Football star, NOT!

The superbowl is next Sunday, and they are holding it in my town. Naturally I went to the NFL experience. If you haven't heard of it, it's like a football carnival. The Jaguar's quarterback was there letting people take their picture with him. There were plenty of vendors with souveniers for sale, but the best part was the activities. You could run, tackle, do fair catches, kick field goals, throw balls, etc. I tried to kick an extra point. I decided that forty years old is NOT the time to take up football. My first kick wasn't too bad. I got it straight and up in the air, but not enough power behind it. After that, my confidence was up a little. I decided to kick this thing as hard as I could. I lined up, started to run, but then I wasn't sure how many steps to take or how long they should be. I wound up taking too many steps, then kicking the ball with the end of my big toe. Ouch!!! The ball rolled on the ground and I jammed my toenail so hard that my toe started bleeding. Two days later, it is STILL slowly bleeding. At least I'll have the memories of how I got my old football injury.

In love with cheese

I've developed a new love, and his name is cheese! It all started when I went to a wedding show with my DIL. She is getting married in a few months and went there to see all the vendors in one place. Let me tell you, the people selling catering had their food spread out. Grapes and cheese were everywhere! Of course, I was hungry going through there too, which didn't help any. The gouda is what really got me. It was delicious! Everytime we turned a corner, there was more cheese and grapes for the taking.

I found some gouda at the grocery store and have been munching it. I also got a port wine cheese log covered in almond slivers. Yum!!! I've been eating it with smoked beef summer sausage. Oh my god! It is to die for. I am really turning into a cheese-a-holic!

Green Beans

I just don't get it. Everyone loves green beans! I thought for sure they would be a veggy I could eat on the Atkins diet. You have to understand that I am a reforming veggy hater. I keep trying new veggies and finding some that I like. I truly believed that I would like green beans. I tried them canned, fresh, frozen, cooked on the stove, microwaved, with and without bacon. Nothing. I had given up on them completely until recently one of my fellow moderators at http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.com gave me a recipe for green beans. It involved cooking them in oil on the stove, then adding some chicken broth and steaming them, then taking them out and covering them in soy and sesame oil. I figured this was it! I finally found a way to eat green beans. Alas, it was not enough. The green beans still tasted like green beans. I am going to try this with snow peas, though. I bet they will taste awesome!!!

Cascading Style Sheets

These are cool! I've been a FrontPage person for a long time, but decided to take the plunge and start learning how to use css files. I see why everyone likes them so much. It looks like you can do a lot more with CSS than you can with a FrontPage theme.

Weight still down

It looks like the weight is off to stay! I was 133.0 again this morning. Woohoo!!! The weight is coming off a lot quicker again now that I am doing better at not eating after I am satisfied. It was easy to do that originally, but then I got used to what I was eating and felt like I should finish my serving.

We just started a buddy system at http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.com. I have three newbies that I am working with. They seem like great people! I hope I can assist them.

Weight down again!

I was so happy this morning! I stepped on the scale and weighed 133.0 exactly. I've been down to 133.2 before, then back up. That's how my weight goes, down, then up, then down, then up, but always down a little more than it goes up.

I haven't had an issue with grapes in a long time, and the good grapes are in! Grape King seems to have the best tasting ones.

Happy OWLing!

I made it through induction fine, but I sure am glad to be back to my OWL foods! I missed cashews, macadamias, red seedless grapes, and low-carb chocolate milk the most. I was OK without the ice cream, but am glad to be able to eat it again too. I've also developed a craving for cheese. Last night I had port wine cheese covered in almond slivers on beef summer sausage, spinach with blue cheese dressing, and red seedless grapes. YUM!

Add clip art in MIcrosoft Word

I've been messing around with the tutorial software and found a way to just have it go through the steps. Here's one I created last night that shows you how to add clip art in Microsoft Word, and then do a couple of modifications to it. I am calling it watch me, but perhaps show me is better? If you try it out, tell me what you think. Also, if you have a request for how to do something in Windows XP, Office 2003, Windows 2003 Active Directory or Exchange 2003, just shoot it my way and I'll make you a watch me!

Try this one out here: http://dom.bz/watchme/AddClipArt.htm

A Tiling Day

I spent almost the entire day looking for tile. Who knew there was so much to consider? The width of the tile vs. the width of the accent pieces. The colors of the tub, wall, floor, etc. And the worst part is the tile makers no longer think mud caps are necessary because they are not used in new buildings. Oh sure, they make them in plain shiny colors, but I like the look of a textured or patterned tile and would like to use that. Since my house was built in the 70's, it is either mud caps, or a gap between the tub and wall that he has to fill with mud and try and make it look good. Of course, the tile we like is only .26 per 6x8 piece, not too shabby! But DH doesn't like the accent pieces. The accent piece he likes is a lot thicker, and it would mean getting porcelein tiles at 83 or 88 cents for a smaller 6x6 tile. When multiplying it out by all the tile we need, that's four times the cost!

We bought samples of all the tile we liked, and we're going to look at the five mud caps we could find that have some sort of pattern to them this week.

A Busy Sunday

Today I completed my re-induction. I am SO glad to be out of it! I missed my extra food choices. I am only down 1/2 pound total for the two weeks, but I can tell that my clothes are looser.

I started the day posting Moderator Member Awards I made for elite users on the Atkins Diet board I moderate at http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.com. Here is one of the awards given:


Next was off to the Bridal fair with Mike, Andrea, and her friend Liz. April 1st the wedding day. It was great having all the vendors in one place. The least expensive videographer was $799, so we will most likely do our own video.

Next was off to Chilis. I got baby-back ribs with no sauce. Yum!!!! Too bad they don't make a sauce with no sugar in it, though. Also got a salad instead of the carby sides. We went over rentals for tables, chairs, etc.

Next was off to Dillard's to do some shopping. The suits were all 50% off. I was so happy to see I am down another suit size! I am wearing a tight size 10 now as the size 12 is too loose. I tried to find a new leather coat, but was unsuccessful. The coats I've found that I liked they no longer have in my size.

I watched Charmed and it was OK. It looks like this may be the last season. They are setting up for their to be an end to the good/evil balance with the avatars. Perhaps this is a way for Phoebe and Cole to get back together at the end.

While I was watching Charmed, I found a cool program called Wink that lets you create tutorials for Windows programs. Click here to see the first one I made. It is very short, and it just walks you through creating a new blank document in Word.

Cold days!

The wind and rain came through yesterday, and now the cold sets in behind it. I sure will miss the 70 degree days of winter. Hopefully the cold will not last too long.

Blackberry Blogging

I'm writing this blog entry from my blackberry while sitting in one of my favorite locations: Dick's Wings. I absolutely love my chicken wings with celery and blue cheese dressing!

This morning I had my chocolate flax muffin with cream cheese and 3 slices of bacon. Dinner will be the toppings of pizza.

Induction is great!

Still going strong on induction. My tight jeans are now a little loose. Weight this morning was 133.6. Went to a neighborhood meeting last night and they had some very nice looking cookies out. I had no desire for them at all.

Breakfast this morning was 3 pieces of bacon and a chocolate-flax muffin with cream cheese. I made sure to drink a 20 oz glass of water with the muffin.

Down a pound!

Today began my second week of re-induction for the New Year. I woke up and was down a pound this morning to 133.4. I am SO happy!!!

Breakfast today was leftover bacon wrapped filet mignon and a flax muffin. Lunch was a McDonald's Bacon Ranch Grilled Chicken Salad. I made pork chops tonight grilled in butter. Also a small spinach salad with celery and blue cheese dressing.

I made a fresh batch of chocolate flax muffins. Of course, I had to try one fresh out of the oven. I doubled the amount of chocolate in it and it is yummy!

Newsletter Complete

I finished putting together the HTML version of the ADBB newsletter today. You can see it at http://dom.bz/newsletter/2005Winter/2005WinterADBBNewsletter.htm

I wound up skipping lunch today as I had breakfast at Noon. Dinner was bacon wrapped Filet Mignon with steamed snow peas and a salad. The steamed snow peas turned out very good! The salad was spinach, celery, onions, and crumbled bacon with blue cheese dressing. DH and I both had steak left over, so that will be breakfast in the morning.

It's a new year

I have been on the Atkins diet for a little over a year and have lost 3/4 of the weight I want to lose. The last of the weight will come off this year!

I was featured in the April issue of CarbLite Magazine on pages 36-37. http://www.carblitemag.com Check it out! You won't be disappointed.

Today for breakfast I had a chocolate flax muffin and 3 pieces of bacon.
The bacon I eat is Hormel Microwave Ready bacon. My sister calls it miracle food! I love it because it is quick and there is no mess to clean up.

Here is the recipe I used for the flax muffins:
3 cups Bob's Redmill flaxseed meal
1 cup The Vitamin Shoppe bodybuilding Whey Enhanced Protein Vanilla Flavor
1/3 cup Hershey's unsweetened cocoa
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup Olive Oil
1 teaspoon Spice Islands vanilla extract

In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients together. In another large bowl, mix the wet ingredients together. Mix all the ingredients together, then in a muffin paper lined muffin tin, put in 1/4 cup helpings. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

The flax will give the muffins a nutty flavor. I eat them topped with cream cheese or peanut butter.