Countdown

A little more than 24 hours from now, Bear and I will be heading to Boston and on to California. I am so excited! Of course I'm not packed or ready to go, but once we set out on the road, it's going to be very exciting. Bear is coming home at about five from work, and he has to change the oil in my car and pack his clothes. I'm in charge of stuff for the house so that the house-sitters aren't skeeved out by the nastiness of the house we live in. *sigh* I guess I'd better get started...

Check in #2

This morning I weighed 183.2. Yeay! Progress is slow, but it IS progress.
I'm still drinking soda, but I think I've had maybe eight ounces all week... I give the rest of the can to Bear or just take a sip off of his. That way I'm avoiding craving it but still nbot sabotaging my plan to lose weight. I made macaroni and cheese last night and used real milk instead of Lactaid milk - boy, was THAT a mistake. Stomach cramps, diarrhea... a smorgasboard of pain and discomfort. Now I'm dehydrated. Ugh. I'm hitting the 100% juice and water heavy today.

For weekend plans, we are going to my parents' house for their annual Road Kill Cookout. We don't actually eat roadkill, although we do have deer, moose and turkey to eat. They were hunted legally, I promise. It's called the Road Kill Cookout because the first year they had the cookout a woman hit a deer in front of our house and gave my father the deer meat. We ate it the following year.
The cookout is a little late this year becuase my brother Moose and his new wife Red will be home for it. Moose is the Air Force Linguist of the year as well as the Department of Defense linguist of the year for last year. It's a huge thing to say that. He speaks arabic and was instrumental in uncovering intelligence in the war. His wife Red is a southern woman a few years older than him. I don't know how she puts up with him, but she does - they were married in March. The cookout is part wedding reception for them.
Of course, when I asked Mom if it were also going to be part engagement party for me, she said no. *sigh* And so the Prodigal Son strikes again....

~Amalia~

Bitten by the Wedding Bug

And it bites HARD! Yesterday I went to a bridal show. I almost didn't go because I didn't want to drive all the way to Bangor by myself and be gone for several hours when Bear and I were supposed to be spending time together. However, I made him and his best friend breakfast (eggs, bacon, moose sausage, hash browns and chocolate chip pancakes), and they agreed to go after that. It helped that Friday I killed the lawnmower and so Bear needed to buy a new one. So they dropped me off and went lawnmower shopping. I paid my ten dollar admission fee, and stepped into the Nirvana of all things wedding.
By coming to the show, you are automatically entered to win a cruise. Every fifteen minutes they had a door prize, and EVERYONE was giving away free stuff! Food, gift certificates, you name it. There were vendors there for everything imaginable: limos (I sat in the hummer limo - SO nice!), caterers, florists, DJs, dressmakers and jewelers. I got my engagement ring cleaned, got tons of information from people and even talked to a wedding planner who was SO NICE! She hires out at $40 an hour, so I might meet with her a couple of times to make sure that I've thought of everything I need to. I still want a small wedding, but I also don't want to be bothered with details the day I get married. Know what I mean? I scheduled an appointment at David's Bridal in Portland for the middle of August to look at dresses. It's too early to buy one (hell-O, I still have thirty pounds to lose!), but I want to look for designers I like and get an idea about the shape/style I want.
The MOST exciting thing about the show was American Bridal Idol. Basically it's karaoke, as sung by brides. When the started it, there were five brides signed up. After hearing the first one, I thought, "Hell, I can do at LEAST that well!" so I signed up. The grand prize was $200 worth of Jewelry by Day's Jewelers, second prize was $100 worth, and third was $75 worth. I couldn't think of what to sing, so I just wrote down a Dixie Chicks song (I know every Dixie Chicks song backwards and forwards). In hindsight, I should have done Norah Jones' "Come Away with Me," but I didn't think at the time. I was next to last to go up - and I got third place! Seven or eight women went up total. I was so excited! I won these nice sterling silver earrings with rubies in the posts. Pictures to follow (I could photograph my ring, too, if you like?).
I'm still at 184.6 lbs., but after a weekend of eating out, that's not too bad! I couldn't swim, either, because the weather has been cold and rainy. *sigh*

Rain Rain Go Away

Or don't really, because I don't want to water the garden. I guess I can't have it both ways, can I?

Speaking of rain reminds me of the camping trip Bear and I took a couple of weeks ago. It was sunny and nice all day. We went swimming in a mountain stream (COLD!), had dinner and s'mores around the campfire... all around a great day. We even played cribbage and rummy by lantern light. (That's us above).
At about ten p.m., we started hearing some thunder rumbling, so we decided to go to bed. Bear almost immediately fell asleep. I stayed awake to watch the approaching storm from the open tent flap/window. We were camping on the side of the mountain so I had a great view as it came closer, and closer, and closer...
Now let me say here that I am not normally afraid of thundershowers. That being said, I have never been out in the worst thunderstorm I've ever seen in nothing sturdier than a tent I bought at Wal Mart. It was a bad storm, too. Chain lightning arced across the sky, illuminating the tent from one side to the other, only to be followed by a hellacious crack of thunder. To judge how far away the lightning is, you count the seconds and divide by four. For example, if you get to 8, then the storm is two miles away. I started counting. "One thousand one... one thousand two... one thous-" BOOM! Another thunderclap. It's safe to say that I was scared by this point. I elbowed Bear, waking him. I pretended it was an accident. I think he picked up on my fear, as he slung an arm around me, pulled me closer, and promptly fell asleep again. I couldn't relax. The storm was so close at one point that I couldn't hear the thunder; it echoed away down the mountian away from us. Lightning was striking around us. I was sure we were going to die. If not from actual lightning, than probably from a tree falling on us.
Some part of my mind said that I was safer if I kept my eyes open. That maybe we would only get hit if I wasn't paying attention. So I watched out the window at the storm. Rain was pounding our tent, washing the ground out around the pole stakes (they stayed in, but I don't know how), battering the old tarp we'd thrown over us until it was almost all you could hear. Our friend Frenchie was in a tent about fifteen feet away, but if he'd called out, we would never have heard him.
After about twenty minutes, the storm abated a bit. It was continuing its journey, and I was relieved. I'd just about fallen asleep when I heard more thunder rumbling towards us. Another storm?!? I couldn't believe it. I "accidentally" elbowed Bear again, and whispered, "Baby, another storm is coming!" I shivered a little bit, even though it had to be 80 degrees in the tent.
"No, hon, that's the same storm... it circles around the mountain several times before it builds up enough energy to move down the mountain."
WHAT?!?!?
He was right - the storm came back twice more, stronger each time. It took hours before it finally moved off of the mountain and into town. Every time the storm would go away, I'd start to drift off, just to have it wake me up again a short time later. Each time, I was sure that this time I was going to be struck or squished.
Thankfully, we all survived. Both men laughed at my girlish fears, comfortably rested after a great night's sleep. I was a wreck, exhausted, strung out. I was glad when we packed up to go home. I slept most of the ride back into town, the sun warm on my shoulder.

Now they want to go camping again...

Funny How Something so Small...

Can have such a big impact!
Yesterday while I was running errands, I picked up a pair of swimming goggles. Bear and his best friend Frenchie and I go swimming almost daily at Schoodic Lake (in Sebec/Milo area), and they tease me because I don't open my eyes underwater. Last night I put these goggles on and BAM! What a difference. This lake is amazing clear, and with goggles on I could see so much! It was really terrific. As an added bonus, I was able to swim freestyle the correct way (with your face in the water) and swam farther and faster than I ever have before. I DEFINITELY got my cardio in yesterday. I was so proud of myself! Of course, now I feel like I slacked the other half-dozen times I went swimming, because I didn't work nearly so hard. Tonight I want to swim out past the point and back. I want to see how long it takes me and how winded I get. As the summer progresses, I'm hoping to get more efficient.
Today my plans include doing dishes and laundry, calling my mother and mowing the lawn. I'd be mowing right now but the grass is wet and I don't want to slip and lose a toe to the mower. Ouch. So I'm going to wait until 9:30ish.
The scale this morning said 184.8 That is 5.2 pounds lost so far. Yeay!

Check In #1

It's been a week since my last post. How am I doing?

• I'm still drinkning soda, but my intake is drastically reduced.
• I had pizza and lasagna two days in a row, both times without Lactaid. Let's just say I am remembering now why I am supposed to stay away from dairy! *shudder*
• I bought a scale that says I'm down from 190 to 185. Yes! 30 pounds to go.
• Last week I didn't get in my twenty minutes of activity a day (grad class took up a TON of time) but yesterday I swam and today I'm going to take a walk.
  

So are you proud of me, even a little? I am. I have been trying to remind myself why I'm doing all of this whenever I get tempted to eat too much. Bear has been awesome about reminding me, too. Yesterday I wanted to have an ice cream, and he very gently asked me if I really wanted it since I'm trying to lose weight. Once he said that, my craving died down. YES!

The picture you see in this post isn't me. It's my best friend, Beatrice Crotchrocket, and her boyfriend Rambo. I found out this weekend that they are engaged!! I'm very excited for her. They might even be married before Bear and I are - wouldn't that be weird?
I'm a little worried, that they are going to run away and get married. Not because I think they will be missing out, but because I will. She is my best friend in the entire world and I want to be there. I want to be IN it, not just be there. I've never been in a wedding before, and after Bea's I don't want to be in another one (except mine, of course). I can't be her maid of honor, but I want to be a member of the wedding party so that I can help plan her bachelorette party, so I can help move the mountain of gifts to her apartment after the reception, so that I can hold the dollars for the dollar dance. To me, it's a way of showing how much I love and support her. I haven't always done a great job of showing that.

Of course, Bear tells me (and he's right) that it's her wedding and she can do it however she wants. I understand this on a theoretical level, but I WANT TO BE IN HER WEDDING! Is that selfish? Of course it is. I will work on getting over it. And besides, I'm not even sure if she would want me in her wedding if it was local, let alone far away. *sigh*

As for my own wedding, the plans are coming along fine. I'm not in the spotlight any more (my brother the conquiering hero is bringing his new wife home, and my parents are throwing them a party). My parents aren't throwing me a party. Maybe I'll get one next year.

~Amalia~

355 Days and Counting

355 days until Bear and I get married. Ten days shy of a year. It sounds like a long time, but I can almost guarantee it will fly by. I realized last week that if I'm going to get into shape for the wedding (who wants to look gross in their pictures?!), I had better get going! I weighed myself two days ago, and the scale said 190 pounds!!!!!! I was in SHOCK. How did I get so fat? When I met my last boyfriend I weighed 134 pounds. I want so much to be back to that. I'd settle for 150 if I had some muscle tone to go with it. But 190 is simply unacceptable. The bare minimum I'd be happy with is 154. That means I need to lose about 36 pounds.
Decision time. How am I going to lose 36 pounds? It works out to three pounds a month, or 10,500 calories (one pound of fat is about 3,500 calories). THAT works out to 350 calories a day. 350 calories is one pepsi and an oreo cookie. If all I had to do is give that up, it'd be easy!
Below is a list of resolutions. For the next several weeks, I am going to be checking in on how I'm doing. I hope to buy my own scale this week, and I have a tape measure too. Bear will measure me to insure impartiality.

Resolutions:

1. No more soda! Water and 100% fruit juice are best. Crystal light is okay, and iced tea will work in a pinch.
2. At least twenty minutes of cardio every day. Sex counts, as long as I'm on top. :)
3. Fruit for breakfast whenever possible. Bananas are great, as is watermelon. I'm beginning to enjoy cherries, too.
4. Stay away from dairy! I'm lactose intolerant, so this one shouldn't be too difficult. However, taking a lactaid makes it all too easy to eat Dairy Queen. Do they have frozen yogurt?
5. Wait at least half an hour before eating dessert. Often if I do this, I end up not craving it.

How have I done so far?

In the last five days, I have played tennis (1), gone swimming (3) and biked (1), adding up to five days of physical activity IN A ROW. I've had a couple of sodas in that time, but I have cut back. I need to work on upping my water intake next. This morning for breakfast I had a banana and a cherry (then I broke down and had two crackers with sharp cheese). Still, it's something.

Bear has been great about motivating me, although I think he feels bad - he views it as nagging, when I view it as much needed encouragement. "I can resist anything but temptation," someone once said. Bear must be my willpower at least until I start to see results.

156 here I come!!

~Amalia~