with my new found energy

Getting a new mattress is a life changing event.

I don't know what we were thinking waiting so long. I have a noticeable increase in energy and don't feel like crusty snot in the mornings.  It allows me to get more done when I get home from work, and this weekend I felt like a normal human being and spent most of the weekend not in bed watching Netflicks.

It is possible that the malaise I've been feeling wasn't depression or getting old, it was sleepy. 


While David was at work on Saturday, I did 40 things that have lingered on my to do list for months. When he got home I'm sure he was pretty overwhelmed with the "and then I ___" report.

• We got a treadmill that David's parents were no longer using. Nice for mosquito/oppressive heat after dinner walks and incline training.  Once we fenagled the thing into my mom's car and got it into the house we played 4,000 rounds of where is this beast going to go.

• As the years go by I get closer and closer to being a crazy cat lady. Rigby's Rx food is pretty much all fat&fiber because he can't have protein, his poor little bladder. Well because we are lazy we've been feeding both the cats this food. But Abbey has put on a little weight. So we now feed Rigby Rx food, Abbey a weight management food, and Wheels whatever I have a coupon for. Three types of food. Sigh..

• I get recipes sent to me by the AICR, and they have started a 12 Week New American Plate Challenge. Mom always talked about the NAP... I'm sure every 9 year old can tell you what vitamins are in spinach and what they do. Yay Vitamin K!(thanks mom)

Two years ago I committed to never starting a diet ever again.  I have replaced destructive coping behaviors with emotional eating and diets, food tracking and exercise programs were just a part of that negative cycle. I'm still emotional eating. At least now I am aware of it. I said that I wanted to be free from it when I turned 30, but I'm not. I'm ok with that, cause life is a process.

We are going to try the challenge, with no expectations of "weight loss" or getting "skinny." So no pressure, no obsessive counting or measure and rules or failure. See Week 1? Easy!!

Week 1: The 2/3 – 1/3 Plate Rule I will fill my plate two-thirds (2/3) or more with a combination of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans and nuts and with no more than one-third (1/3) of lean animal protein such as poultry, seafood, low-fat cheese, low-fat yogurt, or lean red meat. By the end of the week, of my 21 meals weekly, 5 or more meals will meet the 2/3-1/3 plate rule.

 

That's all.

alsation sensation

Last Friday, me and the folks were at Los Tios for TexMex Friday (yup still have that tradition going!) and Daddy told us we had to stop in Castroville at the Alsatian bakery.

Well Dp and I stopped mid enchilada (verdes) chewing and said alsawhadda? So apparently a small group of Alsatian colonists settled this town and you won't receive any judging from me if you quickly hurry over to Wiki to look up where this Alsace place is.

On our last night of Garner camping I convinced Dp not to try and cook breakfast in the morning. So we packed the car in dark. In the morning "we" packed up the tent and headed out. *insert kitty on a leash story*

I kinda thought Castroville was just down the road... 2 hours later we made it in to town and took a gamble on the Alsatian restaurant across the street from the Bakery.

Sammy's decor leaves much to be desired. If you are looking for a bright, inviting diner... well, this isn't it. Several sections were closed and didn't even have lights on. It is a seat-yourself kind of place so we grabbed a couple of menus and found a properly lit booth.

Breakfast is served all day at Sammy's and breakfast was on my mind. We had to remedy the petrified breakfast brick from the day before. I got two eggs with bacon and a biscuit and Dp got the Good Morning, which is my breakfast + a pancake. Service was so courteous and fast, and they kept Dp's coffee good and hot. Ask to sit in Theresa's section, she was so pleasant and kind and knew I wanted salsa before I could even ask.

The food is everything you want from a breakfast dive. Fast, real, fresh and tasty. I'm not a big biscuit fan, they are just too buttery and rich for my tastes but Dp said they were better than Annie's (our favorite bfast place in Houston), I kinda disagree - Annie's huge biscuits are my favorite.

Ok. Here is the deal.

Castroville is the coolest town on earth. We enjoyed so much people watching, including the incredibly tiny old woman who couldn't believe David was that tall and the lumbering gentleman who entered the restaurant with an old nub of a cigar stuffed in the corner of his mouth and upon ordering placed it in his shirt pocket.

Colorful. Gritty. So cool.

After our breakfast we went to the bakery across the street. Dp kept eating and eating samples. We ended up with a cream cheese thingy and iced bun thingy and a loaf of pumpernickel. I was the most excited about the pumpernickel of course.

I would love to be able to have time to wander around all our small Texas towns.

Snoballs from angels

Yes yes yes yes!
It finally isn't 1000 degrees! Houston almost feels like fall.

On a most glorious day, a sweet-toothed certain someone begs her hubby for a Mam's run. He can't say no (cause he knows what's good for him- sometime- sorta).

There was no line. Not a single person. We had a nice little chat with the snoballer, she sneezed.

Super soft snow with light, unique flavors. I must start and end the season with orchid. It's my favorite flavor- very purpley.  Mixed with soft & sweet nectar and a shot of cream.

Wednesday treat for me!

Weekend Final Report Card

MAY 29 2012

*optional soundtrack for today's post*

Friday A++

*An early out! Snuck out of the office at 2pm. (not really sneaking cause we all did)

*Tip Toed over to Mam's for a snoball. Orchid & Cream. (my mouth literally just watered)

*Berryhill Fish Tacos at the early bird hour of 430pm (David went to a broker event on wed and was handed cash for showing up. we weren't responsible, we didn't pay bills, we ate and ate and ate with our treat money)

*We had dessert at Ruggles Bakery on the patio.
CHOCOLATE. TRES.LECHES (do you need me to repeat that for you?)
CHOCOLATE TRES LECHES
I couldn't even get a picture of it, just an empty plate and an AM with a crazy sugar high and full tummy.

*Night at my mom's checking on Mav & Jojo and trying to finish Game of Thrones before it disappears off their On Demand.

  

Saturday & Sunday B

*We cleaned and took care of Mary. No pictures needed.

I organized my bathroom cabinet and it was g-ross!

Swept under the bed and the dressers and found 3 lbs of fur

 

*Checked on Holt Street and MeeMaw's roses are blooming. Teensy tiny white fragrant roses.

*And we watered the trees. I was hoping this would be our rain dance and would bring rain to the area, but it did not. Maybe I should get the car washed...

Memorial Monday A

*David was kind enough to regale his adventures in the navy, and I got the full rundown of every carrier he has been on. Which was very exciting.... but not really.

 

*We had lunch at my parents. It had been a looooooong time since both my parents were in town at the same time. Glad for a mini vacation for my dad and my GiGi's improving health so I could have dinner with them both.

Steak, veggies, potato salad, corn & peaches n'cream blue bell

Americana or what?

  

i'm the taco whisperer

As previously mentioned David lost his gi benefits this semester - rude but necessary awakening occurred when I went to examine our grocery/food bill. Shocking and sickening. I even made a scary pie chart. (Not to mention we were doing some pretty substantial emotional eating over the past 6 months on top of our emotional eating problem we both developed 6 or 7 years ago on top of being chubby little eaters as kids. Yeah we are working on this.)

I'm not a good cook. I can make taco meat really well and that is about the extent of my culinary abilities. Possibly because I can't follow a recipe, I'm not a rule follower.

However, I did reduce our grocery bill to $150/mo and have made some "decent" meals.

Crockpot French Onion Soup - easy peasy and I think this was $4
Meatballs and pasta - $5 meal using 1/2lb of ground beef, homemade bread crumbs with end slices of bread
Charro Beans & Cornbread - $3 meal! booya!
Cauliflower Crust Pizza - I know you won't believe me but it was incredible; read and try for yourself if you like. SO YUMMO and inexpensive
Stuffed Zuchinni - $3 meal! (I can't get over dp eating all these veggie meals)
Crockpot Zuppa Tuscano - $5 meal. DELISH! Better than OG, less greasy and it cooked itself while I was at work a +++

There have been some stinkers, some really bad icky things. ie - gruel, white bean soup (so salty i wanted to vomit), mustard chicken, and some others...

After 2 months, I am a cook. Not a very good one, but I know I can plan meals, keep dp interested, keep the budget down and cook everyday.

It is possible.
Isn't that what we all need to know in life? Things are possible?

If at first you burn the kitchen down... try try again

I remember the very first meal I cooked for David. Isn't that sweet?

We had just moved into our apartment after months of living in a hotel and I decided I would make an Italian dinner for my Italian husband. I set the kitchen on fire. Ok, maybe not on fire, but the smoke alarm went off and my meatballs ended up being charcoal.

I watched David cut off the charred outside of these "mini meatballs" and discovered raw innards. He choked a couple of them down and said they weren't that bad.

It was so awful I NEVER made them again. Monday I googled "easy meatball recipe" and apparently you are supposed to bake them. Last night was meatball night for the first time in 6 years.

And they were good.


-see i don't just feed him gruel...

please sir

Wednesday night I came home, long day of work (I had a bad headache), and as I opened the door I had a sniff sniff moment.

Sniff Sniff... what is that smell? Trash? Dead rat? Biological warfare?!

It was the crockpot.
A crockpot full of gruel.

It looked like green, alien mush. And it smelled worse than it looked. And tasted... well, I wouldn't know.

Take that Pioneer Woman

ps- dp tried to eat the leftovers today. said he couldn't do it. thus leading me to the conclusion that he does in fact have taste buds.

pps- you know how mom's just know everything? how is that? mom instructed me to leave out a dish of vinegar to absorb the slow roasted fart/feet smell and it worked. mom's are infinitely smart, mine might be the smartest.

ppps- Scentsy users, you might like to know that although Scentsy can battle some tough odors... it was no match for gruel.

anyone can cook!

have you seen Ratatouille? ♥LOVE♥ that movie
Meals during the last six months were either fast food, or eating out. Every single meal. It was kinda gross. And we got kinda fat.

Time for a detox. No more fast food or eating out, no soda, no more delicious desserts.

If I were to try to lose weight I would get frustrated and quit. Instead I am taking it one step at a time. We will probably fold in some exercising in this whole thing at some point. Small steps = achievable goals.

This is a huge challenge. Last night, after a rough day at work, I needed fajitas. Somehow I forced myself straight home and made dinner, that did not involve tortillas and delicious meat. However, I feel pretty good about myself for fighting the urge.

However, cooking means doing dishes. Who likes dishes? Mid-week update on the dishes. Success!! We have washed every dish from this week. My sink is empty and is not growing things. A++

So how I am enjoying freedom?
Love.IT!
Last night- cooked dinner, ate at the table, did dishes, watered the plants, watered and turned the compost, started dinner for tonight, watched some DVR, took a bath, and whooped down on dp at mario cart. In bed by 10.
What?! I can accomplish so much in an evening now.

I wouldn't be myself if I wasn't "doing a challenge." This time I really want to train myself to have good habits and see what happens.

ps- Mam's isn't eating out. Mam's can never be off limits!
wanted

incomplete thoug...

:: in the twenties. i feel like i wont exist in april, but at least it's only just 3 weeks more of it. that is totally do able.
:: chicks ducks and bunnies should switch out blue for yellow. if you do not know what chicks ducks and bunnies are... you can not call yourself a lover of sweets as it is well known that Easter is the best holiday for candy.

:: i love my british lit teacher. i want to adopt him. he uses a typewriter. i witnessed it. presh. i forgive him for making me read the dirty brits.
:: chobani update- so far peach and pineapple are the best flavors. i froze a cherry and it was yumo. <:>
:: if i didn't know it before... stress eats my body alive, except the 15lbs i've gained this last year. for some reason it won't eat that.
<:>

getting back on the trail

Poor Melissa- about once a week she gets to hear me whine about how I miss my cereal, Post Trail Mix Crunch. I think I have mentioned how I hate yogurt, the texture, the flavor. Yucky. But I found a yogurt that wasn't horrible mostly because I had my cereal... But alas my cereal is no where to be found.

Being fed up with sad attempts at substitution I wrote Post and impassioned email AND got a response!

June 10, 2010
Dear A M,
Thank you for contacting us regarding Post Trail Mix Crunch Raisin and Almond Cereal. We are sorry to learn of your difficulty in locating our product in your area and appreciate this being brought to our attention. This product is still in distribution, unfortunately we currently do not have a method for determining where this product can be purchased in your area.Let me assure you that our sales force does their best to convince retailers to stock as many of our products as possible.

In addition, we now offer some of our cereals on www.amazon.com for the ordering convenience of our consumers.

Your request for this product is important to us and although we cannot make promises, I can assure you that information about your request will be forwarded to our Sales team. Again, thank you for contacting us. We appreciate your loyalty and patronage.

Emily Williams
Consumer Response Representative


Is it silly to buy cereal on Amazon? If so, I'm about to get SILLY!

rate the date...

My Labor Day Mini-vacation

Friday
:: I got off work at 2pm. Lucky. And met Leah and Michael and the boys and the new house.
:: Drove to San Antonio. As we were approaching it started to rain. By the time we reached our restaurant the streets were rivers. 'Someone' convinced me it was no biggie to wade in calf deep water to to restaurant. :/ My pants were soaked.

:: La Fonda
David- B+
Analee- B-
I am sorry La Fonda. They put us in the coldest table possible, I know I looked like a wet cat, our waiter was more annoying than I thought possible, and my enchilada was overcooked.
:: Traveled to New Braunfels.

:: La Quinta
David- B-
Analee- C-
Worst hotel experience almost ever. Loud, smelly kids, who ran through the halls uh like at 1030. Go to bed. And we got put in the handicap accessible room. With a view of a gross hotel and a wall of a building. Nice. Free breakfast was ok, but people get a hold of your children. seriously? you let a 6 yr old make his own waffles and stick his finger in someone else's waffle mix?! Gross.

Saturday
:: Woke up early and went tubing on the Comal. Had the river mostly to ourselves and the weather was awesome. Ridiculously relaxing.
:: Tubing
David- A
Analee- B
That first shoot was terrifying. I am not going to lie, got sucked into a vortex.

:: Went to lunch at this place I found in the center of town; this great little cafe with local art on the walls and REALLY great food. They renovated a small grouping of historical houses in an alley by the railroad tracks. They used one house for the restaurant and the others are little boutiques.

:: Huisache-California Sandwich, Grilled Chicken Sandwich, Chicken Tortilla Soup
David- A
Analee- A

:: After lunch we walked to Naegelin's. Can't miss it if you are in the hill country.
:: Then we went to a park on the river, parked in the shade and attempted to read. Ok. So maybe I need a week long vacation. I still couldn't quiet my mind enough to read. But at least I sat still.
:: We went back to our hotel and took a nap. No judging.

:: Gristmill for dinner. David had never been (gasp) Steak, onion rings, strawberry shortcake.
David- A
Analee- A+
If there is strawberry shortcake in heaven, which I am very sure there will be, it will be this strawberry shortcake. Always, always the very best. I could have bathed in the whipped cream and eaten my 'bath' water. Dear God, thank you for allowing me to have the most delicious strawberry ever created. Really? For me? It was so so so good. It was worth all the pain afterwards.
:: After dinner we got in the hot tub. David drove two college girls away with his talking. He is that guy. And I 'swam' a few 'laps' in the pool.


Sunday
:: Got up. Had another free breakfast (finger in waffle mix incident). And split.
:: Went to the outlet malls in San Marcos... how can you not? I got 2 cardigans for a total of 25 bucks and a emerald green blouse for 8 bucks- Banana Outlet you are my friend.

:: We had lunch at the River Pub.
David- B
Analee- B-
Food was good. Wait was long, and not super service. It makes a difference to me. Sorry.
:: We headed back to Houston.
:: I'll admit it. We stopped at the Buc-cee's Luling. The whole way on Friday I am like what is up with this Buc-cee's? What is so special. But I had to have dippin'dots and try their jerky.
:: Buc-cee's
David- A
Analee- B+
How do you give a gas station an A? Ok, but it was bigger than any Buc-cee's I had seen before. The jerky was good and the check out line was very efficient.


Of course we came home to a sick kitten but Saturday was a great day. I can't wait to go back.

toot sweets sound like what they are...

...So do lollies in a lollipops jar. Gingerbread men have a gingerbread sound...

And your name, Dr. Pepper Icee, does the same for you.

You are truly scrumptious!!

I honestly can not remember how many I have had this week. (probably a bad sign)They tend to help my headache, maybe because of the cold. Holy cow are they goooooooood!

Maybe it is just me or maybe it is Houstonians, but I am not crazy about Sonic. I mean I like a cherry limeade but I not a Sonic nut.

As a child my mom might get us and Icee at Target when we were little. (did you know you can get $1 popcorn and a coke at Target? It has been my dinner many a time...) And me and Jeni started the tradition of Burger King Coke Icees. I loved Coke Icees. That was until the gloriousness of the Dr. Pepper Icee.

::ps- yes i love to sing Chitty Chitty Bang Bang songs. it is a small obsession.

::pps-did you know that Icees do not have ice in them? They are just a frozen solution. A fanstatical frozen treat.

Invitation to the past...

:: This week has felt long, for lots of reasons.

1. Headaches. Something is coming, or possibly it is just hot. I feel like I am God's chicken nugget. (under a giant heat lamp)

2. When it rains it pours. David's car needs work. Money is tight. ps- I hate money.

3. Waiting waiting waiting to get my haircut this weekend. I have had my hair in a bun for the past month because of said heat as well as it is so so so long. I was growing out my hair for Locks of Love again. They have changed their length minimum to 10 in! So I pushed back my appointment for a month (stupid) to see if I could get some extra length. Well, whether I have enough to donate is beside the point now, I am dying.

Really only Wednesday? guh.

:: We have been trying to cook more for the previously stated whine, money is tight. Well. Apparently I stink.

Saturday- I burnt our little turnovers. Even though I have seen my mom make them in the toaster oven... that doesn't mean I can. Mom's are superheros. Taco Bell was our Plan B.

Sunday- Great idea to make Chicken Spaghetti and invite my mom over. :/ Spaghetti painfully overcooked. More like Chicken Pad Tai. Again, Mom's are superheros. Mine ate my icky lunch happily. David ate happily too and even ate the leftovers... yuck.

:: Leah sent me this in the mail...

It is the invitation to my bridal shower, 4 years ago tomorrow. Weird. Four years blows my mind. What were you guys doing 4 years ago?

It was such a cute shower. Leah made an apron cake, and yummy orzo salad and some other stuff I can't remember. All my pictures are in storage... still.

Thanks Leah for the invitation, and the shower.

Bored

I just want to know why I am bored.

And why, because I am bored I have the urge to eat ice cream and candy. And to avoid that urge to eat I can't think of anything else to do but shop and spend money that I can't spend. And to avoid that I sit at the computer and become more and more bored.

I have lots to do. I have a monster list. I could be doing laundry or cleaning my room, or working on a college essay (don't ask) or EXERCISING!! (to name a few)

But do I work on completing that list? Nope. I just think of the ice cream, candy and clothes, (a dress from old navy, a new swim suit) that I want.

Why? Why do I do that?

Why can't I have the urge to run around the block and get all sweaty and out of breath?
Why can't I have the urge to fold laundry? or clean up my messy room?
Why am I bored but don't want to do anything?

ugh.

I wish I May, I Wish I Might

I wish I may, I wish I might
eat like a normal human being
again someday.
After being sick, a nasty stomach flu, for a week now all I want is to eat. Ok, we I technically can eat now but I want to digest normally what I eat.

I have a big giant list of all the things I want:

* Ice cream Sundae with whipped cream, nuts and a cherry
* Pizza
* Hamburger and chocolate shake
* cherry limeade from Sonic
* Jalapeno Poppers
* Grammy Rice
* Quesadilla Explosion Salad (Chilis)
* mexican food, preferably Lupe Tortilla
* caesar salad from Cafe Express
* pancakes
* breakfast ham
* pineapple
* cereal
* spinach
* mashed potatoes
* macaroni and cheese
* grilled chicken breast
* chips and salsa
* guacamole!
* chocolate cake
* crusty bread
* steak
* steamed veggies
* tortilla soup
* any home cooked meal except spaghetti
* potato soup
* chick fil a sandwich
* spinach and pepper jack cheese quesadilla
* fruit salad
* fried okra
* black eyed peas
* green peas!
* english muffin
* milk

Really I could go on forever. I am so ready for solid food.

What do normal people do?

It has been a hard long day, everything seems to going wrong and you are just pooped. What do you do? Duh you order a pizza, or dig in to a carton of ice cream, or go out and buy a new top or a new dvd. Come on it is only human right?

according to Oprah and health nuts you can't do this. WHAT?! Then what? Exercise? For real how is that comforting at all?

So I am up in here in P.O. by my self and I miss my husband and to make my self feel better I am going to exercise? Puh-leeez. I already "exercise" but I want to feel good. I want something to do. I want Italian food, I want a warm brownie topped with ice cream and caramel sauce, I want Lupe's fajitas and Ninfa's green sauce. And I want to go out and buy things for our new apartment. But they say I am not supposed to do these things. So now what?

I am wondering what everyone else does when they feel yucky, when they want to spice up their lives a little bit. Or is it a lie that people don't eat for fun or don't shop to cheer themselves up. Any suggestions?