RECHARGABLE PEGGY


what recharges your batteries?

me? that's easy.

spending 4 stress-free days with the two people that gave me life, did their best to raise me and have become some of my best friends on this planet.

every morning we woke, ate breakfast and went swimming at their clubhouse in the pool that overlooks the red rock mountains of southern utah. my mom and i went shopping and she and my dad bought me an early birthday present: a dress that my mom and i decided i HAD to have after i tried it on. we went to see inidana jones, ate at yummy places, talked outside on their patio til it got too dark to see each other, played with their new baby puppies, traversed the beautiful zion national park and about 40 trips to the walmart that is 1/3 of a mile down the road from their house.

yeah it's weird to watch your parents get older... but i marveled at my mother's beautiful skin- you'd NEVER guess that she just turned 67. and i was amazed that my dad out-lapped me in the pool... by a good 10 laps!

and then there are those things that will never change... my mom still rules the roost and my dad would STILL do anything for her, all she has to do is ask. my dad still starts off a road-trip adventure with plenty of treats and a cooler full of drinks and my mom still starts off by saying she won't have any, and then sneaks a few here and there.

i loved quietly sitting in my room, listening to my mom cook dinner as she practices her lines from the next show she's in, to the dogs at her feet. i loved teasing my dad that he actually preferred to stay in the car and listen to his books on tape rather than come into the shopping center with me and my mom.

i pretty much had the most perfect week. i am pretty much as tan as i can get. i am pretty much recharged and ready for a great summer.

thanks for the perfect week mom and dad!

WW FEDERATION! let the games begin!


i did it. 1 part because some of my friends are doing it. 1 part curiosity. 1 part because i was already kind of doing it without really keeping track and really really doing it for really and truly.

i joined weight watchers.

once i had lost this most recent 10 pounds, i realized that i could probably stand to lose 10-15 more... so that i could be truly care-free about my body. i'm not one that usually obsesses over how much i weigh- but- when certain pants that used to fit don't really well... button up anymore... i think you get where i'm coming from!

the clincher for me has been watching people all around me find enormous success being on this program (a husband/wife team i know has lost 90 lbs collectively)... and once some of my best girls started doing it- i really got interested!

maybe some of you out there don't know how it works. quick explanation: track what you eat based on calories/fat content/fiber content and portion size. you are given an allotted set of points every day (you get 35 extra points throughout the week and can earn points if you workout). then you track what you eat throughout the day and it tallies your points for you. you weigh in only 1 time a week. you can eat anything you want (if you are on the flex plan) you just have to map out what you are eating every day to make sure you don't go over! the end. pretty simple. pretty addictive. pretty telling of just how good or bad you've been eating.

monday, day 1- pretty much laughable. before i joined and started keeping track of caloric intake, i ate several bowls of sugar cereal... my points for breakfast alone: 14. DUDE i am only given 22 points a day! i had just eaten 3/4 of my points in one meal... this wasn't going to be good. and at the end of the day with a lunch and a ward bbq under my belt i had eaten 15 points OVER my allotted points. (it's a good thing i went running that morning!)

tuesday, day 2- i was off to a good start. i planned better and ate better... through the whole day. i discovered the 100 Calorie Pack dessert items which are a life-saver. then night came and so did my awareness of just how addicted to sugar i really am. i pretty much went through really horrible withdrawal symptoms of shakiness and panicky-ness. it was so weird. my body has NEVER reacted to anything like that before. and sad to say i binged on the 100 calorie hostess cupcakes. i ate 5 points over my limit. not as bad as the first night... but still.

today, day 3- i did even better. i fortified myself with really great, low-point snacks for when i really started to lose it and didn't struggle as much... until the nighttime... do i see a trend? i was on the bus and about ready to eat my arm off. i was so hungry and just wanted so badly to tear into the box of 100 calorie cookies i had just purchased... but i held strong. so today, with the extra snack i had at lunch and and extra snack at dinner-- i am only 2 points over!

i'm actually kind of excited to see not only how this will affect my body, but my eating habits in general. for the first time in my life i am actually taking into account just how much fat and such i am putting into my body. the website also helps you keep track of how much water, fruits and veg, milk and vitamin supplements you are eating. and i like that. it helps me to be more aware of the places i can improve. oh and the best part about it-- i don't have to go to meetings if i don't want to... and i don't want to. i do it all online! perfect!

so wish me luck. i'm off to go drink some more water and plan my meals for tomorrow!

I'M BORED... WHY NOT BLOG???

the following is a list of things i have learned since january 2008

~ following your dreams is a lot harder and so much more expensive than they tell you it's going to be.

~ wasting time on the internet is both stupid and enjoyable at the same time

~ diane keaton movies are, by far, the best movies to watch when you are sick

~ it is much easier to assume that he doesn't like you rather than hope that he does... chances are... if he really does like you, you won't have to guess... or do any of the 'work.'

~ boston winters are like having to go to the dentist once a week to get a tooth pulled

~ the movie IRON MAN was way better than i was ever expecting and far funnier than i could have hoped for.

~ every day is a good day to eat fondue

~ you know someone is a good friend when after a really long time of not talking to them, you spend an easy hour picking up where you left off... oh and you tell them that if they really loved you they would come to visit you in boston and then they book a flight!

~ the D riverside train on the green line ALWAYS smells like poop. always.

~ when you have CR, the best thing to do is to go shopping and throw out everything you have ever worn previously.

~ i hate the bus.

~ i love diet coke.

~ i CAN lose 10 pounds when i put the effort into it and make better choices. i really did. i lost the 10!

~ if you are really poor and really sick and need to go to the doctor, but can't really afford it... just get rear-ended on the way to the hospital and then the other guy's insurance will foot the bill


~ RED BOX is my most favorite invention in the new millennium. i have almost seen every movie it stores and i am chomping at the bit for new releases all the time!


~ i'm really into the color teal/blue-green/cerulean/aqua these days... i'm quite obsessed.

CRYBABY!


so i know i've talked before about turning into my mom and being more tearful than normal (see here). those of you that know me, also know that i am the most ridiculously nostalgic person on the planet. i LOVE reminiscing, watching old home movies (even other people's... i know that's weird), looking at pictures, talking about past adventures with loved ones. i LOVE "reliving" the past in my head.

however, you take me (the nostalgic crybaby) and you tell her to move thousands of miles away from a place she loves with all of her heart and you've got so much more than a crybaby... you've got a blubbering mess.

lately i find myself crying at the slightest thing. a piece of paper i found in a old purse that was from one of my adventures to maine, a drawing that russell made for me when he was 2, cleaning out my car to sell it and hanging from the rear view mirror is a plastic snowflake a friend gave me at my first relief society christmas dinner here. TEARS for each one. LAME!

it doesn't stop there though. how about conversations with friends that i have known ever since i moved here, pictures galore of the many wild and crazy cavortings and all of the many many great memories that somehow fill my mind as i am sitting quietly on the bus... MORE TEARS.

so today was the perfect peek into what i will be like come sept 3. i took the red line to work today and i got on at kendall. from kendall one goes above ground on the longfellow bridge to see only the most amazing view of the charles river and the boston skyline ever! IMMEDIATE TEARS! it was actually kind of embarrassing.

but i can't help it. these reactions are coming from a very deep down place. i feel like i am breaking up with boston and yet i am still in love with it. and it's so hard!

anyhoo- for those of you that are forced to put up with me for the next two months- i'm so sorry in advance but i just don't see me changing!

WHEN YOU HAVE PICTURES LIKE THESE...

...YOU KNOW IT'S BEEN A FUN WEEKEND!!!

this post was brought to you by the social binge i went on this past weekend. i think i was making up for the 6 days stuck in bed being wicked sick and the social-life killer of a job i have!

THE BIG ANNOUNCEMENT


i have been waiting to post this announcement publicly until my employer had officially been told of my plans. now that that is out of the way, i feel more comfortable making it known to all the world about what i am up to in the next few months!

go HERE to read my cute little poem and if you don't already know, to find out what my big announcement is!!!

SWEDISH FISH FOR THE SOUL


sometimes i just need a few days to indulge in all of the little things that make me happy.

going on day trips
spending time outside just being- sitting quietly and soaking in the sun.
working on a project that makes me sparkle
diet coke
going to the movies with a really good friend
eating swedish fish
watching waves crash up on the shore
eating dinner outside in a park
taking things at a slower pace
sitting in my favorite spot on the bus
wearing skirts
sleeping in
painting my nails
organizing my closet- it must be colored-coded
kimball farms ice cream
talking girl talk til the early hours with really good friends
shaved legs and clean sheets
reading past entries in my journals
checking things off my "to do" list
learning something new

so i did all of that. it feels good. i feel good. life is a small bowl of swedish fish once again!