So, where is everyone? Off work and enjoying a 4-day weekend? We've had plans every day this weekend. I told Howie I am going to crash come Wednesday.

Is the abrasive barker someone you'd be working closely with? Maybe it is her interviewing style...Scare 'em. LOL

Hi gals--back from vacation!

We had a good time at the Formula One race, although it got boring in the middle of it. It's kind of hard when the same guy has won it five times in a row!

I was also able to visit family and friends. And with those visits, of course, came FOOD--and lots of it. I've put on a few pounds, but I'm hoping it's mostly water and can get them off fast again.

Work is crazy today, so I don't think the gym is in the cards for me. Definitely tomorrow, though!!

How are you gals??

Glad you had a good trip, Jen!

Kimberley--the woman would have been my direct supervisor. I actually got such an ick vibe from her (she really reminded me a lot of my boss at a previous job who was insane micro-manager) that I even broke interview etiquette and did NOT send a follow-up letter Hopefully, today's interview will go much better.

As for being a fat chick, I had a bit of a freak out session yesterday--I babbled a bit about it in the support forum. I realized that I now in fact weigh MORE than at this time last year. I have the same complaints as I did last year (clothes, roller coasters...), and I have let a whole year slip by without moving forward. Well, actually, the most disappointing part about it is that I DID move forward...and have since slid back again. But, what can ya do but get up, brush off, and try again

I can relate...I was down to 197, remember? I'm at about 216 now and still struggling to get back on plan. The important thing is, none of us has thrown in the towel. This is too important!

I pulled an all-nighter last night, scanning in pictures from a photo album sent by our friend. I'm doing a slideshow for her son and daughter-in-law's baby shower and had to get all the photos scanned before I could do anything else. Even with being able to select and scan multiple images at a time, it took me all night. I watched TV while I did it, reruns of Conan and Leno, medical and nature documentaries...Anything to stay awake. I slept from 8:30am-2:00pm. I hope I can get to sleep tonight!

WOW--I had an interview at 4pm yesterday (which I noticed I didn't even mention in my post early this morning), and I felt it went pretty well. I wrote my little follow-up email like a good girl with professional references attached and sent that last night. When I got to work at about 7:10 this morning, I had an email--I GOT THE JOB! She said she will call my references today and hopes to have an official email offer letter to me by 4pm today. I'm not sure exactly how much they are going to offer salary-wise, but we had discussed a minimum of $10k more than I make now, so we shall see!!!!

There goes all my motivation here in the office today

Congrats, Jill!

Congrats too on all the baby steps you are taking as well. It's amazing how even those small steps make a difference!!

I'm in revamp mode for my food program as well. I want to rethink things like calorie amounts and how much protein and fat to have in a day and things like that.

Today has been a good start: a peanut butter nutrition bar, fruit salad, tuna with wheat thins, sugar free chocolate pudding and 10 almonds. about 550 cals so far (at 12:30 pm).

I dropped about half of the weight I gained in one night, so I know it had to be water retention!! Still I know I HAVE to get my sh*t together!!

Jill, congratulations -- Best to you!

Good for you, Jen. I have got to be consistent in logging calories again. I'm doing so today.

Banana 60cal/0 fat
Roasted cauliflower w/ olive oil, 260/14
Salad w/ 1oz walnuts, veg shreds, ff dressing, 335/19
Apple, 50/0

Dang, up to 895 calories already. The fats were healthy fats, but yow. Yes, I definitely need to be logging my calories and fats. I always think to include good protein, though. I just had way too much for lunch, quantity-wise, too.

About the veggie shreds -- they're on of those cheese alternative products. My mom brought me a package yesterday since she got some bags on clearance at Marc's. Calories and fat are good at 60/3 for 1oz. But the sodium is out of this world! You ready for this? They have 390mg sodium in 1oz! They're not worth the trade-off, not that great.

I'm still working on the slideshow project, so I've not had anything else to eat. Busy hands are good.

Remember that old high school friend I told you guys about? What a bummer that's all turned out to be. I don't know if I'm more ticked or sad. I'm ticked at her, but sad that people are like that. I wouldn't do this to a person.

Hi Kimberley:

I just read about your "friend"....I would definitely be a combo of pissed off and sad! I wouldn't leave someone hanging like that either.

I wouldn't give it another thought....it's her loss, that's for sure!

Thanks, Jen. That was a down time when I wrote about it, that's for sure. I feel better now with a little distance. It's funny, I have some very good friends who I rarely see or talk to on the phone, but when we get together it's like we never left off. I need to concentrate on the good of those tried-and-true relationships.

Howie and I went to the Jazz & Ribs fest Saturday, listened to a couple of bands and sampled some ribs. Last night we went to the local arboretum (the one I've posted so many pictures from) and enjoyed a concert by the Columbus Symphony Orchestra followed by fireworks. The conductor was so much fun, great at drawing the audience into the show and making people laugh. We needed that.

Diet wise...Not so good lately. Again, we're making a fresh start, just like we all have to do.

Glad you're feeling better about it, Kimberley. I read your blog entry about it, too, and I agree that it was rude of her to leave you hanging for so long, then just try to act like nothing ever happened. Sometimes, even the nicest people seem to lack a certain common courtesy

I had a busy weekend--we went to see Pirates of the Carribean on Friday after work, then dinner at TGI Friday's. Saturday, we went to a cookout for Jeff's friend's anniversary (almost 2 hours away), so we had bbq stuff for lunch and then stopped at Glory Days Grill for dinner. Yesterday, Jeff's cousins came to visit from Maryland, so we all went out to PF Chang's for lunch (and had the leftovers for dinner!). Tonight, we are going to meet Jeff's friends visiting from Canada at a Tex Mex restaurant in Maryland for dinner--soooo much bad food! Even when trying to make good choices at restaurants, I'm sure the sodium adds up. I am down .5 from my nightmarish realization weight last week, though, so maybe I'm controlling my portions well enough to help a bit

Hi gals! How's your day going?

I've been totally on plan today, including a nice workout that burned about 350 calories. I've had four bottles of water so far. I'm budgeting my leftover calories (about 800 or so) for a meal at Carraba's tonight. Wish me luck!