MIA Land

Hey!

I know, I disappeared again . . . But it's been good crazy busy! This weekend was full of fabulous food (Greek Festival and Broad Appetit), fantastic friends, family, and OMG I'M GOING TO MELT sun and heat!
Oy vey! It was hot! this weekend!!!
My Italian's horseback therapy was even canceled! He had already planned on not going, so it was nice to hear that they were canceling class as well.

I got the message that they were canceling while I was on my way to Broad Appetit with friends.


Essentially it's a several block long food festival! Restaurants from around the Richmond area came and did samplings of food for $3. I picked up some Pork terderloin w/ fruit chutney from . . . I forget now. Dang it. But it was very good!

Then I went over to Urban Farmhouse and got some of their organic strawberries in a honey yogurt.
Seriously? the picture doesn't do it justice. I almost licked the plate when I was done. Come to think of it . . . I think I did lick the plate. SO INCREDIBLE! Definitely something I'm going to make at home. Strawberries and yogurt with a good amount of honey mixed in. Hrmm . . . it's the perfect dessert. Doesn't stand up in heat too well though. You can see it was already starting to melt some.

After that we went back to the Greek Festival. My Italian and I had been there on Saturday, as had my friends, but we went back because I dropped my Italian off and went to see my cousin who lives a block away. My aunt, her husband, my cousin's brother and his family were there and since I don't see my other cousin and his family very often (his wife was one of my bridesmaids) I wanted to go see them. By the time we got back to the Greek Festival, my Italian was overheated and cranky. So we went home. I hadn't gotten my gyro! grrrrrr!!

My Italian stayed home Sunday because of the heat. So I went with my friends, after Broad Appetit to the Greek Festival and promptly got in line for a gyro. YUM! Oh I can't wait for November when they have the mini-Greek festival. Or I just need to find a good Greek restaurant in Richmond.

Anyone know of a good Greek restaurant around here??

We looked at the market they had. Lots of really pretty . . . expensive . . . stuff. I then stopped for some lo . . . loli . . . crap! What were they called? Anyway. It was blobs of dough fried then heated up in honey and sprinkled with cinnamon. YUM! So good.

Needless to say . . . I indulged myself with food this weekend. Lots of food, not so much intentional exercise. I did walk . . . 2 laps around Broad Appetit and lots of walking around the Greek Festival.

After the Greek Festival we were all roasting and feeling ickie. So we stopped at by their house so they could pick up their suits and we returned to our apartment to play in the pool.

Does this make sense to anyone else? It's blistering hot outside and where do we jump in first?

The Hot Tub!

It made perfect sense at the time. Thinking about it now? I'm scratching my head going . . . huh?

Eh . . .

We jumped in the pool next then back in the hot tub . . . just in time for it to start to rain! ERGH!

Once the rain let up, a rainbow showed up. I tried to get a picture of it, but the phone on my camera couldn't grab it. :-(

Back to the apartment we went. Dinner was chicken, quinoa, and a bag of steamer veggies. The guys had the rest of the neopolitan ice cream (the strawberry. I ate all the chocolate and vanilla) and I made Michelle and I some blackberry sorbet . . . at least that's what I'm calling it. I blended frozen blackberries and added a packet of Truvia.

So good! It's also good for killing the ice cream/milkshake cravings I get. That was a bizarre discovery. But good to know.

They went home and my Italian and I collapsed into bed. (After we got the kitchen sorta cleaned up and I packed my bag for the abs class the next day.)

I worked through my lunch Monday and got to Curves about 4:30 for their 5 abs class. So I went ahead and did my work out, then the class started just as I finished the last machine of the circuit. So I got a nice hour long work-out in on Monday, came home, fed my Italian and went for a 30 minute bike ride on my new-to-me road bike!

It was my Grandpa's bike and was just a hair to big for me. Since I was meeting Michelle to go riding yesterday, I wanted to get a short ride in on my own to get used to the way it handled and be somewhat comfortable on it. I rode for about 30 minutes (It took me 15 to get the tire pumped up . . . figuring out a new pump is a bitch!) then came home and pooped out.

Yesterday my Italian was at his parent's house for dinner so I picked up a salad from WaWa and ate that while changing to go riding.

We ride out at WestCreek parkway. It's a 6 mile loop that has a hill that has kicked my butt! I made it up this time! **happy dance** We ended up riding 8 miles and my legs were jello (!) afterwards.

OH! I had my appointment with my new endocrinologist, Dr. Wigand!!

I LOVE HIM!

The person who recommended him to me told me that he was larger than life personality wise. She wasn't kidding!

He sorta reminded me of a small giant. My guess is that he is 6 ft (tops) tall. But he has HUGE features and a large (loud) voice. But honestly, the nicest guy. And he talked to me like I knew what he was talking about! He listened to my concerns and addressed them.

I think he and I will do just fine. He took some blood and is testing my thyroid, adrenals, and glucose sensitivity (that's not how he phrased it, but I forget what he called it).

OH! But genius of geniuses . . . I forgot my health insurance card! ARGH! So I told them I would fax it to them when I got to work. Guess what I realized I hadn't done on my way home from work . . .

yea. Didn't fax it. In fact, I still haven't faxed it. Probably should get on that. Ergh . . .

That's pretty much about it . . . after I got back from riding last night I vacuumed and again collapsed into bed. Would you believe me if I told you that getting up for work this morning was REALLY hard? (It was!)

Okay, back to work and sending my health insurance card off. (I can't afford those tests! Yeep! I don't even want to think what the visit costs!)

Play vs. Exercise

I HATE running. I really want to like it, but I just can't seem to get into it. Albeit (<-- I've been wondering . . . is that really a word?) I did play soccer for 10 years, still was never good at running, nor did I enjoy it.  

How did I do that? I played fullback! Though I did play some midfield but I usually hung back some.

See . . . I wasn't always a couch pa-tater! Just after my sophmore year in high school. I quit marching band (yes, I was a band geek) and soccer (everyone started taking it WAY too seriously!).

I've never been one to take sports or that sort of thing too terribly serious. So when I stop and look at my attempts to exercise recently, I'm struck by this one fact.

I'm being WAY TOO serious about this!

Life is supposed to be fun right? You're supposed to enjoy living.

I mean the shortened version of the Westminster Catechism (Or is it the Westminster Confession . . . I don't recall) is To Love God and Enjoy Him Forever

Frankly . . . I think people are taking this eggz-er-ma-size thing waay to seriously.

Eeeehhh . . . Let me take that back. I've been taking this eggz-er-ma-size thing way too seriously. I always say that mentally I'm about "dis minee." And I'm usually holding up between 3 and 5 fingers.

Kids don't exercise at that age. Not on purpose! They play! So that's going to be my concentration for the next week. To play more! I don't know what that looks like . . . I'm still figuring that out.

Actually I lied. Playing = Doing stuff you enjoy! What do I like doing? Hiking, biking, swimming (eh . . . I don't know . . . maybe?), climbing (where in the world am I going to go climbing? Do I really like climbing? I'm afraid of heights!).

What got me started thinking on this was continuing to research and look more into the paleo lifestyle, not just the diet. I found this article. The Definitive Guide to Play from Mark's Daily Apple

No, I haven't drank the kool-aid yet. (They didn't have kool-aid. What would be . . . ya know what? I don't even want to think about it! ICK!)

Please don't get me wrong, I'm not abandoning the things I've been doing. I'm not quitting Curves (frankly I enjoy that) and Jillian will continue to torture me. Though I still haven't gotten the nerve to attempt her Yoga Meltdown.

How do you like to play?

Dad Update

Did you drink your water today? I did far better today than I have been. Thanks Dad! Next time can you not do motivation that way please! I didn't sleep well last night because I was worried about you!


I called Mom about 3 or 4 today and she said she had just gotten home. Dad was with her! Dad is home now! WHOOT! He has to wear a heart monitor for the next month and he's going to continue to drink water and have a bottle with him at work.

He said the water went straight through him so he figured he was hydrated enough. I advised him to keep on keepin' on. His body wasn't used to being fully hydrated and it will take some time, but the water will eventually quit going straight through.

The doctor suggested he go on a Mediterranean Diet. (YUM!) So Dad picked up a cookbook on the way home (Mom dropped him off at work where his car was and he drove himself the rest of the way home).  I'm going to do some research myself and see what I find.

I am SO GLAD he's home. Maybe I'll get to sleep at a decent hour tonight?

More Reason to Get Healthy & Stay Hydrated

I got a call from Mom today about my Dad. He was taken from work to the hospital in the rescue squad.

Several years ago he had a pulminary embolism and was hospitalized. He had a blood clot in his lungs and had to have his gall bladder removed. (I know, WAY TMI, but there is a point)

He was at work today and started feeling dizzy, light-headed, and weak. Because of his medical history, he was a little worried. They called the rescue squad and took him to the hospital. An EMT used Dad's phone and called Mom. She said who she was, that Dad was conscious (did he lose consciousness?) and then handed the phone to Dad.

They took him to the hospital and put him on a saline IV. He improved and felt better as time went on. They're keeping him overnight for observation and Mom should be able to pick him up tomorrow. Mom and I are thinking it was dehydration

*sigh* Bad DAD!! BAD!!

I'm getting him a couple water bottles for Father's Day. With a note instructing him to drink both of them completely gone daily! (I DO NOT want to hear about that happening to him again!)


Apparently he's also eating all of the grain and gluten enough for both he and I! (grrr!) I won't go so TMI and tell you what he had for breakfast, but lets just say . . . it was all bread/grain related.

But I've been thinking about Dad and this situation since I got off the phone with Mom.

I've been slacking on my water intake recently. Pretty badly. So back to water I go!

In addition to that . . . I am my father's daughter! Almost to a fault. So remembering and thinking back to his gall bladder surgery and health problems reminds me of just one more reason I am in this weight loss and get healthy mode.

Dad, I'm sure is doing fine and it was just serious dehydration. I'm SO going up there this weekend to lecture him!!

So . . . go drink your water and then drink some more!

(I . . . am going to bed.)

Food & the Great Pantry Clean-Out

Tonight is looking like it's going to be a kitchen night for me. When we went to the grocery a couple weeks ago we picked up 5 lbs of hamburger meat for my Italian and his (ick!) Hamburger Helper. Well . . . instead of separating it into 1 lb chunks, like I was supposed to, I put all 5 lbs in the freezer.

So you're not supposed to re-freeze meat after it's been thawed (not that I haven't done it before with no problems . . . but that's another story for another day) I am going to make up 5 boxes of Hamburger Helper tonight!

YAY!

Can you sense the sarcasm? Is it thick enough for you?

I'm also going to put my new toy to work . . . (details to follow in a later post). SO EXCITED!

I haven't figured out what's for dinner for me, but my Italian is having some form of Hamburger Helper. I think we have 5 HH, if not, I'm tossing some black beans in a pot to soak and tomorrow night he's having black beans and hamburger meat over rice or quinoa. Maybe I'll toss in some diced tomatoes with it. That sounds yummy to me!

OH! I should have taken a picture of what I made him for dinner last night! Lasagnia noodles and lentils. Over that was a can of black beans and marinara sauce. He said it was good! It was too much so he had some for lunch today and (if he didn't finish it today, which I doubt he did) he'll have it for lunch tomorrow!

Why is he eating such funky conctions? We're playing clean out the pantry of stuff Em isn't eating anymore but got tons of when she was eating it! Ideally I'd like . . . to remember what it is I was going to say . . .

I hate when I do that! I start to write something but someone/thing (like doing actual work at work. HA! What a concept!) distracts me and when I come back to it . . . I don't remember what I was going to say!)

OH! Wait! I do remember! Ideally, I'd like for us to eat our pantry empty, as well as our fridge and freezer.

Why?

I don't know. It's a good thing to do every once in a while, me thinks! We're all out of Jello Pudding and just have two boxes of watermelon jello left.

Yes, I ate all the remaining boxes of Jello pudding by myself. Which if you don't like vanilla and that's all you have, adding a little bit of unsweetened cocoa to makes it taste (and look) like chocolate! Total YUM!!

That's my evil plan right now . . . hopefully it will work!

Anybody wanna come over for dinner?

My Own Language & Next Challenge

I realized my last post was a little disjointed . . . let me translate.

Fundage = money

Umm . . . was there anything else that wasn't quite English? Eeeehh . . .

Oh! Un-rendered lard:

Pig fat. The farmer's market vendor, Faith Farms , does all grass fed animals. Even pigs!

Kohlrabi!! That's what it was called! The funky vegetable I was trying to talk about.

This website is where I found the picture and they have what looks like a yummy recipe for it too!! I'm going to have to try it out. If you find kohlrabi at your farmer's market . . . Go for it! It's really yummy . . . raw. I've not tried it cooked yet. That's my next thing . . . (okay that lack of verbage I'm blaming on it being late at night).


I'm going to attempt the hard-core 30 Day Paleo again. I fell off pretty hard.

I came across a blog of a Toronto reporter who did Paleo for 30 days. It was a really interesting read and I learned quite a bit from it. I think now, I might be a little more determined to actually succeed this time. (It helps to not have any cheat days planned.)

Though lunch still has me scratching my head. I guess I need to hard boil a bunch of eggs and take that for lunch with some veggies.

Well . . . I do have to make 4 or 5 hamburger helpers for the hubby tomorrow. (I forgot to separate 5 lbs of hamburger meat before freezing it. So now I have to make it all at once.) So I'll cut up some veggies and hard boil 1/2 of the dozen eggs I have.

Okay . . . it really is late now. I'm off to bed!

Weight . . . up a pound . . . ergh . . . but I know why. **le sigh**

#100!!

YAY!! My 100th blog post! WOOHOO!! 

Sorry, that's it. Nothing spectacular. Yes . . . I know . . . How boring. Stop yawning! You're making me yawn!! 

Eh . . .

So tell me . . . How was your Memorial Day weekend?

Mine? FABULOUS!

Saturday, Julie and I got together for lunch and then spent the day knitting. It was fantastic! We discussed food (my favorite subject), nutrition, blogs . . . OH! Which reminds me! You must go check out her new blog! She's making all her own clothes for a year! That's all I'm going to say about it, so you have to go over there and read it.

Speaking of Saturday (yes, I'm a little ADD today) I FINALLY got to the Farmer's Market with cash in hand! I picked up a dozen eggs, unrendered lard (which I'm going to render tomorrow while I'm at work), beets, radishes and some kobuchi (that may not be right). It's a funky looking vegetable that (I think) is in the cabbage family. It's REALLY good!!

Then I ran out of fundage. But never fear! I picked up lots of fish at the grocery on Friday when my Italian and I went grocery shopping. So it's going to be a seafood & veggie week for this girl this week. I'm hoping to pick up a Cow's heart and some bacon at the Farmer's Market next week. I'm really excited about the cow heart. That should be a fun adventure to try to cook up. I miss bacon too. I can't wait to pick up some pastured bacon!

Other than that . . . I gorged myself on Sunday at my in-laws annual Memorial Day picnic . . . and then felt ugh later. Food over-load. Junk food overload!

But! I did get to hold the cutest lil baby! It was so much fun and he look JUST like his dad!

Okay, my wrist is now screaming at me and I've got a pile of work to do!

Sorry for the disjointed, ADD blog post today. (Can you tell I forgot to take my meds this morning? LOL!!)