Hello all!

Here it is the 20th and I am fighting that dreaded 3rd and 4th week of the month doldrums.....you know, when I eat mindlessly and lose all of the ground I have gained this month. That might come in handy about now!

Elisha.....it must be wonderful to be in your own house finally! Eventually, everything will find its own place and you can settle down into some kind of routine.

Betani......Take a deep breath, chickie.....let it go. Close your eyes and repeat after me "calm blue ocean calm blue ocean calm blue ocean"

Julie....So sorry you have been sick. There is a lot of miscellaneous crud going around......everything from annoying little colds to the full blown flu. Take care of yourself!

Cacmsc...... We are always glad to see new faces! You have quite a good exercise routine.....and keeping those calories down to 1500! you will see success in no time!

I did weigh in on Saturday.....and was down another 2 pounds. Really don't know how that is happening, as the eating and exercise have been sporadic at best! I made a doctors appointment for next week for a physical.. ...haven't had one in a while, so best get it done.

Morning chicks!

Well, what to say today? Nothing different from yesterday. Don’t have my computer set up, so I haven’t been tracking my food intake. No exercise. Water was decent yesterday though, as I was at work and drink water all day. Today will be more of the same, only hopefully my intake will be better. I didn’t get enough sleep last night either, but tonight I am planning not to do much of anything all evening and go to bed early. I’ll put a few things away tonight, but that’s about it. There may be a bubble bath involved.

And Steve is supposed to hook up my computer today. We’re having cable and internet installed today, but I won’t have my computer hooked to the internet for a few more days while we wait for our wireless router we ordered to arrive. But I will have Steve’s computer to use for internet purposes, and my computer to use for everything else, so I can start logging again. Of course, my scale still doesn’t work right, so I can’t weigh. *sigh* I don’t know what I’m going to do about that. I can’t really afford to buy a new scale at the moment.

We had a little disappointment yesterday. Steve and I decided long ago that when we got our house we would get a puppy. A few weeks ago we found an adorable cocker spaniel mix puppy. I email the lady that had her a number of times, and told her about our situation and said that we would prefer to be moved in before we took the puppy. She said that was fine and that she would keep her for us and that there was no rush. Yesterday I emailed her to make arrangements and I get a reply saying that she’s already given her away. Apparently she had some health problems and couldn’t take care of her, but I had told her that if she needed us to take the puppy sooner we could. Instead of letting us know so we could work something out, she just gives her away and doesn’t even tell us.
*shakes her head*
But, we will find another puppy. Somewhere out there is a puppy just waiting to come and live with us. It’s just like the situation with the house: the one that is supposed to work out, will work out.

I’m such a fatalist. Everything happens for a reason.

It just occurred to me that whenever I say “everything happens for a reason,” Steve looks at me like I’m an idiot and thinks it’s the dumbest theory he’s ever heard. But when I say “the one that is supposed to work out, will work out,” he smiles and nods and agrees.
*rolls her eyes*
Men.

So eating yesterday wasn’t terrible, but it could have been better. We still need to go to the grocery store. Food today will be decent. Breakfast was peanut butter on whole wheat toast, lunch is some Italian wedding soup and FF Pringles, and I have another ½ pb on whole wheat sandwich for a snack.

I’m so excited that tonight I can just go home right after work and relax. I need to do the laundry that I didn’t do yesterday, but that’s not too bad. I’ll sort it all out when I get home, then put the first load in while I’m cooking dinner. Laundry doesn’t bother me, since I don’t actually have to sit there and do something the entire time. And it will be nice to have clean clothes. And I’ll actually put stuff away. We’ve been living out of storage bins and boxes for the past few days. Besides that, my coffee mug just decided to start leaking, and now I have those little drops of coffee all over my shirt. Bah.

Ugh… ok, I actually have stuff to do today, so I need to get to work. Have a good day, chicks.
~Elisha

I really suck at posting. I won't even try to catch up. And life has gotten so burdensome I'd rather just pull the cover over my eyes. In a nutshell, bills, bills, arguments, bickering and confusion. Yup that sums up my life in the past few weeks. To top it off I've been gaining. Not sure why, as I'm still recording my food, trying to exercise and well yeah the water is off. What to do..what to do...i dont know what to do LOL

Morning chicks!

Well, we finally have cable and internet at our house. So what did I do last night? I plunked my butt right down on the couch and watched some tv, of course! And I plan to do more of the same tonight. I did get some laundry done, and some stuff put away, but not all of either. I’ll try to finish up at least the laundry, if not the stuff putting away, this evening.

Today I am dragging. I could have used another 3 hours of sleep. I was up too late, of course, and up too early. I’m aiming to climb into bed around 9 tonight, but I’m not making any promises.

Steve wants to go get out cats tonight. Yesterday he went and bought new dishes, food, litter box, etc, even though we could have brought all that stuff from my parents house. I don’t know if that will happen. We’ll see.

While we technically have internet, my computer is not hooked up to it yet, which is kind of annoying. We’re still waiting for the router for that, so it will be another couple of days (hopefully not any longer than that). That’s probably good though, else I would never get anything done. I’m too addicted to online trivia. I’m in 2nd place, you know.

I weighed myself this morning. My scale said 157-163. That’s my ultimate goal. Maybe I’ll just keep this scale, it’s a lot nicer than it used to be. Anyone else want to come weigh at my house? Hehe…

Seriously though, I was going to reset my DietPower this morning, but I don’t want to do that until I can weigh properly, and who knows when that will be. So I’ve decided that until I can get a new scale, I’m going to start keeping track of my intake with pen and paper.

That’s mostly because I am much more conscious of what I am eating when I track it. Lately I have just felt like a bottomless pit, eating anything and everything I can get my hands on. Last night for dinner I had a frozen burrito, a sloppy joe, and 3 slices of cornbread with a ton of butter, plus some SF butterscotch pudding for dessert. And I wanted to keep eating. I wasn’t remotely hungry after that, but if I had let myself I could have kept right on going. I don’t need to eat that much.

Hopefully that will slack off, or at least be replaced by healthier selections, once we get some groceries. Right now we only have random food in the house, so it’s difficult to be healthy. But we have got to get groceries this weekend. We both get paid on Friday, so we’ll probably go to the store then. And I want to do some advance cooking this weekend for the upcoming week, perhaps trying out some new recipes. If I come up with anything good, I’ll post it.

Anyway, I need to get cracking. Stuff to do. Have a good one, chicks.
~Elisha

Evening, chickies! I'm back from an extended weekend at the new house. Elisha- I'm glad you have cable & Internet, because at the townhouse, cable is out ONCE AGAIN! At least this time, after nearly being stood up on Saturday, I called & they sent someone at 5:15 to the house. They still have the wrong address for me. Ok, send the bills to that address, please. You'll get it corrected the first time you don't get paid, I guarantee that. Grr.

So, cable dude came late Saturday, and I proceeded to veg out and watch about 3 hours of Iron Chef before conking out. Since that was done, and hubby was busy back at the old house, working, I went out to see Mom on Sunday. Drove out in the morning, stayed overnight, and then went to my hair appointment at 12:30 on Monday. Yay, president's day! I headed back to the new house after that, and crashed, watching the Celebrity Fit Club and Flavor of Love that I had missed on Sunday night. (Yes, those are my guilty pleasures. I just want to see someone beat the poo out of "New York")

Hubby was supposed to be at the new house on Monday to get the delivery of his office furniture. A certain well known office supply company, Roffice Repot, managed to cancel the order because "the billing and shipping address don't match." No call, no verification with us, just cancel it out. He calls the asst manager on duty of that office store, tells her what happened, she apologizes, and makes him come back to the store at 8am on Monday to redo the order. Of course, now the Tuesday installation is out of the picture, but I can spend the day off that I was forced to take, and instead of getting the furniture assembled, I can wait for delivery. Ok, could be anywhere from 8-5. At noon, I start looking for the truck. Open all the blinds so I can see the road from anyplace in the house. At 2pm, I call hubby, still back at the old house, working, and make him call Roffice Repot. Oh, the furniture is on the truck, they'll be there. At 4:30, panicky, I call him again, making sure we don't get the "it's after 5pm, can't help you" line of crap. We then get told that with some 3rd party delivery companies, they deliver up until 7pm. 5 and 6 o'clock hours pass. I turn all the interior lights on, so there is no mistaking that there are people in the house, and wait. At 7:15 I call hubby. Livid. Sitting right in front of the window, staring out. He calls Roffice Repot, is on hold for 15 minutes, and then they LIE to him & say that they attempted delivery at 7:18, and no one was there. BULL PUCKY! He calls me. Are they there? No. They claim they just tried to deliver. Nope. No trucks down the road. No cars, no nothing. He hangs up with me, goes back to them & rips them a new one. Then, he calls the asst store manager, who can't believe it. I head back last night at 8pm, having wasted a day off. This morning, the manager arranges for the stuff to be delivered to the store closest to our new house, but now hubby has to go & pick it up & drag it to the house himself. over 700 pounds of furniture. moving it by himself.

Supposedly it will be there tomorrow. Hubs is going to spend Thurs night at the new house, and deal with that first thing Friday morning. Then, file our homestead application so we get our tax break, and lock in the increases. I'll go up after work on Friday, and then we'll have the assembly people coming on Saturday (specially arranged, but I can almost bet money that it doesn't happen as planned and promised) and at this point, if we ever get his office set up, it will be a miracle, and then we can fricking MOVE into the new house for once and for all.

Food has sucked- I ate 20 bagel bite mini pizzas while waiting for the cable guy. A coconut fruit bar while on hold with their dispatching manager. Publix cheese-filled garlic breadsticks- all 8 in the pack. A Healthy Choice chicken fettucine alfredo yesterday, but that sucked, so I followed it up with leftover spaghetti from last weekend, and a slice of Almond Creme Cake. And to try to make me feel better, hubby ordered chinese for dinner last night. Water- at least I had some today at work. Exercising- I swept & mopped the floors, and then paced and paced and paced. It has been a sucky month, and I have nothing to show for it but more gray hair, and a fuzzy, fresh perm.

Tomorrow, a more positive post, if I can remove NewGirl and Roid from my nether-regions.

Morning chicks!

Things here are still chugging along. Last night was a little more laundry, a little more unpacking, a lot more food. I’m glad most of the bad stuff is out of the house at this point. Otherwise, it would certainly find its way into my tummy. I think tomorrow night (or maybe Saturday night) is going to be pizza, and I’m sure food both of those days will be bad. Saturday I’m going to Pittsburgh—bridal stuff and Ikea. Tomorrow night will be grocery shopping. Both nights will be late, so I most likely will not feel like cooking.

But like I said, grocery shopping tomorrow, so I’ll have healthy stuff to eat once again. And I’ll get a new scale this weekend, and reset my DietPower, so I can start tracking again. I’m ready to get back on the horse. I’ll get our recumbent bike set up in the next couple of days, hopefully in front of a tv, so I can pedal away while watching CSI every evening. Last month I started exercising right after work, and that worked out fairly well, so I’d like to get into that habit again.

We’re supposed to get our wireless router either today or tomorrow, so I’ll finally be able to use my own computer to get on the internet again. I used Steve’s for a while last night, but his settings are all different and I don’t like his keyboard, so it was weird. But I’ll have mine in another day or two, so it’s no big deal.

So far I’ve been really good about keeping things clean and put away (once I get them put away, that is. But my kitchen is clean and all the dishes are done and put away. The other day Steve was saying that he didn’t feel like he’s really done anything with the house, except for move stuff. Well, he hasn’t really, but that’s because 1. he doesn’t have any experience fixing stuff, and doesn’t really know what to do, though he can do it if someone shows him how, and 2. he works nights, so he’s asleep when anyone is available to show him what to do. But anyway, last night I told him he could help out a lot just by putting stuff away. He has made no effort to do any of that so far unless I have specifically told him to put something in a certain place. Nothing, I repeat, nothing pisses me off faster or more thoroughly or makes me want to stop all of my efforts rather than feeling like I get no help. I ran into that all the time with my parents. I don’t want to fall into the same situation with Steve. He will do things if I tell him to, but I don’t think I should have to tell him to put his laundry away, or that the big box of *his* shoes (the man has more shoes than I do, seriously, and that’s saying something) does not belong in the middle of the living room. I honestly don’t mind cooking and cleaning and doing laundry, I really don’t. But at least make an effort NOT to make it harder on me, is that too much to ask?

So he said he would put some stuff away today. I’m just starting to get sick of crap being piled in my living room and dining room and all three of the bedrooms. I want to take pictures and have people over, but I refuse to do that until things are put away.

OK, I’m done ranting now. Thanks for listening chicks.

~Elisha

Elisha, that's the way men are. Even after 10 years, hubby will go up & down the stairs 30 times and not bring up his shoes, papers, etc which are sitting on the steps to be brought up. I have to leave a detailed list of what goes where, and even then, ohly about half of it gets done. I'm very anal about putting stuff away, and he's like Handsel & Gretel, leaving a trail behind him. In the new house, we don't even have enough stuff to clutter all the counter space, yet he comes in & takes off his hat, tosses it on the counter. Keys next, in a different spot. Then whatever is in his hands. And I can tell exactly where he's been by the piles. I can't whine too much, because he's always home, and I know where he is, and he's not beating me, or carousing with other women, so I guess if he can live with me using a new body towel for every shower, I can live with his piles of clutter.

Today is a much better day, outlook-wise. Came in early, had a Zone bar & my diet coke, and working on clearing out the mess on my desk, and getting through the piles of stuff. Time to try to get ahead for March. March already??? Holy Poop! What kind of challenge are we doing next? Ideas? Suggestions?

Lunch will be chicken breast and black beans & rice. Dinner I'll be on my own to forage, since hubby will be headed to the new house to deal with the furniture situation, and the filing of the homestead exemption.

I'll pop in later tonight, provided cable internet still works...hey, I'm preparing for the worst, and anything less than that will just be an added bonus.

Happy Thursday, chickies- the weekend is coming!

Hello All!

How is everyone doing? I am eating too much, exercising more, drinking lots of water.....it will all come out on the scale this weekend!

Elisha.....yes, dear, that is the way men are. My DH was raised back in the olden days when the only thing men did around the house was empty the trash and mow the lawn......so he has come a long way since then! He is such a sweetie and I hate to complain, but he could do a lot more around here ...but I am not holding my breath on that one either. I am sure there are one or two tiny little things that I do to irritate him too.......

Jennifer.....Good to see you have kept your sense of humor when dealing with all these yahoos! I have no patience for people that can't follow thru on an appointment! Soon, you will be settled into that new home and all this stress will be behind you!

They are painting our office as we speak. So, we had to move into other offices for, hopefully, only today and tomorrow. Office mate and I totally redesigned the layout......shove all file cabinets over there, relocate printers, fax machines and stamp machines, paint, and are having a huge desk area custom built for the 2 of us. We should see major progress by tomorrow AM, and should be moved back in by Monday.

Where are the rest of our chickies? This is the most difficult time of the month for dieting and I need all your support!

I am embarrased to say that I weighed myself and after only one week managed to gain the 5+ lbs that I had lost the week before! I'm not actually up to 185 but it sure feels like it! Gads...how does that happen??? I guess I now know the meaning of the word "yoyo dieting"! This is INSANE!!!!

I'm sorry to say that if I don't get my butt in gear soon here, I will be dropping right off this challenge boards! My lowest weight since I have been doing this challenge was 168 and I am darned near 20 lbs more than that!!!! HOLY CRAP!!!! So much for being an inspiration!!!!

I am still wearing the same clothes, though...and can barely fit into them. I'm surpised people at work haven't said anything to me about having my clothes painted on! I refuse to buy bigger!

Girls...what am I gonna do??? It's time to bite the bullet and join weight watchers or something! I'm sick of gaining! I'm also going to start walking agian if it kills me!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for listening! I'll try to post again when the scale shows an improvement! Elisha...could I please borrow your scale???

Hugs to all!

Hey girls! I have been a poor poster this week, and I am sorry! We are on vacation this week..the kids have an entire week off from school. It has been really nice, and I have been just enjoying the break .

I weighed in this Monday, and saw that I was actually up to 150 pounds! Yikes! Not good. That is up about 5 pounds from last July when we got home from summer vacation. I keep losing and gaining that same 5 pounds! I started WW back very strictly right after my weigh in here on Mon. I will weigh in again next Mon, and if there is not a loss, then I am going to join WW again officially. I just don't want to pay...but I also don't want to keep gaining.

The good news is that I have done well this week. Eating is good, exercise is good, water is good. I have a formal Ball to attend in May. It is at the Fox Theatre here in Atlanta. I really want to lose that last 10 pounds by then, and firm up too! Yuck..just thinking about a ball gown with these flabby arms makes me feel sick!

Julie..please don't stop posting...please. No matter what, you ARE an inspiration by just being YOU. Sorry you are frustrated. (((((Julie!!))))

Elisha- Glad to hear you are in your home! Did you get the kitties all settled in??

MsRD- Hi there! Good to hear you are exercising more and getting all the water in..the food part will come..just keep working at it bit by bit. YOu can do it!!

Jennifer- Hi to you too! Like you , I can not believe it's almost March!

CASMSC- A belated WELCOME to you!! Please join us!! Good to have you .

Rosie- How are things coming along with you??

TBJ..are you studying???

Betani- You feeling o.k.???

Well, chickies, it's off to bed for me!!! TAke care!

Morning chicks!

I don’t feel like I should even be posting today. I’ve been doing so badly. I don’t have a properly working scale, so I can’t check for sure, but I just know I’ve gained back at least the four pounds I lost in January. I feel like I should just go home and eat a single carrot for dinner or something.

I am still tired, and I still am not getting enough sleep. I was up way later than I intended last night, mostly because we didn’t even leave to get our cats until almost 8.30. I swear, Steve is the worst procrastinator ever, even worse than me. I’m so afraid that nothing is ever going to get done. So far I’ve been pretty good with keeping up with things. I finished the laundry last night, but I didn’t really have a chance to do much else.

The cats are at our house now, though they’re still in hiding. When we let them out of the carriers last night they both ran directly to the basement and hid behind the furnace. My cat, Camilla, came and sat at my feet for a while last night, and she jumped on me around 1:30am, but I couldn’t find either Cami or Maggie this morning. Eh, they’ll get used to it, and once they realize that they’re not at the vet, they’ll come upstairs and socialize with us.

So tonight we finally get to go grocery shopping. I love grocery shopping. Today I am going to make up a list of things to cook (along with a shopping list) for the next two weeks. I’m hopefully going to do some advance cooking this weekend so we will have lunches and dinners ready. I’m going to try a few new recipes too. I’m excited that I get to cook!

And I’m going to Ikea tomorrow. New dishes, towels, organizers, all kinds of fun stuff I need from Ikea. And my fun best friend that I don’t hang out with nearly often enough is going with me.

And then either tomorrow evening or Sunday I am going to set up our recumbent bike so I can exercise. We’re planning to move the last of our stuff in on Sunday (our good mattress—we’ve been sleeping on the spare—my computer desk, my hope chest, etc), so we have to do some serious cleaning and organizing tonight and tomorrow. Plus I want to shampoo the carpets tonight. Mom is going to come help me finish painting the trim on Sunday too. I’ll be so happy when all of this stuff is done. I’m getting anxious. I just want it to be over with!

OK, I’ll stop rambling now. Have a good day, chicks.
~Elisha

Hi everyone.

Bar. Exam. Done. Rarrrrrr! <-- Thundercat roar.

I don't think I passed, but I'm ready to get on with my life.

The past two weeks or so have not been happy days for the diet. I will weigh in next week to see what my progress was for February.

Right now, I'm getting back into the habit of one pop per day and four servings of fruits and veggies. I'm going to do that for a week, and then next Friday go back to counting calories.

I will read all the back posts when I have time... frankly, right now, I'm veg-ing.

So glad you are done with that exam! Now you can get back to life as you remember it! ...or as you would LIKE it to be! And...I'm sure you must have passed!

Big hugs!

Way to go on getting through the Bar, TBJ!

I got a real mix on emotions today. I'm relieved that after my binging spree (which I'm still trying to recover from) I only gained 2.5 lbs.

I frustrated because our car failed emissions testing. I should have known, since we just did our taxes. Every time we do our taxes, something happens to the car.

I'm elated because my co-worker who was diagnosed with lung cancer last year is starting to come back to work for a few hours at a time. The tumors are totally gone, there is no active cancer to be found, and she only has 4 chemo treatments left to endure. Three cheers for remission!

I'm impatient with my exercise babysteps, because I want to push myself farther, but I know from experience that I can't maintain too much too soon.

I also learned that I can't count on DH to hold me accountable at home. I told him the other day that I'm going to try to cut out all soda for a while to see how it affects my appetite, but he keeps forgetting and offering me pop. And I, like a dummy, keep forgetting and accepting the pop. Well, that's what happens when two ADD people get married, I guess.

TBJ - Congratulations..I know you are glad to have the bar done with! You may surprise youself as to how you did!! I always felt like I failed tests, when in fact, sometimes I actually passed! I'll keep my fingers crossed for you!

Betani- You will have that 2.5 pounds gone in no time! That's not a bad gain at all. It's so good to see you posting!

Julie- Hey! What's up? I miss talking to you!!

Elisha- How was the Ikea trip??

Jennifer-Got office furniture??

MsRD- How are you??

Well, my weekend has been o.k. IT is miserable weather here in GA. Yuck! I am eating well, although it is making me grumpy...only having 20 points/day is not fun, and I really, really don't like it! (What a whiner I sound like!! LOL).. I was telling DH that I can't have "fun" anymore going out to eat all throughout our vacation week, due to healthier eating goals, etc. He responded something like, "Well, I think we had TOO MUCH fun..and that's why we are needing to eat healthier!" HE is so right. I don't know why I want to just stuff my face and eat everything in sight.

I hope you all have a terrific Sat., and a great rest of the weekend!! Take care!