Catching up and weighing in

I know...I haven't posted in almost a week. To say I've been busy would be an understatement. I've spent a lot of time with my granddaughter among other things, but I'm back and today was weigh-in.

I weighed in this morning at EXACTLY the same amount as last week. No loss, but more importantly, NO gain! I know that every week won't be a huge success so I am trying to celebrate my little successes.

I'm enjoying my Christmas prep (it's less than 4 months away!). I will be talking a lot about that as I progress. Fall is my favorite time of year and "getting ready for Christmas" is one of the reasons.

Our local high school will play it's rival this Friday. Joel and I haven't decided if we are going to go or not. Practically everybody in Bellevue will be there and I'm not much of a "crowds person". Plus, the boys will only be doing part of their half-time show (so the other team's band will have time). I would much rather go a different week when there won't be so many people and I can watch the whole show.

I saw a cartoon yesterday that (unfortunately) reminded me of ME. It had a guy telling a friend, "My Doctor told me to gradually ease into an exercise program so yesterday I drove by a store that sells sweatpants." No, I still haven't started exercising, but I'm staying on points so, once again, celebrating a little success.

Going Shopping...

One of my favorite sports is shopping. Yes, I call it a sport. I train (cut coupons, read sale papers, make a list), compete (for a parking place, the last box of Cocoa Puffs on the shelf, a spot in the newly opened checkout line), then I'm awarded (savings from the coupons, smiles on my boys' faces for getting that last box of Cocoa Puffs, gratitude from my husband for the meals I fix) and finally I experience pain (aching back from picking up the dogfood, papercut from those damn coupons, swollen feet from standing in line so long). Yes, my life is so fulfilling.

Today I will be going to Super Wal*Mart. It is one of my favorite stores. It has just about everything I need all in one spot and they match prices so if I find a better deal at another store, I don't have to go to that store to get the sale price. Being a stay-at-home mom has it's advantages. One is that I can go to Wal*Mart during the day on a weekday so there isn't as much of a crowd. I have recently started shopping at another store BEFORE going to Wal*Mart. It is Aldi's. They don't have everything I need, but the things they do have are WAY less than at Wal*Mart (like milk for $2.49/gallon). They only take cash and you need a quarter for your cart (you get it back), but it's worth going by the bank first. I live in a somewhat small town (46K people) so the bank, Aldi's and Wal*Mart are all pretty close together. In addition, I can run by the tanning place before my shopping.

Lots of fun in Bellevue, Nebraska.

A Better Start!

Wednesday is my weigh-in day. I was thrilled to find I had lost a pound. Yes, one little pound, but it makes me closer to my goal. AND, I am going to try again to go to Aqua Fitness tomorrow (it only meets on Tuesday and Thursday). I actually LOVE the water, but have avoided it since gaining weight. Kinda a Catch-22 situation.

I got a lot done on my Christmas Notebook yesterday at Craft Day. I will be including shopping tips, sites and discounts over the next few months as we get closer to Christmas. Hopefully some of y'all will be able to use them.

Our new kitchen floor is being installed TOMORROW!!!! I am soooo happy. I will try to post some photos after it is finished. I'm still new to this so it may take a while.

Tonight NOBODY has a meeting/practice or anything else so we will be eating as a family. I'm about to go through some recipes to figure out what to make.

As I read over what I've written I see how 'plain' it is, but I'm still new to doing this and have kept my sense of humor in check so as not to let on exactly how weird I am. Eventually as I feel more comfortable with posting I am sure it will emerge so bear with me!

Okay, I'm a wimp

I didn't go to the Aqua Fitness class. Yep, too scared. I've never been this size and I just couldn't bear the thought of being in a swimsuit in front of people. I guess I'm either going to have to find an exercise with baggier outfits or have a pool installed at our house. I have a bicycle, but have NEVER used it because I can't stand the image of what my "view" would be from behind...you know...all bent over with just my butt in site. Ugh!

Today is Craft Day. Several friends go over to Carey's house and we work on whatever craft we want. I've been doing a needlepoint project, but it's for me so it's getting put away today until after Christmas. Today I'm taking my Christmas Notebook to get it organized for this year (http://organizedchristmas.com/holiday-grand-plan). I will go through the drive-thru at McDonald's and get a Grilled Bacon Ranch Salad for lunch (5 points!) and be there a little before 11am. Between now and Christmas, I will work on projects that are FOR Christmas...either a gift for somebody else or a decoration/whatever for our home. I do tend to go a tiny bit overboard on Christmas so the notebook helps me curb the craziness.

I haven't decided what's for dinner yet. Maybe Salmon Patties (YUM!).

Thrilled to have y'all here!

I've had over 80 people come read my blog since Saturday, BUT...only THREE have left comments! Thank you to those three. For the rest of y'all, please take a moment to leave feedback. Trust me, I live for it.

I had a great weekend. The boys started school last Wednesday. Although I enjoy the time to myself, it does get QUIET so I was glad to have everybody home on Saturday and Sunday.

I keep a list of projects to work on so I won't go stir crazy when I'm alone. Currently we are working on a new kitchen floor. It didn't take much effort on my part other than picking it out and letting the guy in the house to measure, but I'll also have to let the guy in the house to install it later this week. LOTS of excitement around here!

Tonight for dinner we are going to have:

Seafood Pasta Delight

8 oz uncooked vermicelli
2 T cornstarch
1 t sugar
3/4 t salt
dash pepper
1/2 c chicken broth
1/2 c dry white wine OR additional chicken broth
1/4 c reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 medium sweet red pepper, julienned
1 medium sweet yellow pepper, julienned
1 c fresh OR frozen sugar snap peas
2 to 3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 t ground ginger
1 T olive oil
1 pound uncooked sea scallops, halved
1 pound uncooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 t sesame oil

Cook pasta according to package directions. In a bowl, combine the cornstarch, sugar, salt and pepper; stir in the broth, wine and soy sauce until smooth; set aside.
In a large nonstick skillet or wok, stir-fry the peppers, peas, garlic & ginger in oil for 2-4 minutes or until crisp-tender. Add scallops & shrimp; stir-fry 2 minutes longer. Stir cornstarch mixture and add to the pan. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Drain pasta; add to skillet. Heat until scallops are firm and opaque and shrimp turn pink. Sprinkle with sesame oil. Yield 8 svgs.

1 cup = 6 points

This is delicious, but the boys don't like it so I tend to fix it on Monday nights when they have band practice from 5p-9p and aren't home for dinner.

Next Monday I start my Christmas prep so make sure you stop by to see how that is going. I've already finished my Christmas cards (all 182 of them!).

Missing In Action

Okay, so it's been a whole month since I posted. I have NO excuse...a few reasons, but won't go into everything. I will promise to be better about posting.

I have stayed on points during my absence and am now at 13 pounds lost. I weigh in on Wednesdays so make sure to stop by and check out my ticker at the bottom of the page to see my updated total.

I haven't been exercising, but will start an "Aqua Fitness" class on Tuesday. Yikes! I'm not worried about the actual class, but the thought of wearing a swimsuit is terrifying. I have friends who have been going and they SWEAR that there are no skinny bitches wearing thongs attending. The first thigh I see without cellulite and I'm outta there!

A bit about me. I have NOT been overweight all my life. When I was in high school, I had a softball coach who said that he'd bet I had to run around in the shower to get wet. In June of 2004 I had a hysterectomy and things went downhill from there over the next 11 months. During the fall of 2004, I had 8 people die over an 8 week period. The last funeral I attended was 4 days before Christmas. I started 2005 with my yearly physical and my doctor asked how I was feeling. I told him what was going on and he suggested counselling. I was okay going for the next few months, but in March I turned 40, then 6 weeks later my oldest son graduated high school, my middle son left middle school and my youngest son left elementary school. Quite a few milestones to have all at once. I ended up getting an Rx. One of the side effects was weightgain. It said that the average gain for a person taking 1 per day was 40#s over 6 months. I took 4 per day for the next 2 years and gained 88#s. I am now "drug-free" and losing the weight.

I promise that my blog won't always be so depressing, but I wanted to let y'all know "my story". I would appreciate any comments, questions, encouragement, etc.