Weight Loss Ramblings

I have a weigh-in tonight that I am dreading!  I've reach a complete plateau at the same place I always reach it.  For some reason, I can live at the gym and never get under 175...ever!  Dangitalltohey!

Of course, it doesn't help that I'm sick to death of dieting and trying to eat "right."  I just want to have a freaking donut, ok?

Not, ok?  Well, darn.

I talked to my trainer and she said I either needed to cut something out (I'd rather stab myself in the eye with a carrot) or up my cardio...looks like I'll be up-ing my cardio then.

A random thought: Has anyone ever noticed that the tea drinkers in their lives are always so mega thin?  Now, I'm not talking about the crazy green tea pills and all that nonsense.  I've just been wondering, is it the tea?  Or, do tea drinkers just have healthier lifestyles aside from their beverage choices?

I'm inclined to switch out my coffee for tea...oh heck, maybe I am going to give up something else after all.

Party, My people!

In two weeks I am no longer a slave to retail! I know that I could probably go into how I went back and forth about the whole thing and my love for all things Pier 1.

Instead, I think a few musical numbers will sum things up for me nicely.

The first I woke up with this morning. "You Did It" from My Fair Lady:



The second, "Don't Rain on My Parade", the Glee version.  I wish I could of found the clip from the show, but you'll get the music.





I think that about sums it up.

Serendipity

You know when you blog and you think that no one important ever reads what you are writing?

Well, when I told ya'll about Paint the Moon Photography, I had no idea that the Lady herself would comment on my post!

She gave me the code to give her actions a proper tribute since I couldn't find it the first time... tres embarrassing! However, I appreciate her taking the time to comment on my post.  In fact, it made my week.

As a beginner, I found the actions super easy to use.  I haven't had the nerve to try textures yet, but her blog has a number of tutorials to guide me through it when I do.   It's really nice when people share what they know with novices.  Go check her out if you didn't get a chance to the first go round. It looks like she is working on some new goodies: Blueberry Cobbler looks mighty delicious!

Ms Domestique and the 7 Deodorant Sticks

This weekend I turned to the Big S and I said: "Honey, can I be the official buyer for the house?"

What caused this insanity?

Let me take you on a tour of our pantry, which I organized this weekend:

Two whole cartons of eggs. One for each of us?  I don't even like eggs, but I feel that quiche is in my near future.

2.5 bags of rice for the next time I need to make sushi for 60.

Almost 3 pounds of confectioners sugar?  Why?  Maybe a leftover treat from last Thanksgiving?  I'm not even sure what to do with this.  Not even a little bit.

6 different types of drink mix.  At least they are different, right?

And last, but not least, my favorite! In the event of zombie attack, just add butter.  I swear that I am not Paula Dean, honest.  I laughed out loud when my honey brought home the huge butter tub with the corresponding phrase: "I saw we were out of butter" and I laughed my way to the freezer and pulled out 2 small tubs and the opened one in the fridge to prove that we had butter the whole time.

And lest we forget the 7 deodorant sticks that I found living in a cottage under the sink when I organized in the bathroom...ok, 9 if you include my back-ups.

I love our crazy, I really do.  And remember kiddies, when those zombies attack it's eggs, rice, sugar, drink mix, butter, and deodorant.

#6- To Kill A Mockingbird (revisited)

"The one place where a man ought to get a square deal is in a courtroom, be he any color of the rainbow, but people have a way of carrying their resentments right into a jury box. As you grow older, you'll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but let me tell you something and don't you forget it - whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is trash." ~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, Chapter 23, spoken by the character Atticus

 I officially recant every nasty thing I've ever said about To Kill A Mockingbird.

The beginning was a little slow for me, probably due to the dread with which I undertook this book, however, by the end, I got it.  I really did.

Even though there is a lot of the "south" in this book, both the good and the bad, I realized that Scout was just like me growing up.  She lived in a confusing world where she was told to treat everyone the same and at the same time to treat others differently and even at a young age she understood the hypocrisy of this.

I loved the spotlight on education in this book, especially when Scout decided never to go back to school because her teacher told her she couldn't read with her dad anymore and I loved when they continued to read in secret.

I enjoyed the the catch-22 of growing up in a progressive southern family and I both respected and hated her aunty for trying to make Scout into Jean Louise.

Atticus was, by far, my favorite character.  He had southern roots, but he knew that if he was going to change the world for his children he would have to put away the country things and take up learned ways.  I loved how Harper Lee used the image of the shotgun to portray this idea with all the masculine connotations of being a "good shot" as well as a provider for one's family.  My favorite characteristic of Atticus, besides his comparably equal treatment of others and his desire for an education, is his trust in his children.  He understands them and loves them and really believes that they can understand the life lessons he is trying to teach them. The final scene reflects this so well when he stays up the whole night to make sure that is son is OK.  He really does love them.

Yeah, I was just as surprised as you were about this realization.  You win some, you loose some.

BMI-TMI?

After all this training at the gym I was curious what my BMI (Body Mass Index) was.  At my heaviest I was considered obese with a BMI of 32. I was so stoked to just get down to overweight a few years ago.  Now, 50 pounds from my heaviest, I'm still in the overweight category with a BMI of 27.  That's frustrating.

 

However, there might be some light at the end of the tunnel: I'm only 14 pounds away from a normal weight.  Just 14 pounds!  That gets me very motivated to stick with this and so do all the risk factors associated with being overweight/obese.

 

Since most of the following things run in my family, even for skinny relatives, it gets me very concerned:

• Coronary heart disease (Dad just had his first heart attack in February)
• Type 2 diabetes (Great uncle)
• Cancers (endometrial, breast, and colon) (They found cancer on Dad's kidneys)
• Hypertension (high blood pressure) (Dad, both grandmothers)
• Dyslipidemia (for example, high total cholesterol or high levels of triglycerides) (My triglyceride levels are already on the rise according to my last round of blood work)
• Stroke (both grandfatehrs had multiple strokes)
• Liver and Gallbladder disease
• Sleep apnea and respiratory problems
• Osteoarthritis (a degeneration of cartilage and its underlying bone within a joint)
• Gynecological problems (abnormal menses, infertility) (I was diagnosed with PCOS at the age of 16)

(http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/effects/index.html)

 

And I don't say all that to be a Debbie Downer, but instead to rejoice in how far I've come to try and keep myself healthy!  I know I'll still have to worry about these things even if I get all the weight off, but that will be at least one less thing on my plate--no pun intended.

I want to age beautifully and gracefully and stick around a hell of a long time. 

So 14 pounds?   I can start with that.

 

 

First Class Freebies

Who doesn't love free?

I've fallen in love with the photoshop actions over at Paint the Moon.

I've never played around with editing tools like this, so I've been very hesitant to buy a set since they're about $100.

However, this fabulous lady has a few basic edits for free so that you can play and even add some textures(terrifying).  When I get better I'm going to buy her whole set and maybe Florabella as well.

Anywho, go check her freebies out here and pick them up for yourself.

I wish she had some sort of widget for her fans to use to link to her, because I'd love to give her some more internet props.  Oh well.

#6- To Kill A Mockingbird

I'm starting my reading list out with a bit of a challenge: To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee.  I read this book during the summer I was 16, on my own, without a teacher assigning it.  I thought I was being uber studious and intellectual since everyone waxes euphoric about this book.

I hated it.  I didn't understand the hype.  I avoided this book at all costs in college.

When you study literature in college there are really two major veins: English and American.  My focus was on English Lit., although I was forced to take one semester of American Literature where I spent the enitre semester correcting my professor.  The main reason for my anglophilic nature, is that I find American literature to be the equivalent of dry, stale toast.  British writers use vocabulary that turns their sentences into velvet: smooth, soft, and sexy.  I just can't turn it down.

I digress.  The first time I read To Kill A Mockingbird, I was very disappointed, mainly, because of the poor, southern themes in it.  I grew up in a very poor southern town in the middle of nowhere.  While I love the idea of being a "Southern Belle," there were no beautiful planation manors in my life. Think Sweet Home Alabama with Reese Witherspoon and you basically have my mentality about my hometown.  I've spent a lot of time distancing myself from the lifestyle and the accent, getting an education, moving to the city, and basically just trying to get away from such a depressing area.  So, To Kill A Mockingbird didn't sit well with my 16 year old self, who knew what we were aiming for in life was not what Scout had.

I'm hoping for better things this go around since it has been 7 years since the first reading.  I'm hoping that I will see the beauty in this book that everyone else has seen and I'm hoping to realize the importance of this novel to the global, not just the deep south, experience.

You Capture: Fun

This week Teacher Beth at ishouldbefoldinglaundry.com assigned: Fun. Let me tell you, this has not been a fun week for me, but I played with my camera and that is the whole point.

I'm aware that I might have taken this one too...literally.

But I had fun actually reading the user manual to my camera (dork) and taking this one manually (score).  I've determined my camera takes a 1000X better picture in manual.

Last time I shot in manual was with a real film SLR in my old photography class. Since it was my Dad's old Pentax and it was made in the 70's it has like 3 buttons (I've always wanted to steal this from him, especially his vintage leather camera bag).

My new, high-tech Nikon has so many levers and pullies and buttons I'm not sure I'll ever know what they all do. But...I've at least captured the daunting concepts of aperture and shutter speed on this puppy.

The rest is still a learning experience.

By-the-bye, I'm sorry I'm still under contruction. The remodel has been dictated a lot by Steven's schedule and since he got his new job I feel like I never see him. When I do, I hardly want to bug him about this thing.

However, you can bug him. That would be...fun.

And when you're not harrassing my beloved to fix this ding-dang-blog, please go check out all the fun everyone else had with You Capture this week. These folks keep me grounded on what is important and remind me that I really do need to live a little.

Mayhaps, for next weeks water challenge I'll spend the whole time lounging by the pool in my spf 75.

Yes, indeed.

 

My BIG Read

Last week, an insane notion popped into my overwhelmed brain and that was the idea of reading my way through the BBC's top 100 or 200 books.

It isn't as crazy as it sounds since I've read a good bit of them.  I just need a way to read structurally on my own schedule.  I haven't been able to find a bookclub that's taking new members since we moved, so this is my book club: membership of one.

I  fully intend to read my way through some of the most noteworthy litereary works of our time and let you know what I think, in no particular order. Yes, it would be more challenging to do them in order, but it might also get me depressed about this project.

Some books listed are actually series.  Depending on how I like them I might do the whole series or just he first book.

And if you catch the bug to read them with me or just pass along a new favorite book, well, that would be delightful. 

If only I could have you over for dinner, wine, and discussion. 

Rude People

Do you just ever have one of those days that's completely deflated by someone being rude.

I'm having one of those types of days.

I hate rude people.

I hate when people take their frustrations out on others.

I especially hate when they bring that garbage to work.

And I hate how it rains on my parade.

It doesn't get any better because of the fact that I live in a city with very rude people. People who think that a little affluence makes them better than others or better than me. Mostly I feel this way at my retail job not my office gig. But today, it happened at my desk. They apologized for being rude, but the damage to my day was already done.

So dang it. I've got to get my smile on and look on the sunny side. There is a sunny side right? There just has to be. Cause I try so hard to be the ray of sunshine when everyone is a Debbie Downer. Happiness and peace ya'll. I really wish those were the things that made the world go round instead of money, greed, hate, and war.

So it starts with you and it starts with me. I won't let it get to me and I won't be rude back and I'll smile and take on the some of the stress that's making this person rude in the first place.

Indeed.

You Capture: Best Shot

The assignment from Beth at ishouldbefoldinglaundry.com this week was simply: the best shot from the week.  Mine was easy this week because I'm pretty sure it's the best picture I've ever taken.

Ta da:

I completely stumbled across this gem while baby-sitting my unofficial god daughter, Little K this past weekend.  I took a TON of pictures and most of them didn't turn out very well.  I've now learned the importance of having someone else there while trying to photograph the little ones that wiggle-and-a-shake.  K is 18 months so she does a lot of moving, everywhere, all at once, a thousand times before you've realized she's gone.  However she is completely brilliant!  What 18 month old do you know that can do the fist-bump greeting? 

It's completely unedited and I'm completely in love with it. Might be a great gift for the parents this Christmas. Yes, indeed!

I just love her and how good Steven is with her.  And I love when he tells me that I look sexy with a baby.  I just love him...period.

Well, that certainly is a lot of cuteness and love for one post. In truth, I love that too!  So go give some lovin' to the folks at this week's You Capture. 

Please and thank you!

My Green Thumb

The garden is growing super this year and why shouldn't it since I worked so hard putting in a wall, but that's not what this is about.

Do you have any nervous habits that you just cannot break?

Mine is an inherited trait: tearing up my hands.

I don't bite my nails, but I will bite off the skin around my nails any time I get stressed out.  Half the time I don't realize I'm doing it until I start bleeding.  I really hate that I've always done it.  My mother has done it her whole life too.

The only thing that helped me out was getting acrylic nails.  I love those things!  Not only do your nails look amazing, but getting to go to the "spa" for an hour every few weeks is relaxing.  However, they really ruin your natural nails.  I've been trying to grow out the damaged part of my nails and I'm half way there.  It's also really hard to keep up with them with my crazy schedule...but I do miss them.

And why did I call this post My Green Thumb?  Cause I have identical green band-aids on each thumb until my skin grows back.

Lovely.

But seriously, what are your bad habits.  I want to know so I don't feel alone with my psychosis.