More like Weekly and maybe sometimes by-weekly. In my defense we moved this weekend and the end of last week so I didn’t have much time. I know… excuses, excuses! I am not in much of a blogging or designing mood lately though. I think I found a Wacom Bamboo Tablet that I may try and pick  up tonight if the person messages me back. Maybe that’ll get me in the mood. There is tons of tutorials for drawing with tablets to get me started. I have been trying to do a little photo manipulation and also have put my 2 cameras up on kijiji.ca to see what I could get out of them. I want to either trade the two of them up for a better dSLR or sell them and buy one.

So I said we moved this weekend. We have everything finally in my parents place and guess what? On Saturday while in the middle of moving our water pipe decided to burst flooding the basement and endangering everything we just put down there. Not to mention the fact we spent most of the weekend with the water off while trying to first fix then replace the pipe. Lets just say there was no happy campers in my house this weekend.

I got a raise this pay, plus there was no rent to pay (other then the $50 bi/weekly we promised to pay mom each to live there to help with food and such) so for once I paid everything up a little in advance and still have a little left over. What a nice feeling!

Going to start back on walking every night tonight. Put it off for the weekend figuring that 1) there would be no time and 2) we’d be too tired and 3) we got enough excersise by lifting heavy furniture and sweating in the hot sun while doing it… so back to the daily grind tonight. If Keith won’t come I’ll grab a dog and go for a short walk with them just to get back into the swing of things.

What better way to end a warm sunny day then with a nice barbecued supper! Yes… I barbecued supper myself last night. Normally I avoid the barbecue but ours is pretty easy. Just turn the gas on, turn the burners on and hit a button and it lights itself! I guess it’s not that impressive since a lot of them do that now. But I am used to the ones you have to turn the gas on and guess at how much you should give it before dropping a lit match into the barbecue and hope like hell that you don’t blow yourself, your house, or your friends, family and neighbors up! Those are the kind I am used to and I do not like them!

I cooked Pork sirloin chops and baked potatoes. And for once I didn’t just throw them on the grill and hope for the best. I actually brined them first and then added a dry rub I made with random spices. I don’t remember what I just grabbed what I thought would taste good and hoped for the best… see a pattern going on here?? I also did baked potatoes in foil. We picked up a garden salad mix and all in all it was a good supper and only took me about an hour and a half.

It was a nice way to spend my day off. I alternated between staying in the nice cool house. Which was cool until the sun went down then it started to feel like a sauna in there. The other night I made potatoes on the grill to go with hot dogs. I sliced up potatoes and added butter, garlic, dried onions, thyme and oregano and wrapped them in foil and threw them on the grill beside the hot dogs.

I haven’t gotten out walking a lot though. I need to go every night I think. I could either do longer walks every 2-3 nights or a shorter walk every night. I think I am going to go with the shorter walks, but still building up and going farther every day, as if I only do a few a week and make them longer then I keep making excuses for not wanting to go. If I get in the habit of every single night then once I get into the habit I will miss it when I don’t and therefor I will… Or that’s the plan anyway.

I made the mistake last night of looking into how much it would cost to join a gym (one with a pool) or other weight loss membership kinds of things. And I was surprised really surprised, at how much some of them cost! I was looking for Yoga classes or something like that as I don’t just want to loose weight but also tone and improve my flexibility as well. But it’s like $60 a month to join the YMCA (since when did they get so expensive?) or the local sportsplex. Yoga classes at a Yoga studio near me were like $200 for 5 classes plus another $100 for the initial consultation fee. I just can’t afford that so it looks like I am going at it alone.

Once we get the pool up I plan on swimming every day and going for a walk every day. Which I am hoping will be soon since we have summer-like weather already. Yesterday it went up to 33°C (91°F). Today is supposed to go to 20°C (68°F).  But it’s kinda overcast right now. We have to move the rest of our stuff this weekend but then next I hope to get started on where the pool is going so dad can order sand and gravel. And Keith can build a retaining wall to keep it from rolling down the hill since the backyard is not completely level and needs to be dug out on one side and filled on the other.

I can’t wait for the really warm weather since I am minutes from the ocean, actually at the bottom of my street there is a dock and cove we can swim in that is part of the ocean. But at the same time nice and sheltered. I plan on enjoying this summer! Even if I hate the thought of myself in a swim suit. Speaking of which I need a new one…

Wow a whole week… and I was doing pretty good too! I guess that’s what happens when your busy and feel like you don’t have enough time to get everything done. We decided to move into my parents house a little early. We went for the weekend to visit last weekend and just never left.  It started out that we didn’t want to feel rushed by trying to move everything in the last weekend in May. So we started bringing things up that we are not using. Then we moved on to some clothing we used but not all the time. Next thing I know we are moving the bed or the mattress anyway up. After that we had no where to sleep other then my parents place.

This weekend we are taking Saturday to pack and move as many boxes as we can fit in my car (it’s a 4 door Cobalt so it’s roomy enough). Unpack things in the late afternoon and early evening on Saturday and then I plan on vegging Sunday for some of the day. Monday is Victoria Day in Canada. It’s a National Holiday but it is not Statutory (not a paid holiday) in Nova Scotia. However my employer has been kinda enough to give the day off to us with pay. Which is awesome! I still have to drive Keith in to work for 8 and pick him up for 4:30 or 5:30 but I have the rest of the day to do whatever I like. Which I plan to enjoy!

I have been walking 3-4 times since last weekend for about 3 km each walk. I plan on building it up to about 5 km 4 times a week by the end of next weekend. To the end of our road and back is about 1.8 km. I plan on walking to the end of the road and then going down the main road for another 1.6 km and then turning around and going back which will be 5 km total. The road into Chester is beautiful. I really want to create a weight loss blog but just haven’t found the time to get it set up beyond the install of wordpress in the directory. I have not had the time to create a theme or anything. Maybe I’ll just use one of my old themes to get it started…

So I asked Keith the other day how much he thought I weighed… I have put on a little bit (ok a lot) of weight since him and I met, so I wanted his opinion. Last summer about this time I was only about 120lbs, then again it is hard to keep weight on when you are constantly dehydrated from being in a really hot climate that you are not used to. So I asked him and guess what he guessed?!

170lbs!

I’m glad to say he was off. By about 20lbs. I am 152lbs… which is still about 30lbs more then I should be. But not as bad as I thought. I’m going to work in the next few days on a theme for my weight loss blog. I want to blog about how I am doing with my start weight and the start date as well as a goal weight and the date I’d like to complete the goal by. I did some research on the internet and from all the health sites (not diet sites but sites like Weight Watchers and WebMD) 2-3 lbs a week is a good goal.

I talked to my doctor and she agreed with me on all of it. My plan is to cut out about 2/3 of the junk food I eat, not all of it just cut back on it a lot, and also to walk 3-4 times a week  with 3-5 kms per walk. She also suggested that I eat yogurt every morning with breakfast. Not as my breakfast just with a small breakfast since it helps with digestion which can help with weight loss among other things.

I am going to start for April 1st since I am going to be busy moving over the next few weeks. And I want to wait until Keith and I get settled in. That and it will be nice to have my Mom and Mary Ellen to walk with. But I am going to make sure I go with or without anyone!

I was considering joining Weight Watchers but I decided I could do it without spending the money on joining. It would be nice to have the support of other women trying to loose weight though. One of the girls I work with joined a few weeks ago and asked if I wanted to come to one of the meetings. I guess it’s something to think about.

I went back to work yesterday for a 5 hour shift. I am feeling better but I wanted to be sure before doing a full shift. So I went in for 4 instead of 1. I have good news though! I am going to days in May! I will finally be working a 9-5 job Monday-Friday. Since I love the job this is great. I am glad to be back. I was a little concerned about missing time. I hate missing any time. But if your sick your sick…

This will also give me a chance to get out more and do things. I am going to set up a schedule for walking every week. 3-4 times a week. Maybe a day or two with Keith and a day or two without since he wants to walk to but enjoys walking alone sometimes. I also like to go places for a walk , like trails and hiking and he doesn’t so maybe I’ll take off and go find a trail somewhere. There are tons of trails around Halifax and Dartmouth both. I sometimes miss living in Dartmouth.

We’re going to go down to my parents today after he’s done at work. Need to get some laundry done and find out when they want to start building up the ground for the pool. I can’t wait! I want to loose weight so bad. I was doing so well last winter and summer but this winter I just let myself go and gained back some of what I lost the winter before. I am not going to let that happen next winter. I am buying season passes for Denton (my little brother) for our birthdays for Martock. Well I am going to get his for his birthday anyways and also see if my parents can get one for me for my birthday rather then anything else. Or even some money towards it as it’s $115 for the pass right now for next season. I need to also figure out if I am going to get a season rental pass for equipment again of if I am going to buy skiis.

I’m doing pretty good following my budget. I am out of money for the month but since I have only a week left it’s better then running out half way through like normal. Next month is going to be tough again cause my first pay is not going to be a full one. But I just have to re-think things and re-work things to fit. I’m getting there at least. I know where my money is going. Now it’s just a case of getting everything current and up to date so I have less to pay each month. I am really terrible with money and Keith is not much better. I don’t really know how people do it? Anyone care to share ideas?