Waisting Time

Thumbs alert:  Google Friends Connect.  In what appears to be a continuing effort to control the (blog) world, Google has announced that, as of March 1, it will discontinue Google Friends Connect for any non-Blogger blogs.  That’s me, folks!  What does this means for YOU?  If you “follow” my blog using that feature, you will no longer be able to do so.  I encourage you to subscribe either with RSS feed or via email.  You can find both options just to the right on the sidebar.  (Click on the orange icon for RSS feed or the green envelope icon for email subscriptions.)  Alternately, you can subscribe to the feed by clicking on “Entries RSS” under “Administrative Stuff” further down the sidebar.  Please email me if you have questions or need help!  And a huge thumbs up for Ellen@FatGirlWearingThin for bringing this to my attention and sharing what she knows.  And 298 thumbs up for those of you who have honored me by “joining my site” with this little feature.

Thumbs down:  Valentine’s Day.   Call me Scrooge – I don’t like Valentine’s Day.  Society and the greeting card companies lead us to believe that we are unloved and unloving without the exchange of material gifts (not to mention highly caloric chocolate and suddenly overpriced flowers) to mark this day.  I say, “Bah Humbug.”  But I cannot resist sending treat-filled care packages to my sons.  (How’s that for perpetuating the custom of showing love with food?!)  And a valentine to my mom:)  And, because he’s not nearly as unromantic as me, will be enjoying lunch out with my husband.  Hopefully they all know how much I love them every day of the year, not just this one.  And to you, dear readers – I will break with my Scrooge-like traditions and wish you a Happy Valentine’s Day.  Every day is sweeter with you in it; no candy needed:)

Thumbs up: Jerky.  Yummy low-cal find, thanks to my mom, who saw a new product mentioned on TV.  Simply Snackin jerky comes in 3 chicken and 3 beef flavors, all very non-traditional with the addition of interesting ingredients.  And all only 50 calories.  I think my favorite is the Terikayi Chicken Breast with Papayas and Mangoes.  Thumbs down that you can only get them online from the manufacturer.  Thumbs down that when I emailed to ask for some freebies to give away here, I never heard back.  If you order, maybe you should let them know (in the note at the end of the order) that you read about them here and would love a giveaway!

Thumbs down:  Yoga toes.  I noticed recently that a few of my toes had mysterious red patches.  Then, next thing I noticed was that all 10 of my toes had dry flaking skin at the tips!  What was going on?!  Aha!  Yoga toes.  Germophobe that I am, I had been using the sanitizing wipes provided at my gym on my borrowed mat twice a week and then doing poses like a plank that pressured my little piggies against the mat  Apparently, whatever chemical is strong enough to kill germs were also strong enough to kill skin cells!  Thumbs up that the problem was easily and quickly solved by toting my own mat to class.  Thumbs up: no more yoga toes.  Thumbs still up for yoga:)

Thumbs down:  Aches and pains.  So… just when I thought my calf injury might finally be healed, it seems I re-aggravated it.  So, still no cardio.  And now I have other various aches and pains in my leg and foot, which I think are the result of unconsciously compensating for my calf.  BTW – the calf doesn’t hurt, it just aches or is tight or is “wrong.”  If that makes sense.  Thumbs down that some days I feel like my body is falling apart.  Thumbs up that it could be soooo much worse!

Thumbs down:  Other peoples aches and pains.  In this instance, my MIL.  She’s been diagnosed with bursitis in her “good” knee.  It has been horribly painful for her to get up and down and she can’t help but gasp or whimper with the agony.  Because her other knee is her “bad,” non-replaced knee, and since she has a weak shoulder and literally no core or upper body strength, she was struggling to even get herself off the toilet.  Thumbs up that I was able to talk our way into an orthopedic appointment despite her initially being told it would be weeks to get in.  Hubby and I spent a lot of time with her last week because, thumbs down, we didn’t feel that she should be left alone in her condition.  Thumbs up that she finally seems to be improving and that this should be a temporary condition.

Thumbs up:  What she said.  (The other) Karen had a post recently that I read several times as the meaning evolved in my brain and I could see how it related to my life.  You can read it for yourself here.

Thumbs resisting:  Pinterest.  I’m seen some of you talk about it.  I’ve even visited some of your pages.  (Do you call them pages?  Maybe you call them boards or some such thing.)  I don’t get it.  I don’t want it.  One more place on the internet to spend time.  Eek!  But then I see someone else jump on the bandwagon.  And I wonder.  So far, I’m resisting.  Are you on there?  What do you think about it?  Thumbs up in gratitude to Cammy for sharing with me how to put a “pin it” button on my blog, just in case anyone wants to use it:)

Thumbs up:  Purple cup update.  Thank you for your thoughtful comments on my post about my now infamous purple cup.  I am happy to report that I have not even thought of using it once since!  But, neither have I thrown it away; Hubby reminds me it is actually HIS cup.  (Coincidentally, it was his cereal that I last put in the cup.)  If the cup plagues me in the future, I will try your great suggestions.

Thumbs down:  Technology.  Do I ever get through one of these posts without having at least some technology issue to share?!  This time it has been my email.  Twice in the past weeks there has been some issue with my internet provider – some server thing or other that no one seems able to explain.  Or fix in a timely manner.  I will get emails from a certain time frame delivered to my Outlook inbox over and over and over.  Maybe 25 or more times!  And I WON’T get any current emails.  Oddly, my husband, who has the same internet account, has not been impacted.

Thumbs unmoving:  Maintaining.  Yep, that’s me.  Despite some very inconsistent eating, (no) thanks to breaks in my routine (which I’ll blog more about another day), I’ve been pretty much maintaining my weight for months now.  This would be a thumbs up, BUT, and this is a big but, I am doing so above my “happy weight.”  Thumbs down for my holiday bingefest and the inability to do cardio.  Since I can’t burn more calories right now, if I want to move the scale downward I’ll need to suck it up and eat less.  Ah, such a novel idea!  But, I’m really not overeating (mostly) so that will take some real motivation and willpower on my part.

Thumbs up, up, up:  Exiting news.  Today (if you are reading this on Monday) I am doing something very unexpected and exciting.  And that’s all I’m going to tell you for now!  But I promise that I will blog more about it later, after the fact.  Sorry to end with that cliffhanger but I just couldn’t resist sharing a tiny bit of my excitement:)

Thumbs up:  IRL meetup.  Recently I had another chance to meet face-to-face with someone I’ve only known online.  This time, someone from my “diet” forum.  She posted that she was in my town for work and I asked if she wanted to meet.  She did.  We did.  And we chatted an afternoon away.  So fun.  And this is the first person I’ve met from my “online life” who follows the same “diet plan” as me.  Thumbs way up that I have another blogger meet-up on my calendar for this Spring!!!!  (You can read about my first two here and here.)

Thumbs outstretched:  Help!  I’m thinking of changing my blog’s host to Bluehost.  If anyone has experience with them and would be willing to share or answer some questions, please let me know.  (And much thanks to those who’ve already been sharing with me via email!)  My contract with Godaddy is up soon so it’s now or (maybe) never.  But maybe the devil I know is better than the one I don’t?  And, huge thumbs down that the technological knowledge needed to make the switch is beyond me; my brain hurts just thinking about it.  I guess I’d need some “technical expertise” to guide me though.  Thumbs down thinking about that.

Thumbs down:  Bad car day.  Really, really bad.  The kind where the “bad” just kept coming.  In one day I… got lost driving to a location I’ve been to many times over the years but never when the police had a major road blocked off (and our GPS was in the other car); fought with a pillar in a parking garage that wanted to trap me in a too-tight space, and lost, leaving behind a lovely “scar;” and, icing on the already-crappy-and-stomach-ache-inducing cake, had someone flip me the bird when I really, really did nothing to deserve it.  (Trust me, I learned to drive near Boston; I own up to my road rage and/or idiocy when warranted!)

Thumbs amused:  Pee and me.  Because the search term that is most often used to find my blog is the word “pee.”  Yep.  “Pee.”  I can lay blame on give credit to one of my favorite posts:  Pee-o-Meter.  I can only imagine what someone thinks when this is where their search lands them:)  Thumbs up that it’s making me smile, just thinking about their surprise.  Last week alone I got 47 hits!  (As a comparison, variations on my blog’s name got only 6 hits!)  Maybe I should give a bit more thought to the words I use on my blog.  Maybe.  And maybe, thumbs down, I should finally pay some attention to things like SEO.  Maybe.  But probably maybe NOT.

Thumbs up:  Experimenting in the kitchen.  With “Better-than-tuna-salad.”  Rather an odd recipe that uses chick peas in place of the namesake tuna.  You’ll have to decide for yourselves if it’s anything like the original because all I can say is it was “interesting” tasting.  Yep, that’s the actually word I kept saying.  And, it really grew on me over the few days of leftovers.  I can see how it’s like tuna salad, but then again, it isn’t.  If I eat it expecting tuna, my taste buds and brain don’t match up and it throws me.  I ate mine on a green salad.  If you try it, let me know what you think.  As for me, I’ll be eating it again.

Thumbs undecided:  Experimenting in the kitchen some more.  This time, it was Sweet Potato Black Bean Chili.  I had very high expectations because I really like sweet potatoes and am a black bean fan.  But what I now realize is that I like my sweet potatoes, well, “sweet.”  And in this recipe they are “savory.”  The first night, with the chili still mouth-burning-hot from the crock pot, I was pretty sure I wouldn’t make it again.  But the flavors developed over time and now I’m thinking it’s worth a second try.  Maybe the same recipe or maybe a different version.  If you have one you like, please let me know.  Thumbs up that the calorie count (not that I really track that anymore but it’s always sort of lurking in the back of my mind) is pretty low.  Thumbs up for warm, cozy food on a cold winter day.  Thumbs up that the winter here has been wayyyy less cold than usual.

Thumbs down:  Mystery stuffiness.  So… I have a stuffy nose.  It’s been going on for weeks now.  It’s not a cold.  I actually thought for a while there that it might have been a side effect of my overeating “bad” carbs during the holidays.  Don’t laugh – it’s possible; I looked it up on Dr. Internet!  Then I next self-diagnosed it as a side effect (well documented online) of the huge dosage of Aleve that my doctor had me taking for my calf strain.  So, with the mystery seemingly solved, I weaned off the Aleve and put away my Breath Right strips in eager anticipation of clear nostrils.  But no.  Still sniffling.  Still wondering why.  Maybe my formerly seasonal allergies have decided to visit for a new season.  Sigh.  Sniff.

Thumbs wondering:  Fitbloggin ’12.  Anyone going?  Anyone who’s been want to tell me why I should consider spending all that money for two days in Baltimore?

Thumbs up:  Empty nest.  Again.  College winter break has ended and my sons have both flown back to their respective sides of the country, and, if they are reading this, I miss them horribly.  If they aren’t reading, I’m once again rather enjoying my empty nest:)

Thumbs flipped:  Dark chocolate.  Used to be that the only way I liked dark chocolate was coating strawberries:)  But for some reason it had been on my mind lately and I was kinda craving it just a bit.  (The “maybe I want to try it” as opposed to the “I want it BAAAAAAD” kind of craving.)  The dark kind that is actually supposed to be healthy.  So, I bought some.  And I liked it.  More than I expected.  Which was a bad thing.  Because liking something a lot is what leads to me overeating most things that I tend to overeat.  And I’m now adding dark chocolate to the list.  So, thumbs up that I liked it:  my taste buds have matured:)  Thumbs down that I liked it so much that I ate more than one serving.  Okay, maybe more than two servings.  Sigh.

Thumbs up:  Going Greek.  I have absolutely no idea why I am suddenly on a Greek yogurt eating kick.  I’ve never been a yogurt fan and in the past ONLY ate it with cereal added for crunch.  But now I have a stockpile of Chobani in my fridge and am enjoying it cereal-free.  Thumbs up for the new apple cinnamon flavor.  Yum.  And while I’m talking Greek… thumbs up that this semester my teen is a “brother” instead of a “pledge.”  One less thing for me to worry about long-distance.

Thumbs up:  Yoga.  Still.  Not only have I been to class twice a week since I started back, but I am even trying some at home.  Thumbs down that I’m not quite motivated enough to do much on my own.  But it’s certainly more than I was doing before:)  Thumbs up that I even got my husband to try with me.  And yesterday my mom (who has a bad knee and can’t do traditional yoga) and I tried a local chair yoga class.  We took two on our spa vacation and this is the only one we have found near us.  It was a bit disappointing.   More of a “stretch for seniors” than yoga poses.  One woman even came with her walker!

Thumbs up:  You.  When I was reading your great comments on my post about my blog reading process I realized that I probably don’t tell you often enough that you rock my world.  Sure, I started blogging for myself.  But you are what keeps me blogging.  The community.  The conversations.  And, always, your comments.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  You complete me:)