Its been 2 weeks since last post. Been trying to get back in swing of new semester. Teaching A&P I and II labs now also. So is always stressful when you have to do new material.

Exercise and food going well. Just completed 50 mile ride in New Orleans last Sunday. Longest ride so far. Rode with tri group along bike route for Ironman New Orleans. Not a very scenic route. Suppossed to be 56 miles but by time me and fellow slowbies reached group they had stopped short of turnaround because there was a porta-potty available at that spot and I couldn't convince any of the others to do to turn around with me. It was cold, dreary, overcast day. Started misting badly on way back. Had to take glasses off because was afraid I was gonna crash having to wipe glasses every 10 seconds. Got cooler as we were heading in also. We got lost .... well we weren't lost but a couple of the others thought we were. They thought we were on I-10 but we were on Hwy 47. But by that time of day the traffic was almost as busy as on I-10 and all of us slowbie/newbie peeps were nervous. So we used someone's iPhone to plot different course. Well ... I would have rather braved a short piece of highway than go through the bog we ended up going through. Ended up on this road that was covered in mud. mud flinging every where. Stuck in break, coating wheel, water bottle caked in mud, and later after ride we discovered we all had these lovely mud stripes up butts so it looked like we poo'd ourselves *sigh*! We stopped at gas station to regroup and figure course back and one of the girls pulled up to pump and used the windshield sponge to clean mud off - was too funny. I know the next person to use it cussed big time! In between all this one of the girls had a slow leak in front tire. Had to keep stopping to pump up. On the bike ... off the bike .... clip in ... clip out .... It was so insane we all had to just start laughing. Ended up having a great time and learning a lot! And went after and had some wonderful chinese food at Five Happiness on Carrolton in NOLA. Delish! Only chinese place I know of around me that still serves only to table - no buffet.

Started using recovery drink after intense exercise and also soaked in epsom salts after ride and did not have any of the muscle soreness I usually have for several days following something like that. WOOHOO!!! So I went and bought a baby formula container that lets you store 3 servings of formula and you can dispense it into bottles ... using that to hold 1 scoop of this protein recovery drink in each compartment. So can keep in car and have it ready to go.

Tired today. Was up late grading UGH! Need to decide what am doing today for exercise. Prob run and then if time swim.

Next event is Dirty Diva/Dirty Dude race this Sunday. 3 mile-ish race with obstacles and something about you have to finish carrying something hmmmmmmmmmm. Should be fun - variation from norm. Was thinking about dressing divalicious! Girlie knee socks, makeup, princess hat or tiara lol Will let ya know if I follow through or chicken out :o)

More later. Better go if gonna get workout in.

Classes started back today. Usual 1st day chaos but no big surprises yet WHEW! I will try to catch up with your blogs ASAP. I usually blog from work as you all know how busy it is at home. Also my laptop has a lovely virus so until I bring it in can't use it and have to fight 14 year old to use other computer lol. And when use desktop at home usually have lots of nosey peeps hovering .. so will try to play catch up over next few days.

Seem to be back on track with food and exercise.

Have new POA (plan of action). It includes:

• not beating my body to death! Which means I will listen to my body earlier and not be so darn hard headed!
• more rest. If have to choose between getting in workout or getting in to bed on time I will choose sleep. Since I struggle enough with that as it is.
• get back to more variety in workouts. The tri thing works great for me as long as I am doing all 3. This fall when I started with running group, I needed the days in between runs just for recovery so I ended up dropping the bike and swim. When I do all 3, I hardly have any problems with injuries. So back to the threesome .

That's it for now. Back to work! Hugs all!

• I really don't like the time change because I do a lot of stuff in the late afternoon/early evening and when it is dark at 530 pm it is very depressing to me.
• I loved Christmas timewhen my son was young but now no one seems to care about it much and no one wants to really participate and no one wants to help out with preparations. I guess I get tired of having to do all the shopping, hauling, wrapping, etc.
• My house always seems to be a disaster. I feel like as soon as Iget one thing organized almost everything else goes to pot. I would love for it not to be a big ordeal in order to decorate for Christmas or any holiday.
• I feel like I am in my marriage by myself and am very, very lonely.
• I have lots of feelings of stress when it comes to being around my family at holidays - mostly my parents. I feel like e1 is on pins and needles waiting for either parent to say something rude or insensitive or downright cruel. So have prepared myself that I can always leave if it gets too much. Thanksgiving actually went ok but I was exhausted by the tme it was over because I was tense winting the whole time for something to happen. Pehaps Ineed to adjust my expectations - good and bad. I guess since I am 41 I should be used to my parents negativity by now. I got up at 3:30 am last Thursday to go with them as Dad was having a little surgical procedure and would not be able to drive home after. My mom has such a bad back that she hasn't driven in a few years. I did not mind at all and it went well on way there and until Dad went in for procedure. Then Mom started with all her negative gossiping about e1. I shut her down at each step and tried to doze and read my book. Then she wanted to go eat in cafeteria but was pissed that she had to walk so far (she has to use a cane and can't walk very fast at all). Then she was mad that she had to walk so far back. She refuses to get a scooter etc. And I don't want her to get dependent on one but there would be times like that and like when they go shopping etc that it would come in handy. After surg I picked them up to drive them home. And not only did I have a backseat driver with my dad but a front seat driver with my mom. OMG. I told them that if I had to drive them anywhere again I was going to gag and bag them both! My sis died laughing when I told her that. I say things like this to break the tension and it makes e1 laugh but it is still exhausting and wears on me.
• Haven't been exercising much at all since foot flare up. Now am finding it hard to get back in the swing of things. A buddy called me and did meet her Sat morning for a short 2 mile run round LSU lakes. And glad to have boot camp tomorrow.
• We are going to have a large tax bill next year so even though I have been preparing for it I am worried about it constantly. Hub says he is too but you would never know it as he never talks about it or seems to worry about it. And yeah, yeah I know he is a man yada yada but F that. And I am pissed that it is his fault we are in this mess but yet I am the one that has had to fix it. SO I am harboring HUGE resentments about that.
• Everything seems to come to a head for me this time of year. I feel like all the demons I keep locking in the basement all got out and are playing tricks on me and taunting me.
• I am already nervous about Half Ironman New Orleans. Already thinking about what all the fast, light, skinnies are going to be thinking about me doing the race .... and that is the LAST thing I need to be worrying about!
• And did I mention that I a wayyyyyyyy overtired...
• *SIGH*

If any of you made it through all that - bless you! For now I think I better try to get some sleep. Will weigh in again in the morning. Foun measuring tape as I want to take a new set of measurements and plan to take some pictures ... although I will not gross you all out by posting them.

OK that's about all the honesty I can take right now ... rambling over ...

But alas ..... all the snowmen are melting and temps should be in the 70s by tomorrow and we will probably all be wearing shorts come Christmas LOL but it was nice while it lasted!

Hi all

I was trying to calculate calories for my tortilla soup recipe. I used the recipe calculator on Sparkpeople but wasn't very satisfied with it. I am looking for a way to do this other than the hard way LOL. Does anyone have any other sites they use for recipe calculations?

Thanks!

~Tater~