sander and TRIED to change the blade on the wet saw. I ended up having to call reinforcements in--Bryan came over and changed it out for me. Something is up with blade, it was all weird and it would break the glass--I cut my finger pretty bad when the glass kicked back at me. If CSI ever needs a sample of my blood, they can find some in the work shop. I decided to stop that and play with the angle grinder, I got soaked, but it was so much fun. I really do love glass and I love shaping it.

I ended my day with a much needed shower and a run to the grocery store. I bought enough to get me thru Tuesday, I'll hit the store again before I start week #2.


I'm signing off for the night. Keep an eye on the weight loss tracker on the right side--I feel like it is heading more and more negative!

August 14, 1997

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

It has been 4018 days since I have spoken to you. 4018 times I wish our conversation lasted longer.
I miss you mom.

Before I go to Bed...

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

I'm sitting here, trying to decide if the couch is too big. I like it, but I think it just might be too big for the room. I think I need to grab my peeps and get their opinion on the set. I have 3 days to return it. Before you ask, yes I did mesaure the couch and my room, but it always looks differnet once it is in the room. I just want a new couch, I want to get rid of the cloth, I just feel like it traps the dog's scent and it really bothers me that one of the reasons friends don't come over is b/c of the smell of my house. I don't want to be stinky nicki...

good night, must go to bed...

Just a Tuesday...

I'd figure I'd better write before the week blows by me again and I have to catch up on 7 days worth of stuff.

Let's see...
Oh! it has been ~4 weeks now since I've kicked Samson out of the bed. Wow! Why did I not do that sooner!? It is glorious, it is the best thing ever when I'm getting ready for bed and he goes and makes his nest on the floor and I can climb in my bed dog hair free (relatively). I should have done that years ago!

Geek Moment:
Glass is the most awesome thing ever. Before I ever got into this whole glass thing, I would have said that 'glass is glass is glass'--there is no difference between a beer bottle and a Kosta Boda bowl except color--that would be an incorrect statement! There are TONS of different types of glass--they each have their own rate of expansion and contraction and it is rated at a COE level. The lower the number, the 'harder' the glass is. Example, Pyrex is COE 32--that is why you can put in the oven or on the stove top and it can take the heat. A beer bottle is probably at COE 60; Bullseye glass (what I use) is COE 90, Lisa prefers Spectrum 96 - COE 96 and the really cool Italian glass is COE 104 (very soft and melts very low). You can NEVER mix these COE numbers, they just won't play well together. They might look good at first, but over time you will get hair-line fractures and eventually the glass will fall apart. Not good if you paid lots of $$ for an art piece. (I'm getting to the point of all this, I promise). As I was cleaning up the studio the other day, I came across these set of ~9 inch clear circles. I have no memory of purchasing them and I'm very good about keeping the 90, 96 and 104 glass completely separate. If I have any doubt on a piece, I usually end up throwing it away instead of taking a chance. Well, these circles are really nice and I'm not about to throw those away, so I did a test in the kiln yesterday.
I took some 90 glass and some 104 glass and put it on a section of the circle. I knew eventually that one of the pieces would start falling apart--I was just going to wait it out. Jodie and I ran up to the studio to check out what I had put in the kiln and she was like "what is THAT?". I quickly explained my experiment (she didn't like my artistic flair) and we saw cracks in the 104 glass--I knew it was 90! So I take the piece out and we are just talking and you start to hear the glass popping--it was creating cracks, pulling apart where the two types of glass meet. I've read about this on glass websites, but I never witnessed it for myself. It was really cool to see how glass is really incompatible at times. I freakin' love this stuff.
Geek moment over.

WOE is me!
No, I'm not complaining again about something... WOE is --Way of Eating. Thru Jodie's sister I was introduced to a new book titled "Crack The Fat-Loss Code", it is a very interesting way of looking at food and how your body processes it. I've only gotten through the first few chapters, but I've learned alot already. I hope to start this plan tomorrow -- that means big grocery store run for me tonight. Having Jodie doing this also should help us both stay on track; Jodie even made some really cool cheat sheets to help guide you week by week. I'll let you know how it goes. In the mean time, pick up a copy of the book if you have a chance, it is very good!

Waiting for the phone call!
I'm waiting for the phone call telling me that the furniture guys are on their way to my house. I finally found a leather couch that I really like at Macy's. I ordered it ~4 weeks ago and it is finally on its way. I'm very excited. I will take pictures tonight and post them here tomorrow.

I'm signing off... I'm going to head home and try to beat some traffic before I get the call.

The Week in Review

Thursday, August 07, 2008

Jodie reminded me today that it has been a week since my last post. Wow, it has been a busy week... let me catch you up...

Friday-
Nothing big, just stayed home and cleaned and loved on my boys.

Saturday-
Woke up early to do the Seabrook 5K. Kim, Jodie, Mel, Sadie (a friend of Mel's) and I all signed up and were ready to run by 7:30am. Jodie's bro-in-law and nephew ran too and her sister took pics and cheered us on. Kim, Mel, Sadie and I started out walking. When Kim said that her iPod reached 1K, we decided to start to run. There were cones set up every 100 yards or so Kim and I ran to one, then walked to the next one, it was a really good system and we really motivated each other to get to the next cone. It was soooo hot out there, it had to be 80 degrees at that hour already with very high humidity. There was part of the run that the air did not move at all, it was horrible. But we all made it thru it, my time was a pitiful 47 minutes. I need to work my time before I can even think of signing up for the SA 1/2 marathon.

After the race, all of Jodie's family came to her house for a yummy breakfast. Her mom makes THE BEST french toast ever known to man!
After I ate way too much, the Ramby's and Travis came over to help install a vent fan in kiln room--yay, the room is only 100 degrees now, not 150! I crashed early that night, I was very pooped!

Sunday-
On Sunday I woke up and did a few things around the house, nothing too thrilling. I then met Kevin and Bridget for lunch down in Kemah, it was a nice visit, I haven't seen them in a while, life just goes by way too fast. I ran some errands, and then met John, Chrissy, Kev and Bridget for dinner. it was nice to see the Metro's two times in one day! When we were leaving the restaurant, the weather seemed to kick up some nasty stuff. I was driving home and I got a text message from Jodie asking if this was part of the storm that was churning in the Gulf. HUH? What? What freakin' storm in the Gulf?! I turn on the Weather channel and holy moly, there is Eduardo (stupid name by the way) just coming straight towards Houston.

Monday-
Work was buzzing about the storm--will it become a Hurricane? will it turn? will it completely wipe out Houston (okay, that one was too much), but you get the point. The center ended up closing at noon and staying closed thru Wednesday, opening back up after the storm passed.
So I headed home and started to put all my patio furniture away, along with the hose wheels, etc... so much fun to do in 100 degree weather. After all my stuff was put up, I then headed over to Jodie's and helped them finish up moving their stuff in the garage. Once we were done there, we all headed over to John's house to help him cut down some very dead tallow trees. Bryan got up on a very big ladder, hooked some rope to them and then cut them down. John and Danny held the ropes and pulled it away from the house. I'm really glad those trees are cut down, if a 'real' storm were to come thru, they could have fallen on their house. Side note, Chrissy's belly is so cute!

Tuesday-
I thought a storm was suppose to role in? What the heck is this spitting stuff happening outside? to say the storm was weak is an understatement... it missed us, but my lawn needed the rain, so I was happy. I ended the day with seeing the new Batman movie...very good by the way.

Wednesday-
Went back to work after the 'storm' to my desk a mess. Two over zealous new girls that were in charge of preparing for hurricanes went nuts on my desk. They unplugged everything from everywhere. I was pissed to say the least, the new kid saw my bad side on Wednesday. Sandy came down for lunch with Sage. He is getting so big and Sandy looks great. Lunch was kinda short, we all had a meeting to be at.

Thursday-
And that leaves today... not much going on. I hate this time of year. In one week it will be 11 years that my mom past away. I start to think of the conversations I had with my mom, what I did or did not say. I just hate it. Anywho... just take each day as it is and move forward. No looking back.

Later...

About Me

My photo

I'm a 30-something single chica who has two awesome dogs (Brody and Samson). I just moved into my 'dream' home, it was pure hell to get there, but the reward was sweet. I have an adiction to fused glass and built a studio above my garage to help support my habit.
These are the Mad Happenings of a Glass Princess...