Weekend plans

Had a great start to the weekend, went on a 6.7 km walk with a friend (a total of 9.7 km today!). Tomorrow Caleb has to put in a few hours at work but we're going to try and make it to the Market Square and Sunshine Express across the canal (maybe buy my trailing bamboo plant... hope hope).

NOTL is having Mayfair tomorrow from at Fort George 5:30 to 9 pm. Tickets are only $10.00 per person with children under 14 being free and there are free shuttles to the Fort from Town Hall in Virgil, the NOTL Public Library on Anderson Lane and the municipal parking lot behind the Court House on Queen Street. I don't know if we're going but it sounds like it could be lots of fun!


No real plans for Sunday, it's suppose to rain most of the day but only lightly... perhaps we'll go to Balls Falls for a little hike. Have to wait and see I suppose.

Beginning of Week Six

So Monday was the beginning of week 6 and the weigh in went really well. I was down just over 8 pounds!!! I am so excited. I'm in the top three for highest percentage of weight loss so far.

I've gone out walking with Sherri and Chrystal twice now and both times I ended the day with over 9 km under my belt. I want to walk 3 times a week (Mon, Wed, Fri) which will be good except I have no one to walk with on Wednesday. So tonight will be my first test of going out walking by myself. I'm going to bring Trin to Pearson and lap the park a few times.

Anyone interested in joining me?

Google makes everything easy... even walking!

So today I met up with a friend who I haven't seen in 13 years, because we decided we were going to go for a walk. It was great! I met a friend of hers, we chit-chatted about our old friends, what we've been doing for the last 13 years, and of course diet and exercise. She brought her 10 year old son Sebastian and he and Trinity played at a nearby park while we hoofed it through a very quiet and nicely manicured little area.

We were out for an hour and when I got home my legs were starting to feel the burn. So then I wondered... exactly how far did I walk today? So I went to Google Maps and using the Distance measuring tool I was able to determine that our hour long walk was equal to 5 km and mine and Trin's walk there and back was 2 km. Of course I had to go further.... I walk every break and lunch at work and was anxious to see what that walk added up to... the 45 minutes of walking at work equals about 2.5 km.

That means that today I walked a grand total of 9.5 km! And how many calories did I burn in that 9.5 km? According to Calorie Count, approximately 988!

That is FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC! I'm so excited!

Time for a hot shower and then I'm off to bed. Have to get up super early to help my parents with their move to Oshawa! Good Night!

Things that made me smile today

• Listening to the birds chirping happily
• Making it up the hill at work, a little winded but not as bad as it used to be
• Getting to curl up on the sofa and watch a show with Caleb before he had to go to work
• Hearing Trinity excitedly exclaim that she got to play Final Fantasy... and it was FUN!
• Getting the dishes done!
• Walking on my manual treadmill at an incline of about 15 degrees for 20 whole minutes (that's 5 more than normal)
  

Beginning of Week Five

I was a bad girl last week and it showed on the scale yesterday. I was up 2.2 pounds..   :(

So now I have to redouble my efforts and really work on the whole will power thing. No ordering celebratory pizza or having "just a few" cookies. Time to be strong!

Veggies, Veggies, Fruit and Veggies... a little protein, a carb or two and then more veggies. my biggest downfall is preparation. I often go for something not so good because I don't want to cut up all the veggies. So I'll have to make large portions of healthy stuff that I can put into individual sized containers and freeze. Maybe a veggie lasagna, a big pot of chili, a bigger pot of chicken soup and maybe even a veggie stew.

I also have to get more exercise in... I've been reluctant/lazy.. but! My treadmill has been brought upstairs and I have plans to go walking with a friend on Friday. I'm helping with a move on Saturday and if the weather holds out we'll go for a hike on Sunday. I think I'll try to get up early tomorrow to work out with my personal (virtual) trainer. 

Wish me luck!

Busy Day

Today was a pretty busy day for us. We stopped by Tim Hortons to visit with Micheal for a little while and were pleasantly surprised when Karen joined us with little Dar.

After visiting for a while we went to Eco Fest Niagara. There were TONS of people there and a lot of interesting vendors from geo-thermal energy to local honey to a solar cooker that was pretty freaking awesome!
We also got to try some really yummy food. Caleb and Trin had vegan chili and I had a delicious risotto with carrot and squash.

We squeezed in a quick trip to Costco then went for a nice hike at Burgoyne Woods.

Such a shame that tomorrow is Monday!

Movie - The Blind Side

THE PLOT: Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron), a young, homeless African-American boy from the projects in Memphis, Tennessee, is taken in by the Touhys, a well-to-do family on the other side of town. Together they find Oher has a talent for football and the Touhys resolve to help him acheive his full potential in school and on the field.   
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I loved this movie. Sandra Bullock (who I think is extremely under rated), shows just how talented an actress she really is and Tim McGraw comes out of no where to give a wonderful performance as Sean Touhy the husband of Leigh Anne Tuohy (Sandra Bullock). 

In the movie the Touhys are depicted as almost too perfect. They are wealthy, yet down to earth and charitable, with not a care in the world for how others might perceive their choices. Luckily Bullock and McGraw play well off each other and the chemistry between the two make the family dynamic feel genuine.

The meat of the story is how the Touhys effect Michael Ohers' life; but the gravy is seeing the effect Oher has on the Touhys. Based on a true story, The Blind Side remains sincere in it's simplicity and thankfully, isn't infected with the usual Hollywood flair for the dramatic. 

A definite buy I have give it 4.5 out of 5.

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Starring: Sandra Bullock, Tim McGraw, Kathy Bates, Quinton Aaron

Starring: Sandra Bullock, Tim McGraw, Kathy Bates, Quinton Aaron

Director: John Lee Hancock

Rated: PG-13 for one scene involving brief violence, drug and sexual references.
Runtime: 2 hrs 8 mins
Genre: Dramas

3rd Annual Eco-Fest Niagara

Tomorrow is the 3rd Annual Eco-Fest Niagara environmental trade show. I'm hoping this cold goes away and I am able to attend.

Eco-Fest Niagara is a celebration of all things "green" and show cases environmental products and services that are helping to benefit the planet with better practices, alternative products and products that can be purchased locally.

There will be local food, a variety of presentations, speakers and an introduction to other not-for-profit organizations.

If you're interested in attending admission is free to the public (donations accepted). 

Location: Niagara College Niagara on the Lake Campus
Address: 135 Taylor Road
City: Niagara on the Lake
Date: Sunday, April 18, 2010
Time: 10:00am - 4:00pm
 
More Info: 289-820-6440
Contact Name: Jane Hanlon, Exec Director, Climate Action Niagara
E-mail: Contact Event Provider by Email

Beginning of Week Four

Today was weigh-in day, which marks the beginning of Week four of our Biggest Loser challenge. I was a little nervous because, all though I ate well and did a fair amount of basic exercise, I did take in a little more carbs than I would have liked.

So when I walked in that room and the door swung closed I looked at the scale and began my plea... "Please let me have lost weight. Just one or two pounds even... something to show me that I'm not fooling myself."

And then... I put mt right foot on the scale, slowly followed by my left, and after what seemed like eternity, the number finally popped up.

I lost 6.6 pounds! That brings my total so far to 12.4 pounds in 3 weeks! Of course I don't trust scales so I weighed myself when I got home just to confirm that it's true. 

This is the motivation I needed to keep going. I just have to keep doing what I'm doing (and maybe a little more) and I will reach my goal weight.

12 down, 88 pounds to go!

Things that made me smile today

Often I spend time whining, bitching or complaining about random small crap that has annoyed me throughout the day and I forget about all the little things that made me happy. This can't continue. You know it and I know it so below is a short list of a few things that made me smile today.

• finding out a big problem had a very simple solution... (Alt+F4 *smacks head* why didn't I think of that!)
• the smell of the wet grass
• being able to catch up with a friend
• getting to push buttons... I love buttons
• the cozy feeling you get when you close the curtains at night
• the sound of Caleb turning the key in the lock
• a yummy cup of tea
• Trinity pretending to be asleep

Perhaps Thursdays can be my "Happy Thoughts" day. It's really nice thinking of happy things (who wudda thunk it!) You can do it too! Tell me; What makes you smile?

Our Potential New Car

Today was an exciting day. I had the day off because Caleb and I had an appointment to go look at a car. We think we're going to take it. It's a 2004 Toyota Corolla LE.

We want to have our mechanic take a look at it first but it looks pretty good to us and it drives like a dream. Now we just need to figure the payments into our budget... that's going to call for some creative math skills I think.

Off to figure numbers.

Beginning of Week Three

 We had our third weigh in today and guess what!?!

I was DOWN 7.6 lbs!!!

Woohoo!! I am so happy to actually see a decrease. Got to keep doing what I'm doing... and then some.

Healthy Food and Exercise...

Today I woke up early (again) and felt great. I had an apple and a glass of water for breakfast, did the dishes, and made pancakes for Caleb, Trinity and her friend Brittany. That's right! I made pancakes and didn't eat a single one myself. Also, potato chips were brought in the house yesterday, for Trin and her friend, and I haven't had a single one.

Caleb had to work today so Trin and I went grocery shopping after seeing him off. While we were shopping there were a couple of times that I stopped to smell some baked good or another and Trin was such a sweetie reminding me of my goal... I'll she said was "don't be tempted" but it worked. It helped me past the spiced bread, danishes and doughnuts. It was a very successful shopping trip and it was amazing to see over half my cart filled with whole, unprocessed, REAL food. The cart was spilling over with fresh fruits and vegetables. I wish we lived a little closer to downtown... I would prefer to be going to the market square... c'est la vie!

All in all we were out for 2 hours. The walk home was difficult with the heavy bags but we made it!

So far this weekend has been all about healthy food and exercise and tomorrow is no different. Tomorrow afternoon we'll be walking over to Caleb's Uncles' for a yummy Easter dinner of baked Salmon. (Poor Trin is not a fan of fish and now she's stuck eating it every other day - she's such a trooper and the chocolate left by the Easter bunny should help ease her pain).  :)

Today is good...

Today was a wonderful day. A day where everything just fit together perfectly and worked in unison with everything else around it. Caleb and I both woke up at the same time (7 am-ish, and not by design), the morning was bright and cheerful and warm. I made everyone a nice breakfast and we spent much of the morning just enjoying each others company.

We had a lot of chores to be do but it was such a beautiful morning we decided to go to the park; so we grabbed a frisbee and a badminton set and off we went. The ground was really soggy (there's really bad drainage in this area) and the wind made it impossible to play frisbee but that didn't stop us. Instead of frisbee on the grass we played badminton in the parking lot. We had great fun and got a good deal of exercise in too! Trin even got to play on the playground and climb a couple of trees.

At noon we went home, had lunch, called Caleb's sister Miriam to wish her a Happy Birthday/Anniversary, chatted with his sister Ruth and then walked to Andrew's (approx 25 mins). The sun was out full force by then and the lack of leaves on the trees meant there was very little shade on the way (I got a bit of a burn) but it was so nice to feel the warm sun on your face and to be out in SHORTS! Still we were very happy to arrive at Andrew's. His house was nice and cool and comfy. We sat around chatting with him until 5 and then he gave us a lift home (what a sweetie!).

Although we were all tired we knew we had to get our chores done so we got to work and 45 short minutes later... presto! a clean house! (at least the important bits are clean... my room, the upstairs hall and the basement are still a mess but I still have 2 more days to worry about them)  :)

I made dinner for the family, watched last night's Survivor (thank you globaltv.com) and now Trin and her friend Brittany are quietly playing Little Big Planet on the PS3 and Caleb and I are about to watch the latest episode of V (thank you ctv.ca).

I would have to say that today definitely makes the top 10 of absolute perfect days.