Tuesday, July 24, 2012

WIAW: Catastrophic Failure!

Best Blogger Tips

In April, our air conditioner died.

Of course, I thought I was dying, too, when the temperatures in the house reached over 90F for a few days.  Thankfully, my father-in-law is an HVAC repairman and hooked us up with a new unit at cost and installed it for free.  We are very blessed, especially since this summer has been unbearable.

When FIL was first checking out our old A/C unit, seeing if it was repairable, my five year-old son wanted to join him.  Soon, he ran outside with his adult-size yellow safety helmet, full-size goggles on, to help his papa.  Over FIL's shoulder, my son informs him, "I know what's wrong. We have a catastrophic failure!"  We all got a chuckle, but it turned out he was right.

Today, I had another catastrophic failure. 


Last night, I restarted my computer after removing McAfee Security as per the recommendations of another program.  I never used McAfee beyond the one month trial a year ago.  It would pop up a few times a day, begging me to upgrade or renew my subscription.  When removal of the program was suggested, I didn't hesitate.

I awoke to my computer turning on and shutting off.  It wouldn't stop.  I was horrified.  My PC is only a year old!

I immediately began searching for solutions on my android phone.  After viewing a dozen tech forums, I learned that this crashing and restarting is caused by removing McAfee software.

I couldn't get on the internet on my computer to re-install the trial; all I could do was access safe mode.

After struggling with my computer most of the day, I gave up, borrowed my mom's external drive, and backed up all of my documents, music, and photos.  I did a complete factory reset.

And I'm back on.

I still have work to do, reinstalling software, restoring files, but my PC is working again, and so am I.


What my desktop looked like after I reset my computer:
dark, lonely, and impersonal.

Sometimes my diet works that way, too.  I end up going on an unhealthy eating spree, going for the greasy food or loading up on meat.  I have to clean my diet back up and start over, installing those healthy eating habits back into my life.

Here is what I ate:



After my workout, I had a bowl of Nature's Path Flaxseed Plus cereal with an extra tablespoon of ground flaxseed and almond milk.

For lunch, I ate a bag of Archer Farms Mediterranean Blend vegetables.  They are only 100 calories for the whole bag!  I also ate a piece of Ezekiel bread toast topped with Follow Your Heart vegan mozzarella cheese and a slice of tomato.

In the afternoon, I drank 2 cups of Oatmeal Cookie Protein Shake.  I have noticed that the extra protein during the day keeps me satiated.

I made fresh ground whole wheat bread for my family and couldn't resist eating a warm slice of the crust with a tsp. of butter!

I have been craving chocolate lately, which is unusual for me.  I picked up a bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips at the store earlier this week. I ate a couple of tablespoons midday when I began craving chocolate.  They are strong enough to keep me from overdoing.

At suppertime, I ate two servings of multicolored baby potatoes and steamed green beans from my mother-in-law's garden.  They were both so tasty that they didn't need any salt or butter.


As for my fitness routine, I'm still slowing working my way through the couch to 5k.  I get my kids to the YMCA at 10:30ish and have to pick them up by 11:30am.  Here is my routine for this week:

MWF:  Yoga stretch for 5 min.
walk 5 min., jog 8 min., walk 5 min., jog 8 min. walk 4 min.
lift on machines targeting my legs for 10 min.

TTH:  Yoga stretch for 5 min.
30 min on the elliptical trainer. 5 min. working my abs and rear on the wave machine.
lift on machines and use free weights targeting my arms for 10 min.

I'm starting to feel a real difference in my body, even through the day, walking taller, feeling firmer.


Come back Friday for Vegetarian Potluck link up!  Share your favorite recipe and photo, then see what others brought.









Pin It Best Blogger Tips
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...