relaxing

this has been a great birthday weekend so far. i'm here at my sister's house in myrtle beach. i drove in yesterday evening. for my birthday dinner, we had low country boil that was very, very yummy. it had shrimp, crawfish, sausage, corn, and potatoes. nothing else....just that. and we topped it off later with a little tiny bit of ben and jerry's low fat ice cream and a wee little birthday cake.

the weather is beautiful although the pool isn't quite warm enough to get in and splash around yet. i wish the water was warm enough to swim and do some water aerobics. we're thinking about the hot tub later on. that will probably work too...lol.

earlier today suzy treated me to a manicure and pedicure. my toes are cute again...lol. i was in desparate need of a pedicure. sitting in the massage chair with my feet soaking in the hot bubbly water was pure bliss. i just felt any stress melt away.

i took pics of some of my knitting projects that i had finished. i just realized i haven't taken a pic of one that i need to get out of my car. i'm working on the squiggle shawl by shelley mackie from magknits (which sadly is no longer online). i cast-on a second one because the first one was huge. i had tried bigger needles than the ones recommended. i'm an ample-sized gal and it wraps around me several times. so instead of ripping it out (again), i'm casting on a second one and then i'll frog the other one later on. i'm still debating whether to use it as a window treatment in my room. i like the gauzy effect of it and want to do something different in my room anyway.

well i'm going to go now. i'm going to try and catch the end of the nationwide race....

vacation and spring cleaning

can someone explain to me how one person can hang on to so much junk? i'm on vacation this week and decided to do some spring cleaning. i must have had old files/letters/pay stubs from 1762. the bank i belong to has one of those super-duper shred trucks come by every quarter. i took a recycle bag full of stuff to shred. but, i'm not done. that's just a couple of boxes worth of stuff i've hung on to.

i went through my closet too and got donated some of my clothes that i haven't worn in quite a while. i had a footbath that someone had given me for christmas a few years back. donated that too...like i'm going to give myself pedicures....lol. i'm all about the pampering pedicure from a professional.

i feel much better getting rid of some of my stuff so far. i was reading in a feng shui book that i had bought goodness knows when. i found it when i was going through some of my stuff in my desk...oh, there it is...oops. but any way, it talked about getting rid of stuff that is holding you back. those couple of boxes of old files, etc., have been on my thoughts. i need the space for my increasing yarn stashage....lol. it was just a matter of time before that happened.

update on janelle: it's just a little over a month before janelle graduates!!! time flies...it's hard to believe my baby is going to college in the fall. she went for another scholarship interview this past tuesday. we drove up after she got out of school. she's got most of her costs covered so far. this one will just help even more. i'm proud of her and what she's accomplished this year. she has worked really hard and it's paying off. she has a good chance of getting a couple of local scholarships as well.

oh and guess what? she's going to cheer at north greenville. we found out last week. i'm so excited for her!!! she is going to cheer football, basketball, and be on the competitive cheer squad. she's been working on her tumbling skills and has almost picked back up where she was when she stopped competition cheerleading a few years ago. i have already looked into season tickets and reserved parking for the home games. i can probably make most of the in-state away games.

on the weight watchers front, i have lost 36 pounds. i was kind of gaining/losing 1-2 pounds back and forth and finally broke through. i haven't gone to water aerobics but one time in the last 3 weeks. there were some issues that came up so i didn't go. but i've still managed to lose weight. i told my ww leader i was puzzled by the fact that i've lost. i'm not unhappy about it...don't get me wrong. i just don't understand how i can lose when i haven't been exercising and truthfully, i haven't been eating quite right either. she said sometimes your body gets in a rut, even with doing the right thing. the slight detour i took has probably kick-started something so i could lose again. i told her i have been floundering wanting to get past the 35 pound mark. now i am, so i'm getting back on track. i'm not sure if i can lose the 50 by janelle's graduation, but i'm going to try.

well, i'm going to go now. i've got to pack b/c i'm going to my sister's house this weekend. she lives in myrtle beach and wanted me to come down for my birthday. i'll be 43 on april 25 at 8:30am officially. we're planning on hanging out by her pool and relaxing and visiting old times. i'm really looking forward to it. :)

something funny that happened at work

a couple of weeks ago, we had a mandatory meeting we all had to attend. basically, our managers were updating us with the ongoing projects, new hires, folks who left the company, etc. during this one exceptionally exciting segment of the presentation, i hear this sound:

pheeeewwww....pheeeeewwwww....pheeeeewwwww

i couldn't figure out if i was wheezing or not. i had been congested earlier in the day and had taken some otc sinus/allergy med. i held my breath and closed off the end of my nose. i still heard

pheeeewwww....pheeeeewwwww....pheeeeewwwww

my co-worker sitting next to me asked me if everything was ok. i started to laugh but had to bite my tongue. i wrote her a quick note that i would let her know after the meeting.

when we got back to our desks, she said i had to tell her why i was holding my nose. i almost couldn't tell her from laughing so hard. i told her i was hearing this sound during the meeting

pheeeewwww....pheeeeewwwww....pheeeeewwwww

she said she heard it too and it was a lady she used to work with who has breathing issues. i told her i was holding my nose to determine whether or not it was me. if it was then i would stop by the bathroom on the way back to my desk. she looked at me funny. she rolled on the floor laughing when i told her i thought i had a booger whistle.

have a good one!! :)

i've been busy, that's why...

i haven't blogged in a while. lots has been going on:

• janelle is getting ready to graduate in june. so there is lots going on with her. she has been to fbla state and placed 1st in her category. she is going to nationals for the 3rd year in a row. hopefully 3rd time is the charm! janelle has also gotten a couple of scholarships that will help towards costs. she is applying for more by the day. i think she has a good chance of having most, if not all, of her first year of college taken care of. that is a huge relief for the both of us. she was worried about not having enough money for school. i told her if all else fails, we can always apply for student loans. that's what they are there for.
• janelle is going to try out for a competitive cheerleading squad again. she found one up near where she is going to college. they have try outs this thursday. we're driving up so she can strut her stuff. she's been taking tumbling classes again and has basically gotten back to where she was a couple of years ago. she thought she'd give it a shot and see. she is trying out for the open squad which is 18+. i would love to see her compete again. she's so good at it. too bad the politics and money got in the way before!
• i have met my 10% weight loss goal for weight watchers! i met it on st. patty's day. it definitely gave me a renewed sense of self. i've worked hard and i'm very proud of what i've accomplished so far. i've set my next 10% goal and have been thinking about what my final goal will be. my weight watchers leader said i can set my final goal at any time. right now i'm taking it 10% at a time. those are not as overwhelming to me so i think it will work.
• i started going to water aerobics again, which i think i mentioned last time i blogged. if i didn't, i'm going...lol. i'm really enjoying the class. my goal is to attend 3 classes per week unless something prevents me from going. i've added little extras in when we are doing the routine. for example, when the rest of the class is doing stationary karate kicks, i'm doing the kickboxing kicks like we did when i took at the ymca. i'm trying to pick up my cardio and do more fat burning moves. i found a water aerobics book on clearance at barnes and noble this weekend. it has some good info to help me add to my workout. i'm going to buy lionel a copy too so he can have additional reference materials. he said tonight he's ready to change the routine again. the one we're doing is getting a little stale.
• work is crazy, but i'm learning stuff. i don't want to get bogged down in the negative aspect of part of my job. let's just say i'm persevering. what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger, right?

i'm going now. i hope everyone is doing well!! i'm going to try to catch up on blog-reading here soon.