Shelba

Living Room Be Gone?

I'm considering getting rid of my dining room table and making the dining room into a playroom.  We never use the dining room.  Is it nuts to do such a thing?  I feel like it is nuts, but we do not use that table and could use a place for Z to play.  Right now the entire house is her playroom. Hmmm.

Self Portrait Tuesday - April Fool -Week 4

I came oh so close to not posting today.  My parents are here and we've been in and out and doing this and that.  That combined with the fact that I was at a loss for what do for today I considered bagging it for one week.  But then I got to thinking that I've been so good about keeping my promise to myself to post every SPT that I hate to mess it up. It is stupid, but it would bug me if I didn't post. 

So, here we are, Bat Mom and Bat Daughter.  We snuck this photo in while my mom was talking to my next door neighbor.  I ran inside w/ Z, set the timer, swooped her up, put on our masks, and struck a pose (all in 10 seconds!).  And that was it.  I took just one shot this week.  I usually take 10 or so, just to make sure I get something, but there was no time today, plus Z would not wear the mask again. 

Relating bats to Z and me:

Z and I visited some underground caves last week and we saw two tiny bats.  They were so cute!  And tomorrow night, Ray is taking some business associates to a bridge in Austin to watch the bats fly.  Also, I used to be a card carrying member of Bat Conservation International (which I believe is headquartered in Austin, but I can't say for sure and I'm too lazy to check), but I forgot to pay my dues one year and then another year, and then another year, and you get the picture.  But even though I let my membership lapse, I do love bats.  You could even say that I'm a FOOL for bats!

Check out more Self Portrait Tuesay/Challenge here!  or here!

Complain, complain, complain

I'm taking a photoshop class for photographers and I'm not having an easy time.  I've been sitting here since putting Z down for bed (put her down at 7:00, it is now nearly 12 am) and I'm nowhere closer to finishing the assignment (due tomorrow) than I was last week.  Just when I think I'm getting it I realize that I'm not.  I feel nuts right now from not being able to get this and I know that the right thing for me to do is to walk away for tonight and try again tomorrow.  Luckily I can put turning this in for a couple of days (I hate doing that), because my parents are coming into town tomorrow afternoon/night and I need to clean for their visit, shop for groceries, tend to my kid, etc.  But I'm determined to get this.  I really want to get this.  Oy.  My head is swimming w/ photoshop overload.    I'm going to bed.

Goals

I lost 30 lbs last year, and have now gained back 13 of those lbs.  Ugh.  It is most uncomfortable.  So I decided to get back to it, even though running is not as easy as it was last year.  Last year I could go for 30 minutes at a fast pace before having to slow my heart rate down a bit, now my heart rate gets up the the max limit after 3 minutes.  That is bad, really bad.  Oh gosh, it is bad.

Part of my weight gain is that I went back to my love, Coke, part of it is that I started to eat massive amounts of whatever I felt like, and part of it is that I had given up exercising.  A very bad combo. 

Anyway, I'm back on it.  I've given up my love of Coke...it has been 2 weeks now.  I've started back to exercising even though it is not easy and I'm not able to go as fast as I would like.  I'm going to start going back to the gym, which I hate because I have to leave Z in the daycare and she despises being left there.  It is my fault though because I should have been getting her used to it, but instead I quit making her go there.  So today when I went to the gym she didn't cry, she just watched me go.  I thought, "Wow, this is great!"  10 minutes later I heard this over the loud speaker, "Shelba to childcare!"  I walked in to hear my girl screaming and gulping for air.  She refused to look at me, refused to stop crying.  She was livid. 

My goal for this week is to run on my treadmill no less than 4 times this week and to go to the gym 3 times for even 10 minutes a go to get work on getting Z used to the daycare. 

Bandaid Girl

Z knew that I was going to take her picture.  All on her own she ran and sat in this little chair, posed, and then gave me that look that you see in the above picture.  She just stared at me, like "take it already."  My mom says that it looks like she is posing for a passport photo. A few seconds later she flew out of the chair laughing, but those pics are too blurry so there is no point in showing them here.  As you can see she is proudly modeling her bandaids.  Oh, the bandaids, how she loves them.  She would cover her body with them if I let her. 

Referral Day Anniversary

One year ago today my phone rang with the news that we had a daughter.  One year ago today, I opened up an email containing these pictures.....

I was looking through the flurry of emails sent around in my dtc group and it brought me back to that day.  It was such a great day to finally see Z's little face.  I remember it like it was yesterday.  I remember sitting on my bed with he laptop in front of me, the phone by my side, paper and pen ready to go and then the phone ringing and someone telling me, "You have a daughter and her name is Guo Yi Hui."

And now here we are, a year later.  Guo Yi Hui has emptied out an entire box of bandaids on the kitchen floor and is systematically putting them on one at a time.   I am very lucky, very, very lucky.

The Bride Was Beautiful

Take a look at this, it is amazing. 

Self Portrait Challenge - April Fool- Week 3

I kind of thought that I had scraped the bottom of the April Fool barrel and thought that it was impossible for me to come up with something foolish for today, but here it is.  All I can say about this is that I really hope my neighbors couldn't see me in my backyard while I pressed the self timer on the camera, ran behind the tree, put the glasses on and struck a lovely pose. 

Once again, I couldn't choose which pic to post, so I'm posting them all.  Gosh, I love this month's theme!

See more Self Portrait Challenge here!  or here Which reminds me that I need to change the Self Portrait Tuesday button into the new SPC button. 

Monday, Monday

Ahhh, Monday.  Our company left this morning and I am tired.  Z and I went to a make-up gym class.  It was a totally different experience from our usual Wednesday morning class since we didn't know any of the moms and kids.  We were the outsiders.  Nobody talked to us even though I tried to make conversation with the other moms.  It wasn't like anyone was being rude to me, just that the "semester" is nearly over with and they all know eachother and they don't know us and it is hard to break into a group.   We had a good time, but I did realize that one of the fun things about the class for me is interacting with  other moms. 

I've gained at least 10 of the lbs (probably more) that I lost before going to China.  Must get back on the dang treadmill or start going back to the gym.

Happy Monday!

Printed!

We have been fingerprinted!  Yay!  We left at 6:00 am, arrived about 7 minutes before the BCIS doors opened, got in there, filled our paperwork out, turned it in and then we were called up just like that.  They had some problems getting my prints due to my large deltas...whatever that means. 

Anyway, it is over with and now I'm cleaning like a maniac.