The Pants

What, I drop that mega-post on you and then I just disappear?  Sorry about that!  I was in a terrible mood yesterday and it just didn’t seem right to subject anyone but the husband to me.  Plus, I was actually in such a terrible mood that I couldn’t even get it together to make dinner so there wasn’t a whole lot of foodage going on.

A lot of times a bad day is just about a bad mood, and even though I know that I still couldn’t shake my rain cloud yesterday.  possibly because I had to get up at 6:30 on a Friday.  I rolled out of bed early, but on the wrong side of the bed!

I had to get up early to attend a meeting about an honor society I was invited to because of my summer school grades.  What I didn’t learn until after the 7:15am meeting is that I’m actually not eligible until after a 3rd semester at my school. 

The minute we left the meeting I was starving.  Not just hungry, stomach-growling, headachey, starving.  Nothing was open until 8:30.  I buy a medium coffee with skim milk.

I wait.  I get really psyched about an oatmeal bar in the food court.  It turns out a bunch of people called in sick and actually nothing is open.  I could go get food from the coffee place though.  I know it doesn’t make sense to some people, but I get more picky as I get hungrier.  If my stomach feels like it’s eating itself I want something good; I don’t want a dried out bagel or a mass-produced croissant.

I ended up wandering around campus for 1.5hours in futile search, getting hungrier by the minute.  Finally, minutes before class, I found this cup of grapes.

The grapes lifted my mood considerably.  But then in class I learned that the portfolio assignment due next week has to be turned in in an actual portfolio.  An actual expensive portfolio.  I’m sorry, I realize it’s not exactly cool that I have to budget for a binder, but it pisses me off that I’ve had to spend so much money on school supplies this semester.

After my 2hour class I went straight to a group meeting for a project.  We didn’t finish until it was time for Orgo, good thing I had eaten those grapes! 😉

I had absolutely no understanding of what we were talking about in Orgo.  None.  I started freaking out about the next test, and being super angry with myself that I let myself get behind on the reading.  By the time Anatomy was done I just wanted the day to be over.  I didn’t even go to the gym as planned, I just went home.  Sidenote – I do realize that the gym would have certainly lifted my spirits, but I was still starving.

I poured myself a serving of Terra Chips Blues.

The plan was to refill the bowl with some food-food as soon as I was done.  Yeah, about that; I never got off the couch!  I just let my bad mood spiral out of control.  Not doing any errands, or doing anything fun, certainly didn’t make me feel better and it just got worse and worse.

This morning I was determined to have a good day.  Really, it’s all about attitude.  When the alarm went off at 7:40 I read a magazine in bed before getting up.  I took a much-needed shower.  I cleaned the apartment – that one’s not actually that fun, but the mess was stressing me out.

I made a healthy, tasty breakfast.

A serving of Special K Red Berries with skim milk,

and some leftover fruit (papaya, mango, grapes, watermelon) I brought home from food lab.

Adam and I went on errands and took care of business (including buying that portfolio!).  When we got groceries we also got smile-inducing hot bar and a diet pop.

Who doesn’t love hot bar?

A bunch of green beans with a little bit of eggplant tomato salad,

cashew chicken with a tiny bit of fried chicken,

roasted veggies.

To round out the good mood vibes, I got a fun package from my parents.  With seasonal gifts.

And “the pants.”

Some background on the pants – When Adam was a freshman in college (I was a sophomore) his mom sent him a great pair of pajama pants.  They were super comfortable and I borrowed them often.  As time went on I eventually just stole them.  I was wearing the pants the Christmas morning that Adam proposed.  I wore them through recovery from all my various injuries.  The pants are the item I would save if the house was on fire.

The pants have been getting thin (they are old and I wear them a LOT).  I hardly ever wash them, and my mom has done many minor repairs.  Well, a few weeks ago I tore a huge hole through the left knee.  I sent my mom the pants in tears.  She rocks, and now I guess they are “the capris.”

When I mailed the pants, I threatened my mom several times that I would stop loving her if she threw away any of the fabric.  Instead, she made the legs into a pillow (dont’ worry, she also saved the scraps!) –

Adam and I love it.

I guess the point of the very long, whine-filled post is that today is a better day.  It always is.  And this took me so long to write that I took a snack break and ate a Brown Cow 0% Strawberry Greek Yogurt with homemade chocolate pb.

The end.

Do you own anything like “the pants?”

Pumpkin Powered

Happy Hump Day!  Sorry for bailing on you guys yet again, apparently I have not quite kicked my cold – I spent yesterday in another hours long afternoon nap!  On a similar note: I have not been to the gym in more than a week (and it’s killing me) so at this point I might as well wait until I am fully well; my back to sweat date is Friday.  I might try to sneak in some strength/stretching before then, but no walking home in sweaty gym clothes!

I had to get an immediate start on work today so I made myself a bowl of “power-up pumpkin” for breakfast.

I topped a 1/2cup of 0% Plain Oikos with 1/4cup canned pumpkin, a bit of homemade chocolate pb, and two small crumbled pumpkin butterscotch cookies.

The flavor combo was divine!  My favorite part is the awesome texture of cookie crumbles melting into the yogurt.  Plus, maybe it’s a mother’s love thing, but don’t even try to tell me this bowl isn’t still pretty once it’s stirred –

It’s like pumpkin tie dye!

I think it helped to power me up too; I took notes on the online lecture we had to watch and finished my Orgo Lab work for tonight.  Gotta get back to work!

P.S. Don’t forget to enter my giveway!

A Sick Day from Life

Welcome to the work-week!  Sorry to leave you hanging, I had to take a “sick day” from life this weekend.  The Heart Walk was a ton of fun, but ultimately a bad idea.  I started with a fever and after spending that much time outside – you’d be surprised how long it takes to walk a 5k – I was done.  I slept for 4.5 solid hours Saturday afternoon!  We did manage to have a bit of fun this weekend though….

Trying out this “Hurricane Simulator” at the Mall – strange! – while getting plain tart froyo.

Using the food processor to whip up a batch of homemade chocolate peanut butter (no recipe as of yet, it still needs tweeks).

Eating tons of Butterscotch Pumpkin Cookies.

Mostly we cuddled up on the couch and watched tv though; it was heaven!

I knew today needed to be all about school work – I have a huge Anatomy Lab test on Thursday – so I started my morning with a cure-all (hopefully!) yogurt mix bowl!

0% Honey Oikos Greek Yogurt topped with canned pumpkin,

gingerbread granola,

homemade chocolate pb,

and a cherry pumpkin on top!

I’ve got a giveaway coming with lunch, be sure to stop by!

What was the highlight of your weekend?

Two Down, Three to Go

I’m 2/5 done with hell week!  I got a B(ish) on my 100 test – booooo – and probably a 100% on my 110 quiz.  Right now I’m poised for a D (or less!) on the next three so I can’t talk.

Breakfast was a layer of Yoplait Honey Vanilla Greek Yogurt,

topped with smoothie – strawberries, water, coconut water, and Original Amazing Meal (free sample, very nice, basically flavorless but added a bit of tang),

topped with gingerbread granola –

Good.

I actually made a breakfast that was good, but I couldn’t finish it because of a rain incident.

Energy drink before test 1.

Southwest Flatbread Sandwich from library cafe (corn, beans, cheese, chicken).

Gym was not as good as usual; I started to run and was so exhausted that I just couldn’t.  I wasn’t about to waste a workout outfit though, I pulled up some Bio notes to distract myself and did some incline walking –

  • 5minute walking warm up
  • 5minutes jogging
  • 20minutes incline walking
  • 3minute cool down

2.07miles.

Pickle.

Serving of crackers with salsa.

Dinner, dipped in ranch.

Roasted yellow beans,

disappointing okra (it was so fibrous I couldn’t chew it!  I only choked down 1),

pizza thin, i.e. an Arnold’s WW Sandwich Thin with marinara and part-skim mozzarella.

Ice-cream sandwich for dessert.

I took this handful of the husband’s peanut M&M’s.  Then I put all but 4 back because I had just had an ice-cream sandwich and M&M’s aren’t even that exciting.

I have an Anatomy exam tomorrow, holy God.

How’s your week going?  Want to fill me in on any blogland gossip I’ve been missing?

Wonky WordPress

I’m blogging after midnight on a Friday and I haven’t gone out or done any drinking; what is wrong with this picture?!?!  [Actually, you can subtract 30ish minutes from this post time-stamp because WordPress was being redonkulous]

I got in bed before 10pm again yesterday and could still barely peel myself out of bed; who’s going to tell my body about next week’s all-nighters?!  I have 9am class on Friday so I did at least manage to eat before I left the house.

Brown Cow 0% Vanilla Greek Yogurt (A 99cent find I was quick pleased with, although the texture was a bit thin.) with a strawberry honey straw.

In between my 1st and 2nd class I worked on Orgo with a friend.  And had a minor breakdown when I realized how little I know.  I also drank a big cup of coffee with skim milk. :::imagine a cup of coffee here; as I said, WordPress is insane:::  And snacked on some celery I took home from food lab.

I went to Orgo (and felt my blood pressure rise just a bit more), and then Anatomy (little higher), and then got the most ridiculous e-mail ever about our lab homework for next week and sort of lost it.  I AM SO ANGRY!  I’ll leave it at that.

Adam actually met me at school to study and I wasted a good 45minutes spazzing out at him about next week.  And then I realized something crucial – complaining doesn’t change the situation.  So I got to work.  We stayed at school until 7:30, but I am done with my homework for Monday.  I ended up grabbing dinner from the food court when I realized I wouldn’t be escaping campus as soon as I’d planned.

A Crunchwrap Supreme, with chicken, from Taco Bell.

Actually, we left school at 7:30 so we could get to UPS before it closed.  Then we went back.  I had to pick up my gym bag and do my printing; we didn’t really leave school until 9:30.

When we got home we had to put some laundry in …… and then we went for a run.  It felt a little crazy, but I made a committment to get back into shape, so I’m going to do the damn thing.  ~2miles/21minutes.  I did a quick strength/stretch when we got home, and it felt good.

Bedtime, no?

When is the craziest time you’ve ever worked out?

An Afternoon Giveaway

This is going to be a quick post, but I wanted to give y’all time to win!

Today’s been a bit crazy, but I found out some major good news about an issue with my program (via a 1.5hour meeting I didn’t have time for!) so I’m happy.  I had my 8am library class today, so I packed a Chocolate Bumble Bar to nibble between classes.

I’ve liked every BB I’ve ever tried, but this flavor is definitely a new favorite!  It was sweet in the most pleasant way, sort of like cocoa mixed with honey?!

I attended a “Welcome to the Dietetics Department” lunch this afternoon.

Fruits,

veggies,

small slice of cheese pizza.

You’d be surprised how “normal” the food is at dietetics events; the last one was just cookies and pretzels.

I snuck in a visit to the gym after my meeting.  35minutes on the elliptical, random, level 6.  Followed by a few minutes of strength/stretching.  I can’t believe how long I went without working out last year; I think I’d be going insane with school if it wasn’t for the gym!

I just got home a few minutes ago and I’ve already housed this Yoplait Greek Strawberry Yogurt.

I tried a Yoplait Greek at Kristen’s house a few months ago when I was in Orlando for my half marathon, but I hadn’t seen them available in Buffalo until last week.  While I finally found them here so I scooped some up (with my own money, fyi).  A Yoplait rep contacted me to say she saw them on the blog, and I thought of you guys!  I feel like a lot of people wouldn’t think of Yoplait because it’s not one of the “traditional” Greek brands, but it’s actually a really good product.  Additionally, I feel like this stuff could be “Gateway Greek,” for people who haven’t made the leap yet; the strawberry one is actually strawberry flavored rather than plain with fruit on the bottom.  The rep was more than happy to send me so coupons, and that’s where you guys come in!

Want to try some Yoplait Greek yogurt?  I will be picking two readers (randomly) to receive a free coupon.  All you have to do is vote for me for Foodbuzz’s Project Food Blog.  Then take a screen shot of the voting page and send it to me at emilyhwaxATgmail.com.  You have until noon on Thursday, good luck!

Pumpkin Packed Pantry

It’s been the near perfect sort of Saturday – fun time, food time, school time, errands.  I’m definitely a happier camper when my weekends are productive 🙂

We headed over to the in-law’s hotel at 7:00 this morning to meet up for breakfast.  Everyone was getting the buffet so I did as well, but there ended up not being a lot available for me.  Sidenote – what kind of breakfast buffet has no fruit?!?  I ended up putting together a pretty good meal though.

Drinks –

Black coffee (they only had cream) and a small pour of oj.

1 plate –

A little bit of scrambled eggs and breakfast potatoes with a half slice of french toast (syrup was hiding off to the side).

1 bowl –

A vanilla Dannon with half a serving of Frosted Flakes and strawberry jam.

Adam and his parents drove up to the funeral today but I had too much school work so I had to stay home.  My knees have been hurting (too much ellipticalling?) so I decided to skip the gym today, but I still wanted to stretch my legs out so instead I walked home from breakfast.  Glorious!  The walk was a little less than 2miles and the crisp 50* weather felt amazing.  Plus I got to walk through the farmers’ market on my way home.

I spent the morning crafting my totally embarrassing entry for Foodbuzz’s Project Food Blog.  At least I can cross having to do the subsequent challenges off my to-do list 😉  I did some school reading as well.  It actually took me forever to get started on work and I was furious with myself, but then I was so pleased once I accomplished something.

Around 2:30 I set out for Target and Wegmans.  I didn’t get home until 5:30, which means that grocery shopping took an insane amount of time.  But I found Libby’s pumpkin, so it was totally worth it!  I never really got hungry for lunch, though I did grab a medium iced coffee (with skim milk) at the store.

Normally I would try to eat a snack now to round out dinner, but we have a fun (big!) dinner planned so for today I’ll just hope things even out on their own.

Have you found canned pumpkin in your neck of the woods yet?

Study Emergen-C

After two days in a row with less than enough sleep (certainly not because I got up at 6:30 to watch the “Covert Affairs” finale today!) I knew today was the perfect time to try the parfait recipe that came in the latest Emergen-C newsletter.

I didn’t layer, I don’t like to conform.

I also switched up the recipe a bit.  My version had Stoneyfild Low Fat French Vanilla Yogurt, an Acai Berry Emergen-C packet, cinnamon, some chopped plum, and a 1/2cup of gingerbread granola.

Honestly, this wasn’t very good 😦  The taste was way too fizzy, not something I’m looking for in my yogurt.

I’m heading to campus now and my anatomy quiz is at 9.  Once that blood bath is wrapped up – literally, because I think after the failing we are going back to our cats – I have a short break for lunch, Food Prep Lab, a club meeting, and then I finally get to go to the gym.

May your day be filled with love.

Any tricks up your sleeve that keep you from getting sick?