Wed 30 Jun

Had a hard time dragging out of bed this morning and getting through Pilates mat. Slept well enough, just wanted more. Hopefully the energy will pick up as the day gets going.

Congratulations on your last day of work at Cap One! Hopefully your next employment will make this past year look like a bad dream, but hopefully you have gained something from the experience. If only the knowledge of how you don't want to spend your life.

Hope you have an awesome vacation in Europe and are able to send back occasional reports to share the fun!

I will put in the registration for the duathlon yet this week. If I drop it off at Adventure 212 (the high-end local health club) they will give us a complimentary 2-week pass. You can use it while you're in town, or else I will use it if you don't want it. They have a very nice facility out near Kohl's. I will also watch for the bill from the phone co.



Food:

7:15 am 1 c Trader Joe's multigrain flaxseed cereal, 1/2 c light original soy milk, 155 g strawberries, 1/4 med cantaloupe, coffee
11:45 am Strawberry/banana soy shake, graham cracker, Yoplait Delights raspberry/chocolate parfait, 100 g blueberries, 102 g blackberries
4:30 pm 1/4 c cinnamon almonds
6:30 pm 1 pc Archer Farms blueberry fruit leather
8:15 pm 3.35 oz extra lean ground beef, Earthgrains 100% whole wheat sandwich thin, 2 small slices tomato, 1/4 c sauteed baby bella mushrooms, 1/2 scallion, 1/2 garlic scape, 1/2 tbl butter, 1 tbl ketchup, 1 1/2 c watermelon chunks, 10 oz skim milk, Jello Sugar-Free dark chocolate pudding cup



Exercise:

5:00-6:00 am Pilates mat
5:20-7:30 pm Hiking Rib Mt plus tower (alternate route)

Tues 29 Jun

Thanks for tossing the junk mail for me; like I don't get enough of it here!

Watched the YouTube video of Lennon and family this morning. I'm still feeling all warm and fuzzy. He's beautiful!

Wow, the weather today is so perfect, my first thought is that I wish I could share it with Laura! Low 70s, brilliant blue cloudless sky, light breeze. We'll hike tonight in comfort. This weather energizes me.

Yeah, it's funny how the low 70's used to bother me as wasted summer, but now as long as it's sunny and feels warm, I'm okay with it. Actually I heard there could be frost tonight up north; that's taking cooler sleeping weather a bit too far for me.

I picked up a brochure for a duathlon scheduled in Stevens Point on Sat, Aug 28. It starts with a 2-mile run from SentryWorld into the eastern subdivisions, then a 13-mile bike ride around the Dewey Marsh area, then another 2-mile run through Schmeekle. If you're interested, I'll sign you up and even bring you up from Madison if you don't have other transportation by then. Let me know.

Nice hike but now I'm ready for bed.



Food:

7:15 am 1 c Trader Joe's multigrain flaxseed cereal, 1/2 c light original soy milk, 100 g blueberries, 1/4 med cantaloupe, coffee
10:00 am 1 square 65% dark Ecuadorian chocolate
12:00 pm Strawberry/banana soy shake, Dannon vanilla Greek yogurt (this brand is too sweet), 84 g blackberries, 1 honey graham cracker
3:15 pm 100 cal pack Sun Chips
8:30 pm 1 enchilada, 1 1/2 c watermelon cubes, 12 oz skim milk




Exercise:

4:55-5:50 am Jane Fonda original advanced Workout video
5:30-7:45 pm Hiking Rib plus tower (including alternate path to avoid construction)

Mon 28 Jun

Welcome to your last week of work, and a short one at that! Vacation starts Thursday and a super trip it should be! Monday morning doesn't seem so bad with that kind of a lineup in store.

We will monitor and save your mail for you. I've been tossing obvious junk mail, e.g. credit card solicitations, St. John's Bible ads, etc. If you want me to save everything for you to go through when you get here, let me know. Otherwise, I'll continue to weed out the junk as best I can.



Food:

7:15 am 1 c Trader Joe's multigrain flaxseed cereal, 1/2 c light original soy milk, 164 g strawberries, 1/4 med cantaloupe, coffee
11:45 am Blueberry soy shake, slice Earthgrains wheat berry w/honey bread, 1 tbl Skippy peanut butter, 94 g blackberries
12:30 pm Molasses cookie
6:15 pm Enchilada, salad w/radish and strawberry, 12 oz skim milk




Exercise:

5:00-6:10 am Jane Fonda Complete aerobics, upper, lower, and abs video

Sun 27 Jun

Looks to be a gray, rainy stay-at-home Sunday (except for church and breakfast with Grandma, and likely the grocery store). Could stand to do some cleaning up as the table is littered with detritus from the new computers and monitor and there are a few bills needing attention. The rest of the day is open to whatever occurs to me at the time.

Definitely felt like summer today, so we had to do a traditional cookout supper tonight. Nice that Michael stopped over in time to partake. I always like it when I can get a good full meal in either of you.

Trying to drink regular skim milk again with supper so I don't develop any weird lactose intolerance because my body is so accustomed to soy milk. I still like the soy milk, and will especially continue to use it for cereal, but I'll throw in cow's milk occasionally, too.

Food:

8:15 am 1 c Trader Joe's multigrain cereal, 1/2 c light original soy milk, 1/4 med cantaloupe, 154 g strawberries
12:00 pm .8 of 2 banana pecan pancakes, 1 tbl whipped butter, 1 tbl pancake syrup, 8 oz orange juice, coffee
4:00 pm 1 Sundae Shoppe Fudge Swirl Stix
5:45 pm Trig's smokehouse brat, Milwaukee wheat brat bun, 1 tbl ketchup, 1/2 c Bush's Grillin Beans, large salad w/mixed greens, salad turnips, radish, chopped tomatoes, sliced strawberries, 12 oz skim milk



Exercise:

7:05-7:55 am Brutal ballet DVD

Sat 26 Jun

Got up fairly early but wasn't hungry for breakfast til 9:30. Enjoyed catching up on newspapers. Time to do laundry, but not a lot of other obligations today which suits me fine.

We had more rain last night and the morning started off gray and cloudy, but now that I'm ready to hang out my sheets, the sky is becoming bluer by the minute. Glad I wasn't too prompt in my work today.

I was bad. We were driving to the car wash in Plover and I remembered reading that the Plover Drive-Thru has Retro Saturday prices with hot fudge sundaes for $1. Warm weather always seems to put me in the mood for ice cream, so I yielded.

Made up for the ice cream by taking a hike at Standing Rocks. The trails aren't really meant for hiking, rather they are for cross-country skiing or mountain biking. Hence they were a bit overgrown and also not well-marked. Nice terrain, but I don't think I'll go back.


Food:

9:30 am 1 c Trader Joe's multigrain flaxseed cereal, 1/2 c light original soy milk, 1/4 mammoth cantaloupe, 149 g strawberries, coffee
12:30 pm Chocolate soy shake, 4 Dare NatureGrain crackers, 1 tbl peanut butter, 120 g cucumber slices
1:30 pm 2 c watermelon chunks
3:00 pm Hot fudge sundae
7:45 pm 3.25 oz grilled salmon, 1 tsp olive oil, salad w/romaine, 3 snap peas, 3 grilled baby beets, 1/4 c salad turnip, 1/8 c chopped cucumber, 1/4 c chopped tomato, 10 oz skim milk


Exercise:

5:00-6:45 pm Hiking hills at Standng Rocks

Fri 25 Jun

I love how quickly Friday arrives when you have a short work week. And next week you have only 3 days! You must be very excited, especially with Europe to follow.

It was especially hard to get up to exercise again this morning, but I again got the better of the impulse to stay in bed. Hope this is a temporary bump in the road; I'd hate to have to argue with myself every morning.



Food:

7:15 am 1 c Trader Joe's multigrain flaxseed cereal, 1/2 c light original soy milk, 1/4 mammoth cantaloupe, 76 g strawberries, 59 g blueberries, coffee
12:00 pm Vanilla soy shake, 88 g blackberries, 103 g cucumber slices, Yoplait Delights chocolate raspberry parfait, molasses cookie
3:45 pm 2 Necco Canada mints
4:45 pm 1/2 caramel apple
5:45 pm 12 oz frozen margarita, chips/salsa, 12 med shrimp ala diabla, 1/4 c Mexican rice, 1/4 c shredded lettuce, 1 thin tomato slice, 1 6" flour tortilla
6:30 pm Sundae Shoppe frozen fudge pop



Exercise:

5:05-5:45 am Crunch Pilates DVD

Thurs 24 Jun

Couldn't complete the setup of the new computer last night because the new one is Firewire 800 and all our cables are 400. No place in town had the right adapter at a reasonable price, so we ordered one from Apple for $14.95 and I have to wait for them to ship it here. So I'm still working on my old faithful, with the new setup crowded next to the wall.

I was tired this morning so I had to push myself more to exercise. The weather has been quite warm since we got back from the North Shore, and it was quite cool there. I think these rapid adaptations to 20-to-30 degree temperature swings are tiring for the body.

I agree than most anything is better than 104, likely with humidity to (un)sweeten the pot. In a week or so, you'll be in Europe where hopefully you'll encounter more humane temps. I hesitate to mention it, but today is gorgeous here, finally giving us some sunshine with temps in mid-70s to low 80s. Wish I could send some your way.

Yup, we also got the text announcing the newest LeGault. Sounds like things went smoothly.



Food:

7:15 am 1+ c Trader Joe's multigrain flaxseed cereal, 1/2 c light original soy milk, 1/4 mega cantaloupe, 104 g fresh strawberries, coffee
12:00 pm Chocolate soy shake, half multigrain bagel, slice provolone, 75 g red grapes
3:00 pm Small chocolate frosted donut
5:30 pm 3.55 oz extra lean ground beef, Earthgrains multigrain sandwich thin, 65 g tomato slices, leaf lettuce, 1 tbl ketchup, 10 oz light original soy milk



Exercise:

5:00-5:55 am Step/weights DVD

Wed 23 Jun

I see from your Tweets that you are nearly ready to be out of your apartment already with about a week to go. Any bites on the car or other things from Craigslist yet? Is there a website for your hotel in England? And will we be able to reach you there in case of emergency? I assume if you take your laptop, you'll occasionally have access to WiFi so web-based communication will be possible. I'm excited for you!

Hotel looks really nice. Do you plan to stay in England for several days or are you planning to move to the mainland fairly soon?

My MacMini arrived today so perhaps we'll be able to set things up this evening. I'm going to try to wipe the memory of the old one except for the OS and give it to a client. She can have my old keyboard, but she'll have to get herself a mouse.

Had Michael over for dinner tonight before doing a grocery run together. Enjoyed his company.


Food:

7:15 am Caramel pecan roll, 133 g fresh local strawberries, 1/4 mammoth cantaloupe, coffee
12:15 pm Vanilla soy shake, 1/2 c red pepper strips, 78 g fresh blackberries, molasses cookie
3:45 pm 2 Necco Canada wintergreen lozenges
6:15 pm 3 oz chicken breast, 1/2 c green pepper strips, 1/2 c zucchini chunks, chopped scallion, garlic scape, cilantro, 1/3 c Yukon gold potatoes, fresh chive, .165 tbl butter, 1 tsp olive oil, 1 tsp cooking wine, 12 oz light original soy milk



Exercise:

4:50-5:50 am Pilates mat

Tues 22 Jun

Have returned from a lovely mini-trip to MN North Shore. I believe you would like it there - nice mix of opportunities for outdoor activity and wonderful food. Right up our alley, for sure. It was a lovely evening Sunday when we pulled in around 4 pm so we took a walk for about 2 hours up to Lookout Mtn. We then cleaned up and drove into Grand Marais where we had reservations at Chez Jude. Supper was magnificent, but Dad was puzzled when he ordered a glass of burgundy and got a white wine. Are you familiar with white burgundy? We always thought it was rather a full-bodied red. Anyway, supper was delicious. See the pictures when I get my photos downloaded to Facebook. As usual, the beautiful scenic shots are interspersed with food. We woke to beautiful weather again on Monday, so after a very nice breakfast at the lodge, we took off for a 5-hour hike including many photos and a picnic lunch provided by the lodge. It started to cloud up as we were heading back, and rained a little while we were taking a little post-hike rest. We went again to Grand Marais in the late afternoon and had a great dinner at the Crooked Spoon. We called it a night early as we got up this morning at 5 and were out on Oberg Mountain by 6 am for 1 1/2 hours of hiking before breakfast. It was foggy and wet, though not raining. We saw 10 deer in several batches on the road on the way to the trailhead. It was really awesome to be in the woods so early with the fog all around. We finished listening to the LOTR on book tape which concluded just outside of Stevens Point. Dad and Michael had started with Fellowship on the way to Oregon, and Dad and I finished that series and The Two Towers on the way home, along with the beginning of Return of the King. We managed the rest of the tape perfectly on this trip.

Eating on this vacation was not well managed for caloric intake, though we did try to get exercise whenever possible. Except for the awesome caramel rolls I brought back from the bakery there, I plan to get back on track immediately tomorrow, and the roll will be figured in with care.

Sun 20 Jun

It was hard to get up early for ballet, but I refused to listen to the little personal demon telling me to sleep a little longer and skip it today. That would be worse than the occasional poor eating choices to put me on the road back to weight gain. Hoping to get some great hikes in on the North Shore as well as some good yummies.



Food:

7:00 am 1 c Trader Joe's multigrain flaxseed cereal, 1/2 c light original soy milk, 100 g blueberries, 87 g blackberries, coffee



Exercise:

6:05-6:55 am Brutal ballet DVD

Sat 19 Jun

How nice to wake up to a beautiful day again! Humidity is down, sun is shining, life is good! Today will be laundry, wrap Michael's presents, pack and prepare for mini-trip, cantor, dinner at Christian's. I'm going to hang laundry outside for the first time this year.

If you want to see your mama as a hobbit, check out YouTube for Sue I Sit Beside the Fire.

Made an Outrageous Rhubarb Cake for Michael's birthday. Had a little extra cut rhubarb left, so made sauce with Door Co cherry juice and a cinnamon stick. Got some lower cal vanilla ice cream to eat it on - yum!

Nice evening with Michael and Grandma. Good light supper at Christian's. Michael was pleasantly surprised with the new season of Family Guy - he hadn't known it had been released.


Food:

7:45 am Trader Joe's oatmeal, 1 tsp brown sugar, 1/4 c blueberries, 2 oz light original soy milk, 76 g blackberries, 1 1/2 c watermelon, coffee
12:30 pm Trig's brat, hot dog bun, 1/2 tbl pickle relish, 1 tbl ketchup, 1/2 c Edy's Slow-Churned Vanilla Bean ice cream, 1/2 c rhubarb sauce
2:45 pm Small piece rhubarb coffee cake
6:45 pm Amuse bouche of strip steak tortilla hash, salad w/4 grilled sea scallops, piece of sliced Nueske bacon, cherry tomatoes, dressing?, finished about 1/3 c Michael's salad w/goat cheese crumbles, cranberries, spinach, raspberry viniagrette
8:00 pm Small York peppermint pattie

Fri 18 Jun

Happy Birthday, Michael! Hard to believe my baby is 19.

Had a hard time getting out of bed to exercise this morning; treated myself by cutting off Pilates after the side series. I've worked pretty hard this week. I've been extremely careful on what I've been eating and making sure to exercise regularly for the last week and a half, and finally have my weight this week back to 126.4, the lowest since I came back from the cruise. This weekend will likely be a bit overindulgent with Michael's birthday dinner at Christian's tomorrow and then our mini-vacation to the North Shore, though I hope to hike quite a bit to wear off some. I'm reasonably sure I won't keep to 1550 calories or less most of those days. I've looked at menus for several of the restaurants up there and the offerings are wonderful.

I will review the options for Jul 30 with Dad when he gets home from work. I'm pretty sure we'll bring the truck, and get the hotel in Chicago for Friday night to do IKEA and Mitsuwa. That's Grandma's birthday, but we can arrange to take her out on Saturday night or Sunday to celebrate. I'm sure she'll understand.

I was really tired tonight, but gave hiking my best shot. Got about 3/4 of the way up the hill before just had to sit down and rest and then turn back. Dinner at the Dane was a nice reward.


Food:

7:15 am 1 c Trader Joe's multigrain flaxseed cereal, 1/2 c light original soy milk, 91 g blackberries, 1/4 large cantaloupe, coffee
11:45 am Strawberry/banana soy shake, 1/2 cinnamon scone, 81 g blackberries, 1/2 c sliced red pepper
2:15 pm Nutri-Grain mixed berry cereal bar
4:45 pm 15 g Trader Joe's ginger cats
7:30 pm 8 oz Strongbow, 6 oz grilled mahi mahi, 1 tbl teriyaki sauce, 1/8 c pineapple salsa, 1 c steamed green beans, 1 c Israeli cous cous with almonds and chopped veggies
8:15 pm Culver's small hot fudge sundae w/chocolate raspberry custard



Exercise:

5:05-5:55 am Pilates mat without pushups
5:20-7:00 pm Hiking most of Rib

Thurs 17 Jun

Ordered Grandma's birthday present early, and will probably give it to her right away when it arrives. We're getting her a voice dialer so she can just pick up her phone and say the name and the phone will dial the number for her. I will need to have her help with the programming as it will recognize her voice patterns. Hopefully it will be easy enough for her to use. She has said she really misses being able to call people without having to ring for helpers to come dial the phone. This unit plugs in between the phone and the wall so it can be used with any telephone.

Temperatures are finally going up a little for at least a couple of days, but humidity is likely to go up with them. Dad just scheduled to have the air conditioning recharged. We have never really done this, and it hasn't worked very well the last few years when I finally break down to turn it on. Now at least it should be available upon need. Oh yes, and the sun is actually shining this morning! Happy!

Ah, it feels like summer (for at least a day or so)!

Food:

7:15 am 1 c Trader Joe's multigrain flaxseed cereal, 1/2 c light original soy milk, 1/4 large cantaloupe, 100 g blueberries, coffee
11:30 am Strawberry/banana soy shake, 1/2 cinnamon scone (6 weeks old from Door Co but still tasty), 1/2 c red pepper strips, 81 g blackberries
2:15 pm DQ fudge bar
6:00 pm 3 oz extra lean ground beef, 1/4 c Vidalia onion, 1/2 c Bush's Grillin' Beans, salad w/lettuce, spinach, 1/8 c chopped salad turnip, 1/2 chopped radish, 10 oz light original soy milk
7:15 pm 1 oz Malibu rum, 12 oz diet Coke
7:45 pm Jello Dark Chocolate sugar-free pudding cup



Exercise:

5:10-6:05 am Buns/Abs of Steel 2000 video
8:20-8:40 pm Walk to Rich's for rhubarb

Wed 16 Jun

I'm geared up for a couple of rain-free days promised by the weatherman, though I rarely believe him. Planning to hike tonight. Muscles have been a little sore all over lately, but hopefully I'll forget about that when I get outside hiking in some decent weather. I even saw a weekend forecast for sunny and warm, but I'll believe it when I see it.


Food:

7:00 am 1 c Trader Joe's multigrain flaxseed cereal, 1/2 c light original soy milk, 167 g strawberries, 1/4 large cantaloupe, coffee
11:45 am Blueberry soy shake, slice Trader Joe's multigrain fiber toast, 1 tbl Nutella, 68 g red pepper slices, 82 g blackberries
2:15 pm Small brownie
4:45 pm Slice raspberry coffee cake
8:15 pm 5 grilled BBQ shrimp, 1/2 c brown rice w/craisins, 1/2 Uno breadstick, 87 g blackberries, 127 g fresh pineapple, 12 oz light original soy milk




Exercise:

5:05-5:50 am Power Shaping DVD
5:30-7:30 pm Hiking Rib plus tower

Tues 15 Jun

This looks to be a slightly slower-paced week at work for a change. I won't know how to handle non-freneticism! I may have to get my desk organized and find what has gotten buried in the rush.

It's raining (again) today. The forecasters are talking about two days in a row of no rain Wed and Thurs - we'll see if they're right. We hope to hike Wed for sure. We're going to take another little 2-day getaway to Minnesota's North Shore for a Hiker's Delight. We'll leave Sunday morning after taking Grandma to church Saturday night followed by Michael's birthday dinner at Christian's.

Wow, did I order my new computer at the right time or what? My MacMini hasn't shipped yet and today I got an email saying I will get the new upgraded model at no extra charge. Faster processor, graphics, HDMI port, SD card slot, etc. Sweet.



Food:

7:15 am 1 c Trader Joe's multigrain flaxseed cereal, 1/2 c light vanilla soy milk, 161 g strawberries, 1/4 large cantaloupe, coffee
11:30 am Chocolate soy shake, 104 g blackberries, 63 g red pepper strips, 140 g fresh pineapple, spelt/oatmeal/raisin scone
3:15 pm Handi-Snacks sugar free creamy caramel pudding cup
4:45 pm 1 Godiva chocolate
5:45 pm 3.7 oz extra lean ground beef, Earthgrains 100% whole wheat sandwich thin, 1 tbl ketchup, med slice tomato, 1/2 c sauteed Swiss chard, 1/2 tsp olive oil, 1/8 chopped shallot, 12 oz light vanilla/original soy milk


Exercise:

5:00-6:00 am Pilates mat

Mon 14 Jun

Nice day yesterday, though we took more time with Grandma than I had anticipated so we didn't get to leave for Madison til just after 2 pm. Got to the mall, Trader Joe's, Target and Woodman's and had dinner at Uno Chicago Grill. Replaced my hair dryer which is on the verge of death.

Yay, made it back home to finish lunch before the next appointment!

Gotta love Fr. Tom. Yesterday he was talking about the new bishop-elect, Fr. Callahan. He said he talked with someone who said it was about time we had an Irish bishop. Fr. Tom said he replied that Bishop Burke was Irish and that was the end of that conversation. He got a good chuckle from most of the congregation for that.


Food:

7:15 am 1 c Trader Joe's multigrain flaxseed cereal, 1/2 c light vanilla soy milk, 1/4 large cantaloupe, 91 g blackberries, coffee
11:45 am Spelt/oatmeal/raisin scone
12:45 pm Vanilla soy shake, 170 g strawberries, 134 g pineapple
3:15 pm 100 cal pack Sun Chips
6:15 pm 4 oz grilled boneless pork chop (with fresh sage, dried rosemary, fresh ground pepper and a smidgen of olive oil), 1/2 c yukon gold potatoes, 1/8 tbl butter, garlic, salad w/organic lettuce, 1/2 c snap peas, 1/4 c chopped salad turnips, 1/4 c chopped red pepper, 12 oz light vanilla soy milk, 1/8 strawberry/rhubarb crisp




Exercise:

5:00-6:10 am Jane Fonda Complete upper, lower, abs, aerobics

Sun 13 Jun

Thinking about driving to Madison after church today. I need cereal and soy milk, and I have a VS coupon for a free panty that expires on Tues. Got a lot of little stuff accomplished yesterday so we deserve a fun day. Also got my WPR Member Benefit card and discovered that one place that honors with a $15 discount is Brocach, so that may be supper tonight.


Food:

8:15 am Rhubarb pecan muffin, 1/4 large cantaloupe, 99 g blackberries, coffee
12:00 pm 2 crepes, 1/2 c blueberries in light glaze, 1 tsp powdered sugar, 8 oz orange juice coffee
6:30 pm 5 grilled shrimp w/BBQ sauce, 1 c steamed broccoli, 1/2 c brown rice w/dried cranberries, 1 1/2 oz mint syrup in iced tea, 16 oz plain iced tea, 1/2 breadstick



Exercise:

7:05-7:55 am Brutal ballet DVD

Sat 12 Jun

Sometimes it's very nice to have an unscheduled weekend at home. Getting laundry done. Took Michael to Kohl's for some birthday clothes shopping and got a set of new cotton sheets for us since several of my existing sets are worn or torn. Found a shirt and pair of suspenders (for use with choir tuxedo) for Dad for Father's Day. Plan to order him a spare pair of hiking pants, too. Got a venison roast that's been in the freezer awhile cooking in the crock pot for supper. Dad, Michael, and I did Chili's for lunch. Nice day so far.

Wow, I had lunch at Chili's and made a strawberry/rhubarb crisp for supper (from a low-cal recipe) and came in 4 calories under the minimum of my SparkPeople range for the day! How cool is that! Might treat myself to a dram of the homemade irish cream Dad brought home from Joan Joerns' yesterday.

Accidentally grabbed light vanilla soy milk last time I was at the store. Have really gotten used to the original so the vanilla tastes really sweet to me.

Opened the irish cream liqueur and it oozed out of the bottle as a semi-solid. Think i'll just dump it out, thatnks.


Food:

8:00 am Rhubarb pecan muffin, 1/4 large cantaloupe, coffee
12:00 pm Chili's Margarita grilled chicken, black beans, steamed vegetables, blackberry iced tea
7:00 pm 3.5 oz venison roast, 1/2 c potatoes, 1/2 c carrots, 1/8 c onions, 1/8 strawberry/rhubarb crisp, 12 oz light vanilla soy milk

Fri 11 Jun

Expecting another busy day at work. The last few months have been rough ones for several of my clients. One of my frequently suicidal people just got fired from her job yesterday; I'm hoping this doesn't trigger another attempt. The training on Wed of this week was on kids and suicide, so it's heavy on my mind.

On the lighter side, I'm looking forward to an unscheduled weekend at home. I plan to sleep in, get caught up on Grandma's bills, get some cleaning done, and then whatever presents itself. Things have been heavily scheduled for a long time so some leisure is most welcome.

If you have no plans this weekend, you should get out the Virginia tourism guide or map and find someplace not too far away that you haven't been yet (or someplace you really liked) that you're not likely to be able to visit again easily after you come home. Take a camera out and photograph some of the local sights in practice for your Europe trip.

I am proud of myself because for the first time in a long time, I have stayed within my calorie limit every day this week, including a Friday. I hope I'm able to get myself back on track and back down to my 125 range where I felt the best.


Food:

7:15 am 1 c Trader Joe's multigrain flaxseed cereal, 1/2 c light vanilla soy milk, 83 g blackberries, 1/4 large cantaloupe, coffee
12:15 pm 3 sm pieces beer-batter fried cod, 1.75 tbl tartar sauce, 2 waffle fries, 1/8 c cole slaw, slice marble rye, .75 pat butter
4:30 pm 1 Godiva chocolate
7:00 pm 4 cheese fries, salad w/1/2 large radish, 12 oz light vanilla soy milk



Exercise:

5:10-5:50 am Jane Fonda Workout with Weights 2 video

Thurs 10 Jun

Just looked at the weather and I see Richmond is having a very hot week. Sorry to hear that as I know it's not your cup of tea. Stay cool and eat some yummy salads. We got a break from rain yesterday but it's supposed to resume later today, hopefully not til evening. Gray skies get old fast.

I was really not in the mood to exercise this morning, even though it wasn't difficult to get up as I slept well. Made it through almost all of Pilates mat but let myself wuss out after side series.

I would appreciate your opinion on my upcoming computer purchase. You know my computer needs pretty well - I do SparkPeople and the blog several times a day, check email, use Internet for vacation planning, shopping for specific items, etc. I store and manage my photos, play Snood, look up info on the Internet. I plan to buy a Mac Mini, and am trying to decide if there is any reason to bump up to the $799 model with 4 gb memory vs the $599 model with 2 gb. I do tend to keep my computers for a very long time between upgrades, but if there's little likelihood I'd ever max out the basic model, I hate to spend an extra $200 for capacity I'll never use. Opinions?

Thanks for your opinion - I was thinking it didn't seem to make sense to go with a more powerful machine if I'm not likely to use it.

Pulled out the Victory Garden cookbook to figure out how to cook Swiss chard. Chopped it, steamed it, and then sauteed in olive oil with chopped shallot and garlic. Delicious!

Well, I went ahead and ordered the Mini with the smaller processor, but Dad thought I should get the 4 GB memory anyway. I was able to do that on the $599 machine for $100 more, splitting the price difference of the machines. Should be here next week. I enter the 21st century.

Food:

7:15 am Rhubarb pecan muffin, 1/4 large cantaloupe, 91 g blackberries, coffee
9:45 am 1 oz omelet w/1 oz mozzarella, 1/4 c veggie mix (mushrooms, red/green peppers, onions), fruit kebab with 1/4 mixed fruit, .33 oz co-jack cheese
11:45 am Vanilla soy shake, spelt/oatmeal/walnut/raisin scone
4:45 pm 2 c kettle corn, 1 pc Godiva chocolate
6:30 pm 5.4 oz seared ahi tuna, 1/2 c boiled new potatoes, 1 tsp margarine, 1/2 c sauteed Swiss chard, 1 tsp chopped shallot, garlic




Exercise:

5:00-5:50 am Pilates mat minus pushups

Wed 9 Jun

Broke down and ordered a monitor this morning as the first step in replacing my antiquated computer. I plan to just get a Mac Mini. My keyboard was new at Christmas and is very satisfactory and my mouse is fine.`

Breakfast for supper - yum!


Food:

7:15 am Rhubarb pecan muffin, 1/4 large cantaloupe, 81 g blackberries, coffee
12:15 pm Musamon beef curry (small portion), 1/2 c white rice, egg roll, fortune cookie
3:00 pm 2 pc Godiva chocolates
8:00 pm 1 c Trader Joe's multigrain flaxseed cereal, 1/2 c light original soy milk, 149 g strawberries, 1/4 large cantaloupe



Exercise:

5:10-6:00 am Ball/band DVD level 2
5:30-7:30 pm Hike Rib Mt plus tower

Tues 8 Jun

Supposed to have lunch with Bill Pyke today if he doesn't cancel again. He plans to bring his laptop with 400 pics and a video of his recent trip to South America including Patagonia and Easter Island. Should be interesting.


Food:

7:15 am Rhubarb pecan muffin, 1/4 large cantaloupe, 119 g strawberries, coffee
11:45 am 2 crab rangoon, 3/4 c garlic green beans, 1/2 c chicken and mushrooms, 1/2 c pork and veggies, 1/2 c chicken and veggies, very small piece roasted chicken thigh
3:15 pm Half piece marble cake w/chocolate frosting
6:00 pm 1 c whole wheat spaghetti, 3 oz extra lean ground beef, 1/2 scallion, 1/2 c Prego Roasted Red Pepper sauce, 1 tbl shredded mozzarella, salad w/lettuce, spinach, 1/2 small tomato, 1/2 large radish, 12 oz light original soy milk



Exercise:

5:10-6:00 am Jane Fonda Original Workout, advanced level

Mon 7 Jun

Blogger has been down all day until now, so I'm late getting the early part of the day online. Weather here has been on and off rainy/sunny and quite cool. Hope yours has cooled down so you can eat and stop making your mother nervous that you're becoming anorexic.

Did some baking tonight since we didn't get out hiking. Got grocery shopping done, then made rhubarb pecan muffins (still in oven) and rhubarb upside down cake with a lemon cake mix. The latter is tasty, I will attest. I plan to take some of it to work tomorrow so we don't have a whole cake tempting us at home.


Food:

7:15 am 1 c Trader Joe's multigrain flaxseed cereal, 4 oz light original soy milk, 85 g blackberries, 123 g strawberries, coffee
12:30 pm Spelt oatmeal scone, chocolate soy shake, large banana
3:30 pm 1 Tootsie Roll midgee, 1 LifeSaver, 1 breath mint
6:45 pm 3 oz grilled chicken breast, Goya bitter orange marinade, 1/8 c chopped zucchini, 2 cherry tomatoes, 1/8 c chopped onion, 1/8 c sliced pineapple, 1/2 c brown rice, 12 oz light original soy milk
9:10 pm Piece rhubarb upside down cake


Exercise:

5:00-6:00 am Pilates mat

Sun 6 Jun

Almost forgot about entering my food this morning - guess I got out of the habit on vacation this time. No time for ballet this morning as we have to sing at St. Mary's with choir this morning. Took Grandma to church and out to eat to celebrate mutual anniversaries last night. Will try to do Pilates later today.

Didn't hang around St. Mary's for their hors d'oeuvres because they took too much time with the Corpus Christi procession. Dad and I went to 2510 for a quick bite so I could get back for the Suzuki concert. I had to sew elastic straps to the brown fur Mary provided for my hobbit feet - I did the Bilbo song I Sit Beside the Fire from the orange book of Tolkein poem/songs. I was the only one at the concert with no one to hear me - sigh.

Decided to save Pilates for tomorrow morning so just took an hour's walk to get a little motion in the body for the day.



Food:

7:00 am 1 c Trader Joe's multigrain flaxseed cereal, 1/2 c light original soy milk, 80 g blackberries, 148 g strawberries
12:30 pm Chicken pot pie, 1 c fruit salad
6:45 pm 3.65 oz extra lean ground beef, Arnold's 100% whole wheat sandwich thin, 1 tbl ketchup, 1 c mixed organic lettuce/spinach, 1/8 c chopped zucchini, 1/8 c chopped tomato, 10 oz light original soy milk


Exercise:

7:20-8:20 pm Walk to Northpoint Dr through Schmeekle and back

Sat 5 Jun

Thanks for the anniversary wishes, and welcome back to you as well, hot weather notwithstanding. We spent our anniversary driving the very long route from Missoula, MT to Fargo, ND. We left at 7 am after breakfasting at the hotel, stopped briefly at a little town in Montana for a very nice lunch at a downtown shop that served sandwiches on whole wheat crepes. Then we drove til 10:45 pm (including one time zone change) before checking in to our hotel in Fargo. We went over to the local Perkins for a quick bite before calling it a night.

Walk Wisconsin today - the full-marathon walkers had lovely weather for the start, but there is rumor of rain starting around noon so we may not be so lucky with the half-marathon starting around 11 am. I plan to take my full rain gear if needed.

We have walked Wisconsin and it is ours!



Food:

8:30 am 1 c Trader Joe's multigrain flaxseed cereal, 1/2 c light original soy milk, 58 g blackberries, 169 g strawberries, coffee
12:00-4:00 pm Brownie, half large banana, 3 strawberry newtons, 1/4 orange, 3 triscuits, 2 tbl peanut butter, 3 baby carrots, handful trail mix, wedge watermelon, 6 oz Point root beer
7:00 pm Brandy old fashioned sweet, 6 wild mushroom ravioli, 2 oz tenderloin, 1/2 oz ribs, salad w/bleu cheese crumbles and 1 tbl lowfat raspberry viniagrette



Exercise:

11:00 am-4:00 pm Walk Wisconsin 13.1 mile half-marathon walk

Fri 4 Jun

Back home and back to routine. It was hard to exercise this morning. Amazing how a week away from weights makes the muscles weak again.

Scale is up again to 131.5; shouldn't be surprised, I guess, after eating second breakfast (and lunch, and dinner) and snacking in between for several days. It's a big enough jump to put me back in careful eating and tracking mode, and hopefully back to losing weight to the 125 level that felt right for me. Wish me luck!

I really do like those spelt/oatmeal/raisin scones. I bought a box on the way out of Portland and I hope they keep well so I can enjoy one daily til they're gone.



Food:

7:15 am 1 c Trader Joe's multigrain flaxseed cereal, 1/2 c light original soy milk, 115 g blueberries, coffee
12:00 pm Strawberry/banana soy shake, 88g spelt/oatmeal/raisin scone, 167 g strawberries



Exercise:

5:10-6:00 am Jane Fonda Complete workout, upper body and aerobics