Ate Piglet had a vet appointment today. She is fine… for her age. She is definitely showing signs of age like tooth issues, clouding eyes, and stiffness, but she is reasonably healthy. I was sad.

Amanda had a teleconference thing about a research paper, I believe, and it seemed to go well considering she was holding/nursing Baby J the entire time.

I caulked various sections of the henhouse roof which would be hard to do later when the roof is on. Since I had more silicone caulk than the rood area needed, I caulked other places in the henhouse until it ran out as saving partially used tubes of caulk never works. I ended up getting caulk all over my hands which obviously does not wash off. Oops.

I also put a coat of white exterior latex paint on the roof sections, again because I would not be able to after the roof is installed. I got less paint on me than caulk.

The big news is that my nightblooming cereus has three blooms on it! After years! My original one I got over 20 years ago (and is still in Cincinnati, I presume), but this one Amanda got me sometime since we have been in Seattle. I always thought I would have a party when it happened, but that won’t happen tonight. I do not really have the setup to do a time lapse on it.

Woohoo!

Amanda, LK, BK, and I went to the Habitat Store to look for cheap building supplies. I wanted to get some stuff for the coop: exterior paint (for the inside too), self adhesive waterproof membrane, silicone caulk, etc.. Amanda needed to get some stain for the dresser that her mom is refinishing for her. As it turned out, we did not find what we wanted, although I may come back for hardware (latches and the like) as they were pretty cheap.

We got trapped by a stopped train when we left and had to go a roundabout way to make it to Home Depot where Amanda did get some stain. I got some caulk plus some simpson ties. They did not have any cheap paint, so I will probably go to [WalMart][4] to get some.

After lunch, everyone else went strawberry picking while I tried getting the rest of the sheathing up on the coop. Actually, since I probably won’t be putting siding up, the sheathing is actually the walls. Unfortunately, it rained (non-trivially) all day, so I did not get much plywood cutting done. I told Amanda one could tell when the rain stops because the birds start singing and a few minutes later one can hear power tools.

Amanda and the others did not get any strawberries because the fields were in sad shape. Apparently it is the worst year ever for strawberries, at least on the Eastside (as our strawberries did great this year). They did get some raspberries, although they will be better in a week or two.

I picked some snow peas from our garden and made a pasta with asparagus and peppers with them. I have been snacking on a lot of snow peas recently.

No baby yet. Amanda’s due date was yesterday, so Chica Bon Bon will be late just like the Kai.

Today was a sunny day. I put the coop’s frame up; the walls are reasonably square, level, and plumb. Azmatonishing! I also bought the polycarbonate panels that I will use as the roof.

There aren’t a lot of kids in LK’s school nowadays… really only the young four-year-olds like the Kai. I would have thought the entering kindergartners would not change rooms until the fall, but they changed earlier. Sad for the Kai, but he definitely gets a lot of individual attention now.

After picking him up in the afternoon, I gave him my phone to entertain him since we would be in the car for a while and he was bored with all my attempted conversation topics. Sometime during the trip he cried out: “Papa downloaded the Smurf game!!!!!”; he had found the game he had been playing on his grandmother’s phone that I had put on mine in preparation for distracting him during Chico Bon Bon’s upcoming birth. He was very pleased, but frivolously spent all the smurfberries I had been hoarding.

After picking up Amanda from UWMC, we went to the Columbia City Farmer’s Market. Amanda got a quesadilla for dinner since she was hungry. We were going to try the new indian food stand, but it had an outrageously long line.

Kai got some free peanuts from Alvarez farm; I got some asparagus from them later on our way out. Also as usual, I got him some apple granita. I picked up two pounds of bing cherries from a random place.

I had leftover stir fry for dinner. I did not eat anywhere near my alotted 2054 (or whatever) calories today, but I think I gained weight. Must be all the water I have been drinking.

Amanda has been embarrassed that I have chosen “medication over modification” in dealing with my high blood pressure. I agreed to seriously change my diet and lose weight. I seem to remember that my agreement came after the culmination of many things (threats perhaps?) but I do not recall the details.

Regardless, starting from last Monday I am using a service track my eating habits and help me adhere to my 2000 calorie daily diet. Which is still a lot of calories really. My weight loss program is supposed to allow me to lose one pound a week.

After one week, things have changed. I have lost four pounds. Amanda is angry that I have such a metabolism that allows me to lose weight so fast while still eating 2000 calories. Counting calories has definitely modified my behavior as it forces me to control portion size. It also has changed what I will eat as I vastly prefer “high yield” foods: those that have high enjoyment or high fullness or both per calorie.

Unfortunately, as might be expected I am “hungry” all the time (physically or psychologically… does it matter which?). I think about food pretty much all the time, kinda like my thought patterns while hiking (although hiking also produces thoughts of where is the next water source and the like). My preference for high yield foods could also potentially cause friction in the family, such as when Amanda wanted to eat bfast in Columbia City the other day. Frankly, no bfast food is high yield for me, especially highly caloric restaurant bfast food. Calories are a scarce resource that much be used wisely! As it turned out, I ate bfast out anyway because I love Amanda.

All of this weight loss has occurred without what I would call exercise. I have been doing a lot of carpentry, but it is not like I have been running or the like. I do need to get back into the habit of daily violent aerobic activity, though.

2012.06.23 – SATURDAY

• worked on coop framing
• dinner with AC-MC and family (pizza, salad, ice cream)

2012.06.24 – SUNDAY

• bfast at Geraldine’s Counter
• worked on coop framing
• dinner with JI-SP and family (pasta, salad, strawberry shortcake)

2012.06.25 – MONDAY

• talked with raccoon guy. raccoons are apparently gone, so he installed a one-way door (to guarantee they would be gone). he will be back in a week to patch up the hole in the roof and disinfect the attic.
• worked on coop framing
• bahn mi lunch with Amanda from Seattle Deli
• finished coop framing (not counting roof)
• bread and salad dinner