The Dilemma

Ummmm, is it strange that I did a bridal boot camp workout today? Keep in mind that I've been married for nearly 14 years. In my defense, it was a great workout. Although the constant encouragement about looking good on my "big day" was somewhat lost on me. Oh well, screw em. It was a good workout and I'll do it again. So there.

I'm beginning to think that I need new clothes. I'm trying to hold out until I reach my goal. I mean who wants to buy new clothes that I can only wear for a couple of months? I've lost 35 lbs as of today and my goal is 47. (Hey, don't judge me. The goal weight is a round number.) So only 12 lbs until I treat myself to a whole new wardrobe! In the meanwhile, I've basically got 3 pairs of ill fitting jeans and a random assortment of tees, vests and hoodies. Thankfully my workplace is super casual so that's an acceptable work wardrobe. But I am looking pretty schlocky. (Huh, spellcheck liked schlocky. Go figure.) My standards have fallen from "fitting well" to "staying on." If I can take off a pair of pants without unbuttoning them, it's time for them to retire. Other than that, it's fair game. I am so thrilled that my former skinny jeans now require a belt to keep them above the plumb line...if you know what I mean. Anyhoo, what do you think? Should I break down and buy a few things? Or just power on and subject all who know me to this slovenly existence?

Dinner Playdate

Last night we had Avery and her parents over for dinner. We met her parents-to-be through our adoption agency last November at a Waiting Families Gathering. Little did we know at the time that we would all have babies in our lives in a matter of weeks! Avery is a month older than Ian and as cute as they come! Is there anything better than baby giggles?

Avery's mommy is an avid blogger (yeah) and introduced me to the most wonderful thing...Google Reader. Ahhhhhh ahhhh ahhh ahhh, do you hear the angels singing too? Google Reader allows you to subscribe to blogs and websites and such and notifies you when there is new content. By some standards, the 30 or so blogs that I read regularly do not make a long list. But checking them everyday to see if anyone has posted an update was becoming tedious. Especially when many bloggers only update monthly. (You fortunate readers, on the other hand, are blessed with two posts in one day thank you very much!) But thanks to Google Reader, I just open one folder and bam, there are my notifications. Quite the time saver! So of course, I had to pass along this tip to you. What can I say? I'm a giver.

Okay, back to the dinner. Since you seem absolutely fascinated by my pot pie recipe, I'll pass along a couple of test drives we took last night. Calm down, don't get too excited. Remember your blood pressure. And yes, I'm the idiot who likes to try out new recipes on my unsuspecting guests. Wanna come over?

I'm a fan of the slow cooker for school night dinner playdates. In fact, I was able to prep most of the food the day before.

Easy Slow Cooker French Dip
lonwolf32 (from http://www.allrecipes.com/)

10.5 oz can condensed french onion soup
10.5 oz can beef broth
12 oz can/bottle beer
4lb rump roast

Dump everything into the slow cooker on low for 7 hours. Let rest, slice and arrange on toasted french rolls with the au jus the meat cooked in. Voila, dinner is served.

Smoked Turkey Wrapped Asparagus
Ellie Krieger (from http://www.foodtv.com/)

Asparagus
Smoked Turkey
Olive Oil

Trim ends of asparagus (just bend and it will snap where it should be trimmed). Shave the large end of the stalks with a peeler. Coat asparagus with olive oil. Wrap 1/2 slice of smoked turkey (or smoked tofurkey in my case) around the center of the asparagus. Roast at 400 for 10 min.

Annie's Fruit Salsa with Cinnamon Chips
Ann Page (from http://www.allrecipes.com/)

2 Golden Delicious apples, peeled and chopped
3 Kiwi, peeled and chopped
1 lb fresh strawberries, chopped
8 oz fresh raspberries
3 T fruit preserves (I used organic raspberry)
1 T brown sugar
2 T sugar

I made it a day ahead so I put some lemon juice on the apple chunks to keep them from browning. Just mix everything and refrigerate. I made the cinnamon chips with flour tortillas cut in wedges, sprayed with Pam and dredged in cinnamon sugar. Bake at 350 for 8-10 min.

I can't honestly tell you how the french dips turned out because I didn't eat them. That's the curse of cooking meat when you're a vegetarian I suppose! Jeff's no help, he gave them his usual "fine" review. So on to the dishes that I did eat. The asparagus was delish and oh so simple. Definitely a recipe to repeat. But my fav has to be the dessert. And it's not that unhealthy! In fact, you could leave out the sugar and use all-fruit preserves and it would be down right good for you. I also made herbed roasted potatoes but that's not rocket science so I'll save you the recipe boredom.

Well, that was our dinner playdate in a nutshell. Simple food. New friends. Good conversation. And hey, the babies even looked at each other once or twice.

Corporate Life

In a business class in college, we read a book written in story format about corporate life. I remember one scene where a character was promoted and moved into an office. But the office was designed for a higher ranking manager so they built false walls in a foot in all directions to make it the appropriate size for the character's position in the company. Crazy! I recall arguing with the professor about how ridiculous the scenario was. In true college professor fashion, she laughed and remarked that in the "real world" these things really happen. And in equally true college student fashion, I thought, "right, like this tenored professor knows anything about the real life!"

For the record I still think the example from the book is a extreme...but maybe not out of the realm of possibility. How things change! A few years ago at work, I was told that a new layer of management was being added above me. (Ugh, okay) Then I was told that my new boss, Fred* would be starting the following week. (Fast but fine) Then I was told that they were going to put Fred in my beautiful corner office and I would need to move my stuff over one office to a windowless tomb. (WHAT the *&$@?!) This was foreshadowing as Fred would shamelessly steal every idea I ever brought to his attention too. But I digress...

Corporate life is like super fun sometimes, especially for the middle management rank and file. But oh what valuable life lessons we are taught! I have been that self-sacrificing-60-hour-a-week-employee. My identity was so wrapped up in my job that something like moving to a new office sent me into a paralyzing tale spin. (I went home at 2pm that day feeling completely crushed for crying out loud!) Yet another gift of parenthood is a broader identity. Yes I am still a hard-worker who wants to do well at her job. But I also want to get home at a decent hour to play with my son. Thank you Ian and Lillian for teaching me about balance! Cause you never know when this could happen to you...




*Fred's name has been changed to protect his innocent, office-stealing, idea-stealing identity.

Life Rolls On

Well, another week, another pound. Slow and steady wins the race, right? I found a super simple new recipe for a low fat pot pie which is actually pretty good. Of course I couldn't just make it as written so here's my modified version:

Filling
10.75 oz can reduced fat, reduced sodium cream of mushroom soup
2 c frozen mixed veggies of your choice
1/2 c chopped fresh mushrooms
Salt & pepper to taste (definitely needs salt, I skipped this step accidentally)

For vegetarians add,
1 baking potato chopped & par-boiled

For meat eaters add,
1/2 baking potato chopped & par-boiled
2 c chopped cooked chicken breast

Topping
1 c reduced fat Bisquick (I used an organic alternative)
1/2 c fat free milk (I used soy milk)
1 egg (I used an egg replacement called Ener-G)

Stir to combine the topping ingredients in a small bowl. Pour the filling ingredients in a square 8x8 baking dish and stir to combine. Cover with the topping. Bake at 400 for 30 min.

Since I added the fresh ingredients, the prep took a bit longer. If you used the refrigerated precooked potatoes or thawed frozen potatoes, it would be much quicker. And pre-sliced mushrooms would help too although I chopped mine so they wouldn't get mushy. The veggie version is very hearty and I'm sure meat eaters wouldn't miss the chicken. Although J might be a more honest reviewer in that regard. Fresh herbs like thyme would also be delish in either the topping or the filling. Anyhoo, give it a shot and let me know what you think.

Since it seems that my weight loss journey has completely overtaken this blog, I'll make an effort to switch to my two other fav subjects - Ian and Relay for Life. :)

Okay, brace yourselves. Ian has been sleeping through the night since he was 2 months old almost without exception. How blessed are we?! Prior to that, I think our three main obstacles were 1) the acid reflux issues, 2) our lack of routine and 3) his Houdini-like ability to break out of his swaddle. Actually, we thought he didn't like the swaddle so we weren't even using it for the first month. Since he was waking up 45 minutes into every nap, I decided to swaddle him out of desperation. We all needed more downtime! Though he protested at first, he ended up falling asleep quicker and stayed asleep longer. Hallelujah! But consistently by 5:30am, he would completely break free from his swaddle and demanded to get up. J thought the loosened swaddle was a smothering hazard and thought we should give up on it. I was not about to go back to that dark, sleepless place without a fight so I came up with an alternative. We doubled the swaddle! The wrap-around type of swaddle first covered by a velcro version. Separately, they won't hold him. But together, it's pure magic! Since then he sleeps until 7-7:30am! Yippeeeee!!! And now he wakes up happily talking to himself instead of crying. Disclaimer: Ian's comfort zone is about an inch wide so we never know how long a solution will last. But hey, I'll take it while I can!

Now on to Relay. We are knee-deep in our fundraising and planning efforts. Our team has contacted nearly 150 businesses to request silent auction donations and fundraising partnerships. I really appreciate the businesses that respond. They don't even have to say yes but a response is so nice. When we are closer to the event, I'll publish a list of all the businesses that supported us in our efforts. For their generosity, I for one will be a client for life! I think our new website has really helped our fundraising efforts which is great to see. Check back for a bunch of different fundraising events that we'll be hosting in June. There will be something for everyone!!! If you want to be notified of events or news via e-mail, send us your e-mail address at walkingwithangels@gmail.com.

That's the news from Loriland. Life is just rolling on...

Battle of the Bulge - Update

Not sure if this is any clearer but in case you couldn't read the eye chart over to the right, here is my weekly tracking chart. Basically, as long as the green bars are getting shorter (weight) and the orange line is above 0 (lbs lost), things are good! Since the end of our competition, I've managed to continue to lose but only a pound a week. Still, that's something so I'll take it. But at this pace, it'll take me 4 months to get to my goal! That's too stinkin long so I've got to return to the basics.

Workouts: I recently found exercise tv on demand. Though this makes the workouts a bit more varied, there are also plenty of duds that get thrown in the mix. I think I will do better if I just stick with the 7 or 8 dvd's that I know work. Once I achieve my goal, I can play around a bit more but at this point I have to break a good sweat everyday.

Diet: Though I'm still eating well, I am not eating as many salads as before. I thought coming back to work with the beautiful salad bar at my disposal would help. Alas, several days a week I manage to make other choices. Healthy choices sure, but not quite salad-healthy. I need to recommit to making one meal a day a salad.

The big lesson here is that routines work. From meals to workouts, there is a known outcome when I just follow a consistent plan. Following a routine takes the guess work and temptations out of the picture.

Ian and I are starting swimming lessons in a week. Yep, the dreaded swimming suit. I may look better than before but I'm not sure I will ever be ready to wriggle into that tiny piece of spandex. But I did it for Lillian and I'm happy to do it for Ian too. He loves his baths so I am hoping he loves swimming just as much.

Here's to a routine I can count on! Cheers.

Walking With Angels

There was one more way that I planned to honor Lillian this year but I wanted it to be a surprise. So I've saved the best for last! Drum roll please...

Check out our new WEBSITE: www.walkingwithangels.net

After much searching for the perfect song, I actual found a song by a Christian artist called, yep you guessed it, "Walking With Angels". So turn on the speakers, grab a tissue and park on the home page to watch the entire slide show. Thank you to all the friends in my cancer community who graciously allowed me to include their kiddos in the slide show. Such beautiful kids, don't you think?

While you're there, check out the other tabs. And if you insist, you can even make a donation. Finally, pass along the web address to everyone you know and copy the banner code to your myspace page, facebook page, website, blog, anything! You see the banner, don't you? It's just over there on the right side of this page...

And last but not least, for a really good cry, check out the memorial video I posted on youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shcxl79EB_g

I love you Lillian!

My Nemesis

My scale has up and quit on me. I think it's from years of neglect followed by months of overuse. The shock was just too great for it. All of which means that for a week I have not been able to weigh in. Normally I don't weigh myself much more frequently than that anyway, but you know how it goes. If you can't do something, that's all you want to do. I'm still trying to lose another 20lbs so I need to know that I'm making progress here people. I mean, I don't work out for the fun of it. I know some crazy people who are addicted to the adrenaline or the endorphins or whatever that is caused by working out. I am clearly not one of those people. I work out so that I can lose weight. Period. Okay, I know that even when I reach my goal, I'll need to continue to work out so that I can still fit into my pants. But at that point I'll be working out in order to eat the occasional bowl of chips & salsa...and still fit into my pants. I doubt I will ever be that person who jumps out of bed in the morning craving a good sweat. Oh well, as long as I get my booty up and do it, I guess it doesn't matter.

Anyway, back to the scale. After a week of the unknown, I had to buy a new scale. Wow, I forgot how expensive those crazy things can be. And for what? A little number that practically mocks me? I am basically paying something to heckle me. So I refused to buy the "Biggest Loser" brand of scale for $49.99. Yes it came with a workout dvd but I read the fine print and found that it was only a cardio sampler. Hey, I can get that for free on Exercise TV On Demand. I'm no sucker. The "Weight Watchers" brand of scale was slightly more reasonable at $44.99. The big selling point of this scale was it's handle for portability. When am I ever going to carry a scale around with me? And for that matter, who on earth is carrying their portable scale around? Seriously, who needs that? So I found a nice middle of the road, generic scale and brought it home with me where it will undoubtedly taunt me mercilessly.

My biggest fear about a new scale was that it wouldn't be as kind as my old one. What if the old scale had been wrong this whole time? What if it was not calibrated correctly thereby reading out lower numbers than were actually true? The horror! Fortunately my new scale was kind enough to confirm that I am down 30lbs. Phew, crisis averted. The big question now is whether it will continue to be so obliging. Especially with a dinner party, girl's night and potluck in my future over the next 3 days...

Oh, I almost forgot! I've also added my weekly weight loss progress over there to the right. As it says, I've got to tell someone because I've been known to lose momentum if nobody's watching. Thanks for keeping me motivated!