itsaboottime

Ooops, I let some time slip by without posting. It’s of course, been a buys time. My parents flew here for a 5-day visit. We had a fantastic time. The second last day of their visit we drove out to Drayton Valley for the day to visit Christine’s family, and had a big steak bbq. The weather was perfectly sunny, but a tad windy. After dinner we went for a walk around the farm and when we returned Christine’s brother and cousins had an air compressor out on the deck and were blowing up hundreds of balloons. We then proceeded to toss them int othe air off the side of the deck and shoot them with bb-guns, which was great silly fun. The lazy-man’s version of clay pigeon shooting.

This past weekend all the snow was finally melted and it was sunny out. We looked out our windows and saw….a YARD! We moved into the house in October, so we’ve not really seen or used the yard at all since moving in. Vega (our cat) is constantly yowling to be let out to go eat grass and sniff shrubberies, so I got her a little plaid collar with her name and address on it and am tentatively allowing her to become an outdoor cat.

Just prior to moving we had bought a little baby evergreen (about 1 foot tall) that we had on our balcony. It wasn’t faring too well when we moved and the ground was frozen so I just left it out by the backyard shed for the winter. It blew over in high winds and spent all winter lying on it’s side in a tiny pot. I saw it there and surprisingly still looks alive. So I planted it in the back yard. We named it ‘Bean’ (Christine’s been reading a lot of Orson Scott Card books lately). Christine ripped up the front garden, and I went out and bought a lawnmower. It tooks me about 30 minutes to mow the lawn. Not a bad work-out. I also bought a big composter and we’ve started composting out kitchen and yard waste. I’m such a tree-hugger.

When my dad was here we discussed the possibility of getting cameras and doing video-conferencing on our laptops, instead of making long-distance phone calls. When he got back, he bought two iSight cameras, and sent me one. It arrived yesterday and we tried out a long call using iChat. It worked GREAT. It looks so cool full-screen. Finally, a good video phone! Where’s my flying car?

The last few weeks have been a trying time for maintaining a good level of caloric restriction. I’ve managed to stay lightly CR’d, but just barely. I’d like to get back to my 20% level, but I think now that I have very little body fat to chew through, it will take a little more focus to stay the course. I think I need to find ways to get more protein early in the day, because I’ve been getting way to hungry in the late afternoon.

I’ve gotten quite good at putting together quotidian breakfasts and lunches. My typical breakfast is usually 300 calories, usually either my blueberry bananna smoothy, or hot oatmeal with (raisins, dried cranberries, or fresh blueberries), with a small sprinkle of brown sugar.

My lunches are usually 2 cups of mixed frozen veggies (brussels sprouts, peas, corn, carrots, green beans, brocolli, cauliflower) with a teaspoon of olive oil and crushed chili peppers, cottage cheese, yogourt, mega muffins, and a peice of fresh fruit.

I think I must need to work in some more protein into the lunch and breakfast to reduce afternoon hunger. If that doesn’t do the trick, I’ll have to resort to boosting will-power (no problem for me, as I’m quite strong willed, but lazy).