I am a cotton headed ninny muggins.

One thing I have noticed is that the more processed foods I eat, the more processed foods I want. Am I the only one?

We rarely eat "processed" foods, but the other day I was at Big Lots and there were packs of 100 calorie mint chocolate chip cookies on clearance for $1. My cheap ass bought 2.

But here's the catch - those $1 packs of cookies are going to end up costing me at least $12. See, they triggered a week of not the best choices, which will most likely stall my weight loss this week.

Crap. I know better. Why did I even bother?

Yes, I know I said I wouldn't talk about weight loss again until I hit 50 lbs, so lets say this is about temptation and my inability to resist it.

Food, Hair, and Faires

I managed to make myself quite sick yesterday. I am finally feeling better tonight but it was a long, long two days. I will spare you the details, but it was all food allergy related and I know better. I really need to take my own advice and put my big girl pants on and not eat the things I know cause a reaction. Or find friends who aren't good cooks.

I went to the dermatologist today. The bad news is, she is leaving. :o( I really like her, but I understand that a 1 1/2 hour drive every day can get old.

The good news is that she got me an appointment with the other guy in the office. Oh, and she saw quite a bit of new hair - so much that she was surprised that it has only been 4 weeks since I started back on the Olex-E (clobetasol propionate) regiment. I told her that if she numbed my head first, I would consider the shots again (and we all remember how wonderful those were...) but she said she didn't think that I would need them.

I managed to finally buy Shelby's birthday present. Better late than never, right? I hope so any way. Jessica had an Usborne book party, so I got her a cute, cute, cute Kid Kit. I think she is going to love it. The best part is, Usborne will ship it right to her, so on top of a super awesome gift, she gets the UPS guy showing up at her house with a package in her name. At four, that has to be pretty cool, right?

Forty...

Just stopping in for a second and then heading to bed.

The results of today's weigh in...


Two pounds lost, for a total of 40. I have lost a 5 year old! Woohoo!

Hopefully my back isn't killing me tomorrow and I can do the 30 Day Shred. Kicks my butt. But feels so good!

So someone please kick my ass if I don't do it.

And by the way... why hasn't anyone told me that a "medium sized" cyst on my ovary could hurt so stinking bad? I swear my back feels like I am 90. Dang!

I won't mention weight loss again until I reach 50lbs. I promise.

Sunday

Today Marty was off and finally well enough to not just sleep and cough the whole day. Of course, being his day off, we didn't do much - mostly putzed around the house. He did have to go in to work a bit this morning, so he brought some steaks home for lunch. (Our deal is that if he has to go in to work on a day off, he brings food home.) He brought home 16 oz. Ribeyes.

Ribeyes are not on my Weight Watchers Filling Foods list. I follow the Simply Filling Technique, which means I eat to satisfaction and do not count points for filling foods. A ribeye is not a filling food, and frankly not worth the 25 (!!) points I would have had to count for it. Instead of the ribeye, I had 2 pieces of tilapia, corn and a big salad. And I am ok with it. No, I am not ok with it. I am damn proud of it. Let's hope it shows at weigh in on Monday.

Confession

My passport expired 5 years ago, October 24. If you renew your passport within 5 years of it expiring, you save a $25 processing fee. I chose to wait to renew my passport so that I will be skinnier in my passport picture.

A skinnier picture is apparently worth $25 to me. :o|

What We're Eating

Path to Freedom posted this on Facebook (they got it from Mark Bittman) and reading it was one of those I am surprised but not really surprised moments for me.

These are the top 10 items sold at grocery stores for the 52 weeks ending June 14, 2009, ranked by dollar sales.

1. Carbonated beverages
2. Milk
3. Fresh bread and rolls
4. Beer/Ale/Hard cider
5. Salty snacks
6. Natural cheese
7. Frozen dinners/entrees
8. Cold cereal
9. Wine
10. Cigarettes

As someone who got fat on mostly natural, whole foods I can add that I don't think what we are buying is the whole problem, but I don't think we can deny that this list explains a lot about our countries (the worlds?) obesity problem.

Skin Care pt 2

A couple of things I forgot to mention yesterday:

1. Sunscreen, sunscreen, sunscreen! It is possible to get moisturizer and foundation with sunscreen now, so you have no excuse.

2. People can see your neck, too, so start treating it as part of your face. Cleanse and moisturize it and don't forget the sunscreen.

3. Because I am an evil person who wants the earth to die (lol), I use disposable cloths for my face. Nothing fancy, just Bounty paper towels. They are more sanitary and I figure can't be any worse than the extra load or two of laundry using two additional washcloths and face towels every day would cause each week.

4. Even if you don't use disposable cloths, for the love of god don't dry your freshly washed face on the hand towel hanging in your bathroom.

5. I keep a small bottle of cleanser in the shower and cleanse in there. Once you get out of the shower, let your face dry a little and moisturize and you are good to go.

6. Moisturize while damp means damp, not wet. If you moisturize while your face is still wet, the moisturizer will slide right off.

7. If you are worried about the cost of starting a skin care routine or worried about break outs, start slowly. Find a cleanser that you want to try and use it daily for a month or so. (If you decide to exfoliate with cleanser and baking soda, go ahead and start that right away.) If you haven't broken out, add a moisturizer. After a month or so, add a toner, then a mask, etc.

8. Eucerin offers a coupon for $1 off if you join their "My Eucerin" club. It says you will also receive periodic "great offers and product information" but I just joined so can't say how often or what kind of offers and information they send. For me, it is worth it to save $1, especially if they will be sending more coupons.

9. Cetaphil also has a club that they say as a member "you'll begin receiving email communications with personalized skin care plans, seasonal and regional tips, dermatologist and beauty expert info and advice, and exclusive discounts on Cetaphil® Products." If they do not send you a coupons, you can download a $2 coupon here. (Expires 12/31/10)

10. Apparently, water is one of the most important things you can do for your skin. The Food Network show Food Detectives answered this once and for all with the help of identical twins. Long story short, they had their skin hydration levels checked by a dermatologist and they were about equal. The dermatologist put them on a water intake plan for a week where one twin was intentionally dehydrated drinking only 32oz of water a day the second twin drank 64oz per day. The dehydrated twin had poorer skin than the properly hydrated twin. I am still working on this...

Skin Care

A long post on a topic I know nothing about. Ahhh... things are back to normal. :P

Until recently, skin care to me was washing my face with body wash every morning in the shower. (Can someone please explain to me how I don't look 90??) Anyway...

I decided to start taking better care of my skin and *gasp* wear make up when I read a post on an alopecia message board I go to. The poster was a big alopecia acceptance advocate and also happens to be a make up artist. She mentioned that (paraphrasing here...) people don't notice her bald spots as much when she wears make up and has nice skin. That combined with the fact that I broke out like a 12 year old boy made me say What the hell?! and give it a try.

I have also noticed that my own home grown fatty botox is going away with my weight loss, so I have some me lovely wrinkles appearing.

Wonderful.

(I am really ok with it, because I have lost 36lbs so far. Woot!)

Not knowing anything about skin care, I did what anyone would do and hit the internet - more specifically, youtube. After I found something on youtube, I googled the hell out of it to verify it with other sources. I will save you the long(er) drawn out explanation (because trust me. I spent many, many hours researching this junk that it seems everyone else already knows), but here are some of the things I have found out.

Basically, there are two things you should do twice a day, every day. Those are cleanse and moisturize.

I found one video in particular that was the most helpful. I give you Josh:



All of the other videos I found just listed products but Josh didn't. He just gave the basic information and you can use the products that are best for you.

Josh gives some great information, and even two routines:

Basic:
Cleanse
Cleanse
Tone
Moisturize

Once or Twice a week:
Cleanse
Cleanse
Tone
Exfoliate
Tone
Mask
Tone
Moisturize

Here are the two biggest things I learned from the video -
Cleanse twice. The first cleanse will remove make-up and gunk and the second will actually cleanse. I didn't learn this until after a few weeks and once I tried it I could really tell a difference.

Moisturize while damp. The point behind moisturizer is to lock in the moisture. If your skin is dry, there is no moisture.

Being the cheapskate that I am, you would think that the products I use are the cheapest available. Yes and no. I am still adding to it, but here is what I have so far:
Cleanse - Cetaphil Daily Facial Cleanser When compared to other drug store cleansers, Cetapil can actually seem expensive (mine ran about $10) but for my sensitive skin, I will pay the extra. Here is a great list of cleansers by skin type and here is a great way to tell what type skin you have.

Tone - Still haven't found one and not sure I will use

Exfoliate - a squirt of Cetaphil mixed with a sprinkle of baking soda. I started off using a something with salicylic acid (for blackheads) but it was way too harsh for me. The salicylic acid worked wonders on the blackheads so I am on the lookout for something with less harsh "scrubbers" in it, or some other way to use the SA.

Mask - Believe it or not, I use good old Walmart Milk of Magnesia. Trust me. Your face will never feel better.

Moisturize - Eucerin Everyday Protection Face Lotion SPF 30 I have been using this at night which I found out was a big no-no. You do not want to use anything with SPF at night. Oops! I will use plain old regular Eucerin for night time from now on.

The bonus for me is that Cetaphil and Eucerin are made by Swiss and German companies so are readily available in Germany. No packing 3 months worth of face junk for me!

I will also mention that I have read on various dermatology message boards that it can take 6-8 weeks for your face to stop breaking out from new products. The breakouts are really your skin purging impurities.

A while ago I bought the Neutrogena Wave but was unable to use it because the cleanser that came on the pads was too harsh for me. (Sensing the theme that is my life?) They say that the vibrations allow the cleanser to go 10% deeper into your pours and blah, blah, blah. I have no idea if their claims are true, but since it was sitting there staring at me I figured I should use it. To solve the too harsh cleanser problem, I just bought a $2 pack of cotton "cosmetic rounds" at Walmart and use my Cetaphil. Even if it doesn't do anything, it feels really good and until I decide if I want to but the $200 Clarisonic everyone raves about, it will do. (Haha! Do you like how I said that as if I were actually considering it? Someday when I am not planning to take three hormonal teenagers to Europe. Someday...)

So there you go. Watch Josh's video and use his techniques with whatever products work for you. You will notice a difference, I promise.

As for make-up... still working on that. I know what I want but I have to drive to Sephora in Jackson and get it. I will let you know how that little adventure turns out.

Switzerland

Way back in high school I met a foreign exchange student from Switzerland. We became really good friends and kept in touch for a bit after he went back to Switzerland, but being young, dumb teenagers we lost contact.

Every so often I look him up on Facebook, Twitter and try to cyber stalk him using Google, but no luck. I remember his parents address from writing it on so many envelopes, so I did have that, but I was not going to call his parents house after all of these years.

About a week ago, I found him on Facebook. We have been emailing back and forth ever since, sharing pictures and stories about our families. He has three kids (who are adorable!) and lives not far from the town he grew up in. He has invited us to come and visit his family while we are in Europe next summer.

Switzerland is now definitely on the list!

Bitter much?

I know, right? What the hell is up with me and not blogging?

A couple of things:
~ How many times can I post "Not spending any money so we can save for a trip that I am afraid is going to turn into a nightmare and I will kill someone before the return flight!" before another person tells me that I am bragging that I can go on a trip that they can't afford. Never mind that my husband busts his ass 65+ hours a week so that we can have the things that we do and that we make many, many sacrifices every day. That doesn't count, I guess.

~ I could rant about how ridiculous it is that I pay $500+ a month for health insurance but to have a small bubble of saliva removed from my son's mouth is going to cost us $4000 after insurance but then I don't want to hear from the people who bitch that I am an elitist because I even have insurance and I shouldn't complain... Yawn. Get over yourself. If you can really look at this situation and think that it is ok then you can fuck off. Really, because I am done.

~ I could mention Marty's big promotion that I am so very proud of him for, but then I will be told again that... well, I think you can figure it out.

So, I guess all of this to say - get over yourself. If you do not like what I post, please do us both a favor and don't read it. Because really, I don't have time in my life for you and your bull shit.

Capisce? Capisce.

Maybe I will post tonight with an update on our trip planning and some really great (to me) news. Maybe.

One Year

It has been one year since we pulled in to Meridian with our moving truck, ready to start this chapter of our life. I posted something about it on Facebook and a friend asked me if we would make the move again, knowing what we know now.

My honest answer was "Probably..."

Of course, it would have been better if I could have packed all of my Michigan friends and Ohio family and brought them with us, but we couldn't.

The sad fact is that that sometimes, as an adult you have to do things that you might not want to do. You move o where the job takes you, even if it is 13 hours from the 3 girls I love as if they were my own, and 15 hours from some of the best friends I have ever had.

I don't regret our move for a second. I have made great friends here - right up there with the friends who live 15 hours away - I have explored a part of the country and culture that has always fascinates me, and have really learned what as a child of the 80s I believed - that people are really just people, trying to do what they think is best for their family, however misguided I may think they are.

That said, there are things I would change about Meridian. For example, why the hell do people think it is ok to toss dirty diapers out of their car in a parking lot? How do people survive without access to descent quality fruits and vegetables? And why in the fuck do people think it is ok to judge someone because of something as arbitrary as their skin color or birthplace?

We must be blending in, because I haven't heard "Y'all ain't from around here, is you?" lately. I hope that is a good thing.

We Made It!
If I had the cord for my phone...


Picture from flickr

South Pacific

On Wednesday Ethan and I went with some friends to see South Pacific. I would say that for community theater it was a good show, but it was a good show period. If you are in the area, I suggest you check it out.

Day 29 - A family favorite

I was planning to make beef stew for dinner tonight but realized that we are out of potatoes. No money left in the food envelope - and I vowed to not go ahead and spend money anyway - so instead we made an old family favorite usually reserved for leftover meat. Cooked meat sauteed with garlic, onions and a small amount of beef broth tossed with cooked pasta.

Day 3,673 Er, I mean Day 18 - Carbs are cool

Spaghetti with Valeria's sauce (sans meat), garlic bread, salad and fruit.

I had planned to make something else but I came home from my meeting and was starving. So I made the sauce and let it simmer while I made the garlic bread and cooked off some whole wheat angle hair pasta. Quick, easy, cheap and good.

Day 17 - Chicken Salsa Soft Tacos

Easiest dinner ever. Toss defrosted boneless skinless chicken breasts into the crockpot and dump enough salsa on top to cover. Cook on high all day. Shred chicken and stir to combine.

If you want to you can add canned black beans and frozen corn.

Serve in tortillas topped with your favorite taco fixings.

Day 16 - Shopping day!

Went grocery shopping today and managed to spend $42 over budget ($242 total). I'm ok with it because I found some great "Reduced for quick sale" meats and the freezer is overflowing again.

Dinner tonight was chicken stir fry (carrots, broccoli, onion and mushrooms) and whole wheat spaghetti mixed with the last of the Soy Vay veri veri teriyaki.

By the way - could someone please smack me the next time I decide to go to Walmart and Sam's club on a Saturday? Thanks.