The last 6 months in review

This is my new bathroom - the one that took me over a month to complete. It used to be blue, like the color of the save button below. And the walls were never prepped before, so they were full of holes and pock marks. I used an entire jar of spackle just to fix. I had put up a rubber duckie border...it looked really cute...but I started re-caulking the tub because the caulk was moldy...and there the project began. The cabinet above the toilet is new, there's a picture and towel rack around the corner next to the sink and the leaf theme is new. I love it!!

My latest Suzie-Homemaker endeavor. A friend had two boys and everyone I know is pregnant....so now I figured out how to make diaper cakes to go along with my regular cakes.

My two precious boys....

My newest ink....I know Serenity is spelled wrong...I went back, it's been fixed...The banner on the angel has my dad's name and on the bottom, it says '43 and '09....his birth and his death. I know it's missing some of the punctuation but I have to go back anyway to have the i in serenity re-colored....It's an homage to my father and yes, I know the serenity prayer is from AA.

My baby....all smashed up....no pictures of the new car yet....

Me, two Michigan girls, and Lisa, our pharmacy rep...that's Lake Michigan in the back! It was beautiful...I miss Steph and Brandi and Lisa...and wish I could do nothing but ride a bike...

Me and Erika, the first day...hence the smiles.....she's a great friend, but also my lead social worker and my tentmate!~~

Our trip to Mystic Aquarium - my treat to myself for passing my licensing test and a nice summer day.

And the last two - from 2007 and my wedding....I came in to look at my dress, all spread out and there was my baby, just hanging out on the train....I wish I could go back to that day. And lastly, my tomatoes, from my gargen, that I turned into sauce!

I'm sure I've lost all my readership...what little I had....I'm barely holding it together here....I keep saying that I'm going to get my act together and really kick this thing in the butt. It hasn't happened yet. I haven't been able to wrap my brain around it....and nothing annoys me more than my lack of commitment....but I don't want to keep writing posts about failing...I came home my bike ride, tried to commit and instead decided to re-do our bathroom. A month later and it's still not painted...the goal this weekend is to finish it. Last week, a classmate of mine committed suicide. He was well liked and a police officer with lots of community ties. I went to his wake, it was like a high school reunion, only no one recognized me...and not because I was suddenly more beautiful than I was in high school, but because I was 100 pounds heavier....I went grocery shopping so the house is stocked with good food and I went back to the gym Tuesday.....I've been busy beyond belief, and I have tons more stuff to do....one of these days I need to commit to myself...I'm not there yet.....but I'm working on it!

I've been slacking...

I'm back from my bike ride. I had an awesome time, rode 155 miles in 3 days, including riding all the miles the final day- about 65, but I think it was more. I made some new friends, caught up with Tour DaVita friends and came home thoroughly exhausted. Bought a car the next day - I have a black 2001 Civic. I love it! I've spent the last 2 weeks working on it, it's getting a make-over but after next weekend, it'll be hott!! I got a huge tattoo too!! It covers all my back above my bra line. It's the serenity prayer with an angel and butterfly. The angel has my dad's name and dates too. And the serenity prayer was for him too, it was what was on his prayer card and a homage to a time in our lives where we really connected. I really miss my dad and wish he were still here.....with the holiday approaching...it's been hard. My cat was really sick last weekend and I thought I'd have to put him down but he appears better. I've been stocking the fridge with really healthy stuff...bought several diet books. I'm getting my butt in gear. I'm going back to the trainer 3x week starting this week - I needed last week off. And I'm thinking about going to spinning in the mornings....I'm tired of saying I want to lose weight, I'm tired of reading others in the same place....if anyone wants to join me....I'm looking for a buddy and MaryFran, I'm going to get back to you...I have no more planned trips and no vacations so it's smooth sailing until Thanksgiving - which I do the cooking and we eat low-fat so no worries!! I'll post pictures soon - I haven't uploaded them yet! How is everyone else doing?

Weigh in for the first week put me down a little over 2 pounds. I'm ok with that...this week I got some lower numbers but I haven't eaten all that good this weekend at all!! I'm just not feeling it. Car was totalled on Friday...still now wheels...hopefully this week. Awaiting word on a loan so I can afford said wheels. I leave Saturday morning for my bike ride...I'm starting to get excited...I didn't ride as much as I'd hoped though yet somehow I feel more prepared....just trying to survive...

Was doing good, writing daily posts....got into a car accident on Friday...car is totalled...I'm ok...wishing I'd died, but OK. The car was bought by my dad for me when I moved home to go to undergrad. It's a Civic...but it was fairly new and a 5 spd. He taught me how to drive stick...and when he died, my mom and I traded cars since she couldn't drive it...I felt like a piece of him was always with me....I want to fix it...but they're going to want to scrap it....my husband wants me to buy it back from the insurance...which I will....but I'm hoping I can take it to a shop and get it fixed, instead of looking for a new car. My kitty hasn't been doing well either and I think he's not going to be with us much longer...so all in all...things are looking pretty grim here....I've done nothing but mope and sleep all weekend...I'm feeling pretty blue...hope everyone else is having a good Labor Day weekend.

The jist...

So here's the abbreviated version of yesterday's post....Tuesday - I ate like crap and commented on how it wasn't the greatest start to losing weight....thought I did bad yesterday but when I typed it all out, not too bad....stepped on the scale this morning...down 3 pounds....feeling overwhelmed by all of the things I want to do in anticipation of fall such as weed my gardens, turn some of my less than stellar soil and dump my potting mix into it and ebay/amazon/goodwill all of the clothing and other stuff laying around the house. We're looking to buy a house sometime in the next few months and I really want to have less stuff....today my eating was so-so....we had a lunch in-service and I just had Boston Market for dinner...I haven't worked out this week...the rest has been nice. I'll be in the gym nearly every day starting next week so I'm really hoping to end the year a bit less....how's it going?

This is harder than I remember it being

Damn....I just typed a whole post here...a good one too and I had an error...grr....