Sad Monday weigh-in

It's sad for several reasons.  First, I weigh 247 this morning, up two pounds this week.  Too much partying for the birthday and Purim, I guess.  I'm kind of out of control again. 

It's sad because my high school girlfriend, Laverne, posted on FB this morning that her mother passed away over night, just shy of her 90th birthday.  She had suffered from Alzheimer's for years, but she was at home, surrounded by her husband and youngest daughter.  My condolences go to Laverne and her whole family.

It's sad because there's a huge, big rainstorm coming through today.  It's gray and blustery and wet out.  Central FL could get 2-6 inches of rain today, which is a LOT.  Hopefully, our area won't get any flooding.  It should be interesting to see how we fare with such downpours today.

On the other hand, there is another 5+inches of snow in MD today.  Another snow day for all the central MD schools. I'm starting to think Emily will never get out of school this year!  LOL!

And it's St. Patrick's Day!  Seriously, how sad can you get on this day.  I am wearing a green t-shirt and a plastic shamrock necklace.  Mark is wearing his green Shamrock hat while making an Irish beer cheese soup for dinner with Irish soda bread purchased at Publix.  On the TV we are listening to the Clancy brothers doing a concert on YouTube.  So life is still good.  And when we get home from rehearsal (me) and concert (Mark) tonight, he is going to make us "Dave's coffee," 1/3 black coffee, 1/3 Jameson's Irish whiskey, and 1/3 Bailey's Irish cream.  Something to look forward to for sure!

Mark is starting to feel slightly better, little by little.  At least he has not had a fever since Saturday night.  Yesterday we delivered Mishloach Manot bags to a dozen or more people in Solivita, then took off for shul to deliver more.  We heard the megillah Saturday night at home on YouTube and Sunday morning at shul.  It was fun. 

After shul, we headed to the Magic Kingdom.  We had an email to Fastpass lunch at Be Our Guest and pre-order the food.  So we had a 1:15 lunch reservation.  They had our reservation but the food choices didn't come through.  We were told that was happening to them a lot.  We re-ordered the food and were seated very quickly, not much waiting, so that part was nice.  After lunch we snagged a great view on a bench to watch the new Festival of Fantasy parade.  After the parade, we just went home instead of heading to Epcot for a concert.  We were both just worn out from such a busy day.  It was the most activity Mark had had since we got home Thursday afternoon.

Here's a few pictures of the parade.

Seriously, Merida from Brave looks a little crazy here,

Maleficent as a steampunk dragon breathes FIRE!  Pretty spectacular.

Mark's birthday was fabulous and then he got sick.

We checked into the Villas at the Grand Floridian for a 1 BR standard view. What a surprise when they gave us an upgrade to a 3 BR Grand Villa.  Ridiculously huge place for two people.  We called our friends Barb and Al to come party in the evening with us.  We invited them to sleep over, but they couldn't do that.

We had two lovely days, Wednesday and Thursday,  in the villa.  Then we could barely drag ourselves home.  Mark started spiking a fever along with his coughing, nasal congestion, and sore throat.  I have felt unusually tired and dragged out, but so far not many of the other symptoms.  We have stayed home all day Friday and today just sleeping and resting and watching TV.

Here are some pictures of the Grand Villa at the Grand Floridian.

Enjoying the view from one of the two very long balconies.

Master bedroom.  There are three bedrooms and four full baths plus a media room that sleeps two more people in this palace!

Master bath with jetted tub

Giant master bath shower.  One other hall bath has a big shower and the other two baths have extra deep tub/shower combos.

Living room  and dining room with gorgeous floors and ceiling.

Giant dining table

Media room

Me looking happy in the kitchen

Art on the kitchen wall

Mark checking out the outside.  We are the second floor unit, all the windows and balcony from side to side.  There are six 3BR Grand Villas, one on each floor, taking up the entire end of the building.

Waiting for lunch to arrive at the pool bar

Swimming in the pool even though it was a little cool out

Dinner at the Grand Floridian Cafe

Dessert sampler that I bought and took back to the room to share with Barbara

Me and Barb toasting

Some of the goodies Mark got for his birthday.  Barb and Al brought him the Bailey's.

Couldn't eat Mickey so he's in my fridge at home now.

Me and Barbara eating Mickey ice cream bars in the media room, after we had consumed almost two bottles of wine!

Sunrise the next morning

Scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast Thursday morning

Going Home!

As soon as we get to the entrance gate, we will hear the guard say, "Welcome Home."  When we walk into the lobby, we will hear the doorman say it, then the registration desk cast member, and everyone else we encounter all day.  I wonder if it will get old?  NAH!

We are going to our new home away from home, the Villas at the Grand Floridian, using our DVC points for the first time since we bought into the Disney Vacation Club on February 7. 

Today is Mark's birthday.  Happy Birthday, my beloved husband!

He has caught up to me in age for a few months until I pass him again in August.  LOL!

For his birthday, we are celebrating at WDW and staying over night at VGF in a 1 BR unit.  There will be plenty of pictures taken today.  If it doesn't rain, we will swim in the pool this afternoon and have lunch at the pool bar area.  Dinner tonight is at the Grand Floridian Cafe, a nice sit-down restaurant, but still casual.  It's the next-to-the-last restaurant for us to try there.  The only one left is Victoria and Albert's, and we aren't too likely to go there any time soon.  Breakfast tomorrow will be in the apartment.  We are taking things to make scrambled eggs and toast in the kitchen in the apartment just for the fun of using the kitchen!  Tomorrow will be in the mid-60s, so it's a good day to go the Magic Kingdom and see the new Festival of Fantasy afternoon parade. 

This should be a very memorable birthday for Mark!

We're starting the celebration off with a free Grand Slam breakfast at Denny's for him because he got a coupon in his email for a free breakfast on his birthday.  Then we are heading straight over to VGF.  I have been looking forward to this for a LONG time!

Just in case you forgot what it looks like, here's a picture of the Grand Floridian taken from the top of Bay Lake Towers across the lagoon.  There's also a picture from the day we bought the points.

It's over!

It's been about two weeks since I wrote a blog, so at this point a lot of things are over.

Sara and Jeff's visit is over.  Michael and Lore's visit is over.  The play is over.  Wow!  So much has happened.

First, let me report my weight.  Two weeks ago I weighed in at 243, a slight gain from the week before.  This morning, I weighed in at 245, a gain of two pounds in the two weeks.  I was actually RELIEVED because there has been way too much eating going on with the company and the show.  Crazy. 

Now I plan to get back to work on losing weight.  Haha!  I just typed that and then thought about how Wednesday is Mark's birthday, and we are checking in to the Villas at the Grand Floridian in a 1 BR unit to use our DVC points for the first time.  I'm taking him out to dinner that night.  Yeah, there will be some eating out this week.  Oh, well....

Now for what's happened the past few weeks.  We had a fabulous time with our company the last few weeks.  I never took any pictures with Michael and Lore.  (I KNOW!  How is that possible?)  They came to the play Saturday night and loved it.  We spent the afternoon on Saturday poolside because the weather was perfect for it.  We took Sara and Jeff on the airboat ride and up to the Monument of the States.  We took long walks and spotted lots of animals.  It was a great visit with all of them. 

Another big thing was Mark having his face shaved and his hair cut really short.  His character in the play is a crazy, hypochondriac from 1953.  The director asked all the men with facial hair to shave, but Mark was the last one to do it.  He looked so different that people actually didn't recognize him.  Of course, he hates the look, so now that the last show was last night, the beard is going to come back ASAP!  He wouldn't let me take any pictures of him that were labelled with his own name, but he is okay with people seeing pictures taken during the show and labelled Ira Stone.  If I can figure out how to move some of those pictures into the blog, I will. 

The show was a HUGE success with three sold out audiences.  They were all great audiences, and the cast was fantastic.  I wish everyone could have seen it.  There is so much talent here in Solivita.  I just did props and stagehand work, which meant frequent shopping for bagels, cream cheese, and pound cake.  When I signed up for props, I didn't realize that there was so much eating in this show.

This morning the cast and crew are dismantling the set.  Tonight I have the costume parade for the Starliters show, which is about three weeks.  Non-stop fun in Solivita!

Here are some pictures from Jeff and Sara's visit, and after that are some photos from the first dress rehearsal of the play.  Mark has not shaved yet and there are no sets, but you can see a little of the action going on.

On the airboat

Mark and Jeff posing with the wild boar

Sara with the giant alligator skin

Lunch at the Three Sisters in downtown Kissimmee

At Lake Toho in Kissimmee's lakefront park

at Private Island ice cream

Sara holding Poseidon!

Jeff and Poseidon

I never get tired of holding baby alligators.

Mark's opening scene.  Remember, this is not on the stage, so there is no set yet, just costumes for the first time.

And, of course, his hair is still pretty long and he has the beard.

Excitement in the air!

There is much to be excited for today.  The first and foremost is that later today our friends Jeff and Sara R. from MD are arriving for a three night visit.  They have been staying in the Tampa area in a rental something (really not sure if it was a house or a condo) since mid-January.  On Monday they are driving to Stuart to stay with some relatives for a couple of days before taking the autotrain back up north later in the week.  They have had such a lovely Florida winter that they have already booked the same place for two months next year!

The other reason I am excited today is that I cracked the 240s again and weighed in this morning at 239.4.  I was super excited about that back on Oct. 2 when I did it, but a few weeks later I was on a cruise and back in the 240s.  I went back down again shortly after that cruise, and by the beginning of December I had gotten down as low as 232.  Then there was Thanksgiving and two more cruises.  I went back to the 240s, even as high as 249 one morning.  Geez. I  have stayed there for several months until this morning.

I would be more excited about cracking back into the 230s except that we have our company this weekend.  I love company, but I haven't learned to control those eating opportunities.  There will be a big Shabbat dinner tonight.  There will be a lovely lunch of everything I love at home tomorrow after shul, the kind of meal that allows for a lot of chances to overeat.  There will be dinner out at the Stonegate Grille tomorrow night.  Sunday includes lunch out in downtown old Kissimmee.  I do not expect to be in the 230s by Monday morning when the weigh-in will be official.  Last Monday I was 243, a gain for that week.  Since Monday, I have lost over 3 pounds, which is very exciting.  Now I'm just hoping that by Monday I haven't gone over 243 so that the week is a wash.  Sigh.  Timing is everything!  LOL!

Time to run now.  I am heading to the Palms to get weekend passes for our guests, and then I'm heading up to the Village to sell tickets for the Starliters show.  I'm sitting at the Farmer's Market from 9:30 until noon at a ticket booth.  The home for a quick bite of lunch, and who knows, maybe Jeff and Sara will already be there.  We're not sure when they are getting here.  No matter what, I'm heading out at 12:40 to go to the Cove to put in our three hours of volunteer time in the ANRL Library (1-4 p.m. every Friday).  At 4:30 we will be home for good and our friends will definitely be here by then.  Mark is making a crock pot chicken dinner for Shabbat tonight.  It will be fun to have more than two people at the table for Shabbat.

Down again

This morning I weighed 241 even.  Wow!  I was impressed and happy.  I'd love to get under 240 this week.  I have challenges with company and dinner out beginning Friday evening and running through Monday morning.  I will just do my best through that.  What else can I say?

Yesterday Mark and I took a 31 minute walk, going 1.37 miles.  That's not super fast, but we were happy we took the time to walk.  I also jumped in the pool for about 10 minutes, just paddling around, but it felt so good. I had not been to the pool in a long time.  The winter has been busy and too cold many days for outdoor swimming.

I ate 1240 calories yesterday, burned off 120 walking, and did not feel any cravings or desire to graze, binge, or cheat.  It was an OUTSTANDING day on my weight loss journey.

Today should also be good.  I have eaten a normal breakfast and there is no reason to think that lunch and dinner won't be perfect as well.  I won't be out of the house as much in the afternoon or evening, which means more chance for prowling inside the pantry.  Let's hope not.

Currently, I'm heading out for yet another rehearsal for Laughter on the 23rd Floor and watching GMA's special "Let It Go" from Frozen video with people all over singing bits of it, and now they are doing some live performances outside the studio with Idina Menzel.  Wow!  This song is amazing and taking over the world.  I saw her sing it live last August at the D23 Convention, introducing it for the first time to everyone.  We were all WOWED and haven't stopped.  I can't wait to hear her sing it at the Academy Awards on Sunday.

Special Phone Call coming today

Around 10 this morning, we are expecting a special phone call.  It's a 30 minute call from DVC Member Services to answer any questions we might have and be sure we understand how everything works.  I am trying to think of a question, but it's hard. I have been thinking about, reading about, and planning for DVC for over 20 years.  I'm pretty sure I understand it.  LOL!  Still, we got an email asking us to make an appointment for a phone call, and we did.  Anything that DVC wants us to do we will do.  It's all part of the fun and magic of being a new Mouseowner!

Speaking of Mouseowners, that's also the name of a web group of other DVC owners.  I registered on that website as soon as we knew we were definitely buying into it. It's been a ton of fun logging on everyday and reading what other DVC owners have to say.  Despite what some of you may think of me and Mark, we are NOT the biggest Disney nuts on the planet, not by a long shot!  LOL!

Now on to the weight loss portion of today's blog.  I'm down six-tenths of a pound.  That's pretty good.  This morning I weighed 242.4.  As usual, I was expecting more, which is why I shouldn't get on the scale every day. I was up going to the bathroom almost every hour all night, so I thought there was going to be more weight gone.  Doesn't matter.  Sticking to the plan does bring weight loss.

Speaking of sticking to the plan, I have now gotten through three full days, but yesterday was already getting tough.  I ended up having the correct number of calories, 1346.  My plan is still allowing 1354 every day in order to lose two pounds per week as long as I still weigh 241.5 or more.  The last time I recorded a weight into it was Feb. 10, and I weighed 241.5 then. I'm not putting in another weight until I am lower than that weight.

The urge to binge came upon me yesterday afternoon.  I was feeling light-headed and super hungry when I got home from the morning rehearsal.  It was lunch time, so I took half a bagel and some cream cheese.  That wasn't on my list of things to eat.  I was still hungry, so I took my planned can of tuna and ate it with 2.4 ounces of left over challah, which was NOT on the plan.  The good news is that I immediately programmed all of that food into the app.  Lunch then came to 459 calories.  I drank a Coke Zero and chewed gum as I worked my jigsaw puzzle and watched some TV until my early dinner.  I had to have dinner around 5:15 in order to go to the Starliter rehearsal.  Dinner was a cup and a quarter of a vegetarian chili that Mark had made weeks ago.  I had that with a can of green beans, making dinner only 285 calories. 

That would all have been okay, both dinner and lunch, except for one thing.  While I was watching TV, I grabbed a handful of almonds, which is about 160 calories.  Then I grabbed a SECOND handful.  Then I knew I was out of control. I was grazing.  I was binging.  I was doing all the things I know I should not do.  It's like an addiction that is hard to stop.

I did one good thing though.  I went to rehearsal, which gets me out of the house and away from food for about four hours.  Then when I came home, I made a cup of decaf coffee in the Keurig, did some things on the computer, and watched Castle in the bedroom.  Watching in the bedroom was a strategy I used to use in the "old" days of dieting.  I didn't do it on purpose, but Mark was DVRing two other shows in the family room, so we had to watch Castle live in the bedroom.  I ate two sugar free Popsicles and two sugar free jello cups, a total of 50 calories for snacks.  I cut out the banana and the Arctic Zero pint I was going to eat, which would have been 285 calories. That saved me!  Changing the snack at the end of the day absolutely saved the day.

So....here's my quandary.  I want to be proud of myself for saving the day, for making some appropriate snack choices at the last minute to make the day's calories come out right and for logging all the inappropriate foods into the app for honesty.  I want to do that.  BUT, of course, I am also beating myself up about losing control, about eating half a bagel that I should NEVER have touched, about getting up and going to the pantry and grabbing a handful of Mark's almonds, TWICE!  There is no excuse for doing any of that.

Why is beating myself up so much more difficult than congratulating myself?