Thursday, May 27, 2010

Day 32

Today I headed out the door about 30 minutes later than usual, as I had a doctor's appointment in Tallahassee. Drove Bugsy, our HHR and enjoyed the drive (except for the road construction as I got close to the destination). Actually arrived about an hour early, so I settled down in the waiting room with my current read. The Book of the Dead by Patricia Cornwell. I am almost finished with it and enjoyed the free time to savor the story.

The appointment was good. My doctor was thrilled with my blood work report. EVERYTHING was within Normal (imagine that word applied to me) Range. I guess Thrive! is working for me after all. My weight was not where I want it, but it was down from the last visit. Besides this is just week four for me. I will do it.

After the appointment, I retrieved Bugzy and we headed back to Valdosta and work. I had planned to be there by 1pm but you know how that goes. Road work, etc so I managed to be about 30 minutes late. But business was not brisk today and they were not in a bind. Since I had packed a lunch to eat on the way back to the bank, I actually managed to stay on track today. I have had 7 perfect days in a row. I just know the fat is dropping off. Can't wait to weigh in this next week.

Of course the trip to St. Louis this weekend could blow it if I am not VERY careful. Well I have to finish packing and get some sleep. This is going to be a wonderful Memorial Day Holiday.
See ya on Monday.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Day 31

Hi There!! Hope everyone is having a wonderful week. It is "hump day" today and starting tomorrow it is downhill to the weekend. Hubby and I are headed to St. Louis for the holiday weekend. Leaving after work Friday night and coming back on Monday. Yep, quick trip, but we have some really good friends up there who have a new baby (well, new last summer) and we have never seen her. So off we go.

This trip will be 3 weekends in a row we have been out of state. Hope this isn't going to be a trend that will last for a long time. I might need a weekend to rest in the near future. But I am looking forward to the trip. I have driven Through Missouri but never stopped for any amount of time. I am also looking forward to visiting the famous "Arch".

But on the way up we will be dropping off some materials at my daughters house in the Atlanta area. Some supplies for "MetalMan" and some fabric and the crocheted items I have finished for the craft faire next month. Hubby was right. The yellow squash does look much better. I finished the first yellow one (second squash) today and have the third one about half finished.
I still need to make that last tomato. Can't seem to get started on it for some reason.

Well, the Doctor's appointment thingy worked out well after all. One of my co-workers was scheduled to work 12 to 5 tomorrow and I was originally scheduled to work 8 - 12. She is planning to cook dinner for her son, daughter-in-law and their new baby tomorrow night and was more than happy to swap shifts with me. That way I get to make the appointment and she has extra time to prepare dinner. Great compromise.

I got the results of my journal back today and I did pretty well this past week as far as eating the right combos but I still don't understand why I gained weight instead of losing. Must have been the Long John Silver's and the popcorn. Think I will skip those this week.

That's about it for now. More later.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Day 30

I managed to get to this tonight after all. My Thrive! meeting was not so good, the reception of the broadcast was very spotty. Didn't get a lot out of it. But they told me to try on Thursday night to redo this class. I am thinking that Thursday nights would be better for me anyway. That way I would actually be finished with my week before the class. However, weigh in was not good this week. Gained 1.5 pounds. Not exactly sure why, but hope I will do much better next week.

Today I did manage to start another fruit. Actually this is a veggie. Squash. The pattern I was using called for the white and green small hook neck version. I made one and Hubby said it was the "wrong color." So the next ones will be yellow and probably more recognizable. The squash is really easy and quick so I should be able to finish them tomorrow. I still have one tomato left to make for the sets.

Remember that blood work that I had done last week? Well the doctor's appointment is Thursday. I made the work schedule thinking that the appointment was at 2:30 pm.
Well they left me a message today that says the appointment is 10:15 am on Thursday. Bummer, I am going to have to see if I can rearrange the schedule so I can make the appointment. Not going to be easy, but all I can do it try. Or cancel the appointment. I really don't want to do that. But I might have to.

I was really nice this morning when I went outside to go to work. Cool and breezy. Kinda felt like a storm might be coming. Sure enough around noon we got rain in Valdosta. But when I got home it didn't look like it had rained here at all. I guess I need to go water the tomato plants. They seem a bit dry. Then I think I am going to hit the shower and turn in a little early tonight.
Have a wonderful evening and tomorrow.

Monday, May 24, 2010

Day 29

Imagine this.... I'm actually posting two days in a row. I know, I should be doing that anyway, but real life gets in the way. But today was not a bad day considering. I NEARLY ran out of gas on the way to work. When I got to work I found out that the company had a big lay off on Friday last week, ad I was NOT one of the ones let go. I didn't get yelled at today by any of the customers who are now with Heritage Bank instead of us because their branch was sold and they didn't read their mail. (Had that happen a few times lately).

Of course I did find out that we aren't going to get our birthday off with pay anymore and we aren't going to get to accrue more than 3 weeks vacation at least for the present time. Everyone who already has more than 3 weeks doesn't get to take any more than 3 weeks this year. Also our 401K and Stock matching programs are now gone. But I still have a 401K and Stock in the company. Like I said already, not as bad a day as it could have been. And I was informed that Absolutely NO OVERTIME will be tolerated. So my job of scheduling just became a lot more difficult. But I do still have a job. :)

I did manage to finish the 3 apples for the craft show and the last of the 3 eggplants. So that gets added to the 3 oranges I already have. Tomorrow I hope to finish the third tomato and maybe start another fruit. Not sure which one right now.

I had set aside some boxes to bring home today to pack the stuff for the craft show and other stuff to take to the daughter's house next weekend, but forgot to get the boxes. Hope the cleaning crew doesn't dispose of them.

Tomorrow morning I get to weigh in again. Sure hope I have lost another 3 pounds. Of course the trips on the weekends do make it more difficult to stay on track. But I feel good about the diet. I have my Thrive! meeting tomorrow night so I don't know if I will actually get to post, but hope so. Until then, God Bless.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Day 28

Missed posting yesterday due to a visit to Alabama to see my brother, his wife and their 3 children. The middle one is graduating from high school this week and we will not be able to be there, so we went over this weekend. Nice drive, about 3 hours from home and not a lot of traffic. We went thru some old southern towns with some interesting homes. While we were there we visited a botanical garden and took lots of pictures of flowers.

I tried very hard to stay on my diet and hopefully I will continue to lose weight. We will know on Tuesday.

On the trip over, I managed to make a crocheted eggplant, and two apples. On the way back I finished the third apple (just have to make the leaves still) and almost finished the third eggplant. I am trying to make 3 of everything so that my daughter will have several of the same item for the craft show. Hopefully I will finish the last eggplant tomorrow and make the leaves for the apples. Then I will figure out what to do next. But tonight it is late and I am tired. I think I will head off to bed shortly.

Good night all.

Friday, May 21, 2010

Day 26

It's Friday. Where did the week go? I didn't get here last night because a co-worker loaned us Transformers (the movie). We had not seen it and it was interesting. A little too much CGI for my taste, but interesting none the less.

Today work was almost boring for a Friday. Very little traffic at all. Hope tomorrow will be a bit more active, as I have to work until noon. After that Hubby and I are headed to Alabama to visit my brother and his family. Have a niece graduating from high school this month. So I don't expect that I will be on the blog Saturday or maybe even Sunday as I don't know what time we will get home.

But in the meantime, I have managed to crochet 3 oranges, 2 tomatoes, and an eggplant for the craft fair. Also a set of napkin rings with coral flowers. I will hopefully get more crocheting done on the way to Alabama and on the way home.

That's about it for tonight. Have a great weekend.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Day 24

It's Tuesday, that means it is Thrive Weight Loss Meeting night. I weighed in this morning and have lost another 3.7 pounds. YEA! After the trip to Tennessee this past weekend, I was almost afraid to get on the scales, but I tried to be good even on the Blow It day. Unfortunately, I have another one of those tomorrow, as I still have to get that blood work done and that means no breakfast within an hour of waking up. But hopefully it will work out ok.

I had a feeling I should call my daughter today. (well, she did try to reach me this past weekend while we were away.) But when I called she had just heard that my son-in-law had been in an accident. Rear ended by a truck carrying a load of cement blocks. Heavy Metal if I ever heard of it. Anyway, he was at the hospital getting checked out when I call the second time. Hopefully, nothing serious, but the car is a goner.

Anyway, my daughter has asked for some crochet fruit and veggies for a craft show. So I better get busy as the show is June 26th in the Atlanta area. Maybe I can even manage to go to it if I am lucky.

Check out her blog at Stresstheseams.blogspot.com if you like interesting crafts and she is holding a contest to win one of the items featured on the blog this month.
Also if you are interested in photos of pretty places and interesting flowers, birds, and other animals, check out whosphotography.com. Hubby takes some awesome photos and the can be yours for a small fee.

Got to run and get to work on some apples.
See ya later.

Monday, May 17, 2010

Day 23

Hope you missed me. We left for Tennessee immediately after work Friday night and didn't get back home until Midnight Sunday night. No Blog for me for the entire weekend. But I got to spend a little time with my Sister and Brother-in-law and a lot of time in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park. The wild flowers are blooming and it was very nice. We took lots of pictures. (If anyone would like to view any of the pictures we take on our trips just go to www.WhosPhotography.com and check them out). Tennessee had cooler temps than here in Florida or Georgia. Some rain but not enough to ruin the weekend. We had a good dinner with the family and brought home a box of interesting reading. It was a good weekend.

But I missed a phone call from the daughter. She has a craft show coming up and wants me to make some of the crochet fruit and veggies that I made for the grandsons. I need to find out when the show is so I can plan how much to make and how to get it to her.

Tomorrow is my weight in for Thrive. I sure hope I lost another 3 pounds. But won't know until tomorrow morning. Well, that is about it for tonight. Got to go wash the hair and get ready for work tomorrow.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Day 19

Well, again I forgot to blog yesterday. I got tied up placing orders for a club I belong to and totally missed blogging. I guess I am easily sidetracked. But here I am now and again we move forward.

Things were crazy at work today. If I didn't know better I would say it was a full moon. But hopefully Friday will be a good day at work. After that we are hoping to head to the mountains for the weekend. It should be very nice in East Tennessee this weekend.

I noticed as I was coming home this evening that I have "Tomatoes" on my tiny little plants. Several tiny little green balls of goodness growing on my porch. I can't wait for them to get big and turn red. Mmmmmmmmmm!!!

I am still on the Thrive Weight Loss Program and doing quite well. Lost 3 pounds in the first week and actually don't miss all the sweets and other "poison" foods. Oh, another problem I had yesterday was my blood work. Since I have to get that done by the 20th I thought I would get it out of the way yesterday. WRONG! After I spoiled my diet day by not eating breakfast (fasting per instructions) the lab would not accept my new insurance card for the procedure. I was not happy. Called the HR Dept. as soon as I got to work and found another lab. I will try again next week. I hated having to use a blow it day just because I missed breakfast so at lunch I had another piece of birthday cake. I know, I know. It was a BAD thing to do, but the cake was sooooo good. Anyway today I have been very good and now I need to go make dinner. Hubby will be wondering where his dinner is very shortly.

See ya later.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Day 17

Oooops, I had an Online meeting last night and totally forgot about the blog. So Sorry. It was a day that I don't wish to dwell on anyway, so lets just move on, OK?

Today started off even worse than yesterday. (yep, the problems carried over at work.) Could NOT get the combo to work properly on the main vault until the fourth try. So I was a nervous wreck. The problem with the computer for the vault held on until around 11, but then it was fixed. YEA!!

One of the things that was bad yesterday was one of my co-worker's lost her Grandmother. She is pretty upset about it, but the lady was 92 so she has had a good long life and is in a better place.

One of the great things about today is that another co-worker's grandson was born. It is her 9th but the only one belonging to her only son. A 6+ pound red head boy. She sure is proud and with good reason.

Another good thing today is it is the last day of the first week of my Thrive Weight Loss Program. Ta Da! I have lost 3 pounds since last Wednesday. And that was with a birthday included. Tomorrow will be a blow it day because I have to have that blood work done that I put off last week. So I can't eat breakfast and that will blow it anyway. So I guess I will not worry to much about what I eat tomorrow, but I don't want to be a HOG, just have a few things that I can't have on other days, like birthday cake and ice cream. I still have some left. I might even have a Dr. Pepper if I feel like it. But I am serious about losing the weight so I won't have too much not on the program. Would not want to gain back the 3 I've lost already.

Well, I guess that is about it for tonight. See ya later.

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Day 15

It's Mother's Day!! As I am a mother (although hubby has never had kids; mine are from a former marriage and were grown when we met) I was taken out for breakfast and asked if there was anything I wanted to do today. Well, I managed to stay on the diet at breakfast and as it was a lovey, breezy day here in North Florida, we choose to do yard work. But first we had to make a trip to the store. Tractor Supply had the Critter Feed we needed for the squirrels and raccoons. Home Depot had the weed eater and cord we needed to put a finishing touch on the yard. Of course we had to get gas for the mower. Then home again to finish the job. We had started earlier while it was really cool and finished up around 6ish. Yard is mowed and trimmed. Flower beds are cleaned out. The 4 huge logs that hubby brought home a couple of years ago when I wanted to make the yard look like a boat dock (yea, never happened) are now lining the drive and look much nicer there than where they were. However, I hope to plant some colorful flowers behind them, maybe some Zinnias would look nice. It is mostly in the hot sun so it would need to be something that can take the Florida sun for long periods.

The flower napkin rings that I crocheted and the recipes that I put in them were a hit with the ladies at work as well as the friends at dinner last night. Hey, I was soooo good. We went to the Longhorn Steak house but the wait was 2 hours long. So we changed the plan and ate at Ryan's. It was very good and I was able to stick to the diet plan. However, afterward we went to a dear friend's house for birthday cake and ice cream and dominoes. I played the dominoes and passed on the cake and ice cream. They had my favorite cake too, Key Lime. But they understand since two of the ladies have just finished up the Thrive Weight Loss Plan. In fact they are the reason I am on it. They shared tips and samples of the "goodies" allowed on the diet. So it was a very productive as well as pleasant evening. I just have to ignore the remainder of the cake sitting in my fridge until a Blow It Day.

My mother-in-law also loved the flower ring and recipe. And the flowers we gave her are beautiful even if I do say so myself. Well I am about ready for that bubble bath and relaxing evening I promised myself earlier.
Hope you all had a very Happy Mother's Day too.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Day 14

OOOOPs!! I forgot to post yesterday. I didn't skip Day 13 for any superstitious reason. I just had so many Birthday wishes coming in that I simply forgot about the blog. I am very sorry. It was a great birthday. Started off with a awesome card from hubby and an offer of dinner out. (But I'm on a diet, remember?) So we had our cereal for breakfast and I packed our diet lunches and snacks. Off to work we go, Hi HO, Hi HO. Well that is were the diet ended for the day.

The girls at work brought in home made beef stew (my favorite!!) and white rice, green beans, rolls, and dessert. Cheesecake and Birthday Cake. Well, I could have been good, but I wasn't. (And I brought a bowl of rice and stew home to hubby too).

In honor of Mother's Day I had made a basket full of crocheted flowers and tied them around copies of one of our favorite dessert recipes. I let the girls all choose their favorite flower from the basket. They had fun doing that.

I had to make a couple repeats when I got home because I plan to let my other friends select flowers at dinner tonight and wanted to have a nice selection to pick from. Speaking of dinner we are going to the Longhorn Steak house in honor of my birthday, but I THINK I can keep to the diet this time. Unless of course someone insists on Cake. Guess I had better go get ready for dinner. Yummmmm....

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Day 12

Hope everyone had a wonderful Cinco de Mayo yesterday. Today was day two of my Thrive and it was a bit rougher. I had the cereal and skim milk for breakfast, but chose a Peanut Butter and Jelly (sugar free) on whole wheat sandwich for lunch. Then I had a 1/2 cup dry cereal for snack. By the time I got out of the Bank I was starving! I came home and made turkey breast and asparagus for dinner. Well, neither hubby nor I really care that much for asparagus, but it was different that broccoli which we had last night and will probably have tomorrow night too.

Speaking of tomorrow, it's my birthday. Yea, I know. Didn't plan the diet thingy real well, did I? Don't want to use a "blow it" day just yet, but we will see how it goes. Hopefully, the girls at work aren't planning anything because we are short handed and have been busier the last few days. I haven't mentioned it so maybe they will over look the date.

Mother's day is Sunday. Still have some shopping to do for that too. But today I stopped by MICHEAL'S and picked up the cloth for the cross stitch I am planning for a friends baby. It is a soft pink color and now I have to pick out the design. I sure hope hubby still has the computer program working to make the pattern.

Guess that is it for now. Got to go do the dishes and pick out my pattern. More tomorrow.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Day 11

Wow!! I can't believe I have actually been blogging for 11 days. Well, not really if you count the days that I skipped, but still, that isn't bad.

Today was the first day of my Thrive Weight Loss meals and I must say it was not nearly as difficult as I thought it would be. I had a bit of trouble drinking all the water they want, but I finally managed to get about 100 ounces down. After the food poisoning last Monday, I guess I must have been dehydrated cos I didn't have to make as many trips to the restroom as usual.

Hubby is trying to do the same meals as I do, but his portions are a bit bigger and he gets one more snack than I do. He just hates giving up his coffee. Of course he drinks a little coffee in his sugar and creamer, lol.

In trying to figure out what groceries to buy (and being sick) I haven't managed to work on any crafts projects this week. I did get the flower napkin holders done for the girls I work with at the Bank. Hope they will like them. I know they will like the recipe that goes with them.

Have a great evening and hope tomorrow is another great day for everyone.

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Day 10

Well, day nine got skipped because it was a REALLY BAD day. Hubby and I woke up with food poison. Horrible stomach cramps and all the trimmings. Had to go to work anyway as we have a girl on vacation and it was Monday the first of the month. However, I left a couple hours early and hit the bed. Stayed there (except for trips to the bathroom) until this morning.

Today was better, but still hurt. Don't ever want a pizza from our convenience store again!!! But today was my first class for Thrive Weight Loss. It was definitely interesting. The instructor was very good and it seems make a lot of sense. Hubby took my measurements and I got on the scales. Bad, very bad. But it should be a lot better in 7 weeks.

I worked a little more on the afghan that I am making and I think the next strip will be the background color (red) with sea shells worked into it. At least, that is what I am going to try. We'll see how it works out.

That's it for now, going to hit the hay early tonight.

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Day Eight

This weekend has been interesting. I had to work at the Bank Saturday morning and the fallout from Friday afternoon was still hanging on. But I made it through. Then we were supposed to go to dinner with friends at the OUTBACK and to a birthday celebration after that, BUT my hubby's computer crashed and required mucho attention. But his mother called and rescued me. She wanted to go to the Mexican Cafe in town for dinner and he couldn't tell her no. It was a wonderful dinner and we got back in time for him to install the new hard drive and reload some of the programs. Of course it is always worth a few harsh words when you are fighting with a computer. (and I don't think the computer cared one little bit what he said to it.) But as I sit here writing this, I hear his music playing loud and clear. So apparently everything is all better now!

Anyway it was late (around 2a.m.) when we headed to bed last night so it was a late morning. When we finally opened our eyes the sun was high and tummies were growling. So we hopped on the bike and headed for the Waffle House in town. It was busy, but we finally got our usual weekend breakfast and headed back to work on the computer some more. Before he sat down to the computer, hubby took squirrel food out and put it in the old mailbox we attached to the big oak tree outside our back window. The squirrels and raccoons love it! We have spent many hours enjoying watching them working to get the treats. We also have a very nice wooden bird feeder out there and every now and then the squirrels try to get into it. This results in some interesting antics also.

We got the mailbox when my Mother-in-law needed a new one because the door would not stay shut and the mail was getting wet on rainy days. We could have just thrown it away but I thought it would make an interesting item for the squirrels and boy was I right!

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Day Seven

Well, again there was no day 6..... things were really crazy at the bank. We were all getting ready for Relay for Life, you know gathering up last minute donations, and stuff so Sarah (our team captain) was out of the bank for a portion of the day. That left us short handed on a Friday - the 1st of the month. Need I say more???? Anyway, when it came time to balance for the day, it was difficult. We managed to mess things up pretty good. Then the storm clouds rolled in with thunder and lightening and pretty well canceled Relay.

I had another sinus headache from H___ and elected to just come home. We even did Hungry Howie's for dinner since I did NOT feel like cooking.

Today was my Saturday to work, and it was also crazy. Got my monthly reports done and hope Monday is going to be the start of a better month for us all. A lot of our friends are in Tampa today at a Science Fiction Convention. Wish we could have gone.

I don't think I have mentioned that I have been commissioned to make an afghan for a Christmas present for the parents of one of my co-workers. It will have their last name spelled out in Nautical Flags and be done in Red, Blue, White, Yellow. Very colorful and it will be used in their beach house. I finally got the flags section finished this morning and now I am trying to figure out what to put on either side of the flags to make the afghan the proper size. This one worked out better than the two I did for my grandsons since I crocheted the flag sections as one piece rather than doing each as a square and stitching them together. Less seams and a smoother appearance. I like it much better and I think the sponsor will also.

I am also working on those Mother's Day gifts for co-workers and friends. Just about got them finished. Hopefully I will have a basket full by Sunday evening.
That will give me a whole week of relaxing time before Mother's Day. Yea!!! I like it when things finish before we get to the wire.

That's it for now. Maybe more later if I get a lot accomplished this afternoon. Right now my washer has finished and the dryer is hungry. My kitchen and bath are both feeling rather neglected also. Much to do.