I live with Junk Food Junkies

I always do my grocery shopping on the weekends. I swear every week that I will start going during the week so I don't have to deal with as many crazies, but it never happens.

Do y'all's husbands/wives/girlfriends/boyfriends/kids go to the grocery store with you??

The Rockstar occassionally goes with me. I love it and I hate it all at the same time. I love spending time with him, but when he goes I make some really poor choices and I spend WAY too much money. Ya see, The Rockstar loves him some junk food. He is all about some chips, cookies, doughnuts, juice, soft drinks (he likes Pepsi, so no temptation for me there), and ice cream.

I said when I got this band that I never wanted the rest of my family to have to make changes just because I did. Yes, it would be better for their health if they did...but that is their decision to make, not mine. The Rockstar and The Boy don't have ANY weight issues. The Big Boy struggles with his weight, but he longer lives at home. The Rockstar is 6'4 and struggles to keep his weight up to (or just over) 200. It is not fair. And I am very jealous about it.


I keep all of their junk food in one cabinet...that way I can just totally avoid the cabinet. Here is what their cabinet looks like now...

Those two plastic containers in the back are filled with honey buns and snack cakes. Now, for the most part this stuff doesn't tempt me. I have never been big on eating chips or snack cakes. I was more of candy bar and cookie kinda gal. However, some times things find their way into my house that quickly becomes kryptonite to me. Like this...

I love popcorn, especially Kettle Corn. This stuff tastes as good as the kind you get at the fair. I can not buy these crack puffs again...I just can't resist that salty sweet temptation when it's in my house.

Even my babies get their own "junk food" every week. Look what I found this week at the store for them...





Somebody please tell me I am not the only who lives with junk food junkies.

BYOC!!!

It's time for Draz's BYOC!!!

1. If you believe in a God - who or what form does it take? Person or thing? He or she? None of the above?

I do believe in God, but my relationship with God is very private...so I don't talk about it. I will tell you that I was not brought up going to church. My mother taught us what she believed, but said what we chose to believe would be up to us. I visited several churches/denominations growing up. There were certainly a few I knew I did NOT want to share in their beliefs. I still do not attend church, but I pray to my God daily.

 

 

 

2. If it were considered socially acceptable - would you stop shaving or waxing?

No way, no how...I would just have to be the social outcast. I shave my legs (and various other places) every single day and I can NOT stand to feel stubble. I have been known to shave twice a day in the summer because sometimes when I jump in the pool and the water is cold it makes my leg hair grow...so I will go in and shave.

3. How often do you weigh yourself? Why?

Usually once a week, on the weekend, if I think about while I'm naked. Some times I may go up to two weeks. I do this because I am not a "steady" loser. I may lose nothing for 2 weeks, then BAM...lose 5 over night. If I weighed myself every day it would drive me crazy to see the same number every day for two weeks.

4. When was the last time you admitted you were wrong? (Thank you to Joey for this question)

I don't know, but I am sure it wasn't long ago. I have no problem admitting when I am wrong...however, The Rockstar would majorly disagree with that statement.

5. Repeat question. How was your week?

 

 

My week has been fabulous!!! I have been on spring break, which means I could go to bed as late as I wanted, and some of the days sleep as late as I wanted. I got a lot done this week, but also took time for just me (mani/pedi, some flip flop shopping).

 

Because I have been on spring break I have also been able to read more blogs. I am getting excited reading about people booking their flights to Chicago...can't wait to meet all of y'all!!

Ten Things Thursday!

Ten Things Thirsday brought to us by the uber cool Laura Belle

1. I have had such a productive spring break. I have cleaned and organized all of my closets and my kitchen cabinets. All of my bushes are trimmed, monkey grass has been thinned out, two dead shrubs dug up, and freshly mowed lawn. Don't be too impressed about all that work....I paid someone to do the yard work. My little guy is coming back today to detail my car. He works so cheap... I feel guilty and pay him more than he charges.


2. I plan on doing nothing this weekend (as far as work) so I will feel like I got some sort of break before I go back to work.


3. According to my dashboard this is my 100th post...and I thought I wouldn't have anything to say when I started this blog :)


4. I have an appointment tomorrow with my band doctor. I thought I may get a small fill since my insurance is changing and will no longer pay for fills....but I really don't think I need it. I do think I could make better choices at times, but a fill won't fix that. Only I can do that.


5. I took Robyn's advice and watched My Week with Marilyn...loved it. I have always been a little obsessed with Marilyn Monroe. One year for Christmas The Rockstar had a bunch of pictures of her framed for me and we spent part of our Christmas break hanging all of them.

6. During my cleaning frenzy I found a gift certificate I got for Christmas for a mani and pedi....score!

7.  Did you see the video of Alicia Silverstone (from the movie Clueless) chewing up food and spitting it in her baby's mouth??? It totally grossed me out. She's not a freaking bird...humans have this nice little gadget called a food processor...she should get one.

8. I have come to the conclusion that I have the laziest, most spoiled babies ever. This is all they have done since I have been on spring break...

9.  The fact that I have had the energy to do everything I have done this week has been the biggest NSV I have had so far. I haven't spring cleaned my house during the past 2 spring breaks because I was simply just too tired and too sick. If I never lost another pound (which I really hope is not the case) I still wouldn't regret getting banded just because of how much better I feel now than I did this time last year.


10. The weather here has been almost summer like. Warm enough for shorts, but I didn't want to scare or blind anyone with my pasty white legs. I said I was going to go tanning this week, but that hasn't happened. I like being tanned, but I know the tanning bed is bad for me....what to do, what to do....

Filling Up His Love Tank

I know I have told y'all that here in the south we show our love with food. Well, needless to say, since I have been banded my family has been feeling a lack of love from me. Ok, truthfully, they probably haven't felt any different, but I feel like I haven't shown my love enough because I haven't been feeding them like I did before.

Now, before y'all go and tell me how much therapy I need for showing my love through food, I'm here to tell ya it just ain't gonna happen. I show my love in many other ways to them besides food and I enjoy cooking for them. They don't have any weight issues or issues with food. I haven't been cooking much (except for a traditional southern Sunday meal) because I knew I couldn't handle the temptation of the food, which means they have had to fix for themselves for the last 4 months (unless they wanted chicken or turkey...which they didn't).

The Rockstar and I have always worked in different school systems. We have never had the same spring break. Although we still work in different school systems, we have the same spring break this year. I decided this week I would clean, declutter, organize, and fill up the Rockstar's love tank during spring break :)

I won't go into all the freaky intimate details of all the ways I filled his love tank...but I will talk about the food part. Warning...food porn ahead.

Here are some of the things I have made for him this week...

Meatloaf, creamed potatoes, white beans.

My plate is the small one. Those little black bowls hold 1/2 cup. The Rockstar nearly licked his plate clean. This was mine when I was done...

The Rockstar loves, loves, loves banana pudding. So this is what he got for the first round of dessert that night ;)

I did not partake in the banana pudding. Thought about it....wanted to....but didn't.


I made him a homemade chicken potpie...

I did partake in this, but kept my portion to a half cup. His portion compared to mine (mine did not include any crust)

I made him some banana bread....

I love banana bread, but I no longer eat it when I make it. I usually make The Rockstar take it to work so I don't have to see it. Since he's not working this week I will just have to exercise good ole willpower :)

For now, I think the love tank is filled to the brim :)

Closet Purge, Round 2

My spring break has not been much of a break at all. I have cleaned closets, cabinets, drawers, nooks and crannies.

I have come to several conclusions after all this cleaning. One, I am a bigger pack rat than I would like to admit. You know how when you see someone who hoards food you assume that at some time in their life they went hungry?? Well if you had been at my house this week, you would assume that at some point in my life I had to walk around butt naked. Not true, but that is what you would have thought.

This morning The Rockstar hauled off an entire truckload to Goodwill...and another truckload to the dump. Here is what my living room looked like last night when I went to bed.

That was mostly from my guest room. Here is what I got out of my closet.

I don't know if I will ever need hangers again. Here is my laundry room after cleaning out the closets.

Ok, so there is no way I could ever list all of of the stuff I got rid of out of my closets. So, here are a few things that still had the tags on them. Again, if you want any of this send me an email (Rockband.Barbie@aol.com) and let me know what you want, your full name and address. I will mail out some time this week. If you want more than one thing (or even all of it) don't hesitate to say so...less shipping for me. Anything that isn't taken by the time I go to ship will go to Goodwill.

1. Ralph Lauren Shirt, Size XL, New with tags (No, I did not pay that price...I may be a pack rat, but I'm not a rich packrat)



2. Chaps black pants, Size 16 Petite, New with tags

3. Gloria Vanderbilt Black Pants, Size 14 Petite, New with tags

4. Gloria Vanderbilt Amanda Jeans, Size 16 Petite, New with tags Taken

5. Faded Glory Jeans, Size 16 Petite, New with tags Taken

6. Riders Grey stripped pants, Size 16 Petite, New with tags

7. Sag Harbor Black with White Pinstripped Pants, Size 16 Petite, New with tags Taken

Closet purge, Round 1

As I told you in my Ten Things Thursday I had a bad habit of buying clothes that were too big for me assuming that one day I would need them. I would like to be able to say that I have cleaned out both closets, but that would simply be a lie. I did, however, gather all of the clothes from the bottom of my closet that were still in bags (with the exception of one shirt) and I am giving them away! Please excuse the fact that they are wrinkled....like I said, they have been in a bag at the bottom of my closet for a year. I love you all, but not enough to iron for ya :)

If you want any of these items email me (Rockband.Barbie@aol.com) your full name and address and I will mail them out some time next week. It's first come first serve and I will edit the post to let you know when something has been taken.

1. Danskin Capri Pants, Size XL (16/18). They can be unrolled to be full length pants. As you can see I was too lazy to roll one side up. New, with tags. Taken

2. Just My Size Khaki Cargo Capri's, Size 18. New, with tags. Taken

3.  Basic Edition Black Classic Fit Capri's, Size XL. New, with tags Taken

4.Just My Size Cargo Capri, Size 18. The color on the tag says "Olive Oak" New, with tags. Taken

5. Very casual (sweat pants material) Faded Glory Capri, Size 18. I have no idea what to call this color....brownish?? New, with tags. Taken

6.  Over the shoulder boulder holder...a.k.a Bra. Playtex Secrets, size 40 DD. Fuchsia. New, with tags.

7. Cato blouse. Size 18/20. I love this blouse, but it is way too big for me so I must let go :( New, with tags Taken

8. Apt 9 Blouse. Size XL. New, no tags. Taken

9. Cato Blouse. Size 18/20. Not new. I wore it several times last summer. Taken

10. Kim Rogers Blouse, Size XL. Lime green. New, with tags. Taken

That's all for now. Anything that doesn't go by the time I am ready to mail out with go to Goodwill.



New Blogger Alert!

Morgan will soon be banded and really needs some blogger support!

Head over and show her some love :)

Ten Things Thursday

1. I have been eating like crap since starting my new job. I am not eating enough protein and very lacking in the water drinking. My body thinks I have gone coo coo and trying to starve it..therefore letting go of nothing. I have eaten so little in the last few days that I have been getting dizzy when I stand up. Next week is spring break and I will totally be working on this as well as a plan for when I go back to work.

2. It has been so warm here this week. We skipped spring altogether. I have been wearing flip flops or sandals every day. I love it!! I hate real shoes.

3. Over my spring break I totally have to clean my closet out. I have a closet full of clothes in my guest room that I haven't worn in a few years. I need to go through it and see what fits now and what will fit in the near future. Any thing in either closet that is too big will go.

4. I came home to a dozen roses today...just because :)

5. I have not been sleeping well since starting my new job. At my old job I didn't care if I was late (although I very rarely almost never was late) and now for some reason I am terrified I will be late. I wake up every few hours looking at the clock to make sure I haven't overslept. I don't have to be at work until 7:20 and I have been there no later than 7:00. I really have no idea why I am stressing about this.

6. I have no idea how my summer pay will work out since I have gone from one school system to another. I hope it all evens out. My BFOM (best friend of mine) lives in Denver and I would really like to go visit her. I have money budgeted for Chicago, but I need to see if there's some left over for my trip to see her.

7. Back to clothes...I was in a habit of buying clothes that were too big for me because I assumed I would just keep getting bigger and bigger and didn't wanna have to run around naked. Therefore, I have several pairs of Capri's that still have the tags on them. I would be willing to give them to anyone who may want them. I will post pics maybe over the weekend. I think they are mostly size 16.

8. I talked to a few of my friends from my old school. There have been tips that kids will be bringing automatic weapons tomorrow and plan on having an all out race war. I know they did a random weapons search today. I am still so happy at my new job and wouldn't go back for anything. I would live on welfare first...seriously.

9. My old job screwed me out of some money...about $1000. I am very pissed about. That school system is screwed up. I don't get paid at new job until I have been there almost a month (just because of how the pay periods fall). It sucks, but I will make it through.

10. Grey's was a rerun AGAIN. LAME!!!!

Puke in a purse and out of the banded closet

Nobody at my old job knew that I was banded. It wasn't because I was ashamed of it in any way...it was more so because I didn't discuss any aspect of my personal life at work. I went to work, did my job, and came home...the end. All of my friends from work had enough sense to leave that place before I did, and I was no longer "friends" with any one in the building.

When I started my new job I wondered how and if I would tell people about the band.

Let me tell ya a little story about what happened last week...

My class goes on a field trip every week so the kids get "community experience". Last week we went to the hospital to eat lunch in the cafeteria. I really had no idea what was offered in their cafeteria, but I figured it would be fine. Not the case. I made a very poor choice.

It seemed like everything they had was either breaded, contained bread, or had pasta in it...I thought hospitals were supposed to be about getting you healthy?? I chose a piece of pizza that had very thin crust. I ate about about 1/4 of it. Everything felt fine. Here's where the bad choice occurred....I ate a couple of bites of a piece of pie. No go. Not happening. No way, no how was it going down. I excused myself to the restroom and discreetly tried to get it up...and I thought I did.

We got back in the van and I thought well at least we are headed back to the school in case I need to go to the bathroom again. Wrong. My assistant decided we had plenty of time and I needed a full tour of the base. Great. He's playing tour guide while I am sitting in the back of the van ready to choke on my own slime.

I was super stuck. I felt like I was about to birth a slime baby. Panic set in. What was I going to do...I was in a van full of my students and new co workers...if I yelled for them to pull over and puked on the side of the road I would have scared the kids to death.

Thank the Lord I had read in somebody's blog (I wish I could remember who) to always be prepared with a bag and wipes/napkins in my purse. I discreetly opened my purse just in time...I birthed a slime baby without making a peep. I was in the back of the van. Nobody saw except the kid next to me...and she is non verbal.

So for the next 20 minutes I had a purse full of slime. Gross. Double gross.

I knew I had to tell my co-workers, but I had no idea how I would bring it up. Then, today the magic banded closet door opened and I came out. One of my assistants had a pamphlet on her desk about lap band. I asked her if she was banded. She isn't, but she said she was thinking very seriously about it...and then I just blurted it out..."I was banded 4 months ago"

I don't usually like to just throw all my business out in the street...but today I'm glad I did :)

BYOC!!

It's BYOC brought to us by the fab Draz

1.  How do you feel about college?  If you have kids or siblings - will you encourage or require them to go?  How long did you go and what for? 

I do not think college is for everyone. Especially since I am a special ed teacher, I am well aware that all kids will not go to college. I would never "require" my kids to go to college, but I encouraged it IF that is what they wanted to do. My youngest son is graduating high school this year and he has no desire to go to a 4 year college...I am perfectly ok with that. He wants to go to a school for audio engineering and I completely support that.

I went to beauty school after high school. I didn't think I was smart enough to go to a 4 year college because my guidance counselor told me not to even worry about taking the ACT. She said I wasn't college material. In my twenties my mother encouraged me to go college...and I did. I got a BS in Special Education. I later went back and got my Master's in Administration and I am currently working on my Ed.S in Secondary Education. In your face Negative Nelly Guidance Counselor (did I mention I maintained a 4.0??)!!!!

2.  Pink or purple?  Coke or Pepsi?  Pen or pencil?  Cursive or printing?  Ketchup or mustard?

Pink AND purple...I love them both. I don't like light/pastel purple. I like the deep, dark purple.
Neither...I'm a Dew gal
I will use either, but I have a lot of pink and purple pens. I rarely use plain ole black or blue ink.
My kids (at school, not my birth babies) can't read cursive writing, so I am in a habit of writing in print.
Ketchup...even the smell of Mustard makes me gag

3.  If you could live in any generation - which one would it be?

I would totally love to have a time machine and bounce back and forth from the 70's to the 80's. I loved, loved, loved the hair and clothes in the 80's....but I am all about some Disco music. I bet I could have cut a rug at the Disco if I had been old enough in the 70's. I loved me some big hair bands in the 80's too though...I have been known to go to a Motley Crue concert or two :)

4.  What do you sleep in?

It totally depends on the weather. If it is winter I usually sleep in sweats and Tshirt. In the summer it's usually a wife beater (that's what the kids call it...it's just one of those tank top undershirts) and panties.

5.  Repeat question - summarize your week!

Great! Started a new job that I love. I got out of the old just in time...they were on the news today because 15 cops were called in for a riot. Water balloons filled with bleach were thrown, kids were taken to the hospital and they reported that it "only" took 20-30 minutes to get it under control. Yep, I made a great decision to leave.

Ten Things Thursday!

Ten things Thursday, brought to us by the lovely Laura

1. It's already Thursday??? Normally I am thinking the week has gone by soooo slowly. With the excitement of my new job, this week has flown by!

2. I am still LOVING the new job. The people I work with have been so amazing, especially my assistants (did I tell you I have 3???). They just know what to do, and do it...without me even asking. It is such a breath of fresh air!

3. I used to wonder how my former kids had no clue that they lived in such chaos, with such dysfunctional families. It all made sense to me this week. I had no idea I had been in such a dysfunctional place until now...now that I have seen what "normal" looks like, what it feels like. Now I understand that if you have never experienced "normal" then you don't realize you are "abnormal"...does that make sense???

4. You can take the girl out of the ghetto, but can you take the ghetto out of the girl??? I find myself immediately identifying a kid with a certain gang when I see the color of their shirt...these kids don't even know what a gang is...in my right mind I know that, but it will take my brain a little time not to immediately identify clothing as one's "colors"

5. I flirt with the little guard men every morning when I drive on post :)

6. After next week I will have a week off for Spring Break. I hope the weather is as nice then as it is now (mid 80's here this week). If so, I am totally gonna get my tan on.

7. I had restraint training today. A group of us went to the food court on post for lunch. No great choices there for a bandster. I went to BK and got chicken tenders...BIG mistake. They were too heavily breaded and even though I chewed it to a pulp it did not work out for me. I only had one and had to go to the bathroom 4 times to throw up. I know my coworker had to wonder why I kept going to the bathroom. She didn't ask, and I didn't tell. I did discover today that I can throw up without making a sound...not even a peep.

8. My kids actually cook once a week. I did this when I taught life skills at my old school, but since I have been banded I have been in the behavior class...and we certainly didn't want them around knives and burners. My coworkers are all about eating. The refrigerator and freezer are fully stocked....canned biscuits, french fries, hot dogs...Lord help me.

9. Grey's is new tonight....finally.

10. My old school had coke machines...no real temptations for me. The new school has a Pepsi machine in the teacher's lounge...you know what that means....Crack Juice (The Dew is a Pepsi product). You know what else that means???? I fell off the wagon :(

Make A List Monday!

Make A List Monday!!! Brought to us by the beautiful Robyn

This week’s category for Make A List Monday is your top ten current TV shows.  This list should include shows that are currently on television.

1. Grey's Anatomy

2. Desperate Housewives

3. American Idol

4. Teen Mom

5. Real Housewives of OC

6. Ice Loves Coco

7. Big Rich Texas

8. Dance Moms

9.Modern Family

10. Real Housewives of Atlanta

As you can clearly see...I love trash t.v.

First day jitters

Today was my first day at my new job. I was very nervous when I got there. I wasn't nervous about teaching...nervous about a new routine, new co-workers, new procedures. I had so much information thrown at me within the first hour that I have already forgotten it. I was busy, busy, busy all day.

Here were some MAJOR differences from what I was used to:

I did not hear even one single use of profanity all day.

I did not smell any kind of smoke all day...no cigarette smoke, no marijuana smoke, no trash cans on fire in the bathrooms, no bulletin boards on fire....nothing, notta, zilch, zero smoke....ALL DAY

I was not the shortest person in room...in fact, I was among the tallest (except for the other adults in the room)

I have 3 assistants!!! I was completely floored by this. And they actually work...all day. They are amazing.

I did not see even one pair of britches sagging below the ass crack of a kid.


It was a good day.

The bad news is I was so busy I'm not sure I even drank one bottle of water today. At the moment I have  consumed less that 100 calories for the day. I will definitely have to completely redo my water schedule...going from over 100 oz a day to 10 oz has made me feel very icky.

That's all for today....I gotta go eat!

Ten Things Thursday

Ten things Thursday, brought to us by the lovely Laura

1. Today was my last day with kids. It was bittersweet. Some of these kids have never had any consistency in their lives...and I feel like I just added to that.

2. When I walked into my room today this is what was waiting for me...

3. It is a chess pie. For all you non southerners who may not know what a chess pies is...well...it's a small piece of southern heaven. The best way I know how to describe what it tastes like would be to say it tastes like a sugar cookie in a pie version...lots of sugar, butter, and eggs. One of my students had brought it in for me. Wasn't that super sweet??

4. I only allowed myself one piece and I shared the rest.

This is actually all I ate out of that piece...

It's not that it wasn't good...but it was first thing in the morning and my band was just not going to allow any more than that.

5. My kids made me feel so loved today that I started to second guess my decision...until I walked down the hall into a cloud of marijuana smoke. Two hours later I smelled a burning smell through out the halls...and then saw a fire truck. Apparently some kids had set a teacher's bulletin board on fire. Yep, I made the right decision.

6. I still have to work tomorrow. It's a teacher planning day (no kids). I packed all my stuff today and even had the kids load my car, so I'm not real sure what I will do tomorrow.

7. WTF....Grey's Anatomy is a rerun again this week!!!! Do these people not realize that I purposely have no life on Thursday nights just because of the show?? I won't even allow The Rockstar to have band practice here on Thursday's because I don't want my show interrupted.

8. Speaking of The Rockstar, I told him he deserves to be bitch slapped. This is what he brought home...into my house....on my kitchen table...

People, I have managed to run from those little cookie terrorists for a over a month now. I thought I was in the clear. Then, BAM...he does this to me.

9. The Rockstar gives private drum lessons to high school/middle school kids. He started lessons with a new kid a couple of weeks ago. His mom said she was trying to lose weight and she would probably just walk around our neighborhood while his lesson was going on. I told her I would totally go with her...happy to have a walking buddy now :)

10. I am 54 days clean and sober from the crack juice!