The Last Year

Wow, has it really been over a year since my last post?  Crazy.  About a month ago a friend asked me if I still wrote on my blog.  I answered honestly, but since then I've kicked around gearing up to regular posting again.  I've also found a few new blogs that I love, so that has probably kicked up my motivation as well.  We shall see how it goes, but here's an update on What's New With Lou (eye roll) ...

 

My Guys

Things are good with Hubby and Bubby.  Hubby finished his MBA in September and that has been great.  No more planning our nights and weekends around his school work-load.  It was a major accomplishment, he did a phenomenal job (all As, save one B), but we are all so happy that it is over.  Bubby is a 4th Grader and that is a crazy mind trip.  My baby is 10.  That makes me both happy and sad at the same time.  He's a great kiddo and most days I want him to stay my little guy ... other days I can't wait until we ship him across the country for college.  Anyway, he is his father's boy and is sports crazy, so that takes up a lot of our time.  He started playing competitive/travel league soccer this past fall and wow does that take up all of our free time.  Spring soccer has just begun, so here we go again.  Not sure what travel league during a Colorado spring will hold in store.  Basketball is winding down and I have to say what I never thought I would say - I LOVE BASKETBALL.  When Bubby plays, that is.  Another thing he got from his daddy, some mad skills on the basketball court.  The kid's a natural at this game.  Brag - Brag - Brag.

 

Fitness

I have to report that 40 has come with a mixed bag of personal pros and cons.  On the emotional and mental front, 40 has been good.  I really think that I've hit that place in my life where my give a damn done busted.  Let me clarify, I feel like I still care about the things and the people that are important, I'm still a good friend and I'll stand by those worth standing by.  However, for those that don't do much more than drain my energy, I just don't give of myself as I use to ... and I'm much happier for it.  Physically, 40 has been a bit of a downer.  In the form of 7 pounds all around my mid-section.  As I've stated here before, I'm a Weight Watchers girl.  I credit Weight Watchers for a 65 pound weight loss roughly 5 years ago.  I continue to follow the maintenance program for Weight Watchers and have no plans to stop.  Simply said, it works for me!  But.  Actually my butt, pardon the bad joke, within a few months of hitting 40, having changed NOTHING, I started to notice the scale nudge up a pound here, a pound there.  At first I brushed it off as nothing, scales go up and down a bit, water retention, more muscle mass, yada - yada - yada.  7 pounds is hard to deny though, especially when my favorite (notsocheap) Hudson Jeans are about 2 lbs away from occupying the dreaded spot on my top closet shelf (to gather dust).  Depressing.  So, I'm at the drawing board, trying some new things, trying to cut back on my calorie intake a bit, introducing some new things to my workouts (running!).  I can accept the 7 pounds ... I just don't want to make it to 10 or 15 pounds.

 

Friday Afternoons

Work is still work, but overall things are good.  One big change is that I have been taking off early on Friday afternoons and it has been AWESOME.  I try to leave work about 2 hours earlier on Fridays and almost always use that time for grocery shopping and errand running.  Super exciting it is not, but it really helps me.  I HATE grocery shopping with Hubby and/or Bubby, but when I am able to go alone and have plenty of time to peruse the aisles, I actually enjoy it.  I'm still, most weeks, a one stop shopper, which means I continue to shop at Super Target.  Unless I need a specialty item, Super Target usually has what I need and I love that I can use my Debit Red Card and the Cartwheel app for savings!  Plus Bubby's school gets a kick back of whatever I spend.  Score!

 

Etc.

Now some random notes! 

Red Wine and White Trash Beer 

My tastes are evolving, apparently.  In the last year or so, I have developed a taste for all variations of red wine.  I use to be a strictly white wine girl, then I was introduced to Malbec a few years ago.  More recently I've begun to appreciate a nice red blend or a Cabernet.  I'm having fun trying a new glass here and there.  This past summer, I also discovered that I like a good domestic (cheap) beer on a hot day/night.  Miller Light is my favorite, but I can go for a Coors or Bud or even a PBR, on occasion.  Who would have thought it?  Never say Never, girls.

Books

I've read some great ones over the past 12 months ... here's a snippet:  The Storyteller by Jodi Piccoult, Lies You Wanted to Hear by James Whitfield, The Lost Wife by Alyson Richman, The Paris Wife by Paula McLain, The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty, The Accidental Husband by Jane Green and Mad About The Boy (Bridgette Jones is back!) by Helen Fielding.  That's some good reading, there.

Hair

Chalk it up under the "who am I kidding" column, but a couple of years ago I decided to grow out my thick - coarse - heavy hair.  In August it was roughly 2 inches below my shoulders and I had no intention of cutting it.  Then I spent a weekend with my BFF and saw a woman at a park with, seriously, the best short hair.  Ever.  BFF urged me to accost the poor woman and snap a few pictures.  A few weeks later, most of my hair wound up on my stylist's floor.  I love it.  I shall never go back to long hair (note to self!).