Annnnd Another One!

How to keep an idiot busy (and maybe a few of us who aren't!).

K - I'm Just Surfing Now

This was a fun test. See how your handwriting stacks up! (I made this guy fall in love with me:)!)

Handwriting test

New Fun Website

http://www.onesentence.org/

This was actually very funny! I've got it on my sidebar, too.

IHOP Free Pancake Day

Rude to post this right after a diet update, but I have to share!

IHOP is having a free pancake day nationwide (sorry, Shandee!). Here are the details.

Honesty is the Best Policy, Right?

So, here's an update -- I went up 1/2 pound this week, thanks to the calorie counter analysis not being right and a bad choice at a restaurant this week. I lost 1/2 inch around my thighs :), and the rest of me stayed the same. I'm enjoying my yoga and belly dancing, although I am NOT posting pictures until at least next month, when I'm not as spastic and I have some of the moves down right! For now, you'll just have to imagine me doing a figure 8 with my hips while quivering my legs. Yes, that should give you nightmares for awhile!

Rom has lost 11 pounds so far and is doing great! He does a lot more working out than I do, plus he's a spaz. Go, Rom!

This week, I'll be eating Rice Enchiladas, Indian Tofu with Spinach, Moroccan Lentil Soup, Avocado Veggie Tacos, and Lime Steamed Salmon. That leaves one day for leftovers and one for eating out. All my recipes and more can be found at my recipe blog, The Flagging Chef.

I'm still looking for new recipes! If you have any easy family friendly favorites, please share either here in my comments or on my CFS website Chronic Fatigue Community, bottom of the page.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go eat lunch and find some chocolate.

Dang! A Technical Difficulty

OK -- well, you know to get healthy, I'm using the calorie counter as a guide to dieting. Well, I just figured something out. The analysis they did and the number of calories they recommended for me was to maintain my weight, not to lose any!!! So, that explains the PLATEAU that I have been experiencing, and why Rom has busted through his and is losing weight nicely. So, to get to my goal weight, I need to eat 200 less calories than I have been. Go figure! So, here's to starting over!

I'm still belly dancing, though -- too fun! Guess which of these is me!

A Gift from Grandma Howells?

see more pwn and owned pictures

Is This You?

The service area was located on a main highway leading to the beach. The pump attendant was accustomed to seeing tired and sunburned occupants in the cars that pulled in to tank up. When a rusty old station wagon containing a very tired looking couple and seven screaming children pulled into his station, the attendant tried small talk to cheer the occupants.

"Hope you had a good day at the beach! Nice looking kids there. Are they all yours or is this a picnic?"

Wearily, the driver replied, "Yes they are all mine and it is NO picnic!"

Day of Reckoning

So, Rom and I detoxed for one week, and we've been counting calories and eating healthy for one week. I've watched enough "Biggest Loser" to not be discouraged by my results today. I did not gain or lose weight this week. But, considering you typically put back on a pound or two after a juice detox and week 2 is notoriously a plateau, I'm feeling pretty good about our direction!

Lynda made a comment about my BMI not looking too bad -- Yep, it's pretty good, but it doesn't tell the whole story. Once my CFS hit, I made a common mistake of trying to keep up with my normal exercise routines ... which led to major crashes ... which led to no exercise at all ... which led to 33% body fat and several inches gained around my mid-section (the danger zone), hips and thighs. So, I'm actually trying to eke my way back into shape and change the fat to muscle. This week, I've lost a total of one inch in those problem areas, so I'm feeling like I'm on track!!!

By the way, ladies, belly dancing is so fun! The moves are surprisingly pretty simple, and you feel so sexy! I highly recommend it for anyone hating exercise in general.

I wanted to throw out one more item to add to your New Year's resolutions -- Pamper yourself!!! This is especially for you new moms and preggos out there. Do something NICE for yourself everyday! Here's a favorite of mine -- I bought a big, fluffy spa towel, and before I get in the shower, I throw it in the dryer for 5-10 minutes. Then, when I get out of the shower, it is still warm and cozy! It feels so good! My other favorite -- fuzzy socks! They feel so soft on my feet, it's like I'm walking on air all day long. Love it!

Are you on track? How did you do with your resolutions this week? Do you have any good pampering ideas? I'd love to hear about it!

Poem for Danya

Mom posted this poem for Lauri, and I thought it was beautiful. My friend, Danya, has the opposite problem as Lauri -- health issues that keep her from having babies, so she's started the road to adoption. I think this poem is just as perfect for her (with some modifications) as the rest of us!

Investment
How enviously
I watched
The rose bush
Bear her bud-
Such an easy,
Lovely birth.
And
At that moment
I wished
The sweet myth
Were true -
That I could Pluck you,
My child,
From some
Green vine.

But now
As you breathe,
Through flesh
That was mine
(Gently in the
Small circle
Of my arms),
I see
The wisdom
of investment.

The easy gift
Is easy to forget
But what is bought
With coin of pain-
Is dearly kept.

Carol Lynn Pearson

Mission: A Healthy New Year!

Your mission, should you choose to accept it is this: Have a healthy New Year!

There are many ways to accomplish your mission. Diet, exercise, sleep, stress, simplifying, giving, and organizing -- all can add up to a happier, healthier you! A lot of us have been plagued with health issues, and we know something has to change! Climb on board, and we can do it together now.

Choose a goal, and comment to let me know what you want to work on. I'll share my goals with you, too. I'll post my progress and let you know how I'm doing, and we can support each other.

I'm starting with exercise and eating healthy. Lynda shared a fantastic website with me for tracking calories -- Calorie Counter. I'm using this tool to keep a food diary. Also, I've done a menu for this week. I'm eating Baked Pesto Chicken, Herb Roasted Winter Veggies over orzo pasta, Skinny Tortilla Soup, Baked Salmon with Tomatoes and Spinach, and Aloo Gobi. That leaves two days for leftovers or eating out. All the recipes can be found on my recipe blog, The Flagging Chef. And how's that for amazing linking all in one paragraph!

For exercising, I am increasing my yoga incrementally, and I have begun belly dancing! You all know what that means, don't you? Once I can put together a routine, I will have the kids video tape me belly dancing, and I will post it here! I strongly recommend keeping bamboo skewers on hand in case you feel the need to poke your eyes out after.

To help with my chronic fatigue, I will also continue my pacing (which, by the way, is fantastic for simplifying your life even if you don't have chronic fatigue!), improve my sleep habits, and work on stress reduction, too.

Funny Business

OK, you know how I said in the last post that our business appears to have turned a corner? Well, then it went up, up, up very high, and whoosh -- straight down again, and then zig zagged left and right and then up, up, up again, and we were held suspended in air, looking down from a great height, holding our breaths, and then zoom! rocketing toward the ground and certain death, and then just at the last minute, another whoosh and we just missed rock bottom and started up again...

I'm not sure if I'm going to laugh, scream, or vomit.

But, really, owning your own business is so fun!

Top 10 Signs It's Going to Be a Good 2009

10. After my detox, I am now once again under my top pregnancy weight.

9. During Christmas vacation, the kids were giggly and happy and played well together and did not devolve into this:



8. Our new business appears to have turned a corner.

7. I, unlike 3 of my sister/sisters-in law, did not have a baby (more power to you, sistas!).

6. Johnette the angel has volunteered to wake Kyara up for seminary every morning for me, so I can recuperate better.

5. Romers is back into water polo to take the edge off his hyperness.

4. All right, let's be honest -- all the kids are back at school, which leaves me with some happy quiet mornings.

3. I spent the end of the year with Rom in San Diego in a glorious torpor where my every whim and fancy was indulged to perfection.

2. I went to the best New Year's Eve party EVER! (Check out Danya's blog -- it has some fantastic videos, especially Shandee's karaoke and Tara's "Eye of the Tiger.")

1. Hey -- I survived 2008, didn't I?

Christmas Wrap Up

Here's the final post about Christmas! I would have written earlier, but Romney had stolen my camera and I couldn't get to the pictures.

We had a wonderful evening at Mom and Dad's house Christmas Eve. It was very casual -- we ate a lot and talked a lot. We didn't stay forever, so we were able to make it a relatively early night to bed!

You can tell when I'm finally completely wiped out, because I stop taking pictures! I missed most of the kids opening presents, but I got the big one -- Wii and Guitar Hero. I didn't get any pictures at all at John and Terri's house, but we all enjoyed a wonderful dinner and another casual time talking and playing with cousins and catching up.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Christmas Catch Up

OK, so instead of separate posts, I'm just going to cram in everything at once! Johnette and Anneli had a very nice Christmas choir concert. They performed very well. Johnette is a little more of a ham; Ana gets shy in the spotlight! Their teacher is kind of crazy, so it went on a little longer than it should have, but the girls were fantastic.

Gavin's 1st grade class did a play about a little tree teaching us all the true meaning of Christmas. Gavin was darling! He remembered all his lines and spoke out loud and clear. It was very fun to watch.

I also included some pictures of the lights in our neighborhood. Our neighborhood always does them up so well! I didn't even get the ones further down the street, which are truly spectacular. I'll have to see if I can't catch them early next year, before I'm too tired to do anything!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

I'll finish my Christmas posts with some Christmas Eve pictures.