I want my morning back!!!

I spent the entire morning in the doctor's office. And there is no telling what the bill is going to be. And all the guy told me was to lose weight and follow a mediterranean diet. And we would check my cholesterol again in a year. That's it. I could have been at work if that's all it was going to be!!!!

Well, I've repaired the damage I did over last weekend. And I'm going to be a good, on-program hot chick this weekend. I'm doing a 5K (Run For Love) on Saturday morning, so I know I'll have a lot of good exercise in that day. And I will do something really light on Sunday. The worry is food, and I intend to do well on that.

Last night I was planning to hit the circuit room at our gym, but got drug into Beginner Yoga instead. It was cool. I'll definitely be doing that agian next Wednesday after work. And if I like it after another visit, I'll go looking for the perfect yoga mat. Because I'm just nutty like that. :) I'll be doing Water Aerobics agian tonight, and hit the circuit room tomorrow.

Well, I want to apologize in advance for not hitting everyone's blogs today. Since I didn't get to work until 1:00 I just don't have the time today. But I should be able to hit everybody tomorrow. And should work decide against that, I will make time for it over the weekend!

I've been a bit bored at work this afternoon and start prowling around online quizzes. When I saw this particular quiz I just HAD to try it out. I just had to find out if my blog was the right color!!! Crazy, huh? SOOOO...What color is your blog?

OH! And I've actually been thinking about changing the color of this blog to purple. One of my older ones was.... :)

Your Blog Should Be Purple

You're an expressive, offbeat blogger who tends to write about anything and everything. You tend to set blogging trends, and you're the most likely to write your own meme or survey. You are a bit distant though. Your blog is all about you - not what anyone else has to say.

What Color Should Your Blog or Journal Be?

Challenge Time!!!

Ok, time to plug Make Yourself A Priority in 2007! We've had a wonderful time so far this year in the Challenge and I think we are all doing wonderful things together. It takes support to really make a change in our lives and I personally think that this is a great place to get support. We set our own challenges each month (because who knows better than you what you need to work on!) and you can make it as hard or as easy as you need to. We're all on different fitness levels, we're all different weights, and we all have different personalities. But we share a dream to be healthier and a desire to help others reach that same goal.

Starting on February 25th we will be taking on challengers for March. So start thinking about if you want to participate in the challenge, and if so, what do you want to work on it March? We are also doing a 40-day challenge in conjunction with Lent. So, if you want to come on board in March, feel free to give up a bad habit as well. Together we can all be as healthy as we want to be. And even make a few new friends along the way.

As for my challenge, I think I have done well this month. I have kept up my exercise routine better than I thought I would. A few days have only consisted of walking, but that's great exercise too. Especially after you put on a 10-lbs. backpack! I plan to work on a different weakness in March. I still have a tendency to go off program on the weekends. In two days I can easily destroy all the good work and progress I've made during the week. My goal is to stay on program during the weekend. Within the next few days I will get a tracker set up for this challenge, and plan to stay on track this weekend, even though it isn't March. It's sad to think that lately my weekends have been more about how much damage I can do to my efforts than about staying on track. And that has to change. And it starts changing now!!!!

I hope that those of you not participating think about joining us for March. And, of course, I hope to see all our previous challengers signing back up (assuming life isn't getting in the way right now!) :)

You Are: 70% Dog, 30% Cat

You and dogs definitely have a lot in common. You're both goofy, happy, and content with the small things in life. However, you're definitely not as needy as the average dog. You need your down time occasionally.

Are You More Cat or Dog?

Group Challenge!!!

Well, it's Group Challenge Time over at Make Yourself a Priority. And this time we're serious! What are you giving up for Lent!?!

Now, I'm not Catholic and honestly have no desire to be. Nothing against Catholics, but what works for you doesn't for me. I do, however, understand the concept of fasting and think it is of great importance to our spiritual lives. (For those of us that actually have spiritual lives, anyway.) As a matter of fact, my church Temple Baptist undergoes a period of fasting.

But, that is all off topic. The topic is: What Am I Giving Up For The Next 40 Days? I've pondered this for a while now. Although my church doesn't fast during Lent, unless they changed the time this year and I missed it, I do at least every other year. One of my friends has contemplated giving up his friends for Lent (our non-Christian friends who have a tendency to ridicule half our beliefs occassionally), but I know that this is a bit extreme. While it would leave me plenty of time to exercise, I would probably not enjoy it. I wish I could give up work, but I don't have that many personal hours. I could give up school, but can't afford the F that would come up with it. I could give up exercise but that would be against the point of this challenge. I could give up sugary desserts, but there is no reason to set myself up for failure. SOOOO, what do I give up for Lent?

I have decided to give up carbonated beverages for Lent. This should work out well because I will avoid all of those empty calories that just run through your system. I will also avoid the whole rotting your teeth thing too. And since I have been drinking a lot less Pepsi anyway, this should be reasonable.

And just so everyone knows, the next week is going to SUCK!!!!

Positive!!!!

I, like many bloggers out there this week, am feeling really positive about this week. Even taking into account a gain last week, or maybe in spite of it. I didn't feel positive yesterday. Or, at least, yesterday afternoon. I got hit with a BAD headache around 3 pm. NOT fun. It made my last hour of work miserable. AND then we had to go to the inlaws. The hubby's car has to be fixed, and his dad took care of getting the estimate and everything while we borrowed his car. So we were going to switch cars while we waited for the shop to be ready to fix it. WELL, when we tried to leave in our car we didn't even make it out to the highway before it had a flat. So we ended up taking his dad's car back home with us. And didn't get home until after 8. I went straight to bed. I didn't feel great when I woke up, but I do feel much better today. I feel a lingering headache, but not enough to keep me down. I'll be going to water aerobics tonight. If it's really quiet at work this afternoon I might take off around 3:30 and do two sessions of water aerobics this evening. Then shopping. I think. Maybe not. I should feel GREAT after two sessions of that. Although I might not feel like carrying anything. :) I really hope that works out.

And I hope that everyone has a FANTASTIC day, and a FANTASTIC week!

Weigh In Experience and Others

Well, I sabotaged my own efforts again this weekend. I won't go into much detail, other than to say lots of calories, not lots of activity. I gained a half-pound when I went to weigh in during lunch. I WILL LOSE next week. This is a guarantee. I will be active every day. I will stay on my eating program. I will probably be getting a new eating program when I go to the doctor Thursday morning.

When I did my Biggest Winners weigh in on Thursday morning they had our cholesterol test results for us. Mine was 222. I need it to be lower. So I called this morning and made an appointment to see a doctor so we can decide what to do about it. I know that they are going to basically tell me to watch my diet and exercise, but for the most part I have been doing that. But I am going to have to do a much better job at it. And that's all there is to it. PERIOD. My father has high cholesterol and has had to have some stuff done. I don't want to be where he is in a few years. I want to get this taken care of NOW.

Your Brain is Blue

Of all the brain types, yours is the most mellow. You tend to be in a meditative state most of the time. You don't try to think away your troubles. Your thoughts are realistic, fresh, and honest. You truly see things as how they are. You tend to spend a lot of time thinking about your friends, your surroundings, and your life.

What Color Is Your Brain?

I just saw the above on Denise's blog and just had to take the quiz. It's very accurate for me. I do spend a lot of time thinking about friends and family, including all my blogging friends. If y'all have a minute or two sometime try out the quiz. It doesn't take long at all!

Water Aerobics was a bit different last night. It was much more strength than aerobic. While most of the people in the class didn't like it, I rather enjoyed it. Between some supplement strength training, the class, and walking on campus I managed an amazing 11 activity points yesterday. I was kinda surprised. Of course, I ate those points, so I guess it's a good thing.

I have a test today in my online course so I won't be browsing everyone's blogs this morning. I HAVE to study as much as possible. I'm hoping that since it is the Friday before the Mardi Gras holiday I won't have to worry about us actually having customers.

One of my coworkers drove down to Hammond, LA, last night for a parade. He brought me a ton of beads and four cups. I didn't actually expect him to bring me anything when he said he would on his way out the door. One of the strands of beads actually matches the salmon-colored top I'm wearing today, so I put it on.

I posted Friday's Feast below. It's an interesting weekly meme that lets prople get to know one another. I certainly don't post it every week, but I'm going to try and start doing it on a regular basis. Maybe guaranteed twice a month or something. I want to thank TC for turning me on to this meme.

I hope that everyone has a wonderful weekend, and I'll try to play catchup before Monday rolls around!

Friday's Feast

Appetizer
What sound, other than the normal ringing, would you like your telephone to make?
I think I would like for it to play 'Words that We Couldn't Say'. It's a kinda sad song, but I've always loved it.

Soup
Describe your usual disposition in meteorological terms (partly cloudy, sunny, stormy, etc.).
Sunny with a chance of storms. May not make sense, but that's me!

Salad
What specific subject do you feel you know better than any other subjects?
Stupidity. There's nothing I know better!

Main Course
Imagine you were given the ability to remember everything you read for one entire day. Which books/magazines/newspapers would you choose to read?
ONLY A DAY!!!! I could never pick which four books to read given such a small time frame! Could we change it to a week???

Dessert
If a popular candy maker contacted you to create their next confection, what would it be like and what would you name it?
I would create a chocolate with no fat or calories. I would name it Sinless.

If you are interested in Friday's Feast, get the questions here!

News For All!

I would first like to say that I have repaired my damage since last Thursday and managed to lose another pound on biggest winners. I'm proud of that pound. I hope for something larger next week when I'm not trying to play catchup!!!

My husband is off the hook on the 3 pound dumbells. His parent's picked me up a set for Valentine's Day. They aren't the kind I would pick up (I prefer neoprene so they aren't slick) but they will certianly do the job where I need them too. The holder is a nice touch on them though.

I'm looking forward to Water Aerobics tonight, and to my BW educational class at lunch. I don't have a clue what I'll be eating for lunch since I can't go get something, but that's ok. I'll pick up something on my way. I pass the campus convenience store and they usually have lunchables. They aren't exactly points-friendly, but they are food. :)

I hope that everyone is having a wonderful day, and I will chat with y'all later!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!!!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!!! Have a wonderful day, celebrate to your heart's content, but try not to eat TOO many of those chocolates!!!

So, I have two presents that I want to spotlight.

First, the present from Tee, my January cheerleader, that came in yesterday. Brasilian dance workout. I've only had a chance to read the cover, but it sounds exciting. I can't wait to work out to it tonight. I'm thinking that it and my belly dance video will be perfect for working out on the weekends when I would really rather stay home. So, after I have time to work out to this video a couple of times expect to see a reveiw. She asked for suggestions of videos I might like to have, and I'm really happy that she decided to get this one sent to me.

I have been talking for a while that I would love to have some 3 and 5 pound dumbbells for my strength training. While I generally buy the plain neoprene covered ones, the hubby picked me up a set of 5 lb go walking weights. I already had some 1.5 lbs in these, and they aren't bad. You can strap them onto your hand, then you don't have to hold them quite so tight. I think I will really appreciate this. He also gave me a beautiful card, a small box of dove milk chocolates (and I only eat about half the candies in the selection so that was a GREAT choice to keep me from eating too many of them), and an IOU note for a set of 3 lb weights. I'm excited to get to use them. I think I might start to really feel my strength training since I'll have decent weights for it. The weights pictured on the side aren't the EXACT ones he bought me, but there are the same style. I didn't have time to take a picture of them this morning so I stole one from the internet! Another good thing about these weights is that they are fairly safe to use when walking so I can pick them up for a good arm workout when walking if I want too!

Well, I hope that everyone has a fantastic day. I'm heading over to a health fair on campus. It's not so much that I WANT to go, but it's worth five points on my Biggest Winners program. I want to do good by my team, so I'm going to go visit over my lunch break. I'll get some more walking in today if nothing else!!!! (By the way, I went to Water Aerobics last night and I think I lost over a pound just during that session!! LOL)

Abigail "ABBY" Raven Taylor

As all of my readers know, my new neice was born Thursday, and is HUGE! Below are a few pictures to show her off. She is beautiful!!!!! (Of course, I think the rest of the family is too, but I'm biased..I know)

This is Abby and her momma, just a few hours after she was born. Jackie looks really good to have delivered a baby just that morning!

Grandma and the new grandbaby! My mother doesn't look old enough to have grandkids does she? She's over fifty, and doesn't look a day over forty if you ask me. Of course, you didn't did you?

This is the happy new father. My brother-in-law Kenneth is a big man, but that certianly doesn't dwarf the size of his daughter. They are cute together, aren't they!

Ashleigh loves her little sister, but she sometimes gets a little cranky since Momma can't pick her up right now. But I think she is going to be a great older sister to Abby, and since they are only two years apart I think they will grow up well together. I imagine that they will fight more than Jackie and I did though considering we were nine years apart!

Here's one of me and my new neice before I headed home on Saturday. They had only been home from the hospital a few hours, and Abby certianly does seem to sleep a lot. I know that is normal, but Ashleigh was incredibly alert when she was real young. Of course, Abby seemed to be either wide awake or sound asleep with no inbetween stage.

And I'll leave you with a picture of just Abby, asleep in her carrier after they got home. She already fills that thing out, doesn't she? Momma told us at the hospital Thursday night that she looks more like Jackie and I did when we were born than Ashleigh did. We also think she is going to have hazel eyes and her hair will be lighter than her sister's hair. It's going to be exciting to see how she changes over the next couple of years!!!!

EDIT: Jackie has some better shots up on her blog now, Follow our Bliss.

Updates!!!!

Ok, I still feel like crap and am sneezing all the time. But at least I'm able to work, even if it's not of wonderful quality.

I weighed in last night but didn't stay for the meeting. I didn't want to be interrupting the room with one of my obnoxiously loud sneezes every minute or so. I had lost 2.5 pounds. (One-tenth of a pound more and she would have put down three pounds instead. But that's ok!)

Even though I felt bad last night I made sure to do a short upper body strength training session. I seriously need it, so I wasn't about to skip doing SOMETHING!

I'm walked to work this morning even though I feel kinda bad and it was raining REALLY bad when I woke up. It wasn't raining at all when I left the apartment, but I will probably get soaked on the way home from water aerobics. Of course, I could just walk home wet, but that is probably a bad idea.

I have downloaded the baby pictures from my camera. I just have to decide which ones I want to put up here for y'all. I took a lot of pictures. :) But I will have that done by the end of the day!

Oopps!!!

I forgot the cable for my camera today, so no pictures of the new neice just yet. Either tonight or tomorrow. PROMISE!!!!

Abigail Raven Taylor was born 2/12/2007 @ 7:58 am. She weighed an amazing 10 lbs 11.8 oz and was 21 inches long!!!! (And just as a side note to make some of the mothers sick, my sister gained 11, MAYBE 12 pounds during her pregnancy!) She is beautiful and I will post some pictures as soon as I get them downloaded to the laptop.

I was horrible this weekend. I didn't eat all that well (spent most of my time on the road) and didn't get much exercise in (same), but I intend to start fixing that. I hope to have time for my strength training tonight, but no guarantees. I made a 56 on my first Business Ethics test and really need to spend time preparing for the one this Friday. I HAVE to improve that score. I haven't done that bad on a test in a long time. I'm also getting sick, which sucks. The hubby has been sick for a while now, and I'm catching it. I think it's partially the weather going from hot one day, to cold the next, and then hot again. It's made my poor head miserable. And I can't afford to miss any more work, so I have to work through the undesireable from now on. Valentine's day is coming up and I have no idea what to pick up for the hubby. Or what to tell him to get me. I told him I needed some dumbbells.

I have weigh in tonight and I'm not looking forward to it at all. I really don't want to go, but I know I have to. If it hadn't been for the miserable end of the week (eating and exercising wise) I wouldn't care so much. I would probably be looking forward to it. I'm also thinking of changing my Biggest Winner weigh in to Tuesday mornings before work so that I can just get the weighing done and not have to worry towards the end of the week. And I think that might be great motivation for me to work really hard all week long. But I think I will leave the determination on if I actually do that to whether or not I sleep through my alarm clock in the morning. :) I was supposed to try starting a running program this morning, but slept through my alarm.

I hope that everyone had a wonderful weekend and has a good week ahead of them.

Update

I couldn't get my lazy husband out of bed this morning so we STILL haven't left to go visit my sister. I'm a bit upset with him over this.

I weighed in at 226 for th biggest winners program this morning. I'm stumped since that's a 6 pound loss since Wednesday of last week, but my weight watchers weigh in was the same. We'll see how that holds out though.

My new neice is over 10 pounds (I forgot the exact weight) and she is 21 inches long. That's almost as long as I was, and a little heavier!!! We have big babies in this family!

Well, I won't be updating until Sunday, but there will hopefully be pictures up on my sister's blog before then. I'll check up on everyone when I get back!

Well, I didn't make it to the gym yet again due to another migraine. I'm hoping that with a little experimentation I will get them under control again.

I did manage to wear a pair of pants today that I haven't worn since September. Then, they were too tight and I couldn't wear them long. I wore them to work today and they were rather comfortable. I hoping that means a couple of other pants that I have stuck back will fit again. But I will wait until I get back on Sunday to find out.http://jackietaylor.blogspot.com/

I'm leaving in the morning to go meet my new niece! I won't have pictures posted her before Sunday (probably Monday) but Jackie is supposed to get someone to post pictures on her blog tomorrow! So everyone feel free to go over there sometime to check things out.

I hope everyone has a wonderful end of the week and a terrific weekend.

Just a quick update!

I did go to water aerobics. I really enjoyed it. I spent nearly twn minutes in the sauna when I was finished and before I took my shower. That gave me a few more minutes with some of the crazy older ladies I like, and gave everyone else in the class time to get their showers. There are only three showers in the fac/staff locker room, and thewre are a few people that RUN back to get those after class. I refuse to be a in a hurry when I'm there. I wouldn't go if there was somewhere I just HAD to be shortly after. Gym time is MY time. However, I again couldn't get in my locker (mis-remembered the combination) and plan to just remove the lock and not leave anything valuable there overnight. Just shower stuff and pony-tail holders. $20 loss max on what I leave.

I plan to do a bit of a strength workout when I finish this, but I probably won't duplicate many exercises from the class. I didn't get to do it last night, and I'm feeling a bit better now so I should take advantage.

I hope I still fel like some gym time tomorrow. I will do 20 minutes minimum on the bike (unless I'm so bad I have to get a ride home) and hit the circuit training room if all is good.

Hope everyone has a wonderful evening and a good day tomorrow!

EDIT: I'm going to have to pick up some heavier dumbbells when I have money. These 2 lb weights just aren't going to cut it!

Life Sucks

Just so everyone knows. I seriously want my money back.

I developed a serious migraine yesterday afternoon. I slept from before 6 last night until after 6 this morning. It was gone, but is now coming back.

The bank that my husband's car loan is through decided to sit on his January car payment for a month. We are overdrawn over $400 now. And I don't get paid until Thursday. We may not like our food options, but at least we have some.

I have water aerobics tonight. And I'm gonna go. But after the bank episode, and the returning migraine it will not be happy fun time. That and the fact tht none of my friends go.

On a slightly happier note, I stayed the same at my weigh in this week. I would have stayed for the meeting if I hadn't felt like my head was going to explode. I just hope the feeling goes away this afternoon.

Well, I hope everyone else is having a better week than I, and I will check in with everyone later!

Monday's Started

I hate starting the week. It's not that I dislike Monday's as much as everyone else does. And when they have problems on Monday they LOVE to take them out on the people in my office. I guess that is just part of being in tech support.

I'm not feeling confident about tonight's weigh in. I don't think I did well, although I've started back to a somewhat regular workout routine. I even got in my first strength training workout on Saturday evening. I'll be doing that again tonight. And I plan to try and do more than I did on Saturday. But I don't think tonight will look good.

I received an e-mail this morning from the lady over the Biggest Winners program. She refused to name names, but someone in my group didn't do their measurements or lipid profile. I can't help but wonder who...But I'll probably never know! I did mine and can't wait to go over the results of it. I'm excited to fine out just how bad a shape I've let my body get into. Strange thing to hear, huh?

I didn't get in a lot of exercise yesterday, although I had planned on it. I did my belly dancing video and then sat down and spent most of the day watching The Closer. I didn't even watch the Superbowl. And then I couldn't sleep last night. It isn't making for a great day today, that's for sure.

I had my yearly appointment with the OB/GYN this morning. He's a sweet old man who greeted me with "So no kiddies yet I see!" It did amuse me. He also started me on Seasonique, so I get to be quarterly instead of monthly again. I'm kinda excited about that!

Well, I think I will leave it at this for now. I'll post either tonight or in the morning about my weigh in. Promise to be honest about it too!!!

So, I don't have a lot of time for news at the moment. Of course, there isn't much.

SOOOO...I'll just introduce my February Cheerleader. This month Joy (see her wonderful blog here) will be leading everyone in cheering me on. I'm really exciting to be cheering her on this month because she is a really great person and just moved back home to Ireland after living in Dubai for a while.

Everyone have a wonderful weekend!!!! And go wish Meghan a happy birthday on Monday!

Joke for Friday!!!

When you have a "I hate my job" day, try this. On your way home from work, stop at your pharmacy and go to the thermometer section and purchase a rectal thermometer made by Johnson & Johnson. Be very sure you get this brand.
When you get home, lock your doors, draw the curtains and disconnect the phone so you will not be disturbed. Change into very comfortable cothing and sit inyour favorite chair.
Open the package and remove the thermometer. Now, carefully place it on a table or a surface so that it will not become chipped or broken. Now the fun part begins. Take out the literature and read it carefully. You will notice that in small print there is a statement, "Every Rectal Thermometer made by Johnson & Johnson is personally tested".
Now, close your eyes and repeat out loud five times, "I am so glad I do not work in the Thermometer quality control department at Johnson & Johnson."

Thanks to David (a coworker) for sharing this wonderful joke with me.

FRIDAY'S FEAST

Feast One Hundred & Twenty Nine

Appetizer

What was one of the fashion fads when you were a teenager? When I was a teenager everyone was wearing two shirts. Even in Mississippi when it was hot as Hades outside!!!! I just never understood...

Soup

Name one thing you think people assume about you when they first meet you. A lot of people this I'm strict and don't know how to have fun. I've also been told that I act sophisticated, a work I have never associated with myself. I just happen to be shy.

Salad

On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being highest, how hard do you work? Definitely a 10. I work my ass off, although I have a tendency to procrastinate a lot too....

Main Course

If you were given a free 30-second commercial during the Super Bowl to sell anything you currently own, what would you advertise? I would advertise my car. I occassionally wonder why I have one, and then I really need it. (Like Weight Watchers meetings on Mondays...)

Dessert

Fill in the blank: I love to ________ when it is _________. I love to exercise when it is cold.

Get the Friday's Feast code here!!!

Welcome to February!!!

Well, so far I have not started the month on the right foot, but I claim it isn't my fault!!!

I was planning to get up and go to yoga at 6:30 this morning, but woke up with a bad headache instead. The extra sleep didn't help, but I still came to work. I can function, just not very well. I also have a slightly stuffy head, so it might all be sinus related. Oh the joy!

I added the February Challenges blogroll to my sidebar and made a visit to all the new challengers this morning. Of course, since blogger is being stupid I wasn't able to leave comments for everyone. I promise to have a comment left for EVERYONE whose blog I visit by Monday evening. I'm giving myself that long because I have a test tomorrow night that I am not ready for. I'm going to try and get some studying in around actually working, and then I'm not all that great about blogging on the weekends anyway.

We had some not so great excitement at the apartment last night. My husband and a friend of ours are going to be in a two-headed giant Magic tournament that is coming up. So he, his wife, and their daughter came to visit last night so they could be looking at cards and deciding what to play. Of course, there is a new set of cards coming out Friday, so they didn't do much other than look at what Josh and I have so that they can be thinking. Well, to get on with the story, we had to rush to make the apartment baby safe because Raegan is just over a year old and goes everywhere! So, we cleaned up the living room and Josh closed up the laundry room, bedroom, and back room (his personal mess!). Well, he didn't realize that the door had one of those push button locks. And we don't have the key for it. Well, we were trying knives, precision screwdrivers, and wire coat hangers in an attempt to get this door open. It wouldn't have been such a big deal except that our main closet is in that room. And I needed clothes for work!!!! I knew I was hitting the mechanism and pushing it, but the damned door wouldn't unlock. Our friends showed up while we were working on it, and Joe finally got the door unlocked. I taped the door latch so it won't happen again. Because otherwise it would. Luckily there is enough suction on the door so that it will stay closed when pulled too. That might not keep a toddler out, but it makes me feel better about the mess behind the door anyway!!!

Well, I'm off to do some studying, working, and hopefully finish some updating to the sidebar of my blog today. Good luck to everyone in starting their February challenges today. And WELCOME to all the new challengers!!!


One other note: Thank you so much for cheering me on through January Tee!!!! You were a wonderful cheerleader and I couldn't have done it without you. Whoever gets your for February will be very lucky indeed!!!!

Time To Move On!!!

And NO, I'm not leaving. I plan to be here for a long time yet. Just hopefully a little smaller! I'm referring to our Challenges. We've worked hard in January, and it's time for February. New challenges, new roadblocks, new determination to continue. I actually started the really profound post over on the challenge board, but it died halfway through. Not Bloggers fault (for once!) but all my own. My brain decided to revolt halfway through and I was stuck trying not to sound TOO stupid finishing it. I don't think I did incredibly well, but that's not important.

And now, on to life!

Like Jeannie, I had gym woes this week. I was supposed to start Water Aerobics Tuesday night. I was really excited about it to. But between being out late shopping, trouble sleeping, AND an alarm clock not going off Tuesday morning I didn't get my stuff together. SOO, as I ran (well, walked quickly. I don't run) to work, I planned to stop and grab all that on my way to the bank at lunch. So, I left for lunch late in hopes of having a better time getting everything done. Signing up for the Biggest Winner program took longer than I expected, the bank took longer than expected (1 person working over the lunch hour, very long wait) and I didn't have time to get by the apartment.
I was determined to get a workout in even if it wasn't water aerobics. As I was walking to the locker room Ms. Susan, one of the ladies I know with rec sports, asked if I was going. I told her what happened and she told me that there were several women in the fac/staff locker room getting ready to go. So, I walk in and the first person I see is Ms. Mary, THE sweetest lady on our campus. She asked if I was going, and I told her. She asked if I had any shorts to wear! I smiled, pulled up my long skirt and said "I have a petti-slip! Does that count?" She laughed at me.
So, since I couldn't do water aerobics I spend about 20 minutes on a bike with my textbook instead. It wasn't optimal, but it worked. I'm going to TRY to make it to the lunch meeting for Biggest Winner tomorrow (assuming I can get someone to cover my job) and then do water aerobics. If nothing else I will still get my swimsuit to the gym for next week.

To top it all off, I couldn't get my damn locker opened. But the fac/staff locker room has a locked door so I just left everything out on the bench. It was fine. I might be doing that during my short ride tonight since I forget the card with my locker combination on it again. I'm sure I just forgot the combination since I only got the locker the other day.

Well, I hope everyone is having a wonderful week. I think I managed to stop by all my blogs today (and have for several days in a row!) and left comments. So, everybody get some good sleep tonight and try to be energetic about the last half of the week!

Biggest Winners at Southern Miss

It turns out that I was able to get on a team for this program at work. I'm on a team that consists of faculty, staff, and students. So we get to be a little different. I got a glance at the list of my team members today, but I only recognized one name. And it isn't someone that I know well, I've just talked to her on the phone a few times.

Anyway, I think I will enjoy the program. They are going to weigh me and do measurements either tomorrow or Wednesday. I will alos be getting a lipid profile done as well as a DEXA scan to check my bone density. We earn points for varius activities, and this goes through mid-April. I'm really excited!!!!

I get points for attending classes at the Payne Center, exercising by myself (on days I don't attend classes), getting my lipid profile and DEXA scan, attending educational meetings, four weeks of food journals, AND weighing in each week. There are even 4 Saturday events that are worth 10 points each!!! Otherwise, the points range 1-5. I won't make all the Saturdays, but I hope to make at least 2 of them. (The first one is while I am out of town.)

I'm all kinds of hyped up about this program. It's Jan 31-April 14. If over the next few weeks you see all kinds of stuff about it, don't be surprised. All of my exercise will count towards this. The only negative that I see so far is that I will be limited to one session of water aerobics a week because the meetings coincide with one of those sessions each week.

I hope to be able to share lots of interesting information from the ed. sessions each week. I make no guarantess since a couple of those are really based on our campus (such as the week that we tour some of the cafeterias), but anything to help others I will post for everyone to read.

Well, I think I'm going to leave it at that today. I will have more about this later in the week I'm sure!

Everyone have a wonderful day/evening/whatever and keep being successful!!!

February Challenge

Tomorrow is the last day to sign up for February in the 2007 Challenge. I hope everyone feels confident going forward this year. January has been a wonderful month for our challengers and we can't wait to go forward. We already have some new challengers signed up for February, so don't be afraid to sign up now. And you don't have to do every month if you don't want to. We all understand that life can get in the way, and sometimes we all need a break.

As for your challenge for the month, that's up to you. We all realize that what works for one person doesn't work for another. And people have different problem areas. Some of the popular ideas are journaling you food, exercising X number of times, drinking X number of glasses of water a day, and losing X number of pounds.

In January I exercised three times a week, at least 30 minutes straight. In February I will be adding 2 days a week of strength training to my schedule. Erin said in reply to one of Amanda's posts "Cardio makes you look good in clothes, weight training makes you look good naked." So, that's what I'm going with this month. It's time to get started on the REALLY looking good. I had planned on this before I read the comment, but I think it puts my reasoning for strength training into one nice phrase. In addition to making us look really good, strength training is what also keeps our bones strong as we age. I'll be uisng the book Strength Training for Women to guide me as I move forward with this. After I've followed plans in the book for a month or two I plan to make a review of it for everyone. I just don't feel like doing so would be appropriate before I have followed the program for a while. What I will say in the beginning is that it goes from a basic 4 exercise starter program through three additional levels of advancement. It is also something that you can do at home with a few pieces of equipment, with some gym machine exercises thrown in for gym memebers.

SOO...The point of this post is to make everyone aware that NOW is the time to sign up for February. Make your goal as basic or complex as you wish. And feel free to keep watching us for another month before joining if you want to. Michelle has started this wonderful program for us, and we have some terrific people from all over the world participating. If you want some support in your plan to improve yourself this year, here is a free, fun way to get it. We are all trying to change ourselves for the better, and we would LOVE to encourage you on your way to a better you!!!

Sickly Weekend...

I was sick for the majority of the weekend, but am feeling much better now. I'm ready to get started again BIG TIME tomorrow. I may not visit the gym, but I will do some stuff otherwise!

I have been searching for the arm strap that came with my p3 player case, but to no avail. So...I logged onto e-bay today and ordered one! I think I will like it. And it was only $7!, with shipping and insurance. I can't wait to get it. I hope it gets here soon. I'm ready to start really using it on my walks to work as well as when I decide to walk on the track. And since I hope to soon being able to start the Couch to 5K program, I would like to have tunes.

Of course, having tunes depends on my computer and Zen Mirco cooperating. I can't get the darned think to dock today. Which makes me mad because there is a lot of music I want to remove, as well as music I want to put on it. But I'm going to keep working with it.

I'm not expecting a terrific weigh in tomorrow, but it should be ok. I plan for the next week's weigh in to be much better!

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and I hope your week starts off well!

Confident!

I feel confident today. I was on my way to get coffee this morning when my husband called to tell me that he forgot that his parents were taking us out to eat tonight. At Fridays. So I changed coffee shops mid stride so I could get a non-fat mocha. So I have 21 points left and I think a low point lunch. The hubby is eating Japanese with some friends so I'm having a lean cuisine. Assuming it actually taste good. But I think it will. I THINK it's roast beef or something. I've had it in the work freezer for a couple of weeks so I'm not positive!!! But that should leave me with sufficient points for tonight. I'm thinking of doing their three course meal again. I didn't like the main course I chose last time, but there were others. But I did like the chocolate/angel food swirl cake thing they had. I think I'll have to use a few WA points, but that's fine too. That's what they are there for!!!! I'm hoping to get a walk in considering I'll be eating something fairly quick here. That would be awesome on top of the walking I've already done today.

Well, everyone have a wonderful weekend and keep moving!!!

Improvement?

I think my day may be about to improve a bit. A coworker had seriously pissed me off, but I am over it. It's amazing what coffee will make you forget...

I planned out my classes for the Summer and Fall semesters. I have advisement in a couple of weeks. For the summer I will be taking Management Information Systems and Fitness Walking. I would like to take Aerobics too, but I don't think that is going to work out. For the fall I will be taking E-Business Application Strategy and Problem Solving in C. I hate school, just so everyone knows. But I promised my parents that I would finish my degree. What is really cool though, one of my coworkers (in another section of itech) is teaching the course in the fall. I wonder if that will help me get a better grade? Probably not though...

My husband is hoping to play in a Dreamblade tourny tonight. Of course, that assumes that three other people show up to play. It's a collectible minatures game that he has taken an interest in. And, of course, none of our friends play. We do have one friend that wants to take it up once he gets his finances straightened out.

If he is going to that, I plan to go to the gym tonight. There aren't any classes I'm interested in tonight (and Belly Dancing was apparently discontinued) but I can sign up for the incentive program AND walk on the track for a while. Much better than walking outside since it is too cold right now. My nose starts running just on my walk to work in the mornings (and home in the evenings). I can't wait to do my belly dancing video this evening. I'm really enjoying it. I keep saying I'm going to do it in the mornings, but I can't convince myself to get out of the bed when the time comes. :) But at least I'm getting it in at night!

My mind got stuck on the craziest thing today. I don't know if other places do this or not. If you go in the regular bathroom stalls in my building (at work) the toilets are set off-center. This seems like a decent idea except that the toilet paper dispensers are hung on the side the toilet is closer to. It makes it VERY uncomfortable for larger people to use those stalls. Luckily there aren't any handicapped people working in our building, so most of us use the handicapped stall if it is empty. And it almost always is when I go. But I was just thinking of how inconsiderate that was. You can barely use the things because you have trouble sitting on the toilet!

Ok, now that I have shared good news and an odd complaint I will leave you alone for the day.

End of the Week

The end of this week can't come soon enough. I'm just ready for a couple of days off. I need a break from work, even if it is a short one. AND, neither of my games are going on the weekend. I'm kinda glad to get a break from those as well.

However, I HAVE to do homework over the weekend, as well as some more work in the apartment. But I got my closet cleaned out earlier the week. We have a stack of empy boxes in the hallway that I managed to get out of there. I am hoping that in the small empty space on the hubby's side (under clothes) I can get some of his mess boxed up and stashed away. I'm trying to keep the middle area cleared out so that I don't have the high-step and lean over stuff so much. But it is awesome to have it cleaned out.

I think I'm doing ok food wise and exercise wise. I have earned a decent number of activity points by walking to and from work. And I think I've been eating fairly well. I just went a bit overboard on Tuesday. But I'm still good for the week.

Well, Happy Birthday Christy!!! I hope that you and everyone else has a wonderful day.

Proud of Myself

I'm a bit proud of myself today. I had only gained a half pound when I weighed in last night. And considering I had been weighing in at 9:30am instead of the usual 5:30pm for the past two weeks I can live with that. Easily.

I've eaten well today. I had fruit for breakfast, a potato from a local deli for lunch, and I've only had water and a 100 calorie pack of Chips Ahoy for a snack. And lunch should be fairly light. I already have 1 activity point today from walking to work. As long as it isn't raining I'll be walking home. I hope to get my Belly Dance video in as well and go to the Payne Center. The school gym has an incentive program where you get stuff for going to the gym. Anything to get me there regularly. I also want to get my husband's membership set up tonight too. And if we go for that, I might can make him walk with me!

Well, I plan to finish the week positively, since I've started it that way. I hope everyone has a perfect week!

Here are a couple of pictures of me and the hubby from May. One of my favorite wedding photos, and the one picture of us from our honeymoon. Both pictures have been retouched by my sister. We forgot the boutineers and corsages at the wedding!

And here is a really bad photo of me that was taken right before Christmas. I've cut my hair and donated it to Locks of Love, and gained weight since the wedding. But that's Life!

Encouragement for my Sister Please!

I know everyone is busy and has tons of blogs to visit already, but if you have a couple of minutes to spare could you drop by my sister's blog and read her latest post? You don't have to leave a comment unless you really have something to say, but I really wanted to do something for her after reading that post. She sounds a bit down and I can't give her a big hug from 3.5 hours away!

100 Things About Me

1. I still claim 5'6, but I think degenerative disc disease has reduced my height.
2. I hate customer service, even if I do work in it.
3. I grew up hating the color purple, but I really like it now.
4. I still hate the color pink.
5. My hubby says that he supports me as I try to lose weight.
6. But he has a tendency to complain when I exercise regularly.
7. And sometimes complains that I don't eat enough.
8. I hate eating at TGI Friday's in Hattiesburg.
9. We eat there regularly because it is my husband's favorite restaurant.
10. I can't eat Japanese or Chinese food.
11. I love Japanese culture.
12. I took Japanese at school.
13. The class was cancelled after my first year.
14. I'm in a size 20 now.
15. I was a size 16 in high school.
16. I love to cook.
17. I hate to cook in my kitchen.
18. I have a SUPER TINY kitchen.
19. I love dragons.
20. I love wizards.
21. I love faeries.
22. I would love to learn a martial art.
23. My doctor won't clear me too.
24. I have a bulging disc in my neck.
25. My doctor has cleared me from 6-month visits.
26. I claim to be on my 3rd trip to Weight Watchers.
27. I have two best friends. My friend Dee and my sister Jackie.
28. They are 10 and 9 years older than me, respectively.
29. I rarely get to spend time or talk to either of them.
30. I have worked for the University of Southern Mississippi full time for just over 5 years.
31. I started as a full time student there in fall 2000.
32. I don't like working with other women.
33. I honestly prefer to work in an office full of men because there is less drama.
34. A little over a year after I transferred to my new office it went from 2 men in the office to only 2 women and the rest men.
35. I hate lingerie shopping.
36. Even if I find something to fit my belly it won't fit my breasts.
37. I don't think this well get easier after I lose 50 lbs.
38. I have no problems with my husband watching porn.
39. I've actually told him to buy porn video games.
40. I'm a serious geek.
41. I'm also into domestic arts and crafts.
42. I would like to learn to knit, but I'm scared.
43. I don't have many clothes that fit.44. This makes me self conscious at work.
45. I've even gained to much weight to wear the department shirts.
46. I hate the current American cartoons.
47. I prefer to watch anime.
48. I don't watch much current tv.
49. There are several shows that I love to watch reruns of though.
50. My favorite show on American tv is The Closer.
51. My favorite current anime is Bleach.
52. My favorite was Naruto but the filler sucks.
53. I can't watch either of these shows in English because the subs suck.
54. I love to read thrillers and suspense novels.
55. I also love gothic romance novels.
56. I love to read Dean Koontz but hate Stephen King novels.
57. I also hate Dean Koontz because he still hasn't finished the Christopher Snow trilogy.
58. Instead of a lingerie party or a bachelorette party I was given a sex toy party.
59. My favorite tv show host is Morgan Webb from XPlay. She's seriously hot AND has a personality.
60. Most of my friends are male. There are three girls in our group.
61. I love to play DnD. It allows me to be a different person.
62. I enjoy playing video games but I seriously suck at them.
63. My favorite video game is Soul Caliber II.
64. It is also the first video game I really played.
65. My parents had an Atari when I was really young.
66. I know I played it, but I don't remember it.
67. I don't remember very much from my childhood.
68. I'm a student in the College of Business at USM.
69. I hate every faculty and staff member in the CoB.
70. I enjoy exercise videos.
71. My husband won't pick up his stuff so I have to clean the living room every time I do one.
72. I'm having trouble losing weight.
73. I think part of the reason is that no one supports the eating right part of it.
74. I enjoy bowling on the Wii.
75. I've never been bowling in real life.
76, I have no desire to actually go bowling.
77. My husband says he doesn't like sports.
78. He never wants to leave his parents house before the game is over.
79. I'm willing to sit through a Nascar race, but I hate football.
80. I really do love my husband.
81. But sometimes I really want to kill him.
82. I've been engaged three times in my life.
83. My readers are the only people I've told about the other two times.
84. My friends refer to my church as Fort God. Some of them don't like the church, but have no reason for it.
85. My church did put up a billboard with three teenage girls on it. One of them is giving a veiw dwon her shirt.
86. Taking that into account I'm not sure I can blame them.
87. I have absolutely no self confidence.
88. I pretend to in hopes that one day I will really believe it.
89. I only have two church going friends. They are the other married couple in our group.
90. I generally don't say what I think.
91. When I do say what I think about something, my friends really make a big deal out of it.
92. I'm very sarcastic. Most people don't take me seriously though.
93. The woman I work with takes things very personally. I have to bite my tongue a lot.
94. I can't cook cookies. My mother couldn't either.
95. I really enjoy reading webcomics.
96. My favorite webcomic is Dominic Deagan.
97. The one I've been reading the longest is Order of the Stick.
98. I can't wait for the Biggest Winner to start at USM.
99. I actually don't know who is in the team I'm in for it.
100. I think that the Challenge Michelle put together will be the best thing I do this year.

And the Week Begins....

So, my week doesn't get the best beginning. But I will work past it.

I did most of the laundry yesterday, cleaned out the main closet (MAJOR accomplishment), took down the Christmas tree, and spent a little time on homework.

And I just got seriously creepted out by a tennis coach. He came in needing help. That's all well in good. Except for the way he kept looking at me. The ENTIRE time. And he was standing next to me for almost 30 minutes. And I'm not dressed for people to look at. I PROMISE. I'm wearing a long sleeve white zip up hoodie. And it's zipped up to the point that you can't see ANYTHING. Even farther than I normally wear it. I still have his laptop. I hope I'm not here when he comes to get it.

I'm expecting about a 2 pound gain when I weigh in tonight. It's not that I haven't done decently this week, but that I had weighed in at 9:30 the past two weeks and am going to be back to my regular 5:30 meeting again. And I will definitely be staying for the meeting. I also hope to get my husband set up at the gym tonight. I lost his form so we'll have to go get another one. Of course, we also have to go shopping, so we'll just have to see what happens!

My Weekend!

It was a little busy. We played DnD at the local gaming store. The owner is in our game and was in a really bad mood when we got there. He was having trouble with UPS and Coke. And Wizards. UPS didn't deliver his stuff right, and then when they did make a delivery it wasn't his whole order. And the missing box was one that he HAD to get Friday. Coke hadn't delivered his drinks, and he HAD to have those on Friday. And Wizards messed up his order (costing him a lot of money). And no one was willing to help him. Well, one of my friends finally went to pick up his other box from UPS. And the game slowly helped to pick up his mood a little. And then after the game we talked a little about the Warhammer 40K tourny he was hosting Saturday (He was expecting a dozen players) and helped him set up his tables for it. He was in a good mood before that. He told us that earlier in the day he was planning to tell everyone to get the hell out at 9:00. He is scheduled to close shop then, but it is fairly rare for him to close then. By 9 he is usually in the midst of playing something and lets everyone stay until it is over.

Saturday we decided to play our other game because my friend Dee is off. It was a combat night. The DM, Shay, had planned to have combat AND advance the story, but the combat took up all the time. Our two characters that had made deals with Ravenloft (the plane we are on) got picked up and another character died. I'm kinda glad he died because he has a tendency to go on and on about his characters. But it was a NICE evening. We kicked butt.

Today is all about housework and homework. And probably some exercise. I'm doing laundry and have to spend a good sized chunk of time reading my textbook. I want to try and read the chapter twice before the test. I need to be sure and have a good understanding of the material for the essay part of the test. I plan to make the hubby do the kitchen. It's just unloading and loading the dishwasher and running over the counters with a chlorox wipe. I think he can manage that.

Well, I hope that everyone has had a wonderful weekend and that the next week goes good for you!

You know you are having a bad day when someone walks into your office and you begin to great them as if they were on the phone.

A girl walked into the Helpdesk Friday morning and I said "iTech Helpdesk this is--Wait, you're not on the phone."

My day did get a little better though. The coworker that I don't care for had taken the afternoon off to paint her new house.

I'm SOOO not with it today!

I just remembered something else I wanted to share.

Brandi, one of my friends from work, told me yesterday that she could tell I had lost weight and that I was looking really good. It made me happy for the short time.

BUT, and isn't there always one of those, while I was getting ready this morning I was thinking that I really can't tell it. The pair of jeans I was pulling on felt like they had since I got them from her. (And I love these jeans. They're cute!) It made me wonder if she was only saying that because she knew I was working to lose weight. She didn't know me when I lost weight the first time. So she doesn't have a frame of reference for that. And, needless to say, I got myself discouraged. It's followed me into my work day as well. But I think that I am mostly past it. Just a teeny bit left, and it will be gone soon.

I don't think it would have been as bad if I hadn't slept late. I couldn't get any exercise or anything in this morning. And I probably won't have time to do so tonight either. But I guess that's what Saturday is for. Start working hard!

Ok, now that I am done with the negative thinking I am going to go get some work done!

Things are slowing down at work again. They are still incredibly busy, but we do have a few minutes to ourselves in the mornings. And the occassional time to think during the day. And I personally think that it is well deserved.

I worked until 8 last night. I had a lot of calls, and wasn't able to solve all of them. :( But I survived. I'm waiting to see what is in store for us today and next week.

After work, I made a quick call home. Momma has today and all of next week off. So she had gone to spend a couple of days with my sister. I guess I'll have to wait for the weekend to catch her. But that meant that I got to spend some time talking to Daddy. I enjoy m;y conversations with him. We don't talk a lot, so when we do we talk for a while. But we caught up on some stuff and he is going to copy some VHS tapes for me next time I go home. Hopefully we will be able to put them on DVD so I don't have to worry with the VHS player.

THEN, my friend Joe wanted to have gamenight. So I went over to his house to meet him, his wife, and the hubby and play Runebound. It's a pretty fun adventure game. We played the quick version and didn't get to finish it. But that's ok. It ended up in a tie. BUT, I'm happy to say that after a couple of rounds I was doing pretty good. I died my first round, but after that I was good. I leveled 4 times.

As far as the diet, I've been doing good. I have the majority of my WA left pointwise, and I've met my minimum on exercise. Now I just have to make it through the weekend.

Hope everyone has a good Friday and a great weekend!

More Apologies

I thought I would get a normal schedule after I finished my class. Apparently I lied. Today I didn't have time to even breathe. And I am working from home tonight, and am working in the office until 8 Thursday night. I'm seriously hoping for tomorrow night off. But work will be incredibly busy for at least the next week, if not two.

It's been seriously cold here. I walked to work this morning and had to have both my hat AND my scarf. I've never worn one before so I have no clue how to wear it. And it kept slipping. So that was a new experience. It wasn't that bad after work though. I just had the gloves for that walk.

My online class for the rest of the semester, Business Ethics, seems both easy and hard. I have six tests and two essays for that course. And I am getting a serious case of deja vu right now.

I am doing good on the eating and exercising bit for the time being. I hope that I stay as well with it.

Well, I'm off to check on work stuff again. I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Monday Update.

I had gained a half pound at the meeting this morning. That wasn't unsuspected though. And I will be doing better this week. I honestly expect a gain next week as well. Not because I don't think I will do well, but because I will most likely be back to going to the 5:30 meeting. But that is ok. If I work hard, I might can manage to stay the same. :)

I have taken my final in my class. I made a 92. I can live with that. It's been so long since I read the material that I was kinda surprised to do that well. The teacher hasn't posted grades to our team projects yet. But even without that I should have an A for the class. So that makes me proud. Unfortunately, for some reason the course evaluation software hasn't switched to spring yet. So I can't evaluate my course. I was supposed to be able to do that one day before the end. Hopefully they will get that fixed soon. I would really like to give my opinion while it is still STRONG.

Well, I'm off to find a lean cuisine and get the hubby to hook up that VCR. Y'all have a great day!!!

I hate not having been around lately. But life has been busy. And not terribly great!

I was planning to catch up on everyone's blogs Thursday afternoon and I had this incredibly long, wonderful post in my head. But the university's network crashed at 1 pm. And it stayed down. THEN, as soon as I walked through the apartment door and pulled out my laptop my boss called. He needed me to come back to work!!! The network came back up for a short time, and I visited a few blogs. But that didn't last. I was still down when I left work at 9:10. Then it was partially up when I got to work Friday morning at 9:30. My husband forgot to put the clothes in the dryer and I didn't discover that until I woke up late. But my boss didn't mind. Then the network crashed and stayed down all day. Because of the problems I haven't taken my final yet. She hasn't opened it back up. She's told us that it will be due on Friday at 5 pm, but she hasn't said when it will open. I hope it is soon because I want to have it over with. I'm probably not going to be able to return the books for full credit with this stuff going on, but at least I can get them in early at the end of the semester for a decent buy back cost!

I don't think our Weight Watchers office is closed for MLK day tomorrow (or Robert E Lee day if you're from a place that celebrates that!) so I plan to weigh in at 9:30 again. Actually, I see that it is already Monday from the computer clock. I didn't realize it was so late (even if my husband is watching Play Mania!). I'm hoping to stay the same.

My friend Dee has loaned me a couple of Belly Dancing VHS tapes. I'm going to make the hubby hook up the VHS in the living room tomorrow. I really want to try these out. I've been looking at some online, and when I told her she offered to loan them to me.

Well, I just wanted to spend a few minutes chatting with everyone. I've visited a few blogs tonight, and I will get caught up tomorrow. I might have to go in to work, but that shouldn't be a big deal. I also will possibly be working a few nights a week in the coming month or so. The bossman is going to be the interim director for our department. And with the beginning of school we are always busy. But I will make some time for y'all. I promise!

Reading & Commenting...And Other Stuff

I feel so bad because I haven't been able to read and comment on everyone's blogs as normal these past two weeks. My class has taken more of my time that I had planned on. However, I will be taking the final tomorrow night. That should clear me up to start commenting again! Of course, it might not be perfect for the next few weeks. The beginning of school means I'll be staying busy at work for a few weeks. But that's ok. At least the bosses should appreciate it.

As far as The Challenge, I have done decently this week, considering how busy I have been with schoolwork. And I spent all of last night sleeping. It was nice to catch up on all that sleep. I had only been averaging 4 hours a night.

I think I'm doing ok on the eating, but I'm probably going to keep the rest of the week kinda light. And I am waiting for the school gym to post the new group exercise schedule. I plan to take belly dancing at least one night a week, assuming they offer it again. That's my main reason for waiting somewhat impatiently.

On another note, I now hate doctor's offices. My regular doctor (on paper, I MIGHT see him once a year) was transferred from Hattiesburg to Petal in December. I called his old office today to set up an appointment for a Health Risk Assessment because our insurance company is trying to get people to take them this year. They told me they couldn't take on new patients of his and asked why I couldn't go to his new office. I told them that I wasn't driving to Petal to see a doctor. (It's probably a twenty minute drive to his new office, if you don't catch a train. The main Hattiesburg Clinic, his old office, is a five minute drive from work, ten max from my apartment.) The lady said she would see what they could do and call me in the morning. I'm tempted to go ahead and see if the clinic on campus can do the assessments. I've been seeing one of the doctors there everytime I've been sick for the past year. It's a three minute walk from my office. I just thought I would call H'burg Clinic since they are a full service clinic.
You know, this had me serioudly pissed off at 5 this afternoon. I think my anger has toned down now. It's kinda sad because I did a few really good rants on this earlier. I just don't seem to have another good one left for y'all. I'M SORRY!!!

Well, good luck for the next couple of days everyone. I should be back to something approximating a normal routine after that and will see you all regularly!

Early Weigh In

I weighed in at an early morning meeting since I don't have to be at work until noon. I didn't stay for the meeting though.
So, with the weigh in being SEVERAL hours early, I lost an amazing 1.5 pounds! I'll just have to keep in mind that it won't be so great next week since I will be back to my normal weigh in time. But, I don't care. I'm going to ride this wonderful weigh in for all it's worth!

Fridge Update!

Ok. So I cleaned the fridge out a little more. I found all kinds of things that were out of date, and there were a couple of things that JUST went out. AND, just so everyone knows, I'm not finished with my grocery shopping yet. The hubby and I did some tonight, but I'll be finishing it up in the morning. It's mostly stuff to be frozen that I don't have yet.

This is the freezer. I know it doesn't look moch different. I got rid of a few things that we didn't need. The burgers are for the husband. The chicken patties are for both of us when we are in a hurry. I also have some frozen meat in there still. And some of the grocery shopping left includes some lean cuisine meals. There are on sale in one of the local grocery stores.

The top shelf is still similar. I got rid of some out of date stuff here too. But I have 2% milk, and two cartons of 100% fruit juice. I LOVE DOLE! They have some awesome flavors. I got Orange Pineapple Banana and Orange Pineapple Mango I think. And I know notice that I need to fill the water pitcher!!!

Between these two pictures you can see that I have alfalfa sprouts, cheese, and sandwich meat. I have lean turkey for me and ham for the guys. (We have a couple of friends that eat sandwiches at our apartment some during the week.) I also bought salad mix, broccoli, cauliflower, and baby carrots tonight. Now I can have some salads, and then some veggie snacks at work.

My bottom drawer looks the same. It's all fruity. I normally don't keep quite so much fruit, but we had gotten the bag of oranges. They are so big that they don't have much flavor, but I'll eat them anyway.

The door looks about the same. I got rid of the chocolate syrup, and maybe a couple of other things. I honestly don't remember for sure. I apparently managed to cut off the very top of the door. It still has the Borden 2% cheese. That stuff is super awesome. All the calcium of an 8oz glass of milk and two points. There are also the husband's hot dogs.

My fridge doesn't look as great as some people's but we are seriously broke right now. That's part of the reason I don't have more in the way of veggies. But I have enough to get us to my next paycheck I think.

On other notes, I have finished most of the work for my online class. I just have to do the reading between test times. And wait for her to grade the work. I messed up one of my assignments (forgot to add something) but hopefully she won't count off more than a point or two on it. I hope everyone has had a good weekend, and good luck this week! I will hopefully be back to normal posting and commenting next week!

School History

In response to Michelle's question about what classes I'm taking I've decided to give everyone a little brief on my school history.
I graduated from North Pontotoc High School, a small county school, as valedictorian in 2000. I had already taken college algebra one summer and gotten an A. So, I decided that I just HAD to be different and go straight to a university. I, being retarded I think now, decided to attend the University of Southern Mississippi. The school that accepted me but would only give me $100 in scholarships. And that was only for one semester. I went into their Honors College which was kinda dumb, but I did enjoy some of the classes. However, in my third semester there I got seriously depressed and nearly flunked out. I then got a job at the university and have only went part time since then.
I am on my 5th or 6th major, but this one will stick. I really like it, even if I haven't gotten to the actual courses for it yet. My actual class hours count me as a senior, but I feel like a freshman in the program because I have so many courses left. Since Jan 2002, only 5 of my grades have not been an A. And I've taken at least 6 courses each year. So I don't feel too bad about that. My non-As are in physics, Spanish, and calculus. Three subjects that I hate.
I'm currently taking Introduction to computers as a minisession courses that ends at the end of next week. I have a 100 average at the moment. I hope to keep it that way. If nothing else, I probably won't be able to drop it below an A.
I'm taing Business Ethics during the regular semester. A lady at school, she's in the office across the hall from mine, gave me the book since she took it last semester. She said I just have to tell her how I do in it.
Well, I'm off now. I have to eat, finish and assignment for class, and be at a team meeting at 4 this afternoon. I'm going to walk to it, so yay me!!!!

School seriously sucks right now. Hopefully the regular semester won't be quite so bad. We have a whole semester packed into two weeks, and it's hard to get it all done. But I'm doing ok. I'm ahead on my assignments, have stuck us with a scenario, and will hopefully be team leader. I think the team leader has an easier job so it's the one I want.
I have a test I need to take before noon tomorrow, and over 200 pages to read before then. But that's ok. I'll get it ok. And I have an assignment due tomorrow night.

I haven't been doing wonderful on the exercise side, to my mind, but I have meet my challenge for the week. Next week will likely be similar. I'm doing fine on my food too. I have 23 points of my allowance left to last me through Monday. So I'm doing good.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

It's the Fridge Challenge!!!

As a group mini challenge at Make Yourself a Priority we have been challenged to do the unthinkable. Share photos of the contents of our refridgerators with the blogging world. I've been looking at everyone's fridges and they all look so nice and neat. Mine is nothing of the sort. You can't even see a lot of the stuff in it. And that isn't likely to change anytime soon. Here comes the ugly!!!



There is the door. The hotdogs in the first picture are my husband's. I very rarely eat them. And the cheese is low-fat Bordens. I just love it. In the second picture, the only things that I use often are ketchup and low-fat Portmans Italian dressing. And the chocolate syrup is regular Hershey's. But I actually haven't had any in over a month. It's there for treating myself.









This is the top shelf of our fridge. 100% Dole fruit juice, unsweetened tea, 2% milk, and a couple of bottles of wine are the things that I mess with. Back in the corner are pickles and things. And the Mountain Dew is my husband's. He loves the stuff!







This is the rest of the fridge. Sandwich meat, and onion, wheat rolls, and my husband's dish of chili make up the first shelf. The second has his left over pizza from the other day and a container of peas that is probably too old to eat! The drawer is stuffed full of fruit, mostly oranges. GOOD STUFF there!








This is obviously the freezer door. On the top is an ice back and two corn dogs in a zip lock bag. And the bottom is a selection of frozen fruit, and boxes of butter and margarine. The butter isn't any diet friendly stuff, but it is what the mother-in-law picked up for us right after we got married!






And here is the main freezer. I have bags of frozen chicken (some patties and some I bought fresh) and ice cream that really show up in the picture. The Blue Bunny ice cream, both boxes, is fat free and really good. I don't eat it very often though so it lasts forever. The other box of ice cream is my husband's peanut butter fudge. I haven't tried it. Other items stashed away include a bag of sausage links (the hubby's), a box of corn dogs for when I'm busy and have some points to spend, and a 5 pound pack of hamburger meat for our next group dinner. I think there is also a lot of flavor ice and some meat my mother bought for me hidden away behind the ice cream!

Sorry if anyone is disappointed with my not so neat, and not so healthy, fridge. The husband likes a lot of stuff that I have no problems not touching.

And thanks for coming up with this challenge. I didn't have anything to do in my fridge, but this prompted me to clean out some of my kitchen cabinets tonight while my husband was fixing a camera/computer communication problem with my laptop. There was A LOT of stuff that the hubby had put up there that needed to be thrown away! And maybe our kitchen cabinets would be a challenge for later in the year!

Sleepy Day....

I didn't get nearly enough sleep last night. I worked until after midnight on homework. I got most of the way through my 5th project though. I submitted them this morning.
I was still planning to get up and work out, but I decided that doing that on less than 5 hours sleep probably wasn't a good idea. I'm not going to stay up quite so late tonight, just so I can get up and exercise tomorrow.
Today, however, work hasn't been too bad. I finished project 5 and am halfway through Project 6. Projects 6 and 7 are all I have to finish for tomorrow. So I might even get some exercise in tonight, but I'm not really counting on that. The class has a team project towards the end. I'm going to try and finish everything else pretty quick so that I won't be working on that and other stuff come later. I'm already trying to drum up interest in a team for it, so then maybe we can slowly get started on it. Knowing my luck I will end up being elected team captain. That would suck.

In other news...I'm still psyched over this week's weight loss. I really hope I do it again. I think my problem the previous ten weeks could have been not eating enough, because I certianly ate what I thought was too much over the holiday. I just can't wait to see how this month goes. Because I am going to lose some weight!!!

Weigh In

I went to the meeting. And I lost 1.5 pounds this week, for a total of 7.5 over the past 12 weeks. So that was good. The meeting itself sucked. The leader got so caught up in talking to the new members at the beginning that she forgot to talk to us old timers. So I will not be staying for meetings on Tuesdays in the future. I will hopefully, but not likely, never have to attend one because I missed Monday night.

Otherwise, my minisession online class is going to be a serious time whore. So I will be without time for a good sized portion of the next two weeks. So if I don't comment on your blog, PLEASE don't take it personally. I'm still going to try and hit everyone's, but realize that it might not be possible. I have at least 3 hours of work ahead of me tonight just so I can get tomorrow night's work done and submitted. I really shouldn't have taken this course considering I also have to work 40 hours a week. But oh well.

Have a great week everyone!!!

And The New Year Starts

It was honestly supposed to start better than it did. I really did intend to get up this morning and exercise. But we had a lot of company last night (14 people in our tiny aparment!) and some of them were still there when I went to bed after 11. AND I couldn't fall asleep until nearly midnight. So getting out of bed this morning at 5 just wasn't happening. So I'll exercise tonight.
To make up for it, however, I did walk to work. So that's something. And I'll be walking home. AND I'll be walking to lunch because I have to go to B&N and buy textbooks. It might not count as exercise towards my January Challenge, but it will count for something anyway.

Good Luck this year Everyone!!!!

Starting a New Year, Starting a New Challenge

I'm geared up for this year, and our challenge. I know I will not be getting in a REAL work out today, but I HAVE to finish the living room. And I'm going to finish it good.

We have friends coming over SOMETIME today. Not a clue when. Hopefully, since I got up early, I will have the living room done, some clean clothes to wear, and a bath already. But I just can't wait for them to get here. It's my friend Dee and her family coming. They are our only close friends that have not visited us at our apartment. And her fiance has actually been here a lot. Between her school and work schedule I just never get to see her anymore. But I'm hoping that some of that will change this year.

SO.....Happy New Year everyone, and hope you have a wonderfull one.