Day 435

I needed to escape. Flee, run away, hide, decompress, de-stress. I needed to clear my head and get my mind off of work. Knowing I had today and tomorrow off probably spurred my interest in escaping.

These last few weeks have been a marathon. Early mornings, late nights. 12-14 hour days. Even my weekends were not immune. My life has been juicing, work, juicing, work. My exercise bike has sat dormant for most of those couple weeks. I haven't even been able to carve out an hour between 5 AM and 11 PM to get on the bike. It's not like I haven't tried, but once I sit down to work after dinner I look up and it's dark and hubby is already snoring away.

When I used to work full time, our place of escape was always Jackpot. Gambling, whether we won or lost, always took our minds off work. And today I was oh-so-tempted to drive down. Distract myself with the pile of magazine reading I have to catch up on, distract myself with the book I started and haven't finished, and distract myself with the slot machines.

And unfortunately I gave into temptation. I figured driving a couple hundred miles from home would give me the distance I needed. Except on the drive down a work phone call happened. Then when I got checked in the room and was digging in my purse, a message that I needed to call school. Again.

It's my own fault. Next year I need to set some guidelines about contacting me on my days off.

I really don't want to feel so desperate that I have to spend my time here instead of my garden.

Day 434

I've got yard sales on my mind. Not going to them, but having one.

It has been probably close to 15 years since we've had a yard sale. Since that time we have accumulated a lot of stuff. A lot. A houseful.

When we bought this house it made sense to fill it up. We were moving from a place of less than 1000 square feet to a place of over 2000 square feet that also had a storage room off the carport plus an additional shed in the backyard. We had empty rooms here that needed furnishings and storage areas that needed to be filled up.

But now it's just the two of us (three if you count the cat) and we both (he's finally on board) are tired of the stuff. With no kids around, no grandkids yet, and hubby's retirement looming in the next few years we need to be thinking ahead.

My dream would be to sell everything (including the house) and move into a tiny little place. While that complete sell-off won't happen for a long time now, we can start working towards it. Maybe a yard sale is looming in our future. But before we even get to that yard sale, there are things I have others who are reading this right now might be interested in.

First up, a small sunflower wall quilt measuring 21.5" by 23". Made by me.

So let's make this a "Win it Wednesday". If you're interested in this being yours, just post here. (If more than one person is interested, I'll randomly pick a winner on Friday.)

Day 433

I can't wait until the May primary gets here. Actually, it's my mailbox that can't wait. Every day we get a couple of campaign fliers in the mail. We've gotten the same ones again and again and again. We've never had this many coming in before and I couldn't figure out why. Until I talked to hubby, Mr. American Government Teacher.

This year Idaho went through reapportionment. So all those folks who have kept their seats over the years and didn't need to campaign because their positions were uncontested in primary elections are trying hard to hold on.

And the stack of fliers we get every day is a testament to their persistence-determination-campaign contributions.

Just today the mailbox today held seven of those fliers, the highest one-day total so far.

Day 432

I had a feeling I might be off on the weight loss. See, hubs only weighs himself once a week and I've followed his lead. So the weight loss numbers I reported yesterday were a few days old. I should have waited and reported the new numbers we both earned today. Better numbers.

Hubs has lost four pounds this week for a total of 21 pounds. I lost three pounds this week for a total of 22 pounds. (And to think what we would have lost if we weren't going out to dinner so much.) But we're more than okay with the numbers. Losing weight and still going out to eat is a great thing - that's a lifestyle change we both can live with. (But don't tell too many people that today was Teacher Appreciation at my school and I had a piece of strawberry cheesecake.)

I also have another feeling. Remember the picture of the squirrel I took last year on Day 89? And the story I told about the squirrel ready to attack on Day 101? Well, I think he still has it out for me. Guess he thinks he needs to keep his eye on me when I'm on the computer. Thank goodness for the window between us.

Day 431

25 pounds.

Unfortunately I can't report that I've lost 25 pounds. Can't even report that hubby has lost 25 pounds. But I can report I've lost 19 pounds and hubs has lost 17 pounds in the six weeks since we started juicing. Not too shabby considering...

• We've eaten a bunch of times at Alejandra's.
• I went to Chinese with my mom and daughter.
• Hubby ate at a bbq at school.
• We had hamburgers one night.
• We went to Sisters and enjoyed marionberry pie and steak and hamburgers and pizza at dinner (along with the juice at breakfast and lunch, of course).
• My daughter kept me supplied with Peeps.
• The granola bars that have been sitting in our cabinet for months have mysteriously disappeared. (I only know this because I was hunting for one the other day myself.)

But we have been consistent in our juicing. Every breakfast, every lunch, and sometimes at dinner. Lots of veggies and fruits have permeated our systems. Kale, red and white chard, bok choy, spinach, cabbage, beets and beet greens, celery, carrots, zucchini, cucumbers, kiwi, apples, pears, lemons, grapes, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, and red, orange, and green bell peppers. Pounds and pounds of them every week.

But where did the 25 pounds come from? That's the amount of just carrots we go through each week. The apple in the picture shows just how big of a bag that is.