Weekly Workout Thread 17th Dec till 23rd Dec

[Rod]

Hey Everyone!

My day was OK, but Charlie got so upset at work this afternoon, that his heart was racing and I thought he had an anxiety attack. I won't go into details, but it's amazing how people will throw someone "under the bus" if they get caught not having done something they were responsible for. And that in a nutshell is what happened, this person accused Charlie of not doing something important, when in fact this person had taken responsibility for it and had even written in an email they would take care of it. But, they didn't and when our boss found out, this person pointed their dirty little finger at Charlie, which was just so wrong. That was our afternoon excitement. At one point, I was pretty sure Charlie was just going to quit. So, work is still a bit like a roller coaster. At least tomorrow's Friday and we're off for the next 5 days......WOO HOO!

I didn't leave work until around 6 again, but headed directly to the gym. Rod had to work off those extra calories from last night's dinner (which I did so enjoy!). And since tomorrow is not a gym day for us, I worked out extra hard. I'm up to burning at least 1,000 calories per hour on the elliptical (or so the machine says), which is moving pretty hard! All I can say is thank goodness for the gym. No matter whether I have a headache, or am just frustrated, I feel so much better after a strong workout.

Macry, you are such a generous Aunt for sure. Before I lost my weight and worked so hard to stregthen my core, I suffered from lower back pain for years. I used to see a chiropractor as often as 3 times a week. And while I don't need a chiropractor anymore, I am a BIG believer in what they do. So, if your back is bothering you, I would highly recommend you seek a good chiropractor. Feel better soon!

Lorelei, I think your clothes comment was right on. I use clothes now more than the scale (which as you know is an evil device created to torment us mere mortals) to see how I'm doing.

Nice to hear from you Gail and I hope you have a fantastic holiday yourself. Sounds like you've got a good trainer who is offering good advice!!

CJ, when we were in Paris in 2001, one of the highlights of our trip was to purchase Jaeger LeCoutre watches. They're the Reverso Model, created for soccer players and the watch slides out of track and reverses to protect the crystal. We paid something like $1600 each (the Dollar was stronger then and I negotiated really hard for two watches) and when we came home we saw them in Nieman Marcus for around $5,000 each. So, I hope you can still get a good deal on Swiss Watches in Switzerland and it would be such a wonderful reminder of your trip!

Skippy wasn't your MRI scheduled for today? Glad you had a nice walk and of course your house cleaning counts as a workout!!

I'll check back in tomorrow night. Have a great Friday everyone!!

 

[marcy]

I made cc cookies tonight. I ate some dough and one hot cookie. I saved out 2 cookies for my DH to eat when he got home from work and will leave the rest in the freezer until Sunday. Of course I won’t lie – I don’t mind frozen cookies.

Rod, I am so sorry that happened to Charlie. Trust me; I know exactly what that feels like. I hate when people won’t own up to their mistakes. I have gone to a chiropractor before and am thinking about going to one for this. I love the big heating pad they put on you; I could just fall asleep on the table. My husband wants to make a trip to Switzerland to look at watches and of buy one. He is in to automatic watches and has a LeCroix and an Oris. I’ll have to tell him about your watches.
Take care and sweet dreams.

 

[tdiddy]

hi all! one more day til a long weekend!!! whee

not much to report today. breakfast was the usual bran flakes but i did try soy milk with them....not a huge fan but it might grow on me. lunch was a baked potato with a little 2% cheese and a tbsp of light butter and a cup of cottage cheese (2%). snacks were a cheese stick and a tangerine. and then there was dinner....all my best efforts were sabotaged at the local mexican restaurant. i had a bean burrito and a cheese enchilada. i skipped the chips and the side of rice and beans. and i had a few bites of fried ice cream. tis the season, right?

i did a 30 minute run on the treadmill, 15 minutes of elliptical, and 15 minutes on a bike. then i did some abs and lunges before wrapping it up for the night.

tomorrow it''s supposed to be 50 degrees here so i am hoping to get in a 6 mile run outside while i have the chance.

happy friday!

 

[Lorelei]

I wear a lot of those polo / roll neck long sleeve tight fitting T shirts this weather which show every lump and bump, so I find them great to remind me to keep my eating on track!! I like to catch a glimpse of myself in them and see how they look, sort of a reward for all my hard work!

Rod, I hope Charlie feels better and that work improves.

tdiddy, what is fried icecream please??

 

[KimberlyH]

Morning!

Rod, sorry about the mess at work; no fun. There''s tons of drama going on at the school where I work the most, and it''s just no fun!

Skip, how was your MRI? What''s going on with your knee.

Marcy, sorry your back hurts.

We had chicken pot pie from CL for dinner last night. We recieved a deep dish pizza from Lou Malnati''s as a gift, so that will be our big splurge dinner for the evening. I work 1/2 day today then am off for 2 weeks.

Have a great Friday all!

 

[ladypirate]

Good morning all! I hope everyone is having a great week.

The last couple of days I''ve been a bit of a zombie as I prepare to go out of town for next week. I still have more to do before I leave tonight. O.O

Sadly, this means I have slacked on the working out part for the last couple of days, but I''m hoping that since I no longer have 6:30 AM PT twice a week, I''ll have more energy to work out in the mornings!

marcy, the cc cookies sound so tasty! I''m looking forward to doing some baking this week.

Rod, I''m sorry work is rough. I hate when people get blamed for other''s mistakes--it''s such a cop-out on the part of the person who actually messed up. Also, it''s awesome that you''re into watches--at some point I want to get Kris a really nice automatic watch...maybe an IWC pilot.

tdiddy, good job on the workout! I''m so impressed by the dedication everyone has to their exercising!

Lorelei I took your advice and wore a tight shirt today to stop myself from eating too much! Here''s hoping it works...

CJ, you are so hardcore! Your trainer will definitely not underestimate you in the future.

Sorry if I missed anyone; I''m typing this at work and so I don''t have much time to reread the entire thread. Have a great vacation everyone!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Well I''m SO annoyed! I had this client that just HAD to go out to see a house at noon today so by the time I got done with everything else this morning I didn''t have time to work out, and then less than an hour before the appointment she called to cancel. This is of course after I had already taken a shower, done my hair and makeup, and gotten dressed. Arch! Hopefully I''ll get a few good workouts in this weekend at least.

Rod, sorry to hear about Charlie''s very bad day. He doesn''t deserve that type of treatment AT ALL.

For those of you who asked about the mystery diner program, some of our friends had done it and they recommended us for it. We got a schedule of various restaurants and we eat out once a week or once every other week through April. After the meal we fill out this LONG form with questions relating to everything from how long the valet took to approach your car, to whether the coat check was organized, to wether the host/hostess looked you in the eye and smiled when he/she greeted you, to what EXACTLY the waiter/waitress said when he/she first approached your table, to whether the food servers put the right plate in front of the right person, to... !!! You get the picture. And of course there are A LOT of questions about the food itself. We were terrified of what the head of the program would say when we turned in our first form since our friends got very detailed negative feedback about their form-filling-out abilities for several restaurants into it, but actually we got only one neutral/negative comment and the rest was all very positive feedback, so hopefully it won''t be so nerve wracking next time since we seem to have a handle on how to do it.

Not much else to report. Just ate an entire small bag of Godiva chocolate covered pretzels while I sat here and did a seach for one of my clients. Are the holidays OVER yet?!?

 

[Skippy123]

Hi all! Thanks for your sweet thoughts on the knee; I did have an MRI but I need for the doctor to call me so I need to wait a week for the results, so just waiting on that. Last night I talked to my mom and her sister/my aunt was diagnosed w/leukemia and it is so far along there is nothing they can do

. Right now she is in hospice. She took me to see Pinocchio when I was 4 years old and she was very good to me as a little girl, so last night I made it my mission to find a Pinocchio doll but no luck. I was so angry about not finding the doll and then it dawned on me that wasn't the problem; it was that she wouldn't be around much longer that is why I was angry. I don't want a thread, please. I saw her this morning and spent half the morning with her. Tomorrow I will go back to hospice to be with her; my cousin is going to go with me. Gosh, the holidays will be tough this year; the only thing that really helps is that she is very strong emotionally and very at peace. Thanks for listening my dearest friends. Tomorrow I hope to get a walk in!

Rod, give Charlie a hug for me, hope work is better today!

Marcy, I am sure you will make a great meal for xmas; hope the back feels better. The heating pad helps me. Also before I go to bed I use icyhot.

Kimi, dinner sounds yummy.

Mara, did you make the tamales?

DeeJay, dang to that lady, ugh! Hope you get some workouts in and I agree wishing the holidays were over so there are no more naughty goodies.

Lady, you will get back into working out; I think the holidays make it tough.

Lorelei, yay for the hard work.

Tdiddy, yay for your run!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Skippy, biggest hugs outgoing. You are such a caring niece to go looking for a Pinnochio doll--maybe you will find one yet.

 

[ladypirate]

I''m so sorry to hear that, Skippy. *big virtual hugs*

As far as dolls go, what about getting a marionette or a jiminy cricket figurine?

This one is pretty awesome, and not too expensive.

I hope that you get to spend some quality time with your aunt this holiday. It''s good that she''s with hospice--when my uncle was dying of cancer, they were amazing at easing his pain and making his last days as good as possible.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Skippy,

Huggs!!! I''m so sorry to hear about your aunt. My thoughts are with you and your family.

Take care!

 

[Mara]

just a quick check in, i haven't even read the posts...i have been MIA since yesterday afternoon and just surfacing now (but only for a minute hahaa). i spent 5 hours last nite baking cookies for today!!! and then this morning i was doing assembly and also getting my meat ready for tamales before coming to work. taking off for the gym in 45 minutes and then tonite will be working on the meat for tamales and tomorrow doing all the assembly and cooking on sunday! whew.

so funny, this morning between getting up at 7am and 9:30am when i was driving to work i did the following:
--breakfast for myself and portia
--assemble 14 cookie packets with ribbon, cello
--sear big slab of beef shoulder and put into crockpot for the day
--uploaded/modified/saved 10 cookie assembly & creation pictures and posted to my blog
--shower, get ready, get portia, get in car
--drop portia at grandmas along with chilies for tamale sauce and 2 bags of cookies for her

then on the way to work i thought about what rod said about me doing more in one afternoon than most people do in a week or whatever. i had to laugh because by 9:30am i felt like i'd accomplished like a whole day's worth of stuff but it was only 9:30!!

so the rest of today has been like that too. going to gym at 3, then to pick up portia and the chile sauce. home to take the beef out and shred it. put the pork loin in the crockpot. then for dinner head to get a burrito at this place where i also pick the masa with greg. cook the chicken. hehehe.

it's fun though, i love being busy like this for the holidays. anyway, just wanted to say hi to everyone and hope all are doing okay. i'll check in later!

ETA...rod sorry to hear about charlie, work stress sucks and yes people will totally throw you under the bus. just think, a nice long holiday is right around the corner. and skip sorry to hear about your aunt, hang in there..

 

[marcy]

I have been SOOOO bad today. I ate some cookies, some fudge, some candy and still have a pizza party to go to tonight. I didn’t eat enough to feel bad but more than I normally eat. Aak, bad Marcy.
Well, I must get ready for go to my pizza party. I intend to eat one piece of cheese and one piece of Canadian bacon pineapple and maybe one something of dessert. Tomorrow I will see the damage on the old scale so hopefully I’ll be good tomorrow as Sunday and Tuesday will be bad eating days.
Tdiddy, the long weekend is here. I hope you get in a nice long run tomorrow. We have highs in the 20’s tomorrow so I’m hoping to stay HOME.
Lorelei, good idea for the shirts that show every lump and bump. I’ll do that tomorrow while I am cooking more goodies. I’ll answer for Tdiddy, they take ice cream, roll it in something like corn flakes and cinnamon / sugar and dip it in hot oil for about 10 – 15 seconds so you have a hard crust with the cold ice cream inside. It’s yummy.
Kimi, my back is better today and I am not doing a lot of standing tonight so hopefully all my cooking tomorrow won’t be so bad. We are having pizza tonight too. It sounds great, huh?
Ladypirate, have a great trip and enjoy your baking.
DeeJay, sorry to hear your client cancelled on you. Your mystery diner program sounds fun.
Skippy, I am sorry to hear about your aunt. I am sure she appreciates your company. I hope you find a Pinocchio doll for her. My thoughts are with you and your family.
Mara, I am doing the marathon cookie baking tomorrow. Tis the season, eh?
Take care everyone.

 

[KimberlyH]

Happy Friday (before Christmas!)!

I worked until noon today then came home, had lunch, went Christmas shopping with John (we're done, HOORAY!) then baked and made the dough for my tamales. I've got a roast in the crockpot, getting ready to be shredded. We'll assemble tomorrow and steam on Sunday. I can't believe I accomplished anything considering I have not done much sleeping this week; last night was the worst. I woke up with a headache and didn't fall back to sleep fo 5 hours.

We've got friends coming for dinner tomorrow night, John is going to make a ham (yum) and shrimp along with sweet potatoes, something else, and salad for dinner.

I didn't exercise today. Does working in the kitchen for 4 hours count? I only ate 3 cookies (ha ha ha).


Marcy, I'm glad you're feeling better. I know how difficult back problems can be; take it easy, please!

Skip, please let us know when you hear from the MD.

Have a great evening all.

 

[CrownJewel]

Skippy I''m sorry to hear about your aunt. I know the Pinnochio doll doesn''t really matter, but I hope you find it anyway. Sending a virtual hug to you.

 

[Rod]

Just a quick checkin and then it''s off the get some much needed sleep after this mega-stressful week. Today wasn''t much more fun either. But the work day ended on a more positive note as Charlie was completely vindicated from yesterday and he received a very nice apology and a nice thank you from our boss. It''s just tough times at work and it''s funny to see how people react to their own insecurities.....hence the throw someone under the bus reference. But in this isntance it really back-fired on the person who tried to throw hiim. Big time backfire, but won''t go into that tonight..........

We wound up having a really nice evening tonight. Some friends and their two sons met us at our favorite Sushi spot and we had such a nice time. As some of you have read, we have the same waitress EVERY friday and night and she''s just so sweet, so we took her some Lindt chocolates as a holiday gift. Good thing we did, as she had bought us a lovely gift which just floored us both. I mean she can''t make that much money as a waitress in a sushi restaurant and she went out and spent her hard earned money on something for me and Charlie. It really touched us both so much. There are some truly warm and loving people in this world! Dinner was followed by our oh so healthy frozen yogurt with acitve yogurt cultures, followed by a cup of decaf at Starbucks. It was a really nice evening for sure.

Skippy, I am so sorry to hear about your aunt. How wonderful of you to spend time with her in hospice. I hope it won''t dampen your holiday too much. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.

ladypriate, I''m afraid we LOVE watches too much. While there are many men who are perfectly happy to own a nice Timex for their entire life, I like to wear different watches each day. So, my collection includes:

Jaeger LeCoutre
Rado
Daniel Mink
Tommy Bahama
Swiss Army
Raymond Weil
Baume and Marcier
TagHeuer

Good lord, I guess I didn''t realize I had that many watches........

DeeJay, my father and brother have always been in the real-estate business and what happened with that person cancelling at the last minute seems to happen to them all the time. I''m sorry people can be so inconsiderate of someone else''s time. The mystery diner program sounds like fun. Do they pay for the meals in exchange for your review? And yes, the holiday''s will be over soon enough.........

LOL Mara about how much you had done by 9:30. You are super woman for sure.

Enjoy dinner with your friends tomorrow night Kimberly. We were watching a Rachel Ray segment tonight about San Diego and the dining options on the water there. I really want to come spend a long weekend out there sometime. The city looks so beautiful. I''ve often thought San Diego would be the kind of city we would really enjoy living in.....

That''s about all I have for the day. We have the next 5 days off.....YAY YAY YAY!! I''ll check in as often as I can.

Sleep well everyone!

 

[Linda W]

Hi Everyone,

I just wanted to pop in and wish you all a Very Merry Christmas.

Skippy, I am so sorry to read about your dear aunt. I know both of you, will cherish the time spent together.

Mara, I am anxious to hear how your tamales turn out.

Rod: I am glad Charlie''s boss apologized to him. No fun being thrown under the bus. When I was working, I had that happen to me many times. I used to want to "slap" that person. HA!! I always enjoyed when they were finally caught.

I will check in tomorrow afternoon. DH and I are going to Foster City tomorrow for a Christmas Party Luncheon at his sister''s house.

Sleep well all,

Linda

 

[marcy]

Hi everyone. I didn’t go crazy at the pizza party and plan to be mostly good tomorrow except for sampling a few candy cane cookies when they are done.
Kimi, I think working in the kitchen for 4 hours has to count for something. Hooray for getting your shopping done. My back is pretty good today and I will rest between my chores tomorrow hoping not to flare it up too again.
Rod, I am glad to hear they apologized to Charlie. That is nice to hear. Enjoy your next 5 days off. We don’t have to go back to work until December 31st. I am very excited about that.
Linda, have fun at your luncheon tomorrow.
Take care everyone. Laters.

 

[steph72276]

Hi, everyone....just a quick stop in to say hello. It has been a busy couple of days trying to get all my shopping finished up. Let me just tell you, Target and Toys R Us is not a fun place to go the Friday before Christmas...I can't even imagine going tomorrow, it was crazy but I got everyone finished up and got all my grocery shopping finished, so I feel better. My parent's are flying in the day after Christmas to spend a few days with us, so that will be lots of fun. I have been pretty terrible in the food department although I am getting sick of sweets, so I didn't have anything sugary today. Can't wait to get back on track with my food and exercise. Hope everyone is doing well.

Skippy, so sorry to hear about your aunt. I am thinking about you and sending hugs your way.

Kimi, I was earning my master's in special education when we got pregnant with Andrew. I really hope to return to finish one day. I really got interested in autism as well after taking a class.

Hey, Rod. Sorry to hear about Charlies situation. Glad it was resolved today though. That is sweet about your waitress and the gift! That is an awesome watch collection you have. I got Adam a Tag Heuer for Christmas this year...he is going to flip out. He has wanted one for a while now and has no clue that I bought it for him, I can't wait to give it to him....it's his first nice watch.

Tdiddy, good to hear that the Nano is much easier to workout with. Lately I haven't even been using an ipod on my runs and then it gets pretty boring without one.

Hi, TanDog! Yea for not gaining weight, wish I could say the same!

CJ, your meal sounds awesome!

Lorelei, good strategy about wearing tighter clothes. Never really thought about it, but I can see how that would make you think twice about overeating

Marcy, I don't know how you have so much willpower. I couldn't stop eating that pb fudge. It was so good! Send some of your willpower this direction! Hehehe, wrote this before I saw your post later today talking about the things you have eaten...still it doesn't sound as bad as I've been. No worries, we'll be back on track after the holidays. I don't think I'm gonna weigh again until after Christmas.

LP, have fun on your trip!

DeeJay, Godiva pretzels....yummy! That is so cool about the dinner thing.

Mara, 5 hours baking cookies wow! Let us know how the tamales turn out...I'm sure they will be fab!

Hi, Linda. Merry Christmas to you too!

 

[marcy]

Steph, it sounds like you have been really busy. I saw on TV today people crowding in to some store in New York and it was insane; they were practically knocking each other over. I’m glad it’s not that busy where I live. I bet you are happy to have your shopping done. We finished up our grocery shopping tonight about 8:30. I thought it would be less busy than braving the crowds there tomorrow. And I’d like to say “what willpower”? Ha Ha. Come December 26th though; we’ll be right back on track.

 

[Mara]

evening all!! well the meat for my tamales is mixed with the sauce...we do a pork and beef combo. my grandma''s sauce is a combination of 3 types of chiles, peanut butter, garlic, some other spices, and chocolate. very tasty! i did my meats in the crockpot with garlic, cumin, black pepper and salt. picked up my 15lbs of masa tonite from this total hole-in-the-wall mexican place down in the not so great area of town, we got burritos from there too and they were tasty but sooo greasy. definitely an authentic place! hehe. greg also got some fried pork rinds which cracks me up...he loves stuff like that. had some tasty cookies for dessert. i didn''t work out after all today because i had a few more things to do before coming home, got some cool indoor/outdoor slippers for my grandma, picked up food and treats and gifts for portia and her stocking at the dog store. and had to finish up my meat. now i just have to put the chicken in the crockpot tomorrow for 4-5 hours but i''ll most likely assemble the chicken tamales on sunday as i''m using a green sauce for them, not the red. also i have to get out the recipe for the sweet tamales and familiarize myself. maybe i''ll lift the masa bag for some arm activity tomorrow morning as well haha.

i came home today with massive amounts of cookies from my exchange...i really only ''love'' a few of the types so it will be easy not to eat the other ones. one of the gals made biscotti too which is awesome but i don''t eat it that often so i''ll put it in the pantry for when we have coffee. actually it might be fun to put it out for our appetizer and drink party which we are having after xmas. oh and linda, how funny you''ll be in foster city tomorrow, greg lived over there in foster''s landing back in 2000 when we first met.

tomorrow morning is my last zumba class until jan, so sad but my facility is closing til jan 2nd. so i''ll be at the gym and out walking no doubt all next week to get the cookies out of my system so that they don''t go straight to my bootie!

marcy, you are so not ''bad''...you are doing way better than me that''s for sure hehe.
rod, glad to hear your favorite waitress was thinking of you guys during the holiday, thats sweet.
steph, i hear ya on the madness out there, i am so glad i don''t have to go out at all anymore basically. i do need one more thing for my sister, but it''s a gift cert to my salon and i will most likely have greg drive me over and let me hop out, run in and get it while he drives around so i don''t have to deal with any parking hehe. then that''s it! gotta wrap a few things that came for greg (boxers from jcrew, they had a HUGE sale...new dress and casual clothes from banana, a few things for my mom and sis etc) and finish up the digital photo frame for my dad and that''s it. oh and we have to figure out what we are doing on xmas eve...and what the menu is this year. whew! gotta love the holidays.
lady pirate, have fun getting ready to go out of town!

anyhow almost bedtime, busy day tomorrow, have a great one all. happy holidays to everyone.

 

[KimberlyH]

Skip, I was such a space cadet yesterday, and forgot to say that I am so sorry about your aunt. What a difficult time for you and your family. Big hugs.

Stephanie, working with children with autism has had such an impact on my life. I have had several general education teachers make comments such as "I don''t know how you do what you do" or "God bless you, I just couldn''t do it" and I always say that for every challenging experience there is an amazing breakthrough that makes each day amazing.

Mara, sounds like we''re in similar places with our tamales. I''ve made the dough and the pork is cooked. I''m making pork and green chile and cheese. Enjoy assembling today!

Rod, San Diego is a beautiful city; I heard Racheal was going to Azul (YUMMY!) and The Strip Club (never been). She needs to go to El Indio for her Under $40 show; it''s the best Mexican hole-in-the-wall in the city. It''s sad the gov''t is such a disaster with no end in sight; we choose not to live in the city of San Diego in part because of the mess of a gov''t. So sad.

Not sure what''s on the agenda today, aside from cooking. We need to do one more grocery store run to buy some ingredients we forgot for the tamales.

Have a good day all.

 

[gailrmv]

Skip, so sorry to hear about your aunt.
Rod, that's so nice that you exchanged gifts with your sushi waitress! I walked by Mura last night and thought of you. Still haven't eaten there yet but we will soon!

I'm enjoying hearing about everyone's holiday preparations! It will be a low key weekend here, b/c DH has to work a bunch over the long weekend. We visited our families (all out of state) recently and had a great time w/ them, so it seems very anticlimactic! I have plans to get a lot done w/ the long weekend off of work though - lots of organizing, cleaning, and decorating my new house, plus many gym trips, and reading some fun books that I've been wanting to read.

Mara, question for you. I remember you saying your good friends (neighbors) had a baby recently. The couple that we hang out with the most is going to have their first baby soon too. What kind of stuff did you guys do to help them out when they first had their baby, and also, when you guys hang out what kinds of things are fun to do with them plus their baby? I'm trying to anticipate how to help out our friends initially, and then, how to keep up our friendship even though things will change. We've had other friends have babies, of course, and we've done the whole bring-a-covered-dish-by-their-house and ooh-and-ah-at-the-baby then hang-out-occasionally-at-kid-friendly-venues, but it ineveitably seems like the friendship drifts over time as they start hanging out with other people who have kids. It is different w/ these folks because they are our best friends who we hang out with almost every weekend and I know we all want to stay close friends after the baby arrives. (Anyone else feel free to answer too!)

 

[Mara]

gail, real quick before i run off to zumba...when our neighbors had their baby things hugely changed, we're kind of sad about the changes as we miss them a lot when we are out at dinner but we have adapted our friendship we think pretty well. we did a lot of takeout at their house from our fave places because they didnt have any time to cook or inclination to go out or anything...so i'd stop on my way home on a friday or something at our fave sushi place and get $100 worth of sushi and we'd go over and drink sake and eat sushi with them. they aren't comfy taking the baby a ton of places yet, he is just about 4 months so they are starting to get better about venturing out with him but it's not like we can just take him to a 4 star restaurant and have a 3 hour dinner. but i talk to her online a lot during the weeks and we typically still see them about once a week, whether they come over here or we go next door. typically it's around a food thing because we all love to eat. we'll typically eat at their dining table and the baby is downstairs in the swing or on the table in his sleeper next to us or something or napping upstairs. he's a pretty calm baby actually too, so sometimes i swear i forget he's even in the house! now her parents are visiting from slovakia so they are helping a lot with the baby and i think it's great to have her mom around for a while to help show her some stuff she might not have known before. we went over for dinner last weekend, her dad is a chef and he cooked for us.

so really the main thing that has changed is we can't just be like hey what are you guys doing tonite, we're checking out this dive taqueria, want to come? it's more like okay are you guys home this wkd, we can come over with takeout. though we have found a few really local places that we think they'd love that would be super baby friendly, most recently this indian place that is not crowded or good looking at all, they have more secluded tables and it'd be easy for us to take over 2 of them with the baby and have a good meal in under 1.5 hours. recently they brought the baby to a concert of gregs which they have come to a lot of them before but first with the baby and within 30 min he was fussy so they took turns going out to the lobby with him. one other thing that has happened is our convos are a lot more disjointed. like we'll be talking about something and then the baby might fuss so one goes to get him and we kind of idle til that person comes back.

okay so wow that was long. anyway, the relationship does change, but i think you can adapt. and really keep making the effort to reach out to them because they will be swamped busy in the beginning so they might not have as much effort to put into the relationship like they used to but it doesn't mean they don't value you and still want you guys around. we made sure to try to give them some space in the beginning because who wants people around when you are figuring things out 24/7. but after their routine was a little established, aka 3 weeks or so, we went over to see the baby and visit and from then we've kind of put our own routine in place. also you will just find yourself probably acting like an auntie role if you are around the baby a lot anyway so i think it feels natural to just do whatever feels right for you and your friends. we do miss them sometimes when we are out and find a new cool place though because we're like oh they'd love this but we know that as time goes on they will be more and more comfy with taking him out. good luck!!

 

[gailrmv]

blah... lost my post to deadlock victim....

in a nutshell - thanks Mara it helps to hear about your experience. It seems like our friends are in denial that anything will change, but of course it will - good idea bringing takeout to their house - I am sure we will be doing a lot of that in the early months.

I am off to the gym shortly!

 

[Skippy123]

Hi all! My cousin and I got up early and drove down the hospital. My aunt had a bad night so she asked for no visitors; my cousin was bummed out but we understood. We should have called first; we will do that tomorrow. I am feeling better today; (I didn't realize it would hit me this hard yesterday). I forgot to note that I gave my aunt a cute teddy bear and she told me that we could pretend it was Pinocchio.

Hubby and I walked to this salad bar for lunch which was about 2 miles away and on the way back we took a short cut for 1 1/2, so we did 3 1/2 miles. I think the walk did us both some good! There is snow in the shaded areas and it is quite cold here.

I have to say I really love this thread and the people here! You all brought me a some peace yesterday! Thank you; your hugs and thoughts helped!!!

Jas, I have been thinking about you; I hope everything is okay. Please let us know if you don't mind.

DeeJay, thank you; I appreciate the hugs, seriously it helped!

Ladypirate, that is a cute pinocchio; I ended up buying the dvd. Thank you for your kindness; you are very sweet! I am so sorry about your uncle. Hospice is good to the patients; I am glad there is something like that for the very sick.

MC Michelle, thank you for popping in; that means a lot to me; I am giving you a hug back for your kindness!

Mara, thank you! Wow, you did get a crazy amount done; I told you you were superwoman!!!! I am coming to your house to eat some tamales, seriously yum!
Yay for zumba!

Marcy, I am glad I have no more cookies; enjoy your pizza party. I am making pizza tonight. hehee Thanks for the thoughts.

Kimi, thank you for the the hug sweet friend! Glad you are done shopping!!! I hope your headache is gone!

CrownJewel, thank you; I love the hug and hug back. Isn't your trip soon? How exciting!!!

Rod, I am glad you can relax now; sorry your week was stressful!! Yay for meeting up w/friends. I appreciate the prayers!

Linda, Merry Christmas to you you sweetie! Have a safe trip to Foster City!!!

Steph, Glad you finished up shopping! Enjoy the holidays w/family! Thank you for the hug; here is a hug back in appreciation!

Gail, thank you. Enjoy catching up on stuff and going to the gym.

 

[Mara]

whew taking a break to check in and read some PS....i just have to say that aljdewey is evil...but i love her. she made me a huge batch of my fave, choco chip cookies with nuts and shipped them over to my house...we just got the package and i was like HOLY #$*!. there are like 40 cookies in there!!!! i''ve already eaten 4. but since she made them for me, i have to eat them right? hehee. i pawned off a bunch of cookies this morning from our exchange on my trainers, they loved them. now we''ll have to work on eating these cc ones...thanks al...you sabotager hehee.

so anyway did zumba this morning, for part of the class it was just me so the instructor who is a dancer worked with me more on my form which was great. i also got these new merrill shoes that are more like a flexible walking shoe, for walking and casual dress on the weekends but also for the class because i feel so much more flexible in shoes that move with me and let me bend my toes and stuff. so i def felt like they were making a big difference..yay. and they are super cute too.

then came home and did some ab work on my own though the class actually works abs a fair amount, ate some egg whites and english muffin then started working on my tamales! greg helped me assemble the beef and pork ones and we are done, so he headed off to pick up his old truck to bring it home for the holiday. he''s also getting a blueberry pie for our xmas eve dinner from this fab creamery and bakery place we love. so i just shredded my chicken from the crockpot for the chicken chile verde tamales...and i have leftover masa from the beef so i am just going to use that. my raisins marinated in the rum for about an hour with cinnamon and nutmeg for my sweet tamales. so about 1/2 done overall i guess. i''ll finish all the assembly today for my 3 types, then cook some tomorrow and some monday for xmas eve. whew! anyone who can make it over for tamales, yay lol!

anyway, hope everyone is having a good saturday....!!! gail, things will definitely change, we all knew that before the baby was even born, sounds like your friends will be in for an awakening, bottom line is just be there for whatever they need..!!

 

[marcy]

Hi. I got my candy cane cookies baked and the mac and cheese ready to bake for the family Christmas get together tomorrow. I needed some new running (okay walking) shoes and found that smaller sized shoes fit me now. I got some Brooks and some New Balance. I will switch off between the 2 when we go walking.
My DH has been at work all day trying to solve an outage. After I took them supper I went out and walked around the mall then walked around a department store. It’s busy out there! I wanted to try out my new shoes. My feet are achy to probably it’s because of a smaller size (I hope so).
Mara, your tamales sound good. One of the ladies that works for me made us homemade tamales last year and they were sure good. Thanks for saying I’m not doing so bad. I did eat normal meals today but I had a few candy cane cookies. That is one reason I decided to go walking tonight. Too funny aljdewey sent you some of your favorite cookies.
Kimi, you have such a wonderful outlook working with autistic children; I am sure seeing progress is very rewarding. Have fun finishing your tamales today.
TanDogMom, it sounds like you have a busy weekend even though you’re not working on Christmas projects.
Skippy, I am sorry to hear your aunt had a bad night and didn’t want visitors today. I am sending hugs and well wishes your way and to your aunt as well. I am glad you had a nice long walk today. I took most of my cookies over to my parent’s house today and saved only enough for us to have on Christmas day. I don’t want any extras around here.
Well, everyone take care. Have a great weekend.

 

[Rod]

Hey Everyone........we had a really good day. I didn''t think about work at all and that helped to make the day nicer too! It was cooler than they forecast and cloudy, which put Charlie in a good mood. He actually enjoy''s cloudy days and I must admit since we get so few cloudy days, it was actually kind of nice. It was too cool to have breakfast on the terrace, so we watched HGTV and had our scone, coffee and fresh fruit. It was a nice change there too. Then we wanted to try this deli we never knew about which is actually quite close to our condo. I don''t know how we could have lived here over 12 years and never known about this place. Seems like just all of Tampa was there for lunch. And it was terrific. I had corned beef on rye, with melted swiss and mustard, all grilled to perfection. Charlie had a spinach salad and part of my sandwich was too big for me to finish. We''ll definitely go back to this deli for sure. Then we went to the Fresh Market and bought some things for Christmas breakfast. They just recently opened a Fresh Market here, which reminded us of Raleigh, where there were a coupe of Fresh Market stores. From there we went to the gym and we worked out really hard. After that we finished our Christmas shopping. WOO HOO and had dinner at our favorite diner. So, it was just a nice day all around. I must have pushed pretty hard at the gym because I''m actually sore tonight.

Skippy, I''m sorry your aunt had a bad night and wasn''t up to visitors. Sounds like you and hubby had a nice 3 1/2 mile walk to and from lunch.....good for you both!

Hey Gail, so now you know where Mura is. You''ll have to have dinner there, as we truly felt it was the best Sushi in Raleigh for sure. If they haven''t added it to the menu yet, you have to ask for a Screaming Orgasm (that is the roll''s name, honest) and it is truly one of the best rolls they make.

Steph, sounds like you''ve been busy and I''m glad you are looking forward to your folks coming the day after Christmas!

Mara, that was really nice of Alj to send you home baked cookies and yes, you have to eat them!! We''ve checked out some bakeries today so we could find a great chocolate cake for Christmas desert and while we were at one, we bought some sugar cookies. Fortunately for us, no one we know baked this year. So a dozen sugar cookies will just have to do for our holiday cookie fix........

Marcy, glad you enjoyed your walk around he mall. I hope you did the right thing getting smaller shoes. For fitness shoes, I always get 1/2 size larger as feet tend to swell a bit when you''re walking or running. So, you might want to be absolutely certain the shoe size will really work for you.

Tomorrow should be a pretty normal Sunday, including the gym. Christmas Eve, we''ll get up early and go to the seafood store to get our Christmas Lobsters, then the bakery for the chocolate cake. We always go to the mall one last time and buy just one more gift on Christmas Eve. I''m not sure why we do that, but we do. We have reservations at Roy''s (from the Roy Gamaguchi of Hawaii fame) which we enjoyed two years ago when we had our last Christmas Even in Tampa. So, we really wanted to go back now that we''re home again.

That''s about all I can think of for now.

 

[gailrmv]

Guys, I totally blew it tonight - I ate half of a Papa Johns pizza! Four slices! I was starving after my workout, and went to town

Even worse, I also had half a pint of fro yo! (Pint - not the box, no worries) -this is totally unlike me! I can't remember the last time I ate so much. At least I had a good workout (circuit training) and tomorrow is a new day.

Mara, yep, our friends are in for an awakening, is right! They think I am too pessimistic about how much work a baby is, but I think they have no clue what they are in for - so only time will tell!
On another topic, did you ever end up getting hoop earrings? I've been poking around some old threads about hoop earrings and I saw where you thought about getting some .50 tcw pave inside out hoops from Blue Nile. If you did get them, how was the quality, and do you wear them? My b-day is coming up and DH says I can pick out something in the $1K or under pricerange. I'm looking at hoops or the WF 1ct bangle bracelet, but truth be told, nothing is calling my name and I think it might be smarter to save the $ til something does. Or just save, period - we've had a ton of house expenditures this year! I am so practical It's been harder than I thought finding jewelry pieces online. I have a lot of confidence shopping for stones or simple settings online, but when it comes to less expensive jewelry pieces, I just want to try stuff on, get a sense of the size or scale of it, or see pics that aren't available! At the same time, I do not want to pay inflated prices for inferior merchandise at any old local place. And, I really hate returning things, so I like to get it right the first time. I am difficult!

ETA
Hi Rod - I totally believe you about the sushi roll name but that would be a funny joke to play on someone - telling them to order that when one doesn't exist I told DH about Mura being good when we walked by (I told him my BMW friend recommends it

), so we will have to try it! We have another fave sushi place but it is good to branch out!

By the way did you ever go into Kerry Catherine's jewelers near Mura? I went in yesterday on my way to dinner and they had some neat things but I only had a minute to look. Seemed to be pretty good quality but also very high prices, but I only had a minute. Did you have any favorite Raleigh area jewelers?

By the way we are huge HGTV fans too - my favorites are designed to sell and house hunters!