Living Maintenance - Maintainers Chat: Week Of November 2 - 8

How did Halloween go for everyone? From the looks of the "No Candy" thread (brilliant idea, Megan!), we had a lot of success doing better than in previous years. :carrot: Does anyone have pictures to share?

So it's onward to Thanksgiving! Which may be my favorite holiday of the year because 1) no gifts are involved and 2) my whole family will be getting together -- about 22 of us, I think. Even though there's pie and lots of starches, it's still a meal built around lean protein so we have an advantage right there!

DH and I hosted a dinner party on Halloween, which went beautifully. The only glitch was me getting sick the day before and feeling really awful the whole time our guests were here. I tried to suck it up and be the gracious hostess, but the whole time I just wanted to put my head down on my dinner plate and go to sleep. :lol: But it was fun and we have lots of very low calorie bouillabaisse leftovers. :T

My body didn't get the memo about the time change, so I was up at what felt like the usual time, ready for the gym. Too bad I'm off by an hour. Ugh, it will be a long day but hopefully my body clock will reset by tonight. I still can't breathe but at least my sore throat is gone. I figure that even if I can't do a lot of cardio, I can lift. Which is lots more fun anyway!

I started a thread about holiday planning and challenges and hope you all join in. I'm a good maintainer until I get to the last two months of the year, and then I have a tendency to fall apart. So my goal is to keep on track all through the holidays this year and not have to resolve to lose weight on January 1.

Halloween night was spent sitting among many young people of Filipino heritage. Interesting evening. DH's band played really well and got a very positive audience response.

We did each eat a bag of Lindor truffles when we got home (chocolate at 1 a.m. - never again!!!) which was my plan to counter not having any other candy. I didn't even want mine and turns out DH couldn't taste his - he has the same bug you have Meg.

The two of us (DH and I) really are compulsive overeaters.

Back OP yesterday and ready for the new month today with a new dog starting today!

Daylight savings really hits me beacuse my body doesn't adjust well to any time change at all. I went to bed Sunday around 2 a.m. and woke up at my regular time (4:30 a.m. old time). I did have a long nap in the afternoon.

This morning started at 3:45. It's gonna be a looong day. I tend to overeat when I'm tired to try to give my body extra energy and I do the same when I feel cold. Winter /daylight savings combo kills me.

I have come up with a strategy to eat more protein ccalories in heated form during the day/afternoon to counter the evening binges. Probably microwave meatballs and cup of soup at home. Hoping to take along a thermos of soup for work too, although that's really hard to eat in the car. Maybe I'll heat up the thermos and throw the meatballs into it - hot finger food in the car!

I'm really going to concentrate on finding alternative behaviour patterns this month and sticking to them. I think I'm going to post myself reminder notes on the fridge.

Off to weightlift and then to load up for Monday's first walk.

Have a great week all!

Dagmar :cool:

Good morning! I am also off to lift this morning. I am on the second week of NRLW and I am still excited about it.

I also really fall apart the last two months of the year. I have good momentum going now, but my ILs are arriving for a week long visit on Saturday. That alone sends me into a tailspin, but then the next week is my birthday, then Thanksgiving, then the Christmas party madness begins. :sigh: One day at a time, right?

I have some photos of myself as a vampire on my hard drive. I know how to attach them to facebook and hotmail but I can't seem to get them on here.

Dagmar :dizzy:

Maybe I'll get mine downloaded from the camera today. ;)

Meg- Glad the bouillabaise turned out, and hope you are on the mend.

Dagmar- have you tried clicking the "go advanced" button and then the attachment button? If I want to insert pics directly into a message, I usually use facebook--I go to the photo, then right click "view image", then copy the url and paste it into the dialog box that opens when I click the image icon.

Mud- I also have the tri-fecta of Thanksgiving/Birthday/Xmas, though this year my birthday is actually on thanksgiving so I suppose that kills two birds with one stone :)

I have some damage control to do this week from the weekend. Back into the old routine :) The only issue will be getting rid of my Halloween candy. Up till now I had been able to have candy around and work it into my day responsibly, but for some reason I can't stop sneaking into the Halloween candy.

Speaking of pictures I posted our Halloween pics...I am the chubby faced pirate...;)

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/general-chatter/185497-brought-home-trophy-wench.html

Morning all,

Alright, I'm trying to attach a picture to this post. Let me know if you don't see anything! BF and I dressed as Magnum PI and Jelly Beans as planned for my friends' party. I was so sad I left the "thatch" of chest hair I made for him at home, but his costume was still very funny. You can't see it but his shorts are quite short as well. I was very impressed with all of my friends' costumes, b/c most of us made them and they were really good! The party was a whole lot of fun. The weather turns back to cool here and I went on a really nice bike ride yesterday and did a little bit of gardening. I cleaned up the house because it's my turn to host my book club tonight. For the "theme" of this month's book I'm serving Italian food, and I'm looking forward to my little dinner party.

Meg, I'm glad your dinner party went well but I hope you feel better soon. Get lots of sleep and let all the healthy nutrients you eat do their work!

Forestroad, step away from the candy! Perhaps if you freeze it - the chocolate stuff at least - that will help you eat it more slowly. Frozen candy bars are yummy.

Ward, yes, we'll all take it one day at a time, and be here to support each other!

Dagmar, I've got a stainless steel thermos that keeps food pretty warm. It was a gift, but I believe purchased at WalMart - they're not expensive and widely available - and I love it in the winter! I'll keep soup or chili warm to eat for lunch out on the boat on a cold day, or to bring for my dinner at rehearsals when I'm involved in a play and can't get home for dinner.

I hope everyone has a great week!

The Magnum costume is hilarious!

My bf and I went as Sweet Dee and Mac from The Nightman Cometh episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia...anyone watch that show? Here's a pic: http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs099.snc3/16645_537852157845_4400182_31867184_1748257_n.jpg

What a fun thread already with pictures and all!!

I have so far stayed Halloween candy free. :carrot:
I keep thinking back to last year when I ate ZERO Halloween candy to try to stay strong. We have a ton of candy here. I'm going to donate it to the Blue Star Moms on Saturday. DD is working her way through it and I'll donate whatever is left on Saturday. Maybe if I tell myself I'm taking it away from the soldiers I won't be too tempted!!

I am just exhausted. Dh is traveling for a couple of weeks, I worked all day yesterday and the time change has hit me. I just want to sleep. I had to wake up extra early to register for classes for Spring semester. Got what I needed though. Then not quite enough time to go back to sleep.... sigh.....

Halloween party Friday night with dh. Tons of fun. I had one drink only and ate nothing. I just worked on dancing and staying away from the buffett! I was a ladybug and dh was an entomologist. I was a cowgirl at school Friday and that was fun too....

DD straightened my hair today. My hair is super long and curly and I've never straightened it. It will be interesting to see how the kids (and adults) at school react.

Love all the Halloween pics and stories!! I love Halloween. We had probably 100 trick-or-treaters. I was by myself answering the door. The only down side was that my dogs wouldn't stop barking. I had them locked up but they still sound very scary (and obnoxious)

Can I pretty please go back to sleep now?:stress::blah::yawn::coffee:

Great costumes everyone!!

Meg, I hope you feel better soon!

Dagmar, an insulated thermos you can bring hot soup in for lunch sounds like a great idea to me.

Speaking of birthday trifectas, I need to figure out what we're doing for DH's birthday (December 13). He's turning 30 so I want to do something special with his family but I'm not sure what yet. I've already picked out his birthday present but I haven't bought it yet. I'm going to get him the Can O' Worms worm compost bin! I know, it's kind of a weird present, but hopefully he will be happy with it. Just the other day he was pointing out some worm castings in our yard and saying how great worm castings were, and he's been saying he needs a good compost bin for a year.

In any case, my holiday birthday season would be more crazy if I lived near my parents and sister, because my sister's bday is December 3, my mom's is December 10, and DH's is December 13!

Our Halloween party went really well. There was a lot of junk food, but I anticipated that and planned for it. I'm only up 1lb today from my official weigh-in Saturday morning, which is my standard weekend weight fluctuation so I'm not worried. My only challenge this week is dinner out tonight for work. I will be browsing the menu today to see what looks healthiest.

Here are my trick or treaters -

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47b9cf23b3127ccef8d0799523ba00000030O08AYtGTNo3YtA e3nw8/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/

I had a GREAT Halloween! Hubby and I went out and we bought my Jaguar!!! It is such a luxury car! Lots more bells and whistles than my Infiniti but missing a few conveniences here and there--small things that I'll just have to get used to. Weird how the car is a bit longer and wider yet less leg room inside...but I won't complain!!!

Dagmar~I saw your photos on FB this morning. Nice makeup job!

We actually had trick or treaters this year! 8 in fact. Well, really only 7 because #7's twin brother was home sick, so we sent extra home with his brother, so I'm still counting it as 8. DS is happy as he has 18 full size Reese's PB cups to consume over the next few weeks.

Everyone's photos are great! We didn't do anything but watch TV and hand out the candy. DS was still getting over a bad cold (so bad that he stayed home from school Friday.). Thankfully he had no fever. But we have an employee who went home early Thursday, doctor Friday, and still out today. I hope he didn't get anyone else sick before he left. It sounds like he got the flu.

Forest - I love "it's always sunny..." !!! Cool costumes!

I'm just breezing through because I'm off to get my hair cut this morning. I'll stop back in afterwards (maybe with some pics).

Good morning! My weekend wasn't terrible, could have been better, could have been worse. I only had a small amount of Halloween candy - DH brought home a small bag of Lindor Truffles on Saturday. Went for a long run at the park yesterday and my calves are killing me today! Did some yoga last night and this morning hoping to loosen them up, but the sitting in my chair isn't helping with that. I'm thinking about standing up and sitting my laptop on a file cabinet shelf for a while...

And time change always kills me, too. For example, right now my body thinks it is almost lunch time but I have another hour to go... Urgh.

Meg - hope you feel better!

Dagmar - have you looked at Bento Boxes? They have several different containers for different kinds of foods I believe.

Ward - good luck with the in-laws visit... Great costume pics!

Iris - :wave:!

Forest - I find myself more often to sneak into candy or sweets now than I used to. I'm wondering if it is because I eat so much less of them now? I used to be able to keep candy in the drawer for weeks at a time and not feel the need to get into it, now it sits and burns in the back of my head until I grab some. Great costumes!

Gary - congrats on the costume prize! You guys looked great!

Megan - Magnum & Jelly Beans turned out cute, even without the chest hair! :) Sounds like you guys had a good weekend! How did you meet your book club? Friends you knew or a public group?

Michele - glad you got the classes you needed! How did the straight hair go at school today?

Jessica - good job at the party this weekend!

Allison - congrats on the new car!



Oddly, my weight is back down today even though I had stromboli & cannoli on Friday and then ice cream on Saturday. Weird. Usually pops up a little from the sugar a day after the food item. Might have finally gotten rid of the sucralose related bloating... No headaches or stomach issues in the week plus post splenda. Woo hoo!

Good day everyone!

Ok, so no Halloween costume for me - I didn't do anything special this year. Instead I'm going to show off pics of my new haircut! =)

Very pretty, Iris!

Love your new do Iris!
So far the comments have been fun about my hair (it's only 11:15 here). Many people said they didn't recognize me!!

A question about cooking beets. I got a shipment of fruits and veggies from a local farmer for the first time. I have a bunch of beets-- like out of the ground beets. What do I do with them? How do I clean/cut them? I was thinking beet chips but I don't know how to remove the outside of them? I cut one up last night and put it in my veggie soup but I didn't really remove the outside..... Thanks!!

Cute haircut!

Michele~cut up the beets in small squares, drizzle with olive oil and bake them like you do for roasted squash or beans. All the recipes I've looked at suggest this. I do believe you have to peel off the outer layer first.

Hello, maintainers--

Love seeing all the Halloween photos. Megan, wish yours was a little bigger for my older eyes. I always loved Magnum.

EZ Money, aarrgghh, matey!

Forestroad, never watched the show, but you look really cute.

Michele, hope you can post photos of the ladybug and entomologist. Having worked with entomologists, I'd love to see what he came up with for a costume.

Jessica, that's a great present (coming from someone who got a compost bin for Christmas last year)! My son's birthday is Dec. 13, too, only he's in the almost 40 range. Hopefully turning 30 isn't too traumatic for your DH.

Wardhog, your kids are so cute!

Shannon, ouch on the calves. Hope stretching them helps.

Hello to everyone I missed!

Thank you all who posted about your "suspicious" mammograms. That made me feel so much better because the only person I know who had to go back after a mammogram ended up having breast cancer.

A friend of mine at church handed me a sack the other day with a sweater in it that was a bit big for her. She thought I might like it. Now this person is really thin and petite so I just looked at her like she was nuts. How could a sweater that was "a bit big" even begin to fit me? But I dutifully put it on, noting that it was a size small (from Chico's), which I've never worn. Well, surprise, surprise--it did fit (Chico's sizes must run large). My friend has only known me the size I am now so she didn't understand when I told her that I couldn't believe she would think of me as being able to wear that sweater. She was stunned when I said I had lost 100 lbs. so I still think of myself as bigger rather than smaller. But I'm betting you guys know exactly what I mean.

Hope everyone is having a good Monday! Got my hour on the elliptical in this morning--yay!

Sheila~I've never quite understood Chico's sizing. I wear a 10ish in non-vanity size (like sports clothing) a 6 or 8 in vanity size and a .5 at Chico's. Point five? What? In the tops there I can wear a 0 or 1, although some (but not all) of the zeros are a bit tight.

Great cut Iris!

Amazing when I get here at 1:30 pm how many posts there are already. Love everyone's costumes. I took one of DH as a piano mover, now I just need to get it off the camera. :) I just wore a black sweatshirt with a ghost and the words "This IS my costume" along with black jeans, and ghost earrings and socks.

Iris - nice hairdo; Michele - you have to show us your straight hair. :)

Sheila - great score on the sweater. I tried on my only-worn-one-season-before-I-regained down jacket this morning, and I can now fit, but it's just a little too tight, esp around the chest - oops! Won't be long though. It's a shorter (waist lenght) jacket so I won't be wearing it all the time anyway, but still it's a really nice Eddie Bauer jacket.

Being a new month, I'm all inspired to create a plan that will take my through the holidays without a weight gain, and hopefully with a weight loss. I've started by planning my exercise this week to accommodate the fact that I know I'm not going to be able to make it to the gym two nights, so rescheduling my rest days and doubling up on at least one day (that is, doing both WL and cardio). Food is, as always, the big issue. I posted in Meg's holiday challenges thread my challenge is holiday parties. I'm working on my strategy for these, including using positive talk and visualization to avoid overeating, plus planning my calories for the week/day of the actual event. I have a "preview" event on Nov 20, a Thanksgiving potluck at our square dance club, so I can sort of test my plan and tweak before the Christmas parties begin - the first one is Dec 4!

I have a reporter coming in an hour of so who wants to do a Q&A about libraries. I need to check that he's the same one who did an article about the library in the next town. We are part of a loose network, but actually operated by our respective cities. Maybe I'll be famous :rofl:

Allison Your Halloween was definitely a treat! Congrats on the new car!

Hubby is down with the flu (not deathly ill as he's calling it the "H I am one too swine flu") so I can't post to all the rest tonite.

Great pics everyone!

Dagmar

Sheila-- I'm not going to post ladybug pics-- not that it was terribly risque, but not something I'm comfortable with on the internet-- KWIM? Dh's entomologist's costume consisted of a safari type of vest, a hat, and a bug catcher net that he cut out ladybug pics and put inside. Not too original. I bought my costume so I had wings, antenna, striped arms and legs, etc!!

Allison-- forgot to congratulate on your new car. That is so exciting that you got it! Hope you love it!!

135 on the nose at the gym today; 2 official days of maintenance under my belt. Now only about 20,000 left to go, lol.

Congratulations, forestroad! :)

So our local supermarket has the discount Halloween candy beside the Christmas stuff. Good thing we already had Thanksgiving - don't know where they'd put that stuff - LOL!

Dagmar :cool:

Forest - congratulations on day 2!

Dagmar - most of the stores I've been in here have small leftover Halloween sections, sometimes just in a few carts at the front door, a little larger Thanksgiving sections and then bigger Christmas sections. I guess as the Halloween goes away they will spread the Thanksgiving, then fill out with Christmas as it sells.

I used to work in retail and I never remember a lot of Thanksgiving packaged candy items. We might have had a few, but usually only enough for an endcap. It still seems weird to me to see bags and bags of assorted Thanksgiving wrapped candy. What is it for? I know Halloween trick-or-treating and Christmas stockings, but what do you use mini candy bars for at Thanksgiving?

Shannon, seems like they'll use any excuse to market more candy. I swear, sooner or later we are going to start having some kind of "Labor day candy" or something - maybe with pictures of picnic items or something!

I'm headed off to wintry Minneapolis for a conference - unfortunately it seems that it's going to be a bit high-stress. My boss who is presenting research that I worked on last year has been e-mailing me several times a day (she's already there) asking for more info. because she is still in the process of putting our presentation together. *sigh* Please, wish me luck!

I'll be back Friday - have a great week ladies!

Good luck Iris! Hope it goes well!

Sheila - :high: on the sweater! :)

Pat - you will be in that jacket in no time!

We had tacos for dinner last night, and I grabbed chips and salsa to go with, budgeted enough calories for them and everything. Well, I've been getting unsalted chips from Trader Joe's lately and didn't have time this time. The ones I got for last night were Santitas. Used to be one of my favorites, but last night all I could think about was how salty they tasted. Ick! Have to find an unsalted chip somewhere closer than TJ - it is a 30 minute drive for me! I already expected bloating some from the salt in the taco seasoning, but the chips really pushed it into overdrive. I swear I've had to get up a dozen times to go to the bathroom this morning already! Which isn't a lot of fun on the still sore calves... :eek:

Good day everyone!

The flu has hit here. Friday, we sent all our guys to one job to install a HUGE piece of glass and several other large pieces. Around noon, one guy left for home with flu symptoms. Yesterday, another left early with flu symptoms. It may only be time before the rest of them come down with it. The guy who left Friday is still out today and I don't expect the guy who left yesterday to be back soon at all. Yikes.

I had to take my car back to the dealership today. It's all good :-) They're installing a LoJack and putting on something called CilaJet that protects the interior carpet and leather AND the paint and windows on the outside. Weird, but it's got a lot of good points and is endorsed by car buff Jay Leno.

So I finally managed to get my family all here for Thanksgiving and then my aunt emails me this morning inviting all of us there. I told her that I didn't think it would work out. Some of the family isn't arriving until Thursday and I can't imagine them spending all day in the car only to get back in the car for another 2 hour drive. I think we'll keep it at my house. I did invite my in-laws to invite any of their friends who might be in town without plans to come as well, so the 14 may morph into 20, but it's still doable.

I don't like the time change. I had to drive home in the dark and that makes me rush getting dinner done. And when I'm rushing I don't like making salad (is that weird?). So I had planned on making breakfast for dinner last night and decided that would be too much work so we had ravioli instead. It would have been better with salad (we did beans) as I can load up on salad and not have too much pasta, but it didn't work out that way and my scale was not happy this morning.

Pat~good luck on your plan!! I should do the same.

Shannon~sorry about the salt run-in. chips and salsa can be a downfall for me, so I understand.

Iris~dress warmly! Us desert rats can't handle that cold stuff!!

Okay, off to work. Have a great day everyone!

Ahh, here I am as a "celebrity" in our little small-town newspaper. :) Library article (http://frontiersman.com/articles/2009/11/03/valley_life/doc4aefc89216d84323283228.txt)

It's COLD here. It was 5F when I got up both yesterday and today :brr: There is no snow yet, and actually none in the forecast. Driving is especially hard in the dark when there's no snow to provide reflection.

Allison - congrats on the new car. It sounds lovely! A great Halloween treat.

Shannon - boo! on the salted chips. Same thing happened to me last week. I bought a bag of pita chips I used to eat and they're so salty I can't eat them. Have to go back to making my own.

Iris - hope your conference goes well, and that your boss gets her presenation done.

Michele - saw your straight hair on FB - looks great. It's nice to have an option, eh?

I have to present my 2010 budget to the city council tonight. Though the article talks about the library, I'm actually the Director of COmmunity Services, of which the library is the major division. But I also manage the ice arena and the community center, plus oversee the management contracts for the golf course, the museum and the visitor center, so I have a lot of budgets to present. The theory is that each director gets 5 minutes to talk and 5 minutes for council questions. We've already had 4 departments present (on previous weeks) and it's gone well. I'm hoping mine does too. This is actually the last night of individual presentations, with me, the airport manager and the clty clerk presenting. We start at 6 and I'm hoping we're done by 7 or 7:30 so I can go to the gym.....

Pat - great article!

Allison - Hope you stay flu free!

Pat is our celebrity!!!!!

Does anyone miss Lily? I wish there were some way to contact her to see how she is feeling.

I was just wondering about her.... I hope she is okay.

Love the article Pat!! Of course I would....

yes, I worry about Lily too. Maybe she is able to lurk at least and know we are thinking about her.

:wave:

Quick drive by - work is insane.

Hope everyone is having a good Tuesday!

Quick fly-by for me too - lots of busy-ness going on here. Genius that I am I found a grant to apply for today that is due in 9 days, and once the forms are filled out they have to go up the chain before I can send them out. Anyway I just filled out the application and sent it off, lots more to do tomorrow...etc etc :dizzy: Book club meeting last night was so much fun, as usual! We had a deep, intellectual discussion about Janet Evanovich's "One for the Money". Our discussion question was: "Who would you choose, Morelli or Ranger?" :rofl:

Pat, what a nice article!

I love all the Halloween costumes, and the haircuts! Everyone looks great!

I miss Lily too...

I do need to run because I'm determined to get in a good workout before choral rehearsal. :tread::lifter::exercise: Have a good day all!

Megan, my daughter wrote a paper for an AP class on Janet Evanovitch and addressed that very question! She phrased it as "Who would you want to be stuck on a desert island with? Morelli or Ranger?" Her teacher pointed out that with Ranger one would not get stuck on a desert island. :)

Pat, nice article. Now I want to go to AK.

Allison, congrats on the car!

:wave: Hi guys!!!

Megan, my daughter wrote a paper for an AP class on Janet Evanovitch and addressed that very question! She phrased it as "Who would you want to be stuck on a desert island with? Morelli or Ranger?" Her teacher pointed out that with Ranger one would not get stuck on a desert island. :)

Pat, nice article. Now I want to go to AK.

Allison, congrats on the car!

:wave: Hi guys!!!

Come on up! We have a good state university system.... More to be seen in my Alaska cruise photos

Alaska Cruise (http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2017059&id=1394148612&l=b282e50592)

Pat~looking at your Alaska cruise photos made laugh. I think we took photos of the exact same things!!! You had a much nicer day in Glacier Bay--it was not sunny at all the day we were there and we could barely stay outside on deck. In fact, I think it was so early that the kids slept through the whole thing.

Here are the links to our cruise photos:

Part 1 (http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=64681&id=589641577)
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
(http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=64686&id=589641577)

Hahaha--Pat~ Look at this!!

Totem (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1563969&id=589641577)
Your totem (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30284571&id=1394148612)

Wonder where the people wandered off to before I took the photo! We could have been there at the same time. :)

We had some rough seas between Seattle and Glacier Bay, and didn't arrive until lunchtime, but then as you see, the weather was lovely. I'd never been there before so it was a treat for me. I'd been to all the towns, though it'd been 20 years since I was in Ketchikan. It was a great cruise, and I've recommended it to several people.

Pat & Allison - great cruise photos! I really want to go on an Alaskan cruise...

Pat - a friend and I were interviewing for jobs after we finished undergrad, we were looking at College Student Personnel jobs. I came dangerously close to an interview in Fairbanks until they told me that they had a few first students and faculty every year who got mauled by moose... That sent me in a more Southern-ly direction...

Ah, moose aren't bad. We have them in our yard regularly. :) Except in hunting season, of course. They have little calendars and take their vacations then when everyone wants them in their freezers. :lol: I think you'd find Fairbanks pretty danged chilly! It's too cold for me...

Pat Good interview! And the library sound great! My dream job (when are you retiring ;) again?)

What is the population of Palmer? I know you said a lot of library users don't actually live in town but I'm curious.

I'll have to look at the cruise photos (yours tooAllison) because I'm still determined to take a cruise there.

Have a great hump day all!

Dagmar :D

I didn't have time to check in yetserday since we were doing interviews all day at work. I'm caught up on reading, but now I forgot what everyone said!

Allison, congrats on the car!

Pat, great article!

Pat, that was a great article--and such a cute photo! You definitely don't look like the stereotype librarian. Did you ever see the librarian bobblehead? When I lived in Seattle a few years ago, the paper had an article on it--don't remember what it was for.

Allison, did you post a photo of your new car? Would love to see it!

I should be in the shower because I've got a meeting soon and need to go shopping, but instead I'm reading here. Much more fun. So before I head to the shower, hello to everyone I missed!

Tomorrow is the digital mammogram and ultrasound, and I was okay until I started thinking about it this morning. Don't know what that's all about, but it's definitely not something I will eat over.

Sunshine certainly helps the mood--and yesterday was a perfect fall day and today is even warmer. Have a good one, everyone!

Sheila~I really need to take better pictures of my car. DH took a couple with his cell phone in our garage--they're pretty grainy. Here they are, but I'll post better ones later (perhaps with me in the pic as well). car 1
(http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=555150&id=1642326313)
car 2
(http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=555130&id=1642326313)

:wave:

Still busy! Have to cram in cardio in between a series of endless meetings (including one job interview that I haven't prepared for because I've been...in meetings! Need to read that resume QUICKLY in the 15 min I have...so why am I on 3FC???)

Happy hump day!

:wave: It's much warmer here this morning - about 30 which will be great as long as the wind doesn't pick up (which it does a lot here).

Dagmar - retiring in May! And our city has between 5,500 and 6,000 residents depending on whose figures you use! There are about 25,000 residents in the immediate area and that's the figure we use for the population our libary serves.

Sheila - do yu mean the Nancy Pearl action figure? Nancy Pearl (http://www.mcphee.com/laf/)I do have one. :) I've actually seen the real Nancy in person at a couple of conferences, and she'll be at the one I'm going to in Portland in March. A very nice person.

Allison - the facebook link doesn't open for the car photos. :(

Should be a quiet day today, maybe I can get stuff cleaned up here. I have some information to gather for the City Council that came up during the budget meeting last night, but it's more historical information and not likely to decrease my budget. Of course, we won't know what cuts they're making until the meeting on 11/24. We've all pretty much submitted "hold the line" budgets with increases only the area of salaries/benefits/insurance/utilities, the latter two we have no control over other than being conservative in use.

Random question for you folks . . . My MIL scheduled our annual Hannukah party for DH's birthday (a Sunday). I had been planning to have a birthday party for him, but hadn't scheduled anything yet. I was planning to have it with his family in any case, so it's already the right group of people together. The problem is that I wanted to host this party and cook, but now instead we will be going to his parents' house and eating whatever his mom makes. I imagine she will plan to have a birthday cake for him at least.

The question is: do I schedule an additional party for the night before, which I am in control of? Or do I offer to cook all DH's favorite foods for the Hannukah party? Or do I just offer to bring a birthday dessert for him? Or do I give her a list of his favorite foods and ask that she makes things on the list? I don't think she has a menu picked out yet or would have any objection to making his favorite foods -- after all, he is her son, and she knew she was scheduling the party for his birthday. I'm just not sure how to approach this, or if I should just schedule another event for the day before.

Oh, I also just realized I forgot to let you guys know how Carter did at the Halloween party! He was extremely well behaved. I kept him in a down stay on the leash until people were well into the house and he was calmed down, then let him sniff them (rather than letting him sniff them in the doorway). He didn't snap or bark at anyone, and in fact he was begging to be petted pretty much instantly. He also was great with the two little kids. No barking, no snapping, no pawing. Even when they started running around screaming he didn't chase them or anything. The only thing he did was follow them when they had cookies in their hands, and once I had to yell at him because he was trying to steal a cookie right out of one girl's hand!

Overall it was a great success and I was really happy with Carter's behavior.

Jessica,
Personally, I would keep dh's birthday separate from the Hanukkah celebration. I'm sure he would like to have his birthday celebrated, especially if you were already planning something. Does your dh mind that she scheduled the Hanukkah party on his birthday? Hanukkah is 8 days!
I would ask her if there is anything she wants you to bring, but would otherwise not try to combine them. That is just me personally, though. Either way would probably be okay as long as no one gets bent out of shape....

BTW-- when does Hanukkah start this year? I need to shop! Hopefully my dd will be home from college for at least part of it....

Michele

Hi all,

Still sorta busy at work but it's calmer... next week will be a calm week in the office, plus I'm off for Veterans Day, so I'm looking forward to that. I was supposed to go back to the city tonight to see a concert, and there's a big local festival Saturday, have theatre tickets for Sunday. I decided to skip the concert tonight, and BF and I decided we'll just wait and see if we feel like going to the festival Saturday. I was trying to do too much and it was getting to be more stressful than fun. I want to spend more time relaxing and leave more time for exercise and healthy cooking (that is relaxing for me, lol).

Jessica, I'd ask your DH what he would prefer, but I think it always stinks to have to "share" your bday with a holiday. Did you intend to invite people besides the family to the birthday party who wouldn't be at the Hanukkah party? That would be a good reason to give MIL for having a separate event. I'd say schedule a separate birthday party, but don't make a big deal of having to change your plans to your MIL.

midwife, lol, Ranger would definitely not get stuck on a desert island. Or if he did, it would be intentional.

Sheila, I'm thinking good thoughts that all is going well today. :goodvibes:

I'm sad to say my office blocks facebook so I can't see anyone's pictures right now. I'll bet they're nice.

Back to work...

:wave:

ANOTHER quick drive-by, another crazy work day... hope all are doing well, sorry I can't write more!

I tried asking DH what he wants, but he said (which I expected) "You don't have to plan anything, I'll probably be too depressed about turning 30 to want to celebrate anyway." :lol: I was just going to invite his immediate family (parents, grandma, bro & sis) for his birthday, and they will all be at the Hanukkah party. The Hanukkah party will also have his aunts, uncles, and cousins. Not sure if they'll want to have a family gathering two days in a row -- at least, his brother and sister might not be interested in doing that.

We were planning to go visit his parents this weekend so I might try to talk to his mom about it then and see if she thinks everyone would be willing to do something on Saturday too. The alternative would be that he and I just have our own special date night party for 2 Saturday night, and then I bring a birthday cake to the party.

The alternative would be that he and I just have our own special date night party for 2 Saturday night, and then I bring a birthday cake to the party.

Well, that might help him not to be depressed. ;)

The alternative would be that he and I just have our own special date night party for 2 Saturday night, and then I bring a birthday cake to the party.

IMHO this sounds like the best idea to me. Your DH gets a special birthday event and then you remind all the family the next day that it's his birthday without p*ssing off your MIL and ruining her party.

Dagmar

The alternative would be that he and I just have our own special date night party for 2 Saturday night, and then I bring a birthday cake to the party.

That sounds nice too! Especially since 30 is a big one. I forgot to comment on the composter gift idea earlier this week, too. I just wanted to say that as a gardener who was waaaay overly excited to get her own compost bin, I think your DH will really like it.

Oh yay, it's Friday. BF and I once again made our 9 PM bedtime last night. Even with about half an hour of reading to stretch that to 9:30 that makes...9 1/2 hour of sleep for the last two nights. Come on now, this is ridiculous! I figure my body needs the sleep, but hopefully if I let it have it for a few nights it will dial itself back! The "extra energy" that so many people rave about having after weight loss never appeared for me. I'm still about the same, on a good day I'm "not exhausted" all the time. It gets frustrating sometimes. Than again, for many teenage years through college I subsisted on much too little sleep (always up late studying) so perhaps my body is taking its revenge upon me now.

Oops, didn't mean to rant. :o I'm glad it's Friday! Tomorrow BF and I will hang out at our local festival if we feel like it, and Sunday I will be going to the city to see a play. Other weekend plans include exercise, and cooking up lots of healthy, yummy foods to make sure I have easy, healthy lunches and dinners to cart around next week. Rehearsals begin for the play I'm helping backstage for on Monday night. If I'm all prepped then I'll still be able to get my 9 hours of sleep or so each night. :p What are everyone else's plans for the weekend?

LOL Megan, DH and I have been going to bed at 9 too. So often, in fact, that the dog gets upset if we don't go upstairs at 9 because it messes up his routine! :lol:

Thanks for the advice everyone, I think I will plan to do something special for just the two of us the night before, then offer to MIL to bring a birthday cake to the party.

My original plan for this weekend was to hang around at home, then go to the in-laws' house Sunday afternoon to catch up and watch football. However, MIL called last night and asked if we wanted to go out to the country with them for the weekend (+DH's grandma) so we're doing that instead. On the one hand, it's good, because Carter loves going out there and we were going to visit DH's family anyway. On the other hand, I was planning to visit them for a few hours, not the entire weekend! :p It kind of puts a dent in my workout plan since I was planning to go to the pool to go swimming. Food will be out of my control as well. I'm planning to bring along healthy food and eat separately if I have to, but I know that I have zero willpower when there is junk food sitting in front of me and I'm sure there will be at least a pie involved.

Good morning! I read this thread yesterday but somehow never made it in to post. I'm all behind now! :)

Pat - I would freeze to death in Fairbanks, it is a good thing in the long run that I didn't get the job. :brr:

Jessica - how did the interviews go? And, I agree - a nice, intimate celebration the day before with the two of you then a cake at the family gathering sounds like a great idea. When my brother turned 30 his wife threw him a big party and he was out of sorts most of the night freaking over the number '30'. :dizzy:

Sheila - how did the mammogram & ultrasound go? Sending you good vibes.

Megan - I would sleep for 12 hours straight if left uninterrupted, even with feeling more energetic with weight loss and exercise. :tired:

Amanda - hope today slows down for you some!

I got up this morning and exercised! Good LB workout with my new home gym, used the new barbell for squats and deadlifts. Wow! :strong: I'm feeling particularly strong today afterward, though!

DSS this weekend, planning a visit to my MIL on Saturday, then something for my dad's birthday on Sunday. Either cook out at my brother's house or meet in the middle at Red Lobster. Dad loves shrimp. :)

Good day everyone! :wave:

Hello! I have my happy face on! :) Everything went well, although I feel a little beat up in the chest area. An elderly woman was just getting done when I was sitting in the waiting room, and she looked at me and said, "This is really a pain in the breast, isn't it?" :rofl:

Have a good weekend, everyone!

Yay, Sheila! When will you get your results? :crossed:

I'm coming up for air after a miserable week of being sick. As soon as I started feeling better, I got sick again. Hopefully I'm finally on the road to recovery because everything went to heck for a week and it's going to take eons to get back to normal.

BTW, I don't think it was H1N1 because I didn't have a cough. Had all the other symptoms, though. :dunno:

Our third employee is out sick today. Employee #1 came back Wednesday and said he never had a fever, just a really, really bad cold (kept him in bed for 5 days). Employee #2 is back today after leaving early Monday and being out for 3 full days--he did have a fever. Employee #3 left early yesterday saying he felt like he was coming down with a cold. All that and my son who had a bad cold last week--and it continues to linger although he is much better. So I WONDER--is this a cold going around or is it one of the flus? Who knows--no one sought medical treatment.

Tonight DD is coming home and we're going to her high school's football game. This will be interesting--my DS's school is playing them. We're not sure which team to root for at this point. We know no one on either team as all the kids we knew on DD's school team have graduated and we're not as familiar with DS's school's team. We are planning on sitting on DD's side, so I guess we should root for them!

I'm considering doing two turkeys for Thanksgiving. One regular roasted and one on the BBQ. Has anyone had any success with that? Please let me know any hints or suggestions!!!

And I've decided to do roasted veggies for Thanksgiving. I'm not sure if I'll stick to just root veggies or if I should mix it up a bit. I'd appreciate suggestions as to a combination of 3-5 veggies (colorful) to do together.

Sheila~glad your procedure is over and hope that the results come back negative!

Meg~glad you're on the mend despite getting sick all over again.

Jessica~I agree, a nice dinner with just the two of you Saturday should be special enough to make your DH happy.

Shannon~have a happy, busy weekend!

Megan~hope you're able to get a good night's sleep soon!!

Sheila, glad everything went ok!

Allison, when you asked for colorful vegetable combinations I remembered seeing this recipe (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ellie-krieger/jewel-roasted-vegetables-recipe/index.html) on Ellie Krieger's Thanksgiving cooking show last year. The beets would really add color!

Thanks Megan~I was thinking beets and Brussels Sprouts but wasn't sure if they'd go together!

:wave: Morning! TGIF. I've been having a terrible time getting up in the mornings since the time change. I'm hoping that being able to sleep in tomorrow will end that....

Sheila - glad things went well. :crossed: for good results!

Shannon - I would not living in Fairbanks myself. :) Our few dips down to -20+ are bad enough.... They stay that cold for weeks at a time.

Yesterday DH and I were walking from my work to the bank (about 3-4 blocks) and I tripped on something and fell, twisting my knee (and getting my pants dirty - grrr ). I skinned my knee and thought that was all until I got back to work and sat for an hour or so. When I got up, it was sore to walk on. Doesn't feel unstable or anything, just some pain when it twists while walking. I think it'll be fine in a day or two, but I didn't work out yesterday and I'm not going to today. We'll see how I feel tomorrow.

I have a hair appt tomorrow for a body perm and cut - thank goodness, my bangs are driving me nuts! :lol: There's also - conveniently - a craft fair going on in the community center across the street from the hair salon. On Sunday we're going to a brunch. We get together with friends about once a month from Sept to April and do a themed brunch. This month is Scandinavian. I'm bringing ground turkey Swedish meatballs (new recipe) and a rice pudding with almonds and cherry sauce which claims to be a Danish traditional dessert. DH will love it, rice pudding is his favorite. This month's food will be reasonably healthy as everyone who attends is fairly health-conscious. However, December is set for "your favorite holiday appetizers" and could be a real minefield of high-calorie goodies. :drool:

I got waay behind on this thread, but it sounds like everyone is having a pretty good Friday or is at least on the mend :crossed:

I will be without internet this weekend at a B&B with my bf. Normally it's like a $200/night place with full board (and an amazing chef) but 2 weekends a year they invite people to come up and stay/eat for free in exchange for help getting the inn ready for a new season. So I will be chopping wood and mopping floors but also enjoying delicious food and sharing a romantic weekend with my bf. My goal eating-wise is to enjoy myself and not overeat. Also to limit myself to two/day of the famously amazing chocolate cookies the inn keeps in a big jar by the door. It sounds like a lot but I think in years past my intake has been like 4-6/day, so, baby steps :lol:

If my weight is up on Monday as a result, I am prepared for the consequences and to do what it takes to get back to where I want to be.

Forest - have a great weekend! Sound fantastic.

Pat - wow. I would never survive a gathering with the theme of 'your favorite holiday appetizer'... little tiny foods are a weaknesses of mine, and I always say to myself 'but they are so small, how could they be too bad?' :lol3:

Allison - my parents and I had similar football issues when I was young. Mom & Dad graduated from the city high school, my brother & I went to the county. They always had a hard time deciding who to root for, especially when Brandon & I were in the band... Good luck! :)

Meg - hope you feel better soon!

Sheila - glad your procedure went smoothly.

Good weekend everyone!

I feel fairly "safe" during the holidays, for this reason: I met my weight goal Christmas Day, 2005. Since then, I've been determined to get to my anniversary without having gained.

And an oddity - just the past few weeks, my tastes seem to have changed radically. If I crave any food, it is fresh fruit, rather than the donuts, cookies, ice cream, and assorted junk that used to capture me (but I was a willing victim).

Also, I can eat a little of that crapola without wanting more. And more. And more. :dizzy:

Wow Forest! Your weekend sounds amazing!! I am jealous!!

Holiday question for you all..... I figured out that Hanukkah is early this year (starts Dec.11). My dd (18) won't come home from college until the last night. I am debating whether we should:
a. wait until she gets home and pretend Hanukkah starts then and celebrate for 8 nights then
b. mail her small gifts to college so she has something to open herself, and then save something bigger for the last night when she is home.
c. another idea I haven't thought of??

I have a younger dd that might not be thrilled with waiting but I can run it by her. My dh is Catholic so I doubt he'll care and I usually don't get anything for Hanukkah so it is really just the girls. We have no relatives here.