Hi, girls! Boy, did it get busy in here! I am so glad to be back! It's so fun to get caught up with everything you all are doing. Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!! We had a very nice Thanksgiving today--we went out!!!!! Hubby suggested it because of how much I've been working, and I was glad to do it. I'm not much of a cook, and don't care much for big family holiday doings because of childhood memories from alcoholic father. This put such a positive spin on it--no cleaning before or after, no cooking, and probably less money than had I bought the food and cooked it myself. It was hubby, me, our two daughters, and my mother-in-law. We went to a Polish buffet--very nice homemade food--some traditional Thanksgiving things and lots of Polish stuff. I'm very comfy with that even though I'm not Polish because I've spent lots of time with people of eastern European descent (hubby is half Croatian, and the guy I was engaged to many years ago was Polish), and I enjoy the food. The best part was no stress at all
! I ate more than I am used to at a sitting, but I wasn't unreasonable at all. I ate very small portions of everything I chose so I could sample a number of things. I did eat one generous piece of pecan pie (absolutely delectable!), but that was the only large portion I ate. I do have a tummyache--3 hours later--but this is an "I ate something with eggs in it" tummyache. In case you don't recall--and Cybele doesn't know--I think I might be allergic to eggs because I get sick for several hours after eating them or anything with a certain (??) amount of egg in it.
Cjunk--thanks for being so concerned about me! I do do things for myself. I just don't talk about it much. I've been specifically working to get more sleep--I generally feel better when I get 8 hours regularly. I often curl up with magazines to unwind--in bed, of course, with only the cat nearby. She makes me feel so good. I feel so special around her because she follows me everywhere--sits with me wherever I am, and she always sleeps with me. She doesn't do that with anyone else in the house. I also have been buying clothes for myself--nice ones to wear to school. When I was single, I used to love buying clothes. I had such pretty ones when I was thinner. It's hard because I'm between a 14-16 and an 18 on top (not easy to find good tops) and a solid 14 on the bottom, but I've been able to find some very classic looking slacks and sweaters, plus I recently spent $60 on a single pair of shoes for school!!! Let's see--what else? I do a lot more going out by myself--just shopping--to dollar stores, linen stores, and just poking around where I feel like going. Also, having this computer we got just for me and making my own office just how I want it is something I'm doing for myself. I'm also doing lots of things to simplify how I do everything in my life because I just don't want lots of unwanted burdens or wasted energy or unnecessary stresses. I'm getting rid of tons of stuff in our house that we don't use--Monday I've got a donation truck coming to get 9--yes, NINE--boxes of stuff that I've been collecting for the last few months. Tomorrow hubby and I are going out together to a huge shopping area in northwest Indiana--we live on the IL/IN border at the south end of Lake Michigan (we're both off--and paid too!!!
) to find office furniture for my office space, to check out this huge teacher store I want to see, and do whatever else we feel like doing. The girls will be with grandma. Anyway, I do nice things for myself (i.e.--things that make me feel good) on a regular basis. They aren't exciting things, but they are things I like. What I'd really like is a good vacation with hubby only or even a few days alone somewhere. The first one won't happen for a while, but the second one may at some point.
Cyan--you asked what I was going to do to get my regimen straightened out. Let me start by saying that my actual weight is 162--5 lbs. up from where I've been. I've identified that impulse eating and stress/fatigue eating are my problem areas. I want to develop better choices for after-work snacks that will relieve my stress--crunchy, chewy, etc.--but will not cause additional stress because they are causing me to enlarge my body. I've been thinking carrots, apples, and frozen fruit, but I need more variety--I don't know what to choose--I want simple things, but no crackers, popcorn, chips, nuts, raisins, rice cakes, etc.--I lose control with those things. Any suggestions?? I want to save my grain eating for breakfast and bedtime snack--I sleep better with cereal or bread then--my body needs the serotonin it helps make to keep me away from depression and OCD attacks, and the fiber prevents constipation--sorry, no more Atkins for me, though I did lose weight. I think I need to cut out sweets too, for now. I know I need exercise, and I've been thinking about doing toning exercises for now--I'm not at all motivated to exercise in general, but I have a few toning exercises for abs, waist, hips, and thighs that are old favorites of mine. I've been thinking of doing a short routine of them just to get myself doing SOMETHING physical. You know, I'll make up a routine now and post it. Maybe I'll do it if I have to be accountable for it. Okay, here goes. I know the exercises behind these made-up names, so if they don't sound familiar to anyone, they are to me.
10 reverse crunches--for lower abs
10 reverse waist twists to each side--for waist
20 side leg lifts to each side--for hips
20 Georgia peach leg lifts each side--for glutes
10 upper waist twists to each side--for waist
10 hamstring twists to each side--for waist and hamstrings
20 butt lifts--for glutes
Let's see where that goes. I'll make it my goal to do it daily before bed.
Oh, by the way, I have to tell you--my students and I made the cutest turkey craft this week. We stuffed a lunch bag halfway with newspaper, closed it with a rubber band and cut off most of excess paper, made feathers out of tissue paper, attached them to the bag with a brown paper "taco shell" we glued the tissue into, colored pictures of turkey head profiles, wings, and feet, and glued them onto the bag at the right places. They were WONDERFUL!! The yearbook teacher asked me to take a picture for the school yearbook. I took a posed picture with all 18 turkeys together on desks, a smaller display of five of the best for a portfolio, and one with all of my students (except the one on vacation in Mexico) each holding their turkeys. I had so-o-o-o-o much fun. The kids did too.
Well, I've got to go. I've been babbling on for way too long. I'll be back soon. Thanks for being here.