Turning over a ‘New Leaf’

I have always had trouble losing weight.  It’s a battle that is hard won no matter what the commercials for the latest fat burning pill or metabolism boosting supplements say.  I have to keep telling myself that the solution will not come out of some cleverly packaged capsule or beautifully designed box.  Such a shocking concept!  I realized I couldn’t afford WeightWatchers anymore so I did a few things on my own.  I joined myfitnesspal for the support, and started talking to my coworkers who I know were working on losing weight.  I needed a program that would work for me with the amount of time I had available and hopefully get results I could see.  I even talked to a personal trainer at my gym to see what he thought since I had been working out full tilt without seeing changes.  He told me that I was probably working too hard and burning the wrong calories, carbohydrates instead of fat calories.  I wasn’t about to brush off the type of advice I had been looking for, so I continued asking questions.  Within 30 minutes I was signed up something I had never heard of before: New Leaf Metabolism testing.

I presented myself at the gym at the appointed hour, a time I often refer to as the butt crack of dawn, unsure what to expect.  We sat down in a consultation room and talked about the program and what this test was about.  Today we were going to do my resting metabolism test to determine how many calories I burn daily based on my lifestyle, height, and weight.  The machine measures how much oxygen you inhale and how much carbon dioxide you exhale, so you have to wear a mask.  In the interest of conquering my fat deposits, I decided to bite the bullet and get it over with.  I wasn’t expecting it to look like some sort of fetish mask!  It reminds me of the characters (called snowths apparently) from the Muppets that were in the Mahna Mahna song!  I went through it, and the first test was just me sitting on a chair, breathing, for 20 minutes.  Exciting right?  I made the second appointment for later in the week, dreading having to exercise with the stupid thing on.

Just another Monday

After spending the weekend with a sick girl I was happy to see Monday for a change.  Ashley had a fever all weekend which culminated at 9 pm Sunday evening when the poor girl was sick all over the family room sofa.  These are the times it sucks the most to be a single parent.  I could care less about the mess really, but Ashley needs to be held and reassured after getting sick.  I understand my duties well, and thankfully she has come to the age where she knows that Mamí only has two hands.  She was fine once her stomach was empty which gave me the opportunity to clean up the mess before any damage was done.  Three blankets and her loyal stuffed puppy fell victim to the deluge, luckily her other favorite blanket was immediately available fresh out of the dryer.  I tried my hardest to get her to sleep in her own bed, but I should have known being sick trumps all arguments.  I woke up at a quarter to 4 with Ashley curled into my side.  She managed to nudge me over until I was less than a quarter of an inch away from falling out of bed.  The girl has talent.

This morning was our seventh immigration hearing.  I was expecting more of the same, belligerent guards and jaded officials, only to be taken completely by surprise.  Not to say that it was all flowers and sunshine, but no one went out of their way to be unpleasant for a change.  If I were less skeptical, I would say the guards by the metal detector were displaying empathy for me and my situation.  I looked around at the pleasant faces and felt like at any moment some idiot with a video camera would jump out of his hiding place to declare I was on Candid Camera. 

Monday is stalking me...

Last week was busy at work which helped me get my mind off of the deplorable behavior and general attitude of the DHS.  I refuse to dedicate every waking minute of my life to loathing them; it would give them too much power.  Ashley has been sick so I’m getting less sleep than normal, which amounts to about 4 hours a night if that.  I much prefer insomnia to sleeping too much, but it seems I may never find a happy middle ground.

On Tuesday I won a raffle at work for 4 free tickets to Disney on Ice.  I was happy to have won them, but they were for Thursday evening which would mean I’d have to skip my visit with Alberto that day.  At least I had the opportunity to tell Alberto in person on Tuesday, since he hardly ever calls me.  Since I had 4 tickets, I invited my mom and my niece to join Ashley and me.  I figured my poor sister-in-law would be too exhausted to enjoy the show since she is 6 months pregnant with her third child.  I really enjoyed the show and so did the girls. Our seats were awesome; we were on the lower level and 13 rows from the stage.  I definitely want to go again next year, so I better start saving now. 

‘Gourmet’ hot dog dinner - $30, cotton candy - $12, 2 t-shirts - $40, popcorn - $10, Rapunzel doll - $30, Rapunzel hair set - $16, parking - $5, listening to your child exclaim, “Mamí! Mamí!  Look at the princesses!  So pretty!” – priceless.  There are some things money can’t buy.  For everything else there’s a lifetime of debt on a high interest credit card. 

Seriously, that’s almost a $150 for a couple of lukewarm hot dogs that the girls wouldn’t even eat and a few souvenirs!  Yes, it was a cool show and we all enjoyed it, but how much would it have cost us if we’d bought the tickets too?  I shudder just thinking about it.