Last in, first in. That's how it goes sometimes.

As I said in the last post, I bought a set of cheap scales yesterday and today I got them out of the box and out of the packing and set them to zero and stood on them - this was all before my shower at around 5.45am. To my surprise, they told me that I had lost 9Kg - ie around 18lb. Yeah right. Readjust the scales, stand on them again. Same thing 75Kg instead of 84Kg. Yeah right. Shift the scales to the other side of the room. 75kg. Onto the carpet 75kg. Bullsh*t. I got in the shower and it obviously woke up the brain because I started to think that if I bounced around on the right foot, the scales went up around the 80kg mark. On the left foot, they went down to 70kg. Out of the shower, pick up the scale and turn it over. You guessed it, still got packing in the left side. Take that out and I still weigh a depressing 84kg. Nothing lost (or gained) in the past 10 days.

So the change in clothing must mean that the shape is altering but not the size. I guess I should be grateful for small mercies.

Good afternoon all. Very lazy morning.

Yesterday was rather lazy as well. Breakfast with bf & work buddy from my previous employer was good, but heavy. I was full afterwards, and there were leftovers even. Good thing we only eat breakfast out about 4 times per year.

I finally returned a sweater to the store yesterday- couldn't exchange it as they didn't have my size. Didn't find anything else that I wanted. Did some laundry & a dog walk, read a book & watched some tv.

Found a recipe to use the acorn squash I've had sitting around. Did my challenges. Since I'm skipping the situp part of the ab challenge, I've decided I'll up the other parts by adding the number of situp reps to the crunches & leg raises. I might also do two planks for the day's amount of time instead of just one.

I guess it's about time I get cleaned up & dressed. Ill get over to Walgreens to pick up some sale items I want. Bf is in football playoff watching mode so I may as well plan my day solo. Might go to old navy & finally check out their yoga pants. Maybe that'll motivate me to work out. I've not gone to the office fitness center or the gym as I should. For someone who's going go be wearing a swimsuit soon, I'm sure not acting like it.

Okay, off to dress. Back later for personals.

Super quick post as I should be doing freelance website work that I'd promised I'd get done today.

Vertigo yesterday went away by afternoon. Headache today will hopefully leave just as quickly.

Not much to do today other than website work, grocery shopping, taking Santa to the dog park and then dinner with my friend B (my friend battling cancer).

Shad - Congrats on the NSV! That's wonderful!! I'm going to start going to the gym after work tomorrow.

Happy - Congrats on the new 4Runner. Is the Avalon ok?

Ceejay - I love seeing family photos from years gone by. My cousin is posting many of them on FB. Amazing what a skinny kid/teenager I was.

Laura - Have you figured out how to make time to go to the gym or fitness center? How long 'till your trip?

Annie and Susie - I hope you're having a great weekend. Sorry about the Colts, Annie. I was pulling for them, as despite being born in New England, I'm not a big Tom Brady fan.

I did my good deed for the day. I just took Santa for a walk around the block and saw a fat little chihuahua loose with no one around anywhere. It irks me, and kicks in my protective instinct, any time I see a loose dog, but ESPECIALLY a loose small dog that cars can't see very easily. The dog wouldn't let me pick him up since I had Santa on leash, so I immediately started looking out for a yard with a gate open or fence that the lil guy could get under. I found the house with the gate open, rang the bell and then backed down to the street (since I had Santa and they had another dog that came running around from the back). Sure enough it was their Chihuahua. Luckily, the lil dog hadn't gotten too far and dog and family are now reunited.

Well, I'd better get back to my work.

Happy Sunday.

Love,

The weekend went by really fast! I am telling myself to look forward to the upcoming 3 day weekend. We get next Monday off. But I must get through the this week.

I made sure to get up this morning and get my DVD walk in before church. Sunday's time always gets away from me.

Shad, great NSV. When you put jeans on it is always a true test of weight gain or loss so don't worry about the new scales. All scales are a little different so just take the number they say and just know they will go down from there.

Michelle, so glad you were able to help that dog! I hope your headache is gone.

Laura: Good for you for adding extra squats to your daily challenge. Did you get new yoga pants at Old Navy?

Ceejay:it sounds like you are having fun with your family. I love to see those old family pictures.

Happy, any luck with the care shopping?

Time to go pack my workout bag and get my clothes ready for tomorrow.

Michelle
Well done on finding the owner. My sis called tonight and told me that her son took their small dog out to their land and he the small dog got loose. He had not been able to find him. His gf will be devastated. I'm praying some one as generous as you were will find him.

Laura
Your day sounded like it was laid back. I love those kind of days. Maybe next week end I'll get mine.
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My aunt gave me another picture this weekend of a family gathering. We figured out that it was at a Mother's day gathering at my grandmothers house. I was only in part of the picture. I was asleep on my daddy's lap.
Work tomorrow and I'm not in the mind set to go.

Shad
I'd rather have the inches to come off first rather than the pounds. Congrats.

Susie
We were posting together. I went to church also but I haven't gotten in my exercise, but I will while watching Downton Abby.

Happy Monday....

Thank you for all the well wished for my lil guy. He is better but still carrying a slight fever of 100.8. Better than the 104. Hopefully today will bring better news. I visited him Saturday and Sunday but no kisses, I did hug and love on him tho. Can't help it.

Today I start tracking MFP. I forgot I has already signed up in the past, so I found my log in stuff and am now on there. I am annecarp if you all want to friend me. Don't know how long I will stick to it cause I am not that faithful. However I am really going to try. I have gained sooooo much weight. I have been doing great for the past 5 days. 25 more days and I will have a habit formed. Yeah. So I need you all to kick me in my seat to stay with it and really work on it.

SHADDIE...Yum I love love love black rasberries. My very favorite! I used to go berry picking with my grandpa back in the day. Glad you are enjoying a little bit of time there.

HAPPY....good news on the car situation, at least you only have to purchase one car instead of two. We too are out of the deep freeze. Hi today is 50. Most of the snow is melted except the huge piles that were plowed. Now they are agout 4-5 feet tall and ugly dirty snow.

SUSIE...please friend me on MFP as I am not sure how to do that. I will have to vist the site and look around. Nice of you to help out your friend with the kiddos...You are a good person.

CEEG...I love old pictures. I inherited a bunch when momma passed then the rest of them when daddy passed. I really need to organize them. Always so much other stuff to do that I don't get around to the fun stuff much.

LAURA...speaking of acorn squash, I bought a spaghetti squash over the weekend. The bad this is I love it with lots of butter, salt and pepper. I will have to figure another way to prepare it beside marinara sauce.

CHELLE...glad you migraine went away. Sometimes we just need to get out and breath some fresh air, drink lots of water and be kind to ourselves. Hugs sister.

Didn't do much over the weekend, errands, chores and cleaned thoroughly about the house. C ran the vacuum for me while I did the mopping, laundry, scrub down the cabinets in the kitchen, dusted, and scoured. He is a great vacuumer. Yesterday we went to a mom and pop's restaurant that has very good food. I had a small cup of vegetarin veggie soup and a chef salad for lunch, then a cup of Wendy's chili. Yum. Watched the Colts get slammed by New England. That is ok, I have moved my support over to the Broncos to support Peyton Manning.

That about does it for me...have a marvelous Monday/eve all.

Loves and hugs.

Oh and anyone else on MFP...Happy, Ceeg, Laura, Susie, Shad, Chelle do friend me...annecarp

Morning all. Never did get back for personals yesterday...

Shad – Berry picking – never did that before. The closest I ever came was apple picking as a kid, but when we got to the orchard, they were all picked out. I think we ended up buying some in the shop – my only memory of that day is that the shop was packed with all the other people who came to pick apples but couldn’t. Yay for the NSV! All that walking with all those hills – and the wind – is paying off! The scale will eventually cooperate, but getting smaller and healthier is more important than the number. Please remind me of that when I whine about what the scale shows. Thank you. Re the Mexican dinner on Friday – it never happened. I got off the train one stop early to go to the place in the next town over from ours. From the train platform, I looked across to the restaurant and all was dark, and then I could see the realtor’s sign – the restaurant had closed down! Lesson: Phone first! Bf picked me up and instead of going to the cute (but pricey) little Mexican place in our own downtown, we just decided to go home. Okay by me, I knew breakfast out the next day would be a calorie challenge.

Susie – We never did get out to the car wash – did you? Ugh, too bad about the late night work on Friday. And sheesh, I sure know that HR issues can consume so much time. I hope whatever it is gets resolved soon for productivity's sake. So nice you could take your friend’s kids for the night – what a situation - and isn’t it always at the worst possible time? Well, it actually could have been worse – could have happened on Sat. or Sunday. No, I didn’t buy any yoga pants at Old Navy. They’re cut a bit too low for me to feel comfortable wearing. I also tried on a couple pairs of jeans – also cut a bit too low for me. I never shopped much at Old Navy to begin with and now I guess I've aged out of it. Oh well, I’ll get over it. Nice you get next Monday off!!!

Ceejay – How nice to have some old family photos to look at. I looked through some when I visited my mother last year. My sister visited more recently and ended up taking some of the photos home with here. I think I’ll take some home next time I visit. I hope someone finds your nephew’s (?) dog! It would be horrible to not know what happened to him.


Annie – Hope the little guy is 100% very soon. Glad you’re joining us on MFP! I’ll see if I can find you. I’ve only bought spaghetti squash once in the past, and I really liked it as a substitute for pasta, and I had it with marinara sauce. I think next time I’d add some veggies such as zucchini and bell peppers to it, and maybe some Italian sausage too. Yum.

Happy – Glad to hear dh’s car’s problem wasn’t very serious or expensive to remedy. Congrats on your new car! Too bad the other one couldn’t be repaired, but at it’s age, you probably would’ve started feeling nervous about it’s reliability. When do you get the car, or do you already have it? Enjoy getting to know all the new features.


Michelle – Glad the vertigo went away, and I hope the headaches take a break, especially since the migraines can be so debilitating. How fortunate you came across that stray dog! I’m so glad you got him back to his home. Very good deed indeed!! Re the exercise, I have time in the evenings to go to the gym, I just always wish I were the type to make exercise fit into my early morning or workday schedule, just to have it done with. I will pop in to the fitness center just to refresh myself as to what they have in the way of non-cardio equipment – that might be better for me - not quite as sweaty.

==
Nothing much else to report. After I went to Walgreens yesterday afternoon, I stopped at the library to pick up a couple books and the Doc Martin dvd of the latest season bf had on hold. Like I told Susie, I came up emptyhanded at Old Navy. Back at home, I took doggy for a nice long walk. The temps were still relatively mild, but there was a stiff breeze to make it feel chilly. Of course Coal could care less about that – he seems to love walking through puddles, on ice, and through the very soggy, heavy, snow on the lawns. He always needs a major rubbing with a towel after walks like that. I set the stopwatch on my cell phone partway through the walk to see how long I was walking, but totally forgot about it...until an hour and a half later when bf and I were eating an early dinner at Culver's. Oops. I'll try again on my walk to the train station when I leave the office today.

Didn’t do anything special for the rest of the evening – went through some bills, updated the checkbook, started reading a new book.

Okay, better get this posted and back to work. The boss is back from her very well-timed vacation (to Turks/Caicos), and the admin has called in sick. Wonder if there’s a connection there, hahaha.

Morning all,

Sorry I did get in here yesterday. I was stewing I discovered that the car dealer was "lying" about one aspect of our deal. It's not that we got screwed but they were not upfront so now I don't trust them and trust is VERY important to me. If I could, I'd nix the deal. DH said what is done is done and it's not that we lost anything substantial, let it go but it's the principle of the thing with me. We have not picked up the new car - it had just come in off the truck and there were a few things that needed to be done with it, we also ordered running boards (a necessity as I had a hard time crawling into the passenger seat for the test drive) and they also have to add the paint protection. We will probably pick it up by the weekend.

Yesterday we went grocery shopping as I was almost out of everything. I am ready to start the week fresh, my big sin was a pizza that DH picked out yesterday as I was waiting for deli meat. I would have been better off skipping it in favor of something else but could not justify tossing half a pizza. So I paid for it on the scale today. I'm going to delay weigh in by one day. It has "warmed up" to the 20's this weekend which is good and bad. Good in that the milder temps really make a difference when you're outside as well as the house not being so bloody cold in the late hours of the night. Not good because the warm up releases more moisture in the air and we are getting slick spots and frost on things. I just hope it stays mild for a bit, we are both worried about the frost line going too deep and affecting the septic system - DON'T NEED that kind of problem. I think we have a few days of mild and then it's supposed to get cold again. More snow tomorrow. Yes, I'm getting a little tired of winter. How I envy you with the 50 degree temperatures

Laura - I think I picked strawberries once as a kid but when I realized that daddy long legs spiders LOVE to live in strawberry plants - that was it for me. Up here we have a lot of apple orchards more north by Lake Superior - you can buy them or go pick your own and they also have a lot of berry farms where you can pick blueberries, raspberries maybe even blackberries. We went blueberry picking the last 2 years. It was lots of fun. No spiders either! That's too bad that the Mexican restaurant was closed but as you said with the breakfast group the next day, you probably saved yourself a lot of calories. It's interesting that you mentioned the low cut yoga pants - perhaps if a person is a stick bug with no booty, their pants would stay in place but for yoga - one is doing ALOT of movement. I'd want pants as close to the waist as possible. Are "yoga" pants more stretchy or something? I think we still could have kept the 4Runner a bit longer - although they never did tell us what the problem was we both feel it was a seal break due to the recent extremely cold weather. But it's a done deal now. I hope the next owner takes good care of it. Perhaps Coal likes walking in the puddles because it's the rubdown/massage he knows he'll get afterwards and doesn't everyone love a good massage

Annie - welcome back to MFP. I know it's a pain to log stuff, I feel that way too but with all of us onboard and once you get in the habit of doing it, I think you won't find it so much of a hassle. I get the feeling though that you probably only do your computer stuff at work and that can be a hassle because it does take time to enter stuff. I also find if I don't do it the same day, I always seem to forget something. But this year it's going to be different, right? I like spaghetti squash but not so much as a substitute for pasta so if you come across a recipe that is more veggie in nature, please share. I'm glad that Lil Man is getting better - poor guy - strep is rough.

Ceejay - I hope your nephew finds his lost dog How fun it must be looking at the old pictures. Cherish them and happy memories of days gone by.

Susie - that was really great of you to help out a friend, especially since your weekends are busy enough. And I have to say you are going gangbusters on the eating and exercise plans - congrats on the commitment and successes! I take inspiration from you.

Shad - I must agree with the others - although we get so much gratification from the scale, being able to fit into clothes and inches lost are probably a much better indication of success. It seems that you have going back on the path to healthy eating and moving and it's paying off - so good on yah and keep up the good work! How crazy was your story with the scales I was thinking of how I take things for granted having what I need here at home and you really have to be clever getting what you need in a job that takes you away from the comforts of home. I'm sorry but I got a good laugh - although I was sympathizing with you - on the story of assembling the storage unit. I hope they resolved the wet ceiling issues by now.

Michelle - to your question - yes, the Avalon will be ok - new radiator but that's it. That was SO NICE of you to take the extra steps to go and locate the escaped dog's home. Most people would have kept on walking. Is Santa doing better with the cough he had at the other day care place? Hope your migraine has gone away - been a while since you had those headaches. Did you win at poker?

Guess that's enough for me. I need to get some laundry done - been spacing out the loads because if the ground is freezing it means the septic is draining more slowly so I don't want to put a lot of water in the tank. I probably should have run a load or two yesterday. I also need to do some housecleaning and work on at least one hot spot. Have a good Monday everyone.

Happy Monday.

Annie
Yes I have MFP, username is Arkansasbee. Glad that lil man is getting better. and I know what you mean by giving him hugs and kisses even if he is sick.

Happy
I'm hoping that they will find the dog also. His gf was very partial to the dog. I think she was with him yesterday when he ran off. I reminded my sis of the time we took our dog to our uncles who live about 15 to 20 minutes away and she found her way back. She said this was a hour away. I need to remind them to call the humane society to tell them. Some one may bring him to the animal shelter.

Laura
I'd rather pick strawberries than blackberries. However don't think I could for a long period of time due to the knees.
Seems like dogs like the cooler temperatures. They always have a coat on so it doesn't bother them. We had drizzle today but at least the temp is above freezing.

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Nothing new for me. Back to work and I'm having to recalculate some gallons used. We have a meter that is steady counting on the pump that froze.
Didn't exercise last night. Just wasn't in the mood and had to much to get done before I could come to work.
I have an appointment with a dermatologist on Thursday. I really don't want to go.

Good afternoon ladies,

Yesterday afternoon, I took Santa to the dog park, and he had a great time! He always has so much fun there running around with the other dogs, and also going up to the other humans and acting like no one ever gives him love or attention at home. Yeah, right. After that, my friend B and I went out to dinner.

I forgot to mention...D and I had date night on Saturday since he didn't have to work. We went out to dinner and then saw the Hobbit movie (Part 2 of the trilogy). I thought it was pretty good, but then I really enjoy that genre. I've also heard that Saving Mr. Banks is very good, and I want to see that too.

As for poker, I lost a few bucks and so did my friend, but we had fun anyway. Since we play for such small stakes, no one really loses or wins more than $5...it's mostly for the fun of it.

This weekend went by too quickly. I wish we had a 3 day weekend next weekend...but I'll have to wait until Presidents' Day in February for that. I'm not complaining (too much). I am grateful to be back at work...and very grateful to have a short commute so I have time in the evenings for the gym and to do other stuff, so I don't have to cram it all in on the weekends. And once the sun starts setting later, I'll probably take Santa to the dog park a couple evenings a week, in addition to the weekends.

Susie - So nice of you to watch your friend's daughters so she could take the other daughter to the hospital.

Shad - The fresh berries sound so yummy! Good for you for getting together the storage thing. I want to get some sort of storage thing for the bedroom. Not sure if I need drawers or shelves yet. Right now, I still things in plastic storage bins, and I'd like to find another place for them. I've never had much luck with buying scales, unless I spend a fortune on one. I swear I had one in Wisconsin...and it may be somewhere in my rented storage space, but not easy to find. So for now, I'll weigh myself once a week at the gym...or make it a point to find a Weight Watchers meeting near me and weigh in there. Bummer that the scale didn't give you good news...but at least the clothes are showing improvement, and you're likely toning up.

Laura - I like how you're modifying the ab challenge! Could you please PM that challenge to me again or send it in a FB message, please? I love football playoff mode, especially when the games are on Saturday AND Sunday. Sadly, next week, the games are just on Sunday, but at least they start later in the day, so I have the morning to get stuff done. Like you, I wish I could get up early enough to go to the gym before work. But I'm queen of the snooze button. Plus, I like showering at night so I don't have to blow dry my hair, so I guess it would be more hassle to try and fit the gym in before work. I love yoga pants and often wear them to lounge around in at home...but I don't have the low-cut/low-rise yoga pants...nope...my booty is too big and needs the high-rise coverage!

Ceejay - I hope your sister's son finds their little dog. I'll be praying the lil guy is found safe. That's why I'm so...paranoid, over-protective, diligent...whatever...about whenever Santa is outdoors, he's either always on leash or in a fenced-in area (like the dog park or my step-mom's yard). Even now when Santa comes with me to visit my step-mom, I don't let him off-leash until I've checked both gates in the backyard.

Annie - Glad to hear lil man is getting better. I hope he gets the rest of the way better soon. Good for you for doing so well for 5 days! I wish I could say the same. I like Peyton Manning too. I was torn though because I have so many relatives in the San Diego area, so I kind of wanted the Chargers to win. Now I'm rooting for a Denver/Seattle SuperBowl. I think that would be an excellent game.

Happy - Such a bummer that you were misled by the dealer. Trust is so important. You were smart to get the running boards. Being the same height as you, I too would struggle to get into a 4Runner without running boards. And the paint protection is important as well, especially with salty roads. I had the paint/rust protection for several years, and after I stopped getting it done, I started noticing rock dings in the paint, which then turned into small rust patches. Ugh. Thankfully, my next car shouldn't have rust on it...as cars don't rust out here (no snow, no salt). Regarding the septic system, the septic maintenance company that pumped out our tank every couple years told us: (1) when you have the tank pumped, do it in the spring...not the fall so that it's not close to empty when winter comes (as that can contribute to freezing); and (2) A good snow cover is very good insulation for the tank and the leach field. When the snow all melts (and there's no snow cover to offer insulation) and is followed by double digit below zero temps, that can be hard on a system. I never minded daddy long-leg spiders...it's all the other kinds that I don't like (black widows, brown recluses, wolf spiders). I heard once that daddy long-legs eat the other spiders, so they're ok in my book. Kind of like king snakes that eat rattlesnakes. Glad the Avalon will be okay once it gets the new radiator. Santa is long since over his bordatella (kennel cough)...two weeks on antibiotics cleared it all up. When I took him to daycare, the person ahead of me (who was new to this day care) was being turned away because the dog didn't have it's bordatella or distemper/parvo shots. I especially appreciate that now as I don't want Santa to get ill again.

That reminds me, I'll have to post some pictures of my step-brother's new apartment in Belize. It's a very small studio, but it's less than 100 yards from the Caribbean, and it has a freshwater lagoon about 20 yards away. He can't swim in the freshwater lagoon though due to crocodiles. He sent me a picture of a crocodile sunning itself on the deck). Too close for me...but he's okay with it.

Well, gotta go. Have a great evening everyone!

Love,

Here are some pictures of my step-brother's place in Belize.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.


Here are his descriptions
#1 is looking at my place the door on the left is mine, no the motorcycle belongs to the guy up stairs he parks it there to keep it out of the rain.
#2 is looking into my place, excuse the mess I just unloaded everything from my car for the first time since Dec 28th. The apartment is 10 ft x 30 ft, with a shared bath, which isn't a problem. I,m waiting on a stove and refrigerator, they said about a week, also not a problem.
#3 is looking down the walkway towards the parking area, you can see my car in the back ground.
#4 is from my doorway looking at the dock and fresh water lagoon. It's about 30 ft to the left of my front door. It,s good for fishing, but not swimming because of the crocodiles, which sometimes come up on the dock to sun themselves.
#5 is standing on the dock looking down the lagoon.
#6 and 7 are a crocodile sunning himself on the dock
#8 is the crocodile swimming away

Hi. Busy day again here. I stuck to my eating plan today but it was hard as DH upset me tonight with a comment he made in a conversation. We have talked about it and he said he didn't mean to upset me and I'm sure he didn't but I bet he will think twice before speaking without thinking.

Don't get me wrong ladies I have a wonderful DH and we have a wonderful marriage but there are times you just wonder how in the world men think it is ok to say outloud what they are thinking.

I will admit that I ate some ice cream to "make me feel better'. I don't feel good that I did it, but knowing i was going to logg it made me more aware of the amount I was having.

I will have to catch up on personnels tomorrow. I'm tried and going to bed.

See you all tomorrow.

Good Morning Ladies...started my morning off with a teeth cleaning at the dentist. That was a very fast 6 months. I don't go back until July and I am sure that will get here pretty fast too.

I did very well on eating OP yesterday. As a matter of fact I still had 187 cals to go. Did a bit of laundry last night. I stopped on my way home to pick up a new script for lil man and dropped it by Sam's. He was still carrying a temp and that is not good with strep. Hopefully he is doing better today, I have not checked in with Sissy today.

SUSIE...sorry the blip from DH made you eat ice cream. Hopefully today will be a better day! Hugs.

CHELLE...loved the pictures from you step-bro. Kind of neat to see how other people live. I want to see the movie Mr. Banks also. Sunday is the only day C and I have to do things and movies never seem to get worked into the schedule.

CEEG...thought about you when I heard about the contamination in the water in NC that is heading to the Ohio river. They cannot even use their water for bathing or anything. Some kind of chemical spill.

Hey to Shad, Happy and Laura!!

Sorry got to get busy will try to come back later.

Love and hugs