Weight: 159.8 (I knew those chocolate chip cookies were going to do me in!!)

I am BACK, baby!! Awake at 5:30 (my alarm was set for 6, I woke up early on my own! How’s that for mind over lazy ass!!) Dressed and ON the elliptical by 6, did 42 minutes (that’s how long an episode of Charmed on DVD is.) Then 50 crunches, 50 deep knee squats, 10 push-ups (girlie style, I have the weakest arms!) and 30 seconds held in plank position. Showered, dressed, makeup and hair and PRESTO! I am ready to go and it’s not even 7:30! Boo-yah!

OK, so I AM enjoying a can of Cherry Coke Zero right now. There’s one more in the fridge. When they’re gone, they’re gone (I didn’t even buy them, my kids got them for me as a surprise. Damn kids! LOL!!) I will be making a oatmeal pancake muffin thing to take to work. It is just oats, an egg, a little water, some Splenda and spices. Nuke it for a few minutes and it’s ready to go. It’s totally low carb, which is good cause of me being the total carb addict. The only thing it’s really lacking is much protein, just the bit from the egg.  I should add some protein powder, but I only have chocolate and… that really doesn’t sound that good with oatmeal. I’m going to bring a couple bananas for snacks at work today. And there is already the fixin’s for a big healthy salad in the fridge at work. My gym bag is already packed and in the trunk of my car. I am all kinds of prepared and ON IT!!

Today is going to be a great Monday. Especially since tomorrow I’m OFF and heading to Fresno for the day. My BFF has flown in for a week. (Her grandfather-in-law passed last week and his funeral is today. So tragic, he was checking the vineyards and killed in a farming accident. He hung on for about two weeks before he finally died. So hard on the whole family. I feel guilty for being happy that she is here, considering the circumstances. She has had a whole baby since I last saw her, she lives in Minnesota.) Fresno is four hours from here, so I’ll be spending most of the day driving! But we’re going to run away for a couple hours of girl time. Her husband is going to keep the boys so I can kidnap her! She is on Weight Watchers, trying to lose the last of her pregnancy weight, so we’ll be relatively “good”.

I will hit the gym today too. And tomorrow morning, I back on the road. I’ll be logging a 3 miler!

Oh, I should mention here. I’ve started writing movie reviews for a website (part of why I’ve been so extra busy lately. That and the sewing.) You can check it out here: Imperfect Women - just scroll down to the entertainment section. So far I’ve reviewed: Where the Wild Things Are, Paranormal Activity and most recently Motherhood. Next up will be Amelia, which I saw on Saturday. It’s nice to get back to my first love, writing.

UPDATE 3:33 PM

Had to improvise on breakfast. Oatmeal pancake thing was out and so I hit the grocery store for a Smart Ones frozen breakfast egg mcmuffin thing (pack of two for $3.00 - not too shabby!) I saw that Granny Smith apples are on sale for $.69/lb which is basically like STEALING!!! So I nabbed a bunch and had those for a snack instead of bananas (much better for me too!) Unfortunately, I also grabbed some roasted almonds. Too many roasted almonds. Drat!! Better than cookies, but not great.

Lunch was half a veggie sandwich from Subway (a co-worker brought in a foot long and then begged me to take half! Hey, I’m not one to look a gift sub in the mouth!)

I just finished off an early dinner (I had an early lunch too) of a taco salad - lettuce, grape tomatoes, chopped red onions, mushrooms, salsa, a little fat free ranch dressing, and some soy protein that was like ground beef with taco seasoning. YUM!!

I am not going to make it to the gym today. Which sucks. I really wanted to go but getting away from work is just not feasible today. And I can’t spare the time when I get home, I still have a couple of costumes to make. One of them is for my mom and it’s going to be somewhat labor/time intensive.

NO MORE FOOD TODAY!!!