Hi everyone!!!! I hope you all have had a good week. I am so glad today is Friday. It is really hard to go back to work after being off for 10 days. I am sure this weekend will be a stuggle both emotionally and food wise. I am not looking forward to turning 40 tomorrow. I think I have worn black all week in memory of my 30's. Today is the last day I can say I am in my 30's. I think I have cried everyday for the last week. I don't know why this is affecting me like this. Everyone at work who is older then I am think I am being ridiculous, but everyone younger gives me their sympathy. I don't know what 40 is suppose to feel like but I know I don't feel like I should be 40. I have just wanted to eat all day, and that is not a good thing. I think I have 1 and 2 pointed myself to death today. I know tomorrow won't be any better. I have to try to regroup and stay on plan. I have worked too hard to blow it this weekend.

Kerry- Congrats on the interview!! That's great!

Kim- I really like WW it has worked really well for me this last 2 months.

Robin- I hope you start feeling better soon!

Paige

Girls, I have found the computer!!!!!!!!!!!!
Just a quick post, I'm trying to catch up...Lori I am so sorry that I have been MIA!!!

Insolvency has a legal and accounting definition--a person is insolvent if they cannot pay the bills as they come in or if the total assets owned will not cover the total amount owed. As far as accepting the lower amount owed for the cc?? That is how the credit card counselors help--they ask the cc companies to accept a reduced amount, reduce the interest rate, or lower the monthly pmts. The companies are usually willing to go along with that simply because it is in their best interest to go ahead and get what they can rather than getting nothing if a bankruptcy ensues. Individuals can do the same thing--ask the companies to accept a reduction.

As far as what to do with the money? Set aside an emergency fund--and save it for a real emergency--like having a sewer back up in your basement with no insurance coverage.............. Secondly, pay off the high interest rate debt--and resolve to not get back into that same type of debt. Whatever you do---DO NOT treat it like bonus cash--buying things that you really do not need. Getting out of debt is great--staying out of debt is awesome!!!!!!

Kerry-best of luck on the interview hon!!!! Hope it goes great!

I have had three high school football players helping with the basement--what a fun trio! And I am SOOOOO impressed with how hard they work--so cheerfully! It is a mess, and very smelly, but I am still counting my blessings. I wound up having to go in for a tetanus shot-but that too, I took in stride. I'm thinking the house will never be back in shape, but this, too, shall pass!!

Thanks for starting a new thread Lori! Great job!

Joetta (back from the sewer)

Good Morning Chickies !
I LOVE the weekends, I have to kind of work today. We have a vender booth set up at a local home and garden show. So I'm going down for a few hours to help out this morning. I have not been working out this week like I usually do, I have skipped way too many days. Man I hope I'm not getting burned out! I'll lift this morning since I got up so stinken early, and squeaze in my step tape when I get home from the home show. That should keep it balanced enough that I don't too guilty for skipping days!

Kerry, I'm sooo excited for you, I hope you have more than one job to choose from! It always helps to have options, I had many offeres when I decided to leave Verizon, but I waited to find a small company closer to home and am I glad I did. I took a small pay cut, and lost alot of vacation, but now with gas prices the money is balancing out. And you can't put a price tag on sanity!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAIGE!!! Stop crying, dust yourself off and forget about the number!!! It's your day, and 40 is no longer old! Eat and drink anything you want today, it's the perfect excuse for a cheat day, as long as you get back on the wagon tomorrow!! Give yourself a pampering day,Ya know you can still tell people your in your 30's who the heck is going to know the difference!

Damn Robin, I hope you start feeling better!! I really was starting to think you were going to slide through the flu season untouched!! I'm sure you'll be all better by the next Mexican pot luck!! All joking aside, take it easy and get better!!

Kim, I am very impressed with your gym schedule, and jealous too! I wish I had that kind of time!! I have to rely on videos and free weights! I agree that WW is one of the best programs out there. I don't follow it though, because I just look for ways to cheat, like a Big-Mac has this many points so I won't be able to eat anything else for the next 2 days. After a few weeks I can't keep up the starving and binging so it's best for me to just stay away from the fatty food altogether. I watch my fat intake and when I do deicide to do a cheat day I have to watch after being with out grease for so long too much really makes me feel ill! So it works for me!!

Marie, how was you party? Black Forest cake Mmmm!! It might not have made it out of my kitchen! I do have a low fat version of black forest cake some where, I just might have to dig that up!! How did your hair turn out?? I don't get mine done at the saloon anymore, they use the stuff that's way to harsh! I put a dark golden blond in mine and I'm pleased with it, it is the closest thing to my younger days!

Joetta, thank you for the advice and information! I got the highest cc to settle for 55% less than what I owed them! So that soooo helps, what we have decided to do is pay off a few of the bills with the bigest payments to free up our monthly income incase my DH would get knocked back to 40 hrs a week, which his work is looking fine, but this living beyond our means is what got us introuble in the first place! So now we will have extra money to send to the rest of the debt as long as his hours at work are good! I agree that an emergency stash is the best alternative to cc's! I'm glad the basement work is coming along, thank goodness for the extra help, I hope your done soon!!

Ok this got way longer than I meant it to, that's what I get for being busy and not keeping up!
I'll check back when I get home this afternoon, I'm soooooo looking forward to a nite out and PIZZA!! Oh how I miss the pizza!

I was bad yesterday but it felt GOOD. We had tacos and queso/chips for dinner then out to the club where I had Razberry Ice teas (think long island with rasberry vodka). Then on the way home we stopped at SteaknShake and had Burger and Fries! YUM! It was good and FUN!!

But the most wonderful thing happened at the club: OLD friend came up to say hey and IMMEDIATELY asks - Have you lost weight?? I told him yes and he said - You look GREAT! I felt like a million bucks for the rest of the night. I also got sucked into an April Fools joke and it was all about me being HOT and embarrassing some guy who is a player. DH was in on it too.

So I am even more inspired to get this show on the road. Dh broke the scale last week trying to weigh himself and the dog. (See Rottweiler at left ) So I've been shopping for a new one. I almost got one at Ross yesterday, but I'm holding out. I tried on skirt suits yesterday. I think I've decided to get my pant suit taken in. Decisions decisions. I did buy a wonderful bag set yesterday for the marathon interview. This thing will go from breakfast to dinner. I'm going to need to pack an aresenal of things to survive!

Happy Birthday Paige!!! Enjoy it! You deserve to celebrate your 40 years! If I were there I'd party it up with you!!

Well, it's rainy, windy and dreary here today. I don't have any plans for the rest of the weekend. I should get busy and do something. It's good to clear the head though. I've been looking at exercise videos and haven't found anything. I'm being too picky. I also find that I feel REALLY silly when I do the workouts on Videos. I keep hoping I'll land one of these good University jobs and have a wonderful fitness center and pool to use within walking distance to my job. :sigh: A girl can dream can't she?

Have a wonderful weekend ladies!

FROM ALL OF US AT 3FC







40????
Yeah, that pretty much sums it up!!!!!

Happy Birthday!!!! I remember way back when---during the age of the dinosaurs, I LOVED the 40s! I allowed myself to become a little zany-(okay, so I allowed myself to be a little zanier...) Enjoy Girl!!!!!

Joetta

Kerry, I enjoyed reading about the clothes issue for the interview--I have been interviewing this past week and am always amazed at what some people think might be appropriate for an interview. Sounds like you've got it all together!

Best of luck!!!!

Kim, welcome!!! I am the ancient one here, having passed the 50 mark last month! I have been mia since last weekend when the sewer backed up into our basement..I had a guy come out to give me an estimate on cleaning, and I could tell that he wanted to do only cleanup that involves insurance companies. He feels justified to charge more that way. He kept telling me that it would be cheaper to do it myself, even after I told him that my husband can't (he has MS), and that I work so many crazy hours that I really don't have the time. Long story short, my impatience got the better of me, and I sent him on his way. I pulled the carpet out, scooped out the sewage, and had some boys come over to help carry everything outside. There was tile under the carpet, and I had hoped to just stick with that, but there are too many loose ones, so I am now scraping off the tile, and will start from scratch. The basement is a mess!! I have a 15 yr old that has had to move upstairs for the interim, and the large screen tv is being given up for a smaller one upstairs for now. I will eventually have to move the computer hutch, and that will be a bear! But---all in good time... At any rate, welcome to the madness of the working stiffs!!!!
Joetta

OMG Joetta it sounds so awful! Hang in there girl. I'm glad you have help at least. Thanks for telling it from the other side of the interview too. I guess I'd never thought anything of wearing pants, though my mom thought I was crazy. Must be a generational thing.

Good Morning Chickies !
Well it's Sunday and I'm not hung over, so 3 cheers for me! I only drank 2, but the pizza wow, we went to a place called J&S, the family is from Italy and you just can't buy pizza like that anywhere! I would have been fully happy to go home after the pizza, but of course that wasn't the plan. I was so full that drinking just didn't appeal to me very much. We had a good time, but today we have to run over to my Aunt's house, she was not feeling well last weekend so she didn't come over for Easter, now she is stuck with the food she was going to bring! I'm going to eat bad again today! I'm going to jump up and down on the step today to help make up for this weekend of cheating. Thank goodness nothing else is coming up until Memorial Day!!! Oh my goodness it snowed last night, I'm not kidding, flakes as big as gulf balls!! I was stunned and insisted it couldn't keep up that pace, yea what did I know, when we left the pizza place there was about 3 inches, but as we headed home it was like driving through a curtain, we came to a spot and there was no snow at all the rest of the way home.

Kerry, rules of interview suits, go with navy or black, not to much jewlery or make up, and no crazy hair. Pants or skirts no longer make a difference, but dressing conservative does matter. And for goodness sakes make sure you make eye contact often with everyone in the interview, and a good body language move is to lean in and listen. Don't lean back and cross your arms and try not to fidget, it makes you look dis-interested. Make a list of questions, that looks good too! I have been through a million interviews and I am usually #1 or #2 on the hiring list, if I could make a living out of interviews I'ld be rich. It's the one thing that I'm good at! Try not to be nervous, but don't get too comfy and tell them all of your problems. You will more than likely get asked, your weaknesses and strenths, your future goals (work related) and why should they hire you over everybody else! Start thinking now, but when they ask appear to be pulling the thought from the top of your head, don't just blurt out the answers! Something like "Hmm, my weakness, well I would have to say I could use some improvement (your choice)" Same with strengths too. Oh and they usually ask you about your hobbies or what you do with your spare time. My answer at my last interview was that I spend my spare time running my kids to ball practice, they thought that was funny. Remember to have fun too, your selling yourself, so be yourself, you may realize in the interview that the company is not for you too, you are interviewing them as well.
Oh I have to get a shower and get running, I'll be back later today!!

Question on the job search front since you all seem full of GREAT advice! Should I let them know at all that DH is coming with me and that he would be attending school there? I mean that is HUGE for us, but I don't want it to hurt me. Although, in a sense I can see that it could help me. It's so confusing. Any thoughts and opinions would be appreciated!

Lori - sounds like you had fun! Good for you I love authentic pizze - Yum!

Turn it into one of your questions, you could mention that DH is finishing his schooling (Sorry I don't remember the details) and your interested in the detail of that part of the package. Just don't appear that is the only thing your interested in, I know it is important, but remember he won't be in school forever and you need to let them know you looking ahead to the future, not just the present. As in when he graduates your not planning on leaving impression.

Hi!

Sorry for being gone for so long, but it's good to read all the new posts and to catch up. Love the new thread! Everyone's energy and candor is so refreshing. There's too much to respond to, so I'll just say: Congratulations to everyone who's losing, or who's at least giving it her best shot! And let's hear it for birthdays, job opportunities and new friends on the thread!!!

I've been mostly good. My body complained about doing cardio every day, and by Thursday my thighs felt like limp noodles! But I still got a long walk in Friday evening, went to Curves on Saturday, and did 50 minutes on the treadmill and elliptical trainer this morning, and don't feel quite so knackered. I've been eating per plan, except for last night, when a ferocious craving just wouldn't go away. I probably ate an extra 500 calories in "healthy" food, don't know what that was about. Either my fat cells are in full revolt, or it's nearly TOM (both are probably true). But I am in charge today, and mentally recharging for a stressful week.

Keep making good choices--judy

And the time change GOT me this morning. I was running late and the traffic was horrible. I hate commuting!!!

I stocked the fridge with good stuff to eat this week. I forgot my carrots this morning though - dang it! I was bad on and off all weekend and made DH promise last night not to buy anymore chocolate chip cookies!

As for the interview protocol for mentioning DH attending with me and being interested in the University - It happens to be a HUGE financial benefit that makes their package more appealing. Meaning if the tuition waiver weren't part of the benefits I wouldn't be considering the position because the salary is low. But if we can save 10k a year on tuition it would be worth it. KWIM? I swear I've spent hours running the numbers to figure what we can and can't live on and if we should buy a house etc etc. I'm losing my mind.

Well I hope everyone's week is off to a good start. I hope to see you around here!

PS. I couldn't weigh in this morning bc my scale is broken and I didn't purchase another one yet.

Happy Monday - ha!!!! I hate Mondays. I too got a late start and was late to work. I can't get up on Monday mornings (most mornings to be honest). So I had a bad breakfast, a muffin and 2 oreos. I definitely did bad diet wise this morning. But I'm back on track and will be good the rest of the day.

Kerry, good luck on the job interview. If it were me, I wouldn't mention DH. If you know it's part of the package, then that part is a done deal. Talk about the future like Lori mentioned and let the rest fall into place.

Judy, great job on all the exercise. Tell me how to be that motivated. I used to be, but I just can't get interested in it. I like it when I'm doing it and of course afterwards, but just taking the step to get to the exercise equipment is the tough part.

I promise to exercise and eat right the rest of the day.
Marie

Good afternoon, ladies. I've been MIA the last few days, too. My stomach issues ended up just being a few hours of nausea, thank God. And I didn't have much appetite for most of last week, but then that isn't a bad thing for me.

I was going to check in yesterday, but the house we're renting until we finished building is really old. And yesterday, some of the power outlets stopped working, including the one the fridge is on. So we had to shuffle things around into our chest freezer and small, dorm-size fridge. The landlord came up and was checking out the wiring and such, and in the process had to keep turning the power on and off. So I took all the laundry to the laundry mat - seven loads! It's amazing how just my husband and I can accumulate so much laundry. But the machines at the laundry mat are smaller than our one at home, and by time I throw in the sheets, and towels, and such. It really adds up. And I hate doing laundry.

Anyway, I'm here now. I've been doing okay with walking, in spite of the fact that it has rained here almost every day for the last two weeks. But I really need to get to doing some crunches and pushups. I have the pilates DVD, but I can't find time to do it.

My DH and I also spent a large portion of the weekend cooking. My DH makes really good marinades. We were trying to cook up a bunch of meat, so that when we really get in the heat of building, we don't have to eat out so much. We can just reheat stuff from the freezer. It's a good idea, but we don't have a dishwasher right now. And our kitchen is TINY. We grill most meats, so at least that doesn't use many dishes. But the marinades do. Oh well. I'll be glad we did this later.

Kerry - Good luck on the interview! What day is it? I know you said on an earlier posting, but I couldn't find it. And for my two cents worth - do make eye contact, and make sure it is with everyone in the room, not just the person asking the question.

Paige - Happy Belated Birthday! I figure that life can be pretty hard, so every that you survive is a reason to celebrate. And from all of my friends who are in their 40s, they say it's their best decade so far.

Joetta - I hope the basement clean up is going well. You mentioned that you're having to clean up tiles, too, that were under the carpet. I don't know how old your house is, but if it's very old, I recommend that you take a sample of the tile to the county health department and have them check it for asbestos. Some of the old floor tiles were made of asbestos, and clean up requires a hazmat team to clean up. That may be why they layed the carpet over it. Hopefully they're not. My dad had to leave his tiles down for this reason.

Lori - I hope you enjoyed your pizza. My favorite is brick-oven pizza. There's a place in Austin, TX that has a south-western chicken brick-oven pizza. It was really good. I miss it.

Marie - If you're looking for exercise equipment, try the classifieds in the paper. You'd be surprised at how many different, new items you'll find this time of year. A lot of people either buy them at the first of the year, or get them as Christmas gifts, and then sell them. You could even try pawn shops.

Well, take care everyone. Drink lots of water and be strong against the evil foods of the world.

Robin

Okay, so I guess we're not too good at "springing ahead," are we? I got off to a late start, too, but I did make it to the gym this morning, and I'm happy that the sun is still out at 7PM. I've been eating the right things at the wrong time, and ended up also eating 4 GS cookies (classic chocolate mints). So I'll walk a little extra tonight and think of what I could have done differently.

Robin, I hate laundry, too! The main reason I want to buy a condo is so that I have my own washer and dryer. Re strength training, you might check out the book Strong Women Stay Slim, which has a nice short program that's easy to do at home, and is more interesting to do than crunches and push-up, which I hate with a passion.

Marie--I'm no big fan of exercise. I guess the trick is finding things you like doing anyway, or finding ways to make what you don't like more tolerable. I enjoy walking, it clears my head, so that's easy. The machines aren't fun, but I crank up my walkman, and that helps a lot. I am happy about my imroved muscle tone, and so that's motivational for me. Even when my weight loss is slow (like now), the exercise means that I'm still losing inches, and the scale will come around eventually. And more than anything, I think of my mom and the older women I see who struggle up a few stairs, have a hard time getting up off the couch, etc., and I know I don't want to be fighting like that with my own body when I'm a senior. Even if I'm never small, I can always be strong!

Kerry--Good luck with the interview! My only advice from interviewing so many people over the years, is to wear clothes that you're comfortable in, and bring good questions to ask, not about benefits, but about how people work together, the guiding philosophies of the library, etc.

Hope every has a wonderful evening!