I hate it when a favorite show bites the dust. We're now Survivorless and Great Raceless until fall. *sniffle*

I made a heap o' beans this evening. I mean a HEAP. Normally, I do big batches of about 3-4 pounds dried beans, but today I completely lost my head and boiled 6 pounds! It's a combination of 4lbs/pinto and 2lbs/great northern beans...they're cooking in three separate big pots, each with a smoked turkey leg for flavor. I might cut up some low-fat sausage in one of the pots.

Since I had three pots, I took my diced tomatoes with green chilis, chili-ready tomatoes with onion, and such and mixed them in a large mixing bowl, then divided that between the three pots and added water to top them off.

Man, this is a lot of beans. I'm going to have to rent freezer space! LOL

Lots of beans... teehee, I am picturing you farting... I am a dirty dirty girl! lol

Gilmore Girls was really good, I am SO excited for next season... I can't wait!!

-Aimee

A quick note before I head bedward...I just calculated what all I made.

There are 64 1-cup servings. There's about 30 POUNDS of soup beans in my fridge (32 pounds, less the 2 cups each we ate for dinner).

Poor Howie? Maybe, but he'll be tootin', too, so poor Kimberley. Really, it's poor Nancy downstairs! Good thing none of us smokes and it's warm enough the windows are open. Nancy'll get her beans tomorrow. By then we'll be numb to it all.

The good news? Each cup only has 124 calories and 1 gram of fat. Oodles of protein and I seasoned with Italian seasonings, garlic, fennel seed, crushed pepper seed, and ground black pepper. There's no added salt other than what was in the smoked turkey legs. Wooo!

Woohoo! Lots of posts for me to read this morning! I'm a bit late in posting because I had a pile of work on my chair that I wanted to get done first thing, so now it's on somebody else's chair cuz I did my part :)

I had my weekly weigh-in this morning. After Monday's splurge (fried chicken tenders and french fries with LOTS of honey mustard at my restaurant) and yesterday's PMS splurge (in addition to everything I packed for the day, I got a salad covered with egg and cheese and regular honey mustard dressing, a large diet pepsi, and a small carton of low-fat chocolate milk, so lots of added calories), I didn't have my hopes too high for the number. Peering through clenched eyelids, I saw--298! Down 1.5 pounds from the last 2 weeks! I even checked it 3 times, and it remained steady at 298, so GO ME! It always seems that the weeks I feel I did well, I stay the same, yet the weeks, I feel guilty for splurging, I lose :?: Not that I'm complaining--I'll take a loss at ANY time, whether I have cheated or not! I think this week probably just had something to do with TOM (which really started today), so I know cheating on a regular basis won't really get me anywhere in the long run :p

I was VERY busy at work last night. I didn't leave until almost 10:30, even though I was first-cut, but at least I walked with $63, and that's after I tipped out the host, the sald bar attendant, and the bar tender. Yay money! :D

Aimee--I LOVE Gilmore Girls, too! What an awesome show. I haven't seen it in FOREVER, though, due to my work schedule. My sister has the first 2 seasons on DVD, so I'll just keep buying the dvd sets for her for every holiday until she has the whole series so I can borrow them whenever I want ;) I really love watching the OC, too (yes, I am addicted), but I haven't seen it in weeks, either. I revord it with my DVR (TIVO kinda thing), but I haven't even had time to watch it, so I still have like 5 recorded episodes to watch, plus the season finale is on tonight!

Kimberley--It doesn't take much to see that the problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. Someday you'll understand that. Not now. Here's looking at you, kid. (sorry--popped into my head when you were talking about all those beans, and there just happen to be 3 people involved--what an awesome movie :D )

Sara--I'm not a huge fan of fat free cheese, either. My problem with them especially is that they get so plastic-like when they melt! My melted cheese should be ooey-gooey, soft, and delicious, not shiny, smooth, solid, and rough!
Alright, kids, be good! I'm off to hire a hit man for our pain-in-the-a$$ client (uh-oh, did I say that out loud? ;) ). Have a great almost-Friday!

Oh Kimberly sign me up for some beans too! I love em all!!!

Aimee, my pizza is completely homemade right down to the crust, that way I have total control of what is in it. We only do it once a week and conserve our servings accordingly.

Jill, congrats on the loss chica!! Good for you, solidly out of the 300's!!! YAY!!!

Well, busy day for me... going to work today (on my day off) to help get us caught up on paperwork. Then when I get home I've got to start packing the truck for our trip! First time going anywhere requireing creative packing in this vehicle! We'll see how it goes... I'll check in later today but then I'm off the radar until Tuesday next week!

Have a Terrific Thursday Gals!!

Goodmorning girls!! I have a huge arsed pimple on my chin, and am going to have to use very creative makeup today... thats the drama in my life. Ick.

Kimberley - tootin'... lol.. what a funny word. All you gotta do is add some rice to those beans and you'll have a complete protein! :)

Jill - It baffles me how your base pay is so LOW! Seems like it should be against the law or something. Servers here make $8 an hour (min wage) and tips are on top of that. Congrats on that weigh in :) I am not doing mine until tomorrow, I had a HORRIBLE sleep... and ate before I was going to weigh in. Bad combo!

Sara - Homemade pizza sounds yummy.. I'm SO not a cook lol. Or not for anything like that. Have a GREAT trip, be safe, eat well, enjoy :)

-Aimee

Originally Posted by :
Kimberley--It doesn't take much to see that the problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. Someday you'll understand that. Not now. Here's looking at you, kid.

I roared when I read that! Of course, I then had to explain it to Howie and read your quote. Would you believe I have never seen Casablanca? I really need to rent that one.

Congrats on the loss, just TWO-riffic, as Howie would say. That's great! I'm actually a bit nervous about tomorrow's weigh-in. I've not really been off plan, but I've not exercised. I have GOT to get back on a schedule at the YMCA.

TFT, I would love to be getting ready for a camping trip. We love camping! Right now, thunder's rolling in and the radar looks very interesting, though...By Saturday it's supposed to clear up, so we hope to get the lasagna bed down for the veggies. We're running behind this year on planting.

Aimee, I was never a cook, either. Can you believe it? Something just kicked in and I started really liking it. The stuff I make isn't complicated -- I mean, I don't clarify butter and all that jazz -- but it's good. And, like TFT said, I know what's in there and have control over it.

And....We'll be reheating frozen bean soup for many months to come. I will serve some over brown rice, too! I forgot to put some in, but truthfully, my three stockpots were to the brim and not much rice would have been possible. ;)

Well.. hellooooo.. it's been very very quiet in here today. Goodlordy ladies, we need to pick it up! Work today was alright, I really felt like going home, but I stuck it out. I had a little meeting with my district manager, and she wanted me to let her know when I felt I was ready to interview for assistant manager positions. I know I will be ready soon, I just have to learn a little more about this company, how it works, what each position involves, and their visual standards. So thats the highlight of my day.. and now there is some nasty thunderstorm, so I gotta shut off this machine. I'll talk to you ladies tomorrow!!

-Aimee

It's Friday! *do a little dance. make a little love. get down tonight!* :cb:

I always get to the restaurant early for my 4pm shift since I get out of job #1 at 2pm and that's not really enough time for me to go all the way home and all the way back to the restaurant in between (since the restaurant is closer to job #1 than to my house). So anyway, I was there at about 2:30, so usually, I eat whatever I packed for dinner (frozen stir-fry most of the time lately), then I hang out, talk to he servers from the day shift, change into uniform, help with things like making the night seating chart and assigning night shift sidework. Well, yesterday afternoon, the manager asked me if I could come on early since there was only 1 server left from the day shift, so he had all the tables. It's not usually a problem since it's not a very busy time of day, but he had 4 tables, and more kept coming in. So, I changed and clocked in at about 3:05. From then until 4 (when the next night shift server came on), I had 5 tables! That's a lot in an hour! So then there were 2 of us on (the day shift guy had finished and left, so it was me and the other 4:00 guy), and together we had about 9-10 tables. We were running around like crazy! Of course, then a party of 7 comes in, and it just so happens to be my turn, so I took that, too. Then 2 more tables got sat in my section--it was insane for an afternoon/early evening! At one point, I had 8 open tables (double the usual max), and it STAYED busy until about 7:30pm (but all of the other servers came on at 5:15, so I only had the usual max of 4 tables at a time after that). I got home around 10:30 and had ended up making $89 (after tipping out the bar tender, hostess, and salad bar guy). That's more than my monthly car insurance payment, and I made it in one night! I wish I could make that much every night--it was awesome! I even had one woman write a little note at the bottom of her signed credit-card receipt that said I had great customer service skills :D To top it off, we had a contest during the shift (managers' way of getting us to upsell--we got a playing card for every salad bar added to a meal, any side substitution that cost extra, and flavored drinks that cost more than regular drinks, etc., then whoever had the best poker hand at the end of the night wins), and I WON! I got a Best Buy gift certificate (though we're not sure how much it is for--but anyway, I won it, and that's all that matters ;) ). It really was a good night :)


Today, I have to go home after job #1 and CLEAN! My apartment is a disaster seeing as how I'm almost never there :p I need to do dishes, laundry, clean the bathroom, vacuum, change the sheets on my bed, put sheets on the pull-out bed, clean up the clutter of junk mail piles and such, take out the trash, and do a little grocery shopping (I do need to buy normal food for my guests--not just my quick on-the-run foods). I also will go through a touch-free car wash on the way home since this will be the first time my sister and her fiance will see my new car (it is currently SMOTHERED in pollen). Busy day ahead of me, that's for sure! So yeah, my sister, her fiance, and my Jackie should be here around 8 tonight, then we're off to the Baltimore aquarium tomorrow (YAY!)--should be a fun weekend!

Hope everyone else has a great weekend and a FABULOUS FRIDAY!

Have a super weekend everyone! I'm hittin the road in 27 minutes!!! all packed and ready to roll!!! Hasta la vista, Chica's!

Totally TGIF! Weigh-in wasn't any great shakes (I maintained), but we had a nice day. Howie lost 5 pounds, making up for his two pound gain last week and then some.

Jill, sounds like an insane evening at the restaurant, but a profitable one. I like the manager's incentive with the playing cards. I was good at upsells and cross sells at my job, but I sure got tired of having to coach team members to offer them when I was a team leader.

Aimee, looks like your manager likes what she sees. That's great! Do you get a good discount there? Are the clothes styles you like?

Sara's off and roughing it. Have fun! Hello muddah, hello faddah, here I am at camp Grenada...

I was scarce yesterday because I buckled down and finished cleaning the house. The dogs' crate pillow and bedding, our bedding...all of it, washed. Dusted and vacuumed, damp-mopped the bathroom and kitchen floors, too. It felt so good to be all done a day ahead of schedule.

Howie's been a happy camper since I've been keeping the house picked up and clean. Last night, he brought home a card and a dozen roses; in the card he wrote, "Three weeks of keeping the house done. WOOO-HOOO! You're doing great and I love you." :love: Wow, what incentive! Yep, he's a keeper. I intend to make a habit out of this cleaning thing like I have the eating right. I need to do likewise with exercise...The big E word.

In food news, I've got all the ingredients for The Yumminess (mango salsa) and just need to track down the recipe I used for it back in January. It was so good and I want to duplicate it.

We're going to our friends' belated Cinco de Mayo party tomorrow night, and we're bringing that salsa and chips. I told Howie I should bring a gallon of beans as a hostess gift, LOL! We bought the Tostito's Lite (with Olestra)...Hope none of the other folks are among those who have, ummm, adverse reactions to it. We normally don't buy snacky stuff like that, let alone Olestra stuff, but we wanted to be able to enjoy some chips tomorrow night without having too much fat and calories involved.

Hello all, I've been neglecting you, so busy with work, I did enjoy my week off, and having time to do stuff, like play on the internet and keep up to date with my posts.

I have had yet another job interview at work, this time for the clinical department of the insurance company I work for. I really want this job, I have already got a promotion to underwriting, but I want this one more. Hopefully things will work out, I should find out early this week.

I am finding the whole healthy eating and exercise thing so much easier now the weather is better. Food choices have improved, my hubby is wanting lighter food at night instead of warming stews and stuff like that - that you can do light, but the temptation to have creamy mashed potatoes and stuff is always there.

And exercise is so much easier when the sun is shining!!! I hated walking to the swimming pool in the snow, it just did not feel right at all!!!!!

Exercise is definitely more appealing in nice weather - I agree! The warm pool always felt really good on cold days, though, I have to say. Congrats on the job interview and all success your way!

Well, I've a tasty batch of The Yumminess in the fridge for tomorrow. The recipe's posted in my blog for now, though I'll probably add it to one of the recipe threads.

I'm toddling off to bed now - seems 4:00am feels later to me than normal. :D

Where is everyone? Okay, I'll post so y'all get your notification that this thread hasn't gone to Code Blue for the weekend! LOL

The Yumminess was a great success and all I had to bring home was my empty bowl. Love it when people eat up everything like that. Howie and I were vastly over calories for the day, I'm afraid. We were fine going in to the party, but I probably had 600 calories in libations over the course of the evening, and then we got pizza on the way home.

Gotta head outside to work in the yard, though what I'd LIKE to do is sleep. I started using my CPAP machine again at night now that my head's cleared up at night again, and I'm having trouble getting used to it. Part of last night's restlessness, however, was all the libations making me get up to pee several times. That and I was thirsty as all getout and would drink a little glass of water almost each time I got up. Vicious circle! :D

Back on plan today, though. Onward and downward!

Psst! I'm alive too! My mom is in town for the weekend, so we are busy amusing ourselves until Tuesday morning when she leaves..

So seriously.. what happened to this place? No Diana, no Marge, no Heather, I'm starting to get worried about Marge..

-Aimee

Wow, definitely a quiet weekend on here...not like my weekend!

My sister and her fiance and Jackie came up (so it was the apartment of J's in my place--Jill and Jeff and Julie and Jeff and Jackie :p ). We went to the National Aquarium in Baltimore on Saturday--so fun! We had picked up Anna, Julie's and Jeff's friends' daughter who is 5 and lives kinda near me, so Jackie had a blast. We also got to see the dolphin show, which was my favorite part :D Then we went to a few shops in Baltimore (2 little malls near Inner Harbor) and just walked around in the GORGEOUS weather for a while. We were going to go on the paddle boats in the harbor, but there was a massive line to wait for them, so we had to skip that idea.

We left Baltimore and went to another Mall in Maryland. Then we called Anna's parents, and they made a reservation at this AMAZING Italian restaurant for all of us to have dinner at 8:30. To kill time, we went toyes, another mall. Then another (the one where the restaurant was). So yeah, we had been in 5 malls on Saturday, and Julie's plan for Sunday was to go to Potomac Mills (a discount/outlet mall). So much shopping! My poor Jeff hates shopping, but he was an awesome sport about it all weekend. I'll let him choose next weekend's activities since I know he grinned and beared it all weekend long so I could see my family :p

So yeah, yesterday we all went out to eat for brunch, then hit the mall. I bought a pair of pants for 9.99 at Old Navy (there's FINALLY one that carries Plus Sizes that's less than 15 miles away from me!!). I am VERY excited about this nearby Old Navy with Plus Sizes. I kept looking at stuff online, but I hate ordering without being able to try stuff on. Then, if I have to return it, I'm screwed out of my shipping and handling fees, so I basically paid to try on something that didn't fit! But now I know their pants fit me in a size 22, so I can order with confidence :D The shirts are a little snug (as per usual with sizes like 1x-3x instead of numbers), so it'll be a few pounds before I can buy those, but at least I know Ican get their pants, which will be good if I can get cheap jeans there for my restaurant uniform. Anyway, Julie, Jeff, and Jackie left to drive home straight from the mall (we had taken separate cars for this reason), so Jeff and I headed back to my place, where we spent the afternoon watching horrible old scary movies (well, he watched, I slept). Then we got Papa John's pizza for dinner :o Bad, I know, but will crack down again during the week as usual.

I also packed my gym clothes and sneakers today so I can hit the gym between jobs again now that my toes is almost completely healed and sneakers are not an agonizing experience :dizzy: I think I'll do cardio all this week to burn off what I had over the weekend, then maybe starting next week, I'll start doing some resistance training instead so I can build muscles to increase my metabolism. We'll see. Of course, Monday is a holiday next week, so I won't be at the gym since I'll be at Jeff's mother's house. Or maybe, I'll do 2 days of cardio and 2 days of weight training. Hmm...have to see how long it takes me to get through all the resistance machines to determine if I can do them ALL in one day or if I have to do 2 days of upper body and 2 days of lower body. Okay, enough about that, I'll figure it out when I try it :p

Well, hope Diane and Heather and MARGE are all still alive and well. Hope Sara's enjoying her trip! And good luck to Kylie on the interview! And have fun with your mother, Aimee! thanks for waking up the thread, Kimberley ;) Happy thoughts all around!

Lots of running around for your weekends, eh? I like Old Navy's stuff, but like you, don't like to order until I know for sure. Knowing the Lane Bryant Venezia sure helps since now I can shop online at their site or on ebay.

Though we were miserably off-plan Saturday night, yesterday we did great, and today we got off our butts and went back to the YMCA. Howie used the treadmill and weight machines, but I walked 30 minutes up on the indoor track while listening to music, then did some weight machines. I feel GREAT!

Barely making a dent in my mass o' beans, though I'm trying. LOL!

Boo! I had a great weekend on plan wise, apart from Dawson's Creek, the last two episodes when they are all grown up and a small bar of chocolate whilst bawling my eyes out. Hey 5 months ago it would have been a bottle of soda, a family block of chocolate and a bag of crisps - 1000 calories or so, and on Sunday it was only 200, so that's progress!!!

I went to the gym both days over the weekend and again today. I am really hitting the weights. I am enjoying weight training. I am sure that is why the scales have slowed right down, but that's ok. i am still losing but about 1/2 pound a week rather than the one to two I was losing. I might try and be strong and weigh only once a month so I am really seeing a difference, and don't get discouraged.

A busy week at work ahead, I am trying to get all my stuff done before I leave my department. I still don't know which job i am going to, and probably won't know now for another week!!! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Slow on here again yesterday, eh? Glad some of you are still sticking around, at least!

Well, I have a job interview on Thursday afternoon. It's for a Technical Editor position, which is basically the same exact thingI am doing now. However, I started here making $31,400 annually, and this job I am interviewing for would start me between $45,000-$50,000 annually, so I definitely have my fingers crossed! It is in downtown DC, which may be apain of a commute, but they also offer a $150 monthly transportation allowance, so I think I could deal with the hassle (for less than 6 months--then I can move in with Jeff somewhere where it'll be a little easier of a commute). I hope they offer me the job--even with the travelling back and froth to/from DC, I would be able to be home more often than I am now with the two jobs all week. The interview is at 2:45 Thursday, so I'll be able to go and still not have to leave either job out to dry, which is good. Here's hoping!! :crossed:

As for the restaurant last night, my partner (we have 2 servers per section of 8 tables rather than 1 server per 4 tables--that way, we can help each other out if needed) was Nick, who I have worked with before but never as his partner. He's kinda scary--I think he may be manic depressive since you never know if he's going to hug everyone or bite everyone's heads off. Anyway, he was b!tching about me to anyone who would listen because he said I wasn't clearing the stuff off my tables after they left quickly enough so they could be sat again. Hello, I had a party of 9 plus two other tables--if he has so much time to whine about me, why could he not just shut up and help me out?! It would have taken him LESS time to simply wipe off a table for me (especially since I had cleared empty dishes from multiple tables for him throughout the night) than to find people to complain to. UGH! When I was cashing out for the night, my manager and another guy who used to work in our restaurant were sitting and talking, and my manager was talking about how glad he was that everyone in our restaurant seemed to get along so well. I just gave him a funny look, and he asked who I had a problem with. I told him, and he knew right away what my complaints would be, since I am not nearly the first person to make the same remarks. He said he was going to have a "chat" with Nick. Not that that will change anything with a guy like Nick (huge chip on his shoulder, big "screw the world and what anyone thinks of me" kind of attitude, ya know?), but at least it's a step in the right direction. Other than my attitude-ridden partner, it was a good night--no other problems. I didn't make a ton of $$, but it was REALLY slow early in the evening, so I didn't have a whole lot of tables total for the night. I think I walked with about $35, which is the same as I probably would have made if I were hostessing, but at least I was home before 10pm, which was REALLY nice :)

Kylie--I SO need to start doing weights, too. Muscle is so important--even if the scale isn't going down as quickly, I bet you are losing inches more rapidly since muscle takes up less space than fat AND the more muscle you have, the higher your metabloism in burning fat even when you're not working out. So you just stay away from that scale if you have to--know that you're doing your body good no matter what the numbers say!

Kimberley--I started making up for my horrible weekend yesterday, too. Over the weekend, we ate Papa John's pizza, ate at Silver Diner, Texas Roadhouse, Hard Rock Cafe, Maggiano's...and you know I didn't just get a salad at any of them :p Yesterday, I had the last leftover slice of pizza and the few remaining breadsticks. I also didn't pack all my food for the day like usual since I got up a few minutes late, so I ended up having the pot stickers at Ruby's for dinner (could have been worse), but at least I started back to the gym yesterday. I did about 20 minutes on the eliptical before my knee started killing me and I had to call it quits. In those 20 minutes, though, I burned almost 300 calories, so I figure that's about 250 more than I would have burned just sitting around. hopefully my knee will hold out for the full 30 minutes today. Good luck with those beans! :p

Gm!!!
 

I'm back...had a really nice visit with Heather and her husband, and got to meet her kids...The zoo was packed, but just as great as always, and it was sooo hot that day...No Penguins though, must be they are re-doing that for them and had them some where else temporarily. The white lions were snoozing, but you could seee how gorgeous they really are...Then we went to the Mexican place, it was YUMMMMMMMY! the mariachi bandplayed too , we had a great time. Saw my "Second" parents too ( they were there for me during a lot of family problems while I was in HS)...sure was great seeing them after all of this time...I really felt great, I have lost some weight and everyone could tell, and even my new bra was too big, so that was a good sign although not too comfy...but what can ya do? Good to be home though...always great to visit, but great to get home...I really do hope Marge is okay...strange that she has been MIA for so long...Well, all, gotta run, take care, Diana :dizzy:

Well, I managed to stuff all the remaining beans into the freezer last night. Whew! I need to do some re-organizing in there soon - it barely shuts!

Jill, sometimes I think I'd like to be a server or hostess part-time, but not until I lose more weight and my feet and knees can handle my being on my feet that much. I really love people and have a hospitality gene in me, but it's really hard work physically!

Diana, did you catch that Oprah show with the British "What Not to Wear" gals and their advice on bras? We taped it, but I think it's been taped over already. :S My MIL told me some of the tips, and a couple of mine are good...But others, noooo. LOL

Today we're planning on working outside in the yard a bit. I need to apply some herbicide, but it's cloudy and still too cool outside for that.

Kimberley--yeah, my feet definitely hurt by the end of the night. I have bad knees (12 years of softball was bound to cause some sort of repurcussion on my overweight body), but they're usually okay as long as I'm walking on flat surfaces and not stairs or steep hills. When I get home at night, I just whip the shoes off and put my feet up in bed--they kinda burn for a while, but they're fine by the time I get up the next morning. I just keep that extra $$ in mind, as well as the extra forced exercise I get each night as opposed to watching tv or sitting at my computer. :D

My boss stopped by today to let me know that I should have a number for my raise sometime this week. I thought she said last week that the numbers had to be done by this past Friday, so I would hear something early this week. So much for that. If I do end up taking a new job, I will feel kinda guilty because I know how things work here, so I know that in order for me to get a big raise here, they had to pinch on some other people's raises and bonuses. I hadn't really thought about all that until today. I hate having such a big conscience :( Ultimately, I need to look out for me, though...right? I mean, I need to consider my future and my savings account and my career. I'd just feel reeeeeally guilty if they shifted all the $$ around here for me, and then I quit! Ahh, we shall see. I suppose I really shouldn't even worry about it until I get an offer, anyway. Just because they have called me 4 times and emailed me twice doesn't necessarily mean they're going to hire me :p

Diana--so glad you guys had a good visit! I, too, suffered a penguin disappointment. They had NONE at the aquarium. They did have Puffins, which were almost as cool, but just not quite the same. Glad to have you back here, though! :D

Hi everyone, I had some great news today, I got the new job I wanted woo hoo!!!! I don't start til July though!

nice to see you back Diana, you were missed. We still have a few missing, and just where has our Marge got too???

I can't believe you get Trinny and Susannah on Oprah, that is just tooooooooooooo scary. They're evil, but in a good way!!!!! I haven't found their tips overly useful, they did make over a very large comedian lady a couple of years ago, and I was really looking forward to some help, but they got everything custom made for her. Yeah right, like the everyday person can do that!!!!

I'm glad your winning the battle of the beans Kimberley. I haven't cooked in bulk like that for ages, it's fun to do, but you have to be very creative with your packaging and putting away!!! I sometimes wish Colin had to lose his weight as well (he's got a beer belly but is in normal weight range) it gets a bit lonely sometimes. He has learnt to be super supportive though!!!

Right well, it's off to bed for me. Hope to talk to all a bit more when I am not completely zonked!!!

Hey! I had a completely exhausting weekend! And it's not over yet... I am looking forward to work just so I can relax a little bit. heh. My mother arrived Saturday around 4pm, and we hung out for a little bit, and went to see StarWars (which was alright, considering I'm not a fan). Sunday I worked, afterwards we went out for dinner, and watched Desperate Housewifes season finale. Monday was a little more hectic, we went shopping for shoes, clothes, various things. We decided to go downtown where we sat on the beach by the ocean just chatting, and then met my friend Karen and went to a REALLLLY good Japanese restaurant. We walked along the seawall afterwards, and afterwards went out for the best coffee.. I ate SO SO much! Today my mom left, but before she left, we went out for lunch! I also went to try a new restaurant with a friend tonight, and tomorrow my brother is taking me out for lunch. I am getting VERY chubby over here!! But it was a great visit, we did tons, got to spend lots of time together. It was worth it, and it was a great long weekend :)

Jill - I hope you get the job! Decent money, which is always a plus :) Also sounds like you had a packed weekend, which are nice to have every once in a while. I also enjoy the weekends where I barely get off the couch.. lol. I have issues with my knees as well, I hate how it can limit me sometimes. A few years ago I really worked at building up the muscles around my knee, and since then my knees haven't been bothering me as much. I blew out both my knees snowboarding when I was 15, it was SO painful!

Kimberley - thank goodness for you! We've been so dead in here lately.. or maybe it just feels like that because I haven't been around much lately. Weights and walking, sounds like you are doing SO good! I've been having miserably off plan days lately.. and to be honest, I haven't thought about it at all, I've been thinking about the exercise thing lately... you know me though, I start at it, and then quit. lol. My mom was suggesting I see a Naturalpath (spelling?), and get some recommendations from her about what kinda diet would suit my body. But I'm not eating beans! ;) My period just ended and I gotta tell yah... it was like I was eating ONLY beans.. are you grossed out yet? ;)

kykaree - congrats on the job! :) A job you enjoy can make ALL the difference :)

Diana - sounds like you had a great visit.. it's good to have you back though :)

I am worried about Marge... the internet worries me sometimes, you never really know if anything happens to a person.

-Aimee

I sent Marge a PM yesterday, but haven't heard back. I hope she's okay.

Well, we worked out in the front today, repairing another section of the retaining wall by the driveway and re-grading some of the soil sloping down to it. I cleaned up, watched Ellen (priorities, you know), and headed out to Lowe's for mulch and cow manure. I could have gotten free horse manure, but it's a lot easier moving 40-pound bags of cow poop than it is an aluminum trashcan full of horse poop; we don't have a pickup truck, so that's how I would have had to do it!

Tomorrow we'll finish grading the slope, put down layers of wet newspaper and top them off with manure, top soil, then mulch. I picked up ten creeping speedwell (veronica repens) plants to use along the edge of the wall, hoping to stave off more erosion issues. I have other groundcovers like creeping phlox and ajuga that I can nab starts from in other parts of the yard, too. Finally, hope to get our veggies and other plants set out by the weekend.

I'm afraid I was a bit off-plan this afternoon, not spectacularly so, but ah well. Caribou Coffee has this tasty cold coffee drink called a Mint Snowdrift...Hmmmmm, good stuff. ;) But it was 530 calories and 22 grams of fat! Thank goodness I didn't get the large. Yie, shoulda asked before I ordered it...Not looked after I got home!

And yet again I say, feast or famine in my office! I've been stretching out my work fr the past few days cuz it wasn't very urgent, and I didn't have a whole lot to do. Yesterday, I got slammed with a huge over 200-page document to read and edit, and when I came in this morning, there was an EPA SOW (Statement of Work) on my chair for me to QC (make sure other people's edits were correctly incorporated). I know the SOW is going out soon, so I have to do that first. I just really don't want to edit this other one--it's about Medicare rules for filing Part B claims. How exciting :rolleyes:

Yeah, so maybe the world of technical editing isn't really for me. It's quite dull, but at least it keeps my writing/grammar skills very sharp. And of course, that's the same kind of job I'm interviewing for tomorrow, so I'll definitely survive if they pay me enough :p I know it's not a career for me--I'd much rather be in marketing. However, all marketing positions also require "excellent writing and editing skills," so getting my card punched at a few tech writer jobs along the way certainly couldn't hurt. At least I've also got a year of marketing experience under my belt, too (my last job was as a Marketing Assistant).

Last night at the restaurant, the general manager was being REALLY nice to me. I can't remember who it was, but last week, I had mentioned to someone that I didn't think he liked me, so I think they said something to him about it, and now he's trying to show me he does. Whatever the reason, I certainly don't mind him being extremely nice to me ;) He knows I'm looking for a new job and that I have an interview tomorrow (since I had to switch shifts with somoeone so I could come in later after my interview). He said I could use him as a reference, that he thinks I do "good work," and that he likes having me around because I'm really nice. I'll take that!

Well, here's hoping Marge's computer is on the fritz and she's still okay.

Kimberley--I have been going off-plan all week! I keep getting a salad from the cafeteria here in addition to what I pack for my lunch. And it's not the best salad--lettuce, onion, egg, shredded cheese, and honey mustard dressing. Loaded with calories, but it keeps me full for quite some time--very satisfying. According to the scale (yes, I peek throughout the week), it hasn't been doing me any harm, but I know it's not good on my wallet, either, so I need to stop before it becomes a severe addiction!

To combat my extra salad habit, I had a bagel with fat free strawberry cream cheese this morning instead of cereal for breakfast. The bagel w/cream cheese has only 190 calories, while a bowl of cereal with skim milk has about 400 (I can never eat 1 serving of cereal--have to have a normal-size bowl). That way, I could pack more snacks and stuff for the day because I had more calories to play with. I also have become more lenient with myself as far as counting the calories in fruits and veggies. I keep very close track of everything else, but if I feel I need more food, I will add grapes or a banana or something without feeling guilty about it. AND (Aimee, you'll be proud of me) I packed not 1 but 2 servings of brocolli in my bag today! Given, I stil can't eat it plain (I added a few bac'n bits, a slice of reduced-fat cheddar cheese, and some fat free thousand island dressing), but at least it's veggies. That plus the tomato sauce on my pasta and the veggies in my stir fry, and I'm looking at 5 servings of veggies for today. 5! I think that's more than I have EVER had in one day (and more than I've probably had in some entire weeks!). :dizzy:

No gym yesterday (ended up working late at the office, so not enough time between jobs), but I will go today. Hope everyone had a Wonderful Wednesday!

I'm great at that kind of writing/detail work, but it puts me to sleep. I like more people contact anymore. Great to hear your boss at the restaurant's being so nice!

Okay, I've got to do the diet-buddy thing now. Forgive me in advance. ;)

Originally Posted by :
(I can never eat 1 serving of cereal--have to have a normal-size bowl).

All right, c'mon -- You can eat 1 serving. Put some fruit in there rather than eating it plain, but you can eat 1 serving. It's all what you re-learn and get used to.

Okay, off my soapbox. I'm heading out to work on the driveway bed.

Goodmorning! I got woken up with a call from someone from work, asking me to cover her shift, as well as doing my own. But I work 5:30-9:30, and the shift she wants me to cover is 11am-4pm. It doesn't really work out right, so I told her to call someone else. Plus my brother is supposed to be coming today to spend some time with me, however he's not here.. and I still haven't heard from him. Silly silly people!

Jill - yay for veggies! I can't remember when I've eaten any veggies... lol.. it's been SO SO bad for me lately. I enjoy eating out (who doesn't?), so it's been heaven. Now I'm back on track! I say that now.. but I have no food in my house. A serving of cereal really isn't too much, I always have oatmeal for breakfast, with tons of fruit on it, which is also a great way to get more fruit! I was reading something with my mom and it was saying that 1 meal a day should only consist of fruits and veggies, if I did that everyday, my calories would automatically go down, so would fat grams.

Kimberley - I'm with you, I prefer to work with people. I can't imagine sitting in front of a computer, lol, even though thats what I do on my days off ;) I suspect it's because I don't really like computers all that much. I like the idea of my job, and on paper it looks like it would fit for me, but when it really comes down to it... it doesn't really combine my love of shopping for clothes and how I enjoy working with people.

I'm thinking I'll do a little grocery shopping today, I'm pretty desperate in my house for some fruit. My mom brought me asparagus from a veggie stand in the interior, they will be GREAT, I'll likely stirfry them with some broccoli and chicken breast, nice healthy lunch! The sun is shining here again today, yesterday we washed the day, I'm hoping today we'll go for a walk. I love the sun, and it's not too hot yet.. so it's perfect :) Have a great Wednesday all! :)

-Aimee

Well, yes, it is physically possible for me to only eat one serving of cereal :p However, it just doesn't stay with me! I add strawberries and/or banana to my cereal as it is, but 3/4 cup of cereal and 1/2 cup of milk is just not enough of a breakfast for me (especially since I don't normally eat anything any later than 4pm the day before). Even when I do have cereal, though, I do include ALL of the calories (not just the calories in one serving), so it's not like I'm cheating myself out of anything. It's also my favorite way to make sure I get servings of milk right off the bat. I eat breakfast at about 5am, so I like it to stick with me till at least around 8 (when I have my first snack--not because the clock says so, but because that's about when my tummy starts grumbling at me :dizzy: ). I've recently bought almost every variety I can find of Kashi brand cereal to hopefully at least make my morning cereal calories healthier. Some are okay, but I still think others taste like cardboard (which is why I always have to add fruit!). I have not had sugared cereal in about a month now (YAY!--I was addicted to store-brand Cocoa Puffs and Fruit Loops).

Kimberley, you go right ahead and get on that soapbox whenever you want! You've always got such great information to share, and I for one know that I need a little hand-slapping once in a while ;)

*GASP* no posts since yesterday?? I hate to post twice in a row, but--too bad...here goes!

I weighed in this morning--297.5. Down 1/2 pound. Not bad considering the insane amounts of restaurant food I gorged myself on all weekend long! Now if only I could actually stay on plan all weekend, imagine how much I could lose...

Lots to do today at work. I have my interview today at 2:45, so hopefully all will go well. I couldn't find anyone to pick up my restaurant shift, but I did switch with someone so that I don't have to be there until 5:15 instead of 4. Should give me enough time to battle the traffic from my interview to the restaurant. Walked with 70 bucks from the restaurant last night--even though one table only left me $35 cash for a check that was $37 :o That means I basically paid my own money to wait on them. How rude! And it's not like there was only one person who could have accidentally made the mistake--there were 2 people, and they had shared the check (I saw them figuring out how much they each owed, even though I had offered to split it to separate checks for them). Maybe they thought one of the 5-dollar-bills was actually a 10...who knows. In any case, not only was I shorted 2 bucks, but I still had to tip out the host and the salad bar guy for what they ordered, so I probably ended up losing a total of almost $4 on that one table. Ahh, c'est la vie...I still made a pretty penny for a Wednesday night :D I ended up staying later than I should have, though, because there was a new girl closing, and she could SO not handle it, so we all switched sections until she was first cut so she could get out of there ASAP (she was driving the manager crazy with all of her mistakes). I ended up getting home around 10:30, so still not too bad. Tonight, I will probably get out pretty late since I'm not on till 5:15 (the earlier you come on, the earlier you are normally cut).

Hit the gym again yesterday--30 minutes on the eliptical. I did over 2 miles and burned almost 400 calories (according to the little digital tracker on the machine after I put in my weight). So worth it!

Well, hope everyone had a good afternoon/night and has a great day today!

Goodmorning Jill! Just a quick one from me this morning.. just wanted to wish you luck with your interview! Relax, and have fun :)

I am heading off to work, and won't be home until late.. poo work! I'll try and come back on here later! It's a HOT and sunny day here.. and I'm stuck inside.. again.. poo work!

-Aimee

We'll have to call you Two-Post Jilly. ;) Here's to a successful interview! :cheer:

Aimee, good to see ya. Poo work, I hear ya. At one job I had, I'd cry the whole time I was getting ready for work many mornings because I so dreaded seeing my co-workers (they were a cruel bunch and we were all crammed in a tiny office together). Oh, and I was clinically depressed, but not diagnosed as such for a few more years. Such a bad time...Be happy you're not in a situation like that. 'Twas the absolute PITS. I am now very thankful for every good day in life!

You've got a new job and all kinds of good possibilities ahead of ya!

The last two days have been exhausting, but good. we've been working on our driveway bed, getting it ready. Blogged about it all and posted pictures over at the Plot. More to do today, though my body protesteth much.

hi (again) ladies! I posted this morning... but WHERE did it go!?

Had a great time at my aunts farm... lots of fun stories but they're all about Lexi, and I don't want to bore you all with dog stuff. Sam and I helped out by digging post holes! WOW is that ever hard work! I still have sore thighs from having to do squats as you're useing the post hole digger. Stayed on plan and stayed the same weight. Much better than I anticipated!

At work now and it's busy so I don't have much time to write...

Good luck at the interview Jill... (it's probably done by now!?)

I'm never bored by dog stories....Heehee. Love my pooches (they're our furkids, don't ya know). ;)

I am mighty tired, but wanted to post so Jill will have more to read tomorrow ;) These long days (9 hours!!) really wear me out, luckily my break was well timed and I didn't get TOO hungry. My brother left this morning, his time here was about 12.5 hours, and then he's off to visit his pseudo-family in Victoria. He'll spend his long weekend with them, and will go straight from Victoria back to Seattle. We had a LATE dinner last night, and he took me for a quick breakfast this morning... we didn't get to talk too much, I had a sinus headache this morning.. but it was good to see him. He was saying how my belly looks smaller.. he's so funny sometimes. My belly MIGHT be smaller, I'm not entirely sure. It made me laugh though..

Kimberley - my job is better than my old one, so I'm defintely thankful for that. I'm also realizing that this is NOT my future, I don't think I could handle this drama for the rest of my life.. I'd go INSANE! Thank goodness you are out of that job situation, I realllllly dislike mean people.

Well, I think I'm going to go find a bed and get some sleep... see yah'll in the morning!

-Aimee

Heya, Aimee -- g'night! LOL I'm heading to bed, myself.

I want a garden, I used to have a lovely one when I lived in Australia, here we have nothing, just a little house built right onto the road, no yard - not even concrete!

This week has been good, but I feel uncharecteristically tired. Exhausted. Like I could sleep for a week. Not sure what is up with me!

My scales are stuck, not moving at all, but I am still losing. Had all my measurements done yesterday, my body fat has decreased 2% in the last two months, and I have lost another 30 centimetres from around my body, mainly my waist and hips.

I'm so glad I get to do that every two months, I would go mad if it was just the scales I was relying on, well madder anyway!!!!LOL

Right, off to my own poo work, I am training new people today, dreading it, would much rather be talking on the phone!

HAPPY FRIDAY! Thanks for posting, Aimee :D

I didn't have to work last night! After my interview, I went to the restaurant, ate dinner, and got changed for my shift. Right when I was about to clock in, a girl who wasn't scheduled came in and said she wanted to work, so I said bye! I went to my TOPS meeting. I was worried about weighing in since I had just eaten dinner (a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a can of fruit cocktail), and I usually don't eat before the meeting. It showed--I was only down 1/4 of a pound. Still a loss (no gains recorded in my TOPS book at all yet!), but it should have been like a 2-pound loss. Oh well. It'll show up next time I actually get to go to a meeting (I can't go next week because I have both Monday and Tuesday off from the restaurant already, so I have to work my Wednesday and Thursday, even if only for the $$).

So yeah, my interview went well (I think). They said they only interviewed 3 people in person (after weeding through resumes and phone interviews) and would be making their decision soon. It seems like a really great company, and the two men I interviwed with (a Program Manager and the President/Owner of the company) were both really nice. When the Program Manager was walking me out, he asked if I thought the interview went well. I said I thought it did but that it didn't really matter what I thought! He laughed--always a good sign :p I just sent them a follow-up email letter this morning thanking them for their time and attached my professional references and blah blah blah. We'll see, though. I think they think I live too far away and that the commute would be too much for me. If I don't get it, I suppose I'll have that as the bright side to look at--no commuting into the city every day. We shall see...

Well, Jeff will be at my place way before me today. His shop is closing at noon for the holiday weekend, so he will leave his office by about 12:30. I can't leave here until around 1:30 or 2, so he'll beat me by maybe a half hour. Better than me having to sit around and wait for him--I hate when he gets stuck in traffic and ends up being like an hour late. I always start wondering if he was in an accident or something, ya know?

Anyway...off to do some work. Kick off the weekend well, ladies!

Jill, you might consider also sending them a hand-written thank you note. Every employer I've had has commented on that after I've been hired, so it must be unusual enough to make you stand out in a good way.

That's great about losing the inches and body fat. I struggle with whether or not the scale is helping or hindering me; on the one hand, it can be really discouraging, but on the other, it seems to keep me accountable.

Speaking of those evil contraptions, I barely lost 1/2 pound this week, so I'm at 224 1/2. My ticker's staying the same at 225 since I can't do 1/2 pound increments. It's time for change here. I'm dropping my calories to 1500/day, and I'm not going to eat after midnight (3 hours before bedtime). I'm also going to make SURE I drink my water - I've been slacking off and I know darned well I'm retaining water because of it.

Today it's gorgeous and I'm anxious to work outside in the yard. Our stone wall to the right of the driveway is going to be rebuilt soon, probably around the second week of June - yippee! I posted an ad for bartering at Craig's List, saying I'd trade photography services for a landscaping professional rebuilding my stone wall.

The next day, a local landscaper wrote back and we've been writing back and forth finalizing details. She just got married last year and wants me to do portraits of her family out at their farm; she would like black and whites, some with them wearing black t-shirts and jeans, barefooted. That's just the kind of casual portraits I love doing. I'm excited!

Anyone heard from Marge? :?:

Goodevening! I got up this morning.. LATE, and then tried to get on here, but the site went down. So I went on with my day, we drove about 100 km's to Harrison, which is a small town along a glacier fed lake. The drive was beautiful, as always, and when we got there is was HOT HOT HOT! We went for a walk, I walked in the water for a bit, and we had something to eat. It was a good time, a little TOO hot for me though. For some REALLY odd reason I only put sunscreen on one arm, I need to be slapped. However that didn't help at all, I got a slight burn along the straps of my tank top. I'm going to put some aloe on it and hope for the best!

I haven't heard from Marge yet either.. I left her a msg a week or 2 ago. Hopefully her computer is broken at work and at home?

Alrighty, I am off to find my aloe! Have a great night all :)

-Aimee