kidney vacation

Here I am at the end of my little kidney adventure, which I'm going to start referring to as my kidney vacation, cause let's face it, that sounds so much better than calling it something like 'the tale of throwing up through tremendous pain, while sobbing uncontrollably like a toddler'.  Or, 'my week on IV pain killers'.  Or, 'why my family left me in Bangkok'.  Cause while all those things are true, no one wants the gory details of having a kidney stone...or do you?  Pretty sure I don't want to rehash each moment of the last week of my life.  Just pray you don't get kidney stones.

So this isn't going to be gory details.  This is going to be a small whiff of the wonderfulness of my Father in Heaven.

We have had some changes in our health care coverage, due to some changes in our company.  I was a little worried how this would pan out with the medical bills I accumulated over the past month.  Let me tell you that our insurance covered E.V.E.R.Y. bit of my treatment.  The only part we had to pay for was the price difference of going from a double to single room.  Call me silly but each time I was admitted (I was re-admitted twice after being discharged.  twice.) the thought of puking my guts out in front of a stranger and their family wasn't appealing.  Stan was quite supportive of my decision.

My doctor was wonderful.  It was my first experience with a Urologist.  He was like a Thai granpa that only wanted to help me feel better.  Other than the fact that he's the one that ordered the treatment (twice, I should add) that was basically equivalent to repeatedly punching me in the kidney for an hour straight, I really liked him.  He even joked with me, which if you know me is a necessary coping mechanism.  I felt cared for and listened to and valued as a patient.  The first Urologist I saw did not offer this.  I am so thankful he only works one night a week (must be nice!) and I got someone new when I returned for treatment.

Once we knew Stan and the boys were going to have to hang out a few days before they could get home we called the Guest House run by our peeps to see if there was ANYthing available--they were booked solid due to so many people coming in and out for meetings during the month of February.  When she called me back and told me that all they could offer was a two bedroom apartment through Friday (they day they were leaving) I just about passed out.  The family that was staying there while having a baby got to go home a bit early, so she had that open.  ALL that was available?  Are you kidding me?  Such a huge blessing!

Although we had had hoped I would get to travel home with my guys last Friday, my body just wasn't ready.  Stan decided the best thing for the boys would be to get them home.  Judah was a mess the last two weeks, crying all the time.  He was ready for normal.  Bennett kept asking us when we were going to go back to Earth.  Thailand and outer space are, apparently, the same to him.  I'm beginning to agree.  Kirby was missing his bed, and his toys and done with the heat.  Have I ever told you he is A LOT like his momma in these ways?  So my superman husband packed up our many belongings (three cheers for almost being done with pack n play travel!) leaving my bag here waiting for me at the Guest House, and traveled home with our boys.  Although it's only a two hour flight and then a four hour bus ride, the typical door to door travel time is 12 hours.  TWELVE!  And he did it and you know what he told me when he got home and got the boys in bed...'it wasn't that bad, pretty smooth day.'  This is why he is my perfect match.  He makes everything that I find stressful and a total big deal seem easy and fun.  I. love. him!

And finally after Father had already provided in so many amazing ways through the past week, today HE gave me the greatest blessing of them all.  When I called to get my flight arranged they told me the earliest confirmed flight I could get was for March 27th.  I'm not kidding.  Does anyone else find that completely absurd???  I asked a million questions to find out all my options.  It came down to me getting on the waiting list for a seat on Friday's flight (no flight on Tuesday and the waiting list was 'closed' for Wednesday and Thursday).  The nice--but maybe slightly irritated with me--man said there were Business Class seats available but the only way I could get one was to show up the day of the flight and upgrade at the counter.  So that was what I was going to do.  The extra cost was worth it to me (and Stan).  Then this morning I got a call to confirm I had a seat on Friday's flight.  I was thrilled.  But I decided to ask again about the upgrade option and then Stan and I could discuss what was best.  I don't know what this ladies' tapity tapity fingers were able to do that couldn't be done just 12 hours before but there were now FIVE economy seats open.  OK, so four cause I grabbed one up like it was a free cupcake.  I GO HOME TOMORROW!  Yes, I'm aware that is internet yelling. 

So as we put out requests for each need we had, we knew we had people praying for us all over the world.  And as Father provided, even in the small ways, we praised Him.  We will continue to do so because He is good.  Actually, He is way more than we deserve.

And since I snuck in a few gory details anyway, I'll give you one more.  I now have confirmation of one part of my body that is considered petite...my veins.  Getting an IV in me posed a challenge that some of those nurses were not up for.  It got to the point to where I finally just told them to call in the specialist.  They all started to agree that was best.  I have 7 spots (and 4 still have bruises cause I'm like a peach) of ports of entry, or attempts of such.  It's like connect the dots on my hands, wrists and forearms.

workation...so far

Thailand has been pretty nice so far.  We've had the best weather I can ever remember during a trip here.  It's not overly humid and even in the afternoon it feels quite pleasant.  Our travels were fairly uneventful.  The worst part so far was the time in Bangkok trying to get all of our medical stuff taken care of.  Once we go to America we have to get medical clearance saying we are healthy and able to return back to our overseas home.  Since we have limited immediate health care they just need to be sure there is nothing serious going on.  We got through our first traumatic day (the boys not only had to have blood drawn and shots but Kirby and Bennett went to the dentist that afternoon...Kirby was brave but Bennett was not lovin' us).  It was about 12 hours at the hospital (I also saw the lady Dr. and Stan had an extensive 5 hour physical).  The next day it was time for my physical.  This includes chest x-rays, EKG, abdominal ultrasound and almost anything else you can imagine to check out full health.  Now maybe you see why it takes so long.  Luckily Stan didn't have to bring the boys.  The next day we all had to go back to pick up paperwork and get our results.  The boys checked out great, Stan checked out great but I got some shocking news...no I'm not pregnant.  They actually found that I have a large cyst on my left ovary and a large stone in my right kidney.  The ovary can be monitored and doesn't need immediate treatment (it doesn't seem to be causing me pain) but the stone is painful and too large to pas on it's on.  That means at least I will have to extend my time here to get treated.  Please pray for me.  All these details need to be planned in the midst of a busy meeting schedule and family vacation.  Despite some discomfort we've had some fun since leaving Bangkok and arriving in Chiang Mai.  We took a family trip to the Zoo/Aquarium, had a day at the pool and yesterday I went to a Thai cooking class with some ladies (Stan had an afternoon golf outing with the guys).  Not to mention some great food!

So I ask for prayers for the pain to stay bearable, for the stone to not start hurting my kidney function (so far it's not) and for all the arrangements to fall in to place easily.  Thanks! 

the best I can do today

I feel like there is nothing much going on that is blog worthy.  I've been busy just trying to keep family life going.  I get up, have some Bible time, exercise, home school Kirby, go to school/tutoring for myself, spend the afternoon studying/doing stuff at home/running errands, cook dinner, put the boys to bed and then collapse in bed.  And that collapse takes place at about 7:30.  Next day, repeat.  It's just the nature of the season we are in.  I mean there are fun things mixed in there.  And I must admit that I have started only cooking dinner three times a week.  The other two nights during the week we eat out.  Eating out is cheaper than cooking, usually.  Not to mention it's nice not to have to plan and shop for those meals.

A couple of new things going on during the past week...

-The boys have been sleeping until like 8, or as in the case of this morning 8:45.  If they wake up they don't make a peep and just snuggle down deeper in their covers.  It's been cold.  Freezing most nights, which is much warmer than it's been in most areas of the States, but factor in just a small space heater instead of central heat and you have a family of bed bugs that don't want to be disturbed.
-It's been super hard for me to want to get out of bed too, but I've still tried to be consistent.  However, my 5:30 wake up time has been extended to 6:30.  I'm really hoping when we get back from Thailand it will be significantly warmer in the mornings.
-Oh yeah, we leave for Thailand in 11 days.  And we will be gone three weeks.  It's a workation but considering I've become wimpy when it comes to cold weather (apparently turning 30 has made me more cold natured in comparison to the sweaty mess I was for 29 years) I'm so glad to get to go somewhere warm.  And it will be a nice break from the norm.
-We totally changed up Kirby's home school for reading.  I loved what we chose but it got to be so challenging to the point of both student and teacher frustration.  I decided all parties involved almost reaching the point of tears on a daily basis was not what we were going for.  So we changed it up for a time.  Part of our trip will be a conference with other home schooling moms/students/consultants so I'm looking forward to soaking in some great knowledge.
-Wow, I had way more to say than I originally thought.

I'll end it here.  I can't imagine that the next 11 days will be more exciting than the past 11.  I'll be digging out sunscreen/bating suits/summer clothes (three cheers for my capris of yester year fitting!), making sure we have all appropriate toiletries in convenient travel sizes and getting it all packed in as few bags as possible so that my pack mule husband won't curse me and all my stuff.  Not to mention trying to figure out what randome meals I can put together with what we have hanging out in the fridge and pantry. 

Did I mention that it's freezing cold?  Oh, maybe I did.  What I didn't tell you is it's cold enough to see our breath.  Inside our house.  And we had hail this afternoon and the boys thought it was snow.  Poor boys.  Now, let me get back to preparing the best tomato soup ever! 

that was fast

And just like that...it's 2011.

We had a wonderful Christmas.  Lots of great family time.  Time with friends on Christmas Eve and Christmas evening.  And a special week with my mom and Larry.  Seriously I think the gift of time was the best thing I got this year.  Even though they came to Bangkok when Judah was born, I was quite consumed with my last few days of pregnancy, delivery and that first newborn week when life is nothing but a fog of sweet baby moments.  So this was the first time I really had with them in 2 1/2 years.  It was a quick week but nice.  Some showing them around and some just sitting around and being together.  Perfect.  Hopefully Larry got some good shots of all of us cause Stan got a bunch of us walking around, including a lot with a view of my butt.  I'm not in to posting my butt on the internet.  So I'm hoping Larry got a few with smiling faces.

Anyway, with this new year starting, so many people talk about their resolutions.  I tend not to like to make resolutions, cause those get broken.  Especially since 2011 already has quite a lot on the calendar.  I do, however, have a few major goals for 2011.  I'll list them, but only because I know it would stress you out not to know.  I'm a good friend like that.

~ Get this last 8 to 10 kilos off.  I like using kilos cause it's less.  Yes, I do understand it's not really less.  I have a range because during times of weight maintenance I flucutuate so much.  I've decided that 8 more is the high end of where I want to be...make sense?

~ Get to the level of language where I need to be.  This is major and in some ways could determine the exact timing of when we will get to go back to the States.  Yes, I feel the pressure.

~ Finish Kindergarten with Kirby feeling that he is truly ready for 1st grade.  Not to mention take time while in the States to do a little more research about curriculum direction for the rest of his elementary years.  We get to go to a home school conference in Thailand in February, so that should help out as well.

~ Spend more time on my marriage.  Stan and I tend to neglect each other when we are in seasons of life that are super busy.  It happens before we even know it.  The best part about anticipating a busy season of life is to be able to head off this slippery slope.  Since each month will be scheduled around a big event (or two) for most of the year, we can go ahead and schedule in those date nights, or afternoons out, to begin with.  And when we are in the States we are pretty certain that any and all grandparents will be happy to take the boys off our hands. :)

So TWENTY ELEVEN is the year of: getting back my figure (and possibly my groove), speaking another laguage well(ish), making progress on figuring out this teaching my children thing and loving my husband better.

What are your goals for 2011?  

Advent

This weekend was full of fun Advent activities.  Each year I like to think on what this whole season really means.  It's hard to be away from family and friends during this time, but I know for sure that I will NEVER  be away from my Lord.  And what a special time to remember His 'coming'.

Saturday night was a wonderful time of fellowship with ladies.  My friend E has a cookie swap each year, something I always really look forward to.  It was so wonderful to laugh and chat and just be with the amazing ladies that I have the honor to be surrounded by.  Not to mention eat all of E's wonderful food. ;)  Sunday morning was another sweet time with our fellowship group.  Both times we sang the following song.  Two different people planned the music for each...E for the ladies' party and G for Sunday morning.  Of course G had no idea we sang it the night before, cause he isn't a lady.  So, I took it as a sure sign that the Lord just really wanted me to savor the words and meditate them on them.  So of course I have to share.

Come Thou Long Expected Jesus

Come, thou long expected Jesus,

Born to set thy people free;

From our fears and sins release us,

Let us find our rest in Thee.

Israel's strength and consolation,

Hope of all the earth Thou art;

Dear desire of every nation,

Joy of every longing heart.

Born Thy people to deliver,

Born a child and yet a King,

Born to reign in us forever,

Now Thy gracious kingdom bring.

By Thine own eternal spirit

Rule in all our hearts alone;

By Thine all sufficient merit,

Raise us to Thy glorious throne.

By Thine all sufficient merit,

Raise us to Thy glorious throne.

blackout

Yesterday was not a day out of the ordinary.  It was a blackout day.  It will happen to us every other month or so.  The power goes out, stays off all day, and then comes back on.  Not usually a huge issue, just kinda gives need for a little day re-arranging.

So at 7:30 am--while I was in the midst of a downward facing dog, Stan was headed out the door for his second attempt at his written drivers liscence test (that's a whole other story), and the boys were playing in their room--everything went dark.  And actually it was pretty dark in the house cause the sun wasn't shining so britely quite yet.  Our first thing is to always check the breakers to see if we just overloaded things a bit.  No such luck, it was the neighborhood.  And the area of Stan's testing location, but seriously that saga will get a post all of it's own once the end unfolds.  So anyway, like I said this isn't uncommon.  I think they put up notifications, or maybe announce it on the news, but we are never privy to the information cause we don't watch the local news and ignore signs that we can't read.  Some friends that live nearby asked around and we found out that it was probably going to last until 8 pm.  Great, it's completely dark at 7 pm right now. 

I have to admit at first I was really annoyed.  I had a HEAP of laundry to do.  I only got 10 minutes into my 30 minute yoga workout (and for some reason this week the chocolate has been a-calling my name and I needed the workout to at least balance things out).  I have some expense reports that MUST be done soon and I wanted to get them finished on Friday--and be able to harrass our accounting guy by email since the new format has yet to agree to make friends with me.  And a million other things that I wanted to get done so my Saturday could be nice and lazy.  But I quickly decided what I really needed to do was make a list of things that I was thankful for so that day didn't get me more and more annoyed as it went on.  So here, I will share them with you.

*Coffee was made.  And we have flavored coffee creamer.  No coffee for the day could have been disasterous.
*The load of laundry I set to start early that morning was already finished.  No half soapy, soaking wet mess to deal with.
*The night before I reset the hot water heater that goes to our shower (this hot water heater drama could possibly get it's own post too) so I was all set for a nice hot shower.
*We got to have family nap time.  My two big boys don't take naps anymore, which takes away my time for quiet and/or rest in the afternoons.  But the trade off is we now put them to bed at 7 and they go right to sleep.  Anyway, yesterday we got family nap time AND 7 o'clock bed time. :)
*The boys didn't beg to watch TV all. day. long.
*I didn't have to cook dinner.  Instead we went out, the boys played in a fun play area, and when we got home (right before 7 when it was already too dark to see) we entertained the boys with head lamps while getting them ready for bed and they pretty much went to bed without issue.
*Stan had downloaded a couple of TV programs (one of which was One Tree Hill, which I really enjoy cause inside I'm still 14) and we hadn't touched our computers all day so there was plenty of battery so we could watch them. 
*The power came back on at 9:30 so we still got to have heaters on while sleeping so it wasn't icey cold outside of the coveres...just a little cold.

This morning when the boys got up at 6:30 and discovered the power was on again, Bennett ran into our room, screamed 'THE POWER IS BACK ON', flipped on our overhead light and ran out of our room.  Stan, who had slept wonderfully, got out of bed, shut the door and went to handle early morning crowd control.  I, who slept less wonderfully, got to sleep till 8, and when I got up a little grumpy, there was coffee already made. :)  Laundry is going.  Expenses will be reported...sometime, but still before it's too late.  I may even get out for a walk to counter the chocolate.  Could it be I'm getting used to these annoying things?  Could it be that I no longer care that our power is being sold to neighboring countries/provinces/outer space?  Maybe.  But also maybe I'm just more thankful it wasn't on my lazy Saturday when it would have been really, REALLY annoying.  The end. 

post thanksgiving diet update

I hit my first big goal the week before Thanksgiving--yes, I did a little dance in the bathroom to celebrate.  I decided that since I had gotten to the point of only losing about a pound a week I needed a little break.  Not that a pound a week is horrible, I just knew I was getting closer and closer to a pretty frustrating plateau.  To try to boost things a bit I took the week off of close calories counting.  So I kept pretty close to my normal exercise routine and just ate like a normal person.  And on Thanksgiving day I ate like a normal person on Thanksgiving...I'm only human, you know. 

The result was as I hoped.  I stayed right at the same weight.  So here we go with some hardcore calorie counting, water drinking and exercising.  After my last little 'break' and then kicking it into high gear I had great results.  Hopefully the same thing will happen again.  I know at this point in my weight loss it's gonna be a little more slow going.  And it's the Holidays.  But I will make it through without a set back.  I am determined!

I've been able to start wearing normal pants again.  That is a great feeling.  I still have this post baby stomach issue, but it's nothing a little tummy tuck won't eventually take care of if necessary.  You think I'm joking, but I'm not.  So I have about 10 more kilos, or really 20 pounds, that I would like to lose.  I feel better and better with each little bit of loss.  I hope anyone else battling this same battle will stay strong with me through the holidays.  It can be done!

we gave thanks

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day.  We hosted three other families and our adult son G, a single guy who we basically count as one of our own.  So in all there were 9 adults, 3 teenagers, 9 children and one baby.  I felt the need to differentiate the ages because two of those teenagers are boys and could out eat any adult man present.  Except for maybe G, who's 26 and still has the metabolism of a teenager.  Also, the only child present that actually eats a small amount is the 8 month old.  The next youngest, Judah, is now a full fledged Pittman eater.

So we fed a lot of people.  I made my first turkey ever.  It was stressful to think about, but not at all in the actual process.  Thanks to the help of my wonderful friend E, who is a culinary expert, and PW, who we all know is a lover of butter and all things wonderful.  I couldn't have done it without you.  When I make my speech after winning the award for 'Best Rookie Turkey of the Year' I will be sure to mention you both.

Here is a picture of the loveliness.

It was sad that only minutes later, during the carving process, this beautiful bird tried to escape and jumped onto the floor.  I will just say, I was not the one carving.  And leave it at that.  It was one of those National Lampoons type moments that left us all drop jawed and silent.  It was quickly scooped up and juices cleaned off the floor moments before our lunch guests arrived.  It may have been wrong, but we didn't tell a sole until after we ate.

This was the rest of the spread.  Can you say gluttony???

In addition to the turkey I made gravy, sweet potato casserole, seven layer salad, dinner rolls, creamed peas with bacon, and cranberry sauce (straight from the can, Amen!).  As you see, there was plenty of other wonderful things to eat.  One family and G stayed through the afternoon--my friend K and I took off and let the men watch the kids and did a little shopping and walking off of lunch--and we ate leftovers for dinner.  There were barely crumbs left after that.  It was a great day.

Friday night our playgroup families, plus a visiting family with small children, got together for soup, sandwiches and dessert.  E organized some fun family games, in addition to being a fabulous cook she is quite crafty, and we ate and worshipped through song.  It was just so wonderful.  Before moving here I prayed for one family that would be in our same life stage that we could be friends with and God provided that times five.  As we live life with all of these families I am more and more thankful!  We also got to talk with family back in the States, which is always so great.  Hard to believe we will get to celebrate with them in person next year!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

bad dieter...

Well other than the fact that I kinda blew the end of my week with some Chocolate, I had a decent week.  I still lost a little.  I weighed .1 kg more than my first big goal.  You think that doesn't make a difference...well it does to me.  But I have to admit that little chocolate indulgence was worth it.  And I'm back hard core this week. 

I've decided that not only am I turning into the worst blogger ever, but I'm a really bad 'dieter'.  Let me explain.  I have this philosophy that if it doesn't taste good, it's not worth eating.  Well...with the current exception of Soyjoy bars.  They taste really bad to me, but it's one of the only convenience snacks I can get around these parts and sometimes the quickness over shadows the yuck.  And anything that will satisfy huger in a quick manner is sometimes worth killing a few taste buds.  Well not anything.  But you know.

Back to being a bad dieter.

I do not consume low fat mayonnaise, low fat cheese, or low fat cookies/brownies.  Those are what I consider a waste of calories.  Sound backwards?  It's totally not.*  If I'm going to use mayo, I don't want the added sugar version just to save fat grams.  Give me the good old regular stuff--I'm a Dukes girl, if you must know--and let me enjoy my sandwich.  Desserts...If I'm going to have something sweet, I want it to be good.  Made with real butter, milk chocolate and whole milk.  Now I admittedly do have a few muffin and bread recipes where I will substitute apple sauce for a portion of the oil.  This is mainly to keep it moist but keep it from being greasy.  Have you had a greasy muffin before?  I have.  Yuck.  Also, there are several low fat and low sugar ice cream treats that I find delightful.  Not available for purchase here (OK, I take that back, TCBY is now in KM) but if they were I would occasionally buy them.  And cheese.  Don't give me low fat or fat free cheese.  I might gag.  I like the real deal.  I'm a bit of a cheese addict.

*This is not dietary fact. Just my opinion...which should be fact.


I am more willing to eat an appropriate portion of these 'real' foods, and count the full calories and fat grams, rather than skimp on taste.  I discovered this in dieting many years ago.  I found myself craving these food more and more after denying myself.  I would overindulge and go a little crazy.  So I decided, if I were to melt 1 ounce of cheddar cheese (120 calories-Kraft)  instead of 1 slice of fat free American (30 calories--Kraft) on my sandwich, it would taste so much better, that those 90 extra calories (and yes, maybe 10 fat grams) would be worth it.  As a bonus, not only would my taste buds be much more satisfied, but my tummy would to.  When they take out the fat, they add in carbs (don't believe me, check it out--the fat free cheese has 2g carbs and the cheddar 0g).  For me the carbs are the issue.  And more times than not, it's sugar they are adding.

This still may all sound kinda strange.  And you may think that I'm really confused with this dieting stuff, but it works for me.  If it makes me a bad dieter, I don't want to be right.

And while we are on the topic of full calories, fat and carbs...anyone else so excited about Thanksgiving?  I might have to post-it-up about that later this week.  And here is a dietary fact...holiday calories do not count.  I'm sure of it cause it just wouldn't be right.

retirement?

I have been doing such a poor job as a 'blogger' lately.  I've been contemplating retirement.  Although, this blog is mostly my outlet and the Angel's blog is to keep up with the boys.  If you read that one you may assume they have been sleeping or twiddling their thumbs since Sept. 2nd...the last time I posted.  My goal is to do an update post--with pictures--on each of the boys.  I'm going to beg my wonderful husband to get some pictures of them with his camera phone.  Our small camera got 'picked up' by someone out in a village back in September and our video camera, that also takes photos, is more difficult for me to use.  This is for sure another instance where my laziness shines through.  But I'm making this a goal.  Cause really I've been doing that blog for almost 5 years, and I want to keep it up.

Minutes after my last post here I took off for the rest of the week for a super challenging language class in KM.  It hurt my brain.  Quite a bit, actually.  But I made it through, felt challenged, and was able to scoop up my brain soup and make complete sentences once again.  While I was there I did my best to watch calories and even did my walking video two mornings before class started.  I came away losing another pound.  Last week I did my normal Monday exercise (walking to the market and back--it ends up being 40 minutes total and on the way back i'm keeping up pace while lugging groceries) but by that evening my back was aching.  In order not to have it turn into a complete sciatic mess I rested the rest of the week and watched my calories.  I stayed about the same but I really think the 'dieting break' will keep me from plateauing too quickly. 

This week I'm back in full swing with exercise (I did yoga this afternoon to make sure my back could handle activity again--so far so good), careful calorie intake, no sweets and really watching my water intake.  I'm really hoping to have a great week.  I am ONE pound away from my first really big goal.  Oh, how I hope I can reach it by next week.  This weekend two of my friends told me that their husbands asked if I was losing weight...now that was encouraging.  Not in any way because I want their husbands to notice me like that (that part is actually a little embarrassing) but because we all know how most men don't pay attention to stuff like that.  Or at all.  I'm happy enough when my own husband notices my weight loss.  But for it to become noticeable by those who don't know I'm actually trying, that encourages me to keep going strong!  Kinda makes me want to give myself a Julian style high five--if you don't know what that is then you need to watch a few episodes back of One Tree Hill.

Also, for the first time in my dieting life--maybe 15+ years now???--I am for real using a food scale.  I got a digital one brought to me in September and it is making a huge difference.  Stan laughs at me weighing my morning oatmeal and my dinner.  All I've got to say is laugh away Stan, laugh away.  I'll be the one laughing myself all the way back into my clothes!

OK, enough for now. 

10 years

I have a lot to say but since I'm going out of time in just a few short minutes, not a lot of time to say it in.  Today marks 10 years since Stan and I started dating.  20 year old me couldn't have imagined a better 10 years than 30 year old me has had the priviledge of experiencing.  It's hard to even think back on all that 10 years has brought us.  I am so grateful.  I am so blessed.  Best of all I am still so in love.  I think each new stage has grown my love to a new level.  Past heart beating fast, stars in my eyes.  To watching him grow a passion for people that need to know the love of Christ.  To him being the best father to three adoring boys.  And even though the stars aren't there every moment of the day, they aren't gone.  Sometimes just over shadowed by dirty diapers, discipline issues and weariness of cross culture living. 

Stan, I love you and I'm thankful for each moment of our 10 years, the good, the bad and the poopy.

And now to celebrate I'm headed off to the hardest language class I've yet to face.  Postponing our real celebration till next week.  I'm looking so forward to 10...20...50+ more!

second week of personal challenge

Last week went really well.  Dropped 4.5 pounds well.  So it was definitely the water and the need for just some better choices.  I still enjoyed pizza night on Friday but stayed away from a dessert treat all together (meaning so did the guys cause I can't look dessert in the eye and not have some).  Since I did so well with sticking to just coffee and water each day I'm rewarding myself with an 80 calorie spiced apple cider tonight.  But then I'm right back to sticking to just the coffee and water.  Next week I'll be leaving on Wednesday for a special language class in KM.  I will be gone 4 days and I know I will have opportunities for some yummy food, so I've decided to extend my two weeks hard core through Tuesday and then take my time away for my more relaxed eating.  Although when I say more relaxed I really just mean giving myself back those 100 calories each day and maybe having one splurge meal and dessert.  Mom and Larry are coming for the week between Christmas and New Years and I am determined to be as low as possible.  Two main reasons, 1) so I can enjoy that week and cook with my mom without being feeling bad and 2) who wants to sit and calculate calories when your parents are visiting after not seeing them for almost 18 months? 

Anyway, this week's meals were already planned out for me in many ways cause Tuesday nights we eat out, Wednesday night we are having a goodbye dinner for M and Thrusday we are going to my big sister's house to celebrate her oldest grandsons first birthday (by the lunar calendar, he was actually born on Oct. 31).  So tonight I really wanted to make something good but wanted to use what I already had on hand as much as possible.  I remembered the tilapia felets in the freezer and decided that was just what I was in the mood for.  Stan wanted grits as the side and I did some easy green beans.  If you are like me and grew up with a severe deversion to fish--it was a bone thing, I was deathly afraid of swallowing a bone, and fish is, well, fishy--I dare you to challenge your grown up taste buds and go for some fish.  Tilapia is a really mild, non fishy, fish.  Plus the recipe I'm gonna give you will make your mouth and tummy so happy.  For low calories.  Also, becuase I didn't want to just do plain grits I made these Pumkin Cheese Grits, which may sound questionable, but were really good.  Adding in a little bonus veg. and the flavor wasn't incredibly strong so it went really well with my fav tilapia....

Broiled Tilapia Parmesan

1/4 cup parmesan cheese
2 Tbs. butter, softened (I use non-butter, butter spread)
1 1/2 Tbs. mayonnaise
1 Tbs. lemon juice (I usually end up using white vinegar cause lemons aren't always available to me)
1/8 tsp. dried basil
1/8 tsp. black pepper
1/8 tsp. onion powder
1 pound tilapia fellets

1. Mix topping ingredients.
2. Broil fish 2-3 minutes on each side.
3. Cover with mixture and broil 2 more minutes--it is done with topping has slightly browned and fish flakes easily with a fork.  Serves 4.

I'm hoping for another great week.  Maybe I'll try to blog more than just once a week.  I really want to post and update about the boys on the Angel's blog--the last thing I wrote was over 6 weeks ago--so I'm gonna get right on that.  Maybe.  I have a lot of studying to do before next week.  Enjoy the fish.  You will absolutely be glad you made it.

this week's plan

Last Friday morning when Stan walked in the door at 7 am after being gone practically 2 straight weeks (with the exception of a less than 20 hour stop in) I was over joyed and absolutely thrilled.  I talked that poor man's head off.  And although I do have another adult in the house with me most days during the week (my Big Sister was gone last Wed. and Thurs. having a big family thing in the village for her second born grandson..this time to the younger of her sons...which we sadly had to miss) she doesn't speak English.  I thoroughly enjoy her company and we laugh and joke a lot.  But it's not in English.  So some days it hurts my brain to have fun.  Anyway, like I was saying, Stan was home, the boys were thrilled and nothing more could be the order of the day than pizza and movie night.  And I made a Jello No Bake cheese cake for dessert.  With raspberry topping.  And I ate the Reese's peanut butter cups Stan brought me from KM.

I tried really hard to eat well last week.  And I exercised 5 days, just one less than my normal goal.  But I've been stagnant at loosing weight.  Boooo.  I counted my calories and paid attention to what I was taking in, not always making the most fabulous choices but doing the best I could with the week that was given me.  And after weighing my lowest right after returning from my wonderful ladies retreat, I found myself a kilo (which is 2.2 pounds for those of you who were like me and never learned the metric system...just you wait, if you move out of America you will be forced to do so) back up from that and holding tight.  It made me sad.  But not sad enough not to enjoy family night. 

My resolve is that this week I just have to clean things up.  Actually I'm going full on hard core for two weeks.  I realized that I have been totally lazy in getting my water in.  Anyone who has attempted weight loss knows drinking enough water each day is key.  So for the next two weeks I will drink only water.  No Coke Zero, no crystal light.  I will drink coffee, cause lets face it, the goal here isn't to make myself go crazy.  And I'm so addicted to that stuff that it would take years to detox.  But I am definitely limiting myself to 2 cups.  No sneaking in a third (or fourth) to get me through a hectic morning.  My other goal is to drop down 100 calories per day.  Not a big deal, but I'm hoping enough to boost me over this hump.  Also, I'm gonna mix up the workouts.  Change things up enough to work some new muscles and get MORE CARDIO!

My weight loss is usually a week delayed (is this normal for anyone else???).  I see big drops the week after I really do well.  I'm hoping that by the end of this week I will push through the next, even if I'm not getting those instant results that we all love.  Water.  Lower calories.  Exercise.  Let's Go!

i'm feelin' soupy

For whatever reason I am extremely tired today.  It doesn't make since since I took a nap yesterday AND went to bed at about 9:00.  And no, I'm not pregnant.  I think the dreary, coldish weather is at fault.  And the out of town husband.  My very active boys have me slightly worn out too.  I'm done whining now.  Anyway, I plan to spend some time in the kitchen this afternoon.  It's been a long time since I made granola, so I'm gonna do a batch of that.  I think it will really add some yumminess to my morning oatmeal.  Also we are in need of apple sauce, although the pears looked better and were cheaper so really I'm making pear sauce.  And this weather definitely has me in the mood for tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches.  It's an easy thing to do while daddy is gone and is sure to please everyone.  You may, or may not, know that we can not buy canned tomato soup in our town.  We can get it in KM, but the space (and weight) of cans of soup is much better used by other things.  Like cheese.  I heart cheese.  I am willing to pay a lot to get what is definitely one of my favorite foods.  I'm even willing to use up calories and fat on my diet to eat the real stuff.  I digress.  I was really aiming to talk about tomato soup.  I want to share my recipe for homemade tomato soup.  I might just be on a soup kick this fall/winter.  But this soup has convinced me, due to the fact that it is truly simple to make and so very delicious, that canned tomato soup is no longer needed.  Ever.  Make it and you just might agree with me.

Roasted Grape Tomato Soup

2.5-3 pounds grape tomatoes
1 medium onion, sliced
6 whole cloves of garlic
Olive oil
Basil
1 cup milk
2 cups chicken broth

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Place the grape tomatoes, onion and whole cloves of garlic on a roasting pan.  Drizzle the olive oil all over and sprinkle with basil.  Place roasting pan in the hot oven.  Let roast for 1-1.25 hours, stirring up veggies about every quarter of an hour.  Once all is well roasted, place in a blender/food processor with chicken broth and bend until smooth (or at desired consistency).  Place in a small soup pot and add milk.  Add more chicken broth if needed.  Salt and pepper to taste.

The beauty of this recipe is that you can totally change things up to your taste.  I usually don't add extra salt because I find it salty enough for me and my men.  Don't like onion or garlic?  Leave it out--last time I forgot to buy onion so I just added a little extra garlic and it was still yummy.  I do the olive oil and basil all by sight, but be exact if that's what you like.  Change up the herbs.  Whatever you and your family enjoy.  This is the original recipe if you would rather use that as your guide.  My one definite is to use grape tomatoes.  One time when I made it I had larger tomatoes on hand and needed to use them.  So I cut those things up and all the wonderful flavor was lost during the roasting process.  Using grape tomatoes will give you lots of flavor and you will be forever grateful you followed my advice. 

If you make it and declare canned tomato soup forever useless, I want to know!

then you know

If you have ever been surrounded by the voices of praises being sung by 200+ women...
If you have sworn you aren't an emotional person but find yourself letting all that you where holding on to go as the notes of the first song play...
If you have chatted for 3 days straight...
If you have ever shared moments of complete understanding with someone you met a moment, day or year before...
If you have prayed with, were encouraged by, and sipped coffee with dear friends...
If after it all you felt refreshed and blessed...

then you know the kind of weekend I had.  Too wonderful for more words than that.

no good

I'm not a very good blogger.  Not lately at least.  I don't know how these women with the thousands of hits a day mega blogs do it.  Maybe if I got paid to blog I would do better.  But I don't think there's anyone out there willing to pay for my thoughts.  Maybe my mom?  Mom, would you pay me to blog?  You might have to sell the place at Sunset...on second thought I would rather have a place to visit at the beach than get paid for this.  So maybe I will just try to do better.

Since I am healthy again, as in I no longer have a bad cold and/or fever, this week has been slightly back to normal.  We have done home school, I started back with language classes, I've counted my calories/exercised, and all the other normal things that take place each week at our house.  It's been a pretty good week although I'm seeing slowly and surely that I am busy most of the day and then at 8 I'm ready for bed.  I try to hold off till at least 9:30. 

My food journey has gone pretty well this week.  I'm trying a new recipe for dinner tonight.  Bean burgers.  I just heard Stan groan at the thought, but too bad.  I looked to this recipe posted several months ago to get my basic idea.  Although I couldn't find black beans that are like black beans I'm used to and had pintos on hand, so I'm using those instead.  Will it be yummy and delicious or inedible?  Only time will tell.

Also, I'm leaving on the 7:50 am bus tomorrow morning and headed to KM to attend a ladies retreat.  200 ladies and we all have at least one thing in common.  Should be a blast.  I must admit though that I'm worried about things getting too touchy feely.  Sometimes I hate that.  Especially if I don't know many people, which sounds even worse.  I might have negative thoughts towards other ladies who love that sort of thing.  Not on purpose, mind you, but because I'm immature and tend to be sarcastic and make jokes if I feel uncomfortable.  Either way, I'm praying that each of us is blessed this weekend.  And that I can be sensitive to the other nice ladies who will be there.  We are all made differently, and most likely I will be the weird one.  That is more than likely, actually.

So hope everyone has a fantastic weekend.  Next week will be yet another crazy one with some visitors in from FL.  Fun and busy.  You know, like normal life.

comfort food

Ever since I got past the near death part of being sick I have been wanting some good old comforting soup.  My good friend W brought us some Chicken Noodle soup, it was yummy.  But I had another soup on my mind; Baked Potato Soup.  For whatever reason I kept thinking about it.  It may have been that this week has also brought in some cooler weather and rain.  Autumn is coming.  I love Autumn.  It's the perfect weather for this soup.  So I decided to make it for dinner tonight.  I got the original recipe several years ago from my sweet friend Tonya (this is the story as I remember it, it may or may not be factual--this is what happens when you turn 30 and have 3 small children, details from less than 5 years ago begin to blur).  She made it for a get together.  Youth Leader's Dinner?  Dinner with friends?  I can't remember the exact occasion but it was for a group, and the soup fed us perfectly.  I had to get the recipe, although I was never able to make it the same as she did.  Mine always came out a whole lot more like loaded mashed potatoes.  Not nearly soupy enough.  So now that I have a little more culinary knowledge I decided to tweak the recipe just a bit.  And share it with you.

It should be noted that this is not a 'healthy' recipe in any way.  Some changes could be made to make it less fattening but let's be honest...it's a cream based, potato soup.  It sole purpose is to bring comfort by filling your belly.

Baked Potato Soup

9 baking potatoes

2/3 cup butter

2/3 cup flour

6 cups whole milk

3 cups chicken broth

8 ounces cream cheese

1/2 tablespoon salt

1 teaspoon black pepper (or be special and use white)

1/2 cup bacon bits

green onions, chopped--amount to taste (I used about 1/3-1/2 cup)

1. Bake potatoes (usually 350 for an hour is plenty for this purpose) and scoop out flesh and set aside.  It's not important that the pieces be any specific size.  Variation is actually best.

2. In your soup pot melt the butter, once melted add in flour and whisk together.

3. Add in your milk, a little at the time, and keep on whisking.  Once it's all added keep whisking until it gets nice and thick.  Add the chicken broth and again whisk all together, making sure it's blended well. 

4. Cut cream cheese into 8ish pieces and add it into the mix.  As it melts whisk it all together.

5. Add salt, pepper (I leave this out cause I have little kids who don't want 'spicey'.  I just use some in my own bowl to make up for it.), bacon and green onions. 

6.  Add in potato flesh and mix it all together.

Serve immediately.  Freeze for a rainy day.  Make yourself and your whole family happy.  Make it this weekend.  If you feel crazy you could even top it with a little cheddar and some extra bacon bits.  Maybe even some sour cream.  I often feel crazy when it comes to comfort food.  Enjoy!

I had every intention of posting about my healthy endeavors of last week and my game plan for this week, but when I woke up Monday morning I was anything but the picture of health.  Kirby's 'possible' sickness of last week relapsed on Saturday.  Fever, stuffiness, cough, the works.  I stayed home with him (and Judah out of ease) on Sunday.  By that evening I was having some major sneezing and the beginning of my own stuffiness and coughing.  Monday morning I woke up the living dead.  Fever. Aches, everywhere.  Full on head cold.  I regretted ever doubting how bad Kirby said he felt.  I spent the entire day in bed.  Only leaving to go to the bathroom.  I probably slept a total of 9 hours through the day.  I don't know what I would have done without Stan and my Big Sister.  By the afternoon Judah was starting in with the usual.  I took NyQuil and slept in a comatose state most of the night.

Bennett on the other hand started in with the coughing and general miserable feeling right about the time I went to bed.  Bad news for Stan since Bennett has a VERY sensitive gag reflex and threw up several times during the night.  Thankfully he knows the drill of heading to the toilet by this point.  He has been quite pitiful today.  I'm still not feeling great.  Judah is better, however not anywhere close to 100%.  Stan is starting with coughing now so I'm hoping tomorrow I'm feeling much better cause it's looking grim for him. 

All this to say, next week I'm going to force you to hear all about my weight loss progress.  This week you are off the hook cause I'm living off toast and not exercising.  Although for the record I went and did 30 minutes of swimming on Saturday.  That could be contributing to some of the achiness.  I'm inclined to think it's not at this point, though. 

happy friday

I'm really excited about this weekend.  In about the same way I looked forward to it when I had an outside-the-home full time job.  This week felt long and tiresome.  We had some people in town to do 'stuff' around the area so Stan was traveling the first part of the week.  Not longer than usual but him being gone the beginning of the week, for whatever reason, made it feel long.  Tuesday was a particularly frustrating day of school.  Wednesday Kirby woke up sick, don't know for sure if it was due to missing daddy (happens quite often), or being upset from the previous days school time, but he did end up runnng a bit of a fever.  That night when daddy and peeps got back they planned a dinner out.  For pizza.  Kirby thought he was miraculously better.  He still didn't get to go.  So if he was playing sick a little (or exaggerating at least) he learned a good lesson.  If you are too sick for school you are too sick to do anything else.  Yesterday and today were both great school days.  And the blessing of homeschool is we still got everything accomplished for the week.

I think also this week has just been tough cause I've been trying super hard to count calories and exercise.  What used to be second nature is taking some adjusting.  It means more effort on my part.  Which I am absolutely and totally willing to do, I need to take better care of me and in the process my family.  We will all be better for it.  I can't imagine what next week will feel like when I add in my own classes.  Tuesday and Thursday, two hours each, studying the hardest language ever known to man.  Plus making sure I get in adequate studying time.  I CAN DO IT!!!  With the Lord's help, cause let's be honest, I am lazy.

So our weekend plans aren't really that special.  An afternoon date with my Stan for coffee and quiet.  Pizza and a movie with my boys (and best yet, we are getting the pizza from the same restaurant they ate at earlier in the week...meaning I don't have to cook).  And tomorrow I will sleep until the boys drag us out of bed.  That's the best part of Saturday.  No 5:30 alarm.  We may go swimming with friends, we may stay home in our pj's all day.  Don't know for sure.  Sunday will be wonderful and restful and all the things I love most about Sundays.

So there ya go.  Nothing big happening.  Just rest and family time.  What are you up to this weekend??? 

status report

After a very frustrating morning of homeshool I thought checking out some blogs would help be feel better...but nothing new was up since last night so I thought I should probably write something myself.  Especially since I really wanted to write this yesterday, but didn't get to it.

I was inspired by this blog.  She has done amazing in changing her diet and exercise routine to get herself (and her sweet little family) more healthy and lose some weight.  OK, maybe I should say a lot of weight.  She's done awesome!  I wrote her and said in many more words, 'HELP ME!!!'  She is also a busy mom of three and has made it work, I want the same.  So in slightly copying her post I'm gonna do my own little status report.

--As you may remember I had a goal to lose 30 lbs in the last 6 months before I turned 30.  I was quite close to that goal, making it down 26 by that deadline.  Within a few weeks after I got those remaining 4 lbs off, but have teetered back and forth with about 5 since the end of March.  I haven't been consistant with exercising or counting calories. 

--I made it through the summer without really gaining but definitely not losing.  Just bouncing in that 5 lb. comfort zone but truly wanting to lose 15 more kilos or 33 more pounds.  I'll be quite happy with right at another 30.  From where I am today.  That will put me about 10 lbs lower than I got before our big move and allow me to fit comfortably in most of the clothes I own.  Like each day I wouldn't have to wear my yoga pants because that's all that really fits.  And going up the stairs at my friends' apartment complex won't nearly give me an asthma attack.  Cause let's face it, high altitude living is hard enough without being overweight and out of shape.

--Eating goals:  I am back to using CalorieKing to count my calories.  I've looked into several things, like the blood type diet, to give me a few ideas.  But overall I must say that calorie counting is what I know works.  Especialy since for my blood type (A+) it suggests being vegetarian.  AH HAHAHA!  If you know me you are laughing hard too.  But as a challenge I am going to try to have days where my protein comes from vegetable sources.  And I did find quite a few other food suggestions that I really feel could be advantagous to me.  And basically I know I will have to get more creative to not get bored and make this all work with what I have available.  Another big thing is that I'm going to try really hard to be consistant on the weekends.  I had been doing well during the week but then not keeping up on the weekends and basically undoing all my work.  Pretty counter productive.  So I'm committing to count calories even on the weekend.  Even if I go over, I'm gonna be honest with myself about it.   

--Exercising goals:  It boils down to having to do 6 days a week.  Of something.  I may not get in some intense cardio each day, but I will be moving my body.  When I think back to what has been the most challenging for me in the past, as well as giving me constant goals to work toward, I keep coming back to running.  I am so happy that my foot is doing much better.  Like, I hardly have pain, better.  I've found some things to help me keep the plantaar faciitis in check and so I am going to begin running again.  It releives stress like nothing else and can give the greatest amount of workout in the shortest amount of time.  So yesterday I did some intervals to ease back in.  My goal was to walk 5, run 5 and get at least 15 minutes of running in.  I did it.  Not beautifully.  Not speedily.  Not wonderfully.  But I did it.  When I first took off I felt good until I felt that familiar throat burning, chest about to expload feeling and looked down at my watch to see it had only been 3 minutes.  But I pushed through.  And I will continue to do so.  Because of scheduling I may only get to do two mornings each week, so it's gonna be a slow process.  Also, with the discovery of a nearby pool, I really want to start swimming a couple of days a week.  That's my first true love anyway.  And I'm aiming for yoga about 3 times a weeks too.  I'm hoping some days will be yoga and something else.  We'll see how it works with my free time.

--The one thing my friend said was helping was to blog about her progress.  Now I'm not saying I'm going to turn this into a food blog.  Or an exercise blog.  But I am going to write about some things.  Things I discover through this journey.  Things I want to whine about.  Things that I develope an obsession with interest in.  Lucky for you.  Stick around if you are intersted.  Don't if you are not.  If you do find it worthy of your time, and are perhaps good at eating and cooking healthy foods, I would love to get ideas.  Maybe a fun exercise activity.  Or some awesome healthy (and easy, please) recipes.  Do you read helpful blogs?  Send the address my way. 

So here we are.  I'm not exactly setting a time goal on this.  I mean I would like to have lost it all yesterday, but I didn't.  Mainly I want to be down before we head to the States, just under a year from now.  A goal of a year is really too long.  I'm gonna think on that part.  20 by the end of the year?  All of it by my next birthday?  I just don't know.  Right now all I know is it's not going to be any easier tomorrow than it is today so I'm done putting it off.