Size 12 by St Patrick's Day!: May 2012

147.0 Prefer Substitute Teaching

This is what I am teaching in today. Yeah, I pulled my hair around just for this picture, so that you can see I have hair. Most of the time, my pony tail hangs straight down my back and you can't see it in the pictures. One of the students said yesterday, "You cut your hair!" So, some kids do see substitute teachers as people. Not many, but some do.

The students didn't cook yesterday, so I have no excuse for the .4 pounds I gained. However, I am still inside my weight loss goal of 145 to 149.9. One of the classes will be making Snickerdoodle cookies tomorrow, so I had best take it easy on the calories today. Three of the other classes will be making international dishes on Monday, and my assignment might continue into Monday.

One of the reasons I prefer substitute teaching is planning. The regular teacher has to plan all the lessons and how to grade them and what materials need to be ready when and how to explain all this to the students. That is my least favorite part of teaching. I like interacting with the students, the actual teaching part. My second least favorite part of a teacher's job is recording grades in the computer and printing out all the reports.

With this week-long assignment, I find myself planning out when materials need to be photocopied by and how and when I will announce things to the students -- in short I am participating in the planning. I am doing this on the phone with the regular teacher, rather than in written notes, and that is much more pleasant.

I don't mean to complain, though. I think complaining is the least productive thing anyone can do. I feel very blessed to have work that I enjoy. The other Family and Consumer Science teachers at this high school always ask me if I need any help, too. Their support is wonderful and makes all the difference.
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Guide to Thousands of Unlisted Job Openings in the US!

Do you know anyone who has a college degree, but no job? I wrote this book for them. Tell them about it, or better yet, buy them a copy. Turnover is high in these jobs, so there are almost always openings. With this guide, a high school substitute teacher can do the job so well they actually like it. I do.

Paperback: Amazon | Barnes and Noble Online | Powell's | Walmart Online
eBook: iTunes | Kindle | Nook | Kobo
Audio: Amazon | iTunes

146.6 Teaching Home Economics this Week

They don't call it "Home Economics" anymore, though. Now, it is called "Family and Consumer Science." Yesterday, most of the kids got to cook. Three of the classes made French toast, and one class made chicken nuggets. I hadn't known how to make chicken nuggets from scratch. It is really simple. You just cut up the chicken, wet it in egg, bread it in bread crumbs, and fry it. Some of the kids liked a lot of cinnamon on their French toast.

The rest of the week, they are doing book work. I am a little apprehensive that the students will find the book work boring, compared with the cooking they got to do yesterday. As a substitute teacher, I don't get much say in what they do, though. That is fine with me. Planning is my least favorite part of teaching. I actually prefer substitute teaching, for that and many more reasons.

This is what I am wearing today, to teach "Food, Nutrition and Wellness," "Single Survival," and one other Family and Consumer Science class whose name escapes me right now.

I gained .4 pounds yesterday. I walked the dogs 2/3 of a mile and I walk half a mile in association with taking the bus home from school because Scott was working the swing shift and he had the truck. Here is what I ate yesterday:

Small bowl of Special K, strawberries and organic soy milk
Three pieces of French toast, no butter no syrup
Raw baby carrots and 2 tablespoons Parmesan spinach dip
Small Fuji apple
3 chicken nuggets and a tablespoon of BBQ sauce
Beef and bean burrito with salsa
Small Fuji apple with peanut butter and chocolate chips
2 small bowls of Special K, strawberries and organic soy milk

146.2 Dogs in the Park

Here's a pretty good picture I took with the timer yesterday, of me and Oreo and Raffle walking in the park. Two other people were walking dogs, and my dogs are rapt with attention on the other two dogs! I'm never sure if they mean to fight the other dogs or make friends, if they get the chance. At the dog park they always make friends, but being on the leash makes them defensive.

We walked a mile, and I trained on the stair step exercise machine a few times when I was too excited to sit still at the computer and write. Still, I gained .2 pounds. That is OK. I am still within my weight loss goal of 145 to 149.9. Here is all that I ate yesterday:

Fuji apple with peanut butter and chocolate chips
2 slices of toast with peanut butter
El Monterey bean and cheese burrito with salsa
Leftover baked chicken, carrots and Brussels sprouts
Fuji apple with peanut butter and chocolate chips
Handful of chocolate chips

146.0 I'm Writing a Book

I have been writing a lot lately, trying to get my book ready to publish. I can't really post too much more about my book here on my blog, as I am afraid someone will steal my idea and publish it before I do, if I tell you now what I am writing. It is non-fiction. When it is published, of course I will tell you where you can go get it. Don't worry!

I lost .8 pounds yesterday. We walked the dogs a mile in the park. I worked out on the Total Gym for about 10 minutes, working on my arm and shoulder strength. And of course, as usual I took the dogs outside four or five times and bent down to wipe the mud off all four of their feet each time, so I get lots of stretching in every day. I can touch my toes with no problem at all.

Here is what I ate yesterday and lost .8 pounds:

Small piece of un-frosted cake with two cups of strawberries
Maple bar at church fellowship hour
Beef and bean burrito with salsa
Leftover baked chicken, carrots and Brussels sprouts
Small Fuji apple with a tablespoon of peanut butter and 24 chocolate chips

146.8 Last Hair Rant

I have decided I don't like the feel of the hardened mousse in my hair, at least not for everyday wear. I washed it all out this morning and conditioned my hair. Here I am with it wet again, right after washing. I will let it air dry with just the conditioner in it and see what happens.

I seriously never experimented with my hair like this when I was younger. I had perms a lot of the time, for one. What a waste that was. My hair is already just curly enough. Oh well. The other part of the time I was into the blow-dry style craze of the late 70s and early 80s.

Then, about 10 years ago I got a layered hair cut. It looked great for the first year or so, but I kept getting it re-layered in hopes it would look as it had before, and it just kept getting thinner and thinner at the ends as it grew longer. You saw the result in my recent pictures.

OK, that is probably enough about my hair for this year.

I gained 2.4 pounds yesterday! I needed to gain .6, as I was under my weight loss goal of 145 to 149.9. I baked a cake and ate half of it. The mix had been in our pantry since last spring. It was a funfetti cake mix. I walked the dogs a mile in the park. Here is everything I ate:

2 Fuji apples with peanut butter and chocolate chips
Small bowl of Special K, strawberries and soy milk
2 pieces of toast with peanut butter
Beef and bean burrito with salsa
Baked chicken, carrots and Brussels sprouts
Half an un-frosted cake with 4 cups of strawberries

144.4 Long Hair Cut at Thickest Length

I am happy that I finally got my long hair cut at its thickest length, at all your recommendations. It does look much better! In this picture at the bottom I have just come from the salon. She styled it as she dried it. It is down smooth and looks great.

A few hours later, it started to float up as it does, because it is so fine and light. I used some mousse on the ends and kind of shaped it to curl under for the last inch or so. The mousse helped my hair not fly away so much.

This morning, it is back in a pony tail. Tomorrow morning I plan on washing it, drying it, and then using the mousse throughout my head, to see if that brings out my natural waves and gives my hair some texture.

I have almost grown out all the layers that are cut into my hair. Almost. There is still one more layer that is about half way down to the ends. I think this is a good length for my hair. Maybe I will even get it trimmed two or three times a year so it stays this length from now on, instead of waiting and getting it trimmed only once a year.

Surprisingly, Scott didn't fuss at all about how much I had cut off. I was sure he would lament how much was taken off. Nope. He just said, "OK, it's not too short." I had been hemming and hawing over this for nothing! "Yeah," I said, "It's still long, just neater."

I lost 1.2 pounds yesterday, and I have no idea how. I tripped over the dogs in the garage and my shin landed in the rim of a tub. I cut and bruised my shin through my jeans and had to ice it for an hour. I took it easy for the rest of the day and didn't walk. Here is what I ate and somehow lost 1.2 pounds anyway:

Small bowl of Special K, strawberries and organic soy milk
Beef and bean burrito with salsa
Cheeseburger on a bun with BBQ sauce
Fuji apple with peanut butter and chocolate chips
Handful of chocolate chips
Small bowl of Special K, strawberries and organic soy milk

Edited later to add this higher contrast photo of my new haircut, because of popular demand. :) In this newer photo, my hair is wet, just like it is in the top photo. I just got out of the shower, toweled it dry, put mousse in it, and scrunched it.

I am going to let my hair air dry, and we shall see if these waves stay in my hair and lend it their texture. I had my long hair layered for years because it is so fine that it either just kind of plasters itself to my head, or it all flies away in different directions.

Every time I go to a salon, they recommend "light" products that won't weigh my hair down. Hello? I need heavy products! My baby fine hair needs to be weighed down! I love the way it looks when it is wet, though. Like in this picture.

145.6 Yay, A Four Day Weekend!

I received 20 free samples in the mail yesterday from Lipton. I tried their new instant mango pineapple "Tea & Honey." It tasted good. There is a slight aspartame aftertaste, but if you are used to that from diet soda, then you won't notice it.

Aspartame diet drinks helped me lose the 90 pounds. Aspartame is considered a dangerous substance by some, but to me, for a few months, to lose a lot of weight, it was worth the risks.

Now that I've lost the weight and am on keep trim eating, I am trying to wean myself from needing any flavor in my water. They sent me about 20 packets of this stuff. I plan to enjoy every last one, but I am not sure if I will use any of the 50 cents off coupons they sent and buy any after the samples are gone.

How do I get all these free samples, you ask?

Good question. :) I get free samples as Klout perks. Klout is a service that connects ordinary people to products that want authentic advertising. To get the perks, which are free products ranging from ice tea mix to snow boards to hotel stays in exotic locations to all kinds of crazy cool stuff, you share products on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, your blog, and wherever else you hang out online. Easy!

Yeah, Klout perks are great! Pretty awesome tip, huh? All I ask in return is that you circle me on Google+. Easy, right? And you'll be helping me gain Klout! ;) See? That's how you do it! And while you're on my Google+ profile, just Google "Klout the standard for influence" to read more about it, and then go to klout.com and join! :)

Today is a make up snow day for the kids at school. There is no school today and no school Monday for Memorial Day. Yay! I get a four day weekend!

I substituted yesterday for a teacher who had algebra class in the morning and PE in the afternoon. What an odd combination! It was fun taking the kids outside to play softball, though.

I walked with the kids during their 12 minute warm-up and I walked them out to their field. Scott and I walked a mile with the dogs when I got home, too.

There were cupcakes in the teacher's lounge again, and I succumbed. It didn't seem to hurt me any. I lost a pound yesterday. Here is what I ate:

Small bowl of Special K, strawberries and organic soy milk
Banquet Sweet and Sour Chicken frozen dinner 8 oz
Small vanilla cupcake with butter cream frosting (teacher's lounge)
Bean and cheese burrito with salsa
Two Fuji apples each with two tablespoons peanut butter and 24 chocolate chips

146.6 Car Hood Reflection Photo

I was going to blow this picture of me and Oreo up more so you could see the expressions on our faces, but look! My car hood reflects us and the trees behind us as if there is a lake in my front yard! I liked this so much I had to keep it in the picture. So there you go.

It's also odd how the sky is uniformly white in this photo. That is just how it was. I didn't doctor it at all. It rained about an hour after I took this picture, but at the time it was dry and overcast. This is Spokane, after all, "land of all four seasons in one day."

I took this picture yesterday. In May. It was 67 degrees out by the thermometer, but the wind was blowing at 10 - 21 mph. The cold wind was blowing, I should say. I wished I had gloves on for the first half of our walk. Then the sun came out and it was comfortable. And then it rained.

These are my other pair of size 8 skinny jeans, other than my Levi's 505s.

I walked a mile yesterday and gained .2 pounds, which is OK. I am still at my goal weight of 145 to 149.9. Here is what I ate yesterday:

Sliced Fuji apple with 2 tablespoons peanut butter and 12 chocolate chips
3 slices of Costco combo pizza
2 more slices of Costco combo pizza
Sliced Fuji apple with 2 tablespoons peanut butter and 12 chocolate chips
Handful of peanut M&Ms

146.4 Clouds Are Beautiful to Me

Most people here in Spokane, WA hate clouds and want it to be sunny every day. Clouds are beautiful to me. I was a passenger when I took that first photo of the clouds from the freeway. Don't worry.

That second photo is lavender late sunset reflecting off clouds, on the left, just above the stop sign. I really wish we had stopped the car a few minutes earlier, but trees were always in the way or we couldn't pull over. This is cool enough, but it was truly spectacular just a few minutes before this moment. Who knows, maybe I will get a better picture and post it here later.

I guess if you lived your whole life here in Spokane among the clouds, you might have seen this many times. I grew up in the Southern California desert, though, where it is sunny most of the time. Clouds are beautiful to me. I'm glad they block the sun. It hurts my eyes. I'm not used to sunsets after 8 p.m., either.

I took the photo below last summer somewhere on our drive from Spokane to Niagara Falls and back. I should have taken better notes of where we were when I took it. What struck me was the odd "whoosh" in the clouds, toward the top of the picture. My husband studied clouds a bit in college. He could tell you what kind these are and what sort of air movement formed them. To me, they are just pretty. :)

I gained .2 pounds yesterday. That is OK. I am at my goal weight of 145 to 149.9. I walked my dog a mile in the park, and I shopped at Costco and Wal-mart. Here is what I ate:

Fuji apple (available at Costco now, too) with peanut butter and chocolate chips
Beef and bean burrito with salsa
Three pieces of Costco combo pizza
Handful of peanut M&Ms

146.2 Walking Helped My Period Cramps

I am 48 years old, and yesterday I finally discovered the secret to making period cramps go away: go for a walk. I have been walking daily for a year now, but until yesterday I let my tradition of taking it easy during my period prevail. What a ninny I have been all my life, taking it easy during my period when all along, exercise was the key to relieving those awful menstrual cramps.

I had walked about a third of a mile when I noticed that my cramps were going away. My husband announced he was heading home. In wonder, I explained I wanted to stay out walking, because it was helping my cramps go away. I finished out a mile and my cramps were gone. They stayed gone for a few hours, but they did come back. Still, a few hours of relief is all I ever get from taking Midol or any other form of acetaminophen plus caffeine.

Walking Helped My Period Cramps Poster

I wish I could afford to make this picture into a poster and donate it to every middle school teacher in the world to display in her classroom so that other women wouldn't have to wait their entire lives to be in on this amazing form of period cramp relief. I am sure my mom tried to tell me that walking would help, but who listens to their mom when they're a teenager?

If you can afford to make this into a poster you have my blessing and urging to do so if you will hang it where even one teen girl will see it every day. A poster that a teen girl sees every day is pretty much the only thing she is going to listen to. Well, that and advertisements in fashion and cosmetic magazines, but they are all trying to get her money, not really to help her.

Medical Doctor Opinions and My Responses

Gina Shaw at WebMD confirms that cardiovascular exercise is the best relief for those awful cramps we get while we are on our periods. She calls it aerobic exercise, and explains this is anything that gets your heart rate up -- walking, biking, swimming or even ice skating. Shaw goes on to explain how and why exercise makes period cramps go away. Something about endorphins and burning the prostaglandins that cause muscle contractions. It's a good read.

Shaw suggests that regular exercise will prevent menstrual cramps, but this has not been my experience. I have been walking at least a mile a day for a year and I still get cramps during my period. However, exercise that relieves cramps while they are happening is worth it, in my opinion!

The Mayo Clinic suggests soaking in a hot bath or using a heating pad on the lower abdomen, to relieve menstrual cramps. Again in my experience, the heating pad never gets deep enough and all soaking in a hot bath or taking a hot shower or getting in the hot tub does is make my period heavier, with more blood. In fact, in that little "growing up" class they gave us girls in forth grade they told us to avoid hot baths during menstruation, because it would increase the flow of blood.

All I have to do is take a walk, and the cramps will go away! I feel like I have a new lease on life. Of course, I am only going to be getting my period for another few years, but that is a subject for another day.
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My Daily Weight Loss Post

I lost 2.6 pounds yesterday. I am betting most of it was water retention weight from all the sodium in the full can of chili I ate on Sunday. Probably some of it was fat from all that birthday cake. Like I said earlier, I walked a mile yesterday. Here is everything I ate:

Small bowl of Special K and organic soy milk with iced coffee and organic soy milk
Raw baby carrots with 2 tablespoons Parmesan spinach dip
Vanilla cupcake minus the frosting (free in the teacher's lounge)
Beef and bean burrito with salsa
Piece of chocolate birthday cake minus the frosting

148.8 Sugar Hangover

I don't know if she coined the phrase, "sugar hangover," but I first read it in Jennifer AlLee's novel, The Mother Road. I also know that right now, I am suffering from a sugar hangover. I have a headache and I am slightly nauseous.

See that huge cake box behind me in this picture? I have no one to blame but myself, but my husband ordered a half sheet birthday cake to bring to our tiny little Valley View Baptist Church Spokane yesterday. All of 15 people were there, and finished off about half this huge cake. So we had leftovers. I ate a lot of cake yesterday.

My sugar hangover symptoms are getting better as I eat my Special K and drink my iced coffee, both with organic soy milk.

I Googled "sugar hangover" and found these disturbing diabetes at Halloween cartoons by Megan Radford. I did not find the term "sugar hangover" at the Mayo Clinic's website or at Web MD, so I don't think it is an official malady. There are many articles and blog entries about it, though, so it is a term in our popular culture, at least.

I'm feeling much better now, after finishing my Special K and two cups of iced coffee. I gained 1.8 pounds yesterday, but I am still within my weight loss goal of 145 to 149.9. I walked the dogs a mile plus in the park. Here is what I ate:

Small bowl of Special K and organic soy milk
Church potluck: bowl of minestrone soup, two teriyaki meatballs, chicken wing, two pieces of birthday cake
Fuji apple with peanut butter and chocolate chips
Four more pieces of birthday cake

I won't be eating any more of that birthday cake. I'm taking it easy until I am back down to 145.
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Guide to Thousands of Unlisted Job Openings in the US!

Do you know anyone who is over 40 and has a college degree, but no job? I wrote this book for them. Tell them about it, or better yet, buy them a copy. Turnover is high in these jobs, so there are almost always openings. With this guide, a substitute can do the job so well they actually like it. I do.

I hope you will at least "look inside" the high school substitute teacher's guide I wrote. The free book sample you get by "looking inside" tells you not only how to get a job as a substitute teacher, but also my qualifications to write the book: my education and detailed substitute teaching work history (since 1989).

This book is available in paperback, in Kindle mobi format at Amazon, in Nook format at Barnes and Noble, and in any other format you could possibly need through Smashwords.

147 I Might Be in a Movie!

Oreo and Raffle and I were on our daily constitutional walk in the park yesterday when I noticed there was a sign taped to one of the trees:

"Crowd Notice / Release

"Please be aware that by entering... area, you consent to your voice... likeness being used without compensation in films and tape... exploitation in any and all... whether now known or here... Devised and you release the... of Meet Twitchy, Twitchy's Twisted Tales... successors, assigns and... from any liability of account... usage. If you do not wish to be... to the foregoing, do not enter... area."

I put in the ... wherever the duct tape that held the sign to the tree covered up what it said. The gist is that someone was doing production work on a film called Meet Twitchy, Twitchy's Twisted Tales there in my neighborhood's public park--

and by wandering through the area I might be in the film.

Wow. Wandering into a movie set here in Washington State is apparently a lot easier than where I was a liability claims adjuster, in Southern California. There, everyone is law suit happy. This one sign taped to one tree would never be considered enough notice to release liability, especially on a Saturday in a public park where children are present.

I had gone two laps around the park before I even noticed this sign. Once I noticed the sign, the group of people gathered around the restrooms made a lot more sense and I sneaked a photo of them from across the park. I figured turnabout was fair play: if their sign waived their need to ask me for permission to take my photo, then it must waive my need to ask their permission to take their photo, too?

I used the zoom on my digital camera and took this photo of them from a good 100 yards away, balancing the camera on the rail of a chain link fence for stability. I felt like paparazzi! When I got home and uploaded the photos I saw the one guy on the right in the red was looking at me. He was apparently the only one who noticed what I was doing.

Anyway, if I am in this movie, this is what I will look like. Wearing plaid shorts and a pink T shirt with a black purse over my shoulder and my two dogs in tow. I had my sleeves pushed up so that I wouldn't get tan lines, though. That probably looks kind of dorky.

I Googled Meet Twitchy, Twitchy's Twisted Tales. No results came up. I don't know who these people are or where or when this film / TV show / cartoon / what have you might appear.

I walked two miles yesterday. I gained two pounds, but I am at my weight-loss goal of 145 to 149.9. Here is what I ate yesterday:

Bean and cheese burrito with salsa
Fuji apple with 2 tablespoons peanut butter and 24 chocolate chips
Can of Cattle Drive chili, 5 slices of American cheese, cup of corn tortilla chips
Late night eating while reading a novel (not recommended!):
Another Fuji apple with 2 tablespoons peanut butter and 24 chocolate chips
Two slices of toasted wheat bread with peanut butter and Smucker's strawberry jam
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145.4 Nanny Dog Pack Behavior

Both our dogs are neutered males. We humans are the alpha male and female in our family. Both dogs are helpers in our pack. We rescued the brown dog on the left from the pound first.

When we got the black dog on the right from the pound, I thought he was a puppy. He didn't have any rear teeth. Later, I found out he was just a bird dog, bred not to grow any rear teeth.

I thought the black dog would need training in how to be a dog, so I told the brown dog to watch while I groomed the black dog. Ever since then, the brown dog has groomed the black dog. Like it's his job. He is happy to do it, and the black dog is happy to be groomed.

Also, the brown dog was far past teething when the black dog joined our pack. So, the brown dog started grooming his teething toys! He would carry them around in his mouth, set them down, and give them baths.

My sister has a coffee table book on wolf behavior that explains dog pack behavior. The alpha female in the pack picks one of the helper wolves in the pack to be her nanny and raise her pups for her. The nanny can be a male or a female. My poor dog is preparing himself for when I have pups for him to raise. He will be preparing forever.

I gained .4 pounds yesterday because I ate like a pig! I substitute taught in single survival class, and they got to eat the chicken pot pies they made earlier in the week. The pies were good, and I ate about half of one all by myself! I walked with the walking class for 30 minutes and later with my dogs in the park half a mile. Here is everything I ate yesterday:

Fuji apple with peanut butter and chocolate chips
Raw baby carrots with 2 tablespoons Parmesan spinach dip
2 small red velvet cupcakes
Half a chicken pot pie
Handful of peanut M&Ms
Handful of corn tortilla chips

145 Fuji Apples Washington State

The first time I tried to buy a Fuji apple was 25 years ago, and they tried to charge me almost $4 for it! They were grown only in Japan, back then, and shipped over to the US individually wrapped in rubber socks. Today, Fuji apples are grown locally here in Washington State, and sold for 85 cents a pound at Wal-mart.

Fuji apples are the best apples I have ever tasted. They are crisp through and through with none of that powdery dry consistency. Fuji apples are sweet. Fuji apples are juicy. They are perfect.

Me being interested in apples is a new thing, part of my lifestyle change from fat person to skinny person. I have started to crave apples when I want something sweet, instead of cookies or cake. My favorite snack lately is a Fuji apple sliced in 12 with 2 tablespoons of peanut butter divided among the slices and 24 chocolate chips stuck into the peanut butter. I am having this for breakfast this morning, in fact.

I gained .8 pounds yesterday, but I needed to. I was .8 pounds under my goal weight of 145 to 149.9. The banana bread I made was most of the reason I gained. Yum! I am having some of that with my breakfast coffee, too! We walked the dogs a mile and a half round the park. Here is what I ate yesterday:

Sliced Fuji apple with 2 tablespoons peanut butter and 24 chocolate chips
Bean and cheese burrito with salsa
Hamburger on a bun with BBQ sauce and cheese
Lots of banana bread!

According to Washington State University, Fuji apples were first harvested in Washington in 1992. The university's data also confirms that Fuji apples are crisper than Red Delicious apples.

144.2 Girl with Punching Bag

I lost 1.8 pounds yesterday. I meant to just lose the pound I gained from eating sour cream, guacamole, cheese and tortilla Tuesday night. I walked a mile plus. Here is what I ate:

Small bowl of Special K, strawberries and organic soy milk
Handful of raw baby carrots
2 tablespoons Parmesan spinach dip
1c non-fat Fage Greek yogurt with honey and strawberries
Fuji apple with 2 tablespoons peanut butter & 12 choc chips

Isn't this picture hilarious? It looks like I am training to be a prize fighter. I am about as likely to fight anyone as I am to spontaneously blow up. I was passing through the garage, and I thought, "Hm, I haven't taken any pictures in the garage. Maybe it would be a nice change of scenery."

That punching bag has been there for months, ever since we found it for $5 at a garage sale. Scott punches it from time to time. I tried it out when we first got it, but now it is just something I have to dodge when I walk by.

What I was trying to show in this picture is the muscle definition in my calves -- and this cool new outfit I am wearing today. I got the shorts at TJ Maxx about a month ago. Love them. I got the top the other day, at Good Will, for $2. Maybe you can't tell in this picture, but the top has silver thread in it and it sparkles. It does look like something Rocky Balboa would wear, doesn't it! LOL!

146.0 Love the Week Before Memorial Day

I'm substitute teaching yet again today! Gotta love the week before Memorial Day weekend. Today it's English again, but for a teacher I have not been in for before. Here's hoping it's fun! I have no idea what the lesson plan is or even what they are reading. The assignment came through the system last night, but with no contact from the teacher.

We walked the dogs a mile in the park yesterday. It was hot, 90F. I wore that dress and I wasn't even scantily clad, compared with some of the other women at the school. I got lots of compliments on the dress. That felt great.

Here is what I ate yesterday. I gained a pound, but I can afford it. I am well within my goal weight range of 145 to 149.9:

Two bean and cheese burritos by El Monterey, with salsa
Fuji apple with peanut butter and chocolate chips
Qdoba steak quesadilla with guacamole and sour cream
Handful of peanut M&Ms

I tried the new ginger shampoo and conditioner, but that was last night and I slept on it, so it is probably not a good enough trial to let you know how it worked out, for styling my hair. I will get it trimmed soon so it is not so thin at the ends.

145.0 Muscle Definition in My Calf and My Forearm

I'm teaching sewing, walking, and single survival classes in this dress today. It was 93 F here in Spokane yesterday, and a dress is really my only option for something cool enough to walk outside in for 45 minutes. Shorts would be too unprofessional for all day, and I don't want to change there.

See the muscle definition in my calf and my forearm! Wow. What a difference a year makes. When I sit in the car with my knees up high in front of me, my thigh muscles are defined as well. It's too bad I waited to be almost 50 before getting into shape, but better late than never, eh?

I got paid yesterday to sit and watch the Zeffirelli "Romeo and Juliet" movie over and over. I adore the costuming and set design. I love my job! During the tomb scene at the end I told the students there is a school of thought which says "Romeo and Juliet" is not a great romantic story, but a farce about how stupid teenagers can be. They had already read the play, of course, and so they knew Juliet wasn't really dead and that Romeo was being too emo. I won most of these high school freshmen over to this school of thought.

The only thing I don't like about this picture is you can see the little bit of extra skin I still have under my chin. I still hold out hope that this will recede after a few more months of keeping the weight off.

I walked a mile in the park yesterday. I also shopped for about 20 minutes. Here is what I ate and maintained my weight perfectly at 145.0:

Small bowl of Special K, strawberries and organic soy milk
Fuji apple grown here in Washington State
Handful of raw baby carrots and 2 tablespoons Parmesan spinach dip
McDonald's cheeseburger and small strawberry shake
Small bowl of Special K, strawberries and organic soy milk
Cup of popcorn

145.0 Cliff in Dark Shadows and Return of the King

My butt used to get stuck in these lawn chairs! That was one of the first things that made me realize I was fat. Believe it or not, I lived in denial of being fat for years. I never wanted pictures taken, because subconsciously I knew that if I saw myself in pictures, I would have to face facts.

The photo on the top was taken last summer, after I had been dieting for three months. At 220 and a size 18, I thought I was an OK weight, at the time. When we got home and I saw the pictures, my resolve to slim down to 145 and a size 8. That is where I am today, in the bottom photo.

I saw the Tim Burton / Johnny Depp movie "Dark Shadows" in the theater yesterday. It was silly. The only parts I liked about it were the 1972 setting and the in-jokes about the "Lord of the Rings" movie "Return of the King." I was 9 in 1972, and I loved seeing Victoria's white tights and flip hairdo, not to mention all the cool clothes Michelle Pfeiffer's character wears.

Coincidentally, we had just been watching "Return of the King" the night before I Saw "Dark Shadows." The large prop used for the helicopter pad type cliff in Minas Tirith is the same large prop used for the widow's leap hill in "Dark Shadows." The shape of that cliff is very distinctive, and even though they dressed it completely differently, the shape remains the same. I might not have noticed, had I not just been watching "Return of the King" the night before.

I walked my dog a mile yesterday and shopped for about an hour. I lost .2 pounds. Here is what I ate:

2 Fuji Apples with peanut butter and chocolate chips
Dinner plate full of leftover cheese pizza
Bean and cheese burrito with salsa

145.2 Nothing Beats a Dog Smiling!

The funniest thing about this picture is the camera was on a timer, resting on a wall. There was no one to smile at. My dog smiled at the camera because I smiled at the camera! True story!

On the one hand, this brown dog, Raffle, is so in tune with us, his humans, it is eery. He is one of those dogs who is eager to please and anxious to do everything you ask him to do. He is the most obedient dog I have ever seen. A cashier at Pet Smart tried to give Raffle a treat once, and he looked to Scott for permission, before taking it. We think Raffle is part Queensland Healer, but we rescued them both at the pound, so we aren't sure what all they are.

On the other hand, this black dog, Oreo, is a rascal! Every bit as smart as Raffle, Oreo looks out for number one, and only obeys if he can't help it, or if there is something in it for him. He roots around in the grass constantly while we walk through the park, and eats all the scraps he finds if I don't pull his nose away from them in time. That's why the leash that I hold goes straight to Oreo, and Raffle's leash is tied to Oreo's harness. We think Oreo is part Springer Spaniel.

I walked the dogs 2/3 of a mile yesterday, and I walked all over Costco, Wal-mart and the Goodwill Thrift Store. I maintained my weight perfectly at 145.2.

Here is what I ate yesterday:

Small piece of pepperoni pizza
Bean and cheese burrito
Cup of Fage Greek style yogurt with Special K and strawberries
Leftover baked chicken, Brussels sprouts, onion and carrots
Fuji apple (grown here in Washington) in 12 slices with 2 tablespoons peanut butter and 24 chocolate chips
Handful of peanut M&Ms

145.2 Sauteed Onions Favorite Meals

My favorite meals start with sauteed onions:
Low Carb Fajitas,
Veggie Scrambled Eggs,
Fried Potatoes Sausage and Onion
Patty Melt

Nothing compares with the sweet taste of carmelized fried onions! I heat up the fat, add the onions, and then turn the heat down to low and cook the onions for at least an hour, until they are clear.

The few times I have tried to hurry up and fry the onions quickly on medium or high heat, they have turned dark white and inedible. The onions in this photo have been simmering for 20 minutes. They are just starting to turn clear.

After the onions turn clear, I like to turn up the heat and brown them. Some people prefer them clear.

Anymore, I don't eat vegetable oil if I can help it. I stick to animal fats: grease and butter. I saute my onions for fajitas in butter, for scrambled eggs in bacon grease, and for fried potatoes in sausage grease.

I walked both dogs a mile in the park yesterday, and I was on my feet most of the day, substitute teaching. One of the classes was PE, and we played kickball. I was first base. I dodged the ball quite a bit!

I lost 2.2 pounds yesterday, along with physical activity. Here is what I ate:

Small bean and cheese burrito with salsa
Leftover baked chicken, onion, carrots and Brussels sprouts
One small piece of leftover taco pizza from Wonderland Golf and Games
One Fuji apple cut into 12 slices with 2 tablespoons peanut butter and 24 chocolate chips

147.4 Glamour at 30 or Fitness at 48?

If you are reading this and you have not yet embraced an active lifestyle full of fun exercise that you enjoy -- you are missing out! I know how it is, believe me, I have been there. When you are fat, it hurts to walk: your ankles buckle in pain under your weight. Follow my mom's sage advice, though. Lose the weight NOW, while you still CAN exercise.

I promise, after 3 weeks of walking every day, you will start to like walking and look forward to your daily walk. If my mom and my mother in law had not promised me that, I never would have gotten fit. I am so grateful to be free of the slavery to all that fat and all those atrophied muscles that I just have to share this freedom with you!

An added bonus is that you will LOOK better! All the make up and clothing in the world can't make you as beautiful as exercise will. In the photo on top at left, I was skinny, but I had done that by smoking instead of eating, not with exercise. I was 30 and a size 8, but I don't think I looked as good as I do now at 48 and a size 8.

Exercise does not have to cost you a dime, either. It is fun and social to join a gym and take classes with other people or to swim at the community pool or take water aerobics, yes. But, you can just put on some walking shoes and step outside your front door. I actually prefer walking, for my regular work out. I don't have to schedule it or drive anywhere or pay any money.

Save all that money you spend on cosmetics and use it to buy used clothes in smaller and smaller sizes as you exercise, watch what you eat, and slim down. That is the best gift you will ever give yourself.

I walked a mile yesterday, ate a bunch of pizza and apple pie, and gained .8 pounds. I am still within my goal weight of 145 to 149.9. Here is everything I ate:

Small bowl of Special K, strawberries and organic soy milk
Half a leftover pizza from Wonderland Golf and Games
Fuji apple with peanut butter and chocolate chips
Hostess apple fruit pie

146.6 Glow in the Dark Mini Golf Spokane

Last night for Scott's birthday we played glow in the dark miniature golf under black lights, with the family we usually have Bible study with on Wednesday nights. It was so much fun! Most of us didn't even know we would be under black lights, but we wore enough white that we all glowed in places and that made it fun to see each other moving around. The little girl wore sneakers with lights on them that lit up whenever she stepped and that was especially cool down there in the dark play area.

We also ate surprisingly good pizza for dinner there, played arcade games, and watched the kids climb all over apparatus that reminded me of my old Habitrail hamster cage. We got something like 500 tickets from the arcade games we played, and the kids had fun getting little toys and candy in the store ticket shop.

We brought ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins for desert. Since it was a Wednesday and not yet the busy summer season, the manager let us put our ice cream cake in the freezer before dinner, and our leftover pizza in the fridge while we played miniature golf.

The glow in the dark mini golf course is 18 holes downstairs under the restaurant and arcade. It is open year round. We could tell it originally was just a regular miniature golf course, and we applaud whoever thought of painting it with glow in the dark paint. What a great idea!

The place is Wonderland Golf and Games 10515 North Division Street, Spokane, WA 99218 (509) 468-4386. They have outdoor mini golf, too, and lazer tag. In summer they also have a batting cage, go carts and bumper boats.

I lost .2 pounds yesterday, even eating pizza and ice cream cake! I walked 3 miles with the kids at school. Here is everything I ate:

Small bowl of Special K, strawberries and organic soy milk
Bean and cheese burrito with salsa
Whole dinner plate of Wonderland pizza - supreme and taco varieties
Two glasses of lemonade
Lots of ice cream cake -- mint chocolate chip and cookies and cream
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146.8 Why I Didn't Review Your Free Kindle Book

I get lots of free books on Kindle these days, and I am not complaining. New authors want to break into the world of publishing, and so they put their books up for free. They hope I will post favorable reviews of their books and tell all my friends how great their books are. This is really the only way a new author can get noticed these days, because there is so much out there available to read.

I am not complaining, but some new authors are. I see their complaints in Amazon's author forums: "I get lots of downloads when my book is free, but hardly any reviews," they say. "Why do readers take the time to read my book, but not the few minutes it takes to write a review?"

If you know any new authors, please direct them here to read my 2 answers, either:

1) I don't want my good name associated with your book, or
2) I did review your book, just not on Amazon.

1) Most people use real names on Amazon, and it's a pain to set up a new Amazon profile. When I review a book on Amazon, my name is associated with it basically for the life of the Internet. There are many reasons I might not like your book. Bad writing comes to mind almost immediately, but bad writing in itself won't put me off reviewing your book on Amazon. Mostly, it comes down to your book not delivering what it promises in the write-up you used to get me to download your book.

The most recent free book I started reading but neither finished nor reviewed promised a light, fun romance. What it gave me was a bunch of excuses for committing adultery. Not just once, but over and over again the two main female characters persuaded each other that it was OK to sleep with a married man. At first, I kept reading, thinking they would learn the error of their ways. But after 10 more pages of them telling each other home wrecking was just a little fun -- I gave up on that book. I slept on it, and I woke up with this rant in my head. There is no way I am even going to post the name of that book here, let alone review it on Amazon.

2) I have reviewed several books here on my blog, rather than on Amazon. You can find blog reviews of your book by setting Google alerts for your book's title. I link to the Amazon page of every book I review, so you are not losing sales from me reviewing your book on my blog. On the contrary, I am giving you free publicity. Books I am most likely to review here are weight loss, fitness and recipe books.

/end rant

I walked three miles yesterday and I lost .8 pounds. Here is what I ate:

Small bowl of Special K, strawberries and organic soy milk
Leftover baked chicken, onion and carrots
Small Fuji apple
Bean and cheese burrito with salsa
Small bowl of Special K, strawberries and organic soy milk

147.6 Substitute Teaching Is Like Being a Grandma

I am so blessed to have work that I love! I fell in with some students yesterday as I was walking to the bus stop after school. They were complaining about some of their teachers. I raised my eyebrows and good-naturedly warned them I was a substitute and that I could hear them. "Oh, substitutes are nice!" they said. "Yeah," I said, "We can afford to be nice. Substitute teaching is kind of like being a grandma. We spoil you and give you back to your regular teacher."

These were high school students, and they laughed and agreed with me. I explained that I have been a regular teacher, and it is not easy. I told them I much prefer being a substitute.

I saw this T shirt at Wal-mart this morning while I was shopping for Scott's birthday card. It reminded me of that conversation I had with those students yesterday, and made me smile. In case you don't know the reference, it is a play on a commercial for Las Vegas, "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas."

I forgot to weigh in yesterday, but I have lost .2 pounds since Sunday. I am at my goal of 145 to 149.9. Yay!

I walked a mile to bus stops yesterday, and I walked the dogs a mile around the neighborhood. I wore shorts and soaked up some of the sun we had yesterday.

Here is what I ate yesterday:

Small bowl of Special K, strawberries and organic soy milk
2 small bananas
Handful of raw baby carrots and 2 tablespoons Parmesan spinach dip
1/4 a Costco combo pizza
Small green apple with peanut butter and chocolate chips

Styling Products for Long Hair that is Fine and Wavy?

I forgot to weigh in this morning. Oops. Do any of you know of any Hair styling products that would help my long and wavy but very fine hair look like this after it dries? I love how my hair looks after I condition it and partly dry it but before I brush it.

None of the syling products I have tried could keep each wave separated yet be light enough to not pull the waves out of my incredibly limp fine hair. Should I just hairspray it while it is damp like this? That is actually something I have not tried.

I am substitute teaching today, in English. They are reading Romeo and Juliet. It should be fun. Scott is working this evening (Yay!), so he is dropping me off at the school and then I get to take two city buses home. I would walk the 5 miles if I hadn't just been sick. Best to take it easy one more day, I think. I will end up walking almost a mile, even taking the bus.

Here is what I ate yesterday, taking it easy on the sodium:

Small bowl of Special K, strawberries and organic soy milk
2 pieces of toast with peanut butter and jam
Waffle cone with one scoop of butter pecan at Baskin Robbins while Scott ordered his ice cream birthday cake
Leftover baked chicken, onion and carrots

My hair has just enough curl and is fine and light enough that it doesn't look good brushed. I have to straighten it if I want to wear it plain old down and brushed. There are other pictures here on my blog of what happens if I just let it down. It all flies away in different directions. I love how it looks in this picture: each wave separated into a distinct tendril and all of it staying down against my back. How can I get it to stay like that all day?

147.8 Still Sick But Wanted this Dress

My husband received some birthday money yesterday from his parents and nicely asked me if there was anything I wanted him to get me for my upcoming birthday. I suddenly realized that I really wanted this dress that I had seen at Costco. I knew they only had one or two in size 8, and they would be all gone soon.

My husband had to work swing shift yesterday, so he would be asleep when Costco opened at 10. I know it was wrong to expose all the Costco employees and customers to my chest cold. I was in and out of there as fast as I could go. I only coughed twice, and both times I covered my mouth.

I do feel much better. My voice is almost back to normal. No more sneezing or sinus headache. Almost no runny nose or coughing. Just a little chest congestion. I am staying home today, but I plan on fulfilling a substitute teaching assignment tomorrow. This guy's classes are reading Romeo and Juliet, and he specifically requested me ahead of time because I majored in English.

For exercise yesterday, I shopped at Costco and I did four sets of arm workouts on the Total Gym. My arms feel better today for it. I gained 3.6 pounds yesterday though. That is the biggest gain I have ever seen. Here's hoping it is mostly water retention from eating too much salt. Here is what I ate yesterday:

Cup of chili dip and a cup of corn tortilla chips
Half a Costco combo pizza
Small green apple with peanut butter and chocolate chips

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144.2 Corn Weeds

I did a little gardening yesterday, with manual clippers. It felt kind of good to take my aggression out on these corn weeds. We call them that because last year, these Johnsongrass weeds tricked us into letting them grow. We thought they were corn stalks.

To answer your question, "How fast does Johnson grass grow?" Ug, too fast! The huge leaves you see in this picture are only about two months' growth from dormant woody stalks.

We just rented this house last year. It has a second lot attached to it, and we had permission to plant corn there. It was just too good to be true that corn was already growing in this dog run behind the house. We are city people who had never grown corn before. We were fooled.

You can see clumps of woody Johnson Grass stalks sticking up amid the wreckage in the photo below. This shows that we were not the first residents this Johnsongrass fooled into letting it grow. They probably called it a corn weed too, after they figured out it was never going to grow ears of corn.

I know now that corn grows in single stalks, while Johnson Grass grows in clumps, and that is how you tell the difference between real corn and corn weeds. But even UC Davis says Johnsongrass seedlings look like corn.

Update a few years later: I've completely rid us of this Johnson Grass by taking a spade to the plant while dormant in winter and cutting the root system over and over and then putting a turtle pool over where it used to grow. My theory is that cutting the roots stunted it and then preventing sunshine from getting there killed it.

This is gnarly hardy stuff, though, so you have to take a shovel to it multiple times. I placed the blade of the shovel in the middle of the woody winter clump, put my foot on it, and threw all my weight down into the root system, then dug out what I had cut off and burned that.

144.2 Coffee: Why Cold Water

The first time I drained a water heater, I understood why I needed to use cold water -- not only for coffee, but for tea, hot chocolate, spaghetti, rice, steamed vegetables, and anything else I would be putting in my mouth. Water heaters get coated with a white film that drains out with the water. It is thick. Our water drained out into the gutter, and the white film made up about a third of what came out. That film is the reason you are supposed to drain your water heater every few years. I don't think ours had ever been drained. It was gross.

If you use hot water from the tap to make anything you will be drinking or eating, then you are ingesting this thick white film. Ew! Turns out, this coating on the inside of water heaters is mostly salt. I don't know about you, but I don't want salt in my coffee!

Not only do I use cold water for coffee and cooking, I let the cold water run for a few seconds before I start collecting it into the coffee pot or pan. The farther I am from the water source, the longer I let it run first. This clears out any water that has been sitting in the pipes for any length of time, and is more likely to have sediment in it. I have lived my whole life drinking tap water rather than bottled water, but I know to run it a few seconds before I collect it. If you want to conserve water, then just rinse out some dirty dishes as you let the water run before collecting it. Or, let the water run into a container that you use to water plants.

I am still sick with this cold, coughing now as well as sneezing. The runny nose has slowed down, thank God. Because I am sick, I am not exercising. My body seems to be burning up all the calories I eat just to combat the sickness.

Here is what I ate yesterday and lost 1.4 pounds, just from fighting illness:

Small bowl of Special K, strawberries and organic soy milk
Cup of Healthy Choice chicken and rice soup
One bean and cheese burrito with 3 tablespoons of salsa
Cup of corn tortilla chips

I am back to drinking coffee today, so I know I am getting over my illness. That is how I can tell. It should be noted that I drink my coffee black, without any sweetener. I have ever since I read Dr Tarnower's book in high school in the late 1970s. Do you know that a typical cup of doctored coffee at Starbucks has 450 calories? Yes, it does. I bet Starbucks uses cold water to make that coffee, though.

145.6 Still Sick

Yuck, I am still sick with this cold, sneezing and nose running all the time. It is giving me a sinus headache. I might give in and take some Tylenol for the headache. I was trying not to suppress my immune system with drugs, but there isn't much it can do against a virus, anyway. A virus just has to run its course. I did take my temperature and it is a steady 98.6, which says to me it is probably a virus, not a bacterial infection.

I didn't get much exercise yesterday. I stayed inside so that my body would not have to spend any energy keeping me warm and could give all its got to getting me well. I went up and down the basement stairs a few times, doing laundry. I did a minute or so on the stair step exercise machine.

Here is what I ate and gained 2 pounds, which is OK because I was below goal:

2 small green apples with peanut butter and bittersweet chocolate chips
3 servings of sweetened instant oatmeal
2 cups of corn tortilla chips
2 pieces of Costco combo pizza
Small bowl of Special K, strawberries and organic soy milk

143.6 I am ill.

I lost .4 pounds yesterday, and I was trying to gain a little. I came down with a cold late last night and cancelled my substitute teaching assignment for today. My throat itches and I have a bit of a sinus headache with some runny nose. Maybe being sick is helping burn off the calories.

For exercise yesterday: I walked my dog two miles round trip to the post office and a mile around the park. I shopped at Costco, and I did a few minutes on the stair step exercise machine.

Here is what I ate and lost .4 pounds, along with all that exercise:

Two small green apples with peanut butter and chocolate chips
Cup of Fage nonfat plain Greek yogurt with strawberries and honey
A third of a Costco combo pizza
Small bowl of strawberries drizzled with Hershey's Special Dark chocolate syrup

Scott took this picture of me and my dog a few weeks ago.

I suppose I will have to rethink the "I don't feel well" thing. The opposite of "I feel well" is "I feel ill." Let's try that will a few different verbs, adjectives and adverbs:

I am ill.
I am well.

I feel ill.
I feel well.

I feel good.
I feel bad.

I am good.
I am bad.

Using the word "well" instead of the word "good" does make clear we are speaking of our health. If I say I feel bad, we don't know if it is sickness or guilt which plagues me. If I say I am bad, it for sure sounds like I am admitting guilt, not complaining of sickness.