Wednesday, April 7, 2010

The Zoo









we went to the national zoo on tuesday.

it was 96 degrees and very sunny.

we walked for 4 hours and saw everything that was open. much of the zoo was closed due to rennovations (this isn't the big zoo season yet)

Mandolin loved the monkeys the best.

last year i couldn't have walked around for 4 hours and been the happy person i was yesterday. mandolin and my guy couldn't keep up with me.

we put a lot of sunblock on and drank a lot of fluids, so we were a little tired, nothing bad happened. We didn't snap at each other, we didn't fight, and it was a day full of laughter.

It's shocking the difference 60lbs will make in a body. there were some people struggling around the zoo, and when i saw them, i was constantly reminded to thank myself and anyone else who helped me lose 60lbs, that i am no longer that person who struggles after 4 hours of hiking around places. I too can be a happy tourist (except i still hate crowds)

Here are a few pictures. I think i need to set up one of those online photo books because i have too many pics to share here.

Friday, April 2, 2010

enging march and starting april











these are pics from one of the big snows we had this winter

So tonight mandolin came up to me and said "mommy, I gotta potty." She then took her pullup off, got on the toilet and went pee. We've been potty training for over 9 months and this is a major break-through. I wanted to cry. We wiped, flushed, washed hands, put our pants back on and then got a jelly bean to celebrate. If we get her trained by the time she's 3, she can go to real school. If not, it's homeschooling for her. If she isn't potty trained, she'll only be allowed in the special ed class, and she's too high functioning to be in that class, so homeschooling is the best option until she's potty trained. I'm so proud of her tonight I felt some real hope that I needed to feel.

In other news, I'm starting week 3 of running. There are 9 weeks. I think I can do this. If I finish, I'm getting the over-priced c25k t-shirt that states I was a completer.

My crack whore cousin is having a birthdya party on 4/3 for her kid but sent invitation on 3/31. Who does that? Well, crack whores apparently. I'm not going. We're going to an Easter egg hunt as a family for Mandolin. I'll mail the kid a present next week.

Next weekend I'm meeting an online weight-loss buddy for lunch on Sunday and going to my nephew's 8th britday part on saturday. They live 2 hours away now and it's going to be a pain in my butt to go. There won't be anything I can eat and there's going to be a ton of people I can't stand. I have many issues with my older sister right now. I just don't understand why someone would WANT to live with a man that beats them and teaches her kids that her nickname is "fat whore." It's beyond me.

My two best friends are leaving got Thailand Saturday/Sunday and they'll be gone for about 28 days. I wish them luck. They've NEVER had Thai food, so they're in for a surprise. My dream $5,000 a person trip isn't to Thailand, but that's just me. This trip has caused issues amongst our friendship. The one friend who is going owes me and my guy about $3,000 and is going oon a $5,000 trip. You do the math and guess how long our friendship is going to last when they get back. She owes a lot of people money, but she'd alreayd paid for the trip when it all caught up to her.

$5,000 is tuition for private school for a year for my daughter. I wouldn't take a $5,000 trip knowing that I could give my daughter the gift of a better school. But then again, that's why I have good credit. We don't take fancy trips, own fancy cars, buy expensive clothing etc. We live in our means and pay off our debt as much as possible. It's harder this year because I'm not working and this person has decided to go on a trip rather than take care of her obligations.

I explained to her time and again that if you owe people money (no matter who it is a person or a large company) and don't pay it, then you're STEALING. If there's ever "extra" money in your account, it isn't yours, and if you spend that "extra" you're stealing because you just bounced a check. Some people really need to get hit with bad things to get it together.

I think it's out of my hands. We talked several times about the hardship she's causing others but I haven't seen her seem to care. She didn't apologise or even tell me "thank you" for not suing her etc. I talked to the other friend in our circle, and she'd tired of it too. It's not just the money, it's the carefree attitude about how her poor choices impacting others.

We were hanging out looking at shoes. I haven't bought shoes in months. I don't really need new shoes and it'd be a waste of income to buy something i don't need. I'm not havinga pity party, it's just the truth that when I had a job, I could go buy things on a whim and not worry. I can't now. She needed new shoes for her trip. I bit my tongue about her oweing me money, since a store wasn't the place to throw down about it, but THEN the bitch had the nerve to say "Aren't you going to get anything." I almost hit her in the face with a clog. You don't ask someone you owe $3,000 to why they aren't buying anything! You thank them for understanding why you need fancy walking shoes that are $50 when you owe them both your kidneys and a right leg and then buy your shoes fast and leave.