Well, first off, I have lost 2 more pounds in the last 3
weeks. I have also lost one more pants size. I am
feeling very positive. With one more
loss on the scale I will have lost 25 pounds. Celebrate!
This past 3 weeks has been truly productive. In my last entry I mentioned that my husband
was going on his annual trip with his buddies and that I planned to paint the
bathroom, my son’s room, and, if there was time left, I’d refinish the deck. I
don’t know what I was thinking. LOL! My husband left early on Wednesday, and
rather than sleep because I had an extra full day to myself, I decided to get
going on the bathroom. It’s a darned good thing I did!
We have the world’s smallest bathroom, situated between our
bedrooms (a “Jack and Jill”). The original paint was – you guessed it – beige –
and, of course, I had to put in color. I chose dark celery with a bright white
trim. You would think a small room would be finished quickly, but, oddly, the
smaller the room and the more fixtures there are, the longer it takes. THREE
DAYS of my life to paint that room! It was an exercise in contortion and breath
control – twisting every which way to fit between and over permanent items. By
the time I finished on Friday I was exhausted, bruised, and more than a little
pleased with myself. Also during those first three days I walked the dog, made
healthy meal choices, drank loads of water, and even when out to karaoke with
some buddies of my own! This is my finished product:
My friend and I met at her cool new houseboat for drinks, and
then went to a great Dogpatch restaurant called Serpentine. We did something I
don’t usually do which was split the entrée.
SMART! It was the perfect amount of food and left room and calories for
a small dessert item. Such a great move. (Thanks, Margaret!) We had a great
evening and I went home feeling very pleased not to have overindulged.
Sunday dawned and, crazy me, I decided that I could find the
energy to sand down the deck benches. I
went outside, swept away the leaves and got down to business. After I sanded
the benches, planning to leave the actual deck sanding to my husband, I
thought, “Well, that wasn’t so hard.
Might as well keep going.” So, yes, I sanded the entire deck while
alternately crouching and kneeling. Four hours. Calories galore burnt. Thighs
in true pain. EvBo came home and was really happy with the new bathroom and
surprised and happy about the deck – until I brought up that we would have to power
wash and then stain it before the rain came. Oh well, nothing like Mother Nature
to force your hand. EvBo power washed the next day and on Tuesday I stained the
whole deck. (I started off just planning to do the benches and leave the deck
surface to him…but we’ve all seen how that goes. I’m a glutton for thigh pain, apparently!)There’s more to tell, but I will stop for today and write a new installment in the next few days. Carry on, People!
There may be something. Something about how you are nurturing your home and by extension--nurturing yourself. Having beauty surround you inspires your hard physical work. Shannon, you sure are a hard worker. I notice you accomplish multiple projects when you have time without family distractions. When family returns, you also manage to inspire them to jump in the project with you. It all sounds so successful. Surely you will succeed in your health goals with all your muscled willpower and/or powers to persuade. You've had these personal gifts, I imagine most all of your life. What's different at this time? Your insights may help all us less focused beasties.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Katherine. The weight loss light bulb finally went on in my head, apparently. The formula is simple - much like my approach to home improvement. The "secret" is just following the formula. I wish I'd caught on sooner.
DeleteThank you for your support!