The Future Doesn't Change the Past

Good morning!  Rebecca and I knocked out two miles this morning and afterward I got a lot of chores done in my house.  I am feeling very energetic today!

As you know I am very much looking forward to moving at the end of April and I am already planning all the projects for the house that we should get to start at the end of this month.  Well, the new bedding came yesterday!

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I decided that we should go ahead and try the bedding out so I put it on the bed last night.  During all my chores this morning I forgot to take a picture of the bed all made up, so you will have to settle for this terrible one from last night.  It does show the detail of the stripes though.

I like it.

With all this looking forward and excitement about the future I spent much of the day yesterday thinking about the past.  You see yesterday was the 13th anniversary of my father's death.

1998-ish

Some years this day comes and goes and all I feel are happy thoughts for how blessed I am to have had this wonderful man as my dad.  And some years I feel a lot of sadness.  This year was one of the sad years.

1997

My dad was there for every important event that occurred in me and my sister's lives while he was alive.  And even some of the not as important ones, like all of our soccer or softball games.  He was our biggest fan, well one of them...hi mom.  :)

1987 - with my sister

I know that some things in your past are moments you grow from and then wish to forget.  Our pasts are what make us who we are today...all the bad parts and all the great moments as well.  Hold on to those great memories...it is how those people who really touch our lives continue to live on in us.

Love you Dad!

A Little Bit of Everything

Yesterday at lunch I ran into Roberta in the gym.  I love it when that happens...working out with friends is fun.  In case you missed yesterday's post, Roberta was my workout buddy Wednesday evening.  She made me run, she is mean.  Actually the running was my idea and she humored me.

Hi Bird.

View From the Elliptical

After work I stopped at my mom's house to pick up a record for the husband.  Yes, an actual record.  My stomach was already growling to I grabbed a handful of her animal crackers for a snack on the way home.  I still call them animal crackers even though she buys the store brand and they are shaped like numbers and letters.  Anyway, I took a little bag of them to snack on.  The last two in the bag made me laugh.

Ha!  Interesting snack!

Well, I thought it was funny.

The husband, Rebecca and I went for a walk when we all got home, so dinner was simple.  Chicken seasoned in Allegro (details about Allegro in this post) and salad.

Mmmmm.

After my 9 point dinner I still had 6 points left for the day, so a little later I had some Terra chips for a snack.

Pretty.

Have you ever had Terra Chips?  They are good...different root veggies made into chips.  They have sweet potato, taro, yuca, parsnip and batata.  No, I don't know what all of those are, but I do know they are good and they are 4 points for a serving...so I had a serving and a half.  :)

In Trixie's effort to make the blog she tried to up her silliness.

Silly Kitten

Sammy countered with...

Silly Puppy

And I got a pottery barn catalog in the mail yesterday.  It sealed the deal...the fall decorations are coming out this weekend.

Love It

The pen color will still be orange today in honor of this decision.  Enjoy your Friday!!

What are your plans this weekend?

Thursday!

Happy Thursday!  More importantly happy that tomorrow is Friday day!! 

Yesterday after work Roberta and I went to Memorial Park to walk/run.  It turned out to be 56 minutes of walking and four of running, but hey it's a running start.  My guess is that we covered a little better than 3 miles...I forgot to use my handy map your walk app.  Here we are when we arrived...all smiley and chatty.

This is fun!

Here we are when we were happy to be finished.  I have learned that I should let Roberta take the photos so she doesn't have to stand on her tippy toes to get in the picture.  Sorry Bird.

Done!

We did both rock our Life is Good shirts, so we were quite the cool pair.  Memorial Park is very crowded in the evening so it took us a while to get back out of the parking area.  Of course I took pictures while we waited.

Run!

Cool blurry action photo.

And for dinner...popcorn!!

Don't judge.

I had to go pick up Sammy from my mom's house after the park so I didn't get home until around 8 and cooking was just not something I was willing to do.  I wanted something buttery and salty delicious.  And this was 8 weight watchers points of buttery deliciousness.  Of course not the most well balanced meal, but it sure did hit the spot.

OH!  Look what my mom brought me!

Halloween sticky notes!!!

They go wonderfully with my Halloween pencils.  Yes, it is still in the 90s outside, but I have a feeling the fall decorations will be coming out at my house this weekend.  Get ready Daniel!  And what other color could be the pen color of the day today?

In other totally unrelated news...I really like the earrings I have on today.

Fun!

Happy almost Friday!!!

Workout Wednesday

I've been talking about food a lot lately...and not to worry I have a dinner recap for you...but I thought I would discuss my typical workout plan in case you were wondering.  Most mornings I walk with my workout buddy Rebecca which is a great start to the morning.  We usually cover 1.5 - 1.7 miles and we try to go each morning, but it is rare that we make it all five days.

At lunch time I usually spend that hour in the gym at work.  I work on a college campus, so the gym is easily accessible and it offers classes...like yoga which I take at lunch time on Monday.  I have two office gym buddies and we hit the gym at lunch on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.

Today I am trying something new and I am heading to Memorial Park with my friend Roberta after work for a walk (and maybe a tiny bit of jogging).  I am looking forward to that since she is taking me to a path I have never tried over there before.  YAY!

On Saturdays I come to the gym on campus in the morning and try and do 45 minutes to an hour of cardio and then some strength training.  On Sunday, I rest.  I like Sundays.  :)  And that about sums up how I get my calorie burn on during the week.

Now back to food.  Last night for dinner we made steak, salad, roasted broccoli and couscous (provided by Rebecca, she joined us for dinner).  She sauteed zucchini and onion and mixed it into her couscous.  It was delicious.

The steak was extra yummy last night.  We were eating later than normal, so I put it in Allegro to marinate.  This stuff is amazing.  I suggest you try it, you will not regret it.



source



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The broccoli I roasted the same way I do my other roasted veggies, little olive oil, garlic salt, 400 degrees, toss mid roasting, roast about 30 minutes.

And of course the side salad with the Awesome Balsamic Dressing.

The whole dinner came in at 12 weight watchers points.  Not bad at all.

Today the pen color shall be pink...because really, how can you go wrong with pink?

And Trixie wanted to say hello.  She said she is not featured nearly enough on the blog and that I needed to fix that.

"It's about time."

I told her she needed to up her game of doing silly things like Sammy does.  I think she was offended at the suggestion.

Have a great day!  We are halfway to the weekend!

Terrific Tuesday

At least that's what I'm hoping for.  It has certainly started off well.  I walked 1.7 miles with Rebecca this morning and it wasn't too crazy hot out there.  I was back in the house around 6:45 and I did some chores.  It feels good to have checked a couple of cleaning and laundry chores off my list already.

On Sunday my oldest niece, Courtney, turned twelve.  I can't believe she's twelve...it sounds crazy.  Here we are together in 1999.

I blogged about her upcoming birthday in this post: Time Flies.  It truly does.  Anyway, she is a big old 6th grader now.  She got her ears pierced this summer and she is getting into jewelry.  So what better present for my favorite 12 year old than to start her a James Avery charm bracelet.  You Texans will recognize the jewelry.  Courtney called me on Sunday very excited about the bracelet.  She told me her mom text me a picture of her wearing the bracelet.  I was very excited about this.  Thinking a picture of her smiling face holding up her wrist.  This is what I got.

Bummer, but cute bracelet.

For those of you that are not familiar with 12 year old goings on, the peace sign and tie dye is back in.  Good times.  Here is mentioned smiling face with her sister and new puppy.

Last night for dinner I tried something new and it turned out great.  I was inspired by eggplant parmesan.  I baked some chicken to go along with it and had some olives on the side...don't judge...if you like olives and you haven't tried it they are awesome in/with/near pasta sauce.

Makeshift Eggplant Parmesan

1. 1 eggplant sliced in thin circles
2. olive oil spray
3. garlic salt
4. half a jar of pasta sauce (I like Barilla)
5. part skim mozzarella cheese or parmesan (I used mozzarella last night since I had no parmesan)

Arrange eggplant slices in single layer on cookie sheet, spray with olive oil spray and sprinkle with garlic salt.  Roast for 10 minutes in a 400 degree oven.  Spread some sauce in the bottom of a corning ware and arrange a layer of the roasted eggplant, add sauce, repeat until eggplant is gone and remaining sauce is on top of the layers.  Bake covered in the 400 degree oven for 15 - 20 minutes until it is nice and bubbly.  Add cheese and bake uncovered until cheese is melted.

Yummy!  This dinner tallied 12 weight watchers points, but I only ate half of the chicken.

Today the pen color of the day is orange!

Happy Tuesday!

Finishing Last is Still Finishing

This weekend we went to Gruene, Texas to walk the Gruene 10K.  I love Gruene, it is a beautiful town in the hill country and we had a great weekend.  It was a very thoughtful weekend and one that encouraged me to make great commitments to myself.

We rolled into Gruene Friday afternoon.  My friends Kasey and Roberta were also signed up for the race.  They were running since they are in better shape.  It turns out that Daniel and I were two of only four people walking the race.  So it should not shock you that we finished at the end of the heap, which is okay...my goal was to finish.  Next year my goal will be to finish in a shorter time than I finished this year.  I think those are good goals.  To give you an idea of how many people finished ahead of me...

The race was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be which really made me think about how much I need to commit to getting back in shape.  I can do this.  The hill country is hilly!!!  Hmmm...I wonder...

Another thing that made me think...a lot...was the mirror in my hotel room.  It was positioned so that from my side of the bed I could see myself.  So when I was sitting watching TV or lying down to go to sleep I could see myself.  I could not hide from my reflection.  It is easy to picture yourself how others see you when the true image isn't staring you in the face.  My picture was a lot cuter than that reflection.  I was objective...I did look at myself and thought I was pretty, but I definitely saw room for improvement, and I could feel it too! 

This morning I signed back up for Weight Watchers online.  I have used it and been very successful with it before.  I like the ability to track my food intake and workouts and have a progress chart of my weight and goals.

I did some great soul searching this weekend.  And it was a beautiful place to do it.

I loved the barrel planters.  They were everywhere!

The weather the morning of the 10K was nice and cool.  I loved it.  The woman who sang the national anthem had a beautiful voice.

This old dude with attitude was awesome.  He was part of a running group and a lot of them placed in their categories. 

They do have attitude!

We were teasing Daniel for trying to get a great shot of us in front of the Gruene water tower.  He's such a cutie.



We had dinner Saturday night at a wonderful restaurant called Gruene River Grill.  It was delicious.  I had a grilled chicken sandwich and we could tell they make all their own bread...nice. On the way out I stopped in the rest room.  I was so happy to see this on the door, since I didn't have my graffiti pen with me.

I hope you had a wonderful enlightening weekend as well! 

Set Backs Make Us Stronger

(source)

At least I hope they do.  I got the scale to move, but it moved in the wrong direction.  Oops.  On the plus side, I got lots of rest this weekend.  It was a fabulous long weekend, I just should have moved more.  I will be correcting that this week and hopefully I can get the scale going in the correct direction.  Nothing is fitting tighter, so that is the upside of the scale news this morning.

In other news the Gruene 10K is this coming Saturday and I am excited.  My hubby Daniel will be walking it with me.  My awesome friends Kasey and Roberta will be running it.  We will be spending Saturday afternoon at Gruene Hall enjoying music and a few ice cold beers (of course).  One of the best parts of all this is that instead of a 4 day work week this week, I have a 3 day work week!  YAY!  We will be leaving for Gruene on Friday so I took that day off.  Daniel only works until 11:30 AM on Fridays anyway, so he didn't take the morning off we will be headed to Gruene as soon as he gets home.  I am looking forward to a weekend away and a nice long walk. 

I hope the weather we enjoyed this weekend continues, but some rain this week would be excellent.  The wild fires burning in Texas are devastating and we could definitely use some moisture.  I've been thinking about everyone effected.  My thoughts and prayers are with those in harms way and with those fighting the fires.  God Bless Texas!

Work Out Buddies Rock...Even When They Lie

I was having trouble getting up at 5:40 this morning for my 6:00 walk with Rebecca.  I sent her a text that said "Motivate me."  She responded with, "Let's go!  I'm up, I'm dressed and it's cool outside."  We live in Houston...it is August...she lies.  I told her I didn't believe her, but I was getting up and getting dressed.  She let me know that it was cool outside, somewhere, just not here.  So she only lies a little...but she did get me up and moving, so she totally rocks.  When I return home and stretch, my other workout buddy comes in handy.

Sam the stretching coach.

Once Sammy settles down, she is a very good stretching coach.  It just takes her a minute to settle down from the excitement of hoping the reason I'm on the floor is to play.  A lot of times that is the reason.

Why did you stop?  Get back to it.

Yes, m'am.

TGIF everyone!  I hope you have a great Friday!  The pen color today is lavender.  The picture is terrible.

Yesterday was red.  I know you were wondering...

Have a fabulous weekend!

Dragging!

Wow...I am dragging this morning.  I'm not sure why.  The walk this morning was hot (shocking, I know) and I am glad it's done.  I didn't feel like I was walking in a straight line (but even walking crooked burns calories...so there is a silver lining).  I hope to feel better about it tomorrow.  Happy Thursday, though.  :)

So true!

So speaking of calendars...or looking at a picture of one, how on earth is it already the time of year that there are pumpkins on my magazine cover???  I checked the mail on my way back in from my walk this morning and I was greeted by this...

Seriously?

Doesn't seem possible!!  Christmas just four months away?  Wow.

Sammy says hello.  Or she would if she were not so worn out.  My tired little pup.