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Friday, February 11, 2011

Oh BLAST! I've done it again!

Here I am, one more time, doing my catch-up thing.  If you've been around the last 4 1/2 years, you are used to me doing this.  If not, let me apologize, and feel free to click the x up in the corner for this one.  I'll completely understand if you choose not to continue here.  ~~sigh~~ 

And perSNICKLES!   I didn't date these entries I'm working from so I'll not be putting a lot of dates on here.  Oh well.  The dates aren't important to anyone but me I suppose. 

Well here goes it.  I'm off....

~~~~~

Every step counts

I will never be able to be the housewife and mom I used to be.  It's just not in the cards.  Where I used to be an extremely anal housekeeper, now I'm lucky the dust bunnies don't organize and attack.  I used to have every single item in its proper place.  Now...well no.  Nothing is quite that way.  Nothing even has hopes of being that way.

The kids are all grown and gone.  Having kids under foot is not an excuse for me.  I don't work a demanding full time job.  Can't use that one either.  I just don't move as fast and moving is often pretty much out of the question.  Fibromyalgia smacks me down now and then and I just have to deal the best I can.  And I've got bad, bad, bad knees and back.  So, living in a spit spot clean home is a dream of yesteryear, not my hope for the future.

These days, any little thing towards an end counts.  And if I don't do at least one little thing, I can no longer allow myself to get frustrated and punish myself.  I just have to keep plugging.
I honestly think this myfitnesspal thing will be good.  I'm getting the food tracking down.  Once the ice is gone, I'm hoping to start walking by at least walking around my yard and driveway. Now I am beginning to realize that I'm supposed to also track things l do just as a routine.  I'm finding I do move more than I thought, but finding I've also adjusted and know that I can combine and condense.  My second goal will be to walk to my son's house, about three blocks down the way.  But it will have to wait.  For now, I'm happy trying to take one extra step each day. 

I remember a lady I knew back at Brooks AFB and the advice she gave me.  She was bigger than I am now.  She needed to lose a lot.  She couldn't go to a gym or anything so she started walking.  She couldn't afford proper clothes, so she wore her house dress and flip flops.  And she worked one step at a time, Each day another step.  As the body became more able, the weight started slipping off.  It wasn't fast.  It wasn't easy.  And I'm thinking it's exactly how it will be for me.  At least my fingers are crossed and when I close my eyes, that's how I see it happening.  And it will.  I'm sure of it.

~~~~~

Every noble work is at first impossible.
~~Thomas Carlyle

~~~~~

I guess I should be telling you what I'm eating or something.  That's how I started my original blog.  And it worked for me.  But I've decided against that.  I'll just let you know that I started tracking things on Monday the 31st of January and I've only had one day this week that was over in calories from what the program tells me my goal is.  Most days I've had 500 or so calories left.  I decided that I will eat how I normally do for the first month and just track and see what's what.  So far, I know my daily diet is a roller coaster.  Most days I've taken in too much sodium and some days too much fat.  For the most part, I'm surprised and kind of happy with what I'm finding.

Emmi stole my bun!  And I don't have a clue why the pictures don't stay turned when I upload them here.  lol


Today, we went to Five Guys.  I was just in the mood.  I opted to not get a cheeseburger and do a hamburger instead.  I decided bacon was out and you never taste that cheese.  I wanted to eat the fries (we split a regular size and shared with Emerson too) so my thought was to not eat the bun since I wanted those fries.  Where I would have LOVED a huge drink, I got a small one.  I had an open bottle of water in the van anyhow.  No condiments.  I did add mushrooms and onions though.  And I didn't feel deprived.  And I got full.   

Supper was my hot turkey casserole.  It has rice and turkey, onion, celery, water chestnuts all chopped and about half and half mayo and cream of chicken soup.  I did put the croutons on top but only about half the number I usually do.

The only snack I had was my g'night orange juice.  And in the end today, I still have almost 600 calories.

~~~~~

So how 'bout them Packers?

Yes.  I do live next door to Steeler country.  Yes.  And lots of people in these parts are die hard Steeler fans.  Sorry.  I'm not.  Never have been.  Probably never will.  But I understand those of you who are.  I don't follow a team because it wins.  I follow who I like. 

When we were in the service (hubby was a career Air Force man) we rooted for who we could get on TV.  Lots of places that was Atlanta but I never really liked them much.  And for years and years, it was Dallas.  When we moved back home to Ohio, we melded right back in as true to the heart Browns fans.  Yep, win or lose they are our team.  You know someone is a true fan when they still love a losing team.  Guess those who still love the Steelers are true fans too. They do have a lot to be proud of.  I'll give them that.  But I still don't care for the Steelers.

Okay.  There's another reason.  Not just because the Browns and Steelers were rivals for years.  Those Browns up and moved to Baltimore.  They are no longer our Browns.  So rivalry isn't one of my reasons.  Color is.  Yes, color.  I don't LIKE yellow and black.  I like brown and orange. Just as much as I like blue and grey.  I also think green and gold are pretty nifty.  I pick teams by color.  THIS is prettier so THIS should be on top.  Someone asked me how I choose a race horse.  Youdonwannaknow was my answer.  But the secret of my success at horse is the name.  If I like it, it'll win.  Or the owner.  If we know them, I'd bet on them.  Statistics??  Ppp-sshaw!!  LOL

We didn't have a superbowl party at our house.  I played babysitter for the evening.  I missed having a table full of fun leftovers to keep us in lunch for the week.  But Rusty did bring us some sausages and wings after his gathering.  Mmmm.  Good food I didn't even have to cook!  Awesome.

~~~~~

I made a stir fry earlier in the superbowl day.  It's never exactly the same.  I used broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, celery, zucchini, green beans and onion.  Poured in a bit of teriyaki sauce, sprinkled with a little sugar (sauce was very tangy), and stirred in some chopped garlic.  Mmmmm GOOD!

~~~~~

On our way to do running, we got a call from the kids.  One of the little ones needed some tylenol.  Stop.  Change direction.  Pick up a bottle and head to the house.  Hope you feel better, Zach.

Next stop, off to pick up Cliff's prescription for his diabetes medicine.  In case you don't know, Giant Eagle has free antibiotics, free diabetes meds and really cheap things on another list.  Worth checking on.  We dropped off the script at Giant Eagle and went off to do some other errands before picking them up.

Next stop, the Village Discount Thrift store.  GREAT things found there today. It was Monday so one color, yellow, was on sale for fifty cents.  All items in the entire store with a yellow tag.  Orange and yellow were half price too.  So if an item was marked fifty cents, it was a quarter instead.  I spent $33 and came home with

    an activity center walker for $1 
    a little tikes play car .30
    a popping top toy .60
    14 shirts, mostly onsies
    9 pants
    5 one piece suits without feet
    1 sleeper
    1 pretty little warm red coat
    and a scarf I planned to repurpose.  loved the yarn

I wasn't trying to be real picky with brands but ended up with some really great brands.  Children's Place, Carter, Baby Gap, Disney, Okie Dokie, Oshgosh, just to name a few.

~~~~~
SHOUT OUT!!



REMINDER: WE THE PEOPLE NIGHT Sat. 2/19; 8:00 at Hudson Players, "Have a Nice Day", Kathy Hill Steiner, Tim Steiner, Megan Craven Snyder and Jenny Walmsley Matas are cast members in the musical. Go on-line at hudsonplayers.com or call 330-655-8522 to reserve your tickets ($14). If you can't make it on the 19th, the show runs all weekends in February. Hope to see you there!
Jim Brown posted that on his facebook.  Cliff and I have our tickets. Hoping to see as many friends as we can.  See you there!
~~~~~
We celebrated our daughter-in-law Darlene's birthday Wednesday along with Missy and the babies.  Lunch was at Lake Varsity Diner.  Super place!  I was very impressed. 





Unique things on the menu.  Check it out!!

This was mine.  Grilled chicken breast, two strips of potabella mushroom, alfredo sauce and parmesan cheese.  And neverending fries.  Oh.  And we got hot chocolate!  When the temp is below freezing, the hot chocolate price is the number of degrees.  We paid 17 cents. 


When we got done eating, we went back to the R store.  We'd been there Saturday with Missy and Angel.  That day we met Missy's sister-in-law Kristen and her kids Aiden and Megan for lunch at Carlos Tratoria.  Another great place to eat.  I love discovering new eatin' joints. 

~~~~~

I did reclaim that yarn in that scarf. 



And with it, I made a scarf


I also finished one out of some pretty, sparkly Christmas yarn and am working on a wider one of blues, white and beige.

~~~~~

Vegetable Beef Soup


"Boiling beef" crocked overnight in water, 3 pkgs.

In the morning, I took out the pieces and skimmed the broth of all the fat and slop.  When the beef was cooled enough to handle, I de-boned it and skimmed the broth really, really good.
When I was satisfied all the fat and junk was out, I added
    4 tomato bouillon cubes
    couple slugs of sodium free beef bouillon powder
    fresh green beans cut in 1" pieces
    about a cup or so of chopped carrots
    about a cup of peas
    a chopped onion
    3 potatoes, cubed
    chopped broccoli
    chopped cauliflower

~~~~~

Last night, I made patties out of the bulk bratwurst I got at the R store, 6.99 for 5#.  I made O'Brien potatoes (potatoes, onions and green peppers), but I added green beans to change it up for a more interesting side dish.  I did the bratwurst in the oven on my old, old, old Tupperware raised grill pan.  All the fat dripping were in the pan and not surrounding the meat.

~~~~~

Just saying...

I will be staying here, NOT returning to myspace.  HATE  IT  THERE.  I don't even go there very often to read blogs.  Slow as molasses and frustrating. 

~~~~~

Children grow up way too fast.  Our little Miss Em is stepping and jumping and spinning on one foot.  Too soon.  Don't want to lose these sweet cuddle bugs.

~~~~~

An email I got the other day...
"kindly view my attachment mAssage???" 
lol  I do believe that was S P A M.
And I never subscribed to Sharrod Brown's email newsletter so WHY am I now getting it??

~~~~~

I've checked a few things off my list of dreaded chores. 
Filing -- check
Shredding  -- check

And of course I also did the regular boring chores of the day...
Sweeping -- check
General pick up -- check
Dishes -- check
Planned next two meals -- check check

~~~~~

Cornish Hen Soup
My six quart crockpot get quite a workout when I do these soups.  I put three hen halves in it, covered them with water and crocked it all night. 
This morning, I took out all the pieces then strained the broth.  Straining isn't enough.  I hate greasy soups so I used my Pampered Chef skimmer and skimmed it really, really good.  When the meat was cooled enough to handle, I took it off the bones and put it back in the pot.  To that, I added veggies.  I used frozen this time.  (still on my use-it-up mission)  I added half a bag of mixed veggies (corn, carrots, peas and green beans), some cauliflower I'd frozen, half a bag of green baby limas, and a glob of frozen chopped spinach.  I coarsely chopped an onion and put it in there too.  Then I decided I wanted a deeper taste and put in a few chicken bouillon cubes and a couple veggie bouillon cubes.  Sprinkled in a fairly generous amount of garlic and pepper mix.  And it is a-crockin' away right now and smells heavenly!

~~~~~

So there you have it.  I'm caught up for now.  Hope you made it through!  You're such a loyal friend.  Hugs!!

~~Mama Sage

7 comments:

  1. I know. I know. MISTAKES!! Gotta run get Kennedy. Will fix this evening and post to facebook page.

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  2. I know I'm losing weight... I was walking today and my underwear fell to my knees. I was wearing a pair of jeans and felt my underwear begin to slide and whoop there they went (the jeans stayed in place- thank God)... Luckly, I was at home and not at the school. Time for a smaller size huh?

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  3. What and where is the R store?

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  4. Hi, Joey. The R Store is in Hartville. Fantastic place. This week they have ham for .79 a pound!!

    Debbie...Yes!! New undies before you head out in public again!! LOL

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  5. As we get older it seems we slow down anyway. No more super mom for me either. I think that was probably the hardest thing to accept. Limitations, they'll get you everytime. The fibro gets me once in awhile too. You might consider physical therapy for your knees and back. They can do wonders for you and if the doctor writes you a script for it then insurance will help pay. Good luck on the diet. The Packers and Steelers...I love both teams. I don't care the color of the uniform. I enjoyed every bit of the Superbowl except for the half time show. I completely missed but and had a small fit about it but then found out it was a crappy half time show anyhow so no worries. Your foods helped me decide what I plan to prepared for supper tomorrow night....lol They all sound so good. Sounds like stuff I throw together here...lol Very rarely does it come out with a taste I don't like and I love to experiment...lol I'm working on a new Angie recipe. As soon as I perfect it I'm having company over and going to share with them. If everybody loves it I will share a brand new recipe with everybody on facebook...lol

    Enjoyed the blog my friend.
    Angie

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  6. Angie, I've missed you stopping by!! So glad you're here!!

    Right now we're in the middle of a change of insurance. What we had when Chrysler closed is about to end and we need to make decisions on whether to go with the military coverage or the coverage we can get through the hospital he works at now. I hate the way medical stuff is now! It's horrible! If we were still in a military town it would be way easier to decide. It would be a no brainer.

    We do have a fitness center that I can join for a very resonable price, but finding the time for the next 2 1/2 years is going to be next to impossible. And family comes first. We need to be available when the kids need us right now. I think losing weight will help. That I can still work on.

    I'll be looking forward to your recipe. :-) Hugs...

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  7. I like visiting you my friend! Great blogging!

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