Tuesday On A Friday

I legit went to bed at 7pm.

I might have gone to bed even earlier but I had to wait for a delivery as part of my Magnolia & Vine order.  Once that came, I called it quits.  I was exhausted.

Despie my exhaustion all day (and the troopers working non-stop) I didn’t give in to the cookies/goodies nor did I eat out at lunch with the others.  It was an extra hungry day since I started it earlier than usual.  But, I managed to get through it okay.  I thought about eating out for dinner since I was so tired, but I threw together a quick meal and still had enough points for dessert.

 

We are having additional phone “issues” at work today but I have come prepared with Pumpkin Spice Coffee.

 

This is actually the photo from Tuesday

Plus, we get to wear jeans today as long as we sport collage football team colors.  It always makes it fun to wear jeans at work!

Happy Friday to those about to head into their weekend.

Unexpected, Expected Work Day

I’m checking in late in the day because it has been a busy one.

The coworker that I traded my 10-hour overtime shift today ended up calling in sick.  That caused my phone to ring at 1:45am since I had to take back my OT shift.  DOH!  I have the worst luck.  My mind started to wake up and the only thing I still needed to do over my “weekend” was do some practice packing.  So, I seized the day and got up and around.  I promptly regretted that decision once 6am rolled around and it was time to start work.

We got an upgraded phone system at work that went live yesterday.  They are still working out the bugs so the start of shift was rough.  They were also making tons of noise getting the old phones out of the dispatch center so it was really chaotic.  After being here all day, the new system seems easier to navigate.

It has also been a busy/steady day at work so I am feeling okay but ready to go.  Just one more hour left.

My Magnolia & Vine order came from my party last week.  I am not a big jewelry person but it is so fun that I can’t wait to wear it all.  I did a fashion show for my coworkers with some of my interchangeable pieces.  I’ll do a whole post on it here soon.

 

My work week officially starts and I just have to get through the next four days and then I can start my vacation.

Weekly WI: The Merry-Go-Round Goes Around And Around

Despite a gain of 0.2 pounds, I still managed to hang onto the 219’s for another week. I wish I had gotten a few more pounds off before vacation and I’m not sure why I can’t pull more steady losses.

I have this week to go and I’m hoping if I stay on track, I can have a solid loss after the last two weeks of up/down. My headspace is better this week. I don’t know what was behind my funky mood.

Regardless of where I wish I was, I had a loss for the month. Down is always good!

Waiting For The Weekend

Come on weekend…I’ve been waiting for you.

 

I have no idea why but this has felt like the longest week ever.  And, we had our troopers switch up their shifts so Sunday was busier than it has been the last four weeks.  The plus side is that the shift went pretty quick.  The downtime is that I was reading a really good book!  Don’t you hate when work gets in the way of something fun?

I am so excited for my hair appointment on Wednesday.  When you don’t have much hair, it gets bulky fast.  Hair day is the best.  I’m also getting a pedicure at a local beauty school.  I love when I don’t have to paint my own toenails.  And, I enjoy the pampering.

I might meet up with my Momma since I’ll be in town and am considering a movie.  I think downtime sounds really nice!

Now, if we can just get through this work shift…

Nine Days To Europe

The countdown continues…

 

It is less than two weeks that we arrive in Europe, and now two weeks away until we board our Viking River Cruise.  It is all so exciting and a bit nervous.

Some even more positive news is that I found coverage for my OT shift next Thursday so I am down to just five work shifts after today. 

It is going to be a huge help to have those three days off to get the last of anything I need rounded up and to do some practice packing.  I also have a hair appointment and a pedicure appointment. 

We met with our travel agent so we have all our travel documents in hand and are working on getting any of the last minute notifications, copies of documents and passports, etc. all ready to go.  The benefit of traveling with Kenyon is there is two of us to think of everything together. 

After seeing the packing cubes Kenyon has been using from Rick Steves, and Danielle offering to let me borrow hers, I want to try some practice packing.  These packing cubes are mesh, and unlike the photo shows, mine wont’ be super packed and thick.  I’m thinking this will allow my clothes to collapse down easier for packing.  At least that is what I’m going to try out. 

 

This is all I’m planning to pack for clothes:

• 1 pair of black lounge pants - which can also double as nice pants for evening dinners on the ship.  I am also wearing 1 pair of black lounge pants on the plane.
• 2 pairs capris – these will be my main everyday clothing wear.
• 2 long sleeved shirts – I am also wearing a third long sleeve shirt on the plane.
• 2 short sleeved shirts – which allows me flexibility for temperate and also something to wear with my lounge pants on the ship.
• 3 nice shirts – these will be paired with my capris or black lounge pants for evening dinners on the ship.
• 3 tank tops – I wear a tank top as an undershirt each day.  I will also be wearing a tank top on the plane.
• 3 short socks (for capris) and 2 long socks (for black lounge pants) – I’ll be wearing a pair of long socks.
• 5 panties – of course I’ll be wearing a pair of panties, HA!
• 1 sports bra – not sure I’ll need this but just in case I want to walk the track on the ship or for a day where we have a more intense excursion and I want to dress down more.
• 1 pair sandals – these are for evenings on the ship when I am wearing my black lounge pants and dressier shirt.

This might not look like much, but it should be plenty.  The shirts I am packing/wearing are light weight, moisture wicking, and odor reducing.  They will also be easy to sink wash and don’t show wrinkles.  I can also sink wash socks and underwear so I won’t be taking a pair for each day.  I am wearing my jacket on our travel day, which I will use for layering if the temperatures are cool along with a long sleeve shirt. 

 

Other items I am packing:

• Toiletries, make-up, etc.
• Hat
• Small umbrella
• Charge cords for all my devices/adapters
• Prescription pills
• Jewelry
• Small hair straightener – which is technically not allowed on the ship due to it being a heating device.  I’m sure if I’ll just cut my hair really short and leave this at home or take it and see what happens.
• Norwex travel Envirocloths – I hear there isn’t wash clothes and/or towels in many European hotels/bathrooms.
• Selfie Stick – I bought a small travel selfie stick so I can use it when we are on the shop and there is a castle behind us.  It should make for a good photo op.
• Jamberry Skinnies Wraps – I’m going to try out the new Jamberry Skinnies wraps, which go on with no heat and should be really easy to apply.  I’ve gone back and forth on what I want to do with my nails since we will be gone for 15 days.  That is a bit much to stretch one wrap and I worry about what happens if I lose a nail.  I ordered two of the Jet Setter design and will have plenty of extras if I lose a nail or need to replace any. 

 

 

 

In my travel purse I’ll pack:

• iPad/headphones/extra battery charger
• Sunglasses
• Gum/Chapstick
• Passport
• Wallet/foreign currency/credit cards/medical cards
• Travel documents

 

That is about it.  I’m confident I have it all but I do have time to perfect my list.  That is what practice is for!

Once Again, My Inner Toddler Wants Out

It has been a week.

 

I’m not sure why exactly, but it has felt like a pretty rough week for food, tracking, focus, and motivation.  After my small loss Tuesday, I knew I needed to stay on track this week if I wanted to continue to see the scale go down before vacation.  And, I’m so fearful of getting back in the 220s that it is weighing heavy (pun intended) on me.

I didn’t earn my blue dot on Tuesday after a gyro at the fair put me over my daily points + 5 weekly points.  I honestly thought ahead of time that was going to be an okay food choice.  It wasn’t until I entered it later that I saw it was 19 points.

Wednesday after my OT shift, I had no desire to cook and really no meal plan in mind other than making some chicken.  Kenyon suggested pizza so I brought home a Papa Murphy’s Cowboy on thin crust.  I checked the points ahead of time and 1/8^th of the large size pizza was 8 SPV.  I really wanted to earn my blue dot but I also wanted to face plant into the pizza, eat as much as I wanted, and not track it.  Tracking the pizza helped me come to my senses and I cut my 1/8^th into three smaller pieces and had that along with a salad.  Success!

Thursday was lunch plans with a friend and my Magnolia & Vine (jewelry, purse, and accessory) party.  I tried really hard to manage my points.  I was really feeling the “not fair” feelings at lunch of having to micro-manage my points.  Somebody I just wish I could just relax and let it all work itself out.  Ugh.  My inner toddler really wanted out. 

We had lunch at Boise Pie Company and despite the name, we didn’t have any pie. 

 

But, I almost left with a key lime pie for my party later in the evening.  The crust looked amazing.  I took a photo of the coconut cream pie and sent it to my Mom.

 

I made a low calorie/sugar cocktail for my Hawaiian Party.

 

I changed out the vodka for Parrot Bay Rum/Light Rum, which is where most of the points came from.  I used Diet Cran-Pine just as the main base and only used a small can of pineapple juice.  I added in coconut flavored water as well.  It was quite tasty!

 

I served pulled pork, jasmine rice, and pineapple coleslaw.  There was mixed fruit salad for dessert.  We had a really nice time at the party, but not blue dot was earned.

 

I’m now down to 15 WSPA left.  Thankfully, my work week has begun and my eating is more structured.  Plus, Kenyon works night shift this week so I’m on my own for meals.  It is much easier when I don’t have to plan dinners.

I don’t know why I am struggling so much this week and I hope it is only temporary.  I know I’m ready for a break from weight loss, both mentally and from the regiment of planning, counting, and tracking.  But, I don’t want to be so lax I gain a bunch of weight back.  I am looking forward to vacation so I can relax and bit and not worry so much about just food.  It will be nice to have other things to focus on.

Seven more shifts to go….

Book Review: The Bachelors Of Buttermilk Falls Series & Falling For Mr. Wright By Robyn Neeley

I was all prepared to tell you today about the newest book I’ve read from an author I really enjoyed.  Then, I looked back at my prior book reviews and I see that I never told you about Robyn Neeley yet.  What??  This is a catastrophe in that you’ve not been able to read these great books.  But, the plus size is now you can binge-read them back-to-back, which is how I love to read series books.

So, let me get right to it!  The first books I read were the Bachelor of Buttermilk Falls series.  I actually downloaded the first four books and read them at rapid speed.  I stumbled on the fifth book a few weeks ago and loved it just as much.  Since it had been several months since I read the other four books, I was a bit confused with the details of the backstory.  But, I loved them all just so much.

This series has magic in it.  I’ve always wished I had magic powers so it made the series so much fun.  Robyn is also really good that you can feel the connection between her main characters in how she write about them.  The only other author that has done this for me is Terri Osburn.  I still highly recommend her Anchor Island series.  It’s wonderful.

So, here are the five books in The Bachelor of Buttermilk Falls series.

Batter Up starts out the series with Emma, the owner of a bakery who has the ability to predict the name of an eligible bachelor’s true love in her cupcake batter.  The male character is Jason, who is a reporter that wants to expose Emma as a fraud.

 

Tangled Up is about Abby, who is Emma’s cousin, and who also has some magic powers of her own.  She just hasn’t zoned in perfecting them yet.  The male character is Brandon, a friend of Jason’s.

 

Kiss and Make Up is about Josh, who is a brother to Abby. His female character is Caitlin, who he has known since growing up in Buttermilk Falls.

 

Holiday Hook Up is about Adam, who we were introduced to in the other books.  Adam just so happens to have a distant cousin named Mary, who also has magic powers, and hasn’t seemed to be able to crossover.  Mary sure does love to cause trouble.  The female character is Bethany, who has longed for Adam since she was fourteen years old. 

 

One Sweet Match Up is about Donovan, a resident of Buttermilk Falls who has just moved back after selling his restaurant in Denver, Colorado.  Donovan is also the brother of Rachel, a character we met in Holiday Hook Up.  I suspect if there is a sixth book, it will be about Rachel.  The female character in this book is Zoe, who known Donovan from her past but isn’t sure Donovan remembers her.

 

After I read One Sweet Match Up, I went searching for more of Robyn’s books.  I read Falling For Mr. Wright in about a day and a half.  It was so good I could hardly put it down!

Falling For Mr. Wright is about two office friends, Sarah and Ryan.  Sarah asks for Ryan’s help in her quest to date her boss, Logan, who is also Ryan’s best childhood friend.  The chemistry between Sarah and Ryan is off the charts!  I seriously found myself crying over the agony of reading their thoughts.  This is a really good book.

 

I’ve downloaded Holiday Wedding and Destination Wedding.  I can’t wait to get started on them.

Weekly WI: Holding Onto The 2-Teens

My WI on Tuesday had me at a loss of 0.2 pounds.  While in the weeks past, the low losses have been bumming me out, I was happy to still be in the 219s.  I tired really hard to track all of my out of town eating and to balance it once I was back in town. 

So, I’ll take the small loss.  It does feel like a bit of crunch time since our Europe vacation is just two weeks away.

My one month weight loss graph looks really good.

So does my six month weight loss graph.

It makes me feel really good to see my hard work pay off.  Even though I am not close to 200 pounds, I am still going to be “lighter by Europe” which was my goal at the start of the year.

I had planned to make a return to the gym this week.  After walking around the fair and standing at the concert, I lounged on Wednesday.  Today, I have plans to meet for coffee with one friend and then lunch with another.  I’ll try to pop into a class at the gym or at the very least, make sure I get some steps in.  I’ll be cleaning house for my jewelry, purse, and accessory party and running some grocery store errands.

I should have a good turnout for the party so I’m stoked.

Enjoying My Days Off

I think my vacation countdown will not be done using work shifts left vs. weeks/days left.  9 more shifts after tonight’s OT.

I was not ready to start back work today!

I had a jam packed Tuesday and thoroughly enjoyed my first day off.  Kenyon and I are on opposite shift schedules for another week so I felt like I had a day just to myself.  After my WW meeting, I went to lunch at Olive Garden for soup and salad.  The restaurant was dead at 11am and I was seated next to the only other table of people.  It is both a blessing and a curse that I have a dispatcher ear and can listen to any conversation.  I may have eavesdropped during my lunch.  But, it kept me entertained as I dined alone.

Afterwards I went to see Crazy Rich Asians at Edwards in Boise. 

It wouldn’t have typically been a movie that would have caught my attention but with all the new release buzz, it did.  And, it was wonderful.  I really enjoyed it, thought about it long afterwards, and am thinking I’d like to see it again.  Such a wonderful story that was adapted from a trilogy of books.  If you like a good Rom-Com, go see it. 

I had to race home to change shoes and freshen up so I could pick up Danielle and head downtown.  Kenyon and I had plans to meet with our travel agent to pick up the last of our travel documents.  Afterwards, Kenyon went onto work and Danielle and I went to the Western Idaho Fair to see Bret Michaels in concert.

 

Danielle was like a kid in a candy store she was so excited.  I don’t really know many 0f his songs but it was sure a prime people watching experience.  And, I really enjoyed the concert.  My ears are still ringing a bit today so I hope that clears up soon!  I’ve never stood with the crowd close to the stage so that was also an interested and fun experience.

After seeing Bret Michaels, all I could think about was the movie Rock Star, so I dug it out of the DVDs at home and watched it today. 

It was a nice lounge-at-home kind of day.  Thursday will be very busy with two friend meet-ups and a Magnolia & Vine jewelry, purse, accessory party.

I’ll report in on my WI tomorrow.

Annual Check-Up At The Doctor

I had my annual check-up with the thyroid doctor yesterday.  I had to re-schedule it earlier since we will be out of town and I’m about out of pills.  I really love both my thyroid doc and my lady doc.  It is such a shame I only see them once a year.  I guess that means I’m on a good health track since that I don’t have to see them more often.

Dr. Ennis really liked my blood pressure numbers, my liver enzyme numbers (which I was most worried about), and my thyroid numbers look good too.  He applauded me on my 30 pound weight loss over the last two years.  I told him I’m not done yet and I really want to be under 200 pounds.  I’m going to work really hard at it when we return from Europe. 

The reason I was nervous about my liver enzymes is because I take a pill for my back pain that you shouldn’t drink much with.  And, over the summer months, I drank quite a bit.  I even had myself freaked out a month ago that I was having liver issues.  Sheesh!  I am happy the levels look good and I can continue with my social drinking. 

Not drinking has been helpful to my weight loss efforts.  I’ve also been keeping the beer at bay because I know I’ll have ample opportunities on vacation and there are many regional beers/wines I’m interested in sampling.  With the Fall months approaching, Sam Adams has released Ocotberfest, one of my favorite beers.  I went to Walmart to pick up a six pack, only to find they didn’t have any.  The Fall Beer Pack looked sooooo good that it found its way home with me. 

I’ve only had one of the Octoberfest but I look forward to trying some of the other beers in the pack soon.  A lager beer is 5 SPV but when I consume alcohol in a social situation, the points seem to multiply at rapid speed!

This would be why my weight loss is more successful when I am less social.

I’ve got my WW meeting this morning.  I’m really going to miss this group when I got back to graveyard shift in October.  Fingers crossed that I’ve balanced my eating out early in the week.

The Ups In The Journey

What did we do before Facebook Memories?

That is the first thing I do when I wake up in the morning, look at the memories from years past on Facebook.  Some are silly, some are sad, but most are happy.  And, sometimes, you get a nice surprise!

Sunday’s FB Memory was the two year anniversary of getting the keys to our new home.  Two years later, I still love the house we built (with love). 

 

 

I should have a party!

We barely got the keys in the last few moments of closing.  I think the snag was the funding part, if I remember correctly.  We even built in some extra time before appliances were delivered and movers were hired but the risk of not getting the keys was stressful.  Needless to say, it all worked out just fine.  We even spent the first night in our new house by setting up the mattress on the floor.  We were that excited.

When I saw the photos I had shared two years ago, all I could think of was boy does my face look big.  Since I have just gotten back under 220, I looked at my weight record to see what my weight was in August of 2016.  I have lost 27.2 pounds over the last two years.  That makes me feel pretty darn great!

 

Thank you FB Memories for making my day.

Tracking Sleep With Sleep Time (Free) App

I’ve been using a new-to-me app that Kenyon found called. Sleep Time (Free). 

 

Kenyon’s work awards points for certain health goals and one of those is getting seven hours of sleep a night.  So, he found an app to sync with the work program and has been using it for a few weeks.  I decided to download it too and see if it would tell me anything about my sleep.

I’ve never gotten a FitBit or other devise that tracks my sleep, even though it has interested me.  I keep thinking, “you can tell me I’m a poor sleeper but are you going to tell me what to do to fix it?”  I still feel the same way with Sleep Time but so far it is fun to just see what is going on each nights.

The “rules” are that you set the alarm to whatever time you want to wake up and put the phone on the bed with you. 

 

Since we have a queen size bed, Kenyon suggests putting it on the headboard above us.  So far, it seems to work but I can’t really say I know how it is tracking.

You can set the alarm to wake you up and it is supposed to wake you when you are in the lighter sleep phase.  So far, my alarm seems to wake me up right when I set it.  I still don’t know that I understand how this app works.

The first night I tried the app was the night I went to a movie/dinner with Rebecca and got home a bit late for a work night.  It has been my poorest night sleep so far.  I find the app seems to reward me for better sleep the longer I sleep.  And, the longer I sleep seems to be the more times I am in a deeper sleep.  What is still puzzling is the times I thinks you are awake but I really don’t remember being awake.  That is where we aren’t sure this app works 100%.

 

 

But, it gets the job done.  And so far, it is interesting so I’ll keep going with it.

**I have no idea why it logged my Thursday night sleep on Friday.  Very weird**

Work Trip to Pocatello & Blackfoot

My work trip to Pocatello and Blackfoot was really fun.  We didn’t really do much of anything as there wasn’t a lot of downtime.  We stayed at the Super 8, which was meeehhhh. 

 

We really missed our usual LaQuinta hotel chain.  But, for the fairly cheap rate, it did the job.  Small parking lot so if you didn’t get in for the night early, you had to park further away.  The breakfast leaves much to be desired unless you are in the mood for carbs, carbs, and more carbs.  There was a Burger King across the street and after our first night, Kenyon pointed out the coffee shop across the street.  I made sure to stop into Beans & Brews on day two as I had missed my morning iced coffee.

Tuesday evening we went to Buddy’s Italian Restaurant, which came recommended by several people.  We were also warned that we would have garlic breath afterwards.  That is a very true statement.  I think we were both underwhelmed about our experience so perhaps we ordered the wrong thing?  We went for ravioli with meatballs and rigatoni, a half/half option.  The salad was plentiful and the dessert, which is included, was divine.  It was a Carmelo, which is basically the inside of a Carmelo bar served in a dish with whip cream and almond slivers.  It was amazing.

 

On Wednesday, my ride-a-long with one of our troopers started early and I knew that I’d have to come up with some sort of breakfast idea.  I brought some Better Oats from home, along with a mostly empty peanut butter jar, and picked up some non-fat Greek yogurt at Walmart in town so I could make some Overnight Oats.

 

It worked out pretty well and held me over until about 11am.  I was hungry but our lunch plans were for noon.  We went to Café Rio, a favorite, where I had a chicken salad.  Dinner that evening was at ButterBurr’s, which was recommended as a breakfast spot and is known for their cinnamon twists.  It did not disappoint!  My turkey, dressing, and mashed potatoes was really good.  And the cinnamon twist was amazing.  We knew we would be back in the morning for breakfast!

 

Breakfast on Thursday morning was just as good.  I had the eggs, pit ham, and Homestyle potatoes and we tried the raspberry twist along with another cinnamon twist.  I liked the cinnamon better.  I was going to skip the potatoes and eat half the twist so I could save points….but didn’t!  I only made a small dent in the potatoes and then ate a combo of one whole twist.  I’m glad we don’t live close to ButterBurr’s because I’d want to go every day!

 

We had a little time to kill before training started in Blackfoot.  We stopped into the Fort Hall Casino, and proceeding to each lose $20 rather quickly.  We spotted the Idaho Potato Museum off the Blackfoot exit and wandered around inside.  It is small but was not too bad for the $4 admission price.

 

After training, we stopped into a Mexican restaurant in town that was suggested by one of the Bingham County dispatchers.  We shared some fajitas and really enjoyed our meal.

It makes me feel really good to have a successful out of town tracking experience.