Election Week 2008

Wednesday October 29, 2008 Phase Two Day 191:
What a fun day. It began walking with friends. Then I was home to eat cereal for breakfast and watch Andy Griffith. Then I was off to pick up my Mom for swimming. Today I told Shannon I would help Karissa with the Pre School. Those kids are so cute. We prearranged to walk the kids over here to look at the fishpond. They had so much fun. We went back and Karissa had them cook these darling pumpkin cookies on a stick, then we decorated them. I came home about 12:30. She insisted I take a pumpkin cookie. At home I ate it – don’t worry, it was not sicky sweet and mine did not have any frosting. Actually, it was very good. I took a few minutes and cut up the leftover roast and veggies up. I added broth, carrots and what ever else looked yummy and brought it all to a boil. One the menu tonight is stew.

For lunch, I fixed myself tuna and ate it with crackers, low fat cheese and pickles. I had a dry hot chocolate mix to top it off. Now I need to pop into the office before coming back home to meet with boy scouts…..Well, I went up to get ready for work but the bed looked so inviting. I thought, ‘If I can just rest for a minute”. Thirty minutes later I decided I would not go in. It is actually a good thing I stayed home because I checked the time for the Boys Scout appointment and it was an hour earlier than I thought. As it turned out thought, they stood me up. That’s OK. I worked on church stuff. Stephen came home and when it was time for dinner I did not even want soup. It was too warm for soup. I suggested we go to Denny’s on Morning Drive because time was getting short and we both had to be at the ball field for a stake YM/YW activity tonight. I ate the best grilled chicken salad. It was just what I was wanting.

I asked if I could make an announcement for the stake Christmas play at the activity. I was so pleased that 22 kids signed up. Now I am home and think I will have a hot chocolate. I cannot have a granola bar with it though. I was telling Sonnet how I have forgotten that awhile back I made a rule of thumb for myself regarding grains. I said I would not have a granola bar and crackers on the same day. What we have noticed about conveniently packaged grain products, i.e. granola bars, crackers, is that they are easy to grab and consequently added to the daily routine at the expense of fruits and veggies. We know grains are good for you so I am not including the healthy cereal I eat in the morning among the other grain choices. Besides, my cereal comes with milk, which is a good source of calcium for me. Hence, because I chose to have crackers with my tuna at lunch. Now if I want a snack, I should choose a fruit or veggie….I did not have anything after all, not even hot chocolate.

Thursday October 30, 2008 Phase Two Day 192:
Well, still no change in weight. No worries, it will happen. Up and out to step class this am. Came home to cereal and Andy. Lots of church work for the Christmas program this morning but now I really must get into work, especially since I did not make it in yesterday. For lunch I will take some soup and an apple. The question is, should I have crackers with my soup or save the grains for a granola bar later on? This is tough. I decided on the crackers. Lunch was very filling, especially the apple.

This afternoon I was on the run trying to get a letter out for the stake Christmas program. My boy scouts canceled (yes) which gave me an extra hour and a half before I needed to be across town to meet Sonnet for weight lift class. I did not eat dinner. Stephen had stew but I only had the last half of my yogurt before weight class then a bite of tuna mix before I zipped to the post office. On the way home from the post office I stopped at the store. It was nice to do big shopping and not just running in for a few things. At home I ate the rest of the tuna.

Friday October 31, 2008 Phase Two Day 193:
Halloween! Tonight Stephen & I have a temple sealing assignment. I will pick him up around 2:30 and we will head down. Do you know what this means? Custard at the temple cafeteria!!! Yea – what ever they are serving we will positively have custard for dessert.

So, my day started off at the church with friends. It was raining when I woke up. The Walkie Talkies have an agreement that if it is raining we will not show up to walk. By the time it was time to leave it had stopped so I decided to go. Rinez was the only one there and she was helping Doug with breakfast for his seminary class. I stayed and helped. At home, I made a cake for the office potluck today. Of course, while it was cooking I ate cereal and watched Andy. The potluck was a potato bar. The potatoes were not done on time so I started with dessert. Don’t worry, just a small piece of my cake to make sure it was OK. I did however, have some pumpkin cookies Alice brought. They were good. I had a potato with onions and spray butter. We arrived at the temple too early for a hot dinner so I had a delicious salad from the salad bar and custard. We were able to get in a session and some sealings before our scheduled sealing time. In fact, we had just enough time to run back down to the cafeteria and gobble another custard before our 7:00 appointment. I was hungry when we got home and had a granola bar.

Saturday November 1, 2008 Phase Two Day 194:
What a wonderful day. Actually slept in until 7:00. Stephen & I had cereal out by the pond. It is a mild, rainy morning. We are due to meet stake members at 8:00 for Prop 8. Sonnet met us there and together we took two packets and began covering neighborhoods with ‘Remember to Vote, Yes on 8” door hangers. We finally got back home around 1:30. I heated up the stew and we all had a warm bowl. I had hot chocolate as well.

My computer desk had two tall stacks of papers to organize, bills to pay and things to file that had been sorely neglected for weeks, so I spent a few hours catching up. For dinner, I fixed a wonderful salad with, carrots, boiled egg, red onion, avocado and grilled steak. It was a hearty salad that left us completely satisfied. We enjoyed mixed berries on the side. Later that evening Stephen & I attended the baptism of a delightful new family. On the way home we stopped at the store. Saturday night at Albertsons is always a social outing because invariably we see friends. This night we saw Shannon Rock, the Pitts and Sonnet. Back at home, I made a big batch of boiled egg mix. I told Steph we still have leftover stew and I did not want to make another roast tomorrow if we still had leftovers. We decided to finish the stew and have boiled eggs salad sandwiches. Egg sandwiches are a favorite. One good thing about the change is that tomorrow is fast Sunday and at least I won’t have to be in a house that smells delicious all afternoon while I am fasting.

Sunday November 2, 2008 Phase Two Day 195:
Today is fast Sunday and we have chosen to fast with the purpose of asking heavens aid in the passing of Prop 8 here in California. So much has been said and done regarding this important issue. Little of which has been mentioned in this record, but suffice it to say, hours of phone work, legwork as well as many prayers have been offered in Prop 8 efforts. When it was time to break our fast Stephen & I ate stew, eggs sandwiches (I ate the egg mix with my crackers) and mixed fruit for dinner. I had a hot chocolate for dessert. I had lots of church work in the afternoon and stake Christmas play auditions at 6:00. By the time I got home at 9:00 I was hungry and reached for half an egg sandwich.

Monday November 3, 2008 Phase Two Day 196:
This morning I walked with friends then picked up Mom for swimming. I ate some cereal then was off to work. For lunch I took egg mix and had a sandwich, some yogurt and a piece of the cake I made for the office potluck last Friday. Well, something snapped in me because it just kept going from there. Even though I had an apple and some carrots in my lunch bag I reached for another piece of cake. That wouldn’t have been terrible but when I got home an hour later I kept going. I took from the freezer the peppermint ice cream Gaye made at movie day two weeks ago. It tasted wonderful especially with the chocolate syrup I poured on top. When I went to put the dish away I reached for a banana – why??? I don’t know. Then just because It was there I had two pieces of peanut butter toast! What a maniac! Isn’t that crazy!!! Oh well, what’s done is done. I will be fine as I eat a salad for dinner.

Tuesday November 4, 2008 Phase Two Day 197:
What a day in history! Today is Election Day 2008 and one way or another we will make election history with either a black president or a female vice president. Those things don’t really matter much to me as I am more concerned with the candidates character and ideology rather than their birth packaging. But, on the other hand, these historic changes do influence our nations future and anything that opens doors to all of our children’s potential is a good thing. Also, it is the due date for Sara & Blake. So far no movement to speak. Maybe tomorrow on my birthday J

So, I was up and out to step class then home for weigh in – yea – I am down 2 more pounds. Sonnet down another pound. I ate cereal and dashed off to the overpass to hold Yes on Prop 8 signs got an hour. When I got home, I needed to get flowers in the ground so I gardened for a couple hours. I knew I would be working the election polls later so I cleaned up, ate and egg sandwich & yogurt then reported to Stephanie’s house.

I had a cereal snack between poll work assignments. No afternoon weight lift class because of poll work. Salad for dinner.