I joined Weight Watchers online. I have been struggling to eat like my dietician instructed since breakfast, lunch and I are only minimally acquainted. She told me to increase my food intake earlier in the day so I don't get ravenous by dinner time. So I said "ok" and started to eat a slice of toast and a couple of eggs every day. It got soooo old. Especially since I'm so lazy about lunch, getting sandwiches and fruit for the whelp but turning my nose up at the same for myself. I started to turn to canned soup to get something in my belly, but those efforts still left me starving by evening.
I finally decided to begin from the basics. Please, oh Great Weight Watchers where old ladies yammer on about points and brownies and guilt, tell me how to feed myself that I may have relatively even blood sugar, yea verily even blood sugar that will keep me in good temper and good health.
I figured online was a better way to go given that events like this with a strong social element tend to get very old for me. And I was stunned to find that I am terrible at feeding myself.
I mean, I knew I didn't feed myself. But this was stunning.
I decided from the outset to evenly distribute my points across the whole day, just like the nutritionist prescribed. That first morning I ate jicama, eggs, and toast and typed it into the program. It was only 6 points out of 49. Then I added an orange, a string cheese, and finally half of an avocado. I was stuffed and I moaned about what I was going to do about lunch.
Lunch was another orange, a burger without the bun, almonds and olives. Once again, I was full. Dinner was chili, almonds, and a slice of sugar free cake.
I wasn't hungry one single time all day long.
This trend has continued for the last two and a half weeks. The only time I've been hungry was the day Man and I ran errands and I forgot to eat lunch. I had no idea that learning how to eat appropriately didn't involve being hungry. I was hungry through all of high school and it made me thin. Is it a shock that, 4 babies and several bouts with depression later, I've got some extra weight?
Total weightloss so far is 3 pounds, which is appropriate for two weeks of measuring. I've stepped up gym time as well since I have so much gosh darned energy. I'm more patient with the kids now that my insulin resistance isn't ruling my moods as much. WW even reminds me to take my multi and drink bunches of water, and to include plenty of veggies and fruits and good oils in my diet. Who knew? I might even learn how to style my hair after this triumph of personal care.
Now on to yogurt. This lady has a new recipe on her blog for homemade yogurt. I've looked through lots of resources that describe yogurt making machines and other horrifying measures to make what's essentially milk riddled with tons of bacteria. This new recipe involves nothing more fancy than a crockpot and a bit of your time, and it uses powdered milk. A lot of people who store powdered milk don't know what to do with the stuff besides bake with it. I've managed to expand my use into breakfast breads (eg pancakes and French toast), hot cocoa mix, and smoothies. This new application uses two quarts of reconstituted milk, plus more powder for extra milk solids (which is about a scant 3 cups of non-instant powder).
I started the yogurt last night so it could do its voodoo whilst I slept so I wouldn't peek at it every half an hour to make sure crazy things weren't happening in there. I thought about hitting snooze three times like normal but then remembered my shrouded crockpot in the kitchen. I ran on over and stabbed at the smooth white surface in my crockpot with a spoon and heavens to Betsy there was yogurt in there! It even tastes like yogurt! And I'm not sick yet from sampling it! It's now chilling in my fridge, a semi-solid quivering mass of milky-white pro-biotic goodness, just waiting for whatever the heck I'm going to do with two quarts of the stuff. I think it's going to have to be naan, and.... I dunno. I'll think of something.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Hair cut
F: Mom! I want to play a game on the tee-bee!
Me: No, honey, you have great toys! Go play.
F: Noooooo!!!
[Wailing, sadness, distress]
So then I went to go pick up her sister and friend (same person) from Pre-K.
Pebbles: Mom, I want to play a game on the tv.
Me: No, you have great toys. Go play.
Pebbles: [thoughtful look and a grin] Ok!
Results? Behold:
I forgot to take a before picture but it was bad. Her bangs were almost buzzed, the whole left side was chopped to bits. I took her in today to get it cleaned up and we first went with an asymmetrical bob but then it looked more like a mistake than fashion on a 3 year old. So we went with a traditional pixie. It was a bit shocking at first but it's really growing on me and it makes her big eyes look even bigger. So we went out and got some sparkly headbands, some with butterflies, to up the girlie quotient on that haircut.
Favorite quote comes from Tag: Wow, I think it's beautiful like Aunt Cheryl's hair.
That melted my heart right there.
Me: No, honey, you have great toys! Go play.
F: Noooooo!!!
[Wailing, sadness, distress]
So then I went to go pick up her sister and friend (same person) from Pre-K.
Pebbles: Mom, I want to play a game on the tv.
Me: No, you have great toys. Go play.
Pebbles: [thoughtful look and a grin] Ok!
Results? Behold:
I forgot to take a before picture but it was bad. Her bangs were almost buzzed, the whole left side was chopped to bits. I took her in today to get it cleaned up and we first went with an asymmetrical bob but then it looked more like a mistake than fashion on a 3 year old. So we went with a traditional pixie. It was a bit shocking at first but it's really growing on me and it makes her big eyes look even bigger. So we went out and got some sparkly headbands, some with butterflies, to up the girlie quotient on that haircut.
Favorite quote comes from Tag: Wow, I think it's beautiful like Aunt Cheryl's hair.
That melted my heart right there.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Testing out screen shots
So, I'm way behind on tech savvy sorts of things. So I'm playing with screen shots today.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Guess who's getting promoted!
On the last day before he's retired, Man will be promoted to Sergeant! Woohoo!!
It's complicated, but because of the nature of his retirement he could eventually be reactivated but that's only if the stuff that's getting him retired resolves before Oct of 2014.
Sergeant H. He's already bought his rank patch. :D
It's complicated, but because of the nature of his retirement he could eventually be reactivated but that's only if the stuff that's getting him retired resolves before Oct of 2014.
Sergeant H. He's already bought his rank patch. :D
Monday, March 21, 2011
Fridge scrapple
Scrapple is the most questionable delight of the Pennsylvania Dutch, boiled up from "everything but the oink," mixed into a congealed loaf, and pan fried to perfection.
We've been keeping our fridge and freezer so low on food over the past few weeks that I've started calling our meals "fridge scrapple" in honor of the oink my kids make when presented with our creative fare.
An example:
Rice-a-roni (Man just had to buy two cases of the stuff at a caselot sale), 2 salmon patties, 1 fillet of tilapia, steamed cauliflower from the freezer.
Odds and ends of chicken (one breast, two breast tenderloins, two boneless thighs, one bone in thigh) cooked in the last of the bbq sauce, the remainder of our instant potato flakes, and steamed brussels sprouts from the freezer.
Steaks, roasted potatoes (the last three slightly shriveled spuds), cut up apples, steamed peas and corn from the freezer.
Breakfast one day was the last bagel, three eggs, the last two servings of Malt-o-Meal, banana chips, and two frozen turkey sausages.
Oink.
We've been keeping our fridge and freezer so low on food over the past few weeks that I've started calling our meals "fridge scrapple" in honor of the oink my kids make when presented with our creative fare.
An example:
Rice-a-roni (Man just had to buy two cases of the stuff at a caselot sale), 2 salmon patties, 1 fillet of tilapia, steamed cauliflower from the freezer.
Odds and ends of chicken (one breast, two breast tenderloins, two boneless thighs, one bone in thigh) cooked in the last of the bbq sauce, the remainder of our instant potato flakes, and steamed brussels sprouts from the freezer.
Steaks, roasted potatoes (the last three slightly shriveled spuds), cut up apples, steamed peas and corn from the freezer.
Breakfast one day was the last bagel, three eggs, the last two servings of Malt-o-Meal, banana chips, and two frozen turkey sausages.
Oink.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Why do I do things which infuriate me?
I've long wanted to make my own reusable sandwich wraps. It just seems silly to throw out a perfectly good plastic bag when I'm too lazy to wash the poor thing. Buying them on Etsy is pretty expensive ($10 per) and it looks like a fairly straightforward project with my favorite sort of straight lines.
Then, one day, I found this sandwich bag pattern: Baggie o' dreams.
What a great idea! It works just like those old baggies with the top that gets a flap folded in and then *whoosh!* you flip a pocket over the top and it's a delightful little leaky package. The lines were so clean and the fabric looked so nice that I had to give it a try.
I used the fabric I had on hand and a freezer bag from the drawer and went to town.
Here are my results:
Do yourself a favor and don't click on those photos. They're garbage because it's 1am here and I'm too tired to rig lights.
Laying flat:
Sandwich bag insides:
I measured everything with exact precision. I measured backward, forward, examined the instructions until even I, in my OCD perfectaplegic torment was satisfied that I had done it right. When the *whoosh!* flippy pocket got folded I realized that my sandwich would be more along the lines of peasant panini roadkill instead of fluffy goodness:
There was sadness, anger, and a Google search as follows: the whole thread thingy fell off of my Brother sewing machine.
Which, oddly, led me precisely to the answer I needed. Go figure. One crazy tiny allen wrench, thirty swearing minutes, and thankfully no broken needles later, I was able to finish my pathetic prize. Yah. Saving the Earth one screwed up project at a time.
But no. I was in peachcot mode and I wasn't letting this one go without a fight. So I researched. I researched materials (nylon is agreed to be the best plastic for food purposes, saving mylar's presence which I don't have. I guess I could have sacrificed for the peachcots and bought a bag of Doritoes just for its mylar but whatever) and patterns and applications and care instructions until my eyes literally crossed.
I get emails from this great website called Tipnut. Here's what they say about lunch bags and accessories.
Down in accessories, I saw #4 and knew that simplicity was what had to happen after I came this close to throwing my machine into the street. Once again, I'm being literal. Into. The. Street. (there are some potholes in front of my house)
I liked the idea but I wanted something that would at least attempt to keep juicy tomatoes to themselves.
Behold, my creation:
(repeat above disclaimer about garbage pics)
Flat with the pretty side up: I happen to love colorful daisies. Not those insipid white chaps.
The inside:
Three slices of bread, middle slice representing the cornucopia of options for sandwich fillings.
Sides folded in:
Bottom side folded up to showcase the strip of velcro (hook and pile fasteners, sorry) that help the whole thing adjust capacity:
And voila:
Work those angles, baby:
Here was the process: Iron some Stitch Witchery onto nylon rip stop. Which sucked because the adhesive seemed to soak right through the nylon. Which kind of defeats the point of using pure cotton and neutral nylon if you're just going to get cancer from the adhesive after all. Anyway, the adhesive soaked through which clung to the red cotton I used under the whole thing "just in case" (go me). You can see some of the red spots on the solid blue side. I'll have to figure that one out. Maybe iron with parchment paper underneath. And yes I tried ironing plain old nylon and, though it became misshapen on the cotton setting, it didn't melt on its own. It's definitely the interfacing.
Anyway, peel off the paper backing and then iron the rip stop onto the wrong side of your cotton. I went ahead and stitched around the edges (bead stitch) just because I don't trust things that look sturdy enough as they are (big girls never do). The velcro is in an experimental arrangement with which I'm not entirely happy.
But it'll do. And now my obsession can wane long enough for me to go back to the store and get more interfacing.
Oh, it measures 18" and I trimmed the corners off since they didn't seem necessary. The wrap doubles as a place mat. I'm going to fiddle with the whole thing some more and see if I can come up with something with which I'm really happy, and that process should net us enough wraps to have a picnic at the very least.
This rotten project has kept me up until well after pumpkin hour for me, but season 7 of Scrubs kept me company.
As painful as the whole thing has been, I still feel triumphant that I didn't spend $10 on the mat now on my dreadfully abused dining table. I can see how one might be able to "whip out" such projects after one can swiftly and with ease fix their sewing machine when the needle thingy comes loose or when one finally realizes that it's better to just buy the bolt of Stitch Witchery instead of running out after one and a half projects. Maybe, one of these days, I might try to make an article of clothing once more. Hah! I made a funny.
Holy crap I need sleep. Have a good weekend, people.
Then, one day, I found this sandwich bag pattern: Baggie o' dreams.
What a great idea! It works just like those old baggies with the top that gets a flap folded in and then *whoosh!* you flip a pocket over the top and it's a delightful little leaky package. The lines were so clean and the fabric looked so nice that I had to give it a try.
I used the fabric I had on hand and a freezer bag from the drawer and went to town.
Here are my results:
Do yourself a favor and don't click on those photos. They're garbage because it's 1am here and I'm too tired to rig lights.
Laying flat:
Sandwich bag insides:
I measured everything with exact precision. I measured backward, forward, examined the instructions until even I, in my OCD perfectaplegic torment was satisfied that I had done it right. When the *whoosh!* flippy pocket got folded I realized that my sandwich would be more along the lines of peasant panini roadkill instead of fluffy goodness:
There was sadness, anger, and a Google search as follows: the whole thread thingy fell off of my Brother sewing machine.
Which, oddly, led me precisely to the answer I needed. Go figure. One crazy tiny allen wrench, thirty swearing minutes, and thankfully no broken needles later, I was able to finish my pathetic prize. Yah. Saving the Earth one screwed up project at a time.
But no. I was in peachcot mode and I wasn't letting this one go without a fight. So I researched. I researched materials (nylon is agreed to be the best plastic for food purposes, saving mylar's presence which I don't have. I guess I could have sacrificed for the peachcots and bought a bag of Doritoes just for its mylar but whatever) and patterns and applications and care instructions until my eyes literally crossed.
I get emails from this great website called Tipnut. Here's what they say about lunch bags and accessories.
Down in accessories, I saw #4 and knew that simplicity was what had to happen after I came this close to throwing my machine into the street. Once again, I'm being literal. Into. The. Street. (there are some potholes in front of my house)
I liked the idea but I wanted something that would at least attempt to keep juicy tomatoes to themselves.
Behold, my creation:
(repeat above disclaimer about garbage pics)
Flat with the pretty side up: I happen to love colorful daisies. Not those insipid white chaps.
The inside:
Three slices of bread, middle slice representing the cornucopia of options for sandwich fillings.
Sides folded in:
Bottom side folded up to showcase the strip of velcro (hook and pile fasteners, sorry) that help the whole thing adjust capacity:
And voila:
Work those angles, baby:
Here was the process: Iron some Stitch Witchery onto nylon rip stop. Which sucked because the adhesive seemed to soak right through the nylon. Which kind of defeats the point of using pure cotton and neutral nylon if you're just going to get cancer from the adhesive after all. Anyway, the adhesive soaked through which clung to the red cotton I used under the whole thing "just in case" (go me). You can see some of the red spots on the solid blue side. I'll have to figure that one out. Maybe iron with parchment paper underneath. And yes I tried ironing plain old nylon and, though it became misshapen on the cotton setting, it didn't melt on its own. It's definitely the interfacing.
Anyway, peel off the paper backing and then iron the rip stop onto the wrong side of your cotton. I went ahead and stitched around the edges (bead stitch) just because I don't trust things that look sturdy enough as they are (big girls never do). The velcro is in an experimental arrangement with which I'm not entirely happy.
But it'll do. And now my obsession can wane long enough for me to go back to the store and get more interfacing.
Oh, it measures 18" and I trimmed the corners off since they didn't seem necessary. The wrap doubles as a place mat. I'm going to fiddle with the whole thing some more and see if I can come up with something with which I'm really happy, and that process should net us enough wraps to have a picnic at the very least.
This rotten project has kept me up until well after pumpkin hour for me, but season 7 of Scrubs kept me company.
As painful as the whole thing has been, I still feel triumphant that I didn't spend $10 on the mat now on my dreadfully abused dining table. I can see how one might be able to "whip out" such projects after one can swiftly and with ease fix their sewing machine when the needle thingy comes loose or when one finally realizes that it's better to just buy the bolt of Stitch Witchery instead of running out after one and a half projects. Maybe, one of these days, I might try to make an article of clothing once more. Hah! I made a funny.
Holy crap I need sleep. Have a good weekend, people.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
New story
I'm finally working on a new story.
Yes, it's a story. A fantasy. A long spinning tale that uses an entire book to make a few interesting points.
And yes, the grammar will suck until I get Brian to look over it. Hah!
So I ask you: do names in a fantasy book have to be weird? If you've ever heard of one of the names in a fantasy book (ie Amos, Tomas, or Pug from Riftwar, or Barak from Belgariad) does that diminish the experience for you?
Fantasy people are supposed to be speaking in languages we've never before conceived and yet we can come up with word play and jokes and oh-have-mercy PUNS that work in our language and never could in theirs and yet... we suspend skepticism of such things because we like it when fantasy characters speak English. We can't exactly use subtitles through the whole book, can we? It'd get tedious.
So, tell me in a comment. I want to know if you like names that are strange yet eerily familiar (Calin, Macros, Borric, Rincewind etc), the totaly bizaare (Gandalf, Bilbo, Xanthura, Zanados, etc) or the nice and mundane?
It seems to me that a weird name is the one concession that fantasy authors make concerning the not-so-obvious language barrier. Odd beasts, fantastic realms of demons, armor that is logistically hopeless, and "why do they say that the door is a jar? That's just absurd!" In another language the nuance would be completely lost but I'm sure it'd still get a groan just because the guy with that line will most certainly have had one like it before.
If we go with eerily familiar, I may just name someone Pickle. After all, parents sometimes name their kids after virtues, and in fantasy books we often find agrarian societies where the preservation of food is the greatest virtue of survival.
Once again, it's too late and my brain is still half in fantasy land. Good night!
Yes, it's a story. A fantasy. A long spinning tale that uses an entire book to make a few interesting points.
And yes, the grammar will suck until I get Brian to look over it. Hah!
So I ask you: do names in a fantasy book have to be weird? If you've ever heard of one of the names in a fantasy book (ie Amos, Tomas, or Pug from Riftwar, or Barak from Belgariad) does that diminish the experience for you?
Fantasy people are supposed to be speaking in languages we've never before conceived and yet we can come up with word play and jokes and oh-have-mercy PUNS that work in our language and never could in theirs and yet... we suspend skepticism of such things because we like it when fantasy characters speak English. We can't exactly use subtitles through the whole book, can we? It'd get tedious.
So, tell me in a comment. I want to know if you like names that are strange yet eerily familiar (Calin, Macros, Borric, Rincewind etc), the totaly bizaare (Gandalf, Bilbo, Xanthura, Zanados, etc) or the nice and mundane?
It seems to me that a weird name is the one concession that fantasy authors make concerning the not-so-obvious language barrier. Odd beasts, fantastic realms of demons, armor that is logistically hopeless, and "why do they say that the door is a jar? That's just absurd!" In another language the nuance would be completely lost but I'm sure it'd still get a groan just because the guy with that line will most certainly have had one like it before.
If we go with eerily familiar, I may just name someone Pickle. After all, parents sometimes name their kids after virtues, and in fantasy books we often find agrarian societies where the preservation of food is the greatest virtue of survival.
Once again, it's too late and my brain is still half in fantasy land. Good night!
Friday, March 11, 2011
Aaaaaaaand psych
The short version is this: it turns out that everything has been delayed by a month.
Someone accidentally wrote down the wrong date somewhere in the orders process and they just went with it. So, instead of Man's retirement date being June 20th, it's now July 21st and everything is getting rearranged accordingly.
This morning, after learning of a potential Monday move, we industriously gave away the larger items we needed to find homes for, sent notes to the school, etc. Sorry everyone! False alarm. Thank goodness we don't have to worry about those larger items anymore.
I'll keep everyone apprised as things progress. Maybe, one of these days, we'll actually move.
Someone accidentally wrote down the wrong date somewhere in the orders process and they just went with it. So, instead of Man's retirement date being June 20th, it's now July 21st and everything is getting rearranged accordingly.
This morning, after learning of a potential Monday move, we industriously gave away the larger items we needed to find homes for, sent notes to the school, etc. Sorry everyone! False alarm. Thank goodness we don't have to worry about those larger items anymore.
I'll keep everyone apprised as things progress. Maybe, one of these days, we'll actually move.
Further updates
Man talked to his sergeant this morning. Sgt is trying to get the transportation office to move us next week but there was a part of the termination process that apparently has to happen after we've cleared housing, so he's going to try and get us moved next Monday or Tuesday.
Hah!!
So, yeah.
Alternatively, we may still delay things by a week. Isn't this so fun?? All I can do is keep the trash cans empty and the laundry and dishes clean at all times. Living life on a trigger, that's me.
Hah!!
So, yeah.
Alternatively, we may still delay things by a week. Isn't this so fun?? All I can do is keep the trash cans empty and the laundry and dishes clean at all times. Living life on a trigger, that's me.
Oh, beautiful Japan!
My thoughts and prayers are with Japan and all those who may be affected by any resulting tsunami. Stay strong, beautiful little islands.
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