The One-Month Weigh-in

Yes, it's the moment you live for, each week.

Oh, the weather may be frightful, the work day spiteful. Friends may be a sight-ful, your in-laws be delightful.

And yet, the moment to which all thoughts bend.....that second in time of hope and renewal....

...it has arrived!

Time fer Ma to weigh in on ye olde scales.

This week's report? Three more pounds lost!

This brings the total weight loss over 4 weeks to.....14.5 pounds :-D

Yippy-ai-kai-yay!

I celebrated by adding another 1/2 portion of creamer to this morning's first cuppa joe.

Whoo-EE we are livin, now :-)

(we now resume our regular programming. Have a humdinger of a day)

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Icy Storm Pictures

The almost decorative look is due to freezing, partial melting and refreezing.

Forlorn sunflower, encased.

New perspective for the Crimson Maple

Even the ol' fence takes on new beauty

So, these are from Sunday's ice storm. Figured I better get them posted before tomorrow's snow.

Yep, we are under another Winter Storm Warning, though it's still unclear how much; could be up to four inches with strong winds to follow.

Snow overnight and then blowy conditions tomorrow.

I already postponed one trip to Cedar Rapids on Monday, due to lingering ice and heavy fog (and sickness in the kids). Now I hope the reschedule of Nolan's math assessment on Thursday will  not be problematic. He was completely bummed out (as in really upset, huffy, and claiming he wasn't sick...never mind the slick roads, fog, and Trevor's temperature).

Church on Sunday was cancelled, as well. Even if the weather had cooperated practically every remaining family had sickness.

Ah well.

Loren came down with a fever and aches yesterday, but has spent a good bit of time "sleeping it off" so there is some improvement. And Trevor appears to have rebounded fairly well since yesterday. I've keep their school (Nolan and Trevor) to a minimum, though perhaps still more than they would have liked :-)

Time to get a start on supper and then watch the early news for the weather. The boys obviously want lots of snow.

Me? I would be very happy for all the family to be well again.

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Weigh-in, Week Three

First of all, apologies (again!) for not posting more often. I must try to do better.

Weighed myself today and found I have lost another 2 pounds. That makes a total of 11.5 pounds lost over the three week period.

Considering the reduction in caloric intake--an average of 694 daily, over the past 7 days--I might have thought it would be more than 2 pounds. But at least we are headed int he right direction :-)

There have been times in the past where no weight loss was observed over a week so this is still gratifying.

In other news, I drove Nolan down to Cedar Rapids for his first of a two academic assessments (reading/writing, then math, next week). Yes, I did something similar a couple of years ago (different organization), but we didn't have funds to pay for the tutoring he needed.

Now, thanks to some monies from my mom's estate, we are able to follow through, though it does entail a repeat assessment.

I've finally acknowledged that I simply cannot do this myself.  Despite ideas that with "just a little more time," or "if I looked up some techniques on the Internet..." I've had a nagging suspicion that his struggles weren't something he would "grow out of." I knew this before, but now I can do something.

I'm looking forward to less fretting and a little relief (I hope) that we've tried to help him in this small way.

His Algebra 1/2 lessons are quite arduous, both for his work and the checking, followed by reworking the missed problems. ANY-way, I do hope that tutoring from another adult, someone outside the family who is a trained teacher, will be a huge help to him.

It will entail a lot of driving, however. But totally worth it if it works!

In church news we are going through a cataclysmic change. I'm hampered by the need for discretion (would that a few others felt this same need) but suffice it to say that it takes up much of Loren's time and much of our thoughts and prayers.

I probably said once, somewhere, that no one can hurt you like a child. That's still true. But sadly, fellow believers can also cause a lot of pain. It's amazing how much damage one or two people can inflict.

Better leave it at that.

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Weigh-in Dayo, Week 2

It's been seven days, two hours, twenty-nine minutes, and....oh, about sixteen seconds since last week's weigh-in....

*drum roll*

Lost 4 more pounds! That's a total  weight loss of  9.5 pounds over two weeks :-D

Wooty-woot fer Ma !

This past week I averaged 791 calories each day. I plan to stick with the strict methods for 2 more weeks and then reward myself with a few extra calories per day.

Enough stats.

Carolyn and I had an interesting time, Monday. After her checkup in Iowa City (which was fine) we came back north as far as Cedar Rapids and ate lunch at Panera Bread. Very crowded as it was prime noon traffic. And apparently everyone is used to sharing tables, for I heard several people saying, "Nice to have met you," as they prepared to leave.

Carolyn and I found a little table for two, quite close to another table for two, at which sat an older gentleman. Wasn't long before he made a bit of conversation, progressing to more and more talk between us.

Quite the CR resident.  Gene Baxter was his name and he told us his 100th birthday was approaching in just a few months! He's a regular customer (years, actually) and gave us some history for Panera Bread as well as Pizza Ranch. Also married 76 years and in the process of writing a book. We had a memorable lunch :-)

I've already mentioned (on Facebook) my great finds at Goodwill, so I won't bore anyone with the facts of labels and prices and how I got a Liz Clairborne sweater and several Christopher & Bank tops and also a com-PLETELY new Limited Tee with the price tag still attached. All for half price, meaning $2.00 for sweaters and $.75 for the tees.

No, I'll just gloss over that part.

Speaking of stimulants,  I did have to choose a new brand of coffee, being absent from my usual grocery environment.  Standing before the array of instant coffees I pondered my options. The expensive choices were not going to happen. Ditto for the one and two dollar selections (seriously, is that even coffee?).

As I stood befuddled and slightly over-caffeinated from five diet colas, my eyes came to rest at "Nescafé Clásico Suave Light Roast."

Hmmm. The question being, "Was I, indeed, suave?"

To which I replied, "If not me, then who?" and bought the jar.

And I must say, I do feel quite smooth.

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New Year, New Diet

Yes, as the swallows return to Capistrano each spring, so does the bulk of a middle-aged Ma shift heavily to losing pounds, each new year.

And the first week's results are in: down 5.5 pounds!

It was a tad more, but I like to err on the side of non-exaggerated results.

Not bad, considering the treadmill awaits fixage. Instead, I've been hitting the Total Gym, alternating feats of upper and lower body workouts, six days per week.

Also walking out on the gravel road every other day. Not my favorite mode of mindless exercise since one is dependent on the weather and it wears on the shoes.

Calorie-wise I have been shooting for 1000 or less. This week's average was 909 per day.

Yes, one does get hungry! But I gotta show me who's boss...for the moment, anyway.

One of my goals is to be all ship-shape before Kendra graduates in May.

In addition, I am keeping a meticulous daily journal of calories, exercise, stress levels, and whether or not my losing weight appears to directly affect the coming apocalypse.

Good times, people!

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