cold and sunny

My sweater and sweatshirt were no match for the cold this morning on my walk. The newly shorn cornfields were covered with white frost, and the grass on the side of the road crunched under Rosie's feet. The fields of corn that haven't been cut yet crackled in the breeze. Brr. The only consolations were that...

It is Saturday, I didn't have to hurry back so to get the kids on the bus (and avoid being seen in my lovely dorky vest by the kids who ride with my kids)..

And...the sun was shining.

And, I could see what was in the road I was walking on...a dead snake, a pile of deer scat..blah, made me never want to walk in the dark again.

And, I know that since tonight is the time change, I shall have some extra light in the morning for a while...

Back to the house, cooked a few pounds of bacon, poured some coffee and sat down while Paul made me an excellent omelet. Kathryn had already made eggs for the younger ones, nice girl that she is.

The day is stretched before me. I want to get some sun (it will be cold, but no clouds!)...I baked a few strawberry cakes (think pink), a few chocolate cakes...and they are ready to be frosted and decorated for the party. Kathryn is in charge of organizing the cleaning up of the Princesses' room, and Suzanne and Sonja are supposed to be cleaning up their room. This means it isn't exactly peaceful in here, there are kids squealing with delight upon finding long-lost doll accessories, one child just "pantsed" another, which I had thought was out of style, there are accusations of who left what where and who should pick this or that up...there is music playing, courtesy of Kathryn...kids are filling up the hampers like they always do when they clean their rooms...

But it is always fun to have a party. Camille's main present is: three dresses from Halloween, princess-y dresses. I am also giving one to Char, and one to their cousin Danielle. They can dress up and play.

There is a good spirit, despite the rambunctiousness of the kids this morning. They are excited about the party. Camille keeps asking when she gets her presents. I remind her that it is not nice to be greedy, but she needs to share and be nice.

Rats, my coffee is gone...I want more. Oh, today is the time change, so we get an extra hour!!! I need an extra hour every day. Hmm, how shall I spend it? Maybe I'll sit here extra long today.

On an un-upbeat note, I am getting so sick and tired of the stupid scale...it went back up a little...what the heck??!! Why? I am so good...I only eat bad things when I can afford it. I eat less than 1500 calories a day, some days 1200, some days even less....I exercise once, twice, or even three times a day when I go to the pool. blah. My body adjusts to the low calories way too fast...I should be just losing a few pounds a week, mathematically.

Paul bought a food-dehydrator yesterday. He then bought a large chunk of beef...marinated it, cooked it up, and dehydrated it. Jerky! The beef, not him. It was quite good, as were the apples he made.

We had chicken fajitas for dinner last night. I skipped the fajita part and just had chicken and greens, and some diced tomatoes. Yum and yum.

Then Mirielle evilly made some popcorn, the stovetop kind with lots of real butter and salt. blah, I did have a few handfuls. I had just finished counting my calories for the day and was only around 900, so I figured I could have a few almonds and a few chocolate chips, and just a tiny bit of popcorn. I could eat the whole bowl, easily, but I slapped my hand and left the room. Paul and I watched, "Captain America" in our room on his computer while the older kids watched it out here with their popcorn and snacks...I was glad we had our date planned, cuddling is nice, so is getting away from the popcorn.

I am wondering now if four pizzas will be enough...perhaps if we have a huge salad...Mirielle is going to make a chicken alfredo pizza...

Well, I have used part of my hour...maybe I will use the rest of it having a nap. ha.