Desperation

I mentioned that James and I went a whole week without grains. James was able to make it without the corn and rice. I gave in on those, but was able to finish with no other grains ..... no croutons, no bread, no cereal, no rolls, no flour tortillas, no pretzels, no crackers, no granola bars, no pancakes, etc. I never did eat any rice, but corn tortillas saved me from dying and I did eat popcorn once, too.  I've never even really like corn tortillas, but they became quite scrumptious.  I ate close to my regular calories all week, but found I was just starving all day.  Wednesday and Thursday were the hardest, but it did get a little easier by Saturday and Sunday.

We both got a little desperate. James wouldn't admit that he did, but he did. He ate heaping plates of fruit. We even ran out and had to go to the store midweek for more. I watched him eat a mug of bread 'n butter pickles. (I've known James for a while now and I have never seen him eat more than a pickle on a hamburger or maybe one on the side)

What did I do in desperation? I found myself eating plain honey.  I started buttering the corn tortillas. 

We both ate more string cheese and bacon than we ever have gone through in a week.

To celebrate making it through the week, we decided to indulge in some mega breakfast foods on Labor Day morning.  We headed up Emmigration Canyon to Ruth's Diner.  I have never been there and it was great!  It was super crowded, but moved quickly.  The biscuits were delicious and my pancakes were good.  I couldn't eat the whole stack.  I could feel my stomach stretching in pain and had to stop before I may have really gotten sick.

This is a random picture of the kids running down the hill at Sugar House Park after the Rae of Light 5k last Saturday.  The picture was cute, but I didn't really take any others to constitute a whole post.  My sister was on the organizing committee for the 5K so we signed up, got there late after cleaning the church, then walked half of the 5K around the park.  We tried.  The kids had fun running around afterwards.  I honestly lost Jack for a good 15 minutes.  I had no idea where he was.  When I found him he was over at the nearby playground going down the slide.  Idiot parent moment.  Fast kid.

Some things are so hard

I found this Coke calling my name at Harmons tonight. Because I have been doing the Healthy Living Challenge, I honestly can't remember the last time I drank a real Coke. It was probably at least in June sometime.  I did have a diet Dr. Pepper last Wednesday, but I only drank half the can, lost interest and threw it away. 

This week's food challenge is no grains, including extra credit points if you can stay away from rice and corn, too. This has been the hardest challenge yet! It is only Wednesday and I think I might die. I caved on the extra credit and I've eaten a couple of corn tortillas (which I don't really even like, but they tasted pretty good).

I can do it! ...... I think.

Since I can't eat a donut or cookie or anything like that for my sugar day this week, I thought maybe I would treat myself to this Coke ..... Or not. I may just save it for a rainy day.

Talofa

My cousin Eddie got married on Saturday to the beautiful Nina Malufau.  They were sealed in the Oquirrh Mountain Temple and then had a true Samoan wedding party with dancers, tons of crazy food, and about 20 cakes.  I can't say I was a big fan of the food, but otherwise, it was a great day!

Here is the short bullet point version:

• Sealing in the Oquirrh Mountain Temple.  Parker and Natalie had kid duty outside.  The sealing was very nice.  James had to work and there were a few moments when Molly and Jack were stinkers, but mostly they were really good the whole day.
• Sandwiches and chips out of the back of the Ottowear Van in the temple parking lot
• Home for a quick nap (for Jack)
• 3:00-4:00 p.m. Reception line for a quick hour with some delicious hors d'oeuvres.  4:00-later p.m. was a dinner and program. 
• The bride, groom, and wedding party went out into the hall and were announced two at a time to enter and sit at the head table.
• Everyone was told by the MC to sit down and enormous plates of very strange food were served to all of the old people.  The rest of us grabbed our plates (styrofoam to go boxes) and stood in line for very strange food to be dished to us.  The food included giant sausage, corned beef, pork, fried chicken, weird root potato thing, potato salad, traditional island noodle stuff, and spring rolls.  I have had Polynesian meals before, but this was not quite what I would have expected
• Next was a program that even included the "wedding haka."  Parker said the program felt like a HHS multi-cultural assembly.  It was fun, though.
• Then the MC continued . . . he danced, made Eddie and Nina dance, had all of the groomsman dance, it went on for quite a while and then it was over.

Summer Ending

The summer has come to a close. We started back to rat race last Monday. I think the kids and I really need the routine and regiment, but not the getting up early and not being able to just bum around. It has been a great summer, though.

During our last week of summer . . . . . 

Molly joined the neighbor kids selling rocks on afternoon.  Someone actually stopped and bought a few. 

We went to the Ogden Temple open house with Grandma and Grandpa Binggeli and James' aunt and uncle, Ina and Rex.  

The kids and I went to the Spartan Station open house.  They had a blast and didn't want to leave.  

We went to the zoo!  The baby elephant was playing in the water.  The kids were well-behaved. We ate our favorite mac and cheese in the Beastro.

 . . . . Until next summer!

Jeremy tatoos

Sometimes after a good day, we make bad choices. We went to a wedding, I mowed the lawn, I got the kids bathed and to bed, James came home from work, and then I made the bad choice.  I went to Wal-Mart.  For a late night visit it was surprisingly not that crowded. However, it was bad because I had to dodge our old renter most of the visit. I had no interest in making small talk with a loser guy who owes us money.

We had milk and enough food to get us through tomorrow, but I needed to go stock up for "Gluten Free" week.  I bought corn tortillas and corn bread and I guess we'll be eating some rice this week.  I also found a gluten free cracker to take to school for lunch.  

Since I was at Wal-mart, I also browsed the kids clothing sections.  I got Jack a cute long sleeve shirt and a long pair of pants just in case he needs them soon (I have a few similar items in his stash of clothes, I think, but not many).  It was only 58 degrees on my way home from the store, after all.  I could not find a single pair of pants for Molly-wog in the girls section at Wal-mart that I liked.  There were few to choose from.  I either found over-priced non-adjustable waist bedazzled jeans or leggings with fake leather inserts down the side.  I think she still has a couple of long pants from last year, but I need to go through her stash, too and see what's there.  Needless to say, she didn't get anything tonight.  

The wait at the check-out was not as miserable as it has been before on Saturday late nights, but the lady in front of me did have a post-it note with price match prices written on it (I guess you don't even have to bring in the ad and they do it).  She and the cashier had to adjust the price on nearly every item in her cart.  He even had to get his phone calculator out to give her the right price for the watermelon because it was on sale for less money per pound at Reams.

I should have just gone to Reams Why do I never learn?