Weight Watchers was not even a thought today.
Pancakes and bacon for breakfast.
Ice Cream for lunch. It’s Robert Osborne’s birthday and ice cream was his favorite. Good thing any ice cream to celebrate an icon’s birthday has no calories. I don’t make the rules.
Cheetos Puffs for dinner.
Good news is I’m done for the day.
Back on the boat tomorrow.
I am a little discouraged here. I lost 1 pound. I’m down 6 1/2 in 4 weeks. I want more.
If I had not lost anything I’m not sure I’d continue. I have been fully faithful …not one deviance from a product.
I went to cancel the Weight Watchers plan but they gave me a free month to stay. Free is my favorite price. So I’ll do one more month.
After I have pancakes for breakfast, I’ll be back on the wagon.
On April 4, I decided to start back on my Weight Watchers. I’d already lost 70 pounds and my weight only fluctuated about 5 pounds since. But I was taking an injectable for pre-diabetes and it’s expensive so I have decided I need to lose about 25 pounds. Plus, of course, there is no way that stuff is good for you. Plus I take other medications that I’d also like to get rid of.
Weight Watchers has changed over the years. When I first started it was something like 4 proteins, 2 fats, 2 breads…etc. Then it went to a point system, where I had to eat 28 points a day. Now the system is called freestyle. I still count points to go toward my daily allotment of 23. The cool part is there are foods that have no points so you can eat as much as you want although I think that needs to be within reason. Proteins like poultry & fish have no points. Fruits and veggies have no points. Potatoes & hominy have a small point value. Not to bore but those are the basics.
Sooo…I began. I’m officially treating this experience like my personal budget. I want the most food for the least amount of points. And I’m doing pretty good. I can make 3 tostadas for 5 points if I use zero point refried beans. But I have to get the right brand because not every one is point free. And the really good thing is that I love soup and can make an entire pot for very few points. That allows me to eat good things like cornbread. One of the cool things is that I can eat anything I want if I rearrange my points. So far, I’ve only lost 6 pounds but we all know that the older we get the slower our metabolism is so that’s not horrible. I will admit that I want more and I get a little discouraged that it’s not going faster. But it’ll come. I’m determined not to let that injectable back into my life.
As hard as I’m working, I have a friend who tells me every time that I’m too thin (and I’m truly not…I have a round paunchy Baze belly (mom) and a McCombs butt (dad) which means basically no butt at all.) 20 pounds from now would get me under 130 which is my goal. I was 150 in junior high and I’m below that now. And I’m 61.
My biggest problem, oddly enough, is getting all my points in. I have a phone app that counts points & scans foods from the store and I’m actually enjoying the entire process. I just want to lose faster!!
I’m a Texas Tech Basketball fan. I start watching when I got to Tech in 1975 & have watched since. There have been some pretty lean years (a lot of them) and some really good years. 1996 comes to mind. 14-0 in conference. I’ll always remember Jason Sasser dancing down the scorer’s table. I’l always remember Darvin Ham breaking a backboard on a dunk and getting his face on the cover of Sport’s Illustrated. And last year’s team made it all the way to the Elite 8.
I elaborated in a previous post about this year’s team. Picked 7th in the Big 12 Conference. Not supposed to make the tournament. No respect.
But our team & our coach decided differently. They meshed, they worked, they embraced 4:1 (Four parts mental, 1 part physical). They decided not to listen to the critics. And while they had some lapses over the season, mostly they won and won and won. They still didn’t get respect or even notice but we noticed. This was absolutely the best team I’ve ever seen. We had a “star” player and he was great but his back up singers were all good. Any one of them were capable of taking over a game.
Last night was the championship game. As usual, everyone had decided our team came in the wrong door. Virginia won by about 7 but that is not indicative of the game. It went to OT. Game is over and asshat Virginia ran down floor alone to do a shiny dunk. These boys were devastated. We were devastated.
The officiating was horrible but I don’t put the loss on them. It’s horrible in every game, in every sport. Officials make it about themselves way too often.
I certainly don’t blame the loss on this team. They played an amazing game and left every heart on the court. I will be forever amazed by every player on this team. And the Coach. If they had more time. If that last 3 pointer had fallen. If, if,if. Cannot take one thing away from team.
That being said, I’m not sure I have another season in me. I thought about it all night and have been really confused on why this loss hurts so bad. Sure I want my team to win but it’s more than that.
The state of Texas has traditionally had 2 “premium” schools…the University of Texas & Texas A&M. We are probably 3rd. We are certainly treated that way. And I admittedly have a big old chip on my shoulder about it. Tech is in far west Texas. A long way from anywhere. Snobs cannot imagine why anyone would come here. But I chose it. I’m not sure moneywise I could have gone to UT or TAMU. But certainly I never wanted to. But their A team status gets them the stars and the expensive coaches. And Tech got the leftovers. Both schools are pretty certain if the back up the Brinks truck that our coach will be theirs. I don’t think so and I hope not.
So back to my problem. For years, our athletic teams have come close but not close enough. The 1993 Lady Raiders won a national championship but that was a fluke. In 2008 our football went 11-0 & was ranked #2 in the country. They next week, Oklahoma dropped like 55 points on us. And last night the team came up short again. I feel like for 44 years of my life (and many more before) we have been on our faces, in the endzone.
They’re playing games. I get that. But can I get my hopes up again just to be disappointed again? Do I dare believe again? I’m not sure I have it in me. I’ll always root for every Red Raider team forever and ever but I’m not sure I can invest my heart and soul again.
I’m raw right now. Maybe by June I’ll be excited to try again. And maybe I won’t. We’ll see.
Pom & Cheer Squads and Meat Judging have national championships. We have that.
Four years ago, I sold my last house. I had an insane moment and moved to Las Vegas. I went to dealer school and soon figured out that they don’t hire anyone full time and I could not make a living. I was there 4 months. And then I came home. To no home. I stayed with a friend for a couple of months, then 2 separate apartments over 3 years and now I’m in a duplex that I actually love. I actually hung pictures and I’m planning on planting tomatoes next month. It’s already as close to a home as I’ve had in years. But it’s expensive and it’s not mine.
I’ve debated on owning again. I was kind of over the joys of home ownership. I have to hire almost everything done and that can get expensive. And as a realtor I find that people hide problems. I’m scared if I buy something that soon it’ll become a money pit. But I also have not had a real home since 2015. And I’ve lived off of profits from sale of last home for virtually four years so right now I can’t afford a home. But that will change in a few months when I can start growing social security. And today I realized I need a home. Something that’s mine, warts and all.
I can’t wait. But I’ll have to wait.
Several years ago country singer Travis Tritt recorded a song called ‘Where Corn Don’t Grow’, written by Mark Alan Springer. The song starts with a young man, talking to his farmer dad about wanting a different life, somewhere a long way from where he grew up. As most of of have discovered:
Hard times are real
There’s dusty fields no matter where you go
You may change your mind
‘Cause the weeds are high where corn don’t grow.
I’m a Texas Tech basketball fan. I started when I got to the school in 1975 and while I have not had season tickets every year, I have more years than I have not. Football season to me is what we have to suffer through to get to basketball season. I’ve seen some pretty good teams over the years.
In 1996, the last year of the old Southwest Conference, Red Raiders were 14-0 in conference. That year was also the last regular season played in the old Lubbock Coliseum, AKA the Bubble. I remember Tech player Jason Sasser dancing down the scorer’s table after the last game. And that was the year Darvin Ham broke a backboard in a Sweet 16 game against North Carolina.
We got a new Arena for the 1997 season. Voters just decided to implode the bubble soon. The very last game played there was a “throw-back” game this year. It was a good building.
And in 2001, Tech hired legendary coach Bob Knight. He’s known for his temper. He’s rude and crude. But also a genius when it comes to basketball coaching. I never lost a sense of pride when they said “Texas Tech Basketball Coach Bob Knight”. My season ticket is on a corner up behind/beside the bench and I could some hear some more fervent time outs and it was amazing. He coached some great guys and made a Sweet 16 appearance.
When Coach Knight retired, we had a few other coaches that did ok but nothing great. We did not always win but I don’t remember a losing season. My memory might be faulty.
In 2016 Tech hired Chris Beard. He is a graduate of the University of Texas, the only bad thing I can think of to say about him. He’s coached around everwhere and was a Bob Knight assistant coach, a job he credits greatly for helping him develop his coaching style. He’d accepted a head coaching job at UNLV when the Tech job came open. He loved Texas Tech, loved Lubbock. His daughters were here. He came home. That simple. And he promised us a top tier team and he’s delivered, big time.
In 2017 our senior loaded team went to the Elite 8, losing to eventual National Champions Villanova. It was great.
At the beginning of the 2018 season, things were projected to be grim. We’d graduated our seniors, lost one freshman to the NBA. We had 1 veteran senior(Norense Odiase), 2 seniors who’d transferred from other schools (Tariq Owens, Matt Mooney) and 2 sophomores starting (Jarrett Culver, Davide Moretti). They were picked to finish 7th in the Big 12 which is even worse than it sounds because Big 12 only has 10 teams. Some national basketball heads did not even see them making the NCAA tournament. But guess what:
They won the first 10 games of the year
They lost to Duke by 11 in December in Madison Square Garden. The game was way closer than it sounds. Game fell apart during last couple of minutes but Tech was ahead for a little while. Big game, big arena, nothing to be ashamed of.
They were co-champs of the Big 12.
Ranked as high as #8 in polls.
They lost first round of Big 12 Tournament. Not a surprise. That tournament is in their heads. They never do well there.
And they earned a #3 seed in their bracket. And proceeded to beat people they weren’t supposed to. Northern Kentucky. Buffalo. Michigan, Gonzaga. And poof, they are in the Final Four, for the first time ever. And they have a big shot.
To quote Coach Beard, Texas Tech is going to the Final Four.
The Elite Eight game last night was amazing. The announcers were clearly pro-Gonzaga, the number one seed. They still could not believe Tech was there. How the heck did that even happen? And they kept waiting for Tech team to fall apart and they didn’t. They never, ever gave up. As a person who saw every game this season, I wasn’t surprised. Team plays for each other. They play for coach. They play for pride. They play because Coach told them “Don’t ever let anyone tell you what you can and can’t do.”
For the record, my bracket died a violent death earlier but I did have Tech winning the Final Four. And I’ll admit I picked with my heart, not my head.
I started with the song because if one of Coach’s favorites and it is an anthem for this team. Tech is not respected, on any level. Other schools think Tech is where anyone, especially athletes, come because no one else wants them. Lubbock is in the middle of nowhere. No mountains. 5 hours from a major city. Airport with virtually one airline. Not exactly true but close enough. Wind and/or dust practically every day. But it is a community full of the best people in the world. A place where In some ways we are exactly where the corn actually DOES grow. Not a fancy city but enough. A place where a whole lot of people come home to when they discovered the bright lights sometimes just block out the stars.
