I have about 20 minutes before I need to start teaching a CPR class so I thought I'd try to crack out a blog entry. In theory nothing should distract me or interrupt me as it's after hours and practically no one is still at work. In theory...not holding my breath on that.
I had an entry started last week but couldn't devote solid time on it so I scraped it and started over with today's entry. Last week I was pleased as I dropped 5 lbs and got back on track with Weight Watchers. I really want to be down an official 20 lbs at the end of the month. Eating went well this week and we went to the gym so I was hoping for another 1-2 lb loss but alas not this week. I actually gained 0.2 according to their scales. I wasn't a happy camper but I'm anticipating to see a decent loss next week. I've been doing really well with my ActiveLink contraption. I'm usually earning 3-4 activity points a day due to all the walking around at work. My workout at the gym on Monday actually gave me a total of 4 points in less than an hour. A lot of people use those activity points to be able to eat more food but I'm really trying to just bank them and have them result in more weight loss. I'm sure I'll have a week that I need some extra points but I don't foresee that soon. (I'm making sure to buy Gavin a mini cake at Hy-Vee so baked goods aren't a problem this weekend.)
Regardless of the gym visit, I need to continue to boost my activity further. I really wish I was more perky and useful in the mornings. I know I could get a nice running workout done if I'd get up around 6am. Sigh.
I need to upload some photos of our living room for the next entry. We now have an accent wall in the living room. It's cardinal red and matches our front door. It looks freaking sweet. Still need to work on some trim work before it's officially complete. We are going to put a large picture of Chicago on the wall (black and white) to somewhat tone down the color. Pictures soon!
The last piece of news is the fact that I'll have a full-fledged teenager in my home this weekend. I'm very blessed and lucky to have such a good kid. I see and hear "wonderful" parental stories of kids doing poorly in school, getting into trouble outside of school, etc. Knock on wood but that really hasn't been a problem. He's still extremely helpful at home (a little more grumbling on some days though). It's also a relief to know he's responsible and get let himself in after school and stay at home alone for extended periods.
Ok...time to teach!
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Friday, January 4, 2013
Car Maintenance Galore
Just hanging out at a car dealership waiting for The Fusion. Decided to be a responsible car owner and get some of the recommended maintenance as I'm close to 90,000 miles. Plan was for an oil change, tire rotation, and transmission flush. They actually took me back a bit ago and showed me my front brakes. Not good. My back brakes aren't great either but luckily they can wait until next month when I have another paycheck to draw from. I need a power steering flush too but hopefully that can wait too.
I was in quite a sour, pissy mood yesterday after attempting to have my first productive workday of the new year. I was quickly reminded about my workload when I got to the office and didn't accomplish a sliver of what I needed to yesterday. My main goal was to clean my office. I didn't even get started due to my email, distractions, etc. My teaching evaluations were released yesterday and I wasn't pleased with the remarks from my HS 275 class. What really pisses me off is the whining about my notes policy. I spend HOURS and DAYS working on my PowerPoint presentations. I refuse to just post those to Blackboard and give them to students. I refuse to alter my PowerPoint presentations so students can fill in the blank or complete them. It takes a lot of time to alter them and I don't have that extra time. Most of my classes in college required ME to buy a notepad, invest in a pen, and jot down my own notes. They were rarely given to me electronically. Furthermore, a lot of the content I review and teach isn't difficult. If they'd read the book ahead of time, they'd realize what they truly need to take notes over rather than trying to shorthand everything I say during the 50 minutes. *end of rant*
I also review all of the graduate teaching assistant evaluations as it's my job to ensure they are doing a good job. I also got a little fired up about some of the remarks from students as it's evident that some of our TAs are lazy and don't seem to undrerstand that students are customers. They paid to take a volleyball class, weight lifting class, etc. When the teachers don't have energy, initiative, or proper communication skills it really shows the department doesn't care about the educational experience. I bust my butt to help improve the quality of the classes and teaching but I have a few TAs that don't give a crap. (Kudos on the resolution Nicole but it's been almost impossible to not curse in the last 24 hours.)
On the positive side of things, I had a great day of healthy choices yesterday. Despite my stress level being through the roof, I didn't eat to feel better. I thought out my food choices and played some Wii to attempt to be more active in the evening. I really want to be at a 20-25 lb weight loss by the end of January.
I almost need to set a resolution or major goal about procrastinating. My tendency procrastinate affects all parts of my life. If I procrastinate with grading, I end up working at home, going to bed late, ignoring Jon and/or Gavin, etc. If I procrastinate with other work tasks, I throws off my preparation for teaching and I feel mentally disorganized all day. I often just get distracted at home and our plans change easily. Many trips to the gym were canceled due to that problem. We'd even eat better if I better used my evenings or early mornings to prep food or the crockpot. Sigh. The amount of structure needed in my life is scary.
Anyway, I should end this on a positive note. Here are some perks in life right now:
I was in quite a sour, pissy mood yesterday after attempting to have my first productive workday of the new year. I was quickly reminded about my workload when I got to the office and didn't accomplish a sliver of what I needed to yesterday. My main goal was to clean my office. I didn't even get started due to my email, distractions, etc. My teaching evaluations were released yesterday and I wasn't pleased with the remarks from my HS 275 class. What really pisses me off is the whining about my notes policy. I spend HOURS and DAYS working on my PowerPoint presentations. I refuse to just post those to Blackboard and give them to students. I refuse to alter my PowerPoint presentations so students can fill in the blank or complete them. It takes a lot of time to alter them and I don't have that extra time. Most of my classes in college required ME to buy a notepad, invest in a pen, and jot down my own notes. They were rarely given to me electronically. Furthermore, a lot of the content I review and teach isn't difficult. If they'd read the book ahead of time, they'd realize what they truly need to take notes over rather than trying to shorthand everything I say during the 50 minutes. *end of rant*
I also review all of the graduate teaching assistant evaluations as it's my job to ensure they are doing a good job. I also got a little fired up about some of the remarks from students as it's evident that some of our TAs are lazy and don't seem to undrerstand that students are customers. They paid to take a volleyball class, weight lifting class, etc. When the teachers don't have energy, initiative, or proper communication skills it really shows the department doesn't care about the educational experience. I bust my butt to help improve the quality of the classes and teaching but I have a few TAs that don't give a crap. (Kudos on the resolution Nicole but it's been almost impossible to not curse in the last 24 hours.)
On the positive side of things, I had a great day of healthy choices yesterday. Despite my stress level being through the roof, I didn't eat to feel better. I thought out my food choices and played some Wii to attempt to be more active in the evening. I really want to be at a 20-25 lb weight loss by the end of January.
I almost need to set a resolution or major goal about procrastinating. My tendency procrastinate affects all parts of my life. If I procrastinate with grading, I end up working at home, going to bed late, ignoring Jon and/or Gavin, etc. If I procrastinate with other work tasks, I throws off my preparation for teaching and I feel mentally disorganized all day. I often just get distracted at home and our plans change easily. Many trips to the gym were canceled due to that problem. We'd even eat better if I better used my evenings or early mornings to prep food or the crockpot. Sigh. The amount of structure needed in my life is scary.
Anyway, I should end this on a positive note. Here are some perks in life right now:
- Still taking a daily multi-vitamin on a regular basis. Taking one about 6 days a week.
- Still flossing regularly and my mouth is truly healthier. I hope the dentist concurs.
- Still eating breakfast better than I had for years. It doesn't happen every day but most work days.
- I visited my counselor yesterday and we had a good chitchat. It's amazing how I'll go with a topic in mind but she'll help me realize something else that's more important to focus on. The stress that Jon has been experiencing with his job has been affecting me a lot and she's trying to help me alter that.
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
2013
Greetings!
I'm hoping the completion of this blog entry will tucker me out so I can hit the hay before 2am. I slept earlier today due to not feeling well and I'm way too perky but I've been productive at least. I paid some more bills, watched reruns of "Sex in the City", prepared some January birthdy cards, worked on some laundry, and organized Gavin's thank-yous that he'll hopefully work on tomorrow. I'm hoping I can wake up at a decent time in the morning so the day is productive. We have to run up to Ames as I need to make an appearance at work, visit Sam's Club, and take Gavin to an orthodontist appointment. We have an ISU basketball game to attend too.
New Year's Eve was lowkey which is preferable. We went to our favorite chinese/thai place in Des Moines for a calorie-filled supper. We could have just gotten one entree and split it as it was too much food. We got home soon after that as people were driving poorly and apparently drunk driving is popular on December 31 and January 1. We watched a marathon of Roseanne way past midnight.
I had a good time putting the Christmas decorations away. Left out some snowman decorations though as it's going to be winter awhile longer. Sounds like our tree is going outside tomorrow to wait for its pick-up on January 14. I'm impressed so far, it was easy to keep alive. And hardly any needles have fallen off...I'm sure that will change when we haul it out of here. I also redid my address book which was oddly enjoyable too. It's amazing how many addresses I had in my original book and I've not communicated with some people for 9-10 years. I had more than 5 different addresses for some people too so it was nice to organize that part of my life. Nerdy yes.
I'm not sure how I feel about the health changes I need to continue to strive for in the new year. The dietary always seem a little easier than the physical activity side of things. In theory I still have a membership to a gym here in Ankeny and I need to start using that with Jon. (However, they've never deducted money from my bank account so I'm not sure if my "key" will work for entry) I'm going to spend some time and research more recipes as I'd like to freeze more meals and use the crock pot more often. It would be nice if I started these healthier habits now while life is a little slower because I'll let work become an excuse come January 14. I would really like 2013 to be filled with a lot of sustainable weight loss. Not even sure what I weigh right now but I'm sure I've gained some back over the last weeks. I'm not too thrilled about Weight Watchers in the next months as people's resoultions will involve membership which results in very full meetings and long lines. The crowds die down toward the end of Feburary though.
Guess that's it for now. Happy 2013!!
I'm hoping the completion of this blog entry will tucker me out so I can hit the hay before 2am. I slept earlier today due to not feeling well and I'm way too perky but I've been productive at least. I paid some more bills, watched reruns of "Sex in the City", prepared some January birthdy cards, worked on some laundry, and organized Gavin's thank-yous that he'll hopefully work on tomorrow. I'm hoping I can wake up at a decent time in the morning so the day is productive. We have to run up to Ames as I need to make an appearance at work, visit Sam's Club, and take Gavin to an orthodontist appointment. We have an ISU basketball game to attend too.
New Year's Eve was lowkey which is preferable. We went to our favorite chinese/thai place in Des Moines for a calorie-filled supper. We could have just gotten one entree and split it as it was too much food. We got home soon after that as people were driving poorly and apparently drunk driving is popular on December 31 and January 1. We watched a marathon of Roseanne way past midnight.
I had a good time putting the Christmas decorations away. Left out some snowman decorations though as it's going to be winter awhile longer. Sounds like our tree is going outside tomorrow to wait for its pick-up on January 14. I'm impressed so far, it was easy to keep alive. And hardly any needles have fallen off...I'm sure that will change when we haul it out of here. I also redid my address book which was oddly enjoyable too. It's amazing how many addresses I had in my original book and I've not communicated with some people for 9-10 years. I had more than 5 different addresses for some people too so it was nice to organize that part of my life. Nerdy yes.
I'm not sure how I feel about the health changes I need to continue to strive for in the new year. The dietary always seem a little easier than the physical activity side of things. In theory I still have a membership to a gym here in Ankeny and I need to start using that with Jon. (However, they've never deducted money from my bank account so I'm not sure if my "key" will work for entry) I'm going to spend some time and research more recipes as I'd like to freeze more meals and use the crock pot more often. It would be nice if I started these healthier habits now while life is a little slower because I'll let work become an excuse come January 14. I would really like 2013 to be filled with a lot of sustainable weight loss. Not even sure what I weigh right now but I'm sure I've gained some back over the last weeks. I'm not too thrilled about Weight Watchers in the next months as people's resoultions will involve membership which results in very full meetings and long lines. The crowds die down toward the end of Feburary though.
Guess that's it for now. Happy 2013!!
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Merry Christmas!
It's still December 25th so it's fair to still proclaim "Merry Christmas" at 10pm. It was a very low key day. I'm not used to Christmas being so easy going so it was a change. We all slept in until about 10am and spent a little time opening gifts. Gavin had the majority of the packages under the tree so it was fun to watch him open up his goods. He's finally at an age where he appreciates clothes for Christmas. I went to Old Navy yesterday and got some amazing deals. He now has athletic pants, jeans, and lounge pants that fit. And I only spent $40 for about $125 worth of merchandise.
I'm trying to pull all the random facts and information that's been floating around in my brain lately. I should have blogged a few times since the end of November but I let my grading duties take priority (obviously). After the semester ended at both ISU and DMACC, I wanted nothing to do with my computer so I've not logged onto this for awhile. I was thrilled to get through all my grading duties earlier this month. The last two weeks were 60-70 hour work weeks for me. Sadly I'll have the same thing happen in April/May when finals approach again.
I was not as organized as usual either with my Christmas shopping. I didn't really start until after Final's Week so there was some scrambling. I didn't even wrap some of Jon's gifts as we went shopping this past weekend and he just picked out some clothes and goods at Kohl's. We kept things simple this year too and I didn't get Gavin a ton of stuff either. (Thankfully he realizes that Christmas isn't about quantity.) A recent order to Amazon didn't come on time either so a couple items were missing from the tree. I blame the snow storm more than my procrastination.
The weightloss has been a little craptastic. We've been eating out more and more impulsive with our choices. Example: ordered pizza last night due to laziness and cravings. Really need to get my butt in gear for 2013. I got a Christmas card from a high school friend and she has dropped a lot of weight. It's actually bizarre to see her so thin as she's been heavy set since I've known her. I don't know how she did it but it was motivating to see her photo on the Christmas card. The Activelink gadget has also been reminding me of my sloth-like tendencies. I'm rarely making my daily goals for movement. I've been sleeping a lot lately...too much actually. It's amazing how a person can sleep in super late, be kind of productive, and feel exhausted by 3pm.
I haven't read anything for pleasure. Should be, but haven't dove into any books.
If you're in the mood for a semi-realistic historic movie, check out "Elizabeth". It was a random movie on my Netflix list and we watched it prior to Christmas. It was really good and the history in the movie was interesting. I have the sequel on it's way about the same character. Who know a queen of England could be so interesting? I haven't been wowed by any other movies though.
Anywho, I should sum things up so I can get to bed somewhat earlier. We depart in the late morning for Waukon for a few days. It will be nice to see the family and have some good times before it's back to the daily grind for ISU. (not sure if I'm teaching for DMACC yet....would be nice to find out if my classes have enough enrollment)
Merry Christmas!!
I'm trying to pull all the random facts and information that's been floating around in my brain lately. I should have blogged a few times since the end of November but I let my grading duties take priority (obviously). After the semester ended at both ISU and DMACC, I wanted nothing to do with my computer so I've not logged onto this for awhile. I was thrilled to get through all my grading duties earlier this month. The last two weeks were 60-70 hour work weeks for me. Sadly I'll have the same thing happen in April/May when finals approach again.
I was not as organized as usual either with my Christmas shopping. I didn't really start until after Final's Week so there was some scrambling. I didn't even wrap some of Jon's gifts as we went shopping this past weekend and he just picked out some clothes and goods at Kohl's. We kept things simple this year too and I didn't get Gavin a ton of stuff either. (Thankfully he realizes that Christmas isn't about quantity.) A recent order to Amazon didn't come on time either so a couple items were missing from the tree. I blame the snow storm more than my procrastination.
The weightloss has been a little craptastic. We've been eating out more and more impulsive with our choices. Example: ordered pizza last night due to laziness and cravings. Really need to get my butt in gear for 2013. I got a Christmas card from a high school friend and she has dropped a lot of weight. It's actually bizarre to see her so thin as she's been heavy set since I've known her. I don't know how she did it but it was motivating to see her photo on the Christmas card. The Activelink gadget has also been reminding me of my sloth-like tendencies. I'm rarely making my daily goals for movement. I've been sleeping a lot lately...too much actually. It's amazing how a person can sleep in super late, be kind of productive, and feel exhausted by 3pm.
I haven't read anything for pleasure. Should be, but haven't dove into any books.
If you're in the mood for a semi-realistic historic movie, check out "Elizabeth". It was a random movie on my Netflix list and we watched it prior to Christmas. It was really good and the history in the movie was interesting. I have the sequel on it's way about the same character. Who know a queen of England could be so interesting? I haven't been wowed by any other movies though.
Anywho, I should sum things up so I can get to bed somewhat earlier. We depart in the late morning for Waukon for a few days. It will be nice to see the family and have some good times before it's back to the daily grind for ISU. (not sure if I'm teaching for DMACC yet....would be nice to find out if my classes have enough enrollment)
Merry Christmas!!
Monday, November 26, 2012
Back to the Daily Grind
Greetings!
I'm happy that I held off on blogging until this afternoon. I was sooo tired this morning and my writing would have been very blah. I stayed up way too late so getting up in a timely manner presented a problem. Gavin still got to school on time but I was zoned out all the way to Ames. Luckily I got back into the needed groove before my 10am class. I got a lot of work done last night though...so I felt justified to stay up until 3am. I have about an hour left at work until I need to head south to pick up Gavin from school. Then I get to come right back to Ames to take him to his dentist appointment. Yippee! Having his dentist and orthodontist in Ames is a pain in the butt once in awhile but I like them both and didn't want to switch him. Especially his orthodontist, his life with braces will be done soon.
The break was very nice and I think I had a nice balance of downtime and work. I knew that avoiding work all week was impossible but I didn't want to bury myself in tasks. Monday and Tuesday were spent with work activities for the most part. Email took up some time on other days of the work. My health studies students had a major unit plan due today and some of the obviously procrastinated as I got urgent questions from them this past weekend. I was so tempted to write "You should have asked this question prior to break, I'm not wasting my break answering it for you." But alas I'm too nice.
It was fun seeing family for a bit during the break. I was able to partake in the Thanksgiving-Eve party and have some slush. I had not drank a lot in a very long time and I think it was the cause of my feeling very ill at 3am when I was trying to sleep. Luckily I woke up feeling fine and whipped up a large batch of meatballs for the Thanksgiving meal. I was disappointed about the lack of green bean casserole but made some this weekend for Jon and myself. Horrible in regards to Weight Watchers points but ever so tasty. It was fun to goof off with some of the cousins. My ability to catch and throw a football has become poor. My PE teacher peers would be horrified.
Jon wanted to buy a certain item that was on sale for Black Friday so we ventured out Thursday night. I guess he made a Gray Thursday purchase rather than Black Friday. It wasn't too crazy at Target as we arrived late after the 8pm opening of the store. Luckily the item was still available and in stock for purchase. Gavin went to a friend's house Friday through Saturday so Jon took the opportunity to try a new grocery store in Des Moines called Trader Joe's. It's organic and natural food at a supposed affordable price. Some of the items were quite expensive. The store proved that an item can be labeled "natural" or "organic" and still be fairly unhealthy for you. I looked at some things and calculated Weight Watchers points. Many things were put back on the shelf. I was hoping they would have satisfactory hummus to buy as I've recently fallen in love with a garlic hummus from a natural food store in Ames. It's kind of expensive and difficult to not indulge in. I couldn't find a hummus at Trader Joe's that explicitly stated it was garlic in nature. Several of the plain hummus options have garlic as an ingredient but I wasn't sure if that would meet my expectations. I should just learn to make the stuff on my own. Jon found reasonably priced salmon and I tried it for the first time. It's not too bad but not my favorite fish.
I was able to make it to Weight Watchers last Wednesday prior to leaving town and lost 3.8 lbs. It will be interesting to see what the holiday food intake has done to that total weight loss. I'm still wearing my ActiveLink. It finished my 8 day assessment. I wasn't surprised to learn that I'm not a very active person. I sit a lot in my car now. I sit a lot at my desk at work. Definitely need to get up and walk more often. One thing I learned during the 8 day assessment was that placing the accelerometer on my waist band was a poor choice. It stayed on if I wore jeans but if I wore athletic pants or dress pants, the stupid thing fell off a lot. I had to save it from a dive into the toilet a few times. Luckily you can pick different locations to wear it so I switched to keeping it in my pocket. I may end up keeping it attached to my bra as I feel it would be more accurate closer to my body. It seems for it to be loose in my pocket and not secured.
I need to lose about 7 more pounds to have lost 10% of my total body weight. It irritates me that I've been so close and I keep motivation. Jon's been going back and forth too but he has reached the 10% loss. He' also skipped less meetings and got an award for attending for 16 weeks. Just another case of knowing what I need to do and putting it into practice diligently. Sigh.
Alright, it's time to get myself organized so I can be on the road soon to provide taxi services for Gavin. Blogging was a lot more fun than grading some of those projects.
I'm happy that I held off on blogging until this afternoon. I was sooo tired this morning and my writing would have been very blah. I stayed up way too late so getting up in a timely manner presented a problem. Gavin still got to school on time but I was zoned out all the way to Ames. Luckily I got back into the needed groove before my 10am class. I got a lot of work done last night though...so I felt justified to stay up until 3am. I have about an hour left at work until I need to head south to pick up Gavin from school. Then I get to come right back to Ames to take him to his dentist appointment. Yippee! Having his dentist and orthodontist in Ames is a pain in the butt once in awhile but I like them both and didn't want to switch him. Especially his orthodontist, his life with braces will be done soon.
The break was very nice and I think I had a nice balance of downtime and work. I knew that avoiding work all week was impossible but I didn't want to bury myself in tasks. Monday and Tuesday were spent with work activities for the most part. Email took up some time on other days of the work. My health studies students had a major unit plan due today and some of the obviously procrastinated as I got urgent questions from them this past weekend. I was so tempted to write "You should have asked this question prior to break, I'm not wasting my break answering it for you." But alas I'm too nice.
It was fun seeing family for a bit during the break. I was able to partake in the Thanksgiving-Eve party and have some slush. I had not drank a lot in a very long time and I think it was the cause of my feeling very ill at 3am when I was trying to sleep. Luckily I woke up feeling fine and whipped up a large batch of meatballs for the Thanksgiving meal. I was disappointed about the lack of green bean casserole but made some this weekend for Jon and myself. Horrible in regards to Weight Watchers points but ever so tasty. It was fun to goof off with some of the cousins. My ability to catch and throw a football has become poor. My PE teacher peers would be horrified.
Jon wanted to buy a certain item that was on sale for Black Friday so we ventured out Thursday night. I guess he made a Gray Thursday purchase rather than Black Friday. It wasn't too crazy at Target as we arrived late after the 8pm opening of the store. Luckily the item was still available and in stock for purchase. Gavin went to a friend's house Friday through Saturday so Jon took the opportunity to try a new grocery store in Des Moines called Trader Joe's. It's organic and natural food at a supposed affordable price. Some of the items were quite expensive. The store proved that an item can be labeled "natural" or "organic" and still be fairly unhealthy for you. I looked at some things and calculated Weight Watchers points. Many things were put back on the shelf. I was hoping they would have satisfactory hummus to buy as I've recently fallen in love with a garlic hummus from a natural food store in Ames. It's kind of expensive and difficult to not indulge in. I couldn't find a hummus at Trader Joe's that explicitly stated it was garlic in nature. Several of the plain hummus options have garlic as an ingredient but I wasn't sure if that would meet my expectations. I should just learn to make the stuff on my own. Jon found reasonably priced salmon and I tried it for the first time. It's not too bad but not my favorite fish.
I was able to make it to Weight Watchers last Wednesday prior to leaving town and lost 3.8 lbs. It will be interesting to see what the holiday food intake has done to that total weight loss. I'm still wearing my ActiveLink. It finished my 8 day assessment. I wasn't surprised to learn that I'm not a very active person. I sit a lot in my car now. I sit a lot at my desk at work. Definitely need to get up and walk more often. One thing I learned during the 8 day assessment was that placing the accelerometer on my waist band was a poor choice. It stayed on if I wore jeans but if I wore athletic pants or dress pants, the stupid thing fell off a lot. I had to save it from a dive into the toilet a few times. Luckily you can pick different locations to wear it so I switched to keeping it in my pocket. I may end up keeping it attached to my bra as I feel it would be more accurate closer to my body. It seems for it to be loose in my pocket and not secured.
I need to lose about 7 more pounds to have lost 10% of my total body weight. It irritates me that I've been so close and I keep motivation. Jon's been going back and forth too but he has reached the 10% loss. He' also skipped less meetings and got an award for attending for 16 weeks. Just another case of knowing what I need to do and putting it into practice diligently. Sigh.
Alright, it's time to get myself organized so I can be on the road soon to provide taxi services for Gavin. Blogging was a lot more fun than grading some of those projects.
Friday, November 16, 2012
Break is Here...Woohoo!
The end of Friday could not come soon enough this week. My students were anxious and I tried to not seem too eager for next week's break Thanksgiving holiday. I still have plenty of work to do while at home so I stay sane the week after T-Day. A lot of major projects need to be assessed in the upcoming weeks so I'm trying to get the "other" stuff taken care of (grading less-major assignments, prepping final exams, etc.) Sadly I have to go into work on Tuesday for a little bit.
I started using a new piece of technology this week to hopefully help with the weight loss process. It's called ActiveLink. It's an acceleromter that helps to assess physical activity. (Looks like a pedometer but lights up.) It evaluates all dimensions of movement and intensity of movement too. You can wear it on four places on the body: the waistline, in your pocket, in your bra, or on a necklace. I've been wearing it on my waistline and I'm considering switching to my bra soon. Works well for jeans....however the contraption comes off easy with my dress pants and athletic wear. I'm hoping it's survived the number of times it was dropped in the last couple days. It about took a swim in a toilet today but that tragedy was averted thanks to physics.
I'm wearing it for a week for a baseline assessment. After this week, it will start presenting weekly challenges to me. The accelerometer will light up throughout the day showing my progress. When all green lights turn on eventually and flash, it means I've met my daily goal. The leader had a good way of explaining it as many of the Weight Watchers participants were skeptical. The leader says we all do some amount of activity each day. She told us to visualize filling a bucket with all the activity. The acceleromter helps measure what a person needs to do to make the bucket overflow and lead to consistent weight loss. Anyway, Jon was cool and bought it for me (I was going to save money and buy one in December). I'm very interested to see what goals are set for me.
Gavin and I finally made it to the public library and got cards. It's considerably smaller than the library in Ames. Neither Gavin and I could find the books we wanted and I randomly found books by Garrison Keillor so I decided to dive in and try one. I'm currently reading A Christmas Blizzard, It's very short and has been an easy read. Mr. Keillor has a somewhat eccentric style of writing. Not sure what I'll read after that.
My taxi duties are needed now so I'll have to write another blog later this weekend.
I started using a new piece of technology this week to hopefully help with the weight loss process. It's called ActiveLink. It's an acceleromter that helps to assess physical activity. (Looks like a pedometer but lights up.) It evaluates all dimensions of movement and intensity of movement too. You can wear it on four places on the body: the waistline, in your pocket, in your bra, or on a necklace. I've been wearing it on my waistline and I'm considering switching to my bra soon. Works well for jeans....however the contraption comes off easy with my dress pants and athletic wear. I'm hoping it's survived the number of times it was dropped in the last couple days. It about took a swim in a toilet today but that tragedy was averted thanks to physics.
I'm wearing it for a week for a baseline assessment. After this week, it will start presenting weekly challenges to me. The accelerometer will light up throughout the day showing my progress. When all green lights turn on eventually and flash, it means I've met my daily goal. The leader had a good way of explaining it as many of the Weight Watchers participants were skeptical. The leader says we all do some amount of activity each day. She told us to visualize filling a bucket with all the activity. The acceleromter helps measure what a person needs to do to make the bucket overflow and lead to consistent weight loss. Anyway, Jon was cool and bought it for me (I was going to save money and buy one in December). I'm very interested to see what goals are set for me.
Gavin and I finally made it to the public library and got cards. It's considerably smaller than the library in Ames. Neither Gavin and I could find the books we wanted and I randomly found books by Garrison Keillor so I decided to dive in and try one. I'm currently reading A Christmas Blizzard, It's very short and has been an easy read. Mr. Keillor has a somewhat eccentric style of writing. Not sure what I'll read after that.
My taxi duties are needed now so I'll have to write another blog later this weekend.
Thursday, November 1, 2012
I dislike getting older....
No worries, this isn't a rant or a huge complaint about the approaching 3-0. I didn't feel as wowed or excited about Halloween this year and I blame my age. I've barely watched any horror movies (luckily I can watch those year-round). My decorating was limited due to the remodel of the house so I'm hoping that next year I can really spruce up the front yard with some spooky stuff. Is it bad that a motivating factor for having another child is strongly associated to being able to dress up a little kiddo and Trick-or-Treat regularly for several more years? I'm hoping I feel more of the Christmas spirit and the holiday doesn't just slip by like Halloween did. I guess I feel old because life is all work, work, work and I'm not enjoying the fun little pleasures.
Gavin didn't trick-or-treat in Ankeny. He helped Jon and I hand out candy on Tuesday night. He did trick-or-treat on Wednesday night as he came up to Ames (thanks to my taxi service) and hung out with his friends. Due to his height, I believe this may be his last year of participation. I didn't take pictures or anything. I was in a rush to get to DMACC so I wasn't late for work.
The weight loss process has hit a nice mental bump. It always seems to happen around 20 lbs too. I'm lazy and complacent when it comes to tracking my food intake. I'm eating too much every day and I can tell I've gained some weight back. Blah! Work kept me from Weight Watchers last week. My taxi service kept me away yesterday. I need to just go in Saturday and get my weight so I know what's changed. I also need to make more of an effort to work out more regularly. My treadmill is covered with a comforter (needed to dry more after a ride in the dryer) and I think other blankets are sitting on the actual track. I'm seriously thinking of using the interval running program I got years ago from a friend to start back up with running. In a perfect world, I would wake up at 6am, run for 20-30 minutes, hit the shower, get all purdy for work, drive Gavin to school, and be on the road for Ames by 8:15am. It's amazing how difficult it is for me to get up that early. I'm even going to bed earlier most evenings.
Anyway, I really want to be close to a 30 lb loss by the end of the year. It will be tough considering that Thanksgiving and Christmas are coming up quick. Here's the deal though....why do I get so worked up about the food related to those holidays? I can have turkey at any time. Same with mashed potatoes, green beans, etc. I'm actually not a fan of pumpkin desserts. I'm also not a big fan of cookies and stuff associated with Christmas. Yet I get around people and I feel the need to stuff my face. The psychology of eating really rears its ugly head around the holidays. I really want to go to Taki for my birthday meal too but I am willing to postpone that for an early 2013 venture if need be. I know I'll end up eating too much at that venue because it's so delicious. Thank God I don't live closer to that restaurant.
And to end this blog entry...here is a before picture of the house:
Here is an after picture. They completed the stone work yesterday.
We still have a ton of work to do....well the contractor has a ton of work to do. They still need to paint the trim on the house, put the gutters back on, paint the front door red (ISU red), insulate the windows, stain wooden part of the window frames, put trim around the windows on the inside, attach the storm doors, do the trim on the garage, etc. It will be interesting to see how much they get finished before the snow is flying. I just want the work done so we can do some major cleaning on the inside and outside.
I'm sure I'll be blogging again soon as I need to get my butt to Weight Watchers to weigh in and see what the damage is.
Gavin didn't trick-or-treat in Ankeny. He helped Jon and I hand out candy on Tuesday night. He did trick-or-treat on Wednesday night as he came up to Ames (thanks to my taxi service) and hung out with his friends. Due to his height, I believe this may be his last year of participation. I didn't take pictures or anything. I was in a rush to get to DMACC so I wasn't late for work.
The weight loss process has hit a nice mental bump. It always seems to happen around 20 lbs too. I'm lazy and complacent when it comes to tracking my food intake. I'm eating too much every day and I can tell I've gained some weight back. Blah! Work kept me from Weight Watchers last week. My taxi service kept me away yesterday. I need to just go in Saturday and get my weight so I know what's changed. I also need to make more of an effort to work out more regularly. My treadmill is covered with a comforter (needed to dry more after a ride in the dryer) and I think other blankets are sitting on the actual track. I'm seriously thinking of using the interval running program I got years ago from a friend to start back up with running. In a perfect world, I would wake up at 6am, run for 20-30 minutes, hit the shower, get all purdy for work, drive Gavin to school, and be on the road for Ames by 8:15am. It's amazing how difficult it is for me to get up that early. I'm even going to bed earlier most evenings.
Anyway, I really want to be close to a 30 lb loss by the end of the year. It will be tough considering that Thanksgiving and Christmas are coming up quick. Here's the deal though....why do I get so worked up about the food related to those holidays? I can have turkey at any time. Same with mashed potatoes, green beans, etc. I'm actually not a fan of pumpkin desserts. I'm also not a big fan of cookies and stuff associated with Christmas. Yet I get around people and I feel the need to stuff my face. The psychology of eating really rears its ugly head around the holidays. I really want to go to Taki for my birthday meal too but I am willing to postpone that for an early 2013 venture if need be. I know I'll end up eating too much at that venue because it's so delicious. Thank God I don't live closer to that restaurant.
And to end this blog entry...here is a before picture of the house:
We still have a ton of work to do....well the contractor has a ton of work to do. They still need to paint the trim on the house, put the gutters back on, paint the front door red (ISU red), insulate the windows, stain wooden part of the window frames, put trim around the windows on the inside, attach the storm doors, do the trim on the garage, etc. It will be interesting to see how much they get finished before the snow is flying. I just want the work done so we can do some major cleaning on the inside and outside.
I'm sure I'll be blogging again soon as I need to get my butt to Weight Watchers to weigh in and see what the damage is.
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