Mel's Box of Chocolates

No, I'm not trying to be politically correct! I just had to share something really exciting that happened to me yesterday. As you all know I had my hair cut and as you do when you are at the hair salon, you begin to chat. Well I was telling Kyla about how I am heading off to Florida on Saturday (yes, only 1 more day to go!) and that I was considering a spray on tan. Of course this led us to the conversation about bathing suits...something nobody wants to talk about in February when we are pale as ghosts and still holding on to those last couple holiday pounds. Anyways, she actually said "Of course you don't have anything to worry about bathing suit shopping since you are such a little person". Me...a little person? I have never been called little my entire life. She had no clue that just a year ago I was forty-some pounds heavier. What a great inspiration to get these last 12 pounds off!

I have very special hair! By that I mean that it is very curly or shall I say very frizzy and super thick. Whenever I go to get it cut everybody loves to say how great my hair is and that they wished they have it, but they don't deal with it every day. They aren't the ones who got teased as a kid because it looked like my hair routine consisted of a finger in an outlet...I am NOT kidding. If you look at any of my kid pictures (before I did my own hair) my mom would put one barrette over each ear and call it a day because she couldn't do anything else with it. Why do you need to know this, you ask? Well today I decided that in honor of my upcoming trip to Florida I wanted a new do. So I called my regular stylist who of course was booked and I told the receptionist to just pick me somebody. They picked Kyla. Kyla turned out to be this hip, young, thing with absolutely beautiful hair. She was full of ideas and asked that I trust her. This is what happened... I really like it....

* No children were harmed in the taking of this picture!

I did it, I did it!! I stayed OP today for the second day in a row and even earned two activity points for walking on the treadmill. I feel great and can't wait for weigh in on Saturday!

I have not left the couch ALL day, but there were no naps taken. I have typed my little heart out in trying to get my social studies entry finished. Even Dave keeps telling me to stop and call it a day. I just don't want to give it up until it is all done. At least with the first draft. I narrowed my video down to 15 minutes and typed up the entire entry. The problem is that I had 17 pages and it can only be 12. I am down to 13 after reading it a million times, but honestly I have no idea how I am going to cut out another whole page. Which brings me here...I just need a break from it for a minute. My feelings keep varying towards the entry. At times I am confident that I have met the requirements and that it demonstrates my effectiveness as a teacher, but then other times I think it is not going to be good enough. As a teacher I am constantly telling my students, and as a mom my own kids, that all anybody can ask from them is that they do their best. I really do not th...

Last week was a rough week when it came to staying on points. I have to admit that I didn't even count after Wednesday, but I know I was not over just on my daily points, but exceeded my weekly points also, which is something I had never done before December! I know, some of the reason I have been so lax is because I was feeling pretty comfortable with my body and clothing size. However, after watching my video I really could lose probably 20 more pounds and I have been frustrated with the scale number. I really want to see the 130's! Yesterday was not good at all as I got frustrated with my Board's entry and ended up eating 40 points! 40 points in one day...absolutely unacceptable. So starting today I am done with this craziness. No more using food as an escape, or stress eating, or eating because things are nuts. Instead I am going to walk or dance the stress out! This week's weigh in showed me gaining a 1/2 pound. While I'm kind of bummed that I had a ...

This morning has been quite busy as I have already cleaned the living room, kitchen, and dining room. Considering throughout the week, I don't stress myself out about this, the house usually needs some extra TLC on the weekends. I started the laundry and even made the kids a pretty hearty breakfast. Now it is time to turn on the camera and start editing the video for my board's. Then I have some analyzing and typing to do. My goal is by the end of this weekend to have the whole entry finished and ready to hand out to some people to edit. I'm actually feeling very positive about my decision for the board's. It just seems that things are falling into place and meeting some time goals I have set is awesome. I am still really nervous about the idea that what I am doing may not be good enough to pass, but at least I feel that I am doing my best so if I don't make it it will not be due to my lack of effort by any means. The best thing is that this tonight Dave...

Today was the first big day! Two of my Board's entries require me to have videotapes of small groups of my students interacting with one another. I also have to interact with them asking higher order questions to demonstrate my effectiveness as a teacher. So at the beginning of the week I went ahead and scheduled with my mentor to tape today. I figured that if I just set up a date I wouldn't be able to procrastinate. I work well when I have a time frame set up! So of course this whole week I have been threatening, I mean priming, my students for videotaping. The topic of my unit is empathy because lately my students have been driving me nuts being mean, tattling, calling names, etc. so I thought this would be something they could definitely benefit from learning. So we worked very hard this week discussing empathy and completed many activities to help instill the concept in their brains. Everything was going smoothly until on Wednesday the weather states " Snow showers be...

Just to clarify the bottom picture here has never, and probably never will, happened in good ol' Delaware. The other two were taken last March with the kiddos in our late winter snow. Anyways, after I posted the pictures look what really happened... We only got an inch or so, but I love me some snow! Of course this was the only time I was hoping it wouldn't snow because of this , but all is well. The weather is saying there may be more on the way this weekend...I say bring it on!!!

I am off to my first teaching conference in sunny Orlando, Florida...yes that would be in Mickey Mouse land. I leave on the 2nd and come back on the 5th. You bet that I will be getting a pedi next week and bringing out the flip flops and sandals. The conference is put on by Renaissance Place a company that uses technology for reading and math programs. My class earned a special award through a reading program called Accelerated Reading where students read books on their independent level and then take comprehension questions about the book. We received the "Model Classroom" award for having a 90% class average with only 2 students below 90% and all the students met their point goal. I know many states participate in this so if you have kids you may be familiar with the term. I think the program is wonderful because students learn how to set their own reading goals, can become better readers from where they are rather than where everybody else is, and have the opportunit...

I'm back to the old 1/2 pound loss again. Although after the end of last week I will count my blessings because I really didn't think I would loose anything. I just have the urge to snack so much lately and I can't really figure it out. I am hoping that it may just be due to that special time, but I have to admit I have had the desire to snack for more than just last week. It seems ever since I went back to counting the points I have felt the need to munch. After Christmas, I was hoping that I could go right back to counting again and maybe even see that nice big loss like you see when you begin a new diet. However, that was not to be. I still have 2.5 pounds left from Christmas and honestly I am a bit nervous about this Saturday's weigh in. Last week my goal was to add some veggies and fruit to my lunch. While I did great having at least one fruit in my bag, I still lacked on veggies. I did eat some veggie soup at school for one serving, but I would like to keep addin...

So for the past 6 hours I have not left my couch and my computer has not left my lap, but I'm happy to report that the rough draft of one of my Board's entry's is finished!! Now all I need to to do is distribute it to some lucky people who will read and critique. This part kind of scares me because while I am okay taking criticism on the outside, you know smiling, nodding, agreeing, and discussing...on the inside I take it quite personal and get kind of witchy about the whole thing. Thank goodness in this case what's on the outside matters the most! I do always take other's opinions into consideration and because this is so important you better believe I am taking all the feedback I can get!!! I am hoping that by end of January this entry will be finished with the final copy printed and ready to go. So now I am off to soak in the tub and read a good book. I would love to have a glass of wine, but I definitely do not have the points because I discovered that as...

I am so excited for the 3 day weekend! Happy Birthday, MLK and thanks for letting me celebrate with you!! So far it has been a pretty quiet day. Sitting in pj ',s in front of the fire, and procrastinating once again on my Boards. I have gotten 2 loads of laundry done, 1 load of dishes, baked banana muffins, chatted with my sis-in-law, mom, MIL, and caught up on this week's "What Not To Wear" on the DVR . See, I haven't been ALL lazy! Tomorrow we are heading to my brother's house to see his and Lizann's new place. I'm excited to run away and I am sure the day will be filled with laughter, teasing, and lots of Wii !! Wii all love to play Wii !! Speaking of which I danced the night away on the Wii last night and now I can barely walk. No pain, no gain though so hurting is good. So good I may just go play some more right now... Just kidding, I am off to finish Entry Four of my portfolio for the Boards...really I'm going... R-I-G-H-T N-O...

I made this recipe for a New Year's appetizer, but then when I found out that a serving doesn't have any points...well then it became a great snack too. Enjoy! Tomato Bruschetta 0 points per 1/2 c. serving 2 Tbsp. grated Parmesan Cheese 2 tsp ground basil 1/4 tsp. salt 1 tsp. ground pepper 1/2 tsp. olive oil 1 garlic clove, minced 1 small zucchini, chopped 2 c. tomatoes, chopped 2 tsp. balsalmic vinegar 1 small onion, chopped Combine all ingredients and mix gently. Scoop mixture over bread, crackers, other veggies, etc. The only points will come from what you put the the tomatoe mixture on. This is a great way to get in some veggies.

This week I was down 2lb. so only three pounds left from Christmas and then ten more to go!! I have been so darn hungry lately though. Although hungry may not be the most accurate description because hunger would mean that you would eat carrots, celery, a salad or something healthy, but no all I want are Cheetos and chocolate! I have been packing my lunches and trying to keep them balanced, but when I get home I grab the Wheat Thins or share Zoe's cheese puffs with her. I do enter everything in my tracker online. The thing is that everyday I am consistently 4-5 points over. I haven't been over my weekly allowance points, but I really wish just a day or two I could stay within my 20 daily points. On a positive note, I have walked every day (except for last night ) and I am very proud of that accomplishment. Last weeks goal was to eat fruits and vegetables and take some extra for snacks at work, which I did do...well at least the fruit. I have to admit that I was lacking in the ...

Weekends go by way too fast!! Yesterday was spent typing away on my Board's, although I did sneak in a nice nap, and some dancing time on Wii. We stayed home the whole day and the kids didn't even get out of their pj's. I felt a bit guilty since it was kind of nice outside, but with the fire crackling it was even more perfect inside! Today was also very relaxing!! During the winter Sunday is my favorite day of the week because Dave is off and we are all home together. Although it is also usually very hectic as we run here and there trying to catch up on everything. Today was different though because we didn't really have anything to do. This morning was sunny so we loaded up the kids bikes and headed up to the boardwalk. The kiddo's had a blast riding their bikes and it was great exercise chasing after them. We then did a family grocery shopping. I am still not sure if that was the best idea considering we went in with 5 things on our list and spent $140. ...

Excuse me for a few minutes while I get something off my chest... If you are not in the educational field you probably are not familiar with the term "National Boards Certified Teacher." I talked about it a little here , but I don't think I've really discussed it much more since then. This is probably because for perhaps the first time in my life I am questioning whether or not I can do something. Just a bit of background about National Boards...it is comprised of a portfolio that consists of four entries. One on writing, one social studies, one science with math focus, and finally a document of accomplishments. Each entry is very specific on what must be included. Two of the entries include videotaping and all of them must include student work with written commentaries. The complete commentaries include a piece on instructional context, planning and analysis, student work analysis, and reflection, and video recording analysis on the applicable entries. Of course the ...

Last Wednesday it was confession time as I admitted this . However, Saturday (my WW weigh in day) reassured me that all was not loss, or in this case, gained. At weigh in I was 144 so that meant I was down 3.5 pounds from New Years Day. Do I think that I magically loss those pounds in three days?...NO WAY! I also had not believed that I really did, in fact, gain so much Christmas pounds. If Weight Watchers has taught me anything this past year, it is that certain foods react certain ways with your body. I expected that once I began drinking my water and counting points again a big chunk would melt away, but of course I was THRILLED when the scale proved my point. So now for the update on this week...I have counted the points (some of them I wish I didn't have too), drank the water, and have walked all but one night. Unfortunately though, I have had an incredible urge for munchies all week. Because of this I have wasted many points on frivolous food such as cookies, candy, peanut b...

As a teacher, I absolutely hate short weeks because they seem like they take about two weeks. Of course, the few days after a break are always the worse anyways and just imagine twenty 8 year olds running in to tell you all about their new things. You can imagine the topic of our morning meeting on Wednesday!! I could only take so much though and did limit them to telling the class about only their most favorite thing. Wii was definitely the most common gift considering about half of them got one or at least said they did. I love the admiration in their eyes when they hear that I have a Wii too, I can just hear them saying in their heads "why she is a real person". Anyways it was a long, short week, I hung in there though and somehow made it. Even more exciting is that I am down 3.5 pounds as of this morning so I am below 145 again which rocks. Of course tomorrow is my official weigh in and tonight is a girls night, which means pinot and chocolate! We are ordering in sush...

I did not track one point in the month of December and boy is my scale showing it...I have gained around 6 pounds (okay closer to 7.5lb) throughout the month. Not cool!! My last official weigh in was Dec 1 and I was right at 140 and on Saturday's weigh in I was at 147.5...YIKES!! But I totally take responsibility for my choices and you know after you eat pounds of cookies, candy, and drink gallons of Starbucks lattes it is bound to catch up with you sometime. I was kind of in a half pound rut right before the holidays losing only a half pound here and there that I thought maybe if I relaxed over the holidays I could get back to counting points and jump start my body into weight loss mode again. Of course I was not hoping to gain 7.5 pounds, but I feel okay with it because I know I can get it off. I really don't think that I have gained all the pounds, but know that some weight is probably the result of water weight considering I was really bad at drinking water and replaced it...

dcrmom invited her readers to make a list of some things that you are into right now so here are my top 15... 1) Getting back on track with what I am eating after a lazy December full of sweets 2) Walking on the treadmill and watching HGTV 3) Blogging again! 4) A new year just waiting to filled with new memories 5) Spending time with my girlfriends 6) Reading books 7) Watching Zoe play with her dolls and take such good care of them 8) Playing Wii with Dylan and Zoe...I kick their butts at the fishing game!! 9) Dunkin Donuts coffee in the morning 10) That it is finally January so Desperate Housewives, American Idol, and Lost are back on this month!! 11) That Zoe calls me "Mama" rather than "Mommy" 12) When Dylan gives me a spontaneous hug and tells me that he loves me 13) Snuggling on Dave's shoulder at night 14) My awesome marriage 15) That so many people love me!!! UPDATED TO ADD: How could I forget my brand new chocolate Uggs....LOVE THEM!!! January is the t...

I'm happy to say that I was able to scratch # 5 off my Christmas list . On the first Saturday of our winter vacation we headed into Maryland to check out WinterFest of Lights. We rode on a tram through all the outside lights, warmed up with hot chocolate and gingerbread, and even got to see Santa.

When you get married one of the big decisions that you have to agree, or at least compromise, on is where to spend the holidays and how to fit in everybody. Dave and I spent a couple Christmas' traveling to both parents house, but since we had kids we have agreed that Christmas morning will always be spent at our house. At least until some of the magic fizzes out! This year we went to my parents on the Sunday before Christmas and the great thing was that my brother and sis in law made it (this was this first year of the holiday house issues) so it was the whole family together. There is just something about being home for Christmas. After the holiday rush and trying to get it all together it was nice to go home to mom's dinner and just relax with my family. It was great for Dyl and Zoe too because they got to open the first round of Christmas and then enjoy their gifts. This is mom and dad's tree...ok, mom's tree as my dad has nothing to do with picking up and decoratin...

Everybody has opinions on setting those New Years resolutions and whether they work or not, but being the goal driven kind of person that I am it just wouldn't be New Years without setting up some sort of goals so here are my top 5 goals for 2008... 1) Continue attending church regularly and look for ways to get involved in our church 2) Lose my last 20 pounds...I know so cliche, but I have lost 40 so far and I'm not stopping now! 3) Curb my shopping addiction and save some money 4) Start some sort of college fund for both of the kids 5) Enjoy life...take time to smell the beach air, listen to the seagulls, play with my kids, and share stolen kisses with hubby!!! What about you? Did you set goals/resolutions for the New Year? Leave me a comment so I can come read about your goals and encourage you on your way.