Vacation Friday

Happy Vacation Friday!!!

Oh wait, I guess it is just a vacation for me. Kenyon and I are headed to New Mexico to spend time with my in-laws and my aunt. I am super excited to see everybody. It is also a mini family reunion with some of Kenyon's extended family. I wish more could have made the trip, however, seeing any of the extended family is wonderful. There are still some of Kenyon's family I'e not met yet.

I'll check in when I can. I hope you have a great weekend!

What I Ate Yesterday (Wednesday)

I ended up eating out for all three of my meals yesterday. I forgot to snap a photo of dinner though.

Kenyon and I went to breakfast before I headed to work and also redeemed a free meal coupon at Original Pancake House. This has been one of our go-to breakfast stops as of late. Kenyon got an omelet and subbed fruit for his side so I could have some fruit. He didn't want anything so it was mine for the taking! I got my usual with pancakes, eggs, and bacon. She asked what kind of syrup I wanted, which I didn't know they had other kinds. I went for coconut syrup.

Kenyon ate my extra bacon and I brought two pancakes home.

Lunch was at Brick 29 with my coworkers so we could meet the dispatch trainers. We had all but one trainer in attendance (night shift). It was really nice to sit down and chat with the other ladies about work and non-work stuff. I only wished we had more time.

My coworker Pam said she always gets the ham and havarti sandwich when she goes to Brick 29 for lunch. It sounded great so I had that as well. I wasn't expected the sauce to be so spicy so next time I'll have to get that on the side. I ended up not eating all the bread because it was really spicy. I chose the tomato bisque for my side and instead they brought it before the sandwich. Next time I'll ask for it with my sandwich so I can dip it. Very delicious soup. Somebody had coleslaw for their side, which looked divine, and fries, which I tried and were also yummy. I will be back!

My Grandmother is in a rehab care center after a recent back surgery. Unfortunately she isn't doing really well and it has also been taking a toll on Grandpa. Kenyon came to Nampa to meet me for dinner after my visit at the care center so we also invited Grandpa. He had never been to Texas Roadhouse so we took him there. I had the steak, baked potato, and side salad. I also ate two rolls and some peanuts. During our meal somebody came over and said she heard it was somebody's first time at Roadhouse. She gave Grandpa a bag of peanuts with a coupon for a free appetizer. He really liked it so he said he will take Grandma when she is feeling better.

I'm starting my day with a healthy breakfast and I'll pack a salad for lunch today. We go on vacation starting tomorrow afternoon. I think I've been in “vacation mode” for several weeks now.

Wednesday Musings

Good Morning.

I woke up early and I'm craving pancakes so Keyon and I are going to go to breakfast before I head west to work. Day 2 at Nampa PD went well. We learned a lot about many of the different departments within the PD and will continue to learn more today. We are having a sit down lunch with the dispatch supervisor and trainers and I hope to meet my trainer today. We also get to tour the fire stations later today. So much excitement.

What is also causing me excitement is the size of my new locker. At ISP we had very tiny lockers. They were so tiny that my huge purses wouldn't even fit. I ended up commandeering a nearby cubby for all my coffee supplies and what not. So I am stoked! I was also just issued a locker for our workout clothes/gym time so I can move my backpack to that locker and have even more room. Oh the possibilities.

My eating these last few weeks has been really off track. In fact, I'm not even tracking! I'd like to say that I am using good WW practices and eating intuatively. I have been eating salads but I've also been eating desserts. I don't have many opportunities to eat until I'm stuff as I've always been a portion eater. However, my diet can always be cleaned up! I also have been eating out WAY TOO MUCH. My credit card bill this month is massive and I'd say at least ¾ of it is eating out. Going out for pancakes this morning isn't the best idea all around...but, I'm going anyway! And I've got a free meal coupon deal. Win:Win

I don't think I'll make it to a meeting this week which was sort of planned and why I went last Saturday. I decided I NEEDED my meeting but I also NEEDED to skip the scale. The scale number, while important, isn't what I need right now. But I needed my WW peeps and I needed the meeting. I am glad I went. I saw next to a gal that introduced herself and then wanted to know if I was a new member or if I'd been doing WW for a while. I shared my story and my photos with her and another gal. They both thanked me afterwards. One said it was very encouraging to see there is somebody that has lost over 100 pounds. The other said we had a very similar start weight.

You never know when you or your weight loss/maintenance story might impact another person. Even if your story includes re-gain, re-starting, and struggles. We are human despite wishing we were all super-human. It puts into perspective what this journey is all about. 

A New Start

Morning. Sorry I missed checking in on Monday. Since we are in training this week our days are pretty packed so not much time for logging onto the World Wide Web.

My first day at Nampa PD went well. It was pretty low key and the day was taken up at HR and the fire training center. I am excited to learn more about the department in the days to come as we will be meeting many people from many of the different areas. We will even get to tour the fire stations.

Once I am in training with my schedule trainers it will take at a minimum of 30 weeks. I start my formal training on the console next Wednesday. I hope to meet my trainer this week. We will also get to complete some police ride-a-longs, a fire truck ride-a-long, and maybe even an ambulance ride-a-long. I am so excited. It will be really neat to see how it works from both sides as I learn 911.

We took a group photo for the Nampa PD Facebook page after lunch yesterday. Chief Kingsbury is on my left and Deputy Chief Daniels is on the end right. Pam is my new dispatch coworker (hired at the same time) and the two in the back are the two new patrol officers, Tim and Chris. We spent some time yesterday together in HR but I think from here on out we are split up. Good luck to Tim and Chris.

I've got Banker Hours this week so Kenyon told me this morning it is weird to see me waking up so late. Kenyon took this week of work before we head to NM on Friday so hopefully we can have some time together in the evenings. There isn't any homework this week with training. Whew.

I'll check in when I can.

The Final Saturday

Yesterday was my last Saturday off for at least five weeks.  We are going to New Mexico next Saturday and my first round of training at Nampa PD has me working on Saturdays.  I decided I would do whatever I wanted to on my Final Saturday and taking myself out to breakfast and walking around the Farmer’s Market sounded like the perfect plan.  After my WW meeting I went downtown to Big City Coffee.  I had been there with Mark a few weeks ago and fell in love with their decaf coffee.  The only problem is the line is always huge and I never want to wait for just a cup of coffee.  I went back for breakfast AND a can of coffee to take home.  Win:Win.

The pastries look AMAZING!

After breakfast I went to the Farmer’s Market.  The particular stand I was looking for wasn’t there.  I continued to Trader Joe’s for a few items and then wondered through the other side of the Farmer’s Market on my way back to the car.  After seeing several bags of kettle corn pass by me I decided to make my way to the end and get a small bag.  Good thing I got in some extra steps!

I had a clothing order to pick up at JcPenney’s and found the same type of exercise shorts I bought online at the store on clearance.  Score!  I’ll just return the higher priced shorts.  I headed home for all of a few minutes and then ventured back out to my pedicure appointment.

I love pretty toes with summer sandals and I am not very good at painting mine.  I went to the Aveda Institute (beauty school) near my house three weeks ago and loved it so I went back again today.  For $25, including tip, I bring my own no light gel polish and my toes stay pretty for at least two to three weeks.  Since we are headed to NM next weekend this was my best opportunity to get my polish freshened up.

I ended my Final Saturday at work (YES!!) for my last 4 hour OT shift.  I had already signed up for this overtime and didn’t want to leave my agency in a bind.  So despite having my last full day yesterday (and our Tiny Hat Party - I’ll fill you in on). 

I officially wrapped up my time with Idaho State Police and as a State of Idaho Employee.

My Newest Obsession

Several of the blogs I read have been raving about the new Chai products just rolled out by Celestial Seasonings.  The Dirty Chai, in particular, caught my attention.

I have heard about a dirty chai (chai tea and espresso) but never had the guts to try it.  After reading all these wonderful reviews I knew I needed to get some.  However, it is only in select stores and I’ve not yet made it over to Target to scope things out.   Earlier in the work week my coworker Ian said he had a dirty chai and really liked it.  I knew I needed to make a run to Starbucks to have my first taste. 

The verdict?

It was delicious!  It is amazing how much the spice from the chai comes out with the mix of the espresso.  Starbucks suggested two shots of espresso in their 16 ounce iced chai and that was a bit much for my taste buds. However, it grew on my fast.  It is really expensive though.  Starbucks charged $5.81 for their 16 ounce iced dirty chai.  I have several filled punch cards at Dutch Bros for a free drink so I redeemed one this morning for a dirty chai.

Dutch Bro’s espresso isn’t as bold as Starbucks.  I had two shots in this 20 ounce iced dirty chai.  Both times I had non-fat milk.  It was still very tasty.

The iced chai is a concentrate so it has sugar added.  I’ll need to be careful and not get too carried away with my new obsession.  My goal right now is to treat myself to a dirty chai whenever I have a free filled punch card to use.  I do still have a few extras saved up.  Maybe I’ll use them for a rainy day.

I still need to try a hot dirty chai.  I tend to drink iced drinks in the summer and hot drink in the winter.  I’ll have to remember to try one hot sometime soon.

Last Full Day At ISP

It’s Tiny Hat Party Day!!!

And it’s mustache day.

Today is my last full shift working for Idaho State Police.  It is a happy day thought as I am excited for this new opportunity.  Change isn’t easy and I’ll miss my coworkers and my troopers.

When I came to ISP I wanted to set down some roots and stick around for a while.  I worked at Boise State University for several years but in three different offices.  Then I worked for Idaho Department of Correction in three different prisons/work centers.  It felt like a lot of moving around so I was looking forward to being in one place.  There have been many ups and a few downs along my nine and a half years with this agency.

I have learned so much about myself and I have grown up as an individual.  I still have flaws and I still struggle.   However, I am not the same immature person I once was.  I am hoping I my experience in law enforcement and dispatch will help me to succeed in this new venture.  I want to be the best employee I can for the Nampa Police Department.

I’ll post photos of our fun today.  We are having a BBQ at 1pm to celebrate.  I just need the clock to move faster!

I Got Nothin'

I don’t really have any blog content today.  I am unprepared with a topic and I am pretty boring this week.

Tomorrow is my last day at ISP.  I’ll write more on that tomorrow (hey, some blog content).  We are having a Tiny Hat Party.  Since I love tiny hats so much I am bringing in my tiny hats for people to wear.  You know you have a lot of tiny hats when I can’t even decide which I want to wear!

 

Since this is my last Saturday off for a while (not sure yet on my training schedule) I am going to take in the Farmer’s Market.  I am also dying to have more of the decaf coffee from Big City Coffee.  Maybe I can get there early enough to beat the crowds and buy a few bags.  The line is too long to wait in to purchase some coffee.  It is pretty tasty though.

I’ve got a pedicure appointment this Saturday so my toes are pretty for our trip to New Mexico next weekend.  I am looking forward to spending time with Kenyon and meeting more of his extended family.  I’ll also get to see my in-laws and we are staying with my aunt Barb. 

I’ve got all day Sunday off and so far I’m not sure yet of my plans.  Maybe I’ll take in a movie.  Maybe I’ll just veg in front of the TV.  We shall see.

See, I told you I got nothin’.

Mid-Week Wednesday

Morning.

(yawn)

I was up late last night babysitting Jamie’s girls.  Those girls crack me up.  They play games with the weirdest rules (I think they make them up) so I can never understand enough of the rules to play along.  10 year old Veronica told me, “You can’t teach an older woman new tricks.”  Well then.

We met up with Kenyon and took the girls to see Tomorrowland at Overland Park Cinema.  It is an interesting concept but quite slow.  I am not sure Audrey really liked it but Veronica did.  Those girls love science and learning.  It reminded me of that old TV show Small Wonder about the child robot.  Again, interesting concept.

I’ve been working on better back health these last few days.  I saw the back doctor on Monday.  My PT didn’t quite get scheduled correctly so I had to miss that.  I need to make a better effort at my at-home PT exercises so I can stop wasting everybody’s time.  Why go to PT if I’m not going to do my part?  My goal is to do my PT exercises everyday (at least once but will try for twice a day) until I see the back doctor again in a month.  She also suggested a SI belt to help secure the hips while we are trying to get them to realign.  I had hopes for it also helping me to sleep better.  The belt can be worn all the time; however, it isn’t very comfortable when sitting.  And it makes my muffin top waaaaaay worse.  I am almost embarrassed to leave the house with that under my clothes.  I’d rather wear it on the outside of my clothes!  For the last two days I have worn it just at night.  I am not sure yet if it is helping but I’ll keep with it for now.

Let’s see, what else….I’ve been working on tracking my food and eating better.  I have also been getting in some activity.  I went for a walk around the complex where I was waiting for my PT appointment.  The scenery is really pretty.

I was trying to sneak up on the crane but it flew away

These signs crack me up.  Who would put a boat in the middle of a pond at a hospital complex?

I also logged 3.5 miles on the treadmill console at work yesterday.  I’ve got some plans after work for a dinner outing so I’m not sure how much time I’ll have today. I’ll see what I can do.  Every little bit adds up.  For sure I’ll get those back exercises in!  I am committed to doing that daily and this morning I slept in late and ran out of time.

Not A Social Call

I went to the WW meeting on Saturday morning.  Despite it being 8am, it is a very lively bunch and I really like the members.  I’ve not really spent much time with the leader Maria but she also seemed pretty great.  You could tell the meeting members really enjoy her.  I also like how well she keep control of her group.

I did my WI, which I knew wouldn’t be pretty, and had a gain of 1.2 pounds.  As the receptionist was filling out a new WW booklet for me she asked, “what are you going to do this week?”  I thought to myself, didn’t really have any plans as of yet, and almost answered her.  Then I realized she was asking what I was going to do about my GAIN this week.  It is clearly not a social question.

I should have seen that one coming.  I am the type of person that doesn’t really like comments at the scale.  I have been doing this long enough that I often can be my own kick-in-the-pants so it isn’t necessary to have comments or counseling.  For others it might be helpful.  Maybe that person is drowning and needs somebody to throw them a life preserver.  Despite usually being a pretty aware person, it doesn’t mean that there are those times when I could use a friendly check-in to knock some sense into me.

I love my WW member and leader support.  I am so very lucky to have so much available to me.  All I have to do is ask.  Help is there.  I am looking forward to the shift on my first round of training at Nampa PD.  I will have Tuesday off and will be able to attend Donna’s meeting.  I can’t wait!

It's Diet

I stopped into Albertson’s to get some food items for the Hawaiian party.  I spotted some WW members who I used to see at the Monday night meeting.  The first words out of her mouth after I said hello was, “this is diet.”  She held up her Starbucks frappuccino.  In other hand she held up a bag of pretzels and said, “this isn’t diet.”

People are funny.  I’ve gained 30 pounds since August of 2013 and clearly I am in no position to make a judgment call (well at least vocalize that judgment call) towards anybody that no longer attends a WW meeting or re-gained some/all of their weight.  I’ve heard stories of WW leaders having WW members make a u-turn in the isle at the grocery store.  You can’t help but just laugh.

After she cleared her conscious I simply said, “yum.  I love Starbucks and you have to live a little.”  I’m not sure if she was convinced by my answer because she also shared with me the PPVs of her drink.  Little did she know I was there buying two pints of sorbet and a half gallon of ice cream.  If she had spotted me first I wouldn’t have cared enough to explain why I was buying ice cream unless asked.

My sister Jenny and Hailey were helping with set-up before the party started.  Jenny said our four year old niece Emma asked her, “when are you going to lose weight?”  I’m not sure where or why Emma came up this question and I don’t think she was trying to be mean about it.  I explained the above story to Jenny and Hailey.  Hailey said, “you don’t look like you’ve gained 30 pounds.”  Jenny said “gaining only 30 pounds in that amount of time is still good.”

Once the positive comments following weight loss start to dwindle it is easy to be hyper sensitive about weight gain.  You worry that everybody notices and it makes you sometimes feel the need to rationalize your food choices.  There isn’t a need to rationalize anything.  If what you are eating makes you happy then it isn’t anybody’s business to make you feel otherwise.

I learned long ago you can’t judge anything by what you see in just one meal.

Nowotny Annual Hawaiian Party

I want to start off by saying that I have the BEST group of friends.  The Nowotny Annual Hawaiian Party was a huge success and it was so much fun spending time with all my friends, their spouses/significant others, and their kiddos.  Phoenix told me it was the best Hawaiian party yet.

Several years ago I had moved into an apartment in Nampa and wanted to have a housewarming party.  It was summertime and the decorations at the dollar store were all Hawaiian themed.  Thus, a Hawaiian housewarming party developed.  I really enjoyed it (and parties in general) so the Hawaiian party has continued every year since.  When I married Kenyon and we continued the tradition at both our rental townhome and at our current house.  Kenyon sort of puts up with my parties but I think he has fun sometimes too.

 

I went pretty low-key this year with the food and that really helped me feel less stressed.  I wanted for Hailey to help decorate and also scaled that down.  During the party I just directed people where to get ice, drinks, dessert, etc and doing that allowed me to sit and visit (and drink) more.  I’ll have to adopt this practice next year.

Kenyon’s prior supervisor, Joe, brought him a coconut bra and grass skirt.  There was no way I was going to get him in it even for a photo.  I put it on later in the day though and snapped a photo.  I think my coconuts are larger than this bra as it was a bit snug. 

 

I still have clean up to do when I get home from work later today (I’m working overtime today).  I told Kenyon this morning I wished we could have another party again today.  It was so much fun.  I guess we will have to wait until next year.

 

Kaycen was trying his photo bombing skills

Kaylee left me some chalk art