A Bitza This and a Bitza That

Well, I'm not a reliable food tracker while on vacation. Get me out of my routine, and my REsolve seems to DISsolve.  Monday, we were in the car all day, and while the day started well enough, I soon realized that Lobster "forgot" to pack the cucumbers, cherries, grapes, and mango in the cooler. He remembered the fixins for sandwiches and the Diet Coke. The bag of crackers, candy, chips, and such also made it. I had bought a lot so we wouldn't feel like we would have to buy much on the way and to also have bribery material for good behavior. I thought I had prepared well. Next time, I just need to follow through and make sure it all gets into the cooler.

I gained 2 pounds this week. I'm not too worried. Although I didn't faithfully track my intake, my eating wasn't out of control. I also spent two days in a car trying to not drink too much. I didn't want to be the reason to stop the car, if you know what I mean. I didn't get enough at my mom's, either. I'll just be making sure to drink my water, and then have some more. 

My mint is going crazy outside. I think I'll have to make some flavored water every evening for the next day. My favorite is cucumber, mint with some lime squeezed in right before drinking. I found that when I let the limes sit in the water over night, they made it slightly bitter. I found a recipe for a flavored water made with fresh ginger and mango. I think I'd really like to try that one. And I just happen to have some mango on hand.

My chives are also going gangbusters. Somehow, though, I don't think that will make a good flavored water. ;)

All of my plants survived warm weather while I was gone, thanks to a good friend. She also kept the hamster alive and running - good for the 6-year-old, I guess.  We almost had a free-range hamster. She escaped her little exercise ball whilst her young, attentive owner was not so attentive. Luckily, she only got as far as under the couch. 

The last time the hamster made a break for it, we had our Sophie girl to sniff her down. Sophie loved to sit and watch Squeakers. I knew she was just waiting patiently for a chance to make a Squeakers snack. It cracked me up.

Our Sophie was a good girl. She gave us good companionship for a long time, 12 years. At 13, she couldn't hear or see much and her hips gave her quite a bit of pain.  That made her grumpy with the boys and she had started to snap and be aggressive. We chose to euthanize her. Although we know it was the right decision. I miss my girl.  She was my baby before we so rudely replaced her with the human variety. She was patient and always happy to see me. 

This is my favorite picture of Sophie. She was not happy about those Easter bunny ears, but she tolerated them and even smiled for the camera. The Humane Society called Sophie a terrier mix, but we always called her a Bitza. She was a bitza this and a bitza that. Sophie was the healthiest, smartest, and weirdest dog we have ever previously owned. She fit in our family perfectly. Without her, I'm outnumbered by the boys. Somehow, I don't think the hamster will commiserate as well.

Rest in peace, my girl.


SUNDAY STATS
WEIGHT GAIN/LOSS: +2 lbs
TOTAL WEIGHT LOSS: -26 lbs
EXERCISE: I guess sitting on my mom's soft, cozy rocker doesn't count.
FOOD: Lots of veggies. Slightly more treats than usual.
FOOD TRACKING: Not great - 1 & 1/2 days of 7
HYDRATION: Not great

Fun

Travelling with kids is always fun. I'm not really talking about fun fun. I'm talking about the kind of fun spoken of in sarcastic tones and a lot of eye-rolling.

You know..........fun. 13 hours in a car that, while normally seems quite spacious, all of a sudden is much, much too small.

At one point, Boys 1 and 2 were fighting. They were tattling. They were tattling about fighting and then fighting over tattling.  And I had had enough.

I started singing about kindness, and Jesus. I sang about Jesus wanting us to be kind. When they started complaining, I sang louder, and louder, still. I think the cars next to us on the freeway could hear my song,  I was singing so loud. Lobster soon asked me to, "Please for the love of everything holy, just STOP!"  OK, he really just said, "Please stop." But his voice sounded much more like the former.

Just for the record, and in my defense, it was quiet for a few minutes after that.

I've sung to them before. I threaten to sing when they fight. This singing is not like when I sing their songs at bedtime - which they love, by the way. This singing is a weapon. I may have a smile on my face while I do it, but it is sharp and harsh. One might wonder if I stand on the edge of sanity, when I sing like this.

I found out that my singing, as a weapon,  is not my original, bright idea. This morning, after my sweet, sweet boys started fighting, my own sweet, sweet mother started singing, "I want to be kind to everyone..."

Yep. We have fun on our vacation.

So, we're on a short vacation. But not from my plans. My mom asked what kind of food I wanted her to get, and I just said, "Lots of vegetables." And she delivered. She even had two tomatoes and a cucumber in her garden that she saved just for me. She's pretty great.

TUESDAY STATS
WEIGHT GAIN/LOSS: -0.4lbs
TOTAL WEIGHT LOSS: -28lbs
EXERCISE: Womp, womp. Sad face
FOOD: Great week until weekend. Food left over from 4th and stress were not a great combo.
FOOD TRACKING: Great - 5 full, and 1 partial day of 7
HYDRATION: Really good

OPERATION: TAKING MY YARD BACK, an update - part trois

So, that 5 pounds is gone and they took a friend with them. I'm going to start ignoring all of my problems, this one worked out so well.

Messy house because it's too hot to feel motivated to do much?   
      IGNORE!
Kids fighting amongst themselves?
      IGNORE!
Ugly, weird bump on your leg?
      IGNORE!

Voila! Problems solved!

I kid, I kid.  (sort of)   Darn hormones. Or salt. Or....whatever.

It's been so hot here in the Pacific Northwest these past few days. My dear, dear Lobster is still under the mistaken belief that we don't need central air. I had hoped that his red-faced, sweaty, stinky, grumpy wife would have changed his mind, but no luck so far. Thank the heavens for the slightly coolish breeze coming through right now. Our inside temperature has dropped to 80 degrees. 

It is 10:00 pm. UGH.

I took a ride in the car with the boys this evening, after dinner, just to get in front of the air conditioning. I still haven't decided if it was a nice break, or if it just made it feel hotter here at home. One nice thing about the heat, is that I'm definitely drinking a lot of water. Although, I'm sweating so much that I'm pretty sure I am no better hydrated.

Anyway, I thought it was about time to show some more pictures of how our yard is doing. The weeds are under control, the grass is still green, I have vegetable plants in my raised beds, I've got flowers in the window boxes out front and our yard is mostly well-groomed.

What I'm not liking, is the mess with the boys' bikes and balls, and dirt and rocks that always end up on the patio. Hey! I should try that ignoring trick....it's got to work!

Here is the view walking up my front walk. I'm really happy with how the window boxes turned out. I should have stuffed more plants in there, but I'm on a budget, here. I really miss the days that I got my 30% employee discount. 

They'll fill in. Eventually.

The jasmine is blooming. It smells so good!

This rose campion  blooms in such a bright hot pink. It's foliage is woolly, like lambs ears and it re-seeds itself all over.

This bed (below) was overgrown with grass. We had to take everything out. I'm leaving it bare for a little while, to pull the grass as it grows up. I'm sure much of the roots are still there. My lace-leaf Japanese maple could use a good pruning. The branches under all those leaves are quite beautiful. I'm a little chicken to take that one on, myself.

And in the back, the climbing rose has bounced back.

  

And my hydrangea is starting to look lovely.

Baby grapes,

and baby tomatoes,

and baby caterpillars. They've come back for the past 3 years. These are Cinnabar moth caterpillars. They love this ragwort on which they are chomping. It's poisonous, and not very pretty, but I don't pull it out because we love to watch the little guys grow and grow.

Notice the little tiny caterpillar next to its big brother. So cute!

Well, we're down to 79*. We're on our way.

SUNDAY STATS

WEIGHT GAIN/LOSS: -1 lb

TOTAL WEIGHT LOSS: 27.6 lbs

EXERCISE: 2 Kinect Zumba workouts, 28 minutes each

FOOD: Very good choices. I even passed up some french fries, one day

FOOD TRACKING: Excellent! 6 of 7 days

HYDRATION: Excellent - at least 64 oz per day

How to NOT enjoy summer vacation

It started out promising enough. After weeks of beautiful weather, the rain did NOT ruin the school's family picnic and Field Day and even more importantly, the rain did not ruin the chance to go to our friend's house and watch a movie in the dark on a sheet hung on the outside of their house. The boys got to run around with friends and then we all huddled under our blankets to watch How to Train Your Dragon. We got home deliciously late and Boy 1 and Boy 2 wanted to continue the party at home.

They also slept in the next morning. Lobster was envious. He had to get up and go to work after such a late night. I really sympathized with him in that minute before I went back to sleep.

I had left the week's schedule very loosey goosey so we could stay in our pajamas all day and get way too much screen time.

I guess that was my first mistake.

I mean, seriously, what kid doesn't want to watch TV and play video games all day?

Apparently, mine. 

It's all they ever wanted. They got it all at once, and it was too much. They got bored. They fought over which game to play. They argued about which characters they wanted. And they grumbled about getting to spend alone time in their rooms.

And I, I who hadn't prepared well enough (again), got grumpy. The happy, carefree first days of summer vacation that I had hoped for, flew out the window with their harsh words and angry voices.

And the grumpiness has lingered, my friends. 

Boys 1 & 2 fighting is nothing new. And to be honest, neither is my grumpiness. I want to be soft and fun and playful, but somehow, all I see is the floors that get dirty too fast and the money that doesn't stretch far enough and laundry that never, EVER, gets completely done.

I've never thought of myself as a pessimist, but I'm starting to wonder.

Another thing I'm grumpy about is my weight loss - or lack of it, I should say. I have been working really hard at staying under my calorie goal each day. And I had finally gotten past the 25 pound mark for the first time in months! I have seriously upped my water intake and had less soda. I stayed under my calorie goal 5 of 7 days. One day was just barely over, and the other day was my birthday and Lobster and I went out to dinner. I estimated the food on My FitnessPal as closely as I could, but even eating lightly earlier in the day, I went over my goal. It was delicious and I don't regret it. I was so careful the rest of the week.

So, midweek, when I hopped on the scale to see my progress, I admit I was a little shocked to see that my weight was up. The next day, I weighed myself again and I was up another few ounces. This morning, my normal weigh-in day, I am up 5 pounds.

Ugh. It makes me want to eat a bag of potato chips.

BUT, I DIDN'T! Progress, people!

I've decided that I'm not logging it in My FitnessPal. I am ignoring it and I'm hoping it will go away.

Isn't that how you deal with your problems?

Anyway, I've been having fun experimenting with what I can cook on our outdoor grill. Fireworks came a couple weeks early to our house. The heating element in our oven gave us a light show on Friday night - even after I turned it off. So we unplugged the range and sent away for the part. But, of course, it being a weekend, we get to wait longer than our normal super-fast delivery. I'm not sure why these things happen on the weekend. There is some law written down about it somewhere, I'm sure.

So the main goals this week are to have fun with my boys, drink lots of water, and don't sweat the small stuff. 

What are your goals this week?

My Favorite Things

1. TV Episode: Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Once Again With Feeling  (a musical - and yes, I know every song by heart)
2. Movie: Stranger Than Fiction. 
3. Restaurant food: Chicken pasta salad at The Other Place in Salt Lake City, Utah and a close second is the Roasted Veggie Flat bread Sandwich at Amadeus in Salem, Oregon
4. Flower: the Tulip
5. Shoes: flip flops or none
6. Book: Too many to choose, but I prefer fiction
7. Face lotion: Oil of Olay's Daily Facial Lotion
8. Body lotion: Aveeno Baby's Soothing Relief Moisture Cream
9. Perfume: Skin musk, by Bonne Bell (I've loved it since I was 17)
10. Place: My own bed, close 2nd - the beach, extremely close 3rd - my Grandpa's farm in Hatch, Idaho
11. Color: Deep purple
12. Vegetable: Zucchini or tomato
13. Fruit: Watermelon or tomato ;)
14. Song: too many, but in general I'm a sucker for sappy love songs. Barry Manilow can make me stop in my tracks, close my eyes and sway. Seriously. Judge me if it makes you feel better.
15. Children's Book: The Giving Tree, by Shel Silverstein
16. Laundry Soap: Arm & Hammer Plus Oxy-Clean, original scent
17. Car that I owned: my black, 1987 Buick Somerset
18. Outdoor Temperature: 66 degrees, Fahrenheit
19. Hand Soap: Sotftsoap's Coconut and Warm Ginger
20. Bottled Salad Dressing: Newman's Own Low Fat Sesame Ginger, or Cardini's Original Cesar
21. Nut: Pistachio
22. Seed: Sesame or Sunflower
23. Ice Cream: Always love me some kind of chocolate & mint combo - Tillamook Brand rocks! But then, Schwan's Coconut Almond Fudge is pretty darn near perfect.
24. Herb: a hard choice, but probably cilantro.
25. Condiment: salsa
26. Junk food: POTATO CHIPS
27. Body soap: Dove, warm vanilla scent
28. Christmas movie: The Year Without Santa Claus or Elf. The Heat Miser or Buddy - hard choice!
29. Cheese: Provolone
30. Paint color currently in our home: Rattler's Den
31. Candy: chocolate covered gummy bears
32. Soda: Diet Coke
33. Carbohydrate: potato
34. Font: Calibri
35. Cereal: Frosted Mini-Wheats
36. "App" on my Kindle: Bejeweled game
37. Method of cooking vegetables: roasting
38. Sleeping position: on my side
39. Talk Radio Host: Dr. Laura
40. Favorite thing about being a Mom:  watching them accomplish something that is, for them, really hard. And snuggles, lots of snuggles.
41. Possession: My grandpa's old trunk
42. Photograph: 
    
    
    
43. Way to Spend My Time: Going for a drive on a sunny day with my family

I have a birthday this month. I am turning 43. For that reason, I chose 43 of my favorite things to share with you today. They are random, but they are, in part, what makes me me. 

I'm sorry or you're welcome. You choose.

SUNDAY STATS:

WEIGHT GAIN/LOSS: -1.8 lbs

TOTAL WEIGHT GAIN LOSS: -26.8 lbs

FOOD: Really good choices until Saturday when there was leftover cake from end of soccer party.

FOOD TRACKING: Excellent, 6 of 7 days

EXERCISE: Pffffft!

HYDRATION: Much better this week. Go water!

Challenge Extended...

So, yesterday was the first of June. Did everyone start on the Back To Her Roots Super Summer Mind & Body challenge? Yeah, me either. 

Just kidding!! I totally did. I didn't get a lot of points yesterday, but that's what happens when you stay in the house all afternoon after your 6-year-old's soccer game trying to keep 2 boys from hurting each other. I'm telling you, those Bickerson brothers totally need an attitude adjustment. And I'm just the Mama to do it. 

Actually, I'm at my wit's end (as little wit as there may be) about it. This next week is the last full week of school here in Oregon, and I'm scared out of my mind a little concerned about how the summer is going to go. My best idea, so far, is to send one boy each to grandparents on either end of the country. Maybe distance would make their little hearts grow fonder. Yeah, I know. It's a work in progress.

Anyway, I have set my personal mind and body goal points and I'm excited to get to work! I decided that a mid-point reward (at 5,000 points) will be an adult-only weekend away with my Lobster - probably at the coast.

That's what I call motivation. ;)

I've had a hard time deciding on a 10,000 point reward. I'm trying to think of something not too expensive, but motivating. I'd be happy to receive some suggestions.

So, I was hoping to be just a little bit professional and scan these documents to use, but my super-awesome computer skills (major eye-roll) don't include how to make the scanner speak to my laptop. Apparently, it's not the same as my lap top telling the same machine to print. The scanner has always been kind of stuck-up, though. Oh well. You get pictures of them. I can do that.

These are my point reference sheets for both mind and body goals. When I complete something on these lists, I keep track of the points on another sheet. These free printables are available on the blog, Back To Her Roots, if you click here. She also created some completely blank point sheets so you can totally customize your point values.

Let me know if you do this challenge. I'll be talking about my progress periodically. It would be fun to help motivate each other.

It's going to be a busy week trying to get things done before school is out. 

Random thought: When ever I think about the challenge, or say "challenge" it makes me think about an episode of Friends. Please enjoy this clip. I love the way Ross says, "Challenge extended." It cracks me up. Every time.

Challenge accepted. Ha! Have a great week. Get to work!

SUNDAY STATS:
WEIGHT GAIN/LOSS: -1.4 lbs
TOTAL WEIGHT LOSS: 25 lbs
FOOD: Much better watching sugar & sodium. Much better results, too!
FOOD TRACKING: Great! 5 days + 1 partial day out of 7
EXERCISE: 1 - 30 minute Zumba workout and 1 full morning of yard work.
HYDRATION: Not as much as I need. :/

Take a Deep Breath

I hate getting up once I go to bed - especially after I've been asleep. If one of the boys have trouble in the night and come in to get me, I just put him in the middle of our bed (to the annoyance of my Lobster), give him a pat on the back, and go back to sleep (Hallelujah for king sized beds!). Luckily, it doesn't happen so often anymore, and very rarely do the boys come in the same night.

Well, earlier this week, Boy 1 came into our room. When he was little, Boy 1 woke 4-5 times a night and was a frequent middle-of-the-night visitor. But he's grown out of most of that. He's still a VERY light sleeper and has trouble getting to sleep. A small bit of Melatonin helps him to relax and quiet his mind just enough of the many troubles that have a chance to catch up when he's lying still in his darkened room. 

He had had a nightmare. My usual patting on the back and falling promptly to sleep wasn't working. He was shaking and still frightened although he had his mom and dad on either side of him. He was whimpering and wanting to talk about his dream. Sometimes, I don't indulge him in talking it out  because he often works himself up to inconsolable. I tried to get him to start some deep breathing and told him that we'd talk about it in the morning. Luckily, with a little help from my soft, doughy  snugly arms, he was able to settle down and fall back asleep. I'm sure my snoring in his ear helped, too. ;)

 Apparently, in his dream, a blimp caught fire and crashed into his room, engulfing one of his walls in flames. Can you blame him for needing a little comfort? I sure can't. When we talked the next morning, he still remembered many details. I had hoped that he would forget. Those details made his next bedtime (and almost every other one since) a little more difficult. Poor kid.

Ok, so if you know me, you know how organizationally challenged I am. I try, but man, it's a struggle.

If you've been reading for a while, you'll also know that I've been stuck. I've been losing and gaining the same 5 pounds over and over for months. Exercise has been hard because of my foot/ankle and I let myself "off" way too easily. How else do you think I got this big? I have such good intentions, but I'm sure you've heard which pathway is paved with those.

Anyway, one of the blogs that I regularly read, Back To Her Roots, is sponsoring the Super Summer Mind and Body Challenge starting on June 1. It's just what I've been needing, but too lazy to put together myself. She even has free printables for point tally sheets, ideas for points for both mind and body and blank sheets so you can customize activities and point values for yourself/your family. Check it out - she's got some great ideas. I'd love to know if you end up working on the challenge. We could help motivate each other!

I'm going to try a version of this to help in the activities that I plan for the boys and me this summer - encouraging them to stay more active, positive with each other and working individually and together toward a goal with a big reward at the end of summer. They get to help decide the reward.

I'm feeling frustrated. I've been doing so awesome at tracking all of my food on My Fitness Pal. And I only went over my calorie goal once this past week. I gained almost a pound this week after gaining a half pound last week. I'm noticing that although I stay under my total calorie goal, I'm not staying under the individual goals for sugar and sodium. Those two categories are where I go over most often. So I'm keeping an extra eye on those. I also really have to up my water intake - especially in the afternoons. 

I'm frustrated. I'm a bit discouraged. But just like my 9-year-old, I'm trying to get through things by doing some deep breathing and keeping calm - not working myself up. I'm going to pat myself on the back for the things I'm doing well, get some good sleep and keep working. 

I'll get there.


SUNDAY STATS:
WEIGHT GAIN/LOSS: +0.8 lbs
TOTAL WEIGHT LOSS: -23.6 lbs
EXERCISE: Yard work and a little walking - not great
FOOD: I made some really good choices this week.
FOOD TRACKING: Excellent! 6 of 7 days!
HYDRATION: Okayish. Need more water!