“Why do you delete my drafts, WordPress?” That’s what Lily wants to know… I was working on a post for (get this) two weeks or so, and today when I went to upload pics the text went bye-bye. I think that’s a sign that my post sucked 😐 Moving on then!
December and January went by very quickly, with many good things and not very many bad 🙂 I’m back in a semi-decent workout routine (ahem, except for the last week or so…) and am eating better most days. Our annual trip to Mexico is 5 weeks away, so my motivation to firm up has been driven mostly by the knowledge that I’ll be in a bikini poolside very soon. I constantly struggle with body image, though, and the appearance of my stretched-out-one-too-many-times skin. This year my sis-in-law and her sister will be staying at the same resort while we’re there, so I’m more nervous to bare my blubbery ass in the presence of people I know. Being nearly naked in the company of strangers is easier for me; how about you?
In an attempt to firm up the mid-section even more I bought a Bender Ball. Does anyone else have one of these? I really do like how the ball supports me during exercises, but I just wish the workout video was a real workout and not just a fluffy set of a few exercises. I told myself I’d do the video at least once a day….yeah right, are pigs flying yet? I do it at least a few time a week, and still do some other ab stuff at the gym.
I’ve baked twice in the last two months; both times it was banana bread. Sad how infrequent my baking is since I do love it so, but I’ve opted to be a lazy broad most weekends when I would otherwise be churning out baked goods that I shouldn’t be eating 😐
Woops, I moved while Chris tried to capture my baking prowess.
In January I threw together a butternut squash soup on a whim, and it was damn spiffy. I started by caramelizing half an onion in a little olive oil and a tsp. of butter (didn’t need it now that I look back; soup could have been vegan easily), and roasted the squash in my micro-convect oven til browning and soft. Next I pureed the squash and onions with coconut milk beverage and s&p using my handy stick blender. I toasted the squash seeds in leftover oil in the onion pan, and topped the soup with those. (Cook’s note: put a screen over the pan, cuz those pepitas will jump out of the pan if you let them!) I loved the taste overall, but will hold back on the onion a little.
Side note–I really dig this coconut milk stuff! I got the plain flavor, and for only 50 calories a cup and like no sugar it does seem quite rich and has a nice mild taste. I’ve used it in my oats a bit over the past few weeks and like it. It is the So Delicious product from Turtle Mountain; I found it in the health food refrigerated section of my local Fred Meyer. I also picked up one of their plain yogurts on clearance and quite liked it as well. Not sure if I’ll pay $2/yogurt to have more, but when on clearance for $1 I’d like to try more. Last week I also ended up using the frozen coconut milk ice cream they make–tres fabu! If you go to their site you can download a $1 off coupon under the “rewards” section. The link button is wigging out on me, so I’ll just paste the url here: http://www.turtlemountain.com/products/coconut_milk_beverage.html
Let’s see what else I have pics of to share…
Oh, yeah, so Chris and I have had a few margaritas over the last couple months. One night our table at Si Senor looked like this. Just one big happy family!! I forget how we got so many different sized glasses…the restaurant staff like to try to get us drunk, apparently, cuz we get a free drink or two each time we visit.
It snowed sometime last month, I think. All the dates just blur together now. Here’s Lily enjoying the whiteout behind our house. I really love where we live now because there’s all sorts of trails and walking-friendly streets in and near our neighborhood. Last weekend I took Lily for a 3 mile walk along a golf course and wetlands area; got to see and hear tons of birds, and meet lots of other dogs and their owners.
The darling pup in front of our tree. BTW, the tree is still at our house–it is on the front porch waiting to be cut down and recycled. Yard debris is only collected once every two weeks, so between the three wreathes, tree, and smallish bin it is taking forever to get rid of our piney X-mas goodies. Seriously makes me think about getting a fake tree…
Did I ever show you this white trash creative bumper configuration? Bungee cords holding on license plate holding on the bumper?? Why didn’t I think of that?
I had a blood test done in early January b/c I thought symptoms of a hyperthyroid were returning. ‘Twas not the case! After reviewing my test results with the doc I think it has really just been allergies and low vitamin D3 (like super-low). She thought I may be anemic, too, but I don’t agree b/c I haven’t had the symptoms of anemia, and the blood #’s didn’t indicate anemia. My cholesterol and triglycerides have dropped significantly because of my vegetarian diet and regular exercise no doubt.
Sorry my posting has been so far between. I have missed blogging a lot, but am still trying to keep up with your blogs each week. I’ve cut down on the number I read, and now that I use Google Reader I rarely read all the comments and visit new blogs. I don’t want to stop blogging, so we’ll see if I can find a way to take more pics and post more often.
Hope you’re all doing well out there! Happy February! Any special Valentine’s plans? I read somewhere today that people would rather be with their pets than their lovers on Valentine’s…. I’m surprising Chris with a river cruise and brunch. Delightfully hokey, but with free flowing champange anything is enjoyable 😉
Well, Maria called and she’s having withdrawals since we haven’t been to Si Senor since Friday. Oh my… I might have to go for a habanero margarita (ay-ay-ay!) and some black bean soup. I LOVE the habanero margarita–it is really hot at first, but you get used to the heat and don’t even taste it after several drinks.
Adios, amigas!
The Quest to be Fit 