Good Morning, girls. I've missed coming here and posting.

Vacation was really fun for us! We swam in the pool every day, went to the beach for one afternoon, and I got to indulge in a lot of retail therapy. Fun fun fun!

Yesterday was Aaron's second birthday. He got an absolutely ungodly amount of toys, but he is so happy and appreciative of everything, it's really difficult not to completely spoil him. His favorites were a toss-up between his train set, his firetruck that came with a fireman's helmet, and all of his Bob the Builder paraphenalia.

I am still trying to catch up on back posts. Amber, I understand that congratulations are in order for you and hubby. On that note, you know that getting pregnant around here never happens alone -- when one of us goes, usually another one or two or three goes as well. So I'll let you know now that I'm pregnant again. With my history of early miscarriage, we're at best cautiously optomistic, but the early horomone levels looked very good -- much better than the ones that miscarried. So I'm really hopeful that this one will work out. And I promise you guys that if it does, I will not just log in to complain about how yucky I feel then log out again -- I will come and interact and not complain.

I have to work today, school starts in two weeks, so I better get a move on. Have a wonderful day, beautiful ladies!

Oh, I've missed doing topic of the day!

You have $500 that lands in your lap right now, not earmarked for anything. What do you do with it?

I would spend it putting up new curtains and painting the living room and my bedroom in my house, as well as buying some plants and orchids to help with my decorating.

Good morning Jayne

And congratulations! I'll be praying for you.

My $500 this week would have to go towards my car -- cause here's the story -- I was about 40 minutes away from home last night, with a friend, shopping. Get back out to my car, and the car starts, but dies immediately. What the heck right? So I called up my Dad, who tells me it could be anything and I need to take it in (no kidding, right). I kept trying after about an hour, and it eventually started and I made it home luckily. So now I'm bringing the car in tomorrow (hope it starts so I can get it to the auto repair place so it won't have to be towed!) And I really can't afford this at ALL right now - I just had my brakes fixed two weeks ago, just moved two weeks ago into a new apt whose lease started 8/1/03 (but my old apt lease ends 8/31/03) so I'm paying double rent... Had to start this new one 8/1/03 though cuz my new roommate needed in 8/1/03...

Thanks for listening to all that guys - hope everyone else's weekend went a little better!

Hey All,

I got an impromtu day off today since they have told all non-essential services government workers to stay home, so here I am, at home, on a nice day, it feels very odd. Our power grid apparently is still running at a lower level than it needs to sustain the infrastructure and all.

Hmmm, pregnancies here do come in groups... Congrats Jayne, that's awesome! Speaking of which, a friend of mine gave birth to her second daughter so that was good to hear (am I old enough to have friends with multiple kids now?). My mom and I actually discussed pregnancy yesterday... I think my mom thinks I'll end up pregnant at some point (maybe she's worried I'll end up having a blackout baby <the blackout baby boom is supposedly an Urban legend though>) before I am ready, my mom was extremely fertile in her 20s.

Angie: I have back pay going towards my car and towards mycredit card.. cars are so expensive sometimes.

Take Care!

Ali

Yay Jayne!! I PMed you!!

And to all our preggos, a good healthy full term baby!!

I had an OK weekend. I mostly brooded about my work situation (ie: Boss is horrible, tries to step on me first chance she can get. Talks down to me in front of people and is totally mean, even has been making comments about weight to me.) I know I have to face it but I am scared to. So I have spent a few days with a bad case of the nerves.

On a lighter note, I did go to Yuk Yuks on the weekend and Kevin McDonald from Kids in the Hall was the host - he wasn't that funny though...but the other people were good - I got on camera to (its for comedy network). lOok for me at the show in Calgary!!

It was our third anniversary too - no ring, but that's OK. Oh, and we decided to tile our entrance way and buy a washer/dryer - all good news.

Hi Angie and Ali!! I would have paid off my car too - but my 2000 HOnda civic is now PAID!! Yay!! I woulud pay off my small visa bill...I know, I am lame.

Have a good OP day - I have training all day so I won't be back to post.

Ciao!!

Congrats Jayne...

with 500 i would get the truck fixed.

Good Morning all. Hope you have a great day.

Congratulations Jayne! Sent you an e-mail. Glad to hear that vacation went well.

Angie - ugh! on the car thing. I know how that goes. I spent one summer looking for work, temping, and my car kept breaking down.

Ali - Do something fun today! I'd love an unexpected day off!

Belle - I hate dealing with nasty work situations too. I'll be keeping you in my thoughts. Exciting on the washer/dryer. We went furniture shopping this weekend - fun!

On the personal front - found a hutch for the kitchen that I LOVE. Unfortunately, it is 15 inches too long for my house so I can't buy it. CB tells me that I cannot put an addition onto the house just so the hutch would fit. Boo-hoo. He did promise me that I can go to the furniture store to visit it from time to time though.

On the weightloss front - I have really been enjoying my break from counting points. I've been much nicer to myself and amazingly enough, my weight has held steady. I have decided though that for the sake of being comfortable in my own skin that I am going to work towards losing this last 25lbs. To that end, I'm rejoining WW this Thursday. I honestly believe that going to meetings and stepping on a scale each week in front of someone else will keep me more on track. I need your support too though to make this work.

If I had $500....I would buy all the work-out videos I've been wanting, a house full of furniture, a vacation........why is it that I only get $500 Jayne?


Laura

Morning everyone! I am so glad that we have power again. DH and I didn't get ours back until Saturday. It is such a bummer b/c all of our groceries went bad. Oh well. I do have good news though I lost a pound in the past week. I am happy to just see the scale moving. DH has lost 10 all together. I am soooooo proud of him. I hope that this motivates him to keep doing it.

As for the $500 I would probably add it to our savings for the house. BUT If I weren't being practical I would partake in a bit of retail therapy also. I would love to get some new clothes. It just has not been a priority in soooo long!

Jayne~ Congratulations!!!!!! I am glad you ar back. We missed you.

Angie~ Sorry about the rent, car thing. I hope things improve quickly for you.

Belle~ Happy 3 yr anniversary!

Ali~ I think the black out/baby boom thing is definitely a myth especially since it was in the heat of the summer. I wasn't permitted to touch DH He is ALWAYS hot much less with not air condiitioning in AUGUST!! I guess if the black out was in the winter though it would have been different because you would probably need some body warmth and we know what that would lead to Well back to work I go!

Hey Laura and LYnnie. We were posting at the same time. Laura~ He won't let you put on an addition for the hutch!!! THe NERVE

Congrats Jayne!!! I hope I can join you and Amber soon on the preggo front! I hope this pregnancy goes smoothly and safely for you. And happy 2nd b-day to Aaron!

Hmmm ... $500. I'd probably send it to Mastercard. Trying to get the credit card paid off before we start the BIG HOUSE HUNT. There's about $1,000 left on it now, so that's not too bad. But I want it clear when the powers-that-be start checking our credit! I also need to close all those department store accounts that I open for the 10 percent off and then never use again. I really need to stop doing that.

So, my weekend ... hard to keep on points. A friend turned 40 Saturday and there was a big party. I really didn't do badly food-wise, but it's the alcohol that gets me at these things. For food, I just had a hotdog, some baked beans, some tortilla chips with bean dip and some chocolate covered strawberries. But I had about 4 drinks. Then last night, some friends of mine from my old paper were in the area and DH and I met them for dinner. Got broiled seafood, rice, and veggies ... and a Bahama Mama. Ah, the scale's still hovering arounf 189-190 so I'm hopeful. I just need to be careful the next few days.

Well, I'm babbling. Hello to everyone! Happy 3-year anniversary, Belle! (Don't worry about the ring ... DH insisted he would never ask me on a holiday or significant date, and he didn't. Maybe your DB just wants the element of surprise!)

Becky: Blackouts ... good for weight loss! That's great about your DH ... but doesn't it irritate you that men lose so much more quickly than women? It's really very unfair.

What an awful weekend we had. We lost all of our power and didn't get it back until Friday night at 9:30 pm. We had over 29 hours withough power, really makes you appreciate it.

With the power outage my eating went right out the window. Unfortunately I had to eat what was available and that did not include healthy choices. We actually had to BBQ alot of the food in the freezer and on Friday morning the only option was Bacon and Eggs. It was good, but really not good on the points.

We did do alot of bonding this weekend though and it was wonderful to be able to see all the stars in the sky. We actually sat in the car on Thursday night with the roof down, listening to the radio and watching the stars.

So, I am back on track today. I was planning on going to the grocery store to stock up on healthy options, but there isn't much available right now, so I will do my best.

I have my weigh-in tomorrow night and am hoping for the best, but expecting the worst. But, today is a new day and I am hoping back on the wagon (again) and am going to work hard again this week.

Jayne - Congratulations on the baby news! It would seem that they do come in multiples and I'm holding my breath that I'm not on that list...hehe!

Angie - sorry to hear about the car troubles. I bought a new car last year just to avoid having to deal with all the problems the old one was having.

Belle - Sorry to hear about work. I know all about that kind of situation. Good luck, I hope you find a good solution.

And to everyone else...hope you have a great day.

Hey everyone,

Just wanted to say hi, as I haven't been around much lately. To be honest, I haven't been tracking what I'm eating AT ALL. I am so stressed about my financial and housing situation that I just can't deal with that right now. I am trying to eat up all the food I already have before I go to the grocery store again, since I really can't be spending any money. I am SO not going to starve to death, but I'm going to be eating some wierd combos and things I probably just don't want (and nothing fresh, booo). I just have to remind myself that all the foods I could be buying now will be available for me to buy again when I have the money to do so. I have to say it's putting a major damper on my social life though - I am so not used to sitting at home every night, not fun!

Congrats to all you pregnant ladies out there! Jayne, the $500 would go towards paying off getting my broken tooth fixed. That, or a to a million other things I owe money for!

Hi everyone. I'm tired today. The 2nd job started Saturday so I'm running on caffine and adrenaline. Things are going well though and it's always nice to do something fun and get paid for it. I went to the bank on Saturday and got pre-approval for a mortgage - $115, 000 - I was looking to spend less than $100,000 so that amount is great for pre-approval. I won't start looking until after the 2nd job is over.
Jayne - welcome back and congrats. We'll all be thinking happy gestational thoughts for you guys.
Angie - cars suck! When mine did almost the exact same thing it was the distributor - I hope that's not what it is for you.
Ali - I like having a day off on a weekday and going to cheap matinees and sitting around. Weekday TV is always fun.
Belle - sounds like a fun weekend. The hosts are never as much fun as the comics. Yay on the washer/dryer.
Laura - of all the furniture you need to move in together, have you found anything other than a hutch?
Becky - happy return to having power! It was partly your house hunt that got me thinking about buying (before I go back to school for 4 years and can't get a mortgage.)
Hi Kim, Humber and Lexxy - this is taking forever and I'd like to take a nap on my lunchbreak.
I'll try to check in later.
KT

KT: As a dunce when it comes to home-buying, do you just walk into any ole bank to get pre-approved for a mortgage? Do you start with a realtor? I'm so oblivious as to how to start the home-buying process. Any advice - from anyone - would be much appreciated! My dad's cousin, who lives nearby, just became a real estate agent and I'm hoping very much that he'll be able to help me.