The best thing that ever happened to me was the worst thing I ever did to my body. Can you guess what it was? Having two babies in 18 months.

Those pregnancies, although I wouldn’t trade them for the world, totally wrecked my metabolism. I’ve struggled with it since then, but there’s always been a reason why I could wait. Well, I’m tired of excuses and ready for some new clothes, and as odd as it seems … 5 years later, I finally feel like my body will respond.

I am 15 pounds heavier than I need to be. I’ll not post my weight here (I’m a little vain in that aspect), but it troubles me when I confide in someone and they say “That’s not a lot.” And, the answer is …”it” really isn’t a lot if you’re 5′8″ or probably even 5′6″, but at 5′3″ … I can’t hide weight vertically. I don’t have enough “vert”.

My goal is to lose 10-15 pounds in 40 days. It’s 3-ish pounds per week. I’m using the website Sparkpeople. I’ve used it several times in the past and it’s done great for those 5-10 pound goals. I really like the Nutrition Tracker and the Fitness Tracker.

I’m going to add a tab for the next forty days where I’ll post what I eat each day and what exercise I do (as well as calories burned). I’d love for you to commit to this with me if you want to shape up for swimsuit season or another big event.

I’ll post here for today:
Breakfast: Pure Protein Chewy Chocolate Chip Bar
Lunch: 1 slice of Papa John’s Supreme Pizza
Dinner: 1 bowl of Special K Cereal with 1% milk and a medium banana
TOTAL CALORIES: 935; CARBS: 132; FAT 28; PROTEIN 50

Exercise: Level 1 of The 30 Day Shred (twice). Burns 350 calories.

Please comment (or email) if you want to participate with me. Let’s hold each other accountable to a healthy lifestyle.

The ear saga is SOLVED. A quick trip to RediCare offered a diagnosis and a cure. Hallelujah.

The culprit … Cleaning my ears with a Q-tip. Over the course of time, I’ve pushed wax back into my ear and it eventually formed a very tight seal over my ear drum/some sort of important membrane.

The solution was this weird ear rinse (can’t remember the technical name) where they shot hot water and peroxide into my ear to disolve the wax. Eventually, it breaks down and starts coming out. At first, it felt really good because it was warm, but by the end when it’s actually hitting nerve endings – not so much. It also made me dizzy. The Physican’s Assistant said that happens because it is changing the temperature inside your ear rapidly. Thankfully, it wasn’t a nauceous-dizzy … more of a rollercoaster-dizzy.

So, careful with Q-tips friends! Take this as a lesson.

My ear has been blocked up for several days. I can only hear about 60% of what’s going on, so life is highly annoying. I’ve tried ear candles in the past and since I think/thought that this might be a clogged ear wax issue {disgusting}, I decided to go the candle route.

If you’ve never used an ear candle before, you’ll enjoy this video showing my experience. Please disregard that I’m wearing pajamas – it was a last minute decision to chronicle this venture.

{Don’t you love how YouTube always picks the best screenshots? Yikes.}

PS – my ear is still blocked up. However, there is ZERO wax in it. Q-tip came out completely clean. Tomorrow starts Sudifed/Advil in massive amounts. After that, I think I’ll see an ENT doctor.

Anyone that has followed me long knows that I love to save money. I never thought that I could have an addiction until I learned the value of a coupon. Now, I feel confident in saying that I’m an expert, but it’s taken years of really learning the ropes. It’s not been hard … it’s just required persistence and confidence in trying new things until I learned what saves the most money for our family.

Some of you are probably landing here today because you heard me on the KSBJ Midday Show. I’m so happy to be forming a partnership with such an outstanding radio station. I’m excited that I can share what I have learned with listeners all over the country. If there is a specific subject you would like to have addressed, please comment this post or send me an email. (stephanie [at] stephanieclick.com).

Today, I gave a basic rundown on how to use a coupon. Let me recap it for you:

(1) Go online to the stores where you shop – grocery chains and drug stores are a definite. Once you are there, find their weekly sales circular and subscribe to it via email.

(2) Gather coupons from any and every where. 95% of my coupons are from the Sunday newspaper. I get three papers per week. (We are a family of four.)

(3) Begin to match the coupons you have with the store sales. Maximize your savings. For example, a bottle of dressing is marked down from $2.25 to $1.50. A good savings right there. Now top that with a 75-cent coupon and you have taken the product from $2.25 to 75-cents!

(4) Find out if you have any stores in your area that double/triple coupons. Your savings will SKYROCKET! Houston has one major chain store that does this. It makes a world of difference.

(5) Use the internet for help. No need to reinvent the wheel with this. I subscribe to The Grocery Game. Feel free to use that link to hop over to my page that describes the process with this site. There are many others – HotCouponWorld.com, CouponMom.com, etc.  (If you are going to buy coupons online, I recommend TheCouponClippers.com.)

Are their any other sites that you love? Tell me about them!

Avery is an old man trapped in a little boys body. I’ve said that his entire life. While he may need to be reminded to brush his teeth, he is, otherwise, an 85 year old. He moves in two modes – slow and slower; he loves to read anything you put in front of him; and he is constantly full of reason and thought. His mind never stops.

Yesterday as I was taking he and his sister to a playdate, we got behind the slowest car on the planet. It was going around 8 mph in a residental area. I didn’t feel it completely necessary to pass although I was thinking rude statements in my head. About that time, Piper said “Why is this guy going SO SLOW?” Exactly sister!

Without missing a beat, Avery started into a huge dissertation. It went something like this … “Piper (he always says her name in a tone that alludes the thought of ‘why don’t you know this stuff!’) … when people are learning to drive they have to take classes. There is Level One – Driving Slow; (pause) Level Two – Driving Medium; (pause) and Level Three – Driving Fast. He is obviously on Level One – Driving Slow.”

Piper said “Oh … ok.”

I meanwhile was trying not to die laughing. The whole time I had been scrambling thoughts about this idiot driving parade speed, Avery had been figuring out – in his best 6 year old way – why the man was driving that way.

So many times, I react in my head … and sometimes/most of the time outloud without ever stopping to consider the “why“. I’m taking that as my learning moment this week … Slow down and ask “why”.

You might never guess that I love fashion … especially if you know me in real life, but I do. Don’t get me wrong, I REALLY love comfort and tend to lean that way … but there is a special place in my heart for a designer dress and a good pair of heels.

One of the things I love so much about television is seeing the actresses and what they are wearing. Shows like Desperate Housewives, The Deep End, Regis and Kelly, and The View, as well as all the soap operas, are a wonderful place to see great outfits, shoes and accessories. It’s very inspiring.

Being an average person, I know that I’d never be able to afford the clothes that I see online. Target, J.C. Penney’s and Kohl’s have similar looks at more affordable prices. But, the inspiration, for me, is definitely television. It seems more “in reach” for me as opposed to magazine fashion.

One of the things I love best about The View is the online piece called “What I’m Wearing”. Taped with Elisabeth and Sherri, they go through piece by piece and tell you what they’re wearing. It’s awesome, especially when some of the pieces are from stores/designer’s that I know. I’ve put a couple of things on my Wish List and will watch for them to go on sale.

Here’s a link to “What I’m Wearing“.  Don’t you wish all television shows did this?

* I am a participant in a Mom Central campaign for ABC Daytime and will receive a tote bag or other The View branded items to facilitate my review.

Me & Heather Armstrong (Dooce)

I’ve been blogging since 2004 and somehow I’ve managed to never attend a blogging conference. I’ve seen all the posts and nearly die with envy every time as I see pictures popping up like wild on Twitter … but it’s  never worked out for me to leave work and family to attend.

With the Mom 2.0 Summit being [practically] in my backyard, I really wanted to go. There were some early conflicts that kept me from purchasing a ticket, so I had  counted out the possibility of this being “my first conference”. Some last minute changes opened up my schedule, but by that point, the ticket price was outrageously high. It was WAY past the Early Bird discount date, and even coupled with not having to stay in a hotel, it was still out of my reach. I was so disappointed.

Less than 24 hours before the first session began, I was sponsored. My sweet friend heard of a sponsor with an open ticket and put us in contact. It was a complete fluke that it worked out and even more crazy that it was a company that I had used religiously throughout both of my pregnancies. Amen. {More on this amazing company soon!}

I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect. I mean, I thought I knew, but until you are actually there – you really don’t know. The Mom 2.0 Summit had three tracks to pick from. One was a personal track (I chose that one), one was a professional track (I’d chose this one if I had it to do again), and the third was for business people (product oriented).

Me, Heloise, & Sarah (@mainlinemom)

Friday’s summit began with a special keynote with Gretchen Rubin and Heloise. Yes, that Heloise … the one with the helpful hints in the society pages of your newspaper. She was lovely … as was Gretchen.

I did three sessions on Friday. All of them were very useful. It was great for me that they primarily focused on writing! I’d taken a conference day and needed to be able to say that I honestly got 8 hours worth of content! I learned so much about writing, community, and engagement. It’s something that I’m really striving for within my blog, but also REALLY working for in my day job. Our team spends a lot of time on these concepts and we are getting ready to have to face these topics again.

This is DEFINITELY me before riding in the Weinermobile

The highlight of Thursday, if we’re being completely honest, was riding in the Weinermobile. I mean, who woulda thunk that the Weinermobile would be available for our group. Too funny … or actually Bun Believeable!

Friday began with a keynote panel with Heather Armstrong, Gabrielle Blair, and Maggie Masongie. It was incredible. They shared, what to me, were next steps for where I’m at right now. I would have paid dearly to have been able to crawl into their heads for even more time. They were candid, funny and charming. I so appreciated their advice and mentor-like attitude.

The sessions on Saturday were not as strong for me although I did enjoy them all. (It was more the subject matter that wasn’t my favorite.) There was a live Twitter stream in every room. With several of the sessions, I could see tweets from other conference rooms and thought “crap … I should have done that session.”

I think I am at a odd crossroad with my blog and job. I could have easily fit into several tracks here. I needed a clone.

With that said, I have now learned that it’s easier to decide what conference is for you after you attend one. I now know what sessions really resinated with me and which ones are still challenging me days later. In the future, I’ll look for conferences that are catered that direction. There are a zillion great conferences out there now … I can’t wait to really dig into the offerings.

I would recommend Mom 2.0 Summit. It was well-run and completely organized. The speakers were top-notch. Even the sessions that weren’t my favorite were led by completely qualified and engaging women. The entire experience was very inspiring and motivating.

Now … to put it all into practice!

Enjoy this video – a highlight of my weekend.

* I was not paid by PageOnce. This is purely something that I ran across on my own. I am not an endorsee, just a happy customer.

Are you a frequent airline customer? What about a top-notch rental car consumer? Is your spouse “Elite” or “Gold” and enjoy the lounges from sea to shining sea?

Oh … you too?

Then you will love the free app that I found today. It’s called “Trip Tracker”by PageOnce. What I love about the app is that it has a feature where it “automagically” remembers information. For example, I have a flight booked for mid-April. I put in my Continental frequent flier number and it pulled up my reservation automagically! It even pulled in my rental car … something I had completely forgotten about!

I had another travel app until recently. Every time my husband would book a trip, I would have to go in and manually enter his flight info. Not too difficult if you are on a full-sized keyboard, but doing all that typing on an iPhone is a little much.

Now with “Trip Tracker”, I just put in Don’s Frequent Flier number and his pin and it loads it for me! Amazing …! And those trips he forgets to tell me about until I see him packing a suitcase – now they are all loaded when they are booked and I’m not left feeling surprised!

Do you have a favorite app? Please leave me a comment. I’d love to know what you use on a daily basis.

I’m ready for beach scenes like this again …

Orange Beach, Alabama – August 2008

As a working parent and a mom of two, I crave girl-talk … conversations between women about regular things that are not daycare pricing, the latest virus, or fundraising forms. Because of my schedule, I rarely have time to talk to anyone that isn’t in my office or over the age of 6.

Enter The View.

Many weeks ago, I filled out a form to become a Brand Ambassador for The View. I immediately filled it out. I love the show and appreciate so many things about it. After forgetting that I’d applied, I found out that I was accepted!

Let me introduce you to The View if you haven’t seen the show before. It is an ABC daytime talk show featuring four female anchors:  Joy Behar, Elisabeth Hasselback, Sherri Shepherd, Whoopi Goldberg, and a part-time Barbara Walters. I love something different about each of these ladies. Joy is hysterical and says what you really want to say, but wouldn’t dare. Elisabeth has the conservative values that I hold (although she’s a little more fanatical than me). Sherri is a great mix of all the ladies. She really brings a balance to the table. Whoopi speaks her mind and really plays the devil’s advocate on the cast. She, many times, makes me consider the other side of the coin. Barbara Walters, a great of the industry, has such a wealth of pure wisdom and knowledge. She is an amazing woman.

The show opens up with a segment called “Hot Topics”. This portion covers topics that you’ve most likely heard about on the news. Sometimes it’s political, but often it’s just an interesting news story. The women discuss their views on the subject in a no-holds-barred manner. Following that, there are interviews with celebrities, musical artists, or other noted people.

In today’s episode, the interview section was with Chandra Wilson from Grey’s Anatomy. I have just started watching Grey’s (not sure what took me so long!), so I really enjoyed getting to know a member of the cast. The segment following that was about “sexting”. They brought two sides to the conversation: one was a girl who had sent pictures to a boyfriend that then spread them throughout their town; the other was a boy who had forwarded pictures of a girlfriend. It was so incredibly sad to hear the stories of how lives have been torn apart by this new teen fad. But, in true The View fashion, it brought a topic to light that we all, as adults, need to understand and try to put to a stop.

I’ve had a sick child, so I’ve gotten to watch the show in the comfort of my home the past two days. That’s a welcomed, but not a typical treat for me. If you visit the ABC website, you can watch full episodes online. (They are approximately 38 minutes long.) Since I bring my lunch to work each day, it’s the perfect amount of time for me to stream the show while eating.

Right now, there is an exciting sweepstakes going on. One lucky winner will be randomly selected to receive a trip from Mom Central to head out to NYC and watch a taping of The View. The sweepstakes is open until February 28. Fill out an application here!

During the next four weeks, I’ll be able to give you some cool information about The View. I hope you’ll enjoy the posts and check out the show. I think you’ll really like it.

Disclosure: I am a participant in a Mom Central campaign for ABC Daytime and will receive a tote bag or other The View branded items to facilitate my review.