Snail War Saga

This has been the summer of snails. If you're my Facebook friend, you may have seen a few posts bewailing the proliferation of snails in my flower/garden beds this year.

Will started plucking the night-time marauders when he took Zeek out at bedtime, and I too would remove them every time I saw them while watering and weeding. We filled many empty disposable plastic jars of these beasts. In spite of this, when I splurged on some bigger, more expensive plants for some of my big flowerpots, the snails found them so delectable that they completely chewed them up. One evening on my rounds I got SIX SNAILS descending into one corner of my strawberry bed. It was horrifying.

One evening, I volunteered to keep my sister Jean's beautiful children. When we came back from the park, her oldest, Cody, was delighted to help me on the snail roundup. I was concerning about keeping an eye on the little ones while we were focused on snails, but we found a great solution.

They love the dog kennel, really. They entered it on their own. Well, the first time anyway. I am a wonderful babysitter. You can trust me to keep  your children safe any time. We released the children from the kennel before their cries became loud enough to alert the neighbors. Just kidding. More importantly, Cody and I eliminated about a dozen snails!

The Facebook posts below describe a few especially annoying snail incidents:

July 10: The war I wage with snails intensified again tonight - while picking blueberries I observed one lurking on a leaf of the later blueberry bush that hasn't ripened yet. Talk about forbidden fruit! Snail bait has been liberally dispensed around the property.

July 13: Good grief. I noticed something on the end table in my dimly lit living room as I walked through. I picked it up and found a dried snail shell in my hand. (But not for long!) That takes my Snail War Saga to a whole new level. Can't imagine how it got there. Would one of my sons play such a cruel practical joke? Worse yet, did it invade my house, crawl up there and die all by itself? Did it lay some eggs somewhere that will hatch and take over first my house, and then the world?

While camping with family members at the Metolius few weeks ago, I walked into a discussion where I heard someone saying I seemed to have an obsession with snails. I don't think that's quite fair. Can I help it if snails are out to destroy my potted flowers, my strawberries, my blueberries, my rosebushes, and now perhaps even my very own living room? They are everywhere! I am not obsessed, people! I am a perfectly sane, rational person who is under attack!

During that camping trip, we shopped in Redmond one day with Doug and Anisa. Soon after, I was very amused to discover that an unbelievably huge snail had mysteriously appeared on our picnic table.

Now that has to be the classiest snail I've ever seen. Ok, it's the only classy snail I've ever seen. Real pearls and everything!  Turns out, Anisa spotted it at Big R and told Doug she had to buy it for me, no matter how much it cost! Doug helpfully pointed out some scratched paint so they got a discount! I hope they aren't broke the rest of the month after paying for that fancy pearl necklace. I never did ask just how many hundred dollars they must have spent on that beauty. I had no idea they cared so much. It almost made up for the hurtful comments about my supposed snail obsession. 

It was also perfect for watering the flower pots that I brought camping! I shall try to give it a place of honor on my camping tables forever in the future. 

I now haven't seen a snail for a couple of days. I definitely have the upper hand in this war at the moment. But I will not let down my guard!

Before and After

Yesterday I reached my Lifetime status as a Weight Watchers member. This is achieved by remaining not more than two pounds over one's goal weight for six weeks. I was camping on the sixth week, so I had to wait for my return two weeks later for this awesome milestone.

I was a little concerned about maintaining under vacation circumstances. I diligently tracked my food, though I had to use paper instead of my iPhone since there was no cell service. While losing, I never used the Activity points I earned through exercise because I wanted to lose weight faster. But I realized that now I needed to eat up all the Activity Points I was earning with my average daily vacation hiking of 7 miles. I thoroughly enjoyed a large blueberry pancake, bacon, and egg almost every morning! (Usually after a two to three mile early morning walk!) 

Upon my return home Sunday afternoon, I approached the scales telling myself it was ok if I maybe gained a pound or two, because I had been 3 pounds under goal weight when I left. May I say I was rather pleased to see that I was down another 3 pounds. I immediately changed my dinner plans from a chicken salad to a peanut butter and jelly sandwich accompanied by a glass of 2% milk! I savored every delicious bite!

I weighed in yesterday at six pounds under my original goal weight. So I changed the official maintainence weight to five pounds less than it was originally. I like it.

When I got home from work yesterday, I decided it was time to do an official "After" picture. I never did an official "Before" picture, but I figured I could find one. Have you ever noticed that often on the "Before" picture, the person is not smiling, dressed sloppy, and looks generally frumpy, and then the "After" picture shows a person who is smiling and well groomed, has an improved hairstyle, and is posing smartly? It's a stereotype I attempted to match!

So here is a suitable "Before" picture, taken the summer of 2010. (I started Weight Watchers in October of 2010.)

 The "After" picture is a little harder to come by. Do you know how difficult it is to stand around and pose for a photo? As I told Will, I know it's a vain and self-indulgent thing to do, but it is part of my history. I nearly gave up because posing is just plain awkward. I almost decided to break tradition and go with this one. But it's kinda fuzzy. And maybe a little ridiculous. But I definitely look happier than I did in the "Before" picture!

 So here's the official "After", stiff and vain though it may be. But look, my stargazer lilies waited til I got home to bloom!

 I did not lose 62 pounds because I am a special lucky person who became self-disciplined and overcame all my bad habits. If I can do this, anyone can do it. I tried and failed, over and over, for years. Weight Watchers is a fabulous program. It teaches a very healthy and satisfying eating plan and provides many tools to help the process. Meeting leaders share helpful information and are very encouraging at weekly meetings. Jena Hedding, the leader of the meetings I went to a few years back, is the best ever and is such an inspiration to me. But none of these things "worked" for me until I made up my mind that I would quit making excuses and waiting until tomorrow to start over. In November last year, I seriously committed myself to stick to the plan, track my food every single day, and exercise regularly. The weight came off. I am so thankful that I have so much energy and feel absolutely great. God is good!

If you want to lose some weight, don't give up! You can do it!

I plan to continue going to the Tuesday noon meetings for the accountability and because I like them. I wish I could go to Jena's Tuesday 5:15 meeting, but it doesn't fit my schedule as well.

And once again, the quote that I read nearly every day and repeated to myself so many times:

"Satisfaction does not come from indulgence; satisfaction comes from achievement." (Calvin Coolidge)

I am satisfied!