A Summer Cold and Classes

I was all set to give my best on this first week of my summer break, but I have been sick all week. The cold started last weekend and I'm still feeling it. I also got sick to my stomach and have been eating bland foods which means lots of carbs. I haven't been sick to my stomach for almost 48 hours, but I'm still not feeling up to eating normal food yet. I've spent most of this week sleeping, watching TV, sleeping while the TV is on, and reading for my summer classes. I've decided to let myself just get better first and then get back on track. My dogs have also been lazy right along with me:

As for classes, I'm really enjoying them minus the discomfort of being sick and trying to stay awake and concentrate. Summer classes are only eight weeks which means projects due quicker than last semester. Also, when I'm physically in class, I'm there from 4-10 pm which means six hours! Luckily we only meet in class once a week and have assignments online for the other "class" period. So far the diversity class is my favorite. We did an activity last night where everyone had to wear a label on their back with a description of a person from a non-dominant cultural group. Then we had to walk around and tell each other stereotypes while we figured out who we were. Of course I got stuck with a difficult one!

Other than that, I really haven't been up to much. I did happen to stumble upon a few garage sales on the way to the grocery store today. I love getting some clothes to tie me over for the summer at such great prices. Here are some of the things I got today:

Once I'm feeling back to normal, I have a meal plan and some exercise ideas in mind to get the summer weight loss started. Until then, I guess I deal with the major weight gain last week and four pounds down this week due to not keeping my food down the other day.

My Life as of Recently

Lots has been going on recently and summer break is finally here. I'll start with the weight loss stuff first and then get into what has been going on in my life. I started using Lose It! to track my food and exercise. I don't have a smart phone, so I use it on my computer. I like the program and I have a couple of family members using it, so it is nice to have some support. I spent two weeks maintaining and trying to get back on track. This past week I know that I have been eating too much and don't even want to step on the scale. Now that I am not working, I'm going to come up with a plan for the summer for weight loss and exercise. In fact, that is one of the things on my to-do list today.

Like I said, lots has been going on recently. We (my St. Joe friends) had a going away party for two of my friends that are moving to Detroit. It wasn't all that long ago that we had a going away party for one of my friends in this group that moved to Knoxville. Even though I didn't live close enough to Lafayette to be there all the time to do stuff, it was nice knowing that in an hour and a half I could be there and see everyone. One got a master's degree and the other a PhD, so I am proud of them for their achievements and first jobs with those degrees.

This is most of our group my freshman year at St. Joe.
 

Here is a pic of us from our group that graduated the same year. Notice how I'm the only BA in the group with the white tassel.

Another exciting thing (at least in the life of a homeowner) is that we got our 70's brown gutters and soffits replaces with some nice white new ones. It is the first thing that we dropped a pretty penny on for the house, but it makes such a difference. I still would like to paint the shutters and sides of the house that are still 70's brown (maybe a nice gray to tie in with the color of the roof), but to be honest, the brown shutters aren't bothering me so much since the white gutters/soffit are up.

The house when we got it.

The house now (please ignore the fact that I need to edge the yard and do some weeding - I'm injured and have bad allergies).

I had a great school year at work and it came to a whirlwind end like usual. This year is the first year that I had students from kindergarten all the way through fourth grade. After five years, you do have an attachment to the students. I was emotional on the last day of school due to that and some of the other changes that will be happening at work. Heck, even seeing my classroom emptied out felt kind of sad. I know that this is no excuse, but it did play a role in why I haven't done as well this past week in the weight loss department.

On last Thursday, my last day at work (teacher work day), we were able to leave early. On the way home, I found some garage sales to check out. I love a good garage sale, because you never know what kind of goodies you can find for a good price. I only ended up buying stuff at one of them, but it was a great find for me. I found a bunch of jeans, shorts, and capris in my current size and most of them were 25 or 50 cents. I also got two t-shirts and a nice pair of size 12 jeans (for that someday in the future when I'm a 12). I spent around $5.75 for all of this stuff:

After that fun, I loaded up all my stuff that I was taking to the garage sale that my mom, sister, and I were having at my mom's house. My mom and sister had furniture and appliances to sell along with their smaller stuff. All I had was smaller household items and a few odd and end items. I helped my sister set up and price this stuff, so it was ready to go on Friday morning. I hope that next year I have lost so much weight that I have a mini clothing store at the garage sale.

This weekend I have done a few things around the house and started my homework for next week. I'm taking two summer classes- Intro to Mental Health Counseling and Counseling Diverse and Multicultural clients. I'm liking the multicultural book so far (two chapters in), but I've always liked learning about culture. Music is an aspect of culture and that is what I teach. I always though it would be cool to be an enthnomusicologist or get a master's in music history.

I know that you are all jealous of my summer reading!

As for around the house, I mowed the front lawn (really regret- my allergies are still killing me two days later), did some dishes, did some laundry, and started grooming the dogs. I also got most of my sickly plants into the ground now. They have been sitting outside in their containers for two weeks now. I'm lucky that they didn't die, but I'm hoping that they turn around now that I have them in the ground.

 

My husband has done a much better job with his garden. This is a whopper strawberry.

 

I'll close this really long post with some total randomness. The doxies like to lie on this sunken in spot in the futon. Lilly is small enough her whole body fits into this spot that we call "the groove." I just caught her napping there and she looks so cute.

The Weekend Wrap Up for the End of September

Saturday was spent...

• Meeting up with my sister to give her part of her Christmas present early. We were shopping together at Bailey's when we found two sets of tips for cake decorating for a great price. I got them for her and put them away for a Christmas present, but told her she could have them early if she needed them for something. She's going to use them to make a cake for my niece's birthday party. Here's a picture of the invitations my sister made:

• I then went shopping for groceries and other necessities. I actually looked around a quite a few stores first and bought nothing. I'm looking for some sneakers for everyday wear. I have a pair for walking/jogging and didn't want to use them for anything other than working out. The cheapest pair I found that were okay were $10 at K-mart, but I found a pair for $15 that I like better.

I'm a sucker for the black and pink color combination.

• I spent the rest of Saturday lounging, doing a few things around the house, and some dog grooming. I was still feeling pretty tired from being sick.

• My husband cooked us a dinner of baked chicken, wild rice, and acorn squash.

Sunday was spent...

• I did some chores around the house such as laundry, dishes, cleaning the kitchen, cleaning the bathroom, and mowing the yard.

Dirty kitchen after cooking dinner

Clean kitchen the next day

I hang a lot of my laundry up to dry instead of using the dryer.

My nicely mowed and pooper-scooped front yard.

• I made sure to spend plenty of time resting while watching TV and playing Song Pop on Facebook. ;)

Other bits of randomness...

• I love 97.1 The Drive. Not only is their music great and they talk a lot less than other radio stations in the morning, but they send you free stuff in the mail. I recently got a card with Jagger on the front and a luggage tag inside.

• I also stopped a couple of garage sales. There were tons of them this weekend. I am trying not to buy frivolous things, so I got a couple of clipboards for my classroom at the first garage sale. The second one I bought nothing at and the last one I found a few tops for $3. The black tie-dye one fits, but the other ones are much smaller. I will fit into them someday!

A Few Things from Thursday and Friday

I wanted to post everyday, but I guess life gets in the way of that sometimes. I've been doing well with eating on plan, but have been busy. I only have a few days of summer break left and am freaking out about all the things I want to get done.

My ankle was hurting me on Thursday, so I couldn't jog. Instead of getting frustrated, I decided to just walk the same amount of time that I would normally jog. I didn't walk or jog on Friday. Here are the stats:

• 4,139 steps
• 39 minutes
• 1.7 miles

I've been doing a lot of the same old stuff I've been talking about these past two weeks. I finished up my hallway bulletin board at school and started organizing my desks (yes I have two- one in my office and one in my classroom).

I also ran some errands at the mall and got my engagement/wedding band inspected.

It isn't the biggest ring (there seems to be a lot of people obsessed with big rings), but I picked both the rings out myself and love them.

I also happened to be going by a garage sale and found three items of clothing for work. Two of them fit and one is too small, so I'll shrink into it someday.



I also went through my clothes that fit for work and put them into the closet. I found my solution for my leg pain from varicose/spider veins:

I'll let you know if they actually work.

I also found a new brand of wraps to try with my egg wraps for breakfast.

I was all excited to try them, but they don't taste as good as my last brand of wraps. The shape of them is excellent for making wraps though.

As far as the eats go, I've been eating a lot of the same things that you have been seeing for almost two weeks now, so I won't bother you with pictures this time! You will probably see pictures in the next post about what I eat. Also, I would like to do an end of summer post about the goals I set for myself this summer.

Grocery Shopping and Garage Sales

Since my shins hurt me so bad last time I jogged, I decided to take it easy today. I did some very light jogging and didn't always do the full 90 seconds if it hurt (each jog was between 60-90 seconds though). I really wanted to jog faster and get sweaty and worn out, but I can't do that until the shin splints stop.

Today's stats:

• 3,989 aerobic steps
• 34 minutes
• 1.75 miles

After working out, I went shopping to return a few items and get groceries for the next few days. I was supposed to go shopping with my friend Christine, but it was too hot for her. Now that I'm eating more fresh fruits and vegetables, it seems like I might have to shop twice a week. I've noticed if I buy for a full week, things start to go bad before I can use them.

At Meijers I found these weekly menu planning boards for only $2.99 a piece. I bought two of them- one for meals and one for snacks. I'm going to hang them in the kitchen and write down what I eat as I eat it. I might also take pictures of it at the end of the week for records.

On the way home from grocery shopping, I found a garage sale. I looked around and found two new (literally new and in the packaging) bath mats and a really tacky lamp. The tacky lamp is going to be another one of my easy DIY projects. The lamp shade is actually made of hard molded plastic! I'll probably buy a new lamp shade instead of making one, but find something musical and/or peace sign to put inside the body of the lamp. Then I can put it in my office at work.

I also finished spray painting my picture frames for the great room. Since it is supposed to be 100 degrees tomorrow, it might be nice to stay inside and find pictures to put in the frames to finish it completely up.

 

I started out strong with my eats for the day and ended weakly. Here's to a fresh start and a new try tomorrow.

Breakfast

Snack

Lunch

Snack

Dinner

Snack