Hurricane Isaac: Aftermath

Well Isaac has passed and we are all fine.  Couldn't ask for a better outcome, however it wasn't a good outcome for some of us.  We've been friends with this family for about 20 years, their son and our son were friends since they were six.  Well their boy, R and his wife K, lost their home in Braithwaite.  Sucks.

Hurricane Issac: FINALLY

We came very close to being the most hated people in our neighborhood/ street today.  In case you missed the last post, there is/was a tree down on a power line in our backyard as well as a transformer.  In order to get the power back on they have had to get our permission to enter the property.  Well, not just yes, but hell yes, so they removed the tree.

Today, I'm up in Slidell and J is at work so there is no one home to give permission and of course they want to get at that transformer to start things to working.  They pull up to the house, get out and knock on the door, and of course every neighbor is watching.  Salivating.  Drooling.  You get the picture.  When the guy turns around to leave he is met by my 69 year old neighbor, (Miss J.), who is literally running to stop him from leaving.  I figure she would have thrown herself in front of the truck if she needed to.  Anywhoo, she told the electric guy that J was at work and I was out helping my mom and to make a long story short, she gave him permission to enter our yard.  Thank Gawd!  It could have gone bad and you'd been reading about the little couple who were stoned to death by their neighbors for not being home.

J got home about five minutes after he left and was on the phone telling me about how we still didn't have any lights, when suddenly they came on.  He laughed and told me he could hear all the neighbors screaming for joy.  I'm so tired from trying to get back on schedule for putting this new house back together that it's difficult to put out more than a big grin.  : D

Our Little Isaac Adventure: During/After

So we are all sitting here running off a generator and for the past couple of days no phone, (not even cell), no Internet and no cable.  Funny thing is about a half an hour ago niece #4 notices the lights on the router were on and we are all now jumping for the computers.  Oh my gosh I had forgotten how isolated you can feel after a little hurricane.  The power, I'm hoping will come back on up here in a couple of hours.  Now as for my house on the Southshore, well, the levee was over topped in two different areas, one of which was three miles away from my house, but all is well.  Sadly one of my neighbors' sons got 5ft in his house in Braithwaite, (he only had 6 inches for Katrina).   Anywhoo I know this is all disjointed and whatnot, but I'm waiting for the cable to go out, (things tend to go on and off for the first couple of hours sometimes)

Mom's place.

Across the street from Mom's place.

My backyard.  It's gonna be a while before we see electricity.

One very unhappy kitty.

Forgot to shut the cat door.  Everything blew off the counter and the stool went down and of course water.

Buh bye car wash.

Our Little Isaac Adventure: Waiting...

Nothing much to tell.  The electricity went out for about an hour and then came back on.  We lost a small limb off the half of a tree left after Gustav.  The cat went missing.  We found him behind a tote in the closet.  Perhaps it will amp up a bit later on; right now it's just six people, (one very hyperactive child included), a gazillion cats, and we are already annoyed with each other.

Our one casualty.  A moment of silence for the limb please.

A couple of videos, ignore me in the second video, I was on the phone with the boy.

Our little Isaac Adventure: Prep

I've got a love/hate relationship with hurricanes.  The storms are awful for me because I HATE lightening, (Have I mentioned that I was indirectly struck by lighting while in the bathtub?), J and the boy are first responders so I am left to fend for myself, and I do not enjoy sitting there in the dark waiting for the roof to come off or the water to rush in.  I do love the storms for their power and beauty.  They are gorgeous creatures who command respect.  Just look at that sunset!  Nothing prettier than the purple, lavender, pink, red and gold sky before a storm.

I've packed up my stuff, loaded it into the car.  I've picked up the stuff in my yard so that the fern doesn't fly through Miss J's bedroom window.  Most people are staying this time around.  Everyone is trusting the levees.  I hope they're right.  I'd stay except I'm the one who can work the generator so I must head north to Slidell.

Sis #2, our awesome neighbors: Miss. J & her son P and J. The sky was literally lavender although you can't tell in this pic.   In the back you can see the dirt pile that never ends.  

Hate evacuating and despite surprising Sis #2 with how little I'm taking with me, I am surprised over how much I did pack into my little car.  Heck what business do I have being attached to any material item I own when I choose to live where there wasn't a spot of dry land after Katrina?  I'm going to do some purging after this.  Some people horde, and cling to each and every little piece of paper claiming that it holds some memory.  I've learned that those little mementos can be a burden when you have to evacuate every three years.  I've also been left with very little in the memento department after Katrina anyways so that helps. ; )

My stuff packed and ready to roll.

Poor Sis #2 she's lived away from Southeast Louisiana for several years and she must think we're all nuts.  She called me yesterday asking what color I wanted to paint the back hall in Mom's new house.  I'm all like, "Have you been to a store today?!"  She's all like, "No, " and I hear her calmly chewing ice over the phone.  I'm telling her the area is running out of gas and there is a frenzy for water and canned food and she just sits there calmly chewing ice and I swear I can practically hear her thinking we are over reacting.  So imagine her surprise when today she learns that traffic is bumper to bumper and that the only gas available is the premium priced stuff.  She's not experienced the post Katrina frenzy over a storm.  There was no heading out to Kenner to return a rental car today.  She found another place in Chalmette and she wanted to kill when they let the guy ahead of her off on filling the tank because he couldn't get gas.  Don't blame her.

Gas frenzy.

Boarding up frenzy.

Tomorrow the storm will arrive and I'm not looking foreword to the experience.  Anyone who says riding out a cat 1-2 storm is nothing hasn't ridden one out in a while.  It's nerve wracking and when you listen to all the call in radio shows it makes your hair stand on end.  There you sit and there is always some nervous nelly, (Mom), who jumps at every THWACK and THUMP and asks, "WHAT'S THAT?  Someone go check."  Yeah, suuurre I'll run right out to determine which of the seventy broken limbs flying about hit the house.  (Alright so it turned out a tree broke in half and hit the roof, but still what was I supposed to do about it in the middle of a storm?)  I prefer to sit in terrified silence pretending I don't hear anything.  Kinda like MiMi...

Shhhhh I don't want to hear about tomorrow's car ride!  Isn't that the cutest widdle brown nose ever?

Hurricane Preparation Vent

I believe Weight Loss Wednesday may not happen this week.  It all depends on Isaac.  J, who is with a local sheriff's department, could be called in as early as Mon. AM and so today we are scrambling to prepare.  I hate the scrambling part and it pisses me off that we have to scramble at all because on my end it's all organized.  I've got lists, pre-made hurricane totes with supplies, and more lists.  The one thing that's got me scrambling?  The damn generator.  We purchased a generator after Katrina and for Ike and Gustav that thing was a wonderful thing to have.  It has an electric start so that I'm not struggling with a pull cord, (the men in the family all seem to be in the EMS business and so us womenfolk are on our own) and can power a TV, freezer, microwave, and box fan all at the same time.  Basically it makes you feel like you are living the high life post hurricane while the other poor sots are fanning themselves praying for a non-existent breeze.

Anywhoo, the only thing I entrusted to my mother was the storage of a special generator cord, the charger for the electric start battery and the owner's manual.  I placed these important items in the armoire and told all to leave it there.  Of course it's not there and J, bless his heart, is heading up to the Northshore to set us up.  I'll be evacuating from the Southshore up to the Northshore so I won't be one of those folks you see on the news swimming in the street, unless the lake pours into Mom's place and so I have life vests in the attic along with the axe, (it's something Dad & Paw always had in the attic after hurricane Betsy).  I've given up on the search and J says we will have to go shopping for a new cord.  It's hard enough having to pull everything together to evacuate, but to have to evacuate, prepare J for the stay and then to prepare for us to hunker down is really overwhelming when the best part of the plan, (a generator), is a dud.

Weight Loss Wednesday: Quick like a bunny!!!

Gotta make this fast.  J says to make a quick shower, but instead I'm running the water and doing this, (bad me).  So here we go...

Exercise	Only if you count the million times a day I’ve gone up and down a ladder and stairs, and yesterday’s moving 10, 48 lb boxes of flooring from condo to truck and from truck up 14 stairs.
Water	Averaging 2 glasses a day.
Food	Fast.
Confession	It’s all bad.
Congratulations	I’m not dead yet.
Starting Weight	151lbs
Last Week	139.5
Current Weight	138 lbs
Weight loss	13 lbs
Dream weight	115

Weight Loss Wednesday: Sick, but still moving.

Remember that house from last week?  You know the one that has about ten years of animal fur and dander build-up?  Well cleaning it has made me sick.  Some say it's the chemicals from the cleaners and others say it's the fur/dust/dander.  Who cares what made it happen the point is I'm sick and I have to keep on working.  So there I am in Home Depot, runny nose, swollen tongue, sore throat, and my left eye is watering uncontrollably and sending tears down my left cheek, trying to do a special order.  The poor man who took my order leaned as far away from me as possible as I blew my nose and croaked out measurements in my new and hopefully temporary man voice.   You would think that being ill and working, (kill me now) that I wouldn't have much of an appetite.  Well Sis #1 is in town to help and is trying to make up for a year without oyster po-boys.  It's been a while since I've seen anything that wasn't fried.  So here we go...

Exercise	Still working my butt off trying to get this house in shape before Sept. 6th.  Lots of up and down stairs and carrying 48 lb. boxes of flooring.
Water	Averaging 4 glasses a day.
Food	A week of po-boys.
Confession	A week of po-boys.
Congratulations	I opted for a shrimp remoulade salad once, (not exactly the best option, but it did have veggies
Starting Weight	151lbs
Last Week	139.5
Current Weight	139 lbs
Weight loss	12 lbs
Dream weight	115

I'm not unhappy with my .5 lbs.  I think the only reason I've lost weight is because my appetite isn't in high gear seeing how I'm miserable and sick.  Frankly my diet has consisted of allergy pills, bits of po-boys, multi-vitamins, and orange juice.  When Sis #1 heads back home this week : ( I just may lose more weight because the po-boy diet will have to end.

Weight Loss Wednesday: Who needs exercise when all you need to do is move into a dirty house?

Mama has purchased a house.  It is a dirty, funky, smelly house.  It is full of fur.  I don't think it had been cleaned in the entire ten year period that the previous owners occupied it.  It was a bargain, (no one else wanted it because it was so dirty, funky and smelly), and so between shoveling sand, working on the closing, packing boxes, and cleaning the new house, (three people, one bathroom, in six hours, and I am not lying, six hours to clean one bathroom with three people working), I can barely move.  I forgot to mention moving 1,700 pounds of laminate flooring.  Yes, 1,700 pounds.  I know this because the flooring company printed the total weight of the shipment on the invoice.  I think I heard the truck groan when they put the pallet on the poor old girl.  I am swollen; I am sick, (ten year long fur/dust buildup = allergies), and I can no longer feel my right index finger.  So how much weight have I lost as a result of all this marathon labor?  Let's see...

Exercise	Who needs exercise when they are working like a man 10 hours a day.
Water	Averaging 3 glasses a day.
Food	I'm so tired I have no idea what I'm doing with food.  I recall Sis #2's friend's husband feeding us a salad with dried cherries, and somewhere in there there was some pizza, (the traditional food of moving).
Confession	Pizza, but who can turn down pizza after 10 hours of manual labor?
Congratulations	Well, there was the salad.
Starting Weight	151lbs
Current Weight	139.5 lbs
Weight loss	11.5 lbs
Dream weight	115

Yup, .5 lbs in a week.  I have hauled dirt, flooring, packed boxes, cleaned walls, hauled buckets, all week and all I lost was HALF A FREAKING POUND!  I would cry, but I just don't have time.  Sis #1 is coming in this evening so now I have to marathon clean my house with the help of J and Sis #2 and here I am hiding in the bathroom to put out this post on time, (yay that makes two Wednesdays in a row now).

Weight Loss Wednesday: Yay a pound!

   

Remember that dirt pile, you know the one I've been schlepping at for the past six months?  Well one of the neighbors finally complained, (bless their hearts they really have been patient to have waited this long), and we, knowing this has really gone on too long, promised to put our noses to the grind stone and move the rest of it into the back yard.  So on the hottest day of the year we moved dirt.  All day we moved dirt.  I cannot stress enough how much moving or how much heat/humidity (heat index 114F 69% humidity), we did that day, but I lost two pounds in one day.  So without further ado...

Exercise	Shoveling dirt and hauling wheelbarrows full of dirt is quite adequate.
Water	Averaging 3 glasses a day.
Food	Cutting back on the carbs and aiming for more veggies, (yuck).
Confession	July 31st, I just had to have angel food cake for Harry Potter's birthday.
Congratulations	I opted for salad instead of a hot pocket.  Hey, any small victory will do.
Starting Weight	151lbs
Current Weight	140 lbs
Weight loss	11 lbs
Dream weight	115

Pie Run: A documentary.

This week the 90 year old institution known as the Hubig's Pie bakery burned down, (moment of silence please).  Now I'm sure to the rest of the world this is not a heart wrenching tragedy, but to locals, well as one of the firemen put it, "Our guys put this out with their tears."  It was a Katrina moment; that same OMG are they going to re-open, what are we going to do if they don't rebuild?  So I got an emotional phone call from J with instructions to head out and buy up the now precious fried pies at any cost.  Mom threw in thirty bucks and off we went...

Just a mere three stops and pay dirt...

A few more bingos and then it dried up...

About four hours later we had hit every convince store, gas station, and pharmacy between Slidell and Mandeville, Louisiana...

Just a few observations:

• 1.  After listening to me on these videos, I notice I have a horrible yat accent that appears when I'm excited.
• 2.  I was lucky to be up in Slidell, LA when the call came because the Metro area sold out of pies before the Northshore.
• 3.  Somewhere out there there is a lady with boxes upon boxes of Hubig's pies and Lee's Hamburgers needs to look her up.

My half of the haul, well that is before J. started handing them out to desperate friends and family members.  We are such softies for those who are down and out on fried pie.  

Some people bought up pies to put them on e-bay.  Not us, we actually eat these things, (11 seconds in the microwave and heaven).  I hope this lasts us until they rebuild!  They may end up being frozen and used as Christmas presents.

Weight Loss Wednesday: Maintaining

I'm a fruit eating turtle.

Well I haven't been losing, but I haven't been gaining either.  It's been six months and I've only lost nine of the twenty pound goal.  I'm not unhappy at all with my progress.  I figure the slow and steady has gotten me into some slightly better habits and because of that I am not yo-yo dieting.  Sis #2 is on this 17 day diet thing and has already lost 10 lbs.  I've taken to some of her recipes, but I'm not getting on that treadmill.  I don't want to spend the rest of my life eating menu plans in 17 day increments.  I've made some changes, seen some results, and when I discipline myself into drinking more water and increasing the veggies I think I will make some more progress.  I remind myself that I'm the turtle, slow and steady.  

Exercise	Very little.  A few lunges and push ups here and there.
Water	Averaging 3 glasses a day.
Food	Cutting back on the carbs and aiming for more veggies, (yuck).
Confession	I caved and ate some grocery store eclairs and man were they bad.
Congratulations	Although I ate the eclairs I ended up finding them too sweet, perhaps my sweet tooth is not so sweet.
Starting Weight	151lbs
Current Weight	142 lbs
Weight loss	9 lbs
Dream weight	115

Weight Loss Wed on Friday and Other Stuff

On the way to bringing my friend T. back home after the bull run we found this advertising cow for a local dairy and had to take pics.  Wearing the required red and white and while the flowers running down the side of my pants weren't required, I none the less felt they were necessary.

I've been staying with my mom for the past few days trying to get everything she needs for the bank, the real estate agent, and for the new home.  We've been having some strong storms for the past couple of days and it knocked the Internet out at Mom's place and who wants to head out to a coffee shop for Internet when Thor is angry?  J called and said he'd like a bit of my company so I braved the huge thunderstorm and drove across the lake in the midst of a 4inches per hour storm.

A couple of friends who are new to New Orleans aren't used to this sort of thing, (heavy rains and street flooding), so I checked in and found that she found the thunder "very intimidating" and that they hadn't moved the car to the neutral ground, (the median for the rest of the world).  I told her that if the street is known for flooding she needed to move the car so that the water doesn't ruin the carpets.  I don't know if she thinks I'm joking, we'll see...

I ran with the Bulls last Saturday and it was HOT.  I got smacked on the rear with a plastic bat, (yay), and so I was pleased.  Afterwards one of the bulls asked if I was interested in giving roller derby a try.  Hmmm.  Then again I think about how long it takes me to heal up from a fall and I think not.

We had a few things we could have chosen to do this week; at the top of the list was to pay our respects to Uncle Lionel Batiste.  Yeah Sis #2 and I met him, and he flirted with us a bit and talked about how funny life turned out to be.  He said something to the effect of, "You know you go your whole life never knowing what's around the corner.  Look at me; I never thought I'd be world famous!"  Bless him, such a skinny little old man thrilled to death over his newly found"Treme" fame and flirting with a couple of middle aged fat broads.  I don't know about you, but it just makes me want to get the guy a cup of coffee and listen to him gush for a while.  Rest in peace Mr. Batiste.

Okay a quick weight loss update:

I'm at 141, but was down to 140 and 139.5 at one point this past week.  Because I was staying with Mom, (it's just easier on the car, mileage, and gas if I stay up there rather than all the back and forth), I was stuck with Sis #2's 17 day diet, which wasn't a bad thing because I did drop a tiny bit of weight.  I've gotten home and immediately hit a couple of eclairs which was good but I have to say they were too sweet and left me feeling a little sick from the sugar.  Perhaps that will have me thinking twice before I binge again.  Angel food cake is the way to go imho.

Weight Loss Wednesday: Oh Phoo!

Sis#2 has been fostering these two kittens since they were 2 weeks old.  I haven't got any pics so I figure who could resist kitten cuteness?

Well I haven't been here in a while.  For the past few weeks I've just been so tangled up I just didn't have room in my head to remember to do everything or even want to.  J is having a hard time right now, I'm helping mom to buy a house, I've had a birthday party, got really sick and have been to Houston for five days over the past two weeks.  So basically it's been Waffle House, fast food, birthday cake and then when I got sick, (like high fever, aches and chills sick), I threw it all up.  I said all of this to say, I've been at 141-142lbs for the past couple of weeks.  Ta dah!

Exercise:  We all know I'm aiming to do the Run With the Bulls this weekend, and yet I've done nothing to prepare.  Well that is if you don't count the one day running up steps for water slides at Schlitterbahn, and the day we rented an inflatable water slide for Sis #3 & my forty-something birthday party, (yeah, we realized the day after we may be just a tad bit old for this kind of stuff).

Water: I'm trying to catch up, (I'm still dehydrated from being sick), and am doing about four glasses a day because any more than that and I feel nauseous again.

Food:  Mostly hot & sour soup this week.

Confession:  I had waaayyy too much cake.

Congratulations:  I got sick.  (It's was saved me from a horrible scale reading)

Weight loss: None really. Oh Pooh!

Current Weight: 141.5

Dream Weight:

The Upstairs Lounge Fire

Picture from: http://www.bilerico.com/2012/02/new_orleans_inferno_the_upstairs_lounge_fire.php

On June 24, 1973, thirty-two people were burned alive in The Upstairs Lounge in the French Quarter.  Why?  It was a gay bar.  Because some inhumane schmuck decided to throw a flammable liquid on the stairway and light it.  It took the fire approximately twenty minutes to completely engulf the building.

The windows were covered with burglar bars through which only the smallest of men could pass through.  Witnesses helplessly watched as men jammed up to the windows, arms flailing through the bars, burned alive.  Four bodies were found under the piano.  Four men huddled in fear under the piano helpless to do anything to save themselves.  It was the deadliest fire in New Orleans' history.

Today, I'd like to think this city would react better, but then, in 1973, many bodies weren't claimed because of the stigma of being gay.  Many churches refused to hold services for the victims because they were gay.  Worse, the city's population felt like these men and one woman got what they deserved.    J. remembers the incident and remembers the general feeling that these people deserved to burn alive.

I could post about my birthday, or my cats, or my weight, but I think that remembering these people today is important.  No one claimed them back in 1973, so today I'll claim them.

In memory of:

JOE WILLIAM BAILEY

CLARENCE JOSEPH McCLOSKEY, JR.DUANE GEORGE MITCHELLLOUIS HORACE BROUSSARD.MRS. WILLIE INEZ WARREN.EDDIE HOSEA WARREN, son.JAMES CURTIS WARREN, son.REV. WILLIAM R. LARSON.DR. PERRY LANE WATERS, JR.DOUGLAS MAXWELL WILLIAMS.LEON RICHARD MAPLES.GEORGE STEVEN MATYI.LARRY STRATTON.REGINALD ADAMS, JR.JAMES WALLS HAMBRICK.HORACE GETCHELL.JOSEPH HENRY ADAMS.HERBERT DEAN COOLEY, bartender.DAVID STUART GARY, pianist.GUY D. ANDERSON.LUTHER BOGGS.DONALD WALTER DUNBAR.JOHN THOMAS GOLDING, SR.ADAM ROLAND FONTENOT.GERALD HOYT GORDON.KENNETH PAUL HARRINGTON.GLENN RICHARD GREEN.ROBERT LUMPKIN.FERRIS LeBLANC.Three Unidentified White Males.  (Names from: http://www3.gendisasters.com/louisiana/1484/new-orleans,-la-cocktail-lounge-fire,-june-1973)

Weight Loss Wednesday: How to gauge just how out of shape you really are...

The scale and my pants say I'm lighter, but the camera still says, "wow look at those ham hock arms."

There was an incident the other day where I chased down a receipt for someone in the local "mart" parking lot.  It's been a really mild 90 degrees and breezy this week so that receipt went flying.   I found myself running across a several rows of cars before I caught the thing.  I was gasping for air,  saw a few stars, and am fairly certain I was beet red when I handed over the receipt.  I got into the car with Sis #2 who was laughing at my condition and I turned to her and reminded her that she is going to look the same when we run with the bulls in July.  

Actually you don't really run, this is New Orleans and it will be July, and frankly no one here has any desire to move quickly for anything.  It's more of a jog/walk/panicked run thing.  It goes like this: You line up in a big crowd of other "runners" they start you off and you jog a bit from the pure adrenalin and then you run into someone you know and slow into a walk and have a little catch up convo and then people from behind get louder and run past you shouting, "Oh my GAWD here comes a bull, (roller derby girl with a plastic bat), RUN!"  And then when someone gets hit and the "bull" moves on everyone settles down and walks again.  See jog/walk/run.  Anyways they've extended the route because the thing has gotten bigger, (I hate it when word gets out on these little festivals) and now after the "mart" run I figure it couldn't hurt to hit that orbital machine again.  Right?  

Exercise:  Okay once this week in the pool @ mom's condo.  

Water:  abt. 4 glasses a day, (on a good day)

Food:  Still trying to opt for more veggies, smaller portions, and less sauce.  Oh the horror less sauce!

Confession:  Mom is feeling anxious over buying a house, I'm still worrying over, well a huge worry that J doesn't want me to discuss, and Sis #2 is just flat out depressed so we purchased three different cakes, sat down and watched the entire first season of Downton Abby and Abraham Lincoln Zombie Hunter while finishing off all three cakes.

Congratulations: Cousin's DH gave us some trout he caught  a couple of weeks ago and so we've been eating fish, which is good for you.

Weight loss: I think this makes 10 lbs in total, but I don't remember what my starting weight.  It was either 151 or 149.  I'm going to have to look that one up.

Current weight: 141!  Yay.

Dream weight: 115

Weight Loss Wednesday: Meh, I'm over it.

Well this week finds me once again with a bit of a weight gain and you know what?  I don't care.  Okay well, I care, but I'm not prostrate with grief over it.  Perhaps it's because we are wringing our hands over so many things right now.  Keep your fingers crossed or send us a little prayer.  J is having problems and we haven't heard a thing from our bid on what we hope to be mom's new house. We are still grieving over Maw Maw, the kitchen faucet leaked all over the floor and damaged the cabinet underneath, but it could be worse and I've been trying to follow Dumbledore's words of wisdom.  So here's the run down...

Exercise:  Just those pee pushups by Sheila

Water:  Doing better, still not up to 8 a day.

Food:  Okay, keeping an eye on the portions.

Confession:  I had an Elmer's heavenly hash two nights in a row.

Congratulations: I'm working on the fireplace and am burning extra calories.

Weight loss: none gained 1.5 pounds

Current weight: 142

Dream weight: 115

Two Weeks of Weight Loss: I'm baaaacckkk.

This is the "Before I Die Wall.  Guess which one is mine. : )

The past two weeks have been depressing, (we have many worries right now), and as usual busy.  Mom is looking at buying a house.  We put in a bid and are crossing our fingers.  This means that I've been up at her house and without the Internet.  Well I could have gone to a coffee shop or to the library, but by the time we were done going through some very dirty houses in 90 something degree weather, I didn't want to get back in the car.  Anyways I have good news on my weight loss project...

Exercise:  I've been doing those pee push-ups (idea from Sheila) and while I'm pleased with the tone I'm getting in my biceps I find my triceps flabby and so I alternate from doing push-ups on the counter to working the triceps on a chair.   I am pleased with the bicep progress and find that this fits my style better than standing in front of the TV doing a workout.  

Water:  I've fallen off the wagon and need to get back on.  I am down to four pints of water a day, (and for the past three days I didn't drink any water, bad me.)

Food:  I am working on portion control.  I am cutting my food in half and am trying to eat slowly, which is annoying J because he is a fast eater.  I make an effort not to eat until I feel stuffed, but until I feel full.  Yesterday I think I under did it at lunch because I stuffed my face with chips and candy last night.

Confession:  I stuffed my face with chips and candy last night.

Congratulations:  I feel like I am eating less and trying to be more consistent with my meals and choices.

Weight loss since the last post: 3.5 lbs!

Current weight: 140.5 (Oh my gosh my skinny jeans are feeling loose!!)

Dream weight: 115


Two weeks ago I was feeling so upset with myself for back tracking.  Today I am celebrating almost hitting getting out of the 140s.  Not sure I'm liking how my weight loss is affecting my mood.  We're going through some hard times right now and I don't need a little backslide in this little project to upset me.  J is a great guy and has loved me thick or thin, and I don't want to add to his stress with mood swings over weight issues.  I sometimes think of him as Saint J, but then he doesn't close the microwave door, or leaves his dirty socks in the middle of the floor and I remember he's just as male as the rest of them.






(Answer: Before I die I want to: write on this wall.  All the good ones were taken:  Become a Jedi, get my letter from Hogwarts, survive WWZ, win the Powerball, have fun storming the castle ...  My wants are simple

Weight Loss Wednesday on Thursday: :

To be honest I didn't want to come on here and make a post on my weight at all and so I am forcing myself to do this today.  I gained weight.  I tried on a couple of outfits to wear to my kid's graduation and the one I liked least is the one I looked best in and I just don't want to face the world with my weight gain.    I started this weight loss thing because I was feeling uncomfortable, unhealthy and wanted to look better.  I didn't go into this with impossible expectations or the idea that my weight affects how I feel about myself as a person.  I'm beginning to wonder about that last one.

When the dress that I so happily found looking much better last week wasn't looking so great this week I felt depressed, frustrated and like I had disappointed J.  I hate that.  My weight doesn't have anything to do with who I am and yet when I saw pictures of myself in a bathing suit on Saturday I wanted to cry.  I know I'm 50 pounds overweight, but geez I was shocked to see me looking like a fat middle aged woman.

This past week has been filled with a Memorial Service, an interment and dinner, three birthdays, and a graduation party.  Basically that's been five cakes, a thousand tiny muffalettas, jambalaya, meatballs, brownies, cupcakes, pizzas, brisket, BBQ, etc.  I have eaten my face off and the gain of just a couple of pounds shows big time.

So I said all of this to say this:  Backsliding on the weight loss has given my ego a hit and I hate that.  I may not be one of those confident people who always seem so certain they know who they are and what they are doing, but I don't want to be one of those people who are always beating up on themselves either.  I used to be that person and I don't want to go back to being that person.  I'm going to get back on the horse, but I'm wondering how to handle weight loss failures so that I'm not telling myself I'm horrible because I look horrible.  Sigh, here are the stats:

Weight loss: none

Current weight: 144

Dream weight: 115

Political Correctness in NOLA? The Heck With That!!

I'm sure I mentioned this place before, Rocky & Carlo's.  I'm sure I mentioned Rocky, (bless his heart a thousand times) as well.  This place is an institution in these parts.  Back before Katrina, it's reputation was pure New Orleans neighborhood restaurant, the place was filthy, the wait staff didn't wait on you unless you were a regular or knew one of them, you could watch as the person making your food take out a loaf of french bread and tuck it under her armpit as she headed over to the gravy vat.  There was an incident where someone died of salmonella after eating the stuffed pepper dinner, ever after the dish has been referred to as the Salmonella Special (my favorite).  And yet the people kept on coming.  The place is just that good.  Sadly they've improved the restaurant and the staff and now we all get waited on and no more armpit bread.  There is something about a NOLA institution that will have natives' hearts and loyalties no matter the price, no matter the danger, no matter the risk of life and limb.  We will mourn for generations over the loss of an institution.  Seriously.

One yummie Wop Salad @ Rocky's.

I said all that to say this:  My son is graduating from his paramedic class, we are having a little party and I want Wop Salad.  I did a search for Rocky's Wop Salad recipe only to find this paragraph:

This fairly old-fashioned but longtime favorite dish on Creole-Italian menus across the city is an example of that, the term "wop" being generally felt to be a slur on people of Italian extraction. However, nobody in New Orleans, least of all Italians, seemed to mind the term at least as applied to this dish, which would probably still be on restaurant menus under its old name if it weren't for out-of-towners who were kind enough to point out that this is, in fact, an ethnic slur.

on this page.   So I'm all like WTH?!  That's like the moron who decided after 9/11that we should call the French Quarter the "Freedom Quarter" because France said we couldn't use their air space.  That bit of stupidity didn't go over well with the locals.  Anyways the politically correct term is "New Orleans Italian Salad."  Yuck.  Who comes up with this crap?  That's like changing the name "po-boy" to sandwich and it just won't do.  I'm tired of the Americanization of New Orleans.  If you don't like our ways and you don't like our political incorrectness then this isn't the place for you.  If the term "Wop Salad" was good enough for Rocky, (the guy from Scicily who would give you the shirt off his back), then it is good enough for me.