Mommy Needs Coffee

...is what my brand-new mug says! Thanks to the Jose family for letting my mug say what I feel pretty much every second of every day!

So anyway.

Sunday night was a great night! A bunch of my Yelp friends got together at Crop Bistro (one of my favorite restaurants in Cleveland) for their Sunday Supper. The concept is pretty awesome. Taken from their website:

Sunday Supper at Crop is a tradition carried over from Chef Steve’s former restaurant in Vermont. After a particularly busy weekend at the Mist Grill, Steve found himself preparing for Sunday service with a partially depleted larder. Rather than frantically trying to convince his purveyors to make special Sunday deliveries, Steve decided to flex his creative muscle and revise his standard menu to incorporate the ingredients he had at hand. The result? A bountiful three-course, family-style dinner that changes from week to week (and sometimes, even during the course of service!).

Relaxed and friendly, we love Sunday Suppers at Crop. Not only are they a great value for our guests, but they allow our staff’s creativity to take flight, resulting in special, one-of-a-kind meals that are as memorable as they are delicious.

All you need to do is choose your entree from the day’s choices, and we’ll take care of the rest — starting with a family style salad bowl over-flowing with seasonal ingredients, proceeding to your entree with sides, and finishing with dessert.

Our goal is to make you feel relaxed and at-home. As Steve likes to say, “Your grandma had it right: With little fuss and no menu, she created the most memorable meals of our childhoods!” We hope you’ll join us soon to enjoy Sunday Supper at Crop.

Cool, right? They give you three courses for only $25! Yelper Pam took some great pictures, including this nice one of us (Lorelei was blurry in all of them - she doesn't stop squirming!)



It was great to bring Lorelei out, which I am always worried about, but according to the description of the dinner, things are really relaxed. Plus, other yelpers brought their kids too.

So yesterday I finally bit the bullet and joined Weight Watchers again. I'm actually really excited. Because I've had success on the program in the past, and because I really don't have a ton of weight to lose, I am hoping that I can just nip this "spare tire syndrome" in the bud and feel happy in my clothes again. I do NOT want to go buy a bunch of new clothes! (Well, maybe an outfit or two when I lose the weight as a present to myself... ;)

I was thinking that Tuesdays were going to be my weigh-in/meeting day. But last week was hectic, and I didn't get there. And yesterday, Lei had a doctor's appointment which went over, so, no meeting (plus it's sort of hard to coordinate with Derek - he said he could watch her during my meeting, but I'd have to pump or feed her right before..) So I was looking online for other meeting options and there are actually two meetings on Saturday mornings, which would be so much better because then I can just get up, feed Lei, and then leave her with Derek instead of having to drop her off at his office. So, yay! I can't wait for my first meeting on Saturday.

Because I'm nursing, I actually get a bunch more points. There's also a new system (Points Plus), which incorporates more than just calories, fat, and fiber to determine values...so it'll be a bit of an adjustment. Actually, though, most of what I normally eat on WW (i.e., not a ton of processed food) have equal values to the old points. Plus, fruit is now free! HOLLA! And you get more points daily and for your weekly extra points too. So we'll see how this pans out. Yesterday I ate mostly normally, except I made an effort to do the following things:

• choose a salad for lunch instead of a burger
• have only one serving of my meal at dinner instead of going back for seconds
• choose EITHER dessert OR wine (Um, I chose wine!)

Other than that, I ate normally. I think this will be good, as long as I plan a bit, and make sure to stock the fridge/pantry with TONS of fruit and other healthy snacks. Of course, going to the supermarket is impossible today, because we have another lovely snowstorm on our hands..but I'll go tomorrow. 

Not sure exactly what my "starting weight" is...it fluctuates a ton depending on the time of day I weigh myself and what I've eaten that day. But I'll use the weight I got yesterday on my scale and then possibly update if it is very different at my first meeting.

Current Weight: 168.5

Goal Weight: 150

Mini-goal: 5% (8 lbs) = 160.5

So...here we go!

Feelin' Sluggish

And I don't know why...

Well, December is mostly why!  I hate winter!!  The last couple of days were pretty sunny, but today is rainy and gross.  At least it's not snowing today, though it was a bit earlier in the week.

This week was not a great one in terms of being active, but I didn't really beat myself up about it.  I had two good runs at the beginning of the week, and then I had a dental procedure done on Wednesday which left me unable to exercise that day.  I also took Thursday and Friday off because work was insane and I was just mentally and physically exhausted (I know, not really an excuse).  Saturday I went to hot yoga which was great, and today I'm either going to go back to yoga at 5 or go running (probably running).  I just want to wake myself up, and I know nothing does that like a good run.

I have also been eating like crap.  I need to sort of stop that, or at least strike a better balance between treats and healthy options.  I usually do try to eat healthily but when the weather gets bad like this it is really hard.

Yesterday my husband and I got our new La-Z-Boy chair (see below) - it is so great! I highly recommend this chair (the Lancer).  The only annoying part was that the store that we had ordered it from almost gave us the wrong one when we went back to pick it up, and we had to go to another location to get it!  But that's ok, because we stumbled upon a great taproom/smokehouse for dinner and drinks, called The Brew Kettle.  It was awesome, because I just happened to be in the mood for beer AND barbecue!  What's not to love?

Hopefully this week will be a more active one for me.

Scamville

Greetings from the land of Unemployment.

I have been getting SO FRUSTRATED lately about the lack of response to jobs that I KNOW I am qualified for...even too qualified...but what really kills me is the growing number of scams that are just insulting and make me question even searching for a job online.

I realize there are a number of scams out there, particularly in admin/office jobs on a certain oft-used site...if any of you are new to the job search like I am, this story might help you. (By the way, this story is just one of MANY weird scams I have become in contact with, but the only one that seemed valid at the time I applied.)

I recently applied to an ad that simply said "Secretary" (Cleveland) which did not seem phony at all in the original ad, mentioned hours, per-hour salary, and a little bit about the company. But then it got weirder.

I got an email shortly after I applied asking me to take a test to narrow down the selection process due to the large number of people who had applied. This didn't seem too weird. It asked different multiple-choice questions about my personality at the workplace. Then there was a second part which said was a test of following directions and recognizing layouts, browsers, and online advertising trends. Because the original ad said they were a web-based company, I believed them, even though I was wary about giving any personal info. I was instructed to "validate" three website forms, and then answer specific questions about the second page of each site (after I had given my email address). Naively, I did as instructed, but stopped when asked for anything more than my email address. I figured I didn't pass the test because I wasn't willing to give more info, and just clicked out of it.

The next day, I got an email which seemed like a real response from a woman at a certain company (I will not mention either name), with the subject line that matched my original email response to the ad exactly, saying that "from reviewing my resume, it is clear that I am qualified for the position and that I have been shortlisted for the position." She asked me to email more information about myself, including what time would be best for me to interview. She also said that I would be required to take a credit check, the results of which would not impact hire, but would validate my identity. She then provided a link to a free credit report site. (!!!)

Aside from never having to take a credit check for a job, I also realized that throughout this whole process, I had never sent them my resume. I also looked up the company, which didn't seem to actually exist, because the website domain from which the woman's email was sent just went to a site of other links. Plus there was no phone number at which I could reach her. I deleted the email.

I have since gotten FIVE EMAILS from five different parties (HR representatives, recruitment agencies, random individuals) asking me to take different kinds of "competency tests" to help them with the process due to "overwhelming response to the position ad"...all with the same subject line I had originally provided. Most of them included typing in your email address, home address, phone number, etc. This, I realize, is partially my fault for giving my email address, however, it's a catch-22: you have to "put yourself out there" to get something, while at the same time, you don't want to be too exposed to scams like these.

I already have sent my resume to multiple people; my information is just out there. Most online jobs I apply to then send me to a second-party job site, like "Direct Job Source" or "Employment Source" which then ask me to fill out my stuff again, and then bombard me with questions about whether or not I was interested in furthering my education at the moment. Once, before I knew better, I made the mistake of saying "maybe, if I had more information" and then was literally harassed for two weeks from a representative at a local community college, saying she was simply "responding to an inquiry" that I had made. She even sent me a card in the mail (she got my address from the job-search website). I was only able to get rid of her calls when I emailed her telling her I was not at all interested in the school. I felt like a bad person. But this is crazy!

PLEASE be careful when applying to any secretarial position.

On another note...I had a group interview/info session the other night for a tutoring position. It went well...it was mostly a Q&A/fill out an application and leave your credentials with the director type of thing, but still, I felt ok about it. I sent the requisite "thank you email" to stand out a bit. So we'll see.

As for training this week, I feel that I have returned! Took Monday off from running, because I was super sore from the Half (and because a rest day was in my schedule - yay!) and went to Kripalu Yoga (a new one for me, very relaxing). Tuesday and Wednesday, took to the treadmill - not at a gym, but at a fitness center in the basement of one of my landlord's other buildings - free access! Watched the news one day, the VMA pre-show the next...gotta love distractions like that, plus NO HILLS on the treadmill! As my shins have been acting up, I thought I would "tread" on a softer surface for a couple of days. Did 6 miles both days, but for yesterday's speed workout, I made part of it a tempo run at half-marathon pace (which was a lot harder now that my half-marathon pace is 10:30ish!). Today is 5 miles, tomorrow's a rest day, and then Saturday...my first 20-miler!!!! It's supposed to be really nice and cool on Saturday, which is a big relief.

By the way, I ordered some Kinesio Tape yesterday for my shins...this seems like it's a big deal right now, used at the Olympics, and my sis-in-law, who is a Physical Therapist, says it's great for rehabilitation because it promotes blood flow around the injured area. Will report when I get it!

Tonight, dinner at Johnny Mango's in Ohio City with Claire! Will also report on that!