The Tree Pose

I am feeling better today. It is a beautiful sunny hot day and I hope it lasts! I know I'm feeling better because I cooked dinner. Breakfast was one slice of organic rye bread with a thin layer of smoked salmon cream cheese for flavour, with fruit and oj and green tea. Lunch was basically the same with a glass of milk added. My water intake is up, mostly due to the heat.

For dinner I made polenta with chicken stock. Once done I put it in a loaf pan and place the pan in the fridge. When we are ready to eat I remove the polenta and grill the slices and serve with sauce. For the sauce I removed sausage meat from the casings and browned the meat with sliced mushrooms and a tin of chopped tomatoes. That's it! You would be so surprised at the amount of flavour. Serve the sauce over the sliced grilled polenta and sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese. We are having carrot, celery and cucumber sticks for the veggie portion.

I also know I am feeling better as I was able to do 38 minutes on my Wii. I started with the advanced step in order to warm up. I hit a bucket of golf balls and tried unsuccessfully to make it to the third level of the advanced obstacle course. I laugh when I do the math game. I am on the advanced level, (add or subtract numbers to total 15) I can never finish! The Wii keeps telling me to make small hip shakes. My hips seem to make big hip shakes so I add and subtract numbers that I don't want, lol!

I had the Wii make up a yoga routine for me today. I just knew it would include my least favourite yoga positions. Yup! There was the Tree Pose. I was a dancer for years and I embarrass myself that I cannot stop wiggling while trying to hold this pose. I guess this should be another of my goals.

I do feel better; all stretched out again. I am still a little lightheaded and shaky, however, I feel I will not get worse. ( I hope!)

Think good thoughts for tomorrow!

Is It a Virus?

I know I haven't posted in a few days. It's not that I have given up. Not even the cramps kept me down long! I thought I had a bit of a cold or most probably allergies. On Friday I didn't feel good and looking back I thought it was something I ate. I slept in on Saturday and when I finally got up I had to really push myself to do anything. At one point on Saturday I had the chills, nausea, and nearly passed out in our bathroom. The really bad feeling did pass and I passed it off as an anomaly. Well, I still feel bad from allergies and it seems Hubby found out at work today that one of his coworkers had the same symptoms as I had. They went to the clinic and was told it's a virus that's going around. There is nothing to take for a virus so I guess I will just be careful and wash my hands even more than I do now. I work with the public and think I'm immune to it all. I guess I need time to become immune to the new germs. I just wish the public would stop putting their documents in their mouths before handing them over to us!

A STORM is Brewing

What a week of Storms. My heart goes out to all the people in the States who have lost everything to the many Tornadoes this past week. Here in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) we have had our own, "Storm," that has caused its own devastation.

I understand the story of baby Storm has gone viral and is news all over the world. Wow, if I was this babies parents I don't know just what I would do. But I do know that how they have handled the media on slot so far is admiral. They have not exploited their children or had family makeovers, no instant TV stars, no commercial endorsements.

If you are not familiar with the story read the link:http://www.parentcentral.ca/parent/newsfeatures/article/995846--star-readers-rage-about-couple-raising-genderless-infant

I first read the story last weekend and the husband and I had a brief discussion about it. I was intrigued by the concept of not labeling our kids the second they are born (or in many cases even before they are born). This idea of letting the child just be a child and encouraging our kids to follow their own interests.

I have two girls (yes, labeled before they were born) but I am OK with it. But I was and still am a fan of Barbara Coloroso's philosophy of child rearing, Kid's Are Worth It. The husband and I followed a lot of her ideas while raising our kids. "Its not life threatening, Its not morally threatening and it will grow out, wash out, fall out (put what ever you need here) are the words we have lived by for many circumstances. Like a few months ago when the little one wanted two black low lights (streaks) in the front part of her hair. Her hairdresser, Sam, was all for it, but let me tell you the older women in the salon were not happy. "If I let her streak her hair now what will she do when she is 15". Same at school, the vice principal was not impressed but as no dress code had been broken (yes, there is one for hair. Only natural colours are permitted) there was nothing she could do about it. Yes, she had plenty to say about it, What Ever! I would constantly repeat to myself and out loud "Its not life threatening, Its not morally threatening and it will grow out".

But I digress back to Storm. I have thought about this all week and I think the main reason a lot of people have gotten so outraged over this story is not because Storm's older brother has long hair (isn't that the latest fashion statement in the celebrity world of kids). It's not cause Storm's brother likes the colour pink. The child is 5 and unless he has been told by adults not to like it why wouldn't he. The only reason I can see for the anger is because Storm's family knows something and you don't! It's like being back in high school and hating the 'in crowd' just cause you're not in the 'in crowd'. Grow up all of you! What is between Storm's legs really is none of our business. There is no reason for you to know what sex Storm is and why do you have to know?

Todays Toronto Star has a open letter written by the Mother of Storm:http://www.thestar.com/news/article/998960--genderless-baby-s-mother-responds-to-media-frenzy. I commend you Ms. Witterick for trying to set the record straight. And hats off to you and your husband for loving and respecting your children enough to let them make decisions for themselves that are appropriate for their age. When our older daughter was young she would dress herself in layers as she wanted to be prepared for any type of weather. That meant at times she looked like the Michelin Man and at times could not sit because she had on shorts, leggings, track pants, jeans and skirts, all at the same time. But that was her and she eventually learned that having a look outside can be a good indicator on how to dress! Our younger daughter (the artist) loved to wear two different shoes, just because she liked them both. Her most memorable fashion statement was when I cut a leg off of her favourite jeans as the knee was worn through. I told her she could wear them as shorts but she refused so after only cutting the one pant leg off she insisted on having her pants back, (and wore them until she outgrew them) with one long pant leg and one short pant leg. Yes, we got many a second look and yes I would of preferred her not to wear the pants. But what would I be teaching her, "don't think for yourself, don't' express yourself, your ideas are wrong". She will get enough of that line of teaching from well meaning others. It is more important that she know that her parents accept and love her for who she is regardless.

Ms. Witterick let me share some of my experience with you. Raising kids is hard. A lot of the child rearing philosophy we share is great when they are little but it gets very tricky when other people start to have a big influence on your kids. School is a big one (I understand you are homeschooling now but you may not in the future for many different reasons) so be prepared for other adults not to think the same as you. They are not wrong, nor bad but they just have a different way of doing things and for your kids that can be confusing. Letting your kids pick their clothes out and then they go to a school that says girls can only wear pants on Tuesday and Thursdays can be very confusing for them. I remember many a discussion with the older one's teachers because she didn't want to wear her gloves in the winter. She had them in her back pack if she needed them and she had been raised with the thought if your hands get cold you know what to do to make them warm. But teachers would insist she wear them or they wouldn't let her outside. This would drive me crazy but it was a hopeless battle. Why did she not want to wear her gloves: because while having gloves on she could not pick up the pretty stones from the play ground that she wanted to show me at the end of her day.

Ms. Witterick I commend you and your husband for raising your three kids. You have your work cut out for you and kudos to you for standing firm on your convictions. I am sure your three children will grow up in a loving supportive home and hopefully will be strong enough in themselves to reject the negative influence from the outside world. Know you are not alone in your child rearing.

To all the 'in crowd" wannabe's, Storm is not "Genderless". Storm has a gender it's just not any of your business what that gender is!

Catch Up Fridays

(Cathy) I set this page up yesterday and I now just realized that I forgot to send the e-mail out to let the ladies know that the page was set up. Oops!

I hope everyone is enjoying the rain. I hope everyone realizes that I'm being sarcastic! The sun came out for about an hour yesterday. The weatherman keeps saying that this summer is going to be the hottest and sunniest than those summers past. I am not a believer! I tried three times to go outside to garden today and each time I went out it started to rain too hard to continue gardening! (Sunshine) With all of this rain the grass has needed constant cutting and we have not had any pool weather as of yet. P.S. Cathy, thanks for setting up the post for us. (Carolin) Yes, I guess the one nice thing about all this rain is our lawn looks so green and lush. As for the coming summer it is hard to believe that the weather forecast calls for hot, ho,t hot summer. So far it is a cold wet summer.

I now know how they felt in Calgary with all of the snow this past winter!

On to other things. I upped my aerobics to 45 minutes today. I am going to see if that helps to burn more fat. I think that I will need to do at least 30 minutes minimum of aerobics and then add on the yoga and strength and balance exercises. I did 6 minutes of rhythm boxing and advanced step twice. I also did the rhythm parade and obstacle course. I did OK in the snowball fight and not so good and the advanced downhill skiing slalom course. Oh, well. Good job Cathy.

Dinner was homemade pizza. I was good and only ate two slices. I saved two slices for tomorrow. Speaking of pizza. Little Miss Sunshine attended a friend's birthday party last year and again last night and she raves about how the pizza this little girl's dad makes is the best pizza that she has ever had. Well of course I had to ask how he makes it. He says that he uses any pizza dough from any grocery store, jarred tomato sauce and pizza mozzarella. It is the same thing that he told me last year when I asked. I told him that he is really killing me as I always make my own sauce. Last year I followed his exact directions (I didn't even know that the grocery stores actually carry pizza mozzarella, but they do). but his pizza still wins. According to Little Miss Sunshine no other pizza even comes close. I must say that when I dropped her off the scent coming from the house was incredible. I was so tempted to ask for a slice so that I could taste for myself but I just couldn't bring myself to do so. Little Miss Sunshine says it's so good that there are never any left overs.

Everything else is about the same around here. Work was busy as we were short one of the girls. I was talking to the lead hand custodian and I was contemplating maybe applying for that job. I would still be working part time but evenings, 4 - 8. I am not thrilled with the hours but it's not that bad and the pay is double what I make now with full benefits. I am going to think about it. I may be able to pick up the girls. Drop them off and get to work on time depending on the school that I would be scheduled at. That is if they even consider me for the position. It's all based on seniority and apparently it would take me years to switch to days. One of the custodians just got days this year and that is after working for 27 years. I don't know, what do you all think? Sounds like crap Sunshine and I think you will hate it. Of course that's just my opinion. I agree with Carolin!

Miss Teen Sunshine got her G1 last week and now she is driving everywhere. To school and back and to work and back. It's kind of nice relaxing while I get chauffeured around but somehow I feel as though my car is no longer mine. Yeah for her but most of all I am so impressed that you can sit in the car and are relaxed. To this day I am still nervous when the teenager drives.

The little one and husband have gone away for the weekend. I spent most of the day today shopping. I had birthday and shower gifts to get but of course I also bought myself lots of stuff. Dresses for the upcoming weddings, summer tops, skirts, capri's. It was a very nice day. Not real sure where the teenager is, last I heard this morning she was going over to a friend's house for a game of dungeon and dragons.

Oh yeah one more thing, a few months ago I bought two books for each of you for our next book club. I forgot to give them to you the last time I saw you.

Have a good week everyone!

Better Today

I felt so much better today in one respect. However, at the same time I seem to be either coming down with a head cold or starting allergies! I am still amazed that even feeling tired and sick I still went downstairs and put in a solid 31 minutes of exercise. I must say that everyday I exercise makes me believe even stronger in the adage that, "it takes 21 days to make a habit".

I warmed up with Advanced Step and the Advanced Obstacle course. I did hit another bucket of golf balls. Hitting golf balls really works the upper body and waist! I stretched out with a long yoga routine and finished with some deep breathing exercises. Yep, felt better afterward!

I will start paying attention to my weight next week. I have 16 days (of the goal I set) to lose 2.2kg. That's a lot of weight and I hope some will disappear with the water gain from this week and I will make more of an effort with food. The food thing is harder than the exercise thing. I'm hungry!

Tomorrow, on "Catch Up Fridays", I will fill you in on my day! Thanks everyone for your continuing support!

38 Minutes Today

I'm feeling much better today. I'm not paying attention to my weight this week. I did get an extra hour of sleep last night so I do feel more rested today. I still managed to nap around 2pm today for about an hour. I made myself get up right afterward and was surprised that I felt good, not draggy.

I ate well today in that my portions were cut way down. I was hungry so every time I felt a hunger pang I drank a glass of water. Mind over matter!

I'm still not ready for a lot of jumping up and down so upon my arrival downstairs I challenged myself with all of the balance and agility games. I tried golf for the first time and actually enjoyed it. The Wii evaluates my swing. I hit two buckets of balls on the driving range and was surprised at how hard it was. I always tease Hubby that golf is an excuse for exercise! I take it back! Hubby came down and tried the driving range when I told him about it and he said it was pretty good!

Before I knew it 38 minutes had passed.

Looking forward to aerobics tomorrow!

EA Sports or My Fitness Coach?

I have to be honest here. I did not exercise either yesterday or today. I have dragged myself to work the last two mornings and upon returning home I crawled on to the couch with Advil and wishing I had remembered I had a heating pad. I'll say it: CRAMPS! They seem to be returning with the same intensity from when I was a teenager! I'm getting migraines, too. I know: TMI!

You will be proud as I did at least weigh in before bed. I also did the body test. That was all I could physically or mentally manage. This will not stop me, I am committed to better health!

This brings me to the reason for the title of this post. In my better moments this weekend I was surfing the web for another Wii fitness game for variety. EA Sports and My Fitness Coach seem to be the two top Wii Fit games per all the various review I read.

Any opinions?

House on the Hill

I have been following the story in the Toronto Star this past week about the future of Casa Loma http://www.thestar.com/opinion/article/995018--casa-loma-saving-toronto-s-fabulous-follyhttp:// with mixed feelings. I love history and most important I love the history of Toronto. I have belong in the past to the Toronto Heritage Society and enjoyed with all my extended family the free walking tours they have. Who doesn't find it fascinating to hear the stories of the family who once lived in mansion along Jarvis st. Or the oldest bar still serving in Corktown. How about the beauty of the Annex and if you can look past the frat houses you can still see it. Chinatown, Little Italy, Greektown, Kensington Market, The St. Lawrence Market, and don't forget Cabbagtown. Toronto has such a rich heritage and what is great fun for me is to show this fabulous city off to people who haven't seen it before. The husband says I would be such a great tour guide because I love the stories behind the building. I have had fun these past few years as I have been the unofficial tour guide to KD, Albatross and there girls Mac and Cheese. We have been to Center Island, browsed through the Blue Banana in Kensington Market, ate giant chocolate covered strawberries at the St. Lawrence Market. Dreamed what it would be like to live in Casa Loma. We even went as far as looking on line for the house prices in the area. Lets say if we sold our homes, pooled our money we might come up with a nice down payment for a two bedroom townhouse. Needless to say we aren't moving to a castle neighbourhood anytime soon.

Reading this past week about the uncertian future of Casa Loma http://www.casaloma.org/Visitor/has left me feeling sad. I understand the cost of maintaing such a huge piece of history. When Sr Henry Pellatt built the house for his wife, he wasn't thinking 50 - 100 years from now and how the stone would hold up to Canadian climate. As much as I think the man was not the wisest and a tad show offish for my taste, the Castle on the hill is one of the most unique attractions Toronto has. Tourist come to Toronto and marvel at the downtown core, the CN Tower, Our skyline which for the past few years has been a skyline of construction cranes. As condo's are being built everywhere. But if you just go a little further north on Spadina you come to this massive hill and low and behold a castle. Who would of expected it, there are comfortable old family homes surrounding it, Little Italy is just a few blocks away. It is really is breathtaking

What to do the article says tourism is down 5% a year and the cost of upkeep it to much. What can be done to spend taxpayer money wisely. Well I don't know for sure but what I do know is as a working family going to Casa Loma is something we do every few years because not much changes. Yes I get it is history and all but still it is very expensive to get in to the castle and out of the 98 rooms it doesn't feel like more then 1/3 are open to viewing. The gardens are beautiful but again only for a the summer months are they open.

What can you do to increase tourism you ask? LOWER the PRICE of admittance and why are you charging $3.00 per hour to park? Again you are just ripping off your guests. Somebody suggested using the castle as a museum of Toronto, great idea you lots of empty rooms. Open the castle up to more events, yes I know you do Wedding, and Birthdays (been to a few there and they are wonderful) but lets have some more events for the public. How about a fancy High Tea for families, Costume parties, Mystery dinner nights. Why not have actors walk work around the castle as if we are back in the time of the Pellats living there. Have them in period clothing and they are doing, discussing what ever would of been going on, on that particular day in history.

I have had a look on your website and see lots of cool things but how come I have to go to the website why are they not advertised everywhere. Lets take advantage of all aspects of media, print, radio, television, social networks.

The little one and I were at a museum house in Belleville this past summer and what they did for the kids is had a scavenger hunt sorta of. She was given a paper with clues and she had to find the different items in the house as we went along the tour. It kept her entertained and she learned about the house and asked to go to more museums. Change things up a bit, borrow items from other historical homes to show what it was like. How about some kind of reward/game for the returning visitors. And as a food person why is there know kitchen for us to see?

I don't maybe all these things have been done before but all I do know is the reason local tourist don't come back every year is because nothing changes. Lets get some fresh blood running the Castle and think outside of the box. And really the big issue for most families is the price city run tourist sites.

I might be just blowing hot air but it seems such a shame if Toronto loses Casa Loma to some developer. And then when we can look up to the hill and no longer see a unexpected castle but instead the expected construction Crane for another condo.

Maybe its just me, perhaps competing with sports events, Wonderland and mega shopping malls (that have some how become tourist sites ???) is just more bang for the buck. Our stories no longer hold $ value to our ever changing population. What I do know is a couple years ago KD and I took a grade nine class to Toronto for the day. On any given day one of the kids from that trip will talk about our trip downtown and how much fun it was. So maybe there is some hope that our past will be preserved by our future.

Today, Sunday, is a Day of Rest

It's the Sunday of the long weekend. Work this morning was so quiet, it was painfully boring!

When I went home I dutifully went downstairs to weigh in. Yep, up again. I have decided that one week a month I will not pay attention to the scale! Also, being Sunday, once again the Wii offered that I should take the day off. So....... I did a few balance games and called it a day!

I spent some time at Costco looking at other Wii fitness games. I think I might purchase another game and alternate just to keep things interesting. I am in no way bored yet, I am looking forward to when I might need to up the challange a bit.

Let's not talk about food today! We had the entire family over for a bbq today. So I will not mention the chicken legs, or the sausages or the potato and pasta salad, let alone the apple or blueberry pie with ice cream!!!!!!!!

Need I say more!

See you tomorrow!

The Morning After

The morning after beer, wings and fries held no issues except for the fact that my weight was up (no surprise there) and I was thirsty! (again no surprise) The wings were really good. I had the honey garlic with country fries. I did drink light beer. If we go back again I think I will try the wings with medium hot sauce and see how that goes. It was a fun night! What made it even better was that the son of one of my friends drove us all there and when we were ready to go home he came and picked us all up and delivered us all safely home! That was the first time we did this and it was strange as I remember him all little but at the same time it was nice not to have to worry about a DD. Funny thing was that no one over drank. I'm sure some of us would be 0.5 but no one was silly.

On to today. I woke up and weighed in. (need to be good for the next few days) Cleaned the house and gardened. I took a break from gardening and did my 30 minute yoga routine. I'm getting really good at the downward facing dog. Has anyone tried the triangle pose? It feels like you have stretched every muscle in your body afterward! I can now do the standing knee without wobbling all over the place. The Wii is very proud!

Let's see, breakfast was oatmeal with berries and I tried for the first time vanilla almond milk. Wow, tasty! Lunch was two slices of homemade pizza. (I should have had only one) I have eaten two bunches of grapes and a trail mix nut mixture for a small snack. I had lots of water. Dinner was one slice of german sunflower rye bread with the thinnest layer of mayo, sliced spanish salami, (spicy!) and sliced tomatoes. I drank a glass of orange juice with dinner. I wonder how much fat was in all I ate today? Looking back at what I ate I think I did ok with the fruit and veggie servings. I put one cup of berries in my oatmeal and I ate about a cup of grapes in total. It was only half a tomato with dinner, though. Hmmmm. I have to learn to eat more salad!

On to tomorrow. I hope everyone is enjoying the long weekend. I hope we get lucky and have as nice a day tomorrow as we did today!

Catch up Fridays

(Sunshine) Hello everyone. Its been a slow week around here. Little Miss Sunshine has the stomach flu and she is also very congested so she was off from school on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. I hate to see her like this. I don't like when they are laying around and sleeping all day and not eating and so uncomfortable. We have been fighting the flu and stomach flu in my home since last weekend. I really got nothing done as she was off because she wanted me by her side and to be very honest I have been so exhausted that when she slept, I slept too. She seems to be better today, just really tired and her stomach is still upset and she is still not eating. Good thing this weekend is a long weekend. (Cathy) I hope you are all feeling better soon. You guys have had a hard winter and deserve a good healthy summer! I really hope so too. Please give Little Miss Sunshine our best. Hubby and the younger one have been dealing with spring allergies. I guess now that it's getting warmer the allergies will get worse. I only have a touch of spring allergies and I feel for all who suffer.Allergies are big in our home too. I hate to see them suffer with that, it looks so uncomfortable. (Carolin) We too suffer from seasonal allergies. The younger one is on allergy meds for a good part of the spring. But thankfully all the rain we have had has helped. I got a text from the teenager while she was at work. Her microphone in her phone is not working so we can only text (very frustrating) Anyway her supervisor was taking her to a walk-in as she was having a allergic reaction to something. After many text back and forth and her dad meeting the a the drug store it was a hive like rash on her arms. I had in a earlier text said go to the drug store and get some benadryl but I was ignored. Guess what the doctor prescribed? Yep benadryl and claritin. So hopefully she will remember to take that with her for now one while at work.

Miss Teen Sunshine turns 16 this weekend (yeah) and I have not even started working on that yet. I really don't even know what to get her that would be special for her sweet 16 birthday. I do know that tomorrow morning bright and early she will be off to get her G1 Plan to be there all morning and probably even longer. and then the rest of the weekend, she is working. She has not made plans for a birthday party with her friends yet. I don't think that she really knows what she wants. She has not had a friends party for about 5 years now because she hasn't wanted one. Mr Sunshine's family will be over on Saturday for her birthday and my family probably in a few weeks. My sister is really busy at work for the next few weeks and Mr Sunshine is out of town on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Happy sweet sixteen! It's a special birthday and by this age all the kids really seem to want is money and maybe a special meal. They rarely have parties anymore. Tell her good luck with her G1. How about money towards the driver's ed. course as a gift? I don't know about that Cathy, the teenager went to many sweet 16 parties when her friends turn that milestone. And just last weekend one of the girls at school at a big formal dinner/party for 100 for her sweet 16. So it seems some do and some don't.

Is anyone watching American Idol? I have lost interest as all of my favourites have now gone home but I am sure that I will watch the finale next week. I am however really enjoying The Voice. How come you have not been blogging about it? I am not watching it. How is the show without Simon? What is the "Voice"? I have not been blogging about it because partly I forget to do so and mainly when the show is over I am just to tired and ready for bed. It was nice when I had a lot of time at my leisure to what ever I wanted to do. I really miss that. Anyhow I do not miss Simon at this point because I really enjoy Steven Tyler and J Lo. The voice is a new singing show with mentors, Christina Agulara, Celo Green, Adam Levine and country singer Blake somebody. They choose contestants based on a blind audition where they have their backs towards the contestants and only turn around during their auditions if they really like what they hear. If more then one judge turns their chair for you then you as the artist make the decision on who you would like to work with. That was round one. Each mentor now has 8 people on their team. Round two each mentor chooses two members of their team to face off with each other in singing a song that was chosen for them on stage together. At this point the mentor must eliminate one member per round. We are still in stage two. I am not sure what happens in stage three but so far I am loving the show.

Soccer season is here and our first game is this holiday Monday. Why on a holiday when people are with families or at the cottage? Good luck this season! Is it just little Miss Sunshine who is playing soccer and will she be up to it?

I don't know why, everyone seems to be irritated about that. Irritated with what? Soccer on a holiday Monday. And if so then just don't go. If to many don't show up then they will know for next time not to schedule it on a holiday Monday. Also will the fields be OK to play. Baseball was cancelled this week for the husband because the fields are to wet.

Only 19 work days left for me!!!!!! Maybe me too. Has anyone been listening to the news? Ninety-eight percent in support of a strike!!!! I didn't know that, are you also in support of the strike? Sorry haven't heard anything about a strike. Well Cathy might be nice to have the summer off. Know? Yes it is getting close to the end of the school year and Yes I am looking forward to it.

I have spent today in the garden. What a beautiful day! I did my weigh in this morning when I got up and the Wii told me with fanfare that I lost 0.1kg! It also pointed out that I have 23 days left in my goal to lose 2kg. The Wii thinks I need to pick up my pace!!!!!!!! I have yet to go and do my exercise routine. I think after I finish gardening I will stretch out with yoga and do a few strength exercises. Breakfast was oatmeal and berries with tea. Lunch was leftover Spanish chicken/rice and mussels. Yummy! Dinner tonight is beer, wings and fries!!!!! Hmmmmm, maybe I should double up on the exercise so I can burn off dinner, lol!I am so proud of you, keep up the great work. I am considering doing some gardening this weekend, but don't hold your breath. I do plan on cleaning the carpet on the stairs as I still can smell the cat. As the weather gets warmer I am sure the smell will get worse.

I did a bit of grocery shopping and bought some German made muesli rye bread and some rice cakes and fruit. I will try to lessen my wheat gluten intake and increase my fruit intake and see what happens. I won't do a separate blog about my quest today as I just wrote about it now.

Last night I went and had a pedicure and then went to the mall and bought a new purse from Roots. I then met up with the teenager and we shopped for shoes. I am sad to say I had to buy my dressy summer sandals from Naturalizer cause it is all about the comfort and support and not so much about the style anymore. As soon as we got home (I didn't even have the door closed)the teenager blurts out to the husband "Mom spent over two hundred dollars on a purse" The two of us look at her like she is nuts. Her Dad looks at and says "So" and I say "Hello, I am all grown up and can spend my money on what ever I want". I figured the purse will last me a few years and even if it doesn't I work darn hard for my money and if I want something nice I don't mind spending the money on it. Don't worry I still can be frugal when I want (like my $7.00 tank tops from Walmart).


On a happy note my car is going in to be serviced on Tuesday. The dealership and Chrysler engineers have had some discussions and think they have figured out what the problem is. Something to do with the keyless starter. But lets see what they say when we also tell them the Air Conditioning does not work. How many problems do we have to have before we can declare this car a LEMON.


Have a great long weekend everyone! I will be thinking of you all as I go to work!!!!

Have a great long weekend everyone!!!

Busy, Busy Day

From I woke up this morning until now at 10:35pm I have been going, going, going. It's just one of those days. I only had twenty minutes from when I arrived at home from work this morning as I had to pick up the older one from school for his second eye appointment this week. I really wanted to weigh in before I ate but I didn't have time to eat either!

After the eye appointment we went for a nice lunch together at "Arbys". I like Arbys! I had the Philly beef and swiss with an orange crush. I haven't had a pop in over a year! The older one and I shared the most amazing order of small fries. So much for calories!

Dropped him off back to school and went off to FedEx to courier a letter. Finally, went back home and enjoyed a cup of tea before heading back out to pick up the older one again from after school band practice. We went to my favourite grocery store, Oceans, where we picked up a huge bag of mussels, lettuce, and a few other items.

So, dinner was pasta with mussels in a tomato sauce. Wow, was it ever good. Nice and simple. I just sauteed some minced onion and garlic in olive oil and butter. Added in a can of diced tomatoes and some wine. Seasoned with salt, pepper. thyme and tarragon. Reduced it down to concentrate the flavours and added in the mussels to steam. Again, wow!

I was good though, I kept myself to only one medium sized serving. Hubby had two huge servings and was moaning from a full belly after dinner!

Guess what? I still managed to fit in 30 minutes of exercise way after dinner. I took it a little easy and did twenty minutes of yoga and 10 minutes of balance games. Not bad, eh?

And here I am blogging about it now. I will persevere!

Food, Food, Food

And what to do about it!

Now that I seem to be following a habit of exercising 30 minutes every day I have discovered another challenge. Food! I like to eat because I enjoy food; how it tastes and the preparation. It's hard to reduce portion size. It's not that I'm still hungry.... rather it's that I want to continue experiencing the taste.

I have learned from people with whom I speak that I will start to gain muscle mass and that will keep my weight up. I need to burn off the fat! The more I exercise the hungrier I am. So, what to do?

I did 15 minutes today of aerobics and 15 minutes of strength training. All the while I am thinking about dinner. I made german goulash with spaetzle and salad. Yummy! I did have a small plate. I think for the next twenty-one days I am going to really, really watch and blog what I am eating. All of it. (Do I have to count the beer/wings/fries from this coming Friday????) Just how am I going to eat less than I already am?

As for the weight, I just remembered. I am reaching the start of a new cycle. (if you know what I mean) I always seem to eat more and retain more water so this could be the reason my weight is creeping up. Maybe, I should just ignore the next two weeks; in regards to food. ( I will not stop exercising) I will monitor and see how it progresses.

And the Journey Continues

It really is a journey isn't it? A lifelong journey to promote better health.

I had a busy day today with meetings at work and a few stops before I came home. However, I still found that I was drawn downstairs to the Wii. I did 20 minutes of aerobics and 10 minutes of balance games. It's interesting that I found time (which was always there) to go and exercise. I also managed to do a load of laundry, make break and prepare dinner.

Lunch was a treat. Take-out from, "Made in Japan". I had chicken and veggies and noodles. I know, I know, there is a lot of salt in that terriyaki sauce! It was good!

For dinner I marinated chicken breasts with olive oil, sherry, garlic, shallots, oregano, smoked spanish paprika (thanks Carol!) and salt and pepper. I covered the chicken with diced onion, red pepper, and sliced manzanillo olives. Covered the dish with foil and baked for 30 minutes. I am serving it with rice seasoned with saffron and cooked in diluted chicken stock. Salad and steamed baby peas will round it all out. Yummy!

The Twenty-First Day!

I made it!

I just finished a 35 minute workout with my Wii. I started again with the Rhythm Parade. I really like the way it warms up all of me. I followed with Advanced Kung-fu and I almost achieved a perfect score. Then I did the math game and finally won! I can now count to 10! The advanced obstacle course has ice and I kept slipping off into the abyss. I will have to learn more finesse with that game. I cannot resist the advanced steps. I pretend I'm dancing and I always wonder if there is a Wii game that contains more rhythmic dance? I must investigate! As it was the last day I decided to do the Short Run. I will admit that I am not a runner. I will leave that to Carol! This time the Short Run did not claim me.... I actually made it and did not feel like dying! I guess this just goes to show that the exercise is working. I will see if I can slowly work my way to the Long Run. No promises, though. I finished off my aerobics with a Ski Jump and Snowball Fight. The Snowball Fight is a good time!

I believe that took me to 25 minutes of aerobics so I programed a 10 minute yoga routine to stretch myself out and cool down. I still really feel good doing the Sun Salutation. I can almost touch my toes.

I look forward to continuing my exercise routine. I also need to work harder on what I eat. I need to add more fruits and vegetables to my day. I'm not a snacker so I find it hard to pick up an apple and eat it. I like apples, I'm just not hungry between meals. I will eat breakfast, lunch and dinner and have juice, tea, milk and water with meals and in between meals. I was reading that smaller meal portions and healthy snacking keeps the metabolism consistently working. I guess I will have to learn how to snack?

I will continue to blog daily about my exercise and food intake as I find it keeps me honest. It's been twenty-one days and this routine is working so, why change it?

Thanks everyone! I feel (or pretend) I have a silent cheering squad out there in blog land keeping me going.

Crosby's in the House

What an exciting night we had.

The little one, Aunt Sue, and my cousin Shannon went to a charity auction at the school I work at and where the little one attends. The auction had a lot of sports items, signed Jerseys, signed pictures, goalie masks etc. I am not a sports fan so they didn't interest me but I did bid on gift certificates to stores and restaurants.

When we first got to the auction there was a table set up with a framed signed hockey jersey from Sidney Crosby with photos of the winning Olympic goal. Again not my thing and its huge. anyway they had 105 playing cards glued on a board and you bought a card for $20.00. I noticed one family had bought 23 playing cards. The little one wanted to buy one. I explained to her that she would be buying a ticket from her own money and that she more then likely would not win. She said she understood but still wanted to buy a ticket. So a $20.00 bill was handed over and she wrote her name on one of the cards. We then went into the auction.

The little one found a item she wanted to bid on. I explained how the silent auction worked and told her what her limit was to spend. She put her bid down and was so excited when the table closed and she was the successful bidder. She was so happy she even cried a bit. It was very sweet to see.

At the end of the evening the Principal called all the kids up to the stage to help pull the playing cards of the board to find the winner. The family that had bought 23 tickets daughter went first and she pulled 5 tickets off. No winner, then two boys went and again no winner. It was the little ones turn and she pulled off a ticket and all of a sudden the Principal is getting excited. It seems she had pulled of the winning ticket. I quickly started to walk up to the stage as I was concerned about the excitement overwhelming her. All I new was she pulled the winning ticket but know one new who's ticket it was. Finally the Principal asks her if she pulled her ticket and she said yes. It was confirmed and then the whole audience went crazy. I quickly held the little one as she cried in my arms. I kept repeating "deep breaths". Once she was able to get herself somewhat composed she was brought to the front of the stage and cameras were flashing and there was clapping and cheering.

The rest of the night was a blur for her as people kept coming up congratulating her. It was a very exciting night for all.

Day Twenty of Twenty-One

One day to go until a lifelong habit is formed! Yeah! I will continue as I have become accustomed to it and it is a lot of fun. I know I am repeating myself but I am consistently amazed at how I will start my exercise feeling low and not wanting to participate and after 30 minutes I feel so positive and full of energy! After almost twenty days I would certainly hope I would not stop the routine. It's funny though as I have now come to realize that every Sunday the Wii tells me to take the day off! I understand that it's all part of not overdoing it. So, on Sundays I work a lot with the balance and coordination games. I really enjoy the obstacle course. When you do the course enough times a virtual reality thing seems to take over as my Mii and I seem to become one! What I mean is, after a while you really feel like you are performing the task at hand. I can better understand how people can get sucked into video games! You would probably laugh at how hard I concentrate when on the tightrope, especially when I have to jump on said rope! I have yet to unlock the advanced version of the tightrope. I have only made it across once! There is also a math game where you have to shake your hips in the direction of a bubble to choose it to add the numbers together to achieve a given sum. I think my hips wiggle too much!

Here's looking forward to tomorrow!

Day Nineteen of Twenty-One

I woke up all bright and bushy tailed this morning! Hubby was already up and he was taking the younger one to his last art class. The younger one wants to be an art and music teacher for secondary school so he has already made an arrangement to volunteer to help his art teacher with her next set of classes. Our piano is getting a much needed tuneup today. Yeah! It always sounds and plays so nicely when it's just been tuned. Our piano is played everyday and I missed getting it tuned last year so it is long overdue.

I'm getting ahead of myself. The first thing I did after I got out of bed was to go and workout on my Wii. I'm down another 0.3kg and I think I am starting to notice a slight difference in my silhouette. (I might be just imagining it, but hey, positive vibes, right!)

I started out with the 'rhythm parade' which is great for getting warmed up. I then did 'rhythmic kung-fu followed by step ups and then the obstacle course. I also did hula hoops; the advanced version; what a killer!

I cooled down with 20 minutes of yoga to stretch myself out. As I finished the older one came downstairs and he had some fun with the obstacle course and ski jumping. Hubby made my favourite breakfast. "Camping breakfast" Nothing beats bacon and eggs with a cup of tea when camping. I figured out that with the exercise my metabolism was up and active so would burn off the breakfast calories sooner! (one can hope!)

I am wondering what I will do when I have reached the twenty-first day. I believe that blogging is a great way to help keep me motivated. I don't think you will all want to continue to read about my continuing goal of better health. But I am thinking, if it keeps me honest I will continue.

I hope no one minds!

Catch Up Fridays

(Cathy) Hi everyone! Today was the day I went to help Carolin at her work. She had been hired to cater a meeting at the school where she owns and operates the cafeteria. I was to report for 10am. I was not late! (Carolin) Punctuality is very important Cathy, thank you.

The school was expecting me and a very nice women from the front office walked me to Carolin's cafe. I met her helper and I could see that they had been hard at work for a few hours! Carolin put me to work right away, but not before she gave me a very stylish white hair net. I looked like my grandmother! She even made me tuck my bangs under the net! I need my bangs..... I have never worn my hair back off of my face! (Sunshine) Cathy, welcome to the old ladie's hair net club. I am happy that my meanager lets me keep my bangs out all the time. If she made me tuck them in, I might just have to quit. In my own defense I said yes the bangs to be covered as they were almost past her eyes, and she only needed to wear the net while prepping food, when she went to serve she did not need to wear it. I don't make the laws just try to follow them.

So, I know, get over it! I started making a tray of snickerdoodles. She didn't say anything so I think I passed. After, I started to wrap burgers. It was just like working at McDonald's again! That kept me busy up until it was time to cater the meeting. I must say here that Carolin is very easy to work for. (maybe I shouldn't say that!) She never yelled at me once! What's a snickerdoodle? It sounds as though she is a great boss, but I think that we all knew that. Snickerdoodle is a great word, go ahead say it. See it puts a smile on your face every time. And of course it taste yummy. A snickerdoodle (giggle) is a sugar cookie that has been rolled in cinnamon and sugar.

I didn't have to do much for the meeting. Lunch was set up buffet style and everyone was very impressed and told me that all of the food was very good!

After the lunch rush.......... I got to eat! I was very hungry. I had a Jamaican beef patty and some of Carolin's potato salad with a cup of tea! I had some potato salad for dinner, must say it is very good. (if you do say so yourself!!! but I have to agree, it was very good and I felt bad for not asking for a bit for Hubby.)


After eating it was clean up time. Washing up took a very, very long time! I must admit it's not my favourite job however I was very happy to let Carolin have a break so she could tend to some other tasks. At work, we do dishes all day long. It is a greasy, wet and exhausting job. Unfortunately, dishes take up a good part of the day, Be thankful Cathy cause Scott one of the parents at the school who comes in to help on these extra busy days had already done some of the dishes. You're right and I am forever grateful!

I had a good time and I was very glad that I could help! Good job Cathy! Thank you very much Cathy, I really appreciated your help. Between the regular day (the window we call it) burger day (extra 200 burgers) and the principals luncheon it was busy.

Well, its Friday and what a crazy day! Today the meanager told us told us, actually it's more like she barked at us that we have a mandatory food handling coarse to attend. She said that two of us have to go on June 17 and the other two on June the 21st. She had no other details. Not what time, where is it being held, are they paying for our gas to get there, are they paying us for our time? Anyhow, the girls at work are very upset because the 17th is our last day at work and we have a lot of cleaning to do and now two people will be stuck doing all the work while the other two are out taking the course. I really hope that I get to go to the course that day. Hey Carolin, you may know the answers to some of the above questions. Didn't you take that course in the past? Apparently, one of the girls thinks that the course will be held at the Toronto School Board somewhere on Yonge street. I think that my boss is the worst communicator ever. One of the girls started expressing her opinion on how the date of June the 17th was a very poor choice. The meanager barked once again and told her that she didn't want to hear about it and to shut up. Another pleasant day at work. But guess what, "Its Friday, Friday, Friday!" Ok Sunshine relax! I did not take the course as they have options. In Peel region they would like to make this certification mandatory to all people working in food services. Because you work at a school board the board may require it. It is not a big deal, you have a choice in Peel to take the day course and write the test at the end or do self study and then go write the test. I choice the later and got 96%. I got one question wrong and it haunts me to this day. I wrote the test right here in town beside the Mall. It only took 1 hour or two, not a biggie. I did study at home for a few weeks. If you read over the manual and answer the questions at the end of each chapter then you should be fine. Most of it is common sense and then there is the memorizing of food temperatures and fridge/freezer temperatures.

I had scheduled my now yearly ant spraying for 2:00 this afternoon. I had to get angry on the phone with the receptionist when at 2:45 the technician was still not there and I had now left work early and have been waiting for him for an hour as I got there 15 minutes early in case he got there early. I didn't want to miss him. Well ,as I was late in picking up Miss Teen Sunshine and just about to get on the highway, I see his truck on the other side of the street. I scrambled to find the head office phone number and call them and tell him to start spraying outside and I would be back in 10 minutes. Well, getting to that school late on a Friday was a disaster. It took me half an hour to get out of the parking lot. When I got home he was in his truck sleeping. Apparently, he was sick and appreciative of the nap. This all delayed me in picking up Little Miss Sunshine so I had to make a call to one of the mothers at the school who looked after her for me until I could get there. Thank goodness for that! Well now this made Miss Teen Sunshine very late for work. I don't understand how they schedule her for 3:30? Anyhow, even with all of the delays we managed to make it there by 4:20. They were told that she could not make the 3:30 shift but we would be there by 4:30.

I can't drive that fast with my car because if I go over a bump too fast, then the all of the lights on the dash board turn on and the car turns off. I have to put the hazard lights on and come to a complete stop and turn it back on. About six months ago when my car was in for some other repair, they gave me a new gas cap because they said that my old one was leaking. News to me. Well, I can tell you that even with the incredibly high price of gas today no one will be syphoning from my tank because it is a lot of work to get this "new and improved" gas cap off. I have had to ask strangers at the gas station to help me get it off. Sometimes they can, sometimes they can't. I have left the gas station with no gas many times. I have had a friend help me. Her husband wasn't able to get it off but after 15 minutes she was so I put the gas cap in my pocket and immediately went to fill up. I have gone back to the place that sold us the cap and some young mechanic came out with a wrench and took it off and told me that there is nothing wrong with it. He took out some other gadget that tells them if the cap it defective and apparently it's just fine. Mr Sunshine is also a really big help. He can get the cap off quite easily and he says that it is a user problem! (funny!) He has been filling up my tank a lot. But hello, I would like be able to do it myself and he can't save me when he is away and I need gas. The last two weeks I managed with much difficulty and struggling for about 5 minutes to get the cap off at home or in a parking lot, put it in my pocket and fill up. One of my friend's theories is that it is a generic cap that just doesn't fit properly, so I may go to the dealer and see if they can order one specifically for my car if it doesn't cost that much. I am so tired now, I am going to bed. p.s. the font changed and I don't know how. Unclick the i button. (again, funny!)

It's a "user problem" funny, funny. Isn't your car fairly new? Not that makes any difference as today after school I had to get the little one to a birthday party (which I only learned about the night before while cleaning out her backpack!) for 4:00 pm. We don't normally leave the school till 4 - 4:30. So we are rushing and get in the car only for the car not to start. This time there was power but not enough to turn the engine. I called the husband (thank goodness he is on the day shift) he was just dropping the Teenager off at work and would be over soon. When he got to us he said the battery was dead again. This is the third time this has happened! One time the break lights stayed on all the time (when car was off). The dealership replaced some switch. Needless to say there is some other problem. The husband charged the battery and then we were on our way. We got to the birthday party only a half hour late. Have to say not so happy with this new car of mine.

Sunshine, you crack me up. Hey Benchers, Sunshine complains that we are all boring. Well, let me say just how thankful that I am not near as boring as she is! (you both crack me up!)

Have a good week everyone!

Day Eighteen of Twenty-One

Today is the day I go to help Carolin at her work. She has been hired to cater a meeting at her school. I am looking forward to seeing her new kitchen and seeing how her day goes!
I went downstairs to weigh myself as soon as I awoke. Guess what...... I have lost 2kg! Yeah! I reset a new goal to lose another 2kg in a month. I like the idea of taking a month to lose a small amount of weight. I am hoping that by losing weight slowly it will stay off!

I am back now from helping Carolin. You will have to read "Catch Up Fridays" to see how it went!

I came home and relaxed with a book and a glass of water in the backyard. It was a beautiful day! I cut the lawn and put out a few garden trinkets. Dinner was courtesy of Carolin. She gave me some leftover pizza from her kitchen. It was yummy! Thank you so much!

I didn't actually exercise with the Wii today. I did input fit credits for doing dishes though!!!! I was active in the garden and I decided to reward myself for achieving my weight loss goal! I will be back on the Wii tomorrow. Only three more days to go!

Day Seventeen of Twenty-One

I always find that I am so tired by the end of my work week. I know that that is no different from anyone else. One battle that I am starting to win is not to give in to my desire to just sit and vegge. out on the couch. With that in mind, I came home from work and weighed myself right away. This makes me commit to exercising later. I ate lunch of leftover ground beef stroganoff with wild rice. I did not have any vegetables and that was wrong! I did have my cup of tea, though. I became so sleepy after I ate that I fell asleep on the couch. I woke up when our dog started barking at something outside.
It was a good thing as I slept for two hours! I got up and put on a loaf of bread and tidied the kitchen. Dinner was tuna fish sandwiches with salad so not a lot of prep. work. I went downstairs and did a solid 30 minutes of strength exercises. Ouch!! I need to do more strength work and less yoga. The yoga is becoming easier. The Wii had me doing side planks and push ups and jack knifes and other forms of torture! I did feel pumped afterward so I guess that is the reward for today.

I am looking forward to helping Carolin at her school cafe tomorrow!

Day Sixteen of Twenty-One

Here I am at sixteen days of consistent exercise and reduced servings of food. How do I feel? I do feel lighter in spirit and I do find that I am in a better mood. I feel positive and I also find that I have more conviction with getting things done. Hubby thinks that I should not count down the days as he feels that when I reach the 21st day I will feel a sense of relief that it's over. I hope not! It's supposed to take 21 days to ingrain a new habit so I hope that 30 minutes of exercise and reduced meal servings will just become the norm.

I am feeling stiff and sore. I think I can feel muscles that I didn't know I had. I think of the Wii as my own "Trainer Josh"!

After work I did the Wii body test. I lost another 0.5kg! I then ate lunch of leftover bbq pork chop with salad and some rice. I went to volunteer and did my 30 minutes of aerobics and strength and yoga after dinner. I am very tired now. I hope I sleep well.

Pictures of Spring in my Garden. Enjoy!

Day Fifteen of Twenty-One

This week is passing by very slowly. I seem to be one day ahead in my mind. It could be because the boys had a PD day on Monday. This however, did not deter me from my Wii. I weighed myself as soon as I came home from work. Yeah! I'm down another 0.3kg. At this pace I should be down a few pounds in a month.

I did another few loads of laundry and (drum roll please) 3 1/2 hours of gardening. As I sit here now I can feel myself starting to stiffen up!

Ok, I just stepped away to do 15 minutes of yoga to stretch myself out. I wonder how I will feel tomorrow? I remember I said that I was going to do strength exercises but I think the gardening was a great substitute!

Dinner was bbq'd pork chops with wild rice and a Greek salad.

Six days to go!

Day Fourteen of Twenty-One

Today was a busy day with a lot of running around. I took the older one to the Drive Test Centre for his G1 (learner's permit). After a three hour wait........He got it! Now what?

Came home and hung a few loads of laundry outside to dry. I made a loaf of bread, (in the bread machine). I also folded and put away a lot of clothes. Dinner was simple, soup and salad.

I went downstairs before dinner and did 15 minutes of aerobics and 15 of yoga. I also did some gardening outside. I figure that along with all of the up and down with the laundry I had a pretty good workout. Tomorrow, I plan to do strength training and gardening. I have yet to figure out dinner. Whatever happened to my weekly dinner menu plans?

Day Thirteen of Twenty-One

Happy Mother's Day!

I came home from work today to a big breakfast prepared by all my boys! It was very yummy! We then went to visit two garden nurseries. One is Sheridan Nurseries in Mississauga and the other was Terra Greenhouses in Milton. I preferred Terra in Milton. It just seemed to have different stock and the garden centre was very organized. They also had so many staff members available to offer help.

Afterwards we went for an early dinner at a local thai restaurant, the Thai Pepper. It's a very small restaurant operated by a married couple. Very, very good food.

We returned home early enough to do some gardening. Hubby said that as it was Mother's Day I should take the day off from exercise. Well, I know me so..... I did about a 15 minute workout after gardening. It was funny though because when I turned on the Wii, it said, "why don't you take a break today (being Sunday); try not to overwork yourself!" Wow!

Day Twelve of Twenty-One

What a beautiful day! May we have many more. I did a few loads of laundry when I woke up and hung them up outside. I love laundry hanging out on the line. (more Wii points!) Ate my usual breakfast with a cup of tea. Picked up the younger one from art class and did a bit of grocery shopping. Came home and right away I went downstairs. After 30 minutes of aerobics and yoga, (I lost another 0.5kg!) I ate a quick lunch of pb and j with a glass of water. I am finding that I am getting used to all of the yoga positions, even the 'downward facing dog!' I really like the 'sun salutation'. I do the sun salutation every morning when I get up. It gets the blood going. I am doing a lot of aerobics: the rhythm parade, rhythmic boxing (which really works up a sweat!) and kung-fu and steps. I think now that I am getting into the swing of things I am going to try to do 20 to 30 minutes of strength training three times a week.

After working out inside Hubby and I went outside and continued tidying the garden. It's still very wet so I am trying hard not to do much more than surface tidy so I do not compact the clay. Every year we add concrete sand to both the garden and the lawn and we are starting to see very good results. The concrete sand helps to break up the clay and it does not compact or disappear like adding earth does.

Dinner was a japanese stir fry with lots of veggies and a cup of mint green tea. I readied all of my things for work tomorrow and will now sit down with Hubby to enjoy some laps of Nascar. They are racing at Darlington and tempers are flying. Should be a good race!

Happy Mother's Day tomorrow everyone.

Day Eleven of Twenty-One

I slept in this morning until almost eleven! Not good. I got up and let the dog out, opened curtains and made breakfast. If you guessed oatmeal and berries with a cup of tea.... you're right! It's just so yummy (and good for you, too!) I sorted laundry and then went to have a shower. I should have done my exercises before the shower but I forgot all about them.

I did laundry for a while(yeah! fit credits!) and made a grocery list. Guess what... It's raining again!

Carolin and Sunshine and I with our Hubbys are going out for dinner tonight at a local pub. I will do some exercise after we get home.

Home now. Dinner was very nice. It's good to actually get together and see each other. I was good and ate chicken marsala with rice and a light beer. What I really wanted was chicken wings and fries with a beer! I did go downstairs and did only 15 minutes of yoga and balance games. I did the fitness test and naturally my weight was up. I was not going to do the test or exercise, however, if I stop for just one day it could spell disaster!

I will not give up!

Catch Up Fridays

(Cathy) Yeah! I made it. Five complete days in a row of my new shift. I feel like I have passed through a few time zones. I will. admit that the exercise is really helping. At times, when all I have wanted to do is sit on the couch and zone out I have made myself go and use the Wii. Afterwards, I feel great and have a positive attitude. I have been losing a bit of weight and my muscles are getting happy.



Tonight we are meeting for dinner at a local pub. (So much for the lost weight!) They brew their own beer, too. They have a light beer which I really enjoy.



I should tell you all that yes, it's raining yet again. We seem to have one really nice day; all sunny and warm and it's surrounded by ten days of rainy weather. I hope this will not be what our summer will be like. We were spoiled last summer and frankly, I'm greedy and would like a nice long hot summer again! Anyone agree? The one sunny day we had I asked the little one if she noticed anything different. She looked around and then said "No, why?" I replied" The sun is shinning!!!" Well I guess that was all we are getting. I too am tired of the rain, rain, rain. But keep in mind cold rainy weather is good for business.



Speaking of business, the school hosted a basketball tournament Monday through Wednesday. Holy busy, I was on my own on Monday (as I didn't know what to expect with the tournament) KD came during the lunch rush and helped out, thankfully. Tuesday, my staff came in and we made it through. Thankfully, we had done a lot of baking on the Friday before in preparation for the tournament, but we still had to do some more Tuesday afternoon. Then Wednesday, once again my staff came in (thank the Lord). We were super busy all day. Our sales were three times the normal Wednesday. By the end of the day I was wiped.




Next Friday Carolin is putting me to work! I'm looking forward to it. I wonder what kind of boss she will be????? Hey Carolin, what should I wear? Do I have to use a hair net? What time should I report for duty? Do I need to bring anything? Yes, I am expecting you next Friday. Please come for 10:00 am. While in the kitchen yes you will need a hairnet and hat. It is our normal Friday busy, plus we are responsible for making an extra 150 - 200 burgers for preorderd lunches. They need to be assembled and wrapped. Also we have a luncheon for 45 - 50 people to serve. I want you to help with prep and to serve the luncheon. You will do great, I am not (too) concerned.





Hubby came home a few days ago to tell me that he had to go to Vienna and Venice for work! Hmmmmm, just what kind of job is this? Well, the trip has been temporarily postponed. I think it was all just wishful thinking!

The Teenager has started her summer job, so far she is enjoying it. She tells us her crew (she is lead) is in charge of removing the weeds from the boulevards. But they are only to remove the weeds that grow in the mulched area and they are to pull the weeds but not pick them up. Another crew is responsible for picking up the weeds! She says since it is early in the season and not all the summer staff had started yet there isn't much to do.

(Sunshine) Cathy I am looking forward to hearing all about your work experience with Carolin. I am sure that you are going to have a great time and that you will be impressed watching her in action.

Everything else is same old same old around here. Have a great mothers day and talk to you all next week.

See you all next week! Take care. Here's hoping I lose a bit more weight!

Day Ten of Twenty One

Ten days!!!!! Woo hoo! I lost weight again, 0.3kg! Let me see, what did I eat today. I had a glass of milk before I left home for work this morning. (it's just too early when I get up to eat breakfast) At my break I had some fruit, orange juice and an orange and cranberry bun. Lunch was homemade chicken veggie soup. I had a short nap after lunch as I had to pick up the older one from band practice. It was still so nice outside that when I came home I went straight into the garden. I gardened for about two hours!
Dinner was a hodgepodge of leftovers. I had oatmeal with berries.

I did the weigh in portion of the Wii before I ate and now I am going to go and do my exercise portion. I think I will do both yoga to stretch out and some balance games. How does 30 minutes sound?

Until day eleven...

Day Nine of Twenty-One

Eight days, I have to say it's been difficult and I'm sure it will only get more difficult. Although, I have to say that today when I came home the last thing I wanted to do was exercise. I did make myself go downstairs, headache and all. After 36 minutes of both aerobics and yoga I felt a lot better. My headache was gone and I had energy and my mindset was lighter and I felt happy. Gotta love those endorphins! The Wii keeps track of your weight and for the last few days I have been gaining. Today I lost 0.4kg! That news alone made me feel better.
Dinner was bbq'd (natch) hamburgers and a BIG salad.
Tomorrow is my Friday at work and I hope it doesn't rain as I would like to be outside. Today was beautiful and I was working all day long....inside.

On to tomorrow!

Day Eight of Twenty-One

Today is a good day. My mind won! I barely had four hours of sleep last night after watching a GREAT concert. All of the students did an awesome job and it was so nice to enjoy the fruits of their labours. I hope they sell a dvd.

On the way home I stopped by Oceans, my favourite grocery store. They sell groceries from all points on our planet. Tonight I am making a stir fry of Basa fish with baby bok choy with grated carrots and minced red peppers. I am serving it with Japanese Udon noodles and salad with miso dressing. Yummy!

Oceans has a take out section so I succumbed and bought some lunch. It was good, however I need to watch my salt intake. I can feel myself bloating.

I promptly fell asleep after lunch. I need to set an alarm as I woke up two hours later feeling like hell! This is where my mind won. I plied myself off of the couch and went downstairs where I did a solid 30 minute Wii aerobic workout. I finished it with a few yoga stretching poses and now I feel great!

Rock on!!!

Day Seven of Twenty-One

Today is a busy, busy day. Woke up and went to work. I guess the world is thinking about the news of the death of Osama bin-Laden. I hope things will calm down for a bit.
At work, in four hours I walked more than 8000 steps. Can I count that as daily exercise or is that just extra on top of my 30 minutes of daily exercise? Hmmm.
I did come home and log the steps in my Wii. The Wii has a spot to log steps and even waist size among other things. I have yet to even look as my waist size. It just seems to be getting bigger instead of trimmer. I know, give it time. I did a 15 minute yoga routine and a basic body balance test. I am getting steadier.
I am watching my portion sizes. It's really hard to do when you love to cook and really enjoy the taste of food. This is a time when I wish Hubby and I weren't good cooks, lol! After my exercise I put on a pot of homemade chicken soup. I then had lunch of oatmeal with fruit. I hope I have time for a cup of tea!

Today is a long day because our younger son is playing in the Peel Honour Band Concert tonight. He has been at practices for a while now and tonight is the culmination of all the kid's efforts. It should be really great. Only thing is the concert ends at 10pm. Which means.... no sleep for me tonight. I don't even have time for a nap today as I have to leave to take him to his last rehearsal.

Time to go. Day eight tomorrow!

Day Six of Twenty-One

Day six, ok, so first off I have to say that making myself accountable to this blog really works. I have to thank, once again, Carol, as I stole (ever so politely) her idea from her own blog. It's like keeping a journal but bigger. I actually make myself go and work out with the Wii because I know I have to blog about it. Whatever works!

I was planning to take the day off as work this morning was very physical! I spent over two hours pushing passengers up and down long bridges and along long carpeted hallways. I was very sweaty by the end of my shift. Then after I came home and tidied up, Hubby and I and some friends went to the Good Food Festival. We ate lots and lots of samples! Yummy!

It was after we came home from the Festival that I guilted myself onto the Wii for 30 minutes.

Only one problem so far. I seem to be slowly gaining weight??????