Claire--Before I started staying home last Januart, I had been working as a medical biller. The job was really fun at first, but then the mental and verbal abuse started in between the two sisters that owned the company. They were absolutely horrible, but nothing could be done since they were the owners, and it was a smaller company, but it was only one mile from my home, and that's what kept me there for so long. My DH finally wanted me to quit because he felt I was headed for a nervous breakdown very soon. It's so amazing how being under so much stress can really affect your health! Since not working anymore, I hardly ever get sick and I feel so much better mentally and physically.:D I sure hope things get better for you with your DH. My grandpa became an alcoholic after he retired and had too much time on his hands. I felt so sorry for my grandma, and I don't know how she did it, but she handled things very well with lots of praying. He was never physical, but very verbal, which can be just as harmful. I'm glad you're able to get to meetings and associate with other people going through the same situations.:hug:

Kempy--Hello to you also, and I look forward to getting to know you too!;)

Angie--So do you guys get humidity like the midwest? I was born in Iowa, and I still go back there during some summers for visits, and that humidity is a big killer!:devil: Last summer, my DD and I went back for six weeks, and I didn't know from day to day how I was going to make it, except for the AC was my lifesaver!:p

Hello, hello ladies! Whew what a busy day! I was working hard today an a 1000 piece mail out which is kind of the "kick off" for the campaign for the new shelter. Fun, fun!! I have a meeting with my boss tonight about possibly taking on some more work on some of her other projects. For these ones I can work from home, bonus!!! :D

Michelle - Welcome!!! :welcome3: We're glad to have you! I am 27 y.o., married, no kids, 3 cats at home and a horse boarded at a barn about an hour away from where I live. I am currently working part time as an admin assistant for a consultant who is working on a capital campaign for a new building at the local Humane Society. I worked for the Society in animal care for the last two years until this spring.

Claire - I sure hope you and your DH get things together. :hug: Yes, I fdo own my horse. He is a 6 y.o. Morgan/Thoroughbred cross, I've had him for about a year. I have been riding a lot lately, and it has been great!

Kempy - I think I'm abot to hop on the WW bandwagon too. I got on the scale this A.M. and hit 238, my all-time high. Grrrrr. I was so gung-ho when I joined, somehow, I've just lost track! WW is just up the street from me though, and now that I am working again, I can afford to join. Just have to get off my butt and do it!

Angie - Damn! I wish the Wendy's near me would close.... and all fast food joints for that matter! Of course, I am in a fairly large city, so hmmm I think it's asking a bit much!

Noelle - Did yor dogs get their baths? I had to bathe my foster kittens the other night. The had diarrhea spread from one end of the bathroom to the other, not to mention all over themselves. 2 hours to clean up the bathroom and kittens, grrrrrr! Why am I doing this again?

Alright girlies I have to go get ready for my meeting, and i think I am going to try and scoot out to the barn again tonight for a ride! Have a good one!!!

Hey ladies, does anyone have any Advil? :headache: I spent most of the morning at a City Council meeting in regard to the affordable housing condo they want to build in my backyard. It's not good news...the zoning committee voted 3 for and 2 against the exemptions the developer needs to get started. They will open the vote to the full 9 member council at a later date. This is scary and downright disappointing. I think all these politicians just see the word "affordable" and they close their minds to the issues that we, the community that will be affected have and just put their rubber stamp OK on everything. It's not like we're asking for the project NOT to be built, we're just asking the developer to downsize it a bit--it's a 12 story (105' high) building immediately behind my backyard. I am feeling so disgusted right now about it. That will not stop us from writing more letters in oppostion though. I spent the weekend faxing over 250 signed documents from my neighbors opposing the project. I hope it jammed up the council's fax machine and the memory too. What really gets me is that the developer is touting this project as a way to alleviate the overcrowding in this community--the only thing wrong with that is that the project is not limited for sale to those in this community. Anyone living anywhere on the island who qualifies for a unit will be considered, not just those already living in the community (i.e. those renting instead of owning). That means, this project could bring in 600--900+ MORE people from the outside communities. That is just plain dumb that they don't see that as a problem. *sigh*

I'm sorry if I just came here to dump on you guys...but thanks for listening and being there. :hug:

p.s. Claire, you're welcome ;) The boat engine is getting worked on (and should be done in the next day or two), so another trip for us as a family this time will be in order. The mechanic recommends doing a couple of soft runs to break the engine in before the long-haul trip from Kona to Honolulu... I can't wait--this I'm actually excited for. I'm sending you good vibes on getting a great new assistant to help you out. Why is it so hard to find good people that want to work???

Angie, I knew that necklace would look good because the guy who sold it to me made me try one on...and when I chose the pink one, he said to make sure I give it away as a gift like I intended and not to keep it for myself. :lol: I may just go back to the guy and buy myself one, it is cute.

Kempy, glad you got your gift too. Enjoy!

LadyT, the dogs did get their baths and they spent most of the night trying to cower under my sister's bed, poor things :lol:. The silly cat outside however, has no fear whatsoever of fireworks and seemed quite fascinated watching the fountains of fire. The loud noises did not bother him in the slightest--I thought that was so weird :lol: Cool beans on getting extra work for bonus $$$... You love those kittens, that's why you do the messy clean-up...they love ya for it.

Michelle, it can be really hard working for a family owned business--I used to work for a father and his two sons....talk about differences of opinion! And big daddy was the blustery type who's word was law and written in stone :rolleyes:. I used to work directly for one of the brothers and got caught in the middle of some sticky family disagreements with the business, not fun! You're lucky to be able to enjoy staying home.

Dips, what's the word girlfriend...let me guess....you found another hottie and your time is being spent getting to know each other... (whaddya think girls, do you think that will get her out here posting?) :lol: :devil:

Well, I gotta get my payroll in...it's almost quitting time. Be back tomorrow for more chit-chat. Have a good evening.

Good Morning Ladies!!! It is actually cool and cloudy today for a change. Of course that didnt stop me from sweating my butt off on my walk. :lol:

Claire, Good Luck finding another assistant. When we got Rebel(a JRT) I didnt know how bad he would shed but my word it is alot!! When we take him for walks(twice a day) we have a ritual at the turnaround spot he will sit in the road to get us to stop and then he jumps up for kisses and while he is there me and Jay will pull out all his loose hair on his back and I have to say he isnt slowing down on the shedding any and he isnt bald yet either. :LOL:

Michelle, Yes we have been having a really humid summer this year. My air in the house is cranked up all the time this year. The bakery is so hot and humid though and the air cant keep up with that while we work so we dont have any in there.

LT, I feel ya with the kitty diarrhea. Puddin my Ragdoll has that problem when her food gets switched. She still hasnt totally recovered from the switch to adult cat food. If she gets worse again I dont know what to do...she just got done with a 3 week course of Albon which took care of it right after we got her and her food was switched. I bet those kittens remember you for life.

Noelle, I am so sorry that you guys cant do anything about the size of the building. I would be so mad too. I cant even imagine the extra noise and problems that will result from that many people living so closely to you.

My daughter wants a necklace too. I had to fight her off yesterday when she saw it. :lol: Do they have a websight where I could buy some more? I tried to find one but didnt have any luck.

HAHAHA My Mom just called to ask if I wanted her to come over and weed my garden for me. Of course I do I said. I wont do it. :lol: So I guess Saturday I will be weeding with her and Clyde. :lol:

Good morning ladies.....it's a laundry day for me and of course it's raining--sunny as heck, but still raining steadily. Weird Hawaiian weather. Oh well, I'll use the dryer today :s:

Angie, the necklace was made by a local "real" Hawaiian guy and he sells them at the swap meet. I can easily go down there on a weekend and get you another one (we go there at least once a month anyway). I think he has two different styles of flowers plus some inital pendants, I believe the one you got was a plumeria design, he also has a little larger one of a hibiscus flower. I will try and go and take a digital pic of what he has and show you. You can see other styles of necklaces online, but most of those are acrylic or shell and made in China. This one was made in Hawaii out of Koa wood (a tree endemic to Hawaii) and made by Hawaiian hands. You can find a type of necklace on ebay, type in 'koa pendant' or koa necklace. I don't think those are as nice as the one you got though ;) Let me know if you want me to go shopping for you.

Hi to everyone....the washer is calling. :wave:

Hey Noelle, That sounds great if it isnt any inconvenience to ya.

Where is everyone today??? Kempy, I want to hear how your weekend and birthday went.

Ok, now that I have time to sit down and write about my b-day. To be honest I messed up this year. We had the family over Friday and I started to drink some wine. Well, the night went on and I ended up drinking a whole bottle. Well, at 11 PM I went into the front yard and could hear some friends of ours that live kind of behind our subdivision. They were cutting up and being loud so Joe and I went over there. And, I had a little bit more to drink. We stayed there until 4 in the morning and of course we were hungry so we ate at Waffle House. (good drunk food) We didn't get to bed until 5 AM So, I ended up paying for it on Saturday. Yup, I spent my whole b-day in bed feeling sick. I guess it serves me right. I should have only had one glass and stopped but I didn't. It was a fun few weeks but I am ready to get back on the wagon and lose more weight.

Michelle now I can tell you about myself. I am a self employed, married no children 32 y/old. I do have 2 labs and a cat so I do have some furry children. I do Electrolysis for a living but it seems like I am only working part time. I really would like more clients but I will take what I have now. I have been doing WW since Jan and have lost 20 lbs (added 2 over the past 2 weeks though). I really like it and think it works if you work it right. (I think Noelle just said that didn't she)

Noelle did you guys bring up the fact about the added traffic and that it wouldn't be just the people in your area able to live there? I am sure you did but I was just asking.

LT isn't it amazing that it will just come back so fast when you least expect it. I am luck that it is only 2 lbs that I put back on before I started again. Still that is 2 that I don't want back.

Claire I am such a bad emotional eater. In fact yesterday was really hard for me b/c I was bored and it was raining. (finally) So, I thought it would be good to just eat. I did stay in my points but it was really hard and I ate about 3 sugar free popsciles. I think that is the only thing that saved me.

Well guys I need to figure out something to eat for dinner. I have no idea what to eat plus, I havn't gone to the store so I know there relaly isn't anything in there. I guess I will ahve to throw a few things together and hope for the best.

Oh my gosh Kempy, I feel bad for you. I bet you will know not to drink so much next time huh? :lol: I forgot to ask the other day but how did Daisy do in the garage?

Not much going on for me today I just wanted to bump us off from page 2.

Hey guys. It sure is quite here today.

Anige she did good except that she is a digger. My two don't do that so it is a pain that I now have to fill in the holes. Thankfully I have some top soil left over from a project. She is HUGH though. She is much taller than Echo just not as fat. I am sure she will put on wieght once she has her first heat. I am sure they are going to fix her but I think they are waiting for that to show up first. You know, put it off as long as possible.

Not too much going on today. I just walked in the door from work. I am beat though. I didn;t get much sleep last night and I was really busy yesterday so I think I might take a quick map before I walk the dogs. (and give them a bath) I hope to see some post later.

Hey ladies, TGIF eh? I am in the office today, not in the mood to work of course... I got all my laundry done yesterday--and put away! That is a record for me. I usually have at least one basket of clean clothes lying around until the next laundry day. I even did my linens and cleaned off my bureau so it's all nice and neat. When I have no control over what goes on around me I have this weird clean-streak going on. I guess it's from that stupid condo project. Anywho, I am looking forward to catching Pirates of the Caribbean tonight :hyper:. I just love watching Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom :love:

I just watched this stupid/funny movie on DVD last night called "Grandma's Boy". I needed that laugh, even if it was gross humor. Anyone have any movie recommendations? I need to add to my Netflix queue.

Kempy, at least you enjoyed the night before your b-day immensely....it's been a long time since I've gotten plastered :lol: I don't miss the hangovers ;) Hey, if you're up on the wagon can you pull me on up? I can't seem to get a good foot-hold there. :mcd: <---- I had this for lunch :ink:

Angie, so what are your plans for this weekend? Or are you just working right on through?

OK ladies, y'all need to come out and make some noise around here--keep me awake while I'm at work, ya know? :lol: Have a good day!

Noelle I say that I am on the wagon. I have been making sure that I can still have my ice cream at night. I still have not been able to get myself to workout though. I have those new TaeBo DVD's and I havn't even put them in the machine. It is just so hot right now all I want to do is lay on the sofa. I usually go through a depression in the summer and winter but I am trying to fight this one. I know what you mean about cleaning. I do the same thing. I have a SERIOUS probelm with luandry. IT really drives Joe crazy too. We have a big luandry room so the clothes usually stay there. All of the hang up stuff is layed flat and for some reason I can't get them out of there the moment I take them out of the dryer. I have had this issue for as long as I can remember though so I guess it just isn't going away. Oh well. Sorry no movie recs. We usually just catch what comes on HBO or the other movie channels. We really aren't theater people. We like to sit around in our undrewear. :lol:

Good Morning. I gotta go get my walk over with but I wanted to check in and post my weigh in. DOWN 2.3 Pounds!!! WOOHOO!!!! Slowly but surely I will get there and hopefully I will stay there this time!!!! :lol:

I will be back later to post replys.

I just got done washing the dogs. I didn't do it yesterday. I seemed to find other things to do. I really need to start cleaning the house. You know, the normal weekend routine. Today clean and tomorrow cut the grass. I love the grass part though so I don't complain. I usually get mad if Joe does it when I am at work. Weird I know.

Angie GREAT JOB!!! Isn't WW great. I love that I can eat what I want and still lose. I am almost to were I was 2 weeks agao. I have 1.5 lbs to go. I am sure I will be there as long as I take this weekend and do what I am supposed to do. This is usually when I freak out and eat everything in site. We are staying home and I already know what I am cooking for dinner so I should be ok. Joe's friend from FL is here and he loves my red beans and rice so that is on the menu along with corn bread. He is so easy to please when it comes to food.

I hope you guys check in today.

Hi All!! I really should be out in the bakery baking but I am sitting here finding ways to put it off. :lol: I hate it when I do that. I should have went out right after my shower and I would have it all done before jay gets home and we have to start the donuts but now I am going to have to cram it all together.

Kempy, I have never ran the lawnmower. I should because we have a big yard and it would be great exercise but I will pay the kids to do it. :lol: I helped my Mom and Claudia weed my vegetable garden yesterday and I had sweat running down my legs. I got queasy at one point. YUCK!! Next year I am doing a smaller one. :lol:

Well, I have checked in so now I dont have any excuse for why I am not out working. :lol: I hope more people get a chance to post. Did we lose everybody?

Well Angie, it looks lie it might just be you and I here right now. I wonder where everyone went.

I wish I had a place for a veggie patch but the deck takes up so much room. Even if we do stay we are going to get a pool so, still no garden. I am going to do an herb garden next year though. I am tired of buying them all the time.

The yard is cut and I am inside thinking about taking a nap. A lazy Sunday afternoon. Joe is watching the Wrold Cup and that really dosen't intrest me that much.

I hope more of you guys come out and chat.