Cue Molly Mallone. (you don't know that song? rise up irish people of the world.)

Is anyone else outrageously excited for St. Patrick's Day?  No?  allllright.

St. Patrick's Day is my fav for a few reasons:

• the mark of spring.  I think last year I got sun burned at the parade
• the abundance of beer.  and soda bread with jam.  and cabbage.  I love cabbage.  sick.  
• crazy celtic music blaring IN YOUR FACE ALL THE TIME.  I won't lie.  I've already started it up here in Incredible land (<--- is Incredible land really Michael Jacksonish?  should I change that?)
• Irish Dancing throwback.  Love it or leave it.  Think it's "weird" or know that my hard shoes can make your tap shoes cry.

I think come St Patty's Day (or March) I'll be sad that I shared this pic with you.  No fear.  I'll put up more.

Coffee and Baked Goods vs. p90x UPDATED*

Read even MORE detail over at Hutch's

this. 

not to be confused with 

this.

(tony horton- p90x man)

Read more over at Magnolias and Mimosas.  yes.

Tuesdays are always blog hell

Here's my blog routine:
Tuesday I begrudgingly blog
Wednesday I'm inspired and want to blog forevvver
Thursday I blog
Friday I want to blog but Fridays are always spectacularly busy
Saturday I want to blog but convince myself that I should take a blog break
Sunday- what blog?
Monday oh that blog.  nah.
Tuesday- I'd better blog or I'll forget about it forever..  and so forth.

HAPPY TUESDAY.

maybe i'll catch you up on my life a little later.

the only reason i wrote this post is to have my p90x body NOT the first thing that you guys will see.

Phase 1. COMPLETE.

So here we are, at day 30 of p90x.  It has gone by a lot faster than I'd expected, which makes me wish I had done a few things differently.  Like the diet part of it.  But there's always tomorrow (or second phase) and I'm committing to the diet.  I'm really excited about it because I finally feel ready.

That being said, I'm so proud of myself for sticking to the workouts.  With time restraints, kids, blogging and just everyday stuff, it wasn't all that easy to do all of the time.  We've decided though, that this part of our lifestyle shouldn't be an option.  Working out should be like drinking water.  It's just what you do.  We want to show and teach our kids that it's one of our top priorities.  Not to mention we love it, it brings us closer as a family, and it gets the February antsies out.

When we first began, I decided that I wanted to do the 'lean' version of p90x.  Basically it's to look trimmer as opposed to muscley bulky.  Since I'm pretty athletic, I've decided that honestly, the lean version is not intense enough for me (gloating).  I don't have that sore feeling that I love after workouts.  So for this phase I'm doing some workout substitutions.  We've also decided to go doubles, which means three times a week getting some (more) cardio in.  That's just what we like to do.  We like to run, swim, bike (hellllllo triathlete wife.)  Physically speaking, we also like to push ourselves and each other to the limit.  It's a challenge that we enjoy.

So here are the stats:
Weight: lost 6 pounds, then gained 3 pounds back from the skiing trip, fat tuesday, etc etc.  so -3lbs.  Mr Incredible, -10.
Chest: me: -2.5 inches  Mr Incredible: -2.5 inches
Waist: me: -1.25 inches  Mr Incredible: -3.25
Hips: me: -1/2 inches (I've got a pear shaped body.  leave me alone.) Mr Incredible: 0 (apparently he does too)
R arm: me: -1 1/8 inches Mr Incredible: -.5 inches
L arm: me: -3/4 inches  Mr. Incredible: -3/4 inches
R leg: me: -2.25 inches  Mr Incredible: -2.5 inches
L leg: me: -2.25 inches  Mr Incredible: -3/4 inches


And pics:

 i fully debated whether or not to post these- im satisfied enough... just wished id done the nutrition part!

i'm clearly a tad awkward.

Other things you cannot tell from the pics.  1) I think my neck lost 3 pounds.  I never thought I had a fat neck... 2) My thighs are toning up and smoothing  3) my butt is getting tiiight 4) my back is becoming more defined 5) that's a 1989 adidas crop top.  from an ex boyfriend's mom.  truth.

stat tuned.  60 day pics in 28 days.  and counting.

Not here. kinda. *UPDATED W PICS.

I'm over at Travis' of Fisher of Stories today.  I'm super excited to guest blog for him, though maybe a tad intimidated.  Go read (then follow) about my skiing trip last week, and all the wisdom that came along with it.

I'll post pics up here later of the festivities.

this pic does not do my dinner justice.  I'm telling you, it was huge.

our condo looked right out to the slopes.  ski in ski out condos.  with heated indoor outdoor pool.

hot tub.  outdoor pool just to the left.

right before skiing.

accurate enough.  

"I JUST WANT A GREEN CIRCLE.  NOT A BLUE SQUARE*."

*green circle= easiest.  Mr Incredible convinced me he was bringing me down a green circle, even though the sign was a blue square (more difficult, but still easy... for some)

showoff. 

last two pictures ,may or may not be us.  but close enough.

this is how we roll

we didn't do anything for valentine's day.  we're doing champagne and chocolate dipped strawberries for Fat Tuesday.

Cheer's to being fat!

ching.

What I love about Sundays

For a while now, I've wanted to do this post "what I love about Sundays."  I decided last night that I was finally going to do it.  I love Sundays.


But then today happened and it was not as it was planned.  So I'll explain to you why I typically love Sundays and why today was not a typical Sunday.


On Sundays I am totally inspired by everything.  I think this is for three reasons.  First of all, we go to a big church downtown.  The priests are really old and say mass really really fast (that has nothing to do with why I love Sundays.)  At the closing of mass, my favorite priest always always always says, "now let's sing a verse of 'God Bless America.' "  (this is an early mass, so there is no instrument accompaniment)  Now, have you ever heard a bunch of Catholics singing?  Catholics are notoriously bad singers.  It's terrible.  There is homeless man I call "McGoo" there singing (kinda).  Then there is the 90 year old Italian couple behind us.  There is always the overweight father with a comb over and his son with a comb over that sits at 11 o'clock from us.  In the front there is Maggie (who claims she has kids the exact same ages as mine, but I've yet to see them), a nun, another homeless man and his wife decked out in Bills gear, and some more elderly people.  And the priest.  And the lector whose voice cracks more often than it does not.  Oh, and, of course, Mr Incredible, who loves LOVES to sing.

God Bless America,
Land that I love.
Stand beside her, and guide her
Thru the night with a light from above.
From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the oceans, white with foam
God bless America, My home sweet home

I'm quite sure that our voices hit the huge church's cold air and shatters to the floor.  But I absolutely love it.  There is something so beautiful about this crazy variety of people singing God Bless America.  All day every day on Sunday I'm belching out Goood Blesss Americaaaaa land that I looooooove around the house, in the car, singing my kids to sleep.

Today, go figure, my favorite priest said "let's sing a verse of 'Holy God We Praise Thy Name.' "  Somehow this did now leave me with the feeling that America was on the upswing.  Strike one.

Second reason I love Sundays:  Mr Incredible and I and the girls always go to one of our two favorite coffee spots together.  Sometimes it's with friends, sometimes it's not.  I love getting my favorite frittata, he gets a cinnamon bun and the girls get a bagel.  We both drink coffee to our hearts' content, then we drop him off at work (he works most Sundays).  By the time I get home, the girls are tired and I'm inspired from all the coffee.  

Today, all of my coffee gave meanxiety.  LikeI'monE.  Not fun.  Shaky.  Shoving my face in hopes that protein bars will absorb all this caffeine.  Niet.  Strike two.

The last reason I love Sundays is because actually do try to relax all day.  This in turn, takes the pressure off of getting things done, and I normally get more done because I feel so chill about it.  And why do you think this did not work out today?  Right.  I'm strung out on coffee.  With a headache.  You're out.

depending on who you ask, i might be more popular than I was in highschool

Like with anything, once I get out of the blogging groove it's really hard for me to get back into it.  I've been out of it because of the previously mentioned colds in our house.  Then from Thursday to Friday we took an overnight vaca at a relatively nearby ski resort.  (Stories to proceed later this week).

I figure that accepting some more awards will be a good way to kick start my blog metabolism:

I got Honest Crap (I'm so jealous of myself.  I've wanted this for ages.  Totally thought it would be out of reach) from Angelia.  She is one of my newer followers, and I one of hers.  I'm trying to convince her of starting a blog book club (right up my alley: book club via internet.  It's like 1% commitment.  Right up my alley.)  Go check her out because she has an addictive personality.  An addictive personality and she loves to read and her home is filled to the brim with books, including a shelf in her kitchen.  And they're not cookbooks.

 

So anyway, rules.  Rules, rules, rules.  Divulge 10 pieces of Scrap about my self, then send it on to 7 others.  (This time I'll let you know if I've blessed you with an award- I don't think I let people know last time.  So you might want to check it out just in case.)

10 Things:

1. I'm a fool for DealNews dot com
2. I love words
3. I think I'll be a secondary english teacher when I grow up
4. I love to participate in sports, especially when I'm good at them
5. I love to cook and bake, but don't really find time. 
6. I have a problem with the huge amount of money I have to pay to get my library card back
7. I've never been able to do monkey bars at a playground.  Hopefully p90x will fix that.
8. I'm often misunderstood, probably because I don't articulate my thoughts well
9. I'm 110% pro life.  I'm curious to see if this will effect my followers numbers.
10. I've got a spectacular sense of smell.

I think I'm stuck in a blog rut, so excuse if I've already given you awards:

1. Cara at Bloggin 2 Noggin
2. Tiffany at On the Verge
3. Samantha at Apple Juice and Milk
4. Shell at Things I Can't Say
5. Blue Violet at A Nut In A Nutshell 
6. Natalie at Miss Brightside
7. Cee at Curiosity

I've never prided myself on being responsible

Responsibility is not really my thing.  I'm responsible as in take care of my children and house and cooking etc, but when it comes to stuff like money, cars, bills, 401ks, Save Our motherofpearl Ship.  Really.  I don't read the newspaper, either.  
So let me tell you this story about how I was semi responsible today.  But that will not be the point of the story.


I drive a minivan.  A minivan with two hubcaps (glass half full).  A minivan with TWO MISSING HUBCAPS.  And I like to garage sale.  I hate that that is part of my identity.


So as I was saying, I drive a 2000 minivan with near 150,000 miles on it and i like to garage sale.  Like any well loved car, lights on my dashboard go on when they shouldn't (read: every time I run over a pot hole the check engine light, overdrive button and door ajar pop up simultaneously.)  Needless to say, I don't pay attention to these lights.  ever.  


Something happened to me today that changed all of this for approximately seven minutes.  I was driving on the thruway with my Tire Pressure light on.  (I'm pretty sure it's been on for about a week or ten).  I started smelling burning rubber and I was sure that my wheel was going to pop and I was going to fly into the ditch.  I don't know what really happens when you get a flat tire.  I put on my hazards and slowed down to 35 mph.  I then realized that the shop that Mr Incredible brings our cars to was the exit coming up.  I got off the exit and pulled into the car shop, took my babies out of the car, and responsibly and casually went up to one of the mechanics and asked him if I was in any sort of danger if I kept driving.  He said he didn't know, I would have to go inside and be put on the waiting list to get it checked out.  Not my cup of tea.  So I asked him if he smelled burning rubber like I did, and he said, "no, I smell kids." s;lijasdg ;lkajsdg;lk as;lijgasd;glkj EFF YOU BUDDY.  So my two year old had an accident in the car seat two days ago and I didn't feel like washing the cover (again).  And AND we just went on a road trip to a museum on Monday.  Yes, there is juice, cashews, craisins, white chocolate chips and coffee cups all over the car.  (and we went on a road trip last month and it's possible that I never cleaned out the car then either)(it's really really cold outside)  You smell kids?  YOU SMELL KIDS?  What do kids smell like?


Then I remembered- I grew up with this one family who's minivan was always so sticky and so smelly, and there was always at least one hairbrush that hadn't been cleaned out in the backseat.  Even though the stench was kind of sour and I always left with raisins and Gushers stuck to the bottoms of my shoes, it was such a comforting car to ride in.


I suddenly felt very secure and flattered after this weird sort of compliment registered.


I decided that i was in no immediate danger driving on a funky tire, so I happily told them I might come back tomorrow morning and I pulled away.  And I'm home safe and sound.  and that might be the reason being irresponsible doesn't phase me.  Because really?  what's the worst that could happen?  ( i know, I KNOW, mom.  oh wait, you don't read this either.)  smiley face smiley face smiley face.

I needed to give him a grace period

I know I've been holding out on all of you for far too long.  I'm also aware that no one is dying to know the big question.  I'll go Jeopardy on you and give you the answer, since I know you have no idea what I'm talking about.  No.  Mr Incredible is neither following nor commenting on my blog.  He did read the posts from Incredible Week, though.  No comments.  No Mr Incredible thumbnail picture under my followers.  none. zero. zip. nada.


"...but then I'd have to sign up and get another google account..."  no.  NO.  I'm mean yes.  Nike.  Nike.  Just do it.  Because we alll know that you sign into your google account to check sports 3 times a day.


Okay, actually, I really don't care that much.  But I just wanted to update you guys since *ahem* much effort and participation was put into that week.  Thanks to everyone who participated and commented.  Really, it meant a lot.

I feel like I'm blog-cool enough to do this

I used to think that bloggers that made general apologies on their blogs were a tad bit cocky.  So big deal, I'm cocky.  I have 54 followers now, you know.  (wassup to Cara, Tracie, and Angelia my most recent 3 followers.) (what?  I like to acknowledge my readers.  don't hate.)


So remember that cold that was being passed around Incredible land?  ...
I realized I'm not invincible today.  I think I got the damn thing.  Which means the following:  I haven't read any blogs.  (Not that I'm obligated to.  I love it.  Just sayin'.  Sorry if I haven't been around your parts of the virtual world lately.)   Nor have I checked any emails.  Well, I've checked some.  But some doesn't cut it, I know.  
I barely have even checked my comments.  If I have, I don't remember them because my head feels like it's been submerged in water for the past 11 hours. 
 Lastly, if I do blog, it will probably be about my head cold, and I may even tell you the verdict about whether or not Vick's Vapor rub works on adults' feet as well.  


In summary:  This is a general apology.  I'm sorry for being the worst virtual friend ever.

If you stare at this long enough you'll get a glimpse into my head-submerged-in-water-type-feeling.

We're gonna keep this real short.

All the little kiddies in this house have been sick for days.  Instead of 2 year olds' birthday party at the pool, we brought all of the girls into the doctor's office, 8am.  We came to discover 5 out of 6 ear infections.  Yay.  

Anyway.  Store this in your random file, because it WORKS:

When your kids have a persistent cough in the middle of the night that keeps waking you up and makes you want to shove your face through the wall, what do you do?  Put Vick's Vapor Rub on their feet with socks over it.  Cough no more.  

The end.  

Sorry gots to go celebrate a birthday.  Happy Monday!

Took a breather and now able to talk some more

As you may know, I'm doing p90x.  Moreover, I'm on day 18.  Day 18 of I'm-better-than-you-workouts.  The p90x kit comes with 12 different DVDs to promote "muscle confusion" and a book to tell you what workouts to do on which day.  It also comes with a nutrition guide book.  This includes recipes, suggestions, or you can straight up follow exactly what it says every day for 90 days.  It also tells you how much of each food group to eat everyday, and tells you every food and which food group it belongs.  Since I do NOT have a niche for explaining myself well, just know that it is NOT as hard as I just made it seem.  People involved with p90x, feel free to put an appropriate summary in the comments section below.


I've been doing Weight Watchers since I was 6 weeks post partum with this babe.  So when we decided to do p90x, I thought I would couple the nutrition guide with counting points.  I felt a bit leery because if I do something I want to do it right, however, I know that WW works.  I was afraid that I wouldn't lose any weight doing p90x.  In retrospect that is absolutely absurd.  Of course you'll lose weight if you're eating right and working out hardcore.  


The first 10 days I did well with eating my points and p90x nutrition guide.  I was a little overwhelming because I didn't prepare myself for cooking.  I felt like I was cooking all day everyday, hence my house was getting destroyed and I was getting frazzled.


Part of the nutrition that was for me allowed one complex carb a day, which is like a camel that is allowed to store as much water as he pleases without a hump.  I live on simple carbs.  Very simple carbs.  As in cookies.  Anyway, on day 10 I started to notice that I was smelling like cat pee.  I thought this was a great excuse to start eating my carbs again.  You know, just one extra complex carb.  

Have I ever told you that I am all or nothing?  Well I am.  And one extra carb turned into a binge session.  But just one binge session.  "Tomorrow is a new day," me thought. 


Come weigh in a Weight Watchers the next day.  I gained 1.4 pounds.  (re read that 4 times over, because that's what I want to keep typing but am noting that it is becoming a bad habit)  This, my friends, put me in a downward spiral.  I was so confused and so discouraged (I know many of you are going to say it was because I binged the day previous, but I do that before (and after) my weigh ins all the time, and I most often lose).  I felt like I had been working my ass of (literally) and I gained a pound.  My.Life.Was.Over.  (I'm the epitome of "weighty issues.")(no, I don't have an eating disorder. I'm just a disordered person)


Needless to say, I stocked up on SmartOnes desserts and destroyed them.  Every day was Binge Thursday for me last week.  


"I guess," chocolate eclairs hanging out of my mouth, "I'm just gonna be 20 pounds overweight for the rest of my life, Mr Incredible" shoveling a cookie dough ice cream cake into my mouth.  


"Oh, will you stop, Kiera?  I think you look great and I can see improvements already!" 


 Me, shoving reduced fat tortilla chips in my mouth (to counter balance all those sweets) "That's a lie.  I measured and I haven't lost any inches.  Except for 1/4 inch in my left leg."  He rolls his eyes, because I always insist on leaving him speechless then get annoyed that he doesn't have anything to say.


But I stuck with the workouts.  


Today at weigh in I lost three pounds!  So it just took a while for my body to catch up to what I was doing.


To wrap this up, I've decided that I'm quitting Weight Watchers and quitting the scale for a while.  I really do need to focus first on the inches that I'm losing doing p90x, and then of course (so obvious to me now) any extra weight will come off, granted I'm eating right.  So starting tomorrow today (there was one SmartOnes Eclair left, what was I supposed to do?) I'm back on the p90x nutrition.  Onward and upward from here.

At my 30 day pics I may not look like this, though.  Because, I kinda put myself 12 days behind.  Or this (again, I know, I'm obsessing Shandal.)

Blogging is a priority and i don't prioritize very well

Actually, only half of that statement is true.  Blogging is not a priority.  But I loves it. And depending on who you ask I may or may not prioritize very well.  


On to bigger and better topics- I have a lot to do on my blogging agenda!  1) I have awards to accept 2) I have to catch up on practically two weeks of nada blog 3) let's discuss p90x vs. weight watchers.  I know you're on the edge of your seat.

Thank you for the awards I've received this month!  Yay! I was totally crying to Mr Incredible a while back that I'm a bum blogger because I've never gotten awards (insert his response here)

Thank you to from Samantha at Apple Juice and Milk. !! 

okay so the above I got a little greedy with because it was to anyone.  Who does that?  Someone with no shame.

I'll follow Samantha's rules here and give it to my top 5 KickAss Bloggers:

Ally at Magnolias and Mimosas

Salt at Salt Says

Monique at Triathlete Wife

Jess at Cape Cod Awesome

Hutch at Be Awesome Instead

And then I got this from Salt.  Which I'm pumped about.

I don't think there are any rules, buuuuut if I comment on your blog, then take it.  Means you're doin something right.

These here are from Shandal at My Life in 3D.  My p90x sistaaaaaa.  Thank you so much for thinking of me! This ones rules are that I have to list 7 interesting things about me and pass it on to 7 blogs.

1. I hate the smell of worms on a rainy day after I brush my teeth
2. My thumbs are double jointed
3. It's sick how much peanut butter I can eat on a spoon
4. It's sick how much quiche I can eat.
5. I dislocated my shoulder twice playing basketball and ended up needing surgery.
6. I'm either sick or pregnant if I don't want coffee
7. I've never had a cavity

And I'm happy to pass this on to:

1. Heather at Namaste-Heather
2. Laura at Steam Spectre  and Gypsea Tree
3. Chew at My Life as of 6/18/09
4. Shana at Fumbling Towards Normalcy
5. Nancy C at Away We Go
6. Amanda at It's Blogworthy
7. LMJ at I've Been Thinking

I also got this from Shandal, which is pretty sweet because we're a) blog friends b) p90x friends c) facebook friends.  So booya'll.

Since there are no rules, I'll just pass this on to my own newly blog friends:

1. Salt
2. Allyson
3. Jess
4. Hutch
5. T!nk (whether you know it or not, we are friends you know, T!nk)
6. Monique
7. Cee

And since I know that I missed out on people I want to give blog awards to, I'll come back later and update.  I haven't been on the computer in what seems to be agesssss and I have the brain capacity of an ant. 

And I'm too tired (now that this post took me approx 10 hours) to talk about p90x vs. weight watchers or the past two weeks of me life.

I know you didn't think you just entered into a contest, but in fact, you did.

So as you all know, I had a pretty bad day.  I'll probably get into it tomorrow when I have more energy, but I've got to say.  You folks really brought it today.  I mean.  I feel fat.  I'm tired, my house is a wreck blah blah blah.    Oh, and while grocery shopping my HUGE cart with a car in the front and carseat in the back that I wasn't using because I was carrying the baby crashed into one of those sticker printing produce thing and it fell over and smashed into a million pieces.  I threw up my white flag and walked away.  That was just the type of day I was having.  But you guys.  I'm pleased with the company I was in today.  So thank you for sharing your misery.

But maybe my day wasn't so bad after all:

Namaste-Heather had a pretty bad day, I think.

??

anyone else's monday as SHITTY AS MINE?  please don't comment how good yours is.  tell me how fat you feel.  


that's the kind of mood i'm in.  and no i will not use the shift key unless a swear word is involved.