Happy Thanksgiving

It's quiet this year. Later today we're driving up to Connecticut to see our friend Melissa and have Thanksgiving dinner with her family. It'll be a nice rest. Here's a list of things I'm thankful for this year:

- I'm glad that I still have a job after all the movement in the financial markets. I feel relatively safe right now, but who knows. While I'm not in a perfect job I'm surrounded by people I like and who respect me. Not like the old days at AP*C
- I'm happy that Trev found a job this year that he loves. He's settled in well and just loves working there
- We got our green card. Given the economy this is AWESOME. If the worst happens, we can work anywhere. That is very satisfying to know
- Rachel and Mike are getting married next year; they are so cute together. I'm thankful she has landed on her feet, has a great job, a guy who loves her
- I'm happy that Carrieanne continues to gain confidence and is now an independent woman. She knows what she wants and I'm in no doubt that she will make great decisions that will make her happy
- Peter is doing great and I'm thankful he's almost at the end of his studies. He made it to formal "doctoral student" this year which is a huge achievement.

- I'm thankful that Mum's knee replacement has been a success and that she continues to improve

- My family. I'm thankful that we talk/email/IM regularly and stay close. While we're not on the same continent all the time we do stay in touch and all proactively contact each other. I don't take this for granted; I'm sad that Trev talks to his family in the UK so rarely- they seem OK with it, I find it strange
- I'm definitely thankful for Facebook. We keep in touch with Trev's family and friends who we've met through the years. While I'm not obsessed, I do check in once daily at least

That's not bad for 11 months of the year is it?

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

At last....it arrived

Remember the refridgerator debacle? Well, late on Tuesday afternoon I got a call from the delivery company and they wanted to deliver Wednesday. Nothing like notice...right? Anyway, thankfully it was the day before Thanksgiving so it was VERY quiet so I worked from home. I asked them to call me an hour before they were arriving to I could prepare.....that didn't quite happen, so the guys had to watch me empty the fridge at breakneck speed. Check out the pic below....that is one half of the crap we had in our fridge.

I know with confidence that this refridgerator is going to work just fine. I figured out in less than 15 seconds what was wrong with the old one! Can you believe that? What made it worse is that I asked the engineers who visited on multiple occasions and they said it was normal. At the back of the freezer there's a seal in the back left corner. On the old fridge there was about a 4 inch piece that was not stuck down properly - low and behold on the new one it's not like that.

At least this saga may now be over. Woohoo

Vegas and the Grand Canyon

It's been a while.... time has just flown by. First Jenny and Frankie came to stay, then Tim came into town for 10 days. You'll see the photos below. We had a great trip and got so much done.

Before we left for Vegas we spent the day before in China Town. We wanted to eat Dim Sum and then I wanted to see the Chinese doctor regarding my knee. The funniest thing that happened that day was that I wanted to eat meat...I'd worked out in the morning and I was flipping hungry. So we ordered some dumplings and ribs, and on the menu we saw "beef triple". Sounded fabulous, or so we thought. We had both imagined three different types of beef in a fantastic sauce. We had terrible service problems in this place, but when the food did arrive it was good. Anyway we kept asking about the "beef triple"....something turned up on our table that looked like furry fettucine (tagliatelle). We asked what it was knowing we hadn't ordered anything like that and was told it was "beef tripe"....yes, that's right? cow's stomach. We explained that there was a typo on the menu...ewww it was awful.

Our trip to Vegas was uneventful. We spent the first day getting our bearings - we did it in style and stayed at the Bellagio - you know, the hotel with the fountains outside it. We walked along the strip, did a bit of gambling and then rested. One of the coolest things is that if you're gambling on the slots or at a table then there are waitresses who come round offering drinks....and you don't pay. That's pretty cool. The first evening we saw Ray Romano (Everybody Loves Raymond) and Kevin James (King of Queens, Hitch) doing stand up. They were so good - and very very funny.

Next day we were up for the second day in a row at 5am -just this time it was 2 hours earlier because of the time difference. We slept on the 3 hour coach trip to the Canyon. The day was long, but fabulous. The weather wasn't the best - and it was cold and rainy at times. We keep telling ourselves that we're part of the select few who's been there when it rained:)

The last night we had a fantastic meal and finally plucked up courage to walk up to a table and play blackjack. None of us are experts so it was a little intimidating but we found an empty table with a nice looking dealer. We all put $100 down. We thought we'd be done in 20 minutes but we held our own, even when weird asses joined our table for a time. After about 2.5 hours I decided that if I made it to $500 then I was walking away. You'll find the picture with my single $500 chip.

Vegas and the Grand Canyon

We had a riot!

When we were back home we also took in a Cirque de Soleil show at Madison Square Garden. It was awesome. See my pics here....taken only with the little camera, but given we were at the back they came out pretty good.

11-12-08 Cirque de Soleil

The rest of the week was shopping and hanging out. What a great trip!

Work was crazy this week -more on that later.

The refridgerator

After 5 months, 12 half days waiting for the repair man, numerous phone calls and just one melt down on the phone last Thursday GE have finally agreed to replace our refridgerator.

Being British I don't often have an "American" approach to things, however it's quite cathartic to let rip.

So, within the next week I should have a side by side refridgerator that will produce ice and work for more than 3 days at a time.

Here's hoping.

I couldn't let today go by without comment on two things:

1) Barack Obama. After 8 years of a complete idiot being President I'm happy that there's going to be change. I hope it's going to be as good as he's promised while campaigning.

2) Guy Fawkes Day. It's Firework day in England! Yeah. I still think fondly of Christchurch Park and loads of fireworks. Even after all these years I still miss that every Autumn.

Hey ho.

9 words women use

Sent to me via email from my friend Diana. Was way too good not to share.....and probably very very very true - right girls? :)

9 WORDS WOMEN USE

(1) Fine: This is the word women use to end an argument when they
are right and you need to shut up.

(2) Five Minutes: If she is getting dressed, this means a half an
hour. Five minutes is only five minutes if you have just been given
five more minutes to watch the game before helping around the house.


(3) Nothing: This is the calm before the storm. This means
something, and you should be on your toes. Arguments that begin with
nothing usually end in fine.

(4) Go Ahead: This is a dare, not permission. Don't Do It!

(5) Loud Sigh: This is actually a word, but is a non-verbal
statement often misunderstood by men. A loud sigh means she thinks
you are an idiot and wonders why she is wasting her time standing
here and arguing with you about nothing. (Refer back to # 3 for the
meaning of nothing.)

(6) That's Okay: This is one of the most dangerous statements a
women can make to a man. That's okay means she wants to think long
and hard before deciding how and when you will pay for your mistake.


(7) Thanks: A woman is thanking you, do not question, or Faint. Just
say you're welcome. (I want to add in a clause here - This is true,
unless she says 'Thanks a lot' - that is PURE sarcasm and she is not
thanking you at all. DO NOT say 'you're welcome' ... that will bring
on a 'whatever').

(8) Whatever: Is a women's way of saying F*cK YOU!

(9) Don't worry about it, I got it: Another dangerous statement,
meaning this is something that a woman has told a man to do several
times, but is now doing it herself. This will later result in a man
asking 'What's wrong?' For the woman's response refer to # 3.

Flipping viruses

So, for those of you who have an email address in my contact list you will have received at least one dodgy looking email from us. Get this for a scenario

- We have 4 emails in our sent folder sent to EVERYONE.
- The email that was forwarded out was not in our Inbox or our Spam folder.
- We've run virus software and Ad-aware/Spybot and it found nothing really bad

I changed our password but my fear is there's a key tracker on one of the PCs and we don't know which one.

Any ideas on what to do next?

Needless to say I'm watching all bank accounts and credit cards like a hawk!

I am Thankful

Mum sent this through email - it's cool so thought I'd share. Some good thoughts to kick off the week.

I Am Thankful...

• For the wife who says it's hot dogs tonight, because she is home with me, and not out with someone else.
• For the husband who is on the sofa being a couch potato, because he is home with me and not out at the bars.
• For the teenager who is complaining about doing dishes because it means she is at home, not on the streets.
• For the taxes I pay because it means I am employed. For the mess to clean after a party because it means i have been surrounded by friends.
• For the clothes that fit a little too snug because it means I have enough to eat.
• For my shadow that watches me work because it means I am out in the sunshine for a lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning, and gutters that need fixing because it means I have a home
• For all the complaining I hear about the government because it means we have freedom of speech.
• For the parking spot I find at the far end of the parking lot because it means i am capable of walking and I have been blessed with transportation .
• For my huge heating bill because it means i am warm.
• For the lady behind me in church who sings off key because it means i can hear.
• For the pile of laundry and ironing because it means I have clothes to wear. For weariness and aching muscles at the end of the day because it means I have been capable of working hard.
• For the alarm that goes off in the early morning hours because it means I am alive.
• And I am thankful: for the crazy people I work with because they make work interesting and fun! And finally, for too much e-mail because it means I have friends who are thinking of me!

Diet, exercise and kicking it up a notch

This whole weight loss/get fit campaign is starting to annoy me. These days I've finally managed to accept that I'm fit and healthy - even if I'm not so accepting on my ass-size:) I really did think way back when that when I kick started my health regime (4 years ago now) that I would have dropped more dress sizes.

I am more than happy to watch what I eat - and I do. Sometimes I wish I didn't have to, but it's OK and I've got used to it. What I'm finding more frustrating is that my weight has plateaued no matter what I eat or how much exercise I do. Now, if I was doing a couple of cardio classes a week I'd just do more (or accept that this is how it is), but I spend upwards of 10 hours a week in the gym and I eat healthy food 99% of time the time. This frustration last Saturday translated to me yelling at my trainer (and my nutritionist in his spare time) that it's not fair and that I work too hard for no results. I must have got my point across because he said to write down what I ate, when and the quantities. So, that's what I did for Sun, Mon, Tues and Weds.

Yesterday I returned for my regular Saturday ass kicking (training session) and we spent a lot of time talking about my diet. Billy, as always, is honest and I love that. His view that was from a calorie standpoint that I'm eating just fine but that I was getting sloppy with the protein/carb/protein/carb alternating thing. So, I tried to explain why...and it really does make sense. So here goes. I'm usually pretty good with meals and they're protein based. I rarely eat potatoes/rice/bread at all. My carbs come mainly from fruit. The issue that I have when I'm doing a long stint at the gym is that eating protein just doesn't cut it. I need the fruit (ie bananas) to sustain the energy through 2 hours or so. That means that after a protein lunch I may have a yogurt or fruit around 2.30pm, then have bananas at 4.30pm or 5pm ready for the gym at 6. The fact is Billy's right - I'm not following it rigidly....but I am going to try. The other thing we talked about is that he doesn't think I'm getting enough protein - at this point I did tell him I thought that was BS. The reason being is that I usually eat eggs/turkey/cheese for breakfast, a meat salad for lunch and then meat/fish with veggies for dinner. That's like protein overload in my mind.....right? Anyway, I have to listen to the expert - especially as he's worked out for over a decade and has a body to die for (ladies.....trust me, totally enviable even if he is a guy).

Billy also gave me another option if alternating proteins and carbs wasn't fitting into my lifestyle. He said that what I can do is make sure that during the day I eat 100g (3.5oz) of protein a day and 200g (7.05oz) of carbs. I've been mulling this over since yesterday. While I reckon I could eat the protein I think I'm really going to struggle with the carbs. I have lots of questions before I decide whether to try this one instead:

1) Let's take protein. Does 100g mean 100g of chicken....or 100 g of the protein within the chicken. As an example I will use chicken. At this link http://www.hoptechno.com/nightcrew/sante7000/Sante7000_Detail2.cfm?ID=24110020 it says that per oz of chicken there are 12g in total, or 3.44g of protein. So, say you have a 8oz piece of chicken - is it 96g of the total allowed or 24g? I'm guessing that it's the latter....which means you have to eat crap loads of meat.
2) Carbs. So, if my assumption is true on carbs then I'm not sure I can at all hit 200g. Let's take this link http://www.hoptechno.com/nightcrew/sante7000/Sante7000_Detail2.cfm?ID=51101000. This says that a cup of white bread has 17.33g of carbs. OMG. That is a crap load of carbs.
3) For carbs, does that mean I could drink fruit juice and that would count towards carbs.

I can't decide what to do. I think I'm going to be more strict with the carb/protein/carb thing.....because the whole measuring thing is freaking me out.

Now, on the plus side my friend Sharon and I when we were in China Town last week asked the doctor for something for weightloss. We've both been taking a daily supplement of something (it's Chinese after all....) and it seems to be working. Now this, of course, could be working as a placebo but I dropped about 3.5lb this week - the first in about 6 months. We'll see as the holidays approach whether that continues.

I'm keeping up the detail of the diary as it keeps me honest....and I don't cheat as much. I really can't be bothered to fill in the other blog, so I'm going to disable it at some point today.

Watch this space for progress! With two weddings next year we've got to be looking our best so I'm determined to fix this and look freaking fabulous in the process!!

As an aside, I've also got another personal trainer at the gym who's courting me to work out. Given that I have over 20 sessions sitting in a bank waiting to be used I'm seriously thinking of adding a 3rd strength training hour to my weekly regime....my only concern is how to fit it into my life:) We'll see....I'm still thinking about.