Biggest Loser - end of week 4

Last Friday I was up 2 pounds. Today I am down those 2 plus another - so I am at 201.5. So that is 8.5 pounds this month!!

Drinking lots and having fun exercising, as well as eating pretty well. Right now I have focus and motivation - I am thankful!

Fine Art Friday

Well, this may not be exactly Fine Art, but it is what I have been looking at this past week (I need a little eye-roll emoticon here, and then a blushing one!) is Fan Art. Oh yeah - I can blame this one on my daughters - right?

Deviant Art has some weird stuff but it has a lot of hysterical fanart - and there is one artist I really like! She calls herself Makani, does a lot of Harry Potter stuff and has her own HP site, Accio Brain (hee hee!!). Her stuff makes me think of Disney, Betty and Veronica and Liberty's Kids. The picture of Draco and Pansy was in black and white - one of my daughters colored it in.

This next one had me rolling - I had forgotten how funny Lost can be!


It doesn't look like she does any Farscape stuff, though. So, here is a Farscape thing by some other artist at DA -

Fan Art - funny stuff!

Blame it on Harry Potter

So I have not been blogging for a while - and it is all Harry Potter's fault! I read the Deathly Hallows on Saturday the 21st and then I decided to read them all over again. That pretty much took up all of my free time, especially since I had to go to 5 different libraries to get ahold of them all.

Plus, I was sharing them with the older girls, which made things more complicated. As soon as I finished DH I discussed it with my husband and we decided to let the big ones read them. So, it has been all HP all the time around here!

We also rented the dvds and then the girls went to see the new movie - without me!!!! I was honestly jealous - pretty sad, huh?

As for the Deathly Hallows -

Hedwig, Dobby and Fred - I was sad, very sad and horribly sad.

Hermione and Ron - what a fun ride!

Harry and Ginny - sooo glad that it was minimal!

Harry and Voldemort - I think that it worked.

Luna's bedroom, Ron's return, Neville's bravery, Viktor's crack about the good-looking girls - lots of good stuff.

The epilogue - thumbs up. What can I say - I am sentimental!

Sure, the plot was convoluted, and I missed Hogwarts but I enjoyed spending time with everyone - so I was pleased.

If I could, I would ask JKR about the Bible verses on the tombstones. Obviously Harry did not get them - but was she trying to imply that Dumbledore and Harry's parents knew them? Or did she just use them because they were appropriate? I wonder...

Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful for -

Broccoli Rabe - yum!
My BL teammates - so encouraging!
My health - I have been feeling good and strong!
Our upcoming trip to Disneyworld - especially that I was on the ball and made all our meal reservations back in April!!!!
My husband - every day I am reminded of how God has blessed me with him.

Biggest Loser - end of week 2

Well, I am only down .5 pounds this week, which brings my weight to 202.5. I had a week where my weight fluctuated even though I was following my plan. Some of that was, I think, sodium. I am looking at some of the meals I make and eat while I am out and I suspect that I am retaining water more than I would have thought.

The other thing is just plain eating too much! South Beach is supposed to be all about eating healthy foods in a balanced way, but sometimes I find myself eating more just because. Becuase it tastes good, or I am bored, or I don't want to *waste* it. I am thinking about strategies to curtail it and all I can come up with is....self-control!!! Which is a fruit of the spirit. Which is an issue of prayer, and of sanctification, not of a program. Then again, a good program can help in developing good habits, which is part of self-control.

Romans 7
21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

So...I am thinking about whether counting calories, or carbs, or portions, or trying the Biggest Loser plan would help - or not!

Fine Art Friday

Here is a painting by an artist I had never heard of - William-Adolphe Bouguereau. I like his paintings; they are sweet but not sentimental and they are true-looking.

So, I went over to the Met site to see if they had any paintings by Bouguereau and they did. Here is one I remember seeing -

Thankful Thursday

Easy Fudge -
3 cups chocolate chips (I like to use half semi-sweet and half dark)
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)
Mix chips and milk in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave it for 30s, stir, 30s, stir, 30s, stir and it is done. Add the vanilla, salt and nuts. Spoon it all into a 8x8 pan lined with parchment paper. Refrigerate till firm - 4-5 hours, I guess!

Goya Foods - make my stew so delicious!

Swiffers - make dusting so easy!

Lysol Disinfecting Wipes - ditto!

(Yes, I am cooking and cleaning for company today!!