Working It Out: This Is My Final Weight Loss Journey

What a freaking day.

I hate to have issues with friends.  This one will work out or at least we will just decide that we can't be a part of each other's lives.  I'm o.k. with that and I'm o.k. with putting this aside and moving on.  I've placed the ball into her court.  That is all that I can do.  Enough said.

I did enjoy some breakfast tacos for breakfast this morning.  I also got dinner put into the crock-pot and got my mushrooms sliced and my Quinoa cooked for dinner tonight.  When I get home from Zumba all I will have to do is put on the finishing touches and steam some broccoli.  Yea!

This afternoon I pretty much watched for emails from my friend and nothing came.  I did sleep a little because I didn't get very much sleep last night.  I should have been cleaning up our bedroom and bath but I have put that off all week long.  Bad girl!  LOL!  Why do we hate cleaning so much?  Our homes are beautiful when we do it!

Mark was able to come home for lunch and I enjoyed that a lot.  We visited and enjoyed our sandwiches and watch a little bit of TV before he had to head back to the office.  The steak and wine sauce was about to drive us both nuts.  At least he got away from it!  LOL!  I was stuck here smelling the stuff all day!  I couldn't wait till dinner.

The rest of the afternoon I just watched TV, took my shower and fed the cats and went and picked up Tamala and headed for Zumba.  Boy was I uncomfortable.  I guess if these issues don't get resolved I'll have to find another class.  Sad.  I did try and move more by doing the feet movement instead of marching in place.  I got a pretty good workout.  There were some numbers that had such fast movements that I couldn't do it and I had to march in place.  Anyway it was fun.

When I got home I put the finishing touches to dinner and here is a picture of Steak with Merlot and Mushrooms:



Does this look good or what.  The steak was so tender it just melt in your mouth.  The mushrooms and sauce were perfect.  I served it over Quinoa and we had perfectly steamed broccoli.  It was heaven!  LOL!

I had recorded American Idol while I was away at Zumba.  We watched it as we enjoyed our dinner.  I fell asleep shortly after eating.  I guess my tummy was full and I was content.  LOL!  Well, it is time to hit the hay.  I haven't been in the best of moods today and tomorrow I need to let this situation go and get on with life.  It is taking up too much of my time and energy.  It will either all work out or it will not.

I have so much to do tomorrow, store, mailing my Valentines, cooking dinner and making some Weight Watcher cookies.  Yes I am making some and I will post pictures and I will post the recipe.  How does Chocolate Chip Peanut cookies sound?  Pretty good to me.  I'm also making Hush-puppy muffins to go with our tortilla crusted fish tomorrow night.

Stay tuned...more yummies coming your way.

Got up this morning and knew that it was going to be a busy day.  What I didn't know that it was going to end up being a emotional day.  I hate those.

I got Mark off to work and I finished up the blog and got it posted and I uploaded pictures so that I could attach them to the blog.  That takes forever!  It is such a process to get it load up here.  It use to be really easy but my host company got rid of the company that they worked with to make it easy.  Now you are all on your own in figuring out how to get them edited and uploaded to your files to get up to the site.  If I keep cooking like I am doing I will get this figured out and it will be easy again.  LOL!

I fixed some breakfast and ate before I got on my Zumba clothes and headed out for Zumba.  It was a class of about 30 people and it was so nice not being piled up on each other like my evening classes are.  We have over 130 in my evening classes in the same amount of space!  I actually did some of the feet and hand moments together again.  Yea Me!  It is a little less high impact so that was better for my aching feet. 

After Zumba I rushed home and changed clothes and dried my soaked hair and ran to JoAnne's Fabric to get a backing for my cross-stitch project that I need to get to the finisher on Friday.  I also wanted to go next door to The 99 Cent store and get some Valentine's.  I was shocked to find out that they had closed down.  I got in the truck and decided to take back roads over to another store that  I knew where it was.  I got lost.  I ended up in ten buck two!  I kid you not.  I ended up doing a u-turn in the middle of the highway and found my way back to Houston.  I made it to the store and got my Valentines.  I was starving by the time I got home.  I fixed some lunch and of course I fell asleep.

With everything going on during the day I really was having second thoughts about training with Thayleigh.  I just don't have good feelings about it.  I wrote her a long email telling her of my fears and my limitations and that I felt that we should wait till I get some of my weight off before we start training.  I got an attack email back.  She was upset that I talked about my limitations and not my health issues.  You know what, I have learned to live with my medical issues.  They are no big deal to me.  I just deal with it.  All my friends know that I'm a fighter and that I will just deal with any and all issues that my weight throws my way.  I wrote her back and talked to her about my health and how I trust my Dr.'s and that I was just use to what it threw my way.  I told her that I realized that everyday was a gift because with my weight there is no guarantee at my present weight.

We exchanged some emails that were pretty tense but the thing that drew the line for me is her asking me if I went to church.  I don't right now because of the aftermath of the cult.  I'm working on it and starting to entertain going back to church.  She ended up telling me that I didn't know God if I was in a cult.  What?!!!!!  I must have read that sentence several times.  I shot her off another email about when I know for a fact that I came to know Christ as my personal Savior.  I told her it is people who really love God and is wanting more of Him that get involved in a cult.  It for sure not knowing him.  OMG!  Don't talk to me about cults unless you have been there.  Please!  Can you tell I'm upset?  My last email was really late last night.  I stayed up till 2:00 a.m. stewing.  I did my food records that she wanted and I emailed it to her.  I don't know what is going to happen.

Anyway, I made the Oven Fried Chicken for dinner and it was fantastic.  The seasonings in this recipe reminds me a little bit of eating KFC.  I will make this again.  Here is a picture of it:



I will get it posted along with the other that I have promised.  I'll do just as soon as my schedule allows me to.  I want you all to have access to them if you want to try them.

I guess I better close this day before I go off telling you about my day today.  I'll have to save it to write in the morning.  I'll get back on schedule.  I promise!

Got up this morning and got Mark off to work and got on the computer to do some things that needed to be done.

I forgot to mention yesterday that on Monday Thayleigh my Zumba instructor talked about her training me.  She pulled me aside to tell me her concerns about training me with me doing WW and my health issues.  I understand that but it still hurt like crazy.  I've been waiting  since November to start training with her.  I let the gym go and JD go in order to train with her because it would save me a lot of money.  I was sick.  I had to fight tears hard!  We talked more about it and she finally agreed that she would give it a go if I would get my Dr.'s to approve her plan for me.  I know that they will.  I have heard from other people in my Zumba class that she is hard on you.  I feel like that is what I need.  So she went to lead the Zumba class and I left with my friend Melinda to go and get a drink.  I finally had my crying spell talking to Melinda and in talking I could see what Thayleigh was saying and her concerns so when I went back to get Tamala I spoke with Thayleigh again and told her that I understood what she was saying and that maybe this wasn't our season to train.  She actually had changed her mind and she left it up to me.  I told her that I wanted to train.  Later Monday night she sent me my first instructions on a food journal and how this all was going to work.  I went to bed feeling better about the whole thing.

Back to today.  After getting Mark off and talking to Mike for a bit I needed to hit the store.  It was after 9:30 by the time I left the house.  I had to drop off a prescription at Walgreen's and then headed to the store.  I was there what seemed to be forever for such a small list.  The store was out of a few things on my list.  Griped me!  I got everything loaded up in the truck and picked up the prescription and headed home.  Unloaded the truck and got it al put up and it was 1:00 and I hadn't had any breakfast.  Not a good thing.  I sat down to get off my aching feet for a bit and have a diet Coke and then I fixed me some lunch.  It was about 2:00 when I finished.  I started working on the blog and the next thing I knew the phone was ringing and it was near 5:00.  OMG!  I sure didn't have time to sleep like that today.  I guess the Remicade pre-drugs are still wreaking havoc with my body.

I fed the boys and finished writing the blog and uploaded pictures, re-sized them and watermarked them and got them into the blog and got it published.  Sorry it was so late! I then got busy in the kitchen making Jambalaya and I was growling because I really wasn't in the mood to cook.  It is kinda involved but i'm telling you it was so delicious.  Here is a picture of it:



I'm sorry that the picture is the left overs.  I almost forgot to take a picture!  LOL!  It was about 8:45 when we finally sat down to eat.  I was starving.  Mark and I ate all four servings!  LOL!  It was so worth the points and I had the points to cover it but Mark I am sure did not.  He didn't eat the lunch that I fixed, instead the Body Shop Manager brought in pizza for the whole shop.  He was bad.  That's o.k.  he is responsible for his own self.

This afternoon I did a bad thing.  I decided to weigh.  OMG  I weighed 373 lbs.  That is almost 10 lbs from Saturday which I think that gain was fluid.  That damn Remicade just sucks!  I sure hope that my fluid pills will get all this fluid off of me by Saturday morning.  I just want to cry!  I'm working so hard, trying so hard and I feel like I'm getting slapped around for doing so.  I keep telling myself that I'm working the program.  I weighing and measuring everything.  I write down every morsel that I put in my mouth and when I'm cooking these recipes at night I'm trusting the recipe and not tasting it until I eat it.  I know the recipes have gone through a test kitchen so I need to trust them.  So no BLTs are going on in this house!

We recorded The Biggest Loser and then watched it at 9:00.  I ended up falling asleep during the Last Chance workout and woke up for a few minutes for the Final Weigh-in and then I crashed again and saw the ending of who was voted off.  Pathetic!

It is time to go to bed.  Busy day tomorrow.  Zumba in the morning, a run to the fabric store and to the Dollar store.  I need to finish cleaning the master bedroom and start working on both bathrooms.  Thursday I start at the front of the house again and start the process all over again.  I am proud of myself.  I clean house feels good.  A dirty one...not so good.

Here is to a good tomorrow!  Take care and be strong!  I will get the recipe posted sometime tomorrow.  I promise!

We woke up early Sunday morning because the cats were going nuts wanting to be fed.  We got up and had some coffee and fixed some cereal for breakfast and finally got back to our housecleaning chores.  I also made Mark's egg muffin's for the week and I chopped fresh jalapenos and red onion for the chili.  Everything was cooked and ready to go.  I cleaned the kitchen up and I wiped down all the cabinets and went over all the granite with cleaner the finished my dusting duties.  We did stop in the middle of all of our cleaning to eat a sandwich, no chips or anything, we didn't want to be starving trying to manage our points eating chili, tamales, chips, queso and bean dip.

Meredith and Shannon got here just after 4:00 and we snacked on chips and dips and talked then went into the media room for the game.  We talked some during the game but we all loved the commercials and enjoyed Madonna's half-time performance.  She didn't move like she use to but I do love her voice and some of her music.  Just after half-time we ran to the kitchen to fix our plates and then ate in the media room.  After the game we had pie and Meredith and Shannon stayed and watched part of "The Voice".  Mark and I stayed up and finished watching The Voice and then we hit they hay.  Here is a picture of us eating during the Superbowl.

Here is a picture of Shannon's baby bump



Got up at our usual time on Monday morning and I rushed to get Mark's lunch made and then I got myself dressed and grabbed some breakfast and headed out for my Remicade treatment.  You know what one of the biggest pet peeves that I have?  Being on time to see a Dr. and being like the third patient of the day and having to wait nearly an hour to see her.  What is with this?  ARG!!!!!

I made it to the infusion suite and one girl tried starting my IV and I swear she didn't know what she was doing she was moving the thing all around and finally asked the other nurse if she thought she was in the vein.  My arm was already turning blue.  Do I need to say more.  She (the other nurse) started an IV in my other arm and drew blood through it and when she was through she accidentally pulled it out and had to start a 3rd one.  Lucky that I'm not squeamish with needles.  The last one she got was right up again the vein wall and the IV machine beeped the entire 4 hours.  I was so flipping glad to get out of there!

I came home and was going to write the blog and I fell asleep.  I woke up in time to get to Zumba for the announcement for the Zumba contest winters.  My team was dead last but here is the funny thing.  We got a prize!  10 free Zumba classes!  My team captain was totally embarrassed and I was going "Yeah,  I can deal with that!"

After Zumba I came home and we had dinner and I was going to try and write the blog and I fell asleep.  So here it is Tuesday afternoon writing Sunday and Monday's blog.  Can you imagine how interesting today has been?  I promise it will be worth reading!

Here is the menu for the week:

Monday - Turkey Loin in the crock-pot with red potatoes and green beans - it was yummy and it wasn't a recipe.
Tuesday - Jambalaya - WW Best Darn Food Ever - page 71 (I'm hungry)
Wednesday - Oven Fried Chicken - WW Best Darn Food Ever - page 21 serving mash red potatoes and corn on the cob
Thursday - Steak with Merlot and Mushrooms - WW Slow Cook It page 38 serving quinoa and broccoli
Friday - Costco Tortilla Crusted Fish with Hush-puppy muffins - WW Best Darn Food Ever page 33 with Alexia Sweet Potato Fries.
Saturday - Having dinner guests...something Italian
Sunday - NY Strip Steaks with potatoes and mixed veggies.

Yummy cooking going on this week.  Stay tuned!

Got up and got my hair done and got dress and was ready to leave for the meeting and the sky opened up and started raining cats and dogs.  OMG!  The street went right underwater.  I put on my hoodie and Mark ran out to the car and pulled it back so that I wouldn't have to run around his truck to get in.  Luckily for me the rain calmed down a little bit and I made a dash to the car and we headed for the rain.  It did start raining hard again.

I was sorely disappointed with my weigh-in.  I wanted to cry.  but I was up...

2.4 lbs

I went and sat down in my seat and I fought back the tears.  How could I go up that much and have a week where on some days I didn't even reach my target points (by 2-3 points only except for one day I missed it by 16) and I didn't use 15 of my weekly Flex points.  We are not eating out so I can't figure this one out.  Mark came and sat down and he was up .6.  He felt like he lost weight.  Mike came over and looked over Mark's card and asked him how he did and then he asked me and I told him that I was up 2.4.  He just looked at me and shrugged and said "Let it go"  I mumbled "I quit, I'm sick of this crap, I'm going to go and eat what the hell I want to eat"  It is a wonder that Mike didn't take my head off my shoulders or jerk me out of my chair and take me outside and beat the shit out of me.  Later when we talked and I apologized for mouthing in the meeting room, he told me he tought about taking me outside and beating the shit out of me but he decided that he was too tired.  Lucky me!

The meeting was good and during it I was able to do some self talk and calm myself down.  I didn't do anything wrong so I just need to keep on keeping on and see what happens next week.

After the meeting we went to Jack In The Box for a Breakfast Jack (7 pts) and then to Costco as we need some things for the next 2 weeks.  Luckily the rain broke for us to get inside Costco and when we came out.  Once we got back to our house the sun was trying to peak through.

Mark and I worked on the house and I cooked all afternoon.  Mark made us a sandwich and chips for lunch and we took an hour nap.  When we got up I finished up my cookie and Mark did some more cleaning.  We then decided to stop for the day and leave the rest for tomorrow.  We enjoyed the rest of the evening enjoying our pizza dinner and watching TV and I got some cross-stitching in.

Tomorrow I need to make Mark's breakfast muffins and get the kitchen cleaned, dust the living the room and entry and media room.  Mark is going to finish the floors and clean the bathroom and put up some our Christmas ornament boxes in the Guest room and get it cleaned.  Next week I will tackle our bedroom and bath and see what I can do on the office yet I also know that I need to do general cleaning on all that we have done in the last few days.  I know that I will figure out a time schedule for all of this.

Well, it is time to hit the hay so that I can get up early and get going again.

Stay strong...don't be discouraged...I'm trying really hard not to be!

I had a pretty good day today.  I did my usual morning routine but I did take the time to make me some breakfast tacos using Ore-Ida hash browns, egg beaters, bacon bits, FF cheese and some good salsa.  They were yummy!  And Filling!  Kept me quite happy till lunch time.

I got the entire dining room cleaned and vacuumed and I was sweating like a pig.  I took a break to cool off and rest my feet as they were starting to hurt.  I watched a couple of shows on Food Network and I also had my lunch.  I had a turkey sandwich with cheese, lettuce, onion and tomato and some Cape Cod Chips and some pickles.  I needed to pay some bills so I went into the office and started figuring out all that needed to be paid.

We took some money from our retirement to pay some of our debt off and I needed to see what was next in line and to line out our budget for the month.  We were going to go to Costco when Mark got off work so I needed to see how much I could pay this month and see how much money we were going to have left over.  It was a hard decision because Mark hasn't gotten his commission check and doesn't now how much it will be.  Several phone calls back and forth with Mark we decided to hold our last one to pay off for next month.  I spent about 2 1/2 hours on this little project but it is done and we will be o.k. this month.  His commissions will start to climb starting next month.  YEA!

I cleaned up the kitchen and it started raining cats and dogs.  By the time Mark got off of work we decided that we would chance going to Costco after Weight Watchers in the morning.  When he got home I got the Double Mushroom - Smothered Pork Chop recipe posted.  Check it out!  It was good!  Then I fixed dinner and I fixed the Greek Chicken with Peppers and Pasta and OMG!!!! was it ever good!!!!  I could eat it every single day, it was that good.  We then just watched some TV and I played around on the computer.  I almost forgot I did fix a Manhattan and sipped on it as a treat since I had the points.

It is time to get to bed.  I have to do the 4:30 in the morning hair thing.  Drag!  Tomorrow will be a busy day as we have our meeting, need to get to Costco and finish getting the house clean.  Luckily my sweetie will help me.  I just hope even with his help that I don't ruin my feet and can't enjoy our guests on Sunday.

Here is a picture of the Greek Chicken!  I promise to get the recipe posted tomorrow just in case you want to make it!

Got up this morning and got out the Slow Cook It cookbook and scoured for something to put in the crock-pot for tonight's supper.  The recipe is called Double Mushroom - Smothered Pork Chops.  I got my grocery list together and headed to the grocery store in hopes that  I could get the few things that I needed and to get out of there before the rain started.  Wrong!  I got what I needed on my list and checked out only to find that it was pouring cats and dogs outside.  Dang!

I waited with another lady who had a loaded down cart.  We just laughed together.  Luckily I had my umbrella with me so after a bit I decided to just try my luck.  Luckily it had turned to a light drizzle when I hit the parking lot.  This store has a huge covered area where they sale outdoor furniture and stuff.  I lucked out!  By the time I got home it had stopped all together and I was able to unload the truck and get in the house and got the recipe ready for the crock-pot.  I was a little concerned that there wasn't much juice there but I know that fresh mushrooms and carrots will put off their own juice and boy I can tell you by  mid-afternoon the house was smelling so good I could have taken a fork and spoon to that crock-pot!

We were running out of lunch meat so I picked up a store-brand pannini and it was really good and only 6 pts.  I had my chips and pickles with it and I enjoyed it because I was starved because I left out of here in such a hurry that I didn't eat breakfast!  I know that was bad and boy did I suffer today for it.  I did buy some of those Weight Watcher ice cream bars that are like the Snickers ice cream bars and I did splurge for 2 of them so that helped my points.  I really did miss Mark today not coming home for lunch.  He all of a sudden got real busy at work which is a good thing but I missed my time with him.

In the middle of the afternoon I got the worse stomach cramps.  Oh did I ever get sick but it passed pretty quickly.  I was worried that I would have to miss Zumba but I went anyway.  I got there early and was talking to my friends and then class started and the first number I knew that I couldn't do it.  My entire gut hurt and I couldn't stand swinging my hips around.  I ended up sitting through the class and just watching.  Thayleigh the instructor really worked those ladies butts off!  Let me tell you!  I was kind glad that I couldn't do it.  Our class is getting huge.  I bet there were over 100 women there!

When I got home Mark had the rice cooked and fresh corn on the cob cooked.  He was waiting for me.  I changed my clothes and we served our plates and doesn't this look yummy!

We ate and Mark fell asleep watching TV  I played around on the computer for about an hour and now the sleepy's are hitting me!  I really do need to get a lot of cleaning accomplished tomorrow.  I don't want to work myself to death Saturday and Sunday getting the house ready for Meredith and Shannon.  I want to have a busy yet leisurely weekend.  It is suppose to rain all weekend so I will be able to put Mark to work.  He is great at doing the floor and vacuuming the furniture to get the boys hair off of everything.  Cats!  You love them but I hate the hair!  Oh well, they are my babies so I have learned to deal with it.

Here is to a great tomorrow!  The day before weigh-in.  I want to lose so badly!  I hope the scale is moving back so that I can have a good loss this week!

Be good!  Till tomorrow...

Double Nickel Day!  LOL!

Can you all believe that it is already February 1?  Time is flying for 2012.  I didn't reach my weight loss of 10 lbs in January but I have an extra two months to cover me for this.  I really do want to lose 100 lbs by January 1, 2013.  Eleven months to go and down 6.8 lbs.  How do I feel about my weight loss this week?  I've be good and I've stayed on program.  I've had a few days that I didn't eat all my points but that was only by 2-3.  One night I was way off and that was when I had the Snickers.  Tonight...I was 16 points from reach my daily target.  Luckily Mike called last night and he told me to have a cocktail which I probably would have but I felt like it was too late so he told me to just let them go and to make sure that I hit my target tomorrow.  I still have 15 of my weekly points to use if I need to.  I will probably let them go as well.  So...why did my flipping scale tell me that I weighed 368.4 lbs today.  Do you think that it has blown my mind?  Do you think that it totally worries me about Saturday?  This flipping fluid retention is enough to drive anyone crazy!  So...for me to have a weight loss this week I best be sloughing off about 6-7 lbs of fluid off between now and Saturday.  I'm bummed.

I did my usual thing this morning and got Mark off to work.  This morning I made scrambled egg beaters with bacon bits and put it into 2 Mission Carb Balance Small Size Flour Tortillas with a ounce of fat-free cheese and some salsa.  I know the fat-free cheese is not so good but I'll eat it with things that have salsa to it because it helps it melt in the microwave.  I hadn't had tht in a long time. 

I needed to go to the vet today to get the boys some cat food and we were out of cheese for our sandwiches and pickles.  I also needed some light bulbs and the exterminator was coming.  I also needed to start cleaning the house and I needed to figure out the rest of the menu for the week.  I'm stumped for tomorrow night and Friday night.is going to be the Pasta dish that I didn't make on Tuesday.  Saturday night will be pizza and Sunday for the Super Bowl I'm making the Chili Con Queso that is on the site and Shannon is making a Pinto Cheese Dip which I will post.  I'm making Chili and going to buy a dozen of tamales.  Meredith is bringing beer and I'm not sure what we will drink.  Depends on how many points I want to use. 

The exterminator came early which I was happy about and as soon as he was finished I jumped in the truck and went to the Vet and to the grocery store.  I got home and put my feet up and then Mark came home for lunch and we had lunch together.  After he left I went to see what bills were due and I worked on the budget for a while.  We are still upside down in order to live within his monthly draw but not enough that the commission will not cover.  I want so badly to live within the draw.  I did call 24-Hour Fitness today and talked to Russel the Manager and he stopped our membership and is going to refund me my remaining personal training times with JD.  I will miss him.  I do miss him but financially we can't afford the gym anymore.  Thank God that Thayleigh one of my Zumba instructors is a personal trainer and she is going to start training me next week.  I will train with her for 3 months for about $200.  We can handle that.  After that she will be available for me to pay on a as needed basis when I need to change things for progress further.  That will be a good thing.

I cleaned up the kitchen and washed some pots and pans and started getting dinner prepped.  We had the Chicken, Broccoli and Peppers in Black Bean Sauce for dinner.  Here is a picture of it:



I will get the recipe posted sometime tomorrow.  I hope you will try it.  It was really good.  I will say this that it had no spice to it.  The black bean sauce gave it a great flavor but we like spicy Chinese food.  I think the next time I make it I will had some red pepper flakes to the recipe to give it the kick that we both like.

We watched American Idol and then we both were suppose to do some things to the house and we both crashed in our chairs.  The news is on now and I'm still tired and I think that I will hit the hay.  Today was a good day.  I just hope that I can figure out what to put in the  crockpot tomorrow because it is Zumba!

Till then...

I just don't know what to say about today.

I got up and did the usual and left in the pouring rain to go and see Anna.  It wasn't the session  I expected.  She told me something that Mike said to someone about me and it got back to her.  I can't go any further than that.  I will say that this was a huge problem involving some very important people.  I was devastated to hear that my friend would say something un-true about me.  We discussed everything while I was with Anna and I felt o.k. but angry by the time my session was through.

I was able to go by my other Dr.'s office and take care of my balance and pick up a copy of my statement for 2011 for our income taxes.  I know that we are going to have enough to take medical off our taxes this year.  I need to start working to get this all together so that we will know how much we are going to owe.

I wanted to binge on the way home because all of what is going on and the emotions that it is causing me but I was strong and kept telling myself that it wasn't worth it and that I was the loser in the end.  I kept telling myself that the situation wasn't worth it.  It worked and I am so happy that I made it home and ate some fruit and had a normal lunch and dinner.

I talked pretty much on the phone all afternoon talking to two of my close friends and wishing the whole time that Karen was here and I was talking to her and we were having lunch over it all but I am thankful that I still have friends that I feel close enough to that I can talk to about this that are going on.

I ended up not cooking dinner per se.  I ended up thawing some BBQ pork from the freezer and Mark picked up plain baked potatoes from a BBQ place close buy and we stuffed our own potatoes.  We watched the Biggest Loser and I talked to Mike for a bit.  Not real sure how I feel about all that he had to say to me.  I think he knows that our friendship is on the line but I'm happy that we weren't yelling and fighting but talking.  That was unusual for us because we can fight just like a brother and sister can fight.  Nastily!

I was exhausted by the time The Biggest Loser was over.  I fell asleep sometime after 9:00 and woke up at 10:00 when the news came on.  I'm really exhausted and I hope that tomorrow is a better day.  I have a lot to get done.  Exterminator is coming, need to go to the vet to get cat food and I need to start deep cleaning this house.  Meredith and Shannon are coming on Sunday for the Superbowl.  I'm making chili, WW Chili Con Queso (on the site), and Shannon is making a Pinto Cheese Dip from Cooking Light that I will post probably next week.  We should all have a good time snacking a bit and watching the game.

Well it is nighty-night time!  See you tomorrow!  Stay strong!

I woke up this morning feeling like my feet could handled going to the store.  So I had my coffee and got Mark out the door and I figured out what I needed and made a list and went to the store.  I got a ideal parking space today to park my new truck.  Between 2 other new cars.  I didn't have to worry about them throwing their doors into the side of the truck!  LOL!  I am so careful not to touch another car and I just don't get some people who just throw open the door and don't care that they ding a door.  I've even been sitting in the car waiting for Mark and have had people do it.  Sad...so sad.  Anyway the crowd at the store was perfect and I have declared that 8:00 in the morning is the perfect time to shop.  You actually get to look without being in anyone's way!  LOL!

I got home and got everything unloaded and fixed some breakfast and settled in on the computer for a bit and rest my feet.  I talked to my friend Bobbie and we got all caught up with each other and then I called Mark to see if he could come home and have lunch with me. He said that he thought that he could and he ultimately did.  I sure do enjoy seeing him in the middle of the day and it makes lunch more enjoyable.  When he left I unloaded and re-loaded the dishwasher and I washed up some pans.  I then decided to watch Dr. Oz when I did my usual thing and I fell asleep.  I was tired.

I had every intention to go to Zumba tonight and that is the main reason why I stayed off my feet.  Well, I woke up at 10 minutes before 6:00 and I immediately called Tammila and she was in Walgreen's and had totally forgotten that it was Monday and Zumba.  We just died laughing.  We both decided not to break our neck to get to class and just plan on getting there on Thursday with the promise that we would call each other during the day and remind each other. 

Mark was surprised to get home and find me at home.  I started the oven for our Stouffer's stuffed bell peppers and he ran to the store to get the tags for his truck.  When he got home we finished up dinner, ate and watched TV.  I had missed most of The Bachelor but I had recorded it so once it was over I watched it and now it is time to get to bed.

Going to bed tonight thinking about Karen on her way to Norway.  She did text me once she boarded the plan and we texted our final goodbye.  I don't know about her but the tears came back again.  I going to miss that girl.  Tomorrow will be so strange going to see Anna and not staying up in the Woodlands to spend the day and have lunch with Karen.  Bummer!

Till tomorrow...

I woke up this morning and didn't want coffee.  I was so thirsty I had Mark bring me a Diet Coke instead.  He thought I was crazy but I needed something ice cold.  I was also very sad because I knew this afternoon I would give Karen my final good-bye.

We got up and had coffee and we watched some TV while I messed around on the computer.  We fixed our own breakfast this morning and I had Kashi oatmeal with fresh blueberries in it and a banana.  It was good and hit the spot.  I then got the shower and started getting dressed to go meet Karen at her church.  We knew that we were going to have to leave early because Mark has this thing about breaking in a new car.  You can't drive the thing over 55 mph and you MUST vary the speed.  My thoughts?  Bullshit!  I don't gun the thing but I drive the speed limit period.  I'm not going to get killed on the freeway doing 55 and varying my speed below that.  NOT!  He wants this done till the car has 500 miles on it.  Hope he doesn't read the blog today!  LOL! 

We got to her church and the people there were so friendly.  Many members were coming up to us and introducing themselves and thanked us for coming.  I usually hate that part about visiting a church but today I really felt the people were genuine.  They wanted to know all about us!  LOL!  It is a very small church and I sure can see why Karen and Steve love it so much.  After church they gave them a going away dinner.  It was sweet and you will never believe that I did great!!!!!  I was worried about it but I had about 3 ounces of a smoked turkey breast, less than a half a cup of mashed potatoes (plain) and the big compartment of my plate I filled with salad and drizzled a very little amount of Italian dressing over it.  I knew that it would be low point and it would last me till I could get home and have a sandwich in which I did.  Anyway I met so many of Karen's friends and the church really did seem sad to see them go..  The other real cool thing was their Pastor used a iPad to preach from!  Cracked me up sitting there with the bible on my Kindle Fire.

After the dinner Mark rode to their house with Steve and Karen went with me.  When we got in the truck, Karen immediately said, "Let's go get something to drink"  I reminded her that she had a lot to do and she said that she didn't care that she wanted us to go and get something to drink because she was thirsty.  We went to Sonic.  After ordering our drink.  I told her what her friendship meant to me and I told her that I wished that I had the money to buy her something really great to show her how much her friendship meant to me.  I told her that I decided to give her something that meant a lot to me.  I reached up for my Pandora necklace and she started crying saying "Oh No!"  I told her that I was going to give her my "forget-me-knot" charm and that she knew what that charm meant to me.  It was the first Pandora charm that I bought because I wanted it to remind me not to binge anymore.  That charm was the turning point of me getting my act back together.  I took it off crying and I told her that I would buy me another one but I wanted her to have mine.  We both just sat there and cried.  She took off the Pandora bracelet I bought her and put it on hers.  Another girl at her church gave her 3 other manufacturer charms to put on her bracelet.  They were beautiful and so Karen.  Karen's bracelet now has 5 charms on it and it looks beautiful.  I told her to never forget me and then we both died laughing at my comment.  Like we could never forget each other.  We are too close.  We then drove back to her house because they did have so many last things to do including packing.  When we got there I had Mark take a picture of us with my cell phone.  Here it is:

It isn't the best picture but at least I got one!  I really hate ya'll seeing how much weight I've put back on.  SAD!  We didn't cry anymore and I hugged Steve and wished him will on his new project and told him that I was asking God to bring them back in 2 years and not 3!  He laughed and reminded me that God was in control and they would be back on His timing.  Booger!  Hear me Lord...Bring my friend back quick!

I cried once we drove off and told Mark how much it all just SUCKED!  I was pretty quiet on the the way home and once we got home I fixed a sandwich because I was hungry again and then I took a nap.

When I woke up I fixed Mark his breakfast muffins and then I fixed dinner.  We grilled NY Strip steaks out on the grill and I made mashed potatoes with enough for left-overs for tomorrow night and fresh corn on the cob.  It was delicious!

Here is the menu for part of the week:

Monday - Stouffer's Stuffed Bell Peppers, mashed potatoes and corn on the cob
Tuesday - Chicken and Broccoli with Black Bean Sauce from WW's Fresh, Fabulous Fast Cookbook (Meals under 30 minutes) with rice.  15 minute recipe! Page 129
Wednesday Greek Chicken with Peppers and Pasta from the same cookbook and it is a 15 minute recipe.  Page 132

I need a crock-pot recipe for Thursday and another recipe for Friday.  I can't decide yet.  Saturday will be pizza night and Sunday will be steak night.  So stayed tuned to what I decide for Thursday and Friday.  Again I will post these recipes to the site if they are worth eating!  They sound good but we'll see.

We watched TV the rest of the evening and I tried and finally figured out how to get Karen's picture from my phone to the computer so that I could post it.  Mark actually has already gone to bed and now that I'm done I'm headed to the same place.

Here is to another fantastic week!  Stay strong and be good!  We can win this battle!  I'm still so pumped over 6.8 lbs!!!!  I can't wait to see what this week brings!

Love you all!  Till later...

I woke up this morning just before the alarm.  Dang!  I got up (didn't want to) and got in the shower and got my hair washed and I got back in bed and needed coffee.  I watched about 30 minutes of TV and then I got up and got my hair dried and flat ironed and got ready to leave for the meeting.  I was excited this morning because I truly felt like I had done very well this week and I felt like I had lost weight.  Believe it or not we got out of the house in record time.

A funny thing happened at my weigh-in this morning.  Bonnie weighed me in and as I was weighing I told her "I think that this week Mike will get my card" and she nodded and said that he would.  I asked her how much I lost and what I heard was 3.8 lbs and the she mumbled something else and I didn't understand what she said and then she asked for the liquid paper and she starts erasing my book and mumbled something else about an error.  I asked her what I lost again and she said...

6.8 lbs

I could have danced!  I was so happy!  There IS something to eating at home.  I do have to admit that I have felt better and I'm really getting into cooking once again.  The meeting was really good and Mike was in top form.  The class responded well and we all had a lot of fun while learning more about Power Foods and how to get more out of our point allotment by using more of them.  He challenged us to eat all Power Foods this week.  He said that he had done it and it isn't that hard but I don't want to make that commitment but I will commitment to eating more of them.  We'll see what happens to the weight loss this week.

After the meeting, we decided to use a Christmas gift and go to Cracker Barrel.  Mark's sister gave it to him.  Since we hadn't eaten out in such a long time it sure was a treat and we both knew that we could count our points.  We really did enjoy ourselves which was different because when we use to go it was the norm for us.  It was different this time and we had a great time talking and planning our day and enjoying our poached eggs, turkey sausage, hash brown casserole, grits and biscuits.  It is a high point breakfast but we did start over today with our 49 Flex Points.  So all was good.

We headed home and Mark needed to get the oil changed in the Endeavor.  We talked about seeing if the dealership had gotten anymore Outlanders in and if so, see if we couldn't get into a cheaper car than what my Outlander Sport was costing us.  Mark has known that I hate the color of my little SUV but I've lived with it.  He knows that I want a black SUV so we looked at all the black ones.  We went in and talked to the General Manager and the Sales person who helped us on the last one.  They got the car ready for us to go and drive.  This SUV has a little bit bigger engine and it is a little bigger but it didn't have all the bells and whistles that mine had on it.  That is what would drive the payment down.  My little SUV is loaded with everything it could have on it without the panorama roof.  We went for a test drive and it really did handled like my little SUV and the only thing that I noticed different was the lack of the equipment and it was longer and I didn't have to put my foot into it to make it get up and go.  It was very quiet and smooth.  A very different drive than the little Sport.  We went in to see what kind of deal that they could make on it.  While they were doing that I decided that maybe I really didn't want a black car.  They had a real pretty very dark gray color that was parked next to the black one that kept catching my eye.  I went out and looked at them parked side by side and I really liked the gray one a little better which shocked me.  Mark also had them work up a deal on a 2011 Outlander Sport that was just like mine but black.  Dumb.  Well the black Outlander Sport came back more expensive cause it had a couple more options on it and I told him that he was crazy to get in another car just like what we were driving for the sake of the color.  I guess I really bitched too much about the icky green.  Then the General Manager came back with the price on the Outlander and was shockinly cheaper than the Outland Sport even in a 2012.  I would have to give up a lot but because of our finances it would be worth it to save $50 a month and drive a newer car.  Then the decision came on the black or the gray.  We all went back out to the parking lot and our salesman George told me that the cars were washed on Tuesday and pointed out the dust on the black one as opposed to the gray car.  That sold me on the gray especially because my car sits in the driveway all the time.  The deal on the gray car was actually a whopping $2 less than the black.  LOL!  We then spent the next several hours in the finance office and going home to clean out my little Sport and then going back to get the new truck.

We had not had any lunch and tonight was pizza night.  We knew that I wanted to cross-stitch and get off my feet because my right foot was hurting me really bad.  We headed to Wendy's on the way home for a 99 cent hamburger and a 99 cent french fry and a diet coke.  I still had the points for it and for the pizza and Fiber One Brownie.  That still left me with 22 Flex points for the week.  We broke the car in by eating in it.  LOL!  We came home and fed the cats and I got off my feet and wrote Friday's blog.  I then caught up on emails and the WW boards and we watched Wipe-Out and we decided we were ready for the pizza and we then watched Dirty Dancing while I cross-stitched.  We also had the brownie.  After the movie I wanted to go and drive the new truck again because one of the things that I gave up was those really bright new type of headlights.  I wanted to make sure that I could drive the thing at night since I have bad night blindness.  The new truck also had fog lamps on it and it was a good thing because they added just enough light that I could see almost as well as I did in my old little truck.  We stopped at McDonald's and had a small ice cream cone and figured out how to get the iPod to play and we headed home.  We both are really tired and we are ready for bed. 

In the morning I'm going to meet Karen at her church and go to their covered dish dinner that is going to be given in their honor, so I will get to see my good friend, one more time.  I'm also feeling very down about my eating today.  I know I had the points.  I know that I will be o.k. at least I hope so.  The points say that I will be.  I'm worried about the covered dish dinner.  They can be outrageous.  My saving grace I think is going to be the fact that Karen has a friend who is a dietician and I may see if I can get her to help me go through the line and make good choices or tell her to go and fix me a plate if she would.  If she is a friend of Karen's I know she will be sweet enough to be happy to do it.  I am going to bed tonight happy about my weight loss, happy about my new truck but very sad about my eating.  In fact I'm closing this in tears.  Surely tomorrow I will feel better.

Good night.

I'm so sorry that this is getting written so late.  I've been gone all day today (Sat.)  You'll have to wait till later to hear by about my day today.  But as far as yesterday goes....

Did the normal routine and I needed to get my meds all put together today but I never got to it.  I did get several loads of laundry done and got the yard man paid and made sure all the bills were paid up to date.  I thought that today I was going to get to see Karen but it just didn't work out.  I can hardly stand the fact that one of my closest friends will be leaving on Monday for a year.  She will actually be in Norway for 2-3 years but they will come back for 2 weeks every year, yet I know that those 2 weeks will be so busy getting to see family and such.  The best that I can hope for is a lunch while she is here.  So sad.  What in the world will I do with my Tuesday's.  I'm so sad.  I wish I had more friends.  Let me re-phrase that.  I do have a lot of friends but most of them are on-line friends and not that many local friends.  With Karen leaving means one more day in the house by myself.  I need to find a way to meet more people that will get me out of here more, yet there is many things I need to catch up on here.  My sweet niece Meredith told me the other day "Aunt Laura, Shan and I are your friends and we are going to try and get out to see you more, you will be o.k."  It made me cry.

I hope you noticed that I got the recipes posted along with the pictures.  I hope that you will try them.  There will be more next week.  I promise.  I need to start thinking about a menu for next week because Monday is grocery day.

Mark was able to come home for lunch and I really did enjoy him getting to come home and eat lunch with me even though it was for about 30 minutes.  Better than nothing.  I started dozing off before he actually left to go back to work.  He went back to work and I died till about 5:00.  I was wasted.  I wanted to tell him to bring home dinner but I was strong and remembered that we had left over chicken so I planned to have the same veggies as I had planned to have with fish and we had a chicken dinner.  It was really good.  We watched a couple of American Idol shows that I had recorded during the week and then I crossed stitched and was able to finish up another project.  This is the project that I need for the stitching retreat that I will be going to at the end of March.  Now I need to find fabric and get it to the finisher.  When I get the two completed pieces back from the finisher I will post pictures.  Now to finish the last project for the retreat from last year and I can get started on unfinished projects that I have around here and trust me there are probably about 100 of them.  I do plan on getting them all finished before I start anything new except for what we do this year at the retreat.

I was exhausted come about 10:00.  I knew that since I didn't get my hair done today that I would have to get up at 4:30.  I knew that I needed to hit the hay.  I was also anxious about the weigh-in in the morning.  I really do feel like I had a weight loss.

Till later...

What a day!  I woke up still tired and sleepy.  I did my usual morning routine and after getting Mark out the door, I got on the computer for a while and fixed some oatmeal with blueberries for breakfast and fell asleep!  I woke up at 10:30!  ACK!  What is wrong with me?!!!

I got up and worked like crazy to get the Beef Stew in the Crock-Pot.  I managed to get it all done by 11:15 so I knew that dinner would be late this evening.  I called Mark and told him what happened and he just laughed at me.  He told me that he was going to come home for lunch today around 1:30.  That was going to be a treat!  I love having someone to eat lunch with other than the cats!  LOL!

I didn't feel like doing much of anything but watching TV till it was time to make my lunch and enjoy it with my Sweetie.  While Mark was home Mike called and he was yacky and I bet we were on the phone most of the time that Mark was here.  Poor Mark.  He was laughing at Mike cause he seems to always call at bad times.  I finally got him off the phone cause my Mom called and I did at least get to talk to Mark for a few minutes before he went back to work. 

After he left I did cross-stitch for a bit and watched some more TV and then I finally went and got showered and dressed and cleaned the kitchen up and fed the cats and talked Mark into going to the store after work to pick up a few things that we needed.  I did decide on a fish dish for tomorrow night.  We are going to have Pecan Crusted Mahi-Mahi, with fresh corn on the cob and a vegetable medley.

I did get the recipe posted for the Chicken but I haven't put the picture up yet.  My web hosting company changed the way that you upload pictures and I haven't figured out how to re-size my photos and get the water-mark on them so I will have to read up on that before I can get it done.  Hopefully tomorrow I can get that accomplished.  I just hope that I don't have to end up using Photoshop.  I have missed up more pictures using that software that doesn't come with any instructions.  I guess they think we are all geniuses!

The smell of the beef stew was driving me crazy this evening and I just wanted to leave because I wanted to eat the whole crock-pot!  I did manage to put the finishing touches on it and have everything ready to eat when Mark came home from work and the store.  OMG was it ever good.  That recipe is a keeper and will be go-to recipe for stew in this house.  It was fabulous!  You must try it.



Needless to say, I fell asleep tonight watching TV and now it it time for bed.  I sure hope tomorrow will be a better day for me.  I'm so sick of falling asleep and feeling so tired all the time.  This has got to end.  I'm taking all my vitamins and supplements and I should be feeling tops.  If it continues I'm going to the Dr. early for blood work.

I also want to mention that a few weeks ago I got a email from Julian Michaels.com and she talked about your active metabolic rate and how to figure it out.  I think that tomorrow I will try getting it copied over to the Articles of Interest page for all of you to check out.  I would like to find out what my active metabolic rate is.  Wouldn't you?

Make tomorrow count!  Be good!  Weigh-in Day is coming!  I think that this one will be a good one.  Let's hope that I don't screw it up!

Till later...

Woke up this morning with the news telling us that severe weather was on the way.  Boy the radar was nothing but yellow, red and pink.  They said that we could expect up to 6 inches of rain and here in Houston that is a bad thing.  It floods. 

I played with all the boys on the bed and they were so cute this morning jumping around and jumping off and tearing through the house and coming back for some more chase the hand under the covers!  LOL!  They were wired because of the storm coming.  I got Mark off to work and I was so happy that he got out of here before the action started.  I got on the computer for about an hour and then shut it off because it started to get really dark outside.  News coverage went on most of the day.  Luckily we never lost power but there were times that I thought our street was going to go under water.  It usually does but recently they came and did some work on the drains and it seemed to keep up with the rain a whole lot better.

I mainly watched the news all day long or at least till the storm moved through our area of town and then I switched it to something else.  I don't know what the deal was but I was tired all day long.  I only napped for about an hour.  I did make some lunch and then I made the marinade for the chicken for supper.  It smelled delicious!  It had fresh orange juice, lime juice, tequila, salt, pepper, canola oil and garlic.  I marinaded it for about 4 hours.  OMG!  It was so good.  It was so full of citrus flavor along with the flavor of jalapeno.  I served it with garlic mashed potatoes and a veggie medley of snap peas, carrots and cauliflower.  I also made a salad and it was a fantastic meal.  I will post the recipe tomorrow and I did take a picture of it this time.

While the chicken was marinating I cleaned up the kitchen and unloaded and re-loaded the dishwasher.  I'm really start to get into this cooking.  I knew that I would I knew that it would take some time.  I'm still stumped as to what to have on Friday night.  I'm hungry for fish but I can't find a recipe that sounds good!  Sad cause I have tons of recipes!

Mark got home and he was so sweet to stand out in the cold and grill the chicken on the grill.  I was more than willing to grill it in my grill pan but he said and I agreed that it would be better on the grill.  Poor guy kept coming in and out of the house.  I know the grilling enhanced the flavor of the chicken.



We ate dinner and I had recorded American Idol and during that I fell asleep.  I couldn't keep my eyes open.  I slept till 10:00.  I don't know why but I have been exhausted all day long.  I'm so ready to go back to bed.  I want to get some cleaning on the house done tomorrow and I also need to go and pick up a few things from the store for this weekend.  Not much but I do need to get a few things so I better decide on a fish meal fast!  Tomorrow night is Beef Stew in the Crock-pot.  I bet it is going to be good too.  It is a new recipe as well.  So with that said, I guess I better go hit the hay and get some real good sleep cause tomorrow is going to have to be a busy day.

Sleep well and Stay tough!

Started my day off the way I always start with coffee in bed and playing with the cats and watching the news.  I got Mark off to work and then jumped on the computer.  Boring.  Right?  I'm sure ya'll are tired of reading this.  LOL!

I had a productive morning getting a lot of medical work done.  Lab bills that were all missed up since we changed insurance and my Remi-Start that helps pay for my Remicade.  I also paid some bills and I took it all to the post office to get it moving to the right people.  One was our Maintenance Fees.  ICK!  We pay so much for such crappy enforcement of our Deed Restrictions.  Another reason why we would like to get out of here.  Where we use to live they had a very strict HOA and they really enforced all of the Deed Restrictions.  Miss that!

I watched some TV and stitched before I had some lunch and then I got busy unloaded and re-loading the dishwasher and I got some laundry done.  I didn't feel too great today.  I wanted to get a lot more done but didn't.  Maybe tomorrow will be a better day.

I am proud of one thing though,  I called Mark around 5:00 and asked him to bring baked potatoes home from the BBQ place and I would thaw some BBQ to put on them.  He agreed.  I got to thinking about my menu and I claimed that I was just being lazy so I called him back and told him that I would cook.  That made him happy.  I stuck to the menu and made Chicken Sausages with Marinara and fettuccine pasta along with a nice tossed salad.  We had a Fiber One Brownie for dessert.

We watched The Biggest Loser and I was said that the President cut it short this week.  Mark watched some programs that he had recorded on Sunday and I cross-stitched till I fell asleep.  We are watching the news now and tomorrow we are going to have some severe weather.  I want to go to Zumba in the morning but we will see how bad it gets before I make the decision.  If not I will get on the Wii today.  I need to exercise more.  I am feeling better this evening.  Well it is time to give the kitty boys their snack and hit the hay!

Here is to a very productive day tomorrow.  I can't wait to try the recipe for tomorrow night.  Oh, by the way, I did post the Corn and Bacon Chowder today.  Check it out.  I will post the new recipe either tonight or tomorrow.  I promise to take a picture of it!  Let's stay strong and all have a great weight loss this week.  Get some exercise in and make your eating plan interesting and yummy!  We can do this!  I know it!

Till Later!

Got up this morning with the same routine as always!  LOL!  Got Mark off to work with his egg muffins heated wrapped in foil and a hand towel and he reported later that they stayed pretty warm getting to the office.  I got on the computer and check in on my email and Facebook and the WW boards.  I then made me one more cup of coffee and got my grocery list together and I threw on some clothes and headed to the store.

I was really shocked putting together my grocery list that I didn't need that much for this week.  I spent $61 and that isn't bad.  I was disappointed that they didn't have my green leaf lettuce that is all washed up and had to settle for red leaf for our sandwiches.  This store is starting to peeve me a bit because they are always out of something on my list.  This store is huge too!  Crazy!

I got home and got the car unloaded and grabbed some breakfast and got off my feet for a bit since they were starting to hurt.  I watched some TV and messed around on the computer ad then I got up and got the Corn Chowder in the crock pot.  The onions and celery filled the house with such a good aroma.  I noticed that the recipe called for zero spices.  I thought to myself OMG not even salt and pepper so I added that on my own.  The chowder smelled the house up cooking all afternoon.

I got off my feet again and I actually took a little nap.  I got up and fixed some lunch and I cross stitched for a little bit before I measured out the flour and got the tools out that Mark would need to finish the soup while I was at Zumba.  I also had to write him out real plain instructions as he is not a cook but I knew that he would do great and by the time I got home from Zumba we would be ready to eat.

I really tried staying off my feet as much as I could today since I had gone to the store and cooked.  My feet just will ot take much.  I wanted to be o.k. to go to Zumba and I was.  I got my shower and I got dressed in my exercise clothes and I headed out for class.  This class is getting huge.  I bet there were over 100 people there last night.  I had my little spot to do my marching and my arm movements.  It felt good.  I can tell that I'm getting stronger and I bet in a couple of weeks I will be able to start moving my legs more.

After class I headed home and Mike called and we talked for a few minutes.  He didn't have a whole lot to say and I wondered why he even called.  Booger.  I got home and I came in the house and Mark had finished the Chowder just fine and had the baguette bread in the oven to have with it.  I went and changed my clothes and we sat down for dinner.  The jury is still out on the chowder.  It wasn't to die for but it was good.  I felt like it needed something like a can of green chilies but then I'm a spicy kind of girl.  The pepper that I added had really filtrated the chowder and I was happy for that.  I was so hungry I forgot to take a picture of it!  I'll go ahead and post the recipe tomorrow but the picture will have to wait till the next time I make it and I would make it again.

We watched some TV and I had recorded The Bachelor and when it had finished recording I watched it.  It is late and Mark has already gone to bed.  I think that is where I'm headed.  Tomorrow is Anna and tomorrow I've got to get going on some house cleaning and washing clothes.

Till then...be strong and stay true to your program!  We can get this done!

Got up at dark thirty this morning and drank coffee in bed and played with the boys while listening to Supernanny..  I know Mark hates that show and puts his pillow over his head.  I just have a hard time that there are truly kids out there with this type of behavior problems.  So sad.  We got up at 6:00 and came in the media room and had some more coffee and watched TV and we got dressed and headed to Weight Watchers, Costco and to fill up Mark's car with gas.  We did have pumpkin muffins for breakfast.

I went back to Weight Watchers for another copy of their new cookbook.  I know that Anna will wank it.  We got gas in Mark's truck and headed for Costco.  We got all that we needed for the next two weeks for lunches and we bought another pork loin and some hamburger meat and some low point pizzas that we love.  In fact that is what we ate tonight.  It was so nice to go to Costco and get what we needed and not have to fight people nor wait in line.  The best time to go is when they first opened.  We decided that is what we are going to start doing.

We got home and got everything unloaded and put up.  We then wanted to see the playoffs so we found the stations that they were on and I planned our menu for this week.  Well, all bu Friday.  Here is what we are having:

Tonight - pizza and salad
Monday - Corn and Bacon Chowder from Weight Watcher's Slow Cook It page 122
Tuesday - Chicken sausage, whole wheat pasta, marinara sauce and a salad
Wednesday - Grilled Chicken, Citrus and Jalapeno from Weight Watchers Best Darn Food page 72.
Thursday - Classic Beef Stew from Weight Watchers Slow Good page 60

Yes if they are worthy of being in the recipe section I will post them.  I promise.  On the day that we have them.  The pictures may be missing but I will try really hard to get it all done timely so that you can see them.

I just can't seem to get total eating clean but I'm not going to stop trying.  I am giving up as much processed foods as I can and I am buying non-hormone meats and organic as much as possible.  I will make it and I promise to get some recipes tried.  Right now I'm trying to concentrate on getting my groove back in cooking every night.

This afternoon we had sandwiches while we watched the AFC playoff and then Mark went to take the rest of the Christmas lights off the house and I made him some egg muffins for his breakfast this week.  I was led to this recipes from a good friend and I'll have to post it in the recipe section with a link to the site of the person who created the muffins.  They are incredible.  Here is the link just in case I don't get it done tonight:

http://nutmegnotebook.com/2011/10/sausage-cheese-egg-muffins/

There are different ways to make them so read the recipe fully.  They will be a staple around here, I promise.

After the muffins came out, Mark cooked our pizza's and we enjoyed them watching the NFC game.  The Superbowl should be a good game.  I wanted to have Mike and Sandy over to watch it but Sandy is having a procedure done that week and they feel like they can't do it.  She will need to rest.  Maybe my niece and her partner will want to come over.

I cross-stitched during the rest of the game and watched out the corner of my eye!  LOL!  It is late and I'm ready for bed.  I need to make a grocery list first thing in the morning and get to the grocery store. 

Here is to a good rest of the week!  I know that I can turn yesterday around!  I'm already doing it!  Yay me!

Got up this morning and got dressed and headed out to the meeting in fog and drizzle.  Fun!  I got there and faced the scale.  The results this week was that I gained. 3 lbs.  I was so pissed off!  I could have torn up the room!  I was up all night long going to the bathroom.  I really thought that the fluid pill was going to take care of the Chinese food.  My question is this.  How can I be 363.6 lbs on Thursday and 370 lbs on Saturday.  Something is not right!

There was a new cookbook for sale at the meeting that looks fantastic.  It is called "Best Darn Food Ever" if you go to a meeting get it!!!!  If you don't go by one of the centers and get a copy.  All the leaders are saying to get them because they are not sure that they can re-order them.  If they have them next week I may buy an extra copy.  I hope to cook several meals out of it this week.  Rest assured that I will post them in the recipe section.  I just hope that I don't get caught!

I came home and took a nap because I was up and down all night long.  Mark called and woke me up to make sure that I would bring him some lunch since he had to work all day and there was nothing in the house to put together for lunch since I didn't go to Costco.  I also called Mike and we talked about the gain and he thinks that next week I will have a huge loss.  Well, here goes the confession.  I ate a box of doughnut holes this morning out of anger!  Damn emotions.  That most likely will screw things up.  I am going to have to move my booty a lot this week.  Maybe I will try to exercise on the days that I don't go and do Zumba.

I left the house and went to Subway and got us sandwiches and went to Mark's office.  We ate lunch and talked about a lot of things while I was there.  The most important thing was getting our office finished and cleaning out the garage.  I also told him that I wanted to get the media room cleaned out so that I can unpack and put up all my stitching.  We agreed to work on it.

I left his office around 3:00 to come home and get off my feet because I was going to a Zumba-thon tonight.  It starts at 6:00.  It ought to be fun getting to Zumba for a hour and a half.  I know I will be exhausted!  When I got home I just put my feet up and watched TV until it was time to feed the boys and start getting ready.

Mark was late getting home so we were later than I wanted to be in heading out for the event.  Mark went with me because the place was hard to find and I wanted him there just in case I couldn't make it the whole time.  I didn't make it the whole time either!  I made it about the same a normal Zumba class but I couldn't go on.  It was great to see my contest team mates and all my friends.  We all had a blast.  They did a great job putting it all together!

After we got through we went through Taco Bell (not a good choice either) and ate tacos and came home and watched the Poseidon Adventure (new version) and I cross-stitched while watching it off and on.  At the end of the movie we both were ready for bed so that is where we headed.  Tomorrow is COSTCO!  More stitching, some cooking and some cleaning.  I plan to have a very busy week.  Need to move a lot!

Make it a good week!  OK?

I woke up at 4:30 this morning.  Bummer.  I got up anyway and took my shower and washed my hair.  I did do my coffee routine and when Mark got in the shower I got my hair dried.  I didn't have to fix him a lunch because his boss was providing the shop with lunch because they were having a big meeting.  I had to get ready for a Dr.'s appointment so I needed the time to finish flat ironing my hair and get dressed and get out the door by 8:00.  My plans for the day were to have lunch with Karen after the Dr. and then go to Costco and come home.

The weather was awful this morning foggy and damp.  I got to the Dr. and didn't have to wait long to see Dr. Crow.  She agreed with me that my blood clot has resolved itself but because I have had so many this year she feels that the Plavix and baby aspirin is not working so she is going to keep me on the Levenox injections but only one shot a day.  I can handle that.  I think.  We'll see. 

After I left her office I went and grabbed me a breakfast taco for breakfast and called Karen and asked her if I could come early since I was through.  I headed for her house were we visited and she did a few things while I visited with her daughter-in-law and then we were ready to leave and run a few errands and then head to lunch.  We both had bills to mail and Karen had a package to mail, she also had to go to the bank.  We got all of that done and then I surprised her by taking her to the jewelry store and I bought her a Pandora bracelet with a two piece charm that said "Friends Forever".  It was her birthday and going away gift.  We both stood in the jewelry store with tears in our eyes. I hate so much that she is moving away.  I know it is only for 2-3 years and she will be back for 2 weeks each year but I know her time will be limited while she is here because she has so much family to see.  She has promised me at least a lunch.

We left the jewelry store and went to our favorite Chinese Restaurant and enjoyed a long leisurely lunch.  We talked and talked and avoided the topic of her moving.  After lunch we went to our favorite Chick-Fil-A to get a Diet Lemonade to enjoy the rest of our afternoon.  She was going to have to go home and work on her house and I wanted to head to Costco. 

She was having problems with her Nook and so when we got back to her house I went in to see if I could figure out what was wrong with it.  Her husband and son were gone so we decided to take it to Barnes and Noble to get it exchanged because I couldn't even figure out what was wrong with it.  It was locked up.  We luckily found a parking place and we went in and Karen was so upset when she found out that they would only replace it with a reconditioned Nook.  She had gotten it for Christmas from her son and it meant the world to her and she had only read on it once before it missed up.  I don't blame her they should have given her a new one.  We got back to the car and she realized that she left her cord.  We were almost back to her house so we turned around and went back.   She found out there was a new cord and adapter in the box with the reconditioned Nook.  I took her home and her son and husband were back and they were missing with her at the front door and wouldn't let her in the house.  She was so upset anyway she didn't think that it was funny so she came back to the car and got in and told me let's go somewhere and about that time her son came out laughing and came to the car and they exchanged a few heated words (mainly from Karen) and she hugged me and got out of the car again.  I told her that I was coming by next week to say our final good-bye.

By this time it was 4:00 in the afternoon and I decided that I would have to blow off Costco because I needed to get home to feed the boys.  On the way home I talked to my niece Meredith and when I got home I fed the boys and called Mark and told him that I was too tired to go to Costco and so he brought home Chick-Fil-A and we watched TV and I fell asleep in front of the TV because I got up so early this morning.  I was bushed. 

I know eating out 3 meals today is going to have a huge adverse affect on my weight loss tomorrow.  I did put off taking my fluid pill till I got home this evening.  All evening long I have been running to the bathroom.  I'm not sure if it will help.  I know the Chinese food in itself was not a wise choice because of the high sodium content.  We are just going to have to see what happens.  ARG!  But as my cookie friends say "IIWII" (It is what it is)!