Hey everyone:
I'm trying to get settled and go to bed early (umm it's already 11:45pm) so I thought I'd sit and write a blog entry. I'll start with the good news first. I'm feeling better! I've had a couple "normal" days so the week has started off nicely for me. I'm not sure if I jinxed anything but I went ahead and got my flu shot. ISU employees get them for free for a period of time and that period of time ends on Friday. Since I won't be in town on Friday, today was the best day for me. My arm isn't even sore so I'm hoping that stays the same when I wake up in the morning.
Gavin and I will be traveling to Waukon on Friday for my aunt's funeral. They are actually calling it a "celebration of life". Gavin is being very understanding about the situation since it will cancel out his trick-or-treating in Ames. Fortunately he'll have an opportunity on Saturday in Ankeny. He's going to be a Steelers football player. He's either going to wear my jersey or one that we have in his toy box that is adult sized. We're still brainstorming how to bulk him up. It's a strong possibility that I'll be duct taping a pillow around him and maybe some towels for his upper arms so he fills out the jersey and looks buff. I was hoping Waukon would have trick-or-treating on Friday night but no such luck. We haven't created our jack-o-lanterns yet either. Anyone have any super duper pumpkin seed recipes? Someone on Facebook made cinnamon pumpkin seeds. I've never heard of that flavor. We always had seeds made with butter and salty seasonings.
I caved in tonight and the heat is running in my apartment. I'm really hoping the wind dies down as I'm scheduled to have class outside tomorrow. Supposedly there were flurries up by Mason City tonight and ice pellets down by Ankeny. I'm not ready for anything but rain to fall from the sky yet. Snow, ice, sleet, etc all need to wait until after Thanksgiving.
That's all I have for now!
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
OK, I promise I'll stop posting after this...
I don't know if you've heard about the show Mike and Molly. It's a new comedy on CBS about two overweight individuals who meet at an over eaters anonymous meeting. I watched an episode and it was a bit rough (but what show isn't rough in its first few episodes) but it was interesting and I adore Melissa McCarthy, she played Sookie in Gilmore Girls. Anyway, I haven't been able to catch it since I saw that one episode but a friend of mine posted something on FB yesterday that I found interesting. It was an article about the show and it was very unkind, not only to the actors who portray Mike and Molly but to men and women everywhere who are overweight. I've linked the article below.
Anyway, in response to this article Nicole made a post on her blog that I wanted to share with you. If you have time I would recommend not only reading the Marie Claire article but also Nicole's post.
Marie Claire article:
Nicole's post:
Anyway, in response to this article Nicole made a post on her blog that I wanted to share with you. If you have time I would recommend not only reading the Marie Claire article but also Nicole's post.
Marie Claire article:
Nicole's post:
Recipe: the monster who ate New York
This recipe will make 8 servings of about 355 calories each (not too shabby!)
Ingredients:
2 tbs. canola oil
1-2 c. sliced white mushrooms
1 lb. lean ground turkey or 93% lean ground beef
2 cans tomato soup
2 cans cut green beans
about 5 cups of mashed potatoes**
2/3 c. 2% milk fat shredded cheese (any variety will work)
1/3 c. reduced fat sour scream (or you could use a chip dip if want a little more flavor).
heat the oil in a pan over medium high heat. Add mushrooms and cook for a few minutes. Turn heat to medium and add the meat. Cook until browned. Salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste. Mix in the 2 cans of green beans and then the 2 cans of soup. Pour into and evenly spread across bottom of sprayed 9x13 cake pan.
Mix mashed potatoes (made as directed if you used instant), cheese and sour cream. Even spread over green bean/meat mixture. Bake in oven for 35 minutes at 350 degrees or until top is lightly browned. Let cool for a few minutes and serve.
**I usually cheat and use the Betty Crocker Home style creamy butter instant potatoes). 2 pouches is perfect for a 9x13 casserole. They're 80 calories per serving and very tasty. Not to mention all you have to add is water.
Ingredients:
2 tbs. canola oil
1-2 c. sliced white mushrooms
1 lb. lean ground turkey or 93% lean ground beef
2 cans tomato soup
2 cans cut green beans
about 5 cups of mashed potatoes**
2/3 c. 2% milk fat shredded cheese (any variety will work)
1/3 c. reduced fat sour scream (or you could use a chip dip if want a little more flavor).
heat the oil in a pan over medium high heat. Add mushrooms and cook for a few minutes. Turn heat to medium and add the meat. Cook until browned. Salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste. Mix in the 2 cans of green beans and then the 2 cans of soup. Pour into and evenly spread across bottom of sprayed 9x13 cake pan.
Mix mashed potatoes (made as directed if you used instant), cheese and sour cream. Even spread over green bean/meat mixture. Bake in oven for 35 minutes at 350 degrees or until top is lightly browned. Let cool for a few minutes and serve.
**I usually cheat and use the Betty Crocker Home style creamy butter instant potatoes). 2 pouches is perfect for a 9x13 casserole. They're 80 calories per serving and very tasty. Not to mention all you have to add is water.
20 pounds and 'the monster who ate New York'
Happy Wednesday all. I haven't had a chance to blog in a while because I've been busy at work (yay) and just haven't been able to find the time to do so at home. Things have been going pretty well here in Michigan. I won't pretend that the roller coaster weather hasn't been just a teensy bit annoying, it's wreaking havoc on my thermoregulation, but if that's my major complaint in life right now things are good.
I had a great weekend. Saturday was the Young ICD (internal cardioverter defibrillator...they're the ones that shock people when they need it)Conference and it was a rocking good time as always. This is the 2nd year I've volunteered and it really is a lot of fun. The department basically rents out the entire event center at the Marriott and they have food, speakers, entertainment, therapaws etc. It is literally a full day devoted to young men and women, along with their friends and families, to hang out with people who have gone through the same thing that they have. After my shift was over, I went out to lunch with a group of women from work to celebrate my birthday. I had an amazing burger and fries and washed it down with pumpkin ice cream (which was divine)! I felt kind of bad about eating so poorly, especially considering the fact that I missed my Saturday morning workout because I was at the conference. However, when I stepped on the scale Sunday morning (very nervously I might add) I was pleasantly surprised. I have hit the 20 pound mark!!
I'm surprised with how quickly it has come off but when I think about what I've been doing it makes sense. Other than for my birthday I haven't eaten out since Labor Day weekend and I don't drink hardly any pop these days. I bought a 12 pack of ginger ale back at the end of September and I still have 6 or 7 cans left in the fridge. I know I don't always eat the best homemade foods ( I somehow doubt tater tot casserole will ever make the list of health foods) but it's still better than eating out and everything is OK in moderation. I have also been really faithful to my exercise schedule. I try and do something most days of the week. I will alternate between in-home cardio and resistance training during the week and then Saturday mornings I hit up the mini-gym at my apartment and get in a really good workout there. I'm definitely able to get in a much better cardio workout there than home. It's just impossible to get in there after work. There are 2 treadmills and they are always being used. I honestly think when I'm done making my crazy student loan payments in May I'm going to get a pass to a real fitness facility, if I could swing it financially now I would it's just no feasible. I have a co-worker who joined the Y and they have a lot of class options which I like. We'll just have to see.
Finally, I was talking to Tasha last week and she was unpacking her groceries. She was telling me all about the good deals she got at the store and then told me her dinner plans for the week. I was totally surprised and thrilled when she told me she was making 'the monster who ate New York' for the kids. Now, I realize that we are probably the only people who have a dinner that is called 'the monster who ate New York' and that saddens me greatly because it is so amazing. People always ask where the name came from. Honestly, I can't tell you. My first memory of eating this dish is back when my parents were married and we were living in Sumner (which was before I started school). Imagine Shepherd's pie and tator tot casserole mating and having a baby. That baby would be 'the monster who ate New York.' I'll post the recipe and you'll have to give it a try. I highly recommend it! Anyway, as I was describing this dish to the girls at work they were all flummoxed when I compared it to tator tot casserole. Not a single person that I work with has ever heard of tator tot casserole...how is that even possible?!?!? Don't get me wrong, I realize that there are foods that tend to be region specific but I didn't think Michigan was so far removed from Iowa that they wouldn't know what tator tot casserole was. Anyway, Julie made it and loved it...I have one convert! Sheena was looking up recipes the other day so I think there might be another convert on the way. Maybe this is why I was supposed to be in Michigan. Maybe my whole purpose was to share the joys of tator tot casserole with the Michiganders (yes, that's what they call themselves).
OK, I should wrap up. I'll add another post with the casserole recipe. Have a great day and rest of the week!
I had a great weekend. Saturday was the Young ICD (internal cardioverter defibrillator...they're the ones that shock people when they need it)Conference and it was a rocking good time as always. This is the 2nd year I've volunteered and it really is a lot of fun. The department basically rents out the entire event center at the Marriott and they have food, speakers, entertainment, therapaws etc. It is literally a full day devoted to young men and women, along with their friends and families, to hang out with people who have gone through the same thing that they have. After my shift was over, I went out to lunch with a group of women from work to celebrate my birthday. I had an amazing burger and fries and washed it down with pumpkin ice cream (which was divine)! I felt kind of bad about eating so poorly, especially considering the fact that I missed my Saturday morning workout because I was at the conference. However, when I stepped on the scale Sunday morning (very nervously I might add) I was pleasantly surprised. I have hit the 20 pound mark!!
I'm surprised with how quickly it has come off but when I think about what I've been doing it makes sense. Other than for my birthday I haven't eaten out since Labor Day weekend and I don't drink hardly any pop these days. I bought a 12 pack of ginger ale back at the end of September and I still have 6 or 7 cans left in the fridge. I know I don't always eat the best homemade foods ( I somehow doubt tater tot casserole will ever make the list of health foods) but it's still better than eating out and everything is OK in moderation. I have also been really faithful to my exercise schedule. I try and do something most days of the week. I will alternate between in-home cardio and resistance training during the week and then Saturday mornings I hit up the mini-gym at my apartment and get in a really good workout there. I'm definitely able to get in a much better cardio workout there than home. It's just impossible to get in there after work. There are 2 treadmills and they are always being used. I honestly think when I'm done making my crazy student loan payments in May I'm going to get a pass to a real fitness facility, if I could swing it financially now I would it's just no feasible. I have a co-worker who joined the Y and they have a lot of class options which I like. We'll just have to see.
Finally, I was talking to Tasha last week and she was unpacking her groceries. She was telling me all about the good deals she got at the store and then told me her dinner plans for the week. I was totally surprised and thrilled when she told me she was making 'the monster who ate New York' for the kids. Now, I realize that we are probably the only people who have a dinner that is called 'the monster who ate New York' and that saddens me greatly because it is so amazing. People always ask where the name came from. Honestly, I can't tell you. My first memory of eating this dish is back when my parents were married and we were living in Sumner (which was before I started school). Imagine Shepherd's pie and tator tot casserole mating and having a baby. That baby would be 'the monster who ate New York.' I'll post the recipe and you'll have to give it a try. I highly recommend it! Anyway, as I was describing this dish to the girls at work they were all flummoxed when I compared it to tator tot casserole. Not a single person that I work with has ever heard of tator tot casserole...how is that even possible?!?!? Don't get me wrong, I realize that there are foods that tend to be region specific but I didn't think Michigan was so far removed from Iowa that they wouldn't know what tator tot casserole was. Anyway, Julie made it and loved it...I have one convert! Sheena was looking up recipes the other day so I think there might be another convert on the way. Maybe this is why I was supposed to be in Michigan. Maybe my whole purpose was to share the joys of tator tot casserole with the Michiganders (yes, that's what they call themselves).
OK, I should wrap up. I'll add another post with the casserole recipe. Have a great day and rest of the week!
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
28 and counting!
Well, it's official...I'm 28. I've been getting stumped the last few days when people at work ask me how old I am. I've had to resort to doing math to make sure that I was 27 going on 28 as opposed to 26 going on 27. Anyway, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that 28 is how old I am (despite my unsettling desire to type 29...let's not rush things)! I know that as I approach the awful 3-0! getting older should freak me out but I always like getting older. I'm like good wine, I get better with age!
As a whole, I enjoyed my 27th year. While there were moments of heartache and tragedy there were also a lot of wonderful moments filled with love and happiness. I will never forget the look on my mom's face when I surprised her on New Years Eve. It's priceless and I will treasure that moment forever. I will never forget welcoming Brooklyn into our family and I will always love the day that Dean married Alecia and she became part of our crazy family. I will always remember my 27th year as the year that my sister met the love of her life and he decided to become part of our family as well. And, while it's not a happy moment, I will remember forever holding my mom's hand as she left this world and joined those we've lost before. In all of my years past and ahead I don't know how a moment could ever be more tender or filled with more love than that moment was.
Anyway, I'm looking forward to starting off a wonderful 28th year. I hope that there is even more happiness and love than 27. I have some goals for the next year regarding my life and I hope to see them pan out. It's a fresh start and I'm really excited to see what unfolds!
As a whole, I enjoyed my 27th year. While there were moments of heartache and tragedy there were also a lot of wonderful moments filled with love and happiness. I will never forget the look on my mom's face when I surprised her on New Years Eve. It's priceless and I will treasure that moment forever. I will never forget welcoming Brooklyn into our family and I will always love the day that Dean married Alecia and she became part of our crazy family. I will always remember my 27th year as the year that my sister met the love of her life and he decided to become part of our family as well. And, while it's not a happy moment, I will remember forever holding my mom's hand as she left this world and joined those we've lost before. In all of my years past and ahead I don't know how a moment could ever be more tender or filled with more love than that moment was.
Anyway, I'm looking forward to starting off a wonderful 28th year. I hope that there is even more happiness and love than 27. I have some goals for the next year regarding my life and I hope to see them pan out. It's a fresh start and I'm really excited to see what unfolds!
Monday, October 18, 2010
Update on Health
Hey everyone:
I went to the doctor this morning...sadly my regular doctor is out of town so I saw a different one with an open appointment. I didn't want to wait until Thursday to see my usual female doctor. Unfortunately I didn't learn much today. The doctor was not interested in hearing about my fibromyalgia theory. He was certain I have mono or something viral. Mind you, I don't want to be diagnosed with fibromyalgia but it disappointed me that he wouldn't listen to me. My pain was much less today except in my knees. Holy cow they hurt for most of the day but ice and Aleve seemed to help a bunch.
Anyway, they drew blood (a lot of blood) and we got some immediate results back. Once again I'm not diabetic and the mono test was negative. I have to wait until the end of the week for the tests they did for arthritis. The blood draw really made me ill because it hurt when they stuck me with the needle and they took 6 viles of blood. I couldn't distract myself since it hurt and I felt very weak afterward. I walked back to the examination room and ended up on the floor due to feeling faint and sick to my stomach. Thank goodness nurses have good ears and quick reflexes.
Anyway, that's all I know. After 2 sick days, I am more than ready to go back to work tomorrow so I hope I don't wake up stiff or sick. That's all I have for an update....I anticipate hearing that I don't have arthritis on Thursday or Friday. Thanks for your prayers and well wishes.
I went to the doctor this morning...sadly my regular doctor is out of town so I saw a different one with an open appointment. I didn't want to wait until Thursday to see my usual female doctor. Unfortunately I didn't learn much today. The doctor was not interested in hearing about my fibromyalgia theory. He was certain I have mono or something viral. Mind you, I don't want to be diagnosed with fibromyalgia but it disappointed me that he wouldn't listen to me. My pain was much less today except in my knees. Holy cow they hurt for most of the day but ice and Aleve seemed to help a bunch.
Anyway, they drew blood (a lot of blood) and we got some immediate results back. Once again I'm not diabetic and the mono test was negative. I have to wait until the end of the week for the tests they did for arthritis. The blood draw really made me ill because it hurt when they stuck me with the needle and they took 6 viles of blood. I couldn't distract myself since it hurt and I felt very weak afterward. I walked back to the examination room and ended up on the floor due to feeling faint and sick to my stomach. Thank goodness nurses have good ears and quick reflexes.
Anyway, that's all I know. After 2 sick days, I am more than ready to go back to work tomorrow so I hope I don't wake up stiff or sick. That's all I have for an update....I anticipate hearing that I don't have arthritis on Thursday or Friday. Thanks for your prayers and well wishes.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
These old bones....
HURT!!! I guess my bones aren't old but they are certainly acting like it!
Hey ladies:
My lack of blogging last week makes me a liar! I kept bring up this site at work during some breaks but it never materialized into a meaningful blog entry. I've had a week filled with peaks and downfalls. I'll start off with the positives since I don't want to be all whiny and full of complaints right off the bat. We had a low-key weekend with a lot of leisure. I didn't have any work hanging over my head or stressing me out. We also got to bop down to Des Moines on Friday night and see LeAnn & Jason. Gavin enjoyed swimming at their hotel pool and we had a great meal at Taki Japanese Steakhouse. I'll never get sick of that place or their orange dipping sauce. I also got to watch Gavin play one of his last 5th grade flag football games. Sadly they lost but it's relaxing to sit and watch him play on a beautiful Sunday afternoon.
Onto the sucky part of the week and weekend...my body has felt like hell. I felt somewhat achey and out of sorts on Friday and took a sick day. It's hard to explain but I didn't feel right and didn't feel comfortable driving. I never felt dizzy or nauseated but something felt "off". My appetite went back to normal later in the day (thank goodness) so I was able to eat and enjoy my meal at Taki.
Saturday was a different story. I could not get out of bed on Saturday morning. It was really disappointing because I had a goal to go back to Des Moines to do some shopping for Gavin and see LeAnn & Jason again. I continued to rest throughout the morning but did not improve. It felt like every bone in my body hurt and that every muscle in my body was strained. Sitting up or walking to the bathroom was agonizing. I took Ibuprofen throughout the day until I reached my daily limit. Nothing made a dent on the pain.
Today was slightly better but I still dealt with pain off and on. Fortunately it only seemed to affect my lower body and not my whole body. It got really bad right before Gavin's football game but I made myself go to the game so Gavin wouldn't miss out.
I've been in contact with my Mom about my odd symptoms these last weeks and Jon has been researching my symptoms. He sent me a link today about fibromyalgia. I had never considered that disorder before...but the link opened my eyes. In the past I've kind of rolled my eyes at the disorder because it didn't make sense that people would be in so much pain but not have any proof about the disorder in blood work or medical exams. I really hope I don't have it but as of today, it fits my symptoms in a scary way.
Here's information from WebMD in case you're curious.
http://www.webmd.com/fibromyalgia/default.htm
I spoke to a family member today that suffers from it and she told me the best way to prevent the onset of body soreness and pain is exercise. My question is...how the heck do you perform quality exercise if your body is out of whack and sore consistently? I guess you really have to utilize the "good" days you have when your body cooperates.
On a different note, I've finished a book this weekend. I read "Madame Bovary". I read it back in high school for extra credit in my AP English class and wanted to revisit it again. It was considered controversial back in the day because the story is set around extramarital affairs by a woman. Thanks to the content we are subjected to today, the story doesn't seem controversial at all. Sadly I didn't enjoy it as much as I hoped. I remember loving the story back in the 90s so I was disappointed. I got my biography of Judy Garland back from my dad in September so I'm starting up with that book again.
Thanks for keeping me in your thoughts this week. I hope to see the doctor today (Monday) so I can figure out what the heck is going on with my body. I'm going to immediately bring up my concerns about fibromyalgia and see what she thinks. I was surprised that my Aunt Patty passed away this weekend. I knew she was declining but still thought she would make it closer to Thanksgiving. I'm just relieved she isn't suffering anymore. It's another realization that life is too short and you need to treasure and love the things most important to your life.
Have a good start to your week!
Hey ladies:
My lack of blogging last week makes me a liar! I kept bring up this site at work during some breaks but it never materialized into a meaningful blog entry. I've had a week filled with peaks and downfalls. I'll start off with the positives since I don't want to be all whiny and full of complaints right off the bat. We had a low-key weekend with a lot of leisure. I didn't have any work hanging over my head or stressing me out. We also got to bop down to Des Moines on Friday night and see LeAnn & Jason. Gavin enjoyed swimming at their hotel pool and we had a great meal at Taki Japanese Steakhouse. I'll never get sick of that place or their orange dipping sauce. I also got to watch Gavin play one of his last 5th grade flag football games. Sadly they lost but it's relaxing to sit and watch him play on a beautiful Sunday afternoon.
Onto the sucky part of the week and weekend...my body has felt like hell. I felt somewhat achey and out of sorts on Friday and took a sick day. It's hard to explain but I didn't feel right and didn't feel comfortable driving. I never felt dizzy or nauseated but something felt "off". My appetite went back to normal later in the day (thank goodness) so I was able to eat and enjoy my meal at Taki.
Saturday was a different story. I could not get out of bed on Saturday morning. It was really disappointing because I had a goal to go back to Des Moines to do some shopping for Gavin and see LeAnn & Jason again. I continued to rest throughout the morning but did not improve. It felt like every bone in my body hurt and that every muscle in my body was strained. Sitting up or walking to the bathroom was agonizing. I took Ibuprofen throughout the day until I reached my daily limit. Nothing made a dent on the pain.
Today was slightly better but I still dealt with pain off and on. Fortunately it only seemed to affect my lower body and not my whole body. It got really bad right before Gavin's football game but I made myself go to the game so Gavin wouldn't miss out.
I've been in contact with my Mom about my odd symptoms these last weeks and Jon has been researching my symptoms. He sent me a link today about fibromyalgia. I had never considered that disorder before...but the link opened my eyes. In the past I've kind of rolled my eyes at the disorder because it didn't make sense that people would be in so much pain but not have any proof about the disorder in blood work or medical exams. I really hope I don't have it but as of today, it fits my symptoms in a scary way.
Here's information from WebMD in case you're curious.
http://www.webmd.com/fibromyalgia/default.htm
I spoke to a family member today that suffers from it and she told me the best way to prevent the onset of body soreness and pain is exercise. My question is...how the heck do you perform quality exercise if your body is out of whack and sore consistently? I guess you really have to utilize the "good" days you have when your body cooperates.
On a different note, I've finished a book this weekend. I read "Madame Bovary". I read it back in high school for extra credit in my AP English class and wanted to revisit it again. It was considered controversial back in the day because the story is set around extramarital affairs by a woman. Thanks to the content we are subjected to today, the story doesn't seem controversial at all. Sadly I didn't enjoy it as much as I hoped. I remember loving the story back in the 90s so I was disappointed. I got my biography of Judy Garland back from my dad in September so I'm starting up with that book again.
Thanks for keeping me in your thoughts this week. I hope to see the doctor today (Monday) so I can figure out what the heck is going on with my body. I'm going to immediately bring up my concerns about fibromyalgia and see what she thinks. I was surprised that my Aunt Patty passed away this weekend. I knew she was declining but still thought she would make it closer to Thanksgiving. I'm just relieved she isn't suffering anymore. It's another realization that life is too short and you need to treasure and love the things most important to your life.
Have a good start to your week!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)