ahem, with a few adjustments for continuity in my situation

Dog news: Javi's been wet since last Friday so he's itchy, stinky, and shedding up a storm. Ditto my car (except for the itchy part which is replaced with 5-6 lbs. of sand). I taught the new pup take/leave it in under 5 minutes while driving her home today. And she learned that too boisterous growling at the "boss" results in the toy disappearing altogether. She's a smart one!

Weather news: OMG - there was a sunbeam for about 2 minutes at 4:23 p.m. today. First glimpse of blue sky since last Thursday. More, more more!

Thyroid - low side of normal so good as an excuse for weight gain due to being off plan but not valid as a health issue

Weight - no scale at the dog's house (very liberating/dangerous at the same time) and wrong time of day (late afternoon) at mine. Weigh in on holiday Monday (Victoria Day) should be interesting. Maybe I'll weigh in on
Sat. a.m. so I have a couple of days damage repair.

Weekend plans - HOME! Plants (which are parked at client's house in the nice big dry warm bay window) into flowerboxes and garden statuary/masks/ etc. out! Haven't bought anything new (small yard) but am holding steady with what I've got. DH controls these the same way he does the pets (but he forgets I have an entire additional basement and garage at the other house ). Saw a celtic cross that I really like - hey, DH is Irish/Scottish/English mix.

Am home while waiting for the housecleaner at the dog's to finish up so can type, read, etc. on my nice, nice computer and screen.

Last epis of The Good Wife and America's Next Top Model (my secret, shameful viewing show) tonite.

Good evening all !

Dagmar (is it really over? )

[Raises her hand timidly as someone who's also secretly, shamefully fascinated by episodes of "America's Next Top Model.]

Okay, so my runway walk could stand some improvement, but I can smile with my eyes, and I am absolutely positive that I could get to all my go-sees in the allotted time & still make it back to the office by the deadline.

I always get a kick out of seeing these kid-women out with "real life sized" folks like us. They look so odd.

I'm rooting for "angry girl" even though I'm pretty sure "teary trailer park" will win it - MEOW!!!

Dagmar (2 more days of petsitting - starting to feel like a life sentence)

Food dilemma/ decision for tomorrow. What would you do (WWYD)?

In our school auction we had an item that a student won-- Librarian for the Day. As part of the prize, the winner gets to go out to lunch with me (and bring a friend). We are doing it tomorrow. My winner has chosen to go to In-N-Out burger. I love In-N-Out but only get it maybe once a year for obvious reasons. Should I give in and have a burger and fries or pack my lunch to eat in the car as I won't have time to eat my normal frozen meal? My weight has been pretty good and I hate to blow it and I will likely weigh in on Saturday morning..... hmmm.... my other thought was to go to Whole Foods tonight and make a nice salad to bring on Friday-- would that stay good until Friday?

I get so stressed making sure the winners have a great time knowing their parents paid a lot for the privilege and the kids look forward to it so much. The winner this year is a daughter of a teacher (3rd grader) and she is so excited. I have a busy day planned for her-- I just hope my eyes cooperate! I'm having trouble reading the books, etc.

I sold another three items in our online auction-- those winners get to go on a field trip with me to a local bookstore to choose a book and then to get frozen yogurt. I'll be doing that one in a couple of weeks and I will definitely have some frozen yogurt!

Michele~In 'N Out has a low carb burger (one patty served with lettuce as the "bun" and I don't think they add cheese). Don't order fries. Have iced tea or water instead of soda. I think you'll be fine with that.

I have a similar dilemma tonight. DH and I donated $$ to the local Y and were invited to their gala which is tonight. It's at a really posh restaurant where I'm almost certain anything that is served will come with a rich sauce. I'm sure we're going to be limited on what we order. I doubt my "lean and green" will be found. Ugh. BUT! I'm going to do my very best as I have now lost 6 pounds!!! Psyched about that, regardless of the "side effects" I've been experiencing with this diet (excess soy has changed my "cycle" despite being on the pill).

Not a fan of Top Model or any show of that kind, but I can understand the appeal of some of those shows. DD likes some show about wedding dresses? Can't remember the name but she says she often cries.

Speaking of DD, she's done with her junior year of college and is planning on coming home for a few days next week (just in time for a pedicure!). She's going to Portugal on July 1st with her orchestra and after that she'll have the rest of the summer off. She's going to pet sit for us in August when we go to a family reunion (it's too close to when she goes back to school for her to go with us--we'll have a neighbor pet sit the last day before we get home). She claims she's going to clean out her closet this summer!!! Right now, it's difficult to even open the door! Now if we can convince her brother to do the same!

Oh, and as I type this I made the mistake (but fixed it myself) of typing "the" as "hte". Reminds me of just ONE of the typo's in DS's yearbook. Not only typos, but incorrect words as well. Doesn't anyone proof read these things before publication?

Alinnell, I'm a professional editor, and the short answer re proofreading is--No. In some cases if they would just run the spell checker, they would do better. But on the other hand, some errors don't get caught even then. I just received a professional journal in which I found a line about taxi drivers not reporting their fairs. Yep, fairs. Was this the county fair, or...?

Jay

Allison-- but I *want* the fries! I checked the nutritional stats online and the protein burger (without the bun) is 240 calories. The french fries are 395. I don't know that I *want* them that much. I don't drink soda so no worries there....

The lack of proof reading drives me insane as well! I review children's books for School Library Journal. They send me the "uncorrected proofs" to read and review. While I understand they aren't the final edited version, does no one read them first?! Sometimes I cannot follow what is going on because there are so many errors.

Our major daily newspaper here in Toronto now regularly has mistakes of the fair/fare, bough/bow etc. variety. And there are typographical errors regularly (mostly "widows" and "orphans" which are single words on a line either at the end or beginning of a paragraph.

Most people no longer care about spelling much it seems (I'm the opposite - love to watch the kids in spelling bees etc.).

Dagmar

Michele, I would just eat the burger and fries and count it as one of my two In-N-Out visits per year.

I used to watch ANTM but then the contestants got too b****y for me to watch.

The lack of editing drives me nuts too. I am constantly amazed by how little native English speakers know about the English language. I also am extremely glad that my 4th grade teacher Mrs. Oh forced us to do grammar lessons every single day, even on field trip days. Thanks, Mrs. Oh!

Work has been crazy busy. I leave tomorrow for a conference that is nearly a week long. I have been too busy to practice my talk for the conference before going! But luckily my talk isn't until Tuesday so I still have time. This is also the first time I'm required to do "booth duty" -- basically manning our company's booth in the vendor area and doing sales type stuff. Marketing is paying for us to go since our engineering budget for travel is zero, so we have to give back by working the booth. I admit to being most concerned that the standard issue collared shirt they are going to give me to wear is going to look awful and totally not fit at all. I also found out just a couple days ago that I have to wear black pants for booth duty four days in a row, so I had to rush to buy another pair of black pants so I don't wear the same pants every day.

In any case I may check in intermittently on the hotel's internet. I will attempt to avoid indulging in too much junk food.

Jessica's gonna be a Booth Babe. Or maybe not. Depends on what you do to style that standard-issue collared shirt & black pants. Think like Tyra does to the aspiring contestants sometimes on "Top Model" when they come before the panel & she thinks they look too old for their age or too suburban or like a girl at a mall.

I hate typos. In particular, I wince when I see "its" and "it's" used incorrectly and that makes me lose all respect for the authority of the source material. But I must admit, if the people with whom I work weren't so bad at spelling & sentence construction -- and particularly at structuring an argument in a logical way -- I wouldn't have a job. Remedying their educational deficits is pretty much what I do all day, every weekday. Or else they're talking to me, I'm listening and I'm writing for them because they would rather talk than write. They don't want to deal with facing a blank page & trying to begin something all on their own. That is a terrifying ordeal to some people. We here cannot imagine the depths of their stage fright. (Because, face it, Internet forums like this one draw people who are willing to read posts ^ write down their own thoughts.) To relate to them, all I have to do is remember some of my high school geometry exams.

ETA: I was just thinking, because of this particular forum, and posts on it, I have often thought of people I've never met, and often of their animals, too. I have spent my days willing a dog in another state to pee when he had trouble doing so (Carter) and now I'm willing a dog not to pee, or at least not in his crate (Baby Dewey). There's some vicarious dog ownership going on here.

Saef~perhaps you can vicariously will my dog, Buddy, to remember to go outside before he feels the need to poop! He's so old and has lost a lot of function and I think that his brain gets the signal about 2 minutes too late and we end up with "presents" here and there.

The gala we attended last night was wonderful! The food was fantastic and now we're planning on going back to the restaurant next spring to take my in-laws for their official 50th anniversary (a couple months later we're taking them on an Hawaiian cruise to mark the occasion). It started with a fairly simple salad with watercress, brie, cranberries and a vinaigrette. Dinner was a choice of white fish, chicken or steak, and DH and I both had the fish. It was wonderful! Served with some sauteed onion and peppers on top and spring veggies on the side. Just right. Dessert was a trio of sorbets and berries and a deep fried cookie-like thing (which I didn't eat). The sorbets were SO delicious! I couldn't decipher the flavors, but fruit for sure. But I drank a little too much wine (not enough to be drunk or hungover) and my weight is up this morning. I think some of it was the wine and some of it was not sleeping well.

But it's time for work. See you all! What are your weekend plans? I'm golfing both mornings and DH and DS are 4-wheeling Saturday afternoon (probably I'll be grocery shopping then).

I am not setting myself up as an expert on spelling or grammar but some spelling and grammar really annoys me. I don't mind obvious typos but expressions like " I'm going to buy me a new car " (or whatever) , or "I ain't got no time "( or whatever) get on my nerves. I think some of these expressions are regional. I think, also, that some schools no longer stress correct spelling . I have to admit that my brother has terrible spelling . I always remind him that he is a teacher, his answer, "Yes, but I don't teach English." He is a coach and math teacher. My mother has since passed away, but when she was alive I had to decipher his letters to her.

I can't believe how much thought I gave to the In-N-Out debate yesterday. I must get a life or get less obsessed!
My plan is to not get it at this point. I think I'd enjoy it but then regret it. I packed myself a yummy and slightly more decadent lunch than I'm used to so I won't feel so deprived.

But will the kids feel deprived for not having lunch with you ?

No, I'm still taking them to In-n-Out. I just won't get my food there. Depending on time, we'll either eat in the car or there. I'm sure they won't care if I eat a burger or not!