Thank you Mauvais, Wildfire, Lidian & Ellis. It is one thing to KNOW you are big, it is another thing to really SEE it. I will get moving and really try. I have gained 10 lbs in the last few months. NO MORE!!!!! I have also set a bunch of non-food rewards for meeting my goals.

Ellis is right, we all need to recover.

Got a ton to do at work, so no more posting for me until I get home again.

ellis, um...I um....broke a nail this week! And I have a dentist appointment this afternoon. Just a cleaning, but I'll tell her to be brutal!

Actually, life is pretty calm here now that DD is gone. Wait until I go back to work next week...then I'll be miserable again. Actually, I got called in for tomorrow at noon to attend a teleconference. Of course I'm thinking all kinds of horrible things....it's not really what they told me...they're going to fire me...etc,etc...except they have no reason for such a thing, and really need me there. Guess I'll find out tomorrow.

Glad you had fun in Montreal!

Squeak, I gained 7 pounds in one night last week. True! Now I know it was because I ate pizza loaded with salty meat and olives, but what a shock on the scale! It's been a few days and I'm JUST getting back to where I started. The important thing is that you know when enough is enough and it's time to get serious again. We've all been, or are in the same boat, so you know we feel your pain.

Yeah Try sitting on the toilet in a bathroom stall made of highly polished stainless steel and looking behind you - Yarg! nice view of one's butt! Damn those hoity toity restaurants with their fancy reflective surfaces!

HEY ALL!!!! The air conditioner apparently DOESN'T have any leaks, so I guess we DO have something in the house that eats freon. At least he didn't charge us!!! The fridge was cheaper to fix than I feared. Just that thing has BAD VIBES. We bought it the night before Montgomery Wards declared bankruptcy. It was EXPENSIVE, and was supposed to be my "dream" fridge. It came NOT WORKING. Montgomery Wards said deal with Amana and Amana said deal with the store. EVENTUALLY they "fixed" it, but they SHOULD HAVE replaced it. 3 years later it has a problem again. Talk about standing behind your merchandise!!! TWO loads of food have now gone bad in that thing. (Took us a while to realize it wasn't working at first.....we kept turning the dial cooler.) WILL NEVER BUY THEIR PRODUCTS AGAIN. Next chore.....find a dryer (once the checks start, I think!!!)

Wildfire-DAMN!! A NAIL!?!?!?! (mine won't even GROW!!! I used to actually be able to bend them backwards they were so thin!!! Since having kids they are actually a bit thicker.)

Squeak-YUCK!! I've had the experience of seeing myself in video tapes (which add 100 pounds by the way!!) But to have to see yourself on a big screen in front of co-workers....CRUEL and UNUSUAL PUNISHMENT!!! I think you should report them to labor relations!!!

Ellis-You are absolutely right of course. I just can't believe it is happening BEFORE the money starts!!! But like I said before, at least I know EVENTUALLY I'll be able to pay the bills. If this had all happened a year ago we would have been in BIG trouble. Listen sweetie.....I wanted to let you know that I'm working overtime to produce good vibes for you and the rest of your family (Dad in particular.) Don't worry, my bad vibes only relate to mechanical things!!!!!

Lidian-Hope you have a wonderful vacation!!!!!

Mauvais-YUP!! You need a NEW job. No doubt about it. Why does DH need surgery? Mine has had a few health issues himself. VERY worrying, but luckily now mostly in the past.

Jessica-Did you get that worm thingy? That sounds really strange. Hope everything is calming down for you too!!!


FUN THING TO CHECK OUT:
http://www.stupid.com

It is now my favorite website!!! I found a BUNCH of stuff I want to buy as gifts.....(MEAT scented air fresheners?!?!?!?!)

I think we ALL need to go to a nice spa and get the works - massages, facials, woodsy walks, someone else bringing the healthy meals on a tray, good conversation...wish we could all go together!

I will not put off the hunt for therapist(s) when I get back. DH and I decided we are going to do couples stuff to start with and then I will be evaluating therapists to see on my own - a lot of my stress has to do with how DH and I interact so I am going to feel a lot better with him in the loop right away.

Tomorrow I will be packing with lots of, um HELP from the girls (how many stuffed animals can we fit in the car? how many Nancy Drew books?)- it will be relaxing to get away for a week though and I am looking forward to it.

Will try and post tomorrow but if I don't, take care and I'll be back in 10 days --

Lidian

Den, my nails have gotten much stronger, due to a couple of things: I take a calcium supplement every day, and I treat them with a nail conditioner called Avoplex. The Avoplex is basically avocado oil, and it's outrageously expensive...$16.99 for a teensy tiny bottle that only has 15ml in it! But it lasts a long time. No, I'm not insane enough to buy it...my sister the hairdresser buys it for me at cost! I get it in my Christmas package every year. Plain old almond oil that is about $3.00 for 250ml works wonders, too.

That just sucks about your fridge. You know, we agonize over those big bucks items, finally decide on one and expect a warranty to protect us.....you don't count on the store going bankrupt!

Lidian, have a fabulous vacation!

mauvais, not to mention that those surfaces tend to warp and enlarge what is reflected in them!

An Alternaspa sounds like a wonderful idea! No white terrycloth for us, though... Leopard print all the way, baby!!!

Hi all!

This morning, I had NO HOT WATER. The Cute Boyfriend comes sailing into the room as bright as sunshine! "The shower's free! But there is no hot water. None at all, hot water heater must be out!" I had to laugh because this is the man that is prone to falling asleep in the shower. Obviously the cold water did him some good. I jumped in and it was freezing! Needless to say, I didn't even wash my hair.

So I had my last sailing class and I'm very happy that it's over. Not that I hated it but I much rather sail when I want, not when the class meets. Especially since the class meets when there is no wind!!!

I'm a bit upset because when I was back in Cincinnati, I mailed 7 huge boxes of books from my storage place to my house out here. Only 4 boxes have arrived. There are 3 boxes in limbo. Of course, the Post Office told us not to insure them because they would require receipts for the books and we didn't think to certify them. Arg. I'm sure you can all relate how losing 70+ books can make one sad. And no, I couldn't even tell you what books were in there. But they were all like little landmarks of my life. Bah!

My computer system is up and running for the time being. They say it may crash in 3 years or 3 days. Gee thanks.

Mauv - Man, I'm just imagining my butt in a reflective toilet stall and it makes me laugh. Why would you make a reflective toilet stall? That's a darn stupid idea.

Den - Woo hoo! I love it when stuff doesn't cost as much as you think it should. Our fridge has a huge crack on the inside of the freezer but the landlord won't replace it. Oh well!

Lidian, have a wonderful holiday! (I'm guessing that England with the in-laws DOESN'T classify as a "holiday"? )
You're fortunate that your DH is willing to see a therapist. So many men won't do it. They don't want to be seen as being "a failure".
Safe trip! We'll miss you!

Jessica, condolences on the books. That would DEVASATATE me!


Wildfire, did your conference go alright? What a nightmare for you... I HATE that sort of suspense!

Den, we're just going to have to rob an appliance store. That's all there is to it. The truck rental will be relatively cheap. We'll get a big one, and load up with two of each. I'm pretty sure that warrantees are useless on stolen merchandise.
Hey, that web site is HILARIOUS!! I want one of those egg separators.

Hi Squeak, Mauvais, and everyone!!

I hope you chicks have power! It is spotty around here. Half my section of the city is out, but I'm ok. But here is something silly - they are giving people advice on what to do without power ON TV!!!

How are you Ellis? How is your dad?

Have a wonderful trip Lidian!

Jessica - I am sorry about your books. I would be lost without some of mine.

Wildfire - I will have to try some of the nail stuff. Mine rip so easily.

Den - Good to hear things aren't quite as bad as they could have been. I have one of the candy's on that website. I have edible bubbles. Pez makes them. I collect Pez dispensers and panda stuff (it is a panda dispenser).

Mauvais - that would be very scary. Though I have never seen my butt quite, like that before.

I love all of the stories about seeing yourself in windows, mirrors, stainless steel bathrooms, etc. They made me laugh and feel a tad better about the pictures. I still hate the fact they were shown, but nice to know others feel the same way.

Ok, one more thing about the power outage - WHO CARES why or where it started. It is good to know to see if it could be prevented, but I hate all the finger pointing that is going on.

I agree Sqeaker! No offence to our American friends but your government seems be holding a grudge against us since the war with Iraq started and our government seems to have a beef with your government since the incident of Mr. Bush forgetting to thank us for our support following September 11th during his big speech thanking everone on the planet but us.

I wish both governments would get over themselves already and move on! Sheesh! With all the things going on in the world right now that are more important you would think that the politicians of two of the more well off countries in the world would be able to work together especially since we are next door neighbours and have never had problems like this before

At least we, the people, can get along love all you chicks!

We got our power back around 8:30 last night, but the Internet was toast. Glad it's back this morning!

Personally I don't think it matters who or where the outage started. We share the same grid! Yes, they need to find out to prevent it from happening again, but all this laying blame is ridiculous.

ellis, I was thinking of you and your dad and hoping the hospital was looking after him properly with the power outage. All the conference did was waste my time...there was NO need for me to have to be there, other than to drop me in the middle of that traffic nightmare after the power went out. Took me over 2 hours to get back home!

Oh...wait a sec....this whole thing was masterminded by ellis and Den... Den, you wouldn't happen to have any brand new major appliances sitting in your kitchen, would you?

Squeak, glad you have your power back!

Yup - Den and Ellis did it. They are the reason I did not get home until 4AM. Driving through a pitch black Ottawa on the bus was so strange! I picked up my car near the airport and found I had very little gas and the stations were closed! Managed to convince a Sunoco guy who had been given an hour of power to update his stuff that it would not do for me to be stranded on the way home. He sold me enough gas to get home. Apparently gas was being doled out only to cops and cabbies and there were only two places in the whole city.

I don't know if Ottawa has power back yet but ours is on - for now. Rolling blackouts are going to be the norm for a bit. I hope Mauvais and Ellis can get back online soon. Thanks God the hospitals have emergency generators! I was thinking of Ellis's Dad in the ICU after his operation!

I flew over the forest fires in British Columbia. What a scary sight! i won't whine about losing power after seeing what those folks need to contend with!

I'm off to take a bath and stockpile some water in case we are rolled off again. I sure am glad to be home!

I get got my power back on at 2:00 pm and man is it hot. I did not go to work cause I didn't think that would be conserving engery and I got a phone call just after my power came back on and it was my boss. She absolutlly needed something done (that only takes 15 minutes) and wondered why I did not come in today. Never mind that it took me 2 1/2 hours to get home and my daughter was up all night cause she was afraid. But F@#$ I work in a immigration law office and if thats what is considered an essential worker I need a new job! I came in to the office just alittle while ago and more than half of us were not here including the lawyer (apparently he's not essential to a law office!) and now since I have arrived everyone including my boss has left! there is no A/C which I would have been pissed at them if there was because we are suppose to be conserving. Anyway I think this is just stupid. One good thing though I didn't use last night as an excuse to cheat on my diet. I stuck to warm soda water all night and had fish for breakfast (had to either cook it or throw it out) so I have been good all day. But I would love a cold beer at this moment and feel confident that I will be giving in that urge shortly.

Hi All!!! We got our power back about an hour ago and finally worked up the courage to try out the computer. I'm keeping this short because they say if we turn too many things on we may lose power again.

Ellis got power last night, but her computer crashed and died. She asked me to come on and let you all know that her Dad is doing fine. (THANK GOODNESS!) and I know she was VERY grateful for all the prayers and good wishes That all of you were sending his way. She will be back once she gets another computer (BUMMER!!) and I'll be back with the dirt on the blackout here once I'm confident the power is on permanently. (We still have to boil water here, but my parents don't even HAVE any!!!)