It's the weekend here!!! Yahoo
 

Hi all. Nice to hear from everyone in one go. I'm still having problems with computers down here. Maybe the problem is me!!!

Anyway, I am here on DS computer. Simon as you know is not the most conservative of people and likes things to make noises and flash and gurgle etc etc. So everytime I go to do something on this, it chirrups like a frog or sounds like a car disappearing into the distance or maybe even tells me somewhat lewdly that I have made a mistake. I do love my quirky son!!

Happy Halloween and Happy Harvest Festival to Kim. Harvest festival as I remember it at home was in March/April. Basically it coincided with Easter. But that's what you get for living down under where the seasons are at different times and zones.

Kim I think you have done very well with 5lbs in 3 weeks. It may not seem a lot but don't ever knock it. We have to fight for every lb and it never gives up easy. So 5lb is a very very good score. :strong: :jig: :cb: :queen: to you for being such a good girl.

Now for my weighin. As you all know, I am away a lot and it is never easy to eat light when you go to restaurants etc for dinner every night. This last trip away has been easier as I have been on my own and have been able to choose my food, and have had the facilities to cook. Most of the time I have eaten in. It shows on the scales.

Okay, now for those of you who remember way back when, 13 weeks back I decided to eat well, choose smaller portions and limit the fat intake but not deny myself anything. I simply can not stick to a strict diet. I also decided to do some simple exercises and stretches 5 days a week and go for a walk or swim every day. So here are the results for the last 13 weeks. I have measured and weighed every four weeks (except for the last when I did not have my scales)

Upper Chest - 44.5" / 43.75" / 43.5"
Bust - 41.5" / 41" / 40"
Lower Chest - 36.5" / 36.5" / 36
Waist - 36.5" / 36.5" / 36"
Upper Hip - 43.5" / 42.5" / 41.75"
Lower Hip - 42" / 42" / 40.5"
Top of Leg - 22" / 22" / 21.5"
Top of Arm - 12" / 12.5" / 12.5"
Weight - 75.5kg (170lb) 75kg (169) 74.5 (168)

So you can see that the weight is not disappearing as I would like, but the inches are just moving right along. It took a while to get them moving, and I am going to have up the exercise soon to make it move more, but at least I am enjoying the exercise I have set for myself. Because I am enjoying it, it is no hardship to carry on. Thats my theory anyway and I am sticking to it.

Anyway, lots to do today. So I best go get started on Mt Shad living in the laundry and then clean up outside after last nights storm. Etc Etc Etc.

Have a good day everyone.

Hi, just a quick note...Shad those are great results and you are probably a lot healthier with the exercise added in. I know restaurant food can be a challenge..especially when you like to eat out.

I like to walk but am a big weanie when the weather gets cold..so I need to figure out something else to do. I'm really glad that this holiday is almost over as I want all the candy out of the house!! It's everywhere, even when I went to get my car out of the shop today there was a candy bowl on the counter...I was good though and abstained. Meanwhile my youngest daughter is in candy heaven. Take care - I'm off to driving duty with my middle daughter.

Well done for passing on the sweets Kim. It's okay for the kids, they tend to burn it off much faster than we do, although even they can overdo it I guess.
Thanks for the nice words. I'm pretty pleased with those results. It has taken me a long time, but I have learned what I can have lots of and what I have to ration. Takes a while for some of us to grow up I guess.

Time for bed now. Tomorrow is Sunday and I have a lot to do before I go away for the week. Really, really looking forward to having some time at home soon.

Here I am in sunny Toowoomba and it looks absolutely glorious outside. However for the time being I am stuck in here with a nice bunch of blokes who like to laugh a lot and josh around. That's fine, don't mind the extra giggle myself but there is a serious side in that they are here to learn as well. I think we have achieved that as each time they play a practical joke on each other, I set a test for them to do. If they get it right that's fine, we move on. If not they get some more exercises to do. They are wondering what they have to do to upset me, like they did the others! Hee, hee. :rollpin: :rollpin: :lol: ;)
They haven't yet figured that I don't get easily upset and that the Kiwi jokes are like water off the ducks back to this little black duck. I just keep saying that I've heard it all before and now how about another couple of searches looking for ........... They haven't yet seemed to have worked out that for each joke, they are made to do a Sale, a Receipt and search for some very strange items!!!!! Maybe one day, what I am doing and how I get away with itwill enter their thick heads. At the moment I am a tough old dragon acccording to them.

On the other side of things, yesterday was a bad food day and today I am having some awful problems with my sinus. Bleeding noses and pain. I have been constantly taking pain relief which is a bit of a downer as it will have side effects if I don't drink my water. Here's hoping for better days tomorrow.

Hope all is well and that you are not all working too hard.
Happy I wish that school was finished for you and that all the stresses were over. But not long now to go.
Kim - I well remember the days of Mums' Taxi. It seemed to be all I did way back when

Good morning ladies,

All I can say with a great big sigh is that there just isn't enough hours in the day *** big sigh ***.

Congrats Shad and Kim on making progress towards your goals. Slow and steady gets you to the same place and keeps you there longer rather than the jackrabbit start we all long for.

As I was getting ready to go to the grocery store yesterday, DH announced, "we need to go on a diet". No more candy, cookies, smaller portions and lighter meals. Yezzzzz boss. No worries here matey. So I stocked up on fish, chicken, turkey, fresh veggies and fruits - limited as they may be as we head to the winter months. Had a sale on Mangoes Shad - 1 dollar each. Thought of you. They were a good size and quite pretty but not being a mango fan myself... So dinner last night was chicken strips, assorted fresh veggies and some pineapple flavored unsweetened apple sauce which really wasn't too bad. DH got the smaller portion he requested and was quite proud that he actually finished ONE count 'em, ONE whole bottle of water for the day. I told him he must drink at least 4 of them to get the proper amount of water in. He said he'd spend the rest of his life in the loo and I just smiled and said, welcome to my life. So after a healthy dinner, Mr. Diet guy proceeded to pick at the left over Halloween candy and washed that down with a fruit cup and a pudding smoothie. Some diet eh? The killer is that he probably WILL lose weight doing this. :cry: :cry: :cry: :mad: But it has gotten me back on track again, so I don't much mind.

I also picked up a book - The Carbohydrate Addict's Diet. Haven't been able to read much thus far but I can relate to what I've read already so maybe it will offer some helpful tips.

Also got a call this weekend from someone I once worked with and have lost touch with. History repeated itself as she was uncermoniously dumped from the same company that I was - she took over after I left. She is now working for a different company and had called because they have some open positions, one of which is a trainer. While an interesting concept, over the long run I don't think I'd like it much at all. I am quite happy working with the web now and it lays into future plans of mine so I am hesitant to consider a change now, even if things are shakey at my company as they seem to be all over in this unstable and worrysome economy of ours. The worst part about this job is that the company is located in the Sears Tower. After what happened in New York on September 11, working in a huge office building and an anticipated target for attacks no longer has the prestige and appeal it once did. My nephew's wife worked there during that time and they often had drills where they had to exit the building quickly and stand in the street for long periods of time - in the winter no less. Walking down 18 floors of stairs is not my idea of a solid aerobic program. And there is always the fear of a high rise fire. We just had one 2 weeks ago. 6 people were killed when they were caught in a smokey stairwell. Because of security concerns, most office doors lock within the stairwells. You can get out and go down but not get back in again. The people who died left their offices and headed downward only to get several floors above the actual fire, became overcome by smoke and then could not get out of the stairwell because all the doors to the floors were locked. It was a real tragedy for the city. And it's always been my fear of working in a high rise. I never like to be above the 10th floor myself.

So for the time being, will just stick with what I have, pray that things improve business wise and hope we can just all go on with our lives scratching out a living.

With that, I wish you all a good week, will check back later...

Hey we almost slid to page 2. Bump. Bump.

Day 2 of diet. Didn't do bad at all today. Had breakfast which held me off of lunch until 2pm because I got busy. Had a nice bowl of home made minnestrone with some turkey sausage. Heathy and satisfying on a cool fall day. Made a turkey breast tonight with a mixed greens salad with low fat raspberry vinegrette with a few walnuts and cranberries mixed in. Desert was a fruit cup with peaches, pears and a few fresh raspberries. DH said the flavors really complimented each other. I did notice he took his regular big portions tho. I ate smaller but about 2 hours later I had the most intense cravings for something, didn't know what. I have had my fill of Halloween candy. Packed up the rest to send to the office with hubby. I finally caved about 3 hours later and had a handful of reduced fat chips/crisps and 2 sips of a Coke. I am trying to keep an eye on how I'm reacting to food and what's giving me problems. Water's harder to get down now that it's cold out. I seem to drink most of it in the evening which really disrupts the sleep.

Argh the snows are only a few hundred miles to the north and west of us. I think we'll be seeing a bit of the flakes soon. Is supposed to be warmer and rainy tomorrow and then near freezing by the weekend. I knew I should have raked the leaves up on Sunday to cover my flower bed for the winter. Now they are all wet and yuccky and if the lawn service comes tomorrow for the last time (I forgot to call and end the season), we won't have any leaves at all and I will have to go begging from the neighbors again.

Kim hope your husband is feeling better. Migraines are a terrible thing to deal with. Shad hope you are enjoying the oncoming summer. Read an article today about people who climb the Sydney bridge. A bit too high for me I'm afraid. Nice pic though of a group sillouetted (sp?) against a rising full moon at night. One poor guy rented out a whole trip - several thousand dollars to take his girlfriend and her family as he proposed to her at the top - and she turned him DOWN! The guide said it was the quietest trip down he had even taken.

Teel I hope all that wet dark weather has not got you hiding under the duvet waiting for the sun to shine again. Go pound your Internet service and give us a ring, will you?

Nuts to climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge. There is always a gale blowing up there and it is cold and quite frankly not IMO worth the money. I can go up the CentrePoint tower for half the cost in the lift and enjoy an enclosed view of 360 degrees of Sydney views and look down on those climbing the bridge!
Snow huh - we are having dust storms at the moment and everything is so dry and burnt looking. Have to pour water onto things just to keep them slightly green.
Glad to hear that your new eating plans are going okay, but have to agree that it is a pain when you really really want something but can not decide what it is. Water is hard to drink when the temp takes a dive. I used to compensate (in NZ) by drinking hot water instead of tea or coffee and plonk a slice of lemon in it just for some flavour.
Okay time to move along. I promised myself a long walk today. I better get out there and do it.

Nearly down the bottom and over the page again. Wonder where Teel has gotten to. Is she still in the respite centre?? Or has she disappeared into the dark of the night without telling anyone.

Good day training wise today, we seem to be getting through the exercises pretty well. No practical jokers, one is a bit slow, but we will cope with him.

Hump day, the turning point where it is closer to going home than getting up here. I've mostly quite enjoyed Toowoomba and this is my last visit here. Don't like the hotel but hey can beggars be choosers.

Catch you tomorrow

I'm so excited :dance: Back in September the sewer pipe broke at the foundation of our house. It had rained very hard and water accumulated in the window because it had nowhere else to go and leaked into the basement, causing quite the mess. Insurance would not cover the pipe repair but they did say they would investigate the wet and warped panelling and loose floor tiles. The workers showed up today to start what I though was just some patching around the damaged area but to my extreme surprise they were authorized to replace all the panelling in the basement - since it would be impossible to replace just a few sheets of panelling and try and match it. Oh happy day! We decided on dry wall instead of panelling based on the recommendation of the restoration services guy. We were talking about doing some renovations but now it will really get done!!!! And we decided to pay out of our pocket for some extra things just to get them done and finished. It will look so nice. We will do the ceiling ourselves and have decided to consider replacing the flooring since all they can do is re-glue the loose tiles.

Last year when you were talking about renovating your home Shad, I was so envious because I've wanted to do things around here for a long, long time. And it's finally happening!

I really should get to sleep now because the workers are coming very early and I have to be up and full of enough coffee to greet them at 7 but I'm too excited to sleep.

Oh happy days - or should that be happy daze!!!!!
Well it is nice to know that some insurance companies will shell out to effect a reasonable replacement. We nearly always have to fight to get anything out of ours these days. It drives me crazy. Like for example, our lawnmower got nicked from the house. Insurance said get 3 quotes and submit them. Simon eventually did but it was 4 weeks later and it was then according to them too late. We only had 2 weeks to get the quote in. Rage descended. I have only ever requested one other thing out of the Insurance company and eventually got that. So when I could not get them to budge, I went to the local consumer council who had a go at them, nothing, I went to Choice which is the national consumer council, nothing. I went to the Ombudsman and gained a bit of information but nothing else. Finally I went to my local councillor and MP (member of parliament) and we threatened them with the TV Channel 7 local affairs program and lo and behold a new lawnmower appeared on the scene like a gift from the heavens. :angel: :angel: phooey. So it is very pleasant to hear that at least one of them is doing something for their grass roots customer.

So off you go to sleep happy and dream some happy dreams. I hope that they arrive on time and in full and that the repairs all go smoothly.

Off for my walk - training is done for the day. They have gone home reasonably confused and content.

Blurrrrrk
Woke up early this morning with a rotten headache and feeling very sorry for myself. Nose blocked, eyes running and really feeling ill. Took a panadol overdose and went back to bed. Things didn't get much better and finally after using the loo for both ends (sorry tmi) went back to sleep.
Result was that I woke up around 6.30 minus the worst of the headache but feeling really fuzzy round the edges. Sort of like having a hangover without the fun. Which is not fun!!!
So feeling really out of sorts today and just wishing my students would shut up and let me have peace and quiet. They don't though and they are entitled to ask questions so I must put up with it until going home time tonight. Didn't want breakfast and was not that fussed on lunch but figured I should have something. This has made me feel a bit better. I do wish someone would come up with a way to bypass the sinus'.
Weekends coming and tomorrow I go back down the hill to home for the weekend. Lordy but this year is moving along so fast.
This weekend I must take my computer to the shop for repair which will probably affect the wallet somewhat and do a few running repairs on my travelling stuff. I have it down to a fine art as far a packing goes, only sometimes stuff wears out or no longer fits or pops a button or something so it needs repairs. I need to touch up some of my stuff like that. One more week of travelling (so they say) and I can stay at home and start thinking about Christmas cards and letters and stuff like that.
Hope the repairs go well Happy.
Kim :wave: :wave: hello
Teel :wave: :wave: :genie:

Shad, am sorry to hear that you are feeling so bad. Sounds like the kind of thing making it's rounds around here which happens when the seasons change. I also just realized that in your line of work when you are the one and only teacher, there is no having the luxury of a sick day. Not to mention that it's also sheer misery flying with a stuffed head and ears. I am fortunate as I am one of the few people in theworld who are not put to sleep by antihistamines - I lived on them for 15 years with my allergies.

All I can suggest is hot cups of tea which is probably not feasible either. At least have some hot soup at lunch time - and you should eat something too, even if you can't taste it.

It is also a bother finding comfortable, attractive and reasonably priced clothing that travels well. Perhaps when you find something you like, buy two and have one as a replacement? I wish I'd done that with some of my wardrobe basics. Of course now that I work mostly from home, work clothes has a whole new delightful meaning! But I do get dressed and fix the hair and makeup each morning and never work in my pajamas unless I am really sick - downside of working from home, you never really get a sick day either.

Hope you are feeling better soon. The week is almost over, and the year too as you say. Christmas - what? :fr: :fr: :fr: I think this is going to be one of those years that I'm going to have a hard time squeezing that one in.

Repairs are going nicely. We had some extra fix it stuff done so that was good to have it taken care of. Bad thing is that we are struggling to shuffle things around to make room for the work men down there. Lots needs to be tossed and it will when we put things back together again. We discovered mold on the drywall on one length of wall behind a shelving unit. DH and I were on top of each other trying to get everything off the shelves to pull the units away so the men could work on the walls. All the time I'm thinking, I have to make dinner and then I have homework to do AND a class chat tonight - I don't have time for this nor do I have any place to put this stuff. About half got packed into trash bags into the garage - so maybe not such a bad thing, that desperation mode. I wish I had time for a garage sale - a few charities will be glad to pick up my donations in December.

Workmen showed up almost an hour early this morning. I was still in my robe fresh out of the shower and DH was "pondering life" in the loo so I had about 15 seconds to get dressed and answer the door. I forgot to put on my shoes with the orthotics in them and by the end of the day my feet were really in alot of pain. So the good news is that they work and the bad news is that they will be my friends for the rest of my life. No more sandals at all.

Off to bed now. Hello to the rest of the crew... Feel better quickly Shad.

Ho hum. got partway through a post in Toowoomba this afternoon when the power went out. So I lost that one. So I hopped in the car and am now at home a bit earlier than expected. So here is the news!!!!

Training as such has now been called off until further notice. There are so many problems with the system that the live branches are now rebelling and refuse to participate. I have no idea what I am doing for the next month or two. I know there is some doco to be done. There should be a few (okay more than a few) corrections to be made. But after that who knows. Maybe out of a job after that. Truth be told, I really don't care that much anyway. So anyway I will turn up at the office on Monday and see what gives. If nothing else it will give me some time at home to do things and my own bed to sleep in. I like that idea.

Okay, headache is more or less gone. I really should know about these headaches of mine by now. There are some obvious tell tale signs before the headache gets here. Tiredness, stress, eating too much of the wrong food, not being able to drink enough water, constipation or diarrhea (sp) and a couple of other things should be warning enough - do I take notice of them? No not often - just call me Mrs I for idiot.

So you got caught out Happy with the workers. Well hallelujah at least they showed up and it will 'encourage' you to move out the unwanted. I have every intention of getting rid of some of the stuff around here that I have managed to accumulate and some that belonged to the xdh and also some textbooks of Brendan's from University days. They could be a godsend to some poor student trying to make ends meet. We don't have the luxury of your big basement here and are constantly fighting for storage space. If I ever get to build another house, I will find an architect who designs boats because they have some natty storage ideas. Those Campervan things also - great for storage ideas

Well off to wash, clean and cook. I will try to get as much done as possible today and tonight so I have some space over the weekend to catch up on much needed jobs out doors.

Hi to all. Missing you all - please try to catch up soon. I actually have a phone number for Annie. Found it the other day from when I was due to go to Wollongong. We were going to have coffee together. Maybe I will ring the number and see if she is still around.

Well Shad, sounds like a bit of both a blessing and a curse - will nice to be home for a while but then again, no workie no money. Then again you said you were tiring of this run, perhaps it's a sign to move on. So typical of business today to invest lots of money into something and not prepare properly. Hurry up and catch up - not always doable. I'm sure you will fill your time wisely.

It's a bit ironic, now that we have this opportunity in front of us to fix the basement, we are all full of ideas for creating neatly arranged storage - bins and cabinets and the like - at the same time I am growing tired of having so much junk around. Fly lady, though annoying at times, has been a good influence. When we moved out of our flat and started house hunting, one of my main priorities was cabinets and storage space. When we bought this house the kitchen had only 4 cabinets in it. It was a tiny room and either you had space for a small table and chairs or cabinets but not both. I voted for cabinets. Was much better when we opened the two rooms into one back in 1996 - former family room is now part of a long kitchen area. We have much to do in the basement once the workers have done their thing but I told DH his is NOT, repeat NOT starting a single thing down there until after he has completed his many unfinished projects upstairs. I suppose it's always more fun to start something new rather than finish something up. Besides, I won't have any free time to work on things until after Christmas. As it is, was disrupted every evening this week having to move and rearrange things for the workers and as a result, I am behind in my studies and homework. DH mentioned something this morning about doing something fun over the weekend, I didn't have the heart to say for me it's homework. But we'll see.

I was also quite unhappy to get on the scale and see I have gained 4 pounds over the last few weeks. Figured as much as I have been feeling a bit bloated. I think part of the problem has been that I've been working from home all the time and therefore, not moving around as much as I would normally. Water is not where it should be either. I find I tend to drink most of it in the late afternoon and evening and guess I have cut back in favor of a complete night's sleep. Treadmill is buried in the basement and will be for a while yet, so it's time to bring out the Walk Away the Pounds tapes again.

Hope you all have a fun weekend. Time for everyone to touch base again. The boards have gotten quiet again, guess we're all busy.

Hi everyone..I've been offline with a lot of work and "stuff" going on. I thought I'd check in for a quick minute and let you all know that I didn't fall off the planet :) Had a difficult decision to make at work today. I conduct hearings on people who are on parole/probation. When they violate their terms of release I hold the hearing to decide what to do with them. Sometimes that means that I have to send them to jail or prison. Today I had to make a tough decision and send a young woman back to prison for several years. I went back and forth in my mind trying to justify either the decision to stay out or go back. Ultimately I had to err on the side of caution as she was choosing to victimize other people in the midst of her addiction. I look at these people, so affected and having lost (or never had) any semblance of a normal life, mostly due to drugs...and I just wish I had the answer or magic cure that the would mend their broken hearts and spirits. Luckily, this woman at least didn't have children that would be affected by her return to prison, so I don't have that guilt weighing on me.

Shad, I hope that you are feeling better and that your job situation works out the way that you want. I think a few weeks off with nothing do to but putter around the house would be great! But, I would probably get bored within a week and start looking for more work to do, especially if I wasn't getting to go anywhere for a vacation.

Happy2bme I know what it's like to have projects partway completed. My husband started refinishing a dining room table the year that we got married..it's still not done and we will be celebrating our 18th wedding anniversary in March! You mentioned that you are behind in homework..what are you studying? Are you in college or is it for work? I'm set to start on a Masters degree program through an online university in Jan 2004. I'm looking forward to it, but getting nervous about the work and time I'll need to spend.

We have really cold weather here now. It's been down in the teens this week. Luckily, though we haven't had wind and/or ice to go with it yet. My kids are getting antsy to decorate for Christmas. We usually wait until the last weekend of November, but I think my husband caved and said that we could do it THIS weekend.......I don't mind really as it does spruce the place up a bit. It's nice getting things out and remembering.

Well, I think my troups should be getting back from their road trip (to play a high school football game) soon. So I'd better get going and get busy. Take care. Kim

Kim I didn't realise that you had such a high pressure/stress inducing job. That must have been a hard decision to make although I think that you have made the right one. However a prison sentence doesn't seem to make much difference to those people with dependencies like drugs.

I have no problems with staying at home for a couple of weeks. I am renovating in the house and it will get done faster if I am at home. But I will agree, if there was nothing to do, I would be very bored.

My computer is back alive again and now has a new slimline monitor. The technical bloke came in and tried a new graphics card and not much improved, then we tried an old monitor and lo and behold there was life again. So I had Robbie bring me a new monitor down when he came down to visit his mum. Robbie is an old school friend of Simons - (DS) My wallet now needs a transplant.

Guess it must be bedtime. Good to see you back Kim. We all get busy and need time out from time to time. Hope the weight loss is still moving along for you.

I've just got back from breakfast with my younger brother and his daughter/my niece. It was very nice. Afterwards we wandered around the market and I picked up some finger puppets to send to my friend in Japan for her classes. That along with some silly earrings that I bought in the States earlier will do her for a Christmas present. Few people get Christmas presents from me. We don't celebrate it with too many presents. I give each of the boys money. They usually give me a present. That's about it. Christmas shopping done. Not bad eh?

New monitor is going great. I have to get used to the crystal clear graphics on it. But I guess that won't take long.

Okay off I go to bore the life out of my journal, then it will be time to carry on with the cleaning. I have a long list waiting for me to be done this week.

Hi! I am Kellye - was recommended this thread by Shad! I am a fellow kiwi! ;)

Thanks Shad! :)

Hi Kellye, nice to see you. I'll be back later with a post. I had best get some work done for a change.
I'm misplaced as well. I am in Brisbane.

Hi Kellye and welcome to the group :wave: NC as in North Carolina? I hear it's pretty there but it's no NZ. How did you come to the live in the States?

I guess as an intro... I'm married, no children. Have been on 3FC for about a year and a half. Struggling with weight loss, struggling with time for weight loss and exercise. I work full time as a web developer and am in school taking 3 classes at the moment - all for advancing my technical knowledge on the web as I really like this job. The last few months have been beastly. Diet and exercise is not a high priority though I am trying to watch what I eat.

EEKKK. Just walked into the kitchen and a huge centipede ran across the floor. Since I heard that they bite and the rule in my house is "if you sting, bite me or eat my food" you can't live in my house - I had to go chasing it across the room. DH was sleeping and may have woken a bit to wonder why I was tap dancing and stomping on the floor. At least I didn't shriek. But I did get him. *** Happy blows the smoke trail from the gun ***

Another weekend flew past and not all was accomplished. We got our first hard freeze, DH said he actually saw snow flurries on Saturday. Begonias and impatiens are now mush. Will have to wait until it warms a bit so I can get them out of the pots. We had a full lunar eclipse Saturday night. Massive cloud cover as it always seems for celestial events. We were bundled up on the driveway in our winter's finest waiting for holes in the clouds to get some picture shots. Got a few but nothing too great. Of course, Sunday night it's clear as a window out there. But astronomy and photography teaches you patience.

Had a nice dinner of grilled salmon tonight. Glad I got 2 pieces, one for tomorrow. DH had marlin which is much like swordfish. They also had a nice batch of strawberries so I was able to make one more batch of my strawberry spinach salad to finish out the season's end.

Got some clams too - this week's soup (it's cold so I'm on my soup kick again) is clam chowdah as my husband says. And maybe some clam frittah's too. Chowder and fritters to the rest of us. My husband likes the chowder as broth based rather than the creamy kind so it fits with the diet program.

Shad by now it's Monday afternoon by you. Any news about the changes in training?

Kim, boy do you have a tough job! I feel for you, kind of hard to leave your job at the office when you do that kind of work as I'm sure it stays with you all the time. I am a web developer by trade and I'm in school going for my certification in web development and also to keep my technical skills current. I hear you on the time investment in school. I do resent the loss of my free time, especially since it seems like all I do is work and homework and housework, but it's for good reasons and won't last forever. At least I tell myself this to get through each semester :lol:

I'd better run now, it's late and the guys working on the basement are coming early tomorrow. Drywall is up and tomorrow we have mudding and taping and then a week of sanding. Oh joy!! But it's coming along nicely. Happy Monday!

Hi, said I would be back and here I am.
Kellye it is very difficult to be transplanted to a new country. Have you been in the States for long or just got there? My friend in Arizona has been in America (first in California) for over 20 years. She loves having people from home to visit but says that she always feels homesick after they have gone. We send up care packages every so often. Griffins gingernuts, choc mint biscuits, malt biscuits etc etc. and of course vegemite. I've been looking out for a spatula for her as her 20 year old flexible metal one is coming to the end of the road. Found one today and have just sent her a picture of it to see if she wants one.
Happy great to hear from you. Don't think we had the eclipse down here this time. At least I haven't heard much about it if it did. It would have been a great view if it did happen. There is no cloud over Australia at all at the moment.
Fish sounds good and I love fish chowder. I may just drop in for a feed on my way through to see Ruthxxx in the play she was trying out for :lol: ;)
As for work. Well, not one word has been uttered to any of the trainers today. We were supposed to get an e-mail telling us of the reasons and events. Hasn't happened yet. We do have a meeting set down for 11.00am tomorrow so may learn something then. Meantime I am re-doing the documentation as it needs a bit of rejuvenation to catch up with the times. It sounds like I am worrying about it, but to tell the truth I really don't care that much. If the worst comes about, then I will continue to renovate until after Christmas and then search out some more work. I have spent some time today working on my resume - CV and bringing that up to date. What will be will be. I have made regular deposits to my Medical/Employment Fund which will allow me to cope with unemployment for a couple of months or so.

Kellye, tell us more about yourself. Where in NZ did you live? Life is much easier now in the days of Internet and better communications, but we often still feel homesick. Is DH Kiwi too? Kids, home, = we are nosey aren't we?

I hope Dr. Phil is paying a pretty penny to this website for advertising. Seem to see him all over here. Just go away Phil....
I'm tired of seeing you everywhere I turn. Can you spell O-V-E-R-E-X-P-O-S-U-R-E?

Tonight I had to hurry out after work with only an hour left of daylight to hurry and rake leaves for a winter's blanket for my lily of the valleys. My neighbor thought I was crazy when I asked if I could have her leaves - she has a yard full. Told me I could take them all. Got 3 big bags full, enough for a nice mulch. Wanted to cut down the spent plants too but DH has hidden my garden tools. :mad: - took them from their proper storage container when he "borrowed" it for something else and as the light was waning, I didn't have time to look for them.

We had a small steak and salad for dinner and a bit of potato but not too much. Afterwards I was watching some TV and actually dozed off in the chair. That only means one thing, there's a cold bug going around. I am going to sleep right after I post, a few extra bits of sleep often help me fight off something.

I should have done homework tonight but I was really tired. Peeked in a bit on the group web project for our class. There is some ahem "creative discussions" that I elected to stay out of.

A none too exciting day, hope all of yours were better. G'night for now.

Hi everyone and welcome Kellye!

I hope that everyone is well. I've been trying to stay on task w/ww this week, as I had a bit of a gain last week. I weigh in tomorrow and need to see the number go down! :)

Yes the job does come home with me at times, but not nearly as much as it did when I was a parole officer. I live in a small rural area so I would be running into my "clients" at the grocery and video store etc. all the time. They'd see me and act like I had the plague! I liked it in one way, I always knew where the criminals lived in my town..but probably many of them knew where I lived too. I would get calls all the time, in the middle of the night from the police telling me that they had one of my guys (or gals) and what to do with them. I've chased them out of bars, caught them climbing out of windows and all sorts of things. It was a good job, in that it was never dull. But, eventually after 8+ years I got burned out. I started to see generations of families on my caseload. I once had supervised a father, mother and two of three adult children in the same family. It got pretty disheartening after a while and I felt like a well paid babysitter. So what I do now has a lot less constant stress at least, and I don't have police calling my house all the time any more.

We got good news today. My husband is a 6th grade teacher and he was selected by his principal to attend a National Conference for a week in Washington DC. I told him he could go as long as I get to go and play! So we will be heading off in about 4 weeks. We've been there together one other time, about 5 years ago. While he's sitting in meetings and conference sessions I'm going to explore. And I decided that I am going to find one of those day spas and spend a day pampering myself. I haven't ever done that before and think it would be a lot of fun!

We saw the Neurosurgeon today for my husbands pain condition. We are hoping that he can get an intrathecal pain pump. It's a pump that is implanted in your spine and it sends pain medications directly to the nerves that are causing the pain. If he is eligible he would be getting much less of the drugs in his system (as the amount he has to take orally just to function is astounding). There have been people who have had such success from this that they have been able to live practically pain and drugged free lives. We are just hoping that he is eligible and that this might be the thing that works for him. As it is now we are just hoping he can work long enough to get a basic retirement (which for him is about 6 more years). If he gets the pump and it works then he might be able to work longer. He's only 42 years old. So...keep your fingers and toes crossed. He has been referred to a psychologist and a physical medicine doctor and if they clear him then he can try the pump.

Well, I'll check back later. Have a good night!

Kim

Poor Happy. Hope you shake off whatever is in the system before it takes hold.
Can't think why the neighbour thinks you are crazy. Local mulch is definitely the best stuff in the world and it is free. We don't get much mulch and leaf litter around here, most trees don't lose their leaves.
Our meeting went off okay. It appears that we are going to be separated into two areas. Documentation and training. David, Rob and I are to remain in the office to do repairs and updates on the the manuals. We are not terribly amused as we want to go out to branchland as well. It's a lot more fun out there. Training will resume in late January. It must be costing the company a fortune to have us lounging around the joint. They just sent all the Support team back to NSW to go to the branches again.
So life goes on, but at home not away.

Cute little image happy. Could describe at least three of the people in the office at the moment. System has gone down again and we are mooching around talking and drinking coffee. Time to go get another one I think. I should be able to fly home without the car shortly.

E noho ra (goodbye for now)

Back again. Hi Kim,congrats on the trip to Washington DC. You will have a lot of fun their while the DH is working at his conference. My fingers are crossed for his new medication. It is so debilitating and demoralising to live in constant pain or in a drugged state.
Which brings me to another point or rather person in our wee group. I have just got off the phone from chatting with Teel. I was a bit worried about her bcause we hadn't heard from her since she went into respite care. It appears she has hurt her back again. Doesn't know how or why and the new medication is only beginning to kick in now. Poor thing. She is also stressed out about the tribunal hearing coming up next week (again). Apparently her Social Worker has heard from the DSW about the complaint they put in about the Dr who came around for the home assessment so long ago. Seems that they may want to redo the home assiessment which will mean delaying yet again the hearing. Poor kid is in a real state. So spare a thought for Teel when you get a spare moment.

It seems I am always forgetting to introduce myself! :o

Shad - I come from Christchurch, in Wainoni. My family is still there :cry:

I am married to an american, we are living in the mountains of Western North Carolina - it is very beautiful here, especially in fall, but I agree, it is no NZ. :D
I have one son, Gabriel, but we all call him Gabe. I also have two cats - Peedoodle and Kahu (short for Kahurangi :D )

I am in the process of starting to volunteer at the Humane Society - I LOVE animals.
I was almost done with my degree in Anthropology at Victoria Uni of Wellington, when I was transplanted here, and I plan to finish when I get back home - hubby is at school right now getting a degree in Computer Networking Technology or something like that. When he is finished, we will go home. I have been here for 4 years now. I can't believe how fast the time goes! :dunno:

I better get dressed and get my bum to the gym, I have a pump class (the instructor is always asking me about classes in NZ as it was developed there, they think I know all about it :lol: )

:wave:

Hi there guys, and a big thank you to Shad for her great not too early morning call this morning.Shad you are an :angel: and I decided that I would make the effort to get on and say hi to everyone including our new friend kiwideus and let you all know that I am really still alive although having trouble with the kicking!!
As Shad has explained, I live (badly) with constant pain like your DH,Kimallen.BTW, I hope your trip to the big city is a great time!!The benefits agency closed my benefit allowance in May this year and I have been in the process of an appeal ever since,After a recent doctor's visit, my social worker had cause to put in a formal complaint about several bits in the visit and I read the report today.It was three pages long and they had put a great deal of work into it, I must say.She read a pertinant paragraph out to my welfare rights officer on the phone yesterday and apparently he is going to check out that this doctor's report is largely in order, but has warned Judy to warn me not to be too surprised if the blessed thing is adjurned again. I shall go stark raving mad if this is the case.I just CANNOT do all this again, despite my psychiatrist saying today "if we lose we appeal, and we appeal, and we.."well you get the idea, I am sure!!Just realised I have not put any emoticons in today, so here are a few choice ones, hee hee!!!!:devil: :mad: :cry: :shrug: :stress: :bomb: :sumo: :sumo: :rollpin: :rollpin: Ooh I wondered why I was hungry. Time has passed and it is dinner time, so ta ta, bless you all and oh here is your helper!!:drill:

Oh p.s. Thank you for all your "spare moment thoughts!!"

Good to hear from you Teel. I've got fingers and toes and anything else possible crossed for you at the moment.
Kellye - Christchurch hey! My Mum came from West Melton and my Dad from Kaiapoi. I spent a good deal of my 'young years' moving around such places as Hororata, Timaru, Geraldine, Temuka, Ashley, Amberley etc etc. before we moved to Wellington. It's a small world. Can you not finish your degree as distance education from Vic?? Cat's a female I presume. Is she really a grand dame or demi god?
Hello to Kim and Happy. Hope you are all having a great day. Teel get mad and get even, but don't let it get you!
Here your go Kellye since we are both South Islanders. For the others let me elucidate. These are the Moeraki Boulders, sometimes known as the Devils Marbles and they are large circular boulders on a beach in the south east of the South Island. They are taken from an unusual angle. Later I will find a more normal picture of them.

I remember visiting the Moeraki Boulders when I was about 9 years old, and I remember sitting on one. They are amazing aren't they?

Kahu is a devil!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!! Nothing is safe from him - he is a deaf white, blue eyed cat with the sweetest personality but oh so mischievous!! :D I love him anyway!

I have friends in North Canterbury, and I always went to stay with them on weekends - they live in Sefton, which is just past Ashley, but I am sure you know that :D

Hey Girls,

Good to hear from you again Teel. I'm sorry that your hearing may be once again delayed, but you were treated so rudely by that doctor, something must be done lest you have to endure him again and again.

Ah Shad, now we get to see a bit of back home, eh? Won't it make you homesick? :( DH said you told him there were some nice pictures to be had your way. His answer to how will we endure the long flight was that we only buy 1 way tickets. He said who would want to come back here after seeing Oz and NZ?

Kellye that is wonderful that you are volunteering at the Humane Society. I could never do that because I'd be bringing animals home all the time and wheezing and sneezing while I was doing it. I could not resist those cute little faces.

Kim, let us know when we can uncross fingers and toes. Hope all goes well with your husband and he gets approval for his pump. My husband has had 3 back surgeries and I understand his concern about life going forward and what kind of shape he will be in. Washington DC is a neat place to visit, I'm sure you'll find a spa with no trouble as well as some interesting sights. It's fine to roam around during the day, just be careful at night, some of the areas get some rather seedy looking people.

I have gotten a little behind in my homework so I need to buckle down the next few days and get caught up. I don't want to get so far behind that I can't catch up. I am trying to keep up with my fly lady habits and at least go to sleep with everything reasonably neat.

Catch you all tomorrow...

Oh for goodness sake!!!!!:mad: :sumo: :rollpin: :rollpin: I have spent:dunno: how much time on my stupid printer, which refuses to put out its red ink light although I have correctly loaded another black ink cartridge tonight. It just will not play ball and I AM SICK TO DEATH OF IT!!!
There!! Having got that off my 38D's I now have some rather astonishing news...I got on the scales in Boots plc today.. yes, the usual ones....stripped off boots, outer jumper, and stood not breathing and it said....rather unbeleivingly, I grant you.....70.6kg..i.e. in English 11st 1lb!!!Which means, somehow, I have lost 7 lbs in a week!!!!I know I have not been eating properly because of the pain and the low mood recently, but I think that counts as a miracle in my books!!!:o :D :smug: Honestly!!! I know you don't beleive me, so here I copy the last three entries from the pull out slip from the weighing machine...

30.10.03 11st 8 lb
05.11.03 11st 8 lb
12.11.03 11st 1lb.

I know! I am as bowled over as you are hee hee hee!!!!:lol: :lol:

Ha ha I see we have some new emoticons to play with...I saw my psychiatrist yesterday. He changed my sleeping pills and I take my first one tonight. He said take one on the first night and if it does not work then take two the next night.Hummmmmm.What happens on night three????Actually although I ache like crazy tonight (trying to do too much in the four hours of sensible pain levels whilst those new pills work....should do at English £106 per packet....) I think they are o.k. as I have not had to sleep in the afternoon for three days now! Life just gets better and better. (I wish it would).
I am sorry to say I have lurked more than I have posted over the last week or so:( :sorry: but I have read ALL the posts,my lord how you lot can :blah: :blah: :blah: !!I am sure I was on page 6 or 7 when I last wandered through!
Oh yes! I have at last got the photos back from your England tour, Shad...the pictures of the Abbey Gardens came out beautifully clear despite it raining the only two days in the whole of the summer whilst you were visiting.Och weel! There's Suffolk fer thee!!

Well I guess I had better bring this to a fast close....(especially as I only have 1 emoticon to go before I crash!).
Night night, good morning and especially to Happy and those across that pond, have a good evening.:rofl:

I return!!

I meant to say, as well as I have fallen in love with the little happy chappy r.o.f.l. at the end, if those Boots scales are correct...and they ARE the ones I always use, this new total means..............ready?

I HAVE LOST 2 STONE 2LBS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and I cannot wipe this stupid grin off my face.......
and no, I have NOT been on the grape juice stuff commonly known as alcohol.


Bye bye...bed time. The hound has already gone.Big bundle of mischief........


:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

New Smiley's - how nice
 

Teel, I hope that wasn't you at the bottom of the post - you didn't fall out of the chair did you? Big congrats on the lbs down. Long may it continue. So what ever you are doing with the grape juice, hang in there and keep on doing it!!! :jig: :cb:

Can you scan some of the photos and lets have a look or do I have to get you to send copies or are we not allowed to see them? Glad to hear that they turned out good tho'. I presume one of them is me at the Colman's Mustard Museum????

I'm still sitting here doing doco. I hate rewrites. I would much rather ditch the entire thing and start afresh because it is never the same ofter you have butchered it. There are always little bits which reference other little bits now redundant or no longer important.

They are pressing me to take leave at Christmas. I keep saying I have no leave left to take! They take no notice and I take no leave. I am not running myself into the red again and I refuse to take it without pay when I don't want to be on leave at Christmas anyway. Not a festival I look forward to with much joy any more and totally commercialised anyway. Time will see which of us wins out.

Okay, back to the blasted doco. It will be finished this week or I will be very angry with myself.

It's Thusday here, and it is 10 past 1 in the afternoon so only 1.5 more days of work to the weekend. Not that I am counting you understand.

Here's another - more normal photo of the Moeraki Boulders.

Beautiful picture of the Boulders Shad. Would love to be sitting on them myself at the moment.

Congrats Teel on the weightloss even if it is not the best method for losing - being worried out of your mind that is. But you deserve a few :cheer: :cheer: :cheer: (I see we finally have some new smilies).

Got a call from the boss today. They are giving my office at work to someone else. Good news for me which means I can officially work totally from home now without feeling guilty that I should show up in the office occasionally. Either that or I am being fired and I am too naive to realize it. :dunno: Actually this person wanted my office for months and our big boss did not want to give it up, but I guess he changed his mind or was pursuaded. In any event, I never liked this office anyway. It was dark, cold and right in the roving eyes of all the busybodies of the office. The thermostat that controlled my office was 6 offices down the hall and in the winter I would have to go and plead for heat. The poor person who was in that office with the thermostat practically had to work in his skivvies so the rest of us cold women didn't have to work with our coats on. Shades of Dickens! I was forced to move offices when new boss came on board so that we could have adjacent offices. My old office was warm and bright and right by all of my team cohorts. I suppose since the director offered his office to me when I do come in (he only comes to the office twice a month) and they did ask me how much storage I needed at the office for my stuff - that is a decent sign that I'm not getting the famous boot so well known in my circle of friends. With winter setting in and the short days and my inability to drive at night and terror of driving on ice, suits me just fine to work from home permanently. I will visit the office when we have our quarterly office lunch where everyone brings a dish.

I have to go to the dentist tomorrow. 6 month cleaning. Today after lunch my tongue noticed a sharp spot in my mouth and much to my dismay, a large chunk of tooth broke off one of my molars. How many calories in a tooth as it is now floating around my tummy? There goes another $800 for a new crown. I had alot of cavities as a kid and my teeth are pretty weak due to lots of fillings. They are now getting to the point that they break and each break is an expensive crown it seems. Soon the cost of my mouth will equal the mortgage. I have long ago given up eating any hard or crunchy things like peanut brittle. Worst I do now is a carrot stick or celery but that hasn't stopped the teeth from cracking away. So it's good that I had that dentist appt anyway.

Since I'll be heading right to the office after the dentist, I packed my lunch for tomorrow. As I was doing so, I realized that I missed planning out my meal. Being at home I generally grab something when I have a few minutes break. When I go to the office, I plan carefully - a balanced meal in reasonable portions. Perhaps I should pack a lunch each night anyway and go eat it in the remodelled basement to stay in good habit. ;)

And my last rant of the day is the instructor in my second course. She is Miss Nit Pick. I do understand that the students today are not very mature and you have to be specific with them. But... if you must throw stones, be sure you don't live in a glass house. Her course materials are in quite a disarray. She has add on notes that don't follow sequentially with the chapters see page 10, see page 12, see page 8 see page 14 etc. She could do with a bit of tidying up herself. Of course if you complain, you get more points off. DH had her for a course last semester and complained of the same things. She must have forgotten to listen and or care because the course I'm taking has been rewritten by her and it's just as sloppy.

Perhaps when you are finished Shad, you can rewrite her doco.

With that, I will go back to finish the assignment and turn it in as tomorrow is couch potato TV night and I want to enjoy it to it's fullest.

We have a cold cold wind blowing in here. Temps are dropping fast and that last of the leaves are scattered about. They're quite crispy now so it sounds like it's raining outside as they sweep across the pavement. Time to pull out the woolies!

Teel, this smiley's for you and your stubborn computer ...

And here's another of you tooling around town on your motorbike.

Hello's to the rest of you ladies by the way...

[QUOTE]Originally posted by happy2bme
[B]How many calories in a tooth as it is now floating around my tummy?

Oh poor you, just think about how much extra calcium you are getting in your system!!

It is so mild here today but quite overcast. The plumber man has been trying to sort out two problems ..a constant drippy tap and an intermittant drippy overflow, everything he tried he found an added problem. Poor guy, in and out of the loft....he and his wife are good friends of mine so I guess the final price was rather lower than it might have been, Bless him heaps.:love: :angel:
Shad I hope you have finished your butchering...er I mean rewriting the doc. by now.Yes there is a picture of you in the Colman's Mustard Shop and I promise to e-mail some over. That one is not as good as some of the others which I am sorry about. I am sorry I have not done anything with the photo c.d. yet (i.e. downsizing e.t.c.) as I can't think any further than next Thursday and I have only had it a few days .....excuses, excuses!:devil:
Have not dared touch the printer again today yet......:mad:

Happy, it will be so great to be working from home....no getting into a freezing cold car in the morning and de-icing it to get home again...bliss!!!

Hello to everyone else, be good, take good care.....
Only 1 week to go....(I hope).;)

I'm sitting here waiting for the system to search for something simple like a vanity unit by Flair. Yikes it takes forever. It is driving me crazy. No wonder the blokes are revolting!! I'm still on the first 12 of about a 100 purchase orders and I've been here for what seems like forever.

Poor Happy. The dentist is somewhere I need to go shortly. I am not looking forward to it at all either. I think serious money will go west on that too.

Teel, I hope things look up for you shortly. I would be so nice to be able to just say stuff it, I will sue them for mental cruelty! Only problem is it would cost a bomb and a half.

Happy, I laughed at DH saying only buy a 1 way ticket. Got it all sorted hasn't he? I was imagining him driving off from the airport on the wrong side of the road and into the wilderness with his camera and tripod never to be seen again as a normal bloke.

Weekend is coming again. I have a lot of things to do. I know they won't all get done, but I am trying to do the Flylady thing and little bits at a time to get to the overall goal. I have put together a list of things to do in the evenings when I get home. Not big things - just half hour stints in one area or another of the garden and house. All adds up. Last night in the garden it was the turn of the lavender hedge to be trimmed as it was taking over the roses. Enoyable job, the smell is incredible. Waves of scent went all over the patio and the house. Yummy. Will finish that tonight and do the washing and then vege in front of the tv. Never feel like doing much on a Friday night.

Hallelujah my search is nearly done. Best get back to work. See you all.

Good Morning all!
The cats have decided that it is now fun to play on the bed at 3am. :s: Brats.
I tried spinning for the first time yesterday, and I don't think I can handle it! :eek: :faint: But I did my body pump and walking on the treadmill. I plan to ride my bike and get back into the exercising, now that its been fixed. I just hope it doesnt break again! :^:
Shad, thanks for the email! :)

It is so cold here, the wind doesnt help - it feels as if its biting right through to the bone!

I hope everyone has a beautiful day! :)

Spinning?!!!! As in making yarn? for knitting and things like that?
Hey didn't know that they did things like that over there.
Cold winds - can remember a few of those while I was living in St Albans in ChCh and there was snow on the ground and my high fashion boots couldn't cope with the ice on the roads. I would end up upside down more times than not. I have a feeling that it was about that time that I got disillusioned with high fashion and opted for warmth and comfort.

Happy is obviously busy with the homework. Good on ya girl. Stick with it, nearly done now. Only a month or so to go now.

Teel, I hope you are feeling a bit better again and that the back is not playing up as much. So bad to be so young and having so many problems. Next week is coming.......

My computer is not fixed!!!! :rollpin: :rollpin: grrrr. The wee man is coming again at lunch time today. I will not be paying the bill this time until he can prove it is fixed. He thinks it may be the graphics card after all!! He thinks.....

I was supposed to weigh in this morning but forgot until after I had had breakfast - toast, avocado and homegrown tomatoes - sorry Kellye can only take vegemite in small doses so I have sort of spasms of must have vegemite - and coffee. So will make it tomorrow. For someone who used to be addicted to those scales I'm not doing so bad just now. They just sit on the floor and I just ignore them. Mind you, the way they treat me, are you surprised I ignore them.

Okay, time for laundry and a bit of cleaning and a lot of filing. I really must get this part of my life up to date so I know where things are. Simon can't find his rego papers for his car. Am I surprised - no, not one bit. He never, ever puts things away in the proper place.

Catch up later.

Hi chaps!!!!

Actually this is a very short post to say my friend's DH died yesterday morning at 07:30hrs.

C. I know, had a blessed release and all that, but for Edwina, her daughter and me, it was a turbulant day which took a long while ending.

My only prayer is that the funeral will not be before Thirsday...(oops!) 'cos I don't think I can cope if it is.

Hope everyone is okay-ish, Shad, start on the sun-block cream whilst everyone to the west of you, start putting on those winter jumpers.

:rollpin: :rollpin: p.s. I still have not been able to fix my printer:sumo: :sumo:

Love from Teel xx