Shrimp and Crab Cake recipe

Shrimp and Crab Cakes Admit it, it's been too long since you've had this crispy, savory paddy cake. Use fresh or frozen seafood year-round.

INGREDIENTS
	2 slices white bread
	1 egg white
	2 tablespoons low-fat mayonnaise
	1 red onion, sliced crosswise
	1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
	1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
	1/2 pound large shrimp, peeled, deveined, and finely chopped
	1/2 pound lump crabmeat, picked over for shells and flaked
	1 rib celery, finely chopped
	3 scallions, white part only, chopped
	2 tablespoons chopped parsley

DIRECTIONS Toast the bread and allow to cool. In a small bowl, crumble into fine crumbs. Set aside. In a large bowl, combine the egg white, mayonnaise, Worcestershire sauce, and mustard. Whisk to blend. Add the shrimp, crabmeat, celery, scallions, parsley, and one-third of the reserved bread crumbs. Toss to mix. Shape into 8 cakes, about 1/2" thick. Spread the remaining bread crumbs on a shallow plate. Dip the cakes into the crumbs, pressing lightly to adhere. Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray. Place the cakes in the skillet and cook over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes, or until lightly browned on the bottom. Remove the pan from the heat and coat the cakes lightly with cooking spray. Return the pan to the heat and carefully turn the cakes. Cook for 2 minutes, or until lightly browned on the bottom. Turn the cakes two more times, coating with cooking spray each time. Cook for 2 minutes longer per side, or until cooked through. Makes 4 servings PER SERVING 210 calories, 27 g protein, 12 g carbohydrates, 1 g dietary fiber, 5 g total fat, 0.8 g saturated fat, 128 mg cholesterol, 662 mg sodium DIET EXCHANGE 1 carb (1 bread/starch), 3 meat

Halloween Treat Bag

I believe that my "secret friend" is my neighbor downstairs in Apt. A.  A lovely woman with four children and another on the way.  They are also Army and her husband is currently attending the school that Paul will start at in February. I don't know 100% for sure, but she had the "I'm hit" picture on her door earlier last week.  I was curious what it was about... LOL.. and now I know.

So..  as I mentioned in my last entry, while I was at Walmart last night, we picked up some things for the goodie bags I'm going to distribute this afternoon.  Kimberly helped me make the selections.

In picture one, you can see the assortment of goodies we selected.   Each person will get a mug and two packets of hot chocolate, Halloween socks, 3 cookie cutters with an autumn motif (two leaves and an acorn), a small plastic cupcake filled with Dove chocolates, and a scented candle. 

In picture two is a picture of the ghost that comes with the bag.  You are supposed to stick that outside your door, so that you don't get struck again (can you imagine having to make more than 3 bags??).  I stuck mine up tout de suite!

In picture three, you see ... lol. .some of my bedroom around the edges, but you also see Smokey giving her approval to the bag and all the accessories now hidden in the tissue paper.  Each bag will contain a copy of the ghost and this poem:

Good Evening

Since this is the time of goblins and bats,

Halloween Spirits, ghosts and cats,

These are the things I wish for you.

May the only spirit you chance to meet,

Be the spirit of love and warm friends sweet.

May the only goblin that comes your way

Be the neighborhood phantom you'll want to give away.

So by tomorrow, pick three friends sweet,

And give them all a Halloween treat.

You only have one day so go with speed.

These are the things you're going to need.

 1. What could be better,

Make three copies of the ghost and this letter.

2. Post the ghost on your front door

So he will haunt you no more.

3. Pick three friends or neighbors to haunt next

And put your phantom skills to the test

4. Deliver a letter, a ghost and a treat,

Give a hard knock then turn quick on your feet.

It is better giving than receiving

We all know this is true.

So show some love and have some fun

And remember, the PHANTOM is now you!

A full weekend

So, remember that list of things I wanted to get done last weekend?   Well.. I never got them done because I spent most of the day on the computer or on the phone.  This weekend, I was busy with stuff around the house and I feel so accomplished!

Saturday, the girls and I went shopping and caught a movie.  We saw The Prestige.  It was an awesome movie!  I really can't say too much about it because anything I say could ruin the plot... so I'm just gonna say, I think it was worth every penny I paid!

Today, Mac put together the TV stand.  I helped by reading the instructions and holding parts.  He was pretty thrilled to be able to put together the stand.  It goes in his room to hold the TV he has in there (he used that TV for his game cube, no cable TV hookup in his room).  I think it was a pretty good confidence builder for him too.  He really did a nice job with it.  Very sturdy, and no marring anywhere.

While we were working on the TV stand, somebody rang our doorbell.  When I answered the door, no one was there but a mysterious bag was on my doorstep. I brought the bag inside and began searching the contents for clues.  It was a goodie bag sent by a "secret friend".  This was so neat!  The bag was filled with a few gifts, like scented candles and snuggly socks and a few candies.  It also included a picture of a ghost that said "I was tagged", and a lovely poem offering up good wishes for this time of year and requesting that I "phantom" three more folks.

Then I began working on the small storage cabinet that I purchased for holding all our board games. I got about half way done when I realized that this whole thing would go a lot quicker if I had a drill (to use the screwdriver bit).  So I stopped what I was doing and went off  to Walmart.

There I found a drill that is cordless, comes with two batteries, so you can always have one charging up while you are using the other. I also found a few trinkets to put in the goodie bags that I now have to give away.  I got scented candles, and soft booties. I also picked up some cookie cutters with an autumn theme, and a mug, plus a few envelopes of hot chocolate.  oh.. and of course, some Dove chocolate. 

Once I was back home, I was able to put together the rest of the cabinet in quick time.  Now tomorrow, I will move all the games to the cabinet and that should take care of the last of the cardboard boxes in Kendra's room.

Infomercials, purchases, weigh in

This has been a quick week for me.  Since I've started back into the exercising I am sleeping much better at night.  I am waking every morning ahead of my alarm clock and ready to start the day.  That is really nice after the weeks I had where I felt like I was dragging myself out of bed.

   Which brings me to my infomercial comment.  I was up this morning at 5:00 am. Very early.. with very few shows to choose from.  I watched some of the early news and then I was flipping through the channels.  I actually enjoy watching some informercials.  The one that caught my eye this morning is an exercise one for "The Bean".   This is a bean shaped blow-up ball that is meant to give you more stability than the round ball.  There are all sorts of different ways to use it, just like the round ball, but this one allows you to worry less about sliding off the ball and allows you to really concentrate on the exercise. At least that is the theory.  In about two weeks, I'll let you know how the reality is.. LOL   They got me..  I was so impressed, I ordered it.  Now.. I am not advertising for them.  I just included the pic so you could see what swayed me today.  And I promise that when I get it in, I will give a full report about my usage of it.  Honestly, I'm kind of hoping that the kids will get into it as well.  And it looks like something I could do in the evenings while watching my TV.  

And as long as I'm discussing purchases, I also ordered some Gnu fiber bars that Hungry Girl has been raving about.  These bars have 12 grams of fiber in each one AND they are only 2 pts in the WW world. So I ordered some of them to try and see how I like them.  Making sure that I am hitting my fiber goals each day has really helped with my appetite.  I'm hoping these will be as good as the reviews claim.

I also ordered more of the Vitalicious muffin tops.  I don't care for the chocolate flavors, they are very dry in my opinion, but I love the bran flavors.  I eat one of those each morning as part of my breakfast.  I really like the apple-berry bran.

Oh, yeah.. last but not least.. I am down this week.  Since the last time I posted a weight here, I have lost .7 pounds.  But last Friday I was up 1.7 pounds.  So.. really.. that means this week I lost 2.4 lbs.   LOL.. all this to say that I am down to 217 lbs.

Namaste

Kimberly and I started Yoga together today.  We had some fun.  She is way better at it than I am, moving from pose to pose with quite a bit a grace.  Where she needs work is in the flexibility, but that will come with time.

I, on the other hand, slowly modify from move to move because of my current out of shape body.  My stomach is majorly in the way for a lot of the poses, to say nothing of my ability to support my own weight on just my hands.. LOL.  But this too, will come with time.

This week has been great on the exercise for me.  I missed Monday, but I've done 30 min. WATP tapes every morning since.  And yesterday and today I also did something in the afternoon. 

The food is slowly coming on line.  I always have to do some adjusting when I start working out.  And it NEVER helps if I allow myself to get too hungry before I cook. The big plus this week is that after a shaky start with my water, I am getting that up where it needs to be. 

Last week, my water consumption fell way down.  I know what the problem was and I've eliminated it.  I had purchased some diet doctor pepper when it was on sale, and I was drinking two cans a day.... that is just not good.  So.. I have finished it off and I am not buying anymore for in the house! Too easy to get into the very bad habit of too much soda.. and by the way.. it did slow down my weight loss for last week, BIG TIME!!  So it is out of here.. LOL

 

Pickles !

Homeschooling Mac this year means having to find time to do science experiments.  We are using a pretty good Science program and are averaging 2 experiments a week.  Our most recent experiment had to do with showing what would happen if the oxygen concentration in our air was changed. 

To do the experiment we needed a candle and a jar to cover the candle.  Well.. in the instructions I got, the jar was called a "large" jar.  We went hunting at the store for something...and it dawned on me that pickles come in pretty large jars.  So...  in the interest of saving a few coins, I grabbed the local markets store brand of pickles. 

Now.... my "fill" point for pickles was reached back when I was in Junior High.   I ate a large pickle for lunch every day for a year.  I really don't care for pickles all that much anymore.

And my kids are not particularly fond of pickles. So what to do with all the dang pickles that came in this jar?   I don't own a dog.. and not really sure I'd want to feed all those pickles to him anyway... so getting rid of them that way was out. Finally, I decided that I could eat half of them over time, and I could throw the other half away and not feel too bad about that. 

So... half go in the trash (which has since been removed from the house), and half go into a rubbermaid container and put in the frig.  But I grabbed one out to eat before putting the rest away.  YUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   I don't think I've had a worst tasting pickle EVER!

I felt like I had been transported back to Mayberry, during the episode in which Aunt Bea makes those horrible pickles that no one can eat.   And now I have a half container of them that I have to eat (well.. not really, but I so hate wasting food).  Maybe now that they are cold, I'll like the flavor better.  Maybe I can save them for when Paul comes home and he can eat them (he still likes pickles, not having suffered from the teen girl pickle eating syndrome).  I'm on the fence here... I could try one now that they are cold and if they are still the worst pickles ever, I will just toss them. UGH!

Oh.. and the science experiment for which we needed the jar was inconclusive. Every time we tried to add more oxygen under the jar, we snuffed out the candle. LOL.

The fall and slow rise of Hubby (get your minds out of the gutter)

So to do this story any justice, I'm going to have to go back to yesterday.

Kim, Mac and I went out to a few stores yesterday afternoon.  Kim and I were looking for some specific things to finish Kim's room.  Mac was along to check out video games (quel surprise!). 

When we parked at one store, the wind was gusting quite a bit and when Kim opened up her door, the door was snatched from her hand by the wind and it whacked into the door of the car parked next to us.  Now, we have always taught the kids to get out of the car with control because we didn't want to be those people that ding your doors without a second thought.  But I knew it was an accident and after admonishing her with "be careful" we moved on.  I did look at the door of the neighboring car and it wasn't too bad.  Now.. admittedly I am sure there are 100 better ways to handle this, but frankly... we just went ahead into the store and shopped.

After we were through with that store and came back out, I headed to the next store down the row (this was an open air shopping center), while Kim and Mac ran our packages out to the car.  They joined me in the next store and trailed behind me a ways whispering between themselves.  I asked if they were whispering about me.. and they said no. But the whispering kept up.  Then Kim moved away from her brother and to the back of the store, while Mac joined me and asked if I was ready to hear some bad news.  Immediately, I have to ask "Is everything okay?"... and he tells me that when they got out to the car, they had found that the car that Kim hit had left, but that they had (apparently) keyed the side of my car before leaving.

I think Kim was afraid of getting yelled at for this happening to the car.  Well.. I can't lie, I was pissed. .but not at her, I was pissed at the people that purposely and wilfully damaged my car.  But I kept my cool and told Mac.. well.. shit happens.  We finished up in that store, the last on our list of places to try and headed back to the car.  When I got to the car, I went around to inspect the passenger side.  Sure enough... not only had they keyed the car with three keys.  But it looked like they also threw theirdoors open hard enough to ding both the passenger door and the sliding door with their rear door.

But what are you going to do?  Karma can be a bitch.  Still I knew I had to come home and tell Paul.  I wasn't sure if we should get the paint damage repaired because we live so close to the coast, I know that there has to be some salt in the air, and therefore corrosive damage might be a concern.

When I told Paul what happened, instead of him telling me what I need to do now... he proceeded to tell me what I should have done then.  I mean.. he went on and on and on about how I should have waited by the car after Kim hit the other car with her door until those people came back, how I should have left a note on their windshield with contact information.  How barring that, what I should have done before leaving was call the cops and at least put in a police report. I sat and listened to him going on and on. Now.. he wasn't yelling, but still.. and when I asked "to what purpose, I have no idea what the car looked like, it's make, a license plate, nothing to give the police?" He cut me off to say that "this is how things should be done".   To show our insurance company that we are not trying to rip them off for a new paint job.  I'm thinking.. hello.. we've had this insurance company for over 20 years now and I can still count the number of claims we've ever had to make on one hand.. I don't think they are suddenly going to think NOW that we are rip off artists.  OY!...  the conversation definitely deteriorated from there.  I ended with  "gee, this really isn't the way I saw this conversation going." and I hung up.  He even went so far at one point as to say that Kimmy should not be allowed to ride in the front seat ever again. LOL... and all this without ever actually sounding angry... I know it sounds like he should have been ranting, but he wasn't.

About 1/2 hour later, he called me back, apologized for not handling that very well.  We managed to talk calmly about the whole thing at that point.  Still not sure what made him go all wierd on me.. but at least we resolved it.

Then, this afternoon I received flowers at my door!!  How nice.. it's been years since I last got flowers (I specifically asked him not to order me any while we were in Germany).  They are so pretty and smell so incredibly good.. I just had to share some pics here about them.  He also wrote the sweetest card to go with them.  You can't really read it in the picture there but it says "Please forgive the fool that truly loves you. Love, Paul"

Mac was all excited to see the flowers that his dad had sent his mom, and he loved the card (and I'm thinking... good.. train the boy early to know he needs to apologize sometimes with flowers, LOL).  The girls get home from school .. see the flowers and ooo and ahhh.. and then they read the card.. and both Kendra and Kim say "wow, Dad really makes it hard for normal mortal boys to compete!".. LOL...  I say.. YAY. raise that standard so my girls never settle for anything less than someone that reminds them of their dad.. that's what I did..and it seems to have worked out for me.

All things not covered

Friday night I lost my internet connection.  This is always a scary thing to me because I'm not always sure I know how to "fix" the problem if it's something I need to fix.  After fussing over that damn thing for a while, I finally gave up and went to bed.  Saturday morning it connected just fine, so clearly whatever was wrong was NOT within my borders, but somewhere outside of the house.

Saturday morning, I couldn't catch up with e-mail because I was getting a furniture delivery at around 10:00 A.M.  So, while I was glad to see my internet was up, I couldn't really spend any time with it.  Both of my daughters are/were in need of new bedroom furniture.  We got all the kids full size beds upon our return to the states, but other than Mac's room, we haven't finished with all of their bedrooms yet.  Kimberly found a dresser and bedside table that she really liked at a local furniture store back on Tuesday... so Saturday was the deliver date. 

We spent the very early morning emptying the last of the boxes in Kim's room and clearing a safe walkway from the front door to her room.  The men arrived on time and put everything up for us.  Kimberly's furniture has a nice cherry finish and with the colors she's chosen for her wall (lavender and turquoise), the whole room now has a nice warm feeling.

Once the furniture was in, we took off for all sorts of errand running.  We stopped at Joann's so I could take advantage of their sale.  We saw "The Nightmare Before Christmas" in 3D.... save your money for those of you that have already seen the movie.  The 3d effect was good, but nothing was redone to take advantage of the technology.  I slept through a good portion of the movie.  But the kids enjoyed it. :)

My mother in law is home and resting comfortably.  There was a delay in her homecoming because of hiccups and medication, but she is doing well.  I think there are a couple of things they are watching for and she sees the surgeon again in 2 weeks to get the "all clear."  Thank you everyone for your prayers and well wishes.

Today is going to be my... "what can I accomplish in the house that will make me feel good" day.  I have four construction projects and one paint job. Plus several boxes that still need to be dealt with.

I am calling my sweetie and talking sweet nothings to him, so I am out of here!

Tagging as an art form

LOL.. remember earlier when I said I was minding my own business???  I had just read Kelli's entry and was thinking "but she didn't tag anyone".... Well.. once I got back to the fun reading of my e-mail, lo and behold.. not only had she tagged..but she snuck it in while I wasn't looking.  Luckily for you all.. I am a prolific reader.... I will honor the tagging.. but this time I will not tag anyone more...

Sole Survivor by Dean Koontz (remember the kick I mentioned I was on?)

     "Today in the cemetary.  Taking photographs of Michelle's and the girls' graves.  She said she wasn't ready to talk to me yet... and went away."

Joe decided to reserve the rest of his story until he heard theirs, both in the interest of hastening their revelations and to ensure that their recitations were not colored too much by what he revealed.

 

Both really good books if you like suspense and mystery. :)

 

Tagged, and new furniture

There I was, minding my own business, catching up on journals... and what do I discover but that I had been tagged!  OY!  Well......since I am always a good sport and team player... I guess I will do this part quickly and then move on to my stuff.

1.      Grab the nearest book. If you are currently reading something, that'll be fine too.

2.      Open the book to page 123.

3.      Find the fifth sentence.

4.      Post the text of the next 4 sentences on your Blog along with these  instructions.

5.      Don't you dare dig for that "cool" or "intellectual" book in your closet I know that is what you were thinking!

6.  Tag 5 people

Velocity by Dean Koontz (I've been on a Koontz kick lately)

     Eventually the pain in his forehead substantially subsided.

     He went to his fishing gear in the garage.  From his angler's kit, he retrieved needle-nose pliers with a wire-cutting edge.

     In the house again, after locking the back door, he went to the bathroom, where he examined his face in the mirror.

 

And now for the tagging:

1. MaryAlice

2. Madison

3. Linda Pooh

4. Sandi

5. Stephanie

I tried not to duplicate... and I realize that some of you might not have time to play.. but hey if you get the chance.. that would be cool.

 

On Tuesday this week I picked the girls up from school. It was raining and they text'd me to please save them from the bus ride. I was in a nice mood that day. :)  Plus, it gave me the chance to take them by the furniture store to look at bedroom furniture.  They shared a room in Germany, so we had them in bunkbeds there. And the dresser, etc they had was falling apart.  We got rid of all that in Germany. They both need new dressers, desks and bedside tables for their rooms.  This was my chance to have them look.

Kimberly found a really nice set in Cherry. The bed is a sleigh bed style.  She chose a dresser and a bedside table.  She really liked the bed frame too, but this didn't come in a full size... so I'm going to have to find that elsewhere, but to be honest.. what we need right now is the dresser for her clothes.  So.. I purchased the pieces she wanted and they will be delivering them on Saturday morning. I'm really excited.  That will finally make it two bedrooms that are functional. Kim will still need a desk at some point, as well as the bed frame, but those we can find.

Now.. I just need Kendra to find something that she likes. :)

 

 

 

 

 

Giving Credit where Credit is Due

Giving Credit where Credit is Due : HA!  MaryAlice.. I'm glad you stopped by.. now you made my fabulous list of great journals too :)   I have you on my alerts and I always read your entries. Now everyone that mosies by mine, can get the chance to read yours as well.

 

Giving Credit where Credit is Due

If you take a look at my sidebar, you'll see a lot of new listings for journals.  Some of these gals I've been reading for  a while, but just have been too lazy to get them properly annotated onto my sidebar.  Some are new journals that I've begun reading the last few weeks.  I always get something from each of the journals I read.  Inspiration, a laugh, a tear.... these folks write some great stuff.. so if you get a chance... try checking a few of them out.

I used to have others listed there that I enjoyed at one time or another.  But a lot of authors elected to go private and once I get that notice that I have to ask "permission" to continue reading... I delete the link and move on.  My thought on private journals has always been they are private for a reason.  So I don't bother to ever ask to be put on the "can I read" list. 

I belong to a great weight loss support group at yahoogroups.  It is a bunch of really crazy and loving women collectively known as the "fat chics".  This group was created through the thought processes of  the list owners, Kelli and Stacy. Should you feel you are in need of a great, zany group of friends that you can share every joy and every woe with.. please do yourself a favor and give the fat chics a try: FatChicsKeepnItReal : 2 Fat Chic's Keep'n it Real. All the gals there have been such a great source of support, inspiration, praise, ideas, etc, etc, etc.    it's nice to have such fun company along the way.

 

Schedules, family dates, and hating being out of the loop.

I have no idea what I am doing up so late tonight.  But before I finally head to bed I wanted to dump some of the mind numbing thoughts that have been going through my head.  The pics above are Kendra's proofs from her senior portraits.  We ordered the second pic.

Kendra's first surgery is tentatively scheduled for November 7. I should get confirmation of that in the next couple of days.  That is a good day because she doesn't have school that day.  And Friday of that week is also a day off for her school.  So.. she can probably get away with missing the two days between Tuesday and Friday without too much repercussion.  Once I have a firm date from the doc's office, I will contact all of Kendra's teachers and see about getting her assignments for those two days.

So.. Kendra has a new boyfriend.  He seems like a nice enough kid.  Kendra arranged a family "date" with him last weekend so that I could have a chance to get to know him better. We all went to the movies (Employee of the Month) and then did a little shopping and had dinner afterwards.  Adam has a job, has a younger brother and two older siblings and has no intention of going to college. He is originally from England and intends to return there after graduation. I already can tell he's not going to be around for long (with respect to dating Kendra).  He was however very respectful and answered all my prying questions.

Apparently however, there is trouble in paradise since this past Saturday.  Kim mentioned in passing that Kendra was thinking about breaking up with Adam because he didn't get the Homecoming dance tickets  And because of something else that happened.  Of course I want to know what.. but Kim won't betray her sister's trust and give me all the details.. and Kendra is not biting at all the bait I'm throwing out there to get the rest of the story.  <sigh>  I hate not being in the loop!!!

 

Worried about the MIL

My mother in law is a wonderful person.  It took me a few years to realize this.  While Paul and I were dating, I think she kind of resisted the idea that we would one day be married, but since the marriage she has done everything she can to make me feel loved and welcome (for the most part... lol).

In 1988, when I was 8 months pregnant with Kendra, my MIL had a double by-pass surgery, plus a replacement of her mitral valve.  We were stationed in Germany at the time and poor as church mice.  I couldn't travel because of the pregnancy and Paul spent lots of time on the phone with his dad, checking up on his mom during that time.

In 2004, shortly after we arrived back in Germany... Paul's mom had her first heart attack.  She rebounded very quickly, but again... we were kind of at a place where we couldn't go home. 

Spring of 2005, she was experiencing shortness of breath and the doctors were searching for answers.  I was so afraid it would be lung cancer (she smoked for many years until the first bypass in 1988).  Paul's dad also had some health problems that were going to be addressed through surgery that June.  So.... I grabbed the kids and went home for the summer while Paul was in Afghanistan.  I wanted the kids to have time with the grandparents just in case things did not turn out well. My dad died before Mac was born and the only one of my kids that have any real memories of him is Kendra.  When I homeschooled all the kids, we visited Phoenix a lot.. but since they went into public school.. it's been harder to plan visits.

So anyway.. thankfully, MIL had emphysema and not cancer and FIL's health issues turned out to be benign.  We had a good summer visiting.

Now she is sick again.  She had surgery two Fridays ago for another bypass, and a replacement/repair of her mitral valve (presumably the one they worked on in 1988).  Her inital recovery seemed to go fine and there was hope that she'd be home last week Thursday.  I've just gotten word from my FIL that she is only now coming out of ICU and it may be a week before she's allowed to come home or at the very least be sent to a "rehab" center for furtherrecovery.  This makes me nervous. 

I tend to think the worst in situations like this (hence my re-arranging my summer to be home last year), so I'm worried.  Paul tries to be over optimistic and he thinks about the wrong things.. I offered to make arrangements for us to go home for Christmas this year.  It wasn't in our plans, but I'm seriously concerned.  He won't commit to going because he wanted to use his Xmas break to help finish putting the house together. 

I will say, that he is going to be in Phoenix for two weeks in January as part of the pre-course training.... so I can understand his desire to wait... but I feel as though part of this comes from denial.  Although, maybe he's right.. maybe I am just worrying too much. I guess we'll see.  In the meantime, I'm keeping MIL in my prayers.

A Surprising Weigh In

 

 

Today is the end of the second week of the "Biggest Loser Fat Chic Style" challenge.  I anticipated a small loss.  It's been a rough week for me on the diet front.  I've probably been about 60% on plan.. and 40% flying by the seat of my pants.  I have to say I was pleasantly surprised.   My scale today said 217.7.  I was so schocked that I had to get up and down on it four times before I would believe that was my weigh in.  I even moved the scale to two different locations to be sure I was seeing what I was seeing.  OUTSTANDING!   That is a 3.1 lb loss since last Friday.

Okay.. so.. just to backtrack a little.  After the disastrous eating that happened last week at WRAMC, I wanted to go a bit more prepared this past Wednesday when we were there.  I packed a lunch box. :)  I woke up and had breakfast at 2:40 AM.  That consisted of a Slim Fast shake and some fiber muffins.  Then in my lunch box I packed a Kashi granola bar, a Kashi Cookie, My SBD chicken wraps, plus a Quaker Granola Bar.  My plan was to snack at 6:00 AM, have the chicken wraps at 9:00 AM, and then visit the cafeteria at noon, but have just a really big salad.  Then I had two more snacks available to me if we went much longer than that.  Finally.. I planned on having Mcdonalds Happy Meal on the way home...Kendra would be hungry and the happy meal for me is a low calorie treat.

Anyway.. we did not get stuck at WRAMC as long this time, we were back on the road heading home by noon.  I did not get the chance to eat anything but the first snack.  The waiting rooms were too crowded to feel I could just pull out my own lunch.. plus things were happening so fast I was never in one waiting room long enough.  So, we did do McDonald's for lunch on the way home and I ordered exactly what I planned to order. Then once we arrived home I was able to go back to my regular food plans.

I will definitely do this sort of planning in the future for our trips to WRAMC... it makes it a lot easier to make good choices when you are prepared.

 

Seeing the pattern from below

Today Kendra and I had to return to WRAMC for what we thought was going to be a routine cystoscopy.  This is when they pass an optic scope through the urethra to get a closer look at the bladder.  We weren't really expecting anything out of the ordinary.

Kendra has a stoma, which is an artificial opening in her abdomen thru which she uses a catheter to empty her bladder.  This was placed in 97-98 time frame when the surgeons also enlarged her bladder through augmentation with lower bowel material.  While the augmentation allows her to hold urine for a longer period of time, it also took away any chance that Kendra would be able to empty her bladder completely by muscle manipulation (for lack of better terminology). The stoma was created because of the trauma she had experienced up to that point.  The idea of learning to cath through her urethra was more than she was willing to entertain.

Now that Kendra is 18, she wants a more "normal" appearance to her belly.  We started this whole thing to explore what options she might have. Another concern that we've been made aware of since coming back to this area is that the surgeons are discovering that a few patients with an augmentation more than 10 years old are developing bladder cancer.  They are now routinely checking the bladder for any "abnormal" growths.

So.. the cystoscopy today was to do a routine check for abnormal growths and to allow the doctor to see if the urethra was able to pass a catheter for voiding. While doing the exam, she discovered that it would indeed be possible for Kendra to void using a urethral catheter... that was the good news.   

The rest of the news is rather incomplete and I can't say that it's good, but it is fixable.  Kendra has 6-8 very large bladder stones.  These can form when there is too much mucus present in the bladder. Most stones are avoided by having patients irrigate the bladder to help remove excess mucus (this is due to the bowel material that is present).  Kendra has long been neglecting her flushes.  I guess we should have been a bit more forceful over the whole thing, but you know.as with any teenager, you can lead them to saline, but you can't make them flush.. ARGH!

Also, Kendra has vaginal stenosis, which is a severe tightening of the vaginal opening. In laymans terms, at the present time, she can not, should not, could not have sexual intercourse without severe physical repercussions.  This was a total and unexpected surprise. But it is fixable.

There have been so many times in our lives that in hindsight I can see the touch of God's grace on circumstances.  Knowing from a very young age that I would have a special child prepared me for the day he/she might enter. Meeting Paul and knowing that this was the man I was supposed to share this life with. The delay we faced in having children, made our marriage so much stronger when Kendra was finally born. In all these things, I can see now the pattern of the Master Weaver.

And again I see that same providential pattern showing up in our lives.  Paul has applied for this school here in Maryland every single year since he had the prerequesite flight hours in to be competitive for a slot.  That's an application faithfully submitted yearly for 10 years. Because of his flight qualifications (Apache) this is the ONLY possible assignment that he could have that would put us this close to Walter Reed. And when should this assignment come through but when it could most benefit Kendra as she is approaching adulthood!

Have goosebumps yet?  Because I surely did when God spoke to my heart and comforted me this afternoon.  All the fears and concerns I had when first hearing the news I have now laid at His feet.  He is so good and He knows best the plans that He has made for us.   I am so incredibly humbled and so incredibly thankful.

There is still much to figure out, but at least we are now aware of the problems and we can begin to slowly build a plan.  The next step is an MRI of Kendra's pelvic region so the surgeons can have a better idea of what "all is going on down there."

 

Challenge, Aftermath, Sunday and my kitchen

At the end of our first week of the "Biggest Loser Fat Chic Style" Challenge, our group of 27 girls have lost a total of 63 pounds.  Now that is some slammin' results. :)  I think we were all super motivated to make this week count for our teams (we are broken down into teams of two) and for ourselves.

Friday mornings are our weigh-ins and I have to be honest and say that Friday evening, knowing that I didn't have to weigh in again for a week, I allowed my kids to convince me to buy Arby's for dinner.  Now. .. I did go easy.. and I ordered the kids jr. roast beef meal.  It's not as bad as any of the normal adult portions and it always fills me up.  So that is my big splurge for this week.

Today, I woke up ready to do some serious work in our house.  We are mostly out of boxes, but we also still have several waiting to be undone.

Yesterday Kim and I went shopping for some things that were needed here.  Like curtain rods and curtain hooks, I was hoping to find two bookcases, but still coming up without anything I like there. 

So today, so far.. I've got the kitchen completely in order.  I think there are still two boxes in Kendra's room that belong in the kitchen, but for all practical purposes, it's done.  The counters are cleaned of clutter, the daily small electrics are placed where they make sense and all the rest of the electrics have been delegated to cabinets under the counter.  It looks great.

I also took advantage today and caught up all my laundry.  I know it wont' stay done.. until I convince those kids to run around naked... you know there will be a new load by the end of the day. LOL .  Still.. it's  nice to be caught up.

This coming week is going to be a hectic one. I have to be at the school tomorrow for Parent/Teacher conferences. Tuesday I have to do my grocery shopping and Wednesday Kendra and I head back up to WRAMC.  This time I'm packing a lunch with snacks to keep us out of the high fat areas.  My team came in 6th this past week.. and I'm hoping to do my part to help us bump that up a bit.

 

Here we are again.

Well.. once again I have a reasonably good diet week under my belt.

 

 

Renewing my commitment to staying on target. Found some Whole Wheat Tortillas that I actually like.. from The Tortilla Factory. Okay.. you know.. nothing is EVER going to be better than a homemade (by my mom) tortilla... but these are good when heated and wrapped around some ingredients (although I found out last night JELLY is not one of them). What gets me excited is the fiber. I have been in fiber heaven all week long.

With the recommendation of my support group Fat Chics, I searched out Skinny Cow products at the commissary this week. My great find was the fudge pops. OMG.. is that thing thick or what? And tastes so incredible it's hard to believe that this is actually a "good for me" treat. :) So kudos to Stacy, Kelli, and the rest that recommended this treat.

TOM is trying to decide if it wants to be here or not. I've had some spotting. Could I be heading into menopause? I have mixed feelings about that possibility. My mother had a complete hysterectomy back in the 60's so her "menopause" happened when I was too young to have thought to take notes. Now I really don't have any adult female (older than me) that I can ask questions about it. I'm thinking going through an induced menopause at 33 is way different than having the natural route take it's course.. but I could be wrong.

At any rate... that's my random thinking process for today. Everyone have a good weekend!

Well... , I didn't make the best choices for food as I could of yesterday.  Kendra and I had to go to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Wash, DC.

 

WRAMC is a big hub of medical activity for the military community.  It is a teaching hospital and a lot of people are sent there when smaller Army community clinics cannot handle a medical need.  Also, this is where a lot of injured soldiers arrive and have (among other things) rehabilitation.  Because of this, WRAMC has several snack bars, coffee shops and food spots all through the post.  As you first enter the doors, there is a Dunkin Donuts.  I haven't had a Dunkin Donut in 3 years.  They smelled so good.  But we did not indulge immediately on our way in.

 

Kendra had an ultrasound scheduled for 8 AM, for us that meant being on the road by 5:30 AM ... and even at that we were a few minutes late (I hate DC traffic).  The ultrasound and waiting for the radiologist to read it took 2 hours!  The report was good and the technician (female)... was so nice.. she really went out of her way to make Kendra as comfortable as possible.  And she said the nicest thing to me.  When she saw Kendra's DOB on her chart, she looked at me and said..."you do not look old enough to have a daughter that is 18!"    I told her she just made me day!  LOL.. it's been awhile since someone besides Paul remarked on my "youthful" appearance. .... Anyway.. by the time we cleared out of radiology, it was close to 10:30 and we were STARVING.. so we grabbed donuts (I only had one, but trust me.. that was bad enough) and drinks (I chose water).

 

Then we had to head up to Urology to speak with the doctor that is in charge of Kendra's care.  Another long wait there.  We finally see her at 12:00.  We go over the ultrasound results with her, talk about a few of our concerns and then we are told that they are expecting us in pre-op at 1:00pm... so we should grab something to eat and head up there.  We went to the Cafeteria and I should have had salad, but I was so convinced that I could be home in time for a good, healthy dinner.. that I decided to go with the hamburger and fries....And water to drink.  now how cool is this?  With the interest everyone has in fitness, AND considering the number of military personnel are probably in the "fatboy" program.. the cafeteria lists calories, fat grams, and fiber on all their basic food items.  So I know for fact that my burger was 375 calories and that my serving of fries was 250... so not too terribly bad.

 

Well.. heck.. apparently the pre-op thing is kind of a "free for all".. and while you may have an "appointment" that does not mean that you will be seen in a timely manner.  I had my first taste of "Kendra is an adult now and she must learn to fill things out and she must be the one to sign her forms".  That was a bit humbling and bizarre.  The head nurse laughed and said "I know, Mom, at home she's still "pumpkin", but out here in the real world, she has to do the signing. "   OY.... shot through the heart.. but at least I could laugh about it.

 

We finally hit the last "station" to the whole pre-op thing at 5:30 pm.  CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT>???  She had to have paperwork, have labwork, have an interview with the anesthesiologist, discuss the procedure with the nurse, etc, etc, etc.

 

Well.. once again, it had been so long since we ate that we were STARVING!! and still looking at a 2 hour drive home minimum.  To prevent further delays, I drove through McDonalds and grabbed burger and fries.  Luckily... I only like their small hamburger and I kept to the small fries.  I would have gotten a salad... but well.. you can just imagine the mess in the car.  

 

Even that probably wouldn't have been too bad.  But then because I had to take no-doz to stay awake on the road both that morning and that afternoon, I was buzzing pretty late last night, so I ended up eating a granola bar AND a skinny cow fudge pop.

 

Bringing my total calories for the day to 2000.  No exercise and way too much sitting around has me feeling very bloated today. 

 

So my plan to correct this is to have a lower than usual calorie day, and drink a lot of water.  And walk two miles. I'm hoping that by weigh-in tomorrow... my weight will NOT be too far off from what it's been.