[diyana]

Good Tuesday morning everyone!

I went to the back physical therapy/exercise class last night. Another great class. It's every Monday from 5:30-6:30 (although this week it went longer). You start off warming up on the bike or treadmill or elliptical for 5 or 10 minutes and then it's on to the core-engaging moves. The plank challenge is helping me with core engaging as well.

Tonight, I have my Wisconsin book club via conference call, and I've got some more reading to finish up. After that, I may go to a Chair/Office Yoga class. I might not because it is a long-ish drive. We'll see.

I hope my ex-SIL enjoyed the dinner. I haven't heard anything, but I know she's still quite tired and rests a lot. I didn't get to see her when I dropped it off because she was resting. But her husband was very appreciative.

I'm trying to catch up on personals, so I apologize if my comments are about your posts a few days ago. :blush:

=====================

Susie - Thank you for quoting me about rescheduling exercise but keeping it a priority. I know that I'm having less back pain the more I'm stretching and moving it properly. I'm also glad you feel like you can be open with us. Most of us have known each other several years...and we're all about keeping it "real". We're also about helping each other through the rough times and cheering each other's successes. Is there a name for your friend's plan? Could you please pm me the name? From having diabetes, I've learned that it's super important for me to balance my carbs and protein. To make sure that I have at least a few grams of protein with each meal/snack. And to eat quality carbs. I admit, I eat A LOT of processed foods as I hate to cook, but I am trying to eat more unprocessed foods. I am really cutting down on fast food by bringing healthy breakfast, lunch and snacks to store in my cube or in the office refrigerators (there are 3 and there's plenty of room). I'm so glad to hear your husband's already noticing improvements from the CPAP machine.

Happy - I'm so sorry to hear that the vertigo has come back. Is there anything you can do for that? I've had it a few times in the last few months from getting up or lying down too quickly, but once the room stops spinning, all is well. I hope you can find relief. I totally understand about the stress you are under with money, chronic pain and mobility issues. I just had a thought...do you carry your stress in your neck/shoulders? I remember a doctor telling me many years ago when I was having dizziness, that it could be because of the stress I carried in my neck/shoulders pulling my head out of alignment and messing with my equilibrium. Just a thought. I always say, "I'm not a doctor, and I don't even play one on TV. And free advice is sometimes worth what you pay for it." Just something you might want to think about or ask your doc about. I got a laugh out of your comment about sleeping with Darth Vader...I too sound like Darth Vader thanks to my CPAP machine. Although I think it's kind of noisy, my ex used to say that it was quieter than my snoring. And when I shared a room with my step-mom, she said she couldn't even hear it. I'm glad you're benefitting from the exercises I posted. Sorry to hear about the Thrift Shop building being a total loss, but it's good that they'll get some insurance money for the contents. And I'm sure as more people up there do spring cleaning, the new location, even if it is temporary, will have plenty of merchandise in no time. I did not know that cats could/would eat the litter. It's so good of you to leave out a feast for the deer, especially because of the harsh winter you've had/are having. It's no wonder they brought their friends.

Shad - Thanks for laying out the rules. I think we should definitely add banning Miley Cyrus discussions to the rules. And thanks for the lovely photos. So glad you had a nice street barbeque. We're having the same glorious weather as you, with temps in the low to mid 70s.

Pattience - Like you, I'm single with no kids. I'm 51. Married twice, divorced twice. That's great to have a goal of running a 10K. My goal is to be able to hike for 5 miles, which is why I'm doing physical therapy for my back as well as core strengthening. Since you asked about clothes and body type...I'm an apple. When I was in my 20s/early 30s, I had an hourglass figure, now the middle has expanded. I wear a size 18 in pants, and a 3X in tops, but I have no idea what that equates to in Australian sizes. I am so looking forward to getting out of the "plus" sizes. I tend to wear black twill pants to work, and jeans or jean shorts outside of work. The tops I tend to wear are loose and go down a bit past my waist or sometimes over my tummy. And like Laura, I always go into the fitting room with at least a couple of sizes of each article of clothing.

Ceejay - You're obviously doing great with the yoga if you need something more challenging! Good for you!! I hope your allergies are doing better. Good luck with draining the ground storage tank. Sounds like the new guy is trying to pick and choose what he does, and get out of doing what he doesn't want to do.

Laura - Ever since I learned the Vit. D helps with the immune system, I've been taking 3,000 units per day. It seems to be helping. And of course, now that I live in CA, I'm outside more to get the natural Vit. D from the sun. Glad you had a great workout at Jazzercise! I hope the TV installation goes well and that you find a nice TV cabinet at IKEA. Good luck at WW and I hope the happy hour is enjoyable even if it's a shared celebration. I hope you get to the gym. Good luck with the goals discussion. I hate defining my performance goals. I hope the company I work for now doesn't do that.

Annie - Sending much love and many hugs to you and DD. I'm glad to hear Sam is doing better and gaining confidence. Glad you don't have to be there for so many hours. I hadn't heard about the flooding in Sydney. Scary. I hope both Royce and Jacob are doing well. Thanks for sharing the photos of Royce! What a cutie! No need to thank me, sister. I love you and am always here for you. I know your pain about having to fill out a profile wherever you apply. As for no responses...don't get discouraged...no news is not necessarily BAD news. Have you looked into contract positions or contract-to-hire positions? You might have to pay a bit for the benefits, but sometimes it's easier to get in the door with those types of positions. Congrats on the weight loss...nothing like chasing down a toddler to burn off some calories.


Lots of love and many hugs to everyone,

[happy2bme]

Howdy peoples,

I'm glad to hear that you are getting some good from your exercise classes Michelle. It's a reminder sometimes about how weak we have gotten and like anything - you feel better when you move and stretch. As I told the physical therapist, pain is a great motivator I feel better when I do my stretches so I am more motivated to do them. Funny how things knot and kink up. As to your question about the neck, I think I have neck pain because I have lousy posture - the older I get, the more I slouch. Of course that could be because my boobs are getting lower each year (hey not TMI - it's happening to everyone ) and maybe they are dragging me to pull forward as they droop. As to the vertigo, I am convinced it is the positional crystal thing - I have some exercises to 'reset it' but the bad news is that there is no permanent cure - the crystals will float in the inner ear and when they get out of alignment, I get dizzy. At least I can still hear! GF - we have to get you off the processed food - not good for the salt either. I guess we will have to put our heads together and come up with the "Worldlies I Hate to Cook Book". I like to cook but I find that I am leaning towards things you can quickly put together. It bums me out when I start at 2pm and we don't eat until 6 and I realized I spent 4 hours chopping and prepping I hope the exSIL enjoys the dinner you put together, she probably isn't feeling much like eating right now. But it's nice that hubby has something to warm for her.

Laura - one thing I learned about Vit D is that you need to have some exposed skin in order for the body to absorb it. So unfortunately, even if you are out walking for your commute - unless your arms are uncovered - you aren't absorbing much. And our cars and houses have windows which filter out the sun's rays. I used to go stand outside (far from the smokers) and push up my sleeves and get a few minutes of sun when I was working. Or take a 10 minute walk at lunch with open arms. Here our deck is warm with little wind and the warm sun so once it hits about 45 degrees I can actually manage 10 minutes with a black t-shirt if I stand on the south side of the house mid day. Easier to take a pill right now. Oh and I'm glad they FINALLY found your coat. Bummer that your soon to be ex-boss has to share her goodbye party with another. And for totally different reasons. Sounds like they are trying to conserve money or opportunities for you to have fun Perhaps new boss is aware of this or was once generous, got chastised and now won't step out of line. Either way, bummer... Good luck with those performance goals Geez I hated that stuff. Number one goal - to do whatever I can to maximize my raise and bonus - ok, let's at least be honest

Annie - is Sissy having post partum? Is there anything that can be done to ease up the hormone flood? Shot of testosterone??? I kid but that is NOT a kidding thing. I feel badly for anyone dealing with that as people do not understand. I am glad to hear she is doing better and you don't have to be there for 14 hours a day. Is Lil Man adjusting to his new brother? Cute pictures of Royce. Will look even cuter with red hair. That kind of fits with Royce too. I hope he's a night time sleeper and not a party baby. Have you looked into maybe getting some help with your medication? Geez even a coupon or something - try writing to the drug companies if you are taking name brand stuff. That's a month of groceries there. Yikers. I pray every night that you will get some good news on the job front. Keep trying - I know it's a pain in the keester - helps too if you know anyone who can submit your name. Has the snow melted by now over your way? Is Sassy liking grass again? No more potty battles???

Pattience - with tall and lanky, short and squat, petite dolls and mediums people - no wonder our clothes don't fit! I am short and pear shaped. I prefer knit shirts because I have always had a problem with gapping with button shirts. When I worked (I retired 2 and a half years ago) - I favored dark dress pants, a knit top and cardigan sweaters or knit jackets. With a scarf or pin for decorations. Now that I am home, I wear a lot of fleece in our long winters. I find jeans to be quite cold although they are my go to in the summer time with t-shirts. I have always had a hard time with "fashionable" wear because it is generally made for people who are tall and super thin. Like now, the fashion is a skinny t-shirt with a bottom "tail" that is a good bit longer in the back. When you have a bottom - that just pokes out, particularly if you sit for a while and looks horrid. But if you look like a thin, stick bug - it looks fabulous! As for clothing, I like things that give a bit and move with me. Who wants clothes that bunch up and stick in things they shouldn't? Good luck, I hope you can realize your dreams.

Shad - enjoy that nice weather you are having. Will it become more cold as wet as you head towards June and winter? Would be a good time to pack up and leave the leaking bed and head back home to some warmer temperatures. Is Sunday with DS while you are away?

Ceejay - how did draining the tank go? Did you have as much fun as you hoped you'd have?

Terra - have you ever though of tracking your steps or your mileage? Our friend Mel would use the pedal machine (her legs were weak from illness) but she would plot out how far she travelled across the country. It was a fun way to make some goals.

Susie - I'm so glad you were able to get a fews days off (all in a row too!) and have some R&R to yourself. You are on the go so much, it's hard when you never get to slow down. Did you both enjoy the conference bb games?

Nothing special for me. Quiet day today. I really am having problems lying down with the eventual onset of the vertigo. Wondering how I will get through class. Between the knee, arthritis and vertigo, boy do I feel like a mess. But I won't stop moving and I know if I commit to going to classes, even if I can't totally keep up, at least I am doing something.

Geez the day flew by. We had a late lunch and I planned on leftover Zuppa Toscano soup for dinner and here it is almost 6:30. Better eat if I'm going to, otherwise I'll be dancing with indigestion tonight.

[ceejay52]

Whew, I'd forgotten how much trouble this plant is to operate on one ground storage tank. I'm a complete set of nerves right now. There has been nothing but trouble. Ughhhhhh, Called my boss while ago and told him some more issues that I've experienced since they went home and told him he might have to put me under the ground after this. I was trying to remain calm Also told him I was going to operate in hand mode.
We pumped most of the water to the system but now we're having to drain the rest of the 15 foot that lost pressure. I'm surprised that no one has called up here to tell us that there is a huge leak.

More later. I'm exhausted mentally and physically.

[MyChoice2bfit]

I tried to post yesterday but the site would not load. It was annoying.

This will be a short post. My Director is getting ready to leave for a 10 day vacation (praise the lord) but he is working me to death before he leaves. I worked until 6 last night, until 5:30 tonight and I just finished working from home for 2 hours and I"m getting ready to go to bed, but I wanted to get a quick post in.

Annie loved the pictures of the grandbaby , he is very cute and to hear that he has red hair! I LOVE red-head babies...I was one of them! Also congrats on the 15 lbs gone!

Happy: I hope you can get the vertigo under control soon. That has to be awful to deal with every day.

Michelle: I will PM you tomorrow with the name of the shakes

Pattience: I have to try on all my clothes as I never know what is going to look good.

Laura: Good luck with the goals discussion. I have that coming up..will be due end of June. I should get busy with it. I do have a file that I through things in to help me remember what I did for the year. It's just the "creative" writing we have to do with tht info. We can list them, we have to write content around them.

Ceejay; I have no idea what all is involved with draining a ground storage tank but I would like to know! I hope you can recover quickly from the stress of it.


Hi Terra and Shad.

Ok..I'm out of here for some shut-eye. See you all tomorrow.

[Terra1984]

Susie ~ Im so sorry I guess I didnt see your post from Saturday but to answer your question yes I got my walks in that day and every day since then, Yesterday I got 3 walks in and today I got 2.

Laura ~ Thats cool that you took your dogs on walks with you. Nope my dog is too old to go on walks anymore, To answer your questions my walks went good over the weekend.

Happy ~ Nope I just use mine to see how many calories I burned but I could set it to see how far I walked and stuff like that, Good Idea, Thanks

[Pattience]

I haven't read your posts yet. I've just come from a day in the city. I went to see 12 Years a Slave. Anyone else seen it. I liked it but it wasn't as good as The Wolf of Wall STreet and Dallas Buyers Club. Anyone else got an opinion on that.

I enjoyed a vietnamese meal and a korean meal today.

[Pattience]

Laura, thanks for giving me your clothing style.

Reading Laura's report on planks reminded me of a good exercise that you can do in in your bedroom. Its quite cardiac and uses your whole body. Don't laugh! Its prostrations! Like what the tibetan buddhists do to the Dalai Lama. I realised this once when i was on an intensive meditation retreat and we couldn't do much physical activity. I started doing prostrations in my room where no one would know i was exercising. I wasn't worshipping anyone. I just wanted to burn some energy. I can't remember how many i did just before lunch. Maybe 100. And maybe some more in the morning. For any one who doesn't want to go running outside, this is a good alternative. There is no need to rush yourself. You will puff doing them slowly. PUt a cushion down on the floor for your knees. And if you have bad knees don't do too many. I actually think 100 hundred might be for a whole day if you are not very fit to begin with. I knew a monk who had to 400 a day which he did every day for a year because he had to do 111000 or something like that. (Note, I haven't done the maths).

Perhaps I should start doing them again myself.

Diyana, thanks for sharing your dress style. Can you give me more description of your tops? So you don't need to cover your bum. Lucky you! :-) Do you wear sleeves. Are the tops loose or fitted and empire line too or with bust darts? or gathered anywhere. Or just t-shirts.

Ceejay, if you need something more challenging than yoga, then maybe you just need a more challenging yoga class. Sometiems yoga can be very boring. It varies a lot from teacher to teacher or style to style. Have you ever tried Iyengar? I'd say its quite challenging. Its my favourite style.

Its a nice idea to track your miles on a map as if you were doing a long hike. I like that a lot because i love maps and i love travelling. I have done several cycling tours.

Happy thanks for your fashion insights.

Hi Everybody else.

[annie175]

Hump Day, yay, don't know why I am celebrating that one since I am not at that dreaded place I worked.

Yesterday Sam, babes and I met with one of the few people I worked with for lunch. It was nice and the 3 peeps that I wanted to see the new babe got to see him. Today her friend Megan and lil one Aubrey is going over at 10:30 to visit with them so I am technically off the hook for today. She and the boys will be coming over for dinner as my son is coming over to fix my drains in my bathtubs, both are rust through. All will stay for dinner. Fresh snapped greenbeans, ham and potatos, salad on the side.

I have a phone interview scheduled for tomorrow at 10:00 am. It is with Conrad Hilton as Sales and Catering Coordinator. Fingers crossed it goes well, need to find out more about the position to see if it will be truly something I will enjoy.

I tried Chobani no fat greek yogurt, apple. It was very good and planning on getting more of it. Very very good.

Pattience..I have seen DBC and WOWS but not 12 years a slave yet. I liked the prior two movies and will let you know on the latter once I see it.

SUSIE...isn't it funny that the bosses getting ready for vacation puts you in fire mode.

CEEG...take deep breaths sister, sooth those nerves.

HAPPY...most certainly Sam has post partum blues. She is doing better daily. Thank the good Lord for that. Lil man is adjusting to the new babe, but is not his best friend as yet. lol. Hope your vertigo gets better, that must be so annoying. How are your hips and feet doing?

CHELLE...I have thought of contract work but not ready to go that route just yet.

I have to get busy, hello to all.

Loves

[Laura705]

Morning all.

Pattience – I’m curious about the prostrations, so I’ll look it up online later. I haven’t seen “12 Years a Slave” yet, but we do have the movie on dvd. To me, it’s one of those movies in which the topic isn’t one I’m enthusiastic about, but I’m sure once I saw it I’d find it was entertaining and well-done. I have seen “Dallas Buyers Club” and “The Wolf of Wall Street” and liked them both, though I thought Wolf was too long and too repetitive with all the sex, drugs and rah-rah speeches.

Terra – Glad your weekend walks went well. Too bad you can’t walk with your dog – it’s a motivator for me. I wouldn’t be going for walks on the weekend if it weren’t for doggy. But one advantage to walking without the dog is keeping a consistent pace – no stopping for sniffing, etc.

Susie – I hope you have a slower, calmer week once your boss goes on vacation! Re the goals, now that I’ve gotten some feedback on my bullet points, I will have to put them in the correct format (i.e., SMART), and we also enter them into a software program for tracking.

Ceejay – Bummer that work was so stressful for you yesterday. Is today starting off better? I think I’d be very nervous myself if I were entirely in charge of keeping a whole water plant going, when I knew it supplies water to the whole town/area!!

Happy – So getting out for sun in the winter doesn’t help with Vit. D if I’m covered from head to toe except for bits of face visible outside of headband, scarf & sunglasses, LOL. Okay, guess I’ll be more accepting of the Vit. D pill regimen. Good luck at today’s yoga class.

Michelle – Glad the back class is going well. Re the c-pap – I agree, the sound of it is surely better than listening to snoring!!

Annie - The lunch sounds nice. Dinner with both ds and dd and the 2 grandsons will be nice tonight. Good luck with the phone interview!! Sounds right up your alley.

Hi Shad!
--
My goals discussion went fine, now to just get the goals written up properly – specific, measurable, etc.

WW mtg was alright. I had a loss of 0.4 pounds. It is actually a miracle I didn’t gain – I think I tracked most of last week (weekdays) and my calories were never less than 2,000/day. Yikes! I’m lucky my body’s burning it off!

The happy hour for the boss and the other employee was nice – just a small gathering at a nearby bar. I didn’t get home until just after 7, so I didn’t get to the gym last night.

The TV installation went well, except for an incident with doggy. Bf unwisely left the house during the install (to pick up something needed for the installation) and decided to let doggy inside before he left because doggy had already been out for quite a while before that. Everything would have been fine…if the installer didn’t need to leave the house to get something from his truck. That’s when Coal got “upset” that someone was leaving the house, and it’s his “habit” to nip at the person going out the door. In this case, he tore the installer’s jeans and broke his skin. Uh oh. The installer phoned bf to say he better come back to the house. Bf phoned me at that point and was really freaked out…but I think the fact that Coal immediately returned to his normal calm/friendly self made the installer realize the dog wasn’t going to be any more trouble and the installation went on without any further issues. Bf gave the guy some $$ to buy a new pair of jeans, and showed him doggy's current rabies certificate.

I know it seems alarming that Coal would do that, and most people might conclude that he has a separation anxiety problem. And I guess he does, but it’s only for that moment in time as you walk out the door. He doesn’t go into any kind of destructive behavior before or after that. Kind of odd. Bf and I have become accustomed to it. We either give Coal a treat ball right before we leave the house, or we walk out the door without any attention to him.

Anyway…lesson learned for me at least is to never leave the dog alone with strangers. And warn anyone visiting about the leaving the house issue. Really, I don’t think it was a good idea to leave the house with strangers in it anyway, dog or no dog. These installers were employees of a company in which we have a high level of trust, but you never know what they might get into.

The new TV is nice. BF and I watched part of a hockey game on it and enjoyed it much more on the bigger screen. We did not end up needing a lower height cabinet under it, so that’s money saved.

Okay, I’ve rambled on long enough. TTFN.

[diyana]

Happy Hump Day ladies,

I went to the chair/office yoga class last night, and it was good. We did the following:

• Seated Neck Rolls
• Seated Mountain Pose
• Seated Half Moon
• Seated Cat/Cow
• Seated Forward Bend with legs wide so we could increase the gentle stretch
• A modified Downward Dog with forearms resting on a chair
• Then we stood up and did the triangle pose
• Finally we did the seated pidgeon pose

Most of these can be found online. I really like my teacher...she always checks everyone's form, suggests modifications and wants us to stop the posture and let her know if we feel pain so that she can help us. For example, the triangle pose she demonstrated had the arm that goes down resting on the chair, but that tweaked my back in a funny way, so I just placed it on the inside of my knee and didn't use the chair at all for that posture.

For some reason, I'm feeling a little queasy today...so I may skip the gym and go home to relax. I'm planning on trying out another new yoga class tomorrow.

============================
Happy - Not only is pain a great motivator, so is wanting to be able to hike and be more active. I have bad posture too when I'm not thinking about it. It's only when I realize that I'm slouching that I sit up properly and engage my core. I need to get better at doing that more unconsciously. So do the exercises to reset your crystals work? Or do you have to go into the PT?

Ceejay - I'm so sorry you had such a rough day at work. I hope you were able to relax once you finally got home and that today will be better.

Susie - Good that you'll be able to breathe a sigh of relief once the director is on vacay. How many more days until he leaves?

Terra - Good idea that Happy had to track mileage. You can set a goal like how long will it take you to walk to San Francisco...or New York City...or wherever.

Pattience - I haven't seen any of the movies you mentioned, but I am interested in seeing 12 Years a Slave and the Dallas Buyers Club. I had to google what a prostration is (this is what I found: http://www.yowangdu.com/tibetan-budd...strations.html). I can see where you could burn some calories with all that getting up and down. Most of my tops are loose fitting knit. I don't have to cover my bum...but if they do, that's a bonus..I like them to cover my tummy Or at least come down a couple inches below my waist. I normally wear short-sleeves year around because I'm usually too warm in the office for long sleeves or sweaters. When my arms get more tone, I might wear sleeveless tops outside of work. But really I prefer short-sleeved. I don't think any of my tops are gathered. A few have bust darts, and I've got a couple that are empire waisted. On the weekends, I normally wear t-shirts. My yoga teacher teaches Kripalu yoga, and I've done Hatha yoga before. I enjoy them both. I've heard that Iyengar yoga and Bikram yoga are more intense...I am not ready for either of those (yet).

Annie - Glad you had a nice lunch with your friends. And so fortunate that your son can fix your bathtub drains. Your phone interview tomorrow sounds like a great position. I think you'd be great doing something like that. I'm sending you lots of prayers, positive energy and love. I prefer Dannon Light & Fit No Fat Greek Yogurt to Chobani. I like the Strawberry, Blueberry and Raspberry flavors.

Laura - Congrats on the weight loss. So sorry to hear about the incident with Coal and the TV installer. I don't think I'd leave a stranger in my house alone with my dog. I don't even like leaving Santa with my roommates other than D. I just get too nervous that they'll leave a door open or not watch him closely enough and he'd get into something. I'm glad that the installer was willing to let it slide. I don't remember Coal being nippy when Annie and I were at your place...but maybe you did the treat thing or I just wasn't very observant. I'm so glad you like the new TV and that you don't need a lower height cabinet!

Well, my task for today is to figure out why the website isn't sending e-mails when people fill out forms. It's okay though....deep breath....I'll have it figured out by this afternoon.

Much love,

[MyChoice2bfit]

Hi Ladies--I actually am taking a bit of a lunch break and using it to read my email and the posts here. It feels wonderful to have a bit of "me" time during the work day.

I have ordered our treadmill and have scheduled the painting so I'm moving forward with the plans for the house and the fitness room.

The treadmill will be delivered and assembled on April 18. The painting is going to be done on April 17 and if they need to finish on April 18 they can. They will do the fitness room first to ensure that it will be finished before the treadmill arrives. I'm getting excited about all of this. I need to remember that on Saturday when I'm working on decluttering the room and also the office.

I'm actually looking forward to that work on Saturday as DH will be gone a few hours with one of our friends daughters, who calles us Uncle and Aunt. She wants her Uncle John to take her to Macy's (her favorite store) to buy a new dress for Easter. She has been saving her money (from her birthday, Christmas and allowance) as she doesn't want one from the consignment shop or to wear one that her sister previously wore. My DH is a shopper and he introduced Layna to Macy's and so he is taking her. I would love to watch my 6'2" 267 lb DH in that dress area while she tries all the dresses on!

I will come back later and do personals...time to head to a meeting.

[MyChoice2bfit]

Hi..I'm back for Personals.

Michelle: Check your PM, I sent you the information on the shakes.
It sounds like you have a great teacher for your chair/office yoga. She is making sure that you are doing what is right for you--that is a great teacher!

I hope your queasy feeling got better.

Pattience: I haven't seen any of those movies but they are on my list of those I would like to see.

Laura: Congrats on having a loss at WW. I had that same loss at TOPS last week. At first I was like--so what..but then I got to thinking..at least the scales went down which is the direction I want them to go! Glad that things worked out with the situation with your dog and the Installer.

Annie: Hump day should always be celebrated! Good luck with the interview tomorrow. I think you would be good at that job and would like it. Go after it like you want it! If it turns out you don't after the interview and they offer it to you it will help you gain confidence that you have value in the work force (which YOU DO!! ). It's so easy to lose that confidence when your job situation has changed...I know..I have been there. Glad to hear that things are improving for Sissy. I have taken Zoloft in the past (after my dad passed). It was a big help to me to get back to being "me".

Happy: I hope today is a non-vertigo day for you and that your snow is melting.
I like that idea about the cookbook. The very reason I don't like to cook is the time it takes. I need simple, tasty, things to fix.

Terra: You are doing a great job with your walks. I think tracking it on a map would be fun to see how far you are really going.

Ceejay: I hope today is a better, less stress day!

Shad: It's getting towards the end of the week for you...what do you have planned this weekend? You are always doing something fun!

Ok..I must get back to work now. See you all tomorrow.

[Shad]

Morning all,
Didn't get to post yesterday. It was one of those hectic days where not a lot got finished but a **** of a lot got started and interupted. I finally managed to get one of the Business Reps to look at the documentation and verbally agree they were fine. So that was 6 documents off my plate. I am about to send out an email to the other recalcitrants telling them that since the functional consultant has okayed them, then they will be published regardless as we don't have the time to muck around anymore. Any changes will be made after go-live now only 21 days away.

Annie - best of luck for your interview although you have probably already had it. I think you would do quite well with catering management - it's not cooking but you certainly know your food. I guess you were into sales at that other place. So it shouldn't be too difficult to slot in.
Good to hear that Sam is coming right slowly. It can be a difficult thing to get over the baby blues. One of the blokes I work with has a wife who still from time to time gets the blues. Although I am beginning to think hers might be more suburban neurosis rather than baby blues as she is in Nelson and although her family is close, she is alone in the house with the baby much of the time and she doesn't like it.
Lovely pictures of the new babe. He looks like he is doing well.

Michelle - Sounds like the yoga class is doing well for you. Hopefully it will make you a lot more supple and give you some leeway for hiking. 99 bugs in the system hey??? Always something.

Ceejay - hope the draining and refilling went well. Sounds like a fun job NOT. I can understand the stress in that one.

Happy - Have to agree, spice blends ie. Morrocan seasoning or Tuscan seasoning contains a lot of salt and if you don't use them up quickly the salt cakes together and the whole lot goes hard.
I think the Indians smoke because they are nervous about their jobs. Sometimes with good reason. I just wish I could put a team together to show big business that is not cost effective doing things this way. How can it be when they have to do everything twice. When things are not ready by due date and the favourite saying is ' oh no, can't do that. It is not in scope. Will cost x$$$ to change scope'. Business buys these programs through sales people - both theirs and SAP's. Sales people have no idea how things work and SAP isn't exactly user friendly in it's 'Vanilla' state. End of rant.
The weather will get colder here. Frosts and low temps in the winter and wind and rain no doubt. I'm enjoying it for the time being, but it is getting on for time to go back. Sunday is with the DS2. She also seems to think it is time to go home.

Pattience - I have sort of an hour glass shape. Hips and bust about the same and smaller waist - although not as small as it used to be!!!! I generally wear trousers and tops to work and the tops I like best are those with plenty of room in them sort of like either on a yolk with gathered front and I like them to come down onto the hips and butt with a band. I do wear t-shirts but don't like them tight. Nothing worse than seeing all the rolls over and below the bra. I like my trousers with straight legs and fitting around the butt. I don't have much of a sticky out butt, its wide but flat, which makes fitting difficult. I do have a gut roll in the front which really annoys me, but it doesn't seem to want to go away. In dresses - which I don't wear often, I like them to fit in the shoulders (of which I have a sloping pair) and the bust and skim the rest without showing too many rolls etc. Sleeves - yeah well short or capped mostly since Queensland really doesn't have a winter as such. But I have 3/4 and long as well. My skin is still smooth enough to take them and the batwings aren't too bad. I'm a 16 verging on a 14. Although I have clothes in the wardrobe from a size 12 to a 20 and they all fit - go figure.

Laura - My push ups challenge finishes this week. Only 2 more days to go. Think I might do it again and add some of the abs challenge in as well. It might help to tone up some of this gut and the batwings.
Sorry to hear about Coals little trick. Lucky the man was okay with the cash and not about to get the council involved and possibly have the dog put down. You must have to be careful with the dog around children as well or is he okay when out of his territory?

Susie - Yeah, the boss is gone. Some peace and quiet for a change. Sounds like you are in for a bit of renovation with the painting and new workout room. Good stuff.
Love that the DH is taking a young lady shopping. Hope she doesn't come home with anything too sassy for the parents.
This weekend is my nieces birthday. We will all be going out to her place. Don't know what else is on the menu, however I will be trying out for another long walk, just not sure where this time. Might think about the Palliser Lakes, but that could be just a step too far. Have to check it out. Other than that, food shopping (although the list is not long this week) and some vegetating is on the menu.

Terra - keep up the walking. It's good for you. A pedometer will help to indicate how many steps you are doing, what the calories are, heart rates and whether you are improving your time/distance which is the ultimate goal.

Okay - back to work. Timing is whizzing past.

[ceejay52]

Afternoon
Had a very busy day yesterday but not to bad today. I had to make a few changes in the actual run of the plant late yesterday afternoon due to having the one ground storage tank. I had to call B and tell him. The plant has some how gotten air in the lines.
Our insurance meeting went well. I still don't understand all of it and I used to work in insurance but there are some changes for the better. I'm a worry wart at heart.
We've been having some of the most beautiful sunset's. Wish I had a better camera other than my phone so I can make a picture.

----------
Susie
Happy that things are getting done to the your new exercise room. I know you will use it more. And congrats on the loss.

Happy
You asked about my renovation. It's done and nothing very extravagant. I mainly did some rearranging of the furniture and kept most of the African stuff. I still have a bit of stuff to do but nothing like before. At least I have a place to sleep other than the couch. Are you feeling better?

Pattience
I'm not sure how to describe my body shape. I'm equal inches in bust, hips and waist. I just call myself rotund. I haven't worn a dress in years simply cause I don't look good in them. I'm not sure about a skirt and top. I mostly wear pants and tops. My work clothes are jeans and a top with our logo on them.

Annie
I agree with Shad. Think you will do well in the catering management business. Royce is a handsome little man. Has Jacob gotten better with the rivalry?

Shad
So things are going to print. And 21 days left to go for this job. You mentioned push up challenge and helping the bat wing problem. That is the first thing I noticed is how well my arm are getting toned. I'm going to do the challenge again.

Laura
I need to go back and see what Coal did.

Terra
Did you walk today?

[Pattience]

Good afternoon all. I must say this thread is quite demanding isn't it. Its good for me don't worry. And its sort of nice to not be totally focused on the weightloss side of things.

Nothing very remarkable about my day today. I've been sewing, took the dog to the beach for a short walk. I've committed myself to picking up rubbish there once a week. The beach is really clean now after a very short time. 3 shopping bags the first week. Today only three items. If you are an aussie, check out tangaroa blue.org website. You can do this on any beach australia wide. Now when i go to any beach, i take some plastic bags along. Although i don't detail my findings except on my beach.

Thanks everyone for sharing your body info.

Annie, Good luck on the job interview.

Laura, re 12 years a slave. What was interesting about it was that i learnt that black people were kidnapped in the north and sold as slaves in the south. Most of them died in slavery. The guy in this story survived and wrote a book about it. I agree with you about WOWS as annie usefully calls it. Its pretty full on. But isn't it a story worth knowing about given that was based on a real life person. Its crazy to see how some people live.

To do a prostration, i found this link which is a good one. Not too much talking. http://www.yowangdu.com/tibetan-budd...strations.html

Diyana, your description of yoga sounds like the way an iyengar teacher manages ones poses. Though of course its not an office class so a lot of things are done like headstands or forearm stands (which you don't have to do) which are fun when you are in the healthy weight range.

What i know about Bikram is that it sounds silly. They believe in sweating and being hot and uncomfortable. Modern science tells us that we do not sweat toxins so their idea is just wrong. I did not find iyengar intense but if you are very unfit or very overweight you might find it difficult. But a good teacher (and they are all a very highly trained) will give you poses to do that are within your range and won't expect you to do things that fitter or slimmer people can do. The first teacher i had, had a group who had physical injuries and stuff like that to deal with. He was such a great teacher. Wish i stayed with him longer. They all work with you individually, helping your improve your poses in a gentle way.

Choice wow a fitness room. You are one lucky person. I"d probably make mine a yoga meditation room and then i might actually do some occasionally. Or maybe do some prostrations lol. I didn't even think of doing prostrations today.

Shad, Thanks for your description of clothes. Useful. Since everyone else seems to know, what sort of work do you do. I have to admit for my part, i don't regret my days in offices are over.

I know i might have missed out others. but hi anyway. Have a good day all.