may, I love you.

{OBoy walking home from the park with our across-the-street neighbor.}We’ve been outside a lot lately. I have taken a solemn oath with myself to never once complain about the heat or humidity this summer, given the winter we endured. Nothing makes you appreciate muggy weather like snow storms in late April.I’ve seen clearly that the boys do so much better when they’ve been outside for extended periods of time. They nap better, they play better, they eat better, their hygiene is better (because Mommy can’t stomach the thought of those feet rubbing around in their sheets all night), life just goes better.We spend our mornings and sometimes our evenings (thunderstorms permitting) wandering the block playing with friends. Apparently there is something in the water here in our neighborhood because there are 13 children in Kindergarten or younger on our block. JUST our block. OBoy and OBrother will bike/run/scoot/wagon-ride down to friends’ houses and play in their yard for a bit, then they will head back this way as a pack and check out our front yard toys. It makes time fly and often leads to hours spent chatting with other mamas. We have spontaneously done dinner together with other families twice now, simply because it flowed naturally from our afternoon.I think this is what communal living is supposed to be like. One afternoon in early May when we realized we would pretty much be sharing children all summer, a few of us parents had a conversation to the effect of “Feel free to send my kids home whenever you need to, or to tell them not to do something if they are making bad choices”. And so we do. We borrow kids and hang out, we remind everyone to share (whether you’re our child or our neighbor), we bring out cold Diet Cokes for other moms, we tell entire groups of rowdy boys not to throw sand, and sometimes we end up eating burgers together and playing until bedtime. Even when we head down to the park a few blocks away, we tell the other families and a few join us.This. This is what I was missing all winter. Human interaction. Friends for my boys. Grilling. Barefoot toddlers. Daily kid showers where the drain water runs brown from dirt. Coffee on the front steps while kids squeal and bike up and down the sidewalk.Glory.

take that, plateau

March 23, 2012: 163lbs – 24lbs lostWhoop whoop! 2lbs this week! I am hopeful that this means I have left my plateau in the dust.Thank you SO MUCH for your encouragement on my plateau post last week. Because of several suggestions in the comments, I tried to surprise attack my body this week. I worked out in the morning. I swapped out a cardio workout for an extra round of weight lifting. I ate a ridiculous amount of protein. I was hyper-vigilant about my water intake. I hit two 5 mile runs pushing a jogging stroller and a 27lb toddler (it’s like weights AND cardio!) in a 6 day span.Y’all, this weight loss thing is hard. Honestly? It takes more effort and time and mental energy than I thought it would. I thought it just meant not putting certain things in my mouth and putting certain other things in on a regular basis. Well, that’s only part of it. The other parts, for me, are:Diligent, diligent, diligent (did I mention diligent?) exercise. This means that for about an hour a day, 5 days a week, I am running or lifting. It’s a heckuva commitment (worth it, btw) and we’ve finally found a balance for our family after being at it for 8 months (since I started training for my half marathon). Most days I go after the boys are in bed. While DanO is putting the boys in their PJs, I put on my workout clothes. I nurse OBrother, lay him down (or pass him off to DanO) and book it out the door. This is the best way I’ve found to get an hour in and still feel like I have time with my husband in the evening, but it does mean that DanO is handling any post-bedtime struggles solo. It really is a family commitment.Preparedness. The more prepared I am the easier it is to have self-control. When we go out for the day, I pack snacks for the kids and Medifast meals for me. If I get stuck without access to good food choices for several hours at a time, I’m in trouble. I prepare for going to the grocery store by eating a Medifast bar before leaving and chugging a boatload of water (a full stomach is a less-tempted stomach). At the grocery store, I help myself be prepared later by purchasing anytime snacks for myself (which also happen to be anytime snacks for the boys) – sugar snapped peas, carrot sticks, strawberries, grapes, and apples are a few favorites. I also always fill up my water bottle before leaving the house.Educating myself. I have sat in the parking lot of Chipotle on my cell phone, pulling up their website and nutrition information from which I learned that the burrito tortilla, just the tortilla is 280 calories. I will only ever order a burrito bowl (all the insides in a bowl, no tortilla) ever again. I have asked the waitress at Red Robin for the nutrition information, whereupon she brought me a 4 inch 3 ring binder that weighed a good 10lbs. I subsequently poured over the entire thing and found that my only option was a plain chicken sandwich (no, not the salads; believe me, your best choice is not the salads). I pulled up the Ikea website and their restaurant nutrition facts at home on the computer before we went out to dinner there with my in-laws. (Go with the buffalo chicken wrap, but only eat half and save the other half for later.)Being gutsy. I say no to things a lot. I turn down birthday cake when everyone else is having it. I am the only one who doesn’t eat (and rave about) baked goods at my moms group breakfast buffet. I sit quietly in conversations about people’s favorite Easter candies. It’s awkward. I’m not saying I sit there smugly, thinking ugh, those are so bad for you. I am sitting there thinking I am not there yet, but someday I will be. Someday I will enjoy a cupcake with everyone else at birthday parties from time to time. But for now, in order to get there, I have to be gutsy.All of this takes time. It takes intention. It takes effort. But so far (even when I stall out on the scale for a couple of weeks) it has been worth it. Not easy, but worth it.My Journey to Health:March 31, 2012: 163lbsMarch 23, 2012: 165lbsMarch 8, 2012: 165lbsFebruary 29, 2012: 166lbsJanuary 30, 2012: 174lbsDecember 30, 2011, 187 lbs24 lbs lost!:: :: :: :: :: ::How am I losing that weight, you ask? Medifast!! If you use the coupon code, OFAMILY56, and sign up for Medifast Advantage, when you order $250+, you’ll receive 56 free Medifast Meals and free shipping! (More details at the bottom of this post.)Disclosure: I receive free product in order to evaluate and comment on my experiences on the Medifast Nursing Mothers Program. I will only ever tell you how I actually feel about this experience and the Medifast products. Pinky swearsies. I am supposed to tell you that the Medifast Program is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease or illness and that any medical improvements noted while on the program are related to weight loss in general, and not to Medifast products or programs. K, you got that? Good. There will be a quiz later.

Emily Glaubinger at Nooworks, part 2..

I stopped by Nooworks yesterday and got some great pics of Emily Glaubinger in action as she gets ready for her show that opens tomorrow night. She was crazy busy! In the window, on the wall and hanging her stuff! It was great to watch her in action. It was hard to not be inspired by her posi and happy energy as she got to it. The girl is a powerhouse...oh yeah and she makes jewelry! (I've posted before on her rad wood earrings.) At the moment that part of her renaissance is on hold...but if you are in SF her jewels will be along side her new work and her collaborative textiles with Nooworks at the boutique through Novemeber. Emily will be showing her latest work, digital drawings that took upwards of 20 hours to complete. They look so tough. The images are a psychedelic, color explosion of friends and self portraits.

Here are a bunch of pics I grabbed while I was there. Everything from her window and wall mural, to her jewels to her screenprinted goods she and Jen from Nooworks made together.

Here is my post on her sneak peek.

Chris Koelle Sneak Peek..

Chris Koelle recently shared with me progress on his latest project; illustrations for the upcoming graphic novel Battle Surgeon. It's taken him almost a year to complete and judging by the sneak peek, it's proving to be well worth it. You can see more on his blog.

Merry Christmas

From our family to yours.

I hope you felt as blessed as we did today.

MERRY CHRISTMAS! (or as Miles says “Merry Missmas”)