Biggest Loser...

I had such a great weekend! I had four days off to kick around. Thursday I took off with Brock and Sohpia to the Cape. Stopped at TACO BELL... I dropped them off in W Barnstable at my aunts home and continued to my BFF house in Chatham. I feel like I am a giddy school girl when we are together! I get totally recharged with her. She also is my sounding board and knows my crazy ways of how I am tough on myself and she snaps me right out of it. We had "bunch" at Larry's...
Off to pick up the kids, when I get there pizza is being served... Then dinner was chicken, rice, and salad. On the way back up to NH we stopped at Mc Donalds to pee, oh and to grab a McFlurry, and Iced coffee.
Saturday morning I head off to proctor SAT's. Must grab a LG iced coffee XX, but with milk. After that I went home to pick up the kids to go to the BHS football game (Kurt is head coach), I stop to grab a bite. LG steak and cheese w extra pickles... Are you seeing a problem yet? Oh just wait...
After the game, we head home and Kurt's parents are up. I am not going to cook cause I have nothing to whip up. I order a LG pizza, 2 Greek salads, 3 lg steak and cheese. After picking up this ardery harding crap, I stop at the grocery store for whoopie pies, ice cream, and a cake. Ya, a cake that should be for someones birthday that you should ask the bakery to write something on it. Nope not me I just get the blank cake with 2" of frosting. My heart is hurting just typing this.

Sunday I am up and out early to head to Acton to meet up with HS friends. Stop at DD to get, yup I am sure you know already... Lg iced coffee XX, but with milk. Does your heart hurt yet.
We all meet up and walk the Acton Famers Market, which is great. Lunch time... I have a quiche. Not bad, but not great. I say goodbye to my friends and head to my parents house. I sit with them and talk, my dad offers me dinner... TC LANDO's. I order a Apollo pizza, it is a white pizza w spinach, shrooms, onions, and some other yumminess. I did split it w my mom, but more freak'n carbs...

Monday morning. I did hit DD's and you all know what I get. I think I was in a food coma. I cant even remember much from Monday. Oh wait, I made turkey meatballs in sauce in the crockpot.

So all of this had made me take a look at my eating and lack of working out. SO, I am changing my ways. I am going to make "ME" a priority. I am going to work out and not feel guilty the kids are at home. They probably like me away a bit longer so I don't ask them to clean up or do homework. I am going to keep a food journal of sorts. I would like to be my goal weight by Feb 2010.

Go ME!!!

Dr. Jekyll or Mrs. Hyde?

So I was diagnosed with adult A.D.D. a few years back... I know SHOCKING, but true. I figured I had lived with it this long and hadn't taken meds all would just keep moving along like it always had. I thought back to my youth and came to the conclusion that the reason I was a bit of a mess in HS and college was because of my A.D.D. Back then society did not label everything like it does now and how if you have this(A.D.D.) you get a free ticket to so much! I read a lot about what to do for A.D.D. and what meds might help. I figured I would try them out. I went to the doctor and she gave me "STRATTERA". She said it would also help with my anxiety and crowd issues. Great! This was going to be a miracle in a bottle! Finally! Down the hatch they went. Oh boy, when was I going to feel like the perfect mom, wife, daughter, friend? One week, one month?

Needless to say, after about a month I wanted to take out my family and lock myself away. I had a hard time just getting through the day. It would take so much for me to be pleasant to people when they would come in to the Main Office. Then the smallest thing at home would set me off. I felt like I was Bi-Polar. My kids and Kurt would just look at me frightened. Kurt said to me "you are NOT the person I married". I was so upset that I freaked out my family and that this was not the super pill I thought it was going to be.
I have stopped taking them and waiting for it to get out of my system, which will take up to three weeks. I will just have to stop and think a bit more, filter my thoughts, and remember to write things down so I don't get totally overwhelmed. Oh, if I am telling you a story, it might take me a bit longer and even longer if there are distractions...

I will be on a quest for a natural way to take care of my "condition", but until then... Hey did you hear about our new kittens, oh and that I love my car, I miss Halee, what time is Kurt's game this week, I am at work till 10:00, do the kids have lunch money? You get what I mean:)

SORRY KURT, ABBY, BROCK, and FIFI FOR MY CRAZINESS, THIS IS MY PUBLIC APOLOGY!!!

Stars were Aligned...

Football starts early in our house, well I am not sure it ever stops, but Aug 13th was the beginning of Kurt's football season. Double session, coaches meetings, weightlifting, scouting Pop Warner, computer work, e mails, and the list goes on. Summer decided to arrive during double session, the 3 H's, hazy, hot , and humid! I would go and watch these young men sweat it out and occasionally lose their lunch.. This is the first year the school has had seniors and were playing with a full squad. So much work and time has been put in to getting things up and running.

Last night was the first game of the 2009/2010 season. All the papers and stats were predicting that the other team would win 46-7. That got Kurt FIRED UP! The last 2 practices he would come home all pumped up about how well the boys were "jelling" and really getting it.

Game night...

I have never seen so many people at a high school football game. Living on the East Coast it is not part of our culture like it is down south. If I were a transplant from the south last night I would of felt right at home! Over 3000 people showed up to our school. Parking was a nightmare but it was all worth it. The feeling in the stands and on the field was electrifying! I usually can't watch the games in the stands because of the comments people say about the coaching decisions. Most people do not make the connection that Kurt and I are married. I figured I needed to just suck it up and sit in the stands. I had so much fun! It was a beautiful fall night, full moon, band playing, cheerleaders doing their thing and the smell of the grill from the concession stand. I arrived a bit later and the score was 7 - 6 just before half, we were in the lead... I have been down this road before and just held my breath.

Play after play we marched it down the field, some mistakes along the way but all in all things were in our favor... Um, is this a dream? We got another TD... What is going on? I was floored. Everyone is watching the players reaction, I am watching Kurt. Now Kurt has this thing with BIG LEAGUE CHEW, I think he put the whole package in his mouth before the game. You can see him chomping on his gum feverishly. His jaw gets a mega work out. I watch him interact with the refs holding my breath when they have made a call that is controversial. It is almost more fun watching him then the game itself. A few times during the game I saw the head set he wears come flying off and then he quickly heads in the refs direction. Kurt being Kurt, just puts his hand on the shoulder of the ref and has a chat... Not sure what is said, but I get a bit nervous.

Time is ticking down, back and forth, it is our ball again. What? Another TD and we make the field goal. Seriously, this could not be written any better for us! The clock is counting down and the crowd is in awe! This was not supposed to happen. Sophia turns to me and says; "I guess that visualization thing dad does really works..."

Final score 20-6!!!

I just sat in the stands as the crowd dispersed. I had happy tears welling up inside. I am not sure many of you know the hard work and time it takes to be a coach, a football coach. I sat there watching the young men celebrate and Kurt talk to the team. The cameras were flashing all around and the press already hit the field. It was about a half hour before I could get to Kurt.
I was so proud of him, his coaching staff, and the boys. What a feeling!

I look forward to many more nights sitting in the stands with the crowds and hope that the stars are aligned with us again.

***Pictures coming soon or go to www.bedfordphotos.com
Click on the sport section.

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She can even make your family look like they have it all together!

My Head is Spinning!!!

So my summer is OVER:( I am back to work and it is the hottest week of the summer. I think about the beach all day and wish I enjoyed my summer more and didn't take it for granted!

There is so much to do before school opens in a week. I have a monster list of what needs to be done and keep hopping from one thing to another and I cant focus! Parents have no clue how much school secretary's do, and if they did they might be a bit kinder and understanding of the undertaking that it is so they can stay informed and their kids are taken care of!

When you get the packets in the mail of all that information of your child's class, medical forms, permission slips, lunch crap, and all the other paper work REMEMBER someone (like me) has taken the time to copy and stuff those envelopes. Oh, the paper cuts and dry hands one gets is redunkulas! We have over 1200 student at BHS and I feel like I have killed the Rain Forest single handedly...

I am glad I have a job and a lot will be changing at BHS, but just needed to vent or I may have just snapped tomorrow.

Lesson for next week, "Learn to say NO" . That might be a tough one...

A New Chapter for the Hines

We have been super busy this summer with kids at camps, Halee and I in Cali, Kurt doing the training every morning with the football players, and life in general. As we get closer to school starting we are moving into a new stage for all of the Hines Crew. Halee flies out on the 21st to begin school on Sept 2nd. She will have so many new experiences good and bad that will have her grow. Room mates, classes, friends, job, homesickness, and money issues will all be challenges at one point or another. This is the time when one find out how to be comfortable with themselves and not have to rely on others.
Abby is off to HS. This is going to be a MAJOR step for her. I wish Halee would have been in the HS another year to guide and direct her, but now Ms. Abbster will have to learn some challenging things on her own. I just hope that she remains a leader in the right direction! High school can suck if you make some wrong choices! Trust me on that!!!
Brock will be heading into 7th grade which is on the other side of the middle school so he and Sophia will be separated. I know the two of them would never admit it, but I know they watch out for each other. I will be such a growing time for all four kids and hope I can support them the best I know how!
As for Kurt and I we too have a lot of changes this school year. Kurt will finally have a football team with seniors! Since the school opened 2 years ago with only Freshman/Sophomores the time has now come for all four grades to be housed at BHS. Not saying the players will be big by any means, he still has to work on the players size issue... Also he has a new Athletic Director to report to that is very by the book and I hope supports the football program, and understands the challenges Kurt faces with such a new squad.
I am heading back to work in a week and have to face a new boss. I am not sure of his personality and if he can understand mine... There is SO much to do to get BHS up and running correctly. I cant sleep some nights freaking out about all the little stuff that people/parents just dont realize. Sometimes I wonder if it is worth it, $11.80 an hour is worth being this crazy and stressed! Sometimes I wounder if I went out into the real world and did what do I would be paid a heck of a lot more! But I love my vacations and the time with my family so I will suck it up and medicate.
Oh ya, I just bought a non-mom car today, a 2010 Toyota Camry XLE, red and is loaded with everything. A new chapter indeed, now I have a car payment after 4 years of not having one...

Summer 2009

Where to begin... I will start backwards and go from there...

Today Halee's boyfriend of 10 months (which is an eternity to HS kids) leaves today for the Army. Not sure how Halee is going to handle this whole experience but we are all supporting her and Jon in what ever direction they choose. We had Halee's Grad/Going away party on Saturday. It went well. Reality is setting in on her leaving for college.

Halee and I just got back from Cali. We had to go to her parent/student orientation so she could sign up for classes. We did get to see the dorm she is living in and it is a bit far from her classes and right in the center of all the athletic areas... ( https://sunspot.sdsu.edu/map/display.cgi?scaleFrom=medium&zoom=low&zoomX=829&zoomY=1500 ) University Towers...

We all know how much Hal loves sports and working out:) Halee has decided to go Undeclared so she can figure out what she wants to do. She is leaning towards something in the Health Care industry. Oh, she did get a job too. She will be working at a melanoma center... I-Tan... She will be making pretty much what I will be per hour and looking bronze while doing it.

We had a great time in Southern Cal. We hit the beaches, malls, and highways. Mind you the driving out there is freak'n re-dunk-u-las!!! I dont understand going from 80 MPH to 0 and there is no accident or reason for it. Don't even think of leaving yourself room for safety cause some D-bag will just slide in and cause you to break hard. Also I am not sure some of the drivers there realize that the left lane is for high speed and passing is on the left. People would go by us like we were going 20 MPH but we were going 80 to keep up... After the week there I did get a hang of it.

While Halee and I were gone Kurt had his Relentless Training Football Camp that was a great success! Brock got to attend this camp as well. I realized that Kurt can live w/o me, I came home and the house was clean, not just picked up but CLEAN. The laundry had also been done and put away. Not sure I can compete with that.

Brock leaves tomorrow for Acadia National Park in Maine for a 3 day bike trip... I hope he makes it.

He has been going with friends up to Lake Winnipesaukee boating and four wheel'n.

Abby got to go with friends to a resort for a week down on the Cape and then she came home and was off with friends in Hampton for a week. She has been very busy, but that is coming to an end with try-out for field hockey starting Aug 17th.

Sophia has been staying close to home, shocking I know, but she is a home body and loves it.She has been watching a lot of the Food Network and has been doing food art... Yes, that is strawberries in the shape of an elephant from Horton Hears a Who...

We have gone to Ogunquit quite a bit this summer and look to have a few more trips up before school starts.

Highlights/Lows

• Got a kitten from shelter
• Put kitten down after $500 of vet bills and 72 hrs due to liver issues
• Our other cat disappeared after bring kitten home...
• Rain for 28 days in June, 18 in July, but Aug looks good:) Just in time for football double sessions...
• My garden is growing tall but not producing due to all the rain.
• Had my 20th reunion, so glad I went!
• Start back to work Aug 17th kids come Aug 26th...

Hope your summer has been going great as well!!!