aww, Kimberley, your dogs are adorable!! I can't wait to be able to get a dog again. We had a toy fox terrier named Chico (had to go on a special diet because he was overweight at 12 pounds--was only supposed to weigh 10 :dizzy: ) from the time I was 4 until I was 17. The apartment I'm in right now doesn't allow pets, though, and even when I move in with Jeff, I know I won't have the time I really need to devote to a new dog, so I'm pretty sure we will just get a cat, since they are much more independent. Jeff is open to the idea of a cat, but only if it's all gray--something about some cat from some cartoon that was all gray--who knows.:dunno: boys... But I will be plenty happy with a cat--gray or not, I just want a pet that I can, well, pet :D I did the hamster thing in college, but they were a little more nippy and less cuddly.

Nothing from Aimee yesterday--hope her mom is okay! :?:

Heather--way to go on the short-term goal! :cp: I'm plugging away at mine, too--kickin' the exercise into a higher gear.

Speaking of which, I dragged myself to the gym and did my 30 minutes on the elliptical yesterday. I tried weaseling out of it by going home to get my belt for job #2 (a required component of our uniform), but I decided to just bag my shirt out over the top of my pants enough to hide the fact that I'd forgotten my belt. It worked--the manager sure didn't notice, so sssshh, keep it on the down low ;) Point is, I had a legitimate reason to skip the gym, and yet I went anyway, so I'm really happy about that :D

My work schedule has been changed. I worked yesterday, and I work today, and that's it for this week! I told them I could still work Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays, but I have a feeling they're just going to keep me on Mondays and Tuesdays now. That's fine with me--that gives me a day smack in the middle of the week for chores and errands and an extended workout (since I can only fit that 30 minutes in between jobs--without the job #2 shift, I'll be able to workout longer 2 days a week now :) ). I'm really hoping this exercise addition will get me rockin' the weight off--I really want to go to Kings Dominion!!!

Speaking of which, I don't think I have told you about my new motivation. Kings Dominion is an amusement park in Virignia (with some kick a$$ roller coasters). Well, I bought 2 tickets, and they have to be used by October 31st (the end of the 2005 season), so I need to be able to fit my a$$ into the ride restraints by then. I haven't told Jeff--after the disappointment of not being able to go to Six Flags while we're in Georgia next week, I want it to be a surprise when come October, I suggest we go to Kings Dominion :D

hidoodelydo to you all today..lol. Thanks for the congrats! it means a lot. and way to go on your exercising Jill. Its so wierd, cause I am not one of those that loves to exercise, I only do it to lose the weight..lol. but i am starting to look forward to doing it. yesterday i had a ton of stuff to do, and didnt get to it at the time I normally workout, but by the evening, I kept thinking about not doing it that I finally just did it..lol. So I guess I'm trying. I'm so proud of you! I'm proud of all of you that go and workout, because I know how hard it is.
Well, Im off to clean the house. I know once it's done it will stay like this until about 2 hours after the kids get home next week..lol. Have a terrific Tuesday all, and Ill be back later

oh, I just read some of the other posts I missed. Thanks Kimberly. I appreciate it. I felt really bad when we dropped them off at my ex's house yesterday. My 9 yr old son is very sensitive, and he just cried cause he didnt want to stay w/ his dad....it broke my heart. and I love your pictures. Your room is gorgeous! Im sorry to hear about your mom Aimee. My dad went through something similar a couple of years after they took out his gall bladder and they finally found out it was diverticulitis....I'll put her in my thoughts as I put all of you.

Your King's Dominion plan sounds like a winner -- what a reward! When you go, we want pictures. :) Good for you getting the eliptical in, too.

We've not had a terribly exciting day, though we've done more than we usually do before Howie goes to work. Both got haircuts, then we stopped by his mom's church and assembled the desk we gave them from our office.

Jeez, where is everyone? Now we got Heather back, but Aimee and Diane seem to have vanished.

Well, not much to report on my end of the world. I didn't get home till about 11 last night and only made $45, so I'm tired and broke :p But at least I know I don't have to work at the restaurant tonight, so that's always something to look forward to. That means I'll have more time at the gym after job #1. As tired as I am, I will go to the gym--I want to make sure I have a loss at TOPS this week. Since I've joined, I haven't recorded a gain at any of my TOPS weigh-ins, and I'm not about to start now!

Heather--I'm definitely not one who loves to exercise either--far from it! :lol: I hate getting all hot and sweaty and tired, and it takes so long (it's not just the 30 minutes of working out, it's the changing clothes and the showering and the driving to the gym and the packing the clothes...my 30-minute workout takes about an hour :p ). They say that you begin to enjoy it after a while, but I know I have gone through spurts of working out nearly every day for months on end, and I don't ever recall actually enjoying it. However, when it becomes such a constant like that, I always feel guilty when I don't go, so I guess that's a good thing to keep my butt going to the gym :dizzy:

Well, I do have an itty bit of work to do (less thn an hour's worth), so I guess I'll go get that done before anyone comes in while it's still quiet in the office. I hope it's not so quiet on our boards today!

Sorry I've been MIA lately, my computer has been acting up, so it's really hard to type! Everytime I hit the space key it lags the space, doesn't work, or does like 80 million spaces. It's not my space key, so I'm thinking I have some really nasty bugs on this comp, my brother is coming July 1st to reformat it :) Fortunately, my mom is completely fine, she's already been to see a doctor, and her doctor is going to run a bunch of tests just in case... I suspect that she got a little worried since a few of her friends around her have been getting cancer of all sorts. I am hoping that things with my mom and brother will work themselves out, they've been having some problems lately and after what happened with my mom, my brother revised his summer vacation plans to extend his trip home.

Well thats all I've got time for now (and my space key is working normally! ), I'll try and come back after work to properly catch up on how everyone is doing. Take care!

-Aimee

Aimee, your keyboard may be defective. Try another one and see if that helps. :)

We're sitting out on the patio enjoying some coffee. It's actually kind of chilly here in the shade! We're going from 90-degree days to ones in the upper 70's. Unbelieveable!

mmm...70s...it's supposed to be 93 here today :o

Hey! I am home! Early too :) The bf went home from work sick today, he was sick yesterday too, the poor boy doesn't realize his body is screaming at him to eat healthy. Silly boy doesn't know how to listen to it. Either way, I'm forcing him to drink PURE cranberry juice (it's a possible UTI).. I'm evil.

Kimberley - I totally just thought it was my keyboard, so we switched it with our old one, it didn't work though. It'll be fixed soon though :) Plus we'll have SO much extra room on our computer when we reformat, Josh's mother gave us the computer with ALL her programs on it, so it loaded with things we'll never use. Your patio sounds lovely :) We had a jump in temp from 30 degrees down to 12-15, celcius.

Jill - I want a cat.. and a dog! We were at Josh's co-workers house the other day and they had 3 adorable dogs. I fell in love with two of them, and so they tried to find me one. Their friends do the Fur Babies website, and thats where they got one of their dogs. We can't have pets here either :(

Heather - I am going to look up diverculitis, see what I can find about it. Thanks for the tip :) I am the only one in my family WITH a galbladder, everyone has had it taken out by the time they were 21, and I'm now almost 26. I suspect I'll have it for LIFE now! Kid withdrawl, I can't imagine that just yet... I am FAR too selfish to have children yet. One day possibly..

Alright, I must go tend to the bf.. have a great night!

-Aimee

In the process of re-assembling that desk yesterday, I managed to inadvertantly get in several sets of crunches as I lay on my back beneath the desk and leaned up a bit to screw plates together...Man, is my chest sore! Coupled with that muscle tenderness today was the sudden realization that the doohickey at the bottom of my sternum is sore (it's the "xiphoid process", if you want to get technical, and I didn't know what it was called until I caved to paranoia and looked it up). ;) Isn't it weird to feel bones where you don't remember having them? Ouch!

P.S. I just saw lightning bugs outside for the first time this season. Love to see them come out. :^:

Lightning bugs--yay! One of the few creatures with more than 4 legs that I don't feel the need to run away from :p

Aimee--I search on Petfinder.com because they have animals listed from all kinds of shelters and societies for adoption. I did a whole presentation for a communications class in college about why people should never buy puppies from pet stores, so I'm pretty sure any animal I ever own will be adopted (even if I get the horse I want when I grow up!). Glad to hear your mom's okay, too!

Well, I did the deed--I weighed in this morning. 294.5--down a pound from last week. Continuing at my snail's pace, but at least it's in the right direction. I did another 30 minutes on the elliptical at the gym yesterday. I could have stayed longer, but for some reason, my legs felt like absolute jell-o! I went to the mall afterwards to look for a steering wheel cover at Target and any cute tops on sale at Lane Bryant (I ended up leaving empty-handed), and I was going to go to Sears, but it was all the way at the other end of the mall, and my legs just were not happy for some reason. Maybe today, I'll do my workout on the recumbent bike instead so it's not quite so intense on my lower body. I also know I didn't drink nearly enough water yesterday, so I've got to kick that habit up now, too. I have a 24oz bottle on my desk that I usually fill and drink 3 times just while at the office, but yesterday, I only filled it once, and then I only had 2 glasses (maybe 10-12oz each) of sugar-free kool aid at home, so definitely need more water.

Well, hopefully my weight loss will show up on the TOPS scale tonight, too. I never know how my body is going to fluctuate after eating and drinking all day and then weighing in at 6:30pm. When I weigh in at home, I know I'm "empty" since I do so right when I wake up, after I go pee :) The TOPS scale has been good to me so far, though, so I hope tonight is no exception.

Well, off to pretend to do some work. It's Thursday--week's almost over! Of course, normally I'm happy that I'll get to see Jeff on Friday, but not this week :( He's going fishing with his dad who is up visiting from Florida, so no Jeff for me until probably Tuesday (since we leave Wednesday morning for Georgia). Anyway, have a great day, all!

Hey ya'lll...Not disappeared, just busy...Summer months, are spent doing yard work, etc...And arguing with neighbors, but I digress....Hmm, maybe I will tell you...This is a guy who lives around the bend. He and the neighbor who moved ( next to me) did not get along, but ever since the guy moved, this guy, Bill, well, all he does is walk his dog ( a Scotty too by the way~~which he got last year becuz he wanted one just like ours) three-4 times a day. He is very retired and very nosy...and very bold, on top of it all...Now he knows we are thinking, if we have not gotten P in 2 years that we will look into adoption. I told him, that I wish they would change the laws though, that it just seems wrong to me, that women who sign papers to put the babies up, should not have the right, 6 months or 3 years later to change their minds and take the child back. I said it would just break our hearts to have this happen...Well, now keep in mind, this guy knows "Everything about NOTHING" at all...he says "You have no idea what you are talking about ( as if I am dumber than a box of rocks) That when a girl is 18 or 19, they are not of strong enough mind to possibly make any decisions on putting up a child for adoption, and they should be able to change their minds."...WEll, that was enough for me...I went and said "Oh Bull-S...t! Women know by that age what they want...good Lord, they are not 5 year olds" he said "Well, I have lived life, and done a lot more in it than you have, and I know..." I just looked at him, like he had 6 heads, and said' "Whatever, I neeed to get inside, You do NOT know everything in life" and shut the door on him as I told him to go Screw himself...If Iwould have been on top of my toes, I would have said "Oh? And, when were you an 18 year old girl, Bill, I had no idea...forgive my ignorance"...But, Hindsight is always best eh? He also has argued with me abotu Ohio...As if he ever lived there, and knows all about it...He has told us how to rear Scotties ( um, pardon me but ours is very well behaved and we have had him for 6 years..If we'd have gotten a weiner dog, he would have gotten one too)...And once even had the nerve to tell me I would never be thin, my bones are too big...As if I am the Giant Purple People Eater...He said once, to me, that I have a great prsonality, and looks arent everything....As if to say I am the Hunchback and need to stay in the bell Tower...I am, to be very honest, sick of it....to me, he has way too much nerve...and who does he think he is anyhow? GeeZ! Anyhow, sorry to have ranted...but boy...I get tired of that crap...
Well, WTG on losses, etc...that's great...And Jill~~~ WTG on sticking with it...I would focus on the eliptical, M-W-F, and the others on Tues, Thurs or whatever...to give your muscles a day to re-coup...HAG1 All!!!

Goodmorning!!

Diana - I TOTALLY hate people like that, they bring the worst out in me, cuz I keep arguing, and arguing. I get really pulled in, heh. How old the is guy? Maybe you could tell him that times have REALLY changed recently, and he's, uhm, lets just say out of touch. heh. That would drive him insane, just patronize him.. "suuuure, whatever you say". Don't give him the credit of valuing his opinion, because it is just that. Good luck!

Jill - the woman from Fur Babies adopts animals from shelters, she was at a shelter that doesn't keep their animals for long, they put them down within a week if they aren't gone. She felt SO bad, and could only take 8, but just couldn't pick 8. So I believe it was her and her husband rented a truck and took all of them! And it was welllll over 100 dogs! Thats where the couple we know got their dog, from that group of dogs. It's definitely better to adopt animals, thats how we've gotten all of our cats. Congrats on that weigh in :) It always seems odd to weigh in at 6:30pm, but I guess consistancy is the most important, my mom always stops drinking and eating after 3pm for her 7pm weigh ins. I'm sure the TOPS scale will agree with yours :) So what are you going to do this weekend? And how long are you going to Georgia for?

Kimberley - I haven't seen a lightening bug before.. although I've seen my share of mosquitos ;)

So I got on my scale this morning, I was scared stiff! We've been broke (to put it nicely), so I expected to put on some weight with eating so much pasta and cheap foods. I did put on 3 pounds, I'm hoping its water weight, and since we've got money now.. I'm sure it'll be gone within a week! I am starting to get excited for my vacation, which isn't until July 2nd, but I am SO SO looking forward to not working, and to not being called into work.. the plan so far is to do lots of hiking, lots of hanging out.. lots of beach visits (providing the weather smartens up!). Anyways, I am off to be productive and clean my house a bit! Have a great one :)

-Aimee

Hi all... just catching up after a couple days! Very busy this week at work; hoping that the possibilty of a new position will be posted soo so I can do a different function of my department... just a waiting game now! I'll try to post more tomorrow! have a super day!!

Heya, everyone. That neighbor would drive me nuts -- I'm easily pulled into arguments with people like that, too!

Today was a big day at Chez Gardenwife, with the lady coming with her crew of two fellas to rebuild the wall by the driveway. Looks like they did a good job of it. There are still a few large stones needed, and Cindy said she'd come back next week to put them in. She loaned me her loppers while she was here, and I made good use of them. I climbed up on our ladder and trimmed back some of the neighbor's overhanging trees. I also had a saw on a long pole, loaned to us by a neighbor, so I was able to get bigger branches cut back, too. It was good to cut back those limbs not only because the firs were just about ready to begin hanging on our roof, but because the others' absence will allow more sunlight to our flowerbed along the fenceline.

She drove away and I then noticed she'd left the tool behind - I'd forgotten to give it to her when they were packing up. As I picked them up and walked toward our front porch, I couldn't help but laugh....They're Cindy Loppers. You could not make up a play on words like that. LOL!

heheh--arguing with people is my specialty...bring on the neighbor!! :devil: When I was younger (and sometimes still today), everyone told me I should be a lawyer when I grow up. I considered it, then decided I didn't want to go to school that long only to end up being some like tax attorney or something boring rather than doing what I would want--battling it out in the courtroom like on tv :p So here I am, a technical editor and proofreader--probably not much more fun than being a tax attorney after all, but at least I didn't spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on law school! :dizzy:

Anywho...I called Jeff last night, and he said he is not going fishing with his dad because he couldn't get the day off from work. However, he is spending tonight at his aunt and uncle's house (which is where his dad is staying), but he'll be home by like noon tomorrow, so I'm gonna go spend tomorrow night at his place :) Yay, I still get to see my Jeff this weekend!

Since he's not coming over tonight like usual, I'm going to go pick up a shift at the restaurant. I'm not scheduled to work (they know I do NOT work weekends), but there's always someone willing to go home, especially on a Friday night, so I'll go in and make a few bucks. Couldn't hurt, right? Plus it'll keep me on my feet and busy, whereas if I just went home and spent all night alone, I'd probably end up eating a lot out of boredom :s:

Ooh, the TOPS scale did NOT agree with mine last night. Mine said I lost a pound, but the one at TOPS said I lost 1.75 pounds :smug: Whick sort of makes me fear the idea that maybe next week I'll stay the same according to my home scale, yet gain .75 according to theirs, but whatever. I'm going to really work at everything as much as possible because I haven't had a gain recorded at TOPS since I started going, so I want to continue on that trend for as long as humanly possible :)

Aimee--We're leaving for Georgia at the crack of dawn (I'm hoping to have him up and out the door by 5am) on Wednesday, and we'll be driving home on Sunday. It's gonna be about a 12-hour drive, I think, so quite a haul, but we'll take turns driving. It's also going to be insanely hot, I'm sure, as we'll be about 30 minutes south of Atlanta, so I'm going to run out to a few shops today between jobs to try and find some new cute sandals and maybe a few cute new tops that are nice and light. I'm such a penny pincher, though--who knows if I'll actually be able to find anything I'm willing to spend the $$ on :lol:

Sara--:wave:
Kimberley--Cindy Loppers. :rofl: For once in my life, I have no comment on that :lol3:

Diana--Yeah, resting in between days would probably be a good idea, but instead, I ended up on the elliptical again yesterday--4 days in a row! I tried not to...I started off with 20 minutes on the recumbent bike. After the 20 minutes of sweating, it said I had only burned like 127 calories. That's when I got on the elliptical. I did 30 minutes, and it said I burned 435 calories. It just seems so much more efficient, I couldn't tear myself away! However, I did only do it in the forward motion this time, whereas I normally do 5 minutes forward, 5 minutes backward, 5 minutes forward...I think the backwards is what was killing my legs more, so I'll just have to work on slowly increasing the backwards motion. My legs were jell-o free yesterday :)

I still haven't tried the eliptical. Shoot, I've been working out in the yard so much, I've not been to the gym. Judging from how sweaty I get and how sore certain muscle groups are, I think I'm okay with that. I should walk, at least. It's been so nice to be outside, even when it's hot, I don't want to go inside to work out. When it gets to be in the 90's and muggy again, though, I think the A/C'd walking track will be nice. ;)

Hi ....
 

LOL @ Jill :lol3: ...I hear ya about ppl...and about the eliptical...I need to really get under 250 so DH will keep his promise and buy me one ;) ...I ALSO NEED TO GET OFF MY BEHIND AND WALK...and BIKE :bike: ...I am making a solemn vow that beginning Sunday morning...I don't care if it is raining or what... I WILL BEGIN WALKING AND BIKING OUTSIDE!!! If it is hot...NOTHING, and I mean NOTHING is stopping me from getting up at 5 am and doing such things...used to do it...love the early mornings. :sunny: ..Sigh...well, am off...HAGW all. Working in MULCH this weekend...getting 10 yards dumped in the drive at 8 am...hee..usually it rains the whole time we are doing it, and I end up looking like a monkey from sweat, rain and dirt :lol: ...should be fun! :df:

I'd love to get mulch by the truckload! Right now, I scout out Lowe's for their ripped bags. They sell them at half price. If there is a large number of them, they sell them for 50-cents a bag!

Forgot to mention, I just maintained this week. Again the weird spotting is happening, too...The doc had me switch to a lower-dose BC pill this month since I've been spotting for three (four?) months, and yet the spotting persists. I just can't wait to get off the darned things.

I got a tetanus booster today after weighing in. Yesterday I stepped on a rusty, sheared-off fencepost while trimming those tree branches - oops. Fortunately, I hit it with the well-calloused ball of my foot and not my instep, and I felt it and backed off before putting much weight on it. It gave me just a nick, but better safe than sorry with the tetanus. Childhood reminiscences of my mother touting the horrors of LOCKJAW! LOL

Well ladies, I'm still having issues...although, today when I cleaned the keyboard I kinda hurt the space key...oops :( I'm gonna get a new one hopefully this weekend! The sooner the better...as this takes like 20 minutes to type! grrrr!!

-Aimee

You need voice recognition software, Aimee! ;)

lol....I wish!

So...my bf suffers from BAD headaches but refuses to go to the doctor...so I'm faced with many LONG nights of no sleep and him crying in pain.Poor boy....and poor sleepy Aimee!Thats.all.the.patience.I've.got.for.my.space .key...night.girls!:)

-Aimee

Hi
 

LOL @Kimberley :lol3: ...Sounds like a real deal at Lowes...unflortunately, we would still have to buy a truckload of bags, lol, we have almost an acre of land, and let me see, 2 rows of arborvides lining the sides of yard, which is close to 50 each side if not more, then we have 6 trees we mulch around in the front, 2 king krimson maples, a magnolia, 1 crabapple, and 2 cleveland pairs ( 7, oops), then a huge bed in the front of the house, and a smaller one, and around the lamp post we have purple fountain grass :crazy: ...then in front and in back of the privacy fence going into the back we have beds, filled in the front with Black-eyed susans, daylillies, purple fountain grass, Purple coneflowers, and in the back rose of sharons...around the perimeter of the house ( foundation) we have 50 or so hostas, they all get mulch...then in the back I have a bird area filled with flowers ( coneflowers, black-eyed susans, cosmos, etc, that gets mulch :blah: ...we have around 25 blue spruce going the back part of the hill and the rest of the side of the yard, they all get mulch, and all around our deck, there are burning bushes, and daylillies, and that all gets mulched...lol :yes: ... he is doing it all this year...he says he wants to put it on very light this year, so he wasnts to do it, lol...I pulled the weeds out from my bird feeders in the front, mainly because I did not want him to think the cosmos were weeds and pull them :nono: ..Usually we end up getting 2 truckloads, but this time he says a lot of the arborvides and stuff still have it left over from last year, so he only wants to do the rest...and he is not doing the hill this year like usual...We want to plant phlox all over the hill next Spring, to give it color...I also plan to plant some Lemon Thyme there or another type of groundcover u can walk on...We like the thyme though because it smells so good when you step on it :D ...Next year he is putting a big brick patio off the deck with a fire pit too, so that will be more flower beds, he is making raised ones along the sides of the brick...and we are putting a gazebo in the back corner in the shade, with electrical in it, and screens so in the Summer or Fall, we can got out and play games back there when we have ppl over :cb: ...Work, work, work...
I bet you will be really glad to get the spotting done with...I had a weird TOM this month myself, all spotting, no real bleeeding, and then that was it...ahh, the joys of getting older as a woman. :stress:
Aimee~~~Please, Please make him go to the doctor...That scares me that he is in that much pain, and I would hate to see something happen that could be preventable...My thoughts and prayers are with you...WEll, am off...HAG! all, Diana :flow1:

Aimee, does he only get the headaches at night or do they last days at a time? There are so many medications that could help him with them, but he's got to go to the doctor to get 'em! I know we're preaching to the choir here, because you care about him and want him to be checked out, too.

We want a screened-in shelter, too...That sounds wonderful. :)

Man, my foot is still tender from where I nicked it. There doesn't appear to be redness or swelling around it, but boy do that tiny spot hurt. I'm a barefoot babe around home in the warmer months, and like the saying goes, "no hoof, no horse". ;) I need this thing to heal up so I can do some serious damage to the weeds.

Hey ladies!! I am back with a new keyboard... it's a challenge to get used to it! I also got a new Cd.. it kinda sucks, but does have one good song :) I should really just download it, but I absolutely love Mariah Carey. Her voice is just AMAZING!

Josh's headaches are weird, they seem to be when he's going to sleep, in the middle of the night, or early in the morning. We've gotten new pillows, better pillows, tried getting him to sleep in different positions.. it's just weird. I will make him go to the doctor, I think he didn't realize that the doctor will know which kinds of drugs will work the best for him. I'm sure I can convince him, he's definitely turned a slightly new leaf, he just doesn't want to be sick anymore. Last night was KILLER, he had a headache and then got a stomach ache. We were up all night long, and he was throwing up for part of it. Weird thing, I took that new tylenol ultra stuff.. I fell asleep for about 15 minutes and woke up with a start, I had NO idea where I was, or who was in my bed (freaky!!), it was Josh.. it took me a few minutes to get my barings back though. It was such an odd feeling, I'll actually never take those drugs again.

I was at work on Friday and the manager from Eddie Bauer came over to talk to us, she was actually trying to recruit one of us to go over there and be her assistant manager. I am going to have a interview with her on Monday, I'm excited/scared. But it's just an interview, and I'd be guaranteed fulltime, and a raise. I found out that my company put a freeze on wages this year.. NO ONE gets a raise. No point really, the max raise you can get per year is 17 cents. That just doesn't cut it for me if they want to keep me as an employee.

So it's all about me so far... but I'm not done! I had this dream where I decided I would go back to school to become a Dietitian/Nutritionist. It's a 4 year degree to become a registered Dietitian, my previous University should cover the first year, so I'd have 3 years of schooling left. I'm just playing with the idea right now, but thats always been something I've been thinking I'd like to persue. I decided not to go back and finish up my degree because it was a degree in Health and Fitness, and at the time I was SO SO sick, and couldn't exercise. It didn't feel right to do it. But here I am again thinking about it.

Well I am completely tired, and don't have the energy to write personalized msgs... justknow you are in my thoughts.. and I've been fighting to get on here to post. My bf's friend is staying with us until he finds a place to move into.. he was living in his truck. Just seems so wrong to me, even if we butt heads. Its... interesting living with two boys, they have been hanging out for 3 days now, and already have a NAP TIME! They are off at a movie tonight, and I'm going to turn in VERY soon, I have to get some sleep, I probably slept for an hour, and was woken up every 10-15 minutes during that time. Alrighty! I am off to bed! I'll talk to you gals tomorrow! :)

-Aimee

Hey, Aimee - glad to see you're up and running again! That's great about your interview. I'd be looking, too, if such a freeze was at my workplace and there were other jobs available in my skillset!

Not to scare you or your BF, but check out this link: http://www.mayoclinic.com/invoke.cfm?id=AN00992 Realize that in the majority of people, the cause is going to be the most tame of the possibilities!

This is COMPLETELY depressing, it's 10 to 7am on a Sunday morning and I am awake because the kids upstairs are awake. We got up 20 minutes ago. Now, I didn't get to sleep until 12:30am... so I'm working on 6.5 hours of sleep + 1 hour in the past 46 hours. I am cranky, annoyed, and want to curl up into a little ball and cry... well preferably sleep. I'd grab my blanket and move elsewhere... but they are moving furniture over my kitchen and bathroom. And this jumping up and down, running and yelling is happening over my livingroom AND bedroom. I just don't get how parents are so ignorant/stupid these days.. they literally don't care.

Thats my rant... and I could go for hours... but I'm going to go for a walk, or rather go sit outside so I don't scream and yell profanities at 7 & 9 year old children! Their parents WILL be getting a nice phone call as this is weekend TWO of *US* getting up before 8am.

-Aimee

I'd definitely be calling those parents. It's one thing if kids are toddlers and have little self-control, but those kids are old enough to know to be quiet (if the parents bother to tell them to be). I don't miss apartment living!

My foot is still tender, but doesn't seem to be infected. To be safe, though, I've been putting antibiotic cream on the cut and covering it with a big Bandaid. Sure put a damper on my beloved barefootedness.

Mom and dad are coming over for a cookout in a bit. We're having grilled salmon steaks topped with mango salsa (any excuse for mango salsa!!), cauliflower hash browns, and a big salad. For dessert I have low-calorie vanilla ice cream topped with fresh strawberries and minced chocolate mint. Good stuff, good for us!

Aimee--Yay for your keyboard! Boo for your lack of sleep! Parents swearing at young children...no wonder the kids misbehave. I hate hearing/seeing parents raising their children so disrespectfully. Not that I am an expert or anything, since I have no kids of my own, but I certainly have done more than my fair share of babysitting, for I have more little cousins than I can count on all of my fingers and toes! It's one thing to let the kds jump around and play and have fun--every kid needs that--but to allow them to do so noisily at such an early hour...I swear it all comes down to respect, and so many kids today aren't taught to respect others. Of course, I may have been taught a little to much respect, if that's possible--I end up going out of my way to make sure everyone else is happy before I even think about myself, but I'd rather be this way than the opposite!

Kimberley--glad your foot seems to be okay. Good thinking on the tetanus booster, though--just in case. Can never be too careful with things like that. Oh, and that meal you described sounds AWESOME! I wish I could have a grill, but we're not allowed to have grills within like 50 feet of the apartment building or something like that, so no grill for me. I'm waiting for my birthday, though--I think my sister is buying me an indoor grill--one like a George Foreman one, but not that brand--the one she got has removable grilling trays so you can throw them in the dishwasher, which is so perfect for me!

Diana--so did it rain while mulching? Did you turn into a monkey?? The weather here this weekend was GORGEOUS--couldn't have asked for better, and yet we didn't really do anything outdoors--stupid lazy kids! (and by kids, I mean Jeff and me :p )

So yeah--I went to Jeff's around 5pm on Saturday and spent the night there. I am so excited for Georgia. I haven't been on a vacationin YEARS...the last one was to the Bahamas with my singing group in high school, but that doesn't count because we had a curfew every night and had to get up early every morning for rehearsals, so we didn't have a whole lot of time for actual vacationing (even though I paid over $700 for that trip!). Not that cental Georgia (we'll be about 30 minutes south of Atlanta) is exactly the vacation hot spot or whatever, but hey, it's 3 days off of work--both jobs--and I'm not going to visit my sister or my parents (which are the only places I go for any other time off I ever get), so I'm counting it as a vacation! According to Mapquest, it'll be about a 10 hour and 33 minute drive to Jeff's aunt's house (which is where we're staying). Add into that stopping for gas and food and maybe some traffic, and we're looking at at least a 12-hour drive. We've driven to CT together before, though, which took a good 8 hours, so we should be okay, plus we'll take turns driving (I drove the whole way to CT). The new plan is to leave around 2am on Wednesday morning (yes, we're insane, but that way, we'll be all the way down by Richmond before the DC area traffic picks up for the morning commute--and no one wants to mess with DC rush-hour traffic...it's the reason I come in for 6am!). Then we'll head back up here on Sunday. tonight at work, I'm going to try to find someone to pick up my Tuesday night shift so I actually have time to pack and get ready tomorrow night--imagine that :p

Well, I'm off to make sure everything is in order for the bosses' return this morning (3 of them all went to Key West last week). Hope everyone had a great finish to their weekend, and I'll catch ya'll later!

Howdy, howdy!

Jill, if the indoor grill's by Hamilton Beach, I can tell you I wasn't thrilled with it. I tried it out two or three times and ended up taking it back for a refund. I ended up sticking with George -- you just can't beat a George Foreman grill, IMHO. The one I have has the removeable plates, and is the smaller of the two they sell with that feature. It's plenty large enough to cook for four people, though. I just love it! :D

We bought a few fish for our aquarium last night, and it sure is nice to have something swimming in there again, finally! We got 2 banded gourami, 5 tiger barbs, and 1 striped Raphael catfish (also called a talking catfish).

I should have bought 6 tiger barbs - oops. We learned later that they like being in groups of 6 or more, and I can see we always have one little guy off on his own. I'll pick up another one today.

We're going to Maryland this weekend to a get-together with some of our Dave's Garden friends -- can't wait! We'll be tent camping. Right now, then plan is to drive out toward Baltimore Sunday afternoon and meet Sarah & Lorraine for dinner somewhere before we head back. We can't wait to meet them!!

I have no idea what brand it is, but I know my sister loves hers. I didn't know GF made one with the removable trays, though--that is definitely good to know. I miss the GF we had in college (I always had at least 1 roommate who had one, so I never got one of my own). Awesome for burgers and chicken breasts or tenderloins so I don't have to cook them in a pan on the stove (where the burgers spit grease all over my kitchen since I don't have a lid big enough for my big pan :p ).

And of course, Miss Kimberley, you must be in Maryland on the one weekend when I am in Georgia! I was just in MD yesterday at Jeff's house! That is awesome, though that you'll get to meet Sarah and Lorraine. Sarah is just such an amazing person--I'm sure you guys will have a blast!

Hey Gals! Phew.. I'm having another rough day! The kids woke me up this morning, but this time I called, and talked to the mom (I usually talk to the dad), and they were silent for the rest of the morning :) I also had my interview, and it turned out like I thought.. I just don't have enough management experience yet. But I made a great contact, which is never a bad thing.

Jill - 2am is slightly insane, we always leave at 4am though. I hate traffic! The parently don't *really* yell at their children, the other morning the dad came down and said to them that it was too early for them to be playing so loudly, and then something about rules. Which makes sense, my mom had a rule that if I was up before 9am on weekends, I could watch tv in the downstairs tv room, quietly. This was when I was younger.. at about 14 I started sleeping until 12pm, heh. They definitely don't swear, I'd be completely disgusted at that.

Kimberley - good to hear your foot is alright, I remember some stories about lock jaw, freaky. I've never really hurt myself before, and can't ever remember having a shot, I'd probably cry. lol. I used to have one of those Hamilton Beach grills, it was a total pain to clean! However, I liked it better than the George Foreman one, because it had different temperatures. I'd prefer to had a BBQ though :) Thats pretty exciting that you are going to meet Sarah, she's such a great person from what I've experienced. Have fun :)

I am off to watch Oprah! I'll talk to yah'll later!

-Aimee

Aimee--Wow, shows how tired and nearly incoherent I am in the morning--I read your post and saw the word profanities (where you mentioned NOT going and shouting profanities at them) and jumbled it up in my mind to read that the parents were yelling profanities at them :dizzy: Oi vei, I should nap before I come on here :p

So yeah, we're definitely going to try to leave around 2am tonight/tomorrow morning. Rush hour here begins around 6-6:30am. I have NEVER experienced traffic like in the DC metro area. I live about 12 miles from work, mostly straight down one main road. When I leave at 5:30am, it takes me about 20 minutes to get to work (stupid stop lights). However, if I leave almost anytime between 6:30am and 9:30am, it takes me about an hour and a half! I hear things on the Maryland side aren't as bad as here on the Virginia side, but it's all just completely ridiculous. When I leave work on a Friday at 2pm and try to go to Jeff's house (which means I have to take the Beltway around DC), it can take up to 3 hours, and that's at 2 in the afternoon (it normally takes me just over an hour to get to his house)! Also, if we leave any later, we might still miss the early rush hour here in DC, but then we'd still hit the main rush hour (around 9 like a normal city) going around Richmond, which wouldn't be nearly as bad, I'm sure, but if we can avoid both, then why not?

Yup, so I have to go home and do some ironing and packing. It's going to be HOT! I went shopping on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning. I bought some short-sleeved button-down linen shirts and tank tops to layer (I certainly don't have the arms for a tank top with nothing over it--my flaps could poke an eye out :lol: ), and I have a few really lightweight see-through shirts to wear with my new tank tops, also. I won't do shorts quite yet, but I do have plenty of capris. I also bought 2 new pairs of sandals. As much as I love shoes, my feet actually seem to have gotten much WIDER lately, so finding a good fit was very difficult (and frustrating!). I blame it on the waitressing!

Speaking of which, I made a whopping 21 bucks last night. I wasn't supposed to be serving, but we got busy, so I ended up taking 3 tables anyway. I was actually the "To Go" girl, which meant I was supposed to just take orders for carry out and put them together in bags in the kitchen and take them out to the people's cars. I only had 3 To Go orders all night, though, so that was a bust! Also, people don't realize that the To Go person only makes minimum wage, so they don't usually tip. I must admit, I wouldn't know to tip them either if I had never worked in a restaurant, but only making $5.15 an hour and having half the people NOT tip you--ugh, To Go is the worst! Okay, done whining about that now :p I was supposed to serve tonight, but I gave my shift to someone else so I could go home and pack and get ready for my trip. Yay!

Well, that's more than enough babbling for now. I'm off to, umm, make up some work to do, I guess. Catch ya'll later!

Da-da-da-dum! It's To Go Girl, that purveyor of bags filled with all things hot and savory! See her fly out to the curb, a broad grin splitting across her face! See her making change! See her wishing some of that change would be left in her hand as a thank-you. But nooooooo....

I never realized you were supposed to tip To-Go Girl, either! I tell you, what gets me is tipping at a buffet where diners get their own drinks and food. What the?? I can see tipping at a buffet where the staff refills drinks, clears plates, etc.

I'm out at the branch office right now, trying to get motivated to run some errands and go to the store. With us camping this weekend, I really ought to get the house whipped into shape so we can come home to a nice, clean house...But that's the last thing I feel like doing.

Did I tell you guys I'm off the BC pill now? Saturday, Howie and I talked about it and decided I should just go ahead and quit taking it since the spotting continues even with it. I'm beginning to wonder if the spotting is caused by something else. I'll try to get in to see the doctor in the next month or so. Until Howie's in the clear, we'll just keep the patent-holders of condoms and Nonoxynol-9 in business. ;)

Goooooodmorning! I am awake, and prancing around in my 18+ pj's because my bf AND his friend are NOT HERE! yahooooooo!! :) So, I'm an idiot, last night I got my friend to call my cell and I went outside and talked to her on the phone because I didn't want the two guys to hear what I was talking about. So that call led into a call from my mom, and then I called my friend BACK! I was outside/in my car, from 8:30-12am! I just can't wait to have my house back..

Jill - it's amazing what early mornings can do to the brain, I hear people wrong sometimes. If I'm really sleep deprived, I just stop talking because nothing good comes out of my house.. lol.. I get potty mouth too. I haven't ever tipped a to-go person, I'm sorry! And if I have a bad server, I don't tip that great either. Don't hurt me! ;)

Kimberley - you are so silly, it's great! You are going camping this weekend? And Jill is gone too? I'm going to be ALONE! Well at least we'll have a lot to talk about when you guys get back!! It's only 11 days until my 2 week vacation. :) I dislike the BC pill, so I support your decision to get off it! hehe.. cuz you were waiting for that and all ;)

Well I should go get ready, I am going to head to the mall today to have coffee with a co-worker on her last day, and I HAVE to go out and enjoy this weather! You two have a GREAT weekend and I look forward to hearing about your adventures when you are back! Take care!

-Aimee

Originally Posted by SwimGirl:
Jill - it's amazing what early mornings can do to the brain, I hear people wrong sometimes. If I'm really sleep deprived, I just stop talking because nothing good comes out of my house.. lol.. I get potty mouth too. I haven't ever tipped a to-go person, I'm sorry! And if I have a bad server, I don't tip that great either. Don't hurt me! ;)

HAHAhahaha...so, we know you weren't sleep deprived when you wrote this one, so what's your excuse? ;) :p

Hi ladies... work is so busy it's taking me FOREVER to even catch up with you all! So, across the board Hello and I hope you're doing well! Work is really busy for me the last couple weeks and it's not looking promising for the next couple months. Too busy to get on line... it's a crime really ;)

Weight wise I'm looking good for being at 240 (or below!) for my trip July 24th! Just had to buy new pants again... I'm in 22's now and 18/20 tops. I wish clothes would just diet with you! Sam and I want to take our bikes with us to the Dells, however, we looked at getting a bike rack trailer hitch, yeah right $250!!! The heck if I'm spending that much! So I called around and we can rent one from a bike shop for a week for $40. Sign me up!!! It's cheaper than renting bikes once we get there.

I'll try to get on here more often and keep up better... promise ;)

I always wanted to see the Wisconsin Dells. When we lived in the Chicago area, I remember all the commercials for them.

Boy, it's going to be a hot one for camping -- mid 90's. Aaaargh! Hopefully it will cool down in the evenings since this place we're going to is in the mountains. Mountains?? My geography is sooo bad. It's hot here today, but I'm in the shade of patio umbrella and it's not too bad. We still get a nice breeze. Before the umbrella shades this corner, the fir trees do, so the patio doesn't get very hot to radiate heat.

Last night I planted a garden by floodlight. How nice to work outside at night with all the nice night smells and fresh night air. The full moon was gorgeous, too! I'm trying to get a lot done with the plants before we leave for the weekend; that way, my MIL won't have to water anything but our smaller potted plants this weekend.

Congrats on getting down a size, Sara! I have, too - just tried on some 18's I got a month or two ago from a local Freecycle.org list member. They fit great! :D :D

Great job on the new pants Kimberly! It's so fun dropping sizes!
I wish Sam and I had our own house so we could do more gardening. We did a ton of gardening here already (we rent a duplex) but I don't plan on staying for too long, so digging up the yard in multiple places is not a very great idea when the next person will probably have zero desire to keep up with the weeds!
It's supposed to be in the low 90's here for the next week at least... it's so darn humid though, uugh. we hate it! It was so hot yesterday that the dog wouldn't even run when we took her to the park for a play date! Lexi and Wink (almost 4 month old Great Dane puppy belonging to a guy I work with) tumbled around and chewed on each other but niether of them did much running!
Have to go to work in about a half-hour so I need to get my face on now... hopefully it doesn't melt off!!!!! ha ha
Have a great day all!!!!