Sistah Pat

Thai Noodle Salad

Ingredients

6 oz. dried vermicelli
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup low-sodium vegetable broth
2 tablespoons peanut butter
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon garlic, minced
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 1/2 cups cooked chicken, shredded or chopped
1 red sweet pepper, seeded and cut into thin strips
3 green onions, cut diagonally into 1/2 inch pieces
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
lime wedges for garnish

Directions

1. Cook vermicelli according to package instructions, drain and set aside.
2. In a medium saucepan, combine soy sauce, broth, peanut butter, lime juice, ginger and crushed red pepper. Cook over medium-low heat until peanut butter is melted.
3. Add cooked pasta and toss to coat evenly.
4. Stir in cooked chicken, sweet red pepper, green onions and cilantro.
5. Serve with lime wedges.

Serves 4.

201

We’re packing up the trailer today so we can go to WKU tomorrow morning.  I can’t believe GS, Steven, is leaving the nest.  I would have loved to do what he’s doing.  Move away from home and into a dorm.  Have no real responsibilites except to go to class and earn decent grades.  He’s so excited.  We have to be in Bowling Green, Ky. by 10:00 tomorrow morning where we’ll be met by staff from KAP (Kelly Autism Program) who will help unload the trailer and take everything up to Steven’s room on the third floor.  I guess DH and I will spend the day helping Steven unpack and set up his room.  After we get things all set up, we can look around and see what he needs.  I’m sure a final trip to Walmart will be in order and then we have to meet with the KAP folks for a get-acquainted pizza party at 4:00.  I may eat the pizza.  Depends on what kind of food I can find during the day.  Of course, I guess I could pack a lunch for all of us…

Steven’s college experience is so different from my own.  I came of age in the 60s and, although a lot of girls went to college, it wasn’t exactly the norm with the middle class in my neck of the woods.  Most of us got married or took on some kind of menial job or became hippies.  In my own case, I didn’t go to college until I’d been married for a thousand years and had a couple of kids.  I got up at 3:30 and delivered three paper routes every morning, came home and got the boys up, we all got ready and then I took them to school while I headed off to work from 8:00 to 4:00.  I got off at 4:00 and had to be in class by 5:15 and usually took 2 classes on MW and 2 on TR.  I didn’t get home until around 8:30 or 9:00, ate dinner and worked on homework and then hit the bed to start all over the next day.  You can’t really earn a four year degree by only taking four classes per semester so I had to follow the routine for six years.  God!  What I would have given to have an opportunity like Steven.  I can only hope he takes advantage of it.  When my own boys reached college age, all they wanted to do was get out of school and get a job.  They both attended a couple of semesters and then left school for work.  I hope I’ve corrected the mistakes I made with them.  I’ve raised Andrew and Steven with the attitude that it’s just a question of where they’ll go to college.  There’s no question that they will go.  They’ve seen their dad and uncle both stuck in dead-end jobs or, as is now the case, out of work and grabbing whatever spare jobs they can get to earn a few bucks. They’ve also seen that I have a good career, have lots of time off, good benefits and will be able to retire pretty soon.  They seem to have made the connection.

The Honolulu Choo Choo keeps chugging along.  I earned 23 points yesterday.  A perfect score is 25 and that’s pretty hard to do.  I missed out on “resisting a major temptation” because there wasn’t any major temptation yesterday (unless you count the pool plunge), no eating after 8:00 and doing a mini exercise session along with the major exercise.  It was Friday and I felt like relaxing a little bit so I stayed up until 11:00 and had a bowl of Kashi Go Lean Crunch around 9:00.  So what DID I do?  Here’s my table for yesterday:

I need to earn 110 points each week to score enough miles to make it to Honolulu next June.  I already have 126 and I still get to count my points for today.  So, what’s giving me trouble?  Trying to get enough calories.  When I diet, I tend to go overboard and I want to make sure I get at least 1200 calories a day.  I usually have around 800 calories after dinner and have to start supplementing by eating a couple of bananas or cereal or something.  I also have trouble with making myself do my laps in the pool.  I know I won’t be able to do them much longer so I want to take advantage of being able to burn off 600 calories in less than an hour (according to Sparkpeople) for water jogging.  My ankles are usually killing me by the time I get off work but the cold water in the pool really helps and I can jog in the pool when I can’t even walk on the ground.  Makes me want to keep it up as long as I can. It’s pretty boring and it’s really hard to make myself climb down into that 66 degree pool!  After the first lap, I’m okay but I definitely hate it when that frigid water hits my belly and chest.  Brrrrr….

I’m finding some great recipes on Sparkpeople and guess I should start adding them to My Favorite Recipes on here.  That way, I can have them all in one place.

And now, much as I don’t want to at 10:00 a.m., I guess I should get my pool laps done so I might be able to sneak in a mini exercise session this afternoon.

shiver, shudder, shudder….

Cause I’m coming home.  200.5

I did really good yesterday.  Managed to scarf up 23 points.  I don’t really have much time this morning cause I chose to pull the covers up to my chin and hit the snooze button but here’s yesterday’s total….. More this evening!

201.5

First day of school is behind me.  It went pretty well but I had a couple of kids that slept and that’s always irritating.  What are you supposed to do?  All the other kids said, “Oh, he always sleeps.  Last year he slept every single day in every single class.”  I mean, if they’re not going to be awake on the very first day for the fun, get acquainted stuff, it’s pretty bad.  I had to wake one up and say, “Hey!  School’s out.  Go home.”

I have to be careful today.  I got up early again.  Yesterday, I had so much extra time I was almost late.  Know what I mean?  I had tons of extra time so I posted a bit too long, lingered over coffee a bit too long, spent a bit too long in the shower and, all of a sudden, it’s 7:00 and I have to be a school at 7:30 and wanted to be there by 7:00.  I walked in the building with three minutes to spare before students were released to go to classrooms.  Don’t know how it happened but I don’t want to do it again today.

Hope to do better on my points today although I’m doing okay.  Getting 25 points is pretty tough and I know I can’t always do it but it’s a goal to push for.  I’m still not smoking, and eating well.  Gotta take some water to school today and try to get some exercise.  Hopefully, I can still walk when I get home.

204.5

I hope so.  After missing the first two days we’re finally starting the school year.  I’m afraid I got up too early.  I hit the snooze button a couple of times and then got up and now I have two hours until I have to be at work.  That’s okay, though.  I’ll go in early and help all the kiddos find their classrooms.

I did a good job yesterday.  Earned 25 miles on the Choo Choo.  Not that it’s being reflected in weight loss.  I gave myself a point for resisting a major temptation just for doing my pool laps.  I went out there and the minute I looked at the temp, I almost chickened out.  Then, when I finally climbed down the ladder into 66 degree water, I almost climbed right back out.  Hung in there and got 100 laps done.  Think I deserve the resistance point for resisting the temptation to opt out of my laps because the pool was freezing.

I got my bike out yesterday and Steven got his.  They’ve both been stored beside the house for a couple of years.  He was going to take his to WKU this weekend to make it easier to get around campus.  I was surprised that both our bikes were ready to go.  Figured they’d have flat tires and need some work but they didn’t.  Unfortunately, Steven fell in love with my bike and I gave it to him.  I didn’t even ride it.  Just got it out, washed it, oiled the chain and figured I’d have it ready to go.  I came in the house and Steven came in a few minutes later and said, “I love your bike!  I like it a lot more than mine!”  I asked him why and he said it rides better, it has a comfy seat (Yeah, I have a big butt so I got a nice seat for it) and the handlebars are in a comfortable position.  He wanted to know if he could take it to school and I brought up the fact that it’s a girl’s bike but he didn’t care.  So I told him he could take it.  Maybe I shouldn’t have but I figured I’d just use it for a few weeks of exercise but he’s going to need it as his primary means of transportation.

I guess I ought to eat breakfast.  I’ve been tracking my food on Sparkpeople and logged in 1,249 calories for yesterday.  I’m not going to keep track of it on 3FC.  It’s better to do it on Sparkpeople and get the nutritional analysis.

Here’s yesterday’s Choo Choo Miles.  I earned 25!

8:00 pm Update - I’m tired.  I only got 18 points today.  I worked on my lessons for the rest of the week and didn’t leave school until 5:00.  Dropped Holly off at home and got in at 5:30.  My ankles are killing me.  I don’t know how teachers sit at a desk and teach.  I’ve never been able to do that.  I’m running up and down the halls and all over the room.  I can barely walk so I sure don’t want to exercise.

I ate well.  Three squares and a snack.  Total of 1,274 calories. Didn’t smoke or let anyone smoke in the house.  I didn’t get my points for drinking water because (believe it or not) there isn’t a water fountain or any source of water in my end of the building.  Now that I know that, I’ll take water with me and put it in my little fridge.  I didn’t get points for exercising and I didn’t get any for resisting any major temptation because I didn’t have to deal with any major temptations today.  Didn’t get my hometask point either.  I did good just to get home, fix dinner, get my clothes ready for tomorrow and do the dishes.  I am not going to take on anything I don’t have to this evening.  In fact, I’m hoping to be in bed shortly.

205

Breakfast: hardboiled egg (80), tomato juice (45)
Lunch: Lean Cuisine Roasted Turkey Breast Entree with dressing and apples (290), 4 oz. strawberry applesauce (90)

Yeah, school’s out again today.  What a rotten time to be missing days that will have to be made up.  Everyone is ready to go back and we can’t.  Surely, we’ll be back tomorrow.  I guess I could go in and see if my room is ready but I’m not going to waste anymore time worrying about it and I’m not driving all the way in there again.

Didn’t do so well on points yesterday.  Little things.  I drank water but not enough.  I didn’t exercise but I DID get my workout room cleared enough to do it today.  By the time I finished yesterday, it was stuffy and muggy upstairs and I didn’t want to workout.  I didn’t find my MP3 player anyway.  I’m thinking I must have left it in the RV.

I fixed Parmesan Chicken from Sparkpeople last night for dinner.  It turned out too good.  It had 300 calories but I served it over a small serving of linguini.  That brought it up to 500 calories and then I caved and had another serving.  The general intention was good.  My plan was for the chicken, linguini, green salad with low-fat dressing and an English Muffin with Brummel and Brown.  Would have worked if I hadn’t gone for seconds.

So I only got 16 points yesterday.  That means I’ve got to be on point today.  Do everything I’m supposed to do.  Make sure I exercise.  Make sure I get enough water.  Make sure I keep my calories within my guidelines.  Continue not smoking.  Oh, btw, I was sitting in the living room yesterday evening and smelled cigarettes.  DS had come in the house smoking.  I immediately jumped all over him.  “Get that cigarette out of here!  You know your Daddy and I are quitting and we don’t want to smell it!  You know that!”  To which he replied, “Ok, ok…I just stepped in to get a Mountain Dew.  Sorry!”  I glared at him until he went back outside.  Definitely earned my “no smoking in the house” point for yesterday.

Okay, lot’s to do.  Mr. Scale says 205 today.  Bastard….

12:15 Update - Did a mini workout for 20 minutes on the treadmill.  I didn’t intend to do a full workout.  Just a trial run to find the problems.  And I found them.  I still can’t find my MP3 with all my favorite workout music on it.  I looked in the RV, the bedroom, the family room, my workout room.  And I don’t know where it is.  So I carried my laptop upstairs and hooked up the speakers.  As soon as I turned on the music, it became obvious that the speakers were blown.  They were rattling hard enough to break the windows.  So I came downstairs and got another set.  They weren’t much better.

Still, I followed the path through stuff that has to go in the attic to get to my treadmill and gave it 20 minutes.  It was hot upstairs and I discovered that DH has taken my fan out to his shed so it got real hot real fast.  I got what I came for though.  I gave it a trial run and know what I have to do to make it work.  I’ll do pool laps this afternoon and continue to organize my workout room.  Doing good so far.

202.5

Breakfast - hard boiled egg (80), 8 oz. tomato juice (45)
Snack - Pretzels (75), Light Ice Cream Sandwich (140)

Here I am enjoying my morning coffee and straw and I should be at school finishing up first period.  We haven’t even started school yet and we’re already behind.  This morning’s paper says we still have 34,000 without power after the storm.  I hope we can have school tomorrow.  I want to get it done.  By the time June rolls around, every extra day will seem like a week.

Still doing okay with everything.   Just chewing up a bunch of straws instead of smoking.  Wonder if chewing plastic causes cancer?  At any rate, I’m hanging in there.  I scored 21 points yesterday which wasn’t bad.  About what I expected.  I ate well and exercised.  I’m also attempting to address other bad habits so I’ll need to be on my plan for a while in order to fine tune it.  I already added one thing.  I didn’t get around to eating until after 4:00 yesterday and I know that’s not good.  I have a bad habit of not eating all day and then eating non-stop from 5:00 or so until bedtime.  So I added a category for having three meals and a snack all day instead of a non-stop dinner.  I want that point today so I’m already eating a hard-boiled egg and tomato juice for breakfast.

I weighed in at 202.5 this morning.  Funny how I’m not really concerned with the actual weight.  I’m more concerned about changing habits and lifestyle.  I know the weight will follow.  I haven’t even really thought about how much I want to lose or set any mini goals or anything like that.  Maybe I’ll deal with that later.  For today, I’m aiming for a perfect day with 25 points.  I even have a plan for my challenging hometask today…I want to get Steven’s college stuff out of my workout room and get my treadmill ready to go.  I’ve lost my MP3 up there somewhere and I’m sure it fell between some of those boxes up there.  My hometask will be to get Steven’s boxes hauled out to the trailer and get ready to workout.  I just about froze yesterday in the pool and I’ve got to find an alternative.  Can’t walk, no room to do aerobics, my bike has a flat tire, my treadmill is covered in boxes and that just leaves the pool for working out.  Considering that the water temp has dropped down to 66 degrees, that’s not something I want to do.

4:50 - Would you believe I just got home from school and MY ROOM STILL HASN’T BEEN CLEANED!!!  I called the principal and she said the custodians had told her all the rooms were finished.  I told her mine hadn’t been done.  She called the head custodian and he assured her it had.  I invited her down to see it.  She showed up a few minutes later with the head custodian and I couldn’t believe what he was saying:

Principal Lady - “Your staff made a mistake or something.  Obviously this room hasn’t been cleaned.”

Head Custodian - “Yeah, it’s been cleaned.  It’s just that it’s been a while.”

PL - “No.  This room has not been cleaned at all.”

HC - “We didn’t strip the floors.  Just mopped them and buffed because I didn’t think they needed to be stripped but this room has been done.”

PL - “Are you kidding me?  Look at this, this dust is an inch deep on the floors.  I can’t tell that anything’s been cleaned except the desks and bookshelves.”

Me - “Ummm…I wiped down the desks and bookshelves.”

HC - “That isn’t dust on the floor.  It’s where we buffed and the buffer stirred up stuff and kind of threw it in the corners.”

PL - “Come here…Look at this.  Do you see this Valentine Conversation Heart laying here in the corner?  Look under this desk, Do you see that gum?  See all that gum?  This is not dust that was thrown up by the buffer.  This room hasn’t been cleaned.  The desks and shelves weren’t cleaned.  The walls weren’t washed or painted.  The trash from last spring is still in the can.  The floors haven’t been mopped or stripped or waxed or buffed.  They haven’t even been swept.   How can you stand there and tell me this room has been cleaned???”

Then HC started talking about how much he had going on all summer and PL just walked out while he was still talking.  She went into a couple more rooms in my end of the hall and I couldn’t hear the conversation but I definitely heard the volume going up and the tone getting nasty.

I gave up on it and arranged my student desks the way I want them to be.  Unrolled my rug and put it under my desk area, set up my cart with my projector, document camera and airliner and got everything ready.  I was just finishing up at 3:00 when two custodians came in and told me they were supposed to clean the room and would have to move all the stuff out in the hall.  At this point, I’m giving up.  I’ll just meet with my students in the morning and say “Everyone grab a desk and drag it in the room.”

Still not smoking and DH says he’s doing good, too!  I have a lot to do to get as many points as I can for today.  So far, I only have 15 points.  Gotta get moving!

5:30 - Crap!  They just announced that school’s will be closed tomorrow.  Still too many trees down, impassable roads and people without electricity.  At this rate, school will be out before it starts.  Cool!

203.5

Finalized my Honolulu Choo Choo Plan yesterday afternoon/evening and today is the first day on the formal plan.  We’re off to a really good start.  DH was going to the store yesterday afternoon and he said, “I’m going to pick up cigarettes.  Do you need any?” and I said, “Why don’t we just quit?  You know we’ve got to.  It’s ridiculous to throw money away like that.”  And he kind of looked a little hesitant so I jumped right in, “You know we can do it.  Let’s just be like the Nike slogan…Just Do It!” and he surprised me by saying, “I’ll think about it.  I guess it’s as good a time as any.”

So, right then, with no advance planning/formal plan/nicorette/Chantix/patches we just finished the pack and gave em up.  DS came in later on and I threw him outside, “Your Daddy and I have quit.  No more cigarettes in the house.  Absolutely none.  I don’t want to see them, I don’t want to smell them.  Take it outside!”

We quit around 4:00 in the afternoon and it was a couple of hours before the loss began to sink in.  DH had to go pick up Andrew and I tried to encourage him before he left.  “Don’t cave.  Don’t buy any cigarettes.  I know you can do it!  No dip, either.  That stuff is totally gross!”  He didn’t buy any and I felt like a cheerleader!  Believe me, this is not something my husband does.  I’m so proud of him!  He went to bed at 8:00 and is still asleep (14 hours later) but if that’s what he needs to do to deal with it, he can sleep all day for all I care.

I started feeling a little fidgety and I remembered how I dealt with it last time.  I chewed on a straw.  I got a straw out of the cupboard and went out to the spa.  I sat out there for a while, chewing on my straw, came in and cleaned up from dinner and then went to bed at 10:00.

I weighed myself this morning and came in at 203.5.  Wow!  Posting and weighing has already given me 2 points!

Today’s calories:

Lunch - Frozen entree (300) calories

Dinner - 3 bowls vegetable beef soup (750) calories, slice angel food cake (100) cereal bar (100) Total = 1,250

9:30 Update: Strange day.  We had a vicious storm yesterday afternoon.  It blew up very quickly, heavy winds and drenching rain and lasted about 20 minutes.  A tree branch broke and fell in the front yard of our neighbor’s house three doors down and brought down a power line.  I didn’t think much of it.

Went out to get a haircut this morning and I was shocked.  There are huge trees down and they say 119,000 homes are without electricity.  I had to keep detouring to get to the hair salon because of downed power lines and trees blocking the road.  Everywhere I went, I saw signs in the front windows of stores “Closed!  No Power!”  My hair salon was open and I got my hair cut and then went to the grocery.  As I was checking out, a woman was talking to the cashier and said she’d just heard that schools would be closed tomorrow.

Sure enough…our first day of school is going to be moved to our last day of school.  48 schools are without power.  Strange.

I did my laps today and it wasn’t much fun.  The pool is down to 66 degrees and that’s pretty chilly.  Especially when it’s cool and overcast.  Still, I did pretty good today.  Ate well, exercised, didn’t smoke and didn’t allow any smoking in the house.  Here’s my results for today:  I earned 21 points.  I need 110 points each week so I’m doing pretty good for the first day.  Actually making it through the day without smoking feels pretty good!

This is my plan for getting in shape, quitting smoking, getting money and going to Hawaii next summer.  I figured it up.  It’s 4,384 miles from Louisville, Ky to Honolulu, Hi.  I’m climbing on board the Honolulu Choo Choo and heading that way.  I set up my plan to where a really good day when I do everything I’m supposed to will give me 25 points (miles).  There are 40 weeks between now and the end of the school year in May.  If I earn 110 miles per week, I’m there!

I’m placing this plan in a category called Honolulu Choo Choo.  I’ll also keep track of my savings in that category.  If I quit smoking today and set aside $5 each day (which is less than I spend on cigarettes), I’ll have saved $1,400.  I’ll even give myself points for being a bitch and not allowing anyone to smoke in the house.  The reason I started smoking again is because DH and DS were constantly smoking around me.  I don’t plan on getting sidetracked with that temptation again.  My goal is to set aside $3,000 for the trip so I’ll be supplementing it with extra pay earned outside my regular paycheck.  That shouldn’t be too difficult since I almost always get an extra check in each pay period.  I’m also going to add an extra $20.00 each week that I earn at least 175 miles.  I’ll have to be really pushing hard to do that.  That would mean earning 25 points each day for a week and it’s set up to where 25 points represents a perfect day. 

Got my plan…now I’ve got to put it in action.  Here’s my final version:

Did I go to a wild and crazy party last night?   My eyes are all scratchy, I slept like the dead and I feel like I have a hangover.  Cripes!  Someone must have slipped something in my drink!

We had meetings all morning and then went to lunch at 11:00.  I walked in the theatre feeling smug and in control.  Determined that I would have some fruit and coffee and pass up all those doughnuts.  I passed up the doughnuts but there wasn’t any fruit!  Just bagels and doughnuts.  So I grabbed a cup of black coffee and settled in.  Looked at the agenda and saw that I had a prominent role in the proceedings.  Would have been nice to know in advance.  I might not have worn a black tee shirt that had a bright yellow skull and crossbones and said “Skully’s Beach Bar!” across the front.  At any rate, I did my thing…Talked all about email, ILPs, teacher accounts, repair procedures, upcoming Professional Development sessions, procedures for checking out classroom sets of laptops, and a host of other items.

Me and my homies decided on O’Charleys for lunch and crammed into Gwen’s van with an hour of freedom.  I had no idea that O’Charleys had NOTHING nutritional on the menu.  sigh…I’ve gotta quit letting them choose the restaurants.  I looked them up on my iPhone and even the salads were weighing in at around 1,000 calories.  There really wasn’t anything I could eat and feel good about.  The waiter pointed out that I could get a kids meal with grilled chicken and order a side of broccoli so I went with it. 

I was sitting there thinking about it while everyone else was wolfing down hot-from-the-oven yeast rolls with honey butter and began to regret ordering a diet coke and some bland chicken and broccoli that was going to run me close to $10.00 with the tip.  After about 25 minutes, Gwen complained to the waiter about how long it was taking.  They weren’t very busy and everyone had ordered from the lunch menu.  Our group consisted of just five of us.  A group that had been seated almost ten minutes after us had already received their food and we hadn’t gotten anything.  He said it was because some of us had ordered the lunch combos.  Salad and soup or salad and half a sandwich.  ???  Wouldn’t you think the lunch combo would be fast?  He said he’d check on our orders and left the table.  He came back with drink refills and said our food would be out shortly.  I took a sip of my coke and was sure it was a regular coke and not diet.  Sharon took a sip and agreed with me.  I asked the waiter but he assured me it was diet.  I didn’t trust him and wasn’t about to waste a couple hundred calories on a coke so I just sipped my water.  After 45 minutes, two of our party had received their salads but nothing else had appeared.  I told the waiter to cancel my order.  We were down to 15 minutes and I hadn’t been all that keen on broiled chicken and broccoli anyway.  Gwen went to see the manager (something I would never do if someone was preparing my food…) and, while she was gone, the food arrived and the waiter apologized and provided take-out containers.  He was really pushy about wanting me to take my food but I was determined I wasn’t going to so he sent it back.

Back at school, I headed to my new room to try to get organized and set up for Monday when the kids come back.  My new room used to be occupied by “coach” before he transferred over the summer.  It looks like it hasn’t had a good cleaning in quite a while.  I’m at the very end of a very long hallway and the entire building has been cleaned and is ready to go except for the last six or seven rooms.  Of course, I’m one of the six or seven.  I haven’t done a lot of unpacking and setting up because I didn’t want to do it before they cleaned.  I had mentioned that my room hadn’t been done to the principal on Thursday and she wasn’t happy.  She checked with the custodial staff and they told her everything had been done except the floors.  NOT!  The walls have old posters and junk all over them, dust is an inch thick on everything and the trash is still there since last spring.  Tons of stuff the coach threw out is still piled by the door.

After lunch, I went to my room and it still hadn’t been cleaned.  I emailed the principal and she came down to my room.  She was super-pissed.  She said she was having to pay them $800 in overtime this weekend for stuff they should have done over the summer.  She left and I started cleaning.  At this point, I have to do something because I have students first thing Monday morning and the only thing I’ve done to get the room ready is put up bulletin boards.  I went in search of cleaning supplies and began wiping down the bookshelves and pulling crap off the walls so I could get some stuff unpacked.  I pushed all the old boxes and trash out in the hall and began arranging my desks.  The floors are filthy and I know they’re going to move everything around today but I didn’t have any choice except to go ahead and set up the best I could with the room still dirty.  The principal emailed me and said the custodians would be cleaning the room today between 8:00 and 4:00 and they said for me to call to make sure I could get in my room if I wanted to set it up today.

Damn!  I really didn’t want to have to go to school today to do stuff I was prepared to do all week.  They’re getting paid overtime and I’m working for free because they don’t have my room cleaned.  Go figure.  At any rate, I’m going to have to go out there if they get it ready early enough for me to do anything.  They have to clean and wax the floors and I don’t want to drive all the way over there to find that I can’t get in the room.

All in all, yesterday was not a good day.  I got home around 4:00 and hadn’t eaten anything all day.  I brought a covered trailer owned by the ROTC Booster Club home with me.  I borrowed it so we could get all Steven’s stuff packed over the next week.  We’ll be taking him to WKU next Sunday to get him moved into the dorm.  Jake and Scout spent the night last night and they’ve been driving me crazy to get the ROTC camper set up and spend the night in it.  I figured if I’m going to get the damn thing sold, I need to see what kind of shape it’s in so we pulled it in the backyard and set it up.  Just an old popup camper.  Consists of two “wings” that support a couple of beds and a table that folds down to make another bed.  It’s vintage 1969 with the plaid decor and bright orange indoor/outdoor carpet.  The canvas looks new.  It’s in great shape.  The camper was stored in a garage so it hasn’t suffered from the weather.  I unpacked everything and found that it contained a sleeping bag, a coleman stove, pots and pans, lifejackets, a space heater, sheets and pillows, a few games, a couple of fishing poles and a minnow bucket.  Jake and Scout thought it was “cool!” and wanted to sleep in it last night.  They’re still out there.  Guess I should be getting them up.

Dinner wasn’t very good.  I had planned on making a “light” version of fettucini alfredo with grilled chicken, broccoli, zuchini, and yellow squash.  I know I ate too much.  Lightened up doesn’t necessarily mean low cal.   I had also planned on serving sliced home-grown tomatoes with it but I succumbed to tempation and topped mine with a thick slice of mozzarella, fresh basil, olive oil, sea salt and cracked pepper.  Squeezed a fresh lemon over it and I felt like I’d died and gone to Heaven so I had seconds.

A new day.  It’s gotta be better than yesterday.  I’m going to get the kids up, take a shower and recruit family to help me set up my classroom.  I just hope I can get in it.  If not, I’m going to be getting to school at the crack of dawn Monday and scrambling to make my room presentable for my new students.  I really don’t want to welcome them to a room that’s not ready.

2:00 pm Update - Called the school at 11:00 and they said they hadn’t gotten to my room yet.  Said it probably wouldn’t be ready until around 2:00.  Kind of caught me off guard with that one.  I mean, did they think they would be able to complete it in three hours?  Still, I just called them again.  Optimist that I am…and they said they won’t have it ready until almost four.  The building closes at 4:00 today so they won’t be finished in time for me to do anything.  And, of course, the building is closed tomorrow.

Found out it’s 4,384 miles from here to Honolulu.  Ought to be able to use that little factoid in my plan. 

It hasn’t been a formal work week with students and everything but I’ve still had to get up early and put in a full day of work all week.  Friday feels pretty good.  I finally managed to get some sleep last night.  Watched the finale of “So You Think You Can Dance” for my downtime and was in bed by 10:30 and asleep by 11:00.

I’m taking a hard look at all the things I’ve been doing that are detrimental to my health and well-being and it’s amazing how much better I feel today.  I’ve gotten into some bad habits of spending way too much time watching TV or playing games on the computer.  Stayed on track yesterday and limited my downtime and it feels good.  I even have chicken thawed for dinner tonight so I’m thinking ahead.

Again, I don’t have much time to post this morning but I wanted to get a good start on the day and will fill in the details after I get home.  Weight is at 203.5 and might have been better if not for that wicked salad at Olive Garden.

I wasn’t going to post this morning.  I’m still having a difficult time getting in the back to school routine.  I was staring at the ceiling until 1:00 this morning and was quick to hit the snooze alarm when the thing went off at 5:30.

But I’m angry this morning and it seemed like a good day to begin channeling that anger and converting it into resolve.  So I’m boarding the Honolulu Choo Choo and I want those points!

Oldest DIL put a comment of FB about how she’s so tired of sacrificing her own happiness for the happiness of others.  After I finished gagging, I added a comment to her post that said, “You don’t even have a clue!”  Petty, I know, but I had just finished spending the afternoon at Voc Rehab for Andrew so he could be tested and then I ran home and helped Steven pack for college and that was AFTER working all day so her comment hit hard.  She doesn’t have a job, is living with her mother, I raised two of her kids and it looks like I’m going to have to take care of Holly.  Sacrifices???  I don’t think she knows the meaning of the word.

Gotta run!  Hey!  I actually get points for bitching!!!!  YAY!

5:30 Update - Took a ride around the block on the Choo Choo today and had some interesting results.  For starters, I haven’t weighed myself since right after we got back from vacation.  I don’t want to know.  Fingers in my ears and I’m singing “La, la, la, la, la”  See no evil…

But this morning, knowing I would get points for doing it, I sucked it up and stepped on the scales.  204.  There.  Face it and deal with it.  Next, I was in a hurry but I took the time to post and gather my thoughts on 3FC.  More points.  I got to work and they had doughnuts from Valu Mart.  Doughnuts I consider to be some of the best in the world.  Also had fruit, bagels, cream cheese, juices, milk and coffee.  I grabbed three strawberries, a chunk of pineapple and black coffee.  Got points for eating breakfast and points for avoiding a BIG temptation.  Yay, Me!

Lunchtime rolled around and everyone wanted to go out to lunch.  I went, too.  Determined to eat healthy.  We chose Olive Garden.  Not where I would have gone but I took a look at the menu and decided to go with the soup and salad lunch and a diet coke.  I asked the waitress about the chicken gnocchi soup and she said it was a chicken based soup with lots of gnocchi and vegetables so I went with it.  NOT a good choice.  She didn’t tell me it was a cream based soup and the veggies were a few slivers of celery and carrot.  So I didn’t do too good on that one.  I ate the soup and a bunch of salad and didn’t feel too good about the soup.  (passed up the all you can eat on both the soup and salad and avoided the breadsticks like the plague).  I thought I did pretty good but I just looked it up on their website and it says the soup has 250 calories but the salad had 350!  Damn!  I asked the waitress if they had a lite dressing and she said, “Our house dressing is pretty lite and they don’t put much on it.” 

Valuable lesson.  Don’t assume soup and salad is low cal.  I guess my lunch probably came in around 800 calories.  Maybe more.  How do you know how much a serving of salad is if they bring a huge bowl and put it in the middle of the table?  And I never would have thought the salad had more calories than the soup.

At any rate, I’m not too upset because my Choo Choo plan is causing positive changes.  At least I KNOW what I ate and know that I tried to make sensible choices.  In fact, I came home and did 100 laps in the pool even though I was tired after working all day but I wanted those points.  Now I’m going to clean out the silverware drawer and replace the liner so I can get some points for doing a job I wouldn’t ordinarily do after working all day.  That will help me avoid the computer games/TV down time I usually succumb to after work because I get points to keep my downtime to a minimum.

I’m working out the final details on my Honolulu Choo Choo plan and will be getting down to some serious business on Monday.

Ugh…This makes three days of being up way before the sun.  Too early.

I only have a couple of minutes because I hit the snooze alarm several times this morning.

I have to keep working on my Honolulu Choo Choo and will probably start riding the train on Saturday.  Today is kind of crazy because I have to go to school and work on my room.  Set up the computers and fix the bulletin boards and make the place all homey and welcoming.  Tomorrow and Friday, teachers will be working and lunch and snacks will be provided.  I’m doing well just to drag my ass out of bed and get there on time.  Don’t ask anything else of me. 

I thought of a couple of more items to throw on the train.  I should get points for resisting any major temptation such as joining in on pizza or passing up on doughnuts.  I know those kind of opportunites will present themselves as soon as the school gets back to full speed and it will make it easier to stay on track.  I can’t work on that right now, however.  I’ve got to hit the shower and get moving.

I just got back from my school retreat and I’m feeling pretty virtuous.  Didn’t go out partying last night.  Instead, I worked on a plan.  I’m adding a new category to my 3FC site.  It will be called the Honolulu Choo Choo and will look something like this:

I haven’t finished yet but I’m trying to change detrimental habits and make lifestyle changes that will improve my mental and physical health.  I asked myself, “What do I need to do to lose weight, get healthier and get ready to go to Hawaii next summer?”  These are the things I came up with.  I worked on it a little bit last night instead of going to the jello shooter party with some of my friends.  I should get points just for doing that.  I have to add a few more things.  For example, I should include posting on 3FC each day.  I’m trying to think of all the good things I can do that will make me feel better.  I’m not sure how many points I should aim for each day and I’m not sure what kind of weekly reward I’ll give myself for completion.  Maybe stick another 25 in the bank or something…

This is my plan for getting to Honolulu next summer.  It’s possible for me to earn up to 90 points each day and I think a reasonable goal might be to earn at least 50.  I still haven’t worked out all the final details but it’s going to work something like this:  If I record my food all day, I get 10 points.  If I stay within my ideal calorie range between 1200 and 1400, I get 10 points.  Between 1,000 and 1600 is worth 5 points.  Weigh myself daily and record the weight is worth 5 points.  Not smoking is good for another 10 points and making sure NO ONE smokes in the house (or at least raising Hell if they do) gives me 5 points.  If I put in a full exercise session of at least 45 minutes, I can earn 10 points but if I can squeeze in a mini session of at least 15 minutes, I can get 5 points.  Not eating after 8:00 p.m. is going to earn me 5 points and limiting my downtime (playing computer games, watching TV, or reading) will squeeze out a few more points.  If I tackle an annoying chore like cleaning a ceiling fan or cleaning out a closet or some other task I wouldn’t do during routine housecleaning, I get points.  Making sure I save $5 each day is good for points and drinking at least 64 ounces of water will let me earn another ten points.

I’m open to suggestion.  You guys know how I love making lists and keeping focused.  I need a plan and I think this is a good one but I need to do a little more refining.

I got an email from my principal yesterday.  She received a hardship request that would allow DGD, Holly, to attend the school where I work.  Wanted to know if Holly was another of my grandkids.

I arranged for Andrew and Steven to transfer to my school because it covers grades 6 through 12.  Worked with their teachers to see that they got the accommodations they needed and kept on track all the way through graduation.  Last year, DGS, Jake, transferred and began attending.  Jake isn’t too much of a challenge.  He’s bright and well-liked by his classmates.  I see good things in store for him.  I just try to keep him on the right track by pushing him to get on the Quick Recall team and the Honor’s team.  He likes to cut up a little more than he should but he’s not really a discipline problem.  Just a fun-loving and popular kid.

Now, I guess Holly’s mother asked for her to be transferred.  Holly is going to be a BIG challenge.  She’s a grade behind where she should be and she has some ECE issues.  She barely passed last year.  I have to be honest and say that I hope she doesn’t embarrass me with my colleagues.  Although the twins moved in with us when they started middle school, I’m not going to allow Holly to do that.  Surely her mother can raise at least one of her kids.  Still, I remember last year when Holly told me that her teacher was soooo nice!  She bought her a hairbrush and showed her how to brush her hair and gave her a bag that had shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, a toothbrush and deodorant in it. I asked her if all the other kids got the same things and she smiled at me and said she was the only one!

In fact, Holly called me Friday afternoon and whispered, “Nana, can you come and get me?  Mommy and Granny are fighting and I don’t want to be here.” 

I could hear them in the background.  Tina’s mother screaming at her that she was a “good for nothing, lazy bitch and she was sick of it!”  They were really going at it.  DIL, Tina, moved in with her mother a couple of months ago and, evidently, Mom is fed up with her.  I don’t blame her.  She’s a total slob and isn’t working or looking for work.

So, I told Holly to tell her mother she was coming over here to spend the night and I sent DS to get her.  Told him to just pull up out front and told Holly to watch for him.  She stayed here Friday night and all day Saturday and DS took her home last night.  I was shocked at her hours.  She fell asleep around 9:00 and then woke up at 3:30 and started watching TV.  She was asleep again when I woke up at 8:30 and she slept all day!  I started trying to get her up around noon but she just kept rolling over and going back to sleep.  She was still asleep at 6:00 when I got her up to go home.  Her schedule is a disaster.  She told me she usually goes to bed around 1:00 and sleeps for a couple of hours and then gets up for a while and then goes back to bed and sleeps all day.

School starts in a week.  One of Holly’s biggest problems is that she misses a lot of school.  Same as the twins when I took them in.  She doesn’t like school and will whine until DIL lets her stay home.  I had originally planned to pick up the twins on my way to school each morning but, after showing up to pick them up and finding DIL and the twins still asleep three times in the first week, I suggested they just stay with me during the week and go home on the weekends.  Of course, they never went home. 

I told my principal she was my granddaughter and she’s going to approve the transfer.  I’ll keep tabs on her through her teachers and see that she gets the help she needs but I am NOT going to let her move in with me.  I’ve already decided that if comes down to it, I’ll ask the courts for custody and her parents can pay for her support.  I raised Andrew and Steven for them and never asked for a dime.  When DIL claimed them on her taxes last year and kept the money, it was the last straw.  In fact, I found out that DIL is still claiming them and getting food stamps for herself, Holly, and both the boys.  I’m sure she’s getting other support as well.

Ugghhh…I’m sounding nasty again and I’m trying to be more upbeat.

So…tomorrow, I have to go to my school retreat at General Butler State Park.  I’ll make the best choices I can but last year’s food was pretty bad.  Danish and doughnuts, juice and coffee for breakfast, sandwiches, potato salad and chips for lunch and dinner was a catered affair of fried chicken, fried fish, mashed potatoes, green beans and rolls.  I remember actually trying to eat well and wondering why they hadn’t made any arrangements for staff who might be diabetic or dieting.  I always pay the difference to have my own room instead of sharing a room with another teacher.  Sixty year old women do not share rooms.  At least, this one doesn’t.  I’d prefer to keep my snoring and hourly bathroom visits to myself.

I did my laps in the pool yesterday.  It was a stressful day and I didn’t feel like doing them but I did anyway.  The ROTC program at school owns a covered trailer that is stored at the school in a fenced and locked area and I’m going to ask to borrow it next weekend.  I plan to move all Steven’s stuff into it so it will be ready to go on the 21st when he leaves for WKU.  I can’t wait to get all his stuff out of my workout room and get to my treadmill!

We picked a cantalope, two red tomatoes, more zucchini, yellow squash, jalapenos and other assorted peppers and a bunch of corn from the garden yesterday.  I discovered that we have tomato blight and had to treat for it.  That’s going to affect the crop but we should still do pretty good.  I didn’t plant melons but this year’s garden goes right over the top of last year’s compost pile.  We had a bunch of volunteer melons sprout and it’s been interesting.  Last year, a produce market went out of business and they were selling all these exotic melons for $1.00 each to get rid of them.  I bought 15 different melons.  I got crenshaw, cantelopes, casabas, Santa Clauses, honeydews, Persians, and a bunch of other kinds.  We now have a pretty large spread of melons winding their way through the garden and into the surrounding area.  I’ve counted 40 different melons in various stages of growth.  If I’d known how large the plants would get, I’m not sure I would have allowed them to grow but, at this point, I’m going to let them go and reap the rewards.  Maybe we’ll do a separate melon patch next year.  I have to move the vines almost daily and watch every step in the garden to keep from stepping on melons.  I’ve got them running between and up the rows of corn and between all the other plants in the areas I left for moving between the rows.  There are all kinds of little melons growing and, it appears that there are at least a half dozen different kinds.  Interesting, to say the least.

I’m working on clothes today.  After a summer of capris and tee shirts, it’s time to get my work clothes together.  Not that I have a lot to work with…

12:45 Update - Just read Delita’s post and found it to be thought provoking and inspirational.  It’s not really about getting on track.  Not about having a perfect day or eating healthy or any of the stuff I usually count as being a good thing.  It’s all about doing it consistently and staying on track.  STAYING ON TRACK!

It’s difficult.  Every day seems to bring it’s own challenges.  School is such a handicap because I let it throw me off track so often.  Off track enough and you might as well not even board the train.  For example, I’m thinking about the retreat and I was trying to figure out how I could avoid eating the stuff I know they’re going to provide.  I don’t have a fridge in my hotel room and, being in a state park is not the kind of place where I can run out and get something else.  So, I asked myself, what can I do about it?  Don’t be disappointed in me…I decided that I couldn’t really do much without access to a kitchen, stove, or fridge.  Not even a microwave for two days.  BUT, as soon as this retreat is over, I’m going to try to aim for staying on track and not letting circumstances dictate the food I eat and the exercise I get.  I’m going to work on a plan at the retreat that will aid me in getting where I want to go by the time I go to Hawaii.

So, I can control what happens today and I’m aiming for a perfect day of being on track.  Heading to the pool to do 100 laps.  I may not be able to do much about Monday and Tuesday but I can certainly hop on board today.

Gimme a break.  I received a mailer from WKU yesterday about Student Care Packages.  Really kind of made me mad but tugged on the guilt mechanism anyway.  They’re aiming for 100% parent participation, they say.  Don’t let YOUR child be the only one who’s left out.

They want us to sign up to have “Care Packages” sent to the kids in the dorm at regular intervals.  There’s a Welcome Package that has some cereal bars, Pop Tarts, Popcorn and granola bars.  Of course, each package will include a “handsigned note from me expressing my love and support for my child”.

Then we have the “Out of the Blue” package that shows up sometime during the first semester.  It has Cheez-Its, M&Ms, Oreo cookies and MORE!

Don’t forget the “Trick or Treater”, Valentine Surprise, Move-In Mug, and the “Finals Event”.  All for the low, low price of $125.00.  OR, packages can be ordered separately for just $42.00 each.

Are you kidding me?  Of course it’s exorbitant but I got irritated with the way the thing was written.  Comments like, “We’re aiming for 100% participation by parents!  Don’t be the only one to hold up the show! and “We asked one resident hall staffer if students really get excited about the Care Packages, his response was ‘Definitely, but the worst part is telling a student they didn’t get a package.  They’re so sad!’”

The mailer finishes up by stating “They may seem like boxes of snacks, but to students, getting a Care Package is a big deal.  Unfortunately, it’s an even BIGGER deal if they don’t get one.  Nobody likes to feel left out.  They really do notice.”

Gimme a break.  It’s an outrageous price and they justify it by saying all the proceeds are used to fund activites for the students in the dorm.  So why do I feel like I have to do this?  grumble, grumble….Because I don’t want my Steven to feel left out.  What if most of the students really do get them and he’s one of the few who doesn’t?

Gotta think about that one.  One of the main benefits I’m hoping Steven will get out of going off to school is to become more social.

Went out to the pool yesterday afternoon aiming for 85 laps but then I thought that I really should do 90 just so I could say I’m working on getting better.  Then, when I got to 90, I decided that it was time to go for a nice round number like 100.  So I did.  I don’t think I’m going to add anymore laps.  It’s getting pretty boring and takes almost an hour.

Now I’m going to check out the garden.  I got my first ripe tomato yesterday, picked it, turned it over and saw a damn worm burrowed down in it.  I hate to use pesticides.  Still, we have plenty of green tomatoes and I’m sure they’ll start coming in soon.  For dinner, I picked corn on the cob, made zucchini bread for the family and made myself a salad using some of the zuchhini, yellow squash and a handful of pearl tomatoes.  Yeah, pearl tomatoes, we planted a couple of really unusual plants that produce tons of teeny little tomatoes about the size of a large pea.  Thought it would be fun but it’s kind of annoying picking enough of them to do anything with.

My, my…don’t I sound like an old scrooge today?

I never feel like the new year begins in January.  Rather, it begins in August when I start a new school year.  And that’s Monday.  We have a retreat on Monday and Tuesday, I’ll work an extra day to set up my room on Wednesday and then teachers are back to work full-time starting Thursday.  Students return to school the following Monday.

So that’s it.  Summer break is over and, again, I feel like it just started.  Where does the time go?  I haven’t even picked a home-grown tomato yet.  Lots of green ones but we have one that’s starting to turn pink on the bottom.

I hope I have a good year.  Everything’s in place for a good one.  I’m teaching a full class load this year and I have a huge classroom.  Not that it has much free space in it.  It has 30 computer stations and 30 student desks so there’s not a lot of room left.

I’m burned out and hope I can get my mojo back after getting back in the routine.  I could retire but I want to hang in there for a couple more years.  My dream has always been to be able to retire and enjoy traveling and taking advantage of all those dirt cheap offers they send me in my email to go on a ten day cruise for next to nothing if I can leave in the next week.  Or to get a round trip ticket to Cozumel and stay in an all-inclusive resort for a pittance if I can do it in February.  Yeah, I can retire but not with enough money to do the things I want to do.  At this point in my career, I can add approximately another $200 per month to my retirement pay for each additional year I work.  Work another two years and get paid another $100 a week.  And that’s for the rest of my life.  Makes it difficult to walk away.  Especially with Andrew and Steven in college.

So it’s time to put make my resolutions for the new year.  It’s not just DH who’s quitting smoking tomorrow.  I am, too.   I quit for almost a year last year but I started back about three months ago.  It’s just so difficult to quit when he smokes around me all the time.  The craving never ends.  I’m not that worried about it.  I did pretty good last time and never even thought about a cigarette except at home when I was trapped in the house with DH and DS.  I’ll do fine as long as he quits, too.  Even if he isn’t able to quit, I’m determined that no one is going to smoke in my house again.  If they want to smoke, they can go stand outside in the snow.

I’m working out a weekly award system for not smoking, eating right, and exercising.  I get daily points that represent cold hard cash that I’ll deposit every Friday to a new savings account dedicated to Hawaii.  My first resolution is to get that plan written up.

I watched Soul Surfer last night and loved it.  The film was a little Pollyanna.  I mean, the girl must have gotten downright angry occasionally but I still enjoyed it.  Some of it was filmed on Kauai and I recognized so many familiar places.  I’ve often snorkeled off Tunnels Beach where Bethany Hamilton was attacked by a shark but I stay inside the outer reef area.  Tunnels is an amazing place for snorkeling.  You can be floating along just above the reef, actually having to touch the reef to pull your body over it (while being careful not to grab a sea urchin) and then the bottom will just drop away and you’ll be looking through 40 feet of crystal clear water to the bottom.  A few times, I’ve felt a little worried.  Thoughts of sharks going through my mind but I keep asking myself, “Am I still within the boundaries of the reef?”

The very first time I went to Hawaii, I swam at Tunnels with a sea turtle.  He was huge and I was totally enthralled.  Since then, I’ve learned to be very careful around the turtles.  Sharks eat sea turtles.  If there are turtles in the area, there can be sharks, too.  Although, of course, the chances of encountering one are very, very slim.

I finally got DGS, Steven’s, charges all taken care of for school. They had emailed him his final bill for the semester and it showed us still owing another $1,885.00 and I knew that couldn’t be right.  I finally found out that, even though they show one of his Pell Grants being paid on the credits, they hadn’t deducted it from the total.  Sounds pretty simple to catch but, believe me, it wasn’t.  I’ve been tangled up in all this red tape since last spring.  There are charges and charges and charges and then there are credits and credits and credits and the two are never shown on the same page.  I kept adding up all the credits and they more than covered all the charges but they were still asking for almost $2,000 by August 23.  I could have sat down with someone in billing or financial aid and gotten it straightened out but that would have involved a 5 hour drive to go down there and back so I kept calling people and one person would refer me to another.  I was getting really stressed and aggravated so I’m really glad to have it all taken care of.

Steven is such a picky eater, I can almost count the items he’ll eat using my fingers.  Of course, a lot of them are frozen foods.  He eats pancakes and pizza and a couple of those frozen kiddy meals with chicken nuggets and fries.  They tell me that’s a part of the Aspergers Syndrome.  It’s really discouraging because, as he’s gotten older, instead of adding new foods to his repertoire, he drops items that he’s been eating for years and decides he doesn’t like them anymore.  So, I want to make sure he has a decent freezer for his room.  It wasn’t easy finding one.  Most of the mini refrigerator/freezers have a tiny little freezer that will barely hold an ice tray and they don’t get as cold as they should since they’re located inside the refrigerator itself.  I finally found one that will work perfectly.  It fits within the 5 cubic foot limit and has a separate freezer section.  Of course, they were out of it except for the floor model and I had to go ahead and pay for it without being able to take it home.  H. H. Gregg’s told me they would be getting it in within the next two days.  That was almost three weeks ago and they still don’t have it.  I’m not in a panic yet because Steven doesn’t leave for school for another two weeks but I’d feel better if I could actually get the thing.  Other than the fridge, I think we have him all set to go.

Enough blogging…I’m going to do my pool laps and try to enjoy one of my last days before going back to work.  Once Monday rolls around, I’ll be eaten alive.

If you’re brave enough to take the first step on the path that says “Cliff area - Keep Out - Path is steep and may be slippery” and follow it down through the tropical vegetation and past the waterfall,

you’ll come to Queen’s Bath,

a magical place where the surf surges over the lava rocks and creates a pool of crystal clear water for swimming.  And then, if you’re not really keen on having all that salt water on your body, you can climb over a few of the lava rocks and rinse off in a waterfall that tumbles down over the cliffs.

I’ve taken the path down the cliffs at least a half dozen times in the past and spent the day bathing in the pool and climbing around the rocks.  I didn’t go down the path last time we were in Hawaii.  I was worried about my ankle.  This time, I will.

I was thinking about it.  I really don’t have a lot of time left for adventures.  I mean, realistically, I’m in my sixties.  And how many seventy year olds take adventures?  Not many.  So I figure I may be able to squeeze another ten years or so of doing my thing before I have to start hobbling around in a walker. 

I’m feeling good.  Wanting to spend the next year getting back in shape so I can enjoy what will probably be my last trip to Hawaii.  I said I was never going back.  We’ve spent a total of at least 8 months in the islands since we used to go for a month every other year.  But I miss it.  Such a beautiful place and I think the reason I didn’t enjoy it last time was because DH’s aunt was such a royal pain in the ass.  We actually thought about heading home a couple of weeks early last time because things were so bad but that would have been foolish so we stuck it out.  Trying to be diplomatic and put up with her but she made everyone so miserable that it spoiled everything.  We were on the same plane coming home until we reached Atlanta.  Then she was headed home to Orlando and we were heading to Louisville.  She walked up to me and gave me a hug and said, “I’m sorry. Can you forgive me?  I know I wasn’t very good company but I hope we can take another trip together sometime.”

And I was thinking, “Not in this lifetime.”

This time, I’m planning for myself.  I hope DH gets his act together and can come with me but I’m not paying for him.  He can get off his butt and do some overtime or quit smoking to save the money.  In fact, I don’t care who goes with us.  Anyone is free to come along but I’m going to make sure we have our own condo and our own agenda.

Speaking of DH, his surgery went fine and he’s marveling at how bright the colors are this morning. 

10:00 a.m. update - OMG!  DH just told me he’s quitting smoking Saturday.  Don’t know if it will work but at least he’s going to try which is more than he’s done in a long time.

I was figuring up some prices yesterday.  Just a basic deal on Expedia for round trip airfare and two weeks in Honolulu and it was refreshing to see some low prices.  I could do it for $1,200.  Of course, it’s never just me.  I always wind up paying a fortune for a group of us to go.  Then I got to thinking….the twins have been dying to go back to Hawaii but they’ll be 21 next summer.  Grown men.  And they can pay their own way if they want to go.  Then I took it a step farther and decided that DH, who avoids overtime like the plague, could pay his own way, too. 

So I announced, yesterday evening, that I’m going to Hawaii next summer and anyone else that wants to go is welcome but I’m not paying for anyone but myself. 

Interesting reaction.  Everyone kind of got the Hawaii fever and started thinking about ways that they could come up with the money.  DH, who’s used to me grabbing every minute of overtime I can get and working like a dog to do my job, teach ESS and homeschool hospital bound students, said, “There’s no way!  We can’t afford to go next summer!”

And I said, “I know.  WE can’t afford it but I can.  You can come, too.  You just have to earn your own money.  If you think about it, you can save $10.00 a day by giving up smoking.  Just doing that, would give you $3,500.00.”

I’ve nagged him and nagged him about it and he usually just brushes it aside but I could actually see the wheels turning and he said we’d talk about it today.

He’s scheduled for eye surgery in a couple of hours.  He had his right eye done a couple of years ago and this is for his left eye.  Deterioration due to diabetes.  The lasik really helped his right eye and I hope he gets the same results with the other.

I fixed the Last Supper last night.  Haven’t had a fried green tomato all year and DH wanted fried pork chops so I fixed fresh collard greens and picked some corn from the garden.  Served it all up with sliced homegrown tomatoes and told everyone to enjoy because I’m back on a diet starting today.

I did 80 laps in the pool yesterday and I’m planning on doing the same today but I’ve got to get off here and get DH to the Outpatient Surgery Center first.