01/17/2019 Thursday

Note: as always, I start a post in the morning and work on it during my few spare minutes while the kiddos do some independent work and I'm not working one on one or small group. Thus the reference below to 10:00 am. That was almost 4 hours ago!

WTH???? I'm hungry! It's 10:00 am. I had breakfast, but I'm hungry. This just can't be. Yet, it is what it is. I will deal... Another cup of coffee may do the trick.

Weight is on the rise (256 today), but I haven't been eating poorly, so not sure what's up. I am journaling my food, too, for awareness purposes - not weight loss driven. Part of last week's awareness slap upside the head was how many "sugar calories" I am able to eat in a very short amount of time. Such a powerful piece of information. I chose only to look up/log the crap calories one day last week. I ate over 700 calories of just plain non nutritional emotional comfort food in 15 minutes that day. Whoa!

The rain has been impressive for the past 24 hours. The creek was roaring last night and finally ran with enough force to clear out the leaf dam caused by the oak and creek willow leaves piling up around the base of the willow tree that grows in the middle of the creek. So no more wading pool spilling over into the main yard for the doggies' romping pleasure! Hallelujah! Ace and Dottie were saturated last night because they were having a blast playing in the rain and running through the puddles. God, I love the terrier joy, but the mess, not so much. It's why I can't have nice things....LOL!

Looks like I am going to cross an item off my bucket list. My brother suggested that he and I and our spouses book a Rhine River Cruise for next summer or the summer of 2020. We have agreed that we should use a little of our inheritance from my uncle to take my dream vacation. I think he knows that without his push I won't do it! LOL! I think I want to do a Viking Cruise tour. It looks casually posh and has very good reviews. Being a newbie to the cruise thing, any suggestions are welcome.

My only advice is go this summer! I am at that stage, if it's feasible go now, go often, go everywhere. Tick tock!!!

Weight: 134.4
Macros: Calories - 2,070, Carbs - 195, Fats - 62, Protein - 147, Fiber - 31
Sleep hours: 7.5
Vegetable/Fruit Servings: 8
Water glasses: 3
Exercise: 7,000 steps
Meditation: Yes

Yesterday was just one of those days/nights when I wanted more food. And I ate it. And then I was shocked when the scale said the same as yesterday morning. So I must be sanguine about whatever tomorrow's number is.

Then, this morning after French class, I affirmatively, proactively, on purpose stopped at a bakery and had a slice of something sweet called "raisin cinnamon babka" that was worth 300 calories. The reason I ate this was that last night I was craving sweets, so this morning I thought, why not ... you're in NOLA, so eat something you really want." Honestly, it wasn't that great, so next time I want a NOLA bakery item I'll get something different. I probably should just stick with King Cake for a while, since there's so much of it around during Mardi Gras season. If you don't know, King Cake is a traditional Mardi Gras yellow cake with a little bitty plastic baby Jesus hidden inside it that could choke you if you're not careful. I have no idea why it's in there. ;)

And in the "one degree of separation" realm, yesterday evening I invited the woman who lives above me for wine. Turns out she recently retired from the New Orleans office of a national law firm where a good friend of mine works. In fact, he and I talked on the phone a few nights ago--he's the guy in West L.A. who'd left work early to put sandbags around his house. And of course, she knows him. How weird is that?

French class this morning was again great fun--confusing as could be, but fun! We learned how to spell in French, learned what some French accent marks mean (and don't mean), and practiced some new French words and phrases. And again, the walk to the streetcar and the trek all the way back home was more than 8,000 steps, which makes me happy.

This afternoon I paid for a 2.5 month membership at that big, fancy gym with so many wonderful facilities. There I'll be focusing mostly on strength training, although I will also enjoy the sal****er pool, which they call a "natatorium." Ooh la la!

Today's theme: Laissez le bon temps roller!

OMG! I knew what you wrote in French! Maybe something stuck after all. Let them roll, baby, let them roll!

Mais oui!. a tout a l'heure.

Weight 177.8 Not getting excited, I was dehydrated...

Today was a beauty day: hair color and brows done. I've been using that Jergens daily glow self-tanner lotion to improve my plucked-chicken pallor so I can wear skirts, dresses, and shorts on my cruise without blinding anyone. Jeez that stuff stinks. I'm putting on before bed and shower in the AM so I don't smell like it all day. But I fear it's going to give me nightmares about running through the house trying to find the source of some foul stench that turns out to be me.

The rain has finally stopped this evening after 4 loooong days so I did the Thursday night hike that is the first half of the one I do on Tuesdays on that abandoned road. There was quite a rustle in the brush at one point that had several of us jumping out of our skin as it was clearly a hell of a lot bigger than a bunny. But nothing attacked, thank goodness. We did hear a waterfall running, but couldn't see it unfortunately. But it was cool to know it was out there in this normally arid place! The cloud cover was so thick at the top we couldn't see any of the city lights we normally see. Eerie.

Tomorrow I get my second Hep B shot and I'll be all immunized for my trip.

Anyway, I think that's all I have. Later gators!