Weekend Recap...

Hey there internet....I had some busy and exciting times this weekend, so I thought I'd share it with you. So, here goes...

Friday: I got home from work...and since I hadn't bought my final weight loss reward yet, even though I "earned" it weeks ago, I decided it was TIME. So, my dear ol' daddio and I went to Devil-Mart and bought me a nice, new bike. I got a great deal. It is a Schwinn Jet Star Women's Bike. It was with the clearance bikes. I think someone bought it and returned it, so I got it for over 50% off. Sweet!!! I am so excited to have a new, swanky bike. I am going to ride it to work everyday that it isn't raining (like it is this Monday morning). I am going to love the instant exercise added to my day...and with gas prices, it'll be a great thing for the environment and my pocketbook. Whoo hoo!

Saturday: I worked on Saturday...we had a big huge community service project. We were cleaning up a local park and re-doing the trail that goes to it. And guess what...I rode my bike to work. It felt great. It takes me 10 minutes to drive to work and only 15 minutes to bike it. It's awesome. The day was great for community service. It was sunny, but not too hot...and there was a nice breeze. What we did for most of the day...is clear brush and what not from the trail above the park. So, I spent hours...dragging brush, twigs and rocks onto tarps and dragging up a pretty steep hill. Let's just say...I got a nice workout. It was nice to feel physically fit enough to do it. We started right around 9am...and finished up about 3pm. I helped clean up the site...and headed home around 4pm. I was beat by the time my bike and I got home. Phew. TIRED! I made dinner...and then felt ready for bed at about 7pm. I didn't head to bed that early...but I wanted to. I think I fell asleep sometime in the 9pm hour. My body needed the rest...let me tell you.

Sunday: Ah...lovely Sunday. I didn't go to church this week. It's the annual giving drive...where they feed people a nice lunch and talk about each person's weekly giving to the Church. I know it's how the church survives, but I didn't want to be made to feel guilty about my level of giving...or feel obligated to give more than I already do. I don't give a lot each and every week in the plate, but I do always give money or goods to the dinners we have...and I have given large sums of money to special projects...like funding the summer camp program, etc. So, I feel good about my level of giving. I know that the church is also a business and it has to be...but I figured I would skip a week that reminds me of that.

I did go over and hang out with my dad instead. We've been trying to declutter the house. I think it's going to be an ongoing project FOREVER. My brother's old room is just chuck full of junk we've acquired over the years. I have boxes and boxes of stuff from college....that I just packed up, brought up and never thought of again. Mind you...I graduated in 1999. So, I spent the morning going through it and throwing away 90% of everything there. I was surprised how emotional I was going through some of the stuff. I found a lot of old pictures...and a bunch of old clothes from college. I had forgotten how overweight I was in college...denial has a way of doing that. I was probably the biggest I ever was during my college years. It was really heartbreaking looking at those old pictures. And the clothes...same thing...I would hold up the physical reminder of how big I was and it was definitely eye opening. Of course, everything in me wanted to shred those pictures and throw away all those clothes...but I didn't. I kept the pictures. I am going to put them away in a little box...and keep them as a reminder of how much change I have accomplished. I'm also going to keep them as a reminder...that I don't want to gain this weight again...that this change is permanent. It's easy to let denial take over again...and let the weight creep back on. I also put the clothes in a pile. I'm going to wash the nice ones and donate them. Hopefully someone else who needs them...will put them to good use.

And the rest of my Sunday. I had a lunch with my roomie and another friend. We went to Panera for lunch. I love that place...they have really yummy food and if you make the right choices...a lot are really healthy for you. I had a garden salad with fat free raspberry dressing. And after eating, we went back to our apartment and watched a movie...August Rush. It was completely unrealistic, but I liked it. It was great to hang out with the girls...since we haven't done that in a long time. Since I hadn't seen my one friend is almost a year, it did take a little bit to kind of get to know each other again. Now that her schedule has changed, I am hoping we are going to be able to get together more often.

I think that's about it for my weekend report...and because it's Monday, I'll report that I weighed in and lost a pound this week. That didn't surprise me at all...especially given the cardio marathon I did on Saturday with working out on the elliptical, riding my bike to and from work and all the work done on the trails, etc. I probably burned close to 2000 calories that day...

Hugs all...I hope everyone has a great Monday, even if it is a rainy one like it is here.