Awww, Ginny! I didn't say the card wasn't appreciated! I hope you didn't think that! I just said I didn't know who it was from. The card itself was GREAT!!! I LOVE snowmen! You have no idea. I was just standing with our front desk lady (I had to take her the gift I'd gotten her... lots of little things because her birthday is next week too!), chatting when I was opening my mail and saw the card. I was surprised, because I couldn't figure out who it was from. I don't normally get anonymouse mail (yes, typo intended!); I'm usually really good at figuring out who everything is from!
This has been a BUSY, BUSY weekend for Red Cross. Unfortunately. :( :cry: What an absolutely horrible way to spend your Christmas weekend. We've had a lot of fires including one huge one today that burned a house to the ground. There isn't anything left. And if that weren't bad enough, we were told the house was unoccupied by all the officials in officialdom. And then I started getting calls from people who said they lived there! They're trying to straighten it out now. I need to go call the one person back, but I was hoping that one of the officials would call me first so I'd have some good news for her. Its bloody COLD out there; I hate the thought of some poor innocent having nowhere to go because we can't prove she lived in the house!
But we can't provide services to people in a fire situation without proof of address because we have so very many homeless people in the city illegally staying in abandoned buildings, and setting lots of them on fire. The majority of our fire calls are for occupied homes damaged because they were next to abandoned homes... During a natural disaster, we can and do provide services to everybody... but if we provided services without some type of verification... at least in a major urban city, we'd go bankrupt in hotel fees. :( :( The Philadelphia chapter bought, renovated and opened a shelter that they use for fire clients and then if they have space they let others stay there on a referral basis. But the Philly chapter is HUGE in terms of the number of little chapters that feed into them and in volunteers. We're just not that large.
:mouse:

Morning Gals,
It is very cold here this morning. I didn't want to get out of bed. I could have snuggled with my dh a little more. But the stepkids are suppose to be here any minute now. We are watching them during the day this week, while their mom is at work. I hope she remembers to pick them up early tonight. My dh and I are celbrating our 1 year anniversary today. We will probably go out to dinner and then rent a couple movies to watch together tonight.
Mouse did your Red Cross work with the family from Hanover, Maryland whose house blew up on Christmas Eve? That is my best friend's uncle's family. I guess her uncle and aunt are still in critical condition with burns on 30% of their bodies. Sounds like you had a very busy weekend.
Robyn, are you surviving the snow storm? That is so weird that your area got dumped on with all that snow. Good for you for making your dh go with you to the grocery store.
Ginny how was your family get together last night? Hope everyone appreciated all your hard work. Today are you going to take a break and rest.
Summer I bet you are so glad that Christmas has come and gone. You were sure busy over the month of Dec. I hope you are now finding the time to rest.
Well the munchkins are here. Talk to you all later.
Kerry

Evening!
Hey, Robyn, your snow storm is on our local news. You guys really got hammered!
Kerry: Probably. It would have been our Anne Arundel disaster team. I was with them when I first moved to Maryland (and then moved away and came back) in 1996. Good people. I'm currently with the Baltimore City/Baltimore County team, because you usually work with the chapter that serves the county where you live. I did see Anne Arundel was almost as busy as we were, but I don't know the zip code for the house you're talking about, so I can't be positive.
I am watching the local news, and see that there is a 2-alarm fire in a group of homes in the City. The news is saying they are vacant/abandoned, and I'm going to pray that they are. Not just so people don't lose their homes, but so I don't have to send any of the teams out in this cold weather. I feel for the firefighters as well. Its below freezing, and has been for 2 days, so it'll be really hard to keep the sidewalks and streets clear once they hit them with the hose. That makes fighting the fire much, much harder.
I changed the bed linens and flipped the futon mattress (that is a CHORE: the mattress is all dead weight and it doesn't slide the way a regular mattress does!), did one load of laundry and hit Trader Joes.
Got some nice stuff at TJ's: portable little cartons of soy milk, vegetable tempura, artichoke risotto, baked eggplant, lots of edamame, some of their roasted corn... some new burritos (red beans, rice, no fat). I started to buy some other stuff, too, but didn't. They've really raised the prices on their sushi, though. Which bites, because their low-fat sushi is awesome. I also bought some little kid drinks (white grape juice) for when my friend comes on Friday; she is going to bring her daughter with her. Oh, yea, some low-carb tortillas (which are really good!), and lots of my soda. Root beer, ginger ale, orange and black cherry! No calories, no aspartame.
:) Oh, and some sparkling apple cider for the new year! :) Yea, you all REALLY wanted to read my grocery list, didn't ya?
:mouse:

Evenings ladies,
Mouse sounds like you had a busy but relaxing day. Did you get any swim time in? If you would like to read more information on my friend's uncle's house go to www.wbalchannel.com and click on the fire in Hanover, MD. Hope you are staying nice and warm.
Robyn, did you weather the storm okay? The news is all about the snow storm in the South now. So what books did you read so far on your vacation? I am reading one called Beachcomber by Karen Robards. It is really good so far. I hope you are keeping nice and warm.
Ginny so when do you go to WW this week? Do you think you will have a loss? I am hoping tomorrow night when I go to TOPS that I have a small loss. I have worked out a little more this weekend so I don't feel guilty about eating a few cookies and a pieces of pie on Christmas. Today I went to Curves with a friend and then came home and did 1/2 hour on my gazelle and a 1/2 hour on my excerise bike. I rewarded myself with a piece of sugar-free apple pie at dinner tonight. I was a good girl and got two boneless, skinless chicken breasts, a salad and a baked potato for dinner tonight. I only ate one of my chicken breasts and saved the other for tomorrow. Plus I didn't even touch the bread that came with my dinner. Here's hoping that we both have losses this week. Is your dd doing better without her boyfriend?
Summer, I bet you are just loving the free time you get to spend with your dd. What fun exciting things have you been doing with her?
My dh and I had a nice time at dinner. Then we stopped at the video store on the way home and got I, Robot. It was a good movie. Very interesting and ended differently than I would have thought. Did any of you see it? Now he is parked in front of the TV watching football. So I decided to play on the computer. Atleast we got to spend a couple hours together uninterupterd. (sorry about spelling).
Well I better go and see if my sister emailed me back yet. Talk to you all later.
Have a wonderful duty free Tuesday!
Kerry

Good morning!
Just a drive thru visit today.....Dh is basically standing over me and not much time for anything. We are trying to get some errands done today- as we did yesterday- stuff that takes up a lot of time during the week especially with work.
Great to hear from everyone......Mouse, sounds as though you have been one busy lady. (me and my big ideas for you getting some rest.)
Kerry- hope your WI is great! Glad you have been so busy and gettingyour workouts in.
Robyn- so it was you who ordered the snow!!!!! (had to get a jab in).
Summer- enjoy your down time.........!
Oh, brother......Dm is on the phone gotta go.....sorry for abeing terse.
Ginny

Snow. Snow! SNOW! UNCLE! I've had enough now! Enough slipping. Enough sliding. Enough wet clothes. Enough red faced wet / cold children! Enough time in this house!

For the last two days, I've written lenghty posts that I've not actually posted as they were NOT postable for various reasons.

Anyway. I'm reading _The Secret Life of Bees_ . I'm going to take down Christmas today. It is in my way...and no one is REALLY loving it this year...so viola...no one will notice that it is gone. SAD.

enough...see why I haven't been posting?!
take care.

me

Afternoon Ladies,
It must be the day for dh's to be a pain in the butt. I got up this morning and did a 2 mile walking video with my stepdd. My dh had to keep butting in on our time together and tell her to move faster. It really ticked me off. About an hour after doing my walking video, I called a friend and asked if she wanted to go to Curves with me today. After I got off the phone with her, my dh starts complaining about how the laundry needs to be done and a few other things before I can go workout with my friend. I called her back and told her that I would be going later in the day. I got the damn laundry started and then swept the kitchen floor. He came in and said that I didn't need to do that. All I needed to do was to do the laundry. I told him that I had planned on doing that after I got home and took a shower. But I guess that isn't good enough for him. I enjoy having time off from school, but I also hate it because it is not really not my time off. I have to do all the normal stuff that I can't get done during the work week and weekends. He threatened me again with not going home with me and I told him that at this point in the holidays I don't really care if he ever goes anywhere with me again. It is like I have to bend over backwards for everyone's needs and put my needs on hold until everyone else is happy. I am tired of putting myself last. I think that is how I got in the shape I am in now to begin with. But oh well, I only have 5 more days of vacation. Then it will be back to grind and I can be back in a normal scheduled routine. I got so pissed off that I ended up taking the Christmas tree down and have it all put up and back in the storage closet. With no help from anyone. It felt good taking the tree down and wiping away another crummy holiday without my family but with his. Then he tried being all lovely dovely with me when I was done with the tree and said that he didn't say to take the tree down. That he was just putting away the kids stuff so it was not laying around anymore. In family, when you put your stuff away, it means that it is time to take down the Christmas tree too. I am so upset right now that I don't think I can eat anything. But he made lunch for the family. So I guess I better go and get atleast something to eat. Maybe that will calm down my stomach. I am hoping that here in another hour or so I can go workout at Curves and burn off this feelings of anger. Thanks for letting my vent. I will check back with you all later. I will share my TOPS results with you tonight after I get home from my meeting.
Hope your day is going better than mine.
Take care,
Kerry

Ok, I am going to make some of Mouse's cyber brownies and send lots and lots of hugs to you Robyn and Kerry. SOOOOO sorry that the Attila the Hun virus has spread even more quickly than the flu. Gosh, men can be such creeps!!! I am glad you both vented, though (makes me feel better too, as you both know I have days just like yours!). And Robyn, unless you really went off the deep end, no worry that we will judge you here.....you have 3 solid shoulders to cry on here, as far as I am concerned.

Anyway......here's a story about the Atilla the Hun virus and a minor victory over it. Well, money is tight (gee, root canal, 2 car accidents, Christmas....can't figure out why?!). But the van really, really needed 4 tires. And the "new" truck (ok, it was a bargain!) needs at least 2 new tires too.
So Dh and I went to Sam's and got the tires for the van. It was supposed to be an hour......so we shopped in Sam's, got only what we needed, killed the hour and checked on the van. Not done yet........so we walked across the street to Lowes and got a few minor things we needed from there. Back toSam's......and the van is just being finished. Ok, Dh had to do his share of bellyachin about the extra time and what creeps (his language was a wee bit worse than that ;) ) they are. I went to get the keys, and the girl hands me the key, the paperwork and tells me to go to Customer Service for my refund.
REFUND???????? Huh??? Well, Sam's policy is if it is over an hour to install tires, the installation fee is refunded. So, I mention this to sceptical sam.....and he squawks about standing on line for the refund. That line was about 5 minutes, and yes I was not sure of this whole deal until I got there and they hand me a credit for $38! (hehehehehe :lol: ) To which Mr Humble (who wanted me to leave without getting the credit) says.....gee, that will pay for over half of a tire for the truck, guess I will go up tomorrow am and get the tires for it. So, I smiled......tried not to rub it in too much (it was hard!) and shut my big mouth. So there are good days...... Tomorrow will probably be awful!
Hang in there my friends.....try to find some special moments for yourself.....and at least you are not running around like a looney (as we all tend to do when school is in session!). Kerry hope the WI was good and you got your workout in......still trying to squeeze on in here.
See ya tomorrow.
Ginny

Evening Ladies,
My weigh in went great. I lost another 1 1/2 pound. So I am now 202 1/4. I only have 2 1/4 pounds to go before reaching my mini goal of being 200 pounds by the beginning of 2005. I was this week's biggest loser, so I got the weigh-in money. That is $3.00 I didn't have. So I put it in my little bank and I will use it to treat myself to something nice someday. Plus I was the monthly loser with 4 1/2 pounds lost. There was only 2 other people who lost weight tonight. One lady lost a pound and another one lost 1/2 pound. We had a gain of 21 pounds. So everyone seemed to enjoy their holiday treats. So for the year in TOPS, I lost 14 1/4 pounds. That makes it more than I lost my first year in the group which was last year 12 3/4 pounds for a total overall loss of 27 pounds. I think that is good for two years.
Well my dh has loosen up some. He was trying to be nice to me this afternoon and I blew him off. He couldn't say that he was sorry for me missing out on time with my friend. But I did ask if it was okay that I went tomorrow morning with her. He said that he didn't care what I did tomorrow. We shall see when tomorrow gets here.
Ginny sounds like Atilla the Hun is coming out in all males. Why is it when it gets cold out and the weather gets bad they have to be big pain's in the butt? Glad to hear that you stuck it out and got your refunded. It is kind of funny when us women can outsmart and get results in front of our men. Don't you just want to look at them and say I told you so? Hope you were able to get your workout in.
Mouse, Robyn and Summer how was your day? I hope it was a nice relaxing one.
Talk to you all later.
Kerry

Hi Gals,
Just testing out to see if I figured out how to put the signuature weight tracker correctly. Talk to you all tomorrow.
Kerry

Hey, Kerry... like your tracker. Looks vaguely familiar. ;)
And hi to everybody else. My father threw me into a panic tonight: they discharged him from the rehab part of the nursing home today and he went home. And has called 911 two times since he got home. He's scared and I understand that, but there isn't much I can for him 75 miles from his house. I can't sleep at his apartment, and I can't stay there very long because I can't bring my cat with me. He needed somebody to help him get around the house, which I can't do either. I can't move him on my own, he's pretty big. I'm not small myself, and I know that, but... I feel guilty for not going up there, but I can't DO anything for him. I can't even stay at his apartment, so I'd basically be staying at my mother's which is 10 miles from him.
I tried for a few hours to find somebody to go with me, even asking my friends in Virginia, and they were going to come with me, but its not fair for me to ask them to drop everything and go with me. I do still feel guilty... Like I should go up there.
:o
:mouse:

Well, my friends, I am taking my first breath (and only for a few seconds) since I came home from school at 5:45pm on December 23rd!

Christmas Eve day, DH took DD ice skating for the first time to get her out of the house so that I could wrap. We continued to bake and decorate Christmas cookies. Another first was to take DD to the 11:00pm Christmas Eve Candlelight Service. Amazingly enough, she stayed awake. All should have been well, however, a few annoying things kind of messed with my Christmas spirit. We got to church one hour early to get seats in the third row. Then a choir member layed her coats down to save seats for her family. No biggie, right? Well, they came a little after the service began, and they tried to stuff ten people in an area that would normally only accomodate six or seven. So, I had a smelly old lady practically sitting on my lap throughout the service. Then an old man who should probably have been on zithromax and in bed sat behind me hacking up his lung. I have long hair now, and I kept imagining his cooties and sputum on my back. And, the person who normally solos "Oh Holy Night" is now a paid performer, and our church apparently didn't want to shell out any cash. So instead, a horrible soloist destroyed one of my favorite Christmas songs. I don't mean to sound so negative, but I had everything in place, and a few strangers kind of f*cked it up. Before bed, DD and I sprinkled reindeer food on the front lawn to attract Rudolph!

Okay, Christmas morning was great. DD really believes, and she was soooooo excited. Our time at home was harmonious, but then we had to venture out to my DS house. She is an alcoholic and also dabbles in prescription drugs. So, her personality can go from fun and loving to cruel and depressed. Well, she decided that she was the Queen, and the family (peasants) were all there to do her bidding. Now her in-laws made light of it by calling her, "Principessa" and making jokes. Unfortunately, my DH has a bad history with DS, so he took her ordering around and criticizm to heart. He was miserable, and nearly bit his tongue right off! We were only there for four hours, but it seemed a lot longer and really put a damper on things. So, DH suggested the next day that we "get the h*ll out of here" next year. My in-laws live in Florida (near Orlando) during the school year, so I think we will end up spending Christmas with them next year. This gives him incentive to deal with our finances so we can afford to go.

On the 26th, we went to a party at a work friend's house. She lives in a magnificent "museum-like" home. She even has an English Pub-like game room in her home. The home is Victorian with the most intricately stunning architectural details. Nobody else from work was there, so I exercised my small-talk with strangers muscle. We ended up staying almost six hours, and enjoyed ourselves tremendously. That helped to make up for the lousy day at my DS's house.

I cleaned and cleaned and cleaned and grocery shopped on the 27th. Yesterday, we had a play-date all day with DD's and my best friends. DD's friend stayed for a sleepover. We took them to the movies to see "Christmas with the Kranks." It was good, but basically all the funny scenes are in the previews. We won't be buying the DVD. Then we asked the girls if they wanted Italian for dinner. They both said, "Yes." Both of them. Not just one of them. Well, we drove to a really yummy restaurant, and as I pictured the linguini with red clam sauce, DD's friend said, "I DON'T LIKE ITALIAN FOOD." I said, "Sure you do. We have pizza at your house all of the time." She said, "I only fake it that I like it, but I really hate it." So we sat there and tried to figure out where to go as the snow came down. Since the streets quickly became treacherous, we chose to go home and order Chinese delivery. Needless to say, DD's friend didn't actually like the food she asked us to order for her...the kind of Chinese food she always gets. This kid is soooooo high maintenance. I couldn't get her to agree with me on anything, and I was torn between being the mommy/teacher who doesn't take any crap and the friend of her mother who wants her to be happy sleeping over our house for the first time. So, I compromised and let her have her way when it was something small, and put my lead foot down when it really mattered. She is still here tearing up my house. I will be driving her home soon and then we will have a play date up at her house. I can't wait for tonight when I am free of her!!!

I will come back tomorrow to read all of your posts and catch up with everything. I am gonna start a new thread for the new year in a few days. P.S. I can't get any of the smilies to appear onto my post. I also can't get the font, color, or size to change. Is anyone else having a problem with that?

Morning Ladies,
I am happy to say that I am having a great day so far. I was able to sleep in a little bit this morning and then go workout with my friend at Curves. So things are looking good for today. I plan on being lazy today. I think I will curl up with the book I am reading and try to put a major dent in it. Plus I have to go to the library to renew my books. So I think I might just check out a few movies to watch this evening while everyone else is busy watching football. I made a pact with my friend who doesn't really like to go shopping, that we would go shopping for a new outfit in smaller sizes around my birthday in May. She has fallen off the bandwagon and I am trying to help motiviate her again. She did really good losing some 40 pounds and then she had surgery and gained back 20 pounds. So she is feeling really low right now. Hope I can help spur her on to lose the weight and then some. Wish me luck!!
Summer sounds like you are still running and never really stopped. Sorry to hear that your Christmas Eve service was not a spiritual moving experience for you. Sounds like your whole Christmas was not a pleasant one. Hope you have a nice time with your friend today. Sorry to hear that your high maintance houseguest was a picky eater.
Ginny did your dh go and get his tires today? Are you going to be able to squeeze in a wi this week? Did you get your workout in last night?
Robyn, are things going better for you? Did you get your Christmas stuff put away?
Mouse, I didn't even realize that we had the same tracker until after I checked the posts. You know what they say about great minds think alike. That was the only slider that caught my eye. Sorry to hear that your dad is stressing you out. Isn't there any home health care agencies that your dad could contact to come in and help him until is well enough to be on his own?
Well I think I will go and ride my excerise bike for a while to get some me time. Talk to you all later.
Have a wonderful day!
Kerry

Hi!
While I still have some sanity about me, I thought I would get a post in.

Summer- catch your breath Hon! Soo sorry about the Christmas Eve service, I too have had that happen. Several years ago, (our church has 2 services the "contemporary" music service and then one with mostly hymns) we went to the Easter Service. And that year the praise team did the whole thing.....they are pretty good if you like that kind of music, but I for one get sick of them (seem to play forever, and I am there not for the music but for Pastor's message) and did not really think their music was appropriate for Easter. Anyway.......we came out of church disgusted....totally. That is too bad about O Holy Night.....and I know how it hurts to have your favorite song butchered. Has the playdate of torture ended????? The party on the 26th sounds like it was fun.....glad you got out for something pleasurable! (and should you get to Orlando next December, sneak me with you!)

Mouse- please do not beat yourself up on this situation with your father. It is so sad.....and I know that this must be awfully hard for you. Perhaps there is some visiting nurse service that can check up on him- or a responsible neighbor...maybe even the local JCC (is there one where he lives?)- someone who might do that. I know here the local Temple has a few indivuduals who take that kind of volunteer work on. You have and are doing all that you can.
Try your local office of the aging too...or a senior center....keep calling, gosh there has to be some help somewhere!

Kerry- Woo hoo!!!!!!! :D Hats off to you you big loser!! Congrats on being the biggest loser of the month, in a month that is tough on many of us to lose! Keep up the good work! I am so happy for you. Glad that Attila has retreated a wee bit and is not giving you such a hard time. You are right, there is something about the male gender, cold weather (they can't be with their outside toys....whatever they are) and not being at work (noone to boss around or a way to burn off that testosterone). My Atilla has actually been pretty sane today.....I am thankful for that.

Robyn- you perking up?? I hope that you are having some fun this vacation....and enjoying your book.

Me? Well, I did not get my walk inlast nite (kids wanted to play Clue, so I did that....not too many years that I will be able to keep all 3 of them happy with a board game). I did get a walk in today (3 miles) and am going to grab the TV now (Ds finally gave it up!) to get a WATP tape in. Gotta get myself back on track. My eating has been not too good.......but today I am doing well. Probably no WW meeting for me, and if I do go, I will use the no WI coupon. Just a wee bit too much stress for me and I know I did not get many walks/workouts in.
Gotta go......see ya later!
Ginny

BTW, I love the trackers.....don't know if have the nerve to put one on for me though!
How do you add one (in case I get the nerve up!)