My younger daughter will her dress

This is the black dress my younger daughter (turns 12 on Thursday) picked out for the cruise. It comes to about mid-thigh I guess and looks adorable on her. She also loves the red one my older daughter picked and has visions of one day wearing it too.

My oldest in her first formal wear....

My oldest daughter picked this black formal for our cruise in September and we caught it half off at the mall after prom season and got it for just $85.

While it isn't my style by any means, I must admit it looks beautiful on her!

Of course, then a few weeks later when we were at our local Ross store at the mall, she found another one she loved (the red one). I reminded her that she already had her formal dress for the cruise (she'll be wearing another dress she already had for the 2nd formal night). She quickly said "but this one is ONLY $25 and I'll wear it to some of the formal dances in high school and you won't have to buy one for a lot more". This reasoning actually made me stop in my tracks and agree to go ahead and let her have the 2nd dress too. I also reasoned that my younger daughter likes it too and MAYBE, just MAYBE she'll want to wear it too. Plus I knew that I'd never get another deal like that and if for nothing else than future cruises, it would be worth the cost. Boy,,,they grow up so fast....

Its June and its HOT...but I'm still surviving...

It’s been awhile since my last post, but life has continued on much the same. I did write out a long post last week, but as soon as I hit "post", it disappeared into cyber space never to be seen or heard from again. I’ve been staying busy with work and enjoying the kids being out of school...as when THEY have no school it means mom has no school (i.e. no homework to check, no projects to assist with, etc.)! They are like babies with their days and nights mixed up...they stay up most (if not all) night watching tv and playing games, then sleep half the next day while dad and I are at work. Lazy bums! Lol We went camping over the weekend and had a blast. Now mind you, we live in Northwest Florida and the temps are already averaging in the high 90s every day with heat index pushing 110+! Two years ago the idea of me camping, in a TENT, in the middle of JUNE...well, I’d have thought you were nuts! And here I am now not only doing it, but having a blast! What wonderful memories we are creating with our children. I have such fond memories of camping at the beach when I was young, and its nice that my girls will have similar memories. My parents and brother’s family joined us so it was a lot of fun. I have noticed that once again I have gotten lax about my eating and notice I snack a lot more than I should. Today was my day to get back on track and cut all that crap out...yet another reminder of why the scale is my friend as when I saw that number this morning it was my reality check. Just the thing I need every once in awhile. Within a week or so I’ll be back to where I want to be so I’m not too upset. Paid the final cruise payment yesterday and we are down to 75 days until the cruise now! I cannot wait! I already have my formal dresses and the girls now have theirs as well. As promised I’ll be posting pics soon of us in them...I just keep forgetting. Hope you all are continuing to make progress on your own journey!

Still Maintaining...

It's been quite awhile since my last post, but all continues to go well. Had a scare last month with the work situation, as our company had layoffs. Thankfully they said seniority would NOT be considered, rather it was work quality and how much we do....they followed thru and I kept my job while someone with 18+ years did not. (I only have 8.5 years) I hate it for anyone who loses their job, but THANK GOD it wasn't me!!! For the most part I continue to maintain my 137/138 weight which I'm quite happy with. A couple of weeks ago I did stray from my normal routine and ate WAY more than I should at several family functions. I paid for it on the scale when I saw 144.6 for the first time in over a year. This was my mini-reality check and I quickly got back to basics and was back down to 138 within a week. This was again proof to me that the scale really is my friend, even if I don't always like the number. It helps me realize when enough it enough and I need to get more firmly focused back on staying away from too many snacks. The kids are keeping us busy with end of the year school activities and only have about 2-1/2 weeks left until summer vacation. No big plans, they are just looking forward to relaxing and spending a lot of time at the beach. We took them last night to find new swimsuits for the cruise, and they both have their eyes on a new formal at the mall for one of the cruise dinner nights. Told them we may go back in a few weeks and let them try them on and pick one out (after Prom season when they go on sale). Thats about it for us...hope you all continue to trudge along well on your own weight loss journey.

I'm Going Cruising!!!

Yep,,,,I booked our anniversary cruise on Carnival Glory for September and the countdown has begun. I am so very excited! 7 days on a beautiful ship with hubby and our girls with port visits to Nassau, Belize, Cozumel, and Costa Maya. I suspect the next 5 months will drag at a snail's pace! lol While I dread all the amazing foods the ships are known to have, I certainly will allow myself to indulge within reason. Hubby and I have made a vow to make use of the ship gym every day and also to do plenty of walking, both on the ship and in the ports. I told him that since I have been easily maintaining 136/137 for the past few months, I think I'd like to work hard to get back down to at least 130 if not lower before the cruise. I don't necessarily want to "maintain" that weight as I am happy with where I'm at, BUT I figure if I do it then I'll feel more comfy with the cruise splurges. lol In the coming months I"ll be on the lookout for a sexy little evening dress for one of the formal nights as I already have one for the second night. Have any of you been on a cruise...if so, please share your thoughts...what you liked, didn't like, things we "must do/see".

One of Many Reasons Americans are Overweight....

The Class A West Michigan Whitecaps have come up with possibly the most unhealthy ballpark food item in baseball history: the Fifth Third Burger.Named after the bank that sponsors the team, the Fifth Third features 26.7 ounces (five-thirds pounds) of beef, lettuce, tomato, salsa, sour cream, chili and Fritos on an 8-inch sesame seed bun. Total calories: 4,889.The burger costs $20, but the team points out it feeds one to four. A single fan who finishes the burger in one sitting will receive a Fifth Third Burger T-shirt.Mickey Graham, the team's director of marketing, told CNBC he thinks some fans will show up just for the feeding: "We've had people come just for dinner. We take our food pretty seriously."

Its simply unreal to me how I'm sure many people will be tempted to try to scarf down this burger to win a darn t-shirt...or simply because it sounds good to them. Never mind the 5000 calories they'll be consuming! At a time when you can look around our country and see so many overweight people, it annoys me to see businesses coming up with this sort of thing. Heck, even if four people split it, they'd each be consuming nearly 1250 calories.

Spring

The weather has finally been beautiful and it has been wonderful getting out and enjoying it. I met my friend to walk 5 miles yesterday and will be meeting the family after work to do another 5 miles. I can honestly say that I love to walk! Wish I could say I love the gym, but I've come to the conclusion that will never happen. Since my mother reached her own weight loss goal she has started eating more. She has been shocked to find that she continued to lose weight, although I wasn't. I kept telling her she needed to be eating more than she was, but she simply wouldn't listen. So even though she was eating MORE, she actually has been weighing around 143 or so, some days even 141.5. I noticed the same thing when I was trying to lose the last few pounds. I finally figured I was going to go ahead and increase my calories to stop losing and shock, I lost another 3 pounds which put me at 124/125. Since I have been maintaining, as I posted before I found this weight was harder to maintain and I still had to watch my calories quite closely. Not something I really wanted to do for the rest of my life. Don't get me wrong, I always weigh daily and watch my calories accordingly, but I want to be able to eat the pastas and things, just in moderation. By setting my maintenance a little higher, I found that I could eat the things I wanted (in moderation) and easily maintain. Mom is finding this same thing. She was a bit frustrated this morning because she was at 146 even though she ate less yesterday than she did the days before. I told her not to worry about it and since she is up a bit, watch the calories a little closer this week. Getting used to maintaining as opposed to losing is different, but something she'll grow accustomed to just as I did,,,just as you all will when you reach your own goals.