Carlos’ camp was cancelled this morning due to thunder storms which lasted all of 30 minutes. The three hours he is in camp is a huge help to me. I do a combination of  working out, running errands, doing a few things around the house and showering – alone! Well I always shower alone, but the other tasks I am able to accomplish much quicker when I am doing them on my own. I adore him, but even a mom needs a little time to herself. So needless to say the morning didn’t quite go as planned. Instead we baked banana muffins, played Go Fish, and read his new library books all about fire fighters. Actually he read to me, how cool is that! After lunch we began packing for our upcoming weekend away. I am trying to figure out how to pack the two of us in one carry on. I’ll let you know how that goes!

While I’m waiting for my vegetables to finish roasting I have just enough time to participate in this week’s FMM. If you have taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s questions on your own blog then add your link in the comments section at: www.alltheweigh.com so others can see your FMM questions and answers. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers by posting your own FMM post and commenting on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!

FMM: SEVEN

1. What is your favorite way to spend a Sunday afternoon? I love to be with my family on Sunday afternoons doing something outdoors.
2. What is your favorite color? according to Carlos it is purple. I would have to say green.
3. Have you ever been to Europe? do layovers in Amsterdam and Zurich count? I’ve never spent any time in Europe but would love to. We had plans to vacation in Portugal, but things have changed. We still have a fun fall vacation planned, and hope to eventually visit Portugal.
4. Do you wear glasses or contacts? I wear glasses when driving only.
5. How often do you brush your teeth? Usually in the morning and before bed, but if I’m working I always brush them at work around 5:30 am.
6. Share a guilty pleasure. Pedicures
7. What are you most proud of accomplishing this week? I lost 1.6 pounds for a total of 7.2 pounds since I rejoined Weight Watchers (more on that later I promise)!

This past weekend was fabulous. It started out on Saturday with the live show How to Train Your Dragon in Worcester, MA. If you’ve seen the movie the live show will blow you away with its special effects. Carlos and I both loved it.

On Sunday Carlos, my sister and I made our way to South Shore Plaza in Braintree, MA for Carlos’ first 5K Color Me Rad. My sister served as photographer while we walked and ran along the fun course smiling and laughing the entire way. It was an absolute blast. Here are a few photos from the weekend.

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Who knew 5 year olds could make life so busy and fun? Our days are packed with camp (for him), running (for me), swimming, more swimming, spray parks, family days and playing, which doesn’t leave much time for blogging. I’ve got lots to say just not much time to say it. I look forward to having a little more time to write more once Carlos starts school in September but I’m certainly not wishing the time away. Until then I will soak up every moment I can with my little guy. I hope you are having a wonderful summer as well.

If you have taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s questions on your own blog then add your link in the comments section at: www.alltheweigh.com so others can see your FMM questions and answers. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers by posting your own FMM post and commenting on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!

What’s In Your Bag?

Snap a picture if you can, and tell us about what’s inside your bag today.

This is what’s in my bag.

My everyday bag, a navy blue Longchamp tote, was a gift from my sister. She is the fashionista in the family so I’m sure this name means something to someone and probably cost more than I would spend, but I like it because you can easily wipe it down with a damp cloth. This is a bonus with a sticky fingered five year old. What I don’t like about it is the lack of pockets. Everything just gets dumped in there.

Today this is what I pulled out of the bag clockwise from the lower left corner:

• My coupon organizer which I carry around faithfully but never seem to open when I’m at the store because I’m usually in too much of a rush
• Costco coupons that are usually expired by the time I get there to use them
• Two pens that made there way home from work with me. No wonder why we never have black pens at work! I eventually return them.
• Blood donor information sheet because I gave blood earlier today. Carlos and I walked down to the library for books only to find a blood mobile going on. We got there just as it began so I signed up immediately. I was due to donate a few weeks ago so this was perfect timing. I also got that snazzy T-shirt in the middle for donating.
• Two different lotions, one with a pretty scent and the other without.
• A love note from my son. It just says Love, Love, Love with a strange picture I fear is supposed to be me. He has taken to leaving me notes either in this bag or my work bag.
• Ibuprofen
• A ring with all sorts of hair paraphernalia. I keep another one in my work bag and another in my gym bag. I try to keep elastics in my car as well because I cannot run with my mop flying free. It is the worst! Once I tried to fashion a pipe cleaner Carlos had in the back seat from some school project into a hair tie. Hair disaster!
• Small wallet/phone holder. I keep my license and a credit card in here for quick trips out.
• Large wallet with other cards, change and lip gloss.

The best part about this post was cleaning out my bag. Now it’s your turn to answer this week’s questions.  Don’t forget to visit Kenlie’s blog and link up in the comments!

If you have taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s questions on your own blog then add your link in the comments section at: www.alltheweigh.com so others can see your FMM questions and answers. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers by posting your own FMM post and commenting on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!

FMM: Bedroom Habits

1. Do you set an alarm clock? If so, for what time? Yes. On nights I work the alarm is set for 9:50 p.m. and on my nights off it is set for 6:20 a.m. However, the mornings I am home I usually don’t need my alarm because Carlos is up around 5:45 every day and he makes sure I am too!

2. How many hours of sleep do you get on an average night?  This is a tough question. I have to preface my answer by saying that my sleep habits are affected by the fact that I work the night shift 4 nights a week. My doctor is aware and is not at all concerned. I have been doing this for 7 years and it just works for me and my family.

So to answer the question I sleep about 4-5 hours on average on the nights that I work. I sleep 8-9 hours on my nights off.

3. Do you bring your laptop to bed? I only bring my laptop on my nights off and that’s only if I go to bed early while my husband is downstairs watching TV. We do not have a TV in the bedroom.

4. How many pillows do you require to sleep? Two

5. Do you sleep with socks on? In the winter I tend to be cold all the time so I often wear socks to bed.

6. How often do you change the sheets?  Once a week I wash all the bed linens.

7. Do you remember your dreams? No.

8. Which side of the bed do you sleep on?  The left side if you are standing at the bottom facing the bed.

9. How often do you take naps? No, but I always did when Carlos took naps. I napped when he napped. My family actually refers to my sleep on work nights as a nap.

10. Do you sleep soundly?  Yes I do! I have absolutely no problem falling asleep and staying asleep. I wear ear plugs on the nights I work. On my off nights I go to bed anywhere from 7:30 to 10:30 and I sleep until morning.

Now it’s your turn to answer this week’s questions.  Don’t forget to visit Kenlie’s blog and link up in the comments!

I’ve always been awkward inside my own skin. I marvel at people who convey confidence through their appearance and the way they speak. I want to know what that feels like. I’ve never been very confident. Even on my wedding days (there have been 2) I didn’t feel like the prettiest girl in the room. I was happy, but not confident. With age I’ve gotten much better at masking how I feel on the outside. For so long my face showed exactly what my mind was thinking and my body feeling.

Much of how I feel about myself has been directly linked to my weight. I’ve been overweight for as long as I can remember. Or have I? I look back at myself in photos and I don’t really look that heavy, but I sure did feel heavy. I wonder where those feelings came from. I always considered myself bigger than my friends. It made me self-conscious and because of it I developed a defensive outer edge with a sharp sarcastic wit. This not only rendered me ugly on the inside it made me very difficult to deal with and be around.

By the time I was in high school I was miserable. I watched from the sidelines as classmates began dating and socializing at sporting events, parties, dates, etc. Sure I had a few friends and talked to people at school, but I never seemed to fit in to any particular group. I spent a lot of time wallowing in my bedroom.

It’s no surprise that I was on a different diet weekly or pledging to starve myself until I was a beautiful, skinny popular girl. The starvation idea usually got thrown out the window by lunchtime. I hid under baggy clothing which did little to boost my self-esteem.

I wasted a great deal of time obsessed with my mediocre appearance. I sang the it’s not fair song far too much yet truthfully did nothing to change things. I was full of envy for anything I wasn’t. I envied the beautiful girls, the intelligent girls, the witty girls, the cute as a button girls, the thin girls, the girls with gorgeous flowing hair, the artistically talented girls. Envy is an extremely powerful and negative emotion…it destroys the soul. When I looked at myself I saw ugly both inside and out. I felt inadequate in every way. If you asked me what I was great at I would tell you that I couldn’t think of one thing. As I neared high school graduation I was certain that I would at last morph into the beautiful swan I was meant to be.

“Beauty is how you feel inside, and it reflects in your eyes. It is not something physical.”  -Sophia Loren

Seriously it’s Monday again?! Last week flew by and so did the weekend. Three nights more to go on my long stretch at work. So far so good. Hopefully there will be no admissions tonight and everyone will sleep like babies…ahhhh wishful thinking on my part. A girl can dream though.

So the plan today was for Carlos and me to meet my sister in Central Massachusetts for a hike. After work I went to the gym for a really quick strength training session then home for breakfast. Carlos and I were going to do a quick grocery shopping before hitting the road. That’s when I realized that the garbage disposal was broken. I quickly figured out that somehow a piece of my red measuring spoon was jammed under the blade against the wall of the disposal.

I have now watched just about every You Tube video on fixing garbage disposals. I have played with the special garbage disposal wrench, an Allen wrench and a broom stick. I have done it all to no avail so sadly Carlos and I had to change our plans and run to Home Depot instead. My husband is out doing a side job so he knows nothing yet. He will undoubtedly blame me even though I didn’t see the measuring spoon go in there. It is likely that it fell out of the dish drainer yesterday possibly while I was sleeping before work (my point – I had absolutely nothing to do with it). The problem is I have a bad track record with garbage disposals. Anyway the new one is here waiting for him. I’m sure with a lot of time and patience I could install it myself. I have neither of those things today and it’s really hot outside.

Carlos and I declared it a “whatever” day and we are having a dance party in the kitchen as we speak.

If you have taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s questions on your own blog then add your link in the comments section at: www.alltheweigh.com so others can see your FMM questions and answers. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers by posting your own FMM post and commenting on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!

FMM: One or the Other

1. Shower or Bubble Bath?  Shower

2. Money or Power?  Money

3. Country Music or Rap? Rap

4. Sunshine or Thunderstorms? Sunshine

5. Uniform  or Suit? Uniform

6. Chocolate or Vanilla? Vanilla

7. Beauty or Brains? Brains with inner beauty

8. Newspaper or Online News? Online News

9. Marinara or Alfredo? Marinara

10. Lip Gloss or Lip Stick? Lip gloss

11. Beach or Mountains? Mountains

12. Talk or Text? Talk

13.  CNN or Fox News? I know what this is really asking so I’ll say…independent!

14. Cake or Potato Chips? Cake

15. Movies at home or at the theater? Depends on the movie, but mostly at home.

16. Bar or Bookstore? Bookstore

17. Rock or Pop? Pop

18. Manicure or Facial? Manicure

19. Book or e-reader? iPhone iBooks App

20. Planes or Trains? Planes

Now it’s your turn to answer this week’s questions.  Don’t forget to visit Kenlie’s blog and link up in the comments!  Happy Memorial Day!

I tried to stay up to get this post up for Friend Makin’ Mondays, but after a busy weekend with a friend visiting, soccer games and work Saturday and Sunday nights, by 9pm when I finally settled down into bed with my laptop I had been awake for 23 hours and my eyes closed within a few minutes. I’m not going to post this to Kenlie’s blog because we are well into Tuesday by now. However, I really enjoyed reading everyone’s answers and hopefully you will enjoy mine too. If you have never taken part in Friend Makin’ Mondays check it out and join in next week.

1. Three of your favorite movies:

I haven’t run in almost two weeks. Two days after the half marathon I set out for a short run and was met with pain in the left shin again. I decided to rest it indefinitely until it feels healed and I can run with no pain or discomfort. I have been doing a lot of strength training and elliptical for cardio, but truth be told I’m miserable. As the weather improves around here I just want to run. I feel so much more productive when I’m running. My mind is clearer and my mood is calmer. I’m trying to make the best of it though.

What do I do when I can’t run? I think about running and I sign up for races. The race I signed up for today is going to be one of the most fun and most special races I’ve ever done. Carlos and I will be running our first 5K together in Boston on July 26th. We are the running duo of team Four Feet Fast (Carlos made it up!) in the Boston Color Me Rad 5K!!

If you haven’t heard about the Color Me Rad races check out the link and watch one of the videos on the site. It is guaranteed to be a blast…of color. We will be donning our whitest t-shirts at the start and by the end we will be more tie dyed than a Grateful Dead concert.

We actually have an action packed weekend that weekend of the race. The day before we are going to see the live show How to Train Your Dragon based on the movie. It sounds wild with 23 flying, fire-shooting, smoke-breathing dragons. I get to experience some very cool things alongside Carlos. Things I never realized I would enjoy until he came into my life.

With that said I’ve got some jumping to do! Orlando finally got Carlos’ birthday present from December assembled in the yard.

Trampoline Finally

Have a wonderful weekend!!

If you have taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s questions on your own blog then add your link in the comments section at: http://www.alltheweigh.com so others can see your FMM questions and answers. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers by posting your own FMM post and commenting on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!

FMM: All The Single Ladies (and Gents)

1. What is your current relationship status?  Are you happy with that status?  I’m married and very happy about it. I’ve been married for almost 11 years.

2. Do you find it enjoyable to take care of someone in addition to yourself, or do you prefer to be responsible only for yourself? I think anyone who knows me would say that I’m a caretaker by nature. I do like taking care of my family, but I refuse to enable people. My husband is very independent and fully capable of caring for himself. I am teaching my son to do the same. There is nothing worse than a man who needs to be cared for.

3.  What’s the most important physical characteristic in your mate/potential mate?  A nice smile.

4. What’s the most important (non-physical) characteristic in your mate/potential mate?  Loyalty tops my list.

5. Is it important to you that your significant other have the same hobbies and interests as you?  Not necessarily. I think there should at least be some willingness to try some of the activities that interests your partner. My husband isn’t a runner, but he has run a couple of races with me. I am not an avid soccer fan, but I have gone to watch games with him.

6. If you could go out on a date with a celebrity who would it be?  I would like to go out with either Bob Harper or Dolvett from the Biggest Loser. I would insist on a last chance workout!!

7. What’s your idea of a good first date?  Something that allows the opportunity for conversation like dinner, out to a park, an easy hike or just out for coffee. Honestly I’m not even sure my husband and I had a proper first date. Dating in rural Mozambique is quite a bit different from dating here in the states.

8. Are there any traits/habits that you’d consider a deal breaker?  Prior to meeting my husband I didn’t have a “type” like many of my friends, but there are of course the obvious things that should be a turn off like proven track record of infidelity, substance abuse, currently married and laziness.

9. Okay ladies…Facial Hair: Yes, or No?  My husband doesn’t seem to grow facial hair and I love him as he is so I’ll say no.

10.  Would you marry someone who is opposed to diamond engagement rings?  Yes of course. My husband is from southern Africa, a region notorious for the so called “blood diamonds.” I never cared too much about having a diamond anyway. I’d love to share my ring story but it would make this a bit too long.

11. What do you wish you could do differently in your next relationship?  A relationship is ever changing. My husband and I are constantly working on things to make our marriage better. Right now I am really making an effort to be more mindful of how hard my husband works, be more patient (in general) and stop feeling guilty when I take time for myself.

12. Is there anyone from your past that you’d like to date again now? No because I couldn’t be happier with the person I married. However, if I absolutely had to choose the only person I would ever consider dating again would be the man I dated while studying abroad in Mexico. He was extremely nice, cute and very intelligent. Once I returned to the U.S. the distance made it very difficult to continue our relationship, but for a long time I wondered…what if?

13. Describe your worst first date story ever.  I once went on a blind date. My friend and her boyfriend set it up as a double date. I was still in high school, very awkward and self-conscious. The guy was very sweet, but it was clear almost immediately that he wasn’t interested. It made for a very long and uncomfortable night.

14. Describe the perfect date with your significant other. It would be an all day date while our son is staying at my sister’s! It would start a delicious breakfast followed by a long walk or hike somewhere scenic. The afternoon would be spent by the water relaxing, swimming and boating. In the evening we would enjoy a quiet romantic dinner. -Clearly I never think about this!!

15.  Would you date someone shorter than you? I doubt it. I’m 5’2″ so it would be rather difficult to meet someone shorter.

16. Share one (or a few) bonus traits that would be fun to find in an significant other (even if they aren’t as important as other traits.)  It would be great if my husband could massage my head like my hair dresser. Also it would be a bonus if he could sew and do alterations on my clothing.

17. What’s one thing you’d like to do with a significant other that you’ve never done with another?  I would like to cook together.

18.  PDA: Yes, or No?  Not really. We are pretty low key though we do hold hands when we are on a date.

19. Do you kiss on the first date? I have but only if it felt right.

20. Who, if anyone, makes your heart flutter?  My husband! He really does even after almost 14 years together.

Lots of questions this week! Now it’s your turn to answer them!  Don’t forget to visit Kenlie’s blog and link up in the comments!  Happy Monday!!