Hello everyone! Just a quick check in - I spent 2 hours out on the street soliciting donations for one of the fundraiser activities. Meeting coming up at 3 pm I have to prep for.

I'll check back tonight!

It's nearly going home time. I'm going to stop and vote, and then go to the pet store on the way home. I'm exhausted. And my back and hip are hurting still from Zumba. My spirit and mood were totally lifted from the Zumba...but my back and hip haven't stopped b*tching at me. I wanted to try and do Zumba at least once per week...but I'm not sure now. My new tentative plan is to do the recumbent stepper at the gym tomorrow evening, then try a water aerobics class on Thursday night with a co-worker, and maybe try another water aerobics class on Saturday. I may need something NON-impact. If worse comes to worse, it may just be swimming (if I can control my asthma) and the recumbent stepper. And maybe try a little Wii Fit every now and then.

Happy - $24K/year for insurance?! That is insane!! I loved the 101 things in 1000 days! I even went to the website and started my own list. Thanks for sharing about it. I'm also taking another look/try at 100 Days to Weight Loss. I kind of fell off track from that a long time ago.

Mel - I hope you're not working too hard....please rest tonight and tomorrow. Elections are crazy days at your place. Sorry I forgot to mention about the tranny. DH got it in the truck and it runs like a DREAM! :) And in another week or two, he'll have to put together my inversion table. :lol:

Ceejay - Great job on the inch lost!! I definitely found your inch and lots more! :rofl: I'll keep my fingers :crossed: for your Mayor.

Shad - So sorry to hear about DP1's mother, and about DS1's conundrum (sp?).

Annie - I know Shad doesn't like us wishing for time to go faster...but I am also looking forward to SPRING. And if 50 is the new 30, then I'm still in my 20s! :woohoo: :rofl:

Laura - My alarm clock also reset itself for DST. So confusing...the alarm on my phone went off on Sunday at 6:30 (so I could give Doppler his eye drops and then go back to bed), but my clock said 5:30. I was in a sleepy brain fog, so it took me several minutes to figure out what happened. Good for you for soliciting donations for the fundraiser. I'd make a joke about being on a street corner soliciting...but that probably wouldn't be appropriate. :wink: :rofl:

Well, just about time to head out for the day.

Love and hugs to all,

ok so all you chicks can wish yourself younger and work for 30 more years -me, I actually wish I was 5 years older :rofl:

Annie- I'm in Indianapolis as well! :)

Morning all,
Day off work today as I am about to go to the Skin clinic for the last of the WOF year appointments. I should be good to go after this. Usually my conscience dictates that I only have as little time as possible of work for these things but times have changed and I don't have enough to do to make the dash to and from the city worthwhile. How things have changed. I wonder what I will do if I ever get a go-go-GO job again.

Michelle - you are right. If you don't vote, you have no right to moan about the results. It's just a pity that our latest group of politicians appear to be motivated by greed and petulance and spend more time having a go at each other than getting down to the business of governing our countries. Lord knowns our parliamentary system is not perfect, however just think about what it could be - anarchism, dictatorship, communism, no freedom to move anywhere except clandestinely, no freedom of speech and also the alienation of certain types of humanity that do not fit someones stupid ideas of how the world should be and just when you get used to that, some other stupid has a brainfart and shoots the leader and declares military rule - or some other tinpot country decides you shouldn't exist anymore and invades and then imposes their stupidity on you.

Happy - I didn't see the big race itself, I was on the train going to see the man about a hearing aid. Which only peeved me off some more since I was only there for 8 minutes and the aid has been taken away for testing. However I was able to put across the point that I am less than satisfied with the performance of them at times.

Annie - I too am picking tomatoes to ripen on the bench. Not for the same reason as you however. I have to pick them before the birds and the bugs discover them.

Laura - out on the streets soliciting. :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Ceejay - good going on the bike

Happy - no, no, you can not regress to childhood and wish you were older

Okay - you are not going to believe this. I just had a phone call from Mick. The company has decided to dispense with my services. The new Change Manage has said that I am not producing enough work. So Friday week, I become unemployed.

Right time to get sorted for my appointment. I'll be back later.

:cofdate: GOOD MORNING CHICKS
I AM ON MELIDAY TODAY. :beach: LONG DAY & NIGHT BUT THE DEMS WON IN THIS COUNTY. NO SURPRISE THERE. I FOGOT WHO ASKE WHAT I HD TO DO..MAYBE ANNIE..ANYWAY..I HAVE TO MOVE 120+ PEOPLE DOWNSTAIRS TO VOTE, PLAY SECURITY GUARD WHILE OUR DOORS ARE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC, DIRECT THE "LOST" AND RUN MAINTENANCE. THIS WEEK AND LAST HAVE HAD NEVER ENDING ALARMS AND BREAKDOWNS. FEEL LIKE I CAN'T GET A MOMENT TO MYSELF. EVEN JEN IS COMPLAINING SHE CAN'T REACH ME!! :rofl: SO TODAY IS A DAY OF REST AFTER I HAND IN THE REPORTS AND TOMORROW IS TRADER JOES.
SO I WILL SEE YOU SOMETIME FRIDAY.
HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A GREAT DAY :moped:
SORRY THIS IS SHORT. I AM JUST POOPED OUT.


SHAD....I CANNOT BELIEVE THAT JOB!!! AR THEY NUTSA OR WHAT??? HOPE MICK FINDS SOMETHING 10 X'S BETTER FOR YOUR NEXT POSITION!!! SORRY TO HEAR ABOUT THE DS1'S PARNTER'S MOM. MICROMANAGE IS A GOD WORD FOR HER :rofl: :rofl:


CEEJAY...HOW DID THE MAYOR DO?? GREAT EXERCISING YOU'RE GETTING!


HAPPY.....'M NOT SURE HOW OLD I WANT TO BE...SO CAN I MAKE A DECISION LATER ON IN THE WEEK?? :lol3: :lol3:

ANNIE...THE MIDGET STORY CRACKED ME UP :lol3: SOMETIMES PEOPLE HVE THE SAME REACTION TO ME.."OH...I DIDN'T SEE YOU HIDINGTHERE" THEY TELL ME! :lol3:

LAURA... :wave: SAYING HELLO BACK TO YA AND IF I GIVE YOU A CUP WITH SOME PRETTY PENCILS MAYBE YOU CAN COLLECT MONEY OUT ON THE CORNER FOR ME...NO...MAYBE I CAN GET MORE...THEY'LL FEEL SORRIER WHEN THEY SEE THE WHEELCHAIR! :rofl: :rofl: ALL KIDDING ASIDE...IT'S A GREAT THING YOU AND YOUR COWORKERS ARE DOING :hug:

MICHELLE...GLAD THE TRUCK IS UP AND RUNNING AND CANNOT WAIT TILL DH GETS THE INVERSION THING TOGETHER WHEN IT COMES AND YOU GET TO HANG!! rofl:

Good Wednesday to all,

Yesterday my back was hurting so bad that after I voted and ran a couple errands, I went home, took a hot shower and put liniment on my hips and used the TENS e-stim device on my back for over an hour. It's AMAZING how well that works. I'm doing better today, still a little sore, but not nearly as bad. I brought the TENS device with me to work in case I need it either before or after PT. As I was laying in bed in pain (before the TENS device started helping), I watched some DVR episodes of The Biggest Loser, and broke down and cried thinking I'll NEVER be able to exercise in a fun way again. It seems so ironically cruel of the universe to finally give me a type of exercise I really love, only to follow up by giving me an injury which (at least for now) prevents me from doing it.

Okay...enough pity party. I have other workout options: recumbent stepper, water aerobics and very limited time on the treadmill. It won't be as fun as Zumba, but I have the will and determination to get the weight off. I simply HAVE to. There is no other option. (please don't remind me of how many times I've said that before, ok?)

Happy - too funny that you wish you were 5 years older while the rest of us are wishing ourselves younger. I figure I'm going to be working into my 70s anyway (25 or 30 more years)...so I'd like a do-over where I would take better care of myself and probably pursue a career working with animals. I remember when DH and I met 20 years ago, I was much thinner. I actually don't care about the age I am as much as I wish my body felt as young, vital and alive as my attitude. :)

LindsB - :welcome:

Shad - Crazy that the company says you're not producing enough work! You would produce more if there was more to produce! :crazy: I hope your next job is something more to your liking. I hope your skin appointment today goes well, and also that your hearing aid you get back is much more satisfactory than the one you had.

Mel - Good for you for taking a Melliday after yesterday's super busy election day. Sheesh, sounds like you do pretty much everything around there (but then I knew that already).

:wave: to Annie and Ceejay!

Just had to reschedule my PT appointment for tomorrow afternoon due to a last minute meeting scheduled. It's okay though because that means I get to leave a little early today to take Doppler to the eye doc for a follow up, and then a little early tomorrow for PT. And I'll just slap on the TENS device to get me through the day (hopefully pain free).

I'll try and check in later.

Love and hugs,

Good Giggly Wiggly...just got out of a two hour sametime training on something I know nothing about. Clear as mud. and now know a teensy bit about the nothing. lol.

I feel like a bloated pig this morning. Stick a pin in me and watch me fizzle around the room. I had an anxiety attack at CVS last night, don't know why, but I was out of sorts, wasn't sure what to do next and just wanted to go home. It was only 8:30 so I had to stick it out. I did take a zanny to calm down, but then wanted to sleep. Now I am still sleepy cause I didn't get the sleep it out. wah wah wah,...life goes on....

Shaddie....wish you could do our training, cause our trainers are not really trainers, they are other associates that try to teach you how to do something their way, how they learned it. It is all confusing as H. Sorry about the job, other than the money, I supposed there is not much to miss. Things happen for a reason.

Chelle...take her easy girl, you don't have to kill yourself with exercise to lose weight. Simply walking everyday helps a lot and watching WHAT you eat and the PORTION sizes. COUNTING calories. JOURNALLING...oh wait WE all know all this, it is just a matter of applying it.

Laura...if you are going to solicit in Indy, downtown on Indiana Avenue is where I heard the action is...lol

MELLIE...take her easy, you have been putting in too much time on that retirement gig.

Happy....you just want to retire, those 5 years will seem like 15. Always wish back not forward.

Hey Ceejay..good job on the bike riding.

Welcome LindaB. Where in Indy are you located?

Got a birthday luncheon today at Which Wich? Yep a sandwich joint. Really don't feel like going, just want to sleep.

Have a great Wednesday everyone..

Much love and many hugs.

Had a minor crisis for the last 1/2 hour or so...the battery in my TENS unit went dead, right after I turned it on. I'm in a lot of pain today...so I contacted everyone I could think of to see if they had a 9 volt battery - everyone (including the supply cabinets) had AA and AAA, but not 9 volt. I could run over to CVS or Walgreens, but then I'd lose my close parking spot and have to park a long way away...kind of counter-productive when it comes to pain relief. Finally, I called my physical therapist at our corporate wellness center, which is off-site, but close by. Not only do they have 9 volt batteries, my PT didn't have a patient at the moment and offered to deliver it to me! OMG, what a great guy!! So now I'm all hooked up to my pain relieving electrodes. Ahhhhh. :)

Annie - It's crazy isn't it? We all know what to do to lose weight, and it's not even that difficult or rigorous to apply. As for walking every day...I'm going to have to wear my back brace and just do it. So sorry to hear about your anxiety attack. Do you have to work at CVS tonight or can you go home and relax?

Wishing all of us a pain free, anxiety free, stress free, very happy day!

Annie- I live in Greenwood, work downtown. You? Sorry to hear about the anxiety last night! It's the worst!

I am DYING for some warm soup for lunch, of course I didn't bring any!!

Linda...I live almost Wanamaker on the SE side of Indy. Not too far from you. I work full time at Keystone at the Crossing - Northside and part time at the CVS Wanamaker.

Good Grief Chelle...what a great ending to pain. A delivering PT. That is almost as good as Mellie's firement. hahahahha

Hey everyone, just a quick check in right now. I did really well yesterday with food. I ate mostly all healthy foods and ended the day at 1310 calories and burnt off 2350 calories (I love my bodybugg). I didn't get in enough water yesterday and didn't exercise since I had class last night. This afternoon I'm playing in a volleyball game so I'll get some good exercise. I'll do personals this afternoon, but I'll tell a little about my jobs for now.

I had wanted to be a zookeeper since I was 4 years old, so I started working at my local zoo (Audubon Zoo, part of Audubon Nature Institute) in their front gate departments (gift shop and membership). I was then introduced to people at one of their other facitilites called Audubon's Center for Research of Endangered Species. This place is closed to the public. All of their internships were full at the time, but since I was a local they let me volunteer. So I volunteer 1 day a week for a year, then did the full-time summer internship. After I graduated college, they offered me a full time keeper position, and I accepted. Here is a list of the animals I worked with: Servals, Lions, a Tiger, Caracals, Clouded Leopards, Fishing Cats, African Wildcats, Asian Black-footed Cats, Eland, Bongo, Milk Storks, Abdim Storks, a Saddlebill Stork, Whooping Cranes, and Mississippi Sandhill Cranes/Florida Sandhill Cranes. I fed them, cleaned up after them, did enrichment with them, and did some training with them. I loved it and it was great exercise, but I have really weak joints and a back problem. So after a while I was in pain every night and had trouble sleeping. I decided to go back to school to get a Master of Arts in Teaching to work with special education children. Not long after I was accepted to Grad School, I was offered at the school on the Navy Base as a 3rd Grade Special Needs Teacher Assistant. So I accepted the job and plan on going back and volunteering with the animals during my summers off.

And as for Katrina, we did very, very well. We live on the other side the Mississippi River from New Orleans and faired much better than the city. The only problems we had was a blown down fence, lots of missing shingles from our roof, and my parents' bathroom ceiling caved in a bit from the leakage from the roof. My dad had a pass for his job to get back into the city, so we came home 3 weeks later. Everything around where I live is completely back to normal, as is most of the actual city itself.

If anyone has any other questions, just ask!

Interesting life Zoochick....sounds fun too!

Hello ladies,

Appointment with the pulmonologist this morning. Can barely find the spot on my lungs with an x-ray, all the many blood tests come back negative for this fungal thing yet my lymph nodes are still swollen. This is unusual yet not completely uncommon - so they are going with the biopsy results and still diagnosing me with histoplasmosis. I go for a cat scan next month to make sure the spot has not grown any and then it is yearly x-rays to monitor. My everlasting gift from the south that I will take to the end of my days. I guess it could be worse - at least it's not herpes. I had to get up early today and woke up even earlier than that because getting up early was on my mind. It's still dark and rainy and cold out so I'm sure the sleepies will hit this afternoon.

Zoochick - sounds like you've had an interesting career thusfar. How neat to be able to handle the animals. Not so neat I'm sure cleaning up their enclosures :lol: How wonderful of you to land a job working with special needs kids - I have a friend who did that - sometimes it can be difficult and it takes a very special person to do that. You are probably the first person I've heard of who was able to recover from Katrina. Location is everything, isn't it?

Michelle - how nice of the PT to run a battery over for you. What a sweetie! I can completely understand what you meant about the parking spot. I usually move my car at lunch to a closer spot but if I got a good one first thing in, I rarely go out at lunch for that reason. I imagine the parking lot is quite busy at your place. Sorry to hear that you are suffering so from the workout. I know it is depressing to wait out your body - have you thought of yoga or something slightly different that can gently start to give you a bit of oomph? I'm sure you are happiest with the cardio stuff - I'm sure you will Zumba again my friend. Can you chair Zumba? I know it sounds silly but I tried out Mel's pedals at one of the stores and was very surprised how much effort it takes sitting in a chair.

Shad - sorry to hear they ended the contract but it was making you crazy anyway. There has to be an easier way to make money. If I find it I will share with you.

Oops - just got asked to do something. Back later. :wave: