Quest for doing something new...

Okay so, I really want to do new things, broaden my MIND so to speak.  Husband and I are going to the Lake Villa Civil War reenactment of Bull Run. http://www.lakevillahistory.org/services.aspx  The day looks packed with stuff to do and then that night we are going to spend an evening with the Lincoln's, yes THE Lincoln's.

It sounds kind of geeky but I've never seen a cicil war reenactment, well except for on TV on some murder mystery show where someone actually get shot with a real bullet....and you know the rest...

It is so fun to be able to go and walk around and see things.  (Husband has not been able to walk around leisurely for many years...and since his surgery we can walk and enjoy all kinds of things.) This past weekend we went to the Wilmot Flea Market...which is a giant garage sale.  There weren't many new product vendors mostly people selling used stuff.    I didn't bring any cash with me because I really didn't need to buy anything but I saw some great antique glass mason jars and some neat wine bottles.  It was fun to just spend time together.

This weekend is the baggo tournament at KC's Cabin http://www.kcscabin.com/ for ROAR (Roll Over Animal Rescue).  Jeff and I aren't very good so I'm sure we'll be knocked out in the first round.  But that is ok...what fun..hopefully the weather holds.

I have a painter coming to give me an estimate on painting the inside main areas of the house, carpet measuring guy coming this week as well.  Two things that, besides my horrendous kitchen, need to get done sooner rather than later.  All very exciting.  Just have to remember to get out of here on time to get there for the painter guy.

I just had chicken chili for lunch....brrrp.....

Today IS Monday..

Well it was definitely a Monday.  It seemed to take forever for 4PM to come but then of course it snuck up on me and I wasn't ready for it.  Pathetic.

I ate okay but still need to do better....mainly because the only reason I didn't eat more for breakfast was because I didn't have time.

REALLY you say, yes really.  Isn't that ridiculous?  I think so. 

For dinner I had a turkey burger not on a bun but wrapped in lettuce, which was okay actually, surprisingly really.  I didn't miss the bun at all.

I also walked when i got home, I ran about 1/4 of the distance but my knee kept hurting.   It has to be the way my foot is striking the ground I'll hopefully figure it out since I would like to run more than walk.   I do not think I can run hitting with my mid food, I think that may have been it....

My son wants to take martial arts...but which one?  I mean seriously, there are a million different kinds of martial arts and I am trying to figure it all out but..they are all cool.  Which one is the best to start off with?  Which one is the best for a sedentary 12 year old to start out with?  I don't want him to get discouraged.. ..

I have been taking a lot of photo's lately, I have a waterproof little digital camera.  I know it's not ideal but I want something that when I am out on the kayak i can take with and not be spastic about getting it wet.  So that is what I bought, I can put this one under water up to 10 feet...very fun.  I wish it were better on land..but I am not completely disillusioned thinking that it is all the camera, it is definitely the operator.

Probably MOSTLY the operator. 

So many things so little time...I mean I like the blogging, I want to workout more and cook more and kayak more and go out more and.. and... and.. sigh.  There is never enough hours in the day.  Why is that? 

Fall is coming..

This year I've decided to can some apples....we love to go to the orchard and pick a ton of apples and desert is okay but i want something that i can have for more than just those few weeks.  SO i am going to make apple sauce and apple butter...as well as preserved apples.  I think apple butter might be a great gift for the holidays!!

In searching for the perfect apple for those items...I find that it is all a personal perspective.  I think I will go for sweet apples this time to make the butter so that I don't have to add so much sugar.  We will see how that goes for me.   It will be my first cooking experience I will put in my blog.

I will say that, it fascinates me what I can learn to do on the Internet.  What I think is sad is that well those things that used to be handed down through generations is now.... there for all... from people we don't know.  So I find myself wondering what my legacy is to my children?  My grandma taught me to make bacon bread and kilbasa from scratch, my mom showed me how to decorate and entertain with style and on a budget.  I guess time will tell.

FRIDAY DANCE

It's Friday...some say the best day of the week.  Why is that?  Is it just because some don't have to work for the next two days...and I use work loosely because us weekdayers go to work during the week but then stay home and work around the house all weekend therefore never really have a day of NO work.  Is working around the house more enjoyable than working at my office....um I'm not so sure I think that is true..I hate to clean more than I hate to file.

Is it scary that I put a measuring spoon in my purse this morning?  I'm starting to get really serious about what and how much goes into my gullet....especially the stuff I know is making it and my butt bigger.  I measured the sugar that I put in my coffee in the morning here at work 5 teaspoons YIPES!!!  I cut it back to three this morning, which is still 6 of those little paper packets.  So my teaspoon has become my friend.  I will carry her with me wherever I go.

Tonight will be movie in the back yard night.   I am bringing home my work projector and we will project movies on the back of the house while we have a bon fire and a few adult beverages (the kids will have juice).  FUN...I love this time of year when the weather is cooler at night and you can enjoy an evening outside.   We even have smores and left over fireworks from the 4th of July!!  YEAH.

Again today....

I walked.....

I ate the frozen breaded chicken in the freezer..added an iced coffee to boot..

I don't think it's bad chicken any more, I cut up the chicken strips put them in a pita with
some lettuce, onion and bbq sauce!!  It was far more delightful than i had anticipated frozen breaded chicken to be......

1 day down...REALLY?

Really, day one, I've been trying to do this for oh I dunno 1200 days!!!!  No time like the present to start though huh?

I would like to proclaim yesterday a success, I stayed on track, kept my hands out of the M&M's and I worked out for 30 minutes....that is a very successful day. 
Dinner tonight may prove to be a challenge because I didn't plan, I didn't really plan yesterday either but I had pulled out ground turkey so I made turkey taco's....is that planning?  I had a taco salad with salsa as the dressing.  Tonight I haven't pulled anything out...so it could be an issue if I resort to some sort of frozen, breaded meat. 

Yes I know that shouldn't be in my freezer to begin with.  But look how pretty it looks in the picture....







I have found a free app on line and it has an app for my iPhone so I am able to track everything I eat, when I eat it and exercise when I do it.  Here is the link to my page:  http://www.myfitnesspal.com/ .  It is a nifty site, when I end each day the program calculates how much I would weigh in 5 weeks if every day were the same as that one...  So on a great day I can see how the weight will come off.  Again nifty little site.

I do think I like blogging..let's see how creative I'll get.  I'm trying to add additional pages by topic, so if i'm writing about the kids one day...then dieting the next they aren't all jumbled together...I haven't figure it out yet...as you can see from the main page ... KIDS just has picts of my kids.  I'll get there.

The scale and bullying...

For pete sake got on the scale this morning...about cried.  I know why I'm gaining weight so why am I so screwed up that I can't stop doing the things that are bad for me.  Okay I CAN stop right...it's called will power or resolve or plain old self control.   Geez seems like I have none of those things.   Okay so today has been really good so far, I think the key is to eat consistently throughout the day, not all at once.  So we are going to try that approach.  I'll let you know how that turns out...

I missed book club last night because I didn't feel good ... the next one is at my house which is my motivation to get my butt in gear and get some stuff done around the house.  Like the carpet on the stairs for sure!!!  So I am excited about that.... I like to entertain, but haven't done it in forever because i really don't like my house right now.... my kitchen is a pit and needs to be redone, maybe I'll post some pictures and you can see what i mean.

The copier and i have already had a run in today.  Technology can really complicate your life some times ... and over the dumbest stuff, copies seems like an easy thing right yah...ok whatever.  I've spent my whole morning screwing with the copy machines..ugh...so much for time savers.

Bullying...Mean Children....I would like to touch on the subject.  I know that all kids, even mine say things in the heat of the moment and are definitely influenced by the kids around them (mob mentality)...even if they don't like the ones around them.  Some boy called my son a "faggot" ... I mean really!!!  It was because he couldn't do a push up, now my answer to that is that RJ has got to change his behavior if he doesn't like being called names because he can't do something....but then i think about it, now granted he needs to be healthier and he needs to exercise but why should he do it because someone else is an asshole?  But then I think about it some more..and believe that we are usually motivated by fitting in and by conforming right?    Sigh...so do i push him to exercise and learn to do a push up and be more FIT so that he doesn't have to endure this type of scrutiny and meanness ??  and then I think some more, and I think he gets picked on because he is sensitive and he is not going to react, he even said he wanted to punch the kid in the face...but he just walked away and then internalized the way he felt.  So by helping him to learn to do a push up and be more fit is only going to make one problem go away and another one pop up, some kids are mean and will find any reason they can to tease someone and hurt their feelings.  What does a parent do?  How do we help our kids figure out how to deal with these things?  I mean it really doesn't go away does it?  Adults do it, I chose not to hang with those types of adults and they are usually not as brazen as children are and only say things about you behind your back.....sigh....where are the answers? 

So seriously...

It's been weeks since I blogged...as an administrative assistant that is disappointing since i feel like this is something I want to do.  So, attempt 600...something always seems to get in the way..usually the TV or a glass of wine.  Onward....

Today it is stormy outside and in.....work is awesome although there are "things" happening around here and as always it's a business there are always "things" happening.  Which is why I like what I do so much.  So many administrative assistants feel they have to move on to something bigger and better, WHY?  I love what i do because I get paid to do and get involved in the things that really interest me.  If I want to be part of a project or a team..I just ask, there is always a need for someone to help the group make decisions, contribute ideas and perspective.  I also work for the best group of guys a girl could ask for.....they are considerate and do what they are told without argument or wining...  So as a control type person this works out well for me all the way around.   I get to understand all aspects of business, I also get to participate in the vision and execution of that vision which is really awesome to be a part of.

Tonight is book club too....I didn't read the book in its entirety, I'm not sure I'll add much to the conversation this evening.  I'm wondering if I shouldn't attend.....but I would like to hear what everyone else thought of the book, was it just me and my short attention span that didn't like the book or found it difficult to get throughout?  Maybe if I hear others talk about how great it was and how the ending was awesome...I could pick up the book again....we shall see I suppose.

All in all I don't seem to be doing well with consistency....(even my typing in this blog is inconsistent) something I am working on as i am writing this.  I am going to be consistent in my blog and what I write about in my blog.  I think an administrative assistant blog is necessary it's not JUST a stepping stone to better things.  It can be a career, a long and fulfilling career and I intend to prove it.