Happy Monday ladies,

No time to even breathe! I got up at the butt-crack of dawn....actually well before dawn (at 4:30) so I could walk the dogs, drop Santa at Day Care and get to the gym before 6 am.

After a very intense workout with the group and my trainer, I got myself cleaned up and got to work just before the 8 am conference call meeting. thankfully, I got a haircut before my friend's 50th birthday party on Saturday. It's shorter than I'd like, but it is bringing out the natural newly found curl (that first appeared in my mid to late 40s). The natural curl made it easier to just wash and condition it this morning, spritz a little hairspray and scrunch it into place. I haven't been to the rest room yet this morning, so I don't know if it looks good or like a mop. My step-mom touched up my color yesterday...went with "golden blonde" rather than "strawberry blonde" as the strawberry is sometimes too reddish...and there's not time before the reunion for it to tone down.

I've only got a couple more evenings of the house and dog sitting...which is fine by me because one of my friend's roommates is a bit of a beotch. My friend doesn't 100% trust this beotch of a roommate to watch her dog to make sure she doesn't get out...but since I have my own trip to get ready for, I'm turning the duties over to her and the other roommate starting Wednesday evening. The other roommate is very sweet.

Work is crazy busy too...SO much to get done this week and next, and I'm only here 4 days both weeks (since I'm taking Friday and Monday off for the family reunion).

I hope y'all are doing well.

Much love,

Tried to post a few minutes ago but it wouldn't take. I'm trying again.

Laura
Good luck on the colonoscopy. You will do fine.

Annie
Hugs, Hope things work out for the best.

Michelle
You sound so excited for your upcoming trip to visit with family. Are you taking Santa with you?

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Forgot to mention that the power outage was caused by a sub station malfunction. I really caught the phone calls also. Seemed like 60 calls per minute x's 2 hours. They were getting hot irate.
Today so far is much better.

Hope this post

Ceejay52 ~ What's a fit day?

Annie ~ Yeah cooking class usually isnt diet friendly

Laura ~ Yes I love biscuits and gravy

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Went to my appt. and then I did the dishes and thats the only things I've done today. I still need to work out and clean the bathroom.

Tuesday, oh Tuesday....

If you remember I report that since June 1st we have had 12 inches of rain-new count, since JULY 1st we have had 12 inches of rain with 9 days left in this month and more rain predicted. We are looking into the price of arks, lol

Last night Curtis wanted tator tots and chicken tenders for dinner. I jumped right on that. Threw them on a cookie sheet and into the oven. 12 minutes later dinner was done. Glad I was not hungry and did not eat. Too carby for me. A load of laundry and off to bed.

I am holding my own on weight. Still at the 25 lb down mark. Hoping to get the rest of this off. Wedding is in 8 weeks. Yikes. Kind of scary. I thought it was 6 weeks but I miscounted, thankfully.

CEEG...that is a lot of phone calls in two hours, were your ears burning or did they just fall off? Glad it is over and things are settling down for you. No wonder you had a headache.

CHELLE...you hair sound very cute and with the curl, weighloss and new attitude, you are smoking hot girl.

LAURA...to me, any pedicure that I don't have to do, is a fine one. lol. My hair and my toes getting messed with relaxes me. Speaking of which I have a hair cut tonight, awww the shampooing, if only it last longer. I know your colonoscopy is going well and all will be fine. Said a little prayer for you...and many hugs through this ordeal.

Hello's to the rest of youse. Make it a terrific Tuesday...Hugs

Laura - Thinking of you today for your procedure. For me, the worst part was the prep the night before.

If I don't get to it before Friday, I'm going to catch up with you all then. I'll have an hour or two waiting at the airport. I'm not taking my laptop...but I will have my tablet which is easier to type on than my phone.

Much love and big hugs to all,

Afternoon all. Thanks for your well wishes. The colonoscopy is all over & done with. All went well. Two polyps removed & will be biopsied. The prep was no fun, and I doubt I'll want to drink anything raspberry flavored ever again, lol. Sure was effective though. Good thing that isn't a flavor I like much. The hunger wasn't as bad as I thought - I was worried I'd get a headache. Guess the tea, broth & jello were just enough to avoid that.

Immediately after the procedure we went out to breakfast, and after another shower, I'm now in the backyard relaxing on the chaise lounge, ice water at my side. It's a beautiful day, the nicest one in quite a while. Gonna enjoy reading for a bit. I might nap as well - had to get up early for part 2 of the prep this morning.

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Michelle - Your hair sounds cute - do you like it? Hope your friend's dog will be okay w/ the roommates.

Ceejay– That’s a lot of phone calls, what a pita. Hope today's going well. When you mentioned fitday do you mean my fitness pal instead?

Terra - How's your Tuesday going?

Annie - Nice easy dinner. We don’t eat chicken tenders, but every once in a while we have the onion flavored tater tots, yum. Great job maintaining your loss!! Keep it up!! Enjoy your hair cut/ shampoo tonight.

Hellos & hugs to the rest of you!

Laura
Yes, I did mean my fitness pal. But for some reason I went to fitday. Oh well. I'm back to my fitness pal. Glad things went well with the colonoscopy. You were lucky that your "drinK' was flavored. They said mine was 7 up but it was far from it.

Terra
I did mean my fitness pal. Just on the wrong web sight.

Is Happy starting prep for her cataract surgery? Or is she just busy.

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Today has gone good so far but I'm watching the radar as some clouds are moving in. We were hit with a hard thunderstorm last night but thankfully I wasn't here. I was home. I didn't go to bed until it passed.
I'm really geared up to lose another 10 pounds for the month of August.

Good Morning Ladies....

My hair turned out great. Trying to let the back grow a bit to do the frindgy look. Not too long but enought to look right. Came home and made salsbury steak, roasted cauliflower and mashed taters. Didn't eat the taters. C loved it and there is enough for him to have today for lunch (Wednesday is his day off).

Sassy was in a squirrly mood all night long. She had us up 5 times to go outside. Don't dare not take her, we decided she was just wanting out to wander around and play. Lil turd. I went to the couch around 3 and took her with me then put a stop that business. Needless to say I am quite slow moving and pooped today.

HAPPY...I am sorry I cannot remember when your surgery is, thought it was the last week in July. Anyway, if that is where you have been the past few days, I hope all went well. Unless that last day at the shop took all your strength.

CEEG...gald you were at home for the last storm and not taking 60 calls an hour at work.

LAURA...so happy all came out well<--- no pun intended...well maybe. Are you back at work today?

CHELLE...have a fab time at the family reunion.

Must get busy, yucky report day AGAIN!

Hugs

Laura, Thanks for the update, its nice to only have that test every 10 yrs my GI doc said. I'm sure your results r normal I like how u spent your day, the rest of your summer will b fantastic now.

Ceej, Good luck w your next 10# goal. You're pretty wise to make that commitment during the ice cream months

Michelle, Your hair sounds adorable & cool I hope u post a pic here soon.

Gotta get off now girls, I just heard the FedEx truck in our long driveway

Michelle ~ You never answered my question about your VB work out dvd. Did you ever try it? If you did do you like it?

Laura ~ My Tuesday went good. Scott and his parents and I went to his work to buy Scott some t-shirts for work and then we went to dinner. We had a nice time visiting.

Ceejay52 ~ Oh okay

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Woke up at 5:25 a.m. this morning because of the phone but I was gonna get up at 5:30 anyway so it wasnt a big deal. I havent done much so far today. I need to fold and put away my clothes and do the dishes and of course work out, I'm gonna try to work out twice today. Once in the morning and again at night before I go to bed. Thats my goal anyway.

Morning all.

Ceejay – I need to get back to MFP and start tacking the extra pounds again. The prep drink was gross. At the first sip, I sort of thought “This isn’t too different than Nyquil, I can handle this.” But then I discovered the aftertaste was absolutely vile. Then I was just drinking it as quickly as I could to get it done with. I hope you didn’t get any more severe weather!

Annie – Glad you like your haircut. Sorry Sassy interrupted your sleep last night – little brat! Once in a great while Coal will get us up in the middle of the night to go out. Usually after bf decided he didn’t want to wake Coal up to go out for his final potty break of the night. And sometimes I think Coal doesn’t really have to go, he just wants the usual treat bf got into the habit of giving him after he comes back in the house, lol. And that’s what happens when you make those treats a habitual thing instead of random. Anyway….hope you get a good night’s rest tonight. Yeh, I’m back at work today. Hump day. If only the downhill part of the week would go fast like a roller coaster.

Dee – I hope my biopsy results are normal. I think I will likely have to have colon screening more frequently because of the polyps, and also because of a family history. We’ll see. But I’m definitely planning to make the rest of the summer a bit more fun for myself!!! How about you – any other fun plans with your hubby and/or the grandkiddies?

Terra – Hope you get in both workouts today. I think I need to get to the rec plex and buy my group fitness class punchcard – the longer I put it off, the harder it is to get back into the exercise habit. Though I'm still working through my 30-day fitness challenge.

Happy – Sorry, I can’t remember your exact surgery dates either, except late July for the 1st one and the 2nd one two weeks later. Hope you’re getting all your volunteer obligations and other appointments, etc. taken care of now. How’s your tooth? Have you gotten in to see the dentist yet?? I hope you’re not in any pain or anything from that.

Shad – Quote for you: “Life is a grindstone, and whether it grinds a man down or polishes him up depends on the stuff he's made of” Josh Billings (American Humorist, 1818-1885) Hope work is going well and you are not ground down!

Michelle - Hope your week is going well and you are on track. If I recall, today is your last day at work and tomorrow you are off to the reunion. Before I forget, wishing you safe travels and a fun time with the family.
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Nothing much to report. Back to work today. The admin’s out today through Friday, so it’ll be quiet here.

I’m on day 15 of the ab & squat challenge. I mentioned there’s only rest days every 9 days, but there are a lot of light days (fewer reps) interspersed with heavier ones), so that helps.

One of the tomato plants has finally got some ripening tomatoes on it! I don’t think there’s any rain in the forecast for the next couple days, so I better do some watering tomorrow. I think I read something where someone said they don’t buy squash or zucchini longer than 8 inches in length, so that might be my harvesting guideline for the squash.

That’s about it for me. Have a good day.

Morning all,

Sorry I haven't been here. The mornings have been very busy and I don't have much time to get on the computer. Usually I have my morning coffee and check things out. Lately though every morning DH has started talking and talking and talking. By the time he gets done, it's time for me to move on. So honestly, that's why I have not posted.

We are trying to figure out colors for the house - roofing, siding and a new deck. While I would don't require an exact match, it would be nice to get something that works with everything else instead of 4 disparate colors. The outside front of the house is divided in half by a deck floor to roof multi gray toned fireplace. Current house color is gray with dark gray roof, brown cedar gazebo and deck tinted with gray stain. We were looking at a blue gray siding but you have to have something to pull out the blue tones, otherwise it looks gray. They have roofing shingle with a blue tone in them but for some odd reason, you can only get those on the east coast. We have about 7 mostly neutral colors we can get here. They advised not to get black because that makes it almost impossible to determine storm damage should you get hail or wind damage going forward. Some of the gray tones have a bit of underlying brown or green tones to them. It has been a pain in the neck. And it sort of explains why so many of the houses with siding look all the same out here.

I have been chasing down the last of the supplies I needed for our next Humane Society fundraiser. That was an ordeal too. All is in place now. I popped out a back crown while flossing. Went to the dentist and he tried to cement that in but it would not hold so he had to put a post in my jaw - not quite as bad as an implant but similar. Glued the tooth to that. Said it won't be as sturdy as the original but it save me almost $1,000 so we will try it out. One of the ladies I volunteered with at the thrift shop had shoulder surgery. She came home and her brother went to check on her and found her dead. We don't know what happened yet - we are all thinking she might have passed a blood clot. She was only 56 but not in the best of health. Funeral is today. My garden is rather raggety. I have a few small cucumbers coming in and all the tomato plants have tomatoes on them but they are small and green. I supposed they are where they should be for this time of year. Out of 12 sweet pea plants, only 3 are doing anything - the rest have withered. And the arugula and cilantro has bolted so that's done with. A disappointing garden this year.

DH just came in and said he put a big scrape in the back of the new car. He opened the hatch to get something out and forgot to close the door. When he closed the garage door it caught the hatch and scraped the whole door. 2 big scratches all the way from top to bottom. I will keep my thoughts to myself.

I went to the doctor yesterday for my pre-op exam. I had to see the nurse practitioner as the doctor was out of the office. This is the same one who couldn't figure out that I had the shingles. She inspires no confidence. Fortunately the pre-op exam is mostly about asking health questions and listening to my heart. She is a dingle brain. I specifically asked for a refill on my thyroid medicine and said twice - it needs to go to mail order. Just like you have been doing all along since it's a maintenance drug. So I get home later that day and my local pharmacy calls with a refill for me to pick up. I really like my doctor a whole lot but I think it's time to switch to the other clinic where DH goes. This week has just been a bunch of aggravation.

We are supposed to go berry picking tomorrow - I'm almost afraid to leave the house.

Terra - have you got back on the wagon and are eating clean again? I see you are working out - good for you.

Annie - my first surgery is scheduled for Wednesday of next week. I have just been kind of busy trying to take care of everything and keep getting interrupted. I am better posting in the morning. Your hair sounds really cute - I think fringy looks good with a shorter cut. It's fun to play around - especially in the summer when you don't have to worry about "hat hair". Maybe Sassy just wanted to go out and enjoy the nice evening Good luck with that report. I can totally understand your frustration with the ex walking Sissy down the aisle. Was that her wish? Why did her BF call the ex? My Mom has great resentment to my Dad but my sister and I did not have the same experience. Sometimes that makes things complicated. I am sorry it caused you pain but totally understandable. Just give up your suffering to God that day and get through it best you can and keep him out of AS MANY PICTURES AS POSSIBLE. I hope you find shoes too.

Ceejay- 10 pounds is a great goal. I hope you are most successful. I guess you will have to starting thinking about how you will substitute all that walking you do in your job now once you retire. Maybe you can dog walk

Laura - I'm glad the colonoscopy went well for you. Was thinking about you all day. Glad you had some time to relax afterwards. At least that's done for a long time. I had orange flavored stuff. Are you back at work today?

Michelle - sounds like it's time to consider a new cut and style. I know it's hard to give up the long hair but go with whatever gives you more volume.

Ok, DH is back with siding samples so I have to go. Hellos to the rest of the chicks. Later girls.

Hi Ladies, It was back to work for me today and DH and I took off Monday and Tuesday for a bit of a mini vacation.

I didn't get to take my hot air balloon ride on Saturday due to storms coming in. They called at 5:30 p.m. and said it was cancelled.

I was so disappointed. I really thought I might cry. We are rescheduled for Aug 2 with a makeup date of Aug 9 if Aug 2 doesn't work.

My nephews (they are 4 and 5) were disappointed to. They were looking forward to "cashing the balloon". So, we all went to see the Minion movie. I had the most fun watching my nephews watch the movie and we went for ice cream after. Then on the way home, about 9 p.m. we had a very scary storm. It was so dark and so much rain and wind! I asked DH to get off an exit ramp and we sat in a parking lot by a Target for almost 1 1/2 hours while that storm just went on and on.

Sunday we went to Lens Crafters to get new glasses for DH. He broke his on Sunday morning and has to have them. He did have his work pair but he didn't want to wait until Monday to go in so we went on Sunday.

Wow are glasses expensive! He was due for new ones as the ones he had were just about 2 yrs old.

We went to the Cincinnati Reds Game on Monday night and the won so it was fun. I like going to the ball park and watching people.

Yesterday we went with some friends to Wright Patterson Air Force Museum.
I haven't been in years and I enjoyed the time looking and being with our friends.

I have workout out (bike for 20 min, then doing my PT exercises) Sunday, Monday and today. It's amazing how much energy I get when I workout.

Laura: I'm so glad to hear the colonoscopy went well and is over with. My DH was so hungry after his, we did go to the closest restaurant which was a Ihop.

Happy: I find it hard to pick out paint, I can't imagine trying to pick out all the colors you need to pick out.
I put your surgery next week on my calendar so I won't forget it. I want to keep you in my prayers.

Michelle: your hair sounds very cute.

Terra: Did you get your 2nd workout in today?

Ceejay: Yeah for you that you can still sprint!! I need to get back to My Fitness Pal. I have been working out this week and want to get that down for the next 2-3 weeks and then I'll get back on My Fitness Pal. That's my plan.

I always take on too much, then feel overwhelmed if I can't get to it that day and the I throw in the towel, so I'm trying this approach this time.

Annie: The ex issue sounds frustrating for sure.
Any luck with that dang report?

Hi to Shad and Dee.

Happy the day before TGIF...

Went over to my nephew's house (bro with cancer's son) to see his new digs. Very cute starter home. He and his GF got it for a bargain. It is worth about 125K but only paid 83K. They had to put about 10K into it on repairs and appliances. They don't plan on staying there more than 5 years. THey will make a profit for sure, unless the market bottoms out again. If it does they don't have to move and it is in a very nice neighborhood and school district.

After that I stopped at Li's Garden and got C pork fried rice and crab rangoon, I passed on Chinese cause it always bloats me and I feel like crap the next day. He loves it and ate the entire small container of rice and 8 crab rangoon. I don't know where he puts it all in his 6 ft, 178 lb body. Big brat. If I ate that I would gain 5 lbs for sure. Men have it better on the WL issue, imo.

SUSIE....your few days off sounded fun. I would love to go see the minion movie. Maybe take Jacob, not sure he would like it if it doesn't have cars, trains or Mickey Mouse in it. lol. Sorry no balloon ride, bummer. My dad took one in his early 60's. My mom followed in the car. She wanted no part of being up in the sky. You know she never ever flew in an airplane either. Your ride is sure to happen next time and you will love it. Glad DH got his glasses replaced and yes glasses are expensive. Even with insurance, you still spend a mountain of money. Got the report out, so far no beeeatching back from it.

HAPPY....any luck on color choices? I can't even decide on a color for one room in the house, much less what all you are going through. Make it all pink, it is such a lovely color. lol Your garden sounds like my garden, one big bummer. Makes me not want to do it next year. I am with you on switching doctors, if they cannot even remember what they talked with you about, that would make me feel they don't care much about me. What a ding dong. How is your tooth holding up?

LAURA...how is the ab/squat challenge coming along? Any repercussions from the colonoscopy? Everything flowing ok? We are to have great weather till Saturday night, then another storm is to come in. Of course it is because the Brickyard 400 Nascar race is on Sunday. Rainy brickyard again. It is either 1000000 degrees or rainy for the race.

TERRA...getting all your exercising in?

DEE...how are you feeling? You might need to slow down a bit and let your body rest. Hugs sister.

CHELLE...is off on her mini-vacation to visit family...

SHADDIE...are you duct taped to a chair or did you escape the crazies?

CEEG...How is work? Still crazy?

Make it a great day/night before TGIF

Hugs to all.

Hi ladies,

I am very excited about my long weekend to visit my family. Today is my last work day. After work, I'm getting my nails done and having dinner with D. I have to be at the airport by 5:30 or so tomorrow morning. I'm flying into LA and renting a car for the 2 hour drive to San Diego. Hopefully the traffic between the two cities won't be too bad. It was a lot cheaper to fly into LA and since the reunion on Sunday is closer to LA anyway, and I'm staying with friends Sunday night, it didn't make sense to drive back to San Diego.

Got a ton of work to get done today. I'm not taking my laptop on the trip, but I am taking my Kindle Fire tablet, so hopefully I can post from it.

Much love,