Amy, Scott, Linda, Beth, Tracy, Stacie (and anyone I might have forgotten) - THANKS for checking in on me and for the good wishes. I hope you all enjoyed the holidays with your family and friends.
I didn't mean to disappear from the boards. It's just that life isn't being too kind to me right now. Yes, Beth and Linda, you were right - I had a nasty sinus infection. I was stubborn and didn't go to the doctor until I had already been sick for over two weeks, so I am just now beginning to feel better after a 10-day course of antibiotics. But at least I am feeling a little better. The big problem now is that the plumbing in my house has become possessed. Somewhere along the way, we have angered the plumbing gods and they have decided to be very ugly to us to begin 2008!
The fill line for our septic tank has gone bad, which means that every time it rains at all (and lately it has rained a lot - which is good for the drought but bad for us right now) our septic tank backs up and we have toilets that won't work, a shower that is clogged completely up and no ability to wash dishes or clothes. We are in the process of getting estimates and trying to figure out how to get this fixed, but because it happened over the holidays, it has been difficult to get people to come look at it. Larry had two people lined up to come out yesterday, and neither bothered to show up. The plumbers we have talked to over the phone say that this repair will cost several thousand dollars (it involves digging up our yard and replacing the line, which is apparently extremely complicated) and since we don't have several thousand dollars laying around to dole out, we feel a bit backed into a corner. There are very few plumbing companies who even do this kind of repair, and of those who do, most won't finance because of the state of the economy (or so they told us). So we are trying to get estimates from the couple of places that do offer some kind of financing, but so far we haven't been able to get them to actually come to our house. I am SUPER STRESSED about this, even though I know somehow we will work things out - we always do. It's just that we took on a lot of unexpected debt last year when I was going through the medical testing and procedures to determine that I had celiac disease, and now is not a good time to be adding more. But what can you do?
So, having whined far too much about that situation, let me just say that I was all hyped up to get started on my diet and exercise routine when the sinus infection hit me, and now this plumbing crap has popped up (no pun intended). I wasn't able to use my kitchen for three days this week, so we had to eat out and all my carefully planned meals and portion control went out the window. There were a couple of days there where I thought about just quitting - but I won't. If I quit, I still have the plumbing problem and the other things life throws at you, but I will be so sick and obese that I won't have the stamina to handle them.
So I have joined the Biggest Loser Challenge 4. I am going to change my weigh-in day on ediets to Tuesday (since that is the weigh-in day for BL Challenge) and start again. This weekend will entail grocery shopping (Saturday) and cooking for the week (Sunday) (please, Lord, don't let it rain) and then I will begin my exercise and training routine on Monday.
Larry called a little while ago and said that he had rescheduled the two folks from yesterday - one is coming out this afternoon at 5:15 and the other is coming out on Saturday morning. Keep your fingers crossed that (1) they actually show up, (2) they can fix the problem and (3) we can work out the payment so it is doable for us. Thanks!
I am going to do my best to get to everybody's journals today if I can. I was out sick yesterday (I have sick time again, yay!) - I was having some pretty bad dizzy spells, which I think may be my blood pressure going up a little bit from the stress of the plumbing issue, so I didn't want to drive. Anyway, today I have been pretty busy trying to catch up, but I will do my best to make time to catch up with all of you, too! I started riding the vanpool this morning and it went very well, so here's hoping my transportation issues will be resolved. (Did I mention we are having trouble with one of our cars needing several major repairs in a row, as well? Right now it is parked at the side of our driveway and I am driving our poor old workhorse of a mini-van, but at some point we are going to have to do something about our other car, too.) Anyway, please know that I have not forgotten any of you. It means SO MUCH to me that all of you are still taking the time to post on my journal and let me know you are thinking of me. I will not let these problems keep me from moving forward with this lifestyle change - thanks to all of you, I am more determined than ever!
Hope everybody has a great day!
Susan
I hope you are feeling better soon. You'll have to let us know if the fuzzy navels helped. 
How are you feeling? Anymore C25K???
