The weatherman finally predicted something right this year - it actually snowed last night. Not a lot but enough to cover everything. I woke up to bright white outside. It's absolutely beautiful.

The parking lot at the kids school was extremely icy though - not safe to drive or walk on. No one was outside clearing the pavement like they had done before. I hope not many kids get sent to the nurse's office today due to the black iced pavement in the play area.
Yikes.

My critters all want to go outside, but it's so cold out there. Everyone is staying in - at least until it all melts.

I just finished paying the bills - yikes. There goes all of my money. It seems like it takes forever to make it and really quick to get rid of it. Not fair.

Fortunately for me, I have managed to save. Amazing, I know. I have enough saved for everyone's first 2 1/2 years of college. I have, what, 1 1/2 more years left of saving to do. Wish me luck. If someone doesn't go to college, I guess I could treat myself to something fun (like a european trip). I have a girl, so I may end up having to pay for a wedding for her. There's plenty of time for that, she's only 10!!!

And the boys, well, I hope I have some more time until everyone starts calling me 'grandma' Yikes! I've talked to them, and still talk to them. I hope I taught them well. I'll keep teaching, I hope they are listening. yikes! And, yes, I've talked to my daughter about some things - she's even learned about some things in class - the SHARE program. We have bought books together - those kinds that tell you about your body and books that provide answers to some questions that you may not feel comfortable asking your parents/family members/guardians.

I hope that I am able to continue to be a good role model in their lives - and I hope that I am able to continue to surround them with other good role models as well.
Everyday is different - so, Wish me luck!

Sunday was a great day to take off. The weather outside was a bit blistery - extreme winds and all. Luckily, we did not lose power. We stayed home and watched movies. We watched the 'Million Dollar Baby' (I liked it); we also watched 'Mission Impossible' (I loved it); and we watched 'Mooseport' (it was funny); and we also watched Charmed and Crossing Jordan.

I was going to continue cleaning (my bedroom is currently being reconstructed - I finally finished installing the last closet organizer...hal'e'lu'ya! My poor back.

This week, I will put things back in the closet - in the new organizers. Yippie.

I didn't eat too bad - I burned a pork roast (shame on me). I haven't done that in years! I usually put the roast in a crock pot - but yesterday, I decided to place it in a roasting pan and in the oven. I forgot to put any liquid in it - and 'poof' it's harder than a rock. Oh well. I guess I'll stick with the crock pot - it's safer for me.

For breakfast on Sat and Sun, I had 2 pancakes (small ones) with 2 sausage links. For lunch, I had a chicken teriyaki rice bowl on Sat and on Sunday I had left over spaghetti. For dinner, I made spaghetti (with red sauce, olives and garlic), and I had it again on Sunday evening (leftovers) with a bunch of broccoli. I had dessert last night...yum-yum-good. Two scoops of vanilla ice cream with bananas. Yummies! For snacks throughout the day (Sat & Sun) I had popcorn, an apple, a banana, some yogurt, raw broccoli, a 'LOOK' candybar, and some cornnuts.

I also drank a lot of water. For breakfast I drank a glass of OJ. I am finally getting tired of OJ. I had it again this morning (Monday) with 2 more pancakes. Ok, enough of repeat foods...I will try to fix something different tomorrow.

Ok, enough food talk. I'm off to run a bunch of errands...oh, and yes, I do work. I think I better make an appearance there today.

I had dinner with a friend. We both are single mothers and have little critters running about our legs (cats & dogs). Some of the topics we touched upon were our animals and our children and our 'bad' habits.

I came to realize, with my friend's help, that my potato chip issue came from my childhood - I knew it had to be my parent's fault one way or another. Just kidding. But I am now getting that some of my current vises probably have derived from a control issue.

I am an only child and growing up in an extremely controled environment is something that I am still dealing with to this day. I keep telling myself, 'baby steps.'

Potato chips was one of these controled vises. I had to eat everything my mother or father fixed me and if I didn't finish it in one sitting, I had to finish it in another. For example, breakfast was usually Raisin Bran (I still hate raisins) and if I didn't finish my soggy Raisin Bran for breakfast, it was served again to me for lunch. If I didn't finish the huge serving of steak and veggies for dinner, it was sometimes served to me again the next day (lunch or dinner).

No wonder why I am very leary of left-overs. I want no part of them to this day. Very interesting.

I remember my mom eating a lot of junk food like potato chips and candies when my dad was not home (he was a truck driver and wasn't home all of the time). I also remember asking if I could have some and I remember her response being 'NO' a lot of the time.

This may be the reason why I choose to eat junk food like potato chips...maybe because I can eat them now whenever I want to...so there!

Total freedom.

Time to move on from this issue...baby steps.

things were going ok until I saw that bag of doritos! Dang it.
I remember back when I had my first place (away from my parents-very first time on my own)...I filled the kitchen cabinets with...no, not dishes...but lots and lots of bags of potato chips. I ate out a lot with my friends...and when I was home it was time to SNACK on CHIPS!

Now, in my 40's, things have changed a little. No longer do chips occupy all cabinet space in my kitchen. Instead there is a shelf in one cabinet reserved for chips!

Ok, enough chips - I am going to try to go 1 week without purchasing and eating chips. Wish me luck!

Hi, Gretchen here again.
So, yesterday was the first day of my life. My goal is to get my weight back in check. Yesterday I did pretty good.
Breakfast consisted of: eggs and turkey for breakfast and OJ
Snack: a banana and some Greek style Fig yogurt - the Greek yogurt is a lot thicker than your regular Yoplait yogurt and water.
Lunch: I had leftover Banqkok Curry Chicken with white rice. Very yummy and spicy. I also drank water.
Snack: rice crispy treat - there were three pieces in one package - I only had one piece and water.
Dinner: I ate out. I had pasta jambalaya (very yummy and spicy). With that came a cup of corn chowder soup. I ate all of the soup and only 1/4 of the jambalaya. I also had Iced Tea to drink.
I manage to drink lots of water throughout the day - that's really hard for some. I probably drink, easily, 10-12 16-20oz glasses a day.
For exercise: we went shopping, so I parked really far away in the parking lot and we went down practically every aisle (even if I knew I didn't want anything from that aisle). So, I walked at a normal/steady pace for about 45-60 minutes.

Today, I got a Chanel Latte from a locally owned coffee joint here. I just love going there...I used to go daily and sometimes 2X a day. Now I've cut that back to maybe 2-3 X's a week (including weekends). And I usually get the same drink - yeah, I'm living on the edge. hee-hee-hee.
I made eggs and had turkey again for breakfast. It was so easy to make. Tomorrow I'll have something different (cereal or pancakes).

It's almost snack time: thinking I'll have another banana and yogurt - I don't want to eat that everyday - I'll get burned out from it.

We watched that show, 'biggest loser' on tv last night. I wish I had a personal trainer, that I could afford and that would be available to me 24/7. Oh well.

Right now I am sitting on my butt - not working anything out but my fingers and my brain! I should get moving. It's really dreary looking outside. I could go for a 30 minute walk with my dog...yeah, that would be nice. Ok, I'm outta here.