Today is...

Well, I didn't get to any of that reading last night. Dodger and I stayed up late and watched Forensic Files on TruTV all night.

Last week I was 524 calories under my weekly budget. It takes 3500 calories to gain or lose a pound. So those extra calories will add up to another pound lost in a handful of weeks.

Today Dancer and I ate lunch on the nice clean porch. We each had a slice of cake, that she brought home from my mom's, for dessert. I came inside to wash up dishes and she decided that she didn't want to sit on the porch by herself so she came in and has been working on her website and cleaning up her room most of the afternoon.

I've straightened up the living room a bit. I'm thinking about how I can rearrange it to make it more functional but it's tiny, so I have few options. My whole house is only about 800 square feet.

I have many more piles to tackle around the house, inside and out. I really should just pick one and go at it.

It's an absolutely beautiful day. I really don't want to be inside. I think I'll do a few more small things inside and then head outside to pick up some of the pile of wood and shingles sitting outside the back door. Maybe one day our yard won't look like the white trash yard on the street. I'd like to give myself and my neighbors a better yard to look at and enjoy.

I think I forgot to take my St. John's Wort last night. I don't think missing one day will hurt now that it's built up in my system.

Tonight maybe I'll get to that reading that I was going to do last night. I'm actually getting excited to see what adventures Don Quixote and his squire go on and where they lead him.

Lots Done Today

My day started out pretty slow. I woke up about noon and my feet (esp my heals) still hurt pretty bad from my walk on Friday and work last night.

Dodgers was gone to a fantasy football draft and Dancer ended up going to my mom's, so I checked my email and downloaded some more podcasts to iTunes. I now have all of the current season of Fat 2 Fit Radio downloaded and another 5 episodes of Freethought Radio. I didn't get them synced to the iPod. I'll have to do that tomorrow.

My back was bothering me (nothing new there) and I could feet a bit of a headache lingering, so I took a few Excedrin migraines and decided to take out the recyclables.

I got going on the recyclables and then decided I should clean up my really messy porch. I bagged up the trash hanging around and then went on a quest to find the missing outdoor broom that is normally kept on the porch. I looked and looked for that thing. I finally found it laying down flat in the little strip of grass between the driveway and the fence.

I was just finishing up the porch when Dodger pulled up around 4pm. I ended up sweeping the drive while he drug a bunch of trash bags and cans to the street. I finished up the recyclables and then started to clean up the kitchen.

I rinsed out cans and bottles and tossed them under the sink, washed down the table, counter tops and stove top and finished up the last of the dishes. I made pizza for dinner because I wanted something quick and easy.

Now I'm all washed up and am going to lay down, watch some football and in a bit I'll read some more in "The Well Educated Mind" and start on the abridged version of "Don Quixote". I may also listen to the next episode of Fat 2 Fit Radio and Freethought Radio.

I'm really proud of myself for getting so much done today.

My Health & Weight Loss

I've been fighting with my weight and food for more years than I'd like to admit. I'll go into all of that on another post. I just wanted to post my recent info: start weight (there's nothing like hitting 200 lbs for the second time in my life and then passing it to finally get the point across), start date and weigh-ins.

Start date and weight: 8/19/09, 201
Weigh-in: 8/23/09, 194
Weigh-in: 8/29/09, 190

Height: 5'2
Age: 34
Goal weight: 115

I'm using the Lose It! app for the iTouch/iPhone to track my food. My daily calorie budget is just over 1400. I always work on staying within 100 cal under budget.

I haven't started exercising on a regular basis yet. Last night was actually the first real exercise I've had since my start date. I went over to a friend's house for dinner and then we went on a walk around her little town. She had me sweating, it was no little stroll.

I could log my exercise on the Lose It app but I think I will find a separate app to log that. Maybe the Spark People app. If I enter it on Lose It, the app will automatically subtract what I've burned from what I've eaten, and leave me with net calories and thus having to ear more to fill my budget. I don't want to do that yet unless I start feeling too hungry. That will be good when I'm closer to and at goal weight. That way I'll still be able to eat more and maintain my weight loss.

Ok. I think that's it for now.

My Own Education: Catching Up

Ok. I guess I should standardize how I post my updates on this stuff. So I'm going to do category like podcast or book. Then line of study (if you think things could be better classified please let me know) like ethics, theology, health, etc. Then title and then any comments or observations I have.

8/26/09

Podcasts
Ethics. NYT: The Ethicist 7/31/09
Theology. Freethought Radio 4/29/06
Health. Fat 2 Fit Radio #25 4/4/08
Sociology. TEDTalks: The Power of Glamour - Virginia Postrel

8/27/09

Podcasts
Health. Fat 2 Fit Radio #26 4/11/08

Ongoing books
Theology. Standing In the Light: My Life As a Pantheist - Sharman Apt Russell
Theology. The Little Book of Atheist Spirituality - Andre Comte-Sponville
Education. The Well Educated Mind: A Guide To the Classical Education You Never Had - Susan Wise Bauer

My Own Education

I have been a big fan of TJEd since I first heard of it a few years ago. The book is wonderfully inspiring and I finally feel at the place in my life where I desire to work on my own education.

The Dancer and I went to the library on Monday and I picked up a few book list books of classics that I have picked up in the past. I also grabbed "The Well Educated Mind" again while we were there.

I have read through TWEM before but it speaks to be a little differently the second time around. My focus is to finish that book and then I'll make a list of books and topics I want to study.

I have also been listening to some podcasts lately that I have really been enjoying.

I will be posting daily on my progress and what sort-of self-educational things I did that day.

About this Blog

Well, I guess this is about as real as it gets. I have other blogs but haven't felt like I could really be me there. So here you have it... the real me. I'm not always happy, most of the time I struggle with my attitude. We homeschool but are unschoolers, we're unschoolers but have a need for some structure and may actually use the C-word this year with some things. None of it forced or coerced, as that would completely go against the RU and AP beliefs that I whole-heartedly grasp. I have just found over the past 4 years that if left to our own devices, we never get anything done that we say we want to get done. We need a little bit of structure, a little reminder everyday of what we want to accomplish.

I'm also not a religious homeschooler. I'm not religious at all. I let go of Christianity a few years ago and now I'm not even sure that I believe in God. I'm still finding my way through much of this. I'm questioning everything ever taught and everything I ever believed.

So, really this blog is just my place to let it all out. Maybe in my process to accept myself, I'll begin to accept others... or is it the other way around? Maybe in my process to accept others, I'll begin to accept myself. Maybe I don't HAVE TO fit into any mold. ;D

Introspection & Life

I haven't been blogging because I've been spending too much time in my head. I'm questioning many long-held beliefs and belief systems. I've also been dealing with stress induced depression brought on by a drastic change in my job situation. Things have started to normalize on the job issue again and I've been taking St. John's Wort for the mood for about 2 weeks now. I still have some days where I have no energy and feel funky, but who doesn't.

I'm frustrated with the way my home looks. I have too much stuff in too small of a space. Things need painted and finished. Clutter has taken over again. That clutter is sneaky, it took over during the two months of hell at work. Now, I'm trying to dig out of it again.

I'm also working on an outline or a guideline if you will of what my Dancer and I want to study and focus on this year in our homeschool. She wants to learn Spanish (have you seen the rediculous prices on Spanish curriculum... egads!), so I'm trying to come up with some creative and free ways to do that. I do think that the immersion style is the best, so last evening I went searching for free online Spanish TV channels and videos. I found some things at YouTube but still have to go through those and the TV channels I found. I found them using the iPod, so I still need to organize them on the computer.

I hopefully will have some sort-of outline made up by the first week or so of September.

Her dance classes start next week. She'll have classes on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Starting in September, she'll have tennis lessons on Friday and starting in November, she'll have golf lessons on Monday. I'm tired already. lol.

Our homeschool co-op classes will be starting soon, too. Dancer will be taking Beginning Writing (she was going to take Earth Sciences but after seeing the outline, I think the speed and style isn't right for her at this time) and Hobbies For Life. She was a little *IDK* about the writing class but the teacher is a dear friend of mine, she uses a child-led educational approach with her kids, and I told Dancer that the class would be fun. So, she's ok with trying it. :)

Our new homeschool support group has lots of activities planned and I'm super excited that it's going to be a great thing for the homeschoolers around here.

So, I'm feeling the pressure to get my calendar out and get stuff filled in so that we don't miss out on any opportunities. There really is so much to do around here.