The Blog Wagon

Like my cousin, Hayley, I too have fallen off the blog wagon. I could name some other people that also have but I won't. You know who you are. So my life has been extremely hectic since school started back. Yes, school is back in session in these here parts. We are on our second week. So far so good. I seem to have a really good group of kids on the bus which helps my mood everyday tremendously. Because of the economy we are going to be furloughed for 3 days sometime this year. As long as it doesn't mess with my insurance I will always welcome a day off. Did I mention how hot it has been the last week or so? Add about 20 degrees and that is the temp on the bus. I can't wear anything nice, I just sweat it out. Yuck. Since I'm doing BodyPump or Flow in the mornings and driving the bus in the afternoon heat I just sweat all day long. Nice. Smelly. Do you lose calories thru sweating I wonder? I know I have Dr. Pepper seeping out of my pores.

Well, I need to relax and not use my brain for awhile. ( no comments about that comment please)

Amicalola Falls

We decided to go to Amicalola Falls today. We didn't want to waste this wonderful weekend with no humidity by staying inside. Days like this only come around every blue moon it seems. So we had a great time hiking up to the base of the falls. I got my workout in by pushing Sam up in the stroller as far as I could go. After you get to the base of the falls you have to climb 242 stairs to get to the top. No thanks, I'll drive. We took a lot of great pictures while we were up there. I had to pee so bad the whole time. Andy kept telling me to go behind a tree but there were a million people up there so I opted out of that one. Of course as soon as we got up there Griffen pooped but then begged to ride on our shoulders on the way down so that was a smelly good time.

After we changed both boys, we found a porta potty for me and then went to the playground. It was a really nice play area with mulch thank goodness and not sand. Griffen was having a really good time until he walked behind a girl that was swinging and got smacked right in the head and thrown back about 3 feet. Scared the crap out of me! Now he has mulch imprints on the side of his face. I think he was more shook up than scared. Poor baby. After that we changed both boys again ( Sam still has diarrhea from TN, and I guess getting hit just scared the sh*t out of Griffen). We then took this long ass dirt road back to a Baptist church that is in the middle of know where. Along the way we did find a spring that Andy got water from so now we will all have geartia ( I know thats not how you spell that) and will be having diarrhea for several weeks. I should know, I've had this before. Fun times.

On the way home we stopped and ate at Ruby Tuesdays where Griffen inhaled a huge bowl of mac n cheese, and okay, I admit, I inhaled a wonderful Triple Prime Cheddar Burger. Yes, this is why I'm fat. BUT we DID NOT order the Chocolate Tall Cake. I was really wanting it though.

So all in all, we had a really good time and I'm so glad we were able to get out and take advantage of this beautiful weather.

Our Trip to Tennessee

So we made it back from Pigeon Forge Monday evening. It was a really fun time had by all. And get this, the only things we came back home with besides what we had originally taken with us was a new cooler, a new Tennessee hat for Griffen, and a bad case of diarrhea for the boys. Yeah, we've got some sore bums in our house. My guess is that it was the change in the water because obviously Sam's not eating a whole lot at this point. Oh well.

Dollywood. Dollywood. Dollywood. If you have never been to Dollywood, I suggest you go. It is a wonderful, beautiful, and exciting park! It would remind you more of Disney World than Six Flags. The whole place is shaded and up in the mountains. Beautiful. We only ventured to one side of the park for Griffen but had a really good time. I can only imagine what else it holds. The food was really good also. We ate at a country cookin' buffet and it was pretty tasty. And no, we did not see Dolly or her boobs anywhere. A little disappointed.

The next day we went to Cades Cove to try out our new camera some more. We saw tons of deer and I actually came up on one that was bedded down in the woods. I was maybe 5 ft. away when I saw her. I would have never seen her had she not been chewing some cud and moving a leaf beside her face at the same time. We didn't see any bear this time. Last time Andy and I came we saw 2. We did see a couple of turkeys, snakes, and what I thought was a fox. And tons of squirrels when we stopped for a picnic. Did you know that squirrels do not care for grapes? After Griffen threw grape after grape at them he finally figured out that they did not like them. They will eat whole peanuts, bread with mustard, rice crispy treats, chocolate chips, turkey and cheese, and Cheese Nips. I'm sure they would have enjoyed a swig of Dr. Pepper too had they been given that opportunity.

So that's pretty much our trip to Tennessee in a nut shell. hahaha

Packing........Again

We are going to Pigeon Forge, TN this weekend. Andy was not able to go with us to Myrtle Beach so we are kinda throwing this together last minute so we can finally have a family vacation. Even Samuel will be joining us this time. This will be our very first vacation as a family of four. Actually this will be the first time Andy and Griffen have ever been anywhere together. So our plans are to maybe go to Dollywood. Andy is excited about this cause he might get lucky and see a certain someones assets, if you know what I mean. I have heard that Dolly does walk around the park quite often though she is in disguise. I'm wondering how she disguises those bad boys, or should I say bad girls. LOL Anyway, if I see her I will let you know.

Packing for a family of four sucks. It takes me a week to get the laundry caught up. Andy wears about two outfits everyday and I have to soak Griffen's clothes cause they get so dirty. Sam's have puke all over them and mine, well I'm really picky about how my stuff is washed. Especially my bras which I hang all over the laundry room to dry. It's like my own holiday bra garland. So packing for two little boys is not easy. They need play clothes, nice clothes, swimsuits, sandals, tennis shoes, socks, hats, burp rags (alot), blankets, bottles, formula, binks, music for nighttime, puppies (Griff's lovies), baby wash and the list could go on forever. I think that if I just pack myself my contact solution, glasses, and an extra pair of contacts I can live without everything else.

There's a restaurant in Pigeon Forge called Calhoun's. I don't know if there are any anywhere besides that area. They have the best ribs and steaks. And if you live in the South you have to get the corn puddin'. WOW! I could eat a trough of this stuff. It's just a real thick creamed corn but it is so sweet and soooooooooo yummy. I've never seen it on a menu anywhere else. I also get their Ale Steak. It's cooked in some kind of ale (ya think?) and it has black pepper and I think it's dried mustard on top. It is sooooo good. Have you figured out that I like to vacation just to eat at different places? There is also this place called Bullfish. Of course they have steaks and seafood but it's a bit pricey. Then there is Texas Roadhouse which I know are everywhere. And they have breakfast places called Log Cabin Pancakes or Pancake House or just every name you can think of with the word Pancake thrown in. These places serve really good grits. Gotta have my grits and their pancakes are pretty good too. What's that Weight Watchers? That's not on my list of things to eat? I'm sorry you're breaking up Weight Watchers, I can't hear you. We must have a bad connection, I'm gonna lose you. What? Oh well, I'll call ya back later.........when I'm done eating.

Fat Girls Don't Lunge

Got up early and went to BodyPump today. I haven't been in over a week. I could really feel the burn even though I think I need to add more weights. I feel the burn at the time but I haven't been getting sore the next day for a while now. I guess I'm ready to step up to 14lbs. I've been doing 10lbs. I really enjoy BodyPump except for the lunges. I can not do a lunge. I don't know why it is so hard for me. It hurts in all the wrong places when I do one. Like my feet. A lunge should not hurt your feet. Guess it's time to go shopping for shoes............again. Seems like I'm always buying shoes for someone.

Anyway, so my class consists of man and women. There are about 15 women and your token man, usually old and gray. I am by far the largest one in the group. It's kinda embarrassing. I know they are thinking that I really need that class and I agree though I'm not really using that class specifically to lose weight. It's really more about the toning and strength training. So all the women have on cute little workout clothes with the spandex pants and the tight racer back spandex tops with their cute little athletic shoes on their size 7 feet. Gag me. They either have no boobs or big boobs, cute perky ponytails, and hardly sweat at all. Then there is me. I wear sweat capri's, sports bra because I have in between boobs, and a maternity tank top. I wear a size 10 shoe so sneakers look like boats on my feet. My hair is really short and at 8:30 in the morning it's lucky it gets brushed. And then I sweat like crazy. So people probably think I'm fat and weak and just can't take it but actually it's really kinda easy (again I think I need to step up the weights). Except for the lunges of course. I really enjoy lifting weights and some of the steps that others hate I really enjoy and think I'm quite good at.

Oh well. At least I'm trying. And at least I know that way back in the day, I did look good.