TONIGHT'S WEIGH IN

Lost - 4.6 pounds
Total Lost So Far - 6.8 pounds

NASCAR, THE HOSPITAL, AND CARRIE UNDERWOOD

What do Nascar, the hospital, and Carrie Underwood have in common? They all involve Dwane. Actually, Nascar and the hospital have the biggest connection, and I'm throwing in Carrie Underwood at the end.

Today, Dwane has been in New Hampshire at the Nascar track. He called me 5 times before noontime, always with some exciting news. He met Richard Petty and actually got his authograph on one of Eben's trading cards. He got a picture of Kasey Kahne's backside (which I intend to give to my friend at the Probate Court, who is really ga-ga over him). He met Larry MacReynolds (a Nascar commentator) and got his autograph on Dwane's credentials. And, since Dwane had to attend the Nationwide Driver's Meeting, he got really close to a lot of top drivers. He wanted to take a picture of them all sitting there together, but he was a little shy about whipping out a camera. Dwane had access to absolutely everything: he could go IN the garage while they were working on cars, and he even had a pass to Victory Lane.

In the afternoon, Dwane even got to visit the Infield Care Center. Apparently, Dwane was shutting a garage door, and his hand got stuck under the door when it closed. Steel on steel, with Dwane's hand in the middle. He went to the Infield Care Center where the doctor gave him some Percocet (or some such drug) and told him to go to the hospital so that he could have it x-rayed. The doctor thinks Dwane's middle finger is broken, and Dwane can't feel anything above the top nuckle. At least it was on his right hand (he is left-handed). Dwane ended up hanging out at the track for another 5 hours before he could leave. When I spoke to him last, he was finally on the way to Aunt Jo's house, and he was going to ask her if she would drive him to the hospital to have it checked.

Now, for Carrie Underwood. We're going to her concert! Yay! Yay! Yay! She's performing in Portland in October, and Little Big Town is opening for her. Double Yay! (Little Big Town sings "Boondocks", which is the song in which Eben performed his solo.) Mrs. Cheeseball and my boss are going with Dwane, Eben, and I. Caleb gets to spend the night at my Mom's. It's a long way off still, but I'm really excited about it.

FRIDAY FILL-IN

1. Birthdays are JUST ANOTHER DAY FOR ME.
2. FALL is my favorite season because IT SEEMS NICE TO HAVE COOL WEATHER AFTER A HOT SUMMER. (ALTHOUGH SPRING IS NICE, TOO, AS WE GET SOME WARMER WEATHER AFTER A COLD WINTER!
3. I feel my best when I HAVE MAKE-UP ON, ALTHOUGH I HARDLY EVER WEAR MAKE-UP.
4. LOBSTER is my favorite food!
5. First impressions are DECEIVING AT TIMES.
6. The best piece of advice I ever received was TO SPEND TIME IN GOD'S WORD EVERY DAY.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to PLAYING WITH MY NEW SCRAPBOOK STUFF, tomorrow my plans include FINALLY GOING TO THE FARM MARKET WITH MOM and Sunday, I want to SEE IF I CAN SEE DWANE ON TV (HE'LL BE AT THE NASCAR RACE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE)!

MORE NEWS (MOSTLY FOR AMY'S SAKE)

First of all, we decided that only Dwane will be going to New Hampshire. There were a couple of reasons for this decision, most of them because it's just so expensive. I had also made some prior commitments, and I really wanted to honor them.

Anyway, the first thing that Dwane has to provide sound for on Saturday morning is the Nationwide Driver's Meeting. Next on the agenda: Sound for the Richard Petty Walk-a-Thon, at which Richard Petty himself will be speaking. First thing Sunday morning: the Sprint Cup Driver's Meeting. Dwane is absolutely beside himself with joy!! We picked up a new digital camera for him so that he can get some good pictures. (I don't trust him to take my new one, and my other one is pink.)

NEWS??

I kept meaning to do a weekend wrap-up, but I didn't get around it it soon enough. Now I don't really remember what I did. Guess that's what happens when you hit 40.

I was very disappointed about my weekly weigh-in. I only lost 2/10 of a pound. I worked so hard at my eating habits, and I thought I had done a really, really good job. I literally ate about 1/2 the calories that I would normally eat, and I was very faithful in drinking 8 glasses of water a day. To be honest, I didn't exercise, so that was probably a huge part of the problem. I've added the exercise in this week. I'm back to doing the DDR, and today I burned just shy of 600 calories in an hour, which calculates to jogging about 2.2 miles. If I don't lose next Sunday, I'll be really discouraged.

Last night I went to a meeting at church for the ladies that are going to the Women of Faith conference in Boston in July. We'll be leaving on a train out of Portland on Thursday, July 24, and arrive in Boston around 5:00 PM. We're staying about a 1/2 mile from the train station at the Holiday Inn Government Center. The conference is right across from the train station, and we'll have to walk or catch a cab between the hotel and the conference center. (I vote for walking!) The conference is all day Friday and all day Saturday. We'll leave on the Saturday evening train to head back to Portland. There are 11 of us from my church going, and I know it will be blast. I'm rooming with Beloved, my cousin Mary, and Jackie.

Dwane just called and said that he will need to work at the NASCAR race this weekend in New Hampshire. He'll be setting up audio/visual stuff in the infield and in the garage areas. (Usually, he works in the hospitality areas.) We're racing around (no pun intended) trying to find some tickets now, so that perhaps we can all go. Or, at least Eben and I. Caleb doesn't quite "get into it" yet, and he doesn't like the noise. I'm hoping that if we go, Mom might agree to keep Caleb for the weekend. He would much prefer to stay with her. I've talked to my Aunt Jo, who lives near the track, and we can stay with her for the weekend, so that will save some cost there.

Since it's now 12:30, I suppose I should finally get dressed. It's Eben's first day of summer vacation (finally!), and I got to sleep in. I slept until 6:45, which is really late for me.

Love to everyone!

GINA'S "YOU TOO CAN BE A POET" MI-5

Gina says: "For this week's MI-5, let's do something different. Let's write a poem. About the person you should know the best. YOU !! I encourage you to take a moment or two to think about your responses. Reintroduce yourself, to yourself. Rediscover what makes you tick.

I am a tender Christian
I wonder how God created the world, though I don't doubt He did it
I hear the thundering of a waterfall
I see the foam of the water crashing over the rocks
I want to cleanse myself in the tumbling water
I am a tender Christian.

I pretend to be a princess, waiting for her knight in shining armor
I feel a need to be loved and adored
I touch the soft fur of the purring friend beside me
I worry that my timing is not the Lord's timing
I cry because the Lord's timing is not my timing, and I miss my Dad
I am a tender Christian.

I understand that Jesus loves me
I say I'm going to Heaven someday
I dream of being reunited with all those I love
I try to share my faith with others
I hope the Rapture comes soon
I am a tender Christian.

FRIDAY FILL IN

1. A smile is something that makes you feel good on the inside, and makes you look good on the outside.
2. Cribbage is my favorite board or card game.
3. I would love to have more chocolate in my life and less needing to lose weight.
4. When I think of the Summer Solstice, I think of dancing the polka with my Dad on Main Street.
5. I just remembered I need to get Amy's package in the mail.
6. One of my favorite song lyrics goes like this: "My sin--O the bliss of this glorious thought--My sin--not in part, but the whole--Is nailed to His cross, and I bear it no more! Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!"
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to Eben's first overnight Boy Scout outing, tomorrow my plans include maybe going to the Farm Market with Mom and Sunday, I want to see how much weight I have lost!

FIRST WEIGH-IN

3 pounds lost! Yipee!! Not bad since I didn't exercize and didn't drink my water. I had hoped to start walking this week, but it's supposed to rain every day. Wish Wal-Mart would get more of those Wii Fit games soon!!

SATURDAY FOOD DIARY

Breakfast – Popcorn. (Dwane & Eben went to see the Incredible Hulk at the theater, and brought home the leftover popcorn.)

Snack – Trial-size granola bar.

Lunch – 4 Chicken McNuggets, Small Fry, Side Salad with a little Low-Fat Italian Dressing, Sweet Tea

Snack – About ½ serving Ben & Jerry’s Cake Batter Ice Cream; handful of popcorn; Wheat Thins 100-calorie pack (Dwane’s working late tonight, and I’m really wanting to eat supper.)

Supper – Small T-bone steak. 2 small potato wedges. 2 slices of bread & butter. ½ serving Ben & Jerry’s Cake Batter Ice Cream.

Snack – Serving of Pringles. Diet Pepsi.

Note: I am finding that I am thinking of food CONSTANTLY. I'm not hungry, I'm just thinking about food. What can I eat? What's ok to eat? How can I prepare it to have less fat and calories? Don't forget to write it down! It seems like I'm thinking about food 24/7. I think I may be snacking more, just because food is on the brain. Granted, my snacks might be less in fat and calories this week, but if I eat 10 snacks at 100 calories during the week, that's 1000 calories! I'm thinking that when I didn't think about food, I wasn't snacking as much. I'm interested to see what my weight has done this week.

COME ON OVER

Ok. I admit it. I'm a Jessica Simpson fan. Well, sort of. I got a kick out of her Newlywed reality TV series--she made me feel somewhat intelligent. I found her to be quite funny, and she might make a neat friend. Some of her music is ok (I love her "With You" song) but some of it doesn't excite me at all. Sometimes I think she can really sing, and other times I think she's just a lot of air. Anyway, Jessica is in the process of recording a country album, and apparently, its first single "Come On Over" is really moving up the charts already. I checked it out on the web, and it's the most fun song!! I love it! She enunciates very clearly (I've had a hard time understanding some of her words in the past), and the beat is just so fun. Here are the words:

Leave your dishes in the sink
Leave the ice cubes in your drink
Just come on over
Leave your coat behind the door
Leave your laundry on the floor
Just come on over

Chorus:
I need you now
I need you bad
I need you, baby
Looking just like that
Don't pack your bag
Don't make me wait
I wanna kiss that smile
That's on your face
I need you
Wrapped up
In these arms
I want you
Just the way you are
Come on over

Baseball cap and torn-up jeans
A pair of flip-flops on your feet
Just come on over
Don't slow down, don't stop for gas
Keep those four wheels spinning fast
Just come on over

JIM'S MONEY MI-5

As some of you may know I am a huge Dave Ramsey fan.
www.daveramsey.com Dave stresses debt repayment and saving. These questions were inspired by him.

1. What are your thoughts on the use of credit cards?

Have them? Yes. Use them? Yes. Owe on them? Yes. Hate them. Oh, yes!

2. When it is time to get a new car will you buy new, used or lease and why?

If I had it my way, and could afford, I would buy a new car. With one exception, all of my recent cars have been used cars with 100,000+ miles on them. I am nervous about driving them, and always afraid that they are going to break down. I want a new car (or at least fairly new) so that I can be reasonably sure that it will get me where I'm going. While I understand the savings involved in buying used, I'm really tired of the used, used, used vehicles.

3. Tell us something major in your life you saved up for and if you had to do it again would you save up for it or do it differently?

I don't know that I ever bought a big ticket item that even needed saving for. I have bought Christmas presents on layaway, and that's nice, but layaway is a thing of the past for the most part. When I bought my flute/piccolo set, I saved for about half of it, and charged the balance. We usually buy big-ticket items with our income-tax refunds.

4. If you had to watch your pennies a lot tell us one guilty pleasure you would not curb spending on?

High-speed internet.

5. What do you think your retirement will look like financially and will you be ready?

Who knows? Because of answer #1, I'm not saving for retirement now. I know. Bad. I had a fairly good retirement plan when I worked for Jim, but I used $10K for the downpayment on the house, and I used the rest to pay off credit card debt when Dwane left MBNA. (We took a 50% cut in salary, and needed to get rid of the payments.) I'm praying that the rapture will happen before retirement.

FRIDAY FOOD DIARY

Breakfast – 2 poached eggs on toast; used Smart Balance Lite fake butter stuff.

Snack – Diet Ice Tea. Handful of Grapes.

Lunch – Almost fat-free homemade lasagna. (Used my leftover spaghetti sauce from yesterday, which had less than ¼ pound of hamburg in it. Mixed fat-free cottage cheese with egg whites and green onion. Used fat-free mozzarella. Wasn’t too bad. Never missed the fat.) 100-calorie Honey Maid Chocolate Delight Bar.

Snack – Diet Pepsi. Wheat Thins 100-calorie pack. (They were good! Never had them before.)

Supper – Small Ribeye Steak, Potato, Green Beans, Corn on the Cob.

Dessert/Snack – None.

THURSDAY FOOD DIARY

Breakfast – 3 oatmeal, pecan & chocolate chip cookies, Ritz crackers and cheeseball. (Left over from scrapbooking party Wednesday night.) Felt nauseated after, and actually got sick.

Snack – Diet ice tea.

Lunch – 2 servings of unbuttered spaghetti; less than 1 serving of spaghetti sauce with just a little bit of meat in it. Sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.

Snack – Diet ice tea. Small slice of angel food birthday cake.

Supper – KFC Chicken Breast (only ate a little, tiny bit of skin), mashed potato & gravy, biscuit with no added butter. ½ of a 3 Musketeers. (It was too sweet!! I gave the rest to Eben to eat.)

Snack – Popcorn & Diet Pepsi.

FRIDAY FILL IN

1. BUYING A NEW CAR is high up on my bucket list.
2. My favorite quote is "FOR I KNOW THE PLANS I HAVE FOR YOU, PLANS TO PROSPER YOU AND NOT TO HARM YOU, PLANS TO GIVE YOU HOPE AND A FUTURE"; it's from THE LORD (JEREMIAH 29:11).
3. BILLY RHYTHM & THE MI-5 inspired me to start blogging.
4. Strawberries are best WITH CHOCOLATE.
5. MY BOSS PAID ME 4X WHAT I WAS SUPPOSED TO BE PAID (SHE WANTED TO GIVE ME A BONUS)in the last dream I remember having.
6. The most enjoyable time to go for a walk is EARLY IN THE MORNING WHEN THE AIR IS SO FRESH AND CRISP.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to MAKING RIBEYE STEAKS WITH FRESH GREEN BEANS AND CORN ON THE COB, tomorrow my plans include ORGANIZING MY SCRAPBOOK STUFF AND PERHAPS GOING TO THE RED BARN IN AUGUSTA FOR FRIED SEAFOOD FOR SUPPER and Sunday, I want to HEAR ALL ABOUT PASTOR & JOSEY'S NEW GRANDSON!

WEDNESDAY FOOD DIARY

Breakfast – 2 pieces of toast with peanut butter.

Snack – 2 glasses diet ice tea

Lunch – Unbuttered rice, stew beef & gravy.

Snack – Glass of diet ice tea, glass of diet Pepsi.

Snack – 175 calories of microwave popcorn. 3 bites of buttered marcaroni.

Supper – 2 lite chicken enchiladas—recipe from the First Place study book. (They were actually pretty good!) Sliced cucumber.

Snack – 1 Ritz cracker with cheeseball.

Notes – Feeling frustrated with this eating plan—I don’t have all of the information I need. How many calories am I supposed to be eating? What constitutes a serving? I’ve spent all of this money and spent of this time planning healthy meals from the book, but not sure that I’m doing it right. Can’t wait to get the whole program.

FOR AMY

Amy posted a couple questions/comments on one of my recent posts, so I thought I'd try to answer them.

Eben's concerts both went really well. The band concert was held outside, and the sun was really beating. (It was the hottest day of the year so far for us.) Eben played Smoke on the Water with Bailee (his cousin) for a saxophone duet, and he also played the drums (yes, the drums!) in a blues pick-up group. He played a snare and a hi-hat cymbal. He did really great! Mom told him that he should start playing the drums at church while Uncle Bill played the bass, but he poo-pooed that idea really quickly.

Last night was the chorus concert. That was held last night in the school cafeteria, and it was really crowded. Eben had a solo part in Boondocks (he did great!) and also sang in a small group for "Bet On It" from High School Musical 2. The school principal actually practices with the chorus each week, and the principal sang a solo during the last number "Stand By Me". After the concert Mr. Schooley (the principal) came up to me and said that Eben was "really going to be a rock star". He said that he had a "tremendous voice". Quite the compliment. Unfortunately, Eben is thinking of not doing chorus next year. He says that the songs "aren't cool". And, he says the on the cool songs they do perform, everyone "messes it up".

I have less knowledge about video games. I do know that both Dwane and Eben are really, really good at the Nascar PS games. They have both said that Nascar 08 is really, really hard, and they very rarely play it because they find it so challenging. Dwane's favorite games have included the GT driving games, and then he found "Dirt". He absolutely loves that. In fact, when he first started, he was so addicted to it that he "beat the game" in about a week. Of course, he was staying up until about 3:00 AM every day for a week, and the garbage was never taken out. The guys at Game Spot told him that "Grid" was by the same makers as "Dirt", so he was really excited to try that, and he loves that one as well. In fact, he thinks he may like it even better than the GT series. Dwane prefers games that are very, very realistic, and I guess Grid & Dirt fit the bill. Amy, if you're having a specific problem about Nascar 08, let me know. I'm sure Eben will have some sort of advice for you!

PS Amy--what Nintendo DS games do you love?

TUESDAY FOOD DIARY

Breakfast – 2 pieces of toast made with Mom’s homemade honey oatmeal bread. A little peanut butter. (I like peanut butter, but I don’t need lots of it. Just enough for a little flavor.)

Lunch – Stew beef and gravy. More than I shoulda. Less than I woulda. Diet Ice Tea.

Snack – Popcorn. Diet Ice Tea. 2 bites of brownie (literally two bites).

Snack – Watermelon and Grapes (from the Dessert Buffet after Eben’s concert).

Supper – Grilled boneless chicken breast half. (I think this may have been more than I supposed to eat—not sure.) Tossed salad of lettuce, tomato, and cucumber, tossed with fat-free Italian dressing. Dinner roll for 1 tsp. diet butter stuff.

40TH BIRTHDAY WRAPUP

Now that I'm 40, I'll probably not even remember what happened on my birthday on Saturday!!

Dwane, the boys, and I headed to Augusta for the day. We had to make a stop in Bremen so that Dwane could drop off the new four-wheeler. There's something wrong with it, and since it's under warranty still, we needed to take it back. We stopped at Subway in Damariscotta for lunch.

In Augusta, I think we stopped at almost every store there. I ended up buying some frosty mugs and a pink canvas tote at the Christmas Tree Shop. (I had been wanting a pink tote for my Bible and church stuff.) I was wearing the cheap brand of Crocs on my feet, and they were really hot, so I picked out some sandals at Wal-Mart. At Target, we bought a new Stir Crazy Popcorn Popper (Dwane had broken my old one more than a year ago). We also picked up a cat condo thing that was on sale there. I had wanted the pink one in the flyer, but of course, they didn't have that one. I settled on a smaller, green one. The cats will both sleep on it if you put them on it, but so far, they aren't too enthused. At Game Spot, I bought a Dirty Dancing PC game. I am having so much fun with that!!!! It's a pretty silly game, but it combines all of the elements of PC gaming that I enjoy--hidden pictures, rhythm, cards, etc. Eben picked up a couple of used PS2 basketball games--one for $4 and one for $1. Dwane picked up "Grid" for PS3, which is a race game (of course). We decided that would be his Father's Day present from Eben. At TJ Maxx, Dwane decided he needed to buy some shorts, as he was hot. His new shirt and shorts became his Father's Day present from me. At this point, I'm really quite tired of shopping. (Can you believe it?)

For supper, we ate at Red Robin. I really like that place. I had a free coupon since it was my birthday, so I ate for free, and even got a free birthday ice cream sundae. I had always ordered the Pot Roast Burger in the past, and I was disappointed that they no longer carried that. I settled for a prime rib French dip sandwich. It was good, but in the future I would just order a burger, instead of paying $5 more just for the prime rib.

When we got home, Dwane gave me a pearl pink Nintendo DS and several games (Jam Sessions, Word Mahong, Nervous Brickdown, and a combination game that had Connect Four, Sorry, and two other games in it. On Sunday, Dwane and the boys gave me Trisha Yearwood's new cookbook, which is awesome, but not too diet friendly. I absolutely love cookbooks, and in my humble opinion, what makes a good cookbook is one that has little stories for each recipe. That's what Trisha has delivered here. Great recipes and little stories. Perfect. I also got the Kellie Pickler CD. Aunt Ginny gave me pink socks (a tradition), Ma gave me a blue shirt, Mom gave me a Pyrex 9x9 pan and some money (with which I bought 4 new shirts at Walmart yesterday), Bill & Sue & kids gave me a book called "The House that Cleans Itself"--a book about organizing and cleaning. Sue has read parts of this book, and she is very passionate about it. I can't wait to read it. Mrs. Cheeseball gave me (can you guess?) a cheeseball, and my boss gave me the DVD "Dreamer", a Taste of Home Cookbook, some Lighthouse Stationery, and a devotion book. Goodness! I made out like a bandit. And, I'm sure I've forgotten something.

Well, it's now past 8:30 AM, and it's time to go to work. I've also got to get ready for a scrapbook gathering tomorrow night. I've got some actual scrapbooking to do to get ready for that, as well as some cleaning (wish I had already read that book from Sue!). I've got to also make Death by Chocolate for Eben's concert tonight and the party tomorrow night. Busy, busy day!

MONDAY FOOD DIARY

Breakfast – 1 small bagel, 1 teas. Low-fat margarine, 2 glasses diet ice tea.

Snack – Banana

Lunch – McDonalds: 4 piece chicken nugget, small fry, side salad, small diet soda. I ate the French fries on the way home from town. When I got home, I sliced the chicken nuggets, put them on the salad, and tossed with fat-free Italian dressing. (A Happy Meal with a side salad is actually a recommended lunch in the First Place program.)

Snack – 100 calorie Oreo pack. Water.

Snack – 100 calorie popcorn pack. Diet ice tea.

Supper – Stew Beef and Gravy, Mashed Potato (more than I should have had, but less than what I would normally have had). Slice of angel food birthday cake.

Snack – Scraped the brownie bowl (had to make two batches of Death by Chocolate). Crackers and Cheeseball.

All in all – guess my diet lasted until 5:00 PM. I’ll try again tomorrow.

TAGGED BY AUNT SUSIE

Two names you go by:
Lisa Marie Batty Wight
Mom Mom

Two things you are wearing right now:
Light blue night shirt with teddy bears on it
Navy blue underwear (the Hanes "no ride up" kind--I know--TMI)

Two of your favorite things to do:
Scrapbook
Computer Games (especially hidden object games)

Two things you want very badly at the moment:
Leftover stew beef and gravy
Cooler temperature

Two favorite pets you have had/have:
Nicole, the cat
Candy, the cat

Two things you did last night:
Church
Pizza Hut (tried the new "grilled" pizza--it was ok--Pizza Hut is not my favorite pizza to begin with)

Two things you ate today:
Only diet ice tea so far

Two people you last talked to:
Eben
Caleb

Two things you plan on doing tomorrow:
Cleaning the House
Making a Hostess Gift for a scrapbooking party

Two longest trips taken in the last five years:
Lynchburg, VA
Pigeon Forge, TN

Two favorite holidays:
Christmas
Thanksgiving

Two favorite beverages:
Ice Tea (sweet southern style)
Cherry Diet Pepsi

THINGS THAT NEVER CROSS A MAN'S MIND

A Kellie Pickler song...

I need to go shopping
These shoes are all wrong
Just look in my closet
Not a thing to put on
I wonder how these jeans make me look from behind
Things that never cross a man's mind

Lets turn off the tv
Now can't we just talk
Lets lay here and cuddle
Til we both drift off
If we don't make love
That'll be just fine
Things that never cross a man's mind

That joke is too dirty
This steak is too thick
Ain't no way in the world I'll ever finish it
That car is too fast
This beer is too cold
And watchin all this football is sure getting old
Wish I was workin this weekend
Not on the lake reelin my line
Things that never cross a man's mind

Her lips are too red
Her skirt is too tight
Her legs are too long
And her heels are too high
Boy, she looks like the marryin kind
Things that never cross a man's mind

That joke is too dirty
This steak is too thick
Ain't no way in the world I'll ever finish it
That car is too fast
This beer is too cold
And watchin all this football is sure getting old
Wish I was workin this weekend
Not on the lake reelin my line
Things that never cross a man's mind

I feel a little bloated
I think I'm fixin to starve
That movie was good except for the violent parts
Brad Pitt is sexy
Why did he change his hair
I knew him and Jenny never had a prayer
These curtains clash with the carpet
The color scheme is a crime
Things that never cross a man's mind
Things that never cross a man's mind

FRIDAY & SATURDAY FOOD DIARY

Friday:

Breakfast – 2 Pilot Crackers with Peanut Butter, 3 Batter Blaster Wheat Pancakes; Glass of Ice Tea.

Lunch – Hamburger, Mashed Potato, and Small (very small) brownie & ice cream at Applebee’s (courtesy of my boss).

Snack – Two of those M&M ice cream things.

Supper - 2 Crunchy Chicken Snack Wraps, Small French Fry, Sweet Tea at McDonald's.


Saturday:

Breakfast – Cheeseball and crackers. (A birthday gift from Mrs. Cheeseball.)

Lunch – Subway tuna sub with provolone, Icee.

Snack – Diet Pepsi

Supper – Red Robin Prime Rib French Dip Sandwich with Garlic Parmesan Steak Fries. Water. Small ice cream sundae. (Free for me—it’s my birthday!)

Snack – Bowl of popcorn, cooked in my new popcorn popper.

THURSDAY FOOD DIARY

Breakfast - A brownie. Glass of Ice Tea.

Lunch – ½ of a Double Beef Cheesey Burrito; $.79 triple-layer nachos without the refried beans; diet soda.

Snack – An M&M ice cream thing on a stick. Make that two. They were small.

Snack – About three bites of leftover pot roast.

Supper – Rice, 4 chicken drumsticks, 2 ears of corn. Brownie.

I have come to the conclusion that I should have just started my diet on Monday as I had originally planned. My meals were all planned, the groceries all bought, the walk music loaded on my MP3 player. When our leader told us that we didn't have to change our eating habits the first week, just write down what we wrote, I was joyful. And I have now spent a week consciously overeating, knowing that I have to watch it next week. The sad thing is, I did the same thing last week. So I have now had two weeks in a row where I have completely gorged myself. I guess the silver lining to that is that I am so sick of feeling so full and disgusting. I am now ready to eat lighter. Maybe this time it will stick.

FRIDAY FILL IN

1. Idle hands are a reason to eat more popcorn (which is why I try to crochet when I watch TV).
2. I love to sing worship songs in the shower.
3. My favorite time of the day is when I go to bed, and spend an quiet hour or so by myself reading a magazine or watching whatever I want on TV.
4. The last tea I drank was Arizona Southern Style Ice Tea (and I'm about to pour myself another glass).
5. I like to wear tanktops to bed in the Summer.
6. My mother always said to clean the stovetop and behind the sink when you are done cooking.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to watching more of the Bachelor reruns on VH-1 or watching Can You Duet on CMT, tomorrow my plans include turning 40 and Sunday, I want to watch the Pocono race!

THE BUCKET LIST MI-5

I said: "I actually got the idea for this week’s MI-5 from Question 5 from last week. It’s probably not too original, and maybe we’ve even done it before, but---let me see your bucket list!! Tell me 5 things you want to see, do, complete, or accomplish before you leave this world. On second thought, give me 2 Bucket Lists---one list of 5 things that you are reasonably certain you WILL be able to cross off your list, and another list of 5 things that may be much more unlikely for you to accomplish."

Five Things I Think I Can Accomplish:

1. Travel US Route 1 from Freeport to the NH Border. (I have never, ever done that!)

2. Own a Marie Osmond Collector Doll.

3. Do the Build-A-Bear Workshop with Mrs. Cheeseball.

4. As a married woman, own a brand-new car that I picked out all by myself and that I was allowed to keep until it was paid off. (Maybe I should move this one to the next list.)

5. As much as I love visiting with family in NH, VA, and FL, I'd like to once again vacation in a place that I've never been.


Five Things I'm Not Sure I Can Accomplish:

1. Perform in a Broadway musical (not as a soloist).

2. Sell enough Close To My Heart products to earn the free cruise.

3. Attend Oprah's "Favorite Things" show. (Mrs. Cheeseball wants to go with me.)

4. Play with dolphins. (Probably not too unreachable.)

5. Tour the Holy Land in a manner that would keep me safe.

WEDNESDAY FOOD DIARY

Breakfast – One slice bacon breakfast pizza from Hoggy's. (Eben had an 8:00 AM dentist appointment--no cavities--and I ate this for breakfast on the way home.)

Snack – A chocolate peanut butter square thingie.

Lunch – ½ Hamburger take & bake pizza. Less pizza than on Monday, but still too much. I would say today's pizza would be the equivalent of two slices from a convenience store. I didn't eat the outside crust.

Supper – Cereal bowl of Hamburger Helper (Dwane was in Portland.)

Snack - A brownie, made by Caleb

TUESDAY FOOD DIARY

Breakfast – Three poached eggs, two pieces of toast. Little margarine. Sprinkle of salt.

Snack – Arizona Southern Style Ice Tea over ice. (About 100 calories.)

Lunch – Ham Casserole (potato, ham, cheese sauce). I ate too much! Yuck! Another glass of ice tea.

Snack – Another glass of ice tea. Bite of pot roast from the crockpot.

Snack – Another bite of pot roast. (It was 6:39 PM, and I was really ready for supper.)

Supper – 1 potato with margarine, one serving of pot roast. (No second potato! No seconds on pot roast! Amazing!)

Dessert – Dwane wanted ice cream, so we went to DQ. I had a Mocha Moolatte, but didn’t drink it all. It was too coffee-ish or something.

MONDAY'S FOOD LOG

Like Beloved and Aunt Ginny, I am also participating in "First Place" at church. It's like Weight Watchers, with Bible Study added to it. Unlike Beloved, however, I am not going to post my weight. It's not that I really have anything to hide--most at the first weigh-in know how much I weigh. However, I don't want to find myself being a slave to the scale. I want clothes to look good on me and I want to be healthy. I took my scales to church on Sunday for the weigh-in, and I forgot to bring them home. I'm actually glad I left them there. I find that whenever I start a "diet", I weigh myself every day. If I don't see immediate results, I give up.

Anyway, for the first week, we are not really supposed to change our eating habits. We are simply to write down everything that we eat. I was glad that I didn't need to cut down on food just year---after all, I turn 40 on Saturday, and my boss is taking me to Applebee's for lunch on Friday, we're going to Red Robin for lunch on Saturday (I have a birthday coupon for a free burger), and I'm hoping that Dwane has asked my Mom to make one of my favorite meals for my birthday supper. (Usually I want boiled dinner with ham, but I just baked a ham last week, so I've got my fingers crossed for stew beef & gravy, mashed potato, frozen corn, and either a DQ ice cream cake or an angel food cake with that white frosting stuff that Mom makes.) Not a good time to "diet"!!!

Ok--enough chat. Here's my food diary for yesterday:

Breakfast: A small Little Debbie chocolate chip muffin. (Wasn't very good--I'm glad--I won't be tempted.)

Lunch - 1/2 of a homemade hamburger pizza. I didn't eat the outside crust, but it was still way more than I needed to eat. For dessert I had a 1-ounce square of semi-sweet baking chocolate. :)

Supper - A sandwich made with white bread (gasp!), leftover-baked ham, and a slice of Swiss cheese. I used some margarine on the sandwich. I didn't eat the whole sandwich, as I was still so full from lunch. For dessert, I had a handful of chocolate chips.

I had no snacks. I had no caloric beverages. No water--just a swig of Diet Pepsi here and there throughout the day. Another no-no.

EBEN'S CONCERTS

Ok. I have now received the "official" end-of-year school calendar. Here's the scoop on Eben's concerts:

Monday, June 9, 6:30 PM - Band concert. Eben will be playing a saxophone duet with his cousin, Bailee. They are playing "Smoke on the Water". I do have to say that I think the St. George Band is really, really good. They are much better than my school band when I was that age.

Tuesday, June 10, 6:30 PM - Chorus concert. This is the concert where Eben will be singing a solo part on "Boondocks" by Little Big Town. He's singing "Give me a tin roof, a front porch, and a gravel road." When I was in 5th grade, I was singing "Erie Canal". Now they get to sing Little Big Town stuff. I probably would of stayed in chorus if I got to singing cool stuff like that.

I have no idea why they didn't do these on the same night. As busy as end-of-school-year activities make us all, and in light of the gas prices, you'd think they could combine these two musical events.