Thursday, June 28, 2012

Weigh In Thursday

Well, I totally erased all the good that I did last week in one weekend. I'm up 2.6 lbs. this week. UGH!! This is what happens when people leave a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos at my house & when there is chocolate pie & leftover cupcakes. I will give myself some credit. After Sunday I didn't eat another cupcake or chips or anything bad for me. Partly, because I finished the bag of chips Sunday night & partly because of willpower. Those stupid cupcakes sat on the cake plate on the island staring at me (it may have been worse than the raccoon staring at me). Thankfully, Dean finished them off. My next problem? Book club Saturday. There will be too much good, fattening food. At least it's at noon so I have the rest of the day to burn some calories.

I've done great with my workouts this week though. I always try to find a positive. Monday I was back at Yoglates. It was the first time in 10 days & I was scared. In the past when I've missed a week for vacation or being sick it's been awful the first couple of classes back. In a strange turn of events it wasn't hard at all this time! Now, when I say "wasn't hard" I mean in comparison to going back after time off. The workout was still hard. Dare I say that I may actually be in shape for the first time in my life?? It's taken 38.5 years but better late than never. I ran Tuesday. I tacked on an extra minute. I know that's not much but it's something.  I'm still not running 3 miles & I want to get there. I can't increase too much during the week because of this thing called getting to work on time. Yesterday, I went to Yoglates again &  I'll be back today. Another great workout. This time when class was over it was 100 degrees in the studio. I try to get there early so I can get my spot in front of the door. There's usually a slight breeze & it's amazing how much it helps. When it's crazy hot like it's been they open the doors a little. 

I was having a frustrating day at work the other day & the thought crossed my mind that I wonder if I could quit my job & teach some exercise classes & make a decent salary. I mentioned this to Dean & he gave me that look. The one that says "OMG who are you & what have you done with my wife combined with nobody is quitting any jobs combined with I hope I don't have a heart attack over the shock of that statement.". Maybe one day.

Toodles!

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

He looked me in the eyes!

I interrupt this regularly scheduled Weigh In Wednesday post for a special report. Monday night as I was sitting on the sofa watching the College World Series & reading I thought I saw something out of the corner of my eye. I looked & saw a cat on the patio by the living room windows. Then it turned around & looked straight at me, dead into my eyes, straight into my soul & I saw that it wasn't a cat. It was this
 Do you see that butt & striped tail??? It's a freakin RACCOON!!!! Notice it's daylight. So much for being nocturnal.  After I got over the shock of him looking at me I started yelling that "OMG there's a raccoon on the patio". Dean looked at me & asked very calmly "where?". The yelling started again "RIGHT THERE!!!!".  He decided he should stand up & look. I grabbed my phone so I could try to get a picture. By the time I got the camera on he'd made his way to my rock garden. He disappeared but we could see my Lantana moving. That's very freaky too. About that time a lizard came sprinting out of the Lantana. I've never seen a lizard move so fast. The raccoon came out the other side & I got a non blurry pic as he was going back in. This thing was in no hurry to go anywhere. He moseyed on over toward Logan's slide. I just knew he was going to get on it & pop it but thankfully he kept going & we haven't seen him since.

Yesterday morning my neighbor commented on the pic I put on FB that she'd seen it too & given her hubs strict instructions that it was to be gone by the time she got home. That gives him a week. She's on a mission trip in Nicarauga. Our neighbor came over yesterday & said that 2 weeks ago he saw this thing walking on the fence between our two houses. It's been around for 2 weeks???? Then he said a couple of times they were in their kitchen & spotted him on the patio. We have no idea how to get rid of him aside from getting a trap but I know that these little creatures are escape artists so who knows if that will do any good.

My friend Allison is terrified of these things & I always laughed & made fun of her. I always thought they were kinda cute. She said their people like hands completely freak her out. Well, after having one stare into my soul I totally get it. It was like he was telling me "I'm not cute, be afraid, be very afraid.".

Toodles!

Monday, June 25, 2012

Busy Busy!!

This seems to be a recurring theme, I'm tired. Ugh! Friday night we had to drop Dean's truck off at the shop to have some work done & we ate at La Carreta & did our Sam's shopping. I had to be at work at 6:00 Saturday morning. Needless to say it wasn't a late night for me.

Saturday was a day of disappointments for the most part. I got up at 4:45 so of course I wasn't happy about that. It's one thing to get up at that time during the week so I can get a run in. Entirely different on a Saturday to go to work. I was all set to stop at Starbucks for a big Frappaccino. Um yeh, that didn't happen. They were closed! As in, dark, locked up tight & not a sign of opening anytime soon. I was soooo NOT HAPPY!

I worked 4.5 hours & then it was off to meet the girls for lunch. We were celebrating Allison's birthday. This was by far the highlight of the day. After lunch Allison wanted me to go to the new Goodwill store in town. I will say that I wasn't optimistic about this at all but I went. To all of you that frequent Goodwill & find stuff & love thrifting, I tip my hat to you. IT IS NOT FOR ME!! From the second we walked in the door all I could do was picture other people using their stuff. This particular store had lots of clothes which I wasn't the least bit interested in. We looked at the knick knacks & dishes. Again, I'm picturing people eating off of those dishes. The most random thing I saw was a man walking around the store with a t-shirt that said "I Love New York" that he was buying. It may not be random to you but all I could think about was who goes to the thrift store to buy that? If you love New York I would think you've been there & could've bought your own shirt. I mean how do you know you love NY if you've never been there? It just struck me as very strange. I know that  probably makes no sense to anyone but me. That will be my first & last trip to Goodwill to shop.

Then we went to Shoe Station. I was getting the flip flops I've been wanting. Yeh about that. I came home with no shoes. How is that even possible you ask? Well, I tried on the shoes in an 8 which is my regular size & the size of the other 2 pair of Corky flip flops I own. These were too short. Hmmm, strange but ok. They don't come in half sizes so I tried the 9. They looked exactly the same as the 8's. Too short. I tried on a different pair of 9's, same thing. I tried on a different pair of 9's in a different style but the same color, same thing. I tried on a 10. The length was ok but they were entirely too wide. The phrase "I think Dean made a deal with the devil or the universe or somebody" may have been uttered by me as I walked out of there with no shoes. I was in a funk the rest of the day. Combine no shoes with having to work & being tired & I was one grumpy girl.

Sunday we had company. Our friend Donna was in town with her boys visiting from Dallas. My friend Vicki & her family came too. It's been a couple of years since we've seen Donna. Dean BBQ'd & we all swam.

Me & the kids.
Lane (Vicki's little boy & our Godchild) & Brian (Donna's youngest).
Lane & Sean (Donna's oldest)
Lane enjoyed Logan's slide! Nobody was real interested in looking at the camera so I had to get action shots!

I did something yesterday that I've never done before. I made cupcakes!!! Yesterday was Donna's birthday & I thought the kids would enjoy them.  I used this cake mix.
It was really good. I added a couple of teaspoons of almond extract. The icing I bought for a back up. I was going to attempt to make real butter cream icing from scratch. I figured if I had a back up it would turn out good & I was right.
Aren't they pretty??
Iced? Not so much but they were good. I was going to attempt to use this contraption I have for cookie making to decorate them pretty but Dean told me I was being too ambitious & that I was doing good to make the cupcakes & the icing. I realized he was right. One step at a time. This is the recipe I used to make the icing. 

  • 1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening
  • 1 stick of butter softened
  • 1 teaspoon of clear vanilla (my vanilla wasn't clear & I didn't realize until I was in the middle of making it so I just went with it & it was fine.
  • 4 cups of powdered sugar
  • 2 tablespoons of milk - I added a little more to make it a little easier to mix.
Mix shortening & butter with an electric mixer. Add vanilla. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides & bottom of bowl often. When all the sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry. Add milk & beat at medium speed until light & fluffy. Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth until ready to use.

Toodles!




Friday, June 22, 2012

I Need a Do Over!

Scratch that. I don't want a do over. I want to completely forget about it. This week that is. TGIF anyone?? I will say I was a lot more excited about today being Friday up until about 10 minutes ago. I will be working tomorrow. GASP. Not only will I be working, I'll be coming in at 6:00 am. YIKES! Not thrilled about that but tomorrow is my friend Allison's birthday lunch. It's at 11:00 so I should be able to get a good 4.5 hours of work in before leaving for that.

Anyway, about the do over. This week has been a bust. It all started out fine Monday morning with my run but quickly went down hill after what I have come to refer to as "Tuesday's episode" at the Doctor's office. The episode totally messed things up. I haven't been to Yoglates one time all week. I could've gone yesterday but my head was pounding & the thought of doing anything other than laying on the sofa made me nauseous. I was still furious with myself. Today is off to a good start. I got a run in & the morning has gone by fast. There should be no reason I can't go to Yoglates 3 times next week. As of now anyway.

Aside from tomorrow's lunch a friend of ours is in town from Dallas & she'll be coming over with her boys Sunday to hang out with us. It's been a long time since we've seen each other & I'm looking forward to it. What do y'all have fun planned?

Toodles!


Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Weigh In Wednesday

Thanks for all of the comments & emails about yesterday. After laying around all afternoon & evening I woke up feeling fine this morning. Hopefully, I won't have another episode any time soon. It did cross my mind last night that this could be the universe's way of telling me I don't need anymore shoes. There's a pair of flip flops I want at Shoe Station & I stopped at a different location to get them when I went for my mammogram & they didn't have them. My plan was to stop again yesterday after my appt. to see if they ever got any in. So much for that.

I lost 1.4 pounds this week. For all of you ladies that dread the weigh in at the Doctor's office I have news. If you ever have to see the breast specialist (I hope nobody does but stuff happens) they don't weigh you! They just ask you "about how much do you weigh" & you tell them & they take your word for it. Pretty cool huh??

My workouts since last weeks weigh in - Friday I ran for 30 mins. I'm still not up to 3 miles. I guess I'll get there eventually.  Saturday morning I went for a 3 mile walk. Towards the end of the walk I did some sprints. I keep reading about the Tabata style workouts so I'd sprint for 20 seconds & then walk for 10. I did it a few times & got my heart rate up so I'd burn more calories. I don't ever run 2 days in a row so I thought this would be a way to burn some calories & get my metabolism going before the wedding. Monday I did another 30 min. run. I was supposed to go to Yoglates yesterday but my Dr. put the kabosh on that. When I said the words Yoglates in a 95 degree studio her response was "not a good idea". No biggie, I'll just go today. Yeh right. Remember how I talked about the whole overtime deal? Yeh that's starting today. Sort of.  I don't have to work past my normal quitting time (4:30) but I can't leave for Yoglates (3:45) & I did get here at 7:00.  I guess that means I'll have to go home & watch the finale of Housewives of O.C. HA!

Toodles!

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

So embarrassed!!

A few weeks ago I told y'all about having my mammogram. There were some changes from last year so they did an ultrasound. The Radiologist said everything was ok but they wanted me to have another ultrasound in 6 months. Well, my Gyno called & wanted me to see a Breast specialist just to have another opinion. I wasn't surprised. This isn't anything new. I use to see her every year & then she released me. Better safe than sorry anyway. This morning was my appt. Everything was going fine, she was examining me, I was laid out on her table & I started to feel funny. I remember telling her "I feel like I'm going to pass out". This has happened before. Not in a Doctor's office though. Well, the next thing I know, I'm waking up with no idea of where I am & I felt awful. UGH! The Dr made me lay there for awhile with cold rags on my face & she kept taking my pulse & blood pressure. Then she told me that I didn't need to go back to work (yay!) or drive. I called my mom. She could get there quicker than Dean & I was ready to go. My dad came with her so we didn't have to leave my car there. I decided that I deserved some fattening food after this ordeal. We went through the Chick fil A drive thru & I got a sandwich & a BIG Dr. Pepper! YUM. Then I laid on the sofa & napped. I feel better now but I'm still a little shaky. It definitely wasn't how I thought my day would go. We're chalking this episode up to anxiety.My Dr. mentioned that right away &  I have anxiety issues & take meds for it. Although, I haven't had any episodes in a long time.  I wonder if my dosage should be increased? HA! The good news is that it definitely wasn't a seizure because I didn't wet my pants! She said the first thing she did was to look for a puddle! HA! She said that whenever you have a seizure you lose bladder control. Interesting. So how was y'alls day???

Toodles!

Monday, June 18, 2012

Weekend Fun

We had a lovely weekend & as usual it wasn't long enough but I guess it never will be. Friday night we ate at Caliente, the new Mexican restaurant near our house. I really enjoyed it. Everything was so good.

Saturday Dean's cousin got married so that's how we spent the afternoon. Since my parents & Dean's parents were all at the wedding we decided to celebrate Father's Day afterwards at our house. Scott, Lydia & Logan came too. Dean grilled salmon, pork chops & veggies. It was all delicious as usual!

We played in the pool for awhile. Dean & I got Logan an inflatable slide for our pool for his birthday & this was the first chance he got to try it out. 
He was very excited when he saw it. That's Logan with his daddy.
Logan & my daddy. He slid a lot & even managed to get me on the slide with him. I'll spare you the pictures of that!

After spending last weekend at LSU for the ballgames I swore that yesterday would be a day of nothing for me. 2 late Sunday's in a row made for very long, tiring weeks & I didn't want to do anything. Aside from Mass, grocery shopping, some laundry & dishes I succeeded. I read a book, napped & watched tv. Delightful!

Toodles!

Friday, June 15, 2012

Weigh In Friday??

I've been a bit M.I.A. this week because of this thing called a job. It's been crazy & when I get home the thought of looking at a computer makes me sick to my stomach. I finally feel like my eyes are uncrossed after staring at reports with tiny print all day. Back story - we are getting a new operating system at work & someone came up with a ridiculously unrealistic deadline. Because of this I was told there's no limit on overtime right now. Umm ok. I promise I'll do whatever I have to do NOT to work overtime. Nobody will ever call me a workaholic. I'm not lazy but it's just a job & it annoys me when it interferes with my life & OT definitely interferes. I get grumpy.

So, I still weighed in on Wednesday & I'm down 2 lbs. this week!!! I'm very excited by this development. Of course this weekend includes a wedding & Father's Day festivities. Rumor has it there will be a chocolate wedding cake. As much as I love chocolate, this won't tempt me too much because I like wedding cake more & I'm very disappointed that it's not going to be available. I'm going to try my best to keep things in check.

My workouts this week were also affected by the j.o.b. I had it all planned out that I'd go to Yoglates 3 times this week but I couldn't leave early one day. I went twice & I only ran twice. It's just the way it worked out.

Twice recently when I was leaving work in my work out clothes one particular man has commented to me "have fun at the game". The first time I blew it off because it was baseball season & he knows we go to the LSU games. I thought he thought I was on my way to LSU. Now, let me say this, I would NEVER wear workout clothes to a ballgame or anywhere else for that matter. Unless I was running an errand before class. So yesterday when he said it I got the distinct feeling that he actually believes that I'm PLAYING in some sort of game. For the people that know me in real life, they know how utterly RIDICULOUS that is. I've NEVER played any type of organized sports. I don't even like to play pool volleyball. (that due to an unfortunate game for "fun" supposedly with a group of people that included LSU's Volleyball coaches but that's a story for another day).

Have a great weekend!

Toodles!

Monday, June 11, 2012

Weird Weekend

This weekend was Super Regionals at LSU. Win this, you go to Omaha for the College World Series. LSU hasn't been to Omaha in the last 3 years & I didn't think this year would be any different. Turns out I was right. I would love to have a new coach & I'm not the only one. It's not going to happen. At least not this year.  I had to work Friday so I missed the 11 inning game that went on all day. Then it rained. A lot. We went to eat at Pluckers once they called the game. We had the most clueless waitress ever. It was bad.

We were at the park bright & early Saturday morning for the completion of Friday's game.
I didn't realize until I looked at this but Nike should send us something free. We're a walking billboard!

It took less than 10 mins. & LSU won. It was luck, pure & simple. They should've lost that game several times over the course of the day Friday.

35 minutes later it was time for game 2. LSU lost. They couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. Did I mentioned it rained again? Yeh, during the game but there was no lightening so they played through it. I distinctly remember telling Dean that "I'm not sitting out there in the rain". I even had my Nook in the truck just in case. What happened? I sat in the rain under an umbrella on & off for 2 hours. Stupid.

Yesterday's game was supposed to be at noon. We woke up to rain but it stopped pretty early. We were 20 mins. from leaving the house when Dean got a text saying that the game was being postponed to 7:00 because it was going to rain around 1:30 & they didn't want to start & then stop & start again. At 1:30 the sun was shining. We didn't get another drop of rain all day. I took a nap in preparation of a late night & early morning. It was short & not one of my best naps. LSU lost again. No Omaha. Congratulations Stony Brook. Before this weekend I'd never heard of them & I still don't know what a Seawolf is.

Needless to say 5:30 came very, very early this morning & I'm a little grumpy.  I'm ready for the weekend.....

Toodles!

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Weigh In Thursday

I was planning to post yesterday but after 3 hours at the hospital (more on that in a minute) I had a pounding headache & didn't want to do anything but lay on the sofa.

I didn't have much change with my weight this week. I'm down 0.2. I'll take it but I was hoping for more. I ran Sunday & Wednesday. Wednesday was a good bit slower than I've been running but it was really humid. Today will be my second Yoglates class this week. This is about the third week in a row that I've gone twice instead of 3 times but it's just how things worked out.

So, back to the hospital. Last week I mentioned that I went for my mammogram. Because of stupid insurance I just had a screening mammo. That's a total waste of time for me because I have "extremely dense breast tissue" so it's hard for them to see. They called & wanted me to come in for a diagnostic. Fine. I was able to schedule it for yesterday on the same day as my yearly exam. Let's just say the hospital wasn't on the top of its game yesterday. There was a lot of sitting around & waiting. Once I had the mammogram I had an ultrasound because they wanted to look at an area more closely. Lovely. More sitting & waiting. Well, they didn't get to me before it was time for my other appt. I went next door had that appt. & went back & waited again. Finally I had the ultrasound. There's nothing suspicious, just some Fibroadenomas which will be watched so that means another ultrasound in 6 months.

During all of this sitting I had time to observe since the book I had downloaded on my Nook wasn't there (annoyed). I discovered that a couple of people felt the need to bring an entourage with them to their mammogram. I can't figure out what the reason would be. It wasn't just like one or two people & maybe they were stopping in on their way somewhere else. It was like 5 or 6 people. It was weird.

One of the many times I was waiting a hospital worker looked at the sign in sheet & called "Mr. Blanchard". She was talking about me. Now this may not seem odd to some of you but I was at Woman's Hospital  & true to their name, THEY ONLY SERVICE WOMEN!!!!

Once I finally got out of that place I decided to reward myself so I stopped at Shoe Station. I'd been their earlier in the week buying our niece a birthday gift & I saw some flip flops I wanted but didn't buy. Well, I stopped at a different location because it was more convenient & they didn't have them. I was seriously bummed. I ended up just stopping at Starbucks & getting an iced green tea. It was better than nothing but I really want those shoes.

Then I had to drive home in a monsoon but I was happy that we got lots & lots of rain at our house. I know my flowers are happy.

Toodles!

Monday, June 4, 2012

Random Monday

I'm tired. Really tired.

I took the day off Friday because work has been crazy & I needed a break. My plan was to run & then hang out in the pool for awhile. Well, in an unlikely turn of events we had a cool front come through. It was still like 89 but there was virtually no humidity & 20 mph winds. That made for a cool pool. My mom & I went to lunch at Roberto's. You know, home of the world's greatest shrimp po boy?? It didn't disappoint. Paul Mainieri, LSU's head  baseball coach has lunch at Roberto's every Friday. He came in with an entourage while we were there. I don't like Mainieri. He's pompous & arrogant. He's had many nicknames over the years in my house but my favorite is "the little leprechaun". That's how Dean's cousin refers to him. He coached at Notre Dame for a long time is very fond of saying "at Notre Dame we did blah blah blah" or "that's how we did it at Notre Dame". THIS IS LSU DUDE!! WE DON'T CARE WHAT YOU DID AT NOTRE DAME.

Friday night was the first night of the NCAA Baseball Regionals. LSU played  ULM. I was very happy about the weather. I've NEVER been that cool in June at a baseball game. It was delightful. LSU won.

Saturday my mom came over & we spent a few hours in the pool & Dean grilled burgers. The water was still a little chilly. Dean & I went to Mass & to eat at Casa Maria & then it was back to the ball park. LSU played Oregon. O.M.G. Slowest game ever. Those west coast schools play a different type of baseball & I don't have the patience for it. I swear it felt like a 5 hour game. My butt was starting to hurt from sitting so long & I was getting hungry. I couldn't resist & had to have these.
Chocolate Dippin Dots. LOVE THEM!!! I tried to refrain but I couldn't do it. It's a small cup, 180 calories. Yeh, I looked it up online before I went & got them.

Sunday morning I ran & that low humidity that we had was no longer. It was sooo hot! Like really hot. I pulled weeds & got even hotter. We had our first uninvited guest in the pool too.
 Yeh, that's a crawfish & he's alive. He was walking around on the bottom of the pool. We have a big ditch/canal thing behind our lot. We've seen egrets fly over with crawfish in their mouths so either they dropped him in the pool or he crawled from the ditch. It's not a long way away but considering the length of his legs it would take awhile.

After my run I decided to treat myself.
A big Dr. Pepper. I haven't had a DP in a couple of weeks. I had no intention of getting one this big but you know .69 any size kinda sucks you in! I was happy to see they have Styrofoam cups now too!! They also have this cute ice. It's like little pebbles. Figures, now that I don't drink them regularly. 

Dean's parents, cousins & niece came to swim yesterday.
Emma, Cody & our niece Camille. 
Emma & Cody are brother & sister. After awhile Emma wanted out of her life jacket & we worked with her on her swimming. She did great holding her breath & swimming under water. When they left it was time to get ready for the ball game. We had to play Oregon again. Things were moving at a much faster pace & then LSU decided to just not do anything to help themselves & it was all tied up. Extra innings weren't in my game plan. Finally, they won in 10 innings & I was able to go home & go to bed. It was after 11:00 so 5:30 came early & I'm tired. That explains the randomness & rambling of this post. Yoglates has been postponed until tomorrow because the thought of not getting home until 6:00 makes me want to pass out.

Toodles!