Cadbury Caramel Eggs

I'm not really a big chocolate eater.  In fact, I don't even eat a whole lot of sweets.  I enjoy making them more than I usually enjoy eating them.  When I make chocolate chip cookies, I use less chips than what the recipe calls for.  It can take me days to finish a regular size candy bar.  I'm not even one of those women who has to have chocolate during that time of the month.

I do have one weakness though:  Cadbury Caramel Eggs.  They are my kryptonite.  I cannot stop at just one either.  I will eat 3 or 4 of them before I realize what I've done.  They are just so good!  

So, I both look forward to Easter (oh delicious goodness) and dread it (my poor body).  Plus, those suckers aren't cheap.  The cheapest I've found them was 4 for $2.00 (so $0.50 a piece).  And they're tiny -- much smaller than a normal candy bar.  But, that doesn't mean that they have less calories.  One of those eggs has 170 calories in it!  

I'm not normally one for counting calories, but when I would usually take in only about 1,000 calories (no, I'm not starving -- I sit at a desk all day so I don't need more than that!), an additional 510 or 680 calories in a day adds up!  

So, I've now decided to limit myself to one glorious egg per day.  And, then I'll get to go through withdrawals after Easter is over.  Only 2 weeks left of heaven!  You all know where I'll be the day after Easter -- the clearance candy aisle!

Size doesn't matter...

Something has been bothering me for quite some time. And, I've wanted to blog about it for a while, but I haven't been able to find the right words. I'm hoping I've found them now, but if not, oh, well. It needs to be said.

People should wear clothing that actually fits. That number on the tag at the back of your shirt? Yeah, it doesn't really matter. If you are a size 6, but you want to be thinner so you wear a size 2, it's not going to work out. You're going to look bigger/worse than if you'd just worn the size 6. If you wear clothing in sizes too small for you, every ounce of fat is going to pour out over the edges. And that is not a good thing.

You're going to look your best in what actually fits you. Even someone who is teeny-tiny is going to look chubby if they wear clothes that are too small. The clothes are going to squish you until they find whatever fat you are hiding and then expose it to the world. And it's not going to be pretty.

People should wear clothes that are going to flatter their bodies, not make them look fatter. I'm a small girl, but that doesn't mean I can get away with wearing skin tight shirts over skin tight pants. Those pants are going to squish my stomach up and it's going to look like I have belly rolls and that skin tight shirt is just going to make that normally non-existent belly roll even more noticeable. Does that sound attractive to you? I didn't think so.

So, I stick to wearing clothes that actually fit me. I know that number doesn't actually matter; because that's all it is: a number. I mean, what's the number really mean? If someone weighs 140 pounds, don't they still weigh 140 pounds whether they wear a size 8 or a size 6? YES! THEY DO! So, what difference does it make? Especially when the smaller size is going to make you look worse? It makes absolutely no sense to me.

I will wear the clothes that I am comfortable in and the clothes that make me look as good as I know I should. And I will ignore whatever number is on that little tag.

I may not have found the best words for this, but I really just wanted it out there. So, there it is! :)

Blah, blah, blah

So, I'm bored. I dislike my job. I want to quit, but I cannot. I need the money (I would complain about the mortgage payment but I love the house too much to do so). The economy is beyond sucking. So, I cannot find another job. It pretty much blows. A lot. I've been trying to stay positive about my job. It's hard to do though. I'm sick of it. At least I have my Fridays off now. It makes it much easier to tolerate.

Even though I am currently stuck, I've been trying to think about what I want to do with my life. What have I come up with? Nothing. I have no idea. I'm completely lost. What do I want to do with my life? A million different things. I've thought about going to seminary. I've thought about becoming a cop (weird, huh?!). I've thought about becoming a nurse (scary considering the fact that I'm a belonephobiac). Most of what I've really thought about requires more education. I'm kind of, sort of ready to go back to school... almost. But, I couldn't go back to school right now even if I was ready because of financial reasons.

What I'm dreaming about now is finishing this book and then it creating enough income for myself so that I can stay at home and just write. I know... it's incredibly unlikely. And even if it does happen, I'm sure it will not be for a long time. Especially since I have very little motivation to do much writing. I'm doing a lot of reading right now, but very litting writing. I need to get going in a higher gear. It's just hard to be motivated when I'm feeling lousy about the job and feeling so unsure about where my life is headed.

Ugh. At least things are getting better. I'm watching more of what I eat and I'm getting enough exercise. I've lost some weight. I look better. I'm just waiting for my mind to follow the lead of my body. :)

Random Life...

My weight loss program isn't going so hot. I've stayed pretty much the same weight. I'm noticing that I look and feel better though, so at least I've got that.

This weather is going to drive me crazy. I don't know whether I love it or I hate it. It's insane because it's in the 70s in February. February is winter. It should not be 70 degrees until at least April. At least. Probably not until May or June. At least I got to see snow twice this winter. Damn early spring. That groundhog was so wrong. Even if it isn't supposed to be like this, it is so nice!

We went hiking on Sunday. We went to Joe's Uncle Joe's property at South Mountain. We took all 4 dogs because they don't have to be on leashes there. They just walk a little big ahead of Joe and I. They had a wonderful time. We hiked to the waterfall and then Joe and I had lunch. There was still ice on the water around the edges (even though it was in the 70s), but that didn't stop Cody, Daly, and Jippy from jumping in (of course Jack stayed out of that cold water! He wouldn't have jumped in if it were warm!). Jippy stopped after one time, but Cody and Daly just kept going back in. Cody kept trying to get the huge chunks of ice (like he normally does with sticks that we throw in the water). It was really cute. Joe tried to help him get a big piece with a stick, but then Cody just became more interested in the stick than the ice. He's adorable. Anyway, we hiked back to the road after a while.

I don't know if I blogged about this yet, but my hours have been rearranged at work and now I only work 7:30 to 5:30 Monday through Thursday and I have a 3 day weekend. It is so wonderful. I can actually get things done around the house! This Friday, I will be devoting less time to cleaning and organizing the house (as I have done the past 2 Fridays), and instead, I will be working some more on my book. News about the book: our computer crashed last week and I lost all that I had typed up about the book. No, I didn't have it backed up anywhere. However, I do have a handwritten version of all of my notes and outlines. :)

Also, I don't think I blogged about this either. Joe and I have talked about getting married. I know, we're insane. Don't worry; it will still be a while. We've just decided that whenever it happens, we are now ready for it. We want to take several days off work and rent a cabin in the mountains. A cabin big enough for a lot of people. We're going to invite our closest relatives and friends (definitely no more than 50 people, but probably closer to 30). Anyone who would like to stay at the cabin is welcome to. We'll spend a few days hanging out, then have a very small ceremony on our anniversary (September 23). Then after that, we'll have a reception and hang out for a while and then kick everyone out so that we can have a short honeymoon. :)

So far, we are thinking probably 2011. We have our vacation for this year planned (KOREA in less than a month!!!) and we are planning on going to Rome next year, but we have no vacation plans so far for 2011. So, don't make any plans for September 23, 2011. It's quite possible that you'll be attending our wedding. :) Of course, Joe still has to officially ask me to marry him. But that is just a minor detail. lol :) With plans for 2011, I don't think there is any real hurry. It's still 2.5 years away!

Last Evening...

I was very proud of myself last night. I was very productive.

I've noticed that I've put on a few pounds in the past few months. I've become a bum, so my bum has gotten bigger and I have noticeable love handles. The bum I can deal with, but I am not a fan of love handles. Especially when they're only there because I've been lazy. It's too easy of a fix to let myself get love handles.

I'm lucky. I have a high metabolism. When I am relatively active, I have no problems keeping weight off. By relatively active, I mean go for a walk a few times a week. I've had more problems with laziness since graduating. I go to work. I sit at a desk for most of the day. I come home and don't want to do anything. While at Catawba, I walked everywhere. I was really active. So, weight wasn't a problem. And I ate a lot because I worked it off. Well, I've kept the same eating habits, but not the same activity habits.

Yesterday, I weighed myself. I have never ever weighed more than 118 lbs. Usually I'm between 110 and 115. I told myself that I would never let myself get over 120 lbs (without extenuating circumstances like pregnancy). Well, I am really ashamed to admit this, but I know that telling other people will motivate me to work harder to get rid of the weight. The scale showed my weight as 121.5 with clothes on. I don't know how much my clothes weigh, but I hope it's a few pounds!

It was scary for me to see. I know that some of you will think, "Boo hoo. That's not bad," but it is bad for me and I'm the only one who counts. I don't let my weight get too low and I don't let my weight get too high (by my standards). Below 108 is far too low and above 120 is far too high, for me. Yes, I know. It's not fat. I'm not saying that I'm obese or even overweight by most standards, but it is more than my ideal weight. I'm not trying to make people to feel bad because they are heavier or say that 120 lbs is fat (I don't think it is). I just think that 120 is to much for me (also, keep in mind that I'm only 5'3" and I have small bone structure).

Blah, blah, blah... Anyway, moving on... Last night, I worked out. For about 45 minutes. I did a 10 minute run. Then I did crunches. Then I did the inversion table. Then I walked for 20 minutes at a steep incline on the treadmill. Then I did more crunches. Then I did weights. Then I did a cool down stretch. And, afterwards, I was really proud of myself. :) I also did not have dessert last night... which I've been having a lot of lately. lol

And, after my workout, I played with my boys for a little while. Then I went to the office and worked on my book for about an hour. It's the most work I've done on it so far. I know, I'm bad. I've been doing lots of brainstorming before bed, but I actually started doing some writing and outlining and organizing last night. I was very impressed. And I like where my book is going. :) Oh, and as a very, very, very, very small teaser... the name of the planet where the aliens are from is going to be called "Aleutia." So, the aliens are actually Aleutians. I'm very happy with that name. It took me a little while to figure out a name that I liked. And, the main characters names will be Alex (or Lexix as he is called on Aleutia), and the human's name is June. I may actually change June's name. What do you think? Give me some feedback.

And then I couldn't sleep. I thought working out was supposed to help you be able to sleep? I guess I'll have to do some more before I see a difference. :)

UPDATE: I forgot to say that I lost one pound after just one day. My weight on Wednesday was 120.5. :)