More Holiday Cheer!

After meeting Santa last week at Roy's Christmas party, Ryan convinced Santa to hire him to help whip those elves into shape! Here he is arriving to work, looking very focused and determined!

Unfortunately, though elves are quite short, they still tower over our 2 ft. 10 in. son by at least 2 full inches...so he had to stand on a bench to command their respect!

Look at what Roy and I (yep, he helped!) made last night for his Christmas party tomorrow! It's not quite what I had envisioned (plenty of mistakes, and couldn't find any of those edible pearl-like beads to line the ribbon with, the ribbon collapsed!), but since we're amateurs, we're fine with it!

Ryan looking pretty bummed about getting only a candy cane instead of a pony from Santa & Mrs. Claus (hence the aforementioned offer to Santa to help the elves 'step it up a notch').

A picture of us in front of our family tree...you know, in our grand ballroom...(clearly our servant is taking the picture)! ;-)

Killin' me...

I think I read once that Britney Spears is the most photographed person in the world. If that's true, than my son Ryan runs a close second. Because we hover over the child with a camera pointed at him like he's the second coming of Christ, even moreso now that he's learned how to smile and say 'Cheese!' (Though he kinda overdoes the smile a lil' bit, which makes him look... well- very, very Asian.*)

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*This is a very nice, politically correct way of saying you can barely see his eyes when he smiles. And though I'm a teensy bit biased, I think it's very, very cute!

Our little party animal!!!

This pic is of Ry (sporting a cute little onesie from Aunty Pat & Uncle Clyde) from last Christmas!

And this pic is from last night (does Ry's Christmas outfit look familiar? It still fits!!!), just before we went to Roy's company Christmas party.

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This is Ry's new favorite position. He stands at the gate, pathetically calling out loudly "Pease? Pease?!" (Please! Please!) with his arms outstretched to whoever (usually grandpa) happens to be passing by! I feel so loved! And if grandpa doesn't hear him for some reason (half the time he's carrying a blower/lawn mower/hedger), tears form in his eyes before he collapses to the floor softly wimpering "Grandpa...Grandpa" and sucking his thumb (to soothe the pain).

Ryan wearing his new Thomas the Tank Engine glow in the dark t-shirt from Grammy Kay! (I'd say he likes it!)

Ry and his two cousins sporting their matching t-shirts from Grammy Kay, posing with Grandpa and Grandma for their annual Christmas card photo!

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Ryan kissing the polar bear lighted display at last night's Christmas party...what can I say? He's a passionate child!

Ryan laughing at daddy (taking the photo) at the Christmas party. Check out those eyes! He's definitely half Asian!

Ry was the first child in line to sit on Santa's lap last night...and surprise, surprise, he didn't cry! We were sure he wouldn't tolerate being handed off to a white-haired stranger in a bright red suit this year (and so long after his bedtime!), but apparently he didn't mind! :-) In fact, the kid was ROCKIN' the party last night- gleefully smiling and giggling the entire evening! He loved all the lights, animated displays, music, people, etc. It was like he was truly in his element for the first time in his life! Roy and I now realize we need to make a much bigger effort to take him out more at night and let him live it up (since it's not in our nature to do so)! In fact, he got so hot toward the end of the evening (from running around) that we ended up stripping off his long pants and letting him run around in his onesie (resulting in endless comments about how as the night progressed, Ryan's clothes were starting to come off)! What can we say? He's a party animal!

Week #7 Report

Ave. # of calories per day: 2133 (highest ever!)
Overall weight change: -2.0 lbs.
Total # of workouts: 6

Summary: Though I deserve to have gained 10 pounds last week, I have settled back down at 2 lbs. down from my starting weight. This means I am averaging an incredible 1/8 lb. loss per week! God I'm good!

Just kidding. It doesn't actually bother me anymore. Because I've realized two things:

1. Very little effort = very little weight loss; and
2. Based on my current weight/size (...and inability to give up gummy bears and tortilla chips), I was probably overly ambitious with the 10 lb. goal. anyway!

At this point, it's clear that I've lost some steam for this challenge...but I wouldn't say I'm completely throwing in the towel. Because maintaining a 2 lb. weight loss during the holidays should be plenty challenging enough! So as long as I can maintain over the holidays, I'm gonna be happy!

So in a bold, bold move from a girl who is prone to moping over these types of things- I am no longer going to complain about not losing much weight, especially if I don't put in the effort. Because complaining about being too chubby (especially when one is not visually heavy) gets old and annoying after awhile. So for those of you counting, this makes a second self improvement vow (the first was to stop whining about being so slow when I fail to do speedwork). I'm not saying I won't continue to make fun of myself, I'm just saying I'm not going to let it upset or devalue me. Gotta be more self accepting and positive in 2010! Got to!

Spam Musubi Mania & Yogurt Boy!

The state of Hawaii...proud birthplace of the spam musubi!

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It's my brother Jon's birthday! We're celebrating a little early because his two boys (Kenichi & Riki) are heading to Japan for 6 weeks and would otherwise miss it. Because he was a sushi chef for years, and because his two boys LOVE spam musubis...he got one as his birthday cake!!! (And yes, it's ALL cake...no spam!)

Minutes after he finished his Thanksgiving turkey, Roy quickly unpacked and put up all our Christmas decorations so we could let the boys celebrate an early Christmas too!

Mr. Smiley posing in his new pjs. Today he glanced down at them as soon as he woke up, pointed to the fish, and said "....fish fish fish fish fish fish" for about 2 minutes straight. He's a little Einstein, I tell ya!

Ryan's mommy was over the moon over getting a new set of plastic Christmas containers (to replace all the ones we had to leave behind in California)...but Ryan liked them too!

And finally, Ryan has decided that a much better use of his costly, hormone-free yogurt (purchased especially for him and no one else because we're too poor to buy it for the rest of the already hopelessly poisoned household), is to use it as a shaving cream! Naughty boy!

Tons 'o run fun!!!

Ryan pre-race fueling up on Cheerios and raisins...staring down the competition.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We celebrated the BEST Thanksgiving EVER with the best family EVER. Because Roy had to work, Ryan and I kicked off our Thanksgiving morning by participating in the 5th Annual Wobble & Gobble on Walua Road. We had an AWESOME time. Great turn out (about 125 people), great weather (sunny, cool breezes), great race support from the the volunteer organizers, and a challenging, scenic race course! And here's what also thrilled me...though there were about 5-6 other strollers out there, Ryan and I were the only ones crazy enough to do the 6.4-mile distance, which of course, means that technically, we finished 1st in the stroller division!!! (...and last place as well, but we're gonna look at this with our usual rainbows-and-unicorns approach and go with first!)

But best of all...I did it faster than I thought I could. We finished in 1:07 and some change (won't know until tomorrow when the results are in the paper). I was stoked, because it was the first time I pushed Ryan entirely by myself, and those first 3.2 miles are unrelenting (a gradual hill climb that only gets steeper with each mile). But I think what really made my day was all the encouragement Ryan and I got from the other runners- people clapped, smiled, hollered and joked with us throughout the entire run. It distracted me (in a good way), motivated me, and made me happy just for being able to do it. It's kind of a crazy way to start off a normally already-kinda-busy day, but now that I've done it, I'm hooked! All that adrenaline just made a fun day even better.

Ry and I post-run, seconds after he woke up from his little 15 min. snooze (he was tired from eating all those Cheerios & raisins I kept having to feed him throughout the run)!

It's funny, I had done a few trial runs on the course earlier this month (sometimes with Ryan, sometimes without, but never running with him at the same time) and nearly croaked. So I was totally prepared to be utterly exhausted and well, miserable. And it's funny, I never really was. The race just seemed to fly by! Which is not to say I wasn't kicked in the behind- I experienced the usual alarming heavy breathing and near incontinence from exhaustion the last 2 miles (even though they were downhill)! I think I just managed to pace myself fairly well, walking when I needed to to make sure I was having a good time.

So it's official- we will definitely be regular participants from here on out! And even though we were once again near the bottom of the pack, for the first time ever- it really didn't matter. Ry and I rocked that run! And the rest of our day only got better- as soon as we got back home, my mom took Ryan to church (he prayed for more toys) so I could shower and cook my two dishes for Thanksgiving, we shared an awesome Thanksgiving lunch with the extended family and friends, celebrated an early Christmas (Roy hurriedly assembled and decorated our tree in record time!) with Ry's cousins Kenichi and Riki (who are getting ready to leave for Japan for 6-7 weeks), and chowed down on leftovers for dinner! My stomach is weeping.

In other running-related news- So after weeks of not-so-secretly pining for a new (my third!) Fuel Belt...I quickly caved and bought a beautiful hibiscus pink Helium 4-bottle belt. And I mentioned I'd also won a $50 gift certificate as a result of that trip. So a few days ago I giddily headed back to the shop to grab a few more things- a new Crush Fuel Belt for Roy, a very cool pink running cap from Puma (it matches the new belt and my shoes!), and some reflective stickers for Rizzle's stroller since I love running at dusk and it makes us more visible.

Huge mahalos to the owners, Jason & Melissa Braswell, and best of luck to them on their newly reopened, well-stocked Big Island Running Company! I saw the both of them running today (they're both your usual limber, super fast marathoners who kicked arse), but because we were no more than 20-30 min. behind them, you know, basically nipping at their heels...I could tell we put some pressure on them. ;-)

Happy Turkey Day!!!

Week #6 Report (...and it blows)

Ave. # of calories per day: 1830
Overall weight change: +0.5 lbs.
Total # of workouts: 7

Summary: Since it's not obvious, let me just say it- I gained 2 lbs. over the past 4-5 days, which means I'm back to a half pound HEAVIER than when I started this challenge! &@^#! It's a culmination of poor decisions- seasonal celebrations, nighttime nibling, cockiness, one too many handfuls of goodies here and there. But the end result is still the same.

No mindfulness = huge price to pay.

Not pissed, just kinda sad. Disappointed. 6 weeks of work down the drain...and the holidays haven't even officially started yet. The last 4-5 days have been the worst I've had since I started the GBISALTP Challenge. The number one thing I've been feeling lately that totally reminds me of my 'fat days' is that horrible feeling of waking up in the morning and having your first thought be, "I cannot believe I ate all that yesterday..." (which is a terribly negative way to start your day). Because then you feel an intense pressure to make up for it with exceedingly disciplined behavior, like PRONTO...which then leads to feeling overwhelmed, panicked and deprived...when then leads to...chips. Handfuls of salted peanuts. Late night slices of pumpkin mochi. Dried goji berries and blueberries. And then the cycle sort of repeats itself.

So I've definitely lost my confidence. My mojo. It was just starting to feel effortless and then I sort of unconsciously derailed myself. However, if there is something positive to come from all of this (and really, we're gonna have to dig pretty deep to find something, because a half pound weight gain over 6 weeks is nothing to dance about), it's this:

1. Perhaps doing the challenge 'saved me' from gaining even more. So in that respect, you could call it a success (I definitely feel like I'm reaching here). If nothing else, I at least 'caught myself' tonight and am taking that critical step backward to assess what's going on so I don't plow into another 4-5 punishing, self-defeating days.

2. A few years ago, a half pound over all weight gain would have psychologically DEVASTATED me. Dominated my thoughts. Pissed me off. Left me despondent with grief (I only wish I were exaggerating). My emotions this time around are much more flat...muted...normal...balanced (I'm not reaching here when I say this is an improvement).

3. I still have some fight left in me. I'm still a bit deflated and not quite at the "I AM WOMAN, HEAR ME ROAR" stage yet, but I do know that I'm not going to give up. I just know it's back to the basics- meditation, mindfulness, breathing, believing...