Terrier-a go go

Yesterday I worked at home (I needed to take my car in to the shop plus I had a dental appointment) and hub wasn’t working. We dropped the car, he went into the office to drop off a time sheet, we picked up my car, he went to Lowe’s .. and everywhere we went, the terrier was along for the ride. That dog loves to go, and yesterday she was in heaven!

Sadly, I couldn’t take her to the dentist – I could’ve used the comforting. Long story short: I had to get a bridge when I was 15 for my 2 front teeth (swimming pool accident). I’ve had my current bridge for 6-7 years and it was killing the teeth holding it – so now I have issues with 4 teeth rather than 2. Yesterday the dentist removed my bridge and she & the oral surgeon (it’s never good when you get special guest visitors at your dental appointment) took molds and x-rays so he could tell me what he could do and then we could come up with a plan. I’m looking at either 2 or 4 implants. Ugh. I now have a temp bridge.

I left tired & feeling a bit weepy (I dunno – maybe I was just wrung out – I was there for over 3 hours). Dinner wasn’t happening – there was beef stew in the crock pot but my mouth was still numb and there was no way I could eat soup. We went out – thankfully there is a Mexican place that has good, healthy food – not loaded in cheese, not fried, etc. She knows we don’t eat rice so she always adjusts the meals to our needs, which is awesome.

I have to go back to the dentist today for her to adjust the temp bridge, so no AMP class for me. I’ll do kettlebells at home – not as fun, but a solid workout.  Tonight's dinner is something new: I am going to make General Tso's chicken - it's one of my husband's favorites.  Hopefully it goes well.  I'm serving it with steamed broccoli and leftover crab fried quinoa.

Ah vacation

I am leaving Saturday for NC and I couldn't be happier.  I need a break!  You know you need a break when you get pissy over every little annoyance, ya know?  Looking forward to it!

I am taking my kettlebell with me.  Which reminds me, I got another 26 lb kbell, so now I have one at home and one at work.  I christened the new one with 350 swings as part of my workout with Jeff yesterday.  He was on a call so I got started and he joined a little bit later.

I am working at home today as my car is in the shop (nothing serious, just an oil change and check-up prior to my trip). 

Hub's blood sugar was 115 this morning - I continue to be amazed by the difference regular exercise and our change in diet has made.  I read "The Blood Sugar Solution" by Dr. Mark Hyman - that is the gneral plan we are following.  I would describe it as "paleo lite" - we both have been surprised by how easy it has been to make these changes.

The house got a thorough cleaning over the weekend so its in good shape.  Hub has a couple of days off (the ups and downs of temp work) and he is using the time well - working on the pool, sprinkler system, regrouting the hall bath, replacing a broken towel bar.  Little things, but things that need to be done.

We are going to the gym this evening (hub will lift weights and I will use the arc trainer).  Besides that, I am going to go through my drawers in both bathrooms and get things better organized.  That'll take all of 15 minutes, but its one of those things that is long overdue.  When we moved in I put my make-up in the hall bath, but I get dressed in the master, so I need to just re-organize.

Well, that's about all I got.  Posting may be spotty next week since I'll be travelling and won't have my computer with me.  Take care!

Monday - blah

Had a great workout with Jeff this afternoon - I love that noodle-y feeling in your arms, manky smell & sweaty hair that lets you know you had a good workout.

Tonight's dinner was crab fried quinoa - a riff on crab fried rice (which my husband adores) but since we don't eat rice any more, I did it with quinoa.  It was yummy!  Hub's numbers are down in the solid pre diabetic range and he's dropped nearly 40 pounds in 2 months.  I am so thrilled for him - he's feeling so much better and is determined to keep going, which makes it much easier for me.  Win!

We worked like house elves this weekend cleaning, de-cluttering etc.  I could have used an extra day, but I'm working from home tomorrow so that's the next best thing.  I have a dental appointment - they are removing my bridge and figuring out what will be done: new bridge or implants.  That giant sucking sound is the $$ flying to the dentist and oral surgeon.  Oh well, whatcha gonna do?

A bit adrift

It’s been a tough couple of weeks. My son was in a car accident. He’s fine, but my mom’s car is totaled so she’s been without a car and we’re having to deal with the insurance and the adjustor is an idiot, so the whole thing has been a big headache. Of course the headache really starts once my car insurance goes sky high since my 17 year old son will have been in an accident. He didn’t get a ticket, but in the world of insurance, police reports are irrelevant.

Our dog Butchie passed away on Monday and we are both just heartbroken. We are having him cremated. It’s been really hard – he was 13 years old and he was very much a part of our family.

Anyway, the past couple of weeks have been tough and I haven’t been as consistent or as focused with either diet or exercise as I have been and it shows. I haven’t gained any weight, but I’ve only lost a pound in the past 2 weeks, which is essentially stalled.

It’s time to get refocused. Its tough when things happen, but being unfocused won’t change anything. It’s understandable, but not really helpful.

I had a very good AMP workout yesterday – upper body. Jeff is on the mend and is beginning to do weight training, so I’m hoping for some more really tough workouts. This weekend I am going to Play it Again Sports to look for a heavier kettlebell to bring into the office. The 18 pound one is no longer heavy enough. It’s great for cardio, but I’d like a tougher weight.

One step at a time.

midweek

Interesting article on Norma’s web site I thought I’d pass along - from Mark Hyman regarding REAL FOOD:


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mark-hyman/food-industry_b_1559920.html?ref=diet-and-nutrition

The weekend plans changed a lot when we got the call from our son that he had been in a car accident Friday night. Thankfully he, the girlfriend, and her puppy were fine, but it was one of those major multi car pile-ups that happen on the highway due to bad weather. The damage is mainly the left front quarter panel – he avoided being squished between 2 other cars. (Unfortunately, they totaled the car.)

Yes he was fine and no, there wasn’t anything we could do. But after that we both felt wrung out and decided to postpone our trip to Port Charlotte until next weekend and just futz around the house. It was nice. We got in the pool Saturday, but Sunday just puttered around, I did the food prep, and we went to the gym. Nothing super special, just a nice weekend. As always, we felt like we ran out of time and energy!

For the fourth morning in a row, hub’s blood sugar readings were below the diabetic range. He is really making terrific progress. I don’t know what else to say about that. I went to WW – I continue to lose weight, but it feels like it is taking forever! I need to get over it. Two days wouldn’t feel “fast enough.”

What else? It’s a busy week at work, and we are trying to finish up a few odd chores that didn’t get done over the weekend, so that makes for a long evening. Plus we’ve been walking in the evening – we have a 2 mile loop we do. The good news is we haven’t had rain force us to cancel but a typical walk means about 90 degrees and what feels like 1000% humidity. I thought NC was humid – it’s freaking Arizona compared to this stuff! It’s not that we mind walking in the rain – it’s when we have the thunderstorms that we opt to stay home. But it’s been a few days since a big storm, which is a nice change!

Friday!

Things here are pretty good. Tuesday evening we went to the gym, ate dinner, and I spent evening 2 of operation “organizing my CDs” (which are in cases, each other’s covers, scattered about etc.). I suspect it will take 2 more evenings or so to get it all squared away.


We have a new person on our team. I took her with me to AMP Wednesday – she liked it. She has 3 dogs and a BlendTec blender – we have so much in common! Ha ha. Seriously though, she seems very nice.

Not too much else to report. Things here are going along. I’m headed to NC on the 23rd.

Wednesday’s dinner tonight was chicken with alfredo sauce, steamed broccoli, and quinoa. I was pooped after AMP, I went home, took a shower, we ate, and then I was a bum.

Last night we went to Miami to look at a couple of mid century chairs I found on craigslist. They were very comfortable and I think they ill well in the project room. They were a great price and I love the look of them, although they will need to be reupholstered down the line.

They’re baaaaaack

We had a theory about the frogs: we weren’t running the pool pump at night and we wondered if maybe they were attracted because the water was still. So a few nights ago we began running the pool pump at night rather than during the day and we enjoyed several frog free nights. Unfortunately, last night we discovered that given enough rain, frogs still came despite the pump. Sigh.

We had a lovely weekend! We went to the German restaurant for our anniversary dinner (which was awesome of course). On the way we stopped and checked on my great-grandparents’ graves. That was nice. They had a lot of flags up on the graves of veterans.

I remember going one Memorial day to the Presidio in San Francisco and visiting the cemetery. It was when I was stationed in Monterey. When I was on active duty, it was always comforting is a strange way to go to a military cemetery and to know that those places are there if that’s what you want. I doubt that makes any sense, but I honestly can’t explain it very well. It’s just a visible symbol that (while imperfect) we do try to take care of our own.

Saturday we enjoyed some quality pool time, the only down side of which is that afterward you are sapped of all will to get stuff done! Something about lazing around in the sun and water mid afternoon, totally sets you up for a siesta and then all of a sudden it’s dinner and the day is nearly done but your chores aren’t! ;-O

Sunday we went to the beach. Now, my husband has never been a big fan of the beach. When we go to Edisto Island, he loves it but he rarely walks on the beach with me & mom. So I was very surprised when he agreed to go to the beach with me. We headed out early Sunday morning to the oh so famous Ft. Lauderdale beach. The weather and the water were awesome!

We swam & sat in the sun and talked. It’s very easy to take 95 to Sunset, hang a left on A1A and there’s beachfront parking right there, very convenient. And just a half a block down is a Primanti Brothers (a Pittsburg mainstay) right across from the beach. We didn’t go, but it would be a good place to grab a bite to eat after the beach if you wanted. Anyway, it was really nice and we are going back soon! I’ve tried several beaches while we’ve been down here and Ft. L is my favorite – and not just because of childhood memories.

We bought ourselves a digital camera for our anniversary gift, so no more excuses about posting pictures (once I’ve learned to use it!) I took a bunch of the house on my mom’s camera and never got them posted before she left!

Presuming Luke is available to come over & feed the dogs their supper Saturday, I plan to ride to Port Charlotte with the hub to visit some of his friends.
I had a terrific workout yesterday at the fitness center even though Jeff had the day off. I did a riff of Norma’s tank top workout and mixed in a couple hundred kettlebell swings for a fun and hard workout. I didn’t see a soul the whole time I was there. It’s nice having my own personal huge gym!

Terrier 2 – lizards 0

I decided to work at home today – it’s been quite an exciting afternoon. Jordan has caught and partially eaten TWO lizards. One I took care of, but the other I got Luke (who was out mowing) to come over and handle. It was big and still alive. Ewwwww!

It is a beautiful sunny day in south Florida and I took my lunch break in the pool. I had to pick up a prescription for someone, so I took advantage and picked up an anniversary card while I was at Target. I also bought a lounge chair for lounging by the pool.

I am working Monday since we have no plans other than going to the German place for dinner.

Have a good one!

The secret ingredient is crack (just kidding!)

Can I tell you how good the chicken was last night? We agreed next time we’d do 2 roasted jalapenos per stuffed breast instead of one, but it was awesome. And it tasted like homemade jalapeno poppers! It got me thinking and I said we could use the idea to recreate other flavors (I miss pizza!). I suggested pizza and the response I got was “How about fettuccine alfredo?” Yes, it’s on hub’s “most missed” list. If you stuff the breast with broccoli and mushrooms and put alfredo sauce on top I bet it would be awesome! So not only a good meal, but a concept for more really good meals!

I have been disappointed with my weight loss this week – only half a pound. Since everything is the same, I find that a little frustrating. Oh well, consistent behavior leads to a trend of consistent results, there are always blips up and down of that trend line. I’ll just stay on course and things will even out.

Have a great weekend!

mid week

This morning I helped hub get his lunch packed. After that I made juice (carrot, apple, cucumber) as well as a green drink. The green drink contained: 1 banana, mixed frozen berries, bee pollen, VitaMineral green powder, chia and flax seeds, spinach, and water. Now that my mom isn’t here, I will probably stop with the juice once we use up the carrots & stuff – we are both eating so many veggies it feels a little redundant. OTOH, the dogs love the carrot pulp in their food, so I may still juice periodically. I think the green drink feels more important for us these days. Any excuse to get extra greens.


Breakfast (for both of us) this week is a hamburger with baked beans. Lunch is a salad the size of Montana with grilled chicken. My snack is 12 almonds (if I feel hungry mid morning) – hub is taking a couple of boiled eggs, sardines, apple, and almonds for him to nibble on as needed during the day.

Last night’s dinner was awesome – I have a recipe for doing a chicken in the crock pot with just spices and a diced onion that is so simple and tastes amazing! Tonight we had “jalapeno popper stuffed chicken breast” – I beat chicken breasts until they were thin then covered them in a mixture of cream and shredded cheddar cheese (not too much) then added a roasted jalapeno (hub did them on the grill and I pulled the skin off and took the seeds etc. out) and a slice of bacon. Then I rolled it up. When I got home I baked them - amazing. We had sweet potato and roasted brussel sprouts on the side.

Last night I had a good workout at the gym – 45 minutes on the arc trainer. Today was AMP class with Jeff. Woot!

I must figure out why the frogs love our back yard and figure out how to make it inhospitable.

Das boy wants me to drive up and pick him & Katy up after her mom’s birthday July 6. Mom told him she didn’t think that would work. Uh, no. Unless death, birth, or marriage of someone every important is involved, I do NOT travel in July. Two reasons: Pennsic prep and Tour de France. Sorry. Coverage is anywhere from 2-6 hours per day. (The only really long airtime is on days of critical mountain stages – usually only 2 of those, one each from the Pyrenees and the Alps). Still, miss a day or two and you are totally lost on what is going on. Also, watching the Tour is my Pennsic prep – sewing, mending, cooking, packing – it all goes on this month, with the Tour as the backdrop. I become a recluse.

I guess that makes me sound terribly selfish, but I’m tired of being accommodating for everyone but me. I need my prep time darnit!

For the curious - Overhauling your food

I am fortunate in that for years now I have planned and cooked most of our food. I thought we ate pretty healthy (and we did eat healthier than a lot of folks) but when hub got diagnosed with diabetes, we had to take a hard look at the menus and cupboards.

I threw away open boxes of pasta, crackers, etc. It was just easier not to have it around. We have eliminated bread, pasta, and all grains except quinoa and I have some sprouted wild rice mixed with quinoa. I know that sounds hard.

We eat a lot of stuff that anyone following a paleo diet would turn their nose up at: some cheese, an occasional diet soda or popsicle, last night we had a couple of corn tortillas each with dinner. We simply chose what we were willing to give up in order to achieve the goals of weight reduction and hub’s blood sugar reduction. The processed carbs had to get the boot, no question. We opted to leave some things that aren’t healthy (sugar free popsicles are nothing but chemicals), but that would make the transition easier. In time those things may go as well, or we may just accept a certain amount of crap in our diet – I don’t know.

But I will say this: it gets easier. Some meals are so easy to adapt it requires no thought: tonight we had a chicken in the crock pot with baked organic sweet potatoes and steamed artichokes. Other things were tougher (lasagna). Some things I’ve adapted (like lasagna) and others have simply fallen by the wayside (homemade chicken and dumplings are gone with the white flour).

Here’s the thing: 1) it’s not like we can never eat those things again, ever. We can, but right now it is simply too important to mess around with “moderation.” Define a moderate amount of cyanide, for example. If something is pure poison, how much is it okay to ingest? My body treats a chemical like a toxin and processes it as such (like a popsicle) but it doesn’t do the kind of active damage that pasta will to the hub. That’s where we drew our line in the sand. Your line may be somewhere else.

But overall it hasn’t been too hard. We eat meat, vegetables, fruit, nuts & seeds mostly, with a little bit of other stuff to smooth the path. Our allergies and allergy headaches have improved dramatically, so has sleep, and other bodily functions. We are seeing the payoff in terms of our health – and not just on the scale or in hub’s blood sugar readings (which were again out of the diabetic range this morning).

Because I am a list making fool, I made a list of menu ideas. I was able to come up with 31 dinners out of what we used to eat that I can make without processed carbs. Since we eat out once a week that means we could go about 5 weeks without ever having the same dinner twice!

It has required some planning, but the payoff has been well worth the investment of time.

Well, we left the dogs today. Luke (the kid next door) came over a couple of times during the day to check on the pups while we are both at work. Butch has been doing better, so hopefully things will be okay between him & Jordan. (Hub is working a temp job the next few days.)

Speaking of pups, did you catch the news about the pet treats? http://vitals.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/05/22/11798368-nearly-1000-dogs-now-sick-from-jerky-treats-fda-reports-say?lite

I have a very good recipe for dog treats that the dogs LOVE and they are easy and cheap. I buy organic kibble (Blue Buffalo or Wellness) and make their wet food and dog treats. I bought a cookbook for dogs. That’s just how I roll.

Today was yoga at lunch and gym after work.

Friday is our 10 year anniversary. By marrying each other we’ve saved two sane people from a life of misery. Ha!

And I am spent!

It was a very busy weekend. The usual meal planning, shopping, and food prep on top of which we organized all our craft stuff! Two closets stuffed full of jewelry making supplies, garb accessories, sewing supplies, etc. I still need to organize my sewing stuff, but it’s at least all together on the shelves next to my sewing table. I also need to go through my patterns, but that can be post vacation since the only garb I’m making beforehand is a pair or two of fighting pants for hub.

We also enjoyed pool time both days and went to the gym for a good workout yesterday. I also bought a new MP3 player – my one I had for years died and I bought a cheap replacement which was a pain in the butt. So I sucked it up, went to Best Buy, and bought one which seems like it will be pretty easy to use for $45. I’ll find out tonight when I attempt to load music on it!

Well, it’s happened. In a little over a month my husband has caught up to me in the weight loss department, and I’ve been at it for months! I call justifiable homicide! Ha ha ha. Seriously though, I am proud of him!

I pestered Jeff to lift weights with me this afternoon. My own free personal trainer! How lucky am I?

Ugh

Ugh.


I left work yesterday missing NC very much, wondering just what the heck kind of life I want to create for myself – here, after here, for forever…. (Mid life crisis???) I was looking forward to a serious workout, but it just wasn’t meant to be.

Hub called while I was on the way home – the plumbing under the sink broke (“fell apart” was the phrase he used) – he was on his way to Home Dept for new pipe and couldn’t make the gym. Okay, so I go alone.

When I got home the noy called to let me know N was on his way over (his best friend in Florida). His dad had kicked him out (this happens regularly.) They’d gotten into a fight and the boy said N was crying. The child lives a mile or so from us, so I finished changing, got in the car, and headed out to find him. I picked him up, let him in, and headed for the gym.

It wasn’t much of a workout, but I got there and did something.

He stayed for dinner and hung out until his grandma came to get him.

All in all, not much of an evening.

In good news, Hub is going to be working at a temp job most of next week. In bad news, I don’t know what we’re going to do with Butchie.

Thank heavens it’s the weekend. I need it!

Down another half a pound!

Dinner last night was awesome. The pork chops were really good, but they were so big that we ended up splitting a small sweet potato because neither of us could eat a whole one! I made 4 pork chops so there are plenty of leftovers. Actually, we are just having leftovers for dinner tonight because there is enough to feed the two of us tonight, Saunooke’s lunch today, and probably still be leftovers. I’m not very good at cooking for 2 apparently.

We got to the dog park last night so that was good. It was a little wet but not too bad. The dogs had a great time.

I brought leftovers for lunch today. It’s yucky and rainy and I decided that a hot lunch sounded pretty good. I generally eat salad every day. Now, I change up the ingredients and dressings a lot, and in my world lettuce isn’t even required (nor is any leafy green), but it’s nice to have something different every once in a while.

AMP class yesterday was awesome, as usual. I left feeling slightly woozy and mucho sweaty. Win!

Donna Summer passed away today. When I was 11 or 12 I really wanted to be just like her when I grew up. (Yes, I loved disco!)

Quick Wednesday

The shepherd’s pie last night was awesome. Hub couldn’t believe that it was made with mashed cauliflower. I think it was that good and had nothing to do with the tough workout at the gym prior to eating. Hee hee hee!


On the vet’s advice, we tried getting a muzzle for Butch, thinking that would be a way to keep Jordan safe during the day. (They make them so the dog can drink so they are humane.) Uh, no. Hub took him to the store for a fitting and he busted out immediately. They tried 2 stores with no luck. We can’t crate him – he was very close to destroying the crate we have – and really, he’s 13. It just seems cruel to lock him up for hours every day when he’s always had free run of the house and yard.

After the gym and dinner I did pretty much nothing last night – it was lovely. I’ve been going to bed at 9 and reading a few minutes. I have a book from the library “The Blood Sugar Solution” by Dr. Mark Hyman that I need to start. I just finished “A World Lit Only by Fire” by William Manchester and I was in that mood so I picked up Book 4 of Durant’s “Story of Civilization”, “The Age of Faith”.

We are both down another pound (yay!).

We plan to take the dogs to the park today even though it rains every evening these days. I would like to go to the park, but not in a thunderstorm – hopefully it’ll be okay!

Today was AMP class. I had a meeting up until class time so no time to swing kettlebells beforehand. Which is okay because class is hard enough on its own!

Dinner tonight was pork chops, baked sweet potatoes, and sautéed zucchini. Yum-o.

There is a crossfit gym near my house, and there is one a little farther away that offers the first 2 classes for free. I can’t afford to join another gym right now, but I’m keeping that in the back of my head for later.

Interesting article on why we have become overweight:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/15/science/a-mathematical-challenge-to-obesity.html?_r=2

I’ve read a lot of articles along similar lines. Any time I get into a serious discussion about nutrition (which isn’t often, it’s as bad as talking about religion or politics) I feel like I should be wearing a tin foil hat to protect myself from the MIB or something. A discussion of agribusiness and government food policy quickly begins to sound like some X-Files induced paranoid conspiracy theory. I don’t think it’s that complex – I just think that humans are that greedy.

Link courtesy of Norma. http://www.notnormajean.blogspot.com/

There are times it’s very helpful to have your mom or a close girlfriend around. I’m talking clothes advice. I’ve lost about 25 pounds and I think some of my clothes are too big and probably look dumb, but I hate wearing tight clothing so honestly I can’t really tell. I really don’t have anyone I can ask down here. Sigh.

Tuesday - no lizards

More evidence that the end of civilization is near: my husband is drinking UNSWEET tea! And judging by the sounds last night, I do believe it must’ve been raining frogs.


Last night’s dinner was shrimp diavolo over quinoa with a big salad. It was very good and since I had extra sauce already made up in the freezer, it was very simple. Tonight I have a shepherd’s pie I made over the weekend with mashed cauliflower in place of the mashed potatoes. I also have a bag of organic sugar snap peas from the CSA box. Since we are going to the gym it will be nice to have a meal that only involves heating stuff up.

I stopped buying store bought salad dressing years ago. It’s expensive and not very good IMO, not to mention full of chemicals. Making my own is easy and cheap. Also, the one good thing the 1970s gave us was green goddess dressing. (Love the 50s, but the 70s were just plain weird.) Yes, Kraft does sell a chemical faux green version, but homemade is so good. Apparently its popularity died with the 1970s as well because you never see it in restaurants or anything (I guess ranch killed it) except that one lone bottle of Kraft lurking amongst 1000 varieties of ranch. Being a big eater of salads, I demand variety, and I expect my dressings to be tasty and healthy. Hub, OTOH, eats the same French dressing I’ve been making him for years.

Yesterday was a kettlebell workout at the fitness center at work and an AM walk in the hood. Today was yoga at lunch and gym after work.

Last night was odd in that we had so little to do. We sorted through some stuff to send to Goodwill, worked on our project list for what we want to get done around the house and watched a couple of “Star Trek: DS9” episodes. We had planned to go to the dog park, but an evening thunderstorm nixed that idea. Lifestyles of the rich and famous down here in south Florida, I tell ya.

Uber productive weekend

First of all, I saw an amazing lizard on the fence last night. He was a knight anole – a foot or so long and bright green with bright yellow markings on his face. We were inside and he sat there for a long time.

Hub has lost 18 pounds in just under a month and his fasting blood sugar was below the diabetic level yesterday. He’s doing great. We went to the gym yesterday and had a really good workout. We love our gym. It’s so convenient and has enough equipment that it’s not crowded at all – of course, we’ve generally gone in the morning. Tomorrow we’ll be going after work, but there should still be plenty of equipment.

This weekend was all about giving the house a deep cleaning, picking up, decluttering, and doing a bit of rearranging in the kitchen. The house feels much better but we still had a good amount of time to just relax. If it weren’t for Mothers Day, it would have been an excellent weekend.

Hub texted The boy last night and reminded him to call me. He was crying the whole time he talked to me. He’d had a really lousy day at his grandpa’s house. His uncle and grandpa get along about as well as fire and gasoline (they both want to do things their way on their terms) and he feels caught in the middle. Add the fact that the whole reason his uncle is there is to help out since his grandpa can’t do the stuff due to his cancer, and you have an all around tense situation. Luckily today was better.

I think The boy thought it would somehow magically be okay since he would be closer to Katy (ugh!), who doesn’t get out of school for another month. Le drama. Thank god I’m not 17 – I don’t think humans are able to survive that more than once.

It was a nice day, but not much of a Mother’s Day. In any case, things are coming together around the house.

Up next weekend: organizing craft stuff. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Weekend!

TGIF


The boy and mom left for NC yesterday. I know he’s worried about his grandpa, but I will say I’m very hurt and disappointed that he was in such a rush that Mother’s Day was pretty much blown off this year. I know that sounds horribly selfish (and I guess it is), but that’s how I feel. Please allow me a few moments to pout.

Thursday was tough. He had a math review, then the final, then the chemistry final. It was a very long day. I gave blood yesterday and felt awful after. I mean, I had to go to the nurse’s office and lay down for a while. I felt like I was in 4th grade or something. Giving blood is generally no big deal, so I really don’t know what happened. Weird. Fortunately (or unfortunately) I was leaving work early to go to the dentist. I still felt woozy, but Hub talked to me till I got home then he drove me.

My weight has stayed the same the past 2 weeks. Between the cold, the trip, and the crazy schedule at home, exercise levels have been down and some sub-optimal food has crept into the diet. One up side of it being just the 2 of us for a while is more time for exercise. We plan to hit the gym 3 days a week together. Hub’s commitment to losing weight and eating healthier is making my commitment easier to keep. The other morning his fasting blood sugar was in the 120s!

This weekend we are giving the house a thorough scrubbing and planning a schedule for operation “finally get everything in this damn house organized!” Because I am tired of never knowing where anything is! If we tackle a room a week we’ll be done just in time to pack for vacation. (Good thing there are no projects that need to be done!)

In sadder news, we are going to have to put Butch down soon. Have I written about this? He’s just gotten too snappy with the other dogs. He doesn’t seem to be in any pain, but he’s 13 years old and he’s always been a bit touchy. He’d been in the shelter a long time when we got him and I’m not sure he’s ever really gotten over his bad experiences early in life. But he’s had a good life with us for the past 11 years.

Our anniversary is coming up. Because our minds think alike (I won’t claim they are great) we both thought that the German restaurant would be the perfect place to go for dinner. We were thinking about a trip to Key West, but I think our plan will just be to chill out in the peace and quiet of our own house, in our own pool, with our own dogs.

Have you ever heard of the group “Friends of Alice Ivy”? Jango and Pandora are so cool – I’ve heard some awesome music that way.

When the mangoes fall off the tree into the yard, if we don’t spot them quickly Belews (“the puppy”) thinks they are balls and likes to play with them, which sort of ruins them for eating. Luckily they are a bright color and therefore pretty easy to spot, even on the other side of the pool fence. (We have one of those mesh pool fences which we now keep up at all times. It looks ugly, but keeps the dogs from accidentally falling in the pool while chasing each other.)


Last night The boy randomly decided to drag out the overhead projector and put a large sun on his wall. Since I put celtic knotwork all over the last kitchen, I can’t really say anything, can I? I think it’ll be pretty cool when he finishes.

Last night’s dinner was spaghetti squash, baked fish, and roasted green beans. I made a pot of chicken and dumplings for mom and The boy. We have been getting thunderstorms most days for at least a little while. It was pouring when I was driving home yesterday, which meant no pool time. Bummer.

In other exciting news, we have a dog sitter for vacation! It is hard to find someone to move into your house for 16 days. The kid next door (18) is very mature and responsible – not to mention just next door. We were planning to drive the dogs up to NC to stay with my mom, but this will be much easier, if more expensive. So that’s a good thing.

Today’s workout: AMP class. Jeff is back from surgery, and while he is limited in what he can do, he can boss us around. Hurray!

Have you seen this already?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qX9FSZJu448&feature=youtu.be

One step at a time

First of all: My cold is all gone. It was gone fairly quickly (3 or 4 days) but it was a doozy! I’m so glad it was gone before we went to Georgia.

Trip to Georgia: Did I mention this? Mom and I went to Georgia to visit my great aunt. We drove up on Friday (it took just over 9 hours) and drove back Sunday (just under 9 hours). We did the usual things – antique shops, eating out, visiting the cemetery for flower checking and grave cleaning, the obligatory trip to W-M for a few items for Alma, putting a little extra money in her bank account.

We did do something a bit different – we rode over to Warm Springs (home of President Roosevelt’s “Little White House”) for new antique shops and a new place to try for lunch. It was a nice ride over, but the GPS (her nickname is “Brunhilda”) took us through some serious back country. But it was just beautiful – so different from south Florida. Also, we ate at a good restaurant with excellent vegetables, which Alma thoroughly enjoyed. All in all it was a terrific trip.

The antique report: I bought a cute little painting of a chipmunk on a tree (he was so cute and it was only $3 so it had to come home) a couple of fat quarters of pretty fabric for MIL for Mother’s Day, and a 1974 hamburger cookbook (Betty Crocker, I believe). I actually did get a couple of good ideas and so many laughs that it was well worth $2! I’ve been eyeing a beautiful walnut lazy susan but couldn’t justify the expense at my fav antique shop. Maybe next time.

Not sure exactly when the boy and mom will be heading to NC – given the circumstances he is anxious to get going the second school is done. He may not even be here for Mother’s Day, which makes me very sad but I know how worried he is about his grandpa.

It’s rare you get to do something that your teenager thinks is cool, but I managed it. The boy decided to do a little rearranging in his room and wanted some new art. I had a bunch of old posters, so we decided to look through them. He was unimpressed with Garfield (high school) or Spuds Mackenzie (various barracks rooms), and he just laughed at Jean Claude van Damme (I don’t even remember owning that!). He was mildly impressed with the Marine Corps posters which were from the then senior chief petty officer of the MC (my friend Glenda’s dad), but what really blew him away was a large collection of Soviet propaganda posters purchased in 1991 in Moscow. He thought they were awesome (and they are!). He hung one in his room. I don’t think of myself as a packrat, but the Garfield poster from my high school dorm room? Really???

Hub continues to make progress, with the occasional lesson learned. The other night he went to a friend’s house and had a couple of slices of thin crust pizza. He also tried skipping his walk a couple of days. His blood sugar results and scale are keeping him on the straight and narrow – he is feeling better and seeing results, which helps.

We traded in the gas guzzling truck for a Honda CR-V – much better suited to what hub needs for work and we need as a family vehicle. So that’s good.

I’m looking forward to some nice quite routine and puttering around the house this summer. Let that commence – the summer weather already has! The pool yesterday afternoon felt fantastic. I love having a pool in the backyard.

Today’s workout: 560 kettlebell swings.

I am a germ bomb!

I have the worst cold I have had in years. I am tired and I am a coughing, sneezing, nose blowing germ factory on 2 feet. I can’t wait for this to be over. Especially since we are going to Georgia this weekend and I do not want to be sick and give this to my great aunt!

We are working very hard to get school wrapped up by Mother’s Day so mom and the boy can head to NC. The news on his grandpa keeps getting worse. They were hoping with aggressive treatment to knock his cancer into remission, but it has progressed farther than they thought based on the most recent tests. The boy just wants to be done with school (well, sometimes he doesn’t even care at all) and get up there. This is so hard.

Apparently it is now the rainy season (the down side to living in a sub-tropical climate). It has been raining since Friday. Since we live maybe 50 yards from a canal, the wild life tends to seek drier ground. Frogapalooza has gone on for 4 nights now. Thank goodness for child size ear plugs. There was the largest roach I’ve ever seen in my kitchen the other morning. (And remember, I lived in Texas!) Tough girl that I am, I jumped on the counter and screamed. I really, really, loathe bugs.

I went to the gym Sunday morning – the last day that I felt decent. Unless sneezing counts as exercise, I’m not getting any. Hub has it too – he’s the one that gave it to me, curse him. I have homemade soup and hot tea and medicine, but mostly I just want a nap.

Friday

Down a half a pound – which puts me down 2 pounds since Monday. Yay! Hub’s blood sugar was 132 this morning – so clearly the change in eating plus exercise is making a HUGE difference. He has been stunned by the change. And the day earlier in the week when it had been down then spiked back up? He admitted he’d had a Gatorade that day. He said he learned his lesson about THAT. I’ve been reading about nutrition so long, I sometimes forget that he genuinely doesn’t know how some things are going to affect his blood sugar or what foods have sugar. To me it’s like “duh” – but he has to learn it for himself. If I just tell him he may not get it. But he’s also listening, which is a refreshing change. Ha ha!

Stomach is feeling better this morning. I left work early yesterday – I was in misery. I did eat some dinner (salmon patties, quinoa, and broccoli) but I just felt like crap. I hope I don’t have a repeat of that any time soon!

Tomorrow we are planning to head to Coral Castle (http://coralcastle.com/). Random fact: The story about the construction inspired the song “Sweet Sixteen” by Billy Idol. Anyway, the weather is supposed to be dodgy again this weekend, so this is a fun little half day trip that gets us out of the house but isn’t entirely weather dependent.

My step brother headed up to our stepsister’s today - she’s about 3 hours up the road. Truck work was all finished up! Ready for things to quiet down a little around case de crazy.

Not good news on the boy's grandpa's cancer: very rare, very aggressive.  No ure, only treatment.  But knocking it into remission could buy him years - not just months.

Weight was the same today. I was hoping for a loss, but oh well. I knew to expect it. Sigh.


In good news, hub’s blood sugar was 130 this morning. 130. Awesome. His weight was up about half a pound. I reminded him that some fluctuations are normal when you are weighing daily. Now, I need to take that advice myself!

Workout yesterday was awesome. First I did 505 kettlebell swings, then I did AMP class. Jeff is having shoulder surgery next Wednesday so he is in crazed workout mode. He was a self described “mean man” – and I loved it! We did a total body workout full of crazy stuff. Like: Imagine a push-up but with one hand on a step and another holding a weight. Do a push up, but when you come up lift the weight toward the ceiling and twist your body and hips so you are looking at the ceiling. Lower the weight and do another push-up. I was a red-faced sweaty mess at the end!

Nevertheless, I am feeling kind of down today. I don’t know why. (I really wanted to get a ham croquette at the cafeteria this morning - thankfully they didn’t have any today). I think its money stress. It just sucks. I’ve tried not to worry and just have faith that things will work out. They have so far for the past year in spite of hub’s surgery and unemployment. And I tell myself there’s no point worrying because there is only so much I can do, you know? And for the most part I am doing the things I can, but I just hate the unsettled feeling.

My step brother was supposed to leave for NC today – he drove his truck over Tuesday night so he could work on it at our house. Now he’s headed back to NC for a while. He was doing some more work on the truck but I’m hoping he’ll be heading out tomorrow. He was recently at our house for a VERY long stay, and a break is in order. I feel mean saying that, cause we love him and all, but....

Last night was math – we went over 2 lessons on sequences and series. They were both pretty short. Tonight is only a quiz on those 2 lessons. Uh, ok. Anyway, schoolwork this week hasn’t been as bad as I was worried it would be. It takes a lot of time, but for the most part I have enjoyed sitting down and doing this stuff. It’s been a pretty unique experience – it feels a lot like home schooling. Even though our dispositions are a little too similar to make it ideal, I think it’s brought the boy and I closer together. But I will admit I’m looking forward to more free time this summer! Ha!

Today was lunchtime yoga. I have had a stomach ache for some reason for most for the day. (I couldn’t even finish my salad at lunch – I just picked at it.)

I am very ready for the weekend.

Back side of the week

Down another half pound! I expect to stall for a day or two, as that seems the way of things with my weight loss, lose big then pause, lose then pause. But that’s ok – the numbers are heading in the right direction and I am so pleased with the progress I am making.


A certain amount of this is vanity – finding clothes when you wear anything over a size 12 is hard IMO. Maybe it’s my body shape – I tend to have big-ish hips at any size, but at higher weights finding clothes that fit and that I like is tough.

But honestly, a lot of it is simply about being comfortable in my body. I like feeling strong and feeling like I can do the things I want – camping, hiking, snorkeling, etc. without being overly limited by my lack of fitness.

And then there’s the fact that I just turned 46 years old and I am on no medications. I don’t need any – and I intend to keep it that way for many years to come. I think many modern medicines do as much harm as good and I simply don’t want to have to go down that path. At the end of the day, whatever motivates you is great for you!

And then there’s the fact that I happen to enjoy moving my body – challenging myself to go harder, faster, or lift more. Ever won a lifting competition? It rocks. Finished a triathlon or road race? Also rocks. Those are moments that I feel truly alive.

How much muscle is too much? There’s no such beastie unless a person is taking so many steroids that her face is beginning to get what I call ”the horsey look”. (And I would still admire the muscles.) Check out the book “The Women” by Bill Dobbins (which I own). Just amazing. I don’t have the desire to do what I would have to do to look like that, but I can be fit and strong and feel good. That’s achievable and valuable to me.

The dentist yesterday was – ugh. Two hours! First the cleaning, the my oral surgeon came over to the dentist’s office so they could look at my mouth together and come up with a plan (I’m losing a bridge because the 2 teeth on either side are dying because they aren’t strong enough to support it). Then they had to make multiple molds (yuck).

I got home worn out and demoralized. I’m guessing this is going to cost in the neighborhood of $8000 out of pocket. Seriously, who has that kind of money these days? Heck, I’ve never had that kind of money just lying around! Ugh. Well, it’s that or wait for the thing to fall out and get dentures. Uh, no thanks.

Last night was cool (I turned on the heat in the car this morning – it was 57. Clearly my blood has thinned). I slept with the windows open and it was so nice. I didn’t want to get out of bed! But I did. Breakfast this week is a big veggie & egg casserole type thing – all I had to do was scoop out a serving to take to the office. For lunch I chopped a tomato, a huge cucumber, and a big orange bell pepper and divided it into 2 produce bags. Then into each bag went a diced grilled chicken thigh and boiled egg. I’ll buy a bed of greens at work from the cafeteria and lunch is done!

Dinner tonight is leftover night. I have vegetable soup with ground turkey and a chicken soup. I’ll make a big salad to go on the side and call it good. I have loads to kale to use up and ends & odds of veggies. The CSA box comes tomorrow so I’ve got to make room in the fridge!

Random musings on a Tuesday

Hub and I were both down another pound this morning. Oh yeah! One nice thing about tracking my weight so long is that I can tell you the last time I weighed less than this was the week of February 12, 2010. Woot! Right now losing weight feels 1) very exciting and 2) pretty easy. I’m eating well and plenty – I may get hungry an hour or so before a meal, but I’m hardly starving. Sure, there are times (like last night) I would have liked a cookie, but I got busy doing something and it was no big deal. Amazing.

I am listening to Kraftwerk’s album “Tour de France” in the car these days. Now, I love Kraftwerk (I always envision Dieter from SNL dancing around. I’m totally in touch with my German heritage and am so happy I got to live there.) But this album is special because it was commissioned to celebrate the 100th year of the TdeF – and if you’ve been reading this a while you know how I feel about that! Last year the Tour sorta passed me by. I wasn’t home – we were living in a hotel at the time and I wasn’t able to relax and enjoy it – indeed, relish it, the way I normally do. This year will be so different. Watching TdeF and working on projects for Pennsic – July is the best month of the year.

Speaking of which, I doubt I’ll be making too much for Pennsic this year. We’re both good on garb and I haven’t stayed in our camp for a couple of years so I don’t really know of anything I want or need for camp. So I’ll probably just check to make sure everything is in good repair and call it good. I have lots of fabric, but nothing is truly needed and I still haven’t organized my craft stuff. I’ve never even found my Viking wire weaving stuff – in any case I’ve probably forgotten how to do it. Oh well – I guess that means Eilis and I need to go shopping and maybe she can teach me (yet again)! Bummer – shopping with Eilis. *lol*

Today is an early day at work – I have a dental cleaning. Good times.

Lunch today was yoga. The agenda for tonight is going to the gym, probably for the arc trainer.

Monday, again

So, nice weekend even though the weather was terrible Saturday and we cancelled snorkeling. On the plus side, we live here so we can go any time! Lots of yard and house work accomplished. The boy and I went for a nice walk last night – the dog park was voted “too muddy” to take the dog. Ha!


Saturday morning I went to the gym with hub (for cardio mainly – I do my weights at work or at home with the kettlebells). His weight routine takes an hour so I programmed the dreadmill for 60 minutes of hills. Each piece of cardio equipment comes equipped with a tv and a fan. I never understood folks who could read while on an elliptical or something, but I’m not averse to watching the tv to change it up from my mp3 player. I watched British soccer on ESPN 8 or something – that was the channel it was on and cute guys being sporty seemed like a pretty good choice.

In a week hub has lost over 5 pounds and his blood sugar has come down from the 180s to the 130s (137 this morning). Behold the power of food and exercise. It has to be over 125 to be considered ‘diabetes’. Granted, a reading of 80 is better, but he is on his way and thrilled with how quickly he is seeing changes. He already feels much better!

Tomorrow I go for a teeth cleaning and I’ll ask the dentist what the outcome of her consult was with the oral surgeon. That giant sucking sound you hear is money going from us to the dental professionals. I have shallow roots. I have great hygiene – just lousy roots.

I’ve lost 4.5 pounds since my last WW visit 2 weeks ago. Sweet! Workout today was kettlebells. I am doing the front and back side of the minute for the first 2 rotations of Tracy Reifkind’s “Give and Take” video – it works out to 20 swings per minute for 18 minutes, plus warm-up. I am currently using my 18 pound kettlebell.

In other news, I was a cooking fool this weekend. I made kale chips (in the dehydrator) and crackers. The boy pronounced kale chips “too weird” and the crackers as tasting “just like seeds” (considering the fact that the recipe is just 2 cups seeds to 1 cup water and a little seasoning, I don’t find this a shocking development). Hub loves the crackers and thinks they make a great snack with a little pb.

Dinner last night was a roasted turkey breast (cheaper than fancy Whole Foods sliced turkey), corn on the cob, and roasted green beans. Tonight is fish and salad and broccoli and quinoa. Death by green vegetable is the current motto in our house. Just kidding. But I’m not. I’m out of green vegetable ideas and I’m a woman who gets a CSA box! Luckily everyone loves roasted brussel sprouts.

Congrats on the kettlebell Val!  Tracy's blogs are great - I followed her old one for years and it was a great source of inspiration.  Her book and her video "Give and Take" are both awesome!

As a matter of fact, this morning I did the first 2 rotations of Tracy's video - the front and back side of the minute - roughly 400 swings in a little over 20 minutes.  Then I went to the gym with hub - walked on the dreadmill for an hour doing the "rolling hill" program.  I love walking outside, but I like to go when he goes to support him.  Then took the dogs to the park for a walk!

I didn't get enough done today - I have loads of picking up around the house and food prep, and not nearly enough time to do it all tomorrow! Oh well.  That's the way it always seems to be.

Didn't go snorkeling today - it was stormy in the Keys and rainy here all day.  A nice day to piddle around the house.

It's been a pretty nice and very productive weekend.  Not looking forward to going back to work Monday. This has been like a mini "staycation" - thoroughly enjoyable!

Down 1.4 pounds this morning - happy birthday to me! :-)

It's my Friday

Tomorrow is my birthday and I am taking a couple of days off work. The plan is to do some stuff around the house (I will get my craft stuff organized and the project room looking like a real room and not a junk landing zone!) and go snorkeling at John Pennekamp state park in Key Largo. Hopefully the house will be looking better, the boy will have a weight training plan and will have gone to the gym for a first run through, and shopping and food prep and the usual will be done.

We are also going to do a bit of work in the front yard. Other exciting activities include making kale chips (this is a great way to eat kale) and another attempt at crackers. My first batch was a success, but a bit brittle. My second batch is just weird. I need a happy medium.

Today would normally be AMP class but Jeff has a doctor appointment so class was cancelled. He’ll be making it up later in the week, but I won’t be there. Since I did kettlebells yesterday, my plan for the day was to do step aerobics. It’s fairly high intensity and I can do it at work on my lunch break. I need to help with chemistry tonight so there won’t be time for me to go to the gym just yet. But that’s ok – I have time. Hub went yesterday and did weight training.

Dinner last night was interesting. I tried making lasagna with sliced unbreaded baked eggplant in place of noodles. I cut the eggplant too thin for one. And I didn’t think about the fact that noodles absorb moisture – it came out a little runny (isn’t that a gross sounding word?). It tasted really good – just needs more thinker cut veggies in place of the noodles and to remove some of the liquid. Hub really didn’t miss the noodles – just the Italian bread alongside. But we had a huge salad prior to the lasagna so he was certainly full.

Tonight is baked fish with roasted broccoli, zucchini, and fingerling potatoes. There are things I miss making – like sloppy joes and chili mac. Part of what makes this tough is that hub genuinely has no idea what foods are carbs, so I’m always having to explain why we need to cut back on certain things. I guess we’ll get up the learning curve.

Pool time happened yesterday afternoon. I love pool time.

Things I like about living in Florida:

I never had any idea how many types of palm trees there are. Some are amazing. Very neat.

Grrr

Let’s just say things have been tough around the casa. The boy is having a hard time dealing with his grandpa’s cancer. Hub is having a hard time dealing with long term unemployment and diabetes has really just kicked him while he’s down. Luckily he’s had a couple of good friends to talk to and that has helped.

But there is some good news. His aunt has diabetes and has gone the diet & exercise route to manage it, and so he can talk to her rather than his mom as an example. (Well, his mom makes an excellent example of what not to do.) The gym opened and we went yesterday – it’s really nice and really cheap. ($10 per month per person). I made an awesome dinner yesterday: roast turkey tenderloin, roasted asparagus and green beans, fresh corn on the cob, with mixed berries for dessert.

Today's workout: 463 kettlebell swings.

If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging

Down another half pound – that’s 3 for the week and all I gained around my grandmother’s memorial and that trip. So that’s done. I hate going in the wrong direction, but I’m glad I nipped it in the bud at 3 pounds.

Today is Friday (yay!): workout with Jeff was shoulders and triceps and legs. Monday I am bringing in my new kettlebell video since he asked me if I would bring it in so he could try it with me. I am going to the beach tomorrow.

So, hub has diabetes. I’ve been concerned about his weight ever since we met & married. He could always stand to lose a little weight. When I say “a little” I mean maybe 40-50 pounds, which sounds like a lot but for a 6’4” man it’s probably like 20 pounds to me. Which is a lot, but not “a lot”. Anyway. Over the past couple of years and especially with last years’ stress he added upward of 60 pounds to that. So not good – now we’re to “a lot”. I’ve asked him to work on it, but he simply hasn’t been ready.

Well, now he’s ready. This diagnosis hit him as nothing else has, having watched both his grandparents suffer the consequences of diabetes. He came home ready to change. The next day we tossed his white bread and he bought sneakers. So I am happy for him but I am also scared for him. He is determined to do this with exercise and food, which I know he can do, but as the person who shops and cooks it puts a lot of pressure on me. Luckily his blood sugar is just into the type 2 diabetes category, so I think he can turn this around pretty quickly.

The gym we joined hasn’t opened yet, I want to call tomorrow and find out what the status is. So hopefully that will be up and running soon. Also, it is a bit cool but we can get in the pool so afternoon swim is on the schedule!

I have been reading Diana Schwarzbein’s book on reversing diabetes and I have placed a hold on Mark Hyman’s book on the subject with the library. Basically, both doctors advocate a largely unprocessed, near paleo diet (that is MY description). Limited dairy and grains, heavy on meat and greens. It’s a big change – as big as I think he can handle in one go. I can’t throw it all out right away – he won’t do it. But he’s committed to giving up soda, milk, and all but Ezekiel bread. That’s a huge start. Add regular exercise to that and I think it goes a long way to making a difference. This is a guy who loves his junk food.

There are a lot of days I’d like to pack my dogs in the car and drive back to NC to my mommy’s house. That’s the truth. I’m at an age where I don’t want to wish my time away – I feel like it’s going quickly enough already. But lord this is hard.

Wednesday

Monday I sucked it up and went to Weight Watchers after a 3 week absence. It wasn’t really intentional, it was just that between things getting hectic at work (I go to an ‘at work’ meeting) and being out of town, I just hadn’t gotten there. I was up 1.5 pounds from my last visit – that is already back off.


Monday Jeff basically did an AMP class for 3 of us – mostly legs. Ouch in a good way. I also did kettlebells on Monday. Jeff asked me how many swings I had done and I didn’t know (I hadn’t added it up). The answer is: 263 swings with the 18 pound (my lighter) kettlebell. I’m not even sore from doing that anymore! Next week I am adding another rotation. Woot! Jeff asked if I’d bring in my kettlebell and video so he can try the workout.

I’ve been walking every morning (I did take this morning off – hub got home late so my sleep was interrupted so I slept in until 5:30), I walked last evening, and yesterday I did yoga. This is not gentle stretching yoga – it’s power yoga, so it’s a bit of a workout. But even if it wasn’t, stretching and flexibility are important, and I find I need it even more when I am lifting weights.

Today was amp class again – yay! We did upper body today - 300 reps for each of back, chest, and biceps. The boy has a big chemistry assignment to do tonight, so that will probably take up most of my evening after supper. Tomorrow I need to do my mom’s taxes.

Food this week:

Breakfast is a veggie & egg white omelet.

Lunch is a greek salad with grilled chicken , boiled egg, feta cheese, and lots of veggies (brought from home so everything is measured)

Snacks are 3 bean salad and a couple of homemade crackers (seeds and water and spices). Today I am so full from my salad I never ate the 3 bean salad.

Dinner tonight was salmon, baked potato, and broccoli.

My thought for today: I have it in me. I can make the changes I want, have the life I want, create a vision for my future and make it happen. Sometimes I get to busy with the day to day I lose sight of my vision. Sometimes I get so caught up in the vision that I want to be there and not do the work necessary to get there. It feels boring to go out every morning at dark – joining a running club or doing a run sounds more fun. But the baby steps are necessary, as I keep reminding myself. Life goes more quickly than we think, if we don’t enjoy the process it’ll be over and we’ll be wondering where it went!

"Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not. But remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for."

I am reading Tosca Reno’s “Eat Clean recharged” and 2 of her cookbooks, courtesy of the library. The book is good, but it’s one I’d read once and be done probably. The cookbooks have some good sounding recipes. I always like to preview books when I can – my book habit is bad enough! But one of the cookbooks in particular I may end up buying.

I love you Monie

Today is the one year anniversary of my grandmother's death. Mom and I cried at breakfast.  I loved her and my granddad so much and I am a better person for having had them inmy life.

The break-up

Good-bye melatonin.

I began taking you back when I suffered some regular insomnia.  You were very helpful.  But lately I've noticed my energy seems low.  Yesterday I took 3 naps!  (That's crazy).  I've been sleeping pretty well - maybe I don't need you?

Sure enough, one night without you and I woke up, feeling rested and (dare I say?) energetic.  I walked and did kettlebells and juiced and made breakfast prior to grocery shopping!  It's after lunch and I haven't had a nap!! It's like a miracle.

I'll hang onto it in case a patch of insomnia hits, but I must be making enough melatonin on my own thanks.

Weight has been the same the past couple of days (grr).  Breakfast was egg and tomato on half a hollowed out bagel, lunch was some sweet potato alongside sauteed zucchini and chicken breast.  Dinner is homemade chicken soup with matzo balls.

Today is housework and helpinng the boy with schoolwork.  We are going in the pool this afternoon.

Argh

Last night I got home, checked email etc while dinner cooked, ate, then went to my hair appointment. I must have been tired because I was falling asleep in the chair! After that I helped the boy with math and chemistry. At that point, I was toast. I had a couple of crackers with pimento cheese and spaced in front of the tv for an hour or so before hitting the sack.

My plan was to get up at 5 for a walk. So didn’t happen. Turns out the alarm was set for 6 instead of 5 and I didn’t check it before bed! It was really windy and rain was on the way when I got up, which would have been okay. But given how hard I slept, I think I needed to catch up on rest.

Anyway, got up, weighed (up 0.4 pounds), got dressed, made omelets for myself and the boy, heated up a cup of coffee, and boogied on in to work. I bought tea to go with breakfast – black unsweetened tea. Which would be okay except they don’t make it fresh like the cafeteria in NC – it’s one of those machines you see in fast food places sometimes that dispense “tea”. Not very good.

In the morning I also get a big cup of hot water to brew myself green tea for lunch. I guess I could brew some tea for breakfast in the afternoon and leave it on my desk overnight, but that would be a hassle. I could bring in a bottle of tea from home, which would save me money AND taste better, if I can remember it of course.

Today was a somewhat busy day at work with meetings and WW is at 1, except they had moved the meeting and I didn’t know where. Yes, I know how lame that sounds but it’s true! I prefer the Monday time and leader, but I missed 2 weeks being out of the office already and I needed to get my butt to a meeting. Oh well, I will continue to keep on, with or without a meeting this week.

Workout with Jeff was pretty good yesterday – mainly upper body: chest, back, biceps. Not the best class we’ve ever had, but it was enjoyable. I may try to do kettlebells this evening am going to do kettlebells this evening. I can knock out 20 minutes while the soup simmers, eat, and then get on homework with the boy. No excuses. Dinner tonight is chicken soup with matzo balls (one of the boy’s favorite meals) and roasted green beans from the CSA box on the side.

Breakfast was the same omelet, lunch is the same salad. I didn’t juice this morning since I was running late (normal juice these days is carrot, celery, cucumber, apple, ginger). I had some of my handy dandy raw almonds in my desk for a morning snack. We went to a “breakfast” this morning with our VP’s new boss. I had water and a bit of fruit – a couple of grapes, a couple of half slices of strawberry, and a couple slices of pineapple and watermelon. It was pretty easy to pass by the pastries and bagels actually.

I need a nap.

Another day

Down another pound today – woot! I’m still up 0.8 pounds from pre-trip, but three are gone and I’m headed in the right direction. I’m definitely not perfect, there are still times I turn to food. But I will say it has gotten MUCH better and I continue to make progress. I read blogs of folks who make this change and it seems like they never waver. I wish I could be that person, but I’m not. I do waver, I don’t make perfect choices. But once I get going in the right direction, it is easier to stay in that direction. Having an accountability partner of sorts in our personal trainer is so helpful.

The guys are headed to NC today. Hub took care of a few things around the house before they left and I made several phone calls (oral surgeon appointments, mailing of tax return, blah blah) so I’m feeling pretty well caught up. House is largely in order, so I’m thinking Mom and I will head to Naples for a half day at the beach this weekend. Yay! Another round of organization will be coming soon after I’ve bought some storage for the project room (aka toxic waste dump).

Today is AMP class (athletic mobility performance, if I haven’t put that before). I bailed last week – I was feeling lousy (allergies) so I am excited to be back. Yesterday was yoga and walking. I may also do kettlebells today – we’ll see how dead I am after AMP. I also have a haircut scheduled for this evening – it’s starting to get shaggy. I’ve always had my hair long for the most part, but I am enjoying having it short.

This morning I added half a small avocado to my breakfast omelet, lunch is the same, and dinner is eggplant parmesan and a salad. And I always have my baggie with raw unsalted almonds in my desk. The nice thing is that they don’t trigger me to eat a million – just a few hits the spot.

Change of subject: Why can’t I quit some blogs?

There are some blogs I read regularly (Pioneer Woman Cooks being an excellent example). Yes, she has some relatively healthy recipes but a lot of it could come out of the kitchen of Paula Deen. I find myself getting sucked in by the food porn, when in fact I don’t want to feed myself or my family that way. Yet I can’t seem to look away. And it sounds good. I wonder if it always will?

I am reading a book I got from the library (love the “Friends of the Library” room with the cheap books – if you don’t like it just take it back!) called “The Schwarzbein Principle”. It’s a few years old, but I never read it, although I do remember checking out her web site in the past. Anyway, I’m up to chapter 4 and the message seems to be “Eat real food, not too much, in balance.” Which is a message that could be from “Eat Clean” or Michael Pollan or anyone Paleo, or even a lot of vegans who advocate whole real foods, although without the meat obviously.

I did have a glass of soda this morning. I am going to try not buying any at the store next week, but my mom does enjoy it from time to time. I was in a rush to get out of the house and didn’t take time to heat up a cup of coffee. But I didn’t buy another one to go with my breakfast – progress, not perfection.

Thought of the day: "Whether you think you can, or you think you can't, you're always right."

All in all, a good day

Day started off like many BAU days: alarm going off at 5 am. Up, used bathroom, dressed, off for a 1.5 mile brisk walk. Home, showered, weighed. Still up 1.8 pounds from trip. Then off to the kitchen. I am trying to kick the diet pepsi habit (let’s face it, a glass full off chemicals isn’t good for you, even if it doesn’t have calories). I would have liked a cup of coffee (this is a new habit to replace the soda). Sadly, I don’t actually know how to make coffee, and my mom didn’t wake up before time for me to leave. Oh well. I had a little bit of leftover iced tea (unsweetened of course, I’m sweet enough already. Ha ha!)

(How sad did that last bit sound?  No, my mom doesn't live with me and I don't live with my mom!  Well, just for a few months while she flees winter...).


I drank the tea while I made the morning carrot ginger apple cucumber juice for me, hub, & mom. Next up green smoothie with 1 frozen banana, 1 mango, about 1 cup frozen mixed fruit, chia seeds, flax seeds, green powder, and then filled blender to top with baby spinach, then added water. Remember, that’s for 3 adults, I’m not downing 3 servings of fruit first thing in the morning!

I drank that while I worked on breakfast: I chopped a red bell pepper and a red onion. Placed them in a zip-loc and scooped out a couple of spoons to sauté. I added a diced tomato, some cilantro, and ½ cup egg beaters. These are okay but my god they have like 100 million ingredients! Plain egg or egg whites going forward.

I packed lunch: 3 cups chopped veggies (mainly cabbage), a diced roasted chicken thigh (no skin), and some curry dressing I made based on Fage greek yogurt. I also packed my portion of the juice for afternoon snack.

Do you see a problem? Breakfast was quite big but had no fat – I ended up really hungry! I had 12 almonds for a snack, then 12 more before yoga. Since I had yoga at lunch I knew I would be eating lunch late.

Yoga was good and the trainer here at work gave me a couple of basic upper body routines for the boy to do at the new gym. The trainer (J) is a really nice guy who is passionate about his work. I thought that was super thoughtful!

Dinner is build your own nachos, but mine will be on baked corn tortillas (build your own tostadas I guess for me), and extra homemade guacamole but no cheese. I love guacamole and would much rather have that for my fat than cheese!

Food is all plugged in and tallied up.

Hub had a busy day seeing about termite prevention, getting A/C checked (needs some minor repairs), and a few chores. He & my stepbrother leave tomorrow morning for my mom’s house for a few days to finish up a couple of things for her and a quick visit with his mom before he going back to work for the temp agency.

My low back is slightly sore and my legs are definitely feeling the kettlebell workout I did yesterday. Ouch! But mostly in a good way. The low back reminds me to keep good form!

Back and back at it

So, the trip was pretty good.  A lot of time in the car and not a lot of down time, but it was good.  My grandmother's memorial was very nice.  I was in a bit of a daze - it's hard to believe she's gone.

Things have been very busy since I got back - both at work and at home, not to mention trying to get back into my exercise routine, which had slipped a little between travel and getting ready to go out of town.

We joined a gym today!  It's $10 per month per person, so I felt like that was a reasonable price.  There's not a minimum time you have to belong, so if it turns out some people aren't using their membership, we can drop it. I'm a little skeptical about both hub and son, but I'm willing to give it a shot for a couple of months.

We have a great fitness center at work (as I've mentioned before), but no cardio equipment.  This new gym (YouFit) has LOADS of cardio equipment, as well as free weights.  And good hours, so I'm hopeful this will allow me to get in some killer cardio sessions on the elliptical.

Also, I ordered Tracy Reifkind's swing video (the one that's a workout), and did 2/3 of it for the first time today.  It's tough!  In a good way.  I also ordered her book and read it in the car.  Very good.  I made an awesome "Tracy style" salad for lunch today  - loads of veggies, a piece of grilled chicken, and a yummy curry dressing.  It's portioned out and ready to go for lunches for the week.

Tonight's dinner was a really good meal that used the eggplant, bok choy, and mushrooms from the CSA box.  It was a korean stir fry with chicken.  Again yum, but I will admit I'm a little hungry and will probably eat something light in a few minutes.  I hate waking up in the middle of the night hungry.  It's hard to not overeat at 2 am.  Having a little something a couple hours prior to bed works better for me.  I had an appointment at 6 with the counselor so we had to eat ealy.

The appt was good - it's really helped me with adjusting to the move.

Hub actually finally got an old laptop set up for me.  (I had the desktop but it died).  So I have my own computer again.

Hopefully my own computer will mean more posting.  I've been doing pretty good - I've lost 20 pounds!  But I've been stalled the past couple of weeks and it's time to kick it up a notch.  So, ratcheting up the eating (more junk getting the boot) - diet Pepsi, I'll miss you! Ratcheting up the exercise (hello elliptical, my old friend).

Good things happening, taking steps to deal with stressors.  Some not so good stuff too (the boy is back with an old girlfriend - luckily she's still 800 miles away, but he wants her to come down for the summer. Uhh.....), but all in all, things are going along.

Headed to NC

We are headed to NC at the end of the week for my grandmother's memorial.  Thankfully, my dad won't be in attendance.

I am looking forward to a couple days off work and the trip.  I think I am also a little nervous, I've been overeating a bit this weekend.

In spite of that, Weight Watchers is going well and I am losing weight.  Fitness is progressing, and overall I'm feeling good.

This morning I took a couple hours vacation and went to a fabulous estate sale with my mom.  We both came away with some wonderful things, didn't pay too much, and had a grand time.

Hub is working long days, 7 days a week, trying to get a job finished on a tight deadline.  The money certainly helps out, but it also means things like taking the big dogs to the park aren't happening.

Work is pretty stressful right now, and I'm not sure what to do about it.  Right now I'm just trying to keep a positive outlook.  There are things I can do, I just need to think about things.

Overall I'd say things are improving,  money is a little better, hub is working (even if its temp) so that helps his attitude.  Things got pretty rough for a while.  He doesn't like Florida (it has to do with some bad family stuff that happened when he was in his early 20s), and he was pretty bitter about moving down here.  We've come awfully close to splitting up a couple of times, and with the work and money pressure .. well, it's been rough.  But I think we've gotten over the worst.  At least I hope so.  But I know in my heart that the boy and I will always be okay.

Mom and I are headed to the Everglades tomorrow, so I am taking a break from sewing curtains!  Only 1 more and I'm done!!! :-)

Poor, neglected blog

I am busy living life, losing weight, working out, doing some sight seeing, working on my house, helping my son wiht schoolwork.  In the evenings I rarely seem to find both time & energy to sit at the computer to do more than a quick check on my personal email.

Hub is working a temp job so that's great news - it has really helped his spirits.  The boy is getting good grades.  He & his uncle had a nice time in NC - my step brother is staying with us for a while working with hub and visiting. 

I still have a lot of mixed emotions about my grandmother's celebration of life service at the end of the month - about who else will be there family-wise that I don't really want to see, and about my relationship with her in the last couple of years of her life.  But I am going - for me & my mom, for my grandma, and hopefully to begin to build a relationship with my aunt.  I don't have high hopes, but I have hopes.

Weight is doing good, as is exercise.  I'm helping the boy get a week ahead on schoolwork so he can go up to NC, so it's been a crazy week.  I will update soon.

Today

Last year I gained 18 pounds due to stress eating.  I'm not proud of that fact, but it happened.  Today when I got on the scale,I had lost all that weight and then some.  That felt awfully good.

I have more to lose, but I am beginning to feel a lot better.

Weight Watcher report

2 more pounds gone.  Can I get a woot!?

Many things are going well - exercise & eating, planning & shopping, making good choices.  Work is kinda tough right now, I'm suffering from "What is the point?", which I guess is a kinda normal reaction, but I'll check with my counselor when I see her next week.

In the meantime, I keep making good choices and largely going along, feeling pretty grateful and happy.

Not good news on the co-worker front.  Stage 4 cancer.  Only 2 places in the country treat what she has.  Hopefully she'll be able to go to the one only 1.5 hours from where we used to live.

I so wanted a snack this afternoon - I went down to the cafe fully prepared to indulge.  I came back with a diet pepsi - nothing looked good.  Thank god.

A friend and co-worker has brain cancer.  I don't know what to say, but it is a very tough situation.  I feel rotten.

Other than that, life goes on.  I'm walking, lifting weights, doing yoga, watching what I eat. Ya ya ya.

The boy is doing pretty well with the virtual school - he's having a tough time with Spanish, but other than that it's much better and he's a lot happier.  Hub has a couple more weeks of unemployment - he still hasn't found a full time job, so he'll be going back to the temp agency.  Money is going to be even tighter than it is now.  I hope we don't have to borrow from our retirement, but if we have to then that is what we do.

Like I said, there is still plenty of stress.  Hub remains depressed and it is difficult for both of us.  But you know that's life and we're managing and we'll be okay.

Tomorrow I'm meeting a work buddy for an early morningn workout.  Yay! 

Still here

I was out of town for a long weekend - we went to Georgia to visit my great aunt.  We had a lovely time as usual - the weather was cold & windy but sunny.  I scored a lovely ring and a necklace for a total of $19 at the antique store.  Woot!

I took it easy on exercise last week - I was feeling very sore and run down.  Nevertheless, the scale moved well - since I was less active I was more restrictive with food.

Anyway, blah blah but the scale continues it's downward move, which is a good thing.  I feel better, am coping better with stress, had a good review, and life moves forward.

I am looking forward to a quiet weekend here with my mom & th eboy out of town.

Plodding along

Things here are ... okay.  Exercise, yoga, healthy eating choices help deal with the stress, but there's still plenty of that.  Some days are better than others.  Today the boy is angry & tired of school, the husband is being lazy, and I would really like a beer.

Balance

I've been busy, but things are going well.  The valences in the kitchen are done, the curtains are hung in the guest room and the sheers are hemmed and hung, the curtains for the project room are hung.  Turns out I had to hem them as well, that's done.  I have made 1 of 2 curtains for the dining room.

We went to the Fairchild Tropcical Botanic Garden in Coral Gables - it was AMAZING.  If you are ever in Miami, make time to go.  It was impressive.  It's the 2nd highest rated botanic garden in the world.

Food has been good - I went to WW this morning and I was down 2.2 pounds.  I feel like I've got a good handle on food.  I know regular yoga is helping so much in dealing with stress (and there is still quite a bit!), as is the exercise.  Exercise is also going well.  I want to add in kettlebells, but I am at least doing some weight training. 

I think the jogging is too much - I'm not at a weight where it feels ok.  I am getting a lot of exercise - yoga, weights, walking, step aerobics.  By the end of last week I just felt exhausted and ragged out and decided to throttle back to a level that is sustainable before I end up hurting myself.

I just really feel that I've found a good balance of physical activity that keep me feeling better emotionally, which helps with the diet because I'm turning to food less often to meet those needs.

That right there feels amazing.

Lovely day

I took today off and we went to Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Coral Gables - the 2nd best botanic garden in the world.  Check out the web site and it's way more awesome than that!

I got up and did my couch to 5K run this morning - I won't lie, it's tough, but it feels good, especially when I stop. *lol*

Diet is going well - I'm within 2 pounds of my 2011 starting weight, which is high, but it's good to know I've nearly undone all the 2011 stress. We'll see what Monday brings (official WW weigh in day), but as of this morning I've lost 3 pounds this week.

Life is good, moving my body feels good, and being outside in that amazing beauty was a real treat.

Is it Friday yet?

Stressful day at work.  Ugh.

Good things: I made it through 30 minutes of step aerobics.  I thankfully had much needed yoga at lunch today. I got to work early so I got to leave early.  It was a sunny, lovely day and we took the dogs to the park when I got home.

I am taking Friday off, so only 2 more days! :-)

Posting from home - fail so far

I haven't been very good about posting from home I'm afraid.  It's not that anything is bad, just busy.

Weight Watchers is going well - I've lost 5 pounds and so far it's going fine.  I'm very active thanks to the fitenss center at work and I've been walking every afternoon with my mom and Jordan.

This weekend I worked on curtains for the house.  I have a lot of vintage curtains as well as fabric, and with help from my mom I've figured out what I want to use where.  I made the boy new lined tab top curtains for his windows this weekend and bought some decorative curtain rods.  I have temporary curtains up (or sheers) so there's no huge rush (obviously, since we've been in the house 5 months!).

The weather is amazing - mid 70s, sunshine, mild nights.  I'm still not used to living here yet, but I sure am enjoying the weather!

We thought my MIL was going to have to have back surgery - luckily she doesn't - they are going to do physical therapy.  Thank goodness.  She needs both knees replaced, but that isn't as urgent.  I hate that she's in so much pain & her health is so bad, but she could certainly take some actions to make things better for herself.  Oh well, some things never change.

In any case, I'm plugging along!

Another day

So it was a good day.  I went in a bit late since I was staying later than usual for a meeting.  I made myself breakfast and then headed in.  It was a super busy day - loads of meetings.  I did have yoga today - the class was huge!  But it was very good and it's nice to be back into the routine.  I did a bit of my Gilad cardio this afternoon.

Anyway, things are going pretty well - work is going well, the boy is starting virtual school on the 23rd, and the hub is getting some chores done around the house.  I love having my mom here - she is so much help.

Anyway, plugging along!

Checking in

Not being able to post during lunch is a drag.  I don't generally get on the computer every night at home.  But WW is going ok - I went to my first meeting Monday.  Classes started at the work fitness center this week - I am taking a class called "AMP" (athletic movement performance).  It's mostly guys - it's a kind of cardio sculpt class.  Anyway, I liked it!

The boy is all signed up for virtual school which starts the 23rd.  He is excited - I am grateful that my mom is here to help him get used to setting his own schedule.

Hub continues to stuff down his stress with garbage food.  He says he isn't ready to do anything about his weight.  I hope he chooses to do something before his weight does something to him, ya know?

In any case, I am trying to let go of things I can't control, enjoy the things I have, and challenge myself to want more for me, from me.

Living as if...

I think I may have a tough time articulating this, but here I go:

One thing I am working on is "living as if" - living my life as if I were a healthy, active person who doesn't succumb to disordered eating.  Making those choices - going to the gym, eating reasonable portions of meals.  At the same time, shutting down my internal critic when he tries to put so many restrictions and rules around things that I've created a situation where Ghandi would fail.  Do you know what I mean?  Do you set unrealistic expectations for yourself?  That's the ONLY kind I set for myself!

Another thing:  shutting that bit^& up when she starts up.  In the gym "Look at yourself!  You look like a tea pot with arms working out!  You are so fat!"  I quickly derail that line with "Yes, but I am in here working on improving my fitness."

I'm just tired of 1) constantly criticizing myself and 2) creating so many rules and restrictions that I am guaranteed failure.

In other words, my goal is good choices, not perfect choices.

I joined Weight Watchers today.  Woot!  Again, good choices within parameters (points) - but not overly complicating the process.

Le sigh

Today I was working out in the fitness center - doing Gilad's "express workout" dvd - the first disc to be specific.  It was a long & tough workout and I was working really hard.  I looked like the teapot from "Beauty and the Beast" in the mirror.  Pretty depressing.

It's quite cold here - mid 50s today, the cafeteria at work ran out of coccoa packets!

I can no longer post at work - my browser is too old and the new version of blogger (which I find a tad confusing) doesn't speak to it.  It's just as well I guess, but still kind of a hassle.

I am working on making good choices - not perfect, maybe not even the best, but "good", ya know?  So far so good.

Raising awareness

I've mentioned that they are offering WW for free at work this year. I'm not quite sure when the session will start, but I plan to attend!

In the meantime, I am working on making good choices, and tracking food and exercise. I have my purse calendar with pictures from my vision board, a couple of quotes, and a tab on the current page for quickly updating food & exercise as it happens.

I thought work would be busy today, but no - most people are still out. Sweet! Actually, my boss doesn't get back until Wednesday. I thought I was "running late" but I made time to make a green smoothie AND juice for the 3 of us - hub has requested some as well. Nice! And since no one was here, "running late" wasn't the case.

I looked back over the year's weigh ins - I am up 6.6 pounds from the end of last year, but still down 10 pounds from this year's high weight. Not great, but overall I feel like I'm starting the year in a good place.

I wish I hadn't let stress take me over the way it did this year, but I've come out the other end largely okay, so I'm grateful. No "calendar regret" this year over what I might have done.

Happy new year!

Back to work tomorrow. It's been a nice weekend - very relaxed, but it's back to the basics tomorrow. I'm mostly ready!

New year's resolutions?

I recently read a post on resolutions (or intentions, I think the lady called them). The funny thing was, her list was very like mine.

My 3 resolutions, with detail!

1. Plan food & exercise - I already do this pretty well, but it will become more important since a subgoal here is to complete the couch to 5K and do an actual 5K. I must not just plan, but follow through.

2. Log Food & exercise. Not good at this one, but since I plan to join WW at work, it becomes important!

3. Interrupt negative self talk. A couple of things I've read recently: "What has happened in our past does not have to dictate our future. We can choose if we want to move forward. We can choose if we are worth it. We can choose if we want to be stuck." In other words, the only thing holding me back is me.

I have been working on this one a while, and I still struggle, but I continue to strive to understand why.

Not blogger savvy!

I tried changing my template, but wasn't happy with the way it moved all the stuff on the left to the right and didn't give it enough space, so I left it. i tried to figure out who my followers are, but couldn't figure out how to look & see! Grrr. Blogger is easy, but apprently not simplistic enough for me!

Procrastinating. Le sigh.

Had good workouts this week so far. Did a Gilad video with my new workout buddy Tuesday, yesterday we worked out with the personal trainer at work for a total body sculpt class, today we are doing cardio kickboxing - the trainer is going to help us get started. And do some stretching. So that's going well. New session of classes should be starting soon, although it sounds like he won't be having the lunchtime bodysculpt (grrr) - lunch classes aren't as popular here, but I'd rather not stay super late. I'll figure it out.

It's beginning to feel a lot like christmas, er, not so much!

It is a very weird thing to be driving home from work, listening to Christmas music and blasting the AC cause it's 85 degrees! However, last night a "cold snap" came in - it was 58 when I woke up! I had to turn the AC off!!! :-)

Weird as it may be, I understand why folks move here for the weather. You know those mornings you get mid-spring or early fall - the ones where the sky is just this preternatural blue, the air is a mix of gentle warmth with a touch of crisp breeze, and the smell is so clean that you have an overwhelming desire to lace up your sneakers and go for a long walk - oh, to Montana maybe? Do you know what I mean? Well, pretty much every morning here is like that!

I've also tried to cultivate the mindset of going to the carnival freak show every time I leave my house. It helps. (Ive never been to a carnival freak show in real life, but go with it). The other day (in the same drive home from the grocery), mom and I watched "dueling cars" - the guy in the straight lane wanted to go left and the guy in the left turn lane wanted to go straight - then as a double feature we watched someone slow down in the right turn lane, and then execute a U turn across 3 lanes of road. Mom said "I know some of them are old, but do you think that some come from countries that don't really have traffic rules???" Telling you: carnival freak show, with fabulous weather.

My stepbrother is headed out tomorrow - mom and the boy are going to visit my step sister and drop him at a friend's house (he's doing some tile work for them). It's been a nice visit, but we need to get back to our normal chaos.

I've thoroughly enjoyed the 2 weeks of quiet at the office (I've worked 3 days each week) - not sure I'm ready for that to get hectic again!

It's been a good holiday.

Happy holidays!

Just a quick note to wish anyone still reading happy holidays. Lots of stuff is going on around here - including healthwise, so I have a lot of catching up to do!

Highlights:

I am starting the couch to 5 k program as soon as my gift from hub arrives - a Timex Ironman watch with intervals you can set - perfect to doing walk/jog alternates of varying lengths! :-)

With the new year, work is offering Weight Watchers at work for free! I am willing to give it another shot since I've heard good stuff about the new program. In the past I tended to save points for junk food, but I understand the program has been redesigned to promote more balanced eating.

I gave up on my Omega juicer - there were fruits & veggies it didn't do well and the opening was so small that it took forever to chop everything! I bought a Jack Lalane at a very reasonable price and I am back to juicing pretty much every day! I find my hunger and cravings are much lower when I drink at least a pint of fresh juice every day.

Hub is home from NC - he is finally done working up there. Hurray! We have a weekend getaway planned (just the 2 of us) for the weekend of the 7th. :-)

Not sure what the new session of fitness classes at work will bring - right now I'm doing 1 stretch, 2 yogas, and 2 weight sessions in addition to my neighborhood walking. Hub and I agreed now isn't a good time to join a gym ($$) so walking will be our main cardio and I'll continue to use the fitness center at work.

I am trying to make healthier foods in more reasonable portions at home. Hub needs so badly to do something about his weight and I know I can't force him to, but I can at least offer healthy meals - well, healthy being relative. There are foods he & the boy refuse to give up, so I'm doing my best in those parameters. It's frustrating.

Mom is on board and she is walking with me some which is great. She is also drinking fresh juice, which is helping with her acid reflux, so that's good.

I've lost 12 pounds from my high weight. I have a way to go, but going in the right direction!

I'm excited that some good changes are coming - not just weight, but in other areas as well!

Ugh

Tuesday I received a portion of my grandmother's ashes in the mail, along with a note from my aunt. She had asked if we would scatter a portion of grandma's ashes on her parents' graves here in Ft. Lauderdale, which of course we will. She also let us know the date for my grandmother's memorial service in Arden and asked if I wanted to say a few words.

I doubt any of my half siblings will be there, but I'm pretty sure my dad will be. But I didn't get to say good-bye, I didn't go to the funeral, and dangit I want to be at the memorial service. My aunt said she felt like an outsider at the funeral - she isn't close to my dad and doesn't know any of my half siblings really. So it would be nice to be there for her as well. And I would like to see my aunt - grandma asked her not to speak to me or mom when grandma quit speaking to us (I don't know why and that's a whole other story). Good lord that side of the family is chock full o' disfunction.

Anyway, my aunt feels badly about that. I think she also realizes that my mom, son, and me are her best shot at family. My dad is a selfish person and they aren't close. His other kids are pretty self absorbed (my aunt asked my half sister for a ride from the bus stop to the train station in High Point - myabe 15 miles. My half sister (an episcopalian priest) refused because it wasn't convenient.)

Anyway, there isn't really anyone else. My grandma wasn't speaking to her oldest sister, who took all their mother's stuff when Nana died - included what was intended for everyone else. So, my aunt has us and 2 cousins she doesn't really know and that's about it.

I'd like to go - it would be a nice chance to see soem friends up in Asheville and re-connect with my aunt. But dealing with my dad is the stuff of nightmares. Well, the service is end of March so I have a while to think about it.