It was May of 2010, that I spent a wonderful Mother's day all alone. My husband had gone to Louisiana to visit his mother with Baby Bear in tow. I was elated.

On the day they were due back they missed their connecting flight and had to spend the night in Atlanta. They had been gone for ten days and I was missing them. But that night, I found my writing voice again when I wrote the poem Refreshed.

It was approximately a month later when I published that poem as my very first blog entry on Post Confidential (my blog's first name) by Aynek Noillag Nosnhoj (my name spelled backwards) and only one person knew where to find me. 

This is a Finish the Sentence Friday post. "I blog because"...

I blog because it keeps my writing voice active and keeps me from living on Writer's Block - a dismal place where I don't want to ever live again.

In June of 2010, Antoinette Dickson, author of A Serendipitous Sojourn...  started a blog and encouraged me to do the same. 

Antoinette and I went to high school together and reconnected on Facebook. We were in Journalism class and the yearbook staff together way back in 1988.

A year after reconnecting on facebook Antoinette was editing my book, The Christopher Chronicles, something that wasn't even on my radar before I started blogging.

In October 2011, Antoinette sent me a message letting me know that blogger Nay of coffee-n-ink formerly of another blog name was looking to feature newbies each Monday. I wasn't a new blogger but I barely had any readers. My guest post on Nay's blog made my blog grow branches. 

My upcoming book was still a little known fact to no one and I was nervous about marketing it as a self-publisher. Being featured on Nay's blog gave me the guts to move forward in a more public way. I announced my real name, and bought my real name domain the next month. By the end of November when I made my book announcement, I had some people to tell.

While I initially started blogging just for me, having readership kept me accountable to continue writing. So thank you to Antoinette for getting me started, and each person who has supported my writing journey.

Here's the thing... I blog because of you.

Don't give up on your heart's desire. You may not be there yet, but stopping and walking away at this point certainly won't get you any closer. The only chance you stand of winning the race is to stay in it until the end. | Antoinette Dickson

Your FTSF Hosts:

Stephanie @ Mommy, for Real

Dawn's Disaster 

Janine @ Confessions of a Mommyaholic 

Kate @ Can I Get another bottle of Whine  

What?! NC has Blue Bell ice cream now! What am I supposed to do with this information? #WeightWatchers

The only reason I didn't buy Blue Bell ice cream that day was because we already had ice cream at home. No - not really. It was because I wasn't going straight home when I saw it. Otherwise, I would have bought it even though we had ice cream at home.

I first tasted Blue Bell ice cream in 1996 when I went to meet my husband's family in his hometown of Louisiana. We didn't have Blue Bell where I was from. The taste was the next best thing to homemade or going to Baskin Robbins.

I LOVE ICE CREAM!

Ice cream may very well be the reason I've averaged -0.3 pounds of weight loss in 13 weeks. I don't eat it everyday, but if I had to chose one thing to eat everyday for the rest of my life, ice cream would be it.

My first job was at Baskin Robbins. I wonder how many little pink spoons in landfills have my DNA on them?

I tried and loved almost every flavor except for seasonal ones like Pumpkin and Egg Nog. I'm not fond of chocolate or strawberry ice cream either. But that left at least 28 more flavors to fall in love with. Thank goodness for track season where I was able to run off what almost daily eating of ice cream was doing to me. 

Back to Blue Bell....

It's a Week 13 Weight Watchers Update

I had figured out how to have a successful Weight Watchers points day that included vanilla ice cream and Oreos. The vanilla ice cream by Blue BUNNY was 4 points for a 1/2 cup and it was very good. HOWEVER, Blue BUNNY ain't got nothin' on Blue BELL. 

I have budgeted Blue Bell into a few evenings where all I was going to eat was a bowl of broccoli.
But then a 1/2 cup of vanilla ice cream at 5 points just didn't cut it. I wasn't satisfied.

So I decided I wasn't going to eat ice cream anymore.

I still had to make an ice cream cone for Baby Bear after dinner. With that, I couldn't help but spoon it once or twice or three times which very well could have equaled a 1/4 cup that I did NOT count. I was tasting ice cream off the books and then pining for more. This wasn't going to work. 

Next time I went to the store, I stared at ALL the Blue Bell ice cream flavors as if there would be one for Weight Watchers. I stood there thankful that Papa Bear and Baby Bear's taste buds are SO vanilla I wouldn't be tempted to buy the Buttered Pecan.

Then my eyes fell on Orange Swirl - a pint size one - just for me. I calculated it to be 3 points for a 1/2 cup. YAY!!!

This was a combo favorite (vanilla ice cream and orange sherbet) that I often ate at Baskin Robbins. 

Orange Swirl is a very satisfying substitute for plain vanilla ice cream. The plus side is that it wouldn't be good with oreos and the bonus is that a small ice cream cone is ZERO points.

Damage control: When I want to take this being good to the next level, I'll brush my teeth with fluoride before I fix Baby Bear's ice cream cone. That'll do the not tasting trick.

Week Thirteen: Gained yada yada stupid yada. Total Loss: 6 lbs

You do the math.

Welcome to Tuesday Archive Link Up (TALU).

This week I am sharing an archive from this time last year. 

"A baby story..."

About TALU

On Tuesdays, there's a place to link up an old post you have written and share with a community of other writers doing the same thing. I'm co-hosting with these other bloggers:

• Debbie, author of Wrinkled Mommy
• Jennifer, author of I Am Not Superwoman
• Anne, author of Life On The Funny Farm
• Shanna, author of Motherhood On The Rocks.
• Rachel, author of Homesteading Quest

TALU is a good way to introduce yourself to some new readers without having to write anything new. Generally I go back as far as "this time last year" but you're welcome to  share anything you've already written. 

It's nice to have your old stuff revisited. TALU is a mature group. Bloggers who leave meaningful comments, receive meaningful comments in return. There's no planning involved other than to remember it's Tuesday and link up your old post below. 

Here's the thing... THERE ARE NO RULES. But when you leave a comment, end it with TALU so we know where to find you.

For Sqaurespace users, this was no easy undertaking. I wanted all my comments under one roof. Half of my comments were on Squarespace and the rest were on the Intense Debate commenting system.

I made an inquiry to Squarespace tech support, asking how to import Squarespace comments into Disqus. I was advised:

"Unfortunately the two are separate systems and there's currently no way to move comments from one to the other. Replacing the Squarespace commenting system will mean replacing all of the the existing comments."

I didn't want to lose all of my comments and I just couldn't believe that there was "no way", so I googled and googled to no avail.

Guess what? Ya-huh, yes there is a way. I figured it out all by myself and I hope someone lands here looking for the some answers, because I've got one for ya! 

Here you go: How to import Squarespace comments into Disqus

Intense Debate Pros

• Plugins such as Comment Luv and After deadline spell check
• Customize appearance with CSS
• Widgets such as showing most popular posts

Intense Debate Cons

• No import feature
• No response from tech support
• Spam when Twitter login enabled

I have nothing against Intense Debate. I've used it for 8 months without issues. The spam comments ceased when I disabled twitter login. I am using Intense Debate on the Tech Bytes blog. However in my opinion, I think Disqus is the better of the two commenting systems for these reasons:

Disqus Pros

• Received tech support within 24 hours
• Money making potential with Discovery Traffic Referral
• Cool Community Widget that shows Top Commenters, Recent Comments and Most Discussed
• URL Mapping (rename old links without losing the comments)
• Upload a custom avatar for commenters who don't have one. I'm using a smiley face.

Disqus Cons

• Using CSS for customizing appearance is confusing
• You'll have to ask tech support to install Single Sign On (SSO) or people will need to have Gmail, Twitter, Facebook or register with Disqus in order to leave a comment
• No comment luv, editing or cute emoticon widgets

I sent an e-mail to Disqus tech support asking for the SSO feature and heard from them within a few hours:

"We’re currently working to make SSO available to all users across our network. Because you’ve expressed interest in integrating SSO into your website, we’ve gone ahead and activated that service for you."

You also may be interested in:

How to import Squarespace comments into Disqus

Disqus: How to migrate comments to new a URL

In preparation for this post, I dug into my box of nostalgia and found my Senior Year book. Not the kind that was called an Annual, but the kind where you had to fill stuff in.

I never was great at filling in stuff; you should see Christopher's baby book. About the only thing in it is his hospital bracelet and his footprints. 

To my delight and horror, I did fill in some of my Senior Year book.

This is a Finish the Sentence Friday post.

"When I was younger, I wanted to..."

• Be a famous journalist at The Wall Street Journal
• Commute home everyday by first class aircraft
• Live in Atlanta, Philadelphia, New Jersey or Delaware
• Be married within ten years  to the guy I went to prom with and have 3 kids
• Have long hair
• Be in great shape
• Vacation in The Virgin Islands

Yep, all of that was in the book!

Other facts:

I was

• Seventeen
• 5'4 1/2
• 132 lbs.
• Crazy, silly, outgoing, cheerful, charming, understanding, and happy

I wrote

• The best thing about being a Senior is absolutely nothing
• I feel at home in a pair of jeans, a big t-shirt and some sneakers (no socks)
• I like to wear clothes big enough to fit someone twice my size (so 80's)

A candy bar was $.45. My best friend would put $2 worth of gas in the tank for our joy riding. Concert tickets ranged from $12.50 to $22.50. A haircut and style was $15.00.

The Horror

• My grades were mediocre (okay really bad)
• I kept a junky room

I found a copy of my 11th grade report card with all four semesters - my final grades for Algebra and Chemistry were D's. 

My room looked like this. ===>

Now as a mom, I believe I have developed selective amnesia. My room was never that junky and I made good grades. 

My bad. Sorry mom and dad! Between my grades, my room and the guy I thought I would marry - I feel for you back then. Please don't give me the payback speech.

Here's the thing I would tell my younger self... Don't write that down, and don't save that. It will come back to bite you. In 2013, that book will be too incriminating to keep and too precious to throw away. You'll want to put it in a fire safe to hide it and protect it at the same time. 

Your FTSF Hosts:

Stephanie @ Mommy, for Real

Dawn's Disaster 

Janine @ Confessions of a Mommyaholic 

Kate @ Can I Get another bottle of Whine  

Also linking up with Flashback Friday

Twelve weeks ago, I had in my mind that I was going to lose 15 pounds by Mother's Day. By midweek of the 12th week, I was only halfway there. As the 12th week approached I was sort of deflated that I wasn't going to wear what I wanted to wear to church on Sunday - not the same 'ole black pants and different shirt. 

I wanted to wear this dress, that I fit so beautifully last summer when I was doing the insane Insanity workout. I'm sure the dress fits, I just wasn't in the mood to wear it. My arms weren't ready and my stomach was poochie.

We didn't go to church, but as it was the weather didn't cooperate to wear that dress anyway.

I decided that I was going to take a break from weight watching because it was Mother's Day weekend and I deserved it. Plus I wanted chocolate like nobody's business.

On Friday I made brownies. Baby Bear had two, Papa Bear had three, Mama Bear had the fourth and final one with coffee on Mother's Day morning.

Saturday there was movie popcorn.

Sunday there was Olive Garden for dinner where I ate a breadstick, fried appetizers and Chicken Marsala.

Monday I had to eat the leftovers. 

Today I am back on track. I've already measured out my anytime hummus to snack on and The Kristi Sandwich is on the lunch menu.

Here's the thing... I gained half a pound and it was totally worth it.

See you next week. This isn't over until the skinny lady can feel good in that dress.

Welcome to Tuesday Archive Link Up (TALU).

This week I am sharing an archive from Mother's Day last year...

"happy Muthers day"

About TALU

On Tuesdays, there's a place to link up an old post you have written and share with a community of other writers doing the same thing. I'm co-hosting with these other bloggers:

• Debbie, author of Wrinkled Mommy
• Jennifer, author of I Am Not Superwoman
• Anne, author of Life On The Funny Farm
• Shanna, author of Motherhood On The Rocks.
• Rachel, author of Homesteading Quest

TALU is a good way to introduce yourself to some new readers without having to write anything new. Generally I go back as far as "this time last year" but you're welcome to  share anything you've already written. 

It's nice to have your old stuff revisited. TALU is a mature group. Bloggers who leave meaningful comments, receive meaningful comments in return. There's no planning involved other than to remember it's Tuesday and link up your old post below. 

Here's the thing... THERE ARE NO RULES. But when you leave a comment, end it with TALU so we know where to find you.

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Yesterday my mom forwarded me an e-mail that's going around listing questions that were answered by second graders. Since Christopher is in the 2nd grade, I decided to interview him with the list of questions on:

Why God Made Moms 

1. Why did God make mothers?
 So they could create boys.
2. How did God make mothers?
 He took a limb from a man.
3. What ingredients are mothers made of?
 Tissue, heart, blood...
4. Why did God give you your mother and not some other mom?
 Because you’re one of a kind.
5. What kind of a little girl was your mom?
 A good one.
6. What did your mom need to know about dad before she married him?
 What he was like.
7. Why did your mom marry your dad?
 Cause she liked him.
8. Who's the boss at your house? 
Dad
9. What's the difference between moms and dads? 
I don’t know. Skip
10. What does your mom do in her spare time?
 Text people.
11. What would it take to make your mom perfect?
 Add more details, like a different kind a hair or nail polish... if you want.
12. If you could change one thing about your mom, what would it be? 
I don’t know. You’re perfect how you are. 

Okay so again, "What's the difference between moms and dads?
"

Christopher Johnson   Age 8 - 2nd Grade: "It would kind of be embarrassing if I explained it and I wouldn’t put this on your blog if I were you." 

The End

So I was like, "Well I'm keeping my stuff." I went iTunes shopping and added some more old school jams like Everybody Dance Now by C & C Music Factory and some fresh stuff like Low by Flo Rida featuring T. Pain.

Whatever makes you move and gets you excited to move, then that's what you need to go with right? 

I was so excited about the new additions to my playlist that...

I bought a HULA HOOP!

If you haven't seen Yogi Bear dance to Baby Got Back, then you've got to see it. Watching it gave me the idea for the hula hoop. Yogi's got dance skills that I don't have, but I thought a hula hoop could make me swirl my hips Yogi style.

I was all set to go and buy one from the Toysrus and decided to look on Amazon. Little did I know, there are such things as fitness hula hoops!

I read the reviews of the ones out on Amazon and then decided to check Walmart to see if they had it. Sure 'nuff they did! The Danskin Now 2.5 lb Fitness Hoop at Walmart is just $19.97 and comes with an instructional DVD. I already knew how to hula hoop, but the DVD also shows you some stretches to start with, a hula hoop routine, some arm exercises and lunges you can do with the hula hoop. 

From my new playlist, I am up to hula hooping to four songs that equal 14 minutes and 22 seconds! I usually have a stiff back and have to be careful with things with impact such as jump rope or jumping jacks. The hula hoop makes my back feel good! 

You'll find some comments within the Amazon reviews from people who said the hula hoop caused bruising and some that complained that it fell apart all of the time (different brand). One reviewer suggested wearing a sweatshirt for padding. I'm not skin and bones so I didn't need a sweatshirt. As for putting it together... I haven't had any problems. Just snap the pieces into place so they don't fall apart.

Don't I look like I'm having fun?

This is a fun way to work up a sweat and get my heart pumping. I am not substituting this for other forms of cardio but it beats doing sit-ups. You can't help but keep your abs tight when you hula hoop. Additionally, I can pick it up anytime I've eaten 12 points worth of chocolate and hula hoop until I no longer feel guilty about it.

Here's the thing... If you have kids, don't expect to have all the hula hooping fun to yourself.

Here's a demo of the hula hoop in action...

Week Eleven: Lost 0 lbs Total Loss: 7.5 lbs

Weigh Day results cannot possibly be accurate with PMS 

Join me next Wednesday for another edition of Weight Watchers Wednesday.

Welcome to Tuesday Archive Link Up (TALU).

This week I am sharing a post from this time last year when I went on a field trip with a bunch of 1st graders. 

Kids Say the Darndest Things...

About TALU

On Tuesdays, there's a place to link up an old post you have written and share with a community of other writers doing the same thing. I'm co-hosting with these other bloggers:

• Debbie, author of Wrinkled Mommy
• Jennifer, author of I Am Not Superwoman
• Anne, author of Life On The Funny Farm
• Shanna, author of Motherhood On The Rocks.
• Rachel, author of Homesteading Quest

TALU is a good way to introduce yourself to some new readers without having to write anything new. Generally I go back as far as "this time last year" but you're welcome to  share anything you've already written. 

It's nice to have your old stuff revisited. TALU is a mature group. Bloggers who leave meaningful comments, receive meaningful comments in return. There's no planning involved other than to remember it's Tuesday and link up your old post below. 

Here's the thing... THERE ARE NO RULES. But when you leave a comment, end it with TALU so we know where to find you.

Let me be clear... what I'm about to write about only exists in my imagination.

This is a Finish the sentence Friday post.

"If I were stuck on an island, I would like to have my iPhone." 

Don't think I didn't see you just roll your eyes. Some of you said, "Really?"

Give me a second and let me explain.

See, Siri would be my butler/DJ. She would remind me that is it is time for Me time and we would leave for my private island through and invisible wall in my bathroom. 

On my private island the temperature would be 75 with a nice breeze.

The perfect blue sky would become a speaker box to my playlists. 

I'd tell Siri to play some jazz music while I gathered my thoughts and put them in order. I'd sit leaning against a tree and take a resting my eyes power nap.

Waking refreshed, I'd tell Siri to play my workout playlist and then I'd dance my butt off like Yogi dancing to Big Butts. 

Drenched in sweat, I'd dive in the ocean where there would be no fishy things to touch me and I would take a quick swim.

I'd asked Siri to queue up a 007 soundtrack as I'd walk out of the ocean like a bond girl - specifically Halle Berry. My hair would be perfect and Idris Elba would be looking at me through binoculars.  

Famished, I would bypass Idris. Ain't nobody got time for that - I've got a man on the other side of the bathroom door.

I would walk over into The Garden of Eating where Siri would play Pure Imagination from Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory.

Come with me
And you'll be
In a world of
Pure imagination
Take a look
And you'll see
Into your imagination

I'd stroll through the garden picking chocolate covered strawberries off vines. There would be a buffet of all my favorite things already prepared and it would all be fat free. I would sample everything and I wouldn't suffer with stomach ache or bloat. 

As I would relax into one more power nap as the music would begin the fade. I'd hear a faint knocking sound as I'm vacuumed back to reality. I would be back in my bathroom and I'd see fingers under the doorway while I'm questioned, "Mom what's taking you so long?"

Here's the thing... I enjoyed that! I ate broccoli while I wrote it and I feel like I had some good stuff. Maybe I should visit the island every time I eat. 

Your FTSF Hosts:

Mommy, for Real (Twitter, Facebook)

Dawn's Disaster (Twitter, Facebook)

Janine's Confessions of a Mommyaholic (Twitter, Facebook)

And Kate  (Twitter, Facebook)

The Weight Watchers Wednesday (WWW) posts have been the highest rated posts of the week since I started ten weeks ago. Not sure how I feel about that, since I said I was going to write the last one the Wednesday after Mother's Day. I was hoping to lose 15 pounds by then. Now I am shooting for ten. Maybe I'll keep posting WWW until I've met my 15 pound goal. We'll see. 

Then there's Pinterest. I'm discovering people with similar interests who repin from my Weight Watchers board. From them, I am able to find new recipes and tips for continued success.

Lastly, in the comments section of last weeks post about hummus Kristi of Finding Ninee said,

I love hummus. I buy whole wheat pitas, cut them in 1/2 and stuff them with hummus, feta cheese, green peppers, cucumbers, lettuce and tomato. They're YUMMY!

So naturally I had to try hummus Kristi's way. I reported back to her via Twitter:

@findingninee Thanks for the recipe! The first was prettier but I was too hungry to take a picture #weightwatchers twitter.com/sporadictweets…

— Kenya G. Johnson (@sporadictweets) April 26, 2013

I decided when I was already hungry that I wanted this sandwich. I had to go to the store to get the ingredients. Then I had to cut them up. I bought Salad Pockets calculating them in the store to be 2 points a piece. When I got home and unwrapped them, I said, "You've got to be kidding me." They were so short I couldn't fit the lettuce in there. Calculating in my head I estimated that eating one salad pocket with the feta and hummus would be 4 points, but then I wolfed down two more without sitting down to savor them estimating 12 points give or take two or more points for unmeasured hummus and feta. Cha-ching!

After I found some point friendly pitas at WalMart, I decided to post a do-over of:

The Kristi Sandwich (Hummus on Pita) - 6 points

• 1 (Joseph's Heart Friendly Pita Bread) - 2 points
• 1 oz of (President Crumbled Feta) - 2 points 
• 1 TBSP of (Sabra Roasted Red Pepper Hummus) - 2 points
• Slices of cucumber, roma tomatoes, and green pepper
• lettuce (suggested optional)
• red onions (suggested optional)

Here's the thing... I like to name my recipes after the person who gave them to me. I have a LaDonna's Carrot Cake, Mom's Pancakes, Mom's Banana Bread, and Nancy's Salad. I've also had a meal that Chris at Hye Thyme Cafe named after me called Kenya's Toasted Almond Chicken. Enjoy The Kristi Sandwich. If you like those ingredients I bet you'll give the sandwich an OMG thumbs up! 

Week Ten: Lost .5 lbs Total Loss: 7.5 lbs

Join me next Wednesday for another edition of Weight Watchers Wednesday.