What I'm Reading This Week #13

Happiest of Friday's to you all!  It's the last day of the month, can you believe it?

Let's dive straight into...

9 Things to Cut Out of Your Life to Be Healthy   (None of these have to do with cutting out a food group)

5 Ways to Jump-Start a Whole-House Decluttering Effort  (I need to get a jump on this)

The 16 Best Exercises For Arm Day  (L Stand would be if you'd like to rearrange your face for free)

Anatomy of an Egg  (In case you were wondering if that white gel thing was a dead chicken)

How to Quit Being Indecisive About Life Decisions  (Mmm hmm)

21 Low-Impact Workouts That Are More Effective Than You Think  (Get to it!)

This Is What Nutrition Experts Really Think About Dairy  (I'll never give up mah dairy)

How To Stop Sweating The Small Stuff For Good  (Must implement ASAP)

This Mansion Has Sat Virtually Untouched For 50 Years  (Beautiful home!)

Three's Company 40th Anniversary Cast Reunion for Antenna TV   (While good to see them, it's also, well...you'll see.)

John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John set to return as Sandy and Danny to mark 40 year anniversary of original (LOVE them together!)

No plans that I'm aware of this weekend.  I'm sure there's some kind of trouble we can get into.  ;-)

You guys got any trouble on the radar for the weekend?

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Now or Then?

(via)

I was reading this article last night and it talked about how we tend to focus on long term goals instead of short term ones.  They talked about how health or any goals we have can fail based on a concept called "delay discounting" and the further off the reward the more we tend to discount it.  Or sometimes it seems so unattainable that it ends up losing its value.  But if you make the reward more immediate it might be easier to make choices that ultimately end up getting us toward our goals.

Like instead of skipping workouts you have to remind yourself why doing them makes you feel good today.  Does it give you stress relief?  Start your day off right?  Make you feel like a beast to conquer that hard exercise or give your all?  Does it give you that much deserved 'me time?'

I read this at a point I felt like I was at the bottom of a pit with Nate Fisher shoveling dirt on my grave.  I have an avalanche of crap that needs to be done with various timelines, some negotiable and some not.  It's the same avalanche I find myself in this time every year.  I know it's coming and I do nothing to get myself out from under it but always keep my eye on the future reward whether that be a vacation, reaching more people, reaching weight loss goals that seem like they will never come and all that jazz.

I have to focus on what will relieve the stress off of me today!  (This post being one of them.  Sometimes I stare at the screen and say "yeah...I got nothin'.")  Then I begin to worry that I'm not an inspiration anymore and why the heck would you stick around here when there are so many other people who are actually moving forward.  Basically totally discounting the success I touted yesterday about how we rocked it food and movement wise on a mini vacay because I know we live in a very "what have you done for me lately, Miss Jackson?" kind of world.  I'm not saying that to fish for compliments or petty crap like that, I'm just trying to relay the thought process.  It tends to be that way when I go through an episode.  My current episode is one that just has me completely sh*tting on myself for a lot of things I have failed at.  Some of it has to do with comparisons...everyone else is better and I suck.  It's an episode that is coming at the worst possible time because again, I have nothing but this Jenga skyscraper wobbling over me and any second it's going to crash down and bury me.

Why the eff I don't I do a to do list??  I know how good it feels to physically cross something off of that list yet here I sit.  It would go a long way to help me prioritize what needs to get done most urgently that will eventually benefit me long term.  I need to make that a priority this morning so I can see what I can do today to eventually make for a better tomorrow.

Do you only plan for the long term and avoid planning for the short term?

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Our Trip to Hollywood North

When I saw we were going to Toronto, The Mr immediately said "FINALLY we get to see where Forever Knight was filmed!"  I had totally forgotten about that.

For those of you who are drawing a blank on it, it was based off of this Rick Springfield TV movie called Nick Knight in 1989.  (affiliate link)  I was glad to see Rick because he was my first concert and I loved the premise of a vampire cop trying to become human again.  In 1992, they made it into a late night series called Forever Knight  (affiliate link) and it ran basically the entire time the Mr and I dated.  On Sundays, they would play it late at night and I would talk him into staying until it was over at like 1am on a school night.  So seeing these places were very sentimental to us.

The top picture is "Nick's Loft" 

The lower left is Natalie's Medical Examiner office and the lower right is the outside of the police station in seasons 2 and 3.

Then of course when I found out Police Academy  (affiliate link) was filmed there, our first stop had to be the upper left...The Blue Oyster Bar.  (Cue the theme...you know it)  Upper right was Commandant Lassard's office on Humber College's campus.

F Building was a cadet's quarters (lower left) and Cumberland House was where the Commandant and his wife lived.

Finally, one of our favorite Christmas movies was filmed about 15 miles outside the city in Oakville...The Santa Clause.   (affiliate link) Upper left is Carol and Neil's house which is now navy instead of gray. Can't you just see the reindeer up there?  Upper right is the establishing shot of the town.

Lower left is one of the businesses still left from the establishing shot but sadly they changed the sign which was a big beautiful 1960's type font but the archways are still the same.  Then the lower right was Scott's condo where Santa fell off the roof and he unknowingly assumed responsibility for the role.

So you can see given we were there to see a show featuring an iconic performer, I felt the itch to keep the theme alive during the whole trip.

You know how I was very worried about finding my balance where food was concerned on this trip? Well I am happy to report we didn't gain a pound from the days that were not designated high cal days.  I pre-made all of our meals for Wednesday night through Friday night knowing we had a "free" meal and dessert on show night, Thursday.  Thankfully the mini bar just fit everything I brought including a half gallon of Fairlife Skim and I still had a few cans of their crap I could've moved to the drawer if I had to...

We did a great job on that front including working out.  We did Jessica Smith's fusion band workout in the hotel Thursday morning and then our PT.  We did get in 2-3 miles walking as well at The Bluffs.

Our treat was before dinner at Bang Bang Ice Cream.  Half an ice cream sandwich.  It was really hard not to order a whole one but a half is what "normal" people order and they're fine.

Oh yeah, one thing we made sure to do when we got there was take the "mini bar" tray and stick it straight in the closet.

Outta sight, outta mind!

Thursday night we went to a steakhouse and luckily there was nutritional info but I already had my dinner planned out anyway.  What I didn't plan on was the mocha ice cream pie slice they brought us out for the occasion we were celebrating.

We thought it'd be easy to just take a bite or two and kind of mash it down to feign an attempt because we both hate coffee.  Well this was actually the most awesome thing we'd stuck in our pie holes in a while...okay, since the last ice cream we stuck in there but I digress.  We could NOT stop eating it and both felt pretty crappy about ourselves afterward and thought we were going to pay for it big time.  Thankfully we walked enough to seemingly offset everything because those days warranted us no gain on the scale.  Now Saturday, our designated high cal day was another story but even that day was a pound better than we usually do and that was with not a lot of water and driving a whole day which always bloats me like crazy.  So we are very happy that our impromptu side trip didn't cost us on the weight front.

Have you ever been to Toronto?  Do you look up movie locations when you go on vacation?

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Post trip weekend recap

Happy Monday guys!

We took a nice little trip Wednesday night...

We were there to see this amazing show...

I will review the show eventually but let me say if Patricia Ward Kelly comes anywhere near your city or close enough for a weekend trip, GO!  I have recently fallen totally in love with Gene Kelly and this was just completely amazing.  Even the Mr who really knew nothing about him came out a fan.  As I said, I'll cover more in another post but wow.  So glad to have seen this show and so much for your money as well.

We made a pit stop in Niagara on the Lake and here's a gift from Vader for you.

I hope you didn't already have one.  ;-)

It was grocery restock weekend so there went 2 1/2 hours of our evening yesterday.  We got started with our workouts when we typically finish them and the Mr came up a few minutes early to start cutting my veggies.  Then I came up and he's like "what is that noise?"  Tornado warning on the weather radio.  Of course we immediately said "it looks to hit Wakita head on."   (affiliate link) *blows kiss to heaven*

So I heated up dinner and 3 minutes later we were eating it on our laps on folding chairs.

Does anyone else with a basement home gym think that they would likely die down there from their free weights being projectiles in a tornado/hurricane?

I will recap the Toronto trip a little more but I'm a pooped pup so I'll sign off for right now.  I must say though, we're very happy with the results on the food/weight front.

What did you guys do this weekend?

(This post contains an affiliate link.  Should you choose to buy through it, I may receive a small commission to help support blog costs.)

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What I'm Reading This Week #12

It's Friday and that's worth celebrating with some links to help you dork off at work! 

So let's get right to...

9 Things to Cut Out of Your Life to Be Healthy  (This has nothing to do with gluten, sugar or dairy)

What's the Least Amount of Exercise You Can Do and Still Be Healthy?  (No excuses!)

How to Securely Dispose of an SSD  (It's not as easy as the old hard drives)

Six Stretches to Help Your Stiff Back Feel and Move Better  (I will do anything because my back constantly feels like crapola!)

10 Lifestyle Changes That Will Always Pay Off  (A few I still need to master)

6 Delicious Ways to Make Sweet Potato Oatmeal  (Yum!)

Here's How to Network Like an Extrovert if You're Shy  (I totally clam up)

Potatoes Are Not the Enemy; Here Are 9 Healthy Ways to Eat Them  (You could not pay me enough to cut potatoes from my diet)

7 Reasons to Do Moderate-Intensity Exercise More Often   (Point taken)

12 Dangerous Chemicals to Avoid in Everyday Products  (Well, this is kind of scary)

6 Surprising Drawbacks of Being Too Nice  (This soooo used to be the Mr!  He's still nice but no longer allows people to emotionally manipulate him.)

Two Monkeys Were Paid Unequally  (I feel ya dude, cucumbers suck!)

This Hilarious Woman Just Gave the Most Honest (NSFW) Exercise Review  (OMG, crying laughing!)

We're road tripping this weekend so I'm glad we'll be in some different scenery.

Whatchu guys got planned this weekend?

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Food Review: Chips Ahoy Cinnamon Sugar Thins

I never buy cookies to keep in the house because I don't need the temptation.  But when something is free, I can justify trying one and then sending the rest to the Mr's work for the dingoes to attack.  That's just what we did when our local grocery store was running a promotion to get these for free.

The cookie marketing people seem to think that if they put the word "thin" on the package that people will think they're getting something they can either manage or are better for them that the regular version.  I'd like to think people don't buy that but we all know someone out there is falling for it.  Let's see what the numbers say...

Four cookies for 150 calories sounds like a pretty good trade off to most people because you can have more for the same calories.  Wellll, not quite.  I mean, they're 'thins' so you're getting less.  If you have two cookies, it tastes like what one cookie would taste like and the nutritional info basically supports that.  I don't think they make this flavor in "regular" though so the cinnamon sugar and oatmeal cookies are just in the thin version.

How did they taste?

We each had one and didn't expect much going in even though cinnamon sugar is one of my favorite flavors ever.  The were good.  Too good.  We only had one...and a half since one cookie was broken.  Then I slammed the seal on them and said "take them to work, get them out of my sight!"  They would be perfect in the summer if you want to make little ice cream sandwiches for a kids party or something like that.  I could easily see myself blowing through the box on a Saturday or worse, justifying ways to "fit them into my calories" during the week and I just can't risk having them around to obsess over.  So I guess the verdict would be...delicious if you like crispy cinnamon cookies.

Just like their Oreo Thins brethren, I get that mentality of "ooh I get four!"  But when the four are gone, I'd want more.  (I have to laugh though because my mom was like "those Thins are a joke, give me CREAM!"  But the regular versions don't have much more cream than their thins counterparts these days.)

If you have the willpower, tip o' the hat to you and if you like cinnamon sugar, you'd probably like these.  Or if you want to try them, I suggest taking out a serving and then putting them on the community table at work so you don't find yourself in the corner surrounded by an empty package, crumbs on your shirt and enveloped in self hatred.

Do you like the "Thins" version of cookies or would you rather just have 2 of the regular version should you indulge on occasion?

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A Ha Moment

Last Thursday, I found that The Rock has a YouTube channel.  The Mr has always wondered what kind of workouts he does, so I subscribed to it since he posts them from time to time.

We watched that video and were inspired at his intensity.  We watched another one from a different channel (NSFW-language) and while he goofs around a bit in them, his determination is jaw dropping.  Obviously you don't get to look like Dwayne Johnson without extreme commitment.  But one thing he kept doing in the second video was when he would get distracted goofing around or whatever, he'd give an angry look and yell "focus!" and go back to business.  They're all strung together so it can get a little annoying after a while but it shed a lot of light on what we think our problem may be.

The next day, we did old school Power 90.  We've done this workout probably 100 times and sometimes it kicks our butt, sometimes it doesn't.  We tended to lean strongly toward the latter over the past year or two and would throw it in when we needed a change of pace.  So we got started, muted the TV so our ears didn't bleed from the tomcheesery about to ooze from Tony and hit our current favorite playlist.  As we progressed, our intensity got higher and higher.  My kicks were higher than they've been in a long time (though some of that is due to injury), my punches were more intense and a couple of times I felt like I couldn't catch my breath.  Neither of us could.  We were drenched in sweat, breathless and truly felt those post workout endorphins they tout.  The Mr was like "holy crap, I feel like SO effin' good and healthy and motivated right now!"  He looked like he was about to rip an old school phone book in half or something.  He talked about how watching The Rock's intensity really inspired him to put forth effort into that workout and it made all the difference.  I felt the same.

When you do workouts regularly, it becomes habit...just like you always wanted it to.  The problem is it can easily just be another task to check off the list and while it's nice you get it done, you're not doing yourself any favors just going through the motions.  You have to have intensity to back it up and push yourself to that next level.  Even workouts you've been doing for almost 20 years (hi Tae Bo!) can be just as heart pumping if you put your all into it.  You don't need to break your body or anything crazy but I might as well skip the friggin' workout if I'm not going to bother putting in my full effort.  Checking something off the list with a half ass effort keeps you stuck.  I'm not saying this is our magic bullet or anything but we both did lose 2 and 3 pounds last week when upping our commitment.  Intensity has been sorely missing from our workouts and we're taking it back.  We have to.  We have to stop half assing it and go full ass!

Are you half assing your workouts?

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Walk Down Memory Lane

I was flipping through the Vermont Country Store catalog last night and of course since nostalgia is their thing, it got me, well, nostalgic.  So I thought I'd do a bit of a quiz with you based on back in the day stuff.

What kind of cologne did your dad wear?  My dad wore Brut and Old Spice and on occasion, English Leather.

Did your grandma do a once a week trip to the hairdresser?  Both of mine did.  My paternal grandma would also wear the rain bonnet to keep hers intact.

You know what soap on a rope is?  I'm pretty sure my dad got some every year from me for Christmas until I was 8.

What could you rely on getting in your Easter basket as a kid?  One of my grandma's always made sure I had one of those big ass peanut butter eggs with a little flower on the top the size of an adult fist.  I could rely on those horrible Whopper eggs as fillers being thrown in and I'd throw them out.

What telephone did you like to play with as a kid?  What is it with old school phones.  I LOVED rotary phones, the longer the number, the better.  It was like meditation.  But then again, my grandma had one of those backlit push button phones and I loved nothing more than holding the receiver down so I wasn't dialing out but still pushing the buttons.  Weirdo.

Table or TV trays as a kid?  As a kid/teen, we were always on TV trays but once I was married, it's always been dinner table.  I didn't even want a set of TV trays.

What scent reminds you of a family member?  The smell of rose lotion reminds me of my great grandma.  One time in a store, I passed a woman whose cologne had to have been hers because it made me cry.  I wish I would've asked her what it was.  White Diamonds reminds me of my grandma with dementia and if you mix it with the scent of coffee brewing, that is her.

What shampoo did you use as a kid?  I remember Prell being pretty prevalent but I also remember Agree and Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific being thrown in for good measure.

What did you consider your first adult perfume?  Probably Wind Song or Emerude when I was a pre-teen but when I was a teen, I thought Estee Lauder's White Linen, Cinnabar or Youth Dew were classy.  My Lord, if I tried to wear those now, I'd break down in an allergy laden sneeze attack!

What music did your parents listen to that they passed down to you?  Fleetwood Mac, Steve Miller Band, The Doobie Brothers, ABBA, Boston, The Eagles.

Pick 5 questions and answer them (or all of 'em if you're bored!)

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Not My Style Weekend Recap

Happy Monday everyone!  We both FINALLY got one in the loss column on the scale just in time for a side trip.  As long as I'm back to pre-holiday weight.  I figured since we're going to have an off schedule later this week maybe I'd cook at home for Saturday's high cal day.  The Mr was craving a grilled ham and cheese so I said I'd make that if we could split some small sides from a BBQ place that does sides well but not so much on the meats.  They came through for us so I didn't have to cook everything.  

After that we made a Sur La Table run since I had some channel related items I needed to pick up.  (You realize how crappy your own pans look on camera.)  So I got a few 9x13 pans and a couple of sweet whisks.  Yes, sad that whisks and pans make me so happy but there you have it.  Sur La Table is my spirit store.  We went to this mall where they had 4 plus size clothes stores all in a row and I swear man, there is nothing worse when you're trying to revamp your style only to not find a single thing that appeals to you.  Torrid was of course too young looking and the stuff that looked like an everyday woman would wear it was in hideous colors.  Dress Barn was not my jam.  Lane Bryant is ridiculous price wise and honestly, nothing floated my boat there either.  I went to some store called Maurice's and there were a few cute things but then upon trying them on it was like "ugh."  Since when must all of our tops be see through and end the effing jegging trend already!  I'm sorry but fat women do not look good in them, period.  When your husband sees you in a pair and is like "um, no" then you know it's not a good look for you because that man signed a piece of paper saying he had to tap that for better or for worse.

We swung by another store and got him all new shorts because his vacation go to's were pushing the decade mark.  He got some cute stuff and I'm so glad he trusts I'm not trying to turn him into Phil Mickelson when I suggest some plaid shorts.  The two I've suggested he sneers at but then likes once he tries them on.  So he's pretty set on those and we might get a pair of lighter dress pants for nicer meals out.  We have that to look forward to but need to hop to it.

Sunday was sleeping in and stuff and then brunch of course.

Since we had some leftover Honeybaked ham from the day before, I made a kick ass ham and swiss omelet that had him making caveman noises, a serving of garlic potatoes, brioche toast and a clementine for me and kiwi for him.  I also made a pot of chili to heat up for dinner later because I knew given the past few Sundays that before we know it, the day is gone.

Yesterday was no different.  We went down at 5pm, gabbed until 5:30pm and then did a strength/PT circuit for an hour.  We had our chili and then went to the grocery for produce refuel for the week.

That will bring us back to do.  Do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti, do!

What did you do this weekend?

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What I'm Reading This Week #11

Happy Friday and Happy St. Paddy's Day!  Erin Go Braghless and all that stuff.  Are you wearing green?  Do people still pinch offenders or has the PC world officially shut that down?

Let's jump right into me lucky charms of...

Warm-Ups, Cool-Downs, What Works, What Doesn’t  (Interesting research)

5 Tips for a Perfect Push-up  (You may have been doing them wrong all along)

9 Things That Make It Harder to Lose Weight in Your 20's, 30's and 40's  (Any of these apply?)

10 Resistance Band Exercises to Build Total-Body Strength  (Using these for strength training on the road)

11 "Healthy" Foods Nutritionists Never Eat  (A few surprises)

12 Foods That Help You Fall (and Stay) Asleep!  (Apparently potassium is the key)

22 New Lunges to Supercharge Leg Day  (If my leg days get any more supercharged, I'm going to be crippled!)

13 Best Daily Habits For Losing Weight  (Now ya know)

Internet destroys fitness model for shaming woman’s ‘lovehandles’  (It's disgusting witches like this that make heavy people wanting to get healthy afraid to go to the gym.  Girls like them scream "lose weight" out of one side of their mouthes then when you try to they shame you for invading "their" space.  Screw her.)

7 Foods That Will Help You Feel More Calm, Less Stressed   (Who couldn't use another stress buster in their arsenal?)

Woman Faces Every Runner's Worst Fear and Fights Off Her Attacker   ("Not today mofo!"  Wow, thank God she took that class!)

The Mr worked a double yesterday so he has today off.  I don't know if we have any plans or not but unfortunately it looks like we're in for a slush fest so we can't walk in the park or anything like that.  Pffft.

What are you guys into this weekend?

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Glad I Knew You When I Was Young

One of my favorite songs is by The Revivalists called Wish I Knew You.  I liked the song but when I saw the video, I fell in love with it even more.  (Try not to bawl like I did!)


One of the lines of the chorus is "wish I knew you when I was young."  Well, the Mr and I have known each other when we were young...17 and 19.  We were lucky enough to go to my Senior prom together and sometimes because we've known each other for so long, it's hard to see each other as adults.  Even with the lines on our faces, we still see the baby faces we used to be.

Last night we had one of those conversations.  You know, the ones that keeps you up way later than you should've been?  Like, it's 1am right now and I'm just typing this and my proofreader just laid down in bed so if there are a ton of typos, it's on me.  We had one of those conversations that snaked it's way starting in one place and ending somewhere completely different.  He was talking about his PT appointment and how his doctor is basically just an immature man child.  The more he talked about his antics, the more irritated I got because it's not really the behavior you want from a doctor.  He compared him to this d-bag co-worker he has and how he thought he was actually worse than him.  (This guy has a reputation for being a total self engrossed wanker and to be compared to him is like the worst insult ever.)  This led us to talking about other wanker man children in our lives, one of them being the Mr's former friend from childhood.

Long story short, this person betrayed the Mr after he confided in him and our lives were never the same.  To look back on our early dating years, times that should've been filled with nothing but hearts and unicorns was filled with a lot of tears, pain and betrayal from not only that person but another man child who is related to the Mr.  We will occasionally get to talking about those times and all we sacrificed just to be together.  The Mr's relationship with his family changed drastically because I pointed out how much he was being controlled by them and he was an adult and needed to stick up for himself.  He lost a lot of friends due to distance (he moved 2 hours away) and just not taking people's crap anymore.  One of those relationships, with the best man at our wedding, has had no closure and it still upsets him.  We have surmised as we rehash on occasion that this person would've left abruptly regardless of who he was with and it had nothing to do with the Mr.  It still doesn't make it any easier to take when someone just drops out of your life.  I've had it happen to me as well and it's probably the easiest way to slowly torture yourself.  We lamented over the things that we had to go through that no one else seemed to have to endure. We still feel the aftereffects of other people's decision even 25 years later.  Obviously we've overcome them and our long lasting relationship is a really nice big eff you to the people who tried to keep us apart.  But it would be a lie to say that we don't mourn the chance we were robbed of to just go through a "normal" dating experience with our friends and family intact.

But the Mr said he'd do it all again if it meant we were where we are now.  One thing I always got so mad about early on (okay and now as well) is when he was getting taken advantage of.  His family (sans father) knew how to play him like a fiddle and his life was not his own.  The reason I was blamed for him "changing" is because I encouraged him to stand up for himself.  It took many years for that to happen because he was willing sacrifice his own happiness for everyone else to be happy.  I still see his work taking advantage of him and it takes me right back to those days.  He is slightly better than he used to be on that front but still.  He said we are truly soulmates and he doesn't use that in the blase way that people refer to the person they love at the moment.  He said I was more than a wife, friend, something else I won't repeat but that he truly feels like my old soul was sent to teach his new soul lessons he just couldn't learn on his own.  I know, sweet, right?

He said when we go through these sessions of talking about our rocky road to where we are now, we always come out with a knowledge or a puzzle piece we didn't have before.  I think maybe this time was for him to realize that guilt he was harboring over how he left some situations with people weren't entirely on him.  It needed to be noted that other people had a choice to get in contact with him and didn't, it wasn't just him that didn't call.  I think so often were either in one camp or another...either you take on all of the responsibility for why something didn't work out or you take no responsibility.  The fact is, everyone has responsibility for a situation going south and if no one steps forward to rectify it, then it didn't mean that much to either of you.  There's no shame in that...it's just how it is.  So I hope that lifted a little burden off of him.  Our conversation ended with me crying for no reason.  I had no idea why I did but he said he suspected maybe it was just releasing some of that old hurt.  Crying for that bride to be who finally had to say to her future in laws "everyone is so damn worried about how "Bob" feels but no one cares about how the bride feels and what she's being asked to do."  Crying for missing out on a chance to have a second family instead of feeling like an outcast that wrecked everything.  Crying for the Mr not having anyone he could truly trust and turn to in his time of need that was worthy of the privilege.

I know we'll discuss it again at some point and some people wonder if we ever feel like we missed out by not getting to "sow our wild oats" when we were teenagers.  I often wondered that myself for the Mr, especially being a child of divorced teen parents.  Somewhere in the dark recesses I was terrified he'd wake up one day realizing he'd given up too much to be with me.  But if I had any doubts, they were alleviated last night after the Mr explained in a very loving way that basically I was worth the turmoil we had to go through.

So Mr, I'm glad I knew you when I was young and I'll be honored to know you when we are old.

I love you.

How old were you when you met your spouse?

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Weather Envy

I know people getting slammed by Stella are griping about having to shovel out of the current snowstorm but snow people like myself are quite jealous.  The only time this season we had to snowshoe was our Christmas week in Vermont and that was last year so you know, we've had NOTHING this winter season in my neck of the woods.  Many days, I find myself checking out the trails at Trapp Family Lodge where we snow shoed in Vermont.

One day in early January, I actually sat there for 20 minutes watching this little girl gleefully play by herself in the snow.  It made me so happy, I actually screenshot it...

A couple of times she flopped down and made snow angels, snow balls that she tossed in the air and then took her little spoon sled  (affiliate link) she's throwing around and attempted to sled a 12 inch "hill" by the yurt on the right.  I sat there watching her with tears in my eyes so happy at that freedom she had.  I prayed that she was enjoying that moment and would remember it when she's my age.  That's what snow is all about for me.  It represents that childhood innocence.  The excitement of a snow day off school when you bundled up in your snowsuit and played until you had the cold sweats, a runny nose and numb fingers.  A time when you'd watch the snow fall and think of the fun you'd have, not gripe about the long commute to work and the idiots who don't know how to drive in it.  A time when you looked at the weather through the eyes of a child and not as a jaded adult.  

Of course yesterday I had to check out the trails as Stella made her way in.  I gasped at the sight.

Early in and they already have a base.  You know what we have?  Nothing.  Again.  You know I'm desperately jonesing for a way to talk the Mr into driving out there Friday morning, shoeing on Saturday and then making the long drive back Sunday.  He'll never go for it especially since we're going on our getaway a few days later but still, it's nice to dream.  It's nice to think of showshoeing up to the chapel again and ringing the bell in victory.  It's nice to think of how the wind never touched us because we were sheltered by the tall trees from it as we were on the trail.  Or to laugh as we blinked off the snowflakes that stayed on our nose and eyelashes.  I miss that so much.

So if you're in the path of Stella and find yourself groaning about more snow to shovel (one of our favorite cardio activities by the way.  We literally fight over who gets to do it when it snows and yes, if we lived closer to you, we'd totally come by and do it for you), think of the people like us.  People who just want to slide on their thermals, put on their balaclavas and thick gloves and act like kids in the snow.  Get out there and be a kid again yourself...adulthood can wait an hour.

Do you have snow where you are?


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Travel Wish List

As vacation season starts to gear up, it gets me thinking of travel gadgets and stuff I probably have no use for but eh, it's fun to browse.  It didn't help the new Magellan's travel catalog arrived tempting me with goodies.  Here are some things that caught my eye.

Luggage Cup Holder - Freehand Travel Drink-Caddy (affiliate link) 

Okay, I never, ever get drinks in the airport because our flights tend to be long haul and I'm trying to keep my record for not having used an airplane bathroom in over a decade in tact.  But if I did imbibe in an 8-24oz beverage, this seems like it would be pretty awesome!  5 star reviews on Amazon too.


Toothette® Oral Care Swabs with Dentifrice (affiliate link) 

Actually, I've used something close to this and thought they didn't make anything like them anymore. When you're on a long haul flight, especially a red eye, these are a great way to not knock the flight attendants over with dragon breath when you say "buh byyyyyye" or the lady who lei's you off the plane.


Samsonite Manual Scale (affiliate link) 

Okay, I was going to say once our manual luggage scale like this gives out we'd replace it with a digital one but you know what?  That means batteries and I guarantee they'd peter out when we need it most.  Look, we're not those people who can pack a whole week's worth of crap into a cute little carry on (besides, the airlines are catching onto your game and they're starting to charge anyway.)  ONE of my shirts takes up the room of three skinny girl shirts plus we usually vacay 2-3 weeks so this is a necessity for us.  I can't count how many times we've just squeaked in so we don't have to pay more.  If you're like us and pack too much, consider this bad boy.


ExOfficio Women's Give-N-Go Full Cut Brief (affiliate link) 

These are supposed to be moisture wicking and odor blocking.  This sounds like a good deal for travel day because there's just nothing worse than when your bits are crammed together for 8 hours on a plane or car ride.  Are we the only ones that call it "car crotch?"  Yes?  Forget what you read.

What are some travel gadgets you'd like to get or have and swear by?

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Wallpapering of small town USA weekend recap

This weekend was a whirlwind.  Dang man, it's over already?  But then again, you feel that way when they take an hour from you.

We did a little road trippin' and on the way back we decided to pitstop by an historic district that has recently been invaded by the hipster swarm.  On the back of some gastropub or beard wax place or skinny jean emporium, was a pretty cool chalkboard that people filled in.

Sorry to whomever wants to meet Bob Ross because the only way that's happening is if they go see the happy little trees in heaven.

The other one had some cool ones too...

My favorites were "heal the Earth", "help heal a soul in need" and "save the bees."  "Not be a scrub" was a pretty close contender as well.

We passed by a restaurant and I must say this was rather nice to see.

Not just for the sake of unity but the fact that not only did they list size but it was at the top, made me feel like there was hope for society at at least one place.

We did a little shopping at your ubiquitous boutique that you can now find in every town.

Ahh, the wallpapering of America is even in the niche stores now.  *yawn*

But leave it to an outlet store like the "As Seen on TV" shop to keep things real.

At first we thought there was some bum's rush for emoji pillows and some kids went ape chit in there.

Then we saw the stock room...

(Note rogue Thighmaster knock off in lower corner)

Sunday night I rewarded the Mr with this dinner...

Bacon wrapped filet mignon, caramelized onion twice baked potato and mixed veggies.  Hey, the man cuts my produce for a 2 week period with nary a complaint so he deserved it.

We had to take our cars in to the dealer late last night for a recall.  Apparently our undercarriages will rust out and fall off.  Sounds about like my body.  So we get to go back tonight and pick it up in rush hour traffic.  Aces.  But at least they'll be done and we won't have to worry about it.

What did you do this weekend?


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What I'm Reading This Week #10

Happy Friday everyone!

Woo hoo for da weekend!  Let's get straight to...

4 Times You Should Avoid The Scale At All Costs  (While I would love to have the leisure of doing #1, I can't.  Grrr.)

Adrienne's Dramatic Before and After Is a Total "Eff You" to the Scale  (Awesome and amazing!)

Strength vs. Cardio — Here's How You Should Structure Your Workout (Okay, are we the only people that do strength one day and cardio another.  We don't combine.)

How to Stop Muscle Cramps in Their Tracks  (Good info if you suffer from them!)

There's No Easy Way to 'Jumpstart Your Metabolism'  (Courtesy of the Mr)

Why do I crave salt? How to curb salty cravings and what to eat instead  (I'm not a salty person but for those that are)

The One Thing That's Missing From Your Fitness Goals  (Interesting)

4 Reasons To Eat More Calories (And Carbs) At Night  (Food for thought)

4 Keys to Fat Loss Beyond “Eat Less and Move More”  (Good things to look at)

5 Tips for Handling Insecurity  (Will have to get on this)

The Art and Science of "Cheat Meals"   (Thought provoking approaches)

Makeover Lasagna (If you're looking to cut calories and sodium compared to restaurant lasagna)

31 Slang Terms for Sex From the Last 600 Years  (17, 20 and 23 will be getting used)

U2’s Adam Clayton on ‘The Joshua Tree’: ‘We Felt It Was Going to Be a Breakthrough Record for Us’  (30 YEARS!?  Oy, I'm going to be worm food before I know it.)

Don't forget y'all, it's time to spring forward this weekend!  So Sunday morning (or Saturday night before bed) set your clocks ahead by an hour!

What are you into this weekend?

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Procrastination vs. Action

The Mr and I came off of a disappointing bout with the scale last weekend.  He lost nothing and I gained a pound for no good reason.  He tracked and did everything right and I know that my water wasn't great and that I got a seriously brutal deep tissue massage the day before so inflammation was probably rampant.  But despite having reasons that a piece of machinery could spit in your face, it gets pretty daunting busting your ass 6 days a week, feeling sore every day in various spots, tracking your calories only to get a pound here, nothing there and a gain for fun.

I know that I need to get off my butt more during the day.  I've said it a zillion times before but do I do it?  No.  Do I have the time to do it?  Yes.  Actually, I should be doing it now but you know, Deathtrap  (affiliate link) is on and I'm entranced by Christopher Reeves' performance.  *sigh*  I think there's a part of me that is like "hey, remember that time you worked out twice a day for two weeks and not only did you not lose weight but ended up a pound higher than you started?  That's what will happen if you are up and around more."

Well no, not really, it's not like I'm talking about doing HIIT workouts every hour, I'm talking about getting off my butt for 5-10 minutes an hour and either doing a walking workout, PT exercises, stretches, etc.  In my mind it's so clear and cut yet I can't will myself to get up and do it.  How is it I have no problem willing myself downstairs to workout 6 days a week for an hour but I can't seem to get motivated to get off my butt once an hour?  I know I have better success getting my water in for the day if I chug a bunch in the morning but it's so easy to just get caught up in work or surfing the web and then before I know it it's 2pm and I need to even start my water bottle.  This has been my pattern for years.  Why is this so hard to break?  It's rhetorical...only I can figure that out for myself.

I NEED to get this under control because honestly, I know it's a big hurdle to why the scale is stuck for us.  We both sit on our butts all day and all night and are active for an hour a day.  Working from home is not the awesomeness that people assume it is.  You lose pretty much all motivation to break your blood supply with the couch/office chair and your social skills retard to the level of 1st grader or you are so happy to see another human when you go out, you talk to them non stop like Stryker talking to the grandma on the plane.

(image from Pinterest- best movie evah (affiliate link) )

I had so much to get done yesterday, it wasn't feasible to take so many breaks so I couldn't do the timer break thingy but I did get up a few times and do some walking in place but nothing like I want to do.  Today I have NO EXCUSE!  So if you leave a comment reminding me to get up then I will do so and then go set the microwave timer to make sure I keep doing it throughout the day.  I know...sad.

Do you have problems going from knowing you should do something to actually doing it?

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Assault with a glutey weapon and movie night

Happy Wednesday y'all.

How is the weather in your area because in ours it's pretty much been rain and wind so we haven't been able to get out and walk without the hazard of potentially blowing over.  I'm hoping it's supposed to be sunny today so we can do that as our cardio today.  We've got some plans tonight so whatever we do is going to have to be early.

Last night we did a killer barre workout from Fitness Blender and the gams are not happy today but they needed to be worked.  Then when it was over, we did our PT and I swear my butt cheeks were going to shoot off.  I actually feared the Mr would be killed by my glute shrapnel from the clamshells I was doing after already putting them through the paces.  

When we were done and totally spent on the muscle front, we had a big honkin' turkey burger and sweet potato with fig butter.

We rented Moana  (affiliate link) last night.  I was really looking forward to it and while I liked it, I don't know, it wasn't everything I hoped it would be.  Obviously since we're Hawaii and Hawaiian culture freaks, we had a high bar set.   I can't even put my finger on what I didn't care for in parts.  I'm thinking being so familiar with Dwayne Johnson's voice took me out of it a bit, the song by the crab and some of the stuff at the beginning was dragged out a little longer but all in all I thought it was a cute story.  I'm probably the last person on Earth to see it though.

What is your strongest muscle right now?  What was the last movie you rented?

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How to find balance

I'm in the midst of planning a little getaway that popped up for us in two weeks.  I am so excited but then the dread set in a little bit.  We're a few months away from our big trip for the year and to say weight loss is slow is like the friggin' understatement of the year.  The thought of going to a town we've never been to even if only for 3 1/2 days and trying to eat healthy is just overwhelming.  I looked at several restaurants that looked like "oh, okay this can be a good choice for us" and then a few had calories listed and it was just terrifying.  The ones that looked like the healthiest choices were still anywhere from 800-1100 calories and that was for breakfast!  All I could think was how bloated I was going to be and how much working out we were going to have to do just to attempt to combat that and the fun started to get sucked out of it for me.

I thought of all of the things we could bring with us to help.  Obviously breakfast is an easy one since there is a mini fridge and we can pre-measure cottage cheese, yogurt, some nanas, etc. I can heat up water in the little coffee pot and pour it in oatmeal.  Lunch would be a little more challenging but doable but that is more because of timing than what to bring because I typically have veggies and fruit salad and then either a 1/2 a PB&J or a chicken wrap or something.  So I think if we're going to be out and can make a park or something part of our stop even if we have to eat it in the car we can bring it along with us.  I have plans for dinner and I started going super militant about how this was going to go.  Then the Mr is like "wait, so we're going to a new city and we don't get even ONE meal out??"  My complete and utter anxiety over screwing it up this close to a trip when I'm already having trouble getting the scale to move needs to be balanced with having an experience without being so damn uptight.

Yes, I can have a meal out and while it might be way more sodium than I would make at home or bring with us, one meal won't be the utter death of me.  (Of course talk to me again in a month and see if I'm eating those calorie free words.)  But yes it would totally suck to go somewhere new and have people be like "where did you eat?" and we're like "homemade PB&J and apples."  So I think I can loosen the reins for one meal out of 7-8 that we could potentially have there.  If it's a place we like then we can always go back and make other plans.

We'll be working out the day we leave and then will have to workout the two days we're there in addition to any walking.  I can't sit there and say "oh walking counts" because we've done vacations where we've tried to count just being more active during the day as our exercise and the body points and laughs.  We've done best when we've worked out the whole time and even though it's only two days, if I can't workout at night then I'm truly never going to conquer this crap.

How do you strike your balance when you travel to new places?  Do you bring your own stuff?  Rely on what you hope are healthier choices at restaurants?  Continue formal workouts?

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Scenes from the weekend

Happy Monday peeps!

Can I just tell you that Friday my girl massaged the hell out of my neck, back and arse.  She was like "what did you do?  Your back is jacked!"  Don't I know it!  She spent 45 minutes just trying to undo the fresh hell inflicted upon my neck and upper back.  I think between lots of upper body strength training, poor sleeping positions and switching out pillows, my muscles waved the white flag.  It hurt for anything to even touch the back of my neck for two days but it was so worth it because I finally felt semi human again.  Then came the weekend.

We grabbed lunch and then for some reason, the Mr got the itch to look at hot tubs and we spied this beauty...

I call dibs on the seat on the right with all the jets!!

I wonder how much it is...

Um...

Since when did HOT TUBS cost the same as a friggin' car!?!?  Dream on Mr.

He got to see some stuff he liked so it was time I saw stuff I liked...

"I'm a fox!" (affiliate link) 
"I'm a hound dog!" 

He's BOTH!  :-)   This lil guy was napping and continued doing so in my arms for 20 minutes,

Sunday brunch was blueberry pancakes.

I gave Kodiak Cakes pancake mix a try but ugh, not fluffy they were floppy/rubbery so into the trash it went.  It was fine I guess but I'll take the 200mg sodium hit for the Cracker Barrel mix instead.  So I see a remake in my future.  My egg game was slammin' yo.

We made an exciting impromptu trip booking today but I can't tell ya about that yet.  But I have to say being spontaneous is rather fun...I highly recommend it!

What did you guys do this weekend?  

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What I'm Reading This Week #9

Helllll yeah baby...it's Friday!!!

I don't know why I'm so excited but you know, Friday does that to a person so let's get right to...

The 5 Best Exercises for Fat Loss  (I did #3 last night and wanted to punch something when I was done!)

Why Did I Feel So Uncomfortable During The Nocturnal Animals Opening Credits?   (Apparently I wasn't the only one)

Subway's "Chicken" Contains Just 50 Percent Chicken DNA, Says Investigation  (This just backs up why I thought all meat there tasted the same.  Bleck)

How Friends and Family Cause Weight Gain   (I have experienced this quite a few times when we were really going strong.)

Plus-Size Women Are Still Not Considered Sexy — & That's A Problem  (Video begins on landing.  A great piece/project!)

7 of the Best Foods to Fight Inflammation  (Hurray!  I eat most of these!)

8 Surprising Things Giving You a Headache  (Some of these are surprising)

The 6 Biggest Surprises That Came With Losing 280 Pounds  (This is amazing.  Definitely read!)

Four At Home Exercises You Can Do in Front of Your TV  (I can vouch for them all)

This May Explain Why So Many People Feel Outraged About Childfree Adults  (That's funny, I feel "morally outraged" when people who have no business or means to be parents jump into it blindly and then the kid has to suffer for the rest of their lives because two douches chose to procreate.)

Robert Irwin and Jimmy Cuddle a Sloth   (Oh my goodness he's just like his daddy!  Such a sweetie!)

Stars Remember Bill Paxton As Warm, Talented Actor  (Some really beautiful words from some of his friends and co-stars)

Rob Lowe Remembers Bill Paxton  (Such a sweet tribute to his good friend and such good stories)

The chiro said yesterday my legs were doing well and load balancing properly.  He did say to take the calf raises out of PT because there's just no need because my calves are plenty strong.  I was lucky enough that my massage lady had a cancellation today so I go in at 10:30 for her to dig into my angry muscles.  The hour will fly by because we always chat the whole time.  I was hoping to get in 90 minutes but since I had to go through the front desk for this one I couldn't sneak it in.  Next time.  No real plans for the weekend.

What are you guys up to?

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40 Random Things

I saw this on a social media post and since I didn't do much yesterday to report, I figured we could have some fun.

1. Do you like blue cheese? Nope...just the thought is making me want to yarf.

2. Have you ever smoked cigarettes? Candy cigarettes

3. Do you own a gun?  Squirt

4. What flavor Kool-aid? Don't drink it but if I did, fruit punch.

5. Do you get nervous before a doctor appointment? I used to get "white coat syndrome" really bad and my blood pressure would be sky high and then they'd take it after and it was fine.  Now?  Nope.

6. What do you think of hot dogs? I might have one once a year but they have to be high quality and uncured.

7. What is your all time favorite movie? I cannot possibly answer that but Sixteen Candles is pretty high.

8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? Water or hot tea

9. Can you do a pushup? Yep

10. What are your favorite pieces of jewelry? Wedding/anniversary ring.

11. Do you have a hobby? Kayaking and snow shoeing when winter isn't being an a-hole like this year.

12. Do you have ADHD?  I don't think so

13. Do you wear glasses? Yes

14. Who was your childhood idol? Olivia Newton John

15. Name three thoughts you have right now. Why do I keep forgetting to call the masseuse, I can't wait until this farce of a show "Hunted" is over so I can take it off the DVR, I need to get more organic cleaner so I don't almost pass out cleaning the bathroom.

16. Name three drinks you drink regularly? Water, tea and *maybe* a few times a year pop of some kind.

17. Current worries? Getting some research done, trying to get ahead of deadlines instead of working up to the last minute.

18. Favorite song:  Tearing Me Up by Bob Moses

19. Favorite place to be? Anywhere but here.

20. How did you bring in the New Year? With Kathy and Anderson.

21. Where would you like to go? To Funkytown

22. Name three people who will do this.  Eh, no one.

23. Do you own slippers? Wearing them now since the chiro says no bare feet on hard floors unless I want to screw my feet.

24. What color is your shirt? Red

25. Do you like sleeping in satin sheets? I suppose they'd be good for a romp but I'm not sleeping on those.

26. Can you whistle? Yep.

27. Where are you right now? Watching a lame episode of The Goldbergs.

28. Would you be a pirate? Call me Mococo

29. Favorite food? Anything from Mission Ranch in Carmel and Pequod's Pizza in Chicago.

30. Favorite New TV Show:  Training Day

31. Least favorite subject in school: Math

32. What's in your pocket? My hand to confirm nothing is in there

33. Last thing that made you laugh? Gene Kelly in The Three Musketeers

34. What's your favorite animal? Dog

35. What's your worst injury? These effin' legs

36. How many TVs in your house? 3

37. What is your worse pain?  The best woman in the world doesn't remember me.

38. Do you like to dance? Almost every day.

39. Are your parents living? Yep

40. Do you enjoy camping? It's been too long.  Butane chicken!

Pick 5-10 questions and answer them in the comments!

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