Friends Through Thick & Thin

Wednesday January 21, 2009 Phase Two Day 276:
Today while my friends & I were walking they were talking about loosing weight. All four of them want to improve their eating habits, weight and general health so they are going to start a weekly program with each other. On Friday they will each bring $10 dollars and a written goal for that week. Their goals are set individually and can be structured however they decide. For example one might say, ‘This week I will not eat after 7:00 at night”, and other might decide, “I want to loose two pounds this week”. I am acting as treasure so they will leave their money with me. Next Friday they will come to make an accounting and either receive their money back for accomplishing the goal or loose it for failing. The money that is forfeited by a loosing participant is split among those that make their goal. If no participant makes their goal the money remains in the pot and a new set of $10 bills and written goals are introduced for the next week. We will make weekly accounting for at least 4 weeks at which time we will see if they want to go for monthly goals and accounting. Of course the monthly fee would be $40. I think I will call this endevor 'Friends through Thick & Thin' - Should be fun.

OK, today after walking, I ate cereal before going to work. By the way, this week I am helping with vision screening so I am on my feet walking all over the campuses all day. Good exercise. Anyway, I worked and ate half an orange for snack about 10:00. When I got home around 12:30 I had tuna and crackers.

Blake & Sara went out and I was able to stay home with Jacob – what a cutie. He is starting to smile and has discovered the sound of his voice. We enjoy just talking to him and listening to him garble back to us. B&S asked me if I wanted them to bring me home anything for dinner. I said no as I was sure anything they picked up would be something I should not have. I had cereal when they were out and called it a light night. Best intentions – B&S walked in the door with a Marie Chalendars chocolate satin pie – argggg. Why do I even try? Yes, I had a piece.

Thursday January 22, 2009 Phase Two Day 277:
OK, yes I did sleep in today. Staying up with the kids takes its toll and I decided before I went to bed that I would miss step class today and sleep in. I was up by 7:00 to get ready for work. I ate cereal and went in. Now I must make a comment about my cereal. I mix three cereals together to get my favorite – one box Special K Protein, one box Special K Vanilla and Almond and one box Albertson’s brand Bran Flakes. It is so yummy. I mix them all together in a large pot and keep the pot in the cupboard. Every time I have cereal, I simple take a bowl and scoop out a bowlful from the pot. I measured the contents of one of my bowl scoops yesterday and found out I was eating three cups of cereal at a time. Wow, so much for a light meal. Three cups! I can’t imagine how many calories that is. This morning I put a one cup measure in the pot and scooped out a little over a cup. Portion control must factor in to my menu.

After work I picked up a salad from Zorba’s. For dinner I had chicken, salad & cauliflower. Sonnet & I planned dinner the day before. Unfortunately, we did not plan the piece of chocolate satin pie I had after lunch. After dinner we had hot chocolate while playing Canasta.

Friday January 23, 2009 Phase Two Day 278:
The Walkie Talkies came over this morning to begin 'Friends through Thick & Thin', by turning in money and goals for this week. Each had specific goals for behavior. Lately I do not feel I have been bound by any particular restrictions or mode of conduct. I have considered all the nutrition tips, information and rules of fitness I have learned over the pas eight months and treated them as mere guidelines. I fear they have been ignored or excused away far more than followed. It was inspiring to hear the individual aspirations of my friends. I would benefit from this activity myself.

Hummmm. I will have to give this some thought. In the meantime I had one cup of cereal this morning. I have packed a salad, piece of chicken, orange and one granola bar to take for snack & lunch today. I will commit this much – if anything comes up today such as a treat at work – I will pass it by. No treats for me today..........Well, sure enough there were treats in the break room @ Highland but you know they didn’t even interest me. I committed to no treats and it was not a problem at all. Now that I am home about 3 hours after lunch I am hungry so I ate a one cup bowl of cereal. Blake & Sara have gone to LA to visit friends and Stephen won’t be home until late. I wonder what I should eat for dinner? I should go to the store for a few things – maybe I’ll pick up a piece of chicken and a salad mix.

I did not pick up a salad & chicken afterall. After shopping I was pretty hungry and had a granola bar while putting away groceries. Stephen is coming in tonight so I straightened up the house & bedroom. Our room addition construction leaves sheetrock dust everywhere and the place needs a thorough going over. Satisfied with a little cleaning I decided to scramble some eggs and eat them with salsa. They were good. I must say this afternoon has been a struggle. I did not have a problem today but I have had the munchies this afternoon. I guess it is more like the thinkies – I think of food I would like to grab. My mind has been very much occupied with food. To my credit I did not indulge. Only the granola bar and then eggs. My friends & I did not formally walk today because we were logging goals this morning, but I was on my feet all day today walking all over the Highland campus calling classes for eye exams, so I think I’m good.

Saturday January 24, 2009 Phase Two Day 279:
How nice to wake up in my husbands arms. Stephen came home last night following a week long business trip. He has stake youth conference all day today then ward conference meetings tomorrow as well as a youth fireside tomorrow night but that’s OK. I’ll take whatever time I can get.

He hopped up anxious to get a little work on the room addition in before he had to leave. I helped for a while then went down and ate a one cup bowl of cereal.

Today I have some church work to do as well as house work. I have invited the family over tomorrow for a family dinner before Blake leaves. We will be 10 in all and I would like the house to look nice. I will serve taco soup. Everyone likes it and I thought that would be easy. A salad will go nicely on the side and a sugar free jello salad with yogurt will round out things. At the store yesterday, I picked up some ‘Skinny Cow’ ice cream. Skinny Cow is a low-fat, low-carb dessert that is surprisingly tasty. When planning the dinner menu I wanted to include dessert but was reticent about any of my usual decadence, so I chose Skinny Cow. Sonnet & I first tasted them at a health seminar we attended a few months back and found them a perfect treat.

What a great day I am having. I completed my church things then went to work on the house. I really do not mind house cleaning if I have the time to do it. In between dusting, vacuuming and laundry I cleaned up construction mess. For lunch I made tuna to have with crackers as well as mixed berries. A few hours later I snacked on an orange. Stephen was going strong on the addition and I was busy so I sent Sonnet to pick up Sarku for dinner. We all love the steamed veggies and chicken. So, all in all I have had a pretty good eating day. Now I am going to the kitchen as it is the last room I will clean. I think I’ll make up the Jello mold for tomorrow’s dinner and I might even cook up the meat for the Taco soup just to get a jump on things.

Monday January 26, 2009 Phase Two Day 281:
Yesterday was very busy and I did not take the time to record. I started my day with a cup bowl of cereal and choir practice. Sunday was ward conference and the choir was scheduled to sing. Boy they were great! As always Blake sang with us. He is so good to me - whenever he is in town he will sing with the choir. Sara tended Jacob so she didn’t come up, but last time she sang with us also. What sweet kids. After church I had tuna and crackers and a little bit of mixed berries. I also had a granola bar. Later when the family arrived we sat down to a dinner of taco soup, green salad, jello salad and mixed berries. The table looked so cute dressed out in my snowmen cloth and napkins. We used the clear glass fluted plates and bowls. Blake said it looked too camo because with clear plates all you could see was the very busy cloth, so I placed white doilies under each plate creating a snowflake appearance which complemented the snowmen theme. I ate a big bowl of soup complete with chips and cheese, jello, berries and a salad. I served the Skinny Cow treats and they turned out to be a favorite. We had a nice visit. When the cousins left, Sara, Blake, Mom & I sat down for a game of Canasta. Blake & I got the munchies. Over the course of the two hour game I had another helping of Jello, and tuna & crackers and a piece of fudge and toast with jam and a granola bar and a few handfuls of chips! Good times but a little excessive on the munching.

Today I walked with friends and ate a one cup bowl of cereal. I have to work this morning but will come home for lunch to have a last visit with the kids before they leave. Blake will report to BOOT camp in North Carolina a week from today. This is our goodbye.


I arrived home just before the guys walked in. I was starving and reached for a granola bar. Stephen & Blake were going to play golf but the weather did not cooperate. They ended up running errands then went to lunch. When they told us what they had, Sara & I bemoaned the fact that we did not get yummy food. To which Blake suggested we go out to lunch ourselves. You do no have to tell me twice. Sara & I went to Carrows. I had the Southwest chicken salad. When the waitress asked if I wanted corn bread or garlic toast I told her not to bring any bread – score! The salad was filling and very good. Back home we have been visiting all afternoon. Stephen heated up leftover taco soup and we all enjoyed a bowl. I had mine without chips tonight. We all had a Skinny Cow for dessert. Tomorrow is weigh-in day. I expect to see a couple pound drop. This morning I was happy to notice my chest was less puffy. Unfortunately when I gain weight, the first place it manifests itself is in my chest – yea, just what I need a bigger chest. I have been a little puffy lately but this morning noticed that I fit better into my bra. If I do have anything later tonight it will be a few mixed berries. Sonnet & I were going to take a power walk tonight but B&S are staying later than we thought so it will have to wait until tomorrow.

Tuesday January 27, 2009 Phase Two Day 282:
Great Day in the Morning! It is weigh in day and Sonnet & I are both down –yippee! I went to step first thing then came home and had 1 c. bowl of cereal. (hereafter if I say I had cereal it will refer to a 1 c. bowl). It was so nice to have some time at home this morning. For a week and a half I have been running off to work for vision screenings at the schools and I sure am not use to such a strict schedule. I like being back to my own schedule.

At 10:30 I grabbed a granola bar on my way out. I packed a lunch of taco soup and an orange. By the time lunch hit I was not in the mood for taco soup. I knew just what I wanted – a steak salad from The Sugar Mill. There is a little restaurant just up from the office that serves the best steak salad. Well I couldn’t find anyone to go to lunch with so I just kept working. Finally at 2:30 I left work and headed to Von’s to pick up a few things. On my way out I snagged a banana from the office lounge. At the deli counter in Von’s I sampled some turkey & ham. I guess the combo of fruit & meat curbed my appetite because I was not reaching for anything when I arrived home. Sonnet came over later for our walk. I had mixed berries before we left and a home made steak salad when we were finished. I topped off my dinner with a Skinny Cow.

Stagnated

Wednesday January 14, 2009 Phase Two Day 269:
What a good routine – walking with friends and cereal in the morning. I could say walking with friend. Rinez & I were all alone today with Gaye & Jami in Utah and Shannon sleeping in. Mom called last night to say she was still sick and wanted to stay out of the pool another day. Been working on the quilt this morning but now I must get in to work. Missionaries are coming for dinner tonight and I have decided to get some steaks. I know Stephen will be pleased. He likes to fix them some kind of meat when they come rather than casseroles or soup. I will bake potatoes and carrots, serve salad. I have already made some sugar free Jello with yogurt. I am setting the Jello in small, individual size molds. I hope they turn out. For dessert I will make parfaits of alternating layers of sugar free vanilla and chocolate pudding with a dollop of cool whip on top. My kids use to call these bumble bee parfaits because of the brown and yellow stripes the puddings make.

Meanwhile I will take tuna and an apple to the office for lunch.

Sunday January 18, 2009 Phase Two Day 273:
Good morning! The last few days got away from me. Thursday I began with step class and ate healthy all day. Friday I walked with Rinez then had cereal for breakfast. I was on the run all day and only had a granola bar before picking up Stephen in the afternoon and heading to the temple. We had dinner in the temple cafeteria – chicken with broccoli, veggies, salad & custard. When we got home at midnight Blake, Sara & Jacob were here. What a surprise – we stayed up chatting and I had a few bites of sugar free pudding. Saturday began with breakfast at Marie Challendar’s with Walkie Talkies because Taunie was in town. I had a yummy Denver omelet with wheat toast but did eat the accompanying potatoes. I splurged and had a hot chocolate (defiantly not sugar free). Got home and went for a walk with Sara & Sonnet. We ate tuna sandwiches for lunch followed by totally blowing it with cookie dough that evening. Darn that Blake and his evil ways.

Now it is Sunday morning. I will be off to choir after I have cereal. Chicken will be in the crock pot for dinner tonight. Blake & Sara went home last night but are coming back this afternoon for a week. I will have to be on guard all week! Oh well – I can do it!

Arriving back home after church, the aroma of cooking chicken permeated the house. After crock potting all morning on low with only a package of Italian seasoning mix it was time to add the remaining ingredients. It is Tiffany’s recipe so I called her last night just to check. She says to just put the chicken in the pot with the seasoning, then about an hour before serving add a can of cream of chicken (or cream of mushroom) soup and a block of cream cheese. I am using cream of chicken and fat free cream cheese. Tiff also says she usually cuts the cream cheese in half and finds it creamy enough. Today I am leaving the chicken pieces whole but you can shred the meat if you like. To serve, place chicken mixture over rice or noodles. Tonight we will have it over herbed rice. I just ate a bowl of cereal because we will not be eating for a couple of hours. I did reach for two cookies left over from last night. They were good.

Dinner turned out delicious. I served chicken over rice, salad and sugar free peach jello set with a small peach yogurt mixed in. After dinner Stephen left for LA for the week on business. Blake headed over to the Rick’s to visit with Kenny. Sara, Sonnet and & met up with Karissa and put the kids in strollers. We had a nice stroll around the neighborhood. On the way back we stopped at Rick’s. I was bad and had a couple brownies. At home we ate the last of the cookie dough and then finished off the cookies. We all decided to be good this week. Tomorrow we will plan a menu to keep a semblance of eating order.

Monday January 19, 2009 Phase Two Day 274:
First thing this morning I picked up Mom and went for a swim. Good For Me!
Second thing this morning I made bacon, eggs and a piece of toast for breakfast. Kenny came over to get Blake for a project they had today but before they left I asked them to put together this hang up thing my Mom gave me. I need a temporary hang up stand for Stephen’s clothes while we are demolishing the closet. The boys were so funny – everything they say makes me laugh. After breakfast I went upstairs to begin tearing apart my closet. I got it all cleaned out, the shelves taken out and the carpet up. Next I moved to Blake’s room to clear out the cupboard and finish putting seasonal decorations away in my new storage overflow. It is so cool to have that space. With the upstairs all cleared I went downstairs. Jacob was awake so I put him in the stroller and together we went outside. I parked him on the lawn in front of the flowerbed and just talked and sang to him as I weeded. It was great fun. It was sure nice to clear out the bed and change the front door wreath and yard flags. Back inside I was hungry but hadn’t made it to the store for supplies. Sara & I snacked on a graham cracker. Blake came home and together we went upstairs again to clean up sheetrock debris. Mom called to say she wasn’t doing very well so I went over. When I came back Sonnet & Sara were just leaving for the store – yea. I went in and heated leftover stew for Blake & I. I also had a few more graham crackers and a bite of pudding.

Tonight Sonnet & Sara made a delicious dinner of roasted chicken, green beans, wild rice and mixed berries. Everything was delectable. After dinner we played Sequence.

Tuesday January 20, 2009 Phase Two Day 275:
Inauguration day. A new president will be sworn in today. He was not my candidate but he will be my president and I hope with all my heart he leads well.

Weigh in day and I am holding but that is not good enough. Sonnet & I are stagnating. We will probably have a pow-wow soon. Up and out to step class this morning. Stopped by Mom’s on the way home to check in. Ran home to get ready for work and ate some cereal. Took Mom to the doctor then went in to work. Had a granola bar around noon. Got home from work starving. I had a small bowl of cereal real quick before making tuna sandwiches for Blake, Sara & I. We all went shopping for a camera. How convenient that there was a See’s candy right by the store. I had a couple almond squares – fabulous! We met up with Sonnet at the East Hills Mall and enjoyed a show. I had a couple handfuls of popcorn – not a lot really. Came home and had mixed berries and cereal. All in all it wasn’t a terrible day but I could have done without the spontaneous See’s.

What a difference a day makes

Wednesday January 7, 2009 Phase Two Day 262:
What a difference a day makes. I feel great! Got up and walked with friends – we were all there! Ate a nectarine before and cereal after. I have packed tuna and an apple for lunch as well as a granola bar for snack. I have decided to email everyone at work to say I will provide lunch on Friday. I am doing this because, as most people that work in a office know, at Christmas everyone leaves a little something on everyone’s desk sometime during the month. It is traditional office gift giving. Well, this year in all my madness I did not leave anything. I left for Utah three day before school was out and even missed the district party. I would like to bring in lunch as a late gift. I think I will make a pot of potato soup. This time with fat free half&half. I’ll go heavier on the onions, celery & peas and a little lighter on the potatoes.

Mom & I could not get swimming lanes this morning so we will go this afternoon. I am looking forward to getting in the water again. For dinner we will have more cabbage soup. It is really good this time. I am such an inconsistent cook – things do not turn out the same twice. Well, this batch of soup is wonderful. I took left over roast and pan drippings, onion, veggie broth stewed tomatoes, a head of cabbage, water and a package of Italian dressing mix. I added some garlic and onion salt and Voila! Yummy! It is nice because I still have some pinto beans from a few day ago when I tried my hand at beans & ham hock (that’s another story), and Stephen & I both put a couple spoonfuls of beans into our soup and that was proved to be a great addition as well.

So, Mom called to say that her senior citizen singing group, The Golden-Airs, would be resuming rehearsals today meaning she could not swim at 3:00. Oh well, it will keep until Monday. Meanwhile Sonnet came by for a power walk so we headed out and got a good workout. At home we had our soup and now I am off to bed. Another good day.

Thursday January 8, 2009 Phase Two Day 263:
Ate a small nectarine then got up and out to walk with friends. Movie day was today so after a bowl of cereal I hurried into work. At noon I left to come home and get ready for Movie day at my house. I served leftover cabbage soup and beans. They were a hit. Rinez brought the best homemade rolls. She used the Lion House recipe and I ate way too many. Jami brought a frozen fruit smoothie mix, M&M’s and popcorn. I ate some of each. So I guess you could say I blew it today. Eating most of the afternoon, I was full when Stephen came home so I did not have anything for dinner. My brother Mike called to say Mom was on the phone with cousin Darla and it sounded like Aunt Meda was not doing very well. I went to their apartment to find out the scoop. Of course I had a bowl of peppermint ice cream with hot fudge.

No worries. Tomorrow morning will surely come & I will be up and out the door walking with friends. I will have cereal for breakfast and be just fine.

Friday January 9, 2009 Phase Two Day 264:
Yes maam, I was up and out to walk. We had a long walk at a quick pace this morning – very good. I had a small nectarine when I got home. Now I am getting ready for work and will eat cereal before I leave. Today is the day I am making lunch for the office as a Christmas thank you. I have a cake made but I am taking the makings for the soup and will put it together there.

OK, so I am in the office kitchen cooking the bacon for the soup. It is filling the entire office with delicious aroma. But as those of you who have cooked large amounts of bacon know, every so often you must drain off some of the grease or you will end up with a large amount of grease that will burn and smoke. You guessed it. I did not drain off soon enough and the smoke set off the fire alarm. The piercing beep was loud and obnoxious for a good three or four minutes. I opened the back door and began fanning the air. The stove top vent was already running so no help there. Coworkers came down the hall to check out the commotion and help air the room. One of the techies called the maintenance operator to make sure the fire department had not dispatched a unit. Oh yea – it is always a good time when Susan is cooking. We all had a good laugh and now the entire office knows what my family has known for years – I have no business in the kitchen. The good news is that the soup turned out better than ever and was enjoyed by all. The cake was superb. On the way home I stopped by Gaye’s to drop off leftover soup and cake. Stephen said he did not want a bunch of leftovers so I only brought home enough for tonight. Sonnet came over and we all had a bowl and roll. Yummy.

Saturday January 10, 2009 Phase Two Day 265:
What a great day but kind of challenging as far as eating right goes. Great because Stephen & I did not have one single responsibility to anyone but ourselves today. We got up and ate then began work on the closet. Stephen is building me a walk in closet. It involves some work in the attic, building an overflow and reconstructing Blake’s room as we claim some of his space for the new closet. It is quite a job, but very fun to work on together. I ate cereal to get started. By noon we were hungry so I fixed a good tuna mix. He had a sandwich and I had tuna on my wheat crackers. We worked on through the afternoon. Mostly he was constructing all day while I did laundry and worked on a quilt I am designing for Tiffany’s new baby. Also, for a time I was crawling around in the attic and managed to finish putting in the attic insulation. The project is coming right along.

Last Monday, when I stopped the holiday food insanity, I felt fine and found it quite refreshing to eat smart. Thursday, when I blew it on movie day with the Walkie Talkies followed by Friday with large amounts of potato soup accompanied by indecent quantities of rolls - oh, I don't think I mentioned the triple layer German Chocolate cake I made for the office. Just to be sociable I did have a piece or two. Well anyway with those two day of mania, it really threw me off. Today in the afternoon I started to get the munchies. I chose to have a cup of hot chocolate and that helped. Later we had dinner. I decided earlier that I would have cereal for dinner. I love it that I am very satisfied with my cereal as a meal. I wanted to have a light day and with some discipline I got threw it. No real exercise - just up and down the stairs or on my feet all day.

Sunday January 11, 2009 Phase Two Day 266:
Welcome Sunday. I slept deeply and awoke refreshed. I ate cereal before leaving for choir. The choir sang beautifully today. Everyone says they can’t believe that sound comes out of only seven people. Personally I think heaven helps. Back at home I ate a granola bar and cup of hot chocolate. (Whenever I say hot chocolate it is of course sugar free) Stephen called to let me know he was on his way home so I threw some of my leftover beans into a pot to heat up and fired up two small steaks. To round out the plate I made a salad. I had a few boiled eggs so I threw them on top of the salad but saved a couple back and made deviled eggs as well. It was a very filling dinner.

Stephen has gone to lie down. We are expecting a web cam call from Thad and family at 5:00. Tonight I will have a bowl of cereal.

Monday January 12, 2009 Phase Two Day 267:
Walked with friends this morning. Mom & I had lane reservations at the pool but she called and sounded horrible. She is sick so we canceled the pool for today. Now I am headed down for cereal. I think I will pack tuna and crackers with an apple for lunch at the office. Maybe a granola bar for a snack…..Well, I ended up buying a chicken salad from Zorba’s for lunch but I did have the granola bar mid morning.

It is 2:30 now and I am so full. I’m putting on a roast with potatoes for Stephen but I will have cereal tonight. Sonnet is coming over this evening to power walk – yea.

Tuesday January 13, 2009 Phase Two Day 268:
I started my day off right by attending my step class and a bowl of cereal. Sonnet came over and we weighed in. We were both down – Yea.

Today I traveled to Visalia to lunch with a business friend. We ate at a wonderful little bistro in old downtown. I ordered the steak salad which was wonderful! I did have a piece of bread with my salad even though I shouldn’t have. And speaking of shouldn’t haves, we ordered dessert. I was treating so I felt I should at least offer dessert and lets be honest – I wanted to get something. I had a brownie with ice cream. I could have lived with that but it gets worse. Following lunch I went on to Fresno and visited with Blake. I ended up staying until Sara came home which meant I ate dinner with them. Blake surprised me by bringing home chicken sandwiches from Burger King when he went out to pick up Sara from work. Not what I usually have but appreciated none the less. They also had some cookie dough after the sandwiches. Very good tasting – a chocolate chip recipe with oatmeal, yum. Loved the visit but my eating was deliciously terrible.

Did You Miss Me?

Wednesday November 19, 2008 Phase Two Day 213:
Awake off and on again last night with Jacob – what a sweet job. Laid down in my bed about 7:30. Got up at 9:30 and had cereal. Made bacon & eggs for everyone else about 10:00. I had some cantaloupe with them. Mom came over to see the kids and the baby.

Around noon Sonnet & I needed to get ready to leave for Los Angles. Tonight we have tickets for ‘Wicked’.



I ate some egg mix with crackers. When we arrived in LA we headed for Farmers Market. It was fun to browse the shops and food stalls. We decided on Wood Ranch for dinner before the show. I had a delicious steak salad. We went back to the stalls and got a large English Toffee bar to snack on. Wicked was fantastic. Our seats were on the fifth row! I have never sat so close and boy was it wonderful. You can see all the expressions. It really draws you in. I drove home while Sonnet snoozed. By the time I fell into bed at 1:00am I was ready to sleep forever. With Jacob and Wicked, I was running on three nights with very little sleep.

Thursday November 20, 2008 Phase Two Day 214:
The phone woke me up at 7:40. Still tired but I got up. Big day today. Lots to do at work then lots to do for the Christmas program. I ate cereal and watched Andy Griffith. Now I am on the run.

Sunday November 23, 2008 Phase Two Day 217:
Check out the date. I said I was on the run and I was right. I have not slowed down for a minute. Right now it is 2:20 Sunday afternoon. Stephen & I arrived from Fresno a while ago and are packing. When we are ready, we will hop in the car and drive to Long Beach to catch a plane for Baltimore to see Tiff and family for Thanksgiving. Food? Bad & Good. The last few days have been so busy I have not had time to eat tons but there have been occasions and gatherings that have offered sweets and starches. I am taking this journal with me to Baltimore and will hopefully get a handle on it when days are calmer.

Tuesday January 6, 2009 Phase Two Day 261:
So, I did take the journal to Baltimore and even made a couple entries but alas, now a month and a half later they are not to be found on Stephen’s lap top. Oh well. Let me summarize: I am heavier today than I was at last entry but oh, what a time I have had.

Our Thanksgiving trip to Tiffany’s was wonderful. Sure we ate sweets – Grandkids + Grandma = Sweets. The kids & I had a creative time in the kitchen. We made turkey’s to set by everyone’s dinner plate out of Oreos, candy corn and malt balls - So cute. Then we made snow men out of frosted mint Oreos, life savers and licorice whips. One of our favorite treats to eat when we are out and about with the grandkids is a milkshake - we might have had a couple of those. All in all, suffice it to say amid many salads, a delicious Thanksgiving feast and healthy cereal there was a fair amount of carte blanche abandon.

I got home and hit the ground running again with work, helping with the nativity and my stake Christmas Play. I got through the stake play and our choir singing in church, then, a couple days later; a few Walkie-Talkies went to Utah for another Walkie-Talkie’s son’s wedding.



It was a wonderful road trip full of good memories. I suppose I should mention something about my menu during this trip – actually not too bad. Sure there were the odd desserts here and there, but meals were always salads or meat and veggies. I did not choose pastas and high fatty foods. Unless of course you count the stops at ‘In-N-Out’ or that mondo-size peppermint-stick milkshake-smoothie decadence Jami introduced me to. The first were necessary sustenance breaks while traveling and I prefer to include the latter in the ‘odd desserts’ category which makes it sound rather harmless.

Back at home, Christmas Eve Dinner was Ham and potato soup – delectable. Unfortunately I do not know how to prepare a small pot of soup. We were eating soup for days and while it was very yummy, I do not think a steady diet of potatoes mixed with half&half is a good choice. Blake & Sara came for the weekend a few times so, in addition to eggs & bacon for breakfast we might have had some donuts. I tried my hand at Christmas cookies but they did not turn out so well. Luckly it did not stop us from eating them though. The New Year passes rather quietly. Stephen & I went out to dinner at Outback to enjoy a Queensland salad then were off to the show. We ended up seeing two movies back to back and were still home before midnight.

So, here I am in January and a little fluffy around the edges. Do I mind? Not at all. Sonnet & I decided to get strict again starting yesterday when we both went back to work. Routine, after all, is a great organizer and really helps me keep on track. Yesterday the Walkie Talkies were out in force again and I ate just what I should so I count that a success. Today I was back at step class after a two month absence. Good for me. I ate a nectarine before step, cereal for breakfast, a granola bar mid morning, a tuna sandwich for lunch, delicious cabbage soup with one slice of bread for dinner and another nectarine this evening. It feels good to get going again. This evening we weighed and measures and were both hit with the brutal reality of what a vacation from regular exercise and nutritional sanity does to our bodies. Actually that sounds pretty drastic – it wasn’t that bad at all – just a few pounds and the fraction of an inch here and there. It is funny though, how the weight shifts and the clothes poof out in new places. Sensible (not perfect) eating and regular exercise are key for me, especially the exercise part. I find I really need to move to maintain and tone. It sure is a good thing I like it so much.