Friday afternoon salad break

March 27, 2009 at 4:03 pm (Day to Day, EFS) (, , , , , , , , )

That’ a bad headline, but I  have to hurry. I am taking advantage of the no-car thing and trying to do stuff that I SHOULD have been doing all along. Things like dusting, vacuuming, laundering, bathroom cleaning, baking, purging old papers, clothes, crap stored in drawers and on table tops, that I could have just threw out in the first place…but mostly cleaning. I am a terrible housekeeper. I dust, like, never. I have cobwebs in all the corners, and I should vacuum 5 times more than I do. I even have the very awesome Dyson Ball Vacuum. I love it. It is so easy to use and picks up so much dirt off the floor its like it’s vacuuming stuff up from UNDER the house! Maybe not, but it is fun to use.

So it’s Day 3 of Week 2/ EFS. Not doing bad, been busy so its easy to not eat. I just made a lovely veg salad with the optional hard boiled egg.  It’s the non-exercise day so you have to eat leaner…but I wasn’t going to exercise anyway…isn’t that terrible? But I did walk with the kids to school (only 5/6 of the way there—I have to stop just short of the “kid group” so as not to cause death inducing embarrassment). Then I walked home.

It’s a quick little burst and then I started cleaning. This is MAJOR exercise for me. No kidding. Looks good but it gets dusty fast where I live. I have a problem with moving stuff off shelves and whatnot and using a rag and spray–I hate doing it–so I am always looking for the easiest thing possible–like a stick with fuzzy material that you run all over everything and the dirt comes off–no moving objects required. Enter the SWIFFER DUSTER. My new love. After putting it together…it’s easy, but I am just lame today and it took longer than it should have—pathetic….but after that, I just sweeped all around the house dusting and humming and generally being happy that it was going so well! I wondered if you could re-use the raggy thing on the end, and in most cases of people who dust regularly, you probably could, but not me. Straight to the garbage. It was kind of nasty. Dust is so dirty. And not in any of the good ways…but the house is clean. Bathroom is de-grossed, clothes are washed. I even used things like “Windex” and something called “Clorox”.

Well, that seems kind of boring. I had a point when I started typing this day thing, but I’ve forgotten what it was.  Hmmm…..I also baked bread and a cake. I have, seriously, like 7 dips to make for Sat and Sun.  In case you aren’t following along I have a Crawfish Boil on Sat to go to and a Party to throw at my house on Sunday. Hence, the clean and bake…I also have some music to come up with. I thought I could do one every day but I don’t think that is going to be possible. I am still trying to add pictures to this and get it looking…good…or at least interesting….something to get people here—where they can then drift off…anyway, I have a word of the day coming and I think I’ll just save the next music list as the crawfish list. Or maybe a cleaning the house and baking list? People do like music when they are doing things like that. I do.

Ok losing the thoughts, kids just got home and it is report card time! Mason is all A’s but one! (Excellent job but also too bad… again…(his Dad promised him a cell phone if he could pull off all A’s—so close–twice in a row now! Better luck next time! Only one more chance!) Stevie is all A’s and B’s. She don’t get nothing either! She wants Slurpee’s for a year.  I’m going to miss these easy days. It’s surprising how many individual grade scores they hand out in the middle school years…I don’t remember having all of that…but maybe I missed some stuff. Mason also got a packet for next year already. He’s moving to the big school. Boo hoo. Needs a dental and physical and shots! Definitely don’t miss that…

Ok this is getting a little rambly here and its longer than a salad break, so to sum up: Clean house. Baked bread. Made cake. Mixed dips. Laundered clothes.  List Music and Word Day. Done.

psst…hey…I also have a present to wrap…don’t tell the boyfriend….it’s kind of hush hush….thanks…

Permalink Leave a Comment

Cool Word of the Day!

March 27, 2009 at 3:10 pm (Cool Words) (, , , , )

Stint (verb)

Definition:  To restrict or limit;  to be sparing or frugal

Definition  (as a noun):  An allotted amount of work;  a period of time spent in an activity

Permalink Leave a Comment

Daffodils in front of my house

March 26, 2009 at 4:27 pm (Pictures) (, , , )

p32500235

Permalink Leave a Comment

EFS Day 2 Week 2 (Sounds like a Star Wars Character–if you say it fast) YukYuk (that’s for you Beth)

March 26, 2009 at 2:36 pm (EFS) (, , , , , , , , , , , )

It’s Thursday. Day 2 of Week 2. Getting better. Yesterday we weighed–got the good news, 11 and 4 pounds, boyfriend and myself respectively, and then just followed the plan.  You really feel like you just want to go out for celebratory cheeseburgers or at least  breakfast burritos (so yummy at McD’s–slathered in that Hot Picante Sauce–man I love that sauce, I could just squeeze it right into my mouth from the pack), but you don’t. They put the gym RIGHT next to the McDonald’s. You could park your car by the gym, and just walk your spandex butt right over to the McD door.  I’m just saying.  It’s exercise if you walk ACROSS the parking lot.

Anyway. Yesterday was fine. Followed the diet. Mom bought me a Starbucks coffee as thank you for taking here to doc. I love the SBux. I know it’s wrong on all kinds of social, economic, global, fancy-pants-coffee-type levels, but God Help me I love it. Try to resist but can’t. When I worked in the city I would go EVERYDAY. Sometimes twice. I had to have it going home on the train. If I didn’t have time to stop myself  for fear of missing the train, I would call my friend and have her pick it up for me on her way to the train.  Luckily you can’t throw a stick in Chicago without hitting a Starbucks. They even have a little stand set up in the bathroom at the new Millenium Station. Kidding. But they should, that would save some people alot of time!

Yes. I was quite chunk-a-riffic from my habit. It’s like drugs, but in reverse. It made me happy and hyper. I ate less but I got fatter. WTF?? Oh, is it because of the whole milk? The chocolate/mocha syrup? Or all the whip cream? And my stomach started hurting. Alot and all the time. So I had to stop. It was hard. The employees at my three regular SBux shops were like family. So hard to say good-bye. Example of the withdrawl pain I suffered thru: You know how sometimes you get a receipt with an invitation to take a survey? I would get them and answer the questions and the people in the stores I was judging would know it was me saying nice things about them based on the results they got from the survey takers! Hardcore. You can’t BUY that kind of love, can you? But I have to say those employees sure knew their customers. Makes you feel so special. And that’s part of the TRAP!

Back to yesterday. Obviously Giant Mocha Coffee with Whip is NOT on the EFS plan. It’s not on anyone’s plan actually and it really shouldn’t be. But I ordered. The small (which is Tall–whatever, not even gonna start)–the small, mocha but with skim milk and NO whip cream. And I am happy to say that, if you haven’t had one in awhile, it’s just as good. Considering you forgot how it was supposed to taste in the first place. Either way. It was good and it was free. Thanks again MOM!

Now where was I? Day 2. (ohyeah I also ate Pringles–come on–4 lbs! don’t be like that. They were reduced fat. One of the few foods that actually taste BETTER in their altered form. Try it. Believe it.)

Day 2. Today. Thursday. Following plan closely. No exercise. No car to get out anywhere to exercise. It is in repair. Won’t be fixed until tomorrow sometime.  What? My LEGS are the exercise? I can’t hear you.

No exercise. Besides I had to go to the kids school to cook hot dogs and help with the special lunch they got for many various quarter ending activities and good progress and grade reports. It was fun actually. And it was three hours of non stop action. PLUS, I had to WALK to AND from the school! (No car—remember?)

It seems strange to write something about this every day, but it helps also. In the way that, when you tell someone that you are doing something—you kind of HAVE to do it. Otherwise you  look like a failure or a person who goes-back-on-their-word person. I know there is a term but I just cannot think of it or how to fit it into this sentence. So if I say it I have to do it and if I don’t do it I should feel guilty like I am letting all you people out there down. You who depend on me to help you through when you too are struggling. All 2 of you, possibly 3 by now. All 3 who are actually following the same plan sort of as I and actually doing a little better…but it’s you. And me. We’ll help each other. We will not….hey…Back At The Barnyard is on!

Working on Music List for later. Also have to come up with a long list for the CrawFish Boil. Long hours of sucking heads. (It’s a legitimate sentence. ) Requires long hours of music for the diversified audience we will be playing for. SpongeBob is next. Stay Tuned!

Permalink Leave a Comment

Cool Word of the Day!

March 26, 2009 at 2:15 am (Cool Words) (, , , , , , , , )

Desolation (noun)

Definition:  Loneliness or sadness;  misery;  wasteland;  state of being uninhabitable, deserted or useless; state of devastation

Permalink Leave a Comment

Extreme Fat Has Been Smashed! But let’s wait on that cake for now….

March 26, 2009 at 2:12 am (EFS) (, , , , )

Wednesday, and the scale is LOVING us! The boyfriend hopped on bright and early to see if the week long struggle NOT to eat donuts and drink bacon grease was worth it and,  oh man,  11 pounds!!   Holy Hell!! Too bad no one else was up to share the good news with. He has a 4:30 a.m. call to the gym and then straight to work. I stayed up way too late typing about our adventures and missed the moment. When I finally rolled out of bed at 7 a.m. and weighed myself, the news was not bad.  4 pounds! So I called the BF at work and we rejoiced together over a big plate of imagination pancakes! The laughing only lasted for a few minutes. That’s when he told me the harrowing tale of   “Muffins! In The Break Room!”

What evil genius has set out to destroy my man and his willpower to resist sugary snacks? It’s Joe Smith and it’s his birthday. (Names have been changed to protect the innocent).  The muffins are some kind of  celebratory bonding initiative used to tempt the other employees into a work chow-down group with self-esteem destroying crumbs of doom. The BF wasn’t going for it.  This is where you can tell you’ve slid over to the dark side of good health, eating right and exercising. You can stand NEAR the muffins and look at them critically while explaining all about the deceptive calorie and fat content with another person who is nodding and cramming said muffin into his mouth as you talk. Perhaps like my BF, the other person will even ask questions and appear to be shocked by the fact that muffins are not your friends, yet continue to shove in every last bit and then take another one to his desk. Even say, “Man, I just ate that thing in like 2 minutes! Oh well.”  Oh. You know. And yet, secretly, in your heart you want to eat them all. Evil. Stop staring at those muffins and move.  It’s like they have magnetic power.  You don’t want to be the freak in service that has a pastry fetish. Go call your girlfriend.

And here we are. Still talking about muffins. See what you do? Instead of eating anything good, you just talk about the good old days when you did! I told him I am dedicating my playlist for the day to him. Him and sugar. Everything sweet that he can’t eat. Then he hung up on me.

Have some,   “Sugar For My Honey,  Eat It Up!

Permalink Leave a Comment

Sugar List For My Honey

March 26, 2009 at 2:06 am (Music Lists) (, , , , )

1. Pour Some Sugar On Me / Def Leppard

2. Suga Suga / Baby Bash

3. Brown Sugar / The Rolling Stones

4. Sugar And Spice / The Searchers

5. Sugar Coated Love / Lou Ann Barton

6. When My Sugar Walks Down The Street / Nat King Cole

7. Sugar, We’re Goin Down / Fall Out Boy

8. I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch) / The Four Tops

9. Honey / Moby

10. Honey (Open That Door) / Ricky Skaggs

11. Little Honey / Kelly Willis

12. Sweet Caroline / Neil Diamond

13. Sweet And Low / Augustana

14. Sweet Child O’ Mine / Guns N’ Roses

15. Sweet Side / Lucinda Williams

16. Sweet Emotion / Aerosmith

17. The Sweet Escape / Gwen Stefani feat. Akon

18. Sweet Home Alabama / Lynyrd Skynyrd

19. Sweet Jane / Cowboy Junkies

20. Sweetness / Jimmy Eat World

21. Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) / Eurythmics

Permalink Leave a Comment

Cool Word of the Day!

March 25, 2009 at 10:34 am (Cool Words) (, , , , )

Innominata (proper noun)

Definition:  embalming fluid, name of;  patented by Thomas Holmes

Permalink Leave a Comment

Extreme Fat Smashed–Day 7–End of Week 1!

March 25, 2009 at 2:43 am (EFS) (, , , , , , )

Can you totally see how these words look like they were typed by a lighter person? The words are magically floating from my delicate fingers to the keyboard to the screen. Amazing!

OK It is actually, technically, Day 8, since it is 1:30 in the morning on the 25th. But if it’s still dark it’s still the same day right? Right. But I better make this quick anyway. I want to say we were perfect all week, followed it to the letter, but you know that just can’t happen when you have to go out and do stuff. We stayed as true as we could but the proof is in the pudding…mmmm…pudding….I can still have another snack if I want!–back to the pudding…the proof is the weight. THAT won’t happen until the sun comes up. The official, “how many pounds in one week?” weighing.  I’ll let you know.

As for the exercise part, the boyfriend was perfect–did it all–even the doubles (yay him!!). I must admit, that I missed one. Today was a double, but I did a single. Ran around outside in a giant 3.6 mile circle over at the forest preserve…65 and partly sunny…it wasn’t graceful–oh no–It felt like my legs wouldn’t go straight or in any kind of rhythmic manner. And I am quite sure it looked ridiculous too, me clomping around out there like I was trying to get some mud off my 50 lb. shoes…silly!  But a run is a run. I broke a sweat and made it around in about 45 mins with minimal walking and pretending-to-fix-my-laces breaks.

After that mess was over I went home and prepared for my next athletic challenge. Which counts. I think. We, self and 2 children, went to the Target–the SuperTarget–to purchase some items–grocery items– for the upcoming weekend. AND, my son had to do a comparitive study on prices from the 30’s and prices today. Oh yeah–it took 2 hours. I used my legs, my arms, and my brain (calculations on some tuff math).  I like to grab the things I need without much thought, but when school is involved…a 10 bar pack of soap cost 5 cents in 1933. How much today? But you go to the isle of soap and guess what? 2 bar packs, 3 bar packs, 4 bar packs, 8 bar packs, 12 bar packs–NO 10 BAR PACKS!!! Then you gotta do the math. And what brands are we talking here? It’s not like there are any that have depression era labeling—we went for the middle. Over and over again.  1 lb. of coffee costs this…can’t find one pound any more…got 11 oz., 13 oz., 24.6 oz., all around the magic 16. From $4 to $12. Again, do the math. We may have been off, but I said it’s not like the teacher is going to come to the Target and check all our calculations!  “But what if she did mom?”  They should learn now, not EVERYTHING can be EXACTLY right all the time. Not enough information given. Do your best and move on. Please move on…

But what is going on this week and weekend?…well we need more healthy foods like fruit and vegetables…they don’t last and they cost too much. It’s really just cheaper to be fat and unhealthy…anymoo…then on Saturday we are going to a CrawFish Boil and I’m bringing a dip. Taco Dip. Mine is the best. Many imitate, none duplicate. Its my “thing”. So of course everywhere I go it has to go too….not EFS to be sure, but those crawfish are just little seafoods boiled in water. Not bad really. What’s going to get me is the gi-normous cheeseburger I will be eating because there is no way in hell I am eating that. We have a beautiful blue one in our fishtank. Creepy to look at. Creepier to chew. Pets! Not Pots!

But it doesn’t matter anyway, because after all that “exercise” I forgot to buy the damn burgers. I also forgot to get beer, water, and soda for the party WE are having Sunday. It’s the boyfriends birthday and we have the family and friends over. More dips and chips and CAKE!!. So basically, I have to make a whole other trip in the morn to get what I should have got in the first place. I’m just going to Jewel though. Close and fast. Have to get home and exercise!

So that’s the whole story. This is where I would usually sum up with a perfectly placed playlist, wrapping the sordid tale into a neat package and putting a name on it. But I’m expanding now, so I’ll give you the idea, and you have to look at the next post. Keeps it easier in the whole;  filter out the junk just to see the music;  You’ll thank me later when you don’t have to look at all this just to get to this:

Was going to do a “You made it! Congrats! ” list. Or a “Dropped things, feeling lighter” you know, that type. BUT then, my children gave me the inspiration I needed to really bring something good to the party tale…non-stop arguing over who gets to sit in the front seat. Back and forth. It’s my turn. No mine. You went last. No you did. I get two turns then next time. No, one. Two. One. Two. One. Two. One.   AAARRRGGGGHHHH!!!!

I told them at the store when I let them out of the trunk that they were directly responsible for today’s list. The knock-down-drag-out-can’t-we-all-just-get-along “FIGHT” List. Enjoy! (Remember–its the next post–or if you are reading this at a normal time, and in the order they get placed–it was the post before this because this is first…and that was newest…well whatever—I’ll work on that—post the list first, THEN the preview–ha-smarter every second! At any rate you probably already know what the list is, but now you have the story behind it and it will be that much better.)

fyi–the kids weren’t really in the trunk–that was creative license—don’t call the authorities—thank you.

Permalink Leave a Comment

Fight (Better Late Than Never)

March 24, 2009 at 11:33 am (Music Lists) (, , , , , )

1. Eye Of The Tiger / Survivor

2. Street Fighting Man / The Rolling Stones

3. Bad, Bad Leroy Brown / Jim Croce

4. Spoilin’ For A Fight / AC/DC

5. Love Is A Battlefield / Pat Benatar

6. Prizefighter / Bush

7. I’m A Lover Not A Fighter / Lazy Lester

8. Fighting For My Love / Nil Lara

9. Girlfight / Brooke Valentine

10. Victim Of Circumstance / Joan Jett & The Blackhearts

11. Cold War / Tori Sparks

12. Fighter / Christina Aguilera

13. Fight / No Vacancy

14. Alright Alright (Here’s My Fist Where’s The Fight) / Sahara Hotnights

15. You Don’t Mess Around With Jim / Jim Croce

16. White Flag / Dido

17. The Warrior / Scandal

18. Hit Me With Your Best Shot / Pat Benatar

19. Riot Girl / Good Charlotte

20. Bad Reputation / Joan Jett & The Blackhearts

Permalink Leave a Comment

« Previous page · Next page »