And I’ve really wanted trees like this so I finally found some for a decent price…but they looked a bit nicer in the pictures. Meh. I may end up hanging a few small ornaments on them to distract from the wildly random lights and gaping spaces. 🙂
Yep, he’s a photog’s kid.
He was sitting there looking totally cute so I grabbed my phone, asked him to smile, and I instantly got this:
A turkey came home today!
Abe made Thanksgiving. (Well, technically, Thankging.) 🙂 I asked what Abe was. “It’s short for Abraham Lincoln.”
We celebrate Thanksgiving because it is special.
Thanksgiving is nice for people.
Just a quick shot before school.
Katie’s octopus
The kids were drawing before school. Katie was very excited about her octopus…and I was actually impressed when I saw it.
Sometimes cheap fun wins.
They co-opted Tom’s box and were pretending it was something I can’t remember from Minecraft. They were both running around wearing it and having a blast!
Could he be any sweeter?
Owen will randomly say that he misses Grandma Marsha and he knows that we have a tiny bit of her ashes. Today he wrote this note and put it with the ashes. /bawl
We still remember you. I am sad that you died.
My 15 minutes of fame?!
Do you recognize anyone on Naturally Slim’s Facebook page? 🙂
A week or so ago I Tweeted my current results (81# lost after 26 weeks) and today they Liked it, retweeted it, and messaged me to ask if they could use it on their other social media accounts as inspiration for others. Of course I said YES! A little while later, it appeared on their Facebook page!
Of course, I’m completely embarrassed that my bedroom is such a hot mess in the Before photos…but I’m hoping that the After photos take people’s eye’s away. 🙂
So I saw a doctor today.
Yeah.
She was nice enough, but when we were talking about why I wanted a general chem panel run (in addition to my thyroid levels) and I casually mentioned that I had recently lost 80 pounds, she didn’t really even bat an eye. Instead, she asked what I was doing for exercise. And when I told her that I was walking about a mile 3-5 times a week she kind of gave me a look, saw my FitBit, and asked how many daily steps I was getting. I told her about 7,000 and she said “You need to get that up to 10,000.”
Gee thanks, lady. Thanks for showing me any kind of positivity about LOSING 80 F***ING POUNDS.
And on top of that, I shrunk a damn inch. I am no longer 5’10”. What the bloody hell? At least Tom and I are shrinking in tandem (he lost an inch as well).
* Sidenote. I had complained about this to my friends, saying “That’s the problem being military…you get a new set of doctors every few years so no one is ever really invested in you long-term. And even while on station, you might not see the same doctor each time (unless you specifically make sure you are).” And they unilaterally said no way, I had a bad doctor. That any doctor should be THRILLED with that amount of weight loss, new patient or not. So I got a dud. I knew my friends would make me feel better. 🙂
I’m having issues getting dressed.
Now I’m finding myself much more choosy about what I look like and how clothes feel.
I have three pair of size 20 pants (not jeans) that technically fit…but they don’t fit well. The waist is too high or the thighs are weird in comparison to the waist or they just look odd with whatever shirt I pick. So in the donation pile they go.
My favorite real (i.e. non-yoga) pants are actually jeans! The pair Nancy handed down, a Jennifer Lopez pair from Kohl’s, and still those silly $14 Gloria Vanderbilts from Costco! That’s hard to get used to.
And a lot of the tops I’ve loved—that still technically fit and are technically wearble—are just a hair too big and while they’re okay…they’re not quite right. So this morning I’ve added about six more shirts to the pile.
I keep thinking I don’t need that much more in the way of clothes, but every time I get dressed, nothing seems right.
Painting snowflakes
Art night ceramics at school! I was clueless as to how to decorate my snowflake…until I finished it…at which point my mind flooded with ideas, all of which I liked better than what I did. The kids’ are great, though you are only seeing the boring back side because they were still drying. And Tom’s impressed me, too…the only one that looks like an actual snowflake! A fun night!
Little marines
Someone has his first Chuck Taylors!
So now he can be twins with daddy.
Another sweater then and now
Can you believe I held on to this sweater for 10 years? I obviously really liked it and hoped to wear it again someday. If you look closely, you will notice that I even still have the necklace—which was another favorite.
Look what I almost sat on!
Katie learned to swing!
I’ve been trying to reach Katie how to pump for awhile, but she just got it today. Yay!
And some climbimg and sliding.
Yes I learned my lesson.
No furry Crocs anywhere there’s wood chips. And this is after the first round of cleaning.
Sweater then and now
When I was cleaning out my closet this week I found this sweater… The last time I wore it was my first Raleigh New Year’s Eve.
Anyone else hate doing art projects with their kids?
Owen’s pieces usually start out decent enough but then he keeps adding stuff and adding stuff and adding stuff and soon it’s unrecognizable. I realize a first grade project isn’t a big deal but my OCD can’t handle it.
This is disguising Tom Turkey so the farmer can’t find him for Thanksgiving dinner.
- There was one zig-zag string of lights and it was perfect…and then he just off and scribbles on another zig-zag strand on the side.
- I thought the yellow star on top was good…then he decided to color it green.
Maybe I need to start drinking wine again…
I love finding treasures like this in coat pockets.
Veteran’s Day Part 2
The school posted a slew of pictures on Facebook from the assembly today and I snagged these:
I knew from some of the faces it was Owen’s class but it took me a minute to find…his head. 🙂
Two of the three marines in the audience (they played each branches song while the appropriate members stood up).
And lookie here. 🙂
Flu shots for three!
We finally made it in for flu shots at the hospital this morning! I figured what better morning than the morning when we were all already up and showered by 7:15. :/
Owen was adamant about not wanting the shot so got the mist. Katie probably could have gotten the mist but one of the rules is you had to keep your hands completely out of your face all day and we weren’t sure she could do that…so she got the shot. She squawked for the 1.3 seconds it took and then she was fine. Owen made more of a stink about the mist than Katie did about her shot! He knew it wasn’t a shot but he just gets himself so worked up over nothing it’s silly. And then when it’s over and it was no big deal, he acts like he knew it was no big deal the whole time. Kids.
Katie showing Owen her band-aid. (As she repeated many times: “Mama and me got band-aids because we got shots. Owen got drops.”)
Enjoying her stickers:
I’m a monster, I know.
I wanted to throttle both kids by 6:45am.
Owen went downstairs to play on the iPad—which he knows he’s not supposed to do. And then got mad at me when he got in trouble for it. (I’m a monster, I know.)
Katie had wandered around this morning and gone downstairs to find Owen and consequently couldn’t make it to the potty in time (when it was actually time) so peed all over the stool and the rug and her PJs…and screamed when I took her PJs off because she still wanted to wear them. (I’m a monster, I know.)
Owen had tried to clean up the pee—with toilet paper, so it was a sopping mess (but at least he tried!)—but after I dumped the TP I tried to clean the stool off in the tub but Owen had left the shower knob on so I got a head and shoulders full of water instead (which normally wouldn’t have been too awful but my hair is currently straightened so that messes that up).
Needless to say I lost my shit just a little bit. Dealing with that crap is never fun, but even less so before 7am.
Walking and watching
Katie loves to bounce in the bounce house…except she wants you to watch her. 🙂 So whenever I walk on the treadmill, she bounces. She’s actually a riot to watch—with jumps and kicks and tossing big soft things around. Tonight she had to run and get her bear so they could jump together.
Afterward, heading upstairs:
Me: Katie, you did awesome in there!
Katie: I know, I had awesome kicks!
My little puzzle girl
We were at the library and I was looking for books for Owen while Katie was looking at toddler books. I came back a few minutes later to this:
She had found the puzzles and decided to do it right there! 🙂
Gym Birthday Party
Of course we were there early, so we waited in the car for a few minutes.
They got to start playing before anyone else got there:
And then it got a little chaotic with 20 kids…but we got to stay out of the crazy and visit with the other parents (and I really hit it off with another mom—which was a bonus!). The end of the party had everyone zip lining which they all loved!
Sunday Swim
The kids’ lessons are progressing nicely…but today we just get a video of Katie going down the slide during play time. It’s funny—last week was the first week she was even somewhat interested, and one of the instructors made sure to help her climb up and wanted to wait for her at the bottom of the slide. I had to tell them she’s an old hat at big slides and they didn’t need to worry! She showed them today!
Owen helping her up the first time:
Naturally Slim Update
As you know, I’ve had a few off weeks (no loss or slight gain) but I’m still thrilled beyond belief. I should still hopefully reach my goal of 100# by Christmas.
2015 USMC Birthday Ball
The evening didn’t start off on the right foot—Tom had requested a King room and we didn’t get it, even though we reserved the room way back in June. And no one along the way let us know, either, so it was QUITE the shock walking into a room with two Queen beds. ESPECIALLY at the price we were paying…
We had been planning on going out with friends for a quick bite at a nearby restaurant before the ball since we knew dinner wasn’t going to be until probably 8 or 8:30 (it comes at the end of the program)…but that got nixed when A) both guys realized they forgot their cover (which meant they couldn’t walk outside in their uniform) and B) the other couple was stuck in traffic (it only took us 25 minutes to get there because it was earlier in the day). So…Tom and I just hung out, stewed a bit about the room, and then we started getting ready.
We clean up well!
Going back to watching football. 🙂
Wearing Marsha’s jewelry!
And then our friends arrived! As I said on Facebook: Fourteen years in the Corps, best friends with these guys for 12…FINALLY getting to attend a ball together! Priceless!
The list of events:
The walkway in:
As luck (?) would have it, the National Harbor Tree Lighting ceremony was the same evening right down the street (with many events, booths, live music, movie screenings, etc., on the waterfront). It was bad for us because it created the traffic jam…but we got to watch the fireworks during happy hour! Happy Jenny!
We typically get photos done beforehand (when my makeup is still fresh!) but by the time we made it down to happy hour, the line was CRAZY long. So we were just wandering around, and stopped to take a picture with two of the “olden day” marines.
The event was supposed to officially start at 7:30, but as people were starting to file in to take their seats, they announced that there would be a 45-minute delay. We didn’t get a reason, but we were all pretty sure one of the guests of honor was late due to traffic. Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but that also meant dinner was pushed back another 45 minutes. Egads. Remember how we were going to eat but didn’t? Yeah. BUT! Since everyone had started walking in to the ballroom, the photo line was almost empty so we made a beeline! WOOHOO!
Since we don’t really ever display our ball photos (where we’d want just US in the picture) we decided we wanted to take them with our good friends! They thought it was a great idea, too! The bonus is that technology has advanced a lot since our first ball…and we got to pick the two best pictures and then the digital files were emailed and in my inbox before bed! LOVE IT!
So we were discussing how huge the ball was and how we couldn’t believe that we hadn’t seen anyone we knew…and that it was way too crowded for us (we’re guessing about 3000 people—the highest table number I saw was 268 and there were 10 people to a table) but it was the Commandant’s Ball and you never know who you’re going to run into…so while James L. Jones, Jr. (former Commandant of the USMC and United States National Security Advisor) was speaking, he introduced a marine congressman—the Honorable Seth Moulton. WAIT. WHAT?! Tom and I looked at each other. WE KNOW HIM! Tom went to TBS with him! We knew he had become a congressman, but of course we had no idea he was going to be here! And then yep, there he was, right next to the speaker! We knew that as soon as we had the chance, we’d beeline over there to see him!
Later during his speech, he mentioned Kyle Carpenter and I was like HEY! I KNOW THAT NAME, TOO! (He is the youngest living Medal of Honor recipient.) I saw him as we were approaching the congressman, so I surreptitiously snapped a photo.
And Seth (the congressman) and Tom…
And then I had to do this when we got home—if only we had them standing on opposite sides! Then (2002) and now:
And then as we were walking back to our table, I got a text from a neighbor, Christi, saying “I just saw you and Tom walk by! I didn’t know you were going to be here!” So we went back during dinner and chatted for a few minutes!
We finally got to eat dinner around 9:30 (!) so by the time all the courses were done, it was after 10:30! I had wanted to at least dance to one slow song, but there were SO many people and the dance floor was SO small we couldn’t even make it there (people were even dancing between the tables!). 🙁 We had thought we’d have a night of dancing and partying with our friends, but since we were at two different tables half a room apart, we didn’t get to do any of that. At least we got to hang out beforehand and got our pictures taken together!
So overall, while this ball was nice, we agreed that it was NOT worth the cost ($200 room, $200 tickets, $150 sitter, $200 dress/our alterations/hair, and $50 for four stupid drinks)—and while a nice gesture, the token gift we received was not our favorite—a paperweight that didn’t even look like 240 (Owen even looked at it and asked why it said “210”):
We’re currently unsure what we’ll do next year.
Today’s new dress
Today’s “new” dress (hand-me-down from Lisa Len-Beson). She loves it, of course! (And this is typically what her hair looks like on a daily basis.)
