Good Morning Chicks! I'm ok here. Slept funny and have a muscle spasm in my left shoulder blade. I think I was SO tired I didn't move all last night in bed. Or maybe I caught it from Kathy! Jim said he thinks it menopause! Lucky for him I'm not hormonal today because one of these days that's not going to be funny!
Well, I'm off to have a hot bath cause I'm hoping that will help. We have lunch with our friend today at 11:30. We're trying to get him to meet us at the restaurant so I don't have to run around and clean up and wipe up the bathroom. Bad enough Sister is coming again Monday and I'll need to do it before then. I really do miss my incompetent cleaning lady. Now I'M the incompetent cleaning lady!
My scale is WAY up this morning and I've got to get a grip. I've been having some bites, licks, and tastes and not enough veggies. I was going to start walking on the treadmill today but it doesn't seem that's likely with my shoulder blade/back. I will however, commit to completely clean Core eating and I'm going to try not to use any points until weigh in. I'll exercise as soon as I can. Today at lunch, I'll have a salad. The boys wanted to go Mexican but I had to nix that idea. Good thing they love me and are good sports.
Kath, how IS your back? Did it just go away? Now I need to use some of my own remedies that I suggested. I cannot use Ben Gay during the day though.
Sandra, welcome home! I hope you had a great time. I was at Olive Garden yesterday. We went for dinner since we had a coupon and needed to buy a gift certificate from there for Christmas. I ate a bread stick (pretty darn good but not as good as the ones from Fazoli's). I had ww linguine with marinara and I added grilled chicked which they assured me was grilled and either dry or with olive oil depending on which person you talked to. It can't matter much though because they gave me about an ounce of chicken. I ate the vegetarian minestrone which was tasty. I still like my other Italian restaurant better but I certainly understand the appeal. Their fattening dishes look FABULOUS. Jim ate some kind of four cheese ziti thing while I tried not to drool.
Angela, a reprieve! How exciting and lucky for you! Congratulations on the potty training. Are the girls high on jelly beans? How are you doing with your return to Core? More importantly, how are your cold symptoms?
Melissa, have loads of fun and just be as good as you can. We'll miss you!
Well, I need to get it in gear. I'll go post my menu. I'll be back later for sure.
Hey, chickies! Well, I'm here at work finally, after having to stop by the store on the way for Cheerios (for me) and a banana (for Judd). Now I'm trying to figure out what I need to be doing.
Sandra had better wake up and start on that report soon!
My back still hurts but fortunately tomorrow is the dr. appt. And also fortunately (well, unfortunately to most people) it's colder than cold in this office. Heaters are outlawed, so I use a heating pad. It keeps me warm and helps my back too. Everyone else is jealous that I'm nice and toasty but I tell them to shut up and bring their own heating pad. I'm tired of hearing people complain about the cold!
Scale was 149.4 this morning -- totally in the right direction! I know I shouldn't be weighing every day but I'm too old to change.
Oh and I'm so freakin' mad at Shaun I could spit. Yesterday I told him if he was going to hang around the house (supposedly starts a job next Monday but who knows?) then he can clean his pigsty room and do some other things. I specifically said empty the DW and fill it back up. I got home from work and he was gone. Dishes weren't done. Later on, I was looking for a DVD that had been on the upstairs coffee table but is now gone, so I opened the door to his room. Holy COW! You've never ever ever seen anything like it. It looks like a trash bag exploded! Clothes everywhere, the sheets were off the bed, there were cans and bottles and chip bags and soup cans and dishes and forks and ... the final straw ... a mirror in a wooden frame that was in the closet was NOW in the middle of the floor, mirror was broken, and there was some chili-looking sh*t slopped all over it. I. Was. Livid. OMG, when I get hold of him, it will not be pretty. I'll be surprised if he's still living there much longer. Oh and also he had gotten a notice from the car insurance company, which I assumed was a statement. Nope, it was saying that his insurance was cancelled Oct. 25 for nonpayment. I knew he hadn't paid Nov. but he told me he had paid Oct. Liar. He had opened the envelope and left the whole thing right there on the kitchen counter. It's not like I was snooping because it was in plain sight. Grrrrrr...
Kath, Shaun doesn't deserve you, Judd or his Sisters. He's not going to change. Darn him...Happy Holidays! You should be enjoying this season not watching him trash your beautiful home. Hope your day gets better.
Yay for 149.4!! That's so awesome! (I'll live vicariously thru you until I get there.)
Wow, you and Frouf make me happy to be childless sometimes. (Kidding! ) I would so not have survived to adulthood if I treated my mom like that. He's not driving without insurance, is he? Not like lots of people don't, but God forbid he hits someone.
Oh yes he is! And his inspection is out too, but he can't get it inspected without insurance. He'll be 28 years old in January too ... isn't that great? He lived away for years but earlier this summer lost his job and nearly everything else, so I made him move back home until he could get on his feet. So far it's not working.
Oh my word. From your description of his room, I assumed he was about 17. Did he go to college? Wow, I bought my first house when I was his age. (and I still wouldn't have survived to 29 if I treated my mom like that! )
Which is not to say that I don't feel for him, losing his job. I've been there. But still!
[On the other hand, at least he's old enough to be responsible for the damage, if he hits someone, instead of you!]
Yes, he went ... for about a semester. We packed him up, moved him there into the dorm, paid for it all -- except we did financial aid and when he flunked his classes (for not going to class, because believe me I had a talk with the professors) we made him pay the financial aid back.
He's a lazy slacker who doesn't give a damn about anything. His dad is in prison for robbing banks but when he was Shaun's age, he was the same way. I can see the writing on the wall...
Kath, you've done all you can and you are a WONDERFUL woman. Take a deep breath and move him out. Spend your energy on the girls who are open to your guidance. At 28, I'd been working full time for the government for 10 years already and had been promoted several times. I guess it's not easy for me to understand since I don't have children of my own. It must be hard to see them hit rock bottom. I know you'll figure it out.
I'll be out this afternoon. Jim and I have to take our kitty, Cameo to the vet. She always has trouble with hair balls but she's been throwing up alot lately and yesterday afternoon it was tinged with blood. Gross AND scary. The girls in this house are not doing well these days from a health point of view at the moment. I'll talk to you all later when we get home.
I warn you in advance this is going to be long. I’m typing it on our word processor so there will be capital letters. (You know how lazy I am about typing caps.)
I am not as colorful a writer Frouf but this is my story. Kathy, is it long enough? lol
Weather reports predicted heavy and continuous snow for our trip, so Monday evening Curtis called April to tell her we’d be taking our Jeep Grand Cherokee instead of her car. Why? Her car has 2 wheel drive and all weather tires. The Jeep has 4 wheel drive, studded snow tires, chains (if needed), a shovel, kitty litter, extra jackets, blankets, and other stuff for emergencies. What else did taking the Jeep have? It had me as the driver. Now this is not a plus. I am still Texan enough to want everything to close down when there’s even just a dusting of snow. I told Curtis I wished the Jeep had Texas license plates so everyone who came near would know I wasn’t used to driving in heavy winter conditions.
Tuesday morning, Curtis and I got up and the snow was falling. He shoveled the drive and sidewalk 2 times before I was ready to leave. He had me armed with multiple suggestions and tips for driving in the bad weather. He told me to have April drive over the 2 mountain passes between here and Spokane because she was more used to driving in snow than I was. So—off I went.
I had to drive all the way across Missoula then through the country on 2 country roads to get to April’s. Her driveway was gone. The snow was already deep. I picked her up then we drove on to the school to pick up the grands. The girls are 8 and 10. I’ll just call them little grand and big grand to keep things simple. (See, I told you this was going to be long.)
It snowed all the way to Idaho. April was supposed to do the driving over the passes but she didn't. She was nervous about driving the Jeep and she also was afraid to drive in slush. The first time April called Curtis to tell him where we were and that we were safe, he told her he’d called the insurance company and bought us some COLLISION INSURANCE for the Jeep. I told her to ask him if he’d taken out life insurance policies on us, too. Lol The roads weren’t as bad as I’d feared and we had no major problems. We stopped at the 10,000 Silver Dollar tourist trap on the way over. The grands wanted to spend all their money there, but we talked them into waiting for the return home stop.
We got to the Ridpath Hotel downtown Spokane mid afternoon. Jeep is looking very dirty by now but has no dents. We checked into the hotel. This was the first time the grands had been to a large downtown. It was fun to watch them looking at tall (as compared to buildings in Missoula) buildings and skywalks. We had to walk through a skywalk to get to our room. That was a treat for them, too.
The hotel had a van take us to the Olive Garden because the weather was too bad for walking the blocks to get there. (I didn’t have to drive the Jeep again until we left Wednesday morning to come home.) (yippee!!) Anyway, we got to O G and the waiter asked April and me if we’d like to taste their wine of the day. He looked at me and said, “I have to charge you 25 cents to taste it.) Little grand said I have a quarter in my purse you can use.” I had him put the charge on our bill. Lol
I know you all worked hard to help me decide what to eat. I worked hard at it, too. However, that wine was fantastic! I had a glass of it with the meal. We started out with artichoke dip and bread slices, salad, and breadsticks. Then I had “Taste of Italy”. Then the grands wanted dessert, so I nibbled on little grand’s sundae and big grand’s chocolate lasagna. Sort of “death by chocolate.’
The van picked us up and we returned to the hotel. We saw several cast members in the lobby on their way over to the production. (A lot of them are staying at the Ridpath.) We rode the van over to the production. April bought each grand a Lion King T-shirt and I got a CD. We had fantastic seats on the 7th row. Big grand sat on the edge of her seat the whole show. Little grand sat in april’s lap most of the time. She was tired but never gave up. (She’s very small for 8 years old. Looks like 6. Big grand is 10 and looks like 12.)
By the end of the play big grand was in love with big Simba and little grand was talking her mom into buying another CD. THE PLAY WAS A HUGE SUCCESS!!
We rode the van back to the hotel afterwards. (It had been snowing the whole time since we got to Washington.) We talked to several cast members (probably ensemble members but I’m thinking one was Rafiki cuz she was a lot larger than the others.) Of course, we were awake till about 1 am cuz of excitement of the day.
Yesterday morning we slept in hoping the mountain passes would have had time to heal themselves. NOT! I drove in almost whiteout conditions all the way to Montana. For about 75 miles through some of the most rugged and treacherous roads (I-90) we had Guardian Angels with us. I drove right into the middle of 3 snowplows. We had 2 ahead and 1 right behind us. Talk about feeling safe!
Anyway (My! This is long, isn’t it?) we got back to the 10,000 Silver Dollar place and the grands spent their money. I took them home and drove on into Missoula. When I got home, the Jeep looked like a huge snowy mudball with ice hanging off all around. Curtis met me at the garage door. Grandpa had missed Grandma.
So that’s my story. I will not step on those scales. I have already forgiven myself and I am back on program today. Life is good.
Yippee!!! A perfect report -- I felt like I was right there with you for the entire thing! I am just thrilled that you had a great time with no major problems. That Curtis is a hoot, isn't he? Buying that insurance made me LOL!!
Well, welcome home! Olive Garden is in the past and the future starts with this very breath. YOU GO, GIRL!
How exciting and lucky for you! Congratulations on the potty training. Are the girls high on jelly beans? How are you doing with your return to Core? More importantly, how are your cold symptoms?
That's so awesome! (I'll live vicariously thru you until I get there.)
) I would so not have survived to adulthood if I treated my mom like that. He's not driving without insurance, is he? Not like lots of people don't, but God forbid he hits someone.
