StUfF :o

One more day till I start my holidays!! YA ! It will should be nice and relaxing, granted not as nice and relaxing as it would be if we were going to a place like this ....
but it should still be good. One of these years I would also like to go to Vegas and see the M&M store! I think it would be fun to drive down, stop in Arizona to see the Grand Canyon maybe make a stop at Disneyland on the way back up the coast!
Me and the hubby aren't really into gambling but he collects M&M candy dispensers and I think it would be really neat to go see all the stuff they have!?

On the M&M website you can see all the different dispensers and I think my hubby has almost all of them plus a few that aren't even on the website! He doesn't really like the green one "cause she's a slut" (according to the hubby) !? LOL

My mom msn'd me, she needs computer help ..... again! Thank God we just got her a basic "simple" computer! ? I can't imagine what she would do if she actually had important work programs on her computer !

I guess the free Norton subscription ran out or it said something about needing her to fix her "live update" !? So she tried to install Norton again on her computer, a pretty simple process if you ask me!? And now we have to go help her get her Norton back! She is all worried that these terrorists are going to put all these viruses on her computer and cause it to crash!

Some days she really drives me to drink and I don't usually drink much!! Like today ..... she is driving me nuts!! I pray everyday that I won't end up like her - which I'm sure every girl wishes but it's inevitable! Not that it is an entirely bad thing if I do end up like her cause I think I've turned out good so far and that's thanks to her!? But I just think it is something we say to ease our husbands worry that we could will be like them!? She is just like my Grandma (her mom), especially when she is mad - the things she says and the way she says it, if I wasn't looking at her I would swear my Grandma was in the room!! I'd be like "Hey, when did Grandma get here!?" LOL My MIL says that if she ends up like her mom that we can shoot her ..... well I hate to say it but she has already done a bunch of things that her mom does so she must have hid the gun cause seriously she is exactly pretty darn close to being just like her mother!

Oh - and I would just like to mention that this weekend is Mother's Day so you should be nice to your mothers! No matter how much they drive you nuts on occation !! ;)

Love Ya Mom and MIL ! :)

Wednesday Weigh in

Week 37 =177.6lbs

(-1lb)

I'm actually a little surprised by this weigh in, yesterday I mentioned how I snuck a peak on the scale and liked the number - well it was lower then the number I got today and I'm not really sure why!? I walked a lot yesterday and thought I burned a bunch of calories, I followed the NS plan 98% eating only NS meals for most of the day (except for my snack - I had a 100cal bag of popcorn, which shouldn't have made that much of a difference)? But yesterday I saw 175 on the scale and today was two pounds more! Not that I'm upset with my -1lb loss, I think it's great, I just would have liked to see that 175 again!? I'm sure I'll see it again, maybe next week!? ;)

My hubby had a meeting last night with his boss/ co-partner, I don't think this job is going to work out for him. He is more miserable working with this guy then he was working for the other company! I don't think it is ever a good idea to mix friendship with business, we have never had a good experience with it anyway!? Ideally I think my hubby would do good being his own boss and getting his own jobs so that he can set his hours but the thought of not knowing how long you need to make your paychecks last kinda scares me! I like the idea of knowing I get paid on the 15th and 30th of every month and I know it is for X amount! This way you get to plan things better, if you want to make a large purchase you know that you can afford it, I think that having your own business you are always living in the unknown or the what if factor! What if you don't get paid by this customer that seemed to be nice in the beginning but now has turned into a jerk!? What if you can't find a job for a few weeks and need to make your last cheque stretch for longer then expected? But if I don't let him try to do it on his own again then he will just be miserable working for other people! I wish I could take an accounting class and then I would know more of the secrets to writing off things when you own your own company!

Meanwhile on the news this morning they were talking about how taxes were going to be going up 10% and gas prices keep rising but yet my wage still remains the same!? I feel sorry for kids now that are trying to get a start in life and buy a house or start a family!? I think they need to have a really good job just to get a house and in order to live comfortably they may even have to take on a second job!? I sometimes wish we were back in 1960, I think I would have enjoyed living in that era!? People were more social and respectful and even though you only made a few dollars a day it worked out for buying things. It seemed to be a simpler life even though you worked harder. There were less chemicals in our food and everyone seemed to help each other out. You don't get any of that now a days and I'm sure it will just get worse for the next generation!

Look who found there way home!

Look who greeted me when I got home yesterday !! YAH!! :)

Only 2 more bears to go before I get my goal bear! I'm excited for the next one's, not only because it means I'm that much closer to goal but because they are completely different colors then the ones I have. All the bears I have so far seem to be either a shade of red or blue, none of them really stand out but 80lb is orange and 90 is black so they will look awesome beside all the red/ blue bears! ?

As you all probably know, I have been recording my daily meals on SparkPeople but was a little surprised by my first entry being so high!? I noticed that on Carb Addict's she has been recording her meals on FitDay, so I thought I would enter my info on both and compare the two, here are my results:

Day 1 (Wed)
SparkPeople = 1907 calories, 56g Fat, 244g Carbs, 94g Protein
Fit Day = 1610 calories, 38g Fat, 249g Carbs, 83g Protein

Day 2 (Thur)
SparkPeople = 1666 cals, 52g Fat, 184g Carbs, 94g Protein
FitDay = 1500 cals, 35g Fat, 232g Carbs, 95g Protein

Day 3 (Fri)
SparkPeople = 1365 cals, 34g Fat, 222g Carbs, 46g Protein
FitDay = 1376 cals, 26g Fat, 254g Carbs, 53g Protein

Day 4 (Sat)
SparkPeople = 1428 cals, 31g Fat, 213g Carbs, 57g Protein
FitDay = 1330 cals, 28g Fat, 223g Carbs, 60g Protein

Day 5 (Sun)
SparkPeople = 1471 cals, 43g Fat, 181g Carbs, 65g Protein
FitDay = 1273 cals, 33g Fat, 190g Carbs, 70g Protein

Day 6 (Mon)
SparkPeople = 1275 cals, 28g Fat, 199g Carbs, 62g Protein
FitDay = 1379 cals, 32gFat, 238g Carbs, 56g Protein

So as you can see I got completely different results from both websites ? I entered everything the same but the programs differed between the calorie count in things like fruit and veggies? I found that SparkPeople was way easier to enter info on and also had a ton of other things I could check out while on their website. I liked how Fitday had the daily percentages and a little pie chart that made it easy to see your stats but it was hard to find certain foods and I couldn't find a place to enter foods that I eat all the time to make it easier for next time. SparkPeople had a "favorites" section on their site to make it easier to locate foods you eat all the time?! I found that keeping track of all my food in a journal seemed fairly easy to do everyday but it was quite a pain entering it all into the computer!? I'm not sure if I will continue journaling my meals on the computer, maybe just in my little book!? I will find out tomorrow just how good my week was but according to my journal it looks like I over did it? I did sneak a peak on the scale this morning and it did look really good, I think I know what I'm doing for the most part and I may just track it in the book, this way if I do have a week that I gained I can go back and see where I went wrong.

I think the thing I liked the most about NS is the fact that it is mindless eating, you follow the plan and it just works - no counting calories, no adding up points. I now choose foods that are low fat, low cal, high protein and low GI. I eat about 75% more fruits and veggies then I did before and 110% more water, I feel that as long as I follow these basic rules of healthy eating I should be fine!? I think the journaling may make me resent the new lifestyle, I'll give it another week -journaling in the book but NOT the computer, it was just way too much work?! he he

~~ Busy weekend ~~

This weekend was quite busy, just the beginning of a busy summer I think! It rained all day Friday so the races got cancelled. Saturday I had to work at my day job which was incredible boring, except for the fight I got into with one of our drivers! She is double my age and half as mature, it was quite exciting! And now of course today is a little tens and feels awkward between us!? Oh well, I'm on holiday's next week -- I just have to get through this week and then I can relax for a whole week.... kinda!? I do have some "spring cleaning" I would like to do that week and a couple other projects I would like to get done but I'm sure the week will fly by and I won't be able to get half the things done that I want!

Thankfully I was able to get most of my house cleaning done after work on Saturday cause Sunday was a full day at the track. Here is a picture of my new summer weekend home. It is the drag tower, where I sit all day and type the car numbers into the computer. It was really nice out, the sun was hot but the air was cold so that means fast cars and lots of breaking! Because of all the rain we had over the past week we were having a hard time getting all the sensors working, eventually we just gave up and only got the "important" ones working! The regular lady that works in the tower with me was not there yesterday so I had to work with a new lady, who supposedly does the computer work all the time but just in a different city. Well every time I asked her to help me so I could run to the bathroom I would come back to a world of confusion! She messed it all up! grrr - no more bathroom breaks for me when she's there! This coming weekend should be a challenge for me, we will most likely be staying out at the track for the entire weekend, which means I need to pack all my clothes and meals for 3 straight days plus I also need to make sure all the dogs things are packed (food, dishes, treats, and meds)!! I need to pack foods that are easy to eat without needing to be warmed up for lunches and I also need to pack foods that are easy to make for dinners. I'm still trying to figure out how I will cook my veggies for supper, microwaving would probably be the easiest and the quickest but then we have to go buy a small microwave for the trailer! But like I've said before ... we do live close enough to the track that if need be I could run home for what ever reason.

Needless to say I was quite tired this morning with all the things going on over the weekend, the drive to work was almost a mini-challenge on it's own! Early to bed tonight! LOL

I'm not even 30 yet or have kids! I don't know how I'm going to survive off of less then 8 hours of sleep when we have kids! ? he he

I watched the finale of Amazing Race last night and I must say that I am happy with who won, I didn't really want the 'little person' team to win, I found them to be quite rude and obnoxious!? And the blonde's weren't much better! I think the team that won deserved it, they got "yielded" twice and seemed to have a way harder time then the other teams when it came to flights and taxi's!? Now I don't know what I'm going to do on Sunday nights!

Fun Friday!

Well I braved the elements yesterday and after supper I took the dog for her walk! It wasn't too bad, I found an umbrella in our trailer and a wind breaker type jacket that kept a lot of the rain off. I think it was more of a work out drying off the dog when we got home then the whole walk was!? I wish I had a rain coat for her, like this dog! LOL I could not believe the number of worms we saw on our walk, it was disgusting! Like little snakes all over the sidewalk! Ewwww - I tried hard not to step on any but there was just too many! I think we have a worm epidemic, last fall it was ants and now it looks like this spring it's worms! Now don't get me wrong I don't mind worms
but I believe that there is a place for them ....like in the garden and only in the garden! I think if I had a little boy he would have been outside collecting a bucket full of those slimy little creatures!

They cancelled the Street Legal race that was suppose to go on tonight, no surprise -- it's just way too wet. I think the track needs to re-evaluate their summer schedule and start later /finish later. They always plan the first race too early and I don't think they ever get to run it cause the weather just doesn't co-operate and then in the fall when we could still be racing the season is over!?

So as you probably know, I started my food journal and I have been recording everything I eat on SparkPeople, I'm not sure if I like it? So far it says that on Wednesday I ate 1907 calories!! and Thursday wasn't much better at 1666 calories!! YIKES Seems a little high to me? I don't think that I can be loosing weight eating that many calories!? I'll keep recording my meals for this week and see what my weigh in says, maybe it is right? I have been eating more meals "on my own" - maybe I'm just not that great at counting calories!? Which is probably why I didn't do too good when I tried Weight Watchers!?

I brought one of my mango's today for my afternoon snack, I'll have to keep you updated with how that goes!? It still seemed a little firm when I cut it up this morning so I brought an extra apple just in case it's not ripe enough yet! he he.

I also just want to say that I now realize I have a new addiction ..... FACEBOOK -- It is so addicting, I keep checking it to see if there are any new friends that I know or if anyone wrote on my wall! Seriously if you haven't checked it out and signed up you totally should and I completely blame Michelle for my new addiction! thanks ;)

What is your favorite summer activity?
	Walking
	Swimming
	Drinking Beer
	Sleeping
	Hiking
	Driving
	Gardening
	Biking
	Other
View Results

Summer Fun

Rain, rain go away ...

This is what the drive to work looked like today, very foggy! And very humid, it is suppose to rain for the next couple of days. In a way it is nice because the rain will help clean up all the gravel and dirt left over from the winter, make the grass grow and turn a nice shade of green but it also sucks cause it isn't nice to walk in the rain. I haven't taken the dog for her walk for two days now! She is going nuts in the house and needs to get out, I promised her that no matter what I will take her for a walk today!! Maybe I can find an umbrella like the one in this pic so that she doesn't get as wet when it's raining!? LOL

Tomorrow is suppose to be the first Street Legal race of the season but I doubt we will be racing. I still have to get in the trailer and clean it out and I still need to take our sleeping bags to the dry cleaners! That is the plan for Saturday, I have to work (at my full time job) so I will have time in the afternoon to take on the trailer and run to the dry cleaners. I think it will be a challenge for me to make sure I still eat healthy on the weekends I'm working at the track, on Fridays I will have to bring my supper with me to work and eat it on the way to the track so I will have to find something that is not only easy to eat on the go but is simple enough that I don't have to eat hot!? I may have to switch my dinners and lunches around and I will have to make sure that I pack my meals for the rest of the weekend on Thursday. I think it will be a lot more work this year then previous years but eventually I will get into the habit and just know what to take. I'm trying to convince the hubby that we should bring a microwave out to the track with us just cause it will be easier to cook veggies and lunches in a hurry. He says we don't really have a power supply out there big enough to power a microwave but then I reminded him about our generator!! It's big enough to power a little ole' microwave! he he The good thing about it is that we only live about 20min from the track so worst case scenario I can always run home if I forget something.

When I was grocery shopping on Tuesday they had Mango's on sale for a buck! I have had mango's before but they are already cut and prepared (like in a can), so I was a little unsure on how to pick a good mango but I figured for a buck I couldn't go wrong. Now I'm a little unsure on how to eat it!? Does it peel like a orange or is it like a melon that you scoop out the guts!? I thought I would Google it and share the info with you, in case you were also curious!?

--Never buy completely green mangoes, as they may never ripen. Under ripe mangoes can have an unpleasant chemical taste if eaten raw. When buying, no fragrant aroma most likely means no flavor.

--There is no trick to getting the flesh off a mango easily - it can be very messy. Peel and then cut the flesh off around the pit as best you can. The pit is flat, so try to cut the flesh off along the flat side of the pit. Then just nibble the rest off the pit. Its messy, but absolutely delicious.OR - Get a MANGO SPLITTER

--SELECTION - Choose firm plump mango's that give slightly when pressure is applied. Avoid those with bruised or dry and shriveled skin. The ripeness of mango's can be determined by either smelling or squeezing. A ripe mango will have a full, fruity aroma emitting from the stem end. Mango's can be considered ready to eat when slightly soft to the touch and yield to gentle pressure. The best-flavored fruit have a yellow tinge when ripe; however, color may be red, yellow, orange, green, or any combination.

--Never burn mango leaves or branches, the toxic fumes can cause serious irritation to the eyes and lungs.

--Be very careful of the stem end of mango's if any part of the branch or leaf is attached, as the sap can cause allergic reactions.

Wednesday Weigh in!

Week 36 = 178.6lbs

(-0.6lbs)

It feels like we ate out a lot this week, I don't think I have had a NS meal in a long time? So, I am quite happy with my little loss this week - it shows me that I did make good decisions when we did eat out and I never over did it but I still enjoyed myself and the meals I chose! It's not like every time I only let myself have soup and salad, I had full meals with a starter salad. I just made sure that I paid a little more attention to that 'full' feeling (forcing myself to put the fork down) and I substituted my fries for veggies. Today I started a food journal, I am hoping that I will be able to see how my choices affect the weight loss - see what works and what doesn't!? I will keep track of my calories on SparkPeople, it is a pretty handy website full of ideas and suggestions - if you haven't checked it out yet you should click on the link! I also noticed today that even though I have lost weight in pounds I noticed that according to my WW scale I have gained BF! I need to start doing my Pilate's again to strengthen my muscles and burn off some of this fat! I can only assume that the weight I did loose is probably water weight, with me being sick I have been incredibly thirsty and have been drinking a ton of water and tea! Hopefully I can get rid of this cold and get some of my energy back!

Yesterday was grocery shopping day (10% Tuesday and dollar days), it was really busy there and of course I got the defective buggy! It was so hard to get it to turn, plus I had little energy so it wasn't a very good combination. Needless to say that by the time I got home, unloaded the car and put everything away I was done for the day! No dog walking last night, instead I opted for a nice hot bath and relaxed before bed time! I didn't have a very good sleep though, I was woken up every couple hours due to a nasal issue!!! EWWW I hate colds and being sick, I watched a show on Slice called Newlywed Nearly Dead where the hubby was a germaphobic and his new wife had some nose condition where she had to keep blowing it all the time!? Anyway, she left all her snotty tissues all over the place, which grossed the hubby out so the show gave them one of those black lights like you see on CSI and he shinned it on her hands ..... it was discusting! That's all I'm gonna say! A real eye opener on why you need to wash your hands, especially when your sick!

Tuesday...

I feel like I haven't had a single NS meal all week! Which has made me want to check the scale more then normal throughout the week, I am pleased to say that even though we have eaten out a lot this week and I have eaten more "on my own" meals and the scale has so far been nice to me - hopefully tomorrow it will still show a good number!? I feel like I do make better decisions when we go out for supper and I no longer worry about substituting steamed veggies for the fries that a meal usually comes with or asking for certain things to be removed from the meal, like cheese or gravy. Yesterday was my hubbies Grandma's 85th birthday so we went out for dinner again, I had the grilled chicken breast that was "smothered in cheese" but instead asked for no cheese and changed my side to veggies, I had to force myself to put the fork down when I started feeling full or else I would have eaten the whole thing! I have been trying to teach myself that I don't need to clean my plate and that it is ok to throw a little bit of food out, restaurant portions are way too big anyways!?

I posted the pic of our NS lunch late yesterday so if you never saw it the first time you should check it out! I actually like the picture - it's been a long time since I've had my picture taken and actually felt like it was a nice pic! You can really see my collarbones, something that has been in hiding for a long time! ;) I have another order on it's way, hopefully this will be my second last order! And my 70lb bear should be on board too!

You Are a Turkey Sandwich

Conservative and a bit shy, you tend to stick with what you know and trust. You are very introverted, and you prefer to blend in whenever possible. Though you may be hard to know well, anyone who does know you considers you a true friend. Your best friend: The Ham Sandwich Your mortal enemy: The Tuna Fish Sandwich

What Kind of Sandwich Are You?

I wonder if any of you are a Ham or Tuna sandwich!? HEHE Hopefully there aren't too many Tuna's ! ;)

~~ Good weekend! ~~

The past weekend was a good one for me, hopefully everyone else had a good one ?

Saturday my hubby got up early to go to the race track, I slept in and met him there around 10:30. It was freezing and so windy I had to wear my toque! For it being the first race everything seemed to go good, no glitches except that the score boards weren't displaying the E.T.'s - no big deal though cause the drivers still got a time slip, just the spectators couldn't see how fast the cars were running (all 3 of them?) LOL I left pretty much right after the races were over (4:30) and headed home but my hubby stayed for a safety talk. A few hours after I was home I got a call from my MIL, she asked if hubby was home and sounded out of breath so I said had to ask what was wrong!?! Apparently her basement had flooded and my FIL was out of town so I offered to go over and help clean up since hubby wasn't home yet. When I got there it was already mostly cleaned up, I just had to take the roof tiles out so they could dry out a bit. A few minutes after I got there FIL pulled up, looks like the pipe that goes to the outside faucet had cracked and water was running down the wall. We sat and had a chat after everything was mostly dry - the couches were still wet but the floor and wall seemed good. We waited for my hubby to call and thought we would go for dinner after waiting till almost 8:00pm we decided to go for dinner without him. When I got home he was in a panic, I had left a note stating how his parents basement flooded and I went over there to help, so I guess when he read the note he tried calling but I had forgot my cell phone at home and since we had already left for dinner no one was answering the phone at his parents. So he packs up the dog and heads over to see the damage, I guess he also called his Grandma to see if maybe we went over there (so now his Grandma is all worried about us!). He kinda gave me crap for not having my cell phone but I just turned it around cause he was suppose to be home for dinner and never called me saying he would be late!

I woke up Sunday morning with a tickle in my throat and a persistent cough! I also had to go to that lunch date with other NS members, so I did a little bit of house cleaning, waited for Denise to come over so we could car pool to the lunch. By now my voice was starting to sound funny and the tickle had turned into a scratch! I thought I knew exactly where Kelsey's was in Sherwood Park but I guess I had forgot so we ended up taken the scenic route and were 15 minutes late! There were only two other NS ladies there, Shelley and Sandy and boy were they ever a hoot!! :) If my throat hadn't hurt so much I probably would have laughed way louder then I did! It turns out that Shelley's hubby is one of our customers and I talk to him all the time!? She had also mentioned that she wanted to get a M&M tattoo so I mentioned how my hubby collects the M&M candy dispensers and so does too!! WOW They were super easy to talk to and Sandy's imitation of how the geese's hissed at her was hilarious! I can't wait to have another lunch with them and maybe meet a few more NS'ers! The service at Kelsey's sucked so we were there for about 2 hours and the waitress hardly ever came by! But we were having a good talk so it was hardly noticeable!? Shelley had the waitress take some pics so hopefully she will send me a copy and I can post them here!

By the time I got home from lunch I could barely talk, my throat had had enough! I gave the hubby my "puppy dog" eye's and asked him to go to the store to get something to make it better!? (works every time!) So he did, and after Denise's hubby came to pick her up I crashed on the couch! I'm feeling a tiny bit better today but my throat is still sore, sucks cause all I do at work is talk on the phone which is just irritating it more!? Hopefully I will feel a bit beter tomorrow!

**** UPDATED ****

I just got the pic of our lunch e-mailed to me from Shelley! Here it is:

Front row: Shelley (on the left) and Sandy

Back row: Denise (on the left) and me! :)

One of those days .....

Good news / bad news .....

Good news is that it's Friday!! YAH!! :)

Bad news is that nothing seems to be working right today in the internet world!?! Like as I'm typing this the letters appear after I've already typed the whole sentence!? It seems like on days that you are incredible busy nothing seems to want to work proper! ? Work is busy today which is good cause then the day flies by! But it is so frustrating when I try to look up things on the internet and my computer has decided that it's time for a coffee break!? Grrr It's like going from a push button phone back to a rotary phone!? Maybe it's from all the porn I look at on my computer ~!? he he JK !!

It's the first drag race of the season this weekend, the hubby is going to be out at the track from 8am till probably after 8pm! I on the other hand am not that devoted to the track and won't be showing up until closer to the actual "start" time of the race, 1:00pm, he is going early and staying late to help clean and prep the track. Hopefully the weather is nice and it doesn't rain but I have a feeling that it will rain and the races will be cancelled! At least my tulips will get watered !?! LOL Speaking of my tulips .... they are growing like crazy! I think the last time counted almost 40 of them sprouting up!! Although I also planted iris bulbs last fall and some of what I think are tulips could actually be iris's!? I'm such a dummy when it comes to flowers, I get so excited when they do well though makes me feel like actually know what I'm doing! ?!

We are having a BBQ at work today, I brought my "Veggie dogs", hopefully my co-workers won't think I'm too weird!? Not that I care too much about what they think but it's just nice to not have people talk about the things you eat and how odd they might seem to them!? I have a feeling that only one of our drivers would say anything at all and that's only because he would think that I was eating "hippy" food and then go on a rant about "those hippies"?! I've never tried these Veggie Dogs BBQ'd yet but I'm sure that they will taste better BBQ'd then microwaved as most things do!

Well that's about all for now! :) Hopefully everyone has a great weekend! ;)

Oh- and if you are looking for my Friday Fun and you need a good chuckle, you should check out this blog - it usually has some pretty funny stories! (Must get Hobby )And if you haven't already you should totally sign up with Facebook, it is a good way to find old friends and keep in contact with current friends!

It's hammer time!

My brother took the day off yesterday to help my SIL look after Kenzie while she was at a dance thing all day with my other niece. He stopped by my work for a quick visit and I got to show off Kenzie, she was full of smiles and giggles! I just love her laugh it's so contagious, like a belly laugh! After his quick visit he was off to feed his addiction, yup that's right, my brother has an addiction! I never knew it was so bad until my SIL told me about how he made a list, of all the stores where he can buy them and the ones he doesn't have yet! He wants to get them all, they have about 10 in their basement that they haven't even brought out yet! I haven't even heard of these things before ... it all started with my nephew, he got one and gave it a name, then everyone wanted one! What is it you ask ??

Something called Webkinz, bets me? I guess you buy these stuffed animals and have to register them on the computer, give them a name and make sure you feed them and play with them! You earn money by playing games and then you can buy them things!? I tried having a virtual pet before and it didn't live that long, I do have a Furby that is still alive and I wake up once a month to feed! LOL I think it is more meant for the kids but it seems like my brother just can't get enough of them! He's a big kid at heart! ;)

Since I was home alone again last night I decided after I took the dog for her walk I headed to the niece's dance festival. I've never been to one before and I do enjoy watching things like that on TV, like The Pussycat Dolls and syncro swimming when the Olympics are on. I find it neat to watch everyone in sync. I got to the auditorium just in time to see the 'hip hop' performances. There were some good ones and there were some that looked uncomfortable on the stage. One of the groups before my niece was super cute, I think they were 6 or 7 years old - they did Walk like an Egyptian. Then my niece's team was up, they danced to

MC Hammer - Can't touch this!

It was super funny, they did a really good job and the team earned a 'high gold'! My brother showed up after the show so I hung out with him and Kenzie while we waited for Maddison to get changed.

I also saw one of my girlfriends in the lobby too, she was one of my bridesmaids and I haven't talked to her in almost a year!? ? It got me thinking about how a lot of the people that were very important to us when we got married we have seemed to drifted further away from!? I think this happens to a lot of people, after the wedding they don't talk to the people in there wedding party!? Or maybe it's just us? We got to catch up on things, not that there was much to talk about, but it was nice to see her again!

Weigh in Wednesday!

Week 35 = 179.2lbs

down -1.4lbs ! :)

Not bad, actually pretty darn good for gaining last week!? I'm happy to see that I'm into the 170's now !! I haven't seen a 170 # in a really long time!! A lot of people are telling me that I should not loose anymore weight and that I should just stay a little "curvy". Well my thoughts on this are, I am going to keep eating the way I do and intake the same amount of calories (1250-1300, which I'm comfortable at and don't feel like I'm starving myself) and I'm sure when I get to a certain weight I will no longer loose weight anymore because it will balance each other out?! This will be my finishing point, as long as I don't start looking sickly thin - then I'll have to up my calorie intake but It's not like I'm going to be thin for long, pretty soon I will be putting on weight (baby weight). So I feel a little funny having an actual "goal" cause I know it's not really a "goal" it is more like a finish line on a marathon and even though you have finished this one race there will still be another one. It's hard to explain but I really don't feel like I'm on a "diet" - now I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not? I just feel like I'm plucking away at life in a routine that I am comfortable in and every Wednesday I get on the scale just to find that I lost a pound or two!?

My hubbies Grandma called me on the weekend to tell me that she wants to go on the same diet that I'm on! OMG!! Although she does need to loose weight and it is affecting her health I think there are other things she should be doing first before starting on a program. Like cutting down on oil /fried food, increasing her veggie intake and changing from 2% milk to even 1% would be a good start! She is getting old and stuck in her old way of cooking and eating, I don't think she would enjoy NS - she wouldn't like the food and I don't think she would stick to the program. I think it would be better if I went shopping with her and helped her make some healthier choices first. She did loose weight before, about 20lbs, just by cutting down on the amount of oil she cooks with! But gave up, probably because her food didn't taste as juicy, and gained all the weight back.

I am coming home to an empty house again today, yesterday my hubby had to go help a friend do some work on a car and tonight he needs to go over to another friends to help install a counter top! So I will be dining alone again, then taking the dog for her walk and after that I think I might work on cleaning out the trailer. Hubby brought it home the other night and it actually doesn't look too bad inside, no huge cob webs or millions of mouse turds that I was worried about! I need to get the sleeping bags cleaned and there is still some food (sugar, tea, pancake mix, granola bars and some tooth paste!) in the cupboards that is clearly garbage now! oops! LOL

Check up .....

My car is in the shop today, nothing major just a oil change and it's yearly 'check up'! We have only had the car for a year so there shouldn't be any problems and if there is it will be under warranty. Even if it wasn't under warranty it wouldn't be a huge deal, because I work in a auto parts store I get all my parts at cost which helps a lot. Usually my hubby also does the oil changes but since it has to go in for the inspection they may as well do the oil change too!



Yesterday was a busy day too, work was crazy busy (seems to be a trend lately -on Mondays). I was exhausted by the end of the day and starving! So after a dinner with a few extra veggies to fill me up I took the dog for her walk. It was beautiful out last night and only needed a light sweater on the walk. After that I had to take those TV tray's back to get them exchanged for a full set, what a pain in the butt! But I got them exchanged and had to drop off the receipt at the aunts house which is fairly close by. Then back home to finally sit and relax for a bit. The hubby was busy working on the Ford that he crashed a few months ago and went over to his Grandma's to pick up our home made holiday trailer! We haven't used it in almost two years!! He made it, frame and all, so it's not pretty on the eye's but it keeps us dry and it's way better then using a tent! We want to bring it out to the race track this weekend and just leave it out there so sometime this week I have to get in it and do a serious cleaning! I'm kinda scared, there might be things in there that should have been cleaned out two years ago!!



I'm kinda excited for my weigh in tomorrow, I think I've lost at least a pound or two! ;) I think I still need to work on my dinner's, I often find that I have no idea what to make!? I need to find more things to make so that there is a little more variety then just wheat pasta and chicken with veggies! I've never really been one to experiment or cook up these extravagant meals - the simpler the better! I am in the process of making my cook book and I'm hoping that I will be able to have a link on this blog so that all of you can also check it out! Some of the recipes I have yet to make but look really good and simple (8 ingredients or less, type recipes). And they are recipes that have ingredients that I think everyone should have in their cupboards! If it calls for something that I have to look up on the internet to find out what it is, it's not in my cook book! ;)

Busy, busy!

Well this weekend was really busy, I felt like I was on the go the whole time! Which is good cause I thought that since the hubby would be gone all weekend that I would end up bored and start thinking about Kitty. Friday was a typical day but Saturday was fairly hectic. In the morning I went shopping - 1st stop, Payless Shoes to find myself nice dressy shoes/ boots to go with my outfit for that evening. They had already put away their boots and I did see a nice pair of shoes but I thought I would check out Wal-Mart first for boots. They are close to each other so I walked over, they also didn't have anything I liked but I did find some new "under garments" that I picked up. My old ones were not doing their job anymore so I figured it was time to "down size" and get the proper size. LOL So back to Payless I went to get the pair of shoes that I saw and on my way home I stopped at Costco to pick up a few "staples". By the time I got home and had lunch it was time to go to the anniversary dinner. I stopped at my in-laws to pick up my MIL and watch a little of the entertainment that was going on at her place. There were cousin's and aunt's and uncle's staying there for the weekend which made her place quite hectic! Dinner was awesome at the hall, lots of salads and a fruit tray, plus turkey and roast beef with the fixin's. I got tons of compliments from everyone there which made me feel good. I didn't stay too late after dinner was over cause I had to head to the bowling banquet to pick up our prizes. I not only had to get my prizes but also my FIL and hubbies! I picked for our 1st place grand aggregate prize a set of 4 TV tray's and for our 6th place win I picked a cute little garden frog that has a gazing ball on his back. I also won a candle holder as a door prize and I got my perfect attendance pin and $10 for winning a quarter! After I loaded up the car with every one's gifts I headed over to the in-laws to drop off FIL's prizes and have a little visit.

Sunday I had to catch up on all my house cleaning stuff and was hoping that I had time to go to the car show that the hubby was working at and swing by my mom's for a visit but I ran out of time. I opened my box of TV trays to put them away only to find out that there were only 3 in the box!? So now I need to try and exchange them for a box that has all 4! When the hubby got home from the car show we called his parents to come over cause they needed to give us one of the "family tree"/ "time line" books that his Grandpa made. It has pics of the whole family and a story line of everything that happened from the 1900's to current. I flipped through the book last night and found it interesting to read about how they grew up with the scare of Hitler and his army, how they escaped and the conditions they lived in just to get away from Germany! They also brought over my birthday present!! My birthday isn't until September (the big 3 -0) but It is kinda a summer gift so now I get to enjoy it through the summer months! They got me a bench that converts into a picnic table!! It's really neat and I had mentioned before that I wanted one! Here is a pic: We will probably have it set up as a bench for most of the time unless we have a lot of people over, then we can convert it to a table and have extra seating! I was so exhausted on Sunday, my back was killing me, I think it's from caring around one of the cousin's babies at the anniversary dinner. He wasn't even that heavy (14lbs) but after holding him for about a half hour my arms were like Jell-O! It will definitely be an early night tonight and a back massage is also on order! ;)

Friday .... at last!

Things are getting better, I find that the more I tell people the easier it is, which is odd for me because usually I would just hold it in and hope no one asked questions. But because I deal a lot with customers on the phone and they call in regularly they know my voice and most of them are asking if I am sick?! I didn't think I sounded that bad but I guess they can tell that I'm not my usual self so I have to tell them that no I'm not sick and that we had just put our cat down. Each time it seems to get easier, I was thinking yesterday that this is probably how a parent would feel when their child leaves the home to go to college or moves out. It's odd to come home to one less 'kid' but at least I still have one 'kid' at home that brightens my day.

This weekend is fairly busy for us, the hubby has a booth set up at the local car show called 'Powerama' - so he will be there all weekend starting tonight! Then tomorrow we have to attend his grandparents anniversary, 60th I think? After we finish eating with his family I need to scoot over to the bowling banquet to pick out all our prizes!! I'm so excited about winning the top prize, I hope there are some good prizes to pick from! I also think I will go shopping tonight or tomorrow morning for some new boots to wear with the outfit I want to wear. I'm not sure what I have planned for Sunday yet, I know I want to keep myself busy so that might mean a road trip to do some visiting or I might use my hubbies free pass to go see the car show - or both!? LOL If it's nice out I would also like to clean the inside of my car - there's nose prints all over my back window! ;)

Good news ..... only 3 more weeks till my holiday's!! YAH!! Not that we are going anywhere or doing anything exciting but it will be nice to have some days off! :)

You Are the Very Gay Winnie the Pooh!

Come on, he doesn't wear pants!And he's a little too obsessed with Christopher Robin

What Gay Childhood Icon Are You?

I'm ok with this .... I like Pooh Bear! :)

Well we did it..... took Kitty to the vet..... it's for the best, she really was just suffering. I was doing fine, keeping my "tough act" up, until I got home and found my hubby very upset, this is only the second time in 6 years that I have ever seen him cry! It was tough, probably the hardest thing I've ever had to do! I don't ever want to have to go through that again but I know will cause we also have a dog that is getting old and it's inevitable. After we got home from the vet I started cooking supper, my hubby picked up some Chicken Quesadilla's the last time he was at M&M meat shop he even compared them to my NS dinners to make sure they were "healthy"! As I prepared dinner I noticed he kept going downstairs and sneaking past me, he was bringing up flowers from the basement! When I went into the living room it was full of flowers!! Three dozen roses (red, blue and purple ones?) and a bouquet of Gerber Daisies, there was a card that he signed and had the dog sign by tracing her paw print out on the card - isn't he a sweetie!! ? I love him! I couldn't even read the card cause my eyes were so full of tears! After supper I took the dog for her walk to clear my head a bit, just a quickie cause the in-laws were on their way over. My FIL works with a guy who absolutely loves animals and has tons of them, he lives out in the country and his vet bill is like $10,000 a year! So we were going to give all Kitty's stuff to him cause we knew he could use it and it would be going to a good home. This was why the in-laws were coming over - to pick up all the stuff. They also brought with them a bouquet of flowers, I wasn't sure if I would feel up to having visitors so soon but I think it was good cause it made me forget about what had just happened. Needless to say it was a crappy day yesterday but the good news is, is that it is over now, no more worrying about Kitty, no more stress about what to do. It's better where she is at now -- the weird thing about it all is that this morning we woke up to a lot of snow and deep down I thought it was Kitty's way of saying good-bye. Maybe she is up there playing with a roll of toilet paper!? Yeah - I know I'm crazy!?

I wanted to post this recipe for a salad that I am completely addicted too, it's really good for a change!

Shredded Asian Cabbage Salad

5 cups cabbage, thinly sliced

1 sm. red pepper, cut thin

3 green onions, cut thin

1 med. carrot, cut thin (matchsticks)

1/2 cup snow peas, blanched, halved

1 pkg. Ramen noodle soup mix (any flavor)

1/3 cup roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped

1/3 cup KRAFT Asian Sesame Dressing

#1- Mix veggies in large bowl. (Reserve season packet from soup mix for another use)

#2- Coarsely crush noodles. Add to veggies along with peanuts, toss lightly.

#3- Drizzle with dressing right before serving.

***NOTE*** Jazz it up by adding cooked shrimp, chicken, pork or tofu cubes along with the noodles and peanuts.

Calories = 138

Fat = 8.1g

Carbs = 14g

Fibre = 1.6g

Protein = 3.8g

I do a few things different from this recipe -- I just buy a bag of shredded cabbage (coleslaw mix) cause it has carrots in it and it's easier. This way I don't have to make a big bowl of it at once, I can just make a bowl as needed. I didn't have red peppers so I use green and I forgot to pick up the snow peas so I left those out. It's a nice salad for a change and I use the peanut serving as my daily "fat". I hope you enjoy!

Wednesday weigh in!

Well my weigh in for week 34 was not so good .... I gained, only +0.6lbs -- I'm OK with that though. I had a huge loss last week and this week has been quite the challenge~! A co-worker celebrated her birthday which meant birthday cake was being offered (I refused), then I had Denise's boy's 1st birthday party which was a total blast and this time I enjoyed the birthday cake being offered. Then on Sunday we had a BBQ with friends and even though I brought my own Veggie burger (instead of having a beef patty) there were no veggies to be seen anywhere and I ate way too many carb's (cheesy garlic toast, a bun for my burger and half a baked potato with whipped topping!) Then with all my emotions running wild my hubby called me last night to say he was stopping at DQ to get himself a Peanut Buster Parfait and asked if I wanted anything? Immediately the little angel and devil appeared on my shoulder to duke it out. The angel saying "but tomorrow's weigh in day and you really want to break into the 170's" and the devil responding with "but you've had a rough week and you have to put your precious Kitty down tomorrow - enjoy!!" So the devil won and I ordered a Kit Kat Blizzard (the smallest size possible) which stilled worked out to an extra 700 calories for the day!! But I shared it with Kitty as her last meal that she didn't really eat. It was really good, the chunks were a little too big but it was still yummy. I think I would have preferred a bouquet of flowers and I think next time I would be OK with just having the chocolate bar and skipping the ice cream all together!? So for this week I have two goals that I would like to accomplish or at least try:

#1- I would like to start a food journal, this way I can keep track on Sparkpeople of my calorie intake for the day to make sure I am on the right track. I am getting closer to the end of using NS and even though somethings seem to be working I would like to know exactly which ones are the better choices.

#2- I would like to get in more exercise, I think this involves me using the treadmill a little more (which I like) but there is still no satellite on the basement TV and the hubby needs to fix the box !? It looks like we are in for some rain for the next week so I should have no problem completing this challenge. I can take the dog for a quick 30min walk (hopefully without getting rained on) and then get on the treadmill to do an additional 30+ minutes. This will be good for two reasons - it will keep me occupied so I don't think about Kitty and the fact that she is no longer around and it will help me in getting into the 170's!

I will be leaving work early today in order to take Kitty to the vet. I have been running the situation through my head all week to try and help myself prepare for it. I like to think that i am a strong person and I hate showing too much emotion in front of people. This usually causes me to wait until I'm by myself (like the car ride home yesterday) or when I'm in the dark (like going to bed the other night) and then the water starts flowing and I can't stop the tears. Hopefully I can keep my composure while at the vets but I think the minute I get in my car it will hit me and then to go home and pack up all her toys, food and clean the litter boxes it will be even worse. The best thing for me to do is to keep busy, and hopefully no one asked about her in the next few weeks. I need to make an announcement I suppose but I'm sure I'll forget someone and they will unknowingly ask "how's Kitty doing?" and that will be a very awkward situation. Here is a little poem I found that I thought was appropriate, I hope you enjoy it. :(

Kitty 1996-2007

May she rest in peace.

Do not stand at my grave and weep,

I am not there, I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow.

I am the diamond glint on snow.

I am the sunlight on ripened grain.

I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you wake in the morning hush,

I am the swift, uplifting rush

Of quiet birds in circling flight.

I am the soft starlight at night.

Do not stand at my grave and weep.

I am not there, I do not sleep.

Do not stand at my grave and cry.

I am not there, I did not die.

Mary Frye

Tuesday ....

It was a rough night last night, I became very emotional about the whole Kitty situation!? Like I just realized what was going to happen. She still hasn't eaten anything, except for licking a little gravy on her wet food. I made some phone calls today to see how much it was to euthanize her and if I needed to make an appointment. These calls were much harder then I had imagined, they asked if I wanted a private room to say my good-bye's and if I wanted to keep her ashes. I said no to both - I couldn't even imagine being in the room when they give her the needle, I get very emotional just thinking about it! :( I was also surprised to find out that it cost over $150 to get this done! Not that price really matters too much in the situation but I just think it is one more thing to worry about, what if someone needed to get this done but just couldn't afford it!? How much worse would that make you feel!? I also called the local humane society (used to be called the SPCA) to see if they would take donations of all her old toys/ litter boxes/ and scratching posts -- they said they would but they needed to be cleaned (duh-like I'm going to give them the litter box full of litter?). I'm not sure if I want to give them the scratching post though, we just bought it and it is fairly big -- I think I'll see if family or friends want it first?!

We had a really late dinner last night so by the time we finished I didn't bother going for my walk. I think I'll go for one today though, I find my walks to be somewhat relaxing and I can clear my head a bit.