Deconstrucation AGAIN

Well once again my kitchen is completely torn apart. This time it is because we are installing 2 more cabinets.

Oh and 1 of the cabinets goes inbetween the existing cabinets and the big corner lazy susan. And because of the counter top and some trim you can't just slide it in. You have to move the big corner lazy susan.

That's right - the thing that took about 2 hours to get in place had to come out. Which ment I had to take ALL THE FOOD OUT OF IT!!! That in of itself was a chore and don't get me started on putting everything back in. That will probably take me 2 days to get it back to the way I had it.

So the corner lazy susan got take out, and the new one put in place. Well then it took alot of pushing, shoving and some strategic hammer blows to get the big lazy susan back in place because the walls are not straight. The other cabinet that got installed went between the big lazy susan and the fridge - I'll move the fidge any day.

The 2 cabinets that went in Chris made. 1 is a about 9 inches wide and pulls out like a large drawer and will hold all the cookie sheets. The other is to hide the garbage cans in so those will no longer be an eye sore in the kitchen.

So now I need to get a couple more pieces of counter top to finish this project off. Right now I'm looking at buying just 2 more cabinets to finish out the kitchen. One to go on the wall between the fridge and big lazy susan the one to go over the fridge. With those last 2 cabinets I will have a complete kitch all the way around and more storage than I will know what to do with.

Now to just finish doors and trim and we will have a complete house. But then we will find something else to work on.... it never ends.

We are Cantering

Well I'm not but Emily is for me. Oh Rendi knows how to canter and can pick up it when I'm lunging her, but in the 2 years that I've had her I've not been on her back during the cantere - we have been focusing on walk, trot and lateral work plus getting her fit enough to canter with someone on her back.

So Emily who is a great rider has cantered her under saddle the last 2 weekends. Last weekend was not the best effort because I think Rendi was a little confused at what we wanted but she eventually did pick it up.

This week I put Rendi and Emily on the lunge line which Rendi understands and away they went.

And boy did they look good (damn I forgot my camera to video tape it). Rendi didn't try to run away (like she did last week) and after a couple times around the circle, she was started to find her balance. We didn't push her too hard - all we wanted really was for her to learn the aids we use to ask for the canter under the saddle so once we take her off the lunge line we can ask her for it. So there was alot of starting and stopping going on and Rendi was soaking wet when we were done but she got it.

So next Saturday Emily will work at it some more and I may even try it myself since now I know that Rendi can pick it up without alot of fuss (I was afraid she was going to buck or kick out and I'd get thrown).

Weight Loss Wk 4

Well I'm another pound down so that is good but this is going to be a tough week. I'm traveling for buisness so its going to be really hard to stick to my diet.

When the company is paying for your food you just don't pass up the steak house and the loaded potatoes - I have a very very hard time keeping portions in control or even choosing something that is healthy for me. And then there is all the drinks..... And working out just does not happen. By the time we get done with work we are heading out for dinner which will last 2 - 3 hours and then your back at the hotel and then the people you are with want to go great drinks since they never get to go out. And normally I'm so tired because you just don't sleep well in a hotel I just want to get some sleep. I do walk quite a bit more (thru airports and such) but still....

I'm pretty good for breakfast and since lunch is normally brought in and is just sandwiches I'm good there - but dinner is where I loose it all the time.

The scale will tell next week how bad this week is going to be for me. At least its really only going to be 2 days I'll have to worry about.

Weight loss Wk 3

So its the start of Wk3 and so far I've lost a good 3 lbs and thats with being off the diet last week while traveling. For those that have travled for work in the past - you do not pass up a steak dinner paid for by the company for anything.

Since I'm doing WW and counting points I have noticed that except for occasions like today where it took almost a full bag of popcorn to fill me up I'm not necessarly using all my points. I've pretty much had enough left at the end of the day for a glass of wine. I've also noticed that when I limit myself to a cup of pasta and 3 oz of chicken and some veggies I'm full - and if I try to eat any more than that I feel icky and stuffed.

And now since I had a bag of popcorn at 3pm I'm not hungry for dinner - I'll probably get hungry a bit later but that is alot better than normal when I'm starved at 5pm and want to eat now.

Any ideas for other things I can do for an afternoon snack to hold me over till we get home and I make dinner?

Inaguration

So who watched the Inaguration today? I've never watched one before so it was interesting. It was really interesting to see all those people - having been on the mall before and knowing how big it is I can't wait till they come back with some numbers.

I watched it in the break room at work. We have a TV that gets iffy reception as it just has rabbit ears so we missed parts of the speeches but by the time the Obama spoke there were probably a good 40 people standing around watching it.

Joining the band wagon

Okay - I admit... I'm trying to loose weight as well.

So today is day 2 back on weight watchers and so far I'm doing pretty good. From my last stint actually going to meetings I've got alot of good tips and tricks to play with - now to get them to stick. Following the WW rules I typically eat core foods but count points because my main problem is portion control - I need to eat less. The goal is to loose about 20 lbs - once I get there I'll set my next goal.

It seems like half the office is on weight watchers again and they are trying to get an at work group going again so we can go to meetings there. Lots of motivation here. Plus Chris wants to loose weight so anything I buy and cook he will eat. Last night I made chicken and pasta for dinner and I weighed out (thanks for the scale sib) and measured everything and it was just enough food. And it gave me a great lunch for today since I cooked too much. I had enough points extra I even got a glass of wine with dinner.

So how is everyone else doing with the first days back on a life style modification exercise?

Made it home

Well I'm finally back at home. After being gone about a week and a half, it feels good to come home to my own nest. I'm really glad I cleaned before I left because as we emptied the car out it looked like christmas threw up in the living room.

Let me tell you I don't know how we will do this when we have kids. The Jetta barley held all our crap in it (2 large duffle bags, boots, cold weather gear, a couple boxes of presents, a large cooler, 4 cases of beer and a partridge in a pear tree). I think we need a bigger car for long duration trips like this. We ended up coming home with alot more stuff than we left with.

So tonight I unpack and start playing with all the cool stuff I got that I haven't opened before now because I would just need to figure out how to put it back in the box to take it home. That also means I need to get rid of stuff in order to find homes for the new stuff - so its in with the new and out with the old.

Oh and I also have to deal with a cat that was left home alone for the past week and a half (the neighbor checked on her periodically). Currently she is purring as loud as she can in my lap and I suspect she will be sharing my pillow tonight to make sure I don't leave her again. She will be like this for a couple weeks until she gets bored with us and starts ignoring us again.