Return to Getting to Know You Sunday

Yesterday afternoon I headed out to my aunt's pool since the weather was hot and humid. However our nights have been reallly cold, around the 9-12 C mark. The pool tended to take the night weather to heart because the water was chilly! Needless to say I stayed in for about 20 minutes and plopped myself on a deck chair for the rest of the afternoon.

I am also kitty sitting for my cousin while he's away and I spent some more luxurious time out on his deck while the cats played in the grass.

I'm an idiot.

My stomach has been less than friendly over the past couple of days and paired that with the hot weather, I was a sick girl. I woke up last night at midnight in a shivering sweat, trying to get as many quilts on me as possible. Then I woke up in a hot sweat an hour later. Thankfully the hubby finally came home from work and nursed me with toast and ginger ale.

Sussex Golden Ginger Ale cures everything. Just saying.

This morning I'm queesy and reminding myself that heat exhaustion from this weather leads to bad things. Dehydration is something I have to take more seriously. Today I'll be replenishing myself with water and good stuff only.

Speaking of today, it's Sunday! In our house, Patriots football rules the screen during the NFL season. Before meting my husband, the only thing I knew about football was that Tom Brady was pretty, I had awesome Super Bowl parties where the guys sat at the tv and the girls hovered around the food spread, and that Janet Jackson decorates her breasts in an interesting way. Now that I'm married to a football fan, I've become a bit of one myself, calling out bad rulings on the field, being a Monday Quarterback, but still unable to say Tight End without giggling.

Football season is about to begin as we're in pre-season now. But here, Sundays means heading over to Mannland for some Getting to Know You questions. Wow...I haven't done one of these in almost a month. I missed it, too. Such fun questions.

1. What kind of athlete has the hottest body?

Hee hee....tight end...2. Are you a planner or a procrastinator?
I start out really well with planning things, but I do tend to procrastinate. I should be painting the walls right now in our livingroom. Instead I'm on the couch with you guys.....
3. Diet or regular (soda)?
Diet. Coke Zero for me, please. I know that it's something that I should try to cut out all together, but I'm hooked. They also get me with their polar bear commercials. 4. What's your one "must have" for Fall?
This year, it's plaid and purple. Best if you can find the two together. I bought a long sleeved t-shirt in purple at Joe Fresh this past week, and yesterday I picked up a green/blue plaid ruffle shirt. Now I just need the super cute skirts at Retiman's to pull it all together! Oh...and boots...definitely boots. Oh I love Fall!
 5. What's your favorite fast food restaurant?
Is Subway considered fast food? If so, that's it. Their breakfasts and regular subs are to die for!!!6. What do you think is the sexiest profession for a guy?
Honestly, a man who takes pride in his work, whatever that may be, is sexy. Now, I do find firefighters hot as all heck, but that's happy fantasy land.7. Did you wear braces?
No :( I wish I had, though. Everyone in my family has horrible teeth, not just crooked or out of place, but our bodies haven't provided enough of the good stuff a healthy tooth needs beyond brushing and flossing and dentist check ups. But it could be worse, I guess.
8. Would you rather have a guy that's super sexy or kind?
I have the best of both worlds with my husband who is both :D
 
Now it's your turn! Procrastinate yourself and head on over to add your answers!
 
Cheers!

Sometimes there is a light....

I'm taking this as a sweet farewell gift from Uncle Freddy.

All week I have been jumping on the scale in the morning and seeing my weight around the 203lbs mark. I knew that the combo of not watching what I was eating and not doing any solid workouts was taking its toll and I would accept the weight come Saturday morning.

So where does a loss of 1.4 lbs fit into all of this? Maybe this running around and painting have done me some good? Maybe something in me just gave way? In any case, I'm taking this gift, being extremely thankful for it and promising to be so much better this coming week.

Thanks for the words of encouragement, it helps a lot!

It's me, not you....

Oh Blogger...I have been avoiding you. It's really not you it's me. I went off the rails and was afraid to own up to it.

Heck, I barely even read up on other blogs so that I wouldn't feel guilty for not posting. I have so much to catch up on!

Last week I had 4 days to train people who were not interested in taking my work portfolio on. I know that it's not the best work, but I kept it relatively in order and all pretty like. They could have at least tried to feign interest in learning what they were taking on. At the same time, I was trying to get my desk ready to take on my new role coming this Monday. I'm anxious to give it a start and dig myself into something new!

This week was vacation week. And I let myself down big time. No tracking. No exercising. Just blehness. And it's showing on the scale.

I've been doing things, though, so I don't want it to seem as though I've plopped myself on the couch and no moving. I'm in the middle of redecorating our livingroom and moving it from one room in the house to another. Taking down our current games room, picking out colors and getting a start on painting. My butt and arms are feeling that, ha ha.

And on a down note, my Great Uncle Freddy passed away yesterday after a lengthy battle with lung and bowel cancer. He had a great life and lived through so much. A man who can survive contracting malaria in Africa while fighting in a war definitely gets a hats off. The end took its toll on Freddy and I didn't go to say a final goodbye. I want to remember Freddy as being the funny, laughing man who was usually smiling when not talking.

Can I just say here that this is enough? Things happen in threes and I believe that I've had my fill for the year of people passing away from cancer. It's just not fair :(

There's more drama in the family life, too and I didn't fight enough for myself this week to make my health a priority. With the routine starting again on Monday, I'm going to make sure that I do it right and well.

Thanks for stopping by. And I'm whipping myself back into shape. Lord help me tomorrow morning on the scale!

Broken Hearts - There is no App for that

My husband and I are cat lovers. We absolutely adore kitties and have a soft spot for them. All animals, really. You know that question about giving food to a homeless dog before a homeless person? Yeah, that's me.

This past week there was a little kitty roaming our neighbourhood going from porch to porch. In the downpours it was too horrible to let her stay out. We set up a tent and some water and food, which she gobbled up in no time. She had been out for a while. I prayed for some kind of guidance as to what to with her.

Honestly, one of the kindest kitties I've ever met. She gave kisses, rubbed up against us and purred so happily. She must have belonged to someone, but why was she out for days? She had a lump on her back that was quite hard. Did someone give up on her?

After a couple of days, we were worried that something bad would happen and we brought her to the emergency vet to make sure she had the okay to come into our home and live with our cats. The vet said she was okay, with the exception of having been attacked by something and had an infected wound :( The lump was a cyst which was simply filled with fluids.

But we got the meds and happily brought her home. She made herself at home, much to the chagrin of our three cats.

We checked the newspaper for any lost kitty notices. I continued to pray for a sign, but there was nothing and I took that for the a-okay that we had a new kitty. People loved her, she loved them. She even won over the father in law who is not a warm cuddly person at all.

While sitting here this evening, something urged me to check out Kijiji's lost and found. Lo and behold, there it was at the top of the page:

lost my calico cat about 1 week ago. She is petite, has a little lump on her back between her shoulder blades and is not declawed. She is very friendly, if you have found her or have seen her please call
My 2 young children really want her back home as do my husband, myself and her 2 brother cats!!!!

I admit....I hadn't said anything to the husband yet. I thought about closing the window and not looking back. But I couldn't do that. After a few lots of tears, I picked up the phone and called. Sure enough, the family had been leaving on vacation and she ran out just as they were leaving. Someone had been looking for her in their absence.

They came, in a happy mini van, to collect the kitty named Maddie. The wife, who is a vet tech, was so happy to find her cat. We explained the vet and the pills needed to be taken. She offered to pay back the money we spent, but we couldn't take it. It was about making sure she was fine. And imagine if we hadn't brought her, that sore could have gotten worse :(

It was hard to see her go, and my heart truly is broken, but the reunion in the car with the husband was just as sweet. She is going back to a very loving home where her brother kitties have been walking around the house crying for her.
So the husband and I are trying to console eachother over the loss of our new family member. I can only now pray for the strength to accept what is.

Long Weekends are Short

Thanks for the encouragement, buddy :) I appreciate it.

I've been on plan. By being on plan, I met my target on Saturday and was responsible with my food to make way for last night's Rock Band and Long Weekend party we had. I enjoyed snacks and I made sure to have healthy choices on hand. I did dip in liberally to my Weekly Points, but I have today and the rest of the week pretty much planned out. I am anticipating a much better weigh in this coming week.

It's New Brunswick Day today and with all of our great resources, I really do appreciate living in this province. The Rocks, Magnetic Hill...Magnetic Hill Wineries, ha ha.

Ever notice, though, that long weekends aren't all that long since you know at some point you have to go back to work? It's like you spend most of the weekend wondering when it's going to end. Here comes Tuesday. Ugh.

Good thing is that I am on vacation as of this coming Friday. I am very much looking forward to it! I have a lot of activities planned, including some time spent redecorating the front porch and painting a room. I know how to vacation!

Today I am recovering from last night's party with those most often said words "I am never drinking again". I seem to say that after our parties. We don't have them often, but we do have a lot of fun and I have too much wine.

The rest of the week, I am planning on being up early in the morning to do my EA Active and will throw in an evening workout so that I can get 5 in. I'm kind of looking forward to doing the marathon session again. Bring it!

Missed Meeting Coupon

That is how I am referring to today. As a missed meeting.

This week I was on track with my Points and I worked out every day with my EA Active. I was so proud of myself when I did the Marathon workout on Hard this past Thursday. An hour of squats, lunges, running, punching and band work and burning off 300 calories felt so great.

And then comes last night.

My plan was to do another workout to compliment my morning one, and to nosh on a big salad for supper. I derailed my plans by hanging out with my cousin to watch a movie and have chinese food.

I have a problem with sodium. I retain water like a camel. Mind you that steamed rice, egg roll and five chicken balls were really really good.

In the end, I wake up this morning so puffy that the Ghostbusters were wondering how to make me into a big old smores bar.

And my weight is up. Out of the rabbit hole and out of Onederland. I weighed in at 200 even. And it peeves me off to no end.

All of my work towards Saturday morning weigh in lost because I couldn't say no to steamed rice and chicken balls.

Oi.

Missed Meeting Coupon, I'm calling you in!

Goals!

There are so many people I am meeting who are on the journey for weight loss or just to get themselves into better shape. I love being able to share in that journey and selfishly I get so much out of it by learning from any struggles they're having on the way. It kind of reinforces that when I come across them, it's not uncommon and it is possible to get past them.

What is even more inspirational, though, is when someone makes it to goal. Last week my co-worker Chrissy made it to her Weight Watchers goal. How amazing! After months of working at it, she is right where she wants to be. And she looks amazing as well! She didn't have an easy go of it and would fall off the tracking wagon and make some food decisions she regretted, but she got past it and got to where she is going.

From her, I'm learning about the maintenance program and what that will be like. I see Chrissy and I know that will be me soon enough.

Here in the blog world, the writer who goes by Bitch Cakes, reached her goal at Weight Watchers as well. I cannot urge you enough to read her post about this. I was in tears reading this as her journey has been long adn well fought out. What an amazing story she has and I cannot applaud her enough for this accomplishment.

Soon enough, I will be able to write a goal post, too. It happens. It's not only about the climb to get there, but it's also about being there in that moment. Reaching goal is attainable.

I can do it, too.