housebound (and a recipe!)

So, this was day two of being housebound with Nick after our snowfall and with freakishly low temps and wind chills. He has actually been fairly well-behaved, all things considered. More than anything, it's just been so incredibly BORING! Brian has still had to go to work, so it's just been me and Nick, and the days have been L-O-N-G. I have actually not had much to do. I've got domestic stuff fairly under control right now, other than the taking down of Xmas decor, which I'm saving for tomorrow and Sunday. So, I've been doing a lot of sitting around and reading, which is really exhausting! :) Seriously, I can't believe how tired I can feel after a day of doing nothing. It's so counter intuitive.

I feel like a total schlub, because in the past 2 1/2 weeks, here's all the working out I've done: one yoga class, one Pilates class, and one easy kickboxing class. That's it! I had a legitimate excuse (my illness) for part of that time, but not all. My problem is that I have become so dependent on my fitness classes that I have absolutely no motivation to work out by myself, at home. I mean, I have DVDs, weights, a stability ball, a resistance band, an ab roller, a treadmill, and an elliptical, but it's like if I can't get to class, I just can't work out. It's pathetic! I must develop more discipline. Actually, there is one more workout to add to the above list, because when my sculpt class had to be cancelled on Weds. night, I did actually come home and do the class myself, and let me tell you - it was a great upper body workout! My arms are still killing me. And it did feel good to work out, and I was like "Why can't I just do that more often?" Who knows? - the human brain (especially the female brain) is pretty jacked up. :)

I have also been slacking as far as controlling my calorie intake, and I know that all I need to do is to start keeping track and counting my calories again, but knowing that and doing that seem to be separated by a huge, gaping chasm. The upshot of all of this laziness is that I am up about 4-5 pounds from where I would like to be, and I hate that feeling! Yes, I know that 4-5 pounds is just a drop in the bucket, but for someone who used to be very overweight, it feels like it could be the beginning of a slippery slope, ya know? And today when I weighed myself and saw that I had gained another pound, that was just pretty demoralizing. So, what did I decide to do this evening? I decided to bake cookies. Makes sense, doesn't it? Why on Earth would I think that was a good idea? (Well, I never thought it was a good idea - I knew it was a bad idea and did it anyway.) Cookies are my #1 weakness - if they're around, I just can't resist them! I've already had like 6 of them, which is not at all helpful for my current plight. They're so yummy, though! Here's the recipe:

Chocolate Chunk & Walnut Oatmeal Cookies

1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 scant tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
1 scant tsp. salt
6 Tbsp. unsalted butter
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
3 oz. bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 350 and lightly spray two cookie sheets. In a large bowl, combine flours, baking soda, oats and salt. Set aside. Melt butter over low heat. Remove from heat and stir in brown sugar. Add butter mixture, egg, and vanilla to dry mixture and stir until well-combined. Fold in walnuts and chocolate. Spoon by tablespoonfuls onto cookie sheets and bake for 12 mins. or until lightly browned and dry to the touch. Makes approx. 3 dozen cookies.

If you make these, let me know what you think.

In other news, Nick's reading skills are just blowing my mind! The child can really READ! I can't even wrap my brain around that. It seems like it just sort of happened when I wasn't looking. And when I hear his little voice reading and sounding words out, it just takes my breath right out of my chest. The child is also growing like a weed - all the jeans I bought him this fall are high-waters now, and his sleeves are even a little too short. I just want to freeze him and make him stop growing - not just to save money, but to keep my little boy from growing up. It's wonderful to see him grow and change, but it also hurts.

I think that I might try to spring myself from the 'hood tomorrow and go to Pilates class, and then the rest of the weekend will be devoted to the considerable task of taking down and boxing up my copious Christmas decor. There will be a break for my weekly Walmart trip, of course, and to watch the episodes of Mad Men that I rented.

I'm excited about various things that are coming up in the next month or so: I'm hopefully going to be having a visit from my fabulous cousin, Jessica (she lives in St. Louis), and a visit from Tim, Brian has some sort of surprise date planned for me, and I'm going to be doing some more fitness certification workshops. I'm also going to be renewing my CPR certification, which I'm not exactly excited about, but needs to be done.

Well, that pretty much sums me up for now. I guess I'll finally shut up and post this behemoth! :)