Book Review 2 – The Lost Symbol

Wow this weekend was very relaxing, its Sunday already but I am ok with that today. I Cooked  up another book review for everyone as I finished my book this week (Finally!)

This book is the third book written by Dan Brown with the protagonist Robert Langdon. It takes place in Washington DC. There are several other characters. One being a Noetic Scientist named Katharine, her brother Peter and a CIA agent Sato. The antagonist is a man named Mal'akh. Katharine and Peter are siblings who share a connection with Mal’akh which is not reviled until the very end of the book. Peter is a freemason, in fact the head freemason for his lodge.

The plot starts with Langdon going to give a lecture for one of Peter’s events, this quickly leads to Peters life being in danger and Langdon and Katharine fighting to save him. They are obstructed by Sato, and helped by some other characters. Mean while Mal’akh is attempting to find “The Word” which is the secret to unlocking the Ancient Mysteries that the Masons care for in secret. The story is filled with historical facts and real places just like the other Dan Brown Novels.

I would rate this book about a 3.5 out of 5. I was not impressed with the ending and the Moral of the story. I found it was against the other books. While I enjoyed learning more about the Freemasons I found the general story somewhat lacking. I finished the book with questions which I feel I shouldn’t have. I understood what the author was trying to say but felt that it was too vague to leave at the end of the story and almost anticlimactic.

So there you have it. Up next is The Host by Stephanie Meyer.

A very rainy day

Evening! Well what a gross day it was today. Our drive into the city was horrible, water everywhere and you could barely see the lines on the road. And I am not even going to get started on the bridge!

Well that was how my day started, and it went fairly well. I had my sign language class and that was good, I have a midterm next week and am terrified!

The only thing that didn’t go so well was the eating. I don’t know what it is. I can eat so good at home (except for my water intake) and I can pack a relatively healthy lunch to bring to work, but as soon as any type of snack comes out I must eat and eat and eat. I was fine until one of the girls came back with timbits! Then I had 5, yup not just one which would have been mostly ok but 5! Then after I got home I sat and ate 3 pieces of chocolate. Again not just 1 which would have done but 3. So in total that is like 15 pts of junk right out the window.

Then my husband makes supper, and he usually asks me who many points I have left, well not today so we and gnocchi (a potatoes pasta thing) with pork and peas, and of course peas are points! So I now have no points left… and wait it gets better my lovely husband made crème caramel! And we didn’t get to the gym like I had hoped.

So here is my plan for tomorrow; definitely get to the gym, if there is any sort of snack I may be forced to throw it out. And I am saving the crème caramel until tomorrow (hopefully, it is calling my name!)

So there we go!

Kick A$$ start to the week!

Hello everybody, hope everyone had a good Monday!!

Mine didn’t start off the greatest, I didn’t sleep very well and woke up with a headache, but after a few hours I came around. Work was a pretty good day, was in meetings so make the day go by faster. And I had my second WW meeting at work, and….

I was down 3lbs! Not really sure how it happened but I was happy to see a loss that is for sure. I am really enjoying the meetings at work. While I know most of the material alot of girls don’t that are there so she is focusing on that. Plus there is a smaller group than at the last place I went and it makes for more intimate discussions. I am definitely going to keep it up!

After work we headed to the gym. It had been what seems l like forever! I hit the treadmill for 25 minuets of good cardio. I felt so good to be back! Also I am hoping Dean will be up for hitting the gym tomorrow too. I want to keep up the good work!

Well off to relax some more, catch up on blogs and hopefully finish my book (I only have 10 pages left!).

Hope everyone had a great day!

Weekend round - up

Well this weekend was not stellar, my food choices could definitely had been better. But other than that it was a good weekend.

Friday night we just chilled out around the house, I did manage to stay up till about 1030!

And Saturday we went shopping and to dinner. Also played so monopoly, I didn’t win though…

Today we made homemade pizza for supper. I do say I need a healthy pizza crust recipe as the Kraft kits are just not healthy! We also caught up on laundry and basically just relaxed.

This week I plan on trying to get to the gym as much as possible, and I weigh in tomorrow and hope to see a loss, no matter how small. I also plan on eating with in my points and really trying not to snack as much!

Well I guess that's about it, hope everyone had a nice relaxing weekend like I did!

Friday!!! TGIF

Alright so I had a good week overall. It was busy but good. Now we are just sitting watching a movie, and it’s after 10 and I am still awake. Which is sad that I am proud of that!

No real plans for the weekend, maybe go in to the city and hit the gym. Other than that nothing planned but relaxing and maybe some planning for vacay in march.

Hope everyone has a good weekend!

Beautiful Blogger

Ok So yesterday Lynn nominated me for the beautiful blogger award;

Which means I need to tell you all 7 things you may not know about me, so here it goes.

1. I am a Buffy the Vampire slayer fan, have been and always will be.
2. In the year 2000 I traveled with Pathfinders (step up from girl guides) to Ottawa for Canada Day!
3. I am a Chris de Burgh fan. And saw him in concert with my aunt.
4. I’ve been to more funerals then weddings… don’t know if that is a good thing.
5. I met my husband by cleaning his bathroom… the rest is history.
6. I’m a video game nerd – I love me an RPG, especially Final Fantasy's
7. My favourite move is Vanilla Sky with Tom Cruise.

And there you have it, 7 things most of you probably didn’t know about me!

Pity Post

Well honestly if I could be the queen of pity, it would today. I absolutely had a pity party since about 3 this afternoon. I had a little mishap with some fries, chicken finger, and chips this afternoon, and while I sorta corrected it I felt horrible. I don’t know if its that time of month or the winter blues but honestly. I am cranky, fed up and feel absolutely out of control. I haven't been to the gym, I feel like giving up and If I wasn’t getting payroll deduction for WW I probably would!

Ok enough pity, the weather sucks here today, and tomorrow will not be a good drive in, I have even debated taking a mental health day. Not sure yet, guess it depends on if the snowplow comes on time or not.

On another note, congrats go out to Angie and her great news, head on over to see what she’s been hiding!

Also Lynn so graciously gave me the Beautiful Blogger Award.

I guess this means I have to share 7 things that most people don’t know about me… but you will have to wait until tomorrow for that…

Night bloggies.

Back at blogging

Honestly I missed it… or just missed venting and getting stuff out. I have always found that writing things down helps me figure it out.

So today was an average day. I had a breakfast that was alot more than I thought it was, and splurged on bits and bites when I got home (actually I binged on them and the rest are in the garbage). I used 5 flex but not much to worry about there.

At work I went to my third sign language class and I am really enjoying it. I am finding it hard but fun!

Well really that’s it. A boring work day with a little blip in the road. Tomorrow we are heading to the gym and it should be a good day!

RESTART… again

So today I pressed the restart button on this whole thing… again.

I feel really crappy lately, my hubby was sick over the weekend, its wintery and cold and crappy and I think I am just all in all crapped out.

I went to the Doctors this past week and got a mostly clean bill of health. Just need some blood work back and I will be all set. So that is the first step to getting ready for a baby!

Another note I started WW at work. I will be going to meetings and weighing in there. That being said today was the first one, and I was up… alot. Now this was at 2 in the afternoon after lunch so I am sure that is why, but holy made me feel like crap. So I am not going to post my numbers until I am back in the 170’s and then I will go from there.

And one more thing I suck at exercise. I feel totally crappy about it. I want to run the Bluenose 5K – that was a goal, but I can’t seem to push myself any further than I have been. I feel like I am stuck. I think I need to get out more than 3 times a week but that is hard to fit in. Oh well I will try!

Kicked into high gear!

Ok so I am so happy with what I did today!

I’ll start with the weigh in. I lost 1.2 pounds! I was hoping for more but after a slight binge last night I am ok with that.

Next up is although I didn’t go to the meeting today we made it to the gym before it even opened! So I did 25 minuets on the treadmill. about 10 minuets of running and the rest walking. I am hoping that by the end of the month I can get at least 10 in a row. Then we did the circuit and then I did 10 minuets on the stepper thing (have no clue what its called).

After that we ran some errands and came home. I am so happy with our morning, can’t wait to do it again.

We were suppose to go to dinner and a movie tonight, but Avatar was sold out… So we decided to just go to a newer local restaurant Marcus’ and Willy’s. Well we won’t be heading there again, the food was over priced and not the quality it should have been. Now we are just relaxing watching movies and I am hoping for a good on track week!

Ugh off the train

Well I had a quick hop off the train today. I have been super stressed at work, and today one of our Dr’s brought in a box of choclates, so I had 1 ok 5, and then there was some chips… which I had a few more than needed.

But with that being said I am getting back on the train tomorrow. I will eat on track and although we didn’t make it to the gym today, maybe we will tomorrow.

Hope everyone else is having a good week!!

Monday…. why are they always the same??

Well it was another Monday. Which means craziness at work! Mondays always have alot of paper work, alot of complaints and alot of just plain stuff. It doesn't matter if I am off for 2 days or the whole week!

However work went by fast, and then I hit the gym up for a bit! So glad to be back, and it wasn’t that busy which was surprising. I did 30 minutes in total.

The rest of the day has been pretty much basic. Hoping for the same tomorrow with the excitement of starting my Level One American Sign Language classes!

Hope everyone is doing good!

Holly Tackles the Kitchen

Ok so today in the shower I was thinking of how I could use some roast beef leftovers. And since we just got groceries I knew there was all kinds of veggies in the fridge. So I thought a stir fry!

When I ran it by Dean we decided that he would teach me some things and we would do it together. Now I don’t cook, especially now that he is in school. So not only was it time spent together it was a learning excpirence for me!

So we started by getting all the ingredients together for our sauce – a Orange-Ginger sauce! We didn’t have enough orange juice but other than that it worked very well!

Next I cut everything up;

• carrots
• mushrooms
• leeks
• broccoli
• cauliflower

Then we blanched the veggies so they weren't raw. Then we started the Jasmine Rice.

Then the fun began;

 

Stir – Fryin!

And the finished project;

It was yummy, filling, and there are leftovers for tomorrow!

The rest of the day was spent working on our budget. It is sad for me to express that unless we come into some money we don't know is coming I don’t think we will get into a house by the end of the year. While its sad it won’t be much longer than that, so we will see what happens.

Tomorrow I go back to work, and the gym. Dean goes back to school Tuesday and I am so relived to have a normal routine coming back. My eats today weren't too bad, and I am feeling so in control!

First storm of 2010

Well its nasty here in Halifax this evening everyone!

Actually it started yesterday – but I am very proud to say that I didn’t let that stop me I went and weighed in. Unfortunately I was up 1.8 but its not the end of the world and I will be down next week!

We then went and got groceries before the weather got too bad. I came home and we have been pretty relaxed all day. We tidied up a bit and then I went to try out Mom’s Wii Fit Plus. I’ll tell ya it’s fun, not sure how much you actually burn though in the end.

We had lunch and then played Monopoly! It was fun and took up a good 2 hours. Now I am relaxing while Dean starts supper. Ground Turkey burgers with spaghetti squash! I am excited for the Turkey burger. And so far today I am right on point wise. Breakfast was 5, lunch was 4 and I had a few snacks, for 3 points, so I have 14 points left for supper and maybe some popcorn as we settle into a movie.

Hope everyone is safe and warm in their homes!!

The New Year!

  Happy New Year! And welcome to 2010. My New Years eve was wonderful! I worked from 7 – 3 and picked up Jay and headed to Lynn’s for wine and cheese!

Here we have guiness, cheddar, swiss, harvarti and brie. And there was some sangria and wine as well. And a very tasty nacho dip.

There was also rock band… lots of rock band. I was the drummer this morning I was sore in my hands from drumming so much!

Then midnight started to get closer so we packed up rock band and  got out the champagne  and got some pictures of  us all!

Yay Happy New Year!!

Wo we hit the sack and I didn’t think I would feel that hung-over. And I woke up and I wasn’t, but my stomach is not great and I think its from too much cheese!

So tomorrow weather permitting I am heading to weigh in the scary number after Christmas! I’ll keep everyone posted!