Dead Camera

I realized that our camera died at Yankee's 12th birthday party. It is not the time for us financially to get a new camera, so I couldn't take pictures this morning at our town's Memorial Day service. I also can't take pictures of the crazy flooding! So if anyone would like to donate a digital camera to Auntie Mandy, I think that would be a GOOD choice!

I am down another 1/2 lb! I can hardly stand how excited I am! 158.7 is lower is only 3 lbs away from my wedding day weight!

I hope everyone is safe today. Let's remember!

Dreary Day

It may be dreary, but I am positively thrilled! I am in the 150s! I am lower than I have been in YEARS! I have not weighed 159.2 since the Ides of March 2002! I still have 30 lbs to go, but I am going in the right direction. Consistent exercise, Good Choices, and hydration have been the key. I am elated! EEEEEE!!!!

Okay, so Yankee had a baseball game last night. He had made an out playing third and scored a run. It was not enough for our boys to win, but it was still a good game. We rode our bikes to the game and back giving us a short mile and a half bike ride.

Becoming gluten free has been a bit of a challenge, but I am really liking the results. I don't have anymore crazy skin rashes, I seem to have more energy, and I don't make music in my sleep (if you know what I mean!).

Here's the psychological aspect of the whole thing. You know when you get to a point in your life and you think, "I will NOT allow myself to get over 200 lbs." or whatever number you are thinking about. I have been moving mine down. I will now not allow myself to get over 160 again. This past March, when I got a little crazy and gained 10 lbs in a month, I said to myself, "I cannot be over 170!" So I got below 170. Then I said that I couldn't get above 165, so I got below 165. Now I am below 160. Being a shorty mcbutterpants, I still have quite a few lbs to go, but I am over half way there.

Rain Rain Rain!

We have had our share of it! The nice thing is that USUALLY, we have days of sunshine in between, except today. That's okay. I'll be alright. I refuse to turn on the h eat. Last time I said that, I turned it on about five minutes after I said it.

Anyway, we have had a LOT of rain! The water really has no where else to go. Our back yard was flooded (something not seen by anyone who in the recent past). Our basement was running water into the sump pump. It actually sounded like water was running, which I guess it was. We didn't have more than a steady stream, but my neighbor across the street had 13 inches in her basement.

I enjoyed the Biggest Loser finale the other night. I was wondering why so many looked so good so long before the end of the season. Well, Allison said at the beginning of the show that this was the longest season ever. Well, there you have it! I could not believe how good so many people looked! Here I thought they were fine when they left the ranch, now they look even better! Some of them have even reached my goal! :D

I have been having some pain down the front of my right leg. My knee has been getting very swollen as well. Well, I decided that I would forgo running last night. Instead I went to the Y with the kiddos and swam for about an hour. Well, for the week, I have lost 1.1 lbs. I am very pleased with that. I was hoping to increase the amount of time I could run to 4:00. I am up to 3:20. I will extend this week's training to two weeks to get up to 4 minutes.

Less Gas, More Movement

Not THAT kind of gas! I mean gasoline! I am doing my best to drive as little as possible when it is nice out. That means more movement. Today, I didn't drive at all. I rode with the youngest to and from school today, rode my bike to the store to get 7up for Yankee (who is still not feeling great), and rode my bike to the library to get a new book to read and some movies.

I am planning to do a 30 minute run/walk tonight, then go to my mom's and watch the season finale of Biggest Loser. I hope she doesn't mind me being stinky. Maybe I'll stop at home, get a change of clothes and ride my bike over there. That way I won't make her furniture stinky.

What I am really excited about is that I am down to another low. I am at 160.7. I feel like I am back in a groove. I also think that running is a big part of it. It takes a discipline to keep it up. If you don't continue, you have to start from scratch. I have learned that and will do my best to keep on keeping on.

Last Monday of the School Year!

The kids are excited! Me, not so much. I have been staying on track with eating, and my weight hasn't changed, so things are good. One thing that has changed is my time! I did a 5K on Saturday benefiting Conquer Childhood Cancer Now, a local organization to raise awareness for childhood cancers. Yankee was supposed to run with me. The idea was that on Friday, I would wear him out as much as possible so that I had a chance of beating him on Saturday. On Saturday, he could barely walk, let alone run. So, I WIN! Well, he didn't even go with me. That's okay, though. My mom went and she did all of the data entry stuff for the event. I have really enjoyed having my mom close by.

Back to the race. So the race starts and I am jogging along. I am thinking, "Wow! My body feels great! I am not experiencing any pain, I might run the whole way! Wait, I can't catch my breath. What? Why can't I breathe in?" So I slow down to a slow walk. I catch my breath and then my right knee starts hurting. I make it to the half-way mark at 24:30. I was okay with that! That would have me finish at over two minutes faster than the last 5K about a month ago. Then I am still walking and this group of women start running past me. One woman is about 60 and says, "Guys! Stop running! I don't run!" Well that got me thinking that I could let the old lady beat me! I mean really, I've been training to run and this old lady who doesn't run is going to finish before me?" I don't think so!

So I picked up the pace and started running. When I would get tired, I would walk for a while, and that pesky lady would come upon me again. So then when I started passing her on the home stretch, I said, "Pick up the pace, Lady!" And then I said, "Not THAT much!" Anyway, I finished the race in 46:20. The race I ran in April was 51:08. My friend who organized the race this past Saturday wants me to race with her this Saturday. If I can find a sitter, I will go again and try to finish even faster!

I have been trying to drive as little as possible, so I will be riding my bike to the library, and then walking to pick up Brown Eyes from school today (if it doesn't rain by then).

So Stephen, at Who Ate My Blog, said, "You will never lay in bed at night regretting that you ran, just that you didn't run." Well, that is true, my friend, but I might regret it the next day ;). I am sore!

Brrr! Supposed to be Spring?

It has been too cold! Last week was so hot, and last night, I was wearing long johns, leg warmers and a stocking cap!

I was down another .4 today! Since it is supposed to be spring, I am trying to get outside and consistently get some moving of my body done. Yesterday consisted of tearing down the garage sale and shivering during Yankee's baseball game. Tonight, we plan to go to the Y.

I figured I should update you on the ducklings that were my charge over Mother's Day Weekend. They're dead. AND it wasn't my fault. Lucy, the black lab, killed them Thursday night. She knew what she did was bad because she opened the door to the house, opened her crate and "hid." A little while later, my mother-in-law found yellow fuzz all over the yard. Father-in-law cleaned up the remains before she had to see anymore. Well, after all of that work, I decided to take some of my garage sale money and buy more ducklings and a couple of chicks for her. She had all the stuff, so I figured I would help her along the way.

Well, time to wrap up in a blanket! Have a splendid day!

Such a SLACKER!

I am so sorry I have not been on to update more. I really am! But, I am doing really well! I had a garage sale last week and made enough money to gas up the van, buy some ducklings and chicks for my mother-in-law and get the two younger boys new sandals. I also logged 15.129 miles 14.2 of it were walking/running, the other .9 was riding my bike.

I have hit a new low in my weight loss. I am down to 161.6. The thing is that I feel stronger. I can run for over a minute and a half outside! I find the treadmill easier, but you don't sign up for 5Ks on a treadmill. I am running a 5K this weekend for childhood cancer research. I am really looking forward to it! I am also supposed to model clothes again that same day! Whew!

I have done really well on my eating as well. I did cheat a little yesterday and had some garlic and soy sauce, but those are really low on my allergy sensitivity chart thingy, I had no adverse reactions.

I have really been enjoying reading some Lucy Maude Montgomery. I found some free books of hers that I had never heard of before. I am reading The Story Girl right now. I read the sequel to that last week called The Golden Road. Oh how I enjoy her stories. I long to someday visit Prince Edward Island and experience the wonders!

My Crappy Weekend...

The weekend was really fun, but there was a lot of poop involved. Not human poop, but I will tell the stories. You have been warned.

My in-laws went out of town for the weekend. They asked if Hubby and I would take care of the animals. It's really not supposed to be that difficult. I agreed to stay at their house while Hubby stayed at our house. So, after a nice Mother's Day dinner on Friday night with my boys, I took Yankee with me to spend the night. I got there and first let the dogs out. I made sure the cats had water, and then went to check on the ducklings. The ducklings were out of food and water, and their bedding was soaked. So I put down some new bedding, fed and watered them, then went out to put the chickens to bed. All of the chickens were already in the coop, or so I thought.

I started counting the chickens and every time I counted them (they had already hatched) I only had nine. I called my mother-in-law and asked her if she was sure she had ten chickens. She was sure. Shoot. I locked the chickens I had in the coop and then walked all over the property looking for chicken remains. I had no idea what color chicken I was looking for, just that I needed a hen. After about a half hour of wandering, I went back to the coop to recount. When I got back there, there were only SEVEN! How did I lose two more chickens when they were locked up? I stuck my head back in the coop and counted. Still SEVEN. I hung my head and tried to figure out what this city girl was going to do next. Then I heard this sound that resembled "BwaaaAAAAAAAaaak" I looked up, and there were three chickens (one rooster and two hens) up on a bar that goes across the top of the coop. I counted again, and I had TEN! I counted again, and I had TEN! I counted one more time, and I still had TEN! Whew, what a relief. I called my mother-in-law back and told her the good news. She was happy. I was happy. We slept great.

Saturday morning, I got up, let the dogs out, gave them breakfast, let the chickens out, and then fed the ducks. Oh these are not normal ducks, these are pig ducks! What a mess they made! I had to get home to get take care of the kiddos so that Hubby could get to work. Once I got everyone dressed, we went back to my in-laws. I had to clean out the duck tub.

I had a brilliant idea, I would put the ducks in the shower while I cleaned out their tub. I got them all in a row, stuck them in the shower, then dragged the tub out to the woods to dump the bedding. I hosed everything out, washed everything else down and brought it back into the bathroom. I then put down new bedding and then chased the ducks around the shower to put them back. Haha! That wasn't so bad!

I decided then to do laundry. I walked into the laundry room and one of the cats had pooped between litter boxes. My in-laws are very frugal and don't have paper products (except toilet paper). BUT! I had gone to the store to get stuff for Yankee's birthday party we were having at the Y later that day. I went out to get napkins and cleaned up the poo. I put in a load of laundry. About 10 minutes later, I started smelling something really nasty. I went to the laundry room and a cat had liquid pooped all over the laundry room floor. Thank goodness for the napkins! I cleaned that poo up and we had to get to the Y for the party.

I had one RSVP for the birthday party, but 14 kids showed up. It was one hour in the gym, one hour in the pool, one hour in the activity room. The kids had a blast. Hubby showed up half-way through pool time, so I was able to set up the activity room for the party. Yankee and I stopped at Wal-Mart on the way back to the in-laws to get some food and spend his birthday money.

We got back and the pig-ducks had messed their tub again. It was nasty! So Hubby helped me clean it out. I put the ducks in the shower again while I washed everything else up. I put the tub back in the bathroom and the ducks had crapped all over the shower. It was so nasty! I chased the ducks all over the poopy shower, got them in their tub and then cleaned the poop out of the shower. Have I ever mentioned that I'm living the dream?

Now I am exhausted! Hubby says he'll get the chickens in. He comes into the house and says, "I got all but one in." Um, not acceptable! He chases down the stray hen and then leaves taking two kids and leaving me Dimples. I got him in bed by nine and tried to stay awake later. I wasn't being successful until Lucy, the black dog, kept whining in her sleep. I put her outside and waited for her to come back in. It took her a very long time to come back. Finally she is back in. I lay down and was asleep before my head hit the pillow. I get up the next morning and get ready for work. I go feed the pig-ducks, give them new bedding, let the chickens out of the coop, feed the dogs, feed the cats, and take Dimples home on my way to work.

My in-laws got home later that day. When I told them of all the poop stories, my father-in-law says, "Things like that never happen until we ask someone to watch the house. Then everyone's bowels loosen." Good to know!