Calorie Counting has Begun

It's time to stop being so lazy and start losing some weight. It's not even baby weight anymore. I'm actually about 5-7 pounds under where I was when I got pregnant. No, this weight is unemployment weight and World of Warcraft weight.

You would think that being unemployed would be a great time to lose weight. You have plenty of time to exercise and create healthy, tasty meals. You have plenty of time for adding up those pesky calories. Instead, I get depressed, eat, and sit around wallowing in my inability to get a job.

Three years ago when I got married I was around 165 pounds. Six years ago when we moved here, I was around 155 pounds. Seven and a half years ago when I met my husband I was at an all time low of 145 lbs.   Today I am starting at 175 pounds and hoping to make it down to 150 pounds or so.

No fad diets. Seriously, they don't work. Simply counting calories in and calories out. It's rather eye opening when you start measuring it out and adding it up. Cereal servings are really quite small :(

Fudge Friday

Grow yourself with fudge, figuratively and (unfortunately) literally!

As part of my quest to grow myself, I will be seeking new experiences, learning new things, doing things I've never done, and making all my own sweets. I figure, dessert is justifiable if I actually expend the effort to make my own.

So I made fudge! I've never made fudge before. It's always been one those things slightly shaded in mystery. What magical ingredients could make up such a delectable dessert? It isn't even something that is readily available at the store. If you're lucky, maybe someone in the office would make some of the delicious diet-buster and bring it in to the office. Otherwise you're forced to spend $5 for a quarter of a pound at the farmer's market.

So cracked open my cookbook and my magic cauldron (a.k.a. 2 qt saucepan). I added in 2 cups sugar, 2 ounces cut up unsweetened chocolate, 3/4 cup half and half, one teaspoon light-colored corn syrup, and 1/8 teaspoon of salt.

Double, double, toil and trouble. Fire burn and cauldron bubble. To translate: I cooked it over medium heat until it boiled. Then you have to constantly fidget with the heat to keep a slow boil going, not too fast, not too slow. The cookbook said it would take about 20 to 25 minutes to reach 236 degrees, but it ended up taking closer to 40.

Once at the desired temp, I removed the pan from the heat and added 2 Tbs of butter and 1 tsp of vanilla. This was the hardest part for me because you don't stir in the butter and vanilla. You just let it sit there and melt and diffuse. I don't know why, but I'm guessing it's to allow the magic to happen. Once it reached 110 degrees, I beat the mixture until it begins to thicken, then added nut, then beat it some more. Actually my husband and brother-in-law both took part in the beating. It was a family affair. Once the mixture has lost its gloss, I spread it into a pre-greased foil lined loaf pan and ended up with 1.25 lbs of delicious goodness!

More than one blog! Absurd!

Perhaps instead making strides in personal growth I have simply introduced a new addiction into my life: blogging.


Picture if you will, a pristine blog uncluttered by advertisements, buttons, product placement, flashing lights and dancing girls. A blog with single-minded focus, everything compartmentalized and neatly stacked in a pile on the corner of the desk. That is is the vision I have for this blog. However, I found myself at cross purposes because I have another new addiction: entering giveaways.


Yes. It's true. I am a giveaway addict. So, in order to maintain the integrity of "Growing Gwen," I have created a second blog. I keep it in the closet, tucked away up on that back shelf like a dirty little secret. You can find it here Swag

So here's how it will work

This blog will serve as written record of my attempts to grow myself as a person. Mostly it will be baby steps, but every baby step counts as forward progress. The plan for personal growth includes learning new things, rearranging habits, shaping up, cleaning up, and tweaking bits and pieces. Feel free to join me along the way!

Allow me to introduce myself

Once upon a time, in a land too far away and a time not quite forgotten, there lived a family of seven getting by on one low income.

That is how my story begins. Well, I guess technically it began with a family of five who discovered they were expecting a sixth. The seventh arrived a couple years after. My beginning, as with every beginning, set in motion the events that would ultimately bring us to this current chapter. Along the way there were the usual devices for character development, the life-altering decisions, and the plot twists.

I have been a child, a student, a babysitter, a college student, a drive thru window operator, a tutor, an undergraduate research assistant, a biomedical researcher, a laboratory technician, a case manager for the United Way helping hurricane victims, a high school science teacher, a wife, a birth doula, a technical writer. With each profession, I have grown.

As of now, I am a homemaker and mother. If there were an advertisement for my current position, the job description would be epic in the literal sense of the word. The responsibilities and duties are innumerable. I love it. I hate it. I thank my husband for the sacrifices which allow us to raise our child in the manner we feel is best for our family. I dream of freedom and privacy and the ever elusive "alone time." I stagnate.

Luckily, my ending hasn't been written yet, and I have growing left to do.