frankie, skunk, and bev

chain is broken, but i'm back

2010-11-13T17:57:00.003-05:00

well i haven't blogged since wednesday so i have blogged every day. i'm catching up though. i'm excited to announce that i have lost 3 more pounds for a total of 7.2 pounds!!! i'm eating a lot of salads but that's ok. once i get more in tune with what i'm doing, i'll be more creative about my meals.

i got some things done today that i've been putting off for a long time. i finally went through some papers that i needed to decide whether to shred or keep. the shred stack definitely won. i switched my pocketbook over to the fall/winter vera bradley one. i've also cleaned up a little bit around my desk. i want to get it where i can rearrange my room soon. i'm shooting for thanksgiving weekend because i'll be off for 4 days.

more later on....gotta go eat dinner soon.

rough first day!

2010-11-10T21:16:00.002-05:00

today was the first day of my phc plan. i was not prepared at all. i was hungry a couple of times, but i stuck to the plan and didn't eat what i wasn't supposed to eat. i went to the grocery store after work and stocked up on stuff. i've got a game plan now...lol...which is a good thing. tomorrow i'm going out to lunch with a friend and already know what i'm ordering...a salad. plus i'm meeting the ladies at panera so i'm going to eat a salad before i go. i'll only have a coffee with skim milk when i get there. i'm going to take a fat-free pudding with me for dessert.

i've got to add the exercise in. i haven't been motivated to do so. i know it will help me lose the weight plus tone up.

i'm going now....kind of tired. i did find out my iron was still on the low side when i had my labwork reviewed. i'll have to make a trip back to dr v's to have the more extensive iron bloodwork done.

kisses!

a little overwhelming

2010-11-09T20:25:00.003-05:00

i went for orientation for phc weight loss. i do have to say that it is a little bit overwhelming at first. i was definitely not prepared food-wise. i have to go to the store tomorrow and get my food for the remainder of the work week. the weekend will be ok i think. i told mom that i will probably do my food on my own for a little bit to get oriented to planning ahead. lunch is pretty much taken care of with salads and various protein (chicken, shrimp, or turkey). i want to be creative with what i have so i don't become bored with it.

the one thing i'm curious about is the parsley tea. it's a natural diuretic and is supposed to help me flush out toxins. i've heard it takes getting used to, but you mix it up with tea or sugar free lemonade, etc. i'm supposed to have 4 eight ounce glasses of the parsley tea per day and 8 eight ounce glasses of water. whew! lots of fluid to intake there!!! i'll do fine though. i'm pumped about this program.

well, i'm keeping it short and sweet tonight. i'll follow up on my meal plans, etc. later on.

kisses!

tomorrow is going to be fun!

2010-11-08T19:28:00.002-05:00

i go for orientation tomorrow at phc weight loss. i'm really looking forward to it. i know it sounds silly to be so excited about losing weight, but i really feel this is going to be the ticket. i filled out all my paperwork and just have to meet with the counselor tomorrow. fun times will be had by all....lol.

one of the ladies at work who is on the program told me to eat everything i wanted tonight. she said everything else was going to be bland. i'm not looking at it in that light. i'm looking to be focused and work hard to finally lose the weight and get back in shape. i'll update tomorrow as to all the wonderful details!!

i'm going to go. i have some knitting i need to finish up.

kisses!

much better today

2010-11-07T17:48:00.004-05:00

i think i'm over whatever it was i had yesterday. i went to bed around 9 and slept most all night long. i woke up briefly probably around 3 or so, stumbled to the restroom and then back to bed.

i watched part of one of my favorite movies this morning...the professional. it is one of those weird, quirky, violent movies that i prefer to watch alone. mom and dad came home so i changed the channels. i didn't want them to ask me questions about it, etc. like i said, it's one i like to watch alone...can't explain why. i'm like that about kill bill, vols 1 & 2 and mad men. i like to have the quiet of the house to myself, the cats sleeping and control of the remote. especially when mad men is new for the season, i don't even attempt to watch it while they or janelle is home. i'm weird, i know.

believe it or not, i'm kind of excited to get back to work tomorrow. i know i will get the one recon finished because i finished up the hard part on friday afternoon. i'm going to work really hard to get all of them knocked out this week and work on the new one i got last month for the other companies. i'm proud of what i've accomplished this year. the one thing i need to really work hard on is keeping my emotions in check. i think the podcasts i'm listening to are helping with that. like i said the other day, i'm calmer at work and not being as aggravated about things that were bothering me before.

on tuesday i go meet with my weight loss counselor. i'm very excited about that. i'll get my meal plans, vitamins, and other materials to get started. i plan on going to the y at least 3 days this week, preferably 5. i know it will help me with my weight loss as well as get my knees back to feeling better.

well, i'm going now. got email, etc. to follow up on.

kisses!!!

Is it flu or just a little bit of side effects from the shot?

2010-11-06T17:28:00.003-04:00

I took a flu shot yesterday for the first time. Not feeling so great today...had a slight fever earlier. Hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow.

yay!! it's friday!!!!

2010-11-05T21:16:00.003-04:00

today went by pretty quick at work. i didn't get in 'til late because i had a dr appointment to follow up on my knee. i'm to go back in 6 months to see if things get any better. it's not hurting quite as much lately. dr h did advise that the more i exercise, the better it will be. that's in the plan starting next week. i go to phc weight loss for orientation and will add back the workout session at the y.

i had a flu shot for the first time ever. i felt a little weird, but for the most part i'm ok. i haven't really had a headache or got sick to my stomach like some have advised would happen. i have been sleepy and will probably go to bed in a few minutes.

one of the things i've noticed over the last few days is i have been a little calmer about things at work. i've been listening alternately each night to 2 sets of podcasts that i downloaded from i-tunes. they are both by a lady named stin. one is called meditation station and the other is my thought coach. i play them at bedtime and feel i'm "absorbing" some of the coping techniques within the podcasts. there is one called "work detox". i think that has been most helpful...lol.

i've also downloaded some on procrastination. i'm at the beginning of the podcasts which the professor began recording back in 2006. it's been pretty interesting so far.

well time to turn in. i'll see y'all tomorrow.

kisses!

almost the weekend

2010-11-04T21:10:00.002-04:00

today was a long day at work. i had to work late because of closing. i stayed very busy working on intercompany clearing. i also was able to finish the sept recon that has been dragging on. i had an epiphany at 4am this morning on how to resolve the out of balance. since i was in the recon mode on that particular account, i went ahead and started the october recon. i ran into a little bit of a snag at first, but know i will figure it out. i have devised a better tool for matching everything up.

i'm glad tomorrow is friday. i need to get some knitting finished up as well as work on my sketchbook for the sketchbook project. i was moving along on it and then kind of stalled. the theme i picked is "first thing in the morning...last thing at night". i have tons of ideas floating around, just not sure exactly how to execute them.

well, i'm headed to bed early again. another long day tomorrow. i'm looking forward to sleeping in saturday morning!!!

kisses!

day after election day

2010-11-03T21:03:00.002-04:00

i say it's good to be a republican! hopefully things will turn for the better again.

this evening i talked to my dear friend, joyce. she is a friend i made at work about 11 years ago. the funny thing is we have never met. she worked at one of our papers in florida and i'm here in the augusta area. we have tried to get together to hang out, but things never seemed to quite work out. either something came up for one or the other of us or didn't have the money to travel, etc. we have made plans to meet halfway between us which is savannah. the time is in february. i'm excited about it and will do everything in my power to make it happen. her hubby told her that if this didn't work out, he was going to drive her up here so we could hang out...lol. we have such a good time talking and carrying on. i know it would be even better hanging out in person.

my old boss called me today and asked me to meet her for lunch. she said she wanted to catch up with me. part of me is a little concerned though. i consider her a mentor. she has helped me out when i needed an objective and honest opinion. i wonder if i've done/said something i shouldn't have and she's going to help me. the other thing may be she's trying to feel out how things are going to be now that the last company is converting to the financial system. it's going to be a big change for a lot of folks. there's been rumblings already on both sides. communication is lacking big time. i'm really bothered by it because i know it could be better. i'm not allowed to be involved much and when i do give my opinion, i'm shut down or argued with. i hope she'll set me on the right path.

i'm going to go now. 3 days posting so far! i am going to try hard to keep it up. i forgot how much i enjoyed posting. i need to upload my artwork i've done lately to show off my artsy side...lol.

kisses!

Election day nothing on tv

2010-11-02T20:05:00.002-04:00

I voted today. Janelle did too. She came home from school because she forgot to get an absentee ballot. We hung out all of about 30-40 minutes. I was glad to see her but would have liked hanging out longer.

I will write more again tomorrow. I'm thinking about going to bed early tonight.

Kisses!

NaBloPoMo

2010-11-01T19:54:00.002-04:00

so here i am...trying again to start posting on my blog. i hope everyone has been doing well. i'm doing ok for the most part. so here's what i've been doing so far:

still trying to lose weight: joined phc weight loss and have my orientation next tuesday. i'm excited about it. the program seems very doable and they help people who need significant amounts of weight to lose. it's not a quick fix program and they monitor your medical stats too.
still trying to not worry about things i have no control over. this is very hard for me to do at times, especially at work. it has created some tense moments between me and some of my co-workers. mainly my being upset is when i'm asked my opinion or when i'm asked how something works and then they want to argue with me. if you don't want to know what i think or recommend, by all means, do not ask me. i've been doing pretty well for the last few days by putting my headphones on and listening to my ipod so i don't become upset with the half-truths or flat out lies being told.
still trying to get in an exercise routine: this goes along with the trying to lose weight. i was going every day either before work or after work and then just stopped. no good reason why i stopped, i just did. i have gone back intermittently but need to make it a habit.
janelle is still at ngu. she is going to graduate a semester early which she is very happy about that fact. she has been to peru, china and brazil. she is going to china again this next summer as a requirement with her schooling. i'll write more later about her adventures.

well, i'm going to go now. i'm going to work real hard on trying to blog again. it's a good outlet for me and i enjoyed it when i was blogging before. i have some art to share as well. kisses!

hey again my friends!

2010-07-25T19:57:00.001-04:00

i'm back...sorry i've been gone so long! i don't have a computer at home anymore so i'm borrowing others. i'll try to keep up as i can. in the meantime, i hope everyone has been doing well! i'll do a long update soon.

home at last

2008-12-08T23:39:00.002-05:00

janelle is home for christmas break!!! i wish i had the rest of the month off so we could hang out. i will be so ready to go on vacation by 5pm next friday.

tomorrow is mom's birthday. she and dad have the whole day planned out.....movie...late lunch at pf chang's. we're going to finish with cake and ice cream when i get home from work. dad has a surprise for her but i'm not telling what it is yet. i doubt she knows about this blog, but you never know and i don't want to spoil her day! she's going to like it, that i do know.

well, i'm going to go now. hope all is well with y'all!

hey to all my people! i'm still here

2008-12-04T22:27:00.002-05:00

boy, has it been a while since i've blogged. here's what is what:

i'm now working part time at kroger as a cashier. the budget took a little bit of a hit when i bought janelle's car. the p/t job helps ease the panicking that bills aren't going to be paid...lol. plus there is the added bonus that i'm really enjoying working there. i've had to adjust to being on my feet, but overall it's been good for me. i'm usually ready to go home at the end of my shift. my feet scream at me for relief. absorbine jr has become my best friend. i swab my feet down with it prior to going to work. the warming sensation makes my feet feel good as well as the arch supports in my shoes.

i have rung up groceries for some of my friends i haven't seen in years. tuesday i even got to ring up the groceries for my 12th grade english teacher, mrs. anderson. it was good seeing her and catching up. and age is treating one of my old crushes well. len f. came through a couple of weeks ago and i swear he is even hotter now than he was back then. that grin still makes me weak in the knees....lol.

janelle is finishing her first semester up on monday with her final exam. she will be home monday night!! i'm really looking forward to having her home. the good news is i'm off the last 2 weeks of this month and we're planning on hanging out. there is a tentative plan to go to suzy's the weekend before christmas to hang out and swap gifts.

we had a great thanksgiving with the whole family. brent and his family came down from ohio and spent a few days with us. the kids are really growing up fast. my nephew miles came up with a new name for janelle...shoo shaa. we have no idea what it means, but he looks at her, grins and says "shoo shaa". suzy entertained the kids in the back yard by helping build a fort under the deck. sounds like old times! they roasted marshmallows for s'mores and found out the kids don't like them burnt. brent has to work on that...our family has always liked burnt marshmallows. i know, we're weird like that.

i'm going to go now. i'm supposed to be going to bed early...lol. i'm looking forward to tomorrow b/c i'm get off work early, then have lunch with mom & dad, get my haircut and hopefully have time to take a nap before going to work at kroger.

oh and check out this website bakerella....a recent discovery with lots of cool ideas for cakes and cupcakes, etc. :)

court date

2008-09-02T23:55:00.003-04:00

janelle's court date went fine last thursday. fortunately she was the first one called. the judge read the charges and asked for recommendation from the patrolman who wrote the ticket. his suggestion was to reduce the points to 2 and cut the fine in half. the judge then asked janelle if she had the money to pay the fine. my sweet daughter's answer "i have my mom". the judge and the patrolmen had a nice chuckle from her answer....lol. i mean, it took me almost as long to type this up as it did for her to plead guilty to speeding. we were out of there and she was able to get back to school in plenty of time for cheerleading practice

janelle cheered at her first game at an away game against liberty university in virginia. i saw some of her pics and she is the cutest!! i can hardly wait to see her cheer this weekend at the first home game. ngu lost to liberty. :(

it was good seeing janelle even if it was only for a little while. we ate at tako sushi in aiken so we've officially eaten at all 3 tako sushi restaurants. and the guy who was the host was especially helpful. because we were running close on time, i called ahead and placed our order. he helped talk us through the directions to the restaurant and had everything waiting on us when we got there. one of janelle's friends from high school was our waitress. i'll definitely go back there again. but then like you have to twist my arm to eat sushi, right?! lol....

good night...sleep tight...don't let the bed bugs bite....

water aerobics in 60 degree water...brrrrr

2008-08-25T23:00:00.002-04:00

i went to water aerobics this evening after work. as i neared the pool, the instructor said the water is really cold tonight. i was like, ok, most of the time folks say it's cold, but it winds up being a little chilly at first but then warms up when we're doing our exercises. boy, they weren't kidding tonight. it was like ice cold!

the heater broke down some time last week...sometime after monday b/c i did go to that class and it was comfortable. as much as gina tried to keep us moving, we only lasted about 35 minutes. we finished out the hour in the hot tub warming up...lol. hopefully they will get the part in this week and have it fixed. the upside is gina said we were probably burning a little bit more calories trying to get our body temp up during class....lol.

and a little more bit of good news....i lost 2 pounds! i was pleasantly surprised b/c i figured i had gained back at least 5 pounds of the weight i lost with weight watchers. i haven't been very diligent about working out over the last few weeks and my eating hasn't been the greatest. i guess i haven't done quite as bad as i thought. as i was explaining to one of the ladies in the stitch group, i do think about my food choices more now instead of justifying a bacon double cheeseburger b/c of a bad day. i'm not saying i pick the grilled chicken sandwich, but i'm not eating the double what-ever-it-might-be.

janelle will be in town briefly on thursday. my sweet daughter got herself a ticket for a moving violation this summer. she was speeding on the interstate and got pulled over by the highway patrol. it was very traumatic for her (and for me thinking of the increase in insurance!). her court date is thursday so hopefully the ticket and the points deduction will be reduced. she didn't understand why she wasn't issued a warning for her 1st offense. well, i think it was because she was going a bit faster than he could let slide. i knew she would get one sooner or later...at least she didn't get one after she first got her license. it's still going to hurt when the insurance company picks it up....

there was excitement across the street when i came home tonight. an suv was flipped in the neighbor's yard. we live in the middle of a fairly sharp turn. there are signs warning drivers to slow to 20 mph, but there are those who think 45-50 is slow enough (even though the speed limit is 30). without knowing the specifics, our guess is the driver was coming a little too fast with the top-heavy vehicle and over it went. the police appeared to be administering a dui test. i never saw the female driver get placed into one of the patrol cars, but you never know. we'll get to read about it in our little local city paper. he was there taking pictures and notes on all the particulars.

i'm off to sleep now. i feel better b/c i talked to janelle. :) and we are having lunch before she has to go to court. what fun!!!

i suffer from ens*...and it sucks

2008-08-22T01:10:00.002-04:00

*empty nest syndrome - the blah feeling that a parent has when their only child goes off to college and doesn't need them on a daily basis.

it's been a week and 2 days since janelle has gone off to college. frankly, i'm having a little bit of a hard time with it. i didn't think i would be like this. in a way i was looking forward to her going off to college. i knew that it would be an exciting time for her...new friends, new experiences, etc. i was looking forward to having time to myself to do what i wanted to do with my knitting and crocheting and other "mom" things i like doing.

i've had several nights where i just can't settle down and go to sleep, like tonight for instance. wednesday morning i called in b/c i just couldn't make it in to work by 8. i didn't go to sleep until about 2am. also i had a bit of a sinus thing going on and woke up with a throbbing headache and stuffed right nasal passage. luckily my boss is an understanding person when i called to say i was taking more sinus med and sleeping it off.

i'm annoyed by my co-workers...one in particular. just the sound of her voice sometimes makes me mad. she's one of these whiney types who blah, blah, blah's about "what it all means" with this guy she is "seeing". wake up, dumb a$$...you're reading something into it when there is nothing there. you keep giving up the booty, he's going to keep coming around. he's a guy...come on!! (no offense to the guys out there...this guy is divorced, cute, and just sowing his oats)

i've got to snap out of this funk. i have managed to make it to 2 different stitch nights this week. there are some of us who are planning on meeting at books-a-million on sunday afternoon. donna, if you and donald and the daughter are free, come on over and join us. i'd like to catch up with how you've been.

well, i'm going to go now. i'm actually feeling a little sleepy. maybe getting some of that off my chest helped. thanks for listening to my whining!

3 days and counting...

2008-08-09T22:52:00.003-04:00

until janelle goes off to college!! this summer has flown by somehow. it just seems like yesterday that she was my sweet little girl going into 1st grade.

we bought her a new alarm clock for her dorm. she's going to test it out and see how it does. lately janelle has been having an issue with being really tired. dr v had bloodwork done and didn't find anything abnormal, which is good. however, janelle was still feeling tired. she went this past tuesday for another visit and he drew more blood. based on what she told him, he thinks she may have contracted mono. she said there were several kids who had it in school. one girl could barely get out of bed when she had it. we'll find out the results on tuesday. he told her to rest as much as she could. she's been hanging close to the house this past week.

tomorrow should prove to be interesting. we're going to go over how to do laundry again. i want to make sure she understands about separating whites, colors, etc. i know she knows it, but i don't want to get a call that all her underwear is pink from that one red sock...lol. i've been there done that before. i want to wash all her bedclothes and towels she's taking with her too. they are a little stiff with the sizing, etc.

oh, my dad is doing pretty good after his knee replacement surgery. he is having a lot of stiffness which is part of it. he was kind of down the first few days after getting home b/c he was running a low grade temp. i think he's just about over that now. he can only sleep on one side or on his back and i think it's causing his sinuses to be congested. he's like me in that he tosses from one side to the other when he sleeps. it's throwing him off that he is limited with how he sleeps. his physical therapist said he is progressing better than most people do. it's been just a little over a week since the surgery and he's getting around pretty decently.

well i'm going to go now. i'm not sure if i will be blogging on a more consistent basis once janelle gets to school. i've still got a couple of projects i want to finish up here soon before i start on my christmas knitting.

oh my...i forgot to tell one of the more exciting things that has happened. janelle has a new car....a 2008 honda civic sedan in nighthawk black pearl with gray interior. it is a sweet little ride. the guy who cuts mom's hair has wanted to buy janelle's cougar since suzy gave it to her. we were able to work it out and got her car last weekend and his granddaughter bought the cougar this week. now i feel a little better because she has a more dependable car to drive back and forth to school. there was nothing really wrong with the cougar. it just had a lot of highway miles on it and some repairs were looming in the future. plus janelle has really worked hard to have all of her school expenses covered so that leaves me some financial breathing room to be able to give her the car. i'm in good graces for a while....lol.

weekend update

2008-07-12T17:59:00.004-04:00

oh my...it's been a while since i've blogged! the main reason i haven't been blogging is i don't get on the computer much these days. i have ideas during the day to blog about, but never actually sit down and write them. they monitor our online usage at work so i try to keep it to a minimum with the surfing. hope everyone is doing well! i've got a lot of blog catching up to do!!

so here's the events of today:

today is my sister suzy's birthday. happy birthday, suzy-q!!! she's 42 today. i think all of us have called and sang her happy birthday. i wish i could be there with her celebrating. she and some friends are going out tonight if she is up to it. she told mom she wasn't feeling that well earlier. she's still working through the detoxing thing with the fibromyaligia (sp). she's supposed to be going to the specialist this month so that will probably help.

dad is having knee replacement at the end of this month. actually he's having it the day before his birthday. he has had problems with it locking down on him. the surgery is overdue for him. he probably should have gotten this done 5 or so years ago.
he has this old ford f-150 truck that he has hung onto for years. it's all rusted up and needs some minor work. he has kept it when he has stuff to haul off or he doesn't want to mess up his car. various people have stopped at the house from time to time offering to buy it. well, back to earlier, he was out trying to get it cranked up to move it back beside the house. it was sputtering and carrying on and finally cranked.

all of a sudden my mom said he was moving fast across the yard. he flung open the door and asked "where's the fire exstinguisher? my truck's on fire!" we jumped up and mom got the fire extinguisher and handed it to him. he headed back out with me following. i saw him toss the fire extinguisher and he yelled "get the hose!". before i could get there, he was dragging the hose across the yard. he hollered at me to call 911. as i was talking to the 911 operator, a policeman happened by. he asked dad if he wanted the fire department. thankfully at that point, he had gotten the fire out. he told me to cancel the 911 call. whew! the excitement!! what happened was the truck backfired and spewed gas back up in and caught fire. thankfully it didn't really do much damage. he said he thinks he ready to sell it now...lol. he said at least there are some salavageable parts and he can get a little bit of money from it. whew!! the excitement!!

janelle has 1 month and 1 day until she reports to college. she has to be there on august 13th to start cheerleading practice. we'll be moving most of her stuff in at that point. i'm excited and sad all at the same time. she's going to have such a good time at college and grow and learn and meet all kinds of neat folks. but i'm sad that she's going to be away. i know i'll cry when i leave there on friday evening. they have this thing called "the big hug". it's when the parents say good bye to their kids. fortunately i'll be going up for the football games from time to time to watch her cheer. she won't be able to come home very often, but i know she'll do well. she will be so busy that she won't have time to miss being home.

well, i'm going to go now. i'm not even going to say i'll try to write more soon...lol. who knows when i'll be here again.

hey...to all my peoples

2008-05-23T22:16:00.003-04:00

all 3 - 5 of you anyway who might have dropped by to read my blog. i haven't really been in a bloggin mood for a while. mainly because i have been in a little bit of a funk and didn't want to come off so whiny online. i'm bad enough in person. i'm even sick of hearing myself...lol.

really tho, it hasn't been that bad. i've just been struggling with 5 pounds i keep gaining/losing in various increments. weight watchers isn't clicking right now for me and neither is water aerobics. i think it's boredom with both. i've got to spice things up. i'm planning on joining a gym that's right down the street from work. i pass it every day on the way home. plus i was figuring with the price of gas going up this summer, it's more economical for me to go to that gym than to drive across town for water aerobics. i can still take water aerobics at this gym, plus i can swim laps or do some other type of work out in the process.

i switched meetings i attend at weight watchers from mondays to sundays. it seems to be working out much better this way. that group on monday had kind of a strange dynamic. i like the feedback from the folks who are attending the sunday one. frances switched over to the sunday meeting too.

my janelle is exactly 2 weeks away from graduating!! my goodness where does the time go? we've got to get the graduation announcements out this weekend. mom was kind of freaking out on me, but she'll just have to get over it. i promise...it will get done. janelle had senior awards day. happily she received several more scholarships which will help with her school expenses. i was very proud of her. she received a citizenship award that she didn't expect. she was surprised that she was one of the recipients and one of her friends who usually gets citizenship awards was not given it. janelle has done a huge amount of volunteer work this past year. again, i'm a proud mama because my little baby girl has grown into a beautiful young woman.

i have this spring-cleaning feeling that keeps rearing up and i feel i need to take advantage of it while i'm in the mood. plus i've been reading a new feng shui book that has really opened my eyes to getting rid of stuff i've hung onto for years. wish me luck.....

relaxing

2008-04-26T17:34:00.002-04:00

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

2008-04-24T19:06:00.003-04:00

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

2008-04-08T22:18:00.003-04:00

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...

2008-04-01T21:51:00.002-04:00

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.

catching up

2008-03-04T18:07:00.006-05:00

i decided to skip water aerobics tonight. my knee has been giving me a fit all day and i just felt like coming home. i'm a little aggravated by what i'm perceiving as a little bit of a setback. i don't know what i did that is making it hurt. i have an appointment with dr. b at the end of the month, but i might move it up if i keep hurting like i have been.

the thing is i do feel better for the most part after i go to water aerobics. i have some pain, but then these ol' muscles haven't had much activity in quite a while. i'm just going to have to get over the fact that i'm going to hurt when i walk. there's barely any cartilage left, so i have to deal with it. losing the weight will help tremendously thus i must continue on with the water aerobics...lol.

tomorrow is the last day of the weight watchers at work session. i'm hoping we will have enough folks sign up for round 2. they've dropped out like flies in this first session. i think we had about 10 of us who have attended consistently. i have only missed meetings because i had to miss them. i will definitely keep going whether it is with a group at work or with a group at the weight watchers center. and i've decided i'm going to continue with the online deal as well. i want to transition over to a paper journal eventually. i like the convenience of researching the food online as well as the other info you get from the website.

i had mentioned that janelle and i were going to columbia this past weekend. it wound up being a pretty productive trip. i scored some yarn at hobby lobby for the victory junction gang ravelry project i'm working on. i decided i wanted to crochet a granny square blanket. i'm using yarn bee luscious with the center being black raspberry followed by bubblegum, black walnut, and ice. the yarn is so soft and cuddly. i'll take some pics soon and post them.

i was tickled that janelle requested i make her an afghan for college. the colors she wants for her room are tourquoise/teal, white, and black. i found yarn bee airy which i think will work for her. i'm not sure if i'm going to make hers a granny square blanket or not. i'll have to swatch it and see.

after janelle's meeting we headed over to the build-a-bear store at the columbiana mall. south carolina's fbla chapters are donating bears to the shriners hospital in greenville for the kids there. of course my bear, elliott, was decked out with a nascar shirt and hat and blue jeans. guess who he was named after? :) janelle nixed the idea of me naming him elliott william barnes sadler, jr. she said elliott was just fine. her bear, michael, sported overalls and a cowboy hat. he was named after a friend of hers. so far janelle's school has collected about 10 bears.

well that's about it for now. i figure you don't really want to read my grumblings with certain things, so i'll take my sister's advice and try to let it all go.

i'm still here....

2008-02-29T23:46:00.002-05:00

i started back with water aerobics this week. man, did it feel good working out even though my knee hurt some afterwards. this week at weight watchers i lost the 4 pounds from last week, plus another pound (knew it was water retention!). so that makes 27 pounds lost so far. our last meeting with this cycle is this upcoming wednesday. i'm hoping to lose the 4 pounds to get to my 10% goal. we'll see. i'm keeping my fingers crossed and trying to stay on track.

tomorrow janelle will be in columbia again for an fbla meeting. you know what that means...i'll hit up hobby lobby for yarn shopping. :) they've got some of my favorite synthetic yarn on sale this week. i'm going to stock up for a project i joined. i'm in a ravelry group that's knitting and crocheting blocks for afghans for the victory junction gang camp.

i haven't been exactly on fire with knitting or crocheting the squares so far, but i've got some inspiration. i did manage to crochet 3 granny squares while i was watching some of the california race last sunday. the colors make me think of chocolate covered cherries (i'll post pics soon). i used some leftover red heart symphony yarn i had bought on clearance at one of the local wal-marts. the yarn is soft and fuzzy and i thought it would make a cuddly blanket to send in. janelle said she wanted me to make her one with the same colors. so i'm going to be on the hunt for some of the red heart symphony tomorrow.

janelle and i are bringing suzy home with us tomorrow too. she is going to see a specialist in marietta about her fibromyalgia. mom is taking her up sunday evening because her appointment is early monday morning. suzy has had a rough few months. she had to go to the hospital twice yesterday. at one point they thought she was having a seizure, but the er doc found that she was having a reaction to the combination of meds the 1st hospital gave her. i talked to her today and she sounded tired, but much better than last night when she talked to mom. i hope this specialist figures out how to help her. i couldn't imagine going through some of the stuff that she has gone through.

it really makes me thankful that i'm healthy with the exception of being overweight. i have finally reached that breaking point where i'm tired of being fat and want to get healthy again. i'm very lucky, as i've said, that i don't have high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, etc. many folks are very surprised that i don't have any of those problems. i just know once i lose another 20 or so pounds, i'm really going to kick things in high gear as far as my activity level. right now i still feel real clumsy with some things and am a little tentative to try. the one area i've suffered the most is my self esteem. but i'm working on it by continuing with the weight watchers and water aerobics. i'll get there...it didn't take overnight to put this weight on. so i know it will take a while to get it off. slow and steady wins the race, right?

glad it's almost over

2008-02-21T22:34:00.002-05:00

i'm not going to blog much tonight. and i know i haven't blogged much lately. i've been in a kind of whiney mood and i wanted to spare y'all. thanks to donna, beverly, and dani who sent me good thoughts!

to comment on yesterday's post: the weight gain this week is due to fluid retention. i didn't go over my weekly allowance. i had a bad day saturday and ate somethings i shouldn't have (chick fil a and wendy's). i've also been eating more weight watchers meals for my lunch b/c it's convenient. i know it's just too much sodium for my body to handle. when i've been successful with the weight loss, i've been eating salads or leftovers or sandwiches, not processed stuff. i can tell today that i've lost some b/c my ring isn't making indentations into my finger. the difference...i had a salad and a baked potato for lunch and mom's homemade chili for dinner. breakfast was 2 waffles (plain) and a medium banana. i also had an apple and a tangerine. and i made sure i drank extra water today.

i have also gotten off track with my journaling. anyone who is/has been in weight watchers knows they really stress about journaling. i can definitely tell a difference in how i'm handling my food choices over the last couple of weeks. i'm trying to get back on track. i've hit a small plateau and need to keep strong and not give in to old thoughts of failure. i've been successful with this so far and i know i can do it. :) giving myself the ol' pep talk!!

well, i'm going to go now. i've been trying to keep on the same schedule for bedtime. i'm planning catching up this weekend.

oh, and one very happy note: my elliott sadler finished 6th in the daytona 500!!! :) i hope this is the beginning of a beautiful season....

2008-02-20T13:26:00.001-05:00

Not a happy camper! Gained 4 pounds this week. :(

it finally caught up with me

2008-02-12T15:38:00.000-05:00

the yuck that's been going around, that is. i feel much better than i did this morning. i slept most of the day and am back among the living. everyone at work has had it. the guy i share cubicle space with has had it for a while now. he swears he's not contagious and that he does not come to work when he has a fever. the only way i would know if he's telling the truth or not is if i took his temperature.

yesterday sucked at work. one because i wasn't feeling well and two because i got in trouble about something i have no control over. part of my new responsibilities is user security access. the process is not a 5 minute deal like some folks have been led to believe. the request has to go through an approval process and through several groups for set up. i got my butt chewed on because one of the groups is slow at times to respond. in their defense, they do have a lot on their plate. but i do take offense when i get reprimanded about something out of my control. for a couple of users i sent 4 separate emails requesting that they be set up. i forwarded for the 5th time, a request to have the users set up. we'll see when i get back in the office tomorrow. i'll probably get fussed at about that as well. grrrrrr.......

well i'm going to go lay back down now. enough griping for one day...

ready for racin'

2008-02-08T22:34:00.000-05:00

tomorrow night is the bud shoot out in daytona. i think it's going to prove to be quite interesting. there was wrecking and beating and banging going on during practice. kurt busch and tony stewart were slamming into each other on the way to pit road.

we watched the last part of nascar live and then trackside tonight. i was hoping my elliott sadler was going to be on there, but he wasn't. :( i think that darrell waltrip is on their 1st half of the season while fox is broadcasting the races and then elliott will take over 2nd half.

i do have to say i was not happy to see dave despain as the host tonight of nascar live. i'm hoping that's just a "special" daytona thing with the shootout. i hope speed execs aren't switching things up like they did a couple of years ago. i like john roberts being the anchor of nascar live. i might have to send another email or two with my 2 cents...lol. i did that when they removed ralph shaheen from one of the nascar shows that he co-hosted with krista voda. she left to pursue another career path for a while. speed execs tried to replace them with the hip, young things and to my delight the show bombed. they sexed it up too much and it was a train wreck waiting to happen. i guess they were trying to attract a younger audience but it didn't work. i don't think the show lasted 4 weeks.

so hope everyone has a good weekend! i'm going to go to bed now. :) i'm such a light-weight...lol...who would have guessed i used to be a night owl?!

nothing better to rid yourself of stress...

2008-02-04T21:53:00.000-05:00

than a good water aerobics class. i went again tonight so i could start the week off with a bang. i feel pretty good actually...a little bit of soreness, but not too much. i was able to focus on the class and let the day's stress just drift away with each move.

lionel wasn't there tonight so mickey taught the class. she has definitely stepped up her game in leading the classes. there were only a couple of songs where i missed lionel's routine. there is one that is a spanish-sounding song where he gets us moving back and forth across the width of the pool, doing our frog jumps and tuck jumps, etc. he gets you just to the point of thinking you're not going to make it, but you do.

i'm sitting here listening to an album (afterhours 3 deluxe edition) i downloaded from itunes the other week. it starts off kind of slow then builds into grooving dance tunes. the song playing right now is your mind by richard dinsdale. definitely one to keep in mind when i start working on the elliptical machine in the (hopefully) near future. i really like it because it is 12 hours worth of music. i love long mixes like that. i can put my headphones on at work and really get into a project and tune out the rest of the world. unfortunately i provide end-user support on certain applications, so i'm interrupted often.

one little annoying complaint though...my boss has this bad habit of talking to me when i'm in the middle of a support call. it's like whatever she has to say is more important than the task i'm working on at the moment. she totally disrupted a call this afternoon and i had to get the user i was helping to hang on a minute while she told me what she wanted to tell. get this...it was something that she could have sent in an email fyi-ing me about the situation. i get so aggravated with that. but then she is the center of the universe (NOT!)....lol. enough venting...

janelle has been sick all weekend and went to see dr. v today. he gave her some cough medicine and antibiotic. she has a hard time swallowing pills so he gave her liquid meds. he kept picking on her about taking "little kid" medicine and how was she going to go off to college in the fall. she seems to be on the mend thankfully and plans to go back to school tomorrow. she has an appointment tomorrow to get her hall of fame portrait made. i think it is for the yearbook. i'm not sure what she is going to wear or take with her, but she said she had it all figured out.

well i hope everyone had a decent monday. i'm going to check on my email accounts and do a littel blog reading before bed.

now for the news you've been waiting for....

2008-02-01T21:57:00.000-05:00

i hope i didn't keep beverly and dani waiting too long for the good news. i meant to post this last night, but i went to bed early...lol.

my janelle was inducted into her high school's hall of fame on thursday! i am so proud of her! she was one of 10 seniors selected. there were 29 kids nominated by the senior class and the teachers voted on the top 10.

it was really hard keeping the secret. i didn't want to post it on my blog in case she went to look at it. the prinicipal called me at work on tuesday. he asked me to not tell janelle because they like the kids to be surprised when their names are called. i so wanted to tell her because she really, really wanted to be picked.

she sent me several texts during the day wednesday and even called me at work a couple of times to see if i had heard anything. of course i had to play along like i didn't. to keep up the charade, i called the house several times "checking" the voicemail to see if the school had called. when i got home after water aerobics (yay!), janelle had worked herself up into a frenzy almost about not being selected. i tried to console her and tell her it was an honor just to be nominated by her peers.

on thursday i had to get up and act like i was going to work (i had taken pto for the 1st part of the day). i packed my lunch and everything...lol. it was funny b/c janelle sent me another text right before we were supposed to report to the gym to be escorted to our seats. she still was in shock that she had not been chosen.

when we walked to the gym, she met us at the door. she had her weightlifting class at the time we were supposed to be meeting the other parents in the lobby. it was really great because all her classmates clapped and cheered for her because they knew she had been selected as one of the finalists. the ceremony was great and the other students really cheered for the kids who were selected. i was proud mama sitting there in the audience. janelle has worked hard during her 4 years in high school and i'm very happy that she was rewarded for her efforts. she's been on cloud 9 ever since...lol.

another good thing...i started back with water aerobics. my first day back was wednesday. and boy have i missed it! lionel, our instructor, asked me where had i been. i told him about the gall bladder and knee surgeries and how i was trying to lose the weight and get back in shape. i was sore after the class and hoped i had not overdone it. on thursday, i was fairly sore...nothing a little pain med couldn't help with ( i did break down and take one percocet which put me back on track). i went again thursday evening and am not as sore today as i thought. i had a great workout and was able to keep pace for the most part with the rest of the class. i'm back, baby! watch out cause i'm going to be burning up those calories now and toning up this flabby bod. :)

i'm planning on getting some knitting done (what else is new, huh?). i want to make my penpal's new baby something, but can't decide yet what i want to make. i think i'm going to visit mrs. barbara to get her suggestions on something to make. they live in the netherlands and i think it's pretty cold there right now. i'm leaning towards a soft warm baby blanket. any suggestions?

hope y'all have a good weekend!

i have some news...

2008-01-29T19:15:00.000-05:00

but i can't tell it yet. it's something really, really good, too. tee hee hee...

i'm in a pretty good mood right now. i just found out a little while ago that the chair lift is fixed at the pool at the aquatic center. this means water aerobics!! it also (hopefully) means more weight loss and getting strong again. i was giggling after i got off the phone with the guy who teaches the water aerobics classes. i almost have my bag packed for tomorrow's class. :)

tomorrow is also weight watchers wednesday. i'm hoping to have lost at least a pound. i feel like i've lost some, but it's hard to tell. my pants are definitely getting bigger. my underwear is even getting a little baggy. that's ok though. it means smaller sizes...yay!

it's time to go....they are hollering at me to come to eat dinner.

happy birthday to janelle!

2008-01-25T20:48:00.000-05:00

so janelle is now officially 18! oh my...does that make me old? lol...i had several folks at work ask me if i felt old. i really don't. i just wonder where the time has gone.

janelle and i got up a little earlier and had a birthday breakfast at a local diner. she cracked me up while we were waiting on the place to open. she said several of her friends had asked her what was the first thing she was going to do now that she was 18. tattoo...lottery tickets...etc. she told them she was thinking about either buying a shotgun or getting sleeves (full arm tats in case you didn't know...like i didn't know). now of course she was joking. she tried to say she didn't have a curfew. yeah right...it's still 12 on the weekends. but i had to give her credit for trying.

we saw a couple of teachers from her elementary school. one of the teachers said she keeps track of what janelle is up to and commented on seeing articles about her in the local paper. it was good seeing them and catching up.

janelle has been involved in a lot of community work this year. one of the big projects she has been working on is teaching younger kids about online safety. at one elementary school she found out that about 1/2 of the kids in 5th grade had a myspace account. she explained to them that they were not old enough to have a myspace account. she has also been educating parents on internet safety.

earlier this evening mom, dad, and i sang happy birthday to janelle and had her blow out candles on her cake. i wanted her to have a cake on her birthday. mom found a small chocolate cheesecake for us to have. we're going to have it tomorrow after we get back from carrabbas. she also got her gifts (mostly money). mom gave her a scratch-off lottery card. she said now she can legally play the lottery if she wants to. she is out now with friends celebrating. they went to one of the pizza parlors here and will probably wind up at the movies.

i'm glad it's the weekend. i'm wiped out. i'm trying not to get sick. my sister isn't able to visit this weekend. she is at home sick. mom told her to stay at home b/c we don't want to take a chance of getting whatever she's got. plus suzy doesn't need to be driving if she's not feeling well. she has had a tough time recovering from colds and sinus stuff. one of her co-workers comes to work sick and infects everyone who comes in contact with them. suzy has asked her to not come in when she's infectious, but she does anyway. and this lady is a manager so suzy has no authority to demand she stay home. it's just inconsiderate if you ask me. i had a co-worker that was like that. we finally got through to her to not come to work with a fever, etc.

i've got some blog reading to catch up. one thing i did read yesterday was beverly's post on hot brazilian's miracle tea. i'm going to try some of that myself this weekend and see if i can kick this sinus thing i've had going on for a couple of weeks. she said it has really helped her out because she is prone to upper respiratory infections and sinus stuff. it's worth a try to me if it will kill off whatever may be lurking in my body.

officially at 3:08 am january 25, 2008

2008-01-24T21:25:00.000-05:00

my janelle will be 18 years old!! oh my where have the years gone?! about this time i was in the hospital in labor, having a major bout of heart burn and feeling the contractions in a big way...lol. i was scared to have an epidural so i had the demerol drip. it helped some with the pain, but not completely.

janelle and i are getting up a little earlier tomorrow morning to have breakfast together before school and work. we used to eat out for breakfast on fridays when i would take her to school. now that she drives herself to school, we don't have much of an opportunity to do that. and i want to start the day off with just the 2 of us hanging out.

my sister suzy is going to be here tomorrow and spend the weekend with us celebrating. we're going to carrabba's to eat instead of the usual yearly visit to the japanese place. mom is going to pick up a fancy chocolate cake from earth fare. that's going to be my one indulgence...celebrating janelle's birthday. i'm going to be careful about my food choices earlier in the day so i can enjoy the celebration. plus i have the flex points to use for special occassions like this.

oh, on the weight watchers front...lost 2.6 more pounds for a total of 23. :)

life is good.

for some strange reason

2008-01-20T10:52:00.001-05:00

blogger is messing with my blog. the header section and the other stuff that was in the side bar are now in the footer section. i have no clue why. it's aggravating b/c i tried to fix it and i can't. so i've lost some of the stuff i had on there. grrrrrr........

day off

2008-01-17T17:15:00.000-05:00

yesterday i talked about how excited i was about my brother calling me from daytona super speedway during nascar testing. i had to laugh at knit 'n nascar because she nearly go chills just reading about me hearing the roar of the motor. lol...i gotta love her b/c she sounds like a true fan.

she did pose the question of whether elliott would be clean-shaven or scruffy. i know he was growing his beard for hunting season towards the end of the 2007 nascar schedule. here's some fan pics on the sadler fan club site. there's some scruffy and clean-shaven pics of him. he's a cutie pie any way you look at it....lol. the lucky girl in the picture with elliott and blake shelton is a friend of mine here locally. she has this knack for being in the right place at the right time to see elliott. she said she always looks for him at blake shelton concerts because they are such good friends. elliott has been in a couple of blake's videos too.

i went to see dr. b today. he said my knee was continuing to improve. he still encouraged me to hurry up and get on a exercise routine. i told him about the chair lift at the aquatic center and he said i needed to pester them...lol. he was happy to hear i had lost 20 pounds so far. he said to keep up the good work. :)

after i left his office i went over to borders to check out the latest knitting magazines and look at some of the knitting books. it was nice and relaxing. i have missed going to the bookstore and hanging out. i need to do that more often. for some reason i feel refreshed and inspired afterwards.

i'm doing good today on my ww points. i avoided the pitfall of the goodies at borders cafe. i almost got the apple dumpling to eat just half of it and take the rest home. the lady who waited on me pulled out the nutritional guide to give me the breakdown of calories, fat, and fiber. when i saw 21 g of fat, i said no way. i opted for a biscotti and a sugar free vanilla latte with fat free milk. when i calculated the points on the ww website, i came up with 4 points for the snack. i did pretty good if i do say so myself. i didn't plan properly and bring snacks, but i did manage to avoid a sabotage. i've got enough points left for a good dinner and a nice snack this evening.

i'm a little sleepy right now due to having to take some allery/sinus pills. i was sneezing and congested earlier today and needed some relief. i think i'm going to take a little 30 minute nap to recharge some. i want to try and get more done on dad's wwi balaclava. after a nice nap, i'll be ready to go. :)

better today...even better tomorrow

2008-01-16T18:09:00.000-05:00

donna commented that she hopes i'm not coming down with something like she did. i feel much better today. i didn't wind up going to bed early, but i did have a restful evening watching biggest loser with janelle. i slept all right although not as long as i would have liked to. but that's ok because i am off work tomorrow.

i have a follow up with dr. b about my knee and how it's progressing. i think it's coming along fine. not as much pain as i was having and i'm not using the cane. i feel like it's getting stronger as time moves along. i called about the chair lift at the aquatic center. the part still hasn't come in. i've got to figure something out so i can get to working out and get stronger. our hr rep at work said i could get my doctor to write a letter for me to join a health club and pay for it with my flex spending money. i'm going to have to check on the website and get the particulars. i'm sure dr. v or dr. b are more than willing to continue to encourage this weight loss and me getting healthier.

weight watchers update: i lost 2 more pounds, putting the grand total so far at 20.6 pounds lost. :) i'm a happy camper. one of my co-workers who isn't in weight watchers said she had heard i had lost the most so far. i don't know if that's true b/c some of the others have been doing pretty well. this one lady, pam, has lost 15-point-something so far. frances has lost almost 12 pounds and is close to her personal goal. i think she has another .8 to lose to be at her 10% goal for this session. considering that she hasn't been able to work out like she wanted to, she's done really well with those last few pounds.

on the nascar front, my brother called me from daytona this afternoon. he had to go to florida for business and just happened to get to go to the daytona super speedway. he was able to catch the last little bit of practice. michael waltrip was testing on the track while we talked. it was really cool to hear the car as it drove by my brother. one time it was really loud and he joked about michael running over his toe. i guess michael's car was close to the fence. i know i'm a goober b/c the hairs on my arms were standing up when i heard the roar of the motor as it went by. that's ok...only 5 weeks to the daytona 500!!!

i'm gonna run now. i want to do some knitting before dinner time.

tired

2008-01-15T18:12:00.000-05:00

i don't know why, but i'm really tired today. i hope i'm not coming down with anything. the weather has been cooler over the last few days and folks are coughing and sneezing. i've been washing my hands a lot and trying not to touch common surfaces too much.

it's been kind of rough couple of days at work. lots to follow up on, lots to catch up on, and lots to be informed about. i'm sitting off from my group so they tend to not tell me stuff until a few days later. with me not feeling good, i pitched a fit about that. i asked when was i going to be moved to my permanent spot. who knows....i guess i'll continue to be the red-head stepchild for a while.

i've got to go fix dinner. and then i think i might go to bed early and get a good night's sleep. that will probably give me a better outlook for tomorrow.

knitting fiend

2008-01-13T21:04:00.000-05:00

as soon as i'm finished binding off the lace capelet from rainy day goods, i'm casting on a wwi balaclava for my dad (helmet b). so it's hard to type and try to knit...lol.

hope everyone has had a good weekend!

it's saturday

2008-01-12T19:42:00.000-05:00

not much to report here...it's been a kind of slow saturday for the most part. some family drama this morning that i'd not like to discuss. mainly because it's all settled and done.

i went to hobby lobby. i was disappointed mainly because their yarn sale wasn't that great. i did manage to get the yarn for the project i'm making my dad. they had the lion brand wool on sale so i picked up what i needed. i also picked up some more needle protectors, markers and a new counter. the counter is one that you click as you finish a row. i've got one that you turn but sometimes it can be aggravating.

i made an error in judgement with my lunch choice today. i got a grilled chicken wrap from sonic, but forgot to ask for it with no ranch dressing. guess how many points that is? with...13! without ranch....8. janelle told me to make note of it and move on. i'm disappointed that i didn't pay attention a little better. i just calculated my points for the day. i went over which i figured. the amount over is the difference between the wrap with and without ranch dressing. i just have to be careful about my choices and think things through.

i'm going to go now. a movie is coming on i want to watch.

let's hear it for the weekend!

2008-01-11T22:16:00.000-05:00

i am so glad it's friday!! it has been a long, long week. there's been a lot going on at work...closing...month end, year end, finalizing budgets, etc. i'm glad to be able to sleep in a little later tomorrow.

i just got off the phone with my boss. she is on her way home. her week has been very hectic. this was the 1st month end in her new role and a lot happened. i told her there was one day that i wanted to get up and hug her when she walked by my desk. i told her that she looked completely wiped out and to the point of tears. she said she knew exactly when i was talking about and she said she had to pull it together. she's not normally emotional like that. all in all i think she's done really well considering the amount of pressure on her this week. i'm going to try and find some of her favorite chocolates this weekend and make her a little goody bag. i think she'd like that a lot.

i'm planning a trip over to hobby lobby tomorrow. i've still got the giftcard burning a hole in my pocket. last week they didn't have much yarn on sale as i would have liked so i waited. i'm hoping to stock up on some more yarn. lol...that's what we all need...more yarn!!!

i've got to catch up on my emails and blog-reading. have a great weekend! do something fun!!!

2008-01-10T22:07:00.001-05:00

One more day til the weekend! I'll catch up tomorrow...
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2008-01-09T20:56:00.001-05:00

It's hump day and that's all i'm gonna say about that.

on the eve of weight watchers wednesday

2008-01-08T21:02:00.000-05:00

a friend of mine who is in my weight watchers group shared this website with me. there's tons of good information on dottie's website and helpful hints with following the ww program. i have subscribed to the newsletter and get even more inspiring information delivered to my inbox.

here's the link to the restaurant guide. oh my goodness...were my eyes opened wide as well as my daughter's eyes. i looked back at some of the things i used to eat and it's a wonder i don't weigh even more than when i started the program.

i have seriously dipped into my 35 extra points for the week. thankfully the points reset tomorrow for the new week. i'm going to work very hard and try not to go over if i can help it. i haven't had really any activity to speak of. the chair lift is still broken at the aquatic center, so no water aerobics.

i found out that a gym membership can be covered under my flex spending account if i get my doctor to write a subscription or recommendation. i've got to call and find out exactly what is needed. i'm hoping a letter from him will suffice. even if flex doesn't cover it, the cost is only $50 a year for residents inside the city limits. you get access to an indoor track, various workout machines (treadmill, elliptical machines, stairsteppers, recumbent and stationary bicycles), rowing machines, and weight machines. it's not a bad deal even if you live outside the city limits b/c it's only $100 a year. so...what am i waiting for, right? got to get myself in gear!!

i am trying very hard to have a good attitude at work. it's been hectic and i'm learning new things and of course making mistakes b/c i don't knwo what i'm doing in some instances. it's getting a little easier for the most part. i'm not sure how my boss is handling it though. i feel for her even though i get aggravated when she is short with us. she's got a lot on her so i'm not to let things bother me. a couple of the others have made comments to me and i'm trying to lend an ear. until we all get used to each other's ways and personalities, it's going to be kind of strange. they will learn to tell when she's in a bad mood...lol. she conditioned us all in the old department!

i'm tired. janelle has convinced me that we need to get up earlier so she can straighten her hair with her new straightening iron. we are now getting up between 4:30 - 4:45. she has to be at school before 7:15 and needs time to sit and stare, shower, eat breakfast, get dressed, and get beautiful...lol.

i didn't realize that sometimes when i go wake her up, that she's really not awake when she answers me. she told me to ask her if she knows it's time to get up. she was slow going this morning. i had to go in 3-4 times until she finally got up. she's like me....not really a morning person. we don't really talk much...just do our thing and then we wake up fully and get on with our day.

well i'm going now. 4:30 gets here quick.

Imagine

2008-01-07T17:28:00.001-05:00

Imagine

The guy sitting next to me has said the word “Imagine” about 50 times in the last 5 minutes. Is it Monday or what?!!!

do you ever have one of those days?

2008-01-06T18:38:00.000-05:00

you know the ones...where everything gets under your skin? well, i'm having one of those days today. i don't know why. i just seem aggravated by everything. i'm having some cravings, but don't want to act on them. i don't want to sabotage my progress so far. i know i'm in a funk and i don't want to give in to it. i'm sure it's the dreaded p-m-s kicking in b/c all the normal signs/symptoms have been rearing their ugly heads. by tomorrow i will probably be crying about something trivial...lol.

some of what has aggravated me is my parents both getting on to me about an "exercise routine". they know more than dr. b i suppose. i can't help it the chair lift is broken at the aquatic center and that i'm not strong enough to lift myself out of the pool at this point. dr. b said he didn't want me to do any jarring type of exercise. he said to stick to water aerobics, swimming, or a stationary bike. i need to go renew my membership at the rec dept and do the bike in the meantime.

my dad kept on and on about how i needed to get out and walk the neighborhood. when i tried to explain to him, i get all this b-s from him about what he did when he had his knee surgery back in the day. with me being in this mood, i just didn't want to hear it.

sorry for being so grumpy in this post. i had to get it off my chest.

so here's day 1...

2008-01-05T20:19:00.000-05:00

of trying to see how many days i can blog in a row. one of the things that i have tried to do since i joined nablopomo back in november was to continue with daily postings. well, i missed yesterday. :( i think i posted 61 days straight which is better than i've done in the past.

there were several times at work yesterday that i thought about moble blogging, but was too busy to really concentrate on it. and last night when i was working on my ripple crochet blanket, i thought about sending a post from my cell. and then at 2am this morning when i was watching platoon (and crocheting still), i realized i had not posted. such is life...i'll survive.

i took janelle to get her hair cut today. well actually she just needed about an inch cut to get rid of dead ends. she had john dry it straight and i can't believe how long it's gotten. she talked me into helping her buy a ceramic straigthener so she could straighten it sometimes.

after we left john's we went to earth fare to get some lunch. i got sushi because i've been wanting some lately. the sushi chef was making up some fresh platters when we got there. i got the sunkist platter which had salmon, shrimp, tuna, and avocado and some type of fish that was real tasty. janelle got one of their small pizzas. it looked good but she said it was kind of greasy. we also shared a key lime pie from the bakery section. i had a couple of bites of it which surprisingly satisfied me. i debated on a cup of coffee, but passed. i'm definitely changing the way i think about my eating. yay! finally!!

obviously we weren't the only ones who wanted lunch while we were there. the cafe area was almost filled to capacity and some guys were setting up some more chairs and tables in the overflow area. there is so much variety with the foods that it is overwhelming. and they have samples all over the store. mom said you could snack your way into a meal there while grocery shopping. of course that is something i would have to be careful about b/c of the points. i'll have to ask our ww leader how to count those types of things in case i do want to try something.

i'm going to go now. i have to catch up on some emails and blog reading.

kisses...

crochet goodness

2008-01-03T21:07:00.000-05:00

this evening i've been checking out 2 of my favorite crochet-alongs:

when i was a kid, my mom taught me how to crochet. for some reason i caught on fairly quickly with crochet. on and off throughout the years, i've crocheted various things like baby blankets and scarves. last year i made a granny square lap afghan for my mom (while watching kill bill vols. 1 & 2....lol). i also crocheted 2 cute amigurimi cats - squeaker and sherbeena and have a ripple crochet blanket in progress. you can check them all out via my webshots album. (i'm having issues with blogger uploading some of my images.)

i think i might pick up the ripple crochet blanket and try to finish it during our cold snap we're having. it's about 30 inches long so it would hang nicely over my lap and keep me warm while i'm being productive. who knows i might have a cat or two supervise the progress?

oh and guess what i discovered today at work? we have access to this awesome breakroom that has couches and comfy chairs. the room is brightly lit with floor-to-ceiling windows. there's also a tv and cafe-style tables. some of the ladies were watching soaps while they ate their lunch and visited with each other. i felt refreshed and ready to jump back into work after my lunch hour. if i time it right, i could take my lunch and watch qualifying when nascar season is back in full swing. i tell you, this move to the new group keeps getting better and better...lol.

i'm going to go look at some more ripples and granny squares. have a good one!

kisses...

new year starting off with a bang!

2008-01-02T23:46:00.000-05:00

and yes i'm going to talk about my 4.6 lbs that i lost during the christmas and new year holiday week!!! i was so excited when our ww leader told me how much i had lost.

i don't know how to say this, so i'll just say it. i'm a big girl and i'm not talking tall. i'm only 5 foot 2 inches tall. i was eating my way to getting as wide as i am tall. fortunately we started the weight watchers group at work at just the right time for me. when we began, i was thinking how hard it was going to be to follow the plan during thanksgiving, christmas, and new year's. i love my holiday eating. surprisingly it hasn't been as hard as i thought for me to do what i need to do. i'm more focused now and don't want to jeopardize what i've accomplished so far.

now don't get me wrong...i have made some choices here over the last few days that i haven't been particulary proud of. um, like the dipped cone from dairy queen on sunday and i had a chick fil a ice cream cone one day last week. looking back i see i was craving ice cream. i need to plan on giving myself ice cream from time to time. i love my ice cream and would eat it every day if i could. if i plan ahead and choose when i'm going to have it, then i don't take the chance of backsliding into old eating habits. i've got to do some investigative work to see who has the best ice cream that won't take a whole day's points.

i can only imagine how increasing my activity level ( water aerobics!!) is going to help me reach my 10 percent goal for this first session. i was looking through some of the ww literature on exercising. a person of my size can earn a couple of activity points on a 30 minute wal-mart shopping excursion. that is about as close to "working out" as i'm getting right now so i'll take it.

i feel like 2008 is going to be a banner year for me. it's taken a while, but i think i'm back on track. and i feel really, really good about it!

kisses...

2008-01-02T21:25:00.001-05:00

WW update: 4.6 more lbs lost; 17 lbs total!

happy new year!

2008-01-01T18:35:00.000-05:00

hope everyone is having a good 1st day of 2008. i've been knitting and watching bowl games with dad pretty much all day. we started watching about 11 am this morning.

i fixing to go eat black-eyed peas and collards. hopefully we'll have some cornbread too. :)

kisses....

new year's eve

2007-12-31T18:27:00.000-05:00

i'd like to reflect back on this year, but now is not a good time for me b/c i'm in a bad mood. it's going to take an act of congress to replace the burnt-out headlight on my car. not really....the way it looks is the whole freakin' bumper needs to be removed just to get to the headlight casing. so it looks like i'm going to see richard to get it fixed. no telling how much it's going to cost.

i'm going to sit here and knit the evening away while i hang out with my family.

now i just found out that the text messaging isn't working on our cell phones!

it can only get better, right?

kisses....

under the weather

2007-12-30T21:32:00.000-05:00

just wanted to say "hey!"...i'm heading to bed b/c i've been battling sinus/allergy stuff all day today. i wish the weather would decide if it's going to be warm or cold. this back and forth stuff is wreaking havoc on my sinuses. plus i've got to work tomorrow and i hope it's not going to be cold! enough whining...i'm off to bed.

kisses...

rainy saturday - good day for knitting and movies

2007-12-29T22:12:00.000-05:00

that's basically what i've been doing today....watching movies and knitting. i finished the basic wristwarmers from whatifknits. i'll take/post pics soon. i almost had a disaster with the 2nd one though. i had unknowingly dropped a stitch towards the end, but was able to save it. i think i know when i dropped it b/c my count seemed off at one point. i wish i had bought more of the moda dea cheerio yarn i used. it's so soft. i'm going to keep an eye on hobby lobby's sales and maybe i can pick up some more to make a scarf.

last night i finished calorimetry for mom. i made it out of king cole big value double knit yarn shade 154. i can't find the exact color on the website, but it's black with specks of color throughout. it's pretty soft for an acrylic. mom is allergic to wool so she asked that i make it out of acrylic or some other synthetic. i'm going to make her another calorimetry out of bernat super stripes in black and teal blue. the 2nd one will be a little thicker and she mentioned several times that she liked the bernat yarn.

i'm going to go now. got to catch up on some of my blog-reading and see what's new on ravelry.

kisses...

glad it's the weekend

2007-12-28T22:55:00.000-05:00

why does it seem like this has been a long week even though i was off work tuesday for christmas? short weeks seem the longest sometimes. and next week will be the same way. it's been kind of slow at work b/c a lot of folks took off the last 2 weeks. next thursday is probably going to be buzzing in the office. kids go back to school so parents will go back to work.

i had a better day pain-wise. fortunately it wasn't as cold in my area as it has been. i don't know if the maintenance guys did something with the controls or what, but there wasn't the wind tunnel effect today. it helps to be nice to the maintenance guys so they will take care of you! :)

i'm posting a short one tonight. i want to get some knitting in before bed. i cast on for the 2nd basic wristwarmer from whatifknits. i want to finish it up tomorrow so i can wear them. i'm also wanting to get a good night's sleep and maybe head over to hobby lobby to use my giftcard i got for christmas. have a good one...

kisses...

Towels & Microwaves - not a good combo

2007-12-27T10:57:00.001-05:00

Towels & Microwaves - not a good combo

How about I caused our building to smell like burnt marshmallows this morning? It’s real cold in my area and I was trying to figure out a way to warm up. I’ve already had a cup of coffee, I’m wearing a sweatshirt and a sweater, and I have a blanket covering my legs. And I’m still cold. So I decided to warm up this kitchen towel in the microwave to wrap around my knee and hopefully relieve some of the coldness.

Long story short, I opened the microwave door and smoke started billowing out. I snatched it out of the microwave and immediately threw it in the sink running water on it. One of my co-workers was in the break room with me and she dumped her big ol’ cup of ice on top of the towel. I started fanning the air to prevent the fire alarm from going off. And people started coming to the break room to see what was burning. I’m standing there red-faced trying to explain that I left something in the microwave too long.

One of my other co-workers said it smells like burnt marshmallows. They were agreeing that it was better than burnt popcorn. Right now it’s all I can smell. I’ve been dabbing this lavender lotion under my nose to try and help, but it’s not. Hopefully this will all be aired out tonight.

So after I get off work today, I’m going to buy a heating pad or something to bring here to work to keep warm. Maintenance is supposed come by and check out the heating/air. The thermostat is on 73 now and it’s still cold. I don’t know what else they can do.

Kisses…

good news

2007-12-26T23:23:00.000-05:00

we saw dr. d about janelle's finger today. thankfully he didn't push for her to have surgery. he wants to send her to physical therapy to see if she can improve her range of motion. he said sometimes surgery can worsen things with the type of fracture she has. they have to contact my insurance company to see what is covered and then will contact us on a schedule. also he said that if ultimately she needs surgery, waiting until later poses no problem. he did warn her to wear her splint especially when soccer season starts up. no problem...

i tried to go to water aerobics tonight. i was disappointed because 1) there was no instructor and 2) the chair lift is broken. the manager said it would be a few days before the chair lift would be fixed. it was broken in the morning class. kind of a bummer b/c i'm not strong enough to pull myself out of the pool. in the past i would use my legs to push myself out when i did use the ladder. oh well...i need to check into health central or maybe even the y again.

i'll try to post more tomorrow. it's bedtime!

kisses....

2007-12-25T21:21:00.001-05:00

Merry christmas! Hope everyone is having a good one! Kisses...

hope you're having a wonderful christmas eve!

2007-12-24T22:14:00.000-05:00

it's been a long day, but a good one even though i had to work. we went to a christmas eve service with some folks and had a nice fellowship.

i'm tired and heading to bed. we're having a nice relaxing day tomorrow....taking in a movie and having a simple dinner at home.

kisses...

afternoon with new friends

2007-12-23T20:56:00.001-05:00

this afternoon, janelle and i met donna, her husband donald, and her daughter at starbucks for knitting, coffee, and chatting. i had the best time! janelle had a lot of fun, too. it was nice to finally meet donna face to face. we've been emailing and leaving comments on each other's blogs from time to time, but never actually met. we found out we live within a few miles of each other. plans are definitely in the works to hang out some more.

donald gave janelle a set of wooden needles and taught her a little more about knitting. she did much better with the wooden needles than the metal ones i had. he was very patient with her and showed her the different types of cast-on stitches. she is knitting like an old pro now...lol. donna said he loves to teach people how to knit. their daughter was knitting the point lobos hat from whatifknits. i think i've got that hat in my queue on ravelry. if i don't, i'm adding it.

i want to cast on for the 2nd whatifknits basic wristwarmer. i finished the 1st one last night. i making them out of moda dea cheerio in ruby. the yarn is super soft. it has a little bit of sparkle in it. i caught it on sale at one of hobby lobby's 99 cent a skein sales. i wish i had bought more!

well, i'm going now. i have to work tomorrow. :( i'm hoping we get to go home a little early, but i'm not holding out much hope on that.

kisses...

just wanted to say hey...

2007-12-22T23:01:00.000-05:00

before i go to bed. i've had a nice relaxing day knitting and watching tv with janelle. she started knitting her first project today. she's not sure if she's going to make a scarf or a bag first. she was getting a little frustrated so i told her to put it down and pick it up tomorrow.

we're going to meet donna and her daughter at starbucks for coffee and knitting. i told janelle she could get helpful hints from them as well. i might not be explaining some of it quite right. i'm excited about the fact that she has taken an interest in knitting. she was excited, too, when she realized all the things she could make. i'm hoping she'll stay with it. i might see if she wants me to sign her up for a class with mrs. barbara. i'm self-taught so i might not be doing things quite right...lol.

i'm going now. talk to you later...

kisses....

the preceding message was sent while i was...

2007-12-21T22:45:00.000-05:00

sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic trying to meet janelle at dr. b's office for her appointment. i think everyone was out driving today. i have never seen traffic this bad. i know it's christmas time and folks are out buying gifts. but no one is giving an inch....blocking the road so no one can pass or get around them. i'm not going any where near augusta tomorrow. i have some shopping i'd like to do, but it's not worth it.

i've decided i'm giving i-o-u's or money as gifts this year. i have janelle's main present. i know what i wanted to do for mom & dad, but honestly i'm not fighting the traffic to get it. and sure, i could have planned better and gotten what i needed earlier in the year. poor planning on my part. it will not happen again. i'm either ordering online or making it. i've still got to get the stuff to send to my nieces and nephew. i'll put it in the mail tomorrow hopefully. i know they won't get it until after christmas, which is not what i planned.

on to why i had to meet janelle at dr. b's office today. if you've been reading my blog, you will remember that janelle broke her finger during a powder puff football game. it hasn't been healing properly. it is crooked and she can't bend the finger all the way closed when she tries to make a fist. long story short...we have an appointment with the hand specialist to see what needs to be done. dr. b said most likely janelle would have to have a screw put in to align the finger back properly. he said that we could leave it like it is, but she may have problems as she gets older. i think it needs to be fixed and janelle agreed. dr. b also agreed, but he wanted his colleague to look at it and give his professional opinion.

so that's what we have to look forward to after the holidays. we're going to have to try and schedule it where it won't interfere with her other committments. soccer is coming up, fbla district and regionals is coming up, beta state convention is coming up. it will work out though. it always does.

and my little janelle will be 18 years old next month!!! where did the time go?!!

kisses...

2007-12-21T12:38:00.001-05:00

Ugh this traffic is ridiculous!
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under the weather

2007-12-20T23:28:00.000-05:00

i'm not feeling so hot right now. i hope i'm not getting sick. it's been pretty chilly in my new work area. when i get cold, it causes me to tense up and my leg starts hurting. i'm taking a blanket tomorrow so i can cover my legs up and hopefully stay warm. i think i'm going to make a shawl to keep at my desk as well. and i've even thought about some wristwarmers.

actually i'm hoping i'm just tired b/c of the stress of the new responsibilities at work. i've been going non-stop for the past couple of days and today was pretty intense. i'm taking over some of the duties of a guy who is leaving. i'm doing user security to some of our systems. this isn't a problem b/c i handle security set up for other systems i support. the problem is the users have not been required to fill out the paperwork properly. and i had to hunt for information that should have been provided. i talked to my boss and told her i can't work like that. she told me to do what i needed to do to get the info. this means making the users fill out proper paperwork. when i asked the guy about that, he said they showed them at first, but folks didn't follow the instructions. well, i'm here to tell you this...they will learn to follow instructions or it will delay their access. it's ridiculous b/c it's a time-waster with sending emails back and forth. i told my boss there is no way i can operate like this during budget season. thankfully she supports me in that respect.

oh, and my boss loved the scarf i knit her. i was really surprised by her reaction. she said she was hoping i was going to knit her something. that made me feel good that she appreciates handmade items. she does cross stitch so she understands the thought and effort behind my knitting. and the color looked good on her too. she said she would definitely use it especially in the mornings on the way to work. she lives about an hour and a half from here so she's up early on these cold mornings.

my secret santa gave me an elliott sadler #19 backpack for christmas. it is perfect. i think i'm going to start using it instead of using the bag i carry now. i can sling it over my shoulder and go. i gave my secret santa gift to the lady whose name i drew. i gave her a tea time at the masters cookbook and a ruffly scarf made with yarn bee luscious in cherry. the scarf turned out so soft. i think she liked it.

i got a hobby lobby gift card from my boss, which rocks! they have had some good yarn sales over the last few weeks, so i can add to my stash. :)

well, i'm going to go to sleep now. i'm tired even though i took a nap after work. i kind of like this 8-5 work schedule. i can come home and take a short nap, then get up, eat dinner, knit/watch tv and then back to bed...lol. of course i can't do that every night b/c i have those pesky things called chores to do!

kisses...

2007-12-19T20:25:00.001-05:00

Just so you know....i am not a patient person when it comes to rush hour traffic. Only 2 or 3 cars at a time could get through the traffic light bc of people gridlocking the intersection. grrrr....stupid people!

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4 more down

2007-12-18T16:55:00.001-05:00

4 more down

How about I lost 4 more pounds?!! That makes total of 12 pounds since I started Weight Watchers at the first of November!

I’m heading to stitch night tonight at In Stitches. Janelle baked some cookies for me to take. I’m going to stop by Fresh Market on the way and get some sushi so I won’t be hungry going over there. I’m going to allow myself to sample one or two things, but I’m going to behave and not go over with points.

Kisses…

survived

2007-12-17T22:41:00.000-05:00

i made it through my 1st day in my new group. i went in early so i could get my desk set up before folks started coming in. i'm going to try real hard to go in between 7 and 7:30. you get the good parking spots that way. there's no reason i can't do that. i'm already up as it is.

i finished the keyhole scarf tonight. i took some pics and will post later. i'm starting a new one for my secret santa person. it's going to be the ruffly scarf from mason-dixon knitting. i'm making it out of yarn bee luscious in cherry. i'm not sure yet if i'll do the last row in white to give it a christmas-y feel to it. i'll decide that closer to finishing. this yarn is super soft. i'm going to buy more of it when i get over to hobby lobby. they have it on sale again this week.

good night. i'm tired and really need some beauty sleep!!!

kisses...

heading in early

2007-12-17T06:13:00.000-05:00

i'm going to get to work earlier today than i have in the past so i can settle in. i've got to unpack my desk as well as make sure i can get to the network. it's going to be interesting to see if everything is working like it should. my boss will be ticked off, to say the least, if things aren't working right. she is not tolerant of things like that. i'm just glad i'm not sitting right next to her. i have heard her wrath and have been on the receiving end of it. welcome to monday morning!

sometime this week i've got to get a new id made as well. i tried to on friday before i left, but i could never get in touch with the lady in hr who handles the id's. and of course there is no one else who can take a pic of you for the badge. it's ridiculous. i guess they can't have anyone come in for orientation if she's on vacation that week...lol.

as i said last night, i cleaned up my computer some. i haven't noticed any improvement so far, but it's too early to tell. i've got to get the digital camera pics off as well. i'd hate to lose those. i've got more than half saved to cd's, but need to get the rest of them. i've got some duplicates in sub-folders, too, taking up unnecessary space. with some of the files i looked at, i have no clue why i saved them.

i also figured out i need a better filing system for my cd's. i'm going to catalog them somehow so i'm better organized. i've figured out that's a big part of my problem...organization. i need a system...one that works for me.

well it sounds like janelle has finished with her shower. time for me to jump in to take mine.

kisses...

just wanted to say hey

2007-12-16T23:16:00.000-05:00

it's been a good day for the most part. i have been relatively pain free, even after a trip to walmart. i got in and got out with very little aggravation and stuck to my list. i've been knitting on and off for most of the day trying to finish up the scarf for my boss. she goes on vacation beginning thursday and will not be back until after the 1st of the year.

i'm making her a keyhole scarf, using the pattern from stitch 'n bitch, the knitters handbook by debbie stoller. the yarn i'm using is yarn bee airy in cream. it has little flecks of gold throughout. it's a nice, soft fuzzy texture. i'll try to remember to take a pic before i give it to her. i hope she'll like it. it's hard to tell sometimes with her. i sewed a tote bag for her a couple of years ago and have yet to see her carry it. but that's ok, i enjoyed making it for her and if she didn't use it, hopefully she gave it to someone who did.

i'll round out her gift with some dark chocolate covered pretzels from fresh market and some of her favorite lindt truffles. and i also thought about getting one of those chocolate raspberry oranges, which is similar to this. she loves chocolate and raspberry so i'm sure she'd like the orange as well.

i'm doing a little bit of computer housekeeping before bedtime. i've copied over some of my files to cd's. my computer has been running slow and i don't want to take a chance on losing files. i've burned a lot of my pics to cd's as well and need to get the rest off. plus when i go to get a new laptop, i won't have to do this task then.

it's getting late and i need to try to go to sleep. i go to my new cubicle tomorrow with my new group. i'm a little nervous and don't know why. i know a lot of the folks i'll be working with now. i guess in a way i kind of feel like it's the 1st day of school...lol. i'm the "new" kid and have to get to know everyone and figure out how things work. wish me luck!!

kisses...

saturday rain

2007-12-15T21:23:00.000-05:00

we have finally gotten some much needed rain. it has rained practically all day long. we need probably a steady week or two of rain to help us recover from the drought we have had this year. hopefully some of the other areas, especially the atlanta area, are getting rain as well.

janelle is in columbia right now with the youth group. they went to see a christmas play at one of the churches up there. it's a big production with live animals and everything. mom and dad went a couple of years ago and they said it is a powerful production. i am going to try to go next year to see it. everyone who has seen it says it's wonderful.

believe it or not, my knee hasn't hurt as bad today as it has earlier in the week. on tuesday i was up moving around a lot, packing my desk, cleaning, etc. i think i might have overdone the physical activity so soon after my surgery. that's probably why i hurt so bad on wednesday and thursday too. i didn't have enough recovery time and pushed it b/c i was feeling pretty good over the weekend. i spent a fair part of the day knitting and watching tv with my legs propped up.

i'm signing off now. hope you're having a good weekend!!

kisses...

friday

2007-12-14T21:40:00.000-05:00

i've been tagged by beverly. she is a hoot, so y'all put her on your daily-must-read blogroll. and her name is beverly, so i know she's cool.

the tag rules are:
1. link to the person who tagged you.
2. post the rules on your blog.
3. share 7 facts about yourself.
4. tag 7 random people and include links to their blogs.
5. let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
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random fact #1: i love nascar racing, particularly i love elliott sadler. he drives #19 best buy dodge for gillette/evernham motorsports. i picked elliott as my driver in 2003 when he drove the #38 m&m's ford taurus. he is 10 years and 5 days younger than me. elliott is a cutie pie and has an awesome virginia southern drawl that just makes me weak in the knees.

random fact #2: when i was younger i didn't want just anyone calling me by my nickname, bev. that right was reserved for my family and a few close friends. when someone would call me bev and i didn't give them the ok to do so, i would correct them and tell them my name is beverly. now it doesn't bother me as much if someone calls me bev.

random fact #3: i'm a wimp when it comes to pain. if you've been reading my blog (all 2 of you), you know that i've had gallbladder and knee surgery this year. the pain after the gallbladder surgery was not as bad as the pain after the knee surgery. i can't stand the constant aching feeling that i've had in my knee this past week. fortunately dr. b recommended managing the pain during the day by taking one aleve in the morning, one midday, and 2 in the afternoon. he said to reserve the percocet for home in the evening since it makes me drowsy. he
thinks if i get on that aleve regimen, i will eliminate much of the pain. plus he reminded me it had only been a week since i had surgery. in my defense, i haven't been sick or hurt much in the past, so i don't know how to deal with not being healthy.

random fact #4: i absolutely love to knit. i have been knitting for a little over a year and wish i had started knitting younger in life. i've already made plans for things i want to knit for my family and friends in 2008, plus there are some charity knitting projects that i want to get involved in. this is one of them.

random fact #5: my favorite all-time food is sushi. i could eat sushi every day if i could afford to buy it. i would make it every day if i could. i have tried, but got frustrated with it because my sushi rolls would fall apart. it's definitely an art to making pretty sushi rolls. i'll have to see if there is a continuing ed class at asu for making sushi.

random fact #6: i'm proud of the fact that my family is close-knit. i know people who haven't talked to their family members for years and that's sad to me. i don't talk to my brother and sister all the time, but we still stay in touch and enjoy being around each other when we can. it's funny when we're all together how we fall back into our childhood roles. my parents did a great job raising us and have kept us close.

random fact #7: i know a lot about nutrition even though you wouldn't know it to look at me. i'm extremely overweight and working hard to lose the weight (i'm a weight watchers member). as i've said in some of my posts, my mindset is much different this time. i look back on how i used to eat and how much i used to eat and i'm absolutely amazed i'm not bigger than i am. my parents taught us how to eat properly and what we needed to do to fuel our bodies and how exercise is important. i just chose at a point to not follow what i was taught and what i know. my health issues that i have dealt with this year have come about, to a degree, due to my overeating and lack of exercise over the last several years. i feel i'm on the right track and don't want to do anything to jeopardize my success so far.
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here's the folks i tagged...i hope they don't mind. :) i've been reading donna's blog for a while and the other folks i found during nablopomo.
donna
angelaraeknits
knit 'n nascar
knitting 40 shades of green
liana
enna
alison
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kisses...

p.s. have a great weekend!!

can't sleep

2007-12-14T00:29:00.000-05:00

and it's probably because i came home from work, took a percocet, and took a nap. that's ok since i was hurting. i go see dr. b today for post-surgery follow up. i'm going to ask him for some help with pain during the day. i'm hoping he'll give me something to ease the pain and not make me loopy or sleepy.

i did not have a good day at work yesterday. i'm ready to get moved to my new spot. it was an ordeal just trying to organize that. i've got most of my stuff boxed up. i had to leave some things out so i could work when i go in. i'm taking my laptop with me when i go to my doctor's appointment b/c all my stuff is going to be moved while i'm gone. i'll only be at the new desk temporarily. there is a consultant sitting in my final destination. she'll be here until the end of the year and then i can move.

i've got a box full of stuff to take home too. jane is going to loan me her luggage carrier thingie-bob so i can load the box up and take it to my car. i'm definitely going to try to not accumulate a ton of stuff at my new desk. i got rid of a lot of old pens and notebooks that i don't need. recycling, baby...lol.

i am knitting a scarf for my boss' christmas present. i'm giving it to her next week before she goes on vacation. i'm making her up a little gift bag with her favorite chocolates, some dark chocolate-covered pretzels from fresh market, and the scarf. we're supposed to be in the mid-20's next week, which is a big switch from the 70-80 degree weather we've had this week. i'm sitting here in shorts right now.

good night and sweet dreams!!

kisses...

Eatalong...not for me anymore

2007-12-13T13:56:00.001-05:00

Eatalong...not for me anymore

We’re having our Christmas potluck today in the department I’m leaving. I have been very selective with what I’ve eaten, but even that has left me not feeling so well. I’m having a little bit of acid reflux. I promise I could taste the fat in a couple of the things I ate. There are some co-workers who are grazing non-stop today. It’s actually turning my stomach at the sight of them constantly shoving food in their mouths.

How did I eat like that in the past? I have definitely come a long way in a short period of time since I’ve been on Weight Watchers. I told one of my co-workers in my new group that I’m sticking to the Weight Watchers food next week with the potluck over there.

I’ve been Ms. Crabby Pants, too, today. One of the “organizers” of this event has gotten under my skin. They sent an email “Because of the generosity of Employee A, Employee B, & Employee C, we will have fried chicken strips & some shrimp cocktail to supplement the items y'all are bringing tomorrow”. This means those folks gave money instead of fixing something to bring. I asked her why she didn’t list what the rest of us were “generously” cooking or baking to bring. Were the folks who contributed money the only ones recognized for their efforts? And then this morning she had to dictate where food went, whether it was lunch or breakfast or dessert or whatever.

I need a nap. And a Percocet.

Kisses…

P.S. It doesn’t help that my knee is hurting even though I took Aleve this morning and have been keeping it elevated and iced.

most outgoing

2007-12-12T06:17:00.000-05:00

yesterday they announced the senior superlatives at janelle's school. she was voted most outgoing girl. and you know what, it fits her. she doesn't meet a stranger. i get compliments all the time about how warm and friendly she is and how she helps shy kids open up and makes everyone feel part of the crowd. her ex-boyfriend was voted most outgoing guy. she said it was awkward b/c he is being kind of cool towards her lately. she said he's been in a mood with everyone so it's kind of funny that he was voted most outgoing. don't get me wrong, he's a good kid. i think he has what a lot of them have right now...senioritis. janelle has a mild attack of it over the weekend. she got mad at me about something and mumbled how she could hardly wait to go off to college. lol...been there, done that...

keep your fingers crossed....i weigh in today b/c it's weight watchers wednesday. i'm hoping to have lost back the 2 pounds and hopefully lost a couple more. i'm not as bloated as i was the last time i weighed in. i've been careful about what i've eaten in most cases. i went over a couple of days in points, but overall i think i did pretty good.

we're having our christmas eatalong tomorrow in my old group. one of the ladies who is ww with me is freaking out. she's a nutcase anyway. i told her to use her head about things. i'm going to be sensible and not eat everything in sight. it will be hard to figure out the points in some cases, but i told her we can be smart about it. i've got measuring spoons and measuring cups to gauge our portions at least.

for example, one of the ladies is making her famous feta cheeseball, which is so so delicious. i asked her yesterday about the ingredients. she is using regular feta, regular cream cheese, and a cup of pecans and said it serves 20 people. i ran the recipe through the weight watchers recipe builder and found it was 3 points per serving. i figured the serving size is about a tablespoon based on the size of the cheeseball. so i figured we could have a tablespoon of the feta cheeseball and enjoy it with green pepper slices or some other zero point veggie instead of crackers. she said she had not thought of switching out the crackers for veggies. well, duh, if you want to save some points and enjoy more, you have to think of ways to save on points. i told her that i was going to be conservative with my breakfast points and my snack points were going towards my midday meal b/c i wanted to enjoy some of the delicious food we'll have. i'll probably have a big salad for dinner tomorrow night b/c that will be zero points for the most part unless i put meat and cheese on it.

anyway, i'm making taco soup. one of my friends who is successfully losing weight on ww right now gave me the recipe. i'm going to take it for both of the potlucks i'm involved in. i've got to go to the store tonight to get everything. i'll probably have to go to walmart since they have the best prices on the ground beef. and y'all know i hate walmart and it's christmas time so people are even more rude. if i didn't have to worry about driving, i'd take a percocet to do my walmart shopping...lol. i'd feel good and wouldn't worry about folks being rude and the kids crying and the long lines.

time to get ready for work. have a good one!!

kisses...

picture day

2007-12-11T06:36:00.000-05:00

today i'm having my picture taken at work. i'm not real excited about it b/c i do not take good pictures. my face always looks shiny and red even if i've applied powder. sometimes i do the gum smile...you know the one where you pull your lips up so high all you see is gum. and the gum smile seems to acentuate that i have big teeth. my teeth aren't really that big. they are normal, healthy-sized teeth. they just look big with the gum smile.

or i wind up doing the squinty smile. i get that from my mom. for some reason when we smile big, we tend to squint. one christmas we tried to catch mom smiling with her eyes wide open. we caught her with eyes open wide in a photo, but we all agreed it made her look like a crazy lady. we decided we liked her squinty-eyed pictures better.

and don't get me started about the chin area. even if i didn't have a double chin (which i do), it always looks like i have one. and it all seems to merge in with my shoulders. when you see me in real life, you'll see that there is a distinction between the chin, neck and shoulder area. and let's not get started on the hair that was laying perfectly straight that decides to suddenly curl out at a weird angle!

you may be wondering why i'm having my picture taken at work. for some reason, they need my and my boss' picture since we're moving to this new group. they are probably going to plaster our pictures up on the next conference call when they announce we're moving. most folks already know even though an official announcement hasn't been sent out. word travels fast in our company.

well, i've got to go get ready now. it takes a while to get this beauty train on the right track!

kisses...

frustrating

2007-12-10T18:36:00.000-05:00

i have no clue why my boss has to be so difficult sometimes. she gets a bee in her bonnet and won't let go. she is mad at one of our on-call tech support folks b/c they didn't call her back after hours on friday. first of all, they were on a support call when she called the first time. and they made the mistake of not checking the voicemail before leaving for the day. big mistake...she called again and woke them up at their house. so they were mad at her.

and then we were making plans to move to our new group. we're going to be in a new building, so our phone numbers are going to change. you would think that someone had cut her arm off. she went on and on about how she was going to have to update all her credit cards with her new number and what was it going to be...blah, blah, blah. stop it already!!! i was just glad to get out of the place!

i'm home now, my knee is hurting and i'm fixing to take a percocet to make it all better. mom is making ww spaghetti...yum. i still have a fair amount of points left for the day. i think i'm going to have an apple with peanut butter for my snack later on. i might even have a cup of cappucino if i have enough points left.

i'm going now. i want to get some knitting in before the percocet hits me. it's funny b/c sometimes it makes me feel loopy and sometimes it doesn't. i wonder why that is...

kisses...

happy birthday, mom!

2007-12-09T23:06:00.001-05:00

today is my mom's birthday. she spent most of it in a car on the way home from my brother's house. my dad was with her so i know she was happy.

they are like two peas in a pod. they prefer each other's company to other folks. they've stuck together through thick and thin. they didn't need the fancy house and cars and jet-set vacations to be happy with each other. as long as they were together, that's all that mattered to them. they will be married for 44 years this upcoming september. they dated for 6 years so they've been a couple for nearly 50 years. that's pretty cool.

kisses...

sushi sunday

2007-12-09T14:16:00.000-05:00

janelle is headed to pick up some sushi for us at publix. i know some folks are rolling their eyes that we are eating sushi from a grocery store, but it's pretty good for grocery store sushi. i can have sushi and not blow weight watchers. i've been wanting something a little different to eat so this will probably hit the spot.

i love asian food. i have kimchi in my fridge right now. i actually thought about having that for my dinner tonight with some rice. i got hooked on korean food back in the day. a friend of mine, sue, is korean and she introduced me and cassandra to korean food. after we'd close the bar down, we'd head over to this korean restaraunt after hours. i fell in love with bulgogi and kimchi. there were other things they tried to get me to taste, but i couldn't get past what it actually was. i know it smelled good, but i wasn't brave enough to try.

there's this little korean diner on deans bridge that i've been to eat several times. the last time i went was with jeri. we ordered bulgogi and galbi gui (short ribs) for our main dishes. the waitress brought out all these different salads that consisted of kimchi, radishes, bean sprouts, marinated cucumber, etc. each person gets a bowl of rice and you pick from the various salads and dishes. some of the salads are spicy because of the red pepper that is used. i'll have to see what the points are for korean dishes and go have lunch there one day soon.

i'm going to go now. janelle should be home soon with the sushi!!

kisses...

weird saturday

2007-12-08T14:51:00.000-05:00

how about i got a call from my boss today? um, just to talk...and to catch me up on the latest goings-on in the office. my boss has never just called me to talk, especially on the weekend. she didn't want me to be out of the loop. actually both of the things she told me about i had already heard, but not officially. people volunteer information to me all the time and i'm pretty selective about repeating it unless i hear it officially or get an email about it.

beverly cracked me up with her comment on yesterday's post. no, i'm not using crutches, but i am using my cane from time to time. i'm planning on taking it to work with me just in case and it may work just as well as the crutches.

janelle is working tour of homes today. she should be home soon. she mentioned again wanting to learn to knit. i dug in my stash and my needles and have it ready for her. i'm going to get her started on a basic knit4, purl2 pattern on size 11 circular needles for a beginner's scarf. the first few rows will be garter stitch to give her the feel of the needles, plus give a nice edge to the scarf. she keeps trying to claim the cable scarf i'm working on...lol...but i'm making that for someone else. she wore one of the scarves i made last night to a christmas party. she said everyone liked it a lot.

i'm going to go. i haven't eaten lunch yet so i need to eat something. i'm going to search through the weight watchers meals i bought the other night. i'm leaning towards the mushroom/spinach pizza...yummy!

kisses....

day of idiots

2007-12-07T18:15:00.000-05:00

it never fails that something goes wrong when i ask someone to cover for me at work. there was a simple task to perform...close the ap databases. if anything weird popped up, call me. simple as that. but did that happen? of course not! i've got a mess sitting and waiting for me when i get in monday morning. all because the girl covering for me could not pick up the phone and ask for help.

she hasn't covered for me in a while so i stressed to her to call me if she ran into any problems. i don't know if it's because she doesn't want to ask for my help or she's embarassed that she doesn't remember or what. she took something that could have been resolved in a half an hour into a 2 day ordeal and involving several groups of people who have to help fix it. i'm just so frustrated!!

and get this...i wouldn't have known about the problem except one of my other co-workers texted me about it. the girl didn't even pick up the phone and call me after the mistake was made. i told her boss that is what pissed me off the most. when was she going to tell me about the snafu? i guess when i come in on monday. grrrrrrrrrr.....
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on a more upbeat note, i ordered part of janelle's christmas a few minutes ago. i think she's going to be pleased. she doesn't ask for much anymore so i try to get her what she wants if i can. i'll probably get her some gift cards to her fav clothing stores and some other little odds & ends. i haven't a clue as to what to put in her stocking. there were some cute little stocking stuffers at books-a-million that she would get a kick out of. since she has expressed and interest in knitting, i might buy her a basic knitting set and some yarn.

donna helped ease the left-handed/right-handed issue i was worried about. she said her daughter is left-handed but knits just fine right-handed. janelle is very adaptable so i know she'll probably do better than i do.

a couple of good things: i haven't been hungry today and no, i haven't been eating non-stop....lol. i have followed my weight watchers points today. the 2nd thing is i haven't had much pain today. i managed to go up and down the stairs with relative ease, take a shower, clean the cat boxes, straighten out the kitchen/load the dishwasher, etc. so i feel like i'll be able to drive myself to work with no problems on monday.

well, i'm going to go now. i've got to fix myself some dinner.

kisses...

slooooow computer

2007-12-06T23:06:00.000-05:00

i'm on mom's and dad's computer in the spare room where i'm sleeping for a couple of days. my room is downstairs. we thought it would be best if i slept up here so i wouldn't have to navigate the stairs much. their computer just does not have a good connection rate. i connect at a much higher rate down in my room. i have no clue why.

yes, we are still on dial-up. i think we're probably the last family in the world not on comcast. i keep trying to talk them into making that leap to the modern age. i've talked to my dad several times about going in together, setting up a wireless network, and having high speed internet throughout the house. just about time i have him convinced, mom unconvinces him for whatever reason. i've even threatened to get high speed for me and janelle and forget about them, which i won't do in the long run. i think dad and i are just going to have to get all the stuff and set it up. mom will be happy in the long run. she'll love how she can play her games and surf her recipe sites easier.

i have also been trying to talk them into getting a laptop. janelle will be getting one for graduation and i'm probably going to buy me one as well. i'll most likely keep the desktop for general purposes, but the laptop is more feasible for me.

i think i'm going to order janelle's christmas present tomorrow. i've got to get it soon or i'll miss out. i'm not going to say what it is just in case she happens to stumble onto my blog. i don't even think she knows i have one, but i don't want to take any chances.

oh and guess what she asked me last night?! she wants to learn to knit! i am so excited about that b/c i have wanted to share my love of craftiness with her for a while. she is a very talented young lady and i know she would do a great job. she likes the reversible cabled scarf that i've been working on. she asked how hard was it to learn to knit. the only thing i wonder about is she is left handed and i'm right handed. does it make a difference or not? i'll have to ask mrs. barbara for her opinion. i'm going to try and find something simple for her to start working on. i think once she gets the hang of it, she'll knit all the time (hopefully) like her mom. she said she wants to use her knitting for mission work as well, making things to give to kids and adults she meets. i told her we could work on some projects together. there's a lot of good charity projects out there, especially geared towards reaching children.

it's getting late and the percocet is kicking in and making me yawn. i'll catch you on the flip side!

kisses....

recovering

2007-12-06T11:10:00.000-05:00

the knee surgery went really well yesterday. dr. b said there was a little more damage to the cartilage than he anticipated originally. he said i will probably have to have knee replacement later on in life though.

overall the pain has not been that bad so far. i'm a little more stiff today than i was yesterday. that's probably b/c of the good drugs from the surgery helping with the stiffness. i've got some exercises to do to strengthen up my quad muscles. i figure i'll do the exercises with both legs since i have arthritis in my left leg as well.

good news is i can do water aerobics in 2 weeks. he said as long as i don't have any open wounds, i can participate. he said to pace myself and not overdo it at first. this weight loss journey is really going to kick in a higher gear once i start back with the water aerobics. i'm so excited!!

i had my yule flip peppermint blizzard from dairy queen last night. it was good and it hit the spot. i tracked my points for weight watchers and didn't go over. :) that's a good thing. btw - if you're tracking points, the small blizzard i had was 14 points. to some folks that's a lot of points, but i'm a fluffy girl so i get more points until i lose some more.

well, i'm going to go now. one of the cats is scratching at the door trying to get to the back of the house. i might sign on later if i'm up to it.

kisses....

p.s. thanks, beverly, for your well wishes. i'm feeling pretty good right now. the percocet helps! :)

knee surgery and a blizzard...peppermint chip, that is

2007-12-05T08:16:00.000-05:00

i'm having my knee surgery today. i wanted to post something now b/c i don't know if i'll be up to it later on today. i'm going to have some of that good pain medication so i'll be sleeping big time.

and today i'm going to get my jonesing for a blizzard out of the way. as you may know before surgery, you can't eat or drink which means i won't have anything to eat until about 3pm or so. i decided i was going to have a small peppermint chip blizzard from dairy queen for my 1st meal. i know it's a lot of points for one item, but it will help me get in my points for the day and satisfy my craving.

what gave me the idea was one of the other ladies in the group had talked about how she ate a small piece of homemade red velvet cake for dinner one night. our ww leader said it's ok to do that sometimes, but only every once in a while. i figure i'll eat a well-balanced dinner later on this evening and if i have any points left, i'll eat a light snack.

well, i've got to finish getting ready.

kisses...

Winthrop Days Playlist

2007-12-04T16:52:00.000-05:00

Winthrop Days Playlist

Here’s my playlist from the 80’s. I add to it as I come across songs I’ve missed. For some reason, it groups certain artist’s songs together, i.e. Madonna, but not all the songs. One day I’ll rearrange them the way I want them and have a killer 80’s mix.

Walk on the Wild Side – Lou Reed

White Horse (original) – Wonderland Avenue

Strangelove [Blind Mix] – Depeche Mode

Let the Music Play (Cruzin’ Barbosa Mix) – Shannon

You Spin Me Round (Like a Record) – Dead or Alive

Wild, Wild West – The Escape Club

One Thing Leads to Another – The Fixx

Need You Tonight – INXS

Something About You – Level 42

Vogue – Madonna

Material Girl – Madonna

Lucky Star – Madonna

Easy Lover – Phil Collins

Sussudio – Phil Collins

I Didn’t Mean To Turn You On – Robert Palmer

Perfect Way – Scritti Politti

Alive and Kicking – Simple Minds

True – Spandeau Ballet

Higher Love – Steve Winwood

Situation – Yaz

Ain’t Nobody – Chaka Khan

I Feel For You – Chaka Khan

Joystick – Dazz Band

Swoop (I’m Yours) – Dazz Band

Electricity – Midnight Star

No Parking (On The Dance Floor) – Midnight Star

Freak-A-Zoid – Midnight Star

Slow Jam – Midnight Star

Stay With Me Tonight – Jeffrey Osborne

I Want Her – Keith Sweat

Mercedes Boy – Pebbles

Centipede – Rebbie Jackson

The Glamorous Life – Sheila E

Rock The Casbah – The Clash

Do You Really Want To Hurt Me? – Culture Club

Time (Clock Of The Heart) – Culture Club

Karma Chameleon – Culture Club

I’ll Tumble 4 Ya – Culture Club

People Are People – Depeche Mode

Master And Servant – Depeche Mode

Whip It – Devo

I Ran (So Far Away) – A Flock Of Seagulls

Relax – Frankie Goes To Hollywood

Too Shy (Midnight Mix) – Kajagoogoo

Pop Muzik – M

Our House – Madness

Into the Groove – Madonna

I Can’t Wait – Nu Shooz

Never Say Never – Romeo Void

Tempted – Squeeze

She Blinded Me With Science – Thomas Dolby

Lies – The Thompson Twins

Genius of Love – Tom Tom Club

I Want Candy – Bow Wow Wow

Mirror In The Bathroom – The English Beat

Let’s Go Crazy – Prince

Under Pressure – Queen & David Bowie

This is what keeps me sane during the work hours!!

Kisses…

talk about bah humbug

2007-12-03T23:20:00.000-05:00

i think i had mentioned that my boss and i are moving to a new group this month. i'm excited about it b/c i'll be working in an area that i've wanted to work for a couple of years. i'll be gaining some skills and get an opportunity to add something to the ol' resume.

one of the ladies in our new group came by friday and asked if we wanted to participate in secret santa. i told her i was definitely interested and would ask my boss on monday. well, today is monday and i asked. she said no, she did not want to participate...she has too many people to buy for already...she doesn't know those people so why would they expect her to want to do secret santa with them...blah, blah, blah. sorry i asked!

i don't know what possessed me but i told her i was tired of folks having the bah humbug attitude. a lot of people at work complain about how there's no team environment, including her. this is a way for us to find out some of the interests of future co-workers and to start off on the right foot with them. i have never met the lady whose name i got. i haven't even talked to her on the phone. she is a nascar fan, so that's a bonus point for her in my book...lol. she doesn't get quite as many points b/c she's a tony stewart fan. (i'm just kidding!! tony is a great driver; however, he has a tendancy to whine a little when things aren't going his way.)

i also told her i was tired of people complaining about the date picked for our current group's christmas potluck. no one will step up to plan it, so sue, susan and i picked a date. we had to do that last year too. we tried to get others involved but they refused. despite all the griping, it turned out to be pretty good.

here's a picture of the flyer for the potluck last year. i drew the little elf girl for a cookbook swap and had some leftover. i know it's not a great image, but you get the general idea.

as you can see we had lots of good food and that didn't cover everything that folks brought. i made the gingerbread pumpkin trifle. the recipe is a paula dean recipe so you know it's good. the flavors just melded each day. i think it lasted about 2 days. it was a pretty big dessert. one thing i did notice is the men seemed to eat the trifle moreso than the women. one guy said he loved anything with gingerbread in it. he wound up taking some home too...lol.

oh...before i go, janelle played in her final powder puff football game tonight. :( they lost to the juniors. it was not a good game b/c there was a lot of fouls being committed by both teams that weren't being called. several girls got hurt, none seriously though. janelle got double and triple teamed at times b/c she kept breaking through the line. a couple of girls grabbed her around the neck, which wasn't cool. they moved her in another position and she seemed to be ok then. she made some good plays tonight but i think she held back some b/c of her broken finger. the new splint i got her yesterday was nice and snug. she said it is much more comfortable than the one from prompt care.

kisses...

baby brother

2007-12-02T18:40:00.000-05:00

my brother, brent, was here thursday and saturday. he came to stay with us while on a work trip. it was good seeing him. he was relaxed and was cutting up. no disrespect to his family, but i liked having just him here this time. he seemed like my brother the way i remember him when we were kids.

that's one of the sad things about growing up. you miss just being a kid sometimes. you have a spouse and kids and responsibilities like a job and bills. i was waiting on him to ask janelle to pull his finger like he did when she was little. she used to giggle and giggle when he'd let one fly.

we had a lot of fun as kids even though he's 6 year younger than me and 5 years younger than suzy. we saved him from a lot of whippings, but there was one we couldn't get him out of.

we used to have a drive-in theater here. one of the radio stations would have $5 a car admission price which was great for our family b/c we didn't have a lot of money. mom and dad would pile us in the car and take us to the drive-in. we would be in our pj's b/c we usually fell asleep before the movie was over. dad would light up the mosquito coil and sit it on the dashboard to keep the pesks away. he or mom would go to the snack bar and bring back a big popcorn bucket to share and drinks. i think we took in kfc a couple of times too.

dad drove a '67 ford galaxy. that car was the bomb.dot.com. it had big wide seats so me and suzy could stretch out on the backseat. brent was small enough to fit in the back window. we had our snacks and drinks and had gotten all settled. this particular night there was a double feature. i can't remember what the first movie was, but the second one was north dallas forty with burt reynolds. mom told us we could go to sleep if we wanted to or we could watch the movie.

i think i fell asleep right away. the next thing i know something plopped on top of me. i hear giggling and it's brent. he'd rolled out of the back window on top of me and suzy. mom fussed at him and told him to get back in the window and go to sleep. he did it again and we hollered. mom told him again to get back in the window and quit rolling over on top of us. she warned him next time it happened, dad was going to take us home and brent was going to get a whipping. things seemed to be quiet finally. pushing his luck, brent rolled on top of us again.

my dad said "that's it! we're going home!" he practically threw the speaker box off the window back onto the stand. we went peeling through the parking lot to the exit. brent started crying and apologizing. he knew he was going to get a whipping as promised.

now let me make a note here: my parents whipped us, but they didn't abuse us. usually a whipping was like five licks with the hickory stick. it might be 10 if we were really bad, but we had to be really bad to get 10. just the threat of seeing the hickory stick was enough for us.

when we pulled in the driveway, dad barely put the car in park before he yanked my brother out of the back of the car. suzy and i were right behind him saying he didn't really mean to roll over on us. even though he drove us crazy, we didn't like to see our baby brother get in trouble. needless to say, brent got 10 licks that night. and you better believe the next time we went to the drive-in, he stayed in the back window without falling out one time...lol. we laugh about it to this day.

and you know to this day, i have never seen north dallas forty. go figure...

kisses...

thought i had missed it

2007-12-02T00:23:00.000-05:00

i am on a mission to post for as many days in a row as i can and i thought i had already blown it. when i signed on just now, i saw that i had posted an entry. so far so good then.

today was a pretty non-eventful day. i got some knitting done while waiting on the laundry to finish up. i need to hit up with some dusting, getting it out of the way before the knee surgery. i was going through some boxes that i had packed up and found some cd's i was missing. right now i'm listening to the matrix soundtrack. of course i am downloading the found cd's to itunes.

i really wish i had gone for the bigger ipod. i could have had all my music loaded and still have room to go. as it stands right now i can't get all my music on my ipod. i still might buy a bigger one later on anyway.

*******~~~~~~*******~~~~~~*******
janelle got back around noon yesterday from erskine. she said she thinks she did well on her interviews. she said erskine gained major points in her book. it's a great school and it would be awesome if she were able to get the scholarship.

the student ambassador she stayed with was a girl who won a prestigious science award. she spoke during visitation day. she gave janelle a gift bag and showed her around the school.

well i'm going to go now. i'm sitting here yawning and rubbing my eyes.

kisses...

sad news

2007-12-01T00:04:00.000-05:00

i was sad to hear that evel knievel passed away yesterday. i remember watching him try to jump snake river canyon when i was a kid. i was so pulling for him to make it. i think i had a little bit of a crush on him too. i thought he was a handsome man.

i'm going to go to sleep now.

kisses...

some questions answered

2007-11-30T05:45:00.000-05:00

from that's my answer:
What would you do first if you were given $1000 and the day off of work?

i would do my christmas shopping and pay off some bills. i would probably also spend a little on myself as a treat, i.e., buy some yarn that i've been wanting or get a manicure/pedicure

from friday's feast:

Appetizer: What is your favorite carnival/amusement park ride? definitely roller coasters....it's been a while since i've been on one or even to an amusement park. one of the ladies in weight watchers was talking about how she was looking forward to going to six flags and carowinds after losing weight. that's something i'm looking forward to as well.
Soup: How do you react in uncomfortable social situations? it depends on how uncomfortable the situation is. usually i just stay quiet and observe. the first opportunity i get to leave, i take it. i have been known to fake not feeling well to get out of uncomfortable social outings. i'm a little embarassed to admit it, but i did use "my gallbladder is acting up" excuse a few times to avoid hanging out with a toxic person i had to get away from. she started out as a friend, but the better i got to know her, the worse i would feel around her. she is one of those who had a bad childhood, thinks she's over it and doesn't need therapy b/c she can talk to her friends about it. it got to the point where she was draining my emotions and it was wiping me out. i slowly but surely removed myself from her circle of people.
Salad: On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how much do you enjoy discussing deep, philosophical topics? 5 - depending on the subject and with whom i'm having the discussion.
Main Course: Did you get a flu shot this year? If not, do you plan to? i've never gotten a flu shot nor do i plan on getting one. i'm lucky that i don't get sick very often with the flu.
Dessert: Approximately how many hours per week do you spend watching television? probably about 30 hours a week. i might have to start writing it down just to see. out of curiosity, if i'm knitting while i'm listening to the tv but not actually watching it, does that count? i read a quote somewhere that said the tv is just background noise for knitters. that's true...lol...i listen to a lot of shows w/o necessarily watching.

it's time to get ready for work. whoooo hoooo...it's the weekend, baby!

kisses....

p.s. i made it...day 30 nablopomo!!!

she broke it...

2007-11-29T17:03:00.000-05:00

i had to take janelle to prompt care this afternoon. last night during the powder puff football game, she hurt her middle finger on her left hand. it was bruised and kind of puffy looking. today it got progressively worse. she said it really hurt after a while and she had a hard time writing in her classes. mom and dad looked at it and agreed that she needed to have it checked out. all of us figured it was sprained and bruised up real bad. even the doctor thought so.

after the x-rays, it was determined that she has a diagonal fracture between the 2nd and 3rd knuckle. he put a splint on it and told her she needs to wear it for 3 weeks except during showering. after the 3 weeks is up, she has to buddy tape it to her ring finger.

now here comes the dilemma...they have a powder puff game on monday. she wants to play b/c this is her senior year. i'm probably going to let her. we'll just pad it up so hopefully she won't stab anyone with it or hurt it again. she said that she grabs the flags with her right hand anyway (she's a leftie). i remember how important it was to play the final senior game. i told her to talk to some of her friends who play football and see how they protect their hurt fingers.

i'm going to take a short nap. my brother brent is coming to visit for a few days so i want to be refreshed when he gets here.

kisses....

into the groove

2007-11-29T06:57:00.000-05:00

oh how i love the 80's! i'm listening to madonna's into the groove. i didn't realize i downloaded the extended dance version, but i'm not disappointed. i'm chair dancing...lol. wonder if that counts towards my activity points for weight watchers? ;)

oh, snap, crackle, and pop...music...i love that song. can you tell i downloaded madonna songs last night from i-tunes?

i've got a playlist i created called winthrop days. it has some of my fav songs from the 80's. it's a feel-good mix if i do say so myself...lol. it takes me back to the money, elmo duggan's, the silver dollar, sigma nu sud flood, tke 12:01 parties, fall bash and spring fling. ok, looking back over that flashback...too much partying!! the mix includes some depeche mode, madonna, prince, midnight star, kajagoogoo, yaz, dead or alive, culture club, duran duran, dazz band, and so on and so on. there's 50+ songs at the moment.

i love listening to my i-pod at work. it drowns out all the noise from all the loud people and copier and phones. when i've got a slobber-drool task to do, my music makes it easier to handle. fyi: slobber-drool task equals a necessary-evil task where you are slobbering/drooling by the end of it because it's so repetitive, i.e. printing reports, formatting spreadsheets, uploading files to a database, etc. i didn't make up that term, just got it from my old boss.

as much as i'd love to stay and wax nostalgia, i've got to get ready for work.

kisses...

p.s. day 29 of nablopomo...almost there!

minor setback

2007-11-28T21:24:00.000-05:00

i'm not happy. according to the ww scales this week, i gained 2 pounds back! grrrrr.....i am so aggravated. my ww leader is evaluating my food log over the last week to see if anything jumps out.

at first she was dimissing it b/c of thanksgiving. when i explained to her that we had a mostly weight watchers thanksgiving meal, she understood why i protested. i told her i haven't cheated and i've been using the meal plans as applicable and counting my points. i've resisted the m&m's, the birthday cakes, the basket of snacks sitting on the counter in our department. i haven't eaten out at a fast food restaraunt or any other restaraunt or gone to starbucks for the holiday coffees that i want. i have even resisted the pumpkin pie blizzard since i've started weight watchers (plus i found out that it's about 12 ga-zillion points for one!). i've stopped getting my breakfast from mcdonald's or chick fil a. and oh how i love those chicken biscuits!

afterwards she got my food log and email address and said she'd send me feedback. one interesting thing i found out...celery has a high sodium content. did not know that. she said she was shocked when she found out too b/c she was eating a lot of celery and was retaining water like crazy. she also said that i could be retaining fluids b/c of the female thing (i know...tmi...sorry!). she asked me about my exercise routine which is non-existent right now b/c of the knee. i'm hoping to get on track with that as soon as dr. b tells me i can.

when i got back to my desk, i compared the 1st 2 weeks' food logs with this past weeks. one of the things i noticed was the snacks. during the 1st 2 weeks, i was eating more savory snacks, such as hummus with green peppers or a serving of wheat thins, guacamole and chips, single serving of low fat popcorn instead of the sweet stuff. even at night i was having 4 gingersnaps with a glass of milk instead of the fat free pudding and whipped topping. i've also been eating the quaker rice cakes. i might be adding sugar into my diet unknowingly.

so i'm going to try an experiment. i'm going to go back to the savory snacks and the fruits and veggies. i also have noticed that i've been hungry at times when i shouldn't be. i'm trying to turn this negative into a positive and learn from it. i'm going to listen to what my body is telling me and try to keep on track. trust me, i thought about turning into dairy queen tonight to get a blizzard but i didn't. so that in itself is a positive step. in the past, i would have ordered the blizzard and the chick fil a meal and eaten all of it and been unhappy and disgusted. i have to keep reminding myself that it's baby steps. i didn't gain all this overnight and i'm not going to lose it overnight either. slow and steady wins the race...

~*~*~*~*~*~
on another note...

the seniors' powder puff team played the freshmen and beat them 27-6. janelle did an awesome job. she got 2 sacks and made 2 really good tackles towards the end of the game. she was plowing her way through the offensive line. at one point they had double coverage on her and she still broke through. she played just like her mama used to...lol. i played defensive line when i played powder puff back in the day. boy, i miss it!

there was a lot of bumping and banging and punching and hair-pulling going on. the principal was calling the game and he had to remind them several times that this was supposed to be a friendly game. lol...we were out for blood when we played in high school. i don't expect any less from janelle and her friends!

monday the seniors play the juniors. it should be pretty interesting b/c both teams are pretty good. hopefully there won't be any fights or injuries. janelle and her friends play for keeps and don't back down.

this time next week the torn cartilage should be gone!

kisses...

Manning the fort

2007-11-28T12:06:00.000-05:00

Everybody has gone to lunch right now. I’ve had 3 people tell me where they are in case someone asks for them. Uh, when did I become the group secretary? Lol On the upside, it’s nice and quiet. No cell phones ringing, no loud talkers, no ding-ding-ding-ding when the copier jams up…

Today is Weight Watchers Wednesday. I’m hoping I’ve lost a couple of pounds. I’ve done well with my points so far and haven’t gone over. I’ve been having some rumbling in my tummy but I think that’s nerves more than actual hunger. I’ve also increased my water intake b/c I know sometimes thirst can present itself as hunger.

I’ve talked to 2 friends in the past 2 days who have both lost over 50 pounds. One is going to PHC Weight Loss Center here locally and the other has been watching what she’s eating and riding her bicycle or stationary bike (when the weather is bad). I want to get to the 50 pound weight loss. That is not all I have to lose. I wish it was. But they’ve both been so focused and determined. I think that’s what’s different this time for me. I have been more focused than I have with prior weight loss attempts.

I’ve got to run…phone is ringing

Kisses…

i'm back, but i'm leaving again

2007-11-27T07:41:00.000-05:00

my hair and make up is rocking today...lol. i tried to take a pic b/c it is rare that i like both my hair and makeup at the same time. for some reason i don't photograph as well as i see myself in the mirror. i am trying to remember what tyra has told me on the countless episodes of america's next top model, but it isn't working! oh, well...

kisses...

beautiful hair

2007-11-27T06:35:00.000-05:00

i'm sitting here with clairol nice 'n easy gray solution #8 (medium blonde) in my hair....ooops...got to go rinse it out. brb.

random questions from that's my answer

2007-11-26T22:59:00.000-05:00

found here:

if you had to define your personality using a color, what color would you be and why? hmmm, that's a hard one to answer. my mom has always said red is my color. i tend to gravitate towards when buying clothes and cars. i tend to like a darker red vs a light red. i have no clue what that means about my personality though.
if you could take a train ride across any of the seven continents, which continent would you choose? my first train ride would be across north america. i have always wanted to ride on a train across the united states and then back again. one summer janelle and i were planning to ride amtrak from mobile, al to el paso, tx where one of my good friends from high school lives. unfortunately we didn't get to go b/c it cost more that i could pay at the time for our tickets. i would also like to take a train ride through all of europe and asia some day.
is there a website (other than that’s my answer - of course!) that you visit on a daily basis? in no particular order: sauntering soul, donna knits and spins, crazy aunt purl, craftzine, ravelry, weight watchers, my yahoo...
what have you accomplished lately? i've lost 8 pounds so far on weight watchers; i've blogged for 26 days in a row even tho some are pretty lame; i haven't cried at work lately; i haven't cheated on my diet altho there are temptations all around me!

well that's it for today. only 4 more days left with nablopomo...i don't think i've missed a day yet. hope i haven't jinxed myself!!

kisses...

afternoon laugh

2007-11-26T16:12:00.000-05:00

afternoon laugh

For your entertainment…lol…

http://icanhascheezburger.com/2007/11/26/has-anyone-seen-mah-staplr/

kind of bummed

2007-11-25T18:36:00.000-05:00

how did i manage to survive thanksgiving w/o going over in points, but on a normal day i did? i went over yesterday by 4 points. i miscalculated somewhere with my food intake. i'm not going to beat myself up over it. in the past i have taken a mistake and made it into an excuse to not follow the diet anymore. not this time tho...i'm sticking to it. i'm doing better today. i've been careful about what i'm eating.

for our snack last night i fixed the yogurt cheese with honey and walnuts. it was very good. i'm going to have that as my snack tonight too. i found the recipe in one of the weight watchers books that features how to cook take-out meals at home. the yogurt recipe was from the greek section. dianne had told me about the dessert before and said i would probably like it.

i don't know what's up with me this weekend b/c i'm not feeling too good. i think it might be my sinuses. my head has felt swimmy and i've had a lot of congestion. my surgery is a week and a half away. i cannot get sick. i took a nap yesterday and today and feel better for the most part. i took a shower a few minutes ago and that helped me feel better too. maybe i broke a fever when i was napping.

i've got some knitting to do so i'm going to sign off now.

kisses...

yarntopia

2007-11-24T18:12:00.000-05:00

i know...stupid title. i went to hobby lobby this morning and got a great deal on yarn. they were having a 99 cent a skein sale on several kinds that i like. i got $80 worth of yarn for about $15. whooo hooo!! i was excited about that. and the other good thing was i found the rust colored yarn i wanted to make pat's scarf.

i went to wal-mart afterwards. i was kind of dreading going there especially on the weekend after thanksgiving. good news is i shopped on the grocery side of the store so it wasn't so bad. i got the usual waffles, hill bros english toffee cappucino, but found some snacks for me this week. quaker rice cakes - peanut butter and chocolate chip - one cake is 1 point on weight watchers. i tried one when i got home...delicious. i also got the toasted wheat thins - vegetable garden flavor. those where good too. i'm trying to add some variety to my diet program so i won't get bored.

mom is fixing us digiorno thin crust pizza tonight. that's a pretty good supper with a big salad. i've got some plain yogurt in the fridge that's straining its way into yogurt cheese. a recipe i saw in weight watchers called for yogurt cheese, toasted walnuts and honey. that's going to be my treat tonight. :)

well, i'm going to go now. i've got to catch up on some email.

kisses...