Finally...A Little Time

I finally had a little time yesterday to finish Joss Ware's latest book. I don't have time this morning for anything, but I'll post a short review of some latest reads a little later. (It might be over the weekend!)

I probably shouldn't have stayed up until 12:30 reading last night. I feel like hell this morning.

The "diet" is going well however. The only time I've eaten out since my meeting was lunch yesterday. And that was only because I left for lunch over 1.5 hours later than usual. I didn't think I could really handle cooking for myself at the time. I think I did well though. Hopefully the week will cooperate on all fronts.

I haven't forgotten!

I promise I haven't forgotten you. School is an evil bitch. I can't wait to finish this semester. I'm tired of all this bullshit.

I shouldn't complain too much. I do love my teachers. They are great. It's just a lot of work these days. I don't have time for all the things I would like to do. (Like finish Joss Ware's latest book. I need more hours in a day!!!)

I got sick yesterday when I tried something new at lunch. I know better, but I really am trying to get past some of the things I don't like to eat. It sometimes sucks being a picky eater. Ok, the allergies and migraine triggers suck worse than just the long list of things I don't like....

I have a group meeting this afternoon on my latest group assignment for class. I have the majority of my part done. I'll just have to get the other's work and get it all in one big file. I should get to work on my last piece, huh?


On a sadder note, I have been unable to make a Weight Watchers meeting this week. I HAVE to go on Monday. School and weather kept me away this week. I can't handle another week away. I did go weigh in during the open hours, but it just isn't the same! And we aren't talking about the scale.

Fun New Dessert!

Today was the hubby's birthday. We both took off work and slept in. Then did lunch at Olive Garden.

He loved his birthday presents. He got a rockband mic with integrated XBox360 controller, and a small keyboard with a touchpad. This is for the computer in the living room.

Unfortunately we will have to return the keyboard. It has a short when charging, and the wireless receiver sparked when it was unplugged from the computer. It's range is about 12 inches. Not really useful.

On a better note, I made an awesome dessert for his birthday. It's a variation of a recipe from Green Lite Bites. You can find the video Roni made here. Her recipe is completely vegan, if I recall correctly. I made mine a little different. I used plain old fat-free milk, and used an orange instead of a Clementine. It was awesome, and Josh loved it. He wants me to make it with tangerines next. I though about taking a picture, but they were not pretty. I'll let you see Roni's for that.

Hope everyone has a good weekend, and I'm off to work on more schoolwork!

-10

Yes. That is my total pounds lost as of my meeting last night. 10 pounds gone. I'm happy.

I did miss my usual meeting leader though. She needs to be back next week. (Didn't care for the replacement!) I also want her to be the one to give me my 5% whatever-I-get.


Ok, just so everyone knows, Tuesdays suck. They are my 'Monday' this semester. I have two classes on Tuesdays. I was so fried by class tonight that I had an awesome blonde moment. I couldn't remember how to tell if a computer has IIS installed. I mean really, this is NOT rocket science.

On a funny note for the end, my group partners in class got together and decided I'm not allowed to walk home after class. We get out around 9pm, and they were just not having me walk the two blocks home. Aren't they awesome guys?

Fan Girl Moment

One of my favorite authors has a new book coming out Tuesday. Joss Ware has Night Betrayed, the fourth book in her Envy Chronicles series, coming out. I've been looking forward to Theo's story, and it will finally arrive.

I have the book preordered for my Kindle so that I can go ahead and get it. And even though Tuesdays are my busy school day, every spare moment will go to this book.

YAY! NEW BOOK! I wish the calendar days would flip over more quickly...


She also has a new series coming out soon. Regency Draculia will be released under the name Colleen Gleason, and the first book comes out in March.

The Week Progresses

And I'm convinced it will never end. And the light at the end of the tunnel is a train determined to hit me.

Yes, this is how it really feels at this point. Classes are rough, and a horrific amount of work.

Work is work. Just busier than usual. In the past two days I've only had one really bad customer. Some grandmother pretty much thinks I lied to her. Not my fault federal laws doesn't allow me to give you your grandson's password. I actually was sorry I couldn't help her out...

Otherwise things aren't too bad. I'm doing good on the food front. Actually didn't hit my points target yesterday. I MAY go over tonight. But it's ok. I have my weeklies. :) (On a funny note, it helps to NOT mix up fiber and carbs when calculating points...The very good healthy choice fish meal is NOT free!)

Okay...off to make coffee now. I think I need it before I open my textbook!

Awesome Weigh In

It was an awesome weigh in tonight. I lost 1 pound. I fully expected to have gained at least that much. However, thinking back things weren't THAT bad over the week, food wise. I do hope the migraine stays away though. I can't afford to deal with that this week...

On the To Do List, I bought a food scale at Target, but haven't used it yet. I didn't do a work out video, but rather spent some time with my new game Wii Fit Plus (or whatever the name of the new one is!) I really enjoyed that. And I've already mentioned the weigh in.

On the grocery shopping front, I have grabbed a few things from Wal-Mart, but haven't been to the grocery store. I have enough to get me through to Wednesday, unless I make a trip after the hubby finishes his tacos. We'll either go to the grocery store, or I'll make a pot of Jambalya tonight (for dinner tomorrow night).

As for tracking and making it through the week, we'll see how that goes. Hard to really comment on yet.

I bought a three shelve bookcase while at Target today. I put it together this afternoon and put all our DVDs and my workout stuff in it. I think I like it. Next real project for the apartment is the kitchen. It needs overhauled again. I need to pull more stuff out of it. I have the before pictures, complete with dishes in the sink. :) I fully expect this project to occur over a month or so. With school starting up that has to be my major focus.

Beginning Photo

This is a photo of my husband and I from December 4, 2010. Josh was an usher in a friend's wedding, and this was taken in the photo booth. A good picture of us, and a good beginning photo, I think, for me.

And, yes, Josh has longer hair than I do (you can't see it incredibly well here). I love it. When it's straightened, he reminds me of Christian Kane. They have the same type of hair. Naturally curly and a bit bushy if left to it's own devices...



And this one is from October when Josh was in his cousin's wedding.

Am I Ready?

I was successful in weight loss back when I blogged regularly. And I think if I get back into the blogging thing it will boast my success again. I've tried coming back to it in the past (since I quit in 2008) but it hasn't worked yet. Just like my attempts since then in Weight Watchers, I wasn't ready.

I think I have shown that I'm ready for the weight loss this time. I rejoined Weight Watchers November 9, 2010. I have lost 7.4 pounds since then. 6.4 pounds of that is on the new PointsPlus program, and the only gain during that time was New Years. And I know what caught me then. And it is not anything I normally do. I've been suffering from quite the migraine this week, so it likely will not be a good week again. But that is ok. I know that things happen, and am ready to accept this things without feeling like a failure.

I will try the blogging thing again now. I have not gotten back into exercise yet. BUT, that will happen this week. Not today, probably not tomorrow. I will definitely get a workout in before I finish this three-day weekend. That is my goal for the weekend. I hope this forum helps me. We'll see.

My To-Do List for the coming week:

-Get in a work out, most likely a Tae Bo video on Monday

-Go grocery shopping since I am out of food!

-Buy a food scale. (I had one years ago, but most of the pieces got lost during one move or another.)

-Get back to tracking my food (I do not feel bad about letting it slip during the migraine, but it's time to get back on track!)

-WEIGH IN MONDAY! (seeing the folks I chat with at the Monday WW meeting is the big event on Mondays and I always miss these folks when they are not there.)

-Make it through the first week of classes at the Uni without any major insanities.

So, here I am, trying again. And I'm thinking it should work this time. I'll be back in a few days to say more about what's going on with me now, and how I'm progressing on that to-do list.

Still out of whack....

Even a week after Spring Break I am still tired.

It was a fun trip home, even if I was barely able to sleep. My sweet niece can take up most of a queen size bed on her own. She just shoves you out of the way. :)

Of course, I was unlucky enough to have a two day migraine this week too. And, day two of the migraine was when I had a test in finance. But I THINK I did ok on it. The test was definitely easier than the practice test he gave us. :)

And I got my grade from my Database mid-term. It was a 99 or something. I guess I missed a few questions, because I seem to recall a bonus credit thing being given during the 40 minutes of talking she did before we took the mid-term. Would have done better if not for that!

And our office move has been postponed AGAIN. We should be moving the week of May 19th. That's during the intersession, so at least we shouldn't be really busy. And I'm already as packed as I can be and still do my job. There's only one box to go, and it's the computer, my fan, pens, tape...that kind of thing. And we should have plenty of boxes for everyone else to pack. Hopefully we will actually move this time.

And that's really it for me. I've been half-way watching the first season of Heroes. Pretty interesting show. And I just finished reading White Night by Jim Butcher. Love Harry Dresden!!!

Freaking out a bit...

I have recently learned that I'll be picking up my 5 year old niece to take to Momma's with me for the rest of the week. I have never been on a road trip with a child. At least Jackie has assured me that the worst is that Ashleigh will likely talk my ear off, and maybe say that she is thirsty. I'm still freaking out a bit though. I guess that is normal.

So, I ensured that my car is entirely cleaned out, even the trunk. I usually just put everything in the backseat when I drive up. But with the little one I'll need to use the trunk.

And I just realized that I have not bought gas yet. Guess I'll do that in the morning on the way out of town...

Busy Bee

I may have a week off work for Spring Break, but I'm still busy. I'll admit that I didn't do much of anything today (except get an oil change!) but I'm still sore from Saturday.

Saturday afternoon I bought 2 3-shelf bookcases for the living room. And I pulled EVERYTHING from one corner of the living room to clean and put in these cases. That portion of the room looks much better. One of the bookshelves replaced my side table beside the recliner. The table was never steady, and I needed the storage space. The other case is just inside the apartment door, where there used to be a black recliner. I moved that recliner to the other end of the couch to replace the folding chair that was full of junk. The first bookcase has a ton of books in it. The other bookcase has movies, video games, board games, and miscellaneous stuff. I still need some organizational work done in/on both shelves. But at least the stuff is not just piled on the floor anymore.

Tomorrow, after an early doctor appointment, I'll work in another portion of the living room. Saturday was almost all my stuff that was cleaned up. Tomorrow I will work on stuff that is mostly Josh's stuff. I'm thinking that another bookcase may be in order. While I know that 5-shelf bookcases are more space efficient, they don't work for the areas I have to currently but them. And something is better than nothing, right? Especially if it starts to get things in order!

I would love to work in the kitchen/dining room areas, but I won't have time for that. I need to box up all the kitchen stuff that I never use. This would give me space to store the things we use, such as the wok, the big skillet, the crockpot. As it is, all the cabinets are full of things that I never use. And I have several of the same size of some pieces of corning ware. Maybe I can work on that at Easter when I have a day off again.

Wednesday morning I leave to visit my parents for a few days. I'll drive up first thing in the morning. I'm meeting my sister for lunch on the way. Then Momma will have me until either late Saturday or early Sunday. I'm sure that she will keep me fairly busy while I'm there. It will be good to go up for an extended trip. Weekends just never leave time for everything. I just wish I had time to do more in the apartment before I left. I just didn't feel like working on it today. :)

Random Fangirl Outburst

I just found out that Kelley Armstrong will be coming to Jackson in September! She is one of my favorite authors!!!!!! This stop is part of the Smart Chicks Kick It Tour.

The tour is for YA Paranormal. I haven't read all of Armstrong's YA series, but I'll definitely have to get some of it while I'm there. Now I just have to learn more about the other authors that will be at the Jackson stop. Holly Black is the only other one that I am familiar with. (I like her work too, but I don't read her like I do Kelley Armstrong...)

Ok, back to your regularly scheduled programming.

Sportsmanship

The Kotei in Lafayette, LA, yesterday was terrific. It was fun to see all the Lafayette guys again. I had originally met them at Mobicon last year, and played in one of their local tournaments a while back. I really like these guys. I also met several other great guys while we were there. There were 44 players in the tournament, and I really liked a lot of them. I don't think I actually spoke with everyone. And I certainly don't remember all of the names.

Some of the highlights include:

-Meeting Steve Argyle. He's a pretty cool guy. I got a playmat from him (signed), and he did some sketches for Josh and I.

-Seeing Todd Rowland again was cool. I met him at Mobicon last year, and it was cool that he drove in for the Kotei.

-Teaching a guy how to play L5R. In the 6th round, my opponent had already left. So I was asked to teach a guy how to play. That was cool. My 7th round opponent was Josh. I gave him the win because I was still playing the teaching game (and I can play him whenever!). I don't remember the guy's name, but he was really nice. He picked it up quickly.

-I got to see Patrick again. Patrick lives on the MS Gulf Coast, and has driven up to Hattiesburg a few times to hang out. He has started a play group on the Coast and brought his two best players with him. We ate supper with them, and they are all really cool. We hope to drive down and play with them sometime soon.

-The awesome theme deck. I didn't play David, but his deck was awesome. He was playing Crane, and his theme was the theater. His opponent could select either Hamlet or Romeo and Juliet (I'm fairly certain those were the two). Then he had a script and did the play as the game progressed. I only saw bits and pieces of it through the day but it was cool. He even had a playmat that was set up as a stage, with trapdoors for the provinces. And fliers posted on the walls advertising the two plays. He made it into the Top 8 with his deck. I wanted to watch, but he had lost his voice by that point.

-The games I played and the opponents. I only won one game. But all of the games were fun and I learned a lot. The first game was with Andrew. I don't remember where he is from, but I really liked him. Very friendly. I also learned why everyone says the Lion are so awesome right now. I played with David, a Crane player who I think was from Texas. He, and some of the other players, gave me tips after the games as to how I could improve my deck and how I was supposed to be playing some of the cards in them. I wish I remembered the other players' names. But I am horrible with names, so I've gotten used to it. There were some terrific players, and everyone was very friendly. (I was the only girl. It was odd, but not uncomfortable or anything.)

-We were also invited to the Montgomery Kotei in May. We may go to it. The Lafayette guys offered to let us share a hotel room with them, but I don't know if we will or not. We were also invited to a Kotei in Texas, but that is farther than we are willing to go.

And the last highlight of the day for me. I was shocked when they named me Best Sportsman. Of course, as soon as Wilbur said 'she' everyone knew who had won. It was said that even though I had some bad games (I lost a lot and some of them were REALLY bad...) I stayed cheerful through the whole day and continued to play. Then taught someone else how to play the game. I'm sure I turned red after hearing all that. But, I went there as a fairly new player only intending to learn. I learned with every game, so there was no reason to get upset. I got a few packs of cards and an awesome honor counter. Since I play honor running decks (as opposed to military) this will be very useful. And I had been planning to purchase one anyway.

Just the quick news...

The Uni is closed for Spring Break. YAY!!!! And I'll be driving up to have lunch with my sister on that Wednesday, then spend the rest of the week with Momma. It should be fun. Other than the driving, although I have several audiobooks on my MP3 player to handle that.

And, my office was supposed to relocate just before Spring Break. This has been postponed until Easter. Maybe everything will be done for us to move then. We were originally supposed to move at Christmas. Of course, I already have everything boxed up that I can possibly work without. I'll be getting more boxes for the office this week. We HAVE to be ready considering how we have complained with each setback. I'm ready for this to be finished. I hate waiting!

Kotei Upcoming!

This weekend is a relatively local Kotei. It's a 4 hour drive, but it's the closest we'll get.

Of course, I should actually say what a Kotei is, shouldn't I? My husband is major into a collective card game, Legend of the 5 Rings, or L5R. It's a fun game that I also enjoy playing. I just don't get quite as into it as he does. :) A Kotei is one of the major tournaments for the game. Winners of a regional Kotei are pre-qualified for the big events, such as the tournament at GenCon or the European championships.

None of the folks going from Hattiesburg have a chance of winning. But it will be fun to see folks that play, and to get some playing in. I'm technically a noob, as I have not played much. I have played in two tournaments before though. But nothing like this. The other cool thing about the Kotei is that Steve Argyle, a fantastic artist, will be there. Josh will definitely be picking up some prints from him. And, even if I chose not to participate in the actual Kotei, $20 apparently allows you to play in draft games all day long. I imagine that after we lose a few games and are out of the Kotei playing, we will all do some drafting. I suck at draft. But it is a great way to get cards!

Josh talked to one of the players in Lafayette, LA, and he gave a ton of suggestions to improve my deck. I can't wait to see how it works out. It will be a tiring day, especially with 8 hours on the road, but it will be fun.

Of course, our gaming group has a name and t-shirts. We are the Unstored, because there is not a store in our state, last I knew. (There might be now, but it isn't in our area.) I have t-shirt with the logo on it to wear this weekend. Josh and Joe, a friend who is major into the game as well, have shirts with their own cards on the back. The rule is, once you play in a Kotei you can have a card. We are working on mine now. I play the Phoenix clan, and we've decided I will likely use an animal avatar, a wolf. Now I just have to figure out everything else!!!