Food Diary, Day 3

This is hard.  I don't like looking at what I ate.  Maybe that will be a powerful motivator to eat better.  That's what this food diary was all about, anyway.

Friday, July 20th
Breakfast - 2 cups of coffee with honey and almond milk (Still no creamer in the house.  It's time for grocery shopping, seriously.), 2 pieces of cinnamon raisin toast

Lunch - 1 can Progresso chicken and rice soup

Dinner - 1 spicy bratwurst on a bun, with mustard.  Sides: baked beans, a pickle, and homemade cole slaw, then finished with a 1/12th pan brownie (they need to run out soon!!)

Snack - 6 gingersnap cookies,  because I had a tummyache

Water Intake - 8 cups, MET MY DAILY GOAL!!  Woo-hoo!
Did I exercise today? - NO

Food Diary, Day 2

Day two.

I must say, the thought of having to write down what I ate served as a bit of a deterrent yesterday.  I don't know for certain that I would have eaten more, but I know that I didn't want to have to write down and SEE that I ate more.  We'll just have to wait and see how today goes.

I am having lunch with my sweetheart today.  I don't know what my options will be, but I will try to be good.  I want my husband to not be able to look away from my ever-shrinking bottom.  ;)
 

Thursday, July 19th
Breakfast - 2 cups of coffee with 4 tsp. total powdered creamer, scant 1/2 cup oatmeal with dried cherries

Lunch -Wendy's spicy chicken sandwich meal with small fries and Powerade, with one honey mustard packet

Dinner - Cajun Tex.  John and I shared fish tacos and Cajun Jerk hot wings.  I had one large fish taco with black beans and salsa, 2 wings, and about 6-7 (mostly stolen) french fries.  I came home and had a brownie, about 1/12th of the pan.  Still a small serving, but I will look on the box to see how many calories it was and be sure to run it off tomorrow.

Snack(s) - A handful of edamame pods

Water Intake - About 4 cups.  Not good.
Did I exercise today? - NO.

Food Diary, Day 1

Well, it looks like all of my followers have dropped off, except for my sweetie (hi, John!), and maybe a friend who gets email updates.  I am okay with that.

I want to try documenting what I eat by keeping a food diary.  I am terrible about keeping commitments, but still... I will try, for one week, to write down everything that I consume that contains calories.  I think it would be good to track weight, water intake, and exercise, as well, but that sounds a bit overwhelming right now.

So.

Wednesday, July 18th
Breakfast - 2 cups of coffee with 2 creamer singles, 1/2 cup coffee with a bit of honey and almond milk (ran out of creamer), one fried egg with a bit of olive oil, two pieces of 7-grain toast, 1 tsp. strawberry preserves, and 2 tsp. of my husband's habanero tomatillo salsa

Lunch - 1/2 slice turkey, 3 1" sausage pieces, 1/3 cup cole slaw, 1/3 cup potato salad, 1 tbsp. BBQ sauce, and 2/3 cups green grapes

Dinner - 2 slices sausage & onion and 1 slice chicken & spinach pizza with no cheese, medium salad with vinaigrette dressing, and a brownie (1/16th of a full pan)

Snack(s) - 1/4 cup edamame with sea salt

Water Intake - 8 cups!  MET MY DAILY GOAL... woohoo!
Did I exercise today? - YES!

My Beloved

I love my husband.

Thank you, John, for loving me. I need it, like I need air.

I Call For a Do-Over!

The past month has been a hard one for John and me. We have had emotional, financial, and temporal pressures that at times have felt overwhelming, as though we would be strained beyond the breaking point.

A quick evaluation of the past few weeks:

• Two trips to the vet with a sick kitty
• Summer school frustrations (lack of preparation for the course at upper levels)
• Accident and loss of a vehicle (through someone else's lack of attention)
• Hours spend on the road and in hospital waiting rooms
• Rescheduling of vacation
• Lots of bad food, and not enough rest
• Death and funeral of a parent
• Re-scheduling vacation at the last minute

(Insert amazing vacation in Colorado with our closest friends)

• Slow insurance response
• Vehicle purchase (used most of our savings)
  
• News that we won't get summer school wages until late August

Except for the time spent in Colorado, these weeks have been just awful - so much that I don't know how we would have made it through without the support of our best friends. They came to the funeral, gave financial advice, and offered support.

Remember when you were a kid? If you were anything like me, you goofed up a lot. Especially in sports, I made many mistakes that frustrated me. A missed shot, a dropped ball... these game-enders sometimes had to be remedied with a call for a "Do-Over." It meant that the prior attempt was only practice... so now, get ready for the real thing! Well, I would like to put in for a do-over dating back to one month ago, please.

Even as I write this, though, I know that I wouldn't change the way things happened, if given a chance. We are recovering, and we have had a powerful reminder of the value of friendship. No, I wouldn't change the outcome, but I would change the time frame. I think that was enough stress to last us until the onslaught of the holidays!

What a Goober.

(I checked a friend's blog a couple of days ago, only to find that he has deleted it. It made me sad, knowing that the connection was broken, one that might have let me understand him a little better. It also reminded me that I needed to check in.)

We have three cats. We didn't plan to get three, but we have them nonetheless. Our latest addition is Goober, a beautifully fluffy Siamese mix with rust-colored fur and bright blue slightly-crossed eyes (I will find a picture of him to post soon). When we picked him up, I couldn't help but think that this gorgeous cat had been done a disservice with his naming. He looks stately and handsome, more deserving of a TMNT-style* name than "Goober." I was wrong. His name is perfect, but he is... different.

I feel this needs a list. The top five crazy things that this cat does, in no particular order, are:

1. He runs up and down the hallway, crying and jumping like there's a bear behind him
2. He attacks the springy-thingy on the back of the bathroom door, biting it repeatedly
3. He drinks from the sink, and won't leave unless you turn the water on (okay, not crazy. but cute.)
4. He loves being brushed, but bites at the brush as though to remind it who's boss
5. He stalks our Mama-cat, Bella, and likes to watch her in the litter box. Creepy.
   

As I said, he was well-named.

We were only supposed to keep Goober for a short time, a temporary placement until the no-kill shelter could take him in. It seems that Goober had the annoying habit of urinating on his pregnant former owner's laundry. She, in turn, had the habit of hating him. Since the shelter was full at the time, we were asked to take him in. Owning two cats already, we weren't looking for another pet, but we agreed. That was almost a year ago.

I guess we're keeping him. Even though he's a Goober.

* - That's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, for those of you born outside the late 70s-early 80s. Turtle power!

The Company Picnic

I got to meet a lot of John's co-workers at a picnic yesterday afternoon. Being somewhat from this area, it was strange for me to be the one who had to be introduced, instead of the introducer. I felt a little self-conscious every time he said, "this is my wife." I wondered what his associates might think of his choice, since we are so different.

John is tall. I am more... aerodynamic.
John is technically proficient. I can't completely understand the TV remote.*
John runs marathons. I hate to sweat.
John throws laundry together to wash. I have a sophisticated sorting system.
John loves to be physically challenged. I prefer to be horizontal.
John likes to tackle problems, head on. I think things through, sometimes too thoroughly.
I crave praise. John praises me often.
I tend to overdo everything. John simplifies.
I love to cook. John loves to eat.
I love him. John loves me.

Well, we may be different, but we're certainly complimentary. And I think I'll take that over same any day.

* In my own defense, it's a very fancy TV remote.

The Big Question...

Blogging isn't as easy as I thought it would be. Or, rather, blogging consistently and honestly about what I am thinking and feeling isn't as easy as I thought it would be. Maybe because I haven't decided whether I want this enterprise to be a journal - a release of thoughts and frustrations - or whether I want it to be something likeable. I suppose the real question is whether I am writing for all of you, or whether I am writing for me. I still don't know.

Weekend, Weather, and Waffles

This morning, the sun is shining and the birds are chirping and the kitties are purring.

I woke up today with a smile on my face and a song in my heart. It made me acutely aware of just how often that doesn't happen. My solution? Make an amazing breakfast for husband and little sister, who sheltered at our house last night during a severe thunderstorm.

The recipe is Kate's Light n' Fluffy Buttermilk Waffles at Allrecipes.com. YUM.

They call for chocolate chips, but that is too much for me at 8am, so I omitted them. And because I can't ever leave recipes alone, I tweaked it a bit to suit our tastes. With some applewood smoked bacon and topped with blueberries, they were delicious. That one goes in the permanent keepers file... even though it dirtied up half the bowls in my kitchen!

The plan for today? Enjoy my somewhat clean house and catch up on my schoolwork. It's fallen woefully behind in the month of April, due to after school review sessions to prepare my students for their upcoming AP History exam. Now who's going to clean up the kitchen?

Can't Stop Singing

"He is jealous for me. Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree - bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy..." I can't stop singing those words.

Some songs are just greater than the sum of their parts - lyrics and notes that seem familiar because they strike a chord in our hearts.

What song does that for you? I know it likely changes daily, but what song resonates with you right now?