Happy Face

Gray skies are gonna clear up,
Put on a happy face;
Brush off the clouds and cheer up,
Put on a happy face.
Take off the gloomy mask of tragedy,
It's not your style;
You'll look so good that you'll be glad
Ya' decide to smile!


I'M TRYING! I PROMISE! Just so hard to be cheery, giddy and smiley today. It's freezing (feels like 7 with the wind outside), snowing and ugly out. YUCK! I arrived to a ton of fun work on my desk from last Friday. It lovingly accumulated in my absence and to be blunt, it SUCKED a whole lot. It was not the best way to start an already dreary morning. I tried to cheer myself up with coffee and breakfast. It worked but the delicious bowl of joy didn't last very long. HA!

• 1/2 cup Old fashioned oats
• 1 cup water
• 1 banana, sliced
• dash salt
• Splenda to taste
• lots of cinnamon
• dash apple pie spice
• 1 tsp Chia seeds

After breakfast I dove right back into work. Awe heck who am I kidding. I worked while eating breakfast too. Such is life. At least the day flew by. I forced a mini break around lunchtime and chatted with Ann for a bit. Yeah, my mini break (spent locked and hiding in my office) was the highlight of my day today. HA! LAME!

I had leftover Edamame and a LaTortilla wheat wrap with turkey, spinach and spicy brown mustard.


It filled me up perfectly. And then it was right back to work. I bet your SHOCKED right?

For my afternoon snack I had a 4oz plain Oikos and these two lovely, rich, decadent little tasty treats courtesy of the lovely Ann. She made the protein packed carrot "cake" from ***THIS*** great post by Susan from "The Great Balancing Act". They were SO GOOD!


They tasted perfect in the yogurt. YUM! I want two more. RIGHT NOW! Ann, you're so pretty, and nice, and "giving". BRING ME TWO MORE TOMORROW! HA!


After work we drove on crappy, snow covered streets (again) to the gym. As usual we were traveling at our amazing "grandmama" speed. I swear it took us for ever to get there. Here is our workout.

Plate Loaded Advanced Chest Press
5lb x 15
10lb x 15
20lb x 12
30lb x 12
Seated Chest Press
30lb x 20
40lb x 15
50lb x 12
Inclined Chest Press
20lb x 15
25lb x 12
30lb x 8
Modular Chest Press
40lb x 20
50lb x 10
60lb x 9
Elliptical - 30 min.
Interval Training
Levels 6-8
366 calories burned

I was covered in sweat and NOT happy about it as I walked in freezing weather to my snow covered car. SO COLD! Ann was parked right behind me. We began cleaning off our cars and that's when it happened. Ann in her WILD fury managed to BREAK her driver side wiper blade. She broke it clean off and some "part" went flying never to be seen again. OH HOW FUN! It was snowing, freezing and we spent a solid 10 minutes (still covered in sweat) standing outside trying to fix it. It wasn't going to happen though. Not after her man-handling and ruggedly wild ways. So we devised a BRILLIANT plan! She turned her hazards on and followed me (rode my ass because I was her eyes) to the AutoZone close by to buy another set. So uhm yeah, that whole situation sucked a whole lot!

By the time I finally made it home I was frozen solid, moody, hungry and tired. I'm so cheery today right? HA! I quickly took a nice hot bath to warm up. It calmed me right down. I love my tub! It has magical powers! ;)

For dinner all I wanted was something quick, healthy, light and delicious. I decided to make a huge salad which included the following.

• Iceberg lettuce (all I had at home)
• 1 tomato
• 1 small yellow onion
• 2 sliced bread & butter pickles
• 1/4 cup canelini beans
• 1 serving fat free shredded american cheese
• 1 whole boiled egg and egg whites only from another
• fresh cracked black pepper
• red pepper flakes
• 2 tbs Organic Farms Greek dressing

Dinner was perfect in every way. Every bite just tasted so fresh. It made me happy. And get this. GET THIS! I smiled! I swear it!!! :)

For a little "you made it through the day" treat later I made a huge cup of Raspberry tea.


Which was enjoyed with a Toasted Nuts N'Cranberry LUNA bar. These bars are so freakin good!


Now I'm happy, warm and full. Much better!

Keep cozy tonight! Oh, and put on a happy face.

Drip, drop, make it cold, make it hot.

No, these are not the lyrics to some cool, hip and sassy little song. They are in fact today's theme for my misery. Let me explain.

Drip = the current state of my watery eyes and runny nose
Drop = the tone of my voice which is now quite "manly" due to a sore throat
Hot & Cold = the cold sweats I have been having since last night

Yeah, I'm having loads of fun at the moment.

....... pardon me while I sniffle and blow my raw nose a bit more......... (whiiiiine)

Okay, I'm back! Now on to breakfast. It was hot, delicious and big bowl of HAPPY!

• 1/2 cup Irish Oats
• 1 cup water (and then some, this stuff really likes water)
• dash salt
• dash cinnamon
• dash pumpkin pie spice
• 1 banana, sliced
• 1 serving of dried cherries

Oh it felt so good to eat something warm and creamy. I was in heaven as it gently burned my throat with its hot goodness. It feels like someone carved their initials on the inside lining of my esophagus with a dull and rusty razor. Warm food and beverages are my friend right now!!!

I sniffled, coughed, whined, moaned and drip-dripped the rest of my afternoon away and it was lunchtime before I knew it. I actually cooked my lunch up last night so I could bring it in to work today. It was super easy to make and is full of veggies and fiber.

• 1 bag of tri-colored slaw mix
• 1/4 cup chick peas
• 1/4 cup black beans and lima beans, mixed
• 1 tbs HOT curry powder
• sea salt & pepper to taste
• a splash of water and spray butter to keep it all from sticking

I cooked this on low for maybe 10 minutes and voila! A HOT and spicy good for you meal that may just be spicy enough to sweat all the SICKNESS right out of me. Wouldn't that be just lovely?


Shortly after eating my lunch, I was CRAZY enough to sneak out for a break to finally FINISH all of my Christmas shopping. I regretted this decision as soon as I got back to work. I had so many issues and emails and voicemails waiting for me that my stuffed up little head was just spinning. Slowly but surely I managed to take care of all of them though. AND I even had time for a quick afternoon snack. A yogurt mess with Oikos, POM arils and schoolbook cinnamon cookies. I love plain yogurt!


I was able to leave work at about 5:20 and headed to the gym. YES, I went to the gym....again....sick....because I am DETERMINED to lose more weight before the end of the year. Another 5lb would be nice! Since I still wasn't feeling 100% I only did another hard hitting 30 min. session on the elliptical. I burned 362 calories. YEAH!

When I got home I was STARVING. I quickly cut up an eggplant, seasoned the slices with salt, pepper, dill and garlic powder, dipped them in egg whites and then Panko breadcrumbs. Into a 400 degree oven they went for about 40 minutes. While they baked away I took a nice hot bath to warm up and to hopefully wash some of this COLD FUNK off of me. By the time I was done with my bath, dinner was finished. EXCELLENT!

I had an eggplant sandwich on an Ezekiel 4:9 sprouted whole wheat bun with fat free cream cheese, some dill pickles and a small salad with feta, red pepper flakes and spray butter. I forgot how much I love eggplant baked like this. It's been way too long!


For a little snack later I FINALLY tried the Toasted Nuts N' Cranberry Luna bar. I must concur with the consensus. It was freakin tasty! My favorite one so far with the Chocolate Peppermint Stick flavor as a close second.


I washed this tasty treat down with a MEGA cup of regular tea mixed with "Cold Relief" TheraFlu. Ohhh, tastes like a lemony miracle. HOPEFULLY IT WILL MAKE ME FEEL BETTER TOMORROW MORNING!


I'm going to watch some TV in bed now until the tea kicks in and I pass out. Goodnight!

Tantalizing Tuesday,

Happy Tuesday everyone! Chipper is the word today! I find myself still in a good mood. Very rare for me to have a long streak of joy-joy thoughts rampant in my brain so I'm enjoying every single second. Woke up, on time. I could barely believe it. AND I felt rested. I usually wake up about 20 minutes after I should every day and then run around like a maniac all morning. However, this morning was smooth sailing.

-Breakfast, lunch and snack for the day were packed last night----CHECK
-Gym bag was packed last night----CHECK
-Outfit for the day was picked out which meant there was no closet diving in the dark so Nick could sleep----CHECK
-Made sure the cat had plenty of cereal and water for the day last night----CHECK
(I feel like I'm in a parallel universe or something)

Seriously, I even cooked up some egg whites last night so I could have it today at work. And you know what? It was a brilliant plan. Breakfast was so good!! I made two open face English muffin, egg white and cheese sandwiches. AHHHHHHHHHHHH, tasty-tasty!


I also had an extremely happy cup of coffee...


My lunch was equally delicious today. I had a small microwaved potato with spray butter and leftover stir fry vegetables on the side. Odd mix I know but it was spicy and flavorful. I was stuffed. I took a green apple to work too but I was too full to eat it.


Ann and I took an EXTREMELY EXCITING and AMAZING lunch break today. We were about to embark on a GRAND and dangerous journey. Ann even checked her oil before we left, you know, just in case.


Random - I tied her jump rope to her steering wheel. Every time I get in her car I sit on this stupid thing. MWUHAHAHAHAHA! Te-heeee!


I'm telling you, lunch was so much fun that I'm jumping out of my seat while typing out these very words. It was WILD, RISKY and REBELLIOUS! We drove halfway across town, through a torrential downpour, through fire, through hail, through a pack of Ferrel dogs. So in other words, we drove to CVS so Ann could pick up her prescription. Oddly enough her Dr. called in the wrong meds so it was a wasted trip. Oh the irony. :) We were close to Ann's apartment so we decided to run there for a bit instead and visit her fat little tiger of a cat, Pepper. LOOK AT HER. Fat, hairy, squishy, plump little ball of fur. I LUV HER! We tortured and loved on her for just a bit, can you tell? She looks annoyed here. Out little hairy supermodel!


For my afternoon snack I finally tried a Luna bar. I had the Smores version. I kept seeing them on blogs so I thought I would check them out. Good decision on my part, it was tasty. I had it with a cup of tea. :)


The gym was just so-so today. It was MUGGY as heck in there. Ann and I both felt disgusting 10 minutes after we started working out. GROSS. I can't wait for cooler weather to get here already. Which just sounds crazy coming from me. I love summer.

For dinner today I decided to make pork loin. I seasoned it with oregano, dill, garlic salt and orange juice. It turned out super juicy and tender. We had it with glazed carrots and mashed potato (yes, the instant stuff, it was getting late). It was all delicious. We both love glazed carrots. :)


Ok, enough yapping. I must bid you goodnight. I need snuggle time. BYE!