2 reasons why I think spring is around the corner:
1) my eyes sting like crazy in the morning (a sure sign that spring allergies are here)
2) I keep getting zapped from the static
I also managed to lose ½lb in weight....first bit all year. Yeah! Spring is definitely here
Ok, at work this week I got weirded out. Here's a scenario - you tell me if you thought this was weird too.
So there's a colleague of mine who's getting married in a few weeks. She received her first wedding gift. She was mad/upset/peed off that the value of this gift was $40. I don't mean just a little bit - I mean she went on and on and on and on and on about it. To the point where she removed the online registry so no-one else could purchase the same thing.
I think it made her even more mad because I didn't see the problem. I told her that when I got married (both times actually) it never occurred to me to worry about the value of the gift. I pinged Rach and asked her (as she's getting married) and asked her if she'd be mad if she got a $40 gift. She kept my sanity and confirmed that it was OK.
Now, I think this is a tri-state thing. Apparently (!), it's a big deal and when you accept an invitation to a wedding you should plan on giving the amount of the plate (ie food, drink, tip) (x2 if you take a partner) in either money or gifts. It's looked on poorly if you don't. Now, to put this in context, a plate of food per person at a wedding here is about $200. That means you're expected to drop a gift of $350-400 just for showing up to celebrate with your husband/partner.
I honestly couldn't believe it.....can you?
Blinking weirdos over here on the east coast.
I will have emailed a lot of people these pics, but just in case I didn't, check out the pics from the past weekend. We had a blast and even though we didn't get to see everyone we had a great time.
We also had formal photos taken at Sears - check them out here.
So this was part of the previous post, but as the weekend in Iowa progressed the list of "you know you're in Iowa when..." got longer and longer. This is what I can remember.
- bad, bad karaoke (I can't even describe how bad) and people think this is "THE" night out of the week
- smokey bars - ie, you can still smoke in a bar - (I'd forgotten that you smell at the end of the evening
- breakfast, out, for 2, for under $20
- hotel room service is run by the over 60s
- there's a super-Target AND a Super-Walmart within a mile of each other
- the snow piles are taller than you are
- you enter a bar/restaurant at 5.30pm and people are leaving having FINISHED dinner
- you're in a bar, and there's a 2 year old there, and no-one is saying anything
- at a traffic stop light, it goes green and it's a full 5 seconds before the first car moves, and no-one honked their horn
- you're at a traffic stop light with 2 lanes and everyone's in the right hand lane (until I come along and zip past them all!!!!!!)
- you're waiting for a table for lunch...and you're kept waiting for 20 minutes (and starving hungry) only to find when you walk in the restaurant 25% of the tables are free
- old ladies drive cadillacs ( badly)
- a car is parked taking up 3 spaces........and no-one cares
If I remember more I'll update this list.
We made it to Iowa. I still have my stinking cold, but if I take enough cold medicine I can be in continued denial.
We've been here less than a day and we're going through the "You Know You're in Iowa When...." - here's the list so far:
- bad, bad karaoke (I can't even describe how bad) and people think this is "THE" night out of the week
- smokey bars (I'd forgotten that you smell at the end of the evening
- breakfast, out, for 2, for under $20
- hotel room service is run by the over 60s
- there's a super-Target AND a Super-Walmart within a mile of each other
- the snow piles are taller than you are
....not a bad start for less than 24 hours
I can't wait to see everyone tonight.
We all love IKEA, right? I know I do. I have to say though when you read this article you'll wonder if there are some people in this world who don't have enough to do.
I'm happy to share my to-do list with them....
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=527862&in_page_id=1770
I'm flipping sick. It sucks. I've been ignoring it for 24 hours, but there's no denying it. I feel like crap.
I got a sore throat yesterday, followed by yukky nausea. I'm sure it didn't help that I ate an omelet for breakfast followed by sushi for lunch:) I ate noodle soup for dinner, but not before I thought I could exercise my way out of this.....so I completed a Bodypump class and an hour's spin class. Still no luck - feeling terrible. I popped Tylenol Cold Remedy nighttime so I slept OK.
This morning, I popped more day time Tylenol....and then ate cereal for breakfast. There's no denying it - just in time for my weekend in Iowa. We're getting family pics done at Sears on Saturday morning - the first in about 6 years so really excited. How cool it'll be for me to do that with a nose like Rudolph. Yipp-di-flipping-doo.
Really really looking forward to our weekend away. I'm sad Penny can't make it (she hurt her leg ski-ing) but that just means I need a trip to Des Moines at some point this year. That said, still really looking forward to meeting up with old friends and the kids in Iowa. This is the reason I do not have time to be sick.
Oh my.... it had to happen, it was just a matter of waiting. The bomb dropped yesterday. It sucks ass. Our green card application was denied. Yes, denied. So before everyone panics and thinks we're moving we're not....Flipping Americans....can't they organize anything?
Remember back in October when I said that we were notified that the Immigration Dept wanted more info? And remember I said that we never got notified, and remember we contacted Immigration to say this, twice. Well, apparently they found our case and promptly denied the application.
Now, the lawyer believes it's because they never received the information they asked for....and all we need to do is wait until we receive details about the "why" surrounding the denied notice, we can then send the info they want and hey presto, all will be well.
Those of you who know my husband will know he doesn't take bad news well...and this was no exception.
We're waiting with baited breath. Will keep everyone posted.....but please don't hold your breath - the way it's been going it'll take blinking months and months, if not years to have a resolution.
As an aside, check out this blog...I find it super funny when I check in on the odd occasion. Any of you who have or have had preschoolers you'll love this particular post http://supamb.com/supafine/2008/03/03/never-take-your-babies-to-the-mall/
Remember back in December when our neighbours moved in for 2 weeks? Well, they moved out yesterday! Yeah!!!!!!!!!!! We got on really well, learnt a lot from each other and celebrated many times. That said, it's still nice to be able to walk naked to the 2nd bathroom if you need to:)
We have the house to ourselves again.
A faux pas today though. It was Mother's Day in England.....AND I HAD NO IDEA. Usually it's the Sunday before Easter but I guess this year it wasn't. I had no reminder, there was nothing on all the UK websites I visit everyday either. I was bummed. When I did find out I tried to call Mum, and then Dad and I couldn't get through. I felt terrible when she called me from Turkey. Ouch. Sorry Mum, wasn't intentional at all - I'm glad i was thinking "oh, it must be Mother's day soon I better look up when it is" - because that's how I found out.
OK, so I'm in the bank this evening getting out a wad of cash for the coming weeks (in NYC you need buckets of the stuff...but you never know what for?) and I nearly peed myself when I over heard this.
Girl 1 "I love my mom"
Girl 2 "That's nice"
Girl 1 "She looks great. She's thin, she works out, she looks after herself"
Girl 2 "Hmmmmm....that's great"
Girl 1 "Well, time is running out. She's 41 this year"
I nearly burst out laughing. I couldn't even tell you how old these girls were, but the fact that I said girl and not woman sums it up. The fact that they thought 41 was "running out" blows me away.
It's funny how you think that 41 is really really old when you're in your early 20s, but I can honestly say I like my age, I don't feel past it, I like having had the experiences I do and I like the assurity that maturity brings. Can't say I'm happy with middle-age-spread and crinkles, but hey everything has a price.
I think that exchange was priceless - it made my day!
One of my favourite shows is Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps. It's on the BBC3 channel in England - I usually have to wait to buy the UK DVD which I can only play on my crappy region free DVD player. The BBC at the end of last year launched the iPlayer - a website where you could download the previous week's TV programmes. Very cool. Downside is that you can only do it from the UK - and I'm crap at trying to figure out how to get a UK IP address to fool it into thinking I was there. Any suggestions on a postcard please....
Anyway, the BBC3 website you can actually watch the latest live episode online....very very cool. For whatever reason it's not subject to the IP address rules - all the other links are, bu tnot this one. Then, I found out that iTunes now has some BBC programmes online that I can buy. Of course they're not available on the US iTunes site - but luckily I have a UK credit card....so that works pretty well.
That makes me happy.
Why am I struggling so much with this diet? I did so well for months, managed to lose pounds in the holidays. It sucks.
Today is a snow day - about 5-6 inches of slushy wet horrible snow - decided to stay home. Now I know those of you in Iowa have had oodles of the damn stuff - but this is our first downfall this winter. And we have to walk everywhere in it. Yuk, at home.
Anyhow....Jackie (my neighbour) and I decided that we needed to clean. So we did. that is no excuse for the amount of food I've eaten today so far....I'm embarrassed, and have decided to cleanse myself of this evil doing I'm going to admit to what I've eaten. It is 3.30pm on Friday Feb 22nd, here is my guilt fest....and in no particular order
Bowl of Readybrek (British instant oatmeal type thing), yogurt
2 Aero bars
About 8 Bourbon biscuits (cookies)
Bit of mango (and really not much at all)
Left over chinese - take 1 - chicken curry
Left over chinese - take 2 - chicken and mushrooms
It has to have been 6 months since I've indulged so badly. I feel like crap, I've not followed my protein/carb diet plan at all and it's paying off.
My pennance is that I will get my ass to the spin class tonight, and then do at least 1 class tomorrow (if not 2).
Do you think it's because Billy's been away a few weeks? While I've exercised, it's been nothing like the gruelling schedule I normally put myself through. I dunno... maybe. I've still done 3 classes in the last week (1 weight training and 2 spin) so it's not awful....it's just not like what I usually.
We also got our quote for all the work we wanted doing in the apartment. $30,000. Enough said. We'll be rethinking what we want to do....that's for sure.
What a fat ass I am.....and I'm still thinking of the flipping chocolate. This evil twin of mine needs to take a flipping hike!
I'm struggling. I workout, I eat, I workout, I eat. Something has to change. I work out - a lot. You'd think you'd see some change to the waistline....but it's been static since the holidays. Part of me thinks it's because I feel entitled to eat really really bad stuff as I work out so much.
Take last night. I was in a foul mood. I'd had a really crappy day at work....the crappiest in a really long time. I had eaten Ok during the day (an omelet, pasta and sauce). I'd been out at a work do on Tuesday night so had planned on going to spin class. When I got home I really couldn't be bothered - mind you when both of my neighbours were going I dragged my sorry miserable ass to the gym and finished a spin class.
By the time I was done I was sooooooooooooooooooooo hungry - like shaky, couldn't think straight etc etc. I kept telling myself to eat a banana, some grapes etc and be healthy. And it worked - for about 2 nano seconds. I even had a bowl of cereal for dinner - Kashi cereal, so really healthy - but then it started. Found chocolate and ate it.
What a complete idiot. I feel like I'm going to have to detail my every last mouthful of food and then exercise just to lose weight. How freaking boring is that?
Maybe I'm still in my bad mood..............can you tell?
I can't say it was totally relaxing but I think I achieved quite a lot. Given that everyone else I knew (outside of work) was actually working I didn't do so badly.
First off, I attacked our mountain of paper - it's been festering for years, and nothing got chucked or filed. I now have new rules - if I can get to it online then I don't need a paper copy, if I'm never going to read it then why keep it? Seemed to work. I through two thirds of our crap away. i think I was mostly embarrassed by the state of our tax documentation. i could find paper for everything, but I now have a new project which is to print stuff off so that it looks like I know what I'm doing. I wanted to get an accountant this year and have them review everything - right now that's just not possible.
I also cooked dinner - made a kick-ass chilli, got lots of crap done and then got a massage which was awesome. I was bad and ate loads of crap chocolate, but I countered that with a spin class.
All in all, very productive.
This weekend is awesome. I have a 3 day weekend. Yesterday I went to the gym, did a bit of housework and then we went out to the Sushi Lounge with our neighbours (the ones who are staying with us right now). We had a good night although Nick did some funny stuff. Jackie and I headed to bed around 11.30pm, very early for us but it was a good night. I don't remember Trev coming to bed at all as he was watching a movie with Nick. When we got up in the morning and came outside the vodka was finished, the tequila had taken quite a hit and there was jello (jelly for my English readers) in the sink and then lots of lemons and limes all over the place. The PS3 was also still on. At 4am there had been a big bang, we went and investigated but could find nothing.
When they got up we found that Nick had been playing the PS3 all night....by playing I mean randomly pushing buttons and pretending to play. Apparently Jackie found him at 4.30am and he could hardly walk. The bang was him falling down in the bedroom. How blinking funny. Mind you when Trev went to play the PS3, Nick had wiped out all his cars and while he could still have his points he's basically having to start at the beginning again. I'm writing this as he's playing the basic courses to get a decent car. I think it's pretty funny. Nights like that don't happen often.
I have tomorrow off. My company takes off all the financial holidays. Everyone else has to work so I've arranged my day by doing some chores, finishing off with a massage around 3pm. I think that'll be a good day.
I had a good work week last week so there's minimal for me to do before I get back to my meetings next week which I'm happy about. Things are looking pretty good right now.
We're off to Cedar Rapids in a couple of weeks for Trev's birthday which will be cool. Really looking forward to seeing everyone. We're staying in town so we'll be able to catch up with everyone. Peter's flying in, Rachel and Mike are driving down and Carrieanne's got time off work. We're really excited. I'm also going to book time at a photographer - the last time we did pics was when Rachel graduated high school in 2002. It'll be soooo cool.
Getting my hair cut again this week - I think we're going to go with a graduated bob....should look pretty cool.
OK that's it for now....back off to do nothing
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Do I have it? I never really thought so, although now I'm wondering. A weird thing to write about, but it just struck me that I might have OCD.
Stupid things like...my mugs, glasses, plates, cutlery, cooking utensils all must be in their homes. Not just in the right drawer or cupboard, but in the right order. For example, let's take my mugs. The poor mugs can't just be on the right shelf, they have to put together in their sets with their handles all facing the same way. OCD? I think so. Next, my cutlery. Knives on the left, next big forks, then small forks, then spoons. Small teaspoons at the bottom. Ditto the OCD question.
It's the fact that I know I like it like that. It's how I respond when I open the drawer or cupboard and it's not like that.
Our neighbours have been living with us for nearly 2 months. We've actually got on really well, no major hiccups at all. We share groceries and bills and it's working out OK. Now there are times when I'd like to be on our own (TMI I know...but it was VALENTINES night last night....and it's been many years since I've had to be quiet if you know what I mean). On the whole though, it's been OK with houseguests.
So back to the OCD question. When I open the cupboard and the mugs are haphazard I get annoyed, immediately have to change it all so it's back the way I like it. Same with silverware, saucepans, cushions etc etc.
OCD? I think so.
Diagnosis over.
You have lived in NJ/NY for 2 years, this is your third winter. GO AND BUY YOURSELF A PAIR OF FLIPPING BOOTS SO YOUR FEET DON'T GET SOAKING WET WHEN IT'S SLUSHY SNOW.
Point taken.
See our pics from our trip to Breckenridge, Colorado where we went ski-ing. Peter joined us with his friends, Jacob and Chris, we had a great time.
This makes it look really cool, right? Well I have to tell you 2 days into this trip i'd been in floods of tears twice and really really really hated it. i couldn't understand why everyone else could walk around with relative ease in these flipping awful ski-boots. I'd put my rental ski-boots on and within about 5 minutes I had a bruised feeling on my shin and my feet had gone totally numb. Not the best feeling in the world. i changed my boots 3 times, but in the end it was tolerable.
I can't say I'm a complete convert, but by day 3 I was feeling like I could do it again - as long as I bought my own boots and they fit me. Apparently I have fat calves, which I've always known. I'm back in the land of the living again. Hope you enjoy the pics.
Having got back yesterday I made a big effort and headed off to a spin class last night - was quite impressed as I felt a million times better than I had for a few days. I keep forgetting how exercise makes you feel and it's so easy for me to go back to old habits - even after 3 years of this malarky. Does anyone have bright ideas on how to change that? Maybe it's just ingrained in me....or maybe it's that I associate England and my family with being sedentary....who knows. What I do know is that I'd really like to change it so tell me if you can think of anything.
What I was upset about was the message the scales told me this morning. I'm sure that by tomorrow it'll be better, but they had crept up a few pounds. I'm hoping by eating right today and doing double duty at the gym tomorrow. My clothes still fit OK so I'm hoping it's just bloating from all the travel and we'll be back on track.
I'm a lover of sausages - and in the US you really can't get any good ones. They have too much meat in the them an dit makes them dry and inedible, in my opinion anyway. I counted last night how many I ate while I was in England - and it was between 15 and 20. For a 10 day trip that is TERRIBLE.
No wonder I'm fat.
It's Sunday evening. I travel back to the US Monday morning. My family live about 2 hours away and commuting for a 10.30am flight means driving right through rush hour. To save them the trouble, I decided to book a hotel near/on the airport. As always last minute....and looking on the travel websites one that was convenient was 150 pounds ($300 ish). too much - I'm too mean for that. Checked my Hilton points which I've not used in a couple of years and found that I had 70k points. There was a night available at the hotel at the airport - promptly booked it being chuffed with myself for not spending the money.
Arriving here was such a surprise. Apparently i'm still a "gold" member so that means I have lots of priviledges. The main ones being that I get my room upgraded (it's pretty bog standard as far as I can tell), I get access to the Executive Lounge with a happy hour for 3 hours (snacks, drinks etc) and free internet. Bloody marvelous. I'm so impressed. Couple of gin and tonics, snacks, fruit....lovely jubbley.
So, what's the first thing I do when I've got so much work to do? Yep - you got it. Log into blog....
Ok, back on track:)
Mum's doing great - she stayed in a night but is home now and doing well. Even though she had a growth removed from her nose there's no bruising and she's on her feet. Watching her doing nothing is quite funny - it's almost like it's impossible. Good luck with that one Dad:)
Dieting has been awful - my hotel room has scales in it....but really really scared to stand on it. I've already got spin lined up (2 classes 6pm and 7pm) so i'll feel back in the swing of things in no time.
Ever since I moved to the US I've always been amazed at the differences between the two countries. I always thought as English was the native language of both that it would be easy to navigate - I was wrong.
I came across this article about under age drinking - this really shows the difference in the two countries. I can honestly say when I drank underage I never got rowdy or obnoxious - probably because my idea of underage drinking was sipping a bacardi and coke and being like my Dad (ie ACT LIKE A GROWNUP), rather be a complete twat. I'm guessing times have now changed.
http://www.tiscali.co.uk/news/newswire.php/news/pa/uknews/story0.html&template=/news/feeds/pa_story_template.html
I guess this article will stop that....it will be interesting to watch developments.
Can't believe it's flipping Saturday again. I feel like I flew to England, saw the fam, went to work Sunday afternoon and then didn't rest again until today. Work was crazy - really really good meetings and stuff but the days went something like this. 6am alarm, get up, go to work, meetings started at 8.30am, meetings stopped at 6pm, worked through all breaks and lunches, drinks/dinner started immediately at 6pm. Got back to hotel room anywhere between 10.30pm and 1am. Crazy crazy. Had a great time but it would have been nice to have one evening where I got to choose what I was doing. Oh well, it's over now.
I do have one funny story. Tuesday night we're at a restaurant and after dinner I wanted a decaf black coffee. Simple, right? So, I ask for that. "No madam, we don't have that. You want expresso". "No", say I, "I do not want expresso, I want ordinary coffee, no milk, decaf please". Anyway, this went on for 5 minutes. In the end I ordered an americano decaf. Apparently that's not the same (?go figure?). Ohhhh, the joys of being in England:)
Mum's in surgery today having her nose sorted out. She's OK, but staying in the hospital overnight. We're off to go and see her in an hour or so (here in the UK they dictate visiting hours!!). Trev leaves for the US tomorrow and will be back in time to watch Superbowl. I leave Monday morning. Next weekend, we're off ski-ing, so I think we'll be truly knackered by the time we're done.
I have a company provided Blackberry. It has been pretty simple to stay with it rather than fork out for the coolio iPhone. I like this phone. I can use it internationally, it's set up with not only my work email but personal too. The one thing that drove me completely nuts was that my desk phone at work would email me my voice mail (cool huh?) Which was great if my laptop was hooked up, but more often than not I got the VM on my blackberry. Standing here in line with adelayed flight I obviously got an upgrade. I can now listen to said emailed VM.
I am a happy bunny.
I'm off tonight, Trev leaves on Saturday. It's funny how we both end up with a business trip on EXACTLY the same week. Mine's been planned for months, Trev was asked to go a week or so back. So, we're meeting up in London on Sunday evening for dinner then he's off to wherever (I think Amsterdam, but not sure) and I'm staying put until Friday. On Friday I'm heading back home and spend time with the fam. I'm glad I'm leaving tonight, it means I arrive tomorrow (flipping jetlag is crap!) and then have most of the weekend with the fam too. Because I'm only there a couple of days I've not contacted everyone....I just won't have the time. Mum's having surgery the second weekend I'm there so will definitely not have time. I'm so happy I was back two months ago as that leaves me free of guilt. Hopefully with this new job I'll have more opportunity to travel which will be very cool.
I'm still mad about the credit card, as they've now taken the account off line and i can't see what we owe, when it should be paid or anything. Very very annoying. Good job we have other cards as a back up. I do like the fraud protection though - as soon as we started using the other card (which we'd not used in a year or more) i got a phone call asking me if it was legit. That was cool.
I never got to lose the 20lb before I went to England, but I am at 16.2lb - that's not bad, right? I'm just hoping that I can keep that off...and if I lose, then even more brilliant. I've set a pact with a colleague that we're going to exercise each morning for at least 20 minutes - we'll see how that goes. Hopefully we're not out too late the previous nights so we'll actually be able to achieve this. Hope so. I will certainly exercise on the Sunday evening when I arrive - as there'll be no excuses.
It's funny, I never thought I'd ever say this, but I miss that feeling of elation after a workout class - it always feels good when you're at the end. can't say I'm too happy in the "during" phase...but it's all for a good cause. I have great blood pressure, my back and shoulders don't hurt any more, low cholesterol so it's worthwhile. I just wish, and I really mean this, that I could motivate myself without the need to organize around classes. Why can't I use an ellyptical machine and bust my own ass and break a sweat....I've tried, really I have, and I just can't. It's boring - even with the built in TV or my ipod.
That reminds me....must charge up my ipods before I leave.
Now.....have to write my shopping list for the supermarket in England:)
I had a really good day today (see previous post) - and while I was watching mind numbing TV I thought it'd be good to pay bills, check bank balances etc. Imagine my pissed-off-ed-ness when I log into my online bank to find 2 transactions in the past 2 days on the credit card, totalling more than $1000 WHICH ARE NOT MINE.
20mins on the phone with 3 different people my account is now closed, so the little asshole that used my card can't any more. Now I have to wait for a letter, sign it, return it and then I get the money back.
How crap is that?
Living in Iowa for 7 years I have lots of memories - on the shopping front at least trips to Williamsburg, IA were always looked forward to. It's an outlet mall with loads of name brands selling stuff cheaper than the regular malls. When we moved to St Louis one of my biggest complaint was that was not a decent outlet mall.
After starting our MLK day off today well by going to the gym and meeting Billy, I found my new Williamsburg. It's a 45 minute drive away and is full of lots of designer places. I did deliberately miss Armani and Chanel as I don't want to visit in case I like it:) I did pop into Kate Spade, Eddie Bauer, Williams Sonoma, Le Creuset, Jones New York.
The intent of the trip was to buy new dinnerware and silverware (for the British amongst you, crockery and cutlery) - we had looked on Williams Sonoma website and our neighbour said that if you drove to the outlet shop it's 1/3rd of the price. That's all I needed to hear. So.....we now have some nice new plates, dishes and cutlery. It's so nice to use new stuff.
Other than that we didn't buy too much at all - returned stuff at Eddie Bauer and bought a couple of bits and pieces. We were pretty good at holding back the credit card.
Anyway, very happy that when people visit we now have a true outlet mall to visit.
Someone sent me this in email and I had to share. Be patient, once the website has loaded and watch.
HEMA is a Dutch department store. The first store opened on November 4, 1926, in Amsterdam . Now there are 150 stores all over the Netherlands . HEMA also has stores in Belgium , Luxemburg, and Germany . In June of this year, HEMA was sold to British investment company Lion Capital. Take a look at HEMA's product page (click below). You can't order anything, and it's in Dutch, but just wait a couple of seconds after it loads and watch what happens.
http://producten.hema.nl
We are all interested in saving money, right? Here's an article about the best website that have coupons.
http://biz.yahoo.com/cbsm/080114/66b62497cd1c4076a2b105ecebb3831d.html?.v=1&.pf=banking-budgeting
I have a new way to track my health kick progress. I'm still doing the diet and doing well - at 16lb gone it seems to be going ok. One side effect of doing this for several months is that when I want to cheat on the odd occasion I now get terrible gut rot. Now, this is good when you want to eat bad food, but I had sushi on Thursday and man, I felt terrible all day. Last night we ate at a south American restaurant near where we live and the same thing happened.
So, I've decided, using my new heart rate monitor that I'm going to record the calories I burnt. With the theory that each pound of weight is the equivalent to 3500 calories I should be able to tell when my weight will drop.
Monday - double spin 1417 calories
Tuesday - strength plus spin 1782 calories
Thursday - strength plus spin 2003 calories
Saturday - Bodypump class 550 calories
Total - 5752 calories = 1.6lb
The table arrived this morning. Check it out! It was far far bigger than I thought it was going to be so it has to reside by the elevator. Now all we have to do is find some nice folding chairs and we'll be set.
One thing getting this table has done has demonstrated how crappy our bookcases are. Good job that the builder is going to replace them with some great cupboards and shelves. Very excited about that. When we get the floors redone we'll have them toned down a little and then it'll look all spiffy.
Yeah for remodelling - such fun!
OK, my heart rate monitor watch is my new baby. It's given me a new target to beat the "calories burnt" each time I hit the gym ( I know, I'm a nerd!!). Anyway today was 10mins on the stair machine, an hour training w/Billy and then a spin class. 1400 ish was my record before - tonight we have a grand total of 1782 calories burnt.
Just think about how many chocolates that is.....
I hit 15lb lost. Well, 15.2lb to be precise - one has to be precise when we're talking weightloss as every ounce counts. Anyone who's watched their weight knows that. I'm back on the straight and narrow - especially with exercise. My 2008 exercise schedule is:
Monday - Spin class x 2 (1400 calories burnt)
Tuesday - 1 hour with trainer, 1 spin class
Wednesday - Spin if I feel like it, usually will take a day off
Thursday - 1 hour with trainer, 1 spin class
Friday - off
Saturday - Spin class plus Bodypump (strength training class) (1400 calories burnt)
Sunday - Yoga (if i can be bothered)
I'm bummed there are no pilates or ab type classes that i can take. That said, Billy makes damn sure he kicks my ass in that department so I think we're good.
The cool thing is the heart rate monitor. To think that doing the 2 spin classes last night I burnt 1417 calories in less than 2 hours is awesome. That is a full day of food.....mind you, with that you'd think I'd be dropping the weight, but oh no it's not happening that way. Tonight I get to find out how many calories I burn when I train with Billy and then do a spin class.
On Friday I'm doing Saints and Spinners at Grand Central so we'll see how I feel after that.
I'm in England for 2 weeks shortly and I'm determined I will fit in 20mins cardio exercise in the gym each morning I'm at the hotel. while it's not a lot, it's something to remind me to keep up with the diet.
I've stopped writing about my eating because, quite frankly, it was boring me to pieces so i'm sure it'll bore any reader too.
My gym is a constant source of humor. It could have its own reality TV show. One of the biggest things that is a source of discussion and also blogging on a local website is that the gym itself does not have a website worth anything.
You may say that it's not a big thing. However, when you want to know if a class is canceled, or what the latest schedule is wouldn't it be easier to go to http://www.skyclubfitness.com/ and look it up? After the drama of Billy nearly leaving last week, I was not best pleased when I turned up for a class at 10am (Bodypump - strength training) to find that the instructor was "late". By late, I really mean "didn't freaking turn up at all". I was not a happy camper. I did manage 20 mins cardio on the stairmaster, but I do get bored when there's not someone there checking I'm doing something.
Anyway, while getting a massage from Wesley on Saturday (who now works at the same gym in the spa) he said that they've put the schedule online. Now....wouldn't you think they would have told people? You can check the website out above....but it's really just a front page with a bunch of PR from when they were building the place. In the past week they've added little buttons at the top - and there's one that says "class schedule". I'm soooooo happy about this. They have even changed the mission of the gym at the bottom, giving the new President's name. For a stickler like me though....you'd have thought the statement would have been gramatically correct with apostrophes in all the right places? Spot the error.... what wallies.
To digress, not sure I told you about my latest gadget. I bought a heart rate monitor to use when I'm in class. It tells you how many calories you're burning. The best one last week was ¾ of the Bodypump class (hadn't figured out how to turn it on!) and then a spin class. I burt 1336 calories. Does that sound a lot? I'm now totally addicted. My 20 min cardio session burt about 320. See? I'm now even more of a nerd than I was before.
Two sad things. Firstly, my friend BJ's Dad is very unwell and has been in the hospital. All the family have traveled to see him in the past week and he's being moved to a care facility. My heart is with her and her family - she's well supported but I feel lost being so far away. Second, another friend Sharon who I met at the gym had some really sad news over the holidays. Her 17 year old son was killed when he fell off a roof. I was wondering how she was doing as I hadn't heard from her...I saw her at the gym and she told me. My heart goes out to both of them.
On a brighter note, I'm off to the UK in less than 2 weeks then I'm skiing when I get back. For Trev's birthday I think we're going to go back to Iowa for the weekend so it's going to be a busy 2 months.
Have a great week!
Ever wondered where Trev and I first "got it onnnnnnn"? Check out this link
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/bars/pub-22813561-details/Princess+Louise/pubReview.do?reviewId=23431143
The Princess Louise pub in London was the location. I'm saving your eyes from reading the minutia details of that day all those years ago, but it's nice to know the pub is still in existance.
Ok, nostalgia over.
Phew! It flew by so fast my feet didn't touch the ground. I can't believe that in 2 weeks I'll be in England again, albeit for a business trip. What a crazy world. Between trying to keep up with my fitness routine, not eat crap, the building work at home and loads of other stuff my feet haven't touched the ground.
So, here are some of the stories and dramas of the week. Monday was boring...
Tuesday - the lady who cleans our house (I know, I know, I'm spoilt....blame Mum for that - she taught me that it's better to have someone clean the house and one less dinner out than not - it gives you more quality time!) only speaks portugese. She has a tiny amount of English and it's very hard to converse with her. So, I thought it'd be cool if I used a website (http://www.freetranslation.com/) to write her a note in portugese so I could talk to her properly. Well that went fine, I translated my message, wrote it out. Funniest thing.....I then got a screed of a letter back - all in flipping portugese. No blinking idea what it says. I thought the easiest would be to type in her writing into the same website - but oh no....it's that scrawley kind of writing that you can't really read. Hahahahahahahaha. So now I'm tracking down someone at work who speaks portugese.
Wednesday - remember our neighbours are staying with us right now so Wednesday night Jackie and I meet up for dinner in the city and a few drinks. I'm an old fart, I admit it. I only drink more than one on a weekend - I have to get up early and I don't like the headaches. Well...we finished dinner at my favourite sushi restaurant in the city (Aoki) and then I took her on the bus to where we live. Got off the bus and headed into a bar for a drink (it was probably 9pm by this time) - well, not quite sure what happened but she got quite drunk. showed her home, and then she ran up the stairs to our neighbour and had him come down for a drink. It was hysterically funny, although in my mind more like a Saturday night than a Wednesday one.
Thursday - this is when ALL the drama began. My usual readers know that I'm hooked on fitness, having a trainer, spinning etc etc. Billy texts me around 9.30am that he got fired. Aaaaaaggggghhhhhh - my whole day was shot. Our gym is "drama central" - and the only reason I stay there is for 1) Billy the trainer and 2) Carla the spin instructor. I spent the majority of my day trying to figure out what happened - he said he got fired, when I called the gym they said he quit. Calling the gym was not good. I asked to speak with the manager - apparently a new guy called Gareth is the manager. I explained that I'd just spent a crap load of money on 50 training sessions and that with the best trainer gone that I wanted my money back please. I explained that Billy was the only sane thing in the gym in the times of the management issues last year etc etc. I think the guy had zero experience. His first words were "we want to keep you what can I do?". My response was "get Billy back". He said that he'd arrange for another trainer - hmmmmm he obviously doesn't understand the relationship thingy. Idiot. anyway then another manager called me and I explained again. The weird thing was they kept saying he quit and that his behaviours were not OK - when I talked wiht Billy he said he'd be "indefinitely suspended" - now, I'm not sure what you read into that but I know that if my boss told me that it's the equivalent of being fired. My world was at an end on Thursday night. I missed my training session but did go to the spin class. I asked Carla where else she taught on the basis that if I can get a different gym then all would be fabulous once more. Drama was over by Friday - Billy talked with the head manager dude who fired the other new manager and hired him back. All is well at the ranch.
Friday - nothing happened - had a few beers with our neighbours.
Saturday - had a 10am class booked at the flipping gym. Once again the instructor doesn't turn up.
Today I'm off for a massage in 30 mins - I can't wait. Hope you didn't get too bored reading.
So here are some pics from our trip. We spent last weekend in St Louis visiting friends. Paul and BJ moved from Cedar Rapids to St Louis last year - had a great time staying with them. The pic of Paul and Trev is great - they were testing a new bottle of Scotch:) There's also a pic of us at dinner with both Paul and BJ at one of my favourite restaurants in St Louis, J Bucks. Then the last pic of of girls' night L-R Caroline, Debbie, BJ, Amanda, me, Nikki. That was at PF Changs. I have to tell you this trip was a gastronomic session from the moment I arrived to the moment I left. The weather was awesome too - 75 degrees. Amazing eh? The other amazing thing was that my weight is the same as before the holidays....getting back down to some serious dieting now though! Happy New Year!
Ok, so it's the holiday season. I've been trying to diet (I did lose weight, but not much at all) but only some of the time. We're in St Louis this week visiting friends and it's been even more difficult to diet.
Imagine my surprise when we're in the shopping mall and nip into Eddie Bauer. Now, my jeans/work pants are a little on the large side right now, but the plan was to keep it that way for at least a few more weeks. Well, couldn't resist the "big sale" signs. Tried on a new pair of jeans - 2 SIZES SMALLER.
My weekend is set.
For those big butts, the EB Shaped Fit is awesome.....the waist is one size smaller that the hips so it fits better.
I'll post a pic soon enough - got a new hair cut last week also - now a chin length bob....looks awesome!
One thing that really irritates me about travelling to England is that the airports have different rules about what you can carry on the plane as hand luggage. The plan was for 2008 to relax the rules and make it like every other country. Yeah....well - check out the link below. Can you believe different airports and airlines have different rules?
I'm traveling to Gatwick via Continental in a few weeks.....only 1 bag for Gatwick....but no idea what the rules are for the airline. Oh well. Stupido.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=506199&in_page_id=1770
Hope everyone had a good new year. We went out to The Melting Pot with our neighbours Nick and Jackie. Here's a pic of us at the dessert course....yummy - chocolate!
So we did "The Big Night Out" at the restaurant. You start with cheese fondue with veggies, apple and bread to dip in. You then break for a quick salad then it's onto the meat and fish with more veggies that you cook in broth. Yum-oh. Finishing with a chocolate is perfect.
So, it's the end of the holidays. I made it. And I managed to lose just over a pound since Thanksgiving. It's not quite what I'd hoped for - but I didn't gain and I've eaten and drunk anything I've wanted. I've followed the protein/carb rules about 75% of the time, which isn't bad.
Last night I blew my diet - went to the Melting Pot (fondue restaurant) with our neighbours. Today I've been good (more or less).
Tomorrow we start in earnest. I leave for England on the 24th and I'd like to be at 20lb lost before I leave. I will continue to work out, the plan being:
Mon - spin
Tue - training with Billy, spin
Weds - spin (or a day off)
Thu - training with Billy, spin
Fri - day off
Sat - spin, Bodypump class (strength training)
Sun - yoga
There are no pilates classes or Bodyflow classes that I can make, but I figure if I can 3-4 spin classes a week then I'll be doing myself good. We'll see how it goes.
Another year is over. Here's a list of achievements, what I learnt, what i screwed up, what I didn't do etc etc etc
- I looked back over my blog for the past year and I had 2 resolutions. 1 was to start up my MBA again, and the other was to "get a body I'm proud of". Well I have one thing to say - hahahahahahahahahahahhaahahah!
- On the MBA, didn't do a stitch. Should really contact the school and grovel my ass off again. Hopefully with my new job I'll be able to concentrate on it this year.
- On the body...yeah well. On the plus side I'm fitter than I was, and I concentrate on fitness rather than the physical side. That said, I'm disappointed I'm not further along on this. Things are progressing and hopefully this time next year it'll be a better story.
- I took up spinning. Something I thought was always reserved for the weirdass megafit peeps - I keep up with the best of them. I've also signed up for my first sporting charity event in a few weeks - spinning in Grand Central Station. Wish me luck.
- I was promoted at work and got 2 payrises this year.
- While we're finding it difficult with Trev traveling so much we're surviving just fine.
- Now we're in NY we get lots more visitors....that's really cool.
- I turned 40. Ouch. Luckily i still feel 20 so that's good
- I made more friends - and not from work. I actively tried different things - and now have people to hang out with
- I like being in NY as I get to visit England more often. A record 4 visits in 2007 - that's the most since 1997. I like that - I get to see Mum, Dad, Tim and loads of friends, not to mention eat really bad English food that I can't get at home. It's been nice dropping in more often.
I miss my friends in other cities....Penny - luckily we IM and exchange blogs but I miss hanging out. I'm going to get my ass to Iowa just so we can spend time together (you're not allowed to be sick this time though....only joking!!)
My 2008 resolutions
- Keep up with getting fit...I like hanging out with a trainer and going to classes
- MBA - enough said
- Lose weight - I'm doing OK, have found a diet that's working and combined with exercise will be successful
- Spend more quality time with Trev....goes without saying I know
- Keep up the number of visits to England
- Go visit my friends in other cities
Let's see how I do:) Happy New Year to you all!
Not really sure why, but I definitely find having a good old clearout very theraputic. I'm working this week - I like it this time of year. Most people are out so it's deathly quiet - I get time to think and get ready for the year ahead. I've always been like that - maybe I think it's a waste of vacation time when I can so much more done when I'm here.
for my new job, I elected to move from my lovely big desk to a smaller one. This of course, means a clearout. Just finished. Yeah!
Now off to a leisurely lunch with my successor. Yeah!
We had a great time, enjoy the pics! We did so much in a week. Lunch and Perilla (the first Top Chef's restaurant) and also Becco (owned by the lady who does Lydia's Italy on PBS), a visit to the ESPN Zone, to the theater, Times Square, etc etc etc. Enjoy!
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| 12-20-07 Christmas with PJ and Rach |
I may have lived in the US for over 11 years, but I'm still very English at heart. The Queen has come into the 21st century:)
http://uk.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUKL2339445720071223
Time is flying by - can't really believe it. Had a great time with the kids here (missing you Carrieanne...with you it'd be perfect!) and I'm getting quiet time on Sunday morning. I can't believe how much everyone sleeps. It's 10.09am and it's silence. Thank goodness for my ipod. Listening to the Ordinary Boys right now....then I'm going to settle down to watch the 7th Episode of Life on Mars.
We've taken lots of pics, seen a show on Broadway, eaten dim sum in Chinatown, had the house in a complete tip (which I finally broke down and tidied up last night, very theraputic), took Mike to the airport last night then Rach and I hit the mall. I know....5pm on the Saturday before Christmas. Madness. Complete chaos. We went to Ann Taylor primarily - got a good wrap and a pair of cargo pants. Then when I got home it was even better - they had 40% of all sweaters and then on the corporate discount site I belong too they had 20% off and free shipping. So....instead of a bill of $466 it was $185. So psyched about that. Have nice new clothes to start of my nice new job next year.
I've had a cold the past few days - big white dots on the back of the throat. Have been fighting it with drugs and seem to be doing OK. I did actually rest from exercise so I think it'll be OK. Won't need a doctor. Phew.
Peter is cooking Christmas dinner. I'm going to go shopping shortly - as everyone's sleeping. I"m going nuts here in the quiet. I'm an early bird. By now I've usually watched 3 TV programs, done laundry and tidied up. Oh well, more time to shop online for me.
I'm actually working this week, rather than taking time off. It will give me time to clear out my old job and start my new one fresh. Very excited about that. My replacement has been announced and he's around next week too so i feel i can do a real proper handover. I'm feeling quite melancholy about leaving the team, but also quite excited about the next chapter in my career.
OK, off to watch TV.
OK, I'm a gym junkie. I admit it. I had an appointment with Billy last night, and because my best spin class instructor was also teaching last night I did the spin class right after. No rest either. That's 2 days back to back of back to back classes. i think that's an achievement! And best of all? I don't hurt anywhere.....well, other than being slightly "aware" of my knee. I think this gives me carte blanche to eat whatever I want over Christmas.
Peter, Rachel and Mike arrived last night - it's fun having them here. We're out in Manhattan tonight, then Friday we're off to the theater and then we're going to Perilla - the restaurant owned by the first Top Chef. We should have a ball....
I only have 3 performance reviews left. I can't believe I'm done 10 days ahead of schedule. It's mine today - wish me luck!
Weird title eh? Well, you get a few days behind without blogging and then you have so many things that have happened....and well, then you forget, then you get intimidated about all the things you didn't write about....well and blah blah blah. You get the picture.
So, first work. I'm nearly done with all the performance reviews. I have 3 today, 3 on Thursday and then I'm done. that then leaves me 10 days to get my plan ready for my new job that starts Jan 1. Can't flipping wait. While I'm kinda feeling nostalgic about the guys....my forte is definitely is not line management. Next year will be fun (I hope!!).
Anyhow, let's tackle abandonment. So, last Friday night our gym had their holiday party. I promised Billy (my trainer) and Wesley (my massage therapist) that I'd bring jello shots. Now I'm not one for the boring old vodka shots (as those of you who know me well know), I'm for the more ingeneous ones. So I had 3 tubs - ie Traffic Lights. Usually it takes 3 days to make, but as I only promised it the day before I ended up with the 3 tubs - visualize that usually the colours are one on top of the other. So, first we had lime jello and tequila, next cointreau/grand marnier and orange jello and then last we had strawberry jello with Pimms and Creme de Cassis. Needless to say they went down a storm. Back to abandonment. I had a great time, and I thought Trev did too. We were milling around, seeing each other occasionally. Anyway, having spent time with some friends it was about 1.30am and I looked for Trev to see if he wanted to leave. Couldn't find him. He wasn't at the party, I had a few guys look in the men's room, couldn't find him. Started to worry. Worried a bit more. I couldn't call him coz he's left his cell at home. Only when after 20mins of looking that I realized he wasn't there. Worried a bit more. So, decided relunctantly to go home. A friend of mine gave me a ride....and in the car I listened to my voicemail. And I quote my voicemail...."I couldn't find you so I came home. See you later". Hmmmmmmmppppppfffffffff. Not a happy bunny.
He's never done that before. Luckily I wasn't somewhere unsafe but even so. MY HUSBAND ABANDONED ME. I can't believe it....even now it makes me mad. He says he wasn't mad, just tired and wanted to sleep. when I got home he said he was going to "come back for me". Yeah.....right. That's what it looked like when I arrived. Not. Anyway, we got over it, had a row, made up, slept. I never usually drink more than a couple when I'm with him for this reason - I need a straight head to listen to him as he always gets upset and melancholy when he drinks. Better than last year I guess when he got drunk and asked for a divorce.
Onto achievement. After the weekend of complete overindulgence on the food side I did something I've never done before. I took 2 spin classes back to back. And survived. In fact, I thought I'd be a wreck and completely knackered by the experience. Not at all. I certainly feel that it was my pennance for eating so badly over the weekend. Tonight I see Billy and that'll put me back on the straight and narrow.
Peter, Rachel and Mike (Rach's boyfriend) come into town today for the holidays. Can't wait - we'll have a blast. We'll miss Carrieanne....but we'll head to Iowa early in the new year to see her too. Watch this space for our antics this week. I'm determined to keep up my gym regimen, just to work off all the extra food we're bound to be eating....hahahaha
More later....
I'm an Amazon addict. I think I'm their best customer....or that's how it feels most of the time anyway. I like the return policy, I like the speed at which they send stuff etc etc. Until today.
I put together an order for Christmas at 11am this morning....and left it at the "place order" page. I then got distracted and went to a meeting. When I came back I clicked the "place order" button. Got a message saying "there's nothing in your cart". "Oh well!" thinks me, and promptly reorders everything.
An hour later I check my email. Turns out I've then got 2 orders. Hmmmprf. I think that because I only ordered it an hour ago I can go online and cancel the order. I've done that before so no biggie here.
Anyway, turns out I couldn't. So.....I call them up. I have the number.....but I bet ya can't find it on the website. So.... I ask if I can cancel an order. Can you imagine the reaction when they said no? The reason being is that it's already been sent to shipping so they can't reverse it. Best they can do is ask me to refuse the order when it's delivered. Or....I can return the items. In the mean time I've been charged twice - so I won't get my money back either.
Not a happy bunny. But in the spirit of the holiday I'll let sleeping dogs lie!
I know I've said it before....and I'll say it again. I love eBay. I love the fact that I update my iPod and camera at least once a year....and it costs about $50. I'm still floored by the fact that people on eBay buy stuff that's not the latest and greatest for only $50ish below the price of the newer model. Weird.
I love the fact I get these awards at work...I convert them into cool things like iPods and then sell it less than a year later for almost retail value. It's sooooo cool.
I should look around at home and see what else I can get rid of.
So, I was watching tonight one of my fave TV shows - Tim Gunn's Guide to Style on the Bravo Channel. I just have to say that they had a lady called Karen Vito tonight. She was 41, dressed like she was 20 and the show was to show her the error of her ways. Now, I'm first to say that she looked pretty damn good for someon in their 40s....she was thin, long hair etc etc. But I have to tell you for someone a year older than me......she had so many lines, crinkles and wrinkles. Ewwww
Obviously not being one for the sun it's to my advantage. Tonight when I was getting ready to go out I looked and looked and while I have some lines....nothing like hers. Not sure whether I'm bothered....but man, I thought she looked like she was 55.
They're back! So cool. Check out the link - new movie starts next week (in the UK at least).
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/showbiz/showbiznews.html?in_article_id=500192&in_page_id=1773
So, for the uneducated St Trinians movies were made in the 1950s and were about naughty school girls in a private boarding school who ran rings round the staff. The head teacher was a bloke dressed as a woman (Alistair Sim) and the policewoman who always was at the school was Joyce Grenfell. You then had the gardner who was always necking with the girls.....anyhow brilliant movies.
Will be interesting to see the 21st century version!
On the food front, doing great. Lowest weight ever - now lost 12.8lb so we're doing good. In this holiday season, that's pretty cool. I seem to have 2 parties a week this year so it's a real challenge. I'm just working out like crazy and seeing how it is....
I've hurt my knee. It sucks. It's not excruciating....but it's nagging. All the time. I've actually had to cut back on working out so I don't do any more damage. It's horrible. I think I did it in the gym last Thursday - I was running late and had a spin class to attend so Billy and I decided to start strength training with no warm up. I didn't think anything of it, but I do remember when lunging saying "oooh, my knee hurts....that's not normal" and carried right along. I rested all weekend. After spin on Monday it was niggling but yesterday when I was with Billy it was hurting. I've now got an appointment set up with Wesley, the massage therapist to see i can fix it that way. Hopefully it's nothing. Between Carrieanne and Mum I don't relish having knee issues at all.
On the eating front, we're doing good. Yesterday wasnt' bad at all.
8.15am snack - small cup cereal and milk
9.45am breakfast - omelette
1.30pm lunch - noodles and potatoes, an orange
6.30pm dinner - meat bolognaise sauce and cheese
8.15pm snack - Cadbury's flake
Lost another half pound yesterday so must be doing something right.
A mindset change is all it took. I'm so amazed that the moment I get a post-it note and start writing out a) what I'm going to eat and then b) what I do eat that I become much healthier. Surprising, eh?
Yesterday's eating
8.30am snack - grapefruit
10.30am breakfast - omelette and some nuts
1.15pm lunch - mashed potato and peas
6.00pm snack - banana and blueberry smoothie, yogurt
8.15pm dinner - salmon and stirfry veggies
Gym - 10mins stairmaster, 45 min spin class
I didn't workout over the weekend at all. I think I pulled a muscle in my knee so wanted to rest (my excuse and I'm staying with it).
Work is good. I'm mad as my boss advertised my current role and it's one level higher than I am now...I'm mad because she didn't tell me. While I may have made the decision i did anyway to do my new job, it would have been nicer to have been told.
Trev's off to Hong Kong tomorrow so he's planning for that. He'll be knackered as he's only just over the UK jet lag from the past 2 weeks.
I have to put the tree up and get cards sent out this weekend....so yeah! I get to do that on my own. How sad is that?
I read Jenness' blog on procrastination the other day and was giggling as I have that problem too. As you know, I have a large team right now and it's performance review time. As any good manager, I've got it set up like a military operation - 3 or 4 reviews a day, up to the 17th Dec. You'd think as I sit here that I'd be Ok with only writing 3 a day. Flipping 'eck, I tell ya I have found so many things to do today rather than write 3 reviews.
1) check work email
2) check home email, and again, and again
3) do dishes
4) watch Torchwood and Dr Who
5) make a cup of tea
6) talk with Rach (she's here for the weekend)
7) check work email
8) shop on Amazon for Christmas prezzies....not to buy anything, just ideas
9) wonder why Amazon is recommending I buy the iTouch....
10) check out spec and cost of iTouch and wonder if I should spend my award money on one
11) wonder why the iTouch doesn't have 40gb drive rather than the crabby 16gb it comes with
12) move cushions around
13) have a relaxing bath, with oils, do a facemask etc and then turn on the jacuzzi
14) check work email again
15) respond to a few work emails that could have waited
16) check into the review website and complain about how crap it is
Anyway....you get the idea. I have done 2 of the 4 I wanted. The other 2 I don't need to do. It can wait.
I'm off to shop Amazon some more......
Oh yeah, and I'm posting food again....clearly I can't lose weight if I'm not writing it down. Consider it therapy.
OK, it was a tough week. I got back from England, had the holiday party where I totally over indulged, was out Friday night with Rach til very late....and still trying to get in the groove for Christmas shopping. I woke up this morning feeling like I'm succumbing to the cold that everyone has.
Eating has been awful - while I've maintained my weight and not put any on, I haven't actually lost any. I think it's because I keep cheating in really small ways (eat steak, hav ea mouthful of rice, eat too much chocolate etc) so I need to get that back on track. It's the client holiday party this week and I think that I'm going to miss it....I just don't think I can stomach another night of socializing. What an old fart I am.
Here's joke from my friend Nikki (thought it was hilarious):
"I took my dad to the mall the other day to buy some new shoes. We decided to grab a bite at the food court when I noticed he was watching a teenager sitting next to him. The teenager had spiked hair in all different colors: green, red, orange, and blue. My dad kept staring at him. The teenager would look and find him staring every time. When the teenager had enough, he sarcastically asked, 'What's the matter old man, never done anything wild in your life?' Knowing my Dad, I quickly swallowed my food so that I would not choke on his response; knowing he would have a good one. And in classic style he did not bat an eye in his response, 'Got drunk once and had sex with a peacock. I was just wondering if you were my son. '"
