Queens Sashaying to Solstice in the Summer Palace

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  •   #136  
    Arabella's AvatarArabella , 06-17-2006 03:03 PM
    Kaylets, we asked the salesman about "normal wear and tear" and it sounded as if small things like that are expected. I'd ask, if I were you. I expect that eventual cost is related to depreciation here, too. Insurance seems to be exactly the same, at least here in Canada. I found some sites that mull over the issues:

    http://www.leaseguide.com/lease03.htm
    http://www.automotive.com/auto-loans...ar-buying.html

    WSW, thanks for the sympathy on the taxes! I find it very comforting to know I'm not the only one that finds doing them not only unpleasant but downright disturbing. Ugh. Kudos for you on using your time wisely, too... I love it when I do that. Had to push myself to vacuum and tidy today but now I've done it and things look and feel better. Of course, the house still really needs a deep clean but it seems more manageable now, in any case.

    4 p.m. and I'm just headed to the shower. Doing a few things before tai chi dinner and then will come home and relax. (chatty today, aren't I)
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  •   #137  
    Kaylets's AvatarKaylets , 06-17-2006 07:01 PM
    Thanks WoodsNymph, in fact, that one site is the one I was referring.

    And don't think for a moment that taxes are on my list of fun things....
    For too long, I pretty much only tried to think about them once a year.
    Now, I realize that's probably exactly what those politicians are hoping we'd all do.... not pay any attention. I am now feeling sheepish and like a sheep.... led .... but maybe I shouldn't get myself all fired up about politics when I am just now out of the shower ( Again, our paths are running neck and neck Woods Nymph)....

    DH is watching the US Golf Open while dinner cooks... figures I'd manage to only have a frozen 5 vegetable lasagna in the house. Takes aprx 1.5 hrs to cook. And we have 90 degree temps outside. So you can imagine what the 2nd floor of my house feels like w/ me pumping even more heat up the stairs!

    Go figure. I have no idea why I didnt think about dinner.....

    Ah well.....
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  •   #138  
    Arabella's AvatarArabella , 06-18-2006 09:46 AM
    Good morning, Queenlies!
    And happy Father's Day. 'Twill be a bittersweet one for me. I'm making a trip to the cemetery with my mom to put flowers on my dad's grave. I haven't usually gone -- one of my sisters has -- but I decided it would be a good thing to do this year. And my sister's not feeling up to par, so 'tis well that I'm going.

    I was, in the final analysis, glad I went to the tai chi dinner last night. There was a nice tribute to my friend who died. I still feel badly that I didn't know she was ill. I didn't see her outside of tai chi but she really was a bright and lively spirit. In her seventies, with flaming red hair, took yoga as well as tai chi. Yvonne was always game to try and would work very hard at getting the moves. She took fabulous trips: China, South America, etc. Took a boat up the Amazon. She had planned to go to Tibet next but grew too ill. She was always studying something: Buddhism, a language, or some new discipline. Cryptography was one of her current fascinations.

    I hope to increasingly follow her model as I age.

    Woke up at 5 this morning and slumped and read papers and drank coffee. Headed down to the harbour and did qi qong morning exercises looking out at the water. Then I ran through the paths in the woods and came back out for a set of tai chi.

    I came home and started pulling gone-to-seed forget-me-nots and weeds out of the flowerbeds. The lawn really needs mowing, so I hauled out the mower and gamely tugged the starter cord. No go. I remembered we've also got an electric mower in the shed and hauled it out. Plugged it in and -- wonder of wonders -- it worked! The cord needed unravelling though, and I was hungry so I went in to get brekkie. Went back out, unravelled the cord, plugged 'er back in and ... no go.

    I hope that DS will be able to come over and start one of them before he goes to work.

    Oh, I am long-winded this a.m. am I not. Will take pity on you now and go do some stuff.

    Avanti!
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  •   #139  
    Wildfire's AvatarWildfire , 06-18-2006 11:26 AM
    Hi!

    Did I hear my name? Someone must have been calling rather intently because it led me here.

    I see a 21 day challenge is in the works....sign me up, please!!! It is just what I need. I'm not quite in the "I've fallen and I can't get up" mode...more like "I've fallen, and you know...it's pretty comfortable down here" mode. Am maintaining, with half-hearted attempts at staying OP, and need to find my mojo again. Been journalling over here, which will fill you in on my life lately, but summer in the palace with such wonderful gals as yourselves would be lovely.

    Right now I have an important date with a magnolia tree that desperately needs a new 'do (before the neighbors declare it a natural disaster). I'll be back later!
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  •   #140  
    wsw's Avatarwsw , 06-18-2006 03:53 PM
    ah, so good to see you, wildfire!

    arabella-you often seem to remind me to do the things that are good for me, such as dusting off my tai chi videotape, which i finally did this morning. i also woke up woefully early again, and put on a meditation cd and it quickly soothed the overly-tired savage beast in me.

    i,too, would be up for a 21 day challenge! plateauing as i am, it would help give me a little motivational boost.

    well, this morning i got some errands done, and this afternoon, i am treating myself to watching a couple movies i rented. i also found myself in a bookstore earlier, and got a little poetry book, which i plan to enjoy later. my father died a long time ago, when i was very young, but i remember father's days fondly because my dad always gave my mother and me "me too" gifts, and they were always little things which would mean a lot to us . i was thinking about my dad today, and the little poetry book i got for myself was something very reminiscent of what he might have given me. well, i hope everyone has a good afternoon/evening. take care, royals, one and all.
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  •   #141  
    deleted2's Avatardeleted2 , 06-19-2006 05:42 AM
    Sorry for not checking in a while---time skitters away from me! Today I'm starting one of those jump-start kinda diets. [Don't worry, I'll be smart about it!] I'm feeling kind of scared about it, but it MUST be done. I feel like I have to do something drastic to get some weight loss started. And here's the truly insane part: We're having children's art camp this week and I get to make snacks for them and so I'll have my hands on junky kid food all week. This'll be a real trial by fire for me. If I can pull this one off I can do anything!

    If no one objects, may I post my food journal here for the week. Accountability, you know!

    Another workshop session tonight! Tonight's subject: dining out and making good [or better] choices and SABOTAGE by self and others. Should be interesting!
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  •   #142  
    Arabella's AvatarArabella , 06-19-2006 09:39 AM
    Fresh start Monday!
    Morning Queenies! Day from heck to start off another working week: Final conniptions of taxes involving dreaded trip to tax office. Another foray to seek expert advice before final sending, which I may put off until tomorrow as a means of spreading the joy out And I've got tons of work to do -- urgent updates, a load of stuff to get up to speed and online.

    But -- mom and I decided to wait until today for the trip to the cemetary because she wants to take me to a lobster supper afterwards and I didn't want to go the night before WI. So I've got that to look forward to and have sworn to leave work by 5:30, which will be good. Mmmm... lobster and salads and mussels, a glass of wine. I can happily forego the rolls and desserts, have a wonderful dinner and not destroy my diet.

    Today's at home WI has me down, but not an entire pound from ticker. Those 4-5 false pounds are gone but still feel as if I'm retaining some fluid. We shall see.

    Wildfire, how great to see you back! I'm going to post a 21-day challenge thread as soon as I get a chance. Thanks for posting the link to your journal -- and my sympathies for the passing of your beloved grandmother

    WSW, I'm really glad to be back at tai chi class. It's so beneficial. Why it's sometimes so hard to do those things, I just don't know Here's to health and wholeness!

    Eydie, I know what you mean about needing a jump-start! I did a low-carb, minimal salt thing yesterday and thought, well, I could probably extend this for a while and be all the better for it. Then, come the end of day, I succumbed to a couple of glasses of wine Ah well, better than cake or potato chips, huh.

    K, guess I should be working instead of complaining about it. Avanti!



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  •   #143  
    deleted2's Avatardeleted2 , 06-20-2006 06:21 AM
    June 19---Monday
    Coffee w/ ff 1/2 and 1/2
    2 scrambled egg sub w/ ff cheese
    1 sm. sprouted grain tortilla
    1 clementine

    6 oz. soy milk, strawberries, whey pro, 1 tbsp. flax seeds

    Kale soup
    soy 'riblets'
    1/2 cup grapes

    Big salad [spring mix, lots of vegs, 1 lite string cheese, soy, 'Chicken', 2 tbsp. lite Italian]

    apple

    Water: 8 glasses
    exercise: 40 min. Pilates
    starting weight: 148.8

    Tuesday Morning: weighed myself again this AM and I'm down a pound! I know it's a trick, but it's encouraging!
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  •   #144  
    anagram's Avataranagram , 06-20-2006 07:04 AM
    Congrats on a pound, Eydie. Wish I could do same.

    Got a decent day in yesterday wherein I met all my basic goals. All could stand improvement but at least I got all in. A string of one day - but we start at one day.

    Wildfire, my condolences re your dear grandmother. Be kind to yourself during your grieving and take as long about it as you need. I'm so glad you went back for the funeral and that you "found" your nearby kin.

    Still fighting the glooms. Not as bad. DS always takes some of that away. He's missing his Dad a lot. Said he thought about bringing flowers "but dad wasn't a flower kind of guy" and he heard him say "clean out the gutters instead" so he did that and said "there's your father's day present, Dad".

    Sympathizing on the paperwork, Kaylets and Wood Nymph. Discovered something yesterday that I had not yet taken care of. Called - automated of course, and was overwhelmed by what I need to do to take care of one little piece of business. Back burner. And I messed up on one item on state tax return which has lead me to complications. Sigh! Considering everything, I've accomplished a lot (paperworkwise) the last five months but there has been SO much. And I thought I was sharp as a tack and making decisions wisely, etc. I'm beginning to realize I'm still in a fog and I'm lucky (so far) I didn't make even more mistakes and that I've put off some decisions that were not absolutely necessary to be made then. According to the grief groups I went to, all of this/that is perfectly normal but I'd like to be out of my fog and have a little more "progress". It will come - I've always been a tad impatient.

    So, ready or not, here comes Tuesday!
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  •   #145  
    Arabella's AvatarArabella , 06-20-2006 08:04 AM
    Yup, here-we-go Tuesday!
    I had SUCH a lovely evening with my mom last night. We picked flowers and took them out to the cemetary, which felt meaningful to do. Decorated both my dad's grave and maternal grandparents' with bouquets of lilac, bluey-purple lupins and pale pink peonies -- they looked lovely.

    Then we took a different route to North Rustico to the lobster supper to avoid roadwork. And we didn't exactly know the way and didn't find any really helpful signs, which meant that for about two hours we dipsy-doodled uphill and down and around harbours and rivers, past fields full of multicolored lupins, picturesque little villages and along shore roads. If we'd been able to videotape it, it would have made a pretty compelling film for the tourism deparment. Mom's famous last words, as we took the first unknown turn, was "How lost can we get on PEI?" Well, we gave finding out a good shot! But had a lot of fun and eventually made it to dinner.

    Which was FABULOUS! 60-ft salad bar with lots of great choices, mussels, lobster. At the front I saw fish-shaped wine bottles. When I was young and babysitting I saw one of those and thought it was so neat. Hadn't seen another, although I looked from time to time. Anyway, they serve house wine in them and then you can keep the bottle. We bought an extra one so we'd each have a momento. AND my mom and I pretty much split the bottle! I've never seen her even have a second glass. Oh, we had fun! My mom has a talent for having fun, I must say.

    According to WI yesterday, I was down 1.6 from last WI (which was 3 wks. ago -- ah well, I could easily have been up) for a total of 16.4 since March 20. Scale discrepancy, though, between that and home. Which means I don't get to change my ticker yet. But -- hey! I'm on the edge of the next "decade" and closing in on 20 pounds at WW. Shall award self banana:

    Anagram, me too -- the smallest detail with that kind of stuff feels overwhelming to me for some reason. Here's to getting that pesky "paperwork" out of our lives again for a while I'm hoping to wind things up on my end today. Ugh. (Can't seem to talk about it without using "Ugh" as punctuation And rolling my eyes -- oh, I could go on...)

    WSW, I enjoyed your recollections of your dad and the gifts -- sweet! I remember our dad giving us pennies for each potato bug we gathered up from his gardens as we trailed along behind him.

    Eydie, WTG on the pound down! A pound down is a pound down, I say!

    K, dovies. I must away. Work, and I haven't gotten in my exercise yet. Think I'll go over to the gym.

    AVANTI!
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  •   #146  
    wsw's Avatarwsw , 06-20-2006 12:25 PM
    eydie-congrats on your pound down! seeing you journaling your food reminds me i have become a bit lax with my journaling the past few days, and need to be more diligent about writing down every morsel, since that is what works best for me.

    anagram-taking care of all the paperwork you have done in these past many months must indeed have been daunting, and enervating, let alone dealing with all the emotion connected with it. it takes a lot of energy to deal with all of that, and it sounds like you have, and are continuing to, deal with it with your usual grace, courage, and tenacity.

    wildfire-sorry to hear of the loss of your grandmother. my thoughts are with you.

    arabella-congrats on your 1.6 pound down! sounds like your envening with your mom was lovely-i'm glad.

    i am going to high tea on friday with a friend at a local inn, which sounds like so much fun. i had heard about this place, but have never attended, so am really looking forward to it. another friend of mine who knows how much i love tea, and the whole ceremony of serving it, said this will be right up my alley. (i have been to high tea before, but not for many, many years!) i have even picked out what i am going to wear, and for me to decide several days in advance means i must be looking forward to it.! well, royals, hope it is a good day for everyone. i'm thinking of you amarantha, kaylets, frogger, ceara, and all our royals, mentioned or -un. take care.
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  •   #147  
    Amarantha2's AvatarAmarantha2 , 06-20-2006 11:17 PM
    Hi, s ... wonderful to see all o' ye here. I am not much fun these days ... lots o' stuff goin' wrong, seemingly all at once. Icing on the cake tonight was getting a $1788 bill the insurance denied for some reason ... I will call them tomorrow and find out but they never change their minds ... oh well ... it will get paid someday ... I think I should cancel medical insurance as what good is it?

    Sorry for the negativity ... very bummed but would like ot add a woo-hoo to E for the pound down and to all s who are doin' well. I don't seem to be .. except I did lose .60 and am back in the 130s.

    E, great to see your food journal ... always enjoy you doin' that!

    I keep fallin' asleep ... Arabella, please post the 21-day challenge ... if you post it,they will come! I'll check back! Woo-hoo to all!    [/b]
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  •   #148  
    anagram's Avataranagram , 06-21-2006 12:04 PM
    Had a "pleasant surprise" weigh in this morning to end the "sashay". Now, I'm only UP 10 pounds from my lowest since joining 3C.

    I see Arabella has posted the new thread so I'll think about my goals for the first block and post later.
    Reply
  •   #149  
    Arabella's AvatarArabella , 06-21-2006 12:57 PM
    Me too! I'm stuck at a four pound loss for the solstice challenge. Could have been worse, I guess.

    I'm totally swamped (and dealing with getting crap moved out of our very cellaresque basement makes me think of swamp creatures and etc. Ugh -- why does that word seem appropriate so often lately?). Got to get a lot of work done ahead because have to drive 3.5 hours to niece's wedding on Friday and then those same 3.5 hours back afterwards.

    And absolutely need to get tax issues finished this week.

    Feel like I need a week at a spa to make up for having to do everything I'm doing this week. And for someone to come in and clean my house top-to-bottom while I'm gone...

    Hope to be back in a better frame of mind later....
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  •   #150  
    frogger's Avatarfrogger , 07-21-2006 12:58 PM
    Still at a 10 lb loss!!! I can't believe it!

    HI ALL!!!! Long time no talkie...

    Looking for a new job (still here same place) I continue to feel very unwelcome and my doctor has even suggested that I am showing signs of depression. She was like, whatever it is, NIP IT IN THE BUD!!! All I want to do is sleep, and I cry at the drop of a hat. I'm all kinds of things all at once, and I'm starting to stay physically sick. (Cold/flu symptoms)

    I have a phone interview on tuesday so I'm looking for 2 things. $$ and anything other than crap work. I'd take less $$ for my sanity...

    I'm trying to catch up on everyone. How are you girls?

    You should see my little tadpole. She'll be 2 in two months. Daddy has already taught her to count to 3. Then she says 5. 1-2-3-5

    Love to you all!
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