Pumpkin Fun

Pie Pumpkins are now in season, and Malcolm and I enjoyed cooking them up together. He wasn't too interested in sinking himself into the pumpkin guts up to his elbows, but happily picked the pumpkin seeds out of my handful of pumpkin guts.

The flesh we cooked up, mashed, then froze in ice cube trays to use for recipes: pumpkin oatmeal, pumpkin smoothie, pumpkin soup, pumpkin bread, pumpkin cookies . . . the possibilities are endless. Sadly, our pumpkin supply isn't. For those of you out in reader land who haven't cooked with real fresh pumpkin I highly recommend it. It is a very different experience than the canned pumpkin. A little more work, perhaps, but so very, very worth it!

Plus, there is nothing like fresh roasted pumpkin seeds. Malcolm thought mixing these up (stirring, spreading out on the tray, sprinkling with kosher salt) was glorious fun. Second only to eating them when they came out of the oven!

Saving the Ta Tas

Sunday was the Big Walk, and we had loads of fun, despite the rain. Malcolm alternated between riding on Daddy's shoulders, and walking by himself. It was crazy crowded, even in the cold wet weather. In the picture of Matthew and Malcolm on the sidewalk, look carefully behind them at the crowd walking. At the very top of the picture, you can see that the road slopes uphill a bit, and you can get an idea of just how crazy huge this crowd was! Despite the epic numbers of people, everyone was really polite - no pushing, rude behavior, etc.

One of my favorite parts of the walk was seeing all the fun shirts (lots of men in pink!) Here are a few of our favorite t-shirt slogans we saw . . .

• Save the Ta Tas
• We love the Boo-Bees (they were all in bumblebee costumes)
• Fight Like a Girl
• Save Second Base

Do It For All The Breasts You Know & Love

Dear Friends & Family,

On October 3rd, I will be Making Strides to help cure breast cancer. Would you like to help? This fundraising walk relies on the generosity of individuals to help raise the money to continue the research to find a cure, as well as support patients and their families in their fight against cancer.

If you'd like to donate, you can mail me a check (email me, or post a comment, if you need my mailing address), or you can donate on line by clicking here!

Think pink & help save the Ta-Tas!

Teresa

The Big Ten

This morning's weigh in marked the achievement of my first major goal -- to lose 10% of my starting body weight. With a starting weight of 237 pounds, that means losing 23.7 pounds. Making my goal 213.3 pounds. I've been hovering just shy of it for the last four weeks, making barely any progress. So this past week, I pumped my week full of extra exercise and a high-fat treat on the weekend (sounds counter-intuitive, but it really helps as long as the portion size is reasonable and I have the weight watchers points to cover it.)

And . . . voila! This morning's weigh in -- 210.6 (making last week a 3.6 pound loss, nearly my best week ever) and putting my total lost at 26.4 pounds!

Now that I've met the Big 10% goal, I must consider what is to come. My final goal weight is under much debate among my healthcare professionals . . . but for now I'll set it as the heaviest among the choices -- I can always set a new goal when I get there. This makes my End Goal - 165 pounds (with options).

26.4 pounds down, 45.6 pounds to go . . . that is totally do-able! Even if my rate of loss slows (though it's only a grand average of 1.1 pounds per week since I started in May) I should still be able to achieve my End Goal by next summer. I think that's pretty exciting!

I Finished My Crochet Project

(Double Click the Picture to Enlarge)

Usually I crochet blankets -- you know, one-size-fits-all and flat? My few attempts at clothing in the past didn't work out so well . . . . Grandma's sweater vest that ended up big enough to pass as a circus tent . . . David's socks that ended up with not just one, but two, points on each toe . . .

But, I decided to try this little project -- a bikini top with matching hip sarong for my cousin, Liz. There were some . . . ahem, problems, with the fit at first, but after tearing it apart and remaking it a few times, it turned out just fine. Rather fine, in face. So fine, in fact, that my cousin agreed to me posting a picture of her in said bikini-ensemble online.

What do you think?

Pre Pre-school

As you may know, Matthew will start his medical technology internship in a few weeks. When he does, Malcolm will be in full time daycare/preschool. Malcolm is old enough to participate in the Universal Pre-K program, offered at a wonderful daycare across the street from our apartment complex. The preschool program, proper, doesn't start until September, but the summer program is in the same classroom, with the same teacher, curriculum, and classmates. Matthew and I decided to have Malcolm start a few weeks early, and go twice a week -- a chance to get used to the new routine, before attending five days a week in August.

Today was Malcolm's first day there. Since it's in preparation for attending the pre-K program, you could essentially call this "Pre Pre-School." As it turns out, Malcolm loved it! His new teachers appear to adore him, and he told me in the short car ride home all about the fun things he did at school. The marble maze, playground and teachers were among his favorites. He even took a nap (first time in over a year!) simply because that was what his classmates were doing! Looking forward to the weeks ahead!

Still doing well on weight watchers

T hasn't updated that little side bar in a while, but I wanted to let people know we're still doing well on weightwatchers. I am personally now down 28.2 pounds, not sure where she is. I've passed where I was before Squam, which is a relief, because while I didn't diet while on vacation, I paid for it too.