Yesterday was the anniversary of Jerry's and my first date 22 years ago! It is crazy to me that we've been together so long. I have done lots of anniversary type posts on my blog, so I don't want to be redundant (and this isn't even our wedding anniversary). Instead, I decided to allow my 21-year old self to tell you the story of Jerry's and my first date!
I don't have a photo from the date, but this might be the first photo of us together--so this is what we looked like back then:
A couple of years ago, I bought a VCR at Salvation Army with the intention of recording my old VHS home videos so that I could have them on the computer. I never got around to doing it (I needed a particular cable--I have three sizes of video tapes).
Unfortunately, the only way I was able to get this video was to record the TV while I was playing it from the VHS--so the quality is not good (not that it was great to begin with!). If I can somehow figure out what I need to convert the VHS tapes to digital without having to record the TV with my phone, I'll be thrilled; until then, though, this will have to do.
So, here is the story of Jerry's and my first date on May 15, 1999--told to the camera on May 25, 2003. We'd had a bowl with a bunch of questions written on scraps of paper in it and we took turns drawing questions and asking them to each other. (I completely cringe when watching/hearing myself, but don't we all? Or maybe it's just me!)
In February of this year, I wrote about how Jerry messed up his hair. He'd decided to cut his hair with the clippers by himself, which he'd never done before (I've always done it for him). I have no idea why he decided to do it, but it actually didn't look too bad. I was impressed.
I noticed that he'd missed a very small spot on the back of his head and I told him I'd fix it, but he wanted to do it. He went into the bathroom and we were talking while he pulled out the clippers. I wasn't watching, but I heard him say, "OH NO!" and then I realized what he did.
He'd forgotten to put the blade guard on the clippers, so it shaved the spot on his head completely bald! We were dying laughing. Eventually, he decided to just shave his whole head, which led to another story--he found a weird spot on his scalp that had to be biopsied, yada yada. Here is the whole story complete with gross biopsy photos.
Anyway, yesterday I was teasing him that he looked like John Ritter because his hair was growing out and it looked very "feathered", hahaha. I told him that I'd cut his hair today if he wanted, and he agreed. Then I worked on my blog post while he went and showered.
Apparently, he thought it would be a nice surprise to me if he cut his hair himself. After he was gone for a while, I started to wonder what was taking him so long to shower. I had been working on my blog post for at least 45 minutes by then. I yelled to him to see what was taking him so long and he burst out of the bathroom and yelled, "I did it again!"
I was startled for a second because I had no idea what he was talking about. I took one look at him and burst out laughing. I have NO IDEA why he would attempt to cut his own hair again, but you would think that he would've been extra careful to make sure that he put the blade guard on. Here is a video of him explaining what happened. AGAIN.
I cannot believe that he made the same mistake! It's always been a fear of mine when I cut the boys' hair that I'll accidentally forget to put the blade guard on (I've come close a couple of times).
He hasn't decided what to do with it yet. At first, he asked me if I thought I could blend it... HAHAHA. Last time, he decided to just shave his entire head--but he really doesn't want to do that. One of my friends suggested that he write his name there so it looks like a tattoo. I thought that would be hilarious!
All day today I couldn't stop laughing every time I'd look over at him and see his hair. I hope that the next time he needs a haircut, he'll just have me do it. But I can't imagine this happening a third time! At least it's entertaining ;)
Gah! I don't know what is wrong with me. Obviously I'm bipolar, but these mood shifts are happening so quickly. Much more than usual. I felt on top of the world after Brian and Becky sold us their car a couple of days ago--everything just seemed to be falling into place.
And then after the problems I had with the serger yesterday, I just went into this mood where I wanted to quit everything... sell all of my sewing stuff, my knitting/crocheting stuff, my woodworking stuff, etc. All of my hobbies, basically!
(Yes, I know that's a huge overreaction, but that's a part of me being me.)
I feel like I've been in a rut lately as far as projects go (I want to work on something... badly!). Michigan went on "lockdown" again yesterday and I want something to look forward to working on every day. When I was remodeling the house and then the garage, I felt so excited to put on my work clothes (basically just pants and shirts stained with paint) and get to work.
It was something I really, truly, looked forward to!
The last few things I've attempted to work on have been futile and have left me feeling like something is missing. I started a small project today and we'll see if that works out. But it's nothing big. It's just another attempt at an ottoman, only much smaller and with a little spot for the cats to sleep underneath if they want (of course they will).
This is what it looks like now, but I'm going to paint it and then add a cushion on top for feet and a cushion on the bottom for the cats.
When we went to Brian and Becky's a couple of days ago to pick up the car, it was time for us to leave and I was saying good-bye to Riley. She asked me if Uncle Jerry was going good-bye too, and it was so heart-melting when I had to tell her he wasn't staying! So we arranged to have Luke and Riley stay the night tomorrow night.
My mom really wanted them to stay at her house, however, so I said I'll just pick another time. I'm bummed, but it was super fun to see them the past couple of days! I miss having little kids around. Planning on having them over will give me something to look forward to. I definitely need it.
This afternoon, Jerry and played one of the games I bought at Goodwill... it's called TriBond (Amazon affiliate link). Basically, there are cards that lists three items and you have to decide what they have in common/how they are related.
At one point, we decided to make a bet. Before looking at the card, I said that if I guess it correctly, he would have to dust the window blinds this weekend (something I despise doing!). And he said if I guessed incorrectly, I would have to... ahem... perform a sexual favor. Typical! ;)
The three items listed were: chinchillas, jerboas, and marmots.
I had NO CLUE what the jerboas and marmots were. I could kind of picture a chinchilla, but I really don't know anything about them. Just before my time was up, I guessed that they were rodents. And I was correct! Hahaha! So, Jerry will be dusting the blinds this weekend :)
The game is so much harder than I thought it would be and I'm terrible at it! Jerry, however, is the MASTER of trivia. Seriously, you don't ever want to play against him because he knows the most random and ridiculous things.
One of the questions today showed a few jumbled words and he had to unscramble one of them into an article of clothing. When I looked at the answer, I KNEW he wouldn't get it right because I'd never even heard of the thing! Well, the joke's on me...
Hahahaha, I couldn't believe that 1) he remembered the word, and 2) he learned it from Toy Story 4!
Anyway, it was fun playing a couple of games with him today. I ordered the game that SO many people recommended, Ticket to Ride (Amazon affiliate link), and I just have to go pick it up at Target. (It was on sale for $25 at Target on that day--it's a crazy expensive game, so I was excited to see that! A huge thank you to the anonymous person who left the comment about the sale.) Since Luke and Riley aren't coming over tomorrow, I'll plan to go pick it up then and maybe I'll force my kids teenagers to have a family game night ;)
(That's a terrible picture, but I think it's funny how Chick likes to stand on top of that toy--he does it ALL the time--and then he dangles the little feathery thing for Duck underneath him.)
I feel like I've had NOTHING to write about lately, and it's frustrating starting at a blank screen for so long. So, I figured I'd just tell you a short funny story about Duck today. (If you're new here, we adopted two kittens--Chick and Duck--about a month ago.)
Duck is extremely nosy and likes to get into things--he loves to know what's happening all the time.
I don't know if this is a "thing" with other people's cats, but my cats (even Estelle and Phoebe) always follow me into the bathroom. They walk around my legs and want me to pet them while I'm on the toilet! Apparently, Duck is the same way.
I went pee this morning, and right when I stood up, before I even had a chance to flush the toilet, Duck decided he wanted to jump onto the toilet seat to see what was going on. Well, he literally just jumped right into the toilet bowl!
As quickly as he fell in, he sprang out of there and ran into my bedroom. I was in a panic, trying to pull up my pants and grab a towel to go catch him and clean him up before he got pee-water all over everything!
Thankfully, he didn't go far--just a few feet into my bedroom. But he'd slipped and slid across the bathroom floor, so the floor was very wet. And so was he, of course.
He was NOT happy about it, but I had to get him cleaned up, so I used a washcloth and towel to get him clean. Then he spent the next 30 minutes grooming himself, while I cleaned the bathroom floor.
What fun at 6:00 in the morning!
But anyway, the kitties are doing great--they are getting so big already. I was looking at some pictures from when we first got them and they were tiny. I'll have to do a comparison soon.
Okay, I've got to get ready for bed if I'm going to be in bed by midnight! (My bedtime for the next couple of days).
Here is a cute video of the kittens... I was cleaning out my cross country stuff and decided to see what they would do if I set a cone on the bed. They had a blast with it! Duck loved to dive into the center of it and Chick kept trying to get at him from the outside. Super cute.
Over the last couple of days, SO MANY PEOPLE have recommended this video to me (which I've shared at the bottom of this post). Being a crazy squirrel lady, I can totally see why. A very high-tech squirrel obstacle course? YES.
It's kind of a long-ish video (about 15 minutes), but it's totally worth the watch! I was a little impatient at the beginning when he was talking about bird feeders, but it really highlights that squirrels are serious problem-solvers.
I love that not only is the video adorable and very clever, it shows that squirrels really do have their own personalities and they are very smart. We currently have about six that are "regulars" around here--squirrels that we've named and that visit us daily or at least frequently, and take nuts from our hands.
It was interesting in the video where the videographer mentions that after several tests to see what nuts squirrels like most, they always chose the walnuts. My squirrels are the same! I've offered peanuts, almonds, hazelnuts, pistachios, pecans... but their very favorite is the walnut.
If I have time to sit outside and hand feed them, then I'll give them the walnuts in the shell (their favorite). Or, if they come to the door and I am busy, I'll just leave them a little handful of the shelled walnuts.
I have a squirrel "lunch box" on my deck that I always keep filled with raw, unsalted peanuts (in the shell) so they can come take them as they wish. And the birds can't get into it.
Anyway, the squirrels all have their own personalities, and it's so fun to see their personalities come out as we get to "know" them. And they are super smart! The whole video shows just how smart squirrels are.
Thank you to all of you who thought of me when you saw this! (I would totally love to make a squirrel obstacle course, but that is just a whole level of skills that I don't have right now--all those contraptions!
Thank you for the empathetic comments on the last post--it seems SO many people are in the same boat or can relate in some way.
It has been so hard to think of new things to write about lately. Even the projects that I loved working on are starting to feel mundane during the quarantine. I have so much more time to work on them, so they aren't as exciting.
I'm dying to start using my garage again, but the drywalling is going so slowly. There is a lot to do--I have to install soffit vents between the joists (36 vents total), then staple insulation across all the joists (the garage is 24 feet by 36 feet, so that's a lot of square feet to cover). And finally, I'll be able to install the drywall to the ceiling. Then tape, mud, prime, and paint. I don't know why I thought this would be an easy project!
Well, it's not that it's "hard"--it's just tedious and trying to move the ladder around all of the crap in the garage is a pain. I wish we had somewhere to store everything until the garage is done. It would go so much faster!
Anyway, Chick and Duck are as cute as ever! They've been super entertaining during this quarantine. I really wish they didn't like to sleep on my bed (Estelle used to sleep with me, and she won't anymore), but they are too cute to refuse. Last night, Duck laid across the back of my neck and slept there with his nose in my ear. I was actually able to fall asleep like that! The repetition of his purr was kind of soothing.
Here is a video of the kittens wrestling with each other. They do this a lot--totally entertaining themselves. Chick is the one with longer hair and Duck is the one that falls off the bed.
Phoebe still hates me since we got the kittens. Most of the time, she won't let me touch her and sometimes she'll even growl and hiss at me. I have just been trying to be extra nice to her, hoping she'll come around eventually.
Estelle has gotten more tolerant of the kittens, and I can tell she's very curious of them; but her pride just won't let her admit it. When she thinks I'm not looking, I'll notice her go up to one of them and smell them or she'll sit and watch them play. I really miss having her sleep on my legs all the time! The second I would sit down, it didn't matter when or where, she'd be there to sit on me. She hasn't done that at all after we got the kittens.
Still, I find it hard to believe that Phoebe and Estelle won't fall in love with these two:
And with that, I'll leave you with this post that I saw on Instagram by @behaviorhack. I really like it! I actually like this account a lot--full of great life lessons!
I've been seeing things like this going around Facebook as a fun way to pass the time, and I find it interesting to see just how much a spouse or child knows about someone. I was curious just how well Jerry knows me, so I came up with a list of questions for him to answer about me. And then I had him answer the same questions about me.
After each question, we will each reply with our actual answer. While I was searching for some photos for this post, I came across this video, which definitely highlights Jerry's personality. It cracks me up!
Anyway, in these questions, Jerry will answer what he thinks *I* will say. And then I'll reply with my actual answer.
FAVORITES:
Color -
J: Orange
K: Orange
Food -
J: Pizza
K: Pizza
Scent -
J: Curve (for men)
K: Curve (for men)
Part of my (Katie's) body -
J: Your eyes
K: My eyes, I guess. Right now, I don't like anything :(
Animal -
J: Squirrels--duh
K: Squirrels or cats--it's a tie!
Place to visit -
J: Portland
K: Portland
Pastime -
J: Playing your game on your phone
K: Woodworking
TV show -
J: Shameless
K: Shameless
Movie -
J: Forrest Gump
K: Forrest Gump
Activity to do with the family -
J: Watch a show
K: Watch a movie
Actor/Actress -
J: Tom Hanks/Susan Ward
K: Tom Hanks/Cameron Diaz
Clothes to wear -
J: Yoga pants and gray sweatshirt
K: Loose jeans and a baggy sweatshirt
Restaurant -
J: El Camino
K: Amigo's
Type of wine -
J: Pinot Grigio or Cabernet Sauvignon
K: A bold Zinfandel
Phrase from a movie or TV show -
J: "IN LONDON?!" -Friends
K: "This way we don't have to sleep with our heads in the mud" --Forrest Gump
Book -
J: "A Million Little Pieces"
K: "The Pillars of the Earth" by Ken Follett (FYI- I've never even read A Million Little Pieces)
QUESTIONS:
What is my greatest talent?
J: Running Coach
K: Organizing
What is a phrase or word that I say a lot?
J: "No"
K: "No no no no no!"
What is one thing that I really dislike about myself?
J: The hump in your arm
K: My weight (Bahahaha! The "hump in my arm" is something I've complained about my entire life; it's a ring of fat around my bicep that is there no matter how much or how little I weigh!)
What is one thing that I really like about myself?
J: Your compassion
K: My compassion for others
What do I (Katie) love most about you (Jerry)?
J: That I take care of you
K: Your unconditional love (seriously)
What is my biggest vice?
J: Ice cream
K: Ice cream
What is my guiltiest pleasure?
J: Games on your phone
K: Ice cream
What profession would I have chosen regardless of school, money, etc?
J: A forensic pathologist
K: A forensic pathologist
Which of our pets is my favorite?
J: Phoebe
K: Phoebe
What is my goal weight?
J: 140 pounds
K: 133 pounds
If I won an enormous lottery, what would I spend it on?
J: A truck for me
K: Buying gifts for my family, paying off their loans, etc.
What are three words that you would use to describe me?
J: Kind, compassionate, overwhelmed
K: Empathetic, shy, awkward
What is one food that I absolutely hate?
J: Italian sausage
K: Yogurt
What is my biggest fear?
J: Spiders
K: Getting Alzheimer's disease
What is something I worry about on a daily basis?
J: Everything
K: You or the kids getting hurt somehow--choking, an accident, etc.
What is something that I (Katie) would change about you (Jerry)?
J: That I'd be more of a handyman
K: That you wouldn't feel bad about yourself, for any reason
What is my biggest pet peeve?
J: There is a list... I have a list on my phone that's alphabetical. Basically everything.
K: Sounds of chewing or things like that
What am I most proud of?
J: The work you did on the house and your weight loss
K: My weight loss
What is a talent that I wish I had?
J: To be fluent in American Sign Language
K: To speak multiple languages
What would I order at McDonald's?
J: Filet O Fish with extra tartar sauce, fries, and a diet Coke
K: A Filet O Fish with extra tartar sauce, fries, and a lemonade/Sprite mix
And now, for Jerry... in these questions, I (Katie) will answer what I think JERRY will say. And then he'll reply with his actual answers.
FAVORITES:
Color -
K: Baby blue
J: Blue
Food -
K: Pork chops and rice
J: Pizza
Scent -
K: Love Spell (by Victoria's Secret)
J: New car smell
Part of my (Jerry's) body -
K: Arms?
J: Eyes
Animal -
K: Cats
J: Cats
Place to visit -
K: NYC
J: Petoskey, MI
Pastime -
K: Disc golf
J: Playing softball
TV show -
K: Friends
J: Friends
Movie -
K: Something Star Wars
J: Top Gun
Activity to do with the family -
K: Play a board game
J: Play a board game
Actor/Actress -
K: Brad Pitt/Julia Stiles
J: Tom Cruise/Natalie Portman
Clothes to wear -
K: Shorts and a t-shirt
J: Jeans and a band or Star Wars shirt
Restaurant -
K: The Point
J: El Camino
Type of wine beer -
K: IPA
J: IPA
Phrase from a movie or TV show -
K: "IN LONDON?!!!" - Friends
J: "There is no try; there is do or do not." -Star Wars
Book -
K: Anything Star Wars
J: Plagueis (Star Wars)
Thing about me (Katie) -
K: My (Katie's) butt
J: That you appreciate me
QUESTIONS:
What is my greatest talent?
K: Making people feel comfortable in an awkward situation
J: Random trivia
What is a phrase or word that I say a lot?
K: "I love your butt"
J: "How's your day, Boo?"
What is one thing that I really dislike about myself?
K: Your stomach
J: My lack of confidence
What is one thing that I really like about myself?
K: Your work ethic
J: My work ethic
What do I (Jerry) love most about you (Katie)?
K: Other than my butt? Probably how funny I think I am.
J: Your compassion
What is my biggest vice?
K: "Fancy" beer
J: Beer
What is my guiltiest pleasure?
K: Again--"fancy" beer
J: Hamm's (the most "un-fancy" beer, hahaha)
What profession would I have chosen regardless of school, money, etc?
K: A history teacher
J: Professional wrestler
Which of our pets is my favorite?
K: Estelle (If Chandler was still alive, it would be Chandler for sure)
J: Estelle
What is my goal weight?
K: 170?
J: 170
If I won an enormous lottery, what would I spend it on?
K: A trip to some Star Wars thing
J: Pay off our house
What are three words that you would use to describe me?
K: loyal, funny, laid-back
J: hard-working, loyal, easy-going
What is one food that I absolutely hate?
K: Mushrooms
J: Cucumbers ("You could make a salad the size of this house and put one tiny little speck of cucumber in it, and I can tell you exactly where the fuck it is! It overpowers everything."
What is my biggest fear?
K: Dying
J: How I'll die
What is something I worry about on a daily basis?
K: Letting your family down
J: Not being good enough
What is something that I (Jerry) would change about you (Katie)?
K: "Nothing." But since you're making me answer... you would be happier with yourself.
J: That you wouldn't have so much anxiety or stress.
What is my biggest pet peeve?
K: The fact that *I* (Katie) have so many pet peeves.
J: When people add an "S" to the names of stores like "Target's" or "Walmart's", etc.
What am I most proud of?
K: Completing Insanity--three times in a row
J: My family
What is a talent that I wish I had?
K: Doing household things like plumbing, electricity, etc.
J: Play guitar (or x-ray vision)
What would I order at McDonald's?
K: A Big Mac with fries and a Coke
J: A 20-piece McNuggets with 10 slices of cheese, fries, and a Coke (Note: Jerry used to work at McDonald's when he was a teenager, and he would regularly eat this!)
This was so much fun for us to answer! We did the answers separately, and then compared them. I was surprised how many of them matched. Clearly, Jerry knows ME better than I know HIM. But there are several of this answers that I almost wrote down and then changed my mind on!
Anyway, even if the answers don't reflect it, we can typically finish each other's sentences and know what each other is thinking in the moment. It feels like we've been together for 50 years! But in May, it'll be 21 years.
I shared this video five years ago, but I thought now, amidst this coronavirus social distancing, it'd be a great time to share it again.
I never knew what this game was called until I wrote about it on my blog, and a couple of people suggested it was called "Grandma's Game" or also "13 Stacks". I think the way I play it is slightly different than those rules, but it's very similar.
You can find digital versions of this game, but I think most of the fun of it is playing with actual REAL playing cards. The deal is the funnest part of the game!
You use two decks of cards (no jokers). To explain it in words here is nearly impossible, so I made a video way back in 2015 explaining how to play. I've only ever ONCE won the game, and it was so exciting! Here is what I wrote in my blog that day:
"I've mentioned the game in my blog several times, because it really helps me to keep from binge eating sometimes. I like to play it with real cards (not digitally). I've been playing the game for over two decades, and I'd NEVER WON. Not once!
Well, apparently, today was my lucky day. I ACTUALLY WON. My heart was pounding toward the end, because I was doing so well, and I couldn't believe it when I actually won. My mom is the one who taught me the game, and she only won it one time (about 40 years ago). It's a really difficult game to win!
I was dying to tell someone, but nobody really cares(!) so I decided to make a video that I've been planning to do for a long time but just never got around to it. I made a video that explains how to play the game. It's a hard game to describe, and I never even knew what it was called until I wrote about it on my blog a couple of years ago (the closest game I can find to what my mom taught me is called Grandma's Game).
Anyway, if you're into playing solitaire, here is a video that explains how to play. I wish it was a little closer up, but I hope that it's pretty explanatory."
So, here is the video. Give it a try! You'll be hooked for life, because the odds of actually winning are nearly impossible, hahaha.
This is a photo of what it looks like when you win... Good luck!
I am SO SORE today from my fall yesterday. I can't walk without limping, and there is a clicking noise from my knee whenever I bend it. Everything hurts. Falling so hard at this age... well, it's not fun!
I really want to go to bed, so I'm just going to share this video I took while scraping Nathan's ceiling (this was before the fall). When I posted a similar video on Instagram, lots of people commented on it being ASMR. I had no idea what that meant, so I looked it up.
ASMR stands for "autonomous sensory meridian response". That didn't mean anything to me either. In a nutshell, it's basically a video or sound that creates a feeling of relaxation. (This website details it better)
Scraping the ceiling isn't fun, but I learned that if I let the water soak in for about 20 minutes, it'll come off much easier (as you'll see in the video). This video makes it look like it's SO easy to scrape! It's usually not as easy as this looks, but this area--for some reason--came off as sooth as butter.
I guess I can see why this creates ASMR for people--if only the ceiling would scrape off this easily all over!
Like I've mentioned, if I want to get any of this extra weight off, I'm going to have to go back to the tried and true method of counting calories. I was able to lose weight in 2017 by becoming very in-tune with my body (and not counting anything), but that just doesn't seem to be working for me anymore. Even though I "hear" what my body is saying, I just can't seem to do what it's telling me.
When I get into a groove with calorie counting, I don't mind it. I kind of like it, actually, because I'm such a numbers person! But when I'm unprepared, I hate it. I absolutely hate having to figure out the calories in the recipe I'm going to make for dinner--especially when I'm starving and I just want to hurry up and eat.
I've done calorie counting on a whim, and I never last more than a day or two at most. And I think it's because I go into it unprepared (mentally and physically). The times I've been successful, I've prepared myself. And that's what I've been doing lately. I want to feel confident going into it.
(I talk about this like it's some enormous, meaningful life change, haha--I realize it's just calorie counting! But I want to stick with it this time, so I'm taking it seriously.)
Step 1: The night before you start counting calories, eat all of the junk food in your house so that you're not tempted to binge on it when you start counting. (KIDDING! But you know we've all done it...)
Honestly, this is what I've done to prepare myself:
I choose what method I will use (pen and paper, or an app of some sort). Currently, I'm a big fan of the Fat Secret app. I used to use My Fitness Pal, but the ads got to be too much when I was entering food items, and Fat Secret is much simpler. I like simple. (I wrote a whole post about why I like Fat Secret here.) Pen and paper has always been trusty, too, but this time, I will be doing Fat Secret.
Next, I make a meal plan. Usually, I plan out dinners for the week by going through my homemade recipe book, and I have a few different options for breakfast and lunch. Once I plan out the meals, I make a list of all the ingredients I need and I go grocery shopping. (Most of the recipes in the book can be found on my Recipes page on my blog)
I always make sure to buy a few "convenience" foods that I can use as a back-up if my day doesn't go as planned--frozen dinners, Spaghetti-O's (a guilty pleasure of mine), things like that. That way, if my kids make plans with friends and Jerry's at work, I can just eat something simple without saying, "Oh, screw it! I'll go through a drive-thru and eat all the food."
To solve the problem of cooking dinner when I'm starving, and trying to measure foods and count calories, I prepare all of the counting work ahead of time. This is probably the most important/helpful thing that I do to prepare for calorie counting: I take the time to create a "recipe" on the app of my go-to recipes (family favorites, things I make frequently, basically everything that is in my homemade cookbook).
When meal planning, and I'm going to be making a new recipe, I also take the time to enter the recipe into Fat Secret so that I don't have to figure anything out while cooking.
Then, when I'm cooking dinner, I take out my recipe book and cook the recipe as I've written it. I do measure or weigh most things (for things like onions, I just cut up an onion and I don't worry about whether it's considered "small" "medium" or "large"; and some vegetables I just eyeball as I'm cooking. I'm very good about not being "heavy handed" while portioning things out.
(I specifically remember the first time I thought about this. When I was losing weight back in 2009-2010, I remember measuring out a cup of spaghetti. I was tempted to make it a heaping cup and count it as a cup--and then it occurred to me that the only person I'm cheating is myself! I can certainly do that, but then it will have an effect on my weight loss, so what's the point? As a result, I'm always honest when I measure my foods.)
Using a food scale is always helpful, too. There are a lot of foods that are very inaccurate with their measurement versus weight. One of them is an avocado--when you log 1/4 of an avocado on an app, for example, it's lists quite a bit more calories than when you weight out your 1/4 avocado. So, you're not getting as much as you should for the amount of calories you're counting!
This also works in reverse sometimes (actually, most of the time). When I weigh out a serving of oatmeal (40 grams), for example, I get less than 1/2 cup (the serving size). I've yet to find a good food scale, however. The one I currently have is super annoying--touching the button that changes from grams to ounces rarely works because it's SO sensitive that all it does is change the weight as your finger touches it. I don't want anything fancy! Just a digital scale that tells me grams and ounces. I'll start looking for a new one.
The night before I start counting, I make sure to write everything out that I plan to eat. That way, when I'm hungry, I don't have to decide what to eat--which usually leads to eating too much. I don't do this every night, because I have no idea what I'm going to be in the mood for, but I do have a basic idea of what I'll be eating.
When I count calories, I don't change the foods I eat--I eat what I enjoy, healthy or not, and I just keep track of the calories in it. So, I don't have to make "special foods" apart from the family. I just cook regular recipes with regular ingredients (no low fat or "diet" foods). I prefer eating quality over quantity. This comes in handy when meal planning--keeping it simple, as I don't have to alter recipes to be lower in fat, carbs, etc.
I also don't worry about carbs or protein or fat, or anything else. When I eat what I enjoy, I find that my body tends to eat fairly balanced over a period of time. Some days, I might eat nothing but junk, and other days, I might be on a super healthy food kick. Usually it's somewhere in between.
Something else that I do to prepare for calorie counting is that I plan for a treat to have in the evenings. (I consider the difference between treats and snacks to be this: a "treat" has no real nutritional value where a snack does have value.)
I find that if I plan to include a treat to look forward to each evening, I'm much happier with calorie counting throughout the day. I used to do wine and chocolate, but now that I'm not drinking, I will probably have an alcohol-free Heineken and some pretzels or fruit snacks.
Yesterday, I planned out our meals for the week. I'm going to make Pumpkin Cranberry Apple Baked Oatmeal and then eat that all week long. Lunch is always the hardest for me. I usually end up putting together several snack foods--cheese, apples, toast, pretzels with hummus, things like that. Doesn't this oatmeal look so good?! It tastes like fall. And I'm ready for fall. (The recipe is here: Pumpkin Cranberry Apple Baked Oatmeal.)
Finally, I look at my schedule and think about any situations that I may have to deal with--going out to dinner, getting together with friends, spending the entire day at Eli's baseball games, etc. I make a plan for what I'll eat, and I usually plan a lighter calorie day around the situation.
When I was super strict in 2009-2010, I usually didn't eat at all in those situations and I would eat at home before or after. However, I've since realized that I want to live a relatively "normal" life while counting calories (much like I did in late 2015-early 2016).
I didn't have any strict rules--the main thing I focused on was eating "normal" sized portions (the calories helped me to figure out what that was) and eating just four times a day--breakfast at 8:00, lunch at 12:00, dinner at 4:00, and snack at 8:00. I felt my best that way, and it worked very well for me.
So, tomorrow is the big first day of calorie counting, and I feel prepared! I've been working for the last few days on getting my recipes entered into Fat Secret, meal planning and grocery shopping. Jerry is totally on board, too--he wants to drop about 20 pounds.
If I manage to stick with this and see some progress, I'll even start doing Wednesday Weigh-Ins again! My mom mentioned today that I should take photos every five pounds or something, and put together a video like I did of my initial weight loss. I haven't watched this in forever!
There obviously won't be as drastic a difference if I work on dropping 20-30 pounds, but I'd still like to document it. And who knows, maybe it will be pretty noticeable. I miss the confidence that I felt as I was losing the weight in 2009-2010. Even at my current weight, I felt so much better than I do now. And that's really why I finally feel ready to do this... because I want to feel better.
FYI, here is my past post of "How I Calorie Counted My Way Back to My Goal Weight" which explains more about how I count calories. I got a lot of questions about it because it was working so well. Slightly different in what others do, because I don't put a "cap" on the calories I can eat each day. But it works for me! And you know I always encourage doing what works for you, because we are all individuals.
As I write this, it's after 2:00 AM on Sunday. I am not the slightest bit tired, and I suspect I may be headed for a hypomanic episode. Last night, I slept from 2:00 until 6:00, and felt totally fine (well-rested) all day.
Anyway, I haven't stuck with the regular posts this week, because of Thanksgiving. It kind of threw everything off schedule, and for some reason, Thursday felt like Sunday. So the whole weekend, I felt like everything was a little off.
Thanksgiving was fun! We went to my parents' house, along with with Becky and Luke (Brian was working), and Nathan. My mom made a big turkey dinner (turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, corn, green bean casserole, rolls, and cranberry sauce). Noah made a pumpkin roll, Eli made pumpkin pie, and I made a pecan pie for dessert.
As I've mentioned, my very favorite part of Thanksgiving dinner is my mom's sweet potato casserole. If I could only pick one item to have for Thanksgiving, this would be it. But I made up a plate to include a variety:
It was delicious! I had a second helping of sweet potato casserole, stuffing, and cranberry sauce. And then I was too full to even want dessert, which you KNOW means I was exceptionally full. I did take a slice of pecan pie home for later, though.
My very favorite part of Thanksgiving actually wasn't related to food at all (shocking, right?!). After dinner, we were all just sitting around chatting and watching the football game (I was watching Luke, which is way more entertaining than football). Jerry was playing with him on the floor when Luke totally got the baby giggles. Which turned into baby belly laughs.
Baby belly laughs are the absolute BEST. I bet you can't watch this video without laughing along; or, at the very least, smiling. Make sure the sound is turned on :)
I can't even describe how much I love being an aunt! It makes me wish I had understood how quickly these days pass when my kids were this age, but now I have a whole new appreciation for enjoying every moment.
Lately, I've been really into sewing for some reason. When I was at Salvation Army a few weeks ago, I saw a pair of jeans that I loved--they had cute fabric patches in random places. I tried them on, and really didn't like the way they looked on me (they were "pouchy" in the front). But, I took pictures of them in the fitting room, because I figured I could make a similar pair myself.
They ended up turning out pretty cute! I thought a pair of bell bottoms jeans I had would work really well, but I was nervous to use them--they are my favorite pair of jeans, and I didn't want to ruin them. So, I laid out the patches on the jeans several times before finally deciding to go through with it. The result was as good as I hoped. I think the bell bottom jeans were a good choice.
It really made me want to do some more sewing projects! So, I went on Pinterest and pinned several things I could work on. I have a couple of bags of clothes I was going to donate, but I think I'll go through them and try some upcycling projects.
I didn't do any shopping on "Black Friday"; but then again, I never do. My mom unexpectedly called and told me that my dad was able to get in to see his doctor right away, which was good--he's been having problems with his heart again. (His heart goes into atrial fibrillation once in a while, and it's extremely painful for him.) Usually it only lasts hours, but this time it went on for five days!
The doctor was worried about the possibility of him having a stroke, so she sent him to the ER. He was admitted to the hospital, which was kind of worrisome. The kids and I went to visit him at the hospital this morning, and we ended up staying all afternoon. My dad's heart rate was able to be controlled with the meds they gave him, and he's supposed to see a specialist this week. I really hope they are able to fix the problem permanently.
Shortly after we got home from the hospital, Caitlin arrived. She's been in Detroit with her boyfriend all week, and he went home today. She's staying with me until Monday! We don't have any major plans, but it'll be fun to be able to catch up in person. The last time I saw her was in April when I was in Boston.
I have only gotten in two runs this week. I may run again tomorrow, but with Caitlin visiting, I'm not sure--I'm not worried about it. I'll try to recap the runs tomorrow. I'm tired now (it's after 3:00)! Time to finally go to bed :)
I hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving weekend!
As you may know, on January 1st of this year, I started using an app called 1 Second Everyday. Basically, the app is used for selecting and saving just one second of video that you take each day, and the app stitches them all together. It's kind of like a slideshow of photos, only they are short videos instead. (You can see an example on the bottom of yesterday's post--my video for October.)
Watching the videos is so much more fun than watching a photo slideshow! You would be amazed at how many memories just one second of a video can bring. I have been posting mine each month; at the end of the year, though, I'll have a video of the entire year showing just one second of every day.
Since I've posted about it, I've gotten a lot of interest and a lot of questions regarding the app. Firstly, I am not associated with the app developers in any way. I paid $5 for the app at the beginning of the year, and I love it so much that I tell people about it all the time. I also share my videos on social media, and people always ask about it.
When I downloaded the app, there were no instructions. I was very confused how it worked, and it took some playing around with it to get it all figured out. Now, it literally takes me less than 30 seconds or so of each day to select my video clip and save it in the app.
Several other people have told me their frustration with it as well, so I decided to make a tutorial. I don't typically like to do "vlogs" (video blogs), but after taking some screen shots of the app for a written tutorial, I realized it would be a thousand times faster to do it in a video.
So, I apologize that this video is so long (I think it's 14 minutes or so), but I don't think that I drone on and on (who knows, maybe I do!). But I do hope that it will be helpful!
Here is a link to download the app (they have it for iOS and Android!), if you are interested (again, I get no commission or anything for this--although I should! Haha, I've recommended it to so many people.)
Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays. Obviously, as a fat kid, I loved the candy (ha!) but even as a teen, I loved passing out candy. My grandma would come over, and my mom would make dinner. And my dad would take my little brother and me trick-or-treating each year until we were teens; then I stayed home to pass out candy.
Once my family moved, the summer before I started 10th grade, we started the tradition of celebrating Mark's birthday. I looked forward to that every year! My dad would pick Mark up from the group home in the afternoon, and then we'd go to my parents' house for dinner and birthday cake. My dad would make a campfire in the driveway, and we would pass out candy to the trick-or-treaters. When my kids were born, they started going trick-or-treating from there, too.
When Mark died in 2014, the first Halloween was hard. My parents weren't sure what to do without our usual tradition, and we didn't go over there for dinner. I bought ice cream and lots of toppings and delivered it to Mark's group home for the residents to have sundaes. I think Mark would have liked that ;) Then we all did our own thing. Jerry took the kids trick-or-treating at his mom's, and I passed out candy at home (to all of the eight trick-or-treaters that we got).
Anyway, we haven't really developed a tradition as far as Halloween goes. But now that Luke is here, we did something fun that I hope we start doing every year--we went to Brian and Becky's house to have a fire in the driveway and pass out candy. They get a ton of trick-or-treaters! Brian bought about 180 full-size candy bars, and they only had about 20 left at the end of the evening.
Luke was SO adorable dressed as a mouse! Becky looked super cute, too, and even Brian wore mouse ears.
Brian made the "mouse trap" to sit over Luke's wagon
Noah was invited to a Halloween party, so he spent the evening with friends. Eli came to Brian and Becky's with us, and my parents met us there as well. We had "walking tacos" for dinner, and my mom made festive guacamole:
Then, I basically hogged Luke the whole evening. He was tired and pretty stone-faced, so I was determined to make him laugh. Or just smile a little bit.
I loved seeing all the kids in their costumes--there were some very creative ones. My favorite was a girl who was dressed as Abraham Lincoln. I didn't even know she was a girl until we said how much we liked the costume and she turned to us as she was leaving and said, "I'm a girl, too!" for the shock factor. Haha!
Jerry took Eli trick-or-treating around the neighborhood. Eli wanted to dress as the killer from "Happy Death Day", a movie we saw on Friday the 13th. It was his first time going to a scary movie, and he was very excited about it. I told him that people probably wouldn't recognize his costume, but he didn't care.
Noah dressed in the Indiana Jones costume I put together at the thrift store. I thought it looked awesome! He went trick-or-treating with his group of friends, and he said all the adults recognized his costume right away.
Earlier in the day, I wanted to get a photo of our family with the jack-o-lanterns we had carved. Jerry and I had a contest who could carve the better pumpkin (the kids judged), and I wanted mine to be unique. So, I made a bipolar pumpkin ;) I won. Obviously.
Jerry's, mine, Eli's, and Noah's
Anyway, I tried getting a family picture with my phone using an elaborate setup of a step stool, a book to prop up the stool at an angle, a broken iPhone tripod, and a couple of other things. We had it all in the street to get the picture, and then a car came down our street (we only have cars pass by about five times a day!). I moved everything, and as the car passed, a girl rolled down the window and asked if we wanted her to get the picture. So much easier!
Here is my 1 Second Everyday video for October. I can't believe I've been doing it for 10 months now! I'm super excited to watch the whole thing at the end of December.
After spending two days in Seattle with Laurel and Dan, Jerry and I drove down to Portland on Saturday morning. We were looking forward to taking our time getting there, and maybe making a stop or two along the way.
I was dying for Jerry to see some of the mossy trees that I love so much, so I decided to take him to Multnomah Falls, one of the stops that Thomas and I made when we went hiking earlier this year. It was SO pretty, and I thought it would be the perfect place to take Jerry. (Here is a picture of when I was there in May):
For some reason, Google Maps kept rerouting me when I would search for directions, and I couldn't figure out why--and then after a Google search, I saw that it was all closed because of the fires that started recently when some kids set off fireworks. There were a couple of my favorite scenic places that were ruined because of those fires, and it makes me so mad.
So, we headed right to Portland. We parked the car and then spent most of the day exploring the Saturday Market. It was so fun! There were lots of vendors outside selling crafts, art, and food. There were so many things I wanted to buy, but I managed not to buy anything (still trying to stick with our budget--and my allowance was my only spending money while in Portland).
It was so hard not to buy one of these body pillows for Phoebe, hahaha!
When we'd seen everything, we went for a long walk along the river to the Portland Aerial Tram. I'd been on it before, so I thought it would be fun to take Jerry. The walk to get there was actually the best part! It was about two and a half miles, and we took our time. The weather was gorgeous!
The ride on the tram itself only lasts about four minutes each way. The tram rides on a cable about 500 feet above the ground, so it has a nice view. I think it's meant to use for transportation, but I just wanted to go on it to see the sights!
We walked back to the market and picked up our rental car, then drove to Alamo to return it. Thomas came and picked us up, since he was our host for the weekend. Every time I visit, it's been a tradition that we go out for noodle bowls at Shanghai Tunnel; so, Jerry got to taste the noodle bowls that I have raved about. They were delicious, as always. And I've never gotten a good photo of them, because it's so dark inside!
The vegetables are SO good--my favorite part was the zucchini this time!
What Thomas had planned after dinner was a surprise (I love not knowing the itinerary!). We went to an arcade called Ground Kontrol, and it was awesome! I am not a video game person, but this arcade had all of the retro games I played as a kid--Pac-Man, Tetris, Paperboy, Asteroids, Super Mario Bros., etc. And the music played in the arcade was from the same time period!
Each game only cost a quarter to play, just like the good old days, and we had a blast. I wasn't nearly as good at the games as I used to be, but I had so much fun reminiscing. I only spent a few bucks, but played for a long time; and the arcade ended up being my favorite part of the weekend! We stopped for a drink at Ten Barrel Brewing before calling it a night.
In the morning, we started with a delicious breakfast at Stepping Stone Cafe. They are known for their "Mancakes" (ginormous pancakes). I was in the mood for hash browns and sausage so I opted for that instead, but Jerry got one mancake. The food was so good! The hash browns were unique in that they were sliced instead of shredded or diced.
The Portland Marathon happened to be this weekend, so we went to the finish line for a little while to check it out. Then we went on another mystery destination--Powell's Bookstore! Powell's is the largest used and new bookstore IN THE WORLD (literally). We even had to pick up a map of the store when we walked in. There were rooms and rooms and rooms filled with books. It was crazy!
I love memoirs, and I ended up spending way too much time in the memoir section. I wanted to check out the rest of the store, so I made my way around, walking from room to room in awe at the amount of books. I wish I'd taken pictures inside the store! But it didn't occur to me at the time.
We hit up Blue Star for doughnuts (several people told me that Blue Star has much better doughnuts than Voodoo, because I wasn't too impressed with Voodoo). At Blue Star, I got a lemon poppyseed buttermilk doughnut, and it was just so-so. I loved the lemon glaze, but I thought the doughnut itself was on the dry side. So, I only had a few bites before throwing it out. I wanted to save my calories for Salt & Straw (ice cream) later!
After Blue Star, we went to Widmer Brewery for a tour. This was totally Jerry's and Thomas's thing, but I was happy to see Jerry so excited. He loved it.
From Widmer, we went to Salt & Straw (my reward for going to the brewery, haha!). I'd heard so much hype about Salt & Straw that I was very excited to go--ice cream is my very favorite food in the world.
Salt & Straw is known for their unusual flavors, but the very odd ones didn't appeal to me, so I got a scoop of Sea Salt with Caramel Ribbons and a scoop of Almond Toffee with Fudge Ganache. I liked the Sea Salt one, because it really balanced the sweet ice cream. And I liked the Toffee one, but I didn't like the ganache in it--the ganache had no sweetness to it, so I just picked those pieces out and set them aside.
I thought Salt & Straw was very good, but not much different from any other ice cream I've had. I'm sure if I had tried the very unusual flavors, I would feel differently; but as someone who loves ice cream and eats it way too often, I thought it was good--just nothing super special. That didn't stop me from eating it all, though! ;)
We went to Killer Burger for dinner, so Jerry could try the famous peanut butter pickle bacon burger. I was still pretty full from the ice cream, so I ordered a "girlie size" burger and I didn't even finish that. Jerry was impressed with his burger, as I knew he would be! We headed back to Thomas's and watched a couple of episodes of Atypical--a show that has become a a new favorite.
In the morning, we went out for a big breakfast because we were going to be hiking for about four hours. I had requested that we go to the same cafe we went to when we started our first hike in May--the Biscuits Cafe. They have pancakes that taste like yellow cake, and they are SO good. It was going to be our breakfast and lunch, so I ordered a big meal! It was delicious.
After breakfast, we drove the hour and twenty minutes or so to Silver Falls. I didn't know anything about Silver Falls, but I'd just requested that Thomas take us somewhere that Jerry can experience my favorite trees. Almost immediately, we saw the first waterfall, and the scenery was amazing. We spent a long time taking pictures and enjoying the view.
Then we continued on the hike, which ended up being a little over 5 miles total (I swear it was more like 15, but Thomas insisted it was less than 6). We saw several more waterfalls, and tons of mossy trees. Such an amazing way to spend our last day of vacation!
After driving back to Thomas's, he went to watch Brandon's soccer game (Brandon is his "little brother" from the Big Brothers Big Sisters program); I took the time to write a blog post; and Jerry watched football. By 7:30, we were all starving! So we went to one final restaurant that I was dying for Jerry to try--McMenamins, home of the very best tater tots in the world. Remember when I ran the 10K PR, and all I could think about was the tots from McMenamins? Jerry has always wanted to try them, because I raved about them so much.
Jerry and I shared a burger, because we wanted to save our stomach space for tots. Maybe it was because of the hike and and because I was so hungry, but I think the tots were better than ever that night! I also had a blackberry cider that was delicious.
Our final stop was a dive bar called Pappy's, where I had my very first Long Island Iced Tea the last time I was in Portland. We played Keno, and Jerry had all three of us pick numbers for a 9-spot card. He actually won $40 on it! The 9-spot cards don't have great odds, but I guess luck was on our side (well, his side anyway!).
In the morning, Thomas dropped us off at a nearby MAX stop so that we could get to the airport without dealing with rush hour traffic. The flight home actually went by really quickly, because I was working on my 1-Second Everyday video of the trip the entire time. The video is five minutes long, which is a lot of seconds of video to go through! But it's fun to have all those memories in one (relatively) short video.
Here is a video of the whole trip (in five minutes). You can skip ahead to 1:45 if you want to just see the Portland part; I posted the Seattle part yesterday).
The whole trip (Seattle and Portland) was everything I hoped it would be! Jerry had a great time and got to see all the things I love about the Pacific Northwest; and we're even talking about taking the kids there on vacation next year (or possibly the following year). I think the kids would really like it.
It sucks having a weigh-in the morning after a vacation. I fully expected to gain weight (as you can see, I wasn't concerned about calories!). I was hoping that my weight would be around 136 or less (a three pound gain). I nearly fell over when I saw the scale:
Hahaha! I was about 133 last week, so this is a six-pound vacation gain. Honestly, though, I think after a few days, it'll be more like a two-pound gain. I obviously didn't make the healthiest choices while I was gone, but I most certainly did not eat enough to gain six pounds. I always tend to retain water when I travel. Also, I was very active--much more than normal--and when I pick up my activity, I hold onto water as well.
So, I'm not trying to make excuses for the gain, but I think next week's weight will be much more accurate. No matter what it is, it was worth it! I didn't eat like a glutton, but I ate all of my favorite Portland foods (as well as a few new ones). I got in a lot of activity, and I enjoyed every moment of my vacation with Jerry. It was a fantastic week!
