Friday Fun-Day!

I had a great day with activity. I think that may be the first time that I hit that targeted caloric burn. Food was good too. I was extra hungry in the evening time after the workout though. So, if you recall, when I saw Grace last week, I asked her about the Bosu ball and she said she would include it this week. Operative word being asked. I asked her if it would hold me and she gave me a funny look. I had visions of popping it but she assured me it was fine and told me that they use them on BL. At first I was really intimidated and even said I couldn't do it. Grace would not take that as an answer so she made me push through it. She had me do 12 squats and also 12 arm curls all the while standing on the ball. She spotted me at first and by the second round of sets I was basically doing it on my own. We also used a Medicine ball which I have never done before either. Next appt. is next Thursday.

My name is Katie J and I am addicted to handbags! (Among other things!) Yesterday at lunch, I decided to go to Hallmark to see if I might find my mom a gift. Well I found lots of stuff for ME but nothing for her. I ended up getting the purse above. I thought it would be great for travel (lots of pockets) and it's summery. When I first saw them, I thought they were Vera Bradley but they are actually designed by Marie Osmond! Isn't it cute? They are on the spendy side just like Vera but the patterns and colors are so appealing. Plus it is washable :-D

Tomorrow my mom and I are going to the Gilroy Outlet Stores. I need new pants like there is no tomorrow. All my pants are at least 2-4 sizes too big. I have been feeling so slouchy in them but it is definitely time. It is going to be in the upper 70s/low 80s here this weekend so it should be a lovely day to shop. Sunday we don't have any concrete plans. I just want to make sure we do something active so I can keep in the groove. Hope you all have a great weekend! Until next time...

Topic-orama Thursday

Had an interesting day yesterday. I needed to mail a package to Candace and so on my lunch hour I drove to the post office. I spotted this little squirrel and was surprised that he was so friendly. I had to take a picture of him so I set my purse and the package down on the ground. He climbed in my purse, chewed on my phone case and then decided to hop on the package. He started to rip off the label so I shooed him away but he kept following me. Another lady did feed him some peanuts right after that. I actually was able to touch him! He did not like it but I had to since he was so close! His nickname is now Sam (I just came up with that)

As for the evening, I got my pedicure and got my toes done in Back to the Fuchsia. I tried to take a picture of my pedicure but it did not come out. I had chicken strips for dinner. Dave had a game so I was on my own. I did a 1/2 mile on Walk it Out and then watched Idol. I fell asleep before the end but found out Siohban was voted off. No love loss there. She is good but not great like Lee and Crystal.

Tonight I meet with Grace at 6:00 p.m. Should be fine. Looking forward to trying the Bosu ball. I wish the appt. was a little earlier but it is what it is. Dave has a double-header so I am on my own again for dinner. Not sure what I will have yet.

Oh I got on the scale this morning and it is already moving down from the excess sodium. It is hard to believe that you can have 5 lbs. of water weight! Either that or the *&$%#^@ Fiber One bars. Personally, I think they are evil! LOL! I had the worst gas pains from having one and I swear I will never eat one again. They do taste good but ughhhh not worth the pain. I think I will try the Bran Vitamuffins again. They were much easier on the belly. Well that is about it for now. Hope you are doing well! Until next time...

The Weigh it Goes

I did not get my pedicure last night. I called to confirm my appt. time and to see if she was running on time and she said I was on the schedule for Wednesday so I will go tonight. Grrr. I got in about a 20 mins of the Wii game Walk it Out! I like this game a lot! It has great music and the time goes by fast and I don't even realize how far I have gone. I did not have my bugg on though (Doh!) so it is not accounted for in the screenshot.

Got on the scale and I did have a gain. I am not making excuses but I have consumed quite a bit of sodium the last few days so I know it is water weight. For this week, I am not updating my info and will wait it out until next week.

This is an excerpt from my adoption papers. It is the key info for me finding the birth parents. At this point, I have requested Non-Identifying information which includes Nationality and Medical info. I just have to have the letter notarized which I can do at the local UPS store. Susan at Susan's Journey to Keep Fit has graciously offered to help me as well.

That the natural mother was married on September 14, 1961, at Salinas, California. That the natural mother entered into a second marriage on April 15, 1965, at Reno, Nevada, prior to the dissolution of the first marriage.

Now, math is not my forte, however, the dates don't add up. They presume husband #1 is the father but according to the dates it is kind of funky. I was conceived in September of 1965 and born on June 21, 1966. She was married for 5 months to husband #2 before I was even conceived. I wonder if I will ever know the whole story... In the meantime, I am getting the ball rolling on finding out some info. Until next time...

Yes Celtic Woman!

My name is Katie J and I am a slackalacker! I rescheduled my appt. with Grace to Thursday after work. I am just not a fan of doing anything on Monday nights. I made a great dinner though. We had leftover steak teryaki and I made a stir fry with it and it came out wonderful. Dave raved about it and had 3 servings! Gotta love that. I did not do any exercise but I did put stuff away from the weekend.

Dave and I are going to see Yes on July 11th and Celtic Woman on August 29th at the Mountain Winery. Dave's choice was Yes. They are a progressive English rock band from the 60s. My choice was Celtic Woman. I am beyond excited about it because I have ALWAYS wanted to see them ever since I first heard of them AND Mountain Winery is one of THE best venues to see a concert. It only holds 2500 people so it is pretty intimate. Here is a picture of the venue.

Tonight I am getting a pedicure after work. Happy pink toes! Dave is going to cook dinner since his game got rained out. We are having Pork Tenderloin, red potatoes and green beans. Idol is on and I need to clean out my trunk. I am going to take everything out and then organize it. It is basically the last phase of Katie's Clean-up Campaign. I feel like I have been working on this forever but it is time well spent in my humble opinion. Shedding unwanted pounds and unwanted crap is very cathartic. Until next time...

Monday Madness

Wow, wow, wow what a weekend! It was gorgeous weather wise and I had a wonderful time hanging with my mom and with Dave.

Saturday, my mom and I went shopping to Draper and Damon's. They do not have Plus size clothes in the store - Go figure. You can order them through the catalog and still return them there but the top I was looking at in the catalog is not as nice in person so I think I will keep looking. I was thinking about getting a blazer but not sure. It won't fit all that long but its so pretty. I have some time to think about it. We did some more shopping and finished in the early afternoon. After I left her house I headed over to Mariani's to meet with Dave. We went to Andy's BBQ for dinner. I ordered a teriyaki steak and it was 13 oz. so I cut off a 3 oz. piece and saved the rest. We are going to make a stir-fry out of it for dinner tonight.

So, I got the Adoption papers from Betty (my mom) and waited until I got to the motel room to read them. I was a little shocked and started to cry and Dave calmed me down and reminded me to breathe. I wanted to bring them to work this morning but I forgot to grab them. It does not have her name but it is the key to unlocking all the information. I have the documents required by the state of California to petition the information so I just need to fill them out and send them. I am a little puzzled now about her age though. Betty said she was 20 when she had me but I am not sure now because it said she was married in 1961. As Missa at Losing Ethel pointed out in her comment, it is going to be an interesting process even if I don't find her/them.

Yesterday we hung out by the pool for most of the day. I swam for quite awhile and then went to the room to relax. I am a little sunburned. We did not have to check out until 3:00 p.m. so I took my time packing up. We took off and went and did some shopping and then went to Wing Stop. I have never been a fan of chicken wings. I always thought they weren't worth the effort. Well Dave likes them and I said I would give them a try. I ended up getting the Parmesan cheese ones. I would have preferred boneless but they were busy and we would have had to wait. I liked them! I did not look at the nutritional info so I will have to do that today.

I have an appointment with Grace (Personal Training) tonight right after work. I am not a big fan of Monday's but that was what worked this week. It will be a good way to start the week though. Bosu ball here I come! LOL! Hope you all had a good weekend! Until next time...

Obesity Health Risk: Sleep Apnea

I have Sleep Apnea. It is the obstuctive type and is brought on by my being morbidly obese. I use a CPAP machine every night when I sleep. Albeit the fact that it helps me sleep and that I wake up rested and with energy, I hate that friggin machine. I have strap marks when I wake up in the morning. I have skin irritation on my forehead, nose and above my mouth. It royally bites and I can't wait until the day I do not need it anymore. I am hoping by the end of this year to be re-evaluated and ditch it entirely.

This is a helpful article on Sleep Apnea that was on WebMd:

Sleep apnea is a serious sleep disorder that occurs when a person's breathing is interrupted during sleep. People with untreated sleep apnea stop breathing repeatedly during their sleep, sometimes hundreds of times. This means the brain -- and the rest of the body -- may not get enough oxygen.

There are two types of sleep apnea:

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA): The more common of the two forms of apnea, it is caused by a blockage of the airway, usually when the soft tissue in the back of the throat collapses during sleep.

Central sleep apnea: Unlike OSA, the airway is not blocked but the brain fails to signal the muscles to breathe due to instability in the respiratory control center.

Am I at Risk for Sleep Apnea?

Sleep apnea can affect anyone at any age, even children. Risk factors for sleep apnea include:
Male gender
Being overweight
Being over the age of forty
Having a large neck size (17 inches or greater in men and 16 inches or greater in women)
Having large tonsils, a large tongue, or a small jaw bone
Having a family history of sleep apnea
Gastroesophageal reflux, or GERD
Nasal obstruction due to a deviated septum, allergies, or sinus problems

What Are the Effects of Sleep Apnea?

If left untreated, sleep apnea can result in a growing number of health problems including:
High blood pressure
Stroke
Heart failure, irregular heart beats, and heart attacks
Diabetes
Depression
Worsening of ADHD

In addition, untreated sleep apnea may be responsible for poor performance in everyday activities, such as at work and school, motor vehicle crashes, as well as academic underachievement in children and adolescents.

Common sleep apnea symptoms include:

Waking up with a very sore and/or dry throat
Loud snoring
Occasionally waking up with a choking or gasping sensation
Sleepiness or lack of energy during the day
Sleepiness while driving
Morning headaches
Restless sleep
Forgetfulness, mood changes, and a decreased interest in sex
Recurrent awakenings or insomnia

Sleep Apnea Tests and Diagnosis
If you have symptoms of sleep apnea, your doctor may ask you to have a sleep apnea test in a sleep disorder center. This often includes a polysomnogram.

A polysomnogram -- or sleep study -- is a multiple-component test that electronically transmits and records specific physical activities while you sleep. The recordings are analyzed by a qualified sleep specialist to determine whether or not you have sleep apnea or another type of sleep disorder. If sleep apnea is determined, you may be asked to return to the lab for further evaluation in order to determine the best treatment option.

Behavioral Modifications for Sleep Apnea

In mild cases of sleep apnea, conservative therapy may be all that is needed. Conservative approaches include:

Losing weight
Avoiding alcohol and sleeping pills
Changing sleep positions to promote regular breathing
Stop smoking. Smoking can increase the swelling in the upper airway which may worsen both snoring and apnea.
Avoid sleeping on your back

Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP)
Continuous positive airway pressure -- also called CPAP -- is a treatment in which a mask is worn over the nose and/or mouth while you sleep. The mask is hooked up to a machine that delivers a continuous flow of air into the nostrils. The positive pressure from air flowing into the nostrils helps keep the airways open so that breathing is not impaired. CPAP is considered by many experts to be the most effective treatment for sleep apnea.

I hope this helps you if you are experiencing any of these symptoms. It can be fatal if left untreated. Please see a doctor if you have any concerns about yourself or a loved one. Until next time...

Crossroads

My mom and I are going shopping today. In an email I sent her yesterday to confirm what time we were meeting, I asked her to set aside my Adoption paperwork. I talked about it in this post here. Basically, she told me a few months ago that she wanted me to have my adoption papers and it took me this long to ask her about them again. It was a strange feeling to know that that information will now be available to me after all these years. I am at a crossroads about it and will have to do some serious soul searching about how to proceed.

My biggest questions are what nationality I am and what medical conditions run in my birth family. I am not sure if I want to pursue meeting my birth mother or father. I have heard varying stories about adoption reunions and not sure if I am strong enough to handle any rejection that might happen. Maybe she does not want to meet me; maybe she has a family that did not know about me. It is just a lot of unknowns and I am not sure how to proceed. I say she because I would want to see the birth mother the most. I have never really thought about my birth father although I do wonder once in awhile if he thinks about me.

What I do know is this: I was born in June ‘66 at Santa Clara County Hospital (Valley Medical Center) and adopted by Ed and Betty in January ‘67. I was in foster care until I was 6 months old and the family even named me May. My birth mother was 20 years old when she had me which makes her 63 now. She tried to keep me but financially could not swing it. The birth father and her were not “together” and they found him in AZ in order for him to sign off on the adoption. Betty and Ed named me Katherine Ann after their respective mothers. :-D but obviously I go by Katie J and my besties call me Kate.

I will let you know what is contained in the adoption paperwork once I see it. I don’t know what info is there, if it has their names or anything so I am anxious to see. Until next time…

Friday Fun Facts

Got my car back at lunchtime and realized three NSVs when getting in the car. One, I had to move my seat up because it was too far away from the gas pedal. Second, when I looked down all I saw were my “girls” and not my belly. When I was at my heaviest my belly stuck out farther then my boobs and my tummy almost touched the steering wheel. Third, my necklace is longer because my neck is smaller. Needless to say I had a smile on my face while driving back to work!

Went and saw Grace at 24hr fitness. Had a good workout with her but boy am I sore. She worked my arms with 8 lb. weights and boy can I feel it! Also I did a bazillion squats. I saw that they had kettlebells and I had heard so much about them here in blogland that I had to try it. It was fun to try something different and next week we will use the bosu ball. All these new tools I only heard of before and now I am using them! Yay!

Tonight I will be hanging out with Dave. I will be making Salmon for dinner. Someone asked me how I make my salmon and here it is.



Katie J's Salmon Recipe
6 oz of Fresh Salmon (3 oz. per person)
1 Lemon
Teaspoon of Parsley
Pat of butter
Jane’s Mixed Up Crazy Salt or Mrs. Dash (Herbal blend)

Preheat the oven to 350
Cut lemon into slices and save ½
Squeeze a liberal amount of lemon on the fish with the ½ lemon
Sprinkle parsley to lightly cover
Place small pat of butter on each piece
Place 2 lemon slices on top of each piece of fish
Sprinkle lightly with Jane’s (or whatever you use)

I like my salmon on the rarer side so I may not cook it as long as you might like. The key is once you see the top start to turn white you know it is done. I would say it takes about 15-20 minutes to cook. According to my Bodybugg the calories are 228 calories per serving.

As far as the weekend goes, Saturday, I am getting together with my mom to go shopping at Draper and Damons. They have a store in Sunnyvale but also have a booming catalog business. My mom wants to see what they have as far as cruise wear (Only 99 more days!) and she offered to get me an early birthday present (It's in June). Their clothes are pretty spendy though. I have a banquet for work at the beginning of June so I think I will look for something for that. I did find a pretty top that might work and I hope they have it but if they don’t they will order it for you and have it delivered to the store and if you don’t like it you can return it to the store with no questions asked. Gotta love that. I also saw some cute sandals... there goes the rest of my tax refund ;-D

Dave wants to get a room at Mariani’s which is down the street from where we live. They have free breakfast and a Jacuzzi and pool and he wants to use them so we will stay there Saturday night and go home Sunday afternoon. I have always thought it was odd to do that because it is SO local but it will be a nice little getaway. Sunday we don’t have any concrete plans so I might talk him into going to see How to Train Your Dragon but we will see. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Until next time…

Tales and Scales

Had a nice evening with Dave. I needed to keep my dinner mild so we had Teriyaki chicken with some rice and broccoli. It was yummy! I played on the Wii for about 10 minutes and then bundled up to watch Idol and then went to bed. I was SO happy to sleep in my own bed!

Got on the scale this morning and I am down another lb. to 256. That is 1 lb. from my lowest on this journey. I am hoping that with the increase in activity: Wii and Personal Training that the lbs. will come off a little quicker. Slow and steady can be relentless sometimes...

I am feeling much better today, thank goodness. I was actually doing a naked happy dance this morning because I felt good and I can walk around the apartment wearing whatever I want (or not!) for the first time! It was very liberating. Sidenote: Today is the 1st day I have had coffee all week so that is another good sign. I missed my coffee!



I recently bought a Bissell Little Green Machine. I had heard that it worked really well on carpets and upholstery and I got it on sale for $99. Well, we used it on the carpet a few months ago and it worked well but I was not sure how it would do on the couch. Well while I was dog sitting, Dave did the couch and it looks WONDERFUL! It is a handy little gadget and I think it would work really well for families with small children. It is so lightweight that you could even get them to help you carry it. I would imagine you could find them on sale or on eBay for a little cheaper. I got ours at Bed, Bath & Beyond (I love that store!)

I am picking up my car at lunch time today. Bye bye, Mazda 5, I will miss you! I have an appt. with Grace (Personal Trainer) at 6:00 p.m. I wanted to mention that in addition to the book recommendations, she suggested I take a multi-vitamin which I do not do currently. She was not brand specific but Apex has a product line that includes vitamins and they are cheaper then retail so I signed up to get them on a monthly basis. They will be shipped automatically. Until next time...

Wahoo Wednesday

Had an nice evening. I had dinner with Deb and Larry. We had a nice salad with all sorts of goodies in it. Walnuts, bell peppers, tomatoes, cheese, a little ham, chicken and celery with some Balsamic dressing. Delish! It felt good to eat again after barely eating the last few days. After dinner I and hung with Titan and fell asleep at 8:15. (I missed Idol!) Tonight I get to sleep in my own bed! Wahoo!! I do love Titan but it is tough for me to sleep at their place. I am still a little queasy but at least I can keep food down.

Usually Wednesday is my weigh day but for this week I am moving it to tomorrow since I was not at home this morning. Not sure what to expect. Hoping it is good!

So last week when I met with Grace, the personal trainer, she suggested that I read the Eat-Clean Diet by Tosca Reno. I had heard about the book through a lot of blogs and thought it was worthwhile reading so I went ahead and ordered it from Amazon. I also ordered the accompanying cookbook. I will let you know what I think. Grace said that it was not necessary to follow everything to a T but more importantly to give yourself cleaner options. I looked at the cookbook and there are some tantalizing recipes in there so I am anxious to explore some of them.

My car is ready to be picked up but I won't have time to get it today. I have to feed the animals after work and the shop closes at 5:30 p.m. I have really enjoyed having the Mazda 5 and am sad I have to give it up. It was fun while it lasted and I did put over 600 miles on it ;-D Hoping you are having a good week. Until next time...

HG is G-O-N-E!

I thought this day would never get here - I swear. Even though I had control over him being there it was just hard to severe ties. In fact, he called me to thank me again for all we have done for him and let us know if there was anything we needed he would be happy to help us out and I cried... I am such a sap! He is staying a couple blocks away and as I mentioned, he will be using our address and phone number until he can get his own.

I am dog sitting at my mom's neighbor's house until Wednesday. They have a Golden Retriever and his name is Titan. He is a blond as you can tell. They have a tabby cat named Pan but she is a little more elusive then the big galoot. I will try to catch a picture of her. I seemed to be a little more prepared this time around. In the past, I would just wing it and then leave their house at o'dark hundred and go to my apt. to get ready for work which was a lot of driving back and forth. They live about 12 miles away from my apt.



Titan a.k.a. Big Boy

Their backyard is a Hummingbird Highway. They have a couple of feeders and if you are sitting out there you can hear their buzzing wings and they come like every two minutes. It is amazing and the picture does not do it justice. They even get in little fights over the feeders and all you hear is the buzzzzzzz of their wings.



I am feeling queasy for some reason. I threw up 3 times yesterday morning and could not eat all day. I tried some cereal and yogurt and both where a no go. I did have tea or my head would have caved in from the lack of caffeine. I did manage to have some saltines and 7-up so I did get a few calories in during the day and then had a quesadilla with chicken and cheese for dinner. The bad part is since I take insulin I HAVE to eat or my blood sugar gets way low and that is not good.

I meant to mention it last week but Dave got me flowers last Monday because he knew I was having a rough day (it was the anniversary of my Dad's death) They still look great after a week don't they? He has been so good about getting me flowers lately :-D You can never get too many flowers right?

Flowers from Dave 4/12/10

It is pouring down rain here today and I was contemplating going to dinner with my mom but I am rethinking it because I am still not feeling well and the weather is crappy. We shall see how the day pans out. Until next time...

Zoom Zoom!

Dave umpiring at Oak Grove High School (Friday)

Front of Grace Cathedral (Friday)

Close up of front of Grace Cathedral (Friday)

Cement Ship at Seacliff Beach (Sunday)

What a whirlwind weekend! Had a great time on Friday night at the concert. It was better then I anticipated actually. I think it is the first concert that I went to sober. They had a bar but I just did not feel like having a drink and I was driving so that was a consideration too. One thing I thought was funny was I needed to go to the ladies room and I see the line to the men’s room is down the hall and around the corner. Well the ladies room had NO line! There was probably a 10-1 male to female ratio in the audience. The venue only holds 3,400 people.

Saturday I was supposed to see Grace the personal trainer but my belly was funky so I rescheduled for Thursday the 22nd. I busted ass around the apt. instead. I went through the 6 bags of clothes again to pick out some additional items for a friend. Once I was done, I took them over to Salvation Army. Then, I did all my filing. I am not a big fan of filing so this was no small feat for me. I got a new file cabinet from work so that helped. It is longer then the other one so it was more accommodating.

Sunday I went to Seacliff beach in Santa Cruz to see Deb and Larry. They were camping with the family (Hi Judy!) and since I had the rental car I decided to trek over there. It was SO GOOD to see them and the weather was gorgeous. It was 76 degrees and sunny without a cloud in the sky. I drove back over the hill around 4:00 p.m. because I was dog sitting so I had to feed Titan and Pan dinner.

Talked to Dave about HG and it looks like today is the day!!! Whether or not his car is done he is G-O-N-E! Dave is going to help him take his stuff over to Greg’s place this morning. Greg and his wife Karen are going to let him stay at their place in the back shed. It is not glamorous but it is better then him sleeping in his car. I am so beyond done with that whole situation. I did learn a lot about myself over the last 6 months and I believe God put him in my/our lives for a reason. He will be using our phone number and address until he can get a place which is no big deal and he can still do some handy work when necessary.

To You - My Friends

A friend is one of the nicest things you can have, and one of the best things you can be --Douglas Pagels

Fun Filled Friday

Forgot to put my bugg on this morning but I will when I get home at noontime.

Had a nice dinner with my mom. We went to Fish Market as planned and I had the Swordfish with Mango Salsa. Yummy! Went home and relaxed for a little while and called it a night. It was good to see her. I need to start getting together with her more often.

Dave and I are going to see Jeff Beck in San Francisco tonight. I am not too familiar with him but he has been around a long time. It is at the Nob Hill Masonic so it should be an interesting show. I am only working half day today so I am already half way done! Wohoo for that!



Here is a sample of his music. Hopefully you can play it. This is the first time I have added a video. Hey, who knows... I may even have to do a vlog since my laptop has a webcam :-)

Tomorrow is another Personal Training appt. at noon and I also need to get new reading/computer glasses. Mine broke recently and it time. There goes my tax refund but it is all for good things so I should not fret.

Sunday I may head over to the beach to visit with Deb and Larry. I love being by the coast and need to get a visit in with them - plus I still have the rental car so why not. I am am dogsitting across from my moms from Sunday to Wednesday so I will have to resort to walking or I will bring some DVDs to work out. It is just for a few days and I plan on being prepared and that is half the battle right?

I am humbled that I have 278 followers! I would never have imagined that many people would give a rats patootie about what I have to say but wow thank you. Also, if you would like me to add you to my blog roll I would be more then happy to. Just let me know in the comments. Well hope you all have a fantastic weekend! Until next time...

Training and Twitter

My calories were way too low yesterday. I went and got my haircut and lunch time and did not have a chance to eat anything so I had an apple and some Laughing cow for lunch and then after the gym I came home and had two slices of cheese pizza for 320 cals.

I survived the Personal Training appt! Actually it went really well. I liked her a lot and she knows her stuff. Her name is Grace and she is certified in Sports training but also specializes in Weight Loss so she is well versed. I liked her so much that I ended up getting 5 more sessions with her. They are having a special that ends today for 10% off so decided to take advantage of it. I will use my Tax refund to cover the cost. Our next appt. is on Saturday at Noon.

So I have been poking around Twitter the last few days. I think I am getting the hang of it finally. The app for my phone is called Tweety and it makes it pretty easy to use. I added a button on my sidebar if you would like to Follow Me. Oh and I also added a countdown to our Alaska Cruise. Only 106 days! My goal is to be down 40 more lbs. by then. Lofty, yes - Achievable - yes. If I really bust ass and keep in my current grove I should not have a problem.

Getting together with my mom for dinner tonight. We are going to the Fish Market. I wonder if they will remember us? Hahaha... We used to go every week and sometimes more then once but it has been a few months since we have been there. I am looking forward to it. Well I hope your week is going well. Until next time...

Weigh to Workout

Had a nice time last night and I managed not to drink beer. For a fleeting moment I thought about it but got over it. I had a diet Coke which tasted refreshing actually. I haven't had one in awhile.

I got on the scale this morning and I am down 1 lb to 257 lbs. 58 lbs. to date and 2 lbs. away from my lowest thus far. It kinda sucks losing pounds you have already lost but all you can do is just push forward right?

Tonight is my 1st of 3 - 50 minute training sessions. I was assigned the Fitness Manager because they neglected to call me back so yay for that. I am a little nervous about it but but I know it will be just fine. My objective is to set up a routine that I can build on as I get stronger.

HG is leaving today if all goes well. His car was not finished but should be sometime this morning.

A random thing I know but after reading this post on Lesley's blog Will Write for Food I decided it was worth spreading the word. When I was in my early 20s my friend's neighbor pointed it out to me and it is Lefty Loosy - Righty Tighty. If you are unscrewing something you want to turn it left to get it loose and right to make it tight. Hopefully this will save someone some time down the line. :-)




P.S. I posted a picture of my Easter bowl on my other blog in case you wanted to see it.

Tuesday Tidbits

I wanted to thank you all for you kind comments on yesterday's post. It does get easier with time but it still hurts. Had an uneventful night last night. Had soup and a tuna sandwich for dinner. Dave was super sweet and got me flowers and was very attentive all evening. I only got on the Wii for like 5 minutes - I just did not have the energy to do much of anything. I did organize my new spice rack though. HG got it for us. It came with its own labels but I wanted them all to match so I did them all myself. I even put them in alphabetical order :-o

Speaking of HG, today is supposed to be his last day. He is waiting for his car repair to be finished and he will be on his way. As I mentioned before, he doesn't have anywhere to go but it can't be our responsibility anymore. What was supposed to be a few weeks turned into 6 months and it is time - I am just done. One thing that I am looking forward to (amongst many) is for my living room not to smell boozie and smoky (from him) when I get up in the morning. Blechhh... Sidenote: I smoke outside on my porch.

Tonight a group of 12 of us are going to dinner at the Redi Room. It is a local bar that serves food on Tuesday's and Sunday's. They have Prime Rib, Salmon and Chicken Terryaki with a salad, baked potato and garlic bread for $11. I always order the salmon and it is always delish. The key will be for me not to drink. Especially in light of the fact that I am weighing tomorrow. Until next time...

Mixed Emotions Monday

What a fun weekend! We had a really good time at the game even though it was colder then heck. They lost though so that was kind of a bummer. Oh well... Dave had fun and that is all that matters. We got lots and lots of walking in and I kept my eating under control. I had a Grilled Ahi Tuna sandwich for dinner and had some peanuts and a few Dibs and that was it. I did have two sangrias when we arrived.

Yesterday it poured rain all day. We got up, had a nice breakfast and then went to the gym and pool. I actually hopped on the elliptical and did 2 minutes which doesn't like much but it was huge for me. I have never been able to do it for any length of time so that was a big step. I also had a suit on which is another big step for me. I was stepping out of my comfort zone for sure. Sat in the jacuzzi for a little while and then headed up to the room and then we went to Wal-Mart. I got Dave some things he needed and I also got him a DVD player for our bedroom. It was only $35! I did not realize they had come down that far in price. Yay!

Today is the 11th anniversary of my father's death. It was a Tuesday night at 8:32 p.m when he died. He was scheduled for bypass surgery and died the night before! He was an otherwise healthy man. He did not smoke, drink or even drink coffee. He ate healthy and was not overweight. However, there was heart disease in his family. My father, Edward, aka "Eagle" was born in 193o in Chicago, IL. He met my mom in high school but they actually dated other people at that time. He was a jock and she was a cheerleader. He played minor league baseball after high school but he got drafted to Korea at 19. He was shot in the war and became a paraplegic due to a spinal cord injury. After he came home from the war he and my mom got close and they fell in love and married. They were not able to have children so they adopted my brother and I. He is 5 years older then me. They moved to California and adopted me. He became involved in a National organization called P.V.A. and he was also on committees for the V.A. which helped with accessibility and funding for spinal cord injury research. He even attended a number of Presidential Inauguration's. He had a wonderful life albeit his disability. He was a proud man and always had a smile on his face. He and my mom traveled all over the U.S. He took my mom to Maui every summer and they were married 43 years when he died in '99. He made his mark on this world and it was his time to go. I came to peace with his death through my faith and knowing that God had a purpose in taking him when he did. He loved me like no one else and I miss him dearly. I love you Pops!

Until next time...

Big NSV

It's Saturday afternoon and I just got back from shopping at The Avenue to get some new bras. I haven't bought a new bra since losing my weight so It was definitely time. I didn't know what size I was anymore so I had the gal measure me. I am now a 46DD. My largest bra was a 50DD so I was way happy. They are all underwire which I haven't alwas liked but these fit right and the girls look good! When I looked in the mirror I thought to myself "So that's what perky boobs look like!"

I also bought a few cute tops and they were 22/24 and at my largest I was either a 26/28 or a 30/32 so that another NSV.

Well I need to get ready to go to the game... Hope you are having a good weekend! Until next time...

Wii Way to 5K

I had a great night last night. When I got home from work I hopped on the Wii and started poking around the games. Well I came across a running game in Aerobics and was just going to check it out. Well it looked fun so I went ahead and tried it and I actually jogged in place for a quarter mile and did it on and off for an entire mile. Moi? Even with all the bouncing? I was so happy I did it! Gives me hope that I could actually hit the pavement and do the C25K. Hmmm thoughts to ponder.

We have a fun weekend planned! Dave's birthday is tomorrow and we are going up to San Francisco to go to a Giants game. It is the 2nd day of the season and they will be awarding the Cy Young Award to the pitcher, Tim Lincecum. They are playing the Atlanta Braves and it should be super fun. We have really good seats too and they will be doing fireworks post game. Hopefully I can get some good pictures. We got a room about 5 miles from the park and we'll spend the night there. They do have a pool and gym so Dave wants to use them too.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend whatever you do! Until next time...

Tapestry Thursday

I had a bigger deficit then this because I forgot to put my bodybugg back on when I exercised. I have been taking it off as soon as I get home but I need to keep it on. I played with the Wii for about 20 mins. Oh my god it is so freakin fun! I didn't even do all that much but it felt great and I definitely was sweating. So far my favorites are Hula-Hoop and Kung Fu.

I heard you all loud and clear about the smoking. I was a little afraid to mention it but it was good to hear your feedback. I will review the programs in more detail and let you know which one I decide to follow.

I need to call 24hr Fitness today. The Fitness manager was supposed to call me back and it has been at least a week and I have not heard from her. I want to schedule the sessions I bought and will schedule them starting next week. I chose this particular location because it is smaller and I thought more personalized but apparently not. Until next time...