A look back on 2008

Gosh, so much has happened this year, I can't even begin to describe how I feel about it. But I'll give it a shot. To start, here's a brief look back on events in my life over the past year.

2008 started with a much needed night out with a friend. The first few months of 2008, were shaky, at best. I was going through a lot with friends, as well as work issues. I can't say that I made the best decisions in things I did, but at the time, I did what I thought needed to be done. I ended two friendships, one in February, one in March. The first may never be reconciled, as it was a permanent wound . The other, I'm slowly coming full circle again with. I'm hoping that forgiveness is making its way around as well, and we can continue to work on trust issues.

In May, the 12th to be exact, my friend Beth and I started on a weight loss journey. I don't think either of us expected it to go as far as it did, to totally flip our lives upside down. I'm not sure of what her exact numbers are, but together we've lost over 150 lbs. As of today I'm sitting at 78 lbs lost. Its been quite a roller coaster. We've had to deal with emotions coming up that we did not realize were hiding. We've both kicked each other's figurative bootys. We've struggled lots, but we've prevailed. And we enter this new year, with Beth within her range, and me slightly over half way to my goal.

I've had to take my child to the ER twice (once for a fever of 106, and once for stitches when he sliced his ankle on the bottom of our screen door). I rearranged my thinking on ADHD meds for kids, and my 4 year old is now on Strattera. And I must say, I'm happy with my decision, I think I did the best thing I could for him. He's doing really great on it at school, and he's thriving in PPCD. He loves it and is growing by leaps and bounds. Two steps forward, one step back, and ever moving forward. I'm so proud of my sweet boy!!!

Lets see what else. There have been some family members pass away this year, a great uncle, a 2nd cousin, another distant cousin. So its been a sad year for the Ragsdale clan, but we've had a birth - my cousin and his wife had a new baby in October. We got to see a black man get elected to become President this year, and even though I don't agree with his stance on things, you gotta admit, it's a good thing to break the color barrier in our presidential history. It leaves the door wide open for so much more to come. Now a black conservative president would freakin rock!

Its been a long year, lots has happened, but for me, it was a year of growing and becoming more secure in myself. So I guess, despite the trials, its been a good year. I've made lots of new friends, met new goals, and I'm looking forward to seeing what 2009 brings, and can't wait!

I pray that all of you have a blessed New Year, are able to reconcile 2008, and move onward with a fresh new look.

God bless.

So excited...

I LOVE roadtrips. The open road, music jammin, window down (weather permitting of course), and nothing but headlights for miles. I get such a thrill! And yay, tomorrow, D and I are taking one!!! We will be leaving as soon as I get off work, hopefully around noon.

We're headed to Oklahoma City first to see my dad and his wife. On Friday, we're headed to Missouri to see one of my besttttest friends and her family. And we'll be headed home on Sunday. Its a 7 hour drive from here, and one we've made before.

I have to say, I'm so glad I have a child who loves it just as much as I do. He does great in the car, with the music, he always says "can you turn it up please???" (is that my kid or what???!!!), and tends to sleep through quite a bit of it. Its always a bit stressful on us at someone else's house, since D has to explore everything (ie. get INTO everything), and sometimes his tummy shows his internal stress of the routine change, but otherwise we typically have a good time.

I did take Monday off work, so that I can recuperate (and scheduled a doc apt for that day too, and maybe a movie). D will still go to daycare on Monday but since PPCD won't be back in session til Tuesday, he'll have an opportunity for a nap.

Wish us luck and say some prayers for safe travel!!!

A new holiday/trip survival initiative

I went into this holiday season gung-ho about losing weight and staying fully on track. Yeah, that got derailed with a month long plateau, plus an emotional week, and a few leg injuries. However, I HAVE stayed on the cardio every day for the challenge I started on DAM. It might not have always been awesome fall out on the floor cardio, but it gets my heart rate up and going.

I'm preparing to head off on a roadtrip from NYE until the 4th of January, and I could tell I was getting stressed over it way too much. So right now I'm determining that as long as I stick to my cal counts, I'm not going to worry about the quality of the food I eat. I will be keeping my portions moderate and trying to stick with my "safe" foods, and I think that should get me through the end of this holiday season intact.

Come January 6th I will be beginning the Year Without challenge, and I'm excited about that. Its going to really help me get eating out under control, and buying clothes for D...yikes...

Don't forget, too, to start checking here everyday to see what I'm eating, what activity I'm doing, and Saturdays are weigh-in days, so check back every Sunday for THOSE updates!!!

The day after...

*groan* I know I'm enjoying my Wii...I was up til 3am on it...lol But it was a blast, I'm excited to have it to enhance my workouts, with the Wii Fit and Fitness Ultimatum. Tonite, D and I played on Wii Sports: golf, bowling, boxing. I am not letting him play yet as his impulse control is not the greatest, but he had an awesome time beside me playing along with what I was doing. Hahaha, as I was boxing, when I knocked out my opponent, he was hollering "GO GIRL GO GIRL GO!!!" He's so cute. We had a grand time!

I was so glad to get today off work, we mainly laid around all day until dinner this evening, and playing on the Wii. But we watched Kung Fu Panda (his new movie) and I got a lot of his minitrampoline put together (dang laces, takes TWO people to put it together!!!), and even though he was overtired so had some super cranky moments, I still count it a nice day.

Merry Christmas!

I hope you are all having a wonderful Christmas with your families, and are making sure to remember the real meaning of Christmas. Not the gifts, not Santa, not spending money. Its all about Jesus. He's the reason we have the lives we do. I know its hard to not get caught up in the season, but its always good to take some time to reflect on his birth and its meaning for us.

Please check out D and I's blog for pictures of our Christmas!

New things a comin...

I made the decision to bring my part of our Losin Together blog over here to the Daily Bdizzle. I've felt kinda confined over there. Beth is lookin all hot and stuff, and right near her goal, and I've still got so much weight to go, so I think I need to branch out on my own.

So starting January 1st, I'll be posting all my food intake and output here, along with all the usual posting that noone ever reads...lol I'll move my stats over as well, and the pics too. And by the way, I'm sorry we never did a fence pic for our 6 month anniversary on it. I'll try to keep up with solo ones, though.

You'll still get all the good updates, all the highs and lows, and get to continue seeing this quest of mine.

So stay tuned...2009 is gonna be off the chain!!

A rough weekend eating-wise

Or at least THINKIN about eating. Last week was all emotional eating for me, but I'm determined to not let it be the end of things. I wallowed in feeling sorry for myself a lot this weekend, but its over. And tomorrow I'll be back on the grind. I still have not missed a day of cardio, just food choices have not been happy.

I heard a quote today: "There's no sin in gettin weary, the sin is in giving up." And its true. I'm not giving up on this, I've come too far. So please ignore the last few days of my posts on our Losin blog. I'm glad I posted them, especially Fridays. I really had to work hard at not wanting to be ashamed of all that popcorn and candy, and wanting to hide it. But its out there.

Now if I can make it through these next two weeks, I'll be in good shape. Tuesday, my work is catering in Mexican food. I found out that Christmas Eve is going to be quite a bit of Mexican food. Christmas morning is going to be sausage casserole at my aunts. OMG I need some prayers!