It's Been Almost A Week

Yes, tomorrow will mark the one week anniversary of my injection of cortisone. I know everyone has been keeping track of the days, and you are all anxiously awaiting the verdict. I am ever so happy to report that, as of today, the pain is gone and my knee feels better than it has in quite some time. The question remains, however, how long this relief will last. At the moment, I am delighted with the result, and if I can get even a few weeks of feeling this good, I'll be a happy camper.

Even with this happy turn of events, I am losing steam in my journey. I'm making little to no progress, and I'm starting to feel myself caring less and less. Blogging helps keep me at least a bit on track, but I still don't have that over powering urge to succeed anymore. I'm not gaining weight, but I'm not losing, either. Just kinda hangin' around doin' nothing. Boring, I know, but I kinda really don't care. This is NOT good news. I am usually better at sticking with something than this. I think this problem might be genetic. The Primary Child has said he's kinda backing off his blog about running, and The Perfect Child isn't into this anymore, either.

My Halloween Challenge is probably going to be a major bust, unless I can lose 4# by the 31st. Doesn't look promising at this point. I do have something to look forward to this week!! Our 5 yr. old granddaughter has two days off from school and I'm going to pick her up tonight and bring her here for a visit. I always enjoy that.....plus, she will keep me moving, so maybe that will prompt me to action again. I hope something does. I really don't like feeling so down and negative about all of this. I think it probably best that I finish this post for the day, so I won't bore you all to the point of no return.

Hey, Buddy Can You Spare A Joint?

No, not that kind of joint....although it might be a good idea eventually. I've just come from the Orthopod's office. I have NO cartilage whatsoever in my right knee. I used to have some, I'm pretty sure, but it has flown the coop. Nothing, even behind my kneecap, where I know there used to be a small dab hiding. Dr. said it's no wonder my knee feels lousy. Even IF I wanted to have the surgery, which is now inevitable, I'd have to wait 7 months for an opening. Ok by me. In the meantime, we'll try cortisone every 3-4 months until I can't stand it anymore, then schedule the replacement. I have had wonderful luck with my first replacement, so I'm not at all hesitant to do it again, I just would like to postpone it until walking around is really, really so painful I have no other choice. Right now, I think I can get by with the cortisone. I had my first injection today, so I've already begun counting the days until my next shot.

I have been given a list of no-no's in regard to my exercising. Some things I've already either quit doing, or modified, but some others I'm going to have to alter a bit. No weight bearing exercises unless I use the physio-ball to sit on. No weights over 8#. No squats, but a slight "dip" is permissible. No "slogging" or slow jogging, no jumping, and no climbing. Other than an occasional "slog" the other two things weren't in my plan anyway. Easy on the stretching, and when I stretch be extra careful not to "bounce" when trying to stretch out the leg. Also, no power walking....as if!!! Unfortunately, nothing about vacuuming and cleaning toilets was mentioned.....although when I relate the details to Hubby Dearest, they might make the final list of no-no's. And Kids, no tattling to your father, or Christmas might be pretty bleak this year. :)

My plans for the 5K at Thanksgiving have been altered slightly. I'll now have to walk the entire thing instead of a moment of slogging now and then. The Perfect Child has graciously consented, I think, to hold dinner until I get done. I'm hopeful I won't cause the turkey to burn.

All things considered, I got exactly the news I expected, although I was hoping that the surgery option was going to be a bit further into the future. I'm still going to try and hold out as long as possible, but if doing that interferes with my golf game, I'll go get the new knee in a heartbeat.

Whew!!! and Whoa!!!!

Well, I'm not going to tell you how long it took for me to get the new badge affixed to the side of my blog. Suffice it to say, I worked up a sweat, and exercised my vocabulary muscles. Thank you again 266. I'm only sorry it took me so long to get this done. Now, if I could actually remember "how" I accomplished this miraculous feat, I'd be ever so delighted. Dumb luck is a wonderful thing, but I sure would like to know how to do it again.....should I ever be so lucky as to get another award. Not begging, just sayin'.

Yesterday was simply an ok day. I went out to lunch with our lunch group. I had a lovely Moroccan Chicken Flatbread sandwich with a small side salad. I didn't eat all of the flatbread, so I was pleased with myself about that. One of the women I went to lunch with suggested that since we were in the downtown area we should "pop" over to the Italian Sausage & Grocery store only a few blocks away. As Julia Roberts said in Pretty Woman...."Big mistake, HUGE!" The trek through the store started out just fine. Found my favorite canned tomatoes and some lovely olive oil.....no problems yet.....turned a corner and POW! Fresh, hand made Italian sausages, Prosciutto, Pancetta, Mortadella, etc. I stopped and stared, it was useless to fight it, I simply could not. The only choice I had was to mitigate the damage I was about to do by showing a little self restraint. Only 2 garlic sausages, 3 small slabs of pancetta, and two 1# pkgs. of med hot bulk Italian sausage. Got to the checkout where we found all of the frozen stuffed pastas. I resisted the temptation to buy one bag of each, and settled on a tri colored tortellini for when our granddaughter visits, and a bag of chicken ravioli. That's about the very best I have ever done in an ethnic grocery store. In some respects I was quite pleased with the self restraint I showed, but in truth, I was completely off base. I promise to use these ingredients judiciously, and only for special occasions. I just got a new Food Saver vacuum sealer, so I sealed everything up nice and tight, that way it will keep longer, and I won't be tempted to pull something out once a week "to keep it from getting freezer burn".

I was kinda smart with dinner. I did use one of the bottled tomato basil sauces I bought with the chicken breasts I had already thawed out. Not really a chicken parm, but close enough to satisfy my Italian craving. I gotta stay away from that part of town. Unfortunately, it is right south of the Farmers' Market area, so now that I know where it is, I'm going to have to monitor myself. Perhaps house arrest would work.

Tailgate Success Story!!!

Yes, folks, I did navigate my way through the tailgate this weekend with little, or no difficulty. As you can see, the tent was up early, and a few friends began mingling around, so I snapped this photo before I forgot. Then as people began to gather, out came the food. What you can't see is the turkey breast, which went very rapidly, and about 1/2 of the meatballs are already gone. My introducing healthy fare had no detrimental effect on the participants whatsoever!! Although, get 'em all liquored up and they would probably eat a cow pie if it had BBQ sauce on it. Just sayin'. But for those who really didn't care if the food was healthy or not, I did have our Pizza Bread (kinda copied from Johnny's Italian Steak House), my famous Pepper Dip & Pretzels, Chocolate Chip Cookies, M & M's, Skittles, Combos and assorted other chips and stuff. I refrained from all of the "other stuff" with the exception of two pretzels with my pepper dip on them. I walked those off just getting to the stadium, I am quite sure.

I would like to thank 266 for a blog award, but as we all know my techno skills are such that no matter what I tried, I could not for the life of me get the award picture posted. I have also forgotten some of what I am supposed to do after receiving the award. I know I was supposed to link to her blog, so I managed that. I think I'm supposed to come up with 6 things that might be interesting about myself. Now that's a tough one. I really have only about 4 1/2 things about myself that are interesting. I'll fake the other 1 1/2, I guess.

1. I love reading and doing crosswords.

2. I love the smell of a bookstore and a library, I find being around books very comforting.

3. I am old, and forget which of my children is which. Last post I said it was the Primary Child that signed me up for the 5K in Phoenix, it was, in fact, the Perfect Child. It's easy to confuse them- one is a tall, red haired male and the other a dark haired female. See how easily I'm confused???

4. I really, really, really hate exercising on a regular basis. I have not yet had those "I gotta do it" endorphins kick in yet.

1/2 I could be a mole. Not a spy, a really life rodent mole. I don't seem to object to living in a dark house. Lights are strictly optional to me. Although I do love the sunshine. Hubby Dearest, gets so perturbed at me for reading the paper without light. Doesn't seem to bother me in the least. Lest you think I am conserving energy, I'm not doing it consciously. I've always had lights off around the house.

I guess the last 1 1/2 things about me that are not even remotely interesting is that I really love golf, and hate it when the season begins to come to a close. I get a bit "misty eyed" at the prospect of days on end without golf.....which is on some occasions, my only exercise for the day.

Now, I'm sure I'm supposed to award this blogging badge to others, but since I can't seem to get my badge on my own blog, I'd be forced to ask all my blogster friends to wander about looking for the badge. However, EVERYONE, I award you this wonderful honor. I truly do love all the blogs I read. I try to comment as often as I can and be as positive as I can. You ALL do the same for me, and I appreciate it to no end. You are a community of wonderful, caring people, and I am so grateful to the Perfect Child for suggesting I begin blogging, and to the Primary Child who was already a blogger, and taught me where to go to begin blogging and how to do it. Now, if someone could just update my blogging skills, I'd really be all set, wouldn't I? Thank you ALL again.

P.S. I think I got the kids in the right order this time. :)

Been There, Gonna Do That, Now Give Me The Damned Tee Shirt!!

"Put me in coach, I'm ready to play." Well, sort of. We are headed to Phoenix for Thanksgiving to see The Primary Child. Guess who thought a 5K Turkey Trot would be a fun preamble to the traditional gluttony of the Thanksgiving meal? Yep, our little Phoenician!! She has taken the liberty of signing Hubby Dearest, herself and me up for the event!! I wasn't going to do it unless I got a tee shirt, and by damn, I do. So I guess that means I'm now committed. To say I'm looking forward to it would be slightly overstating things, but I do think it will be fun to at least say I did a 5K. I plan to "slog" the route, meaning a very slow jog, moderate walk. Might turn into just a walk depending on what I learn at the Dr. next Thursday.

Tomorrow is another tailgate. I've planned it all out, and I'm armed and dangerous. I am also thinking some cooler weather and some shivering might wear off a few extra calories as well. I now have an entire notebook devoted to healthy choices for tailgate food. I'm using 3 of the recipes tomorrow.....Hawaiian Meatballs, King Ranch Casserole and Brined & Grilled Turkey Breast. I'll have some low cal snacks of some sort, too, but the major players are all going to be healthy.

I have to admit, yesterday was a lousy day for me and food. I did too much boredom eating, and no exercise at all. My exercise routines have been limited, but at least I've kept doing them. Yesterday, it just simply didn't happen. I didn't want to, so I didn't. I am kicking myself every which way today, cuz I know that any movement at all is good, so my total "slugdom" kinda pissed me off. The food portion of the day was no better than the exercise portion. I just grazed on things randomly. No thought went into a darned thing, until it came to dinner. Then it occurred to me that a healthier dinner might be a good idea. I was already grilling the Brined Turkey Breast, so I threw on some chicken breasts, roasted some veggies and shared a baked potato with HD. At least I salvaged the last part of the day. Sometimes it feels like I should just lift up the other foot and shoot myself in that one, too. KA-POW!!

Zip, Zero, Zilch, Nada, Nil, Nothing!!!

That sums it up!!! The Wednesday Weigh In produced NOTHING!! I suppose I should be somewhat heartened by the fact I didn't gain, but I'm not. I just finished reading "Sixty by Sixty" and Sheilagh is suffering through a gain last week, and swearing that there will be no more negativity!! I really don't know if I'm strong enough to swear off anything.

OMG, I just heard on the television (Dr. Oz Show) that saying you'll "TRY" is a form of not doing anything!!! You must say you are going to "DO", not try. I hadn't thought of it that way....ever. I am always saying I'll try to do something, to get a job done, to finish a project, to start over again, you get the idea. Seldom do I say that I WILL "Get 'er done". Now the question becomes, CAN I change the way I look at this journey? Am I going to try or am I going to do? I truly believe I want to do, but I've been stuck trying for so long, my learning curve might be steeper than I think. I am thinking that this show came on at just the right time to wake me up a bit. Perhaps it was "Divine Intervention", who knows.

I had originally thought this post would be a quick little "Oh poor me" post cuz I didn't lose anything this week. Now, having just heard that quick little snippet on TV, I'm completely rethinking a lot of things. I have lots of work to do, I am quite certain. I must learn to DO things that will be of benefit to my well being. I must DO what is right for myself. I need to learn to be a DOER, not a TRYER. Geez, a whole new project is in the making. And here I thought I'd just complain a little bit, inject a bit of humor, bemoan my lack of progress and be off to read all of my blogger friends' postings. New Day, New Plan, New Philosophy, New Way of Thinking. Gonna take a little time and a lot of work to turn things around, but I'm certainly going to DO it this time.

Techno Challenged

I admit it, I am techno challenged. It's hard to fathom since The Primary Child is a whiz kid, technology based media teacher. He did not get this skill set from me. Many of you might remember the difficulty I had (well, still have, really) posting pictures, so this problem can't come as a complete surprise. This disclaimer leads me to a thank you to Karen @ FITCETERA. She gave me the Over the Top Blog Award, and I am most grateful to her for thinking of me. However, this being a two part award, one posting the sign on your blog, which I did, after much fiddling around, and part two -answering a bunch of questions. Here's my problem, I cannot for the life of me figure out how to cut and paste the questions so I can answer them. Now, to be completely honest, none of my answers would be all that interesting, so consider yourselves lucky I'm a techno challenged old lady. I remember the first question, which was "Where is your cell phone?" My answer would be "In my purse, turned off." See, nothing interesting at all. :) Now, of course it is my privilege to pass this prestigious award on, so to everyone who has a blog I follow, consider yourselves awarded!! I simply cannot chose just a few anymore, I follow so many, and I honestly enjoy each and every one of your blogs. I followed the directions to the best of my ability....which as you see, is limited.

Weigh In Wednesday. Hmmmmm. I was looking forward to today with great anticipation since I had been behaving this week. My good behavior was rewarded with a measly .3# loss. I know, a loss is a loss, but come on .3#??? Good thing I revised my Halloween Challenge downward from 10# or I'd really be screwed!! I do think part of the problem is that with my cold, my exercise efforts have been cut short by congestion issues. I've not been putting the usual effort forth, and it shows. I still have one week before the next tailgate, so I can hopefully get more accomplished by then. Today is my day for cooking some of the healthy tailgate food I'll be packaging up for later use. The Hawaiian Meatballs await! I'm really looking forward to some of the new and unusual things I've found in my recipe hunt. This is going to be fun, I think. Both kids are willing participants in this experiment, as is Hubby Dearest, so I'm hoping the other tailgaters will approve, as well. My theory is, "If it tastes good, they will eat it". Simple as that.

I heard on the news this morning that we may have a slight possibility of snow this weekend. I am so NOT ready for that. I was looking forward to going to the Dr. on the 22nd, having my knee injected, and going to play some more golf. I am hopeful that can still happen, but the darned weather this year has been so unusual, ya just never know. The change in temps also means more walking on the dreadmill. I'd much rather be outside, especially since I would like people to see my spiffy shoes. :) Oh well, exercise is exercise no matter where it's done, right?

Will staining the deck count as exercise, or just busy work? HD decided that he could powerwash and stain his own deck since the deck itself is TREX material, he'd only have to do the railings and beams. HA!!!! Not as easy as he thought. Very tedious. I like to remind him that there are people who do this for a living, and that it would have been done by now if we'd found one of those people earlier in the year. I had to begin helping a few weeks ago, but now with cooler weather coming, I don't know if we'll get it all done. I think I could count at least part of the process as an upper arm workout, don't you? How many calories will I burn by repeatedly telling HD "I told you so!" ???? Hundreds, I'm quite certain.....I'm very good at what I do.

Weekend One, In The Books!! Literally.

Whew! I made it! No major slip ups this weekend. Now, in order to keep myself honest, as I promised I would do, I must admit I was still battling my fall cold, and didn't feel like misbehaving. Hey, whatever works, right? I don't recommend going out and getting a head cold, but it did keep me from falling off the wagon. I also found out that the Halls cough lozenges we have on hand have 15 calories each!! That was a major bummer. It was bad enough when I found out that some of my vitamin and mineral supplements had calories, but a throat lozenge with calories is just too much to endure. According to my handy-dandy calorie/carb counting book, there are sugar free varieties, so I must put those on my shopping list. Geez, 15 calories might be 2T of something I really like!!!

I think, in my debilitated state, I developed a bit of OCD. Actually, a bit more than usual, to be totally honest. I scoured the cookbook cupboard, and while doing so, I cleaned it out and rearranged everything, so that the healthier option cookbooks were right smack dab in the center of the shelf. Got rid of excess books. Well, not really got rid of them, I just relocated them to the basement. Now, I need an extra bookshelf. Then, because this wasn't enough of a task, I began the tedious job of taking all of the recipes I've torn out of magazines, newspapers, etc. and calculated the calorie counts in those I might be interested in using. Good Lord, I collect a lot of recipes I have no way of ever getting time to cook. I had two file folders full of recipes torn from various sources, but I only got about 6-10 completely calculated. I figured I'd just do the new ones I wanted to use for tailgating, then when winter finally hits around here, and it will, I'll do some more as time allows. Now, all that remains to do is make the darned recipes and have them ready to go. I have to say, I am quite proud of myself. I feel armed and dangerous now.

I realize I seem to obsess over the tailgate issue, but that is currently where my biggest challenge lies. I am trying very hard to plan well, and be sensible, so lining up some menus and recipes that will fit into my personal plan is a big deal for me. Sorry it's kinda repetitive, but blogging about it helps me focus on what I need to do. Perhaps, at the next tailgate I'll take a quick picture so you can see what our little pre-game party looks like.

Oh Drear, Oh Drear!

Dreary, rainy, cool, crappy day today. To prove just how crappy the day has been so far, I finally put away my golf shorts nice & neat. Usually I just fold them, then pile them up after washing, after all I'm just going to put them on again and get them dirty in another day or two. :) I organized our closet while I was at it, as well. I think my topper will be digging into the smelly laundry next. Well, for goodness sake, who doesn't just love sorting one's workout clothing and getting it ready to wash. It is certainly a highlight of my week. Even tho' I have virtually no sense of smell, the workout clothing (both mine & Hubby Dearest's) seem to sneak through the one olfactory nerve that works. Tells ya something, doesn't it? One small bright spot....when I went into the jeans drawer, my old jeans are a bit looser than last year. My small NSV for the day. :)

I continue to work on my tailgate recipes. Several hours and several cookbooks later, I find myself wandering around Barnes and Noble. Four new cookbooks and another book later, I find myself at home, formulating my plans. I have actually gotten out an old notebook, made copies of recipes I'm going to use and divided them up according to the game day I'm going to use them. My organizational skills often amaze me, particularly when you remember that I have the attention span of a gnat. Must be where The Perfect Child gets it...organizational skills, that is. :) As a "for instance"....one game I'm doing Hawaiian Meatballs for myself. Four meatballs are 115 calories. Along with that I'll have some Chicken Schwarma. One serving of that is 300 calories. I'll use a low fat/low cal pita to accompany that. Both should be filling and delicious. I will also have almonds available for my "munchies" instead of the M & M's, Skittles, Combos, Peanuts and Popcorn. Those will all be there, I just won't be diving in head first this time. I might throw in a 100 calorie pack of Cheetos, and I mean ONLY one pack. If I take only one with me, I won't be tempted to eat the entire box!!! AND, in keeping with my plan, I will faithfully report just exactly how I did in regard to this new plan. No "fudging", no shading the truth, I'll give you the straight stuff. Promise.

Tomorrow is our team's week off because we play next Thurs. night. So instead of tailgating, I'll have a time off to cook and prepare for Oct. 17's game. This also gives me a little "lead time" in getting myself on the right track. I am actually quite happy about that, even tho' I miss seeing our team play. This weekend's events will kickoff with a trip to the Farmers' Market. A much healthier beginning to my Saturday, I'm happy to report.

I found an interesting website in one of the magazines I was perusing yesterday. It was an older issue of Taste of Home. It is a Belgian website, complete with blog, that has wonderful, if sometimes odd, combinations and pairings of foods. For instance, tonight I have chicken set out for dinner. Who knew that fresh cut grass goes well with chicken???? Well, this website told me it was so. :( Other combinations make much more sense, but I found many of the pairings interesting and unusual. I'm definitely going to try some of the suggestions. They put the pairings together according to main ingredient, the do kind of a "spokes of a wheel" chart of things that work well together. It's kinda fun to look at. I would use the fresh cut grass tonight, but it's too wet to mow, so I'll have to settle for a more mundane rendition of a chicken dish. Maybe next week, if the weather improves. I'll keep you posted. :)