Monday, September 28, 2015

Motivational Coaching and Side Eye

After an nice Friday anniversary I was looking forward to having an productive Saturday. Before he had to go to work, my husband and I went to pick up his anniversary LEGO set. I still have a little regret that I didn't pick out a new keychain.

We were in a bit of a hurry, so I didn't really have time to agonize over which one to get :)  While my husband was getting his bus ready I noticed a few yard sales in the area. I didn't find anything too interesting...except this pup.
She made it pretty clear that even though she was not allowed out of her yard, she was there to be petted. Sweet old girl.
I dropped off my husband at work. I hung out with him while he pre-tripped his bus.
I am fascinated by the dome shaped mirrors on the front.

So with my husband dropped off, I had good intentions to clean the house while he was working, Instead I spent two hours testing a couple of recipes. (More on that later this week). Then I pretty much parked myself on the couch and caught up on a bunch of shows that I had recorded, but my husband doesn't watch. I was feeling super lazy. Then I read Mary at Runs to Get Waisted's blog post. She is in marathon training and ran 14 miles on Saturday. I kept telling myself if she was out running 14 miles the least I could do is get my buns off the couch and walk 2 miles for our 30 minutes/day challenge. However, I was still having trouble getting myself moving. So, desperate times call for desperate measures.

My niece loves playing characters. All you have to do is her and ask "is this.....?" She will always say "yes it is" in whichever voice she deems appropriate. I can't count the millions of dollars my husband has spent on hairstyles from the "world famous hair designer" character. I can tell you there is a direct correlation with the number of times he has appeared before the "judge" for writing bad checks to pay for the hairstyles.

So, I decided my only option was to call a "world famous motivational coach." Her advice - walk to her house (about 1/2 mile from my house). Once you are there you might as well finish walking around the loop. Then once you are finished the loop there is nothing left to do but walk home. And there it is - 2 miles.

I told her that makes sense and seems pretty easy, but how do I get out the door? Then came her final advice..."pretend there is a cookie truck at my house."  Is it bad that I got up off the couch and got out the door??

She even sent me this snapchat to seal the deal.


And off I go...


Spoiler Alert!  I was duped. There was NO cookie truck anywhere in the neighborhood. I thought it was a little ironic that she used cookies to get me moving. The inspiration for me to start my blog was from reading Runs for Cookies. I hope this doesn't need to be said...I never believed there was a cookie truck out there :)

Since I was out there walking I figured I might as well take a few pictures. I didn't take very many because I was really trying to move quickly.

This house is really coming along. I can't wait to see the inside. And I am little jealous of the new driveway it is getting.
This next picture may represent the first time someone might have noticed me photo stalking and cast a little side eye my direction. I was walking along when I noticed someone had sprinklers in their yard. I thought it was pretty strange for someone to be watering the lawn in late September. And then the watering device caught my eye. I crossed the street (casually) so I could get a closer look as I walked. A guy by the garage noticed I crossed the street. When I realized it was a tractor I had to get a picture. Since the guy's view was obstructed by a bush I went ahead and took the picture. Then around the bush he comes. I don't think he saw me take the picture and he didn't say anything. But I am guessing he found me suspicious and had to keep an eye on me. So, I walked faster. My advice to him is if you don't want someone checking out your yard, don't put a fun tractor sprinkler in it :)
And because I want to keep readers I am not posting the awful squished squirrel on the road. Just when you thought I would take a picture of anything....

Confession. On that same walk I think I got another sideways look from someone. As I am walking down the street, I hear this from about a block away.


A couple was sitting in their convertible listening to music and when I glanced over the woman waved with "a what are you looking at" look on her face. I thought it was odd. And it was even odder the next day when my sister and I walked by and they were sitting in the driveway again listening to music.

Sunday was a pretty laid back day. My niece spent the night with us Saturday night. Of course, we had to have Sunday breakfast. It was fun working in the kitchen together. My husband was in charge of making the Dutch Babies. There are similar to a German pancake. We served them with sliced bananas and a little cinnamon/vanilla syrup.
We played some spirited games of Stinko. It is kinda like Solitaire except everyone plays on the cards up top. After a few games we upped it to Extreme Stinko - each person plays with two decks and twice as many stacks.  It was a little intense.
 Each person places with their own deck. I have quite a card collection. I haven't counted, but I am guessing 50-70 decks. Most of them are from places we have visited or someone has given us from their travels.
 Millie joined me on the couch to watch some football. It wasn't long before I fell asleep too.
 While we watched football and napped, my husband got a good start on his new LEGO set.

We sampled my produce find of the week. I was in the grocery store and saw Dragonfruit for 99 cents. I had never had it and figured it was worth a shot for that price. Then it rang up $4.99. Apparently, part of the price fell off the display. They ended up letting me buy it for the 99 cents :)
In general, I am not a fan of exotic fruits, but for the price I couldn't resist. I talked my husband and niece into trying it with me. Sadly, it had almost NO flavor. It was beautiful to look at but a complete disappointment in the taste department :)

Finally, when I was anniversary card shopping last week I came across a type of card I have never seen before.

Have you seen weight loss cards?  What are your thoughts?

12 comments:

  1. Ha, funny about the stink eye. I honestly might've said, "Awesome tractor. I need to take a picture for my husband." You're right, if you don't want people checking out your lawn, don't get a cool sprinkler.
    I absolutely love your motivational coach. how much did she charge for that? ;) Good for you for getting off your duff and getting moving even if you didn't want to.
    And finally, you need some Detroit Red Wings playing cards. Come visit us, we have great pizza!

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    1. Yeah, maybe I should have said something, but instead I chose "walk faster" :) Thankfully, I get a better deal on motivational coaching than my husband does on hairstyles. I am pretty sure if I got Red Wings I would be run out of town by Blues fans.

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  2. Way to get off the couch and go for a walk! I think the promise of cookies would probably get me moving too ;)

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    1. Sadly the cookies were a ruse, but it still worked :0

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  3. OH EM GEE! Someone else in the world plays that version of Solitaire! We call it battle solitaire though! When you run out of moves, do you count the total in the middle and whoever has the most.. wins? That's how we do it. And should it end in a tie, then we pay Battle by flipping one card at a time and the highest wins the battle and takes your card. Whoever has the most cards from the "battle" wins the game!

    Ok I'm just psyched that someone else plays that!

    BTW, I've seen the tractor lawn waterer down here. It's adorable. Way to get up and get moving! I sure could have used a motivational coach yesterday!

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    1. I don't think is is quite the same :( In a normal game you have a stack of 13 cards and four face up piles. The goal is to get rid of the 13 either using them on your four piles or by building on the cards in the middle. We play until some gets rid of their 13 - I don't think we ever get stuck. Then the winner is the person who had the most cards in the middle (minus what ever they have left of their 13). I have heard another name for it but can't remember it now. Sounds like it has some definitely similarities to your game.

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    2. Ok yea, kinda similar at least but a little different!

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  4. A cookie truck! I am so going to start a business and using that as my model. Oh wait....I may eat the stock! Darn....foiled again!

    Good job for getting up an walking! Sounds like a good weekend too!

    I LOVE the idea of the card! There is nothing better than someone actually complimenting me on my hard work. But they are usually people that KNOW what I'm doing and the work I'm putting into the weight loss. However, I can see how it would be a bad thing when someone sends a card like that to someone they really don't know....and really don't know the situation.

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    1. Yep, I have NO business starting a cookie truck - can you imagine the temptation?? I am all for a card, but it seems like it is a delicate subject for lots of people. Even though I have a blog I feel weird when people in my real life comment on my weight loss.

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  5. I'm not what I'd think about a weight loss card. I am sort of amazed that they make them though. :) Your niece is definitely the best motivator ever - a cookie truck would get me to do a lot of things!

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    1. I am on the fence about the card too - seems nice, but...

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  6. Way to get off the couch! I just loved the old dog picture! So sweet!!

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