it’s official. the temperature around here has finally dropped below 90°. that means it’s really fall.

i will now buy a pumpkin or three for the porch. i protested when it was 100° and trader joe’s had pumpkins out in front of their store in the heat getting all rotten.

we got the girls’ halloween costumes done early this year so they could enter a costume contest at sac con. they won! my kids got a ton of attention. anya doesn’t handle that as well as stella – who walks around with her hands on her hips waiting for people to notice her.

now onto some random things i’ve had on my mind:

1. i really needed fall.
2. i miss having seasons (being from seattle will do that to you.)
3. i’m not sure i enjoy having two kids playing soccer.
4. i like that both my kids are in a sport.
5. i’m allowed to contradict myself. this is my blog.
6. i am going to start baking more. because it’s fall.
7. i can’t wait to wear a scarf.
8. i can’t wait to find boots that fit over my fat calves.
9. i am going to try and make my fat calves not so fat so i can find boots a lot easier.
10. i found this today. i can’t wait to read and laugh. a lot.
11. i miss taking pictures.
12. i like fall.
13. I like that i don’t have to hear myself complain about the heat anymore.
14. my puppy is one year old today. whoa.
15. my girls are already talking about going to the snow this year. this. will. happen. even if i have to put socks on their hands for gloves – because that’s what i did as a kid (yes, we were that kind of poor.)
16. i refuse to look at anything christmas. can we just get through halloween people?

happy birthday maggie mayhem. you are one crazy loved dog!

how was that for a totally random post. again.

so, i’m a little over a week into my “changes.”
i discovered something recently – bread does not agree with me. i started noticing if i had half a bagel in the morning that i felt completely nauseous and totally sluggish. bread never had this effect on me – or maybe i just wasn’t as aware. i’ve been really watching what i eat and about 5 days ago, i decided to cut out wheat. not gluten altogether, but wheat. so – basically no bread or baked goods, to start. i’ve had a very small portion of pasta and that seemed to be ok. i think it’s bread. bread is the culprit to my bloatedness and terrible feeling after eating it. i know it must make me feel pretty bad because to me, bread is like candy. i love love love a good bagel with cream cheese. just typing the word “bagel” kinda makes me want to hurl. so, here i am working on eating better and without the bread. so far so good. i feel better already.

it’s time things started changing around here.

when the larger sized clothes in my closet start to feel tight and uncomfortable, that’s it. i have drawn the line. i’m hoping to keep up with things here so i can be somewhat accountable (not that anyone is listening or reading this.) but it will give me a place to vent, track progress, and talk about what is working and not working.

i’m starting with this:

and the scarsdale diet (modified slightly.)

i’m not setting unrealistic goals for myself at this point. no “i’m-going-to-lose-X-number-of-pounds-in-X-number-of-days” and never touch carbs kind of crap (for anyone that can do that, great! but it doesn’t work for me, i ALWAYS mess that up.) work hard. eat better (cut back on eating out and eating because i’m stressed out.) quit making excuses about my knees and lack of time and blah blah blah.

this is it. i made it through my first day of shred. 20 minutes and i’m not dead. it was hard. it always is. but i did it. walk/running will be fit in as well.

today, everything changes.