Didn't do so well yesterday

Figured I should put this on paper and not completely ignore it, but I don't want to make too much of it either and have decided that the rest of the week is not ruined.

At weigh-in yesterday I had only lost .25 pound. I thought I had done better and was a little irritated, although I should be happy that I lost at all with Thanksgiving. I also realize that I may have lost some in my measurements that didn't show up on the scale. However, it's still annoying. That plus my pool not being open yet (not even as of 2pm today, argh!) got me in a sabotage mood.

I had chicken cooked from earlier and should have just heated up some veggies, but instead I asked Tim to pick up McDonald's on the way home from his brother's. I also ate TWO (yes, TWO) of those Twix & Cookie bars. I was drinking lots of water, does that help? LOL!

So, today I got up and decided to not let yesterday ruin the rest of the week and am back on programm today. I've done pretty well today and think I'll be fine the rest of the week. I can still lose this week if I'm careful, and hopefully I'll be able to swim tomorrow. That will be a big help.

No pool today for Mindy :(

I just called to see if the pool was open, and they said to check back about 10am. Well, since I actually can't spend all day waiting for the pool to open, I guess I'll be going tomorrow. I might fit it in after work, but I doubt it. The reason I want to go in the morning or lunchtime is because the sun starts setting around 4pm and by the time I leave at 5pm it's pretty much dark and I'm just in no frame of mind to exercise. Going to exercise in the dark in the morning is different because I know it's the beginning of the day. I can't really go at lunch today because my boss wasn't in yesterday and I don't want to throw that at her at the last minute because we hadn't talked about it in a while and she may have forgotten I was going to take a long lunch hour a few times a week. Oh well, the pool will be open today or tomorrow, and it's not like by going today I'll lost 10 pounds right away or something LOL!

Now for yesterday's Monday Madness:

1. How did you choose a name for your blog?
I tend to talk a lot and have lots of stories to tell of myself and others that I find amusing or interesting in some way -- I think I'm the only one to find them so LOL! My college roomie's friend used to call them Mindy Memories, and it kinda stuck.

2. How many times have you changed the name of your blog?
It's always had this name.

3. How many blogs to you update regularly?
Only this one. I used to have a LiveJournal blog, but I prefer this setup.

4. How many times have you moved in your life?
If you count back and forth to college every year as a separate move, 17. If you don't count the college years, 9.

5. On a scale of 1-10, how stressful is moving (in your opinion)?
It depends on the situation. My most stressful move was when I was 14 and it was the first time I had moved and it was from Upstate NY to the Orlando area of FL. It really did a number on me -- major culture shock. Other times I've moved have been a pain, but not as stressful. Moving from FL to PA by myself wasn't as stressful, but it was a bit lonely for a while as I didn't know anyone here.

6. When moving, do you/would you rent a moving van/truck?
Depends on the distance. When I moved to my current apartment I took all the small stuff in my car in many trips because I had plenty of time and did a little every day. We took the big stuff in my friend's truck. If I have no truck available to me I have no choice but to rent something.

7. Do you wear glasses? If so, how old were you when you needed them?
Yes, I wear glasses. I started wearing them when I was 16 and my eyesight was just bad enough that I needed them to drive.

8. What one question would you hope someone running a meme, would ask?
I don't know. Off the top of my head: What was your favorite subject in high school.? If you went to college, was it your favorite there as well? (I'm not real great with coming up with blog questions.)

GRRRRR!!!

I was very good last night and got all my stuff together to go swimming this morning. I bought some extra goggles and caps because that always helps me get psyched for swimming, strange as it may sound. I was trying to get over the fact that I feel I look ridiculous in a bathing suit -- that's why I'm swimming and doing WW in the first place, right? Gotta start somewhere.

Since it was a long weekend I couldn't get to sleep early so got to bed about 1am and set the alarm for 5:30am so that I could get myself up and in my suit and over clothes and then swim before work. I got up, stopped by the store to pick up some lunch items, and went to the gym -- only to find that "the pool will not be open until further notice." GRRRRRRRR!!!!! I was kicking myself because I should have known! The gym just opened last week and I should have called to be sure the pool would actually be opening, too. I didn't have the right clothes to do anything else and instead took an extra long hot shower and took my time getting ready for work. I'm still here an hour early so I'm doing some personal Internet stuff.

Oh well. Can't say I didn't try. I can still do the treadmill and weights but I honestly don't get excited over that kind of stuff. Hmph!

On a happier note, here's the SQoTW:

Do you know it all or is there something out in the stitching world you still want to know how to do?
I'm pretty good with whole stitches, partial stitches and specialty stitches. I'm OK with French knots, but don't go out of my way to do them. The one thing I haven't the nerve to try yet is Hardanger. Yeah, yeah -- everybody tells me how easy it is, and it really is beautiful. I just know how much frogging I do and fixing cut threads isn't quite so easy. I hope to take a Hardanger class at CATS in Hershey next year. I think it will help if I actually learn from a person rather than trying to learn from written instructions. There are some gorgeous designs out there that call for Hardanger, so it would give me an excuse to buy more :)

Is this not an adorable picture?

Somebody just posted this on a board I visit. I have no idea who it is, but I love how all the little kittens are cuddled up next to him :)

Spark blogging question

If a terrible storm was rumbling toward your home, and you had five minutes to find and save a single object before being forced to evacuate, what would you take?

Let's presume your family and pets will all escape safely, and that you won't lose all your money, or other basic items of financial worth. What object, one that you can hold in your hand, could you not bear to lose? What item in your posession is priceless?

Describe the object, physically of course, but also its history. Its sentimental value? Where did it come from? Why did you save it? What would you tell someone who asked about it?

The first thing that came to mind is my diamond necklace. It's on a beautiful gold chain and the diamond itself is on a horseshoe-shaped charm. The reason I would save this is not just because it's my only real diamond, but for it's sentimental worth. It's one of two diamonds that were on my great-grandmother's wedding ring. When she died the ring secretly sent to my grandmother as she was the only one who wasn't fighting for it. The person who inherited the jewelry gave it to her to give my sister and I one diamond each. My mom had them both made into beautiful settings on a gold chain. I didn't know my real great-grandmother because she died in the TB outbreak in the 1920s. She was my grandmother's and one uncle's real mother. I did know my step-great-grandmother, but she never treated my grandmother and one uncle as well as she treated her own kids. If you look at a picture of my real great-grandmother you can see how much she and my sister look alike, right down the the typical tilting of the head when their pictures are taken :)

Poor baby :(

Just got off the phone with Dana and Kylie's sick again. Apparently the day after her birthday party she came down with something (Sunday) and went to the doctor on Tuesday. The doctor said she has partial pneumonia in one lung and gave her antibiotics and to call on Friday if she's no better. Well, Kylie appears to be no better today so Dana called and was pretty much dismissed and told to call back at 12:00. She's miffed. Basically, there's one nurse there who thinks she's the doctor and can tell people that nothing is serious, blah blah blah, over the phone like that. Dana's not one to freak out over everything, but I think being worried about your one-year-old with pneumonia is something to worry about. She's also a bit worried about Kylie's immune system. She knows that kids tend to pick up everything when they are this age and in daycare, but it seems that often when she catches something it quickly turns into something worse. It's not like Dana lets her run a fever or cough for days and days before she calls the doctor.

I'm going to call Tim's mom this week and talk to her about her surgery. I didn't mention it earlier, but I could tell yesterday that she's tired of her knee problem. Tim says the main reason she has put it off is because of the rehab part and she lives alone. Tim has offered to stay with her, as he is the only child without his own kids and who doesn't get on her nerves, but I think she thinks it will upset the two of us. So, I'm going to talk to her about it. Growing up, my grandmother came to live with us when she broke her ankle, and she was there for a few months. That's what family does. If we had the room I'd bring her here, but we don't and she'd be happier in her own home anyway. There's an extra room with a futon at her place where Tim can stay for a while and it's no like it's far, far away or anything, just 30 minutes or so away. I'll still see him. As long as I can still get rent money from him I'll be OK. I told him that I really am not able to live here a few months completely on my own, and he understands that and we'll work that out. As for the rest -- if I'm the only one eating food and using the electricity, there's no reason for him to help with that. He'll be having to help his mom with groceries and such since he's there.

So, we'll see what happens. I hope that after we talk she'll go ahead and start planning for the surgery. I can tell it's really starting to take a toll on her.

Day after Thanksgiving

Actually I wrote a very long entry two days ago about various stuff, but Blogger ate it and I was pretty irritated so didn't write it again.

Hope everybody had a nice Thanksgiving. I did. Tim and I went to his mom's and different parts of his family stopped by at different time, so that was nice. His family has always accepted me as part of the family, and I'm grateful for that. Not every family would accept somebody of a different race into their family, and both of ours have done so. Today is Tim's birthday and he's going to hang out with his brother who is in from Florida and some of his friends. He and I will do something next weekend after I get paid. I just didn't have anything left after paying some bills with the last one. It's going to be a while yet before I'm caught up with things.

Today he had to work and I'm going to get the Christmas stuff up. I'm not sure where the three will go, as the furniture is different and bigger than what we had before. I'm afraid that the only spot for it may block the tv from my stitching perch. I'm sure I'll figure out a way around it :)

As for my Weight Watchers, I'm very proud to say that I only went over by 3 points yesterday! I was careful about what I ate and didn't keep eating just for the sake of eating, which is hard where there are so many yummy things. I also had a piece of cheesecake, and that used a lot of points but was homemade and sooooo worth it!

Tim's poor sister! She's been sick for over a year now and the doctors still aren't sure what the problem really is. She had her gall bladder removed this past year, and that helped but didn't fix everything. At the time, she had been running a fever of about 100 for months and the gall bladder removal brought her temperature back down to normal. She still has the inflammation where everything hurts, and she's got the thing with her feet where she really can't feel them very well. She has to look to know if she has socks or shoes on, etc. So, they have her taking various medications, one of which is Pregnizone (sp?). The steroids have her all swollen and puffed up and then she takes stuff to counteract some of the problems with the steroids. Ugh. She's such a beautiful woman, inside and out, and I hate to see her going through this. It started right after her husband had recovered from having inches of his colon removed, so that family has really been through it and they aren't that old.

Today is butt cold! I think this is the coldest day we've had so far and it's going to be 29 overnight. This will be quite normal for the winter, and I keep forgetting that it will be December in a few days. Fall is my favorite season and always goes so fast for me. It seems like just a few days ago that the multi-colored leaves were still on the trees and absolutely gorgeous. Now most of the trees are bare or nearly so, and the leaves are everywhere.

What my name means

I used both my legal name (Melinda) and my nickname (Mindy). I gotta say, the Mindy description really fits me in a lot of ways. I am one of those "The road to Hell is paved with good intentions"people. I'm better than I used to be, but I like to do things for others and sometimes over-extend myself. However, some of the Melinda description fits, too. I guess I'm maybe 60% Mindy, 40% Melinda :)

Your first name of Melinda gives you the desire for responsibility and takes you into practical pursuits. You would excel in work of a technical nature where concentration and attention to detail are important. Whatever you undertake, you have the patience and determination to do well. You feel a sense of security in positions of responsibility where progress is made through systematic, step-by-step procedures. However, you lack vision and you could become too involved in technical details, system, and routine. You do not readily adjust to changes in your routine. You find it difficult to be spontaneous and fluent in verbal expression, and are prone to make rather direct comments that are not accepted in the way you intend them. Home and children are important to you, and you desire a settled environment. There is a tendency to assume more than your share of duties, and others could impose on your good nature, thus over-burdening you with responsibilities that could cause you to worry. A fondness for heavy, rich foods could, through overeating, cause you to suffer through intestinal and digestive troubles.

Your name of Mindy creates a passive, friendly, easy-going nature, but your desire for sociability and the pleasant things in life makes you too easily influenced through your associations. You are too generous and if appealed to will give all you have because you find it difficult to say "no" and mean it. You do not like to create tension or friction and will try various means to avoid such situations. You are very idealistic. You have imagination and many ideas but lack the ambition and drive necessary to accomplish your undertakings. Many times you dream about the things you desire in life, but when it comes down to putting forth the necessary effort and accomplishing your goals, you do not have the strength and initiative. This name does not allow you the system and order your life requires to run in a smooth, efficient way, and if possible you will avoid having to make decisions because you feel much more secure when you can lean on others. Many times you make promises you do not keep, although your intentions are always good. Any weakness in your health would cause you to suffer through either kidney trouble, female problems, or varicose veins. Due to a sensitivity in your nervous system, you could experience nervous disorders.

Yay! Finally got some of my stitching here!

Yes, I really do stitch LOL! I know I talk about it but now I have proof here on my blog. Over the last week I've scanned in my finished projects and my WIPS. Celtic Summer was my last finished project. See, I have been working on Deco Spirits :) I'm still hoping to finish it this month, but I'm not sure. It depends on how much I get done this weekend. Hmmmm, the more I think about it, the more I think I probably won't finish it, but I can get a lot of it done. It feels good to finally get my WIPs in my album and see how far I've gotten on them. Sometimes it's hard to tell, but I really saw the difference between the new pictures and the old ones.

Lost a little, not much

I'm glad to have lost anything at all, so that's good. I'm down a 3/4 pound from last week. I ate all but one of my extra weekly points, so I'm glad that I lost anything at all. Normally I don't plan on eating that many points, but it's good to know that I can still lose a little bit if I do and don't replace any with activity points.

I'm going to take some of my WIPs to work to scan in to my album today. I scanned in some of my completed projects a few days ago but didn't get to the WIPs. A lot of people have a "What I'm working on" and "Recently completed" area on their sidebars, and I want to be a copycat and have them, too :)

I've put in another 9 hours on Deco Spirits. I may yet get it finished this month, but I don't think so. I may have to work on some small projects before I finish it because I don't think I can stand to stitch this whole block without a break. I tend to get sloppy if I get bored with a project. The colors and design are beautiful, but sometimes I need to work on other things.

On to the SQoTW: Hand-dyed fabrics - love 'em or hate 'em? If you love them, what kind/colours do you have?
I think they are beautiful, but also think sometimes they detract from the design. It depends on the fabric and the design. If a design is very busy, a very contrasty fabric makes it too much, IMHO. I prefer the more subtle hand-dyes. Of course, there are exceptions and my opinion is formed case-by-case. I think my favorites are the angels stitched on fabrics that look like clouds and the mermaids stitched on ocean-type fabric.

Proud of myself

So, I have little money for groceries and gas for the next 1.5 weeks. I'll have some Thanksgiving leftovers, but those only last so long, and I need something before then as well. So, I'm doing my best to get healthy food with as little money as possible. I walked a block to the produce place up the street and spent less than $12 on:

bananas
bag of carrots
bag of baby carrots
celery
cabbage
2 zucchini
large cucumber
tomato paste
5 tangerines
1/2 gal. apple cider
green beans

Depending on where you are, that might not seem like a great deal. Around here, it's much better than the grocery store, and the food is better and fresher. I'm sure I could drive out to Lancaster and get better prices, but it's really not worth it for the gas and time spent to drive a total of 2.5-3 hours.

So, I'm going to make that zero point soup and see how I like it. I think it will help me to not go over my daily points this weekend, maybe eat one or two under. I've never tried it before but I've heard it's good, although I will have to use some points for crackers -- soup isn't soup without at least a few crackers :)

I don't know why I don't go there more often. I always end up buying my produce when I buy the rest of my groceries, thinking it's easier to get it all done at once. Well, it is, but it's not THAT much harder for me to walk a block up the street to buy my produce. I really should do this from now on for most of my produce.

Stolen from Laura's blog

1) What is your first name? Melinda, but I prefer Mindy

2) Were you named after anyone? No, my parents just liked the name.

3) Do you wish on stars? No.

4) When did you last cry? A few days ago, due to my frustrations at home.

5) Do you like your handwriting? No. I used to have nice handwriting but as I get older it gets worse and it takes less writing to make my hands hurt, which in turn makes my writing look worse.

6) What is your favorite lunch meat? Turkey, turkey, and turkey.

7) What is your birth date? It's in April :)

8) What is your most embarrassing CD? The Dead Milkmen's Beelzebubba.

9) If you were another person, would YOU be friends with you? I think so, although I'd think she were a bit loony.

10) Are you a daredevil? Not so much anymore. I was moreso when I was younger and didn't always think through the consequences.

11) Do looks matter? A little. I like people for who they are, not how they look. However, I also notice the long-haired rock star types when they walk down the road :)

12) How do you release anger? I tend to fume internally, which is something I need to work on. If I really get upset I throw nonbreakable stuff at the wall, but try to go for a walk instead.

13) Where is your second home? I have two, Karri's house and Dana's house.

14) Do you trust others easily? Not as much as I used to, but I tend to trust people until they give me a reason not to. I should probably act the other way, though.

15) What was your favorite toy as a child? I preferred paper and coloring books with crayons, markers, colored pencils, etc.

16) What class in high school was totally useless? Physics. My teacher was horrible and it was a total waste of time to go. I think if I had a better teacher I wouldn't feel that way.

17) Do you have a journal? Yep. I have this blog and I have a hand-written journal where I tend to write stuff I don't want on the Internet but have to get out. Sometimes it's the same stuff in both places.

18) Do you use sarcasm a lot? I think I have a very sarcastic sense of humor and do tend to use it a lot, probably more than I should. Sometimes I'm taken the wrong way when I use it in humor so I try to watch it.

19) What are your nicknames? Min, Bogoo, Mimby, Muffin, Fred, Mindola... the list goes on. I pretty much don't care what people call me as long as it's not "Bitch" or something like that.

20) Would you bungee jump? Nope! I'm not a big fan of heights and see no reason for me to jump off something that high if it's not falling apart.

21) Do you untie your shoes when you take them off? No.

22) Do you think that you are strong? Usually. However, there are times I wish someone would take care of me so that I didn't always have to be strong. It's very tiring.

23) What is your favorite ice cream flavor? Almond Joy.

24) Bush or Kerry? Kerry

25) Pen or pencil? pen

26) Football or basketball? Football

27) Shoe size? Oh Lord! Not the shoe size thing again! (mine is anywhere between 7.5 and 8.5, depending on the brand and style)

28) Red or pink? Red

29) What is your least favorite thing about yourself? Not crazy about my physical look at the moment, and I don't like that I tend to push people sometimes to see how far I can go without something happening.

30) Who do you miss most? My sister. She's in CA and I'm in PA and we don't talk or see each other as often as we'd like.

31) Do you want everyone to whom you send this to send it back? I guess if I was emailing it, but it's just in my blog. Frankly, I'm amazed if anyone has gotten this far LOL!

32) What color pants are you wearing? I'm in my pjs, so silky red ones with pink roses -- looks better than it sounds.

33) What are you listening to right now? Watching Last of the Mohicans.

34) What was the last thing you ate? Cheesecake late last night.

35) If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Navy

36) What is the weather like right now? Cloudy and chilly, in the40s.

37) Who is the last person you talked to on the phone? Probably Doug at work, one of the agents for whom I'm creating marketing materials at the moment.

38) The first thing you notice about the opposite sex? hair

39) Do you like the person who sent this to you? Yes.

40) Who was it? Laura -- got if from her blog.

41) What is your favorite drink? Cosmopolitans

42) Favorite sport? Swimming

43) Would you rather sing or dance in public? Sing

44) What will you be on Halloween? I don't really do the Halloween dress-up thing. Maybe next Halloween I will, as I should be thinner and will feel more comfortable about it.

45) Do you wear contacts? No.

46) Pet peeve? Rude people.

47) Goal in life? That's so general a question. I have many goals, some are long-term, some short-term. My main goal is to be happy, which encompasses all sorts of smaller goals.

48) Last movie you watched? I'm watching Last of the Mohicans now, does that count? In the theater -- The Village, which I actually liked very much.

49) Favorite day of the year? Christmas.

50) Scary movies or happy endings? Depends on my mood. I love a good horror (not necessarily slasher) but sometimes I like a happy ending.

51) Summer or winter? Winter

52) Hugs or kisses? hugs

53) Mountains or the beach? Beach

54) What is your favorite dessert? Ice cream

55) Who is most likely to respond? Probably Dianne :)

56) Who is the least likely to respond? I don't know. Everyone else? LOL

57) Living arrangements? Tim and I live together with Smokey the Cat in a small rented apartment.

58) What books are you reading? Going to start the LOTR series soon, having read The Silmarillion. Not reading anything at the moment, though.

59) What's on your mouse pad? Nothing, it's a grey mousepad with a wrist rest.

60) Who was your first true love? I think it was a good male friend of mine in college, although I didn't realize it until much later when it was too late to do anything about it and we were no longer friends. Very long story I'd rather not get into right now.

61) What did you watch last night on tv? Nothing, I actually left the house for once!

62) Favorite smells? vanilla, cinnamon, roses, citrus basil, Moonbeam from B&BW, Curve for Men

63) Rolling Stones or the Beatles? The Beatles, although I like more from the Stones than I used to.

64) Do you believe in evolution or creation? Both. I believe in Evolution but also that God put the whole thing in motion.

65) What's the furthest you've been from home? Not sure of the mileage, but visiting my sister in CA is the farthest I've been from my home, in PA.

Had a great time last night

Last night (Friday) Karri and I went to see a good production of Yeoman of the Guard at Westchester University. One of our friends was conducting the orchestera. The music was great, as was the singing and acting, but the diction wasn't so good and it was hard for me to tell what they were singing. I think a lot of it was due to the acoustics in the place, and the fact that so much Gilbert and Sullivan is very fast and getting all of that out while being loud to be heard and getting the diction perfect is probably damn near impossible. My diction was always bad, so I know I couldn't do any better. In college Marion, our choir director, used to tell us to be careful so we didn't sound like the Southern Latin Choir singing Mozart's Requeim LOL!

I went way over my points again last night, at the last minute. I thought we'd have a bigger dinner but we didn't have time so I had a few points left and we stopped by Acme to pick up a few things Karri needs for today, after the musical. So, it was about midnight and I was hungry and I picked up a container of 2 cheesecake slices and I ate both of them. Oh well, I went over by 12 points. I still have 9 weekly points for the weekend, but I'm going to avoid eating them, which means being very careful today at the birthday party. I'm not planning on staying long anyway because these parties always end up with too many people in too small a space and a bunch of kids running around. I can't handle close crowds like that and am not used to a bunch of hellions running around at once, so I already told Dana I probably wouldn't stay long. She understands, and it's not like Kylie will remember that Aunt Mindy didn't stay all day for her first birthday party.

OMG she dropped her towel!!

This whole controversy over the Monday Night Football lead-in earlier this week is just getting ridiculous. I personally thought it was funny, but do understand the other side to an extent. Normally my argument is that if you don't want your kids to see something on tv, don't let them watch it, but nobody knew this was coming. I think a lot of little kids see worse on daytime tv if their parents let them watch it, though. Apologies have been made, and I honestly don't think kids make a big deal about this stuff unless they see the parents make a big deal about it. However, what's getting me is the whole racial thing. Some white people are upset because -- the horror! -- it was a black man and a white woman. If it had been a white man and a white woman it wouldn't have been such a big deal, huh? Of course there's the other end, the blacks who think this was a racial slur about black men going nuts over "white meat." Come on! When are people going to allow people to be with the ones they want? I've been with a black man for almost 6 years now. Believe me, if we were only together because we believed the stupid stereotypes that revolve around interracial relationships we would have broken up long ago. We are with each other because we love each other, although that love does get strained at times, just like any other relationship. I really think a lot of Americans need to get a grip.

As for Weight Watchers, I'm very proud of my work yesterday. We had two birthday cakes for an older gentleman at the firm. I didn't have any of it and I had to go in the kitchen a few times. One of the ladies told me I should have just a taste and enjoy it, but I told her I couldn't. When it comes to cake I can't have "just a taste" because it turns into a small piece, than a medium piece, etc. as I cut a little sliver off about 10 times LOL! Normally I would have had some, but I had that ice cream earlier in the week, am going to a friend's house for dinner tonight and a birthday party tomorrow. So, I have plenty enough going on where I have to watch myself and may go over a few points that I don't need extra cake.

I did get a little work done on Deco Spirits last night. It was only an hour, but it's something. I just can't get as comfortable in my new stitching area as I was in the old one. I'm facing a different way and the couch is much softer than the old one. I'll figure something out, but that's a big reason why I'm not stitching so much lately, and probably part of the reason I'm crankier lately.

Wednesday night

I need to work in some stitching time. I haven't been on the computer as much as I used to be, but I'm still not finding as much time to stitch as I used to. Don't know what's going on there. Maybe it's because I'm better about cooking meals and I'm spending more time planning meals and grocery lists. I guess after a while I'll be quicker.

Favorite WW Snacks... so far
One of my favorite snacks, and I apologize if I mentioned it already, is eating two graham cracker squares with Cool Whip Free in between them. It's like an ice cream sandwich and is only 1 point for each!

Another idea I got at the meeting on Monday is to eat a serving of pumpkin with nutmeg, cinnamon, Splena and a little Cool Whip Free. I think that's only 1 or 2 points. Have to check the pumpkin points, but they said it tastes great!

Another lady has a sandwich made with the lite bread that is 1 or 2 points for 2 slices, cucumber, lettuce and tomoato. She says it fills her up when she's hungry but doesn't want to waste points.

Something I like for lunch is cucumber or raw zucchinni with tuna fish on it. It's good for protein and veggies. I usually use a very small amount of the Kraft fat-free mayo, the one with the red top. It's the only kind of fat-free mayo that tastes decent to me at all, and I use just enough to make the tuna stick together.

I've also found the JELLO nonfat pudding snacks and Polly-O lowfat string cheese to be great ways for me to snack and get my dairy for 2 points each. I've had other lowfat string cheese, but I think the Polly-O is the best.

For a zero-point snack, sugar-free JELLO gelatin and Cool Whip Free is very yummy.

I tend to boil a bunch of eggs at once and put them in a bowl in the fridge. I don't have one every day, but every few days I have one or two for breakfast. They are a great source of protein and are 2 points each. I have no choloesterol problems so I don't have to worry about that, although I've been reading that eggs are better for people than thought a few years ago -- in moderation.

Many probably already use these, but I figured I'd share. Feel free to share any of your snack and meal secrets.

Early Wednesday

I was up early this morning and decided to change my insurance from Progressive to Geico. I'm getting more with Geico than I did with Progressive for about the same price, so I think it was a good move.

Yesterday was my splurge day. I went 10 points over LOL! There was a Turkey Hill Ice Cream guy in the lobby of the building giving away free cups of a new flavor of ice cream they are promoting. Weight Watchers or not, I'm not going to dismiss free ice cream :) Since I was home late, Tim was hungry by the time I got home and decided he didn't want to wait and ordered out. I got a turkey club, which isn't too bad but not too great. It filled me up and I had nothing else for dinner, but it was still 12 points, if I figured it right. I also had a 3 point glass of Coke. So, I'll be good the rest of the week. That's what I like about the system -- it helps me learn that I don't have to "diet" but that I do have to be accountable to the choices I make and to keep a kind of food budget.

The reason I was late coming home was because it took me 90 minutes to get to work. GRRRR! Why they decided to start digging a hole in the road during rush hour is beyond me. So, everybody going from my area and farther out into Philadelphia using City Avenue had to get into one lane to get through this intersection at 8AM. Man, what a mess! So, I stayed an hour late to make up for arriving at 9:30 instead of 8:30. I may see about changing my schedule from 8:30-5:00 to 9:30-6:00. That way I can get some things done around here in the morning after Tim goes to work. It's impossible to do anything when he's home and I'm no longer home during the day once a week like I have been for quite some time. I think I'll ask Donna about it today. It won't affect the times I am the back-up switchboard person and I'll still take lunch at the same time, so I think it will be OK.

I'm finally going to answer the Stitching Question of the Week:

Do you find that having another distraction (music, movies, people to
talk to) while stitching helps you make progress or make mistakes?

It helps me quite a bit. I usually "watch" tv while I'm stitching. I tend to watch movies and programs I have already seen so that I can listen more than watch. I seem to be partial to watching the LOTR trilogy while stitching because I love to just listen to the voices and the music. Of course, I've watched them enough times to know what's going on without seeing it :)


Last week's Stitching Question of the Week:

What project has been a WIP/UFO the longest? Or what project took you the longest to complete?

I think for me it's a tie between Mirabilia's Sleeping Beauty and L&L's Angel of Love. I've been working on both of them a little at a time for close to 2 years now. I'm closer to finishing Angel of Love than Sleeping Beauty, mainly because Sleeping Beauty is HUGE! They were both work projects, taken to work to help get me to take lunches, but it didn't work so nothing was done on them for a very long time. Right now I'm working on some projects for friends so haven't been working much on my own stuff.

Down five pounds!

I had a great first week on WW! I was down 5.2 pounds today at WI. I realize that we tend to lose quite a bit the first week and it evens out after that, but it's still a great motivation. I actually looked and felt thinner today. My pants were much baggier, as I tend to lose weight easiest from my legs. I think my lower tummy is just a tad smaller, too. I'm not sure if anybody notices, but I can feel it and it's nice :)

I'm irritated as hell at Tim at the moment. This weekend, I was informed that he's no longer going to go to parties at my best friend's house because he only sees those people there and no other time. Of course, these people like him and want to be friends with him, but he says they are "my friends" so he doesn't really try, which I think is stupid. He has a few good friends, but he's also had a few who were horrible who he has let go in the last few years. He also informed me that going to my parents' place in Florida for Christmas is a "one-shot deal" and how ticked he is that I'm "making" him do something I know he "despises." When I brought up how much I've been there for him and his family stuff -- brother's funeral, mom is a shut-in, etc. -- I hear that the difference is that they are in-state. Therefore, my family isn't important because they live in different states, so that's my fault you see. I know he hates his job and everything, but quite frankly I'm getting really freakin' tired of this "poor me" shit! I think he's getting worse and I'm not going to put up with this attitude much longer. I feel a nightmare coming on. I love him but I'm not going to live the rest of my life with a person who has this attitude. I'm sick of being positive for both of us. Even when I was out of work I had a better outlook. He won't even go to the damn doctor so they can do a sleep study and figure out his snoring problem so we can sleep in the same bed. He keeps saying he's "planning" on it, but you know what that means.

Bah! I hate going off like this but it just irritates the heck out of me. I've had to work hard for what little I have, too. In fact, most people have. I know few people who have been handed everything on a silver platter. The problem is that the jerks he work for are people like that and they treat people horribly. I wish he had taken me up on my offer to support us while I was making much better money a few years ago -- I told him to just quit and look for something else. He didn't, and I respect why -- he didn't want to leave me with that burden. Well, I was still paying the same bills when I was on Unemployment as I was when I was working, and he didn't think that was a burden?

Anyway, enough of that. I guess I just had to get it out. I really don't know how I'm going to handle this but he's given me a lot more to think about than he probably realizes, and I need to figure out how to talk to him about it, if that's even possible.

But, I lost 5 pounds, so that helps :)

My virtual model

I created a virtual model. It's kinda cool, but it doesn't represent me that well. I mean, she kinda looks like me but she's not nearly as lumpy as I am in real life LOL! My weight is mostly in my gut and it certainly doesn't look like my model. Oh well, it's kinda neat to see what I could look like in smaller clothes and such.

Here's me now compared to me at my goal weight. I have an athletic build and not a tiny build, so I think this is pretty accurate for me at my goal weight.



I also just joined the Eowyn Challenge. My goal is to walk and swim the 458 miles to Rivendell by 12/01/05. That seems like a long time, but considering swimming a mile takes a lot more out of me than walking a mile does, I think it makes sense. I'm basing this on starting out swimming a mile 3 days a week and slowly working my way up to swimming 5-6 miles a week and walking 4 miles a week. When I get to that point we'll see how I'm doing. When I'm close to my goal weight I plan on joining an adult swim team, but that's far in the future. If I reach my goal sooner that would be great! Then I'd start the next challenge. This first one is from Bag End to Rivendell.

Am I boring everybody with my weight talk yet? I know, I know, but if I don't put this stuff in writing I won't do it.

Do you like loose tea?

I recently ordered some from The Tea Guys and it's great! An online friend had given me a heart-shaped teaball a few years ago but I was never able to find loose tea. I found this place online and ordered some of the green tea and black tea. Right now I'm enjoying a great cup of Markesch Mint and it's great. If you like tea give their site a try. I bought the small packets (2 oz.) and there's more in them than I thought. Two ounces of tea is a decent amount :) Tim likes it, also. Having some good black and green tea is helping me with drinking less soda and therefore ingesting less sodium. I've noticed a difference in my feet since I started doing this. Before, I'd wake up with feet that didn't look swollen but had that tight, somewhat painful feeling. After close to a week of taking in much less sodium my feet feel much better.

Grocery store success!

I went out this morning to run a few errands and stopped by the store to pick up a few things until I get paid and get my usual groceries. Thank goodness I had cooked some turkey for when I got back because I was soooo tempted to stop by McDonald's for a lunch. I don't often get fast food, but I like to once in a while. I figured I could just pick up a sundae or something. Luckily, I knew I had turkey at home to eat for lunch and I picked up some graham crackers and Cool Whip Free so I could make my own 1 point ice cream sandwich. Yummy!

I don't know what's going on around here but there have been sirens and emergency vehicles all over the place. It's worse today than most Saturdays. Of course, the road here connects a bunch of larger roads so sometimes it seems like every emergency vehicle around uses it to get to where they are going. I live right next to the road and it took some getting used to when I first moved here. When I'm on the phone with my brother he always wonders where I live (he hasn't visited me here) because he hears all the sirens. I assure him I'm in a good area, not in some of the less reputable places around here.

Today is pretty, but that wind is cold. The sun is out and a lot of leaves are on the ground but many are still on the trees and beautiful in the sunlight. It's 44 but when that wind blows it's a lot lower. It reminds me of when I was young and still living in NY. This is the type of weekend weather that would find my family out on some of our land chopping wood for our woodburning stove, and for my Grandmother's stove. My dad would get the chainsaw to cut the logs, then the ax to quarter the small logs. The rest of us would take the wood to the trailer, then we'd get home and take the wood from the trailer to the large but organized wood pile by the house. We had a pre-Civil War house that had a wood box under a window by the fireplace. In the warmer months it was a bench. So, we'd bring in wood from the pile every few nights. I hated wood duty, but it helped a lot with the heating bill. My dad once had a dream that he had to truck wood from Upstate NY to my mom's brother's place in Alaska LOL!

So, for all the problems Tim and I have had in the past 1.5 years, I'm thankful that on a beautiful but cold day I have a tiny yet warm apartment to come home to and a cozy kitty waiting for me on the blanket on the couch. I'd be thankful to come home to Tim, but he's not here but at his mom's putting together a futon for her. I'm thankful for him, too :)

Woohoo! It's Friday :)

Wow, what a week! They made me full-time just in time, I think. Of course, yesterday I spent most of the day fighting three printers. My labels got stuck in the b&w printer and we had to use tweezers to get a few pieces out that came off. I was printing the monthly newsletter on the fast color printer, which wasn't going fast at all. My newsletter kept spooling, and spooling... and spooling... Finally, I converted the file to a postscript file, then a pdf and that worked, at first. It printed a couple copies of the whole thing then the fonts went wacky and it started using symbol fonts for bits and pieces, here and there. It wasn't just one font that changed, and it wasn't all of just one font that changed. Finally, I printed the last 60 (out of 100) 5 at a time and that worked. Good thing about being stubborn is I don't let these things get the best of me and I still got them all stapled and stuffed to go out before I went home so it wasn't hanging over my head. In the meantime, my wonderful (and I'm not being sarcastic -- she's great!) IT person is working on the problem.

As for the Weight Watchers, I'm doing OK. I had to use 4 weekly points yesterday. In the middle of all that nonsense I had a chocolate attack, but was careful. I got a Cookie M&M Bar out of the machine as it has the smallest amount of calories and such, and was a 4 point yummy instead of 5 or 6. When I got home Tim wanted to order out. Instead of getting pizza or something I ordered a turkey pita, dry with only lettuce, tomato and pickles. So, I think I handled a stressful day pretty well. Today I'm doing pretty good. I have two points left for the day, already had dinner and am pretty full at the moment.

If I remember from the older Points System, we had a range rather than one set number. I think the weekly points are to help make up for the difference, so I'm not worried if I use a few of them every day -- a few. I don't want to use them all in a week if I can help it because that seems like too much to me. But if I use 28 or 29 (I think 29 was the limit before) I'm OK with that, at least in the beginning. I'm looking forward to the meeting on Monday. Wanda and I can get there on time now that we know it starts at 11:30, not 12:00 like it says on the WW site.

I'm going to pick up some "in-between" groceries this weekend. I get most of my groceries every 2 weeks when I get paid, but I usually go once in-between so that I have fresh produce and dairy. I'll be sure to get graham crackers and Cool Whip Free. I've heard that you can make something similar to an ice cream sandwich with two squares and the Cool Whip and it's one point. Sounds yummy!

As for stitching, I plan on getting more work done on Deco Spirits this week. I'm still not used to my new stitching spot and it's not as comfortable as where I've stitched for the last few years, so I'm not stitching as much. My goal for the month is to finish Deco Spirits, so I better get going because it will probably take another 35 hours. I've been stitching mainly on the weekend, and next weekend I have a birthday party to attend on Saturday. I'm also going to see a friend's production of Yeoman of the Guard on Friday and am looking forward to it. So, next weekend probably won't see a lot of stitching around here :)

Quizzes stolen from Dianne :)

discover what candy you are @ quiz me

Are you Addicted to the Internet? 43% Average@Internet-User.com (41% - 60%) You seem to have a healthy balance in your life when it comes to the internet and life away from the computer. You know enough to do what you want online without looking like an idiot (most of the time). You even have your own Yahoo club or online journal! But you enjoy seeing your friends and going out to enjoy life away from your computer. The Are you Addicted to the Internet? Quiz at Quiz Me!

Wednesday afternoon lunch break

Went over my target points by 2 yesterday, but made sure I took them out of my weekly flex points. I'm trying not to use too many of those, but that last natural ginger ale was just sitting in the fridge looking at me, and I do love that stuff.

Doing well today. I'm glad I had a few nibbles between breakfast and lunch because I forgot about a 1:00 meeting and got lunch at 2:00. I'm trying to drink less soda, and did well yesterday. Today I still felt funny after a cup of hot tea so I got a 12 oz. can of Diet Coke -- better than the normal 20oz. bottle at any rate.

I'm going to re-read Getting Things Done this weekend. Yes, I know it sounds like an exciting book but the ideas really helped me "get things done" at Piano Lane. Now I'm getting bogged down and constantly putting out fires and I need to nip it in the bud. Getting people to actually use due dates instead of ASAP when they give me stuff will help, but I need to do more to keep myself organized. I remember I had a lot of folders. I think it was set up kinda like my card system at home -- a folder for each day of the month, etc. I remember that it took me some time to implement, but since I'm just starting to get overwhelmed here I think it will be quicker. I waited too long to start it at Piano Lane.

Wednesday morning

Well, I've done pretty well on my two days on WW. Got a ways to go, obviously :-) It once again shows me that my portion sizes are way off, I tend to eat too much dairy and not enough fruits and veggies. Can't remember if I said this already, but my gym isn't opening until 11/24 now. In the meantime, I'm getting up earlier in the morning. I'm not actually exercising, but getting on the computer instead LOL, but at least I'm getting in the habit of getting up early enough. This week I'm concentrating on food, and next week I'll start throwing in the exercise. That way I'm not changing too much at once. I tend to go all out when I do things like this, and I think that's part of my problem. So this time I'm starting out more slowly.

Going to send a mass email out today to all the agents at work. It will basically inform them that I'm now full time and will reiterate what I can do for them. I haven't sent one of those "this is what I can do for you" emails in a while, and I really should send them monthly. Also, I'm going to remind them that I need a 48-hour turnaournd. At first I was able to get things done for people very quickly because I didn't have as much to do. Well, now I've made a position for myself and have PLENTY to do, which is good, but they need to start getting stuff to me more than 2 hours before they need it. It doesn't help that the due date many use is always ASAP. When many start using ASAP it loses all meaning and it makes me decide who will get done first and that's not right. So, I'm going to start retraining them. Of course, this kind of retraining never ends, but I'll keep at it.

So, my first weight goal for myself is to lose 10 pounds. When I lose 10 pounds:

• my current clothes will fit better
• I'll be able to wear a few sweaters that don't look so hot right now
• I'll wear some other clothes that are a bit snug at the moment and don't *quite* fit right
• my shoes will fit better
• my legs will be much leaner, since I tend to lose weight there first
• I'll walk and go up stairs quicker
• I'll take up less gut room in the car in front of the steering wheel :)

Those are just a few things I know will happen when I lose my first ten pounds, so I'm looking forward to hitting that 200 mark. I'll be even happier to hit th 199 mark.

More stuff to say this evening

I just came back from reading some messages at Just Plain Chat. I'm so disgusted by the namecalling on both sides of the political arena. Look, my guy lost. Yes, I'm upset about it. Yes, I am not happy at all that Bush was re-elected. But come on! That doesn't mean that all conservatives are stupid, or that all liberals and moderates are intelligent. I do know a few conservatives who are relatively intelligent who say very nasty and hurtful things to those who don't agree, and I know some liberals who are the same way. I know politics are very personal, but this constant nastiness is stupid. By all means, disagree with what others are saying. But when you start pulling out the stereotypes, calling the other guys Nazis and bitching about who is stupid and who is moral, you've lost your argument IMHO.

As for stitching, I'm going to work more on Deco Spirits tonight while I'm getting some laundry done. I haven't stitched much these last few days and I really feel better if I get at least 30 minutes of stitching in a day. I'm determined to finish this thing this month so I can get on with my life LOL!

Went to my first WW meeting today

It was OK. It took us a while to find it and it was during our lunch hour so we didn't have much time to actually do the "meeting thing." I did weigh in, at 211.4 pounds. That's about what I thought it would be considering I had a heavy sweater on. My scale at home is about right, so that's good. I'm looking forward to going to the next meeting and having more time to spend there.

My gym was supposed to open 11/15, but now it's not going to open until 11/24. Hmph! So, in the meantime I'll focus on what I'm eating and simple walking around the block and my WATP tapes. I'm trying to look at it this way: That's nine more days for me to lose an extra pound or two so I look just a teeny bit better in my suit :)

Yesterday Karri and I went to a craft show in Malvern. It wasn't at all what we expected (much smaller) but everything was great. The crafts were of very high quality, and therefore pricey, but I did buy a little pin made out of copper. It's a silhouette of a cat walking away from you in that haughty way they have. Very cute, and exactly what my Smokey does all the time. There was some wonderful pottery and handmade clothes. A beautiful purple coat was $350, so obviously not something I could buy, but I sure did appreciate the handiwork. I'm definitely going to go back there now and then.

I had dinner at Karri's house and found out that her oldest daughter wants to go to Cancun for Spring Break with her other friends. She's not in college, she's a senior in high school and will still only be 17 at Spring Break. Of course, her parents aren't letting it happen, but "supposedly" many of her friends are going and there's no chaperone. I realize that sometimes kids tell other parents this stuff so they will possibly let them go, but I bet there's a lot of truth to what she says. I have no kids so some will say I'm not allowed an opinion, but there's no way I'd let my high school daughter go to Cancun without any sort of responsible chaperone! Am I missing something? Am I already an old fossil age 33? Do most parents allow their kids to go on such vacations?

We bought our airfare ticketst for Christmas today, so that's taken care of. We aren't spending a lot of time in FL because we really don't have the money, but we are going down Friday morning and coming back Monday afternoon, so it will be a long weekend. My mom will be happy that we are all together, including my sister, for just a few days. It's hard when they and my brother's family are in Florida, we are in PA and my sister is in CA.

YAY! Fixed my blog!

Well, I went back and compared my settings to the original source code for my template and also moved the WW webring to the bottom of my blog, and now everything's OK. Duh. Why didn't I check that original source code sooner? I guess that's the reason I took a break from figuring it out :) I think I'm going to move that WW webring nav bar a little higher, and move the Stitching Blog down there as well so they the webrings are in one place.

Saturday musings -- another long one

1. Well, looks like I did a number on my blog set-up. I added the WW webring, which I don't actually have up and running yet. It seems to be a bit too big for the sidebar so I went in to change the width of the sidebar. Now the sidebar stuff shows up at the bottom because it's leaking into the main part of my blog, and the entire blog itself seems less wide than before. I posted on a message board for help, but if anybody reading this has any ideas I'm open to them! I'm stubborn and can usually figure these things out, but I'm taking a break from it so I don't get obsessed about it.

2. I'm really excited about going to WW on Monday. My boss's boss is going, as is one of my coworkers, as we're going during our lunch hour and the place is right around the corner. I'm reading various WW journals, looking at pictures of people who lost more weight than I need to lose, and have been wandering around some swim sites. I'm trying not to set myself up for disappointment and want to set realistic goals. I'm trying to think about it in terms of 10 pound goals, rather than the 70 pounds that I want to lose. If I think about it all at once it seems too much, but I can lose 10 pounds 7 times, right? I've started and stopped so many times, I've got to stick to this!

As much as I'm looking forward to swimming again, I'm very anxious about it. I know I look absolutely horrid in a bathing suit, and I use the competitive suits because I can move in them. They work great for that, but they are very unforgiving. Also, my legs were always my best asset, but they are even more flabby than usual. I just need to get over the fact that I look horrible in a suit with my pale and flabby self LOL! At least it's obvious that the reason I'm there is because I'm doing something about it, right?

3. I haven't set any stitching goals for a while, but I will for this month. My main goal for November is to finish Deco Spirits. I started the fourth and final block last night. Since each block has been taking me aboug 40 hours to stitch, I figure that will take most of the month. If I finish it early, I'll work 10 hours on Guardian Angel and 10 hours on Christmas Flourishes.

4. I'm going to take a bunch of my stitching stuff to work for a few days. I now have access to a scanner and am going to scan in my current WIPs and finished projects. I've finished and started a lot in the past year and my album doesn't reflect it. Then I can add one of those "working on/completed" listings on my sidebar -- assuming I don't mess up the coding :) I've been seeing these cool graphs where you can show the percentage done on various projects, but I haven't figured out how to upload that, either. I think I need Flash and need to download it, but it takes forever to download stuff on dial-up, so I may wait. I have a lot on my sidebar as it is, anyway. Hmmmm... I know that there's a blog I visit that has sidebars on both sides. I need to go check and see how they did it. I like my basic blog set up (love the blue) and don't want to change it too much.

More quizzes

B:

Your Beauty lies
in Plain Sight. Plain, simple and the girl next
door. People tend overlook you as you are the
"normal girl", but you're actually
very beautiful. And you have plenty about you to
set you apart, but more that
lets you blend. People love the stability you have
because as others may come
and go, you will always be there and you may always
be the same. You like simple
things and that's what people like about you. You
most likely enjoy things most
consider normal, like movies, shopping, that sort
of thing and are very friendly
and probably have many friends. You are sweet and
kind and that shows on you,
but you're also strong and not very naive. You're a
rather well-rounded
individual. Even though some people pass you off as
just another girl, shrug it
off because they don't know what they're
missing.

Some Things
That Represent You:

Element:
Earth, Light Animal: Cat Color:
Pinks, Blues, Browns Song:
Girl Next Door by Pilot Expression: Simple
Smile

Gemstone:
Alexandrite Mythological Creature: Fox
Demon, Hobbit Sign:
Tauros Planet: Jupiter Hair Color:
Light Brown Eye Color:
Brown

Quote:
"To the world you may be one person, but to
one person you may be the world."

Where Does Your Beauty Lie? ..::Amazing Pictures And Ten Detailed Results::.. All Fixed!
brought to you by Quizilla

Long post

This is gonna be a long one, because I have a lot to say. Hope you have your soda and popcorn.

1. The election: Congratuations to those who voted for Bush. I did not. I'm more upset about the outcome than I thought I would be. I understand why people who voted for Bush are happy, and if more people voted for Bush then of course he should be in office. I think I'm a little upset not because "my guy" lost but because I feel this country is more divided than ever. I talked to my uncle today about if it was worse during Vietnam (I was born in '71) and he said it wasn't necessarily worse, just different. I'm pro-choice. I respect that others aren't, but I am. I'm seriously thinking about getting surgery done that I never thought I'd get because I don't find it to be medically necessary -- tubal ligation. I doubt I could actually have an abortion if I was pregnant, but I like knowing I have a choice. I'm not fit to be a mother, I don't care what anybody says. Only I know what is right for me. I'm also upset that while we are sending people to fight in Iraq, our border patrols are laying people off. I'm not making this up, I got this straight from a person who works the border. I don't understand how less border guards and more fighting in ONE of many country harboring terrorists will make my country safe. In the meantime, we act like North Korea doesn't exist.

No, I'm not moving to Canada. No, I'm not going to wail on the boards for the next four years because my guy didn't get into office. Bush won fair and square. However, I also feel that my feelings are legitimate just like the ones on "the other side" and hate that some are telling us it's just sour grapes. Of course, there are always a few who have to be obnoxious and they are obnoxious about everything, so why am I surprised?

2. On a good note, I'm going full-time as of next week! Woohoo! I was told this morning when I came to work that it was definite. That extra day of pay each week is going to be a huge help and I'll be able to do more marketing work for the agents. I've been working 4 days for a few months and I liked having that extra day, but I need the money. So, now I'm making about what I made when I first started at Piano Lane almost four years ago. It's not great, but it's better than going back to what I was making when I was working at Presser AND a second job and it still was less than what I earned at Piano Lane that first year. I'm sure in a little while my pay will be back up to where it was, probably higher. Everybody loves my work, so that's a good sign.

3. I'm starting Weight Watchers (again) on Monday with a few ladies from work. When I did this before I did OK, but it was the online version. I think having friends who are doing the same thing and going to actual meetings once a week will really help me out. My gym opens on 11/15 and then I'm planning on swimming at least three days a week, on M, W and F. Monday will be before or after work, W and F will be during lunch. That way I get at least three days in and then the other days are open for walking or tapes or nothing. After a while I'll probably need to do more than three days, but for now it's a great start. I've been doing very little exercising and it certainly shows.

4. Tim and I are both going to FL to visit my family for Christmas. It's the first time he's going down with me, but he's met everybody except my brother's family. It should be nice. My sister is helping me with airfare so we only need to cover the motel room. We talked my mom into doing a Polyanna this year so that everybody just gets one thing for one person, except for Adam since he's only a little guy. This will help a lot, also. I'm so thankful for my sister helping me out. This last year really has been rough financially and now it will slowly start getting back on track.

Quiz snagged from Jen's Ort Jar

I'm always stealing quizzes from Jen. She seems to find the most interesting ones.



You are a Random cat! Also known as an alley cat
or a mutt. You aren't given to high-falutin'
ways, but you're accessible and popular.
People love you for who you are, not what you
are.

What breed of cat are you?

Hershey CATS

I'm finally sitting my butt down to post about this, although it was over a week ago :-)

I had a great time, of course! Sheri was coming down from Long Island and suggested she pick me up as it wasn't far out of the way. So I met her at my friend's house as she lives about 2 miles from the Interstate. We had a good trip out there until we got lost in Hershey because MapQuest goofed us up. After a while we found our motel and then went on to the Lodge where we met Sally and Anne. What a riot! I finally met the Chicken Purse Woman! We also met quite a few ladies from the 123 board, including Karin and Linda B. We also saw Linda with Cole's Quilts and the ones she brought were absolutely lovely. That night a bunch of us went over to Chocolate World and took the tour, and that was fun -- and FREE. The next day we all hung out for lunch and did a lot of shopping and stitching and general chattering. Karin stayed with Sheri since we wanted her to stay longer and this way she could drive home in the morning. We left early Sunday and got home at a decent time, although we got lost close to home. I rarely have a reason to take I76 and somehow we got on I276 and almost went over the bridge to Jersey. At that time we knew we'd goofed. We got there OK, and Sheri got home OK.

The market was wonderful! I had a very limited budget, but was thankful to LynSC for what I had. Lynn and Sheri were the ones who made this trip possible for me and I can't thank them enough. So I did buy a few things at the market but there was sooo much there that I could have bought if I'd had more money -- but that's why it was good I didn't have a lot. I would have bought much more for my stash and I really don't need stash right now. However, I did make a note of what designs I liked so I can visit websites and such, or so I know what to look for next year. I'm definitely going next year and plan to stay at the Lodge so I'm right there the whole time.

Quick post

I still haven't posted about my trip to Hershey CATS last week and I will, but I want to take my time because I had a really great time with the ladies I met there.

In the meantime, there's something that has been bothering me:

I don't care what side you are on, it's not right to steal people's political signs from their yard. On my way to work I saw a sign that somebody had made that said "They are so worried they stole our Kerry signs." I remember seeing these signs before because the surrounding neighbors had Bush signs. I doubt it was the neighbors who stole them, as last night was Halloween. I know both sides are pulling this crap. I just saw a post on a stitching board that a woman was proud of herself for "getting back at her SIL" for talking about Bush all the time. Granted, I have no idea what SIL was saying and it would probably drive me crazy, too. However, that didn't make it right for her to slap a Kerry bumper sticker on her SIL's car. I didn't think it was funny, but very rude. How would she have liked for SIL to slap a Bush sticker on her car. Have I said yet today that I can't wait for this election to be over?