We’ve been in charge of Flat Stanley. Are you familiar with Flat Stanley? You can read all about him here. This past weekend was about getting photos like this:Let me tell you…on a colder-than-normal, windy May day, Flat Stanley can be a demanding pain in the ass. We were about ready to send him off on a one-way cruise to Alaska:He’s actually gonna get a one-way ride back East tomorrow in a beat up manilla envelope. See ya, Stan!

As much as I complain (seriously, ANY obligation these days feels like an immense burden), taking Flat Stanley around did inspire me to find a solution to my funk. I told Chris that we’re breaking out of our rut and trying something NEW every week. Whether we drive to a new neighborhood and walk around, or go to a new movie, or try a new class…something, anything, to get us out of the house.

(It has been of NO help that the weather, as you can see in the above photo, has been miserable. Even for Seattle.)

So we put our plan into action by taking a Whole Foods picnic with us to a park on Sunday.
We’ve lived here 5 years and have never gone on a picnic. I don’t think Chris had ever had Whole Foods Hot Bar/Salad Bar! I know! What’s wrong with us????

Well, whatever it is, we’re fixing it NOW. Honestly, Chris has been slammed at work, and I’ve been wallowing in unemployment woes, but we are clawing our way out and it’s already making us happier. For anyone who’s in a rut, there’s no time like the present to make things better.

I’ll be back to post my sources of inspiration soon!

Source

A week ago, I received a gold star at my WeightWatchers meeting for losing 10 pounds. It was pretty amazing considering I’ve been eating cheese, chocolate, pasta, bananas…all the foods that might have caused me to gain weight in the past. I have also been eating fat-free dairy, lean meats, lots of fresh fruits and veggies – all the good stuff. I am losing weight at about 2 lbs a month. Not bad considering my only exercise is walking the dog, and she’s getting more slow and pokey every day.

But really, losing weight has been the only highlight of life for a while, and I couldn’t hold onto it. Last week was not good. I was cheating and not tracking. Then I went to my meeting on Friday and chose not to weigh in. I later realized that was a big mistake.

No matter what, face the scale. It’s the only way to see where you really are and move forward.

I went from my WeightWatchers meeting to a casino buffet. Not kidding. I didn’t necessarily overeat, but I did sample about five desserts. I felt like an alcoholic on a bender. The rest of the weekend was not good. (Although I did win $100 at Blackjack, so there’s that.)

My home scale says I’m up 2.5 lbs. I know that’s not the end of the world, but it’s certainly not a move in the right direction.

It’s time to get back on track (oh hello Holiday Weekend!).

Of course, the big question is not HOW – I know how to do this – the question is WHY? The WHY is that I’m angry and anxious. Those are two very strong feelings that drive food into my face. I won’t go into the details, but just know that I know, and I’m on it.

I am recommitting NOW.

And now a funny story from my WW meeting: my buddy and I sit in front of two sisters who are probably in their 60′s. One sister has been doing very well on the program and the other keeps sabotaging herself by eating bread and butter at night. When the struggling sister learned that her sister was .2 lbs away from goal, she said, “POINT TWO??? That’s a fart, for God’s sake!”

We died. Our meetings are the best laugh of the week.

Here’s to a better week!

I’ve been totally scattered between *still* looking for a job AND trying to get our new place in Portland put together. (“Scattered? You? No!” I can hear it now.)

This pretty much gives you an idea of life these days. It’s pretty glamorous, get ready:IPhone photo even though I had both my Point-and-Shoot and my DSLR with me. Nice.

That’s dinner (Veggie Pizza with Vegan Cheese) from HOTLIPS Pizza.

Chris built the table himself.

I’m having real cheese next time.

Anyway, what you really need to know about is the Candy Bus we discovered on our walk down Hawthorne. Like a lame-o, I didn’t even have my camera with me so you’ll just have to check out their Facebook page here.

The mini-school bus with a candy store inside is called Chalk-let.

Get it?

I bought a small bag of these:I try to make sure I eat enough fruit.

I promise more details to follow, and I will break out the camera and not be so lazy distracted.

I’m super excited for the photography class at Summer School Portland in June. If you’re also attending, please let me know!

I want to recap my weekend, but a friend and I were on a bit of a secret mission so I can’t give a whole lot of details.

You know,I can’t let Ink out of the recyclable shopper. So to speak.

I can say we saw this Portland view:and I fell in love with my friend’s sister’s spice rack:and we ate tacos and ice cream cake to celebrate the Mothers in attendance.

Not much else to tell except that we also had a secondary stealth mission to secure the keys to our new condo.

Mission accomplished.

Right after we ate $5 sushi specials at Umi Sushi in the Lloyd District. Seriously, a California roll and a nice big bowl of spicy ramen (that didn’t give me a migraine) for FIVE DOLLARS? Insane.

I can’t give more details, cuz that’s how we roll.

But I can show you this:Now that’s too cute to keep secret.