Good luck with the payroll service change! That can be a real headache. I had to do it THREE times in one year and it was just horrible (and we have less than 20 employees). The company we were with decided they didn't want to service small businesses any longer and "transferred" us to another company who had absolutely NO customer service--they ended up messing up our worker's comp reports and taxes and no amount of phone calls seemed to clear up the problems. After just 3 months of my doing nothing but complaining to no avail we ended up switching to a local company. I am so glad we did that! We've never had a problem with the new company (well, a couple here and there, but they were readily fixed with just a phone call rather than a series of calls with no corrections). After that, we had a slight blip with worker's comp, but our auditor understood all the problems we had faced and worked with us so we didn't get any fines.

Today begins the 13 days of what I expect to be a bit of "deer in the headlights" stress for me. I was able to go to Costco (unexpectedly) yesterday, so that much is out of the way. But I think I'll be non-stop working, cooking, shopping, driving for the next 13 days.

Hi all,

Is it Friday already? This week has flown by. I've been busy outside of work the last two days helping prepare for my theatre group's production this weekend. I'm not in this one, but will be serving concessions (so I stocked the concession stand last night - bought a whole lot of alcohol at the store, I'm sure I looked like I was throwing a big party, lol), trying to help with behind the scenes things, and spent hours yesterday fighting with an obstinate copy machine to copy playbill inserts. This weekend I'll be at the concessions stand... and starting to think about Thanksgiving. I'm torn about my "strategy" this year. I want to be virtuous and say I'll fill my plate with veggies and have just a taste of my favorite dessert. But I know that's not going to happen, especially with my lack of willpower right now. Instead I will pledge to eat a healthy breakfast the day of, exercise, and plan to house the veggie tray as a light repast for lunch or dinner the day of the meal. I know I will eat pie and stuffing, etc., and feel guilty for saying it. Anyone else struggling with this? I know we talk about it every year, but what are everyone's holiday strategies right now?

Food has been inconsistent. The good: I start the day with a good breakfast and make it through a healthy lunch, and have been going to the gym as often as I can (3x a week is honestly the best I can do at this point), and wogging with Emma daily or almost so. The bad: it falls apart with evening munchies, going back for a snack after dinner, or if someone brings a treat in the office. I can't seem to keep out of that the white sugar and flour. My weight has been stable but I know I'm right on the edge of eating enough to result in gaining. I'm going to keep the good going, and keep trying to improve the bad, buy lots of veggies, and as always try to get more sleep, bc that's always helpful.

Michele, it's so hard to convince someone who doesn't want to make their own coffee to do so! I love my timer feature on my coffeemaker. I set it up the night before bc I also struggle with getting up and time in the morning. It's so nice to have the scent of coffee wafting over my nose when the alarm goes off. I know how the Keurigs work and they seem even more convenient. Does your DD respond to numbers? Maybe you could make a graph of her monthly income from her jobs and the monthly cost of a 2 drinks/day SBs habit. And if she must have SBs, convince her to quit one job and get a part time job at SBs. She'll get free coffee and health insurance from what I've heard But in all seriousness, sorry she's having such a tough time and GL with your h2h this weekend.

Saef, enjoy your haircut and your visit w Patrick! You sound like me - I also always have a ton to do when I "go to the city" - things I can't get or do where I live.

Dagmar, good job resisting the urge to binge!

Shannon, sounds like a really nice getaway! I'm glad you were able to destress a bit before the holiday rush.

What is everybody's weekend plans?

Megan, I've said it before but I'll say it again, I think you and I are twins separated at birth! I also always have a healthy breakfast and my planned lunch, but end up snacking after dinner or stealing a brownie from the office breakroom.

As for Thanksgiving, I too plan to eat all the unhealthy dishes that are served. My goal for Thanksgiving every year is to avoid overstuffing myself. I've been making that goal the past few years so I think this year will be okay too. Poor DH always overstuffs himself though, so then we argue later because I get hungry again later in the day and he doesn't even want to see food.

In general, I try to make up my Thanksgiving plate out of all the stuff I love and skip the stuff I don't care about. So my meal will end up being 60% dessert, 20% sweet potatoes, 5% cranberry sauce, 10% turkey, and 5% everything else. I probably should feel guilty about planning to eat so much dessert but I don't. The trick for me is keeping from bringing home any leftover dessert.

Michele, I hope you have a good conversation with your DD. They do make coffeemakers that you can set to make the coffee at a specific time of day, so she could have the coffee ready when she wakes up in the morning. Although I have to say I like Megan's idea -- she should work at Starbucks!

I have the Keurig and I think it would be perfect for dd but she has been to our house and not used it. I'm going to promote it over the break and see if she uses it more. She's been using a french press which is rather time consuming. The starbucks habit is also way too many calories so I'd really prefer her to make coffee at home. There's no way she would have time for another job-- she is student teaching and overwhelmed as is. She is gone from her apartment for over 12 hours a day as is. She also has some huge school projects/papers to work on which is overwhelming. She is working 6 days a week because she also works religious school on Sunday. I guess dh and I have instilled our hard work ethic into our dd's which is mostly good.

saef, I recently needed something delivered, table and chairs. A friend recommended a young man that she had used and considered hin trustworthy. two young men came and they were efficient and polite, I supect they might have been college students. They handled the furniture carefully. They were also cheap.
You can always rent a truck but you will need somebody to load and unload so if you can find someone that you feel comfortable with to load and deliver, I would suggest you do that.

michele, I have a keurig and drink more coffee than ever before. Remind your daughter how quick it is and you can get Kcups in every possible strength and flavor that anyone can imagine.

When it rains, it pours (or ices).
Dd got stranded last night after work. The roads were iced and she couldn't make it down the hill to get to the freeway. She called me crying at 7 pm as the roads were all closed and she didn't know what to do. We spent a stressful few hours trying to come up with solutions. Poor thing was exhausted, cold and beyond stressed. She had to take a huge test this morning in order to student teach next semester (she is teaching special ed this semester but will do general ed next semester). She called AAA but they said they might or might not come and it would be up to 2 hours. She finally ended up walking back to her job which was quite a long and cold distance. She spent the night there (AAA called and they were at her truck but it was too late then!). They were able to bring her to her truck after the roads were de-iced and she made it to her test this morning. She is now going home to feed her kitty and then look at getting snow tires put on her truck! We were trying to avoid the $600 cost of tires but her safety and mental health are more important! Poor thing has had such a rough week.

Plus Dewey is sick. Still or again? He was sick after boarding, then seemed okay, but now he's thrown up 3 days in a row. Sigh....

At least dh is now home. I've got tons to do to get ready to go to Arizona tomorrow with younger dd. I hope all of the crappy stuff is out of the way now.....

Later on this afternoon I'm attending the 40th birthday party of one of the dogwalkers. She is a vegetarian but of the "french fry" and "eggs benedict" kind. No healthy food need be brought. So I'm taking puff pastry cheese things that I bought frozen from the grocery store. They are tasty and 160 cals for 3. I will have no more than that. I'm taking along San Pellegrino (on sale ) because I'm driving and will not be drinking alcohol.

I'm sure I'll be the only sober one and I know I'll have to eat birthday cake as one of the other dog walkers baked it.

So I will enjoy little bits of everything and hope that a large can of salmon (after I come home) will stave off the acute munchies all the fat and sugar at the party will bring on.

Funny how much we all here at 3FC have to consider when going to a party. But totally worth it if we can control what we do once there.

Good evening all!

Dagmar

I did really well at the birthday re food and drink. And I had to leave before the cake was served so that worked out well. I looked really good compared to everyone else at the party too - fit, toned, and curvy.

I felt really awkward though. Didn't know most of the people there and no longer really see any of the other dogwalkers who attended. Stilted conversation and lots of long silences with people looking off into the distance.

I think a lot of the "dog" people are quite socially awkward too. That's why they hang with dogs all the time.

Then I came home and drank beer and ate chips, salsa, and then some toffee brittle type stuff (drinking activates my sugar ogre). ARRRGH! (sound of me hitting my head against a wall). What the heck is that? Compensation for my frustration at bieng shy and having so few social connections? Jealousy that someone threw a 40th birthday party for her friend? And I have no one who's ever done anything similar for me?

Back on track today but probably willl be up 2-3 lbs. for a couple of days.

SIGH.

Dagmar

I am fixing Thanksgiving dinner today as that is the only time we can all get together. When my son lived in San Diego I would go down at Thanksgiving. I am the only early bird so I would get up and prepare the turkey and have it in the oven before anyone else even thought about getting up. I let them peel the potatoes and do all the labor intensive chores. PS they don't know that getting the turkey in the oven and roasting it is really very easy. I just let them think I was doing them a tremendous favor by doing the turkey. I think roasting a turkey is the easiest part of preparing Thanksgiving dinner. Today since I am having at my place I hace to peel the darn potatoes.

Having gotten up at 3:30 AM yesterday, walked all over the city -- except when running to catch trains, underground and above ground -- and come in at 1:30 AM, I still feel lethargic today. My arthritic big toe joints are aching. I could use a good foot rub. My plan was to make the 9 AM yoga class at the gym, but I'm still in my flannel nightgown and robe. (I love rather retro granny nightgowns & find them comforting.) I'm on my second cup of coffee.

On the way to the city, on the bus yesterday, I had that old, adolescent-ish feeling of alienation because everyone else was excited about shopping, and I just felt sadder & sadder at the prospect of revisiting what I feel I've lost. I felt absolutely desolate while watching the sun come up over Pennsylvania farm houses.

But once in the city, walking fast from the bus to the nearest subway entrance for the 1,9, my mood changed completely. What is it about Manhattan that instantly recharges my batteries? I went down to IFC and saw a documentary film about Charles and Ray Eames, the architects & designers, which fascinated me and revived something in me. My weird, offbeat, creative side.

Okay, so the rest was running to Whole Foods on Union Square, then the train to Patrick's for my hair cut, then back, to visit the gallery-owning artist couple in the Flatiron who own that campaign bed. Seeing the thing settled a lot of my concerns. If I pull down the seats in my hatchback car, I can fit that in there.

Also, the couple's apartment was inspiring. They redid a loft space many years ago, dividing it up into rooms and incorporating 19th century architectural elements into the walls and ceilings. Somehow this gave my mind permission to start daydreaming about what I could do.

Then, after that, there was a brief interval of girlie shopping in the Macy's area, which is pretty much like a suburban mall only uncovered & with a Manhattan stage set behind it, with visits to Lush and Sephora and American Apparel. With insane crowds, which I hate. But the convenience of having all these stores in quick succession helped me make short work of them.

Then I must tell you about the salesclerk at Sephora. She had extraordinary eye makeup on. She'd used gilded lemon yellow, coppery oranges and metallic chartreuse green to make up her eyes, which were green with flecks in them. She was embarrassed when I complimented her on them. But the creativity of working out that combination, and the time she probably spent in the mirror putting it on, and exactness of application ... I don't know if she realized what she'd done was like a miniature painting. Only she had done it on her own body, incorporating features already there: the living elements of her eyes.

Some people paint on canvases. Others paint using wood & steel, and happen to come up with a brilliant chair. Others work with plastic compacts containing eyeshadow pigment and foam-tipped applicators, and come up with maquillage, as the French call it. (Spelling?) I am "painting" rooms, and in a creative act, I am bound to have highs and lows, when I can't access the materials, or get blocked, or when it seems I can't work or won't be able to complete the work. I need to see it as a process like that, rather than a trial I must endure.

I hope I can hold onto that insight.

saef Always enjoy reading your posts. You can usually put into words things that are going through my mind but that I can no longer express well with written language.

I guess we could say all of life is a continuous process, yes? Diet, maintenance, all are continuous.

So why the heck shouldn't decorating be the same way? My home (should I ever be lucky enough to own one and live in it) will always be changing. Stuff will come in and stuff will go out. It won't be museum quality one-of-a-kind stuff like yours saef but I think I will enjoy my hunting as much as you will enjoy yours.

Gotta go to work and then walk the big fat dog afterwards (that's what DH is calling himself these days). And now the cat is throwing up - dontcha just love pets?

Dagmar