I've Moved!

Well, those of you who know me by now probably saw it coming. LOL

I created a new blog and I'm merging both of my blogs back into one. The blogspot address has my name in it, which is what I realized I wanted (after it was too late to change the first blog, of course). Here's the address:

http://aimeslee.blogspot.com/
And the link with title: Aimeslee Was Here

I'm calling it "Aimeslee Was Here" for now, and I'm talking about whatever on it. Any topic. No more just scrapbooking and crafts on the other blog, and no more just health on here. It's limiting and hard to keep up with, given how many interests I have and how much I embrace change.

So, my first post is already there. Go have a look. Please be sure to change my link if you have me listed on your blog. Please change the blog name, too.

Oh My, Thursday already?

Caught in the Trash Act: Ever pay attention to what's in your trash? LOL I couldn't resist taking this candid shot. It depicts the sinning ways of each one of us. Hubs drinks, we both smoke, I heart junk food, and Missy eats disgusting cereal. And we all have a weakness for Digiorno Pizza. OK, the dogfood is for our dogs, just thought I'd make that clear...

My Doctor Visit Recap

So, I'm a bit in shock at how fast this week flew by. I wasn't in the best mood yesterday, so forgive me for not posting. I had an uneventful doctor visit. It went pretty fast. Got a yucky steroid shot on that foot in question. Can I please tellya that the foot is about the absolute worst place to get a shot, painwise? (Okay, my baaaad self cannot resist adding here that I'm pretty sure in guessing that the clitoris would be the worst worst hands-down worst spot -- OUCH AT THE THOUGHT OF THAT -- ROFL, but the foot is not far away on the pain scale.) I had my first foot shot back about 6 years ago for a heel spur. That was injected into my same left foot, on the inner side right above the heel...with all those blood vessels and fatty part. My pedometrist then was such a nasty personality and denied me any kind of pain-killer, so this time I took my Orajel tube. Don't know if it's 99% mental placebo or not, but rubbing a little Orajel on the shot spot just prior to the injection helps me to take it better. I'm just sayin'. Had I snapped to this when Missy was little, I'd have definitely utilized it, because docs and nurses never ask you, would you like a numb-er with that shot? LOL Perhaps if they did, the anticipation problems of getting a shot might be a bit less traumatic, ya know?

Anyway, the doc took blood and a skin culture. I'm to go back on Monday to continue the Big Investigation, cuz he doesn't know what those spots are (I must admit, my PCP is not very prone to quick conclusions, sheesh). The steroid shot was decided upon due to the fact that I'd had some success in drying them up with some steroid cream I'd had left over from the cellulitis I had on my leg earlier this year. We shall see, stay tuned...

Plans for this Weekend
Friday I am scheduled to make a "quick" 150-mile round trip to Beaumont to pick up Missy from college and bring her back. She has plans for Saturday here in town with a childhood girlfriend of hers, Khori. Special plans. Missy's going to be a bridesmaid in Khori's Feb. 2008 wedding, so the bridal party's going shopping for the dresses and schtuff. I was delighted when I heard about the engagement. Khori's always been a great friend to Missy, and I know her fiancee, Jerry: he's the son of Missy's elementary school principal! Samll world, huh, LOL. Anyway, my job tomorrow is to get her here, and then hope to carve out a little chit-chat & hugs time before taking her back to Beaumont sometime on Sunday.

Health Plan Update

How am I doing? Let's calculate! LOL (I am trying to learn photography and my camera, so I'm taking candid shots, and you poor readers are going to suffer by me using some of them as blog graphics). Well, the scale still likes me. At the doc's, I weighed just a quarter of a pound shy of 40 pounds lost total since 4-21-06! It seems like only the other day I was celebrating a 35-pound total loss, so I'm all shines over this. I've been concentrating on getting as many of those Super Foods into me on a daily basis, plus my other daily must-haves. I'm still greeting each day with a cup of hot green tea with lemon and sweetner, coffee without the heavy cream (non-dairy nonfat creamer has now taken its place with no ill effects), my apple-a-day sliced into wedges, my Dannon Light&Fit Carb&Sugar Control yogurt that's only 60 calories, my toasted Sara Lee breakfast half-a-bagel and cream cheese, a salad, and my TV dinners (Lean Cuisine or Healthy Choice, whichever is on sale). I did have a junk food craving yesterday and successfully overcame it with a grilled sirloin patty and sauteed broccolli and cauliflower.

Oh, and can I just say, Blue Bunny ice cream treats with Splenda ROCK! I opted for trying those instead of more Dreyers ice cream on my last grocery store trip, mainly because you get a premade serving and the Dreyers wasn't on sale any longer. I also bought some Blue Bell no-sugar-added ice cream bars with Sorbitol, but I think I prefer the taste of the Blue Bunny. Plus, 10 less calories and they are cheaper. It's all good. I also have some Jello sugar-free Chocolate Pudding made up in little plastic containers. In case I get a mega-craving for chocolate, I am set. And Hubs fixed up some tuna salad, which works well with my other bagel half or my tortilla chips. So, no bread loaves in the house still. I did buy some bread machine yeast in case I get motivated to make some real bread. I guess my style is to eat healthy but not exclusionary, and as long as it's working, I'm going to continue.

My only area of concern at this point is that because of the foot, I've let the lazies take over and my daily steps are only hovering around a mile a day. I really need to step it up, as they say. Today I've begun to work on this by getting up and making my in-house laps, so my totals will definitely increase, hopefully back up to 3K a day and soon.

I'm waiting for my latest purchase from Amazon to arrive. I ordered some of that Super Food Quinoa (yes, Amazon now sells a lot of nonperishable grocery items, so if you are having trouble finding gluten-free flour or something along a health food store line, check Amazon out. The prices are comparatively pretty darn good on what all I saw so far.) I needed a few more dollars to get free shipping, so I went to my wish list and saw this DVD I'd been wanting for awhile: Yoga: Just My Size With Megan Garcia. This is Yoga for obese people, girls, and it's got my name written all over it, LOL. Seriously, I've heard nothing but good things about it. Even folks who are not overweight but have injuries or inflexibility are digging it.

I'm looking forward to being able to get back into yoga and watch big bodies doing it. Trust me, it makes a difference, cuz it's not that easy to get into some of those poses, even for skinnies. I also find I've been avoiding the floor, and this DVD ought to help me get down there again. I don't mind going down, it's the getting up that I dread, LOL.

Well that ought to do it for now. On to finishing up some stuff on my list for today. And on to doing another step lap, and another, and another, LOL.

Doctors Take All Day

for me, anyway. And not in the waiting room. Today I have an afternoon appointment with my PCP, Dr. Dave, to get my blood tested for the thyroid (routine) and to have him look at the top of My Left Foot (LOL, never saw the movie, love the title, though). I don't know if it's a last gasp of cellutlitis or a strange strain of athlete's foot. Been there for almost 2 months and just now finally drying up. Red dots that grow into red splotches, no pus, totally flat, just weird. Now they are fading and crusting some. They used to itch sometimes, but not lately, at all. And they are just on the top of my foot. Between my toes and on the bottom of my foot there is nothing. Strange, huh? I decided early on that I'd just live with them and not make a special doctor trip, but now that I am forced to go to get the blood tested for a refill of my thyroid meds, I might as well show him. And if he says it's athlete's foot, I am gonna push hard to get the pill, cuz I've had the nasty AF on the sole and between the toes, several times in the last decade, comes and goes. And only on My LEft Foot. My right one is pristine and always has been. Again, weirdness. Like, no way do I go thru life hopping on only one foot and subjecting only one foot to fungus, so we shall see....

So, bottom line is that I've lots to write, but not now. Gotta finish getting ready for the doctor. It's taking me all day, because I had a body that needed shaving and showering, hair that needed washing, clothes that need to be light and of course those clothes needed to be washed and dried and ironed. And I needed to do all my walking and my drinking and eating. Except no eating til I'm back home. Cuz I'll get weighed there, ya know. Gotta give myself a good edge. I also figured I wouldn't take my thyroid today, hehe, til I get home. Probably should have laid off that pill for the last week, but too late now.

So I'll be back later on to discuss amongst myself last night's TV show premieres and other sundry stuff.

I'll leave you with this, my latest newfound info: Quinoa is pronounced keen' wah.

I mean, who know that? (Noeli, I bet you knew...).

I Put Some Junk in my Trunk

Fast Food Follies and Loose Caboose Jollies
Oh, yes, I confess. I committed total junk food whoring last night.

And I didn't even really enjoy it. That's the sad part. Dangit.

Since I don't go into details about my daily bread feed, you may not know that I usually hit McD's or WhataBurger or BK about once a week, if I've been good, and if I have not eaten much that day. WhataBurger has been the most frequently-visited, as their burgers taste homemade to me. If I'm craving fries, it's McD's, and if I'm trying to stay halfway healthy, it's BK Dollar Menu for only the burger. So far it hasn't presented a problem. Yup, coulda eaten better, but I usually enjoy the transgression, so it's been worth it to me. I get the Junk Food Craving out of my system, and a renewed motivation for self-discipline goes into my system.

Last night started out that same old way, but my problem was I could not decide where to go. So, I got it into my head to get fries and a shake at McD's and a burger at BK.

Well, big mistake. Shoulda gone to WhataBurger as they never disappoint, LOL. I think I'm done with McD's. The fries were horrible, but did I throw 'em out, oh no, I ate almost all of them and also the shake. And I chose the wrong burger at BK. I got a Rodeo Burger when I shoulda gotten a Whopper Jr. The Rodeo burger sucks, ok? IMO, that is. And I should know, I ate every bite.

Sheesh. It's like when you save up fifty bucks and then just totally blow it on ridiculousness. Yes, you shoulda just put it into savings, but if it had to be spent, at least it coulda been bought something enjoyable or valuable. Ya know?

All I'm gonna add to this is that in a Perfect World, Subway would be open 24 hours and have a drive-thru window...

Ten Super Foods
My girl Noelia blogged a list the other day of the Top Ten Super Foods that her DH told her about, and I was really glad, cuz I've heard there was a list but you have to buy the book to get it and so I've remained clueless. Til now.

Well, maybe not totally clueless. I see now that I could have probably guessed about half of these foods. In fact, a few of them I've even blogged about here. And there's a couple of foods I would add, although I'm not a nutritionist of course. I just read and watch the news.

Here's the list Noelia posted:

1- Ground Flax Seed
2- Carrots
3- Quinoa
4- Almonds
5- Green Tea
6- Blueberries
7- Garlic
8- Parsley
9- Lemons
10- Lentils

Green tea - Check! Lemons - Check! Garlic - Check! Almonds - Check! Flax - Check! (I actually keep some whole seed in the freezer and sprinkle on every salad I eat).

The rest, I did not realize they were Super. We usually have carrots and I prefer to eat them raw, so that's good. I'd heard that blueberries are really good for you, but down here they are hard to find fresh and pretty, and I doubt that frozen ones give the same benefit.

Parsley? Ok. Lentils? Ok. Quinoa? What the heck? Is that a grain? I'll have to google that one and read up on it. (Done. Click here for a great edumacation on it. And OMG, the health benefits are speaking to me, will have to get some. Soon.) And here's a good place to start for recipes using quinoa.

I heard on the news last week that Avocados are now considered fabulous nutritionally (recent research). And I've read that Cherries are, too.

Anyway, that's the list. I'm going to try to add a couple of these to my diet and play it safe. For instance, I was just thinking the other day I needed to get a stash of dried beans and keep some cooked up and frozen for quick and nutritious meals when nothing else looks good. I don't know about you, but I love beans, especially in a soup. I'll be looking into lentil and quinoa recipes. I already saw a Quinoa and pinto bean recipe. Cool. And what about breads?????? To be continued...

I'm *BACK*! {teehee}

Woke up this morning -- barely this morning, 11:30 my time, to be exact -- and I'm feeling so.much.better. We'll see how it goes as to whether my skeleton will stay in a cooperative mood, but I am so wanting to just get on with Life!

So thankful for your well wishes. That made me feel better knowing someone cared whether I lived or died, LOL. Hubs started his project at work this week that has a schedule of 12-hour-days 7 days a week, so he's not exactly sympathetic and I can't blame him. We are both just focussing on all the OT dollars this will reap hopefully if the next highest tax bracket doesn't interfere. LOL Anyway, thanks again!

Last night I took 2 Ibuprofen, then took another one an hour later. I know, I know -- that's a no-no. And I think maybe I've done that twice in my whole life if that much (used to have a girlfriend who would do that all the time). I did my yoga stretching (and I'm so proud of myself, cuz it hurt bigtime). And then I slathered on the Biofreeze to the paining areas of my various body parts. And then I went to bed.

Well, it did the trick, for today, anyway. Thank goodness for small miracles, is all I gotta say. As it has now been over 12 hours since my last night's dosage, I popped one more Ibuprofen along with my morning thyroid and arthritis meds dose, so key your fingers crossed for me.

Anyway, on to some great news, which I have! You know that around here I talk freely about my pooping habits, LOL. (Just wanted to remind ya, don't ya love it?) Anyway, I'd been constipated almost all week; actually, cannot remember the last time. Last recorded one was Saturday, the 15th and it was actually 2 of them on that day, along with my weight. Now, surely I pooped sometime this week and just did not record it? I digress. Anyway, I felt nature's call first thing today, girls, and then I weighed afterwards.

And woohoo! I've lost 3.5 pounds since Saturday, and I'm now 1 entire pound below my lowest weight since before that Bluebell Rocky Road ice cream debacle put 5 pounds back on me! Happy Dance Happy Dance! And I feel lighter. Stuff has redistributed. I love it. I backed off of the anal retentive scale chase, concentrated only on eating healthily and getting my walking done, and voila! Gotta love it. I am doubly lovin it because I needed some positive motivation to work past this body pain and not get all legarthic and self-pity-party. And, it's Friday. Oh, man, gotta really love it. LOL

Anyway, I want to share with you something I've done all week long, cuz I think it helped clean me out or raise my metabolism or whatever. I don't know what it did, but I'm gonna keep on doing it, forsure forsure. And that is to just drink one cup of green tea every morning first thing, before my coffee, before my water, before everything.

Hey, just try this yourself and see if it helps ya any. Whatcha got to lose, except for the price of a box of green tea bags (we buy Lipton from the grocery aisle, no fancier than that). I sweeten mine with a little SweetnLo and sometimes I squirt a bit of lemon juice in it.

I'm not a doctor (though I've played one on TV, ok, just kidding), but I do not think the tea made me constipated. I think what caused that was I forgot to eat my daily yogurt a couple of times (my bad). That yogurt keeps me on track, end of story. And I think I already mentioned that the tea makes me feel like I have more energy. I've read more than a couple of articles about green tea boosting metabolism, so maybe that's what it does. Hey, who couldn't use that? And, without the chemical metaboosters, too, like are in those diet pills that I'm way too scared to take.

Well, duty called already, and now playtime is beckoning me, LOL. I want to go create something, but first I need to walk and then stetch out, gotta stay stretched today. So, that's all til Monday for sure (I seem to have developed a blogging habit for taking the weekend off).

So, stay strong and happy, my girlfriends! No sabotaging allowed! Have a good weekend!

I'm Down for the Count

Hello, girls. Just a quick note today to let you know that I've been staying away from the computer until the parts of my body that are killing me feel better.

Yesterday I woke up feeling really stiff and it went downhill as the morning wore on. I thought at first I'd slept wrong, and I still don't know what caused it, but my neck began hurting so bad. Then, my arms up by my shoulder sockets ached and hurt; then my lower back/hip; and then my feet and legs. I can't seem to stay here at my computer for any time length, so I'll go now and promise I'll post again just as soon as I can!

I've Been Thinkin'

LOL, yes I do that occasionally. Here's the deal. I read Maria's last few blog entries and she is feeling better health-wise but really down about her goals not getting met. She's about the most dedicated person I've *met* in a long time, and she tries so hard, yet she is not losing weight the way she wants to.

Truth is, and it's a nasty truth too, Maria only has a few pounds to lose, so maybe she's not meant to lose them. She is, I suspect, sculpting one incredible and healthy body, and that involves muscle. We all know that muscle weighs more than fat, so maybe that explains why the scale is not moving south.

Maria's hubby asked her if she was more concerned with weight loss or building health, and I really think he has tapped into it. In other words, given the choice between weight loss or health gain, health gain is the wiser choice. Every time. Being overweight does not mean being unhealthy. Being a "perfect" weight according to some insurance charts doesn't guarantee health, right? Except for the last 5 years of my life, I was extremely healthy and weighed 30-40 pounds more than those charts said I *should*. And nobody ever could tell. I used to really get people to drop their jaws by confessing that. I truly am "big-boned", plus my bones are super-dense...and heavy. And, I also had extra fat, which I could only lose by becoming borderline anorexic (which I did flirt with in my 20's and thank goodness that relationship didn't stick).

Anyway, Maria's quandry got me to thinking about me. I'm getting real tired of chasing the weight loss dog. Maybe I'm retarded or something, but unless I devote way too much time and energy on the food I eat, I don't achieve scale success either. But I can eat healthily and exercise beneficially without a whole lot of thought or time. I guess I need to move on for a while from chasing the scale. I need to do other things in my life, like what's on my ToDo List. I do have a special problem in that due to my pain-killer taking during the first 3 years of my arthritis affliction, my brain turned a bit to mush and my memory was definitely affected. So, I have special challenges just trying to get things done on a daily basis. (Which is why I chose the word "focus" for my Ali Edwards Word of the Year.)

So, my quandry is, do I want to spent most of my daily focus on weight loss, or do I want to be happy with healthy eating and exercise AND get stuff done? Yeah. I choose the latter. Not a hard choice. I've lost 35 pounds more or less, and still have 35 more to lose to be able to no longer chase the scale. And I'll still have that 30-40 extra pounds on me, but I'll happily seek permanent custody when/if the day comes that's all the extra weight I have.

So, anyway, that's where I'm at. Aimes' Best Life is gonna be more exercise-oriented from now on, and more healthy eating. And not OMG, I lost 2 pounds, or OMG I gained them back. Cuz that's just crazy, ya know? Let's watch the yo-yo in slo-mo. I mean, yeah, for real, as my DD would say.

Maria, you have absolutely no reason to feel ashamed about anything. You have a hubby who is telling you he loves you just the way you are, and he sees you living a healthy life. They say the Scales of Justice are blind, and I'm thinkin' that our weight scales are too, cuz they do not measure what is really important. Yeah. Word.

Weight Loss in the Cards!

Over at 2Peas, I ran across a neat idea that Patter is doing on her blog : Dealing the WeightLoss Hand. She and her group are on Week 5, so it's not too late to join in. I don't know if I'll get any cards done, but I have her blog on my Google Reader list now so I can look at the Card Eye Candy. Check it out! (Just scroll down her blog page til you see the latest post title for this).

Today I'm working furiously on a tax return that I need to mail by today at 5, so this will be all I have time for. I want to wish Maria a get-well, and one for anyone else who is not feeling up to par. I've got so much catching up to do: posting here, as well as reading my other group member blogs. I promise I'm gonna get that done this week.

If you haven't already guessed, Mondays and me do not mix well together, LOL. More tomorrow......

Missy's Quick Trip Home

She and Hubs left about an hour ago to return her to college, but we got a short but very sweet visit with her. I sure do love my girl! Hubs went yesterday around lunchtime to get her and she had a doctor's appointment here late in the afternoon. She brought her dirty laundry home to do and we spent time chatting and catching up while she washed, dried and folded. Then we all went out to eat Mexican food at our favorite little place in the next town south across the Hartman Bridge. We enjoyed Margaritas (I like mine on the rocks with a sugar rim), the it was pig-out time. Missy was in an enchilada mood, Hubs got their sampler plate (one of almost everything!), and I opted for beef fajitas for one. The dinners were fabulous. No one complained (and that is a rarity, lol). Although our stomachs were stretched at this point, we ordered sopapillas and coffee. Hmm, I must be spoiled by our homemade brew and eats, but I've had better on both counts. Still, it filled that tiny little hole that was crying for sugar carbs (oh, why not just a total on slot of carbs), and we left happy, even though we were literally having a bit of trouble walking, LOL. Missy said it was the fullest she'd been since she left for school (I suspected as much).

Once back home, I forced everyone to assist in getting this photo, although I shouldn't have bothered Hubs. It's kinda fuzzy, out of focus. That's his specialty, unfortunately.
You need Dramamine to watch videos he's taken, seriously. Even sadder, the camera was on the tripod when he snapped it. Next time I will use the camera's timer. At any rate, I'm grateful for the photo. Can you see how wiped out we were? Note to self: next time, use the timer and take the photos prior to any carb-feasts....

That photo shows my new hairdo. Last week, I decided it was too long. I wanted it off my neck, so I chopped it off myself with the aid of the bathroom mirrors (they are wall cabinet door fronts and when you open the doors, you get all angles). I figured I'd screw it up and then I'd have to go get a haircut, but I actually did a great job, even in the back! Not that I want to cut it regularly, though. Once in a blue moon is enough for me. I really appreciated Missy being home though. She always flat-irons my hair before we go out, and I've been missing her. I got a welcome ironing yesterday, LOL, so I wanted to record the new look.

I had planned to compile my steps since I began and bring my weekly averages up to date. I think I only blogged about the first week's numbers and gosh, I think I'm on Week 5 or 6 by now. I will try and get time to do that for next post. Except for yesterday's dinner, I've actually been a good girl, still working to whittle back off that 5-pound gain. This morning I totally expected to have gained even more, but wonder of wonders I have lost another half a pound from Wednesday!

I hate to say this and jinx it but my BadKarmaFest just might be over. Gosh, I hope so!

Last week I fixed my version of chicken spaghetti, and we had some leftovers of it, so Missy had a small bowl of it before she left today, and she loved it. We all do. And it's even yummier eaten as leftovers. So, I'm gonna attempt to record the recipe here, even though I don't have it written down anywhere. I will bold the ingredients for you, but be forewarned: none of them really have a set amount. This is about mixing ingredients to get a consistency you like, and also to cook like you usually do to get the tastes you like.

The secret to this is leftover cooked chicken, and Campbell's Chicken Noodle soup, with the noodles strained out (I don't use them in the dish, so trash or snack on 'em, your choice, lol). Okay, you shred or cut your de-boned cooked chicken into bite-sized pieces and put aside. Then, you pour the soup broth in a pasta-boiling-sized pot, along with enough water to boil your noodles/pasta/spaghetti in, then set to boiling and then cook your noodles. While that's cooking, you need to chop up some celery and onion, saute them in a pan with olive oil and butter, then add some garlic powder and the chicken. Cover and heat through on low. When the noodles are done, you want to drain them, keeping 1 and 1/2 cups of the broth water. (I set a 2-cup pyrex measuring cup in the sink, hold a strainer/colander over it and then pour my noodles and liquid in the colander. Aim also for the pyrex and it will fill up). Then, take your empty noodle pot and combine the noodles and the chicken mixture, and mix together in the pot real good with a can of cream of mushroom soup and a small drained can of sliced mushrooms. Do this on the stove on a low burner. Mix thoroughly while slowly working in some saved broth water, the exact amount depends on the amounts of chicken and noodles you have used. You are seeking a good consistency, creamy but also a bit watery (you will see why in a minute). When you have that mixed to your liking, get a pyrex casserole dish big enough for your mixture and line the bottom with restaurant-style tortilla chips. Then layer on all the mixture. Then layer on a generous topping of grated cheese. Bake covered in a preheated 350F oven for 20-30 minutes or until heated through and bubling. Take the cover off and cook 10 minutes or so more. This stuff is delicious and goes well with garlic bread or even cornbread. The chips get super soggy as they soak up the extra water, and give it a wonderful flavor twist, a lot like King Ranch Chicken. And there is alot of salt in the soups and the chips, so I would wait to salt and pepper it at the table.

If It's Thursday, It Must Be Humberto

Okay, I've officially gotten my 2 blogs flipped-flopped. You will be forced to read both of them if you do not already do that. LOL Why? I just blogged today about my personal life on my scrap blog. Bad Aimes! I'm so lazy that I'm leaving it that way, so there's a link. It's about Humberto hitting here.

I'm back on my healthy eating and walking now, and I've taken off 1.25 pounds of that 5 I gained (so I've already lost 1/4 of the gain). That was as of yesterday (Wed.) morning. I realized I'd also quit drinking my water amount last week, so I've been correcting that. Plus I've been making sure I eat at least one apple a day. Actually, I have a small hit list of daily must-eats: water, green tea, yogurt, fruit, protein. I really ought to add to that, so when I get some time and motivation (LOL), I'll do some research and figure out what to add.

Believe it or not, I've upped my average daily steps already by 1,000, without even really trying. I decided it was all the getting up and going after craft materials (on the other side of the house) as I need something (and then putting it back right then when finished with it), instead of gathering up what I need for a project before I start. Now, I started doing that because I'd made a horrible mountain of supplies next to my work table already. I couldn't put anymore stuff around the table, LOL. So I've been putting stuff back a lot, really working on it. And I refuse to sit too long. Make myself get up and do something. Lord knows there are always several things to choose from, LOL.

So, anyway, things are good in the Best Health dept. My mom called this morning around 7 a.m. worried about Missy. She's got a problem with her foot and leg, and I'm wondering if it's what I've had (cellulitis). Otherwise she is doing fine. I still can't believe she was almost dead 2 years ago with an incurable blood disease, almost senile and then suffering a stroke. She battled back from all that, and is managing the blood condition well with twice a week blood testing. To me, that's amazing.

You Want Apple Fries With That?

<----- This, I LIKE. Coming to a Burger King near you and me soon, read the scoop here. I like it because, first of all, it's from BK and my BK is right across the street from my subdivision, and it serves hot, fresh food. I would enjoy eating apple slices with a whopper or value menu burger. Cuz, I mean, c'mon, ya gotta eating something else with the burger cuz we're used to the fries. Am I right? Anyway, might as well be some fruit that at least looks like fries. I know, I know, it's geared toward the kiddos. I'm just sayin' it works for me too.

"BK stands for Big Kids, doesn't it?" ~~ Aimeslee

Drama, Drama, Drama

I just had to make that little BK joke cuz I have been having some Bad Karma lately. Left and right. It started last week and I thought it would lighten up, so I didn't mention it here. But it's been over a week now and it's the gift that keeps on giving, just one thing after another. Weird crap, too.

It all started when Hubs went grocery-ing and came back with a gallon of Bluebell Rocky Road in the sack. Uh-oh. Right? Oh-no is what it shoulda been, but did I say that? Hehe, I said yes. And yes again. And again. And at the same time I had a bit of constipation going on, so no poop for like 3 days. And then in the midst of all that I did a no-no and weighed. Before I'd pooped, which is not how it's done around here.

So, of course, I weighed 5 pounds heavier. 5 pounds. WTH? So then I was like omg, I just wiped out like a month's work. And that was only the stuff affecting my diet. There's more.

Missy broke up with Diego. I knew it was coming, from the way she has been talking for the last month before she even left for school. She basically said she wanted to, but was afraid to hurt him. Well, since school began, she's met new guys, and they've pursued her. So, anyway, she has another boyfriend now, it took like one day. His name is Jonathan. He's a psychology major and is going for his PhD. He lives in an apartment off campus with his younger brother. And, he has a car and a job and money, 3 things Diego doesn't have. Now, I hate to sound so uninterested about it all, but it's her love life, her life, so I'm just trying to be supportive and available to her as she ferrots out Life 101. But I did like Diego very much. I'm kind of relieved though, that they broke up, cuz he really was not very ambitious. He's the youngest of 4 and his parents spoil him even more than we spoil our only child. Like Missy herself said, at least she knows the value of money and has a work ethic, and she is thankful we taught that to her. Yup, sometimes being a parent is worth all of the crap when you hear your kid say that out of the blue and really mean it....

So, anyway, back to my BadKarmaFest story...Missy called from schoollast Thursday night, frantic out the bazooka. They had a mouse in their dorm room living room, behind the microwave. I concentrated on calming her down, doing my mom stuff. Although I'm also mentally picturing myself in her situation, and I'm not able to stay there, okay? My girl might be frantic, but she's tough. They went to Wal-mart, got some glue traps, set them, and then both managed to get some sleep there that night.

The next night they caught the mouse. Called their floor advisor and she called the janitors, who showed up at the door saying they couldn't come in the room; the girls have to hand it to them. What????? Well, they did, but still, what's up with that?

Anyway, she calls again a couple nights later, and there are 2 more now. And not even really worried that there were like 3 people in the suite and lights on, etc. Anj saw them and Missy put some peanut butter on the floor and the damn critters came right up to the food and started chomping!

So, the girls cannot stay there now, they are so creeped out. And their floor advisor does not answer her phone, so Anj walks over to the next dorm to grab a floor advisor from there and forces him to come over to help them. He says he will call the exterminator for them the next day and if they cannot stay there he can try to get them a "stipend", whatever in the heck that means. But that's all.

I'm sitting here, 70 miles away, wanting to be Mama Bear and make it all right, but even I can't figure out what to do. My first urge was to go get them an apartment and get them out of there! But, hello, we have $2K "invested" in that dorm room for the semester. Then, I'm really wanting to fire off an email to the college prez telling him about it, and if he doesn't want it spread across America, he needs to get it fixed asap so my daughter can concentrate on her studies and feel safe and clean and disease-free. I mentioned the email idea to Missy and she's like Mom, let them try to fix it. I'll let ya know if I need you to do that down the road. So, I'm just trying to take my mind off it.

Seriously, though, is that not just the grossest thing to have to deal with? Man, I hate that school (and she's only going there cuz Diego is there, too, so get a load of that irony...)

Anyway, so then, I had to do a circle journal page spread and finish it in time to mail it off today. You guessed it, it's not getting mailed today. It's not even done yet. But I do have all the components for the page spread all spread out on a table, waiting, calling my name.

And for some dumb reason, I'm not able to focus on it long enough to make progress. This has been going on with this particular circle journal for almost 3 weeks now. It took me forever to come up with a good theme, idea. It's for Miss Heather, who is the leader of our group, and I wanted it to be special, ya know? Something fresh and funky. I finally came up with a really cool Western take on it, but gosh, does it have to take forever? Boo to me, what is it with me lately. Another irony, cuz Heather's Word is FEAR, and I am apparently afraid to do the dang page spread. Oh, Brother! (lol) What will I think of next? I know this isn't my scrap blog but there's a little sneak peek (of the components just sitting there).

Okay, back to the BadKarmaFest: Sheila, our little micro-mini-Dacshund, starts getting these seizures that she has always had all her life, but she's getting them more frequently and they are a lot more powerful. And she always seems to have them while I'm outside with her, which makes it worse cuz it kills me to have to watch.

So, we've had to wrestle with the idea for a while now of having her put down, and it is shaping up to be something I am going to have to do. Hubs can't bring himself to, and Missy says all she wants is for me to wait til she's not there. Both of them are chicken when it comes to doing that deed, so I guess I'm elected. Actually, I want to have it done. She's in pain on a daily basis. She'll be 13 in October, so she's lived a good life. I just do not believe in having her suffer at this stage in her life, because she's old and tired, and everything is hard for her. But even though I'm not chicken about it, it's just creepy and dark and so final. We are pretty sure she's turning senile though, so it's the best thing.

Anyway, I think there's gotta be more, but I'm getting really tired of typing, so I'll just say this is to be continued if I think of any more things that happened. And plus, there'll be something that happens today, bet me. Oh, yeah, I remember: we have Tropical Storm #9 now, knocking on our shore door. Mega flooding rain event, lovely. And Hubs is taking Friday off to go pick up Missy cuz she has a doctor's appointment here that afternoon. She's planning to spend the weekend, then we'll take her back Sunday. But that stretch of Interstate 10 between us is where the dang storm is going to be coming ashore. So, who knows if she'll get to come or not. We may have to reschedule that doctor's appointment.

A Not-So-Guilty Pleasure for You

1. Crumble up a few of these into a small bowl:

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2. Microwave this TV dinner entree, and when cooked layer the broccoli onto the chips, then the chicken and cheese sauce:

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3. Enjoy!
Ooops, looks like I already did {contented blush}:


The entree has 220 calories and is quite filling for a lunch or a mid-afternoon snack. The cheese sauce is really good, does not clump up or lose its blendedness, and does not taste like cheese whiz, velveeta or that crap they ladle onto tortilla chips at little league concession stands. The spices are great, the chicken chunky, and if you add the chips to it (about 15 calories per chip and it only takes 2 or 3 to line a small bowl), it takes just like King Ranch Chicken, if I'm lyin' I'm dyin'. Try it!

Catching Up on the Therapy

Whoa, well, as soon as I decide not to push the step increases, I ended up adding onto my daily count Monday and Tuesday as if I was still aiming for that. Go figure, LOL I had an incredible amount of energy Monday... so much so that I only got 3 hours of sleep that night, then went at top speed all day yesterday, then only 4 hours last night! How whack is that?

So today (Wednesday), I'm dragging worse than a drag queen, sweeties, lemme tellya! My dang bed looks sooooo good every time I walk by it. The only reason I'm not in it right this momento is cuz I am even hungrier than I am exhausted. Wait, wait for it, it'll make sense here in a minute, LOL. Hubs is off work and slept so late I thought he might be dead or something, but he just got up a few minutes ago and will be making us breakfast soon, so I just gotta hold out for those yummy scrambled egg tacos he's gonna make with the low-carb tortillas. Then I will probably sleep all day long. I can handle the day after one night of crappy sleep, but not two nights like that.

So I am trying to get my blogging done before that all happens. And of course, how convenient (not), I remembered I never blogged about my therapy sessions and how they were going. And being as I finished them last week (yay! no more trips to Houston every week!), I guess I'd better blog about it before I forget what to blog about.

[Sorry, had to take a long nap before I could continue...those tacos were sooooo good, lol)

Okay, so I don't really remember ... I think the last time I blogged about therapy, I was happy with the one-on-ones but getting bored with the group sessions. So, anyway, I ended up not going to any more group sessions. That was back around August 1st or so, and it has not been a bad decision at all. My therapist switched me to her partner, and I thought that was gonna be a bummer, but it ended up being wonderful, a great decision. The new lady has a sister who scrapbooks and had just gone through something similar earlier in the year! Get out! Right? It really made things click, cuz she understood the allure of the passion and the fun to scrapping and creating art, to just a regular everyday ole' person like me. And she understood the whole online thing, and she knew 2peas, which was where her sister got involved too much into the social drama that can erupt there and any board frankly, but of course I was not given a name and that drove me nuts for a bit, LOL. I wanted to know who her sister is. LOL Anyway, I was able to decide that while 2peas doesn't affect me that way, the smaller boards online DO. To me, 2peas is just way too big to get "involved and invested" there, and I've always felt that way. I mean, that's just the way it affects me, your mileage may vary as they say.

I did have a slight detour because of some negative words from someone online that I had thought was my friend, way back at the beginning of all this. I couldn't shake my negative reactive feelings, so I had to work it out in therapy. It seemed to me like I was more concerned with not being rude in retaliation for her hurting me with the comment, instead of being outwardly angry. It just festered and I eventually became really really angry. Dr. J really helped me thru that sa far as I could get, cuz I'm still disgruntled about it, to the extent that I wouldn't want to discuss it with the "friend", but I did get to a healthy self-interest point to say to myself and mean it: good-bye, good luck and good riddence. Dr. J and I also agreed that it was sort of a secret blessing that I was basically called dishonest for what, not hanging out on boards? Man, that is primo judgementalism, glad your life and self are so perfect {not!}, and you feel so confident about judging others so quickly.

As you can plainly see, it's a sore subject, but for awhile there, I was just taking all the blame, when I don't owe a bit of anything for that. Just being PASSIVE. Man, that's was my word of the month for July, huh? Dr. J made me realize that when people are faced with a life change and especially if it is hard to see and deal with, they are kind of in shock once they realize what's going down. And you know, they don't have the mental or emotional energy to go around to 4 boards and discuss with everyone individually, like, "so sorry, won't be on any more, thanks!!" I did that on my blog, and you read it if you wanna know what's up in my life, hello?

Oooooooo, this is also why I put off blogging about this, cuz it finally started ticking me off bigtime. LOL, okay, anyway, back to the story. Dr, J. said this was a blessing cuz it got my dander up and increased my success. So in a sad and twisted sort of way, I suppose I should say thank you to that person. Except, that ain't evuh gonna happen, LOL, possibly in 50 years. So okay, maybe that's out of my system for awhile.....

Dr. J also worked with me to uncover what else was driving me to live such a passive life, after a whole lifetime of not being that way. After exploring several aspects of it, we came up with some ideas. What I liked about Dr. J. was that she could identify behaviors well, and asks great questions to get to the causes for the behaviors. (Bad part is that ya haveta dredge up a lotta old memories to help her do this). It seems that I never actually "fought" my arthritii diagnosis back in 2002, I just seemed to accept it. But Dr. J. thinks I was tremendously overwhelmed by it because of the way it detrimentally changed me physically (I'd always been fit up to then no matter how much I weighed). So I gave up, and the passive behavior is characteristic of this. Really simple but so hard to believe that little negativity can wreak such havoc. But it can.

I have to say that this was a dreaded but positive experience for me. I'd seen a psychologist in my 20's to help me figure out my mom and why I did some of the same things she did, and to basically find out who I was (think Gail Sheehy "Passages", cleaning out your closet, which I was eat up with back then); then, about 10 years later Hubs and I had seen a therapist for a brief period for marriage counseling. Both times it was basically me/us talking and the professional never saying much at all. This was irritating to me, even though I know it is a common way of doing it. But Dr. J., she speaks her mind and often. It VERY MUCH enhanced the process. I cannot say enough about this. I told her my thoughts and she said that historically that's a much better way to connect with MALE patients and a much preferred way for MALE therapists, but things are slowly changing. Man, discrimination in the most unsuspecting places, huh? I sure coulda used Dr. J. back 30 years ago, lemme tellya. But oh well, water under the bridge.

Probably the biggest lesson I came away with is to live for me more, stand up for me more, do not step back into the shadows for anyone. I'm still realizing every week how easily this can happen to me, LOL. Seriously. Anywayz, that's the deal, Lucille. Case closed. I've got a gameplan about online behavior. Not gonna do the smaller message boards any more. Since I can handle 2peas no problem, I'll stick to that one only. My blogs are helpful for venting and expressing and communicating, so I'll keep those up. As for my buying supplies (and everything I buy), I now tell Hubs before I buy anything, which means I pick it out first and find the best buy. The very act of running it past Hubs keeps it down to what I need, versus what I want (which is almost everything, lol). Hubs ALWAYS says fine, so it's not humiliating or frustrating. I don't have to justify to him. He has learned that I already do that before telling him, and he's never really denied me anything anyway. The good in that is self-evident, but there is also bad if I'm out of control. But I really hate buying anything now, so I hope that feeling never leaves me. (Plus, gotta love Dr. J: she kept telling me what I'd spent on scrapping was not all that big since I never spend much on myself at all, so I need to allow myself not to feel guilt any more for it and just learn and go forward. Good advice.)

Whew! Now you can see why I'd been puttin' that off, lol...

Ped-O-Cures

It occurred to me I'd never shown a photo of my pedometer, so there it is. The Omron H-112, which I am totally all shines for and I bought it here for a very reasonable $20.

All I'm sayin' is, if you are not happy with your pedometer or are looking for one that will store each day's readings (steps, aerobic calories, areobic steps, and miles walked) separately for 7 days, please do buy this model. It's worth the money, people... remember, I accidentally dropped this into the toilet and it still works perfectly! LOLOL A better testimonial than that is hard to find, LOLOL.

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Before I forget (again), let me tell you that last Thursday, I got very sick (which is why I did not blog for a couple of days). It was baaaaaaad, people. I still do not know exactly what it was, but I think it was food poisoning. Hubs cooked dinner that night and so we both ate the same dinner: I got sick, he did not. I looked at what I'd eaten that day that he did not, and so it was either a baked potato or my yogurt (I ate the potato with my meal, and the yogurt for a snack an hour or so before dinner).

Here's what happened. We ate dinner. About an hour or so later, I began having HORRIBLE cramps in my lower abdomen, way down there, like really low menstrual cramps, but about 3 times worse. Seriously, I had to do Lamaze breathing to just survive them. Then, about 30 minutes into them, they began moving north. I thought, how weird. Then, I suddenly began feeling nauseous. I managed to grab a half-full trash can by my scrapping desk with a bag liner and run to the bathroom before throwing up. Yup, had to sit on the pot and throw up, in case I began losing it on both ends, if you get my drift. OMG, it was horrid. I hate throwing up worse than anything in the world. But, thankfully, no dry heaves and no lingering nausea. I threw up twice and then felt really good, exactly like the offending poison had been vanquished. So, that's why I feel it was food poisoning. I did have more lower ab cramps and eventually pooped, but no diahrrea. Apparently, the poison was pretty much all upchucked.

Hubs thinks it could have been some stray dirt or something on the potato, under the skin, but I remember thoroughly scrubbing the dang thing before baking it. I believe it was the yogurt. I'd eaten the first one from a four-pack purchased a couple of days prior, with a Sept. 5th expiration date. I now think that pack of yogurt was what they call in the grocery store industry a "put-back".

Call me crazy, but my prior experience as a grocery checker at Safeway back in the 70's taught me a lot of useful things, one of which is to choose my refrigerated and frozen foods from the back of the shelf whenever possible. Why? Because the front items could possibly be "put-backs", that's why. A "put-back" is just what it means: you've all seen stray grocery items on shelves not where they belong, right? People decide they don't want something in their cart and put it back, but not where they got it from, and in the case of refrigerated/frozen stuff, this sets up spoilage if someone puts back one of them on the canned goods isle and it's not found by employees til 12 hours or 2 days later.

Well, those employees are instructed to put that item right back in the fridge or freezer section, as if nothing happened, as if it had never left. I'm dead serious. And 95% put it back right in front. It's just how it's done. And that spoilt item is sitting there waiting for unsuspecting you to choose it and take it home.

I've concluded that's what must have happened, because my Hubs has never believed me about put-backs and continues to this day to choose stuff from the front, although I did convince Missy to choose stuff from the back (she became a believer once she discovered you get the better expiration dates that way). When I told Hubs my conclusions, he did not disagree, which means in Hubs-speak that he agrees. I just hope he will become a back of the shelf customer from now on. He saw just how sick it made me and how well I was afterwards. I hope he realizes it could be him next, since he buys 90% of the groceries.

And if this is the first time this has ever occurred to you, I hope it makes you think twice about just grabbing climate-controlled merchandise from the front and going. Until the day comes when put-backs change color and glow once they are spoiled, it's just good sense to dig to the back. Trust me on this, cuz there are tons of put-backs in every grocery store on a daily basis.

Anywayzzzz, Hubs got me some more yogurt (with a Sept. 24th exp date), and I am happy to say that it's all gone down just fine.

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On the coffee front, I am still cream-free, peeps. It has been tough, but my teeth are feeling much less fuzzy between brushings, and man, I'm probably taking in several hundred less calories every day. Something else, I'm drinking much less coffee when it is black. But it seems to work as good if not better (the caffeine, that is). Weird, huh? Gotta love the Chemistry of Digestion. I can drink one cup of black coffee now and get about the same caffeine effect as almost a POT of creamed-up and Sweet-n-Lowed coffee.

Yes, that is correct, you read that right. I used to drink at LEAST a pot a day. Sometimes TWO pots. And I used to drink it out of a 16-ounce latte cup, special ones that I bought just for my coffee. I mean, drinking a whole pot of coffee would take forever if I had to add cream and sweetner to little 8-oz mugs, right? LMAO - sorry, but this makes me giggle...what a great way to cut calories and improve my healthy eating, yet I never even considered it until lately (yeah, I didn't wanna give it up is what that was). The reason I fought it was for taste, or so I thought. Turns out the taste of a good cup of black coffee is not that bad once you keep a clean coffeemaker and use decent coffee and cold (Brita) filtered water to make it with. So, if you are not seeing results with your weight loss, maybe it's that Starbucks addiction, peeps. (Yup, saying a prayer of thanks here that I never got into the whole Starbucks thing ... OMG, I'm not EVEN gonna think about that ...).

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I'm still managing to lose a pound or 3/4 of one every 2-3 days, an average of 2 pounds every 7-10 days, which is fabulous for me. Still weighing after I poop, which is usual within an hour or two of waking up for the day. I do not weigh every time I poop, but looking at my lil datebook (where I record everything), I see that I weigh myself about twice a week.

My big plan to add 200 steps to every day's count is a dismal flop. I was doing great until I had the food poisoning (which was like only a day or so after I began). Throwing up totally wipes me out for days afterward, and I totally wallowed in it, LOL. I didn't NOT walk, I just did not push myself to get to a certain step count. Looking back, I guess I should feel good about not quitting, and now I feel good about stepping it up again. Yep, I'm back on track now (altho I may not try to add a certain number of steps). Here's a great idea I've implemented to help me get my minimum done every day. If it can help you, try it!

Okay, first let me remind everyone I'm technically disabled and so I step-walk a very small amount compared to what we are supposed to every day. I basically walk 3K a day (versus the 10K a day we are supposed to do). Additionally, I have the lower back-hip pain, so I only walk a certain amount at one time, which means I have to get my walking done in bunches, not all at once. And also, let me say that until it cools down here and stops constantly raining, I'll be walking inside, thank you (and without a treadmill, darnit, wish I had one).

I have a circular "track" of sorts that I walk: I begin in the family room, walk thru the breakfast room, kitchen, dining room, living room, foyer, and then back into the family room. Or, the exact opposite, to vary it up. That's what I call one "lap". And I know how many steps that "lap" is. Then I just do it as many times as I need to get a certain number of steps in. And I do that several times a day.

Yes, I know that is a really hard way to get my steps, but it is the only way I've been able to do it. It works for me, and it works, period. For those of you who have physical constraints, try something like this. It does help, it does do you good.

Anyway, here's where my problem comes in. I get to going on my laps and then forget how many I've done! Was that the fifth time around or the third or the seventh? I love to just let my mind relax and run where it wishes whenever I walk, so you can see the problem, LOL. Here's what I came up with yesterday, and it works so good!

I do my laps in bunches of tens, so I got a tall coke glass and ten pennies. I put the glass on a table that I pass by on my lap, and I begin my laps there. I hold the pennies in my hand, and every time I pass the glass, I drop one in. When all the pennies are in the glass, I've done my lap bunch. Simple as that. I never forget to drop a penny in, no matter how spaced-out my brain is while I'm walking (and the more spaced-out, the better in my book, because I can walk a lot longer without it seeming to be drudgery).

Now, if I can just get more of my lap bunches in during the first half of my day, I'll be a happy girl!

Have a great Labor Day night, folks!

Big THANKS to MARIA BELL

For those of you who read this blog for any kind of motivation or inspiration, then surely you've found Maria's Journey to Skinnyville blog. There's a link to it on my sidebar.

I've been keeping my weight and exercise data in my little datebook fairly consistantly since 4-21-2006, and today I made a very crude graph of my weight for the last 16 months. You remember graphs in high school math, right? X znd Y axis? I made the x axis be weight in pounds and the y axis be time in months. Then I plotted the weight readings I'd taken when I took them.

What I discovered was a hideous amount of roller-coaster rides where I lost, then gained back, then lost, then gained back. Down, Up, down, up, down. Wow, nothing like a graph to make the point! But what I also saw was that since I've been inspired and motivated by reading Maria's blog, my roller coaster has vanished!

Coincidence? LOL, I don't think so. I know it's helped me, even when Maria was on what I call her Superwoman program of diet and exercise. I couldn't even hope to do what she was doing, yet she has inspired me to keep going with my own plan. In little but important ways, she's made it impossible for me to neglect my plan, and I realize now from doing the graph that neglect is what caused the roller-coastering. Forget, neglect ... and the pounds slowly start packing back on. Neglect is the enemy of Downward Trajectory (when it comes to weight loss, that is). Damn, don't we all wish that weight loss was subject to the Laws of Gravity, hehe.

So, anyways, I want to publicly thank you, Maria, for being my Motivation Angel: for reading and sharing, for assessing and adapting, for recording it all on your new blog. Were I able to grant you a wish, it would be for you to wake up tomorrow morning and discover yourself 30 pounds lighter!

Kickin' It Up a Step

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." ~~ Confucius

Hi, everyone. Well, I gave my current journey a bit of introspection today and decided that my success has been in large part due to under estimating my goals. Yes, I'm dead serious.

Think in terms of a Type A over-achiever mentality who's creating those goals. Now, do you get it? LOL, ok, maybe you are one of those peeps, too, so you might not get it. The goals would be over-achiever goals. So, built-in failure threatens at every turn. Lower those standards, and you might just approach reality...and success.

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it, anyway. And I have been successful. Wow, that seems to be such a foreign thing to say for me when it comes to my weight. So, I am enjoying it.

I've now officially lost a net total of 35.25 pounds from my all-time high weight on April 21, 2006. That's been 1 year and 4 months, or 16 months, to lose 35 pounds. Hm, not exactly spectacular, but if you only knew the see-sawing that happened a couple of times, with some periods of *nothing* thrown in there, you would be as proud as I am. During that time I learned how finally to keep the Atkins Induction weight loss off, instead of gaining it all back and then some. I've dealt with a few health issues in that time, too, and still managed not to lose sight of my goals. And I'm now on a good program that will hopefully continue to give me a loss of a pound every 3-4 days, which has been the case over the last couple of months. But I consider that gravy since my goal is 1 pound a week. Yup, I got built-ins on built-ins when it comes to my rationales. And I truly think it's the way to go, cuz for me at least, it spurs me on when I'm successful. I truly don't have to lose the fastest or the most, and I used to think I did.

So, now, I'm gonna tack on a couple more steps to success here. First one is that Sunday I stopped using cream in my coffee. I dearly love heavy whipping cream in my coffee, but you know, it's not good for me. I've begun getting cavities along my gumline and the first thing the dentist asked me was, "Do you drink cream in your coffee?" The first day, I added some SweetnLo, but Monday I started just drinking it black, and drinking not as much. So far, so great! And as everyone knows, there's some calories in that cream that I'm not ingesting now. Yay!

Second thing is, I'm adding 200 more steps a day to my walking. (Okay, for you younger or more athletic readers, don't call me lazy or a whimp; remember, I'm technically DISABLED, OKAY? For me, it's a big deal.) I'm going to try to add 200 on every day to the previous day's total, but I suspect I might have to downsize that a bit to not so quickly. We will see how it goes... At any rate, I did add 200 today to the day before's total. Not that hard.

Oh, one thing I wanted to mention was how beneficial it has been to me to be getting a huge amount of sleep on a daily basis, like 9-10 hours. I'm very grateful to be able to do that, first off. And I feel it physically. Imean, I can feel that my body benefits from it. So I know it's helpful.

One thing that I never seem to remember is that our bodies are undergoing a lot of changes and stress when we actively pursue a weight loss and exercise program. In addition to my weight loss, I'm seeing even more drastic changes in my arms, legs, stomach, butt, face...in some places I look better, but in others worse. Like my upper arms. They looked like huge thick sausages before, but they were firm (from packed in fat, lol). Now, my upper arms hang from the bone and have dimples and wrinkles and valleys and such all over them. YUCK! Yet, I know that's because there used to be fat there that's gone now. So, it's a double-edged sword. Am I gonna be lighter and healthier but ugly and repulsive? (To my knowledge, there's no room in the budget for all that plastic surgery, short of winning the Lotto or something). I know full well that at 51, my skin may not be able to "bounce back". In other words, it might be too late for me, and that realization really, really sucks. Cuz, I did this to myself. Oh, well, can't dwell on that, mainly because I know my history: things always seem to come out better than in my worries, LOL.

Thanks to all of you who have commented, I love to read your messages. Welcome to Maria's group members, stop by and say hi! Well, time for a sleep, laterz!

Still on Track and Doing Good!

I know I have not blogged in days, but I've been doing my steps and eating healthy. Hubs and I don't go out to eat often at all, so I've been working off of a gameplan of eating up the raw foods (fruits and veggies) in the fridge bin before they spoil. This has proven to be helpful, LOL. Yup, no duh.

Of course, I'm about up to my neck in fruits and veggies and don't wanna see another one for a while. So, to outsmart my contrariness, I have adopted a strategy where I eat them first before anything else every day. Sorta like taking medicine. I doubt this can last forever, but I'll take it as long as it does.

Let's see, what has happened since last I blogged? OH! The biggest thing was that I dropped my pedometer into the toilet. That's right, the toilet. The good news about it was that I'd just finished cleaning the dang thing. The bad news about it was that a little bubble of water got into the LED so that it looked like a real live "liquid crystal display" ROFL. It stayed there for 6 days, too; then a couple of days ago, the water mysteriously escaped and voila, a dry display. And the best thing was that the pedometer never quit working. (I was all prepared to order another one, as this step-walking is addictive!) So I'm here to tell ya that the Omron HJ-112 can take a "drown" and keep on counting down. {Hardee-har-har, LOL}

On the homestead scene, the most exciting thing that happened to me this past week was that I had a snake sighting a bit too close to, well, home. I usually open our garage door for awhile every day so that the breeze can waft through and cool it off a bit...it's usually like a sauna in there, which sucks cuz I moved my rocking dhair in there to take my smoke breaks and I let the dogs go in there with me so they can visit with me on the breaks. To them, it's not a sauna; it's cooler since they live out on the back porch.

Well, I got in my car in the driveway to run errands and closed the garage door with the opener remote on my car visor. When I returned, I thought to open the garage door back up with the remote. When I did, a big-ass snake, every bit 3 feet long, was hanging from the door as it was coming up. I was just dumbfounded. So, instead of jumping out of my car to see where it would slither to, I just sat there. I finally got enough snap to get out and I think he went off the side of the driveway and under the fence into the neighbor's back yard. And so my day and week went on, but of course I battled my imagination all week about the dang thing being around here again, LOL. I finally got so tired of being worried about it that I decided he could just bite me and be done with it if that was to be. Finally got some peace from that creepy-crawly worry.

There's a pasture directly behind us that has all manner of what I call town wildlife: snakes, cow ants, field mice, skunks, possums, rabbits. This is the first house I've lived in that has given me encounters with nature's critters, because a few of them invariably make their way onto our property and venture up on the porch, even into the house on rare occasions. I've had 2 previous snake sdventures. The first one was when they'd mowed the pasture and that stirred up all the critters, and a snake got into our house and found himself a perch on our wall oven. Missy and I were in the kitchen chatting away about something, when I happened to rest my eyes over on the oven and saw him. OMG, you cannot imagine the freaking out we both did. SAhe ran and woke her dad up, so in he comes all grumpy and mean, takes some tongs and grabs the snake and walks him out to the back fence and throws him back out into the field. That's one wonderful thing about Hubs -- he's a brave man. Missy and I still shudder in unison whenever we remember that, LOL.

The second episode was one fall when it got cool suddenly one evening. The field got mowed for the winter and once again the critters got stirred up (and confused, if you ask me). A snake found its way up onto the back porch light at our back door. It was a heat source, I guess. I'm walking back into the house and just happen to see him. Once again, Hubs was asleep and no one there to help me. So, I get a pair of sharp garden shears to try to pinch his head off with. He tries to avoid me and slithers his head under the wiring pipe to the light, then he gets stuck there, luckily for me. This allowed me to run into the house and get my Gopher tool (I've also gotten snakes out of our pool using the Gopher...very versatile tool, I have 2 of them). Armed with that to pinch him securely and hold him down, I was able to cut his head off and may I say I enjoyed that, LOL).

I've also had a handful of snake-in-the-pool adventures that I'm not even counting...quite frankly, I'd love to forget them, LOL.

Memorable Week's End

I'm still on track with my Week 2 walking goals, and I haven't lost but I haven't gained either. Being that Wednesday we had pancakes and Thursday donuts (treats for Missy) and then Friday Jason's Deli for lunch with Missy (my friend Vanny met us there), I'm doing pretty darn good not gaining any, hehe.

Yesterday was Move Missy Day. She officially started college life away from home. Hubs was determined to take only one car and by the time they got her stuff all packed into the car, there was no room for me! It was either argue with Hubs and ruin the air of excitement enveloping Missy like a lovesick pup, or make the sacrifice and stay home. Since I was pretty sure that Missy would shoo us both out of her dorm the second we moved everything in and deny me any attempts at photo-taking, I decided to be the Noble Mom. After all, I'd probably be missing nothing, except meeting her roomie Anj (and Hubs told me he didn't get to meet her, she was gone to a friend's).

Anyway, as fate would have it, this ended up working out great for me, because I'd only gotten about 5 hours of sleep the night before, and I was having a hard time not freaking out over Hurricane Dean, specifically whether or not to evacuate and whether or not to stock up and what to stock up on, etc etc etc.

I just knew that with the heat, the freaking out and facing good-byes to my only child for the first time in my life, I would be a basket case. After they left around 11 a.m., I kicked back and worked on relaxing. I soon got a huge help with that. The 1 p.m. 5-day forecast update for Dean came out and we were no long in the Cone of Destruction!

Now, I know perfectly well that we could go right back into the Cone at any time. And I know that landfall is a distant 4 days away. Still, you just have no idea how much I freak at the thought of preparing for a storm. On one hand, I'm an old pro and can do it in my sleep. I've been through my share in almost 50 years. It's just that I don't wanna.

If I were smart, I'd use it as an excuse to go visit my parents. I thought about it, but geez, it's hotter up there than here. Of course, if the storm hits here, then I'd have a/c up at my parents, and probably no a/c here, which is precisely why I hate whethering hurricanes and tropical storms. The aftermath, in a direct hit, always involves no a/c, no electricity. UGH! Yes, I'm painfully aware that my life revolves around too much electricity, LOL.

I think I was also mad at DEAN cuz I'm still feelin' that feeling about geting no direct hits this year. And Dean finally, finally got the message, rofl. I THINK. He is looking more and more westward, and now the cone of destruction is hundreds of miles to our south today. So...so far, so good.

Okay, back to my story...so, after he got home last night Hubs and I went to our fave Mexican food restaurant per his request. We'd not been out to eat in a good while, and I carbed out, hehe. With Tex-Mex, how can you not????? Let's see, I had a LAredo Dinner, which was guacamole, queso cheese dip, 4 combo chicken and beef nachos, a chicken flauta, 2 enchiladas, beans, rice, jalapenos, and sour cream. I ended up only eating barely half of the whole thing, but I was stuffed. Hubs picked off my plate after he finished his, and by the time we left, my plate was almost clean! Oh yeah, I also enjoyed 2 margaritas on the rocks with sugar rims. Yummmmmmm. Seriously, they were gooood. Not being much of a drinker, I was amazed at myself for sucking down the first one and ordering a second one, then sucking that one down. Whoa. Stranger than truth, peeps, LOL. Yeah, I specifically remember last night around 10 p.m., I was like, DD-who????

This afternoon, she called and we all got on and visited. She went to work and it was easy. She hooked up with all her friends from here and hung out here and there. Her dorm is fine. She's figured out her way around everywhere. Only thing is, the cafeteria is not open, so she's at the mercy of what she can find for food. Classes don't start til Thursday, and so the cafeteria's closed. And Missy will go for too long before she thinks about eating. We were always having to ask her and remind her, did you eat, when, what, how much? Well, I guess I'll just have faith that if she gets hungry enough she will walk to McDonalds, cuz it's stupid for me to worry. She had a chance to buy food to take and she figured she'd wait til she got up there. Her roomie has a car and so does her friend Garrett and Diego's roomie Eric has one too. Someone can get her to Walmart if she has to go. (No, we did not let her take her car. Her job is within sight of her dorm, as is her classes, so it saves insurance money and gasoline thi way.)

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Polls Need Love, too
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Finally, let me get this over with: results of some polls I took over at BlogThings, after Vanny hounded me for about a week! LOL She dared me to take 5 polls. Now I'm daring her to do the same! (P.S. I did 6 polls, 1 extra, because I apparently can't count...LOL...no, seriously, I had wanted to do the Pisces one but forgot about it until after I'd done the first five. So, I did the Pisces one, too...because I really am a Pisces!
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You Are 70% "Average American"

You are average because you rate your appearance 5 or higher. You are not average since you have (at least) a college degree.

How "Average American" Are You?

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You Are a Conservative Democrat

Frankly, the way most other Democrats behave embarasses you greatly. You pride yourself on a high level of morals, and you have a good grasp on right and wrong. It's likely you think America needs to get back to its conservative, Juedo-Christian values. Why aren't you a Republican then? Because you believe the goverment helps more than hurts.

What's Your Political Persuasion?

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Your Brain's Pattern

Your mind is an incubator for good ideas, it just takes a while for them to develop. But when you think of something, watch out! Your thoughts tend to be huge, and they come on quickly - like an explosion. You tend to be quiet around others, unless you're inspired by your next big idea.

What Pattern Is Your Brain?

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Your Scholastic Strength Is Deep Thinking

You aren't afraid to delve head first into a difficult subject, with mastery as your goal. You are talented at adapting, motivating others, managing resources, and analyzing risk. You should major in: Philosophy Music Theology Art History Foreign language

What Should You Major In?

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You Have a Melancholic Temperament

Introspective and reflective, you think about everything and anything. You are a soft-hearted daydreamer. You long for your ideal life. You love silence and solitude. Everyday life is usually too chaotic for you. Given enough time alone, it's easy for you to find inner peace. You tend to be spiritual, having found your own meaning of life. Wise and patient, you can help people through difficult times. At your worst, you brood and sulk. Your negative thoughts can trap you. You are reserved and withdrawn. This makes it hard to connect to others. You tend to over think small things, making decisions difficult.

What Temperment Are You?

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You are 73% Pisces

How Pisces Are You?

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Many Thanks for Comments
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Thank you to my readers who've taken the time to comment or email me. I'm always thinking that, but I hardly ever *say* it.

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Lead Paint, But No Recall
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I ran across this photo the other day on Flickr's Creative Commons (attributed to Nor Cal Jeff) of a gorgeous pink Humboldt Victorian in Eureka, CA. This may just be my Totally-Just-A-Fantasy Dream House, LOL. I never did have a doll house when I was a kid (Barbie's Dream House not withstanding), so maybe that's the root cause of my attraction. I love to look at it, it's just plain pleasing to my eye. An "Ahhhh" moment..... I would totally have my craft room in the turret, if I could, LOL.

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The Rain, The Heat, and Hurricanes
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This is how seasoned and callous we are down here, no one is even breakin' a sweat over Tropical Storm Erin's landfall tomorrow just a few hundred miles south of us. We had a wretched storm blow through last night, part of the "squalls" of rain bands surrounding her. Tomrrow we have an 80% chance of rain, Friday's 50% and Saturday's 30%. My house could continue to get deluges or it could not have another drop fall on it. The winds could be strong and destructive, or barely a breeze.

All we seem to care about is how she has lowered the temperature enough to get a break in this summer's extraordinary swelter. Well, I say 'break': right now, as of midnight, it's 82F degrees outside. Up until the last week in July, the night time temp had remained in the low to mid 70's.

Anyway, it's like we are all mesmerized by the heat or lack of it, and cannot think past it. The days have turned pretty much into doing everything based on the sweat it will produce and whether it's worth it. Movements are slower, energies are constantly drained. I take frequent little "set down for while" breaks to air out my socks and feet and give my specific prickly body parts time to calm down. The Gold Bond lotion has become a frequent treat, like chocolate or something.

DH started back on days today and was just worn out, even with it being cooler. The last thing he wants to think about is tracking a storm and prepping our property, and he's usually Johnny-on-the-spot. I know this is silly, but I've had a constant feeling that we're not getting any direct hits here this season. I'm sure it's because Missy'll be separated from us, on further up the coast, and I just do not want to think about what kind of plan we will need if one hits. Guess I better start formulating some ideas on that, though, huh? I wonder if she would be safer just staying there, or are we supposed to come get her? Thank goodness for email and cell phones. I would hate to have to worry about it without those tools.

Let's see if I'm right about no storms next week, when Dean is supposed to come barrelling into the Gulf.....

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Missy's Collegiate Adventures
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Tomorrow Missy and I need to go to the bank and get the savings account straight, whether I'm still a signer and can tranfer money out of it as needed. I've decided to just let Missy charge her books. We are going to charge the tuition/room/board bill, and then transfer funds to our account when it's time to pay the card (we pay our balance off in full every month). I've recently become aware of a recent federal law change (part of all that credit card "reform" that seems to be penalizing us consumers, argh) that allows banks to charge fees for not following stricter "float" procedures. Like, if you transfer funds into a bank account at 10 one morning and then use that account's debit card to spend those funds at 9 the same morning, it's like you are floating those funds and a fee kicks in. And the fees are horrible. LOTS of people posting over at my local newspaper's chat board about how much money it's cost them. Used to be, if your deposit hit the bank before 2pm, it would cover whatever you'd spent that morning. But no more. To be safe, you need to leave a day's business between the two (with the deposit getting there first).

Because of that, I don't want to risk us falling prey to that, as I know that Missy does a lot of things last minute. So, we can just use the credit card float and stay perfectly legal. Handling money matters long distance and trying to advise a teen on money matters at the same time...well, kinda scary. This is virgin territory for us both.

Missy is going to open her own checking account on the edge of campus, though, for her spending money expenses. She kept back 4 of her last paychecks. She's getting a debit card for that one, so there should be a bit of a cushion. I'll have to sort of be a thorn in her side for a while to make sure she doesn't do something to incur the wrath of the bank fees. I think this might be the hardest part of parenting, as the economic stakes and risks just keep getting higher and higher. Yes, I'm a worrier, but that is my natural tendency for any "first". This tiome next year I should be cool as a cucumber and very experienced. LOLOL

Let's see, I don't think I knew to report last post, but Missy has a job for the next month at the bookstore on the edge of campus nearest her dorm. Her first day is Sunday, work right away. So, she'll be earning some money. There's even odds that she'll be kept on, though, because the status of a current employee is in limbo and Missy would be replacing her. So, we shall see. We both really wanted Missy to get this job, because it's close to her dorm and it closes at 5:30 most days (no late nights). Plus, she would not be working many hours, which I like. I don't really want her working more than 15 hours a week, 20 max. I want her to have fun, too!

Her roommate is from Longview and seems like a really nice young woman. I'm looking forward to meeting her Saturday. I've only seen her MySpace. I think it is cool that they are both English majors. The university tries to pair roommates up like that. Missy and Anj compared notes and both of them had put many similar answers on their dorm questionaire. I wish I'd have had a questionaire in my day, LOL.

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Walk This Weigh
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This heat has stopped me from walking outside at night now. The only place I can walk for the time being is in my little circle in the house thru the den, living room, dining room, kitchen and back into the den. And then do this several times, then do that several times a day. Around and around. It's more fun than I let on, and pretty brainless, but it's just not worth it to pour buckets of sweat outside at 11 at night, ya know? I'd rather hit the table occasionally and gain a bruise than sweat like that.

I totalled my steps and mileage for my first week using the pedometer, and I'm walking a little over a mile a day on average. If you will remember how I wasn't even able at first to do more than 1/8 mile before hurting, these are great numbers and something to be proud of, as I am. That pedometer is wonderful. I highly recommend getting one.

And, knock wood, I am continuing to lose a pound every few days and eat carbs now. I'm still not counting calories and hopefully won't need to until I get closer to my wanted weight range. It's been hard to not look at the carb counts on labels, though. Then it seems silly to, since I'm not trying to do Atkins. I think it's good to keep looking, tho. Doesn't hurt.

I can also take my time working up to 10K steps a day, too, without sacrificing the benefit of walking. Next week, I'm going to bump up my daily steps a bit, but this week's totals may not be even as good as last week's, because of this being Move Missy Weekend. I haven't been able to give it the needed attention. Thank goodness my weight loss has continued.

Yup, I'm definitely a turtle.... {LOL}

Can You Read Me Now?

My In-Real-Life best friend Vanessa and I were kavetching as usual Friday morning. The topic for this du jour was my microscopic blog text. I was accused of causing Vanny eye strain, so I said, "ok then tell me how to make it bigger and I will."

I knew the instant I formed the words that this would shut her up. (It took her 18 months to work up the courage to start a blog.)

Well, r.i.p. to best-laid plans. Tonight, she emails me the directions. Gotta hand it to her, this is akin to a dyslexic winning a spelling bee. Lunch is on me next week, girl. You deserve it!

Anyway, duly changed. I hope everyone else's eye strain is relieved, and I do apologize.

It does make it easier to read. You were right, Vanny. ;}

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*Shrinking* to Fit
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I knew there was more I wanted to post last time, and here it is before I forget or decide, as I did last time, that I'm too tired to get into it.

I've made a lot of progress with my therapist. I of course knew the details of my life all along, but she has helped me connect the dots on the Big Picture of the last handful of years.

Up until now I'd only seen things as autonomous events; ergo, the "cause" had to be fate. And that didn't ring true to me, but I couldn't think of anything more sensible. I can't really reveal the details because they involve some troubles and challenges that Missy was dealt in high school, and she faced and overcame them, but as an only-mom (read mom of an only child), the timing of this collided with my journey of trying to "let go"; and more importantly, I'd just been diagnosed with the arthritii and the outlook was scary and grim...I was still in shock over that. Then a few things happen to Missy that just were not fair. She could not cut a break. I was preoccupied with my illness, and Hubs was as always clueless, so Missy had to face a couple of things on her own.

Now, as always happens with retrospect, these are trials that bind, that mold and build and test. Good stuff for growing up, which she has done beautifully. But I never addressed my mama-bear guilt and anger and frustration and sadness. We took a dream vacation to Europe, but that did not solve everything. I further reacted to my feelings that no one understood by ending two friendships and becoming more introspective and homebodied. It was about that time I began my long journey of escape into scrapbooking, message boards and procuring supplies.

For awhile it was incredibly positive for me. I needed to connect with people, but I should have been hitting forums like "Parents of Victimized Students" or "Over-Protective Parents Anonymous", heck I don't know which way it was. I just know it was a tough time. And if it were a course, I probably flunked it good. Instead, I replaced those issues with scrapbooking and ran to those boards. I found commaraderie and fellowship, and it did me so much good for a long time.

Eventually, the old issues wanted closure, so here I sit. So, I have been facing up to owning all those feelings. And we are working on coping strategies for dealing with my negative feelings. So far, I can't cozy up to any, but I do consider it progress that I can now see a domino effect that connects my illness to the high school crap. It still makes me want to stay away from people, I have sort of a general distrust and disillusionment now. Plenty to work on.