Joan's randomness: August 2008 Archives

Well, we've officially finished the first week of school here in West York.

Here was daughter Sarah, third from left, getting ready to board the bus on the first day last Monday:

The first week went well. We're still adjusting to the homework in the new "Everyday Math" program, but I really like it. (Some people don't.)

And, Sarah went the whole week without getting in trouble. (That's huge. She's not a bad kid, but boy can she talk out of turn.) Our deal is that if she goes the first two weeks with no trouble, she gets a new game for her GameBoy. (She has one of the old-fashioned models, so games are only about $6.) Yes, I'm into bribery. Call it rewards for good behavior if that sounds better. It amounts to the same thing: She gets something she wants for acting the way I want.

And I'm OK with that. Here's to a good REST of the school year (I'm not forking over $6 every two weeks, though!)

I live in a nice house in a nice neighborhood. That's it up there. You know the kind... brick front, siding on the other sides, and while I don't have candles in the window, I do have a nice butterfly bush that really looks nice around this time of year.

Now, the problem with living in a nice house in a nice neighborhood, is that if you let the weeds get even slightly out of control, in comparison with your neighbors, your house looks like this:

Now, why, you ask, would I LET my weeds take over like that?

(Don't know what a meme is? Learn more.)

I normally don't get into these, but I love music, so I had to try this one out.

- - - - - - Your Life: The Soundtrack - - - - -
Open your music player (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, etc). Put it on shuffle. Press play. For every question type the song that's on. When you go to a new question press the next button.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Opening Credits: Runaway Train - Soul Asylum

Waking Up: Who Said - Hannah Montana

Theme song: New Age Girl - Deadeye Dick

Falling in Love: The Great Intoxication - David Byrne

When is a check in the mail, addressed to me, not good news?

Check out my guest post on the biz blog to find out.

One of the biggest things that just about ANY weight-loss program will tell you is to make sure you're drinking plenty of water each day.

I have several one-liter bottles of water that I fill up from the water dispenser on my fridge, and my goal is to drink at least one, hopefully two of them a day, as part of my weight-loss plan. There's tons of different opinions on how much water you should drink a day, but I thought this quiz from About.com was a good indicator - it put me at just about two liters daily, which sounds about right.

Here's the down-and-dirty on what it says. (Don't laugh at my weight.)

A person who is 142 pounds and is exercising for 5 minutes, is not pregnant, is not breastfeeding, does not live at a high altitude, does not live in a dry climate, drinks 0 alcoholic drink(s), when the weather is not very hot or very cold, and is not sick with fever or diarrhea should have: 71.5 ounces of water today, or 2.1 liters. If you eat a healthy diet, about 20 percent of your water may come from the foods you eat. If you eat a healthy diet you can drink 57.2 ounces of water today, or 1.7 liters.

What do you think? How much water do you drink (or do you think you SHOULD drink) in a day?

Yes, exercise is good for you, and I explained yesterday how I'm going to do that to help lose some weight.

But, you know what I've learned working for and being a member of Weight Watchers the last two or three years?

IT MATTERS WHAT YOU EAT! (Gasp!)

So yesterday's job was to go to the grocery store and stock up on healthy (and natural) foods. I'm tentatively trying a version of the F Factor Diet. It's basically an immensely high-fiber, "detox" based diet, and while I'm not following it to a T, I'm going to try seriously increasing the amount of fiber I have and seriously decreasing the amount of processed foods with high sodium/sugar/carb levels I have. In theory, it should help.

And, maybe I'll actually feel FULL some of the time. I swear, I never feel full.

So I stocked up on radishes, high-fiber cereal, some light cheese wedges, and a bunch of salad stuff. Plus, I've got some chicken breasts done in light barbecue sauce sitting in the fridge at home to have as leftovers.

I think I can do it! The first goal is not to eat fast food for the rest of this week. Let's see how that goes...

I've been saying for a while that I need to get healthier. I had lost about 40 pounds back in 2005, and while I certainly haven't gained it all back, I'm probably close to 20 pounds heavier now than I'd like to be.

I've also gotten a sudden motivation to get skinnier over the next year - my very best friend from high school proposed to his fiancee, and I've got to be a "groomsman" in his wedding. Now, if I could wear a tux like the other groomsmen, I'd be set, but I'm worried that his (very awesome) fiancee is going to put me in a dress that shows off my belly fat in nasty ways.

So, it's time to get fit. What's the plan, you ask?

So you have probably noticed I've not been around much lately. Well, first I was sick, as I mentioned earlier... then, I came back to work for a whopping two days and took off again because my brother was flying out from Tucson, Arizona, to visit (yay!)

Yesterday was my first day back to work, and today I finally feel like my head is above water.

It was great having my brother here - it's the first I've seen him since my high school graduation, and his first time meeting my daughter and my husband, who've come along since then. I've got tons of photos to post - taken with my "real" camera, not my cameraphone - but it'll take me another couple days to download them first. So keep checking back - I've got some updates on my summer hiking adventures and some news on my new weight-loss adventures (yikes!)

So come visit me tomorrow... and the next day... and the one after that...

Not a hail photo (sorry, my camera battery died!)

But I picked this up with the cameraphone a few weeks ago and thought you'd enjoy it.

Um...

Did you guys get some HUGE hail in the storm that just passed through?

We did... I took a couple pictures that I'll post later, from work. I just wondered if anyone else got hit. I have never seen hail like that - and rain! It rained, like, two directions at once!

We have - had - a glass gazing ball in our front garden. Now, we have a bunch of blue glass pieces and a pile of hail.

Craziness!

Sorry for the lack of posting this week. I had taken a few days off (a long weekend) to take my daughter back-to-school shopping over at the Lancaster County outlets, Rockvale and Tanger. Unfortunately, when I got back, I seem to have caught the stomach bug that's been going around, so I spent the rest of this week home, eating Saltines and cursing my husband, the Plague Carrier.

You know the type... he never gets sick, but he brings the germs home to me?

Anyway, I'm back at work for the evening and still not feeling so hot, so I'm not sure how long I'll last, but I wanted to say hi!

A recent e-mail from the Pennsylvania Vegetable Marketing Research Program (and isn't that a mouthful?) tells me that August is Pennsylvania Produce Month.

The group says:

Whether it's visiting your local grocer or stopping by the roadside stand on your way home from work, local produce can be easily purchased for reasonable prices. The real bargains can be found now, during the peak season. So consider freezing or canning your locally bought produce to store for the winter months.

You'll remember I recently bought some local produce at Brown's. For some more suggestions on where to get local goodies veggies, visit paveggies.org.

Now, I have to ask. What's your favorite local fruit veggie, the one you wait all year for? I die for local strawberries and tomatoes. Jo would almost have me drummed out of the county for admitting I don't like corn. So I'm taking votes!