Kudos, Bill, on seeking alternative transportation sources. Where I live, elec is still mainly (nearly 90%!) sourced by coal, so that option isn't a good choice, but where it's natural gas (? is that yours?) - neat!
Got in hours of yardwork in the mugginess yesterday - had I waited for today, I think it would have been milder, but I wanted to give DH a mental break of seeing it all done when he got home yesterday to know it wasn't on his plate to tackle. Then found out he has both today/tomorrow off work - they couldn't get enough people to staff it, so YAY. Still have weedwhacking to do, and he will tackle that with a newer one he got last year that he likes. I bought a few plants to start my larger pots and will do a quick zip to Home Depot for a few of the smaller "tuck in" plants to trail down the sides. Just bare bones right now but I imagine they'll look Martha Stewart-ish in a month. HAH! That is my goal for today. To end the day with more done on the patio.
Made a tomato salad last night (and bought four different tomato starter plants yesterday) ... come on, Summer!
Think I'm going to run to an early morning market and get fruit for a berry-filled fruit salad for breakfast, and we'll make pancakes from a recipe we tried/loved a few months ago. A nice treat for breakfast on the patio. While normally fairly thrifty, today I'm just going to hit this market and get what I need and hopefully be in/out in 20 minutes. Birdsong is filling the kitchen, dining room and bedroom on this side of the house this morning. Fewer things seem so peaceful.
You may now call me by my new name - Indiana Jones Mariana since I faced and killed 10,000 spiders yesterday in the garage. Phew! Great feeling of accomplishment comes with a very sore lower back but I'm sure you gardeners get this all the time. For the first time ever, I put a large square wood coffee table on the street and marked it free. It was gone in an hour which was kind of thrilling. Saved DH from hauling it anywhere. There are some small detail projects to do this summer (like shoe bin and hook hanging ) but it will be nice to do those isolated from the grander clean.
Went through boxes of teacher stuff and ruthlessly threw away multiple copies, transparencies (no overheads anymore) and anything but my absolute favorite math stuff. I can't imagine being self contained with math again. Nowadays, you basically have to have a single subject math to teach 6 and above. Nonetheless, 1 small paper box of beloved math curriculum is reasonable. You never know. I was very excited to find my old reader's theatre plays - especially my Shakespeare ones. I think I'll have Wednesday Shakespeare day in my AP English. Shakespeare needs to be heard not read. I remember giving the balcony scene in Romeo and Juliet to my Latino boys in summer school once. (This was before drama was considered frivolous.) The boys cracked up playing Juliet.
Big Oh Oh when I weight cheese to see how little .5 ounce was. Oops. Oh well. This WW program has a learning curve as should everything that will be a "living program."
Family bike ride to the river levy. Should be beautiful.
BBE: Yep. Wilkie Collins. It is a little slow get into it.
Biggest day of the year for race fans. We're recording everything to watch on our time line -- probably skipping the last one, NASCAR's 600-mile race at Charlotte. DH is ready to boycott NASCAR. The cars are too heavy, making the drivers too aggressive -- acting like it's bumper cars instead of auto racing. The open-wheel cars are much more delicate so they have to drive with more finesse. We don't have cable, so we don't get to see many open-wheel races. But, we get to see two today -- Formula 1 in Monaco and the Indianapolis 500.
Watching on our time line means that I need to avoid the news, but it helps me get the food part of the day right. I'll follow my plan and watch racing at my convenience.
Diet Coaches/Buddies – Out birding early in the morning we saw a small set of birds - many building nests and feeding fledglings. Even the goslings of the hated Canada Geese seem cute when diligently paddling behind mom.
Eating was good enough, CREDIT moi. The 95 degree F temperatures of two days ago triggered DW into making our summer favorite for dinner - deviled eggs. However, it was now chilly enough that we ate them inside, which seemed wrong.
Joy (gardenerjoy) – Neat that you go to the effort to avoid listening to any news so that you can watch a delayed Indy 500 with real suspense.
Debbie (Lexxiss) – Congrats for fixing that underground sprinkler - I've never owned one of those.
Indiana Jones Mariana (maryann) - 10,000 is a lot of spiders, LOL. I hear you on that 0.5 ounces of cheese.
nationalparker – Birdsong, tomato salad, and fruit salad for breakfast does sound like summer. [Some of our electricity is hydro, some gas, some nuclear, some purchased from Canada. I like knowing that a tiny bit of what I buy was generated by my friend's roof panels sold back to the electric company.]
ennay - Yep, Yep, Yep, "Tomorrow is a new day."
Readers -
Quote:
Chapter 6 Family Traps
#4 The Me-First Mule Trap
Me-first mules are on a continuum of difficulty. The easier ones are family members who are flexible in other areas but insist on their way when it comes to decisions about food. The ones who present the most difficulty are those who are controlling about many issues, including food - the "my-way-or-the-highway" type.
Characterized by stubbornness and immobility, me-first mules insist that their approach to food must reign supreme. They resist your requests to make changes. If you are not already assertive in other areas, you will need to learn this essential interpersonal skill to negotiate changes with the me-first mule.
It turns out that Maxine's biggest family trap was not her kids, it was her husband, Mike. Mike regularly arrived home from his second-shift job after their youngest child was in bed. As a result, Maxine ate dinner with her children at five-thirty and then ate more a few hours later with Mike. And because Claire, at age thirteen, had become even pickier about her eating, Maxine often ended up preparing two separate meals.
Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., Deborah Beck Busis, The Diet Trap Solution, Train Your Brain to Lose Weight and Keep It Off for Good (Blue book), pg. 116
Welcome Memorial Day. I have been OP all week and have yet to see a pound off. Official weigh in tomorrow. I know I have been exercising more and have some meds that retain water but it is tough not to be discouraged. It is just a number. And if tomorrow's number is not lower then I will have to use the information to adjust. I have read my advantage cards and written down a food plan. Stretches and PT exercises are on the docket.
Bike ride yesterday down by the river was meaningful. We took a new path that passed by the homeless encampments we had heard about but had never seen. DS said it made him feel sad and uneasy. I felt the same way. You can throw in grateful as well. I have done a little bit of work through AA with people who have come from the river bottoms or have family there. Although my first feeling is always discomfort, I now understand first hand that the vast majority of people at the river are far more vulnerable than me. I said a little prayer in church yesterday and wondered about the irony of me putting so much time and energy into NOT eating when others put so much time and energy into eating.
And as for the day, I am here by my lonesome. DH is working and DS is off with grandma to the famous jazz festival held in downtown Sacramento every year. DS loves music and it will be nice for him to have some solo memories with my mother. I plan to work on cleaning up financial tracking (My Quicken has gone down for the last time on me. I have deleted all accounts and now I am tracking with bank statement and pen and pencil!!!) I will clean up office. I don't know what it will be like to have both office and garage clean simultaneously.
Looks like I haven't posted since Friday. It doesn't feel that way to me because I have been keeping up with the reading. Our niece and husband are here until this evening. We've had a delightful visit with them. The guys are out golfing for the 3rd day in a row and Justine and I hiked Bell Pass this morning. Yesterday we did the neighborhood walk because then we could start a little later, 7 a.m. due to it not being so strenuous. It's been so fun to just have the 2 of them. Last time 8 of Ron's family members came at the same time. He thought he was asking his brother to consider coming down for a football game and bringing their Mom and the next thing we knew 8 were coming.
I got on the scale yesterday and it was okay, actually a tiny bit lower than a few days before. I'll get on again tomorrow and we'll see if I can get with it. I'm going to call tomorrow my Monday.
Things will be a bit more back to normal tomorrow and I will get to personals.
Have been "OP" today because my plan actually included homemade ice cream. It wasn't a low calorie plan, needless to say. DH made homemade vanilla ice cream and I portioned out a serving and enjoyed it before it hardened up - my favorite time. But it went quickly. Dinner was turkey mozzarella bruschetta burgers - a nice cap to the weekend. Didn't accomplish much today except indoor things, but it felt good to just catch up on laundry/sheets, and shaved/bathed the pooch.
Already feel that I've gained weight since I've been back, but I'm going to resist the panic and just stay busy tomorrow, get done what I want to, and enjoy my day. I felt a bit of freedom being away without the scale, but with a busy schedule and snacks around - that included nuts and peanut butter. I think I had one or the either every single day (portioned out) and the scale didn't jump.
DH has another interview midweek, but this job has (in my opinion) less-than-desirable work hours as well. Keeping fingers crossed the other one we're both hoping for opens up for him - they said they needed to get through a big event this weekend and then would start working on writing up the job and be in contact with him. He's almost to the point of just going in tomorrow and saying he'll work through Friday but then will be leaving this current place. Then we use the time to get projects done around the house and see how things shake out. The shady things that they're doing really bother him - as they should!
We have a robin's nest with babies in it in a shrub next to house. DH thinks it's low, but it's well-hidden. I will NOT watch them because if anything goes awry, I cannot handle it and I know it. From past experience. But I like that they choose our yard.
Yesterday - I went back and found credits because they really seem to work for me. Weighed and logged, mowed for exercise, MADE a plan (didnt stick to it but I made one for the party). After the party stayed up the extra 15 minutes to log every extra bite of food to the best of my knowledge.
Today - weighed and logged (+0.8) Back OP, rehydrated well, 3 mi walk after brunch, 1.4 mi walk after dinner.
Today went fast as all the days do but the month seems to be lasting forever. How is that even possible?
I picked up my next bunch of stuff from.the makerspace. Tomorrow I spend all day at the ceramic studio. I peeked and saw some of my new bowls and they look good. I like them a lot. Yay me. I will be working on them tomorrow plus firing down the kiln. Full-on summer production schedule begins.
Food was better today but not perfect. I will end the month of May up in weight from the start of the month. How does that happen? Well it's happened to me two or three months since January. What a record of weight loss
I am still down but need to refocus once more. I will.
Whoa all of a sudden super tired. I'll check in tomorrow.
Tuesday - Poet Walt Whitman born (West Hill, N.Y., 1819)
Diet Coaches/Buddies – The boring: I took a test drive in a new Nissan Leaf because the dealer didn't have any used ones. "People who buy these are eco folks who just don't sell them," he offered. Maybe. Maybe he just didn't have any and didn't want me to look at the other dealers. The new car pull is that the radio sounds so good - a Bose system. The sound system is the least important item to my right now, but it seeps into my little brain.
Food was on plan, CREDIT moi. When I wandered out into the yard to ask DW if dinner was going to happen, she was startled that it was 7 pm already. Alas, I was designated to go out and come home with something. Thank you Whole Foods for always having a variety of veggies along with your meats in the take out food section.
onebyone – Days going by fast is a sure sign of healthy busy - Kudos. Isn't it verboten to peek into a firing kiln?
maryann - Neat that you arrange for your DS to attend the Sacramento Music Festival with his grandma alone. Kudos for "It is just a number."
nationalparker – Like your Robin's nest. The only nesting birds in our yard are the occasional House Sparrows who nest in the rain gutters. Yay for "portioned out" snacks.
Karen (karenrn) - LOL that 8 house guests showed up. Neat to get out for a 7 am walk even if that's "a little later" for you.
ennay - Kudos for taking the effort to log the party food.
Readers -
Quote:
Chapter 6 Family Traps
#4 The Me-First Mule Trap
Maxine had been a little vague describing her food intake in the evenings, so I asked her to keep track of everything she ate from the time she got home from work until she went to bed. When she returned for her next session, she was aghast. "I considered dinner with the kids as my major meal. I thought I was just nibbling when I sat down with Mike at nine o'clock - but I guess I wasn't paying enough attention to how much I was eating." She found although she didn't eat as much as Mike did, she was having almost a second meal.
Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., Deborah Beck Busis, The Diet Trap Solution, Train Your Brain to Lose Weight and Keep It Off for Good (Blue book), pg. 116
I had to avoid the news a whole day because we didn't get through the Indy 500 until last night. Absolutely worth it -- what a fun race for the 100th running of the Indy 500. We also enjoyed the little bits of history they threw into the broadcast. We kept pausing to look at the old photographs and talk about changing technology.
I'm a big believer in daily weighing. I'm also a big believer in changing things up once in a while. Right now, the change I want is not weighing at all. We'll see how that goes for awhile. All I want from a scale right now is to know if my plan is adequate to cause weight loss. Daily weighing doesn't really help with that. I need to actually stay on plan for a few weeks and then weigh to see where that gets me.
BillBlueEyes: LOL at the sound system seeping in even though it's least important. I'm pretty sure we bought our last car because it was the first car we drove with a modern GPS system -- which wasn't even on the list of things we wanted. Fortunately, it's worked out well.
Our houseguests left last evening, so it's back to normal here. It's going to get really hot this week. Hiking Suzanne and I met at 5:30 this morning to hike Bell Pass and tomorrow we'll meet at the same time for Sunrise. She'll be leaving at the end of the week for her other house in Park City, UT. I must say I am a bit envious of those who get to leave for the summer. As soon as my husband is retired, which probably is at least a few years off, we will be out of here for the summer even if we are sleeping in a tent. (Don't tell him, I don't think he'd go for that.)
Food has been a little more than planned most days, but luckily I did get some exercise every day also. My goal is to really be on track for a bit. I wish we didn't have any social engagements for a few weeks, but we have a couple this week. I'll do the best I can.
GardenerJoy I hope your new plan works great. I don't weigh every day, but I will admit most of the times I don't it is because I'm afraid of what I'll see. I did weight this morning and it was higher than I hoped.
Bill How late does it stay light in your area? I always loved that the days were so long in Washington, but I guess that wouldn't be such a good thing here.
Nationalparker Keeping fingers crossed that your dh gets a new job WITH much better hours.
Maryann Today is my office clean up day, like you were doing yesterday. I hope you enjoyed your day alone yesterday.
Wow - planned to relax today but then thought I'd better get crackin' and get that front garden done. Needed massive weeding along with a run to the hardware store for mulch, edging, etc. The heat was oppressive and I was sucking down water like crazy. But got it done and it looks GOOD. Well, good enough for me. DH got home and didn't mention anything about it, really, and then later said WHAT you bought pavers? You didn't use the ones we have? We didn't have enough. Anyway, now he thinks it should be done differently. It's sat undone for a year or two. I just said I'm happy it's off my back now and we can adjust it as needed. If he wants to help now that he sees it differently, fine. I sound cranky, and I guess I am. Apologies. Didn't mean to come off like that but am a bit frustrated. Heat hit 88 with humidity - felt like mid-90s. Karen, I know this is cool for you haha but the sweat was dripping off me.
Made a wonderful salad for dinner tonight - filling and ample protein, veggies and fat (olive oil in the homemade dressing) to make it a delish meal. Got a bunch of oddball things done today and back to work tomorrow. I am so sore, and hope it alleviates tonight. Both elbows hurt to bend/lift them.
Hooray! 2 pounds down for the week at my WW weigh in. Listening closely to gardener joy and nationalparker about daily weigh ins. For this week, I will not weigh myself until next meeting. I'm paying them 15 bucks to be accountable. That should be enough. Four more pounds and I will not have to pay anything because I'll be within my lifetime range. That is my incentive. Stomach is empty which makes me uncomfortable but this too shall pass and I'm on a mission.
Monday - Memorial Day (Since 1868)
