Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Back in the saddle...

Do you ever have something you think about, maybe think a LOT about, and then it starts floating around you? Maybe you notice it once and think "Huh! How funny...I was *just* thinking of that" and go on your merry way until it pops up more and more frequently until it finally gets to the point where you decide that maybe you are just a tad bit dense and that God has been patiently tapping you on the shoulder over and over.

No? Just me, then? Mmmm-hmmm.

Well, even if it is just me, that is the story of me and my lack of blogging. Last summer I became the publicity chick for my MOPS group. That required me to publish a newsletter every month. That required (well, probably not required) me to write a little "thing" for the front page every month. That seemed to pretty much zap any creative juices or desire to blog that I may have had.

My publicity days are now behind me and wouldn't you know it? My thoughts about coming back here to blog were soon surrounded by questions and comments from different people that I know...all leading me back to the fact that I need to start writing again. For me. (By that, I mean actually going beyond updating my status on Facebook.)

Sooooooooooooo, here I am!

I guess maybe next time I will get all writerish and dive back in, but for now...how about an update on my little family? I believe I will even start with myself instead of the kids for once!

I guess I'll start with the thing that seems to be my biggest "thing" at the moment -- I am still on a quest to lose ALL of the weight that I need to. I just had that fabulous, good time "yearly visit" with my doctor last week and the target weight that she suggested is about 26 pounds below where I currently am. *sigh* I know that I can do it, but it sure does seem daunting. I was moving along at a pretty good clip with my weight loss for quite a few months and I seem to have hit sort of a wall here lately. Since I started trying to lose weight, I've lost 32 pounds. (I've actually lost 24 more than that - but you know, that was baby weight stuff, so I don't really count that.) The thing is, I've only lost like 6 or 7 pounds in about 8 weeks. Not fun; however, I know that the whole weight loss journey comes with periods of plateau and regression along with bursts of great drops. Those big chunks of weight loss are so much more fun than the plateaus though -- I tell ya!

A great victory for myself is that Chris and I did in fact run a 5K together at the end of April. My goal was to finish under 35 minutes but I surprised the socks off of myself by doing it in 32:45! Amazing. All God. Seriously. Allllllllllllllllll God on that one. I should probably add that I know Chris could have seriously smoked me but he hung in there with me and just ran along side me. (Right up until about the last two tenths of a mile when I was just *d.y.i.n.g.* and I told him to just GO. He likes to sprint at the end and while that sounds really inspiring to me and everything, I was having a very serious conversation with myself that pretty much went like this: "RUN. NO WALKING. RUN. NO WALKING.") As it turns out, I didn't walk at ALL and that was huge. That's really all I wanted, even if it would have taken me an hour to finish. I wanted to run the whole thing and I did! I can't put into words how proud that sweet husband of mine is of me about that. It's so touching to think about because even though I really am proud of myself, it's like he is proud of me on a whole different level and it just feels amazing to be loved like that.

Oh, and I have recently started doing spinning classes. If you have never tried one of these classes, do yourself a favor and keep that streak alive. Unless, of course, you're into things like torturing yourself for an hour. I mean, seriously people -- forget the waterboarding! Spinning is where it's at in the cruel and unusual punishment department. I did finally get myself a gel padded bootie cushion that I used today. Mehhhh - I'm sure it worked but I couldn't focus on anything but my burning thighs and inability to breathe long enough to decide if my tushie was more comfy on the bike or not this morning. I *hate* that class. H.A.T.E. it!!! But I try to go once a week. Does that give you some idea as to the desperation I am feeling to bust through this stupid plateau of mine??!!

We now have the most amazing next door neighbors. They are as nice as can be and I have found a true friend over there. "Miss Aaaameee" as Miss G calls her, is my kids' new BFF. Get this: not only is she like the nicest person you'll ever meet, but she has a clean house, two kids (well, technically they are dogs), a popcorn machine, sells tupperware and LOVES to babysit. More than that -- she loves to babysit MY kids. It's kind of like the best thing ever. Oh -- and triple bonus, she and I both enjoy wine. Like one glass, maybe two, tops. So once a week or so, she'll come over while I'm making dinner and we'll have a glass of wine. Having a husband who can't STAND wine makes me want to pee my pants with excitement that I get to share a glass of wine with a good friend while I cook. And seriously? The woman humors the kids and lets them make her all sorts of fake things to eat, lets Mason drool on her -- you name it. She is FABULOUS and I feel so blessed to have her in my life.

Other than that, things are pretty much the same. As I mentioned before, I'm done with my run on the steering team for MOPS. I will miss the teamwork and Bible study and getting to see my friends every week, but I'm pretty excited to just be a MOPS mom again. I have agreed to help coordinate the volunteer stuff at the preschool again next year -- BUT -- this time there are three of us doing it together, so it feels MUCH more manageable. I still volunteer there a lot as it is, so it won't be that drastic of a change.

Even with trying to cut things out and say no to other things, I am still busier than I want to be. I believe this will be a life-long problem for me, as I just seem to fill up my calendar, even when I don't want to. Thankfully, we aren't overbooked (yet) this summer, so I'm hoping for lots of fun adventures with the kiddos.

Okay -so I have run out of time for this update and would you look at that? It was all about me! That never happens!! You know what though? Probably exactly the way it was supposed to , as I really have been feeling led to write more for me -- get myself mentally unpacked over here again. Hopefully I can start making the bloggy rounds again, too - I miss reading all of my bloggy buddies' stuff, too!

So. Consider my toe officially dipped into the pool again. It feels good to settle back in.

10 comments:

Jennifer said...

Tara, Tara, Tara!! I had no idea you were on the blogging bandwagon until I saw your comment on MY blog!

I have to say that I partly blame you for my newest obsession! I LOVED the stuff that you wrote for the MOPS newsletter and told myself, you know, give it a shot. If you don't get a single hit, at least you're writing for yourself.

I'm going to be stalking (umm...following) your blog now! Can't wait to see what more you write!

And yes - we do need to reschedule our coffee date!

~ Jennifer

Shelley said...

Hello again! Loved reading your update my dear! And may I just say that your 5k time is Awesome! You totally kicked my behind girl! Good for you! Ready for summer? I know I am!

Alana said...

I hear you on the weight loss! I've been going at this for so long and have only made minimal progress. It seems like my body just rebels against me. You should be VERY proud of what you have lost up to now, though...you look awesome!

Also, congrats on the 5K again. I can't believe you did it in that little time! I'm actually running another one in about two weeks, want to do it a little faster than I did. I was being pretty conservative because I wanted to run and not have to stop. I have no hopes of doing it as fast as you, but I'd like to do maybe under 35 like your goal for the last one! Fun to see you back in the saddle ;-)

Jamie said...

Good to see you back!

Lynn said...

Welcome back! Loved the update post. Congratulatios on your 5K. From someone who hates running, that's huge!

The Stressed Momma said...

Oh my goodness, I've missed you! Sounds like things are going great and hope the summer is fun but relaxing for you!

Rebekah said...

I played a game of tag with your blog. Check it out when you get a chance. You dont have to play but it was fun

Denise said...

welcome back to blogville.

you ran a 5k! that is awesome. i am in envy.

Alana said...

I see that you are about as active in blog world as me ;-)

Alana said...

just stopping in to say hi..."hi"! :-)