First Days of School, More Piercing and Lots of Dancing

Sorry all for being slightly absent. The work people blocked blogspot for a while, and as good as my intentions are, I just don't have time to mess with it anywhere else than at work. I know, I know ... terrible of me. But they can't complain much, I work my ass off for them and overperform on everything, so I don't feel too badly about managing my blog on company time.

Wednesday was the first day of school. Amber entered 2nd grade, and Alexia entered Kindergarten. And, as some of you recall, Alexia turning 5 left me a bit upset. But she was super excited about it, and I'm happy for her and proud of her. I know she'll thrive, it was just hard seeing her step onto that bus the first day.

On Friday night I went home for a quiet evening -- then my sister-in-law called. I knew then that I was in for a rough night. So I got up, got ready, and went out dancing with her. I danced so hard and so long -- I danced for 5 hours. It felt great, I LOVE to dance (and I'm good at it). Of course I didn't get home till 4:30 in the morning. I really hate the late nights, I feel like because I'm a mother I shouldn't have those anymore. But the next few days I always feel glad I did it because it's so much fun, and then I think about how much I love to dance, and need to do it more often.

On Saturday I decided to get another piercing (2 actually), but they really are nothing. They're cartilage piercings in the top of my left ear. I have one in the helix of my ear, and the other slightly above that. I've just always liked the way they looked and I saw some really cute jewelry in ads, so I decided to go for it.

Problem, though. I went to my piercer to get the job done, and he's not there. So I wind up going to the mall to get it pierced with a gun (yes, I know, I know ... I tried to get it done the right way, but I wasn't going to wait another day for it because I'm impatient and spontatneous like that). I am very disappointed with the studs I got pierced with. They are much too large for the piercings and placements. Unfortuantly I'm stuck with them for 6 weeks or so until I can give my earrings a quick change. So I'm just going to have to suck it up and let them heal enough for me to change them out.

Surprisingly there was no pain at all to the piercings. I always thought the cartlidge would be very painful to pierce through, instead it was literally no pain. My second lobe piercing hurt more -- that one at least stung a little bit. But ... nothing. I was very pleasantly surprised. If I had known it would be that easy I would have gotten it done a long time ago.

Healing it is nothing at all. A little soreness, careful when brushing and washing the hair, and sleep on the opposite side. No big deal at all (or maybe I'm just used to healing the more difficult piercings, such as the tongue and belly button). Again, I'm surprised, because I always heard people whine about how much this piercing hurts to heal. So far my biggest problem has been figuring out how to wrap a towel around my head to dry my hair, but I imagine in a couple days that won't bother me either. I really like the piercing, I just want the jewelry changed, and it's going to drive me nuts until I can change it. But I shall try to be patient. I haven't taken any pics yet, though, because I'm not fond of the jewelry. We'll see... I might take some pics and post them, but no promises.

So there's the update on last week and the past weekend. We're going to Grant's Farm on Sunday, I'll sure try to take pics and post them, but you know me and pics. I still owe everyone house pics from months ago :-) Until next time ...

Trim Up Tuesday (Week 7)

Here I am, back on track, despite another (unplanned) busy, bad for me weekend (tune in tomorrow or Wednesday for details on that). I'm keeping myself happy, losing a pound at a time, and going strong. I'm not concerned about the little weight loss -- after all, I only have 4.5 more pounds to go to meet my goal. I'm getting happier with myself every day. I'm also seeing my body trim and shape up right before my eyes. I even entered into a new decade on the scale, and that is such a huge relief to see the tenth spot lower down to where I'm used to seeing it.

Now, where are those participants who keep promising to jump back in and join me? I want to hear from you! :P

Weight

• I have lost 6.5 pound(s) since I started!
  
• I lost 1 pound(s) this week!
  
• I am 4.5 pound(s) away from my ideal weight.

BMI

• My BMI is: 21.3. This is considered normal.

Exercise

• I worked out 3 time(s) this week.
• I did 2 hour(s) and 15 minutes of cardio this week
• I did 2 hour(s) and 30 minutes of brisk activity this week

Goals

• I did meet my last goal
• My Last Goal Was: (unoffical) Get back on the fitness train
• My new goal is: Focus on losing a little bit of weight (instead of staying level or gaining)

My Weekend In Pictures

Look at this, folks! I'm actually posting promised pics! Yes, you that know me know well that I always promise to post pics but rarely deliver. But this time I have come through!

This weekend a couple friends of mine came down from my old hometown of Kirksville, MO, for a road trip that included a Fergie concert at the Illinois State Fair and some sightseeing in Springfield, IL (a.k.a. Abe Lincoln hometown). Anyways, here come the pics!

From Left To Right: Me, Eva, Sabrina
Standing in front of the stage, waiting for the Fergie concert to begin.

The Fergie concert was AWESOME. I was so afraid that it would not be worth the road trip to Springfield, but it totally was worth it. It surpassed all my expectations. The show had awesome dancers, and Fergie was sure doing her part too. At one point she was doing cartwheels in skin-tight leather pants while singing. Not only did she sing her songs, she sang many of the Black Eyed Peas songs (yes, she sang the full version of My Humps and it rocked!!!) For her song "Voodoo" she had masked dancers come out. For "London Bridge" she brought out the guards, danced all over them (not a one broke a smile) then shoved them down. During each costume change (she went through 3 costumes) they had a dance and music session, where the dancers totally blew me away with their awesome skills. The best part of the whole show was the end, when they did Fergalicious and rocked it hard -- it was an incrediable version of the song, I absolutely loved it. Oh, and did I mention that I had excellent seats? I got to stand right by the stage, and even made eye contact with Fergie 4 or 5 times, not to mention snagged some great pics.

Fergie singing "Big Girls Don't Cry"


Fergie being "Glamourous"


The next day we decided to see what we could do for free in Springfield. We made our way to the home of President Abraham Lincoln. This is the home where him, his wife and their sons lived until Abe became president.


Okay, so we had a few blond moments while we were there. See the sign below? Read it before you continue the story. ("This view of the Lincoln home has been the most frequently photographed throughout the years. We invite you to step into history and take a photo from this location.")


Sabrina: Oh look, we should take a picture here!

Me: Okay!

Sabrina: That didn't turn out too well...

Me: Yeah, that's really odd...


Sabrina: Ohh! I know ... I have that button on my camera!

Me: That's it! The zoom! Let's try again ...


Me: That still didn't work.

Sabrina: Yeah, that really sucks.

Me: Why would they tell us to take a picture through that if it doesn't work?

Sabrina: I don't know.

Me: Oh crap! Umm... I don't think we were supposed to take a picture through the hole... I think we were just supposed to take a picture from this spot!

So alas, we stood back, took some pics while laughing our asses off, and realized that we completely lost all our brain cells just a minute before.


After we were done making fools of ourselves in the middle of the street, we made our way inside the house. I took many pictures, but only posted a few. This is Abe's desk in his bedroom, apparently well-worn and used. It amazes me because it's so small! Abe was supposed to be a really tall man, and I know I'd be cramped in that. But then I decided to look up how tall he really was, and found out he was 6'4". So yes, that's tall, but my ex-husband was 6'5" I guess the image of Abe in my mind is more like a 7 foot tall individual -- but perhaps it was just his famous hat that made him look so darned tall.


This is his bed. It was oddly sloped in the middle, I guess from the mattress. As a side note, this was HIS bed ... his wife had her own bed & portion of the room.


Presidental potty! 3 stalls, even! I can't imagine sitting on a pot with even one person plopped down next to me, let alone two. Hey look, there are even leaves on the floor, how convienent ...


After visiting his house, we made our way over to his tomb. Apparently it took a long time to get him in there. They said he waited in a receiving vault for over 7 months before being placed into a temporary tomb for 5 more years. Then he was moved into this tomb, which was only partially completed at the time. Then much later, they decided to move him within the tomb. Poor Abe, let him rest, people!


Here is his tomb stone. Abe is buried below the floor, 30 inches behind the tombstone and 10 feet below that. His family, except for one son, are also in the same burial chamber.


So that concludes my weekend in pictures! My long weekend is over (I took Fri & Mon off work) and I'm predicting a quiet, relaxing weekend coming up! Oh, in case you're keeping track, I am not posting Trim Up Tuesday today. I have done well because I managed to keep my weight exactly the same, and I will be back into weight loss mode starting today! Thanx for stopping by ...