Five Quarters of Tucson

A while ago I decided I wanted to see my parents more. And I had made a goal last year to go down every quarter if I could.  Turns out I could and I did.  I did not, however, plan on doing the same this year.  Still, the MomUnit had some $$ with SouthWorst she had to use, so I flew down this past weekend. That's the 5th quarter in a row I've been down there.

I've been to Tucson a dozen or so times, and each time I'm down there we manage to find something else I haven't done.  This time was no different, but I'll get into that a bit more.

Let me back up to Friday.

I had an 11:30am flight out of Seattle. I normally leave at the butt-crack of dawn to get down there so I have an extra day. This time a not so early flight which allowed me time to dilly dally in the morning before heading to SeaTac.  I left my house, assuming traffic during rush hour, and headed to airport with plenty of time to dump the car, get on the shuttle, get through security, get my coffee and have about 40 minutes before boarding.  See, I'm one of those "give-me-as-much-time-as-possible" people. I hate being late to the airport. I hate "running" to the gate.  I like to not feel any stress when I'm traveling. So I had plenty of time. Or so I thought.

I pulled into the parking lot I was going to leave Sparky. The shuttle picked me up right away.  I hopped on and stopped in my tracks.  Immediately turned around and announced "Crap, I left my wallet at home." The guy getting on behind me said, "That sucks. Hope you live close."  Redmond is not close. 

I hopped off, pissed that I could leave something as essential as my wallet and headed back to Sparky. Calculating the entire time how much it would take to get home, get the wallet and get back to the airport.  Would I make it?  I got to the car and thought, "Wait. Check your camera bag before you go blazing home."  Sure enough, the wallet was in there. Phew. Crisis adverted.

I found the shuttle a couple rows down and hopped back on. By this time it was about 2 hours before my flight. 

Inside the airport, I got to security and not a single person was in line. No one.  I couldn't believe my eyes.  So I sailed through security, got to get the full body scan and pat down for no extra charge.  That's the most action....ahhh... never mind.

My flight to Tucson, which normally would take 2 hours 35 minutes, was going to take me 6 hours. SouthWorst schedule...and free tickets equal long flight.  We stopped in Oakland, but I didn't have to de-plane, then off to LA, where I would have to change planes and wait for 2 hours before my next flight. Left Seattle at 11:30 and got into Tucson at 7:10pm. I was pooped.

But hungry-ish.

The MomUnit AND DadUnit (couldn't believe he actually came to the airport) picked me up and we headed to Mr. K's BBQ.  Puck felt like he had to "grab the bull by it's horns" only to realize he didn't have hands to do said "grabbing".

With only two days in Tucson, I hadn't really planned on doing a whole lot.  If we got out to do something, great, if not, hanging at the house was fine by me. The sun was out and it was in the high 70's so I was content.

As usual Count Beau of Hershey was glad to see me.  He told me how neglected he is and how no one plays with him ever.  Poor Puppy!

Yah right!

Puck wanted to size Schuester up to see if he could "take" him in a fight.  Since Schuester's paw is bigger than Puck, Puck decided to just let Schuester sleep.

The MomUnit threw together a caramel apple pie / crisp thing. OMG it was so good. I'm not a dessert person generally, but this pie was so tasty, and not overly sweet. I'm drooling just thinking about it.

Sunday, the MomUnit and Couzin Jeannette and I headed out to Tucson to see a few things I hadn't seen. Namely, St. Augustine Church, "A" Mountain (which is really a hill) and Tanque Verde Ranch.

"A"Mountain was first.

From "A" Mountain you get a pretty good view of  Tucson. If you look real close you can see a few tall buildings, that's downtown.  It baffles me to see a "downtown" with no sky scrapers in it.  Seems weird to call it "downtown."

Puck wanted to climb "A" mountain, but since he can't climb it without me, he had to settle for a photo op just with the "A".

Tucson seems so flat to me.  Even though I know there are mountains all around, its still so flat.  I love Tucson. It reminds me of LandScatter (aka Lancaster, California). The heat, the desert, the wind.

From there we headed to St. Augustine Church. I love photographing churches.  There's something so peaceful about churches.  Most Catholic churches I've "photographed" are overly ornate, but St. Augustine was simple and elegant. 

Following the church, the MomUnit was so thrilled to be out of the house, she just didn't want to go home. So she took Couzin Jeannette and I to Tanque Verde Ranch. It's an active Dude Ranch apparently.  It's also one of those places where everyone gets married or has receptions or whatever. Gorgeous place.

When we arrived, I think the MomUnit just thought about driving in and driving out. But I hollered, "STOP THE CAR."  There was a corral of at least 50+ horses just begging me to take photos of them. Puck and I hopped out and went on a shooting spree...a photography shooting spree that is.

This guy apparently thought something was funny.

Puck suddenly decided he wanted to be a cowboy and was going to pick out his horse to ride off into the sunset with.

This guy had an itch. 

This guy thought Puck was an apple, or carrot or something. He attempted to eat poor Puck. I managed to convince him that pink ducks were too game-ey!

This guy just sat and licked this salt lick. Made me thirsty.

Cowboy Puck was not satisfied with any of the horse there. They all seemed only interested in eating him, and he just couldn't see any of them being his friend.

All in all it was a good weekend.  The DadUnit looked good and acted like his old self again.  Its sad to me that we had to bring him home under hospice, take him off all his medications, and now to see him back to his old self. He was making jokes and participating in the conversation, just like he used to.  Goes to show that being medicated, while it may prolong your life, doesn't necessary, give you life.

I took the long route home too, stopping in LA, layover in Oakland then home. I managed to catch ANOTHER cold (if you're keeping count that's three in 5 months).  My ears wouldn't pop decending into Oakland either. So in Oakland I couldn't hear a darn thing. It was so painful descending that I thought I was going to cry.  The right ear finally popped when we took off out of Oakland. The left ear still ain't popped. It's better, but still plugged. 

Got home to an ice cold house too. I thought perhaps because I had been in Tucson for a couple of days that the house just felt cold.  Turns out the heater died sometime over the weekend.  The Landlords will have to replace it and I won't have a new one until Thursday afternoon.  In the meantime, Pookie and I are bundling up and keeping as warm as we can.

Pookie found his spot in front of the fireplace yesterday and didn't move. 

This morning it was a balmy 53F in the place.  BRRRR.  I came to work just so I can warm up. Well that and a pay check.

Quick Update

Nothing overly exciting happening right now, just felt like I needed to write something. Anything.

Anything...

Ok. Done.

No seriously. I do have some things I'd like to get off my chest.  So in no particular order:

1.  Gas prices. Ugh. I just read an article that in Florida at some stations gas prices are nearing the $6/gal mark. Um high! Why the hell are gas prices so high again?  Triple A speculates the prices this summer will be in the $4-$5/gal range.  Which means Sparky and I will not be going on any of the planned road trips?

2.  I find myself more and more confused why gay marriage bothers so many people.  I understand it's a religious thing for most. But what I don't understand is if Christians (and I'm picking on them because those have been the biggest commenters to me lately) are such a loving and accepting religion, why do they feel they must judge gay people? And if they use the argument of "the bible says" one more time, I'm going to point out that if we listen to what the "bible literally says" then we can now make incest legal. Think about it! Adam + Eve = Cain, Able, and a bunch of other kids.  How did the race continue if siblings didn't sleep with each other?

3. Diet Coke and I are having a battle.  I stopped drinking diet coke sometime in October.  I've had it every now and then, but by and large I've stopped drinking it. Which is too bad cuz I really like diet coke.  Unfortunately the aspartame in it doesn't like me.  I had a diet coke on Monday and man oh man did it do a wicked trip on me.  Ick.  Today I'm all dehydrated and still feeling - meh.  And I know it's the aspartame because I've had other diet drinks that contain aspartame and they effect me the same way.

4.  Puck is lonely at the bottom of my purse. He may need a Puck-mate.

5. I cannot wait for the next presidential election to be over. I know it's just a battle of Republicans currently, but I am so sick and tired of all the commercials, all the back and forth mudslinging, all the speculation, etc.  I'm almost at the point where I really don't care who wins, I just want the elections to be over. And is it me, or does the mudslinging these days seem especially bad?

6.  I need coffee.

7.  I leave for Tucson on Friday.  Normally it takes 2 hours and 16 minutes to get to Tucson via a jetliner.  This time it's going to take 6 hours and 12 minutes.  I get to go to Oakland - sit on the plane and wait. Then to LA to change planes, then into Tucson.  On the way home I get to go to LA - sit on the plan, then to Oakland and change planes, then home.  Ugh.  I know, cheap flight = multiple layovers/stops.  We won't be going cheap again - anytime soon.

8.  I did not edit this blog. So any typos, misspelled words, or grammatical issues you find...deal with it.

The Return of Jenicide

Roller derby weekend! Woot! But I'll get to that.

What a weekend! Full of adventures, and friends, and bad food.Well, good food, but bad for me.

Friday night the bosses came over so we could make vision boards.  I haven't made a vision board in - forever - it seems. I think the last time I made one it was for wedding stuff and it was like right after college.  I think I may have started a travel one some time in the early 2000's but I don't remember finishing it.

In case you don't know what a vision board is, it's basically a bunch of saying, expressions, inspirations for a topic that you put together on a piece of paper. Most people cut out said sayings from magazines and what not. These "saying" are supposed to help focus yourself to reaching whatever goal it is you're trying to envision. 

Mine, no big surprise, was about health and encouragement towards a healthy lifestyle.

I think it turned out pretty good. And, it turns out, scrapbooking supplies come in handy with vision boards too.  The bosses vision boards were stunning. Both focusing on a few different areas of their lives.  At the end of the night we had our visions. 

Then one of the bosses and I went to the gym. See! Living out my vision board almost immediately.

Saturday AM was the weigh in at Jenny.  I was stunned to see only another pound gone. In fact, I was kinda bummed.  I felt like I had done pretty well last week and to only see a pound down was a bit disheartening.  After I left Jenny I had to have a talk with myself and remind myself that it didn't take a week to get me to this weight, so it sure as heck-fire won't take a week to get rid of it.  Still I was frustrated, but I got over it. I think.

Saturday night we headed to the Rat City Roller derby. OMG.  The roller derby is a blast and a half.  I've been before and I thought I might have missed my calling in life. This time I realized, while I may have missed my calling, I realized I got bruised just watching these ladies.  Sheesh.  They are vicious out there...in a good way.  The rules don't allow some of the more aggressive moves, but still these girls were falling all the time. I'd fall once and call it a day. 

The two bouts we watched were DLF versus Socket Wenches.  DLF being the winner there. Then we watched Grave Danger (current champions) versus Throttle Rockets.  The second bout was way more entertaining. It was as if those two teams had more experienced skaters or something.  The score was closer and the audience was WAY more into it.

I loved this shirt.  And boy, after watching bout 2, I could see how this could, in fact, be the case.  While they don't allow elbowing and what not, the method of using their hips and shoulders to knock out opponents still seemed to work.

The roller derby girls all had different interpretations of their uniforms.  They stayed within the color scheme of their team but clearly added their own little flair. 

If you've not been to roller derby, you should give it a try. It's good, clean, elbow tossing, fun.

This week is a short week for me. I'm heading to Tucson on Friday to visit the 'rents.  I'm hoping they'll be sun there and warmer temperatures than last time I was there.

Happy Adoptaversary!

Today I'm 30.  Yes. Thirty!  I didn't mistype that.  I really am 30 today.

30 years ago today, my dad adopted me. I officially became a Wraspir -- and my life hasn't been the same since. 

When the MomUnit and the other DadUnit divorced in 1979 I really didn't feel anything. Looking back I was surprisingly ok with the whole thing.  And I'm not sure it effected me one way or another.  It was the MomUnit, The Sister and I against the world.  We moved to Lancaster California to start our new life.

I have no real concept of time a as a kid, but I can summise by doing math that sometime in 1980 or 1981 the MomUnit and the New DadUnit started dating.  I remember the "soon-to-be" New DadUnit coming to pick the MomUnit up for a date. He came in the door so dapper, so handsome, so confident.  I had no idea that one day he'd be my dad.

I had no idea that he'd become such an integral part of who I have become. That his guidance, along with the MomUnit, would help me to build a life I can be proud of.

I had no idea he'd up-root our little family and move us to Washington.

I had no idea he'd up-root our little family again and move us to Saudi Arabia and me to a boarding school in Switzerland.

I had no idea he'd "expect" me to go to college -- no arguments.

I had no idea that he'd be a dad! Not just a father, but a dad.

Happy Adoptaversary Dad!

The Truth about Grandpa’s

Today would have been my Grandpa Spaid’s 112^th 109th birthday (The MomUnit can't add). I feel like I was gipped out of knowing him. He passed away while I was still too young to understand how incredible grandparents really are. I was too young to actively seek his company and listen to his stories. I was too young to know I wouldn’t have years to get to know him.

Still I knew him as only a child could know a grandparent. He was a superhero to me. I was thinking today about some of my memories of Grandpa Spaid and I. And since this is my blog, I’m gonna share them.

1. Bike rides in Albuquerque

I really don’t remember much about our time living in Albuquerque. I seemed to have blocked out most of it. I don’t recall going to school so I think I might have been too young yet. I do remember Grandma and Grandpa Spaid staying with us for a while. In kids time it seemed like they were always there in NM. My older sister had a bike that had a banana seat on it. In the afternoons, Grandpa would take turns riding my sister and I on this bike. We’d go around and around in our little cul d’sac. I’d yell, “Pedal faster.” And he’d just giggle like he was having more fun than I was. I wish we had photos of those memories.

2. Snoopy Biting His Ribs at Dinner

My grandparents had beagles. One “followed” my uncle home. The other was deposited with them from our family. I’m not sure why Happy was sent to live with them, but it probably has to do with us moving around. Happy and Snoopy kept Grandpa and Grandma Spaid “safe”. Snoopy was a character. She had her own ideas about things, and was the laziest dog I’ve ever known. Grandpa taught her to grin at you. She’d roll her lips back, wag her tail and show you her teeth. She was a fat, barrel shaped beagle that was the sweetest dog ever. She and grandpa had a special bond. He used to feed her from the table against Grandma’s wishes. Not a lot. But little bits and pieces of his food. And occasionally Snoopy would get a bit inpatient and give stand up and give Grandpa a love bit in his ribs. Turns out Grandpa was ticklish in his ribs. He’d squirm to the side and say, “Stop that Snoopy.” I loved watching the gleam in his eye and he’d laugh at that stupid dog’s antics.

3. Bananas, half and half and sugar

As a treat, or as dessert Grandpa would often have bananas with half and half and a sprinkle of sugar on the top. Looking back I think he had a sweet tooth. I remember him fixing up a bowl for me. I am not sure how old I was but they were living on Soldano in Azuza. He and I sat at the table around breakfast time. He sliced a banana into his bowl. Sliced one into mine. Poured half and half in his bowl. Then did the same in mine. Then he said to me, “Now for the good part.” and he sprinkled sugar on each of our servings. To this day I crave bananas and half and half once in a while. Oh and he’s also the one who taught me how to eat cottage cheese with sugar on it. If I were to ever eat cottage cheese, you can bet I’d put sugar on it.

4. Lawn chairs and quiet time

I have some very fond memories of finding Grandpa sitting in his backyard, or on the back deck, or in his garage with the door opened in a lawn chair just sitting—quietly. Or at least it was quiet until I showed up. I’m sure he was out there contemplating life or thinking about how much he had to do. Or he could have just been escaping us kids and Grandma for all I know. I do know I never got to ask him why he sat out in his lawn chair. I bet his answer would surprise me.

5. Avocados

Avocados are not something I like. I doubt it has to do with this next memory, but maybe. At their house on Soldano, they had a HUGE, and I mean HUGE avocado tree. (Chances are high it wasn’t nearly as big as I remember. I also remember their house being huge. And as an adult driving by it and seeing how small it was was a shock to me. ) Anyhow, each summer the avocados would get ripe. Grandpa would pick the one’s within his reach. He’d then send my sister or I up the tree of the ones on the top. I wasn’t a very graceful child, so having me climbing a tree was risky. He’d get us up there and then hand us a rake. He’d stay on the ground and “direct” us where to climb to get the next avocado.

 

6. Mowing Aunt Millie’s lawn

This memory kinda has to do with the next memory. On a regular basis, my grandpa would load up his stinky lawn mower in the back of their Pontiac station wagon and drive to my Aunt Millie’s house. It was only a couple miles away, or at least that's what it seemed to me at the time.  He'd unload the mower, tell me to go on in side, and he'd proceed to mow Aunt Millie's yard.  I remember wondering as a kid why he did it. She seemed capable enough to do it.  But as I got older I realized it wasn't about her ability to do it, it was something he wanted to do for her.  He liked being helpful that way.  Always willing to help someone out and never asked for anything in return.

 

7. The Big Turquoise station wagon.

On many of those trips to Aunt Millie's house, Grandpa would let me "drive".  They had an old turquoise Pontiac station wagon that was a beast of a car.  They had it for as long as I could remember and it became a beacon to me.  When ever we'd be going to visit them or them coming to visit us, the site of that bright blue wagon meant good things.  The Grandparents were near.  Anyhow, on our way to Aunt Millie's house one day I asked Grandpa if I could drive.  He told me I wasn't old enough to drive entirely by myself, but he'd let me "help". So I slid over (see the old Pontiac had bench seats so sliding over was easy.) and he gently put my left hand on the wheel.  He would tell me to keep it between the curb and the dashed line.  I didn't know, or realize at the time, that he "other" hand was doing the driving, but I didn't care. Grandpa trusted me eoung to let me drive.

8. Growing tomatoes and introducing me to tomato worms

Grandpa had a green thumb when it came to tomatoes.  He may have grown other things, but I only remember the tomatoes.  When we lived in Lancaster we had plants upon plants upon plants of tomatoes in the backyard.  The crop it would yield was something out of a sci-fi movie.  Huge tomatoes.  Even to this day when I smell a tomato vine I think of Grandpa. 

One day he was out putzing around his tomatoes and he yelled to me, "Come over here! I've got something special to show you."  I went over to where he was standing and he was pointing down toward a leaf.  Sitting on the leaf was the ugliest, greenest, horny-est worm I had ever seen.  It was gross.  Grandpa explained to me the tomato worm was an even critter and must be take care of whenever I found one.  I then made one vital mistake. I asked him what I should do.  His response was simple, "Kill it." "Well, how do you kill it Grandpa?"  His response was action. He grabbed that worm off that leaf, threw it to the ground and stomped on it. Lifting his foot all I saw was green goo.  Needless to say, I didn't kill any tomato worms.

9. Teaching me about 4 o’clocks

Back to the house on Soldano.  Along the fence there was a plant, vine thingy that had beautiful flowers on it.  I asked Grandpa one day while he was sitting in his law chair trying to get some peace and quiet what the plant was.

"Why, those are 4 o'clocks," he said.

"Why are they called 4 o'clocks?" I questioned.

He said, "Because every day at 4 in the afternoon they open. And when they open that's when you know its time to go inside the house and tell Grandma to start dinner."

For the rest of the summer, whenever I was outside, I'd watch for those flowers to open.  I'm not sure if he was yanking my chain about them actually only opening at 4, but I do know that it was a pretty smart way to get rid of me and send me inside to bug grandma.

I wish I had more memories of Grandpa.  He was a special man and the type of Grandpa every kid should have.  Happy 112th Birthday Grandpa. Sure wish you were here to sit with me on my lawn and just be quiet.

Happy S.A.D Day...

Actually the world "day" after S.A.D. is redundant. 

Happy Single Awareness Day!  All you married and dating types, Happy Valentine's Day. May your heart be filled with chocolate cream.

I'm not going to rail against VD this year. I'm done with that. I have more important things to discuss.  And taking a page out of my favorite blogger's book, I'm doing a list. She does it...so can I.

1. First thing Saturday - I weighed in. 2 more lbs gone!  If you're keeping count at home that's 7 total. 

2. Following the weigh in, I hopped in Sparky and headed north to chat with a few gals about the 3 day. A good friend of mine had asked if I'd come up and give them the scoop on the 3day and help get them going.  I love talking about the 3day so I was game.  I pull up and as I'm walking up to the house, three gals come out of the door. The first gal I looked at quizzically. She looked at me and said, "I know you!"  And I was all, "I know you too."  Turns out she and I worked at a scrapbooking store back in 2003 and 2004.  She was just getting ready to go off to college and I always wondered what happened to her. She was a good kid, responsible and easy to work with.  And it looks like she's done pretty good for herself. So YAY for small worlds.

2. Later Saturday I met Blueberry at Mediterranean Kitchen.  You can probably still smell the garlic coming out of my pores. Their hummus is some of the best I've ever had, and it will keep any and all vampires away. Wow. Blueberry and I chit chatted there for a bit then walked over to Starbucks for some more girl talk. We were interrupted by this random guy eavesdropping on us, but he seemed harmless and amusing, so we "let" him talk to us.

3. Sunday was Sunday Dinner.  We missed January thanks to Snowpocalypse. So we had some making up to do. The usual suspects came. There was laughter, there was food, there was some inappropriate conversations for a dinner party...but what do you expect from this crowd?

I love this photo because it looks like I am wearing a head dress.

Left to Right: BigBro, PhotoGirl, The Yank, Blueberry, Puck, The Pantry Goat, Seattle SIL, Queen PopUp, Mr. Queen PopUp, yours truly. 

This is how everyone appears BEFORE dinner.

Then we eat dinner. I tried to say healthy this time so I made BBQ chicken skewers, rice pilaf and grilled veggies. Way better for you than the Cajus Stroganoff I had planned.

You can tell everyone hated it.  Almost no left overs for the Pantry Goat.  There's only been a couple of dinner where I've had no leftovers.  I started planning like a Wraspir for quantities then I subtract 10%. It seems to be working. Well, except for the over abundance of rice I had. Last minute decision and I made WAY too much pilaf.

Weird, but this is always what happens after people eat my food.  Its like the food is so good they get a bad case of the crazies!

4. The Grammy's were this weekend. I'm not one to watch award shows. They bore me usually.  I wanted to see this time what, if anything, they did for Whitney Houston since she had passed away on Saturday.  Turns out the show was pretty entertaining.  The Foo Fighters...OMG... I heart them.  Dave Grohl can sing to me anytime he wants. Maybe he wants to be my valentine...Ever since I saw a rockumentary on them a year or so ago, I was in love with the band.  And let's not forget Adele. I have two words for her: Power. House. My god that woman can sing.  What I really like about Adele is she's not your wafe of a person. She's real. She's not model thin and she's beautiful. I like that she owns who she is and is appreciative, or seems to be, of everything that has happened to her over the past year. Way to go Adele.  Adele for President.

5. I have no more to say.

On Eating Carrots

I know you won’t believe me, but as I type I’m eating carrots. 

 

I’m not a carrot fan, or rather I wasn’t a carrot fan. And maybe I’m still not a carrot fan, but I am a ranch fan.  And carrots with a ranch chaser…tasty. 

Ranch isn’t the best dressing to use when you’re trying to change the way you eat. But I’m not a big fan of other types of dressings either. And let’s face it, a carrot without a dressing on it…blech.

So in an attempt to make my carrots more tasty and avoid the ladles of calories that come with ranch dressing, I made a low-cal version.

Yes, I know I can buy “lite” ranch. And I’ll repeat, Blech! Someone who came up with a low cal ranch dressing that actually tastes like the other would be a millionaire. I’m sure of it.

Back to my adjustments.  In the great Northwest you can buy a powdered brand called Uncle Dan’s.  Uncle Dan’s was introduced to me by the DadUnit many, many moons ago. We lived in California and couldn’t get Uncle Dan’s. Then every time we visited Washington we’d stock up on Uncle Dan’s.  Now mind you this was before the Internet so ordering online wasn’t an option. How different my suitcase would have been? We stuffed packets of ranch in places packets of ranch shouldn’t be stuffed.

The recipe for making this ranch dressing is the same as most: some type of milk and mayo. Uncle Dan’s specifically calls for buttermilk and mayo.

I found at my grocery story low-fat buttermilk (which is only 98 calories).  I made my Uncle Dan’s with low-fat buttermilk, low-fat mayo, and a scoop of low-fat sour cream. See I like a thicker ranch for dipping. I also added more ranch packets to the mix.  One packet calls for 1c of buttermilk and mayo.  I did 1.5 packets to my 2 cups of cream goodness.  Adds that extra ranchy-ness. And Yum.

I am not a fan of fat-free mayo.  But in a mix like this you can’t even tell.

I couldn’t really figure out how many calories are in this mixture – I mean I could, but I don’t really want to.  I checked MyFitnessPal and Hidden Valley Ranch Salad Dressing made with skim milk and light mayo is 46 calories for 2T.  So I figured my Uncle Dan’s is likely somewhere near there.

The point is, I’m eating carrots.  And choosing carrots, which is even odder for me.

Last night I had a Getting Started Meeting for the 3day. My plan was to, somehow, get in a work out and have dinner before I left for the meeting.  I had to also give myself 45 minutes to get to the meeting in rush hour.

I left work a tad early and headed to the gym, kicking and screaming. I did NOT feel like working out.  I swear on the drive to the gym I had a skinny Jenn dressed with angle wings on one shoulder telling me to go and a fat Jenn wearing red horns on the other telling me to just skip it.  So I compromised. I told myself, I’ll just drive to the gym and see how I feel (see I started bringing my workout clothes with me to work so I didn’t have go home first.). I drove to the gym and parked. I sat in the car for a minute or two trying to get up the energy to just go in.  “Just go into the gym,” I told myself.  Once in the gym I knew I couldn’t turn around.  I changed my clothes and stomped upstairs not at all wanting to work out.  Still I climbed on the elliptical and punched in 20 minutes. I figured if I did 15 of it, I’d get a gold star for just being there.  I ended up doing 20 and felt good.

I’m not going to say that I was happy with doing 20. I was happy that I managed to get there with ALL the talk of the red devil telling me not to.

I headed home, changed my clothes, and went downstairs. It wasn’t quite dinner time yet, but I was hungry. Normally, I’d grab a bag of chips and sit down with my diet coke and “snack”.  This time I opened the fridge and saw the carrots, bright and orange staring at me.  I grabbed them and some Uncle Dan’s and we had a snack.  My appetizer.  Shortly thereafter I decided it was late enough to have dinner and I was off.

A couple things I know to be true now:

1. I can make the right choice.  And making that right choice is WAY easier when you have the right things to choose from. I’m not sure I would have made the same choice if those carrots were sitting next to a bag of chips. 
2. Even on off days, you can still feel good about a lame workout.  I went. I did something.
3. Carrots and ranch are da bomb!

Not Quite What I thought

So 4 weeks down and 5 lbs.  Yes!  I find it hard to believe it has been 4 week since I’ve changed my eating and movement lifestyle.  That time went fast, almost too fast. Blueberry didn't believe me yesterday when I told her it had been 4 weeks.  I had to get the calendar out to prove it.

Last week I hid my scale. It had been sitting unharmed for years in my bathroom right next to the sink.  Dusty old thing.  Then in January I dusted it off and thought it would help motivate me throughout the week. I mean who doesn’t like weighing themselves first thing in the morning, after pee’ing and with no clothing on? It’s the best you weigh all day.  I was only stepping on the little devil on Friday mornings just to give me an idea on how the weigh in would be on Saturday AM.  That little action would often set a tone with me, good or bad, for the day.  Finally last week I decided I didn’t need that.  I would know in my heart if I was doing well or not. 

Turns out last week I did well.

I had inadvertantly been sabotaging myself for a couple of weeks. See, I like a lot of viddles on my salads.  I had carefully checked all the calorie count and decided I wasn't using full servings and so it wouldn't be that big of a deal. And by the individual salad it really wouldn't, but when I was making these "little" salads twice a day all week, those calories add up.

Last week, I took the salads out of the food rotation altogether and focused on just veggies with my meals.  Between that and upping my work outs by 5 more minutes I lost 2.6 lbs. WOOT! (Of course after the weekend I had I may have added some of that back on – sheesh).

The Niece came to stay with me Saturday to spend some quality time with her favorite aunt.  I was 4 weeks behind on some photo assignments and thought since it was sunny and warm out that Sparky, The Niece, Puck and I should head to the beach. So we piled into Sparky, put the top down and off we went. 

These “assignments” from this photography class is really just inspiration lists. Nothing that was "due" per se.  The instructor calls them Treasure Hunts and it’s basically a list of a dozen items to consider photographing. The idea being to get you out of your comfort zone and to try to photograph things you might not normally think to photograph.  The Niece was the  official list holder.  As we walked along Alki she was rattling off items and we’d point and say, “OOOO something fuzzy.”  I’d run over and snap a photo of it.  

 Or she’d yell, “Girl with a funny hat.”

Or “Your feet in the sand”

And then she figured she had to take matters in her own hands and solve the “a heart in your path” item and built this heart with stones.  At which time I said, “You have a heart of stone.” And she just rolled her eyes like any young person would at a bad joke from you aunt.

Finally we had shot just about all we could wandering the beach.  I hadn't had lunch yet and it was WAY past my feeding time, so we headed up to a local place and had some Mexican food.  A dark, scary looking little shack that had pretty darn good food. On the way The Niece says, "A brightly colored popsicle - sort of - its cold at least" and she was pointing at this little gem. 

I asked the mom if I could take the little girls photo before I started shooting and while I was shooting this little girl stood staring off in the other direction, intently paying attention on something.  She never once looked my way and I snapped about a dozen shots of her. 

Sunday The Niece and I were up and out to breakfast at one of my favorite local places, Couzins. 

The Niece ordered chocolate chip pancakes and when this plate of sugar was delivered, she just looked down at it and said, "Well, I'd better dig in."  She was going to be on some kind of sugar high after that meal.  Thankfully she'd be in her car on her way home by the time that high came on and I wouldn't have to deal with the high then crash that would follow.  She headed out after breakfast and headed home.  It was great to spend time with her and just hang with a young lady who has her life mostly figured out.  But I have faith she'll get there and will make the right choices for her and her goals.

Yesterday afternoon was, in case you didn't know, the Superbowl.  I was rooting for the Patriots for no other reason than Drew Bledsoe played for them and he was the quarterback during my stint at WSU.  That and I'm not a Giants fan...Blueberry and the Pantry Goat came over and we sat and yammered on during the game and was silent during the commercials.  Which...were...horrible this year. Man, all that money for a TV ad and that's the best they could come up with? We decided the Doritos commercials were funny as was the VW commercial. Otherwise we figured it was a waste of time. In fact, we only really got interested in the game during the last 4 minutes.  That was when the Pantry Goat says, "So how do they get points?"

Epiphany Nuggets

So far this life style change has been full of what I like to call "epiphany nuggets". These little moments where something finally clicks. Or a moment where you fully understand and are aware of a habit, situation or thought process.  Oprah calls them "Ah-Ha" moments. But that's so 1990's.

For years....YEARS... my day has been consumed with thinking about where my next meal was going come from and when it was going to come.  I've done some deep soul diving in the past to try to figure out why that is. Its not like I was ever hungry as a child.  Sure we didn't have a lot in our family, but I don't remember ever going without food. The MomUnit may have, but us kids never did. Unless if we did, I've blocked that out of my mind.

My life has been about food.  The constant badgering about when I'll be eating again.  As you can imagine, that has played a significant role in how I've kept my girlish figure all these years. (insert heavy sarcasm.)

When I started this new way of eating, I was naive enough to think that I'd no longer have to think about food every waking minute.  That Jenny has it all planned out for me, and that was that. Wash my hands of the subject.

Turns out...I actually think about food WAY more now. 

Its not so much about when am I going to eat again but rather, what I'll be eating.  The planning that has to go into eating healthy is ridiculous. And I do know that one day it won't feel like such an effort, that it'll just be the new reality, but in the meantime, I think about food all .... the.... time....!

I know many people who struggle with the planning part of eating and preparing to eat healthy.  Being a project manager, planning comes easy to me. It's the best part of a project. And I am, afterall, one big project. (Let's hope I can come in on time, under budget, and within scope.) It dawned on me though that not everyone is a planner.  So I figured why not run through what I do.  Maybe it'll help someone. Maybe it'll just be pointless words on a blog. 

It all starts for me on the weekend.  The grocery shopping day.  I have been weighing in and getting my Jenny food on Saturday. I will not, cannot, go grocery shopping after that.  By the time I weigh in I haven't had breakfast and by the time I'm done I'll be hungry. Grocery shopping and hunger are never a good thing.

Once I get home, I sit down with my new menu and start planning.  Now for those of you who aren't on Jenny this would be a good time to sit down and actually plan your meals for the week.  And while this planning is going on, you make a grocery list. What fruits are you going to buy, and how many. What veggies do I want this week? And how many?  Do I need any yogurt this week? And how many?

You get the picture.

Voila.  Half the planning is done.  You have a menu and a grocery list. Now go shopping.

That's the easy part.  The hard part is each day thinking about what your plan is.  Again, I'm find myself thinking about food.  But in a good way.

I know I'll be eating at 8am, 10am, 11am, 1pm, 3pm, 5pm and 8pm today.  The main meals, breakfast, lunch and dinner are taken care of. The in-between meals need thought. 

Then as each day comes to a close, I review everything I've eaten all day and make sure it's been posted to myfitnesspal.com to count my calories and exercise.  Then its thinking about what tomorrow looks like.  I start gathering my meals and snacks for work so that it's all packed and ready to go. Its important for me to do it the night before because I can guarantee you in the morning before coffee, something will be forgotten.

Throughout the day I don't watch the clock. I have reminders set up throughout the day to remind me to eat.  Incidentally, I also use those reminders to get up and walk around or go pee.  It's a great way to break up your day. 

After one meal is done, I think about what my next snack should be. Thankfully, I've surrounded myself with a moat of healthy options. Jenny does provide some of those options, so that makes it a bit easier.

Anyhow, my point is, at the end of the day, I've thought about food ALL day.  My plan to not think about food is nothing but a faded memory.

And here's the thing, I wonder, am I like everyone else who eats healthy?  Is this the "norm" for healthy eating?

The other new thing that I do that just baffles me that I do it, is I now consider, heavily consider, what the calories are for something I'm about to eat.

Let's say, for example, I've had all my food for today and yet I'm still hungry.   I may reach for a 100 calorie snack bar.  In the past I'd just eat it, or two or three. Now, I think about what that means.  And I think, "Is it worth it?" (and more importantly I question whether I'm hungry or bored).  Nine times out of ten I put the bar down.  Its weird. And so not like me.  I even find myself wanting to find out what the calories are for foods in restaurants.  Which, BTW, is sad and scary in and of itself. 

thinking about food, constantly will help drive progress. And progress, after all, is what really drives me.