GETTING BACK TO THE ROUTINE

Life has been so crazy around here since Memorial Day weekend!  I already blogged a little about our trip to Moab, UT.  It was very last minute, very crazy, and absolutely fantastic!  I actually tracked my food intake while I was gone, and did a pretty good job staying within my calorie range.  We were VERY active while we were there and I was burning calories left and right, so I wasn't too worried overall.  I definitely still plan to write a couple of posts about our adventures there...but in the meantime, here is one of my favorite images we captured - live and in person! Seriously, seeing this after a pretty strenuous hike and 15 years of convincing myself I couldn't make that hike again - well it was worth every ache, pain, and gasp for breath!

When we got home from Moab, I was hit with a case of stomach flu (or food poisoning, I have no idea which).  I had 36 hours of pure hell while everything I had eaten on Monday made a reappearance in one unpleasant form or another.  Sadly, I kept thinking that as horrible as it all was, it was probably going to be really good for my weigh in - Silver Linings? Or time for therapy?  I am leaning towards the latter!  I snapped a pic of me after the ordeal (hopefully it is crystal clear which pic is which) and put it side by side with a pic of me after I was cleaned up and back to normal.  I can't help but share it here, because it is SO funny!

Seriously...I showed this pic to my boss at work and he said, in his very thick Indiana drawl, "Oh my hell, that looks like one of those before and after meth pictures!"  I laughed so hard...because it is so true!

After my bout with the Stomach flu, I didn't feel much like eating for the rest of the week, which should seem like a good thing, but honestly, it really wasn't!  Being out of town for the weekend had thrown me off my schedule - not terribly, but enough that I needed to get back on track quickly.  Stomach flu, and my subsequent non-existent appetite, made it impossible to truly get back into my routine.  So, even though my weigh in went well that week, I was struggling to get back into the swing of things.

That was a bad thing, because the craziness had only just begun.

The weekend after we went to Moab turned into a marathon yard work weekend.  Chris and I pulled weeds, we removed dead trees, returned them, bought new ones and planted them.  We planted bushes, plants, mowed...we worked our butts off!  It was a really productive weekend outside - inside, well that's another story - but again, I struggled to stay on routine.  Being outside all day meant we didn't really eat a meal, but rather snacked.  And when we were done, well, we had no desire to cook...so instead we ate out.  Again, I technically stayed within my calorie range, but frankly, there is more to this than just the calorie count!

I NEED ROUTINE!

Going into the next week we were exhausted - and it wasn't about to slow down!

On Tuesday my mother-in-law came down to pick the girls up for their extended summer visit with her - that meant Monday was spent cleaning, doing laundry, packing and prepping.

Wednesday was the last day of school for my girls, and they both had to take treats, so Tuesday - in addition to hosting my mother-in-law, I also had to get treats and other end of school items handled.

Thursday Chris and I had to get everything prepped, packed and loaded for our trip to Lake Powell as we were leaving on Friday night. We had decided that the lawn would have to be mowed before we left, so as soon as I got home from work I started mowing.  That somehow turned into a marathon evening of yard work - finishing up what we hadn't from the weekend before.   SERIOUSLY, WHO DOES AN IMPROMPTU YARD WORK MARATHON ON A THURSDAY NIGHT, AFTER WORK, WHILE GETTING READY FOR A MINI VACAY???  We also managed to pack the van with all of our camping gear and get ready to head out on Friday as soon as we got off work.

WHEW!

Friday after work we got home, finished up last minute preparations and drove to Lake Powell.  We left home at around 6:30 PM and we got there at 12:30 AM!!!

Saturday, Sunday we enjoyed the Lake (it is amazing, and despite the absolutely punishing, unseasonal heat, we loved every minute of it) and on Monday we headed home.  We got back at about 6:00 PM.  We proceeded to unpack, clean the van (seriously, we detailed the thing - no idea where the energy to do that came from) and then we CRASHED hard.  Here is a one of the fantastic scenes we took in at the Lake in a side canyon where we didn't see another human being for 2 full hours!! It was like our own little piece of heaven!

Getting up for work on Tuesday was like death!

ANYWAY, long story short - I have not been on any sort of routine for two weeks!  Yesterday it was hard to make it through the day - I started out really strong, but as the day went on it got harder.  I managed to hang on, but I was definitely fighting to make it happen!  Today was the same. I need to go grocery shopping, I need to get a menu put together - not being on top of that is making everything harder...BUT, every day that I make it through is a step back to routine and sanity!

I'm getting there!

I know my weigh in won't be great on Saturday - but honestly, right now I am focused on getting back to my routine, getting back to organized!  If I can make some serious progress on those things, I will be thrilled!