Dillierama

Five favorite cable TV shows

1. Digging for the Truth (History)
2. No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain  (Travel)
3. The naked archeaologist  (History)
4. Dirty Jobs (Discovery)
5. Freestyle (HGTV)

Yay me!

The scale told me I am down two pounds this morning. GO ME!  Alright, so two pounds is far from impressive, however, what is impressive (to me anyway), is that I was able to stick to a diet for an entire week.  A feat I haven't managed to accomplish since before I got pregnant.  To astound you with my dieting prowess even more, this week, this week I've been on a diet, is the very same week I've been on my period, aka the week I wanted french fries more than air. 

Surprisingly, it hasn't been all that hard.  I have to admit, I'd gone over my allowed calories and fat grams almost every day, but I was still well below what I normally eat.

In other news, I read a whole book last night.  A whole book without pictures or 30 point font with well over 15 words per page.  John wanted to watch boring sports stuff all night (both the NBA draft - YAWN - and the USA v Argentina soccer game), so I took it as an opportunity to leave the boy with him and go upstairs and spend some quiet time alone.  Earlier in the day Alex and I walked to the library (where we almost got kicked out due to his screaming.  Screaming because I wouldn't let him tear the pages out of all the books in the romance section) and I picked up four parenting books: one on potty training, two on disciplining toddlers and a "fluff book", funny stories about a SAHM's life.  I read the fluff book last night.  I tell you,it was pure heaven, just to lay on my bed, no one hanging off my leg or pulling my hair or smelling someone's |John's| farts.  Just reading a book for pure entertainment.  Just for me.  I'm going to try to do that more often, try to carve some time out of the week to just be alone, be quiet, not be needed.

Anyhow, the diet will continue and I'm going to make a more concerted effort to not go over my allowed calories.  I'm a stress eater, so if I try to give myself more breaks, maybe I'll be less stressed and therefore not snack as much.  I'm also hoping that this week's success will help me stay on track.

Go Alex Go

When we were in Panama, we watched Dora the Explorer and Go, Diego Go because they were the only kids shows that had any English at all.  Alex didn't seem to care much for either show at the time so when we came back, I didn't bother putting either show on for Alex. 

A few weeks ago Alex and I went shopping for a new toothbrush for him.  He's at an age where he really seems to enjoy picking things out himself, so I showed him all of the toddler toothbrushes and immediately he began saying "Diego! Diego!"  pointing wildly at the Go Diego Go toothbrush. I was surprised he recognized the characters, not having seen them since March.  Of course, we got the Diego brush.

Alex LOVES his new Go Diego Go toothbrush and when we go into the bathroom every morning to brush his teeth, he squeals with excitement "Diegogo! Diegogo!"  I still hadn't bothered to put the show on for him though.

This week we were out looking for new sippy cups. I didn't even have to give him choices, the second we walked up to the sippy cups, Alex went wild shouting "Diegogo! Diegogo! Diegogo!"  I found the Diego sippies and handed to them to Alex and he hugged the package like it was his long lost best friend.  He insisted on holding them in the car on the way home and when we got home I washed them at the sink with Alex clinging to my leg wailing "DIEGOGO!" in the most pathetic manner imaginable.  I filled one with juice and handed it to Alex, "DIEGO JUICE!" he exclaimed.

Finally catching on that my son, he kinda likes Go Diego Go, I put the show on for him.  He's usually not able to sit through an entire television program, but he plopped on his butt about a foot away from TV stand and watched the entire show, occasionally pointing to the screen and saying "Diegogo!"  I really don't know why he likes it so much, I can barely stand it, but he does, he absolutely, truly, madly, deeply, loves Go Diego Go.  It could be worse I suppose.  At least it's not Boobah or The Wiggles.

This is the first time in his life that he's demonstrated his very own preferences.  Go Diego Go isn't something I've encouraged he watch.  We watch Arthur every single morning and Alex barely acknowledges the aardvark exists.  It's just another reminder that Alex isn't just an extension of me or John, he's his own person, with his own likes and dislikes.  I love that. 

Best Shot Monday

I just love the smile in this one.  He's happy about his new mohawk hairdo.

Maybe it's time for some new t-shirts

Since Alex is so skinny, his t-shirts have an unusually long shelf life.  Almost all of the clothes he's been wearing this summer are last summer's duds.  I don't have such good luck for Autumn and Winter clothing as he is tall for his age and long pants only last a month or two before they become floods on his spindly legs.

Yesterday afternoon I was getting him ready for the soccer game by putting on his green t-shirt with a soccer ball printed on it.  I bought it for him the beginning of last season, but since it's not the right colors (Real colors are red, blue and yellow), he hasn't worn it yet this season.  So I'm trying to put it on and it's just not going over his head.  I'm pulling and tugging, he's crying, and for the life of me, I can't figure out why the neck hole won't stretch over his head.  Finally we get his head through and the shirt fits fine, though when he raises his arms his belly sticks out the bottom.  I start telling him what a big noggin he must have to not fit through the shirt when I notice the tag.  The shirt is sized 3/6 months!  I realize that there is indeed a limit to how long a shirt can last in his dresser.  I've decided if the shirt is small enough to fit on his baby cousin Lily, I'm probably not going to try to have him wear it.  I practically had to cut the damn thing off of him.

Candy man

Recently Alex has developed a love, nay, a passion, for all things candy. In particular gummy candy.  I blame myself.  His vitamins are gummy cars.  I'm sure eating a gummy vitamin every morning just whets his appetite for more candy throughout the day.

I've been spoiled with this kid, he's always preferred healthy foods, veggies and fruits over almost anything else, but that trend seems to be changing, now preferring gummy bears and licorice to apples and green beans.  Now, for the first time in his life, I have to start watching what he's eating and imposing limits on him.

Last night was quite the wake up call for me regarding this new obsession of his.  We were at the soccer game and next to us was a family with a little girl about his age and they were all eating Red Vines.  Alex flipped out, screaming and begging and sticking his "gimme hand" at them pathetically until, get this, THEY GAVE HIM A RED VINE!  He totally begged for and scored candy from strangers.  This is not good.  It only got worse until John and I ended up going and getting him a box of Sour Patch Kids to keep him from begging for more food from them.  This has got to stop.  Immediately.  While I'm not planning to ban sugar from his diet entirely, he's definitely going on a detox program so he doesn't act like a crazed crack addict the second he spots a Jujy Fruit.

Here we go again

I admit, I haven't really tried that hard to loose my pregnancy weight. (Ok, almost two years later, it can't really be called pregnancy weight anymore, but humor me ok)  I lost 30 pounds about five minutes after I had Alex, and I guess I've just been hanging on to this other 30 pounds as a souvenir.  Luckily, I haven't gained a single pound in the almost two years since he was born, which is pretty much a miracle given the fact that I really, really like ice cream sandwiches.  I do walk about 2 miles every day, I've stopped going to the gym because it's just too nice outside not to take advantage of it, which is probably why I've maintained my current weight. 

I've tried several times to start dieting only to fail, more times than I'd like to admit, only half way through the first day.  I don't have any real incentive to loose weight right now, so I think that's why I've got little to no motivation to do what it takes to get in shape.  Despite the fact that I am undeniably overweight, I am still a good 50 pounds less than my heaviest (at the age of 22), so I don't feel all that bad about it.  John seems to be plenty attracted to me, and according to my doctor, I'm "boringly healthy".  Perfect blood pressure, low cholesterol... never once mentioning my weight.  Aside from being jigglier than I'd like, my weight doesn't seem to have much, if any, affect on my life.  So why diet?  I don't know.  I think I'm supposed to feel bad about myself at this weight, even though I don't really.  I think I'm supposed to want to get thinner.  Problem is, dieting is a huge commitment and it's hard to do if you don't really care about it.  So, I'm trying to care.  I'm trying to find some incentive to want to skip dessert and pump up my exercise regimen.  Here are a few ideas:

• I don't want to go into another pregnancy with old pregnancy weight.  I want to start fresh and gain brand new shiny pounds for the next baby.
• I have a closet full of clothes two sizes smaller than my current size.  They are cuter clothes than I have now.  I'd really like to be able to wear them this fall.
• If I'm on a diet, it's easier for John to diet and he really wants to loose weight
• It'll be nice to get to a weight that is reasonable, comfortable and maintainable so that I don't have to go through this dieting shit anymore.

And, that's all I've got really.  Maybe it'll be enough.  I'm going to start tomorrow.  My plan is simple, burn more calories than I take in.  I'll be attempting this by continuing my morning walks with Alex five days a week and watching my calorie intake (I plan to use a system simliar to WW Flex Points).

I don't want this to become a diet blog, but I will probably post a weekly update, if only for accountability purposes.  Wish me luck!

Busy bee

I've been so productive today.  So far I've:

• Washed and folded all the laundry
• Mowed both the front and back lawns
• Went grocery shopping
• Did the dishes
• Roasted a turkey breast (to use in sandwiches for the week)
• ordered photo books from Qoop for both our Panama and Boston trips
• Found all of our wedding and honeymoon negatives and the wedding video and took to Inkley's to have put on CD's and DVD.
• Threw away all of my old tupperware and replaced it with the $6 set of tupperware I bought at IKEA yesterday
• I have blown up these little blow up microphones (John brought home four of them from eBay Live) about 30 times each for Alex.  He likes to have me blow it up, then he undoes the little tab so all the air goes out, then hands it to me to blow up again.  It's not nearly as fun as you might think it is.

I figured I deserved a break so while Alex was napping I ordered The Pursuit of Happyness on demand.  I cried like a baby the entire time.  Like a baby.

You had me at "Welcome to Boston"

Whew!  We're back from our whirlwind tour of Boston.  Well, whirlwind for Alex and me.  I kept forgetting John had been there for a week.

When I was waiting to get on our flight on Saturday, I talked with a woman who used to live here and now lived in Boston.  She told me it was the best place in the world and I would love it.  You know what?  It is and I do.  I absolutely loved it.  From the second I set foot in Boston, I felt like I was home.  I can't put my finger on it, but there is something special about that city.  I think I was expecting something more like New York.  Big and bustling, smelly and sticky...  It was none of that.  Well, it was big, but it didn't feel big like New York.  The streets were clean and wide, and surprisingly light traffic.  The buildings were tall, but not overwhelming, in fact most of them were older with beautiful architecture and character.  Even the subway surprised me.  It didn't smell like pee and there wasn't a single rat to be found.  I don't know why I was so surprised at how clean the city was, but that's almost all I talked about all day on Sunday.  My hat goes off to Boston Public Works because DAMN they keep a nice city.

Our big day was Sunday when we went to see a Red Sox v Giants game at historic Fenway Park.  We sat in the most uncomfortable chairs in all creation for nine very long innings.  They had to be original to the 95 year old stadium.  Despite the literal pain in the ass, we had a wonderful time booing Barry Bonds, and even I, a die hard Yankee's fan, cheered for the Sox.  Sox won, we saw Bonds hit a home run (Yea, boo and all that, but it is Barry Bonds, and it is pretty cool to watch him do his thing).  I think the highlight of the day was the fact that Fenway allowed all the fathers and kids to go down on the field and play catch.  Wow, I mean, it was John's 30th birthday AND Father's day and he got to play catch with Alex on the grass at Fenway.  I know John will remember that forever.  Alex won't, but we've got pictures to show him when he can appreciate it.

Monday we did a walking tour of Boston along the Freedom Trail.  We saw a lot of the historic sites (though we couldn't find the site of the Boston Massacre, even though we walked past twice.  You'd think they'd have a sign or something, I mean it's the Boston Massacre!).  I was in awe of the beautiful stone streets and historic buildings.  We also spent a lot of time both Monday and Tuesday in Boston Common and Boston Garden feeding squirrels, pidgeons and ducks.  We went to both of the Cheers bars, the original Bull and Finch Pub at Beacon Hill and the replica at Faneuil Hall.  Tuesday before we left we ate various forms of lobster (Lobster quesadilla and a lobster sandwich) on the pier at the harbor.

In the end, my first impression of Boston is a good one.  A great one.  I would go back for a visit in a heartbeat.  Bostonians may have a reputation for being rude, but we found them to be very warm and friendly.  Oh, and I totally dig the accent.  "Lets go get beeah and lobstah at the bah"

Best Shot Monday

Boy and Dad, originally uploaded by Jmelee.

Another Father/Son photo. This is my favorite from this week because it's John taking Alex to a baseball game on Father's Day (and John's 30th birthday) at Fenway Park.  They even got to go down on the field and play catch.  I really think this may be a memory John will have forever.