Money in my Pocket

I worked on my taxes this evening and I really thought I’d have to pay this year.  I thought that I’d have to pay for making a profit on the sale of my house, but I don’t have to pay a dime.  I also thought that because I’m filing single for the first time instead of head of household, that I’d end up paying.  Josh is finally self-sufficient so I’m not claiming him as a dependent this year.  Luckily, my deductions for interest on the house, the taxes, and my education loans made it where I didn’t have to pay anything and I’m actually getting $171 back.  So that’s a relief! 

A fat lip

Only I can give myself a fat lip.  I was picking up socks in my bedroom to put in the laundry basket and hit my lip on the basket splitting my lip.  It’s going to really hurt tomorrow.  This weekend was pretty uneventful. Friday I was supposed to have a meeting all day, but the speaker was injured in a car wreck so it was cancelled after lunch.  We stayed until 11:00, went to lunch, and then went back to school.  Matt brought Schlotzkey’s sandwiches home for dinner.  He also took the dogs to the beauty parlor earlier that day.  I’m sure Max feels better now that he doesn’t look like a mop.  Mollie got a bath and her nails trimmed.  We watched the second Harry Potter on Friday evening.  Matt has now started the 3rd book.  I’m rereading the 4th at the moment.  Matt had to work on Saturday.  I slept in and then went shopping.  I finally found a new watch on sale at Kohl’s.  It was 25% off and then I had a coupon for another 20%.  After Kohl’s, I went to Panera and had soup and salad for lunch.  I then went to Ross for Less and found some sheets for my bed and two pairs of shoes.  After that, I went to Hobby Lobby and went a little crazy with craft supplies.  I got paint and other items to make some cool Scrabble racks.  Matt grilled steaks for dinner and we watched Iron Man.  Today we went to church at noon then to Ihop for brunch.  We went to the pet store to get a collar and tag for the new kitty.  He’s kind of figured out the pet door so I want to make sure if he gets out that he doesn’t get lost.  I also got new tags for the other animals so that the address is updated.  So that’s the excitement here.  I mostly read and watched tv this weekend.  Not a bad way to spend it – aside from the fat lip.

Hump Day Thank Goodness

I woke up completely exhausted this morning.  I was awake briefly last night with allergy issues, but I don’t think that warranted my exhaustion.  I’ve also been starving all day.  I did lose a pound this week.  (Slow and steady wins the race, right?)  I totally overindulged at dinner tonight but I finally feel satiated.  Matt cooked burgers and hotdogs on the grill tonight. It was very tasty.  I’ll try to get back on the wagon tomorrow, but I thoroughly enjoyed my meal tonight. 

I’ve been processing a bunch of new books in the library and it is slow going because I get caught up in looking at the books I ordered.  It’s like Christmas in the library right now!  I have a profile on Goodreads.com and I made a commitment to read 50 books this year.  Surprisingly, I’m ahead of schedule.  Granted, I’m reading several YA novels, but that’s my business.  I’m also rereading Harry Potter as Matt is enjoying them for the first time.  Once he finishes a book, we watch the movie.  So far he’s read the first two books and we’ve watched the first movie. 

Tomorrow is my last day at the school this week.  Friday I have a meeting elsewhere. I have so much to do at work that I’m not sure if I’ll ever catch up, but at least I stay busy. 

A slow week

I didn’t lose much weight this week.  Only .8 pounds.  But then again, I hardly exercised either.  I didn’t really exceed calories, but I should have exercised more.  The last few days I’ve far exceeded calories so I need to get back on track.  At least I haven’t gained.  Not sure what the scale will show next week.  Have I mentioned how much I hate exercising?  Matt just doesn’t seem to understand how much I despise it.  He asks me if I feel good afterward and I said no, I feel sweaty and tired.  The last time I really lost weight was when I took a dance workout class at Amarillo College.  Unfortunately the only similar class around here is on the far north side of town and I refuse to drive through rush hour traffic to get there.  Maybe I’ll got the pool in the spring when it opens.  I just hate walking.  It bores me. 

The new kitty has made himself at home.  He seems to enjoy it here – especially getting fed regularly.  He also likes people food.  I can’t eat anything sitting on the couch without him in my face.  He finally has a name – Felix Mendelssohn the Cat.  Josh suggested a philosopher or composer and when he said Felix, it seemed to click.  He doesn’t know his name yet, but hopefully he’ll learn.  The other animals seem to have accepted him.  Even Lucy has stopped hissing all the time.  They can both be on their food table together waiting for dinner.  I think she’s a little jealous – she has even been kind of playful lately.  Last night I had purring in stereo with a cat on either side of me. 

Just call me “sucker”

I vowed that I would not get any more pets.  They are expensive and eventually they die.  Yet my genes mean that I’m a sucker for stranded animals.  I was sitting in my library this afternoon and kept hearing a strange sound over and over.  I went outside to check it out and it was a small cat.  Not quite a kitten, but not fully grown.  He tried to get into the school.  I called the secretary who usually rescues animals and she said she couldn’t take it.  If we reported it to anyone else, they would have called animal control.  I broke down and took it home thinking that if I couldn’t keep it, I could take it to a no kill shelter.  Now I’m sitting here on the couch and the kitty is curled up beside me in a new kitty bed.  I posted it on facebook and Josh immediately replied that we should keep the cat.  He then texted me with his argument that “he should stay on the principle that he’s a cat, and we are the ***** family who always rescues animals.  Plus he’s an adorable little gray tabby!  The last one disappeared, so we keep this one!”  I told him that I might keep him for him until he moves out of his apartment and then he could be responsible for him.  He said he was ok with that.  Of course by then I’ll probably be too attached.  The other animals seem to be handling it ok.  None of them have attacked the kitty.  Lucy, the other cat, just hisses a bit and growled a little.  Mollie just barks her head off and wants to chase him.  Max is indifferent.  The cat is pretty oblivious to the others and doesn’t seem to be bothered by them at all and seems to have made himself at home.  So I think we have a new family member who has yet to have a name other than “kitty.”  Here’s a picture:

It’s only a game

I know that Scrabble is only a game, but playing Matt frustrates the heck out of me.  I know there are bigger things to get upset over, but I was very irritated when I left Scrabble tonight.  I was only going to play two games anyway, but at the end of my 2nd game against Matt, he beat me by bingoing out and leaving me with the X and Q stuck in my rack.  I was so irritated that I threw tiles at him before I left.  It took the drive home and walking on the treadmill before I calmed down.  I know I shouldn’t be so competitive, but it is frustrating.  It’s not that I mind losing, I just mind getting beat to a pulp. 

Thank goodness tomorrow is Friday.  This week has seemed to go on forever.  My library has been freezing with the temps hovering around 60 degrees because the district hasn’t figured out how to turn the air conditioning off when it is cool outside.  I don’t know what plans we have for this weekend other than taking down the Christmas decorations.  I’m looking forward to sleeping in, myself.

Drum roll….

Well, my official weigh in this week was pretty good – in spite of the scale that can’t figure out what I weigh.  I stepped on it numerous times and it always gave me a different number.  It ranged from 187 to 184.8.  I ended up going with an average weight of 186.2.  There, I posted my weight for the world to see.  I started out at 191.2 so I’m down five pounds for this week.  I think that’s a pretty good start.  I’m feeling better about food since I upped the calories.  Even with the increase, I’ve still kept it close to 1200 when I add a work out for that day.  Hopefully the scale will get itself sorted out and I’ll keep losing weight. 

Tonight Josh made homemade Chicken Parmesan.  It was quite yummy.  Luckily, I didn’t consume a lot of calories at lunch or breakfast so I had plenty.  Since I had dessert, I’m now over by 15 calories which means that I need to do some walking tonight.  I just finished with my Janet Evanovich book so I guess I need to start something else.  I have tons of books that I want to read.  I set a goal of reading 50 new books this year on Good Reads.  I’ve now read two so I guess I’m on target, but the next book will take a while.  I’m reading a book called “Quiet – The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking.”  So far it’s pretty interesting, but like most nonfiction, it’s a slower read. 

And so it goes

Well the diet and exercise regimen seems to be working though it was a struggle the first few days.  I’ve been feeling hungry even after I reached my daily caloric goal.  When I weighed myself on Sunday, it showed that I had lost almost 5 pounds.  The might have been a fluke of sorts, but I think 1200 calories to lose 1 1/2 pounds a week isn’t where I need to be.  I changed my goal tonight to 1 lb a week which upped my calories to 1360 which seems more feasible.  That way I can eat a bigger meal at dinner or have a snack during the day.   Adding exercise will help shed the pounds so I’ll try that for the week.  My “official” weigh in will be this Wednesday evening so we’ll see what happens this week.  I did push myself on speed while walking tonight.  I was able to complete a mile in about 16 minutes which is good for me.  It has been taking me about 18 1/2 minutes.

I was a little tired this morning, though I managed fairly well in spite of the little sleep I seemed to get.  I took a sleeping pill at 9:30 and then another at 11:30 when I still wasn’t asleep.  I might have fallen asleep sometime after midnight, but it was that kind of sleep where you don’t really feel like you’ve been sleeping.  I should be exhausted enough to sleep tonight.  Today rather sucked at work.  I had to be a sub for a teacher since five of them didn’t come to work today. So instead of processing the new books that came in or preparing for the upcoming library club meeting, I had to babysit most of the day. 

I barely ate lunch so when I got home I didn’t really want to cook.  Josh and I went to Texas Roadhouse.  I ate half the pulled pork dinner which was very good.  After exercising and changing my calorie goal, I was under by about 130 calories today.

I finally finished reading The Hobbit.  It was kind of difficult to get through.   I found that Tolkien is very wordy.  Now I’m finally reading the latest Janet Evanovich book that I bought about a month ago.  I think I’m going to read a while and then call it an early night.

Vacation is almost over

I’m not ready to go back to school but I guess I have to.  Once again, I’ve been staying up too late and sleeping in.  I did get to bed a little earlier last night.  I also got up a little earlier, but I think 9:30 won’t cut it on Monday.  I’ve managed to exercise and stay within my allotted calories for 3 days now, but I can’t say I’m enjoying it.  I do feel hungry at the end of the day, but so far I haven’t cheated.  It will be easier when I start seeing results I hope.  I will do a mid-week weigh tomorrow and then a full week on Wednesday. 

I think we’re going to see the Hobbit tonight.  I haven’t quite finished the book, but I don’t have much more to go.  Since it is in 3 parts, I’ve read enough to watch the first movie.  I need to get Matt started on the Harry Potter books.  I got him interested in the Jack Reacher books so it’s hard to pull him away from those.  I planned to read more than I have during the break.  Maybe I can get a few books read tomorrow. 

I think I’m going to finally get out of my bed, take a shower, and head out to get some bourbon.  Not to drink – I’m making bourbon chicken at some point. 

Diet Day 2

I’ve been pretty good for two days now but I know it’s only the beginning.  Jan suggested downloading My Fitness Pal and I had actually just installed in on my phone a few minutes before I read her comment.  I read some reviews that also recommended the program so I downloaded it and have used it for the past two days.  So far I haven’t exceeded my calorie count of 1200 calories.  I get more calories by exercising so that has helped.  Today Matt and I ate at Chipotle.  I used the app to find what I should eat within my limit.  I went over by 106 calories, but then I walked after Scrabble practice tonight so now I have a surplus of 15 calories. 

It is really cold here.  Well, maybe not as cold as it gets up north, but since I’ve acclimated myself to warmer temps, 45 degrees is cold for me.  We’re supposed to get some sleet tonight, but I’m not sure if it will happen.  I need to go to the store tomorrow, but I don’t have to go early so I’m betting it will move out by the time I get up and dressed.  I’m definitely ready for spring to arrive.

Diet and Exercise

Well, I’m out of excuses for not starting so today is the day that I have to start working on getting the pounds off.  Matt and I have a competition of sorts planned.  We have three weight goals to meet with incentives along the way.  We’ll see how it goes.  I think I do need to find a good calorie counter or some kind of app to help me track what I’m eating.  If anyone has suggestions, let me know.  I will also start actively using my treadmill now.  Now I’m off to find a new scale.  Time to get serious I guess.