Steps

I'm not totally trusting of the pedometer, but to the best of my calculation and based on its readings, I walked 5693 steps at lunchtime. I even went out in the rain to do it. Go me.

Mostly quiet weekend

It seems like things are finally "winding down" to a more normal pace. Yes, there are still house tour things to do - but not nearly as much as there was in August. I spent a good chunk of Saturday making display boards of the "before" photos of the King Estate. But Friday evening we did very little after we returned from my tour of Rudy's office (not much different than it looked in June, although I got to see his actual office this time). I started knitting a cat bed and completed a few minor house tour tasks while we watched TV.

Saturday I began cleaning up my room, then a trip to Staples for supplies and lunch at Five Guys Burgers and Fries (i enjoyed it more than Rudy - I think the messy and enormous burger was unappetizing for him - glad I got the "little" burger). After I finished the display boards and made some food, Rudy and I watched a few episodes of "Firefly" in preparation for the release of "Serenity" next Friday (http://www.serenitymovie.com/). Can't wait!

I made good progress on the kitty bed, and Stewart showed lots of interest in helping me...which is adorable, but a little painful, even after his nails had been clipped.

Sunday, after a nice brunch at Enrico's, I met Brigette to prepare for our training session at the King Estate. All went well, although the training took an hour longer than i thought, so I missed my knitting get together. :-( So I volunteered to host the next one. At least it is only 2 weeks away, it's been too long since I've seen the girls and I'm anxious for them to meet Stewart!

I focused on my knitting last night since I had missed the GTG. I weaved in the ends and added fringe to my scarf. Weaved in the ends on a purse and the cat bed so they are ready to felt. And I got most of the sewing done on my t-shirt. Stewart was keen on helping me again during the sewing. Once he stopped pawing at me, he watched me intently, and then suddenly he was fast asleep. Crazy cat.

This morning - 183.0 lbs and 43.2%. Not bad.

Never mind

I ended up being in the conference room from 1-3, preparing for the 3pm meeting. So it's a good thing I didn't go after all.

The earlier I can get to work tomorrow, the more time I will have to walk. I have a chance to go see Rudy's workplace, including his office between 3 and 5pm tomorrow. It will probably be my only chance to ever see it given the security of his department. In order to leave at 4, I will have to arrive by 8. The only time I can take for lunch is how far in advance of 8 I arrive.

:-)

Progress but one obstacle

So I did make it to payless today, to buy a pair of walking shoes for my lunchtime walks. But with a meeting at 1pm, that I was preparing for until 12:20, there wasn't substantial time for a walk today. But my new shoes are ready and waiting for tomorrow.

Turns out I could have gone, our consultant pushed the meeting back until 3. Oh well. Maybe I can make time for a walk tonight after work.

On the knitting front, I started my first square to donate to www.knitforkatrina.com. The first attempt turned out an inch too wide, but I was halfway done by the end of this morning's bus ride, so starting over won't be painful. And I definitely have plenty of acrylic in my stash that I don't have another use for.

Last night I was so close to finishing my scarf that I couldn't stop until it was done. Still have to weave in the ends, on that and on my t-shirt.

Benchmark

185.4 lbs
43.5 %BF

Still 4.6 lbs below my all-time recorded "high". I'm up about 5 lbs since January, but I probably gained 2 lbs while we were in St. Lucia. :-)

No where to go but down.

I am in need of a plan

I need to stop gaining weight. And I need to lose weight. I have no need to be super skinny...I would just like my bum and various other parts to be smaller.

I will weigh myself in the morning to get a "starting" weight. Although I went to the gym today, so this morning would have been the best time to get a starting number. Oh well. I'm probably not going to start enacting all of "the plan" until Thursday anyway, since I have lunch plans tomorrow.

"The plan" is to walk at lunchtime. Based on my effort at the gym tonight, I can walk about 7,000 steps in an hour. Knowing that I'm not going to get to the gym everyday and pretty soon it will be too dark after work to go for a walk, walking at lunch seems like the best plan. I'll just need to put a good pair of walking shoes at my desk and I'll have to work while I eat lunch when I return.

I've lost weight before. I can do it again. I think now that many of my commitments are lightening up or going away, now is the right time to focus on my goals.

Twice, I have gotten myself down to 150 lbs and promised myself the scale wouldn't ever go up again. Now, I realize that is a little ridiculous...but I am also happy that I'm still not back up at my all time high. I'm not going to make myself any more promises, but I do need to put a priority back on my health.

:-)

We have a clean house

This makes me happy.

My room still needs to be straightened up and there are still items in the guest room that are still in the process of airing out to remove the smells that Nora left behind. But the bedding seems to have come out of the washing machine well and the smell in the room is already less.

A little time left in the weekend to do what I need to do for the house tour a relax a bit.

There is probably something wrong with me...

When I wasn't busy at work on Friday, I was anxious to get home and start cleaning.

Don't get me wrong. I don't love cleaning. But it is nice to finally have a mostly clear weekend to finally get the house under control.

Last night I cleaned the kitchen. I cleaned all the surfaces. I put some of the appliances away that have been sitting out. I scoured everything that didn't move. It was gross and now it isn't.

I began putting things away from the dining room, but then it was bedtime. I also did a little spraying of areas that Nora had sprayed. I'm hoping that by the time I get back to them the "stinkfinder" light won't see them anymore.

This morning I'm in the process of touching up some bad spots on the wall with JC and primer, cleaning the dining room and vacuuming. I hope to get to start the second floor sometime today...but I am trying to be thorough.

What an exciting blog post, huh? :-)

Not really an exciting week. Trying to wrap up House Tour stuff and working on the scarf for me. I balled up half of the wool for the Kitty Pi Bed. It's not cool enough to be really worthwhile for the cats yet, but it looks like a fun knit.

Eating and the TV

So according to a report on the Today show this morning, those of us who grew up eating in front of the television are not as good at paying attention while we eat and knowing when we feel satisfied.

I don't totally disagree, and I would probably argue that my propensity to eat at my desk at work probably has the same poor result.

Just something to think about as I reignite my efforts to eat better (and less) and reinvigorate my exercise routine. Along with an expected return to the gym in the next week or two, I have ordered myself a pedometer. With the bus and regular lunchtime errands, I know that I walk, but I don't know if I walk enough to make a difference. So I hope to use the pedometer to find out what I am already doing and help myself improve.

After the house tour, I expect things to get less busy. It would be good at that point to make an effort to eat at the table with the TV off. A good habit to get into before we have kids...

Return from St. Lucia

We returned safely last night. Our flight was supposed to land a few minutes before 11 and we were home a few mintues after midnight - not bad.

We had a great trip. Photos and more information will come soon.

On the regular-everyday blog-worthy front, I read "Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix", I worked on the short-ribbed scarf for me and I got quite a bit done on another "Sophie" purse. The book was so good I found myself wanting to read that in my down time instead of knitting quite a few times. I won't start the sixth book until the House Tour has passed...those books are just too hard to put down.

Back to reality tomorrow. Got caught up on regular laundry today and got quite a bit of hand-wash stuff cleaned. My bags are unpacked, and I hope to bring the kitchen closer to a state of cleanliness (especially cleaning out the frig) before I give up for the night.

The house is still messier than I'd like, but I'm going to have to work on it slowly for the next couple of weeks in between house tour stuff.

Done!

I think there is an end in sight. I have been literally spending all of my free time working on the house tour since the evening of the 23rd (and I had to do some work while we were at my parent's house). I finally finished the house tour program last night...as long as one of our drama queen homeowners doesn't pull his house off the tour as he has been threatening to do for the past couple of days. *rolling eyes* Thankfully the printer can take the program when I return, so we might just put it on hold until the drama subsides. There will still be some stuff to do for the tour when I return, but the program was my big "job" and most of the other stuff just has to get done before october 1st.
Oh, and to top it all off. Nora has been spraying. And we have been so busy there hasn't been a really good time to clean. Rudy did make a pass with Nature's Miracle on Monday night, and I'm sure we'll spray some more tonight before we leave. We also bought a Feliway diffuser, which is supposed to calm an anxious kitty. But the pet store only had one, and it only covers 650 square feet. So hopefully we can find a couple more when we get back. The first order of business when we return from vacation will be cleaning the house from top to bottom!

So, on one hand I am totally ready for a break and on the other, I would love to have a little "time off" before going away so I could feel like things are a bit more "together".

The good news is that I have gotten the hang of the pattern for the short row ribbed scarf I'm knitting, so I no longer have to look at the pattern constantly. Now that I "get it", it will be a good pattern for knitting on the beach! :-D