I was going to title this post, “I want to be your sledgehammer” after the Peter Gabriel song, but upon further investigation, 1) the lyrics make little sense to me, and 2) the only context in which they do make sense to me are in that of sexual innuendo. Now, this means that between Peter Gabriel and myself, at least one of us is a pervert. I digress.
So – what did I do today? SLEDGEHAMMERED! Apart from back-breaking and arm-tweaking, using a sledgehammer to bust the shit out of concrete slabs is very cathartic! Our extended family all owns a lakehouse together, and last year, a huge tree fell on our concrete deck by the lakeside, crushing the whole platform. The rubble has sat there for months because we could never find time to all get together and clear it out. However, for Christmas, all us grandkids made a pledge to our grandmother to clean it up and build a new deck, so we had to make time. This was the first Work Weekend of many to come - once or twice a month until Memorial Day, we’ll all be there at the house working on the deck until the big unveiling. I can’t wait to get it all finished!
I’ve illustrated where the concrete deck used to be: (I’m standing on the very edge of the part that was salvaged).
The guys had mostly cleared the area of metal and concrete slabs by the time I got there this morning (save for one cousin’s awesome new girlfriend who we all just met today, I was the only chick), and we spent the rest of the day breaking up the concrete, arranging it alongside our boat ramp, and re-laying the brick retaining wall. I also had to run a couple of errands and got to listen to NPR on the way (I always swore off talk radio but some Twitter friends got me hooked…thanks a lot, guys), so I’d consider myself the luckiest of the bunch. We got a lot accomplished today, but it was in the mid- to upper-40s and raining all day, so we were all soaked and MISERABLE. Between being chilled to the bone from the weather and feeling dizzy and faint from all the concrete busting and carrying, I’m beyond exhausted now.
The taste redeemed it, though! I only got like 5 hours of sleep last night, and when I don’t get enough sleep and know that there’s some energy-taxing event ahead of me, I tend to rationalize food and drink I wouldn’t normally consume. So it’s good that I chose this over something filled with sugar (I know, it would’ve been great if I hadn’t gotten anything “special” at all, but I can live with this for now). This little judgment flaw is partially to blame for my 80-pound weight gain in graduate school, so I’m glad to be changing it at least a little bit!
For lunch, I had my turkey cobb salad from Publix (icky Blackberry picture):
I could bore you guys with more pictures of what we did today, but I’ll spare you.
I’ll definitely be excited to start building the actual deck – we’re using those nifty composite boards and re-vamping our lakeside. It’s gonna be freakin’ sweet.
The squash was kind of fibrous, almost comparable to spaghetti squash, but not quite as stringy. I’m not sure if I baked it too long? Not long enough? It seems like every time I envision something with butternut squash, I get it kind of wrong. It’s never terrible, just never 100% what I expected. Maybe next time I’ll consult a recipe.
Mom and I also split this beer…
…which wasn’t awesome. It wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t awesome. I drank my half and subsequently got a headache about 45 minutes later. This has been happening since I started my diet, and – just like that “sugar makes my throat sore” thing – I should probably consider it a blessing. Nature’s way of telling me to lay off the beer. Seriously, I need to quit eating and drinking stuff that’s not part of my diet. My weight loss has definitely slowed down since Christmas, and I need to keep my momentum going! (I’ve lost 50lbs since my highest weight, though!)
Alright, y’all…I’ve stayed up waaay past my bedtime (what else is new, seriously??) and am turning into a pumpkin. I hope you guys had a great day today – did anyone do anything exciting? productive? lazy? Try anything new this weekend? What’s up???
So – what did I do today? SLEDGEHAMMERED! Apart from back-breaking and arm-tweaking, using a sledgehammer to bust the shit out of concrete slabs is very cathartic! Our extended family all owns a lakehouse together, and last year, a huge tree fell on our concrete deck by the lakeside, crushing the whole platform. The rubble has sat there for months because we could never find time to all get together and clear it out. However, for Christmas, all us grandkids made a pledge to our grandmother to clean it up and build a new deck, so we had to make time. This was the first Work Weekend of many to come - once or twice a month until Memorial Day, we’ll all be there at the house working on the deck until the big unveiling. I can’t wait to get it all finished!
I’ve illustrated where the concrete deck used to be: (I’m standing on the very edge of the part that was salvaged).
The guys had mostly cleared the area of metal and concrete slabs by the time I got there this morning (save for one cousin’s awesome new girlfriend who we all just met today, I was the only chick), and we spent the rest of the day breaking up the concrete, arranging it alongside our boat ramp, and re-laying the brick retaining wall. I also had to run a couple of errands and got to listen to NPR on the way (I always swore off talk radio but some Twitter friends got me hooked…thanks a lot, guys), so I’d consider myself the luckiest of the bunch. We got a lot accomplished today, but it was in the mid- to upper-40s and raining all day, so we were all soaked and MISERABLE. Between being chilled to the bone from the weather and feeling dizzy and faint from all the concrete busting and carrying, I’m beyond exhausted now.
Today’s Eats
This morning, I started out with my usual coffee + shake combo and stopped by Publix for lunch to take to the lakehouse. I grabbed one of these low-cal Vitamin Waters and felt my inner goth kid coming out when I realized how PINK that drink truly is. It made me twitch.
The taste redeemed it, though! I only got like 5 hours of sleep last night, and when I don’t get enough sleep and know that there’s some energy-taxing event ahead of me, I tend to rationalize food and drink I wouldn’t normally consume. So it’s good that I chose this over something filled with sugar (I know, it would’ve been great if I hadn’t gotten anything “special” at all, but I can live with this for now). This little judgment flaw is partially to blame for my 80-pound weight gain in graduate school, so I’m glad to be changing it at least a little bit!
For lunch, I had my turkey cobb salad from Publix (icky Blackberry picture):
I could bore you guys with more pictures of what we did today, but I’ll spare you.
I’ll definitely be excited to start building the actual deck – we’re using those nifty composite boards and re-vamping our lakeside. It’s gonna be freakin’ sweet.Dinner
On my way home from the lakehouse, Mom met me at the grocery store to pick stuff out for dinner. We decided to have salmon and bought some zucchini that I baked in the oven and topped with parmesan cheese. I also baked the bulbous end of the butternut squash I made fries out of a few days ago. I scooped out the seeds, sprinkled with cinnamon and Splenda brown sugar, and added some ICBINB spread before baking for about 45 minutes at 375°.
The squash was kind of fibrous, almost comparable to spaghetti squash, but not quite as stringy. I’m not sure if I baked it too long? Not long enough? It seems like every time I envision something with butternut squash, I get it kind of wrong. It’s never terrible, just never 100% what I expected. Maybe next time I’ll consult a recipe.
Mom and I also split this beer…
…which wasn’t awesome. It wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t awesome. I drank my half and subsequently got a headache about 45 minutes later. This has been happening since I started my diet, and – just like that “sugar makes my throat sore” thing – I should probably consider it a blessing. Nature’s way of telling me to lay off the beer.
Seriously, I need to quit eating and drinking stuff that’s not part of my diet. My weight loss has definitely slowed down since Christmas, and I need to keep my momentum going! (I’ve lost 50lbs since my highest weight, though!)Alright, y’all…I’ve stayed up waaay past my bedtime (what else is new, seriously??) and am turning into a pumpkin. I hope you guys had a great day today – did anyone do anything exciting? productive? lazy? Try anything new this weekend? What’s up???
Sounds like a fun weekend! Your dinner looked delicious. For my weekend I saw two movies. The Lovely Bones on Friday night with a meet up group (trying to make new friends). On saturday I went and saw Avatar 3d, tried a Vietnamese restaraunt (sadly disappointed on the lack of flavor of my curry!!), had some delicious but expensive cupcakes down in DC all while spending time with a new friend. So far so good but I think today will yield homework! Ick!
ReplyDeleteI have the same reaction to beer and sugar... i swear its the whole eating healthy thing!
ReplyDeleteYesterday I didn't even get dressed! I did NOTHING and it was amazing :)
Now,thats a good workout.
ReplyDeleteThat looks like a yummy salad! I just watched Lost all weekend! I'm trying to get caught up!
ReplyDelete@Amanda - was The Lovely Bones suspenseful or just dramatic? Did you know anyone in the group beforehand? I need to make some new friends, too! And everyone keeps telling me to go see Avatar, even though I'm pretty ambivalent about it. Gaaahhh now I want a cupcake...
ReplyDelete@Mara - Ever since I've been on this new diet, if I had something with sugar in it, my throat would hurt all day long! And if I had one drink, I'd get almost hangover-like effects about an hour after drinking it! Over the holidays, I kinda got away from my detoxed state, so the sugar hasn't had as bad an effect on me, but I need to get back to it. It was a great natural defense against consuming sugar! PS - I'm sitting here in my PJ pants and a tank. Ahhhh!!
@Nicci - My arms are KILLING ME. I kinda hurt my back a little bit, too, but it's the arms that are really where it's at. Good thing, though - that's where I need to work the most!!
@Abby - I've got to admit, that salad was more "toppings" than "salad," which is probably why it was SO DARNED GOOD! I'm going to have to cram for a couple of days before the big premiere, because I've forgotten so much! I have a feeling I'll be watching Lost for years to come, trying to piece together tiny clues and foreshadowing I've missed all this time. I can't wait for the new season and some ANSWERS FINALLY!!!
Kat-
ReplyDeleteNope, I didnt know anyone in the meet up group. You can check it out at www.meetup.com and just type in your zip code. Anyway it was pretty funny, they were going out for drinks afterwards but I didnt go because had to get home. The Lovely Bones was had both supenseful, dramatic and even minimal comedy. Also Avatar I didn't want to see but after a billion people told me to see it and was pleasantly surprised. ;)
@Amanda - Ooohhh! I've heard of that before! Was it awkward? Do you think you'll do it again? Part of me wants to see Avatar because everyone has said exactly what you did - that they didn't care about it but really really liked it. We'll see if I actually get around to it, though!
ReplyDeleteWow, sounds like you really worked your butt off this weekend!
ReplyDeleteThat dinner plate looks so yummy I almost drooled on my keyboard.
Kat-
ReplyDeleteYeah I would do another meetup again. I am actually going to Atlantic City with another group the end of this month. They got an awesome deal for the condo rentals and my hubby is allowed to go (I try to stay with the female only groups). I am super excited and I can't wait. My hubby and I figured that if we don't like those people we have Atlantic City to explore which we have never been there before. I would recommend meet ups because now a days more and more people meet via internet
@Kat - I did! My arms were BURNING on Sunday! And thanks for the compliment! I need a new camera so as to make my food look even more yummy!
ReplyDelete@Amanda - That's so cool! I tend to be really awkward and bumbling when I first meet people I've "met" online...I'm nervous to someday meet all my blogger friends at a conference or meet-up, so maybe I should try "practicing" with a group like that! I hope y'all have fun in Atlantic City!