We made it! We actually finished clearing out storage last Sunday, but I've been too distracted to post photos.
As an aside, I thought it was interesting all three walls of this locker were patched. I wonder if someone who rented this space before us broke into all three of the adjoining lockers. It never occurred to me to be worried about folks breaking in this way. Consider yourself warned.
We still haven't figured out where to store the extra black wire racks that no longer fit. But we did finally decide to let the white cubes go. I'm trying to overcome my tendency to hang onto things just in case we might need them later.
We've started setting up the workout area.
We are currently searching for a used recumbent bike for me. I don't really want to buy new, but if I haven't found something by Black Friday, then I'll probably break down and buy new.
Jeff already chose the set up he wants (the Inspire FTX) but we'll probably wait until Black Friday to buy it as well. That will give us a good deadline to get everything cleared out and have the spot ready for it.
Well, we decided to do one last remodel. This one is more of a spruce up than an actual remodel.
We have this funky basement storage area in the front portion of our basement.
This space is not original to this house. This is a space that Mr. Leonard (the 2nd owner of the house) actually dug out and finished to store the massive amount of sawdust/wood chips they needed for the house boiler. The front stairs were originally wood and they would simply remove the tread and blow in the wood chips. We were told stories by the Leonard kids of their memory of digging tunnels and playing around in the pile of sawdust/chips.
We have found this space handy for storing stuff that we should probably get rid of, like wedding momentos and old records.
After the remodel, we filled this space with the master bedroom furniture and we never set up any dedicated space for working out. But we've been putting weight back on, and we've finally gotten motivated to set up a new workout space. Really, the only space we have left is in this front storage area.
Here is how the space looks tonight. We've been shifting some of our long-term storage (stuff we don't expect to touch again until we move) into the attic. We've also got a growing pile of stuff that we'll toss or donate, as appropriate. Tomorrow we have movers coming and they'll schlep the rest of the stuff to temporary storage.
Tim Austin thinks he'll have time next week to help us spruce up the space. We're going to paint everything a light color, probably Hubbard Squash because we have nearly 5 gallons of it. And he's going to help us cover the floor. He'll probably put down more of the DRICORE Subfloor Tiles, then we're going to put some sort of rubber exercise mat over the top. We have a couple of lights leftover from our earlier basement remodel and we hope to hang those at well.
We may have to hire an electrician to install some power outlets. It's likely we'll need a place to plug in an exercise bike.
BASCO finally brought us a loaner range today after I had a good rant at them last week. Yeah, Thanksgiving sucked with no oven. This is on loan until our Fisher & Paykel comes in.
BASCO did not order the new range until this week so it is likely it will be more likely the end of January before we get it. I very much regret ordering the Ilve back in May; I never would have if I'd had any idea of the headache it would turn into.
For Jeff's birthday in November, I bought him an Oculus Quest 2. He immediately signed up for the Supernatural exercise app at the recommendation of a friend. We've really been enjoying exercising to music. We actually had to empty out the front parlor area to make space for us to stand there and swing around our arms. It's the only space on the main floor that has enough clearance below the light fixtures.
Our main floor is going to be quite cramped with the addition of the TV and gaming computer. We're planning to take most of the furniture to storage to make room during the basement project.
Last April, Jeff and I found ourselves at our highest weights ever. We had spent years sitting around playing video games and eating terrible food. I was struggling to get around and with knee troubles, having a hard time getting up and down the stairs. That is, in part, what prompted us to start looking for a one-story house in Prineville.
Jeff does all the food shopping and I asked him to please stop bringing home cookies and sodas. Back then, I had very little willpower to avoid them even when I should. He was also uneasy about his weight, having just gone for a visit where family members told him he looked fat and having gotten exhausted on a hike with a friend.
Together we decided we were ready to tackle a new project: Our health.
That day Jeff joined Noom. He really benefitted from the lessons and constant reminders throughout the day to log his food. He learned a lot about nutrition, and though I never paid the subscription, much of what he learned rubbed off on me. I decided one subscription in the house was enough, but I eventually installed the free app to track my food and weight.
I will admit the beginning was difficult; I had severe sugar withdrawal. I had dizzy spells and struggled with sugar cravings. And, having so many problems physically, I struggled to exercise. We bought a stationary bike and the first day I rode it for 30 minutes. The ride strained my knee and I could barely get up the stairs for the next few days. So, I throttled back and focused on my eating and doing chair exercises.
Jeff zipped through losing 60 pounds. He lost about 3 pounds a week. He walked everywhere and exercised relentlessly. He reached his goal weight last fall and is now in maintenance. (He's written a bunch of blog posts about his journey if anyone is interested.)
Mostly, Jeff prepared all the food we ate. He did an amazing job. We eat a ton of fruit and vegetables now. It’s nice on Noom that nothing is off limits, but you learn about serving size. For dessert, we might have a big bowl of fruit with a tablespoon of ice cream. Ultimately, we cut out lots of food we used to eat because the calories just aren't worth it. And we've discovered lots of healthy alternatives that fulfill our cravings.
Sometime last fall I tried tasting a Coke, my former addiction. It tasted gross; like chemicals. We poured it out and recently I gave away all the coke we had squirreled away in the pantry.
On average, I have lost about 1.3 pounds a week for a total of more than 50 pounds and it has made a huge difference in my ability to exercise. Stairs are no longer a chore. I ride the exercise bike for 30 minutes daily, as well as walking around the neighborhood when the weather is nice. I spend a lot more time cleaning.
I am still hoping to lose another 50 pounds, but I am feeling proud of what we’ve accomplished in the last year.
While we were in California, we went and visited my brother David and he had a new toy for Xmas. And it was so fun to play, we decided to get one for ourselves. We used to have a Nintendo 64, but that got downsized a couple years ago and we decided this one was appealing enough to tempt us.
We ended up buying an Xbox 360 with a Kinect controller. It's very neat; you play the games using your body, rather than a hand-held controller. Obviously, it's hard to play for too many hours, as you get pretty tired after a while. I'm hoping this is going to kick-start our trek back to health. I played it this morning and I can sure feel it this evening.
This morning Shasta and I went for a 3+ mile walk with our walking buddy, Heather. It was a beautiful day, though rather too warm for me already. If today was an indication, this summer will be hot. ☀ So much for walking; I'll have to figure out how to exercise inside our air conditioned house. I'll probably have to resort to exercise videos, or maybe—gasp—cleaning and sifting! ☺
After the walk, I went off to the San Mateo Law Library to finish up the research for a recent assignment in Advanced Legal Research & Writing. I found a really fabulous article that was exactly what I needed. It made it almost too easy to research cases and write up my assignment tonight. I'd feel guilty if I hadn't already spent nearly seven hours at the library researching this assignment. I'm hoping now that I'm done with this project, I'm done with the class work. I'm hoping anyway...
I scored one piece of great information today: Google Scholar includes decisions from at least some Federal cases! Woo hoo! That meant I didn't have to pay 15¢ a page to make copies at the law library! In fact, since I could access the cases online, I didn't even bother to print them out. I just opened them up on my computer and read them on-screen.
This morning we decided to walk to our favorite breakfast place—Stacks. It was roughly 1.7 miles each direction. We loaded the dog up with her backpack (which really just contained a couple of empty canvas bags, in case we went shopping on our way home) and off we went!
It turned out to be a very enjoyable walk. We found the most beautiful street! It was tree-lined, and filled with beautiful, historic houses! I'm so glad we walked, or we never would have found it! (Redwood City is really growing on me; I didn't realize how nice it was when we moved here last year.)
Last night, Jeff and I went square dancing again. We had a really good time dancing with the Katydid's down in Campbell. That's the club where Sharon's father and aunt dance, so it was fun to see family. We're really enjoying getting back into dancing again. (Oh well, the picture is a little blurry.)
The Katydid's is also the same club we started dancing with, way back in 1984, when we originally took a square dance class with a few friends. We're the only ones who have stuck with square dancing through the years; our friends all moved on to other hobbies.
We've got a pretty quiet weekend planned. Jeff is off to bed this afternoon for a nap (he tends to sleep a lot on the weekends). We'll also probably take a number of walks; it keeps the dog happy and helps me with my journey to better health. We're still debating about whether we will go to a round dance class on Sunday evening.
Jeff and I are enjoying a quiet weekend at home. We would go out this weekend, but we're expecting restaurants are too busy to make it worth the hassle. We'll have to go out later in the week. =)
This evening Jeff and I went to another square dance; a valentine's dance. Most of our square dance clothes are packed in storage, so we went by this afternoon and picked up a box of holiday skirts. I wished I had another blouse and shirt set tonight, but we just don't have the closet space to unpack more of these clothes. Oh well.
We're doing pretty well at the Plus-level square dancing, but our round dancing is just too rusty. I want to look around for a round dance class so we can relearn Phase 3 and 4 round dancing.
Jeff and Shasta got new safety gear for their night-time scootering. I know I feel better now that they're wearing this when they go out at so late at night.
Tomorrow we have a hot date to play Pandemic; Jeff's new favorite board game.
Perhaps the best way to find the perfect house in Oregon is to make a financial commitment to stay here! =) Back in 2008, we subscribed to an organic farm (called a CSA—Community Supported Agriculture) and received weekly deliveries of produce. We enjoyed the many unusual varieties of produce. We didn't renew in 2009 because we were planning to move, but when we didn't move, we missed all the neat varieties of food.
We've had our lives on hold for a couple years now; not knowing when we'd be buying a house or in what state. I think it's just time to do stuff that's important to us! Subscribing to an organic farm is important to us. So, despite the fact we may move at any time, we decided we should just go ahead and sign up again. If we move, then we'll give our share to someone else in the family; if we don't, then we'll get to enjoy all this wonderful, healthful food without all the work of running to the farmers market every weekend.
In today's mail, Jeff and I received our Environmental Studies certificates! Woo hoo! We actually finished the classes during the summer of 2008, but I didn't figure out the paperwork to file until this last November. Here's a photo of mine. Jeff also received one as we took the classes together!
We don't really have current plans to use these certificates for anything in particular; we just enjoyed taking the energy efficiency classes. I had planned on trying to find employment in the field, but then I realized I liked the paralegal classes quite a lot more! I'm hoping to finish the paralegal certificate this semester.
After a many year break, Jeff and I are planning to try square dancing again tonight; I found a square dance club just a mile from where we live in Redwood City. After two months of consistent exercise, I think I have finally worked my way back into good enough shape that I should be able to last for at least an hour before I get too tired.
My class was cancelled tonight (not for the holiday, the teacher had a conflict) so we called our friend Sarahann and asked if she wanted to get together to play the Pandemic board game and she agreed. So, tonight we're off to San Jose for dinner and a game.
We had to hustle Jeff to CalTrain this morning so we wouldn't have two cars down there tonight. Since we were walking to CalTrain, I decided to drop in at Whole Foods for some produce. I loaded Shasta up with 5.5 pounds in her backpack for the trip back and she still was dragging me along. She is amazing—so much energy!
We did a 2.9 mile trip already this morning and I'm trying to decide if I should do an exercise video... I need to lose 2.5 pounds in the next two weeks. I joined a challenge back at Christmas time to lose 10 pounds by Valentine's Day; I'm determined to make it!
Despite the rain, Shasta and I managed to get out walking as much as we could. I've taken to walking to whatever I can, which often include Whole Foods (when we don't have a large shopping list), the library, and the local market or restaurants. I'm not in the greatest shape yet, but I've worked up to over 2.5 miles per day on average this month (half of my long-term goal). Though, due to having so many days of rain, I had to do some of my miles indoors—doing Leslie Sansone Walk Away the Pounds exercise videos. Shasta has been my great walker buddy whenever we can make it outdoors.
While we were in Oregon last month, Jeff was given a new board game called Pandemic. It's a pretty cool game where all the players have to cooperate--because all the players win or lose together. Jeff is quite obsessed in figuring out the best way to "win" the game. He has played it a lot this month and has even dragged me into quite a few games. We really need to schedule a game night so he can drag some new folks into his obsession.
Our compulsion to watch every Netflix movie possible has finally eased. We still watch a lot of programs and movies, but we actually turn the TV off once in a while! We actually had District 9 for three days before we watched it!
We continue with our efforts to change our lifestyle in an attempt to be healthier and lose weight. I continue to track all of my eating and exercise at the SparkPeople website. I make an effort to get out every day and go for a walk with Shasta. Though, with the weather this week, it was a challenge.
When I can't get outside, I have started doing exercise videos; my current favorite is the Leslie Sansone Walk off the Pounds series. My current goal is to do 45-minutes a day of cardio six days a week (I give myself Sundays to rest). I also do about 30-minutes of beginning strength training 5-days a week.
As far as food, we've slowly been using up our pantry and slowly restocking with healthier foods. Nowadays, we mostly buy only wholegrain pasta and flours and other whole grains. We've gradually added more and more beans and vegetables to our diet. I've found some really wonderful recipes using winter squash. We have gathered quite the collection of grains in recent months!
I'm on the lookout for a good bean cookbook, but while I continue to search, I am building up recipes I have collected from the internet. In fact, I have decided one of my goals for 2010 is to learn how to cook beans and to make them a larger part of our diet. I'm striving to add a bean dish to our menu at least once a week.
We're also eating more veges and fruit. I try to eat five servings a day, but at this point I often fail. I have added carrots and celery to snacks, as well as an apple or other seasonal fruit. This year, I'll definitely enjoy the variety of fruit available starting in late spring. I pretty much only buy fruit that's been grown in the United States; I don't want to buy fruit that's been flown in from out of the country. I would buy only local--buy I love apples and they're mostly grown in Washington!
We're spending quite a lot more on food these days as we shop almost entirely at Whole Foods, but we've decided our health is worth it. I'm sure we'll save money in the long run as we'll hopefully need less medical care as we grow older.
I had PE class this morning and I somehow dragged myself out of bed. Jeff got up much more easily; all those naps this weekend must have helped. Once I was up, I was feeling pretty good. I decided to multi-task and I brought my class notes to PE class and study while I was riding Rex (sort of a recumbent elliptical). I got quite a bit of cardio workout this morning between studying and walking to and from class.
Since we had the dining table cleared, I decided I'd better take advantage of the space, so I also sewed the binding on the last quilt. I didn't have enough of any one fabric so I had to piece the binding with different fabrics. Hope it's not too weird! Anyway, now I've just got the last two to finish the hand sewing. I'm planning to bring at least one of them on the trip to Oregon to work on when we're hanging out visiting. It will be a relief to have all four of these quilts done.
My father also came out today and picked up his old car. So, we now have the other half of the garage! Yeah! It will be nice to have some spare space out there. It was hard to get around with how crammed it was with stuff. Though, with our vacation coming up later this week, this project will have to wait until January.
I have a final in three hours so maybe I'd better get studying again!
My father had been planning to come today and work on his antique car in preparation for moving it out of the garage, but we've had a lot of rain the last few days and today so he had to reschedule. Bummer. So, instead of spending the day shuffling stuff from house to garage, we had a bit of a lazy day to enjoy.
We went on three walks during brief "sun breaks" today and the last one, while we walked to the grocery store for oranges, the clouds opened up on us and we got pretty wet. But we have been enjoying the rain because we lived with it so long in Oregon that we just got used to having rain. It also helps if you have good rain gear, like our rain jackets.
Jeff gave Shasta a bath when we got home because she was so wet already. Now she smells good and is cuddly and we're looking forward to curling up with her tonight.
This evening, I finally talked myself into cutting out and sewing the binding for our lightning bolt quilt. Now, I just need to find a space big enough to lay out the quilt so I can sew on the binding. Maybe I'll finally be able to motivate myself to get the kitchen table cleared off. I'd like to bring the quilt with us to Oregon for handwork while we're hanging out visiting or watching TV.
Last night we got our Toyota back from the body shop, so that little bump is now fixed up. I still need to get reimbursed by the attorney who hit me, so I hope that goes OK. My boss vouched for him so I trusted him to pay after I got the vehicle repaired.
I guess I should probably spend some time this weekend studying for my two finals, but I am so not motivated. My brain is seriously done with this semester. I probably won't be able to motivate myself until the day of each final: Monday and Thursday.
I'm planning to spend the rest of the week getting "ready" for our trip. There's lots to do....
Update later in the evening: Thanks to Jeff, we finally have the dining table clear enough to use to finish sewing the binding on the lightning quilt. And, luckily, I was able to talk myself into finishing that project. I am eager to bring that quilt to Oregon so I'll have handwork for the too long trip and during the visit.
Shasta and I wandered around the neighborhood to see our neighbor's Winter lighting efforts. Most of them are pretty simple like this one: But three of my neighbors were more elaborate in their displays:
Shasta is still pretty scared of the wheel, but she got her first trip on her new scooter this morning. She isn't pulling yet, so Jeff had to go pretty slow and encourage her along.
School has started and I seem to have run out of steam on my recreational reading binge. It was a good run. I think I read a total of 11 full books in about two weeks and also about 50% of two additional books I decided not to finish simply because I wasn't enjoying them. I was reading Birdsong this week, but I just couldn't get into it, despite trying. The beginning of the book starts out much like those cheap romances and then abruptly drops you six years later into trench warfare in World War I. I just wasn't up to finishing, especially with the pile of textbooks staring at me. =) I do plan to continue to work through my reading list, just more slowly. I hope to read an average of one book a week through the end of the year.
My PE class has been going well. I'm feeling sore all over, which means it's working! And I'm also making an effort to eat healthier food, which is difficult for me. I'm starting with salads and fruit and trying to lay off the soda and junk food. This morning Shasta and I went for a two-mile walk through the neighborhood and we'll take another walk tonight. As a minimum, I'm trying to get at least 6,000 steps every single day.
This is the first time I've attended a college on the semester system, so the 18 weeks is probably going to feel like it's taking forever! Quarters finish up in 12 weeks, so I'm used to a rather speedier pace. We're now starting week 2 and none of my classes have really even gotten past the intro. Many of the books aren't even in the bookstore yet (I have mine because I ordered them from Amazon a week before classes). It's tempting to skip class tonight since I know the teacher is just going to talk about interesting stuff that has nothing to do with the class...but I will no doubt go. I just can't bring myself to miss class, except for emergencies.
Now that my leg is feeling better, I think it's time to cut out quilt pieces for my next project. I need to decide which one to work on first, probably the quilt for the living room which coordinates with the rug in there.
In late-2007, Jeff and I started regularly wearing pedometers when DeAnza invited us to participate in their 10,000 steps program. We track our steps at a really good website: a 10,000 steps program located in Australia. (If anybody wants to be one of my online walking buddies, let me know and I'll invite you.)
Anyway, I started with a goal of 6,000 steps per day and worked my way up to 9,000 steps a day on average. I maintained it through the winter, but then summer hit. Every time we get horrible, hot weather, it derails my walking efforts.
Unlike our friends in the Northwest, we are finally having some cooler weather. So, I am trying to do more walking again.
I have started dressing Shasta in her harness and let her take me for a tow (read that: brisk walk). I've started with a mile in the morning and a mile in the evening. The last two days I've gotten over 8,000 steps a day.
I'm hoping that the worst of the summer weather is over and I'll be able to maintain my walking at least until next summer. I've also signed up for a physical education class in fall quarter so I can work on upper body strengthening.
On the quilting front, today I spent much of the day (when I wasn't goofing off on my computer) assembling the pieced border on my lightning quilt. I finished three edges and I'm now working on the fourth edge. I'll surely finish the top by tomorrow night. I'm looking forward to being done with this one.
