Aud - Sorry your feeling ughhhhh!!! I am happy to report, however, that I am feeling much, much better this morn! I drink an extreme amount of water and tea yesterday!!! I think that's what did it. Also, I only smoked about 5 cigs as to the pack a day my body is used to. Lastly, I did 30 min HIIT cardio in the a.m. I know they say you shouldn't workout sick...but I find that continuing with my cardio actually helped shake off that flem from my lungs...my lungs are much clearer today! Actually, I'm gonna do my 30 min HIIT in about a minute. Remember to drink plenty of fluids...and lemon..lemon...lemon... I don't know, but it's something about that fresh lemon for days that will cure you...I didn't take any medicine the whole time! Hope it works for you too...feel better.

Beachie!!!I will so miss you! Now I'm going to have to pop into the exercise thread (do I have to be exercise accountable then?). I too hope you will check in here from time to time.

Sorry the others have been sick. Gotta run.

ox
SC

FYI All - It's day 4 of my "Ripped" program and I haven't gotten on the scale yet, (my weigh-in is tomorrow), but I can tell you that I feel great and the mirror is showing me a drastic reduction in size (my pants that I wore at beginning of this week is literally falling off my a$$!) I'm certain that the scale is going to be good to me tomorrow! My body is definately starting to show more definition...and cuz I've been sick all week (upper respiratory), I've only done 10 min weight training and 30 min cardio per day (except for Monday I did 30 min in a.m. and 30 min. in pm). The pills are "all natural" supplements I found out...no pharmaceutical ingredients! I will let you all know. Joyce

Joyce, I sure wish you were here with me. I'm considered doing marble counter tops in the bathrooms and in the kitchen. I've already started taking up the kitchen linoleum. It was old and it is stuck pretty hard but is coming off OK. I sure wish now that I had bought me some knee pads (and butt pad, LOL) though. I realized this morning that I can get most of the kitchen done while DH is gone til next Tuesday. But, he will have to be here to move the refrigerator. That's one thing I can't do myself. My other appliances are all built-in and won't need moved.

Aud, sorry to hear that you are sick. Hoping you feel better soon.

The mid-west is getting hit big-time with an ice storm. I hope it misses my town.

Guess I'll get off here and take my dogs (that are whining) for their morning walk.

I've gotta send you some pics of my work...you would be floored!!! It's better than contractor work...believe me...like you said..YOU ARE THE ONE LIVING WITH IT...SO, OF COURSE YOU'LL BE MORE METICULOUS!! Same here.

Anyways...when I did the marble job in my bathroom...I did the countertops too! I could give you some good tips there. First, you'll need a rotozip...if you don't have one...it's a valuable tool, cuz it comes with diamond tip blade that will cut round shapes in marble...which is what you'll need to do countertops. Remember to measure first (from end to end)...you don't want to start the first piece (at 12") and end up with the last piece being only 3"...it will not look good to the eye! First you'll need to cover counter with 1/4" backerboard..then apply the marble to that...you will need to buy metal trim for edges. I will send you some pics of my bathroom countertop...it might give you more of a visual than just telling you. It won't be that hard if you have the rotozip...and it's look beautiful!!! Joyce

I really want to say TGIF, but lately Friday are killing me! It's my deadline day so all the time I spend goofing off all week comes back to haunt me! Then, we have a ballroom dance class Friday night, and I do the step class Friday a.m., so I'm physically tired too. I guess I can recover on Saturday, but I wish I had enuf energy to plan something fun for Sat. and Sun.!
The dance class is pretty fun and then we all go out to eat. Of course, I try to abstain from the beer! But last week I caved to a couple glasses of wine. I may do that again tonight. I can use a drink!!!
Or maybe I'm just tired from hearing about Bambi and Lily's home improvement projects. Carrying marble around, moving refrigerators! Wow. I know who to ask for advice the next time I can't get DH to agree to a do-it-yourself project! I've always wanted to be better at home repairs, maybe I'll get so inspired I'll go home and rip out the ugly backspalsh thing in the kitchen! Then I'll have to re-tile it! But it will finally match the rest of the kitchen! Or I can go home, suck down wine, and go to bed. hmmm, difficult choice.....

Here's a low-carb, effective idea for ya...why not go home...run a nice hot bath/jacuzzi, take a few melatonin pills or valerian (I prefer melatonin...it's natural) and put on some nice Barry White/Frank Sinatra...whatever relaxes you...or maybe light some nice candles in the bath...then you'll wind down from the stressful week and perhaps have some energy for Saturday! hey...let me know if this works...I only have time for showers unfortunately!!! Anyways...enjoy your weekend...Joyce

WWWWwhhhhhhaaaaa. I'm sick too. Woke up with the crud at 3:30 this morning (it is 6:07 now). We expect a huge storm today in No. Cal. Good day to stay home and cuddle in my blankie. I am hoping to feel better by 8:45 this morning though. There is a 9:15 bodypump class. Gotta shop for some food too!!!!

Have a great day all.

SC

Hello All!

Aud - Your not alone!!! Feel miserable today.

To make matters worse...as I posted yesterday..I was feeling much better...then I get a call from my daughter (21 yr old), she has 103 d temperature and is wheezing...so I rush to her house...take her to doctor, get her meds, pick up 2 grands from school, take daughter home and take grands to my now 9 yr old daughter's b'day party at Puck Puck! Then I take them to my house and try to put them to bed. Wait...doesn't stop here! Both kids are sick and are up all night...until finally, I give in and put them both in bed with me (which is about 10 feet high off the ground), and I could not sleep all night cuz I was afraid of one of them rolling off my bed! Whew!

To make matters tripple worse...TOM came and I'm crampin' out like you wouldn't believe (pleazzzze...someone put me out of my mysery!). Get on the scale for my weekly WI and, daaahhhh, of course I'm up 2 lbs!!! Can it get any worse???? Joyce

See what happens when you work too much? I feel so behind with everything thats going on and our Beachie is leaving us?!?! We BB, I of course wish you the best success and hope that whichever plan you choose works wonderfully for you. I know I will be looking forward to you "after" pics!

I am glad you're feeling better Joyce! Being sick sucks.... bad. I can't wait to hear the results of your first weigh in after starting your new plan. If you have good things to say, maybe I will check it out.

Lily it sounds like you have your hands full with all the home improvements. Your schedule makes me more tired than my own (well I don't know about that - but close!)

As for my own life - I am EXHAUSTED! I simply cannot work this second job on top of my already exhausting first job. Not to mention it barely pays anything. Luckily, my boss has offered me more time (from 35 to 40 hours) and that nearly makes up what I was making at my second job working 15-20 hours. Everything isn't all peachy with my main job though. One of my bosses sat down with me last week and basically told me she wants me to take over 3/4 of her job (on top of my normal job) and she and the owner would work out pay and we would talk about it next week (this Monday) because she was going out of town this week. Then, the owner comes to me earlier this week and says he was thinking of hiring someone else to fill that position (above me). I didn't say anything at the time, but waaaaait a minute buddy. I did not spend all this time at this job learning everything (with NO BENEFITS) in order to get the very next opportunity at advancement and have him give it to someone new. He is sadly mistaken and I will be telling him so if he tries to tell me that that is his plan. So hopefully I will have an update to give you on Monday. A GOOD ONE!

Anyway, hope you ladies are having a wonderful weekend!!! I'm off to look at a new condo.

Hey Crabby - Keeping my fingers crossed for ya! Let us know how things workout Monday! How's things going for you on the WOE'ng tip??? You look great in your new pic. So far this "ripped" program is working out great as far as the mirror is concerned, but since today is my first day (TOM), I can't really judge by the scale...as I'm bloated as ****! I guess I'll weigh-in next Saturday...when I'm done with the 21 day program...I'm going to post before/after pics...and then...you decide. My goal is to get "ripped"...by that I mean more definition in the legs/abs, etc. So far, I have a noticeable change in definition in my legs/abs. I've been sick the past week so I haven't really done the program to the T (i.e. skipped weight training and double cardio on 4 days), but I've done at least 30 HIIT cardio at least once every day....soooooo...we'll see. Joyce

Hi everyone, here's hoping all you gals that are sick get well soon.

I worked 9 hrs. yesterday painting the kitchen ceiling and the entire kitchen. Then it took me about an hour to get the paint off my body and out of my hair. But, thankfully it is finished now.

Joyce, do you have any tips on picking paint colors. I seem to have a problem with this. The laundry room and adjoining bathroom turned out a shade or 2 darker blue than I expected. Then the kitchen turned out a lighter shade of beige than I wanted. Dang it, I worked too hard and I'm not changing it now. I think maybe putting up a darker colored wallpaper boarder around the top of the kitchen would create more the look that I want. I will definitely want to see your pic's and will enlist your advice when we get ready to do any marble work. (which is pretty far down on my list ).

Today will be spent taking Lacy shopping for a prom dress. Gotta remember my money is reserved for home improvements and I can't afford to buy myself a bunch of clothes (which I always do).

As for my eating, yesterday well it plain sucked. Imagine having your cabinets and all kitchen counters and appliances covered with plastic while you are painting. At the time it just made sense to have pizza delivery. Now , I sure feel bloated and fat today.

Lily - Wow!!! I painted using colors all over my house (theme was peaches n' creme). The first color I used...I finished the whole living room only to decide that I absolutely hated it!!! A few days went by (hoping it would grow on me) and I just decided that I couldn't live with it. If that's the case...then heck...just prime over it and repaint it (your labor is free to you!) However, if you can live with the color try accentuating like you said...use darker trim or lighter trim to offset the dark colors...whatever you do...DON'T PAINT THE CEILINGS ANYTHING BUT WHITE!!!! Trust me...I had 14-16 foot ceilings and figured I could paint them peach like the walls cuz they were so high...not a good idea...ceilings always look best white! When trying new colors test a spot in the room and let it dry. LIGHTING has alot to do with how the color will show in that particular room. You could use the same exact paint color in two different rooms and cuz the lighting is different, it will appear to be different colors. Hope this helps! Joyce

Well, I fed, bathed, and medicated the grandkids and dropped this off with their mom (who, by the way is doing better today)...now...I'm ready to drop...pleazzzze...somebody help me through my 30 min HIIT cardio workout today!!! My energy (with TOM here and no sleep) is zapped! I don't care if I colapse afterwards...just someone send me some [[[[[energy vibes]]]]]!!! Joyce