Healthy Living Thread

[Dee*Jay]

Happy still having a blizzard kids!

Deegee, I ended up not opening a single one of those bottles yesterday because I spent TWELVE SOLID HOURS writing a paper about the profitability of a Greek shipping company. If you want to know anything about 320,000 dead weight ton double hulled tankers, I'm the person to ask!

Marcy, we got quite a bit of snow from Monday night through yesterday, but I don't think we got the huge amount they were talking about. Living in more of a downtown area it's hard to tell, but I'd give it maybe 8ish inches or so. Of course it was enough to destroy the commute aspect, even today, so I'm glad it WASN'T more!

Yesterday the scale gave me 125.8, but today I'm back at 126.2. I was too damn busy to EAT yesterday--how can that be?!? Oh well; still shooting for the ever elusive 125.0!

I just called and cancelled my gym membership here. No offer letter yet so I won't quit my job (Fed Ex and UPS didn't make it around yesterday) but even if I stayed I wouldn't have time to work out until the CPA exam is done. Plus, there IS a gym in my building, so if I had to I could use that. (The phrase "had to" means different things to different people... )

OK, off to proof read my paper...

 

[deegee]

marcy - I'd forgotten about your hit and run accident. It has been a PITA for my niece. The front bumper was destroyed (fell off) and it has a bent hood and cracked radiator. She got the license plate # of the other car, which turns out to be registered to a completely different vehicle. Hit & run, stolen plates...this person must be hiding something! I'm glad Marty's trip is short this time, but that boy needs to stay home!! I don't blame him for not wanting to carry 2 phones. I leave my work phone at home, and only check it for emails when I'm off or out of town. Keep your heat turned up. Brrr!!!! That's weird about the Verizon thing, but you're probably right about why they do it.

Dee*Jay - Your paper sounds as exciting to me as Matt telling me about some engineering thing at work. No offense! I usually just sing in my head while he's talking. Did you sing in your head while proofreading? I don't have the concentration to work for 12 hours on anything. I actually zoomed in on your picture to see the brand of wine because I figure you have great taste in the stuff! You're up a little on the scale today due to swelling somewhere in your body. That's always my excuse.

I got to work early this morning and stayed late to try to finish some of my regular work that I can't get to because I'm out of my office working on the project 9-4 every day. I have an hour in the morning and a half hour at the end of the day in my actual office, and I have been going back to my office at lunch to get another half hour of work in. Everything is so disjointed that I'm not getting much accomplished. My new contacts were sitting on my porch when I got home and I did a little happy dance at the thought of being able to see. The dippy girl at the eye dr re-ordered the prescription from last year, despite me pointing out to her at least 3 times that she was doing exactly that. I clearly remember saying to her, "The printed sheet is from my file from last year. The prescription in blue ink is what he just wrote for this year. I need the one in blue ink." I'm going to have to swing by there in the morning on my way to work, which is aggravating because I'm so pressed for time! I had cottage cheese and blueberries for breakfast (I need breakfast ideas), leftover spaghetti for lunch, and we stopped by Cracker Barrel for dumplings, green beans and carrots for dinner. It is sleeting outside, so no walk for us tonight. I'm determined to be good tonight. My 13 oz glass of wine last night turned into the whole bottle. I'm not sure how that happened... Have a great day tomorrow!

 

[marcy]

Hi everyone.

Dee Jay, did you see the picture from NASA of snow at night in the US? Kansas City area was very bright. It was after the storm last week. Glad the storm didn’t dump as much snow as expected. I hope your offer letter shows up soon. You’ll get to 125.0 no problem. I have confidence in you.

Deegee, your niece certainly had more damage to her car than I did. Whoever took off definitely had something to hide. Too funny that you sing to yourself in your head when Matt is talking about engineering things at work. I will have to try that. How aggravating they ordered the wrong contacts. I hate when that bottle of wine disappears. Marty noticed 2 bottles of wine were gone when he was eating breakfast last weekend. I just said “And?”.

This morning was quite icy – I felt like I skated to work rather than drove. I didn’t have any problems but was glad I didn’t have to stop for anything. The sun was out all day so the main roads are pretty dry tonight. The sidewalks and parking lots are still rather treacherous.

Work was busy so the day zipped by. I met a friend for supper. We split some sliders, fries and dessert. I had one glass of wine.

Off to work on laundry.

Marcy

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy first day of my two week notice kids!!! I got the call yesterday afternoon that my Fed Ex package was at my apartment so I bolted home and got it. My dream of being marched out of the building and having two extra weeks of freedom were dashed however, and it looks like I will indeed be here until March 13th...

Marcy, I didn't see the picture of the snow from space.. but I'm seeing lots and lots of snow from my office window! Maybe we did get more than I originally thought becuase when I drove to work today I got a better picture of what was really laying on the ground. What's new with the house? Do you have anything else left to do, or are you all settled in by now? When I move I always have a period of settling, then a lull, then I finally get around to finishing things up once I catch a second wind.

Deegee, LOL about singing in your head! My exhusband used to tell me stories that went on and on and on and on and I would resort to utter daydreaming with appropriate "Oh!"s and "Hmmmm"s thrown in for good measure. I had Mionetto in the cart (the bottles with the orange label), which is my prosecco of choice. It's only about $10 a bottle and it's REALLY good. I prefer it over some things that are A LOT more expensive and at that price I don't mind throwing in a white apricot nectar for a bellini. If you belong to Costco they sometimes carry it, especially around the holidays.

Last night in my class I calculated my cals for the day and I had 230 left. There *just happen* to be 230 cals in a package of pain M&Ms... and there *just happen* to be packs of plain M&Ms in the vending machine... DINNER!!!

 

[marcy]

Hi everyone.

Dee Jay, congratulations on getting and accepting your new job offer. How exciting. Too funny you “have” to work your final 2 weeks. The last 2 weeks will zip by for you. Except for the packing part. That seems to take FOREVER. Marty has to finish the top of his wet bar island, put up one more set of drapes, install a storm door and help me get the remote set up with the remote opener in the car. After that we need spring to start working on landscaping. How was your M&M supper?

We had sunshine today. Woo hoo! The plow finally came through our street and now there is no way I can get to the mailbox. Too bad I didn’t pick up our mail any earlier this week. Marty can get it Saturday.

Work was very busy so it zipped by. I need to talk to the senior person who works for me; he is going to give himself a stroke or heart attack. He gets so stressed out and fired up over things that you can’t fix or take care or now so just wait. I used to be that way but years on the job beat that out of me. I care but just say oh well while I wait to find out what we can do and when we can do it.

I met my parents for lunch at a Mexican restaurant. I had 2 tacos.

After work I went to the grocery store and then the liquor store. I had the second half of my cheeseburger from last night, some raw veggies and a glass of wine. Dessert was some slow churned ice cream.

I tried to talk to Marty on Face Time but his connection kept freezing so I just sent him a text – he was busy working anyway.

Of to proof read my newsletter so I can get that posted tonight.

Take care.
Marcy

 

[deegee]

Dee*Jay - congratulations! Woo-hoo!!!! You'll be so happy to get back to Chicago. I was there a few years ago for 4 days and liked it as much or more than New York. I actually had someone stop me on the street to ask directions. I must have looked like I knew where the heck I was going, which was totally impressive to me since I was winging it. That happened to NY too. So it's good that I, a girl who has made the boonies in WV my home for the last 15 years, can go to the big city and people don't think I'm a tourist. Anyhoo...I'm going to see if I can find that wine here. We don't have a Costco. We're lucky to have a Sams Club. We do have a wine shop at the Capitol Market, so I might get lucky.

Marcy - I was looking at houses on the real estate website tonight and saw one with a really cool wet bar. It made me think of Marty and his swanky wet bar. I think work has beaten it out of me too. Now I don't get too upset over anyting, although I have one employee who may have caused a massive blood pressure spike for me this week. I'm not sure what happened to that bottle of wine. It was there, then it wasn't. It was the darndest thing! Something like that is happening to my KY bourbon beer too. Matt doesn't drink, so I think maybe Lily is sneaking it when I'm not looking.

I'm so glad tomorrow is Friday. Holy moly, I couldn't do another day. We came to a standstill with the project today at 2:30 and can't work on it until tomorrow, so everyone on the team scattered to our own offices to have a few hours of uninterruped regular job time. I got a bunch done. I took my year's supply of daily disposable lenses back to the eye dr this morning, and the lady apologized profusely. I told her it was a serious inconvenience to me to come out of my way to take them back and she turned horribly gray. Then I laughed and told her I worked right across the street. Now I feel bad. When I got to work I discovered my glasses were broken. They have already ordered me the exact same frames and will transfer my lenses to the new frames when they come in. I had my usual cottage cheese and blueberries for breakfast, a Kashi meal for lunch, and a bowl of chicken enchilada soup and salad for dinner. I may have also had 2 bottles of bourbon beer (marcy & Dee*Jay, I said BEER). Off to bed. Have a great day tomorrow!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Friday kids!

Deegee, LOL on the BEER! People ask me for directions all the time too, especially in cities where I am completely lost. Funny story: One time Bill and I were in Rome and these two tired bedraggled looking Japanese tourists were dragging these massive suitcases down the street looking for their hotel. They happened to stop and ask us for directions but their English wasn't very good. Well Bill lived in Tokyo for four years so he just launched right into Japanese and helped them out. You should have see the look on their faces! That exhusband of mine, he was a good egg!

Marcy, you guys have made amazing progress in such a short period of time! And I hear you on the guy that works for you being super stressed out over stuff. I used to be like, but over time I'm like, EH. I don't mean I don't care or that I don't do a good job, but in a hundred years I'll be dead and whatever the moment's problem is likely won't impact the world on a long term basis. BTW, I know three people who have had massive heart attacks at their desk--two of whom died on the spot, one lived and went straight from the hopital to the Harley dealer to buy the bike he's always wanted!

So this morning I have achieved -- drum roll please! -- the ever elusive 125! 124.8 to be exact! Now for the bad news... it's not enough... Last time at this weight I was working out like a fiend and it was all distributed very differently. I'm going to keep working toward 120 (but not in a kill myself over it sort of way) and look forward to the day I can work out again. One of my "must haves" in Chicago is either a really good workout room or being within walking distance of the East Bank Club again.

My income tax class that got cancelled on Monday is rescheduled for tomorrow from 1 - 5:30 in the most inconvenient place on the planet. Of course. Oh well, it is what it is.

Alright, off to work on some more testing for this annual review because I would really like to finish it up for them before I go.

 

[marcy]

Happy Weekends, Kids!

Dee Jay and Deegee, I realized I adequately blocked from my mind some of the stuff we do still have to do on our house. The garage is a disaster and will need organized, hopefully we didn’t move things we don’t want or need. Marty has to put his work bench back to together, clean up stuff from his wet bar project and I want to get rid of a bunch of bedding my MIL gave us. I want to arrange the flower pots we moved here before they end up being permanently planted where the Marty put them. I was delusional thinking we didn’t have more to do. Ha Ha.

Deegee, you must look like you know where you are going. Sorry to hear one of your employees spiked your BP this week. I can very much identify with that. We are going in to our 2 worst months of the year so I think I need to stock up on liquor. Darn that Lily for drinking your wine and beer. I think the Killer Rabbit drinks mine. Too funny teasing the lady about your contact lenses. People take me far too seriously sometimes. Sounds like you had a rough week but glad you clarified 2 bottles of beer not bourbon.

Dee Jay, congratulations and how exciting to see the scale reading 124.8. Woo hoo!!! I am very excited for you. That is funny about Bill giving directions in Japanese. How awful for someone to die at their desk. I have heard about that; one guy had been dead for 2 days before someone noticed. That is awful. Work should not stress you out that bad. Marty’s old job would have eventually been very detrimental to his health. Between stress and lack of sleep it took it’s toll over the years.

I was sadly mistaken on my plans yesterday about when Marty was getting him. He was back to our house by 1 pm; I didn’t get to surprise him with a cake but that’s okay. He was sacked out by 8:30 last night (he’d been up since 2:30 am our time).

I made breakfast for us this morning then started working on laundry. Marty has been working most of today. We are going to go to our favorite steak house about 50 miles away for supper. It will be nice for him to get away from work for a while. He has so many projects to work on that he is a bit overwhelmed.

I ran some of the cake over to my parents. That lessons the calorie damage here.

Take care.
Marcy

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Sunday kids!

Marcy, Someone was dead at their desk for TWO DAYS before it was noticed?!? My first thought was, this person must not have had a SO or family or anyone else that was looking for them. My second thought was that person must not have been very productive or else after two days it would have been realized sooner (I hope it doesn't sound terrible for me to say that--but you know what I mean... )

So when I came home from my class yesterday there were cops and fire trucks and ambulances all over the place. You could smell gas from four blocks away, and my building and the complex around it was evacuated. Apparently someone hit a gas line (Google, I think they said) while digging and they got everyone out of there. After what happened a couple blocks from here last week at JJs I understand they weren't taking any chances, but we were out for hours. I went lunch... went to starbucks... went to the Plaza and walked around... finally was let back in. Needless to say I didn't get any studying done last night, but I did pack a few more boxes of kitchen stuff while I waited for them to come and relight my stove (the fire department came to every unit and did it because they didn't want the residents doing it). Oh well, we are all safe and sound, and that's what matters.

I'm trying to eat my way through the random array of food I have here before I move. Butternut squash for breakfast anyone?!?

 

[marcy]

Hi everyone!

Dee Jay, I don't remember where I read that about someone being dead for a few days at their desk but I know I read it somewhere. Hard to say if it's true. We've had a few heart attacks where I work and one of them died at work. It is all very awful! OMG that you had a gas scare in your neighborhood. I am glad everything is okay. That was a good idea for the fire department to come light your stove. I definitely would have only got nervous energy projects done and nothing else. AAAKKK!!!

We had a lazy day. We took Marty's old iPad over to my parent's house. My mom has called me a few times. She latched right on to it and started reading the book I downloaded for her. COOL!!! My dad sent us an email while we were there. That was his first email.

Off to find something easy for supper.

Marcy

 

[deegee]

Dee*Jay - congratulations on reaching 125! You've worked hard to get there. I was afraid to eat after I hit my goal with WW. I decided I had to work out entirely too hard to keep that weight, but a weight 5 pounds more is much more sustainable for me. I kept it for nearly 3 years, and then ate everything in sight this past fall. I'm working to get back to where I was. I'm glad to hear everything was okay in your building. I'm sure they took extra precautions because of the explosion a few weeks ago. Too funny about Bill giving directions in Japanese! We were walking by Grand Central Station when we were stopped by 2 people dragging suitcases behind them. Matt gave them awesome directions because apparently we had just come from the direction they were going. I wasn't paying attention-I must have been singing in my head again. Your banana nut squash for breakfast reminds me, my nieces wanted Taco Bell for breakfast when they stayed with me last weekend. Aunt Dee caved.

marcy - I hope your parents love the ipad! When I get something different, I'm going to give mine to my dad. He swears he can't use it, but he'll have mom there to help him. She's a pro by now. Please tell me Marty is home for a while now. The poor guy has to be exhausted. I'm sure there are always lots of projects you can work on with your house, but at least nothing major, right? I bet living in a brand spanking new house is awesome! Lazy days are wonderful.

I'm sad the weekend is already over. I have some kind of manager training in the morning, but I'm not sure what it is since I haven't really been in my office for a while. The project group can't meet until the training is over, so I guess I'll straight from one to the other. Since my blood pressure was up when they did my screening for my insurance premium, I have to sign up for a healthy lifestyle class or my premium goes up. The first one is this week during the workday, and my week is packed so that's another thing to add. Ironic, huh? Blood pressure up? Let's stress you out further by making you attend this bogus class for 6 weeks. And by the way, we'll choose the time and place for the class. We don't care about your schedule. Can't make it? No problem - we'll happily increase your premium. Argh! Sorry for the rant. I did good with food over the weekend, but didn't make it outside to walk a single time. It snowed the entire weekend. I'm ready for spring. Have a good day tomorrow!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Monday kids!

Marcy, it's awesome that your parents are doing so well with the ipad! I am not an early adopter of new technology (not that an ipad is "new" at this point, but you know what I mean!) so I can't imagine how older people do it. I remember the first time I ever got an email from my dad. I was like, "Oh no! Someone is impersonating my dad on the internet!" Seriously--I had to call and see if it was a hoax!

Deegee, I get totally OCD when I achieve a weight I want to be at... but sadly it often doesn't last...! I'm trying to figure out what to do with some of my clothes. They are far to big for me now, but some of my work clothes are nice and rather expensive so I am reluctant to jettison them. I also hesitate to get rid of my larger jeans because that always seems to be the thing that is most difficult to replace when my weight fluctuates. I know everyone says to throw out your fat clothes, but having lived the 42 year long weight yo-yo sometimes practicality takes over!

On Saturday I went to the Porsche club breakfast and found out that my car had been recalled due to the exhaust system falling off of some 911s in testing. Oops. The bad news is the replacement parts aren't in the U.S. yet so I likely won't be able to get this fixed before I head north. If you hear about an exhaust system laying all over the highway right outside of Des Moines you'll know it was me!

So between the events of Saturday and general laziness on Sunday I really didn't get much done this weekend... Oh well, everything always seems to come together in the end, so it is what it is.

 

[zoebartlett]

Hi everyone!

I'm so far behind, I'm not sure I can even attempt to catch up. I think I'm done wallowing. There are times when I still feel completely overwhelmed by the future and what I need to do in order to get another position. Then there are other times when I plod along since I have to do SOMEthing, right? Aside from the mess with the job, our tenant just e-mailed us with a really long note about work that needs to happen to her condo. Needless to say, the timing wasn't right and I just about flew off the handle...at no one in particular, but I was not a happy camper to receive a page-long e-mail about $$ we'll need to shell out soon. Oh and tax season is upon us and we'll owe again. Why, oh why can't money grow on trees? I mean, really.

I've fallen off the wagon exercise-wise but I'm eating well. I haven't been writing down meals but I'm trying to keep everything in check as best I can. Now that I'm starting to come out of the fog I've been in, I should (hopefully!) get on track fully.

 

[marcy]

Hi everyone! Happy Monday.

Deegee, LOL at singing in your head again. That really cracks me up. Marty is great at directions; if he has been there once he can find it again. Not me. I can get lost with my nav system. Marty is home at least for this week. Next week is clear so far but he leaves again for the week of the 18th. He is pretty tired. He was just taking a nap on the couch and I had to prop up some teddies and rabbits so they’d be staring at him when he woke up. We definitely don’t have anything major left on our house just things we can do when we get around to it. Rats about your BP going up and having to take a class to help reduce your premium. That would trigger a rise in BP for sure. I am with you on being ready for spring. Sadly Wyoming won’t be free of snow until early June and that is always iffy.

Dee Jay, I don’t know how well my folks are doing with the iPad today but they didn’t call either one of us. I am waiting to see if my dad sends me an email. Rats they have recalled your 911. Maybe drop it off in Denver and I can go get it for you. I’m a helper that way. Just kidding. You and junior will make it to Chicago with no problem. Lazy weekends are not a bad thing.

Zoe, you’ve had a rough couple of weeks but sounds like you are focusing on what you want to work on to look for a new job. That stinks the renters want some things fixed right now and boo to owing taxes. Hopefully you’ll be pleasantly surprised when you get your taxes figured.

We had a bad night. I am always cold but about 2 am I woke up sweating and feeling like I was under an electric blanket turned on high. I wiggled around, stuck my feet and arms how, threw off most of my covers and hoped I’d cool down. I kept wiggling and Marty finally asked me if I was sick. I got up, turned down the heat and put on lighter PJ’s. I got back in bed but by then Marty was wide awake. Poor guy got up and went downstairs to work. I slept off and on until my alarm went off. Maybe I was having a hot flash; I don’t know. Since I am always cold I always joke I want to catch them. Marty had kicked off the fleece blanket and it was all piled up on me and by me so that is probably what did it. Since I was cold all day I doubt I was getting sick.

I had a meeting until after 5 at work so got home late. We had some leftovers, veggies and potatoes. Marty had a piece of cake and I had a cookie with slow churned ice cream.

Take care!
Marcy

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Tuesday kids!

Zoe, definitely DO NOT beat youself up over taking a little spill off the wagon. You've had a rough couple of weeks and you're allowed to slack a bit in situations like that. And I'm afraid to even SEE my tax return for 2012... I met with my accountant on Feb 18th and I've yet to receive the final form. Ack.

Marcy, I am GREAT with directions in Chicago (just me what hundred north/south and what hundred east/west and I'm there). Outside of Chicago... not so much. The only places I can get here without GPS are work, school, and the airport. I do think GPS makes me stupid though, because I don't have to pay as much (any!) attention to how to get places becuase I have Siri screaming directions at me the whole way.

For some reason I am HUNGRY today. I had oatmeal for breakfast, ate a 140 cal bag of Doritos at 10:30 this morning, had a lean cuisine for lunch at 11:30, and now I want something again. I think I have some yogurt in the fridge, but really I want a GIANT PIECE OF CHOCOLATE CAKE!!!

 

[deegee]

Dee*Jay - I actually got rid of all of my fat clothes (including sweats & jammies) except for one pair of jeans in the biggest size I had. I put everything in an empty office in my department and then let all the ladies know the DG free clothes boutique was open. I went from a size 18 to a 4, so there was quite a variety for people to choose from, and everything was taken except a skirt and 2 shirts. That's why I measure weight gain by the way my pants fit, and I refuse to buy bigger clothes!!! I lost a whole shoe size as well and gave all of my old shoes away too. That stinks about your Porsche being recalled. It happens, but it's darn inconvenient!

Zoe-Nope, don't feel at all bad for having a little slippage. I tend to do really well with food but slip on the exercise occasionally too. That's too bad about your tenant and your taxes. We haven't looked at our taxes yet, so I'm a little nervous. Hubby usually makes adjustments to withholdings throughout the year so that we come out pretty even in the end, but he didn't look at any of it at all during tax year 2012. Yikes!

Marcy - my in-laws lived in Baker, Montana for 15 years or so and I recall her complaining about snow starting in September and hanging around until May or June. Ah! They had forecast 4-14 inches for us today (nice range), but we only had a dusting. I can handle that. Your post about your bad night reminded me about a coworker once telling me that everyone would know when I hit menopause because I wouldn't walk around the office bundled up all of the time. I'm sure I'm knocking down that door...

I met with my healthy lifestyle coach today. She asked a ton of questions (I answered very truthfully), and then told me she couldn't believe I was required to do this. Since it is because my blood pressure was slightly elevated when they took it in January and because I am apparently very stressed out at work right now, she is going to focus on healthy ways to control blood pressure and stress management. I'm going to be so zen. And to help with blood pressure and stress management, we found out our deadline for this first phase of project was shortened from March 13 to tomorrow at noon. I had plain instant oatmeal and a banana for breakfast, leftover pork roast, couscous (I think it was wheat or whole grain) and broccoli for lunch, and turkey, carrots and green beans for dinner. We walked Lily 3 miles as soon as we got home. I knew if I sat down that I'd be done for the day. I am off to read for a while and then head to bed. I have a lot to do tomorrow before noon. Have a great day!

 

[marcy]

Hey kids! How is everyone today?

Dee Jay, I know how to find things in town but I sure can’t tell people how to get places or what streets they are on. I can find my favorite jewelry store in Denver without issue. Weird. I turned my Siri off since I found it slow and annoying. Good luck on your taxes. You have about one week left in KC? I bet you are excited. A friend of mine gave her notice today and she figures they’ll let her go before Friday. She got a job with the state and is very excited to get on there. I hate days like that when you are hungry all the time.

Deegee, I bet the ladies at work loved your clothes boutique. Hopefully your taxes come out fine. We may have to adjust ours if we continue to get a refund. I would like to just break even. I am always cold too and joke I’d love to catch hot flashes. I think Wyoming and Montana have similar weather – too much winter. That sounds like a nice program to work on stress and blood pressure. I am sure it pegged after finding out the first part of your project was due by noon tomorrow. Good luck with that! That is nice you got a chance for a nice long walk tonight.

Zoe, how are you doing? Definitely don’t beat yourself up for not exercising; we all have those detours. I figure as long as I continue to try that is what matters.

My day was long and stressful. I met a friend for lunch and was so glad to leave for the day. I bought window food for supper then Marty and I went and wandered around Pier 1 and Sams Club. We stocked up on TP, paper towels, Puffs, dishwashing soap and other things we probably didn’t need.

Weather was almost nice today but still windy. Snow is on the way again this weekend. Boo.

Marty has been working most of his waking hours so he decided to quit working about 4 today. I came home and found the bears and rabbits all over the house. One teddy was in the cupboard, one was on the TV, one was on the drapery rod over the patio door, one was on top of the den door, one was on top of a curio cabinet and of course some of them had killer rabbits chewing on their feet. Marty "claims" the bears were trying to run away and the rabbits stopped them. After he scattered the "kids" around he went and wandered around Lowes. He is trying to decide how to finish the edges on top of his wet bar.

Take care!
Marcy

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Thursday kids!

Deegee, I need to spend a few hours packing my closet and trying things on along the way. On one had I feel like it's "permission" to gain weight if I still have the clothes, on the other hand I know myself and if I suddently need a size six instead of a four and I have to go buy it I'm going to be very p!ssed off... hmmm... what to do... I also tried on my size two Lucky jeans last night becuase the fours I'm wearing now are a little loose in the butt. There's a bit of muffin top going on there, but more like a convenience store muffin than a giant Corner Backery style muffin, so that's good. BTW, did your rings get very loose when you lost a lot of weight? Most of my rings are a five, but I was playing around in my jewelry box the other night and some of my rings are so big now I swear they'd fall right off!

Marcy, the movers came yesterday to give me an estimate. Depending on what I find this weekend to move into I could be packed up and out of KC as early as next Friday Um... has anyone see the packing tape? I need to get on this!!! I *think* I will be here through next Wednesday but the headhunter who got me this job called this morning to ask what happened and I gave him a very frank response. I know that he has to get back to the company because they said since I wasn't here a year he has to find my replacement, so depending on what he tells them I may indeed be escorted out earlier.

Anyway, walked over to the grocery store at lunchtime and got a few lean cuisines, bananas, yogurt, and some tuna salad and chips for lunch. Tonight I have to watch the first four hour video for this course of the Becker review. I hope I don't get so bored that I munch my way through--not that there's much food in my house at all right now (ergo the trip to the store!). I'm kind of tempted to go into the party room in my building so I get through it faster because otherwise I have so many distractions in my apartment.

 

[marcy]

Hi everyone!

Dee Jay, I hope the headhunter and your current employer work out your replacement. I feel for you packing this week. I hope your estimate was decent for the movers. We sure got a deal on our movers but they had a small truck and had to make 4 trips. Some of our furniture got banged up too. Congratulations on your size two jeans fitting and smaller sized fingers. I went from a size 8 to a 6. In the summer my ring sizes go up again from the heat. I have a lot of my RHR at size 7 now and they fall around me in the winter but in the summer they barely fit. My wedding set is a 6 but they made my ering a bit larger when I upgraded the diamond. The ring broke when they were mounting the diamond so they replaced it and I told them to make it a size 6 but I think it's about a 6 1/3. I don't mind though because then I don't have problems in the summer. I hope your video course wasn't too boring.

Work wasn't as bad today as it has been this week. My SIL drove up from Denver with a co-worker. She is down there for work this week so we all went out to dinner. Marty was up about 4 today so he's asleep already. They are sending him to Brazil next week again. Boo.

We got a weird letter from Marty's company in the mail today. It's some government form that wants proof we are married so I had to copy our marriage certificate and the top of our 2011 income tax return. It said if we didn't return the required proof I would be dropped off his benefits.

Another blizzard is heading our way this weekend. Boo. It seems like we get a storm about once a week. Is it spring yet?

Deegee, I hope your project deadline went okay. Is Matt home this week?

Zoe, Sharon and Skippy how are you doing?

Take care.
Marcy

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Friday kids!

Marcy, the quote was $5,200 but $800 of that is for this crazy big mirror I've got. It's 61 X 86 and has a giant heavy wooden frame. The guy said he could have a third party do it for about $200, so that is a little better! The important part now is finding a place to put it in!!!

The scale is being mean again... I was down to 124.2, but now I'm back at 125.4, and who knows what a weekend in Chicago will do to me. Oh well, it is what it is. The weather is supposed to be warm but potentially rainy tomorrow so I might get a little damp going from building to building.

Not much else to report, just trying to get through the pile of stuff on my desk before I go!

 

[zoebartlett]

Hi everyone! I hope everyone's doing well.

Deegee, how often do you need to meet with the healthy lifestyle coach? Are you zen yet?

Marcy, I was about to ask you what window food is but it's fast food, right? I've never heard it called that. Did you have a good day today? I know the other day was stressful for you. Has it started snowing yet? We had a snow day today. Gotta love an unexpected three day weekend.

Dee*Jay, wow, you don't mess around, do you? Moving already?! It's happening so fast...well, to me anyway. I'm excited for you that you get to return to Chicago. Is there anything you'll miss about KC? Friends, coworkers, places you've been to/seen, etc? Four and a half (?) years ago my husband was laid off and was unemployed for 6 months. We decided to look at a state we'd never been to since job prospects here in northern New England weren't great. We moved to Charlotte and it was a HUGE adjustment. We're both from the same state, and our families still live here. Well, my sister lives in OR, but my parents and all of my husband's family are here. Anyway, we decided to give it one year and then move back home if we couldn't hack the south. We ended up moving back home just under the one year mark, by a week or so. Doing two big moves and two smaller moves in that time frame was crazy. There are certain things we love about Charlotte and miss even now, three years later since moving back home. I wondered if it's the same for you or if you think, "heck no, get me out of here!"

I've decided that looking for a job is a full time job itself. It's exhausting! I took advantage of the day off and printed out applications for school districts. I also put together many, many, many cover letters to add to my pile of stuff to send. I'm waiting for a few letters of recommendation to come in and I should have those by the end of next week, hopefully. I have a lot of copying to do (transcripts, resumes, etc.) before collating everything, but I'm *hoping* to mail them out in the next two weeks. I'm looking in two areas of my state, and with the amount I'm sending to districts, I may be able to save the USPS.

My husband's parents are coming over for dinner tomorrow and we're making guess what? Chili. It's been our staple for about a month now.

 

[marcy]

Happy Friday! At last it’s Friday. Yippee.

Dee Jay, your moving quote isn't bad. My in-laws paid about that to move from here to Florence, Arizona. I am glad they found you a more reasonable price to move your giant mirror. Have fun in Chicago this weekend. Hopefully you’ll stumble on a marvelous place to live. Silly scale; it knows you are moving it and just being mean to you. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Zoe, yes fast food is window food. Marty is a grammar freak so I love to come up with different names and terms to drive him crazy. Today was actually one of my better days so far this week. I had to talk to my swing shift about leaving something in the inbox that needed addressed and one of my day shift ladies was pretty slow doing her task today so I got after her and turned out she truly had a bunch of things missing. Rough week. Next week I have a few people taking a day off so that will make for long days. I am thinking of taking Tuesday off myself. So you had a snow day today? How much snow did you get? It has not started snowing yet but we have heavy cloud cover and it is very feeling and smelling very moist outside. Sounds like you are getting nice and organized with your resumes and cover letters. Finding a new job is a major chore. Marty didn't get an interview for 5 months when he was looking a few years ago but he also had a non-compete agreement with his old job so a lot of companies were interested but wouldn't talk to him. I am toying with the idea of starting to look myself. Your dinner with the in-laws will be fun; yum to chili. Sounds good for a snowy day.

We are meeting some friends tonight for dinner at a local bistro. Most of their menu is seafood, chicken and full of flavor so I had to contact them about making me a plain steak – they said no problem. At least I can drink the wine.

Tomorrow we are having friends over for supper and cards. They only live 2 blocks away so they can hopefully make it to our house even in a blizzard.

Sunday I think I’ll make soup. Monday we are going to dinner with another friend. My dance card is full. Once Marty leaves though it will be me and the bears. LOL. I do have plans with friends a few nights though.

I am starting to whine to Marty about when are we going shopping in Denver? I have a few ring plans and want to go visit my favorite jewelry store. I may have to head that way by myself. I am thinking of getting a diamond accent ring for my peach sapphire, do something with my ruby ring and maybe get a rose gold pink sapphire band. I can't do them all but would like to see what my options are then get at least one of them. I should save money for landscaping though. Rats.

Have a great weekend.
Marcy

 

[zoebartlett]

Marcy, I can't wait to see hear what latest project you end up planning after going to the jeweler in Denver. Speaking of Denver, a couple summers ago, we went out there to visit family and we saw Sarah McLachlan in concert at Red Rocks. We were sitting right up front and it was amazing. We want to go back and see other performers. We love it out there.

I'm not actually sure how much snow we got today. Maybe 6 inches or so? It's hard to tell because it's just piled on top of what was already there. The roads were horrible this morning and there were a lot of accidents along the highway, according to my husband. By the time I ran out to do errands around noon though, the roads had cleared up.

 

[marcy]

Zoe, Marty has been to quite a few concerts at Red Rocks and loves that place. I have never been there. I know, boo - I should go sometime. I hate that when the snow just continues to pile up and you have no idea how much snow you really got. Our new house is the only house for about a block or two in any direction so all the snow blows in and drifts at our house. Glad to hear the roads were cleared up by noon. I am anxious to go jewelry shopping but when I can do it is questionable. Our corporate office is about a mile from one of those jewelry stores. Maybe I should schedule up a "business" trip.

Our dinner at the bistro tonight was great. I was starving so my wine hit me pretty quick then I ate more than I should. But we had fun.

 

[marcy]

Good morning. It is very windy here but not much snow yet. What is coming down is going sideways.

Have a great day!

 

[deegee]

Dee*Jay-I did lose one ring size. I didn't have my ering resized until I hit my goal, and it was to the point it was sliding off everywhere. When it fell off into the kitchen trash can at work, I decided to get it fixed. My wedding band is an eternity and can't be sized, so it is still a 6.5 and my ering is a 5.5. Annoying. I keep thinking I'm going to have my ering reset, or upgraded, or something...so I haven't done anything with the band yet. I hope everything goes okay with the headhunter and your current job. Does your new company help pay on the moving expenses?

Zoe-I am so not zen! I took my 2yr old Acura in for service yesterday and was told I need 4 new tires. The dealer price? $1550. I was having a lousy day anyway and that didn't help. I have an appointment with my health coach on Friday, and I think she will be bringing me a bunch of reading material geared towards stress management and blood pressure. I'll find out more about how many times we have to talk at that meeting. Maybe this won't be so bad after all. I agree with you - looking for a job is definitely a full time job!

Marcy-my coworkers thought the DG boutique was awesome. It was really weird to come in and see so many people in my outfits! I got a letter a few years ago like Marty got. I had to provide a marriage certificate and a copy of our taxes from the previous year to verify we are married or they were cutting Matt off of my health insurance. Sorry to hear your days are long and stressful. Yesterday I walked around all day mumbling "must find my zen. must find my zen." A girl at work was talking about the evil bunny she has in her office. I'm going to have to stop by to see if it looks like your killer bunny! I hope you don't get snowed in. Lily and I sat on the porch for a while today. It was sunny and 63. Very strange weather for this time of year.

We hit our deadline on Thursday at noon. We'll find out next week if it passed the first review and will go on for Board approval. Thursday afternoon we tried to work ahead on the next phase, even though our first phase hasn't been officially approved yet. The project group didn't meet on Friday, so I worked in my actual office at my actual desk. I haven't been there in so long, it felt weird. I ended up with a migraine yesterday and ended up sleeping most of the day today. I haven't eaten yet and we have no food, so we're heading out. I'm feeling pretty drained, so I think I'll be back in bed soon. Have a great Sunday!

 

[deegee]

Hello! I think I successfully slept off my migraine, but I took medicine today anyway just to be safe. We're having an incredible day today. It is over 70 and sunny. I'm sitting outside with Lily, and there are all kinds of people outside taking walks or washing cars. Kids are playing, birds are chirping. Strange weather for us for early March. We're leaving in a few minutes to go look at a couple of houses in a new development. We stopped one night a few weeks ago and peeked in the windows, so I was excited to see they're open today. So far today I have eaten a banana, a kiwi, and some strawberries that don't really taste like strawberry. We were able to get our 3 mile walk in yesterday and should have no problem walking again today. We have to take advantage of this awesome weather! Have a great day!

 

[marcy]

Hi! I hope everyone is enjoying the weekend.

Deegee, I am glad to hear your migraine is better and you are enjoying a lovely day. What did you think of the houses? I think I’ll start looking for my zen at work too. If nothing else maybe they’ll think I am crazy mumbling to myself and send me home. It’s a win win situation in my book. I hope your first phase passed at work and you can move on to the next phase. I got called 3 times yesterday for work. Our on call rotating laptop had a windows upgrade about a month ago and it wiped out their VPN setting to get in to the network so the girl on call asked me take care of it. They get 2 hours of extra pay plus time worked for being on call, I’m on salary so I should tell the girl who kept calling me I get her extra money.

We have a nice time last night with some friends. Marty and I cooked supper (tenderloins, rice, asparagus, cheddar bay biscuits) and my friend brought a homemade cake. We played hearts and darts. It is nice that Marty and my friend’s boy friend get along so well. They both worked where Marty used to work and where I still work so we knew each other from there. They moved about 2 blocks from our new house last summer so we live pretty close to each other.

Today Marty met a friend for breakfast and has made a few trips to the hardware store to get more stuff for his wet bar island. I will have to post a picture when he gets it all done. Yesterday he cut one of the trim pieces about ½ inch too short but at least it was only an $11 piece.

I am making homemade beef noodle soup for lunch.

There is a comet visible for a few weeks after sunset and so I decided to round up the digital SLR and tripod and couldn’t find the tripod anywhere. When Marty got home he looked everywhere and all over downstairs. Then he realizes it is one our solar telescope we leave setting up in the living room. So we at least dug it out and looked at the sun today. It has a big old spot on it and a few prominences. That is too funny it was right in front of us and it didn’t dawn on us where the camera tripod was.

Our blizzard was a total bust. We had the wind for it but pretty much no snow. What we did get melted right away.

Have a great day.
Marcy

 

[marcy]

Deegee, you'll have to check on that killer bunny for me. That would be funny if its the same one.

 

[zoebartlett]

Deegee, I can imagine it would be funny to see coworkers in your outfits. "Hey, I have that same outfit too...oh wait..." What kind of project are you doing for work?

Marcy, beef noodle soup sounds great. My husband works in IT and he's on a beeper rotation every month or so. He got called yesterday and was on the phone for a while, but he didn't need to go in. He called his boss instead and his boss took care of the issue.

My random thoughts for the morning:

It's supposed to be in the low 50s today. I can't wait for the snow to melt and spring to arrive.

My husband's possibly going to transition to a new position today, and when that happens, he'll have a new boss who's located at the corporate office down in VA. He'll still work in the same field and for the same place, but some of his responsibilities will change and there's a chance he'll be able to work from home. If he becomes a senior developer, he'll most likely get a raise, which would be awesome.

I'm overwhelmed at the amount of work to do. I can't wait to get my job packages sent out so I can relax a bit (well, until I get interviews). I figure by that point, it will be out of my hands and then "all" I'll need to do is focus on preparing for interviews.

I need to be zen for so many reasons. Hey Deegee, can you send me some zen thoughts? Thanks!

Have a good Monday everyone!