Afternoon, chickies! Whew- finally got a break in the action here. I'm not sure I like being shadowed every waking hour I'm here. New Girl covers the front desk for the receptionist's lunch today, so I get about half an hour now where I'm alone, and loving every second of it! Freedom!
**** frolicking around the forum, and my cubicle ****
La la la la la la la! I'm unattended! And unsupervised! Woo Hoo! Happy No One Is Watching Dance!
I was going to get online last night and post the remaining recipes that I typed up from the house this weekend, but when I got home, the BellSouth dude was outside our house, which can never be good news! Of course, they once again cut the phone lines to the house, this time, while they were planting some new hedging so that we'd have some privacy from the main road after everything blew down during Hurricane Wilma. We had phones back late last evening, but it is ALWAYS an adventure!
Food- bad today- forgot to bring in Zone bars for the breakfast of champions, and then the New Girl dragged me out to lunch at Chilis. I had the grilled chicken breast sandwich, but I only ate half the bun, and took off the bacon (left the cheese, though). And thankfully, the french fries were overly done & dark brown, so I was only tempted to eat the few lightest ones. I know we're not doing anything for Valentine's Day tonight- it's a "school night" so we'll postpone until the weekend, and do something up at the new house. Whew- already Tuesday, and we are HALFWAY THROUGH the dang month already. I'm not 92, time should not be whizzing by like this!
Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! Here's lots and lots of love for all the chickies who I couldn't do this without, for all their love and friendship and support, always!
a bit unmotivated! I guess it IS Valentine's Day, so does that give me an excuse??? LOL! Eating has been horrific for a week...I've got to stop this now! Exercise...non existant! The foot's been bothering me again a bit at night and I haven't felt much like doing anything once I get home...sound familiar??? This is a cycle for me...and I'm in the midst of the downward part right now...I've got to get out this instant!
I am going to try to get up early tomorrow and at least do some Tai Chi. My back has been quite achy lately at night...probably just arthritis, but maybe some stretching would help! Work's been exhausting (as usual) and I had to give two back to back inservices today and somehow fit in an activity for the residents...PLUS it was Valentine's Day! Phew! Thank goodness for my assistant! She saves my butt more than not! They are having a Valenine's/Pizza Party tonight and she's doing it! I'm too tired, anyway, but would have gone if I had to!
I'm off to go watch some TV (American Idol tonight!) and then hit the bed early!
Elisha...so glad you are in your new house (almost). Get some much needed rest and don't worry about us chickens!
Jennifer...Girl...I'll bet you can't wait to get in your new home! One thing after another! Thanks for posting the recipes. Catch you soon!
Lisa girl...SNOW??? Looks like MIchigan is not the only one in the deep freeze, huh? Way to go on all those classes and exercise! You are gonna be a hot momma this summer!
OK, so I was AWOL again yesterday. I took off from work and spent the day curled up in bed with my bottle of Vicks 44 and a box of tissues. I do feel better today though, if still not 100%. I think I just needed some rest, as I didn’t manage to get any this weekend. I was asleep around 9.30 last night, and tonight will hopefully be another early night for me.
I did drink a lot of water yesterday, which was surprising since I was at home (we had nothing else to drink in the house), but good nonetheless. I was thirsty all day! And (here’s a bit of trivia for you), your body can be 50-75% dehydrated before you even feel thirsty at all, so I know I needed that water. I’ll keep it up today.
I ate too much yesterday though. It was one of those days where the only thing in my head was food, what I could eat and how much and when, what it would taste like. And once I got started I just couldn’t stop. I resisted a few things, like the tortilla chips and salsa con queso, but I indulged in a few other things, like bread and butter and caramel Hershey kisses.
But the scale is at 214.4 today, still up from the beginning of the month (by a pound), but down from where it was Monday morning, so it’s ok. Then I go and get breakfast at Hardee’s this morning, including orange juice instead of my usual coffee. But lunch is a Lean Cuisine Panini (have you tried those yet? They are SO good!), my afternoon snack will be dried apricots, and dinner… who knows?
Our new stove got delivered yesterday. I’m so excited to cook on it, and with my fancy new cookware that I’ve been saving until we got in our new house. We still don’t have our bed there, so we’re still staying with my parents for the moment. We’re planning to start staying there Friday. I can’t wait!
Anyway, I’ve got a bunch of stuff to do today, after being out yesterday, so I’d better get going. Have a good one, chicks!
~Elisha
WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT'S WEDNESDAY??!?!! Seems like I have been going in circles doing a hundred little errands.....sheesh! I had to stop tonight and get my car headlight fixed and the oil changed......for what I hope will be the last time! DH has been taking the 'new' car out and getting fluids changed, belts replaced....all the stuff that has gone to pot just setting for the past 3 years!
Julie....Try putting your plan down on paper. Somehow that always gives me someting concrete to refer to when I get off track.
Elisha....So sorry you have been sick, especially in what should be a most exciting time for you. What are you going to cook on that new stove? We will be expecting some wonderful recipes!
Lisa....Snow! Hasn't the weather been strange this year? The last weather report said that tonight and tomorrow we would get snow and freezing rain.....the commute in will be a challenge tomorrow!
Jennifer......I was hoping you would have NewGirl trained and chained to her own desk by now! Thanks for posting the recipes!
TBJ......I know you are studying hard, so I won't interrupt.....except to say YouGoGirl!
This week has been so hectic, I really don't know where I am with the diet program! Food is been okay, as has been the water.....could stand some more work in the exercise department though. (I did 30 minutes WATP tonight to get back on track) I am so tired, I think I will turn in early....
Last night ended up being the elliptical for 25 min! Tonight was a yoga class. Exercise has been great, but food just so/so..I've dipped into the flex points for some chocolate. So..I'm still technically on track. But-what's a girl to do when she has 3 boys bringing home all kinds of goodies from school??? Add in a DH that is a teacher bringing home stuff also. Today, I went to see DH at school and he said, "Here..take this...I am about to eat it..." (It was a Snickers bar given to him by a student). I handled it like a smoking gun...shoved it in my purse, and then took it to the preschool with me. Thought I would give it away, but no one wanted it. Come to think of it..it is still in there!! Yikes! I need to sling it into the dumpster.
MsRd- way to go with getting back on track with the WATP! You go girl!
Julie- How was your day?? Feeling more motivated? You can do this .
Elisha- I sure hope you feel better soon. You need to show us some updated pics of the new house. I'm so happy for you!
Jennifer- You made me crack up describing your dancing around the cubicle! LOL!!
Well...I'm off to unload the dishwasher..and the dryer...and the kids' bookbags, etc. etc. etc.!!!
Wheee! I have a 10 minute break in the action. We're working on the last of our State Farm Hurricane Wilma claim, and someone had better fork over a big old check in a hurry! LOL.
Today has been another comedy of errors. NewGirl got her laptop today, and then needed help setting things up, so that was part of my day. And they made the announcement that they are closing down several support centers for the bank, so that's going to impact us slightly. Well, more than slightly. Too early to get too aggravated, but what can you do?
Got home, hubby killed an hour while I nagged at him to get to Office Depot. I don't know about other areas of the country, but here, if it is after 5pm, suddenly there's no one with any kind of authority whatsoever. Anywhere. And the hired help...well, run amock. After looking at the furniture last week, and deciding, and telling hubby to go ahead and order it, he procrastinated, ticked me off, and for the first time, it worked out to our advantage, because this week, there is FREE assembly with purchases of furniture, etc. Cool deal. That let us buy 2 other pieces with the $$ we saved on assembly. Now sure, we could put it together ourselves, but if you remember the bed fiasco, and hubby's attempt to remove all toes from my feet...it makes more sense for the pros to do it. And, if they break it, they have to replace it, which is the real reason I don't want to mess with an entire business office full of furniture.
After 2 hours in the store, and despite managers assertions that we can have delivery & assembly on the same day, after payment is rendered, they try to deliver on Monday, assemble on Thursday. Um, no- I only have off on Monday for the holiday. No can do. Can't be there during the day. And cannot expect hubby to cancel appointments & do that 2 days during the week. Pissing contest ensues. Husband ticked. Husband stands & is MUCH larger / taller than young gentleman helping us. Long story short, manager has to come in to the store from home, and call us after having made specific arrangements to have someone there on Tuesday afternoon, guaranteed. So help me, if this ends up like the Cable Guy from 2 weeks ago....office supplies for everyone from Jennifer Depot!
Gotta call tech support for my work laptop tomorrow, too- for some reason, the "Company Proprietary Dial Up Software Thingie" doesn't like my password, since I haven't had to use it in a year. So, this past weekend's attempt to get online was foiled by my own lack of use, and not some complicated other issue. If I am spending 4 days up there (and 2 without cable- maybe more if I get stood up AGAIN on Saturday) I must have a lifeline to somebody!
Missing everyone! (((( ))))))) I need to get in here and leave comments, if I ever get 10 minutes of peace. It's hump day, chickies....almost made it through another week!
I'd like to join your group. Seems like a very motivated group and honest about life styles , changes etc. Recently I added walking to my weekly exercising and its really got me motivated. I also have a friend who has gotten more interested in changing her lifestyle after her stroke at 46 yrs.old. So together we are exercising with walking. I also belong to a gym and this week have tried to fit that in as well. Since sunday I have walked a total of 10.75 miles. We have a lovely state park with a small lake and then a bigger one. We walk the trails around the lake and it adds up to 4.0 miles. There are other trails and next wk. if weather permits we will go on them more hills etc.. I am trying to stay with in 1500 calories a day, make healthy choices increase veggies, fruits limit breads etc. I also switched to green tea in the afternoon while others have coffee. Changes of course are never easy for any of us but if we do them for at least 10 days it becomes more of a routine.
My reward for reaching my goal will be my trip to see my son and daughter in law in Hawaii 3/9th. So I have reason to be motivated. I want to look good while there and be healthy to do lots of adventurous things. Kayaking, hiking, swimming and of course walking daily when I can fit it in. I have set a goal of 10 miles a wk. and 1500 cals. a day, in hopes to lose 4 lbs. before my trip. My scale day is on friday thats when the white square come out of the closet. Good luck everyone and I look forward to sharing and learning along the way with all of you.
cacmsc! We’d love to have you join our group! The more the merrier! It sounds like you’ve got a good plan in place. A trip to Hawaii sounds like great motivation! Best of luck meeting your goals.
Jennifer: I hope everything starts going a little more smoothly with your moving process. We’re supposed to get cable installed on Tuesday, after moving in tomorrow, and I think Steve will very likely go crazy without cable and internet if it takes any longer. Me… eh. I’ll be too busy cooking to notice!
Lisa: Snickers bar = smoking gun… too funny! I wouldn’t be so strong… Snickers are my favorite. You’ve been doing so well with exercise… Keep up the good work, chick! I’ll post some pics eventually, probably when we get our internet and computers set up at home.
MsRD: I’m going to use this opportunity to try a bunch of new recipes. The first one I’m going to try is my improvised version of the Lean Cuisine Thai-style chicken I so dearly love. If it turns out worth eating, I’ll post the recipe (though I can’t guarantee it will be healthy). I have a ton of cookbooks, but have rarely had the chance to use them. I hope to start doing so.
Julie: You and I seem to be in the same low part of the cycle right now. I just don’t feel like doing anything healthy, and I know that is not where I need my mind to be. We can break out of it—we have to!
TBJ: I know you’re busy studying, but I hope you’re remembering to take care of yourself physically as well as mentally.
Betani:
OK, so what about me? I’m still sick. I feel sicker today than I did yesterday. Food is still not good, though it’s slightly better than it has been. Water’s ok, but no exercise. I’ll start walking once we officially move. If the weather permits, that is, but I’m not really holding my breath for that.
The good thing is, we’ll have to go to the grocery store this weekend, and I don’t intend to buy unhealthy foods. Steve is on-board with this, so I hope it goes smoothly. We’ve decided that we’re going to have Easter dinner at our house, and I want to find and test some healthy recipes. As I was telling MsRD, I have so many cookbooks, and most of them are healthy, and I really want to try a lot of new recipes. If I’m going to make this diet thing a lifestyle change, I’ve got to learn to cook a little differently. Luckily for me, I love to cook (especially since I have all new cooking stuff), so it will be fun.
It’s supposed to start snowing and be nasty again here tomorrow, so I’m going to try to pack up a bunch of stuff and take it to our house tonight. All week I’ve been kind of hesitant—what if we need something?—but since we’re moving tomorrow, there’s not really much I could need. I’m just feeling a bit overwhelmed right now. We’ve got so much stuff, and so much to do. *sigh* Well, it has to be done eventually. And I guess I’m not really in any hurry… Mom’s not going to throw our stuff our onto the lawn or anything.
OK, I’m going to stop rambling now and get some work done. Have a good one, chicks.
~Elisha
Well, I'm still here. The scale is holding steady at 214.4, though I'm not sure how that's possible with the way I've been eating. But I'm not complaining. I'll just sit here eating my bagel slathered with cream cheese and drinking my nice sugary vanilla-caramel latte.
But I know I need to get back to healthier eating. How do I know this? Well, there's logic, of course, but there's something else as well: my skin feels icky. I figured it was because I've been sick and dehydrated, but I'm feeling better now and I've been chugging the water, and it still feels icky. And to top it off, I used my thermal exfoliator this morning, which usually makes my skin feel like silk... still icky. Now if that's not a sure sign I need to behave in a healthier manner, I don't know what is.
So tonight we're officially moving into our house. Steve is supposedly moving more stuff today, and I'm planning to fix dinner there. On the menu: grilled salmon, linguine with bearnaise sauce, spinach, most likely some wine, and hopefully some form of dessert (this will be our Valentine's Day dinner). Yeah, I know, not particularly healthy, but it's still healthier than ordering a pizza, which is very likely the alternative.
Tomorrow will be more moving and and the end of the painting, and probably something not terribly healthy for dinner (burgers or sloppy joes--something easy to fix a lot of). After that... who knows. Lots of stuff to do this weekend.
Sunday, if there's time, I'm hoping to go to a bridal show nearby, and bowling in the evening. I guess we'll see.
Anyway, I'm rambling. I need to get to work. Have a good day, chicks.
~Elisha
Betani, I urge you to go and see your doctor, either your OB/GYN or your G.P. Depression is a tough thing to go through-I speak from experience. There are a lot of options for you ..your doctor can be a terrific source, even if you can't afford therapy. Perhaps some of your area churches offer some type of counseling services? At any rate, don't try to make a go of this alone. (((((Betani))))). Your post brought tears to my eyes..I've been in a similar state, and it is pure ****. Take care chickie, and please let us know how you are doing.
just reading and comtemplating! Been a busy week and I'll be gone all weekend! Know I am thinking of you all! Gotta get my butt back on track cause I'm up a pound! Yikes!
I'm beginning to return to normal. So much junk going on, though. The VFH (Vendor From ****) has the audacity to accuse me of re-using a purchase order to change the ISBN of a book we've been having problems with. I won't bore you with details, but what they accused me of doing is literally IMPOSSIBLE for me to do in the first place! Our computer system would probably explode if I tried to do what they said I did.
Aside from that, I was very close to losing my job (indirectly, and it's still not out of the question) because of massive incompetence from the county tax assessors office. You may have seen it on TV, as I think it made it to national news. A house downtown got assessed at 400 million dollars by mistake. Yes, million. Yes, 400. It would have been a horrible mistake if it was assessed at $400,000. So, the library system has to pay back $73,000 from what we already got, the budget was already cut by $120,000 and will now be cut again by an additional $180,000. That's not even mentioning the $1.2 million the schools have to pay back, and the $5 million the city has to pay back. Please permit me to scream: HOW THE **** DID NO ONE CATCH THAT MISTAKE BEFORE THE TAX MONEY WAS PAID OUT?!?!?!?!
*deep breath*
Ok. I'm calmer now.
I'm not excusing my binging, but can you see how I slipped? I've struggled with depression in the past, and still do, but I'm sure that this bout is purely situational.
Ok, I have to end this thing on a positive note. Through all this insanity, I've been able to maintain my library laps each workday at lunch time, and I've even graduated to 20 minutes. So there.
Well, we’re all moved in. Or at least mostly. Still a few things to move, but nothing drastically important. And we’re officially living in our new house! It’s so exciting! So far I’m doing really well at keeping everything clean and tidy, putting things away when I am done with them, etc. That may not sound like much, but honestly I’m not used to it. I even made my bed this morning, and that *never* happens! I want to stay in the habit though.
Our cable is getting installed tomorrow, so we’ll have high-speed internet at home, finally. And we’re bringing our cats either tonight or tomorrow. And we’re hopefully getting our puppy sometime this week.
Of course, eating hasn’t been great. Not terrible, but not great. And I think my scale may be “broken.” One of the legs got lost, and it doesn’t seem to be calibrating correctly now. *sigh* So I haven’t gotten to weigh. I’m going crazy!
But! I do have that recumbent bike now, and we’re hoping to move my weight machine this weekend, so it’s all good. Plus I’ll have to walk our puppy! We’re in desperate need of a trip to the grocery store, so we’ll have to do that in the next few days. All I want to do right now though, is sleep.
Tonight I have to make a quick run to my parents’ house to pick up some more stuff (can you believe that I actually forgot to bring my makeup?!), then it’s home to make dinner and do laundry and put away more boxes of random stuff. There are not enough hours in the day! But hopefully I will get to bed at a reasonable hour tonight. It will help that I got to work early today, so I can leave a little early.
OK, my mom just called, and I completely lost my train of thought, so I guess I’ll cut this off. Have a good day, chicks!
Hi all you chickies!
I feel like I have been MIA for a while. I was gone for the weekend, so no posts then, but really super busy last week's end! CRAZY!
Food this past weekend was NOT good (well, it was good...just too much of it!) and there was NO exercise unless you count loading and reloading and unloading the car a bunch of times with my sister's catering stuff!
Today I'm home with DD (day off) and I have the stomach crud! I was set to go to work thinking my tummy stuff was just "food related" but after spending more time IN the bathroom than out of it...I realized I needed to call work...If I'm feeling better by noon, I will go in then! Blech!
Did you all check out this new "smiley"?
I LOVE that!!! That's for those of us who are lacking some motivation these days!! (Would that be EVERYONE???)
Of course, they once again cut the phone lines to the house, this time, while they were planting some new hedging so that we'd have some privacy from the main road after everything blew down during Hurricane Wilma. We had phones back late last evening, but it is ALWAYS an adventure!
Here's lots and lots of love for all the chickies who I couldn't do this without, for all their love and friendship and support, always! 
cacmsc! We’d love to have you join our group! The more the merrier! It sounds like you’ve got a good plan in place. A trip to Hawaii sounds like great motivation! Best of luck meeting your goals.
