Hou$e

Crap. Frankie called to say we need a new roof. A whole roof!

Frank knew our flashing and gutters were installed wrong - that became evident last winter. So he's been planning on redo-ing the fascia board and soffits since then. Our soffits are not vented correctly either, btw. Well, he's been reluctant to get started on the project because it seemed so huge. So, we agreed to get some quotes. A gutter company we found at the Hebron Fair came over on Tues. and gave us a quote to fix the soffits and install their fancy gutters. It was reasonable. For comparison's sake, we called a roofer too. The roofer just met with Frank and pointed out that our roof wasn't put on correctly either. The plywood sheathing is starting to buckle from moisture - the original issue was ice damning that blocks up the gutters and forces water up under the eaves - so that should really be replaced. The whole roof should be pulled up, anything rotting replaced, and ice membrane installed (we have none now) and all flashing installed, then the roof put back on. The soffits rebuilt and properly vented, the drip edge (we don't have one now) installed, and then the gutters put on correctly. Whew.

We will never have money. I should not have gotten a new car. We will never get a new shed. Being a homeowner is just so disappointing. I thought we got a good house. I thought the home inspector would point out crap like this. As it turns out, the previous homeowner mickey-moused everything!

Grrrr.

trainer

I've had 4 real sessions with my trainer. 3 in the last two weeks.

O...M....G....

I already feel a little different, not that it's visible, but I...love....it...
I love the challenge, mental and physical. i love the trainer who wants to push me, who wants to see me succeed.

He wants to show my how to punch for real, invest in the gloves and wraps and everything. i think i'll do it.

After yesterday's workout, he asked if my fiance appreciated what i was doing there. And I SHOULD have said...I appreciate it. ME. I'm doing this for me. and it's already very positively affected my confidence. I'm pumped! Trainer is curious to meet Eric. He says a lot of the tough girls he sees, the guys, aren't as tough. I think i actually impress the unimpressable trainer. He had a huge smile on his face when i finished the "300"....which....by the way...is the type of workouts (not on the same level, of course!) that the tasty men in the movie 300 did to get in shape. I can see how it worked.

I'm even getting into protein shakes and amino acid supplements. serious business. now...my biggest challenge, is the weekend. UConn football tailgating. dinner for Theresa's birthday. possibly the Big E. How will i get through all of that w/o drinking too much or eating like a big fatty? ~sigh~ Well, i guess I'll just think about the food diary i told the trainer i would keep, and hope that keeps me on the straight and narrow-ish.

Gym Day #5

OH YEAH! I could SERIOUSLY use a nap right about now... These classes at the gym have been kicking my @$$. But I am certain that as I stick with it, it will get easier pretty fast.

Of course, now I am hungry and the Quinoa that I brought just does NOT sound like enough...

Gym Day #3

~whimper~

Gym Day #1

So - I started at the gym today. The gym at work had a deal going on - 10 visits for $10. I thought that would be a great way to try it out and see if I can get it to fit into my schedule! Today, I took a class - "Tone Boxing". I had a hard time keeping up - which, I knew I would since I have not been exercising lately. But I totally LOVED it. It was nice to get away from my desk and then come back revived and ready to tackle my afternoon!

I weighed myself this morning... It was bad. I have gained quite a bit. But that is OK. My goal is to lose 60 lbs in the next year - give or take. I was losing 0.8 lbs a week b/f I got PG... I would be happy to go back to that rate. It was totally do-able.

WARNING: NO BOYS ALLOWED!!!!!!

My Dress...i think....

http://forums.canadianbride.com/Topic519880-13-1.aspx#bm524053

For those who don't know, the swatch I picked up for the first dress I wanted ended up being a very icky color. This one however, I think will by juuust right :)

CNG

I paid my late CNG bill twice in July, so that means I paid 4 months worth of gas bills at once. SWEET! Now I can afford the $60 for the first 15 minutes and $28 every additional 15 minutes that it will cost to have my furnace inspected and cleaned in September :-/

I am very much looking forward to the party this weekend and LDW...woot woot!

I give up...

I was trying to add pictures from this weekend, but I can only seem to get one picture to upload. Oh well... Here is a cute profile picutre of Logan!!

Good and Bad, but now mostly good.

My b-day was last week and all we did was stay in and order pizza, and it was glorious.

Friday into the weekend, I had the worst work experience in my life. But it's been resolved and the issues that exist on our end have been identified and are (hopefully) being handled on an agency wide level now.

But beyond that, Eric got me a gym membership for my birthday and it came with a fitness evaluation with a personal trainer. The guy was AWESOME, and I had a really fun, motivating workout with him...and he liked working with me so much that he gave me 2 sessions a week (for a year! EEK!) for $20 more a month than just once a week. So basically I'm paying $25 bucks a session when it's normally 40 - 45! PLUS he waived the $99 sign-up fee. And he asked me to write him a testimonial before i start, after 3 months, after 6 months and at 12 months. i am SO excited!!!

i also mentioned my thoughts about being a trainer at some point and he was all excited and said that if that was something i was interested in down the road that he would definitely talk to me about it because he thinks i would be great at it :) YAY!

So i go again tomorrow for my first real session then really start cranking when i come back from camping this weekend in Saratoga. YAAAY!

Now, i'll just have to quit my expensive haircuts, highlights and facials in order to pay for the fitness trainer! ~gulp~

Things I Find Therapeutic

1. Coffee with the Girls
2. Chatting with friends, family or hubby over a bottle or two of wine
3. Roaming the craft store
4. Puzzle Books (like Sudoku)
5. Journaling
6. Going to the Movies
7. Reading novels
8. Doing things Outside
9. Sitting on the dock at The Lake
10. Labor Day Weekend at The Lake
11. Exercise (the part when I am all done)
12. Returning things to the store that I bought but didn't really need
13. Throwing things away
14. Breaking things so I can then throw them away
15. A Day at the Spa (HA! Who WOULDN'T find that therapeutic??)
16. Spendging time alone
17. Spending unlimited time in a book store
18. That FIRST beer at a bar (on tap - not from a bottle)
19. Finding that other people have problems, too and not everyone is happy all the time
20. Having a stupendous support group of friends and family
21. Doing something new with Logan (ex. watching his expression as he tries a new food, giving him a new toy and watching him study it for HOURS)
22. Doing Crafts!
23. Snuggling with my Hubby
24. "Sleeping" in when Logan let's us
25. Not having to wake up to an alarm clock anymore
26. Reading about things on the internet
27. Swimming
28. Sitting back and watching all my friends laughing and enjoying each other's company
29. Seeing a flower that I planted in my yard bloom (this doesn't happen very often! Lol!)
30. Having a productive day - either at home or at work

Retraction

Ok, so in the post I deleted I was very upset with my dental insurance snafu and blamed the wrong person. The benefits lady we used to have wasn't the greatest and I assumed it was her fault. She actually did send in the information of my benefits upgrade to the insurance company - she just didn't follow up afterwards to make sure it processed correctly, and the insurance company made the mistake. I apologize.

Sunshine-y & Sh*t

I am having a good feelings day. I'm all sunshine-y. So if you are in a bad mood, just ignore this post. I am just feeling really connected to my hubby and my friends. I know I don't get to see you all very much, but I was really happy to be able to see Kate, Mike, Sarah, Jay, Sher & Shawn this weekend. It was all very chill - but exactly what I needed. And I'm amazed by the families that are being created in my circle of friends. It was very cool to meet little Mike and see another new family begin.

BS Friday

Today is Bullsh!t Friday. That is what me and my co-worker have deemed today. We have a half year, self-assessment due today. I am (obviously) procrastinating. Not only am I a terrible writer, I also suck at BS. And lets face it, that's all that self-assessments are.

The biggest problem I am having is - wtf am I supposed to write? (Once I get started on soemthing - I will be good to go.) I can not put my true career goal down in writing for my bosses to see. What is my true career goal, you ask? To work part time for full time pay. That is it. That is all I want out of my career. That is why I went to grad school. Every time someone asked me what my reasoning was for going back to school... that is what I wanted to tell them.

But no... I have to talk about all that I have accomplished so far this year and what I plan to accomplish for the second half of the year. I get to blabber about financial controls and customer service. I have to say good things about myself while all I really do is pat myself on the back each day just for making it into work and functioning.

It's Friday and all I really care about is that I get to go home and spend the weekend with Shawn and Logan. The rest of it all seems so insignificant.

Nothing to Say

I have nothing to blog about... yet I am blogging anyways!

Nothing is new. Same old, same old. Now that Amy and Eric's engagement party is over, I plan to spend the rest of the summer doing what ever I feel like when I feel like. This weekend, Shawn and I are going to try to start cleaning up the back yard around the firepit. We want to lay the slate we have around the fire pit, but as Shawn pointed out, that is going to be a lot of work. The ground is really lumpy and bumpy, so we will have to try to level it a bit first. Guess I will be getting out my metal rakey thing and using my arm muscles!! This is all assuming that it doesn't rain all weekend... I feel like we live in FL. WTF?

Everything Costs Too Much

So Frank and I were gifted with a free car. His folks just got a new Subaru and transferred the '99 Camry to us. Only, it's not really working out for us. It needs a little more work than we thought, and has a funky smell. (like dog and perfume mixed) I actually like my old Focus better. Which, in a way is good, cuz we put money into it last year and can run it into the ground if need be. But that leaves us with what to do with the Camry. Do his folks want it back? Do they want to sell it for $? Can we sell it for $? Are we going to totally insult his dad?

And now it's got us considering a new car, so we don't know if we should go out and look for one or just stick with the status quo. Status quo is cheaper right now, but we will need another car at some point. So should we wait? Cuz in the near future we are also going to have a baby. So then we'll have car payments and childcare. Oh, yeah, and I'm getting braces. I'm sick of my teeth not lining up and my jaw popping. So that's gonna be about a year and a half and $6000.

The cost of this car is so much more than "free"...

On Being a Baby Momma

I am having a rough day today. I got up late, dawdled with feeding Logan and putting away his clean clothes, showering and getting to work... I didn't make it until 10. Yuck. Now I am disappointed in myself. Disappointed and stressed out about not being able to do better. How do other women do it? How do they make it to work ON TIME everyday, work eight hours and then head home to feed baby and complete household chores?

I struggle daily trying to squeeze everything in. Getting to work, going grocery shopping, getting gas, buying clothes as needed for me, Shawn, and Logan. I am trying to jog and get in shape... and every once in a while, I like to eat dinner. (you know, something other than mac 'n' cheese or sammiches)

I don't feel like I get to spend enough time with Logan. I always feel like I am rushing everywhere to get errands done, which leaves me feeling frassled. I would like to jog four or five times a week, but can only manage three. The house has crossed the line from untidy to down right dirty. And emotionally, I have spent the last week feeling like I am on the verge of tears.

Sorry - Jeannine - please don't be scared of having babies. Logan has brought me a tremendous amount of joy but DAMN I really wish I could work some days from home. I wish I could afford to pay someone to clean my house. I wish I had time each day to relax.

Speaking of babies...

Excited for Kate....

I can't wait to get the news that Kate & Mike are parents. I've been searching Facebook for updates all weekend. I need to give Mike a call. I'm very eager to meet the new little guy and for Kate to feel better - tired & cranky, yes, but not huge and uncomfortable.

JEANS

I am fitting, not too comfortably, but not too uncomfortably, into my bigger skinny jeans. My skinny-skinny jeans are still too little...but...I am getting there...
It is not as easy as it used to be.

I'm not going to make it... ZZzzz...

I would just like to take this opportunity to WHINE a little... I am so FREAKING tired.

First things first - 4th of July weekend was AWESOME. I was able to get chores done around the house on Friday with Logan while Shawn helped Jay move. Saturday we went up to the lake. The weekend was glorious and we even got Logan into the lake on Sunday. He did SO well! (pitures to follow)

Ok - now for the whining. Monday night was our first Wickham park run. I actually didn't do TOO bad (even though I was very last). But I have been SO sore ever since. I took some percocet last night, thinking it would knock me out and take the edge of of my entire aching body, sore muscles, achy joints, etc. Well... I felt good for a little while... But we are trying to wean Logan off of his middle of the night bottle. I know this will be great when he is sleeping through the night, but right now it is a little hard trying to help him learn to fall asleep on his own. I went in at one point last night and he was hugging his teddy bear... it was the darn cutest thing I ever saw!

Anyways... I am sore, achy, tired, and I don't feel like getting up to make myself coffee - but I could really use the caffiene.

Thank you... I am done now.