Habit-forming

We've been in a period of changing our habits around the MP lately.  Thanks to WW, I'm eating less and J is back on the Atkins wagon so he's not been eating much in the way of carbs.  Thanks to Lent, I am walking a lot more, though I don't know that I'd call it a habit.  Walking on Monday mornings with B has become a habit over the last couple of months that I'm thrilled to stick to.  J is trying to get into an exercise habit, too, and woke up this morning to take Zep for a run.  Let me tell you, our eleven-year-old dog is exhausted.  After 2.5 miles of running and walking with J, then 4.5 miles walking with B and me, I don't think he'll move for the rest of the day.

What habits are you forming?

Saturday Smells Like...omelets and hamburgers

J's mom is in town this weekend, which makes it a perfect time for me to hassle him about cooking for us--both a way to show off his skills for his mom and for me to get a great Saturday Smells post!




We started the morning with omelets.  I wanted a WW friendly omelet, so mine was one egg, one slice of maple bacon and 1/4 cup shredded cheese with some green onions for color.  While I waited for my omelet, I munched on an apple that he sliced thin for me (and garnished with sea salt--yum!!). J made a huge 2 egg omelet with grilled chicken, maple bacon, toasted garlic and salsa on top for himself.  He made something in between for his mom (2 eggs, maple bacon and cheese).





As soon as we finished cleaning up the breakfast dishes, J started in on lunch.  It's been a while since he made us hamburgers out of fresh ground beef, but we had a couple pieces of manager's special beef that needed to be used.  The chuck steak and filet had been marinated in olive oil, rice wine vinegar, and soy sauce with red pepper flakes, garlic, S&P.  J cubed both pieces of meat, trimming as he went, and ground them together with butter.  Y'all.  I cannot begin to describe what fresh ground beef tastes like.  It's amazing.  And if you like your hamburgers medium-rare, like I do, you get to taste every bit of that freshness while you eat your burger.  After grinding the meat, J added homemade breadcrumbs, Worcestershire sauce,  diced bacon, liquid smoke, minced onion, one whole egg and another egg yolk, S&P and blended together with his hands.  The nice thing about the way our kitchen is set up is that his mom and I can hang out at the kitchen table and watch him like our own personal cooking show.  He's been adding great commentary for us this morning!


I'll post pics of the finished burgers later.  Happy Eating this weekend!

Fitness Friday--April 27

The last time I wrote a Fitness Friday post, I referenced being ten pounds away from a seriously exciting number at WW.  Last Monday, I made it to that point and earned my 10% key chain!  I also earned my "Stay and Succeed Award" for sticking around for 16 weeks.  While I went up a touch (half a pound) this week, yesterday I saw another new number on the scale and am still really positive about the progress I'm making.  Next goal?  15%

With respect to our fiscal fitness, J and I have settled into the two car payment reality fairly easily.  With the re-fi finally completed, we are now turning our attention to estimates for the gutters/trim.  But really, I'm just trying to survive the next couple of weekends, and then I'll think about our finances. :)

Thankful Thursday--April 26

If Thankful Thursdays have taught me anything, it's to count my blessings.  And, since it's been a while since I shared a Thankful Thursday post with y'all, I should have loads of things to share today, right?  Unfortunately, I'm also a bit forgetful, so this will probably be a regular three-point post.

The first weekend in May, St. R celebrates 50 years since our first service.  In a fit of craziness, I suggested we hold a 5K as part of the weekend.  Remember how I used to get during Thin Mint Sprint time?  Yeeaahhh.... I don't think I'm quite as bad about Race the Rector (J might disagree), but I'm definitely in "green" mode.  I'm so thankful that he recognizes my greenness and goes with it.  It makes it a lot easier.  And that makes getting though May 5th easier.

I'm thankful, too, for our friends who not only love and support us, but who say the nicest darn things about us.

I'm also thankful for Monday morning walks.  On most Monday's I hit the walking trail in the park with B and Baby E.  The trail is 2.5 miles, but when I meet B at her house or somewhere in between, it turns into a 4.25 mile walk.  It is turning into such an easy walk, and I love how that makes me feel.  Thank goodness for friends who keep us accountable!

What are you thankful for this week?

Toes in the sand

On our first day in Emerald Isle, J and I walked down to the ocean to dip our toes in the water.  I decided to show you just one picture of the series of a dozen or so that it took to catch the waves at just the right placement.  I've got several of the water too far out and some of the foam around our ankles, but this was the shot I was going for.

I'll share more pictures from our vacation next week!

How to...update a console table

We (meaning Fr. J and I) bought a new TV for the parish hall at St. R last week.  Several groups use the parish hall for movie watching, but it's hard to get a group involved in a movie that's playing on a 24" screen.  We found a great deal and moved in the new larger flat screen on Thursday.  Of course, the old 24" TV is on a moving cart which the new TV just won't fit on.  In addition, none of the tables currently in the parish hall really work for a TV that size.  So we went "shopping" in the Sunday School classrooms and found a console table that was just the right size and shape.  Fr. J moved it into the parish hall and we got the new TV all set up.  And then I noticed that it totally didn't go with the rest of the furniture.  The furniture in the parish hall is brown stained wood with brushed stainless accents. The console table?  Black enamel with shiny gold accents.  Not even close to a match!

Gold trim looks great with that brushed stainless lamp and table accent, right?

Now, changing out the black is nearly impossible, and quite frankly at least it matches the TV.  Finding a way to change out the brassy gold accent seemed a much easier proposition.  I grabbed a Michael's coupon and headed off to find a solution.  That solution seemed to be silver leaf.  The package I picked up came with a glue-pen and several sheets of silver leaf. If you've never silver leafed something, here is a quick rundown of how to do it:

• Use the glue-pen to cover the area you want to turn silver (and only this area--trust me, you do not want to get the glue anywhere else)

The left part of the trim has been 'glued'; the right part has not

• Wait until it dries to tacky (The package suggests waiting 5-10 minutes.  I agree.  Don't try to rush it.  If the glue is still in liquid form, the silver won't stick and you'll have a mess.  Again, trust me.)
• Press a sheet of silver leaf against the sticky area, rubbing it to adhere.

The silver leaf is on the bottom of the tissue-like paper.  You can see how  it would be important to keep the glue only on the trim and not on the table!

• Peel back the paper that the leaf was stuck to.
• Using a craft brush, dust away any bits of silver that didn't adhere.

Trim area on the left has been 'leafed'; the area on the right has not.

• Lather, rinse, repeat until you're finished.

Here is the finished product!  While subtle, the silver leaf really ties in with the lamps and tables on each side of the table.  Altogether, I spent maybe fifteen minutes on this project and only used half the silver leaf.

Where've you been?

So I figure this is the easiest MPM post ever--because there has been a lot going on around the Melton Point (most of it not actually house related).  First, we survived DAR (well, I survived DAR and J survived me).

The week between DAR and Easter was chaotic.  I had a minor medical procedure that Friday which required all of the requisite pre-procedure procedures that doctors come up with to take up your free time.  I also had to prepare bulletins for Good Friday, the Saturday Easter Vigil, Easter Sunday and the Sunday after Easter.  If you're counting, that's four different bulletins (and their accompanying inserts). In a normal week (one not interrupted by that medical nonsense I mentioned), I do one.  It's fair to say a few other things slid that week.  Like my sanity.  Long story short, there may have been an episode involving me and a sub-par McDonald's bacon, egg & cheese biscuit.

Luckily, J and I thought about how awful the two weeks before Easter were going to be and planned a vacation.  After Easter services we left for Emerald Isle, NC for a week.  Needless to say, it was just the break I needed from reality.  We stayed with ten other people from our parish in a lovely house that had views of both the ocean and the inter coastal waterway.  Morning walks on the sand and afternoons reading on the beach, combined with excellent food, good weather and lovely company did the trick, and we returned to Lexington feeling so much happier!

On the Monday after we returned I earned my ten percent key chain and my "stay and succeed" charm for sticking around 16 weeks at Weight Watchers.  Yes, I'm way proud!  I've got a long way to go, but am trying to focus on just losing another five percent for now.  Zep celebrated his eleventh birthday this month (so hard to believe!) and enjoyed an extended stay at 'camp' while we were in NC.  Last week was mostly about getting caught up on the work we didn't get finished while on vacation, and this weekend I took a quick trip to Bowling Green to work on cupcake topiaries. We finally have the cupcakes decorated and have started in on putting the topiaries together.  Fourteen down, 86 to go!

So that's what we've been up to.  What have you been doing for the last month?

Back from blogging vaca

So I guess I took a blogging vacation.  Yes, the good bloggers give you a heads up when they plan to disappear for a week or a month or whatever.  I just sort of hemmed and hawed and suggested that I might be less than regular at blogging for a week or two.  Apparently I meant a month.  I hope you're still out there!

To reward you if you are still here (or if you're not, to inundate you with several posts so that you won't realize it was radio silence here for the better part of a month), I'm going to try really, really hard to post every day this week.  Yes, there are posts in my head already, and I may write a few ahead of time to get a jump on things.  Writing daily isn't my pledge--it's getting something new published for you!  Wish me luck, and come back tomorrow to see if I made it!

Finicky Friday--April 6

I realized last night (after a friend pointed out I'd been AWOL for a week) that I've been completely absent for longer than I expected to be.  As I said to J, I knew this week (wrapping up DAR and wading through Holy Week) would be tough.  I just didn't realize how tough.  Add in staying up late Monday night to watch the UK Wildcats win the National Championship and juggling doctor's appointments didn't help my week at all, either.  It's been rough.  So rough, that I seriously considered writing a late Thursday post expressing how thankful I am for springing for the leather interior--it came in handy when I over-reacted to bacon on my bacon,egg & cheese biscuit without meat yesterday morning.
Anyhow, it's been a long few weeks, and I'm looking forward to a bit of a break before launching back into craziness for a few weeks at the end of April/first part of May (have I mentioned planning another 5K?).
The most exciting part of this week has definitely been my Monday morning trip to Weight Watchers.  After three months, I've lost 21.6 pounds, and am officially one pound away from my 10% key chain!
Anyhow, there's a bit of an update for you.  I hope to be back to a more regular blogging schedule soon!

Finally, Happy Birthday Mom!