Celebrating During Busy Times

I mentioned in my last post that we're really busy right now.  Well, nothing's changed, and we'll be busy for at least the next two months, if not longer.  Right now it's all the little detail stuff that has to take place when you're getting ready to sell a home and purchase another one.  Run to this place and drop off that paperwork, sign this and send it here, read through this e-mailed document and reply with a yes or no, go to the bank and make sure they print, stamp & sign what you need, now take it to XYZ place.  Oh, and in the middle of it all have a giant yard sale and try to reduce your belongings as much as possible.  Well, you get the idea.  Things are busy, and that's life.  Not complaining - in fact, we're excited!  

This morning we paused for an hour and celebrated this special guys pre-school graduation.  Joel turns 6 in less than two weeks, and Sadie turns 1 in less than a month.  During the busyness we hope to pause a few times and celebrate these special occasions.  Joel will begin Kindergarten in the fall, and this one extra year at home was exactly what he needed.  He's ready.  He's excited.  And he's bored with me.  :)

I haven't updated in some time regarding my weight loss, so I thought I'd take a minute to share and celebrate. For the past month or so I had plateaued at a 20lb. weight loss.  Not too shabby, but the scale just wasn't budging past that mark.  We had been so busy that my eating habits slipped a bit.  I was still careful at home, but not as careful when we went out.  But, I am happy to report that as of yesterday I am down 25lbs!  I have tried to re-focus my priority to eat a low-carb, low-sugar diet (more whole foods, less pasta, bread and desserts).  I have also added a natural supplement to help reduce cravings and increase energy.  It is helping, and I feel like I'm back on the right track.  I need to celebrate that, because I get easily discouraged on this path.  

So, life is busy, but what else is new?  Whether we were moving, or not, life would just be busy no matter what!  

Catching Up

I realize I've been very lax in my blogging lately, but for good reason.  We are insanely busy.  We're in the process of selling our home, buying a new one, and closing on both at just the right time.  It's been a whirlwind of excitement, exhaustion, and extreme energy (like how I used only "e" words...clever, huh?). We are under contract for the new home, but it will need some updates in the kitchen, flooring updates in several rooms, and lots of painting, once we take ownership of it.  We're excited...but have I mentioned that we're exhausted?

This weekend we are having a huge yard sale, along with several neighbor's, as I've been organizing a neighborhood block sale.  This task alone has me very busy.  It's a nice feeling to part with unnecessary items that find their way into your home, and suddenly begin occupying space in your attic.  The kids are anxiously planning a lemonade/doughnut stand.  I'm not sure how much profit will be made, but I have a feeling each child will be going to bed Saturday night with a belly ache.

I have some things on my mind that I hope to blog more about soon, but for tonight I just wanted to play catch up a bit - let you know I haven't forgotten about this blogging thing.  Some things have had to be set aside for the time being (like cooking dinner) while we focus on other things.  Life will eventually settle down again, and things like blogging and social media will resume their place of importance...in the meantime, if I forget to wish someone a Happy Birthday, or "like" someone's status, I'm sorry  :)

Mom's Sewing Trunk

Today is day one of my clean out the attic project.  When we moved in to our house four years ago we put everything we didn't know what to do with, in the attic.  Guess what?  We still don't know what to do with it, and it's still in the attic.  It's an attic that keeps me awake at night.  The space up there is big, and it's easy to get to....but that also makes it easy to put more "stuff" up there that we don't know what to do with. Anyway, you get the idea.  Big attic.  Too much stuff.  Cleaning it out.

Shortly after we moved into this house I acquired many things that belonged to my mom, that I just didn't know what to do with.  Or, I just wasn't able to part with it yet.  My mom's sewing trunk was one of those items.  It sat in my parent's bedroom for as long as I can remember.  It contained mom's sewing boxes, material, patterns, and any item we needed mended.  Well, here's the thing....my mom stopped sewing sometime in the mid-80's....save the occasional button, hem, or zipper repair.  As I began cleaning out the trunk it became very clear that my mom also had not cleaned out this trunk since the mid-80's....perhaps even the 70's.  It made me laugh to go through this stuff.  As a kid/teen I used to joke that if we put anything in the trunk that needed repaired, we might as well kiss it good-bye forever, since she wasn't quick to get things fixed.  I inherited that trait.  My poor kids.

Here is a sample of some of the material I came across while cleaning out the trunk.  The gold, rust and green upholstery is perty, huh?  It was from an old rocking chair that I have since recovered, to bring it up to date.  A box of sewing patterns from the 70's and 80's.  Mom's sewing boxes.  A jar of buttons, and a "congratulations on the birth of your new son" card that was lying at the bottom of the trunk.  The envelope says, "To Little Dougie."  I'll have to pass that on to "Little Dougie," who's now a 33 year old man.  Oh mom....I spent more time chuckling as I went through this trunk today, rather than having any heartache. Yes, I miss her, but going through the things she saved, made me laugh.  I wonder if she even realized how many brand new zippers, and packages of elastic, were in this trunk?

I've decided to make this trunk a "keepsake" trunk.  I will keep her sewing boxes in here, along with some of the material that's still usable.  But, I have added in the baby clothes of mine that she hung on to, as well as the baby clothes of my kids, that I am hanging on to.  Someday my kids might go through it and laugh at the things I thought to save....or the things that I forgot I even had.  

Thanks for the laugh today, Mom!  

Wheat Update

I have a few ideas/thoughts I am considering talking about at some point this week, but I'm reminding myself to live by the mantra of "think before you speak," so those thoughts might end up being non-post worthy after all.  We'll see....  I've peaked your interest, haven't I?  :)

But, first I decided that it was time for another reduced-wheat update.  I was asked by several people over the weekend if we are still eating wheat free.  Yes, and no.  As I stated before, we've not completely eliminated all wheat from our diet.  Doing so would cause great distress on our bodies if, & when, we decided to reintroduce it.  And by "distress" I'm pretty sure I don't need to expand on what the means.  But, the answer is mostly, yes.  We are still working hard at keeping wheat (heavy carbs) out of our diet.  I, for one, feel so much better, and I notice an increase in energy in our kids.  You don't even realize that you're bloated, until you are no longer bloated.  Make sense?  On the occasion that I do have a heavy wheat-filled meal, I usually end up feeling lousy and very uncomfortable (details spared).  Yesterday was a full-on, eat very unhealthy, day (calories don't count on Birthday's)...but, the difference is that I don't want to eat that way all the time.  I want to make good choices the majority of the time, so I don't have to feel terrible when I indulge on the rare occasion.

We are a little over six weeks into our healthy eating lifestyle, and I am 14.5 lbs. lighter.  I know it's making a difference.  I do weigh myself daily as I want to know what foods affect me the most, and keep an eye on those weeks where I have plateaued.  My clothes fit better, and I'm back in jeans that I couldn't wear post-Sadie.  I have a ways to go, but this is the right direction.  I've started tracking my food on My Fitness Pal, as a way to watch calories, carbs, sugar, sodium, etc.  On the days that the weather is above 40 I head out for a long walk with the kiddos.  I'd walk alone in temps below 40, but, well....I'm NEVER alone.  :)

Here is a picture from Valentine's day, and a picture from last week.  I can see a small difference already, and that makes me happy.