Just a quick stop to say hello since 60 days is almost past since my last post and you know how I don't want to get erased. I really only check in to get information that's here, like recipes, and check my PM box. Don't have much time to read.
Hope you are all doing splashingly well. Life is good here in Michigan, hot, but good. I'm not doing anything special, just doing my "shopping" and staying off the streets.
Vortexx - I hope you hear soon. Your mom is in my prayers.
Luja - Thanks, I think the hands will be fine. I'm not too concerned. I'm not in pain or anything, so it's fine.
I can totally relate to being busy. My step daughter also graduated middle school. My son plays sports, my 8 yr old is going to Utah, to spend the summer with my mom, and I've been trying to make sure that she has everything that she needs. I'm also trying to get the 3 staying home into summer day care/camp. It's friggin nuts!
Sorry for being absent for a couple of days. I've been busy trying to get the house back in order. We had DH's cousin over for dinner last night and I like to use those opportunities to get the house cleaned where I might choose other things to do. We had a lovely dinner last night. It was good to see them. However, she is a talker. Its hard to get a word in edgewise.
I'm off work now until Tuesday. I didn't tell DH until this morning. I didn't want him making plans for my time off. I have lots to do. Mostly get caught up on the outside work, clean the barn, play with horses, clean the exercise room, and start on the office (which is a disaster). I told DH that I might not leave the place until Tuesday. I do want to do some clothes shopping though so I may have to leave for that. I've tried shopping online but the Macy's or Dillard's sights don't have the slacks I want and know that I've bought in the store. I also see that I have to attend a luncheon with the CEO and executive staff of the whole North America operations and business dress is required. I have one very nice pin striped suit that I can wear or I might see about a summer one. Definitely not doing skirts anymore.
The pool is being installed tomorrow. Yippee!!
DH is going after more rock today so that will be another project to work on this weekend. I think his brother is coming down tomorrow so it will be nice to get done what we're going to do for the summer. I'm ready for a break until fall for projects. We've made a lot of improvements this year.
Dyan - Hope the hands are doing better. Geez, you're crazy busy!
Angela - How's your mom? A big and prayer for you and your family.
Heather - How's your time off? Get any herbs planted? I noticed that I finally have sweet basil coming up in the garden. I liked what you shared about your loss and stalls. Its good to see that apathy isn't just a personal problem of mine. And I agree - I love the healthier foods and the exercise so much more than how I really feel after junk food and being a slug - then why is it so easy to go for junk and slug? DUH!
Luja - Great job on your exercise. Very inspiring. Drink up that water to help with the water retention. How was your walk?
Lilion - Are you making any progress in getting caught up at work? Hope so and that work life will be a little less stressful.
Okay, I'm going to relax and read for a bit while Duke is snoring on the floor. Take advantage of the quiet time. Then it will be time to get up and get outside!
Ladies, I just have a moment to pop in. This week is 'Horse Camp' and I'm spending every spare minute up at the fair grounds hanging with horsey friends, new and old. In addition, last night the horse I have up there had a bit of colic (which is very treatable, but can also be fatal) so I was up with him until after 3 a.m. He's fine now; just needs to take it easy. Anyway, I'll be catching up here on Sunday when camp is all over.
It has been a most productive day. DH was stunned when I woke him up and said that I wasn't going back to work until Tuesday. He's asked twice if I was fired but hadn't told him yet.
We spent a lovely 45 minutes in the DMV. It was time to renew drivers license and license plates. I also changed my name (yep, been married for 8 years and am just now changing my name) finally. I had to have birth certificate and marriage license. I've tried three times and finally had all the right papers.
We made a trip to Lowe's. Expensive. We got new towel racks, etc for the main bathroom. A few new plants to replace ones that didn't make it. Got myself a hibiscus tree. I've been wanting one of those for a long time. And of course, lots of rock.
I did enjoy an afternoon nap. Then it was time to learn how to use the power washer we bought a few weeks ago. We washed the mower, ATV, horse trailer, back quarter of the house and the concrete patio. I had no idea the patio was so dirty. We moved horse trailers and tidied up the front areas. I did some of the trimming with the string mower. I was filthy and enjoyed a nice soak in the whirlpool tub.
Food was pretty good today. All I had was a light lunch and dinner. And lots of activity for the day.
Now we're getting ready to watch SAW 3.
Valerie - Horse camp! I am so jealous! Have a great time. Colic is scarey stuff. Glad to see it wasn't a serious case resulting in surgery.
No time to do much here...I'm still working (when I was supposed to be vacationing) but I'm getting a bit caught up. Not as good as I should be, better than I was.
There's been so much personal drama I'm just beat...not even my drama - problems with my best friend and her daughter and both of their bi-polar disorders... Long story. But I'm about to escape for a few days. DH and I just booked a cabin and pontoon boat for the weekend and we're heading to a quiet little lake for a couple days. Just us...and our son...and our two dogs...maybe not so relaxing after all! I'm just looking forward to leaving town!
So, I'll be incommunicado for a couple days...not that I post that often anyway! And for now got to run!
Lilion - You'll have to tell me where that lake and pontoon are. DH would love for us to have a long weekend doing something like that. Have a great time! You need a little time away.
Wow, we've gotten quiet this week. Where is everyone? Lilion is off to the lake for a nice cabin getaway. Valerie is horsing around at camp.
Its been a very busy two days. And the scale is being very nice this morning in spite of the fact that I haven't been logging my food.
Yesterday, I spent several hours outside trimming and using the small tiller to prep for the landscape paper and rock going down today. DH's brother is here to help today. I have to go supervise here in a few minutes to make sure they do what needs to be done around the new hedge.
The pool was installed yesterday. They did a fabulous job in about 3 hours. It would have taken DH and I weeks to do what they did and we would have killed each other in the process. Its filling and it will take today and probably part of tomorrow to fill. It would have gone quicker if we could have filled over night but the installer said to only do it when the sun is out so that the liner warms up and stretches with the water.
For me, today is barn cleaning day. That should be fun, don't you think? That a few organizing projects inside. I have three more days and there will be no more "projects" until fall.
I hope to keep up with all the extra activity and cutting back on food. I'm close to breaking through into the 250's range again.
It's been a few weeks since I posted here, but it's good to be back! It's been a busy few weeks!
First of all, I'm happy to report that I DID reach my first "mini-goal" of a loss of 30 pounds by my birthday, which was May 25th! In fact, I was down 31 pounds on that day!!
My hubby and I had joined a local gym back in April, and they had a special incentive that if you lost 10 pounds by June 1st, you got a certificate for a free 4-day cruise/hotel package for 2 people to The Bahamas! Well, I knew I had lost the 10 pounds, but my hubby was struggling with his last few pounds. So we were really strict with our diet that week, - and I'm happy to say that he made it too, and was actually down 13 pounds at our June 1st weigh-in! So we got 2 certificates for the free trip! We're going to take my mother and brother with us, so that should be fun. We plan to go sometime next year.
I know it's not the best thing to do, but after our weigh-in on June 1st, we celebrated by going out to eat at a restaurant, and over-indulged. In fact, we let loose that whole weekend, and I knew I would be gaining some weight back, - but I really didn't care. It was actually a "planned" splurge, and I did get back on track and lost what I gained (or at least most of it, - still got 1/2pound to go). When you've got such a lot of weight to lose, I personally, feel it's OK to once in a while actually PLAN to have a splurge day or weekend. If it's planned, you know what to expect, and don't feel so down on yourself when you see the scale is up a few pounds. You know that the splurge has a set time limit, and then you go right back on the diet plan the next day. I think it kind of let's you get it out of your system, so you can go back on track again. I know this would probably not work for those who can't stop once they start splurging, but it seems to work for me.
Anyway, we had a garage sale a couple weekends ago, - it was the first one we ever had. I was amazed at how much work it is getting ready for it! But we did OK, and it was good to get some stuff cleared out!
We've been having great, really nice hot weather here in Minnesota this week. Thanks to this hot weather, the water in our in-ground swimming pool heated up to 80 degrees, - so I've been getting to use the pool this week for the first time this year. I know, you would think that with having an in-ground swimming pool, one would be nice and slim from all that swimming exercise,......................................wel l, lets just say, it's much more fun to float on an air mattress!!! But last night I did come up with a set of water exercises that actually took 1/2 hour to complete, and it was actually enjoyable! I did wake up with some sore muscles this morning, but it was a good feeling and I'm going to try to do this exercise routine every day I go in the pool. I'm going to make myself do the exercises first, and then "reward" myself afterward by floating on the air mattress!
Well, I think this is all for now. I hope everyone is doing well, and wish you all a great week ahead!
Day four of my mini-vacation. We have worked really hard and made a lot of progress. Its hard to believe that we've now been 'on the farm' for a year now. We've done a lot in this year and I'm really loving it. Yesterday, I worked in the garage/barn for several hours. I had no mercy on the stuff/crap. If I hadn't used it in this year, out it went. I had a nice trailer load of crap that DH and his brother took to the dump for me. My brother was out and he helped too. He worked in the tack room for me to install three saddle racks. He is going to bring fans out to put in the horse area of the barn so that I can start putting Phoenix in there. Because of his coloring, he sunburns really badly. I've done a lot of lifting, walking, carrying, bending, stretching, and sweating these three days. Todays workout will be doing some landscape work and getting the weeds out of the garden. Then I want to spend the afternoon inside working on paperwork and organizing the office or exercise room.
The pool is still filling. I am really looking forward to being able to get in and get some exercise while enjoying the water.
Julie - Great job on making that mini-goal. And what a wonderful incentive and reward. Yeah, garage sales are a tremendous amount of work. I do them only when I move. I've gotten really good at using them to get rid of a lot of stuff without having to move it.
I need to get dressed and get outside before it gets too hot. Lots to do. Lots of calories to burn.
Terri -- Sounds like you've been really busy! Let us know how the pool is!
Julie -- Wow, those are some incentives! Have fun on the trip!
I had a few days off and am feeling like a "person" again. Getting my eating and exercise under control. Feels good to get back into it. Who knows, maybe the scale will even cooperate!
Not much to report. Busy baseball weekend with the youngest son. I had to work the snack stand today. It's really hot here - so freezies were quite popular. I took two exercise days off to let my muscles rest from the two a days - I was retaining a lot of water, so I took that as a sign my body needed a break. I am glad I have an air conditioner in the bedroom - makes using the treadmill better. The rest of our house isn't air conditioned. Other than that it's the usual boring working in the garden, working on the house stuff that is to be my summer. Exciting I know. We do have the paint colors picked out for the house. It's a Victorian so it'll be four colors. The main body of the house is a dark green called Midnight Forest. There are some cedar shakes in the front above the porch and at the peaks of the roof that will be a medium green and then the trim and porch posts are a light green/gray almost white called Sierra Madre. The door and windows are red. I think it is a sharp color combination. The neighbors were hoping for white :-).
I am not weighing until July 1 so there is nothing to report in that front! Exercise is going well. Water is ok, could be better and food is so-so.
Yeah, its Sunday night and I'm not going to work tomorrow. I won't get to say that tomorrow night.
I worked like a fiend again today. I planted the hibiscus tree is a big pot, planted a butterfly bush, two honeysuckles in the arch, did the landscape paper and rocks within the arch to finish that area, tilled on the garden until I and the tiller ran out of gas. My brother came over this afternoon and helped me move 70 bales of hay within the barn. is all I can say. Great exercise for the biceps and triceps but geez, I was wiped out after that. I worked some on sorting out magazines that I brought home from mom's last fall. She has a bazillion craft magazines that are in great condition. I am going to try to sell them on Ebay. If they go great, if not, its to the burn pile.
Tomorrow is shopping day. We're going to try to upgrade our cell phones and I need some new dress slacks for work. After all this work, I'll be glad to get away from home.
The pool is filled finally. Tomorrow before we head off, we have to get the pump running and do the start up chemicals. I really could have used a dip today but hopefully it won't rain all week. I need to make time to go to 'pool school'.
Heather - Feeling like a real person is always a good thing! Good job on getting back OP and sweet talk that scale into being cooperative!
Luja - The paint sounds really pretty. We got popcicles from Schwan's and they have been a wonderful treat when I've been out sweating my butt off. One of the benefits of hot. Its good to give the muscles a rest so sounds like you did the right thing this weekend. I'm so exciting to see all the tomatoes we have on the vine and both the cukes and zuc's are starting to get blooms too. And we've got lots of peppers too. I see that only sweet basil came up of the four or so herbs I planted. We can hardly wait for the fresh veggies.
Time for bed. My sleeping has been out of whack the last few days and I need to get back to more normal.
We're just back from our shopping excursion into the city. I've been watching too much TLC. I've got the What Not to Wear series on the DVR. I've learned a lot from watching. I tried on and bought a few things that I never would have bothered with before. All I needed was new dress slacks for work and a few tops to wear under all the jackets I got from Coldwater Creek. The first thing I did was drop four of those jackets off at the tailors to be fitted better in the sleeve so they didn't look as sloppy. I bought two sleeveless v-neck, wrap-style tops that look great because they de-emphasize the spare tire. Something I learned from Clinton and Stacy. I bought a dress. I haven't bought a "dress" in eons. I always bought the suit-type skirt/jacket or a dress with a jacket. Anything to cover up. I tried on a black and white print wrap dress. I loved it however it was a little big. I was determined enough to have that type of dress that I asked the Macy's clerk to get the one off the mannequin. I also went down a size because this is my incentive dress. While I could wear it now, I would feel just that much more terrific to get rid of some of the spare tire. That is going to be my reward for working hard. AND the dress was on sale and only $35. Next will be to improve my make-up.
Time for a nap and then out to work on backfilling around the pool. There's always something that needs doing.
It's been awhile since I've posted. I feel off program again. (Time to try again.)
Terri, sounds like your shopping trip was a roaring succeess. You deserve it. You've been working hard on your home and your body and you deserve the new clothes. Congrats on your success.
I had to jump in though to agree with you. I've learned a lot from Stacey and Clinton too. That's for sure! They "ain't" getting me in those pointy toed shoes though.
I really only check in to get information that's here, like recipes, and check my PM box. Don't have much time to read.
Life is good here in Michigan, hot, but good. I'm not doing anything special, just doing my "shopping" and staying off the streets. 
Its hard to get a word in edgewise.
I didn't tell DH until this morning. 
I didn't want him making plans for my time off. 
I have lots to do. Mostly get caught up on the outside work, clean the barn, play with horses, clean the exercise room, and start on the office (which is a disaster). I told DH that I might not leave the place until Tuesday. I do want to do some clothes shopping though so I may have to leave for that. I've tried shopping online but the Macy's or Dillard's sights don't have the slacks I want and know that I've bought in the store. I also see that I have to attend a luncheon with the CEO and executive staff of the whole North America operations and business dress is required. I have one very nice pin striped suit that I can wear or I might see about a summer one. Definitely not doing skirts anymore.
and prayer for you and your family.
to all!
That a few organizing projects inside. I have three more days and there will be no more "projects" until fall. 
(Time to try again.)
You deserve it. You've been working hard on your home and your body and you deserve the new clothes. Congrats on your success.
