Marie-

I do think it is because we are not married and the town he lives in apparently selling/ taking my pain pills is all the rage. People really need to get lives !
Way to go on your biking my gosh you must be so toned. I am going to need to start doing some cardio. I havent been able to swim since I hurt my arm. Thursday I get my botox tratment. As soon as the after effects wear off I need to fiure out easy cardio that wont hurt me.


Nikki

Well girls I went for the interview and it sounds good if they can meet my requirements for the pay. I think its a good choice. I asked for more income as the vacation time isn't as good. But the flex time and not being watched over every second makes up for it. I would work 40 hrs. with a paid lunch like we used to get at my current job. I would travel time cut of 15 min. in good weather in and back. Pretty much my own boss most of the time. Caseload would have more mental health but some MR too and a smaller caseload due to MH folks. Wow someone recognizes you need a smaller load. Thats something. Anyways it went really well the money at this point is the issue. If they can't give me really close to what I want it might not be for me. I don't want to go backwards but forward. Less office stress though only me doing this job and one p.t. person. So my office would be quiet no high school crabbing to deal with or hear. Wow an adult office and real drinking water, better working conditions etc. So we will see if they can meet my demand she seemed quite interested and actually had ck'd into who I was before the review. I started to fill her in and she said due to my contacts already your reputation speaks for itself. A few contacts told her she would be lucky to get me. Now thats the way to start an interview huh? But the income needs to be what I need too. Time will tell lets see what they come up with. Other benefits are equal to mine and health ins. after 2 yrs. is at no cost to me. Now thats something! On the diet end didn't count cals. but lets see if I can head figure them out here. About 1450 not too bad. No exercise though and I got to get into that. If I take this new job I can actually walk during my lunchtime another little plus. Bad area where I currently work. Time will tell. Penny your tea sounds like a lovely thing to be helping with good for you. Judy wow your so motivated rub some of that onto me okay. Nikki when my sister was younger something similar happened when they crossed the border. They were treated differently due to their age and fades at that time. People can miss judge someone so quickly shame on them. I am sure it will all work out but who would of thought it would be an issue? Something innocent sent to a different level. Thinking about yah! Marie I am with you lets get this going girl friend. Your ahead of me with the exercise you and Judy are going to have to send some my way. Well catch yah all later got to get ready for a conference day out of the office.

This will have to be quick: Carol, great interview! You know, if this job doesn't fit your requirements, someone else will. But if you were clear on your financial needs I bet this new place will try to match it.

Nikki, I hadn't realized that your arm was still bothering you. I hope you find a good workout alternative soon.

Marie, I hope that Blizzie's surgery went well.

Penny, we're having unseasonably cool weather here, too, which is delightful. The humidity is on its way back, but it was nice while it lasted. It can be steaming again next week, when we're at the beach.

Today is a bit frantic, trying to do as many things as I can before leaving for two weeks. This has been an okay eating day, and I passed up the ice cream we had for an ex-colleague's birthday. I didn't work out this morning, but if I can leave at a reasonable hour this evening I will have time to do something when I get home. In the morning I'll do laundry, clean up and pack. I will check in every couple of days--and I'll take the Coach with me.

Hang in there--judy

Judy, I hope you and Coach have a successful trip together. I swear, traveling is torture for a dieter. Blizzie's still at the vet. Dr. did call me mid-surgery and believes the foxtail had migrated out a long path. But she said Blizzie's tonsil was still very swollen so she asked if she could remove it to have it biopsied. I said yes and now I'll be nervous. Blizzie is my soul doggie and means the world to me. Getting her out of the house this morning was quite comical as I still had to feed and water Kodiak and he was mad when I let her out the front door and not him. I'm thinking he wouldn't be jealous now. Poor blizzie will have a sore paw and won't be able to swallow. I think she'll get plenty of ice cream tonight.

BTW, Blizzie had lost 3 pounds on her diet since April - BETTER THAN ME... At one point not as good as me but alas, travel did me in... The dr. was very pleased and said to keep at it that she'd healthier for it.

Carol, congrats on the FABULOUS interview. My fingers are crossed that they'd come to your financial amount as the environment sounds much better. Judy is right, keep your options open if this one doesn't work out as it's clear your reputation proceeds you and will open doors.

Nikki, narrow-indedness that will be forever on your BF's record - even if it's "wiped" clean. There's always a trail. I agree, those that are addicted to street pain meds need to get a life.

I did walk 1.7 miles today. .7 with Blizzie and Kody (had to be short so Blizzie wouldn't get dehydrated because of the surgery and no water) and 1 mile on the treadmill.

Yesterday's stats: 1562 calories, 1.5 mile walking and 1/4 mile swimming.

Nikki, I do think I'm very toned - under the layers of fat and skin. But "I" know I'm much fitter even if the skin hides it.

Back to the office grind...
Marie

Judy - Good for you earning a gold star and for all that cardio! I know what you mean by convincing my tongue that my stomach isn't hungry! My mouth has a mind of it's own!

Marie - I hope Blizzie is doing ok. It must be very worrying for you. I bet she will enjoy the ice cream treat. Oh how I wish broken cookies had no calories! That goes for "samples" too!

Nikki - Sorry to hear your arm is still sore, I hope it gets better soon. I need to do more cardio too. My workouts are on the weight machines at Curves and I don't seem to be able to get my heart rate up any more. I guess I'm also averse to breaking a sweat! The only thing I can do to get my heart rate up is the exercise bike (which I hate) as I can't walk long enough to get my pulse higher.

Carol - Congratulations on the great interview. It sounds like you are in a very good bargaining position - either with your present employer or the prospective one.

I went to lunch with some girlfriends today and managed not to have dessert, even though the restaurant is famous for them. I had a half rosemary chicken sandwich and soup. They are also famous for their soup and I had the Hungarian Mushroom. It was very good and I'm going to try and make some at home. I made some homemade tomato basil soup last week and it turned out really well. I still have about 4 servings left in the freezer. That's what I like about making soup - you get enough for several meals.

Girls my attitude with the job is nothing lost nothing gained. It is a waiting game its hard with non for profit as sometimes they try to pay lower and want to stick to their budget. But this is a bigger company not in our area so much but in other states. I went to a ADA conference yesterday and retention was part of the subject and they were stating that its such a loss when people move on to another company. That retention is so important and the knowledge lost which a person has from their experience isn't always replaceable. I sat there thinking hum! Maybe they should tell some management people that in order to keep people things need to be changed and not so laid out all the time. Time will tell and if I don't get this I will keep my eyes open for other companies. It wasn't to bad going for an interview I was comfortable with the process.
Marie hope your doggies is okay and home soon! Bear went to the groomers and looks like a rat his fur smooth as can be. Left his ears longer and gave him his eye brows and a little spike but everything else is gone. Cute but in the fall I will have my fluffy dog with longer fur.
Judy you are doing great with coach. Keep it up. Where are you going this time? Penny tht chicken sounded good. I have fresh rosemary in my garden maybe I will make some of that. I made an omelet this morning and put it in a wrap with veggies and a little ham. I saved half for thurs. breakfast at work. That way I can get in on time and have it there. My calories for tues. appox. 1650 for cals. A bit high but I ate some nuts. Between the salt on the nuts and a ham that was to be low sodium my salt intake was high I think? Having a yogurt this a.m. too trying to add in more dairy. Kondike sugar free bar was added in my yesterdays cals too. I like them hopefully their okay what do you all think. On the sugar free list diary and oh yeah there is choc. but isn't that suppose to be good for us a little that is? Talk to you all soon.

Judy- Good luck with the traveling try to enjoy.

Marie- How is Blizzie today? Marie you are doing awesome girl keep it up!

Penny-Rosemary chicken is delicious! The soups sound amazing I've been craving soup this week. I guess because I have tonsilitous. It has been reaal hard to stay on atkins while sick but I am managing. I just want a big bowl of ice cream LOL.

Carol- What is used in the klondaike bar in replace of the sugar? If it is sugar alcohols be careful they are known to trigger cravings in some people. Otherwise one once in awhileshould not be an issue.

I had my weekly weigh in today. I maintained which is fine by me I have been sick since Friday. I think I just ran myself down and the stress did not help. Went to the doctor yesterday and he thinks I may have asthma. Fun Fun.

Nikki

Happy Wednesday,

Things are going okay. I got a bunch done this morning at work and will get back at it after a quick post. Blizzie is doing really good. I didn't walk them this morning as it's too soon, but I'm going to fit Blizzie with the harness so I can start walking her again tomorrow. I can't use a collar with the tonsilectomy. Nikki, sounds like you could use one of those too. Her paw looks pretty good too. It was so sad, I walked into the dr. office and she was in the back howling. As I talked to the dr. and paid the bill, she just kept howling. Then after she sees me, not another peep. She was a sad doggie.

Carol, I've had the sugar free Klondikes and they are very yummy. I think their in the 150 cal range but well worth it. You deserved it. I don't think I'd like my doggies groomed to look like rat. Talk the groomer and tell them to leave more furn next time. Sounds like they nearly shaved Bear.

Nikki, good job on not gaining. As is the case with traveling, I use illness as free rein to eat so you're way ahead of me on that.

Penny, please send me the recipe you used for the Tomato Basil. I've tried to find a good one and have come up empty. That's my favorite soup in the whole world. The rosemary chicken sandwich sounds good and good for you passing on the desserts. Like traveling and illness, lunching with friends is another good opportunity to cheat.

So because I couldn't walk the doggies and DGS is visiting tonight, I decided to swim for exercise this morning. All was ok in the 55 degree temps as the water was warm, but the pool light stopped working and the electrical stuff that runs the fiber smelled like fire. So I got out of the pool and turned it back off. In the 1/2 mile I swam I only bumped the walls about 3 times. BTW, the walls and bottom are white and oh I wish I had lines in my pool...

Yesterday's stats: I believe about 1540 but I left my Wing at home with the calorie tracker. I walked 1.6 miles in the morning and was a bum the rest of the day. No swimming and it was hot out. Sometimes I just don't make sense.

Judy, hope all is good.
Marie

Marie - Here is the recipe for the cream of tomato soup. I converted it from a Fannie Farmer recipe:

Makes about 7 cups:

2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon Better than Bouillon Chicken Stock paste (or any other kind of chicken stock cube)
1/2 cup chopped onion
4 tablespoons flour
4 cups milk
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda (stops milk from curdling)
3 cups tomatoes, chopped (fresh or canned). I used two large cans of petite cut tomatoes.

Melt the butter in a soup pot. Add the onion and cook over medium heat, stirring, until the onion is softened but not browned. Sprinkle the flour over the butter mixture and continue to stir and cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Slowly add the milk, bay leaf, sugar, bouillon cube/paste and salt and continue to cook and stir until slightly thickened. Stir the baking soda into the tomatoes. Add the tomatoes to the milk, and bring just to a simmer. Remove bay leaf and blend till smooth. You may want to put about a cup of the soup aside before it's blended and add the chunky bits back in, if you like it that way. Julienne about 10 fresh basil leaves and add it to the soup before serving. Taste and correct seasonings. I like to serve mine with a swirl of half & half or cream.

P.S. I love the Better Than Bouillon chicken or beef stock for soups and sauces, it's a bit spendy but makes a big difference in taste, in my opinion. I buy mine at Fred Meyers but most grocery stores carry it.

Nikki sorry to hear your not feeling so well. You do need some soup. Summer time is the worst time for feeling yukky. Feel better soon.
Marie burr weren't you frozen or did you have your wet suit on? I haven't been swimming as much as normal this year. The weather has been really strange. Today though is to be in the 80's. My mom will be staying with me til sunday. She had to spend one night in the hospital after her heart testing they found a blockage of 80's percent in on arterey. They fix it right away and she will most likely feel a bit better too. Could of been having symptons and her not knowing it. So I spent my day at the hospital. Not a good eating day with that and homemade pizza for dinner. I will jump back on today.My back is a bit sore today but we walked some hills near the hosipital yesterday to go to the store. But I need to really get into the exercises the therapist gave me. My sister also told me yesterday who is honoring my gym pass and its a different way home but would work out for me so I will start that on friday. But today with mom just coming I better come home to relieve everyone else. Healthy dinner planned for tonight. Penny I wrote down your recipe and will give it a whirl. Sounds yummy. Thanks for sharing. I think our newbie lost her way back it can be so tricky. Have a good day.

Hi all, there are days this is not my favorite site. I just had a nice post and it disappeared. I realized I hadn't put yesterday's stats in so I was going to edit it and it was gone.

So I'll try again.

I did take the doggies for a short walk this morning but Blizzie starting looking tired so I turned us back home. Probably about a mile - short exercise for me - but I'll swim a half mile instead of a quarter tonight. Blizzie is recovering really nicely. Saturday we're going to the vets to have the chip implanted on both doggies so I never lose them. DH wasn't so please about more $$$ but it's on 42 each and the annual license is cheaper for chipped doggies so it'll pay for itself.

Yesterday's stats: 1598 cals and 1/2 mile swimming.

I played with DGS lots last night and chatted with DS1. The company that he accepted a job with called and asked to change his start date of 9/24 to 8/13. So he'll be leaving early. At least DS2 conditioned me a little for the kids moving away. I will sorely miss DGS though. DGS will be back this weekend as DS1 and DH are going to work on repainting DS1's car.

Penny, thanks so much for posting the recipe. I'll print it out and get the ingedients. I'm so excited to try it. I agree that real beef or chicken base rocks over that icky boullion. I learned at just a few years ago. Hope all is going good with you.

Nikki, I hope your recovering quickly.

Carol, my thoughts are with you and your mom. I hope she improves quickly. Have you heard anything about the job??? I know what you mean about newbies. Most often they post only once or twice. I know it's bad of me, but I never expect them to stay. We've got a great core group here but more would be merrier.

Time to work, talk to you tomorrow.
Marie

PS Penny I just added the recipe to my calorie calculator and if there's 7 cups, each cup is 116 calories (made with skim milk)

Nikki - I hope you're feeling better. I love ice cream too but it's just a ''once in a while" treat for me when we're out. I'd eat the whole container if I had it at home.

Carol - I'm glad they discovered your Mom's heart condition early so they can fix it before it causes a problem. You must be dealing with quite a bit of stress lately with one thing and another. I hope you get some smooth sailing soon!

Marie - I'm glad Blizzie is getting better. It's a good idea to get chips in them, it makes it so much easier to identify them if they get lost. It must be a bit sad for you with your DS1 and family moving away. I hope it's not too far. Thanks for figuring out the calories for the soup. It's lower than I thought it would be and very filling. We had some yesterday for supper with some cheese toast - yum!

I've been doing some clothes shopping for my trip to the uk in September. I'm trying to pack as light as possible so I'm getting things that mix-and-match. I figured I had better hurry up and get some more warm weather clothes as most of the stores are already stocking up with their winter gear! We are lucky to have a Columbia Sportwear outlet store right nearby and I got a really nice top for $6.50 which was originally $30!

Well girls the company seems quite interested in hiring me. I got a phone call at work yesterday and she gave me an update. One of the higher ups came into town and he told her there was no need for a second interview he was impressed with me info. etc. So now she is just trying to get the funds I requested and meet what I asked for to complete the process. If that happens I think this will be it. She said I was her #1 choice and thats what she wants. The main office for Human Resource Dept. is in New Jersey. So she is waiting for someone there to get back to her. The first 3 months will be tough with insurance and no time off really but a flexible schedule more income in the long run. The vacation isn't as good but the atmosphere a better one and 14 miles a day less driving, paid lunch which makes my day .5 shorter. I checked on the benefits their 403B or something like that over exceeds mine with matching 1.5 to my one. Not so bad mine is .5 to my one. So some good some okay stuff its something I am feeling is right if they match what I have requested. The pity stuff in my office will always be there and its beyond the norm for most places. I am not getting any younger and making a change now makes more sense to me. So what do you all think have I lost my mind or been pushed to far by stress at work or am I making a good move. Ot will give me 2.5 hrs less work time a week and appox. 3 hrs. less driving time with city traffic no major highways in the winter. Thanks as always for being my sounding board. I do value all of you. On the diet end I did well yesterday. Around 1500 cals. The new job I could actually walk on my lunchtime good nieghborhood. Taking my stuff for the gym today and will stop on the way home. Mom is staying with us until sunday. Her hearing is so much worse than I had thought. She is always grateful for our help and I am glad she is comfortable in our home. Penny I need to clothes shop too. I want some choc. pants for work and that pretty blue that goes so nicely with it. Marie thanks for the break down on the soup. I am going to make some as well. Take care girls.

TGIF!!!!!

I'm very glad that it's the end of the week. Still loads to do at work, but I love Fridays! I took the doggies out for the 1.5 mile walk. Blizzie had her tail up and wagging the whole time so we did the whole thing. She's doing great. I don't think she'll appreciate going back to the vet tomorrow but Kodiak will be going with her so maybe she won't cry.

Yesterday I caved to a desire and had a small DQ blizzard with all its 500+ calories. When my friend and I were waiting for them I felt guilty and she said swim a few extra laps. So I had this great idea - I'll swim a mile (freestyle/crawl). So I started on my quest after work. Wow, that's a long way. I was feeling it by the end but I succeeded. I've never done freestyle the whole way. In the couple times I've gone that far, I've added side stroke, breast stroke, etc to make it easier. So I did something new. BTW, the blizzard was worth it. So yesterday's stats: 1803 cals (the swimming supposedly was worth 618 cals so I made up for the blizzard). Swim 1 mile and walk 1 mile.

Carol, I think you're making the right choice. If you were being impulsive, you'd have jumped ship at whatever $$$ they offered. You stood up for your worth and if it all works out, your stress will be reduced in so many ways. I'm proud of you for taking this chance. Good job on the cals by the way.

Penny, I LOVE Columbia Sportswear outlets in the Portland area. I have loads of their stuff and only one item of theirs not but at an outlet. You'll get great summer clothes there, that's for sure. DS1 is moving to San Diego about 800 miles / easy 12 hour drive. Not too bad and I LOVE the ocean and I'll visit often.

Time to work but I'll check in tomorrow. I hope Nikki and Judy are doing great.
Marie

Hi--

I seemed to have missed a lot! I just have a moment, I'm at a public computer. I've been ignoring my Coach, who's been languising reproachfully in my bag. But I have mostly made good choices while staying at my mom's.

I will be back later today or tomorrow...