New Ring Update

I got my replacement wedding ring yesterday and was very excited!  Until I opened it up...  It is only a little wider than my original wedding ring, but is much thicker.  I was so excited to order my ring online from onestopplus.com.  I have ordered bras through them for years (as I am still about the bra size that I was when I was breastfeeding).  They are less expensive to order through them than to go shopping locally, so it's usually worth the wait.

I paid just under $20 for it.  I looked at the return policy, and it is nearly $10 to return it.  Granted, they take out that amount from the refund, but still, I'd be out $10.  This is the only time I've ever had trouble with ordering a purchase online, and it's just because I'm so picky about jewelry.  I really don't have much jewelry and like, especially rings, to be as slender as possible.

Since I'd only get $6 back on the purchase, I'm going to keep the ring.  I actually kinda like it as a thumb ring, as the thickness doesn't bother me there.  I had to order a new ring through Walmart, where I purchased my original wedding ring nearly 7 years ago.  I could not find a size 11 slender wedding band that I like, though!  This ring is pretty simple, though, so it's ok.  When it arrives, I'll take some pics!

Thanks for reading!

 - Hot-Mommy

New Wedding Ring

During the summer, my hands tend to swell, especially as I live in a state where it rains most of the year.  Luckily, I am pretty good at noticing when my ring gets too tight.  I am also quite a bit bigger than when my hubby and I got married and had kids.  Both of my kids are summer babies, so I had to wear my wedding ring on a necklace towards the end of both pregnancies.  

I have known for a while that I am no longer a size 8 ring size.  I've been hoping that I'd lose weight and not have to pay to get my ring re-sized. Last summer, like most summers, I took my wedding ring off because of my hands swelling in the heat.  I admitted defeat and found out that I am now a size 11 for rings.  It has only been a couple of months since I took it off, but it feels like a long time.  Plus, I'm getting tired of people assuming that just because I'm in college and involved in my kids' activities, that I'm a single mom.  

My husband and I ordered our rings from Walmart 7 years ago.  (Please don't laugh too hard, we were young when we got married and determined to pay for everything ourselves.)  I went to the jewelry counter and asked how much re-sizing my ring would be.  They said I would need the receipt and warranty.  We have been married for nearly 7 years and have moved many times since then.  I doubt any of these items still exist. Without the ring being under warranty, it would cost way more to get the ring re-sized than to buy a new one.

I ordered my new ring today!  It is a sterling silver band.  Someday, I'd love for my husband to buy a fancier ring for an anniversary or birthday.  For every day use, though, I prefer a simple, thin band.  It still makes me feel a little bad that I've gone up 3 ring sizes since I got married, but I'm glad to have one again.

Thanks for reading!

 - Hot-Mommy

Purging the House of Sweets Today

The holidays are over!  So, I'm getting rid of the excess sweets that have accumulated around here.  Even though most of the sweet treats are not tempting to me, I don't need them around, and neither does my family.  One of my main fitness goals for my kids is to eat healthier.  Getting rid of all of this candy will definitely help!

Multitasking with Exercise

My daughter, K, has Tumbling class once a week.  Every week, I'm a little torn between staying to watch her (and getting some great pics!) or taking advantage of being at the gym and getting some exercise of my own in.  I really do like to know what it is she's learning each week and what she needs to practice at home. I'm glad that she's taken to Tumbling so much!  I'm happy that she's found a way to get some physical activity that she enjoys!

2 of the moms drop off their kids for the whole class.  I just kinda feel guilty when I leave.  Then again, I feel guilty when I don't get exercise at the gym since I'm right there.  My unemployment insurance has run out, so my family is solely relying on my husband's part time job for money.  The only time that I go to the gym lately is the once a week that I bring my daughter there for her class. Plus, I babysit twice per week, have a volunteer job that I do once per week, and have to accommodate my hubby's work schedule.  We only have one car, so my ability to travel to the gym is limited, plus it's a half hour commute to the gym.

Either way, I feel a little guilty.  When I leave to go workout, I feel bad that I'm abandoning her and feel a little judged by the moms that do stay for the whole class.  When I stay through the whole class, I feel clingy and that I'm just being lazy.  Until recently, I was the only mom that stayed through the class.  3 new kids have joined the class and they stay for the whole class.

Today, I decided to compromise and stayed for the first 10 minutes of her class, lifted weights for 20 minutes, then returned for the remainder of her class.  I still felt a little guilty (which I'm going to do anyway, unfortunately), but at least I was there for the majority of her class.  If I'm going to feel guilty, I may as well get some exercise in.  I feel better about the compromise option that the other 2 choices.

On the way home, my daughter brought up that I left her class.  I told her that I was only gone for a little bit and told her that I lifted weights.  She seemed relieved that it wasn't something more fun, lol.  I assured her (and me) that if I step out of her class for a little bit, I'll always be back before the end.  If she's ok with this compromise, then I should be, too.

Thanks for reading!

 - Hot-Mommy

Took the Dogs for a Walk

My kids are at school, my hubby left for work early today, and the sun is shining (with no rain or snow!), so I decided to treat the dogs and I to a mile-long walk.  I think it was more exercise than all of us are used to, lol.  The dogs are both sleeping on the floor and I'm drinking water and blogging.  I originally planned to walk a little further and clock 2 miles today, but I forgot my MP4 player at home.  Music really does motivate me to keep going.  Still, a mile is a pretty good starting point.  I plan to continue walking them everyday when I have some time to myself.

The kids and I walk them pretty often, but we only do half of a mile with them and at a much slower pace.  My husband normally starts work late in the afternoon, just before our kids get home from school.  I know that I could sneak away to walk the dogs or go for a walk alone while he's home, but I feel a little guilty spending time alone or with the dogs, instead of with him, as he works so much.  It's something that he even says is silly, and I'm trying to get over.

Now, to start on doing dishes and the rest of the housework before the kids get home.

Thanks for reading!

 - Hot-Mommy

Great Wolf Lodge

My mother-in-law bought my family a one-night-stay at Great Wolf Lodge for our Christmas present this year!  Planning and going on the mini-vacation definitely derailed my fitness goals a little, though it also re-motivated me to get back on track again.  My hubby and I were not the biggest people there, though we were definitely not the smallest people there.  I have to say, walking around the hotel in my swim suit, I felt a little naked.  I am not used to walking around in public in a swim suit.  Plus, my tankini top had gotten a little stretched out (I hope due to weight loss!), so I have to pick up a new one soon.

There is a gym there in the lobby of the hotel.  If we would have stayed longer, I would have sneaked away from my family for a little bit to get some exercise in.  We weren't even there for a full day, so I wanted to get as much as the water park in as we could.  I kinda regret not sneaking away to go in the hot tub, too.

There are actually some great opportunities for eating healthy there!  For dinner, I had a buffalo burger.  The breakfast buffet has some great opportunities for eating as healthy as you would like to!  The kids and I had the omelette bar.  It was so good!  My kids don't like omelettes as much as I do, so I don't make them often at home.  I also had lots of fresh fruit.  My hubby wasn't as calorie-conscious and had biscuits and gravy, french toast sticks with whipped cream, and cantaloupe.

Our vacation entailed lots of walking and playing in the water, so I got a workout in just by playing.

Healthy Dinner Tonight

My mother-in-law bought our family a one-night-stay at Great Wolf Lodge for Christmas.  We just got back yesterday, and it was a blast!  Plus, it really made me want to step up my weight loss efforts.  My swimming suit was a little more baggy on my than expected.  I've lost just a couple of pounds and inches lately, but my body must be shifting the weight around or something.  

After eating out lately from being on vacation and wanting to take it easy from catching up on housework, I made sure to eat a healthy breakfast and dinner.  For dinner, I went with a favorite standby of stuffed chicken breast wrapped in turkey bacon and salad.  I stuffed the chicken with items that I happened to have on hand:  canned tomatoes, kale, and cheese.  My dad and I are into canning (especially salsa!) and I have lots of canned tomatoes to use up soon.  We have guinea pigs, so we usually have odd veggies around.  And cheese and bacon just make everything better.  I only had turkey bacon on hand, as I prefer it to eat plain or in eggs.  With wrapping chicken breast, pork bacon is slightly better, but oh well, I went with what was on hand.  I put lots of veggies in the salad.  Plus, by preparing a veggie-filled dinner for myself, I save time, as I'm also preparing mostly the same dinner for them.

I admit that I fell off the bandwagon for a couple of days, but I'm looking forward to getting back to eating healthier and hopefully losing weight!

Thanks for reading!

 - Hot-Mommy

Seating at the Tacoma Dome

Last night, my dad treated my hubby, kids, and I to Monster Jam at the Tacoma Dome.  The seating there was so uncomfortable.  Granted, I am overweight and trying to lose weight.  The only people around me that were seated comfortably with no complaints were my 2 young children.  The seats were narrow and the sides were made of metal and there was nearly no space in between the seats.  Even much thinner folks around us were squirming a bit.  We decided to go to Monster Jam because of the "free" tickets for the kids that we got from Burger King.  There was only limited seating available for those tickets, so we ended up paying full price for everyone, but that's another story.  I doubt I'll be going back to that event for both of these reasons.

Received a Random Act of Kindness Today

I have really been seeking out ways that myself and my family can be more active lately.  My hubby is working tonight and we ran out of milk.  When my kids got home from school, I decided to take advantage of the rare lack of rain and the kids and I would walk the mile to the grocery store.  I also had to bribe them with one treat each from the dollar store.  They picked out animal shaped bath toys.

I can probably walk a mile in 20 - 30 minutes at a normal pace.  However, with kids, it takes at least double that time.  It was dark outside by the time we left the grocery store.  On the way there, I listened to the MP3 player I treated myself to for Christmas and the kids kept themselves occupied by singing songs from school.  I'm not very comfortable walking with the kids in the dark, so we decided to take the bus home.  They were so exhausted in the store that I let them both cram into the cart.  They looked so comfortable and they were begging to be pushed in the cart on the ride home.

I managed to cram all of the groceries into the backpack I brought along, minus the bananas that I didn't want to get bruised.  While we were waiting for the bus, we each had a banana to snack on.  When we got on the bus, the driver saw the 2 kids and the groceries and told us not to worry about the bus fare home.  Even though it only saved me a dollar, that was very kind of the driver to let us ride home for free.