So Close!!!

Starting Weight: 175.9 lbs
Last Week: 166.2

New Weight: 166.0
Loss for the Week: 0.2
Total Loss: 9.9 lbs.

Are you kidding me?

This article makes me absolutely crazy mad.

How in the world can you blame Elizabeth Edwards for not making her husband's affair public? Are you kidding me? She didn't tell becuase she knew that her PRIVATE, FAMILY matter would be spread all across the news and analyzed, and exploited! The 24-hour news stations love a good story because they a-l-w-a-y-s need something to talk about. Well, this story didn't belong to them, it belonged to her. Yes, an affair says an awful lot about someone's character, but get real - there are plenty of people in this world who have skeletons in their closet, and plenty of them have held public office. This wasn't our story - it was hers. Just because you have decided to give your life to public service does not mean that your private life becomes everyone else's business. This woman knows that she will die of cancer far before her time, and still works as a champion for health care and is a fine example of an American woman. His affair and her ability to mend the damage to their marriage says so much about her character. Shame on those who would blame her for keeping her private life private!

Quiet Weekend...

Matt scheduled a softball scrimmage on Friday afternoon so I enjoyed a long workout after work before heading home. After we both got home, we decided to head up to Tanner's for some Keno and good food. I've always enjoyed Tanner's atmosphere, but hated the fact that smoking was still allowed inside because they had Keno. So, even when Omaha went smoke-free, Tanner's was not yet. However, it is now completely smoke-free and I can go again without walking out smelling like an ashtray and feeling like I inhaled a bunch of smoke. Given that we hardly saw each other last week, it was nice to sit around and play quarter Keno and enjoy a great cheeseburger. We also watched the Olympics (men's platform diving) on the big-screen.

Yesterday we headed to the Farmer's Market for a very productive shopping trip. We picked up an eggplant that looks incredible, some frozen tamales, a couple of tomatoes, some homeade salsa, and a new chalkboard to hang right outside of our kitchen. We have been looking for something to hang on the wall below our stairs as it is kind of a random space and not suited for a pictures or anything like that. However, the chalkboard will be perfect in that location.

We spent some time last evening at Lowe's purchasing supplies for a project we will be working on in the coming weeks in our guest room. We had all of the instructions, but still had to wander around looking for all of the supplies. Perhaps someone can explain to me why different wood products are sold in different lengths. We had to purchase 1X2's and 1X3's in 8 foot length pieces, and then two other products we needed in 7ft long pieces and 10 ft long pieces. However the walls we will be using all of the products on are 8 3/4ft long and 10 ft long. Luckily, Matt thinks he can ask the shop teacher at school to cut all of the wood for us as we do not have any sort of saw that will cut it nicely. Hopefully, we can get it cut this week and then work on the project over the long weekend.

Today, we decided to make some pulled pork for sandwiches for this week. We have done this many times before in the slow cooker, but have always covered the pork in BBQ sauce when cooking. We decided this time to cover the pork in root beer when cooking it. We started the pork this morning and let it cook on low all day. I made potato casserole and then pulled the pork, added some BBQ sauce, and enjoyed. It was really good! Matt and I were not really sure what we would think of the root beer, but it provided just a little bit of sweetness and was almost like cooking the pork in a thin molasses. And the best part is that we have pulled pork to eat for the next couple of days.

We enjoyed a quite day at home today. We only left to go work out before lunch. Matt mowed the lawn and I did some laundry, but it was nice to enjoy a quiet day alone. Matt will get busier with softball in the next couple of weeks (he has two tournaments next weekend alone) and then in mid-September I begin traveling, so we are enjoying some time together now.

I'm headed to bed - it is supposed to get into the low 50s overnight so we are planning to turn the AC off and open up the windows!! I love this time of year!

Close!

Starting Weight: 175.9 lbs

Last Week: 168.1

New Weight: 166.2

Loss for the Week: 1.9

Total Loss: 9.7 lbs.

I'm loving the Olympics, but they have been exhausting me. Interestingly enough, NBC actually did a report about how Americans are exhausted during these Olympics because they have been staying up late to watch. It is, however, impossible to not want to watch Michael Phelps race for one more gold medal or watch Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin complete for an American 1-2 in the Women's Gymnastics All-Around. I've been better in the last few days of just going to bed and catching the details in the morning but it was killing me last week. We have moved onto lots of track and field, which I will definitely watch but I am not as "into" as I was swimming. I do, however, hope to catch Misty May and Kerri Walsh play for gold in beach volleyball.

This past weekend was semi-busy, and semi-relaxing for us. Lisa and Louie joined us Friday night for some Olympics, crocheting, and Valentino's. We had a good time just hanging out. Louie entertained us for much of the evening. I slept in on Saturday, which was great. Then Matt and I went to work out, I came home and ate lunch, and then planned to go to Barnes and Noble for awhile. However, I feel asleep after taking a shower and ended up napping for awhile. Needless to say, I never made it to B&N. We headed to Mackenzxie's graduation party on Saturday night and enjoyed some BBQ, drinks,k and good times with her friends and family.

Sunday we headed to CB for lunch with my aunt Sarah, who was in town for the weekend. I had seen her on Friday when Sarah and I joined her and mom my for lunch at M's, but Matt hadn't seen her and neither had my dad. We ended up sitting around talking for about 3 hours! Despite sleeping in both Saturday and Sunday morning, I was tired the whole weekend so we didn't do much else.

This week has been busy. Most of our students started Welcome Week yesterday so it was a busy day of dealing with transcripts, provisions, and making sure that everyone made it to campus - which they did!

I spent this afternoon at the Girl Scout office in CB doing service projects with some of our new students. They do interdisciplinary service projects every year and this year they invited faculty and staff to join them. I accompanied 13 students to the GS office and we cut out foam masks for the Mardi Gras celebration they are having in a few weeks, and other painted toilet paper rolls they will use to make instruments. Part of our group sanded and refinished incredible wood front-door of the office. It was an incredible experience and I am very grateful to have had the chance to spend time with our students.

Starting Weight: 175.9 lbs
Last Week: 168.1
New Weight: 168.9 lbs

Gain for the Week: 0.7 lbs
Total Loss: 7 lbs

I'm not surprised nor discouraged. I haven't had a week of gain yet, and at some point my body needed to "freak out" a little about my consistant loss. I've also been craving salt like crazy lately, so I think I'm retaining water.

Simplify

I've felt the urge lately to majorly simplify my life. It started with simplifying my diet and starting a work-out routine that has now become a true routine. I started going through my closet the other day and pulled out a bunch of clothes I haven't worn in awhile and some that I just don't like anymore and add them to my goodwill box. I think this stems from an intense desire to eliminate things in my life that are unnecessary and sometimes stressful. My work is stressful at times, and traveling can be incredibly stressful - so my home life should be less stressful.

A couple of weeks ago I did not think we had anything planned this weekend and all of a sudden it is very full Mackenzie graduates on Friday and we will be attending her graduation/belated birthday party on Saturday. I'm excited for the chance to hang out and relax with my co-workers outside of work. We had a mini-celebration for her at work today and it was really fun. I threw together some great bruschetta - perfect this time of year because of our good tomatoes! Sarah is in town this weekend as well. She arrived today but headed to Storm Lake to see family and then will head to Maryville to see Steve, Wendy and the kids on Saturday. My guess is we will end up in CB again on Sunday for lunch - probably Barley's. It will be our second day in a row in CB (Mackenzie lives there as well) and the second weekend in a row will be there as well. However, I'm looking forward to the party and very much looking forward to seeing Sarah.

Wonderful

The wonderful smell of homemade banana bread in the oven is filling my house right now. Matt and I had some bananas that had moved beyond the edible point so I whipped up some banana bread for him while he was at the softball coach's meeting tonight. I'm not a huge fan of banana bread, but the smell filling my house right now is pretty incredible. I'm excited to see how the recipe turns out because it is a new one and I was intrigued because it includes plain yogurt. I guess we will know soon how it turns out.

I stayed home from work today. I woke up at about 4am this morning and felt like I was going to be sick. I never actually got sick, but I still wasn't feeling 100% when my alarm went off at 6am. Stephanie is 38 weeks pregnant and we have an agreement in our office that we will not come to work if we are sick, so I called in. The last thing I want to do is give Stephanie the stomach flu or something like that. The good news is I don't think I have the stomach flu, but I still don't know why my stomach was so upset in the middle of the night.

Matt and I spent Friday night watching the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. We decided to enjoy some Chinese food to keep with the theme of the evening and then spent the evening ohhing and ahhing over the opening ceremonies. I'm a huge sucker for the Olympic Games and I usually enjoy the opening ceremonies even though some people find them boring. Friday night's ceremonies did not disappoint. The Chinese put on a wonderful show for the world and it was fantastic to see all of the athletes together for the Olympics again.

As a Olympic junkie I've been pretty attached to the television for the last couple of days. However, a DVR is an Olympic junkie's best friend - as long as you can keep up with watching. The US women's basketball team played during my workout on Saturday morning (beating China handedly) and I tried to stay caught up until I picked up my mom for some shopping on Saturday afternoon. I was in desperate need of a new work shoes - both winter and summer and I managed to find a pair of each at Yonkers on Saturday and only spent $55! I found several items at Pottery Barn I could have purchased on the spot, but held off for the time being.

After shopping I came home, watched a little more of the Olympics and then Matt and I headed to Becky and Dan's for their annual fiesta. It was a little tamer this year that it has in the past and we had a great time chatting with them, Becky's mom and playing with Josie - their chihuhua who was absolutely thrilled with all the people at her house (insert sarcasm here). Poor Josie. Interestingly enough - it was the tamest fiesta I have been to, but apparently the cops paid them a visit after we left. Isn't that how it always goes?

Yesterday, my family attended Flip's memorial service. Flip's wife Kathleen, his daughter Rachael, and sister Phyllis all traveled up from Kentucky for the service and it was nice to see them. Ron's brother Richard also attended and while I've heard many stories about him, I had never met him before. We got the chance to laugh and share stories about Ron and his life. And, as would be fitting, we ended the evening at Pizza King in CB, which was Ron's absolutely favorite. I don't think he ever returned to the area without visiting Pizza King.

Matt and I are currently wtching the US Mens' Gymnastics Team in the team competition. Holy Cow! They totally rocked it on the high bar! I love when the underdog succeeds!

I walked into the gym tonight ready to accept the consequences of a weekend letting myself go a little. I didn't work in gym time this weekend and probably should have. I also didn't watch what I ate the entire weekend ( I definitely enjoyed a piece of choclate pecan pie and some homemade ice cream). However I ended up getting a pleasant surprise when I checked my weight. I'm not taking the numbers for granted. I am absolutely keeping in mind that my weight loss is a long term commitment, but that in the long run I need to learn how to have a "fun" weekend, and then get right back to it.

Starting Weight: 175.9 lbs

Last Week: 168.1

New Weight: 167.3 lbs
Loss for the Week: 0.8

Total Loss: 8.6 lbs

I would love to break 10 lbs this week and I think I might be able to do it. While I am far more interested in how I feel, how my clothes fit, how healthy I am - losing 10 lbs. is still a milestone and I'll be happy to get there.

Weekend Recovery...

My houseguests have left and I have finally recovered from the weekend and have time to update. I got up early on Friday morning and headed for some pampering and a pedicure. It was absolutely wonderful. I have extremely ticklish feet and some parts of a pedicure are torture for me, but the scrubber that the girl I go to uses is really gentle and doesn't tickle at all. So, it was an hour of pure relaxation and a great way to start my day. Then I headed to HyVee, grabbed a decaf, non-fat iced caramel macchiato, and picked up all the items I needed for my salad and dessert for Friday night. Well - everything except for a yellow pepper, which looked horrible at HyVee so I had Matt pick one up for me at Target.

I spent all of last week craving chocolate pecan pie (which is strange considering that I had never had chocolate pecan pie before) so I decided to give it a try for dessert of Friday. The recipe for the pie was fairly easy, but I wanted to try making homemade pie crust for the first time. I checked several different recipes before finding one I felt comfortable with and gave it a try. I found it to be easier than I expected and will likely never buy pie crust again. The crust turned out flaky, buttery, and really good - and the filling wasn't bad either. I also made lemon bars and Matt made homemade vanilla ice cream. I was really excited about trying a salad recipe I found with lettuce, red pepper, yellow pepper, onions, artichokes, blue cheese, and a really good viniagrette dressing. It turned out really well and I'll definitely keep it on my list to make again. The artichokes and blue cheese made a really interesting flavor combination.

My mom's birthday party was a big success. It was a fairly small party, just my family, the Hoodys and the Witters. Matt's parents decided to not attend so Matt and his brother came over for a little while, but left before we ate. Brenda got her new fridge delivered about 2.5 hours before everyone was scheduled to arrive. Her old one had slowly been losing the ability to keep cold. Brenda felt that the situation was likely aggravated by the fact that they lost power in the storm in June and the fact that their fridge was over 20 years old. I headed over early to help her set up as her afternoon was a little topsy-turvy. We enjoyed great food (including fabulous bruchetta from a local Italian take-out place that I will be visiting soon!), with great friends. I didn't arrive home until almost midnight!

We got up early on Saturday morning and headed to the Farmer's Market with Matt's folks. I don't know what they really thought of it, but I enjoyed it as always. I picked up some fresh sweet basil, fantastic tomatoes, green beans, and we picked up some of the pre-made enchiladas that we love to keep on hand because they are easy to warm up when we don't feel like cooking. We grabbed some breakfast at the Parthenon. I had an elephant ear that was perfect - flaky, sweet, wonderful. I also enjoyed a fantastic cup of homemade root beer.

The farmer's market was really our only excitement during the rest of Matt's parents visit. We cooked them dinner on Saturday night and my parents joined us for dessert. Then we took them to Summer Kitchen Cafe for a great Sunday morning breakfast. They left soon after breakfast and then my mom, Sarah, and I took my grandma to see Momma Mia! It was a cute movie and I think Grandma enjoyed it.

Work has been crazy the past two days. I've received more emails than I can keep up with and I am trying to get everything set for travel this fall. There are just not enough hours in the day. I'm hoping to get completely caught up tomorrow, but I will likely have to shut myself in my office to make that happen.