Linda T’s ramblings

Morning everyone and first things first. Happy happy Birthday to our own Renee! May this next year bring you everything you ever wished for. Hope today is filled with lots of love, presents and a little cake. It’s a cold morning here in the Bay Area. I am back to sweater, seat warmers and space heaters at work. Ugh!!

Work yesterday was fine. I had the usual sort of day, a few whiners, a few dummies, a couple of annoying people and some down time. The bad vendor is digging their hole deeper and deeper and now both of their billing systems are on the fritz for us. I DO have a meeting with them today in a few hours and believe me I will be bringing this up!   I left work on time and had a nice drive to the gym. I met with the trainer and had a good upper body workout.  I told him about my upcoming class reunion and he told me I have plenty of time to get ready/. He is constantly telling me how much thinner I look and is always rolling his eyes at me when I talk about my bat wings or my stomach and he can’t see why I am not thinking about going.  I tell him the money he gets is really for listening to neurotic women, not for training.  The funny thing is we are from the same home town and went to the same high school (I went to there when he was still a toddler) and when I asked him if he’s ever been to any of his reunions, he never had He said the same thing I did about them. He has no family and a boring quiet life so he doesn’t feel he has much to say at them. So I am NOT crazy for thinking about not going!  Maybe it’s an issue with our hometown. I dunno.  And NO I am not going to ask him. We have a professional relationship and that’s it. Sorry ladies.  Find me a nice man in his 40s and we’ll talk.  After my time with him, I did the rest of my cardio and went home for dinner. Dinner was a turkey burger and green beans.  Dessert was part of a fiber one bar and some jello. I ended up having some unplanned microwave popcorn last night later one. I should have just gone to bed.  I played on the computer a bit and was in bed a bit after 9 to read.

Up on time this morning, but was feeling very groggy. Kittycat was too so no one slept well last night. I had some veggie hash, got changed and on my way to work. Work is still nice and quiet and I am able to get a few things accomplished. The rest of today is the usual stuff, I hope. Just the one meeting with the bad vendor. I am going shopping at best Buy during my lunch break today. I am probably going to buy this http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9039177&type=product&id=1218011763907 My printer is dead, my scanner won’t hook up anymore so I am going to get an all in one unit to save space.  The IT guy here recommended this brand so I am listening to him. Besides, if I have any technical problems, he has a Brother machine and he’s a nice guy so he’ll help me.   After work, I am heading to the gym for cardio only day. I’ll do my time on the recumbent bike and the cross ramp and then head home for dinner. Dinner is salsa fish, probably in la tortillas and some spinach and chickpeas on the side. TV is a bunch of nothing so I’ll be in bed early I hope.

That’s all I have to say this morning. Have a nice Wednesday and don’t forget to sweat.

Morning everyone and happy Tuesday. It’s gone back to being chilly around here and the sweater has been taken out of the drawer and is back to work with me.  It’s funny.. 100 over the weekend and back to 70 two days later. My wardrobe is having an identity crisis as it doesn’t know which season it is.  It is supposed to be cool the whole week so I’ll enjoy it.

Work yesterday was fine. I was busy during the morning so I posted very late and the afternoon was a little better. I finished the research project 5 minutes before I was ready to go home, so that was good. I like having it off my plate. I doubt it is gone completely however as they are always wanting little more bits of information. More requests are pending I am sure.  I went straight to Costco after work. It was busy, but not as bad as it is on the weekend. I got pretty much everything on my list and only a couple of things that weren’t: chicken breasts, turkey breast slices, Morningstar veggie burgers, shelled edamame, blueberries, garlic, a new suitcase,  fish oil caps, Tums,  dishwasher soap,  zone perfect bars and a  neato cook book http://www.oxmoorhouse.com/product/cooking/healthy+cooking/cooking+light+fresh+food+fast.do#  280 recipes, 5 ingredients and 15 minutes to make. Almost all of the recipes have pictures and they have complete nutritionals. I would have gotten more things, but I have a tiny freezer so I just got a few items.  I went home right afterwards, unloaded my stash and had dinner. Dinner was spinach and garbanzo beans as a side dish and salsa skillet fish. The spinach and beans were good, but they were missing something. Will try again. The salsa fish by itself was good, but I had it over shirataki noodles and my tiny brain kept telling me I was eating Mexican fish spaghetti so I won’t be serving the leftovers over noodles.  I’ll either use brown rice of stuff it in a la tortilla and make a fish taco out of it.  I didn’t watch any TV, but it was on in the background for noise. I played on the computer a bit and then grabbed the Furball and headed for bed.

I was up and down all night using the restroom so I may be tired later. No idea why, but sometimes that happens. My blood work was fine, thanks. Just got it back on the weekend so it’s just me getting old and perhaps getting rid of some retained water.  I had a Linda McMuffin, got cleaned up and on my way to work. Work is quite so far this morning and the email is okee dokee.  I don’t have any meetings or anything so that will be nice. After work I am off to the gym and time with the trainer. My thighs are still kind of sore from the workout on Sunday so I hope he won’t beat them up. It really doesn’t matter though, because I’ll be sore after I workout tonight anyway so I’ll be hurting no matter what. TV tonight is? Oh gosh, I have to go check. The Biggest Loser is over!!   Nothing interesting on so I’ll be hitting the computer or watching House or Food network I guess. Diner is a Turkey burger and Chinese green beans.

I just got an email yesterday that I am having a high school reunion in August. I have mixed feelings about this. I am curious to see how people turned out and it might be fun. The things I am not looking forward to are: going alone, and maybe being in a very noisy environment and not being able to hear anyone speak.  Sigh. Of course there are the usual insecurities – I’m fat, have really nothing interesting to say about myself, have no family that anyone can ask about and lead a pretty boring life. I would have thrown in old, but one nice thing about the reunion is everyone will be old too.  I posted about this on FB last night when I got he word so some of you already read about this. Oh BTW, don’t believe a word Becky says. She and I go to church together and I think she must drink too much communion wine.   I also pay her to say nice things about me. So I have three months to think about this and probably two months before I have to give an answer. Maybe I can rent a stud to come with me?

Well, that’s all for me today. I have some things to do and emails to read. Have a nice Tuesday and don’t forget to sweat.

Morning everyone and happy Monday. It’s a really warm morning here and I was able to leave the house without my jacket! How neat is that? No seat warmers either. My fingers are a little chilly here at work, but aside from that it’s all good.  More rain coming later today, but after commute.

The weekend was nice. Too busy as usual. Friday my co-worker was out all day, but I wasn’t too busy. Fridays rarely are bad around here. I left work on time and had a nice drive to trader Joe’s. The free sample was part of a mini taco and guacamole. YUM. I got: spinach, mushrooms, cabbage, broccoli slaw, zucchini, Canadian bacon, peppered turkey breast,  goat cheese, cottage cheese, edamame, peas, veggie burgers, mineral water,  and I think that’s it. I stopped at the grocery store to get the remaining stuff and went home. Dinner was the last of the basil chicken and then last of the Asian broccoli patties. I hung around the house all evening, watching TV< playing with the Furball, playing Packrat and doing nothing productive.  Saturday morning I hung around the house for part of the morning, but got to the gym at a decent time. I got in a good workout, upper body and cardio and sweated buckets. I was getting really tired of the rowing machine and never felt like my heart rate was going up high enough so I tried the cross ramp trainer. This is slightly different from the other elliptical I used to use before I got banned due to my funky foot issue. Anyway, my foot did MUCH better on the cross ramp. It barely turned at all so that made me very happy! No more rowing machine. Well at least until Tuesday when I tell the trainer what I am doing. He may have other ideas, but we shall see. I went home, had lunch and took a nice nap. I fiddled around the house a bit when I got up, had dinner and got into my cooking. I spent the evening on my butt on the sofa with a furry lap warmer. Sunday I was up and off to the gym earlier than Saturday. I got in a good lower body workout, cardio and again used the cross ramp with no problems. I came home, had some food, took a shower and then went to the mall. I mentioned on Friday that I had a coupon for 35% off everything at Macy’s and I wanted to see what I could find. I did really well. For example, I got two pairs of trousers style jeans for work, regular 48.00 a pair, on sale for 24.00 a paid and with the coupon I got them for 18.00 a pair!! I ended up getting three shirts and spent 95.00 before tax. Cool beans huh? I went to target afterwards because I love Target! Got a bunch of good stuff there and went home. I had a snack, laid down for about 45 minutes and then had dinner. The rest of the evening was tidying the kitchen and folding laundry. I watched some TV and was in bed a bit after 10pm.

Up at the regular 5:40am. I got cleaned up and on my way on time. Nice easy commute. The email and phone were nutty when I first arrived due to the fact my co-worker is out all week so I had people emailing/calling starting at 4:30 this morning my time.  It took me a few hours to get caught up, but for the moment I am.  The rest of today is the usual stuff I hope. After work, I am heading home for dinner. .. unless one of you can tell me something I need and forgot to buy at Macy’s. Dinner is Anniversary chicken, Asian coleslaw and garlicky green beans. Dessert is jello. TV tonight is House. I’ll be in bed probably around 9pm.

I just read Tammy’s comment from my Friday entry and am sitting here laughing. How many of you ladies are closet matchmakers, anyway?    To answer your questions, Miss Tammy  My trainer is 32 years old. He is very very handsome, but he is very very young. I admire his looks kind of like you would look at a piece of art work.  It is hard to explain, but when you work this closely with someone and they make you hurt, you don’t lust after them at ALL!!   He has a gf and I’ve told him on more than one occasion talking to him is like talking to another fat chick. He is a foodie just like me!!  We spend our time talking about recipes mostly.  So sorry to disappoint you all. 

So that’s all from me for today. Have a  nice Monday and don’t forget to sweat!

Morning all and happy Friday!  YAY! We made it to another weekend.  It’s a semi gloomy day here. We got a little rain last night and it’s suppose to rain off an on for the next 4-5 days here. My yard can use it, so bring it on!

Work yesterday was busy. I got the data I need for the invoice and the allocations so I went to town.  An 18.87 credit was missing, and the vendor couldn’t find it. For 18.87 I manipulated things to make it go away because it just wasn’t worth my time to spend looking for it. I hope it doesn’t come back to bite me in the butt.  If it does, I’ll make the vendor find it.. period. I kept busy most of the day because people were whining to get the invoice in by month end close, which is today. I got it in, so all is well. Now I have to start on the next month, which is screwed up too! I left work on time and had a nice drive to the gym. I got in some cardio, some stretching and leg therapy and then met with the trainer. I let him know that my arms were sore and that if he touched my arms, I might punch him. He had me flex and you really can see my biceps are getting really nice and my triceps as well.  Yesterday was leg day and it went okay until we got to a leg curl machine. My hamstring on my bad leg is so tight that I was pulling all the weight with my left leg instead of both  of them. The trainer hauled me over to the mat and really stretched my hamstring out.  Another thing I need to work on.. sigh. Anyway, I got in the rest of my cardio and then went home for dinner. Dinner was the shrimp fajitas and the last of the Mexican veggie medley. I watched most of Ugly Betty, most of Grey’s, played packrat , made my food for the following day and washed my hair before bed.

Work today is fine. My co-worker is out sick today but so fat it’s been slow. I’ll be wrangling with the vendor again on getting correct billing detail and answers questions. After work, I’ll be going to Trader Joe’s and the regular grocery store. TV is Private Practice that I taped last night and The Ghost Whisperer. Dinner is the last of the Spicy basil chicken and the last of the Asian broccoli patties and some green beans.  I’ll be in bed at a normal time. 11pm at the latest.

Saturday is a morning at the gym. I have to get there early because I promised my trainer I’d bring him a coupon, He doesn’t have his computer set up for internet access yet, ( I tease him about this all the time) so he didn’t get this cool coupon from Citibank. Card holders get 25% off almost everything at Macy’s when we use out Citi card through 5/4. He has a Citi card, but no email so he didn’t get it so I am bringing him a copy. I’ll spend the rest of Saturday after the gym, having lunch, taking a nap and doing my usual cooking. Sunday is off to he gym early and then I’ll be going to Macy’s to use the 25% off coupon. When I get home, it’ll be chores and down time and hopefully unpacking all the loot from Macy’s. I will do my part to stimulate the economy.

That’s my exciting weekend. Have a nice weekend everyone and count those calories!

Morning everyone and happy Thursday. It’s a nice morning here but I have frozen fingers!! Hate when that happens. My legs are also cold, so the space heater gets turned up. It is supposed to be Spring. I need to lodge a formal complaint. I actually had to turn the heater back on at home.  Sheesh

Work yesterday was fine. We all went out to lunch and it was yummy. I had a tostada salad. It had a small tostada shell, like the size of a muffin cup and the rest was lots of veggies, black beans and chicken. I moved the blop of guacamole off to the side and had my dressing in a separate cup. No cheese.  There was cake afterwards and had a small piece. It was good. I had heard about this particular cake for several years and am glad I finally got to try it. It’s called Burnt Almond cake. The rest of the workday was fine. No big hassles. I left work on time and had a nice drive to the mall. As I mentioned yesterday, I needed new shoes. I found some nice ASICS shoes on sale at Lady Foot Locker. Here is what they look like 

http://i9.ebayimg.com/06/i/001/39/8c/3e14_1.JPG

I left shopping and drove straight to the gym. I got in most of my cardio but did cut it a few minutes short due to the shopping trip beforehand. My feet still got numb, as expected, but at least there was no pain.  We’ll see how they do on the weight machines today. I went home and had chicken honey nut stir fry for dinner and dessert was half a fiber one bar. I watched the rest of The Biggest Loser and then took a hot shower before bed. I am reading a good book called The Codex so I enjoyed that a while before sleep.

I was awake at 4am and then couldn’t get back to sleep until 5 so I got only about 40-45 more minutes of sleep. Breakfast was a Smart ones stuffed breakfast sandwich. I got cleaned up and on my way to work. The commute was fine and work was nicely empty. I was nervous on my way in as there is some massive cell phone and landline outage in the south bay area. I wasn’t sure how many had been affected of it my office had been affected, but the office was fine so I was relieved. It would have been a day of whining! The rest of today is normal. I have a conference call at 1pm but that should go quickly.  After work, I am off to the gym to meet with the trainer. Today will probably be a mixed upper and lower body day. After training, will be the rest of my cardio and then home. Dinner is a chili dog bacon cheeseburger and green beans. TV tonight is nothing but reruns, so I’ll probably play online, make my food for the following day, get the dishwasher loaded and wash my hair before bed.

That’s all for me today. Have a nice Thursday and don’t forget to sweat. 1.5 days until the weekend.

Morning everyone and happy no humping day. I had to think a minute what day it was. I swear without my computer to tell the date and time, I wouldn’t have any idea what day it was. I wasn’t this stupid when I was a kid. It must have something to do with getting older and having all of this other useless information crammed into my tiny brain! It’s a nice day here today. It is suppose to rain, but I don’t see much of that happening around here.

Work yesterday was fine. Busier than usual with dealing with all of the terminations, but I am over the hump on that. I left work on time and had a nice drive to the gym. I got in some cardio and my stretching and met with the trainer. Yesterday was a mixed bag of upper and lower body workout, so that was good. The time seemed to go really quickly. While I was doing the angled leg lift machine, the bottoms of my feet started to hurt. I had been getting sore and numb feet on the elliptical machine, but the soreness yesterday let me know it is time for new shoes. My trainer agrees.  He was happy to hear that another pair of my pants can be taken off without unbuttoning or unzipping them. I wish my mid section was going away as fast as the rest of me, but it isn’t so that’s life.  No weight loss, but definitely inches lost.  I did the rest of my cardio afterwards, with sore feet on the elliptical and then went home. Dinner was a chili dog bacon cheeseburger (Linda-fied) and green beans. Dessert was cottage cheese and pineapple. I watched the first hour of The Biggest Loser and really enjoyed it. I thought it was funny that Ron is called the Godfather or the hatchet man.  He really is playing the game well and those that get upset with him, well why did they let him have that power? He is manipulative, but he doesn’t rub me the wrong way like Vicki did last year.  I set the VCR to tape the lst hour, took a hot shower and went to bed.

Up a little late this morning I think the cat must have hit the snooze alarm.  I got up, had veggie hash, got cleaned up and got on  my way to work. I did watch the tail end of The Biggest Loser to see who went home.  The person who was sent home, I think is the one I would have picked to go home for no other reason than he was a bigger threat.  He did look wonderful in his after pictures and I am glad he is doing well. Also glad he doesn’t look like the Wild Man of Borneo anymore.  I am also SO glad to see in the previews that next week is makeover week. Please cut Filipe’s fro and Helen’s bush of a hairdo. The others need help too, but those two just really need it IMHO!  Anyway, work is fine so far. Today a group is going out to lunch so that will be nice to get away for a bit. The place we are going to I have been to before so I’ll do fine there. After work, I’ll be going to lady Foot Locker to get shoes. I just cannot take the sore feet any longer. I did pack my gym bag so if the shoe shopping doesn’t take too long, I’ll go to the gym afterwards. It is cardio only day so if I don’t make it, I am not missing a session with the trainer.  Dinner tonight is chicken honey nut stir fry and an egg roll. Dessert is jello or else cottage cheese. I’ll watch the rest of The Biggest Loser from last night and that’s about it. Bed early.

Have a nice Wednesday everyone and don’t forget to sweat.

Morning everyone and Happy no Humping day. It’s lovely morning here and with the space heater going, all I need is a blankie, the Furball and the TV and I would be content. It’s very quiet around here today so I am hoping it stays that way all day.

Work yesterday was fine. I got to nag at the vendors and didn’t have many whining employees to deal with so all was well. I left work on time and had a nice drive to the gym. I got in my warm up, some cardio and some stretching and met with the trainer. Yesterday was an upper body day and the man has gone completely push up happy!  I asked him what the deal was yesterday with him and pushups and he just said he loved pushups and wanted me to love them too. Fine.   One set of exercises in the push up position was challenging. Picture this. Man pushup position. Then balance yourself on one hand while staying on your toes. With the other hand, hold a 15 pound weight and do rows.   It was challenging and don’t tell my trainer, but I actually enjoyed doing those because they were so tough. He picks lots of complex exercises so my abs got a good workout yesterday too. Even those stupid pull-ups he has me do work my abs. After I met with him, I got in the rest of my cardio so I hit 105 minutes of exercise last night, which was my goal for my workouts this week.  I went home and had a turkey burger for dinner with coleslaw on the side. Dessert was a little jello and a little popcorn.  I watched a little of Dancing with the Stars that I had taped and then sat down to watch The Biggest Loser. I enjoyed seeing the people come back and I got sucked into watching the whole show last night. The extra cardio kept me awake I guess.  The weight n sure made me gasp. I don’t think the person who had immunity water loaded that much. What I think happened is that she dehydrated herself so much just before she came back to the ranch, that her body just held on to anything she drank when she got back on. No one would be dumb enough to water load to get themselves sent home after just one week, would they? Sorry to see that one person went to the hospital, but with all of his issues I am surprised something didn’t happen sooner. I am glad he is okay and I am glad he still is at the ranch. He is manipulative, but the fact that he is still hanging in there and losing made me want to see him stay. The person who left already proved she did well on her own and I am sure she’ll continue to do so. And this is all IMHO, so    I went to take a hot shower, afterwards, read a bit and slept well.

Up at the usual time this morning. I had veggie hash, got changed and on my way to work on time. As I mentioned above, it’s vey quiet at work today so I had a change to read some news stories. It turns out the Nordstom is returning to my local mall. But even better because it is a Nordstrom rack, the discount cheapie store. Whoo Hoo. I love Nordies and ever since they moved away 14 years ago have missed them. While I couldn’t afford much at the regular Nordies, the Rack store will be shopped at! It’s opening up in the fall. Good news for me. Bad for my wallet!   Anyway, back to work. No meetings today and nothing icky I hope going on. After work I am off to the gym for a cardio only day. I’ll shoot for 75 minutes instead of my usual 60 and will maybe give the old rowing machine a whirl tonight as well. Dinner tonight is Thai BBQ Chicken, Roasted Cauliflower, cucumber salad and some fiber gourmet noodles. TV tonight is nothing, so I’ll play online a bit and then head to bed early.

That’s the plan for today. Hope everyone has a nice day and don’t forget to sweat!

Morning everyone and happy Tuesday. Today is a freaking COLD morning and I suppose that is a good thing because it helps me to wake up! It’s supposed to be a nice day later, but I won’t be able to tell much as I can only see the the top half of one window across the aisle. I’d actually it rather be overcast than bright and clear. The old eyes, ya know?

Work yesterday was fine. No big hassles and I wasn’t overly busy. The co-worker back east was out of the office, but I didn’t get swamped or anything. I left work on time and had a nice drive homewards. I did stop off at a shopping center to get some items. I went to Bev-Mo and got some sugar free toraniand some sugar free Go-Girl drink. Both were a little cheaper there than at my usual places so it was a good trip. I stopped at the Vitamin Shoppe in the same center and got some probiotics. I had a 5.00 off coupon and I wanted to get some probiotics in pill form. I went home after that and had some down time before dinner. I had a pita bread pizza ( ww pita, ground turkey, artichokes, spinach, mushrooms, onions, garlic and soy cheese) and some mixed roasted veggies ( zucchini, crookneck, eggplant, yams and brussels sprouts) All very yummy. Dessert was some cottage cheese and a little jello. I watched some TV, but mostly played on the computer. I thought I was going to be in bed by 6:30, but managed to wake up after a bit and was up until 9:30.

Up at the usual 5:40 this morning. I still don’t like it this dark, but it was much better today to get up than yesterday. I had steel cut oats, string cheese and got on my way to work. The commute was fine and I didn’t havetoo many messages when I got in, but lots of emails. I have a meeting during my lunch tome today, so that doesn’t thrill me. It happens from time to time and unfortunatelythis is a meeting I need to be at. After work, I’ll be heading to the gym. The trainer got back from Italy on Sunday evening so this is my first day back with him. He had betterbe fat, is all I can say. After meeting with him and getting in cardio, I’ll head home for dinner. Dinner is meatloaf and mock mashed potatoes. I made the mocks a little different this time.  I read someplace online that restaurants when they serve mock mashes potatoes don’t just use cauliflower. They add a parsnip so I did. I am very pleased with the result. It was creamier and held together more like potatoes. Tasted great too.  Dessert is probably jello. TV is of course The Biggest Loser. I can’t wait to see if Mike lost what he needed to in order to keep everyone safe. I bet he did, but we won’t know for sure until tonight!! I’ll be in bed around 9 or so tonight. Old chicks need their beauty sleep. 

Not much else going on. I am glad to see most everyone has joined the blog fray and seems to be doing well. It just takes practice, ladies. Play around with things.. click things to see what they do. You cannot break it.  Just don’t hit delete blog. Have a nice Tuesday and don’t forget to sweat!

Look at what I bought last night.

Kindle 2 information You can read all about it at Amazon, but the basic info is that this is a wireless reading device. You download books, magazines, newspapers from anyplace. You don’t have to be at your computer. I decide I really need to stop buying books for two reasons 1) they are taking up so much space in my house and I never get rid of books. I re-read them all the time. and 2) The resources. Books use precious resrouces so I might as well stop killing trees if I can. My mother got the Kindle 1 a year or so ago and just loves it. I inherited my love of reading from her so I figured I’d give it a try. I have 30 days to try it out and if I don’t like it, I can return it. I can’t wait to try it!

I usually don’t post on weekends but I came to the journals to find out if the latest “journal baby” had been born. No dice yet. C’mon Tammy! Pop that kid out, already will ya’? I have been fiddling with the blogs and working with Suzanne on some enhancements that I KNOW the journal ladies want here. Stay tuned for that. I am stalling going to the gym because it is cold out and I am a big baby. I’ll go, but not for another hour and a half or so. I might grow boob-sicles if I went out now. hehehe

So anyway, just playing with the blogs and stuff to get more familiar. Have a nice restful and on plan Saturday!