Moving along on the diet

 We went over to Steve's parents house last night for Timmy Tuesday Dinners. Yep invited for once!! 

Had some delicious Sausage stuffed tomatoes from the farmer market. So delicious. I also had some home made pickles and green beans. I'm still on my diet, but did have a taste of blueberry cobbler and 2 small slices of a nut bread with cheese. All Still under 1000 or around there for calories for the day. I did eat a small lunch of a potato with the leftover roasted peppers/onions. I love this spicy flavorful combo so I might have to eat more and add on some salsa for a very low cal meal. 

How's my diet going on day 4? I did feel kind of blah and hungry in the late afternoon- this is why I choose to eat the potato/peppers for lunch. It also was raining most of the day so no biking or running. I did go out and scrape the deck paint off for at least an hour. Very satisfying to peel up the old paint. There is still a lot of paint left to get up. I just keep working on it. I did find that after the rain soaking on the wood and the humidity, the paint peeled up much easier using just a knife. 

I didn't burn any extra calories with a workout. That was kind of a fail on my part. I did try to keep busy but it was a dull day. No work, just a few things on my todo list. I wasted far too much time looking at the Internet. Good thing today I have plenty of work this morning that will keep me moving. This afternoon is an eye appointment for Steve. Fingers crossed his eye /cornea still looks good. He was on steroid drops to prevent the cornea rejection. Last time it looked good, but now since he stopped those steroids, his vision isn't as good. Still looking into if the prostethic iris will be covered by insurance?? I need to re-call insurance asap! Who knows if he can even do this now?? 

It's also time to color my hair again before the weekend and vacation next week. I am celebrating my 53rd birthday and I can not have gray hairs! Wish I was turning 35 instead. Celina would have been 2 years old and I would be PG with Logan. Well, maybe not being pg, that was no fun!! 

Random Tuesday!

We found Logan a frig for his door room. Fingers crossed its not too big. The max size was 4cc. We got him a 3cc. in stainless steal his only request with one door not two. 

Celina made this pineapple upside down cake. Delicious! 

I attempted to set up my own Tic Tock doing videos on super fast cleaning tips and stories. Zero views as of yet. Is anyone really interested in cleaning? Probably not but maybe the stories once I get going. I just need to make them funny. 

I've been dieting. So far so good. Day #3! This is always the most challenging day for me as I get more hungry. I'm trying to eat only 500 calories per day and stick to eating dinner, so I can eat with the family or at least Steve. 

Monday - 700 calories

Tuesday - 620 calories

I've been trying to preplan my meals. It helps to know when I'll be eating dinner and what. This way I can make dinner or get things ready for Steve to cook. 

I do know this weekend will be a challenge staying on a diet since we will be on vacation. I still plan to drink a little. Maybe just have sips of Steve's instead of ordering my own? I'll be stressed taking Logan to college and sad after he is on his own. The highs and lows will make me want to eat. I just have to remember to breathe and drink lots of water which I love. 

We will be going to Texas this fall and I'd really like to have more clothes to wear that I already own. Plus, we will be swimming in the pool. I'd like to fit into my swim suit and feel comfortable. My driving force to stick with the diet. If I lose around 15 to 20 pounds I'll be happy. It's a start on a constant battler to keep the weight down and off. 

Yesterday we had probably our last 90*F humid day. Zoey couldn't decide if she was an indoor dog or out. It was chilly with the AC on inside and too hot outside. So we both kept going in and out. 

57 days!

 Yes that's right! I am on a weight loss diet for the next 57 days. My goal is to lose 15 to 30 pounds by the end of 57 days! 

Day 1, only ate a few PB nuggets for b-fast, Dinner was a pork and chicken taco. No cheese, 1 corn tortilla and a small brownie. Yes, the brownie was not needed. Stuck with only water all day. Didn't feel hungry or deprived of any food. 

Day 2, a few 2, PB pretzels, didn't feel hungry, started getting hungry at 4pm, had 6 thin slices of Canadian bacon and now am waiting for my dinner/ Steve to get home so we can make some potato enchilada like we had at the fair. I do feel more hungry after eating the Canadian bacon. Also kind of tired this afternoon. I also slept in till 7am this morning since I didn't work till 9:30am. 

Tomorrow on day 3, will be more challenging as I don't work, I do have plans to bike. 

I tried on some clothes Saturday night and realized I have nothing to wear unless I do lose weight. I have so many cute clothes I want to be able to wear again. This last year with covid, I didn't worry much about my weight, having a few drinks and eating what I wanted. I was stress eating and drinking. Time to take back my life and get going on me! 

Saturday, Saturday!

Saturday Night's adventures!  

Look at that huge orange full moon! Not the best photo. 

Went to a newly opened place Malcome in the yard, in Minneapolis

Tried the Korean fried chicken. It was amazing!!

The two new places are located right next to Surly Brewing. A distillery which was reservations only inside, so we sat outdoors on the patio which is exactly where we wanted to be. 

After walked to Surly and had a beer with some food. Called it a night! 10 out of 10!! 

What's going on in my life this week?

 I see others post on the W's. 

What's been making me happy? Boating on the St. Croix river 2 times this week, once with the kids and the other time just the two of us. 

We also have had nice warm weather in the 90's this week with humid, warm mornings which are my favorite! 

Steve won $51 on Bingo! We also came upon the game as a spontaneous fun night out Tuesday night. 

We might have gone out to dinner a few too many times this week, but with perfect patio weather and few left this year, why not? 

We also had a few IPA beers, maybe a bit too many since we went out Tuesday, Thursday and Friday so far this week. 

The kids and I were able to ride along the Mississippi River for a much needed 14 mile bike ride. The only  bummer part was Celina being stung multiple times by a wasp that ended their bike ride early. 

We also scheduled a trip to Austin Texas to visit friends who live there. Fingers crossed Covid in Texas isn't even more out of control. I don't want to cancel the trip! 

The kids canceled their camping with friends at the lake this weekend due to cooler temperatures and a storm on Friday night followed by possible more rain on Sunday morning. They just didn't want to go if the camping weather wasn't perfect. Can't blame them and it was a good thing they didn't go up to the lake Friday as just south of the lake, in Belgrade was a tornado last night! 

I picked up a new client this week. I did have another new customer cancel on me but will reschedule soon. So it was a high and low for work. I do need to advertise more. I did post an ad on Monday so it did pay off with a new client. I'm actually waiting till after next week to do more advertising since we will be busy getting Logan off to college and going on a few last long weekend vacations. 

What are we eating? Not enough from the refrigerator as we ate out Thursday and Friday night! I did throw some pork into the crock pot Wednesday night, so we still have taco's or pulled BBQ pork to eat up along with all the Costco veggies in the frig. 

I haven't been running or Walking Zoey this week. I'm trying to heal my feet issues. I do feel bad, we've left her home alone a lot this week while out boating. 

Logan is almost ready to go off to College. We just need a few more things for his dorm. We did shop and get a comforter, etc.. only a week left, hard to believe he will be off on his own. 

We will go one more time in September to the lake. I'm hoping more than just one more, but it all depends on the weather! 

Was that the last 90+F August day?

 We took advantage of the 90+F Thursday afternoon and headed to the St. Croix river with the boat. Picked up the kids/and friends in Prescott, then drove the boat up the river to Hudson for dinner. We tried another restaurant, Caribbean food. Very good, but really spicy! 

I fixed the plane ticket oops I made when scheduling our departure. I had accidentally booked 9pm instead of a.m. so the next fight I could book is for 10am. Good enough as we only arrive 44 minutes later then had orig though! It only was a $6 dollar difference in price! Sooo glad I noticed the error and was able to easily correct it with a similar time flight! Still not 100% sure we won't have to cancel our trip come October. It all depends on Texas and their Covid numbers. Fingers crossed we will be able to travel! 

Celina and Don are off to try camping and set up this weekend. They have it all to do on their own. We have possible strong storms with hail and high winds tonight, so the plan is for them to leave to the lake early Saturday morning. They invited a few other friends to join them and will be home Sunday night. They will be using my SUV since its larger and can fit the camping equipment a lot more easily. 

I do love it up at the lake now that the shore line is 100% done. Just wish we had a cabin so rain/weather would not be an issue going up to the lake. Well, in 5 years or less we will be able to build something once our mortgage is paid off. I want to not add any debt, so this is the reason for waiting till our current mortgage is paid off first! While I would like to speed up the time, I also don't want to get older faster! So we will wait and just enjoy camping on the beach. Once the cabin is built we will be back staying up on the hill top since a cabin must be 100 ft from the shoreline. I do think we will need to build an outdoor kitchen down by the shore so we can have picnic lunches and dinners by the lake. 

Steve and I still don't have plans for this weekend. I've been use to going somewhere every weekend. So its a bit weird to not have plans or be traveling. 

Biking and bee stings!

The kids and I biked yesterday afternoon. We rode though the Minnehaha park and noticed the waterfall is more of a trickle. There was a small pool at the bottom of the walls were a bunch of pretty large fish were caught and won't be able to get down the river till we get  a lot of rain! So surprising to see the water sooo low! 

 We biked on along the river until a wasp flew into the back of Celina's shirt and stung her 5 times! That ended the bike ride. I rode back 7 mile to the car while Logan and Celina waited to get picked up. The wasp stings were burning her back so she was done biking! After we drove to Whole Foods for lunch and to pick up some items the kids wanted. I paid far too much for 22 items as the amount was $121! It averaged out to $5.50 per item purchased! I think my water bottle was the cheapest item we got at $1.60! Oh and on the way into the parking ramp, I hit a low concrete ceiling beam with the kayak racks on top of my SUV! Lucky for me, it didn't wreck the kayak rack or the top of my SUV. We did have to take off the racks to get out from under the beam in the parking ramp. Ugh, what a day! 

Steve and I had a fun night out on Tuesday. We had diner out on the patio in Hastings, went inside to use the bathroom to find out they were having BINGO night. We stayed to play. It was only $1 per board. Steve had beginners luck for us and won the 3rd game of the night, $51.00 which paid for our meal/drinks and BINGO! 

We might have to go back next Tuesday for BINGO night! A fun thing to do but not sure we will if Covid numbers keep going up as its inside a bar! Just as we are getting back to normal, the doors are getting shut once again! 

Its' going to be one of the last days of 90*F in August, so we are taking the boat out on the St. Croix river this afternoon! It will be just the 4 of us, one last time to use the boat. I'm hoping the kids will want to stop and swim at the island and not just go for a boat ride to eat in Hudson. I'll probably be the only one wanting to float in the water. 

We booked tickets to Austin Texas in October but now are having second thoughts. Texas Covid numbers are going up like crazy. Hospitals are full, so not sure we should be traveling there in a few months? Guess we will keep an eye on the situation and make our decision closer to travel time. I think we can get our money back on the trip tickets? If not it was only around $500. Not a huge loss but still a bummer to spend that much and get nothing in return! I am hopeful we will still be able to travel since we can get a booster Covid vaccination before our trip! I'm looking forward to just going some where and part of the trip will be to the ocean! My favorite place to go! 

On the road soon enough!

 The days are ticking by super fast now. Summer is almost over and soon enough we will be taking a road trip to drop Logan off at College. After we will hit the road and do more camping. While I'm looking forward to another trip I am going to be sad to say goodbye to Logan till Thanksgiving. I'm hoping we can take a road trip back to visit him on his birthday. 

We are also thinking of taking a week trip, maybe a few days longer and flying out to Texas to visit our friends in Austin for the week. We also want to have a few ocean days, so will try to figure out a way to fit that into our plans in October! While I didn't think we'd go back as this is our 3rd trip to Austin, I'm excited that it will include going to the ocean. I'm not sure if our friends will join us, so that's something we need to figure out before  booking our trip. 

Alone...

 I went to the lake alone on Thursday. I think last year I spent one night alone there too before Steve came up? I know its animal free for the most part so I know its safe to sleep in a tent and not get freaked out. 

I really didn't sit around much the 24 hours I was at the lake by myself. I planned a lake project but before I could do my projects I had to set up all the camping stuff myself. It took about 2 hours with a break to eat lunch. I took my time not rushing since I was in no hurry! It's pretty easy to set up, I have a cart that helps to carry all the stuff down the hill to the lake where we set up our tents. We used to camp at the top of the hill when we had a camper. Its always more freaky at night when you're in the woods. Now that we camp down on the beach I feel much safer and never scared since its a lot brighter at night not being in the woods. 

I was soo tired from not sleeping well Wednesday night and then setting up all the camping stuff myself that I slept great! Perfect temperature to sleep, not too cold and not hot! The morning was a bit chilly in the 60's so I stayed in the tent for a long time just looking at my cell. I went to town and picked up the supplies for my lake project, solar lights and mulch for our driveway walking path that cuts through the woods. Turned out really nice and didn't take much effort. There isn't a whole lot of light that reaches the ground next to the path, so a few of my solar lights will need to be moved in order for them to light up at night. I could have used a few more bags of mulch but will wait till next summer to freshen it up. I did get the mulch bags on sale for $2.50 each and could have gone for the cheapest black mulch for $1.50 per bag but decided on just hardwood mulch instead. Great to get discounted prices but it is the end of the season and we won't get much more use out of the path this year. I'm just hoping it will need a little touch up next spring. I just don't want the mulch to be washed away from a hard rain. I would have rather put down crushed rocks but that would require a delivery of rocks and Steve isn't ready to add more to the driveway.  That too needs to be fixed since all the heavy trucks crushed the sides of the driveway making it slope down on either side instead of being flat. It's not a huge expense as they only charged $350 to drop off and spread out a few years ago. Maybe next summer? Along with a new aluminum 20 ft dock sections. We will slowly get the area ready to build a cabin in 5 years. We have lots of trees to remove, the septic/well and electrical to all add. I'd like to just pay as we build this way we will have zero debts. 

The last project of the weekend was to clear out the branches /wood pile we made next to this tree and our picnic table. I brought all the branches to the top of the hill and made just one pile for our firewood. Its huge now as we cut down tree and piled up all the branches from the storm a few weeks ago. 

I found a before picture of the branch pile in front of the tree, behind our picnic table. 

It gives us so much more room to go around the table and looks better all cleared out of debris. Now we just have one large pile of branches out of sight in the woods. I want to wrap the branch that extends out over our table in solar lights. I think it will look nice to have the picnic area more lit up at night. I did purchase a large solar light to put on top of the picnic table at night. I just set it on the beach to charge up and flip it over on the table to provide night time light that last till morning. Worked perfect! 

The tree solar lights are only $7 per tree. We don't have electricity so this is the best option to provide a lighted beach. I did lose one tree of lights and half of another one already. I might have wrapped the tree too tight with the lights? Its a bummer that some sets already don't work. Not sure if they will last through the winter but at least its not a huge money investment and it provides great ambience! I'll just be sure to order enough right away instead of ordering two boxes at a time. I haven't found them in the store, only on line at Walmart. Two sets of lights for $14 I ordered another 4 boxes to use in our yard and add more to the lake maybe next summer. 

The new beach shore line wall held up great since we built it two weeks ago. We only had  a few small rocks fall back into the water and the sand held in place. The real test is going through a winter! Next spring will be the true test if the sand / beach holds. I'm sure there will be a few of the smaller rocks to re-stack and more sand to refresh the beach. That can be easily added. 

It kind of feels like we've had the shore line finished for years instead of only two weeks. Doing it half at a time made the project more do able and not so overwhelming. Its so much nicer and cleaner feeling going to the lake and camping on the shoreline. We now can use the entire beach instead of just half. I also added a ton of tiki torches along the rock wall. We have one more spot on the other side of the beach to add one more tent. I was thinking of moving the middle our dark sleeping tent to the other beach area on the right. We can set up the screen porch in the middle by the firepit or over the picnic table if the bugs are bad or rains. At least we have more options and space if we ever do have more camping with us. 

I had a fire by myself Thursday night. I tried watching for falling stars staying up till 10pm. I was just far too tired to stay awake. Steve and I did more star gazing Friday night and I saw one falling star but missed the other two Steve noticed. 

One of our favorite things to do at the lake is make breakfast lake side. Steve has his big flat stove top grill and the cooking stove to make a great breakfast meal. He cooked up a bunch of papers and onions to make some tacos for dinner /lunch. I'd like Steve to make a wood kitchen area on the beach. This way it will block out the wind and give us a more permanent kitchen area where we don't have to bring an extra cooking table. Also more projects to do in the next few years. 

I am off work till Thursday so my plan was originally to stay up at the lake Thursday - Wednesday. I'd be alone Thursday, and again Sunday night - Wednesday. I decided after two really windy days Saturday /Sunday that I too was ready to come home from the lake. While it was nice to have a day alone, I think that was enough for me. Maybe two days max before everyone comes up. I'm just not ready to spend more days by myself in a tent. Maybe once we have a cabin or if I had a lot more projects to do? It was nice having the option of staying I was just done with the crazy wind and since the forecast was more wind up to 20 mph, I wanted to come home! I am just glad the first two days was calm and had zero wind at night and in the early morning. 

The kids like the new beach so much, they want to try camping next weekend on their own. They will just bring the bare minimum, two tents and call it good. I like to bring all the comforts of home, fitting in as much as possible into my SUV to camp. Steve and I will be back to the lake once again in September and that will probably be the last of the season until next spring/summer. I do love it at the lake and its even better there now. I can not wait till we are building a simple year round cabin. We will be back up by the woods but it will be nice to have a permanent structure and can store everything we need up at the lake. so it will be less to haul up. We can always camp at the beach anytime... just will be optional at that point. 

It's my Friday! Plus, RiP miss Yaz...

 It's my Friday! I will be off to the lake for a full 7 days with most of the time there alone, camping on the beach! I created a what am I going to do list while by myself. It's not very long and kind of the same stuff I'd do with others, but I do plan to run the mile square every day. 

I can't just lay around like this all of the 7 days! Tempting but kind of boring too. 

We had some very sad news yesterday. Yasmine, Kendra's 12 year old yorkie died. She lived 8 months longer then her sister Coco. They were always together since Yaz was a few years younger. It was sad to see her the last few months just hanging on. 

She will be missed. She loved to have you throw her a ball of socks. She was lightening fast. She was a fierce dog around other dogs. Zoey was even scared of her bark. 

RIP Miss Yaz..

Two more days!

 That's right, just two more days and I'm off on vacation to the lake. I'd rather have a little more work to earn some money but if I don't, might as well enjoy the summer! 

How's my diet progress/lifestyle changes? Not good! I need to start back up again, low cal and less calories taken in with more daily exercise. 

What is holding me back? Just me and only me. I'm back to reading the internet far too much, doing everything else but working out, biking, or running. I think I just need a smaller goal of biking 2 or 3 times a week with running the same amount. I just try to get in exercise every day, but if it doesn't happen in the morning, I don't really feel like doing anything after I work. So I need to either wake up earlier 5:30am or make myself do something before I sit for the day. 

While I'm at the lake by myself, I plan to go for a short run every day, do yoga, read, swim, kayak, camp cook and go to the store. I'm sure I'll find other things to do. At least I hope so! Work on my diet and mental health by being outdoors 24-7 for 7 days! 

Back to Sauk soon!!!

 I'm heading back to up to the lake on Thursday. I'm probably going to be there alone for a night before Steve and maybe the kids come up on Friday for the weekend. I don't work till next week on Wednesday so I'll stay till Tuesday by myself since the weather is going to be a perfect 80+F. 

I'll probably skip bringing the jetski and will just have a kayak. Not sure what I'll do, read a book, paint some rocks? Cook some food? Float in the water? Go for a run, take a nap in the hammock? As long as the weather is going to be nice, I might as well be at the lake and outside as much as possible. 

I have a lot to do before heading to the lake!