P90X the update.

So I bet you are wondering what's going on with P90X?  Well we are still going, almost at the end of week 11, (13 weeks total.). Guy and I are doing great, he is down about 19 lbs and I am down just about 17 lbs, but it's not just the weight, it's our shapes that are better, and newly formed muscles, his are better then mine because he using heavier weight. But I don't want to be all jacked  up, toned is fine for me.

We are also sticking to a good diet. It's been good doing this together because we are really supporting each other and staying motivated.  I will admit in the middle, around week 7-8 we both got a little tired and frustrated.  We were at a weight plateau and I was definitely mad about working out, but we pushed through and here we are in the home stretch doing great.

I can even button my O'Neill jeans that I LOVE and haven't worn in years....since  2008!  The are still a tiny bit tight and because they are low rise I do have a slight muffin top situation going on, but I know if I keep going i will rocking them by labor day hopefully. 

I cleaned out my linen closet earlier in the week and came across an almost full bottle of 'Love Handler' by Bliss.  Bonus!  I started using it on my muffin top region and there is definitely some zinging cooling stuff going on in that gel.  Some of you may scoff and think I am wasting my time, but I already have it so why let it go to waste?  Will keep you posted on what I think.

As for my final reveal, I have mixed emotions about actually posting my before and after pics.  I am proud of my work, but still embarrassed about my pre-P90X shape.

Have a wonderful day. Xoxo -Mellycup

One in a million...

 I smile everyday because of this sweet girl

And I am SO lucky to spend everyday with her. xoxo - Mellycup

What's the password??? ....New England Clam Chowder....The red or the white?

I get so used to having my passwords saved on my laptop that I get all mad when I have to actually log into a site.  Whenever it prompts me:  Save password? I immediately select YES!  Anything to further my computer laziness.  I usually forget my passwords and never have them written down, so when ever I am prompted and I have forgotten, I always have to go the old reset route.  And everytime I swear, this time I will remember, no such luck. We have so many things that require password it seems like an impossible task.

I know there are people out there that keep their passwords locked up like a vault,  yes this is fine for somethings, your bank data, stores that save your credit card info etc. But shopping sites, discount sites, Facebook?  Or even my email. In the comfort of my home, these things are accessible, anyone using my computer is obviously someone I know and I am really not that worried about them hacking my stuff.  If perchance my computer disappears well then I think I have a greater problem beyond my silly passwords.

Though there are people out there that protect their passwords even from the ones they love. Honestly what are you being so secretive about? Do you really think someone would intentionally log into one of your sites and do something that harmful.  If you do my friend then you have even bigger problems. Or maybe your are hiding some big secret perchance. As for me I have left my email and Facebook open plenty of times and been subject to a few joke posts, but nothing that would ever cause damage.

This was just a random thought today as I was prompted for my password to blog. Off to make an ice coffee, then drive my niece Julie to Tae Kwon Do.

xoxo - Mellycup

Random days of my life.

Left the beautiful ADK this morning in hopes of having an afternoon by the pool. No such luck, as it is cloudy and rain is on the way.  Of course it was cool and sunny this morning in Old Forge as opposed to the last 3 days of heat and humidity.  Thinking we should have stayed there a while longer. Plus I left my farmer's market corn in the fridge.

Friday was a somber day for me, it was 24 years since my dad died and 1 month since we lost Lucky.  I was a little emotional thinking about how much I miss my dad after all these years and how hard it is still dealing with the loss of Lucky.  Your heart never fully heals.

There are signs of Lucky all over the house still.  I put away his food dish and water bowl, but other then that not much else has changed. His toys are still in the living room, the drawer in the hutch still has his leases and extra collar in it.  His food container still sits on the counter half full of dry dog food and if you open my freezer you will find a dozen frozen Lucky meals. I have no desire to put any of it away.  It doesn't bother me to see it, I think the thought of it not being there bothers me more, like I am closing another chapter on my sweet boy.

With regards to our weekend away, it was pretty uneventful, Mia was less then cooperative. As she is approaching the "Terrible 2's" I fear this is the new norm.  Going out to eat was a chore, she did not want to stay seated and fought us the whole time.  None of the old distract Mia tricks worked.  Plus she is a terrible sleeper in Old Forge.  Naps were not too bad but bedtime another story.  All 3 nights I had to rock her to sleep and then she got about between 3am-5am and ended up in our bed.  Never sleeping past 6:30 any morning.  

Snoozing in our bed, she tried to take a short nap but I got her to fall back asleep in our bed. 

(For another hour and a half!)

She also maneuvered a crib escape last night. She was in her bed crying and it got quiet, Guy heard a loud boom and the next thing you know she was walking out her door.  Her crib is low to the ground and thankfully the room is carpeted.  I fear that she may try to climb out of her crib in CT and really get hurt.

Not much else new here, have to go scold Mia and tell her to go to sleep, she is fighting her nap because she took a 20 minute nap in the car on the way home this morning. Wish me luck!

xoxo - Mellycup

I see you are doing your paperwork.

Whew. Breathing a huge sigh of relief because I just finished my filing.  I have 2 gigantic file cabinets downstairs and yet I cannot keep up on my filing.  I always let it pile up until it is overflowing on the floor and then I tackle it and complain the entire time.  How much can you really have to file you ask?  Tons!! Business filing for Guy's business and my real estate stuff,  bills, bills, more bills, corresponding, receipts, tax stuff and other miscellaneous papers.  

Ughh I dread doing it. And Guy was totally on my case so I took 45 minutes out of my day and got it done.  I was a little sad at my huge pile of  Lucky paperwork that needed to be filed.   It was all the bills and estimates, final insurance papers, etc.  When I put them into the Lucky folder my heart felt heavy because this was going to be last thing I would ever file in there.  We received the insurance reimbursement from the Pet Insurance yesterday and I felt so bad looking at those checks.  They did not nearly cover the amount of money we spent but it was a little more than I had expected so I found myself questioning our decision once again.  But I snapped out of it, my mother-in-law had spoken with a vet recently and told him about Lucky and the vet said pancreatitis is the one of the worst things a pet can get and it would have been amazing if he had survived a severe bout of it.  I know we did what was best for him and we always gave him the best treatment possible. 

On another note a miracle of sorts happened yesterday, my cell phone survived a swim in the toilet.  I was using the bathroom and my phone slipped out of my pocket in the toilet and sank straight down. I feared the worst as I fished out and rinsed it off.   I immediately took it apart, dried it off and laid out the pieces on paper towel. I left it alone for about an hour then I put it back together and it worked just fine!  The plastic cover I had on it was the savior I am sure!  Guy was convinced I was trying to get a new cell phone. But I am happy to report its all good for now! 

Thats all thats up with me right now, off to grab some lunch. xoxo - Mellycup

Cause baby you smile I smile...

Mia is growing and changing so fast.  She is so awesome!  Her vocabulary is amazing, I can't even keep track of the amount of words she knows, but it is truly remarkable.  AND now she has started to form sentences, putting words together.   

Yesterday she brought me her little singing teapot, and said "Turn on".  Then today when her milk cup was empty she said, "All gone."   My friend stopped by also and she saw him and said "That is Timmy."  Amazing how well she listens, picks up things and responds.

I truly feel blessed that we can communicate with her so well and we rarely have issues understanding each other. I know that this age can be tough for some people when their kids have a hard time getting the words out. I am so thankful that Mia is a chatterbox just like her mom, well lets face it most of the women in my family.  Plus I chat with her all day so I think that helps.  

Just wanted to share or boast about how smart my little peach is.  Proud mama for sure!

xoxo - Mellycup

Yes I know my blog title is from Bieber...I think most women have a tiny bit of Bieber Fever.

Somewhere over the rainbow skies are blue.

When was the last time you saw a rainbow, for real? I am not talking about the one the hose makes.  I feel like rainbows are those few and far between things.  Unless you live in Hawaii where they are so common they are featured on the license plates.

Well in the last 2 weeks I have seen 2 rainbows.  And of course I immediately get drawn back to my new favorite song,  If I Die young, by The Band Perry. There is this line:  "Lord make me a rainbow, I'll shine down on my mother, she'll know I'm safe with you when she stands under my colors."

How often do you really see a rainbow? Its been years since I have seen one and now I see 2 in the last 2 weeks?  I want to think that its my boy letting me know he is okay.  Guy and I saw a rainbow last night on the way to dinner and in the last few days I have been feeling very down again and I think that rainbow came to me to let me know its going to be okay.

I know that Lucky and my sadness and dealing with his loss have been many a topic of my blog over the last few weeks and I thankful for anyone who reads this and thinks I am NOT crazy.  I raised him from the time he was 8 weeks old and was beyond attached to Lucky, losing him suddenly and too soon was not how I pictured the end of his life.

So thanks for listening, look out for rainbows, maybe its someone you love trying to tell you they are okay.  I believe there are signs everywhere.

 

This rainbow picture is from our honeymoon in Hawaii on the Island of Kauai. 

xoxo - Mellycup

Gather up your tears, keep 'em in your pocket...

Its been almost 3 weeks since I lost my best little guy and while I think I am on the path to healing some days I am thrown for a loop and fall back.  Today I am emotional and crying more than I have been.  I can't stop thinking about him or missing him.  My time with him seemed so short and precious and I find that my heart still aches with the loneliness of not having him hear any longer.

As I said before I don't know if I will ever come to terms with making the decision to put him to sleep. There was no right choice.  Some one told Guy that Pancreatitis (what Lucky had)  is basically a death sentence.  Its not curable and there is no direct remedy for it, its a watch and see disease. So even if he had survived, we'd always be waiting for the next bout.  Throughout his life he did have occasional stomach issues, all of which he would bounce back from. I always just assumed that it was something he ate out in the yard etc. But now I am sure it was this pancreatitis, he probably had it all along and this last time was just too much for him to beat. 

I still miss him terribly, I find myself looking for him whenever I walk into a room, and it saddens me to not see him in his usual spots.  He was the best dog and he loved me with all his heart and I loved him more then anyone will ever know. 

Love you my sweet puppy.   xoxo - Mellycup

Deck the halls...

Its hot as hell out and yet I have Christmas tunes in my head.  Go figure.  Its all thanks to Miss Mia.  Last year after Christmas my mom bought her a little snow globe type thing that plays xmas music. I use the term snow globe very loosely as it has no water in it, just air and there is a button you push to make the snow whirl around .  I think she got it at CVS for 75% off the Pre-Christmas price.

It has been sitting on the shelf next to the changing table since we got it and when it first entered our home we played it at almost every diaper change.  But as with most things in a 1 year old's life, the novelty wears off and thankfully by mid-February Frosty the fake snow globe was collecting dust.



Until last week when Mia got a hold of it and anxiously thrust it towards me waiting for me to push the button and make it come forth to life, unfortunately it was a no go, the batteries were dead.  We brought it downstairs in search of 2 "AAA" batteries and of course we had none.  I sat it on the counter as reminder to get some batteries, and poor Mia just stared up it with a sad  "what the heck?" expression on her face. I tried to explain that we needed to get batteries, but I think that was more for me than her.




So today we finally got the batteries and that little snow globe is back in business.  Fake Styrofoam snow whirling around and blaring tinny sounding Christmas tunes.  Mia is thrilled walking around with it, pressing the button over and over.  Me I am hoping the novelty will once again wear off soon.






Wishing you a Merry Christmas in July, and a Happy Remainder of the Year!   xoxo - Mellycup

Money isn't everything...

The other day I was reading People magazine and in the letters section someone had commented on Kim Kardashian's engagement ring, the cost of which was an unbelievable $2 million.  The person said that it would be more reasonable for her to have a smaller ring and donate that large amount of money to charity. It made perfect sense to me.

Now for years I have been watching all their shows, following them of twitter, etc.  And after I read this letter I thought back and I realized I have never really heard of them or saw them doing anything charitable.  Their family just spends money, wear unbelievably expensive shoes and clothes, drive expensive cars and all the while they are always out promoting themselves and trying to make more money.

I decided from this point on that I am not going to celebrate or support the Kardashians any longer.  You hear about all these other celebrities and their foundations or huge donations they make.  I might be wrong about this and they may be an extremely charitable family but they don't come across that way on their shows.  It would be in their best interest to feature more of that instead of parties and Christian Louboutin shoes.

I also heard that Kim registered for over $100,000 worth of gifts for her wedding.  Honestly does she need any of that?  Have your guests make a donation to charity instead of buying you things that you can clearly afford on your own.

xoxo - Mellycup

Uncle Ned's kids, the brother of Aunt Liz.

Have you ever crashed a wedding?  Well I crashed my first wedding with Guy and my sister a few weekends ago and I am finally getting around to writing about it.

We were up in the ADK (Adirondacks) hanging with some friends who were up there for a wedding. After a few beers they were telling us we should crash the reception the next evening.  True we did know a good number of the guests from snowmobile season, the bride & groom are snowmobilers (though we do not really know them personally).

Right off the bat a dilemma had risen, we only packed jeans, t-shirts, & flip-flops. We had no party clothes!  Old Forge is a vacation town,  knick knack shops, t-shirt stores, that kind of thing. Where in the hell were we supposed to find wedding crashing dresses?  The closest place to shop for real clothes was a hour south in Utica and we were not that committed.  So while Mia napped on Saturday afternoon, we took a little trip down town to peek in the stores and see if there was anything worthy.  My friend joked that maybe we could find something at the t-shirt shop.  Well a funny thing happened, we did.  Here I am trying on this black dress, and saying out loud to myself, "Am I really buying a dress to crash a wedding?".  Apparently I was, thankfully it only cost me $29, can't argue with that price. Liz also found a $30 dress.  As for shoes Liz happened to have some flat sandals, I was going to rock my black flip flops.

Guy was another problem. He did have a polo shirt, but he could not pull off jeans and sneakers.  We half joked that he could wear his snowmobile bibs.  He hit up the local hiking/biking mountain shop and found a pair of khakis and some tan loafers.  His outfit was much pricier than the ladies, so now we were doing this thing whether we liked it or not.

We headed out of the house just after 9, we figured the reception would be in full swing by then, past dinner etc.  When we arrived, I was super nervous in the driveway because as we had not anticipated that the place was closed for the event, the bar was not even open to the public. Our original plan was to go to the bar and then casually mesh into the wedding.  From the parking lot we spotted one of our friends, my sister bolts off and heads straight into the tent, a bold move.  Guy and I opted to head in the rear entrance of the bar and casually start mingling.  Thankfully it worked, yes we did get a few stares, but we knew a good handful of people there that we just started to fit it.  Drinks were flowing, the band was rocking. It was a great time.  Yes of course we danced, we did not half ass this thing.   We even had wedding cake, which was divine! We made a swift exit just before midnight. All in all it was a good time, the bride was even informed of our crashing and didn't mind in the least.  I also heard a rumor that us crashing the wedding was the highlight of the event.

 Good friends...

Good times...

Yes, Guy borrowed a blazer from one of our friends to look a little more "wedding guest-ish".  And as for my dress, it was so comfy that I might actually wear it to a wedding I am invited too next month, with proper shoes of course!

xoxo - Mellycup

I'll keep you locked in my head until we meet again...

We are in week 8 of P90X and I am happy to report I am down a pants size and 11.5 lbs.  Although these last few weeks I feel myself fighting to workout. My body just seems so hell bent on giving up. I am angry when I workout and I know working out should make me feel better but I resent it. I also know where its coming from, this is my grief over losing Lucky fighting me.  All I really want to do is lay in bed in my cool room, with the shades drawn and sleep.  My body is physically exhausted and fights me all day long.  I sleep at night but its restless and I haven't had any time for a nap.  I keep telling Guy that I want 24 hours of sleep, as if that will help.

Overtime I am sure I will start to feel better but right now all I want is to sleep. But I don't just give in to it, I continue living my life, taking care of my beautiful baby girl and working out as well.  I can't let my grief win and shut me down and allow me to shut everything out.  I have my beautiful family that needs me, even though one important member is missing.

So that's where I am right now, still having that heavy feeling in my chest from time to time, missing my sweet boy.

xoxo - Mellycup

P. Sherman, 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney.

 

Covered pool, un-opened hamburger buns, the sign of a rainy day right smack dab in the middle of the long 4th of July weekend. I had every intention of spending this entire day soaking up every bit of sun I could. It's July and we've had so much crummy weather that I feel my tan is one big fail so far.  Thankfully its only the 3rd day of July and I am hoping this bad weather blows over and we get sunny skies tomorrow.  So I can finally cook those burgers!

Here is the latest in our house in case you were wondering. Mia spent the night at my sister's house last night and this morning when we went to pick her up, there was a new addition to the family. Liz bought Mia a beta fish. Needless to say Guy and I were not super excited, but Mia's excitement was something you can't just say no to.  She named him Go-Go and as she stood there looking into his bowl and squealing "Go-Go!!!" you couldn't help but smile, and who am I to deny my sweet baby girl.  My only trouble is where do I keep this thing? I have all my high spaces filled with things that must be kept out of Mia's reach and now I have to squeeze Go-Go in somewhere that he can be seen but not touched.

Of course Go-Go is living in this huge fish bowl with neon rocks, a space that is much too large for a tiny beta fish. The thing could live in a dixie cup for god's sake!  So sorry Liz we down-graded Go-Go from his fancy mansion to a more reasonable small vase. He still has plenty of space, but I can better accommodate him this way.  Now I just have to keep Mia away from him, I have visions of gold-fish crackers floating atop his water or worse, the whole thing being over turned and him flopping on the rug. We'll have to see how this one plays out!

Go-Go in his new digs. 

xoxo - Mellycup