Schedule of Eating

Heading to Siesta Key, FL on Saturday...Gotta get dinner plans in order. I think we are going to *gasp* SKIP Roys & Flemmings this time...I know, crazy....

Sat night - we dont get in til 11, so no dinner plan.

Sun night - Sangria? TAPAS!!!

Mon night - Mattisons?

Tue night - Galileo? (divine lobster ravioli)

Wed night -

Thur night - Selva Grill? (delish steak)

Fri night - Pizza

Sat night - Sangria?

So, that leaves us with 1 free, night, or optional 2nd night if we only do Sangria once....Or if we skip Mattisons, or if there is some other place Kevin's Dad wants to eat at. Sometimes we eat at this place called "The Waterfront" that isnt bad, but its nothing to write home about. But if he wants to eat there we will. Perhaps they are back to eating at Outback again (oh no!). Lets hope not, although they do have surprisingly yummy grilled lobster and I do ADORE the chop salad there. Hmm....so much to figure out!

Dad Knows

I woke up to a forehead all bumpy! It kinda itches too. There are no new products in play...it is a mystery. Except, from my mom:

"Dad says that is a classic reaction to iodine from seafood. Don't know how he knows that, but that is what he said."

Yes, I ate THREE whole, great big pieces of cold shrimp this weekend (saturday) at my neices birthday party. Normally I limit shrimp to 2. And well, these were quite large.

So what do you think?

Time for another advil...

The Cats

Zoe made a spot for herself.

Morning cleaning.

Zoe using her stairs to get on the bed. Waiting for somebody else to come with though.

I put this bed on the table in the living room last night, so I wouldnt forget to bring it to my parents with me. My brother's cat that is staying with them needs a bed. Anyway, Kai slept in it all night, and is in fact, still there, snoozing away. Might not be brining it to my parents!

New House Color

Have been meaning to post this for a long time! My dad spent many, many, many long hours of his time painting my house late this summer. Not only did he paint it, he scraped all the old paint off, and primed all the bare wood! The garage also got painted, and some new trim board. It was an enormous task that I am grateful to him for doing. The new color is much brighter and more attractive I think, then the previous grayish color that was quite dull. Also I painted my front door a new, vibrant, very satured red which I very much love. In the paint can though it was bright pink, so was a little scary putting on.

I should add I painted the foundation white, and did a lot of the trim/window painting - so I DID contribute!

It probably isnt fair to post a NEW summer photo vs. an OLD early spring photo because of course the old house color looks miserable in its surrounding gray landscape. But at least Mocca is a constant in both!

Take THAT! Weigh Day!

So, I didnt think the whole concept of weighing myself once a week was working. So I have started weighing myself again every day, and it is going MUCH BETTER. I have aleady lost 1 lb since I weighed in on Wed morning! I am hoofing it at Anytime Fitness also! I walked TWO entire miles on thursday night. Though, I didnt do the weights...I dont like those as much because people can LOOK at you, and when you're on the treadmill or one of those other weird things, you are more sorta, in your own world.

Also, I musta over-done it somewhere because my left shoulder has a major pain when I move it a certain way, so that sucks kinds. Probably didnt do enough stretching or something, but this is something that has gotten tweaked in the past for no reason. It'll go away sooner or later.

I have tried to get back more to the "right" thinking of eating and avoiding the overprocessed stuff. I will make up a batch of soup this weekend. Plus since its FREEZING out now, soup is yummier than in summer.

Hopefully it'll be a low-calorie weekend...gonna be tough. But, I have not had any cookies from golden harvest in...hm...Did I have some last weekend? What did I do last weekend....oh yeah, I had some last weekend. So, well, I need to make it through the weekend to have a real breakthrough here. But at least they are not overprocessed icky cookies, but rather yummy, homemade cookies...hmmm...yum.

Weigh Day

For like 4 weeks I have been weighing myself once a week, instead of the daily weighing I had been doing before. I guess all this is doing for me is so that I only feel bad once a week, instead of every day. I gained almost 1 lb in the past week! Now I understand that going to anytime twice this week isnt going to make a mark, and I also understand I have not been eating properly. But still! Yesterday was a food day at work, so that definately didnt help. I need to get back to what worked for me...

That was making veggie based soup and eating it for lunch, making a veggie pizza on whole wheat crust with no cheese and eating it for dinner. Also, drinking wine instead of cosmos, or chocolate martinis. I really need to try to get back to that. Probably I should get the book out again (YOU on a diet) and re-read it and get back on that wagon. I have spiraled back towards processed foods and not paying real attention to the sugar content of foods, etc. I took a bowl of soup out of the freezer, with the intention of eating it for lunch! Maybe tonight I will go buy some salad, and eat that instead of some processed, frozen meal like I have been doing lately. And stay away from the little bits of candy at work...

Day 2

This was my second day in a row at Anytime Fitness. It is going pretty well. I had to invest in an iPod so as to have interesting stuff to listen to, and appear as though I am occupied, and please do not speak to me, leave me alone thank you.

I LOVE MY IPOD!

A podcast is a miracle! Podcasts, podcasts, podcasts, podcasts! Fun fun fun. I was even listening to some at work today which was cool. Although I dont think I can do that all the time, only when I am doing something moderately mindless.

I did all the machines both nights, and monday I walked 1 mile, and tonight I walked 1.5 miles. I did an extra round on the arm machines monday, but not tonight. I dont want to overdo it on things like that too much! So we'll see, if I make it to day 3. Then I am good for the week and dont have to go more, unless I want to of course.

Agility results

REGISTERED NAME
Mocca

AKC NUMBER
ILP158825

CALL NAME
Mocca

STD TRIAL
NOV P
Qualification
QUALIFIED
Standard Time/Yards
72.00
139.00
Recorded Time
52.36
Recorded Score
100
Placement
2

JWW TRIAL DATA
NOV P
Qualification
QUALIFIED
Standard
43.00
114.00
Time/Yards
Recorded Time
31.16
Recorded Score
100
Placement
1

(9 minutes, better go!)

.....

15, no, make that 14 minutes until my "orientation" at Anytime Fitness! I am seriously nervous, which is lame, I know. 13 minutes. I cant help it. Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugghhhh. I know that once I am there, and going, it will be fine, but I have to get there first, and there is 13 minutes in the way.

I am thinking I need some sort of iPod or something. I dont know anything about them though; I sent out a help email to some people who I think are in the know. I felt old, not knowing anything. I better get with the program!

12 minutes!

The Consequences of Video

This weekend was our 1st Agility trial. My mom, dad, kevin and jeff/tanja/kids all came to watch. Jeff & Tanja brought their video camera. I was able to watch both of my runs with Mocca which was very cool, and they are going to burn it to a DVD to me once they get things set up. The important part here is that I was able to see myself running around the arena. This was quite disconcerting.

So, Monday after work I gathered my strength, with a little help from my brother Terry, and walked into "Anytime Fitness".

Now I am comitted. I paid the guy $60 to sign up with all the fees, etc., and another $35 a month. So, I have to go now, I paid the guy! I certainly cant flush $60 down the toilet, when I wont even turn my heat past 65 due to fuel oil prices.

I hope this works. I am just so done with my current weight, and fitness. Terry says my muscles are probably in atrophy. I do run in Agility class! And I did Curves there for awhile a couple years ago...The guy at Anytime Fitness was cool, I liked him a lot, so that was good. I do not like people watching me exercise. I must get over this.

Tomorrow is my official "orientation" at 6:30. siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigggghhhhhhhhhhhh

Melissa Vs. Subway Part II

Wow, so get this. I had a message on my answering machine when I got home from work tonight. I expected some lame telemarketer, but to my suprise, it was the manager of the Subway in town I had complained to the Subway.com website about! She would like me to call her so she can explain their policies.

Of course I am not going to call, are these people insane? For crying out loud, who would actually CALL somebody! Not only that, but she called twice, because the first time she forgot to leave the phone number!

I give them credit for following up, I am very impressed with that. I think I am avoiding Subway though for awhile, I am not too excited by their subs anymore. There is a mom & pop place in town that has good subs, with less bready-bread and more meat!

The Sheet Saga

Kevin & I once bought this set of sheets when we were in Sarasota, on vacation. We bought them at Steinmart. These turned out to be the Best Sheets Ever. They are soft, smooth, silky! It is like a dream being ensconced in them! Sadly, this was about 3 years ago, and they have since been worn down to not much. We would wash them, and put them back on, forgoing all other sheets.

Now we have a sheet problem. We cannot find another set of sheets like these sheets! I have a set of sheets that came from JCPenney a couple years ago that come very close, and would be a good substitute I think, but I dont know what type they are.

We keep buying "soft" sheets, only to find them not quite good enough, or worse, scratchy. We have bought 5000 thread count sheets (feels like sleeping on denim, but will be with us until the end fo time because they are quite certainly indestructable), we have bought 200 thread count sheets (wonderfully soft for 2 washes, pilled up after 3), we have bought other in-between sheets. None will do!

The last set I bought was from Kohls - by Vera Wang. They are "OK". They'll do in a pinch, or when there is nothing else. I also bought a 1000tc set of "luxury" sheets from Kohls last weekend, and while I do like them, HOLY SMOKES they are so thick, we both sweated the night away they were so hot! Good winter sheets I think, they have light courderoy type texture which is strange, but soft. But only in the dead of winter.

So, does anybody out there have good sheets? I need SOFT, SILKY sheets. No scratchy! Scratchy bad!

I wonder if other people spend as much time obsessing about sheets?

Melissa vs. Subway

Okay so when I go to Subway, I get a 6" honey oat with turkey. no cheese.

Lately, I want more protein, so I get extra meat. This costs $1.00 more. Not worth it really, but I do it anyway. I mean really, are those 3 measly pieces they put on worth $1.00??

I spy on the menu that extra cheese costs $.30. Extra meat costs $1.00. So, if I get no cheese, and extra meat, I should only get charged $.60. Right? Silly me. Here is the conversation today with the poor person at checkout. Mind you, I had to be extra nice because a co-worker happened to be next in line. Normally, I probably wouldnt have been so nice.

Subway: Super Turkey? Anything else?
Me: No. That has no cheese, also.
Subway: Yes, it says Super Turkey. I know.
Me: No, I mean no cheese so please take that off the price.
Subway: Sorry, that is not our policy.
Me: Well if I dont get the cheese, you dont take that off the price? But if I get extra, you add it?
Subway: Yep, sorry...we dont make the rules.
Me: *laugh to try to be nice, but really annoyed* Ah well, I'll have to go the top, huh? the big wigs!
Subway: *laugh, cuz she doesnt know how annoyed I am* Oh yes! Sorry
Me: Oh well, thanks!

Next time I think I will get no cheese, then EXTRA cheese. Do you think they will charge me $.30 extra for the extra cheese!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lost 1 lb

Okay so I didnt weigh myself for a whole week, and the scale said I lost 1 whole lb, so that is good. If I do the same next week, that is 2 lbs! Then 3, then 4, then 5...and before you know it, that 20 will be gone that I lost before, right? Riiighttt.

New Show Review: Fringe

I just got done watching the new show on FOX called "Fringe". It is by the guy who does Lost, and did Alias -J.J. Abrams. I loved it.

It's cool how it is sorta X-Files-ish, but not so much of the alien part. I liked the characters - I think there is a good mix there and lots of potential. I especially like the professor scientist old guy, and then his son (Joshua Jackson, "Pacy" from Dawson's Creek). I really enjoyed them. The whole skin dissapearing thing was a little bit much to believe, but I guess I can let it slide as it is well, fiction. The twist at the end was particularily interesting & I think will be going lots of fun places.

Overall, definately DVR this baby. It is a keeper - we'll see if it keeps me all season. Sometimes I get hooked on the 1st couple, then I die off. Looks good so far.

Psst - dont watch the previews for the season if you are contemplating having a baby. ewe!

Scales. The weighing kind.

I decided to stop weighing myself every single morning of every single day of the week. Instead, I will only weigh myself on Wednesday morning. Tomorrow is wednesday! So it will be a whole, entire week that I havent weighed myself. This is quite something. I had to really hold back, it was difficult. I wonder if it will make a difference. We'll see in the morning. I doubt it. I feel quite fat.

Finally mowing my lawn. Though I ran out of gas, literally, so now that is an issue. Generally it is not wise to stop mowing once I start. This should be the last time I have to mow the lawn, right?

I added a second coat of paint on the storm door window - this is the one I had previously ALREADY applied 4-5 coats of paint on, only to realize I painted the sides backwards. Now I have to paint the white "cherry cobbler" and the "cherry cobbler" white......ugh. Worst part is my dad noticed, and didnt say anything! I guess he thought I was doing it on purpose.

My friend Jared's wife's blog had a picture of pregnancy stick showing POSITIVE on it yesterday, and that was it. LOL. I think she has a flair for the dramatic! Guess it'll be #4 for Jared. Maybe this time it'll be a BOY.

Oh, Kevin has been gone to a conference since last Wednesday, then he was back briefly monday, and then left this morning (tuesday) for L.A. and will be back very late on Saturday, all of which sucks. For me, anyway!

This 'n That

Item 1:
My uncle recently was greeted by somebody who shook his hand with 2 hands. You know, a regular handshake, but then she also used her other hand to cover the other side of his hand. We wondered what this meant, so we looked it up:

Typically your greeter will offer a hand palm up and before shaking starts the second hand sandwiches yours. Sometimes given to show empathy as with the loss of a loved one.
It is also given when wanting to demonstrate concern or to convey that you’re with a caring individual. It seems to be a favorite of politicians.
It conveys familiarity. Do not use it unless you are close to the individual you do it with, you want to leave a bad impression or you are a politician.

Item 2:
Do not watch "I am Legend". I despised this movie greatly, and do not recommend it one bit. Stay away. It is not worth anybody's time and a dreadful movie.

Toilet-less

My toilet has had a slow leak, at the base, something to do with the "seal". I dont know much about toilets. My dad came down yesterday to install the new, "Toilet in a Box" he bought at Menards for me. If only more dad's would buy their children toilets!

Anyway, apparently there was a lot of rot under the toilet, and some scary times when my dad considered putting linoleum under just the 5 boards he had to remove...oh boy. Thankfully, I convinced him to look around a little, and he found a custom flooring place just up the road and was able to find boards the same size as mine. Crisis averted!

Only now, there was not enough time yesterday to install the toilet. So now, I have no toilet. Well, I have a NEW toilet in the front porch, waiting to be installed. And, I have an OLD toilet sitting in my front yard. I wonder why he decided the front yard was the right place for the old toilet?

Of course...I have to go to the bathroom!

An Acorn & That Song

This morning, as I was walking from my car to work, I looked up at this oak tree that skirts the side of the parking lot. The moment I looked up, an acorn fell.

Have you heard that "new" song that plays incessently now by some chick...Katy something. "I Kissed a Girl" is the song. She did in a funky new way, but does anybody remember the ORIGINAL "I Kissed a Girl" - I dont know the specific year, but I was in college, so it was in the early 90's! Jill Sobule. Loved her....! Had the CD and everything. Wonder where that went.

Recipe: Roast Garlic & Tomato Soup

Makes 7 quarts
Start to finish = 15 minutes
Prep = 5 minutes

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Ingredients:
9 Tbls + 1 tsp olive oil
18 cloves minced garlic
6 quarts tomato juice
48 oz. crushed tomatoes
3 Tbls + 1 tsp paprika
1 cup sweet vermouth

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Directions:
Saute the garlic in olive oil very briefly, taking care not to brown it. Stir in the paprika and saute for another minute, stirring continuously, and taking care that it doesnt scorch.

Stire in the tomato juice and crushed tomatoes and bring to a boil; reduce heat and add vermouth. Simmer 5 to 10 minutes.

Optional: Garnish with parmesan and croutons.

Variations: Add cooked garbanzo beans and garnish with shredded feta cheese and chopped parsley. Or - add tabasco and garnish with shredded cheddar cheese and tortilla chips.

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I make this soup all winter long. Every fall I bring a batch to work and every absolutely RAVES about it. It is SERIOUSLY easy to make and tastes delicious - this is coming from somebody who DOES NOT LIKE tomato soup. But I LOVE this soup.

....courtesy Yo-Cones Recipe Book, Sara Basso