Working hard at being an adult

For those of you that don't know, I currently still live with my parents in the house I grew up in. It's convienent, and they are wonderful with the amount of "coming and going" I do. There are days my mom refers to me as a "boarder" because I am only there to sleep and shower, but at least a few days a week I try to be there more often for dinner and other things.

They left for China 9 days ago and so far I've been doing pretty well on my own. My mom doesn't have a job, so for most of my life she has always made various meals throughout the day. I've never really had the opportunity to actually prepare and cook an entire meal for myself and/or someone else. This week was certainly my time to shine, however I never realized how so many "adult" tasks can just burn away your time. I'm now beginning to appreciate people who are married, have families AND go to Graduate school at the same time. I don't have the first two - but the third, along with cooking/laundry/watching my grandmother/paying my parents bills/reading the mail every day/feeding the rabbit and lizards/returning important phone calls/and making sure nothing breaks is exhausting. Oh, I forgot teaching full time and graduate school also tacked onto that list.

My first week without them was certainly jam packed. You know how parents are, they can irritate the hell out of you. Well, I'll certainly admit, now that they are gone, I really do miss them. Not because my mom helps me out with things from day to day, but for the simple fact that the dogs are in the kennel and I'm stuck in their big empty house alone. I don't watch that much TV, so it's fairly quiet. I also am way past the phase of having huge parties simply because I don't want anything to do with cleaning the house the next day. Thankfully, I've been able to spend a decent amount of time with Scott and some friends. They have really helped make things not so lonely. I've also stepped up in the world and started cooking meals! REAL MEALS! Can you belive it? And, they are actually very successful.

I've done a great job sticking to my points, making healthy lunches and preparing WW recipe dinners. I made Baked Mac & Cheese the other night and I also made hamburger helper. Anyone ever used the new Zip Lock Zip 'n Steam bags yet? They are WONDERFUL! I threw enough broccoli in one bag for Scott and I and 3 minutes later had the most beautiful green and tasty broccoli I've ever seen. You can also cook chicken, shrimp, fish and all kinds of other veggies in them. What a great invention, expecially for the novice. It makes cooking things easy.

So, all in all, I weighed myself yesterday and my excellent cooking skills have caused me to lose 3 pounds! Success! I have been doing SOMETHING right and seem to be able to make smart choices. I had been right at my goal weight when my parents left, but often I like to be a few pounds under. When that's the case, I have a little more room for extras or sweets if I'd like to indulge in something small. Today Scott and I took two more WW recipes and made Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies (2 = 1 point) and Chocolate Chip Blondies (1- 2"x2" square = 3 points). Both items turned out to be excellent! I am really proud of myself for reaching this point. Hopefully the next two weeks turn out just as well.