Holy Moly-I woke up early!!

I stayed up late last night but whether it is Spring or a surge in vitamins and minerals (cause i have been a REALY Good vitamin taker of late-very unlike me I assure you). Anyhow...I woke up at...wait for it..8am!!! I know. you are scoffing. so what you have all probably been up for hours already. Ever since the start of the year I have been one messed up sleeper. I fondly say I have been living on Hawaiian time (four hours time difference from here). Well at least for today that is no more. I am going to do my darndest to make this a permanent shift.

Grace found this pretty cool thing on pintrest that we are trying out. It is a task board using post it notes. The blogger who gets the credit for the idea and the picture has a blog full of knitting and crafting and organizing. We are one day into the technique using a piece of paper before we invest a bunch of time and energy on a permanent clip board. Grace's day was a bit of a fail but I think that has more to do with the fact that I had to go to work and the inter-parent communication was not quite up to snuff. I am home all day today and am going to try to keep both of our goal setting and work-flow plans on target.

The crazy thing is that I have way too many post-its. I don't know if this is the result of my letting stuff slide all of the time or trying to do too much all of the time. Many of the todo items were emails and phone calls so I did get some of them taken care of yesterday. It is amazing how writing it all down and slapping it in front of your nose keeps these things at the front of your brain. Let day 2 commence-:) The coolest part is because they are on post it notes I can reorder the list at anytime and pick out which of the tasks I want to do (I am hoping giving Grace control over her time will also be a positive development for her as well). Yesterday I put the in order of what two or three things could I accomplish today (before work) and then mapped out what I would focus on for Tuesday-and then the rest of the week. This morning I got up and had another look. Somethings changed. I pulled off the post its I finished and wrote some new ones I thought of. So far it is pretty nifty.
xxxooo

Noisy Neighbors

I wonder how long it takes to get used to new neighborhood noises. Our bedroom faces the south. I love this from a sunshine perspective. I cannot wait until summer comes and I can again wake up to the sun streaming in my window (I leave the window coverings open just enough so I can wake up with sun on my face). There is a down side to this south facing position. Behind our new city in the burbs living is the grocery store, a kitchen and furniture store and a couple of restaurants. I have not yet figured out what night is dumpster night but it seems to be more than once a week! Last night was at least one of the dumpster nights. It took the driver what seemed like forever at a very noisy volume to dump a very full of bottles dumpster into the truck. It woke both of us up. David got up--since I finally went to bed at a lovely 3am I went back to sleep. argh...I need to relearn sleep.

We are settling in and I did a lot of cleaning and unpacking work yesterday. Pictures are going up. The shop is finally being cleared and my vision is starting to clear about how I will manage to fit it all together (not totally clear but getting clearer). I am still not happy with my bedroom arrangement but it will require a new much smaller bed so I am just putting the room on the decorating back burner for a while. All work is aimed on the knitting/craft studio shop. I am saving how to figure out getting stock until later. I have no clue how to do any of this (which makes it scary) but I know I can get it (even with a few mis-steps ehem learning opportunities) along the way.

xxoo

Listen

I am on the brink of another epiphany I think. News flash--your body talks to you :)...I know duh..right? So yesterday I wasn't hungry all day. I had plenty of things to occupy my time and mind so I just didn't eat. So then I come home from work and my Mon. Wed. night hospital visits and because I skipped food I was starving (not the tummy kind but the whole mind and head kind). I plotted on my drive home what I would have so 1. I would pick something with some vitamins and minerals and 2. something that would not sit in my stomach when it was time for bed.

Well....I hit the door and sitting right on the counter was an open box of thin mints. Thank goodness there was only 6 left. I grabbed them and a cup of milk and chilled with a totally inappropriate dinner. Just before sleep I had a small slice of cheese to appease my guilt. I do not think I have ever sunk this low before (not at least in my selective memory). Well low and behold guess what happened this morning. I am down three pounds. Nothing like positive feedback for a completely negative behavior eh?.

So what did my body say-I had hit a high of 167. My body seems to have settled into this range and shuts down my hungries (I am grateful for that). It still starts screaming when I am about to lose weight though. It always does so at night and send me into binges if I am not very careful. I battle it all of the time (or fail..most of the time).

On the good news front. I am taking my vitamins and in a month or so will do another blood test to check on whether my iron has improved. I am pumping up the D too. My attitude has improved for sure.

I have quit my teaching job for next term and plan on trying to get my sleep patterns, daily schedule and eating more regulated next term. I am so excited for Spring to return to Oregon and to get my exercise back on track, my knitting/craft shop open and life in some much needed sun :)

Now I am off for a manicure :) wahhooo.

xxxooo

Not Much to Say Here

I'm not up to much here. Just the normal work (I actually had to teach class while David had a holiday off!). It was quite weird because I am the one working for a government entity and he works for a big corporation. I deluded myself all weekend into believing that I would not have to work today but the academic calendar did not satisfy-I handed back hastily corrected midterm exams for one of my classes and discussed both the common mistakes and gave students a preview for the rest of the term.

I then taught my second class and scared them a bit by making them actually do some work and hand it in.

I then stopped off at my uncle in the hospital for a bit of a visit. He is much much better and headed back to rehab tomorrow with a plan to be on the quick recovery route to home.

My weight is on an upswing and I have been craving crap like crazy and not resisting much. My shoulder is at this moment and has been all week driving me insane. It hurts. It is food related most of the time but sometimes I wonder if it is more (not enough to actually do anything about it mind you :)...How long have I been moaning about my shoulder pain? Today for example I had two coffees, some shortbread and had every intention of ingesting something worth a darn when I got home but what was sitting on the counter when I arrived...why girl scout cookies of course-Thin mints. I have now eaten about 6 with a small glass of milk and that is it for my day (perhaps the vitamins I have been taking like a good girl will help make up for the utter crap).

Tomorrow I will eat something worthwhile I promise :)

I am off to bed-sleeping before 1am..yay :)

xxxooo

I Have Gas :)

I was woken rudely by the gas man this morning. It is hard to hear the door knock way up here in my bed. Most thunks I figure come from Graces room so I was surprised to find someone actually at the door. David starting calling every telephone in the house to insure that I actually woke up and answered the door. All our phones however were downstairs and I couldn't find my glasses...such a bother :)

In the end I did answer the door. The gas man ran around back and turned on our tap giving me just enough time to make myself decent. He then came back and checked that the stove was working, that the hot water tank was heating, that the furnace was turning on and finally...he fixed our fireplace (a gas one). I hadn't worked at all. He even showed me how it all came apart and let me clean the glass front before putting it back together.

I did of course fill him in on all of our complaints. He said he would sure find out what the deal was and that he figured they sent him to my house because he is more experienced than the other gas men...and more able to handle an angry customer. I of course said I knew he was just the messenger and I was really mad at the powers that shut us off. I also told him we had lodged a formal complaint with the public utility commission in our state...Of course we are screwed really because nothing will get us back the 5 days we went cold and had no hot water.

I gave my second midterm today (to my other math class). It went fairly well but I haven't corrected them yet :). I am going to miss the dears next term but am really excited to get the shop put together and see how it goes.

On the weight front-The shift to low carb has been absolutely impossible this last week. A girl with PMS and no gas need sugar..and chocolate. I had both over the last few days..(much to much of it actually). The scale however is still my friend holding just above goal. :) I am good with that.

xxxooo

Birthday V-day

I am a Valentines day baby. Today I turned the big 48. I don't feel very different. I think I need to go in and have my eyes checked again as I am having even more trouble reading (an ongoing battle for me). I also worry a lot about losing my memory. I think both of these are pretty common. I won't even talk about the hot flashes and gray hair in the oddest places ahhhemmm...

I would have to say my day was rather crappy. I slept too late (not intending to) and woke up with a headache. Grace and I got dressed in the freezing house and dashed through the coffee drive through and down to pick up my grandson. We picked him up and then drove on further to our local (about 30 miles away) UPS customer service place to pick up the package that they failed to deliver (as they always do). We tried to get it on Saturday but they were closed. I got lost a few times and missed a couple of exits trying to find the place (can I get a frustration moan from anyone?). In the end I found and picked up a lovely box of Chandon wine. We drove to the lego store to pick up Davids V-day present (lego is the answer to all things for David). I then drove to grab lunch at our local high quality burger place. We drove up---A dangerous recipe for disaster but all went well at least for my eating. I then drove home to pick up my knitting and attempt to dash back out again but Grace brought Grant in the house because he had an accident with his water and other liquid bodily functions. I had to search out a change of clothes for him, change him, load back int he car and dash down to knitting class. We got to knitting class only to be turned away as apparently This was not Grace's last knitting class of the session but the first of a new session and I didn't know it. They gave her slot to someone else ( I personally would have let her come and do one extra in the class but it was all a bit weird..I am going to not dwell on it too much because I will go all conspiracy theory). Anyway we drove all the way down to the flipping place ready to knit and did not get to. We came back home and took our knitting to Starbucks instead and had a little mom, daughter and grandson knit-a-thon with coffee. Grant made a V-day card for his mama (my oldest daughter). We then went home..phew I am tired now just typing. I was kind of bummed out about my do everything day when...I noticed David was home.

I walked into the house and the living was filled with big boxes and the dining room had a bunch of chairs lined up against the dining room wall. David was sweating and taking apart our old farm-table to move to the garage. He bought me a new dining room set for my birthday and v-day. Before you get all freaked that how could he manage to correctly pick out furniture-he consulted me and we agreed on the set but had not moved to the purchase phase yet. He also gave me a day at the spa! He then drove us all downtown to see my uncle and take Grant home and then took my aunt, Grace and I out to a lovely dinner at a local seafood place (Jakes Crawfish). He ordered Escargot and we all tried our first snails together. We all agreed they were good. They tasted just like chewy mushrooms. Grace even said she liked them so much that she would order them the next time we went. I had salmon and creme brule for dessert. Grace shared a big chocolate box filled with white chocolate mousse, whipped cream and fresh berries with everyone. We dropped my aunt off and came home.

At 11pm we forced Grace to stay awake and we loaded up clean clothes, our shampoo, a bar of soap and towels to go over to our old rental house for a much needed shower for each of us because it has heat and hot water. A wacky ending to our evening but I feel much better for having done it. We sort of said goodbye to the old place tonight and then came home and tucked right into bed. David is snoring next to me and I feel quite like the family from 'Twas the Night Before Christmas' as we are all decked out again in jammies. Grace is even wearing her sweatshirt with the hood up. We are loaded up with blankets in our beds and anticipating the arrival of the natural gas man to turn on our gas tomorrow.

Happy V-day everyone!!! xxxooo

Mooooaaaaaannnnnnn

So Friday we officially were put on some dead-beat list. It was a good Friday. Grace and I got a little scrappy over her room cleaning but we had had some relaxation time, we called out for an Indian food take-away and David brought it home. We ate and we were planning on watching a family movie with popcorn when...

I put the whirly pop onto the stove and click, click, click...there was a starter but no gas. Apparently our local natural gas utility decided that we needed cutting off. Friday at 7 pm had me on the phone with the "if you smell gas" man trying to figure out what the heck was going on. I found out all right. Apparently the management company who no longer own our home of just over a month decided to call and have our gas cut off. From what I understand despite the fact that we turned on the gas in July and had done same bill paying over the last few months our gas company decided the management company was the goto people for notification. The notified and then drove over and turned off the tap. We had no clue...until..click click click.

Of course being the lovely company that they are they decided to find enough man power to shut off our gas after 5pm on a Friday so that no one could even think about turning it back on until Monday (today). David phoned them this morning to get to the bottom of the problem and viola...they had enough power to turn our gas off on a Friday but do not have enough manpower to turn it back on again until Wednesday.

Sure..Portland is a balmy sort of place as far as Winters go but sheesh..not that warm. We are freezing. I am right this minute sitting in my comfy chair with my wool winter coat on and a blanket and socks. Where are my hot-flashes when I need them???

David said tonight that in the Middle Ages the poverty stricken would spend most of Winter in bed...Researchers thought it was because they were saving energy from a lack of food. David says he thinks it is because it was so flipping cold!! :) He then put on his flannel Jammies and crawled in bed.

Of course wouldn't you know-we still have heat at the old place ;) We might need to go camp out again!!!

xxxooo

BYOC on Friday

It is BYOC brought to you via Drazil.

1. Name a Valentine gift you would NOT want to receive.

I am pretty open to anything. Having had a year or two where I didn't get anything from my significant other (not my current one mind you). I can honestly say that the only thing I do not want to receive is nothing. It is after all my birthday too!! :)

Chocolate (love it)
Flowers (wonderful)
electronic things (you bet)
Wine (where?)
Household appliances (a housekeeper would be better but maybe :))
Clothes (bring it on)
Books (yep)
yarn (of course)


2. What’s your vacation personality?

I am pretty much the same. I love traveling. I do try to be more active in my vacationing now that I am on a healthier track. Where once I would have taken a car or a drive I would rather hike, rent a bike or climb stairs.

Vacationing was one of the big reasons I finally made the decision to get a lapband. I was tired of wearing out while on vacation and sitting on a bench while my husband and daughter climbed those stairs up church towers. I was tired of swollen ankles at the end of the day and I was tired of being tired on vacation. Now I don't get tired I wear my husband and daughter out. Now I climb those stairs. and although I do not eat as much food as I once did on vacation I still taste and in fact try more food than I once would have.

3. Describe yourself in 5 POSITIVE words.
Nerdy (yes I consider that a positive), Adventuresome, empathetic, Helpful, Enthusiastic.

4. Do you have any phobias or irrational fears or dislikes?

Snakes (I hate the suckers). For some reason all I have to do is catch a glimpse of one and all of the hair on my neck stands up and I go into flight mode.

I am improving with this one but I have always been afraid of the dark. I am kind of night blind and not seeing freaks me out.

5. Repeat question: Summarize your week in blog land and in real life.

Busy Busy..I buzz in for a quick check but between teaching, moving, parenting, running to the VA and taking care of my grandson Oh....and pinterist I have neglected my blog.

One Week- NSV-and Uncle news

I have been crazy busy this week as it is midterm and i had test practice sheets to make, midterms to write, Conference feedback forms to put together for each my 2 classes (I go through this with a second class next week with a totally different test and feedback form). and then conference for each of my 30+ students to hold (first class). I did about 20 of them tonight and will do the rest on Monday.

I am a bit of a freak for doing this conference thing but I cannot describe the impact it seems to have on students. They work harder, value the one-on-one time and start seeking out opportunities for help with me more than they ever would have if I hadn't made them sit down and talk to me for 10 minutes. I have also found that my drop-out rate (if they make it to midterm) goes down.

Another lovely bit of business was also completed this week (we took for flippin ever). We finally moved everything out of the old rental house and cleaned. It blows me away how we both managed to overlook entire cupboards of items when we both thought we had each checked them. We found two cupboards full of canned goods (not touched) and food in the kitchen freezer ( We were both shocked). We moved my flower pots and bird baths over to our new place (Oh I am not sure it will all fit.)

We have also been unpacking and trying to figure out how storage is going to work in this new place. On paper there is more space but most of that increase in space has gone to Graces room. Our closet is definitely more awkward than the last closet and David and I had a heck of a time figuring out where to put our clothes and shoes. I finally sorted much of it out by culling a bunch of stuff. Most of it was items that fit but just didn't look right on me or were slightly too big or too small and I didn't ever wear them. I did do something shocking...I threw out my fat pants. Yup...I decided I am never going there again. I have pictures of me in the fat pants. I do not really need the actual pants anymore (that is my NSV). I am moving on from that old me and closing the door.

Now onto my uncle. He went in for a doctors appointment yesterday and they were impressed with the progress he has made (he is walking around getting up and back into bed and so much sharper in the attention span area (his hospital brain is finally gone). The doctors have scheduled surgery to remove whatever remains of his cyst take care of any other problems he has going on. He will be back in ICU afterwards for a week an then back to rehab until he can go home (a limited amount of time this time). Finally he and my aunt can feel a sense of an end to their having to live here. My poor aunt has been camping essentially in a small motor home since September. My uncle has been in hospital beds. They both really want to go home and sleep in their own bed. They are both excited for the closure and scared about what is to come.

I am hoping to get more moving in done in the next couple of weeks and bring good news about my uncle. I will take pics (of the house not the uncle :)).

xxxooo

xxxooo

Ten Things Thursday-30 minutes into Friday

1. I had the most wonderful day today. I think this day occurred because:

2. The sun was shining and it was warm (at least pushing 50 degrees F. I think Winter might actually be over and we can see some more warmth around here.

3. I had a lovely tutoring session with two of my students and they, as always were lovely. I do like these two people.

4. Grace and I had a nice morning sit, chat and knit at Starbucks. My coffee was awesomely made as well.

5. Grace and I cleaned and decked out her room. After David got home from work he put up a brand new ceiling light so she has decent lighting now. We only have her clothing and two more boxes to tackle in her room.

6. I cleaned the entire middle floor of my house. Spick and span Kitchen, hall, entry and living room.

7. I surveyed the shop area, did some shifting and made plans.

8. It was so warm and sunny today I opened the back door onto our deck and let the breeze flow through the house.

9. It is midnight and I actually am feeling a touch sleepy. I might go to bed early (for me).

10. I think my down in the dumps moody blues are finally turning upside down to happiness. (crossing fingers, toes and knocking on wooden things).

Happy...Sunny weather to everyone!!!

Wednesday is the New Friday

I am sitting during my office hour with no students. My mind is twirling with things. The most important of which is that this is my Friday of the week. Tomorrow Grace and I can dig in and really unpack some of the house and get more organized. I did manage to find some clothes and shoes that were missing but there are so many boxes stashed all over the house that it is a tip. In addition all of my cleaning tools (vacuum and broom) are at the old house for cleaning and my new one is getting dirty. My grandson had a heyday in the sandbox at his school on Tuesday. When I picked him up he deposited a pile in my passenger seat, a pile on the car floor and then another one in the entry way to the new house when I made him strip off before coming in any further. I have no broom thus...no sweepy.


My shop is currently a pile of boxes. It contains all of the finishing touches (pictures, lamps, bowls etc.) for the rest of the house. It also contains all of the sewing stuff not in our storage unit, a bunch of knitting stuff and the most scary part-David set himself up a desk right in the middle of it. He plugged in a computer and somehow thinks that this is OK. I told him last night that I would be renting a knitting shop if he didnt start dismantling his territorial takeover ASAP.


Somewhat funny things (these are funny to me but I don't think I am a very good comedic writer so who knows if they will be funny to you).

*Ok this one will put you in a camp based on whether you are a cat lover or a wildlife lover. Apparently right behind our old house last night a HUGE bald eagle swooped down and carried off a cat. I know...poor cat but Geezz....a bald eagle in the middle of a neighborhood? Freaky.

* My stomach made one of the really scary noises while I was teaching class tonight. You know the ones that they have on TV when someone is about to run to the bathroom with a case of the squirts. Mine was just the sound of 7-up going through my band of of course none of my students knew that and they could all hear it...They all started laughing at the sound. It happened twice more before I got out of class. My stomach has made noises before but this was a first for this kind. In fact...I didn't burp so maybe it was air going through?? I did crack a joke about how if I run from the room consider class over.

Band is back to normal today. Not too tight not too loose. I took my own advice and planned ahead. I brought some cheese, a diet 7-up and a few crackers to school with me. So far it is all good.

Happy Friday/Wednesday
xxxooo

Phew--Hormone Swing Has Changed Direction

My starving day was officially over today and the tights returned. Was it because the scale hit 168? Was it because my ovulation finally ended? Was it because I hurt myself on all of that food yesterday? Hell if I know. Probably some convergence of the moon :)

Funnily enough it comes as a big relief. I knew that the quantity of food going down my gullet (that I was seriously compelled to eat like a starved lion) would come to no good. When I got on my trusty scale this morning and saw 168 I gulped and thought to myself. Eek...how do my clothes feel? My knee socks were a little tight yesterday :). I did a mental check of my jeans (OK), my shirt (OK). How does my face look? Hands? Collar bones? All OK.

I went out for my morning coffee (yes eventually I will start making my own and stop providing Starbucks with all of my life savings). I had three pills to get down while driving and drinking (just my frapp) on the way to the knitting store. What can I say I needed yarn and a pattern for a friends soon to arrive baby. So I purchased, drove and attempted pills. It took a full hour to get my drink and pills down. There was the little break in the middle where I actually left it all in the car and shopped. This was the case before the big (well little really) unfill (UF) a couple of months ago. Since the UF I have been able to suck a coffee down pretty well.

Because I knew this meant the tights I was super cautious today. liquids and softies. I had another coffee in the afternoon and a portion of a banana. By dinner I was hungry (not before really) and I had some taco soup gumbo at a local burrito fast food place. It was good. I ate very little and gave the rest to my daughter. This evening I have had another frapp (yes an evil three coffee day) and I at a few sesame snaps I found laying next to my comfy chair.

You are correct-not the best choices today but I was safe. No PB, no stuckies. I figure it is a wash of good and bad. I wonder what tomorrow will bring?

xxxooo