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Old 12-17-2012, 05:30 AM   #1  
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Default Maintainers Weekly Chat Dec 17 - Dec 23

We had some serious rain yesterday - DW will be happy since she's always aware of how much moisture her plants have.

Our Christmas tree stands outside getting wet. We now have the situation of waiting until just the right moment between rains when it's dry enough to bring inside. One year we had to bring it into the basement for two days to dry out - a slow process.

I'm doing well ignoring Christmas goodies. Yesterday huge platters of sweetened breads appeared in honor of Saint Lucia by a guy who has Swedish ancestors. Everything I know about Saint Lucia is that you eat sweetened breads in her honor. With apologies to all of Swedish ancestry, I ignored them. It's not clear to me why eating is the way to honor saints - I wish there were a Saint Weight Watchers or something.
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Old 12-17-2012, 05:45 AM   #2  
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Talking Good morning!

BillI think humans eat and drink at most celebratory events as an easy, polite way of sharing the experience.I am lucky in that I work outside and rarely is food or drink brought down to the off leash. Aside from the weather and sand problems we also would be mobbed by dogs. This did prove useful sometimes as one dogwalker would bring a certain type of donut I loathed and force them on us (she yelled in your face if you didn't take one). I always took a couple of bites and then "shared" the rest with the dogs.

I am all set for Christmas, except for decorating the tree. It is sitting in our shed to avoid the drenching rains of yesterday. My cleaners are coming on Thursday and then we'll bring in the tree. DH will be away on Friday night so I can blast the Christmas music while I decorate.

I dragged him to see "Quartetto Gelato" on Saturday night and he was amused by them. Even by the Christmas songs - "Sleighride" and "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire" or whatever that one is called.

Oops - yoga time. Gotta go get back into the exercise routine which was disrupted last week by Dogmaggedon.

Dagmar
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Old 12-17-2012, 08:39 AM   #3  
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Morning all,

I think I'm finally over the Christmas "hump" of stress and can enjoy it now. I have ordered all of my gifts, and they're scheduled to arrive before Christmas. I did get a little sad to see my neighbor's nice Christmas lights and not have my own up, but, oh well. At least I can enjoy theirs and deliver my jams and pickles to them with a nice bow. I talked to my mom and sis on the phone and have started to get excited about seeing my family in less than a week - which is of course the best past of the holidays for me. Not the food. I need to keep reminding fat Megan of that as I shove her back in the closet. She's made a lot of appearances lately. I also happened on the perfect gift for my 2.5 year old niece as I was talking to my sis talk about trying to run after her while the 3 month old is strapped to her chest. A leash! I found a pink puppy backpack leash that she'll at least think is cute, before she learns to hate it for reigning her in. I have learned a few tricks from being a dog mom.

New Christmas treats arrived this morning at work. On Thursday & Friday I did pretty well at resisting them. Trying to keep it up today, even if it means taking a real lunch break out of the office to keep my head clear. The Christmas party Saturday night was fun, if rather subdued this year. I miss some friends who have moved away, but it makes me want to hold tighter to the good ones who are still nearby. I indulged in one plate of food and some wine, and back to plan. The scale is still up from vacation weight and I'm afraid it's real weight. I will volunteer to be BF's DD for his office party Tuesday, even though this place serves really good beer. I must ask myself what I want more: to be thin, or to have a beer. It seems like a no brainer when I type it out. (Of course I know some of you can have a beer no problem. For me, one beer turns to two or three, and that in turn means a lot of extra food consumed.)

Dagmar, I haven't heard of Quarteto Gelato, but love some good Christmas music. Maybe it's all my childhood choral groups that make me love it all the more? Glad DH went and was in good spirits. Emma would love it if all of my food rejects ended up "shared" with her, lol. Usually she's not nearby and they end up in the trash.

Bill, Saint Weight Watchers, funny. How about our own "Ghosts"? Ghost of Pounds Past, Ghost of Temptations Present, Ghost of the Future and What Could Be (aka a really big fat ghost of ourselves to keep us scared and honest - "fat Megan" could come out of her closet and make a cameo). I like it.

I spent most of the president's address to the residents of Newtown last night in tears. How terrible and sad. I couldn't help but think of my own parents, both teachers, as well as the many teachers I grew up with as neighbors in our boarding school community. My heart goes out to the families and friends affected by this horrible tragedy. There are no words.
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Old 12-17-2012, 09:03 AM   #4  
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Happy Monday everyone!!

I may try running today with the IT Band strap that I got last week. I'm not feeling terribly optimistic. DH brought up the idea of expanding our exercise room (which we built in our basement). He would have to dismantle one wall and move it. That would work out well as we need more room anyway (we didn't know we were going to be this dedicated when we built it LOL) - and if I can't run, I'm going to have to buy an elliptical. Thinking about this makes me sad, but I am also a realist.

Feeling pretty good because yesterday I cleaned the house. I'm not the best housekeeper and it had gotten pretty bad. Scrubbed the guest bathroom, kitchen, dining room and living room. It's such a sense of accomplishment - had the candles lit and it smelled good and looked good. Now I just have to find a way to keep up so it doesn't take a whole day to clean!!

The Kindle I bought for my mother should arrive today and I'll wrap it tonight and with that I am DONE shopping.

Haven't been tempted at work with treats - no one here is a baker apparently. There has been a lot of candy bars and other Little Debbie snacks but those don't really temp me.

Jen
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Old 12-17-2012, 09:05 AM   #5  
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LOL Bill, I also wonder sometimes why pretty much all celebrations tend to involve eating things. We had our family Hanukkah dinner last night (a little late, but still), which of course had to involve potato pancakes and donuts, for tradition. Gotta love a holiday whose traditional food is "anything fried in oil." Actually MIL didn't really fry the latkes (she uses a griddle instead), and I didn't really like them, so I didn't eat them anyway. Plus the donuts were stale.

Dagmar, I checked in to confirm with my dog sitter for our trip -- we leave Thursday -- and thought of you when she replied mentioning how emails might be sporadic since she is so busy for the holidays. I am imagining her having your dogmageddon over Christmas, between overnights with Carter, her usual daytime walks, and vacation visits for other doggies.

Megan, I think those backpack leashes are kind of hilarious. I mean, it makes sense, but seeing a kid on a leash always makes me laugh.
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Old 12-17-2012, 09:13 AM   #6  
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DD and her boyfriend came yesterday. She's spending Christmas with him in Washington, so we celebrated with her last night. You all will understand this dilemma: she bought me a new scale. I guess she didn't like that mine only does half-pound increments, so the new one does .2 pound increments. So now I have two scales. Side by side. And yes, I weighed myself on both this morning. While I know I overate yesterday and it was a very salty meal (beef stroganoff) I don't know if I like the reading on either scale: 152.5 or 152.8. But the dilemma is this: will I continue to weigh on both? Should I move the old one to a different bathroom? But then will I find myself sneaking in there to weigh as well? And then I question this: the new one requires 4 AAA batteries. Can I trust that? How will I know when the batteries go? Will it start weighing poorly when the batteries are declining or does it just stop one day?

AAAAARRRRGGGHHHH!!

And DD left her cats with me until New Year's Day. So now I have four cats and all that they entail. Her female cat has assumed the role of leader and none of the boys want to be near her. They used to pick on her relentlessly, but now she's the alpha. It's pretty funny to see my Ringo act kind of afraid of her!

We have a few Christmas goodies at the office. Nothing special. There is a huge platter of mixed dried fruits, but it hasn't been opened so it's not a temptation. I suppose we'll open it Friday during the party. Hopefully a lot of it will be eaten otherwise I'll be bringing it home.
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Old 12-17-2012, 10:07 AM   #7  
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I'm in our head office this morning to provide on-site assistance to our latest new hire.

My coworker in Newtown took time on Sunday to send the whole department an email of thanks for our support. She lives three miles from the elementary school. Her son is fine but one of his friends has lost a younger sibling. Also her former coworker at IBM lost a son. She'll be out for much of the week. She said she's been given lots & lots of material about how to discuss this with her own son.

My other coworker who lives in Newtown hasn't been in touch, but I'll inquire about him within his department. When I get a minute ...

The office feels somewhat subdued today but it may be the grayness and rain, and the approach of the shortest day of the year.

I'm watching to see if our office does something ... some sort of ceremony ... I don't know, but I want something from them, some acknowledgment that it's not business as usual. I'm remembering that we did after 9/11. Maybe that's too much to ask with the emphasis on sales keeping up their momentum through the end of the year.

Last edited by saef; 12-17-2012 at 10:09 AM.
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Old 12-17-2012, 10:13 AM   #8  
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I had a leash for my son when he was little. It was a safety issue; the boy was a runner! We used it when we went to crowded places like airports and Disney. (He still managed to get away from us at Disney, probably the most frightening five minutes of my life.)

I had everything bought and wrapped but then my dog decided to start opening gifts while I was at the gym this morning. Her halo is slipping.
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Old 12-17-2012, 10:21 AM   #9  
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Allison-- are your kitties feeling better now?

I'll be curious to see what our students ask/talk about at school today. I'm wearing green and white and it will be interesting to see if the kids do too.

My dd is home (younger one) but she was gone most of the weekend with friends and church.

My work party is this week too. I'm supposed to bring an appetizer or dessert to share. At this point I'm planning on leaving a little early and going to the later bikram yoga class. If I have a plan, I'm less likely to derail-- right?

I was pleasantly surprised by something the bikram yoga teacher said to me yesterday. She asked her long I'd been practicing and I answered a little over a year and a half. She was quite surprised and said she thought I'd been practicing at least 4-5 years because of my focus. She said most students don't show true focus for at least two years.
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Old 12-17-2012, 10:23 AM   #10  
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Quote:
Originally Posted by WardHog View Post

I had everything bought and wrapped but then my dog decided to start opening gifts while I was at the gym this morning. Her halo is slipping.
I put two wrapped gifts under the tree. When we came back, one was unwrapped (two shirts for dh). I've left the other one under the tree and it has remained untouched (shoes). The other wrapped gifts are on top of the dining room table at this point as I don't trust the doggies!
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Old 12-17-2012, 10:58 AM   #11  
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Michele~Louie still has bouts of laryngitis, but I'm starting to think he's doing it on purpose. For instance, he's usually quite vocal at feeding time and it is during this time that his voice is weird. But yesterday he decided he needed to go outside when DD's boyfriend went out to make a phone call. His voice was loud, clear, and insistent. Therefore I think he's just faking the laryngitis! But he's also had a couple bouts of diarrhea. Once last week and once yesterday. Otherwise, he's acting just fine.

Regardless of the fact that this is the third year without a tree (blame it on the cats) I never put my presents under the tree until Christmas eve. I've had far too many presents "eaten" by dogs!
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Old 12-17-2012, 11:38 AM   #12  
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Quote:
Originally Posted by paperclippy View Post
Megan, I think those backpack leashes are kind of hilarious. I mean, it makes sense, but seeing a kid on a leash always makes me laugh.
I think they're funny too! Like Wardhog's son though, for my niece it's a safety issue. She's constantly running around and does not sit still, or listen to her parents when they say "no!". My DS & BIL are worried about ADD. Yesterday they were trying to get Christmas lights up outside in their steep driveway/front yard area while it was light and they had a day off work, so BIL was stringing lights while my DS had the baby in the ergo and was trying to keep my niece from hurting herself. Dear niece just wouldn't stand for staying inside while daddy was outside, and she's been throwing some monster temper tantrums. I guess she's also figured out how to unlatch the backyard fence and get through it. I suggested the leash and DS said they'd been meaning to get one.

Michele, what a nice compliment from your yoga teacher.

Allison, GL w all the cats! I'm laughing at Louie's selective laryngitis.

Jen, I love a nice clean house, too. Don't you feel so productive and virtuous?

I think I skipped the inside tree last year since it was my first Christmas with a dog. I haven't even gotten it out this year, but because of time, not fear of her eating it. I would be a little worried though...
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Old 12-17-2012, 01:18 PM   #13  
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I am currently not at a "maintenance" weight due to trying to drown a bad weigh-in caused by alcohol/dehydration in fried food. Oh well. There is little self-hate and negative introspection to be had here, and I think that is a good sign of improving sanity about food and weight.
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Old 12-17-2012, 01:22 PM   #14  
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Jen, I love a nice clean house, too. Don't you feel so productive and virtuous?
Last night when I sat down to relax I just felt so... accomplished.... like a neat house is equal to a neat mind or something!

With 10 cats and 2 dogs, no presents ever go under the tree until the day we open them LOL

Guess what? I just ran 5 miles with the IT Band Strap and NO PAIN!!!!!!!! I am so excited!

Jen
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Old 12-17-2012, 01:28 PM   #15  
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HOORAY FOR NO PAIN CherryPie99!!!!!!!
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