I am so looking forward to a week of downtime with my hubby! I can hardly wait for tomorrow to get here. We are going to Gatlinburg for a week; just the two of us. We need the time; the holidays were so busy with getting daughter ready to leave and friends and family stopping by to say good-bye: good but busy. We leave tomorrow around 2:00 so I’ll probably be off-line for the week. We might run into the library or something and see if they have internet access. If not, just know I haven’t fallen of the face of the earth or anything.
Things here are going well. I’m pleased with the way my eating and execising is going. Tomorrow it’s supposed to be around 2 degrees in the morning so I’m thinking I’ll stay home and use our gazelle! What I like most about everything is not even the weight loss, although that is great, it’s that I already feel so much better. After only a week and a half, I can already tell a difference in my energy level. It’s great.
Well, gotta finish packing. Hope all is well. Have a fantastic weekend and week!
I have a few things I want to write about but I’m on my way out the door for work. For now, I’ll just answer a question that some people had for me: my blood pressure was 130/70 and my doctor called it “perfect”. Yeah.
Gotta run; have a great day; more later.
Woo-hoo! I weighed in today and I’m down 3.4 pounds from last week! Yes! I’m so pleased. I feel like I’m on the right track this time; the track that leads to permanent weight loss. This was just the perfect ending to a great weekend.
I got an address for my daughter yesterday. I am as happy or happier about that than I am the weight loss. I’ve been writing a little everyday in a letter so I can drop it off in the morning and start my next letter.
My tea time with my sister was great. We tried around 9, count ‘em, 9 different hot teas! We didn’t have the cookies, though. When we asked our hostess about them she said, well, your in luck today b/c we’re out of cookies. However, we do have three desserts to choose from. Carol asked me if that was okay b/c she knows I’m trying to eat healthy. I said it was fine so we choose the lemon pound cake over the chocolate b/c we thought it would compliment the tea better. We were afraid the tea might over-ride the tea and we wanted to taste the tea. So, they brought out a huge piece of lemon pound cake and I thought, oh, well; I guess today will be the day I use all my flex points! :) There were about 4 different teas that I liked but only brought home one: an herbal tea called Blood Orange. It’s so good. I’m going to enjoy a cup after while.
That’s it for now; I have to exercise and get ready. I’m going to the doctor this morning before church. His office opens at 7:00 and I’m supposed to go back and let him check my blood pressure again before refilling my blood pressure medicine. Then to church, the Y and grocery shopping. Busy day but a good day. I can’t wait to tell the doc that I’m 3.4 pounds closer to being off my blood pressure medicine!
Have a great day!
I dragged my butt and the rest of me out of bed to exercise this morning! Yeah. I did 30 minutes on the elliptical. My goal for the next 4-6 weeks is to exercise thre times a week for at least 30 minutes. My first short term goal is to lose 5-10 lbs before going to Illinois in March for Karen’s graduation from basic.
I did well with food choices today. I did have one small piece of dark chocolate. DH buys them for me b/c you can buy them individually and I doubt they’re even an ounce. So, I hide them out at the office and at home for those times I just want something sweet.
Karen is underway. Last we heard from her, she’d passed her physical and was heading out to eat lunch and then fly to Chicago; then to camp.
Hope all is well for everyone. Gotta run; get Christmas out of my living room! 
and mom is doing okay! Still no EES (emotional eating syndrome) and I have great peace about the choice that Karen made. I’m definitely going to miss her! But this is what’s supposed to happen; they’re supposed to grow up and live their own lives. Keep her in your prayers and thoughts, please. I’ll try to keep everyone updated.
I made good eating choices today. Karen wanted to eat at Chic-fila so that’s where we went. I ordered a grilled chicken salad and water. Then we went to starbuck’s after dropping Karen off and I had them make my drink a skinny. I’m happy with the choices I made and thankful that God is giving me strength to make the right choices and avoid EES.
Speaking of EES, how do you like my acronym? I’m thinking of submitting it to the American Medical Association! :)
Six hours before I turn my daughter over to the Navy and no EES here! (EES-emotional eating syndrome ).
Good thing I know she won’t really be in the Navy’s hands at all; she’ll be in the same hands she’s been in all her life: Gods!
The Christmas season is over and the New Year has begun. We had a great Christmas with all my sibs and my dad at my brother’s house 12/26 &12/27. We’ve been extremely busy though, not only because of the holiday season but because my oldest daugther is leaving soon for the Navy. When I say soon, I mean SOON! In less than 24 hours, we will drop Karen off in Bowling Green, KY at the recruiters office. She will then be taken to Nashville, TN to meet up with other recruits from the region. Soon thereafter, she will be heading back north to Great Lakes, Illinois where she will complete basic training. They are going to freeze her butt off there and then ship her out to Monterey, CA to thaw!
Karen will be in training for the job she has accepted for 1 1/2 years or so; mostly in CA but some in TX as well. She is so excited and we are excited and happy for her. But, we’ll miss her. So, if you think of it, keep us all in your prayer and thoughts, please. Both are greatly appreciated!
I am making some good choices to get the New Year started on a good note; small but good things. One of those things is related to a Christmas gift I received. My older sis drew my name this year and she gave me some new hot teas to try, some shortbread and a tea cozy that she knitted herself. It’s really pretty. She said she knitted it in the colors from my favorite Van Gogh painting “Starry Night”. It’s very colorful and bright. Anyway, the rest of the gift was tea for two at a tea shoppe near her house. We can either taste seven different teas, with shortbread between to cleanse the pallette or have one teapot of our tea of choice and a decadent dessert. I told sis at first I wanted the dessert (boy old habits die hard, don’t they?) But after thinking about it, decided to go with the shortbread. Plus, I love tea and the chance to taste seven new kinds is something I will love! I hate to buy a whole box and then end up not liking it. So, there’s one small step.
Another one is ordering a skinny coffee drink while I’m out with all my sisters on Saturday morning and eating some healthy oatmeal before I go instead of indulging in their sinful breakfast fare. Plus, I can be a good example to my sisters as well.
So, one step at a time. My next step is starting back on my exercise routine. We thought about going to yoga at the Y in the morning but it’s at 5:30 a.m. and we all decided we’d rather sleep in since we’ll all be off tomorrow.
Hope all is well. I’m off to my kitchen to try out a new tea and some shortbread. Have a great day!
I know that’s a strange title but let me explain. I got a Christmas bonus last night at our office party. Normally, we use this money to finish out Christmas for the girls. However, this year we’re doing great so hubby told me to use it on myself but I had to spend it ON me; no buying for anyone else. So, I headed out at lunch to buy some clothes.
I went to Cato’s and found several items that I really liked. And I bought them. This is big for me b/c my normal procedure would be to try them on; sigh and get depressed about how big I am. However, today, I just thought, you know what: this is where I am so I might as well look good. So I bought 3 sweaters (one pink, one emerald green and one lime green) a pair of chocolate brown pants, a white long sleeved t-shirt, brown shoes and a necklace. All for me. No one else: just me. I have a hard time doing that usually but I really enjoyed it today. I’m really happy about the pink sweater b/c it matches perfectly a coral necklace/earring set hubby gave me recently! Oh, and I found another Cato sweater at a consignment shop for eight bucks and I’ve still got some bonus money left. Yeah!
So, yes, I’m a fatty right now but I’m at least fashionable while on my way to releasing the skinny woman trapped inside my body!
Oh, and I seem to have lost my bahhumbuggy-ness as well. I was focusing on the wrong things. When I finally got around to putting out one of my nativity scenes this morning, it brought everything back into focus for me. Next year, the nativity scenes are coming out first!
Have a great evening.
Someone left a comment and asked what I’ve decided what program I’ve decided to use. I’m going with Weight Watchers. I got my WW stuff in the mail this week. I’m still not certain where/when I’ll be weighing in and such as I’m wairting to hear from my sister-in-law about whether or not she is going to participate. BUT with or without her (hopefully with) I’m going to push ahead at the New Year. This is no way I’m going to start a diet during Christmas. Now, that doesn’t mean I’m going to be pigging out but I want to eat what I want to eat. My hubby is being great and I’m sure is will turn out to be an excellent help and encouragement as he has in the past. He and my oldest daughter (who leaves for the Navy in 21 days BTW) are really concerned for my health. I’m hoping that will help motivate me cause, honestly, right now I just don’t care. It’s not that I am in a hurry to die or anything or that I’m just eating whatever is in sight but my attitude is kind of “whatever” and not just about health but about life in general. I think I’m trying not to think about some stuff we have going on as a family (daughter leaving, brother might have parkinsons, stepson kicked out of the military, stepdaughter lost custody of her child and my dad’s health). I’m afraid that if I think about it, I’ll give in to despair.
Boy, this has been a fun post, eh? :)
So, to lighten things up a bit, here’s a funny that was e-mailed to me by a doglover friend. Enjoy
We have a fox terrier by the name of Jasper. He came to us in the summer of 2001 from the fox terrier rescue program. For those of you, who are unfamiliar with this type of adoption, imagine taking in a 10-year-old child about whom you know nothing and committing to doing your best to be a good parent.
Like a child, the dog came with his own idiosyncrasies. He will only sleep on the bed, on top of the covers, nuzzled as close to my face as he can get without actually performing a French kiss on me.
Lest you think this is a bad case of ‘no discipline,’ I should tell you that Perry and I tried every means to break him of this habit including locking him in a separate bedroom for several nights. The new door cost over $200. But I digress.
Five weeks ago we began remodeling our house. Although the cost of the project is downright obnoxious, it was 20 years overdue AND it got me out of cooking Thanksgiving for family, extended family, and a lot of friends that I like more than family most of the time.
I was assigned the task of preparing 124 of my famous yeast dinner rolls for the two Thanksgiving feasts we did attend.
I am still cursing the electrician for getting the new oven hooked up so quickly. It was the only appliance in the whole darn house that worked, thus the assignment.
I made the decision to cook the rolls on Wed. evening to reheat Thurs. a.m. Since the kitchen was freshly painted, you can imagine the odor. Not wanting the rolls to smell like Sherwin Williams #586, I put the rolls on baking sheets and set them in the living room to rise for a few hours. Perry and I decided to go out to eat, returning in about an hour. The rolls were ready to go in the oven.
It was 8:30 p.m. When I went to the living room to retrieve the pans, much to my shock one whole pan of 12 rolls was empty. I called out to Jasper and my worst nightmare became a reality. He literally wobbled over to me. He looked like a combination of the Pillsbury dough boy and the Michelin Tire man wrapped up in fur. He groaned when he walked. I swear even his cheeks were bloated.
I ran to the phone and called our vet. After a few seconds of uproarious laughter, he told me the dog would probably be OK; however, I needed to give him Pepto Bismol every 2 hours for the rest of the night.
God only knows why I thought a dog would like Pepto Bismol any more than my kids did when they were sick. Suffice it to say that by the time we went to bed the dog was black, white and pink. He was so bloated we had to lift him onto the bed for the night.
We arose at 7:30 and as we always do first thing, put the dog out to relieve himself. Well, the dog was as drunk as a sailor on his first leave. He was running into walls, falling flat on his butt and most of the time when he was walking his front half was going one direction and the other half was either dragging the grass or headed 90 degrees in another direction.
He couldn’t lift his leg to pee, so he would just walk and pee at the same time. When he ran down the small incline in our back yard he couldn’t stop himself and nearly ended up running into the fence.
His pupils were dilated and he was as dizzy as a loon. I endured another few seconds of laughter from the vet (second call within 12 hours) before he explained that the yeast had fermented in his belly and that he was indeed drunk.
He assured me that, not unlike most binges we humans go through, it would wear off after about 4 or 5 hours and to keep giving him Pepto Bismol.
Afraid to leave him by himself in the house, Perry and I loaded him up and took him with us to my sister’s house for the first Thanksgiving meal of the day.
My sister lives outside of Muskogee , OK on a ranch, (10 to 15 minute drive). Rolls firmly secured in the trunk (124 less 12) and drunk dog leaning from the back seat onto the console of the car between Perry and me, we took off.
Now, I know you probably don’t believe that dogs burp, but believe me when I say that after eating a tray of risen unbaked yeast rolls, DOGS WILL BURP. These burps were pure Old Charter. They would have matched or beat any smell in a drunk tank at the police station. But that’s not the worst of it.
Now he was beginning to fart and they smelled like baked rolls. God strike me dead if I am not telling the truth! We endured this for the entire trip to Karen’s, thankful she didn’t live any further away than she did.
Once Jasper was firmly placed in my sister’s garage with the door locked, we finally sat down to enjoy our first Thanksgiving meal of the day. The dog was the topic of conversation all morning long and everyone made trips to the garage to witness my drunken dog, each returning with a tale of Jasper’s latest endeavor to walk without running into something. Of course, as the old adage goes, ‘what goes in must come out’ and Jasper was no exception.
Granted, if it had been me that had eaten 12 risen, unbaked yeast rolls, you might as well have put a concrete block up my behind, but alas a dog’s digestive system is quite different from yours or mine. I discovered this was a mixed blessing when we prepared to leave Karen’s house. Having discovered his ‘packages’ on the garage floor, we loaded him up in the car so we could hose down the floor.
This was another naive decision on our part. The blast of water from the hose hit the poop on the floor and the poop on the floor withstood the blast from the hose. It was like Portland cement beginning to set up and cure.
We finally tried to remove it with a shovel. I (obviously no one else was going to offer their services) had to get on my hands and knees with a coarse brush to get the remnants off of the floor. And as if this wasn’t degrading enough, the darn dog in his drunken state had walked through the poop and left paw prints all over the garage floor that had to be brushed too.
Well, by this time the dog was sobering up nicely so we took him home and dropped him off before we left for our second Thanksgiving dinner at Perry’s sister’s house.
I am happy to report that as of today (Monday) the dog is back to normal both in size and temperament. He has had a bath and is no longer tricolor. None the worse for wear I presume. I am also happy to report that just this evening I found 2 risen unbaked yeast rolls hidden inside my closet door.
It appears he must have come to his senses after eating 10 of them but decided hiding 2 of them for later would not be a bad idea. Now, I’m doing research on the computer about: ‘How to clean unbaked dough from the carpet.’
And how was your day?
This will be short and sweet as I am very tired. I am also very content but tired nonetheless. I hope eveyrone had a great Thanksgiving!
My hubby and I are researching what method/plan we want to use to kick start healthy living after the New Year. No, that doesn’t mean we’re going to pig out until then! :) We are working right now on making better choices and starting back walking. But, it’s obvious we can’t do it by ourselves. We’re considering WW or the Dr’s RX weight loss. I lost 42 pounds on WW a few years ago. However, I wasn’t doing the meetings or anything. I definitely need accountability beyond my sister’s who say “oh, it’s okay baby; you had a bad day”. :)
The dr’s RX involves a prescription weight loss pill, monthly visits to the doc for vitals, weigh in and talking with the doc. I think my hubby is a little reluctant to do this because of the pill. He already takes two meds on a regular basis and he’s not crazy about adding another one. I figure; what’s one more but that’s his decision. This program also includes a high protein diet and recommended exercise plans.
I will be content with either one of these plans. I don’t like plans where you have to eat only their food. I like plans like these that are flexible, doable and livable. We’re going to talk about it more in depth as the year comes to an end b/c it’s something we want to do together.
Any advice on these or other programs that work for you would be appreciated. Mostly, a big part of it for us is going to be outside the family accountability.
Hope all is well. Have a great rest of the weekend!