The Lenten 40 Day Carb Challenge

So do you think it is wrong to combine religious beliefs with healthy eating?  Ah well, whatever works.

So it starts tomorrow, so there should be rules, I think.  Yes?  Of course yes. 

The carbs I am swearing off until Easter are:

Any and all chip-like material.  This includes the demonous (new word.  You like?) Chex Mix and the pretzels of Lucifer.

Any and all high sugar snacks.  My current demons are: orange slices, peach rings and the occasional York Peppermint Patty.

White bread and white potatoes.  I don't do much of these anyway, but still good to put it out there.

What is permissible:

Sugar free desserts, such as the single servings of sugar free jello with lite Cool Whip or any sugar free treat if we go out to dinner.  Again, this is something I rarely partake in (the dessert, not the jello) anyway.

Hmmm.  Is there anything else or are those my only struggles? I think that is it. 

My cat has been eating today!  Such a massive relief.  But every time one stressful thing calms down, there is another one to take its place.  They delayed school today by two hours, so I went in two hours late, which I hate doing.  It is actually easier for me to deal with kids when there is no school as there are grandparents willing to help, but two hour delays there are very few remedies for.  Now the stupid school board has called for another two hour delay tomorrow!  (Icy back roads in the mornings apparently).  I do not want to go in late again, because I need to make up the time and 1) if I have to work 11-3 tomorrow, that means no gym and 2) JJ has an eye appointment at 3:00 I need to pick him up for. So, I am considering one of three things:

1) and my least favorite plan is take them to work with me for two hours and then bring them home in time to get to school.  Problems here are there is nothing for them to do at my job other than bother me, which means I'd may as well have stayed home anyway for as much as I will get accomplished.  Plus it is not very cost or time effective for me to go to work and then turn around and drive back home again and then back to work, all between 8:30-10:00.

2) I leave them here like I do in the summer, and then come home by 10:00 to make sure they get off to school or

3) I leave them here like I do in the summer, and call at 10:00 to get the oldest out the door and call again at 10:20 to get the youngest one out the door.

It is all slightly nerve wracking, but the weather is making it very hard to do my job and get done the things I want and need to accomplish.  So we will discuss the plans at dinner tonight after kickboxing and see what the consensus is.

Anyone else giving up anything for Lent?

Busy But All Good

It has been an insanely busy couple of days!

Friday night lock in at the church...always a good time.  Much laughter, little sleep, woke up freezing, but there are things to be said for health.  Where once spending the night in a large, open space and waking up cold would have had me sick, not anymore.  Now, I am all healthy and being sick is a rarity.

Saturday, lunch with Kelly and Robyn and tie dying at Lisa's.  Have to tell you...I adore my Kelly.  I don't see her enough but it is always great fun and a joy to be in her presence for a day.  We seem to agree on most things (either that or she fakes agreement ), have similar passions in life and just generally enjoy life for the most part.  So, anyway, by Saturday night, I was exhausted and in need of sleep.

Sunday was church and a potluck and a meeting and a celebration of Paula's 15 years of service with the church.  She was very surprised and we had a good time performing a silly little skit that probably only she understood that depicted a typical rehearsal for the praise band.  Sunday night was a group dinner at the Indian restaurant with Robyn, Tod, Lisa, Phil, Emily, Dave, Kelly, Deanna, The Brit and myself.  I polished off a bottle of wine single handedly and was offering Dave's birthday cake to all the servers including the one we called "Skinny kid", which is what I yelled to get his attention.  Good times.

Today, work, then off to Frederick for lunch and shopping with Tod and Kelly.  Again, great fun.  Our final stop was the running store as Tod was finally convinced to bite the bullet and invest in for real running shoes.  While he was fitted, Kelly and I wandered around and I bought a t shirt, key chain and decal for my car that says "runner girl".  Kelly, on the hand, a non-runner, is very amused by things that are novel to her, which is quite funny.  For example, toe socks...socks with actual toes, like gloves for the feet.  And a under armour type shirt with thumb holes.  The shirt had her at thumb holes.  Too funny.

I very tentatively state that my cat seems to be a tiny bit better.  I have not heard any gagging, and she took a tiny bit of bacon tonight.  After a discussion with my real vet and not the other one I was stuck with on Friday, I am feeling cautiously optimistic.  She believe that Jasmine has to become acclimated to the medication and now she seems to be starting to move past the nausea.  Now we just have to work on her appetite.  Her very high thyroid level of 22 to start is down to just above 13 (normal is between one and two) and though she could use a higher dosage, the vet is waiting to see if she will better adjust to the medication.  Her other blood work was great...kidney function normal, liver function now normal.  So we hold our breaths and keep working with her.  I'm going to buy her for real bacon tomorrow (she had bacon bits tonight, so not fresh) and see if she will take more of that.  We will also try Pepcid and maybe a mild steroid to try to get her to eat more.  Will keep you posted.

No gym today, so kickboxing tomorrow night.

Just Make it Stop!

I swear, I have been on stress overload!

We had yet another freakin' blizzard Tuesday and Wednesday (yes, kickboxing was snowed out!)...another kabillion inches.  We shoveled a few times before it was over and about 7:30 last night, my mother called, hysterical.

Her neighbor had called her to tell her it looked like her carport might collapse from the weight of the snow, on her car.  So she is a crying mess, unable to go outside because she is 81 and her walks weren't shoveled.  So out the four of us went, into the barely plowed roads while it is still snowing to get my mother's car out of her carport.  The middle beam was bowed from the snow and though we didn't think it would actually fall, why risk it.  So we shoveled the car out (the snow plow had the car blocked in), moved the car, shoveled her walks and calmed her down before going back home.

Now I have a cat I am worried about.  Jasmine is about 11 years old, so that is about 66 in cat years.  She had recently lost a lot of weight and in taking her to the vet we found out she had hypothyroid.  The vet put her on meds which she has been on almost two weeks.  When the vet saw her, she said Jasmine had a heart murmur that day, which may be caused by the thyroid problem and would clear up with meds.  So though she had not put on any weight yet, she has been feeling pretty good; always playful, jumping up all over the place etc.  Last night she got a bit pukey, which turned into dry heaving and only producing some spit.  Today she has had a bit of that still but not as much, but I have not seen her eat anything.  Of course, a symptom of heart problems in cats is gagging.  But her gums are pink (good sign) and she is still a purr baby.  I'm hoping she just has an upset stomach and it is starting to clear up.  I may pick up a few cans of the forbidden wet food tomorrow just to try to get her to eat and to put some weight on her.  We'll see how it goes.

I did finally get to the gym today and guess what?  I RAN A MILE AND A HALF!  Okay, in all honesty, I ran the mile by itself, walked for ten and then ran another half mile, but I'll take it.  And though I will deny it if you ask me....I kind of enjoyed it.  Kind of.  Not totally committing to the enjoying of it yet, but that emotion was definitely somewhat present today.

I also stole this found a great quote today.  It says "Everyday, in some way, I am kicking ass." I kinda like that too.

Tomorrow I am back to work, and then sleeping at the church tomorrow night with the youth in order to make sandwiches and dip up soup.  So right now, I have a pot of chili on the stove, a pot of soup on the side to finish tomorrow, and brownies cooling for the lock in.  Tomorrow, I have to pick up ham and get a workout in after work.  Always so much to do!

Just let my cat be ok...

Getting Back into the Swing

So I walked two miles on Saturday and again tonight.  Tomorrow is kickboxing and then the plan is walk Wednesday, kickbox Thursday and walk Friday.  Trying to get back into exercise five days a week is hard work and makes me want to just bury my face until the habit has magically been reinstated.  A bit like this:



But I'm surviving it and enjoying this unseasonably warm weather!  In the nineties for three days now but I am not complaining!  Over the cold, I will take it any day of the week!

I'm rethinking the blog a bit as there are days I struggle with what to write about.  A lot of bloggers have theme days, and though I like that, I don't think I want a theme every day here because if someone doesn't like a certain day's theme each week, then they may not read.  Add to that my touch of ADD and the fact that I can't always stick to a theme.  But honestly, today I have nothing really to say, so instead I inundate you with cat photos.






I mean seriously.  Who sleeps like that?