Monday, December 31, 2007

What HAVE you been eating?


according to fitday.com

Calories Eaten Today
...............grams....cals... %total
Total:..........997
Fat:.............37.....337.....35%
..Sat:...........16.....146.....15%
..Poly:...........4......37.....4%
..Mono:..........14.....122.....13%
Carbs:..........115.....434.....45%
..Fiber:..........7.......0.....0%
Protein:.........48.....194.....20%
Alcohol:..........0.......0.....0%

here is where I need to improve:

Fat-Soluble Vitamins
Nutrient........Units...Intake...RDA......% RDA
Vitamin A.......mcg_RE..423.82...800.......52.98
Vitamin D.......mcg.......2.64.....5.......52.75
Vitamin E.......mg_ATE....2.34.....8.......29.24
Vitamin K.......mcg.......0.297...65........0.458

Water-Soluble Vitamins
Nutrient........Units...Intake......RDA......% RDA
Vitamin C.......mg.......20.56.....60.0......34.27
Thiamin.........mg........0.765.....1.1......69.59
Riboflavin......mg........1.5.......1.1.....136.68
Vitamin B-6.....mg........1.07......1.3......82.02
Vitamin B-12....mcg.......2.44......2.4.....101.68
Niacin..........mg........9.89.....14.0......70.65
Folate..........mcg.....190.44....400.0......47.61

Trace Minerals
Nutrient........Units.....Intake......RDA.......% RDA
Iron.............mg........10.12......15........67.44
Zinc.............mg.........4.99......12........41.56
Selenium........mcg........58.42......55.......106.23
Copper...........mg.........0.573.....---........---

Major Minerals
Nutrient.......Units.....Intake.........RDA....% RDA
Calcium.........mg........712.98.......1000.....71.3
Phosphorus......mg........920.53........700....131.5
Magnesium.......mg........138.19........320.....43.18
Sodium..........mg........1538.1........---......---
Potassium.......mg........1698.6........---......---

Saturday, December 29, 2007

Computer Crash 2007

it is not if but when will your computer crash that is a known issue.

12 months and 2 days after my last fiasco, I am happy to announce that my computer power supply caught on fire. AGAIN.

Fortunately, I have LEARNED a valuable lesson and other than a tiny heart attack, I am fine.

reason why? well one is that I have a laptop that is configured identically to my desktop so that my work environment is seamless. I literally unplugged my monitor, keyboard, and mouse from the desktop, into the laptop and I am back in business.

my files are primarily stored on my desktop on a separate hard drive, C:\ is for program files only. once I have 'built' my 'image' which is a clean install of all critical programs, then my husband made a copy so that he can copy it back over to any new hard drive, takes about an hour. instead of 22 hours of finding software and finding licenses and keys and stuff. I have since learned to keep all my goodies in one 'critical program files DVD' since most are downloaded, I created a section on my hard drive with folders for each program, and them downloaded the latest installation file for each and the 'key.txt' for each and I can get all my stuff on one dvd, which is handy.

the second tidbit that I have to share is that we integrated a RAID 4 last year, and while I still back up to DVD and keep a hard copy in a cd case, the files are all on the RAID in a back up that is run each night after 8 pm before I shut down for the night. so I have all my files stored off the hard drive as well, how in the world ANYONE could function without a redundant back up is beyond me.

now for cost: yes the desktop is $1K and yes the laptop is $1K and yes the RAID 4 is $1K but think about it. for $3K I have not had one single head ache/heart ache during this fatal situation. my house didnt burn down, that was a good thing. my files are all still there, that is a really good thing and no one but you and me know that this happened, so my client are not even aware that I had an hour of downtime while I was switching over from Primary to Secondary.

I am waiting for my Primary Camera to arrive next week, then my current Primary will be my Backup. then I can stop stressing all together.

Happy New Year to all and to all a Great Weekend!

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

scorreeeeeee


YEAH!!!! my own portable... not a loaner from the 'pool' yipee

Sunday, December 23, 2007

ttthhhbbbb someone vaccum for me

there are days that I can not believe that I can not eat more than I can and yet I do not gain or lose. there are days that I am perfectly happy with were I am and I do not want to change, but I continue to surprise myself. 3/4 of a taco and I am done. 3/4 of a hot pocket and I am done. 1 pancake and I am done. 1 slice of pizza and I am done.

I am done shopping for the holidays. I am done decorating for the holidays and I have not even begun to cook for the holidays. which actually my family is happy that I am not making a big dinner. they love my cooking, but they do not really want a big spread. we are so un-american. ;)

I am still working my tail off, 3 days before Christmas and I am proofing my last group session. it is taking forever because I really didn't enjoy it and I really do not want to do another one.

I am still trying to get everything packed and in storage so that we can fix the house and put it on the market and move in 6 months. do not get me started on the stress of that endevour! I just want a nap!

Åsane, Bergen, Norway

as we prepare for our Christmas dinner here in Texas, I wonder about what Next Year will be like. What if's run through my head. We could still be here in Texas or we could be across the country or across the globe. I do not know. and I do not know how I feel about that. Anticipation. Excitement. Apprehension. It could go either way. we could be on an adventure and we could be on making a financial mistake. I have no idea. I guess this is the biggest leap of faith.

Meanwhile. I have a house to pack, and a garage sale to prepare for. the mother of all garage sales in 2 months.

Saturday, December 22, 2007

three days and counting down

today I took Erik christmas shopping at Walmart. he got something for magnus, jordan, krys, his dad, and something for his friend nick. we went home, wrapped and addressed them. we had a hard time with the concept of buying things that the RECEIVER would like not that the giver would like.

waited an hour and then did it again with Magnus at Target. by the time I was done with that and grocery shopping and shoe lace shopping, and LDS bookstore, I was too exhausted to do the last three errands, bank, photolab, and returns at walmart. maybe tomorrow if I get out of bed.

that is really nice that Naomi is a volunteer in the soup kitchen at church during the holiday season. it is a really good thing to do something nice for someone else just to be nice. I bet everyone that Naomi helped really appreciated it.

it was super hot here, nearly 80'F on Friday and then a cold from swept in last night with the rain and today it was two shirt and one coat cold. technically it is 69, but it feels like 49.

tonight we are having crepes and blueberries for dinner. very yummy. I was so busy today that I forgot about breakfast and lunch, nibbled on animal crackers for a snack, and am super hunger now for dinner.

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Birthday.. just one more

funny thing about birthdays....

my husband remembered right away, got me a lowepro camera bag. bless him.

told me that I must be 44, I said that was not funny, I said that Jasmine was moving back home, she said that was not funny. heehee I thought it was.

my grandmother called about 10 am, she is good about remembering.

my mom remembered by 2 pm. sent me an email. silly bug

as for my children and other friends.. all of them forgot but one lady from church that came over with chocolate and singing. it was too funny.

we had dinner at Sweet Tomatoes and I thanked each of my kids for coming to my birthday party and they all had a stunned look on their face. they hugged me and felt so bad that they had not brought a present or a card. so my daughter drove them home while my husband and I went out to see Golden Compass.

when I got home, the kids had stopped at the store, got me flowers, and made me homemade cards (which I appreciate more than the fakey store bought ones) and so it was still a good night. ;)

I am now 42 years old and that is sooo old that no one argues with you, they all just tell you okay and that is the way it is. ;-)

I really need to get some nice pictures done of me.tonight though, we finally finished our family project of the gingerbread house, complete with satellite dish.

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Input/ Output Data Dump

today: woke up at 7 am and zipped through the shower, emptied and loaded the dishwasher, cleaned the kitchen, the living room, and the garage. Somehow I ended up sorting and putting away three loads of laundry, not what I had scheduled for my morning. my mood was going down hill fast.

Got all ready for my 8 am Senior Type Session for a lady that has made a tremendous change and lost over 100 lbs by diet and will power alone. Kuddos. we shot up 360 proofs so that I have some 'weeding' to do.

Babysat Jordan that was out of sorts all day, he would fall asleep on my chest as soon as I laid him down, he would wake up and fuss. very limiting. working on some collages for this client, that client and the other client. got my Christmas card designed and sent to the printers. will address them tomorrow. I had to load up Jordan, and drive over to DMV. Krys took a photocopy of her marriage certificate instead of the original certified copy, and well... you know.

I got all of my memory cards downloaded from this week, and backed up, just two more client folders and I will be nearly caught up.

I finally was so exhausted, I laid down and took a nap, Erik and Magnus woke me up 10 minutes later screaming my name, they didn't really need anything, just needed to make sure that even though the door was open, the car in the driveway, that I was home and available for them.

woke up again when Krys finally came in to get Jordan, who was done with his nap, even though Granny was not done with hers. I got some good REM sleep and woke up right at 5:30 in time for my 5:30 appointment, a cute little 10 month old. that went til 7 pm.

Nick came over and had spaghetti dinner with Erik and Magnus. Rushed off at 7:00 for Cub Scouts Caroling and subsequent holiday party. Finally got all the boys home, bikes back in proper garages, and the house settled for the night.

TOMORROW should be QUIET. no sessions scheduled.

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Breathing deeply

wake up and wonder if I will ever get enough rest. it was raining but the trash was coming and the yard was raked, but still not put in trash, took me over an hour to get everything raked up and filled four trash cans and put them by the curb.

order the boudoir calendar... Vendor website being stupid and will not load properly.

computer being stupid and constantly locking up. Wonder if my computer will survive the holiday before I have to completely format the hard drive.

The bulk of the day was going to the store to get the food for the Norwegian Christmas party. and cooking the food and creating all the kits for the two Tiger Den meeting activities.
Opening Ceremony Sverre (Magnus Dad and Erik (Wolf Cub)give
a demonstration in Norwegian language for 5 minutes, answer
lots of questions about where Norway is, how many people
live there, and what people do there. and how it is like to
live there.

Activity:
Norwegian Christmas baskets
http://www.stavanger-web.com/jul/kurv.htm

Snack:
Vafler (Norwegian Waffles with blue berries and raspberries)
Risgrøt (Norwegian Rice Porridge with cinnamon and sugar)
Hot Mulled Apple Cider

Story:
Christmas with Trolls
http://www.janbrett.com/bookstores/christmas_trolls_book.htm

Activity:
Norwegian Christmas Advent paper chain garland
http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/advent_paper_chain.htm

Closing Ceremony with Gingerbread cookies

I still need to wrap christmas presents before the boys get too curious.
I can not find some of the items that I bought in Washington.
to much to do still.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Naughty Harley Davidson Session

Oh Boy.. and Oh Boy...

I am good at them, but I spend way too much time on them, I am definitely going to have to increase my session fees. it takes me 4 hours to prepare all the sets for a boudoir session, and 3 hours to shoot it and 1 hour to proof it. and 1 hour to put all the sets back up. 3 hours for editing the images that go to print. 1 hour for the proofing session, so we are looking at 13 hours per session.

It is exhausting to say the least, and my day was totally shot once I was done for anything but tv vegging. ;)

Had to get my Monday client's files taken care of.. and my Sunday clients files taking care up, everything is a rush with the Christmas orders.

Sunday, December 09, 2007

KAtkins Update


Good Morning Friends...

as with just about every aspect of my life, there are good days and there are not so good days.

just last week, I had a not so good day, and then again this week, a really negative day.

here is what I can say is my update at 19 months out...

I started out at 279 in March, 2006 (my highest was 285 lbs in 2001). I lost 27.5 on my own with the Adkins induction -0- carbs for 90 days.

I had a RNY with a mini (.5 oz pouch), I consumed 225 calories a day, still maintaining the Adkins diet, eating three meals a day of Lean Meats and Leafy Green Vegetables, and lost 4.2 lbs each week the first 90 days.

then as my pouch stretched from my increased consumption, the next 90 days my loss was 2.1 lbs a week over time, and while I started increasing my carb intake, as well as my volume intake, I was consuming 450 calories a day, still primarily protein and leafy greens, there were more 'sneaks' of carbs.

the third phase was the a continuation of the past, more food, more carbs, weight loss slowed down, and I ended up with a larger pouch, and was loosing 1.1 lbs a week, consuming nearly 900 calories a day, and a complete mix of food.

the only things that I can not possibly consider consuming at this time is:

corn
cauliflower
greasy food like gravies
stuffing
milk and cream products

when I "dump" I get the shakes, and the sweats, and I feel my heart racing. feels like a heart attack or a panic attack. if it gets really bad, I have to throw it back up. last week I had stuffing and gravy, and that was bad, but earlier this week, I had a piece of a nut go down that was not completely chewed up, and then everything that went down after was stuck, that is called a stricture. I puked and puked and puked until the 'chunk' came back up, and then all was fine.

My overall progress was a total loss of 130 lbs in 12 months. From a size 22/24 to a size 4/6 at 12 months out. I have maintained the loss for 7 months with small 5 lb fluctuation's throughout the month, but overall I am very pleased and would never go back and regret none of the limitations.

as for the blood work. yes, I just got that back, and most everything was perfect. more so than before surgery. however, four things came back that were unusual.
White blood count - low
Red blood count - low
RDW- low (anemia)
Vit D -very low (malabsorption)

as for the calcium.. I chew two chocolate sugar free chews a day, they are available from costco/walgreens. I need more Vit D, so out of the office and into the light. ;-)

as for my blog... http://www.wretchedheathen.com is the plug.

as for sugar.. SPLENDA... SPLENDA... SPLENDA... just accept it and learn to live. ;) I lost all my desire to eat ice cream, and now it is sweet and salty for me.

for the my tummy.. one some things.. like eggs and chicken, I still have about a 1/2 cup capacity. I have to nibble over a 1/2 hour to get two whole eggs down for breakfast. however... on the other side of the track.. I can eat an entire bag of Orville Redenbacher popcorn. I have no idea where it goes, but it does go down. I just chew chew chew really well and by the time I am done. I am satisfied.

Saturday, December 08, 2007

HOME

dirty laundry in the hamper

A nice quick dinner at Sweet Tomatoes, very special treat

memory cards from the camera downloading

waiting for the airlines to find my last bag that was left in Salt Lake City.

caught up with the boys' happening's while I was gone.

A mountain of bills gone through and sorted

now to get back on the Central Time Zone Clock!!