Resolutions - Looking Back

So, Dear Readers, what are your thoughts about New Year's Resolutions? Do you make them? Do you keep them? Or are you one who either doesn't believe in resolutions, or see no reason to start one just because it's the start of a new year (after all, you can make a resolution anytime, right?)?

Here's a glance back at my 2007 Resolutions. Let's see how I've done, shall we?

1) Lose weight. Yep. I lost 20 pounds with Weight Watches in the spring before hitting a plateau in May. The good news? With the exception of two little pounds that I keep gaining and losing, I've maintained my weight loss. I'm happy considering I stopped counting WeightWatchers "points" in September.

2) Exercise at least 3 times a week (my target is actually 5 days, but I'm trying to ease into it). I didn't do so well with this one. I've started exercising but I can't say I do it three times a week.

3) Catch up on all the routine doctor's appointments I put off in 2006 (and 2005). I've been checked out, poked and prodded and given a clean bill of health.

4) Develop a plan of what I want to do when The Baby starts kindergarten in the fall (such as: do I want to work? part time or full time? or would I rather volunteer? take classes? do I turn my 2006 hobby into a little money-making enterprise?) Nope. I've never known what I want to be when I grow up. I don't know what made me think that I'd suddenly discover it when Son #3 headed off to school. I have done a little volunteering though - room mom duties mostly. I've made a list of classes I'd like to take, but I haven't actively pursued any yet.

Let's look back further to my 2006 resolutions:
" 1) lose weight - this has been on my list for the past 15 years
2) drink more water - this is from my 2005 list. I did really well for the first 4 months or so, but I didn't decrease the amount of Diet Coke. 44 oz of Diet Coke + 60 oz of water = a lotta time spent in the bathroom, so I ended up skipping the water.
3) drink less Diet Coke
4) pick a hobby and stick with it for the entire year "

I can honestly say that I've achieved all of my 2006 resolutions. Just not in 2006.

Stay tuned tomorrow (or the day after) for my 2008 resolutions.

Merry Christmas

I hope you all have a safe and Merry Christmas!


A little more holiday fun: http://gpsinformation.info/main/merryxmas.swf

Where is Santa Now?

My kids have been having a blast with this:

http://www.noradsanta.org/en/home.htm

That's right, NORAD (the missile defense folks) is tracking Santa's whereabouts on this beautiful Christmas Eve.

Below the map is a link to Santa Cam videos on YouTube. Fun for the younger kids, but unlikely to fool the older ones.

We're getting ready to go to vigil mass this evening to celebrate Jesus' birthday. (With younger kids, I find they focus better in church on Christmas Eve since they don't yet have the distractions of all the presents and goodies that come on Christmas Day.) Later, we'll go to my sister-in-law's hours for hors d'ouvres. Afterwards, we'll come home, bake cookies for Santa, check the Norad site and if Santa's approaching the southern U.S., it's lights out for us! ;-)

Merry Christmas to all!

Wii Exercise

Before I start, let me say, wow! I didn't realize what a slacker blogger I've become. My sincere apologies to the two people who still read my blog. I'll try to do better.

And so I begin:

You may recall that I joined a little fitness center a couple of months ago. I still so, but I've only been averaging twice a week because 1) I prefer to go in the mornings, and 2) with the impending holidays, my mornings have been pretty busy.

Anyway, I usually warm up for 10 or so minutes on the elliptical bike (which I hate) before hitting the weights (which I love). A cardio workout is very important though.

This past weekend I caught sight of Dear Hubby and Son #1 playing "boxing" on the Nintendo Wii. Both were working up a sweat and getting a bit winded, so I thought, hmmmmm...

Monday morning after Dear Hubby has gone to work and the kids are off at school, I thought I'd check it out. After selecting my profile (my Mii), I start the game. Controller in my right hand, nunchuk in my left. There are hints on how to protect my face, my body, how to dodge a hit, etc. So I'm bobbing and weaving, jabbing and punching. I'm getting into it. Then the fight starts. WHAT???? That wasn't a boxing match? I'm that pooped after the tutorial???

I manage to box a few couple of rounds - about 10 minutes total. I'll say this. It IS quite the cardio work out if you do it correctly (i.e. actually move your body). Today my shoulders, underarms (goodbye, 'bingo arms'!), and obliques are quite sore. Go figure.

That said, if my kids ever find out (hey, I'm level 425, whatever that means), they'll never let me live it down. However, my mother got the kids an extra nunchuk for Christmas so I'll be able to box another human being, rather than the computer-generated characters. Something tells me I'll get the snot beat out of me by a 5-year old - on the Wii, of course. He loves his mommy. Really, he does.

So, which sounds more impressive should anyone ask:

a) I spend my days playing video games on the Wii, or
b) What's wrong with my shoulder? Oh, it's nothing, really. Just a boxing injury. :-D

YouTube: MomSense by Anita Renfroe

Jules emailed a link to this video clip to me and I thought it was funny. The woman's name is Anita Renfroe, and she offers mom-advice to the tune of the William Tell Overture. Most moms will relate, I'm sure. I'm not sure how to link to the clip, but I'll try ....

Click this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxT5NwQUtVM

She also has her own website: http://www.anitarenfroe.com/index.htm
There's some funny stuff there, including more video clips (I like "DemoClip").

Enjoy!