Happy Day, Happy Day

Ohhh sooo many things to tell you!

hysterical laughter here

First, received a call from the Bio-mom and after a very nice chat about the books I had sent her, she told me her reason for phoning.

drum roll

She wanted to know if I could take the girls for a day. Mama needs a break. From the sounds of chaos in the background, I’d say Mama needs a llllooonnggg vacation. Oh, wait, she had one for a year, snicker.

snotty eye roll here

Okay, I’m not really that mean (maybe just a little mean) I know Bio-mom is trying and I know it’s hard. So I was thrilled (thrilled) to set up a date with the wee girls. I am so excited. I get to be the good auntie! I get to be the fun auntie! I get to take them home after spoiling those little tyrants for hours and hours and hours.

gleeful laughter here

Sadly, Beloved pointed out that spoiling them rotten and being “fun” auntie might make Bio-mom mad, so maybe I shouldn’t be too fun.

Right…

So, next Friday (May 2nd) it’ll be party at Auntie Ann’s house!! Woo whooo!

And in other news, I am on the diet wagon again. I warned you weeks ago that I was going to jump back on. Only this time, it’s a bit different. A friend, who shall remain nameless (unless she really wants to be named), found a site for us to track, well, everything!

Over at The Daily Plate you’ll find a terrific tool to track what you are eating and how many calories you burn with exercise. There are forums, groups, a listing of diets, and even a place for your to list your own meals. It even helps you track how much water you drink!

Now, I know what you are thinking, “How is a website going to help me lose weight?”

Well it won’t, silly, unless you apply yourself. For me, having to tattle to the computer everything I put in my mouth is helping me to focus on good choices. I can easily see how many calories I’ve eaten, how many I should be eating and, hold on to your knickers, how much fat is in what I eat.

Diet tip: Do not eat peanut butter!

I adore the fitness tracker and love seeing how many calories I’ve burned. Using this tool, it’s easier to make choices regarding which exercise is best for me on specific days. For example, if I’ve got a lunch or dinner date at a restaurant where I know I’m going to have to make some hard choices, I’ll walk an hour instead of thirty minutes because I’ll burn a lot more calories (that’s an extra 30 minutes along with the Pilate's).

Diet tip: Muscles get bored. Vary your workout by renting different types of exercise DVDs from NetFlix!

Since we all can’t be fit as a fiddle, like Patti is, we have to work at it. No, there are no quick fixes, but I know you can do it.

At The Daily Plate you can decide how much weight you would like to lose per week and see how many calories you should eat per day to help you attain that goal. My calorie count is pretty high, but I've yet to actually eat that many calories. My thinking is; if I'm not hungry I shouldn't eat. There are many ways to go about eating throughout the day, although most experts suggest six small meals per day, which seems to work very well for me.

Diet Tip: Carry fruit or protein bars with you so you won't be tempted to eat empty calories.

So, for those of you who drink Mountain Dew and eat Cheerios for breakfast, might I suggest you plug that meal into The Daily Plate and see exactly what you’re eating?

And don’t even get me started on all the sodium we are eating! No wonder so many American’s have blood pressure issues!

In writing news, I’ve submitted my entry for the Christian Women Online Contest. The winner will be announced May 11. I entered a contest over at Hearts at Home (winners to be announced May 4). My decision to enter these contests (and others) is to have deadlines and topics to write to. If nothing else, it’s a good exercise in writing.

Teri J. Brown has helped me to plot out my book. Which is both exciting and scary, since the plot, as they say, thickens…considerably. Time will tell.

But the big, fun, exciting, thrilling, news is that I will be joining some other amazing bloggers and write reviews for Litfuse Publicity Group. I am looking forward to reading some great material and helping other authors get the news out about their recently published books. Being a bookworm, I adore the thought of having new material to read! Happy day, happy day!