Lesli's Live Long and Strong WISH Journal

[pearlieq]

I hope you have a great time at lunch with DH!

It had to be really nice to get a compliment about your GS work--you put so much effort into it! It's great to see that someone recognizes it.

I hope today's a great day! Let's keep that scale moving!

 

[Lesli54]

I am so glad that this overfilled week is coming to an end.

I did manage to stay busy but didn't get as much done as I thought I would. In the morning and a small part of the afternoon, I took some time to myself to do a little pampering. It was really nice in the midst of this crazy week to take a little time to regroup. DH and I had a good time going out for lunch as well. Sometimes it is nice that the kids are back in school.

Yesterday's food
Breakfast: 1 egg omelet w/mushrooms & moz, 1 c. milk, watermelon
AM snack: missed.......I was busy with something
Lunch: 3/4 c. rice, 1 1/4c. General Tao's chicken, 1 wonton, 1/3 c. low mein, 2/3 c. egg drop soup, 1/4 c. cashew chicken, 3 sm pieces fried chicken, 1 sm piece sweet bread.......definitely ate a little too much, but I wasn't overstuffed at all, also, some of the items tasted different than normal, if that becomes standard now, we won't continue this tradition long
PM snack: 1 Peanut Butter Sandwich cookie.........it didn't taste right at all, don't know if my taste buds are changing or if it wasn't good
Supper: 2 oz steak, green beans, and cottage cheese followed by 1 Tbsp PB........I wasn't very hungry last night after the meeting so I just had some leftovers, fortunately I wasn't eating late.

I got so mad and frustrated at the meeting last night. GS and BS were supposed to participate in the opening and closing ceremonies of the Vietnam Moving Wall and now they have been pulled from that. Supposedly, many "school" groups want to participate and the people heading this up (school staff) figured that it was too hard to decide which group would, so they are not letting any of the "kids" groups participate. I was so mad. GS and BS is not a school group AND both are represented during Memorial Day and Veterans's Day ceremonies, also the 911 ceremony we did here a few years back. Why would this be different? The military recognizes the BS as part of themselves to some degree, not sure the details. Also, any GS who has earned the Gold Award can enter the military at 2 pay grades higher. To top all of this off. The job that the GS was supposed to do has now been taken away and is being done by the Athletics Boosters. This all began back in March and every time GS was asked to do something, I have said yes, then a month or two later, I turn around and the job or task has been given to someone else. As it currently stands, GS and BS have absolutely no part in this event that will be in our home town for a week. I am very sad to see that this has been turned into a school event. It is taking place on school property, every committee is run by school staff, the school buses will shuttle people, the volunteers are picked by the school staff (they say they need people, but then turn around and fill it with someone else), they have scheduled various schools to come in and see. If an organization is connected with the school or one of the staff, they are letting that organization help, such as 4-H (teacher connection) who "needs service hours" so they will be doing some of the jobs that GS was going to do. Like our girls don't need service hours. Not that I begrudge the 4-H, don't get me wrong, they are a great organization, but I do think that the school has played too much favortism in who can help. Basically, this is the brainchild of the retiring elementary principal and she is very patriotic and is basically trying to leave a legacy (better not say much more, she's DH's cousin ). This event takes place in one month and there is nothing left for GS or BS to do. Now, I have to go to my leaders tonight and tell them. This will be a real fun meeting.

Sorry about the rant. I did not sleep well last night and this is still irritating me. I just don't know how I am going to tell the leaders that I did everything I could and that we have been shut out. The kids were looking forward to helping.

Thank you for listening. I need to get cleaned up and get my day started. There is alot to do before my meeting tonight. The good news is that I have someone to lead the Daisy (Kindergarten) troop. It is all coming together. I need to go call some people on my wait list and let them know that their girls have a place to go now.

Everyone have a great day!


***added*******
Time to clear some clippies
For the Lose 5 in August Challenge I was 3/5. Not great, but I will take what I can get.
For the August Exercise Challenge I was 220/750. This is a very sad reflection on my hectic schedule and my adverse reaction to exercise lately.

 

[pearlieq]

Glad to hear you had fun with DH at lunch. I hear what you mean about the food tasting different--I had that kind of experience the last time I went to a China buffet as well. It must be the tastebuds changing, but it's for the better, right?

I can't believe the GS situation! That is just unbelievable!!!! Why would they shut the kids out of the event! Grr--I totally see why you're frustrated! I hope folks can be reasonable and some kind of compromise can be reached. That really stinks!

I hope you have a wonderful day today!!!

 

[Lesli54]

The word of the day yesterday was "cookies". I really don't want to know how many I ate. The reason? I didn't eat at the proper times, I was busy and didn't stop for food, they were easy to grab, I had the munchies, you name it. But not one of the reasons is a good one. Fortunately, the scale didn't move.

The whole day was spent on GS again. But thankfully, I have most of the leader positions filled and girls in place, I just have a few loose ends to make sure the troops have all they need. We had a leader meeting last night and I was able to get many loose ends wrapped up there as well. Now, if I could only get a few of the women to quit talking long enough about personal things so that we could actually get out of the meeting at a decent time. But I should look at the bright side, which is that I managed to get rid of some of my responsibilities. No one will take on one of the jobs I am filling in for, but they did agree to head up some of the events. Anything is better than nothing when you are trying to turn things around.

Food yesterday:
Breakfast: 1 egg omelet w/ham & moz, 1 banana, 1 c. milk
AM snack: missed this - probably part of my problem
Lunch: HC chicken & rice soup - ate late and nothing appealed. I think there was PB also.
PM snack: if you could call it that. I grazed on 6 Thin Mints and 1 chocolate chip cookie
Supper: 1/2 WW Mexican Suiza or whatever it is called. This was absolutely the worst thing I have eaten in a long time. I was trying to get something quick before the meeting. Next time, a sandwich and cottage cheese.
Later: 2 chocolate chip cookies at the meeting, 2 slices ham when I got home, 2 handfuls of DH's popcorn, 1 bowl of rasin bran......this was all right before bed. Definitely, the day fell apart.

I don't think there was more. I really hope not, this was bad enough.

The good news is that today, I can breathe a little more. I'll try to do minimal time on GS today. Enough to get some paperwork out of the way and get my parent meeting for next week planned. Then I will tackle some bookwork. Tonight we are going to the Ringling Bros Circus, so we will need an early supper.

DD18 comes home tomorrow for the weekend. I can't wait.

Time to go. Everyone have a great day and a wonderful weekend.

 

[pearlieq]

Sorry to hear yesterday was rough but I'm glad you were able to make some progress on the GS front!

I think I've had that WW meal and I remember it being hideous! I haven't had too good luck with them, so I usually stuck with the Lean Cuisines. DH used to love their enchilada suiza--they smell like sweatsocks, but I swear it tastes really good!

Have a wonderful day today!

 

[rcyannacci]

The Circus!!! I love the circus! If you can, go early because the clowns do some great pre-show routines. (One of my friends from college went to clown college...yes, people really do this...and worked for Ringling Brother's for a few years. The clowns love the pre-show bits because it is the stuff that they get to develop themselves vs. the routines they do in the show itself.

Congrats on getting some help with the GS organizing...maybe they can come over and take those cookies out of your house (BTW- if there were cookies in my house, that would be the end! Anything sugar just taunts me!)...also hope the school event works itself out...that does sound frustrating.

Hope you have a great day!

 

[Mykelogan]

Hi Lesli!

Sorry to hear about the frustrations with the Moving Wall exhibit and the GS involvement! I hope that today's word isn't "cookie" too, hehe, how about "Apple" or "celery!" I hope that you had a blast at the circus tonight and that you have a great weekend with DD18 at home!!

Mike

 

[Lesli54]

So cool! I am down another .5 lbs.! Only 1.5 from that new clippie and from being into the next set of 10's. Amazingly, I figured with all the snacking at the Circus that the scale would be up. Isn't it funny how some days you do real good and you get either nothing or move backwards and then other days, you don't do so well and the scale moves in the right direction? Strange how that works sometimes.

Yesterday was another GS day. I could have put some aside and worked on it later, but then my co-leader calls wondering if we should rearrage our meeting times given the fact that gas is so high. Now we are going with after school once a month, which will allow parents to pick up kids on the way home from work. Just a little easier on gas. What do you do? I can see it coming where people are going to start limiting what they run for and I don't want it to be GS if at all possible. Now, to find a day that works well. Gotta do that by Monday.

Needless to say, we have parked all the big vehicles for the most part and are driving the small car and motorcycle. I am also about ready to give that up and pull DS in a wagon to get groceries or use the wagon to take GS stuff to meetings. Everything is only a few blocks away, but at these prices it all adds up quickly. Alot of the people I know are starting to rearrage schedules and priorities. I'm even to the point of making lists of things needed in different directions, so that way when we have to go one direction, we get it all done at once. I can see where soon we will be going to the Quad Cities only once a month and spend 1/2 the day there getting what is needed. It's beginning to remind me of the Saturday big shopping days that we had when I was a kid, where you made a day trip out of going to the larger towns and got all your needs. If I wasn't sure about going out of town to work out, I am sure I won't be now.

Yesterday's food:
Breakfast: 1 egg omelet w/mushrooms & moz, 1/3 peach (part was too soft), 1 c. milk
AM snack: missed
Lunch: salad w/ turkey (real deli turkey, much better than the prepackaged) & 1/2 grab bag size baked Cheetos (these have a different taste than the original, but not bad)
PM snack: more like grazing. rest of the baked Cheetos & 2 Thin Mints
Supper: 1 hamburger patty (no bun) & 1/2c. cottage cheese (we ate early)
At the Circus: popcorn (I don't know how much, we were all sharing) & a few bites of ice cream

Oh! Everyone enjoyed the circus. DD7 never stopped talking and commenting the entire time and has asked to go back. DS sat there mesmerized with his eyes glued until he finally fell asleep towards the end.

I am going to try to clear out more of my office today and start getting back on track. This next week is busy, but not near as busy as I was this week. I am going to try to follow the routine I laid out for myself a little better. The all or nothing can really do you in.

Everyone have a great weekend and remember portion control if you are getting together for the holiday.

 

[pearlieq]

Congrats on another bit gone! That's always such a nice feeling!

I so hear you about rearranging life around the crazy gas prices. It's really nice that you're trying to streamline the GS meetings for the parents. I'm sure it will be appreciated! You're so lucky to have things within walking distance--get out there with that wagon! It's great exercise! I'm pretty much stranded without the car here in suburbia, but they're putting in a new WalMart about 2 miles away that could conceivably be walking/biking distance.

I hope you have a great day today! It's so great to have these nice fall temperatures rolling in!

 

[honeymo78]

I'm glad you had a good time at the circus. I really loved going as a kid. Even went to circus world once in orlando (also WDW that trip too of course).

Way to go on another .5lbs. You are going to beat me to the 180s!! I better get my butt in gear

 

[Mykelogan]

Hi Lesli,

Congrats on your loss!! That new clippie is so close you can smell it! Can't wait to see it on you!
Glad you had a good time at the circus! Good luck finding a new meeting day for the GS too!

Have a happy & healthy night!
Mike

 

[Lesli54]

Yesterday seemed like a long day and I munched way too much. I wonder now if part of it was waiting for DD18 to come home. You know, that looking at the clock every 15 minutes. The munching more than likely was from the fact that I did not allow myself to eat a sweet that I really wanted, which always makes things worse later.

Breakfast: oatmeal, 2 slices ham, 3/4 yogurt
AM snack: none
Lunch: salad w/chicken salad on top. It was good.
PM snack: let's call it grazing. I really wanted a small candy bar or at least a few peanut M&M's, but tried to tell myself that I didn't need it. So instead I ended up grazing on 1 Thin Mint, 1 Carmel Delight, 2 Fruit & Nut Kudos bars, 4 handfuls of cheese crackers like Goldfish (I didn't even really care for them), 1 Tbsp PB, 1 cheese & cracker snack pack, and I think that is it. Yes, all of this was much better than the small candy bar wasn't it?
Supper: 2 1/2 slices pepperoni pizza. Actually, I could have done without the 1/2 slice.

Water was ok but not great.

I did get in 20 minutes exercise. I loaded DS in the wagon and we walked up to the store for groceries. So I counted the walk and pulling the wagon back and forth as exercise. You know it takes longer to walk a distance when you are pulling something? But, hey, it saved on gas and had a health benefit. Hopefully, by the end of the week we will have that bike trailer. Even DD18 and her boyfriend walked to the store later. Everyone is becoming very conscious about this.

I spent almost all day working on genealogy. I was going to mail some info to a cousin and so I was trying to get things together. It was great because I find it relaxing and very enjoyable. Also, I was able to find the answers to some of my questions in my own work! That is always a good thing.

I also moved some furniture around in the basement "family room" (it will be when it's finished), since we were bringing in a sleeper sofa. Now DD18 will have a place to sleep after we rearrange everyone's bedrooms.

Actually, yesterday was pretty good, despite the munching. It is nice to have the whole family home again, even if just for a short time.

DD18 went for a run this morning, part of her new lifestyle. She has to pass the PT test with the ROTC, but there is some leeway since she isn't Army committed. But she says that she does PT with them every few days (trying to work a tuition waiver) so she might as well be able to keep up with them. At least it is good discipline. She even said she is up at 5:40 most mornings. It is so funny how your children change over night.

Well, I better get going. There is time to grab the shower in between everyone being temporarily out of the house this morning.

Everyone have a great day!

 

[pearlieq]

Glad to see you got some exercise! Good for you!!! Way to be frugal and healthy at the same time.

I'm sure you're having lots of fun with DD18 home--isn't it amazing how much being away for just a couple of weeks will change someone? Luckily it sounds like she's made some really positive changes. Good for her!

I've done the "graze all afternoon and eat way more than the one little snack you really wanted" thing too many times to count! At least you can recognize it and learn from it.

Have a wonderful day!!!

 

[goldcupmom]

Glad DD is home and you are seeing positive changes. KUDOS to you both!!

I totally relate to the gas issue. DH wants his cycle, but is always reluctant to ride it, here, where you can ride almost year round! Almost like fighting with a kid to make him do it. He doesn't realize/care about the gas prices, but we definitely need to.

They are building a super WM here in RR - I'd guess less than 2 mi from my house, so I'm now hunting for a 'shopping cart' to buy so I can walk to the store. I also have Albertson's, smiths, target, hollywood video, Walgreens, Raley's grocery, Arby's, Papa Johns, Subway, ..... within about 1.5 miles so those are what I consider walkable!. Others in my house would disagree, but.....

I'm glad the circus was a hit. I had never gone until my oldest was about 4 and loved it. Still have only been about 4 times.

Hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend!

 

[Mykelogan]

Hi Lesli!

Glad to hear you are having a nice weekend with the DD18 home!
Very cool that you are finding some ways to combine saving gas and getting exercise in!
Count me in as a former grazer too!! Those "little nibbles" really add up fast don't they?

Enjoy the rest of your time with DD18 home & have a healthy Labor Day!
Mike

 

[Lesli54]

Ok. Someone get me off the cookie train!

I started getting stressed yesterday afternoon and managed to find foods that I shouldn't find. Potential problems brewing with DD15 and the boy she likes. He is a nice kid, but she is beginning to find ways to "work" us, like going to a friend's house for the night and "forgetting" to tell us that boys are coming over. To top it off the friend's mom knows we don't know this. Needless to say, no more overnights there. But the punishment has me stressed. With DD18, I could lay down the law and she would respect it. With DD15, I will lay down the law and she will rebel every step of the way. It's like she will do the opposite of what you need her to do. So now I am trying to figure out what we need to do. DH wants to take away the Homecoming dance, hoping that she will realize that we have the final power to let her do extras with boys and that it will sink in. With DD18 it would have worked, with DD15, I am afraid that she will be more determined to go behind our backs thinking that we will never work with her and that it's the only way she can get what she wants. I hate taking away the dance, it is a great HS memory, but she can't get away with this either. So, yesterday, I turned to food even though I knew I shouldn't.

Breakfast: 1 egg omelet w/mushrooms & moz, 1 plum, yogurt
AM snack: missed
Lunch: 2 handfuls of cheese crackers (the ones I don't like), 1 can HC chicken & rice soup, 2 fruit & nut kudos bars
PM snack: grazing again. 1 cheese & cracker pack, 1 Tbsp PB, 1 Pinata cookie, and 1 whole sleeve of Thin Mints. Yes, you read that right, unfortunately. Somewhere during the day, I ate all those cookies. I even found myself stuffing them in my desk drawer. Now that is stress. I haven't had food in my desk for 6 months. They are out now.
Supper: 1/2 minute steak, 3/4 c mashed potatoes & mushroom gravy, 1/2c. corn

Aside from the stressful moments, I did spend some time on genealogy. It really helped to take my mind off things.

DH did help me get the house straightened up yesterday, so that was nice. Let's see if the family can help keep it that way through the week.

Not much planned for today. Most of the laundry is finished and DD18 leaves in about 45 min. Tonight we have our first parent meeting with Brownies. Let's hope everyone is excited about meeting after school. I have to get ready for that, but then I am taking the rest of the day to relax.

Everyone have a good holiday!

 

[Mykelogan]

Hi Lesli!!

First... DROP THE COOKIE LADY!!!
Second... Sorry to hear that your DD15 is not showing the best behavior. I am sure this is a trying time for you and your DH. And for her too with your older DD gone, she is going to try and redefine her boundaries. I am sure you will come through this challenge well, just don't let her bad choices lead you to bad food choices. You deserve all the good you are doing for yourself!
I hope that the parent meeting goes well tonight and you have a healthy cookie free day!!!

Mike

 

[rcyannacci]

Hi! I'm a bad WISH friend; sorry I've been so absent lately (this new schedule is kicking my behind)

I've been there before with the cookie thing, so I feel your pain. Myself, I've been fixated on the piece of toffee I had the other night while out with my friend... I almost feel like I'd chew through wood for another piece of toffee! Old habits, hard to break, and all of that, I guess . I'm beginning to think it's a mental game; maybe try to think back when you were so determined...what got you there and what kept you going?

Anyway, you're going through a huge shift in your household. Things will begin to settle and normalize, then you'll be better able to re-strategize.

In the meantime, smile

 

[Cruise04]

Sounds like you pretty much had a great weekend - sorry about the problems you are having with your other dd. She sounds a lot like me when I was that age. I was very rebellious. Glad I got away from that after about 5 years!!!!

Glad your dd got to come home and visit. I'm sure that added to the niceness of the weekend.

I wish I could put the vehicle away and not have to drag it out as much but dd goes to high school 30 minutes from here. I did find myself slowing my vehicle down some the last couple of days and really sticking to those speed limits or under if I can. We also are making sure we make all trips at once if possible. The bad thing is it is 20 minutes to go workout but I have to do it and that is being counted as a necessity. We'll get through it. I'm in agreement with you about changing your meetings so parents can stop on their ways home - I think that's great you are doing that. We had our meetings right after school until 4:30 when parents were getting off of work. That way they could get their daughters on their ways home too. It worked great.

Sorry you had a "cookie binge". Hope things get better!!!! HUGS

Keep on
Chris

 

[Lesli54]

I'm down again! Only .5lbs til I get that new clippie and the half way point! Now this will motivate if nothing else does. It's almost as if getting on the other side of the half way point will be the downhill slide. I wish it were so easy, but at the amount left to lose will really start to "seem" very manageable. Does that make sense to anyone?

I can't believe I have come so far. Last night, I had someone tell me that I looked good and asked me if I had lost a lot of weight. Weight till she sees me at the end of the year!

Yesterday was an ok day. I worked on my genealogy as my relaxation. So many pieces falling together. I love it. Did a small amount of work on GS. The parent meeting went all right, but not great in terms of the fact that we had too few parents. I guess today, I will be doing a mass mailing to catch everyone up. Oh well.

DD18 left yesterday morning. I was surprised that I was ok with it. Part of me expected that I would unreasonably start crying, but I didn't. I know she will be back in a few weeks, probably two weekends in a row since we have birthdays around here. She has adjusted so well and I think I have adjusted to not having her here for the most part. DS had a really hard time with DD18 leaving. He wouldn't say good-bye because he wanted to keep her here. It was so sweet, but yet so sad.

DD7 must have caught a 24 hr bug yesterday. Why do kids get sick AFTER drinking something red? Unfortunately, I had to do an unplanned cleanning of the bathroom from top to bottom. I guess the bright side is that it kept me moving. Thankfully she is much better today.

Food yesterday
Breakfast: cream of wheat, grapes, 2 slices ham
AM snack: yogurt
Lunch: 1/2 piece minute steak, mashed potatoes, mushroom gravy
PM snack: 2 slices ham, then I had 3 Thin Mints (of course as soon as I polished those off, I read Mike's post telling me to put them down. Should have read earlier, I guess)
Supper: Steak (It was late and DH had made some for me, but I wasn't really hungry for anything else). This was followed by 1 sm bag of peanut M&M's. (Yes, this is what I have been avoiding and finally I gave in. I am glad I did since this pretty much ended the "want" for the extra junk.)
Late: 1 Thin Mint (mainly because it was there. I can honestly say that I didn't crave it or eat it trying to find what I wanted. Time to get them out of sight)

Well, I better get going. I have bookwork on the schedule and a DAR meeting. They are going to announce that I am now a member.

I will see you all tomorrow when hopefully, there is less of me.

Have a great and healthy day!