Sunday, June 21, 2009

My rice cake addiction has taken a turn for the worse!

Apparently when you eat waaaayyyyy too much fiber in the form of a rice cake it does not allow your body to absorb any of the nutrients from the other food that you are eating and your body starts to shut down. NOT FUN at all....so, not only am I not sleeping more than 3 - 4 hours a night (and barely more than 1/2 hour at a single stretch), my body also decided it was done with the rice cake thing. I actually went the whole day yesterday not eating a single rice cake! I also could not raise my head from the pillow but that is beside the point!

I was actually eating very well even with the rice cakes! My body really needed something though as my son was eating a tv dinner consisting of chicken fried steak and mashed potatoes and after I took 2 bites my body was in heaven. Unfortunately it was to late for my husband to run to the store so I settled for healthy salisbury steak soup. Not really the same and I suffered for it the next day. What did I have for dinner last night? Two, count 'em, two Whoppers with cheese and large fries. I haven't eaten anything like that in over a month and it was great! I felt so much better for a bit.

I am going to try very hard to stop eating the rice cakes...I will miss them and have two full packages and one half of another. Sigh...

I have a decision to make. I am training for the 5 Mile run in Westport on the 8th of August. Someone I used to work with at the CU texted me on Thursday to see if I could perform her wedding. I asked her the date afraid that she was going to say the 15th which is when we are planning to go to Silverwood in Idaho but she didn't...she said the 8th. I told her that the run starts at 10:30 and I know it will take me a few hours, maybe less, and she told me it is at 4:00. I asked her where and she told me a place in Aberdeen. I didn't respond back yet as I had to give this some thought. I am training for this run that I am looking so much forward to...it inspired me to start taking care of myself (OK, not with rice cakes but with the running) and I was hoping to meet some people and just hang out and do things that runners do after a race. I have no idea what that is, just that I am going to be there. My son and husband are going to be there cheering me on. Sigh...I probably could be done and home in time to shower change and head back into town but what if I am not? I would feel terrible and I would never be so gauche to ask her to move her wedding to a later time. Wedding venues don't like change and neither do brides.

When we last discussed her wedding over 8 months ago a relative was going to do it...would it be selfish of me to say no? What if I am done in plenty of time and had said no...I would feel terrible! I definitely have some thinking to do!

Monday, June 15, 2009

Back again!

Time is flying by so fast and I am focusing so much on my training that I keep neglecting this blog!

Today is my niece's 8th birthday and she got a ton of Hannah Montana stuff from us and her parents. They also got her a baseball and bat, plastic, and she is outside having a grand ol' time.

The last day of school is tomorrow. I am lucky that the girls go to daycare as I need to find a job soon! I used to work for the US Census but the jobs are in phases and I am not a part of the current phase and the next one isn't until September.

Jobs, as you know, are scarce these days. I am very fortunate that I do get unemployment but finding 3 contacts a week can be tough but I keep doing it!

Boring blog today, I know, but I expended all my creative energy writing my other one, seekermommyrunning.blogspot.com. Check it out!

Thursday, June 11, 2009

My sis-in-law is due any day!

I got a call from my brother and my sis-in-law is dilated to 3 cm. She wasn't due until July 4th. How exciting! I am going to head into town later and see if I can find her a stroller car seat combo in pink, of course!

I will be an aunt for real! My nieces, who live with me are actually my first cousins. I thought I was going to be the only one of the 4 of us that was going to have a child. I am very excited for my brother as they thought they were not going to be able to have kids.

Don't forget to check me out and my progress training for the 5 Mile run in Westport on my sister blog: seekermommyrunning.blogspot.com!

See ya!

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Fair weather friend?

My husband and I have friends who are a couple. We don't speak much and I don't visit much so I guess they are more my husband's friends then mine. When I do talk to her, I find that she likes telling me what is going on in her life but the second I mention anything about mine, she claims to have another call...without fail.

I will give you an example:

I had water intoxication almost a year ago from drinking waaaayyyyy too much water. She has been working out lately and has increased her water consumption to the point that she is suffering the symptoms that I did. She texted me last week to ask me what they were and I let her know and stressed that she should get a blood test to be safe. I also texted her a recipe for a healthy sports drink that I have been using while training for the 5 mile race as seen on seekermommyrunning.blogspot.com.

So I get a phone call today to let me know that she liked the recipe and that she did go to the doctor's to get the test. She has been drinking the healthy drink so he said that the test may not show results accurately. He also told her that her carbs are low. I am thrilled that she is OK and let her know that. She also let me know that she was experiencing major leg muscle pains and that would have something to do with her low carbs.

I told her that I am also suffering the same thing due to using a game to train yesterday and doing my run today and no sooner than the words left my mouth, did she pull the 'my other line is ringing'. I reflected on the rare occasions that we talk and realized she does this EACH and EVERY time!

It is not because I am trying to one up her for heavens sake! I am just relating and I cannot help but think that she is not interested at all in my life, sooooo I am thinking that perhaps we should not talk anymore. My husband can go visit them...

ANYTIME I try to discuss events in my life over the phone, she gets another call, and anytime we are together in person, she will either walk away claiming she has a chore to do or change the subject.

So, I have made a decision....no more of this and selfish friends need not apply.

OK, off my soap box...

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Land of the Lost

My husband, son and I went to see Land of the Lost. I had read a couple of reviews that were not very good. It was neither good nor bad, it was just...feh... I am a Will Ferrell fan and thought he did a good job as he always does. I did not like the character of Chaka and was amazed that in this day and age movie makers still think we need this groping chauvinistic character and that it is entertaining. It's not...it's ridiculous and insulting...and it takes a lot to insult me...

My husband was annoyed at some woman that was laughing loudly throughout the movie. He claims she was not laughing at anything funny but I think it is because she kept waking him up.

I have decided to make my "The Secret" plan is to get paid, and well, for my writing. What this means to me? I need to start writing some more on this blog! We went grocery shopping yesterday and outside of the store they were having a book sale. The first book I laid eyes on was how to get paid for Magazine writing. Now that's a sign! It is dated 1993 but I can still take away some great tips, right? I also found the Hillary Clinton book, I love her, and a Leslie Sansom book on walking for my husband.

My husband is intending on participating in the 5 Mile run with my son and me but he is about 255 so he needs to start slow and only walk at first. If he keeps it up consistently, he could become a runner. Now to keep my son on board...

I am doing a wedding in Westport on July 4th and she wants a more traditional type of ceremony but still short so I need to work on that today and also creating the medication card for my mother-in-law.

I wrote such a huge amount on my other blog, seekermommyrunning, that I have burned myself out for now. I shall be back with more....=O)

Thursday, June 4, 2009

I have been neglecting this blog!

Because I am so focused on training for the 5 mile run in Westport, I have been blogging here: http://seekermommyrunning.blogspot.com/ on my training and neglecting this one, which is supposed to be my life.

Alas, I will only be writing just a bit this morning as I have to take my mother-in-law to the doctor's office. After that, I will have tons to write about! Stay tuned!!

Saturday, May 30, 2009

Westport Winery, movies and dinner

Today we decided to get the heck out of the house and do something as a family. It is the girls' parents weekend so we were free!!

Our first stop on our trip was to the movie theaters. We made the decision to see Night At The Museum starring Ben Stiller instead of the Terminator movie. I see enough tantrums at home and did not want to support a movie starring a f-bomb dropping man.

The movie theater only had 11 of us so I felt like I was the lone laughing at times. One thing I did not understand is why when there was clearly a line delivered that was to make you laugh, they went right on speaking. So, I missed part of the dialogue. Where is the comic timing in that? It happened 3 or 4 times. From the reviews, I thought it was going to be funnier, but I enjoed it nonetheless.

Hank Azaria was brilliant as Kamenda (sp?) as he is in everything he does. I still think his performance in The Bird Cage was one of the best I have ever seen! Ben Stiller was good and I loved Amy Adams as Amelia Earhart.

Next we left the theater and headed to the Westport Winery where the wine was sweet and wonderful but overpriced and the service was frosty at best. After I said that we were going to buy something, he warmed up a bit. Perhaps there could have been a bit of vini-snobbery going on as I stated immediately that I am a sweet wine person and have never been into the drier whites and reds. We purchased the Little Wild Blackberry Riesling, Red Sky At Night...can anyone say chocolate and raspberries, yummy...and the drier and stronger Message In A Bottle for my husband.

We quickly headed to the Westport Lighthouse, but alas, it was closed. I performed a wedding there on May 9th. I told the gentleman closing up shop that I performed the wedding and he told me that he tells the people visiting about that. My son and I are going to head up there tomorrow so I will let that gentleman know more details when I get there.

I had seen signs for a restaurant called Half Moon Bay Bar and Grill in Westport so I was looking forward to eating there. I am glad we did as I have been complaining that there are no good restaurants in Grays Harbor County and I am thrilled to have been proven wrong.

We started with the Crab Cake appetizer. It had an aioli sauce that was bit spicer than I expected but my palate is so vanilla that I was OK with it. For dinner I had the Lobster Stuffed Ravioli with Lobster Brandy Creme, cherry tomatoes and spinach. When I hear the word Creme, I immediately think of something soft and sweet but this had a bit of a bite. After the second bite, though, I was in heaven. I don't understand what purpose the cherry tomatoes served and the chef had cut the spinach into strips so by the time I was in the car headed home, I remembered it was spinach. Cut spinach is not attractive or appetizing, I rather fancy the loose leaves.

My son had the Halibut with Lobster Brandy Creme and Macadamia Nuts. He loved the fish (yay, he likes a fish other than trout...add that to my shopping list!) but wasn't keen on the veggies which consisted mainly of squash. My husband ordered the Seafood Alfredo which he enjoyed but complained, rightfully so, about the chef leaving the tail on. So my tip to the chef, remove the tail, it is not fun to get your hands sloppy with sauce to remove it and you end up cutting too much of the shrimp when you use a knife and fork. My dessert was the Chocolate Bundt cake with white chocolate and dark chocolate syrup. Very dense, very rich and very good. I was imagining more white chocolate when she described it but it just a squirt or two. Too bad or it would have been down right heavenly!

Our server was good, I forgot to grab her name, and the decor was a tad mission style. They had two big screen TVs, one which had college baseball and the other a Nascar truck race or something to that effect...I had my back to the screen so I didn't have to endure it. The music playing was enjoyable and I was thankful for it as I prefer to not be annoyed by professional sports in a relatively fine dining atmosphere! I highly recommend Half Moon Bay in Westport if you are headed there.

We walked on the rocks facing the ocean and climbed up an observatory platform to get a better view. It was going to be my only exercise as I knew I wouldn't get back in time to walk on the treadmill. We then headed to a gift store and bought a few lighthouse books, bracelets for the girls and a Whoopie cushion for my son...he's twelve...sigh...he proceeded to inflate it and then squish it all the way to Wal-Mart for some last minute toiletries....kids...

I had a great day and look forward to tomorrow!

Thursday, May 28, 2009

I haven't written in a bit

I haven't written in this blog for a couple of days due to focusing on my running blog. If you read that one, I haven't written a bunch either. Sorry to say that this one will be short as I have to take my mother in law to the doctor's.

I'll be back.....

Monday, May 25, 2009

Rice cakes and addiction

Hello, my name is Shauna and I am a rice cake addict.

I like the lightly salted ones and can go through an entire container, which contains 14, in one sitting.

I think the reason I hanker for them is that I drink a substantial amount of water. So much so that I got psychogenic water intoxication about 8 months ago. Normally this is diagnosed only in schizophrenic people. Lucky me! =O( No, I am not schizophrenic, I just drank a lot of water which depleted my sodium to a dangerous level. It is probably happening again since I have been a stay-at-home worker and also unemployed and have nothing better to do than drink copious amounts of water and coffee. This leads me to crave sodium and so I eat the rice cakes. At least I am getting fiber!

I told my doctor and he didn't think anything was wrong with it. I was telling the checker in the store and she told me she does the same thing.

I should start a rice cake anonymous club!!

I moved my running quest to the SeekerMommy running blog

I decided to start a separate blog for my running.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Day 2

Today I walked for 30:02 minutes.

14:30 minutes @ 3 mph
10:30 minutes @ 3.5 mph
4:00 minutes @ 3 mph
1:00 minute @ 2.5 - 1.5 mph

I really wanted to run but like I said before it is not recommended at first for beginners like me. I was even debating about whether or not I should increase the speed up to 3.5 mph but I was getting bored and actually walk faster than 3.0 mph so it felt good.

Tomorrow, I am going to try to run for longer because I think I misunderstood how long to run so I will try 10 minutes walking and 3:30 - 5:00 running. We shall see!

I did barely get any sleep last night. I fell asleep at 2:00 am - 2:01 am and then was up until 4:30 and woke up at 6:30. I did finally doze off around 8:00 ish. Thank goodness the family likes to sleep in on the weekend!

This is why I started earlier today. My goal is to eventually do this every morning before my son goes to school and outside with him.

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Day One in my quest to train for the 5 mile run on August 8, 2009

Okey Dokey! I did it!!

I walked/jogged for 30:01 minutes. Here is the breakdown:

10 minutes @ 3 mph
1 minute @ 5 mph
9 minutes @ 3 mph
1 minute @ 5 mph
8 1/2 minutes @ 3 mph
30 seconds @ 1.5 - 1.0 to cool down

I felt good and my heart rate did not go over 161 which is perfect. I think the ratio is 210 - age (41) = rate.

I had a pivotal moment last night which spurred (word ?) me into action. I have been overweight for over a year. But last night I was sitting next to my son and he pat my stomach and it jiggled. Like jello. Not good! I remember reading in Cosmo a long time ago that a characteristic of a Libra is a softly rounded belly. Nothing about jello...

When I did the wedding on the 9th, I grabbed a flyer (mentioned before, I believe) for a 5 mile run. I asked my son if he wanted to give it a go with me. He said yes so this week I went to Big 5 and bought him a pair of running shoes (I already have a pair) socks, shorts and a shirt all made out of the wicking away material for both of us.

I am proud of myself and it went faster than it has before. 30 minutes can take forever sometimes!! It went faster probably because the girls were entertaining me (they are my nieces and they live with me) and my son put on some dance music for me. He is going to exercise later tonight.

I will walk again tomorrow but walk/run on Monday. I have been reading that you should not run for 2 days in a row when you first start. Maybe I will try to jog for 2 minutes. or at least 1 1/2 minutes on Monday.

Searching for SeekerMommy on Google

Oh my goodness! I decided to do a search for my name, SeekerMommy, which I have been using since around 2000 and someone is using it but with a space between Seeker and Mommy. Don't search for it. Apparently this person is into ummm, errrr, ummm, sexual stuff....sigh....and ick! There is also another person using SeekerMom but seems to be a bit more innocent as I only found links in Catholic sites.

Golly Gee Wilickers! I am not going to change my name but I certainly hope that when people are doing a search know that it is not me on those sites!! Prospective employers search social networking sites these days. My question to the one using my name is....do you really want to be defined as that????

I am also an Officiant so I am also known as Celebrations by Shauna which when I did a search just now shows nothing. I wish it would have linked to my WeddingWire vendor page! I need to get onto the site and figure out how to send a quote to the prospective brides and grooms who ask for more info for me. I, so far, have done one wedding from there. Great couple and alot of fun!

My son is my wedding photographer and he is very good at it. We don't charge for that as it is a hobby for him. He uses a Sony camera which is fabulous but it is pink so he didn't want to use it at first!!

I have done 11 weddings. My start happened when my brother was getting married. I had watched some show on how to do weddings on the cheap and this one person went onto the Universal Life Church website and became ordained. I offered to do it and they said yes. It was wonderful and I was so honored to do it!

I take great pride doing the ceremonies. I create a ceremony book which I tailor to the wedding colors and perform the ceremony from there and then give it to the bride and groom after the ceremony. I generally use the 4 x 6 photo albums as they come in great colors but have been recently finding full page albums which reduces that pages that I have to use in the book giving them more pages to put photos.

I hate being sick!

I live in a house with 4 other people. 3 are students and 1 is a bus driver for Transit so whatever is going around we get and pass onto each other, over and over and over...sigh...my husband ended up on antibiotics and I managed to keep my cold abated a bit with some Comtrex Day and Night. Again, I hate being sick!

I received two Victoria's Secrets catalogs in the mail. I am thinking of ordering a bathing suit so I can use it as a visual aide in achieving my weight loss/fitness goal. I am also going to train for a 5 mile run with my son, so I should lose a bit, right? I also found a great new cooking show on Lifetime called Cook Yourself Thin and am going to order the books from both series. It originated in the UK a few years ago and I love it! I was thrilled to see Candice on a show as I loved her on Top Chef. I think she got a bad rap and Stephen was horrible to her. Look who has a show now! You go, girl!!

Regarding my weight, I managed to gain 30 lbs in a little over a year. Lack of exercise and not good eating habits probably contributed a bit, but I just found out from my doctor that the pills I take to help me sleep are actually a major contributor to my weight gain. So, I have to make a decision, getting sleep or being thin.....I better start finding something else to take! I have heard and read that being in shape helps you have more energy and you do end up sleeping better. We shall see!

I have a Twitter account using the same name and I am still undecided about it. I am following Joy Behar, Joan Rivers, the Sneaky Chef, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Rachel Maddow, Kathy Griffin and one other. I suppose it would be more exciting if I had people following me as well!

The latest travel book I am reading is Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. Very good book! I shall write more about it when I am finished.

Well, this latest bit of ramblings is over for now!

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Underworld: Rise of the Lycans and vampire books

Wow! Great movie!! I know I liked it more than the second one and maybe more than the first one? The acting was great, the sets were awesome and it was a darn good story.

I'm have been a bit of a vampire/werewolf fiend reading almost everything I can get my hands on. Although I do have to admit, the stories are drying up or maybe I am getting bored. I know that I could NOT get through the Anita Blake series. I loved the first 3 books and went out and bought the entire series. I am stuck in the book where some Victorian vampire from England is messing with her mind while she is in the back seat of an SUV. I tried, I really really did, to get through that sequence but I just couldn't do it. The author started getting a bit too freaky. I bought all of her other series, of the Fey, and could not get through book one. L.A. Banks' vampire series had me until Book 3 and I own the entire series of that. I am an avid reader but there are just some books that I just cannot get through...Yeesh! I should sell the series on EBay or Amazon. Someone let me know if you want them!

The JD Robb series is fab! Never have been bored with that. I also like anything Nora Roberts has done when it comes to otherworldly stuff. Nora's new book, Vision in White, is terrific. Although it has nothing to do with otherworldly affairs. It's the story of four women who work together and to plan the best weddings for brides, and find love in the process, that will be a 4-part series. I'm an Officiant and was thinking of branching out into wedding planning by studying a few courses when my job no longer wanted me so that went out the window. Nepotism is alive and well at that job! Oh well, at least I got unemployment off of them!

I used to be an avid writer but lost my way in my 20's...stupid, stupid girl. Now all these years later I am deciding to pick it back up. Hmmm....maybe I will read, one day, someone raving (or not) about my book series! =O)

My start!

Hello! I am new to blogging and don't find anything going on in my life, at this moment, particularly earth shattering but thought I would give it a go!

My last day with my employer was yesterday. Now I sit and visit websites trolling for a job. I live in an area that is very depressed right now so jobs are few and far between. I imagine that it is the same everywhere. I am very fortunate to have Unemployment Insurance that has increased a bit, thank you President Obama! That should get me almost to the end of summer if I calculate it right.

I am currently enamored with reading travel books, my two faves right now are Holy Cow by Sarah Macdonald and With the Kama Sutra Under My Arm by Trisha Bernard. The former is a spiritual journey through India for the author and the latter more of the travels of the author and her friend, Sally. I must admit that I took an immediate dislike to the author's friend Sally and hope that she redeems herself in the last 11 pages! Before reading Holy Cow, I had wanted to take a trip to India, but now? Not so much...too much suffering and separation of the classes. Hard to imagine that a country with such openness when it comes to spirituality would be so narrow minded when it comes to it's own peoples.

My immediate desire is to travel to Japan. My son also would like to go there as well. I was bebopping on the Internet on particular places in Japan to visit and came across the Tokyo Disney site. My son and I were thrilled! We both love all things Disney and I had forgotten about the Disney park in Tokyo.

I made the mistake a few years back in attempting to learn to read, write and speak Japanese all at the same time. Not so smart and really overwhelming! I miss the TV station AZN who would play Japanese programming on Sunday nights and I would get to guess what they were saying. I was always right....well maybe not, but at least I tried! =O)

If I want to visit Japan, I am going to have to at least learn to speak and recognize the language. I would love to get the Rosetta Stone Japanese software and try that. Maybe one day!

My son and I, who both could stand to lose just a few pounds, are going to start running. I performed a wedding (I'm an Officiant) at the Westport Lighthouse and they are having a 5 mile run on August 8th to raise money to fix up the lighthouse and I figured that it would be a good thing to train for. Heck, if the people on Biggest Loser can run 26 miles, I can do 5! Wish me luck!

I have to take my mother-in-law to the doctor's so I have to sign off. See ya and thanks for reading!