First Month on Weight Watchers

So I joined Weight Watchers on December 28th. I am determined to cross this one off of my list. I want to lose all 98 pounds of extra weight before my 40th birthday. I am now 4 weeks in and since I've been so successful so far, I thought it would be safe to put out the results in blog land.

First off, I am doing this slowly. Adding one new routine/habit each week so I don't crash and burn like I am so apt to do. I have lost between 2-3 pounds each week for a total loss so far of 11.2 pounds. I took some pictures in December as well as some measurements of various parts of my body. I have lost an average of 1/4-1/2 inches in each area so far. Somehow, the fact that my clothes are a little looser didn't dawn on me until I saw my before/after pics and the actual measurements. I know it's not real obvious at first but as I looked closer I started noticing slight differences in my body. I guess having a record of it makes it more real to me. Let me know what you think.

Before 12/21/12                     After 1/26/13

 

Revising the List

Well, sometimes good intentions have to be revised along the way.  I was doing a little research into the art of Feng Shui and the deeper I got into it, the more I realized that it did not jive with my Christianity.  So I have revised my #17 on the bucket list.  Originally it read "Learn about and start using the art of Feng Shui".  While I don't plan on using all of the steps, the first step of using Feng Shui resonated with me.  Declutter your life first.  I come from a long line of borderline hoarders.  About the only reason I am not a true hoarder is because I move so much.  It also helps that I am married to a semi neat freak.  But even he has his cluttered areas.

I think my biggest problem in this area is that I go all gung-ho in the beginning, but I burn out quickly.  I forget that once it's done, it has to be kept up on a regular basis.  Clutter doesn't just take care of itself if you don't have a symptom.  So starting today, I'm going to make a list of all of the areas of clutter in my house and slowly work my way around to decluttering each space a little at a time.

Paper

This is a given.  I mean, who doesn't have paper clutter, right?  It comes into the house daily.  Mail, kids backpacks, receipts, magazines, newspapers, etc, etc.  I have a catch all area where most of the paper clutter goes and I have already done some decluttering in the area in the last few months.  But, I haven't found a really good system for controlling it yet.  I will have to continue working with this area and hopefully find a good system.

Toys

I have a 7 year old with developmental delays and a 3 year old who is almost on track developmentally.  Basically, A (the 7 year old)'s idea of playing is to load up a whole bunch of toys into a box (or most recently the laundry basket) and dump them out against a wall.  Repeat a thousand times.  His other obsession right now is kicking the kick ball in the hallway against the doors.  We live in the rainy northwest so we let him.  K's at least playing appropriately with her toys when A doesn't take them from her.  She wraps her babies in blankets and "puts them to bed".  She is also into "reading" books and likes to lay on the floor and turn the pages.  The problem with that is if you don't monitor the amount of time, she eventually starts tearing pages in the books.

So the toy situation is really a headache.  There are toys and books that have been taken from the children when they start playing inappropriately so now K's room is a catch all where there are toys in the closet, on top of her dresser and on top of two rows of shelves which were originally installed for my scrapbooking stuff (up high so they can't get to it).  It's a mess.

Clothes

Part of the issue with clothing is that I refuse to buy more clothes for myself until I lose enough weight to fit into the ones I have.  However, the longer it takes for me to really get off my butt and start losing weight, the more the clothes I have will go out of style.  I just can't bring myself to get rid of them though.  I have boxes of the kids outgrown clothes to go to the consignment store and just haven't done it yet. 

Crafting Supplies

This is another area where I want to really get rid of stuff but I have that mentality of "what if I need this some day?".  I just need to be ruthless in this area.  And while I do still scrapbook occasionally, I find that I'm not even using most of my "old" stuff when I do.  Time to purge.

Other Areas

I am sure as I begin this project, I will find more areas that need to be decluttered.  I wan to have a home that is full of energy and welcoming and inviting.  Right now, I just cringe when I see my house.  I keep it relatively "neat" but the clutter screams at me and makes me uncomfortable.  Just like my classroom.  I have decluttered a few areas and everyone tells me my classroom looks so organized.  But to me, I just feel the stress of the cluttered areas (even though they're hidden).  This will be a long journey.

40 By 40 Friday (a Day Late)

Ok, I know it's Saturday so I'm a day late.  I have no excuse except that I was lazy yesterday.  Point blank.  No other reason.  So my progress was spotty but at least existent this week. 

#16 : Read or get rid of all unread books in my current collection.
#34 : Read 50 New York Times Best Sellers

amazon.com

This week I read my first Stephen King novel ever.  EVER!  I can't believe I haven't read anything by him yet.  I've seen just about all the movies that have been made based on his books and love them, but I've never actually read any of his books.  About a year ago, I was having a conversation with a fellow waitress (when I was working as a waitress) and we got to talking about books we've read that we like.  She suggested The Dark Tower series by Stephen King.  So I picked up the book but never read it until this week.  It started off kind of slow, but the more I got into it, the more I was sucked in.  The setting reminded me a lot of some of the setting in "The Stand" movie, especially the desert parts.  Some of the characters in this book were quite confusing which just drew me in further instead of turning me off.  I think the hardest part about reading this book is some of the language.  Stephen has created a new dialect of the English language and while I was able to figure out what some words meant by context clues, others just sat on the page rotting while my brain tried to decipher them.  I have the feeling that the more I get into the series, the better I'll understand both the characters and the language.

So that brings me up to 6 NYTBS out of the 50 I want to read for my list.  I never really set a number for #16 because I'm really not sure at this stage in the game which ones I will eventually read and which ones I will end up getting rid of.  Sometimes it just takes reading a couple of pages or chapters before I give up on the book altogether.  I am, however determined NOT to buy any more books or even check out any from the library until I have read all the ones that are currently in my bookcase right now.  The fact that most of them fall into one of the other two categories (Classics or Best Sellers) just helps me get closer to my other goals faster.

Update:  I forgot that I also read Water for Elephants earlier this year so my list is now at 7 out of 50!  Woohoo!

#21 : Submit my book for publishing.

Ok, so I probably jumped the gun on this one a little so I'm not going to cross this one off the list just quite yet.  I have been dabbling on the Internet for the last 3 or 4 years trying to figure out the publishing business.  Some places say non-fiction doesn't have to be complete before you submit it to a publisher.  So, since my book is a memoir, I assumed that it was classified as non-fiction.  Last Saturday morning, I started searching the Internet for publishers who look for first time authors and stumbled upon Tate Publishing.  They had a form right on their web page where you can submit a manuscript so I filled it out and submitted the couple of chapters I have written so far.  A few minutes later, I received a standard form letter in my inbox "Thank you for submitting.  We'll be in touch".  The kind that basically says don't call us, we'll call you.  So I tried not to think about it and figured IF I did hear something, it may be weeks.

Sunday afternoon, on my way to the grocery store, I got a call from the acquisitions director who said she was interested in the book.  She said she thought it would be a great book and was one that would be marketed well with interviews on talk shows and such.  At first I was elated.  I couldn't believe she called so soon and that she was interested in the book so much.  But then the bomb dropped.  I would have to pay a $4000 retainer for a publicist up front!  Yeah, don't think this is going to happen after all.  She did say that they would break it up into payments for me and that it's refundable after 1000 copies are sold, but even broken up that would be like $500 a month.  Money we just don't have right now to pay out when we aren't even caught up on our regular monthly bills. 

So instead, I talked to my librarian at school who knows a few local published authors.  She's going to get in touch with some of them and try to get us connected so I can pick their brains about the publishing process.  I also did some more research about memoirs in particular and found quite a few helpful sites.  The more I read about memoirs, the more I learned that usually they are treated like a fiction novel in that they have to be finished before you submit them to the publisher.  So back to the writing process itself.  Time to get that baby finished.

40 by 40 Friday: Crossing Off The List

I did it!  After almost a full year of staring at my 40 things I want to get done before I turn 40, I have finally done it!  I am officially crossing off my first item!  Yay me!

Item #14 - Learn how to make the perfect pie crust.  Over. Done with.  I finally was able to feel like I had accomplished this one.  Like I said in my Thanksgiving post, I did make a pie crust that turned out pretty good, but I wasn't happy with the rolling out process.  I felt like it was still too hard and crumbled just a little too much as I was working with it.  So after getting some hints from friends and FaceBook friends and watching some YouTube videos, I pulled all of those tips together and made it.  I made a pumpkin pie and brought it to school for all the teachers and administrators to try.  I received rave reviews.  I heard things like "the crust is so flaky", "the crust tastes wonderful", and "can I get your recipe?"!

So without further ado, I will attempt to give you the perfect pie crust recipe by pulling together all of those tips I found and piling them up here for you.  I'm not going to reprint the recipe itself as I found that part on pinterest. 

The Recipe

 

The Perfect Pie Crust

 

 

How to Roll Out Pie Crust

 

 

In addition to the recipe and the video, I also had a hint to add a tsp of vinegar to help break down the gluten and make the dough easier to roll out.  I'm sure I will revisit this over and over again as I incorporate new hints and try new recipes, but for the purpose of crossing it off my list, i think the reviews on Thursday are enough for me to pass this test.



Author Thursday

I'm going to try to read at least one book per week and do a weekly book review for the book I read that week.  I may include some updates on my own writing on this weekly post.  If you have any suggestions or recommendations for me, please feel free to share in the comments below. 

amazon.com

 

The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks

I have been carrying this book around in my purse for months meaning to start it whenever I had to wait in a doctor's office or wait for a carry out dinner.  It never happened.  So when I decided I needed to start reading a book a week to make my goal by my 40th birthday, I started looking at home for books I already had.  So technically this one falls under the "New York Times Best Seller List" as well as the "Finish books in my current collection List".  Killing two birds with one book!

I must admit that this is the first Nicholas Sparks book I've read.  While I have seen some of the movie adaptations, I have never actually picked up one of the books.  I don't know why it's taken me so long.  I lived in North Carolina for over 4 years and considering most of his stories take place in that beautiful state, I probably should have been a fan from the beginning.  I have to say that I really enjoy reading authors who write about places I've been or lived because it is so much easier to get a good "movie" going in my head. 

The basis of this book is a marine, Logan, in Iraq finds a picture of a woman and he starts having near misses in combat.  While others around him are killed, he continues to be saved from gunfire and explosions.  One of his friends convinces Logan to go find the woman in the picture because she is his lucky charm.  Logan's search sends him to a small town in North Carolina where he finds Beth, the woman in the picture.  He doesn't know how to tell her about the picture, but they begin to fall in love.  This is made more difficult by an ex-husband, Keith, who's family pretty much "owns" the town.

I enjoyed Mr. Sparks' descriptions of the towns and it brought back the memories of the hot, sticky southern summers as well as the beauty often inherent in those small historic towns.  Beth also has a son who is more into music and reading than sports and video games (every mother's dream right?).  She is a teacher and Sparks' description of that part of her character pleasantly surprised me.  It made me think that either his wife is a teacher or he has a teacher in his family as he is spot on about the demands of that job, especially in the beginning of the school year.  There were so many aspects of this story that were parallels to my own life that made it easy for me to relate to the characters' emotional states. 

The love story is not so fantastic that it is unbelievable and I appreciated the PG-13 rating of Mr. Sparks' writing.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not a prude.  But I am a Christian and when I can find a good love story where I don't have to get bogged down in the specifics of the sexual encounters, it makes for a much smoother reading.  I don't even think I read one cuss word in the entire book.  It's refreshing to find a writer who can tell a story that is relatable and thoroughly engaging without being crass and too sexual.

 

Updates on Jobs and the 40 by 40 Bucket List

I took a look at my blog posts this morning and realized that I have not updated in a while.  I forgot to tell you that I got a job!  That's right, a teaching job!  That's why my life has been so crazy lately and I haven't had time to do much of anything.  I am just now settling down into a routine and am getting caught up on all of my ambitions. 

About the New Job:

So I got a job teaching my favorite subject, SCIENCE!  And I didn't even have to take any extra tests to do it.  My official title is Science Specialist.  It is a half time elementary school position and it is a job that doesn't really exist in most elementary schools in America.  Basically, I teach Science to the entire school.  There are roughly 300 students in the school and I will teach most of the 1st-6th graders twice during the year.  I have the added bonus of either a teacher or a volunteer working with me in most of the classes.  I even had a parent volunteer to help me get materials ready and she comes in at least once a week to help with that.  Although it's technically a non-continuing contract, most of the teachers who have had this position in the past held it for several years before moving on to other things.  I hope that means I can keep it at least until K is in school full time (3 years from now).  So for right now I am working 3 days a week which gives me Mondays to myself and Friday's with K (preschool is only M-Th here).

About the Bucket List:

I did create a good pie crust yesterday, but I was not entirely satisfied as the rolling out part was much harder than I would like.  I have had a couple of suggestions from other friends and have found some ideas on the internet.  Basically, I think I overworked it a little which made it very hard, even after sitting on the counter (after an hour in the fridge) for over 20 minutes to warm up.  The end result was pretty good.  The crust came out all flaky and yummy.  I think I'll try again next week and take a pie or two to work for the other teachers to enjoy.

 

 

How about you?  Do you have any tips for the perfect pie crust?

 

 

Thanksgiving and The Bucket List

I was looking at my journal this morning and realized that it's been almost a year since I made my bucket list. These have been popularized on blogs all over as women come close to a decade birthday. I created my bucket list with the intention of attacking it and trying to accomplish it in little bits before my 40th birthday. I had over 2 years after all. How could I NOT accomplish 40 items in more than 100 weeks right? Fast forward to today and I am now just a hair over 62 weeks until my big 40. I was looking at some of the things on the list and realized that in order to accomplish the book lists (yes, there are TWO separate items relating to books), I would have to read at least one book each week now to get those two crossed off of the list. While I have done some things toward accomplishing several items on the bucket list, I have not actually finished any of them. Today, that is going to change (I hope)! One of the items on my bucket list is to learn how to make the perfect pie crust. I have struggled with this for years. I love to bake, especially around the holidays. But the pie crust has always eluded me. I found a recipe a few years ago that suggested using a food processor, but I didn't have one so I just put it on the shelf for "to try later". Well, today is later. Being Thanksgiving, it is time to get into the kitchen and experiment again. Last year, for Christmas, my sweet hubby gave me a large food processor so I am going to try the recipe for food processor pie crust. I have pinned the recipe, the butter is chilling in the fridge and I am ready to get baking. Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day! What recipes will you be trying new this year? P.S. I thought I would leave you with the list since I haven't posted the entire thing on the blog yet. 40 by 40 Bucket List 1. Finish my book. 2. Run a marathon. 3. Lose all the weight onece and for all. (Right now, I'm thinking 80 pounds?) 4. Look good in a bikini (and actually wear it in public!). 5. Finish K's baby blanket (she's 3 now!) 6. Learn how to knit. 7. Pay off all debts (except student loans and mortgage if we happen to get one in the next year). 8. Buy a house. 9. Take some prerequisite courses for PhD. 10. 11. Read at least 12 classics I never got around to reading in high school. 12. Complete A's baby album. 13. Complete K's baby album. 14. Learn how to make the perfect pie crust. 15. Sell my teaching stuff online (sold some books already back in August). 16. Read or get rid of any unfinished books in my current collection (sold some in June). 17. Learn and start using the art of Feng Shui. 18. Try Zumba! 19. Buy a red dress that I look sexy in. 20. Go to an opera (preferrably in the aforementioned red dress). 21. Submit my book for publishing. 22. Start and maintain a saving account with more than $1000 in it. 23. Learn Italian. 24. Learn how to wear a scarf (and start wearing them at least once a week). 25. Knit a cable knit sweater. 26. Complete our wedding album. 27. Transform my wardrode (and start dressing everyday). 28. Sew all the projects I started in the spring of 2011. 29. Get my passport. 30. Visit Canada. 31. Take a ballroom dance class. 32. Buy a pair of knee-high boots that fit my calves. 33. See Andrea Bocelli in concert. 34. Read 50 books on the New York Times Best Seller List. (I think I'm up to 4 for this list from this past year. I read Micro by Michael Crichton and The Hunger Games Trilogy). 35. Have dinner in the Space Needle restaurant. 36. Learn how to swim (for real!) 37. Spend (at least) one night in a 5 star hotel or a bed and breakfast. 38. Fix my grandmother's ring. 39. Write an article and get it published in a magazine. 40. Build something with wood.