off the wagon

I could say that I fell off the wagon. But the truth is that I gladly leapt off. I mentioned in my last post that I was distracted while Ryan watched sports. So I got up and made s'more granola bars.



First off, these really aren't granola bars. OK, they do have some rolled oats. But they mostly are sweet and yummy. I got the recipe here. I didn't vary from the recipe (I'm anal like that.) though I did use Ghiradelli Bittersweet Chocolate Chips. I love dark chocolate. I didn't have that large of a baking sheet so I used two 13x9 pyrex dishes. I had to bake them for about 10 minutes before the marshmallows began to brown. I sprayed the baking dishes lightly sprayed with Pam but I think I would use parchment paper is I did this again. They were sticky as heck to get out of the pan. Hey! Aren't those messed up pieces that you used to get to the rest calorie free? The rest are about 96 calories. Not bad if you can control yourself and eat just one. I don't have that control. I had to give some to the neighbors before I ate all 36.

distracted

I love sports but would rather play than watch. Saturdays meant dad and John watching sports on TV. I occasionally watched with them but would get bored. My roommate, Danielle, loved watching baseball and hockey. I got away from watching/listening to sports on TV when I lived alone. The TV was on a lot but I preferred watching old movies or reruns.

Then Gail came along. He would turn on ESPN first thing in the morning. Football and hockey were Gail's favorite sports. He said he didn't like baseball but would watch it when there was no other sports to watch. I would sit with him but learned to tune it out for the most part.

After Gail died, we didn't watch sports. Well, except when dad came down for the winter. Over time, Ryan would complain and dad pretty much stopped watching TV all together.

Lately, Ryan has started watching TV. ESPN. Saturday morning comes and he turns on the TV. He watches ESPN while looking for other sports on the channel guide. His says favorite sports are baseball, football, basketball, racing and hockey. Though in reality, he prefers those sports with lots of actions and heavy scoring like basketball.

Saturday, he watched TV most of the day. I found myself not being able to tune it out and concentrate on anything else. I finally got up baked some s'mores granola bars. (More on those later)

Ryan did stop watching long enough to ride his bike for 15 minutes. And he won't watch after 6:00 pm. That's his rule, not mine. Also, he doesn't sit and stare at the TV. He is up and playing with his cars or trains. But he won't leave the room except during commercials. He hasn't learned that commercial breaks last 2-3 minutes and he has plenty of time to go to the bathroom and wash his hands.

taking no chances in texas

even the bronze pigs are wearing masks

new shoes, the third

I love him but, he's costing me too much money! After Andy broke his birkenstocks in 2 short weeks, I ordered a pair of sandals from Lands' End. He likes them but they don't fit so well since he has high arches. So I went looking for another pair. I ordered the Chaco sandals from Shoebuy.com. Service was OK though it took a week for them to ship.

These Chaco Unaweep sandals are beefy! They are supposed to help correct pronating. And these are big. Men's size 9. They almost fit me. Andy seems to be OK with them but I think he would prefer slides.

[weigh-in wednesday] 4/29 budgets

This week I have lost 3.6 pounds. Accumulated total is 39.8 pounds. Except for my knee pain, I am feeling good.

Counting calories is a lot like keeping a budget for you money. Now I see why I am so fat. And broke.

That wasn't always the case. I knew how to save money when I had an allowance. At the beginning of each school year, mom would take us clothes shopping. She told us we had $100 to spend on new clothes. (Shoes were part of the deal unless we wanted something special.) I shopped and shopped and found good deals. Sometimes it took me several shopping trips to spend all the money. My sister, on the other hand, used her money for big rhings like cowboys boots and a cowboy hat. She would have to use her babysitting money or wait for Christmas for anything practical.

So what happened? I dunno. College, with the freedom to have more than one soda per day if I wanted? Credit cards issued to young adults who are sure they will get great jobs that pay lots of money? I think credit cards have been my downfall. Thinking I could spend today and pay it back later. Thinking I could eat know and work it off later. It's just too much of a temptation for me and I am paying for it now.

But it's time to take responsibility and clear the debt and clear the fat. So far the iPhone app Lose It! is really helping. Of course I wish I could lose the weight faster but it is keeping me making better choices. Last Friday, the bus driver aide gave the boys little bags of Chips Ahoy! They don't like them and I don't really like them either. In the past, I would still eat them. Heck, they are chocolate chip cookies! But I looked at the back and saw each little bag was 140 calories. One bag of popcorn is 150 and is so much better. I tossed the cookies.

mommy brigade

I went to Wiregrass yesterday to take photos of architectural details. At one point, I turned around and saw the mommy brigade round the corner. Several moms walking or jogging.

I could have used this kind of incentive when the boys were little. But then again, Wiregrass wasn't around then and our neighborhood sidewalks are too narrow for 2 strollers side by side.

Our Moms Club did occasionally meet at the mall but it was a casual stroll interjected with shopping and lunch.

too much to do

Well, heck! This week looks like, well, heck!

I was starting lunch and I heard my iPod beep. I wondered what it was altering me to. I checked and saw Ryan's dentist appointment on Tuesday. OK. I tell Ryan then Andy wants to know when his appointment is. (I can't take them on the same day, it's way too draining just taking one.) I look and see it is Wednesday. Oh crud. And Thursday is Andy's IEP meeting and there is no school on Friday.

Heck.

Just thinking of all of the exhausted me and I needed a big nap this afternoon.

buh bye facebook!

I can't remember when I signed up. Some blogging friends of mine did it first. Then I saw my nephew's followed closely by their ever-watchful mother. It seemed to really explode a few months ago. Today, I noticed I had 106 friends. Really?

Facebook has changed so much since I first joined. It's now like high school and twitter combined. Now I love my twitter but high school, not so much. I don't want to go looking for easter eggs or throw some flair. I waste too much time on the computer as it is. I was hoping I could keep in contact with my family but they don't update much. I did reconnect with my first boyfriend but once the initial "How have you been?" is over, there's not much left.

So yesterday I deactivated my account.

[weigh in wednesday] 4/22 slow progress

This week I have lost .6 pounds. Yes, point-six. Six tenths of a pound. ugh. At least it is something, right? It's these moments when I find myself wanting to cheat. I could have waiting until after I walked when the scale goes down another pound due to water loss. But in my mind, I know it's not the truth.

I have been very good sticking to my allotted calories. Maybe too good. As of this week, Monday & Tuesday, I am 1000 calories under budget. (Oh! I bet I have enough to indulge in a double scoop, sans the waffle cone!) But one concern is that in eating too few calories that you slow down your metabolism. Could be why I want to take a nap, or 2, everyday.

I could whine that I had company this past weekend. My cousin from Redbank, New Jersey was visiting. And you know losing weight when Aunt Flo is here is next to impossible.

So I will continue and hope that next week's weigh in shows more progress.

he's twelve

Yesterday was Andy's 12th birthday. Oh man I feel old.

I met him at the bus. It was warm but he likes to bundle up. Normally, he runs in the house and grabs a snack and comes back out to ride his bike. It had been raining and he was actually happy since he wanted to play inside.


I got some gifts for Andy. Each year it gets harder to know what he wants. I did ask and he said "Presents." What kind of presents? "All of them." Oh that narrows it down. On Saturday, I found out that he wants the Raffi DVDs. (We had them in VHS but donated them years ago.) I checked out amazon and they have them all. And here is where I love amazon Prime, free 2-day shipping and low 1-day shipping costs. I ordered the one he talked about the most. I told him and he said, "No, all 3." He is one of those people who want it all. Otherwise a part is missing and he can't stand it. I went back and ordered the other 2. sigh.


Ryan tried to open the gifts but I caught him. Andy was happy to open the gifts. Between each one, he ran and threw away the wrapping paper. (Where was he on Christmas?) I told him that I already installed the microphone so he went directly to the playroom to make music.


He opened Garage Band and quickly added some loops to make a song. He doesn't need to listen to the loops as he has them all memorized. Within 5 minutes, he had the music ready. I asked him to sing and he made up some lyrics about lifting weights. I asked him to save the song but he wouldn't. Hopefully, it is still on his computer and I can grab it.


He sings so incredibly close to the microphone. The last one we had, the $20 Logitech special sounded like crap. The distortion was horrible. This snowball (I'll talk more about in another post) has 3 settings and one made more Andy. It sounds so much better.
He seemed OK with his gifts. You can never tell if he is disappointed. Later, he played with his new DS game and checked out his Dr Seuss traveling cards.