What I did yesterday

Canned a bushel of pears from our own trees.

 

Made 5 lbs of hamburger jerky for our trip.

We are leaving later today for our trip to the Superstition Mountains.  We are hiking to some Indian Ruins and to an old ranch that still has apple trees.  Jim says that it will be about 25 miles we will do in two days.  My weight better go down this week with all this hiking.

And big thanks and love to Kim, who signed up to be a follower.  I have three now.  Love you too Eric and Todd.  I know others read this boring blog, but it's nice to have actual followers.

Life goes on

It doesn't matter how you feel, life goes on.  Thanks everyone for your concern.  I'm doing okay, this is just one of those things I have to deal with, sometimes not very gracefully.  I'm one of the lucky ones, though.  Some people are totally dibilitated by their fibro and CFS.  And it's not life threatening, so I am extremely lucky.

Thursday, Eric and Angela came to visit, bringing the most beautiful baby in the world with them.  Here he is with my expensive baby toys, aka bottle rings.

Adam looking out of the play house window.

Saturday our family hiked to Timpanogos Cave.  We were all going to go, but Kristine got sick and so we abandoned her at home and went without her.  We really missed having her with us.  Here are some pictures of the rest of us.

Jim and I.  I think the camera adds more than 10 lbs.  We didn't have any problem with the climb, so we must be doing something right with our eating and exercising.

Eric, Angela and Adam.  Eric was great, carrying Adam the whole way up.  Angela carried him down, which wasn't easy either.

 

Todd and Lisa.

Kristine, she wasn't there but I didn't want to leave her out.

Miss Janae.

The cousins, Kim, Jaime and Whitney.  I stole this picture from Whitney's album, so it's small and I don't know how to make it bigger.

Here are some other pictures of the hike.

Lisa was our tour guide, because she had the pamphlet from the visitor's center.

The whole group on the trail.

 

We all made it to the top, some had a struggle.

Jim and Ranger Deb and the cave entrance.

Cave formations.

 

 

The St. Bernard

The salt and pepper shakers.  They don't let people touch these anymore.  Apparently, someone broke some of the formation off and messed things up for the rest of us.

 Snacking before we head down the trail.

So what do you do after you hike to Timp Cave.  Of course, we stopped at the Purple Turtle and had ice cream.  It was well deserved.

Fibro Attack

Sorry for no new posts lately.  I'm in the middle of a viscious fibromyalgia episode.  I'll catch up in a few days.

Y-Be-Fit Final

     Yesterday, Jim and I went in to have our final evaluation for our Y-Be-Fit program.  I was kind of excited to see how we had done.  Truthfully, we didn't really embrace the program until after our High Uintah's backpacking trip.  We kind of watched what we ate some of the time.  We kind of thought about cardio exercising.  We didn't do anything about strength training.  But after that trip, I caught the "vision".  I made the trip okay, without dying or having a major fibro episode, but I saw how far I really needed to go for me to be where I wanted to be.
     So, yesterday we had to go in without eating so we could repeat the tests we had three months ago.  I won't put in  Jim's numbers. I haven't asked him if I could do it.  He probably wouldn't care.  Let's just say that he improved greatly, especially with blood pressure, heart rate and strength.  And I will add that his pants are getting baggy on him.  So here are my numbers.

    Weight:     175.9  to  166.0

     Blood Pressure:     110/85  to  110/78

     Lost 1 1/2" off my waist

     Lost 1 1/2" off my hips

     Bench Press:  40  to  63  (I'm a wimp, but at least I improved)

     Leg Press:  140  to  180

     Increased flexibility by 4"

None of this probably means much to anybody else, but I'm proud of myself.  But I think of what I could have accomplished if I hadn't messed around for the first two months.

     We are setting more goals for ourselves.  BYU has a wellness program that has all kinds of aspects to it.  One is the challenges they have about 6 times a year.  We will start when the new challenge starts.  I don't know what it will be.  Right now it is something like committing to exercise at least three times a week for at least 20 minutes each time.  I already do more than that, but these challenges will give me some goals to shoot for.  Plus, the insurance company gives you money if you complete these programs.  We each will get $100 for completing the YBF program.  We didn't know that. Bonus!  I am continuing to do my cardio 6 times/week for 30 minutes each time, strength training 3 times/week and eating healthy.  My next weight goal is to lose 10 lbs by the end of November.  That means I have to go through Thanksgiving first.  Each pound I lose is a struggle.  It would almost be easier to cut myself open and dig the fat out myself.  So here is where I'm supposed to say that the weight doesn't matter, it's being healthy that counts.  Being healthy is the most important, but the weight matters to me almost as much.  So I'm shallow.

     

Vegas

     Friday night after Jim was finished with his meetings, we were hungry and decided to walk down the strip to find a place to eat.  It was hot, close to 100 degrees, even after dark.  We weren't sure where we were going, just browsing for food.  It was so crowded with people; drunk people, smoking people, yelling people, scantily clad people, foul mouthed people.  We just kept walking and couldn't find anywhere that wasn't so crowded.  Then we hit the gauntlet:  the place where all the slimeballs hard working citizens were passing out their crap.  It used to be that it was only men who were passing things out, but there were several women, too.  They have this annoying way that they slap the cards they are trying to give you against the stack they have in their other hand.  Then they snap the two or three cards they have in their other hand against each other.  Slap, snap, slap, snap, "Hey, we got girls for you!", slap, snap.  Don't look them in the eye, don't look at what they are holding, don't look down at the ground littered with discards.  But where can I look?  Not at the billboards advertising peepshows.  Not at the signs advertising topless girls for "rent". (They'll come right to your room for 20 minutes!! Woohoo!!) Maybe at the Elvis impersonators.  Whoa!  They were pretty disgusting for their own particular reasons.  So we turned around and went back to our room and ate granola bars for dinner. 
     It was obvious by the end of Jim's Friday meeting that things were winding up sooner than expected.  Everyone was scrambling to change their flights out to Saturday afternoon or evening instead of Sunday.   While Jim was in the Saturday morning meeting, I walked a short way down the strip again.  It was still hot.  It wasn't very crowded and the card slappers weren't there.  I got a few pictures of things that interested me.

 

The fountains at the Bellagio.

 

 The Eiffel Tower

 

The Harley Davidson Cafe

     The Bellagio was right across the street from our hotel.  We could see the fountains from our window.  We couldn't hear the music, but I can tell you that the water cannons go off pretty much the whole night.  Our hotel shared a parking garage and underground stores with The Paris.  Some of the stores and shops were pretty cool.  The base of their Eiffel Tower was in a restaurant on this level.  There is a ride you can take to the top of the tower, for a price, of course.  And then there is the Harley Cafe.  This picture is for Janae.  There was also a store in one of the underground walkways.  They wanted $52.95 for a little t-shirt with the Harley logo on it.  I got her a poker chip with the logo for $1.

     We left town at about 2:30 and got home a little after 8:00.  It was an uneventful drive.  We found a gas station in Scipio that has the good pebble ice.  We will stop there again.  Came home, went grocery shopping, watched a movie with the girls, went to bed early.  Toto, there's no place like home.

Valley of Fire

        Jim and I left for Las Vegas at about noon on Wednesday.  First, we went to Provo so Jim could get a little bit of work in at BYU and I attended our Y-Be-Fit session.  Next week will be our final week.  We will have to go through the pod test and some other tests then.  We drove straight through to the Valley of Fire.  We got there at 4:35 Nevada time.  This visitor's center closed at 4:30.  So we just took off on our own for a little bit.  We found Mouse's Tank, which I have always known as Mouses's Hole.  It's funny how a small child remembers things.  I was about 2 1/2 when we went there.  I remember the hole as being huge and I didn't think my dad would ever get Cinco out and we were going to have to leave them.  Well, we got to the tank, which is the hole I guess.  It's not very big.  I'm sure it has filled up with a lot of sand since I was there.  Anyway, it wasn't very impressive.  What is impressive are the formations and the petroglyphs.  I took lots of pictures of them. 

 

Trail head to Mouse's Tank

Mouse's Tank

Petroglyphs

 

Cool formations.  I call it Monkey Face with Storm Trooper.

     After hiking around for a bit at the Valley of Fire, we took the scenic route to Boulder City.  This was the old road that took us by Lake Mead.  We got to Uncle Leonard's at 7:00 and had a nice visit with him.  He seems to be in good health and he was in great spirits.  I snapped a quick picture of him.  He was worried that it might have broken my camera.  He's 88 years old.

Uncle Leonard

     We stayed in the Bunkhouse and in the morning Uncle Leonard  made a really  good breakfast.  We had cereal, bananas, apples, boiled eggs and then he brought out rice crispie treats.  I love those so he brought out even more to send with us.  We visited for a bit more and then we were on our way.  He went off to the temple.  We went to UNLV to visit a piano tech there.  Jim wanted to meet him.  He will be a good resource for the convention in July.  We got to the hotel in the afternoon and then spent the remainder of the day and evening picking up people from the airport.  

     Today we started off with a workout in Bally's gym.  They are so crooked expensive here.  It costs $22 a day to use their gym.  I wasn't going to pay that.  One of Jim's group had a pass that she loaned me that got me and Jim into the gym for free.  It's a really nice place, but I wouldn't have paid that kind of money to use it for  a day.  She says that she will make sure we have a pass when we come for the convention in July.  Then Jim went to his meetings and I went to the temple.  It was very nice and peaceful there, the total opposite of the strip.

 

Las Vegas Temple

     So now I'm back in my lovely little refuge of a room, using the Internet, for which I have to pay $11.99/day.  My 24 hours started at 2:00 this afternoon and I get it until tomorrow at 2:00.  Tomorrow, I'm hoping to go on a walk along the strip and take some pictures and post them before I'm cut off.  I've kept in my calorie count and tried to eat healthy while I have been here.  It's hard to find good things to eat in a city that caters to all kinds of decadence.  I found a Panda Express on my way home from the temple and got some veggies and chicken.  It's almost dinner time and I am not hungry at all, so I'm sure I'll keep to my count today also.  This is not a diet blog, so I won't go on about that.  The city is interesting and so are the people.  There are so many different types of people here.  I find myself wondering about their stories; what are their lives like?  What brought them to Vegas?  Why would anyone come here on purpose?  Anyway, it's different staying on the strip.  I've never stayed in a hotel in Southern Nevada.  We always stay at Uncle Leonard's, but that isn't practical for what Jim has to do here.  Expect pictures and an update tomorrow.  Stay tuned for the thrilling adventures of an overweight grandma.

Getting Fit and Losing Weight

     For the past few months Jim and I have been in a program sponsered by BYU called Y-Be-Fit.  We have both been struggling with our health, which includes our weight and fitness level.  Jim saw the sale that BYU was having on all their PE clothes and we decided to get some.  We knew we wanted to start an exercise program and the price was right on their new shorts and shirts.  While we were there, I saw the YBF office and went in to check things out.  It turns out that our BYU insurance pays for the program so we signed up, not realizing just what we were getting into. 

     The program started with  us going through a battery of tests and answering hundreds of questions.  The tests included blood tests for cholesterol and glucose tolerance; cardio tests for our starting cardio fitness; strength tests for, well, strength; flexibility tests; body composition, measurements, and weight.  The last test used to be done in a pool of water where they do some complex calculations based on how much water your body displaces when it is totally submerged.  I was really concerned about that one because I am so totally claustrophobic and cannot put my face in water.  But I was going to do it if it killed me, and I thought it just might.  It turns out that they have a new thing to test that.  We had to get in swimsuits and put tight covers over our hair.  Then we were put in what they called a pod, but it just looked like a big egg with a small window in front.  We had to sit on a seat inside and the pod was filled with air.  It was calibrated to check our weight and body fat percentage.  I kept my eyes closed the whole time.  Even though there was a little window, it was still a very small space and I was shut in it and I'm starting to panic even now.  So I kept my eyes shut and envisioned my big, spacious meadow on a glorious sunny day.  Ahhh!  That's better.

     The next week when we went for our appointment, we were given books with each of our information recorded in them.  All the test results were there as was a comparison of  each item to what they should be to be healthy.  I was better on some things than I thought and not so good on others.  We thought that was all there was to the program, but there was more.  We go every week for a counseling session with  Megan, who is trained in helping people improve their lifestyles.  It's not just a weight loss thing, it's a lifestyle thing we are into.  We have talked about cardio and strength exercises, food choices, stress management and all kinds of things to help us improve our overall health and lifestyle.  It's been great.  She doesn't check our weight loss or lack thereof.  We just talk on how we can make our lives better and she gives us advice and printouts from studies and things to help us. 

     That is for three months.  We are almost to the end of our three months.  We will then go back for another round of tests and see how we are doing.  I had a goal to lose 10 lbs during this period and I think I'm going to make it.  It is much harder for me to lose the weight than Jim because, for one, I'm female and we do love to hold on to our fat reserves.  I also have an under-active thyroid, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, a hundred excuses, and I want to eat donuts and chocolate and cookies.    It's actually taken me two of the three months to "embrace" the program.  I've kind of watched what I eat and I do exercise pretty regularly.  But those chocolate feet they sell at Terrel's bakery have done me in. 

     The trip to the Unitah's was the start of me getting serious about things.  I have been exercising regularly, both cardio and strength training.  I have been counting calories.  I use a  website called www.Sparkpeople.com.  It helps me keep track of calories and exercise and gives a lot of sound advice about losing weight.  I also have been reading some weight loss blogs.  When I see others who have hundreds of pounds to lose actually losing hundreds of pounds, I think, "Surely, I can lose 40 lbs." 

     So here is the ugly truth about how I have let myself go.  I was a stick in high school and college and at a good weight until after Janae was born.  I was lucky that I didn't have to do anything to keep thin back then, but I also never learned how to eat like I should and keep myself healthy.  So, here is the old dog, she's learning some new tricks.  I'm counting on all of you, my family and my friends, to help keep me in line.  Encouraging comments and healthy recipes will be appreciated.

Thursday Carving Group

Bob, making sure my knives are sharp.









Janice, a truly talented person.









Irene, very talented and camera shy.








Every Thursday I drive up the mountain to Janice and Bob's house to carve wood. Irene just lives down the road from them and she meets us there. Janae joins us in the summer, but now that school has started again, she has been banished. I get such inspiration from them all. We carve and talk about all sorts of things, including religion, politics, gardens, raising children, etc. They are all three very talented, fun and helpful. My next post will probably be about things they have made that I would like to try.

Big plans for September

We've been going over our schedule for the next month or so. Some exciting things coming up in the future, at least to me. I lead that humdrum life, remember? In order for us to do the things we want to do, Jim will have to work during the Labor Day weekend. That's okay I guess, because most of our family is busy. Eric has to work until Monday morning, and deserves to rest and have some time off with Angela and Adam. Todd's family is here from Oregon and they have prior claim to this Labor Day and probably all future Labor Days. They always do something together on that weekend, and I have to share. So on either Saturday or Monday, Jim will work at BYU and on the other day he doesn't work, he and I will go and tune pianos at Snow College or for the Church FM group.


On Thursday, Jim has to be in Las Vegas for a PTG Institute meeting. They are planning next year's National Convention, which is being held at Bally's. Even though I was born in Boulder City, Las Vegas is not where I would choose to spend my time. We are hoping that we can leave early enough to do a little hiking in the Valley of Fire. I remember going there as a very young child. We took our dog, Cinco, and she fell down into one of the formations (I have always called it Mouse's Hole). I remember that my dad had to climb down and get her. I was so worried about having to leave both of them behind. I thought that they might have to stay there forever. You did note that I was very young when this happened, about 3 years old.

Then we are going to stay at Bally's until Sunday. Jim will be in meetings and I will probably go to the temple or visit my two uncles or go to the exercise room or all of the above. There might even be a visit to the M&M factory in store for me.

On the 26th our whole family is going to hike up to Timp Cave. Connie and her girls are going too. We were lucky enough to book our reservations on the only day that we can get in for free. It just happened it was the only day that we could all get together. Adam is going too. The lucky boy will get carried up and down on someone's back. That's the way to go. We are using this hike to help us get ready for our next hike, which will be the following weekend. It's UEA weekend and General Conference weekend so the girls are going with Jim and me.

We are going backpacking in the Superstition Mountains. There are some great Indian ruins that we are going to find, and then we want to go to Reavis Ranch. Reavis Ranch was a working ranch and farm in the 1920's. It was later bought by Twain Clemens, the owner of the ranch that Jim's dad used to manage. Yes, he was Mark Twain's grandson. Jim's dad used to tell him about the good apples that were grown on the ranch. The trees are still there, although they are in serious need of attention. The road to the ranch is no longer passable by vehicle and Jim has always wanted to hike there in the fall and see (eat) the apples. We will leave on Wednesday afternoon and come back on Saturday. We can listen to conference on the way home and have the next day to recuperate while we listen to the Sunday sessions. The picture below is of the trailhead to Reavis Ranch. There probably isn't any water there at this time of year, so we will have to pack it in with us.

So that's our plan for September and the beginning of October. We also want to backpack at Grand Gulch in southern Utah and go to Lehman Caves in western Utah/eastern Nevada. Those two will probably be in October. If anyone is interested in coming, let me know.