going back in time

I bet you all are wondering where in the world I've been! Well... here I am! It's been a crazy and fun filled 2 weeks since I last posted. We returned home from Blanco (minus Madelyn of course), and went right back into the work routine. Then I left for California - first for work, then for vacation. I returned home - tired - and having had a fantastic time with mom, to get right back into things. The last few days have been spent entertaining a 6 year old (NOT an easy thing to do), and trying to find the energy to do anything in this heat is not easily done.

So, in an effort to keep you all intrigued and wanting for more (and to keep me from trying to recap it all in one big post), I'm going to update our California trip one day at a time, as if it's happening now. I would have updated while we were there - if the internet access hadn't been $6.95 for every 15 minutes at the hotel!!! But before I even get to California, I have to update the beginning of last week before I left.

So, here goes...

Monday, July 28
It's been one week on Weight Watchers, and today I weighed in with 2.5 lbs loss!! (I bet you all were thinking I would reveal what the scale actually said - no such luck! You only get to know the loss (or gains) as they happen). When I looked at the #s on the scale I felt:
1. Happy - progress! You have to start somewhere, right? And at least I'm moving in the right direction
2. Proud - progress! It's hard to follow a diet or eating plan - any plan. I felt proud that I stuck to it pretty well and had at least a little something to show for it.
3. Regret - that I didn't pay more attention to this a long time ago. I think I gained a great deal of weight in the past year while I was being diagnosed and going through my illness. But as much as I would like to blame the weight gain on the steroids, I can't. Sure, I think they are a part of it - causing me to be hungry and eating a lot more, but if I had watched it, I could have been eating better and doing things to counter the effect.
4. Longing - for the days of being a size 0 or 2, eating whatever I wanted, never having to work out to work it off... you know the drill. Oh to be young again!

Well, all these things combined, I guess I just have to go with mom's favorite motto... "It is what it is". All I can do now is keep it up and get back to where I want and should be. My first goal is total loss of about 20 lbs. Then once I reach that I'll re goal myself to lose a little more.

Oh - I almost forgot... I am SUPER excited about my new cookbook - Hungry Girl. It has some fabulous recipes for meals, sides, desserts, and snacks - all things that you really want and can't have - only now you can have! She works a lot with WW, so all of the recipes have points values making it very easy to keep track of. So today I went to the grocery store and got TONS of ingredients to try out some of the recipes (ouch - eating healthy is expensive!). Tonight April and I made our first Hungry Girl (HG) recipe - chocolate brownie cupcakes. I fondly refer to them as my "poo cupcakes". You can imagine what they look like. But luckily I don't judge a book by its cover because once we tasted these cupcakes - they are YUMMY! At 4 points for one, it's not too bad of a value. And I can easily eat half and be satisfied.

Wednesday, July 29
The last 2 days have been packed! First of all - Madelyn is having a fantastic time at Grammy and Grandads. She had her 2nd horseback riding lesson today (her first one on Monday). Something tells me that by next summer, she is going to be an expert! There is nothing that kid can't and won't do! I so admire her bravery and determination. Some would even call it stubbornness (this she gets from her dad). Yesterday I tried another HG recipe - mini pepperoni pizza. It was very yummy, very filling, and only 4 points!! Topped it off with 1/4 of my poo cupcake, and I was full!

Today was busy busy busy. Trying to wrap things up at work before I leave tomorrow. It's really difficult to do regular work stuff while in market, so I try to get as much done as possible beforehand. Then I'm on vacation for a little over a week, so it's going to be 2 1/2 weeks before I'm actually back in the office. And this is our last week of our year, and we are down to the wire to making our financial plan. It is all coming down to the last few days (how stressful!). So, after work, April and I went to step class - I have to get as much working out in as I can before I leave and am on vacation. Then we got home and made dinner - more HG recipes. Talk about YUMMY! We made Fiber One Fried Chicken (actually baked chicken with a "fried" crust), and Butternut Squash French Fries. They were both DELICIOUS - and only 7 points! I am really enjoying this cookbook. Now, I'm off to pack (I so hate packing), and then I have to get some sleep since the alarm will go off at 4:45 am!