Mother Nature Reminds Us Who Is Boss (Mar.30, 2023)

 Oh Mother Nature - Why must you taunt us so?

Woke up to a winter wonderland again just when I thought we were making headway on snow melting.

I actually had to clean snow off of my car before I could drive to work and the walkways had to get shovelled.

I wish that I could say this is likely the last snow we'll get before spring but I know that it probably isn't so that's kind of a bummer.

I walked back to the office after lunch so I could get some steps in and Jason walked down with me (then he walked back home).

I made sure to ear my cleats since all of the snow is covering up the ice underneath.

Then after work, Jason met me at the office and we walked home together.

He made us shrimp and salad for supper.

I wanted to be careful about what I ate today after having a bit of a treat day yesterday.

I had pizza, meatloaf and cake and didn't bother to track it.

I know I went way over my daily points and I was having one of those pouty days where I felt like I'm not getting anywhere with the weight loss anyway so I might as well just give up.

I'm not giving up though - this is something that I really want.

One bad day does not negate all of the good days that went before it - the trick is to just dust it off and carry on.

I need to trust the process and even it is slow, it will happen - and I'm ok with that.

After supper, I still needed a few more steps so we went for a walk down to the store and back.

I love getting the fresh air - it feels really good.

Jason's buddy at work told him about this show he found on Netflix, American Vandal.

We watched an episode last night and we both really liked it so we watched another episode when we got home.

The storyline is basically that 27 cars at this high school get vandalized (someone paints giant penises on them) and kind of this prankster guy is blamed for it and a couple of students in the school take it upon themselve to make a documentary (or mockumentary) to investigate who really committed the crime.

It's a satire of documentaries but it's interesting and funny and we are quite enjoying it so far.

There even looks to be a second season where they investigate a crime at another school where the lemonade in the cafeteria is contaminated with laxatives.

We planned on watching a second episode tonight but Freya wanted to come over for a visit so Kody ended up bringing her over.

She immediately dumped all of her Polly Pockets out on the floor in the middle of the living room and started undressing them.

Then she took them into the bathroom and started washing them.

She said they were at the beach.

Then she got her bathing suit on and said that she wanted to go swimming.

She didn't want to go in the tub though, she wanted to go in the sink.

OMG - there was water every where but she had fun and it's only water, no harm.

Next she changed into the new little dress I bought her.

I love how cute she looks in long dresses.

She added the choker which is actually a belt from her Cat Noir costume - she has style.

She was complaining that the dress kept falling down and was too big for her.

I suggested we tie the straps a bit tighter but no, she wanted to change.

Her next and final look for the evening.

She kept the choker but put on her LOL dress.

She loves this style of dress with the meshy bottoms.

She and Jason played the night away and she ended up spending the night.

I'm so grateful that we get to spend so much time with her - I just love her so much and I know Jason feels exactly the same way.

That's all for today, until next time, be happy!

Morgan Turns 24! (Mar.29, 2023)

 Jason was off today but he was going out to work anyway to fix up a meal for a going away party and he decided to run out there.

Just a short 21k run to start his day.

I'm so impressed by him - I wish I was that far along in my running.

I am not going to do any running today because of my back but I did leave the car home at lunch time and walk back down to the office.

We are having everyone over for supper tonight so I knew I'd be busy and I wanted to get some of my steps in before then so I'm not left having to walk on the treadmill for a couple hours after they go.

Everyone started showing up right around 5ish.

I had cooked up a meatloaft and a birthday cake for Morgan and Jason made pizzas.

Trying to get pictures of everyone is tough.

Both Rob and Hunter aren't looking.

Hunter still isn't looking and now Alivia's eyes are closed.

Finally Hunter it looking but now Kody isn't.

Now everyone is looking but Kody is behind Haylee.

Oh I give up!

Jason and Zepplyn sat out at the little table but Zepplyn refused to look for a picture.

Oh well.

I didn't make any sides for all the meat we had but everyone seemed to be ok with that.

I think good pictures just weren't in the cards for me today.

The birthday girl turned 24 today.

Happy birthday to you!

Since it's a week night everyone went home fairly early except Freya and Zepplyn.

They were having a sleep over (it is March break for the kids this week so they have no school).

It will be Zepplyn's first time staying with us so we'll see how it goes.

Auntie Zepp was giving Freya piggy back rides.

Freya wanted on her shoulders and Zepplyn wanted to do it too but I think they are still a bit little of that.

They were downstairs playing with Jason and found the Halloween stuff.

Zepplyn got dressed up too - she's Stitch.

She looks pretty cute in this costume.

We dragged the mattress from our spare bedroom up to the living room floor thinking the girls could sleep there.

I thought Jason and I could lay on the couchs until they fell asleep then we could get in our bed.

The girls just weren't falling asleep though so I got on the mattress with them and told Jason to just head to bed.

That only lasted a few minutes before the girls decided the mattress was uncomfortable and they'd rather sleep in the room with Jason.

They were right, the mattress was uncomfortable.

So we all headed to the bedroom - we were all going to try sleeping in the bed but Zepplyn decided she wanted to sleep on the floor so I made her a bed out of the couch cushions and made her a cozy little bed and she was quite happy there.

It was super late when we finally got them settled and going to sleep - I'm so going to pay for this in the morning but it was my idea so I'll just have to suck it up.

That's all for today, until next time, be happy!

Tax Time (Mar.28, 2023)

 My back was still a bit sore this morning so I decided to not run today.

It doens't hurt when I'm running but it hurts afterwards so I'm not sure if it aggravates or but just in case, I'm going to give it a rest for a day or two.

I did get out for a walk this morning though - just a short one because I had a morning full of meetings.

It's still a bit cold and everything is so icy - I have to be really careful when I'm walking.

Morgan asked me to take her to run a few errands on my lunch hour so I did.

One thing she had to do was go to a doctor appointment so while she was in there, I walked some laps around the hospital parking lot.

Jason was busy at work cooking up farewell lunch for a co-worker who is leaving tomorrow.

He made a giant hashbrown casserole.

And a giant salad.

Kody and Haylee took Ozzy to get fixed today.

They asked if they could bring their other dog, Louie, over to our place for a couple of days until Ozzy heals up and I said sure.

Mom would love that.

When I got home, not only was Louie there but so were Freya and Zepplyn.

Freya decided to do mom's make up (with a highlighter).

Then Zepplyn wanted in on the fun too.

They are so proud of themselves.

I noticed later that mom was sitting on the couch and Freya went and got a warm facecloth and she was cleaning mom's face for her so tenderly.

She is so sweet.

While the girls did that, I got Morgan's birthday cake put in the oven.

She asked for the Banana Sour Cream Cake that is a hit with our family, I make it all the time and have been for years.

I'm having everyone over for a birthday dinner for her tomorrow so I wanted it to be ready for me to ice when I got home from work tomorrow.

I was going to make lasagna but she asked for Jason to make his thick crust pizza and he said he would so I may make a meatloaf to go along with it since I already picked up a bunch of ground beef.

While the cake was in the oven, Morgan came over so I could do up her taxes for her.

I just use Turbotax and because she only has T4's, it is dead easy and it is free.

Then before I finished hers up, Kody and Haylee showed up with their tax documents so I could do theirs as well.

I got them mostly finished but they were both missing a few documents so I couldn't finish them up all the way.

They left just as Jason was arriving home.

I still hadn't eaten any supper but I wanted to get out for a walk and it was fairly nice out albeit a little cold but we bundled up and headed out so I could get the rest of my steps in.

When we got back, I had supper.

Jason brought home some extra salad, meatloaf and ham.

The meatloaf was so good that I had 2 slices of it.

Then I also snacked on some Hot Cheetos - they are so high in points but I'm kind of addicted.

Luckily because they are so hot - I can't eat that many of them.

A few memes that made me laugh.

Love that side eye.

I stumbled upon these pictures of Clothesline art and I thought they were so cool.

The artist is Helga Stentzel and she does some really neat stuff if you want to check it out.

I wish I had a clothesline.

That's all for today, until next time, be happy!

Weigh In Day & Sore Back Go Away (Mar.27, 2023)

Monday = Weigh In Day so you know what I did first thing.

I was 211.0

I was kind of expecting to be up a bit after eating so late last night but I ended up being down .2 

I'll take it!

It's going so slowly but at least I'm going in the proper direction and I'm still following plan and tracking - I consider that a win.

Paddington sitting on the bed this morning.

He's so cute.

He was grooming himself but it looks like he's being shy and hiding behind his tail.

We had unexpected visitors at coffee break.

Shennelle's son, daughter-in-law and grandson drove all the way from Shylo, Manitoba last night and just arrived here this morning to surprise her.

Haylee was here working today and she and Shennelle's son, Kyle, went to school together so she sat and had a bit of a visit with us too.

Her little grandson is just adorable.

I mean - look at that gorgeous smile.

She was teasing him and he thought it was hilarious.

Jason is cooking another meal at work.

They have a guy retiring and this coming Wednesday is his last day so they asked Jason if he could cook a meal for them.

Jason will be on days off so he'd preparing everything ahead of time then he won't have as much to do when he goes in there on Wednesday.

He made this giant meatloaf.

He covered it with a glaze before putting it in the oven.

It looks so yummy - wish I could have some.

I love meatloaf.

He also made a giant ice cream cake.

I didn't get out for a walk today.

It's cooled off a bit - it was between -8 and -10 today but windy too so it feels even colder.

Plus my back is still really bothering me.

Sometimes I feel like such a whiner and I feel like I should just suck it up and get over it, push through it - I dont' know, just get over it.

Being in pain makes me feel so old and I don't want to feel old.

I don't really know why it's hurting or what happened.

I have been pumping ibuprofen into me and it helps a bit but not much.

I'm considering making an appointment for a massage with Crystal or maybe even trying out a chiropracter.

I've never been to one and they've always kind of scared me but my back doesn't seem to be getting any better and I need it to.

So I decided no running today.

It doesn't hurt while I'm running but it does really hurt afterwards so I want to give it a break.

Instead I went down and just walked on the treadmill.

I planned to walk for about an hour and that's about how long it took for me to get the rest of my steps.

Happy that I got my steps in for the day.

Jason had cooked a ham today as well so he said he'd bring a piece of it home for us to have for supper and I made a salad to go along with it.

Supper was really good.

I watched a couple PVR's episodes of Grey's Anatomy (I'm a whole season behind) then we also watched the new episode of Spring Baking Championship before calling it a night.

That's all for today, until next time, be happy!