Joni - Emily has a long way to go until college, but our plan is to pay for it for her. I do agree with you about appreciating your education when you pay for it yourself. I paid for mine (okay, still paying for it) and I was fine with that because my parents weren't able to help out much. But if I can plan ahead and save up the money for her, I'd like to...key words being save the money. My boss has a daughter who is in her second year of college and he just refinanced his house to pay for it...and this is only her second year! I think her tuition is something ridiculous like 35,000 a semester. In that case, I don't agree with paying 100%. And now that I think about it, if Emily would choose to go to a "top notch" college that would cost way more than what we could save for her, I think I would expect her to take out loans to make up the difference.
Tina - I predict that Emily will be a Harvard grad...probably at the top of her class!!!
Lorre - your ticker works......
On the hot/cold subject, not only am I carrying an extra 30 lbs of insulation, but I'm going through the obnoxious hot flash stage of life. I can certainly do something about the 30 lbs; unfortunately, I cannot stop the dang aging process.....surely someone has a pill for that by now!
Nicole - are you still watching toons with the boys???
when I first logged on I thought "6 PAGES!!! HOW DID THAT HAPPEN ALREADY" then I realized that it is Wednesday, where did the week go! I have my interview today at 2 for the police dispatcher, I have mixed emotions, I don't know if I can handle nights and still be a mom to 5. I don't know if I can handle working at all and be a mom to 5. it kinda scares me, but what I do know is while I was there testing for the job, I loved it and didn't want to leave. so I am going to do my best in the interview and let it take its own course and deal with it as it comes, if I get it great if not, great.
(NS) is still going great. I put on a pair of size 14 jeans today and they don't even hurt! and to think just a month ago I was in 18s!
there were just too many posts to catch up on but I just wanted to pop in and say hey, nicole feel better, Liza be careful I have been thinking of you every time the news talks about the fires. Yay to Liz! (watch out for that hubby of yours! he is not going to be able to keep his hands off you from the sounds of it, then again., he is looking pretty hot himself so you might not mind!)
got to run, I have way to much to do today and the inteview too! I will let you know how it goes.
Well I think the weekend caught up. I am up to 168, but I am ok with that. It is better than 170-172. I will be back down in a day or so.
Everyone is looking and sounding great. The motivation is coming through loud and clear. Can everyone hear and feel it? I know I can. We are all dedicated. We do make mistakes, but we are only human right? Think of all those people that aren't doing anything for themselves. We at least are trying to better ourselves and make ourselves feel great again. Just keep thinking that and you can overcome anything.
I had better get to work. Orthodontists appt at 10:15 so I need to get a little bit done before than.
Joni,
Re your parent question about higher education - DH and I saved so that we could help out with our 2 DS college costs. Our sons are quick to point out that they saved and earned about 40% of their undergrad costs through summer jobs. They each had the same part time school job in college with flexible hours and it helped to provide their spending money. They also went to a fine in-state public university which helped greatly to reduce the cost. They did not live at home because DH and I believed that living on campus is part of the total college experience and trust me my sons make sure they had the total college experience. That said, they were both great students and actually excelled more in college and law school than they did in high school. I blame high school sports for taking up too much of their time. For law school, we helped out again, but they also took out student loans. Older DS went out of state to a public university for law school because he believed that he would have a better chance of getting a good job in his chosen city. His plan paid off. Younger DS went out of state to law school, but to a private school and the tuition was higher, of course. We were fortunate that we started saving early and the college saving did not interfere with our retirement savings.
One further note on the subject that occurs to me after reading Tina's post - We had a neighbor who was the Director of a College Placement program and he always said that the best use of money for college is for kids to go to a good public university for undergraduate work. They do not need a nationally prestigious school for undergraduate. If they go on to graduate or professional school, you need to look more at the "name and prestige" of the university.
On the dang aging process and your internal temperature - have you tried or heard of a supplement called Olivia's Secret. It is the only pill that has worked for me. www.oliviasecret.com. I have taken it for years. A month or two into LAWL I realized that I did not have to take it anymore because, apparently, all of the soy products that I am taking are doing the same thing that this product does and my "hot flashing" has disappeared.
Lettie - good luck with your interview
Nicole - I hope you are feeling better today
week 42
LAWL franchise center
Plan 2 with lites
total lost 51.5 lbs.
I had an ortho appointment today too, Liz...I was feeling pretty good, but now the annoying little ache in my jaw is starting to set it. Guess I better go eat lunch in case I get too sore.
Joni- From the student's point-of-view... you're right. I am paying for all of my college and I feel like I definately work harder at it since it's my own hard earned cash putting me through and not my mom's.
Lorrie- Good luck on day 2 of the TO.. i finished up yesterday and actually feel a lot better since I did it.. It got my motivation up to stay POP!
Lettie- with the interview!!
Everyone else- I just want to tell you thanks for welcoming me into your little group! It's nice to be surrounded by poeple who know exactly what you're going through!
Good Morning Everyone! I haven't had time to check in since Saturday. Everything has finally calmed down a little bit. My official COD WI went well Saturday. I was at 175. The COD says my goal is 165, so they think I'm almost there. They moved me down to plan #2, and actually I like it a lot better. I haven't lost anything this week so far, but I think the stress I've been going through has contributed to that. I've been POP since Saturday, but the scales haven't moved.
Liza-What you are going through scares me to death. We are all praying for you!
I am SUCH a dufus!! I totally forgot that today is my weigh day! I ate breakfast AND a snack and drank 2 liters of water before it was time to go! I, of course, was up 3 pounds. I know it will be gone when I go back on Saturday, but MAN!!! One of my water fairies asked, "Mrs. Pate, isn't this the day when you go somewhere while we're in P.E.?" I freaked! I said, "Yes! I can't believe I forgot! And I already drank so much water!" The little girl looked at me like I was crazy and said, "Mrs. Pate, water doesn't weigh anything!" I wish!!
I am so ready for Halloween! DD asks EVERY day, "Mommy, are we going to Halloween tonight?" meaning, of course, "Are we going trick-or-treating?" i should have never shown her her Tinkerbell costume!! I tried so hard to get DS to be a pirate so he could be Captain Hook and they would match! In fact, my original plan was to have them go as Bamm Bamm and Pebbles from the Flintstones. She's little and has red hair. He's chunky and blonde. He was all for it until he saw the costume. "I'm not wearing a dress!!!" So I have Tinkerbell and Jeff Gordon!!
I'm sorry I'm not able to focus on individual posts though I know I read good news and I am so proud of all of you for your accomplishments! And Tina... hot hot hot!
A quick update: Amy - in many ways this is worse than the 2003 fires in the aspect of the span and how completely unpredictable this all is. The smoke and ash today is very thick. The better news is that in comparison, far fewer homes have been lost. In 2003 thousands of homes were destroyed within a matter of hours. In this situation, the number is in the hundreds. Our City officials did a fantastic job of improving emergency notifications and procedures since 2003 and that has helped tremendously. Evacuation shelters were established very quickly and the reverse 9-1-1 system that calls residents to order evacuation seems to have gotten everyone out in plenty of time to avoid injuries and points them into the direction of where they need to go for shelter. On a personal level, we're not in any direct path of fire and received news that a good friend used her press credentials to get back to her home in a rural area... it was still intact! That area was badly burned and she was as she put it "99% sure" it was a loss. When she got in there late last night she found the firefighters resting on her patio! Her Longhorns were also amazingly alive and well, still in their pens and happy to see her. Those of you watching this on the news may have seen our Larry Himmel reporting on the fires and watching his own home burn down. Heartbreaking as he is truly such a nice person but he as always, is looking at the bright side that his family is safe and will make the best of it.
I thought about you today, Liza. I went home at lunch and my DH said, "I was watching the news and someone in a helicopter spotted a guy starting a wildfire...could you believe that there are arsons out there." and I thought, well yeah, Liza told us that. But seriously, the whole thing is just heartbreaking...
I wouldn't ever mortgage anything to send a child to college, let alone dip into retirement savings. We always planned to pay for close to 100% of the cost to get an undergraduate degree from a state university. Of course it is a gift to the child to do that, and not a right... and my DH occasionally threatens to pull the plug should she not tow the line to his satisfaction. I suppose I'm the one who was willing to do whatever it took to get her to start school, as she was really on the fence about the whole college thing and I had to do a lot of convincing that it was a good idea for her to go.
Kim, I didn't know you were a CPA. Do you like it? I do think my DD is a born accountant. She worked for the summer and still one day a week at the accounting and finance department at the company where my DH works. I was worried that exposure to actual accountants would change her mind, but it didn't. They love her there.
I managed to wake up and go to spin class today. Always nice to get that out early. Did anyone else watch the Biggest Loser? The one guy gained 17 pounds in a week, and it seemed like he did it on purpose. I can't believe that they didn't vote him off but another guy? I know if I wanted to it would be easy to show a gain on any given weigh in, but 17 pounds?
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Lettie-Good luck with your interview chickie!!!
