Tuesday. I think I've lost the creative part of my brain that makes cool titles.

Feels like a very long day for some reason. Didn't get much sleep. Hubby drove the kids to school and I stayed in bed! I just could NOT get up. I actually left my little town and went to the library with a friend. Am rereading the book Half-assed: a weight loss memoir and I just love the way she writes! So real! I could sit all day on the computer reading stuff but for some reason, holding a book in my hands is so much better. I know I know, thats so old school.
Hubby called today to tell me that a painting buddy is inviting him to go work in Oklahoma for a few days. And then next week, in Iowa. Well of course I am thrilled for him to have work. But he will be gone and I will have to be MomDad!!!!! It's hard when he's not here. My dear son Sam (14) seems to be the worst. And the fighting sometimes between Sam and Josiah (13) can get to incredible heights (depths?).
Menu Today:
bacon, eggs which I ruined when I broke the yolk which set the tone for my day, toast and juice
two chocolate truffles. don't worry, I skipped lunch to make up for the calories. I just wanted to eat them so bad, so I did. Get over it.
two tostadas
one can root beer
kind of a boring day eating wise. But I really really needed that chocolate today, so thats the way it is. Can't go without eating chocolate. If I don't eat it right away, I end up craving and obsessing and thinking about it and then overeat. Such an out of control reaction to a simple desire.
Funny how I'll be thinking about something so earth shaking and then discover that someone else has written a post saying everything a zillion times better than I ever could. I'm talking, of course, about my friend Sean's blog.
Here is the part that hit me so hard, taken straight from his blog and made into a different text so you can plainly see where the good writing begins, and ends:

I was always fighting the wrong battle. I didn't know who or what was the real enemy. How can you effectively battle, if you haven't identified the real enemy? I made food my enemy, that was the battle. I was always determined to put the food in its place---I would try to defeat food at every turn. Food wasn't going to win. That was my battle. The perceived enemy: food. But while I was busy battling food, the real enemy would sneak in from the side and defeat me every time in a battle that I didn't even realize I should be fighting. The real enemy?: ME.

And there you have it. You can read the entire post here. In fact, I suggest you go alllll the way back to Sean's very first post and read them in order. It's so cool how one man's life can affect so many. Anyways, I've often felt that my biggest enemy was myself. Why do I sabotage everything positive in my life!!! Fighting and defeating self has been the most difficult thing in my journey towards thinness. The battle is ongoing. Daily. Sometimes quite intense. Sometimes I seriously hate myself. Sean, how glad I am that you wrote your post before I did, you say things so clearly! I feel like my thoughts are always mish mashed on the page. I don't even use grammar and punctuation correctly, lots of run on sentences, bleh!
I have never lost a nail in my entire life and am close to losing one now. It's still attached on one side so I leave it alone, terrified that I will snag it on something and then RIP IT OFF. I love grossing the kids out with it. Thats what they get, yeah its payback time for all the gross stuff I've had to look at on them. 'Mom, look what I can do with my tooth!'
So now that Dave will be gone I am completely revamping my dinner menu! I cook to please him, and I am not going to knock myself out for kids who would be just as happy if I opened a can of olives and a package of pepperoni and said 'Here kids, it's your dinner!' So kid friendly meals are top priority.
Hopefully this week I will be successful in my mission of shoe control, and get the kids clothes gone through. It's just unbelievable how many shoes are in this house. I will most definitely supply a number for the pairs and singles I find. You have to promise not to faint.
I will leave you with a pic of my new dog, Meatball. He is no Ninja Cobra, but is creating a place in my heart for himself.

Labor Day Stuff

Obsessed. Yes, that's my middle name these days. Obsessed with something OTHER than food. It's that little tab that says 'Stats'. We all have one. It shows how many hits your blog gets, where from, how they got there, oh it's so informative! I am simply stunned by the WHERE:
United States (of course!)
Canada
United Kingdom
Australia!
Belgium!!
South Korea!!!!!!
Philippines!
Latvia!?! Where even is that! I had to pull a map out to find it. It's surrounded, incredibly,
by countries I have never even heard of! I feel so brainless!
Denmark!
India!!!!!!!!!
France!
Ukraine!!!!!!!
Germany!
Netherlands!!!!
Bulgaria! BULGARIA????
What--How did they even find me--WHY did they find me?!--Pardon me while I break into song 'It's a small world after all, it's a small world after all!'
Here I am, in my little podunk town smack in the middle of America and people on the other side of the world are reading about my little life. Weird how we all have something in common. We are trying to lose weight! I feel somewhat embarrassed that my horribly unhealthy method of losing weight is being scrutinized by so many, and probably condemned out of hand. Oh, I read plenty of blogs and not one of them eats like I do! All so incredibly healthy and colorful, I wish I wasn't so picky, I really do.
So, yeah, maybe some people came to my blog by accident, I don't know.
We're cooking out today. Marinaded chicken. We are going to try, again, to grill corn on the cob, it's never worked before but I'm determined they will be DONE this time! My daughter Rachel works in a bakery, and brought me two angel food cakes, uniced. I think I might ice one for tomorrow, I have ALWAYS loved that cake with frosting. I remember seeing my Grandmother NOT cutting it, but using a special utensil to serve it, like a huge comb. I don't think I even have one of those. We'll have devilled eggs, too, it'll be nice. And I'll freeze the other. For what I am unsure but the thought of letting that free food go to waste irritates me, so into the freezer it goes!
And the kids are out of school today, so they stayed up SUPER late last night and had friend spend the night. The entire night they were killing each other. On line. Modern Warfare 2. K this is SERIOUS STUFF to them. I personally prefer to kill people in a more fantasy based setting, but to each his own. Yes, of course, I'm talking about World of Warcraft. Did you just get pwned by a mage or hunter in a BG? Just might have been ME! (of course, it could probably have been the other way around....)
Bekah Boo is swinging by on her way back to college, to pick up all the stuff she forgot yesterday. Mmhmm. Calculator, flash stick, backpack, and who knows what else. Oh, and WM sacks for her bathroom trash can. Did I mention the school does not provide toilet paper?! I sure hope it's worth her going to college. I'm not thrilled with all the experiences she is having.
My husband informed me that he has work every day this week except for Labor Day. I about fell over with shock. Of course, with George out of commission for who knows how long, we will be juggling Eli's truck back and forth. I'm so thrilled he'll be out of the house--I mean working this week! Men just get so depressed and discouraged when they don't have work. You know? They identify so closely with what they do. All I have to do is tell women that I have 8 kids and they're ready to put me on a pedestal. When they find out I homeschooled for 10 years AND birthed 5 of them at home with a midwife they're ready to sacrifice small animals before me.
Yesterday's Menu:
Cocoa puffs, juice
two tostadas, one can of root beer which tasted so good I swear
half moonpie yummmmmmmmm heated up in the microwave it is heaven on earth
one tostada
couple bites of mac and cheese
Hey, I had to save some calories for chocolate cake! Yes, I made a dark, moist, luscious chocolate cake because I was craving some intense chocolate. And I had a piece. I made room in my calorie allotment for it because I seriously will die without chocolate. I will have another piece tomorrow. You have to go with the flow my friends. I learned that, early on. When you're craving something it's best to just have it, get it out of your system. You don't have to eat a ton of it. A modest portion works. Because if you don't. If you're like me. You will see that craving as a bad thing to be fought and conquered, and when inevitably you give in, you hate yourself all the more for being so weak. So eat it I say. And smell it. We don't smell food. Food smells so good. I ate my cake slowly, savoring each bite. Once it goes down the throat you can't taste it anymore. Everyone else had a piece, then I covered it with foil and hid it. Because the boys are having a sleepover and if I don't hide it those rotten boys will eat it all! For some reason, the cake is even better the next day. I'm a good cook.
This battle that I am fighting, it's a forever thing. It would be so great if I could make one decision that lasts forever, but I find it's a daily, no, almost moment by moment decision to eat less, move more, take a walk. Each day a new day. Not giving up is so key. And how you talk to yourself is so key. You will do this, you must do this, you CAN say no to *insert unnecessary food here* because you've done it before, you can eat it later. You get to a point in your life where you just don't want to be fat anymore. And you can give up, get depressed and discouraged, basically lose your life. Like I did. Or you can say 'Okay' and start today making the changes necessary for weight loss. What, you can take a walk. My first walks were agony! I had to constantly stop to catch my breath, my feet hurt, when I would get home my face would be all red puffy and sweaty and I would collapse on my bed for a good period of time. But it gets better. Make sure you get a good pair of shoes, you'll be so glad you did. Fill your plate at supper time, then eat half. Make your lunch, and eat half. Eating half is a good start. Oh and eat breakfast. Soon you'll graduate to counting calories, drinking out of measuring cups (now don't pretend you have never done that!) reading labels and refusing to eat anything that doesn't taste good. Why waste calories? Make them count! It's a new way of life, a good way of life.
Someone wrote me about how they can't have certain foods in the house, they would go nuts on it. Well for heaven's sakes don't have it in the house then! My first months, there were no chips whatsoever, and I didn't bake at all. I gradually got to where those things didn't matter anymore, I could trust myself.

I love being smaller.
I love always using the small stalls in public places without even thinking about it.
I love wearing pants with zippers.
I wear shorts in public for the first time in years.
I love being able to sit anywhere I please, even on wicker chairs. It's incredible!
I love having my seat belts lay properly on my chest instead of up around my neck.
I love having seat belts that actually click!
I love my clean, white bed, with the sheets that smell so good, and no depression on my side of the bed anymore.
I love rolling over in bed and the bed doesn't even move.
I love running up the stairs.
I love moon pies. Wait, how did that get in there!
I love having brand new appliances for the first time in my married life. I LOVE MY SERVANTS. Thats what they are you know.
I love having confidence in myself.
I love that I am strong in my heart and mind.
I love that my weight loss has made my marriage better, and not worse.
I love how I vacuumed the entire house Friday, even the stairs with this cool attachment that has a whirling brush on it, it was so fun, and I wasn't even tired at the end.
I love that I have already achieved some goals that I didn't think would happen til I hit the magical 150 pounds.
I love that I started this blog, and met so many awesome people, and found an entire community of folks who care about each other's journey.

And I also don't like some things.
I don't like how my stomach is still freakishly large.
I don't like that my daughters are threatened by my weight loss.
I don't like that some people are jealous of my success, and it has affected our friendship.
I don't like that it is taking longer than I thought to lose all the weight.
I don't like that I gained over the summer. I mean not even maintained! Whats with that!
I don't like the fact that there is no gym anywhere near here, but I wouldn't have the money to join one if there was. I know there is an aerobics/weights class twice a week at the methodist church but its $40 a month. I don't like that I can't do that.
I don't like not having a car.
I don't like the halloween candy that is already out! Staring me in the face everytime I go to the store. Thankfully I don't have a problem with halloween candy. It's those cadbury mini eggs that get me everytime at Easter.

I wish I'd done this sooner.
I wish I hadn't let myself get so hideously huge.
I wish I had a life that has nothing to do with kids and housework and being tied to the house.
I wish I wasn't scared to be alone during the day when everyone is gone.
I wish Ninja Cobra was still alive.
Oh who am I kidding, I wish my Mother were still alive. I know everything would be different if she would, who knows if I would have lost the weight.
I wish she could see me. She always worried about me.
I wish my Dad wouldn't lay these guilt trips on me that make me avoid talking to him. He won't be around forever, I should just grin and bear it but I don't.
I wish food didn't have calories.
I wish food wasn't the most important thing in my life.

Sorry to end on a gloomy note, it's what was on my heart.
Thanks to all who take the time to read this. Incredible that anyone does.
Have a question? Want to tell me how horrible I am and what wrong foods I eat? Send me an email, I'm responding to them, and enjoying the love and good wishes sent to me.
Yall be good now. Make wise choices!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yesterday

Yesterday's menu:
cocoa puffs with milk
burrito made with beans, homemade taco meat and 1 oz cheese
1 oz pringles
1 oz chicken in a biscuit crackers. I might just give up on these guys I swear
2/3 of a chili dog, 1 oz fries
5 gummy worms
1 fudgesicle

Wow looking over yesterday it was sure junk food heaven wasn't it. What can I say, every once in a while my menu looks like that. Which incredibly is one of the reasons I am successful at losing weight. Because in the end, it's not WHAT you eat it's HOW MUCH of it you eat.
See, the problem I've always had with weight loss was completely changing what I eat. I seriously do not like most of the 'healthy' foods out there. Like veggies and fruits and fat free milk and cheese and fat free hotdogs and fat free soups and diet pizzas. I could go on. Look I've eaten all that junk. I've tried to lose weight eating all that junk. And guess what? I ended up at 356 pounds because I didn't like that junk. Tell me I can't have plain old regular potato chips but must eat the 'baked' kind because they are better for me. Well I've read the labels. They're really not that different except the baked ones taste horrid. I'd rather have a serving of real fat laden potato chips. I've eaten sugar free jello. Pardon me if I don't embrace it lovingly.
I love love love how there is so much variety for me to choose from when it comes time to eat! I don't have to eat what you like. I don't have to eat what anyone tells me to eat. I can eat exactly what I like and if you don't like it you can leave me a horrid comment and tell everyone what a horrid person I am and never read this blog again.
If it's so wrong, why is it working? Why does eating less work? If there is good foods and bad foods, why am I losing eating the bad foods?
See, that's where the mistake comes in. There are no good foods and bad foods. It's ALL good. Yes, every bit of it. I am so glad that God gave us EVERYTHING to eat. There is, incredibly, a lot of food snobbery in weight loss. I'm sure a lot of people who read this think I'm doing it wrong. I don't care. I am happy to eat chocolate cereal for breakfast, weighed and measured, 54 grams. I will drink my 1 cup of orange juice, my 1 oz of pringles, my 2 tostadas with carefully measured beans and cheese. For me, the 'correct' way of losing weight didn't work. It just didn't work. See, I have this terrible character flaw. I have no self control. Tell me I can't have something and then mannn do I want it bad. I want it so bad that I'll end up gorging myself on it like a huge pig. I mean come on, you don't get to weigh 356 without gorging yourself many many times.
How much nicer, kinder, and funner (more gooder than just plain fun) it is to eat exactly what I want but portioned to fit into my daily calorie budget. NO guilt. NO self hatred. NO sneaking. NO clandestine trips to McDonald's or Taco Bell because I can openly eat there if I want to. NOBODY saying 'Should you be eating that?' because I CAN eat that. I could eat chocolate ice cream all day if I wanted to.
I know, I know, you can eat so much MORE of the low calorie stuff. Ugh but why it tastes disgusting. Gimme a fresh chocolate iced donut and you can eat your fat free oatmeal with sugar substitute and fat free milk. I'll take 2 pieces of pepperoni pizza and you can eat your salad with dressing on the side. I'll eat my half of a moon pie and try to give you the other half but you will turn up your nose at that and eat a 100 calorie snack pack in a most elitist fashion. If you're happy eating that way, and it works for you, then yay! But please don't tell me what a horrible person I am because I factored a piece of cheesecake into my day.
There is room in the weight loss community for people like me. And I know there is at least ONE PERSON reading this blog who is just like me. You hate all the diet stuff and love all the regular foods. Well guess what, you can still lose weight eating the foods you love. I swear I harp on this over and over but it's the truth. What a feeling of empowerment it gives you! You are in complete control and don't have to follow someone else's successful weight loss plan. I only give my menus because I feel like it, I don't want anyone to eat exactly what I eat.
Meh I'm beating a dead horse here.
We are having incredibly beautiful weather here. So lovely after all the horrid humidity. You walk outside and it feels like someone has draped a hot wet blanket around you. I have always loved autumn the most. Probably because my birthday is in October, but it is just so lovely. Actually this year the world is new to me, like seeing it for the first time. The trees and flowers and birds and the wind blowing through my hair. It's like I was trapped in a nunnery for years and years and finally escaped. I do so much more now than I ever did. I walk and ride my bike and completely vacuum the house from top to bottom and yeah I break a sweat and get out of breath sometimes but I recover nicely. It's nice to get out of breath for a real reason instead of drying off after my shower, or going into the kitchen to answer the phone, or walking upstairs. Sometimes I hate reading my older posts. Who is that woman? My life is so different now. All because I learned to eat half a moon pie instead of a whole one at one sitting.
Work for hubby has been slim to none. How we are making it is beyond me. I go nowhere except the grocery store. l spend zero dollars on 'wants'. Incredible that I have so many 'wants'. My needs truly are few. I am getting along quite well without my People magazine, which is one of my weekly indulgences. I don't know why I just seriously love that magazine. Where it's hard is when it comes to my kids. It's easy to deny myself stuff, hard when it's them. Like Mary. During the summer, when things started to get tight, I promised her a bike before she started school, thinking that things would surely shape up before then. But no, things are worse, and I am unable to get her that bike. She won't ride mine. So she still walks to school. And makes me feel incredibly guilty. How do kids have that power I mean seriously.
And doing without a car. Again. So many years I have not had a car of my own. And the car we have now, George, is possibly on his last leg, sitting at the shop. We spent $600 on him last month and he still has the same problem he had when he went in there. Where we will get another car, and how, is completely beyond me. Can't get a car without money, without a down payment, and the work to support monthly payments. Not much I can do, so I pray. God has always met our needs, I know He will again, it's like this daily thing, trusting that God will provide. I obviously don't do a very good job of it since stuff like this happens all the time. I hate being self-employed, having your own business. I hate not having a regular paycheck. I hate not knowing how much money is going to be coming in each week. I hate not having health and dental insurance. I have lived this way for almost my whole marriage and I hate it. But when you have 8 children and no car you don't just nip out and snag a job. So I stay at home and make sure no unnecessary monies are blown. Except the cable bill, I really wish we didn't have cable but it's football season and for my husband it's a necessity. We have no tv reception without it. And internet is necessary for MY sanity. I run around turning off lights and fans and jumping on everyone because they left them all on. Again. When I got my first time in my life ever brand new appliances over the summer, the best part was they are ENERGY SAVERS and WATER SAVERS. My washing machine uses 1/3 of the water a reg machine uses. And my old machine was a king size, I know it used more than a regular one. The dryer doesn't have to dry for 3-4 hours to get stuff dry anymore. Our water bill was $100 less last month! I wish we could have sold them, but when Rachel moved out we were able to give her the old washer/dryer set to have in her apartment.
You can pray for us, for work for my husband, and a car.
Thanks for all the support you all are giving me. I believe blogging is also key, keeps you accountable doesn't it. And it's fun! I enjoy reading about other's journeys. Love you all!

Wherein I muse at length about nothing

Kind of weird to think I've been doing this as long as I have. 'This', being, of course, losing weight. The longest I ever did this before was about 3 months before it all fell apart. I was trying to lose somebody ELSE'S way, and I just couldn't change into the person I thought I had to be. It becomes habit, measuring your food, counting the calories, estimating portion sizes. Just like it was a habit to mindlessly shove chips into my mouth while sitting at the computer, not even tasting them. I like my new habits.
My sister gave me a pair of butterfly earrings 'Because', she said with tears,' you are a butterfly!' I thought it was just so sweet of her to think of me like that, a delicate beautiful butterfly. My fat has been a cocoon that I have finally burst free from. (Speaking of cocoon, wasn't that the most awesome movie ever?) She is also continuing to lose, looking thin and lovely. It seems to be taking me FOREVER to lose. I wish I wasn't so impatient.
I am rereading a lot of old favorite weight loss books. My favorite right now is 'The Amazing Adventures of Dietgirl'. I have never met Shauna but I love her to pieces. I recommend you read her book immediately.
I still have not made running a consistent part of my day. So I have decided, that since I'm on my own about this, I'm going to have to just start. I've tried the C25K program, and amazingly the first week is incredibly hard! I'll have to come up with my very own pre-C25K program to get me ready for it! Like: Run a block, walk until recovered, then run another block, etc. OR: Run as long as I can, walk until recovered, repeat ad nauseum. There seems to be one hitch to this program. Or two hitches. My breasts. Yes, My big old humongous breasts heave to and fro when I run. My instinct is to hold ONTO my breasts as I run, keeping them still, but I'm sure that looks ridiculous and a little naughty to onlookers. So I'm not sure what to do about them. How nice it would be to not have to worry about stuff like that!
This month marks the 7th anniversary of my Mother's (miss you Mom) death. She died on Bekah Boo's birthday, which casts a shadow for me over her day forever. Sometimes the memories and emotions swirl over me like an ocean wave, and tears will come to my eyes. Then it recedes, leaving me to go on. That's one of those weird things about life. It goes on. I really feel for my kids when I go. We're all pretty close, which I didn't realize until someone pointed it out to me. Hopefully they will support each other. Ben Rachel and Bekah call me every single day. Ben leaves for Japan next month for 3 years. He and his wife are so excited! He has told me many times the name of the air force base but of course I never remember. His wife is an elementary teacher, and will be teaching over there. If they have a baby in Japan it will have dual citizenship! Which is extremely cool. I love how technology today brings us so close, even though we are far apart distance wise. I wonder how the internet is over there.
So Bekah has discovered that there is a gym for the students that is CRAMMED with exercise equipment, a sauna, a POOL, and is going to work out everyday! I'm glad she's excited! I would be too. All you folks who get to go to a gym, I am so jealous. I have no vehicle, and it looks like I won't have one for a really long time. There is no gym in my little town. She's also decided she's a vegetarian. Which makes cooking for her ridiculously hard. Thankfully she will eat tuna because a fish doesn't THINK like an animal, so we can eat it.....I don't care at least I can make tuna casserole when she's here.
Eli got his job back laying cable and he is loving it. I'm trying so hard to treat my adult children like adults and not children. Which is so hard. Poor Rachel I'm always telling her what to do. Don't listen to me Rachel!

Today's Menu:
2 pcs bacon, 1 egg, 1 toast, 1 cup chocolate milk
1 tostada 150 calories
3 sour gummy worms
1 oz chicken in a biscuit crackers. It will never be enough.
1 can of root beer which is a real treat, let me tell you. I NEVER drink pop. root beer is my fav.
mcdouble and fries from mcdonald's dollar menu and water
4 bites of white chocolate fudge cake. It was half of a half of a piece of cake. I really love to cook and bake. So glad I can still eat what I make.

Had a girl's night out with my daughters. Went to 'town' and shopped for supplies for Bek at college. She has to provide her own toilet paper! And we had to get some comet and lysol so they can clean the bathroom, and a broom and dustpan. Was fun but being surrounded by all that sheer energy and love of life made me feel tired inside. I'm glad that they are enjoying life but all it did for me was make me angry at myself for wasting my entire life being fat and having a cruddy marriage. I mean I have noone to blame but myself that I got fat. And not sure if there was anything I could have done about my marriage, I guess I could have left but I never did. And things are so much better now. Such a waste! Like 25 years of my life wasted. And now I'm going to be 49 next month. I will be 50 next year. Okay that is freaking me out big time. I am really feeling my mortality. I've always known I was going to die someday but now I know it for sure is going to happen, people die because they get too old! Their bodies just fall apart! And I also have stretch marks, my skin is going to be baggy and gross, and I did this to myself. I am normally very upbeat in my blog but you have to let me have my pity party. For at least 15 minutes.
I think I'm ready for bed. I'm done eating for the day. I'm enjoying having the ac turned off and all the windows wide open. It's 61 degrees outside! I love snuggling under the covers!

I'm Back Baby!

Sorry about the absence everyone. I needed to take a break from my blog for a bit. Everything started going crazy in May with my daughter's graduation and I was feeling so guilty about posting that I decided to take a hiatus, which I didn't intend to have last 3 months!
Much has and hasn't happened in that time.
Bekah graduated, then she and Bethany spent the majority of the summer being counsellors at a camp for people with disabilities. I only saw them for 2 weeks. Then Bekah went to college, and Rachel moved out to her own apartment! I only have 5 kids living with me! The other night I set the table for 4 people!!!
So now school is back up and things are back in their groove. I'm walking every morning now, starting with going the 4 blocks with Mary then heading out from there. I love my ipod. Today was an Alan Parson's Day!!! I tried to match my steps to the songs but it didn't work half of the time.
I am so used to my new size, everything is so different from before, I feel like I am a completely new person. And I haven't even lost 100 pounds yet! My marriage is changed, I am changed, and I don't even know how that happened.

Stuff I never get tired of:
Looks I get from men. They even talk to me now.
Buying shirts from the normal part of the store--XL!!!!!!
People seeing me after many months and freaking out. No other word to describe it. Very gratifying! I guess I must have looked as horrible as I felt pre-weightloss everyone is so thrilled for me. And they all say the same thing: DON'T STOP! I won't, I'm not, that's nice and all but for some reason I hate hearing that.

Stuff that I hate:
getting up in the morning and taking a walk. Yes I should be all gungho and loving it whatever but it's hard for me right now
people who never even gave me the time of day when I was fat who are soooo friendly and nice now. What two faces!
My stomach is still so big. The rest of me is shrinking faster than my stomach and I have to wear bigger size pants because of my waist and the legs are all baggy! Ridiculous!

So the best part of the summer happened because of my grandparent's deaths last year. I received a small inheritance and bought a dishwasher, fridge, and front loading washer and dryer!!! My whole life has been made into a dream! Fridge has french doors, the dishwasher is so silent and has 3 arms in it for washing, bottom middle and top, and I love it! My dryer is now done before my wash is! And we have a new kitchen floor, looks like black marble, and all the appliances are black, it looks soooo snazzy. Even my trash can is black. I have, for the first time in my entire life, an icemaker, and fresh filtered water at the touch of a button. I AM SO SPOILED ITS UNBELIEVABLE!!!
So the tragedy of the summer is I gained 10 pounds but I'm just thrilled it wasn't more. Glad to be back on track again, with all the structure school brings to us all. AND now that our family is smaller, I am downsizing!! Yes, I went through ALL the bedding and pitched so much! My linen closet looks like one in a magazine now. It was so hard to find anything in there, and the kids were always knocking stuff off the shelves and not putting it back, ugh! Not anymore! I also went through EVERY SINGLE CABINET in my kitchen and got rid of so much! I had over 30 plates! Why?! I kept the blue and white ones that my Mother (miss you Mom) gave me, I also got rid of about FIFTEEN coffee mugs, boxed up all kinds of kitchen utensils that I didn't like/use--I now have an empty drawer in my kitchen! An unprecedented event! I also have created a cooking center with all my measuring cups spices and staples all close together. I feel so clever to have done that!
I also have a new dog. Yes, Meatball has joined our family. What started out as watching a dog for my niece as a favor turned into he's living with us forever. He is a white English bulldog/boxer mix. I LOVE THIS DOG. Yes, you read that right, I actually used the words love and dog in the same sentence. And the best part, is, he loves me too. He has chosen me.
Ezekiel has disappeared, which leaves Amelia Bedelia holding down the fort as the only feline. But she's so anti social. I miss Ninja Cobra.
Been battling my blood pressure all summer, and finally got on the right medicine I guess. Last time my bp was 120/60!!! I whooped when I saw that 60! It was so high all the time, like 145/105 and stuff like that. I was having headaches, even in the middle of the night! For no reason whatsoever! I'm also taking my vitamins faithfully. And the wellbutrin. :-)
Today's Menu:
cocoa crispies with milk and 1 cup of OJ
a burrito made with beans, 1/4 c leftover taco meat and 1 oz cheese and taco bell taco sauce yummmmm
pringles
1/2 c lemonade
half tsted cheese sandwich and 1 cup tomato soup
1 ounce chicken in a biscuit crackers which isn't much let me tell you
15 g dark choc chips
1/2 no bake cookie that I made, not even really half
If I even hit 1500 calories today I would be surprised. I love eating all day and still have calories when I go to bed. And I love eating exactly what I want, and not what some thin person who went to college or wrote a book or whatever and is impossibly thin tells me to eat. I don't LIKE cauliflower. I'm not big on fruits/vegetables. I've tried to change how I ate on my previous 'diets', which, as we all know, left me at 356 pounds, that's how poorly I did. How much more fun it is to eat what I want! Bacon and eggs for breakfast? Yay! tostadas for lunch? Yummy! Pringles or fritos or a fudgesicle for a snack? Lead me to it! Just because I'm eating those delicious things doesn't mean I'm eating huge portions. That's what people automatically think when someone has waffles or pizza. I can go to pizza hut and have half a breadstick, 2 pieces of pepperoni pizza and 3 chocolate dippers for 750 calories!
I am losing a toenail! I have never lost a nail in my entire life. I wore a bad fitting pair of shoes one day and could feel it rubbing on my second toe but couldn't do anything about it. I noticed as the weeks went by the end of my toe felt kind of numb, but what can you do? THEN I noticed the toenail was looking funny, all thick and gross like really old people's toenails, and I thought GROSS and was checking it out and you can lift it up on the left side and around! It's still hooked on the right side and it is so weird! I'm terrified I'm going to catch it on something and it'll rip right off!
So yeah, the economy is actually touching our household. My hubby worked less than a week last month. Mmmhmmm. And now George, our car, after we spent $600 to get him fixed is still messed up and is at the shop again. If we didn't have food stamps I'm not sure what we would do. Nice that God is looking after us. I asked Him to sell one of His cows that He keeps on the thousand hills and send me the money. I plan on paying August's house payment when it gets here.
OH I can't believe I forgot this part: when my son was here from New Mexico the entire family went to WORLDS OF FUN (an amusement park) and I fit in the rides and screamed my head off on every ride and couldn't talk for a week! AND me and the kids went swimming at a PUBLIC POOL and I went off the diving board TWICE and went down the huge yellow slide!!! AND at my brother's house on father's day he has a diving board in his swimming pool that I have never gone off of, ever, because I don't want to end up on america's funniest videos or youtube about fat people breaking diving boards. Well, I dived off it!! And it didn't break! AND I can climb up out of the pool using the ladder on the side!
Missed all of you very very much. Looking forward to catching up on you all. Hugs!!!!