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Yesterday we took MM to the beach – this is a pretty awesome thing to report, because I’ve been trying to get the three of us to the beach all summer. We went once awhile back in the beginning-ish of the summer but I had a sweet little visitor and thus never actually made it to the water. And so despite having a good time, it didn’t seem to really count. And what’s worse is we had found a beach we REALLY liked this summer. Ever since then, any day we’ve been free to go – thunderstorms. Oh yeah, seriously, EVERY time.

So yesterday, making it to the beach and swimming and having a fabulous time – it was a pretty big deal. I swam, I played in the sand, I helped MM look for fun rocks. I showed him what mud was. It was awesome. We also got to go with dh’s GOOD friend and friend’s lady friend which was pretty perfect timing because they are moving to Kansas in like two days. Seriously. Who KNOWS when we’ll see them again, basically. Which kinda stinks because this guy his like dh’s absolute bestie. His other bestie moved to Arizona a year ago. And now we’re talking about moving in a year or two ourselves. Which means moving away from MY besties and our families. AKA we’ll know basically nobody. But I’m still excited enough about the move that when dh commented yesterday in passing that the move was basically not as definite as I’d thought it was, that I got a little bummed out…

Anyway, the real point of this whole post (not that mentioning a good friend moving, and my thoughts on us moving, and reporting that We Made It To The Beach aren’t post worthy enough, because they are) but The Point is that despite feeling better about myself in a swimsuit than I have in years (the first year postpartum I kinda felt like Blob The Hog), I still felt weirdly let’s say Apologetic. As in, “I’m sorry beach-goers, that you are being forced to look at My Fat. Please be patient as I attempt to submerge my lower half into water with some semblance of dignity.” So while I’m not feeling as Freakishly Fat as I did a year ago, I’m still well aware that I’m Over Weight. That I still will not wear shorts – no way, no how. That I hate myself a little for getting this overweight.

Enter Jen @ Daily Mish Mash. Jen who feels more than a little perturbed by the fact that women in their 60′s apparently can look better in a bathing suit than she does at 33 (or I do at 25). Enter Jen who is feeling tired of not looking her best. (Enter me, who feels the same?) Enter Jen who is Doing Something About It. Seriously.

It’s all about realistic expectations but also about commitment. It’s about saying here on our blogs to our readers that We Want To Change (and then feeling obligated to stick with that need). That I don’t want to have to feel embarrassed when I wear a bathing suit. I don’t want to have to feel like an idiot when I say how much I weigh (yeah I won’t be saying that here just yet). I want to be able to take a picture without worrying about neck fat. Seriously. I want my body back. I don’t mean post baby – I mean post bad choices. I want to feel as attractive as my husband thinks I am. I want to know I’m doing the best I can.

So who’s with me? Who else wants to be looking fine by 2009? Any amazing Super Ladies out there already looking fine that want to throw me some pointers or cheer me on? I’m gonna warn you – I’m not an easy fix. I won’t go quietly. I love junk food. I love dessert. I am sedentary by nature. I’m not active. I don’t exercise. I have no idea where I’m going to find the motivation or moment to get in the 4 days of exercise Jen’s proposing. And I hope that if I manage to get pregnant in the middle of all of this, that it doesn’t deter me from reaching the goal anyway – I can always be looking fine and pregnant in 2009, too.

Here are the basic ground rules:

• I’m going to commit to eating smaller, healthier portions.
• I’m going to commit to working out at least 4 times a week.
• I’m going to commit to drinking more water. I have already begun this, but I plan to do better.
• I’m going to commit to getting to bed earlier. For me, this means no later than 11pm.

Like Jen @ Daily Mish Mash, I’m planning to weigh myself at the start and then once a week so I can keep track of pounds lost.  I will post my progress weekly on my blog, along with any other tips and tricks I find as I go along.

And when we’re all said and done – celebs like Ryan Gosling and John Mayer will be wanting to put US on THEIR Friday Eye Candy List, am I right? Cause with a little coaxing and a little fine tuning, I know we’ll all be looking fine by 2009.

• Monday: Steak & Cheese Sandwiches (w/ peppers & onions for dh & provolone or cheddar cheese for everyone), caesar side salads
• Tuesday: Multi-Colored Spiral Pasta (w/ chopped tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, parmesan cheese & other spices), and a peasant bread
• Wednesday: Hot Dogs, Mac’N'Cheese, Baked Beans (the magical fruit)
• Thursday: Chicken BBQ Teriyaki style from Trader Joes, Corn on the Cob, & Basmati Rice
• Friday: Family Wedding – no dinner tonight
• Saturday: It’s Game Night at Chez Momma, so we’ll do a cheese pizza, pepperoni pizza and two spinach & feta pizzas and maybe some homemade breadsticks, too? I’m also making birthday cake for a few special friends with birthdays this month!
• Sunday: Baked Brie (wrapped in puff pastry with cherry preserves inside and maple syrup and brown sugar brushed on top) served with apple slices, grapes and blueberries, maybe some strawberries

August 25th Questions:

1. What are you up to today? Be specific. We’ve talked about your morning routine before, now walk us through a typical Monday for you after breakfast is over. How do you feel about Mondays? A fresh start to your week? Or do you dread the drudge of getting back to the same old routine?

Mondays at Chez Momma are Laundry Day. I wake up in the morning, have a cup of coffee with dh, get the kiddo his breakfast and then dig into the laundry – I normally do about 4 loads, but this varies depending on a number of factors – i.e. how many times did I manage to get dressed the week prior? The one silver lining to the knowledge that I scarcely made it out of my pajamas all week? Less laundry. On the flip side, the one downside to having FINALLY made it to the beach yesterday? An extra load. Such is the curse of the laundry doer.

Other than that, Mondays are pretty much exactly like Tuesday-Friday, I have no ill feelings towarads Mondays to be honest, except for their being so far away from Fridays. Although I guess since the other days have no laundry and are closer to the weekend I probably do prefer them…

What does Monday look like this week? Sometime in between laundry loads I scarfed down a raspberry cereal bar and a glass of juice, let the kiddo help me with laundry, and watched Shrek 2 with him twice in between loads (although I confess I spent a good bit of time surfing blogs as I’ve seen the movie several times – he seems to not be done enjoying it yet though). We had lunch about 30 minutes ago – PB& J for him – kinda gross Lean Cuisine Panini for me – yeah I’m done with those. Now we’re watching Shrek 2 on it’s second rotation and I’m trying to decide when to cut the flick short and intitiate naptime…

Tonight we’re having Steak and Cheese sandwiches with a side salad (so I don’t feel guilty for skipping a salad at lunch). After the kids in bed for the night? No idea, as there is nothing on tv and nothing slated to watch on DVD… maybe we’ll play a game – maybe we’ll ignore each other via computers and books. How do you spend your Mondays?

2. Earworms – we all get them from time-to-time. What tune do you have stuck in your head at the moment? How important is music to your life? List some of your favorite songs – and I’m talking about songs that evoke a strong emotion in you; joy, anger, sadness, etc. Do you have one particular song that brings back a certain time period in your life? What is the song and what is the time period?

At the moment I’m just cursed with some of the music from Shrek – I may have mentioned I’ve seen it a few too many times. I had a pretty good groove going with John Mayer’s new live CD, Where The Light Is which I have been loving alot – kind of almost makes up for not getting to see him live this year myself. Music is definitely important to me, but not as important as it was in college. I used to always have it playing around the dorm, but now in an apartment with PBS or a movie usually playing, I almost never play music in the house. So when we’re in the car it’s a real treat to have some tunage.

Some of my favorite songs are “Now That You Got It” by Gwen Stefani, “Long December” by the Counting Crows, “A Day In The Life” by the Beatles, “What I Got” by Sublime, “Daughters” or “Why Georgia” by John Mayer, “Piece of My Heart” by Janis Joplin… I like songs that really convey a certain emotion, any emotion, songs that when they are playing you FEEL that song regardless of your actual feelings that day. I also love some of the newer Songs That Mean Something” like “Belief” by John Mayer, “Never Know” by Jack Johnson, etc. I loved David Archuleta’s cover of “Imagine” on American Idol – brought tears to my eyes for sure.

The Pink Floyd albumn, The Wall, always brings me back to Sophomore year of college for such obvious reasons – I dated a guy who was maybe a bit obsessed with the albumn, cause we’d just sit around in his dorm room and listen to it or watch the DVD and not much else. The relationship was a weird one in that it was hardly romantic at all and mostly consisted of “hanging out”. I have a hard time enjoying the albumn now because it was a kind of depressing point in my life and an equally depressing album, although it is brilliant to be sure!

3. Who have you needed to say thank you to lately? Who is this person and what did he/she do to prompt a thank you?

I really need to thank my MIL for mentioning to me a year or two ago a recipe she used to resort to after a long hot day with 4 crazy kids – brie wrapped in puff pastry and baked in the oven for 25 minutes. A delicious recipe on its own that seems to pop up everywhere, but the other day my husband and I added cherry preserves to the middle and maple syrup and brown sugar on top and it was Heaven. We were all in awe of it and really if it weren’t for my MIL I might never have heard of this treat at all. (Dip apple slices in it and serve with other fruits as well like grapes, blueberries, etc. Did I mention heavenly?

4. How many candles will be on your birthday cake this next birthday? What do you think about the age you are now? Are you comfortable with what you’ve accomplished in life so far? Or do you wish you could have achieved more? You’re being granted one birthday wish – what is it?

Well if someone goes to the trouble of getting me a cake and putting candles on it, and puts as many candles as my age, there will be twenty six candles. I know, I’m young for a mom. I feel a lot older, but then other times I feel younger and wonder where my youth went, oh right, now I remember. Right. I think I’ve accomplished a lot so far and I am pretty content but I know my family wishes I’d persued a career of some kind, I don’t regret that at all personally.  The one thing I’d really like to add to my checked off list is getting a house and a yard and a fence and a dog – you know that whole thing. We’d also really like to have another child soon. So I guess the two things I’d like for my birthday this year are 1) to be pregnant and 2) a domain for my blog. I am 99% sure I’ll get one of those.

Want to play along? Check out Karen’s post @ Write From Karen and be sure to link up and look at everyone else’s responses, too!