Four Days

That is how long it has been since I washed my hair. I have so much dry shampoo and hair spray in my hair that my hair is nearly standing up by it's self. And my scalp itches like a sonofabitch. I have been falling back on cheats, rather than washing my hair and I am desperate to shampoo. I'll do it, when I shower, in a few minutes. *scratchscratchscratch*

I have the Imitrex buzz. I don't like it but I hope it heads off this migraine. I ignored my aura, yesterday and had a migraine hit me like a freight train in the supermarket. Good times.

Say, have you guys tried this stuff, yet? It's kinda yummeh. I like it on a toasted whole grain sandwich thin. Nom, nom, nom.

I wish that I could get more flavours, locally. Stupid Prescott. If we get the good stuff, we get so little of it or such a limited selection that it is pathetic.

Have I mentioned that I hate living in Small Town America? Well, I do. I am an urban girl. I have traffic noise and smog in my blood and living in the clean mountain air in a large town that thinks it is still a small town is sucking the life out of me.

I must continue to be sucked, tho. (Oh. That came out so many kinds of wrong.) Leaving a place in which my husband has a steady job would be the height of idiocy and we aren't stupid.

Well, not most of the time, anyway. ;) 

I have to pee.

Noms of the Day and May the Fourth Be With You

So here we are, again.

How's about some music while you read?

 Brekkie was Coffee, twice and a Fage Total 0% with some Truvia and an orange. 

Calories: 245.

Lemme just ask you, how much do you loooove Greek yoghurt? Mmm... 

Lunch was soup and a serving of Triscuit Thin Crisps and a Diet Pepsi. 

Calories: 440

Snack was popcorn. Forgot to take a photo. 

Calories: 240.

Dinner was a Lean Cuisine Mushroom Tortaloni bag with extra peas and some mushrooms and a salad and a big glass of Crystal Light. 

Calories: 495.

I had an orange, later for 65 calories. 

Total: 1450.

Did you know that today was Star Wars Day? 

Are you kinda surprised that I would know or care about that? 

I'm an onion, people. I haz layers. :D

I am beginning to feel "squishy"/ That means that fat is beginning to depart my zip code. Yay. 'Bout time I got it together and got squishy, huh? 

I need to get my coupons organized and make a shopping list, I have grocery shopping to get done and I need to hit the drugstore, too. Maybe I'll order a few polishes from Amazon as well. Because I don't have enough, you know... 

I should count my polishes.

Maybe not.

I don't know why i am so tired. I didn't do squat, today. Seriously. William and Patrick straightened up the house for me before I even got up, this morning. The most strenuous thing I did was my nails. Maybe it is my head making me tired. It has been at about a Cat. 3 all day. Yesterday, I had a humongous aura flash and took an Imitrex and half an hour later, I felt as if a freight train smashed into the side of my head. That shit is weird. Sometimes when I take it, it works a little and takes the hell in my brain down to a dull roar, others, it doesn't do anything but make me feel weird. And headache-y. Others, like yesterday it seems to feed my migraine so that it can really go to town. I really shout talk to my doc about that. 

Someday. :P

Okay, I think I'll hit the sack and read for a while before I conk out. 

Noms of the Day and Other Nattering

Let's just get right to it, shall we?

 Brekkie: A cup of my regular coffee then William brought home a latte. Oh, yeah! Sooo Good. Method Coffee, a local coffee house is as good as Starbucks. The falvours are different, of course but still, delicious. I will happily go to either. :D The cup was actually empty by the time I took this photograph. I sucked that latte down like someone was threatening to take it away from me. I also had some scrambled egg whites softened with a little water, mustard and Tabasco for flavour.

Calories: 285

 Lunch: A Lean Cuisine Mushroom Tortaloni with snap peas and sun dried tomatoes. (I love this bag of food like I love my mother, kids.) I added a serving of frozen peas, heated to the entree to bulk it up a little and to add a little extra veggie nutrition. Yum. Seriously. Yum. 

Calories: 380

Did I mention that stuff is yum?

 A vat of coffee with ff 1/2 &1/2 and Truvia. 

Calories: 80.

 Dinner: Salad. Then I piled on top of my salad a Smart Ones Sesame Chicken micro in the bag meal. Hey, I am well aware of the fact that I eat weird food combos. You are reading a blog written by a broad who thinks that French fries dipped in chocolate milkshake is the height of heavenly noms. So, weird tho it may look, it's delicious, all piled together. Don't judge. You do weird shit, too. lol

Calories: 440.

I just needed to snack snack: An orange. Isn't it freaky that there are fabulously delicious oranges in the store, right now? This time of year? And a serving of Triscuit Thin Crisps. These little crackers are da bomb. They are slightly cheesy, slightly herby, a little salty and full of win. 

Calories: 205.

Total for the day: 1390. I got plenty to eat, lots of yum and came in well under my 1500 calorie cap. Not too shabby, if I do say so myself. :D

So, to prove that Prescott, Arizona is the suckhole of the universe, I went into Big Lots in search of prime goodies as detailed in blogs I had read and had yapped about earlier and hoped that I would find, too. Ha! Know what I found? 

That's right. You see, our Big Lots is the Big Lots to which other Big Lots in better places send all of their random, useless, nobody-wants-this-shit shit that they don't want to try to sell. It is hard to find anything truly useful in that store. Once in a rare great while I score. But not very often. Usually it is just a pile of crap. Some of it overpriced crap. I saw some cute as hell lamps. Fifty clams a piece. Huh? At Big Lots? Knockoff lamps. At Big Lots. Fifty freaking bucks? Are you shitting me?

I also went to Ross hoping to score Color Club collections. Ha! Again. They had some but I already have them. I am looking for the Spring and Summer collections. I'll keep trying. I did find another palette to repurpose. I'll tell you all about that, another time. It's an ongoing project. :D

I found the prettiest pink eyeshadow at Walgreen's, tonight. It is a new Loreal Infallible shadow the colour is Pink Sapphire. Oh, buy is is ever lovely. I could see it working for eyes and for cheeks, maybe as a highlight along the top of the cheekbones. Over a pretty peach blush... Or with bronzer... Loreal is all BOGO 1/2 so I grabbed a lipstick from the display, as well. It is Rose Agate. Wow! Perfect Summer lippie. It's a subtle your lips but better rose packed with a gold fleck. So. Pretty.

Shit. My manicure is chipping. I'll have to change it, tomorrow. Early. I have a busy day, tomorrow.

Oh! Did I tell you that Patrick (my son) was awarded Employee of the Year for 2011? He was. *proud mama moment* He went down to the Valley today for a little company awards ceremony where all of the EotY for the region were honored, given plaques and had their picture taken with the president of the company.  He had a great time. Ate a ton of food and came home smiling ear to ear. I am so happy for him. <3

Tired, now. Must go nighty-night.

Oops.

I forgot to take my food pics, yesterday. Geeze. What a forgetful dork I am. My day was... Okay-ish. Not as good as it should have or would have been but not a total fail, either. With my complete lack of doing anything right, lately, I'll take it, since I have been sucking so hard, lately.

Today is going very well and I am remembering to grab my camera. Yay me. ?

William gave the dog a bath, today. Boy did that stanky old biotch need it. She smells so much better, now and isn't fouling the air in my house. lol She looks nice, too. All fluffy and soft and pretty. And pissed off. That dog hates water with a velvet passion. Oh, she'll drink the stuff but she doesn't want it applied to her body.

We received a letter from out Trustee, today. He has concluded our case and has no more say over our financial decisions. We can now make a purchase or whatever we want. We are waiting to receive our discharge and the letter from the court. that should take 45 to 60 days. I am hoping that it will be sooner. I am happy that we are finished with this phase, now. We just have a little more, waiting for the court to discharge then close out case and we will be finished, once and for all.

I swear, I am not doing this, again. Bankruptcy sucks eggs. Ass. Big green donkey dicks.

I think I am going to go do a little shopping, later. I need a few things and I want to see if Ross has any of the Color Club polishes I am looking for. I also want to pop into Big Lots. I read on a blog that some stores have some Philosophy cosmetics and Revlon polish duos of the Summer collection I missed out on last year, thanks to my local drugstores being dickheads and not ordering them. Maybe I'll get lucky. I love a good bargain hunt. :D

My hair is drying... I don't know what I am going to do with it. probably a braided updo. Something loose and easy and soft. Anchored with a Ficcare, maybe. :D

May Day

No, I'm not going down in flames. Almost did. But no. lol

I decided to do something new, for me. Take pictures of the food I eat in a day and then post it. I know that this is something that helps a lot of people so I thought that I would try it, too.

So, here are my Noms of the Day.

 Brekkie was two cups of coffee lightened with fat free half and half and some Truvia. A protein shake made with unsweetened almond milk, protein powder and a little yoghurt rounded out my morning meal. Calories: 385.

 Lunch was scrambled egg whites cooked with some sauteed onion and orange pepper lightened with a tiny bit of ff 1/2 & 1/2 and some mustard for flavour and colour and some generous dashes of Tabasco. I made a chopped salad and used some of the tomato from my salad to top my egg whites, too. Calories: 250.

Some canned pear slices (no sugar added) with cinnamon. Calories: 80.

Dinner was a big salad (I ate late and was hangry so I decided to make a big salad) and a microwave entree. Chicken with curry and rice and a few beans. I know... Microwave meals are teh evil but I don't care. They taste good and I am a lousy cook so... I eat them. :P Calories: 480.

I did popcorn (Calories: 240.) but I forgot to take a picture. I guess that will take some getting used to. My total for the day is a very respectable 1355. I feel good abut what I accomplished, today. And I don't feel like a bloated tick. Or guilty. Or full of shame and self loathing. I like feeling like this. Not like that.

I had a pretty productive day, today. Did my housework, (except for laundry) and did my roots and a fresh manicure. I spent a lot of time goofing around online, as well. More than I really should have but some days, I just let the time get away from me. 

I am hoping that soon, I can work salon visits for my colour upkeep into the budget. I like my colour but I don't like painting it on my roots. I wasn't as precise as I should have been, this time around and got some overlap. My hair doesn't seem to have suffered but it can't take too much of that or I will end up in a pickle, for sure. It would be worth the money to let a pro precisely paint the dye just perfectly on my regrowth. While I relax and navel gaze a bit. Yep. That sounds nice. 

I'm thinking of fringe and a few face framing layers. I feel as if my updos are a bit severe, with no softness around my face. Slicking my hair back when I was younger was okay but now, it looks and feels a bit harsh. I don't know... I will think on it a bit more. I don't make spur of the moment decisions abut my hair, any more. When I did, I made bad ones then ended up crying my eyeballs out and regretting them so now I enforce a long wait and think period before anything gets done. There is no hurry. 

It was a little cooler, today. Windy and cloudy. If there had been rain, it would have been a perfect day. :D

New Hair

Shit. I am going to have to start putting a black oval where my face belongs. I look like a tired old basset hound, anymore. :P

 I toned it, this morning and it is much more even. I am liking it. I still need to gently but firmly tweak the lift and tone a bit... I want to abolish more of the dark gold and red tones, but I don't want to push my hair too hard, too fast. It came through everything in great condition (strand tests rule, never do colour without one! :D) and, from a test I did, this morning on my previously tested strand, can take a good bit more and still be fine. My hair always did hold up amazingly well to peroxide. Anyway, yeah. I am happy with my hair and have to smile, every time I look in my mirror. I finally feel like me, again. :D

It was another beautiful day, here today. Seventy, sunny and a dreamy, warm little breeze. A beautiful harbinger of Spring.

Food is good, today. I think I need to take some extra potassium, tho. I had monster leg cramps, last night in my thighs. Both. Jerked me out of a sound sleep and I was in agony. I couldn't move, just try to breathe through the horrible and try to survive them. I hate leg cramps. And I dread and fear them and I get them pretty often. Yuk. My thigh muscles are crampy, this evening, too. I dread going to bed. 

I'm going to get that potassium and I think I'll see if there is a banana floating around here, too.

I'm Blonde! :D

Ni pictures, yet. I have one more thing I need to do then I will have it as I want it and can take photos. I'm pretty happy with it, overall but my roots and crown are a little lighter than I expected and a little yellow. I am going to go to Sally's and pick up some 10 volume and a toner to match my length and cool my hot roots and crown down a bit and finish it all off with some of that purple conditioner and I should be all set.

Looking in my mirror is a little strange, right now hee hee... but it is also like coming home. I am a light haired person by nature and personality and I have been wanting to do this for a very long time. Needless to say, I am staying this way, now. No more forays to the dark side for me. Right now, my roots and crown are about a level... 10-ish and my length and ends more like an 8. I actually prefer the slightly darker, cooler tone of my length and ends and I want all of my hair to match that tone.

Oh, all of my greys? Not a damned one of them got covered. ha ha Which is fine. I kind of like them, to be perfectly honest and now they look like really super light natural highlights running in streaks and strands throughout my hair. I can dig it.

Yes, I am a child of the seventies. :P

Food is good, so far. I did my customary smoothie for brekkie and am munching on a turkey sandwich and a few Special K cheddar cracker chips for lunch. I am drinking my water pretty well... I am not going to get a huge amount down because I have to go out later and I'll be hanged if I am going to spend all of that time running from one ladies room to another.

It's a really gorgeous day, here. It's 57, right now, according to The Weather Channel. It feels warmer than that, to me but whatever. It's supposed to top out around 62. I can live with that.

Mmmm... Diet Pepsi... *slurp*

I keep looking down and seeing my hair and thinking, "Huh?!?!" for a second. I'm going to adjust quickly, tho.

Okay. I need to finish my lunch and get some makeup on so I can run out, later. 

Two More Tubs

I bought two more tubs of that protein powder. I likes it. :D I like the taste and the 24 grams of protein per serving keeps my tummy very happy for hours and hours. Today, I had a smoothie about ten this morning and wasn't hungry or thinking about lunch until well after three. I had a light grilled cheese and some Popchips for late lunch and I am already ravenous, again.

Hmmm... No brainer, there, Protein smoothie, good. Grilled cheese, tastes good but doesn't really get the job done. I ended up finishing the bag of Popchips. *sigh* 240 frakking calories I wasn't planning on taking in. I may just do a protein smoothie for dinner, tonight.

I sent William out after a battery for my scale. Time to face the music. *hold me!*

It is sunny today but not as warm as I had thought it was going to get. The wind has a little chill to it. Oh well. It's still better than snow and ice. Anything is better than that! lol

I am doing so much better drinking my water. I am getting in about three quarts, again between water and Crystal Light. I feel better for it, lemme tell you. I had really slacked off in the water department. I am not pushing for more than three quarts of fluid a day. I just can't do more and honestly, I don't think that it is necessary. Five, six quarts of water a day is a full time job and dammit! I have enough other shit to do and I hate living in the bathroom. If, when it starts to warm up, I consider increasing my intake a bit to keep myself hydrated as it heats up but I am not going to force myself to gulp so much water that I want to gag, just thinking about it.

I have started wearing my hair parted on the side. I am under the delusion that it makes me look younger. lol

Oh! What do you think of my new layout? I am kind of over the cutsie backgrounds and headers. (nothing wrong with them, I am just tired of them on my blogs.) So, I put up a simple stretch and made a matching header so that everything is nearly seamless and bright. I made my page wider and stretched my columns a bit, too. I think it makes my formerly closed in, cluttered blog page look better. :D

It Isn't Nasty

In fact, that protein powder is pretty good. Colour me surprised! The last time I tried to use powdered protein it was like trying to drink ground, dried up cow bones and hides, or something. And that was the "tasty" stuff. Gag!

This stuff:

I got the vanilla. I thought that it would work nicely with fruit in my smoothies and it does. So far, I can drink it, just fine. I am going to give it a few days to see if I settle in nicely with it before I call this a complete success. But, so far, so good. :) If the vanilla continues to be good, I'll branch into chocolate, too. :D

I chose this particular brand because it has 24 grams of protein per serving. I could wish for it to be a little lower in calories, but at 145 calories per serving, it isn't out of line. I'll have to look around and see if, perhaps I can find some that qualify and still taste good. If protein powder is yukky, it doesn't matter how much protein it has or how low the calories, I won't ingest it. No how, no way.

I like that my morning and lunch smoothies with this powder kept me full for hours and hours. It's nice not to have the rumbly in the tumbly all the time.

Now I have to get my chicken ass out there and buy a battery for my scale. Time to see just how much damage I have done. I am thinking that I am not going to be super happy with what I see. But it is time to face the music. And the scale. Head on. To know is power. And then I can exercise that power and make a change. :)

It's chilly in here, right now. I can't wait for the oven to warm this house up. I have chicken in there for dinner. Yum. There is also a big, fresh salad and I am going to make some rice to round it all out. Nom, nom, nom.

Great. I need to blow my frakking nose, again. Allergies suck ass.

Tuesday Morning

Good morning blogland.

I am up. I am drinking coffee and I am contemplating trying my new protein powder in my smoothie, this morning. I hope it isn't nasty.

The guys are getting ready to take the in-laws down to Yarnell. MIL has to see her health care practitioner and they want to visit with SIL for a bit. So it will be just me and the pets here. Ahhh... Peace and quiet.

I'll report back in a bit with the verdict on the protein powder. Happily, Hi-Health allows returns so if I hate it I can take it back and get something else. I will find something that I like. I am determined. :D

Okay. I have to run.

For the Record...

I absolutely hate the way my blog looks, right now. I did this in about two minutes late, last night and it will stay like this until I find the right background and make a new header. Tasks I enjoy but I can get so picky and snotty about it that it can be a little wearying. So, ugly blog it is, for now. lol

My favourite brekkie these days is a smoothie. I have one almost every morning, now. On occasion, maybe once every couple of weeks or so, I will do oatmeal or an egg white scramble thing but I really look forward to my frosty, fruity slurp, every morning. This morning it was vanilla peach. :D

 

 The recipe is super easy. I dump one cup of UVAB (Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze almond milk) one container of Yoplait Light fat free vanilla yoghurt (yeah, yeah, I know... But I like it. Deal with it. lol) and 140 grams of frozen peach slices into my blender jar, pulse and puree until all smooth and lovely. I usually dump it in a big, plastic tumbler but since I knew that I was going to take a photograph of it I poured it into this pretty glass. Yepper. I be a food stylist. :P This is 200 calories. That number varies slightly with different frozen fruits and yoghurts I choose. 

Other combos I like, (the almond milk is always the same, right down to brand) Very Cherry Yoghurt with peaches. Or with peaches and pineapple. Vanilla and peach and pineapple. Vanilla with strawberries or with strawberries and pineapple. Or cherry yoghurt with strawberries, pineapple and peaches. Sounds crazy, but sooo delish. I know that Greek yoghurt, preferably unsweetened would be a better choice and is, in fact delightfully yummy, I just like the Yoplait. And it is more affordable so, that is what I use. 

I am seriously considering adding protein powder to my smoothies to make them even more nutritious and filling and make the satisfaction last longer. However, my past experiences with protein powders weren't so good. I am talking one good gulp and I am running for the nearest receptacle to rid myself of it. Yeah. I am just weird about some thing. But protein powder is good for us. And especially good for those of us working on the weight loss thing. So, my question to all of you who use protein powder is: Which one would be best for me? In your opinion? 

I would like protein powder that tastes good, doesn't gag me. I would like vanilla, to work with my fruity smoothies and maybe chocolate for frosty smoothies made with ice, rather than fruit. Is there any protein powder with no flavour? I am thinking that a veggie source might be a better choice for me? My previous awful experiences were with animal based powders. I am a meat eater but... Yeah. Were you able to try before you bought? Any advice and suggestions are welcome. 

My head hurts, this morning. Blech. I need to get to my day. I have some housework, a little laundry and I have a ton of polishes to get to swatching. My untrieds are legion and I am determined to mot buy much polsih until I get through them. Or at least quite a few of them. 

Tuesday Afternoon

I am having a Moody Blues moment. :D

Moar laundry, today. I had a hamper full of darks and I wanted to wash all of my "new" clothes. My new to me stuff was nice and clean but they were stale and a bit fusty from being in storage and I wanted to freshen them up and get the wrinkles out.

I am still freaking out at how small everything looks to my eyes. I am so accustomed to huge and I do mean huge! garments. To any "normal sized" person, these clothes look huge. To me, they are pretty damned tiny. And I am having trouble adjusting my mindset and accepting the fact that this is my current size, that they do, indeed fit me and I don't have to be afraid of them. Yes, I feel like a total goofball, being afraid of my clothes. lol

It is another pretty, pretty day. Windows are open, my ceiling fan is whirring softly and the birdies are raising a ruckus out there. My eating is going very well, so far. Brekkie was my coffee and a flat egg white omelet kinda thing with a little sauteed onion. I also had some cubed cantaloupe and some left over sugar free canned pears. Yum. Water is going down well. I am halfway through my daily requirement.

Okay, I need to go get the rest of my clothes out of the dryer, put William's in. When I get done, today I am not going anywhere near that frakking washer and dryer for at lest a few days! I am sick to death of doing laundry! Blech!

Sunny Sunday

It is another pretty day here in the Great Desert Southwest. Warm, sunny, breezy. Just lovely. We got the house cleaned up, did some extra projects like cleaning out a few drawers, the shelves in the upstairs closet, my basket I keep by my sofa. It is always nice to clear out little bits of clutter. My house just feels cleaner and brighter when I do this. lol We just need to go through a few containers in the storage room and a few things in the garage and we will be all done with that project. I like having a few extra things around that may come in handy, from time to time but excess shit that isn't used and is just taking up space is better in the trash, getting donated or freecycled. I don't need or want to deal with clutter.

Food is good, today. I had coffee and oatmeal for brekkie, a nice turkey sandwich and cantaloupe for lunch. Nom, nom, nom. Water is going down well. I am about halfway through my daily water so I am right on track.

I have Patrick's comforter in the dryer and the cover for Sabryna's beddies in the wash. I washed my sheets, today too. We will all be sleeping in fresh beds, tonight.

I need a vacation.  On a beach. With cabana boys. And alcohol. And massages. And pedicures. And cabana boys. And alcohol. *sigh* Who wants to come with?

I can't think of another thing to say. My brain is a swim of blankness. 

Hanging Tough

Hey kiddies. How'z everything? Things here aren't too bad. Another good day in the books, yesterday. I went about 200 calories over... Popcorn. *rolling my eyes* The treats are stashed away in Patrick's closet, today. Popcorn, peanuts, cheese crackers. out of my line of fire. I don't see them when I go into my kitchen and open my pantry in search of "my" foods so they don't leap into my awareness. So, I don't think about them. I don't start obsessing over them and telling myself little lies about them and I don't eat them.

Drastic? Yup. Necessary, at present? Yup. I am working hard to get solidly back on track, stay there and get this job done. And if I have to resort to a little trickery, I will do it. Once I have things solidly in hand, again I can see about loosening up a little. At this time, I am not putting myself at risk. And if the male ones don't like it, they can bite my big, fat, dimpled white ass.

I had a yummy brekkie of coffee, scrambled egg whites softened with a little fat free 1/2 and 1/2, a little mustard for colour and flavour (a trick I learned from Tammy :D), some salt and pepper and Tabasco. I sauteed a little finely diced onion and scrambled the egg white mixture, added a finely chopped portion of Weight Watchers string cheese and plopped it on a plate with a little heap of salsa on top. I also had some fresh cantaloupe. I am in heaven with the lovely cantaloupe coming out, this season.

Have you tried Weight Watchers string cheese? it is a low fat, low moisture mozzarella with some smokey flavour. It comes in a bag of twelve (if I remember correctly) individually wrapped portions. Each portion is fifty calories. This cheese isn't bad, for low cal, low fat. It is mild, with a somewhat aggressive smoke flavour. The texture is a tad rubbery, as mozzarella and low fat cheeses can be but it isn't nasty. It chops easily and melts nicely. It does clump, like mozzarella does. I find that stirring as I cook it into my recipe helps that. Overall, I like it and I will definitely buy it, again.

Okay, so... I have stuff to do. I have spent the entire morning being a sloth so I need to get cracking.

Did you know that Firefox spell check doesn't work on the title line?  Weird, huh?

Pampered and More Positive

I decided to lock myself downstairs in my little suite with a big bottle of water and just pamper myself a little. I did my promised pedicure, first. I really worked my feet over, removed a little dead skin, used cuticle remover on my toenails (boy! what a difference that stuff made!) then painted my toenails a soft, milky pink. Then I applied pretty flower decals to my big toe nails and topped everything with top coat. While it was drying, I took a good look at my manicure and it looked terrible after all that abuse. So, I decided to do a manicure, too.

I soaked off all the glitter and all my patches soaked off too. My poor nails looked all beat to shit and I didn't think that patching them up again would do much good so I grabbed a grinder and did what had to be done. After I shaped and smoothed them I painted my nails a pretty grey that looks quite smashing on short nails. I think that a little pampering and some time to myself was just what I needed. I heartily endorse it for anyone who is feeling a little stressed, tempted to stuff face or having a bad day. (Week...)

Food is really good. I am well under. Water is going down. I'll end the day a little short, but I have swilled a gallon so I am calling it good. Dinner was some steamed cauliflower, salad and a shrimp dish I am working on. I think that I am getting close to a working recipe. I have a few ideas and I need to try them out. I am trying to get a lot of flavour without excess calories and sodium. The sodium thing is difficult... Soy is a part of the whole thing. Soy and shrimp are a match made in nom heaven.

It is supposed to rain and snow this weekend. Blech! Moar snow. Spring can't come too soon for me. I was perusing my new Burpee catalog and I want so many plants. I have no room for even a fraction of the ones I want. Condos aren't exactly huge garden spots. And... Let's face it. I am not the greenest thumb in the world. I can do a respectable job with easy to grow flowers like petunias, pansies, African daisies and so forth. I murder snapdragons and can't grow food to save my life. If I had to live on the produce of my garden, I would be damned skinny. lol

Tired. I am ready for a good night's sleep. And this sleeping so late business has to end. I didn't get up until eight, this morning. I am such a sloth. :P

But Whenever Monday Comes

Hello everyone. How was your weekend? Mine was okay. I got a few things done, Moved a bookcase into my room, cleared out a few things, put a couple of items on Freecycle, went out and blew a few bucks on nail polish at Big Lots. I got five bottles of polish and a nail art striper for six dollars. Man, I love a bargain. :D Willy Dog bought some cheese popcorn, a bag of stadium peanuts and a back scrubbing brush. We spent ten bucks, altogether.

It is a pretty day, today. Sunny and it is supposed to warm up a little, later on. I am beginning to feel the first tiny stirrings of Spring fever. Sunny, pretty days like this, this early make me crave warm days, gentle breezes, rich soil and flowers. Open windows, lighter clothes, fresh air and pollen. Allergies. Sneezing. Runny nose. Itchy eyes.

All of it totally worth it.

But, there is still some Winter to get through and I need to get out of my fantasy land and back to reality. Reality is that I am having a good morning. I had Willy Dog and Pookey bring my glider up from the walk in downstairs and I got on it (yay! I have lost enough weight to use my glider, again!) and did fifty minutes/two miles. I used my arms hard during my exercise and got an arm, shoulder and back workout while I worked my legs. I like using my glider because I can get my cardio on and not put so much stress on my hips and knees. My hips hurt less after using my glider than when I pound it out on the street. Boy, am I ever going to be sore. My arm and shoulder muscles are already beginning to ache and I can feel it in my back, too. It is a good ache and it means I worked hard, burned calories and am doing good things for my bod.

I had coffee, a Fage and an apple for brekkie. I'll do something full of protein for lunch. Probably a can of tuna and salad. And I might just trat myself to a glass of Crystal Light to go with it. I am not drinking mearly as much Crystal Light as I used to... It is water, water, everywhere for me. lol

Okay, I have to pee and I need a shower. I smell like a camel and my hair is manky, so...

A Little Less Freaked Out, Now

I am not happy about my weigh in, this morning. But I am calmer, now. I have to remember that I have a bod with a certain history. And I shouldn't be so surprised. The fat is coming off. I can feel the difference in my body composition. I am still on track and working and I am certainly not going to let this setback send me off over the edge. I am going to stay on track, keep slugging water and have a good yap with my doc when I go in for my appointment on Wednesday morning.

I am low on calories, right now. I had two cups of coffee and a Fage for brekkie. And I just chowed a veggie cheeseburger for dinner. I did a Morningstar veggie burger, half an ounce of 2% cheddar melted on top, a multi grain sandwich thin, a little light mayo, a couple of slices of tomato, some onion and lettuce. Yum! I had some Special K crisps with it. The Special K crisps are kind of like Pop Chips, thinner a bit more crisp. But yummy. I have enough calories to have a little nosh later, should I desire while we watch a movie.

I ran out today and did some shopping. Picked up some things I needed, hauled a little polish, including two Color Club sets at Ross. I also got a pretty China Glaze Halloween polish at Sally's on clearance. A buck ninety-nine. That is my kind of bargain. :D I picked up some other girlie necessities. And a jar of the new Loreal souffle foundation. I am hoping it will step into my beloved mineral foundation's shoes. Getting old is hell... Lines and wrinkles that are forming are not working and playing so well with mineral, anymore. *sigh* And my lines seem to be forming a little faster as I deflate. Time to start saving for that face lift, I guess. lol

Brrr! The temps are dropping fast, clouds are streaming in and there is a 30% chance of snow tonight and tomorrow morning. But it is supposed to warm up to the mid forties, so if it snows, it shouldn't hang around long. Rain would certainly be better! I love rain.

So, we have a new common wall neighbour. The condo next door finally rented. A lady and her little pooch moved in. She is single, right now but engaged to get married. Funny enough, my son and her fiancee know one another. He works for a loval vendor and delivers to the store where Pookey works. Her little doggy is kinda cute, a fluffy ball of cocapoo type canine life. He isn't too yappy, thank heavens! I am not thrilled with sharing a common wall, but as long as she is reasonably quiet, clean, her dog doesn't bark the walls down and I don't have to listen to her and her guy getting freaky, we will all get along just fine.

What is it with people who hang on Freecycle? I offered a very nice pink Razr cell phone. Received seven replies from people who wanted it. I offered it to someone, she was supposed to come get it and her son offered to buy her a newer model. Okay fine. So, I chose a gal who needed a new phone for her daughter. She was just desperate! to have it. It has been sitting outside my front door in a little gift bag for two days. If she doesn't pick up tomorrow, it is going to the next person on the list. *sigh*

Well, I guess I have nattered on enough, for now.

Please don't forget to enter my giveaway. You can find the link at the top of my right hand column. Click the logo, if you are a follower, enter. If you aren't a follower, click the follow button and enter. :D You have until the end of the day, tomorrow.

Friday Evening

Yes, Polar's Mom, I really like my new Vortex. It is enough smart phone to get up and go and do all the things I like to do with it but it isn't too much phone that I feel stupid or as if I am not going to utilize half of the features. It is a super easy platform and once you get the rhythm of it, very easy to learn. I started off simply making a phone call, which lead to trying the Internet which led to learning to use the keyboard which led to setting up Facebook, G-Mail, my Yahoo mail and so on and on. I have downloaded apps, browsed on my blog, tho I haven't tried posting, yet. I am amazed at how fast and fun it is to learn to use. I now know how to send text messages and add contacts and take pictures. I downloaded a program to my PC so that I can move music, photos, videos  from my 'puter to my phone. No need to buy an MP3 player, now.

I am ridiculously pleased with my new toy and I am having a lot of fun with it. I am sure the novelty will wear off, eventually and it will just be there. But for now... :D I need to read up on how to uninstall an app. I installed Pandora, then got a message that it is a data hog and I don't want to pay extra to run it, so it has to go.

Other than that, not too much going on, here. Dinner is in the oven. Willy Dog is in the shower, Sabryna's bed cover is in the dryer and Pookey is downstairs in his lair, doing whatever it is Pookey does in his lair.

Yum! I can smell dinner baking. It smells good and my stomach is growling. Baked boneless, skinless chicken breasts, baked potatoes. I don't eat potatoes very often, they are now more a treat than a staple in my diet. I am going to enjoy tonight's. :D

I need to get more water and I am going to read blogs and see what everyone is up to.

Later, gators.

Release the Kraken!

Thank you, everyone for your lovely comments, yesterday. :D Today is a better day.

I ended up at just over 600 calories for the day, yesterday. I just wasn't all that hungry, then I ate a big pile of broccoli. Too much, it turns out as I got sicker than a dog, gas that wanted to kill me. Ugh! I definitely couldn't eat anything after that. Just the thought of broccoli right now makes me shudder. It will probably be a while before I eat broccoli, again.

My husband has to die. He brought home Doritos. Put them in my pantry in my kitchen. What the fuck was he thinking? He knows those things are crack in a mylar bag to me. *sigh* Seriously, did he really need to bring those damned things in the house? I just need to steer clear. I can do it.

Food and water are on track. Other than the evil in the pantry, I am good, today. Head is calm, I am level. Water, lots and lots of water help, I admit. And I am looking forward to a good weigh in this coming Sunday.

I am also looking forward to seeing my doc on the second of next month. I don't know what is with my chest, lately. Just making my bed or vacuuming my broadloom leaves me gasping for breath, coughing, chest rattling. I am hoping that she can help me to feel better, breathe better and get back to a more active life. I miss being able to do my housework, walk, climb my stairs. I am so. sick. of. being. sick!!!!! Efuckingnuff, already.

It is a pretty, sunny day. Crisp and cool but it should warm up a little, this afternoon. I am looking forward to Spring. My hands are beginning to itch to dig in rich, dark soil, plant flowers, water them, nurture them and watch them grow and bloom. I can't grow food to save my life. But I can rock flowers. Except snapdragons. For some really weird reason, snapdragons and I don't get along. I follow the directions for growing them and they die on me. Every time. It is going to be nice to have warm days, breezes blowing through my home, no more shivering.  Until it gets really hot and humid and I start bitching about that. ;) :P

My headache has calmed down a lot. I am hurting, but my brain isn't vibrating and throbbing, today. An improvement, to be sure.

I need to go take a shower and do my nails. Hmmm... What colour do I want to wear, today? :D

Ravenous, Dying of Thirst and Craving My Coffee

That is how my day went. *sigh* I was NPO for that stupid hida scan and could have no food, water or coffee. My appointment was for nine, this morning. I thought I would be in, out and home, slurping my first cup of java.

Ha! That's what I get for thinking!

I get there, it took forever to get my orders because they put today's test on my last visit's account and that is, apparently a big no-no. So that had to get straightened out. Then I had to wait for a half hour to be called in to nuclear medicine. I got my little IV port and shot with the radioactive goodies, (sadly, no superpowers, waaahhh!) then into the scanner. For an hour and a half. No gallbladder. It didn't want to come out and play.

So, out of the scanner and off to the waiting room to cool my radioactive heels for an hour, then back into the scanner.

Still no gallbladder.

Out of the scanner. Out to sit and read and roast in that overheated waiting room for another hour and a half. I couldn't go home because my asshole husband had a call to go to and he got snaggy with me when I told him I wasn't done and had to go back and it was a huge dustup. Not my fucking fault, but he sure made me feel like shit for putting him through all of that waiting, back and forth and missing bits of work. I told him to go back to work and go to hell. I would just sit in the waiting room for an hour and a half, again and he didn't need to worry about it, and I would walk the fuck home, too so that he didn't have to take his precious time to come back and pick me up! And I jumped out of the car, while it was moving and stalked back to the main entrance and planted my fat ass in the waiting room and seethed. And waited. Of course, he came slithering in, manipulated me into calming down and calling him when I was done, then I snapped at him to just go back to work and leave me the hell alone. He did. I waited.

Then at 1:30 it was back into the frakking scanner. Then I was finally done and the asshole picked me up and brought me home and acted as if everything was just lovely and friendly and nothing had gone wrong.

Whatever. I can tolerate it for as long as I need to.

So, I am finally home and happily slurping coffee and water. Then, I am going to make myself a big, healthy lunch and chow down. "Cause I be hongry.

NPO sucks. Mine lasted from 8:30 last night to just a few minutes ago. The no food thing wasn't that big a deal. I can go food free for a while, if I have to. But no water? No coffee? That is just wrong. On so many levels.

I chipped a nail, dammit! Now I have to try to file it so that the chip is minimized until it grows out a bit and I can level the nail off, again. At lest it is on my right hand, so it won't interfere with my manicure photos for my nail blog. And isn't that what it is all about? lol

I had Jerkface (Willy Dog is officially Jerkface, today!) take a couple of quick pics of me, before he ran back out the door to work. My next fifty pounds down progress shots. They are in my Gallery. One, the side view is a bit out of focus but I didn't dare ask for another shot. It would have just been toooooooooooooooo  much. So, it is what it is.

Yes, in case you hadn't noticed, Jerkface is in the doghouse. And there he shall stay for a while. I am sick of his manipulative, blaming , passive aggressive bullshit. Since I have to continue to tolerate it for the foreseeable future, I reserve the right to be pissed at him and vent it here.

Okay, I want another cup of coffee and my late lunch. I'll see you all later.

Don't forget to click on my Gallery and see my progress shots. I actually see a difference, this time around. :D

I wonder if my pee is going to glow in the dark? :P