Oh dear...I got busy again!  So, after the last post, my dad and I started working on the kitchen - moving things out of cupboards and painting ALL of the cupboards.  It has not been fun.  We were also still working out in there, and there were just some really long days.  I'll post the before and after pictures of the kitchen when it's all over.  However, before we were completely done with our final coat, Mom and Dad left for Yellowstone with their good friends.  I left at the same time for a really busy week.  Friday evening, after the folks left, I packed up the dog, some food and a BIG suitcase and hit the road.  First stop: Waterloo.  On Saturday morning, my brother and sister-in-law headed to Illinois and left the kid alone with me!  It was SO great!  I had the dog with me, and they really seemed to get along.  This was Auntie M's first overnighter, so I loved every minute.  So, they got back Sunday afternoon, took me out to dinner as a thank you, and I headed for my next stop: Ames.  My aunt and uncle who live in Ames graciously agreed to take care of my dog while I was on the last leg of the journey.  They have an awesome black lab mix, and my dog (a smaller mutt) just LOVES playing with her!  They are hilarious together, and since I had already used my brother and best friend as dog sitters this summer, I decided to spread out the help.  So, I stayed the night in Ames, but bright and early the next morning, I woke up, showered, and headed to my next and final stop: Mason City.  I had never been to MC before, and I have decided I LOVE it!  What was I doing there?  I was at a conference for choir directors.  Our national organization is called American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), with a branch for each state (Iowa Choral Directors Association), and branches for regions (North Central ACDA).  This conference happened to be the ICDA Summer Symposium.  They have it every year at the same time, and this was my first time.  I'm always on vacation or broke, or both during this time of summer.  And, I almost didn't go this time.  I pre-registered far enough in advance that I hadn't started freaking about money yet.  HOWEVER, by the time I was looking for hotels I was a little worried and thought about getting a refund and calling the whole thing off.  I'm SOOOOOOOOO glad I went!  It was far and above the BEST conference I've been to, and that's really saying something.  I love conferences, and always have a blast.  But this one was just so focussed on getting us ready for the school year, and I have to say, I'm pretty pumped to start the new year.  Never thought I would say that!  So, it was a great week: Met many new friends and colleagues, learned A LOT, saw Music Man Square and toured Meredith Willson's childhood home.  Now, I'm home, my parents are still gone on vacation, and I've realized I have only a week left to pack before I move into my new place, and that kind of freaks me out.  Plus, dad and I have to put the kitchen back together.  Yikes!  Monday I'm auditioning for Iowa City Chamber Singers again, and hopefully will get to participate this next year.

There are a couple more things I have to report on from the past week or so: my new found talent for hurting myself, and of course, how I've been doing on my "lifestyle change" - because I refuse to call it dieting.

So, first things first.  You'll remember my account of crashing my bike after only the second time on it.  Well, I will soon be going to the doctor, because I'm afraid I've broken a bone in my palm.  I can move it just fine without any pain, but it's still extremely sensitive to the touch.  That alone makes it hard to ride my bike for very long, or put weight on my palm while lifting weights.  Problem!  Also, two days before we all left, dad and I were getting things ready, and walking in and out of the kitchen, about to go for a walk.  With all the things out in the kitchen, the passing space from the kitchen to living room is quite tight.  Dad and I passed through it at the same time, and I managed to break my "ring finger" toe on a wicker chest by the corner.  OUCH!!!!  There was a LONG stream of expletives.  However, we still needed to walk and after a little bit it didn't hurt to walk on it anymore.  Apparently my toe was just numb.  So, we went for the long walk, it was doing alright, but I could feel it again by the end.  When we got home and I took off my shoe and sock, it was completely purple.  The bruising has subsided, but the pain lives on.  DAMN TRUNK!  Oh, but that's not all folks.  On Sunday, while babysitting my wonderful nephew, accident struck again.  The boy was napping, which he does for about 3 hours now, and I had gotten restless.  I had already watched TV, packed all my stuff up and puttered around with the dog.  So, I had been checking up on the blogs I follow, and had landed again on the wonderful video hair tutorials of The Small Things Blog (link attached).  This is one of my favorite ways to pass time.  She has taught me how to curl and style my hair, even though it's not quite long enough yet for all of it.  So, I decided to at least curl my hair and try out one of the styles if the boy was still sleeping.  Well folks, I am CLEARLY not coordinated enough for that, because I really burnt my hand - right on the space between the thumb and first finger on my left hand.  Yowza!  I ran it under the cold water, but that was not enough to stop the blister from forming.  THAT one has not quite healed yet.  Still looks gross, and now it's all scabby and pealy, and during the conference I had to constantly keep a bandaid on it because I kept breaking it open.  Yeah, sorry, you probably didn't want to hear all that.  So, there we are.  I think for the time being I will stay inside, away from sharp/hot/hard objects until this gray cloud of bad luck passes over.

So, that brings us to health and fitness.  Let me start by saying, I am officially down 12 pounds!!!  Hooray!  But I will follow that up with some honesty - I was NOT very well-behaved this past week.  I think I stayed pretty reasonable most of the time, and the lack of free time in my day at the conference (not to mention lack of money) kept me pretty conservative.  But, I need to admit to myself that even today, I was not good.  I should have gotten up this morning and walked or biked.  I should not have eaten those little powdered hostess donuts (damn you hostess!!!!) and I should not have stopped tracking my calories on MyFitnessPal.  Ok, now that I've admitted it - which they say is the first step - I can forgive myself and move on.  I have so far been extremely proud of myself.  Despite the slower speed of those numbers on the scale coming off due to weight training, I have not once had a weigh-in with positive numbers.  All weigh-ins have been down from the last one, even if only by .4 lbs.  So, I sure as hell am not about to break that streak!  So, here I go...back on the wagon.  This blog is keeping my honest, and I will really work harder at posting more often so the posts dont have to be this long!  Yikes, sorry readers!  Busy weeks to come, but I'm dedicated.  Peace!