10/31/18

Weekly WI: Downward Trend...Again

Good Morning and Happy Halloween!!!



I posted this on FB today. This was the costumes of the 80s. And look at those heavy coats? Welcome to Halloween in Idaho where our weather is unpredictable. It’s a bit cold today. We are hoping to get some treaters tonight. Being in a new neighborhood, you never know.

I had a great WI and was down 0.4 pounds. After blowing through all my points this last week (basically on just Saturday) I was hoping for a maintain so a loss is awesome! I’m also down 12.4 pounds from last year.


As we say goodbye to October, this brings my yearly loss total to 12.6 pounds. I’m planning to make November and December count!


I hope you all have a great evening, weather your decide to splurge on candy or not! I had a high point day yesterday and will be redeeming the last of the free birthday meals tonight so we can then get home and pass out candy. I’ve been doing some pre-tracking.

10/29/18

It's Begining To Look A Lot Like...Christmas??


During one of our trips to The Farmstead, Kenyon noticed a sign for All Pro Lighting, which does Christmas light instillation. 

 


We were kicking around the idea of contacting them about lights on our upper and lower awnings/gutters.  I love the look of Christmas lights on the outside of the house, but neither of us want to get up on the roof.  I heard their advertisement on the radio including “early bird pricing” and they offered free quotes.  I made the phone call, the pricing seemed affordable to us, and we ended the call with “see you tomorrow.”

Uh….it isn’t even November yet??  I guess if you think about it, they can’t install for all their customers around Christmas and if you install now, the weather is at least still decent.  Even though I 100% don’t agree with putting up Christmas before Thanksgiving, if we are paying for it…we might as well get our money worth!  So, I’ll be turning them on November 1st. 

Hey, don’t judge me.

Two guys from the company showed up on Saturday morning and installed lights on the front part of our house in an hour. 

 
 
 


We went for multi-color and C9 size.  The services comes with set up, take down, maintenance, and storage.  We also get free color changes so if we decide we want clear, we can change them out for no cost.  I was very happy with how it all turned out.

 


Maybe I can get into the Christmas spirit early?

10/28/18

Combating Foot Pain


I went to visit the foot doctor last Tuesday.  I’ve been having issues with plantar fasciitis in my right foot and it has been lingering for about 5 months.  The reason I have not had it checked out is because I was worried there was something more serious wrong and I didn’t want to interfere with our Europe travel plans.  But, I was due for a check-up.

Thankfully, there is nothing seriously wrong.  That was a huge sigh of relief.  The bummer news is that it is just an age-related over-use injury so there isn’t a whole lot you can do for it other than time and rest.  The positive news is that the doctor reminded me that I was seen 10 years ago for the same issue in my left foot.  This time, it is in my right foot.  So, it will get better.  I just takes forever.

The doctor always compliments me on my amazing foot range of motion.  He didn’t think I needed to do any stretching because my calves were not tight.  What he did suggest was standing/walking on my tip toes first thing in the morning and anytime I have been sitting for a while.  This helps to stretch out the tendon vs. putting stress on it when you jump out of bed and put your foot straight down.  So far, I do think this has been helping.  It sure is tough to walk on your tip toes first thing in the morning, especially when you’ve gotten out of bed for a quick potty break.

The doctor also suggested a new line of shoes on the market called Hoka One One.  I actually just saw these shoes at my Weight Watcher workshop and Ruth, who is 82 years old and walks a 5K every day, said she loved them and that they were the most comfortable shoe ever.  We went to REI to look at the shoes and then on Thursday, I went to Fleet Feet in Meridian, a local running shop, so I could compare models and see how they felt in the store.  I decided on the Clifton 5 variety and left knowing I had 60 days to decide if I like them.  I liked those odds!


The verdict: so far, so good!  I have worn these shoes each day and find them to be very comfortable. What is also noticeable is that after a lot of movement or time on my feet, while my feet are tired, I’m not getting that heal pain nor do I feel like my heal pain is at bad the next day.  Of course, I’m doing my tip toes which I hope is helping too.

The thing with Hoka shoes is they are a bit ugly.  They are a cushion shoe so they have a large sole, which is white, and really noticeable. 

 


Since I wear boot cut jeans, I’m not sure they look at terrible and if they are comfy, that is what matters.

 


I walked around The Village before meeting a friend for a visit. 


I plan to get back into activity now that we have rearranged our bonus room and the treadmill seems to be more level now.  It feels good to get in activity and I’ve got new shoes that need to be used.  I won’t be using these shoes at the gym though as I’m afraid I’d fall with the large soles.  My hope is that I’ll be able to step down to my Brooks when I am going to the gym but keep my feet happy in my new Hokas the other times. 

10/27/18

39 Officially Celebrated

I thoroughly celebrated the start of year 39 and enjoyed every minute of it. 
**I’ll fix the photos to be centered when I’m back on a computer.

Thursday was my actual birthday. The morning was low key and eventually we ventured to LePeep for lunch. Apparently they give you a birthday pancake on your big day. Kenyon and I each had some. It was really good.



I had some errands to run and then met my friend Melodie for a visit. She got me a coffee mug and chocolate covered coffee beans. That was so nice. 

Afterwards, I met my sister, nieces, and one of Hailey’s friends at The Farmstead.



Friday was my Oktoberfest Party. I always start with simple parties and then before I know it, it’s gotten huge. But, it was so much fun!!! All of my friends and family were such good sports.





































I’m definitely making this an annual event. I boiled hot dogs in the Instant Pot, which was perfect and so carefree. Plus, they stayed hot all night long. We celebrated into the night and really enjoyed the Oktoberfest beer from Munich.



Here is some of my birthday gifts, despite saying gifts are not necessary. I got some serious Starbucks love so I’m set for a while.









I had today off and again, was low key. We had Christmas lights professional installed this morning (yes, that’s very early) and then went to the home show. After taking a nap, I’m watching The World Series. I go back to work tomorrow.

10/25/18

My Favorite Day Has Arrived

Happy Birthday to me!! 



My favorite day is here. It’s my 39th Birthday today. I realky enjoy seeing all the FB and text message love that has been sent my way. My Apple Watch even sends me balloons.





It will be a low key day today as I prep for my Oktoberfest party tomorrow.

Our evening plans last night were a dud. Apparently when the Regal movie club sends you an offer for a free movie premiere, they don’t limit the tickets. We got to the theatre to see Hunter Killer and was told people had been waiting in line since 4pm. Wow. The movie was sold out and we had no seats. So, we went to dinner instead. I had a birthday deal at Old Chicago and the mall location was close. Sadly, poor service but good pizza.

I also met with the foot doctor yesterday to get my bum foot looked at. Thankfully, not major issues. It’s just age related...doh! I’m working on his suggestions for helping to ease the pain and so far it seems to be working. I also get to go shoe shopping! I’ll share more on that later.

Have a great day! You know I will.

10/24/18

Weekly WI: The Downs After The Ups


I had a great WI yesterday, as I had expected.  I was also really happy with how my week shaped out.




My vacation/eating out weight is gone and I am weighing 12 pounds less this October than last October.  To me, that is fantastic!  October can be a hard month for social situation, especially when it followed a vacation in September.




I had my chicken salad at Café Rio and also popped into the Apple Store, Zurchers Party Store, and the Halloween Store.  When I got home I had a few hours before my overtime shift.  The weather is perfect…sunny and warm for the thick of Fall.  I love it!  And, I took advantage of it by taking a walk.  It has been forever since I’ve exercised.  It wasn’t anything strenuous and I looked at the new houses that have been built in the back of our neighborhood.  Do you want to be my neighbor?  There are lots of available houses that are move-in ready.




I was also able to re-apply my Jamberry before heading into work.  I’m now off through Saturday.  I’m looking forward to the downtime.


Anybody watching the World Series?  I’m not really a baseball person but I do get sucked into championship games.  I’m rooting for the Red Socks.

10/23/18

October...Don’t Leave

I’m not ready for my favorite month to go. I’ll be squeezing the most out of each day until it ends!





I’ve got my WW workshop in a few hours and I’m feeling good about a loss. I’m going to use my $5 off birthday coupon at Cafe Rio for lunch. I even pre-tracked over the weekend. That way I’m all set! 

I work a 4 hour overtime shift this evening and then I’m off until Saturday. I’ve got some fun birthday plans and the highlight is on Saturday where I’m having an Oktoberfest party with Munich Oktoberfest beer. I’m excited to show off my cuckoo clock.

I’ll check back tomorrow on my WI results. Have a great Tuesday.

10/21/18

Sunday Ramblings


Good Morning!

 


I love Halloween.

My week is shaping up nicely and I’m hopeful for a decent size loss.  I balanced my free birthday lunch at Red Robin and my free birthday dinner at Tucanos and have been a Blue Dot Rock Star this week.

 


I had a sudden craving for ribs last night and asked Kenyon if we should go out to Texas Roadhouse for my free birthday sidekick of ribs or if we should eat at home and make the pork chops we had bought earlier in the week.  He said the pork chops will freeze.  Ha!  So, I pre-planned/tracked points and made call-ahead-seating reservations on my way home to pick him up.  I got home and found Kenyon napping.  Doh!  He didn’t seem like he wanted to get up and I was debating if I really needed to be spending the points and eating out again.  So, I let him sleep and I made pork chops, green beans, and garlic toast. 

I had a huge craving for fruit and needed to get a Mega Millions lottery ticket.  I ventured to Walmart near my house and paid a premium for fruit.  Oy!  I was too lazy to hunt around for better fruit prices.  Boy did it hit the spot.  There has been a lot of Halloween candy in the dispatch center this week and staying out of it has been tough.  I had a Snicker one day and yesterday counted out 10 Reeses Pieces and ate them very slowly.  I’ve looked up the points and almost all the fun size candy bars are about 4 SPV each.  That helps to keep me out of it.  I can’t rationalize spending 4 SPV on a little candy bar.  Plus, there is a fine line between a little sugar and too much sugar.  Of course that doesn’t mean I can’t put away a large amount of fruit! 

I’ve been working the 10am-8pm shift at work but I don’t seem to be getting myself up and around early enough for exercise.  Each night when I got to bed I have good intentions when I set that alarm for 6am.  Then, 6am turned into 7am and occasionally 8am!  I have no idea why I feel so tired in the mornings.  Maybe one of these days I’ll get those big girl panties on and just DO IT instead of saying I’ll do it.  I pre-planned my food today as I was packing up for work and then remembered I promised I’d bring in bagels since I had a coupon at Big Sky Bagels.  Turns out, there was already bagels from another team member but we still made do.  I tracked the half bagel and light cream cheese, which put me over my daily points, but still earns my blue dot.  That is, if I eat everything else I brought/planned. 

I’ve got one more day before WI and I also plan to earn my blue dot.