Weight Loss Update: June 4 to 24

Weight Watchers Weigh-In: 

Original Weight: 314.8 
Previous Weight (May 31): 261.6
Today's Weight (June 14): 263.4
Change: +1.8
Total Loss: -51.4

Previous Weight (June 14): 263.4
Today's Weight (June 21): 262.7
Change: -0.7
Total Loss: -52.1

 

Total Loss since May 2012: -59.5 
Total Loss since Nov 2005: -73.7 


SP Weigh In 
Previous Weight (May 31): 259.6
Today's Weight (June 25): 259.4


So I was up almost two pounds on June 14, but then down again almost a pound on June 21.  I should also be down this week.  At the start of the month there were too many opportunities to make bad food decisions - which of course I succumbed to instead of saying "no".  

I really need to drink more water.  I have a water bottle at work, I just need to remember to go fill it up after lunch (or at lunch).  I have a coffee with milk on the way to work (right now usually iced), then tea with milk at work (walked over to David's Tea in City Centre at lunch yesterday to replenish my supply).  I have milk with dinner and often water after dinner.  If I would just drink some water in the afternoon I would be good to go on the liquids.

Of course there is the same old song and dance about moving more.  I did go for a nice walk at lunch yesterday.  It was really warm outside.  I almost had 7,000 steps yesterday.  Tonight I have bowling, and I am taking transit to and from work - so it should be another 7,000 + day.  I just need to finish up my workshop/bootcamp for Business Communications, and then I would have time to walk in the evenings.

image courtesy http://www.foodielovesfitness.com/2014/05/30/my-healthy-morning-routine/glass-of-water/

Making Strides

I can't believe that it was only a week a go that we made the offer on my new home.  It also feels longer than ten days ago that my parents sold their house.

Things are slowly moving forward.  On Sunday the people who have the pending offer on my parent's house came over again to take measurements for furniture etc.  It's a good sign that they want to see where they will place their stuff in the house.

Tomorrow we are having the house inspection done on my parents house.  Then Friday we are doing the house inspection on the house we made the offer on last week.  My brother is also going to take this opportunity to measure things in the basement so he can figure out a floor plan.

The women we are buying my house from has all her financials in place and has made an offer on the place she wants to move into.

Still crossing my fingers that everything goes well and we can get possession of my new place on July 18.



One of my best friends, Kristine, moved to Vancouver Island.  She was going to be here until mid-July, but then her parents came up and spent two weeks helping her organize, clean and pack.  I guess they worked faster than they thought.  They ended up heading out on June 18.  At first she is going to stay with her parents in Parksville.  By September she will move to Nanaimo as she is taking a course there in health care administration.  I am really going to miss her - but we made it work when I lived 3 hours away in Calgary for almost 5 years.  Plus she will be only 1.5 hours from my parent's house in Colwood.  I really want to invite her over to enjoy the view from the top deck.

Last Wednesday I started playing the Summer League in bowling.  It's fine.  I met a girl from Atlanta, GA who is up here in Edmonton for something work related (I should really ask her about that again tomorrow) and had never played 5-pin before last week.  The other member of my team that I met was a young man who is taking culinary courses at NAIT.  The other two team members were missing.  It's fun but I enjoyed it more when Kristine was there with me.

My New House

image courtesy edmontonrealestate.ca

YAY!  We finally found a home that fit most of our criteria and made an offer.  The owner came back with a counter offer, we countered that, and then accepted the 2nd counter offer from the seller.

It's a 2 master bedroom duplex with an open kitchen/dining/living room on the main floor and a double detached garage in the back.  My brother (along with some help) will be building a bedroom & bathroom in the basement - as well as the storage/furnace/laundry room and a small tv room.

It's in the South Terwillegar area of Edmonton.  The bus stop is in sight of the front door (just down the block a little).  The huge rec centre is close by as well as parks and green spaces. 

Possession date is July 18 (as along as everything goes well with the house inspection) but looks like we might have to wait a few weeks to move in all the big stuff as my one brother is in New Brunswick with his girlfriend from July 19 - 28.  We will have to sit down and figure things out.

I can't wait to start planning decor and paint colours and furniture arrangement.

image courtesy edmontonrealestate.ca

image courtesy edmontonrealestate.ca

SOLD !!!

Wow !!  My parents now have a pending offer on their house that is just waiting on the buyers financials and a home inspection.

Here is how it all went down:

On Wednesday night the realtor came over and my parents signed all the paperwork.

Thursday evening the photographer came over and took pictures of the house.

Then on Friday it went up on MLS (Multiple Listing Service) and we had the first showing of the house at 4:30pm.  We left to go get dinner and came back after they had left.

We had one showing at 4:30pm and another at 7:00pm on Saturday.  There were also a few phone calls from realtors and we set up more showings for Sunday and Monday.

Saturday evening the realtor came over to our house with one offer and another interested buyer.  He made a bunch of phone calls back and forth, starting a small bidding war, and they ended up with a pending offer about $10,000 over the asking price.

Crazy and overwhelming.  Possession date would be August 30 - so we really need to find a new house for my brother and myself.  As well as get movers booked, start packing, and figure out what we are doing with my grandmother's stuff.

The other buyer who was interested in still there as a back up with their offer (which is also over the asking price).  

I just can't believe how fast it happened.  We never even got the for sale sign set up on the lawn.

image courtesy http://elvisvogrin.blogspot.ca/

Another Busy Week

It has been another busy week.  Cross your fingers - my parents are having our realtor over tonight and hopefully they will be able to put the house up for sale.  Last Friday (June 6) we had the carpet cleaned in the basement.  It was really odd looking down there on Thursday night with all the furniture removed (except the pool table).  I think that the house is ready. 

Not last weekend, but the weekend before, I was feeling like a little old lady.  On Friday evening (May 30) I had my regular bowling game with Kristine.  Then on Saturday evening (May 31) I met up with the girls I work with in the circulation department for bingo.  I almost one a game - I was just one number away from having a blackout on a card.  The director of our department won over $200.00 by having the four corners in one game.  It was a lot of fun and I would go again.

Last Thursday we were supposed to go out and look at some houses.   I gave the list to our realtor and his assistant emailed me back to confirm Thursday evening.  Unfortunately she never told our realtor that I had agreed to the appointment.  We ended up going out on Saturday morning (June 7).  Not that we ended up seeing any that were on the list I provided.  There were 12 places, and all of them were sold or had pending offers.  It's great that we are now looking for a single family home around $350,000 - but that has placed us in the hot part of the Edmonton real estate market.  I gave our realtor another list of 22 places and hopefully we can go out Thursday and Saturday.  I am getting anxious to find a place to live. 

My online program has another bootcamp going on right now.  I can finish another course in my program by the end of the month.  I really like that they occasionally offer these ways to complete courses faster.  With all the cleaning, packing, and house hunting I have not been focused on my studies.  Another reason I want to get settled in my new home.

Of course on top of all of this, and work, my vehicle decided to have more issues.  I went to drive it to work last Thursday and it would not go faster than 5km an hour, and the check engine light started flashing.  I managed to park it back in the cul-de-sac and headed to work on the bus.  I was only 15min late.  Once I got to work I made a bunch of phone calls (my mom, AMA, the dealership etc).  The vehicle was towed and the service tech looked at it on Friday morning.  They replaced two more coils (for a total of 5 out of 6 now), and since I had already had it in twice in the past 6 months for the same problems - there was no charge.  I even managed to get it back and drive it to bowling that evening.

Tonight we have our bowling wrap-up banquet and fun bowl.  I am thinking that I am going to sign up for the Summer league.  Kristine won't be able to participate as she is schedule to move to BC on July 11.  I might even look into buying my own bowling shoes.  The ones I rent are of course old and worn out.  Last Friday was fun as we had our last official bowling games and then after Kristine met up with some people from work.  I tagged along as I knew a few of them as former co-workers.  We had a nice time talking.

image courtesy http://www.specialolympicsburlington.ca/Teams/5PinBowling.aspx

Weight Loss Update: May 28 to June 3

Weight Watchers Weigh-In:

Original Weight: 314.8
Previous Weight (May 24): 262.8
Today's Weight (May 31): 261.6
Change: -1.2
Total Loss: -53.2

Total Loss since May 2012: -60.6
Total Loss since Nov 2005: -74.8


SP Weigh In
Previous Weight (May 28): 260.0
Today's Weight (May 31): 259.6


Nice!  I got below 260 on my scale at home.  I will admit that I had popcorn and candy at the movies on Sunday.  I like to enjoy a treat once in a while - although I know I should have got the small instead of the regular, and picked up a smaller chocolate bar at a convenience store.

It may or may not show up on the scale this Saturday.  Whatever.  I spent most of the weekend walking around houses which also involved going up and down stairs.  Monday evening we moved boxes into our storage room. 

What really feels good is that all of the capri pants I had from last summer (and some are older than that) are too big for me now.  I have to find a couple of new pairs to get me through this summer. 

I love shopping for new clothes!

image courtesy of http://www.lose-weight-naturally.us/mindset/best-inspirational-weight-loss-quotes-to-motivate-you/

Finding New Digs

Well some things have changed on the house-hunting front.  My dad finally spoke to his lawyer/accountant and has decided that his corporation will buy the home for my brother and I - and we will pay rent.

Since he now wants an income property that will have a good resale value down the road - we are changing what we are looking for:

 - newer build
 - single family home (no condo fees)
 - detached or duplex
 - 2 or 3 bedrooms with 2 full baths upstairs and a basement (finished or unfinished) with room for the 3rd/4th bedroom and a family/rec area.

We actually went looking at showhomes this past weekend (and Wednesday evening).  Unfortunately most things in our price range, that are not over an hour on transit to downtown, are sold.  The developers/home builders are selling for early 2015.  Silly dad would have had to made this decision about 6 months ago. 

So, this Thursday we are going out with our realtor to look at established homes built in the past 5 years or so in the west and south areas of the city.

At this point I really just want to find a place to live.  It was fun walking through the showhomes with all their newness and shiny things and staging.  It just made me want a pretty new house. 

One of the upsides of this is that we should be able to get a house with a garage (even if it is just a single car garage), so I won't have to worry about plugging my car in on cold winter nights and brushing off piles of snow.

In other news:

 - Friday night I had my best two games of bowling (ignoring the first game).  Just when I am getting the hang of this the spring bowling league will be over.  I am trying to decide if I want to bowl in the summer league or not (because Kristine most likely will not be there).

 - I saw Maleficent on Sunday evening and really enjoyed it.

 - Congratulations go out to A Warm Cup of Jo on the birth of her son

 - My grandmother has been struggling with walking.  We think her breathing is worse, so she's not getting enough oxygen, and after walking for a bit she gets over exerted.  Then her legs give out on her.  She will not be happy if they try to put her on oxygen, but tough, breathing is kind of important.

image courtesy http://www.edmontonrealestate.ca