Weekly Ticker Update

Not too happy about that one. I backslid just a bit from the last weigh in, and I'm sure it's partly because of poor, stress related food choices after I escaped from the garage last Thursday, but as it turns out there may be a bit of Aunt Flo water retention going on. That's odd, considering that the last one was only 2 weeks ago and I've NEVER been irregular like that before, but after reading some stuff on the Mayo Clinic website about perimenopause, who knows? There ARE some women who start experiencing minor symptoms in their late 30's (some in my mom's family), so it's a possibility. Sigh...That just means things could get a little tougher, but it'll all work out.




Bike mileage is tracking along ok, though I do need to step it up a bit on the days I don't ride all the way to Faribault and back. I've fallen slightly behind the goal of 150 miles/week, but the weather's looking good over the next few days, so I should be able to bring that up.

I'm kind of at loose ends this weekend without U-H here to go exploring with, I have to admit. Made my boot camp class at the gym early Friday morning (what an ass kicker that class is), then just kind of puttered around the house the rest of the day. I COULD go to a movie by myself (U-H doesn't want to see Mamma Mia anyway), but though I used to do that sort of thing all the time I just don't feel like it right now. Hockey practice this morning was a good workout as usual, but during scrimmage I proved exactly WHY I'm not a defenseman...Grabbed the puck as it slid out to me at the point and promptly "broke away" and scored on the wrong goal. I'm so used to being a forward (left wing, specifically) that I totally forgot which end of the ice was mine. I felt like such a dork, but the odd thing was that nobody hollered to say that I was going the wrong way, even my own team. Oh well...Breakfast at the coffee shop with the girls was fun afterwards as well.

It was such a nice day that I decided to load Rocky into the bike trailer and ride over to the dog park this afternoon. It was his first time going to this particular park, but he loved it and met lots of other puppies. The shocker was that he let a little baby play take swats at his nose without flinching away, which is huge for him because he's always been so skittish around people he doesn't know, especially children.

So that was my exercise for the day. What are YOU doing to get off the couch and
Pedal Your Fat Ass Off?

Trapped In My Garage

Warning....Rant soon to follow.

Ok, so before we moved in here the condo association decided that because a FEW shingles came loose on a COUPLE of buildings (there are more than a dozen in the whole complex, I think) during a recent storm, every building had to be totally re-roofed with these new heavy duty shingles. "Whatever" was my thought, because I'm not the owner of this place and will therefore not be responsible for paying the assessment of $2500 per condo unit. I knew the dog would be stressed out on the day they did our building, given his paralyzing fear of hammer sounds, but not much to be done about that.

I thought I was being proactive by confirming with the workmen which day they would be working on my building. Having done the building across the way on Monday and the building next to us on Wednesday, the workman's response of "We'll do yours on Friday" seemed totally logical. Most of the crew looked like college guys working a summer job, they descended like locusts to finish an entire building each day, and Uber-Hubby & I figured they were just working every other day since they were putting in such long hours under such hot, humid, and sweaty conditions.

{Side note to my sister (she's the only one who will get this)...To my knowledge, none of the roofers was named Kurt.}

I wasn't too concerned though, when they started pounding on my roof at 7:30 this morning, a full day earlier than what they had said. I hadn't had a chance to move our cars out of the garage yet, but I figured it wouldn't be a big deal because their semi-trailer sized trash dumpster was supposed to be parked in the middle driveway.

BUT THEN...{insert dramatic pause}

I took Rocky out for a nice, long walk this morning, doing my best to help him relax despite all the hammering that was clearly scaring the poor pooch half to death. Much to my dismay, I see that the massive trash dumpster is parked in MY driveway, blocking MY car from getting out of the garage, on the ONE DAY I need to actually drive it somewhere instead of taking my bike. This is the day that I have to drive to Faribault to get my SSHE food, and U-H is supposed to leave this afternoon for his fishing trip up north. I am literally TRAPPED in my garage. Never mind that EITHER of the other two driveways would have been perfect, because one neighbor is out of town and the other one is in his 80's, has a broken hip, and isn't driving anywhere anytime soon. Sigh...Of course there is no one in sight that is in any position to know anything or be able to DO anything to fix the problem.

At that point, I still thought things would be okay, because they had like 5 hours to figure something out and call the dumpster company to come and move the bin. I walked the dog, spoke to the workers again, went to the gym, came back and spoke to them again (it's 30 minutes before I need to leave at this point), only to find out that they've called the dumpster people 3 times with no real result. Attempting to take matters into my own hands, I called the number on the side of the roofing company's truck. Turns out it's the owner's cell phone, and he actually called right back and was pretty nice...though he still didn't have a good answer. The dumpster people only have one truck running, and he went off on another job after coming here this morning. He arrived here the same time as a delivery was going on, so he just slid the dumpster wherever he felt like (though he and everyone else KNEW it was supposed to go in the middle driveway, NOT mine) and escaped without anyone from the roofing company doing anything about it. I called the dumpster company myself, but of course nobody from there ever called back.

The worker bees helped me clean up the clear side of the driveway so I could at least try and get U-H's car out so I could go get my food and have it back in time for him to leave on his trip, but then I couldn't find his spare set of car keys. GRRRRR. Calls & text messages to his cell didn't help since he was in surgery, so I tried calling the office itself and letting them know that I REALLY needed to speak with him ASAP after he got done. I hadn't yet taken a shower, thinking that I might actually have to ride my bike to his job to get his keys, but then I found them. Not in the bowl marked DAD'S KEYS that his daughter made for him at the pottery studio, mind you, but instead I found them in his bathroom. Don't ask me why I thought to look there. So I quickly jumped in the shower, got dressed, and opened the garage door, only to discover that there was now a big air compressor hose stretched across the doorway. UGH...more issues, but at least this one was a quick fix.

So I finally made it to get my SSHE food for the rest of the week, but because of all the delays by the time I got back it was too late to make it back to the gym for my yoga class (which I paid extra $$ for), but oh well. They STILL hadn't managed to move the stupid dumpster though, which was now making U-H late getting on the road for his trip because he really needed the cargo capacity of the Escape, which was the car that was blocked in. Sorry, but a Chevy Cavalier doesn't haul enough stuff and people. Just after I left another voice mail (this one not so nice) for the dumpster company (at 5:30 even though they close at 4pm), the guy FINALLY showed up and moved it to a better place. I figured it was better to leave well enough alone and NOT say anything to the driver.

I need a drink.

William Hung - He doesn't bang, but she does

Ok...Don't normally post twice in one day, but I just have to share this photo of U-H & me with William Hung from American Idol Season 3:


He's pudged out a little, don't you think? For those who don't remember William, CLICK HERE to watch a fun YouTube clip. There was a stirring performance of his now infamous rendition of "She Bangs" at the top of the 8th inning. The old people in front of us had no idea what was going on, but that's the first time I've seen the stands totally full at one of these games. William and his dad watched the ball game from the "best seat in the house", a sofa provided by Earl Johnson Furniture that is placed next to the press box. Sadly, the Mankato MoonDogs lost pretty badly to the St Cloud RiverBats. Still, a good time was had by all.

Remember, get off the couch and
Pedal Your Fat Ass Off

First Bike Trip to the Grocery Store

Great weather for cycling today. Good thing, because I needed stuff from the grocery store and wanted to try out my new thermal lined, zip top, reusable grocery bags. True, I'm not thrilled about moving away from Super Target and having to pay full price at a regular store (12 years of military base commissary prices makes it tougher to swallow), but so far I'm liking the Hy-Vee. It's employee owned, the stores are clean and well lit (though the aisles COULD be a bit wider), and the staff are helpful and friendly. Grocery shopping has proved to be my single best source for the Savings to Invest game (just shy of $53 for the month as of today), and this store even gives you 5 cents off for each bag that you re-use. (Note to self: Take all 4 thermal bags even if you're not going to use them all. Hey...20 cents is 20 cents, right?)

So anyway...After I rode to and from the gym (Upper Limits class was super fun today), I came back home to hook up the Burley trailer and headed off to the store. Thankfully, the paved paths running parallel to Hwy 22 make it safer and more convenient to get there, so it only took a few minutes. There could certainly be better places to lock up bikes just about anywhere you go in this town, but there's usually at least a sign post or something similar that will do just as well. I got a couple of odd looks as I was loading up the trailer for the trip home, but maybe I also made a few people realize that it IS possible to run errands around town on your bike instead of polluting the air with your gas-sucking SUV.

I actually started thinking about the possibility of us becoming a one car family today. Uber-Hubby hasn't touched his car since we got to Mankato, and mine sits in the garage unless we're going up to the Twin Cities or it's a Monday and U-H is on one of his trips to visit fellow dentists in his referral base. So basically, where his car is concerned, we're paying hundreds of dollars a year to insure the drying rack for my hockey gear. Points to ponder, for sure.

Almost forgot...Tonight is William Hung Night at the Mankato MoonDogs baseball game. Remember him? He's that little Asian dude who got famous by being so totally horrible on American Idol a few seasons ago (She Bangs). U-H and I will, of course, be riding our bikes to the ballpark tonight. William Hung Night is simply NOT an occasion to miss.

While we're doing that, why don't YOU get off the couch and
Pedal Your Fat Ass Off?

No "official" update this week....

but that's probably a good thing. We had to go back up to Minneapolis on Friday night because U-H had his annual IRR (Inactive Ready Reserve) thingy for the Navy early Saturday morning. Since we were going to be up there, we both got fresh hair cuts with our fave people. Isn't it SUCH a pain in the you-know-where to have to find a new hair person?

Wait a minute...Considering the name of this blog, I have to stop and consider why I was hesitant to write what I was really thinking there...that it's a pain in the ASS to find a new hair person. Wonder why I didn't want to come out and say ass? It's not like my mother, the quintessential analog woman in a digital world, is going to read this or anything. Well, maybe my sister will read it and tell her about it, but then it would just be another funny family story to recount at Christmas. As Arsenio would say, "Things that make you go Hmmmm..." But I digress.

So anyway, I was away from my regular bathroom scale on Saturday morning, so no official weekly weigh in update today. Just as well probably, because we had dinner at Old Chicago last night with some friends, then ended up back at their house to sit around the bonfire and make S'mores. Yummy. That, combined with the crap I ate for breakfast and lunch today, have no doubt combined for a round of water retention the likes of which haven't been seen in some time. I really need to try and stay at hotels that offer a fridge & microwave in the room so I can take my SSHE food along with me.

I did have a nice little NSV (non-scale victory) this afternoon, however. By happenstance, our trip up to the Twin Cities coincided with a picnic marking the 2nd birthday of Minneapolis Bike Love, the web chat group that U-H belongs to (and which has been the source of many good friendships). I don't post there, but because of U-H I've met several of the members and enjoy hanging out with them on occasion. Since I haven't seen them for awhile, my recent weight loss was noted and commented upon favorably. It's always nice to get noticed like that, because I see myself every day and don't necessarily see the changes. Hmmm...Maybe it's time to take an update photo, but after this water weight is gone, LOL.

Weather forecast for Monday looks good (so far) for the semi-weekly ride to Faribault, so I'm hopeful. What are YOUR plans to get off the couch and
Pedal Your Fat Ass Off?

Update on the Savings Game

Remember a couple of weeks ago when I said Uber-Hubby & I were going to keep track of how much money we saved on regular purchases? Well, so far it's just shy of $50, and we're only halfway through the month! Granted, the first few entries were for the tail end of June, but still...That's way more than I thought it would be.

What I know so far: The vast majority of entries come from the grocery store. You need to carry a pen & paper with you to track what you're saving as you complete your shopping list, because anything on the list that turns out to be on sale or has an in-store coupon gets to count, and that number doesn't necessarily match the "you saved this much" thingy on your receipt (and besides, my store doesn't have that anyway). The other place I'm counting alot is when I buy gas at Sam's Club, because it's consistently at least 5 cents/gallon cheaper than everywhere else in town.

Anyway...Time to go run errands & get to the gym. It's unfortunately WAY too windy to ride all the way to Faribault to do my food pickup. While I'm doing that, why don't you get off the couch and
Pedal Your Fat Ass Off?

Weekly Ticker Update

I was actually a pound & a half less than that yesterday, but the "post big ride water retention" has apparently set in. It will be gone by Monday I know, but it's still a pain in the tuckus. This is another good reason to be glad that the big Faribault ride will normally be on a Monday, because any water retention associated with it will be long gone by the following Saturday. Oh well...It's still progress, right?

FYI...Figured out yesterday that if I keep up this pace, I'll be at goal weight by the end of this year, which means by the time I maintain for six months in order to get plastic surgery to correct what's left (lipo on the buddha belly & lifting the girls back where they should be), the surgery could be next year's birthday present. Woo hoo!




There's the mileage update. Looks like I'm right on track with the 150 miles/week necessary to reach the goal. Not bad for a chubby white chick.

I'm off to hockey practice. While I'm off skating and getting sweaty, why not get off the couch and
Pedal Your Fat Ass Off

Rocky...Uber Pooch YES, but also a total FAKER

My dog is a milker. The little mama's boy totally had the fakeroo going with the injured paw thing, and now he's been completely caught red-handed (or red-pawed, as the case may be). True, he did cut himself walking in some unclean area of downtown Minneapolis, but a couple of days after we got back, he was still limping around with the injured paw in the air and getting lots of sympathy from yours truly. BUT THEN, one day this week I was in the bathroom with the door most of the way shut, so he apparently didn't know I was around. Uber-Hubby witnessed him walking almost completely normally, with just a bit of a limp. He starts playing with the dog and said "Rocky, where's Mommy?" Rocky starts looking around, I open the bathroom door, and THEN he held up his paw and resumed looking pitiful. Doggie drama in the house of Hoover.

Excellent news on the PYFAO front....I'm down 12 pounds since starting SSHE 3 months ago, and that includes a 2 week European vacation. Who knows what I will be when the official Saturday weigh in rolls around, because I just got back from another huge, 80+ mile ride to and from Faribault, MN to pick up my SSHE meals for the rest of this week. I may be doing the water retention thing by tomorrow night, but the good news is that it will all get peed out by Monday, so no biggie.

FYI...Beer is an excellent way to replace salt, potassium, and other essential nutrients. To quote Ben Franklin, "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy."

Until next time, get off the couch and
Pedal Your Fat Ass Off

Not the official weekly update, but still

Ok, so no weekly ticker update this time around because we were back up in Minneapolis for Saturday's official weigh in day. We like to go back for the 4th of July because of the Tour D'Amico ride. It's the main event of the year for the Hiawatha Cycling Club, and D'Amico & Sons Italian Cafe is the main sponsor. The rest stops are the actual D'Amico & Sons locations, and if you do the whole thing you've done 65 miles (metric century) by the end of it. They feed you cookies, fruit, and lemonade at the rest stops and a really nice buffet lunch when you're done. It was the 3rd year for Uber-Hubby and me, and the weather was perfect. We both did the 65 mile route and had a pretty good time this year. I felt stronger on that kind of distance than I ever have, which is good for me.

Needless to say, we were pretty tired that afternoon, so we abandoned our plan to walk down to see the local fireworks show and opted for the Boston Pops display on TV instead. We got to see U-H's friend Phil the first night and went back to our fave Old Chicago location for dinner the second night, allowing U-H to get started on the most recent mini-tour of the Old Chicago World Beer Tour. Some things never change, LOL.

The only downer was that Rocky cut his left front paw on a piece of glass or something as we were walking through City Center on our morning "business walk" on the 4th. He now limps around and looks generally pitiful, though he's probably milking it just a little.

Tonight we're expected over at the boss man's house for dinner. They said casual, so we're riding our bikes over. Guess they'll find out what casual really is, won't they?

In the meantime, why not get off the couch and
Pedal Your Fat Ass Off