The Graham Tales

I decided to clean out my closet and dresser today as the past few months worth of shopping expeditions have greatly increased my wardrobe, which in turn decreases the amount of room I have to store all of these clothes.  Besides, I KNEW I still had some stuff that I’d been keeping that I was positive that I wouldn’t wear again, but was just keeping around cuz of the good memories associated with it.  I’m kinda glad now that I kept some of that stuff around.  =D

I didn’t end up getting rid of all that much, just some of the “mommy/preggers/weight troubles” type clothing that I had still been transitioning out of - sweats, large t-shirts, mommy undies, etc.   I also ended up packing up and putting into the “giving away pile” some of my maternity clothing that I’d kept around in case we decided to add onto our family.  I can’t wait to start digging into James’ closet to get start sorting out “giving away,” “selling,” and “throwing away” piles.  =P  It’s going to be nice to have some more storage space in our house once all that’s done!

What I didn’t realize when I started going through my clothes today was just how much darn fun it was going to end up being!!!  I started trying on some of my old clothes to see if I should keep or chuck it, and I was so pleasantly surprised!  I pulled some old suits out from the back of my closet that I used to wear for work, and they fit!  Not only do they fit, but I’m considering chucking a couple of them cuz they’re actually loose and hang a little funny now.  But my most FAVORITE suit EVER!  That one fits sooooo perfect now!  It’s more of a summer suit, pale blue in color, sleeveless, two-buttoned, and, oh, so sexy, but it was still semi-tight when I wore it before when I was working.  The last time I wore that suit was probably, oh … 2002 or 2003 cuz it started getting tighter than I wanted it to be so the fun was kind of out of wearing it.  =P  But this morning!!!!!  It fit sooooooooo goooooooddddd!!!!

I also found this sexy red dress that I’d actually never gotten to wear before!  I bought it about five years ago, knowing that I had maybe 5-10 pounds I’d like to loose before wearing it.  It was supposed to be my motivation to lose that weight.  Never happened.  =P  But this morning when I put it on, it looked sooooooo gooooooood!  =D  I can’t wait to wear it out!!!  I also found this long black dress that I wore last when I was 18, for the winter semi-formal at UNL, and it fit LIKE A GLOVE!  Haven’t been able to get back into that thing for nearly 13 years!!!
I just had so much fun this morning trying on my old clothes and either having them fit again or seeing them fit better than they had in the past!  I swear, in the frenzy I was in, if my wedding dress had been easily accessible and not all wrapped up and sealed so nicely (courtesy of Amy), I would’ve thrown that thing on just to see the difference in fit!  I bet it would be sort of loose fitting now cuz I wasn’t even this thin at my wedding.  I was probably a little less than 10 pounds heavier.  I wonder if I’d even have to put that stupid, breath-stealing, girdle/corset thing on to get the dress on?  I bet NOT!  =D

This might seem so silly to lots of other people to be so happy about something so vain and shallow, but you have to understand that I’ve spent about 2/3 of my life chubby, overweight, with low a low self-image.  It wasn’t till my late, late teens and into my early 20s that I actually felt good about my outward appearance, enough so that I think I was able to let go of a lot of my own insecurities to find the real JenJen that had been hiding inside all that time.  The last three years, and actually probably more like four or five, it’s been hard dealing with not only aging, but having a child, and then going back to the weight issues I’d had growing up.  All the old insecurities came back, and on top of that, I was dealing with a lot of new insecurities taking on the role of a mother in a new city.  I felt like I was so weighted down by so many things and somewhere along the way I think I lost a bit of my old self, that sparkle that always kept me going.

Now that I’m finally opening my eyes and SEEING the changes I’ve been able to accomplish, my self-confidence is coming back in leaps and bounds.  That sparkle/twinkle that I’d lost is back in my eyes.  I feel ready to take on the world again.  =D  Thanks, Brad, for pushing me so hard to do this for the RIGHT reason.  Thanks for being my conscience in keeping me in check to make sure I could and have achieved the goals I set for myself.  Thanks for keeping my spirits up and motivated so that I could make it to today and have so much to thank YOU for.  <3

Ah!  My heart just melted!  I love my son sooooo much!  He just made me feel like a million bucks with a few simple words, a hug, and a kiss.  *sigh*

We were sitting on the couch, watching TV, and he pointed to a girl on the screen.  I looked up and said, “Oh, she’s pretty, isn’t she?”  James said, “Mm hm.”  I said, “Yeah, mommy thinks so, too.”  And then James turned to me and said, “James’ Mommy pretty, too.”  Then he gave me a big hug and kiss.

My heart swelled and I absolutely melted.  God, I love my son!

Okay, so … Jill and I got our asses kicked.  By the end of the class, we realized that we were not quite ready for CrossFit.  We actually had no idea really what this CrossFit class entailed.  It was recommended to Jill by her acupuncturist, who also takes the class.  He must be masochistic.  =P  All Jill told me was that it was an hour long and had something to do with weights and stuff.  I was thinking like a regular work out type class or something.

No, let’s say that I felt like I was in the middle of some B movie, like a cross between “Only the Strong” and the Cobra Kais from “Karate Kid.”  I was so glad that I had Jill there with me cuz I was about to DIE!  When we got there, they got us started and I was already about to pass out halfway through these three rounds of what I ended up finding out was just the warm-up session!  Squats, push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, lunges, this other thing with the PVC pipe, etc.  By the time we got into the real work out, I was thinking, “What the hell?  Are we all just suicidal??”  We were doing like overhead squats with PVC pipes and burpees, and we had to do them in sets of 21 then 15 and then 9.  OMG!  Then at the end, he made us roll a dice and whatever number came up, we multiplied it by 8, and then that’s how many times we had to swing a fricking sledgehammer at this old beat up tire!  That actually wasn’t so bad after the 21-15-9 overhead squats/burpees thing.

Then we come to find out that this was one of the easier classes.  Adam was just taking it easy on us!  On other days, there’s usually an option A and B to choose from, and option B, which is the cop-out option, would be like, oh, running a 10K in an hour.  Yeah, no biggie.  Don’t even ask me what Option A is!

So …  Instead of jumping right to Phase 10, as we are now labeling CrossFit, we are going to find a nice little yoga and a pilates class that we can take once a week each.  Yeah, for two out of shape moms in our 30s, CrossFit is not something to just jump into.  =P

I got quite a few things done yesterday, believe it or not.  Marcus stayed home from work cuz he’s not feeling well, so he hung with the Shrimp and I got to get out and do a few things that I’ve been needing to do.  One, I went back to the gym yesterday morning.  Of course, I am also thinking about just canceling my membership there cuz I haven’t gone in over three or four months.  But my neighbor, Jill, wants to check out this CrossFit class this morning and she talked me into going with her.  It’s probably going to kick my ass big time (need to lay off the smokes), but I’m going to try my darnedest to keep up.  At least I won’t be alone, looking like a fool, who’s uncoordinated and about to collapse in death at the back of the room.

Second, I have replaced my size 8 jeans!  I just had to go shopping yesterday afternoon.  My pants were literally FALLING down.  Well, I have some shorts and stuff and they weren’t falling down, but my jeans, and any other pair of long pants that I have … Falling down.  So since I had an Old Navy gift card, I thought I’d just pop over there to pick up a pair for the time being.  My current pair were size 8s, so when I got there, I picked up a couple pairs of size 6s to try on.  To my surprise, the 6s were actually a little loose so I went and grabbed a pair of size 4s, which were still a little loose as well.  However, the 2s were too tight for my liking so I ended up picking up the 4s.  They weren’t really what I wanted, at least they fit, but I wasn’t totally satisfied so I went across the mall to a couple other stores and in the second store, I found two new pairs of jeans.  =)  Lucky for me, they were on sale cuz I’ve never spent over $100 on a pair of jeans before, but they sure do make my butt look good!  I have a butt again!  No more saggy bottoms!  And then I’m going to go to this CrossFit class and make sure my booty gets even better looking!

But I actually had a pretty good time yesterday, getting to go shopping.  It’s a lot more fun shopping when you can actually fit, and look good again in clothing.  I got also picked up a few more tops and some shorts and a couple skirts while at the mall, and then I stopped in Vicky’s Secrets for some new sexy undies and stuff as my old ones are really, really loose now and they really look like mommy panties now!  =P  It’s been such a long time since I’ve been happy about shopping.  The past three years have been really hard with coming to terms with the changes in my body pre- and post-preggers.  I feel like I’m finally back in control again and not like I’m just hitting my head against a brick wall with every new diet or exercise I try.  So yesterday’s shopping expedition was my own reward to myself for a job well done.   =D  Wooh!

Will probably update after CrossFit to let you know whether I’m still alive!

Hm, so …. I’m kinda pissed at myself, but at the same time I’m happy.  This morning, after showering and getting dressed, I found myself in a bit of a quandry.  All my pants are too big.  That’s the happy part cuz, even though the scale says that I’ve lost nearly 25 pounds since January, the best is when you realize your old clothes are too big for you now.  And the clothes that you used to stretch out a bit cuz you were just kinda on the edge of one size or the other …. ?  Now they either fit perfectly or hang a little loose.  =)

The part I’m pissed at myself about though is that just a few months ago, I think back in March or April, I went through my closet and started chucking a lot of old clothes.  A few of the old things I chucked were my size 6 jeans cuz, seriously, at that time, the thought in my head was, “Who the hell am I kidding?  Even if I lost a bit of weight, I won’t EVER fit in those again since, if I really wanted to be honest with myself, my 8s feel a little too tight as it is!”

I mean, yes, I was super happy and semi-aware of the fact that, yes, I had lost quite a bit of weight over the first part of the year.  It really helped last weekend when Sarah, Mike and I went out to the Promenade, and at the Diesel store, I discovered that I was not as big as I thought I was.  I mean, the guy was like, “What size?  29?”  I looked at him and I was like, “Yeah …  I look deceptively small, let’s try more like a 32 or something.”  He ended up bringing me a range of sizes cuz I think he knew I didn’t know squat about sizing.  =P  I mean, hello, I don’t usually spend that much on my jeans, and the jeans I would try on or buy usually come NOT in inches sizes.  =P  It felt really good to come out of the dressing room knowing that I was actually a size 28!  I think my tape measure is broken cuz when I measured myself last, the number I came up with was in the 30s.  =P  I did not end up buying those jeans, but I know that they made my ass and legs look FINE!  I mean, hell, I finally realize why people would be willing to pay $200 for a pair of jeans!

But this morning, it really hit me that I am finally so, so close to where I wanted to be.  Actually, to be honest with myself, I am doing a lot better than I thought.  My goal that I had placed on myself was losing 20 pounds by Vegas, but I would’ve been happy with 15 or even less.  I nearly reached that goal, and by the time I got back from Vegas, I was actually right at my goal, but I fluctuated a little here and there for a month.  Now though, I am firmly entrenched in the 20+lbs lost area.  I’m back to my pre-pregnancy weight!  I still have my “mommy” tummy a little, but I’m going to work on that.  I got a stability ball recently and I’m going to start using it religiously!  =D

But I’m still pissed that I chucked my size 6 jeans!!!  I can’t believe I had soooooo little faith in myself!!  And I’m pissed that we’re about to go see “Dark Knight,” and  I can’t show off my -20lbs ASS cuz my pants are too loose!  =P

Marcus is all set up with his new iPhone.  Thank God!  He and Cami went after work on Saturday night to go stand in line at the Apple store in Century City to get their tickets for a spot in Sunday’s line.  Thank God, they did that cuz we were able to walk out of the Apple store by noon, with an iPhone for Marcus and an iPhone for Cami, and did not have to wait in line all day long.  The good thing was that it was at the Century City mall so Mike, Sarah, James and I were able to go walk around and stuff if it took too long.  =P

But Marcus has a phone again and he’s doing a lot better.  I still can’t believe all the BS we went through on Friday night at dinner.  I don’t think I mentioned at all in the previous post that we had a good idea of who we thought might’ve taken Marcus’ phone from our table at dinner.  It was two gross, drunk guys that were standing at the bar behind our table, and at point one of them had leaned over table to try to flirt with us gals while the guys went to have smoke.  That’s probably when it happened, but none of us were paying attention at the time.

Later on, after we discovered the phone was missing and searching around our table for it, the two of them were all touching up on Cami and when I tried to intervene, they started touching up on me.  It was really frustrating, annoying, and gross, and in retrospect, I really wish I would’ve just had the two guys empty their pockets or gotten the management more involved.

Although that’s another thing that pissed me off.  The staff at the restaurant, while very friendly, were NOT HELPFUL AT ALL!  The hostess had told us when she was seating us at the table that they were going to comp us some appetizers or drinks for the wait they put us through for the table, but that didn’t happen and we were so upset by then and Marcus wanted to go that we just didn’t deal with it at the time.  They weren’t helpful at all with the fact that they had a thief in the restaurant stealing iPhones!  They told us that apparently after Marcus’ phone was stolen, one of their staff members had their iPhone stolen, too, but nothing was done!  Cami said she thinks that’s their policy, to say that one of their staff’s phones got stolen, too, if a customer’s phone gets stolen so that customers would cause less problems.  If that’s what it was, it just disgusts me even more.

So even though we love the food there, we’re never ever going back to Tengu in Santa Monica.  I called on Saturday morning to leave them a nasty message since no one was there when I called.  I just told them what a terrible experience we had and how we’re never going back or recommending the place to anyone else, and everyone that we’ve recommended it to, we’re going to tell them never to go there again either.

As for the rest of our weekend and how it went …  Saturday, Sarah, Mike, James and I were going to go to Century City to the Apple store to get Marcus a new phone since he had to work, but Kelly and Alex were there, and they were trying to figure out for us how that would work with the whole iPhone 2 weekend stuff going on, and we were basically told that they wouldn’t let me pick up a phone for someone else because it has to be the person getting the phone that picks it up or else they won’t sell it to you.  So because we were stumped there, we went to the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica for some shopping instead.  It was a pretty nice day and a good time to just hang out and chill for a little bit.  Then Saturday night, we had Antara and Mark over, who recently moved here from Nebraska in the past year and are good friends with Mike and Sarah and Marcus.  We had a lot of fun with them, and I think having them over took Marcus mind off his phone for a little bit.  We also got to play “Apple to Apples” which is a super, super, SUPER fun group game.  =D

Then on Sunday, we went to the Century City mall to get Marcus and Cami their new iPhones, did a little bit of shopping and looking around there, and then went to Mitsuwa for lunch before we went to a showing of “Hellboy2.”  We ended up grilling that night, and watching the premiere of “Big Brother 10.”  =D  Today, Marcus has to work, there’s another live taping, and Mike, Sarah and I are going to go to that tonight.  But we’ll probably head to Venice Beach during the day cuz we don’t have to be at the taping till 6pm.  =D

I can’t believe Mike and Sarah leave already on Wednesday, early morning!  I’ve enjoyed having them here sooooo much!  It sucks that Nebraska and California are so far away from each other!

Mike and Sarah came into town on Thursday night, and last night, we were all going to go out to a nice dinner at Tengu i Santa Monica.  Little did we know the world of shit we were going to be entering there.

First off, I made reservations for us for 8:45pm, and we were about 5-10 mins late because of traffic and construction where we ended up getting turned around.  I did call the restaurant at that point to let them know what happened and that we were on our way, and they were all fine with that.  Unfortunately, even with our reservations, it took them a freaking hour to get our table ready.

Then on top of that, after we were finally able to order our meal, before our food arrived, someone stole Marcus’ iPhone from our table.  From right out from under our noses!  Can you believe that shit??!!!  We spent quite a bit of time looking for it, and it’s gone.  =(  Marcus is devastated and angry and wasn’t able to even go back into the restaurant to eat his meal after this happened.  =(

I just can’t believe the shittiness of people.  Unbelievable.

So …  I didn’t even know it was the fourth of July.  Or rather, I knew it was coming up, but it just feels like any other day to me.  However, thanks to Hogan!  We’ll be visiting him at the house he’s housesitting at, for a small pool party!  I can’t wait to see how James will be around the pool.  There’s also a grotto!  =)

I’m sure we’ll be sharing some pictures with you all, as Hogan is planning on bringing his camera, and he is the Graham Family personal photographer, you know??!!  =P

Hope everyone has a wonderful 4th planned, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ALI, and lots of happy wishes and blessings to River!!!!

Oh, and LESS THAN ONE MORE WEEK TILL MIKE AND SARAH COME TO VISIT!!!!!!  =D

Yesterday, it was soooooo HOT outside and inside (even with our little portable AC running all day) that we ended up having a bit of water hose fun in the front yard.  You can check out the pics from it here, and thank Hogan for being the Graham Family photographer!

We ended the evening with watching the UFC finale.  God, Kendall Grove is so HOT!!!!!

Oh, iPhone, oh, iPhone,  How do I love thee?  Let me count the ways ….

I got my iPhone back in April for my birthday, so it’s been just over two months that I’ve had this beautiful piece of technology.  I used to be anti-iPhone, for some stupid reasons of my own, but then Marcus lost his Blackjack back in February, and he ended up replacing it with an iPhone.  After a week or so, I started to play around with his iPhone a bit, and discovered my love for the device.  It became my goal to get an iPhone for my birthday.  =)

I love the keyboard.  Hey, I used to have a Razr and those things take forever to type out a text message with.  I was pretty fast for it being a Razr, but the iPhones are amazing!  I also get to check my emails all the time, check the weather, don’t need to lug around my big ass laptop to check things on the internet.  It’s also my iPod for when I go work out so I no longer have to carry my keys, my iPod, my phone, my gym card, my water bottle, my towel …  I just need my iPhone, keys, water, towel and gym card.  =)  I know that’s just one less thing than before but, dude!  That’s still one less item I have to lug around when I’m at the gym.

I’ve been in love with my iPhone for a while now, but I would have to say Vegas clinched the affair for me.  I’m not a car person.  I hate driving and I hate riding in cars for more than an hour or so.  But our four-five hour drive to Vegas flew by soooooo fast with my iPhone!  I was checking my emails, updating my blog, checking our maps for time/distance, checking the weather, texting the other gals to see what their ETAs were …  It’s just a thing of magic, this iPhone.  =)

I think the only thing I wish it had was a flash for the camera.  When we went out clubbing, my little clutch only had room for my ID, some cash, lipstick, and either my iPhone or camera.  Needless to say, I chose my iPhone over the camera.  I could take pictures during the day with my iPhone, but those clubs are so dark and it’s at night anyway, so I wasn’t able to take pictures with my iPhone.

But other than that, I love my iPhone!  I still haven’t even gotten into a smidgen of what my iPhone can do.  I’m still playing around with just the basics.  But I can’t wait for MobileMe!  Also can’t wait for the next generation of iPhone to come out so that the rest of my friends can get on the wagon!  I feel so bad for them that they aren’t iPhonians.