The Nelson Narrative

We had such a busy weekend and I'm really behind.  First, on Friday we had a mom's group Meetup at the Cougar Mountain Zoo.  The weather was great for once and we had a great time.  It's a very small zoo so it's perfect for babies/toddlers/preschoolers.  And I had a Groupon voucher so it was pretty cheap for the three of us.  After the zoo we went to McDonald's for lunch which was a huge mistake because Olivia didn't want to leave the play area, but it was such a nice day I really wanted to be outside.  She had a total meltdown and I had to literally drag (well, carry) her out of there kicking and screaming.  It was really embarrassing.  But then we went to a park to enjoy the rest of the afternoon and all was well. On Saturday we went to the community egg hunt.  We got there a bit late because I thought it was going to be held somewhere else, so it had already started as the girls and I were frantically running across the baseball f...

I'll start with the bad.  Turns out the Easter season is a really bad time to try and lose weight, at least for me, being a raging chocoholic and all.  I curse the Cadbury Corporation and their insanely delicious and addicting Creme Eggs and Mini Eggs.  Anyway, I started off April very well, losing 2.5 pounds by the 6th.  Then I went out with a girlfriend that evening for a $25, 90-minute facial (!) at the Aveda Institute (beauty school) and we went for drinks/apps first, of course.  Then, like usual, instead of getting right back on track (not that we ate that bad, but still worse than I otherwise would have) the next day it's taking forever (I have yet to get back on track and it's now the 18th!).  And I've gained back those 2.5 pounds plus another pound or so. Now for the good.  So while my diet sucks lately, I'm totally kickin' butt on the C25K front.  I'd been stuck in week 6 forever, because one day I would maybe be able to do the 25...

I love to read, and before the girls came along I pretty much read every night before bed and sometimes during lunch/breaks at work or on the ride home in my vanpool.  Once the girls came, though, reading pretty much went by the wayside.  What little free time I had was spent doing other things, usually computer stuff (facebook/email/games/message boards/blogs/surfing/etc.).  At the beginning of 2010, I made "read more" one of my resolutions.  I just decided to use nap and pre-bed time to read instead of playing games on the computer or whatever.  I'm not a super fast reader, however (not like those people who go on vacation for a week and read 4 or 5 books--are they literally reading all day, every day?  I just don't get it.  I might get 2 hours in at most, and not every day, on vacation and at the most I'll finish one book and maybe start another), so I set my 2010 goal at 15 books and came in at 14 1/2.  Unfortunately, the ...

Seattle really only has 3 seasons:  Summer (July 5th to mid-August, with sporadic summer-y days until late October), fall and winter.  We pretty much skip spring.  But Friday was actually pretty nice.  After baking banana bread we drove to the "swing park", a park in a nearby neighborhood with swings (the three parks we normally frequent don't have swings).  It was such a nice day and felt great to be outside for once! On their stools (not shown) and ready to help Mashing bananas Ready to go in the oven View from the park Picking dandelions for mom :)

I missed last week's post, but there's nothing to report.  Just like always, whatever few pounds I lost the first half of the month have come right back on, and I'm starting a new month weighing roughly the same as the first of last month.  I'm seriously considering employing a new strategy:  wait until the middle of the month to start working on losing, so that by the first of May I'll actually be down a few.  Of course I'll just gain them back by the middle of May but at least for once I will start off a month weighing less than the month before. Anyway, on a good note I went retro this week and went to a step aerobics class on Wednesday.  I hadn't done step since the late 90s.  It was awesome.  I sweated like crazy and it was so fun!  I hope to start going most Wednesdays but I still have to run 3 days a week, so if I incorporate a weekly step class that makes 4 total gym visits a week which may be difficult.  Espec...