Weigh in Wednesday

Sorry guys I know it has been a while since I have done a weigh in Wednesday. I have lost a small amount of weight but I seem to be holding steady at 12st 1.5 pounds. My goal this week is to see if I can loose that 1.5 so I can be right at 12st.

Not for the faint of heart

In my quest for healthy eating I ran across a post by Laura over at The Lazy Organizer all about green smoothies. Basically fruit and spinach smoothies, I am not a big lover of spinach but hey if the fruit covers the taste I am willing to give it a go. I made my smoothie and it was good, a lovely purple color because I had used some blueberries in it. While out shopping I picked up more spinach for my green smoothies and my husband was confused and commented on my hatred of spinach. I explained my green smoothies to him and he suggested adding spirulina powder. I will let Wiki do the talking on Spirulina. Always one to try something new I headed down to the health food store and picked some up. This is were it get a little interesting; the powder is BRIGHT green (see photo) and smells a little like cat food (I know I have a cat). At this point I was a little worried but always the adventurer I went a head and threw the recommended 1TBS in my smoothie.

As anticipated it turned the whole thing for lack of a better description baby poo green. I pulled out my special smoothie cup and poured the contents in and carefully tasted the first sip. I was amazed, while it was not as sweet at the smoothie with out the spirulina it was still highly drinkable. So I will continue my green smoothie quest in the hopes that it will help me be healthier. I shall report back if I say loose 20lbs over night or can leap tall buildings in a single bound.

PSA

A Public Service Announcement courtesy of my niece

New Tennants at the Casa de la Yank

These little guys followed me home from Wisley Gardens yesterday. I am a sucker for succulents. I still remember when I first came to know about succulents, I was working part time at a nursery to save money to come live in England. The nursery delt mainly in herbs, I like herbs they are basically weeks and you just throw them in a pot and ignore them. I watch people spending years perfecting techniques on African Violets or Orchids and I am impressed but I know that I would just kill them. Anything that requires more than dirt and throwing water at it on an infrequent and sporadic basis should stay far far away from Casa de la Yank.

I have looked online and basically I stick my new tenants in well draining soil (soil mixed with sand) and only water them infrequently. Works for me.

So this is my pledge to my new tenants:

I Yankee in England promise to get you a nice pot with soil that has lots of sand mixed in it and to not water you very much, if you promise not to die on me.

Dear Mr. Y in E,

I lost the cat. I was doing some crafting last night and realized that he had not come to annoy me for a while and the house was very quiet. I glance over to the couch to see if he was snoozing on his favorite pillow and he wasn't. I did a quick search of his favorite places; the bed, my laundry hamper, his blankie, the new scratching post (that was a great buy) and the bathroom rug, he was no where. My heart stoped and I panicked. I was horrified that I might of left a window open and in his anger that you had left he had escaped with hope of a better life somewhere else. I quickly checked all the windows but they were closed, I sat down in the living room in desperation knowing I would have to call you and explain than in less than 12 hours of life with out you I had managed to loose our cat. In a last ditch effort i made smoochy sound hoping he might come to me. A sheepish kitty emerged from under the duvet cover I had hung on the banister to dry that morning. I am sure he has decided that this was a good place to wait and pounce on me unexpectedly.

Other things I have lost since you've been gone:

1. My favorite crafting scissors-turned out they were under a pile of patterned papers did not find them till I cleaned up last night.

2. My exacto knife - I had been using it to craft and either kitty has knocked it off the crafting table and dragged it to one of his unknown hiding places or I have put it away in the wrong spot and will find it in a few weeks when looking for something else.

3. The SudoCream I went to put some on my poor cracked nose yesterday and it was no where to be found.

I have yet to loose my keys yet but that is only a matter of time, good thing we left a spare with the neighbours.

Sincerely,

Yankee in England

Trying to be Positive

I sent Mr Y in E off for a month worth of work about 3 hours away from where we live today. It is one of those needs must kind of situations. I try to think positive, I am not sending him off for an 18 month tour of duty in a war torn country. He will be home when he had two days off in a row.

For those of you who don't know Mr Y in E is a chef and before he left this morning he has stocked the fridge and freezer with stuff for me to eat while he is away. He truly believes I am not able to feed myself, that if he was too leave me for two long I would waste away and die of starvation. What he did not know it that I have a few things going for me:

1. I know how to use a microwave and where to buy ready meals.

2. I have take a way menu's in a drawer in the kitchen.

3. I have an excess of body fat and it would take quite a while to actually DIE of starvation.

4. I can actually cook and I am not terrible at it. I am just lazy.

Never the less I have a tuna casserole in the fridge I might seriously have to start giving away because I have no hope of eating it all before it starts to go bad. I also have mini cottage pies in the freezer, the base for a butter bean bake that only requires me to top with bread crumbs and grated cheese and cook.

In my effort to remain positive I have made a list of the pros of this situation:

I get the whole bed to myself. Well I have to share with kitty but worse case scenario I throw him out and close the door.

I get to watch whatever I want on TV and not feel guilty if I know one of my programs conflicts with a footie match

I can eat all the eggplant, peppers, and squash I want and not feel guilty knowing Mr Y in E hates them.

I can make really big messes crafting and not feel the need to clean them up right away.

I can leave my towel on the floor in the bathroom and know it won't annoy Mr Y in E

I can make vegetarian meals with out Mr Y in E commenting on the lack of meat in that evening meal.

This does not really make up for all the Cons of this situation but it does make me feel a little better.

Well the washing machine just dinged and as soon as I hang out my clothes I am off to a new craft shop I found to check out the new stuff and start working on the above mentioned mess.

Kitty and Cupcakes

My DH knows me well and knows how to keep the peace. Last night I was surprised with cupcakes from a lovely bakery in London, a late birthday treat as DH did not make me a cake, all was forgiven when the red velvet cake came my way.

Kitty is not opposed to using tools to get what he wants. I made tuna bake last night and he really wanted some.

Interesting things I learned this weekend while clearing out some drawers

1. I own way to many tights, a necessary evil for my job. This is what prompted the drawer cleaning to make room so the tights could have their very own drawer.

2. Mr. Y in E is addicted to buying cough syrup, apparently not to taking it as we had 7 bottles of 4 different varieties.

3. I may never need to buy band aids or plasters as they are called here again.

4. When you get a free gift with purchase of make up it is never a color that a real human being would wear.

5. As I have lost weight I have bought clothing in smaller sizes up to three sizes smaller in some cases, but have been buying the same size knickers, this explain a whole lotta problems.