Just walk in the opposite direction of her house! ;) Dang, I'd be a little cranky, too. Glad you're okay, though. Count the blessings, LOL.

Kimberley - I ended up walking to the grocery store... for asparagus, 2 cookies, and a bottle of pop. Bad Aimee.. bad! The night before my weigh in too! I might have to postpone that weigh in until Friday. I am determined to get back on plan, and stay that way for 2 weeks. I realized in the past 2 weeks I'm down 8 pounds, thats SO good, I should get up and do a little happy dance!

I am SO frickin' tired.. so I am off to bed! I'll talk to yah'll in the morning!

-Aimee

BTW.. Goodmorning Jill! ;)

My boss went into the hospital last night. He's had a virus which has filled his lungs with some amount of fluid, and lots of stress, both causing him breathing problems. Besides his job, he has a high stress family, the kind who don't know how to stop when you say stop.

Hey, where's Jill's morning post??

for obese and overweight people, you need to consume 8, 8 oz glasses of water, and add in another 8 oz of water for every 25 pounds of weight you have to lose...I normally, on average consume 100 oz of water every day, sometimes more...sometimes less, but on average 100 oz each day...--Diana

wow, I drink about 80 oz (and thought I was kicking butt with that!).

An online craft fare is a cool idea. Good luck with more sales. Impatiens are really cheerful flowers. I'm not sure what my favorite is, I love tiger lilies. I love tulips too, but they don't last long at all. I hope we get to the botanic garden this weekend, the cherry tree grove should be all in bloom by now.

Aimee, I can't believe the Canadian phone company is as horrible as it is here in the US. As for that gal pal....(sounds of Marge snapping her behind with a wet towel!).

From what I understand, asparagus helps get rid of excess water. I eat them all the time, though they're started to go out of season here and are getting expensive. After watching the video of Supersize Me I'm thinking more and more of going organic!

I'd say 8 lbs in two weeks is a more than significant amount of weight. I don't think I've ever lost that much in that amount of time.

In the town where we're going to there's this historical roadside diner that serves the BEST hamburgers. As long as I take it easy for most the days, I should be able to handle one meal of a treat like that. We're taking an 8:30am train from Penn Station, so I'll be getting up EARLY that day, heh. I'll have to go to the gym thursday.

Well, gotta go get a cup o' Joe. Have a good one, everybody. :D

I'm here, I'm here! Whew, not even starting my post till 11:21am...craziness! I had to go to the dr office this morning to have fasting blood work drawn (checking cholesterol, thyroid, iron, etc.), so I stayed in bed till 7 :o It was really nice to get that extra 2.5 hours of sleep. So I went to the lab, had my blood drawn, then went to the dr and had my bp checked again. This time, it was only 133/82. The 82 is perfect, but the 133 could still be better. However, it's not in the "high bp" range for my age, so they said I'm good to go--must have been extra-stressed on Monday during my appointment. She said below 138 for the systolic pressure (the top number) was in the normal range, even though I thought 133 was a little up there. Guess it's all good, though. I will definitely still be keeping an eye on sodium, though, because 2800mg a day will certainly catch up to me sooner or later!

Tomorrow morning is my podiatrist appointment--FINALLY getting my toe fixed. YAY! :D I took the day of from work so after my appointment I could just go home and not worry about the pain after the anesthetic wears off. My plan is to go grocery shopping as soon as I leave the podiatrist office while my toe is still numb. That way, I can just vege (sp?) out on the couch with Jeff and some new DVDs all weekend. We may go to a movie, but that only requires walking to and from the car, so that should be fine. Jeez, the way I'm talking, you'd think they were going to amputate my toe, eh? I'm just a big baby when it comes to pain like that. :p

Well, at my official Thursday morning weigh-in today, I was holding steady at 299.5 pounds. That's only a .5-pound loss for this week, but as long as it's going in the right direction, I'll take it! At least I made up for my splurge of a weekend enough to recover a loss for the week as a whole. Yay! I know I really need to watch what I eat on the weekends, too, but it's so hard when I'm at Jeff's and we go out for almost EVERY meal. This weekend should be better since he is coming to stay with me. I can at least cook (or instruct him to cook) on Saturday and Sunday. Still have to go out for out Friday night dinner, though :)

So, I have a TOPS meeting tonight, which I can actually goto since I gave up my shift at the restaurant. 2 weeks in row of TOPS--they may actual begin to know my name :o Hopefully, the loss will still be reflected on their scale after I've eaten during the day. I hate weighing in with them at 6:30pm because I eat differently throughout the day. In the morning, I know my stomach is empty when I weigh-in at home. It hasn't been a problem so far, though, so I should be good to go. I'll have dinner after the meeting.

Alright, well, I guess that's long enough of a post (even for me), so I'm off to pretend to do some work with the peace of mind that the scale and the bp cuff both have lower numbers today. Keep in mind-it's almost Friday!!

Goodmorning!! No weigh in for me today, I had issues sleeping last night and when I got up, I made breakfast, ate, and then showered. Totally forgot to weigh in cuz I was SO tired. I'll do it tomorrow, so I'm not worried!

Marge - Sorry to hear about your boss, hope he gets better soon. And learns to relax! I'll know forsure tomorrow how much I lost in 2 weeks, last time I peeked at the scale it was saying 8 pound loss.. and then came the ice cream... hehe. So I could definitely have gained that back. Even so, ifI gained 2 back, thats still 6 pounds in 2 weeks. I'm not taking ANY chances and have packed very healthy foods, and lots of water for work today. Can you believe I work 11am until 8pm?!? Thats stupid, yes I get an hour long break.. but it's a 9 hour day!! I just think thats wrong for a part time retail job, they expect everything from you, and give you 8.30/hr in return! Everyone says I shouldn't complain because I'm making over min wage, but I have the experience.

Jill - Good to hear about that BP! Also good that you are going to watch the sodium still.. it's EVIL! Congrats on the weight loss, anything down is better than up! Hmm, something like that anyways!

Alrighty! I am off to sell some clothes to people, and to have that meeting with the manager.. hopefully she'll give me SOME kind of training stuff, maybe some rules on their Loss Prevention, maybe some store stats.. something.. ANYTHING at this point! Have a good one, I'll be back much later!

-Aimee

Hope your toe feels much, much better after the doctor has a go at it. Mine have been giving me trouble again. Sometimes I just want to have 'em removed, but who wants nail-less big toes?

While puttering around the foundation of the house earlier today, I discovered termites. Dang it, dang it, dang it. The sellers of this house had to treat for them before we bought, but that was six years ago. If the termites were out in the yard more, I wouldn't be concerned, but they're right down on the foundation, right where the wood strip is between the concrete block foundation and the brick exterior walls. Shoot -- no extra money for treatment, either.

Good photo op, though. Heh.

Okay, to balance out the gross, here's a macro shot of our neighbor's lilac blooms:

Haha, thanks for the balance of photos, Kimberley--I can totally live life without ever seeing a creature that has more than 4 legs ever again (strfish being the exception--I can handle those, even though they sort of have 5 legs :p ). I keep cans of Raid in my apartment so I can spray a bug if I see it since I actually hate them so much I can't get close enough to squish them. Jeez, how girls am I :dizzy:

So, I went to my TOPS meeting tonight like a good girl. According to their scale, I am down 2 pounds since last week (even after eating breakfast at McDonald's and having a big salad for lunch), so that was pretty encouraging.
Well, just wanted to stop in and say hey. Who knows what I'll be up to tomorrow--probably sleeping most of the day away, so don't be surprised when there's no early-morning post from me! ;) Catch ya ladies later--have a Fabulous Friday!

Good for you, Jill - that's great!

I love taking macro shots of insects, flowers, whatever -- I love the details you see when the pictures are viewed. Sometimes some little critter is hiding in a bloom and I never see it until I've enlarged the image. Guess I'll spare you the photo I took of the spiderlings I took a few days ago...dozens of tiny spiders that together could have fit on a penny. Amazing little things!

My MIL asked if I wanted to swim with her, so there came my missing exercise day. We were at the YMCA from 8:20-9:20pm and I swam fairly vigorously about half of the time we were in the water. We sat in the sauna for a few minutes afterward (boy, did that feel wonderful), cooled down with showers, then headed over to my mom's for a surprise visit.

It was a nice evening all around. My dogs smell my mom's dog, Blueberry, on me...You'd think I was a piece of steak, so interested are they in me! High treason, I know. ;)

Here's one of the jealous ones, Emma (are you tired of photos yet?).

Can't argue with 2 lbs lost, Jill! :D Good for you. Hey, 9 toes is still plenty, right?

I'm down another 1.2 lbs, happy about that. I had trouble sleeping last night, a little tougher getting to the gym at 7am. I think we'll go have Thai for lunch then stop at the Barnes and Noble to get Zagat's Manhattan shopping guide for the couple we're having dinner with tomorrow night who just moved here. YES, Aimee, there's a SHOPPING guide to NYC! When you're ready to come I'm going to get that for you (if it's any good, I actually haven't looked at it yet, ha).

Weekend weather sure has been crappy, overcast AGAIN. Looks like Sunday will have to be botanic garden day. Hopefully it won't rain.

Aimee, are you going to try for the insurance test you think? Did I tell you I worked for a large sized clothing store for a summer when I was in college? At our local mall, called Bayfair. The most memorable moment was when they made me watch a shoplifter (she came in there a bunch of times to shoplift). What a weird situation that was for me. I had to nicely follow her around the store. I liked the women who worked there; it was small and I could study during the quiet moments. They bought me a cream puff pastry when I left, :lol: . I used to use a lot of earnings to buy the clothes too. The store's not there anymore, I think they replaced it with a T-Mobile or something.

Have a good Friday, everybody!

Goodmorning! I am up!! I'm trying to get up earlier than I want to, if that makes sense. I was SO tired last night but still didn't end up going to bed until 1:30 am! I was pretty much useless all night, on the way home from work I got a coffee, and some fast food.. don't know what came over me.. if anything.. hehe.. I was just SO fricking tired and didn't want to cook.

Marge - a shopping guide to NYC? Omg! Thats crazy! I'm one of those shoppers that when they are in a different city has to look in EVERY store... possibly very annoying, but I also enjoy shopping alone. I remember following quite a few shop lifters, mostly it stopped them from taking anything. Once I asked this size 2-3 woman if she needed help (in a plus size store!), and she said "uhh.. I'm like waiting for my BOYFRIEND". It was too funny, but she got the hint and dropped the bathingsuit and left. Silly woman! I'm not sure about the insurance thing, I talked to my mom about it and she didn't seem all too impressed, but I'm having issues finding something I might love. This far I only know that I need something that makes me think, and uses my skill of solving almost any problem. heh. So far all my mom and I have come up with is Insurance Adjuster, I think it looks pretty interesting. We'll see though!

I'm not feeling the whole idea of getting on my scale today, yesterday I got on it after I'd eaten, and it was at 260, but I also had a realllly heavy breakfast. Maybe I'll skip it this week, I'm getting on track with my eating (the ice cream is GONE! ), and just head onto next week. Everytime I think about going to get on that scale it gives me a nasty feeling in my tummy.. SO weird huh?

Kimberley - you are back to swimming! :) It's been a little while since I've heard of you going to the pool.. glad you had a nice night!

Jill - I hate spiders, hate hate spiders. I have these "slippers" with almost a shoe like bottom, I wear them when I go pee in the middle of the night so I can kill any spiders I see.. lol. This has only happened like 2 times, but they are totally my lifesaver! 2 pounds at TOPS? thats great!

I am off to have a healthy breakfast, get some errands done, I'll bbl!

-Aimee

Good afternoon, ladies--happy Friday! I got my toe fixed this morning--they went ahead and put acid on the root of the side of that toenail and said there's a 95% chance it won't come back. I said I'd heard that before, and I'd see him again next year :lol: At least it will be fixed for the immediate future. I popped 3 extra-strength Tylenol as soon as I got home so it wouldn't hurt like he!! when the novocaine wore off. It's actually doing very well--I had it done at 8:30 this morning, it's now 3:38pm, and I still don't really feel any pain. Yay!

So, after my appointment, I called my mom to let her know I was okay (she worries about me with my, umm, bumpy medical history and because I'm so far away). I told her I was heading to WalMart to buy a food processor (so I could try Kimberley's spinch-in-the-sauce idea), and she told me no! Apparently, my mom has already talked to my sister and they have all decided to come visit me for my birthday (in July) and take me shopping to buy lots of new apartment stuff (such as a blender and a food processor, for starters, and I know my mom wants to get me a better vacuum cleaner). So I agreed not to buy one. Guess the sauce will have to wait. Instead of a food processor, though, I did buy myself a really nice wok. Then I came home, napped on the couch for a few hours, and got up and made stir-fry like I have been planning to do for the past few weeks now. I kept track of every calorie that went into that wok, and I now have 8 meals of stir-fry that have less than 200 calories each. Add to that the brown rice (which is still simmering on my stove) with 170 per serving (and I am only cooking 8 servings so I won't have too much in each container), and I've got 8 meals with less than 400 calories each that include lean chicken, VEGETABLES, and whole grains. Yay! I just cut up 1.14 pounds of lean boneless skinless chicken tenderloins, added a whole bag of stir-fry veggie mix (red peppers, corn, and broccoli), added a whole bag of sugar snap peas, added 1 cup of crushed pineapple, and added bottled teriyaki sauce (carefully measured quantity). It's pretty darn good! Now, if only I had room in my freezer for all 8 containers...:p

So now I'm just waiting for Jeff to get here. I called him last night, and apparently he has had a cold all week, so we get to just lay on the couch and play sick all weekend. Sounds fine to me--I've slept quite a bit last night and today, and I still feel like I could crash for a few more hours!

Well, hope everyone has a blast of a weekend (despite some icky weather spots)--catch ya'll later!

Shoplifters tick me off sooo bad, and so many times employees are powerless to really do much about them. I do secret shopper jobs and, while it's not tailing shoplifters, it's still fun. I got to do a shop at Value City (a local discount store kind of like TJ Max and Marshall's) and it paid me $25. Shop AND get paid for it - how fun is that? ;)

The scale was my pal today, told me I'd lost a pound. I'm now 225. Howie said, no, I could not subtract the pound of cooked cabbage and low-fat sausage I'd eaten last night, LOL! So a pound's cool...And there's no point obsessing, because it's coming off and the diet changes I've made are permanent. I can't get all weird about what I eat the day before weigh-in or I'll drive myself batty.

We went to the arboretum to walk instead of working out at the YMCA. We walked to the Japanese Garden area (pond, pagoda, rock garden, rhodedendrons, various types of mosses...just gorgeous) and took a break before heading back. He takes a little longer than me because he still has to stop often due to back pain, so on our way back he said I could just go on ahead if I wanted to.

I did, and had some time to take more photos at the cypress swamp. It just so happened a group of gradeschoolers was there on a field trip, so I got pictures of the kids and the pond life they scooped out into trays for observation. Hearing children exclaiming excitedly over snails and frog eggs is so awesome; it's been a while since I'd heard kids more excited about nature than about their video games.

I was writing my post when you posted, Jill. Glad your toe's not killing you this afternoon! I've never had a doctor do anything to mine; maybe I should have them checked out some time. And GREAT for you putting together those stir-fry lunches! Go Jill!!

Hey ladies!!

Jill - SO glad your toe is better.. you can wear closed toe shoes again! I'm even MORE happy that you are eating veggies!! I cannot imagine not eating veggies all the time.. I was wanting something for lunch, didn't want to prepare much, so I made steamed broccoli and asparagus. Does that make you shudder just thinking about ONLY eating veggies? With NO sauce? ;) Just keep your veggies up gal! :)

Kimberley - Woohoo! 1 pound gone forever!! I don't really watch what I eat the night before a weigh in.. unless I know it's realllly salty, I know I'll end up retaining water, and if I eat only protein the night before.. it... stops me up.. lol. I'm in a fight with my scale.. I just don't FEEL like getting on it.. poopy icky! heh. You are almost to your min goal!! Woohoo! you go! :) That place looks like a really beautiful place to walk.. My bf's mom loves to take pictures as well, and is sending us new pictures a lot. She likes to take things to extremes though, she went from going for walks taking pictures to being a photographer. That woman is crazy busy, she gets bored easily I suspect.. she actually has 3 home businesses that she runs all by herself. I can't imagine that myself..

Alrighty! I am off to work.. I get the lovely 5:30-9:30 shift.. woowee. heh. Have a great night :)

Goodness me, this place sure is quiet! Whats going on?!?

Alrighty, tell me why I always have some story to tell you guys? Tonight after work I met Josh, he was off at 10pm, and we went to the car. It wouldn't start. We tried for 30 minutes, nothing doing. The mall security came over and took Josh to get gas (for some reason I stayed.. still not sure my logic.. I insisted I stay). So they put that in. Tried it again, nothing. Kept trying, still nothing, but the battery died from all the trying. A couple guys tried to boost us, we had to move our car, so we pushed it closer to their car. They tried that for 45 minutes. Then they pushed it while I was on the phone with GM roadside assistant, I think they tried a few other things, but I was trying to give directions to the people. Afterwards the guys left, and Josh and I waited. He got the security number, and we called them to come back and boost the car again. And it started!!!! Yay! Lucky too, as we drove home, we saw a HUGE accident which actually had the place we were cut off to the way the tow truck was going to come from. It was a pretty major accident, 3 cars, 4 ambulances, 10 cop cars, and 3 fire trucks. We passed pretty close, it was pretty scarey. Cars can be so humbling. We are both alive, and thankful to be home with a car that works. It will be traded in this week.. for something WAY more reliable.

Well I am off to bed, I am SO SO tired, SO tired. Be good! :)

-Aimee

Oh, gosh, Aimee -- If your car hadn't zonked out, you might have been in that wreck. I'm so glad you're okay!

Jill, how's the digit down south there?

Howie and I are up early, enjoying coffee and our Saturday morning radio shows on NPR. We got out of the habit of listening for some reason, but it's so fun! Here's our line up for today:

Car Talk
Whad'ya Know?
Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me
The Splendid Table

That last one's a new one for us. It's a food show, sounds interesting. This evening, we're going to a friend's house for a birthday dinner. Howie's going to skip the cake and ice cream, and I think I will, too. I'm going to eat lighter-cal stuff during the day since I'm not sure what his mom's cooking for the dinner.

So, what do you like to do on Saturday mornings when you're not working?

Kimberley - I think it's just us on weekend duty! ;) When I don't work Saturday mornings.. I usually sleep in. And then watch a few reruns on TLC, nothing too exciting. I think I'd like to spend my mornings walking along the ocean if I could do whatever I want.. I remember a few years ago I lived in Vancouver, I was 1 block from the ocean and spent every morning walking along the seawall, it would calm me and was a wonderful way to start the day. I don't get the whole radio thing yet... I imagine it will come with time. Maybe, I would love to be hiking a different mountain each morning, or running along the seawall. I really love to challenge my body. Maybe thats why I'm trying to gain so much weight? ;) Alrighty! It's been a crazy long day, so I am off to get some sleep.. I'll talk to you tomorrow!!

-Aimee

:wave: hello I'm here, I'm alive, I'll come and help out on weekend duty!!!!! I've been so busy of late have only been popping in and out of 3FC when I have a moment.

My employer has let me have two weeks off the dreaded telephones (unavoidable in a call centre) to train newbies!!!! :yikes: Bless 'em. We starte dthe fortnight with 6 and were down to 5 by the end, apparently one left because I shouted at him!!! I'm quite sure I didn't shout, but I did give him a telling off, nothing he didn't deserve!!! So our five little survivors are now off to their departments, and I am back doing my normal job, except I now have a week off, hurray!!!!!!

I had an interview for a promotion this week, I want to join our underwriting team. I was told it would be very competitive, but as it turns out there are two vacancies and three applicants, so fingers crossed :lucky:

Tell Howie I think he's mean Mrs Gardenwife, I would have let you count the pound from dinner!!!! LOL!!! Great pictures, I am sorry to hear about the termites, dang the little critters.

I went swimming this morning for two hours, well one hour swimming the last hour playing and chatting. I have competitions with the others who come a bit later to see who can swim underwater the longest. I don't normally win, which is a bit embarrassing, seeing as they are all in their late sixties, early 70's and I am half that!!!!

Aimee, I have no idea what I want to do career wise, I am just coasting along at my employer and looking for opportunites as they arise, I do envy those people who know from the cradle what they want to be when they grow up! Perhaps I just haven't grown up yet!

Oh, the joys of call centers. I worked for a large one here, trained classes of new hires and new-to-customer service reps on the computers and in sales/customer service techniques. It was insane how minutely every little statistic was tracked on each employee; I hated that Big Brother mentality, especially when I had high sales and a good customer retention rate when there were problems I troubleshooted. Bah!

Made a tasty dinner for the moms today -- Pork roast, cauliflower hash browns, salad, and strawberry shortcake made with low-fat Bisquick. I posted the first two recipes over at Dave's Garden. You will only be able to view the first post as non-subscribers, but that's all you need to see to get the recipes!

Gardenwife's Pineapple & Garlic Pork Roast -- That one I came up with last night

Juan-Carlos' Cauliflower and parsnip hash browns -- he's the Calorie Commando on FoodTV.

Had some kind of tummy upset that had me running to the bathroom frequently for a few hours, but that's calmed down. Wonder just how many calories went down that drain...Heh. Looking at the bright side, there!

Morning, all!

Sorry I was pretty much MIA all weekend--I was RELAXING! We slept and ate and watched movies and slept and watched movies and slept some more :D We also discovered a new ice cream place with REALLY good soft-serve that's only 1.4 miles from my apartment called Nathan's Dairy Bar--YUM! I would say this is dangerous being so close to my house, but I'm never home when it's open during the week anyway, so no biggie :p Yesterday we also went and played miniature golf. That's about all we did all weekend. Oh, and we went and saw Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which I thought was really cute! It was funny and creative and all that good stuff--of course, I have never read the book, so I didn't have any of the negative comments like so many other reviewers have had since I had no basis for comparison. Anyway...

So that new wok I bought on friday and used to make stir-fry--it's completely covered in rust! I had rinsed it out quickly before putting my food in it (to at least get out any dust or whatever from being in the store--heat kills most germs), and then I stuck it in the sink filled with water and a little soap to work on the caked-on cooked teriyaki sauce. It had strted turning slightly orange then, but only in a few spots, and I thought maybe it was just the teriyaki sauce. Then I stuck it in the dishwasher (like I do with all my other pots and pans when needed), and when I took it out, EEW! Solid orange rust all over the inside of my brand new wok! Very upsetting, espeically since I had already taken out the trash with the label and receipt for it. I may still try to return it (since it is WalMart and they take returns on just about anything). It was just quite frustrating.

In addition to the stir-fry "frozen dinners" I had made for myself, I also bought lots of good stuff when I went grocery shopping yesterday. It was really nice outside, so I felt like having fruit, so I bought bananas, apples, watermelon, strawberries, grapes, and kiwis (oh, and lemons because Jeff likes to eat them). Last night, I cut up the watermelon, a containger of strawberries, a large kiwi, and a bunch of purple grapes and made a fruit salad, so I plopped some of that in a container for a snack for today. YUM! I also brought an apple and a banana as snacks for today, so don't tell me I don't eat enough fruit! :dizzy: Besides the fruit, I also bought a box of whole wheat pasta (yes, I finally found some!). I also bought Prego tomato sauce, which says right on the label that one serving of the sauce = 1.5 servings of vegetables. Since there are 6 serving of sauce per container, I made all of the past and mixed in the whole jar of sauce, then divided it all into 6 containers and put them in the fridge, so now I have healthy pasta meals to choose from, too (and, of course, I calculated the total amount of calories per container including sauce, pasta, and some grated parmesan cheese). I also cooked a rotisserie chicken (this time cooked all the way through instead of still pink in the middle!), so I cut that all up and put it in the fridge. My rotisserie cooker also came with a tray that you can put ontop of the cooker to steam veggies and stuf, so I steamed a bag of frozen broccoli (too much, I'm sure, since it's not as gren anymore and is mushy, which is how I like it). So I ALSO have chicken and brocolli as a meal choice (skin removed from the chicken, of course). I feel so prepared for the week!!

I'm about 2 hours late in posting this morning because I was applying to new jobs online :o I really need to find something that pays more so I don't have to keep working nearly 70 hours a week between the 2 jobs. I'm 22 years old and am going to wear myself out and want to retire by the time I'm 25 at this rate! I've got the skills for a great job (marketing, communications, editing/proofreading, event coordination, etc.), but no one wants to hire me with less than "3-5 years" of experience. However, I was supposed to have had at least 2 years of experience for the job I have now (but I only had about 10 months), but I got it anyway, so maybe there is hope (and my boss is constantly gushing over how well I handle new tasks, how quickly I work, and how good I am at "rolling with the punches"--I should be able to show that in an interview!).

My toe is fine--feels like nothing ever happened (unless I hit it or rub it against something just right--then watch out!). Hope everyone's weekends turned out well (I know Heather's busy and can't post every day, but where's our Diana been lately?!). Make it a great Monday!

Hey all, am here, just been very very busy busy busy...This week I had 5 sales from my site, WO-HOOOOO...one sale was from my site and the show...I am amazed, and got panicked I may run out of stuff, lol, but it has slowed down now...This time of the year I am so busy with gardening and stuff, I rarely get on here, but I have been MIA the past few days. WTG everyone on keeping with plan, and WTG Jill for trying to keep with packing better food for work..I forgot to weigh in this mornign at CURVES, but, ya know, my t shirts are getting bigger, so even if I have not lost a lot of pounds, the inches are really coming off, which is GREAT!!!I had a great work-out this morning, and feel energized...I also, get my new black, Camrey SE loaded on FRIDAY, hopefully, all according to if my DH gets the check from his S&S by then, of not, Early next week it will be right b4 we got to OHIO. We will not be taking it there though, you know the first 2000 miles rule and all of that...keeping her home safe and sound that weekend :)...We went looking at new homes yesterday. We went to Saratoga, woo hoo, you should see this place we found. I think a celebrity has a home there for the Summer, ( Lots of them live here in the Summer for the races at Saratoga) David Cassidy, for example owns 12 acres of land 2 exits up from us.. the house in this community was gated and had electric fence all the way around it. Even saw someone driving an Aston Martin in there! All of the homes were absolutely drop dead gorgeous, and they are building another development like it down the road with a huge park in the center. WAY out of our price league ( starting at 750,000)..Unreal...only way we could even fathom it is to play the lottery and pray, lol...so, DH is playing the Lottery and praying from now on, LOL, he is sooo funny! Ahh, it's nice to dream eh? Well, on that note, have to eat my yogurt with granola, shower, pack up some stuff to ship out, and plant some flowers, and put a roast on for dinner with lots of carrots..YUM! Hag week all, and take care!

Goodmorning!! I'm trying to fake being positive and cheerful, so far.. so good! I woke up this morning completely sick, nauseaous mostly. I thought perhaps all the baby talk in my life was wearing off (not possible.. je suis VERYcareful!), "luckily" I started to develop heartburn. Which just means I have to be MUCH more strict with my diet... I ate really good yesterday until my dinner, which was a subway sub. It just threw off that PH in my tummy.

Good to see you all back.. it was CRAZY quiet on here this weekend. Well, speaking of which.. I am running late for work, so I don't have time to really say much.. have a great day! I'll bbl, much later!

-Aimee

Diana, congrats on the sales - that's great! I need to start marketing my photography more aggressively. Great to hear you're losing size, too. I picked up a few inexpensive crinkly-knit tops at Wal-Mart Saturday night, and was able to buy 18/20's. At my biggest, I wore 26/28 in some shirts. I'd work 22/24 for a long time, and now I'm finally seeing smaller sizes fitting. My bottom half is bigger, though - still got the belly!

Aimee, you sound like that old addage: Fake it 'til you make it. It's funny, though...Actually works sometimes. Sounds like weekends are the big time for you guys, eh?

Jill, your wok isn't defective, it just needs different care. The care's a lot like that of cast iron cookware. Howie and I clean ours with kosher salt (abrasive) and water, dry it thoroughly, and add a little oil. You don't want to get all the stuff out of your cookware - it just needs to build up and carbonize. Then it's practically non-stick and wonderful. Check out this article for good info.

Howie and I are going to that Indiana job site again. His boss called and asked if he'd go. Plan is, I get myself showered and pack, go to my doctor's appointment, and we leave for Indiana right from there. We'll be back tomorrow, and we'll have our laptops with us. Ya'll won't notice any change. LOL :D

TY Kimberley and great advice on the wok..I agree, so many people feel the need to scrub their pans to perfection, not realizing that the aged cookware, the stuff that looks all black and beat up on the outside, is the best...it is seasoned just right. My Dh thinks it should be all shiny and new, but I am the cook and i am the one who knows what I am doing with that, lol..You find the neatest web sites...Have a great tiem in IN...HAGD all, Di

Thanks Kimberley! I actually had talked to someone here at work who told me the same thing. My only issue is that everything I use goes in the dishwasher--no exceptions! I don't have time to do dishes, let alone do dishes specially. She told me I could scrub out the rust and put a little oil in it and dry it by putting it on the warm stove--problem is, I won't even have time to do any of that until, umm, the weekend after next :p Oh well. At least I got one good use out of it before I killed it ;)

On a brighter side, my stir-fry was REALLY good! I ate all the veggies and everything! I just splashed a little water on it before putting it in the microwave, and it was perfect. I'm really glad I made those meals. It was really filling, too, with the veggies, protein, and whole grains. I went to the cafeteria after I ate it (with a friend--I just went along for the walk to stretch my legs and get away from my desk for a few). Normally, even if I have had lunch, I can't resist a small salad or a small carton of chocolate milk while I'm down there. However, I felt so satisfied from the stir-fry that nothing even looked appealing, ya know? I did get a large diet Pepsi because I was tired--felt I needed a caffeine boost to get through the rest of my looong day. I know, it's got plenty of sodium in it, but at least it's not an everyday thing. Very rarely now do I drink soda during the week at all.

Well, glad to see Diana's still alive and kickin'! And doing so well on losing inches!!! Hope your tummy feels better by the end of the day, Aimee--I know it sucks to work when you're not feeling well. And thanks again, Mommy Kimberley--you always seem to know the answers (and if you don't, you can always a find a website that does!). Have a great one!

Oh boy...Just a quick note to ya Jill my dear...You really should never put pans in the dishwasher, it ruins the coating on them if they are non stick...Just some advice from learning the hard way...And you really don't have to scrub the pans with a lot of soap etc, like the dishes, just rinse the **** out of them with HOT water, and wipe the stuff out with paper towels, to get them seasoned too...and another way is to wipe them down with olive oil b4 bed, pre-heat your oven then turn the oven off and set them inside overnight...Works for me...Just some tidbits for the night, HAG1 All :)

I made it thru the day!! Doesn't sound like much, but man oh man, I was SO SO sick in the car on the way to work, Josh ended up driving me to work and picking me up, even though that wasn't the plan. My shift went well, the manager seemed to like me, the more friends I have.. the better. She thinks I need to work on some of my selling techniques.. basically she didn't like the fact that I didn't ask any customers if they needed socks. But I hate that kind of upselling, as long as my stats are good, I figure it's all good. Oh well.. this isn't permanent!

Kimberley - that was totally my plan today, and it worked. Yay! I try and fake it with my selfesteem, and that also works. I don't know if the weekends are really significant for us, I actually find we eat out less on the weekends. I just seem to work a lot on the weekend, as does Josh. My body is just hitting a wall, it's ready for something new. So I'm going to try it again.. although it's never worked for me before, I'm going to eat lots of fruit, veggies, whole grains (no rice still, or pasta, just whole wheat bread), and healthy fats ( like no fat yogurt, low fat cheese, low fat milk, chicken, etc), I'll likely count my calories as well. I usually find I lose a couple pounds, and then start packing it on.

Jill - I'm so glad your toe is all better.. and thrilled about all your fruits and veggies :)

Diana - you rock, seriously you are so busy with your selling, and you are still going strong with the gym. Keep it up girl :)

Alrighty! I am off to be productive, I have to do some crazy homework for my job.. weird weird job! Have a good night!

-Aimee

Hello girls I have read some of your posts everyone sounds like their doing well. The wok sounds like when yuo use iron pans its the same deal or they rust too. I have slipped a bit in my exercise lately and haven't been on the scale in a couple of weeks. I need to jump back in so thought I'd give this site a try before I gain back what I lost already. I was doing so well but need to boost myself in the butt and get moving again. So I am going to workout or walk at least 4 times this week that will be my goal and to keep my calories around 1400 not over 1500. Wish me luck. I look forward to chatting with you girls!

welcome Cac...do u go by a nickname or is this what you want us to use here? I am having a tooth issue. seems like it is the tooth I got filled in December too, which bites...I get these sharp pains every so often...LOVELY!!!! I am hoping it is nothing, because in 10 days I will be heading to see my bestest friend...am planning to floss and rinse before Curves, am hoping I got something logded there from Chinese the other night and have missed it...( keeping my fingers crossed)..UGH,,, well, am off, HAG1 Ladies!

Good morning! (<---Aimee, I fake it every morning--you think I really am thinking of an exclamation point at 6:30am every day?! :p )

Last night was quite frustrating. I went to work at the restaurant for 4pm, as usual. I was serving, and there was only one person on who was working a double, so I was in a section with him, and we were going to be first cut. First cut on a Monday night means I should definitely have been home by about 9 or 9:30pm. Well, being just my luck, I get a party of 14 people right near the end of my shift. So, of course, it takes them forever to order and figure everything out, and they were there for someone's birthday, so of course they had to do gifts and sit around talking all night. I know people come in in groups like that to have a good time--it's just frustrating when their good time makes me have to stay later. I'm not really upset or angry with anybody since it's not really anybody's fault, just frustrated. Someone could have helped me out by doing my sidework or rolling my silverware (which I do for others all the time). It seems I always end up being the one staying late or helping other people out (like when I closed and didn't get home till well beyond midnight a few weeks ago). So yeah, like I said, I should have been home watching tv by 9:30 last night (like my partner was!), but instead, I didn't leave the restaurant till 11:05pm. ARGH! I really need to find a higher-paying job so I can lose the 4 nights a week at the restaurant! On a brighter note, they trained 4 new people last night, so most likely, they will be hostessing for a while till they start serving so I won't have to hostess much anymore, which means I will get to serve more. I can't possibly end up being there till 11 every night as a server, right (keeping my fingers crossed!:crossed: )?

Last night was hard food-wise, too. The other 4pm server came in with a McDonald's cheeseburger for dinner. Yum. the manager was complaining because he had gone to McDonald's, but that particular one didn't take credit cards, so he couldn't get anything. He ended up getting a big burger and fries at our restaurant instead. The daytime closer that was still on when I got in had a big ol' turkey burger with bacon and cheese. mmm...and I was having such a frustrating night, all I wanted was McDonald's greasy food or a huge dish of ice cream! :nono: I'm not normally an emotional eater, but last night was really pushing my limits. I was good, though, and stuck to my peanut butter and jelly sandwich, fat-free/no sugar added yogurt, and apple. I was afraid I would go crazy and raid my fridge when I got home (not that I have any junk food in my house anyway, but too much of even healthy food is no good), but I was so tired by the time I got home that I just walked in and stripped off the smoke-smelly clothes and shoes and crawled into bed. Normally, I'll pack some of my food for the next day or iron my shirt for the next day, but not last night. I did nothing but crash and crash hard--I was asleep before the Family Guy theme song was over (Family Guy is on at 11:30pm).

Alright, enough whining about my job(s). I stuck to my food yesterday--yay for me! This weekend is the big HFStival in Baltimore (by radio station WHFS--www.hfstival.com if you care), so I will be at Jeff's since he lives much closer to Baltimore, so we can just take the train and not have to drive into the city. The weekend after, my sister and her fiance and his 5-year old daughter (my Wacky Jackie--the girl in my icon) are all coming to visit, and we're going to go to the National Aquarium in Baltimore. Should be fun--I'm looking forward to it!

cacmsc--welcome! I, too, stick between 1400-1500 calories a day during the week (I'll not talk about the weekends :p ). Congrats on getting back into the swing of things before, as you said, gaining back what you've already lost. :goodluck:

Aimee--glad you're feeling better! It's amazing what the mind is capable of (i.e., positive thinking can actually make you feel physically better, just as negative thinking can make you feel worse).

Diana--thanks for the tips! I still did not clean the rust out of my wok--definitely no time for that. I don't mind throwing my other pots and pans in the dishwasher because they were hand-me-downs, anyway, and not necessarily in the greatest shape to begin with. When I get more established, I'll actually buy good stuff and will treat it as such. For now, though they all get the job done, and the non-stick surface hasn't worn off yet. Of course, I use them all so infrequently (seeing as how I have so much time to cook :dizzy: ) that I don't think putting them in the dishwasher once or twice a month will hurt them too much. The one thing I really hate cleaning is the rotisserie cooker--jeez what a pain! Entirely too many parts :p

Kimberley--Where's your late night/early morning post?! I thought you said we wouldn't notice a difference while you were gone for a day! ;)

Marge, Heather, Kylie, and Sara--Hello! :wave:

woo-hoo..am down 6 more pounds...even with the slight cheating from time to time. this is amazing!!! I measure this Sunday since I won't be home the following, Good luck all..!

Hello Jill! I'm here!!! Work has been really busy lately... barely able to keep up with everyone's posts let alone have ME post too!!! I'm at work now... so forgive me for choppy thought process...

Maintained last week... Arrgh! Very frusterating for me, I want so bad to keep losing and never hit a plateau! (I don't ask for much ;) ) Mixed some exercise up again, maybe I can shake it. Have 2 weeks until Memorial day goal of 260, 4 pounds to go.

On the bright side of things my mom actually told me on Sunday that I am "starting to look so thin". Holy crap! A real compliment from my narcissistic mother!?! Then my Grandma came over, haven't seen her since Christmas, and she said I was looking really good and proceeded to giggle my belly! uuugghhh, gross! Um, yup, I'm still fat and have a long ways to go, back up off the rolls Granny!!! Now I did not actually say that to her I just stepped back and smoothed my shirt. God I love relatives!

Well that's about it for me... Unless you want crazy dog stories!
HAGD!

Wow... 7 hours with no post from anyone?!?!?!

I am alive!! 2 days in a row.. heh. I woke up this morning and was feeling off.. I just need more sleep, lots more sleep. I was burning up, looked pretty bad, and so I just got up, moved slowly and went to work. Which is why I haven't posted yet! I am feeling weak, but better.

Jill - has it been a lonely day? You definitely need a higher paying job, working 2 jobs is no way to live. I was told about a job today, helping special needs kids at school, you get paid 25 bucks an hour! It's definitely not for me.. but there are high paying jobs which don't require lots of education, the girl who was telling me about it said she only had to take a 6 month course. It's amazing all the different jobs out there, so hard to choose what to do! You definitely need more time to yourself. I hear you on being frustrated last night, it's not that you were angry at the people..and it's not that they knew you were wanting to go home or anything. Nature of the beast... customer service that is.

Diana - you are doing SO good, seriously. :)

Sara - maintaining is SO much better than gaining, but I'm with you, no plateau's for me too please :) I was talking to my bf and we were talking about how after about 2-3 weeks I tend to stop losing, and so we were saying I should change my diet every time that happens. That could be a lot of work, and shopping though. I don't know what I'm trying now, just trying to eat mainly fruits and veggies.

I think it is kinda lonely without Kimberley... I definitely notice it!

And where is Marge?? I feel as though my american part is missing.. hehe. Oh man, if I lived in the usa, I'd be addicted to Taco Bell, it's so yummy, cheap, and a great source of fat! ;)

So today is the start of my watching the fruits and veggies I'm eating, so far so good. I'm eating fruit salad as we speak.. my bf is so sweet, he made it for me :) 3 cups of fruit salad, it's very very yummy. I had salad with parmesan cheese and broccoli for lunch, and a low fat marble cheese string. I'll likely be down for calories today because I skipped a snack, just couldn't face the idea of eating. Well I am off to watch NCIS and the ending of Sex and the City (first time I saw the last epidsode I cried like a little baby, it was SO SO Good!).

-Aimee

Whew, it has definitely been quiet on here! Which makes me realize how much I LOVE this little group we have! I love knowing everyone on here and being able to actually keep up and connect with them (unlike the groups where you have 100 people all posting and I'm lucky if I really get to know maybe 5 of them, ya know?). Not that don't love having a TON of people on the other threads for information, advice, and a kick in the butt when I need it, but on here, we notice when someone doesn't post for a day or two, and I like that (not the missing people, but the really knowing people :) ). Anyway...

Last night wasn't so terrible at the restaurant. The night went by fairly quickly. I knew I was closing since I was hostess--same deal tonight. My next 3 shifts are all serving, though, so shouldn't be too horrible tomorrow night (Thursdays, you can actually make some $$). I did wake up this morning with a little bit of a sore throat. I'm praying it's just from sleeping with my windows open (kinda cool air all night long). I really can't afford to get sick when I'm working nearly 70 hours a week! I applied online to 2 jobs with Discovery Networks yesterday (Discovery owns TLC, Discovery Health, the History Channel, and a handful of others, too). How fun would THAT be?! I also applied for a job with a radio network (Infiniti Radio, one of the bigger radio groups around--I don't think I could work for ClearChannle with good conscience). I applied for a handful of other jobs, too, through Monster and CareerBuilder and WashingtonPost.com. I have a 4-year degree and EXCELLENT references and samples of my work--you'd think I'd be able to find something pretty easily, but no, they only care that I have a little less than 2 years of "professional" experience--as if working restaurant and retail didn't teach me more than any desk job I'll ever have! :p so frustrating--I just need some money, man! I know (and the bosses I've had and currently have know, too) that I am worth more than I am making here, but since we are on a government contract, our funds are somewhat limited, so a huge raise isn't really a possibility. I will probably talk to my boss here soon to let her know I'm looking elsewhere because of $$ and see if there's anything they can do for me (I hate to toot my own horn, but I know from coworkers and from my boss herself that I am one of the most impressive employees in our group because of my "anything for the client" attitude and my ability to "roll with the punches" and pick up new skills very quickly). It's at least worth a shot. The worst they could do is tell me no, right? And they can't fire me for wanting more money--it's too big of a corporation; they need a REALLY good reason to fire anybody! :dizzy:

Alright, work woes aside, I did well with my food again yesterday. I will stick to my packed food again today and see how it goes on the scale tomorrow morning :crossed: Today I have a container of fruit salad (grapes, watrmelon, kiwi, and strawberries I cut up and threw together), a banana, an apple, the veggies in my stir-fry, and a strawberry-banana yogurt, so I have plenty of fruits and veggies for a 1500-calorie day, I think. Oh, and I had my wheat pasta and sauce yesterday--I thought it tasted normal. I have heard some people complain that the wheat pasta doesn't taste the same as the regular yellow stuff, but I thought it was fine (which is good cuz that means I won't mind eating it all the time).

Well, off to do some work. It's feast or famine around here--I've had little to nothing to do here for forever, and now I have not one but THREE projects piled on my desk since yesterday. I leave at 2pm, and I think veryone waits till 3 to come drop piles of work on my chair :p No biggie--I could use something to do (other than searching for mew jobs online while working at my current job ;) ). Have a great one, everyone!

Omg! I had a huge huge post all ready to go, and now it's GONE! Thats sooo aggrivating!

Hi Jill!!

I am totally enthusiatic this morning. I had a great sleep, and woke up feeling really good :) My body also released some water weight last night, yay! :) I had put on 4 pounds of water weight, I was feeling pretty icky from that. But the scale this morning said it was all gone now. All of that fruit and water I had yesterday must have really done the trick :) I am trying to watch my calories/fat grams, and trying to make sure everythign I put in my mouth has some kind of nutritional content. Easier said than done! Yesterday I wasn't very hungry, and that fruit salad ended up being my dinner. Later that night though I had a snack of chips and dip, and hot chocolate to warm me up. Not so great with the nutritional content, except the hot chocolate, but boy, it sure tasted good going down ;) My calories only endedup being 922, and fat grams were 33. Those were a little high, but only because of those chips, and I had to borrow someone's salad dressing.. I managed to leave mine at home.

Today we are off to look at cars, our 2001 is kinda dying. We want to get rid of it ASAP, we just don't have 5,000 to put into it to keep it going.. and we shouldn't have to either.. its got low km's and is only 3 years old!! We are looking at Honda Civic's, and Mazda Protege's, they both have really great reviews and we have been looking at both for a while now. We probably won't buy until next week, but we want to be sure of whats out there. Have a great day! And hopefully we'll have some more people around today?

-Aimee

Hi, girls! Gee, it's nice to be missed. :) So much for my posting, huh? We didn't check into the hotel until about 9pm and I was whupped from allergies. I was fast asleep by 12:30am! Howie got up and went to the plant at about 6:00am, but I snoozed until Noon, when Howie called to say he was on his way back to the hotel. The room was so dark, fresh-smelling and quiet, I just couldn't pry myself out of bed.

We headed back after splitting an order of fajitas at a local Mexican restaurant, and took the long, scenic route back home. I think we were on the road from 2pm-9pm, and very ready to sack out and watch "The Amazing Race" finale when we got back!

This is as close to my whirlpool bath as I got, I'm afraid.

Where is everybody?! Only 3 posts total from all day yesterday--that's craziness for us. I only had 1 post to read when I came in this morning (since I read Aimee's yesterday afternoon), which didn't waste nearly enough time before diving into work! :p Speaking of work...

I called a little meeting with my boss yesterday afternoon. We sat down, and she asked me what was up. I just looked at her and said, "I am really tired." She said she could tell and that she understands I've been working about 70 hours a week between the 2 jobs, so it was to be expected. To that, I replied that I didn't want to have to work 70 hours a week anymore, nor do I feel I should have to. She said she agreed and that she just wants me to be happy. I told her I was going to look for a new job, and she just kinda nodded (so I think she had suspected--she even asked me if I already got another offer). Then she went on a little "I think you're fabulous and wonderful and everything you do is amazing" shpeel (is that a real word? how do you spell it?!), which is always nice to hear ;) She also said that I would be getting my raise effective July 8th, but she doesn't know how much of a raise it is (corporate decides raises based on reviews, rankings, and who knows what else). I said that wouldn't make much of a difference since everyone I have talked to here has told me that the average raise is 4%, and one person has even told me that that is the max you can get this year. My boss said she made sure to give me a rave review and higher ranking than most so that I was 100% guaranteed a raise of more than 4% (which is good since 4% only equals out to about $20 more a week after taxes, but I'm making about $200 a week at the restaurant, so that's not even enough for me to cut down to 3 nights a week of serving). It was nice to hear that she really wanted to keep me, but salary issues are really out of her hands. She even said she just wants me to be happy and that, while CSC will only confirm your employment and not give you a reference, she would be happy to provide a personal reference for me if I need one. Yay! So, some good and some bad. I'm still looking (have sent out multiple resumes to positions online), and I got a call back from one I had applied to, so we keep playing phone tag trying to set up an interview. It's for a Marketing position with a law firm in DC (as much as I don't really want to drive into the city every day, I will do it if they pay me enough :p ), so we'll see how that all goes. Also, if I work in DC, then I can live in VA or MD and still have about the same commute, so I don't have to try to convince Jeff to cross the line into VA when we get a place together in the fall :D Alright enough about that...

I got up SO late this morning! I set my alarm for 4:32 (I always pick weird times--never ending in :00, :15, :30, or anything normal like that), but I rolled over and looked at my alarm clock at 5:28 and had a minor panic attack. I don't know if I turned my alarm off and don't remember, or if I hit snooze a LOT of times and don't remember, or if my alarm just didn't go off for some reason, but I normally leave my apartment by about 5:40, so I was running quite late. I did not have the 15 minutes to sit and soak my toe, so it will have to wait till tomorrow (poor toe--it was kinda hurtin' yesterday, too). Oooh well--I'm here now, serving tonight, and then tomorrow I get to work till 2 and then drive to Jeff's (where I will probably fall asleep on his couch till about 8, then wake up starving for dinner, as is my usual routine :dizzy: ). Oh, and today is my weigh-in day, but I didn't have a whole lot of time this morning, so I'll weigh in tomorrow morning. An extra day to lose, right? Actually, I have been peeking a bit (as I always do), and I think I may be staying the same this week, but that's better than going up, so I won't complain (as long as I stay under 300!). I know this weekend will be a little better than most, not necessarily because I will eat better (I'll be at his place, which means eating out for just about every meal), but because we are going to the HFStival on Saturday, which will include lots of walking and sweating in the sun and screaming at bands and drinking water and large-event lemonade (my favorite--the big clear plastic cups with sugar-water and half a lemon in it :T ). I'm very excited to see Coldplay and Unwritten Law perform. I'm also very intrigued to see Billy Idol perform :D Should definitely be a good weekend!

I only packed about 700 calories worth of food today (since I had no time to pack everything this morning). I grabbed a bagel and fat-free strawberry cream cheese for breakfast, a banana, a kiwi, a fat-free/no sugar added yogurt, and one of my little containers of wheat pasta w/tomato sauce and cheese for lunch. That means, of course, that I will be having dinner at the restaurant. I figure I can have up to 1000 calories and still consider myself within reasonable range of on-plan, and we serve this grilled chicken wrap with lettuce, cheese, and light ranch dressing that has less than 500 calories. That plus a side of fries would be about 800 calories, so I think that's my plan, and that still allows me more calories to add a condiment to the fries (which I will probably get made with NO fry seasoning--keeping an eye on the sodium when I can!).
Alright, enough about me. Let's talk about you! Or at least, let's hear from you! Wake up, everyone! As much as I love and adore Aimee and Kimberley, we miss the rest of the gang! Hope ya'll are doing well, and have a great Almost-Friday!!

Excuse me, who is that skinny minnie in the bath tub????? I hope you've given Howie a telling off for taking mystery woman away with him!!!!!!!!! LOL Your arms!!!! They look so skinny and toned, well done Mrs!!!!

I've been off work this week, and boy I can't wait to get back, I need a rest!!! I have swum every day this week, except Monday, I have been to the gym everyday, started a new, much more intense weights programme. I got my promotion, and found out today I have an interview next week for a different area of the business, decisions abound if I get that one. The one I am interviewing for next week is the one I really want!!!!

I am really suprised that i haven't been tempted to overeat this week. I find it easier at home than at work, for some reason. I think access is the main thing, at work there is food everywhere, at home there is only good food, and nearly everything in the house requires some degree of preparation, apart from the apples!!!

Tomorrow we have friends coming over and we are going out for lunch, for tapas in the sunshine (fingers crossed it is England after all) I'll relax a little with the eating, but not too much. The good thing about eating like that is you can make healthy choices, and then have a small plate of something not so good for you! And share it!

Gardenwife, my allergies are playing up, I think its because we have decent sunshine for four days running, which is not normal for these parts, and it has made all the pollens come out. I am getting sick of my runny nose!!!!