Sweet Potato Wheels

Sure enough, we didn't do much yesterday, but it was a nice day to relax at home. I had a sweet potato sitting on my counter for a while, so I decided to turn that into my lunch yesterday. It was SO GOOD that I just have to share--it's not much of a "recipe", more of a "method". But either way, you've got to try it!

Sweet Potato Wheels

1 large sweet potato (mine was 12 oz)
cooking spray
salt & pepper to taste


Set the oven to 'broil' (mine has high and low, so I chose high). Peel the sweet potato and slice into thin slices (about 1/4 inch). Spray a baking sheet with the cooking spray, and then lay all the sweet potato pieces out on the sheet.

Lie the wheels on a sprayed baking sheet

Spray the tops with a little cooking spray and then sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Put the sheet under the broiler until the tops are starting to burn darken in spots, like this:

When they look like this, flip them over

I think it took about 10 minutes for mine. Flip each piece over, and put the sheet back under the broiler. When you can smell the sweet potato goodness, and they look like this, they're done:

Pile them all on a plate and devour them. Share them with someone, because this is probably at least two servings. I ate the whole batch for about 280 calories, which was totally worth it. These taste just like sweet potato fries, but they are so much easier to make--they cook more evenly, they don't stick to the baking sheet, and they take less time overall.

A very well-spent 280 calories!

In the afternoon, my kids wanted to ride their bikes up to the liquor store to buy a popsicle. I took my bike, and I'm so in love with it! I haven't had a chance to really ride it like it's meant to be ridden, but I will definitely be able to when my kids go back to school. For now, I've been taking it out to ride with the kids, which is extremely slow. So slow that I feel like I'm going to tip over.

I went grocery shopping in the afternoon. Our refrigerator was practically empty, but I couldn't figure out what we were missing. We had the essentials--milk, almond milk, eggs, etc. I bought a shitload of fruits and veggies, because I haven't been eating many lately.

For dinner, we cooked turkey burgers on the grill. I got some Jennie-O burgers on sale for $1 (4 patties) because the sell by date was in 2 days. I also got 6 packages of Jennie-O turkey sausage for $1 each for the same reason--I just threw them in the freezer to use when we want. Awesome deal! Anyway, we also made corn on the cob. I really wanted baked beans, but in order to save calories, we rounded out the meal with watermelon and a dill pickle.

415 calories for the plate

Today's plans are pretty much the same. Jerry has to work, so it'll just be me and the kids. My knee is killing me, so I'm going to try to rest it as much as I can today.

---

What's your favorite thing to cook on the grill? As lame as it sounds, mine is probably hot dogs! If we're being very specific, I like brats, cooked until a little charred. Then I load it up with mustard and onions.

---

Continue Reading...

At least it works

Well, I only made it through half the day of counting calories yesterday before I made a batch of blueberry muffins and ate half of them. I told Jerry that I need to make "the deal" with him again. I have to count calories 6 days per week, and if I go over my calories on any of those days, he can withdraw $500 from our savings account to buy whatever the hell he wants. It sounds like such a stupid deal, but IT WORKS. It has kept me on track for weeks at a time! So starting today, it's on.

The kids spent the night at my parents house, so I got up early and went for a long run. Last night, I was looking up ideal heart rate zones for running, and decided to try and keep my heart rate within the recommended zone for long runs--which for me, was 150 to 156 beats per minute. Normally when I run, my heart rate is about 158-160. It was surprisingly difficult to stay within the 150-156 zone. When I slowed my running, it went slightly under, and then when I deliberately sped up, it went a little over. Then, of course, every time I saw a dog my heart rate shot up because I'm scared of dogs. I've been bitten 3 times in the last year of running by dogs wandering around unleashed.

Anyways, I thought keeping my heart rate between 150-156 would mean my pace would be super slow, like 11:00 min/mi. It ended up being just over a 10:00 min/mi pace, which isn't fast, but it's faster than I expected.

---

I haven't heard anything new from the cop about Friday's incident at Wal-Mart. It's been on my mind almost constantly, though. Thank you for all your comments on that post. Some of your stories are horrifying--I cannot imagine seeing or enduring that kind of abuse and the aftermath of it. Until Friday, I've only ever read about or heard stories of abuse, but seeing that happen was absolutely horrible. It makes me feel so sad. I've been trying to be more patient with my kids the past couple of days, and giving them extra kisses and hugs. Kids are just so innocent and precious!

My boys playing in the rain recently... they thought it was GREAT!

Jerry is off work today, and I'm so excited to spend some quality time with him. He's been working a lot lately, and while we need the money, it sucks not being able to see him more than a couple of hours a day. We have no plans for the 4th--today OR tomorrow--so we'll probably just spend some time outside with the kids, and maybe cook dinner on the grill. Hopefully something worth blogging about! ;)

---

Do you pay attention to your heart rate while exercising? I only recently have started doing that, but I guess I don't see the point. I'm a numbers person, so it's interesting to see patterns, but I exercise is exercise, right?!

---

Continue Reading...

Disturbed

Yesterday morning started out great. The kids were riding their bikes, and I actually found a 5-leaf clover. Yes, 5 leaves! I've found many 4-leaf clovers in my life, but this was definitely the first 5-leaf clover I've ever seen...

Brought the kids to their Safety City class (the last class, thank goodness). While they were in class, I decided to walk into town and find a little restaurant for lunch. I walked in the 85 degree heat (in my jeans and cute top) about 1.5 miles and there actually weren't any restaurants right in the heart of town, which surprised me. I thought there'd at least be a diner or something. I just walked back to the car, and was sweating like a beast by this time. Drove to Panera (ugh, just went there the day before). Had a bagel and iced tea. Then went to a frozen custard place and got fat-free sugar-free ice cream before picking up the kids.

The kids went to my parents house for dinner, and Jerry was off work, so we decided to go out. We went to a coney island, and it was SO GOOD. I hadn't eaten there in a couple of years. I got a Patty Melt and deep fried mushrooms, which I shared with Jerry. After we ate, we decided to go to Wal-Mart to get a couple of snacks to bring on the boat with us. The fireworks were at 10 pm, and my parents always take us out in the boat to watch the fireworks over the water.

At Wal-Mart, I saw something that shook me to the core.

Jerry and I saw a display of suckers, and we were picking out which flavors our kids might like, when I heard a little boy (probably about 3 years old) crying kind of hysterically, yelling a name (we'll say 'Michael'... I don't want to use the real name). His mom was yelling for Michael also, looking very worried. I said to Jerry, "Jerry, they're looking for their kid--let's help find him! He's probably scared to death."  I have two little boys, so I know how terrifying that can be for both parent and child.

We were at the front of the store, near the women's section of clothes. I was standing on my toes, trying to see over the racks of clothes to see if I could find this little boy. A moment later, a boy of about 4 or 5 was in front of me. I said, "Are you Michael?" with a smile. And out of the corner of my eye, I saw a man (his dad? Mom's boyfriend? whatever) run up to him, I thought to give him a hug (which is what I would have done in that situation!)  Instead he yanked the boy's arm, and the boy fell on the ground. Then the dad, using his FIST, started BEATING the boy in the back (who had curled into a ball on the ground). He was yelling something about staying with them, and not getting lost.

I started screaming, I don't really remember what I was screaming, something about how he (the boy) didn't do anything wrong. Jerry flipped out too, yelling "What the hell is your problem?" etc. Jerry and I were causing such a scene that other people started looking. The man knew he fucked up, you could see it in his face. He got quieter and picked the boy up and threw him in the shopping cart. Then they stood in line to pay. I was trembling and hysterical at what I just saw. It was NOT a "spanking", or even borderline. The man was truly BEATING his little boy. I told Jerry to call the police.

There were tons of people around, but everyone kind of averted their eyes, like it was none of their business. Well, fuck all of them--they are just as bad as the boys father, as far as I'm concerned. There were 2 other people that came up to Jerry and I and were very disturbed by the incident too. We all stood outside waiting for the police. I saw the family leaving, and I followed them to their car. I wrote down the license plate number. The police took almost an hour to show up--seriously. The other two witnesses had left, but I said I'll wait all night if I have to. When the cop showed up, we gave a statement and the license plate number, and then we left. The cop said he was going to view the footage of the surveillance video.

We then went to the kids graduation from Safety City. I was still very shaken up and couldn't stop thinking about what happened. When we were at the boat docks, about to get in the boat, my cell rang and it was the cop. He said he wanted to let me know that he followed up on the incident, and the man was actually on probation for domestic assault! The cop had checked out the little boy, and said he had older bruising around his waist. The dad told the cop it was because the two boys wrestle with each other. The dad also said that he gave his son a "light spanking" at the store. The cop (who has seen these cases numerous times) could see right through the lies. He said that Child Protective Services will be out to check out the house, and the man's probation officer is going to get the report. Most likely, the cop said the man will wind up in court (and we could get subpoenaed).

I'm SO GLAD that we spoke up for the little boy and that we waited around for the police to give a statement. I'm very glad that the cop actually followed up on it and that he called to let me know that he did. I'm extremely angry at all the bystanders who did absolutely nothing except avert their eyes while a little boy was beaten. And I really hope that the asshole gets what he deserves. I wish the boys' mom would leave him, but you could see she was scared and embarrassed about the whole thing.

---

Anyway, I felt a little better after the cop called. We went out on the boat and fished a little (I caught 5--but mostly silver bass, which we don't keep), then watched the fireworks. By the time we got home is was midnight, which is late for me. Today is definitely back to normal as far as food goes. I ate way too much yesterday.

Eli, fishing

Gorgeous sunset

---

Have you ever witnessed something in which you had to call the police? Today's incident was, by far, the worst for me.

Continue Reading...

Such a stressful day

Sorry for the lame pictorial post yesterday, I just didn't have time to write a "real" post. The day started out normally, and I took the kids to their Safety City class. My runner's knee was flared up and hurting badly, and my body was really wanting a rest day--even though it was the LAST DAY of June, and I had worked out every single day so far in June. I decided not to do any running or even hard walking.

While the kids were in their class, I walked to Panera--just 2/3 of a mile away. I ordered lunch (black bean soup, 1/2 a salad, and a piece of bread). I only had half the bread, so my calories for lunch were just about 350. Not bad!  I never ever eat out, but I've done Subway twice and Panera once since my kids have been in that class. I have to occupy 2 hours of my time, and it happens to be lunch time. Anyway, the salad wasn't great--it was a strawberry and poppyseed chicken salad or something like that. I liked the soup and bread though (whole grain baguette).

My lunch at Panera

After the kids class, we had to go home and clean up the house quickly because my friend Renee was coming over for wine later that night, and we had a birthday party to go to in the afternoon. We weren't home for even 15 minutes when the first problem occurred. I went to the Jeep to get out the birthday present I had bought about a week ago for the little boy's party. I had to wrap it. Well, one of the kids had put their water bottle on top of the gift after t-ball, and the water bottle leaked. The gift was completely soaked through with water (it was a slip 'n slide and a beach towel). The towel was totally saturated and the cardboard box on the slip 'n slide was soggy and wet. I panicked because we had to leave soon and we had no gift.

I looked up directions to the party to discover it was 1 hr and 10 minutes away!! The house was still messy, but my husband was home (he had to work, so he wasn't going to the party). My husband told me he'd clean up the house. I didn't even have a chance to shower and get ready. I got the kids loaded into the car and we left. I was really upset about the gift. We decided to stop and buy a card and just put $20 in the card. I don't like to do that for little kids, because they'd much rather open a gift, but I didn't have time to go buy another present. We picked up my mom, because she was going with us, and then drove to the farm where the party was.

Once we got there, I started feeling (mentally) a little better. The farm was really cool! They let us hold, feed, or pet all the animals, including a huge turtle, a snake, a hedgehog, deer, a baby alligator, ducklings and chicks, pigs, baby skunks(!!) and all kind of fun stuff. My favorite were the baby skunks--they were so pudgy and adorable.

The baby skunks were SO adorable!

Noah holding the snake

The deer was pregnant and ready to deliver any moment

I was STARVING and after all the stress, I ended up throwing calories to the wind and eating too much last night. At the party, I had a small sub and small bag of Doritos. Then two servings of dirt cake. On the way home, Eli had to go to the bathroom, so we stopped at a gas station (gross). I ended up buying a small bag of chocolate covered cashews (my favorite candy ever!!) and a small bag of Twizzlers.

At home, I took a super quick shower and put on my PJ's just as Renee got here. We opened a bottle of Kendall Jackson Summation, a dry red blend, and it was really good. Reminded me of Fall, so I'm going to keep that in mind for later. We polished off the bottle.

Renee amazes me. She's about 125 pounds--very small and cute--and she doesn't have to count calories or diet or anything to stay her size. She definitely does her share of work for it; she's a runner, and she's the one who got me into running. She definitely eats healthy food, but she doesn't worry about portions or calories or anything like that. And her weight is CONSTANT. She said her weight is the same as it was before she had her 3 boys, the oldest of which is now 9. We were looking through the What I Eat book I bought, and she found it so interesting. She had no clue how many calories were in certain foods, when I could list the calories in my sleep! I really wish I could be like that--just not care about calories, enjoy food, and maintain a healthy weight.

Renee and me on Halloween in 2010

Today is going to be a crazy day too. Safety City class, then Safety City graduation this evening, then going out on my parents boat to watch fireworks tonight. I'm taking a 100% rest day as far as exercise, and I'm not counting calories today. I just need a break mentally and physically. Back on it tomorrow, though!

Continue Reading...

How to eat a marshmallow (a pictorial)

Load the mallow on the stick

Make sure it's on well, so it doesn't fall off in the fire

Get close to the fire, but not too close

Stick the mallow into the flames until it burns (while showing your bra to the internets)

Check the outside to make sure it's crispy

Carefully peel off the carcinogenic outer layer

It should come off in one piece, looking like a shell of the mallow

And gently place the shell onto your tongue

Close your mouth and let the mallow dissolve into sugary bliss

Prepare to repeat the sequence with the rest of the mallow

Stick it in the fire. Close, but not too close.

Peel off the outer layer

It gets trickier as the mallow gets smaller

Eat the second shell of the mallow

Repeat until the mallow is too small to layer, and pull the whole thing off

Savor. Every. Second.

Lick your fingers

Peel off any goo that might remain on the stick

And eat that too

And repeat the entire sequence again... and again...

Continue Reading...

I did it!

After pussing out yesterday at the bike shop, I decided to go back today (thank you, Sarasael, for your comment--that pushed me into going back!)  I was still super nervous, but I went in and a super nice guy helped me out.

He asked what kind of riding I wanted to do, and I just told him that I'm a runner and I want to cross-train a couple of times a week. No racing or huge mileage or anything, and only on the road (no trails). He introduced me to some hybrid bikes, which (from what I read online) sounded like the way to go for me. He asked if I wanted to test ride a couple bikes, which I was nervous to do, but I figured I probably should before I drop hundreds of dollars on a bike.

I loved the first one I tried. It felt so much better than any other bike I've ever ridden--very smooth. He suggested a bike with a longer length, which I tried, but I still went back to the first one. And $487 later, it's now mine :) 

When I got it home, I was excited to ride it right away. I was thinking I'd do about 6-8 miles, but good LORD--my thighs were burning! I have a tempo run scheduled tomorrow, so I decided to call it quits after 3.5 miles. Hopefully I won't be TOO sore tomorrow. It was so much fun though--I felt like I was flying. Now, I know that 13 mph is on the slow side for biking, but that was my average speed (I took the Garmin, of course!)  I probably should get a helmet (and maybe not wear flip flops next time, lol).  I also have no clue what different gears are for. This has 21 gears, but I've no clue what to do with them. I'll have to read up on it.

The only thing that really sucks about owning a bike now is that I don't have a garage to put it in. So I'll have to keep it in the house. I also don't have a hitch for bikes on my Jeep, so I'll have to get one or I'll be sticking around my house to ride.  I felt kind of guilty spending so much money, but I justified it by telling myself that it's a present to myself for maintaining 100 pounds lost for an entire year.

Shortly after that, Jerry glanced out the window and went flying outside. I heard him yell, "Phoebe!" kind of sternly (Phoebe is one of my cats) and immediately I knew she had a bird or something in her mouth.

I ran outside and sure enough, she had a DUCKLING. It was alive and unhurt, thank God, but the poor thing's mother was nowhere to be found. I live right across from the woods, as you can see in the pictures, and there is some swamp there, so I'm guessing that's where she got it. But I looked and looked, and there was no sign of a duck or more ducklings.

See how tiny it is? Poor thing!

Jerry called the vet to see if they knew of someone that would take it in, and got the number to a guy who specializes in wildlife. He didn't answer the phone, so desperately, I told Jerry of this house that I pass on my runs who takes care of the wild ducks there.

They have a fence set up with shelter and everything, but it's open to where the ducks can come and go as they please. I told Jerry to bring the duck there, knock on the door, and ask if they know what to do with it. The guy actually took it in, and said that he cares for the abandoned ducks and other animals until he can let them go. What luck is that?!  So now the sweet little duckling has a home.

Oh, I seriously had the BEST breakfast today. I just chopped up a peach and dumped a packet of Emerald Breakfast On The Go on top. Then I nuked it for 1 minute in the microwave. The peaches got hot and melty, and the granola topping stuff was so yummy.

I picked out the yogurt-covered raisins (and ate them separately) because I didn't think they'd fit in with the peaches. The only thing that could have made it better would have been a scoop of vanilla ice cream, but sadly, I cannot trust myself to have ice cream in the house.  I've made this dozens of times with apples, but I never thought to use peaches! It was SO good. I'll definitely be making it again.  I'm sure it would be good with any kind of granola or crunchy cereal. I love a nut and dried fruit combo.

This was 222 calories.

---

Have you ever taken in a wild animal or just a stray animal? I seem to be doing it a lot lately! First Estelle, then Paolo (both cats), and today the duckling. Thank goodness we found someone else to take the duckling, otherwise I'd be nursing it here until it was big enough to go back in the wild.

Continue Reading...

Week of 6/22/11 recap

Had another good weigh-in today... 142, which means I lost 2.5 pounds this week (taking me 9 pounds away from goal now). I take my waist measurement every week too, and it dropped 3/4 of an inch this week.

My stomach skin feels even looser than usual, which means I can tell my waist is getting smaller. Yay! Also, my body fat percentage dropped 1.2%. All the working out I've been doing has been helping, I'm sure. If I get in 3 miles today and 3 miles tomorrow, I'll have accumulated 100 miles in June! I've only done that once before, and that was in October. However, I cannot wait to take a rest day on July 1st :)

I successfully counted calories all week, with the exception of my one day off (which I took on Saturday). My calories counts were as follows:

June 25th may have been a little higher, but I estimated pretty well I think. A pretty good week overall. Total calories were 10,772.

Mileage this week:
Wed- 3
Thu- 3
Fri- 2
Sat- 6  (run outside)
Sun- 3
Mon- 3  (run outside)
Tue- 3  (run outside)

Calorie deficit from food: 1128 (with 1700/day as a baseline)
Calorie deficit from exercise: 2690 (not counting strength training)
Calorie debt payoff for the week: 3818

Is anyone getting annoyed that I've been posting every single day? I hope not. One person commented that they liked the frequent posts, so hopefully it's a good thing.

Continue Reading...

Warm blueberries

When I checked my e-mail this morning, there was a Sparkpeople recipe for blueberry muffins. As soon as I read that, I got a big craving for warm blueberries. I KNEW I had to have some sort of blueberry-muffin-like breakfast. But since muffins are small and definitely not very filling, I decided to make oat bran and top it with warm blueberries. I added walnuts as an afterthought, and that breakfast totally hit the spot. Yum!

The only thing that would have made it better would be a shitload of brown sugar... but I settled for the natural sweetness of blueberries :)

While my kids were in their Safety City class, I decided to go to a local bike shop to possibly start looking for a bike to buy. I've been thinking about it ever since I started reading Lori's blog at Finding Radiance. She is the biking queen! I was super nervous walking into the shop, and when I got in there, I was so intimidated and freaked out that I just turned around and left, hopefully before anyone saw me.

This is going to sound weird, but I'll try and explain: I feel like I don't deserve to be in "athletic" shops (running, biking), because "I'm fat". And even though my BODY isn't fat anymore, my MIND still is, and I feel like everyone in the shop would look at me and think, "What is that fat girl doing in here? She can't be a runner (or biker, or whatever athlete)."

Now, I know this sounds ridiculous, but my mind is a little fucked up from the weight loss still. I even feel like this when I run races. I feel like a phony, trying to fit in with "real" runners. I feel the same way when I am shopping for clothes in the junior's section or even the misses section. I feel like I should be shopping in the plus size section, and I feel like everyone is staring at me thinking I'm delusional to be looking at small clothes like that.

Now, I'm not implying whatsoever that fat people shouldn't be allowed to shop in running or biking stores! I'm just trying to explain how I feel when I go in those stores.

Anyway, enough of the serious talk. When I got home, I started working on some weight loss comparison photos for a future blog post. July 7th will mark the day one year ago that I "officially" reached 100 pounds lost. I could have sworn it was June 30th, but I just double-checked and apparently it was July 7th. Either way, it is a special day, because I will have maintained 100+ pounds lost for a YEAR. The odds of doing that were very much against me, but I managed. Hopefully I can come up with an insightful post for the anniversary!

Went for a short 3-mile run today. It was hot--almost 80 degrees and very sunny, but it's also super windy, so it didn't feel too bad. I also had negative splits for the first time in a while...

Later, we went to the boys' t-ball game. I took a picture of my husband, and I realized that when I zoomed in, I could see my reflection in his sunglasses...

(I guess that shows just how exciting t-ball games are! lol)

---

Do you feel intimidated shopping at athletic stores? I hope to get past this someday. Sooner, rather than later, because I really want to buy a bike!

Continue Reading...

Fat girl on a little bike

Well, I guess I'm not a "fat girl" anymore, but I certainly felt like it today when I wound up on Noah's bike! Jerry and I walked up to the liquor store with the kids, so they could get an ice cream. Eli wanted to walk, but Noah chose to ride his bike. I guess we didn't think too far ahead on that one, because Noah couldn't eat his popsicle and ride his bike home at the same time, so guess who wound up riding the bike home?  Moi, of course.

I'm pretty sure the whole neighborhood got a look at my butt crack

Can you even imagine me doing that at 253 pounds? The tires would have popped for sure.  I must admit, I had fun. It makes me want a bike of my own. Bigger than this one, of course...

Today, I was really wanting to run outside, so I decided to do just that while the kids were in their Safety City class. It was miserably hot. I hate running in the heat! I'll take snow and ice any day over hot temps. I had mapped out 5.5 miles, but I ended up turning around after 1.5--to make an even 3 mile run at a 9:44/mi pace. It was just too damn hot and I wasn't enjoying it.

I was starving when I got home, and I made a really quick wrap for lunch that ended up tasting really good. I made it before, but forgot about the combo until I decided to make it today. I spread a whole grain tortilla with 2 Tbsp. almond butter (Barney Butter, because I have 3 jars to use up!), sprinkled with 1/2 a chopped carrot and a couple of tablespoons of raisins. It's also good with peanut butter. It's a strange combination, but it tastes really good!

Almond butter + carrots + raisins rolled in a tortilla

I spent all morning trying to pick a race to sign up for in the fall. I really would like to run another half-marathon, but the only options I have are extremely hilly courses. One of them (The Brooksie Way) is downhill for 6 miles, and then UPHILL for 6 miles. That terrifies me. The other looks super fun. Run Woodstock! is a trail run that is loaded with hills--up, down, up, down for the whole race. Again, terrified of the hills, but I love the Woodstock theme.  I wish I could do the Detroit Free Press half, but I'll be in Arizona for Sarah's wedding that weekend. Maybe I'll just forgo the half-marathon altogether. I'm registered for The Big House Big Heart 10k. I'm running that with a lot of my family in honor of my cousin who died (waaay too young) from cancer.

Oh, and I LOVED reading all your comments about the embarrassing clothes.  I was cracking up while reading them. I have to say that the most embarrassing award goes to Kari-Anne, with the shorts that say "Can't Touch This" along with hand prints on the butt!

---

Would you choose a race with one reeeeeally drawn out hill (6 miles long) or a trail run with a whole bunch of short hills? Someone make this decision for me!

Continue Reading...

Back to counting

My first thought when I woke up today was, "Dammit, I wish I didn't throw away the rest of those oatmeal cookies from last night."  I had sworn off cookies before I went to bed, thinking I'd never in a million years eat another one, and then I woke up with them on my mind.

Kind of like alcohol... you know how when you drink too much and get sick, you tell yourself that you're never drinking again? And then the following weekend, you're over it. And the pain of eating too much sugar and feeling sick is similar to childbirth in the sense that you completely forget how bad it was until you do it again, and you think, "WHY didn't I learn my lesson the first time?!" But the cookies were in the trash with coffee grinds on top of them, so they weren't salvageable. That's a good thing, because I totally would have pulled them out.


Well, I'm going to try to keep in mind how sick I felt last night, and hopefully I won't repeat the crappy eating again next week when I have a day "off" of counting calories. Today was back to counting, and I did fine with it. I had a pretty lazy day, actually. I read some blogs while I drank my morning coffee, then I sat outside and painted my toenails--they were looking really shabby!

I don't do nearly as good a job on the French pedi as they do in the salon, but I can't afford am not willing to pay someone to do what I can do for free. Besides, I HATE pedicures. Seriously, I can't stand the scrubby thing they use on the bottoms of my feet, and I'm super ticklish, and I usually end up kicking the poor girl in the face when all she is trying to do is make my feet look pretty.

I finished reading the book that I bought yesterday at a garage sale--I'm seriously the slowest reader on Earth, but I managed to finish this book in about 24 hours. It is called "The Butterfly Garden", a memoir by Chip St. Clair. I love memoirs, and this author was from Michigan, so I bought it on that alone. This book was amazing horrifying.

He was abused by his father for his entire childhood, and when he was an adult, he learned that his father had escaped from prison before he was born. His crime? Murdering a 3-year old boy (and possibly other kids, too).

I typically like memoirs because I know that everything turned out okay (the author is well enough to write the book, so I know that they didn't DIE or something). However... when the author described the murder of the 3-year old boy, I almost vomited.

Not from the horrendous amount of cookies I had eaten, but because of the sickening image this put into my mind. I wish more than anything I hadn't read it, because I'll never get the image from my mind now. I don't want to type all the details, but the boy was beaten to death while his 6-year old brother watched, and then the brother was stomped and beaten (almost) to death. He lived, thankfully, but his poor little brother did not. Knowing that this was a true story broke my heart.

Speaking of sick assholes, I discovered something disturbing on my blog recently. One of my favorite things to look at is my "stats" page, where it shows the phrases and keywords that people Google in order to arrive at my page. For example, someone may google "Ragnar Relay Minnesota" or "stray Himalayan cat" and wind up at my page because of posts that I've written that include those words.

It just doesn't fit in! Perv.

It doesn't tell me anything about WHO typed that--it just tells me the phrase that was typed. Anyway, I noticed that one of the phrases was "15 year old naked girls". I'm guessing that they arrived at my blog because I have an entry titled "Naked Pictures" and while I would never post naked pics of ANYONE on my blog, I talked about how, at a garage sale, someone was selling a cell phone with naked pics on it. This completely disturbed me that someone was typing that into Google. I know that there are thousands of perverts out there, but now I know at least one of them saw my blog. Gross.

My husband is off work tomorrow for the first time in (I think) 10 days. He works 12-hour shifts, so I have felt like a single parent lately. I'm SO HAPPY that he is off tomorrow! Hopefully the weather is as nice as it was today, and maybe we can go to the State Park or something. Well, I hope you all had a super fantastic weekend!

Continue Reading...