Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Christmas was very nice, but I'm tired, sick, and overbooked. Baby steps will have to be good enough until I've licked this sinus infection.

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Happy holidays!

I hope you all have a great holiday. I'll be offline for the next few days, but I plan to be back next Monday!

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Safe and sound

Hub made it home safely, but the trip was awful. Lots of traffic, wrecks, and they made the mistake of coming home on US 29 – which was very icy. On the way home after he & my mom picked her up, Saunooke said it was the first time he’s ever heard his mom say “thank you”.

I fed mom’s dogs, ran a couple of errands, and had a relaxing night at home. I really didn’t want to sew, so I took a bath, watched a little tv, and just piddled around. Then I got up and did a bunch of picking up around the place – things are looking good. My plan is to make the grocery list tonight (mom and I discussed who’s eating what and where through the holiday) then pick up the few items I need tomorrow.

I don’t understand my friends that can come home after work and sew on anything that requires thought. That’s a talent I wish I had! My current plan is to sew like a mad woman on Thursday till time to go to my mom’s house for church & Christmas Eve dinner. (I can't remember if I've mentioned, but I'm making some new stuff for our trip out to San Fran where we'll be going to a medieval thing).

After I’d gotten loads of picking up done, I did a few minutes of a stretch dvd. It wasn’t much, but it felt good and helped me unwind.

I saw the nurse here at work yesterday. I still have a nasty cold that had moved down into my chest by last weekend. She recommended I switch from Robitussin to Mucinex (because it’s stronger). It does seem to be helping. I’m using my salt water – no infection and I don’t have bronchitis or anything, but this thing sure does seem to be hanging on for all eternity. I’m making sure I drink my wheat grass every day! The worst thing is that I feel yucky at night and have a hard time waking up in the morning. Ugh. I hate being sick!

Monday, December 21, 2009

“The more things change, the more they suck.” – Butthead

Taking your life tenants from an MTV cartoon character cannot be good, people.

Hub is driving up to Manassas today to pick up his mom. Her plan was to spend Christmas at his brother’s up in Sykesville Maryland. Well, apparently things are pretty difficult around their house these days. Difficult enough than when MIL asked BIL if it would be better if she just went home, he answered yes. Which meant my MIL drove from north of DC to Manassas in a blizzard Friday night.

Hub is mad with his brother, to put it mildly. MIL had then planned to spend Christmas alone, but of course we wouldn’t hear of that. We checked road conditions and Hub had planned to drive up yesterday, but we were a bit concerned so he elected to wait until today to head up there. My mom is going with him so he isn’t making the drive alone, thank goodness.

I didn’t get as much done as I wanted this weekend. And my house is a mess. But I watched “Cars” and “Ratatouille”!

Why must I be at work when I have so much to do at home???????

Friday, December 18, 2009

Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

The weatherman is calling for about a bazilliondy inches of snow. I stopped by the grocery on the way home yesterday & bought what we needed for the next couple of days. They were out of sugar-free coccoa mix though, and I forgot to look up the ingredients for snow ice cream, so I'll be making a quick stop on the way home today.

I plan to leave work at 11, roughly an hour or so ahead of the storm.

Tomorrow AM I plan to practice some of the new exercises of my kettlebell dvd.

Snow! Yay!!!

Thursday, December 17, 2009

From Russia, with Tough Love

I ordered Pavel Tsatsouline's kettlebell dvd "From Russia with Tough Love." I love it!!!!

If you are looking for a workout dvd, this isn't it. If you are looking for a videotaped "workshop" that shows you the correct form for a number of basic moves (shows them over & over & points out what wrong looks like also), that then allows you to build your own workouts? THIS is that dvd. I feel like I've been taught to fish. I'm also gratified to know that the couple of basic moves I do know I've been doing right!!!

Found out last night a friend (not close) of ours was killed in a car wreck Tuesday. I think I'm still in shock over that one.

It's supposed to snow here tomorrow and Saturday - I'm stopping by the grocery on the way home.

I guess this post is all over the page.

Oh, MIL isn't coming for the holidays, so no trip up to the DC area for us this weekend, thank heavens.

Shopping is done, I plan to finish wrapping today or tomorrow. Decortaing is mostly done - just need to get hub to put the boxes in the garage.

I'm still sleeping like a log and havign to take medicine for the chest congestion. At least I'm not hacking up a lung all day - just a bit of cough left.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Ouchie!

I have done something to my left big toe. Who knows what? It was hurting when I woke up this morning. I am still fighting this darn cough – taking Robitussin for chest congestion. I am sleeping quite a bit, but overall feeling pretty good.

The boy has stayed at his grandma’s the past couple of days and I think we’re gonna let him take Friday off to go to Virginia with his grandpa. Boy #2 is over at his house for the school week, and the potential new dog is with the boy at grandma’s. So, this has been a very quiet week at home.

I’d say relaxing, but not so much. Hub is having to replace some of the new tiles due to damage to the finish (it’s a flaw with the tiles) and it’s looking like he’ll be laid off in a couple of weeks.

He offered to pick up beer last night, but I said “no thanks.” Go me! I did have an after dinner snack and a glass of wine, but that’s better than where the evening might have been heading!
I’m weighing myself every day so I at least stay aware. Mornings have been very cold, but I have my Gilad dvds and a new kettlebell dvd on the way

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

One step at a time

Things around our house are a bit stressful right now. I'm hoping things will calm down once school lets out for the holiday break (this Friday).

Stuff I've done lately:

Moved small tv/dvd player to my bedroom

Rented Gilad's 15 10 minute workout dvd set from netflix. Did the first one this morning until the dog decided to get in on it.

Made myself a healthy lunch for the week!

I cooked a bag of pinto beans and made a pot of quinoa. This morning I took out 3/4 cup of each, added lemon juice, red wine vinegar, a dab of olive oil, sliced olives, feta cheese, basil & parsley. Had that with a side of sauteed spinach. YUM!

More Gilad tomorow. I have more workout dvds in my queue - this one seems pretty good.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

I feel good

Lately I’ve been mentally beating myself up about not going to the gym. Add that to the facts that 1) it’s been cold and yucky outside a fair bit and 2) we have a semi-permanent guest in our guest room (where I used to work out) and the sum total is a big old slugfest.

Instead of continuing to flog myself over the lack of exercise, I decided to brainstorm and figure out what I could and would do. So I decided to not give my tv/dvd combo to my MIL and keep it for myself. I can either set it up in my bathroom (yes, my bathroom is THAT BIG), or in the bedroom. But if I put it in the bedroom I have to kick the dogs out, which is why the bathroom is looking like a pretty good idea. Either way I have a place to work out.

I need to move my exercise stuff & dvds out of the guest room and into my room. I have placed several workout dvds in my netflix queue. One is a 2-disc set of 15 10 minute workouts by Gilad. I like his dvds a lot and I figure even I can squeeze in 10 minutes. The main thing is to re-start the babit. I also ordered Pavel Tsatsouline’s “From Russia with Tough Love” kettlebell dvd from amazon.

It feels good to have a plan.

Wednesday, December 09, 2009

State of the union

I haven’t meant to abandon this poor blog. Life has been pretty hectic.

A new dog: I know I’ve mentioned my mom’s childhood friend – we’ll call her Ann. She has anorexia, depression, anxiety attacks .. Ann decided she wanted a dog. Okay. But instead of getting a small, adult, already housebroken dog, she got a puppy. Which of course was way more than she could possibly handle. The day after Thanksgiving she called my mom in a total state and asked her to come down. Ann was going to have to take the dog back to the (not no kill) shelter – there was no way she could manage. Mom brought the dog back. He’s actually doing pretty well at our house – he sleeps with the boy and until Christmas break, he’s spends the day at my mom’s so she can help with the potty training. He’s a short haired dachshund mixed with some sort of terrier I think.

A new boy (kinda): My son’s friend – we’ll call him Tim. He lives with his aunt & uncle. His uncle lost his job over a year ago and was diagnosed back then with major depression. Since he didn’t stay on his medication and hasn’t gone to counseling, things have gotten worse. Things over at their house are pretty bad and as a result, Tim spends most of his time at our house. He is (for all intents & purposes) living in our guest room. Sure, they’ve said he can’t move out until he’s 18 (in less than 4 months), but since he spends 5 or so nights per week with us and we are the ones giving him lunch money (they don’t)… well, if he’s NOT living with us he might as well be!

Me: I’ve gained 6 pounds from my lowest and time for myself has become a distant memory. Not good.

Wednesday, November 04, 2009


“Offshore resource” is a code phrase meaning “sleep deprivation”

After putting in a full day at the office, I had a half hour break before I logged on at home and remained on until after 10, when I was falling asleep and decided to just go to bed. A tech project I am managing is scheduled to be implemented Thursday, and we are conducting testing. Unfortunately, the testing is being done in India. I say unfortunately because of the time difference. We send the sample file and then, before the batch jobs refresh at 10:30 PM EST, there is a narrow window of opportunity for our resource to sign in (at butt crack o’dawn her time) to check these on the test server before it all turns into a pumpkin. That’s a very long explanation for “I’m working a lot this week and I’m tired.”

I know I didn’t really write much about my weekend. Saturday hub drove to Raleigh to retrieve our dining room furniture from a friend’s garage. Our house is a bit crowded right now (we are still making decisions about some old stuff), but I’m glad to have the dining set – I love it!

While he was away, I got a good bit of housework done, including cleaning up in the guest room and emptying out a couple of drawers so the boy's friend T could store a few clothes. I also pulled out a piece on linen I bought this past summer . It was a very bright red – as in, if red could be fluorescent, it would probably look like this. I dyed it and it came out a very nice subdued, darker red color.

I am so equivocating on my paint selections. For one, I think I don’t like the blue in the kitchen. I like the blue, but I had originally selected it for a bathroom. I think it would look good there, but the kitchen feels a little too cold to me. I’m thinking a version of my original plan: green. Only I may do a dark taupe under the chair rail in the breakfast nook. This is no big deal – it’s $20 worth of paint.

I’m still set on green for the bathroom (which I intend to paint this weekend). If I’m feeling froggy I’d like to paint the bedroom on the 14th, but again I’m undecided about the colors.

Originally, my plan for the bedroom was a dark taupe type color. But I have a set of Drexel Heritage bedroom furniture that includes a dresser with 2 massive mirrors, a chest of drawers, and a queen sized 4 poster bed. The finish and general style are much like this china cabinet from the same line.

I’m thinking taupe walls plus massive brown furniture = giant dog turd. I have some painted furniture in the room (2 book cases and 2 small chests of drawers) – I could paint those brown. But what color for the walls? Blue? I dunno…. Would that feel restful????

Friday, October 30, 2009

Day 1

I decided to face the music & get on the scale. In the past 2 weeks I have gained 5.2 pounds! Argh! I'd say "how did that happen?", but (sadly) I know.

B: green drink (spinach, kiwi, frozen mixed fruit, amazing grass brand amazing meal).
S: nuts, grapes
L: home made stir fry (leftover)
S: hummus, cucumber
D: tbd - leftovers.

I'll keep you posted.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Blog, what blog?

Congratulations, you are probably the only person reading this because I have been so lame about updating. Actually I’ve been lame about a lot of things for the past 3 weeks. Having made really good progress on my weight loss, I’ve spent the last 3 weeks acting like food is about to be declared illegal, with prohibition coming back to boot.

The sad thing is I feel stressed and vaguely depressed, with no idea why. It’s hard to act when you don’t know what’s wrong.

Here’s to baby stepping my way to sanity … again.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

A bit more detail (but not too much)

Sadly, DHRAMA was to be had at the medieval event last weekend. It didn’t ruin our visit with our house guests, but it made things way more stressful than was necessary.

So I wasn’t in the best mood headed into this week. Add in to the mix rain every day but one, a possible job layoff for the hub (think good thoughts for us), and the MIL thing. Is it any wonder I’ve bought beer on the way home the past 2 days??????

Yes, MIL moved last fall/winter when she lost her job. She lived with a friend a few months, then moved in with another friend. Friend 2 and her hub have a rental house they are renovating. It has a basement apartment and they are letting MIL stay there cheap/free if she keeps an eye on things. Sort of a property manager type deal I guess.

She’s never found another job and given her health opted to draw early social security. I hope she can make it on that. Hub & the boys (son and friend who pretty much lives with us) are planning to load the truck Friday. We’ll get up early Saturday to drive it up (5 and a half hours), have lunch with friends, then drive home. Sunday hub and the boys have to go finish up a side job so we need to get back in time for everyone to get a good night’s rest.

As for the possible layoff…. As you know, hub is in construction. The job he is currently working on will finish up sometime in December or January. Currently, they don’t have any work for most of the crew beyond that. There is a job that just started, but they have to get the foundation poured & some other basics done before it will be to the point where they need to bring in folks. That depends to a certain extent on the weather, but that job may be ready for folks by the time this one runs down (fingers crossed). The down side is that it’s 2 hours from home. So hub might end up staying down there during the week. Things are just up in the air right now.

Anyway, trying to pick myself up, dust myself off, and keep going with my sanity intact.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Fits and starts

I had a kinda crappy weekend. The whys aren’t important, but at the end of the day I went into this weekend with laundry unwashed, groceries not bought, meals not planned. I’ve got some ideas about dinners and we’re just winging it this week.

I was hoping for a quiet weekend, but the MIL is moving – Friday hub will load the moving truck at the storage unit and early Saturday we will drive it up to Virginia. I will follow in the car. His brother & kids will unload it, so all we have to do is load it & get it up there, but it’s a good 4 + hour drive (one way), so Saturday is pretty much shot.

My plan is to get the meal plan & grocery list done Thursday, do as much shopping as possible Friday, and then Sunday I will cook and hopefully have some time to myself to do a few things.

Wednesday, October 07, 2009

Crazy week

This week is particularly hectic: we are going out of town with friends that are coming in town tomorrow evening. They’re staying at our house tomorrow, then we’re headed out together Friday. Also, another friend called hub last night and THEY may be here this weekend and need crash space.

So I’ve been busy finishing up an outfit for the weekend, getting the house clean, getting ready to go, etc. I’ve yet to make it to the gym. Sigh. Despite that, I’m down 0.8 pounds and holding.

I’m taking 2 hours off work this afternoon so I can get done the things I need to AND get to the gym. I really feel like I need to go. Eating has been good, but losing weight without the benefit of exercise is tough. I’ll feel better mentally if I get in a good workout. I may not make it back tomorrow, but I can go Friday morning before we leave. That’s better than nothing.

Besides being busy making a new outfit for this weekend, I’m getting excited about painting. While I was cleaning the guest room, I changed the curtains and put a fitted cover on the chair that’s in there. It looks nice.

Next project is the master bath.

Anyway, my plan is to keep November low key since we have a lot going on both this month and in December.

Tuesday, October 06, 2009

Sometimes it's the little things

Last week was kinda crazy - I was on jury duty Thursday and Friday, so my schedule was completely thrown off. Add in to that the fact that Sunday was hub's birthday, we have guests coming this weekend (so we can all go to a big medieval event together) which meant the guest room had to be put into some semblance of order - it all adds up to several days of no gym time.

Despite that I lost 0.8 pounds last week, and the same (so far) this week. Those aren't huge numbers, but it's progress in the right direction. But bigger than the scale was the fact that this morning, I was able to once again wear my grandmother's wedding ring. Next stop, blue jeans! Woo hoo!

Even though I have loads to do this week, I AM going to the gym this afternoon. Priorities!!!!

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Since it worked, we’ll call it a “strategy”

Here’s the deal: last week I lost 0.4 pounds. BUT. I weigh on Fridays. So, I weighed, then when I weighed on Saturday I had lost the weight, then I stayed the same all week despite careful eating and plenty of exercise.

So this weekend involved plenty of rest from exercise and extra calories. Nothing of epic proportions, but I ate too much.

Yesterday it was back to watching what I eat and I’m down 0.8 pounds. Now, I don’t know if my body really “needed” the extra calories so it would know food was still plentiful or if the scale would’ve gone down anyway. But it certainly helped me mentally to eat cheese!

Slowly, slowly, it feels, but I’m working my way back down!

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Trick or treat, give me something good to eat


Grrrr.

Saturday when I weighed I was down 0.4 pounds from Friday. I've stayed the same ever since. Typically, the scale will "stick" for a day or two, then show a drop. But not this time. The same thing, 5 days in a row. Despite interval workouts on the elliptical, walking, no evening snacks, healthy choices.

I feel great (a little tired, I'm taking today off the gym), but really great. So why won't the damn scale move????

Grrr.

Monday, September 21, 2009

Christmas came early

Would you believe I weighed a half pound less at the end of the weekend as I did at the beginning???

Things I did:

Went to spin class Saturday morning

Bought myself something special from the Earth Fare deli (it's similar to Whole Foods) Friday afternoon for Saturday. I got mock chicken salad and sesame kale salad. It was nice to have something healthy that felt like a special treat.

Ate stuff I enjoyed, but watched portions.

Didn't let myself get so tired I felt I needed to eat - I took a nap!

Promised I could split a small cheese dip with my husband Wednesday night! :-)

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Flattery will get you everywhere

Yesterday I showed a loss of 2.2 pounds from the week before - and this morning I showed another 0.4 pound loss. Score!

This morning was so nice that I wanted to go for a walk, even though I knew I was going to spin class at 8:30. There were several people out walking dogs, jogging, etc. One lady stopped and said "You've lost a lot of weight haven't you? You look great!" That was so encouraging to me.

Which was helpful when a few hours later my husband announced his chain saw could not be fixed and he needed to buy a new one. $300 we don't have, on top of $300 to get the garage door fixed last Thursday. I admit, I broke down in tears. When I got home from grocery shopping (I was on the way home when he called), I was dirty (when I got home from the gym the dish washer was running), tired, hungry, and demoralized.

I really didn't want the cold lunch I'd planned, so I ate some leftovers instead of the tacos I wanted. I didn't go get a beer. After eating I went and took a nap. When I got up I took a long bath.

I had great plans to clean house today but I don't think I'm going to do a thing. I'm just really feeling tired & ragged out. I think a day of doing nothing is in order.

Friday, September 18, 2009

Compromise carries the day

Last night I had 1 beer and made myself some air popped popcorn. Weight stayed the same. But I sat, watched a show with my hub, and enjoyed an evening snack. Sad to have missed my class at the gym - I'm hoping I can make time for the gym this afternoon.

Have a good weekend!

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Not a banner day.

So, the boy's 1st quarter progress reports came home - 2 Bs, 1 c, and 2 Ds. I am so pissed I can't see straight.

Also, I wanted to go to Body Sculpt tonight but we need to have a family conference so I can't. I am in a very dangerous mood where I want to eat the universe, or at least some cheese dip. And that is made all the more frustrating by the fact that I saw a 2 pound loss this morning on the scale - my increased exercise and persistence in not eating after dinner paid off - this is the lowest number I've seen since before vacation.

Grrrrr.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Hi, my name is N--- and I am a home improvement junkie.

Two days ago I was watching "Bathtastic!" (could I make that up?) and they re-did a bathroom where they put in a bamboo countertop just like I keep telling Hub I want AND they had a butt ugly vanity like ours which they painted and it looked totally nice. Which I would like to do with ours. (This is when we do the major remodel on the master bath which is supposedly scheduled for 2 years from now but we have most of the stuff already so why wait?).

ANYWAY. On an episode (maybe the same one but who can remember when you're watching back to back home improvement shows like an addict) they put in this great pottery sink that sent me searching the web site to find the place that made it. Which I did but it was in Minnesota or something but I found a pottery place that makes sinks that are totally reasonable. As in a handmade pottery vessel sink for $250, which I think is a very good price. Then I found some great ones made in Mexico like we saw on our trip - but they aren't very restful and neutral. Eventually I ended up at Overstock which has gobs of beautiful vessel sinks and I would have totally ordered one for the hall bath except Hub reminded me that he would have to remake the countertop (slate tile). Oh well.

I planned to go to the gym yesterday but I had a headache and Bootcamp with a headache would have meant death for someone so instead Hub and I packed Jordan into the car (and then into a cart) and went to Lowe's, where I picked up 60 bazillion paint chips to paint the bath & bedroom. All of which will likely need to be repainted before I move because it has to be neutral when we sell it.

No worries – I walked yesterday morning and at lunch so it’s not like I got no exercise. I went to the gym Monday afternoon and I have my bag packed for today as well. I loaded 2 new Cardio Coach CDs onto my MP3 player, so I’m set. Except that the elliptical I like is broken and the only other one with swinging arms only lets you go for 30 minutes (grrr).

I’ll get in a weight session Sunday (in addition to Body Sculpt tomorrow night), sp I should have 2 for the week.

Eating is on plan – another benefit to last night’s trip to Lowe’s (in addition to paint chips) is that I was out of the house and so I didn’t snack before bed. Woo hoo!

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

And now for something completely different

In the 5 weeks since I returned from vacation, I have basically lost weight during the week and re-gained it on the weekend. Five weeks later and I’m still up 2 pounds on my pre vacation weight. This is ridiculous.

Our work has this new “healthy living” initiative. One of the things they offer is access to a “health coach”. It’s over the phone, but I thought this might be a good way for me to get some feedback and be accountable to someone.

Our first appointment was next Tuesday, and unfortunately we have to re-schedule. In any case, I will keep you posted!

Friday, September 11, 2009

Friday

When I got home yesterday, I took a short nap, did a bit of sewing, made dinner, and then went to the gym

I was the only person in class! It was “Playball!” which is a body sculpting type class with medicine balls. I was thinking old school, but these were smaller lighter, squishy weighted balls. Anyway, it was a great workout. There was one other lady that showed up at 6:40 (she thought the class was at 6:30). She came in & did a bit with us.

At home, the guys caught a lucky break because the cleaning lady came yesterday – right day, wrong week! Way to get out of vacuuming and cleaning the bathrooms!

I sat down with a calendar yesterday and wrote down what hub and I need to accomplish around the house this fall. Looks like we’re booked through October pretty much. Between your usual home maintenance (seal the deck, trim some limbs, paint some windows) and my desire to do some painting inside, we’re full up.

Work is doing a new thing where you can get money added to your health savings account if you do things like take a health assessment, sign up with a health coach, etc. Since my weight has been stalled for time & all eternity, yesterday I called and signed up with a coach. I figure it will help me be accountable to my plan.

I need to get a bit more frequent with the physical activity and dial back a bit on the weekends with the calories. I’m so close – I’ve maintained for a while, so I’m ready to take it to the next level. Overall though I'm doing really great!

Friday, September 04, 2009

Insert heavy sigh here

This week I lost the half pound I gained last week. Other than a beer, slice of cheese, and 5 chips Wednesday night, I ate really well. I went to the gym Tuesday (cardio) and Thursday (body sculpt, led by one of satan's minions). I have to remember that some weeks that's just how it is.

Have fun with the remodel Jack!

If you are celebrating, have a nice Labor Day weekend!

Thursday, September 03, 2009

All's quiet here

It's been a good week. The whole family went to the gym Tuesday afternoon - yay! Both boy and hub have commitments this afternoon, so I plan to hit a body sculpt class. The kitchen is laregely put back together - I just need to finish & hang the curtains.

I've tried to eat a better dinner so I don't feel the need for an evening snack, and that's going pretty well. Hub has Monday off, so I've decided to take the day off as well. Not sure what we're gonna do - Sunday I'm headed to a friend's to do some sewing. So I'm looking forward to a quiet holiday weekend. Weather permitting, we'll grill out!

Take care.

Tuesday, September 01, 2009

Lesson (Re-) Learned

Something I know but tend to forget: If I fail to eat a sufficient dinner, I get hungry later. I realize that sounds self evident, but in my efforts to make healthy choices, I sometimes fail to eat enough dinner.

After Saturday night’s “taco incident”, the scale was up 1.5 pounds. No surprise, it was salty and I ate a fair amount of food late. I became frustrated Monday when that pound was still there. But then I realized that I ate a very light dinner Sunday, so later I had a snack. Not bad, but 1) it was late and 2) it was a bit salty. So it’s no wonder the scale hadn’t budged! Last night I ate a substantial dinner, didn’t need a snack, and lo and behold the scale was back down.

I got up and walked this morning - it was a wonderful 56 degrees with just a hint of “crisp" in the air. It’s been in the mid 90s here and even the nights have been warm and muggy, so this morning was a pleasant surprise. Hub is back on a M-F 7-3:30 schedule, so he will be getting home in time to go to the gym with the boy and I. We are going this afternoon! So that is wonderful – I’m so glad that we’ll all be going.

I know that day to day it sometimes feels (and sounds) like I’m not making progress. But I’ve still lost 20 pounds this year and while things like vacation etc. have made the scale bounce up and down, overall I’m headed in the right direction.

Monday, August 31, 2009

Grrr

After a very busy weekend (I painted the kitchen) and careful eating (other than Saturday night), I am up 1.5 pounds. ARGH!!!! I’m going to the gym this afternoon. Not sure what else to do – I mean, I don’t want to give up tacos for forever.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

How it’s going

Back to school is always a challenging time of year. Besides all the running around to find supplies, clothes, go to open house, every year we have a new routine to adjust to. This year my son’s bus comes over an hour later than it did last year! So, a huge swing in our schedules.

For the first few days at least I want to be home long enough to ensure he’s up, clean, fed, and ready to go to the bus stop. That translates to me getting in to work much later than I have in the past.

Normally I get pretty stressed this time of year but somehow it’s going better this year. For one, he didn’t start back to school immediately after vacation, so we had time to get everything vacation-related cleaned and put away. My house is clean & organized and hub did the same for the garage. Second, I acknowledged that all my habits wouldn’t magically gel into a new schedule. I’ve gradually added things back, and that’s gone great.

I’m back to packing healthy meals and snacks, I’m getting up and walking in the morning. Yesterday the boy and I visited the gym in the afternoon to see how crowded it was and talk to the guy at the desk about when it begins to get busy. We are going to try going in the afternoons, starting next week. Weight is drifting back down. Hurray!

But most of all it feels good to be eating my healthy foods and going for those morning walks.

Monday, August 24, 2009

Monday - already!?!?!

I had the most amazingly productive weekend possible. And since the job site was closed, hub had a whole weekend off! Which was good, because it took him the entire weekend to get the garage put back together and all the vacation stuff put away!

Went out to dinner with friends Friday after work.

Saturday I got up early and walked, grocery shopped, and cleaned my kitchen. As in I went through every single drawer and cabinet and cleaned, organized, and culled out stuff I don't need/use. Goodwill is going to be very happy. Then we had an amazing dinner with friends – yummy and good company.

Sunday was laundry day. I also got the vacation stuff in the sewing room put away, that room mostly tidied up, and organized the linen closet. I had a big stack of old towels & some pet stuff that went to the animal shelter. We had friends come over for lunch, which was a nice break for us and it was nice to catch up with them. I also made a nice meal for dinner and got a bunch of embroidery done on my dress.

Is it Friday yet? I'm tired. hee hee hee

On the down side, I ate too much. Grrr.

Friday, August 21, 2009

No, I haven’t abandoned this blog.

I know I haven’t updated in forever. I haven’t even caught up on the blogs I read since we got back! We were on vacation for 2 weeks (it was very nice). Then we got back on the 9th and since then work has been super busy for hub & I, we’ve been busy getting things cleaned up & packed away, and the boy had freshman orientation the past 2 days and school starts next week!

One good thing I did was to give myself permission to ease back into my routine. Rather than trying to jump back in & be “perfect”, I spent a week getting my eating routines back in place, this week, I started walking again in the morning, next week I’ll add weights, etc. The net result is much less pressure on myself. According to my weigh-in this morning, I gained 2 pounds on vacation – pretty good!

I’m back to eating mostly vegan and feeling much better for it. This weekend is visiting with friends, sewing, and giving my kitchen a thorough cleaning & organizing in preparation to paint it!

Well, back to work but I wanted to make time to at least check in.

Have a good weekend!

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

I’m leaving, in a minivan

Car has been replaced with a 2007 Nissan Sentra.

Trailer wiring has been fixed. Brake lights work.

Garage is a disaster. No bets on how long it will take for the guys to load the trailer or what time we’ll actually leave. Hub says 6. However: in my world the trains run on time, he prefers what we call “Native American time” (day time/night time). A departure time in Hub-land is more of a general guideline rather than a deadline… plus (never minus) 4 or so hours.

Never in the history of the world has a woman ever needed a vacation as badly as I do now!

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Vacation when?

Hub totalled his car Tuesday night. He's fine (thank goodness) and no one was hurt. He had to run off the road to avoid a woman who randomly decided to turn left right in front of him.

But b/c the car was so old we don't have collision, so we have to get a new car. Can I please return the roof I just bought???

Calgon, take me away! (More like, Budweiser, take me away!)

Friday, July 17, 2009


Since I love to read fellow bloggers (and blog myself), I thought this pic was pretty funny.
On a more somber note: A friend of our passed away this morning - she had been fighting breast cancer for quite some time. So really going on about my workout at the gym or what the scale said just feels a bit pointless right this moment, if you know what I mean.
Have a good weekend.




Thursday, July 16, 2009

See saw

The scale went down the 0.8 pounds, and then it was back up again this morning! Gah! This is what makes me so nuts.

I took yesterday off from the gym - my body was giving me the (I am getting run down and your immune system is getting compromised and you need to rest) signals. So I went home and chilled, called hub & asked him to pick up pizza, then went to bed at 8. Maybe that's the 0.8 pounds - my fingers were swollen when I put on my rings.

Anyway, kettlebells this morning and gym this afternoon. My chore list isn't too horrible this weekend, but I am going to have to stay very focused on the food cause it's time to get off the see saw!

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Happy Bastille Day

Today should be a good Tour day – being Bastille Day and having no top sprinters, the French will most likely launch tons of attacks, hoping to get in a breakaway and grab a victory. The French don’t really have any top riders for that matter.

Here’s a good quote from Will Frischkorn – a rider for Garmin-Slipstream:

“There are plenty of one-day races where you toe the line with a specific job, and that role doesn’t even put you remotely near the finish line. But then there are all the rest: the races where either you hope to find a result for yourself, you’re there training, or a stage race where you’re there working for the team; one day fighting it out for the sprinters, another day to position a climber, others on the front, grinding out the kilometers with your leader on the wheel.

These are all roles of the domestique, the category that the vast majority of riders fit into. You’re at a race to do your job. You’re also at a race because it’s what you love to do. The satisfaction of teamwork, is something often misunderstood in our sport. The way that you’ll drive yourself into the ground, knowing that as soon as the throw-down comes, the race will leave you behind. “

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Friday I did go home and rest. I had a relaxing yet productive weekend, and enjoyed watching the mountain stages. Even though I really didn’t want to, I went to the gym yesterday afternoon and did a good workout. My bag is packed for today as well, and this morning I got in a good kettlebell workout.

After dropping 1.2 pounds, the scale popped back up 0.8 and has stuck again. Grrr. I told my husband I’ll feel sad, but I’m afraid I’m just gonna have to smash it if it doesn’t behave. Heh heh heh.

Have a good one!

Friday, July 10, 2009

Friday Morning Randomness

Do you ever have one of those mornings where you feel like is sitting around saying something like “Oh ho! Some people are just thick. I’ve been dropping subtle (and not so subtle) hints all week that she needed to slow down. I guess now it’s time for a smackdown.”

I should’ve seen it coming. I was tired at the gym yesterday afternoon. After we finished watching the Tour, getting up and loading the dishwasher while hub vacuumed was one thing. By why scrub out the inside of the fridge after 9 pm? I mean, really?

Payback came knocking this morning. First, I hit what felt like a wall of tired during my kettlebell workout. And getting tired & making a mistake while swinging a 26 pound kettlebell is not smart. So, I skipped the last set. I splashed green drink on my shirt. I nearly forgot my cold bag to take with me to Costco this afternoon. When I started yelling because I had splashed laundry detergent on the dog leashes, I realized it was time to give myself a mental timeout. Luckily, no one was home to hear me but the dogs.

After Costco, instead of trying to do all my other grocery shopping, I think I’ll go home and chill out. I’ve been needing a bag to take to the gym (my regular gym bag is too big to fit in the lockers and I don’t need to take boxing gloves, my own neck pad for the squat bar, and swim gear with me just to use the freaking elliptical.) I have some nice asian print quilt cotton that I’ve been hoarding – maybe I’ll use some and make a nice bag. Then I’ll sleep in tomorrow….

I admit part of the reason I’ve been pushing so hard is that the scale has been stuck. Things are happening, but the scale doesn’t want to budge. Instead of wearing myself out overdoing it with the exercise, I need to just stay consistent. As long as I keep doing the right things, it’ll pay off.

I’d forgotten one drawback to having Lance in the Tour: all news outlets must be avoided if you want the end of the day’s stage to remain a surprise. I’d managed to forget that over the past 4 years, and an accidental glimpse at a headline on msn.com ruined the finish of yesterday’s stage for me. Gah.

Have a good weekend!

Thursday, July 09, 2009

Divide and Conquer

I couldn’t decide whether to do food prep this weekend, or more sewing. I’ve decided to do both! That is, I am splitting my food prep tasks so I can do some of both on both weekends. I think it will make the cooking feel a bit less grueling. I love to cook, but hours non-stop in the kitchen gets a bit tiresome!

This weekend I’ll cook and freeze the spaghetti sauce, chili mac, beef stew, and zucchini bread. Next weekend I’ll make the meat pies. Since I make the filling and dough from scratch, that is an equal split of the work!

Tomorrow is the first mountain stage of the Tour. It’s really impossible to gauge who the most likely contenders for winning are until after a day or so in the mountains. The last time the Tour was in Arcalis (in 1997) Jan “Der Kaiser” Ullrich broke away solo on the final stretch to the summit (10.6km at 7.1 percent), decimating the field and laying the foundation for his Tour victory. He was supposed to be riding in support of his team captain (Bjarne Riis) – that didn’t work out so well, at least not for Riis.

The boy & my mom left for Florida today, so it’ll be pretty quiet around our place this weekend.

I have gone to the gym for the past 3 days after work, and the bag is in the car for today as well. This morning I was slated to do kettlebells, but I pushed those back a day so I could go for a walk in the neighborhood.

Going to the gym in the afternoons makes getting up at 5 a bit of a challenge. As a result, I hadn’t walked in the morning for the past 2 days. I don’t use my MP3 player much and I’m not burning up the roads or anything, I just enjoy being outside and listening to the birds and watching the sun come up. I’ve missed that.

But no worries – I can do kettlebells Tue, Fri, Sun this week.

Eating is going well – I’ve had a couple of evenings where I needed a snack around 8-ish because I was starving! I ate a bigger dinner last night and that did the trick. We had home made nachos – yum!

Wednesday, July 08, 2009

Good morning Sunshine!

I think that July is consistently the most enjoyable month of the year for me. Consider:

In July, I have no problem saying "no" to anyone - including myself. "I've got too much to do to get ready for vacation" is a universally accepted reason for not being able to do something - anything.

No homework to check/ help with. Minimal responsibilities at home. The boy is frequently away with one grandparent or another, and when he's home he's old enough to help out! Dinner? A Costco quiche and some steamed veggies are perfectly accepted. Or even better - marinate some meat & veggies & let hub cook them on the grill!

Routine. I enjoy going new places and trying new things. And sometimes my job feels like an exercise in change management. So it's nice to have such a well defined schedule as a refreshing change of pace. Go to work, go to gym, watch part of the Tour, fix supper, finish watching Tour with hub. Putz. Go to bed.

I'm doing stuff I love. I love sewing, I love cooking, and I'm a scheduling/organizing fool. And that's all I do for the entire month!

The Tour de France. Yeah, I know most people don't get this one. But I thoroughly enjoy watching the Tour. Yesterday was a perfect example: the team time trial. Although the course was so difficult this year, one team manager said it was "more like a team trial." By drafting you conserve 30% of your energy, so a team rides in an echelon, slightly angled based on the wind direction. They look like a flock of geese, with each rider taking a turn and then falling back to take a rest. It’s truly poetry in motion.

Stronger riders will pull longer, and since only 5 of the 9 have to finish together (the team gets the time of the 5th rider), one or more riders may have the job to blow himself up well before the finish line pulling the team for all he's worth.

There are time checks out on the road, so you know how you're doing compared with the others. Thanks to a truly epic final 9 km put in by Fabian "Fabu" Cancellara (dragging his team most of the way single handedly), he managed to hold on to the race lead over Lance Armstrong by a fraction of a second. Four days of riding hundreds of km and it took a long time to determine the lead because they had to go back and check the fractions of a second.

After the first stage, the rider who is touted as the world's best sprinter was ranked 4th-to-last overall. I am reminded to make the point that the position in the General Classification says nothing about the inherent athletic ability of the cyclist, and everything about the important job they each play on their own team.

I went to the gym yesterday afternoon and did the shortest of the 4 interval workouts on my MP3 - 35 minutes. Halfway through, a guy comes and gets on the elliptical right next to me. Why? I mean, there are only 2 with the moving pole/hand bar thingies, so I can understand if I were on one and he wanted the other. (I prefer that kind myself because I get a better workout moving both arms and legs). But the one next to me was one of the other kind with the stationary handlbars - and there are at least 12 of those. Grrr. Oh well, I still had a good workout!

I went Monday as well and my bag is in my car for this afternoon! My goal is 3-4 times per week. It's so nice & quiet at the gym when I arrive around 4 - it's the ideal time to go as far as I'm concerned!

Well, have a good one!

Friday, July 03, 2009

Thanks Jack!

Just a shout out to my internet friend Jack for taking time to comment last night!

After I posted I put on "Shrek 3" - I was too restless to simply sit and watch, but a little light comedy helped. I stayed up until 10. It's funny - I don't know whether it's the new Amazing Meal (from amazinggrass.com) or just the combo of healthier eating and more exercise, but I seem to be needing a bit less sleep!

This morning I got up at 5, did my kettlebell workout, and made time for a short walk in the neighborhood. It was nice and cool (58) and just felt fantastic! After that I got home and made hub a green drink before getting myself ready for work. He's been enjoying his AM green drink too, and it gets more veggies in him. Fruit is easy, but veggies can be a challenge!

I weighed myself this morning - down to a new low! Woot! I'm feeling accomplished. The good/bad thing is that at my current weight, I don't feel limited by my weight. I can do pretty much anything I want. I am very grateful for that. I admit I have a bit of fear that feeling that good will lead to complacency. I hope not!

I have added another work set to my kettlebell workout. My plan is to add one more. When that starts to feel "comfortable", it's time to buy a new kettlebell! And I have 5 more cardio coach CDs I haven't opened - my plan is to add one at a time. The later disks are more challenging and will give me something new to listen to.

I do understand why some folks need/want a race or triathlon or specific event to focus on to help them get to a goal. I want to try my hand at yoga again, and I'd really like to sign up and train with one of the trainers at the gym - he's a power lifter. That sounds right up my alley! So we'll see. I definitely have things I'm looking toward, but trying to appreciate how much better I'm feeling right now also.

Have a great weekend and 4th (if you celebrate it)!

Thursday, July 02, 2009

Must let off steam

I had a craptacular day at work. I could write all about it, but there's no point. Some days you have crappy days - such is life when you work with humans.

I have tried to be positive about it - it happens, move on, blah blah. After work I headed to the gym and got in a great workout even though I didn't feel like going. I came home and made a healthy supper even though I didn't feel like cooking.

Then the boy came home from the beach in this huge whirlwind b/c hub had promised to take him to a movie. So he rushes in, dumps a bunch of stuff, and they rush out. Never mind hub and I were supposed to have a conversation about the budget b/c he is talking about buying a tool bench from a guy at work - tomorrow.

Anyway, I'm tired, I had a shitty day, and I'm home alone feeling like nothing I have to say is important. Maybe that's not fair, but that's how I feel. What I want is to each some nachos and have a couple of beers (we don't have any in the house). Instead I am posting here hoping to diffuse my frustration.

I feel so frustrated that I'm sitting here with tears in my eyes and a huge lump in my throat. I just want to stop feeling what I'm feeling. I'm tired & times like these I just wish I had an "off switch" when life seems to be invading my personal space. My off switch is spelled C-H-E-E-S-E.

Ugh. I know exactly why people use food to insulate themselves from their emotions. Something doesn't have to be tragic - or even bad - too feel like just too much.

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

What I’m up to

I’ve started going to the gym in the afternoons. I know, who knew I’d ever go back there again?? Ha ha ha. I loaded a couple more of my “Cardio Coach” (LOVE!) CDs onto my MP3 player – I now have 4 workouts to choose from. They make the time fly by.

Weight is dropping again. I’m walking in the AM, swinging my kettlebells, hitting the gym in the afternoons, and walking at lunch with my lunch buddy. The cool thing is that it really helps relieve stress, making it easier to not snack in the evenings.

Stuff is coming together for vacation – I’m in decent shape. Which is nice – some years I get all panicky!

The weather has been nice in the mornings. Hot by noon of course, but mornings have been in the early 60s.

I wish my husband would help out around the house on a more consistent basis. Just saying.

Monday, June 29, 2009

A week and a half????

I can't believe how long it's been since I posted! Ack!

I guess it's because I don't really have much exciting to say: we are getting ready for vacation. I am still swinging my kettlebell at home, still walking in the hood (although not as often as I would like). I had bought some nice sleeveless t-shirts to wear at the gym, and then promptly lost weight so they were too big! This weekend I took them up a bit so they are now wearable!

My weight loss has been stalled, but I haven't gained weight either. I feel like I've been focused on other things and so "holding pattern" is what I have left over. It's really hot right now, so early morning is the only realistic time to work out outdoors. Taking a stroll with the dogs is fine, but pushing it? Not so much.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Signs of the times

You know its summer when the hallways and break areas at work are filled with parents on their cell phones telling their kids to: clean their room, unload the dishes, mow the yard… I prefer a written note myself.

You know it’s been a tiring week when you use your lunch break to take a 20 minute nap in your car. Oh yes I did.

You know it’s been a stressful week when Wednesday night involves tears, beer, and cheese dip from the local Mexican place.

You know it’s time to clean the sewing room when the Chihuahua builds an elaborate nest out of the fabric scraps under the work table.

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I am signed up for spin class tonight.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Progress

This morning I got up and picked up the house in prep for the cleaning ladies to come. Hub helped (hurray!). That gave me time to go and do my kettlebells. It was lovely outside and I really wanted to go for a walk but I needed to get into the office early because I have errands to run this afternoon.

Afternoons have been hot, muggy, and frequently involve thunderstorms. So AM is really the only time a walk is realistic.

Tomorrow is the last day of school and the boy and I are going to the gym on Monday. He wants me to walk through his exercise plan the trainer laid out with him. We are going to Georgia this weekend so I am taking Monday off to shop, cook, and take care of a couple of things I want to.

Now that we've made the decision to do the roof ourselves, I don't feel quite so stressed about it.

My weight remains 2-3 pounds up. Gah!

Tuesday, June 09, 2009

I feel like a hamster

Lately I’ve been feeling a bit like a hamster stuck on a wheel. I’m running like crazy but not feeling like I’m getting any place. Work is very busy (like I haven’t said that a billion times already), we are busy at home getting ready for vacation (as usual we have left a lot of stuff until the last minute, with “last minute” being defined as 2 months), and I have weekend commitments on top of projects.

Last weekend we stayed home and were able to get a lot accomplished, which went a long way to improving our spirits. But I’m finding myself in that place where I have a hard time with exercise because I am so busy thinking about all the other things I need to be doing. Not good. My weight is fluctuating a bit, but generally I’m holding at “up 3 pounds.” Sigh.

Another big source of frustration is our roof. We need to get a new roof this year. Prices have gone up since we got estimates last year, and hub’s profit sharing check (which is being used to fund the roof) has gone down.

We’ve gotten 2 new estimates this year: guy 1 has been very squirrely with the cost of the shingles – which we need to know if we’re going to file for a tax credit. Guy 2 is a bit more, but we trust him more and feel like he’s promising more in terms of clean-up. However: we would have to come up with $1700 on top of the profit sharing check. Ouch.

(None of this would be quite so hard if we hadn’t just spent $1200 on a car repair.)

We heard from hub’s mom that his brother had had both his hours and pay cut. He used to have his own roofing business but got a job with a company for various reasons. They live up in the DC area and I’m sure having your hours cut in half and your pay cut by a third has to hurt. So we decided: hey, instead of paying a stranger we could get BIL to do the job.

This would be more work for us. For one, buying the shingles (we’ve priced materials at 7 different places) and hub of course would help. So he calls bro who seems genuinely interested and appreciative. And offers to do the job for $1000 more than the roofing companies we called down here. I know cost of living in DC is higher, but we don’t live in DC. We tell him what the estimates were and he said he couldn’t do the job for that money. Oookay – guess you don’t need the money.

Both hub and a good friend of ours have done roofing before. We have several friends that have been impacted and could use some extra cash. So I think we may just do the thing ourselves. One thing about my husband: he isn’t afraid of hard work.

Anyway, my head is filled with many things and I’m having a hard time not treating healthy eating & exercise as afterthoughts.

Friday, June 05, 2009

TGIF

Net, I'm still up 2.4 poounds, but headed in the right direction. Things at work remain busy and there's gobs to do before vacation, and we're seeing about a new roof - pricing shingles etc. since my BIL will most likely be doing it for us.

It's been raining like crazy here so not much outside walking - we got 7-8 inches of rain one night and some major flooding. And tornado warnings/watches. But I can still swing my kettlebell, so no excuses! :-)

Have a great weekend.

Wednesday, June 03, 2009

Work life balance - epic fail

Right now I am balancing the management of a large project and 2 strategic initiatives at work. Home cooking at my house is getting close to Hamburger Helper standards.

I am putting together an event bid and getting the site booked for an event I am doing with a friend.

It appears that not only will we be on staff, but that hub will be the #2 on public safety. One day Pennsic really will be a vacation. (Just kidding – kinda).

We sat down with the calendar. Not only is every weekend between now and vacation booked, I'm afraid we may come up one weekend short. I am desperately hoping we avoid a repeat of last year: things were so hectic that planning went to heck and we ended up with a bed 1) with no pegs and 2) with no mattress. There were about 1000 other things left at home as well.

Must make time for exercise or I will lose my mind.

It’s all good – just too busy.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Full Plate

Right now life feels like it’s operating at 102% capacity. This is not good.

My work announced lay-offs. While I wasn’t impacted, this is difficult.

Hub’s work has cut back on hours and is bidding for jobs out of state. It could very well be that this fall he could be at home on weekends only – for months. Trying not to worry about that – there’s not anything we can do in any case.

Work has been very crazy, busy, stressful. Mostly good, but some headaches that just aren’t necessary. Some people don’t need t-shirts that say “doesn’t play well with others” cause we already know.

Weather has been hot, muggy, and rainy. Exercise outdoors is a crap shoot.

Having said all that:

I had a nice weekend in the mountains with the family and a lovely anniversary cookout yesterday. Focus has been challenging, but that’s just how it is sometimes.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

What I’ve been focused on

It’s easy for me to write here when my focus is exercise and nutrition. While I’m still pretty much on track (food planned & cooked, kettlebells swung this morning), I’ve been putting a lot of mental energy into 1) my dollhouse and 2) making some changes in my house.

We decided to do the roof this year instead of floor (sigh, being practical stinks) but I am doing new curtains and painting.

Oh yeah, I also bought a 23 piece set of china (service for 6 less one coffee cup) off e-bay for $15.50. Why? Because it is the same pattern as my great grandmother's, which I always loved. Which was probably given to Goodwill, along with all her terrific furniture. They fought over Pop's artwork, but I'm sure no one gave a hoot about a bunch of modern furniture from the 1950s. Le sigh.

Weather has been a bit cooler, but we’ve been getting a lot of rain, which has made walking a bit dodgy (grump).

Anyway, I’m doing alright – staying on track in spite of some stress. I’ll try to post more regularly.

Monday, May 11, 2009

Lack of enthusiasm

While I’ve been feeling kinda lackluster lately, things did pick up this weekend. I’m feeling a little more energetic and focused, so that’s good. Sometimes I’m just not, and I guess I’ve just gotten used to that fact.

Hub’s car overheated – it’s the water pump and they have to replace the timing belt - $1100. Ouch. That’s a bummer.

Anyway, sorry for the hiatus – I just haven’t had a lot left over for blogging. But I’m okay and once things settle down at work (hopefully after this week – at least a little), I hope to blog more regularly.

I hope you had a nice Mother’s Day – mine was very good – hub helped clean out the guest room! Woo hoo!

Take care.

Thursday, May 07, 2009


What would you choose?


Some background: 15 or 16 years ago I got a mastercard from MBNA. I got it as one of their affiliated cards - it has my school logo, photo, and gives a 1% annual rebate to the Hawaii Pacific University alumni assocition. When MBNA sold their credit card portfolio, my card became Bank of America.


Now, my Hilton is my card of choice - I rack up some serious Hilton points on that baby and we easily get 6 free stays per year, which is awesome. However, there are places (like my dentist) who don't take Amex (sigh). In that event, I use my HPU mastercard. I've had it forever so I want to keep it on my credit report, and it has a large line of credit.


At least it did until I got a letter saying they were cutting my LOC by $12,000. Gee, whadaya think THAT did to my credit score??? Personally, I don't think alienating your best customers is a very successful business model - what bit of my loyality they had is gone.


Which brings me to my question: I am going to start using my Cap1 card and it has the "design your own card" feature - for free! So, if you could put an image on your credit card, what would it be? Hobby related? A pretty scene? Your pet? I can't choose ....


If I put an image on my BofA card it would be "Angry Mr. T". "Don't mess with me, fool!"

Wednesday, May 06, 2009

The beat goes on

I'm still a bit on the run down side. That plus the rainy weather has me in a very laid back, couch potato kind of mood. That's not necessarily a bad thing - my batteries still need a bit of re-charging, but I haven't abandoned healthy eating or exercise.

The capris I bought 2 weeks ago are too big. Luckily I kept the receipt and they are hanging in the closet, waiting to be returned. The capris I bought 3 years ago are 1) worn out and 2) too big. Luckily I bought duplicates of all 3 pairs one size smaller - which is what I'm wearing now.

I don't have any jeans right now - I've "undergrown" 2 pair now, but the next pair is still about 4 pounds too tight. Soon. :-)

I've been researching mid century interior design and doll house stuff. I am setting my doll house up in the guest room this weekend. The outside needs some repair - once that's done I will begin the decorating i.e. the fun part! I'm very excited!

My husband has also agreed to help me do some painting in our house this fall. Yay!

Monday, May 04, 2009

Good things:

The weather: It was lovely coming in to work this morning. And the next few days it isn’t supposed to be the surface temperature of the sun, so that’s nice. A few thunderstorms are okay by me. Also, it beats down the pollen!

10 minute hair color: If you don’t typically color your hair, you many not understand. But 20 minutes is too much time to waste in the morning before work. But 10 minutes? Put it on your roots, brush teeth, put on rest of hair, wash face, then rinse! Barely adds any time onto your morning routine! And who has time to do that sort of thing in the evening? Not me!

The scale: Last week was one of those weird scale weeks. Friday saw me up 0.8 pounds from the prior Friday. This morning I weigh 2 pounds less than I did on Friday. See? Weird.

Rest: Too many weekends of too much to do lest me so ragged by Friday it was pathetic. Loads of sleep, not doing much of anything beyond the basics (I didn’t even have the energy to sew or do anything fun like that!), and I’m beginning to feel like myself again.

Here’s to having a sane week!

Friday, May 01, 2009

A week full of fail

This week never got off the ground. It was a series of random events, allergies, feeling worn out, and general malaise. This weekend I am doing nothing – well, as little as possible.

Friday, April 24, 2009




In NC, March showers bring April flowers

April is my favorite time of year (not because of my birthday). The weather is fabulous if unpredictable – 2 weeks ago we had a couple of nights near freezing, tomorrow is supposed to be ninety.

As good as the weather is how everything looks. When I was in the Army I dated a boy from Michigan. He came home with me one spring and spent the week with his mouth hanging open – he couldn’t get over how green everything was. Not to mention that every yard turns into a riot of color – filled with dogwoods and azaleas. It’s beautiful.

Work is very crazy right now – I’m working on this high profile project and it’s been gobs of work with lots of quick turnaround times, so I go home fried. Hub is no better – actually I think he’s more tired!

Last night for the first time in a long while I just felt … defeated. I wanted to throw up my hands at everything – work, losing weight, cooking dinner, this wedding I have to go to tomorrow….. everything.

Can I digress a moment and talk about this wedding? I’m gonna be outside in a field – her wedding is taking place at a “primitive” site we use for s.c.a. events – no AC anywhere – just a field basically, with an old farmhouse so we do have some access to water and electric (but not much access). And it’s going to be 90. And at 5 PM I have to put on a long sleeved long dress. (see picture to get an idea) A velvet dress. With an underdress. Yesterday I asked my boss to please push me down some stairs so I’d have an excuse not to go. I know it’s partly because I am tired but I am dreading it. I hate to admit that, but it’s true.

Last night I forgot to take my melatonin – I was up in the middle of the night, reading a book at 3 AM. Gah. That made getting up this morning difficult.

I lost 1.2 pounds this week. Clearly I’m not giving up or anything – I just need some down time. I’m taking Monday off work – I’ll need it to get caught up on my trifecta of shopping/ cooking/ cleaning. Next weekend I am doing nothing!

Have a good one!

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Grrrr.

For the first week in a very long time I am feeling frustrated with the darn scale. I was up 0.6 pounds from the weekend - I was careful but we went out Sunday so I wasn't surprised. When it hung around I wasn't worried - I know it takes a day or two for it to drift down - that's just how my body works. When it was still there Wednesday.... This morning the scale was down 0.8 pounds. That's a loss of 0.2 pounds from last week. Given how diligent I've been with the diet and exercise that's a bit frustrating. I don't usually see 2 consecutive days of downward movement - I hope that changes this week. I'm not freaking out - I know I'm doing the right things and will continue to do so.

I'm tired. I'm working on a HUGE presentation at work - VERY high profile, plus hub is workign 60 hours per week so I have a lot of extra responsibility at home these days. I'm just feeling frazzled. And I'm helping with my friend's wedding this Saturday. I'm toast. I've am taking next Monday off - I'll need it to get caught up on my stuff at home.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Musings on food and exercise

In my “real life” I don’t discuss diet and exercise in any detail except for a couple of close friends. While I find what people eat really interesting (to me it’s a little window into who a person is), that’s why I don’t discuss it much. It’s a personal thing, and I don’t want anyone to think that I’m judging them by what they eat or how they exercise. Conversely, I am very well-read on the subjects of nutrition and exercise – probably more so than most of the people I know. I have strongly held, informed opinions, so going on and on about what I’m doing “wrong” is just going to tick me off and waste your breath.

But, I’ve set this place up precisely to discuss those things, and I enjoy talking about it and reading about other people’s experiences.

My diet (at least on weekdays) is predominantly vegan. It’s easy for me since I prep my food on the weekend and eat the same things Monday through Friday up until dinner time. Even our dinners aren’t “meat-centric” often. Last night we made our own pizzas – the only animal product was the 1 cup of mozzarella cheese we all shared. I bought vegan “pepperoni” – and no one noticed. Tonight’s dinner has 2 ounces of locally raised, grass fed, free range been and 1/8 cup of sour cream per serving.

Other reasons it’s easy for me to eat this way: I fee like it’s better for the environment, both inside and outside of my body. I have a lot more energy when I eat vegan. I think it boosts my weight loss. I feel better.

Exercise has been great – I’m still swinging my kettlebell – I could work harder, but I try to push myself at least a little. I am loving walking outside – one day this weekend I walked 5 miles in the neighborhood. I feel like I’m really making improvements, despite the stress & angst associated with a shopping trip for pants yesterday. Sigh.

I stack my jeans by size, with what I’m wearing now on top. Number 1 pair has been retired because they were too big. Number 2 pair is also too big, but number 3 pair is about 4 pounds snug. Progress is occurring.
Catching up

Sunday was my birthday, so I took yesterday off work! It was a nice weekend – the weather was good so I walked a lot, I did a lot of chores, I went out for a very nice dinner at “The Melting Pot” for my birthday, and yesterday I did some errands and shopping.

I made very good choices over the weekend and Monday AM the scale was 0.6 pounds higher than Friday – not too shabby at all considering the meal I’d eaten the night before! I was MUCH happier with my food choices, and felt better physically to boot.

Today I am feeling refreshed. I have a post formulating in my head – about what I eat, how that’s evolved, and what the results have been: not just weight, but also how I feel. But I’m in a bit of a rush today – so let me leave you with “have a nice day!”

Friday, April 17, 2009

Unstick-ified

As I suspected, the scale showed a large 1.6 pound overnight drop. Week over week I lost 1 pound - since Monday I've lost 2.8 pounds. Curiously enough, I lost 2.8 pounds last week. For someone my size I don't think that sort of weekly weight loss is realistic - I spent a good chunk of the week tired and hungry, and that's not good.

I'm still searching for the happy medium between losing weight and weekend eating, but at least the scale is moving downward. And a pound a week (which is what my weight loss for the year averages out to be) isn't shabby at all.

I've been tired in the afternoons - when I got home yesterday I made myself a green drink for a snack and that helped a lot. I've missed my green drink, but it's just not something I want when it's cold.

Have a great weekend!

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Sticky Numbers

Economists talk about some prices being “sticky.” That is, when the costs of inputs go up, the price goes up. When costs go down, the price follows much more slowly, and may not go all the way back down at all (even if costs do).

I mention this because my weight behaves in the same way. I may stay a weight 2 or 3 days, then suddenly see a drop of 1.5 pounds or so seemingly overnight. That’s the hard thing about seeing the scale pop up 1.8 pounds by the end of the weekend – it takes days to see that number go down. This morning I was STILL 0.6 higher than I was last Friday. This could be the first week since the first of the year I’ve posted a gain. Yikes!

I didn’t think I was doing too badly over the weekend. Apparently I thought wrong. Le sigh. Lesson reinforced.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Update

How's that for a catchy title? :-)

Weekend was too busy. Saturday we wnt to our friend's house to paint and replace the subflooring in their hall bathroom. Luckily, hub only had to work a half day on Saturday and the boy had a friend over for most of the weekend (cheap labor!). It was a long day, but we got it done. Sunday we were both fried. My cooking didn't get done. Oh well. I've been making do and I'll get it finished up this afternoon.

The kettlebell continues to go well - I'm having a lot of fun with it and I'm consistently getting in 2-3 sessions per week. The 2 mile loop in the 'hood has become my normal route these days. I remember when the half mile had gotten to be a challenge! It's wonderful to see my fitness returning!

Post-weekend weight was up 1.8 pounds - gah! Oh well, move on. :-)

Weather here is crummy today - I'd love a nap.

Friday, April 10, 2009

Interior (re-)decorating, and weigh in results

I've been feeling tired this week - since Tuesday afternoon to be specific. So yesterday when I had no afternoon commitments prior to my husband getting home at 6:15, I decided that a little retail therapy was in order. When I shop, it isn't at any clothing store. My drug of choice is Lowe's (which is one key to my successful marriage). I wanted inspiration - I wanted paint. And fabrics. And new rooms.

Stop one was the quilt shop I hadn't visited since they moved (and stopped carrying fabric, curse them). Next up: Wal-Rip. Stop laughing - they have some reasonably priced curtains. I saw 2 possibles. I wasn't sure whether I was looking for the bathroom or the kitchen, but what I found would tell me where it belonged. Next stop Lowe's. The curtain selection was disappointing. Everything was in the 1990s "trying to look upscale" jewel tone theme. Gah. No point in looking at paint chips (oh, how you excite me) until I had the inspiration pieces.

Next up: Target. (And how convenient is it that all these stores sit in a row in my town and I can go from one to the other without even getting on the main road!).

Target, I love you. There on an end in the kitchen section it happened: I found my inspiration. Oh yes, 1950s kitchen, you are nearly mine. The fabric is retro, but in an up to date kinda way. It has blue and brown (with some other colors). I bought pretty much everything they had, leaving only 1 tablecloth behind.

I went back to W-M to visit the curtains one more time, but left with only a new shower curtain for the guys' bathroom.

I took my bounty home and lo and behold if they don't PERFECTLY match the blue paint I'd selected for my bathroom. And yet they still said "kitchen" to me. I guess my kitchen needs to be blue.

I considered going back for more goodies and using the same fabrics in both the bathroom and kitchen, but I think that would be too much. I'm torn. Also, I saw 2 curtains at Target that I deemed too formal for the bathroom but I realized last night would look fantastic in my bedroom .. if I painted it! I'm thinking the same color as the boy's room. (I haven't told hub about that part yet....)

I'm still digging the striped curtains at W-M, although the circles were nice too. Not sure if there was enough overlapping color to use both though.... I guess I'll just have to buy both and bring them home and see what works (I believe in overbuying and then returning). The only problem is that they are very casual and whimsical and the bedroom would remain somewhat formal, although the light blue and brown would tie the 2 rooms together....

Mercy, I love these kind of dilemmas!

I weighed this morning – score! I lost 2.8 pounds this week for a total loss of 15 pounds! My effort is finally paying off!!!!

Thursday, April 09, 2009

I really thought it was Friday

Last night was not so great. For one, I got home to an angry child – angry because he’d gotten yelled at by his math teacher for not following directions. He was trying to do his math homework instead of listening. He was doing the homework in class because when he asked for help at 9:30 the night before while hub and I were both getting ready for bed, we told him he should’ve checked on his assignments earlier.

Since he got yelled at, he didn’t want to finish the homework or go to school today and when I told him he had to do both he threatened to turn the minivan in to a pile of rubble while I slept. (Teenagers have temper tantrums as badly as any 3 year old I’ve ever seen). So of course he got in trouble.

I went for a walk and started working on the grocery list & menu plan. I was very beaten down – I’d been feeling tired since Tuesday afternoon. Hub came home and we walked the dogs (my pedometer logged over 27,000 steps for yesterday). We had supper, meted out punishment, and I asked hub to please go and get a movie, a 6 pack, and some cheese dip.

While I was in the tub he came in and said he was tired & could we just watch the movice we had at home? I said okay and gave them some money to just run to the stop & rob around the corner from the house. He came back with beer and snacks for them, but didn’t even offer to get me anything. The movie was dumb and I wound up headed for bed at 8:45 in tears. I was hurt that he didn’t offer to get me anything, hurt that the kitchen was still a mess even though I’d gotten up that morning and cleaned it since he hadn’t the night before, and I was just generally feeling like no one ever did anything for me.

I’m losing weight and exercising and in general feeling much better. And sometimes I feel really good. But there are also a fair number of times when I am hungry and tired and I know the tired is from the hunger. But I’m losing weight so I don’t want to change too much up. Sigh. I brought a bigger afternoon snack today – I hope that will help.

While I was planning the meals, I listed last night’s dinner as Thursday. So I have nothing planned for dinner tonight because I thought today was Friday. It’s been a long week. Last week was very hectic and this one is going to be busy as well. I need some quiet time.

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

The return of Helga

When I was going to the gym pretty hardcore, my husband’s nickname for me was “Helga”. My family is from Germany and when I’m working out, I tend to have the build of a member of an East German swim team. I can pack on muscle almost as quickly as fat. Hence the nickname.

Helga’s been hibernating for a while, with occasional appearances. But I’m pretty confident she’s back on a regular basis now. For example, this morning the alarm went off at 5 – I hit the snooze once, then got out of bed. I did my kettlebell workout and then went for a walk. I felt fantastic afterward – and I still do. My eating has been pretty good – even the weekends are improving. And since we are eating supper later since hub is getting home later, I no longer snack after dinner. Go ahead and read that last bit again. If you’ve been reading this blog for long, you know that after dinner snacks are my kryptonite. They’ve been banished.

According to the scale, I’ve lost 1.4 pounds this week – and that’s 3 days before I “officially” weigh myself. Dude. The exercise feels good, I’m eating super healthy food, and the scale is cooperating!

Monday, April 06, 2009

Woo hoo for me!

It may not sound like a big thing, but it's huge for me: this morning (Monday) I weighed the same thing I did on Friday - no weekend weight "gain"! Woo hoo!!! :-)

Friday, April 03, 2009

Weekly weigh in

Down 1.4 pounds this week - woot!! Further evidence that watching what I eat on the weekends is important too. :-)

Have a good one!

Thursday, April 02, 2009

Miserable Me

Given that I managed to show only a small “gain” on the scale as a result of the weekend, I wanted to capitalize on that and make some good progress. To that end, I have been VERY careful with my eating this week. And of course I have been walking like a demon because of the Fit N’ Fun competition here at work – walking over 20,000 steps per day. So, walking like a demon coupled with eating like a rabbit equals??? Yeah, it took me 3 days to figure out the answer: misery. I have been starving, tired, and cranky.

Yesterday at lunchtime I found out my MIL was coming for dinner and I took work from the office home, plus I was taking the boy to the gym for an orientation session with a trainer. After I gave up on the work and everyone was out of my house, I sat down with my husband and had 3 beers, 2 slices of cheese, and 6 crackers.

This morning the scale showed a pound and a half decrease. I don’t know if I needed some extra calories to convince it to let go of the extra whatever or if it would have happened anyway. Who knows? I hope I see the decrease again tomorrow when I “officially” weigh. This morning I slept in – oh luxury! I added a half cup of garbanzo beans to my lunch, so hopefully I won’t be starved and cranky tonight.

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Workout Buddy

Several months ago, hub told the boy that he’d start taking him to the gym. That didn’t happen, then hub started working longer hours, making it even less possible. And then when the doctor had a little “come to Jesus” with hub, he began going at 4 AM. There is no way a teenager is getting up at that hour!

So I told the boy that I would take him 2 afternoons per week. I don’t plan to lift weights (I’m happy doing my kettlebells in the mornings) – I figured I could either do a cardio machine or (if we go later in the evening) I could do a spin class. I think it would be good for me to add some other form of cardio besides walking.

This week’s lunches are yum-o! I bought some hummus and baba ghanoush at a local Greek deli and I added a pita and a big homemade Greek salad. Very satisfying and very different!

The Fit n Fun thing at work is going well – between my competitive nature and the nice weather, it’s been easy to get in a lot of steps. It’s about 3 o’clock and I’ve logged 21,555 steps so far today. I’m rocking it!

This morning the scale was back to the number I saw Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. So I made progress in reigning in the eating over the weekend. That’s good – not I can start making more forward progress.

Monday, March 30, 2009

Why didn’t I think of that?

The other day I ran into a colleague on her way back from the cafeteria and commented on her yummy looking sandwich. She told me she had gotten a veggie sandwich – why didn’t I think of that?! So today when I didn’t have my lunch prepped (I didn’t get my food prep done yesterday!) I followed her lead: I brought in some leftover soup and went to the caf and bought a veggie sandwich on whole wheat with a slice of provolone. It was really good and was just the right amount of good – for $1.50! The right amount of food AND a very good price!

The weekend was good – I did much better with keeping my eating under control (it helped that we ate out less than we’d gotten in the habit of doing) and got in a great amount of exercise – go me! Last week I lost 0.2 pounds, and I’m working too hard to just blow it on the weekend! This morning I was up a pound, which I consider fairly normal since I eat things on the weekend that I don’t during the week. So hopefully this week will be better.

Hope you have a good day!

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Spring is in the air

It may be chilly this morning, but spring is definitely arrived: the stench of blossoming Bradford pear trees is in the air (worse than rotting vegetables but better than rotting meat) and the goose attacks have begun in the parking lot – the goose nesting warning signs and cordoned off areas are going up as nests are identified.

After a stressful day at work, it was nice to go home to a clean house (the cleaning lady came – yay!) and dinner in the crock pot. I plopped myself down to have an afternoon snack (5 pieces of California roll and a beer) and watch “Russian Ark” – a film about the Hermitage. I told you it was a stressful day.

It was raining all day yesterday – I did get in a walk at lunch but no afternoon walk. So I made sure I had a light dinner (I wasn’t terribly hungry after my snack) and no after dinner snack.

Whatever I do this weekend it won’t involve housework – I need a break!

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

A whole lotta rambling going on….

There are weeks where I feel like an indentured servant. I wake up and pick up the house, I go to work and spend the day going 100 mph with my hair on fire, then I run errands, then I cook dinner, then I do chores. Then I sit down and my husband cheerfully asks, “What would you like to watch?” I glance at my watch and say, “Dude, I’m going to bed in 10 minutes.” Then I fall into bed only to get up at 5 AM and do it all again, and again, and again….. This is one of those weeks. The plus side is a seriously can’t believe it’s already Wednesday. The down side is I can’t believe it’s only Wednesday cause I’m SO tired!!!!!

Our county re-evaluated tax values and I thought mine was freaking highway robbery. Then I spent 15-20 minutes on the phone with a real estate agent who lives in the neighborhood and not only do I think it’s not too far out of line, but I also have confirmation that we are on the right track with our planned renovations prior to selling the house. We’re doing hardwoods in the front of the house this summer. And maybe replacing our 2 french doors as well. I can’t wait!

Weight wise… I still weigh 1.6 pounds more than I did last Friday. Grrrr. This weekend will not be an eating out free for all! Exercise and food are on track for the week (well, I forgot to do weights yesterday but I will do that this afternoon!), and it’s going down, but it’s just been jacking up too much on the weekend. Hopefully this will be lesson learned (well, for now anyway).

I had planned to get the hub to help me clean the guest room this weekend, but I think I’m just gonna relax.

Wake me up when it's Friday! :-)

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

A little bit of this, a little bit of that

Yes, I am alive.

I took Thursday and Friday off work to do some spring cleaning. I didn’t get everything done that I wanted to, but I got a lot done: I cleaned all the closets in my house, cleaned out and vacuumed under my bed, totally emptied one fridge and got it scrubbed out, and of course the usual cleaning/shopping/cooking trifecta. I also took a bunch of stuff to Goodwill.

After all that hard work, I got my reward: going to a friend’s house to hang out & sew on Sunday.

The last 3 weekends my food has gradually gotten worse & worse: first it was the trip out of town, then it was a weekend guest, then it was stress this past weekend (working until I was too tired to cook plus teenage angst from the boy). I’ve managed to lose weight every week, but I’ve found it taking more & more time to get off the water & weight from the weekend.

It’s got to stop!

I dragged my butt out of bed this morning and took a walk. The weather has really been waffling between spring and yuck. I’ve been doing great with my food during the week – I’m hoping upping my exercise will help motivate me to not slack off as much on the weekend. Unfortunately it’s supposed to rain for the next 5-6 days. Gah.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

An added incentive

Our department at work is having a “Fit n Fun” competition. You get points for walking, weight loss, and taking classes (taught by peers) on different forms of exercise (I’m teaching one on kettlebells). It started yesterday and runs through May 22. There are team as well as individual prizes. Anyway – just a little extra incentive to stay on track!

Things are going pretty well – I overdid it (again) this weekend so I’ve cut out evening snacks. Since we’re eating dinner around 6:30 it hasn’t been a problem. The weather is warming back up, so it’s great weather to get outside for walking.

I’m taking the next 2 days off work to do some spring cleaning at home – I’m tackling closets, cupboards, and the dreaded guest room! My plan is to get up and exercise first thing.

Have a good day!

Friday, March 13, 2009

Huh.

Despite the beer and steak diet I enjoyed (thoroughly!) last weekend, I lost a pound and a half this week! Yay! This was also despite exercise falling to the bare minimum – mainly due to 1) having very busy afternoons and 2) the time change making getting up in the morning a challenge! This puts me 0.2 pounds away from a 10 pound loss year to date.

Work is very busy, my son is behaving like your average 14 year old (making me nuts!), and overall I am very grateful I put myself down for some vacation next week! It will be a day shorter than planned (I was out sick Tuesday this week), but a 4 day weekend still looks mighty nice.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Still alive

I’m still here – work is VERY busy, and home has been busy too. Went on a last minute trip to DC last weekend, so I’ve been playing catch up all week (with work and the scale – too much steak and beer!).

More when I have a minute to breathe!

Thursday, March 05, 2009

Checking in

I am continuing to write down what I eat. My little brightly colored notebook is my new traveling companion. When you eat repetitively (breakfast & lunch are virtually identical all week) it is a bit easier. I’ve even been figuring out the calories for the meals I make at home for dinners instead of guessing!

Exercise is pretty good – I had grand plans to hit the gym while the boy is out of town, but honestly that sounds about as fun as root canal. I am swinging my kettlebell and walking though.

I was down a pound last week and look to be about the same this week. I’m not winning any speed contests, but things continue to head in the right direction.

Tuesday, March 03, 2009

In no particular order

1. It was my son's birthday this past weekend. It was a very busy weekend, but he seemed to have a good time.

2. We got 5 inches of snow here Sunday night. Don't laugh - we don't have many snow plows down here. School was cancelled yesterday and today. I worked from home yesterday and a half day today. The boy had to be dropped at school at 1:15 - they are leaving for the 8th grade field trip to DC.

3. It was 10 degrees this morning. You know how I feal about that.

4. It's supposed to be 70 Saturday. Welcome to NC. Don't like the weather - no problem, just wait for tomorrow.

5. I walked 2 miles today - it was sunny and 32 and I needed to get outside!

6. I'm writing down what I eat. Bleh. When will this stuff ever become habit?

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

How about a real post?

I haven’t weighed for the past 2 weeks – first things got stressful and hectic, and then I caught a cold. I’m feeling better now and thankfully the weather is warming up enough that I can get outside to walk in the morning (well, tomorrow morning!). Afternoons so far this week have been way too busy to get in a walk. I have been walking at lunch at least.

But I’m not going to get derailed for an extended period of time. I got on the scale this morning weighing just a bit less than when I weighed 2 ½ weeks ago. So while I haven’t made a lot of progress, I haven’t gone backward at least!

I had my annual physical Monday and I got a clean bill of health – my good cholesterol is a bit borderline and my good guys had gone down, but still okay. She (the doctor) told me to up my fish oil supplements. I didn’t have the heart to tell her I have been skipping my vitamins for months!

High school orientation last night took way too long but wasn’t a total waste of time. Kids are registering for classes for next year next week, so we do at least have a better idea about that at least.

I am taking a half day Friday – the boy’s birthday is Saturday and he’s having a couple of friends spend Friday night. I want to have more time for food prep (and cleaning out the fridge) and hopefully I can do some sewing this weekend. We are going out for a family dinner Saturday. His birthday card is bought – all he really wants is money, so I guess that’s what we’ll do.

Next week he is going on a school field trip – leaving immediately after school Tuesday and not getting back until 9:30 or so Friday night. So it’ll be a quiet week around our house.

Next month I have scheduled 3 days off work to just work on stuff - I want to clean out some closets & that sort of thing. I know that doesn’t sound very exciting, but we aren’t doing a spring break trip this year and I just felt like I needed a very long weekend to recharge my batteries.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Brrr

It's very windy here - mornings are in the teens and afternoons in the 30s (but a 10 degree wind chill factor!).

Between the cold, being busy, and having a cold, I haven't been able to do much walking except at lunch time here at work. It's supposed to warm up a bit in the next day or so, so hopefully that will change!

Tonight is rising freshmen orientation at the high school. I'm too young to have a high schooler!!

Maybe 2 weeks ago, my willpower started to flag. Maybe I was already getting sick? Anyway, now that I'm feeling better it's easier to have the energy to cook!

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Still fighting this cold

Just wanted to check in quickly. Luckily I had no plans for this weekend - I've had a cold since Wednesday. I think I'm getting over it (slowly), but now hub is getting it. Ugh. So we're just doing the necessary chores and chilling out watching movies. I feel lazy! But I know it's what I need.

I've just been trying to get plenty of rest and I haven't worried about exercise - I feel too lousy. Hopefully in the next day or so things will get back to normal.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Is it the weekend yet?

I worked a half day today - that's all I could manage. Exercise and "diet" are so not priorities until I start to feel human again. I should be able to have a relaxing weekend - no plans to go anywhere or do much of anything.

The boy's birthday is next weekend - I have no idea what he wants to do other than go out for mexican for our family dinner. I guess we'll figure it out next week when he get home from his weekend with grandpa.

I am so looking forward to a quiet weekend - especially now that hub is back to working Mon- Thur instead of Wed-Sat. We get the weekend together again! :-)
Blech

I’m still here. I had a very busy weekend, a busy week at work, and now I have a miserable cold – gah! I hope I can rest & recover this weekend. Luckily, the cleaning lady is coming today, so that’s one thing I don’t have to worry about!

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Bitter

Don't you hate it when you bust your butt for week and lose 4 pounds, and a friend does BFL for one week and loses the same amount of weight?

Why bother.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

I took a pass on my 15 minutes of fame

As a result of filing a small claims suit, my mom and I received offers from Judge Mathis, Judge Joe Brown, AND Judge Judy to go on their shows. While LA in the winter sounded appealing, we decided to take a pass.