The Nelson Narrative

Awhile back I used to do weekly weight loss (or lack thereof) updates every Friday.  I've decided to start doing that again, for at least the next 4 weeks, because I desperately need some accountablility, not that it's ever worked in the past but it still can't hurt.  It's coming up on 2 years that I've been struggling with repeatedly losing and regaining the same 3 or 4 pounds over and over.  And the one time I did lose more, 9 pounds last May, I managed to gain all that back and then some.  I'm really tired of it. So starting today, I commit to posting weekly for the next 4 weeks about my efforts.  I'm not going to set an actual goal of losing x number of pounds, I just want to concentrate on breaking this cycle.  One thing I'm trying to do is not necessarily eliminate, but cut way back on bread, potatoes, pasta, rice and sweets.  Now that I'm getting older and entering into perimenopausal territory (I think, and I'm "only" 43, it...

I'm linking up with Kelly's Korner today whose SUYL topic for today is Moms of Multiples. Olivia and Kayley were born just over 4 years ago on February 28th, 2008.  They were conceived via IVF.  My body could not do many things well, like conceive or produce breast milk, but the one thing it did very well was gestate.  I made it to 38 weeks 1 day with no bed rest, and would have gone longer but had a scheduled c-section (both babies were breech). Having twins was (still is) very hard, but thank goodness it has gotten easier!  There were so many places/things that we couldn't do or go to that moms of singletons could, like just going to Starbucks for a latte (getting a double stroller through the door is really tough-now of course we can go there no problem) or going to any type of activity that had everyone in a circle holding their baby/toddler (at storytime I would hold one with the other next to me and then switch for the next song). Now that they're 4 it de...

I've discovered that the girls do better at bedtime (less wild, less getting up 3186 times) when we get out more.  I've always tried to get out of the house most days of the week, but every once in awhile, especially in the winter months, we get in kind of a funk where we (I) just have a really hard time getting motivated to do all the things necessary for an outing (sometimes it seems to take half an hour just to get the girls to get socks and shoes on) and many times, while I'm trying to get them to do one thing, I get busy doing something and by the time I'm done they are busy playing and seemingly very content, so I get busy doing something else and we end up never leaving.  But I'm really trying to get out most days because it really does help with bedtime, plus I start to get a little bored in the late afternoons, even though there's always plenty to do. But the other thing I've discovered is that, the more we go out, the more behind on housework I g...

March is a busy month for us because there are a ton of birthdays in our family.  It starts with the girls' at the tail end of February, and then there is my great-nephew a week later and my Dad, brother, great-niece and husband all crammed together between the 26th and the 30th. Saturday morning Paul went to the men's breakfast at church, and then to Ikea to pick up the girls' new mattresses for their new (used, but new to us) twin beds.  When he got home around 11:00 I took off to go to the consignment sale.  I got a Plum District "Plum Steal" voucher for $15 worth of stuff for $10 (not that great but not too bad).  Of course I spent more than just the $15 but didn't go too overboard like last year.  After that I went to Lowe's and got some paint for the new beds (they're oak, I think, but we're painting them white) and then picked up a few groceries.  By the time I got home, I had to get me and the girls ready to drive up to Burlington to meet ...

We recently dropped our home phone, traded Comcast cable for Direct TV and switched our internet service from Comcast to Century Link in an effort to save some money.  While we enjoy the services so far, the transition itself has been very frustrating. It all started on Monday the 13th.  Direct TV came out, did their thing and all was well.  But Tuesday morning I couldn't get hardly any channels.  Snow was the culprit (it interferes with the satelite signal or whatever).  Could be interesting next winter, as we get quite a bit of snow where we live (not like Minnesota amounts, but much more than most of the Puget Sound area).  Also, the downstairs TV had a bad data card (or whatever), so the technician had to come back on Tuesday and fix that. Meanwhile, the Century Link technician came on Monday also to connect our internet, but the conduit he needed was plugged up with debris, so we had to wait a few days for someone to come f...

Today's post is brought to you by the letter "S". It's been snowing a ton here lately, which is unusual for March in the Seattle area except we're a ways East and at 900+ feet, so it's not out of the norm for us.  After being home all day Monday due to getting our DirectTV installed and yesterday just because it was snowy and icky out, I was itching to get out today, so we went to  storytime at the library and then to Starbucks .  I also met up with a lady to buy her wooden horse stable that she was selling on Craiglist.  I'd been wanting to get one for the girls but they're kind of expensive, and yesterday I just got to thinking about them out of the blue and decided to look on Craigslist and lo and behold, there it was, in my town and everything! Tomorrow we are going to meet Grandma and the girls' great-aunt at the mall for lunch and a little shopping , and then the girls are going to go home with Grandma for a sleepover.   ...

A facebook friend made a comment about "herding cats" in reference to mothering her two kids. It reminded me of long ago, when the girls were much younger, first becoming mobile and constantly going two different directions. I was always thinking it was, indeed, like herding cats and I would think about this commercial. Thank goodness it's gotten easier, but I still feel like a cat herder sometimes, especially at bedtime.