yoga44's Journal

Eating on the run

Dec 17 2009 16:48

This week has been crazy, and it's not over yet. We haven't had one family dinner this week. I'm very thankful that my job is slow at the moment and I can leave to transport kids and fit in a little shopping between events.

My sister arrives for a visit tomorrow. She is staying with my sister, my parents and us - one night each. She is very high maintenance and is bringing the new boyfriend I haven't met yet. Should be interesting. We paid for her ticket with an airline voucher we had, so I hope she remembers to say thank you and isn't expecting a big present too. She's not all that good at that sort of thing. We are hosting our annual cookie-baking party at our house on Saturday, so all should be chaos. We need to fit in hanging lights, cleaning up, and getting a tree before the party, somehow.

I've decided to put the chickens back in together. The one with few feathers will have even less... I've watched them when they are allowed out together and the picking is still going on. Hopefully the feathered one will keep the bald one warm. I can't keep them separate and expect someone else to care for them while we're gone over xmas. There doesn't seem to be a long term solution for this problem, the way we are set up. So... sorry buff chick, but you are going to have to deal with it... At least you will have more freedom.

Chocolate Squares

Dec 13 2009 12:22

Son and DH are on their way home from Reno today. Lots of snow over Donner summit last night. Son got overly nervous (Mother diagnosis from afar) and threw up after his race. He didn't run as well as he could, and the two guys on his team he usually beats both finished ahead of him. But his team did well enough to finish 2nd so he got a medal and time on the podium. Yay - good life experience. I stayed home and took Daughter to two basketball games. The coach got technical fouls in both, for yelling at the refs. I don't think he's setting a great example for the girls, but they love him for "defending" them.

Bought a large bag of Ghirardelli chocolate squares... bad move. Haven't walked in awhile due to the rain, so I really need to go as soon as it stops.

Hump Day

Dec 09 2009 22:44

I pretty much took the day off today. How I'm supposed to work 30 hours a week and still have a life is beyond me. Today I took the Senior Boxes down to the group that distributes them. Those boxes took a lot more effort than I had planned. I thought the kids would help more with decorating the boxes, making cards, baking cookies, wrapping, and making the fleece blankets (the kind with knots all around the edges - no sewing required). They are so busy that I ended up doing most of it. So glad to get those out of the way. Then had to take Daughter to the orthodontist, do some walking while I was at the High School because they have one of those nice springy tracks, and then got one hour of work done in a coffee shop before having to pick up both kids. I was supposed to go to a Sharks game with my sister, who has season tix, but she is sick so I begged off. Last thing Son needs 3 days before his big race is to catch something from me. I've decided not to go to Reno to watch the race. He will probably come in somewhere around 100th (out of 250 or so). And daughter has two bball games that would make logistics difficult. So I'll watch it on video on Sunday and get phone updates.

Chicken update: I've had to put the heater in the coop for the past few days. We had snow on Monday and it's been really cold. I wouldn't bother except for the poor featherless creature. I'm still getting eggs for some reason! Even the featherless one (we call her the buff chick - she's a buff orpington) is laying. The shells are getting quite thin, so they must be about out of calcium and in need of a break. Anyway, I'm still keeping them separate, so that's quite a bit of shuffling between the coop and run and the wired off a section inside the coop.

I've been making lots of cookies, which isn't really my thing. I don't like to cook in general, even though I end up spending quite a bit of time doing just that. And since we have some, I eat them. 'Tis the season. Eating otherwise is OK. I'm figuring out what's available in the cafeteria at work. After getting used to the one at Apple, everything else seems so blah. Steve Jobs is a vegan, so there are loads of wonderful veggie options there. I meet DH for lunch sometimes, just so I can have the salad bar!

Time to dip my bod in the hot tub. :-)

Pumpkin Pie

Dec 02 2009 15:03

Was just reading one of my FAVORITE person's journal entry, so glanced over to see what ad I get to see on here... pumpkin pie. I'm sure there's something about Pumpkin Pie that supports weight management, but I can't think what it could be...

I seem to be one of the few people around that isn't sick, so I am very grateful for that. I've got some nasty issue with my neck at the moment, which is very tight and sore, no matter what I do to it. But I would rather have that issue than have a cold or flu. Hope you all feel better soon.

Now that I'm working, I have to wear halfway decent clothing to the office. It's funny to me (not funny ha ha) that my pants fit fine in spite of my less that stellar weight control this past year. That's because the weight has moved north. Most things are moving south, but the extra weight is moving to my tummy from my hips. Isn't middle age wonderful?!

Reno

Nov 29 2009 20:46

Back from Reno for the Jr. Olympics qualifier meet. Son did well enough to qualify for the Nationals - very proud mother today :-) It means another trip to Reno in two weeks - think I'll just let the boys do that one together as Daughter has a Basketball game that day too. Qualifying was the real test... the rest is just gravy :-)

I had a horrible headache from the travel (and the stop near Sac'to for dinner with a huge bunch of people I don't know well, which is stressful for me), so I didn't see much of Reno. Oh well, I would have put a couple of nickels in a slot machine if I could have found one that still takes coins, but that's it.

Tell me it's not really Monday tomorrow?!

Thanks are hard

Nov 26 2009 21:43

The food is eaten, the guests have gone home, the family is downstairs and it is quiet here in the kitchen. I am thankful for our new, quiet dishwasher... there.. I thought of something! Why is it so hard to be thankful and not grumpy about life sometimes?

We had two lovely families at our house today - 6 adults and 8 kids all together. All three families have English mothers (if you include me, growing up here but of English parents) and no strong Thanksgiving traditions, all the relatives being in G.B. It's nice to have a pot-luck dinner, with less work for everyone. One family BBQ'd the turkey at their house and brought it over, all ready to carve. We made ollallieberry pies, applesauce and roasted veggies. I am thankful for Whole Foods, which still had lots of great veggies yesterday evening, including brussel sprouts.

Tomorrow is entirely open, except for taking Daughter to work at a nearby xmas tree farm at 9am. Saturday we leave for dinner near Sacramento with friends and then on to Reno for Sunday's race. I hope the weather is nice again. It has been beautiful the past couple of days, into the 60s with lots of sun. I ran in shorts and a sleeveless shirt on Wed am and was still hot. The weather this time of year can be so confusing!

Back to the thanks part... I need to work on that. I have so much good stuff in my life, including my CC friends, always there to listen while I go on. Sending you all virtual hugs as I know you would send me one tonight. XXX

30 lbs of error

Nov 23 2009 10:59

Ha! Reading over my last journal entry, I gave myself a 30 lb weight loss! If only it was that easy. Trying to get to 193, not 163. My daughter, who has no fat on her (except her not insubstantial bust line - how does that happen?!) just told me she now weighs 150 (at 5'11"). I look at her and wonder about some of the girls (ladies?) on here that are our height and trying to get into the 140s.

It's very windy here today. I'm working at home, but still don't have a computer to run the software I'm supposed to be designing, so not a lot can be done. I might have to go out and weed instead. I'm planning to go down and run around the track again today. My son has x-country practice - last week before the Jr. Olympic qualifier meet on Sunday. I just hope he can stay healthy so there's no what-ifs associated with his probably-only chance at going to the finals. He will jump to the next age group next year, so it gets tougher.

Had dinner with a neighboring family on Saturday. They kinda invited themselves over... "Let's get together for dinner! Can we do it at your house?" She is in real estate, and I just can't get past the feeling that they're networking. The husband talks a lot, and tried to make a point of asking each of my children how they were doing, what 's going on in their lives. He kept saying that he wanted to catch up, but never asked me about my life... nothing... not one question about what's important to me, about my job, what I've been doing. I couldn't wait for them to leave.

I talk to you

Nov 18 2009 17:16

I spend quite a bit of time talking to you all. I think about what I should write here, how I should describe something, but I rarely actually write it down. Kudos to those of you that actually write daily.

I've started running a bit when I'm at the high school track. I try to do 3 miles, but walking that's 12 laps and takes an hour. I always lose count and get really bored. But the track is flat and spongy, so I think it's good for my knees to walk on it rather than up and down, and both my kids practice there so I end up there a lot. So last week I walked 2 laps and ran 1, for a total of 2 miles walked and 1 mile run. Seemed to work OK, so yesterday I walked 1 ran 1. My back was really hurting afterwards, but I think it has more to do with TTOM than the running. Lucky for me, we have a new hot tub, so I got a good soak, which helped. (I was against buying a new tub as we had a perfectly good one that just needed some work, but DH found someone that fixes up used tubs and was happy to take ours for free.) I am still up a few lbs, to 167. I really want to get back to my 163, where my body seems happy to sit without moving much in either direction.

Visited a dermatologist yesterday to get a band of skin on my nose checked. He said Yes, it's sun damage, but not to worry about it unless it gets crusty or changes. So that's good news. I should wear sunscreen, but I rarely do.

Did I tell you I'm down to 2 chickens now? I think I did... I'm keeping them apart, and the bald one is SLOWLY growing back a few feathers, but her entire backside is remaining bald. I think maybe she got plucked one too many times and isn't going to grow feathers back again. She tried to lay an egg today, but it didn't have a shell. Made a nice puddle of goop that I had to clean up. I wish she wouldn't bother and use the protein to grow feathers. The other one is still laying, about every other day.

TGIF

Nov 13 2009 12:27

Well I finally started the job. Into the office Wed and Thursday, but don't have to go to work today :-). It's not the most interesting job in the world, but I can step into it and contribute, I think. My previous experience with this product makes me a good fit for the job.

Today is beautiful, sunny and cool. Think I will take my coffee outside and do some weeding... I love weeding! More later maybe, when the sun isn't shining on the garden.

Not the only one

Nov 10 2009 09:58

Very interesting reading other people's journal entries... I'm not the only one that has put on a couple of pounds recently. I swear that our bodies know better than we do and they think, "Ah, winter. Need more insulation."

Good and bad happening around here. I spent the weekend hawking my wares at a Historic Homes tour. I say hawking with a grimace, as I am just about the worst salesperson you could ask for. I hate talking to strangers about how wonderful my jewelry is and how they should buy it. Ug. Didn't sell much - surprise surprise. I sold more than the lovely lady that organizes the Artists Boutique tho. She makes beautiful silk scarves, hand painted, but this year decided to make them into little pillows instead. Who needs a little silk pillow?! What do you do with it?! She sold one. I took two in trade for some earrings. Think I will put them in the boxes for seniors that we are putting together, instead of the suggested stuffed animal. I'm sure most seniors need neither.

I'm enjoying collecting other things for the boxes... It's rather difficult when you don't know anything about who is going to be getting it. I've collected popcorn, instant coffee, herbal tea assortments, altoids, english toffees, and nice soap (lavendar bars for women, liquid soap for men). The kids are going to decorate the boxes, and we've got some fleece fabric we're going to make into scarves and lap blankets. Suggestions?

Daughter had late practice yesterday, so I took her down, did some last minute shopping (hosting soup group tonight), and then went to the track. I actually ran 2 laps (without my athletic bra - LOL). It felt really good and today the only reminder is the achilles tendon that flares up now and then. An hour of walking/running - yay me.

The job that was supposed to start last week is slow to get going. Nothing last week, and now only a half-hour phone call scheduled so far. That's OK... I'm enjoying my last days of freedom. It's nice to know you have a job but not yet be doing it.

Gave away another chicken this weekend - our other Ameraucana. Somebody was willing to take her (it's the blue egg thing) in spite of her shortcomings. I hope she behaves herself. So now I have 2, which have to be kept apart as they are the very top and bottom of the original pecking order. The poor one at the bottom has almost no feathers, so she is staying inside until she grows feathers back and then we'll give them one last try to live together in harmony. She seems to like solitary... she's started laying again.