What a week it has been!

First Dana lost her wallet and all the hassles we're still dealing with because of that. Did you know she can't just go get a new driver's license. She's only 17, so we have to sign the form allowing her to get a new one. Ridiculous! And since she doesn't have a government issued ID, she can't get the Western Union money I wired to her (had to have that credited to my account). She got her new American Express yesterday so she can charge groceries and she'll get her debit card next week. Thankfully both of those places agreed to send the cards directly to her at school.

Then my computer died at work. It's been having some weird problems where I couldn't save the work I was doing. First our IT guy re established my profile on the server and that worked for a few weeks, then it started again. So he reinstalled Windows. Apparently that didn't work quite right as the stupid thing kept crashing all day. He's doing another reinstall today. My husband thought it might just be easier to get a whole new computer, but that would mean I'd have to have Windows Vista (YUCK) and I'm not sure how that would work with all the other computers on our network. I hope he fixes it today. The worst thing was he didn't properly back things up before the reinstall and I lost all my old emails (which I refer back to months later). He's trying to recover those today.

Then the darn stock market (I need a stronger word for darn). Another losing week. They say the majority of people lost about 30% in their retirement accounts. Well, I'm one of the "lucky" ones who lost over 50%. All the money is moved to more of a CD like environment now, but it will take 20 years to recover that money--if it ever comes back. And I was hoping to have closer to double the amount in 20 years. I guess we'll have to come up with other ideas for making money in order to retire in 10 years. I know I'm not alone in this situation. I'm just glad I have several years to work on it. I really feel bad for folks (like my in-laws) who are retired or are nearing retirement. Their predicaments are much worse and I wish them all well.

Finally my diet. Still hovering at 150.5 all week. At least I'm not gaining. But two days this week I've lost it on this diet my doctor recommends. I just don't know how all you no and lo carb dieters do it. I just need my grains! One day it was pasta (and an unhealthy one at that) and last night it was pizza. Although I didn't over do it, it was "against" the principals of this diet. I think I'll stick to more of a South Beach where I am allowed healthy grains--at least I'll be happier!

Thanks for letting me vent!!!

I hope EVERYONE has a wonderful weekend. Now that this week is over I'm sure I will!!!

Allison,
Your week does sound rough! Hope it improves this weekend.
My dd is also 17 and it is a hassle when they are at college and still a minor. My dd wants to donate blood on Tuesday and I had to mail a permission waiver to her so she could donate. I mailed it along with some medicine. I weighed the envelope and put the postage on it. Yesterday, the envelope was back saying insufficient postage! I don't know why but I think the envelope was big or something. I went to FedEX just the letter since there is no mail Monday and she'd never get it in time and I spent $27 to send a letter so she can donate blood--- GRRR!

I would not be able to handle your diet.

Wish me luck everyone (please). I'm going this afternoon for an informational meeting/interview with WW. I had my WI this morning and I was officially down a total of 40 pounds. I was pleased that I lost my weight from my cruise!

I am not even checking our 401K. My dh says I don't want to know and I really don't. Luckily we are also fairly far from retirement, but probably much farther now. Hopefully things will settle down soon if everyone can just stop panicking! Time will tell. I think things will settle after the election either way, but you never know.

Allison, what a sucky week! That's a bit of a catch-22 with the ID. I've heard some horror stories of people trying to get new driver's licenses these days. I think you have to be satisfied with what you're eating or you're not going to stick to it, for sure. Deprivation, at least in my case, can lead to binging. So it sounds like you're starting to go with a happy medium of a modified South Beach.

Michele, I'm with you about not looking, although we're in the 10-year period to retirement so it's scary. I'm continuing to sock away the max in the IRAs and 401(k), but have about a quarter of our money in safer stuff like CDs, I-bonds, etc. Wonder if they'll still need Wal-Mart greeters when my DH hits 66? I've lowered the amount I'm going to spend on the kids for Christmas--when you have five plus a grandchild, it can be spendy. It might be time to consider the "drawing one name" kind of of Christmas, but I'm not sure how well that would go over.

Today, besides working on our house (more painting, removing carpet so the new carpet can be installed), we're going to a vegan meet-up group potluck. It should be interesting, at least, and hopefully I'll get some tips on where to find groceries. My DH is an omnivore so hopefully this group isn't so radical that they'll toss him out. Oh, and after over 3 months, we're finally getting our new couch. The loveseat is coming later, I guess. We bought the furniture over the July 4th weekend with the understanding that it would be delivered in 6-8 weeks. Hah! At least we don't have to pay for them to reroute it from Oregon to Idaho.

Have a good weekend, everyone!

Allison - I'm so sorry for the week you had!! I too am seriously worried about my retirement money, though I don't have much anyway. I just hope the economy turns around at some point and things will look different before I retire. Also, now we have to think about Henry's college education, which will need to be paid for while my husband and I are in our mid to late 50s!! Not to mention, if we have another child...

Megan - my husband does know running is important to me but he's one of those people who just gets caught up in things and forgets about everyone else. He's wonderful in every other way, but this is his one flaw. Sigh...

michele - good luck at your WW thing. And congrats on the 40 pounds!!

Sheila - for a long time, my family did the draw-one-name thing, and then my siblings decided they didn't want to anymore. I really wish they would!! Every year we argue over what we'll do, and that just doesn't seem very Christmas-y! My mom has 4 kids, six grandchildren, and one great-grandchild, so it makes it tough on her. I keep telling my siblings we should just get the kids stuff (and I said this when I was the only one without a child) -- I just can't afford all those gifts, but I want the kids to have something from their aunt every year. I don't know what I'll do this year, now that we just have my husband's salary. On his side, he's one of SIX siblings with two nieces and a nephew, and they don't draw names either.

I was dying to run today, but now I'm sick. I think it's just a little cold, but my ears are really stopped up and I would probably fall over if I tried to even walk for more than a few feet! I feel very weak. I'm trying not to give it to my baby but it's hard. I have to be close to him when I'm nursing him, after all!!

We went to the Homecoming football game at the high school where we teach last night, and it was good to see teachers and students since I've been cooped up in the house for a while. I was honestly embarrassed, though, about my size. My weight loss was such a big deal, and now I'm huge again. I know I have a little bit of an excuse for it, but I shouldn't have gained THIS much. I just hate thinking that people are saying "Poor Lisa -- all that hard work and now she's fat again." And I'm sure they're saying it, because I'd probably think the same thing!

Thanks for the welcomes everyone!

Megan1982- Calling me jess works Im actually so used to being called that that when someone says "jessica" i tend to not answer haha.

Hope everyones weekend is going well. Today i managed to get in a good workout and tonight...My first time out with a guy in years. Hopefully all of this newfound confidence wont fly out the window!

Have fun tonight, Jess, and hold your head up high -- you have lots to be confident about! What are you wearing -- did you buy a fabulous new outfit? (what a great excuse to go shopping )

Allison According to my DH (unofficial IT guy at work) nothing works with Windows Vista. There are corporations buying computers who refuse to have it installed as their operating system as it doesn't mesh with any of their other equipment.

And the ID thing is a pain. When I had my wallet stolen, along with my car back in Jan., I lost all my ID except my passport. I had photocopies of some of my other ID (credit cards, driver's license) and was able to use those to get new ID issued.

I had to go to the Fed Ex office to pick up my new government photo ID. The guy brought the folder out with my ID but wouldn't give it to me without photo ID with my address on it (the passport doesn't have that). He was holidng all of my photo ID in his hands but wouldn't open the envelope to see it.

I stood outside in their parking lot, just literally screaming, for a couple of minutes and then drove home to have a good cry and get on the phone. My DH managed to solve this problem. He's a smart guy my DH.

Your daughter might want to photocopy some of her ID and give it to you to keep in a safe place for her. If this happens again it'll make it a lot easier to replace. I don't recommend keeping scans on a computer unless no one else can access it. Too easy for identity theft to happen.

Dagmar

Dagmar~Dana does have a passport and I offered to send it to her, but she doesn't want me to. She'll get her debit card Monday or Tuesday and I'll go to the DMV to get the form she requested to be sent to her (but hasn't shown up). I have to sign the form and send it to her so she can go and get the new DL. It'll take a few weeks to get it, but they'll give her a temp one so she can drive (legally--she's driving without anything right now). Thankfully she doesn't drive much--just to the grocery store down the street.

My IT guy seems to have worked out the bug that caused my system to keep crashing. He ran a program last night (all night) to see if he could recover my emails. Apparently emails are not backed up on our server each night--they are only stored on the actual PC and he didn't back them up properly before he reinstalled Windows. Since he didn't "wipe" the hard drive before reinstalling, there is the possibility that they can recover the emails. I am keeping my fingers crossed. There is nothing like knowing that the answer to your question was given 6 months ago by so-and-so and then looking up that email and VOILA! the answer! My memory isn't what it used to be, but I do remember who said something. I need those emails for reference!!

And I DO NOT want Vista. If I have to get a new computer, I'll get a Mac. Actually I'd really like a Mac (Dana has one and Nicky uses one that he brings home from school every night). One of these days I'll look into it.

It got cold here. The highs last week were around 97 and yesterday we had a high of only 74. That's nippy for us! We got up this morning and postponed our Sunday morning walk because it was only 56 degrees! We'll go this afternoon when it's warmer. And don't think I don't know what cold is--I grew up in SLC, Utah where winter highs are sometimes less than 15 degrees! It's just that I've become a desert rat!

Allison, I switched to a Mac about two years ago and would never go back. And now that Macs run Windows as well as Mac OS, why would anyone want to? There's one program that I still use Windows for (Microsoft Publisher) and it's eye-opening how frustrating it is when I boot up Windows instead of Mac OS! Suddenly annoying messages pop up, the desk top is garbaged up with software I didn't install or want, and it keeps crashing. The most ironic thing was when I plugged a Microsoft mouse into my MacBook when it was in Windows mode and I got the message that the hardware wasn't recognized.

Get the Mac -- you'll love it.

My DH, up until recently, called all Mac users (that was what I had when I met him) "elitist snobby jerks" and said Macs were really too expensive and not as good as pcs. He also maintained that every time someone demonstrated a Mac to him it crashed.

Guess what he's going to get when he finishes his CMA and gets a good job?

I'm not rubbing his nose in it (well at least not too hard).

Dagmar