Happy Almost New Year!

Hope everyone had a nice Christmas!  I rehashed my weekend HERE if you want to read about mine.

So I got my FitBit One - It comes on a clip instead of a bracelet, so I can continue clipping it on my bra.  I'm still figuring this thing out.  I get the impression it's just a fancy pedometer, because on the "My Activity" page it automatically syncs the steps, but I have to add any additional activities manually.  And it's a good thing I looked, because I always wore my Activelink swimming, this one I can't!  So the X hours we spent in the pool Christmas Day I had to track.  I lost out on a lot of steps, tho.  We had to walk all around the huge hotel to get to the various pools (yay, Bavarian Inn!)  Plus all those trips up the stairs to the water slides!

I need to send a shout out to the wonderful Miss Kitty at Less Of A Better Me.  I'm learning more about the new WW plan from her and her blog than I am from the somewhat confusing website, their so-called "experts" on the chat and even my meetings!

So I found this really cool group on the WW message boards.  It's something like the 10 cent healthy habits, I can't remember exactly how the title goes.  But the idea is to choose so many habits and you earn (figuratively or literally) a dime for each item you check off daily.  I'm using my fancy leather-ish journal from WW to keep track each day.   I have a great short-term goal.  If I do each and every item on my list for 39 days, I will have earned a 30 minute massage!  There'a place near me called Luv Nails and that's what they cost there.  GOALLLLLLLL!

Some of the items are pretty obvious.  My journalling is what you're looking at.  Writing down this list each day and checking them off.  The 5K steps will change accordingly.  The FLY 15 minutes is from FlyLady.net.  And the tough one is going to be lights out before 11pm.  I don't know why I have such a hard time with this, especially since my alarm goes off at 5:30am on weekdays. I"m more than ready for bed, but it seems I get caught in a time warp and BOOM, it's past 11. 

Speaking of......It's 10:20ish, even tho it's technically the beginning of my 4 day weekend, it can't hurt to hit the sack!  Since tomorrow night we'll up past 1, since we have to celebrate the Arkansas New Years in spirit with the MIL.  No check mark for me!

#SnS  

Merry Christmas to all.....

From all of us at the Love Shaque.....

Peace & blessings, 

Lisa, Randy & Angela

Jack, Chester, Maddie & DaisyMae

Still indifferent...

So I'm still not loving the new SmartPoints plan yet.  I really need to sit down and read thru everything better and do some planning.  I've been cruising along doing my usual stuff and it's still quite the culture shock to scan one of my usual lunches and it's jumped up 3 points or more!

I sure hope they work the bugs out of the website & mobile app, too.  I hate that they got rid of the section where you recorded your measurements!  I've been tracking my inches since day 1 (August 2008) and they're all gone.  I chatted with one of the so-called "experts" and she said I'd just have to track them on paper!  it's a good thing I couldn't reach thru the monitor or I would have punched her in the nose.

I do like the new journal.  It's a nice soft leather and has lots of pages for notes & such.  No place for a pen, tho.  First-world problems!

So this is my plan.....I got a pack of index cards and a case from the store and many moons ago I won the tiny WW spiral notebook with sticky notes and arrows from a meeting.  I'm going to write down a bunch of recipes (with associated SPs) and each week I'll make dinner plans & a grocery list from cards that I draw.  I hate grocery shopping more than I did a root canal!  I never know what to make since I live with Mr & little Miss Picky-Ass.

Quick update.....my little health issues from last month?  I think I may have possibly had a miscarriage.  I did some research and it is possible.  I would have been about 7 weeks along and when (TMI ALERT) Aunt Flo arrived, it lasted for 3 weeks and while I normally lose some big clots, I was clearly losing chunks of tissue. I guess I don't really have any feelings about it, since I never knew 100% for sure and therefore hadn't wrapped my mind around the whole situation.

2 weeks ago was Miss Angela's first dance competition of the season.  They got their "costumiforms" around 3pm Friday afternoon and wore them Saturday.  The owner of the studio was pissed - they sent the wrong skirts, too.  They were too tight for the girls to do their kickline without riding up, so she managed to wrestle up 16 pairs of matching black shorts for them to wear instead.

They got 4th place!  It's actually quite awesome.  They were the only studio team there, up against some really good, established high school cheer teams. And they've only been doing pom since September.   I put the video up on my YouTube page if you want to see it.

Are you ready for Christmas?  I have a ton of laundry to finish and need to put a bunch of nutcrackers someplace (I have over 100!!) so that's what I'll be doing in the morning.  Tomorrow night we're going to my sister's house.  Then Christmas Day evening we're going to Frankenmuth for the night.  The hotel we're staying at has a water park and then Saturday we'll go to Bronner's - the world's largest Christmas store!   Randy and I are staying Saturday night, too.  Angel has to work, so her & my niece will come back early and she'll go back out to my sister's that night so she doesn't have to stay home alone. 

The buzzer just went off, so need to go switch some clothes - yay, me!

#SnS

Shall not forget...

Moooo & a false alarm!

So yeah, I wasn't feeling the scale this week and didn't go weigh in.  I got some things done around the house, so I wasn't sitting around in front of the TV, I promise!

I was supposed to report back last weekend about some girly issues I was having.

Soooo.  I really thought I was pregnant!  I guess it's possible.  It hasn't been that long since I went off the pill, but I'd also gone 4 years before not taking them and obviously nothing happened.  Can you imagine that shock?  I'm 42, Randy's 48. My only child is already 18 - I sure as hell wouldn't want to start all over again NOW!  We'd have to move, no question about that.  We have an 850 sq foot, 2 bedroom house with no storage, let alone room for a little person.

So here's the story, it's somewhat TMI but I'll try to keep it clean.

2 weeks after I'd missed my period, I told Randy (like why wouldn't I??)  We both kind of stared at each other with pursed lips and really big eyes and some rapid blinking.  I was having occasional nausea, my nipples were very tender, my jeans were feeling a bit snug and I just felt different, I can't explain how.  What would you think???

So we decided I would wait another week and then take a test.  However 3 days before I was going to take it.....Mother Nature arrived with a vengeance.  I swear she was making up for lost time.  It was ugly. Horrible.

So it was obvious I wasn't with child.  But I physically didn't feel any different!  So I decided to go ahead and take a test anyway.  I felt SO awkward buying that test!  My heart was racing.  I kept feeling everyone was staring and judging me, even tho I went to an out-of-the-way CVS that I'd never been to, didn't use my rewards card and paid cash.  How pathetic is that?!?!?!

Behold the power of the mind!  I took the test last Thursday, fully expecting it to be negative and of course it was.  The very next day (Friday aka jean day at work) - I wore a pair of jeans right out of the dryer and they fit fine.  And I feel totally normal now.  Sheesh.

So now I just have to contend with my bum knee acting up.  I can stand just fine on it, but it doesn't want to bend as far as it should.  And occasionally it'll just give out under me.  So I'm being really careful on stairs and getting out of the car, since it's my left knee.

This is our tree in the backyard around 5:30 this evening.

This is the neighbor's usually upright tree hanging over our fence around 7:15.

That's some seriously wet & heavy snow out there!  It started at 7am and we have about 6 inches out there - and I just talked to my sister (about 35 miles north of me) and it started at 8am there and she's got over a foot!  I'm really not looking forward to the 0-dark-thirty trip to the studio tomorrow for the annual dance intensive that Miss Angela has.  I know our neighborhood will still be a mess, but hoping the county has the main roads cleared and salted.  I'm fully confident in my own driving abilities and common sense - it's all the other idiots who suddenly forgot how to drive in the snow that scare me!

So I'm still not loving the new WW "experience".  I updated my mobile app yesterday but it doesn't seem to be any different as of yet. Whew!  I can't believe they got rid of the progress reports! I used those all the time!  It's hard to find the "community" section, too.  You'd think they would have that easier to find instead of down at the bottom with the rest of the links nobody cares about. And it has my original starting weight wrong from way back in the day!  Not that that matters anymore, but I would like accurate numbers!  When I chatted with tech support about it, she was about useless. She said "our systems in website (???) is still updating and our engineers are working on it.  All your points will be aback to normal after the updates."  So why was it even changed to begin with???  My info should have just transferred right over.  So my goal weight should still say 175.0 instead of 175.38.  Where the heck did they get that??   Pppfth.  And I need to spring for a FitBit or some sort of activity monitor because as of the 19th, my Activelink is obsolete.  It won't even sync anymore.  I liked it because it clipped on my bra and was out of the way.  I don't think I'd like one that goes on my wrist.   Adding activity is a pain in the ass, since I'm not going to keep track of each time I go up and down stairs and all the walking I do at work individually and stuff like that!   

Oh crap - I have to be at the studio at 7:30 am!  I better get my carcass to bed!  Later folks!

#SnS

Happy Veteran's Day !!

#SnS

a step in the right direction!

I was down 1.7 lbs this week!  That's a nice chunk out of the 5+ gain last week.

I was hoping it would be more, but I seem to have some female things going on again.  I'll know more in a couple days.  I'm going to leave it at a nice vague statement like that, too!  I'll be back this weekend to report.

Gosh - look at how bad this week was for activity - 11 whopping APs!

Hmm, it took both days of the weekend to get all the indoor Halloween stuff packed up and yesterday I moved all the Christmas totes out of the garage and put the H'ween ones in back, then put the C'mas ones in front so they're easily accessible the weekend after Thanksgiving.  So I haven't been a complete bum, I just didn't DO anything to exercise on purpose.

I did pretty well with my tracking, I just forgot to take a picture and now my phone is across the room and I have a sleeping kitten draped across my lap, sooo......I'm stuck here. 

I have a couple challenges in the upcoming weeks.  Craft show season is starting, so the next 2 Saturday's I'll be with Mom & the sisters shopping our little hearts out.  Of course this means Tim Horton's probably for breakfast and whatever the schools are offering at lunch.  Sunday the 22nd is an all-day dance Intensive at Miss Angela's dance studio.  I will volunteer to take pictures again, but unless I take my own snacks, it'll be pizza for lunch most likely and I could pass on that.  I'm not a huge fan of pizza.  But I'll be kept hopping running between the 2 studios with the older kids in one room and the younger kids in another. 

Then of course, there's Thanksgiving.  I expect to be at my sister's house Wednesday evening and probably stay thru Saturday sometime.  I'll be sure to take plenty of fruit so I can snack there, too. 

Ooo, the kitteh is stirring so I can move her without guilt and go get ready for bed!  I'm beat so I'll happily turn in early.   Later!

#SnS

UGH.

I went to the Tuesday night meeting this week - it's the earliest of all the remaining meeting times at 5:30 so I gave it a try.  And the leader is a lady who also did meetings at my old location.  She's kind of funny - she does this thing where she claps her hands and kinda jogs in place when she's excited.  And she sends a paper around for everyone to write down the miles they've walked / ran that week.  Then she adds them up and marks it on a map.  Apparently we're walking to Switzerland!

Weigh in was the most horrible thing ever.  I skipped the last week in October because I'd been in Ohio the weekend before with the family (Mom, the sisters, brother-in-law, 2 nieces and a nephew to be) to visit my brother and his fiancee.  Much alcohol and not-really-on-plan food was consumed!  We were pretty active, tho.  Friday night we made hilarious videos (I took 2 of the skeletons out of my H'ween display so we could play with them) and we went swimming.  Saturday we went to the Renaissance Festival and later that night to the Lewisburg Haunted Cave - its in the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest haunted house in the US - around 3/4 of a mile and all underground in an old mine shaft!!  It took an hour to go thru it!  Very cool - highly recommend it!

Anyhoo, I skipped that meeting.  Then Halloween happened.  I happily gave away all the candy we had during trick-or-treating, but the evil spouse and spawn hit up the 50% off sales Sunday and got like $30 worth of candy!  I'll let you imagine the expletives that erupted from my mouth!  But I can't blame them for the box of Lofthouse cookies that I'm pretty sure I ate all but one of.

I can do perfectly well at Thanksgiving and Christmas, but Halloween kills me.

Oh, so the horribleness?  a 5.3 pound gain!

~faint~

And the lady who was at the scale kind of whispered to me that I was up "just a little bit" and asked if they could help.  I was expecting to be up some, so I told her she could smack my husband and she gasped.  So I explained the whole sale thing and she understood then.  I didn't look at my weight record book until I was in the meeting room and I was so glad I was already sitting down!

So that makes me determined to stay right on plan and track everything....but it seems everyone has become a saboteur.  I was at work yesterday and noticed a couple people with donuts, but didn't really think anything of it until someone actually said something about it.  Apparently the big customer who was visiting brought in several dozen Tim Horton's donuts - which are pretty damn close to heavenly.  The asshole needed to be punched in the face.  Then at the county meeting I went to last night were cookies that I know from experience are wonderful.  I'm happy to report I didn't touch ANY of them!  No cookies and no donuts!  Today I passed on wings from Buffalo Wild Wings, even tho they sounded really goooood.

So far, so good!

So let's see what this weekend brings.  I can't think of any plans that we have, other than going thru my Halloween totes before I put the indoor stuff away and hopefully getting rid of some that I don't use!  And finish cleaning up the yard before winter.

btw, it took 6 1/2 hours Monday for Randy and I to take down and stow the cemetery. All the headstones and critter skeletons are in the shed with the lawnmower.   All the small, loose items (bones, solar lights, mini-fence sections, etc) are stored in the coffin, which goes into the add-on across the back of the garage, along with the blowmolds. The fences are rolled up and ready to be put away with the patio furniture this weekend also in the add-on. The army of skeletons are hung from the rafters in the garage.  A couple other things are also in the garage rafters. The miles of extension cords are wrapped and stored.  Sure doesn't sound like much, but it was!  That was a 6 AP day.

So, it's time to turn in.  I'll sign off with yet another cat picture!  I took this last night.  Chester (the big ginger) was having some quality Mommy time on my lap while goofy Daisy played with everything in sight, running around, being a usual kitten.  She decided she wanted to join us.  And proceeded to step on Chester's head and stand on him and grab him around the neck and roll around, trying to bite him, being a general pain in the ass.  Finally Chester had enough and growled / snapped at her.  She immediately settled down and this is how she started to doze right after.  She's wedged in against my belly on her back.  What a goofball!

#SnS

Holy Crap!

Have I really not posted this month at all???

Damn, I suck.  On the plus side - I'm really happy with how my yard looks for Halloween!  Planning ahead for next year - more headstones for the cemetery!  It looks rather like a skeleton party right now (12 full sized ones, 7 little ones, 3 dogs, 3 cats and assorted loose bones!) Click HERE to see more - I have a blog just for H'ween goodness!

Anyhoo, not much to report.  I've been trucking along like the name of the blog says - slow & steady.  I've been losing 0.6 lbs here and 0.7 lbs there.  At least I'm on the downward spiral!

Did you know that Weight Watchers is getting rid of their Activelink activity monitor???  No one at my meeting place knew about this!

They must be planning a lot of changes, since they've been out of the spiral bound tracking journals for a good month that I know of.  And I popped in the office my work, too.  Nothing.  Oh, and when I checked out the online store, they offered a FitBit.  So I'm wondering if they're fazing out their own thing and just concentrating on systems that people may already have?  Guess I should start shopping around.  Any suggestions??

I'm sad right now - besides getting rid of my meeting time - I loved going right after work and getting it over with - my leader also left!  Fearless Leader Dez was the shit.  She had a dynamic personality and was funny and interesting and she made you really want to go to every meeting!  The lady there today was Meh.  Very vanilla.  She's only been a member of WW since last fall, lost 24 lbs to get to goal and is now working for them.  She wasn't very exciting at all.  I may consider looking around for other times.  In miles this office is closer, but in amount of traffic - the one I used to go to is much better.  I only changed offices because this one is closer to Miss Angela's dance studio.  But since she's driving herself now.....that doesn't matter to me!

The new kitten is obviously getting along with at least one of the older cats.  Here Daisy & Chester are sharing my lap.  It was quite the balancing act.  Then Chester chose to lie across my lap - on top of Daisy's head.

I'll leave you with this funny....

#SnS

Happy Birthday to my Girl!

(Note - it actually was Monday - life's been happening and I haven't posted!)

Here is little Miss Angela 18 years ago!

Happy birthday to the sweetest, snottiest, most stubborn, most beautiful, talented little brat ever!  

Deep fried twinkies from Toby Keith's I Love This Bar & Grill

Her present from Randy & I was her first tattoo!  

Weird, I know.  But she's been wanting one and I'd much rather take her to a place I know myself - quality control and moral support, if you will. 

She's really happy with it! 

A much better choice than the one I made for my first.  

Small, meaningful and someplace that won't show in costume!  

#SnS

Not much to report...

Was up 0.1 lb at weigh in yesterday.  I'm actually OK with that, since TOM sucks.  I felt all gross & bloated and all that fun crap.   I'm actually ready for bed now, so forgive me if I ramble some.

I totally missed tracking on Sunday, but for some reason it's harder to track on weekends!  I don't always go crazy, either.  Maybe because during the week, I have my phone sitting on my desk at work and I see the notifications pop up reminding me to track.  And on the weekends, I don't have it right in front of me?  Probably.

 Activity was decent.  Sunday was apparently just a lazy day!

 This is one of the WW Smart Ones Orange Sesame Chicken.  Where the hell do they think 11 grams of protein are hiding in this?????

On the plus side, Miss Daisy the kitten is settling in well.  The older cats are adjusting to her pretty well, too.  She's acting like a typical goofy kitten now, but she does her share of snuggling - she's on my lap, purring right now.  

Quick funny story before I sign off.  At the meeting yesterday, we had to fill out this sheet about "goals" with how many days we planned to exercise and how.  Then a goal of how much water we'd drink, APs we'd earn, what time we'd go to bed and ultimately how much weigh to lose. I circled 4 days and I'd walk the dog, mow the lawn, unpack Halloween stuff & clean up the blowmolds & headstones.  Then I'd drink 60 oz (being conservative there), earn 20 APs, go to bed at 10:30 (fail already!) and lose 2 pounds.  The twist was.....we folded up the papers and put them on a chair.  On the way out, we had to chose a paper and THAT is our goal for the week!  I'm going to stick with my original goals, since I went to a different meeting than usual (4pm instead of 6 because of road closures around here = horrid traffic).  There were some very large, older ladies in this class and I'm pretty sure I got one of theirs.  12 APs (I'm already at 6 after 2 days), 48 oz of water (I can do that by early afternoon), exercise 2 days (gardening & walking 1 mile) I walked 2.25 miles with the dog today.  And I'll have to wait until next week to see if I lost the 1 lb or not. 

I wonder what the person who got my sheet thought?  They're probably wondering who Jack is and what are blowmolds and how much activity could unpacking Halloween stuff really earn?  Muahaha!  I have a good corner of a 2 car garage and 2 sheds full of Halloween stuff!  (btw HERE is my blog for H'ween!)  Someone commented on my leaders FB page that her sheet said to earn 53 APs and lose 4 lbs!  INSANE!  She said she'd do that in a month, not a week!

#SnS

Checking in.....

Quite pleased and surprised with a 2.6 lb loss tonight. Honestly - for lunch yesterday to celebrate a coworker's wedding, my boss bought the company lunch - broasted chicken & potatoes, chicken nuggets, cole slaw, biscuits.....good stuff! We all ate until we hurt, I swear! And today she took her department (which is me & 1 other person) and the sales guy out to lunch, to thank us for our hard work, and see what we thought of our work loads. They're negotiating to get a lot more business and she's thinking of hiring a third person to help out at night. Geri and I work in billing, but are physically located in the dispatch office, so we've both taken on some dispatch jobs, in addition to our own. So another person would be helpful - at least in my opinion!

Anyhoooo,
check out this salad I had.....

MICHIGAN SALAD
Mixed greens with sun dried Michigan cherries, tomatoes, walnuts and crumbled Bleu cheese tossed in a Raspberry or Balsamic Herb dressing / Add Chicken

It was so good, but also hard to track since I didn't know exact amounts....I put it in eTools and it worked out to be at least 25 points.....but it was SO worth it!

I didn't track for beans last week. But I have been making sure I get to my meetings. My leader is someone I WANT to go hear, because she's such a character & people person, etc, etc, etc.

I'm so glad she does a 4 pm meeting as well as one at 6, since it took me 45 minutes to get there tonight (normally 15-20) because the state of Michigan / Macomb county / whoever in their infinite wisdom has 3 major roads closed in our area, which makes getting anywhere SUCK badly!

We got a new addition last Friday! Meet Daisy Mae. She was born May 20 in my sister's barn. She's the reason I have like ZERO activity on Saturday - she just wanted to snuggle and how could I resist this face?? The dog has no problems with her, the cat we expected to have the biggest issue more or less looked at her & shrugged his shoulders and the other cat is still a bit pissy about her. Lots of hissing & growling but it's slowly tapering down.

Whew - I think it's time to turn in! Daisy is having to be fed every 4 hours or so, which means getting up during the night to do so. She gets crunchy kitten chow, but she also needs special soft food to help her gain some weight. She'd been off her feed for about a week, since she lost a sibling the week before we got her and was sad. A growing kitten needs plenty of food! And we can't leave it down for her to graze yet, since we have 3 other Hoovers in the house who would eat it all for her. So Mom gets that job. Yay me!

#SnS

Shall Not Forget...

(all images grabbed off FaceBook - I can't claim this awesomeness)

Darryl Worley - Have You Forgotten

#SnS

Happy long weekend!

I can't believe I haven't posted in well over 2 weeks! I guess because I don't have anything really good to report. I decided to skip my meeting last week because I had the urge to clean my kitchen - and when you get an urge like that, you can't pass it up!

This week coming up I'll have to hit the 4 pm meeting so I can go out to my sister's house to help wrangle kittens to the vet. Last winter, someone dropped off a cat at her place and she cautiously moved into the barn (being respectful of the resident barn cat) and of course, in late April she popped out 4 kittens. About a month ago, Laurie caught the kittens and brought them in the house and took Mama to the vet and got her spayed, and a week later she died! But before she did, she got all the kittens litter trained - amazingly overnight. So this past Friday, Laurie & my other sister, Miss Angela & a friend all went tubing (damn those co-workers who take off work so I can't!) and I went out Saturday to pick up the girls and to see the kittens. I noticed one seemed pretty lethargic, so we took her to the vet. They did what they could and we went back to Laurie's house for her to change for work before taking kitten to the pet ER - but the poor thing died in Angel's arms! The vet said she saw something odd on the x-rays in kittie's tummy so she must have eaten something she shouldn't have. Poor little nugget. So the rest are going in to get checked out and probably fixed. 

It's tough to see those adorable babies! I'd love to have another cat, but my old man Chester probably wouldn't like it much. He's been king of the castle for 12 years now. He's at least 15 years old - they didn't know for sure when he chose me from the Humane Society. He does tolerate Maddie pretty well.

Last Saturday was my birthday! We went out to dinner Friday night since I didn't have anything planned. I was bummed that both Cheeseburger in Paradise (owned by Jimmy Buffett - the only one in Michigan!) and the local Max & Erma's closed down! So we went to Texas Roadhouse. I always get the 6oz sirloin & grilled shrimp but those damn rolls & cinnamon butter always get me. They're irresistible! 

Saturday I woke up early to take the dog outside and while I was up, went online to see if Yankee Candle put their Boney Bunch stuff online yet - and they had....so I ordered a couple pieces that I really wanted. Then went back to bed. Once we all got up, Randy & Angel tagged along without complaining, anything I wanted to do or go to. We went to breakfast, then to the mall to see the actual Yankee Candle store and hit a couple other stores there. Then we went home with the intention of leaving Randy there while Angel & I got our nails did, but it was cool, & drizzly rain and I heard a nap calling me. So I took a glorious 3 hour nap and didn't feel the slightest bit guilty about it! Then I ran to the store to grab some meat to grill. Sunday Angel & I went to the nail salon where she got her tips filled and I got a pedicure. AaahhHH! 

So it was a nice birthday.  The Boney Bunch stuff was my birthday gift (thanks to Randy who is a lousy shopper) and I also got a pair of slippers and a stuffed blue octopus that is really cute.  Instead of cake, I opted for cupcakes.  Chocolate with peanut butter frosting, rolled in peanuts and a mini PB cup on top. On nom nom nom.  

Before I forget - here's my activity for the past 2 weeks.  Last week was pretty lousy, but the week before was decent.  

Oh yeah - I cut out steel cut oats and have been doing much better, altho I still find myself feeling HUGE after eating any meal.  I could be 100% perfectly on plan and still feel gross.  Grrr.  I probably need to do more smaller meals instead of 3 and a snack.  That sucks.  

I saw someone who added an egg to their oatmeal and was kind of interested, so (much to the amusement of the cleaning guy at work) I tried it.  He stood there and watched me crack an egg into my dry old-fashioned oats and stir it up.  But once I added the hot water, it made the oats almost custardy!  I couldn't taste the egg at all and the hot water cooked it so I hopefully won't die from salmonella.  

Its getting late and I feel myself starting to babble, so I'm going to sign off.  Later!

#SnS

Got my smiley face!

And it is already happily on my keychain with all the rest of the goodies I've gotten. 

Sorry - this is the WW "Get Happy" charm for attending 10 out of 12 meetings over the summer. 

I skipped my meeting last week and I don't even remember why.  I think after the craziness of Miss Angela's grad party and the fact I seemed to be the only one eating leftovers....and until they were gone, there was no room in the fridge for anything else, so I couldn't go grocery shopping!  There's still a few things in there but they'll be tossed tomorrow, since Friday is trash day.   But the damage today was up 2.8 lbs.  UGH!  

So I need something new & different for breakfast.  I'd been having oatmeal (1/2 steel cut & 1/2 old-fashioned) almost every weekday for as long as I can remember.  I'd mix PB2 or fruit or just flavored extract and call it good.  Until I noticed that I was starting to get heartburn around mid-afternoon.  Then when we got back from vacation, it escalated into afternoon painful gas / bloat.  I mean, belly distended with straight up PAIN.  I emailed my Fearless Leader Dez about it and she suggested cutting out the oatmeal, since that seems to be what was causing it.  Sho'nuff.  I stopped eating it and no more bloat. 

The problem is....now what to have for breakfast??  Last week I took eggs into work with me.  I'd have them already cracked in a container with salt & pepper & a splash of milk and maybe some shredded cheese, then nuke them for a total of about 90 seconds - stopping to stir every 20 or so seconds.  I like eggs, but that got old pretty quick.  This morning I tried quinoa.  Hmm.  I wasn't too impressed.  It probably didn't help that I didn't have a sieve to put them in to get a good rinse.  I used a t-shirt.  But I stopped and bought one after the meeting tonight, so there may be a re-visit.

Did you know that there are options??  The stats are exactly the same so I guess its just a visual thing.  I should have gotten the tri-color for the hell of it.  I know I already had a box of pre-rinsed quinoa, but I couldn't find it.  I know I only fixed it once or twice, so it couldn't have been gone. 

I dug out my WW "What to Eat" and "Simple Start" books tonight to get some ideas.   I need something with good staying power or I'll be looking to snack before lunch.  I usually eat as soon as I get to work.  Since I get there at 0730, I'm ready for lunch at 1130.  And then a snack around 1430 or else I'm starving when I get home around 4.  I've also learned if I go straight home after work, I'm immediately raiding cabinets and the fridge, then I want a nap.  But if I have errands to run after work, I'm perfectly fine until dinner - same goes with the desire to nap.  If I don't come straight home, I'm OK til bedtime.  

. 

 A busybody co-worker just asked me this week why I don't eat breakfast at home.  I honestly didn't have any answer, so I just said "why not?"   I thought about it later, and decided it was habit more than anything.  When I had to take Miss Angela to the bus / school I didn't have time to eat at home.  She's out of school now so that's not a problem.  But it's not hurting anything, so I'll continue to do so.  Neener neener boo boo.  I find joy in being obstinate with this woman anyway. Usually she's pretty nice, but she always wants to know way too many details about mundane things and I just wonder why would you ask that?  No, I don't know who another coworker's daughter has watching her baby while she's at work.  My kid started physical therapy on her ankles - and why do you need to know where she's going?  Why do you need to know where her dance competitions are?   Why do you need to know where the wedding was I went to last weekend?  Did you really just ask me during a department luncheon at a fancy restaurant how many Points my salad was??  I could tell you 3 or 300 and you wouldn't know the difference anyway.  I occasionally want to punch her in the face.  So I'll happily lie or give really vague answers.  Sad part is - she remembers this stuff!  She recently brought up something (that I'd forgotten about) that happened at my bridal shower.  Randy & I have been married 9 years!!  Holy crap, woman!  I'd never want to play a trivia game against her. 

Wow, that was a tangent - sorry about that.  

So I'm ready to go back to the gym.  But I feel I want to get my eating back on track first.  That may be a vicious circle, tho.  

I just need to be independently wealthy and have a personal trainer & chef and then I'd be good! 

edit....I did some research and I saw on several message boards that steel cut oats in general cause pain & bloating in some people.  I had a package of the oatmeal from a box (flavored envelope thingys) and did fine, so I'll have to try just rolled oats and see how that goes. 

#SnS

I lost the vacation pounds!

Hooray!  Was down 3.3 lbs since Saturday!  I guess the lady behind the counter was correct, they just didn't have a chance to settle anyplace and I was able to get rid of them! 

Anyhooo, Sunday I got back on the tracking wagon and did pretty good.  

 Activity points were average to meh.  18 for the week.

I'm skipping the nightly walk with the dog tonight.  I wore heels to work yesterday, which was fine, but I had to stop at the store and order the graduation cake for next weekend - and of course I parked at the wrong side of the store and had to walk to the opposite side for the bakery and to the back to get oatmeal.  So the balls of my feets felt raw.  I still walked last night, but I'll give them a rest tonight.  Tomorrow the plan is to mow the lawn and we'll see how I feel after that if I take him.  I probably will, just because I'm a sucker for puppy-dog eyes. 

So I have a question for anyone out there.  The hubby & I were in the car the other day.  We were sitting at a red light and I was idly watching a woman jog by.  I commented that I wondered what it was like to be so tiny.  It wasn't that she was super skinny, she was just short and petite and fit .... little!  There's no possible way I could ever have a physique like hers.  Besides being a full head taller than her, I have shoulders like a linebacker.  No amount of weight loss would ever change that.  It's kind of depressing, actually.  No one would ever look at me and think I was a fragile flower and would go out of their way to help me if I needed anything physical done.  Randy said it was OK, because I was tough and could take care of things myself.  Is that really such a good thing?  I can't even decide why this bothered me so much.  

Genetics are a weird thing.  There is no doubt that my sister Linda and I are related.  Besides having a lot of the same facial features, she's even bigger than I am.  The sister Laurie is short & thin & doesn't look like either of us.  Laurie looks taller here, because she's closer to the camera.  And you see how short Mom is. I never knew Dad's Mom, so maybe we got out shapes from her?  But Mom's Mom and Grandma were both similar in shape to Mom.  

Which goes on to...how the hell did I spawn this scrawny little thing?

I'm hoping she was telling someone abut how excited she was to be getting ready to ride on a monster truck!!! (at Digger's Dungeon, Kill Devil Hills, NC)

Did I ever really ask my question?  Have you ever felt envy combined with disappointment and a little disgust that you know there's a shape you'll never be?  I know it's pointless to even think about it, but equating small=helpless and big=capable is a kind of stereotyping, isn't it? 

It's not fair, dammit!  

#SnS