staying on track

I am hell bound and determined to not gain terrible amounts of weight on this vacation to the south.  This morning I made a quick trip to Wal Mart to make sure I had good choices to go with what my mom had prepared for lunch.  I did my okra (which I think I am the only that liked it....fine...more for me!) and ate a lot of salad.  Tonight when the homemade ice cream machine came out I went back to the store to get a watermelon.  

This afternoon I wanted to move.  Sadly it was raining but we (me and the kids) needed to not be cooped in the house anymore.  We went on a drive with my dad which ended at the coliseum on campus where we could walk.  Small problem is kids are not really into exercise!  They goofed around a bit but were quickly ready to go.  We went on a short walk around the stadium but that was all they seemed to have in them.  I needed more.  

Tonight after dinner my mom and I went on a nice walk.  I dont know how far we went (she seems to think it was very far....I think in reality it was probably 5ish miles.)  We walked at a good pace and I am feeling good that I got my movement in for the day.  

I am a bit nervous about weighing in tomorrow.  #1 I dont have my home scale so I have no idea where I am.  I dont like surprises....ESP on the scale!  By weighing in every morning at home I always know where I am and what my weigh in is going to look like.  #2 I know there is variation scale to scale.  I dont care that WW says they calibrate them.  I still think there is some variation....which is why I always weigh in on the same one at WW.  I'll keep you posted. 

Went to church this morning with the family.  Lightning didnt strike (at least not me at church) and it made my parents happy.  Here is a pic with niece and nephews!  Love these guys!

Murn

home sweet rainy home

I am home!  The flight home was uneventful (the best kind.)  I woke up this morning feeling bright eyed and bushy tailed so I got all dressed to go for a run.  Downstairs I went only to discover it was raining.  Arg!  It didnt even occur to this now california girl that it might be raining!  I ended up going on a short bike ride then headed to walmart (because thats what you do when you are bored in alabama) and got some veggies to add to meals my mom is making.  I am going to try to exercise again later today...maybe I can find my parents gym or maybe the rain will stop!
Murn

Headin Home!

I know there are the southern stereotypes.  People throw a southern accent on with bad grammar when they are trying to imitate stupid people.  I get it.  But I dont agree with it.  I am heading home to Alabama tomorrow and I could not be more excited.  I have not been home to my hometown (I went to the coast in April) of Auburn since Thanksgiving and that is too long.  My older sister is going to be there with her 3 kids (and 2 more in her tummy!!) as well as my parents.  I cant wait to get on the Delta flight out of San Francisco and start hearing those southern accents fly!  That is the sweet sound of home to me!  I love southern people and their kindness and hospitality!  I love southern food!  I love how green everything is in Alabama!  I love cooking with my mom and fishin with my dad.  There is truely no place like home!

A week from Sat I am going to be walking into Jordan Hare (pronounced Jurdan) Stadium with 86,000 other fans to cheer on my Auburn Tigers!  WAR EAGLE!!!

I hope to fit some exercise in and some good southern food.  I will hit the ground hard when I get back but will enjoy it while I am there.  Oh yeah, and in the middle of that week I get to fly to Chicago to see Oprah!  I am not sure if life can get any better!  I hope you are have a great week planned ahead of you too!  

Murn

Bike ride

Ever have a day when it feels like work is trying to kill you?  Well last night I was at work til after midnight.  I had to call in for a conference call at 7:30 this morning.  I guess its not too bad when you can call in from the comfort of your own bed!  Anyways, while I was laying in bed on my conference call I started thinking about what exercise I was going to tackle today.  I texted Laura (ER nurses are spectacular at multitasking!) to see if she wanted to run or bike.  She did!

So Laura and I went for a bike ride.  I was a bit nervous since I have not been on the bike for a couple of weeks.  Running must strengthen the muscles for bike riding because it was the easiest ride so far!  I felt great!  We rode from my house in walnut creek to San Ramon and back for a total of 30 miles!  We didn't even stop at our traditional  stop at Whole Foods.  Love my bike rides and great conversation with Laura! Even in 90 degree heat!

Murn

Oprah!

I have been a fan of Oprah for as long as I can remember.  My friend Lance makes fun of me because The Oprah Show is the only show I actually keep up on on my DVR.  Last year my friend Jewell and I started trying to get tickets for her show.  Everytime I go to her website it is not open to applications for tickets so I had pretty much given up crossing that off my bucket list.  Yesterday I got a text from Jewell saying the window for tickets was open.  Sadly I was at work and it was very busy so I could not go apply.  Today she called to tell me she got tickets!!!!  She is taking me!  Problem is I was going to be in Alabama.  She asked if my sister would like to go too!!!  (Have I mentioned how much Jewell rocks!????)  Anyways....after some arranging and many phone calls we are all meeting in Chicago for Oprah!

I have no idea what the show is going to be on.  I dont care!  I mean...I would love for it to be her favorite things (wrong time of year for that though!)   I am so thrilled I am going!!!!!!  The night before I will be in Chicago with Sarah (my sister) and the night of I will be there with Jewell.  Jewell and I have reservations to go to Oprah's old chef Art Smith's restaurant.  This is another thing on my list!  I am so happy!
I must say that I am so so so glad I have lost weight before going to Oprah.  I would hate to be on national television at 271lbs!!!   I need to go shopping tomorrow for something stunning to wear!!!

Thank you Ms Winfrey for inviting us to Chicago to spend some time with you!
Murn

Well its about time!

Finally I have a decent weight loss to report.  This week I lost 2.4 lbs for a total of 65.4 lbs gone.  Here is the crazy thing....I only exercised 3 days this week.  All the other weeks I have worked out more like 5 times.  Who knows!  My loss has certainly slowed down a bit.  This week I have been working a lot before I get out of town.  I pack healthy food when I am working and it leaves much less up to my mood and what I am craving.  Who knows!  I am happy to finally have something worth mentioning!

I am going home to Alabama on Sat.  I am not going to go crazy with my food choices although I have a few things I want to get to eat for sure!  Guthries chicken and special sauce are the top of the list!  MMmmm!  I am going to work out as much as I can stand but I am not so sure how I am going to do in the heat and humidity!

I am getting really close to being under 200lbs!  That is a HUGE goal for me!  I am so close I can taste it!  I am really hoping to be there in 2 weeks!
Hope you are having a good week too!
Murn

I grew up in a meat and potato family.  Every night like clockwork my mom would serve up a dinner, a starch (99% of the time it was white rice or instant potatoes) and an iceberg lettuce salad at 6pm on the dot.  We had a next door neighbor that was very much into gardening and quite southern.  The Dyers always had a HUGE garden.  I remember as a kid hearing my brother come home from playing over there and telling all of us that they were having a vegetable dinner.  Thats all they were going to eat....vegetables!  As a kid I could not think of much worse than that!  

Fast forward about 25 years....

Yesterday I went to the farmers market here in Walnut Creek.  I had a hard time restraining myself.  I wanted to buy it all.  My friend Karin also had brought me a sack of zucchini and cucumbers from her mom's garden.  I could hardly restrain myself on all the goodness!!!  Tonight I am going to do a dinner of veggies with a desert of strawberries!  YUMMY!

Murn

Okra

I am quite certain that have mentioned that I am from Alabama before.  I am very proud to be from Alabama.  I want to be very clear though that I am not from the part of Alabama that can not spell Mississippi.  :) (see link if you dont know what I am talking about!)  Now before I go on I need to recognize that I can not spell so normally I should not cast stones.  All of that goes out the window when an Auburn fan has an opportunity to make fun of the other school in the state.  .....I digress.....

Being from Alabama, I have had a lot of Okra in my life.  I can not say I loved it growing up unless it was battered and fried.  What is not delicious battered and fried??  Well this Jan I started adding it to many of the soups I have been making and loved it!  Okra is a great way to thicken a soup without calories.  I went to my friend Hannah's house recently and her Georgia native hubby cooked up some teriyaki Okra that was delicious!  I have made it every week since.  I wanted to let all my blog readers in on the recipe so you too can find that Okra is not always slimy and furry!

California has many fruits and veggies that are a regular occurrence here that are not so other places....namely artichokes (I had the best grilled artichokes today.....mmmmmm!!!), asparagus (and I am not talking about the canned stuff,) and avocados.  I have not been able to get on the Ca band wagon of avocados....dont love the taste or texture but here they put the green slim on everything!

Here is Chuck (now my) way to cook Okra!  Hope you enjoy!

A whole bunch of Okra washed and whole  (I usually buy all they have at Whole Foods cause its the only store I can find it at.)

I put it in a nonstick skillet with about 1-2 T of smart balance light (see picture below)

I cook it on med low (I use 4 on my electric burner) and saute it around for 30-40 min til the okra starts to get soft but is not falling aprt yet.  

Pour in about 1/4 cup of teriyaki sauce (you can see below's picture for brand I use) and turn up the heat to high.  Stirring constantly you want the sauce to heat up and caramelize sortof on the okra.  End product will look like:

It sores well in containers to take to work the next day!  I love this stuff and have had just about everyone at work try it cause I love it so much!  Let me know if you try it and what you think.  

Murn

I didnt know my own strength

My weight loss has certainly slowed down.  This week I was up 0.4lbs at WW on Monday.  This is my week before my period so it is common to be up.  I am trying to not get too obsessed over the number but on living well and healthy.  I would not be sad if that number would just go ahead and slide on down to start with a 1.  I'm just sayin!
I blew off work a bit early tonight to head to the gym.  Means I have to put in a few hours of work this weekend but I guess I thought it was worth it at the time.  I was going to do my regular workout.  3 miles on the treadmill and swim 1/2 mile.  Off I started.  I was really really struggling with my running tonight.  I managed to run 2 miles at only 4.8mph (yes I know thats slow.....I am slow....I dont think I will be a fast runner.)  I was dripping from every part of my body with sweat.  I forgot my hat that I wear to catch all my head sweat so I am sure I was nastier looking than my usual nasty self.  I decided that those 2 miles sucked so bad that it was ok to walk the last mile.  I have read that walking and running the same distances burn pretty much the same calories.  Well then the song "I Didn't Know my Own Strength" by Whitney Houston came on my Ipod.  There are 2 songs on my "workout" playlist that are not fast ut inspirational.  This is one.  This song has been my unofficial theme for this journey of weight loss.  This was all I needed to pull out the strength to run most of that last mile.  I alternated between running at 6.0mph for a minute (0.1 mile) and slow running at 4.5mph.  I want to consistently run under a 12 minute mile so I am trying to do some sprinting work.
The words to this song brings me to tears.  I am not usually a Whitney fan...esp after seeing her in concert in high school (she was terrible live!!)  But this song really does sum up my journey.  When I started this, I had never succeeded at weight loss and being healthy.  I really didnt know if I could do it.  I now know I can do it. I am strong enough to lose weight.  I am strong enough to run.  "I am not built to break."  If you have never heard this song....go download it.  Close your eyes and listen to the words.  I really do think you will find the words honest and touching.  It makes me cry when I listen to it.  I am really doing this!  I didnt know my own strength!

Here are the words for you to read:

Lost touch with my soul

I had no where to turn

I had no where to go

Lost sight of my dream,

Thought it would be the end of me

I thought I’d never make it through

I had no hope to hold on to,

I thought I would break

I didn’t know my own strength

And I crashed down, and I tumbled

But I did not crumble

I got through all the pain

I didn’t know my own strength

Survived my darkest hour

My faith kept me alive

I picked myself back up

Hold my head up high

I was not built to break

I didn’t know my own strength

Found hope in my heart,

I found the light to life

My way out of the dark

Found all that I need

Here inside of me

I thought I’d never find my way

I thought I’d never lift that weight

I thought I would break

I didn’t know my own strength

And I crashed down, and I tumbled

But I did not crumble

I got through all the pain

I didn’t know my own strength

Survived my darkest hour

My faith kept me alive

I picked myself back up

Hold my head up high

I was not built to break

I didn’t know my own strength

There were so many times I

Wondered how I’d get through the night I

Thought took all I could take

I didn’t know my own strength

And I crashed down, and I tumbled

But I did not crumble

I got through all the pain

I didn’t know my own strength

Survived my darkest hour

My faith kept me alive

I picked myself back up

Hold my head up high

I was not built to break

I didn’t know my own strength

You have strength you didnt know you had too!  

Murn

Night walking

Last week I had a night when I was feeling very BLAH!  I felt fat (even though I had not eaten terrible) and was not motivated to do anything.  It was about 11pm and I was complaining to a friend about feeling gross.  He suggested I go for a walk (thank you Ray!)  Hmm....interesting idea!  I texted my night owl friend Meggie, who lives down the street from me.  She was up for a walk so Sophie and I were off to meet her and her pooch, Gennis.  We started out without a plan of where or how far we were going to walk.  We ended up going on a 5 mile loop by our houses and it was great.  We chatted and walked and walked and chatted.  We took home happy puppies and I felt so much better crawling into bed!  So if you are ever driving around Walnut Creek after midnight and you see 2 girls walking 2 dogs....its probably us.  Dont worry about us.  We are probably lost in conversation as happy as we can be!  Feel free to honk and wave though!

Murn

Run Murn, Run!

I have really taken to loving running.   I am finding I am running more and more and swimming and biking a bit less.  I am ok with this too....esp since I have some races coming up.  I have mentioned that I have a 4 mile race up Mt Diablo in Sept.  I am really quite worried about this race!  

Hannah texted me last Sunday when I was being a a bum and asked if I wanted to head into SF to run with her.  I really didnt want to.  I wanted to stay being lazy.  Then the guilt hit me.  And I got off the couch and went.  I told Hannah I needed to get some hill work in.  She said she had just the run for us.  Boy did she ever!

Hannah took some pictures on her cell phone but these are the only ones that were not terribly pixilated.  It was a very majestic run.  We ran through the presidio in San Francisco.  It was quite chilly (I think it was in the high 50s!)  but it had spectacular views!  we ran a total of 4 miles but I had to take several pit stops to catch my breath!

Murn

A little bit country!

Last Saturday Country came to visit San Francisco!  A bunch of us went to go welcome it to the city!  We had a great day out in the sun, listening to good music.  The headline band was Zac Brown Band.  I saw them a few months back and they put on a great show.  I am happy to report that the weather in SF cooperated also to make it a great day!  

Here is the group I went with!  

After the concert several of us went to 3 Seasons for dinner.  Here are Chuck and Hannah!  They are one of my favorite couples!

Meg and I decided we wanted to play Tom Cruise in Top Gun too like Chuck!  I think we carry it off pretty well.

Apparently that was not enough fun.  I kept going and posed for a pic of just me.  Not sure what I am doing with my hands here!

I did not eat the best foods this day. At the concert I had a pulled pork sandwich and grilled corn on the cob.  I didnt eat any of the slaw or baked beans.  There were not a lot of healthy choices there.  I did pass on the pastry everyone was eating.  At dinner I had yellow curry chicken with brown rice.  I skipped most of the appetizers mostly because I am a picky eater.  Wish I could say its cause I had great will power!  The curry chicken had cocoanut milk in it I am sure so it was not a great choice.  Perhaps thats why the scale is not being friendly right now!

Hope your day has a little country in it today!

Murn

One chapter closing

I moved to California in May of 2000.  It was a big move for this Southern girl!  When I moved to California I moved in with my brother to 3018 Pear Street.  It was a great small house!  Not long after I moved out to Ca, my brother told me he was moving closer to where he worked so I needed to find somewhere to live or buy the house from him.  I never really looked at any other houses...I just bought the one I was living in from my brother.  I did a lot of work to that house over the years.  It was a real labor of love.  I replaced all of the flooring,windows and  painted the inside and outside walls....twice!  (Hated the first color I painted!)  I remodeled all of the kitchen (the tiny area it was!)  I had a great patio off the master bedroom and kitchen that Sophie had full access to with a doggie door.  I really love that house.  Sadly the city that it was located in went downhill....fast.  When I moved in, all the homes on my street were owner owned.  We all worke don our houses and talked to eachother.  In the last few years most of the homes have become rentals and the renters were not caring for the homes like the owners had.  The house 2 doors down had turned into a meth house.  The whole neighborhood really got very sketchy!  I was not feeling safe.  After many events (that I will spare you the details of) I decided for my safety I had to move to a better area.  It was a really hard thing for me to decide to do.  I put my house up for sell (I was terribly upside down) and I moved to Walnut Creek May 2009.  

My life is much better in WC.  I use the trails here.  I have many friends over here that I do things with.  I am closer to work....the list goes on and on.  But....I still love my house on Pear Street.  Even after all this time.  

I have had many offers on my house but after waiting for the bank to decide if it was going to accept the offer they all have backed out (I cant blame them for not waiting months and months to know!)  I have put that house out of my mind mostly but I would like for it to officially not be my house.  Well this week the bank decided to accept the offer that was put in before the new year (I told you that the bank was taking their sweet time on making decisions!)  A few things had to happen (there was a squatter in the house now and the yard was a HOT mess!) but the end of the story was that I signed closing papers on sell my house tues morning.  

I have to say I was surprised that I felt a little sad signing the house over to someone that I dont even know.  Will she take care of my girl?  Does she know that if you run the blow dryer in both of the bathrooms at the same time it will trip the circuit?  Does she know that heater smells of smoke a bit the first time you turn it on for the year but that goes away soon?  When you water the from yard, the huge rosemerry bush gives off this amazing smell.  That rosemerry has been in my Thanksgiving turkeys every year since I have moved out here!  I have so many memories in that house.  I have had so many friends come visit me in that house.  I changed so much and grew up so much in that house.  I know leaving that house was totally the right thing for me to do but it still is a bit sad to me.  I sure hope the new resident takes good care of her and makes more good memories!  Here are a few snap shots where you can see the house and the good times I had there.  

Papers turning her over at the closing:

This is my nephew and Sophie at Christmas a couple years ago.  My mom helped me make the curtain hanging over the window.  My older sister helped me get the TV Case (behind me) in her new mini van.  I found it at a consignment store and got a great deal on it.  I brought Sophie home to that house!

Here are Lance and his mother in my dinning area.  It was a small house so entertaining for holidays was a bit tight but it was fun!  Lance helped me paint those walls!  He was also with me when I moved in and the house sure looked different with green carpet (who picks teal green carpet????)  IN the back ground you can see Sophie on the back of my red couch in her favorite spot.  IN my new home the couch is against a wall so she cant perch in that spot anymore.

The people before me really loved green!  Everything was green including the trim!  I had this painted brick red.  I am sure the new owner thinks I went a bit overboard with red!  Please note the beautiful new windows!  

Some of my favorite memories are with this little man.  We would wake up in the morning and make chocolate chip pancakes.  He loved helping me cook in that house.  My current home has a really small kitchen and I have a hard time having space in there to have him help.  After going down memory lane though I think I am going to make more effort to try to have him help me in my new place.  I painted all of these cabinets in my kitchen and replaced the hardware on them.  I also had all new appliances put in.  I sure miss my dishwasher that actually cleaned the dishes I put in it!  I also miss the ice maker!  Makes you realize how important simple things are!

3018 Pear Street sure was a good home for me.  Memories from there will be in my heart forever.  I hope she has a great new owner who takes good care of her!

Murn

just keep swimming

Tonight I left work a bit earlier than usual since I had taught a class earlier in the week. I had planned on working out.  I got home and put on my workout clothes and packed my swimming gear.  Then I looked at my pooch, Sophie.  She looked like she really wanted to go for a walk.  So off we went.  I am warning you that the next sentence might piss you off so continue reading at your own risk.  It was TOO COLD and WINDY out tonight to walk her further than a quick mile.  I know, I know many many of you are in HOT places (like my beloved Alabama) and feel no sympathy for me whinning that it was too cold.  I was not dressed for it I guess is all I am saying.  So she got 1 mile and I was back on my original plan of heading to the gym.  I actually have not been to the gym in a couple weeks.  I have been having so much fun running outside and biking that I have not needed to go there.
I ran 2 miles and biked for 15 minutes.  Then I was off to the pool.  I do like swimming very much but I was dreading it because I knew it was going to be a hard workout since I have not done it in a couple weeks.  I was right.  It sucked but I did what my goal was....1/2 mile.
1/2 a mile is 16 laps in my pool.  I have tried all sort of devices to count my laps and have found the best thing to do is keep track in my head.  To do this I have a system.  I am a nurse in a emergency dept as many of you know.  The ED I work in has 16 rooms.  Now many of those rooms have more than one bed in them but there are actually 16 rooms.  16 laps......16 rooms!  Perfect!  While I am swimming each lap I imagine I am in the room that matches.  For instance when I am swimming the 3rd lap I imagine I am in room 3.  When I am thinking about each room I think of patients I have cared for.  Some rooms always bring up the same patients each time.  Other rooms it changes and might be the last patient I cared for.  Tonight I really had a lovely tour of the ED and really reflected on my career there in the ED.  I really have had some great patients over the years.  Let me give you a glimpse in a few rooms I was in tonight while swimming:
Room 3- I have 2 different patients I always think about in this room.  One is a baby that was rolled over and smothered by her mom sleeping in bed.  Sad.  I try to not think about that baby long.  The second one was one of the highlights of my career.  There was a very elderly lady that was brought in by ambulance.  It was clear she was actively dying.  She had the appropriate paperwork that would allow us to let this process happen.  The patient's daughter called me.  She was sobbing.  She was out of town on a vacation and it was going to take her a little while to get to the hospital.  She had always promised her mom that she would not let her die alone.  She was so worried her mom was not going to have anyone with her when she crossed over.  It was a slow night in the ED and I assured the patients daughter that her mom would not be alone.  I pulled up a chair to the bed by the patient, turned down the lights and sat and held the patients hand and talked to her while she passed on to the next world.  What a true blessing that was that night to be able to carry out such a simple request of a patient I was caring for.
Room 4 brings me always to either delivering a meth addicts baby (one of my least favorite memories) or the little old man that when I was asking him orientation questions....he asked me if I was checking to see if he brought his marbles with him!  He was very stern with me and his daughter to make sure we both knew he did not want to be resuscitated.  I did not have any indication that would be pertinent information but about an hour after he told us that, he started having a lot of trouble breathing and passed away quickly.  He made me smile so much before passing but it also taught me that patients are in control much more than I am and he had said he was ready and was going to go soon.  I didnt believe him.  I now believe patients that tell me they are going to die.  That was a novice nurse mistake.
Room 9 always makes me think of the man that was brought in with an open leg fracture that was very gory (and it takes a lot to have me say that.)  He had bones sticking out and tendons showing.  He kept telling us he was fine and to put a bandaid on it and he would be on his way.  Yikes!

Most of the other rooms bring lots of memories to them.  Some touching, some funny, some are simply a pain in the ass patient that left a memory.  I have to work a way to get the beds in our hallsways worked into my swim.  The patients in the halls are usually our drunks and many times homeless clients that leave many memories (as well as smells) behind.

I love my job and I like that I can reflect on mostly the good patients I have come in contact with when I am swimming.....which is a very peaceful time for me!  Just me, my thoughts and the water.  Just keep swimming!
Murn

MIA

I have been really bad about blogging this last week.  I have been a busy girl!  I have some time tonight and I am going to blog a few posts for the week to come and post them through the week.  Hope this works!  Guess life if too much fun to stay home and blog!

I will start with weigh in Monday.  I had to teach a class all day on Monday.  I didnt weigh in.  Dont fret!  I am still on plan.  I had a commitment this morning and I work the next 3 days so I am just going to have a week I dont weigh in.  Per my scale at home I am up a tad (about 1.5 lbs) but I am working hard this week to get it back down.  Last week had several meals out to eat so I am getting back to the basics of cooking this week.  I just got done prepping my next 3 days food.

On to better topics!  Last Wed my friend Laura turned 50.  She is totally rocking 50 too!  We had to celebrate like only my friends can!  We rented a limo bus and went wine tasting all day!  It was very fun!

We have a joke about the 30 year olds being cubs, the 40 year olds being cougars and the 50 year olds (welcome to that club Laura) are the saber tooths.  Kim had shirts for all of us made celebrating what club we are in.  She also got us fancy necklaces, rings and glasses to go with the outfit.  We were quite stunning out wine tasting.  

I have to mention that when Kim said she got me a tank top I started to panic a bit.  All of my friends are very skinny!  I am not.  I was in panic that the tank top was not going to fit at all.  Now it was snug....but it was not so bad that I could not wear it.  I will say I wore a jacket over my arms most of the day just because I hate my upper arms.  Here are some pictures of the fun day.  If you are my friend on facebook....I am sorry to say you already probably saw these! 

On to more fun topics!  

This is more what we are really like:

These are some of my favorite people!  We have so much fun together and love each other just the way we are!

Back at Kim's house I jumped on Ed's Harley!  I am going to go for a ride on that some day soon!  I still feel way to fat to ride behind him but soon!

Murn