To all of my legions of fans who are health-nuts, tell me this:

My favorite bread is the cheapo white stuff. Soft. Moist. Yummy. I splurged this week and bought some whole-grain bread. 3x as expensive. More fat. More calories. More carbs. Not as yummy. Tell me why I should buy whole grain bread.

Now--on to other things...

Dwane did the 4-mile in-home walk with me this morning. I definitely burned more calories, if only because I was doubled over in laughter while I was exercising. What a hoot! He did quite well, but you know Dwane--instead of doing small kicks, he had to see how high he could kick. He kicked up as high as my shoulder. I thought he was going to knock my head off. It was fun to exercise with him today, but honestly, I couldn't take it more than once a week.

For supper last night I made "Catholic Chicken", so named because I first found the recipe in a Catholic Church cookbook. I love it. Take a boneless chicken breast. Put a slice of Swiss cheese on it. Mix 1 can of cream of chicken soup (you can use the lower-fat kind) with 1/4 cup of white cooking wine (since I don't drink, I just use the stuff that's 1.79 a bottle!). Smear this mixture on top of the chicken & cheese. Sprinkle with some bagged stuffing. Drizzle with some butter. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Delicious! I suppose if you were counting carbs, you could just leave off the stuff and the butter (but that's the best part).

My brother normally does a "weekend wrapup", so I guess I'll try one today.

We went to Augusta & Lewiston on Friday afternoon in order to do a couple of errands and meet up Dwane's brother, Shane, who was visiting from Florida. We had a buffet dinner at Governor's, and we had a good time. The food was good, too, and by having a buffet, we were in and out of there pretty quickly.

On Saturday morning, I did a 4-mile in home walk with boosted intervals before going to Rachel's funeral. Oh my! What a gut-wrenching experience that was! Ronda had told me that there would be lots of balloons, because Rachel really loved mylar balloons. When I walked into the church, there were bunches of balloons surround by tons and tons of pictures of Rachel. In the sanctuary, Rachel's carriage was there, filled with some of her favorite things. The casket was draped with a white cloth and there were several items on top of the casket (her hearing aides and glasses, maybe?), and some of her favorite toys were in front. Dr. Faulkingham, Rachel's pediatrician (and also the doctor of my boys) gave the eulogy. After the service, Mike and Ronda took mylar helium balloons outside. They had attached notes to Rachel to the balloons, and they released them to heaven. Oh, no. I'm crying again thinking about it. The grandparents released balloons, as well. The was a huge luncheon after the service, but we (Dwane, Mom & I) didn't stay. I hugged Ronda, her mom, and her sister, and then we quietly left. I was ashamed for awhile, because I caught myself actually sobbing during the service, while Ronda was holding it all together (at least on the outside). I think I was given a lesson about "bearing each other's burdens". Obviously, Rachel's death will not affect my day-to-day life, but it has certainly influenced my thinking. Oh, if I could just take away just a fraction of Ronda's pain. I know what it's like to lose a Dad. How much worse must it be to lose a child? My heart was breaking for Ronda.

Saturday night, Shane and his son, Preston, came to visit. My mother-in-law had come from Mechanic Falls to watch the boys during the funeral, and she made a crockpot of meatballs for supper. They were good! Her SO, Normand, picked her up in the afternoon.

Which brings me to the next part of my story. My mother-in-law has a female guinea pig. We have a male. She decided they should mate. Gloria loves animals, and used to breed and raise Himalaya cats. I think she would breed just about anything she could. I mean no disrespect--she just loves animals. Anyway, it was somehow decided that the breeding would take place at my house, instead of hers. I'm not sure how that happened, but her Cherokee is now living with our Buddy. This is probably too much information for you all, but the mating rituals of guinea pigs is something else. The male walks slowly around the female, and then starts shaking his butt. Caleb thinks this is absolutely hilarious. I try to keep Eben away. You might also be interested in knowing that a female only is interested in a male for about 6 hours every 18 days. And during this 6 hours, they like to mate every 4 minutes or so!!!! And what happens when the female isn't interested?? The male tries anyway. Every 4 minutes! That means during my 3 mile work out this morning, I had to watch an attempt about 10 times! This is ridiculous. She's picking Cherokee up again at Caleb's birthday, and if the deed hasn't happened by then, Mom's gonna be out of luck. I can't handle it for any longer than that. I did ask her if I got a "stud fee". She said I get a baby guinea pig. Oh goody! The twins really love Buddy. Maybe I'll give them a baby guinea big for their birthday!

Yesterday was church, and I don't think there was anything out of the ordinary yesterday. I didn't do my workout yesterday. The first time in a week that I had missed. There is just too much going on before church to try to squeeze in 45 minutes of exercise.

Tonight Eben has a Cub Scout Pack Meeting, and then Miss America is on (my favorite pageant). Ma--did you remember to get cardboard pizzas and cinnamon buns? I've got the cinnamon buns, so I suppose I'll be throwing them in the oven for Dwane. They are something I can do without, but he loves them.

Gina's TV Mi-5:

1. Since the hoopla regarding the SuperBowl commercials is in full swing, what would you say is your favorite commercial? Your choice need not be limited to SuperBowl commercials or even American ones for that matter.

I really don't pay much attention to commercials. Honestly. Even Dwane can verify that. He often gets disgusted because I haven't been paying attention. He'd like to discuss how cool that car looked or something, and I really don't have a clue. I drown out during commercials. If I had to pick a favorite, I don't even know what I'd pick. Sonic commerials? Just for memory's sake? Of course, diamond commercials are nice, too.

2. We seem to be a nation of reality TV junkies. Do have a reality show that you just can’t miss? Explain what draws you to or away from reality shows.

Oh, there are too many reality shows for me to count! I love almost all of them. Favorites include American Idol, Project Runway, America's Next Top Model, and Beauty and the Geek. I'm not really sure what draws me to them. I think I like all of the little challenges. I can tell you that I am drawn away from most of the reality shows on MTV and VH1. The language and sexual content is too much.

3. If you were completely honest, would you be surprised at the amount of time you actually spend watching TV? Does your viewing consumption change throughout the year?

I spend entirely too much time watching TV, and it wouldn't surprise me if I added it all up. My TV is literally on 24/7. I'm not necessarily watching it, or even paying attention, but it's on. It's very rare, though, that I'm sitting in front of the TV and doing nothing else. That only happens during American Idol or after 9:00 at night. During the day, I'm either working, cooking, playing with Caleb, helping Eben with homework, etc. (or all of the above at the same time) while the TV is on.

4. As a child did you ever role-play a particular TV character? For example, did you ever pretend to be Superman, Little Joe Cartwright, or even Marcia Brady? Share with us.

I pretended to be Mom Partridge from the Partridge Family. Becky Y. was Ruben Kincaid. Kellie D. and Judy Y. took turns being Laurie and the younger sister. I think Brian H. might have been Danny. I'm not sure about the younger brother, and I'm not sure who the David Cassidy person was. But we used to play Partridge Family outside of Guilford Butler School at recess (down by the back firetruck entrance). Must have been 2nd and 3rd grade.

5. Share with us your most favorite TV snack. If your choice includes a memory or a reason for this particular snack, please let us.

This is easy. Pop Secret Homestyle Microwave Popcorn and Caffeine Free Diet Pepsi during American Idol. Dwane and I both have to have it. Tradition. Not sure how it started. It just did.

I actually didn't do too bad eating yesterday. And that was without trying to be good. Maybe that's the secret--don't try. :) Anyway, for breakfast, I had two cups of hot chocolate. No morning snack. Lunch was one corned beef sandwich and one slice of that Jello Cheesecake (made with skim milk). For an afternoon snack, I had an individual bag of microwave popcorn. Supper was chicken parmesan and no seconds. Ya Hoo! Dwane loved it, and actually wanted to cook more (it was really quick and easy). I told him that I purposely didn't make enough for seconds to try to help my portion control, so he "backed off" and had a piece of cheesecake instead. I didn't eat dessert, and didn't eat an evening snack. Go me!

This morning, I had one cup of hot chocolate, and then did a 4-mile inhome walk with interval boosted walking (jogging). I then had another cup of hot chocolate, and I just finished a package of Quaker Oatmeal (the kind that advertises being good for your heart). It's got 5 grams of fiber! I'm planning of having a tuna sandwich for lunch, with maybe some lower-fat Pringles. (The Pioneer Club needs Pringles containers.) Supper is steak and probably Rice-a-Roni.

I am now waiting at home for the furnace cleaning guy to show up. He's supposed to be here mid-morning. I was scared to death that he'd show up while I was exercising in my nightie, but I made it. Tomorrow morning we have a guy coming to give us a quote for replacing the glass in our broken living room window. He's supposed to be here sometime between 8:00-11:00 (right in time for exercising). I'm doing so well with getting in my exercising, I hate to stop, but I may have to wait until after he leaves, and hope that I have enough gusto to do it later in the day.

Ok. Where was I?

I think I told you that I did a new Leslie Sansone walk yesterday. I did another one today. The 3 Fast Miles. This was another good workout. There were some new steps (actually, older steps that she brought back again) which made it fun. Some mambo and grapevine steps to name a few.

I didn't do too well with eating yesterday. Bet you're not surprised. I had two cups of hot chocolate with skim milk for breakfast. No morning snack. For lunch, Caleb wanted "macamonis", so I could some macaroni shells. I also opened up a can of corned beef. So, I had some buttered macaroni shells and can corned beef for lunch. I did not have seconds. I was happy about that, but my firsts were still more than I should've eaten. First, though, I'm going to make progress at not eating seconds before I cut down on my firsts. That will come in time. For dessert I had a Hershey bar. Yikes!! For afternoon snack, I had another Hershey bar. Yikes again! Supper consisted of pot roast and potatoes from the crockpot. Again, I did not eat seconds, although I did pick at the meat a little bit as an "evening snack". The pot roast had pieces of garlic placed inside it, and it was cooked on a bed of potatoes, yellow pepper, red pepper, and red onion. A little different from the traditional carrots. Of course, I didn't eat any of the veggies but the potatoes. For dessert I had about 1/6 of one of those Jello Cheesecake mixes, made with skim milk (one of Dwane's absolute favorites!). I definitely increased my water intake yesterday, and felt really sloshy by the end of the evening.

For breakfast this morning, I had 2 cups of hot chocolate. After exercising, I drank about 3 cups of water, and made two slices of toast (Mom's homemade bread) with a little bit of peanut butter. It tasted really good, but you know, after 1/2 slice, I was full. So what did I do??? I bet you thought I ate it anyway. Nope! I threw it away! Can you believe that?? I can't!! I was just too full, and it was making me nauseous to think about eating it. We'll see how long I stay full. I think it had something to do with the exercising and water. I've heard it said that exercising can suppress your appetite some.

For lunch, I plan to have some leftover pot roast, or a corned beef sandwich. Just depends on how I feel. Supper will not be healthy. We're having chicken parmesan. I'm plan on cooking

Ok. I haven't been posting, because I haven't been dieting.

I'm going to try to get back on track today, so here comes another post.

First of all, I have to get out of the "diet" way of thinking. I don't want to get into some eating plan that I can't do for the rest of my life. I have to re-learn a way to eat for a lifetime. (This is what my mother has always taught me--mother's know best, you know.) Obviously, for me, I cannot not eat carbs for the rest of my life. For me, I can't eat 1200 calories a day for the rest of my life. What I can do is stay active. What I can do is increase my water intake. What I can do is not eat 2 hours before I go to bed. What I can do is not have seconds (and that's the biggest challenge for me).

I do like my new scale. It measure weight, body fat, and hydration. I can tell you that since I got my new scales (Thursday, I think) I am down 4 pounds, my hydration is about the same, and my body fat has reduced by 2%. That's without diet and exercise. I did have a big cycle change in there, so that's what I'm thinking the change is. I won't tell you my current weight or body fat, but I'll tell you that my hydration level is 38.9%. For a woman my age, it should be 50%. I'm going to do my best to not get weighed again for 10 days. My number one goal for this first 10 days is to increase my hydration level. Let's see how I can do.

I did get my new Leslie Sansone Walking Program today. Oh my goodness! What a workout!! It came with a 2 mile, 3 mile, and 4 mile DVD, all of which containg "interval boosted walks". Basically, this means 3 minues of speed walking, and then 2 minutes of jogging up to 6 mph, for three cycles. For me, that's "wicked" fast! I did the 2 mile today. I think that's the first in-home walking I have done that actually had me panting!

The program comes with a 10-day challenge. For 10 days, do either the 3 mile or 4 mile walk, and follow her eating plan, which consists of 3 600-calorie meals a day. No snacking. The meals look pretty reasonable. In fact, for lunch yesterday, I had one of her recommended meals, and that was strictly by accident (because I didn't have the program yet). I ate a McDonald's Happy Meal with diet Coke. And that's allowed! Yea!

Ok. I'm going to stop by post here. I want to watch the Oscar nominations. I'm sure I have seen any of the films that will be nominated (except maybe Disney's Cars), but I am cheering for Jennifer Hudson of American Idol. Although I haven't yet seen any of the Broadway-style movies, I really want to watch them. I hear so much about Broadway shows from watching the daytime talk shows, so I'm excited to watch some of the movies. I really want to watch "Rent". I love that song "Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes". I can't remember the name of it off the top off my head. Something about measuring your life. You don't measure it in minutes, but in cups of coffee, love, etc. Of course, I also want to see Dreamgirls and I'd also like to see Chicago. Any of you seen any of those?

I'M TOTALLY, TOTALLY, TOTALLY OFF MY DIET. UGGH!

I had two cups of hot chocolate and a low-fat cookie for breakfast yesterday. No morning snack. For lunch, it was McDonalds. A single hamburger (with no condiments), small fry, and small diet Coke. I went grocery shopping, and was very proud of myself that I stuck to my list. I was really wanting something to eat, but I popped in a piece of gum instead. When I got home, I ate 2 more low-fat cookies. Then I had some leftover pork. And I don't even remember what else. But it seemed like I just didn't stop eating. I know that I had some blade steak and rigatoni for supper. And then I made a pan of fudge!!!!! Oh boy!!!! (And I've already eaten a piece of that this morning.)

I did do a one-mile in-home walk yesterday. Does that count for anything? With everything I ate, I doubt it! I also bought new digital scales and Bob Greene's new book. I need to start reading that, AND FAST!

Think I'll just start over on Monday. I'm sure I've gained back the 2 pounds I lost last week, and then some. I have new Leslie Sansone DVDs on their way, and maybe they'll come in time for my "whole new beginning". Maybe I am an emotional eater. Goodness knows this has been a very emotional week.

The $15.00 MI-5:

1. You have the $15.00 gift card of your dreams. Where is it from, and how do you use it?

Actually, this is quite tough for me to answer. I really like bargains, and Wal-Mart has such a diverse line of products, I might just pick Wal-Mart. The down-side is that I'm there all of the time, and there'd really be no "adventure" to it. Also, right now, I really need a haircut. A $15.00 gift certificate to a salon would be really great. And, it would be fun to be "pampered" for a little bit. Speaking of "pampering", a manicure would be really great, too, and that runs about $15.00, I think. (I've had only one in my lifetime, and that was a couple of years ago.) I have also said that I want to do a Build-A-Bear Workshop sometime before I die. I'm not sure how much that costs, but $15.00 might go quite a way there.

2. You have $15.00 for lunch. Do you take someone with you, and share the 15.00? Or, do you use it for yourself and eat a little more extravagantly? Where do you go, and what do you eat?

I would definitely take someone with me. I can't handle going to a restaurant alone. When I worked outside of the home full-time, if I had food from a restaurant, I always took it back to the office. My first thought would be taking my Mom to The Red Barn in Augusta for lunch. She and I love to go there, and $15.00 more than buys us a nice fried seafood lunch. (Sorry about the temptation, Sizzle.) Don't mean to slight Dwane--but it's something I really love to do with my Mom, and I can eat with Dwane every night for supper. (I still love you, honey!)

3. A CD is generally about $15.00. Which one do you buy next?

Oh, I don't know. Maybe Leane Rimes "This Woman"? I'd also like the newest Wow compilation, but because that's a 2-disc set, $15.00 probably wouldn't quite cut it. I might also be interested in Kellie Pickler's "Red High Heels". I do like the title song, but I'm a little nervous to drop an entire $15.00 for potentially only one good song.

4. You have $15.00 to buy a gift for your best friend. What do you buy?

Alice would probably end up getting something from Bare Minerals (which she and I both love). Or, I might buy her some Italian charms for her bracelet. She once made me a list of charms she was specifically looking for, but I've misplaced it. I'll have to have her make me another list. If all else fails, she'd probably get scrapbooking/stamping stuff from Close To My Heart. (I have a great connection there, you know!)

5. You have $15.00 to give to a charity. Which charity do you pick, and why?

Generally, all of my charity donations go right to the church. However, memorial donations for Rachel are being made to--oh my goodness, I can't remember the exact title off the top of my head--but it's an organization to benefit the blind in Boston. That would probably be my pick right this minute.

First--for Billy Rhythm--my teddy bear has does his original tail--original fabric and all. He is leopard print everywhere else, and that dark brown/orange color on his tail.

Now for other much less interesting matters...Ugghh! I am so far off my diet!!! I guess I could blame it on "emotional" eating, as there is something that is bothering me a great deal (RML), but I tend to think I simply want to eat.

I don't even know if I can remember what I ate yesterday. I do know what I did for exercise, though. As bad as I am with the food, I'm pretty good with doing the exercise. (It beats housework!) On Tuesday I did a one-mile in-home walk, and yesterday, I did Yoga Booty Ballet Live--Latin Flavor. Those YBB workouts are good!!! I fast-forward past the yoga "talk", but I did the yoga stretches. (I am so NOT flexible! It's sad!!) The ab workout was good, once again, and the dance was fun. I am "scheduled" to do a 3-mile in-home walk today, but because of the predicted storm tomorrow, I'm going to get groceries today instead of tomorrow. So, I'll do tomorrow's one-mile walk today (to save time) and do today's 3-mile walk tomorrow. I figure that it all comes out the same.

Let's see. Food. Breakfast yesterday was the same. I didn't have a morning snack. For lunch, I had Mom's leftover hamburg soup. I love it! But, it's not for those who are watching carbs. Mom makes it low-fat (as she always does with everything she cookes), but it has macaroni, potatoes, and barley. And to top it off, when I warmed it up yesterday, I added dumplings! A carb-lover's feast! I had two bowls, each one with a dumpling.

Caleb and I made chocolate chip cookies yesterday. Again, Mom's low-fat recipe. They are soooo good. Dwane likes them even better than regular chocolate chip cookies. I'll post the recipe, just in case anyone is interested. I ate two of those cookies for dessert. (Oh yeah--now I remember that I did have a morning snack--cookie dough!)

Did I have an afternoon snack? I don't think so. I was pretty sad. Didn't really feel much like eating. Until suppertime, of course. My planned menu was for meatball calzones. Dwane said he'd prefer pizza, so I made homemade meatball pizza. What meatballs didn't fit on the pizza, I ate as an appetizer. Let me tell you--there were a lot of meatballs. Then, I ate half of a large pizza! I preferred the plain meatballs, though. I think I ate one cookie for dessert.

I'm off track so far today, too. Two cups of hot chocolate, and one cookie. I'm going to skip the bagel. Since hot chocolate tends to fill me up and hold off hunger for a longer period of time than a bagel does (maybe that's the carb connection??? Maybe Sizzle can fill me in...). Anyway, I thought that since I would be grocery shopping, I should probably be "full".

I think I'm also going to buy the Bob Greene book today while I'm uptown, along with new digital scales. Right now, I have dial scales, and I can make the scale go up or down about 4 pounds, just be the way I'm standing. The digital scale I'm looking at actually has "foot groove type things", and I figure that it might be harder to "cheat" with the scale. It also measures your body fat index and hydration level. I'm going to try to look at Amazon.com to see if there are any reviews on it, though, before I actually buy one.

Here's Mom's cookie recipe:

Mix: 1 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup canola oil, 1 egg, 3 tablespoons water, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Add 2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Mix until combined. (If dough is too stiff, add a little more water.) Add 1/2 cup chocolate chips. (I like to use the "mini" ones.) Drop by tablespoons onto cookie sheet. (I use my Pampered Chef medium-size cookie scoop, and I spray my baking stone with Pam.) Bake at 375 degrees for 7-8 minutes. (The cookies will look an little undercooked--this is a good thing.) Let sit for one minute. Makes 23-27 cookies.

RACHEL MICHELLE
2003-2007

It seems to me that I am completely off my diet already. I was so bad yesterday. I had my normal for breakfast, but then we went to China Coast for lunch. Oh, brother! The only positive spin I can give it, is that I didn't "clean my plate". When I got full, I stopped. I don't usually do that. I always clean my plate. Later in the afternoon, though, my stomach was just "ooozy" with all of that grease! (I fill up on butter shrimp and wonton soup.) The soup probably wasn't too bad for me (I'm not trying to do an anti-carp thing--just lower calories), but the butter shrimp killed it! Needless to say, I didn't have an afternoon snack.

For supper, I had some pork roast cooked in the crockpot, and some potato. And--I didn't
have secondes. Granted, my firsts were more than I should've eaten, but I didn't have seconds.

Then, I broke the rule that I said would be easy to keep yesterday. I ate within that two-hour window before bed. I had a 100-calorie pack of popcorn, and a 100-calorie pack of Oreos. That was at 8:30. Dwane and I were watching American Idol, and it has always been our "tradition" to have popcorn and diet pepsi during American Idol. I'll have to go back to crocheting so my fingers are busy with that instead of eating popcorn.

The scales said that, like Aunt Ginny, I was down 7 pounds. However, since I can lose or gain 5 pounds overnight, I'll going to think of it as a net 2 pound loss. Since it's best to lose about 2 pounds a week for lasting results, I'll be happy with that. (Although if I could lose 7 pounds every week, I'd be looking like Carmen Electra in no time!) BTW--Sizzle, you have got to try that workout. Don't let Big Guns see you do it, though, and you can save it for some special night in July!!!! :)

I kindda dieted, kindda didn't yesterday, since it was a holiday.

I did do a three-mile in-home walk, with hand weights.

For breakfast, I had the usual--hot chocolate & half a bagel with peanut butter.

No morning snack.

For lunch, I had the end of the leftover lasagna (although more than I should have) and a dish of Hershey's Chocolate Marshmallow ice cream (again, more than I should have).

No afternoon snack.

For supper, I had some boneless chicken breast, which was marinated in garlic/herb marinade and grilled outside. (Isn't my husband so sweet--he grilled it for me outside in an ice storm!) We also had spaetzle for the first time. It was a little too al dente for me. I could eat it again, but it wasn't a favorite. And, since spaetzle is $2.99 a box, and macaroni is $.69, I think I'll stick with macaroni. It's not that spaetzle has anything extra by way of health/whole grain/vitamins, etc. It's like the spaetzle was missing something. I'm not sure what it was. Maybe I didn't use enough butter!! I had made homemade spaetzle before, but I thought I had done something wrong. Apparently not. It's just not all that good. We had French-cut green beans, sauteed with a little bit of Good Seasons Italian Salad Dressing Mix from the envelope. They were pretty good, for a vegetable. I saved the leftovers so that we can eat them tonight. For dessert, I had another dish of ice cream--again, too much of it. Fortunately, there's only about one dish of that left, so that won't be around to tempt me anymore.

Didn't eat anything after that (6:30 PM), and according to Oprah yesterday, not eating 2 hours before you go to bed is the whole key to weightloss. I can do that easily. We'll see what happens. Apparently, she and Bob Greene have worked on another book. I've seen it at Wal-Mart, and maybe I'll check it out. I had just assumed that I wouldn't be able to do it, but it didn't sound to unreasonable. Since I basically hate vegetables (except for the extra-starch corn and potato), it's really hard for me to find a "healthy" diet. For me, I just have to eat less of what I already eat. Calories in vs. Calories out. That's what I've got to do.

Let's see? How is my weekend going?

I woke up at 4:17 AM on Saturday. I had to go to the bathroom, and despite numerous attempts at trying to go back to sleep, I gave up around 6:00 AM. I read my devotions (doing Beth Moore's study "Daniel"--which is awesome), and then decided to do some work. I have a case going on right now with my former boss as the opposing side. I want to do an extra good job (for obvious reasons), so I thought I'd get a head start. It was mostly making photocopies, and making photocopies, and making more photocopies. Boring, I know, but it had to be done. I did a little research about Notice in Probate Proceedings, and ate some of those dark chocolate macadamia nuts. I guess that was my breakfast. I didn't even have my hot chocolate. Dwane was working for a couple of hours in the morning, and the boys were sleeping, so that was nice to be able to do some work in quiet (except for the news on the TV). When the kids got up, they each watched a movie. Eben watched one of the Star Wars movies, and Caleb watched Barnyard. While they watched their movies, I did my 3-mile inhome walk with the stretchie band.

I had one Archway Raspberry Filled cookie before lunch. For lunch, I had a breaded haddock patty on a roll with a slice of cheese, and some frozen French fries, which I cooked in the oven. Then, Dwane, Caleb & I took a nap. Since I had been up since 4:17 AM, I really needed it. After my nap, I made a small lasagna. Chef Boyardee makes a really great lasagna mix. Unfortunately, though, I can't find it in Rockland. I brought home two from Virginia, and then I found some more at Ocean State Job Lots in Belfast. The mix is nothing fancy--just a jar of sauce that you add your own meat to, some parmesan cheese, and the noodles. You have to add your own ricotta, mozzarella and meat. I did try to be somewhat good, though--I used fat-free cottage cheese instead of ricotta, and I used low-fat mozzarella. There's just something about that Chef Boyardee sauce, though. I just love it. (I love their pizza sauce in their pizza mixes, too. I wish you could just buy "Chef Boyardee Sauce".) If anyone ever needs to know what to get me for my birthday, a box of Chef Boyardee Lasagna would make me very happy. (So does ham casserole and pink socks. Wink, Wink to Aunt Ginny.) Oh yeah, I also had some of that frozen garlic bread stuff. Eben adores that.

We ended up making a trip to Wal-Mart after supper. Dwane needed some coax cable, and I was really hankering for a puzzle book. Caleb really wanted a drink, so Dwane had Blueberry Coffee, and the rest of us had kiddie-size orange coolattas. The orange ones have more calories, but less fat than the mocha one, which is my favorite. I thought I'd be different. I ended up with about 4 cold brains just trying to get down that one kiddie coolatta. I gave up about 1/2 way down.

I went to bed fairly early, while Dwane hooked up our new high-speed internet connection. I won't get into that. Anyway, I did a couple of puzzles, "helped" Caleb into jammies "all by hisself", and went to sleep.

So far this morning, I've had two cups of hot chocolate, and a bowl of cereal. I found some chocolately Special K, and thought I'd try it. I was disappointed, though. I thought that the chocolate would be in the flakes (like a giant Cocoa Pebble), but instead, they were plain ole Special K flakes, with pieces of chocolate floating around. The chocolate wasn't enough to give you a chocolate taste. A disappointment. Caleb's up. So I'm off.

I've heard it rumored that Tim Horton's is closing. How long was that here??? 5 months maybe??? What is with that??? We're going to end up only having McDonalds and Burger King again. First Wendy's, and now Tim Horton's?

What did I eat Friday? I'm not sure I can remember, but I'll try.

For breakfast, my normal (of course). I might change my normal, though. I used to just have two cups of hot chocolate every morning. It would keep me full and satisfied until lunch time. Since I've gone to one cup of hot chocolate and added a 1/2 bagel with peanut butter, I'm much more hungry. I'm not really sure why. Could milk be more filling?

No morning snack.

At lunchtime, Mom and I were just finishing up with grocery shopping. Caleb was saying, "I so hungry". We decided to go to McDonald's, and I was going to have a Happy Meal size hamburger, small fry, and small diet coke. When we got there, they were having a sale on Quarter-Pounders. 2 for $3.00. Mom thought that was a bargain. I was so excited that she was even contemplating eating a Quarter-Pounder, that I agreed that it was a deal. (Plus, it sounded much more exciting than a hamburger.) So, I ordered the Quarter Pounded (with cheese) with only reconstituted onions on it. A special order. I also had a small fry and my diet coke. Oh, and one chicken nugget. Now, If I said that I had a 3 oz. hamburger patty, a slice of bread, and a slice of cheese, that sounds a lot better than a "Quarter-Pounder" doesn't it? There I go. Rationalizing it. Actually, I know darn well I shouldn't have eaten it. And actually, it wasn't all that great. The meat seemed very dry to me. Next time, I don't think I'll be tempted to have a Quarter-Pounder, and I'll just stick with my hamburger. I think I would have enjoyed it more.

Ok. For an afternoon snack, I had 1/2 individual package of microwave popcorn. I split it with Caleb. It was the good Pop Secret Homestyle kind, but when I made it, I hadn't intended to eat any of it--it was for Caleb. Only 1/2 of it fit in his bowl, though, so I ate the rest of it.

For supper, I had a piece of ham steak and some macaroni. No bread, but no veggies either. (Dwane had canned corn--I much prefer frozen corn.)

For an evening snack I had dark chocolate covered macadamia nuts. Nuts are good protein. Dark chocolate is good for your heart, right? Rationalizing again? No. I'm not kidding myself. I shouldn't have eaten them. But I didn't eat very many. I have a canker sore in my mouth, and the chocolate really irritates it, so I really didn't eat very many.

I did do a one-mile in-home walk. A 12-minute mile. I'm scheduled to do a 3-mile walk today. I'm very anxious to try out Dance Factory for the Playstation, though. A game similar to Dance Dance Revolution, but you can use the music of your own choosing. (I'm going to use INXS Greatest Hits.) DDR is what I did for 6 months for an hour a day, 5 days a week. Didn't lose anything, but I didn't gain a pound, even though I ate like a pig. We'll see how Dance Factory compares.

Aunt Ginny's MI-5:

Winter is here, even if it doesn't look like it, so I thought it is a good time to talk about that.

1. What is your fondest memory of winter when you were a child? (activity, trip, family story, etc.)

I used to love going ice skating when I was younger. I loved to skate on Gene & Brenda's frozen pond. I used to go out there and pretend I was Kristi Yamaguchi. Actually, it probably wasn't Kristi--I think I would've been too old for her. Might have been Tiffany Chin. Yeah. I think it was Tiffany Chin. I also liked to go down on Skinner's Pond on Spruce Head Island with the whole family. Uncle Roger and Aunt Dee Dee and their clan would go, too. I remember being a little leary about Skinner's, though. There were rumors that it was very, very deep. Uncle Roger used to have a pretty large "puddle" to the right of his house, and that wasn't too bad for skating, and there was a spot off Grierson Road somewhere that I liked, too.

2. Have you ever had a driving mishap due to snow/ice? Tell us about it.

I don't think I have. If I have, I'm sure my brother will remind me. I do remember a time when Mom had taken us to Camden to pick up our new dog, Nosey. On the way home, we did a major spin in the road right in front of the Ocean View Cemetery.

3. What was the worst winter storm that you can remember? Details?

They all kindda run together for me. I remember coming home from Lewiston late one Christmas Eve with my friend, David. I remember that he had to get out of the truck to put it in four-wheel drive. I remember a time when I was dating Dwane and driving home at like 2:00 in the AM. It was really slippery that night. I guess the scariest winter storm I remember was in the month of January, several years ago. It must have been 2000, 2001, or 2002. I can remember Dwane going down to the Co-Op on the Island to help Michael do something. The wind was howling, and I was afraid that one of our tall trees was going to blow over on the house. Plus, it was really, really icey, and I was scared about Dwane being out in it.

4. If you could escape winter this year, where would you go and why?

Probably Fiji, or some South Pacific Island. I've heard about a resort on one of those islands that has private "hut things" out on a "wharf" with glass floors. You can watch the fish go by. I'd love to do that before I die.

5. How do you explain the unusual winter that we are having? Global warming? Natural weather pattern? A plot?

I guess I feel like "it is what it is". I just figure that God wants it that way for some reason. I don't think that much about it, and I certainly don't worry about it with some sort of "doomsday theory" or anything. Al Gore could sure save a lot of time and energy if he'd just chalk it all up to God, and understand that God knows what He's doing. I was telling Mom just this morning that if we could have 2 good snowstorms a year (one right around Christmas), and at least one snowday (so that I can sleep in just a little), then I would love to just have this 45-50 degree weather we've been having for the rest of winter.

How did I do yesterday?

Well, I told you that I did Yoga Booty (Bootie?) Ballet. I forgot to mention that it contained an awesome abs workout. My abs were working so hard that they actually got cramped up. I missed a couple of crunches because of the cramping, but I have to say that I'm impressed. I'll have to work myself up to doing all of them.

For breakfast, it was my normal.

No morning snack.

For lunch, I had another Michelina's--this time it was pasta, shrimp, and veggies. Another good one. I had 100 calorie Oreo pack for dessert.

For afternoon snack, I had a small amount of my Mom's Chex Mix. That pretty much finished that up. I didn't feel guilty about eating that--my Mom always makes a lower-fat version anyway, and I thought that the cashews would give me some good protein.

Then, I had my usual supper fiasco. I was feeling particularly blue yesterday. PMS. I had worked over 21 hours (I'm supposed to work 8). Dwane and I had a small tiff (tift? rift?) about cable and interest access. (Apparently, I don't appreciate the monetary value in having HDTV and all that goes along with it.) I wanted some food. Comfort food. Food that would not only taste good, but would FEEL good in my mouth. I think this is what is described as totally emotional eating. I had a Barber chicken with seafood stuffing. Mashed potato (made with skim milk and less margarine than I would usually use). But this is where it gets bad--I made a cheese sauce to go on top of everything! Yup! and Yum! I made it with skim milk, thickened with flour in the microwave (so no butter was needed for a rioux--is that how you spell that?). I didn't have low-fat cheddar, though. And, I had second helpings of potato and cheese sauce. Then, for dessert, I had two--that's right, two--chocolate ice cream cups with marshmallow swirl through it from the Keag store. (Those things are deadly.) I actually had a stomach ache when I was all through. For a moment, I wish I was bulimic so that I wouldn't have such a full feeling in my stomach. (I don't really want to be bulimic.) It was a planned gorge fest. And while I was gorging, I thoughly enjoyed every minute.

So far this morning, I've just had my hot chocolate. My 1/2 bagel is thawing on the counter. I'm going shopping with Mom this morning, and I should really go exercise first. But, Dwane's been moving the DVD player, Receiver, TV all around--unplugging and rehooking--and now we have 2 new remotes. I'm not sure I can figure out how to make my DVD player even work. I should be good and just do a VHS here in the computer room. We'll see. I'm tempted to just "start all over again on Monday".

Here's my exercise update (already):

I was going to do Disc 2 of Carmen Electra's Aerobic Striptease, but when I watched the "preview", I found out that it was really all about "exercise" and not dancing. The idea is to be "fit to strip". It just looked way too boring to me, so I decided to try something different.

I threw in Yoga Booty Ballet, Light & Easy. I had purchased a two-disc set of YBB at Wal-Mart for only $10. I wasn't willing to drop a bunch of money for the whole set on the infomercial, but I thought that I could try it out for $10. Well, I think the workout was great, but I just couldn't handle all of the yoga talk. I fast-forward through the opening and closing yoga breathing. The dialogue is just too much. As a Christian, I just found it ridiculous. As a plain, ole human being, I still found it ridiculous. I just don't get it. If this workout could be done without the vocal instruction, just the music, I would LOVE it. Can't handle the talking, though. And, actually, I didn't think the instructors really sounded that convinced about the yoga. Is was just like it was some sort of teleprompter they were reading. Anyway, I think I'll try the other disc, too, which has a salsa influence. But, I'll fast-forward through all of that breathing again.

It was supposed to be a 50 minute workout, but by the time I got done fast-fowarding, it was about 35-40 minutes.

I've eaten entirely too much today already, so I figured I'd better write it all down now before I forget.

Breakfast was the same ole, same ole: 1 cup hot chocolate with skim milk, 1/2 bagel with a little peanut butter.

Caleb had been bugging me to make cupcakes for 24 hours, so we made cupcakes. I used a white cake mix, and made it the way my Mom taught me too--with no oil and no egg yokes. (I added an extra egg white, and increased my water by 1/4 cup.) I scraped the bowl. I did manage to get 24 cupcakes, though, and that's good for me. I LOVE to scrape the bowl for just about any baked good, and I've been known to "hold back" just to have more batter/dough to eat. I didn't today, though.

For lunch, I had another Michelina's dinner. 240 calories. Beef and vegetables with egg noodles and mushroom gravy. Man! That was good! And only 96 cents at Wonder Wal-Mart in Augusta. Neither our Wal-Mart, nor our grocery stores, carry a very good variety of the Michelina's products, at least not the "diet" ones. For dessert I ate 2 of the aforementioned cupcakes. No frosting. 2 cupcakes equals one serving. I think it was about 200 calories, and 4 grams of fat. Not so bad.

For an afternoon snack, I had a 100 calorie bag of popcorn. Act II brand. Not too bad, but not the Pop Secret Homestyle that I absolutely adore.

Then came supper. I blew it. I had some steak (the steak was .93 of a pound before cooking, and it was shared with Eben and Dwane, so I don't think I overdid the protein too much--at least not for what I normally would do). I had about 1/3 of a package of frozen corn in butter sauce. That was probably a no no. But soooo good. And, it was a vegetable. I also had macaroni shells. I know I ate way more than I should have.

But---if I am only bad for one hour out of the day, instead of being bad for 11 hours of the day, I guess that's still better. I mean, I ate less for breakfast, lunch, and snacks than what I normally would have eaten, and supper was "normal" for me.

For exericse, I did a 3-mile in-home walk with 1 1/2 pound hand weights. It seemed to be a really good workout today. I really concentrated on really giving it my all--going all out, so to speak, instead of just "crawling along". Sweat was dripping off my nose. TMI, probably.

Dwane loves movies. How much does he love movies, you ask? Last night, he watched Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth, and Snakes on a Plane. In the same night!!! Is that diversity or what?

Remember how I said that I wouldn't be able to lose weight? And remember how I blew it last night with the gorditas and Kit Kats? Well, I got on the scale this morning, and I had lost 6 pounds! 6 pounds in 24 hours! Be real!!! My body must be solid full of water weight. I have just got to promise myself to get weighed only once a month. I literally can gain or lose 6 pounds overnight. I bet that tomorrow morning, those six pounds will be back. In fact, they'll probably invite 2 more pounds to come with them. It's ridiculous!

Ok--here's my exercise/food journal for today:

For exercise, I did Carmen Electra's Aerobic Striptease. Man! I love that DVD. It's so much fun. You don't even think about exercise, but your heartrate still gets up there. I told Dwane it was a good thing that he was still in bed, or it probably would've been the biggest turn-off he had ever seen! Oh, well. Once I lose about 100 pounds, maybe I'll be sexy like Carmen Electra, too.

For breakfast, I had my normal: hot chocolate made with milk, and 1/2 bagel with peanut butter.

We had to run to town to do an errand this morning, and I was quite hungry. Caleb and Dwane wanted a donut at Dunkin Donuts, but I just had a kiddie-size mocha coolatta. Normally I would have a small, but I decided to just have the kiddie-size. And, actually, that was enough to completely satisfy me until lunch time.

At lunch time, I had another one of those Michelina's TV dinners. You know, they're pretty good for 97 cents. Today it was fettuccine alfredo with chicken and a little bit of spinach. 270 calories I think. For dessert I had one of those 100-calorie packs of Oreos. Boy! Did I love those. Now my problem will be not eating the whole box!

For an afternoon snack, I had a 100-calorie package of Doritos. Not bad. Left an awful bad garlicy taste in my mouth, though. I also had a stick of colby/cheddar cheese. One of those mozzarella stick type things. I had bought them for the kids, but I thought that the protein my curb my hunger. Like yesterday's popcorn, the calories were ok, but the fat grams were up there. I'll have to get some low-fat ones.

Before we left to go to Parents Night at Eben's school, I had 2 Hershey kisses with almonds.

Then, I went all to pieces. Suppertime. My absolute weakness. I had two baked chicken legs (and I ate the skin), and a 1/2 box of scalloped potatoes. For dessert, I had 4 more of those little Kit Kats (which I think might add up to one regular-size one). The worst thing about all of that is that it was 8:00 before we got to eat. Normally, we eat at 5:30 or 6:00, and I can go without snacking for the rest of the evening. I know it's a no no to eat so late, though. It just couldn't be helped tonight, though. By the time we got home from school, and supper got cooked, it was 8:00. I was tempted to do something quick and simple, but I was afraid that my chicken would go bad if I didn't use it.

Tomorrow, I'm back to indoor walking. I'm "scheduled" to do another 3 mile walk. While I think that the indoor walking is good exercise, I have to admit that I get awfully bored with it. I need to get more aerobic striptease DVDs. I actually have the 2nd one, too, that I haven't tried yet. Maybe I'll do that on Thursday--my next off day for in-home walking.

Sue asked if we might be able to be "accountability partners" in an effort to get fit & trim. We want to look like hot, sexy mamas in time for Sizzle & BigGuns wedding in July. Sounds good to me. I seriously doubt that I'll lose any weight though. Last year, I spent six months doing aerobic exercise for an hour a day, 5 times a week. I didn't lose a pound. So, I gave up. I mean, what's the point to use all that energy and time, when I didn't lose anything??? It seems, however, that the exercise was keeping me from GAINING weight. In the two months since I stopped, I've gained 15 pounds. That's ridiculous! I don't know if it's a metabolism thing, or a thyroid thing, or what. Last week, I went back to exercising. I tried different exercises this time, and went back to the Leslie Sansone in-home walking. I did it 5 times during the week, walking between 1 and 3 miles each time. I also cut out snacking and drank lots of water. I gained 2 pounds! Unbelievable! But, I told Sue that I would do what I could, and even if I couldn't be a hot, sexy mama, at least maybe I could be a healthy one.

Anyway, I decided that with my accountability to Sue, perhaps I needed to be accountable to all of you, too. So, I'm going to try to blog what I eat and how I exercised every day. I don't know how long I'll keep up with blogging this, as I'm sure you'll all get bored with it, as I will too.

Well, here's the scoop for today.

For breakfast I had one cup of hot chocolate made with skim milk, 1/2 large bagel, and a little bit of peanut butter. For lunch I had a Michaelina's Shrimp Scampi of 220 calories, and 3 Hershey kisses with almonds. For an afternoon snack, I had an individual bag of Pop Secret popcorn. The calories weren't too bad for that, but the fat grams were out of control. I'll have to find some "diet" popcorn. (Anyone have a good suggestion?--It needs to be in an individual serving bag, as I don't have a lot of control when it comes to popcorn.) At suppertime, I blew it. I had 4 Gorditas (made at home, not from Taco Bell). Each one had just a little bit of meat in it, and a little bit of cheese. That's it. Then I had four snack-size Kit Kats for dessert. Actually, looking back on the day, I guess I didn't do too bad. It certainly could have been worse. I wish I had just stopped at 2 Gorditas, instead of going back for more. That's my biggest weakness--going for seconds at mealtimes.

For exercising, I did a 3-mile in-home walk: a 10-minute mile, a 12-minute mile, and a 14-minute mile with a stretchie band (which allows for some strength training in your arms). My exercise "schedule" (from the Leslie Sansone website) indicates that tomorrow is an "off day" for exercising, but I think I'm going to do Carmen Electra's Aerobic Striptease DVD. It's an absolute blast!!! I love doing that one. Actually, I've only done it once. I ended up moving my shoulder in the wrong way, and had a sore shoulder for about 6 weeks. Guess I'll have to tone it down a little this time.

Billy Rhythm's Workstation MI-5

This week's MI-5 was inspired by the items in my workspace:

1) Pictures: Do you have pictures around your work area? Who are they of?
Why are they there?

Actually, I don't have any pictures. That's amazing, considering how much I love pictures. Must be because they are all in scrapbooks, or waiting to be scrapbooked.

2) Mouse: What's your mouse like? A simple two button job, or the even more simple Mac one button number? Or maybe a roller ball?

I have a "simple two button job", I think. It says "Micro Innovations" on it. There is a large long glowing red button on the left side of it, and I have no idea what that is for. The bottom says that it's an optical mouse, and it also glows red. Does that give you any indication as to how much I know about computers???

3) Snacks: I have snacks at my desk. Do you have them at yours? What are they?

I almost always have snacks at my desk. I have a partially eaten box of Pepperidge Farm cookies--the "entertaining assortment". I have eaten all of the good chocolate ones, so now they're just sitting there. I also have a bag of assorted Lindt Lindor Truffles. Like the cookies, I have eaten the ones that I like (milk chocolate and dark chocolate) and left the rest (white chocolate, hazlenut, and peanut butter). They're good, but not worth the calories to me right now. I also have a bag of Chex Mix that my Mom makes me every year at Christmastime. Just Crispix and Cashews. Just the way I like it. It's almost gone. I also see Dwane's snacks of beef jerkey (A1 Steak Sauce flavor) and Animal Crackers. Man! No wonder I need to lose weight! Look at the food! Actually, the only thing here that I might actually eat now is the rest of the Chex Mix.

4) Pens: Have you got a favorite style of pen? A certain color you fancy?
Tell us!

I prefer blue pens. That way, it's easy to tell quickly which document is an original, and which document is a copy. In my line of work, that's important. I prefer a medium ball point pen, although I use a variety. Whatever I happen to have close.

5) The calendar: It's a new year--have you got a new calendar up? What's on it? Why did you pick that one?

I don't have a new appointment book yet, but that's in the works. I have my Crochet-Pattern-A-Day Calendar going, which is very near my work station. I loved it last year, and I'm liking it so far this year. I have some sort of wipe-off organizational calendar on my fridge, but I'm not sure yet if I like it. (Think I would prefer a plain old "paper" version instead of "wipe off".) In my normal wall calendar spot, I still have my 2006 Dunkin Donuts calendar. I'm hoping that they'll come up with one for 2007, because I really like the coupons.