A better day by far November 15, 2008

Happy Saturday-almost-Sunday   Today was a much better day for me, involving lots of productivity around the house and some tasty eats, oh, and some birdies!  Get ready for lots of pics…  I’m having issues figuring out how to gallery only certain pics; I number the ones I want in the gallery, but they ALL appear in the gallery after all.  Sorry!

I slept pretty well last night, but woke up here and there, and was tired this morning.  I finally got out of bed just before 9, went out with Lily (tons of birds), got ready to go to the gym, made some coffee, and had the last of my CascadianFarms Vanilla Oat Crunch with almond milk.  I was a total klutz andthrew coffee grounds everywhere when transferring them from the grinder to the basket.  I find myself getting klutzy right before my period, how about you?  I tried to do some menu planning and make the grocery list before leaving for the gym, but I was too rushed and left it for later.

After this I was rather full (had a big glass of water, too), and afraid that it would hamper my workout, but not so.  Pilates was good, but I wasn’t able to do all of the moves in today’s class for a lack of strength I suppose.  Loved the tight core feeling after leaving the class–work those abs, baby!  I also did some back and biceps exercises before heading out.

When I got home there was some major wildlife action in the backyard:  four squirrels and tons of birds.  We had robins, waxwings, hummers, juncos, jays, a nuthatch (my favorite, but no photo), chickadees, towhees, and I think a few song sparrows.  Here’s some of the day’s pics for your perusal.  That last one is of Lily smooshing her nose into the back door while watching the squirrels–it was too funny!

For lunch I didn’t have much but eggs to build on, so I made a two egg omelette with spinach, avocado, salsa, and a little cheddar.  It was so tasty!  I loved the mix of all the flavors, and could have left out the cheese after all. I was a total klutz while making this, too, and flung egg over the stove when I lost control of my spatula.  Oof!  That’s my trusty Nature’s Seasoning in the background…goes with just about everything!

 I cleaned up and proceeded to go outside with Lily again, and photograph even more.  After that I finished the menu planning and grocery list, and headed to Fred Meyer.  When I got there I thought I was in for it (there were like 3 shopping carts left–you know what that means) but it wasn’t too bad.  People were more aware today and not as aloof blocking the aisles and all that annoying stuff.  While looking through the lunch meat I practically ran into the Laughing Cow sale display, and put a Light wheel in my cart.  My total bill shocked me, but I suppose I bought some things I don’t get every week.

Got home, unpacked the stuff, and was getting hungry.  All that yummy food to choose from…options were plentiful and I finally decided on Kashi TLC 7 grain roasted veggie crackers, a wedge of Laughing Cow Light, and a gala apple.  It. Was. So. Yummy.  Especially the cheese on the apples–to die for!

Yum yum yum yum yum yum yum

Chris was napping, so I had a bit of the afternoon to myself and decided to sort my recycling and clean up the kitchen.  There are some things, plastics mostly, that cannot be recycled at the curb, so I put those in a giant bag and will take them to a recycling depot every once in awhile.  Sadly, though, the company that accepts those hard-to-market plastics (that’s why they don’t go in curbside, as they don’t have an active buyer’s market locally) is putting its collections on hold because of a slowdown in their business.  Poo!  Oh well, I guess that bag will just get extra-giant by the time I take it in. 

I emptied out my fridge of old condiments and a few food items that had to go.  Now, don’t get the wrong idea here… I really try hard not to over-buy food or waste things, but there are still some things that manage to go in there and stay past their prime.  It felt good to get rid of that clutter in the fridge, and to be able to recycle or reuse every container, bottle, or jar.  Here’s what I pulled out:

After this I emptied the dishwasher, did some handwash, and started getting dinner ready.  I made a chicken stir fry with carrots, broccoli, cauliflower (ick, for Chris), celery, and broc slaw; I used red wine vinegar, chicken broth, stir-fry sauce, and corn starch to make the sauce to flavor everything up.

It was good, but a little bit salty for me.  I made sure to drink extra water afterward. 

All I could think about after dinner was that yummy Laughing Cow Light experience I had earlier!!!  I kept telling myself not to eat unless I got hungry, but you know how thinking of food can make one hungry, right?  Chris asked if I wanted some wine, so that distracted me for awhile.

But, around 9 I finally broke down and had this:

All that for about 120 cals

Well, that’s about it for today.  Tomorrow I think I’m having 2 breakfasts!!  Yay!  My favorite meal   I’m going to lunch at the Original Pancake House with my mom and one of our friends, so I’m sure that will be my 2nd breakfast of the day.  Oh, one more cute pic of a passed out Lily before I go…

Toodles!

A funky down and up day November 14, 2008

Happy weekend to you all!  Today was a bit up and down, and I was tired and had allergy symptoms almost all day.  Last night I couldn’t fall asleep, and woke up several times.  Did the full moon get to me?  Lily kept “tap dancing” around (that’s what I call the sound of her toenails on the floor), and she woke me up at like 5, after which I couldn’t stay asleep much.

I got out of bed around 7:45, feeling a bit stiff and sore.  Could it be yoga?  Sho’nuf.  Lily wanted to play with her incredibly squeaky ball while I got ready, and I think I may have to kill the squeaker in that thing to protect our hearing.  I realized while getting ready that I forgot to prep my oatmeal last night, and no way I could make steel cut oats in the micro at work without being presoaked… so I figured I’d eat a bar and moved on.

When we went outside there were lots of birdies around, so I had to run back in and get the camera.  There was a female hummer today   Not sure if she was Rufous or Anna’s…the pics turned out grainy b/c the camera setting was not optimal.  Here’s some of the feathered friends:

Spotted Towhee

WTF?  First time I tried inserting these three pics the last two disappeared.

Hummingbird

[obligatory text to make photos work...]

Stellar's Jay

I took Lily to my mom’s since we needed to be away from the house for more than 8 hrs, and chatted with mama for awhile.  She just received some yummy chocolates she ordered from some choc company (can’t remember the name…), and I ate a pecan turtle.  It was good, but I felt bad since I hadn’t had any breakfast yet. 

I got to work way late in the morning, in my funk and with allergies rapidly coming on.  Dizziness was the prominent symptom, and seemed to hang around all day.  I finally got my cup of coffee that I had been looking forward to, but it was not as good as normal.  On Fridays we don’t have coffee service in the office, and someone made coffee that didn’t taste quite right–not strong enough?  old coffee?  Either way, it disappointed me.  Boo!  I looked at a blogs for a few minutes to cheer me up, and it worked briefly.

Chris came to see if I wanted to eat early, and it seemed like a good opportunity to get out of the funk.  I had a half sandwich consisting of 1 slice of whole wheat bread, sliced sauteed chicken breast, spinach, avocado, and Nature’s Seasoning.  I should have put more Nature’s on it, as I forgot the chicken was unseasoned and a little bland.  My salad was boring, overly plain, and not tasty enough–spinach, broc slaw, Nature’s, balsalmic, and olive oil.  The under-dressed spinach left my mouth feeling like I had a velvet tongue or something–weird.  I think I’m going to stop using foil, unless I can verify it is recycled.  Aluminum production is like the most polluting industry out there, but recycled aluminum takes 95% less energy to make.  Only con is recycling aluminum that has been painted produces toxic gases   I need to find a way to pack my wraps w/o having them falling apart. 

After lunch I was feeling better, and got some work done.  Around 3:30 I got pretty hungry and ate two white cheddar rice cakes, which were yummy and satisfying.

Every time I got up today I noticed that my body was somewhat stiff and I had mild muscle soreness in various places–yoga sure did work ‘em!  But, being tired from a lack of sleep I felt a little sluggish while moving around.  I think I’ll do some cardio and stretch a lot before pilates tomorrow to help out with the soreness and stiffness.

It was Friday, so I grabbed the non-paper recycling box I provide at the office to take home and sort.  It was full=less trash in our landfills   I was still amazed at how much stuff I had to pull out of the trash cans at work during the week.  What do people not get about putting anything even remotely recyclable in my recycling bin???  I totally sort it all and see what can and can’t be recycled, so what’s the harm in throwing that plastic cup or bag in?  BTW, I did apply for the Master Recycler program last night, and will find out after Dec. 3 if I got in to the next session. 

Chris and I met my mom at our other favorite Mexican place–Si Senor–for dinner.  I was battling with what to eat, but I chose tortilla soup and a small margarita.  The tortilla soup is totally different than at our other fave place, and not nearly as rich.  It was a very lean broth with strips of crispy tortilla, chunks of grilled chicken, a little avocado, and a little cheese.  I wish I would have had fresh jalapenos to add now that I think of it.  This looks a lot bigger than it was…I ate most of the stuff out and left about half the broth, and I felt a little full.  I also had some chips and salsa beforehand.

The trip home sucked!  There was an accident near our house and traffic was backed up for miles.  (We work about 17 miles from where we live, and we ate around where we work.) It took us an hour to get home, but we had Lily with us and she was entertaining.  She likes to stretch from the back seat onto the armrest between the front seat with her head/front feet, and sometimes she’ll stand on the armrest.  I opened the sunroof and she stuck her head out–so cute! 

Tonight I organized some paperwork, did some bookkeeping, read a few blogs, and watched some shitty TV.  Now Lipstick Jungle is on; I heard no more episodes are being made tho, and it is being cancelled before the end of the season   It’s not an incredibly great show, but I do like it and was just getting into season 2, dammit.  I do think it is funny that tons of Brooke Shields commercials (VW, Colgate…) are on during the show–don’t we get enough of her during the hour?

Okay, so my funktified ass is going now.  Peace out, and may tomorrow be a merrier day!

Rain rain go away! November 12, 2008

It is SO icky here right now–windy, rainy, flat out blustery.  I’m sitting on the couch with a blankie wrapped around me watching Law & Order, and I can’t believe it is still before 9pm!  I’m going to try to go to bed at 10 since I have to get out of bed a bit earlier tomorrow.

The day started out fine, much better than I felt last night for sure!  I didn’t sleep totally well, and I was tired when I got up.  I went through the usual routine again, except Lily couldn’t find her ball outside so we couldn’t play  But, there were three squirrels in the yard this morning, and lots of little birdies   I managed to catch a pic of a squirrel and a Downy woodpecker (the’pecker is on the bottom right part of the little house).  Raccoons have been wreaking havoc in the yard the last few nights, pulling the bottom out of the platform feeder and getting the suet out of its house.

My breakfast oatmeal seemed better this morning, even thought it was the same as yesterday–steel cut oats with raisins and almond milk.  After eating I noticed I felt allergies coming on–suck!  Why can’t they go away already?!

This held me over for a long time, and I didn’t eat lunch until about 12:30.  I had a sandwich consisting of whole wheat bread, low fat turkey, avocado, spinach, and a little Nature’s Seasoning sprinkled on the avos.  It was yummy!  I forgot about the avo and was not very excited digging into it, but then the avo and Nature’s hit the palate and made me smile   Like my foil?  I made it a point to reuse it for a few days.  I’m not sure how to pack a sandwich without wrapping it in something so it doesn’t fall apart, but then I end up using more packaging over time than I’d like.  Any suggestions?

Around 2 I had a little snack:  a white cheddar rice cake.  I also made it a point to drink lots of water today to help make sure I was hydrated and to stave off hunger.  I chatted with my office mate about getting sick last night and the same thing happened to her–shortly after eating her stomach started hurting, nausea came over her, and she tossed her cookies.  Is it an incredibly quick bug going around?? 

I also had a handful of trail mix around 4 or 4:30.  Sunflower seeds, almonds, peanuts, raisins, dark chocolate chips.  No pic of that…

Traffic was slow on the way home because of the heavy rain, and it seemed so dark.  I hate how early it gets dark now!!!  Lily is so cute when we get home, and immediately she wants to go out and play.  She’ll totally go look for her ball and bring it to me before she does her business… a bit obsessive??  But, again, no luck finding the ball. 

I made a rather quick and easy dinner consisting of pan fried pork chops, mashed potatoes with Smart Balance Light & a touch of reduced fat sour cream, and canned Italian green beans.  I felt like I needed something to snack on while cooking, and that an extra serving of veggies would be great, so I made a little spinach and broc slaw salad with balsalmic, olive oil, S&P.

 Yummy!

Dinner turned out well, and although this plate looks large I somehow managed to eat it all without being full really.  The potates were good, especially since I added a little bit more Smart Balance   I like mine with chunks of potato in them, how about you?

One thing I’ve been thinking about a lot while eating is s-l-o-w  d-o-w-n. I used to eat too fast for a few reasons:  I would be distracted or thinking too much about something else; or, I would practically force myself to eat faster so I could get more yummy bites in.  Today it finally *clicked*:  if I eat slower I’ll be enjoying the food more, stretching out the time I get to enjoy it, and eating less.  DUH!  My last intentional overeat was about a month ago when I had chicken pineapple curry for my birthday.  I just could not stop myself from eating more and more and more, and afterward I was quite miserable because of it.  No more!

Now, a Recycling Moment with Kersten… While at the gym over this last week I noticed a HUGE number of plastic water bottles in the trash cans all over the gym.  Don’t these people recycle?  How can they just throw away something that will take like hundreds of years to break down??!!  On my way out I asked the front desk staff if there was a recycling bin for plastic bottles, and she said, “yeah, there’s one upstairs.”  ONE?  UPSTAIRS?  What good is that doing?  She made a note to ask management about it and try to get another one downstairs   I desperately wanted to dive into the trash and take all those lost plastic souls home to recycle, but I didn’t.  Boo.  Did you know that like 85% of plastic water bottles end up in the trash?  Double boo!!!

At my office only paper recycling is accepted by our property management, even though other items can be recycled at work throughout Portland.  So, I added a bin that is for all other recyclables, and it seems to be going okay.  There are 11 people in my office, and I’m still surprised that water bottles, cans, other plastics, etc, end up in the trash.  I do fish those items out of the trash, though.  At the end of the week I bring the bin home, sort it, clean everything, and recycle what I can at the curb.  I’ve started collecting non-curb recycling items to take to a recycling depot near work.  At least someone will take those little tubs, styrofoam, and other things my local trash carrier won’t.  Yay!  I’m thinking of taking a Master Recycler course in Jan/Feb, which involves a great amount of teaching around materials, processes, and problems in recycling, and requires some community service time to promote recycling.  Sounds fun to me!

Alright, it is already like 9:50 (I’ve been watching more Law & Order along the way), and I still need to update my iTunes and then hit the hay.  I enjoyed rocking out to Billy Idol and Duran Duran during yesterday’s workout session, and I need to make a playlist just for working out. 

Peace out!