Amber's Best Life Journal

[Foxfiregrrl]

Hi, everyone!! Happy New Year!

I have been here on the WISH boards working on my weight loss for two years now. The first year I started out great, then work stress got me and I put most of the weight back on. Starting 2007, I was still down 10 pounds or so from my starting weight of 205. I piddled a lot last year though and never really got on track. I was managing to stay around 190 for most of the second half of the year though. UNTIL the holidays...:sad2: then I just went wild. I'm back up to 202.4 as of today :guilty:

2008 is going to be different though!! :cool1: :cool1: I feel energized and really ready to begin this journey!! :cheer2: I have a basic plan and feel really good about the fact that a lot of the people around me are wanting to work on their health this year also.

I'm gonna give a few basic facts about me, then I will do a new post with my resolutions/diet goals.

I am 29, married, with no children. I am a full time social worker. I will hopefully be going back to college to get my masters degree starting in May. We also have been talking about starting a family for the last two years now. We were going to start trying this past September, but then I found out that I could go back to school. So that delayed us some. I am now hoping to start trying toward the end of the year (school will only take one year). I want to lose the weight and get healthier before getting pregnant though.

So that is a little about me. I really could use all of the support that I can get, so PLEASE join me on this incredible journey!:hug:

[Foxfiregrrl]

So these are my goals/resolutions:

1. Workout a minimum of three times a week for thirty minutes each. Ultimately/Ideally get up early and workout most mornings Monday through Friday and still do a workout on the weekend.

2. Eat three well portioned meals a day and one or two healthy snacks. Eat more Fruits and Veggies. Try to get a minimum of 3 servings of veggies and 2 fruits a day.

3. Stop eating at least two hours before bedtime.

4. No Alcohol for at least the first month but according to the Best Life I'm supposed to cut it out for the first two phases which is at least 2 months...:scared: we'll just have to wait and see on that one.

5. Take at least 5 yoga classes (getting a 5 class GC for a belated Christmas gift). I've been wanting to do yoga for awhile now and just haven't.

6. weigh in at least once a week and measure monthly. My official starting weight is 202.4 :eek: (I kept thinking to myself that I wouldn't get back over 200 and I weighed myself daily for the last week and a half, but then I hit 200 over the weekend :sad2: ) I haven't measured yet. I will try to do that later today.

I have read through a good bit of the Best Life Diet book and I am going to kind of use it as a guide and my minimum guidelines. I am really ready to kick it into gear and get motivated.

The girls in my unit at work are all talking about doing a unit challenge and working together to loose weight. They are talking about regular weigh ins, taking walk breaks, and maybe taking turns bringing in a healthy lunch periodically. So, I'm hoping that will help me some. Two of them go to the gym several mornings a week. I am seriously trying to decide if that is a commitment that I can make...

DH has agreed to exercise on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and one or both weekend days. So that should get my minimum days in. I also recorded several 25 minute workouts from Fitday and am going to try getting up and doing those in the mornings for a couple of weeks. If that goes well, then I am definitely going to join the gym that my coworkers go to. If I don't end up getting up early (hmm... I really shouldn't give myself the option:rolleyes1 ) then I will most likely still join the gym, but I may end up having to commit to going by myself mostly. Because the girls only go in the AM and Dh has said that he doesn't want to join at this time. He has said that I can join if I want to though. I'm only reluctant because it costs twice what our last gym was. However, this one is Super nice w/ an indoor pool, walking track, and all the other usual stuff. They also have a raquetball court, which I really enjoy, but there is an extra fee for that.

For my diet, I haven't set any exact diet plan. I may go by the menus that are in the BLD bk, but I haven't decided yet. In the first phase it really just has you eat 3 meals plus a snack daily and doesn't restrict calories or specify foods to cut or add. I think that I am mostly past that because I already eat my 3 meals. I do usually skip the healthy snack though and I know it will help to put it back and keep me from getting too hungry.

My main food goal will be to increase my fruits and veggies so that what I'm eating is healthier. Also a main component that really helps me is to plan our dinners out ahead of time. I am also going to try to make an effort to plan my lunches to give me a variety so that I'm not as likely to want to eat out. DH & I did sit down Sunday and plan enough meals for the next two weeks. We don't plan the day, but just the recipes that we want to make. Also most recipes will cover two meals which helps since we both work. I think that as long as the meals are healthy and balanced and I watch my portions then I should be fine on calories. If I start to struggle though, I will begin counting everything.

I have also joined the Biggest Loser Challenge thread here on WISH.

I really want to make the commitment and feel that I need a lot of accountability. So, please join me AND get on to me if you see me slipping!!

So, I think that is it for the start. I will check in later with my first day. It's 1pm already and we are just rising from our drunken stupor, so it may not be much to report :rolleyes1 Today is exercise day though, so something will be done!

Have a WONDERFUL first day of the year!!! :hippie:

[Foxfiregrrl]

DAY 1:

I have to admit that for all my thinking about what my plan would be... I failed to plan for today very well :confused3 I think I managed to not do too bad.

Thing is we had friends over last night, drank a LOT, and stayed up til 5am :eek: and during that time I had dinner around 8pm then a snack at 4am, but nothing else. So, when I got up today I was HUNGRY! And we had planned to do our shopping today, so there wasn't really much in the house :sad2:

So here is what I ate:
B - cereal w/ milk (very late)
l - 75% of a double patty frisco burger, small bowl of chili, side salad w/ 2 cherry tomatos, cucumbers and half the light ranch, coffee w/ way too much sugar (trying to cover up the bad flavor :rolleyes: ), water
s - one piece of toffee
d - Red beans and rice (dh is making it w/ low fat sausage)

So, we went out for lunch, but I was somewhat proud of myself. I Really wanted to order cheese fries, but got the salad instead. Plus I normally would have taken the cucumbers and tomatoes off of the salad. Today I decided to try eating them and they weren't half bad :confused3 who knew? :thumbsup2 So, I'm making some choices that over time will lead to better health, if I do them consistantly. Ultimately I shouldn't have gotten the burger, but it was what I really wanted. I should have stopped at half, but I was way too hungry when I started.

Exercise: 25 minutes of Total Body Sculpt w/ Gilad from FitTV

Dh had said Sunday that he would exercise with me today because it was Tuesday, but then he backed out on me. I came VERY close to just skipping it myself because I'm So tired from staying up all night. BUT, I read Millenium Mickey's journal and was inspired to get off my duff! So thanks to her I went upstairs and let Gilad totally kick my butt! :headache: The one I did today was SO hard!

So, I'm off to an ok start. I know that I have to work on my food, but I got good food at the grocery store. So now I'm stocked up and ready to go :cheer2:

Ok, I promise to try not to Always be this long winded :hippie:

[lindalinda]

Congrats on joining the biggest loser challenge. I think it will be very good for you, and keep you focused. I was just looking thru the thread to see what it involved. Having some support at work sounds good too, so good luck for the new year!


I know I am really old when I see a post about staying up til 5am. I have no memory of the last time I did that, am thinking it was more than a decade ago!:rotfl:


:hippie:

[Foxfiregrrl]

Believe me it had been a WHILE since I had stayed up that late too! I'm still paying for it, too!

Today started off BAD!! DH woke me up to say that the water wasn't working and the well out back had frozen. Well, this was our fault because we still haven't done anything to weather proof the well, but we also hadn't realized that it was going to be that cold last night. There wasn't even frost on the windshield of my car either :confused3 His work isn't very flexible and mine is so he made me deal with it.... Gee thanks.

I ended up defrosting the pipes w/ a heating pad. LUCKILY, nothing was busted and once it defrosted everything was fine :woohoo: :woohoo: That was definitely :wizard: So, my dad gave me some insulation to wrap it with and I covered it with a tarp. It is getting down to the low 20s again tonight so we will leave a faucet dripping for safe measure too. We are going to build a building around it this weekend though.

So, I tried not to let that throw off my food plan for the day. It did just a little, but not in too bad a way. I ended up eating lunch at like 3pm and having my snack as part of lunch. Then I also failed to set out the ground deer for dinner. My parents called DH though to tell him they had some sausage they cooked that was too hot for them (he Loves hot food). So, we had that instead of spaghetti :rolleyes1 It doesn't really equate, but it was a time saver. The sausage wasn't even hot... I think they just try to find excuses to feed us :thumbsup2 I'm not complaining though.

So Food:
B - Kashi w/ light soy milk, coffee w/ 2 tsp sugar (trying to work on this again :sad2: )
S - Banana (was supposed to be part of breakfast, but I was too busy)
L - chicken sandwich, fruit and nut trail mix
D- sausage on wheat bread, black eyed peas, corn
Total calories- 1409

Oh, yeah, I ended up snacking on a banana after supper last night :thumbsup2

Exercise.... none, unless you count 10 or more trips back and forth to my well which is 150 ft from my house :rolleyes: I wasn't really planning any exercise for today though.

k, that is it for tonight. Tomorrow I have to make a Long drive and probably won't get home til 8:30 or 9pm, so I probably won't log on. Oh, yeah, we start our work weight loss challenge Monday. We will all put in $10 and the winner gets it :)

See ya friday!

[Foxfiregrrl]

Yesterday I did pretty good on food but did not get in any exercise because of my long road trip.

Food:
B- kashi w/ soy, coffee
S- Banana
L- shepard's pie
D- chicken sandwich, grapes, slimfast optima bar, 12 oz coke (this was my on the road meal - a compromise that still allowed me to stop and buy some road food because I am bad about wanting to eat junk on the road :confused3 )
S - hot chocolate
Total - 1570

Today:
I took three of my foster kids ice skating as a treat. They had never been before & I have only been a few times. The skating session was for 2.5 hours and we stayed the whole time. They took awhile, but eventually all got a fairly good hang of it. I skated a good bit, but also spent a lot of time helping the youngest. I'm counting it as a 30 minute workout for today :yay: Especially since I fully expect to have difficulty walking tomorrow :scared: MAN those skates HURT!

Food:
B- kashi w/ soy
S- fruit & nut mix
L- veggie soup, whole wheat english muffin sandwich, grapes
D- Applebee's WW confetti chicken, side salad w/ lite ranch
Total - about 1400
I will probably have some hot tea in a bit.... it is COLD tonight!!

Overall I think I'm doing pretty well with my foods. I know that I have to try to get some variety in there or I will burn out on some of my foods. I stepped on the scale this morning and was down 1.6 pounds!! :woohoo: :woohoo: Now if I can just get more consistent with my exercise I'll be rockin' :cheer2:

I have not had any alcohol since Monday night (or should I say early Tuesday morning ;) ) and I'm proud of myself. Tonight was hard though! I wanted some pretty bad when I got off of work, even though I had a pretty good day. Then DH and I went out for dinner and he got beer :mad: the beer doesn't bother me too much because I'm not a beet drinker, but it is just the point. Really that didn't bother me as much as the two tables near us having wine. I just wanted some and saying that I'm not allowed made it worse. I think that it is like the sweet tea challenge though, once I've been without for a couple of weeks I won't even miss it.

K, have a great weekend!!

[Foxfiregrrl]

Good Evening! Gonna start w/ the facts, then the news.

Food:
B - none ... slept in
L- meatball sandwich on whole grain, minestrone soup
s- square of chocolate and mini snicker (parents :sad2: kept trying to give me junk food :sad2: )
d- chicken & corn chowder w/ whole grain bread for dipping popcorn::
total - 1444 not really sure how much the meatballs or the bread was, but that is the Fitday estimate.
I bought the bread at Panera for us to use w/ the soup and leftover meatballs.

Exercise:
30 minute kickboxing video :yay: (it kicked Dh's butt :laughing::cool2: )

So, we had a pretty good day today. We started out both in really bad moods, but we got over it. We did our exercise first thing and got it out of the way. We were suposed to take down all of our christmas decorations today, but ended up goofing off too long and only took down the small tree upstairs. I guess we will do the big tree tomorrow. I'm not looking forward to it... I hate putting up the decorations.

So, my parents called Wednesday and said that they made reservations w/ their timeshare company to go to Las Vegas in March and wanted to know if we would like to go with them. I told them that Dh & I would talk it over. It was kind of a hard decision for us. We had spent two days there on our trip out west in 2004 and wanted to go back, but we were really wanting to go somewhere out of the country this year. And somewhere we had never been. But this was going to be really easy and fairly cheap (since they already paid for the room), plus I know that my parents like to travel w/ people and it can be hard to find good traveling companions. I hopefully will start school in May too so it is important that we take a vacation kind of early in the year. Anyway, we finally decided and...:rockband: WE'RE GOING TO VEGAS!! :woohoo: :woohoo: It's going to be the first week of March, so we don't have a whole lot of time to plan it... but then again there isn't much to plan... eat, drink, gamble, watch free shows, shop :thumbsup2 We spent most of our day over at their house talking about it. We've gotta get plane tickets, but I told my parents to wait a bit because I'm hoping that the price will go down a little.

So, that was my exciting and fun day today! I'm gonna check journals and then get to looking up Vegas info :hippie:

[mom2alix]

Hi Amber! Just checking in. You're doing such a great job journaling. I have a hard time keeping up with a journal. It looks like you're really motivated to start the year off right!

[Foxfiregrrl]

Hey! Thanks for coming by! I have started out very strong with my journaling... the trick is to keep it up. A lot of times I get busy during the week and let it slide then I just keep sliding. NOT THIS YEAR! :cheer2:

k, so far today has been iffy... we were supposed to get up and exercise, but my ankle is still sore from ice skating so I opted to take a rest day today. We did walk over to my grandmas for lunch and back, but that is probably less that a quarter mile total :confused3 better than nothing I guess.

Food so far was:
L- Very small slice of baked chicken, boiled potatoes, green beans, small bite of rutabegas (yuck), wheat bread w/ butter, one slice of fried eggplant, 2 glasses sweet tea :sad2:
S? - coffee w/ sugar and soy milk

Not sure what dinner will be :confused3

We are almost finished with taking down all the Christmas stuff. I just have a couple more things to do and then put the boxes away. DH is working on his computer because when the guys were over for New Year's he ended up with a virus :eek: so he's having to reformat or something like that. I'm probably going to spend the rest of my day looking at stuff about Vegas :thumbsup2 I looked at shows last night... Geez they are expensive! Mom looked at roller coasters and was talking about that at lunch. So now I've gotta go look at them :)

Later!

[lindalinda]

Amber vegas sounds great! Esp. if you get to do it for kind of a "budget" vacation. Hopefully you can find a cheap airfare.

I have never been but lots of my friends have. I am not a gambler at all, so I skip it. However they have told me about the other stuff. The roller coaster and one of those rides that shoot you up in the air and drop you are ON TOP OF A REALLY TALL SKYSCAPER. Let me know if you can do them. I know I am too chicken, I love rollercaosters, but the height thing would totally freak me out!


I am gonna make a huge assumption here also, that you guys might like the Star Trek Experience. My friends really love that. And of course theres lots of shows and stuff. I bet you guys will have a blast!


:hippie:

[DisDee]

Hi Amber, You're doing an awesome job with your journaling and commitment. Keep up the good work! A trip to Vegas sounds like fun! DH and I throw that idea around now and then, but still haven't gotten there. We're pretty close to Atlantic City, but the 2 cities can't be compared.

Have yourself a great week! Denise

[Foxfiregrrl]

Hi, guys! Thanks for stopping by, DisDee!

I am home for lunch and had to post. I had to leave work really quickly so as not to cry in front of my coworkers. I got to work today and went to put in my leave request only to find out that we are having a huge audit in March and they have decided that noone can take leave in February or March! :eek::mad: :mad: :mad: (can't find the little flaming guy) I talked briefly to my supervisor and she said there is a chance that it might get approved IF the audit isn't that week, but she doesn't know when she would be able to let me know :confused3 :mad: I am SO upset/frustrated!!! I was really starting to get excited! I had already read most of an old guide book that I had for Las Vegas, and now we might not be able to go!!! Usually there is no problem getting leave approved and I've never been through an audit before so I REALLY wasn't expecting this!

Ok, breathe in, breathe out... I know I'll be ok even if we don't get to go. Just had to get away from the office and vent for a minute. Thanks for listening. :hug:

[mom2alix]

Oh that's so disappointing! Here's hoping that you still get to go. March isn't that far off so maybe your manager will be able to let you know soon when the audit will be scheduled. Since your folks already have the room, you might be able to still score last-minute cheap airfare. If nothing else you could try Priceline at the last minute if your boss gives you the green light. Would you fly out of Atlanta? It's such a big airport that I would think you might be able to get a good deal.

Are you ready for the first weigh in tomorrow? I'm not sure I am. My trainer was out of town this weekend for a family crisis and I wasn't motivated enough to go work out on my own, which led to a downward spiral of not eating well, (let's just say DH is evil and brought Krispy Kremes into the house). :scared1:

I'm getting ready to leave for the gym now and work on getting back on track. I was pretty good last week on Wed-Fri, so hopefully my bad behavior this weekend won't be too bad on the scale. Start of a new challenge week and time to get focused and be good!:angel:

[lindalinda]

Oh Amber that sux! :guilty: I hope she can let you know in time! I dont blame you for having to take a little break. Hope it will all work out!



:hippie:

[Foxfiregrrl]

Thanks for the support guys! I really needed it today. I talked to my supervisor again after lunch. She said that she will talk to her supervisor about it and see what she can do, but that it is bad that we want the first week of March and not later in the month. She also said that if I did get approved I would have to have all my files in tip top shape which really shouldn't be a problem. So, I guess for now I just have to wait and see.

Linda - We have been talking about that roller coaster on top of the skyscraper! I really want to do it, but I'm also Terrified :scared1: so we'll see. I'm not really a star trek fan and DH is only a little, but yes, I figure if we are in Vegas for a week we are definitely going to the Star Trek Experience.

Here's the deal... I've done ok so far today on food, BUT I'm really struggling tonight. I'm an emotional eater or drinker. I'm trying to be good and not do either, but that just leaves me with the emotion:crazy2: . It is really not that bad, but I'm just really frustrated by the situation and then not having my usual coping mechanisms is really hard. I calculated my food for today though and it looks like I have a few calories to spare. So, maybe I can have some semi healthy soothing treat. I just feel like this is a challenge for me not to give into old habits... but I guess it isn't too bad if I don't go over my calories for the day right?

Here is my food so far:
B- kashi w/ soy, coffee
S- nut & fruit mix
L- sandwich, soup
D- spaghetti
Total - 1150 Gee if I weren't giving up wine I could actually afford a glass :rolleyes: Or, should I say, believe me if I had any in the house it would be in a glass already :sad2:

Didn't exercise today, but didn't really plan to. DH & I will tomorrow.

Almost forgot... yesterday I had Red beans and rice for dinner, a small brownie and piece of chocolate w/ milk for a snack (boy should have saved that for today) Ended at a total of 1600 calories... so a bit over.

K, here's to a better tomorrow!! Weigh in day!

[lindalinda]

Okay Pinot Noir has 24 calories per ounce , 0 fat and 1 carb. So an 8 ounce glass (thats a big wine glass) is 192 cals and 8 carbs. For a nighttime treat before you go to bed or something to help you sleep doesnt seem that bad. I know you are trying to give up alcohol and I dont want to be the "pusher" here, but I think if you give up the froo-froo sugar drinks and still allow yourself a glass of wine you might not feel like you are having to punish yourself. And a glass of wine is supposed to be good for you too!


I am thinking of starting drinking myself.;)

:hippie:

[mom2alix]

For those nights that you feel like you need a treat, here's a good one:

Get the Jello Fat-free chocolate pudding cups (60 cal per cup) and Low Fat Cool Whip (25 cal for 2 tbsp). Spoon the pudding out into a real bowl (it looks like a lot more when you do, for some reason those cups don't look very big to me. ;) If you're really needing something you can do 2 pudding cups and 4 tbsp of cool whip for 170 cal, and it looks like a HUGE dessert and gets your chocolate fix in too. DH has been doing this to replace his ice cream habit and he doesn't feel so deprived.

[Foxfiregrrl]

Thanks for the snack idea Rebecca! That does sound good popcorn:: I haven't had any of the pudding cups in a Long time, but they are yummy and I am a Chocoholic so that would be a perfect snack :thumbsup2

And..Linda... DON'T ENCOURAGE ME!! :rotfl: Actually that is good info to know and that is what I was thinking last night.... just one glass wouldn't be bad. The problem is that I was allowing it to get out of hand.
How did you know I have a hard time sleeping? :confused: I don't remember posting that? I had said that to a coworker this week, that I have such a hard time sleeping at night. I really have always had that problem. But it seemed like having a little wine helped me to get to sleep better.
What had happened though is that I told myself that I needed to cut back some because it wasn't good for my weight loss efforts. BUT, I'm really bad about boundaries... as soon as I tell myself to quit or cut something back, then I want it ten times more. So basically I had gotten to where I was drinking 3 or 4 glasses of wine most nights of the week. I would say that was really only in December, but I knew that if I didn't do something it could get bad.

SO, it is kind of like the Sweet Tea challenge that Marie had given me awhile back. I have to go AT LEAST 30 days with out touching the alcohol and then I can have it occasionally. I have always had a healthy relationship with alcohol in the past and I will again soon. I was just "enjoying it while I can" (since I know there will be None when I finally get around to getting pregnant) a little too much :thumbsup2

K, so last night I ended up having:
S- 3 pecan turtles, small bowl of crispix in soy milk
Total calories for the day = 1383

Today, I really didn't eat much. I was busy at work and didn't get around to eating my snack. I'm a tad bit hungry now, but it is probably because I'm thinking about it. OH, SHOOT! It's past my cut off time for eating! I was planning to probably slip in a snack! :rolleyes: Well, maybe I'll still let myself have some hot chocolate since I'm under in calories for today AND I had planned to have some last night and managed to say no :thumbsup2

Food:
B- kashi w/ soy, coffee
L- HC chicken fetticini
S- grapes (was supposed to be part of lunch)
D- chicken corn chowder, wheat bread
S- hot chocolate (gonna put it down just in case)
Total - 1148

So, did good on calories, BUT not so good on exercise. Today is supposed to be DH & my exercise day. However when I got home he was already getting in the shower. He says that the exercise we did on Saturday hurt his butt (He cracked his tail bone about 2 months ago) so he didn't want to workout. I had a long day and my shoulder was hurting so I ended up not exercising either.

I will do my best to make up for it tomorrow though!!!

OH, I almost forgot the best news of the day!!! :rockband: I am down 4.8 pounds for my weigh in today! :cheer2: :woohoo: :cool1: My new weight is 197.6 :woohoo: I think that is the most I have ever lost in one week! (See another reason to step away from the booze ;) ) Now, If I can just maintain some of that momentum!!

No word from the powers that be yet about vacation. I will probably ask about it tomorrow. I'm just gonna hope for the best and try not to worry too much.

Boy am I long winded tonight :hyper2: Have a GREAT WEDNESDAY!!!

[mom2alix]

Congrats on the weight loss!!!!!
4.8 lbs in a week is amazing!!!!:cool1: :thumbsup2

[Foxfiregrrl]

Thanks, Rebecca! I kinda think it was a fluke or bloat or something, but whatever it is I choose to celebrate it! I just Really hope that I have a loss again this week.

I've been really busy at work this week and ended up working late again tonight. I knew that I wanted to exercise tonight, but I also HAD to go to the grocery store. Well, so of course I opted to not exercise. DH came home and had a pretty bad day so we ended up going out for dinner before the grocery shopping. I tried REALLY hard to make good choices at dinner (and when I ate out at lunch w/ my coworkers) and I think I managed to do pretty good. I am a little bit over in calories today, but I think it is ok as long as it is only occasionally.

Food:
B- kashi w/ soy, coffee
L- Turkey sub, a few bites of some lame chicken veggie soup
S- fruit nut mix
D- 6-8 chips w/ salsa, guacamole salad, chicken soft taco w/ no cheese, shrimp soft taco w/ no cheese ( I was WAY proud of me for going easy on the chips :cool1: )
Total - 1705

I bought some pudding at the grocery store :thumbsup2

K, that's 'bout it for tonight. Gonna try to get some exercise in tomorrow!

[mom2alix]

Great job resisting the chips. Chips and salsa are a huge downfall for me too. I can resist sweets, but salty, crunchy things call to me.

DH loves Kashi cereal for breakfast too. I like the Go Lean Crunch a lot, but I have to use it for a dessert rather than breakfast.

Just a suggestion that's worked well for me - try eating a high protein breakfast. I do an omelet made with egg substitute (or egg whites), a little shredded cheese, and some bacon bits. I use the sharpest cheddar I can find, so it doesn't take a lot of cheese to get big flavor. I also brown up a couple slices of Canadian Bacon, and a small can of V* juice. I eat less all day when I have this breakfast. I just don't get as hungry.

Today I bought some caffeine-free Diet Pepsi at Costco so I can begin weaning myself off the soda. Once I kill the caffeine addtiction (have to take it slowly or I get terrible headaches), I'm going to get rid of the caffeine free soda too and get into a water habit.

[Foxfiregrrl]

I'm really more of a Chocolate junkie, but when it comes to those chips sitting there in front of me I usually can't stop!

The Go Lean Crunch is my favorite too. It is what I eat most of the time. Yesterday they had a special that was two boxes for $5 AND you got a free half gallon of Silk Soy milk if you bought two! :cool1: That was an AWESOME deal! So I bought 4 boxes :thumbsup2

I'll have to try your breakfast suggestion. It sounds pretty good. But I'll have to do that on the weekend because I'm too lazy to get up and make anything more than coffee in the morning :surfweb: during the week (I'm definitely addicted to coffee :rolleyes1 and I'm not giving it up)

Good job on at least switching to the diet Pepsi. Just remember to get as much water as possible in addition to the Pepsi :thumbsup2

Did you see the challenge today? :yay: I'm pretty excited about it. I think the water, breakfast, and no fast food parts should be pretty easy for me. I'm not too bad about snacking either, so that should be ok. I'm worried about the two new fruits and veggies though. I could do new - meaning things I haven't tried in a LONG time or have previously refused to eat, but things that I've Never tasted.... I don't think there are a lot of those that are readily available :confused3 We'll see though. I have been a VERY picky eater my whole life and am just now really starting to do better about trying things. How do you think you will do?

SO... :rockband: (that is my version of a drumroll btw :thumbsup2 ) I did it! I got up this morning and worked out! :yay: :yay: I'm proud of me :cheer2: I just have to string a few of those together :scared:

AND :rockband: My leave was approved at work :dancer: :dancer: We're Goin' to VEGAS Baby!! :dancer: :dancer: I even did a crazy little dance that looked something like that when I found out :rotfl: I'm excited! I went and bought a new travel guide (the one I had was almost ten years old, from when I used to work in a book store) I can't wait to start reading it

well, I got my exercise in this morning, but food was pretty bad today. :sad2: I knew it too and ate it all anyway. I figure I'm bound to have my good days and bad days. The point is to put in WAY more good than bad ones. One good thing is that I came VERY close to having a glass of wine tonight, but I knew I was going over in calories so I didn't :woohoo: That was the only thing that stopped me though :rolleyes1
I had leftovers for lunch and just went kind of high cal on them. Then when I came home I just wanted to eat out and did not want to cook and Really didn't want leftovers. I know we ate out last night, but it goes back to my emotional eating. This time I was happy and wanted to celebrate, but it is the same thing. I always want to eat out when I'm emotionally high or low :confused3 Step by step I'll work on it.

Food:
B- kashi w/ soy, coffee
L- meatball sandwich, salad w/ walnuts, mushrooms, feta and low fat ranch
s- peppermint, 1 hard candy
D- "wedgie" - buffalo chicken, lettuce, tomato, onion, ranch inside pizza dough, and sweet potato fries :rolleyes1 I know it was all bad, but so Yummy
total ? who knows probably close to 2200 ? Or more ? I hope not :faint:

Ok, no more of that!! I will do better over the weekend!!!
Have a great Friday guys!!

[mom2alix]

Congrats on making the Top Ten for the first week!!!!!!

[Foxfiregrrl]

Food was way better today, but I did not get up and exercise :guilty: I ended up waking up late and my whole morning was a MESS!! That will teach me not to get up and exercise.

Food:
B- kashi w/ soy, coffee ---- see a pattern here :laughing:
l- leftovers from eating out last night, banana
S- nut fruit mix
d - buffalo chicken and veggies over rice
total - 1465

Dh made dinner tonight. He cooked cut up chicken in a little olive oil w/ buffalo sauce. Then he cooked the veggies in water and buffalo sauce and mixed them w/ the chicken. Then we put that over brown rice. It was pretty good! and pretty healthy too :cool1:

well, not much exciting going on today. I'm Stoked that it is Friday because I'm glad to not have to work for two days :cool1: :cool1: Gonna spend a lot of time planning for the Vegas trip :woohoo: I'll be checking in though.

Have a fabulous weekend! :flower3:

[Foxfiregrrl]

Hello. Been a bit busy this weekend and have not exercised :sad2: I do think that I have managed to keep my calories in line though. I haven't made the Best choices, but haven't totally blown it either.

Yesterday food:
B- skipped - still alseep
L- Chicken pesto sandwich, broccoli cheese soup, sunchips, sweet tea (Dh & I shared our sides)
S- starbucks regular coffee :thumbsup2 usually get a caramel machhiato
D- Frozen Pizza :rolleyes1 We were being lazy
Total - about 1600 - so over what I am aiming for, but not too bad considering

Today food:
B- Kashi w/ soy, milk
L- sausage, creamed corn, bean salad, broccoli cornbread, rice & gravy, sweet potato
D- boneless pork chop, creamed corn, bean salad, sweet potato, broccoli cornbread
Total - about 1600 :sad2: Grandma's cooking gets me every time

Yesterday we went shopping for DH's mom and brother's birthday gifts, then spent the afternoon with them. Today we went to my grandma's for lunch like always. Then my cousin showed up and was going to perm her daughters hair. Well, I've been NEEDING to go get my hair cut and colored again (I think the last time was last January :scared: ) So she said she would do mine today also (she's a hairdresser). I was there until 6:45 getting my hair done. We are usually done over there by 2 or 2:30 at the latest. I didn't really have anything planned for today, but it still throws me off a bit. I'm happy though because I didn't have to go to her shop which is 20 minutes away and it was free :cool1: She cut it short in the back and a little longer in the front. Then she put brown all over color (that's my natural color- but to make it shine some) with red and blonde highlights. :woohoo:

So, DH wants to watch a movie now that I'm home. Guess that will be my evening :) Oh, I did jog home from grandma's since it was cold out, but that isn't far enough to really count as exercise.

Have a Wonderful week!! I'm gonna get my tush in gear and exercise this week dang it!!:yay: :yay:

[Foxfiregrrl]

So, I didn't get my tush out of bed to exercise this morning, BUT I did come straight home and do my exercise video this afternoon! :woohoo: :cool1:

Food:
B- kashi w/ soy, coffee
L- chicken sandwich, minestrone, grapes
D- spaghetti
total - 1009
Gonna end up with a snack tonight. Calories were too low all day because I forgot to take my snack with me to work. I feel hungry already too. It will be a healthy snack though.

At work we are doing a challenge in my unit. Everyone except my sup weighed in this morning (she was off today). So far, I was 3rd out of the 6 of us that weighed in. I had lost 3 pounds according to the scale at work :woohoo: :cheer2: :cool1: I was happy to be third though because I started a week before everyone else and so a lot of them were having their first week weight loss, which can be high a lot of times. I felt bad for two of my coworkers though because they actually gained this week. I tried to encourage them though. This is not an overnight process!

Guess that is about all that has been going on for me. Still working on the Vegas planning little by little. I think I have a pretty comprehensive list of all the FREE things to do in Vegas :cool1: Now I just have to figure out which of the other attractions we might be willing to pay for. OH, Yeah, Linda, I don't think we will be hitting the Star Trek Experience - It is $42 per person :scared1: That is a bit high for something that I only find somewhat interesting. I so would have gone if it were like $10 though.

Well, have a good evening and a Fabulous Tuesday! princess:

[lindalinda]

Amber, I'm excited you get to go to Vegas after all! I'm sure you will have a blast, even without the star trek experience (tho you can get 1/2 price coupons when you get there if you change your mind).

Sounds like you are doing well with your food choices. And what a great weight loss already! Keep it up girl!


:hippie:

[Foxfiregrrl]

Thanks, Linda! I'm bummed that I forgot to weigh in this morning for the BL challenge, but I'm gonna weigh in tomorrow morning and hope that they will still accept my results. If not there's always next week to get back on the board :thumbsup2

Today was kind of a weird day for me. We went out to lunch for a baby shower and it was nice. The food that I chose was not great though, but I did at least keep my portions in check. Then after lunch we had a 2+ hour meeting with our director. It was :confused3 just kind of goofy and didn't really accomplish anything. :upsidedow

When I got home I Really didn't want to cook. I hadn't laid anything out either. We had a couple of leftovers, but I wasn't enthused about them. I know that I ate out for lunch, but I really just wanted to go out again :confused3 DH came home and I could tell he was a bit perturbed with me. I was laying on the couch reading when he came in :rolleyes1 He stuck to his guns though and we ate leftovers. It was tasty and all was fine, temptation diverted. He said while we were eating that he was "not going to enable" me tonight :cheer2: Go DH! :cheer2: He's really bad about giving into whatever I want... which is a blessing and a curse :thumbsup2

So, food:
B- kashi w/ soy, coffee
L- a little spinach dip w/ chips, 1 yeast roll, Half a cheeseburger, Half the homemade chips (I was gonna go Real light on the chips, but they wouldn't bring me the mustard and mayo for my burger:sad2: )
D- buffalo chicken & veggies on rice
Total - 1472 :woohoo: managed to stay on target... couldn't have done that if I'd eaten out for dinner

I had time to exercise today, but just plain didn't want to :sad2: Just in a slumpy, dumpy mood. I even knew and told myself that if I did the exercise I'd probably feel better AND wouldn't want to eat out.. But I just sat there and didn't do it anyway :sad2: Why do I do that to myself? :confused3 Gonna get on it tomorrow though!

So, little story for ya - Our cat, Raven, is a hunter and she loves to bring her catch inside to play with it :sad2: So, Dh goes to get in the shower and there she is w/ a little bird. DH rescues the bird & lets it go outside, then we clean up the feathers. About 30 minutes later, here comes Puff, our other much lazier, non huntress cat. She struts into the kitchen and lays down the exact same bird. She was SO proud of herself and just laid down next to it like "look what I got!". :rotfl: DH was so ill. He was like I just rescued that bird and cleaned up the mess! :rotfl: It didn't make any mess this time though because she had just brought it in. He took it outside and put it in the woods this time so that hopefully it can make its escape.
We feel bad though because some of the little critters are badly injured and we debate if we should put them out of their misery. This especially applies to the mice/rats that we REALLY don't want in the house anyway! BUT DH did try to kill one of the mice not too long ago and we both felt Way guilty about it later. :guilty:
SO, then as I'm finishing typing this... I hear the cats upstairs making a racket. I go up there and they have that Same bird AGAIN!! Dh and I are baffled though because the cat door is down here right next to our computers! :confused3 We're not sure how they got it past us :confused3 Poor birdie. Dh had to take care of him this time because he was so injured :sad1: Cats :cat: I love them, but not that part :sad2:

Well, that's it for me tonight. Have a wonderful Wednesday! :hippie:

[mom2alix]

Hope you were able to weigh in this morning. I had a 1.6 lb loss this week, so nothing major, but I'll take any loss! :)

It is SO hard to get motivated to exercise! DH and I were going to the trainer 3 nights per week for about 6 months and that forced us to make the habit. Now we're down to just once per week with the trainer, but the habit is established so we go a work out the other nights too. So far we're pretty consistent about going 6 times per week. I just wish it would show up on the scale more. Once I get my kids all better and start getting some sleep, I'm going to kick this caffeine habit and see if that does the trick!

That's too bad about the little bird. Cats just never seem to lose that hunter instinct, no matter how domesticated they are!

[Foxfiregrrl]

WAY to GO, Rebecca!! :cheer2: :cheer2: 1.6 pounds is heading in the right direction! and it is better to lose kind of slowly, I think. It can be kind of frustrating though.

I weighed in this morning and I am at 196.8 which is down .8 from last week. I kind of expected that for a couple of reasons 1) I had a large loss last week and 2) I didn't really get my exercise in like I need to last week.

I am happy though, because the scale went down instead of staying the same or going up :woohoo:

It is cold and rainy here today. It actually sleeted for about an hour earlier, which was funny because everyone TOTALLY panics! :lmao: I've been married for almost 6 years now and the last time it snowed here was at least a year before I got married. People just don't know what to do when the weather gets icy/snowy. They didn't close our office early, although apparently several pleas were made. They came on the intercom a BUNCH saying that we were not closing and giving updates. Of course they said you could leave if you want, but you would have to take leave or make it up later in the week.
I came home about 15 minutes early, but I don't really keep a regular schedule anyway.

I really just wanted to bundle up on the couch when I got home, BUT I made myself exercise :cool1: I did a 25 minute workout that was mostly cardio.

Food:
B- kashi w/ soy, coffee
L- leftover half cheeseburger & potato chips, 4-5 grapes
D- veggie stir fry w/ Polynesian sauce over brown rice
Total - 1127

Dh made the stirfry and the only seasoning he used was polynesian sauce from Chick-fil-a that we had leftover in the fridge. It was really yummy and I think not too bad overall.

K, gonna go curl up on the couch now. Have a good Thursday!

[Foxfiregrrl]

Whew! TGIF!! It has been a long and difficult week. DH was on call which means that every time he gets a middle of the night page it wakes me up :crazy2: Then we are working to prepare for the audit coming up at work. I had my conference with my supervisor yesterday and she gave me a HUGE list of work to do before the end of the month... which is on top of all the stuff I already have to do for the month :scared: :faint: I am still way better off here than in the last county I was in, but today and yesterday I was just feeling a bit overwhelmed. I can get it all done though, and my supervisor is trying to help out some (which is HUGE compared to my last sup).

We do have a three day weekend though :cool1: Not sure exactly what all I will do.

Tonight DH and I went to see Sweeney Todd! :3dglasses It was AWESOME!!! :love: I had seen the play version on tape back in drama class in high school and Loved it then. Angela Lansbury was Mrs. Lockett (Helena Bonham Carter's character). It was just generally really cool to me, so I was excited about seeing the movie. PLUS I :love: :love: Johnny Depp!! He is awesome in just about anything he is in. And it had two of the actors from the Harry Potter movies in it :thumbsup2 DH even said that he REALLY liked it. We are considering dressing as Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lockett for DragonCon this year! That would be So Awesome!! :cool1: DH, who has hair all the way down his back & has since I met him, actually said he would cut his hair to do the costume :eek: :faint: It would be about shoulder length. I however will most likely have to get a wig as my hair is too short :lmao: It kind of makes me wish I hadn't cut my hair last week! If I hadn't and let it grow until September, I probably could have made it work. Oh, well. If we do the costumes I will have to either convince my sister to make mine or commission one (probably the latter). Can you tell I'm excited :thumbsup2

Alright back to the nitty gritty...

Yesterday's food:
B- kashi w/ soy, coffee
L - slice of pizza, minestrone
D- moe's california style burrito, a few chips w/ salsa
S- 1 glass of red wine :rolleyes1
Total - 1606
Ok, so I had an open bottle of red wine hanging around and I just really wanted a nightcap. I have not slept well all week and I struggle to go to sleep so I went for it. I regretted it afterwards because I didn't really even enjoy the wine... I'm a white wine girl. And, now that I broke my no alcohol rule, I'm being REALLY tempted to do it again, especially since the guys are coming out tomorrow. I won't though! I will be Good!!
No exercise yesterday.

Today:
B- kashi w/ soy, coffee
l- smart ones shrimp lo mein
s- small handful of nut fruit mix
d- spaghetti
s- movie popcorn popcorn:: I ate WAY too much of it
s- two cups of coffee :confused3 don't know what I'm thinking, I just finished the second one about 20 minutes ago.
total - 1500 - somehow I think that is too low considering all the popcorn :confused3
No exercise again today.

I have to figure out my exercise plan for this week so that I can meet our BL challenge. I know that I want to do some workouts over the weekend. I am thinking that maybe Monday I could do my first Yoga session since I'm off work :confused3 My biggest decision is whether or not to commit myself to doing AM workouts or just stick w/ PM. I really think I need to try to get in the habit of doing them in the mornings, but I STRUGGLE to get out of bed already, much less an hour earlier :scared: I'm gonna think this over and post my exercise plan tomorrow!

Have a Great weekend!!

[Foxfiregrrl]

I am having a hard time coming up with a specific exercise plan for this week. I see that a lot of the posters on the BL thread are not giving specific times, just the exercise and amount of time. So here goes:

Today - walking up and down my stairs about a million times. I also cooked for the guys and cleaned up the kitchen. I'm counting that as my "household" calorie burn

Sunday - minimum 20 minutes of cardio w/ stretching
Monday - either yoga or 30 minutes of cardio/tone (depends if the yoga studio is open and the class schedule
Tuesday - day off
Wednesday - yoga if not on monday OR 25 minutes of cardio/tone
Thursday - day off? may do 25 minute cardio/tone
Friday - the opposite of Thursday :thumbsup2

K, now I just have to stick to it :scared:

Today, the guys are here so I have been on my computer most of the days. I have been up and down the stairs probably 20 or more times already. I add trips because I won't use the downstairs bathroom when they are here. Six guys using one bathroom :crazy2: I can go upstairs to my own thanks. ;)

Food:
B- still in bed, so none
L- Subway Turkey sub 6" (saved the other 6"), half a bowl of cheddar broccoli soup
D- chili w/ cheese
S - haven't had it yet, but gonna be wine :rolleyes1

When the guys are here there is always drinking going on. They usually drink beer which is easy to ignore/resist, but this time one of the guys brought wine :sad2: I figure I've really been good compared to drinking most nights. plus I have calories left for the day. So, I'm gonna let myself drink tonight, then not again until sometime in February.

We are looking at freezing temps here tonight, which is not That common here in Georgia. It has been raining for days so everything is SOAKED. Then about midnight it is suposed to get down to freezing, which means all that is wet will freeze. :scared: My dad called to say that there is a high possibility that we may lose power because of the freeze if tree limbs start falling. I sure hope not. We are somewhat prepared... I guess. Dad said he filled his extra kerosene heater for us just in case. He told me to make sure I draw up extra water too since we have a well. I really hope that it is all for nothing because losing power for who knows how long does not sound fun to me.

Well, I'll let you guys know how it goes. Have a good Sunday!

[lindalinda]

Hi Amber, hope you didnt freeze up! It super cold here, was about 7 degrees in the morning. When it gets that cold the chill just creeps into the house and you feel cold all the time. I hate it. We dont usually lose power tho, thank goodness, and I have never had the pipes freeze or anything (knock on wood).

Hopefully it will warm up soon. I dont want it to snow or anythign or my new car will get dirty!


Like I told you before, a glass of wine is good for you. I know you said you dont like red, and I used to be that way too. Its just harder to find good red than white. Any old cheapie white usually tastes ok , but you have to find the right red. Of course, I live in a dry county (another reason to move) and have to drive all the way into louisville to get any.:rolleyes:

Dont work too hard this week, but get it all done!

Is your yoga class fun?

later

:hippie:

[Foxfiregrrl]

Hi, Linda. "a glass of wine is good for you" That would be the key ;) The guys were here and I stayed up WAY past my bed time which means I ended up drinking the whole bottle:guilty: I still think I managed to keep myself not too far out of my calorie range. I actually have a bottle of Shiraz and that is what I drank the other night, when I just had A glass :thumbsup2 Some guy at the grocery store was trying to recommend wines to me, maybe I should have listened :confused3 Once I'm back to "normal" I will try to find a good red or two.
I also just want to say in my defense about drinking the whole bottle, that when the guys are here we drink for a long period of time. They will go through several cases of beer and if I drank mixed drinks I would put away several of them. BUT we don't do this every weekend and I don't always drink with them when they are here.

Well, it did get below freezing and there are several patches of frozen water outside, but most everything was defrosting by the sun when I checked. I left the water dripping so the well did not freeze up. And we still have power :cheer2: I don't think the temperature dropped as far or as fast as they had expected. It is supposed to get back down again tonight though.

7 degrees though :scared1: I don't think Macon would know what hit it :rotfl: I was AMAZED that our grocery store wasn't packed yesterday... it was actually kind of dead for a Saturday :confused3

I still have not started the yoga class yet. I don't know what I've been waiting for :confused3 BUT I AM GOING TO START this week!!:yay:

So, I didn't go to bed until 3:30am :eek: but for some reason I woke up at 9:30 which is SO not like me :rolleyes1 I really didn't want to go back to sleep so that I will be tired and want to go to bed tonight. So my cat came and laid with me which always works to keep me awake. I got up about 10 and was feeling that bottle of wine from last night. I was also STARVING. I had wanted to get up and workout first thing, but I had to eat first. So then I was trying to worm my way out of exercising :rolleyes:
I put on my jacket, gloves, etc and went out to see what all was frozen. I had put my mop and mop bucket outside awhile back and it got rained on/in. The water in the bucket is all frozen and so was the mop, which was kinda cool. Anyway I walked for about 5 minutes, but it was too cold to stay out there.

Then I came in and promptly got my mini stair stepper and put it in front of my computer. I plugged up my headphones and started one of my more upbeat Indigo Girls CDs. Then I stairstepped and read my Vegas guide book :thumbsup2 The only thing is that my right knee started to hurt some not too far into it. It wasn't really bad and it didn't get worse so I kept going, but it did keep me from adding time to my workout. I did 22 minutes on the stair stepper. Then I stretched for 10 minutes - boy it is hard to keep stretching for 10 whole minutes. Then I still had good music on so I danced for about another 5 minutes. :cool1:

I will come back later and post my food for today.

[Foxfiregrrl]

Wow, where did today and yesterday go :confused3 I blinked and they are over :sad2:

Food was worse than I thought yesterday:
b- kashi w/ soy, coffee, banana
l -chicken nuggets, chicken casserole, salad, green beans, roll, broccoli w/ bit of cheese, sweet tea
d - pork chop, blackeyed peas, corn
s- oatmeal, milk
total - 2005 :scared1: I was hungry all day yesterday and couldn't get satisfied. I also didn't realize how much I had eaten :rolleyes:

Today was better, but I didn't end up exercising:guilty:
b- kashi w/ soy, coffee
l- 6" subway turkey sub, just a tad of leftover broccoli cheese soup
d- grilled chicken salad w/ walnuts and feta
total - 1104 I will have some hot tea later, but I'm gonna avoid snacking.

I did go to the gym today and got a tour. I also picked up their class schedule. They have a good looking class for every evening at a time that I could go (except Friday, but I'm not gonna go then anyway). They also have classes on Saturday and Sunday that I might could make. I am still debating the getting up early thing, but at least I could do evenings if not.

I didn't sign up today though just wasn't quite ready to make the leap. Then I went over to the yoga studio. They aren't there unless there is a class going so I was only able to pick up a schedule. I was talking w/ DH about it tonight and he said that even if I join the gym I should still do the yoga studio. That way I can learn from a "real" yoga instructor to begin with. Then I can decide if I want to take the yoga classes that they have at the gym once I have a good base. He's so smart :lovestruc There are two beginner's classes at times that I could attend - Wednesday evening and Saturday morning. DH said that I should take the Sat. morning class because it appears to be taught by the owner (teaches 90% of the classes) and she would be the best. So, I will plan to start this Saturday with her.

Not much else to tell. I'm kind of tired today :confused3 not really sure why. Gonna take it easy tonight and try to get some good sleep so I can get up on time tomorrow. :hippie:

Have a GREAT week!!

[DisDee]

Hi Amber, Just checking in with a quick hello and to let you know I've been reading your journal even if I don't post very often. Do you feel that journaling helps keep you focused? I know it helps me!

Have a great tomorrow!

[lindalinda]

Let me know about the yoga classes. I am thinking I might like that. I took them when Kev was a baby and really liked them, but I just havent had time lately. I am also reading "eat, pray love" and I am in the Yoga part.

Weekends seem to get you, foodwise, amber. Not sure how you can fix that with so many temptations around!


later!

:hippie:

[mom2alix]

Don't those weekends go quickly! Glad you got some exercise in. I'm excited for you to get the yoga sessions. It is SO strenuous and yet SO relaxing. I haven't been going to yoga class lately, but I really should. I enjoy it and it makes me feel good. Right now with the focus on cardio EVERY day and at least 3 days weights, it seem like there isn't time.

How did your weigh in go this morning? I feel like I should be yelling "C'mon big loss for Vegas, baby!" (need a smilie playing the dice here) :cheer2:

I had a small gain .4 lbs. I'm hoping it's only due to TOM and since I forgot to weigh until after lunch. I was kind of bad last week though. We went out for my birthday again over the weekend, so my eating wasn't the best. It's also hard not to reach for comfort food when it's so stinking COLD around here. Gotta get back on track for next week!

[Foxfiregrrl]

Good Evening.
Thanks for stopping in everyone!
Denise - I've been trying to get over to your journal more. I've just been having a hard time keeping up with everyone lately. Thanks for sticking with me. The journaling absolutely keeps me focused. Last year I fell off the wagon HARD and stayed off, but I kept journaling and Finally here I am back on the wagon again! I plan to stay here this time though :thumbsup2

I got up this morning and did one of my Total Body Sculpt videos. It was not the best one. He did the warm up and then did floor exercises for the rest of the time :confused3 usually there is a lot more heart pumping exercise involved. Then to top it off a lot of it was in push up position and that really hurts my wrists. I did as much as I could, but it was not much :sad2: Then I was out of time. Oh, well, at least I did something.

I weighed in before exercising this morning and I was down 2.4 pounds :cool1: :woohoo: :dance3: I'm SO excited to still be going down!!! I really didn't think that I had a very good week last week, so I fully expected to at least stay the same.
Rebecca - I'm sorry to hear that you had a gain. :hug: I know that even if it is small it still hurts. I agree that TOM can wreak a lot of havoc on the scale. I agree about wanting the comfort foods. You are WAY further north than me. I don't know if I could handle the temps you guys have up there :cold: Do you guys at least get snow? Here we almost never get any snow. I always say that it either needs to get cold enough to snow or else it needs to warm on up :thumbsup2
Wow, cardio everyday plus weights 3 days a week :faint: Looks like I got a lotta catching up to do!

Ok, so I did good this morning... weigh in good, exercise good. Then I go to work and weigh in for our unit challenge. Well, that STUPID scale said that I was exactly the same as last week :confused3 That was disappointing. Then only ONE person in my 7 person unit actually had any loss this week :sad2: I felt so bad for us all. We are all doing it "together", but I have kind of stepped in and made myself the unofficial leader. I feel like a bad leader cause my team isn't doing so well. A lot of it is just making bad food choices and then not being motivated to exercise --- hmm.. wait, that's about why all of us are this way :goodvibes They are real bad about trying to get me to justify them eating something bad... like ice cream is ok if I get skinny cow right? And several of them are COMPLETELY opposed to anything that's actually good for you :upsidedow

I think it just amazes me mostly because I used to be very bad about a lot of the same things. I feel like I've just recently REALLY gotten the big picture and I still have a lot of things to overcome that I struggle with. But I feel like I've been wanting to make the right changes for so long and have made them little by little until I was ready to make the bigger leaps. I'm gonna continue to try to do my best to lead my unit into healthier people :goodvibes We all need that extra help!

I also talked to my 2 unit mates that go to the gym. I was having a hard time figuring out how to go to the gym in the morning and still stick w/ my breakfast routine, etc. They were really supportive and we worked out that I can bring my milk and put it in the work fridge (weekly so it doesn't get thrown out) so I can have my cereal. Then L is going to bring her coffee pot and we can make coffee at work. I usually bring mine, but just because it was easy. I think this could actually work. I am still staying open to doing classes in the afternoons, but I would really like to try to do some of both :thumbsup2

Food for today:
b- kashi w/ soy, coffee
l- mexican special - beef, chicken, shrimp, onions, mushrooms over rice w/ cheese plus chips & salsa & some guacamole
d- chili w/ a little cheese and some triscuits
Total - 1500 - I estimated on lunch, but I think it was close

So, as you can see I didn't do too well at lunch :sad2: we had a long meeting this morning and all just wanted to get out of the office. So we caved and went for mexican :guilty: I did split my lunch w/ a coworker, so it wasn't AS bad. :rolleyes1

OH, and I'm going to an aquafit class tomorrow w/ the 2 gym girls :yay: I have a one day guest pass. I will most likely sign up this weekend because they make you do a fitness assessment that sounds lengthy :rolleyes:

K, enough rambling for tonight... so much for my quickie post :rotfl: Have a GREAT Wednesday!!

[DisDee]

Amber, you're doing great and learning to make good choices. All of those little steps you take along your journey are a learning experience. I know eating out is a big downfall for me. I always say that I'm going to avoid the bread or whatever and then still end up eating it. I do find myself bringing home some of my entrees lately. (That's because I ate so much other stuff..LOL) You were smart to share the lunch. Choices like that will make a difference!

Have fun at the gym!

[Foxfiregrrl]

Thanks, Denise! I know that eating out is something that I will always do, so it is really important that I learn to make better choices now. If I just don't eat out while I'm "dieting" then I won't learn to make those choices as securely.

K, gonna be a quickie tonight... I'm Exhausted!

Food today:
B- Kashi w/ soy, coffee
L- chicken sandwich, veggie soup, banana, more coffee :surfweb: (told ya I was tired)
D- pork tenderloin, blackeye peas, corn
total - don't know yet, gonna input it tomorrow

I went to the HydroFit class at the gym today with one of my friends from work. It was a water aerobics class full of old ladies. So, I'm thinking us young ones have it made.. NOT!! :scared: That instructor kicked my butt!! about 15 minutes in my right calf cramped up and it is still hurting. I slowed way down and would get it to uncramp, but then it would recramp a few minutes later :confused3 I was able to make it through the class, but even with out the cramp it was a tough class!! I can feel the ab work already :eek: My other calf is a touch sore too. I probably won't be able to walk tomorrow :rotfl: or :sad2: I'm not sure which one. My legs are still quivery and shaky. Boy am I outta shape :rolleyes1

I get to count that as an extra 10 minutes of cardio today, since it was one hour and I usually do about 30 minutes :thumbsup2

Today at work was BAD!! I was thinking I REALLY need some yoga on days like these :headache: I can't wait to get started with that! I am also definitely joining the gym too! I really enjoyed the class and having my friend there.
Oh, yeah, while the class was kicking my butt, this middle aged lady looks at me and says "you can do it, you can't let those OLD ladies beat you!" :rotfl2: I just busted out laughing! But, they did beat me :sad2: I'm gonna go back though! I can master this class! :cool1:

Gonna go crash now! :hippie:

[lindalinda]

Amber, I am glad you are joining the gym. I did one of those water classes once a million years ago. I remember it was hard! But you dont sweat, so thats good!

I went to the Y today, myself. I did the machines and stuff. Looked at the classes, but I didnt see any I liked at good times. And no yoga. I bet you will like the yoga, once you get into it.


Yay on the weight loss,keep up the good work!

:hippie:

[Foxfiregrrl]

I have been SO exhausted today! I'm really sore from that class last night, but beyond that I'm TIRED like as if I haven't slept in several days :confused3 I felt similar yesterday. Not really sure what is up with that:confused3 The cats have woken me some in the night, but I usually wake up once to use the restroom, so that shouldn't mess me up too bad. Well, at least tomorrow is Friday :cool1:

Today I came home from work a little bit early and just did some work from home. I just couldn't stay in the office anymore. I can't seem to get anything done there. I probably got more done in 2 hours here than a whole day at work :sad2:

DH got a "lateral move" that he has been wanting. Basically they took away some of his duties so that he can actually focus on getting some of the more important things done. He was doing the work of 3 people, so now he only will have the work of 2 people :rolleyes:
So we went out for dinner tonight and kind of celebrated. It was two for one mixed drinks so we each got one. We had Sex on the Beach. It was really sweet and didn't taste very strong. So the waiter comes by and asks how it is and DH says it could be stronger. Well, he brings us back another shot to put in it :drinking1 Way to increase that tip, buddy! :thumbsup2

So, since I already had one drink I figured I might as well at least get a buzz out of it. I'm having a White Russian now. Yumm!

No exercise today. I'm sure I'm over in calories too. So all in all not a good diet day. I figured I could treat myself today because it has been a VERY rough week and I have been doing SO well lately. I actually have lost 8.1 pounds already and the month isn't even over yet :woohoo: :woohoo:

Food:
B- kashi w/ soy, coffee
s- fruit nut mix
l- chick sandwich, soup (didn't have lunch til after 3pm :eek: )
d- chips & salsa, shrimp quesadilla, rice, guacamole salad, Sex on the Beach
s?- White Russian
Total :rolleyes1 I don't know if I want to check. I'll come back to that

K, gotta go fix my mp3 player so that I can tune out my coworkers tomorrow! :hippie:

[Foxfiregrrl]

:woohoo: I survived the work week!! :cool1:

Slept not well at all last night. Woke up with heartburn, then every time I moved, my calves would sear w/ pain and threaten to cramp up :headache: So then when it finally came time to get up I was like "NO Don't make me get out of bed" but eventually a dragged myself to work.

Went out to lunch w/ my unit mates today. I ordered Chicken salad on salad and a bowl of broccoli cheddar soup. Got the chick. salad and it was kinda sweet and not really my thing. I ended up trading it for my friend's bowl of soup which she wasn't that fond of. So I basically ate 1.5 bowls of soup & a little bit of chicken salad :laughing:

No exercise today, calves are still quite sore. I am debating if I will make it to yoga in the morning. I am nervous about going to my First yoga class when I'm already sore. I just don't want to be miserable in class and give myself a bad first impression. I'll see in the morning.

Food-
B- kashi w/ soy, coffee
L- Broccoli cheddar soup, chicken salad salad
d- Grilled chicken in salad w/ walnuts and feta
s- coffee
total = 1203

Oh, my total for Wednesday was 1114 and Thursday was 1976 :eek:

K, I have to be good over the weekend. See ya'll later!

[Foxfiregrrl]

So, I've been being really lazy this weekend. Didn't get to sleep until about 5am Saturday morning, so I definitely didn't make it to Yoga. My legs feel better today, but I'm just not in the mood to exercise :rolleyes1 lame I know and I know I need to do better.

We went shopping yesterday and out to lunch. We had considered going to see Cloverfield, but decided to go home instead. I've been working on a puzzle this weekend and that has been enjoyable. I can't remember the last time I actually put together a puzzle.

Food yesterday:
b- kashi w/ soy, coffee
l- 1 egg, 1 sausage, 3 biscuits w/ gravy :rolleyes1 (we went to cracker barrel:guilty: )
d- pork tenderloin, potato, carrots - in the crockpot, yum
total - 1600 not too bad considering the biscuits

today so far:
b - two cups of coffee
l- pork tenderloin, potato, carrots, english peas, 1.5 biscuits, sweet tea
total so far - 820

dinner will be either a stew or soup says DH :thumbsup2

K, gonna go work on my puzzle now. Have a great week!

[mom2alix]

:rolleyes: I'm afraid I'm with you on the not in the mood to exercise this weekend! I absolutely HAVE to got tonight. I skipped Friday night and yesterday. Usually Sundays are our rest days, but now I really need to go tonight since I've been so lazy. I also have 2 evening activities scheduled for next week so I need to make sure to get into the gym and work out during the day. I have been doing a big house cleaning today. I think I'm on my fourth load of laundry, and been getting everything else picked up so I can vaccuum and dust. I really need to tackle the piles on my desk, but I really WANT to take a nap. I'm coming down with a cod and it's just so hard to get motivated to do anything. Hopefully my lack of motivation won't show up on the scale this week. I really need to make up for that small gain last week.


Really try to go to yoga, especially if you are sore. The instructor in my class usually asks if anyone has a area that really is bothering them and helps them work on getting is stretched out. Yoga can actually make you feel a lot better if you're sore/tight from doing other exercises. I don't count it as exercise like my cardio, it's more of a well-being thing for me.
:cloud9:

[lindalinda]

Yoga Yoga Yoga Yoga.

[Foxfiregrrl]

I went to the gym yesterday after work and joined :cool1: Then I got on the treadmill and realized that I NEED a new pair of shoes!! I couldn't even do 20 minutes because the ball of my left foot hurt so bad. I managed to eek out 17 minutes. :sad2:

Went today and did my assessment which was pretty lame. They took my blood pressure and heart rate, then measured my body fat. She said there were other things she could assess, but I declined. One was riding the bike and letting her measure my heart rate, blah. So then she showed me some of the strength training machines. It was not a work out just testing the machines.

My boss let me work from home today which was Great because I had a LOT of documentation to do and I just couldn't concentrate in the office. But I set my bar a bit high for myself so I had to work REALLY hard and then just Barely got it all done.

I had planned to go to step class w/ my coworkers, but one was sick and the other had forgotten about it. I was working so hard that I let time get away from me and still needed to cook before I left, so I wasn't going to make it either. The non-sick coworker and I agreed that we will try the water aerobics class again tomorrow since we didn't make it to step today. We just both will have to pace ourselves better this time. She was really sore last week too.

Yesterday food:
b- kashi w/ soy, coffee
l- leftover shrimp quesadilla, soup, blackeye peas
d- soup leftover from Sunday
total - no idea
The soup dh made had pork, potato, lima beans, corn, & chicken in it. It was good and I think pretty healthy.

Today food:
b- kashi w/ soy, coffee
l- chicken sandwich, soup
d- chili made with deer :cool2:
total - 1075

So, I have to buy myself some new shoes so that I can workout. Gonna have to do that this weekend. I looked back and I bought my current shoes sometime around October 2006 so I would say that I'm due for a new pair :thumbsup2
Oh, yeah, Linda I was reading back in my 2006 journal. That was back when I was at that AWFUL other county office at work. I can't believe I made it through that miserable experience! I thank you and Marie for sticking with me through that too! :hug: :love: I know that I was not a fun person to "hang around" back then! I find it amazing how much difference a different office can make :cloud9: I love my new supervisor!! I try to make sure she knows how much I appreciate her too!
It's funny to look at that now, because we are preparing for an audit and everyone is panicked and there are times when I feel a bit overwhelmed. When actually it is not really that much. I'm just having to do some extra phone calls and document carefully, then I also was Way behind on updating some of my files so I'm having to do that. All that is pretty easy on 15 cases compared with having 45 cases all the time :thumbsup2 What a great way to put it into perspective.

K, gonna go watch Biggest Loser now! Have a great night guys!!

[Foxfiregrrl]

So my coworker bailed on me but I went to water aerobics anyway. It was good. I didn't work so hard tonight because I didn't want to be sore for 3 days. I feel like I got a good workout, but didn't overdo it.

Work today was CRAZY! So I really felt I needed the gym tonight. It really helped me to lose the stress of the day. Still thinking about the Insane things happening w/ my cases, but not stressing about them. I can't help it people are stupid :confused3 I just work with what they give me :thumbsup2

Food:
b- kashi w/ soy, coffee
l - Arby's market fresh turkey & swiss sandwich, fries, pepsi
d- soup
total - don't know yet, too tired to look it up.... will do tomorrow

See ya'll!

[lindalinda]

Amber, good job on getting to the gym today!

I am with you on the shoes, if your feet hurt you cant do much. Mine are rubbing a little but I figured out I can do the elliptical better than the treadmill, because you dont pick up your feet, the pedal thingys move with you, so they dont rub. You might try that.

dont work too hard!


:hippie:

[mom2alix]

Great job of getting to the gym! I'm super proud of you!!! How was your weigh in this week? I was a no change. Just gotta work harder for next week!

[Foxfiregrrl]

Hi, guys! TGIF!

I stayed the same this week. I'll take that though since I didn't workout much last week and it was TOM.

Rebecca - how has it been going this week? Have you been doing well on the diet? How bout exercise days? I know that the exercise is my weakest point. Keep at it and you can do it! :cheer2:

Didn't get any exercise yesterday, but I wasn't sore so that's a plus. I did go have a massage yesterday afternoon :love:

Yesterday's food:
b - kashi w/ soy, coffee
l- smart ones lasagna
s- small bag of popcorn
d- shrimp - half fried, half grilled, baked potato, salad
total - meh, haven't added it up

today's food:
b- kashi w/ soy, coffee
l- HC steamer thingy
d- grilled sausage and grilled shrimp, corn (my parents gave us their leftover sausage and shrimp from dinner - not sure if that's good or not :confused3 )
total - 1216 not bad

So yesterday we went out for dinner and I was proud of myself for not getting all fried.

Tomorrow we have the Mercer Big Dance that we have gone to for the past two years with my parents. They provide the music and the tables and you bring your own food and beverage. The table seats 8 so it is DH & I, my parents and two other couples my parents age. Last year by the time we got there the other couples were DRUNK! They were very funny. The food is usually a variety of stuff, mostly party/snacky foods. So far I know there will be: pimento cheese sandwiches, hot wings, shrimp, lil smokies, cookies, and maybe a veggie tray. DH & I are likely bringing the veggie tray and then whatever else I come up with. I am thinking of making that "white trash" sweet snack mix and then maybe a spicy snack mix... but I don't know. I'm trying to get DH to make guacamole, but he doesn't know if he wants to or not.
We really enjoy the dance! I think it's great because DH usually says he doesn't like to dance, but for whatever reason he really likes going to this one :confused3 go figure. We will get plenty of exercise from the dancing, but the food and booze is likely to throw me off pretty bad. I will try to be careful with my calories during the day tomorrow and on Sunday. I just hope I can still post a loss come Tuesday!

Btw, I am down .6 as of this morning, from Tuesday. :wizard: :wizard: Hope I can keep that off, plus I would like a bit more :wizard:

K, see ya'll tomorrow!!

[Foxfiregrrl]

Yesterday was a busy day. I woke up and within 15 minutes my dad called and wanted to book our flight to Las Vegas. We had not done it yet because I was hoping the price would come down some, but instead it was going up and the good flights were getting full. We ended up getting a decent flight but it was a pain in the butt!

DH & I went out to lunch and then made a HUGE grocery run. We needed lots of stuff and then had to get stuff for the dance. We spent over $200 :eek:

I ate pretty badly yesterday and had a bit too much to drink at the dance last night. Actually at one point I felt pretty bad, I think I drank too much too fast. Usually when we get there the music starts w/in 30 minutes. So we set up, eat a little, drink a little, then it is time to dance. Well, this time the music didn't start until after we had been there over an hour. So we sat and ate and then drank, and drank, and drank. By the time we started dancing I was like :crazy2: but I just sat out for a bit and drank a good bit of water. Then we got back out there and danced like crazy. We got there at 6:15, music started shortly after 7:30. We ended up leaving about 11:30 because my mom wasn't feeling well. We had a really good time though :dancer: (that's dh :laughing: )

I'm not gonna post my food for yesterday... we'll just say WAY over on calories and leave it at that.

Today:
B- sausage cheese bars, grits, milk, coffee
L- sub style sandwich, veggies w/ dip
D - hmmm.... no idea what we'll have
We've been munching on our leftovers from the dance. May have leftover sandwiches again for dinner or leftover chili from the other night :confused3

No exercise today. Just chillin' all day :cloud9: Been working on my puzzle and surfin :surfweb: gonna watch a movie in a bit. I will get back to the exercise tomorrow.

Have a great week guys!:hippie:

[Foxfiregrrl]

Monday I worked from 9am until 10:30pm :faint: I ended up eating out for lunch and dinner also because of being on the road. :sad2:

Tuesday for weigh in I was up .2 pounds, but after the bad eating on the weekend and Monday, I wasn't really surprised.
I ate a bit better yesterday and went to step class at the gym w/ my coworkers.

Food:
b- kashi w/ soy, coffee
l- small sandwich, soup
s- banana, fiber one bar
d- leftovers
s- large white russian :rolleyes1 felt I deserved it after my rough Monday :rolleyes1


Today so far has not been good. I planned to go home for lunch, but it was a co workers birthday and the weather was BAD (raining heavy and some hail) we ended up grabbing Taco Bell so that we wouldn't have to get out of the car. :guilty: Not thinking I'm gonna get any exercise tonight either. I'm trying to figure out if we are taking my coworker/friend out for her birthday for dinner. We are taking her out for lunch tomorrow, but she seems down about tonight.

May report in later. Have a good night!

[Foxfiregrrl]

Well, I've been kind of busy this week which is good and bad. Wednesday was my coworker, M's, birthday so DH & I met her and a few other people out for dinner. We had a really good time. I ate Really badly though!

Thursday I went to aqua kickboxing w/ M (our other coworker, L, didn't go w/ us but she went on Tuesday when we went). The class was good, but the teacher was sick or something :confused3 so she only did 30 minutes instead of an hour. To counter balance being good and exercising... we went out for lunch for M's birthday (what our unit does for everyone). I didn't make a great choice then either :sad2:

Friday - ate leftover's from Wednesday night for lunch, then went out and had pasta for dinner :rolleyes1 I had been craving pizza, but the pizza places were all too busy.

Today we went out for lunch and I had 2 sammies from Quizno's and broccoli cheese soup w/ it, w/ some Pepsi to top it off :rolleyes1 We did a bunch of shopping today. I bought new tennis shoes and some water shoes :cool1: so I'm set for exercising! :yay:
ALSO... I made it to yoga class this morning :cool1: and it was really nice. I felt like I was able to do most of the moves, but some were Really hard. I have a 5 class pass, so I will be able to do 4 more classes before deciding if I want to continue there or do it at the gym. I will probably do the Saturday classes because it is so convenient to my house.

So our plan for the evening is to order pizza, drink some wine, and watch a movie or two :cloud9: I know that it is not the healthiest option, but I wanted pizza and we haven't done that in a long time :thumbsup2

I've noticed that when I go to the classes in the evenings I don't have much time to get online afterward. When I don't get online, then I don't post my food and calories. So, no accountability and I just keep eating bad foods. I CANNOT and WILL NOT continue down that path! I WILL post my food and calculate it for better or worse!! (starting tomorrow :lmao: ) I need to do that so that I can stay in control! I also won't be eating out every day anymore I can't afford that health wise or money wise.

Tomorrow is my aunts birthday so everyone will be at my grandma's (not just my family). Who knows what we will have to eat :scared: but I will try to eat small portions. I think dinner tomorrow will be something w/ a pork tenderloin since dh set one out to thaw yesterday.

I also need to plan tomorrow for what we will eat this week for dinners. I have work visits scheduled every evening this week, which means getting home at 6 or later. Then I also hope to go to exercise classes at least 2 or 3 nights this week. So I need either planned leftovers or Really simple to make, quick meals.

Also we have one of DH's old friends from high school coming out tomorrow afternoon. He does brick work and we are going to have him price out a patio for us :cool1: I hope the price is good because we both REALLY want a nice patio badly before summer gets here. We were at the sporting goods store today and they had this really cool table w/ the fire pit in the center & 4 low sitting, rocking chairs. We sat in them and I was like I want this NOW!! But we need a patio to put it on :thumbsup2 Tonight would be the perfect night for one of those too because it is cool enough for a fire, but not too cold.

Well, guess that is it for tonight. We've gotta go get our pizza soon popcorn:: Have a GREAT night guys! :hippie:

[Foxfiregrrl]

Well, Sunday ended up being a lot more busy than I had planned. We had lunch at my grandma's as usual, but it was my aunt's birthday. We ended up staying until 3pm. Then DH's friend came over about 3:30 and stayed until after 7pm. then since it was so late by then we had leftover pizza for dinner and just chilled the rest of the evening.

Dh's friend is doing a patio for us This Week!! Actually that is part of the reason I am posting at this time of the day.... the concrete truck got stuck in our driveway, so I can't get out to go to work :rotfl: they had to get one of those heavy duty tractor trailer tow trucks to get it out. They are doing that now. It wasn't our driveway actually it was that he drove off the side of it into the ditch, duh! :confused3

Anyway, I'm excited about the patio. I'll try to remember to take pictures once it is done and post them.

Yesterday food:
b- kashi w/ soy, coffee
l- sandwich, potatos & carrots, apple w/ peanut butter on it
d - leftover pasta from friday night, w/ minestrone soup

I also went to the gym and did water aerobics last night.

I plan to go again tonight. Dh is going to cook dinner :thumbsup2

k, see ya'll later. they unlodged the cement truck, now if they will just move it out of the driveway :rolleyes:

[Foxfiregrrl]

I have not been doing my best lately and have not really been in the mood to post. guess I hate admitting when I'm off track :rolleyes1

I did not make it to the gym on Tuesday because both of my workout partners backed out on me and I got lazy. I did go to aqua kickboxing on Thursday though :thumbsup2 and I managed to drag my lazy butt out of bed and go to Yoga this morning! I was really trying to find a way out of it, but thought about this week's BL challenge and new I had to do it. My sis called today and said that she wants to start doing the saturday morning class also. That will help me I'm sure!

Food has been hit or miss this week. I have done better than last week, but not by a whole lot. I was bad (eating out) Thursday lunch, yesterday L & D, and today for dinner :sad2: And I had lots of wine for Valentine's day :rolleyes1 Woke up with a hangover too :headache:

I am going to plan out my meals for the week before we go to the grocery store tomorrow. That usually helps me a lot, so I plan to be back on track starting tomorrow!!

Today DH and I had the Go-Back-To-School VS. Have-A-Baby discussion Again. If I'm going to go my application is due by March 15th and I haven't even started it yet. I keep putting it off because deep down I don't want to go back to school right now. I feel this massive pressure to do it though because I know that if I go ahead and have kids then I probably won't ever go back to school. Plus my window for doing it in 1 year ends in the year 2010, so if I didn't go now or by 2010 then I would have to take 3 years to do it - which also would include doing some classes over again :rolleyes:

I do know that this is going to be my career so it makes since to get the degree, BUT my clock is TICKING and I REALLY don't want to wait even a year to have a child!! DH said that he does not want me to make an emotional decision and then regret it down the road. He has said that it is my decision, But he is pushing me toward it a lot.
I cried about it a good bit today, because I'm torn about what to do. Ultimately I would love to have the degree but just don't want to put off having kids in order to get it. The thing that worries me is that I keep trying to come up with some way to go back to school by 2010, but just not this year. So then I think, maybe I really will regret not getting my Masters while I had the chance. ARGH!!! I just don't know :upsidedow DH said to think about it over the weekend and then I can decide what I want to do. Basically I have to decide by Monday because I'm running out of time and as it is I will be Really pushing it to get my stuff in on time if I decide to go.

OK, done w/ the major internal debate now. I'll gladly accept words of wisdom. Linda - I know you've said your thoughts before and I take them into account in this whole debate. I'll gladly hear more if you are willing to give more :hippie:

Have a good weekend guys!

[lindalinda]

Hi Amber! You will love having a new patio. You should get one of those fire pitt things for it, they are cool.


I think I know how you feel about making the big "school vs baby" decision. I am guessing that it probably keeps you from focusing on other things too! If you go ahead and go now, it takes a year is that right? Its been awhile since you talked about it, but I guess you couldnt be pregnant and do the school at the same time? Would that be too much stress? Cause we do have a girl here that just did her training while pregnant and she has survived it ( and air traffic controller training is pretty stressful)

But it also seems like you dread the whole thing too. I know your field is challenging, but it seems like it isnt that highly paid ( I hope that isnt horribly rude). The thing is, are you going to better off, happier, in a better place, in a better position........etc etc.

And when you have the baby....would the new postion be more flexible, less flexible, is the entire concept too much and would you just take several years off anyway to stay home cuz you really want more than one baby.......



I am sure that was very helpful. ;)


nite

:hippie:

[Foxfiregrrl]

Thanks, Linda:hug: You were helpful in a way and definitely not rude about my job being low paying...It's the Truth :sad2: I wouldn't be changing positions it would only give me a slight raise, which I guess would be good considering the whole low paying thing :thumbsup2 and I was considering trying to get pregnant during school if I went...BUT...

I decided not to go at this time. You hit the nail on the head when you said I seemed to be dreading it. I just REALLY was not excited about being back in school and was only going to do it because I felt like I Should do it.

We are going to give ourselves until about July to get our health in balance (dh was slacking because of his cracked tail bone and thinking he had a year) and so that we can get some things around the house ready for kids. A biggie would be that currently both "kid's" rooms are Full of boxes and clutter :scared: I had gotten it down to one room, but then I spread out at Christmas and never regrouped. I am excited!! :cool1: :cool1: and I'm glad to have a soon deadline to start and still have a little bit of time to prepare. I tried to convince DH that we could start a "trial run" while we are in Vegas, but he said that it would be his luck that we would get lucky on the first try ;) I hope it doesn't end up taking too long, but I am prepared for a wait.

Oh, we also have a patio now :cool1: The guy is still working on a few details, but it is mostly done. We almost bought a grill this weekend, but DH couldn't decide what he wanted. I :love: the patio!! I is BIG and we will have lots of room to gather and have people over! I can't wait! :woohoo:

Back to the diet and exercise thing..... It's been going fairly well also :flower3:
Food today:
B- kashi w/ soy
S- handful of pretzels
L- chicken sandwich, grapes
S- rest of grapes from lunch, ONE Samoa :love:
D- Chicken curry over couscous
total - too lazy to put it in right now, but I know it was good!
I got really munchy this afternoon and I stopped myself from snacking more by chewing some chewing gum. It keeps my mouth occupied and messes up my taste buds :thumbsup2

I also made it to class tonight at the gym. Water aerobics was canceled tonight so we did a regular class called Hi/Lo Cardio. It was Tough! But I really love the challenge of these type classes! :woohoo: I like to go in and work harder than I think is possible and prove that I can do it! I will probably go to that class again in the future.

I am going to try to go to classes at least M-Th at the gym. I am thinking that I will probably try to mix it up some doing aqua some days and regular classes other days. Then I don't get bored and I can trade out harder days for easier days.

Well, I guess that is enough for tonight. Hoping that I stay on this good roll I feel like I'm on :wizard: Have a wonderful day tomorrow!!:cheer2:

[lindalinda]

Congrats Amber on making the decision! I am sure that is a weight off your shoulders.

That should be enough to get you energized, now FOCUS FOCUS FOCUS!


I am always so much better when I know the plan! You go girl!



:hippie:

[Foxfiregrrl]

Linda - I have been feeling so much happier since making my decision :cool1: so I feel it was definitely the right thing!

I have been a bit grumpy about work in general for the last week or so, but I think that is a TOM thing :confused3 This afternoon I really feel like I was able to push toward getting some important decisions made on some of my cases, so that is alway energizing! Hopefully it will motivate me through the end of the month.

THEN... VEGAS BABY!! :dancer: I managed to find us discounted tickets to Mystere which is one of the cirque du soleil shows :woohoo: I'm really excited about going but with everything else that has been going on around here, I can't believe it is only a week and a half away :yay: I am usually much more obsessive about my planning, too, so I'm a bit :scared: I did some research in the beginning (probably more than plenty - think I dug out EVERY free thing there is to do in Vegas) but I was planning to do more as it approached. Guess I better get busy!

So yesterday was a good diet/exercise day:
B- kashi, soy, coffee
l- chick. sandwich, soup
s- grapes, 1 peanut cluster (I think my coworkers are trying to sabotage me;) )
d- pork w/ black bean, corn and tomatoes

I went to water aerobics last night for an hour, then sat in the sauna for a bit.

Today was not so good:
B- kashi, soy, coffee
l- (out) chicken salad sandwich, cheesy spanish rice (didn't know it was a bucket of cheese w/ a touch of rice :confused3 ) sweet tea
d- (out) 2/3 of a california style burrito w/ tofu instead of chicken

I tried to make slightly better choices than I normally would. For lunch I would have had fries and thought the rice would be better, but who knew? Dinner I chose the tofu and didn't eat the whole thing, also no guac or sour cream.

No exercise tonight. Dh was home early and my shoulder is a bit sore.

Gonna have leftover burrito tomorrow for lunch w/ soup and then grilled chicken on salad for dinner tomorrow. So it should be a good food day. I'm also planning to go to aqua kickboxing.

My goal is to be down to 160 by July when we start trying to get pregnant :woohoo: :cool1: (note this is changed from my prior goal for May :rolleyes1 ) I was at 192.8 for weigh in this week, so I'm thinking if I work hard it is possible :cheer2:

K, that's it for me tonight. Gotta watch my Biggest Loser I DVR'd yesterday!

[DisDee]

Hey Amber!

Just checking in to say hi! I haven't posted much lately, but I just want you to know I'm still reading your journal and that I'm here for your support. Have a great day!

[Foxfiregrrl]

Thanks Denise :hug:

I've actually been having a pretty good week this week. I think that having my mind made up has been really good for me.

At work our Federal Audit starts March 3rd (when I'm on vacation :rotfl: :woohoo: ) and I knew that my files had to be nearly perfect. I have two that are definitely pulled for audit and one on the overflow list. The two that are for sure have been reviewed by my sup. and I fixed everything I could, then they were pulled by the regional folks... one came back with NO CORRECTIONS :woohoo: :woohoo: and the other with only ONE correction which I've already fixed :woohoo: :cheer2: :cheer2: That is SO AWESOME!!!! I'm really stoked about that! Now that is not to say that the feds won't find something wrong with the files but it does say that second level reviewers said I've done what I can! WOOT!!:cheer2: :cheer2: I'm also pretty much done with all of my work for the month of February :cool1: and I still have a week left to tie things together before vacation! Ah, it is good to be in a happy place at work!

Diet and exercise wise I feel pretty good also. I have managed to go to an hour long exercise class 4 out of 5 workdays this week :woohoo: :yay: I did eat out a total of 4 times this week (lunches and dinners). As of this morning I was down 1.2 pounds from Tuesday though :woohoo: today was 2 of the 4 outings though :rolleyes: at lunch I wasn't the best, but dinner was chinese and I think I did pretty good. I'm also having a bit of wine tonight. I am going to try to fit this into my calories from now until about mid-June, because after July 1 it is no more :scared1: :scared1:

So yesterday I had:
b- kashi, soy, coffee
l- leftover burrito, soup
s- grapes, 2 kisses & 1 pb cup
d- grilled chicken salad w/ feta and almonds
exercise - aqua kickboxing

Today -
b- kashi, soy, coffee
s- pumpkin muffin (I was shaky :confused3 )
l- beef taco, chicken flauta, 1/2 burrito, chips and salsa
d- chicken & shrimp w/ veggies in wine sauce over steamed rice (ate less than half), 3 glasses of wine
exercise - it's called dancing with weights. an hour long class. It was mostly dancing which I enjoy, but this class was kind of weird and I felt a bit self conscious. I started out w/ weights but my lower left arm started hurting so I finished the class without them. This class was Friday at 5:30 and it was the most crowded fitness class that I have ever been to :confused3 I enjoyed it enough that I will probably try to go back.

So I have 4 days of exercise this week. My plan is to go to yoga in the morning. That would be 5 days of exercise in one week !!! :woohoo: :woohoo: That is quite an accomplishment for me!! If I can only string together a few weeks like that!!

Guess that is it for tonight! I'll check in tomorrow. Have a Fabulous Saturday!

[Foxfiregrrl]

Yesterday was the birthday party for my 10 year old godson. DH and I have been VERY BAD god parents up to this point and we are going to try to do better. I think this is his first birthday (or holiday period) that we have celebrated with him. We ran out to the store last minute, called the parents and found out what to buy. They said Bionicle (like legos) so we got him one of the medium sized ones. Besides his parent's gift ours was his most oh'd and ah'd over :thumbsup2 They had the party at a arcade/soft play/putt putt place. We stayed for a long time and I played w/ the 3 year old in one of the bouncy things, then we played putt putt. We got there just after 2 and left at 5 :confused3 would've never guessed we'd be there that long.

So, food was really wacky yesterday:
B- kashi, soy, coffee
l- 1 piece pizza, piece of cake, later - hotdog and pepsi, then later 2 small slices of pizza (had gotten really icky feeling by then :confused3 )
D- Dh was gonna cook but changed his mind - fried chicken piccata w/ salad and mashed potatos. It was a HUGE piece of chicken so I ate half and scraped off most of the gravy stuff. Also 2 glasses of wine

I overslept yesterday so I didn't make it to yoga class. I really missed it too. And my sister called at 11:30 because she had gone and had expected me to be there.. oops.

I will say that I got a little bit of exercise yesterday because the bouncy thing was serious stuff! It was the bouncy cage thing, but also had a big inflated slide leading out of it. Well, the ladder was Crap, so none of the kids could climb up it. So, when I went in to help the 3 year old, then EVERY kid in there lined up and asked me to help them up the ladder, over and over and over until I couldn't stand up anymore :scared: My legs were SO wobbly and then my arms to when I stopped. Some of those kids were Heavy! :rotfl: It was fun though. the funniest thing was that after hoisting a bunch of them up on the slide, I tried to get up and I couldn't :lmao:

So, today I plan to have a pretty laid back day. We are going to my grandma's in a bit for lunch. Other than that I want to try to finish organizing the information that I have gathered so far on Vegas. I have a Bunch of stuff, but I'm trying to figure out the best way to put it together so that it makes since. I think I'm gonna put each hotel's info together and then group them by area of the strip or downtown, etc. Hopefully that will work.

Well, have a wonderful day guys!

[Foxfiregrrl]

Ack! Been kind of busy.

Didn't eat too badly on sunday, but didn't do that great. Yesterday I ate pretty good and went to Hi/Lo Cardio.

Today:
B- kashi, soy, coffee
l- 6" turkey sub, sun chips, coke
d- baked pork, chickpea polenta, wine

no exercise

Today I decided to make a rest and get ready for Vegas day. Only thing I did to get ready though was wash clothes :confused3 better than nothing ;)

I probably won't be online much this week. I'm gonna try to get to the gym another night or two and then the rest of my time will be spent prepping for the trip. I will try to stop by before I leave town for sure though :hippie:

[goldcupmom]

Trying to catch up on journals a little bit. Sounds like you've been handling life really well.

Vegas sounds AWESOME!!! I LOVE the Cirque shows!!

[Foxfiregrrl]

Thanks for stopping by, Julie!

Been a not so great week for me. TOM came this week and brought some pretty bad moods and even worse cramping :headache: I went to water aerobics Wednesday but every move made me cramp worse :confused3 I was very b*tchy by the time it was over, as my co-workers reminded me several times the next day :rolleyes1

Ate out last night and tonight and most likely will tomorrow also.

We leave for Vegas Sunday morning and will return Very late the following Sunday. Food will be Very bad while I'm gone. I just hope to get enough walking in to burn some of the calories :upsidedow

I started gathering my things, but haven't really started to pack yet. I'm gonna throw it all together tomorrow. Still trying to print out all my coupons and directions and ressies, etc.

Well, have a great week guys! See ya when I get back!

[DisDee]

Have a wonderful time on your trip Amber!!!!!

[lindalinda]

Have a marvelous time Amber! Take pictures and tell us all about it!

[Foxfiregrrl]

I'm back! We had a great time and got to do a bunch of stuff. Unfortunately DH and my mom caught colds while we were there - about mid week. Then dad and I caught them right when it was time to come home. I think that I have been lucky and have been the least sick of everyone, but I'm still pretty down. Bad cough, sore throat, Really tired plus I have some weird rash on my legs :confused3 I thought it was just dry skin from the desert, but then it is bumpy and itchy... so I have no idea.

I will tell all about my trip later. I don't really feel like sitting at my puter much tonight, but I wanted to check in at least.

I ate LOTS too... so I gained :sad2: I'm trying to get back on track though. I am not going to the gym until I feel a little better though.

See ya'll later! Hopefully I'll give you guys the full run down this weekend!

[lindalinda]

Hi Amber! Glad you guys had a good time and look forward to some pics and stories about it.

Sorry you guys got sick, there is some nasty stuff going around. I went to the drs office yesterday and they were having people put on masks if they thought they were sick, and they were wearing them too. Never seen that before.

Go to the dr about the rash, sounds wierd. You might have an allergy of something. (I hope its not one of those...happens in vegas..stays in vegas rashes!:lmao: )


Nite
:hippie:

[lindalinda]

Hope you are feeling better soon Amber!

:hippie:

[Foxfiregrrl]

Thanks, Linda! I'm feeling somewhat better, but still just really tired from the cold. Went to the doctor Thursday and she said that I had an upper respiratory infection and both ears were full of fluid (I was starting to have some serious pain in the right one). She said that the rash is just dry skin :confused3 and to keep putting lotion on it. It seems to be getting better now, not itchy anyway. The meds she gave me for the cold are helping, but when I lay down to go to sleep I start draining, which causes me to cough most of the night :sad2: I try propping myself up w/ pillows, but that just makes my neck hurt.

Anyway, I've mostly been lounging on the couch trying to relax and take it easy this weekend so that I will have as much healing as possible before going back to work next week, because I HAVE to get on the ball. I was out two days last week and the whole first week of the month, so I'm a bit behind!

I promise to give a report of my trip and what I'm doing to get back on track. I just need a few more days to get over the crud. :hippie:

[Foxfiregrrl]

Today I had planned to get to the gym and work out, but I ended up working later than I wanted. I did put on my walking shoes and went outside for a walk when I got home. I was in a mood though and my left shin was giving me trouble. So I only did just over half a mile :sad2: I am going to try to get to the gym tomorrow though for sure!

Food:
b- kashi, milk, coffee
l- chicken sandwich, gumbo soup, grapes
s- 1 kiss, 1peppermint, kashi granola bar ( was Really wanting Something!)
d- chicken, beans, and rice dish
s - ? not sure yet, but I'm gonna end up eating a little something because I haven't felt satisfied all day :confused3

I am trying to get back on track. Yesterday was BAD! I caved into the sweets that were around the office and then had more than I should have.

My weigh in for today is 194.6 :rolleyes: I'm torn about how I feel with this weight. On the one had it is not as bad as I thought it would be when I first came home from Vegas. But on the other hand it is 2 pounds higher than the weight I had gotten to a few weeks before AND it means that I've been moving in the wrong direction - more than just while on vacation too!

Oh, well, as was said on the BL thread, today is a new day to start over! Just because I screwed up yesterday doesn't mean that I have to screw up today!! :cool1: I really want to get myself together and get this weight off!!

As far as a report on the Vegas trip - I have limited time during the week, but the guys will be here this weekend, so I plan to sit and type up a good recap on Saturday :thumbsup2

Have a Great week!!!

[kmp1191]

Hey there Amber!!! :flower3:
Wow...I had alot of catching up to do!!! New patio...baby planning in the works....Vegas!!! Man...I gotta check in more often!!!
Keep up the workouts girl....you know you're on the right track!! Don't give up!!! Take each day as it comes and try to do better than the day before. (Wow...that was pretty profound....sometimes I scare myself!!)

I'll be back....and there better be a little bit of Vegas on here!
Marie

[Foxfiregrrl]

Yay! Marie is back! :cool1: Good ta see ya!

I have to confess to not doing very well today :sad2:

Food:
b- kashi, milk, coffee
l- bruschetta burger & fries at Applebees
s- various junk inc. - deviled egg, pimento cheese sand., chick. nuggets, and two bite size brownies (we had a work party for a girl that is leaving)
d- small amount of chips and salsa, grilled shrimp salad w/ avacado and pico w/ NO dressing, sangria
s?- wine... 2 glasses maybe.. don't know cause I just started drinking it :thumbsup2

The worst part about the food is that I was SO stuffed after lunch that I really didn't want anything at the stupid party, BUT like a dummy I ate it anyway :confused3 I did stop myself from getting any cake though :upsidedow

Then AFTER the party DH called and said that he got someone to take over the on call pager for the night (more on that later) and he wants to go out to dinner :eek: any other night, but tonight would have been better! But I knew that he really wanted to, so I said ok and vowed to eat better at dinner.

The bad part about going out to dinner also was that DH didn't want to wait for me to get back from water aerobics, because I don't usually get home until 8pm and then have to shower. So, that meant that after telling myself ALL day that I would at least get my hour at the gym, I couldn't. I had taken my swimsuit to work, but I now needed my regular workout clothes :rolleyes: My plan was to come home, change, go to the gym, do the treadmill or elliptical for 30 min. or so, then come home and shower. Well, work ran a touch late and I started to realize that it was a lot of driving for not much workout. So, instead I came home and did one of my Total Body Sculpt w/ Gilad workouts. It was only 25 minutes, but it kicked my butt! and then I stretched afterwards for at least 5 minutes.

So, I was a bit disappointed that I couldn't get in my full water aerobics, but was proud of myself for at least getting some workout in rather than skipping it. :yay:

So, not a great day, but not a Total loss. I can and will do better tomorrow. I have a 5:30 appointment, but I should still be able to make it to a 6:30 class tomorrow, so I'm gonna aim for that. Wish me luck!

Oops, forgot to explain about dh's work. He's been on call this week, like he is every 4 or 5 weeks. But this week has been TERRIBLE!!! He has gotten at least 6 or 7 calls a night, which means that neither of us is getting any sleep. The worst part is most of the pages are stupid stuff that aren't things that he needs to fix, so it is pointless to wake him up for them! Well, let's just hope that next time is not this bad.

[DisDee]

Amber, don't you just hate it when your plans go astray? Good for you to get in your workout even when in a time crunch!

[Foxfiregrrl]

Hey, D! :wave2: Yes, life is full of curveballs and I usually let them knock me out. But I'm trying to do better :thumbsup2

Just a quickie w/ yesterdays food/exercise:
b- kashi, milk, coffee
l- HC steamer, apple (was not good, and did not help my mood :rolleyes: )
s- tootsie roll pop, small chocolate egg (size of peanut m&m)
d- chicken salad w/ nuts, feta, croutons, lowfat ranch
s- chocolate pudding, milk
Approximately 1300 calories

Exercise - just short of 1 hour Aqua Kickboxing :yay: I was running late, but went anyway. I got there just as they were warming up and stretching :thumbsup2

Have a Wonderful Friday!! :hippie:

[Foxfiregrrl]

Ok, so today was hit or miss.

I didn't go out for lunch, but I did let a coworker talk me into buying lunch food from the small grocer next door to work. We ended up making PB&J sandwiches, which isn't as bad as it could have been, but still not great. I only ate one sandwich and had part of a Pepsi.

For dinner we went to this local mexican place that SMOTHERS their food with cheddar cheese. This was the request of DH's friend who is in town for the weekend. They also have a Delicious guacamole salad - I think it must have sour cream mixed in it. I tried to order good, but I ended up eating it all so I was pretty bad! The salsa was Way too hot for me, so at least that limited my chips and salsa intake :thumbsup2

Food:
b- kashi, milk, coffee
s- mini reese cup
l- pb&J sandwich, pepsi
d- handful of chips, guacamole salad, one beef burrito w/ lots of cheese :scared:

No exercise today.

Tomorrow is going to be difficult too. We are having Dh's friends over and grilling out. We will have brats, potato salad, roasted lima beans, and curried cauliflower (so we can try to act healthy). The potato salad was requested because the guys say I make it really good - they sure know how to flatter a woman :lmao: Anyway as long as I don't pig out I should be fine.

Well, have a wonderful weekend and try not to let the weekend get the better of all your good efforts!! :hippie:

[Foxfiregrrl]

Happy Easter Weekend Saturday everyone!

I got up this morning to go to yoga, But they apparently were closed for the holiday weekend because no one showed up (the sign said closed for Good Friday but didn't mention the rest of the weekend :confused3 ) So then I was determined to get a work out in which meant I had to go home and change shoes. Anyway, I finally made it to the gym and did 30 minutes on the elliptical. I really pushed myself in intervals and my heart rate was pretty high. It said to get my heart rate to 153 and it generally was up around 160 something. The machine said I burned about 265 calories and went 2.1 miles :woohoo:

They had a carnival at my parents' church today and my mom really wanted me to bring our friend's kids. But their mom (who's weird) just started work a few weeks ago and said they had too many errands to do today. So I went by myself and met my parents there for a bit. I ate some soup before I left so that I would not eat bad for me hotdogs, knowing that we are having bratwurst tonight. But I ended up eating a hotdog anyway. I also stopped by the new shopping center in town that opened this week. I just wanted to hit the bookstore (my favorite type of store :lovestruc ) I said I wasn't going to buy anything, but got two magazines anyway. If you could see the STACK of magazines that I still have to read you would know how badly I DON'T need another magazine :rotfl:

I've been working for awhile on making sides for dinner tonight. All the guys are here. I will goof off on my puter for awhile this afternoon and then probably watch tv and read this evening. I will try not to eat too much at dinner, because I'm sure I will imbibe with some wine tonight also :rolleyes1

Hope you're having a great Saturday!! I'm gonna start a new post now and actually tell about my trip :thumbsup2

[Foxfiregrrl]

Ok, so when I said I would tell about my trip I really was thinking a brief one or two paragraphs about the highlights. Well, I started typing and you know how long winded I can be. Plus, the details actually came back to me a lot better than I had expected.

So, I haven't quite finished... I'm on day 6 of 8... but day 8 is just being sick and traveling home. I wanted to go ahead and post a couple of segments here though because my shoulders are hurting and I probably won't finish the rest until tomorrow.

Just to fill in those of you who may not know our story...

Our cast is:
Mom: 55 year old who is very sweet and has lived a VERY sheltered life
Dad: 56(on March 19th) year old kind of a redneck... actually brought a fishing pole to try to fish in Lake Mead :rolleyes:
DH: 29 year old goes w/ the flow, loves his computer
Me: 29 years old...unsure how sin city, my parents, and I are going to mix :confused3 :scared:

We had all sat around discussing trips we'd like to take around the time of our trip to Disney last year (which was mom, dad, MIL, Dh, & I) and Vegas was mentioned. DH & I were there for a day and a half back in 2004 when we took a driving tour out west. We liked it and had said we wanted to go back. Mom and dad said that their last trip through Vegas was about 30 or so years ago on their way back from California (where my dad was stationed in the Army) w/ my grandma. Anyway, this was kind of discussed in passing and DH & I said that we weren't looking to return anytime soon because we had been before and kind of wanted to go somewhere new.

Well, sometime in January my mom calls and says that she and dad booked a timeshare week in Las Vegas and have a two bedroom did we want to go w/ them. Dh and I thought about it for a whole week. I love to travel Anywhere so I was all about it... Dh was not so sure. But we decided what the heck we'd go!

So... on to the first installment....

[Foxfiregrrl]

Day One - Sunday
Our flight there was fairly good most of the way except that all four of us were split up in different seat groupings. DH was sitting directly behind me and mom and dad were further forward in the plane. I had a very chatty older man on one side of me who was very nice when the turbulence started to get to me at the end of the flight. I Really thought I was gonna be sick for a few minutes there. :sick:
We got our rental car and checked into the timeshare. It was actually on the strip right next to CircusCircus. I had thought we were going to be a couple of blocks off the strip so that was a nice surprise. :thumbsup2 They had gotten a "two bedroom" which ended up being a one bedroom apartment style w/ a connecting door to a one bedroom studio style. They were both really nice though and it was kind of nice that DH & I ended up having our own place that we could lock and not worry about mom and dad. They took the apt., it had a jacuzi bath and full kitchen.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2073/2353023741_e60e67fc3c.jpg
This is mom and dad in their part of the timeshare (basically standing in the door to our part). That's their bedroom on the left and bathroom on the right.

Once we got settled good we decided to walk up to the Stratosphere for dinner. We all had a steak and shrimp special that was ok. Then we signed up for the comp club and began the very low roller gambling. They had a special that if you earned 100 comp points before the next night at midnight you could get a free t-shirt, so we became determined to do so. We played various nickel and penny slots and some video poker (I think it was nickels). Told ya we were low rollers!:laughing: DH & I did ok, but nothing to speak of. My dad did really good- like spent one or two dollars the whole night.pirate: My mom didn't really gamble this night because she forgot her I.D. and couldn't get the comp club. Dad earned his 100 points before we left but DH and I only had like 40 something each, so we decided to come back here tomorrow.

Day 2 - Monday
We drove down to Excalibur and parked so that we could explore the southern portion of the strip. We wandered through Excalibur and signed up for their club, which meant that my dad thought he needed to sit down at a slot machine. :rolleyes: We talked him out of it and moved on. We caught the tram down to Mandalay Bay and wandered through the shops that link it with Luxor. There was a place called the Burger Bar that I had read about and DH & I wanted to try. We ended up there right at lunch time. They have things like Kobe Beef burgers (which DH was interested in) and a desert burger (which I was interested in). Mom and dad didn't want to spend that much money, so we split up for lunch. DH and I split the American Kobe burger and an order of buffalo skinny fries. Then we split the chocolate burger. I didn't notice any difference in the Kobe burger,:confused3 but Dh said it was really good. The desert burger was a donut cut in half (bread), a slab of chocolate (burger), passion fruit (for the cheese), strawberry slices (tomato), and mint (lettuce- not thinking I had this left off). :cloud9: It was really neat and Yummy! Here it is: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3165/2353857482_ce92481938.jpg
We went through the Luxor and explored a bit. I ended up not touring the King Tut museum because I wasn't sure it would be worth $10 each and my parents were ahead of us in their touring of the hotels. I think if we had gone there on a later day in our trip I would have done it. On the first day I was not sure how many different things we would end up doing that cost money and was trying not to be Too frivolous. We went out front to see the sphinx from the road and met up w/ my parents. http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3270/2353024881_e02d00bf46.jpg That's them on the left and DH on the right.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3189/2353858514_f8622414a0.jpg ME! princess: Then we walked over to NYNY. It is really themed out cool! http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3240/2353858888_929b2e9589.jpg Of the hotels for this day I think it had the best theming just for wandering through it. When we went before we stayed at Excalibur and I really enjoyed the theming - it just is nothing special to walk through, if that makes sense:confused3 . We wandered around NYNY for awhile and then Mom, DH and I rode the Manhattan Express Rollercoaster (dad doesn't do rollercoasters). It was pretty good and even has a loop in it.:3dglasses It was pretty jerky though and I spent most of the ride trying to hold my head/neck in place so that I was not miserable for the rest of the week (I have neck trouble anyway). Then we went over to MGM Grand to see the lion Habitat. We had to wait a few minutes for them to bring the lions back out. By this time everyone was pretty beat, so after watching the lions we headed back to the car.
We went back to the room to chill for awhile. Then we went up to Sahara for dinner. We looked at their various restaurants, but if you joined the comp club the buffet was $6.99 per person. :idea: So we went and joined the comp club and had the buffet, after which my dad said he swore off buffets for the rest of the trip because he cannot eat one without stuffing himself miserable.:rolleyes1 Then we went back over to Stratosphere to get our gamble on and work on those comped t-shirts. Dh and I did pretty lousy again but enjoyed ourselves. I think my dad hit like $40 on the pennies. I finally got on one of the machines like he was using and did fairly well. Just before midnight my dad went to get his t-shirt and I thought I wasn't gonna make it to 100 points. Well, I checked my card and suddenly was over by 5 points! :woohoo: So I ran half drunkenly up to the comp counter. DH did not fair so well and did not hit 100 points. Oh, yeah... I have failed to mention that the cocktail waitresses at Stratosphere were pretty good. Even sitting at the penny slots they would come around very regularly and bring drinks. We always tipped $1 per drink so I'm sure that encouraged them a lot. Tonight we came back to where DH was playing after cashing in our comps - Dad ended up getting a hat & I got the T-shirt. We continued to play at the same spot for awhile and had one particular waitress who served us most of the evening. Well, it was getting kind of late and I could tell mom and dad were getting ready to go, so I told DH to wrap it up. He spent the last of his credits and was sitting waiting for the rest of us to spend ours. So, the waitress comes and asks if we want another (he ordered screwdrivers and I ordered sex on the beach - this would be our regular drinks all week) DH says nah, I'm out and waiting for them to be out. She says, ah,you've been here all night, I bet I can get back here before they run out of money. So he says well if you get back I'll take it. Sure nuff she makes it back around just before they finished up AND she brought us both doubles!!:cool1: Those suckers were Strong! It was pretty cool too because some of the waitresses are REALLY slow, but there they definitely were not - I think they spoiled us a little too.:love: Well, then we had to stumble back to the room.

Next up Day 3... but it is super late, so that will have to wait til tomorrow! Goodnight guys!

[Foxfiregrrl]

Day 3 - Tuesday
We slept in a bit today. We had tickets to Mystere tonight and did not want to overdo it too early on. We decided to start at Caesars Palace and the Forum shops, then see where the day took us. Well that place is HUGE! We spent a very long time on just one side of the shops. DH was wanting to really take our time because we blitzed so many hotels our first full day that he did not want to "run out of things to do". Anyway, for the most part on this trip we just window shopped because almost all the stores are pretty high class & super expensive, but it was fun. We saw the smaller fountain show, which was ok. http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3014/2353026175_1780351897.jpg
Then DH and I wandered into a chocolate shop called Vosges. Now I'm a MAJOR chocoholic so this was heaven. They had really funky chocolates where they combine chocolate w/ unusual ingredients like wasabi or chili peppers or lemon zest and peppercorn. I had actually read about them in Oprah's magazine although it took me a few minutes to figure that out. Anyway we started asking prices and determined that we would get a small sampler of the chocolate bars. Then I looked on the wall and saw that they had hot chocolate. So we sat at the little bar and each tried a different hot chocolate. I had the La Parisienne - dark chocolate + vanilla bean (seems like there was more to it, but that is what the website says) It was Delicious! DH had the Aztec Elixir - Ancho & chipotle chillies + Ceylon cinnamon + cornmeal + dark chocolate. His was really good too it had a really unique flavor. We were really enjoying our hot chocolate. The clerk was great too because she really left us alone to do our own thing but also gave us help when we needed it. Anyway she said that w/ the chocolates we had picked out and the hot chocolate, we were only $10 away from getting a free sample of truffles (4 in the box). The 5 pack of hot chocolate was $15 so we went for it. We got the La Parisienne because it was so sweet and yummy. So far we have eaten and really enjoyed our truffles, but have not gotten into the bars or hot chocolate yet. Anyway I really enjoyed that experience and purchase a lot!

Meanwhile my parents had stopped in some kitschy magnet store and found souvenirs for my sisters (bags/purses) and for co-workers (I think). We stopped off at Planet Hollywood for lunch. DH and I ended up splitting the L.A. Lasagna and each got a salad. We also ordered an appetizer for all of us to share. We primarily went here because when we went to Disney last year we had a coupon for PH and mom wanted to go REALLY bad. But we ran out of time and didn't end up going. Mom seemed pretty disappointed so I made sure we went this time. The food was pretty good, but the place is really not that special to me. Then, we went over to the other side of the shops and watched the other fountain show which has fire and thunder and such. It was a good bit better than the first one. Oh, yeah, they had an FAO Swartz there and it was HUGE and Awesome! They had a two story Trojan horse that you could actually go inside. http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2169/2353859644_e3dbfebd02.jpg They had practically life sized stuffed Harry Potter creatures like Hedwig, Fluffy, and Buckbeak! And practically any other toy you could imagine! Oh, AND the life sized floor piano like in the movie BIG.

Well, after Caesars Palace we were once again worn out and decided to go back to the room for a break before dinner and the show. Either this day or the day before, DH and I went down and hit the hot tub during our break. It was really nice and relaxing. After the break we drove to Treasure Island and began looking for a good place to eat dinner. DH and I wanted to eat somewhere fancy, however my parents tend to be rather cheap when it comes to eating out. We just have different priorities about where to spend our vacation money. Anyway we looked around and decided to head over to the Venetian to look for a place.

It just so happens that it was time for the Sirens of TI show in front of Treasure Island... so of course we had to stop and watch it. DH said we didn't have time, but I wanted to watch it and didn't think it would last long. It was pretty cool. The sirens on the one ship sing and lure the pirates from the other ship, blah, blah, and then some cannons and fire. It lasted a solid 15+ minutes. Then we kind of needed to make a dining decision quickly. We got into the Venetian and were having trouble finding restaurants. We stumbled onto a mexican place called Taqueria Canonita and dad said it looked good to him and we settled on that. It was fancy mexican. I had three soft tacos w/ different meats in them. One had chilies and cheese and was good. I don't remember what everyone else had but it was all good. The only problem was that it took awhile for our food to come. When they realized that it was taking awhile, they brought us a free chips and salsa (it was extra here).

Anyway, we got out of there and rushed back over to TI for Mystere - Cirque Du Soliel. We got there just after they opened the doors. We had front row seats to the left of the stage. I'm sure that those are not considered ideal seats because during a good bit of the performance you have to look around to see everything, however I LOVED our seats!! We were right there and could see all of the details really well. Plus, there was a little platform right in front of us and at different times characters would jump onto it and perform RIGHT in our face!! The first time it startled us. I REALLY loved this show!! I would highly recommend it! Well, after the show all of us but dad were ready to go back to the room. Dad was just really set on seeing the fountains at Bellagio and for some reason felt like he wasn't going to get a chance to see them. We ended up convincing him that it was too late to catch them that night and that we Would see them tomorrow.

[Foxfiregrrl]

Day 4 - Wednesday
Today we decided to stay close to the hotel for the early part of the day so that we could go down further on the strip for the evening and dad could see the fountains. We started out by going next door to CircusCircus. We got there just before they opened the Midway for the day. We wandered around a bit and then went to the midway to see the first show of the day. It was a clown juggler and a family of trapeze artists. The show was pretty good, nothing we haven't seen before but after 4 days of walking nonstop it was nice to sit and watch. We also sat down for a lesson on how to play roulette which was very informative and helpful.

Then we went down to the Riviera and first thing when we walked in they were talking about this special that they have where you spend $20 and they give you $40 worth of credits. Thing is you have to spend it $3 a pull on specific slot machines. You then have the opportunity to win $10, $100, or $1000. Whether you win or not you get your choice of a souvenir item which included some nice fleece jackets. So we all go for it. DH and I have crap for luck and are out of money Quickly. We go over to where mom and dad are sitting and mom is up to like 100 credits (you can't cash them out though unless you hit one of the jackpots). Dad was doing ok, but not great. Then all the sudden I look over and he hits the $100 jackpot. So the lady pays him $100 in cash and he plays the rest of his credits then we all get our items. Mom, Dad, and I got jackets and DH got a denim button down shirt. I think we wandered around for a bit longer, then we decided to hit Slots of Fun (next to Circus Circus) for lunch and a few slots.

They have $.99 Giant hot dogs there. I didn't realize the hotdogs were so big, so we also got a $.99 shrimp cocktail for DH and I to split. The shrimp cocktail was kinda pitiful, but the hotdog was good and HUGE. So we hit the slots for a few minutes and Dh and I decide we should head back to the hotel to chill awhile. My mom agrees, but dad is like no I'm having fun on the slots. So I would think mom would stay with him, but she decides to come back with us. We leave dad there thinking he will come back shortly to rest up. Three hours later he comes back and we are all Chomping at the bits to leave by then. Luckily he was pretty much ready to head back out.

We drove down and I think we parked at Ballys. We walked through Bally's shops and didn't think too much of them. Then we went over to Paris. Their theming is pretty cool.
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Last time I didn't get to the Eiffel Tower so I definitely wanted to do that this time. Dad ended up paying our way for the tower since he had his $100 win earlier. It was really cool and would probably be even cooler at night. The only problem we had was that it was really windy that day and so up there it was kind of cool. We were able to see up and down the strip and there is also a great view of the Bellagio fountain area from up there. I looked at my watch and realized that we were only about 15 minutes from a fountain show and they say it is great to watch from up there. So, we stayed up there until time. Here are some of our photos from up there:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2021/2353861372_1c373443e0.jpg http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3020/2353029809_a5c9bc9512.jpg http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2210/2353864812_78febaeb0f.jpg
If you go on the Eiffel Tower definitely make sure you go when there will be a fountain show at Bellagio! It was really cool to see it from up there and you could still hear the music really well. http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2084/2353867480_21de1af9d4.jpg
Dad was happy he got to see the fountains. http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3041/2353036715_420c462cbe.jpg After Paris we went down the road to Flamingo and wandered around there some. DH got his picture taken w/ a showgirl. http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2398/2353037399_6a95dc8514.jpg We decided it was time to eat so we stopped at the Cafe there. We had way too much food there. It was right next to the Flamingo habitat and even though it was dark out by now we went anyway. It was neat to see the flamingos and other birds. They also had a monument for Bugsy Seigal(sp?) there but I didn't realize what it was until we were past it. We then wandered back down and across the street to Bellagio. Right when we were going into the door of the Bellagio I realized that it was time for a showing of the fountains. We went over and found a spot just as it was starting. It was good to be able to see it from the ground in front of it also. I was not really paying attention but I believe the music was different this time from the first time we saw it. When the show was over we went into Bellagio and walked through their shops and into the lobby to see the glass sculpture on the ceiling. http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3089/2353068461_966601269b.jpg
Then we went to check out the conservatory garden that was done in a "Year of the Rat" theme. It was pretty cool. http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2160/2353902330_2684a3b1c4.jpg http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3255/2353903026_9b608a29b4.jpg
We were preparing to leave from there and trying to decide what to do next. Mom had been coming down with a cold today (DH had been feeling a cold for a couple of days now) and she was feeling particularly bad. She said that she was about ready to call it a night. We headed outside to cross the road to our car at Ballys and it just so happened that the fountains were starting up again. This time they played "God Bless the USA" by Lee Greenwood, so we stopped and watched it again. (I think it is particularly funny that we watched it 3 times because dad had been so worried about seeing these fountains for the WHOLE trip!) We headed back to the hotel at that point and mom and dad went to bed.

DH and I weren't done for the night so we walked down to Slots o' Fun to gamble for awhile. Here the wait staff was hit or miss. On this night we had one waitress that was pretty good. Her name was Sandy and she came often enough to keep us happy. We mostly played slots and video poker. We also hit the $.50 roulette table for awhile. DH started on it and then we both played for awhile. It was a lot of fun, but you have to be careful or you can lose your money fast. I didn't play a lot of single numbers. I favored the corners where it covers 4 numbers - it doesn't pay as well but pays out more often. I think I did a tad bit better than DH and cashed out w/ a few bucks leftover. Overall we really enjoyed the atmosphere at Slots o' Fun. There are plenty of cheap slots and they had the $.50 roulette table and $1 Blackjack table. The blackjack table was full all night so we didn't get on it, but decided that we definitely wanted to hit it at some point. We had a good night. I'm quite sure that we didn't leave with any winnings, but we did enjoy ourselves for several hours on not much money.

[Foxfiregrrl]

Whew, this trip report thing is hard work!!

So, yesterday evening I did not do too well. I ended up having two brats over the course of the evening and too much potato salad and wine.

Today was not any better. They had my favorite food - Mac n Cheese and it was uber cheesy :love: Also lots of other bad foods and I ate most of them.

I did help hide the eggs for my cousins girls and then walked around the yard several more times helping them find them. Then my sister went WAY back into our childhood and brought out the old croquet set that my grandfather bought for us. We used to play on pretty days AGES ago. So they set it up and played a round and then I got in on one. It was mom, both sisters, Austin (my sister's best friend), and me. It was really a lot of fun, so hopefully we will play more often. I came in second place too! :cool1:

So, I did a little more than sit on my duff all day, but not much :rolleyes1

It's the weekend though. I'm worn out too for some reason :confused3 I'm gonna chill the rest of the night. I will work on posting the rest of my trip report throughout the week. I have all but Saturday & Sunday typed up already, so mostly it is just posting it and adding the pics.

Have a Wonderful Sunday evening!!

[lindalinda]

Whew Amber...I finally got caught up on your journal. I leave for a couple of days and I am pages behind.

Sounds like Vegas was fun, thats a great trip report! I think you would be a hoot to hang out with girl!

I have to go catch up on mine now.

nite

:hippie:

[Foxfiregrrl]

Hey, Linda! Glad to see you are back with us, too! I was beginning to wonder if everyone was going to let life sweep them away.

I still have more trip report to post, but it has just been a busy two days.

Monday:
food was pretty good except that dinner was leftovers from Saturday. I went to the gym for Hi/Lo but the instructor didn't show. So, I did 25 minutes on the treadmill instead which included some jogging.

Tuesday:
Food was good til dinner. We went out w/ my friends from work and some of their friends. I had fried shrimp, fries, and 3 glasses of wine. Work was BAD yesterday so I was stress eating. I didn't go to the gym at all yesterday.

Today:
B- kashi, milk, coffee
l - chicken salad wrap, caesar salad
d - not sure yet
I am about to try to force myself to go to water aerobics. I had another BAD day at work and really just want to drown my troubles in some more wine... I still haven't made my decision about that yet :rolleyes1

I probably won't make it back online tonight but I will try to get another trip report portion posted by Friday at the latest.

[DisDee]

Lovin' your Vegas trip report Amber and the pictures are great!

[kmp1191]

Great trip report Amber!!
Love the pics from the tower!! Very cool!


yep, i'm back...
marie

[Foxfiregrrl]

HI, guys! Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

I have been really busy at work this week which then spills over to being too worn out to get on the computer.

I did go to water aerobics on Wednesday and then had wine and Subway for dinner.

We ended up eating out for dinner Thursday too. I had a busy, yet exciting day at work and wanted to sort of celebrate. One of the sibling groups on my case load is finally getting adopted which they've been waiting for for awhile now :cool1: Everyone was super excited!

Yesterday DH cooked dinner and it was tasty and healthy.

Today I got up and went for yoga class, but the instructor wasn't there Again. I was prepared today w/ my tennis shoes, so I went on to the gym to get my workout in. I did 47 minutes on the eliptical :yay: I burned about 490 calories :woohoo: and went about 3 miles! :cheer2:

Then I came home and found DH outside working in the yard. We had talked about doing yardwork this weekend, but I for some reason didn't believe that we would actually do it. But he was out there working and a bit miffed that I had gone to the gym instead of starting on the yard (he was over it fast though). So, I got to work too.

Our goal for the day was to get rid of this Large pile of pine trees that were cut down for the house to be built. It has just been sitting there forever and we had not dealt with it. So we started moving it off to the other side of the yard into the woods, then we decided to borrow my dad's truck so that we could move it faster and easier. We loaded 3 loads and dumped them in another wooded area. We still had a pretty good sized pile, but it was decaying pretty bad. So we decided to burn the rest of it. We started it today, but it was burning Really slowly. We burned some and then put it out. We will try to get the rest of it burned next weekend.

I worked SO hard today and am Completely Exhausted!! I know we did hard labor for at least 2.5 hours!

Dh's mom and a family friend (couple years younger than dh & I) showed up mid afternoon. They hung out while we finished up and did the burning. The friend helped DH some and even offered to come next weekend to help with whatever else we need done.

We went out to dinner w/ them afterward. We had mexican and because I was starving I ate Too much. I have also had way too much wine this entire week. I am not worried too much, but I know it does not help my weight loss at all. I expect things to get back to normal at work w/in the next week or two though, so that should help. This week I ended up skipping my lunch break and just scarfing something down 3 days! That is not a good sign!

So food for today:
b- kashi, milk - this was after workout and at least 30 minutes of yard work
l- chick. sand. and lentil soup
d - cheese & sausage dip, chips, chick. quesadilla, taco, rice and beans, 1 glass of wine I didn't eat every bit of it.. but close :sad2:
later - more wine... maybe

Well, I just hope that I burned enough calories today to break even w/ my horrible dinner. It would have been nice if I had controlled myself and actually had my hard work today count for something :rolleyes: Oh, well, there is a ton of yard work left to be done... guess I'll try to get it right next time.

Gonna check in on a few journals/threads and call it a night. Happy Sunday guys.

[Foxfiregrrl]

Day 5 - Thursday
Ok, so this was a shared trip with my parents, but DH and I had hoped to get at least one day to ourselves. My parents had said early in the planning that they wanted to go to the Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon. DH and I had little interest in the Hoover Dam and went to the Grand Canyon in 2004, so we were not going with them on this day trip. Well, as the trip got closer they decided that they would not go all the way to the Grand Canyon, but would go to the Indian Reservation where they built the Skywalk that goes out over the canyon. So, DH and I were planning for a "couples" day whatever day they did that.

DH and I had also decided that we wanted to see one of the traditional showgirl shows that they have in Las Vegas and kind of wanted to go with the Topless one to be "fully Vegas". My dad joked that he was going to one, but mom is a bit to sheltered for that. So we just determined that we wouldn't say anything and would go on our alone day.

Well... Wednesday evening my dad says that they are only gonna drive over to the Hoover Dam and tool around a bit and then come right back. I tried to encourage them to go on to the Indian Reservation, but he said they changed their mind. A bit later dad asked me again if DH and I wanted to go to the Hoover Dam with them and I said no and that we figured we would just have a "couples day" and hang out by ourselves. Now, also remember that mom wasn't feeling good at the end of Wednesday night.

I wake up around 10am on Thursday and expect mom and dad to be gone, but low and behold I hear them rattling around in the kitchen. I wake DH and we jump in the shower. I figured they must have decided not to go to the Hoover Dam since they were still there. But, when we get out of the shower I no longer hear them. I open the door and look around and they are gone. So, we figure they must have just gotten a late start.

DH and I eat breakfast and then head out. We have no car today and want to go all over the strip, so we buy the all day Monorail pass and jump on at the Sahara. We go straight down to the Tropicana and buy two for one tickets to the 10pm topless showing of Folies Bergere. Then from there we are free to explore for the day. We walked out front and walked up the road a piece. We stopped off at the M&M World which is 4 stories of M&M merchandise. Then we got to the corner where Planet Hollywood Hotel and Monte Carlo sit.

DH and I had talked about eating lunch at Diablo's Cantina because I had read that it was neat & that they had 35 different tequilas. Well, it was lunch time and there sat Diablo's so that is what we ate. We were able to get a 15% off coupon from this totally weird dude standing on the corner across the street, which helped. They charge for their chips and salsa too but we bought some. It was totally worth it. There were three different types of salsa and we had a really hard time determining which one we liked best. They had a tequila menu which was cool and a sampler which gives you a 1.5 oz shot each of the blanco, reposado, and anejo versions of a particular brand of tequila. These are the various agings of the liquor and they had Patron and other expensive brands. The sampler was expensive but much cheaper than 3 shots on their own. We decided to get the Patron sampler to share. It came on this really cool tower w/ the limes in a shot glass on the bottom. I got the shrimp quesadilla which was very good and Dh got 3 pork tacos which he enjoyed. This was a very good meal and we left full and w/ a decent buzz. BTW, we both liked the blanco (younger) tequila because it had less bite. It is also the cheaper version which I find funny.

We left there and wandered through the "Miracle Mile Shops" at Planet Hollywood Hotel (a note: PH restaurant is not in PH hotel which is really odd to me). We bought some good lingerie at Fredrick's of Hollywood which I'm really proud of. I had not gotten anything new since DH and I got married... so it was time (sorry if that is TMI). Also of note is that when we went in 2004 this shopping area was part of the Aladdin hotel and was called Desert Passage. This was our favorite themed shopping area back then and was SO cool. Well, now they are remodeling it to be all modern - BLAH - but it is mid change over which was weird. At least we got to still see some of the old styling and the area where it "rains" indoors. We spent a long time in this shopping area because it is big. After so many days of so much walking we were REALLY feeling it too. We sat down and came up with a bit of a plan.

We decided to go over to Bally's & catch the tram to Harrahs. From there we would go to the Venetian to ride the Gondolas. Then we would come back to Paris for dinner at the Le Village Buffet before heading down to Tropicana again for the show. On our way to the Venetian I stopped a got a souvenir Eiffel tower shaped glass full of strawberry daiquiri. It was really big and got me a Lot of looks throughout the rest of the evening. It was good, but had a way too high sugar to booze ratio.

We made it over to Venetian and all the way from the beautiful canal area outside to the place to buy tickets inside. (We didn't actually take our camera w/ us this day, but I added a couple of relevant pics from later in the trip ;) )
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We decided to do the indoor ride because it is longer. It was really neat and the gondolier was good. We had to share our Gondola with a man and his mom, but it was not bad. The gondolier sang two songs for us and was very talented. I really enjoyed the ride and would do it again. I only kind of wish that we had decided to wait and do this w/ mom and dad so we could have filled the whole boat (I'm not sure if they would have wanted to though).

So then we head back to Paris. It was not quite time for us to do dinner and I was not really hungry yet cause of the stupid daiquiri. We sat and played a few bucks into the slots before dinner. I had wanted all week to get one of those giant daiquiris but knowing that we were eating an expensive buffet I should not have done it that day... oh, well, live and learn. The Paris Buffet was really themed well. It looked like a small village and they had tons of different foods. We started w/ two plates each just to try to get a small sample of all the good looking stuff. I tried a few new things and it was really good for the most part. They had crab legs so I had a few of them. Then they had a WHOLE area of deserts w/ all kind of awesome stuff. The BEST thing though wasn't even w/ the deserts... hand/custom made crepes!! I had mine made w/ just nutella and whipped cream. OMG that was the BEST thing ever!!! I also had one of these made by a street vendor when I was actually in Paris so it really took me back. Dinner was delicious and I was stuffed. I had this really uneasy feeling that I had had way too much sugar and would end up feeling bad, but at that point didn't know what I could do about it. I wound up being fine though.

After dinner we took the long walk back to the Bally's monorail station AGAIN (this is a REALLY long walk & we did it WAY too many times that day) and headed over to Tropicana via MGM Grand. We got there a few minutes before they opened the doors for the show. We had decent seats. Most of the seats are at tables which is kind of weird, but ended up not being as bad as I thought at first. The show was really enjoyable. They did kind of a history of women and women's fashion. There was only toplessness during just over about a third of the show. I thought it was fairly tastefully done. My MOST FAVORITE part was when they put this mirror at an angle over the stage, then the ladies lay down in a circle and make shapes w/ the movement of their legs and these giant feather fans. It is hard to describe, but was SO cool. It is reflected in the mirror so that you can see it and sort of looks like a kaleidescope. Anyway, they could have done just that the whole show and I would have been Happy.

After the show DH & I were both pretty tired and still had to ride the monorail all the way back to Sahara and walk from there home. That was the end of our "couples day". It was a very long and full day. I really enjoyed it. DH & I are very well matched and are very go w/ the flow type of people. When we travel with other people it always reminds us of how well matched we really are. This was a much needed break for us from dealing with other people. I love my parents a lot and we do fine traveling with them, but DH and I have sworn off traveling to places like Disney or Vegas w/ anyone else for a long time! It is just very hectic and stressful trying to coordinate and appease all the various personalities. (little side note: I think it is primarily going to be Dh & I at DragonCon this year, which after last year is just fine w/ us:thumbsup2 )

Oh yeah, update on how this all worked w/ mom and dad. They called us when we were at PH shops and left a message (phone wasn't getting signal) saying they were on their way back from the Hoover Dam and stopping for food. DH talked to them when we were at the Venetian and they were back in Vegas. Dad asked DH if we were going to meet back up and DH politely told him that we had dinner planned already and would just hang separately (w/out having to actually say it). Dad said that was fine and that he and mom would probably go downtown to the Fremont Street Experience. I told DH that I was so glad that he talked to dad because w/out meaning to dad bowls me over and would have somehow convinced me that I needed to meet them to go to Fremont Street. When we got home they were up and told us about their day. They had slept late because mom was sick. They enjoyed Hoover Dam and then dad said that Fremont Street was probably his favorite part of the trip so far. I said good because I still want to go there. They asked about a couple of things from the day, but not details so I was able to avoid saying that we went to the topless revue. Don't ask me why, but telling my mom that seemed like it would be VERY uncomfortable. :rolleyes1

[Foxfiregrrl]

Day 6 - Friday
We slept late again which was really our regular routine this week. We got up and decided that we would go to the Wynn Hotel and a few things in that area in the early day and then hit Fremont Street/Downtown for the evening.

We drove down and parked at the Wynn. Another hint for your trip is that if you rent a car - use the valet parking at the various hotels. It doesn't cost anything but the tip and is Super convenient. The Wynn was very nicely decorated. We went in and found the Parasol up/ Parasol down bar that overlooks their small pond & waterfall. At night the water fall has a laser light show on it, but it was way to early for that. The Parasol bars are just on two levels and have really pretty decorations.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3279/2353070235_71057fc18c.jpg

Then we walked through their expensive shopping center toward the Palazzo which just opened in February. We had been told by our gondolier that the Venetian is themed after Venice and the Palazzo is themed to look like the Italian countryside. We entered through their shopping area and it's shops were not all filled yet. The theming was very pretty though. You know I don't think we actually went into their casino/hotel area, just the shops. I'm sure we didn't miss much.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3109/2353072599_0a61ebfea7.jpg

The Palazzo shops lead you straight into the Venetian Canal Shops. We wandered all around them and showed mom and dad the gondola rides and St. Mark's Square.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3032/2353082693_a066c209e8.jpgMe with a Living Statue.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2334/2353084129_e2c1b0fc83.jpg
I really Love the Venetian! It is SO beautiful and I really loved Europe so it makes me want to go there. I did not have my camera with me on Thursday so I was able to take some pictures today of the things I missed. The front outside area is truely beautiful also. http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2367/2353917742_e134c60e71.jpg Since we were outside I wanted to cross the street to the Mirage.http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2223/2353083733_9a502db4f1.jpg
They supposedly had a volcano out front that "erupts" every half hour in the evening, but I had yet to see any evidence of that. We walked over and realized that the volcano area is under construction, so I'm not sure if it will still be a volcano when they are done with it. We went inside and looked around. They have a small rainforest set up in the lobby that was really pretty w/ some lovely orchids. http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2289/2353085933_2fe34ea974.jpg We also wandered through the entire place all the way to the back pool area because they have a dolphin habitat that we were interested in. I told them it cost to get in, but DH said he thought it was free (who did all the research, I ask you?). So we get there and it is $15 per person. I would have paid and gone in, but dad & mom said they can see dolphins for free on his boat in Florida. I have never seen one on his boat, but that is because I'm bad fish luck on a boat - never see or catch anything:confused3 . So we moved on.

We took the Tram from Mirage to Treasure Island thinking it would save us some walking... not. The tram dumped us out at the back of TI so we had to walk all the way through the hotel and shops to get back to the front/street area. Anyway, it wasn't a really big deal though because we had not really explored TI the other night when we were here. I got a few pictures of the Sirens of TI set area today.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2068/2353920808_d2d3030cd0.jpg http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3080/2353920536_b86c7a2234.jpg Loved this pic, very Goonies to me :thumbsup2

It was lunch time so we went next door to the Fashion Show Mall for lunch. They have this Giant TV screen out front and it shows videos and plays music really loud. I had noticed it when we drove by numerous times during the week. Well, what I failed to realize until we walked up to it is that it is always showing the same video/commercial - an IPOD commercial using a Mary J. Blige song...basically THIS (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPXHeUY91Ug) over and over and over. It is a catchy little tune, but GOOD GRIEF! It was Absurd!

Anyway we went inside and looked around. The directory said they had a California Pizza Kitchen and DH decided he really wanted that. My parents agreed, but since they had been kind of cheap on food I wasn't sure if they would think it over priced. They enjoyed it though and agreed that it would do well in Macon. DH and I split a bottle of wine along with our meal. After that we headed back to the hotel and I dragged DH to the hot tub. I really want a hot tub here at home :cloud9:

For the evening, we headed out to the Downtown/Fremont Street area. We got there just after the first light show that was at 7pm. We wandered about a bit and DH wanted to buy a shot, so I got a lighted souvenir cup w/ margarita. We saw a little acrobatic street performance, then meandered through a couple of the casinos.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2129/2353088389_01061ca478.jpg http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2314/2353089543_e40b459194.jpg
The nice thing about the downtown area is that it is WAY more compact so you can see several casinos in a half hour and not feel like you have walked yourself to death. They are not very themed out though.

We ended up going into the Four Queens and joining their slot club. You got a free deck of cards in a metal tin for joining. Then we sat down for a bit to play. DH and I found a little video roulette table that only cost a penny per token and played at that for awhile. DH was doing really well at it and ended up fussing later that we made him leave it. We did leave there though to wander some more.

We saw the Fremont Street Experience light show. It was neat, but not anything really special to me. Dad said that the show is different each time and the two we saw were his least favorite (I think they saw them all the day before). http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3095/2353091167_7d65aa1191.jpg

We decided it was time for dinner and I had read that there were some really cheap specials at Aloha Specialties restaurant in the California, so we went to check it out. They did have some interesting looking stuff, but it wasn't striking my fancy and mom and dad didn't look interested. So we moved on. We ended up at Main Street Station and they had a seafood buffet because it was Friday night. So who says that it what he wants? My dad. It was pretty good and they had a nice variety of things. DH and I decided to eat lightly and then work on crab legs the rest of the time. I think I managed to not be too stuffed when we left there.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2289/2353924562_f32f0a9bfd.jpg
We went back to the Fremont Street area and were able to watch the Cage of Death thingy - where they ride motorcycles inside a cage. DH & dad enjoyed it, I did not care and was not enjoying standing a lot at that point. We collected beads at a couple of places, then headed back to the Four Queens for some more gambling. I got on one of the "Deal or No Deal" slots and it was pretty cool. The guy sitting two seats down from me was doing great, but mine wasn't hitting too much. The drink service at this place was pretty cruddy too. DH got pretty frustrated and ended up going outside to one of the street vendors to buy more shots. I asked him to bring me a margarita back. Well since he did several shots in a row and ordered a margarita the guy hooked it up and it was so strong I could hardly drink it!

Well, at some point DH and I are sitting at the slots and my parents come up to us. Dad sticks a ticket in our face (the ticket prints out your winnings instead of giving coins) for $45 that he won. We were like Oh, that's good. Then Mom sticks hers in our face for $250!! I was like OMG! It was great that they were doing well, but DH and I were a bit jealous because we didn't hit anything all week!! We had not been losing terribly, but just not winning anything to speak of. I think I had hit like $13 once and was excited!

So, we had some fun there and then mom and dad wanted to go to the Plaza Hotel/casino at the end of the road, which was right next to where we parked. Dad had read that they had really loose slots. Well we went there and DH and I were not impressed at all. We didn't do very well and there was NO wait staff anywhere. We were probably there at least an hour and no one asked to get us a drink. Well, I had finished up and mom and dad had, but we were waiting on DH. So I went to the next row over and stuck another dollar in. I was playing and while not hitting anything substantial I was continuing to play on that one dollar. Well, the lady Finally came around and asked for my drink order so I ordered one. Then DH comes up and is like, We've been looking all over for you! and we are ready to go! I said, but I just ordered a drink and I'm not out of money yet! So, they all gather and are watching me play. Dad tells me to bet bigger, because your winnings are more if you hit and the money goes faster that way. Well, I bet like 3 or 5 credits a line ONE time and hit like $10 or $15 just like that! I was all excited, which made my dad really laugh since he and mom had so much bigger wins. Well, the lady brought my drink finally and I spent down to $5 and then cashed out.

Overall, I would say if you are tired and don't want to walk a lot, Downtown is nice. But if you like the free cocktail service and that is half the fun of gambling, then DON'T go downtown. For DH and I there were several nights that we sat and spent less than $20 total between games and tips for both of us and stayed for SEVERAL hours and had at least 4 or 5 drinks a piece - that was at Stratosphere and Slots o' Fun. That was "winning" enough for us.:thumbsup2

[Foxfiregrrl]

Well, that is most of the trip. I still have Saturday that I have to write up. Sunday was pretty much just the flight home. I will write a little about that probably, but not much. I'm gonna say that the last portion of the trip report will most likely have to wait until next weekend.

My back is hurting me pretty bad from all of the yard work yesterday. I think I over stressed the muscle on the left side of my lower back. I'm gonna take it easy and hope that it feels better in the next couple of days.

I was SO tired yesterday that I went to bed before midnight (which is rare for me on a weekend) and slept until almost 11am!

Food so far today has not been bad.
B? - coffee
L- blackeyed peas, butterbeans, and cornbread. I drank water too :thumbsup2 one bite of rib, one bite of orange muffin thing
Dinner will be grilled chicken w/ black bean and avocado salad, together in soft tacos. YUM :love: and very low fat/whole food :thumbsup2

I did not do any exercise today. I'm taking the day off after all the hard work yesterday. Most likely tomorrow I will go to the Hi/Lo Cardio class.

I really want to aim to get 4-5 days of exercise in this week. I also sat w/ DH and planned our dinners for the week today, so I should be on track food wise :yay:

[Foxfiregrrl]

Today has been a success so far. I ate pretty good and made it to the gym today despite having a few issues at work and going out for lunch.

Food:
b- kashi, milk, coffee
l- caesar salad w/ shrimp
d - grilled chicken, black bean & avocado soft tacos - man that stuff is YUMMY!

Exercise - 8 min. on the bike before Hi/Lo Cardio for an hour. :banana:

I took my lunch today and was looking forward to it, but we were all having a really grumpy Monday, so almost our entire unit went out for lunch together. I really want to have a good weigh in tomorrow though so I made myself get the salad. It was good and I enjoy salads, I just usually can't convince myself to actually order one :confused3

I had alcohol most nights of the last week and need to cut back just so that the calories don't send me back to the 200's! What is funny is that if I had not thought about that last night and this morning, then I would not want anything to drink tonight, but because I said, "No alcohol on the day before weigh in" now I want some :sad2: I will not drink tonight though!!! I makes me retain water or something and I have bad weigh in's when I drink the night before.

I weighed yesterday morning and was down, so I'm desperately trying to hold onto that and use it as inspiration to get and stay on the right track!!

Have a great week everyone!

[lindalinda]

Hi amber! I loved your trip report!

I have never been to vegas, never really wanted to, since I'm not a gamber. But your report makes it looks so fun! That Venetian is gorgeous! I would love to stay there!


I hope your back feels better soon!

Have a nice week, dont work too hard!

Oops I for got tosay that pic of you with the "living statue' guy is adorable!

:hippie:

[Foxfiregrrl]

Thanks, Linda! The Venetian is Really nice, I'm sure it would be a great place to stay. It is centrally located on the strip also which would make it nice! I enjoyed the gambling, but there are a load of other things to do there also! We really didn't spend much time gambling overall.

My back is much better, thanks. I think it was just sore from the throwing of the wood.

Today I joined the 100 day challenge posted by Princess Vija. I gave myself four goals. I am not sure about goal number 3 though. Here they are, discussion to follow:

1. Journal my food and exercise daily - which should help me with my other goals
2. exercise 4 times a week minimum
3. Eat healthier meals and stay within my calories daily (1200 - 1500) Part of this is going to be trying to eat more whole foods and fruits and veggies... but not sure if I want to make a daily goal for that yet.
4. Weight goal for July 9th = 170lbs, goal for the half way mark = 181lbs. (I decided to shoot higher than my 15lbs so that maybe I will actually hit 15 :rolleyes1 )

I was trying to think about this challenge as something I would try to do/not do everyday for 100 days, but I was having a hard time with thinking that way. So, I said stay within 1200 to 1500 calories a day. I know that I should be doing that and will do that Most days, however I can say with certainty that there will be days that I will go over. I would say it may even happen weekly. My thinking was that if I aim for it daily and get there most of the time then that is progress.... but then I'm wondering if that is not really following the challenge goal of doing something for 100 days? I'm gonna ask the other challenge participants what they think.

So food today:
b- kashi, milk, coffee
l? - 2 quarters of sandwiches, small handful of chips & salsa, 2 cookies :rolleyes1 :sad2: (we had a big meeting & this was what was there)
s- 60 calorie bowl of soup
d- soup made from leftovers - chick., sausage, veggies - really low fat except the sausage which wasn't much
alcohol - wine - gonna have a couple of glasses
calories - I'm thinking on the pushing it side.... probably shouldn't count today as an "on point" day :rolleyes1

Exercise - Hi/Lo Cardio - apparently Tuesday's class is only 40 minutes :confused3 It was Super Hard Core though!! I was really feeling it!

OH, YEAH, I almost forgot.... Hold on to your hat, don't fall out of your chairs...:rockband: DH and I actually came home and did chores today! On a Work day!! :faint: :rotfl: We do minor stuff sometimes, but are So lazy during the week :sad2: Today he came home and said he was going to mow the grass. So I changed the bed sheets, washed them, and washed dishes! I know that is not much, but I felt like it was a good showing that we are trying to think about what life will be like when we actually have to take care of a little one. We are growing up :rotfl2: Sorry just was entertained by that:lmao:

[Foxfiregrrl]

Today...

Food:
b- kashi, milk, coffee
l- chicken salad sandwich, grapes, water
s- 2 small pieces of chocolate
d- Homemade pizza (crust by Boboli ;) ), 2 white russians :rolleyes1
total - by my estimation around 1500 to 1600

Exercise - 1 hour of water aerobics

I think I will take the calorie count part out of my challenge... mainly because I'm too lazy to actually calculate my calories Every day. I will still try to stay in that basic range though.

K, it is late and I'm just finishing dinner, so gonna make it a short one tonight :hippie:

[DisDee]

Hey Amber, I know what you mean about not doing much around the house during the work week. If I accomplish 1 thing each nite, then I'm a happy camper. I will tell you though, that I always managed to get things done when the kids were young, and you will too. I worked outside of the home (sometimes part-time) so DH and I had to be a team.

If we ever get around to taking our trip to Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon, I'm going to refer to your trip report. You really must have done a lot of pre-trip planning. The pictures are great too!

[Foxfiregrrl]

Hey, Dee. Thanks for the encouraging words about managing life with kids. I know it is possible, but it is a scary concept for me at times because right now I have so much "lazy time". I know that it will fall into place and seem normal once it is happening. I have a wonderful DH too who I'm sure will help out a lot.

I did research a good bit for the trip. I think for me the research is a large part of the fun. I can be a bit obsessive also though :rolleyes1 I read two guidebooks that were old, then bought a new one (Vegas changes WAY to fast, you need a current book) and read it. I also found EVERY website I could about Vegas and read all of them & got all the freebie tips & coupons. It was fun though and made the trip more fun, I think :thumbsup2

Today was a road trip with one of my coworker/friends to see some kids that are 3+ hours away. It was a long day in the care but we had some nice discussions along the way. It was one of the kid's birthday so they picked the location, chinese buffet :sad2:

Food:
b- kashi, milk, coffee
l- too much chinese food plus some ice cream
d- veggie curry w/ a tad of chicken over couscous
alcohol - having wine
Exercise - none

I know I've had a lot to drink lately, but it is sinking in that I will have to quit completely sometime around June :scared1: so, I'm living a little while I still can :lmao:

K, my shoulders are still a bit sore from the workouts and typing at the puter kind of hurts. So, goodnight.

[Foxfiregrrl]

Today:

b- kashi, milk
s- coffee w/ white chocolate
l- red beans and rice w/ sausage, part of an Elephant Ear
d- fried and blackened shrimp, cheese grits, boiled peanuts, salad, wine
calories - WAY too many
exercise - none

Today for lunch my co-workers and I went down to Central City Park to eat at our Cherry Blossom Festival which is taking place all week. It is basically just fair foods. All the girls I went with got dessert, but I didn't see anything that I thought was worth the money or the calories. Instead I ended up eating about a third of one girls Elephant Ear because it was huge and she wasn't going to eat it all. It was really good, but I didn't want to buy myself one because it was Way too big.

DH & I went to a place called Fish & Pig tonight. It is right on the lake and while we waited we were able to sit on the covered porch in rocking chairs and look out over the lake. It was really nice. This is one of the places that Oprah ate at when she came to Macon in December (I think, or was it November) to do her "Favorite Things" show. I'm still VERY mad at myself for not trying to get tickets to that show!

I'm exhausted! It's been a long week AND I've gotten up early enough to get to work on time THREE days this week :eek: :faint: :upsidedow I really do need to work on that :rolleyes1

DH & I had planned to do yard work tomorrow and then go to the Street Party tomorrow night. BUT, it is supposed to rain pretty heavily all day tomorrow, so both ideas may be out of the window. I will probably try to go to either Yoga or Hi/Lo Cardio tomorrow morning. Then if it is rainy we will work on inside chores. Not sure what the evening will bring.

Have a Fabulous weekend!!

[Foxfiregrrl]

So it has been raining off and on all day. All Cherry Blossom events have been canceled for the day. It was so dreary that DH and I decided just to stay home and not go shopping or do any actual housework :rolleyes1 MIL & a friend stopped by. Other than that we've just been chillin' all day.

I'm in kind of a funky mood and not feeling like sitting at my computer to finish typing the last day of my trip report. Maybe I'll work on that tomorrow.

I didn't get up in time for class today. I really think I needed the extra sleep though. I did get up and do "Namaste Yoga" that I recorded off of FitTV. It was considerably harder than the class I go to, but is only 30 minutes instead of an hour.

Food:
l- leftover soup, 1 slice of leftover pizza
drink- lots of coffee
s- 3 fried shrimp and half a hushpuppy leftover from last night
d - will be - mushroom, artichoke, & turkey pepperoni quesadillas w/ some italian veggie side dish. I know it is weird, but we are just kind of throwing together ingredients we already have. I'm looking forward to it because I think it will turn out yummy.

K, gonna go lay on the couch and read I think. It is one of those curl up w/ a book kind of days. :hippie:

[Foxfiregrrl]

Still haven't made it to the couch :upsidedow I ended up reading trip reports until DH decided to start dinner.

I just had to come back and brag/gush about the dinner we just had :lovestruc

We don't go to the grocery til tomorrow, so tonight's dinner needed to be from stuff we already had. So DH thought and concocted an idea that sounded good to me & him. He ended up naming it "shrimp, artichoke, & mushroom quesadillas with Mediterranean Zucchini Salad" It turned out ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS!!! So, I thought I would share with you guys how he did it. Plus that will preserve it for us to try it again sometime.

First let me say that I had 4 blackened shrimp leftover from eating out last night that we ended up adding to the quesadillas, however I think the dish would still be perfectly delish without any meat or w/ a substitute of any leftover meats you have hanging around.

"Shrimp, artichoke, mushroom quesadilla" (makes 3, but we only at 2)
3 whole wheat tortillas ( we found a new brand Tam-X-Icos, that are whole wheat & flax and are Very good, way better than what we've had in the past)
4 leftover shrimp, diced small
1/2 can artichoke hearts, chopped small
4 oz. mushrooms, sliced
1/2 small onion, diced
mozzarella - about 1/4 cup each
Olive oil about 2 tsp
small amount of butter
thyme, oregano, garlic powder - dash or two of each
salt & pepper to taste

Saute the onions & mushrooms & seasoning in olive oil until mushrooms cook down & onions translucent. Add artichokes, cook for minute or two. Then add shrimp and cook. Set this pan aside.

In a cast iron pan, melt small pat of butter.
On half of one tortilla spread 1/4 cup of mozzarella then add 1/3 of the mushroom mixture. Fold in half and place on the hot cast iron skillet. Place another cast iron skillet on top to hold the fold and squash the quesadilla.
Cook for a minute or two, then flip over and cook for about a minute until nicely browned and cheese is melted.
Repeat with the other two Tortillas.


"Mediterranean Zucchini salad" makes 2 side servings
1 large zucchini, sliced into half moons
1/2 can artichokes, chopped
1tblsp sliced green olives
2 tsp feta cheese
salt & pepper to taste
1/2 tsp Olive Oil
1 tsp Balsamic Vinegar
1/2 tsp prepared pesto mix

Saute zucchini in olive oil w/ salt & pepper for few minutes. Add artichokes & olives, pesto & balsamic vinegar, cook for minute or two. Just before serving add feta.


It was all VERY good and quick to make. It may have had a slightly higher fat content than most dieters would prefer, but it was all Whole foods :cheer2: and every bite was a delicious taste explosion! :cloud9:

So that was dinner... plus some Riesling wine. Wine makes everything more enjoyable. But, I'm sure non-winos will still enjoy this dish :rotfl: :thumbsup2

Have a good night!

[Foxfiregrrl]

Today so far:

b- kashi, milk, coffee
l- ham casserole, roll, corn on the cob, sweet tea
s- chocolate graham cracker, peanut butter, milk
d - ?

We went to the arts and crafts festival that is part of Cherry Blossom. There were some good looking and smelling junk foods there, but I didn't get Anything! I was proud of that :thumbsup2

no exercise today, taking a rest day.

I'm sore today... I guess it is from the yoga yesterday :confused3 so taking it easy again :thumbsup2

[Foxfiregrrl]

Sunday night we ended up having Chicken, veggie and fruit curry w/ couscous. It was really good! I also had a snack of hummus (homemade) w/ triscuits.

yesterday was a bit hectic, so I didn't make it online at all. Work was the typical yucky Monday. After work I went to water aerobics class. Then a big group of us from class went out to Carrabba's to celebrate one of the lady's 79th birthday. We had a good time, but DH and I didn't get home until 10pm :scared: I ate fairly good and ended up with half of my meal leftover :thumbsup2

Food:
b- kashi, soy, coffee
l- half a quesadilla (leftover), salad w/ nuts, raisins, cranberries, alfalfa sprouts, croutons, light ranch
s- spoonful of cashew butter
d- 2.5 pieces of bread in olive oil (:rolleyes1 ), lentil & sausage soup, half of my chicken Bryan w/ pasta
Exercise - 1 hour water aerobics

I did my weigh in this morning.... 190.2 :cheer2: :cheer2: That is back down to what I was before Vegas :yay: :sad2: I can't believe it took me a month to get back there though!

ACTUALLY... I went back and looked... my lowest weight so far this year was 192, so I'm at my lowest as of today!! :cheer2: :cheer2: I've just gotta keep this momentum going!!

K, better get back to work!

[Foxfiregrrl]

today:

b- kashi, soy, coffee
s- part of a box of raisins
l- leftover Chicken Bryan w/ pasta and one slice of bread
d- pork chili
alcohol - large vodka, cranberry juice, & OJ - not sure what it's called :confused3
exercise - none... I worked until 7:45 :eek:

Got a lot done at work today, then had a late visit that turned into a Really late visit :sad2: Anyway... things are getting a bit better at work these days. I finally caught up on last months documentation, which puts me way ahead of most of my coworkers, but only barely makes me feel normal for the moment :confused:

Gonna catch up a bit then go watch biggest loser :hippie:

[Foxfiregrrl]

Today I was not very well behaved on the food front...

b- kashi, soy, coffee
l- 5 chicken nuggets, baked potato w/ butter and sour cream, sweet tea (Wendy's)
s- 4 oreos
d- (haven't eaten yet) pork curry on couscous - leftovers
Exercise - water aerobics

I was pretty beat today when I got home and didn't want to go to workout, but I made myself. I'm glad I did. I feel better now.

[Foxfiregrrl]

Yesterday I went out for lunch with my coworkers. I ate a shrimp ceasar salad and was trying to be good. Then the waiter brought us each a free slice of cake w/ chocolate drizzled on it. So of course I ate mine :rolleyes:

Then last night DH and I went out to celebrate our anniversary... we will have been married 6 years on Sunday (dh is on call this weekend). We went to the "Fondue Experience". We got the deluxe meal for two thing. We started with salads, then cheese fondue w/ bread, apples, cauliflower, and carrots for dipping. Then the meats were lobster tail, mahi mahi, shrimp, pork, chicken, sirloin, and filet mignon w/ veggies. You cook these in a red wine broth. We finished off the meal with the Grand Marnier Dark Chocolate fondue :cloud9: :love: w/ poundcake, banana, strawberry, cheesecake, pineapple, marshmellow, and Fried Brownie Bites (YUM:love: ). The dessert was the BEST part and I was almost too full to enjoy it... nevermind actually finishing it :sad2: We also ended up ordering two bottles of wine because the first one was gone before we even got to the meat :rolleyes1 We were there for THREE whole hours!! We had a really good time and really enjoyed ourselves.

What is funny is last time we went we were only there about 2 or 2.5 hours and ended up eating pretty much all of it. This time we had a Bunch of meat leftover (they made us cook it before we could bring it home) we did order a different meat selection this time though, so maybe that was it :confused3

Today-
b- kashi, soy, coffee
l- chick. sandwich, veggie soup
s- white cheddar popcorn from the vending machine :rolleyes: (I was hungry ALL day and this caught my eye at lunch and called out to me later)
d- Five Guys cheeseburger (by default a double :rolleyes1 ) and cajun fries

DH and I ordered one small order of fries, but they give you a TON anyway. I pigged out and ate my whole burger and Way too many fries. I'm not hungry anymore though :cool2:

Not sure what was up today, but I just stayed hungry constantly. After awhile that gets to me and I cave to being bad.

I've only gotten 2 workouts in this week, so I'm going to have to be really good this weekend and try to get 2 in :scared: I CAN DO THIS!!!

Have a great one guys!

[Foxfiregrrl]

So, I'm not making good on my promise to workout twice this weekend. I overslept yesterday and was not really in the mood to do either of the home workouts I had available. I was going to make myself do the yoga.... then DH starts talking about how he is panicking about having to do the taxes. He suggested I do them. This irritates me because I have volunteered to do them in the past and he wouldn't let me, then last year I did them and asked him to look over my work. He complained about that, saying if he has to check it he might as well do it :mad: Anyway, I ended up not working out and doing our taxes instead. They are done now, I just have to make copies and mail them out.

Food yesterday:
l- pork curry LO, 1/2 a can of veggie soup
s- 4 cups of coffee throughout the day
s- hummus w/ triscuits
d- scallop & veggie soup - I'm not a fish/scallops person, but I really tried to give this soup a shot :sad2: I couldn't make myself like it. I ate a little over half and then said I would eat some other leftovers. I ended up deciding that I was full and not eating anything else.
s- cadbury egg :lovestruc with milk (only chocolate that I bought from Easter - and only one)
alcohol - wine

Today, I just cannot get motivated to get my body moving. I tried to convince myself to go ahead and do a workout then make my coffee, but instead I'm sitting here typing sans coffee :confused3 what good is that? :surfweb: That is what I like to look like at my puter :lmao:

I think I'm gonna go make coffee now. Today is my anniversary so I may do some light :laundy: but other than that we will probably take it pretty easy.

Have a great Sunday!

[Foxfiregrrl]

yesterday I went to Hi/Lo cardio and today I went to the gym and did 23 minutes on the elliptical.

I have NO energy this week. I have been eating decently, but just VERY blah. I think it is PMS, but not positive.

Anyway, gonna take a brief journal break this week. I will be back this weekend, but probably not before that. I think I just need to step back and give myself a little break.

So, until the weekend, Have a lovely week!

[lindalinda]

Hi Amber! Sorry I havent checked in much. I have been busy since vacation and am trying to get my trip report done. Check it out if you have a chance.

Doing hi/lo cardio and the elliptical is awesome. I think you are doing fine, dont try to get it all figured out at once.

Are you still thinking family thhis summer? Maybe thats just weighing on your brain abit.

have a nice week!

linda
:hippie:

[kmp1191]

PMS blahs....I can totally relate!!!
Take a day or two, but then you have to come back....I DID!!

hang in there girl...:hug:

[Foxfiregrrl]

Hi, guys! I have begun to miss you guys a bit over the last few weeks. My journal is a little lonely without my long time buddies :hug:

I am back. I had joined the 100 day challenge and said that I would post everyday what I ate and my exercise. Somehow that made posting a Real Chore, even though before that I was pretty much posting everyday anyway :confused3 So, I just ended up dropping out of the challenge. I did sign up to do the BL5 challenge though which runs from today until May 23rd.

I went to water aerobics on Wednesday, but didn't get any exercise in yesterday or today.

I was really out of it during the early part of this week. I was really tired and just felt really scatter brained and just out of it. Yesterday things started to come back together though :confused3 So, I'm gonna try to get some decent sleep this weekend and hopefully will have a better week next week.

DH's friends are over tonight and will be here tomorrow also, so a full weekend of the guys. I think DH's best friend is bringing his two girls over tomorrow, so I'm doing babysitting duty. I went and bought flower boxes for the deck and some herbs to plant in them. I also bought a few flowers with the idea of planting them next to the patio... however I'm thinking that may be more work than I wanted to take on tomorrow :rolleyes1 We'll see. Then I went to the dollar store and got a bunch of outdoorsy goodies for the girls to play with. I got bubbles, sidewalk chalk, frisbees, a ball, and playdough.

So, I should be playing outside most of the day tomorrow. I volunteered to have the girls come over, but did say that their mother needs to come pick them up by 5pm. We'll see if that happens. If not, I am prepared to make a stink. But only because we have been having a lot of round and rounds about this issue lately. Basically their mother does not want to have anything to do with being friends w/ Dh & I, but she is more than happy to ditch her kids on us :mad: Don't get me wrong, the girls are very sweet and not much trouble (mostly they run around outside and entertain themselves) BUT they don't ask first and just assume that I will watch them. Then she will usually call about 4pm and say that she has all this shopping to do but she was goofing off and lost track of time, so she's not coming until 7 or 8 to get them :eek: :sad2: What is bad is that the husband is here, but he is so absorbed in playing with the guys that he is not watching the girls.

Anyway, last session she supposedly "just found out" that "he" was ditching the girls on me and not actually watching them himself :idea: duh. She knows that this is his one weekend a month (if that often) that he actually gets to hang out with his friends, does she really think that's the ideal daddy/daughter time :upsidedow I don't know it is really hard to explain without going on forever. I do rant about her WAY too much in real life. I just feel like she uses and takes advantage and is not willing to give any "capitol" to the relationship. :mad:

I feel bad for the husband and the kids though, so I said that they could come tomorrow and I would watch them. I also said that when she comes to pick them up she is more than welcome to stay for dinner. I doubt she will, but at least I'm extending my hand.

Well, I think that is enough for tonight. See ya'll tomorrow!

[lindalinda]

Hi Amber! I know how hard it is to stay focused and it gets boring posting all the time (esp if you've been bad);) I really like reading your journal and even tho I have been really lazy lately about it, I am going to try and keep up with reading them and posting.

I think it is good that you are standing up and not letting your friends wife take advantage with the babysitting. I hope her husband didnt tell her it was ok tho. Men do stuff like that sometimes, esp if it means they can "escape" for a bit.:lmao: I am thinking maybe that if you mention that you expect lots of "payback" when you have your little ones, you might see less of them!

Have a good week!

linda

:hippie:

[Foxfiregrrl]

Hey, Linda! I have been pretty bad on the food front lately and that does make it harder to post here. But I know that it is an ongoing lifestyle change and that I have to crawl before I can walk. I think it was just a combination of things that made me need a break.

On the issue with our friend's kids... I could rant for hours (or pages ;) ) I do understand that the husband was not being 100% truthful with his wife about the kids coming over and me being "fine with it", but this is more a symptom of the fact that they do not communicate AT ALL.

But I didn't end up having to put my foot down, because at about 2:45pm "S" (Dh's friend) had not shown up with the girls, so DH calls. Well, the wife is at home and had sent "S" to the store with the kids :confused3 She said that that it rained (sprinkled lightly early in the day) so they didn't think we would want the girls to come over :confused: :mad: Hello!! She could have called, either way! I had sat there waiting most of the day for them to come over! Plus, it kills me that she knew that he wanted to come over and hang out, but instead of letting him come and bring the girls and she could have run to the store herself - which seems the logical thing to do (esp. since she Likes to shop!) - Oh, no! She had to keep him from coming over and send him to the store! :furious: :furious: I truly believe that she is just selfish and inconsiderate and does things purposefully so that her husband is as miserable as possible :sad2:

"S" had actually told DH earlier this week that she told him that she would prefer that he quit gaming with the guys all together :furious: WHAT! I mean WTH is she thinking?! Who tells their husband that the one thing he really enjoys doing, the one social interaction that he has outside of work, that she just wants him to quit!?! :rolleyes: :sad2: ARGH!! I just cannot understand them AT ALL!

Anyway, I was really disappointed on Saturday because I had actually been looking forward to having the girls come over. I had bought toys and had a general plan for the afternoon.

I think it also just really hit me that after 6 years of trying off and on to cultivate some sort of relationship, it is just not going to happen. I had always pictured Dh & I and him and his wife hanging out and vacationing and raising our kids together. :sad1: no such luck. I had been pretty close to "S" during the 4 years that DH and I dated & before "S" met and married her, so I was still hanging on to this dream that we would all be one happy "family" and get along and I think it just really hit me this weekend that it is all a fantasy :sad1: Oh, well. I can't control their lives or marriage, I can only ensure that I don't make the same mistakes in my own life:goodvibes

I think I have also been just a TOUCH overly emotional over the last few days... it's TOM so that has a lot to do with it. I had a very nice Sunday w/ DH, but we got into some deep conversations and for no real good reason, I just burst out crying and then cried through most of the rest of the conversation :confused3 go figure :rolleyes1 We were talking about social connections and my lack there of :lmao: so it wasn't completely uncalled for :rolleyes1 I'm working on it though. I think that I hide here on the net and pretend that I'm ok because I have "online friends" and, don't get me wrong cause I love you guys, but that just doesn't cut it as your only social connections :upsidedow I am working on cultivating a couple of friendships with the girls I work with. It is just kind of a nerve wracking thing for me... stepping past casual acquaintance into friendship :confused3 not really sure why, but it is what it is.

So, food yesterday wasn't bad, but I had a lot of wine. Today I was crampy and tired so instead of going to the gym I came home and took a nap. I couldn't tell you the last time I actually took a nap! Then, because I've been in a bit of a mood, I asked DH to take me out for dinner. We had calzones and I had wine :rolleyes1

I will have to do better during the rest of the week because I would like to actually be down when I weigh in for BL5 on Friday.

It's late, so I'm gonna call it a night! See ya'll later! :hippie:

[Foxfiregrrl]

Hello!

I've been feeling kind of blah for most of the week, so I wasn't exercising or eating very well.

Today I am feeling a bit better today and actually made it to water aerobics after work. I am planning to go walk/jog on the treadmill at the gym before work tomorrow. I already prepared my lunch and everything so that I can get out of the door faster in the morning. Tomorrow my plan is to come back home to shower and eat breakfast after the gym. I know that this is not a realistic plan long term though because it is about 15 minutes from the gym to my house and it isn't exactly on the way to work (to come home).

My plan is to start going to the gym on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the morning before work and then on Monday and Wednesday go to the classes after work. Then I just have to figure out a workout for either Saturday or Sunday.

I am going to have to figure out breakfast and coffee solutions that I can take with me for after the gym on those mornings. I also will have to pack my lunch and prepare my clothes the night before :scared: It is starting to sound like a lot of work to go in the AM, but I think it will be worth it in the long run. PLUS I've gotten into a BAD habit of going to work LATE (Really Late!), so this will help me to get there on time... hopefully :thumbsup2

k, that's it for tonight.

[lindalinda]

Hey Amber!

Sorry your saturday was messed up by that wench! I dont blame you for being peeved! You do need to get some good girlfriends tho. I dont know what I would do without them. Who do you beech about your hubby to?:goodvibes

As my friend debbie says, the men , they come and go, but girlfriends are forever!

So it is with that that I suggest some new social situations of some type that do not involve men. Could be at the gym, but that may be difficult if you are in a rush. Maybe at work, but that sometimes gets a bit sticky. Maybe church? Bunco group, those are great! Me and deb have a girls night out movie thing once a month (or at least try). Book clubs are big now, you could check at your local bookstore. (I think I may join one of these). Of course, after you have a baby, there will be tons of "mom" groups to join. That may be your best bet.

Just because you have a great hubby doesnt mean you dont need your girls.

Anyway, you have tons to look forward to, so dont get in a rut!

Keep doing the baby-steps, you will get there.

linda

:hippie:

[Foxfiregrrl]

I agree Linda, I do need to work on some "girl power" friends :thumbsup2 I'm thinking of starting a scrapbooking get together at my house and see if that won't help grow a group. I admit that part of me keeps thinking that I can just wait until I'm a new mom and do the mommy group thing... That seems to be the easiest route ;)

I don't really have much time to post tonight, but I wanted to tell the world about my morning!!

This morning I got up and went to the gym! :woohoo: :cheer2: AND I did the first day of the couch to 5k program, which meant that I warmed up for 5 minutes then I ran for 60 seconds, walked for 90 seconds and repeated. I did this 7 times (the total time is supposed to be 20 minutes which is 8 run/walk cycles). So on the last cycle (number 8) I ran the entire 2.5 minutes! :cheer2: :cheer2: :woohoo: :woohoo: I felt really good throughout the whole thing too!!! One key that I think helped me was that I read last night that you should run slower than you think you should. Recently when I have been running I go like 4.7 miles per hour, but today I decided to start with 4.4 mph. I walked at 3.6mph. It worked out really well and I was SO PROUD of myself!!! :cheer2: :cheer2: I don't think that I have EVER ran or jogged for 2.5 minutes straight before !!:cheer2:

K, so after that the rest of the day my food was REALLY bad, but hey, one step at a time right :rolleyes1 plus I had a crazy day at work today. Some people never learn and I think they get stupider by the minute!! :sad2:

Good night!

[Foxfiregrrl]

Gonna try to keep it somewhat short tonight so that I can get over to other journals and hopefully Linda's TR :thumbsup2

Today I am a bit sore from the jogging yesterday. My shins hurt a good bit. I'm also a bit sore on the outsides of my upper thighs :confused3 I plan to look up advice regarding protecting myself from shin pain. I kind of feel like some level of soreness is to be expected though because my body is not use to that exact movement. Hopefully I can continue working on the jogging thing though :goodvibes

So tomorrow morning I'm leaving with my mom and two sisters to go to North Carolina for a wedding. It is for one of my second cousins. It is an outdoor wedding, so I really hope the weather is nice :wizard: Weather.com is showing rain until 4pm tomorrow... the wedding starts at 4pm :scared: maybe it will pass earlier than scheduled. On our wedding day it rained in the morning and cleared up for our pictures. Then right before the wedding started it sprinkled big drops, but it stopped RIGHT before I walked down the aisle :cloud9: The rain cleared long enough for the wedding and for everyone to get securely into the reception building, then within half an hour or so it POURED down :goodvibes

Anyway, we will be in the Asheville area and spend the night. I don't think we will do much before coming home on Sunday because my sister has a Kickball practice she wants to be back for by 6pm. She just joined a new kickball league that they are starting here in town. She tried to get me to join... I know it would be good exercise, but I STINK at team sports :rolleyes: plus it was a lot of time commitment AND on Sunday evenings :confused3 not sure that is what I want to do to end my weekend. I told her I might come watch a game and drink :rolleyes1 but not play :rotfl:

So, I won't be online tomorrow, but I'll check in on Sunday some time. Have a great weekend!

[lindalinda]

Good job with the running Amber! I have to keep it short because of computer issues. The interval training is great, even if you have to continue the walk run stuff for a long time, it works. I hope you dont have shin splints tho. Oh and I remember someone saying to shorten your stride too, when you run.


nite
:hippie:

[kmp1191]

Hey Amber~Good job on the running! Take it slow girl...don't want any injuries starting out!
Sorry to hear you've had some blah days...that sucks! Keep your chin up....it will get better!
I agree with Linda....bookclubs, if ya like reading, or a womans group at church...if you go to church. Bunco...someone at work MUST play bunco...ask them if you can join in...even as an alternate! I was never a Mommy's Group person....other peoples kids bug me....heck....so do my own. :rolleyes1
I don't have a lot of friends on my own. I have the women I work with....and there have been occasions that we've gone out, but here lateley, some things have REALLY gotten on my nerves, so I'm limiting social activities/conversations with them. DH and I have gone out w/ some of his co-workers and their spouses, and that has been fine, but as far as me calling one of them up and going to a movie...I don't know.
As you know, my kids and the photography keep me pretty busy....so I guess that's why I'm not much help on the social connection topic. Sorry.:guilty:

Hang in there girl! :hug:
marie

[Foxfiregrrl]

:hug: Hey Linda & Marie! I can't explain to you guys what it means to see both of you on my journal again. I really have felt a strong connection to you guys over the last couple of years. I know that I am working on "real life" friends, but that doesn't mean that you guys don't still hold a very special place in my life. I have really counted on you and been buoyed by you guys through some rough times in the last few years and I'm hopeful that we will continue to stick together. :hug:

Oh, and Marie.... Bunco... ? what that heck is Bunco anyway?!? I had never heard of Bunco until I read that you were going to Bunco night :laughing: I will check into it, but I even looked it up online and couldn't figure it out. :confused3 I have been considering doing a scrapbooking night at my house. So, maybe that will be nice and work out. I have all the stuff but won't do it by myself so if I can get some people to come over and work on it w/ me it could be a win/win situation :thumbsup2

Well, my two sisters, my mom, and I took the 5 hour drive to Asheville, NC to our cousin's wedding. It was outdoors and it started to sprinkle during it, but the heavy rain held out til we were all under the tent for the reception. It was a very nice wedding and a fun reception. They had an open bar, with the kind of wine I like (reisling). The wedding was at 4pm and we didn't end up leaving until 11:20pm! Needless to say we were some of the last to leave. We had a really fun time. It started out a bit slow and we sat around talking to our table-mates and then our relatives that were there. We thought we were leaving around 9:30, then it picked up again and we started dancing. They actually had 3 different bands play at the reception!! The last band was kind of a jam band and we danced and danced! It was a lot of fun! At the point that I started to really dance is when I realized how much I had had to drink!! :scared: I probably drank 2 or more bottles of wine by myself :rolleyes1 Anyway, we all were having a blast.

After we left the reception and went back to our hotel, my sisters and I were very loud and goofy (we made mom the DD EARLY on - she is diabetic so couldn't really drink anyway). We ended up all walking next door and eating at Denny's at midnight. Then we crashed for the night. I really enjoyed this trip w/ my sisters and my mom. We don't get that much quality time together and it was really nice.

Today was a state holiday, so I was off from work. I slept a little bit late and then caught up on some things I had DVR'd. Then my mom, my grandma, and I went to see my grandma's sister who is dieing of cancer. They just found out a couple of weeks ago and they have given her less than a month to live. Almost all of my grandma's siblings have died of cancer. When this sister dies my grandmother will be the last of her siblings left. I have never really been very close to this aunt, but it is still scary to see her and think that my grandmother could be in her condition someday.

On a side note, my grandmother is 82 and in pretty good heath. This is my father's mother. My mother's mother is dead, but my mother grew up in a children's home. When we were in North Carolina this weekend we went to see the lady that was my mother's "houseparent" in the children's home when mom was a child. This lady is very special to my mother and like a second mother. The woman is 93 years old! and was very healthy and mentally aware for a woman of her age. I have been less and less church involved as I have gotten older, but this woman talked about her daily devotions and witnessing to people even as she is a shut in. It really does make you wonder about faith and it's healing properties in people's lives. I just hope that I can make an impact on children's lives in the way that she was such an impact upon my mother's life.

I also had a young man at a local restaurant the other day tell me that he was a foster child and that his case worker made a huge difference in his life :lovestruc It was so wonderful to hear someone tell me that what I do for a living really can make a difference in someone's life :goodvibes He had asked me where I worked and I said DFCS. His response was "that is great" (or wonderful... something like that). It was the first time that anyone has ever had a purely positive response when I told them what I do. I said that and that is when he said that about being a former foster child. It really meant a lot to me to hear that!

Well, enough philosophical rambling for tonight.

I did get up this morning and do most of a Total Body Sculpt workout on TV. I didn't do the part that required me to get into "plank" position because my wrist is sore for some unknown reason. (I also have an unexplained bruise just above my elbow :confused3 - I was drunk, but not that drunk:rolleyes1 )

Tomorrow is my day to get up early and run/walk on the treadmill. I'll let you guys know how that goes :scared:

[DisDee]

Hi Amber, Just popping in with a quick hello. I've been following your journal even though I haven't posted. I just can't seem to find "balance" now that I am back to work. Your wedding weekend sounded like a fun time! I'm glad you got to spend time with your family.

Have a great day!

[Foxfiregrrl]

Hey, Dee! Thanks for coming by! I have been so busy lately that I have not been good at getting to other people's journals :guilty: but I promise to come by soon!

I had actually given myself the excuse for not going to the gym Tuesday morning for my run/walk, because I didn't get everything ready the night before like I'm supposed to. BUT I woke up early even though I didn't set my alarm. I really didn't want to get up, but I did it any way :woohoo: I went and did my 20 minute interval run/walk routine, w/ 5 min. warmup and 5min cool down. I did some stretching afterward, but I can tell that I'm going to have to do MORE stretching as I continue this. I had my distance and calorie statistics in my head yesterday, but ended up on posting so I have forgotten most of it. I did the walking at 3.6mph and the running at 4.4mph again. I also keep the incline at .5, I just don't like it totally flat and didn't want to stress myself by cranking it too high.

Today I went to water aerobics.

Food has been way off lately and I as of this moment do not have a plan to get it back under control :sad2: Dh and I went out for mexican last night, then I went out today for lunch. I have a really hard time ordering well when I eat out. I didn't do too bad at lunch today. I had a turkey burger w/ spinach on it and a side salad. They put too much dressing on the salad though.

DH & I did discuss trying to work on the budget again starting in May, which is tomorrow :scared: Our main budget issue is eating out. So we set a limit and I plan to stick to it. Lunch eating out will come out of my personal "blow" money, which isn't a huge amount so I will have to cut the lunches back some also. I told DH that this will not only help the budget, but that it also helps me with my diet efforts. I just get into this rut where I don't know what I want to eat and I don't really enjoy cooking, so then I want to eat out all the time. I WILL DO BETTER!! I have to because the budget does not allow for what I have been doing :thumbsup2

Tomorrow should be my early gym day ie. run/walk day, but I have to go to a training that is about 45 minutes away. I will not be getting up early enough to go to the gym and still be there on time :sad2: So, I am planning to skip tomorrow, unless we get out early, which I doubt.

My plan is to have a plan in place by Monday for what I'm going to do about my eating. I really don't want to follow a strict diet and I'm not going to count WW points (mostly because I don't understand them & they seem complicated), but I am going to have to commit to SOMETHING. The easiest thing would be to count calories again, but that can be time consuming. However I think that is what I will most likely decide on. IF that is what I do then I will need to plan meals and try some new recipes that will keep me from getting bored and wanting to eat out. I think the thing that helps me the most is simply planing ahead of time, which I do sporadically. I must get more consistent! :rolleyes1 There I said it, now you guys hold me to it, ok? :thumbsup2

[kmp1191]

I bought some lunchables and take them to work with me for lunch....(here recently anyway)...that might help with the budget and eating out plan.

Anyway, the weekend sounded like fun! Glad you and your sisters got a chance to hang out!

Hang in there chick...it'll all come together eventually!

[Foxfiregrrl]

So, I went to my totally boring training yesterday and am here again today. Blah.

I didn't get a workout in yesterday but I did walk a little bit during my lunch break. I brought my lunch yesterday and did good, but then on the way home I was craving ice cream. So.. I stopped at Burger King and got a shake AND french fries :sad2 Then I got home and was planning to have leftovers, but DH decided that since I'm gonna be scrapbooking tonight, that he wanted to go out to dinner. I had a shrimp quesadilla and too much wine :rolleyes1

Today I plan to eat out for lunch, but I don't know where. Then dinner is included in the scrapbook party, so there is no telling what we will have.

Tomorrow I will either go to the gym to run/walk or if it is not raining then I will do yardwork that's a workout for me :thumbsup2

Well, I'll check in tomorrow! Have a great night!

[Foxfiregrrl]

Friday for lunch we ate at the peach packing plant which was good. I had country fried steak, mashed potatoes w/ gravy, green beans, and a roll. The drink was included so I had sweet tea, but I had to water it down because it was too sweet.

Friday evening, I went w/ my mom and my friend from work to a scrapbooking get together. It was not one of those parties where they sell you stuff, just a get together to work on projects. I had a good time and I think my friend did also. She got a good bit done and said that she is inspired now to keep going. I want to have a group out to my house soon to scrapbook. I'm gonna try to find a weekend in May to do it, but it will be a squeeze.

The food was not very low cal. I had a fried chicken sandwich from McDonald's on our way there. Then I had some chicken salad, chips w/ ranch dip, pimento cheese sandwiches.. I think that is it, but I don't really remember.

Yesterday it was threatening rain here, but we got out and did yard work anyway. I picked up the trash and rocks in the yard while DH mowed the grass. I also raked a little bit. Then I used the weed eater :crazy2: Man that is HARD work!! It is heavy and hurt my arms and back, but it is kind of fun at the same time. DH felt like we should keep working, but the main thing that was left to do was to rake and we only had one rake. We had been working for like 4 hours without stopping to eat. When I work outside I have to eat more often than that. Anyway, we agreed to wrap it up for the day. We then went out for dinner and went to buy another rake and some other yard working tools with the plan of finishing the raking today.

Today we got up and both were sore and didn't really want to do yard work today. But we made ourselves get out there. It ended up that DH raked the yard and I put it in the wheelbarrow and carted it off to the woods to dump. We were trying to get the big pieces of wood and bark out of the yard so that he can mow better. Last year right after the house was built we had a guy come in and cut down a small section of pine trees. He used this machine that looks like it eats the tree and it turns it into mostly mulch w/ some larger chunks of wood. It is not bad for growing stuff, but the big chunks made it hazardous to the mower. We didn't pay the guy to do the cutting so it was not his responsibility to clean up the mess (he was already in the neighborhood and my dad asked him to do it :thumbsup2 love that free help! ) Anyway, even though I started to get really worn out before we were done we toughed it out and got the raking finished :cool1:

We still have a ton of yard work to do, but that is one thing off of the list! I can tell that DH and I are NOT used to all of this! My entire back and my biceps HURT badly today!

Anyway, we finished that up and did our grocery run for the week. I have dinners all planned out for the week, so that should help to cut out some of the bad eating I've been doing.

I am counting the two days of yard work as some good exercise. I usually go to Hi/Lo Cardio on Monday night, but I don't think I'm going to go tomorrow for two reasons. 1) I'm sure I'll still be pretty sore from the yard work, 2) my cat, Puff, is having her teeth cleaned tomorrow and when Raven went she came home VERY drunk and was falling all over the place, so I don't want to bring Puff home and then leave her. I do plan on still going to run/walk on Tuesday though.

I don't think that I have mentioned it here, but our neighbor, who's land touches my grandma's lake, is selling his house. My grandparents actually gave him a small part of his property (the part that touches the lake) and so I thought there might be some hard feelings, but everyone is taking it pretty well. The biggest issue is that our neighborhood isn't really enticing to outsiders. We are on a dead end street and there are several iffy properties - run down houses and a bad apartment grouping - that you have to pass to get to the end where we live and the house for sale is. Anyway the neighborhood is not really bad, but if you just drove through you might think otherwise. Anyway, we've been trying to get DH's best friend (the one w/ the bad wife) to look at buying the house. It would be perfect for them, it's the right size & has a nice yard plus access to let the kids run around all of our property (my family - grandparents, parents, and us - have about 25 acres) But basically the wife says no way because of the neighborhood.

Anyway, I have been nervous that an investor would buy it to rent out. There are two houses across from my parents that are now rentals and renters are just iffy and tend to come and go. Well, last week my dad met a guy that is interested in the house. He just graduated from college and wants to live there w/ a roommate. Dad seemed impressed and pleased with this guy as a potential neighbor. Then today our neighbor brought over a couple that are interested in buying the house. The guy said that he actually installed the cabling in our house when it was built. They have 2 kids ( I only saw one though :confused3 ) and the wife is going to homeschool them. They seemed nice enough in our few minutes of talking. I was caught off guard though because we had come home from the grocery store and settled in for the day... well, the first part of settling in for me is pulling off my bra :rolleyes1 So imagine my surprise when I'm standing in my kitchen and the neighbor pulls up in the golf cart and honks :scared1: I just stood w/ my arms crossed and leaned on the deck railing :cool2: Oh, well. Anyway, I think it would be kind of nice if a young couple bought the house. They seemed to be about our age too. I just hope whoever buys it actually lives in it instead of renting it.

Well, I think that is all of the thoughts that I have energy for today. See ya'll later! :hippie:

[Foxfiregrrl]

Just a quickie tonight...

Food - decent
alcohol - too much
exercise - non-existent

I am really tired today for some reason :confused3

This post covers today and yesterday :thumbsup2 Although so far today I'm not planning on drinking.... but that is only because I don't have anything that I can drink here at the house:rolleyes1

Gonna go veg now :cool2:

[Foxfiregrrl]

Ok, so I did end up drinking last night, but DH and I walked a mile first :rolleyes1 I know it doesn't equal out, but hey, it's better than all drinking and no exercise right? :thumbsup2

Today:
b- kashi, milk, coffee
l- potato soup, 1/2 turkey sandwich w/ cheese, and battered fries (Yum)
d - lemon butter chicken, rosemary potatoes, peas w/ artichokes
alcohol - 4 glasses of wine
exercise - was late and too lazy to go to Water aerobics. Did "laps" around the house and up and down the stairs. 7 laps which included 15 steps down and 15 steps up each lap. I figured that was better than not doing Anything at all, which was what I was tempted to do.

K, see ya later!

[lindalinda]

Hey Amber! Sorry I have been MIA again! It was the freaking Ky derby and that is pretty much hades in my life! Anyway, I am back, and determined again.:lmao: I know I said that before.


I hope the young neighbor thing works out for you guys (seems better than the guy with the bad wife)

Oh and yes, yard work is definitely exercise!

later! (promise)

linda
:hippie:

[Foxfiregrrl]

I had kind of a draining day today. I did not get to work on any of my own work. All my unit-mates are in training, so I spent all day with my supervisor covering their case reviews. I didn't mind doing it on the one hand, but on the other it was a big waste of my time because my supervisor did all the talking. I joked that I was just her secratary today because all I did was give her the right papers and sign a couple of things :confused3 I like hanging w/ my supervisor though and it gets me good brownie points :thumbsup2 I'm not behind on my work really so I just did it.

Anyway, I didn't exercise Again today and I went out for lunch :sad2: I just can't seem to get moving again. I think it is the heat... It has been Bad here this week! I plan to get to the gym at least once this weekend and hopefully that will be the kick start that I need to get moving again.

Oh, yeah, I have this weird rash thingy on my arm. It is a line about two inches long and it has lots of tiny blister-looking bumps on it. It itches really bad at times (especially first thing in the morning :confused3 ) and then at other times it is fine. It is not spreading at all but the bumps have gotten a little bit bigger. I first noticed it yesterday morning. A few people have theorized that it is poison ivy or oak, but I haven't done anything outside really since the weekend. We did walk around the lake Tuesday, but I don't remember coming into contact with anything :confused: I don't know, but it is weird.

Apparently I have fairly sensitive skin. My mom used to call me her "skin girl" because generally if something was wrong with me it was related to a skin ailment. I got folliculitis (basically red bumps all over my legs) when I was a teen when I got into a hot tub:confused3 All my skin stuff has been minor at least!

Well, gonna goof off a bit now. I found a neat thread on the Budget board (my favorite area next to WISH) about what everyone is cutting out or back on to save money these days. It is fun to read and get a few ideas on. I know what we need to do... stop eating out All the time, but I'm just not willing to do it yet :cool2:

[lindalinda]

Hey Amber!

Get that rash looked at!:scared1: I actually have supersensitve skin myself. If I get poison ivy I have to go straight to the dr for a shot. I am sensitive to everything. No jewelry, most makeup, even lotion bothers me! I actually had an allergic reaction to sensidine toothpaste.:headache: Anyway, get it checked out. I bet they can give you something for it.

Get your exercise girl! I am gonna check out the budget board, I have never been there. I need to work on my spending too.

nite!

linda
:hippie:

[Foxfiregrrl]

When I got up yesterday my rash looked about the same, but it seemed like it was starting to become a longer line. I had at first decided just to go on to work and not worry about it, but once I got into the sun light I could see that it was growing some. So I went to the doctor and they said that it is poison ivy. She gave me a cream and an oral medicine that is supposed to help. It seems like it is getting somewhat better today, but it still itches like crazy at times! :scared:

Well, I didn't go to the gym this morning. I got up a little late and I had a bit of a headache. So, I did about 35 minutes of an hour Yoga workout from the TV. I figured it was better than nothing. I didn't do the rest of it because some of it was way more advanced than I am. The last time I did more advanced moves I was sore for 3 days. I didn't want to do that again.

Today the guys are here playing computer games. When they are here I usually hang out down here most of the day. I get extra exercise because I have to go upstairs to get my drink refills and I also will only use my own bathroom (which is upstairs) so I usually end up with about 20 or more trips up and down the stairs throughout the day.

Before they got here today I made a batch of chocolate chip muffins from a mix. I've been itching to make some muffins for awhile for some reason. :confused3 I made them mini so that there would be more of them. As it is, we each get 4 mini muffins. I have to tell them this or one person will eat like 10 of them and leave none for the rest of us.

None sure what dinner will be tonight. We are not cooking tonight, so it will likely be fast food of some sort :sad2: I will likely have to pick it up also. I was volunteered by my sisters to get my mom's mother's day present. At least we finally figured out what we are going to give her. We are giving her a Kohl's gift card and then my sister (who has way better style than me) will go with her and help her pick out some clothing. I bought her a really cute card yesterday too, so we will put it in there. My sister also said that she wants us to do a family picture at a new studio in town soon.

Well, I'm gonna spend my evening doing fun me things. I have the movie "The Holiday" that I've been wanting to watch, but DH is not interested in. So I plan to watch that in a little bit. I also may do a little bit of scrapbooking this evening. I had a couple of pages that I was working on last weekend that I would like to finish. Not sure if I will actually take the effort to drag out all my stuff or not though.

Well, gonna try to wrangle these guys into deciding on something for dinner!
Have a great night!

[kmp1191]

Sorry to hear about the poison ivy...what else did you do on that walk girl??;)
Enjoy your weekend....I think I'm gonna try to do some scrapbooking tomorrow also. I have to make my dad a scrapbook of all his John Deere tractors and stuff over the past 20 years! Mom sent me all the pictures and stuff, and I have to put it together for him for fathers day! :scared1: (Dad used to restore antique tractors and then we girls had to drive them in parades...yes...it was a great time...really. Also he restored a bunch of them and sold them to a guy in Japan. The paper did a big article on it...pretty neat.) Anyway, he lost all of his tractors in the fire back in January so mom and I thought this was a good gift for him....a walk down memory lane. :sad1:

Anyway, have a great weekend and Happy Mothers Day! ( I know you're not a mom yet, but I wanted to get you used to hearing it!!:flower3: )

marie

[Foxfiregrrl]

Good luck on the scrapbook for your dad, Marie. I'm sure that will be a treasured gift! :love: I did work a tad on mine, but I wasn't in the mood for journaling so I didn't get anything finished :upsidedow

As for our weekend... well, that turned out to be an adventure to say the least.

I hung out and played around on my scrapbooking while watching two movies Saturday night. I watched "The Holiday" which was really good. Then I watched "Bridge to Terebithia". I thought this was more of a kid's fantasy movie and was not expecting the sad part! So it caught me a bit off guard. I also finished knitting a potholder that I have been working on. It's kind of an animal print looking potholder, so I plan to make another one and give them to my youngest sister. I think they suit her style.

Anyway, I went to bed about 3am, then at 5:15am the tornado siren goes off :scared: I got up to check the news. The news showed really heavy storms heading to our house and finally that the tornado appeared to have bypassed us and headed off toward the next county. Well, just before 6am our power went out and then we got hit with the really heavy rain and wind that was coming in behind the tornado. With the power out we had no way to know if another tornado was coming and they didn't turn the tornado sirens off. The weather did calm down though, so I went back to bed around 6:30. Dh's 4 friends were spending the night. Including DH, three of the boys "slept" through it :confused3 My dad called at 8:30 to check on us. Everyone was ok, but we all were without power (parents, grandparents, and us - all on the same street). Our house was also without water because we have a well :rolleyes: MIL, who lives about 20 minutes away, had trees down all in her yard and driveway and also lost power.

I got up around 9:30 and went to see my parents. My mom and I walked around the neighborhood to see the trees that were down and chatted with a few neighbors. There was a big tree at the top of our street that had been blocking the whole street. My dad went up earlier in the morning w/ his tractor and chainsaw and was able to get it mostly out of the street. Our street was very lucky and there did not seem to be any real property damage. A few trees had fallen, but not on any houses or cars.

A couple of miles from us there were quite a few businesses that took a lot of damage. Several houses were damaged also. Power was out all over the city and I heard that water was running out also because the water pumping station was affected. They declared the city a "state of emergency" and encouraged people to stay off the roads.

MIL wanted us to come to her house and get her for the day (even though they at least had water, which we didn't have :confused3 ). We ended up after much discussion deciding not to. Especially after finding out that the interstate that we use to get to her was blocked by several downed trees. We told her that we would just come out and see her later in the week and said how sorry we were that this had to happen on Mother's Day.

Dh's friends live out of town and they decided to brave the drive home. Especially because their town wasn't hit by the storm and they had power:thumbsup2 They called to let us know that they were able to get out of town ok and made it home safely.

My mom had planned to get KFC for lunch so that noone would have to cook for Mother's Day, but we nixed that idea. We all pulled together a few side dishes and dad grilled hamburgers and hotdogs. We actually had a pretty nice spread. It was a clear and pretty day and not too hot. My youngest sis had to work, because the restaurant that she worked at still had power and they decided to open. My middle sister and I gave mom the card from all of us and a GC we got her. I think she liked it. She is easy to please :thumbsup2

Anyway, DH was dieing to get a shower and shave. We found out that his BF had water and went over to their house to shower. (At this point my parents and gparents water was down to a trickle) We spent the rest of the day sitting outside reading and just lounging. It was weird not having power. You don't realize how much you rely on it for EVERYTHING!! We do at least have a gas stove, so we heated up leftovers for dinner.

I got a call that our office was going to be closed today, so I didn't have to go in :cool1: I slept late and then lounged a bit and read outside. About 1pm I was in the kitchen trying to get things straightened out and ready so I could wash dishes once the power came back on. Low and behold, while I was standing there, everything came back on! :woohoo: I was able to wash up all my dishes and am currently working on laundry. I had planned to do both yesterday, but was kind of unable to.

Ah, it feels good to be "back to normal" again! I'm glad that is over and VERY, VERY thankful that we did not suffer any worse fate!!

Well, gonna get back to the laundry now :laundy: Have a great day!!

[lindalinda]

Hey amber! I didnt realize the storms were that bad down there. We just had a lot of wind up here. Nice that it got you a day off work tho! Glad you didnt get damage. I hate whe the power is off tho, I feel like I'm in the twilight zone. You know, if anything really bad happened, like Mad Maxy stuff, someone might as well just shoot me cuz I am not gonna be able to learn to live without all my toys!


Have a nice week


linda
:hippie:

[Foxfiregrrl]

Linda, I was thinking that if the power really went out for any length of time that we would all go insane and there would be some serious chaos! It's actually kind of scary!

K, I just checked in to say... I've been bad most of the week and have not exercised or eaten particularly well.

Today I managed to drag myself to the gym even though I REALLY didn't want to go. I did my C25K program. I'm still working on the first "week" where you do 60 sec. jog then 90 sec. walk. I feel like today should be the new day one since it has been a couple of weeks since I have actually attempted it. I was struggling a bit today, but I got through it.

Well, that is all there is to report for now. I'm going to try to get back on my workout schedule. I'm hoping it will help to life the PMS blahs :thumbsup2

[lindalinda]

I am still on the first week too. I paln to be on it for about a month at least. I am not kidding myself, I have to go slow.

So just keep plugging away, and keep trying girl!


:hippie:

[Foxfiregrrl]

Good Sunday afternoon!

We went to the Georgia Renaissance Festival yesterday. pirate: I had been trying to work up a big group to go this year, but Everyone fell through and it ended up being just DH and I. That was fine though because that meant that we could do what we wanted and leave when we got good and ready. We go every year so we pretty well have seen and done everything, but we still enjoy going. Last year I finally bought a costume after saying I was going to for the last 4 or 5 years. princess: So, I got to wear it this year. I bought it too small thinking I would lose weight. It is a bodice that can be loosened or tightened so I am able to wear it even though I didn't lose any weight really since last year. It is just not the most comfortable. Anyway, I would like to get a new bodice or a strapless corset, but I figure my body is going to go through some big changes over the next couple of years so I better wait and see what it ends up looking like first :thumbsup2

We walked around and window shopped, we watched a couple of the shows. And our favorite part, we ate the food, DH drank beer and I had some wine (we were there awhile so I was able to drive home - I didn't have much). It was a Beautiful day! Usually it is really hot by this time of year and we are usually sweating bad. Yesterday it was pretty cool and breezy, which was really nice. Anyway, it was fun but exhausting! We came home and both napped for close to an hour. I put sunscreen on my face, but not on my shoulders. :sad2: They got burned a little, which stinks! I am usually pretty cautious about the sun and don't let myself get burned. I just wasn't thinking about it, I guess. :confused3

Today we are just taking it easy and being lazy. We went to the grocery store and have our menu planned for the week. We will have chicken curry over rice tonight and Wednesday night. Leftover soup Monday. Chili Tuesday and Thursday. Friday we will most likely eat dinner out.

I plan to workout at least 4 times this week! I must get back on track!!

Have a great week everyone!

[Foxfiregrrl]

Just wanted to add my measurements.... I took these earlier this week then redid them just now.

Arms - 14.5 each
Waist - 37
bust - 41
underbust - 35
hips - 46
thigh - 24 on left 25 on right :confused3

Weight - 194

Looked back to the last time that I had posted my measurements... oddly enough it was last May. I am up an inch on almost all of my measurements :sad2: and I was at 181 this time last year :sad2: Kind of sucks to realize that I'm going backwards :guilty:

Needed to post that so that maybe it will be some much needed motivation for me!!

[lindalinda]

HI Amber! Those Renaissance festivals sound so fun. I dont think theres any near here. Maybe when I retire and have weekends off I can go see one.

The going backwards thing sucks. Just keep plugging away. Need some results to fire you up a bit I think. It will be ok.


nite

:hippie:

[Foxfiregrrl]

We really enjoy the Renaissance Festival. DH sometimes fantasizes about working the festival some time, but it is an hour away and would be way too much w/ our day jobs ;) Maybe that is something we can consider in our retirement :thumbsup2

It is frustrating to go backward, but I can't really say that I have done anything right over the last month, so I can't really expect to be moving forward :sad2: However, I have kind of been maintaining in the same 23 or 4 pound range lately. I am not really sure when I went from 180 back to above 190.... I know that I started this year out at 202 :rolleyes: So, I have improved this year, but I get really sick of losing the same 20 pounds OVER and OVER! :headache: I'm sure we all get sick of it... so I'll end that rant now.

I didn't make it to the gym Monday because I had to take an unexpected 4 hour round trip drive to visit one of my foster kids. I ended up coming home late. I did not eat well that day either because the "on the road munchies" got the better of me.

I did manage to force myself to go to the gym yesterday even though I really didn't want to. I started on my run/walk program, but only did 10 minutes of the actual run/walk portion. I was not in the right state of mind and mostly the balls of my feet were hurting because I have the wrong kind of shoes and still have not bought myself new ones :rolleyes: When will I learn. I ended up getting on the elliptical for a little bit. I think my total gym time was about 25 minutes. Food yesterday was on track. Alcohol was not. :rolleyes1

Today I went to water aerobics. I was debating this idea about 4:45, but ended up staying at work until 6. That always helps because class is at 6:30 and I can go straight from work (I've had my swimsuit in the car for over a week now :rolleyes1 ) If I go home first I really lose a lot of motivation. Plus if I go home early then I don't want to wait until 6:30 for class, which makes it easy to talk myself out of going at all.

Food today:
b- kashi, milk, coffee
l- chicken fingers in hot sauce, fries, Lots of ranch dressing :rolleyes1 (the hot sauce was REALLY hot and that's how I cool it down) sweet tea
d- chicken curry
I have not had anything to drink tonight and it is after 9pm so too late to start :thumbsup2
So, even though I ate kind o bad at lunch I think I'm a little more on track today.

I know that a big reason that I'm not really losing right now is that I've been drinking more and it is a lot of calories. I'm kind of ok with that for now. I'm trying to get back on track with the eating and exercise and the alcohol will fall into balance with that. One thing is that when I don't get home from the gym until 8, then shower, then eat dinner I am less inclined to drink because it is late. Not sure why that works but it does.

Oh, yeah, I told both my workout buddies that they have not been good gym buddies lately. We have all been slacking a good bit, but I keep trying to get them going again, if for no other reason than it helps me A LOT. But it has been a crazy month at work. I'm cutting them some slack, but I'm gonna kick there butts back in gear soon! :cool1:

Anyway, enough rambling for me for tonight. I'm gonna go watch some TV now :3dglasses

[Foxfiregrrl]

Hello. I'm not sure what happened to the last few days as far as posting goes.

Things have been going fine here. No exercise to speak of, but food hasn't been out of control.

I've been really enjoying my weekend. I'm glad we have Monday, but I really feel that I could use a WHOLE week like Right Now!

I have my annual physical scheduled for Thursday. I'm a few months overdue, but better late than never. I plan to ask her at that time for advice regarding trying to get pregnant and finding a doctor/midwife. Actually I kind of think I have that covered already. I looked the other day and there is ONE certified nurse midwife that is covered by my insurance (last time I looked there were none) I looked her up and she has been a CNM for like 8 or 10 years and she is in a practice with 5 OB/GYNs. So, unless I go to her and we just seriously clash, I think I know who I will use :woohoo: I'm just thrilled to be able to possibly use a CNM, because I had not been able to find one when looking before.... apparently they don't advertise very well around here :confused3

Oh, we went yesterday and looked all over at patio furniture and then went back and bought some today :cheer2: We got a nice table w/ 6 chairs. We also bought an umbrella to go with it. Then while we were there we picked up 6 planting pots and a couple of plants. DH planted a tomato, a jalepeno, a habanero, and 2 red bell peppers. Then I replanted the herbs that I planted about a month ago and spread out my flowers some. The flowers that I put in their own pots are thriving, but the ones that I put in the window basket w/ the herbs were suffocating (I guess :confused3 ). So hopefully everything has enough room now and will grow :thumbsup2
Here is a picture of the patio set we bought:
http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/productImage/b6bc485b-d6b5-4c97-a998-2a141878b598_300.jpg
It will be delivered next Saturday. We were really hoping to get it sooner, but we have to be there when they bring it.

Tomorrow we are grilling out for lunch w/ my parents and grandparents. We didn't have lunch with them today because we will be hanging out tomorrow.

Other than that I am taking it easy. I am in the thinking stages about really getting serious again about my diet and exercise. I really need to get a good jump start soon because I need to be eating WAY better than I am currently before I actually start trying to get pregnant. I am taking my vitamins though :thumbsup2

Hope everyone is having a Wonderful Memorial Day Weekend!!

[kmp1191]

Nice patio set!! I miss mine! (Gave it away when we moved to Alabama!!)
Anyway, I know how ya feel about getting serious about the diet/exercise plan. I feel the same way.

I just have to get off my butt and get moving!
:rotfl2:

marie

[lindalinda]

I like the patio furniture Amber! I have those type chairs and they are comfy and easy to clean too.

And window baskets have to be watered every day pretty much. They drain really quickly. If you do that they will be fine.

I am still trying to get myself going. I'm a bit hit or miss. I have been doing stuff for my co-worker who is having a baby soon. Since I work with mostly guys I have to take care of it myself. I collected money from our team and ot her a group gift (pack n play) and I am having a little baby shower for her on thursday for the "girl" controllers. It will be small cuz theres only 8 of us, but it will be nice I think. I bought her a bunch of stuff.

Hope everything goes well for your physical and they give you the :thumbsup2 on operation babymakin'. :goodvibes

nite

:hippie:

[Foxfiregrrl]

Hey guys! I can't wait for our patio furniture to get here! I have been spending a good bit of time in my lounge chair outside in the evenings reading lately. Also, DH and I would love to be able to sit out there and eat dinner. We have not turned the A/C on and it gets pretty hot upstairs in the afternoon. We usually eat outside or downstairs and then spend time downstairs until it cools off a bit. Usually by 8:30 or 9 we are able to go upstairs and watch tv (or I am anyway, dh would much rather stay at his computer.

Other than reading I have not been doing much this week. Work has been a touch hectic because we are changing computer systems. Monday is the "go Live" date and everyone is on edge. We'll see how that turns out.

I'm going to try to eat healthier next week and TRY to drag myself to the gym at least twice.

Went to the doctor on Thursday. My blood pressure must have been average because she didn't say anything when she took it :confused3 I will get the results of my bloodwork, etc soon, but she said I should be fine to start baby making. She just said take an over the counter prenatal vitamin, which I'm already doing. She looked at my bloodwork from last year and said my cholesterol was excellent! So that is good. The only thing that was slightly out of whack last year was my blood sugar. I think it was 102 and they like it to be under 99 (if I remember correctly), but that is not considered high yet... does that make sense? Anyway, I'm hoping that number is a little better this year.

Well, guess that is it for now. I'm gonna work hard this weekend at planning ways to get more fruits and veggies into my weekly menus. That is one thing that I could definitely do better on. Also, I need to focus on eating at home and not wanting to eat out as much. I know that the food we eat at home is more nutritional, lower cal and fat, tastier, and way cheaper... BUT I still want to eat out way more than I should. Maybe I need to watch "Super Size Me" again. That kept me away from fast food for a Long time, and I still eat it WAY less often than I used to. (BTW, he has a series called "30 days" on TV now that you should watch if you get a chance! It is really cool)

Good Night guys! I may write more tomorrow. :hippie:

[Foxfiregrrl]

Well, we got the patio furniture at 9:15am which was Way too early. We ended up cooking breakfast and then putting it together. It is So nice! I Love it! :love: Saturday ended up being SUPER hot though and the guys were here so we finally broke down and turned the A/C on. We were trying to hold out a little longer and actually turned it off again since it rained today and cooled off some. Anyway, since the air was on and it was SO hot outside I was not very inclined to sit out there and enjoy it. I'm sure that I will be enjoying it a Lot this summer though!

The computer conversion at work is going well so far and the validation part that I have to do for my cases has been going more smoothly than I had expected. I would have gotten over half of mine done today, but.... one of my coworkers was having numbness in her arm and her blood pressure was Really high.:eek: So she ended up going to the ER and another coworker and I went to sit with her for moral support because none of her family could be there with her. She is ok now (I guess) the doctor said that the numbness is probably a pinched nerve and to just monitor the blood pressure. weird, though.

So, I am hopeful that the conversion will continue to go smoothly. We are competing with the other units to finish first and the unit that finishes first wins a pizza party. I'm mostly concerned with winning :cool2: We'll see.

Over the weekend I took it easy and read a lot of my backlog of magazines that I've been trying to get through. I also watched "the Wedding Date". It was cute and I enjoyed it.

I didn't really put together a plan like I said I would, but I am going to try to be more conscious of my food intake. I am also trying to cut out the alcohol intake. I had said that June 1st would be my cut off date and that I would go at least 30 days without any alcohol. But... I didn't drink what I bought for Saturday so it was/is lingering around the house. I drank some yesterday because we were hanging around. I still have some left and it is tempting me (it is not nearly as bad if there isn't anything here to drink :rolleyes1 ) Anyway, I have told myself that I cannot drink during the week this week and then on the weekend I can finish off what is left and then I have to finish out the rest of the month of June. Ok, so you guys hold me to that PLEASE!

I didn't make it to the gym today. I had talked to my coworker about going to the water aerobics tonight, but we were both at the ER w/ the other coworker (not one of our gym buddies). So, I might go tomorrow, but I will definitely go Wednesday.

Not sure how this week is going to play out though. I found out this afternoon that my grandmother's sister passed away. She had cancer and we knew she didn't have much time. I wasn't really close to her so it is not as upsetting to me. We will have a lot of family things going on though. My cousin from Texas is flying in on Thursday and staying until Tuesday. The funeral is on Saturday and I'm pretty sure the gathering afterwards is going to be at my grandma's house. So, I need to help her out some. My cousin, who is also named Amber, is my age, so I know she will want to hang out while she is here. It just always happens that when she comes into town my work is Super hectic and I cannot be flexible at all. I hate that, but there isn't much I can do about it.

So, I'm going to try to get as much as I can done at work tomorrow and Wednesday so that I can go into the last part of the week with as little stress as possible.

BTW, even though Tony and I had said that we would start officially trying to get pregnant on vacation at the end of the month, we have already gotten a jump start:banana: It is exciting, but weird too. I spent a lot of time thinking about getting started and what I wanted to eat and how much I wanted to weigh, etc. but now that it is here and we ARE trying it's just weird.:confused3 I know that I need to eat better and continue to exercise. I know that I want to feed my baby all the right foods and that should be motivation. But on the exercise and weight control thing I keep feeling like, "well, this is it - the weight I'm stuck with so there is no point in working hard" because you aren't supposed to lose while you are pregnant. Then there is the REALITY, and that is that I'm not pregnant yet and it could take a LONG while. So then I should be eating well and exercising with the goal of losing weight and getting into better health/fitness. ARGH! I know what the right thing is and what I need to do, but I've just been too lazy to do it.

I think it is frustrating too that I have spent all this time and really gotten no where because I haven't been working as hard as I should have been. I do better at a lot of things under pressure and with a deadline. I just think that my deadline was too vague for me and now it is kind of here. And I just got Lazy :sad2:

I will not stop trying!! I bought new running shoes so I MUST run in them at least a few times! :thumbsup2 I have to keep telling myself this and not get discouraged! And to be honest, if I cut out the alcohol, cut down on the excess junky food, and actually exercised a few days a week... then I would probably lose 5 or 10 pounds fairly easily. I just have to actually do it!

K, so that is the plan!
NO BOOZE!
Way Less Junky/Snacky Foods
Max of One Lunch Out Per Week
Max of One Dinner Out Per Week
Exercise a Minimum of Three Days Per Week

There it is in black and white. Please hold me accountable!! ::cop:
Thanks!

[lindalinda]

BTW, even though Tony and I had said that we would start officially trying to get pregnant on vacation at the end of the month, we have already gotten a jump start:banana: It is exciting, but weird too.



Well now that banana looks dirty!:scared1: :rotfl:

Your plan looks great, dont stress overdo. I mean the running. It might be too much since you havent really run much before. I think I would stick with walking.

:hippie:

seriously, look at that banana.

[Foxfiregrrl]

:rotfl: Linda! That is too funny!! I didn't even think about that when I put it there :lmao:

I'm going to let my body guide me on the running. I'm gonna take it easy though.

I did get up and go to the gym this morning. I warmed up and then started to jog. I haven't really worked out in about two weeks so it was a bit rough. By the third jog I decided that I would only do half the routine. Then I walked for a bit. I did a total of 22 minutes on the treadmill.

So far no booze :cool1: Although I could really go for some tonight! I can wait until the weekend.

The junk food has been a BIG BIG issue today. I'm not usually a snacky person that much. But they gave us these goodie bags with chocolate and sweetarts and nerds, etc. I was so hungry today too, so I just kept snacking. I ended up popping some popcorn and that held me off for awhile, but it was bad today. AND I'm still starving!! I'm cooking rice and we will have leftover chicken curry for dinner.

I didn't eat out today and we are planning to all bring a lunch tomorrow, so I am good so far on the eating out thing!

Well, that's it for now, better go check on the rice! :hippie:

:banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: ;)

[DisDee]

Amber, I'm with you on the accountability issue! You're so right...we all know what to do, it's just the matter of doing it. I've spent almost 2 years on the Dis journals,and I'm really not at a much different place than I was when I started journaling. (Even with my life-altering experience) S0, with that said, I'll be here for you if you do the same for me! We all need as much help as we can get.

Make it a great day!

[Foxfiregrrl]

Thanks, Dee. I agree that we all need each other's support. I'll do my best to check in and be accountable and offer support!

Well this week has really gotten away from me. Work was really busy and it seemed to get more and more hectic as the week went on.

I ended up going out to dinner and drinking with some coworkers on Wednesday. However, I have not had anything since then and probably will not at all this weekend.

I am just now, at 8pm, getting home from the funeral and family gathering afterward. We were at the funeral home at 1:30 and the actual funeral wasn't over until almost 5pm. We had a huge group of family at my grandmother's house for dinner. It was all potluck and there was a ton of good food. I didn't even consider healthy eating, I just dug in :rolleyes1 It was good to see everyone and visit, but I am Totally exhausted.

Tomorrow I'm going with my coworker, M, to Brunswick, Ga. Her parents live there and we have three foster kids down there. We will go to the beach tomorrow and spend the night with her parents. Then Monday morning we will pick up two of the foster kids because they are moving to new places. It is almost a 4 hour drive one way from Macon, so spliting the drive is going to be VERY helpful. Plus I get to hit the beach for a bit :thumbsup2

Hopefully this week will be a tiny bit better, but I'm not sure how it is going to shape up either. I had been helping one of my coworkers get some of her work done and that was great, but I feel like I let myself get behind in the process. I have vacation at the end of the month, so I cannot afford to get behind. It is all good though, because I'm sure I can get myself caught back up.

Well, I'm gonna go pass out now :faint:

[lindalinda]

Hey Amber, Just checking in. I hope you had a good time at the beach. Its too hot to be anywhere else!

:hippie:

[Foxfiregrrl]

We got to spend an hour at the beach on Sunday before we had to get back to M's parent's house for dinner. It was nice though and I don't really like to stay on the beach for long periods of time... just short spurts over several days is preferable :thumbsup2

Monday was NOT FUN! Here is my day in as small a nutshell as it would fit:
4.5 hours of driving in a car w/ the A/C only halfway working :eek:
3+ hours of discharge and intake paperwork for the kid I moved :headache:
Finally get back to town and DH says I may have to drive another 1+
hours round trip to pick him up from work because his BF's wife is
sick. Instead I insisted that I go pick up their kids from daycare
and take them home. (BF was gonna drive home to pick them up leaving
DH stranded at work) That only took 45 minutes total. (Oh, yeah get this... she supposedly has "explosive diarrhea" but when I go to pick up the car seats, she offers to ride with me :confused3 :eek: no thanks my car is a poop-free zone!)
THEN I was supposed to have met up w/ my cousin about 4pm and it was
already after 5 before I was able to get in touch w/ her. So she
says, I'll be at your house between 6:30 and 7. DH and I wait to
eat dinner so that we can go out when she gets there. She Finally
shows up at 7:30 and says she stopped to get fast food on her way to
our house!!! :mad:
SO... we went to dinner anyway and had her drive. She had dessert,
and I got to drink some wine and relax a bit :thumbsup2

Oh, and I had been out of the office all day and knew I had a ton of stuff to do on Tuesday, because I still had a lot of things from Friday left to do. My cousin proceeds to ask me if I can take Tuesday off and hang out with her until she leaves for the airport! :laughing: I laughed and said NO WAY!

It has been a busy week since then, but not as bad as Monday at least. I hope to relax some this weekend though. Then next Friday we leave to go to the beach for a week :woohoo: :woohoo: :yay: :cool1: I can't wait!!

We will be staying at my parent's house that is about 10 miles from the beach and we pretty much go there at least once a year. So that means there is no pressure about what to do or anything. We will eat, sleep, hit the beach, watch TV, and read. That's about it :cloud9: Maybe throw in a touch of shopping too, but there aren't that many stores in this tiny beach town.

EVEN more exciting..... I'm gonna keep you in suspense because it needs it's own thread.......

[Foxfiregrrl]

We're going Back to DISNEY WORLD!!! :woohoo: :dance3: :yay: party: :dancer: :ccat: :dumbo: :mickeyjum

AND for my BIRTHDAY too!!

I was lamenting how much I wanted to go back one day last week. DH said, me too, but we are going to DragonCon. I said, well it won't hurt my feelings to skip DragonCon and I'm sure we can sell our tickets that we already bought.

He gave me a few more excuses which I proceeded to eliminate and the next day I booked the trip!!

We will be there from August 31 to September 6 at All Star Sports with Free Dining and Park Hoppers.

We would have preferred any of the value resorts other than Sports, but that was all they had available at the time. I may call and check for cancellations, but I'm not really worried about it. We just aren't sports fans so a different theme would be cooler.

We are actually staying 7 days/ 6 nights this time where we had stayed 6 days/ 5 nights before. It just looked nice on the calendar and the price was still good so I never quoted DH any shorter stay and he went for it :thumbsup2

My birthday actually falls on Labor Day this year and we normally wouldn't have booked that week either, but it was the only week that we could still get a value hotel on the dining plan. So we went for it. I'm super excited that we will actually be there on my birthday!! :woohoo:

I went ahead and booked the dining ressies on Thursday of last week too because DH was worried that we would get stuck with really bad times. We actually got our choice of times on most nights which is a lot better than when we booked last year. I don't have the times with me now so I will post those later.

So that is the exciting news for now :goodvibes I told DH that I was going to go to Sunday dinner last Sunday and stand up and say, "I have an announcement to make" and then when everyone thought I was gonna say I was pregnant say "We're Going to Disney World!!" :rotfl: :lmao: I thought it would be too funny since my grandma and cousin are always asking me or thinking that is what I have to say. DH said that would be way too mean. I said that my grandmother would Officially give up on us EVER having kids if I did that :rotfl2: So, I didn't.... but mostly only because I didn't get to go to Sunday dinner last weekend :thumbsup2

Ok, enough from me tonight.

Happy Friday!!

[Foxfiregrrl]

Ok, so here are our dining plans to date:

8/31 - Crystal Palace @ 8:20pm
9/1 - Chefs De France @ 6:20pm (my birthday dinner)
9/2 - Mama Melrose @ 6:20pm
9/3 - Raglan Road @ 6:15pm
9/4 - Ohana @ 9:10pm
9/5 - Restaurant Marrakesh @ 6:30pm

We have been to all of these except Raglan Road. I had thought we would try new places, but we really liked each of these and nothing else really appealed that much more to us. I don't think that Chefs de France is my favorite restaurant of the trip, but I don't really care because I'm just excited to be going at all!

Our first day there we will be at MK and they are open until midnight, THEN they have EMH so we plan to stay as late as we can.

Day 2 we will be at Epcot, but I think after dinner we may hop over to MGM for their EMH which will keep them open until midnight or 1am :thumbsup2 I'm hoping that the EMHs won't be too crowded due to the fact that they are so late... Hopefully... we'll see.

Been taking it easy today and reading Disboards for any new park info that I may have missed over the last 3 years :rotfl: Gonna go watch a movie soon.

Hope everyone's having a great weekend!!

[lindalinda]

Hey Amber, you lucky girl! Sounds like a great plan you already started! I didnt care for the chefs of france, but that was several years ago so its probably different now. The rest sound awesome. I dont know what raglan road is though. What type of food is that? Anyway, I am very excited for you guys. Is this a family trip again or just you and DH this time?


later

linda
:hippie:

[Foxfiregrrl]

We went last year to Chefs De France. I don't really remember what I got. I remember that I liked it ok, but it wasn't my favorite place that we ate. I am considering getting the beef tenderloin this time because it looks pretty decent.

Before I read your post I was looking at one of the food porn threads and asked DH if he wanted to try Biergarten instead. We haven't eaten there yet and it looks kind of neat plus they have entertainment & DH was born in Germany (his dad was in the military). He said that he liked Chefs de France and it seems nicer than Biergarten for a birthday dinner. I told him that I am going to be so excited that we are there the week of my birthday that I don't really care what place we eat on my actual birthday.

Anyway, so I'm a little bit undecided. We'll stick w/ Chefs for now... but may switch.

It will just be DH & I this time :woohoo: We don't really want to take anymore "family" vacations for awhile. They are just a little bit too stressful.

We do have a family reunion in North Georgia in Late July and we will camp w/ the family for a night or two... but that is about the longest we want to do anything like that right now :thumbsup2 I love my family but we just have different traveling styles.

We went to DH's dad's house for Father's day today. Then we came home and visited my dad for a little bit. I felt a little bit bad for my dad today. We have the Sunday dinner tradition weekly, but this weekend NONE of his kids were there. My middle sister is at Bonnaroo and my youngest sister had to work. I had to go w/ Dh because we rarely see his dad. I don't think my dad minds Too much, but it was just weird that on Father's day none of us were there. My youngest sister was at the house when DH & I went by this afternoon though. We didn't have a gift, but my sis had an idea and we told him it is on it's way. Yes, I know we are slackers :guilty:

Tonight for dinner Dh made boneless pork chops, corn on the cob and a zucchini & artichoke dish w/ fresh zucchini from my parents garden. They have all kinds of things planted and will even have some corn soon. DH and I can't wait. I told him that we need to actually go over and help pick some times so that we can share in the bounty ::yes::

Man, I can't believe it is Sunday evening already and I have to go back to work tomorrow already :mad: I just hope that this week will be a tad calmer and I can get everything done... I leave for Florida on Friday evening regardless :beach:

Have a great week! :hippie:

[DisDee]

Amber, How exciting for you to be taking the trip in Sept! We did the free dining a couple of years ago. What a deal!

You leave for Florida on Friday? Did I miss something? Have yourself a great week!

[Foxfiregrrl]

Hey, Dee! Nah, you probably didn't miss anything, I just haven't been talking a lot about our trip this coming week.

I am excited about getting away, but it is kind of old hat to me because we go there so often. We will go to Mexico Beach where I've gone on vacation for most of my life. It will be a chance to just relax and hang out, so I am definitely looking forward to it! :cloud9: We have not decided yet, but we may come home on Wednesday or Thursday and spend some time at the house doing those house chores that never get done for lack of time, like organizing the spare bedroom or more yard work. We'll see though.

[kmp1191]

I'm so jealous!! WDW for your birthday!! I told DH that I wanted to go to WDW for my 40th, but I don't think it's gonna be possible. We'll see though!

Have fun at the beach!

ree~ree

[Foxfiregrrl]

You never know Marie! 40 is a special birthday, I think it is definitely worth a special trip!!

Well, I left work early today because I just couldn't focus on doing ANYTHING. I went and ran some pre-trip errands like gas, bank, oil change that I Really should have done before today. I'm straightening up a bit and doing the last of the packing while I wait for DH to get off of work. We will head out of town about 7:30 :woohoo:

I'm ready to be at the beach RIGHT NOW:beach:

Ok, well, Ya'll be good now! I'll see ya when I get back! :hippie:

[lindalinda]

Have fun amber! Hope the weather is perfect for you guys!


linda:hippie:

[Foxfiregrrl]

Hello! We are back from vacation. We've just been taking it easy and are still "on vacation" as far as activities and eating are concerned. We wanted to come back and still have the weekend at home to chill instead of driving back Saturday or Sunday and being tired from the trip.

DH & I agreed that starting Monday we are getting seriously on track and are both going to try to lose 10 pounds before we leave for Disney. We are also going to limit spending and eating out between now and then.

I will most likely post more on that tomorrow to kind of kick off the new start. Until then, I'm gonna enjoy my lazy lounging time :thumbsup2

I'll be back in gear soon. :cool1:

[Foxfiregrrl]

Ok, well I'm still goofing off on my last day of vacation, but I'm ready to start thinking about life after vacation :scared: I actually got a call from my supervisor earlier today because one of my "kids" (she's actually 18 already) had a "very bad week" and she wanted to talk to me about it because the kid is coming in tomorrow so we can discuss what to do with her :rolleyes: She was funny thought because she kept saying it's ok, nothing else went wrong :sad2: Gee thanks.

Anyway, DH and I sat down and made a menu list to cover the next two weeks. We will cook some days and have leftovers some days. We also are trying to incorporate some sides, etc into our work lunches so that they are not So boring. This week we have chicken salad made from grilled chicken which is always yummy.

So here are our menu items (dinners only):
Red beans and rice (2 meals)
leftover chicken curry w/ brown rice and lentils
beef & veggie stirfry
pork roast w/ potatoes and carrots (2)
bratwurst and potatoes and some other side (for the 4th)
Veggie and pasta dish (vegetarian) (2)
roasted red pepper and mushroop soup (2 dinners? or lunch sides?)
cube steak w/ black eyed peas and some other side

That gives us about 12 dinners which will hopefully get us to the weekend after the 4th.

We made an agreement that will be a tad difficult, but hopefully we can stick to it. It is basically several challenges rolled into one. We will only eat out for dinner Once every other week. I will only eat out for lunch once a week or less. We will not buy anything that is not a necessity i.e. we can buy groceries and that is about it. We will exercise more and try to eat healthier. We are both aiming to lose 10 pounds by the time we go to Disney. The challenge will last until then which gives us 63 days for it. I think that it is not unreasonable.

We have also been buying as many organic items as we can afford. We switched this week to organic milk. It tastes the same and is supposed to be Way better for you. We got organic celery, carrots, eggs, chicken (only for a pack of drumsticks though, we eat to much chicken breast to convert that yet :eek: ) We also bought the peaches that came from the Lane packing plant which is less than 100 miles away :thumbsup2 as opposed to the peaches from south carolina. I do not understand why the store gets them from so far away when Lane is SO close :confused3

I have been reading a lot about being more environmentally friendly and watching the new Planet Green channel (I was actually watching a lot of it before it converted over). Anyway, I really want to do what we can to lower our impact but in reasonable steps along the way. We have started composting our food scraps kind of... basically I've just been burying them in a pile of yard scraps inside the edge of the woods for now. We will eventually make an actual compost bin, but I was having a hard time getting DH to commit to it. They do not have a good city recycling program around here, but I need to call and see if they pick up anything curbside or not. They used to but I keep getting mixed answers when I ask people. I have been saving my used wine bottles for the last several months (which means I have a HUGE collection now :rolleyes1 ) because I had met a lady who said that she melts them down and makes things with them. I didn't realize it until recently, but glass takes Forever to break down in the landfill. I thought it was just plastics and cans that took so long.

We don't drink sodas so that is not a problem for us. Although we do need to be able to recycle the bottles and cans from when the guys come over. They can fill a whole large trash can when they are here :eek:

Other than that our big issue has been that we have a lot of wild blackberry vines taking over on one side of the house. We are not really keen on spraying them with pesticides, BUT I haven't been able to find any good alternatives that don't include me pulling them all up by hand :sad2: So, for now they are just taking over.

I've had a lot of this kind of thing on my mind lately. I want to still work on getting healthy, but just haven't been in that mode as much. I am planning to start back to the gym this week and DH says that he is going to at least start walking with me some.

I have been thinking about starting just a general blog somewhere to lay out all my ramblings, but I'm undecided. I know that if I do that I will not come here as often and post. I don't want to lose touch with this community because I really like it here and feel like I've gotten a lot of good support here over the last few years. But I just feel like most of the time I'm not really staying true to the WISH journal concept anymore.

We'll see.. gonna think about it. If I do blog I won't leave here, I just won't be here as much. I will also post a link once it is up and running.

Well, enough for me today. Have a great week!

[DisDee]

Hey Amber, Don't you just hate the last day of vacation? I hope you had a super time while at the beach and didn't think about anything but relaxing and having a good time.

You seem very organized to have planned out your upcoming meals. Now that's what I call forward thinking. Good for you! I'm lucky if I grab some yogurt on my way out the door in the morning.

I often feel that I don't stick with the "Wish" journal concept either, but I figure if I mention one thing about healthy eating or exercise, I'm good to go. Don't leave us!!!!! I've really gotten away from posting, but still continue to read the journals of my "regulars". I really do enjoy the connection that we all have.

I hope all goes well tomorrow with your girl. My DIL worked with our state adoption agency and now teaches inner city special ed kids at a charter school, so I know a little bit of what you must deal with. Make it a good week!

[lindalinda]

Hi Amber! Glad you had a nice vacation. Looks like you have eveything all planned out! I think you do a great job with menus and stuff. I wish I did that as well.

Its really great that you have decided to go "greener". I am a hippie chick from way back. My hybrid civic is getting almost 48 mpg and I am loving it!

I don't think anyone would care if you were off-topic on this board, but if you do decide to blog instead, let us know!

nite

linda
:hippie:

[Foxfiregrrl]

Thanks, guys. I have not decided if I want to blog or not yet. Part of me has these grand ideas of having a blog that Lots of people actually read, but that is not very realistic, especially since I don't have any particular topic in mind to blog about. For now I will keep posting here and let you guys know what I decide.

Today has been ok so far. I did not end up exercising though. I also had most of a bottle of wine left from vacation. I decided to finish it off so that it will not be hanging around tempting me. Then I will not be buying anymore.

Food was:
b - kashi w/ soy, coffee
l- chicken salad sandwich, grapes and cherries
s- a tad of misc. candy
d - leftover chicken curry
S? - Wine

I did not have to terrible of a first day back today. The "kid" decided to sign herself out of foster care. I hope she will be ok. For me that means I will have one less case :cheer2: I better enjoy it while it lasts :thumbsup2 Oh, yeah, one of my other teenagers fell off her bike while I was gone and broke her arm! :scared: Poor thing! I knew she was clumsy but Gee whiz!

Oh, I thought I would share some Green living news that I learned over the weekend... Compact Flourescent Light bulbs (CFLs)have small amounts of mercury in them which means that they should not be thrown into your regular garbage and sent to the landfill (this I knew). I was very concerned about what our recycling/disposal options were going to be since our city has not really embraced the recycling thing. Well, Home Depot recently announced that they will take all unbroken CFLs at all of their stores and they will recycle them. That is good news for us because the Home Depot is fairly conveniently located for us. The CFLs last a long time, so hopefully I won't have to take any there for a while. We are replacing our regular bulbs with the CFLs as the regular ones burn out. Anyway, just thought I would share in case that little tidbit could be helpful to any of you :)

:hippie: Amber

[Foxfiregrrl]

Wow, somehow I didn't realized that I didn't check in here during the week.

Happy 4th of July!! :cool1:

Today we spent our 4th cleaning, and cleaning, and more cleaning :faint: The worst part is that we didn't get done half of what we would have like to have. :sad2: We have lots of projects that never get done and then all the other maintenance things that we have been neglecting since vacation. So we worked on a couple of projects and some basics. We plan to do some more cleaning tomorrow, but hopefully not spend ALL day. Then maybe we can relax some on Sunday. I can't believe how much cleaning there is to do and we don't even have kids to make a mess yet :eek:

This week went ok. I had a touch of the post vacation blahs at work. I just struggled to get motivated. Finally Thursday I started to get into the swing a bit and then it was time to go home :confused3

I took my lunch to work everyday, but I did end up going out for a scoop of ice cream with a coworker on Tuesday... so I'm counting that as "eating lunch out" this week. We ate out for dinner on Thursday which means that we can't eat dinner out at all this coming week. That is going to be a tough one :scared:

We walked on Tuesday, but my right hip and leg started to hurt REALLY bad and I had to come back home and lay down. I'm not sure what caused it and it hasn't hurt since :confused3 Other than that I did not get any exercise in this week. I will do better next week though.

I have not bought anything except groceries so far.

The weight that I put on during vacation is starting to slowly melt back off. I am at 196.6 today and to hit my "ten" pounds for the challenge I need to get to 184. That is because we decided that we should lose 10 pounds from what we were before we left for vacation, not from what we weigh after eating bad for a whole week. I am fine with that because I knew that just getting back to eating normally would make that weight slide off. Now, I just have to get the other ten pounds to slide off. THEN, I'll gain them all back again when we go to Disney!!:rolleyes1 :upsidedow

No wine or alcohol of any kind since Monday. This evening has been a bit tempting, but we don't have anything in the house which is how it needs to stay :thumbsup2

Ok, so I decided to fiddle around with a blog. I'm not sure if I will like it or not, but I'm gonna give it a go. I found myself thinking about topics to write about when I was cleaning today. So, if you'd like to come read more of my ramblings feel free to come check it out. www.foxfiregrrl.blogspot.com I am still trying to figure out how it should look and what to put for the description etc. So if you have any suggestions let me know :goodvibes

Hope you guys are having a good 4th!!

[Foxfiregrrl]

Well it's been a good weekend so far. We got some more cleaning done yesterday and decided that was enough for one weekend. Our kitchen and living room look SO much better now!!

We took it easy for the rest of the afternoon. Then settled in around 10pm to watch a movie. We had not been watching more than 15 minutes when DH got a phone call. One of his buddies forgot to pay his power bill and they cut off his electricity while he was out of town for a few days :sad2: So, he asked if he could come spend the night with us. Sure why not. So he came and we finished watching the movie, then he and DH stayed up half the night playing video games.

We were supposed to eat lunch at my Grandma's today, but my parent's weren't going to be there. Well, anyway, we overslept Big time. I usually work up by 10 or 10:30 on my own on Sundays, but I must have been REALLY tired because I slept all the way to Noon! So since we overslept and had company, we decided not to go. Well, then we had to figure out what to do for lunch that included our guest. That ended up meaning that we ate out for lunch. Which is kind of what I wanted to do even though I know that I'm supposed to be doing better.

So, that means that we messed up on our eating out challenge already. BUT we are not going to let that get us off track all together. We decided that we will just stick with the challenge as if this didn't happen. Meaning that we cannot eat out this coming week, but will be able to eat out the week of the 14th. I think we are still doing pretty well considering how often we had been eating out before :thumbsup2

I think that is all I have to report for today. No exercise. I am hoping to get a jump on that again starting tomorrow :rolleyes1 always tomorrow, but I mean it this time ;)

[lindalinda]

Hi Amber! I will go check out your blog! You are way too high tech for me, I know nothing about that stuff, wouldnt have a clue where to start.

As for you hip and down your leg pain, that is sciatica. Seriously, that is the exact description of it. Youve pinched a nerve or something. If it doesnt stop you should try a chiropractor of physical therapist. If that doesnt work you can get shots, but it is probably temporary and will go away.


Have a nice week!


linda
:hippie:

[lindalinda]

Ok, I love your blog!

And I am teal green, btw.

You Are Teal Green

You are a one of a kind, original person. There's no one even close to being like you.
Expressive and creative, you have a knack for making the impossible possible.
While you are a bit offbeat, you don't scare people away with your quirks.
Your warm personality nicely counteracts and strange habits you may have.

Yeah, well. it says I'm weird.:lmao:

[Foxfiregrrl]

Thanks, Linda! The blog was actually REALLY easy to set up. I just went to blogger.com and signed up. They have templates all done up and you just choose one and start blogging :thumbsup2

So, You're Teal... which means your weird... maybe that's why I like you so much ;) :hug:

My hip/back pain is gone now. It really only was that one day, so I think maybe I sat wrong or slept wrong or something.

Well, I made my final payment for Disney today :woohoo: I still had a few days, but I wanted to do it before I forgot. I put it on our New Disney VISA :cool1: I finally convinced DH that we should get one. Now I'm just trying to build enough points on it to cash some in when we go :rolleyes1

DH & I went for a mile walk today. It was hot so we didn't go any further, but I figure some walking is better than nothing.

Nothing else really exciting going on. I just wanted to add two TV shows that I'm totally in love with are "Jon & Kate plus 8" and "It's not easy being green". The latter is on Sundance Channel and is about a family in Cornwall, England that is trying to become completely self sustaining. They have a water wheel, windmill, and solar panels so far. And they even made a composting toilet, which they actually made seem not half bad :lmao: Anyway, if you get a chance you should check it out. They are fun to watch if nothing else.

Night!:wave:

[DisDee]

Hi Amber, what a great feeling to pay off the vacation! What are you dates again? My DD just planned a trip with her in-laws at the end of September and I'm so jealous...LOL! I realized from your ticker that you're just a year older than DD. She'll be 29 on Aug. 5, so I'm old enough to be your mother. Scary!

Good for you on making some attempts to go green. That's not an easy thing to do, but every little change can make a big difference in the long run.

[Foxfiregrrl]

Hey, Dee. Yep, I'll be 30 on September 1st. I find that I have a tendency to make friends with people who are somewhat older than I am. In college, the lady that I hung out with and connected with the most had two kids my age. It was funny because we had the same last name and people would ask if we were sisters (even though we looked Nothing alike)

I have not been online a lot this week. It has been somewhat busy and DH was on call which means we don't sleep well at night. So we were hitting the hay early.

Then any time I was online I was working on some T-shirt ideas for an adoption conference we are going to for work in August. We are doing a Finding Nemo theme. So I enlisted the help of the wonderfully creative people over on the DISign board. I have a thread over there and even made a couple of disigns myself (which is really scary by the way!) Here is the link if you want to check it out http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1879865

If you do, let me know what you think :thumbsup2 We are going to most likely pick 3 or 4 designs and put them on tshirts. I'm excited.

K, well, it's been a long day. I'll write more tomorrow! :hippie:

[lindalinda]

I went and looked. I didnt even know that board existed!

I liked a lot of the designs but that first group the one that said "be a light in their world", with the light shining thru the water, I loved that one the best. I welled up a little on that one.

there were lots of cute ones, I love the turtle guy esp.

nite

linda
:hippie:

[Foxfiregrrl]

Hi, Linda. I totally agree about the one with "Be a Light in their world" I say it makes me "all a flutter" :thumbsup2 I really love that one! However, we are going for a more cartoony theme, so I'm not sure if we will use that one or not. We may end up doing several, so it may get used.... I asked everyone to vote today.

Well, I was away at a Prevent Child Abuse seminar Monday and Tuesday. I thought I would be able to get online at my hotel in the evenings, but their internet was down :confused3 So, I've been having a bit of withdrawal :rotfl:

We had our family reunion on Saturday and it was fine. We have SO many little children in our family now, I swear they are going to outnumber the adults pretty soon!! :eek:

Then we went to a birthday party for DH's BFF's daughter. I swear those people are INSANE!! This was her 7th bday and it was at one of those buffet pizza places. We got there and the mom (yes, this is the crazy lady) was not there yet, but BF was there and the kids. Well, BF forgot his pager for work and needed to run home to get it. The mom shows up w/ balloons, but doesn't have the cake. BF runs home to get his pager and the mom is like "oh, I need to run next door and get the cake". Now, almost all of the kids and other parents were there by this time. The grandma says let me go get it and the mom is like oh no I'll go. Finally the grandma was like "NO, I'll go. You need to be here with your guests". Anyway, I was just like good grief! I cannot understand why in the world she had not already gotten the cake?! :confused3 The party was at 5pm!

So she comes over while we are eating and says that the girls just Had to wear their Hannah Montana outfits today, so she had to do 2 loads of laundry before she could take her shower and that is why she was running behind :rolleyes:

Then an hour and a half later they cut the cake. Everyone has eaten pizza and the kids have played in the arcade. When everyone is about done with the pizza, the mom looks around and goes "do we do presents now? I don't know how this works?" :confused3 HOW do you get to having a child who is 7 years old and NOT know the basics of a birthday party? :rolleyes: Anyway, I tried REALLY hard not to be critical, but she is just WAY too nutso for me!

Anyway. Sunday we had lunch at my grandma's as usual and then I went to Atlanta for my conference. It was nice and I guess I learned a few things. The best part was that there were two ladies there that I used to work with in Baldwin County (the Horrible place I was at before Bibb). They were probably the two people I was closest to and hung out with the most when I was in Baldwin. So we got to hang out the whole time. It was good to catch up with them. I wish they didn't live 45 minutes away. I know that isn't That far, but it is far enough that it makes it difficult to hang out easily.

So, my eating was very bad all weekend and for the last two days. I am not back on track yet, but I am going to work on it. I haven't been working out either. I REALLY want to get back into that, but just have not gathered the energy. I will though!!

Well, have a great evening!

[lindalinda]

Amber amber amber. I want you to flag this post (I mean yours up above). In a few years, after you have a couple of urchins running around and your brain has turned to mush and you notice you have been wearing a shirt with spit-up stain for 3 days straight, re-read that one and you will understand exactly where that woman is coming from! Oh, you dont think it will happen to you, but it will. :lmao:

I had a birthday party for Kevin once when he was maybe 9? anyway, it was for the opening of a Harry Potter movie, and around 10 kids were at the theater watching the movie. It was the first day so the movie was on a bunch of screens, like 30 minutes apart. One of the little girls got up to go to the bathroom during the movie and I didnt notice. When she came back she went into the wrong theater and couldnt find us. After the movie is over one of the other girls told me she was gone! I freaked, grab the other kids and go out into the lobby. There she crying her eyes out, with a cop waiting in the lobby. Yep , and her parents are walking up! ARGHH Her mom was cool with it, said she will know next time to tell an adult before she gets up and leaves, but her dad looked like he was gonna kill me! I was mortified.

I am rambling. But you do lose lots of brain cells as a parent. So its not my fault.


nite

linda
:hippie:

[Foxfiregrrl]

Well, I've been wanting to tell my news for almost a week now and had to wait. We wanted to tell our families first. But then we ran into some problems. So here it is... it's long, so bear with me.

I didn't start last weekend like I was supposed to, so by Tuesday I knew something was up. I did the hpt and it was positive... very light but definitely a whole line there. I was excited but somewhat cautious. Tony and I decided that I would make an appointment with the doctor and then we would tell everyone, but not until it was confirmed.

Well, I called Thursday and they said that since it was So early in the pregnancy they would not see me yet. They set my appointment for 8/7. Well, I called Tony and we agreed that we were too excited to wait that long to tell people. So, I told my supervisor at work and he told like Everyone that he works with. We made the plan to tell his mom on Friday night, then tell his dad and my parents on Sunday. My parents were out of town until then anyway. So, we told his mom and she was happy. (Tony wouldn't let me tell anyone online until we told our family)

Friday and Saturday I had some minor discomfort in my abdominal region. Nothing major, but some aches here and there. Sunday I got up and seemed to be fine. Then after awhile, I started bleeding, followed by cramping. So, of course I was terribly upset and cried and cried. That ended up giving me a major headache. I took some tylenol and took a nap. When I woke up I wasn't as crampy, but the headache lingered off and on all day and into the night. The bleeding continued, but was not heavy or steady even.

Monday morning, I called the doctor's office. They told me to come on in. They did a sonagram and didn't see anything. The doctor said that it could be too early to see anything. He said the bleeding could be nothing or could be a miscarriage. They drew blood and he said that he wanted me to come back on Wednesday for more blood to be drawn. He said that if my hormone levels double that would be good and if they drop that would be bad. He also said that if they are higher than 2500 then there could be problems because there should be something showing on the sonagram at that point.

So, I didn't get my results yesterday because the lab crashed. They called me this morning while I was in the middle of a meeting with one of my teenagers. The nurse said that my hormone level was like 10.8 which was way too low. She said that the doctor thinks that I have already miscarried. She said that they still want me to come in tomorrow for more blood work, just to be certain that it continues to go down.

What is weird is that I woke up today and felt a lot better. I was in a good mood and felt more hopeful. The bleeding has almost completely stopped and never really did get very steady. So, I really thought it would probably be ok.

I have cried and cried and cried since Sunday. I know that we just started and we still have plenty of chances, blah, blah. but it doesn't change how excited and happy I had been about this one.

I did tell my mom and dad last night, but told them what all was going on. So now I have to call and tell them that I'm not pregnant after all. It is not a call that I want to make.

DH has been very supportive, but he just keeps giving me the logical side. It's early, we just started trying, it happens to a lot of people, we'll just try again, etc. I know all of that and when I look at the logical side I know it will all be ok, but the emotional side is still reeling from it all.

I took the rest of today off of work so that I can just let it all out.

Sorry for the downer news, but I just needed to "talk".

[DisDee]

Amber, I'm just so sorry to hear your news. I'm sending you a virtual hug. This is such a sad time for you and DH, and you really do need to allow yourself to mourn your loss. There's nothing I can say to make it "better" for you except to let you know that you are in my thoughts and prayers. Please allow yourself to write about your feelings, and know that I always read your posts even if I don't always comment. Hang in there kid, and surround yourself with the people you love to help you get through this.

[lindalinda]

Amber, I am so sorry. I know it doesnt help, but you will feel better soon. It happened to me a couple of times and there isnt anything I can say to make you feel better now, except that it does get better. Your DH is right about it too.

One positive point : You know you can get pregnant. And it didnt take very long either. I know it doesnt matter right now, but you can try again right away.

I suck at writing this stuff down so I will just say feel better soon girl! It will be okay.

linda
:hippie:

[Foxfiregrrl]

Thanks for the support guys! I really appreciate it. I have really had a lot of good support this week and I think it has really helped me a lot. I am doing a lot better I think. I still have my moments, but for the most part I'm dealing with it.

Several people have made the same point that you made, Linda. That at least I know that I can get pregnant, which is a major hurdle for many women. The nurse even said it.

I also am taking some consolation in the fact that I won't have to be pregnant while we are at Disney. I know that seems selfish, but I'm kind of glad about that. I was perfectly willing to do the whole thing pregnant, but not being pregnant will make it all so much less worrisome. I can ride what I want, eat what I want, drink what I want ;) , AND I won't be exceptionally pooped out each day :rolleyes1

I was told that we should wait one full cycle before trying again. That is not too bad. I can live with that. I will be glad to get back to trying and hopefully we will be successful quickly and stay pregnant next time :wizard:

I am also trying to view this as an opportunity to get my act together. I was not exercising at all and only marginally eating right. I also had not actually met with the midwife I want to use. So now I figure I have a month or two to get moving in the right direction. I have an appointment scheduled with the midwife in late August. I went to the practice that I will be using earlier this week, but the midwife was not there when I first went. So, I saw the OB who was on call. He was really nice and didn't make me feel like an idiot. I was told when I made my original appointment with the midwife that I could use her for the pregnancy, but that I will have to meet all 5 of the doctors in the practice just in case there are complications. I think that is reasonable. I have heard good things about both the doctors and the midwife. I was pleased with all of the staff that I met this week. They were all really nice and sensitive to what was going on.


So, this weekend, DH and I would really enjoy staying at home and doing mostly nothing, BUT we have another reunion. This one is in North Georgia on Sunday. It is for my mom's side of the family. We skipped it last year because it was on Labor Day weekend, but they moved it this year so I feel like we really should go. My parent's went up tonight and are camping. DH and I will go up tomorrow morning/early afternoon and will camp with them. I think it should be nice. It has been quite awhile since we have been camping. I am looking forward to some S'mores! I have been craving them for a few weeks now, so that will be fun :thumbsup2

I'll probably stop in Sunday to report how it goes. See ya then. Have a good weekend!!

[Foxfiregrrl]

Well, when I said I would check in on Sunday...I didn't mean a week later :guilty:

It has been very busy around here this week.

Camping last weekend - It was pretty fun. We didn't get there until 5pm on Saturday, so we didn't have a whole lot of time. We did have smores around the campfire which is all I was concerned about. Sunday morning, I was brushing my teeth near the water fountain and got stung by two Yellow Jackets!! It HURT!! I ran back to the campsite screaming! That was the first time I've ever been stung and I'll be 30 next month. So I guess I can count myself lucky.

This week was pretty hectic because it was the end of the month AND we were getting ready for the adoption conference next week AND I had training (in town) for two days :scared: I spent all day yesterday getting the tshirt iron ons ready and printing them all out. We will iron on the tshirts tomorrow during our "prep" day. Hopefully we won't run into any issues.

I go to Augusta for the Adoption Conference on Wednesday and will return on Friday. I am excited and nervous all at the same time. We have put together a display to show off our children that are up for adoption and the families who are waiting for children (typically somewhat picky families). They have a contest for the best displays and our county has won several in the past, so we have a lot to live up to :scared:

I haven't been eating well or exercising lately. I know that I HAVE to do better!! DH and I are going to fall out when we have to do all that walking at Disney!!! :eek: I hope that once I get back from the conference I can get us both moving at least a little bit. It has just been SO hot lately though.

Well, gonna call it a night and try to relax a little bit since I've been "working" all weekend. Have a great week!

[Foxfiregrrl]

Just had to come back and say
4 weeks til DISNEY!!!:dancer: party: :dancer: party: :jumping1: :tinker: :maleficen :ccat: :mickeyjum

And 4 weeks 1 day until I turn 30 with Mickey!! :flower1: :earboy2: :maleficen :dancer:

[lindalinda]

Hi amber! Sorry I havent been around. I have been reading, just too lazy to post. darn job!:lmao:

So you should be back today from the adoption conference. I hope it was great and successful. Did I mention that my baby brother has 2 special needs adoption kids? They are coming to visit in October and I cant wait! I am very proud of him, he is doing a great job. He lives in Cal. and they really have good programs there to help with these adoptions. They get services even after adoption, special speech classes and physical therapy.

I hope to take them to Disney and UNiversal in a few years, probably after I retire so we can go on a slow period though!

It just been too hot to exercise, so dont stress out over it. I would just walk late in the evening maybe if it cooled off some, so that you can walk at disney and not get too worn out. Its epcot that always kills me, everything else is ok, but epcot wears me out!


later!

linda
:hippie:

[Foxfiregrrl]

Hey. I've been back since around 4:30pm Friday, but just not really in the mood to post. Just lazy mostly.

We had a really good conference and I went to some good classes. We had a good display, but did not win. There was a session for the potential adoptive parents to come in and look at our available kids and we could talk with them. That went really well. We had 7 kids available from our county (two of which were a sibling group). We had some interest for almost all of them. I think the child that I have got the least amount of interest, but she is a 16 yr old (and hopefully will get adopted by her foster mom). Anyway, all in all it was nice. I had a good time too.

Wednesday night I went out w/ my two closest friends from work and we had dinner and Lots of drinks! We had a great time!

Oh, yeah, Monday I woke up early so I went for a mile walk and then did 30 minutes of yoga. but that was about all the exercise I got in last week. Hey, something is better than nothing.

Today, I made DH walk to my grandma's and back. I was complaining that we are going to fall out when we actually have to walk around Disney in 21 days. So DH said that we will walk 2 miles every evening this week :rotfl2: We'll see if he sticks with that.

I went shopping w/ my mom, grandma, and sister today. We were trying to get a baby shower present, but couldn't decide. So, I bought some Desperately needed bras :thumbsup2

Not sure what this week will entail. We'll see.

I'll check in sometime ;) The Olympics are on though, so I'll mostly be engrossed in them! Love me some Beach Volleyball and Gymnastics!! :love:

Have a great week!!

[lindalinda]

Hi Amber! I havent checked in in a while and I suddenly wondered if you were in disney yet! I see you are leaving soon. That sure came up fast.

I hope the weather is good for you, and cools down just a bit. Its been ridiculous hot here. Of course, you can spend some time by the pool. Are you going to Pop again or someplace else this time?


Check in and let us know how you are doing.


linda
:hippie:

[Foxfiregrrl]

Hey! I've been around the boards some, but just not really posting lately. Then for the last week and a half I've just been Really busy.

We decided to go to DragonCon after all, since we still have our tickets. So we leave tomorrow after work for Atlanta. We will spend two nights in a hotel near the airport and go to DC on Friday evening and Saturday all day.

Sunday we fly down to Disney!! We could not get a reservation at POP this time, so we are at All Star Sports.... which was our Last choice of the value resorts :rolleyes: Go figure right. I don't really care though because we don't spend that much time at the hotel. I came close to upgrading, but changed my mind.

We will be at Epcot for my birthday on Monday and eat at Chefs de France. I did some research on the alcoholic drink pictures thread and picked some yummy looking drinks to get throughout the week :thumbsup2

Also we get to start baby making again while on the trip :thumbsup2 so double the fun ;)

Well, gotta go finish up my packing. Happy Labor Day weekend everyone!! See ya'll when we get back (which will be 9/6).

[lindalinda]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMBER!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THE BIG 3-0!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


I'm sure you are having a fabulous time in Disneyworld! I wish I was there.:woohoo:


linda
:hippie:

[lindalinda]

Hey Amber, how was the trip?
:hippie:

[Foxfiregrrl]

Hey! Sorry, it's been a bit busy around here since we got back.

We had a great trip!! It was somewhat crowded the first two days because of the holiday weekend, but then it thinned out a lot. The weather was good, but HOT!! We could tell that we were WAY out of shape and all of the walking really wore us out!

My birthday was really nice. We had dinner at Chefs de France and Tony had ordered me a birthday cake. They also gave us complimentary glasses of wine :lovestruc I got the birthday pin and wore it all week :thumbsup2 I got a lot of "Happy Birthdays" which was cool!

We got to ride the new Toy Story Mania which was AWESOME!!! We rode it twice and I wanted to ride it more. :3dglasses The lines were bad for it though. We got to see and do everything and did a couple of rides/attractions that we had never done before. We tried to take it easy some, but I have a tendency to get excited and want to do Everything Now!

When I got back to work on Monday there was an email from our administrator challenging everyone to sign up for an exercise challenge called Walk Georgia. It is an online site that reminds me of Fitday, except you only log your exercise. Anyway, you tell it what exercise you did and then it converts that to mileage.

She, our admin., told us that she wanted to have a contest. The individual contestant has to win against all others AND beat her mileage (she's pretty competitive, too) and he/she will receive $25. Then you can sign up with your unit to win $50 for the best unit (to be spent on something for the unit - ie lunch or whatnot)

So, I signed up and convinced most of my unit also. I went to water aerobics on Monday and got up early Tuesday to go walk on the treadmill. I am glad I got jumpstarted, but I don't think I let myself recover from Disney enough. Wednesday I decided to take a break. But then Thursday I felt like I'd been run over by a truck or not slept in weeks (even though I've been making sure to get plenty of sleep). So, I left work early and took a 1.5 hour nap. DH had a cold while we were at Disney, so I figured I was coming down with it. I have been ok since then though :confused3

Today we did house and yard work. Then we went to a new grocery store near our house. It is called "The Fresh Market" and it is very similar to the Whole Foods or Harry's stores that we LOVED when we lived in Atlanta. We were SO STOKED that we got a good Fresh food market her in Macon!! :cool1: We went there thinking that we would get a few things there and then still have to go to the regular grocery store. But we were able to get everything there instead which was Great! Some things cost a little more there, but we didn't mind too much because of all the cool things they have! So, I think we are both IN LOVE with the new store, if you can be in love with a store ;) On of the best parts is that it is closer to our house than the Kroger!

So, now with all the chores and shopping done our plan is to relax and enjoy the rest of our weekend :cloud9: (need a kicked back in a hammock smilie)

Have a good one!!

[kmp1191]

Damn, you're a young one!! ONLY 30!!
Happy belated birthday girl!!!

Hope all is going good for ya'll!!
ttyl

marie

[Foxfiregrrl]

Hey, Marie:wave2: Yes, I'm "only 30" even though DH snickers and laughs at me every time I have to give my birthday or age. (did it twice today while buying wine and both times he decided to make fun of me and tell everyone how "old" I am now - even though he'll be 30 in December) I am ok with it. I think I might throw him a big Over the Hill party though since he seems to think it is a big deal :thumbsup2

I didn't do as well this week with the exercise as I did last week. I made it to the gym on Tuesday morning and did the elliptical machine. Other than that, I really didn't do any exercise. It was a week of late afternoon visits which really kept me from making it to the gym. Then there was the fact that I was really lazy in the mornings.

We went to the Fresh Market again today. We bought a few fruits and then went hog wild getting the prepared foods for lunch. We have enough prepared foods for at least 2 lunches in addition to what we ate today. We also bought some reusable bags for $.99 which are really pretty. I just have to remember to take them next time!

I helped my coworker paint her house today, but really got there right at the end of the painting day. She had a LOT of help and when I got there at like 3:45, she was almost done. I was torn about going over to help. Part of me feels like I should have gone and spent the day helping, but the other part of me was like - I only get two weekend days and don't even do my own house projects so why should I go do hers? Anyway, I kind of split the difference, by going to help some.

Well, the guys are here again today. I like it when they are here because I get a chance to spend a lot of time at my computer catching up on all the things that I normally don't take the time to do.

I've been reading green blogs and actually updated my own blog (which I hadn't done since July). Dh has been really worried about the economy lately. I'm not sure what to think, but I know it is not good. I'm thinking that the more sustainable our lives become the better. Then if the economy crashes at least we can make ends meet. Who knows what is going to happen though. We are trying to come up w/ a plan that will protect us if the economy crashes, but will not waste money if it doesn't. I have been wanting to invest in some solar or wind energy anyway, so I think we are finally going to do so. We have the perfect location for it because we do not have any neighbors really close by. I would love for us to be able to cover 50% of our energy usage, but that is a long shot. We have a pretty big house. I have been amazed recently though, because I was talking to a foster parent on my case load. She said that they spend almost $300 a month on electricity :scared1: and I wouldn't think there house is as big as mine. We have spent at most $120 a month on electricity and most months is considerably less than that. I am also amazed by people who NEVER open their windows. We open ours as soon as it is somewhat cool outside (they have been open since Tuesday when I realized it was cooler outside than inside) and we only close them when we HAVE to because it is way too cold or hot outside. I grew up w/ no central heat or air, so even though I have it now I prefer the fresh air to the enclosed space whenever possible. :hippie:

DH's was telling his friends about our plans for solar or wind energy today... so they were like you are a hippie aren't you! He was like well DUH :hippie: He is a long hair after all :goodvibes

K, I think I'm rambling now... note to self: post before dipping into the wine :rolleyes1

[Foxfiregrrl]

My food hasn't been terrible this week. The wine has been a little overboard though.

I'm not doing very well at my exercise plan either. I did get up on Tuesday morning to go to the gym. I did 28 minutes on the eliptical. Other than that I haven't done anything. This morning I chose to sleep late and enjoy the warm comfort of my bed rather than get up and go to the gym.

The Georgia State Fair is in town this week. I haven't been and doubt I will actually get there. Tonight there was an attempt to beat the World Record Kazoo Ensemble. The Kazoo was actually invented in Macon. I kind of wanted to go, but couldn't get anyone to go with me. I wasn't too keen on going by myself, so I missed it. Oh, well.... I wish them good luck anyway! :wizard:

I've been watching some of the money oriented shows on CNBC and reading more and more green blogs this week. I'm really concerned about the state of our economy these days. I am hopeful that a new president will help but afraid that the American people won't come together and choose the right candidate.

I'm also REALLY looking forward to this weekend!! I just feel that I really need a weekend about now! I still like my job, but this week has been a hard one :crazy2:

Well, I'll check in over the weekend. Hope everyone has a good one!! :wizard:

[lindalinda]

Amber, even though I am so waaaay older than you I think we really think a lot alike. I have been trying to figure out ways to "green" my life for years now. About 13 years or so ago I started researching windmills. It just seemed like it would work where I live. All my research at the time said no tho, not enough wind to make it worth the cost. (Though at my house, the way its situated, its always windy) Well here we are now and things have changed. I bet it would be well worth the investment now. Unfortunately, I am hoping (if the stupid economy will cooperate) to sell within 2 years, so it just doesnt make sense to do it now. My stupid HOA probably wouldn't let me anyway!

I think I showed you the "green" condos I have been looking at. My most recent brilliant idea (I'm not sure if I have mentioned that I'm brilliant before, but it's true, I'm just too humble to say it), is windmill neighborhoods. I envision a big-time developer jumping on this soon. Set aside a portion of the development for a small windfarm. Have it be on the grid, with portions of the homes power to be provided by it. This is essentially the same profile as the green condos I was looking at. Do everything green that the homes can have, maybe even berm homes and use some solar and geothermal. Its too bad I have no money, or I would be rich! :lmao:

I got a new computer and I dont have the link to your blog anymore so you need to post it again.


have a nice weekend. Or week I guess, its sunday.

linda
:hippie:

[Foxfiregrrl]

Hey, Linda! I do remember looking at the green condos and they looked pretty cool. I also think a windmill community would be a great idea. We have not really had much time to work on our green projects since I posted about them. Although we did go buy 16 CFLs this weekend because Georgia was having a tax holiday on Energy Star items.

Last weekend DH decided that we need a hand gun for "home security" so we went out and bought one. Sunday we practiced shooting it and then we worked on cleaning projects around the house.

Dh's father, his wife, and DH's grandma were supposed to come over today for lunch. His grandma has never been to our house and his dad has only been once. SO, this week we have been on the mad cleaning and organizing spree. We worked on various things throughout the week and then spent ALL day yesterday cleaning and trying to straighten up some of the areas that have just been collecting junk. Well, we got everything all nice and this morning I got up and started making sides for lunch (DH's dad was bringing steaks)... then his dad calls and says his wife's knee is hurting too badly and she cannot get out today to come visit. Apparently she recently had knee surgery, which I either didn't know or had forgotten about. :confused3 We aren't really close with them. Can you tell? Anyway, at least we got the house all clean out of the deal. They may come next weekend instead.

Then we went to my grandma's for lunch since the in laws weren't coming. My sister came down from Atlanta for the day. I decided that I would stay and go shopping w/ both sisters and my mom. Then my dad said we should go look at some junk in the barn that has been there for like 5 years. Which turns into "lets sort it all" because he wanted us to get out anything that is usable before it gets ruined. WELL, HELLO!! After 5 years if it is ruined, then it's ruined and if it isn't then it's not going anywhere! Well, I was reluctant to help and ended up in a yelling match with my dad. It ended up that I lose because he argued that everyone was here today and if we don't do it today it won't ever get done. It wasn't my mess to clean up, but since I would be chastised as the "selfish" one if I didn't help, I just caved and helped out. Needless to say I was filthy by the end of it and had NO interest in going shopping at that point. I came home and called it a day.

My back has been hurting me all day because I swept the patio a little too vigorously yesterday. I am hoping it will feel better tomorrow. Needless to say, I got some fairly good exercise over the last two days. I undid any good that it did though because we went out for "Endless Shrimp" at Red Lobster last night with 2 of DH's buddies. It has sort of become an annual tradition for us. I didn't walk away totally miserable, but I definitely ate way more than I should have. The craziest and coolest thing was that at the end the waitress brought me a to go box! :eek: I didn't think you could take home from the endless shrimp. But since she brought it I took home everything that was left. That meant that we ended up with a whole meals worth of Shrimp pasta because me and one of the guys ordered it and couldn't eat but a few bites. We also had a few fried shrimp left. Anyway, that will be dinner one night this week.

My weeknights have seemed busier than normal lately and I just haven't had time to post on my journal regularly. I want to get back into the habit though. I NEED to get back to posting my food so that I can eat better.

We are considering getting a laptop for Christmas. If we do that I guarantee I will be online more. If I can feed my TV addiction at the same time as my internet addiction, then you might never get me off the couch :lmao:

Well, that's it for me tonight. Have a great week!

[Foxfiregrrl]

Gonna start trying to do better on my eating and exercising and the first step to that is putting it all down here. So, I'm gonna try to start logging again. Most days will be a quickie post of the daily log. On days when I have more time I'll post more :thumbsup2

Today:
b- kashi, milk, coffee (this is my standard - almost EVERY weekday)
l- ceasar salad, slice of ultimate pizza, water
d- shrimp alfredo pasta, 4 fried shrimp, 1 cheese biscuit (leftovers
from Red Lobster), water
no snacks today
no wine today

exercise was a short walk around the lake and back over to my sister's
new house, then home again.... probably 15 minutes

TTFN!

[Foxfiregrrl]

Today's check in:

I had a cup of hot tea last night w/ some sugar in it after I posted.

Today:
b- kashi, milk, coffee
l- Wendy's spicy chicken sandwich, fries, coke ( I was out of town for work - on the road)
d- beef stew, water
wine - on my first glass... will probably have three
snack - none so far, but might have something later
exercise - none unless you count sprinting almost a block in the pouring rain trying not to get soaked because I didn't bring an umbrella ;-)

Also of note: Dh and I are having a Halloween Party, so I'm keeping busy planning it. It should be fun. I'll update periodically on it.

[DisDee]

Hey Amber, I hear ya about the computer and TV addiction. I've been out of work for a month now and all those projects that I said I would do are still waiting. A laptop is great though and you should look into getting one. The prices have come way down! I used to keep it on the dining room table so I could see the kitchen TV, but now I've moved downstairs to the fam. room cause we just weren't using the space. We've also traveled with it a couple of times, which comes in handy.

Hope to see you post again soon! I was also among the missing for awhile, but I've been trying to post more often. Hope to "see" you soon!

[lindalinda]

Hey Amber! Hope everything is going well. I have been avoiding the dis a bit until after the election. I just wanted to stop in a say hey. Don't forget to vote, it looks like Ga may actually matter this year!

nite
linda

:hippie:

[Foxfiregrrl]

Hey! I'm sorry I've been gone so long. We had a Halloween party and the prep for it ended up taking up the last half of October! Then there was the week of recovery afterward :lmao: We had about 20 people total and had a real blast! We made lots of food and then had a whole table of booze! We made 3 mixed drinks and then had a selection of shots available. Everyone got pretty drunk and everyone had a good time. Also, my sister lives (kinda sorta) next door and she had a party the same night. So we all went over and visited her party also. It was a bit of a wild night! Here is the link to the pics on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/24941386@N06/sets/72157606404554862/
I truly hope it will become an annual tradition :cool1: Of course when the kids come along, it will be toned down and kid friendly I'm sure.

Well, I also had been off line a good bit leading up to the election. I voted Way early, because I wanted to ensure that my vote counted. I'm sure it is obvious, given my signature, that I am THRILLED that Obama won!!! :cool1: :banana: :cheer2: :cheer2: I'm so Super Pumped about the possibilities!! I think that Obama being President could really shake up Americans and change our country for the better! :goodvibes I'm hopeful and proud of our country for this election!

I haven't been doing very well on my food, exercise, or alcohol consumption lately. I'm just now starting to try to do better. I've been emailing with Amanda, who I met through the Biggest Loser Challenge earlier this year, to try to encourage myself to do better.

I just think a lot of things were working against me. I don't do well in the last quarter of the year anyway (historically) and I had allowed myself to wallow a bit regarding not being pregnant. I think I'm over that now and ready to try to get back on track so that when I do get pregnant I will be healthy!

In the meantime, I have allowed myself to top my highest weight! :scared1: :scared1: I think my highest recorded weight when I started W.I.S.H. was 210. In the last month I have stepped on the scale and seen 212 more than once. :sad2: :scared: The worst part is that it did not immediately prompt me to do better!

DH is somewhat on board now also though, which should help. He is trying to think about cooking healthy, yummy foods so that we aren't as tempted to eat out. Also, two weeks ago, he said that he will start getting up in the AM w/ me and exercising before work. We have yet to start, but the first week he was on call and we had ALL the prep work for the party. Then last week we were recovering from the party and I kept feeling like I was coming down with a cold (that never materialized). SO, this coming week I hope to get moving!

Today, I feel like I got some pretty good exercise in though. We went to "Christmas Made in the South" and walked around for 2+ hours looking at crafts. Then we went grocery shopping. We came home and DH's mom came over for a bit. We put away some of the Halloween decorations while she was here. Then when she left, Dh cooked while I went up and down the stairs and all around the house cleaning and putting away various Halloween items. Also, I flipped our bed today because my side was starting to become uncomfortable. So, needless to say, I'm a bit tuckered out tonight.

I promise to be more diligent in my posting from here on out!!! I need to post here because it helps me in my healthy journey!

Hope you guys are all doing well! I'll try to make the rounds soon.

[Foxfiregrrl]

Oh, Linda... Of course I voted. I was somewhat hopeful this year since they said that Georgia may possibly be a Blue state... But I knew it was too good to be true. I was proud that Bibb County (my county) voted for Obama!! :cool1: What matters most is that GA didn't matter too much after all, and Obama won!! WOOT!! :cheer2: :cheer2: :cheer2: :cheer2:


Also, I have to share a website that DH showed me tonight. If you like cats at all (or just think they are funny) and need a good laugh go to LOLCATS.com :rotfl: :rotfl2: I have not laughed so hard in a LONG time!!

[Foxfiregrrl]

Ok. I'm starting to get back on track again! :cool1:

Yesterday:
b- kashi, milk, coffee
l- cheese tortellini w/ veggies and sauce, grapes, chocolate and nut mix
s - rest of the nut mix, 3 peanut butter/chocolate balls (leftover from our party)
d- curry chicken breast, northern beans, spicy pumpkin w/ tomatos
s- few snack size chocolate bars (also left from Halloween)
Alcohol - 3 glasses of wine
Exercise - 25 minutes of Total Body Sculpt w/ Gilad :cheer2: I actually got up at 7am by myself and did it!

Today:
So far, DH & I got up at 7am and did 25 min. of Total Body Sculpt together before he had to go to work. :cheer2:
I've had my Kashi for breakfast and the coffee is making. :thumbsup2

I am off today. I am planning to goof off on my computer for a bit and then go out window shopping. There are Tons of small business shops around the area I live, but I NEVER go to them. So today I thought I would go shop at a few of them and see if I can get some Christmas present ideas.

Well, I'll try to check in later! Have a Fabulous day!!

[Foxfiregrrl]

I did not exercise on Wednesday because I knew that I was going to be out late for work. I was anticipating being home by 10pm at latest, but ended up not getting home until 11pm :scared: But we did get up this morning and exercise. My food has been ok today and was ok Tuesday. Yesterday was not too good because I was on the road all afternoon and I tend to snack and eat bad when on the road.

8 weeks ago my administrator challenged us to do a program called "Walk Georgia" and said that who ever logged the most time/mileage she would give $25 to. Well during that 8 weeks I didn't do too well because I basically just quit exercising all together for a good bit of it. Anyway, I ended up logging 43 miles.

Well, I ended up getting 3rd PLACE!! :confused3 :cheer2: :cool1: Mostly I'm Positive it is because people didn't report their mileage at the end. But I won a Pedometer because of it! :woohoo: I'm excited because I've been wanting a new one. I have bought them in the past and they have always broken. I've been hoping that maybe if someone else bought one it would work better than one I bought :confused3 not sure the logic, but hopefully this one will work!

Anyway, I was SO Shocked when she said I had won third place! I had previously been teasing that I should win by default because it was only me and my unit member (who I reminded and drug to the "ceremony") that actually showed up for the awards ceremony. :rotfl: Then I actually won something :upsidedow

It is also very funny and ironic that now the program/competition is over and I'm exercising more than I did when it was going on :lmao:

I've just got to keep this momentum!

[Foxfiregrrl]

Last week DH and I got up 3 mornings to exercise and this week so far we have done one morning. This week has been harder because I'm off work but he is not. I'm not the keenest on getting up at 7am when I don't have to ;) Tomorrow is Thanksgiving so I'm sure we won't exercise, even though we will need it after the feast.

Friday I plan to get up early and shop til I drop, so that will be enough exercise for me.

I wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow!

I'm gonna try not to be a stranger as much and post here more often. I think when we start the new year I will start a new journal and try to visit others more often. That is going to be my resolution :goodvibes

[Foxfiregrrl]

We had a very nice Thanksgiving. There were about 20 people at my grandma's house for dinner. We had tons of good food, too. We stayed there for about 5 hours talking and looking at the ads for Black Friday sales.

Friday I got up at 2:30am so that I could hit the sales. DH and I had decided that if we could find a decent sale on laptops we would get each other one (two total) for Christmas. We have both been wanting one for a long time. So my plan was to hit Kohl's at 4am and then head over to Office Depot by 5am to get in line for a laptop. They had nice ones for $349. Well, my mom and sister went with me. We did well at Kohl's getting a lot of good deals and doing it quickly. Then we made it to Office Depot about 4:45 and got in line. There were about 16 people in line already which made me worry. Sure enough when the lady came out with the tickets we missed getting one (much less two) by about 5 people. I was disappointed, but what can you do.

Mom, sis, and I went on to Walmart and then to Target. I was able to knock out a little over half of my shopping list and got some pretty good deals in the process. I still have almost all of the men on my list to buy for though, which is the hardest part to me. However, DH has said he will help with their gifts.

My sis had to work at 3pm and wanted a nap, so we dropped her off around 10am and then mom and I hit the mall. I bought myself a couple pair of jeans and a Beautiful santa. Mom bought her gift to me (which I picked out). I'm getting a 92 piece flatware set w/ 2 bonus hostess sets. It was a really good deal and I am currently using hand me down silverware that is very mismatched. I was excited to get the set because it was a doorbuster and I figured it would be gone by the time we got there. Anyway, we ended up shopping from 4 am til about 2pm with only about an hour break in between. I was very tired and ended up napping for about 3.5 hours and then going to bed early.

Saturday, Dh had a couple of friends over to hang out since his 30th birthday is Monday. He could not decide what he wanted to do for his birthday so we kept it pretty low key. We are both off tomorrow and plan to decorate for Christmas and then take it easy. I feel kind of bad because we did the big Disney trip for my birthday and really haven't done anything special for his. I just don't know what to do though.

Well, anyway, today we looked in the sale papers and saw that Best Buy had laptops for $399. We figured that was still a pretty good deal, so we ran over and picked up two! I was so excited to be able to get them after all. Dh said that he didn't want to wait until Christmas to use them, so he pulled them out and got everything set up this afternoon. I'm using mine currently :love: DH is sitting next to me using his :thumbsup2 We had planned to get the Christmas tree up today, but spent so much time messing with the laptops that we didn't get to it. That is ok though we can do it tomorrow.

Oh, we also stopped by Micheal's and got another Santa. It is smaller than the one I got on Friday, but they are both Really pretty. One is about a foot and a half tall and the other is about a foot. They are both the old world Santa style. I am excited to have them. I asked for Christmas decorations for Christmas, but am not sure that anyone will really get me any. We have a lot of room in this house to decorate, so the more the merrier!

Anyway, just wanted to update on my weekend. I'm off tomorrow, but plan to get back to my workout routine on Tuesday.

Have a great week!!

[Foxfiregrrl]

Well, I've been REALLY off track for the last month. I haven't really gained any weight lately, but I've already gained more than enough this year!! My scale broke and I had to get a new one. It says I'm hovering between 215 and 217 :eek: :eek: So that is officially my highest weight ever! I'm not pleased.

I am not back on track yet, but I'm working on a plan. I'm going to start on New Year's day. I will start a new journal then also. I'm really motivated to get healthy in 2009. I'll also be working toward getting a Wii Fit so that should help :thumbsup2

Well, see ya in 2009!!

[lindalinda]

You can do it Amber! We just need to focus! Have a fun new year, then get busy!:goodvibes

:hippie:

[Foxfiregrrl]

We got a Wii today!! :cool1: :cool1: :cool1: I stayed home from work today because I have 10 weeks of leave saved up and I just didn't want to go :rolleyes1

Anyway, Dh had been calling around all day yesterday and couldn't find one, but he called Walmart today and they said they had some. I went straight over there Right then and got one! They didn't have any spare controllers or the two games we wanted. So, I went to Gamestop and got the rest. We got an extra remote and nunchuck, Zelda (for DH), Rayman Raving Rabbids, and the Wii Play (it came w/ the remote basically). I set everything up and have played the Sports one a little bit. I feel bad for DH because he's stuck at work, so I'm going to wait to play anything else until he is home.

I was Terrible at the tennis and the baseball!! I did pretty good at the bowling. The boxing took a bit to get used to and I still have times when I can't quite get it. The golf I apparently don't quiet understand. I hate that even in the "training" section it doesn't really do any step by step instructions. Hmm... I haven't looked at the booklet though, that might help :thumbsup2

Anyway, I did the fitness test after messing around w/ it a bit. I actually was sweating a bit before it was over. It said my fitness age was 67 :eek: :rotfl: I did miss all but one of the baseballs though :rotfl2:

So, guess what I'll be doing ALL evening long!! And we got it in time for New Year's so all of our friends can play too! That should be fun!!

I'm going to start working up my "plan" for the new year and preparing to start my new journal on Jan 1. while it's not my turn on the wii ;)

[lindalinda]

pixiedust:HAPPY NEW YEAR AMBER!pixiedust:

Time to get moving!:yay: Hope you had a nice new years eve and didnt drink too much!

linda
:hippie: