My Get Up and Go Has Got Up and Went

Last weigh-in I was at 250, down 32.5 pounds. I have more energy than I did at 282.5. I still don't have much energy.

I am always behind. Behind on housework, behind on bills, behind on laundry, behind on projects. I still haven't called about getting my dishwasher installed, nor have we made inquiries into getting a new roof.

I've been cleaning house all week and you wouldn't know it. I just don't have the umph to keep up like I once did. Sure, some of it is age--44 not 22--but that's still young, most of it is weight. Of course much of it is not feeling well a lot of the time. I'm really hoping that surgery helps--it has to make a huge dent in my energy level not enduring monthly pain and a near anemic state.

I've been picking at the house all day. Got a little vacuuming done, laundry sorted and started, and little stuff...but I'm afraid I am just pooped. Right now all I want to do is curl up and take a nap. Can't. Because I'm behind on laundry, I have my timer set so that I can get it all done.

I didn't even do menu planning this last week. Thankfully we have supplies to make WW-friendly meals. I don't like not having things planned out, though. Hubby ran to the grocery store and did a quick stock up this afternoon. Tonight he wants steak and tomorrow he wants hamburgers. That's easy and doable. Gives me time to get next week's menus planned out.

I am just feeling very overwhelmed at the moment. I need a wife. I need a life. I need a cleaning service, I need something. Oh, I know, I need to lose weight so that I am healthier and have more energy. Check, in progress.

There are so many thing I want to do but I just don't have the energy. Yet. Keep plugging away and I will. I want my steam back, I want to be able to go, go, go. I miss that.

Happy 4th of July everyone.

I Can't Read

Ang clearly stated to write our blog name on a piece of notebook paper with the photo to prove it's our scale. Well, I used frog paper, hope that's okay. ;-)

Here it is cleaned up a little. I tried to remove the sticker, which was a silly mistake.

Ang's Summer Challenge

Ang has a doorprize contest going on as a part of her Summer Challenge. It's an ugliest scale contest.

Now I don't know if my scale is ugly, but it's 7 years old and I've never removed the sticker. That's kind of ugly.

The worst thing about my scale is that it is dirty. Eww. There's a hair on it. There's smudges on it. It desperately needs a good cleaning.

It's rather silly, but I never think to clean the scale. That's obvious! I move it out of the way when I'm doing the floor. I think that I'm going to grab a Clorox wipe and go clean it up a bit. It's actually a little embarrassing to post my dirty scale. What the heck, though.

I wonder if I'll lose .1 or .2 by cleaning it up? ha ha

So here is where I get excited or curse, depending on the magic numbers:

Tagged!

Caitlin and Hallie have tagged me for a meme.

RULES
1.Respond and rework; answer the questions on your blog, replace one question that you dislike with a question of your invention & add one more question of your own.

2. Tag eight other people.

What is your current obsession?
My health.

What are you wearing today?
It's night and I'm in my jammies.


What’s for dinner?
We had pizza and salad.

What’s the last thing you bought?
An ice cream sundae for my son at McDonald's after our train ride.


What are you listening to right now?
Family Guy. I love Family Guy.


If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go?
An hour? That's such a short time. I guess to visit my parents' graves.

Which language do you want to learn?
German. Ich vergesse meine Deutsch. I am learning Spanish with my son, but I have no desire to learn Spanish.

What do you love most about where you currently live?
I don't like where I live. Not one bit. I guess I could say it's a safe community.


What is your favorite color?
Anything pastel.


What is your favorite piece of clothing in your own wardrobe?
My jammies. lol

Describe yourself in three words?
Introspective, competent, goofy.

If you had $300 now, what would you spend it on?
My son's college fund or books.

What are you going to do after this?
Read blogs.

Your favorite smell?
Coffee.

Do you collect anything?
Vintage stuff--mostly kitchen related.


What makes you follow a blog?
Depends on the type of blog. I read vintage blogs because I like the pretty pictures. lol I love weight-loss blogs because of the common goal, trials and tribulations, and inspiration!

Do you like to comment on blogs or just lurk?
I try to comment on most, but I read so many that I get behind very fast.


What's your favorite kind of onion?
Dried onion flakes. lol Onions make me cry so bad that I don't use them.

What’s one thing you dream of doing? Dreaming--having dreams! I have just started dreaming again! Owning a pop-up and actually going camping.

What is your biggest regret?
I don't look at life in terms of regrets. If I had to name a regret, I suppose it would be not taking my health seriously and getting so fat.


What is your favorite thing to do on a rainy day?
Clean the house. I'm warped, I know.

Do you have a tattoo?
Nope, nor will I. I'm too modest for a tat, plus I fear needles and pain.


What are your favorite books?
OMG, can't answer this one, too many to choose from. As a mother, I would choose The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio which is my favorite movie as well. That book made me want to be a better mother. I have far too many favorites to list, though.

Are you left handed, right handed, ambidextrous, or a little of both?
Right handed.

Are you a big fan of memes?
Yes, I actually like them.

What vegetable do you least like to eat?
Anything from the cruciferous family.

What is your favorite vegetable?
Yam.


Who is your favorite NASCAR driver? (if you're a fan, answer; if you're not, leave blank)
blank!

What are you good at? What do you wish you were better at doing?
I am very good at organizing things, events, homes, etc. I am very good in my role as a home educator. I research a great deal and take our school seriously. I'm very good at researching things that I'm interested in. I was very good when I had a career as a court reporter.

I wish I was better at multi-tasking and paying bills.

What was your happiest day?
The day my son was born. Second happiest was the day I got married.

List at least 3 things you want to do before you die.
I don't know!


If you had one day left to live, what kind of buffet would you go to?
None, if I couldn't be with my son and husband! If they could be with me, it would definitely be an Italian buffet with lots of pasta and bread sticks.

If you could spend a romantic night with any celebrity without any repercussions, who would you spend that wonderful night with?
Call me weird, but I have no desire to spend a romantic night with a celebrity. I've been married nearly 20 years and that is the furthest thing from my mind. I do think Brad Pitt is a perfect male, but that doesn't mean I want to, um, do him. lol

Are you a morning person or a night owl?
Night owl!


Tag:
I tag everyone that I follow. (I know, that's way more than 8!) If you have a blog and read mine and I don't follow yours, please leave a comment and I will follow you! If you like memes, please let me know. I know some don't and I don't know who to tag!

All Aboard!

My son and I got to take a train ride today. The Union Pacific, my favorite railroad, hosted a free trip on their Safety Train. Even though I am extremely familiar with trains, I actually learned a couple things. It was informative and fun.

This post has nothing to do with food, diet, exercise, but it lifted my spirits considerably! My son enjoyed it, too.

My dad worked for the Union Pacific for over 40 years. When I was a kid, I took a lot of train rides. As an adult, I've taken a few, too. Amtrak is great, but it isn't nearly as fun as the old-fashioned cars that we rode on today. The smell, the rocking, the whistles...took me back to my childhood. I remembered my dad during the entire trip.

Here are some pictures. Isn't it amazing how much my son looks like me?

Spring Cleaning the Body

You know how when you spring clean your house, you take stuff down, wash walls, curtains, vacuum, clean carpets, declutter, etc. In the process, it makes one huge mess. You work and work, polishing, fixing, making changes, and then you put it all back together. Then it's streamlined, neat and clean, less weighty and wonderful.

I liken that to fixing my body right now. Started Weight Watchers in February, found a new doctor, having the ablation, anxiety flairs that I'm working on, and now the latest bit to throw into the mess: I think I have an ulcer.

The last period I had, I took 800mg of Ibuprofen frequently for pain. What was I thinking? Oh, yeah, that I wanted relief from the pain as the doctor recommended that. Well, I noticed I'd actually been taking Tums frequently. Then I realized I've been sleeping with three pillows so I'm propped up a bit. Last night my stomach was burning. It still is. I think the Ibuprofen and anxiety have caused an ulcer.

I'm not ready to pick up that phone yet and call the doctor. I feel like a hypochondriac. I'm not. Really, even though I complain about aches and pains and phantom fears, I think I'm just getting in tune with my body again.

I think I'm right in the middle of that body spring cleaning, where everything is a mess, and I'm going through and getting rid of the body and mind clutter, and waiting to put back all the pieces again. Sadly, unlike spring cleaning a room or a house, it doesn't take days or a couple weeks, it takes more time than that.

The good news is that it's happening. The process has started. No turning back now, as things are messy and they need to be cleaned up. Oh, how wonderful it will be when everything is put back newly organized, refreshed, healthy and clean.

Happy July

Oh, a brand new month, time to wipe the slate clean and start fresh.

I have chosen to not let anxiety bother me today. Ahem. lol So far so good.

Last night, even though I was a tad shaky, I forced myself to go out of the box. At 8:30 I told my son to put his shoes on, we were going to a movie. I don't typically go to movies--too expensive. I needed to challenge myself to do it, though. I made it through the dentist appointment, I knew I needed to continue to push. So we went to see Up. Loved it! I actually had tears running down my cheeks twice. Great movie for any age. My anxiety came with me to the movie, and I sat and practiced breathing, holding it in, exhaling. Pretty soon it was gone as I escaped into the movie.

I ate one of my son's Butterfinger bites that he bought. When we could see the nutritional info on the box, I was horrified to learn that 1 of those bites was 1 point. Egads. It was good, but not that good. Surprisingly, I did not miss stuffing my face with popcorn.

Today is going to be a slow, relaxing day. I have lots of things to do around the house. Instead of making a list that will overwhelm me, I'm going to do it as I see it. I can get a great deal of work accomplished doing this. It's sort of like the book If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, but at the end of the day I usually have a lot to show for my effort.

Tomorrow my son and I have a fun day planned. We're going to take a short train ride. After that, I have three full days that I don't have to go anywhere. We are not doing anything special for the 4th other than going to fireworks. Hubby has Friday off, so it will be nice to have my rock around for three solid days.

Looking back at the month of June, and specifically at my exercise calendar, I do not like what I see. Not one little bit. Much of June I was plagued by pain, a lot of pain, but not the entire month. So I am going to challenge myself to exercise 16 days straight until my surgery. I don't know how long I'll have to take off after that, but I can and should work out before. Every little bit helps, and I want to be strong for that. And for life, for me.

I have also not done my regular grocery shopping/menu planning for this week. Shoot, it's only Wednesday. lol We're pretty well stocked, but I'm about out of salad so it's time to get that task done.

One final comment. UGLY. It's an ugly word. If someone were to ask me point blank if I thought I was ugly, I would answer no. I am not ugly. However, I'm very real, and I know that I can be ugly. Dressing in clothes too big or ill-fitting, not fixing myself up, etc., that makes me look ugly. My glasses make me look ugly. There's a fine line, and I know the difference. I guess I'm trying to say I am not dissing on myself at all, I'm just reality based. I know when I look ugly. Like first thing in the morning...that's not a pretty sight! And the great thing about realizing all of this: it's easy to change. A couple well-fitting outfits for when I'm out and about, taking five minutes on my hair as opposed to letting it air dry, etc. Makes all the difference in the world.

So no, I am not ugly.

I'm happy to report that I have met JackSh*t's challenge! As I told him in my email: I did it! I met your challenge. Victory is mine, all mine. =) This challenge met, now to conquer the world, and I WILL conquer the world! (Said in Stewie Griffin style.)