Week 14

Well, week 13 wasn't very lucky and not productive at all. I guess once the honeymoon is over you have to work at bit harder. At least I slept a bit better last week, getting about 6 hours a night and for me that's pretty darn good.

I decided to stay away from the gym last week too. It was such a hot and humid week here (which the entire country seems to be in the grips of) that I just didn't feel like going out. That and eating out too much didn't make for a good week.

But, this week no matter of the temps, I'm heading back to the gym, doing just my NS foods and making week 14 another good one.

My gym workouts aren't back up to the same intensity I was at last November, but they are getting close. Last year I was doing about 40 minutes on the treadmill and then a circuit of 9 different weight machines. The entire time at the gym was about 90 minutes.

Right now I'm doing about 20 minutes on the treadmill at a lower setting and I'm still doing the 9 machines of weights, but the weight was less. I'm just about back to the weight levels from last year but the treadmill I'm increasing at about 5 minutes every few weeks. I know I could go longer on the treadmill than 20, but I'm not pushing it, not over doing it. I'm still heavier than I was last year when I was working out harder. I figure by October I should be back to about the same place I was last October. What a waste of a year!!!! That's another one I'm never getting back......

Well, my NS foods are easy today. I have a NS bar for breakfast and a NS bar for lunch. That's it for my daytime meals. I'll include veggies and fruit tonight.

Sleep, is it over-rated???

Ok, I sure hate when I have battles with Insomnia, which lately seem to happen more often than not. Last night I was up at 3am and couldn't go back to sleep. I can do very well on as little as 3-4 hours of sleep, but it does catch up to me and then I need a day (usually Thursday) to get extra sleep. And when I got up at 3am I was a bit hungry so I did have a NS bag of Pretzels. i didn't feel guilty since I came in around 250 calories under my 1800 for Monday. Still, I hate snacking in the middle of the night, a very bad practice to get into.

Without having to resort to Ambien or any other prescrip sleeping pills, does anyone have any tried methods of improving their sleep? Warm milk, camomile tea, counting sheep.... been trying them all. I did take 2 of those over the counter PM meds and it did help, but I get up so groggy that I hate that feeling. This has been hurting my gym workouts too since I am so tired at the end of a work day that I just want to go home and collapse.

Anyways, NS has been good so far this week and yes, I didn't forget my NS foods today. I had the frosted oats with skim milk for breakfast and lunch was the Pasta Parm. With the added fruit and carbs I'm at about 700 calories through lunch. I have one NS pizza left so I think that will be dinner tonight. I will add some lean sliced turkey I got yesterday, onion and maybe even some polenta. Stir fry some spinach, onions and tomatoes and that will be dinner.

Week 13 Begins

Ok, as Paul said, the first "Dirty Dozen" weeks are behind me. I'd like to say week 12 was great, but it wasn't. I made some poor choices last week, mainly eating out too many times. But this week I'm committed to only doing my normal one time per week eating out - and that's for breakfast which is simple for me. I didn't get on the scale today.... ok, I'm chicken!!! I will, but I need to sneak up on it first. I'm thinking of a stealth attack tonight after dark.

So, week 13 has already begun on a bad note. I left home this morning, had all my food for today and tomorrow ready to go...... guess what? yep, left it sitting on the counter. I even had my non-fat milk in a thermos in the fridge along with my fruits and veggies. So here I sit, no NS foods for today. DOH!!!! I do have some oatmeal in my office, so I will likely have that, but it's nearly 11am and I haven't eaten a thing yet today.

I called Fedex to see what they would do with my computer since I won't be home. First, Paul suggested (a good suggestion) that I call and see if the package could be re-routed to my office. So I called Fedex and they said I had to call the shipper to re-route. So I called HP and they said to call Fedex, there was nothing they could do since it already left their facility. So I am SOL!!! But, I was able to convince my sister Vicky to go to my place and wait for the package to come. Otherwise Fedex said they would bring it back to the facility and then try to re-deliver tomorrow, which I will be at work again. Deja Vu anyone!!!

Hmmm, I wonder if my sister would be willing to drive across town in 110 degree heat and bring me my NS foods???? I seriously doubt it!!! Sisterly love has its bounds. :)

Anyways, when she calls me to tell me it has arrived I have already decided to drive home and get it. The faster I get rid of this piece of trash I'm using now, the happier I will be. If I didn't say so before, I use that laptop for both home and office use. I take it with me back and forth, so this one I'm using now is really getting on my nerves. I have to keep my fingers crossed that the new keyboard does the trick and it's not a motherboard problem. Don't think those thoughts Mike!!!!! Happy thoughts, Happy thoughts!!!!!

Ok, I will let you know how the PC turns out when I get it today.

Can't post a menu, since I haven't eaten yet today.

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AFTERNOON UPDATE :

The Good news is I have my own Laptop back again, fixed, new keyboard and everything seems fine. I feel like I just went from a Ford Pinto to a Corvette. It sure is nice having my own computer back.

Well, I did finally eats something around noon. I went up the street to Smith's Grocery and got a bag of lettuce, some low fat turkey slices and made a salad. I had dressing in my office (low cal). No NS entrees to go with it, but at least it was something. I did go home and get my computer after my sister called to say it arrived, but I decided not to bring back food since I had already eaten lunch. I will just eat dinner tonight when I get home.

Week 12

Today closes out Week 12 on NS. I had a couple of days last week that weren't very good, but you have to expect those on occassion. It's how you handle those days that really count. I attribute those bad days to more eating out. But this week I'm back to my regular schedule and I won't be eating out except one morning on Wednesday.

The good news is that HP has shipped my computer to me. It shipped Friday night but I won't receive it until Monday around 3pm, according to their web site. I didn't figure to get it until later in the week, so it will be nice to have it back. The only problem is that Fed Ex will likely leave it on my doorstep and I will be at work. I hate to have my expensive laptop sitting on my doorstep for any passer by to pick up. I think I will keep monitoring the Fed Ex site and when it says it has been dropped off, I will drive home and get it.

At least by tomorrow evening I should (hopefully) be back on a computer that doesn't need five minutes to load pages. Then I can begin posting more regularly and also visiting other blogs again.

Till then.

Thursday

Well, no word yet on a new delivery date for my laptop. They didn't have my keyboard at the repair center so they had to order it from another one. Mine has the 10 key attached so it isn't as easy to replace. All I know is that I'm getting sick of this computer I'm using now.

Every day has been so humid here with lots of storms around but not much rain being dropped. It's still like 108 and humid. DOH!!!!

I did make it to the gym today, had a good workout. I'm still not up to my full treadmill workout, but I'm about 70% there. The weights are about back to normal and I've added more ab work. I figure once the fat is finally gone, there might be some muscle under there!!!!

I have been holding at the same weight, but that's because I've been eating out too much and I'm sure taking in more calories than I should. But I'm stopping that and will only allow myself one time eating out per week and that's breakfast.

Today I actually am way below on calories. I had breakfast (440 cals) and dinner (485 cals). So I'm not even to 1000 yet and it's after 8pm. I will have some fruit in a bit and my NS dessert, but I doubt I will come close to my 1800 calories I try to stay near.

Light Show!!!

Vegas might have lots of lights on the Strip, but last night we got a light show from mother nature. Big Thunderstorms rolled through Vegas and I haven't seen that much lightning or heard that much Thunder in ages. A few shots sounded like they were right in my backyard. And, with the high winds my power went out for a few hours. Ok, no T.V, no Internet access..... I can live with those, but NO A/C!!!! Yikes!!! Finally a few hours later my power came back. It's amazing how spoiled we are with power. Take it away and we almost can't function. The picture at left was taken last night from Pecos and Windmill on the Southeast side of Las Vegas!!!!

Then today I called HP and was told that my keyboard was not in stock so it's going to take another week!!! So I'm stuck with this piece of junk at least another week. I'm not very happy.

So my updates will be smaller and maybe a few days in between until I get my laptop back.

I will get to read other blogs hopefully in the next few days.

Computer Woes!!!!

Sorry I haven't been posting much the last week. I am waiting to get my PC back from HP, hopefully on the 20th as they state on the web page. This replacement pc I'm using really sucks and it's slow and for some reason the blog doesn't like it. Takes forever sometimes for me to get a post up. So I'm just doing some small ones until the 20th. Things are still going well, the weather has been hotter than anything. It's been 110+ the last week, now we are getting the humidity back with some storms around. Only 45 days left until October!!!!!

As soon as my pc is back I will spend more time on your blogs, sorry for not visiting lately. I try to use the computer for email and that's about it. Till then, stay cool!!!! Literally, not figurtively!!!

Thursday

I hadn't posted for a few days since I had to get a loaner computer and then load everything I needed on it. I had to send my four month old laptop back to HP to have the keyboard replaced. I like HP computers, but this is the second straight laptop I've had from HP that had terrible keyboard problems. This loaner I'm using is an HP too and it has keyboard issues. What's up HP? Use some better keyboards, will ya!!!!

I'm home today so I'm having pancakes. I went and got some nice blueberries yesterday so I will make blueberry pancakes and maybe a egg white omelette with spinach and fat free cheese. It's almost 11am and I still haven't eaten, so this might be a brunch.

Not much else to report today, pretty boring.

Wow!!!!

A friend of mine from the healthsteward site came out last September and I took her to Hoover Dam and then we met some other friends for a drink. At the time she was right around 300lbs and struggling with her weight loss. The reason I bring this up is because since December 2005, she has lost 140 pounds. Yes, that is right, almost half her total weight. She did it with a medically supervised liquid fast. She is only 20 pounds from her goal. Great work Sarah!!!! Here are the pics of the "new" Sarah!!!!

Here is a picture of Sarah and me at Hoover Dam, she was 300lbs.




Here she is today, 140 pounds lighter!!!!

Week 11 Begins

Today begins week 11 on NS. I came into work a little later so I ate breakfast at home, which means PANCAKES. I really like the NS Pancakes so I have them whenever I'm home for breakfast. I put some sugar free jam (5 cal per Tbspn) and Sugar Free syrup (30 cal 1/4 cup). The total cals for the pancakes come to 180 calories and it's yummy!!! I also had a egg substitute omelette with onion and fat free cheese and two slices whole wheat low fat bread. My entire breakfast came to 340 calories. Not bad for a big breakfast like that. If I ate that breakfast out, the syrup for the pancakes alone would be close to 300 calories. NS proves you can eat good and still eat low cal and healthy.

Lunch I brough the Black Beans and Rice. I like that NS lunch. I may get a Mickey D's Asian Salad too, but I'm not sure. The two items would bring me to about 460 cals for lunch, which is still very good.

I will be on another small vacation starting Tuesday (my last of the summer). I have a bunch of things I need to get done around the house and outside too. Hopefully this will be a productive vacation. I know I will be eating out more, but I am confident in making wise, portion controlled decisions.

Closing out week 10!!!

Week 10 is about over, in fact today is the end. That makes 10 weeks and 71 days on NS. I have been very happy with the program so far and I can see how people needing to lose 20, 40 or more lbs like the program. It also helps to re-establish portion control. Just seeing the difference between the cereal they give you and what I used to eat is amazing. I have also learned to eat a lot more veggies. I eat a lot of veggies with dinner and as the Jazzman says on his site, "no one ever got fat from eating vegetables." I eat salads once in a while, not as much as I did when I first started the program. Though I do love the Asian salad at McDonalds. It's about 340 calories with the low cal dressing, but I use it for my fruit, salad, protein servings when I include it. With the NS lunch entree it bring lunch in around 500 calories, which isn't bad.

Last night I saw a commercial for Jack in the BOx with their new double sour dough patty hamburger, huge fries and huge ice-cream chocolate shake. I know the shake alone has around 1300 calories (according to Calorie King), the burger is likely around 1100 and the fries are about 500. That makes that meal worth 2900 calories. That's more than any of us need for one entire day. It's no wonder America has gotten fatter. I know I could have eaten that lunch and then had dinner and dessert and don't forget breakfast. And you wonder how you can get to 400lbs. It ain't difficult in this day and age. You just have to ask yourself, is it worth it? I know for me it isn't.

I just had my NS bran cereal, also brought a strawberry apple sauce (4 oz, 45 cals). Might have some oatmeal later.

Lunch I brought today is a boca burger sandwich and the pasta with beef lunch.

will- post later my dinner.

Dinner!!

Ok, here is my review of the new item I tried tonight for dinner.

This was the first time I found fish on the dinner menu, so I ordered one. It's Poached Salmon in a White Wine sauce with Rice.

I really like Salmon and while the piece they give you is about 3 1/2 inches by 1 inch, I found it to be a very nice and moist piece of fish. I have no idea what kind of salmon it is, Pacific, Atlantic, Sockeye.... or any other variety. But for a NS prepackaged meal I recommend this highly. Especially when you don't get a lot of fish items on the menu. I made mine with some Polenta and some veggies with included spinach, onions, tomatoes and garlic.

The NS entree has 290 calories. If you can find it, I would recommend trying it.

Weekend

Hope you are all having a fun weekend. I work so you know I am. :)

NS is going great, got the new shipment with a few new items. Today for breakfast I tried the Chocolate Crisp cereal. It was good, I'd order it again. But after I emptied the contents into my bowl I was amazed. Here is a standard sized bowl and the cereal barely covered the bottom. In the past that bowl would have been filled to the rim with cereal. It is amazing how off our portion control can be. That was 130 calories of cereal just covering the bottom. But afterwards I was satisfied, I didn't need the bowl filled to capacity as I would have in the past.

I am also trying the Salmon tonight. It's the first time I saw it on NS and I'm anxious to give it a shot since I love fish. Paul told me he couldn't find it on his listing, and thought maybe it's only a West Coast item. I will take a picture of the box tonight and post it here so you can see it Paul and I will give you my opinion on how it tastes.

The weather has been crappy here. I'd rather have the 105 and single digit humidity than this stuff we are having. It's threatened to rain every day for the last 10 days but barely a drop has hit. Instead, we are stuck with humidity levels from 25 to 50 percent. Great if you lived in Michigan, but lousy if you live in Vegas or Arizona!!! If it's going to be this humid, please just rain!!!!

I'll post this evening with my daily menu and my review of the Salmon. Oh, and for lunch I'm having another new item I'm trying, the Cheese Tortellini. I have always loved Tortellini, so this better be good.

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Lunch Update : I tried the Tortilinni for lunch and it was very good. Too bad I only ordered one this shipment. One thing I LOVE about NS. Being Italian and loving Italian food (partly why I am overweight), I have always stayed away from Italian food when I went on diets. Ulitimately I gave into my heritage and splurged on Italian food and then the diet wend bye-bye. But on NS, I can have all kinds of Italian foods. Sure, they aren't like mom used to make, but none-the-less, it ain't bad either.

I think half of my dinners this last order were Ravioli, Lasagna and Pizza. Now how can you not love a diet where you get to eat that stuff!!!!

Ok, if you go to the NS boards and ask everyone how they like anything.... say the Ravioli, you are going to get some that love it, some that don't like it and many that fall somewhere in between. That's the beauty of NS, they have a wide variety to satisfy everyone's palettes.

Well, with one exception.... those darn poppy seed muffins. Can't say I've found anyone that's actually liked them. They really taste like Milk Bone dog biscuits. Ok, yes when I was in college I had the pleasure of sampling a few of the Milk Bones. But don't laugh at me, if you are on NS and tried the poppy seed muffins.... guess what!!! You now know what Milk Bones taste like!!!

Friday!!!

Well, for most of you it's your Friday, for me it's my Monday.

I received my NS delivery yesterday. I counted everything this time and I did get a full order. I got a lot of Italian dishes for dinner. I think at least half of the dinners are Ravioli and/or Lasagna. I think they are both two of the best dinners. I'm trying a few new items this time. I received the salmon dinner, hopefully that will be good since there is so little fish other than tuna.

It's been over 2 months since I started NS. Time sure does fly by doesn't it!! So far this has been a great program. I have been very happy with it. But, as so many of us know all too well, it's not just about losing weight, it's about losing weight and NEVER finding it again.

It's too early to be up!!!

This picture is my mood today, indifference? Bordom? Who Cares? I think this picture was taken about 2 months ago when I was just starting out with NS, about 45 pounds heavier than I am now. Not that you can really tell the difference from today since it's just a head shot.

I am having one of my bouts of insomnia and it's only 4:30am, can't sleep. I hate that I have always been such a poor sleeper. I can function really well with just 5 hours of sleep usually. Been that way most of my life, though usually Thursday is a day when I sleep in, get some extra sleep and make up for the rest of the week. But today, nope, just can't sleep.

Thursday is always NS Pancake day. I do like the pancakes but since I am only home for one breakfast of the week, it has to be Thursday. I will also have a egg substitute omelette with onion, spinach and two slices of fat free cheese. This is one of my favorite breakfast days.

I didn't get my NS shipment yesterday, but according the the tracking I should get it today. Which is good since I should be home all morning. I have to go to my sister's sometime today and hook up her new digital cable box. The cable co wanted 50 bucks to send someone out, what a ripoff for 10 minutes of work.

My final vacation of 2006 will begin on the 11th. I have 13 days off. Since I work in the sports field, we have to have all our time done with by the start of the preseason football season in August. I will still have three more days to take, and I will do that in August, but no more longer vacations.

I'm watching MSNBC right now and the beach boys are performing. I can't believe they are still around. Some things never change, well, they just get older. Is Mike Love ever going to call it a career? What is he, about 70 now?

Now that the Beach Boys are playing a song I may finally be able to get back to sleep. I will post my meal menus later.

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Late Thursday Update : I had a good day. My ear seems to have cleared up, well maybe not 100%, but 90%. Hopefully it will not relapse.

I had my NS pancakes for breakfast with egg substitute omelette and 2 slices of toast.

I didn't eat lunch. Rather, I went to the gym about 12:30 and got done close to 2pm. When I was working our regularly last year, after each workout I had a smoothie at the juice bar. My favorite is the Juicebar Punch, which has nonfat frozen yogurt, 1/2 banana, cinnamon, honey and protein powder. The small one I estimate to be around 400-500 calories. Little did I realize that I was putting back the calories I just worked off which was slowing my weight loss. So this time around I only allow myself one Juicebar punch about every 2 weeks. And, it has to replace my lunch meal.

I did get my NS shipment today so I had the NS Ravioli tonight with Polenta and spinach.

Dessert was carmel corn and peanut butter on toast.

Total cals came in right around 1700 for the day.

Hopefully I can get a decent nights sleep since I have to be up early to go to work tomorrow. Take care everyone.

Hump Day

Today is my day off and I've had a good day on NS. I always eat out Wednedsay morning and I always eat the same. I had my egg white omelette with veggies, one Tbspn of Guacamole and Chicken breast (no skin). I usually have oatmeal, but skipped it today.

For lunch I had the NS Entree (beef patty) with two slices of wheat toast, onion, tomato and two slices of fat free cheese. IT's the first time I've had the beef patty. You have to put boiling water on it. It was a bit bazaar, but it actually tasted pretty good.

For dinner I had the NS Entree (Chicken Pasta Parm) with 2 slices of polenta and stir fry veggies.

I'm only at 1100 cals for the day and I know I won't make my 1800. I will have a dessert around 9pm but that will only be around 200-300 calories.

Today was a pretty boring day. Ran some errands, didn't do much other.

Happy 4th

Hopefully everyone is having a happy and safe 4th of July. I'm actually working today. My job I have to be here on holidays unless they fall on my days off. But it's ok, I'm the only one in my section so I have the TV on and it's all good.

I changed my weigh -in for Monday. I got on the scale today and liked that number better. :)

Last night's dinner party at Rocco's was real nice. I thought it was going to be just a few people, ended up being like 20. So much food and all kinds of fattening stuff. But I was very good, I had two pieces of chicken (no skin), some salad, fresh asparagus and 1/2 of a corn on the cob. I did have one tiny, tiny piece of my sister's Lasagna, but it was like two bites. Then for dessert, I had some fresh strawberries with just a dab of Cool Whip. I was very satisfied with what I had and didn't feel deprived at all. I'm trying to enjoy the atmosphere and not let the food be the focal point of the evening.

Today it's back to three NS meals. I still have enough meals for another week (except lunch) so no hurry on my NS shipment. I will likely get it either Wednesday or Thursday. Strange thing is that both my previous shipments have arrived on a Wednesday, which is good since that's my day off and I don't want that box sitting on my porch in 105 degree heat. So hopefully this one will arrive Wednesday or Thursday also.

I will go to the gym today. I should have gone yesterday but just didn't have a chance. i worked all day and then went to the dinner party until almost 10pm last night. But today I will.

Week 10 Begins

Today begins week 10 and day 65 on NS. I can only hope the next 10 weeks and 65 days go as smoothly. I didn't lose too much last week, just 2lbs, but any loss is a good loss. I should receive shipment number 3 this week from NS and I think it will be my last order. I will attempt my own foods using some recipes from the Jazzman site and from Amy's site. Amy has lots of good recipes using your own food. But I think for dinner I will see about using entrees from either South Beach, Weight Watchers or Healthy Choice. Find what's on sale and get two weeks worth. I like the convinience of being able to pop an entree in the microwave and be done with it. Plus most of those I've mentioned have similar caloric totals to the NS entrees. Then for breakfast I will use the Kashii Go Lean cereals, oatmeal and my egg white and egg substitutes for the main entrees. THen just add some fruit, a carb and protein.

Lunch will be the thing I will struggle most with. I like bringing the NS foods to work and not having to prepare anything. I bring 5 days worth at the beginning of my week and as Tony Soprano always says, "forget about it!!!!"

So if anyone doing your own NS style foods has any lunch ideas that are handy to bring to work, let me know.

It's still early on Monday (well Thursday in my work week). I'm going to eat breakfast in a bit:

Oatmeal, NS Entree (bar), two small pieces of fruit and non-fat yogurt. Shoudl come to about 440 calories.

And, my stupid ear has flarred up again. I really am thinking it's A/C related. It never gets really bad enough to go to a doctor, then it clears up and I'm fine for a few days - then it comes back. The worst thing it does is make me a little light headed or dizzy. Last night I was dizzy for a few hours, nothing terrible but enough to make me think I was hitting the bottle for a while.

Have a great day, I will post the rest of today's menu this evening.

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Afternoon Delight!!!

Menu for Monday.

Breakfast : NS Entree (Frosted Nutricrunch), 8oz oatmeal, non-fat yogurt, one sm plum, one sm peach. total cals : 420.

Lunch : NS Entree (Chili) I didn't have a lunch entree so I borrowed from the dinners. Vegan Boca Burger, 2 slices of light wheat bread, 1 slice fat free cheese, one peach.
Cals : 440.

Dinner is going to be a trial though. I am invited over to a friends house for a big barbeque. However, I told him I can't eat most things so he's making sure there will be chicken for me and then I just remove the skin. I might try one small, small piece of a Lasagna I know is coming. I enjoy the NS lasagna and I know this one is made with veggie stuff so I will have a very small piece, some chicken and any veggies available.

one thing I'm trying to teach myself is to enjoy get togethers like this without having to indulge in all the wrong foods. This isn't an excuse to overeat.

Week 9 almost in the books!!!

Today ends week 9, day 64 on NS. It's been very good so far. My third order shipped on July 1st, so I should get it this week some time. I still have enough food for another week at least. For some strange reason though, I have run out of lunches. I still have breakfast and dinner, but lunch only one left. I wonder if I got shorted on my last order. I didn't even check the count, but I will be sure to this time.

My ear had totally cleared up the last few days and I was feeling fine. Today I woke up and it's ringing again, which is how the other episodes started. I wonder if it could be the A/C? I noticed today on my way to work that my right ear (the bad one) was very cold from my car's A/C blowing on it. Maybe that is causing a problem? We'll see. It's not bad, but I hope it doesn't return either.

Tomorrow begins week 10 on NS. I have eaten out quite a bit, might be why I have so many breakfast entrees. But I am always true to my healthy eating. I've had 1 1/2 bad meals during the last 10 weeks so that isn't too bad.

The weather here is still kicking my butt. I don't know why I'm suffering from the heat more this year. I've been in Vegas 20 years, you think I would be used to it by now. But the humidity was up the last week and that really hurts me.

I've been to the gym three times last week. I will get it up to four times a week by August and then hopefully 5 times a week by Sept. I want to gradually increase my workouts per week.

Do any of NS'ers out that are veterans longer than me have any tales. I am wondering if you started to waver from NS as time went on, you start substituting more of your own foods or if anything else you might want to add. I'm still holding pretty strong and true to the NS plan. Though I find myself not using the little book as much anymore to mark off my protein, salad, fruit and carbs. I really need to get back to more of that bookkeeping.