Comfy in My Skin

I love grocery shopping. I love trying to find new things, stocking up on old favorites, and filling the kitchen with fresh whole foods that I’m super-excited to eat.

This afternoon I went to Sam’s, Walmart, and Whole Foods for my shopping. I was stoked about some protein powder that I found to replace my egg-white protein powder that I’m out of. It is called Greens & Whey and it is by Biochem Sports. It is full of organic greens such as alfalfa leaf juice powder and barley grass juice powder. 100 calories for 2 scopps that contain 20g of protein. I will use only one heaping scoop per serving since I don’t need to add that much protein to my breakfasts (IMO), and that makes the powder last longer. It also has about a quarter of the sodium my egg-white protein powder contained. Only hitch, I accidentally grabbed the chocolate instead of the vanilla. Don’t get me wrong, I love chocolate, but since my morning creations usually involve spinach and fruits, I’d rather have vanilla. I don’t like chocolate and fruit mixed together. So, I’ll have to take it back and get the vanilla, but I was also excited that this container has the same number of servings as my egg white protein powder, but it was only 12.69 instead of 19.99. Savings! Yay! Of course I still have to taste test it. But here’s hoping it tastes as good as it sounds it is for me!

I also bought a bunch of fruit for dehydrating, and I’m excited to get started. Who am I kidding, I’m just excited to have lots of dried fruit to snack on, not necessarily about the work I’m going to have to do. I got apples, gala and granny smith (wanted to do honeycrisp again but they were just too expensive), kiwis, bananas, a mango, lots of canned pineapple. Some bulk ginger spice granola will call my name a lot, I’m sure, but hopefully I can ration it reasonably.

Tonight the kids and Mom and I went to get some Quilt Magic. I had a hard time picking one, but I finally settled on a Christmas-themed one with silver bells and green and red ribbons. Classic and simple. I hope it looks good in our house when we decorate for Christmas. We don’t do that until a couple weeks before when we go up into the mountains and cut down our tree; we don’t want the tree to get too dead before Christmas. I really want to buy some new lights this year. Every year we grumble and curse (not real curses, ok maybe one) about our dollar-store and hand-me-down lights. Trying to rig them all up together and so they’ll all plug in is some kind of nasty jig-saw puzzle. Got to buy new lights this year and simplify the process. I’m also supposed to look through Mom’s ornaments that she doesn’t use anymore now that she does a small fake tree with her gold ornaments and that’s it.

Anyway, I got one, Mom bought 3. One for herself, one for my SIL, and one for my daughter, P (a surprise). K2 was a terror the whole time and was very distracting. Ugh, I swear I don’t want to have to take that boy out of the house until he’s 5 or 6. Sheesh.

We came home after the Quilt Magic shopping and Mom only stayed for a couple minutes. I immediately started whipping up some brocolli/cheese scrambled eggs for the kids, which they ate with a clementine (from today’s shopping). I also called my SIL so she could bring over her daughter A for a sleepover tonight with P. The three kids are playing together now and making lots of noise and hopefully getting plenty tired. Because in about an hour I’m putting them to bed and whether they go to sleep or not, they’re going to have to be pretty quiet so they don’t keep K2 awake. And then I’m going to work out – I’m not letting a 4 and 5 year old sleepover disturb my workout schedule that’s going pretty well this week.

When we got home I also got some news from my husband. A member of our bishopric had stopped by and asked if K could support me in being called as 1st counselor in the Primary Presidency at church!! I’ve never served in Primary before, so I’m super-nervous. Of course, when I speak to him myself and he actually asks me, I’ll accept. I’ll serve in whatever capacity the Lord thinks I need to. I’m just nervous about working with other people’s kids! And I don’t know anything about Primary – my memory is too poor for me to remember my days in there as a kid. So anyway, that’ll be a change from teaching Relief Society, and I don’t know what they’re going to do since I’m their only teacher right now.

All in all, its been an eventful day. My eats have been pretty good. There were a lot of samples at Sam’s and I had a taste of almost everything…… ooooh they had these creme brulee candied almonds and I’m still daydreaming about going back and getting some of those. SO GOOD. Basically candy.

I had a brocolli, cheese, egg, garlic burrito for dinner with a clementine. I’m still pretty satisfied, though I’d love to eat a yogurt with some granola. I’m going to try and hold off and have that be it for the day. Especially since I did have a few of the kids’ peanut M&Ms (about 5).

Tomorrow should be pretty packed as well. Mary Kay meeting in morning. Taking back protein powder for vanilla flavor, maybe some running mid-day, work Holiday party with my DH in the evening while SIL watches the kids. If I don’t run mid-day I’ll need to run after our date, and that’s pretty unlikely so I hope I can do it before.

Well, Monday is coming to a close. Its been a good day, if not a very productive one.

Let me just start by saying that the zucchini brownies were AMAZING the second day. And they are gone. I’ve decided that the next time I make them, I will take out one for each of us in the family (that’s four servings) and plate the rest for giving away. Doesn’t matter to whom or why, everyone loves a plate of free brownies, right? The kids LURVED them, and they didn’t even know they were eating veggies! Mwaaaahaaaaahaaaa.

Also thought I’d make note of a couple of the things that I specifically saw at the bazaar on Saturday that I want to purchase. Quilt Magic squares. Laser-cut foam squares that you cut material out with a pattern and shove it into the cracks for a professional, pretty, quilted-looking square that hangs on the wall or door. So cute and pretty! And simple! I wanted about 6 of them, but hoping my mom and I can go to the vendor’s location this week and get some there without the distractions of all the other vendors.

There were these beautiful earrings made out of wire and string. One set looked like peacock feathers. They were gorgeous and dangly and kind of big and I wanted them. But I didn’t buy them. So I need to write it down and remember to buy them next year. There were so many things I wanted!!

One of the jewelry vendors had glass, twine, and stone jewelry. I loved the stone bracelets and shell cuffs, but I couldn’t decide and  ultimately just bought a chunky glass ring that I love and it was only $5. But the bracelets were only $10 and they were all stone – such as amythest (my birthstone) and quartz. Gorgeous. She’s going to be at a Gem and Stone show up here in the Springs on Dec 6th, so I’m hoping I can go to that, perhaps with P again because there’s supposed to be stuff for the kids to do.

There was more, but I’ll leave it at that for now.

Today I came home from taking P to school (SO HARD to get up this morning), and laid back down on my bed to read my scriptures. I read a couple of chapters and then set it aside and fell back asleep….until 10 AM!! Then I got up, woke up K so he could feed K2, because I had to hurry and start getting ready for work. Good think K went and got P from school because I wouldn’t have had time and been able to get to work on time.

Work was productive but unexciting. Going back Wednesday.

Tomorrow I am hoping to run outside. Got a 5K in a little over a week and I haven’t run outside much at all in the past 2 months. And that means I’ve run outside one time. Eeeeeh.

Going to run indoors tonight and hopefully get in a good workout.

We drove to Pueblo armed with G00gle directions to the State Fair Grounds. Which we promptly disregarded when we saw a sign for exiting the freeway to get there 2 exits before the exit on our instructions. And after weaving our way through a good part of Pueblo, getting lost once and having to turn around, we found the grounds and the free Pueblo Holiday Bazaar. I love Free!!

It was maybe 2/3 of the size of the fair at the Expo in the Springs, but it was more crafty and not so high-end. Much more our speed, really. We found a bunch of stuff that we bought, plan to buy, or wanted to buy. Actually, I wanted to buy almost everything – I was a little out of control. Mom and I had P with us and she did great. She was enthralled with all of the jewelry, just like me, and we had fun perusing and trying on together. Mom mentioned that she sees a lot more of the merchandise when she goes with me because I stop to actually LOOK at so much stuff. We left there at about 2 PM to head back to the Springs. The whole day was overcast, foggy, occasionally raining, and chilly. But luckily, not icy until later on at night.

Upon arriving in the Springs we had to postpone our meal-eating plans in order to get to Liberty HS in time to see their fair before it closed at 4. We arrived at 3:30 and walked around quickly to make sure we saw everything. We only stopped a couple times, which I was kind of bummed about because I didn’t like feeling so rushed. It was worth it to see the Pueblo show, but I wish I’d realized the Liberty fair was closing, or that we were running so late, just a little earlier. We purchased a couple of little twist drums for P and K2 – that was the item P chose over all the other things she was enthralled by.

We then stopped by Chick-fil-A where I had a chicken salad sandwich, fries, and a shake. Decadent, and yummy. At home, we decided suddenly (K, K2, P, and I) to run to the store and return our upstairs TV for a different model with a clearer picture. We got back at 7:42, which was 12 minutes late for watching my niece A. As we drove by to turn around in the end of our culdesac, we opened the garage, and F (my SIL) basically shoved her daughter out of the car to come up and wait for us in our garage while she drove away before we’d even pulled around and parked in front of out house. Geez. Anyway, the kids had a blast playing together until…… 11 PM. Yup, that’s right my kids were up until 11 PM because F arrived back at our house shortly before 9 PM and we sat and talked for 2 hours. Enjoyed the talk, wished the kids could have been in bed while we chatted.

So I didn’t get a workout in yesterday which I was kind of bummed about. There’s a chance I’ll work out today.

It snowed overnight and K and I stayed up much too late (he got home around 11:45 and I was still awake), K2 woke me up with his crying at 3:15, and I woke up feeling like crap. So we didn’t go to church. I didn’t get out of bed until about 11:00 AM, K got up around 10:00 to answer K2’s call and then got up around 10:30 again when the kids came and jumped on him (thankfully leaving me alone for once). K and I made pancakes and eggs (the processed, not-good-for-you kind) and ate at about midday. That’s all I’ve had to eat today so far, though I’m thinking a yogurt is in order here shortly.

I didn’t weigh myself this morning. Yesterday morning I was 186.5.

This coming week should be pretty normal. Work three afternoons. Work outs. Might need to do some more grocery shopping for a few things. Hopefully won’t leave all the cleaning for Friday afternoon again.

Saturday is a MK meeting at my director’s house at 9:30 AM. Possible craft fair at a local High School. Work Christmas Party at MacKenzie’s steak house downtown. Promises to be a lot of great food for free, so K and I are going to treat it like a free date for us since I SUCK at mingling in large groups. My friend advised me to not worry about my lack of mingling skills or to put that pressure on myself. To just enjoy my husband’s company, talk to anyone that chooses to come and talk to me, and eat great food. All of which is great advice and so that’s what we’re going to do. Planning on having K’s mom watch the kids since she arrives in town on Friday for Thanksgiving week.

That’s about all from here. We’re staying indoors today. K’s watching the Broncos. The kids are playing with their drums. I’m writing this post and reading blogs.

Later gator.

And cleaned. And cleaned and organized some more. I feel like I accomplished a lot, so that’s a nice feeling. Three or four times in the last hour, I’ve told myself I don’t have to work out, then changed my mind and told myself I do have to work out. Right now, I’m on working out – affirmative and in the plans for as soon as the kids are a-bed. We shall see what happens. Feeling kind of stuffed up from fighting this cold all week, but that might be compounded by all the dust I breathed in today while cleaning spots that haven’t been dusted in months (namely, stairwell alcove, one of our only storage spots in this house).

Tomorrow, Mom and I are going to Pueblo to the Holiday Bazaar at the Colorado State Fair Grounds. We’re taking P, but leaving K2 with K. After the Pueblo fair, we may or may not go to the fair we’d planned on going to until I found out about the Pueblo one today, which is up at Liberty HS. If the Pueblo one is really great, we might not bother because it will be underwhelming.

K’s going to try and get the floor finished and next week he’s said he’ll help me get the baseboards painted so we can get this room looking “finished”. So excited! I’ve been trying to find some replacement dining chairs on craigslist since ours have rollers that don’t roll properly and are quite heavy. If I sit with my full weight and try to roll in one, the rollers lock up and mark the new floor. Can’t have that. So far, I’ve been unsuccessful finding a good fit on craigslist that I can afford, but I’ll continue to look.

Sunday is stake conference, which means instead of keeping our kids ‘reverant’ for one hour, we’d have to keep them happy and semi-quiet for 2. And then home instead of on to 2 more meetings (during which they’d normally be in Primary). We will try to make ourselves go, but we’re both feeling kind of unmotivated to make it through the 2 hours. That’s horrible, I know. I’m sure my guilt-factor will go up by Sunday morning and we’ll probably go. And I’m sure be enriched for the experience. Maybe K2 will get tired and want to sit in my lap the whole time. Not!!

Other than the craft fair, I have no plans for tomorrow. I’d like to get to Walmart and buy the semi-gloss spray paint for the baseboards. I need about 4 more cans of the stuff. And that’s about it.

This is (as usual) a very unexciting post.

This is my first week to have successfully followed through on going into the office 3 times. And boy, oh boy, did I take advantage. Little heath bars, candy jars full of Halloween candy, donuts in the office, the snacks and food that I brought with me. And more heath bars. And then some more heath bars. And it hasn’t been much better when I’ve been at home. Well, scratch that, its been better, just not great.

I took Tuesday night off, and ate way too much. I worked out Monday and Wednesday nights, and I’m planning on working out tonight. T-Tapp maybe. I hope to go for a run outside tomorrow.

But I have to find a way to reign in the monster while I’m at the office. If I’m there M, W, and Th, that’s a lot of extra sugar that I don’t need but am having a really hard time staying away from. Is it ridiculous to seriously go to each person whose jar I have a hard time staying out of – when I get there – and asking them to put their jar in the far reaches of their cube so its not right on the edge and available? At least until I’m gone? It seems so stupid, but I’m seriously considering it with one jar in particular. I dunno. I don’t think she’d mind. We’ll see on Monday when I go in next if I work up the umph.

So I’m still at 187. I was at 185 end of last week, and then I kind of lost it again. I am literally bouncing between 185 and 189. Frustrating, but obviously not enough for me to tighten up the program.

In other news, today K went out and bought a 30″ wide screen flat-screen TV for our bedroom. He figured out how to get the wire up out of the crawl space and hooked to the DVR without drilling a hole in our new laminate flooring. And he had it all set up and was hoping to surprise me with it all working – but he managed to damage the cable so it has to be replaced. I spent 20 minutes on the phone with Dish Network after he showed it all to me figuring out that we think its all hooked up right and the only explanation is the cord. It was such a surprise when he brought me into the room!!! I had no idea and even P managed to keep the secret! It is so big and beautiful and will make watching TV up there so much more enjoyable! I’m looking forward to using it the first night I can that I don’t work out – the nights I have a hard time with munchies.

The laminate is 95% laid down. I’m hoping he’ll finish it this weekend. I also need to spend some time on Saturday painting the baseboards – I’m sure its going to be easier than I have it built up in my mind to be. I’d love for the room to be “finished” looking within the next week or so. Or at least before Thanksgiving.

Have to work a little in the morning, but I’d like to have more hours on this payperiod anyway, which ends tomorrow. Then the run outside and that’s all I have going on tomorrow really. If it is warm, I should spend time painting the baseboards or sanding the swing set. Also dusting and vacuuming upstairs.