Lilting to the right...

Everywhere I go, I appear to be tilting. The ear infection is wrecking havoc with my balance, and when I turn, it takes the rest of the world a minute or two to catch up! BUT the pressure is easing, and I am hopeful the 'biotics kick in fully tomorrow and the annoying buzz in my ear is gone tomorrow. It is exhausting to hear that noise all.freaking.day.long!!

Needless to say, I have done squat all week. I sat on the couch when I got home yesterday and woke up 2 hours later! Oops!! Food has been hit or miss, as I find my appetite just isn't there, and I have no desire (or ability) to stand and cook something healthy.

On the good news front though, I did lose a bit at weigh-in today. What a gong-show that was!! For anyone out there who hasn't made it to a WW meeting yet this week, GO EARLY!!! Three lines, people...three of them! The first line (snacked through the room) was to collect your new weigh-in book. The 2nd line (just as long) was for those who then had to pay, or wanted to purchase the new tracker calculator (because the old ones won't work anymore) or the new 2 pt bars...yes, the panic and dismay echoed through the room...the 1 pt bars were now 2 pt bars. The horror. Lastly, there was one more line to actually weigh-in, which went slowly as the ladies at the scale kept having to send people back to the fist line! Oy... I also didn't like that they "updated" the book, using the data from my last weigh-in book...which is #16 or 17, so they had that I joined this June and that I only had 19 lbs to lose. WTF?!?!? I wanted it changed, but the leader (my Faye is in Hawaii - good luck to her and hubs on the marathon) said "it didn't matter". Matters to me, so I changed it! I don't want to be screwed out of the 35 pounds I've worked so freaking hard to lose.

So what do I think about the new plan, other than it's yet another money grab for WW? I do understand that WW is a for profit organization, and that they are in it to make money. I just grow weary of having to buy everything all over, because they've "tweaked" it again. I do have to read the books in depth...as you can well imagine, the meeting started a little late today...and I am happy that fruit is zero points, but am I delirious with joy? Ummmm...no. Fruit did not cause me to walk into WW, and quite frankly, many times I probably didn't record it correctly, because it's freaking fruit for goodness sakes! My daily points has jumped significantly, which scares me, but then again, so did the points values of so much of what I eat, so I guess it works out in the end. Again, I have to read up, play with it and see how it works. I'll let you know how it goes.

Okay...I've been sitting upright for too long now, and must go lay down again. Sad that I get so dizzy sitting in a chair! Hoping to shake this thing this weekend. I'd like my life back!

Later,

Childhood memories...

Instead of baking with mom, trimming the tree, or exchanging family folklore, I thought I'd relive a raging ear infection! Even the Doctor said "euwwww" when she looked in my ear! She then had to go confer with the other doctors to find out what dose of meds to give me, since she so "rarely sees an adult with this". Well, I do like to be different!! Needless to say I feel like crap...no, correct that...the stuff that crap just stepped in!!!

Okay...I've medicated up and am going to try to go to sleep. Sadly it's the same ear as the side I sleep on, and that's how I discovered there was a problem this morning. I woke up in such pain I checked the pillow for blood. So I just need the precious Advil to kick in (and the antibiotics, but I know those take longer) and then I can settle down and try to get some sleep.

Later,

Vegetable Lasagna

Can't believe I never had one of these before...my very own Advent Calendar.


Four days to catch up on...sorry...between blurry, too bright and too dark, this is the best shot of the 4 Lindt Christmas balls I munched on yesterday.

After sleeping in, walking H-woman's Epicure order over to her house (but not getting too close, because I don't want her to get sick, so close to Hawaii!), coming home, coffee and breakfast, dropping stuff off at work, feeding B's cats, shopping at the mall (came home with 2 pair pants, 2 sweaters, 2 long-sleeved t's, 2 pair shoes, some socks and some dish sets for the adopt-a-family and a present for Mom), returning to the office to drop off something else, I came home to make vegetable lasagna.

The thing to note is that I make a KILLER meat lasagna...I've been making since I first learned the recipe in grade 7 Home Economics (so don't know what they call it these days) and it has been a family favourite since. Weighs in at about 10 lbs in the pan, and gosh knows how many calories, but it is goooooooood!! Last week, craving that comfort, I bought a small vegetable one at Sunterra and immediately thought "I can do better".

It all starts with the sauce...into the pot went eveoo, onions, garlic, celery, carrots, cherry tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, basil, oregano, crushed chilies, a touch of sage, red wine and finally a tin of crushed tomatoes. Let this all boil and bubble for a good 45-60 minutes.

Needed a good cheesy middle, so I mixed ricotta, an egg, parm and chopped spinach together. Added a little S&P and set this aside.

Meanwhile in the oven I roasted portabello mushrooms and zucchini slices till tender and browned.

Let the layering begin!
- sauce

- noodles (whole grain, oven ready)

- sauce

- mushrooms

- sliced artichoke hearts

Add a layer of roasted red peppers.

Top this with the ricotta mixture and then with another layer of noodles.

On top of the noodles went the roasted zucchini slices (they were brushed with evoo and balsamic).

On top of that (the pan is getting pretty dang full!) the last of the sauce and then a really good layer of cheese (Kraft 4-Cheese Italiano!)...I admit, I am no vegan. Give me real cheese or don't give me any at all.

Oh, holy yum looking and it hasn't even met the oven yet!

Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes, or until this comes out!!

Resist all temptation to cut, and let it sit for about 10 minutes to set up.

All I have to say is O.M.G!!!! I am GOOD!

The great part is I have lunch for tomorrow, and will freeze the rest for when I am craving some ooey, gooey, cheesy goodness. And it is so full of veggies, I don't feel guilty for enjoying every last bite.

Day 5 of the Advent calendar is providing dessert, even though I do have some coconut gelato (I needed something for my sore throat!) that I'll also enjoy. And some mini oranges. I need all the vitamin C I can get right now.


I have a full belly and am slowly slipping into a food coma. Hopefully it helps me get over this cold. I'm off to chill.

Later,

Frustration

After years of getting the always cute family photo cards from friends for Christmas, I thought it would be fun to send out one of my children.

After "setting" the stage, convincing the kids that the ringy collars won't hurt them,

(George doesn't believe me...kill it, kill it now!)

trying to get them to lay still long enough for me to take said photos (many, many action shots taken!), snapping fingers and making goofy sounds to get them to look at the camera, I ended up with these three. The bleeding with stop soon, I am told.

I logged onto Walmart's Photo Centre site and chose the cutest card EVER "Meow-y Christmas" and started to set the photos (yes, it held all three) and my caption and off I merrily went to order 50 (@.32 cents each - deal!) only to discover that I was on the AMERICAN site and they won't ship outside of the continental United States. ARGH!!!! Oh, well...Walmart.ca here I come.

The Canadian version of the photo shop SUCKS...just saying. They had about an eighth of the selection that they did in the states...they only had one version of the flat cards (4" x 8") and they cost .97 cents each! WTF?! Isn't the Canadian dollar doing really well right now??? Doesn't that make for an exchange rate of 300%?? I had to settle for the one shot of the two together, because any that took all three shots cropped the photos and cropped them stupid! Cut George out of the group shot, showed more of the blanket than Coco in hers...double ARGH!!! But I persisted (after trying to find Black's Photography website to no avail) and finally ordered some cards (only used the group photo) that I hope to pick up later this week.

Still have the cold, and despite pumping in vitamin C, oranges, OJ, getting loads of sleep and some fresh air, still feel a bit draggy. Throat hurts, ears hurt, sinuses are totally jammed shut. I've forgotten how much I love being sick! But, true to advertising, this will not slow me down. I have to get over to B's to feed the kitties (she's home tonight), drop off my auction item and wine for the pool at work, and I feel the need for some new work clothes, so I'm going to brave a mall (but a small one!) later. Then home to put together lasagna. I'll blog that process later.

Have a good one...

Later,

Achoo

I have a cold...wondering when it was going to catch me and I know have my answer...4:37am this morning! I rolled over, coughed, swallowed and thought...ah, crap...it's not quite "swallowing razor blades" pain, but I know I have glands and they are currently not amused! I went to work, but really didn't seem to get a lot done. Really felt trapped in a fog. I did walk down to the Bay at lunch to get some blush (I only use MAC and I was scraping the sides of my container!), a quick stop at the bank and trying to find some wine for our pool at work. That sounded funny...let me 'splain! For fundraising, we do a wine pool every year. You put together a team of 6, throw in a bottle of wine and a couple of bucks each, and then everyone's name goes in the hat. For a week, a certain number of names are pulled and eliminated, until you have the final three names. Those teams win wine. Last year, the winning team each took home 12 bottles! It is a lot of fun, as we also have prizes for best team name, first team eliminated, etc. And it raises a few hundred bucks for our chosen charity, which this year is a family in need that we have adopted.

Came home, and had a quick, if unintentional, nap on the couch. Then I had one of the Epicure party orders to unpack, sort and deliver. Got that done, as well as popped in on B's kitties while she is away this weekend. Home, successfully avoiding any drive-through (it was 8:30 by now) although I don't know if my KD was any healthier. But since lunch was a bowl of soup and was oh, so long ago, I don't feel too guilty for my pot of glorious, bright-orange, cheezy goodness!

While I was packing up the Epicure, my buzzer buzzed, with the UPS guy making a delivery. I had no idea what it was until I got it upstairs and opened it up. It was my photo and plaque from the Toronto Goodlife Marathon!!! It makes me smile just looking at it. Sorry...couldn't get the picture to come out quite right. Either too dark or too light...

Okay...time to medicate and head to bed. I need to grab some OJ tomorrow, as well as the fixings for a veggie lasagna I'm tossing about in my head. Had one from Sunterra the other day and thought "I can do better"...so let's see, shall we?

Later,

Un-freaking-believable

Martin Parnell...ordinary man woke up one day in 2009 and said "I'm going to run 365 marathons next year". His friends and family called him crazy, but he was determined. He wanted to raise $250,000 for Right to Play, a children's charity that promotes healthy lifestyles through sport, but not just by tossing a ball out, but by educating the kids about sport and good health, etc. His doctor talked him down to 5 marathons a week, and sure enough, January 1st, 2010, he ran the first of 228 to date. Even with injuries, he has managed to run TWO HUNDRED AND TWENTY EIGHT MARATHONS to date. Today's run was accomplished by repeating the same 100m stretch of clean sidewalk FOUR HUNDRED AND TWENTY TWO TIMES!!! All this to raise $250,000, of which he's about 60% of the way there (just under $100K to go) for children. Wow...that is determination. Kind of makes me rethink my "I'm too stressed and tired to work out" whine of earlier.

Some of his marathons are organized...I saw him run Calgary in May, and he's off to Vegas this weekend for the marathon there, but most are just repeats and loops around the river, out in Cochrane (where he lives), downtown Calgary, etc. I think I am going to figure out how to take the 31st of December off and join him on the last run of the year...#250. It's in the morning, in Cochrane and should be an awesome event to join up with.

If you can help out in any way, please follow the link to his blog and make a donation. And spread the word! We may think he's crazy, but he is some dedicated to his cause!! An inspiration to us all.

Later,

Hanging by a thread...

I have been feeling very yanked about lately...doctor's appointments, hair appointments, Epicure parties (okay, so I make money doing those, but still), work, exercise, running, the building...seriously, I feel like I am about to shatter into a tra-zillion little pieces and poof, I will be no more.

So, I made a decision, good or bad, to give myself permission to take the month of December off from boot camp and running. If I feel like going for a run, I will...but I won't make myself run on a schedule. As for boot camp, I've already let Trainer Josh know and I WILL BE BACK IN JANUARY. There is no questioning that...I just can't seem to get my schedule back to being my schedule. And really, I think I liked BC better when it was Monday and Friday...this Tuesday/Thursday and occasional Friday is throwing me for a loop!

I do understand the direct correlation between exercise and mood enhancement, and by no means will this be a free for all for me. I just need to sit for a minute... Again, if I'm in the mood, I'll take my gear to work and run at lunch again. Haven't done that in forever, and the extra dose of vitamin D will actually be good for me. Sunshine...how I miss thee.

Work got crazy this week, with me actually staying till 8:30 last night. I haven't had to pull a late night in like 2 years!!!! Not sure what was up with that, but I didn't like it!!! Okay, so the 3-hour "must attend because the VP asked me to" meeting in the middle of the day didn't help things, but still. But crisis averted, month end done, and now we begin our usual reporting and such for the rest of the month. Return to normalcy. I like things lined up like that...you'll notice it's a trend.

Weight Watchers, despite Friday's Christmas party and no exercise for two weeks and drinking (a lot) was the same as last week, which I am perfectly good with. Next week starts the new plan, which I'm not 100% sold on yet. I think it's just another excuse for a money grab, but then again WW never said they were a non-profit organization. I just need to get my brain on board with this whole weight loss thing so that I can finally start going for free! What makes this transition worse is my beloved leader is leaving for Hawaii on Sunday, so we have another leader (whom I despise because she is a condescending old bat) that will introduce us to the new plan. It's going to be hell...we've already been warned to come early, as they're not confident that the "transition will go smoothly"...great. Maybe I should just book the morning off work!
:)

Okay...I have 3 boxes full of Epicure product to unpack, sort and deliver. Sadly, they won't pack themselves up. Oh, to be Sabrina and just wiggle my nose and be done with it. Reality bites...

Later,