Twelve Days of Christmas

On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me....

Well, I get it after Christmas, but a week of skiing is gonna be fan-freaking-tastic! But on third day,  today (Sunday), I'm giving myself credit for getting on the scale. Let's just say that there's been a plethora of sugary goodness at work lately and I've been helping myself. A lot.

But it makes me feel like shit. Except Turtles. I love turtles! And so I decided to only eat the goodies I really love. And I busted some borscht out of the freezer (veggies have been sadly lacking lately) and baked some cabbage rolls too. Drank lots of water, had a good night's sleep and got up this morning to step on the scale.

It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be (why, why, does a digital scale have so much control of my life?! Oh wait. It doesn't. It helps me collect data. I am a scientist, after all!).

So, I guess I really have learned a few things doing this lean eating thing:
-eating slowly means I usually don't need to go back for seconds
-veggies are awesome
-it's not about food
And so even though I'd tossed out most of the habits these past few weeks, the big one stuck. If I eat slowly, my body registers when I'm full.  Built in portion control. Built in weight control.

And a solid hour of back bending followed by meditation didn't hurt, either.

I've got the ingredients for mulligatawny (YUM) and then I'm back to transcribing.

And I did some laundry today, too. Man, I'm awesome!!

Twelve Days of Christmas (continued)

Day 8 (Tuesday): The gift of vision I gave myself. In June I had eye surgery that has left me, for the first time since fourth grade, with better than 20/20 vision. It truly has been life changing!

Day 7 (Wednesday): I climbed Prairie Mountain. Even after an asthma attack mid-climb. And the majority of the group I was climbing with carried on (one stayed back, thank God). And no, I won't ever be hiking with them again!

Day 6 (Thursday): The courage of my convictions. I have an on-going issue with my former employer and while I could  have just walked away, being right, and more importantly, doing the right thing, is more important in this case. Unfortunately, I have to wait until next June (almost two years since the incident) until I (well, my union's lawyers) present the case to an arbitrator.

Day 5 (Friday): I have conquered my sleep demons! Between a CPAP machine and a custom made mouth guard, I sleep again. Twenty years is a long time to function on little to no sleep. While I don't require as many zzzzz's per night as my honey, they are top quality hours of sleep. Quality trumps quantity any time!

Day 4 (Saturday): Rediscovering my yoga practice. Our kula pretty much dissolved when Anusara did, but I've made a committment to my mat and it feels great. Mind, body and soul are relishing it.

And with that, I'm off to practice. I've been sitting at the laptop most of the day (working on a project for a friend to earn some extra holiday cash (yes, I know it's almost Christmas. What can I say, I work best under pressure!)) and my body doth protest! I've got soup simmering (borscht) and cabbage rolls baking, so a tasty dinner will follow.

December 16

Wow, how is December 2013 almost over?! Where did the year go? It seems like just a few weeks ago it was New Year's. *shakes head*

So, what's new here?

There's our tree, all sparkly and pretty. The kids did most of the decorating and we had a blast doing it. More fun ensued with a full on Wii Golf/Bowling Tournament. I may have had my ass handed to me on a silver platter by an 11 year old in bowling, but hey, it was fun!

I have yet to make it out skiing this year. It's making me sad. But my bank account has been saying "No" and I've been trying to be a grown-up about money recently, so my credit card has been safely stowed and I'm planning my skiing to fit the budget.

I'm doing a 12 Days of Christmas Challenge with my Lean Eating team.
Everyday, for the next 12 days, write something on a small pieces of paper that you've accomplished this year or that you want to remember and place it in the container you've chosen.

Since I'm still going between two houses, I'm going to blog them (and yes, I realize I'm behind by a few days already). Here goes:

Day 12 (Friday): 47 ski day season last year. My skiing improved so much I can barely believe it!

Day 11 (Saturday): Ditched a job that no longer served me and found one that did! I'm valued and appreciated for my skills and knowledge. 

Day 10 (Sunday): Work life balance. See day 11, above.

Day 9 (Monday): Being open to possibilities...and love. And finding it.

to be continued....

Life is Good

Suzy Home-maker

This summer has flown by! The flood and evacuation threw me for a bit of a loop, but then moving back and forth between my house and the new beau's has taken a toll, too. I'm home this weekend, but today I spent the day making hundreds of glorious perogies.

There are caramelized onion, potato and Grizzly Gouda perogies.

There are sweet potato, bacon, roasted garlic and cheese perogies. (Oh. My. God!)

There are cottage cheese perogies. Cottage cheese and dill perogies.

Saskatoon perogies.

And last, but certainly not least, there are plum perogies.

We enjoyed the fruits of our labour with real Mennonite sausage (from Manitoba, no less) and schmot fat (cream gravy). Why, oh why, have I been eating fried perogies all these years?! Oh. My.
It's definitely not low calorie or healthy, but damned tasty!

I'm exhausted!

Add the bounty of today to our work a few weeks ago (salsa, dill pickles, bean pickles and pickled carrots) and I'm ready for any zombie apocalypse (or any other food shortage).

I think a soak in the tub, a cuddle with Nerm and a phone call from my sweetie and I'm good to call it a day.

August 2013

Well, it's been a month since I was here last. What's new?

1. My new beau is awesome. We went to Revelstoke for the long weekend to celebrate his birthday. There were walks (cant really call them hikes) in the mountains, wildflowers in bloom, drinks on the patio, the best. Pizza. Ever., and breakfast at the ski hill. Wow, it looks different when its not covered in snow!  Since then, we've just been spending lots of quality time together and going for walks, either in my neighbourhood or his.  We also went to the big outdoor concert for flood relief. It amazes me how much musical talent this country possesses. It blew my mind. There's been talk of combining homes, but neither one of us is ready right now. When my lease is up at the end of January? Quite possibly. =)
2. I've been meditating again. It's amazing. I don't remember why I stopped. I'm not going to this time. 
3. The fitness/healthy eating challenge I talked about last time is going well. I still struggle with the workouts. I haven't seen tangible progress yet, but I feel better. The daily habits are going much better than the workouts. Baby steps. Slow and steady. I've got this!

That's about all. I'd better get moving. C is coming over to help me with my measurements for the challenge and then we've got a big day planned: farmers markets and epicure party. T (thats my new beau) will be home around 5 and we're BBQing. 

Peace out.

Good Gawd, how did it get to be the end of July already?!

Wow, time sure flies!

What's new, you ask? Let's go with a bulleted list. Because there's been THAT much!

• I was evacuated during the big flood of 2013. I live a block from the Elbow river, so was smack dab in the middle of it all. Fortunately, my building is built on a berm. We had nary a drop of water touch our heritage building (built in 1921). My neighbours, however, were not so lucky. There's so much damage in my neighbourhood. The building directly across the street from me, for example. They're out for 3-4 months. My landlord's friends, who lost not only their home, but their businesses too. I am incredibly fortunate. Which reminds me, I need to check my lottery ticket from that week!
• Nermal & I spent the first weekend with my mom, then I borrowed my brother's car and stayed in Cochrane with my friend Christie. We had a blast together and more than one batch of watermelon mojitos were consumed. =)
• Started a year-long nutrition and fitness adventure with my friend, Michelle! This was the first week. I like the flexibility of the program and that we start with baby steps. This week our habit was fish oil and probiotics. I got 100% compliance on that one. The workouts, not so much. I'm not a big fan of weights so I've been resisting somewhat. But between me and my coach, we've come up with substitute exercises that don't have me going to a gym (I'm SOOOO not a gym girl) or spending oodles of money on equipment. The best part of this gig is the mantra. I  LOVE it!

START WHEREVER YOU ARE.

USE WHATEVER YOU HAVE.

DO WHATEVER YOU CAN.

• I've got a new beau. I'm a smitten kitten. As is Nermal. She loves him, too.
• My new job rocks.

OK, so my list isn't that long, but it's full of big stuff! Tonight I'm heading down to Folk Fest. Steve Earle is headlining. Where else would I be?