Kicking and screaming all the way....

 

(image credit)

Saturday is my weigh in day.  I have lost 12 lbs in 5 weeks.  I would have loved it to be more but despite doing everything I can it feels as though each pound lost has had to be dragged from me kicking and screaming all the way.

I am not sure what is different this time round.  I have walked over 100 miles since October 3rd.  It is getting easier doing the walking.  I walk up and down hills, to elevate my heart rate.  My food intake is pretty good; it's not perfect but it's a whole lot better than it was.

My diabetes numbers are improving greatly, I guess I just have to be patient.  At the end of the day it's getting those diabetes numbers under control which is the number one concern.  I have blood work done the middle of December so that gives me another six weeks to try and lose another 12 lbs.  That should make a big difference to those diabetes numbers I am hoping.

I am having my physical at the end of November, so my goal there is to have another 8 lbs off by then.  That's with the nurse in the doctor's office.  I will then have a telephone appointment with the doctor just before Christmas to go over the blood work and the physical's results.  

So until then I just have to keep on doing what I am doing. At the end of the day I have lost over a bag of potatoes, plus a bag of sugar.  My clothes don't feel as tight and I don't feel as though I will die trying to walk up the hills anymore😊

Slow and steady wins the race as they say!

Wednesday is a bit busy for me........okay.....

So I pick up this little guy after daycare once a week. He comes back to our house and stays for his supper:

The first week I picked him up on a Tuesday.  The next week it was Wednesday, because I had a dentist's appointment.  That day we walked to the pond, and this was how the conversation went:

Me: "I'll pick you up next week on Wednesday."

Liam: "No you need to pick me up on Tuesday."

Me: "Why?"

Liam: "I am a bit busy on a Wednesday."

Me: "Okay; so Wednesday's a busy day for you?"

Liam: "Yes."

This from the mouth of a 3 year old who generally doesn't know what day it is!!!  So Tuesday it is then!

Then this little guy is already 4 months old!!

He's going through "I love Mommy the best of all," stage!!  We all love him to the moon and back; even when he is grumpy!!

Teaspoon Fairy

Will get to the teaspoon fairy in a minute.

Been busy with trying to get the outside all "put too bed," for the winter this week.  Have to say I am nearly there.  The one major thing that still needs to be done is all the leaves raked up.  There is only one problem though, due to the weather being unseasonably warm, the leaves are still on the tree!

We finally got a little bit of frost on the ground the other morning, so they are starting to drop.  Had the sprinkler guys round yesterday for 20 minutes to blow out the sprinklers.  $113 later, but hubby's compressor isn't really big enough to blow them out in one fell swoop.  Also paid for next years feed and weed lawn service, $350 later.  They are supposed to be coming round with a Fall fertilizer application that I got for free when I pay up front for the next year.  Also got 10% discount for paying before the end of October.  Every little helps.

Now for the teaspoon fairy.  I was talking to my mother the other day and she had just come in from grocery shopping.  I was telling her I had just popped to the store to pick a couple of things up and had spent $40 and had only one bag of shopping to show for it.  Though one of the things I had bought were some teaspoons.  It turns out I am not the only one who has the teaspoon fairy visit their house and take a few teaspoons with her when she leaves.  My mother has the same one visit her.  

Teaspoons seem to disappear in a poof of smoke around here.  My mother was agreeing as she has the same problem.  When I was looking for an image to add to this post I came across this book:

I would have bought this book, but it's in Spanish and only on Kindle over at Amazon.  I neither understand Spanish, nor have a Kindle.  

Do you have a teaspoon fairy visit your house?  Or is it a knife, fork or other utensil fairy?

Busy bee, but with nothing to show for it!

Isn't it always the way, you feel like you have never stopped, but honestly have nothing to show for it?

One thing I was doing today was putting together a box of food to send up north to a food bank.  During the month of October, Canada Post has had a special where a business can send a box under 5kg anywhere in Canada for free on a Tuesday.  So the last couple of Tuesday's I sent a box of Evan's new born clothing up that he had grown out of.  They were in perfect condition; in fact a couple of the pieces I am sure hadn't even been worn.

This week I decided to put together a box of food.

Now it may look like an odd combination of items, but there is a reason behind the things I popped in.  I had the cake mixes and frosting in the cupboard.  I won't be using them before they expire next year.  They cost a small fortune up north; I think around $9 each, so they are classed as a luxury.  I popped some sprinkles in, because who doesn't love a cake with sprinkles!!  They always need spices, and sugar.  Due to the weight, I just popped in the small packets of sugar.  I also had a can of condensed milk, that I know some people put in their coffee, so figured that should go as well.

If anyone has a business account with Canada Post and wants to send a free box up north and would like a contact address please let me know.  You will have to print out a shipping label tomorrow to take advantage of the deal.  I will give you details of where to send too and what they would like.  Tea and honey are things they love.

Pretty cute.....

I see this caravan on my walking route.  It sleeps two, but can sleep three.  One thing though in this photo and the following one makes me shake my head.  Can you guess what?

People are decorating for Halloween and a number of people put these fake spider webs on their houses and bushes.  Yes it looks nice, but how on earth are they going to get it off those bushes after Halloween?  Unfortunately a number of people won't bother removing them and then I think it looks tacky.

No idea what the title should be of this post

you can decide.

I was out walking on Wednesday morning and on one of the streets were two police cars parked.  In itself that was unusual.  A guy was stood on the sidewalk so asked him what was going on and he said the house was empty and he thought it was an attempted break in.  I said okay and went on my merry little way.

A bit further on I met a woman walking her dog and I knew she lived on that street, so asked her the same question.  Now her answer was a six cd length answer, so I will give you the condensed version!!

Yes the house is empty; it is rented.  However the gist of the situation is someone who does not own the house is advertising the house for rent on various social media sites and scamming people out of money.  They are also opening bank accounts using that address.  Now the story got very convoluted at this point and led me to believe there is more going on than she knows about.

However, we both agreed on a couple of things.

1. How do people come up with these sorts of scams?  I would have never have thought of doing something like this?  As I said to the lady, these types of people have too much times on there hands!!

2. One thing that is all over social media in our area (Barrie, Ontario), is the price of renting a house/apartment.  It is as pricy to rent somewhere here as it is in Toronto and people are complaining about it and rightly so.  It is not unusual to see a whole house for rent for over $3,000+ a month.  To rent an upper part of a house $2,500+ and the basement apartment $1,800+.  If you click on this link you can see what various places look like to rent.

For those of you who don't know, our basement's are not the dark and dingy places, they can be lived in.  Our home has as large family room, a bedroom, a bathroom and a large storage/laundry room.  It is not a separate apartment; it does not have a separate entrance ours is a one family home.

3. We couldn't decide how on earth the younger folk are able to get on the property ladder?  Unless you want to live in a condo/apartment there is very little under $600,000 where we live.   Also if folk are having to pay stupid amounts in rent, how will they ever be able to afford a deposit for a house, without the help of the bank of mum and dad?

Worrying times ahead for the younger folks that's for sure.

Afternoon Treat

 I have a sweet tooth.  I love cake, cookies, muffins, candy & chocolate.  However with being a diabetic I have to watch what I eat.

One way of getting around that sugar craving mid afternoon is to have a cup of this:

I know it has 7g of sugar but in the scheme of things I can live with that.

A steaming cup of coffee to sip on while reading my book!

What is your afternoon treat?