So I went to the Doctor this morning to see if he could shed any light on the hive situation. He asked if I had eaten peanuts or seafood. Yes to both. But, I have eaten both since the episode (okay, peanut butter is the same as peanuts, right?) with no ill effects. I now have a referral to see an allergist. Kind of scary if you ask me, not knowing what you are allergic to - just waiting to see when next you will get hives on the roof of your mouth and have your throat swell... and since this reaction seemed worse than the first, I figure I need to find out what it is!
They had me step on the scale this morning at the doctor's office too. Didn't really like what it said, but at least I was still under the 200# mark (about 192 to be exact...) yep. I weigh that much. 'Nuff said.
I am going to make fabulous dinner at my house tonight for my MIL and my SIL that is going to the airport to go back to California. I have it all planned out, but I will need to leave work early tonight to get it all done. Here's the planned menu:
Ginger chicken
Curried vegetables
Curried chick peas
Naan
Saffron Rice (for desert)
Can you tell I was perusing the Indian cookbook I have at home? I needed to go to the store and get ginger, saffron, cardimum pods and "natural" yogurt. I went after the doctor this morning, so I have the stuff at work. Mississippi market is such a fun store to go look around... and the clerk was really kind of humorous when I was checking out - I believe his exact statement was "MMMMMMM! Saffron!". I have never bought the stuff before, looks kind of interesting, I was reading up on it on the web yesterday. It is the most expensive spice there is, it is the strings from a certain flower, and there are only three in each flower, so use it wisely! ($2.59 for HALF of a gram)
Hopefully my SIL won't be weird tonight. I have not really decided about her... she definately has mental health issues though, last time she came to stay with us, she wanted to visit the accupuncturist to get rid of the bugs that were crawling underneath her skin. I kid you not! That, and she seems to think that she can borrow money from us and not pay us back. She did it once, and was trying to ask Eric to lend her some more for the plane ticket for this trip, but we did not. Eric and I had a conversation that really had no conclusion - I wanted to know if he was going to ask her to pay us back, or if we were just going to forget about it and never lend her anything again... and he never told me what he wanted to do. What would you do? It's only about $200, but yet it is a significant amount, and there is the whole principle of the thing. Why ask to borrow money if you never intend to pay it back?
And my MIL is another one. Not to say that I don't love her, but she enables both of her daughters when she really should learn how to do some tough love. Makes me wonder how Eric turned out so "normal". When I ask him, he says that it's probably since he did not abuse drugs when he was younger.
Anyway, I suppose I need to get back to work - and to call the allergist to set up an appointment.
Toodles!
-a
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Monday, November 28, 2005
My week in summary
Did I tell you how much I like going to Calgary? Well, here goes:
Monday night was the awards dinner. Would have been fine, except for all the food and wine. Man did they have a spread out! And the Desert table to die for. I figure I was -21 points for the day when all was said and done. I actually got to bed at a decent hour, unlike last year when we drank Ceasars like they were water, then went to the bar after. (I also did not have one of the cute presenters hitting on me and making me misbehave...) Went to bed at a decent hour. I am lucky I set my phone alarm, as my wakeup call never arrived.
Good thing was that I got up at 5am to go workout. 3.5 miles on the treadmill, some stretching, crunches, and some weightlifting for my arms. Bad thing: at about 9am, after having only coffee that morning, I started getting hives on the roof of my mouth. I had to dash out of the meetings to go get some benedryl, as my throat was starting to swell. That kind of put a damper on any food I wanted to eat that day. The folks in my department were going out to celebrate "going away" for the people that got buy-out packages. I declined with the excuse that I was not feeling well. I know that I would have had alcohol had I gone, and I did not want to do that as I was taking the anti-histamies.
Instead I went out with my co-worker, and had a lovely pasta dish (soft food). Mango curry fusilli with chicken. It was soooooo good! She is also looking at taking a buy out from the company, and I will not blame her if she goes, but I will definately miss her!
We did make some plans to go out to breakfast the next morning, but she was running late, as she actually had a phone interview she was trying to schedule. They told her 9am, but they had not called as of 9:30, so she was coming to get me... I checked out, and sat in the lobby of the hotel with a book for a while... at about 10:15, I tried calling her to see what was up, but it went right into voice mail, so I figured she was talking to them - she had said earlier that it might have been 9am their time (central) rather than her time (mountain). Needless to say, I was getting a bit hungry, and wondering when she was going to show up. Meanwhile, another couple of my co-workers were catching a cab to the airport, so I rode with them, leaving Holly a message on her phone - I figured I could go through customs, and then have plenty of time to find something to eat - and left the hotel. I got a call at about 11:30 as I was about ready to set all of my stuff on the belt to go through the x-ray at security. She had finally arrived at the hotel, and was wondering where I was. I felt kind of bad, but really, we had originally planned 8:30! If I knew she was going to be there at 11:30, I would have definately had breakfast on my own, and I would not have been as cranky!
Let's recap. Got a call at 8:20, she was going to be late, perhaps 9:30. She called at 9:15, saying that probably more like 9:45, I checked out at 9:45, sat until 10:15, called, could not get an answer, and left at 11:00. Meanwhile, I am getting hungrier and hungrier, and a bit worried if I am actually going to get a ride to the airport, since I should be there by 12:00 to give me time to clear customs. Bah. Enough of that. Why should I feel bad about trying to take care of me?
On the positive side of hives on the roof of my mouth, it sure curtailed what I ate at thanksgiving! The Hors d'orves nearly made me cry. I put a tortilla chip with a dip of cream cheese, coctail sauce and shrimp into my mouth, and it made tears come to my eyes, it hurt so badly! Dinner was okay, but then for desert, I ate a bite or two of the strawberry chiffon pie, and when that started to sting, I gave the rest to my husband. No fun when eating stuff hurts!
Mom and I also got up early on Friday to hit the stores. I cannot believe that people stand in line to get the "deals" that they do after Thanksgiving. Really - my time is much more valuable than that! The up side is that the majority of my Christmas shopping is now done. Yay! We went to Kohl's and got a bunch of stuff, and now I have $30 to spend this week. I think I will look at getting myself a new rice steamer, as my old one took a crap.
After Kohl's we went to JoAnn, pulled a bunch of patterns I had written down (the best way - go online and look at the stuff before you go to the store, then just bring a list of pattern numbers) since they were 99 cents each, Fun Fur yarn to make some fuzzy scarves, and some cutting wheels. We decided that it was not worth standing in the cutting lines to get the 99 cent per yard flannel, so we checked out and got an extra 20% off of everything with the coupon because it was before 9am.
Breakfast at Perkins. Was thinking about getting oatmeal, but opted for the Eggs Benedict instead. Then off to the mall to look at Marshall Fields. We looked at the sleep number beds, man they seem like they would be very comfortable to sleep in, but I would want the one that is almost $3000. I guess that would be something for the bonuses this year! Went back to Marshall Fields, tried on lots of clothes, got a warmup outfit, and a new pair of jeans. Shopped at Target, went back to Mom's house 6 hours after we left, and it was not even noon yet...
Saturday, I felt like doing a lot of nothing, so that was exactly what I did. I have not exercised for a week, and that needs to end!
The bonus this week is that the training I was supposed to do on the 30th was postponed, so I can now fly to Chicago and back for the training on the 2nd, instead of having to drive! Plus I get another two days at home!
Anyhoo, I suppose I need to get some sort of work done, it has been a conference-cally day.
later!
-a
Monday night was the awards dinner. Would have been fine, except for all the food and wine. Man did they have a spread out! And the Desert table to die for. I figure I was -21 points for the day when all was said and done. I actually got to bed at a decent hour, unlike last year when we drank Ceasars like they were water, then went to the bar after. (I also did not have one of the cute presenters hitting on me and making me misbehave...) Went to bed at a decent hour. I am lucky I set my phone alarm, as my wakeup call never arrived.
Good thing was that I got up at 5am to go workout. 3.5 miles on the treadmill, some stretching, crunches, and some weightlifting for my arms. Bad thing: at about 9am, after having only coffee that morning, I started getting hives on the roof of my mouth. I had to dash out of the meetings to go get some benedryl, as my throat was starting to swell. That kind of put a damper on any food I wanted to eat that day. The folks in my department were going out to celebrate "going away" for the people that got buy-out packages. I declined with the excuse that I was not feeling well. I know that I would have had alcohol had I gone, and I did not want to do that as I was taking the anti-histamies.
Instead I went out with my co-worker, and had a lovely pasta dish (soft food). Mango curry fusilli with chicken. It was soooooo good! She is also looking at taking a buy out from the company, and I will not blame her if she goes, but I will definately miss her!
We did make some plans to go out to breakfast the next morning, but she was running late, as she actually had a phone interview she was trying to schedule. They told her 9am, but they had not called as of 9:30, so she was coming to get me... I checked out, and sat in the lobby of the hotel with a book for a while... at about 10:15, I tried calling her to see what was up, but it went right into voice mail, so I figured she was talking to them - she had said earlier that it might have been 9am their time (central) rather than her time (mountain). Needless to say, I was getting a bit hungry, and wondering when she was going to show up. Meanwhile, another couple of my co-workers were catching a cab to the airport, so I rode with them, leaving Holly a message on her phone - I figured I could go through customs, and then have plenty of time to find something to eat - and left the hotel. I got a call at about 11:30 as I was about ready to set all of my stuff on the belt to go through the x-ray at security. She had finally arrived at the hotel, and was wondering where I was. I felt kind of bad, but really, we had originally planned 8:30! If I knew she was going to be there at 11:30, I would have definately had breakfast on my own, and I would not have been as cranky!
Let's recap. Got a call at 8:20, she was going to be late, perhaps 9:30. She called at 9:15, saying that probably more like 9:45, I checked out at 9:45, sat until 10:15, called, could not get an answer, and left at 11:00. Meanwhile, I am getting hungrier and hungrier, and a bit worried if I am actually going to get a ride to the airport, since I should be there by 12:00 to give me time to clear customs. Bah. Enough of that. Why should I feel bad about trying to take care of me?
On the positive side of hives on the roof of my mouth, it sure curtailed what I ate at thanksgiving! The Hors d'orves nearly made me cry. I put a tortilla chip with a dip of cream cheese, coctail sauce and shrimp into my mouth, and it made tears come to my eyes, it hurt so badly! Dinner was okay, but then for desert, I ate a bite or two of the strawberry chiffon pie, and when that started to sting, I gave the rest to my husband. No fun when eating stuff hurts!
Mom and I also got up early on Friday to hit the stores. I cannot believe that people stand in line to get the "deals" that they do after Thanksgiving. Really - my time is much more valuable than that! The up side is that the majority of my Christmas shopping is now done. Yay! We went to Kohl's and got a bunch of stuff, and now I have $30 to spend this week. I think I will look at getting myself a new rice steamer, as my old one took a crap.
After Kohl's we went to JoAnn, pulled a bunch of patterns I had written down (the best way - go online and look at the stuff before you go to the store, then just bring a list of pattern numbers) since they were 99 cents each, Fun Fur yarn to make some fuzzy scarves, and some cutting wheels. We decided that it was not worth standing in the cutting lines to get the 99 cent per yard flannel, so we checked out and got an extra 20% off of everything with the coupon because it was before 9am.
Breakfast at Perkins. Was thinking about getting oatmeal, but opted for the Eggs Benedict instead. Then off to the mall to look at Marshall Fields. We looked at the sleep number beds, man they seem like they would be very comfortable to sleep in, but I would want the one that is almost $3000. I guess that would be something for the bonuses this year! Went back to Marshall Fields, tried on lots of clothes, got a warmup outfit, and a new pair of jeans. Shopped at Target, went back to Mom's house 6 hours after we left, and it was not even noon yet...
Saturday, I felt like doing a lot of nothing, so that was exactly what I did. I have not exercised for a week, and that needs to end!
The bonus this week is that the training I was supposed to do on the 30th was postponed, so I can now fly to Chicago and back for the training on the 2nd, instead of having to drive! Plus I get another two days at home!
Anyhoo, I suppose I need to get some sort of work done, it has been a conference-cally day.
later!
-a
Monday, November 21, 2005
Leavin' on a Jet Plane
Yep, going to Calgary for work. Lucky me. I packed this morning, and got stuff done around the house in preparation for leaving... since the computer was not working last night to pay bills, I got to do it this morning. Woo hoo!
It was an interesting weekend. Went to weigh in on Saturday, was down 1.4, but if I had weighed in last Saturday, I would have been up this week. Made some bad food choices on Saturday, on the Mystery Bus Tour (bar hop) I had some points left, but gosh, mozza sticks, onion rings, fries, pizza and chicken strips? The up side was that I journalled everything. The down side is now I have less flex points for Thanksgiving. Guess I will just need to go for a long run that morning!
I did not get as much done yesterday as I wanted. Got up in the morning to do the 5K with my friend, and we finished in about 32:40, according to my watch that I started when we crossed the start line. I was pretty happy with that, since Sue was feeling a bit hungover, and I had been up until 2 the previous morning, and it was COLD! After getting home and taking a warm bath, I cuddled up and read for a while, before going to deal with the bills and balancing the checkbook. I hate doing that, because it just makes me crazy, and unhappy with how much money the two of us are spending. Believe it or not, I called up my husband and yelled at him for buying a potato! There is another story behind this: we have lots of potatos at home that will just be going bad if they are not eaten, and I told him to not buy potatos - and he agreed. But, when push came to shove, he wanted a different potato (a bigger one for baking...) so he just went out and bought one. 62 whole cents, but for cripes sake, if we ALREADY have them at home that need to get eaten, DON'T BUY MORE!
It's the whole issue of me asking him to do (or not do something) and when it does not fit what he wants, he just ignores me. Makes me so mad. I actually kicked and threw things after he hung up on me and would not answer his cell phone. Was planning on doing something dire to his stuff, or to look at doing somehting else rash and uncontrolled, but I managed to get my temper under control. But, of course, I needed to get that under control before I could sit down and deal with the finances again.
This was also the reason I did not get as much laundry done yesterday as I had planned, and why my packing for my trip did not get done. I didn't want to do anything that would make his life easier... and in return, I didn't get my stuff done either.
I made a lovely turkey stew yesterday with the leftover carcas and drumsticks from last weekend's turkey. Simmered the carcas for about 2 hours, put in carrots, celeric, onions and kale in the broth, picked all of the meat off the bones, and added some noodles. And Eric said he would eat it for lunches while I am gone this week, so perhaps he will not go eat McDonald's for lunch at all. It is so tough getting him to eat decent when I am not there to make sure he has frozen dinners for lunch.
Can you tell I am getting tired of travelling? Things just seem to fall apart when I am not there. I know he can take care of himself, but I feel like the money just seems to go out the window when I am not there to control his urges to buy buy buy.
Well, I need to get going, flight leaves at 11:15, and I need to get myself to the airport (international flight, you know).
We'll see if I can actually get an internet connection in Calgary so I can update!
-a
It was an interesting weekend. Went to weigh in on Saturday, was down 1.4, but if I had weighed in last Saturday, I would have been up this week. Made some bad food choices on Saturday, on the Mystery Bus Tour (bar hop) I had some points left, but gosh, mozza sticks, onion rings, fries, pizza and chicken strips? The up side was that I journalled everything. The down side is now I have less flex points for Thanksgiving. Guess I will just need to go for a long run that morning!
I did not get as much done yesterday as I wanted. Got up in the morning to do the 5K with my friend, and we finished in about 32:40, according to my watch that I started when we crossed the start line. I was pretty happy with that, since Sue was feeling a bit hungover, and I had been up until 2 the previous morning, and it was COLD! After getting home and taking a warm bath, I cuddled up and read for a while, before going to deal with the bills and balancing the checkbook. I hate doing that, because it just makes me crazy, and unhappy with how much money the two of us are spending. Believe it or not, I called up my husband and yelled at him for buying a potato! There is another story behind this: we have lots of potatos at home that will just be going bad if they are not eaten, and I told him to not buy potatos - and he agreed. But, when push came to shove, he wanted a different potato (a bigger one for baking...) so he just went out and bought one. 62 whole cents, but for cripes sake, if we ALREADY have them at home that need to get eaten, DON'T BUY MORE!
It's the whole issue of me asking him to do (or not do something) and when it does not fit what he wants, he just ignores me. Makes me so mad. I actually kicked and threw things after he hung up on me and would not answer his cell phone. Was planning on doing something dire to his stuff, or to look at doing somehting else rash and uncontrolled, but I managed to get my temper under control. But, of course, I needed to get that under control before I could sit down and deal with the finances again.
This was also the reason I did not get as much laundry done yesterday as I had planned, and why my packing for my trip did not get done. I didn't want to do anything that would make his life easier... and in return, I didn't get my stuff done either.
I made a lovely turkey stew yesterday with the leftover carcas and drumsticks from last weekend's turkey. Simmered the carcas for about 2 hours, put in carrots, celeric, onions and kale in the broth, picked all of the meat off the bones, and added some noodles. And Eric said he would eat it for lunches while I am gone this week, so perhaps he will not go eat McDonald's for lunch at all. It is so tough getting him to eat decent when I am not there to make sure he has frozen dinners for lunch.
Can you tell I am getting tired of travelling? Things just seem to fall apart when I am not there. I know he can take care of himself, but I feel like the money just seems to go out the window when I am not there to control his urges to buy buy buy.
Well, I need to get going, flight leaves at 11:15, and I need to get myself to the airport (international flight, you know).
We'll see if I can actually get an internet connection in Calgary so I can update!
-a
Monday, November 14, 2005
Monday, Monday
What is it about the weekend that makes me throw everything out the window? Saturday was a complete mess, eating-wise. I was at a training all day, and the downfall there, besides the buffet lunch, was the afternoon break - I adore the white chocolate macadamia nut cookies! Although, I did not take three deserts like one woman I saw, but rather took some grapes and strawberries along with the cookie. I guess you can say that was a success! Of course we went to a party that evening, and I spent too much time standing around the food table, drinking wine.
Eric and I went to Figlio for happy hour on Friday, then to see the Christmas display at Marshall Fields. I am glad we went before Thanksgiving, because I can just see that it will be crazy with people closer to Christmas. We took the elevator up, and the escalator down, and stopped to shop a bit at the furniture area on the way down. I would now like new bedroom furniture, now that we have painted the bedroom. I want to have stuff that all matches, rather than the 4 distinctly different styles we have right now. Eric was having a bit of sticker shock with the pieces, but hey, you get what you pay for. The discussion progressed into:
E: Do we really want to spend that much money on furniture?
Me: you know honey, I am not saying that we need to get anything right now, but I wanted to show you more of what I like, to see what you like... And I don't think it is unreasonable to spend 5-6K on a nice set of furniture. How much is the boat that you want to buy?
E: Okay honey, you can get whatever you want!
(The boat he is wanting is probably going to cost somewhere around $35-40K)
Sunday I went bowling for the first time this year - I signed up for a league, but have been unable to make the first two dates. For me, I think I actually did pretty well, but then my handicap is going to be shot to hell - perhaps something just unreachable. I bowled an 89, a 119, and a 122. I usually do the best on the second game, so I was pleased with that.
After bowling, I came home and spent about 3 hours in the kitchen. I made a turkey with mashed potatos and gravey for dinner, along with a salad of romaine and arugula, canned green beans for Eric and Curt (stepson), and steamed brussel sprouts for me. I also washed and dried the herbs I got in my farm share - thyme, oregano, and sage. Add to that cleaning up the kitchen, hand-washing all sorts of bottles (to be used for the home brewed beer I am making) cleaning up all of the crap on the dining room table, and set a lovely table for the three of us. It is an unusual thing to have all of us together for dinner, as Curt is 20 and pretty much always out doing his own thing.
Speaking of Curt, I am never going to let him talk me into swapping vehicles with him again! I know it sound snobbish, but I was completely embarassed to be seen driving his pick-up truck. It's loud, rusty, ripped upholstery, tires thumping (need to be replaced) and quite finiky. I really, really would much rather drive my 2005 VW Jetta rather than his 1994 Dodge Dakota. Really, I am not poor, so why would I want to drive something like that?
This week, I am vowing to stay within my points (24 + whatever AP's I earn), drink all of my water, and to get to my weigh-in on Saturday. I did not go this week 'cause I had to be at the training at 7:45 to register for an 8am start. (Dragging my rear out of bed to make it to a 6:30 meeting that is about 1/2 hour away from home was not high on my priority list!) I will also exercise! The current plan for the evening is to get on the bike at the health club so I can combine that with reading my book club book we will be discussing on Wednesday. I usually do a lot of reading on Sundays, but I managed to fall asleep on the couch yesterday morning when I was trying to read.
yep, that's about all I have time to write...
-a
Eric and I went to Figlio for happy hour on Friday, then to see the Christmas display at Marshall Fields. I am glad we went before Thanksgiving, because I can just see that it will be crazy with people closer to Christmas. We took the elevator up, and the escalator down, and stopped to shop a bit at the furniture area on the way down. I would now like new bedroom furniture, now that we have painted the bedroom. I want to have stuff that all matches, rather than the 4 distinctly different styles we have right now. Eric was having a bit of sticker shock with the pieces, but hey, you get what you pay for. The discussion progressed into:
E: Do we really want to spend that much money on furniture?
Me: you know honey, I am not saying that we need to get anything right now, but I wanted to show you more of what I like, to see what you like... And I don't think it is unreasonable to spend 5-6K on a nice set of furniture. How much is the boat that you want to buy?
E: Okay honey, you can get whatever you want!
(The boat he is wanting is probably going to cost somewhere around $35-40K)
Sunday I went bowling for the first time this year - I signed up for a league, but have been unable to make the first two dates. For me, I think I actually did pretty well, but then my handicap is going to be shot to hell - perhaps something just unreachable. I bowled an 89, a 119, and a 122. I usually do the best on the second game, so I was pleased with that.
After bowling, I came home and spent about 3 hours in the kitchen. I made a turkey with mashed potatos and gravey for dinner, along with a salad of romaine and arugula, canned green beans for Eric and Curt (stepson), and steamed brussel sprouts for me. I also washed and dried the herbs I got in my farm share - thyme, oregano, and sage. Add to that cleaning up the kitchen, hand-washing all sorts of bottles (to be used for the home brewed beer I am making) cleaning up all of the crap on the dining room table, and set a lovely table for the three of us. It is an unusual thing to have all of us together for dinner, as Curt is 20 and pretty much always out doing his own thing.
Speaking of Curt, I am never going to let him talk me into swapping vehicles with him again! I know it sound snobbish, but I was completely embarassed to be seen driving his pick-up truck. It's loud, rusty, ripped upholstery, tires thumping (need to be replaced) and quite finiky. I really, really would much rather drive my 2005 VW Jetta rather than his 1994 Dodge Dakota. Really, I am not poor, so why would I want to drive something like that?
This week, I am vowing to stay within my points (24 + whatever AP's I earn), drink all of my water, and to get to my weigh-in on Saturday. I did not go this week 'cause I had to be at the training at 7:45 to register for an 8am start. (Dragging my rear out of bed to make it to a 6:30 meeting that is about 1/2 hour away from home was not high on my priority list!) I will also exercise! The current plan for the evening is to get on the bike at the health club so I can combine that with reading my book club book we will be discussing on Wednesday. I usually do a lot of reading on Sundays, but I managed to fall asleep on the couch yesterday morning when I was trying to read.
yep, that's about all I have time to write...
-a
Friday, November 11, 2005
Friday.... could the week go any faster?
Where has the time gone? I was going to do all of this stuff, but somehow, it did not get done!
Well, I did not go to the gym last night. Was just about to, but then changed my mind. Needed to get to the Library to pick up a book that was on hold, because they are not going to be open today (thanks to all of the veterans!) Instead, I went home and cooked. Made roasted veggie soup and coleslaw with the veggies from my farm share. I LOVE the veggie soup... and it's really easy and low in points.
Take squash, carrots, onions, garlic, and any other orange/white veggies you like (I used cauliflower last night, the original recipe calls for parsnips) cube them up into about 1" cubes, put them in a shallow roasting pan, spray with Pam, and roast at 400 about 30 min, or until some of the veggies start to brown. Transfer all into a stock pot with 3-4 cups of broth (depending on how many veggies you have) and simmer until the carrots will mash easily. Puree in batches in a blender, add FF evaporated milk and you have fabulous soup. It's nice with a dollop of sour cream, or with a few salad shrimp sprinkled on top. If you like, add nutmeg.
The coleslaw was a recipe out of my Williamsburg Tavern cookbook. I will be taking it with me to a party on Saturday evening.
Since I did not get to the gym yesterday, I made my husband kick me out of bed this morning, and I got in 4 miles on the treadmill at the Y. Mostly at 5mph, but I bumped it up to 5.5 for 4 minutes at the end, and the last minute was at 6mph. I did not die. Amazing what the overweight lady can do! Now I feel just great! It was really tempting to stay in bed with Eric, though... he has the day off, luck dog!
I'm very excited about this evening. Eric said that he will take me to see the Christmas display they have set up at Marshall Fields. I have not been in years. This year it is a Cinderella theme. I figure if we get there before Thanksgiving, we might miss some of the crowds.
I definately feel like I am back on track, and more in control this week. I just need to continue on the same path. It just makes me mad that I have an entire drawer full of jeans that I cannot wear. I can squeeze into some, but they are just obscene, and not at all appropriate to wear in public, so I am here today, once again, wearing a pair of my husband's pants. It must end!
I have spoken.
Have a great day!
Anneke
Well, I did not go to the gym last night. Was just about to, but then changed my mind. Needed to get to the Library to pick up a book that was on hold, because they are not going to be open today (thanks to all of the veterans!) Instead, I went home and cooked. Made roasted veggie soup and coleslaw with the veggies from my farm share. I LOVE the veggie soup... and it's really easy and low in points.
Take squash, carrots, onions, garlic, and any other orange/white veggies you like (I used cauliflower last night, the original recipe calls for parsnips) cube them up into about 1" cubes, put them in a shallow roasting pan, spray with Pam, and roast at 400 about 30 min, or until some of the veggies start to brown. Transfer all into a stock pot with 3-4 cups of broth (depending on how many veggies you have) and simmer until the carrots will mash easily. Puree in batches in a blender, add FF evaporated milk and you have fabulous soup. It's nice with a dollop of sour cream, or with a few salad shrimp sprinkled on top. If you like, add nutmeg.
The coleslaw was a recipe out of my Williamsburg Tavern cookbook. I will be taking it with me to a party on Saturday evening.
Since I did not get to the gym yesterday, I made my husband kick me out of bed this morning, and I got in 4 miles on the treadmill at the Y. Mostly at 5mph, but I bumped it up to 5.5 for 4 minutes at the end, and the last minute was at 6mph. I did not die. Amazing what the overweight lady can do! Now I feel just great! It was really tempting to stay in bed with Eric, though... he has the day off, luck dog!
I'm very excited about this evening. Eric said that he will take me to see the Christmas display they have set up at Marshall Fields. I have not been in years. This year it is a Cinderella theme. I figure if we get there before Thanksgiving, we might miss some of the crowds.
I definately feel like I am back on track, and more in control this week. I just need to continue on the same path. It just makes me mad that I have an entire drawer full of jeans that I cannot wear. I can squeeze into some, but they are just obscene, and not at all appropriate to wear in public, so I am here today, once again, wearing a pair of my husband's pants. It must end!
I have spoken.
Have a great day!
Anneke
Thursday, November 10, 2005
Gettin' in the groove
Yay me.
I packed my gym bag, including my running shoes, again today. I made it to the Y yesterday, and ran on the treadmill. Okay, so it was only set at 5 mph, but I still kept that up for 3 miles. Felt great to get into it again. I don't know why I procrastinate so much about exercising when I know that it makes me feel so darn good after I do it!
Scale, again, said the same thing this morning. I have not been writing down what I have been eating, but I have been counting points in my head each day, and have been pretty much sticking to around 24 points (WW) which is my target. Well, yesterday I had a few more since of course I could not avoid the "healthy" snacks at the meeting last night (fruit with dip, veggies with dip...) then came home and HAD to have some light microwave popcorn.
Speaking of the meeting, it was actually kind of interesting. It was a short seminar on career planning. Found out what I pretty much knew - like what I do, but not where I do it! The next step would be finding a company that is a better fit for me. To be perfectly honest, if I can find something where I don't travel nearly so much, it would be a blessing! One of the people there considered driving to a different office in the same city "traveling". Traveling is not getting out of your office. Traveling is staying overnight at a hotel, travel is when you are in meetings all day, then you have to spend a couple of hours at night working on your computer to catch up... Travel is glamorous to the people that don't do it very often or at all. Can you see how I feel about travel?
Traveling is also something that completely messes up my WW efforts. You sleep like crap the first night, so you don't feel like getting up early to workout. You look like a complete anti-socialite if you want to go workout instead of going out to dinner. You feel like a complete teatotler when you order water when everyone else is ordering beer (and I LIKE beer). And don't get me started on restaurant food - hidden fat, carbs, portion sizes....
Anyway, off to make my Lower Sugar Quaker Oatmeal and to get my first cup of coffee... next on the agenda would be paying some invoices.
----end of ramble---
Anneke
I packed my gym bag, including my running shoes, again today. I made it to the Y yesterday, and ran on the treadmill. Okay, so it was only set at 5 mph, but I still kept that up for 3 miles. Felt great to get into it again. I don't know why I procrastinate so much about exercising when I know that it makes me feel so darn good after I do it!
Scale, again, said the same thing this morning. I have not been writing down what I have been eating, but I have been counting points in my head each day, and have been pretty much sticking to around 24 points (WW) which is my target. Well, yesterday I had a few more since of course I could not avoid the "healthy" snacks at the meeting last night (fruit with dip, veggies with dip...) then came home and HAD to have some light microwave popcorn.
Speaking of the meeting, it was actually kind of interesting. It was a short seminar on career planning. Found out what I pretty much knew - like what I do, but not where I do it! The next step would be finding a company that is a better fit for me. To be perfectly honest, if I can find something where I don't travel nearly so much, it would be a blessing! One of the people there considered driving to a different office in the same city "traveling". Traveling is not getting out of your office. Traveling is staying overnight at a hotel, travel is when you are in meetings all day, then you have to spend a couple of hours at night working on your computer to catch up... Travel is glamorous to the people that don't do it very often or at all. Can you see how I feel about travel?
Traveling is also something that completely messes up my WW efforts. You sleep like crap the first night, so you don't feel like getting up early to workout. You look like a complete anti-socialite if you want to go workout instead of going out to dinner. You feel like a complete teatotler when you order water when everyone else is ordering beer (and I LIKE beer). And don't get me started on restaurant food - hidden fat, carbs, portion sizes....
Anyway, off to make my Lower Sugar Quaker Oatmeal and to get my first cup of coffee... next on the agenda would be paying some invoices.
----end of ramble---
Anneke
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
Starting over, again, and again, and again
Well, I bit the bullet, and went to a WW meeting again on Saturday. It was actually kind of funny, because I snuck in to the meeting just as it was starting... just sat down instead of weighing in first - there were too many people in line. When Corky saw me sitting there, she literally fell over. It's such a nice feeling to know that people are glad to see me, and care about me and how I am doing.
I had not weighed in since May. I was up 10 pounds from then. Why do I do that to myself? It is getting to the point where, once again, I am trying on lots of clothes in the morning to get something that I feel comfortable wearing. I have plenty of cute clothes, but they are 1 or 2 sizes too small for me, and I am steadfastly refusing to purchase more clothes. Leaves one option - LOOSE WEIGHT!
On another note, I have acutally stuck to the plan for several days. Okay, make that two - and believe it or not, the scale at home is saying nicer things to me... and I have done this before - the scale starts going in the right direction, I start feeling better, and it goes up again. I guess I just have to tell myself that even if it goes down, it is still not acceptable!
E picked up the winter farm share last night. With all of the travelling I did the last couple of weeks, we decided to let the other couple take the last whole share, and I get this whole share. Man do we have a lot of fresh veggies now: beets, turnips, kale, garlic, onions, potatos, squash, arugula, carrots, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, scallions, and SQUASH! I guess I will be spending some quality time in the kitchen making healthy dishes and freezing them. I love all of the stuff with the farm share - both the winter and the summer (check out the program at www.hogsbackfarm.com) but with E not eating a lot of the veggies, I have a hard time getting to everything before it starts getting bad. Just have to make a more concerted effort to eat, or cook and freeze more.
I once again, took my gym bag to work today, this time I managed to get my running shoes in the bag. The only thing is that now I cannot find my Y card. I guess I will just have to bite the bullet and get another one. Didn't like the picture on the old one anyway! It's a cold and windy day, so I won't tell myself I will go running outside when I get home, and perhaps will really get my rear to the gym today. Need to get in shape if I want to do that 5K with any semblance of dignity!
That's about all I have to ramble about.... or at least all the time I have!
Make it a great one!
Anneke
I had not weighed in since May. I was up 10 pounds from then. Why do I do that to myself? It is getting to the point where, once again, I am trying on lots of clothes in the morning to get something that I feel comfortable wearing. I have plenty of cute clothes, but they are 1 or 2 sizes too small for me, and I am steadfastly refusing to purchase more clothes. Leaves one option - LOOSE WEIGHT!
On another note, I have acutally stuck to the plan for several days. Okay, make that two - and believe it or not, the scale at home is saying nicer things to me... and I have done this before - the scale starts going in the right direction, I start feeling better, and it goes up again. I guess I just have to tell myself that even if it goes down, it is still not acceptable!
E picked up the winter farm share last night. With all of the travelling I did the last couple of weeks, we decided to let the other couple take the last whole share, and I get this whole share. Man do we have a lot of fresh veggies now: beets, turnips, kale, garlic, onions, potatos, squash, arugula, carrots, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, scallions, and SQUASH! I guess I will be spending some quality time in the kitchen making healthy dishes and freezing them. I love all of the stuff with the farm share - both the winter and the summer (check out the program at www.hogsbackfarm.com) but with E not eating a lot of the veggies, I have a hard time getting to everything before it starts getting bad. Just have to make a more concerted effort to eat, or cook and freeze more.
I once again, took my gym bag to work today, this time I managed to get my running shoes in the bag. The only thing is that now I cannot find my Y card. I guess I will just have to bite the bullet and get another one. Didn't like the picture on the old one anyway! It's a cold and windy day, so I won't tell myself I will go running outside when I get home, and perhaps will really get my rear to the gym today. Need to get in shape if I want to do that 5K with any semblance of dignity!
That's about all I have to ramble about.... or at least all the time I have!
Make it a great one!
Anneke
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