New Starts

New life, new blog

The last seven months have meant big changes for me. The short version, I've become a Weight Watchers devotee and lost 41 pounds and decided to pursue a career as a Registered Dietician (a far cry from my Liberal Arts/ Library past). For a little longer version I wrote about my Registered Dietician Path on my new blog It's Not Rocket Science. I would classify the new blog as a healthy living. I want a way to share all the new things I will be learning when I go back to school this May.

I hope you get a chance to stop by It's Not Rocket Science.

Weight Watchers - Week 1

A big area in my life that is often out of balance is healthy living. It is imperative for me to bring this aspect of my life in balance so I can fully enjoy all of the wonderful things I have going on right now. I needed a plan that would keep me accountable to more than myself, so I chose to join weight watchers. Did you happen to catch the September 8th story on ABC about the effectiveness of Weight Watchers? That story and the fact that my sister also just joined this plan -now I have a partner- convinced me to give it a go.

It has only been a week, but so far, I love it.

Chicken with Sourdough Mushroom Stuffing

Why do I think I love Weight Watchers: there is lots of food flexibility; most fruits and vegetables don't count against your daily point allotment; the bonus points make me happy because I know I can have the occasional cheeseburger, chocolate chip cookie or breakfast taco; and being able to check the exercise box every day gives me more incentive to actually exercise. Plus, my Weight Watchers meeting and weigh-in are on Thursday, which means my week starts on Friday. The weekend is when I normally want to splurge on comfort foods and relax. But, the weekend is at the beginning of my weight watchers week, so my I'm feeling motivated and not yet in need of rewards. I'm not sure how long that will last, but I like it.

Flatbread Mushroom & Pepper Pizza

Planning is a big part of this program, so I have spent quite a bit of time finding recipes that sound delicious and entering our favorite family food fair into the magic point calculator. On the week one menu:

Friday - Flatbread Pizza with Mushrooms and Red Pepper
Saturday - Pork Shishkabobs
Sunday - Italian Sausage wrap
Meatless Monday - Curried Cauliflower and Chickpea rice (in New Issue of Martha Stewart Food)
Tuesday  - Chicken with Herb Sourdough &  Mushroom Stuffing
Wednesday - Leftovers
Thursday - Leftovers

Treats: Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Cream Cheese frosting, Weight Watchers English Toffee Ice Cream Bars, Nonni Biscotti, Weight Watchers BBQ Potato Crisps, and one night. I also splurged with a little Baily's in my coffee one night :)


The best part; I lost five pounds and got my first gold star.

Weekend recap

Joining Weight Watchers was a great boost to both my pursuits of balance and happiness

I love weekends that possess elements that make everyone happy. Despite the weather only giving a nod to fall (a cool morning and an occasional cloud), we made the best of this first official fall weekend. I spent Saturday with Miriam gearing up for October 1st our favorite holiday decorating day of the year. We cleaned all the crystals in the kitchen windows (fall light always brings hundreds of rainbows into the  house), made pumpkin spice cupcakes with pumpkin cream cheese frosting (3 Weight Watchers points), took lunch to Breier at work, visited the shop for a little reorganizing, and made Halloween crafts while watching many episodes of Sabrina the Teenage Witch.

pumpkin spice cupcake :)

Saturday night, we all attended an 1861 reenactment at the Old University Building. I love taking advantage of town events. Richard joined the ranks of the Third Calvalry and Miriam loved every minute of the event. There was even a "military ball"; she was very determined to have a full dance card. Luckily her father and brother are very good sports.

1861 in Nacogdoches

Sunday, Vic. and I escaped for a canoe trip down the trails at Martin Dies Jr. State Park. This was the first time we were able to take the canoe out without having to worry about how long we could stay out. pretty peaceful, except for the large thing we bumped that rocked the boat when it went deeper under water. I'm going with hippo, but Vic. says it was probably a really large fish. Of course, we did pass signs at the entrance of the park warning us not to approach or feed the alligators. I love having a canoe every bit as much as I thought I would.

canoe exploration

This was a pretty perfectly balanced weekend; they happen on occasion :)

Working toward balance

Awesome elephant tea pot from my sister!

My balance seeking plans were immediately derailed last week by a trip to Houston for my sister's brother-in-law's funeral. Somewhere in that tragedy the universe was both laughing at my desire for control and giving me a push to achieve a little more balance in my life. This is a truly amazing time in my life. I have time for my family, time to pursue my interests and time to achieve better health. Even with this semi charmed existence, I often feel like I am not accomplishing all that I want to. My quest for balance is my way to try to feel more accomplished. This week I tried to find time for all of the things on my "list" that increase my feelings of accomplishment.

Work/Service 

• Various archaeology projects (lab work, report editing, site file searches etc...)
• Last Friday I spent the day at Livingston Trade Days with my sister (it's halfway between us) shopped for the shop and had a whole lot of fun.
• Saturday I spent all day restocking and re-organizing Uniquely Used and working the shop. Saturday night Vic. and I checked out the Nacogdoches Auction. These auctions are now in my calendar; I think they are going to be a pretty entertaining way to spend some Saturday nights.
• I got the fall Master Gardener newsletter ready for publication Fortunately, quite of few people answered my call for contributions.
• I managed to get organized and have the first Girl Scout meeting of the year for my youngest daughter's troop.

Healthier Living

• I Joined and attended my first Weight Watcher's meeting; got all set up with their online tools and planned the menu for my first week
• Home cooked dinners (stew, chicken spaghetti...)
• Yoga (3 times); recruited a friend to join
• A few leisurely walks with Vic.

Cultivating Hobbies

• Working on fall owl felties for the shop
• Scheduled Saturday for making Halloween crafts with my youngest
• Canoeing (plan to go on a full day canoe trip this weekend)
• Going to the 1861 reenactment & play at the Old University Building Saturday night; I always feel great when I take advantage of small town events.

Peaceful Moments

• Family dinners
• Reading Harry Potter aloud to the family
• Morning tea and blogging (a little light on the blogging this week, because I spent so much time on the MG newsletter)
• Cleaned out my closet and got rid of two bags of clothes! These are being donated to a drive for the victims of the TX wildfires.
• Finding ways to enjoy my commute to Lufkin with my son. TED talks are really helping on the drive home. Plus I always feel smarter after I listen to one :)
• Baking vegan chocolate chip cookies (yum!)

Time for Friends

• Coffee, dinner, long phone chats, lunches and yoga -spent time with both old and new friends.

All in all I think I managed to strike a pretty good balance this week. It definitely helps to be busy. I need a little does of time pressure to be productive.

365 photo project - week 5

Mosaic in a Livingston rest stop (26)

I met my sister in Livingston for a fun day of shopping for our shop and an amazing lunch at Florida's Kitchen.

Nacogdoches Auction (27)

Saturday night was the Nacogdoches auction. I went to see if this is a new venue for finding items for Uniquely Used. I think finding useful items in my price range will be a little hit or miss, but this could be a pretty entertaining way to spend a few Saturday nights. Plus I got to add another to my list of local firsts.

Turtle (26)

Looks like we were not the only ones at for a Sunday stroll.

Post storm morning glory (27)

 We finally got rain Sunday in the form of violent thunderstorms. We lost power for 7-8 hours, but it was worth it. The surviving plants in my yard were pretty happy about it too.

New tea pot (28)

An elephant tea pot has been on my wish list for awhile. This cute guy was in a New Year's gift basket from my sister. My mornings have definitely been given a happiness boost :)

Lessons (29)

A friend teaching Richard how to play the guitar. This usually happens while I'm cooking dinner and it's pretty awesome :)

(30)

I spent the morning at the Heritage Rose Garden of the Old University Building taking pictures for the next Master Gardener newsletter. The oldest rose variety in the garden "Old Blush" arrived in America in 1752.

Two sides of a coin

a particularly lovely garage sale in Fairfield, TX

Saturday was a perfect day. Victor and I drove to Austin for a friend's wedding and got to enjoy one of those rare times where everything works. The morning was spent at a citywide garage sale in Fairfield, TX where I found lots of great things for the shop. I've noticed some interesting things since opening Uniquely Used. The benefits of retail therapy apply even when you are not shopping for yourself. Also, after the hunt for new merchandise for the shop, I have no desire to do any other spending. This venture is paying for itself in all sorts of ways.

Austin Beer Supply

We had a few hours in Austin before the wedding, so Victor bought out Austin Beer supply, we devoured Chuy's, wandered around Book People and Crystal Works and still were able to "get to the church on time".

The wedding was really at the House on the Hill and it was a truly lovely event.

A little help beating the heat

There were so many wonderful things about the event, not least of which was the happy couple. There were some really great touches: homemade wedding pies, rosemary lavender lemonade, the bride and her father skipping down the isle, amazing brownies, wildflowers and beautiful weather.

night lights

Sadly, while I was having an amazing day, my sister and her family were dealing with a tragic loss. My brother-in-law lost his brother Saturday morning to cancer.

Sunrise

I spent Monday - Wednesday in Houston serving as moral support for my sister. I wasn't very close to Jimmy, but seeing the devastation of his family and two small children was heartbreaking.

It's good to be home.

365 photo project - week 4

I am not the cat you are looking for (19)

I believe that Rico thinks he is camouflaged when he is on or near the kitchen table.

Wedding (20)

Stars and Stripes (21)

Miriam made her choral debut in a 9/11 tribute concert.

Sunrise (22)

At rest (23)

This is the first time I have ever seen a hummingbird truly at rest.

Cupcake (24)

There is not much finer than a cupcake and coffee at Shelley's.

Butterfly in the garden (25)

Caught this beauty snapping pictures for the next edition of the Master Gardener newsletter.

True confession time. I spent the beginning of the week at a funeral and didn't take pictures, so there are two pictures 22 & 25 that I substituted for missing days. The sunrise picture was taken Sunday driving home from Austin and 25 was taken today along with the hummingbird picture.