Liking my new-ish doctor

Today I had my annual physical. This is the second time I've been to this doctor. The first time I went was over a year ago and I was pretty miserable about my weight. True, I had Cameron less than 6 months before but I was still breastfeeding and feeling poorly that the weight wasn't coming off. Unlike all those famous people we read about that have no problem. I'm looking at you, Giselle!

This time I prepared myself for a better experience and got one. Sometimes it is really all in your mind but it helps that I've been proactive, not just with my weight, but also coming prepared with a lot of questions.

The last visit I couldn't wait to get out of there so I didn't really notice the good things about the office and my doctor. This time I did. I was called back to the room a few minutes before my appointment. I met with the nurse first and reviewed my recent history plus gave her the list of questions I had for the doctor. She took my stats and then told me that the doctor would be in soon. And guess what, he was! I'm as shocked as you are.

I figure that the office allows for 30 minute per patient. Because I had bunch of questions, plus my fun yearly girl exam, mine took more like 45 minutes. But my doctor never seemed concerned about the time or rushed me. It's kind of weird that he's my age (I'll probably find it weirder as I get older and the doctors are YOUNGER than me) but he was pleasant and I actually felt like I could talk to him more honestly than I even did with by OB.

I'm sure that it helps he gave me major kudos for my weight loss and gave actionable advice for my questions (nothing serious, don't worry!). It was probably one of my better doctor experiences in the past 10 years. So, what do you like/don't like about your primary care physician? Do you find if you don't like someone you try a new doctor or do you just stick with it for convenience? How do you normally find a new primary care physician? I found my doctor through a recommendation of a woman in my mom's group and I'm so glad she told me about him!

Final PSAs: Make sure you go with a list of questions. I jotted them down over the course of a few weeks which really helped. Also, it's flu shot season so even though DH refuses to get one, please get one for you and your kids!

Friday Fun: What's on my Season Pass

Fall TV officially commenced this week. DH and I spent time pouring through the special double issue of Entertainment Weekly and picked out the shows we wanted to watch individually or as a couple. Let me state for the record that DH thinks he is going to watch far too many shows with me this year. The Yankees are guaranteed a spot in the MLB post season. Which means he is tied up 6 nights a week watching baseball. So I have a feeling many of the "us" shows will become Stacey shows. Any takers on that bet?

House - DH stopped watching this show for a while but got sucked back in last season. I'm looking forward to seeing some growth from the grumpy doctor this season given his new relationship with Cuddy. At least one can hope, right? Plus Amber Tamblyn is joining and I have loved her since Joan of Arcadia.

The Mentalist - I'm kind of bleh on this show. The main character comes of as smarmy a lot of the time. Although very, very pretty to look at. DH calls him the "smiler." Because it is a CBS show, I can't watch it on Hulu which is why it is on my Season Pass. For now. This is a Stacey only show.

How I Met Your Mother - I will always watch this show but this season the writers better put their money where their mouths are and start progressing the storyline. 'kay? DH likes this show too.

Fringe - My X-Files type show that DH likes too. A win/win. We had about 10 episodes saved this summer and blew through them pretty quickly. I'm looking forward to more alternate universe story lines.

Gossip Girl - What can I say, I love watching rich people and their "problems". I hate the Dan-has-a-baby storyline but other than that, it's all about the fashion, booze and sex. Love it. Need I mention that DH derides this show constantly?

Bones - Another show I started watching because of a Buffy alum. I think it's hysterical how much goo and gore gets worked into the episodes. And the "will they/won't they" storyline isn't annoying at all.

Private Practice - I'm totally only loyal to this show because of Addison. And I love looking at Taye Diggs. Here's hoping the story lines get better.

Grey's Anatomy - I'm impressed that DH has stuck with this show. I thought for sure that the soapiness would have turned him off long ago. Grey's still manages to choke me up on a regular basis. So it will stay on my Season Pass for a long time.

Modern Family - You all watch this so enough said.

The Good Wife - Finally a good vehicle for Mr. Big and Julianne Marguilles. Great supporting cast (including Logan from Gilmore Girls) and a great feminist vibe. DH does not watch this one.

Glee - Dare I admit it? This show is getting a little old for me. I actually fast forwarded through most of the songs from this week's episode. I'll keep it on the list and hope that the Brittney Spears episode brings me back around. I'm sure your not surprised to hear that it's a Stacey only show.

Cougar Town - Totally underrated and actually had a good guest appearance by Jennifer Aniston. Check it out. Seriously, despite the terrible name it's a good show and it's nice to see a Friends alumnus getting a regular paycheck.

Parenthood - I thought that Maura Tierney would be excellent as Sarah but I also love Lorelai. I mean Lauren Graham. Easy mistake, right? You can tell that a lot of it is ad libbed and sometimes the shouting and talking over each other can be painful. But DH and I both like it.

Castle - I had a void in my Monday nights so I filled it with this light fluff. Another Joss Whedon alum stars and I love him. If anyone watches this, can you confirm if the female lead is pregnant or not? There were some suspiciously roomy shirts and shoulders up camera work.

Blue Bloods - DH is making me DVR this. I doubt I will watch it but I'll save at least 5 episodes for him before they get deleted forever. If you are excited about this show, please tell me why to like it. I might give it a shot.

Undercovers - I have a sneaking suspicion that this show will be an early cancellation. Not a lot of buzz despite a massive ad campaign. Poor J.J. - at least he has the DVD release of Lost to console himself. DH claims he will watch this show with me but I don't buy it.

The Whole Truth - Only because it has Maury Tierney and Rob Morrow. Yes, DH and I were one of the few who watched Numbers. Get over it. This will be a "bottom of the pile" show unless the first episode is really good.

The Event - Please, please, please be my new Lost. Another show DH thinks he will watch but considering he made fun of Lost (are they found yet?) and never watched Flash Forward I think I'll be watching it solo.

Detroit 1-8-7 - This is all DH. I will not watch it. Never liked Sopranos. Don't like the main actor. Zero interest.

No Ordinary Family - Please, please, please don't suck like Heros.

Terriers - Another DH cop show. Bleh.

Hawaii Five-O - A last minute add after the rave reviews I read online. There is the Battlestar Galatica connection as well as Lost.

Shows I watch on Hulu because of conflicts: Chuck, 30 Rock, Community

OK, written out, that is a heck of a lot of shows. However, we don't watch movies so TV is basically my main entertainment. So please don't just the quantity too harshly, OK? Also, I have a feeling quite a few will be cancelled soon or drop off my Season Pass because of suckiness.

What do you like this season? What are your recurring favorites? Am I an insane American TV watcher? Inquiring minds want to know.

Daddy/Daughter time

I am watching the last episode of Gilmore Girls while blogging at 3:30 PM. How, you may ask, is that possible? Because DH took Cameron to Freedom Park so that I could have a little down time. Can I just say how much I love daddy/daughter time? It will definitely become a regular occurrence in this house!

Cameron has her 18 month well appointment tomorrow so I'll update her stats as soon as I can. I predict a perfectly average munchkin which is great. In the meantime, I'm off to enjoy the peace and quiet and secretly miss not being at the park with my husband and daughter.

Setting personal goals

First, my apologies for the crazy header. I'm having troubling resizing images down in Adobe Photoshop so if anyone wants to email me with advice, I would appreciate it. It's supposed to be picture of me with Cameron but as you can see, I didn't make the cut. Second, this is my 400 post! It’s crazy to think how my life has changed since I started with my first post on September 23, 2008. I’ve lived through home renovation projects, job changes and the biggest impact of all, my wonderful daughter, Cameron. But this post won’t be about looking back, it’s focused on evaluating where I would like to be personally. Professionally is a whole other post.

I’ve been trying to make some life changes over the past 6 months. At the end of March I re-joined Weight Watchers. I was fairly successful the first go around when I planned on getting pregnant. My doctor and I agreed that I should lose some weight before getting pregnant. In 4 months I managed to drop 20 pounds, left the WW program and got pregnant. As I mentioned before, I gave myself a year to lose the baby weight. The first 15 pounds came off pretty easily (thanks, breastfeeding!) but that remaining 15 pounds clung. And to be frank, it clung because I didn’t make healthy choices. I can blame it on sleep deprivation but Cameron was sleeping through the night by six months old. I can blame it on the craziness of juggling parenting and work but that’s just an excuse. I found that I needed the structure of a weight loss program. So back to WW I went.

To date, I have lost 31 pounds. Not too shabby. More importantly I have regained the clothes size I was prior to business school. Free lunches coupled with crazy hours and too much drinking meant that I wasn’t exactly healthy in business school so the weight climb started then. The problem is that it is too easy for me to slip back into bad habits. Swing by McDonald’s on the weekend for lunch? Why not? Take Cameron to Dairy Queen for a treat? Sure. Have more drinks than I probably should on the weekend? Of course. The challenge is that even after 5 months in Weight Watchers I know that I still have more weight to lose and I still think of it as a diet rather than a lifestyle choice.

Over the past two weeks I have lost nothing. In fact I went up a little bit one week. One week I can consider a fluke. But two? No, something else needs to be done to get me over the hump and start focusing on my health long term. The first thing I’m trying to do is track my points religiously. I’ll admit it: for the past month I’ve really been mentally tracking my points rather than on the iPhone. It’s easy to fudge things when I’m not recording my food intake. I’ve been starting off really well each day and somehow lose my motivation in the evenings and of course, on the weekends.

The second thing I’m trying to do is incorporate exercise into my regular routine. As many of you know, I loathe exercise. Intellectually I understand that it will give me more energy, will improve my overall heath and help with weight loss. But I hate doing it. A few weeks ago I was ready to leave the JCC and try to just walk in the evenings. With the cooler weather and a daughter who is in bed at 6:30 PM (jealous?) it’s doable. I was getting bored with my swimming routine and usually only made it to the gym once a week. But on Sunday I took Cameron to the gym daycare and hit the actual gym vs. the pool. I enjoyed my own personal TV screen and it was a much faster process because I came right from home in my workout clothes and didn’t have to shower and change right after.

Last night I surprised myself (and DH) by going back. I haven't worked out during the week once since I joined. I am a little concerned because I didn’t feel like I got a lot of “down time” last evening and I don't want that to affect my motivation. I am an early to bed type of person (usually no later than 9:30 PM) so between dinner, working out, a little TV with DH and bed it just wasn’t a relaxing evening. With that written, I’m still really glad I went and want to be able to incorporate it into my routine more regularly. I’d love to be able to go during the work day but that’s not feasible. Instead I have to rely on DH to make and clean up dinner so I can hit the gym. I usually put Cameron down for bed and DH cooks and I clean up. Of course this means he has an hour of uninterrupted time to watch his beloved Yankees so I’m sure DH won’t complain too much about shouldering the cooking/cleaning during the week.

So my goals for the next three months? Lose another 10-15 pounds. Exercise regularly. Drink more water (I'm trying those Chrystal Light individual packages since water is boring for me).Try new foods. And KEEP TRACK OF POINTS!! Any advice or empathy from my readers? If the gym routine goes well should I look into a personal training for a few sessions?

A trip to Dan Nicholas Park

DH and I were motivated on Saturday morning and decided to take a little road trip an hour north of Charlotte to the Dan Nicholas Park. I'm normally leery of taking more than 30 minutes to get somewhere for an outing with Cameron. Mostly because I'm a control freak and need to make sure that she naps at the same time every day. Also because I'm lazy. But I did a Google search on petting zoos in the Charlotte region and this was the best one.

Once we figured out where to go (the signage at the park was very poor) we had an absolute blast. Cameron LOVED the animal barn and spent almost an hour there. A rain shower arrived at the perfect time for us to pack up and head back to Charlotte. I had lots of snacks with the hope that Cameron would stay awake for most of the hour drive back. She loved the snacks but literally fell asleep mid-bite about 10 minutes into the drive.

A fun trip results in lots of cute, photos, right? Right. So enjoy!

The sheep fascinated Cameron, especially when they started "talking" and she could say "baaaaaa" back to them.

A nice stranger offered to take our picture in these cutouts.

The carousal moved pretty quickly and Cameron seemed to enjoy riding her first "horse."

This squirrel somehow managed to get into the turkey's cage to steal some food.

A successful trip and an exhausted toddler.

A lovely Labor Day weekend

It was especially lovely because I got to sleep in twice this weekend. Thanks, DH! We had a great time with Cameron and our visiting friends. We taught them how to play Pitch, which is the best card game ever according to DH. If you grew up in Springfield, MA then there is a good chance you know how to play it.

DH and I love to play cards. Or really pretty much any game. Pitch is the perfect game to play with two couples. It is designed for 4 people. If you are interested in learning how to play, we have a spare guestroom and plenty of alcohol on hand. So feel free to come visit us in Charlotte! Another incentive is the cuteness of Cameron. Below are some photos from a visit to a playground.