149.4 Coeur d'Alene Resort

Mom and I had a spectacular day together yesterday at the Coeur d'Alene Resort! Here we are pictured with our huckleberry cheesecake. You can't see the view of the sparkly sunset lake that we had from our table here at the Dockside restaurant, but you can see the sunshine bouncing off everything! Neither of us can remember ever having a better dinner, either. We started with a salmon cake that came dressed in spinach salad. We had the bacon-wrapped meatloaf with from-scratch mash potatoes and gravy, and then this cheesecake. Mmmmm!

I lost .2 pounds somewhere between Sunday morning's post and this morning's, too! What a nice thing to come home to! Sunday for exercise I walked the dogs a mile. Yesterday, Mom and I walked all over the park and beaches by the Coeur d'Alene Resort.

I tried to swim, but I am from the Southern California desert, and Idaho is just not warm enough for me to get in the water. It wasn't yesterday, anyway. The ambient temperature was 86F, but a cool breeze came off the water. It was very pleasant for sitting in the grass and watching other people play in the water, such as this paddle surfer.

Here is what I ate yesterday:

One plate of complimentary buffet breakfast at Best Western Coeur d'Alene: eggs, sausage, home fried potatoes, cantaloupe, dry cinnamon-roll French toast, mini banana nut muffin

Small bowl of Special K and organic soy milk

Grazing cooler lunch on the lawn watching people in the water:
Half a coconut protein bar, almonds, apple slices, cheese chunks, grapes, raw baby carrots, red bell pepper slices

Half a salmon cake with mayo and spinach (yum!)
Half a meatloaf dinner with potatoes and gravy and steamed squash
Half a big slice of huckleberry cheesecake

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Here is what I ate Sunday:

Special K, blueberries, and organic soy milk
Custard-filled maple donut at church fellowship
El Monterey beef and bean burrito with salsa
Raw baby carrots
Qdoba mango chicken salad in the fried tortilla shell with just a little dressing

149.6 Unauthorized Use of Fire Hydrant in Spokane Valley

Yesterday, I noticed these new stickers on all the local fire hydrants: "Unauthorized use of this fire hydrant is prohibited." Unfortunately, while I was reading the sticker, my dogs thought of a use for the hydrant that I am not sure is authorized. I hope I don't get in trouble. I am posting this picture to document that they did not actually touch the hydrant, disable it, or consume any of the water. I hope these extenuating circumstances are enough to exonerate me, as the dogs' owner.

See this page for my previous documentation of my dogs' activities in the region.

There were lots of kids in the park yesterday, so I took the dogs up the hill instead. They really love going up there and smelling all the wild things' scents on all the plants. I went 50 feet up from the first fork in the trail. I wasn't really tired, either, but I hadn't brought any water and it was hot, so we turned around.

I gained .4 pounds yesterday. I think my late night snack did me in, and it would have been a loss day if not for that. For exercise, I walked the dogs up the hill and I shopped at Wal-mart in the air conditioning in the hottest part of the afternoon. I'm no dummie! Here's what I ate:

Small bowl of Special K, organic soy milk, and blueberries
1/4 cup peanut M&Ms

El Monterey beef and bean burrito with salsa
Apple with 2 T chunky peanut butter and 36 dark chocolate chips

Hamburger patty, 1 T BBQ sauce, raw baby carrots
1/4 cup peanut M&Ms

Late night snack:
2 slices of wheat toast with 2 tablespoons chunky peanut butter

149.2 My Froggies Make Me Happy

I rediscovered this frog soap dispenser the other day, in a box. I filled it with aloe vera Soft Soap and then added some green food coloring. It makes me happy every time I go to the kitchen sink! We got it at the dollar store a few years ago. It came with clear green soap in it. I call it "My Froggie," in a little-kid voice.

Scott found these frog salt and pepper shakers on one of our walks this past spring. They were brand new, with the price tags still on them, laying in the dirt by the side of the road. Who knows the story behind that one. They are my personal salt and pepper shakers that I keep at my desk for when I eat here, which is usually.

I like froggies because they remind me of catching frogs for pets back on our family farm. We spent summers there sometimes, when I was a kid. We would catch a whole bucket full of frogs and keep them all weekend, then let them go back into the lake before driving back to the city.

I lost .8 pounds yesterday, yay! I am once again within my weight-loss goal of 145 to 149.9 pounds. For exercise, I walked the dogs a mile and shopped at Costco and Wal-mart. I probably walked three miles all told. Here is what I ate:

Special K, blueberries, and organic soy milk (1 serving grains, 1 fruit, 1 legume protein)
El Monterey bean and cheese burrito with salsa (1 serving dairy, 1 legume, 1 vegetables)
1 serving peanut M&Ms (1 serving sugar, 1 legume)
Steamed broccoli with Amy's Organic Lentil soup (2 servings vegetables, 1 legumes)
Raw baby carrots (1 serving vegetables)
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Daily Serving Totals: 1 grains, 1 dairy, 1 sugar, 1 fruit, 4 vegetables, 4 legume proteins

150.0 .1 Over Goal

OK, OK, I have to do a better job keeping the weight off. Eating fajitas when I am so close to the top of my goal range was a bad idea. Fajitas are my favorite, though...

I gained .4 pounds yesterday. I did more than the usual exercise of walking a mile, but not much more. I took an additional walk of once around the park, or about a third of a mile. It was hot yesterday, what can I say.

Here is what I ate, and I loved the fajitas! :)

Special K with blueberries and organic soy milk
El Monterey beef and bean burrito with salsa
Raw baby carrots
Blueberries
2 homemade chicken fajitas burritos
1 serving of peanut M&Ms (1/4 cup)
Apple with chunky peanut butter and dark chocolate chips

I probably could have skipped the apple. I had it late in the evening, just before bed, which is a bad idea.

149.6 Rain Boots and Shorts

Often when I walk in the park I wear rain boots with my shorts, not because it is raining, but because the grass is soaking wet from when it did rain. Spokanites have fashions in rain boots. These are actually "shrimp boots" that I got in New Orleans in the summer of 2007.

I actually went out like this in the rain the other day. It was 90F and raining. The rain stuck on the ground, but it evaporated off my clothes almost as soon as it hit them. Really a strange experience.

In summer there are more days without rain than with. Almost every day in spring is rainy in Spokane. It started freezing mid October year before last. Last year the first snow came just after Thanksgiving.

I gained 1.2 pounds yesterday. I walked both dogs a mile in the park for exercise and did a little time on the stair stepper. Here is what I ate:

Special K with blueberries and organic soy milk
Apple, chunky peanut butter, and dark chocolate chips
El Monterey beef and bean burrito with salsa
1 serving of peanut M&Ms (1/4 cup)
Apple, chunky peanut butter, and dark chocolate chips
Salmon patty and steamed broccoli
Apple, chunky peanut butter, and dark chocolate chips
2 servings (10 chips each) of corn tortilla chips

I'll be taking it easy on the eating today. I don't want to go over my 145 to 149.9 goal again.

148.4 Spokane Falls and Riverfront Park

Last evening we left the dogs at home and went for a stroll around Spokane's Riverfront Park to see the waterfalls. The city was founded on the Spokane tribe's native settlement. The tribe presumably picked this site because of the waterfalls.

Up until 1973, the waterfalls were surrounded by industry: mills and power plants and railroad tracks. Spokane tore down all this industry and built Riverfront Park for the 1974 World's Fair. I question if that destruction of industry and railroad lines benefited the city financially in the long run, but Riverfront Park sure is a nice place to take a stroll.

I lost .4 pounds yesterday. I am sure the extra walk is what I have to thank. I walked my dog around the neighborhood park a mile in the morning, and then we drove to Riverfront Park and strolled around about two miles in the evening. Here is what I ate yesterday:

Special K with organic soy milk and blueberries
Hostess Fruit Pie - apple
El Monterey bean and cheese burrito with salsa
1 serving of peanut M&Ms (1/4 cup)
Sliced Gala apple candied with 2 tablespoons chunky peanut butter and 36 dark chocolate chips
Handful of corn tortilla chips
Hamburger patty, tablespoon of BBQ sauce, raw baby carrots

Handful of corn tortilla chips
Sliced Gala apple candied with 2 tablespoons chunky peanut butter and 36 dark chocolate chips

148.8 Sweetness Roses

I saw a bouquet of these sweetness roses while we were shopping at Costco the other day, and just had to take a picture. Aren't they lovely? My mom gave me some for my birthday a few years ago, and I dried them in a book to keep, I loved them so much. They remind me of Victorian China tea cups, the way their bodies are white as porcelain and their lips are rose red. I have trouble taking my eyes off them, they are so pretty.

I gained a pound yesterday, but I am still within my goal weight of 145 to 149.9 pounds. For exercise I walked the dogs a mile and I shopped at Wal-mart. I also do about 30 minutes of housework every day, and that counts as exercise, too. Here is what I ate:

Special K with organic soy milk and blueberries
2 slices of wheat toast with 2 tablespoons peanut butter
El Monterey bean and cheese burrito with salsa
2 slices of wheat toast with 2 tablespoons peanut butter
(I had run out of apples!)
1 serving of peanut M&Ms (1/4 cup)
Hamburger patty with steamed broccoli
Hostess Fruit Pie, apple

147.8 Weird Jupiter Cloud Formation Spokane

I photographed this weird cloud formation that kind of looks like Planet Jupiter's atmosphere at about 8:15 last evening, July 22, 2012, on our walk in Spokane Valley, WA. Temperature was about 85F with little wind or humidity. Spokane gets some of the most beautiful clouds I have ever seen.

I have 49,912 words written on my book now. 20,088 to go. I'm in the home stretch! It is a non-fiction book. That is all I can say, before it is published. Well, and it is not about weight loss.

I lost .6 pounds yesterday. For exercise, I walked twice: a mile in the heat of the afternoon with both dogs, and a mile in the cooler evening with me walking one dog and Scott walking the other dog. I also did about 30 minutes of housework, including vacuuming and going up and down basement steps to get laundry. Here is what I ate:

Small bowl of Special K with blueberries and organic soy milk
Maple bar at church fellowship
El Monterey bean and cheese burrito with salsa
1 serving of peanut M&Ms (1/4 cup)
Leftover baked chicken, onions, carrots, and broccoli
Sliced Gala apple candied with 2 tablespoons chunky peanut butter and 36 dark chocolate chips
Small handful of dark chocolate chips

148.4 Lost 2.8 Pounds, Back At Goal Weight

Yep, I lost the chip weight yesterday, in fact I lost 2.8 pounds between yesterday's weigh-in and today's. Yay. Heh, and today is Sunday, so that means church and the maple bars that face me when I walk in... So far, I have been able to have one, though, and just take it easy on food for the rest of the day, make sure and exercise, and I don't gain.

For exercise yesterday I walked the dogs a mile. I also did some time on the stair stepper, but just a few minutes. I dieted yesterday. Here is what I ate:

Small bowl of Special K, blueberries, and organic soy milk

Raw baby carrots and two tablespoons Parmesan spinach dip

Leftover baked chicken, onions, carrots, and broccoli

151.2 "Food Should Taste Good" Brand Multigrain Tortilla Chips

I gained 1.6 pounds yesterday and am now 1.3 pounds over my goal weight. Today is a Scarsdale Medical Diet day. I can't blame these new multigrain tortilla chips we got at Costco the other day. I take full responsibility for having eaten them.

Be warned. These chips do taste good, sort of like a cross between corn chips and Wheat Thins. They don't taste quite as intoxicatingly good as Ritz Crackers, but I found them as addicting as potato chips. Once I started eating them, it was very difficult to stop. I find these multigrain chips more difficult to stop eating than regular corn chips.

Grains are dangerous for me. Eating bread, rice, pasta, or other grains only fills me up for a little while, and then makes me crave more of them. I call this flour cravings. Grains have lots of calories, so I usually try to avoid starting this cycle of flour cravings. I eat very little bread, crackers, rice, or pasta.

For exercise yesterday I walked two dogs a mile, in the rain. I also did a few minutes on the stair stepper, and some housework.

Here is what I ate yesterday, and gained 1.6 pounds:

Small bowl of Special K, organic soy milk, and blueberries

Chili Dip and too many "Food Should Taste Good" brand multigrain tortilla chips (I ate about 6 servings, 60 chips. Each serving of 10 chips is 140 calories.)
Nature Valley Peanut Sweet & Salty Nut Bar

Baked chicken, onions, carrots and broccoli
2 sliced Gala apples with peanut butter and chocolate chips

149.6 Skirt, Tank, Keds and Dog

This outfit put itself together yesterday, and I love it! I wore it with Keds for the park and with strappy pumps for shopping. It was so hot that I wanted to wear a dress, but none of my dresses are cotton. This is a new viscose skirt by Cynthia Rowley and an old cotton tank by One Step Up. I'm wearing black tennis socks with the Keds. It was so hot I couldn't bear to wear hose with the pumps. I just went bare-legged.

I never would have thought to pair a formal skirt with a tank top, but the colors just clicked together and voila! I thought it was especially cute that my dog matched the outfit! I wasn't around for the 1950s, but this feels like a 1950s outfit to me, from what I have seen in pictures, old TV shows, and movies. That's why I wore my hair in a high pony tail with it.

I gained .2 pounds yesterday, but I am still within my goal weight of 145 to 149.9. For exercise, we walked the dogs in the park for a mile and we shopped at Costco, going down all the aisles. I imagine that entailed walking another mile. I also did a few minutes here and there on the stair stepper and cleaned house a bit. Shopping at Costco has its sampling perils, though! Here is what I ate:

Small bowl of Special K and organic soy milk
2 pieces of wheat toast with 2 tablespoons peanut butter
El Monterey beef burrito with salsa
Half a pot sticker with soy sauce
A quarter of a slice of white toast with melted butter
2 bites of chicken teriyaki
Half ounce Starbucks lemon biscotti
Hamburger patty, tablespoon of BBQ sauce, raw baby carrots
10 "Food Should Taste Good" all natural multigrain tortilla chips (and boy, do they taste good!)
Cup of blueberries
1/4 cup of peanut M&Ms

149.4 Fishtrap, Washington

We go shooting near Fishtrap, WA in the summer. Usually, we stop here at Fishtrap "resort" to use the restroom and grab a snack at their store. They have sodas, candy, chips, and other non-perishable items. They have tent campsites and RV campsites as well as a boat launch.

They are on a good fishing lake, which is where the resort and area gets its name. The resort rents fishing boats out for very reasonable prices for six hours at a time. Last I checked it was only $45, but check because it could have changed (509) 235-2284.

I am not too sure what the function of this old structure in my photo was. Scott's best guess is that it was a windmill that the resort used to use to pump excess water out of the lake in spring, to prevent the campground from flooding. If you have a better idea what its function was, then please comment and tell!

The Fishtrap area is a BLM-designated site for hunting. It is 30 miles west of Spokane, WA, and surrounds the town of Sprague, WA. See yesterday's post for a picture of the abandoned house at the exit to Fishtrap off highway 90. See my post from the day before for photos of Sprague, WA.

I lost .4 pounds yesterday. For exercise, we walked the dogs a mile and I did a few minutes on the stair stepper here and there. Here is what I ate:

Small bowl of Special K and organic soy milk
El Monterey beef and bean burrito with salsa
Trident Seafoods Alaskan Salmon patty with a tablespoon of Robert Rothschild Farm Roasted Pineapple Habanero Sauce and steamed mixed vegetables
Raw baby carrots for a snack after dinner

149.8 Abandoned House on the Prairie near Sprague WA

This is an abandoned house on the prairie we drive by on our way to the BLM shooting area near Fishtrap, WA. I always stare at it, wondering who lived there how long ago and why they abandoned this house. It is not small, as most of the empty houses in the greater Spokane area are.

Perhaps the homeowner wanted a quiet life in the country, and abandoned this house when highway 90 was put in. The house rests at the junction of highway 90 and Sprague Highway. It's about 15 miles from the town of Sprague, WA. See yesterday's post for photos of that little town.

It does make beautiful scenery standing out there abandoned against the landscape. It belongs there sure as the trees and the grass. It isn't hard to imagine cattle grazing nearby, chickens in the yard, and horse drawn wagons pulling up. It is just the right color to blend in with the darker shades on the hills.

I gained .4 pounds yesterday. For exercise, we walked the dogs in the park, a mile. I did a few minutes here and there on the stair stepper and some housework. Here is what I ate:

Small bowl of Special K and organic soy milk
Sliced Gala apple candied with 2 tablespoons chunky peanut butter and 36 dark chocolate chips
2 pieces of bacon
3 eggs scrambled in bacon grease with onions and red bell pepper
Sliced Gala apple candied with 2 tablespoons chunky peanut butter and 36 dark chocolate chips
2 handfuls of corn tortilla chips

149.4 Sprague, Washington State

 Yesterday on a whim we drove out to Sprague, WA. I am so glad! It was like time travel. This town should put on Wild West Days or something, to bring in more visitors. It really is a cute little town. We had burgers at the Viking Drive In, and they were good!

This one property on the main street had more antique cars than even the rest of the places had. The whole town is like a permanent car show. There are a dozen various old hay wagons parked on another property.

Near as we could tell, these grain elevators are the reason the town of Sprague, WA exists. We didn't see any other anchor industry or businesses. 

Here is a closer shot of the view as you drive along the main street of town. About half the buildings are still open for business. The other half are boarded up.

I gained a pound yesterday, eating fast food and ice cream. For exercise I walked all over the hills where we went shooting, and walked the dogs up and down the area twice. It was rough out, 90 degrees with 40 percent humidity, and huge green blood sucking bugs! Here is what I ate:

Small bowl of Special K and organic soy milk
Sliced Gala apple candied with 2 tablespoons chunky peanut butter and 36 dark chocolate chips
Mushroom burger with all the trimmings and cole slaw - at The Viking Drive In, Sprague, WA
About an ounce of Scott's peanut butter milk shake
Sliced Gala apple candied with 2 tablespoons chunky peanut butter and 36 dark chocolate chips
Scoop of Breyer's mint chip ice cream
Three handfuls of corn tortilla chips

148.4 Another Zero Weight Gain Day

Another day of perfect weight maintenance! Keeping the weight off is getting more intuitive for me. I am getting a feel for how full my stomach should be, how much I should put on my plate, and how much leeway to give myself when someone shows up with treats or dessert.

I found a summer top that goes with these unusual jeans. I was thrilled to find it! My Spiderman lunchbox now sits up there where the birthday cards are in the photo.

For exercise yesterday I walked the dogs a mile in the park. Here is what I ate:

Small bowl of Special K and organic soy milk
Maple bar at church fellowship
El Monterey bean and cheese burrito with salsa
Leftover baked chicken, red bell pepper, carrots and onions
Silced Gala apple candied with 2 tablespoons of chunky peanut butter and 36 dark chocolate chips
Two handfuls of corn tortilla chips
One scoop of Breyer's mint chip ice cream

148.4 1970s Bandana Dress

I'm wearing this 1970s bandana dress to church this morning. Isn't it cute? I had to have it the moment I saw it. It reminds me of my own junior high days, but to the younger folks reading this, it probably dates me and shows me to be the middle-aged lady I am, LOL!

It's a size 12, which is a bit big on my size 8 body, but makes it more comfortable and modest. It's actually a two piece set. The bottoms are shorts, but from the front it looks like a skirt. When I sit down, the flap moves down over my lap and provides extra modesty. It's very cleverly designed! I got it a few months ago at the Northwest Christian Schools Thrift Store in Spokane.

I maintained my weight perfectly yesterday. For exercise, I walked the dogs a mile in the park. Here is what I ate:

Small bowl of Special K, organic soy milk and blueberries
El Monterey bean and cheese burrito with salsa
Custard dish of peanut M&Ms
Baked chicken, red bell peppers, carrots, and onion
Small bowl of Breyer's mint chip ice cream
Few handfuls of corn tortilla chips

148.4 Spiderman Lunch Box

Look at the Spiderman lunch box Scott got me with all our tickets from the games here at Wonderland in Spokane! We had come here for Scott's birthday a few months ago, but not spent all our game tokens. We hadn't spent any of our game reward tokens, either. He really surprised me by getting me this lunch box. I love it!

I did see the new movie that just came out, "The Amazing Spiderman." I think it is just as good as the older version with Kirsten Dunst, but I like her. We own all three of the older Spiderman movies. I don't think we will buy the new ones. We'll see. It was a great surprise to see Sally Field (The Flying Nun, Smokey and the Bandit, Forrest Gump) as Aunt May in the new Spiderman movie.

I guess my favorite Spiderman is still in the cartoons my sister and I used to watch on Saturday mornings. I loved that song they would sing in the cartoon:

"Spiderman, Spiderman
Does whatever a spider can
Spins a web
Any size
Catches thieves
Just like flies..."

The movie "Spiderman 2" has a guy in a subway singing that song, which I thought was cool. My lunch box is from the first movie, the one with Kirsten Dunst. That is fine with me. Oh, it is also the one with the cool quote, "With great power comes great responsibility," which is on my lunch box.

I maintained my weight perfectly yesterday. For exercise, I walked a mile, did a little shopping, put in a few minutes on the stair stepper, and did some 30 minutes of housework. Here is what I ate:

Small bowl of Special K and organic soy milk with blueberries
Beef and bean burrito by El Monterey, with salsa
Foster Farms breaded chicken patty on a hamburger bun with a little tartar sauce, raw baby carrots
Small bowl of Special K and organic soy milk with blueberries

148.4 Running Two Dogs

Walking two dogs is difficult, but running two dogs is easier. As soon as I am running, the dogs give up on sniffing stuff and just run with me.

I took this picture a few days ago, with a ten second timer. I often do take off running with the dogs, though, for short sprints during my walk.

I gained .6 pounds yesterday. That's OK. I am still inside my weight-loss goal of 145 to 149.9. I walked both dogs a mile. We shopped at Wal-mart. Here is what I ate:

Small bowl of Special K and organic soy milk
Bean and cheese burrito by El Monterey, with salsa
Leftover homemade chicken fajitas
Small bowl of Special K and organic soy milk -- with blueberries
A few bites of various snack bars we were trying out

147.8 Bug Zapper Black Light!

We had so much fun playing with our newly discovered black light in our garage! We recently played black light miniature golf and loved that, so we had all kinds of ideas for what to do with a black light in our garage! Let's start a roller rink! Let's have mini golf in our garage! Open a disco! Of course we won't really do any of that, but it was fun to play pretend with the ideas!

I think if we were younger we would invite all our friends over to dance in the black light. We would tell everyone ahead of time so they would wear stuff with white showing. White clothing reflects the black light in a way that our eyes see it as glowing in the dark.

This brought back memories of when my older cousin Mike came to stay with us for a summer. I was 10 and he was 19 or so. I thought he was so cool. He aimed a black light he had brought with him at a white-accented tapestry that hung in our living room. Man, that looked cool with the rest of the lights turned off!

We got this Stinger black light in 2005 at Lowe's. Amazon has some you can order online for delivery! It really zaps bugs, too. :) It is not meant for indoor use, but we use it in our garage. I love it when I can use things in more than one way!

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I maintained my weight perfectly yesterday. I went for my mile walk with Oreo and Raffle in the park in the 90 degree weather. Here is what I ate:

Small bowl of Special K and organic soy milk
El Monterey beef and bean burrito with salsa
2 burritos of homemade chicken fajitas
One scoop of Breyer's mint chip ice cream that my husband surprised me with when he brought the sour cream and tortillas that I requested

Homemade fajitas:

Shredded cheese
sour cream
Small flour tortillas
beef or chicken washed and cut into strips
butter
minced onions
minced red bell pepper
no-salt spice mix

Sautee the onions in a few pats of butter on low heat for a few hours until the onions are clear and carmelized the amount you like. Stir every 10 minutes or so. Add the bell pepper, stir, and let simmer while you cook the meat. Put a few more pats of butter in another frying pan and add the washed meat that is cut into strips. Fry it on all sides at medium low heat until it is cooked through, about 20 minutes. Spice the meat with the no-salt seasoning.

Spread sour cream on the tortillas (2 per person). Sprinkle shredded cheese over the sour cream. Scoop veggies and meat and put that on top of the cheese. Roll the tortillas up into burritos and enjoy!

147.8 Organized Pots and Pans

Organizing my pots and pans makes me five times more likely to cook from scratch. No, really. I am a visual person. If I can't see it, then it sort of ceases to exist. Seeing these pots and pans whenever I enter the kitchen inspires me. Well, it does when it isn't 90 degrees F in the house.

We got this free-standing Style Sections shelving unit at Lowe's. It was easy to assemble and didn't even require any tools. It comes in wide varieties, too. It only cost $60, but that varies by where you live.

We used to keep all this stuff inside the low cupboards by the stove. Getting any of it out involved digging through all the rest of it. We are both so much happier now that we store our pots and pans out where we can see them and easily grab them!

Cooking from scratch is much healthier than eating prepared foods. I heard that all my life, but I didn't really pay attention to it until I was trying to lose 90 pounds. Much of that weight was water weight that I had retained because of all the sodium that is in most prepared foods. I had heard that, too, but again, I hadn't really believed it. Seeing the scale drop when I cut the sodium is believing in cutting the sodium -- and therefore in cooking from scratch.

I gained .2 pounds yesterday. I think it was because I had a midnight snack. I usually quit eating two hours before bed. I walked the dogs a mile. Here is what I ate yesterday:

Small bowl of Special K and organic soy milk

Sliced small Gala apple candied with 2 tablespoons chunky peanut butter and 36 dark chocolate chips

Half a can of Cattle Drive chili, three slices of American cheese, one diced red bell pepper sauteed in a pat of butter, and two cups of corn tortilla chips to eat this with

Sliced small Gala apple candied with 2 tablespoons chunky peanut butter and 36 dark chocolate chips

147.6 Lost 3.2 Pounds Yesterday

 I lost 3.2 pounds yesterday, and once again weigh 147.6. This was new weight that I had just gained the day before, so it came off easily. It had not get entrenched itself.

I walked two dogs three times yesterday, a mile each time, at 8 am, 1 pm, and 8 pm. We saw ten squirrels during our 8 am walk, so they were constantly pulling on me with all 120 pounds of their combined weight. It was cooler yesterday, just 85 degrees F, but I still always had a glass of water next to me. I probably drank 3 gallons of water. Here is what I ate:

Small bowl of Special K and organic soy milk

Hamburger patty, 1 tablespoon BBQ sauce, steamed carrots

1 Trident Seafoods Alaskan Salmon Burger,
1 tablespoon Robert Rothschild Farm Roasted Pineapple &
Habanero Sauce,
steamed frozen vegetables

I did get cravings, mostly for treats with flour in them, but I just guzzled water whenever the cravings came. In winter I would have drank hot herb tea with no caffeine in it. My favorite is Good Earth Sweet and Spicy, which is basically cinnamon tea.

150.8 Love Walking on Hot Summer Nights!

I love walking on hot summer nights! I like the heat, but I don't really like the sun in my eyes. I love feeling the cool wet grass on my feet through my sandals. (The grass is always wet here in Washington.)

There are only a few nights a year when it is hot enough to walk outside without a hoodie here in Spokane, and last night was one of them. It was over 90 even after the sun went down at 9 pm.

I have always loved it hot enough to walk outside at night in short sleeves. When I was a kid, we lived near the beach in Marina Del Rey and Santa Monica, California. Come June, school would be out, but a foggy cold time would set in at the beach. The locals call it "June Gloom."

Our first year living at the beach, my sister and I would swim in the ocean every day, even when it was raining. (I was 10 and she was 6.) We soon got spoiled, though, and only wanted to swim if it was nice out. Our mom found out about this desert oasis nearby where all the locals go to escape "June Gloom," and so we spent most of our June weekends in Palm Springs from then on.

Anyway, all that was to say I love hot summer nights. They bring back great memories of walking Palm Canyon Drive in trendy shorts and tank tops.

I walked both dogs a mile in the park after dark yesterday. I gained 1.2 pounds and am over my weight-loss goal of 145 to 149.9 pounds. Today is a diet day. Here is what I enjoyed eating yesterday:

Small bowl of Special K and organic soy milk
Maple bar at church fellowship

1 plate of church potluck lunch:
2 different kinds of chili dip and corn tortilla chips
5 cup casserole
2 slices of bread that had garlic cloves baked into it
4 hunks of watermelon

1 plate of church potluck dessert:
Key lime pie
brownie
more watermelon

Sliced gala apple with peanut butter and dark chocolate chips
Small bowl of Special K and organic soy milk

149.6 Spokane at 104 degrees F!

This picture is from a few days ago. At 5 pm today it is 104F in the shade here in Spokane! Scott is napping still and I took a nap in our one air-conditioned room when we got home from church potluck. We talked about driving out to Lake Coeur d'Alene to go swimming, but Scott needs to stay on this schedule where he sleeps days. He works graves and swings.

I gained 2.2 pounds yesterday. Hopefully most of it was water from the salty pizza I ate. I walked the dogs in the park more than a mile. Here is what I ate yesterday:

Small bowl of Special K and organic soy milk
Sliced Gala apple candied with chunky peanut butter and dark chocolate chips
Three slices of Costco combo pizza
2 sliced Gala apples candied with chunky peanut butter and dark chocolate chips
El Monterey bean and cheese burrito with salsa
Cup of corn tortilla chips
Custard dish of peanut M&Ms
Slice of Costco combo pizza

147.4 Washington Stone Cottages

This adorable little stone cottage is the view out my office window. It was on the market recently, and so I was able to speak to the daughter of the man who built this cottage for his family. She is old now, but she grew up in this cottage and was happy here.

The blog Malicious Mandy's Mind already revealed the set of Bella's birthday cottage in the movie version of "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2" back on February 20, 2011. I like to pretend this is it, though, right behind my office window. When I read the scene in the book, I imagined the cottage small like this, not the large mansion that makes up the movie set.

There are many other little stone cottages that I see on my walks around the neighborhood. They are quite common here in Spokane. I have heard that they are cold in winter, so we didn't even apply to rent this one after it sold, or to buy it. I love having it for my view, though!

I gained .2 pounds yesterday. I walked the dogs a mile. Here is what I ate:

Small bowl of Special K and organic soy milk
3 sliced small Gala apples candied with chunky peanut butter and dark chocolate chips
El Monterey bean and cheese burrito with salsa
Steamed carrots with half a can of Amy's organic lentil soup
2 Nature Valley Sweet & Salty Nut peanut bars

147.2 Walking in the Woods

Oreo and I walked up the hill and into the woods near where we live yesterday, for the first time this year. It is beautiful up there. This is part of the reason we moved to Washington. There are trees! It's green! That seems like a silly want, unless you are a desert rat, like me.

In the Los Angeles desert, all the pictures on my walls were of the ocean and rivers, water in every form. I had plans of getting green carpet so it would look like grass. It's nice that it hardly ever freezes there, but the price is too high. If you want grass it costs a fortune to water it. All the water comes hundreds of miles in the aqueduct from Hoover Dam.

Anyway, Oreo and I had a nice three-mile walk yesterday, partly up hill. I gained 1.2 pounds, though. It was probably the ice cream and pie from the 4th catching up with me. That is OK. I prepared for that by losing ahead of time, so I am still within my weight-loss goal of 145 to 149.9! Here is what I ate yesterday:

1/4 of an apple pie from Shari's Cafe and Pie of Spokane
Bean and cheese burrito with salsa
Steamed carrots and half a can of Amy's organic lentil soup
2 Small sliced Gala apples candied with peanut butter and dark chocolate chips
Handful of peanut M&Ms

146.0 Why I Love Spokane, Washington

I paid just $9.89 for this pie-shop pie yesterday, complete with this darling cloth bag to carry it home in. Not having asked the price when I ordered, I about died of apprehension when I saw the waitress pulling out this cloth bag.

"Oh no!" I thought, "It's going to be $25.00!"

I grew up in Southern California. I know I keep harping on that, but if you had grown up there, too (or in Manhattan, London, or Tokyo), you would understand why I do keep bringing that up. The minimum it would cost you to take a pie home in a cute cloth sack like this in Pacific Palisades where I went to high school is $25.00. You might even pay as much as $50.00 for it.  

It was the 4th of July. I had promised myself good apple pie for the holiday. I had lost three pounds ahead of time so that I could enjoy my pie. I wasn't leaving that pie shop without my pie. I made a split-second decision to just suck it up and pay the $25.00.

I was sort of defeated inside, but resigned to paying the $25.00. When she said it was $9.89, I was elated! But that is one of the reasons why I love Spokane, Washington. Prices are reasonable here on everything from pie to electricity. I also love the pine trees, the Spokane River, the deer, the parks, the wholesome high-school students I get to substitute teach, and all the other friendly people.

Look, I know I could have gotten a pie for $5.99 at Costco or maybe even cheaper at Wal-mart. But Shari's Cafe and Pie makes the best pie in Spokane. I have not tried all the pie here, but I talk to people who have, and they assure me this is so. Part of my lifestyle change from fat person to thin person is that treats with flour in them are only for special occasions. My treats are going to be the best of the best!

I lost .4 pounds yesterday. I walked about 5 miles, between taking our dogs to our local park on my own in the morning, walking up and down our street with Scott and the dogs in the afternoon, and walking around in Riverfront Park before we watched the fireworks. Here is what I ate:

Sliced small Gala apple candied with 2 tablespoons chunky peanut butter and 36 dark chocolate chips
El Monterey bean and cheese burrito with salsa
Leftover baked chicken, carrots and red bell pepper
1/4 of a Shari's apple pie
Kid's chocolate soft-serve ice-cream cone at the Carousel Cafe in Riverfront Park

146.4 Tennis Anyone?

This is my 4th of July outfit. Putting it on with my hair up like this reminded me of the tennis outfits I used to wear in the 1970s. Remember those? Always white on the bottom. These shorts have big pockets, too, that I could get tennis balls into. Wow, I am probably in good enough shape right now that I could actually play tennis, for the first time in at least 20 years.

It cleared up and there is no sign of hail today, thank God, but it isn't any too warm today here in Spokane. I have an over-sized red sweat shirt I will wear with this to Riverfront Park in a bit. They have a carnival and food booths and the park straddles the Spokane River waterfalls. It is a nice place to hang out, but somehow we only manage to go there on the 4th of July. We're taking the dogs in the morning, and then leaving them home later when we go back for the fireworks.

I lost .6 pounds yesterday. I walked the dogs in the park, did a few minutes on the stair stepper, and did some housework, so far as exercise goes. Here is what I ate:

Small Gala apple sliced and candied with 2 tablespoons chunky peanut butter and 36 chocolate chips (None of the Fuji apples in the store looked good. They all have brown flecks in them. The last batch I bought all had rot in their seed cavities. I am not sure what is going on with the Fuji apple crop right now.)

El Monterey bean and cheese burrito with salsa

Leftover baked chicken, carrots and red bell peppers

Custard dish full of peanut M&Ms (half a cup)

147.0 Do you hate water? Why?

I recently heard of two respectable people who hate drinking water. These aren't kooks who live on the streets or in their parents' basements. One is a minister and the other is a teacher. The teacher is pregnant. Both admit having health problems because they got dehydrated, and yet they hate drinking water.

Huh?

We have great-tasting tap water here in Spokane Valley, too. I grew up in the greater Los Angeles area, where the tap water tastes like butter because it is so full of additives. Spokane Valley water comes from the swift-flowing Spokane River. It tastes like Heaven. If your tap water tastes chemically, then I say get a filter for it, but don't avoid drinking water!

I wasn't able to ask either of these people why they hate water. The minister said it from the pulpit. I found out the teacher hated water from a note on a gift of bottled water that some students left for her while I was substituting for her.

Do you hate water? Why? Please comment and explain, because I honestly don't get it.

I myself used to avoid drinking water because I have a small bladder and I didn't want to be running to the restroom every thirty minutes. Guess what? I used to get migraine headaches all the time. I am convinced that half my migraines were caused by dehydration. I think the other half were from being overweight. I didn't hate water, though. I just avoided it for what I thought were logical reasons.

I must have drank three gallons of water yesterday. It finally warmed up here, and Spokane has low humidity. I just have a glass of water next to me at all times, in summer, and drink it whenever I think of it. In winter, I drink maybe half that much, a gallon and a half.

I lost 2.6 pounds yesterday. I walked the dogs in the morning, a mile in the park. I shopped at TJ Maxx. Other exercise I got was random acts of housework. I can't remember what all I did. I know I vacuumed. Here is what I ate:

El Monterey beef and bean burrito with salsa
Half a can of Cattle Drive chili, red bell pepper sauteed in a pat of butter, two slices of American cheese and a cup of corn tortilla chips to eat it with
Baked chicken, carrots and red bell pepper
One Nature Valley Sweet & Salty Nut Peanut bar

149.6 Ghost Cloud

Look at this scary ghost cloud I photographed in the Spokane Valley sky yesterday! It looks just like one of the ghosts in the movie "Ghost Busters!" If you don't see it, the head is at 7 o'clock on the sun, facing left with a nose and an open mouth. The ghost's right hand is at the far left of the photo. The ghost's right hand is at 4 o'clock on the sun. The ghost's body is all the black clouds that go back into the distance. Isn't it scary and cool! (Read this if you don't know what I mean about 7 o'clock on the sun.)

To see more of my cloud photos, click on my tag links at the bottom of this blog post!

I went a little overboard on my eating yesterday and gained 1.2 pounds, but I am still within my weight-loss goal of 145 to 149.9 pounds. I walked the dogs a mile in the park, and I shopped at Costco. Here is what I ate:

Small bowl of Special K and organic soy milk
Maple bar and frosted nutty cinnamon roll at fellowship before church

Church luncheon send-off for a missionary:
Turkey and Swiss cheese sandwich on a bun
4 potato chips
Half a cup of potato salad
2 scoops of Blue Bunny vanilla ice cream (Yum! Blue Bunny is the best ice cream ever!)
Oatmeal cookie

Bean and cheese burrito with salsa
Custard dish of peanut M&Ms
Cup of corn tortilla chips

148.4 Eye Opener

Today at Valley View Baptist Church Spokane we watched the slides of a man who is leaving in a week to build wells and fix motors in  Cambodia for the rest of his life, while he spreads the Gospel. He was there already before for years. He came home to the states for three years, and now he plans on going back and staying there. He is 54.

He says there are five-star hotels in the big cities in Cambodia, but that he won't be staying there. He will be living with the boat people. He is having his own little boat built by hand, just like all the other little boats the people live on.

He said he got dysentery the last time he was there, because he forgot just once and drank the water. He was in the hospital for three days, and it cost $21. However, he had to hire someone to feed him, wash him, and basically look after him, because all their medical personnel do is make sure you take your medicine. That's it. He sure has a love for those people, to go back to a place like that as a missionary.

I gained .4 pounds yesterday. I walked the dogs a mile in the park. Here is what I ate:

Small bowl of Special K and organic soy milk
Bean and cheese burrito with salsa
Sliced Fuji apple candied with 4 tablespoons chunky peanut butter and 36 dark chocolate chips
Can of Healthy Choice chicken and rice soup
Handful of corn tortilla chips
8 pieces of peanut butter taffy