Category: Domestic-ness

I feel a lot better than I did my previous post. I’m almost embarrassed that I puked my heart and soul into that post and almost deleted it, but as they say: better out than in!

Anyway. I’ve focused a lot of my energy since then into things that I do have control over now, at the moment: the kids, of course, and Jorge take priority, but I’ve also started really watching what I’m eating and SOMEWHAT started exercising again. I even used some of the birthday/Mother’s Day money mom gave me to buy some cute work-out tees! (In typical Mom fashion, the rest was put towards bills 🙄 !)

These were on clearance at Walmart, for $3.00 and $3.15! Too bad I couldn’t get any good deals on work out pants! THAT’S what I really need! 😕 I have lots of size 0-2, but it’s been a while since those fit comfortably! 😆

So I started on the Keto diet again on April 30, 2017. The last time I did this “diet” was in 2013 and I lost about 12-13 lbs. and looked much better than I had in a while at the time. It was before I had my breast reduction, of course, but being on Keto was the only time I EVER in my life went down a bra size. Even when I was religiously doing P90X daily and Taekwondo 3x a week in 2010, I didn’t loose boobage. In 2013, on Keto, I went from DD to D. I was shocked! 😆

The girls started selling Girl Scout cookies early 2014…and I DID NOT ease back into eating carbs–I literally shoveled a box of cookies a day 😳 . So naturally, I gained weight AND when I went for my routine check-up on February 7, 2014, I stupidly got my labs done at 3pm…right after consuming 4 Thin Mints. Of course my cholesterol came back off the charts (394, something like that??) and I was put on a Statin STAT because of my family’s medical history. They sat me down and I got a stern talking-to about what to eat and what not to eat. I was pretty bummed.

So I’m going into this venture once again, but wary and aware of the risks. I’m still trying to figure out how much a lipid panel (to check my cholesterol levels) would be, since I already got my routine check-up done and my levels were slightly elevated then. I don’t want to end up having a stroke or heart attack for the sake of vanity!

Speaking of, other reasons I’m getting back on the Keto train–besides obviously losing weight–is 1) Jorge got back on it a few weeks ago and it’s much easier for me to come up with dinners when I’m cooking for both of us (because, let’s face it: sometimes I have to make an extra meal for my picky girls 🙄 ). A third meal would be ridiculous!

2) Since getting off birth control in February-ish of this year (had gotten on it again around August 2016 to help regulate my monthly visitor), my acne has been out of control, mainly on the chin area, which reflects hormones out of whack and/or stress (and I have a bad habit of touching my face, so I’m sure that doesn’t help!). So I’m hoping steering clear of sugar and carbs will help. I’ve been reading articles on Dietdoctor.com, and a piece on acne states:

…modern studies show a probable connection between high-glycemic (high-carb) diets and acne.This may be caused by the effect on growth hormones like insulin and IGF.

To improve acne, your best bet is a fairly strict low-carb diet – ideally one that is also low in dairy products.

I’m willing to try anything to clear this embarrassing problem. The only thing that makes me nervous about Keto is the amount of cheese you could possibly eat–and I’m lactose intolerant (and also, the cholesterol!)! I think being lactose intolerant is another sign my body’s giving me to lay off the sugar and give my face a break, so I’m going to try to use as little as possible, as much as I love it 🙁 .

I’m actually much more excited about cooking than I had been in a long time. Here are a few meals I’ve made:

You can find the recipe for those awesome Keto Krepes here.

We’ve cut our eating out a LOT, but when we have it’s been easy to make substitutions:

I’ve also lost 3 lbs.! Just weighed in this morning and it’s the little boost of motivation I needed to keep going. Now, if I could just find the time to do P90X again! Or at least the 40 minutes I need to get to the park to run! Emily has her GT Project due and we need to finish it TODAY.
[edited to add:] Emily finished her project at school and all I had to help her with was flash cards for questions and finding her prizes to give her classmates as she quizzes them, so we got to go walking/running![/edit]

Changing gears: my poor Gramma hasn’t been doing too well 🙁 . She was in the hospital on Sunday due to possible signs of suffering a mini-stroke. Ugh. Long story. Let’s just say I had to BITCH and threaten a lawsuit in order to get those idiots at the nursing home to move their asses and get her to the hospital! She may have Bells Palsy, which they will correct with medication but only to a certain extent 🙁 . Mom and I waited in the lobby while Aunt Nora stayed with Gramma and we got hungry, so we went to the gift shop. There was a beautiful, almost heavenly glow coming from the snack area. There were muffins, and cookies, and chips, oh my!! It took all my willpower to only purchase these:

I shared the almonds and pickle with Mom and I was proud of myself for sticking with it. Mom, on the other hand, got Fritos -_-.

Gramma is doing as well as possible. I feel so bad that she’s in any discomfort.

I’ve been posting less on my regular social media and focusing a lot of attention on my food and health Instagram account. If you’d like to see meal ideas or just what I’m up to, the link is: @yaya_goes_keto (formerly, @yayastartsover). I’ve documented most of my ups/downs/tries/fails . When I started up again in June 2016 after all the complications I had with the breast reduction from February 2016-June 2016, I was tracking on MyFitnessPal and working out (P90X). I went from 123 lbs. to 119 lbs., but that was quickly short-lived thanks to the last complication I had, and then I’m pretty sure I had some weird trauma/mental block that was keeping me from working out since it seemed like every time I got into a routine, I ended up at the doctor’s office again. But I hope I’m successful this time and can keep up with my “diet” (or Way of Eating) and workouts, even though I know I won’t be able to workout every day. I have to admit, eating this way has been pretty easy so far!

This post should actually be titled: “Not Much of a Spring Break 2017”. But anyhoo…

In my previous post I mentioned I had a lot going on currently (at work, at home) that was stressing me out. I was even more stressed out about not being able to take sufficient time off work to take the kids somewhere during the half-week they were with us (they’d be with the other parents the rest of the Spring Break week). But, I told myself that I wasn’t going to let it get the best of me. I did good on my promise to myself, even when I was going 100mph at work.

We had several meetings on Monday alone and I even stayed at work late trying feverishly to finish all my tasks so I could take Tuesday off with the kids. I was ALLMMOOSSSTT done with everything, until I realized I needed my “Boss Boss'” signature on some important documents I needed to mail out. Darnit. So I came in for half a day Tuesday and rushed through the (growing) to-do list. By 12:30pm, I finally had everything done and I was OUT!!

I get home, excited, and walk into the boys’ room, only to find all of them except Julien still asleep. I annoyingly sing-song, “Get up, childrennn,” and it still takes them a while to groggily ask, “Why?” 😐

I tell them we’re going to Ben & Jerry’s, and the big boys protest, but I don’t care 😆 . I swear: these kids would rather lay in their rooms playing video games all day than going somewhere. 🙄 They all take turns showering and I ate lunch (a Hot Pocket. Can you believe that?? A HOT POCKET!! I never eat Hot Pockets, wtf!!), while I (wait for it) watched, “My 600 Lb. Life”. –The irony…

Eenan said he wanted me to sit and watch a new Disney show, so I did. The pilot episode of “Andi Mack.” He said the little girl’s art reminded him of me and he thought I’d really enjoy the story. And my boy knows his mama: it was great; I really, really enjoyed it!! One of the more mature shows Disney’s produced for sure. Can’t wait for the next ep!

So the kiddos finally finish getting ready and we take off. My 7 ducklings and I beat the rush; it got really packed as soon as I put in their last order.

We finished up and headed to the park.

While the big boys played football (minus Eenan, he stuck with the Littles and me) and the rest of us were at the playground, I had a conversation with Emily’s friend’s mom (AKA, Ryan’s aunt), about my little Emily’s behavior 😡 . She was being…proactive about a bully but started being somewhat of a bully herself telling her friend over iMessage that she was becoming “like her” (like the little girl they claimed was the bully) and whatnot. So much so, that her mom got on the phone and said her friend wasn’t available. Embarrassing! I had already gotten after her for being mean to Maddie, and now that. She got yet another lecturing, much to her irritation. I know she’s headstrong and really takes no sh*t, but I don’t want her to be the mean girl 🙁 . I have no experience in this, especially not with the boys or Alaethia! When Alaethia was having drama with her friends last year, it was nothing like this.

But anyway, her friend’s Mama and I spoke and got everything sorted. I’m glad that it wasn’t too awkward and that she didn’t tell me off for my kid’s behavior, heh. She was very understanding and we agreed we just want our kiddos to get along.

I dropped the kiddos off with Mom at home, picked Jorge up from work and then we took Jorgie with us to order Domino’s for dinner. Then the kids wanted to watch “My 600 Lb. Life” again. I’m converting them 😆 ! I don’t know why I like that show so much!

The day, unfortunately, came to an end and then it was time for bed since Jorge and I had work the next day ;? .

The kiddos left with the other parents on Wednesday afternoon and the rest of the week at work was a blur of working on Taste McAllen.

I picked Jorge up from work and then we stopped for some snacks at the Food Park before going shopping at the mall (oh, joy 🙄 .

I had to mentally prepare for an interview I was having with Chef Larry the next morning. I despise interviews; I get nervous and bumble all over myself and my skin wasn’t cooperating with me AT ALL. Plus: not happy that the camera adds 10 more lbs. 😥 !! But I sucked it up and went with it. Alan Campbell was our host and is such a jokester, so he eased us into the interview and was really good about prompting us on what to say.

I had an event at the food park that Friday, so of course, we had to indulge a little. I mean, why not? We were already there!

We spent the rest of the weekend cleaning out our garage. John still had TONS of boxes in there, plus his table and chairs from when he lived with us and used the garage as a storage unit. I called and asked him what to do with everything and he said to chuck it. 😐 Really?? We coulda chucked them a long time ago!!

So several trips to Goodwill, Walmart, Target, Home Depot later, we got rid of tons of junk and bought additional storage bins and shelving. It hadn’t looked that nice and clean in a looong time!

I took the opportunity to clean up the box of Dad’s records I inherited. He had lots of old-school “Regional Mexican” records, but he had the Beatles, some opera and waltzes as well!

We also got some pavers and new mulch to re-do the greenery bed under the kitchen window. We were literally in the dark, with the flashlight of our phones, digging and planting and so on. But we finished!

So although we didn’t get to do much for Spring Break, our time with the kiddos and each other was pretty damn great 😀 .

I can usually deal with stress pretty well; heck, I’ll even be annoyingly optimistic. People have even complimented me about it. But lately, I’ve got to admit: it’s tough.

I managed to get my 2nd cold of the year (a month apart) last Sunday. I felt awful at work on Monday but had a lot to do, and I almost went to work Tuesday because I was afraid of getting behind, but I told myself I needed to start taking care of myself. I keep thinking of my friend that had a stroke that was probably due to high stress. So I decided that work could wait. I took Tuesday off to go to the doctor and recover at home. I hadn’t slept very much Monday night due to the coughing, ear pain and not being able to breathe, so I kept passing out once I picked up my medication from the pharmacy. I’m still not 100% better; I keep waking up with a pain in my ear, even though I’m over everything else. Missing Tuesday did cause me to get behind at work, but I knew if I scheduled my day accordingly, I could catch up.

I was in charge of an event for our “Boss Boss”, and I was already nervous about screwing it up. I wasn’t even sure how I was going to drop off 4 kids at 2 different locations in 2 different cities and get to work by 7:30am in a totally different city (those are my Fridays and Mondays). Mario, thankfully, helped me out. I’d be missing Alaethia’s field trip, just like I missed Emily’s 🙁 , since I had an event that day, too, but Mario would accompany her.

I had a good count for my Boss’s event, got everything ready and then…I’m about 20 people short the count that I originally had as everyone started showing up. Thanks, people >_< . My Boss did tell me, “Good job,” at the end of the event, so that made me feel better.

Lunch time rolls around and I’m giddy as I make my way to my car, relieved that the event is over and done with. I was meeting Alaethia, her class and the moms at Mr. Gatti’s for Alaethia’s last part of the field trip. I relieve Mario and he hands me Alaethia’s stuff as the girls continue to play and the moms catch up while we eat lunch together. (I’m convinced the girls like us to go with them so they can hit us up for money!) We spent a few minutes with the kids and see them off on the bus. I get back to work and jot down my to-do list in the hopes of getting as much done by 5pm so I wouldn’t be swamped on Monday and could take the next Tuesday off with the kids. Next week is Spring Break, but we aren’t doing much. Still, I wanted to at least take a few days off to take the kids out for ice cream and the park, etc. Unfortunately, I had forgotten it was Spring Break during the week and had already made 2 appointments for Monday that I can’t miss. And then we have the food festival coming up, and I feel like we’re SO BEHIND. FAK. 🙁 So I figured I’d take Tuesday off only. So I got to work, and was on a roll…until Jorge called with an emergency.

I couldn’t believe what happened and I’m thankful things weren’t much, much worse. But I just feel like we can’t catch a break 😥 . 1 step forward, 2 steps back. I was angry at Jorge. I was angry at myself, too, for not taking care of things I should have, but I’m just so focused on work and it takes up so much time that I can’t take care of personal things that need to get done. And it shouldn’t be that way.

The girls had a sleepover at Jenny’s and when I went to pick them up, we had a nice impromptu therapy session with all 4 of them. I’m glad that they can openly talk with us about what’s going on with their friends. Apparently lots of drama is going on, but we explained to them that they’re wayyy too young for so much tension at school and that everyone can get along, even if they’re not BFFs. Now I need to have an uncomfortable conversation with another mom, and apologize for my little Emmos 😳 .

Jorge and I had a talk last night, and I felt better. Until something ELSE happened today. Ugh. I’m going to try and have a nonchalant, happy-go-lucky, carefree, fk-it attitude this week. I’ve got a lot on my plate at work, and may not be able to take a day off at all with the kids (especially because of this event, and my boss is off since Wednesday when we have shit to take care of!), but I’m not going to stress. I’m not.

Well. That’s easier said than done, but I’ve got to promise myself to take it easy. Or I’m going to lose my shit.