Day 172: The Home Stretch

 

Today is day 172 of Nutrisystem 2.0 and it's Sunday ! I woke up around 8:30 am and had almost 2,000 steps in before 10:30. I moved all the scrap metal out to the driveway, including the grill and dryer, and the scrapper came shortly after noon and took everything ! I went outside to spread out and fold up the solar cover and noticed that the pool cover was gone. I thought the person that wanted the covers had decide to leave it, so I took it back into the workshop. Then I checked my phone and saw on my security camera that the scrapper took it ! Turns out the lady that wanted the covers was on the way, so I dragged it back out to the driveway just as she was pulling in. I helped her cram it into her small SUV and then put the 2 bags of trash into my bin ! Mission accomplished ! All the junk is gone or in the bin for trash day ! During my vacation I plan to pull the car and lawn mower out of the garage and sweep the floor good to remove all debris. I'm going to ask the siding guy if he can get rid of the solidified bags of cement in the garage and the ancient table saw. The worst that can happen is he says no ! I also have a couple of broken or old rakes that can go. It feels so good to have all the clutter in the garage cleared away. I have some Christmas decor out there that I want to move inside, but I'll do that during my vacation. Once that is done I'll actually have space on the workbench that runs the full length of the garage. There will be lots of cleaning to do and I'm finding that keeping busy and active keeps my mind off food !

Breakfast was waffles with sugar free syrup and a yogurt. Lunch was a pepperoni pizza melt. After that I was out for a "last hurrah" ! 

I've been lax about my diet and exercise over the past 172 days. I started off good but then lost sight of the goal and I haven't managed to get it back yet. My plan for this week is to do shakes for breakfast, lunch and dinner. My "morning snack" will be Metamucil. I will also have a salad at lunch and fruit if I need a boost in the afternoon, along with veggies at dinner. I'm going to TRY not having an evening snack, but if I'm starving I will give in to that with a Nutrisystem snack or a yogurt. During my lunch hour I will do walking workouts on the treadmill without trying to push myself hard, since my calories will be severely restricted. I think 5 days of this will help me shift back into diet mode. I opted not to go to the grocery store this weekend since I don't need anything and I would just end up buying a bunch of junk food that I don't need ! I have plenty of salad items for the week ahead. 

I've also been lax about dealing with the past. All the tools and tool boxes date back to Alex's various failed attempts at running a business and have been sitting in the garage since 2005, which is when we moved in ! In hindsight I can see that we were both struggling to find our way in life. When I met him I was desperate to be married and "have" someone. Turns out that's not enough. You have to find the right person and he was not it. It's unfortunate that his many health problems took his life so suddenly in 2014, especially considering he was only 48 years old. I do feel some guilt about the fact that his passing made my life easier. I suppose any caregiver of someone with multiple health issues has those same conflicted feelings. I never wished for him to die and it came out of the blue that fateful day. His biggest fear was dying alone and I'm sad that it actually happened that way. I really hope that he was asleep and just floated away. The dryer that I got rid of was in our ill-fated house in Radisson. I never wanted a big fancy house and in my heart, I knew it was not going to last. We lived there less than 6 months and I hated that place. Getting rid of all this stuff from the past is helping me to finally put it behind me once and for all, and move forward to whatever is coming next. That might or might not be a new job ! 

In the mail yesterday I got a pitch from the son of a former colleague, who now runs his own insurance business. I'm going to reach out to him and see about changing my home & auto coverage because I feel like I'm paying way too much. If he can save me significant money with the same level of coverage I am going to switch.

Around 3:30 pm I decided to go to Walmart & Home Depot to see if I could find a tool to remove the weeds in the sidewalk cracks and in my patio. Neither store had what I wanted so I'll probably order something online. I bought a t-shirt at Walmart, along with some shampoo & conditioner. I also made a stop at DQ for a burger and fries. I skipped the Blizzard because I wanted to go to Williams Farm for strawberry shortcake. Wouldn't you know it .. they were out of shortcake !! I ended up with a mexican sundae, which really didn't satisfy the craving. Right after I left there my sister called to ask if she could borrow my carpet shampooer. Once she found out I was minutes from her house she invited me for a homemade pasta dinner. I was pretty full but I had a small plate of pasta and brought a small bowl home to have tomorrow. I guess my plan for "shakes only" will slip to Tuesday ! It's ok - I enjoyed visiting with my sister's family. She's also inviting everyone for 4th of July so I'll be making another potato salad for that. I got home around 7, fed the cats and hopped on the couch to enjoy the rest of my weekend.

I think I accomplished more this weekend than I ever have in a single weekend. I moved into this house in 2005 and a lot of the stuff I've gone through and thrown away over the past few weeks had been here since then. It feels good to have all the old paperwork, tools and other junk gone. Having the workshop demoed and the siding completed will be the crowning touch, along with the new garage door. I'm going to look into the garage door next week while I'm on vacation. I've been pretty ashamed of the state of the exterior of my home for a few years, so it will be nice to finally feel proud of both the interior AND the exterior. I will no longer have the crappiest looking house on the street !