Wednesday Wramblings (on Friday...)

Well, I wasn't able to do another Wednesday Wramblings this week (or last week for that matter).... but I have so many things that have been going on, it feels like a Wednesday Wramblings post.

I know that I haven't posted in a while, but we've been traveling, my birthday came and went and my in-laws were in town for a few days.   So it's just been kind of busy.

Feed My Face Update
I am doing AWESOME on my diet.  I have been staying totally on track with my Weight Watchers points and am down yet another pound this week.  It seems like a really really slow process, but I am not going to complain.  As long as the scale continues to follow a downward trend, I am going to force myself to be content with that.

I got really discouraged a couple weeks ago because I gained 1.2 pounds after a week of hard-core dieting.  I think that's one reason I just didn't blog that week.  I was mad.  But I kept going and tried to just press on, and lo and behold.  I am now losing again... wee haw!

I did take a little Weight Watchers break for my birthday (duh).  My mom made me my traditional birthday dessert - apple pie.  She seriously makes the best apple pie I've ever eaten in my entire life.  I don't know how many hundreds of points it had in it, but who cares?  It was my birthday and I stuffed my face with it. 

I also wanted to share this amazing recipe now that the weather is thinking about turning cooler.  It's only upper 90's now.  Here in Texas, when it is consistently below 100 for a few days in a row, it seems like fall.  I have made this soup a lot over the last few years since I discovered it.  It only takes 30 minutes TOTAL (prep and cooking).  It is super healthy and you can easily count WW points if that's your thing.

CHICKEN FAJITA TORTILLA SOUP

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 packages chicken tenders, 1 1/2 to 2 pounds
• 1 tablespoon coriander, a palm full
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme leaves, 5 to 6 sprigs
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 large onion, quartered and thinly sliced
• 1 large bell pepper, quartered and thinly sliced
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and thinly sliced
• 1 (28-ounce) can fire roasted diced tomatoes
• 1 quart chicken stock
• 1 bag white corn tortilla chips
• 1 cup shredded pepper Jack or sharp white Cheddar
• 1 ripe avocado, diced
• 1 lime, juiced
• 4 scallions, chopped
• Handful fresh cilantro leaves or fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Directions

Heat a large skillet with extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan, over medium-high heat. Add chicken, begin to brown 4 minutes, add coriander, thyme, salt and pepper, to taste, onions, bell pepper and jalapeno, season with salt and pepper, to taste. Cook 8 to 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add tomatoes and stock, heat through.

While the soup is working, lightly crush some tortilla chips and divide among 4 bowls. You need a couple of handfuls per bowl. Top the chips with a little cheese. Toss the avocado with lime juice. Top the chips with ladles of soup. Garnish soup with avocado, scallions and cilantro or parsley.

So there's that.  YUMMMMMM!!!!!!

Sweaty Mess Update
The half-marathon training continues.  Dad and I are now up to 6 mile long runs on Saturday mornings.  We have found a great neighborhood to run in that's relatively flat and pretty close.  We run through this community area in Grand Prairie called Mira Lagos.  Super nice with fountains and parks and pools and fields with hay bales.  I almost don't hate running 6 miles when we are there.  

 

And (BONUS!!!) I got some seriously cool running-theme gifts for my birthday.  I have wanted a Garmin Forerunner GPS watch for a long long time and now finally own one!  I am totally addicted to it and anyone who is really serious about running just has to have one.  I wouldn't call myself a serious runner by any means, but knowing how fast I am going and how far I've gone while on a run just changes the whole experience for me.  

 

I also got this water holster belt thingy.  A couple weeks ago when Dad and I were running about 5.5 miles, I think, I told him we needed hydration options.  When you run 5Ks and 10Ks, you have nice little people that hand you water cups every couple miles or so.  But when you run 6 miles on your own -- those people aren't there.  We were getting so hot and really hitting the wall at about 4 miles...

Dad said he refused to carry any more weight than he already was, so if we needed water, I was going to have to be the one to wear it.  So -- he bought me this pink one for my birthday!  I think he got the pink so that he wouldn't ever have to take a turn wearing it.  But whatever... it is kind of dorky, but some how I feel totally hard core when I have it on.

 

Syringes

School hasn't officially started, but I've done some orientation stuff.  I am going to be doing a few weeks of clinicals at Terrel State Hospital.  For those of you who aren't familiar with that, it's the state psychiatric hospital.  Wow.  My friend and I were assigned to the forensic unit.  The forensic unit houses inpatients who have charges against them and are awaiting trial, but they can't be in the jail system because of mental illness.  So I am going to be hanging with not only criminals, but criminals with behavioral health "issues."  I'll just have to let your imagination run with that...

I got a really cute new bag for school/work!  It has tons of pockets and room for books and stuff.  I do not sell Thirty-One products.  It's one of those direct marketing businesses where you have "parties" and buy stuff.  I love their bags... but I am a raging bagaholic.

 

 

Do you see how I put my orange stethoscope in the pocket like that?  Two reasons:  1)  You can see how the bag is perfect for my nursing student needs; and 2)  You can be jealous and impressed with my overall medical amazingness.

As part of our psychiatric and mental health rotations, we have to attend and observe a 12-step program meeting.  There's Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous... but then there is an even more interesting one that I thought might be more entertaining - Overeaters Anonymous.  My friend and I went to one of the many meetings they have in the Dallas area and were warmly welcomed to observe.  It was a very interesting experience.  I thought maybe I could actually learn a few tips from attending.

My husband, David:  "Hey, what did you do this afternoon with the kids?"

Me:  "Well, they went to a friend's house while I went to this meeting thing."

David:  "What meeting?"

Me:  "Overeaters Anonymous."

David:  "You went to what?"

Me:  "Overeaters Anonymous."

David:  very long pause and puzzled expression

Me:  "Oh my gosh!  For school, David!  It was for school!"

 

Wednedsay Wramblings

Yes, I know that isn't how you spell ramblings... but I liked how using a W worked with Wednesday.  So that may be the title of my Wednesday posts from now on.  I feel a trademark coming on...

Feed My Face Update
I have somehow managed to resist the Ben and Jerry's in my freezer.  I am so proud!

See?!!!??!?!?!  There she is.  Still sitting right where she belongs.  I'll have to figure out some time to eat it.  Maybe after I run 10 miles or something.  Do you think that's a good goal?  Let me know...

When I am trying to eat to lose weight, I tend to eat a lot of things over and over again.  A lot of people get tired of the same meals, but when I find something that works, I don't mind the repetition.

Here is a list of foods I eat on a (almost) daily basis:
1.  Turkey sandwiches with a slice of Kraft BIG slice 2% lowfat cheese on Nature's Own 100% whole wheat bread.  For the Weight Watchers folks in the house, 2 points for the cheese, only 1 point for 2 slices of bread!!  It took a lot of research to find a bread brand/kind (NOT a sandwich thin) that would let me eat 2 slices for only 1 point.
2.  Omelette with 1 cup of liquid real egg with mushrooms, onions and green bell pepper.  Then I sprinkle 1/4 cup of 2% low fat shredded sharp cheddar on top and serve with salsa.  Whole thing?  4 points.  Beautiful.
3.  Dryers Frozen Fruit Bars (I like strawberry and grape).  1 point each.
4.  Chick-fila ice dream cones.  I have one or two a week for a special treat.  2 points each for the small.
5.  Baked potatoes with random stuff on top.  Potatoes are anywhere from 1-3 points depending on the size.  My dad is super-creative with what he puts on top.  When we go to Dickey's or any BBQ place, he basically puts the whole condiment bar on his potato.  Baked beans, pickles, peppers, jalapenos, everything.  I don't do that.  I like to put turkey and broccoli on mine at home.
6.  FRUIT.  All kinds, all day.  Usually 1 point each per piece or per cup.
7.  Diet Dr. Pepper.  I know it's not the best thing in the world to drink because of the chemicals and stuff, but it's a nice treat at the end of the day when you just need "the burn."
8.  Fiber One Bars - chocolate and peanut butter are my two favorite flavors.  BUT THEN.... I learned that the peanut butter ones are 3 points each and not the standard 2 points that all the other Fiber One bars are!!!  I had been counting them as 2 points for months the first time I did WW.  Ignorance was such bliss.

We need to talk a bit about Fiber One bars.  Circa 2009 when my dad and sister and I first did WW, Fiber One bars were the most popular WW go-to snack/breakfast.  You couldn't attend a single meeting without someone mentioning that they LOVE Fiber One bars.  They are dessert-like, filling, and only 2 points each.  So Dad, Kelsey and I starting living off of them.  We all were having at least one per day.  I mean, when you first start WW, you are scared to eat anything outside of the short list of things you've been told are okay and that you are 100% sure of the calculated points.  Anything else is "scary."

About 2 weeks later, my dad had a stench that followed him around like a fog.

We had no idea what was going on.  His truck stank.  He stank sitting next to you.  He farted constantly... and they were this ungodly funk that I cannot even explain to you.  It had gotten to a point when you could hardly stand to be around him.  I think he came close to losing friends.  That seems dramatic, but I am not kidding.  It made you choke.

So I started doing a little research and found out that it was probably the hailed Fiber One bars we had come to love.  Dad was NOT the only victim.  Others had noticed and were discussing the same problems online.

 

So my dad had to wean off of them.  It's really sad, actually, because I don't know what I'd do without them.  They are my breakfast almost everyday.  I do NOT have the gassy side effects that Dad does.  So if you eat a lot of Fiber One bars and have noticed that you have horrific gas or if your car smells like fart stink when you get into it, you may want to consider giving the rest of your stash to someone who is fiber-tolerant.

Sweaty Mess Update

I have been doing well on all my half marathon training.  I haven't missed a single workout or run yet.  Of course, we are only 2 weeks in, but if I can do it for 2 weeks, why not the whole time?  Right?  This week so far I have run 2 miles, done one Insanity workout, and taken the rest day.  The next 4 days include two 3 mile runs, an Insanity workout and the long 5 mile run that Dad and I will do Sunday morning before church.  If anyone out there wants to run 5 miles with us Sunday morning, you are welcome to join.  Just get in touch with me somehow via Facebook or the comment section of this blog or email me at bro.williams@gmail.com.

My Monday run was 2 miles.  I was an IDIOT and ran it at 4pm because I had this party deal-io to go to that evening and knew if I didn't run it before the party, there would be no way to do it after.  So, I took a picture of the weather on my phone right as I was going out the door, because it was ridiculous.

 

Yes.  It was 102 when I left to start the run.  Holy balls.  It was a BAD idea.  I will never do that again.  Running 2 miles in 102 felt like running 5 miles in decent weather.

Here's a brilliant capture of me after the run.

 

The more I continue to stare at this picture, the less convinced I am that it was a good idea to put it up here.  But whatevs.  You can tell I am smoking hot.  That towel I'm wearing is what I continually dipped in ice water and put on my head for about an hour.  And my face stayed about that red for a solid 90 minutes.

Syringes

I'm in nursing school and eventually will share the woes of all that, but we don't start class until August 20, so until then, no syringes.  I do work in the ICU at a hospital close by, but I can't really talk about that too much because I have to respect the privacy of the patients I help take care of as well as the friendships I am developing with my coworkers.  There are so many hilarious things I could tell, though....

Warning: Tele-Rapist On the Loose

It started out like any normal morning.  I check my email, get on Pinterest to see what I missed overnight, dish out cereal for the kids and unload the dishwasher and fold clothes from the dryer.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
**ring**
**ring**
**ring**

I race back to the bedroom to try and get to my cell phone before the Grey's Anatomy theme ring tone comes to an end.  "Huh, weird number," I thought as I noticed the incoming call was from "319."

"Hello?"

"Hi. This is (whatever his name was)," a man with a thick Indian accent greeted me.  "Your computer has a virus and you need us to run a check to see if you need our anti-virus software."

"I don't need your software.  My computer is fine."

"No.  Your computer has a virus."

"No.  It doesn't."

"Yes.  I can see that your computer has a virus.  It is very dangerous."

"Dangerous?  Like it will explode?  Is it going to hurt me?,"  I sarcastically ask to try to tick this guy off.  I should've just hung up.  He is obviously weird.

"I can see your computer on our router and I can tell you the ID# on your computer.  This proves that I can access your machine and I know that it has a virus,"  he continues to convince me about my dangerous situation.

"Wow.  You are magic," I taunt him.

"You need to go over to your computer and turn it on now so that I can verify some numbers on it," he tells me.

"I don't have time for this.  My computer is fine and you are wasting my cell phone minutes."

"What is your land line phone number and I will call you back on that to discuss your computer virus."

"I don't have a land line."

"That is not possible.  How are you accessing the Internet and I can see your computer?," he asks.

"You tell me.  You are the magical computer man,"  I answer.  In retrospect, I have no idea why I am still on the phone with this guy from India.

THEN HE ADDS TO THIS ALREADY WEIRD PHONE CALL: 

"F*@k you.  Yeah.  F%#k you."

(l   o   n   g     p   a   u  s  e   on my end of the phone as I try and decide whether he actually said what I heard him say or if his accent was just too thick and he obviously was just saying "Thank you.  Yeah.  Thank you.")

"Excuse me?,"  I try and confirm.  "What did you say?"

"I wanna f*&k you.  You sound so cute.  I want to f#@k you."

"Oh my gosh.  Goodbye."  And I hung up on the tele-rapist.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

People.  I usually tend to exaggerate and dramatize events in my life when re-telling stories just to make them funnier or more exciting.  I promise you this is a word for word transcript of the phone call I received this morning.  HOLY CRAP!!!!  When I hung up, I think I stood in my bedroom for a solid 30 seconds dumbfounded that it actually happened.  Then, as I usually do after anything notable, I called my sister.

After I told her about the tele-rape, she laughed so hard she couldn't speak.  My husband did NOT find it as funny.  He was mad and acted protective of me.  Kinda sweet.  If I think about it too long, I almost want to be mad, too, and feel a little violated.  But that's boring and melancholy, so I am going to act like Kelsey (my sister), and laugh at the hilarity of it.

Though I mainly share the story because it just is too bizarre not to tell, I also want to let everyone know to be careful if they get calls warning of a computer virus and DO NOT TURN ON YOUR COMPUTER.  Apparently it is an identity theft scam and the posed tele-rapist telemarketer is trying to get you to share computer information so that they can hack important information like credit cards and passwords off your machine.

The Sunday Scale - Issue 01

Well, Sunday is weigh in day and I am happy to report that I am down 2.2lbs from last week.  I am down to a svelte 184.0 lbs.  Still really really chunky, but somehow when you are on the downward weight trend and you go to bed with your stomach growling every night, you feel skinny.  Hey, I'll take the motivation wherever I can get it.  Even if it is false.

With as hard as I've been working on it, I am glad I saw the scale budge.  WEE HAW!!!!!

So to celebrate, I asked David to go get me some Ben and Jerry's Oatmeal Cookie.  He is literally out driving to the grocery store right this second as I type this.  What am I thinking?????  So I tried his cell phone a million times and he isn't answering it.  I need to stop him.  I cannot do all this work and undo it in one weak moment stuffing my face with the sweetness of B&J's.  Dang it.  He is going to walk in the door any moment with a pint of crack.  And I am now going to have to resist it while it's in my house.  I'm going to feed it to the kids tomorrow before I have a chance to eat it.  OMG.  This sucks.

Here he is.

I.
Will.
Be.
Strong.

Dinner tonight was a great new healthy recipe find.  I can't take the credit because I got the recipe off Pinterest from a blog I love to read, Mama Laughlin.  But I am going to repost it here because it was really good (for being as healthy as it was).  Click the link below for the recipe.  It's only 294 calories per serving.


Mama Laughlin's Skinny Enchilada Lasagna

MAJOR CHICKEN TIP - Maybe everybody already knows this, but I feel like I made it up.  I think I am a genius for it, so I thought I'd share.  To shred chicken for soups, casseroles or chicken salad, I first bake or boil the chicken and then effortlessly shred it with a touch of a button by putting it in the blender.  We use a Vita-Mix.  Just put it on the lowest setting and it shreds it super-fine and even.  So easy and gets it smaller than anything I could ever do with a knife.  This is how I did the chicken for the Skinny Enchilada Lasagna.

Welp, that's it for today.  I am so grateful for this blog.  Without it, I'd be eating ice cream right now.

Long Run Saturday

So today was my long run as I train for this ridiculous half marathon.  Dad and I met at his house at 6:45am and were hitting pavement by 7:00.  Today called for 4.5 miles.  Woh.  No one died.  So at least that's good.

You wouldn't think exercising for under an hour would hold as many rituals as it does, but here is the rundown of mine.

1.  Make sure the perfect running clothes are clean so I don't have to dig through dirty laundry hampers in the morning and wear something that smells rotten even before the run begins.  I don't go as far as laying everything out (probably because the workout clothes I want are dirty and they barely end up in the dryer just before I hit the pillow, crossing my fingers they will be dry when I wake up).

2.  Set the alarm 10 minutes before having to get out of bed so that you can hit snooze exactly one time.  This really isn't a running morning ritual as much as it's an everyday morning ritual.  Whatever.

3.  Take a shower.  This sounds stupid since I am about to get all hot and sweaty, but not only does it wake me up, but for some reason I really like when I get all sweaty and you can smell the shampoo I just used.  When you've been running and sweating for 30 minutes and every crack and crevice is rank, it's invigorating when that breeze blows by and you inhale the scent of fresh shampoo.  I'll really drive home my insanity if I tell you that Pert Plus keeps its aroma power better than any of the other shampoos I've tried.  It's just how I roll.

4.  Drink one cup of coffee.  This is for the caffeine effect and the blow up your b hole effect.  The coffee needs to be drunk at least 30 minutes before you run to give it time to work it's bathroom magic so that it doesn't strike mid-run.

5.  Eat a banana.  I don't like to eat much at all before running because it just makes me feel that much fatter and heavier.  Plus, anything you eat will be nastily burped up.  When running alone, it just is kind of annoying.  But when you are running with someone... that's just gross.  And rude.  Bananas are kind enough to give me just enough calories so I don't starve without the negative burp effects.  Additionally, waking up on a Saturday morning to run 4.5 miles is bananas, so eating one just makes sense.

6.  Drink 8-10oz of water.  At first, I was nervous to do this.  I thought it would make me have to pee.  But it really doesn't.  If you are running far enough (or just to the mailbox in Texas during the summer), you'll sweat out the water before it has time to reach your bladder.  If I don't drink before I run, I feel sluggish and dehydrated and really hit a wall at the 3 mile mark.

7.  Get the accessories in order.  I have to have my iPod shuffle, a nifty new green one I gifted myself last month when I decided to train for a half marathon, and my specific sony headphones.  My ears are dumb and every other kind of ear buds fall out.  These ARE THE BEST.  If you have trouble keeping your headphones in, get them now.

I also have to have Burt's Bees lip balm.  It's a deal breaker.  If I don't have it and I'm going over 3 or 4 miles, I will probably postpone my run.

This morning, all my rituals went smoothly except for the coffee.  I was in a hurry to get to Dad's and since it's hot outside, coffee just didn't sound good.  So instead, I mixed up some Spark for energy.  It doesn't get the poop going, but that's ok.  Coffee isn't a deal breaker like the Burt's Bees.

So I get to Dad's and we exchange comments like, "We must be crazy,"  "Why are we doing this?,"  "Who is up at this time?," or "I'm never doing this again."  This has almost become its own ritual.  Strangely enough, it's actually encouraging and builds camaraderie.  Then we begin the run.

The first mile went fine.  No biggie.  Until Dad says we have to turn back because he has to take a crap.  ARE YOU KIDDING ME?  So we run a mile back to the house.  2 miles down, 2.5 to go.  I hated running back to his house because it was a false finish.  When you get back to where you start, you are supposed to be finished.  That's just how it works.  Not today, apparently.

So we went back out to finish the last 2.5 miles for our total long run of 4.5 miles.  It felt pretty good.  Maybe it was the 5 minute poop break, but it wasn't bad.  Next week is 5 miles.  Dad is coming to MY house and I am going to map a 5 mile course that has plenty of 7 Eleven's along the way for necessary plumbing.  We aren't coming back to my house until we're done.  :)

Distance:  4.5 miles
Time:  Approx 55 minutes (we don't time ourselves yet, it's about finishing, not PRs)
Temperature:  82-84 degrees
Overall:  Great

Popping the Blog Cherry

I love blog stalking. It's my reality t.v.  But I am a blog virgin.

I've read others' blogs and envied that these people have this amazing forum to express what is going on in their lives. It's really just a public journal. I am not a comical writer, and I don't have the incredible wit that my virtual BFFs do. No one will ever find or follow my blog. BUT I want to do it for myself. So this is a feeble attempt to write down what I'm feeling and what's going on in my life. Here are the top things that consume me right now:

1. I am a full-time nursing school student. I am about to start my last semester and will graduate in December 2012. Thank God. I've been going to school since I was 5.

2. I have two of the best kids on the planet. I know every mom thinks that, but it's actually true for me. Brace yourself and try not to be jealous... 

SEE??!!!?!??!

I told you they were amazing. Here are a couple award-winning poses of them when they found a new app on our iPad. 

Incredible.

3. I am trying to lose 50 pounds. I currently weigh 185 and am trying to get down to 135, which is what I was when I married my husband 9 1/2 years ago. I gained an enormous amount of weight with both my pregnancies and through Weight Watchers, was able to get down to 145 three years ago. But now I have put 40 pounds of that back on. I am going to attempt to blame that on going back to school full time and just needing chips and salsa a stress outlet. But truth be known, I am a bottomless pit with an addictive personality and when I decide to EAT, I really really EAT. It's bad and embarrassing, but I really don't want to be one of those moms that just lets themselves go and only thinks about their kids. I don't want to live vicariously through my daughter's wardrobe, while I only wear yoga pants and tshirts because I am rolling out of anything else.

So the plan to lose 50 pounds is 1) use Weight Watchers to count every morsel of food that crosses these lips. 2) Workout 5-6 days per week. 3) Weigh every week. Currently I have it in mind to do this on Sundays, but that may change.  It will depend on if I might need prayer after stepping on the scale...

4. I am training to run a half marathon with my dad. It's on December 31, 2012 in Allen, TX (about 30 minutes north of Dallas). The training plan is something I totally half-assed and plagiarized from other published training plans brilliantly put together with all of my running knowledge and skills. I really want to be a "real" runner. I have done half a dozen 5Ks, 1 10K and ran/walked 1 half marathon. For my training plan, click here. 

Tomorrow I'll work to upload some pictures of me through the years.  It'll be like a private showing of "Beauty and the Beast."