I went to my parents' house last night. My mom's church was having a little get-together to honor this year's graduates and my mom wanted me to come since I was a college graduate. I ended up getting $35 and a couple of little knick-knacks. I was surprised to get that as I wasn't expecting anything at all. Anyway, I ended up spending the night at my parents'. Of course, I brought the kids with me...can't go to Grandma's without them! My dad owns his own business and has been wanting me to help him with is paperwork for a while now. So, I helped him today and, man, it took us 3 or 4 hours to get all that stuff in the computer! Whew! I told him that he better not ever let that much paperwork pile up again! LOL! It felt good to help him out though. He offered me money for helping, but I didn't accept it.
Anyway, we got back home this evening. I'm so tired though. I really should go on to bed. I know BG will be up bright and early tomorrow morning. However, I'm planning on taking both kids to the babysitter tomorrow so I can get a needed day to myself...it's due time. Ha!
My eating hasn't been that great. I was super motivated the other day to get back on track, but it has left me again. I'm going to try to lose 20lbs on that Halloween challenge though, so I need to stay on track. My goal is to lose 1 lb. a week which is totally doable.
QB - I hope you get to feeling better soon! There was a 24-hour stomach bug going around where I live. Everyone in my family got it. Thankfully, it was only one day of being sick.
Hot - I would get so frustrated because of not being able to find anything to wear there. I'm glad you found something though. I guess it's some good motivation to stay on track...because you know you can't buy any bigger clothes if you gain too much.
samma - LOL on the "working out" comment! It's definitely good exercise though. Haha! And woohoo on moving forward!! So exciting!
I had a bad eating day this weekend and am having some trouble getting over it at the moment...work's been stressful and I'm starting to get really lonely, so a few packs of koala march have snuck into my diet (koala march is a brand of tiny, chocolate-filled koala shaped/printed biscuits. They're unreasonably delicious, but at 270 calories for 50g, I really shouldn't be eating them). On the plus side, being lonely and stressed is a good excuse to go on angsty bike rides, so I've been exercising a lot. Not as much fun as samma's method, but there's not a lot that I can do when my boyfriend's 10,000 miles away :/
sgregg My older brother has a (holy crap, time's going fast) 6 month old daughter, and my parents (first-time grandparents) are OBSESSED. My dad will randomly show up at my brother's house and demand to see his granddaughter, then play and giggle with her until they both fall asleep. I'm sure that he can't wait until Peyton is old enough to beg to go to grandpa's house
Hot - how sweet! And yes, my parents eat it up too...they just love having all the kids over. Don't beat yourself up over the "bad" eating...tomorrow is a new day and you can always start over. Those koala things sound good though. Haha! And good job on exercising when bored. Better than what I do...which is eat...ugh! I just saw that your bday was August 11th. Mine is the 12th!
I have done well today with my eating. Well, I'm actually a good bit under my goal, but I plan on having a snack later, so it's all good. I've been using myfitnesspal and it says that I can have 1800 calories to lose 1 lb. a week! I think that's a way too much, but oh well. We shall see. If I lose my 1 lb. by next week, then I'll be happy. And if I lose more (since I doubt I'll eat that much when I'm paying attn to what is going in my mouth) I won't complain.
DH goes back to work tomorrow. But it is time...we need some money to pay the bills.
Still no calls for interviews...it's just a waiting game...sigh...
sgregg the party sounds nice! very thoughtful of the people that gave you gifts.
hotaruchan oh man. those koala biscuits sound yummy! glad they aren't here. what does your screen name mean, btw? I'm so curious!
can i just add that i'm a little jealous of the fun way samma gets to "exercise"? hahaha
Thank you for the well wishes. I'm still not feeling great, but I'm going back to work tomorrow anyway. I'd rather take another day but I feel like I'm being a big inconvenience if I stay home again. it's a weird congested/stuffy/run down/fever cold. medicine just isn't pulling its weight, which is a bummer.
I usually try to grab hotaru (which means 'firefly' in Japanese...as Firefly was my favorite TV show ever and I was a Japanese major, it's a nice little compromise between my interests), but more often than not, it's already taken. -chan is a diminutive added to names, usually for children or girls...so together it kinda-sorta means "little firefly."
Oh man, here I go returned here with my tail in between my legs! I've abandoned the chat thread for so long =(. Thanks for making it samma!
My life had a few ups and downs over the last month. Firstly I didn't get the Interac job to teach in Japan, because they had filled their non-driving positions. I thought well THANKS for interviewing me knowing full well I can't drive people! So that really threw my plan off, because Interac were supposed to be my backup! I felt really down about it for a while, but then I got a surge of positivity and created a new plan for myself.
I'm basically going to get a working holiday visa which allows me to live and work in Japan for a year. I'm going to move in with my boyfriend at the beginning, find a job then find my own apartment (his has literally enough room for 1 person, definitely not 2!). I'm still a standby for JET, but I emailed them asking if I could get a working holiday visa and they said wait until July 12th (which is when orientation is in London) and then apply for one. So that was nice and honest of them. So who knows, I might actually still get JET, but if not it's not stopping me!
I handed in my resignation at work, I finish on July 5th. Then on the same day I've got a holiday in Menorca with my family, we've got a villa with a pool and we're close to the beach. So that'll be a week in the heat doing nothing but relaxing. It's going to be really nice just relaxing and not having to worry about going back to work! After that I'm going to go go go with moving to Japan. Such as go to London to get my work visa, close bank accounts, phone contracts, get suitcases, get smart clothes, pack up my entire room and either put things into storage or pack them to take with me. It's going to be crazy.
I get a little scared sometimes. Especially since I'm so comfortable here, I've got great friends, great family. My job is easy and has amazing people (but definitely not paid well) so it's easy to get settled in a situation like this. But I know this is what I have to, and want to do. It's an exciting journey, an amazing experience and I can't wait to go! I'll definitely leave in August, with or without a job offer. Crazy times!
My weight is still on a stall of around 154-152 lbs. I think when I see 151 lbs I'll be over the moon! I've gone about 3 weeks without working out which is awful. I had one super busy week at work then the weather got ridiculously rainy and alll excuses are pouring out! I just wasn't making the time. But now that hours at work are terrible I've kick started my routine again. I want to look good in my bikini on holiday!
I'm running and also doing Jillian Michaels Making The Cut circuit training workout which is really hard. It's kind of like Insanity, but more static weight lifting too. It's a good mix of cardio moves with weight lifting and also crunches! I haven't done a crunch in AGES! I love feeling my abs burn =D.
That's all I can think of to rant about, thanks for reading, I look forward to keeping up to date with you lovely ladies!
Last edited by Riestrella; 06-19-2012 at 05:33 AM.
Rie - good to see you back in the chat thread!! You have had a lot going on! I'm sure something will work out for you in Japan. That's such a big step in life...GOOD FOR YOU for taking the step!!
QB - Hopefully you will get over that cold in a few days. They can seem to last forever sometimes. (((hugs)))
So, I stayed under my calorie goal yesterday. Actually too far under, but it was under. And the scale was down this mornings, so that's a great thing to see when you are trying to eat less to lose!
No plans for today besides getting this messy house in order. DH went back to work today, which I'm thankful for since I can't seem to get anything done with him around. Hopefully, BG will let me get some stuff done. She can be a handful sometimes.
Rie has been a busy lady indeed! That's too bad about your backup plan, but good for you for making a new goal instead of letting it stop you! I'm sure you'll do great things in Japan. When you get nervous, just remember: it's not like you have to live there forever. Try it out. Give it a year or so. At the very least you're getting new experiences. That's what I told myself when I moved from Louisiana to Virginia.
sgregg thank you! Today's been the first day without a fever, so that's good. I'm still a little woozy/out of it, but I feel much more like myself.
Good luck getting the house in order! That was my weekend plan....to tackle my closet...guess that will be pushed back to another weekend. Darn...too bad....*giggle*
So....I do have another grumble about this whole "cold/not feeling well" business. My roommate knew that I wasn't feeling well this weekend. Except for offering me some medicine Friday night (which I declined because I already had medicine) she did not ask me even ONCE if there was anything she could get for me or if I was feeling any better. Not once! We've lived together for a year and a half now. I thought we were at least good enough friends where she could offer to pick me up a can of soup. I'd certainly do the same for her.
She had a boy in town visiting but it still ruffled my feathers that she didn't even pause to send a quick text my way saying "hey, can I get you anything while we're out?" After basically eating nothing but crackers for all of Saturday I called a friend of mine on Sunday to see if he could get me a few cans of soup and some popsicles.
Part of me wants to tell her (in a totally non-confrontational way) "hey, I know you were busy with [boy], but it hurt my feelings that you didn't check to see how I was feeling at all this weekend." but I'm not sure that it'll do any good.
Sorry to be a Debbie Downer.
Last edited by Quiet Ballerina; 06-19-2012 at 01:01 PM.
QB - Maybe she never had anyone offer her anything while sick? I know my mom was never the thoughtful type when it came to us being sick or getting hurt. She would make us things to eat and such, but she never was ... how can I say it without sounding like she was horrible ... sensitive about it? I mean she cared about us, but she didn't go out of her way to help us feel better. Unfortunately, for my kids I am the same way just because I was never raised that way. My friend, on the other hand, is very thoughtful and is always offering a helping hand no matter what...that's just how she is. I'm not saying that you should excuse your friend's behavior, I'm just saying that she may not have realized that it kinda offended you. So, maybe you should say something...just to make her realize that when her friends are feeling bad, maybe she should act a little concerned? I don't know...how dramatic is she? I would hate for you to say something and then she blow all up. Some people just couldn't care about it...ya know? My hubby would get mad if I tried to say something about being sensitive to my needs. Mainly because he's a "man" and they don't care about all the ooey gooey feelings stuff...Haha!!
I just have to share! We just booked tickets for cirque du soleil's zumanity for our August Vegas trip. On it's own already pretty exciting. But we got a good deal on the duo couch seats! So we'll be sitting on a red satin couch for two, with our own personal bar waitress RIGHT in front of the stage. Apparently people sitting in the couches get pulled up on stage to be part of the act.
Yay motivation to look fabulous for Vegas, standing on stage with all those muscular acrobat types haha
Riestrella: Never fear...there's way more opportunities to find jobs once you're actually in Japan. When I was in America trying to find a job, I'd go on gaijinpot almost every day, inevitably fall in love with a posting, only to scroll to the bottom and see "APPLICANTS MUST CURRENTLY RESIDE IN JAPAN." AUGH. A lot of companies are willing to renew visas but don't want to sponsor them initially because some ALTs take positions as a way into the country then flake out. If you're on standby for JET, congrats! I applied to JET once then realized the day after I got confirmation that the application had arrived that I'd left out a page of my transcript and therefore was ineligible. I think I had a pretty good chance too
I'm on with Interac now...they're pretty good, but if you're on deck for JET, you're much better off with that. JETs get better pay and benefits, not to mention much better support. I just kinda got dumped in the middle of nowhere, but the JETs in the area have a whole system set up with extra training, events, and ways to meet up with each other coming out of their ears...I joined a Gunma ALT facebook group made up mostly of JETs, but so far it's only succeeded in making me insanely jealous...Having said all of this, major kudos to you for having the guts to make such a big life change! It was scary enough for me to go into it with a job lined up and waiting for me. You, ma'am, are a badass.
Ballerina: *pixel hugs* I'd get you soup if I knew you irl...your room mate was probably just busy and not thinking at 100%. I know that I get frazzled when trying to plan a visit.
Katbot: SO JEALOUS. I really want to see Cirque...they used to have a show at my university almost every year, but unfortunately tickets always sold out really fast and I could never afford them...
Trancedreamer: Welcome!
Last edited by Hotaruchan; 06-20-2012 at 04:52 AM.
I bought a bikini for the first time in 2 years yesterday! Here it is:
Unfortunately I have GIANT boobies, I'm a 32HH, so I have to buy special bikinis with cup sizes. The whole thing came to £50...which is ridiculous for 2 pieces of material but I have no bikinis so it had to be done. I took an old bikini to my trip to America this year and it was shocking how bad it fit! It was nice in a way since it's because I lost weight.
I'm hovering around 152.4 lbs again...the lowest I've gotten in the last few months is 152.2 lbs so I'm really hoping with some dedication and hard work I can make it to 151 lbs. It's not really a milestone, but it sorta is after this stall! I think it's the longest I've ever stalled before! GOTTA BREAK THROUGH!
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sgregg - Thank you! It's really amazing the support I've been getting from people. One girl at work said to me recently "oh wow, you're life is so exciting!" It was probably one of the best compliments I've ever got! Congrats on the loss! I love seeing the scales go down. Now if I could just get past 152.2 lbs that'd be GREAT! =p
QB - You're definitely right, it's not like I'm chained to the ground once I arrive! Sorry that you're sick ;_;. I would try and not take your room mate to heart, some people simply aren't as nice and considerate as others but you can't hold it against them. My family has no sympathy for each other when we get sick! I'll get my dinner brought up to me but I don't get checked on. If she was with a boy too, she probably just got all wrapped up in that too. It's hard when you think "well I would do that if she was sick" but again - people are different! My boyfriend was shocked when he was sick because I was super attentive and always asking him what he needs, his parents used to just leave him to it. So if I were you I wouldn't take it personally =)
Katbot - Oh wow, Vegas is amazing! I went to see their 'O' performance and it was spectacular. Can't believe you're near the front! Do you have a goal weight to reach before your trip?
trance - Hello! DAYUM you've made amazing progress over the years! Good for you and congratulations!
Hotaruchan - Oh man I have this AWFUL habit of going on gaijinpot and looking at the jobs and thinking "that's perfect!" then realising it's probably not going to be there when I arrive =(. But thanks for all your support, it's really nice hearing it from someone who's over there! My boyfriend is with Interac too, he doesn't have much good to say about them =S. They do just plonk you into it and leave you to it huh? I know I sound like a downer but I don't think I'll get JET. It would be the golden ticket into Japan but I don't think I did well enough in the interview. But it gives me faith that despite my lack of teaching and Japanese experience combined with the fact I didn't do my best in the interview I still got on the reserve list!
Perhaps the Japan 3FCers can have a meet up sometime?! That'd be awesome! How long have you been in Japan for?
It WOULD be pretty fantastic to have a meetup. I've been here for about 3 months now this time around...before this I spent 5 months down in Kansai studying abroad. Unfortunately that means that most of my friends are an 8-hour night bus trip away, but it's nice at least having people on the same time zone to chat with online. A lot of people don't have any teaching experience coming into the ALT gig...I know that I didn't have any formal experience, and of the people I hung out with at orientation, only one guy had any formal training in education. Mostly they look for someone who's adaptive, upbeat, and ready to learn. Competition for JET is pretty intense, so you definitely should be proud that you're on a shortlist
I'm sure you'll get those last few pounds off soon...if all else fails, there'll probably a lot of walking around when you get to Japan...yay burning calories!
It WOULD be pretty fantastic to have a meetup. I've been here for about 3 months now this time around...before this I spent 5 months down in Kansai studying abroad. Unfortunately that means that most of my friends are an 8-hour night bus trip away, but it's nice at least having people on the same time zone to chat with online. A lot of people don't have any teaching experience coming into the ALT gig...I know that I didn't have any formal experience, and of the people I hung out with at orientation, only one guy had any formal training in education. Mostly they look for someone who's adaptive, upbeat, and ready to learn. Competition for JET is pretty intense, so you definitely should be proud that you're on a shortlist
I'm sure you'll get those last few pounds off soon...if all else fails, there'll probably a lot of walking around when you get to Japan...yay burning calories!
Oh wow, so you've not been there long at all. Were you in the March Interac orientation bunch then? Because my boyfriend was in that batch! It's a small world if so!
Yeah, it gives me hope that they're just looking for someone friendly. I've never actually been to Japan before but always wanted to go, so when I arrive I'll probably be in holiday mode and just want to see all the main sights that Tokyo has to offer!
I'm a bit concerned about eating healthily in Japan, do you have any tips?
But it is time...we need some money to pay the bills.
hahaha
Hopefully, BG will let me get some stuff done. She can be a handful sometimes.
