Healthy Living Thread

[zoebartlett]

I hope everyone's having a good weekend!

I met for lunch with my college roommates yesterday. It was really fun to see them, but it was a long way to travel to have a grilled chicken salad and tomato/basil bisque. The food was great, as it always is at this place we go. I'm meeting another friend this morning for brunch. We're meeting at the Cheesecake Factory, and it's making me nervous. There's not a whole lot I can eat there, well, looking specifically at the brunch menu. I may have the crab hash without the hollandaise. It comes with potatoes (probably fried), so I'm not sure how much I'll actually eat if I'm picking them all out. Ugh. They don't seem to have a lot of egg/veggie dishes on their brunch menus. What's up with that?

My husband's looking forward to watching the Patriots play-off game this afternoon. He'll probably want to order out (he didn't end up ordering out last time, by the way!). Today and this weekend in general is really testing my will power!

I didn't go to the gym yesterday because I was just too tired by the time I got home from my travels. I WILL go today though.

Have a good Sunday!

 

[marcy]

Hi! Another weekend is quickly winding down.

Zoe, I am rooting for the Patriots today too. Sounds like you had a nice time catching up with your college friends. I read somewhere that all the pasta dishes at the Cheesecake Factory should be listed as food ****. They must be loaded with white sauce and butter. They give you a ton of food there too. What works for me when we go somewhere that I can't eat as well I'd like is I try to order the best thing and then cut it in half the minute the meal arrives. You can even ask for a box right away and box it up if you are tempted to nibble on the other half. It is rough though when you are dining out.

Marty got back from Arizona about 5:15. The lasagna was done and the rolls were baking. We ate raw veggies while they finished cooking and had a glass of Chardonnay. I added extra sauce and a little water so the noodles would bake in the oven (without cooking them first) and it turned out good but I don't think I needed to add the water. We have quite a few lunches left too. Sweet.

I didn't really do much today. I rented Ted and watched it. It was okay and funny in spots. This afternoon I watched Meet Joe Black and then watched football.

Take care.
Marcy

 

[zoebartlett]

I hope everyone's having a good night.

So, today was really good! My friend and I went to the Cheesecake Factory and I had their energy breakfast, which is egg whites, grilled chicken, spinach, mushrooms, and tomatoes. I added whole wheat toast and avocado, and it was delicious! Lunch was just a red pepper, hummus, string cheese, and rice crackers. My husband's making stir fry pork and Minute Rice whole grain medley (it has quinoa, barley, oats, and maybe wheat berries). Yum! I'm proud of him for not ordering out. He didn't even bring it up. We went to the gym together once I got home from brunch. I did 45 minutes on the bike but only 7 miles, not 8 like I've been doing. I'm okay with that.

Does anyone know about and/or follow something similar to the Paleo diet?

Hi Marcy! Good idea to box things up right away. Sometimes I ask for them to box up half my food before even bringing my order to the table. That way I can't be tempted at all. Lasagna sounds soooooo good right now!

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

Had a good workout today. If it is warm on Thur I might go skiing.

Met a friend for dinner on Sat night at a swank place in town--food was disappointing--I ate nothing. Normally I eshew pasta but it was homemade so I threw caution to the wind...didn't eat it since it wasn't good. Good thing they didn't charge me. Liquid dinner.

Will go back to the pool and perhaps yogs this week as well. And skking if the weather cooperates!!

cheers--Sharon

 

[zoebartlett]

I'm sorry you didn't enjoy your dinner on Saturday, Sharon.

I had today off and I spent it watching the inauguration coverage and napping. It's been a very unproductive day and was just how I wanted it. I did go to the gym this morning and did the treadmill and bike for 40 minutes. My husband was working. Apparently we're getting 3-6 inches of snow, beginning sometime after midnight. If we have another snow day, I'll cry. We've had 3 so far and we'll need to make them up at the end of the year.

Food was good today. I wasn't hungry for breakfast so I had a tuna sandwich, string cheese, raspberries, and rice crackers for lunch. I had Greek yogurt and blueberries, and a cup of tea a few hours later. I think my husband's picking up salmon for dinner, and we'll have brown rice to go with it.

 

[marcy]

Hi everyone!

Zoe, your breakfast at the Cheesecake Factory sounds good and healthy. Sweet. That is awesome your husband wanted to make stir fry instead of ordering out. Yay for working out at the gym yesterday and today. How many snow days do you have each year? I think they allow 5 here then make up anything past that.

Sharon, I hope you get a chance to go skiing this week. That is too bad the homemade pasta wasn’t very good. Mmm to a liquid dinner as a substitute.

We had strawberries and cereal for breakfast. I had a lean cuisine for lunch then tonight we stopped for Mexican food so I had a taco and part of an enchilada.

I was scheduled to turn in my car tomorrow morning but Marty needs to be here to answer the door for his MacBook so we dropped it off today then he can take me to work in the morning about 7:30. I am going to HATE being Marcy no car for a few days.

We wandered around Lowe’s tonight. They put basic white switch plates in our new house and we don’t like them in the kitchen. They look really tacky on the island and tile backsplash so we picked out a few different switch plates to bring home to see what we like in the kitchen. We are going to get some matte bronze ones.

Marty got a space heater for his office. He got a wireless doorbell that he can hook up to the doorbell up here and have it ring in his office.

We picked out the screen door we want and priced cupboards for the wet bar. By then I was bored so we came home.

Work was busy today but everyone was there. I got cranky today twice. I had a sinus headache and just snapped. I’ll be a responsible good boss tomorrow and apologize.

Take care.

Marcy

 

[Dee*Jay]

Just a quickie right now!

Survived my trip to Chicago, but the flight home was delayed because some valve in the lavatory tank was frozen open, which meant I was late for class.

Scale is holidng pretty steady despite the fact I haven't worked out since before new years. I HAVE to get to the gym, but I just can't imagine when that will happen given my current school schedule. The good news is this part of the CPA review class is over in a few more weeks so I'll jus be back on the regular two class schedule.

Ack.

Anyway...

Hi to everyone -- will be back later!

 

[zoebartlett]

Hi everyone,

March, I hope you feel better soon. How do you feel today?

DeeJay, I'm impressed you made it to class at all. I think I would have just called it a day after getting home from Chicago. What a long day you had!

Food was good today. Special K, Lactaid skim, and blueberries for breakfast, cottage cheese and blueberries for lunch, and stir-fry beef and multi-grain rice for dinner. I think I'll have a banana and pb for dessert, with a cup of tea. I know I need to add more veggies, but really, I don't wanna!

My car hasn't been holding heat and in fact, it's been blowing cold air lately, off and on. I have a 40ish minute commute to work, and oh, 35 of those were in below freezing temps. I wasn't a happy camper by the time I got to work. I went to the shop after work and found out the water pump needs to be replaced and there was no coolant in the system. There are also leaks coming from somewhere, so they kept my car overnight and they'll deal with it in the morning. I have a feeling it will be a very pricey fix, but I guess this type of stuff is pretty standard.

Hi Deegee and Sharon! How are you?

 

[marcy]

Hi everyone!

Dee Jay, woo hoo for surviving your trip to Chicago. How was the interview? Yay for almost being done with your CPA class. Soon you’ll have so much free time you won’t know what to do. Except drive junior around and have fun.

Zoe, I am much better today thanks. I could actually breathe when I got up. Sorry to hear about your frigid drive to work. That must have been miserable. I hope they get your car all fixed up tomorrow. Sorry they found so many problems though.

Marty ran me to work about 7:30 this morning. I did apologize to my team for getting cranky. One of them who was arguing with me yesterday apologized as well. It’s all good now. My swing shift girl was giving me a hard time about being cranky yesterday. I have been teasing them I was going to go all Gordon Ramsey on them and all.

Marty was anxiously waiting today for his UPS delivery (his MacBook). It wasn’t here yet by 4:30 so a friend of ours gave me a ride home. While we were starting to cook supper the doorbell finally rang. The new laptop is downstairs syncing, copying, backing up or something. I got to hold it briefly. It certainly seems heavy compared to my 11” MacAir. Marty said I could play with it tomorrow.

Food wasn’t bad. Cheerios, leftover lasagna for lunch and we had burgers and veggies cooked on the grill for supper.

I did laundry tonight. I hired a girl to start cleaning for us every 2 weeks. She is coming tomorrow. It will be weird for awhile but I think it is a good call for us.

Marty wasn’t too busy today; he tore up a pillow and made it look like the Killer Rabbit chewed up one of my white teddy bears. At least he cleaned up the mess while I cooked supper. My teddy bear magically appeared in the kitchen when I was cooking.

I got our electric bill and about had a coronary. It was only for 21 days and is $270. Our other house was $250 at most during the coldest months. I turned down the temp tonight and am going around shutting off lights. I need to get Marty to set up the ceiling fans to push hot air down. I think that will help.

The insurance rep called me today and they found a little more damage on my car. They plan on having it done to pick up by close of business on Friday.

Hi Deegee, Sharon and Skippy!

Well, I am off to bath my jewels and start getting ready for bed.

Take care.
Marcy

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy hump day kids!

Sharon, sorry to hear about your disappointing dinner. I hate it when I got out to a place (especially a swank place) and it's not good.

Zoe, boo on your car. I am so terrified of the first thing that goes wrong with Junior because I know it will cost me about seven million dollars to fix… ACK.

Marcy, I am interested in your and Marty’s review on the new mac! And LOL on the killer rabbit and teddy bear. Hopefully you will LOVE having a cleaning person. Some people think it’s weird to have a stranger in the house, but it never bothered me in the least.

The interview went really well and the guy called the head hunter and said he LOVED me. He wants me to go back to Chicago to meet some more people, but we have to work out some comp stuff first because the job was originally talked about as $X for 3 days a week. Well in talking with the hiring manager he’s thinking five days a week until summer, then four, then back to five around November again. OK… so how much you gonna pay me for 4 and 5 days a week? Simple math would suffice here, but I want to have them give me more solid info because I don’t want to make assumptions. Also, part of the attraction of this job for me was that it was NOT five days a week, so this all needs to be worked out.

Went home last night and just did homework for tonight’s class. I’m actually looking forward to this weekend because I’ll have a whole Sunday to do school stuff—how sad is that?!? I was good on the food front yesterday, but still no time to work out.

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

Coldest day of the week today--the tips of my hair were wet coming out of the gym today and they felt icy--brings back those memories of why I quit swimming to being with! All complaints aside, had a long and hard workout. Don't think I'll get skiing afterall, the weather prediction is still cold, so fuggettaboutit. Will get my hair cut instead.

Guess I can't complain about the cold; at least my car is blowing hot air, not like yours Zoe. Tres bummer. Hope the fix wasn't too troubling.

And Marcy--thank you for relating to my liquid supper. Shameful but sometimes those type of "meals" happen! I hear ya on the energy bills; I don't even look anymore, just pay them. Otherwise I get a headache. I've become accustomed to wearing a sweater in the house 9 months of the year.

Glad school is good DeeJay and you are plugging along. Hope you get the job of your dreams.

Skippy.

cheers--Sharon

 

[zoebartlett]

Hi Marcy, I'm glad you're feeling better! DeeJay's right about the cleaning person. You'll love it. We just hired one to come every two weeks, and although it's an added expense, it's totally worth it. I was against it for so long, but it's nice not to be stressed over keeping the house completely clean myself. She does the deep cleaning, which I love.

Hi Sharon, a hard work out sounds, well, hard! You're my exercise idol, and I aspire to have one of those some day.

I returned the rental car and picked up my car from the garage tonight. I was actually happy to have the rental that I did because it was a brand new version of what I currently have. I kind of wish I could have kept it a bit longer. I'm happy to have heat in my car again though, especially on days/nights like these. Brrrr! Turns out, it also needed a new radiator and hoses, in addition to the water pump. This car better not need anything else done to it for a long time.

I haven't been to the gym in two days and I kind of miss the routine and the exercise. I'm not one to go at night (I go after work, but that's about 4:00 or so), so I've skipped it because I've had to deal with my car. I'll get back to it tomorrow.

Food was good today. Cottage cheese and blueberries for breakfast, a salad for lunch, and a burger (extra lean ground beef and a whole wheat sandwich thin) and rice crackers for dinner. Tea and raspberries for dessert.

 

[deegee]

Hello! Dang, it's cold outside. Not Marcy & Sharon cold, but too cold for me! It was 5 degrees this rnorning and I was really wishing I had one of those warm LL Bean/Lands End coats on. At least my boots were warm. I decided to just have my ering repaired for now at the jeweler across the street. He called to let me know it was finished, and I seriously debated on whether it not it was worth freezing my keester off to go get it. I forgot my gloves and scarf at home, so that made the walk even more miserable! I have been behaving really well with food until tonight. We ordered pizza, and I had 3 pieces. Oops. They were small. I had cottage cheese for breakfast and a kashi meal for lunch, so may e that wasnt too bad. We didn't walk last night or tonight-too dang cold. I plan to have my evening sleep aid (one serving of wine) and then head to bed early.

Dee*Jay-how awesome that they loved you in your interview! It's great to have options. I hope it works out for you, although I'd be insanely jealous of you working less than 5 days a week.

Sharon-that is a bummer to go out and not like your food. No sense wasting calories on something that isn't tasty. I'm all in for a liquid dinner at times. By noon I was ready for a liquid lunch. If only we could do that and not get fired.

Zoe-I haven't been to the Cheesecake Factory in forever. We don't have one near us. I always have a hard time with their menu because it has too much on it. That, and the Craig's crazy carrot cake cheese cake always calls my name upon me entering the building. Sounds like you did good though. I hope your car repairs didn't cost an arm & a leg. I hate spending money on car repairs.

-Marcy-you guys wandering around Lowes reminds me of us wandering around Home Depot so much anymore. Matt swears his wallet gets lighter when we pull in the parking lot. I hope you get your car back by Friday. I would be rather cranky if I got dropped off so early at work. My poor little group is having problems. We made it one week with all of us there, but this week has been bad. I think another round of ick is going around our office. You will love having a cleaning lady! Yay! Soooo worth it!

Hi Skippy!

Have a great day tomorrow. Stay warm!

 

[zoebartlett]

DeeJay, I'm happy for you! It sounds like you'll probably be on your way back to Chicago. Hopefully you'll get the info you need soon so you can make a decision.

Deegee, I don't even like cheesecake, but I'll eat anything from their dessert case! The closest one to us is nearly an hour away, so I'm actually glad it's not convenient to go there often. Too tempting.

Hi Skippy!

 

[marcy]

Hi everyone! I loved coming home to a clean house.

Dee Jay, Junior isn't under warranty? Ack! I am anxiously waiting to get my chance at the MAC. Marty has it downstairs. He is kind of grumpy because it is taking so long to get his work computer copied over to it. Then he needs new monitors so we'll see when he gets it all set up. The cleaning lady even unloaded my dishwasher and made our bed. I don't think it will bother me to have her clean for us. The is awesome your interview went so well. I hope it, the money and hours work out the way you want it to. If you move back to Chicago you can commiserate with the rest of us and this cold weather. You are so dedicated to your school work.

Sharon, that is the best when your hair freezes. I have shoulder length and very thick hair; I get icy waves. Yay for a great workout and good idea to get your hair cut instead of freezing on the slopes. Yes, those liquid meals just sometimes happen. I am thinking of setting up our utilities as auto withdrawals so that way I wouldn't pay attention to how much they cost. It is like the price of gas, you just have to pay it. I turned our thermostat down and will try to keep it there and go around turning lights off. I decided the fireplace will only be an occasional treat on snowy or movie nights.

Zoe, I am glad you are loving having a cleaning person. I think I will really enjoy it too. Agreed that it is an added expense but I will budget it in and enjoy my less hectic schedule. That is terrific they got your car done already. Hopefully it won't need any attention again in the near future. You are doing great on food and I know you'll have fun going to the gym tomorrow.

Deegee, the weather out your way sounds pretty darned cold. That is great your boots kept your feet warm. What a relief to get your ring fixed. I know I'd be worried about the diamond falling out. Your walk to the jeweler made me chilly though. I am sure you didn't go overboard on your 3 small pieces of pizza. We don't have a Cheesecake Factory here either and when we go there I can't make up my mind what I want for lunch let alone pick out a piece of cheesecake. We are with Matt, it seems like just parking at the hardware store is going to cost you money. We picked up the rest of our bronze switch plates tonight. When I walked in the house tonight and saw the hardwood floor I said "Wow!" I know I'll enjoy a clean house.

Skippy, how are the cute twins?

Marty had a conference call at 8 so we left the house about 7:25. We had to go through an ATM on the way to work then he rushed home for his call. The cleaning lady came at 8:30 and he had an orthodontic appointment at 9. His MAC took well in to today to transfer files and he couldn't access a lot of his projects while that was going on. Then he found that the output to 2 monitors freezes up on his monitors because they were bought at a different time and don't have exactly the same resolution. We looked at Sams and Office Depot tonight but didn't see anything he wanted.

Work was okay today. I took in leftover lasagna again for lunch. We had a patty melt for supper. Nothing fancy. I wanted to keep my house clean.

I hope Marty lets me play with his Mac tonight. I am quite anxious to see it.

They called me today and said my car was being put back together and they would move it later today to be painted. Then they let it set for at least a day and I should get it back late Friday.

I am not cold. I am not cold. The heater should not be turned up. The fireplace looks fine burning in my memory . . .

Marcy

 

[canuk-gal]

Hello! Dang, it's cold outside. Not Marcy & Sharon cold, but too cold for me! It was 5 degrees this rnorning and I was really wishing I had one of those warm LL Bean/Lands End coats on. At least my boots were warm. I decided to just have my ering repaired for now at the jeweler across the street. He called to let me know it was finished, and I seriously debated on whether it not it was worth freezing my keester off to go get it. I forgot my gloves and scarf at home, so that made the walk even more miserable! I have been behaving really well with food until tonight. We ordered pizza, and I had 3 pieces. Oops. They were small. I had cottage cheese for breakfast and a kashi meal for lunch, so may e that wasnt too bad. We didn't walk last night or tonight-too dang cold. I plan to have my evening sleep aid (one serving of wine) and then head to bed early.

Dee*Jay-how awesome that they loved you in your interview! It's great to have options. I hope it works out for you, although I'd be insanely jealous of you working less than 5 days a week.

Sharon-that is a bummer to go out and not like your food. No sense wasting calories on something that isn't tasty. I'm all in for a liquid dinner at times. By noon I was ready for a liquid lunch. If only we could do that and not get fired.

Hi Skippy!

Have a great day tomorrow. Stay warm!

HI:

Ha! Not in my industry either--health care. We don't leave the hospital to eat (obviously) and there are no bars inside these institutions. I wonder why not I should change jobs--many friends work in places where drinking at lunch is part of "business".

Your cold/temp is cold enough for me. It was actually warmer today than predicted, but I still did my hair and did not ski. My shoulder is a bit sore anyway.

Thinking of trying a spin class as a drop in. My hair gal loves the place she goes--brand new studio and very funky she said...new bikes with great "female" seats.

cheers--Shaorn

 

[deegee]

Sharon-I didn't know there was such a thing as a female bike seat. I'm going to have to look that up. And about hair freezing-we lost power a few nights ago and I was picturing my hair freezing on my walk from my car to my office on the 5 degree morning. Thankfully it came back on right about time to get up.

Zoe-I usually can do without cheesecake, but I love the carrot cake cheesecake. I think I love anything carrot cake related!

Marcy-poor Marcy! I'm going to have to pay attention to utility costs for the houses we look at. Matt keeps the house fairly cool by my standards...62 while we're not here, it kicks on and heats up to 68 at 5 (we get home after 6), and then back down to 64 at 11:30. I'm always wearing a lot of clothes and carrying around blankets! I think I notice the floors most after the cleaning people come. The hardwoods look so nice, and all of the pet hair is vacuumed from the carpet. Ahhh. I had the hardest time getting used to someone making my bed. Still kind of creeps me out. Did you get to play with the Mac?

2 of my employees called off today. Flu guy stayed home and I hope he does so again tomorrow. The other lady spun out on the ice on the interstate very close to a car that was on its top in the median and another car that slid across the interstate and mostly through the median into oncoming traffic. She decided to go back home, and I don't blame her a bit. Tomorrow morning is supposed to be nasty as well. Food was bad. Bad, bad, bad. I had cottage cheese for breakfast, a slice of leftover pizza and a salad for lunch, 1/2 c spaghetti with marinara sauce for dinner, a bunch of crackers, a skinny cow snack, and a fiber one bar. I have major munches this evening. Argh! Matt joined WW today at his work, so hopefully that will be a huge half for me. He buys so much junk food. I'm off for my nightly sleep aid. Have a great day tomorrow!

 

[zoebartlett]

Hi all!

It was -5 yesterday morning and it didn't feel much warmer as the day went on. With the wind too, it was just miserable. We've had indoor recess for a few days now and it's been brutal. "My kids" need to run around and let off some of their energy, so we've been doing a lot of movement breaks in the classroom when the kids get extra "wiggly." I'm anticipating today being much the same.

I've been so bummed because I haven't lost much, if any, weight. I've been working really hard this month and it's so frustrating. I was in a bad mood yesterday and I woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, too. It's going to be a very long day.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Marcy, Junior is under warranty but I just know *something* will come up that’s not covered. Like Deegee’s husband swearing his wallet gets lighter when he pulls into the Home Depot parking lot, I swear a new charge of several hundred dollars shows up on my credit card every time I drive within a mile of the Porsche dealership! Just two days about I looked at my Visa statement online and there was $282 from Porsche. I was like WHAT THE FVCK?!? Then I realized it was a NEGATIVE $282 as the credit for the overcharge on my radar detector. Good thing I figured that out before I called up screaming--HA!

Zoe, it’s not -5 here, but I have been wearing skirts this week because my pants are all pretty much too big (including the ones I have on today that are currently held on with safety pins!). Twenty degrees…two block walk from the parking garage…even with a long down coat on, any breeze is Holy Blowin’ Right Up My Skirt Batman!

Sharon, the gym I used to go to in Chicago had female seats. They were GREAT. When I was in rehab after the knee surgeries I was supposed to ride the taller bikes and I hated it (can you say achey breakey crotch the next day?!) until I discovered those.

Skippy, I think I’ve missed saying hello to you lately along the way here! Hope all is well with you and the munchkins! I was thinking of you last night around midnight as I was working through the regulation modules in the Becker review. Ack!

Nothing much to report here. Had the potential to be bad last night since I had a five hour stretch of homework in front of me, but I just made some bbq chicken (Jack Stack, out of a package at Costco—LOVE IT!) and ate it with baked kettle chips. I did however have not one, but TWO, Diet Dr. Peppers for dessert and then I couldn’t sleep when I finally did go to bed.

I expect to hear back from the headhunter today on the Chicago thing. Honestly, I am really waffling because I’m SO (relatively) close to being through all my classes here and it would really disrupt my CPA path to move at this point, so I guess I have no down side either way with this. I won’t even feel bad if they decide they can’t afford me (which is a real possibility) and I end up staying here for another few months.

OK, of to work on my monster annual review project…

 

[zoebartlett]

DeeJay, I don't suppose this is a possibility, but could you tell the company in Chicago that you'd like to start after completing your classes in KC? Have you heard from them yet?

I went to the doctor's today. It was a quick appt. and she was pleased with my new exercise routine and better eating habits. It turns out I've lost 4 pounds since I was there 2 weeks ago. We were both happy with that. I'm still a bit frustrated because my scale doesn't seem to agree but I'll keep working at it.

I'm meeting friends for lunch tomorrow and we're going to our favorite Indian restaurant. At first I thought of not going because it was going to be too tempting with all the creamy sauces, but I didn't want to bail on my friends. I just won't have basmati rice with my lunch, and I'll try not to eat much of the sauce. It won't be easy but I'll do the best I can. I'll also make sure to hit the gym afterward!

Other than that, I have school work to catch up on. My husband and I will probably watch a movie, go to the gym, and have a lazy, quiet Sunday. What are your plans?

 

[marcy]

Hi everyone. Welcome to the weekend.

Sharon, there are certainly some days when I’d like to have a drink for lunch but they frown on that where I work. I hope your shoulder feels better soon. Did you go to the spin class?

Deegee, glad your power came back on over night. Mmm carrot cake. That is always a treat. I knew our gas and light bill would go up. Our old place was 1026 square feet upstairs and we had an unfinished and rarely used basement. Our new house is more than double that upstairs and the basement is being used daily. Our ceilings are 9 feet so I think that makes it harder to have uniform heat. I also wonder how economical ceiling can lights are; they are big bulbs. I will let you know after a month of being more careful. I thought that too about someone making our bed. I think next time she comes I will just make sure i make the bed in the morning. I also was kind of surprised she did our dishes. I am kind of anal germ o phob but I just decided to just shrug it off. No sense freaking out about it. I don’t blame that lady from work going home either. That sounds very scary.

Zoe, sorry to hear the cold is lingering there. I am sure the kids get antsy staying inside. What grade do you teach again? Congratulations on losing 4 pounds. Have fun with your friends at the Indian restaurant. Marty loves Indian food. Sounds like you have great plans for the weekend. What movie are you going to watch?

DeeJay, good to hear junior is under warranty. That is why we sold our other Audi; it broke down and was out of warranty. Time to trade. Glad your credit card Porsche charge was a refund. Awesome to hear your pants are too big. That is a nice feeling. Your BBQ chicken sounds divine. Sorry you couldn’t sleep though. Sounds like you have a lot of things to decide if news from the head hunter is a positive offer for the job in Chicago

I got my car back yesterday afternoon. It looks like they did a nice job on it. Marty and I ran down to Ft. Collins last night and had supper at the Macaroni Grill (woo hoo it was 1/2 price bottle of wine night) and then went to Best Buy. I looked at the 13” MacBook Pro with retina display and decided I wanted it. We found Marty 2 monitors and I picked up a new case for my iPad. Then I go up and ask them to get me the laptop I want and they were out of them. I loudly said “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO”. So then Marty pulled the MacAir over by the MacBook with retina and I tried to convince myself there wasn’t that much difference. We blew up some text and compared them and there was definitely a difference in text. Marty told me “not to settle” so we bought the other stuff we picked up and came home. Sadly Marty could not get his 2 monitors to work out of his new MacBook Pro. He was up until 2 messing with it. We may be returning his new laptop for a retina display too. Those clearly say they support running 2 external monitors. He hasn’t decided yet though.

We got home pretty late so then I sat down and ordered my laptop online and I should get it Thursday.
Work was really long this week. This time of the month is kind of slow because we are waiting for next month’s schedules. Next week will be busy for us.

Marty is having a poker / darts night. We got a big box of pictures, school report cards, etc from Marty’s parents. I wanted to show his friends but he didn’t think that was funny. Hmm. I wonder why?

So this weekend we could be doing one or both of these things: going to Apple and trading in Marty’s computer and buying cupboards to install in the basement wet bar. It will be a busy weekend.

Take care. Have a great weekend.
Marcy

 

[marcy]

Dee Jay, I didn't want to threadjack Kenny's thread but LOL at "Hoover sucking". I would hope it sucks.

And now off to take a shower . . .

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

The weather is fine think I'll trapse my fav spot for a spot of shopping. I have some Christmas GC's to use up! : Too bad they moved the swimsuit shop from there--I need a new suit for my exercise days.

I didn't get DT to see the spin class studio yet....next week.

Zoe--Indian food is also a fav for me--luckily a little goes a long way. All you need is a bit or two of bread/rice to quell the heat of the food....then one is full! Keep on with the healthy eating and exercise--your life/body will than you for it! Rome wasn't built in a day!

shout out to the rest of the folks!

cheers--Sharon

 

[zoebartlett]

Happy Saturday!

Marcy, I'm glad you got your car back. What does retina display do? I've seen it mentioned but haven't paid attention to what that actually means. We couldn't decide what movie to see today so we skipped it. My husband wants to see Zero Dark Thirty but I want to see Silver Linings Playbook. We may watch both at some point, but for now, we'll just stay home and pick something from Netflix or Hulu. Oh, and I teach 2nd grade.

We went to the gym this morning. I walked on the treadmill for 1 minute, ran for 2 minutes, then walked for 3 minutes, and repeated that once more. Then I did the last 35 minutes on the bike. We had the place to ourselves and it was nice.

I had a great time with my friends and the food was so good! It wasn't too spicy, which was good because I try to stay away from spicy stuff. I didn't have any basmati rice but I did have a few bite-sized samosas, which are probably just as bad if not worse. After lunch we went back to one of my friend's new house to hang out for a while. It was a fun afternoon. I went food shopping after that, and I'm now remembering all sorts of things I forgot to pick up at the store. Oh well. I stayed on the perimeter of the store, except for one quick trip down the bread aisle to get whole wheat bread. My husband's taking a nap right now and I could be/should be doing some school work. We'll see if I get motivated...

I have a vacation week coming up at the end of next month. My mom just called to see if I wanted to go to Boston for an overnight with her, her treat. We did it last year and we stayed at a beautiful hotel on the waterfront. It was really fun and a generous gift. Can't wait to do it again!

Hi Sharon, Deegee, Dee*Jay, and Skippy!

 

[marcy]

Sharon, have a blast spending your Christmas GC! Our weather is very springlike today. I took my coat off on my rounds this morning. Did you find anything fun during your shopping excursion?

Zoe, we rarely make it to the movies but rent them a lot off VOD or PPV. I like my popcorn better too although since Marty got braces I gave away our popcorn. A retina display is high resolution so you will see sharper images. My iPad has it and I sure notice it on text. Second grade sounds like a fun grade to teach. How nice of your mom to take you on such a fun and nice trip. You will have a great time. Sweet mom you have there.

Hi Deegee, Dee Jay and Skippy!

I slept in until about 8. Marty wanted to go buy his wet bar / kitchenette stuff so I made waffles for breakfast and made him some sausage. I called to see if I could get a hair cut today and they got me in at 11 so I had to hurry and get my shower to get there in time. She shaped it, re-layered it and cut in front bangs. She showed me how to curl my bangs in 5 seconds with a blow dryer so I had to go buy a styling brush and a blow dryer but I’ll give it a try.

The I wandered over to Kays and got 2 more free teddy bears. Now I have 3 to play jokes on Marty with. He noticed the picture on my phone today that shows 4 teddy bears so I am sure he’ll be trying to find it now. I really think I should send him one in the mail on his next trip and have the hotel leave it on his bed. I think I need more to do. The lady was unpacking necklaces and she had these neat little baggies with 2 sides to keep the pendant side and chain separate so they don’t knot up. I commented on how neat that was and she gave me about a dozen baggies. They will make it a lot easier to haul in my necklaces in to be cleaned and checked.

I picked up some place mats and a table cloth on clearance at Dillards. The headed to Kmart to get my hair dryer and styling brush.

I ordered lunch to pick up on the way home. I got both of us a thin crust pizza. I figure with Marty working in the basement all day he can have it to snack on when he gets hungry.

I am working on laundry and will work on the club newsletter.

Take care!
Marcy

 

[marcy]

New family portrait. I am thinking of putting one on each of Marty's windowsills with a little sign that says "Boo!" He'd find them when he opens his drapes.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy weekend kids!

Zoe, my current quarter gets over the first week of March, but the next one goes until some time in June. So the logical thing to do would be start the second week of March (which I think is doable because the earliest they would even make me an offer—if indeed they DO make me an offer!—would be some time in early February. I could take the last class on line, so I don’t really need to be here for that, but I am still figuring out the CPA review thing because the KC and Chicago schedules are not synced. Nothing is every easy!

Marcy, LOL on my Hoover sucking! I’ve actually had to get the manual out for exactly that reason. Turns out I needed a belt replace or some crazy thing… The teddy bears a too cute! And I definitely think you should put them where they will surprise Marty. Boo on your new laptop not being in stock, but at least it will be here in a few days.

Sharon, I LOVE Indian food too. The killer for me is not the rice though, it’s the bread! I really enjoy slopping all that sauce up with a nice onion kulcha! As for shopping for a swimsuit, frankly I would rather poke my own eyeball out… I think the two suits I have now are more than a decade old, but since I rarely go out in public in a swim suit they are practically brand new LOL.

DeeGee, how go the house projects? Have you been out lately to see anything else?

Was slightly bad to the tune of a McD cheeseburger and fries yesterday, but am back on the wagon today. No workout (surprise… NOT) but I did go for a 65 mile joy ride in Billy Ray. It wasn’t a *purely* gratuitous ride though, because about 30 miles into it I realized there was a Walmart right off the highway so I stopped and got some long rubber gloves and a good car drying towel. When I got home I pulled him into the car washing bay in my parking garage and gave him his second bath ever. I was shocked at how disgusting the tires were, and I didn’t even realize until I put him away that I didn’t even try to get underneath… Honestly, I probably didn’t do that great a job, but he IS cleaner than when we started so that must count for something, right?!

Oh, and I think my radar detector saved me today. I was going ninety-one on my way to a happy hundred when it started beeping and blinking and everying else. I propmptly slowed down and behaved like a nice law abiding citizen!

 

[marcy]

Hi everyone!

Dee Jay, of course the CPA exams would be different in KC and Chicago. Rats. I did put one of the teddy bears behind Marty’s dress shirts in the closet. When he starts rifling through them to pack in a few weeks he’ll find it. I put a little note on it’s scarf that says “Boo!”. Yay for going for a nice long drive in Junior and then giving it a bath. That is great your radar detector saved you a ticket. Maybe I should get one of those for Marty.

Marty got more done on his wet bar today. He met a friend at 7 for breakfast so I got around and make my grocery list only to find my car was gone. Marty got back from breakfast and his billionth trip to Lowes about 9 so I went shopping then. I made london broil, baked potatoes, garlic bread and veggies for dinner. This afternoon I tried a small batch of cookies. My dad has been hinting he wants some cookies so I will drop him off some tomorrow.

I’ve been watching TV most of the day. I got the newsletter done and proof read. I did another batch of laundry and ran the little stick vac on the floors. It was so nice not to feel the necessity to clean house this weekend.

Ooh, one of my employees just asked me to help him find a ruby and diamond band for his wife. His budget is limited but I will see what I can find for him.

Have a great evening.
Marcy

 

[marcy]

I just set up my jewel jet in the spare bathroom. I dropped my anniversary band in the sink and the drain was open. I grabbed it in time but definitely need to remember to close that trap when I clean stuff. Lucky I caught it.

 

[zoebartlett]

Good morning, ladies!

I didn't make it to the gym yesterday. I chose to take a nap instead and ending up sleeping for 4 hours. No wonder why I couldn't fall asleep last night.

Dee*Jay, your ride with Billy Ray sounds fun!

Marcy, funny about the bears! Isn't it nice not to worry about the house once you hire a cleaning person? We still do a mad dash around the house straightening things up before she comes but it's not bad.