Yesterday was my Dad’s 60th birthday party. My mom threw a get-together at the house, because he didn’t want a “party.” So, this get-together included bar-b-que, green beans, corn on the cob, spaghetti, potato salad, pasta salad, appetizers, peach cobbler, birthday cake and ice cream along with about 50 of our closest friends and family. My family does not understand the definition of an small get together. But, we had a blast! My Daddy was so happy. My sister made a beautiful DVD with photos of my Dad from infancy, to meeting my mom in college, to us growing up in Kansas City, all the way to Christmas with my niece.
There was so much food everywhere. I ate just one plate and loaded it with the corn and green beans. However, I did go overboard with the desert. I had cobbler and ice cream and cake AND ice cream. I didn’t beat myself up about it though. I am adjusting to the mindset that there is no “on plan/ off plan.” I just enjoyed my family and the food. However, I knew that today I had to make up for yesterday’s desert debacle. I packed my to-go plate with chicken and veggies only and at that for lunch today. No cake, no cobbler. This afternoon I watched “Water For Elephants,” a cute movie about a 1930s veterinarian that runs away with the circus and falls in love. Later on my little sister invited herself to my house. She wanted to play the X-box Kinect, but I really needed to walk in preparation for my half marathon in a couple months. So, we put in Leslie Sansone’s walk at home DVD. I told her that we would walk for two miles, but really I knew I wanted to walk three miles. (She is sitting next to me now as I dictate this blog post, looking at me in shock and horror, that I once again tricked her into a lengthy routine.) LOL! Anyway, she was surprised that Leslie talks through the whole routine, I told her that’s just what Chatty Cathy does. We had fun and even broke a sweat. Leslie said we were her “Sisters in Sweat.”
I was glad that my sister came over and helped me stay on track. After the workout I was hungry and cooked dinner. Still making up for yesterday, I opted to prepare a meal with just a few carbs. I made baked tilapia seasoned with roasted red pepper and garlic with a side of mixed veggies and cheese. The fish was delicious, very similar to the Parmesan encrusted tilapia recipe that I posted a while back. I’m anxious to see what the scale will say at the weight watcher meeting tomorrow. But, honestly with my new approach towards being healthy, I won’t let it impact my behavior. I’m using the scale for information, not judgment. My pants feel looser and my attitude is brighter. So regardless of what the scales says, I tracked every day for a week (except last night), got in some activity, remained positive, and got right back on plan after a relaxed night of fun. In my book, that’s success.
Friday night, my best friend had a sleep over to celebrate her 31st birthday. We’re a little old for slumber parties aren’t we?… Well, I guess not, because we had a ton of fun! We played silly games, like each person picked a personal theme song that was sung by everyone each time she entered the room. My friend is a professional party planner and decorator deep on the inside. I’ll be glad when she lets it out. Everything was purple and black, down to the candles floating in the purple water and the purple M&M’s in the champagne glasses that she gave as parting gifts. I took my X Box Kinect , and we played, the Michael Jackson Experience
In the morning I took my Little Sister to her school dance competition (they won 1st place in the Beyoncé competition) and then I came back to my BFF’s house for brunch. That afternoon, I got my hair done and ran errands setting up new tenants. Everyone is happy for me, but me. I want that crappy building to disappear, but apparently there’s a greater plan that I’m unaware of. Anyway, enough whining about my real estate “investment.”
So, you know I have a “Special Friend” that I dated for a while, but then we became “just friends” (his choice not mine). And, ironically, it worked. We still talk on the phone every day, but the conversation changed a little. Like some of my commenters said, the things I liked about him as a potential boyfriend, are the same things I like about him as a friend. I inspired him to train for the half marathon with me, and we keep each other updated with progress reports on mileage. Even though we talk nearly every day, I hadn’t seen him since October. However, Saturday, he wanted to train together. I told him I was still healing from my “rafting injury” but that I could manage a slow walk. I was super tired, from no sleep at the slumber party, and running errands all day, but I didn’t cancel our training session. It was already dark outside by the time he met at my house to head to the park. He’s a big tall guy, and as a former military man, he tucked a pocket knife in his camouflage vest, and we took Nyah, so I wasn’t really worried about safety. We had great conversation as usual, and things were really “friendly” until my back started hurting. My ginormous boobs really take a toll on my lower back. He saw I was struggling and stepped in close, holding me, helping me turn and stretch my back. He did stretch my back, but I can tell you, with this handsome strong man cracking my back, I wasn’t thinking “friendly thoughts.” I told him I was still transitioning from “dating” to “friend”, but rather unsuccessfully, at that particular time. He laughed thinking I was just joking. Luckily the stretching session only lasted a few minutes and I was able to get my focus back. LOL. Tired, limping, and hormonally flustered, I managed to finish up 2 full miles, and we ended the night with a friendly hug.
Whew! I’m still tired, I don’t know where to begin. I guess the beginning…30 years ago today a beautiful baby girl was born in Kansas City, Missouri to loving parents eagerly awaiting their first born. Daddy had to cut his run short to get to the hospital in time…Okay…maybe I shouldn’t start at real beginning. I’ll just start at Wednesday. One of my best buds from college drove down to St. Louis and she and my Mom picked me up from work, we picked up one more friend and Mom dropped us off at the airport. My best friend was on her way, and my Childhood Friend from Kansas City was already in Vegas. I was totally shocked to see how much damage was still there was as a result of the tornado in April. Windows were still boarded up. We had a great flight, but didn’t make it to our room until almost 1 in the morning. Excited energy kept us up for a couple of hours, but we still got up Thursday morning before 8 AM. My friends are just like me, we are planners. We had our itinerary mapped out for the entire weekend. I took a pic by the historic Welcome to Vegas sign.
I had BIG dreams of being closer to my goal weight when I took this pic, and unfortuatley, I’ve gained weight. But, sometimes life happens. I accepted me for where am today, and didn’t let my weight stop me from living life.
We walked the strip and picked up discounted ticket for everything from shows to meals from Tickets4Tonight. Then we went to the CSI Experience. It was so cool! We had to investigate the murder of a waitress, whose body was found behind an old Vegas motel.
The movie buff part of me wanted the scene to be more graphic, but it looked more like a department store mannequin sprawled out on the ground. I guess if it was too realistic it might creep people out. Anyway, we compared DNA, tire tracks from a stolen car, old text messages and did drug analysis test to figure out what happed to Penny the dead waitress. After we solved the crime, we got a CSI Certificate from Grissom. Here is my CSI Diploma.
That afternoon we went to Stripper 101 Class. Kendra, a REAL stripper, taught us how to give a lap dance and work the stripper pole. We had so much naughty fun, not to mention a good workout. My friends have forbidden me to post pics from class. But since I put all of my business on internet, here’s my pic.
I meant to wear my pedometer, but I forgot. We probably walked about 4 or 5 miles up and down the strip each day in the blazing heat. It was about 105 degrees. I walked so much that my ankles were swollen.
On Friday, we went to the Rio Buffet, the largest buffet in the world with over 90 yards of food. More than 300 Menu items and nothing was repeated. There was Italian, seafood, sushi, Mexican, Chinese, Japanese, American, Southern style and breakfast. The dessert counter was unbelievable. It was honestly a fat person’s dream. The 4 of us sat and ate and chatted for 2 ½ hours! You could have rolled me out of there. That evening was my official birthday dinner party at Planet Hollywood. Everyone was there, my Mama, her best friend, my 4 friends, my Hollywood Aunt, her friend, another aunt, and her friend. We were all still pretty full from the buffet fiasco earlier that day. We had the after party at our suite. My friend’s parent’s booked us a 3 bedroom suite with a full kitchen. We had about 20 family members and friends to attend. So much fun! 
After the party it was time for the after-after party at Tao, an amazing night club. We had VIP access and got in front of the line with at least 100 people waiting behind the velvet rope. There were women in a tub of rose petals (wearing only rose petals) at the entrance. It was huge inside, there were 3 different DJ’s spaced throughout the club, and there had to be at least 1,000 people inside. Security was tight, they reminded me of the secret service in their black suits whispering into their wrist. We partied, with Black people, White people, Asian people, all kinds of people from all over. It was beautiful!
Saturday my Hollywood Aunt treated everyone to a breakfast buffet with made to order omelets at the Venetian. After breakfast we hung out in her room before going to Madame Tussaud’s Hollywood Wax museum. 
That afternoon was following by more walking, shopping and people watching.
Then we saw a pirate show at Treasure Island and watched the beautiful water show at the Bellagio.
We were dead tired, but still went to Lavo, a bath house themed club that night. It had really cool fountains throughout. It wasn’t as big as Tao, but the music was better. We got back to the resort a few hours before we had to leave for our flight Sunday Morning. By the time we go to the airport, my body physically hurt. Probably because we walked so much, and I only got a total of 10 hours of sleep the whole weekend. I must say I celebrated my BIG 3-Oh all the way!
Since the world didn’t end on Saturday, as predicted by “Christian” extremists, life goes on. It’s amazing to me that people think that they can calculate the end of the world. Anyway, this weekend went as planned. On Friday, I went to my cousin’s 16th Birthday backyard BBQ. I heard some great new fast paced tunes that I’ll add to my Bridge to 10K podcast. My Niecey Poo turned 3 on Saturday. She had a fabulous Luau themed party at the mall with 2 birthday cakes and 3 bounce houses. Of course I “had” to try both cakes which were equally delicious. After her party I went to my best friend’s co-worker’s birthday party at a sports bar. My friend tried to get me to try the cupcakes but I passed. I had eaten enough of everything else. The fourth party girl turned 21 and had so much fun that she slept through the scheduled buffet dinner celebration on Sunday. But, unfortunately that didn’t stop me and my Big Little Sister from going to the buffet. During dinner, we had a heart to heart about me and my food addiction, and she actually cried! She almost made me cry, and y’all know I am not a crier. She thought I just “liked food” and didn’t realize how much a daily struggle it is for me. She was astonished at the fact that I routinely eat when I’m not physically hungry and don’t always stop when I full. It saddened her because she didn’t know just how serious of a problem it really is for me. I talk about my love/hate relationship with food on my blog, but rarely discuss it face to face in the real world. She was even further upset by the fact that there was no cure or a pill to fix the problem. Welcome to my world…. She suggested counseling and even hypnosis. I’ve never done one on one counseling, but it could be beneficial. I’m sure insurance won’t cover it though. But, since one of my commenters mentioned hypnosis, and my sister did too, I decided to try it. I’ll tell you guys which program I purchased once I really get to see what it’s about. Please don’t think I’ve completely lost my mind, it works in conjunction with a healthy eating plan like Weight Watchers. As, a nerd I did through research before I bought it, as I was extremely skeptical. However, if these people brainwash me and I become a crazed lunatic, please explain to my family what happened to me. I downloaded the sessions and burned them to CD. I listened to the assigned audio tracks today. Today she focused on eating veggies, drinking only water (Score!) and getting more sleep. Agh, sleep…I routinely go to sleep most nights after midnight. I’ve always been a night owl. I stay up blogging and watching movies, just like I am doing right now. Anyway, for a while I’ve been telling myself that I want to set aside time each day to dedicate to positive reinforcement of maintaining a healthy lifestyle, so this might just be the 20 minute break from the real world to focus that I need.
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