Costa Rica part 2

So we pick up after takeoff from Edmonton. At this point Athena is VERY tired. She has been up since 2:30AM straight, except for that 20 minute nap in the airport. She started freaking out and getting all wound up, and of course all she needs is just to lay her head down on my shoulder and close her eyes, but she gets herself so in a tither she CANNOT calm down. Here is where my memory starts to go foggy on me. Partly because I was so tired by that point and partly because after awhile, all the screaming just starts to blend. We tried giving her over to my in-laws who were directly parallel to us by the window.....only to be told 30 second after we passed her over, we weren't allowed to do that because there weren't enough oxygen masks......WHAT??? Are you KIDDING me?? That is the most ridiculous thing I'd ever heard. If you know me, you know I'm very passive. I don't enjoy confrontation, and to the disgust of my husband I will usually be a doormat and let myself be run over multiple times rather then raise a fuss at all. (Even if I should be) By this point I'm so tired, that I was ready to take that flight attendant and throttle her myself. Honestly, I know they were just doing their jobs, but we were sitting, TWO FRIGGIN INCHES AWAY!! The likelihood of oxygen masks dropping is like probably a billion to one, and if they did.....well, it wouldn't be too hard to pass her back over. Seriously. Sometimes you think people could have a little compassion, and take in the situation, and realize in the grand scheme of things, it really doesn't matter at all, and just let it be. However, maybe my MIL saw how near the end of my rope I was, and so her and my FIL switched seats with us, and after another bit of screaming, Athena finally calmed down enough to fall asleep, and slept with Mom for probably 2 hours. Again, my memory fades again at this point until the turbulance started. Then I start to remember again real well. My sister in law and I both started feeling very nauseous after it started, (and we were sitting right at the back of the plane to, which Jesse said is the worst place to get airsick). I have a very weak stomach (it's one of my genetic flaws) and I feel nausous at the best of times. I have only ever thrown up once before though, and that was on the plain ride to Ethiopia. Anyway, that doesn't matter. I switched places with Mom again, so that I could look out the window and try and settle everything down. Well, long story short, I ended up ralphing everything up into those puny airsick bags they have in the seat pocket. I was sitting next to Dad and I can only imagine how he felt trapped between me and the side of the plane with no where to go. hahaha. Afterwards he told me I was a very dainty puker, which is honestly one of the funniest thing anyone's ever said to me! Whoever thought dainty and puker would be in the same sentence! I felt so much better afterwards though, and felt fine the rest of the trip. Now, back to Athena. After she woke up, it was another 5 hours or so, of trying to keep her occupied which was nearly impossible. She wanted to run - well you can't just run up and down the isles - you get in the way of people, and carts, and attendants, and it just doesn't work. She didn't want to sit still, she didn't want to sleep, she didn't want to eat, she didn't want to drink, she didn't want ANYTHING! She just wanted to be free. All the screaming we endured really seemed endless. I think my child is fairly good natured, maybe a bit high strung and energetic, but she even surprised ME with how horrible she was. By the time we got there late afternoon, I'm surprised we were still holding it together. I really didn't think it would be that bad, because I figured she would just be passed between the 6 of us, and everyone could take their turn entertaining her. Apart from a few moments, she was basically just with me. She wouldn't sit with anyone else she just wanted me. How sweet. NOT. We managed to arrive at the resort in one piece (I did consider jumping out the door a few times, but decided in the end death was maybe a BIT extreme) and we had a whole awesome week together before the, (dare I say) worse trip home. To come another time.......the conclusion......

Costa Rica

I've decided to post about our recent Costa Rica trip. To be more precise, I will mainly be blogging about the trip to and from Costa Rica. Why I would want to relive that hellish trip again is a little baffling, but for the sake of all you readers, I'll do it! Maybe you can laugh about it, although I still can't. And maybe I'm posting about it so that in 20 years I'll read it, and THEN be able to laugh.....MAYBE. But probably not. Ahhem. So we begin. Actually, let me start off by saying, it was so nice of my in-laws to take us on this trip, and we had SUCH a good time there. It really was wonderful. And my Mother in law got us the best flight she could find, that was the most direct, so none of this reflects badly on her at all. That's the disclaimer. Alright, shall we begin. We left the morning of the 29th. I say morning, what I mean is, NIGHT. Our shuttle came to pick us up at 2:30 in the MORNING (night), so our alarm rang at the very decent hour of 2AM. Totally normal, I mean, I usually get up around that time anyway, so it really wasn't a stretch at all. So, everything got loaded up, everyone got in, I went and got Athena, thinking maybe I could just pick her up, and she would stay sleeping...BING! Her eyes are open, WIDE AWAKE......for the next THREE HOURS!! Who knew a toddler could have that must stamina. We got to the airport WAY early, and the security check in didn't even open till I think 5-5:30, so we had a long wait on the chairs. Athena finally fell asleep in her stroller....about 15 minutes before we had to go through security, and of course they don't let you push the stroller through, you have to fold it up and put it through the xray machine or whatever that do hicky is. So yeah, she of course wakes up right away again, and won't go back to sleep. So now it's like 5:30 in the morning, and our flight leaves at 6AM. We've already been up for 4 hours. I am usually still sleeping FOR another 4 hours at this point. Alright, fastforward to getting on the plane. We had a "direct" flight to Costa Rica, but not really since we had to go to Edmonton first and pick up more passengers. Half hour flight to Edmonton from Calgary, sit forever on the ground, waiting for everyone to get on, load luggage etc.etc. Well, wouldn't you know it, it's about -50 thousand degrees in Edmonton, (keep in mind it's still before 7AM in the morning), and they OPEN ALL THE BACK DOORS, and proceed to load up all the food, and WHO KNOWS WHAT for the trip. WHAT THE???!! You couldn't have done that in Calgary before WE ALL GOT ON!????? It was so fritzin cold in that plane, we almost froze to death. We were basically all huddled down together in our seats with every piece of clothing we had on board around us, with these desperately thin little dryer sheets they called blankets plastered around us, that did absolutely nothing to ward off the arctic wind blasting down the aisles. It really was that bad. I could not believe how cold it was. It seemed to take forever too - although that may be because I was losing fingers to frostbite, I'm not sure. Finally we're all loaded up, good to go. Then comes the interminable waiting that you ALWAYS do on a plane. If I was the pilot (and it's a good thing I'm not), the minute the door shut, we'd be taxing out, headed for the nearest runway out. Who cares about waiting in line, and clearance from the tower and all that crap that just delays you for 20 minutes. Let's just go. So now we think, ok, we're ok. We managed the wonderful morning wake up, the shuffle to the airport, the transfer in Edmonton, we're in the air, surely things will start to look up........Boy did we have another thing coming.......TO BE CONTINUED.........

A day in the life

This morning at 5:30am Jesse got called out to fly. At 6:00am Athena woke up. I went and gave her her bottle, and put her back down. At 6:20 she started crying again, although not for long, and then until about 7:30 she woke up and cried about every 15-20 minutes for just a bit, and then fell back asleep. Needless to say, I didn't sleep at all from about 5:30 on. Finally close to 8, I fell asleep again, only to be woken up by my alarm at 8:10 - so what do I do, say, Ok, I'll just turn it off and just LAY here for a few more minutes. Yeah right!! I woke up to a pounding on my door - I didn't hear the doorbell because our fan is too loud - and poor Latoya is standing out in the -30 degree weather wondering if something has happened to me, since our vehicle is gone, and the door is locked!! Sleeping in past your alarm is the WORST way to start the day! So after Latoya had left I curled up on the couch with a blanket, and opened an eye every now and then to watch Natalie, who played very well by herself for 45 mintues until Athena woke up. Athena has a pretty bad diaper rash right now which is interesting only because she hasn't had one since she was a tiny baby. So I decided to give her a bath after breakfast to help clean it. Natalie had a lot of fun splashing in the water from outside the tub, and got herself thoroughy soaked, even though I took off her shirt. I tried to exercise after this, only to be interupted every 2 mintues by fighting and screaming and crying, and pushing, and hitting, so I'm not sure how effective the whole workout was. After my workout the TV happened to be on The Price is Right channel, and so I watched it - just for old times sake, since I remember that show as a kid, and haven't seen it forever! I made tuna sandwhiches for lunch - Athena loved them, Natalie threw most of hers on the floor. The beginning of the afternoon was spent playing, and actually together nicely for a lot of it, which is still surpring when it happens. I have a few boxes waiting to go out to the garbage can, and the girls loved playing with them today. Athena sits in it with a spoon and a little pink plastic square thing from one of her toys and plays for ages all by herself. I have to wonder what is going through her little mind! I actually got some puzzling done while they weren't trying to kill each other, and now they are both down for naps!! YES!! I hope they both sleep till 4, then I will count it as a successful mission. Sometimes I have to laugh a little thinking how different my life is now then when I was a "working women"! Today I have already changed three poopy diapers, with a few more on the horizon. People, I am sick sick SICK of poop. Really. Now I know why some Mothers are so gung ho for potty training, too early sometimes in my opinion....but it is just because, we are so SICK OF POOP!! Yesterday and today I have got poop on my shirt without realizing it, and then I'm sitting doing something and I keep wondering, why do I smell poop still?? And then I look down and realize I have a permanent scratch and sniff poop spot on my shirt. Yum. That is an exciting day in the life of Tamara.

Two week update

Well here is my two week update on the infamous DIET. I have not had chips for 14 days now, which must be a record in my life! I weighed in at 131.6 this morning, down from my starting weight of 136.4. It doesn't sound like a lot, but I can REALLY tell. I mean, I still have a gut, but not nearly as big of a one! I think I can tell the most in my hips. I put my hands up at one point the other days, and was like....what the??? It felt so different! Now, I've had some frusterating moments for sure, when for a couple days my weight did nothing, and went up a bit, down a bit, then up more, and that sucks when you feel like you are trying so hard and don't see results, but I guess the point is to just persevere, because there are a lot of factors that contribute. Such as building muscle, so even though I might be losing fat, I'm creating muscle so I wouldn't see a weight change. I have been working out faithfully, some days more enthusiastically than others, so I think I must be making some muscle! The whole food thing has been getting easier too. In the beginning I thought I was going to die, but I'm been feeling less hungry all the time, and it's becoming more of a habit, so I don't think about it as much. For breakfast I either have a low fat yogourt, a banana, or 2 strips of turkey bacon. For lunch I have a sandwhich, no mayo, just bread, cheese, and meat, and for snacks if I get hungry in the afternoon I have a pistachios, cottage cheese, or a protein bar. For supper we have a lot of stir frys, wraps, and vegetables. I have not had a pototato either in 2 weeks which is another first! I LOVE potatoes. Wow, reading over that it seems so boring and bland, which I won't lie, it kind of is, but it's not as bad either as I thought it would be. My goal is to get into the 120's. After that we'll see. My optimum weight is 125 so if I could get down to that I would be more than happy. I've always just eaten whatever I wanted, so this is actually humbling for me, and a good lesson for me to not be judgemental of other people losing weight. It's a LOT easier to put it on then take it off, that is for sure! To change your lifestyle so drastically is not fun/easy, and when you have a lot of weight to lose, it must just feel overwelming and impossible. 10 pounds felt that way to me and obviously I'm not done yet.

Wow, I actually managed to write a blog during the day. Amazing!! Speaking of food, I'm getting hungry! Time to make lunch!

Exercise

Well, if you know me, you know that I hate exercise. In fact, if I'm not walking in the mall, I really don't see where walking has much of a place in my life. I despise running with such a ferocity that it even surprises me sometimes. So imagine my OWN surprise, when I finally decided to quit being such a lazy bum, and lose 10 pounds that have been hanging on since my pregnancy. I'm tired of the stupid muffin top, and having none of my clothes fit, and having to tuck my muffin into the top of my jeans when I sit down. It sucks. I've procrastinated for a variety of reasons, none of them original. I don't have time (YEAH RIGHT!!) I'm just going to get pregnant right away again so why bother (That I said 4 months ago) Who really cares about 10 pounds anyway, it's not so bad. (Actually I really hate it, and I really want to get rid of it) Those are the three that come to mind right away. So, Jesse started on this weight loss quest a couple of months ago now, and to date has lost aroundish 35 pounds. Yes, he is SMOKING HOT LADIES and I am NOT kidding! I look at him now and sometimes I just stare! He looks SO different and SO good. I tell him he's half the man he once once, literally! Haha. So, when I saw all his hard work starting to pay off, I finally decided I needed to get on the band wagon. Now, don't think this is easy for me, because it isn't. I'm only done week one, (I started before Christmas for a bit, halfheartedly, and gave it up entirely for the month of December, and now I'm doing it for real) I exercise 6 days a week, and while it's not easy to always start, I ALWAYS feel so good about myself afterward, and I really find that I am happier and definitely more satisfied with life! It's such a great feeling. Jesse is doing P90X, and I do some of their workouts, but I mix it up with Jillian (from the Biggest Loser), and Slim in Six, (a workout series that looks like it's from the 80's or early 90's, but it kicks my butt, so whatever works)!! My neck still bothers me a lot, so I can't do all the pushup/pullup workous with P90X, so those days, and days when we can't work out together I do my own thing. We have a workout area downstairs in the basement which works nicely. I have all the workous on the xbox upstairs, so I can access them whenever I want, and usually do them in the afternoons when the girls wake up from their naps. They are funny, and already know what I'm doing, and start to dance and get excited when I turn the xbox on! Natalie, without fail, will go and grab my exercise mat from behind the couch and try to bring it to me! How funny is that.

We are also following the P90X nutritional plan as closely as we can (since they do have some weird food, and we live in the boonies without specialty stores of any kind!) However I did go grocery shopping yesterday, and bought at least 7 things that I have NEVER bought in my entire life. Or actually even noticed before. Who's ever heard of rice vineger? Really? I admit that I am a meat and potatoes girl, so maybe you all are more informed than I am. So anyway, for the really strange things we substitute as well as we can. So for this week I have lost a total of 4 pounds, and since we started the meal plan, Jesse has lost 6!! Crazy. Yeah, I kind of feel like I'm starving, but at the same time, not really - I think I am just craving all those snacks. I've never eaten so healthy in my life. It's actually kind of fun, just proving to myself that I can do it, and it's always satisfying to see something through and do what you intended to. For me, it's also fun to do this with Jesse. I've never seen him so involved in the kitchen and interested in what I'm doing. Today I was sitting in the kitchen on a chair watching him make breakfast and it hit me....this was like, the first time EVER that I have been sittting, watching HIM cook!!! It was awesome. And not just cooking, I mean taking the initiative to do it, and knowing how to do it, and not asking me a million questions, till I got annoyed and just did it myself! I love this new side of my husband. He just got new glasses too, (since his got "lost" in the ocean on our vacation), and they are REALLY different than his old pair, so it's just a whole new Jesse.

We have a REWARD day coming....not till Feb.6th, but we are already daydreaming about what we are going to eat!! Jesse figured this afternoon that we would go to Boston Pizza and both eat a whole pizza, then to Dairy Queen and eat a blizzard, then to Tim Hortons for a coffee.....:) I said our stomachs will probably have shrunk so much after this month, that we'll get 2 peices of pizza in and not be able to eat anything else! But when you are eating a dry chicken breast and half a cup of peas for supper, even just THINKING about pizza and blizzards is a reward!

Anyhoo, that's what's up these days. I'll let you know how the first month goes! Fingers crossed for good results!!

Baby Proofing

Before Athena could walk, I couldn't wait for it. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure glad she has the ability to walk, but man, the things she gets into! Just yesterday I finished taping, YES TAPING all our registers to the floor, since she is constantly taking them out, which in and of itself isn't so bad, but then she proceeds to fall into the empty hole left in the floor, which really freaks me out since there is sharp bent metal and screws on the edges that could leave some serious damage. Every couple of weeks I have to go to Wal-Mart and buy more of those door latch things, since she is always discovering new, "treasure chests" to be emptied and explored. Again, that's all well and good, but my pen/battery/miscellaneous/dangerous objects drawer, is not one I need her in just yet. Much to her little hearts dismay, as of yesterday, she can no longer empty the diaper door on her change table and scatter diapers from here to the moon. However, MY heart is rejoicing! I feel like I can barely keep up with all the cleaning as it is, never mind having to clean up scattered diapers 10 times a day! Natalie has really exuberated all this, since now instead of 2 busy hands, there are 4, and they sure are busy! I have had to jam and cram as MANY books as possible into EACH of my bookshelves, to insure that my books aren't thrown off one by one, and then sat on, and pulled apart, and tossed through the spindles into my entryway. Sometimes I think it would be really fun to have such a disregard for property, and just huck and chuck, and rip and throw, and mangle and eat ANYTHING I WANTED TO!!! Oh, how good they have it without even knowing it. :)

Loose Ends

Well, I'm not a very faithful blogger, but here I go again. I'm a stay at home Mom, (as all of you know) and since there are a few SAHM's out there who read this blog, I would love your imput and advice. The last couple of weeks especially, I have been battling some serious, "boredom/what the heck am I doing, and who the heck am I" stuff. Don't get me wrong, I love Athena, and I really do want to stay home with her and raise her, and all that good stuff, but INBETWEEN the good stuff, I get really really really bored. Most of my days seem made up of such trivial unimportant things, that my brain starts hurting just from sheer repetitivness and perdictiblility. (Is that a word?) I know no matter what you do, there is something to complain about if you want to - and the Mother of the small girl I am going to babysit at Jesse's work, always tells him how lucky she thinks I am, because I get to be at home with my daughter while she has to work for money reasons. I guess what I'm saying is, I need SOMETHING to stimulate my brain and get me out of the house - which is why I'm asking you all what are some things you do to keep yourself from going house crazy and baby crazy. The things I do right now are Mom's Time Out Wednesday morning, which I really enjoy, and that's about it. I am going to sign up for Mom's and Tots swimming lessons at the pool with Athena, in January (which would be twice a week) and I think that will be good because it gives me an outing and something different for Athena, as well as the opportunity to meet other Mothers. I don't want to go back to work, and I do know that I am lucky that financially I don't have to, but......even though it's been a year, sometimes I still do miss that 8-5 lifestyle a bit - that feeling of accomplishing something and working hard during the week. After a kazillion loads of laundry and the millionth time of putting the same object away, it can get to you. I know that this is such a important time in Athena's life, and I wouldn't want anyone else to have a say in her development at this stage - but I need some things I can do with her that keeps me active, otherwise I get moody and grumpy and my husband gets the brunt end of it, since he is the closest one around!! Not fun for him. If anyone has any suggestions or advice, like I said, give it to me!