Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Happy Birthday to my Girl!

(Note - it actually was Monday - life's been happening and I haven't posted!)
Here is little Miss Angela 18 years ago!

Happy birthday to the sweetest, snottiest, most stubborn, most beautiful, talented little brat ever!  
Deep fried twinkies from Toby Keith's I Love This Bar & Grill

Her present from Randy & I was her first tattoo!  
Weird, I know.  But she's been wanting one and I'd much rather take her to a place I know myself - quality control and moral support, if you will. 


She's really happy with it! 
A much better choice than the one I made for my first.  
Small, meaningful and someplace that won't show in costume!  

#SnS

Happy Birthday to my girl!

(Note - it actually was Monday - life's been happening and I haven't posted!)
Here is little Miss Angela 18 years ago!

Happy birthday to the sweetest, snottiest, most stubborn, most beautiful, talented little brat ever!  
Deep fried twinkies from Toby Keith's I Love This Bar & Grill

Her present from Randy & I was her first tattoo!  
Weird, I know.  But she's been wanting one and I'd much rather take her to a place I know myself - quality control and moral support, if you will. 


She's really happy with it! 
A much better choice than the one I made for my first.  
Small, meaningful and someplace that won't show in costume!  

#TFTLS

Thursday, September 24, 2015

Not much to report...

Was up 0.1 lb at weigh in yesterday.  I'm actually OK with that, since TOM sucks.  I felt all gross & bloated and all that fun crap.   I'm actually ready for bed now, so forgive me if I ramble some.

I totally missed tracking on Sunday, but for some reason it's harder to track on weekends!  I don't always go crazy, either.  Maybe because during the week, I have my phone sitting on my desk at work and I see the notifications pop up reminding me to track.  And on the weekends, I don't have it right in front of me?  Probably.
 Activity was decent.  Sunday was apparently just a lazy day!
 This is one of the WW Smart Ones Orange Sesame Chicken.  Where the hell do they think 11 grams of protein are hiding in this?????
On the plus side, Miss Daisy the kitten is settling in well.  The older cats are adjusting to her pretty well, too.  She's acting like a typical goofy kitten now, but she does her share of snuggling - she's on my lap, purring right now.  
Quick funny story before I sign off.  At the meeting yesterday, we had to fill out this sheet about "goals" with how many days we planned to exercise and how.  Then a goal of how much water we'd drink, APs we'd earn, what time we'd go to bed and ultimately how much weigh to lose. I circled 4 days and I'd walk the dog, mow the lawn, unpack Halloween stuff & clean up the blowmolds & headstones.  Then I'd drink 60 oz (being conservative there), earn 20 APs, go to bed at 10:30 (fail already!) and lose 2 pounds.  The twist was.....we folded up the papers and put them on a chair.  On the way out, we had to chose a paper and THAT is our goal for the week!  I'm going to stick with my original goals, since I went to a different meeting than usual (4pm instead of 6 because of road closures around here = horrid traffic).  There were some very large, older ladies in this class and I'm pretty sure I got one of theirs.  12 APs (I'm already at 6 after 2 days), 48 oz of water (I can do that by early afternoon), exercise 2 days (gardening & walking 1 mile) I walked 2.25 miles with the dog today.  And I'll have to wait until next week to see if I lost the 1 lb or not. 

I wonder what the person who got my sheet thought?  They're probably wondering who Jack is and what are blowmolds and how much activity could unpacking Halloween stuff really earn?  Muahaha!  I have a good corner of a 2 car garage and 2 sheds full of Halloween stuff!  (btw HERE is my blog for H'ween!)  Someone commented on my leaders FB page that her sheet said to earn 53 APs and lose 4 lbs!  INSANE!  She said she'd do that in a month, not a week!

#SnS

Monday, September 21, 2015

Happy Monday!

This was a nice un-productive weekend we had here at the Love Shaque.  I should have done a lot more outside, since it around 70 and sunny.  

Little Miss Daisy Mae is settled in nicely.  I took her to get checked out last Monday and she was put on a new antibiotic and eye drops and I take her back tomorrow for a second de-worming and the beginning of her vaccinations. She really does NOT like being in her carrier!  She worked herself into a frenzy, meowing & biting the door and the little booger got hold of my fingers with her little daggers and I couldn't get loose from her because I was driving!  Then she chomped on me with those sharp little baby teeth and I had to pull over so I could unhook her!  She's lucky she's cute. 
 She is finally eating by herself, starting to play with toys (which the older cats enjoy, too) and they're all starting to get along - or at least tolerate each other.
 Check out the new shirt I have!  Back in May, this happened and the local police department ran with the idea and came up with these shirts as a fundraiser for DARE and some other programs.  I wore it last week and couldn't believe how many people asked if I was a cop!  Really?  Are you not reading the words over top of the crest??  Or do you seriously think that is a real unit?
This is the back.  I don't know why it looks black - it's navy blue.
 So Friday was a special day for me.  It was my 20 year anniversary of becoming a Shellback (I wrote more about it here) - it's an awesome Navy tradition that happens when you cross the Equator for the first time.  I've been wanting to get a Navy-themed tattoo but it was always "someday".  Well, that day finally rolled around.  Friday also happened to be the local high school's Homecoming, so I made my appointment right after the parade so I could watch it.  I got to said appointment about 30 minuted early.  Chino and I chatted and plotted for over an hour while he custom designed my tattoo.  Then another hour & 20 minutes later....
I totally love it!  The left prong of the trident says AS34 for the USS Canopus.  The middle prong says PC2 with the AW in the center (for my rate and aviation warfare specialist designation) and the right prong says CVN72 for the USS Lincoln.  And of course - King Neptune carries a trident.
As it was - the parade lasted a whopping 17 minutes.  One of the lamest I've seen!  Only the HS marching band and none of the junior highs. The Homecoming Court.  The cheerleaders & dance team. The 3 class floats, a couple scout troops, the volleyball & swim/dive teams, a couple clubs.  And that's it!

Angel managed to find a (younger) guy to go to the dance with.  As a 'non-student' they had to fill out basically a permission slip signed my both me & one of his parents.  So it was all planned, but he still made the effort of finding out where she dances and going there while she was in class, talking to the owner of the studio (who went in and put the class on a break) and publicly asking her to go!  How sweet is that??!?!
Parental unit selfie
Lauren & Angel
Ronnie, Angel, Lauren & Shaun who looks sad all the time. 
So next Monday is Miss Angela's 18th birthday - and I'm taking her to get a tattoo, also!  She's been wanting one for a while and already knows what she wants.  It's small & meaningful for her and most importantly - she's getting it on her hip where it won't show in dance costumes!  

I need to get my butt in gear to get ready for Halloween set-up!  If Monday is Angel's birthday, it means Tuesday is fair game to start!  Have I mentioned my Halloween blog lately?  Maple Grove Cemetery.  My skeleton family has grown this year, but again....I would like to dress them in old dance costumes, but that will depend on the weather.  She most likely won't be wearing any of them again, but I still don't want them messed up.   So until that day - the skeletons will be naked or wearing creepy cloth. We also have a skeletal menagerie so they'll have lots of pets!!  

Anyway, time to feed Daisy dinner #2 before bed and that will tide her over until I get up at 5:30am.  Yay me!

#TFTLS

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Skywatch Friday 9/18



Driving into the sunset.
Macomb County, MI

If you look closely at the bottom of the shot, you'll see several specimens of the Michigan state tree. (Just kidding - they're construction barrels)

Linking up over at Skywatch Friday.

#TFTLS

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Checking in.....

Quite pleased and surprised with a 2.6 lb loss tonight. Honestly - for lunch yesterday to celebrate a coworker's wedding, my boss bought the company lunch - broasted chicken & potatoes, chicken nuggets, cole slaw, biscuits.....good stuff! We all ate until we hurt, I swear! And today she took her department (which is me & 1 other person) and the sales guy out to lunch, to thank us for our hard work, and see what we thought of our work loads. They're negotiating to get a lot more business and she's thinking of hiring a third person to help out at night. Geri and I work in billing, but are physically located in the dispatch office, so we've both taken on some dispatch jobs, in addition to our own. So another person would be helpful - at least in my opinion!

Anyhoooo,
check out this salad I had.....

MICHIGAN SALAD
Mixed greens with sun dried Michigan cherries, tomatoes, walnuts and crumbled Bleu cheese tossed in a Raspberry or Balsamic Herb dressing / Add Chicken


It was so good, but also hard to track since I didn't know exact amounts....I put it in eTools and it worked out to be at least 25 points.....but it was SO worth it!

I didn't track for beans last week. But I have been making sure I get to my meetings. My leader is someone I WANT to go hear, because she's such a character & people person, etc, etc, etc.

I'm so glad she does a 4 pm meeting as well as one at 6, since it took me 45 minutes to get there tonight (normally 15-20) because the state of Michigan / Macomb county / whoever in their infinite wisdom has 3 major roads closed in our area, which makes getting anywhere SUCK badly!


We got a new addition last Friday! Meet Daisy Mae. She was born May 20 in my sister's barn. She's the reason I have like ZERO activity on Saturday - she just wanted to snuggle and how could I resist this face?? The dog has no problems with her, the cat we expected to have the biggest issue more or less looked at her & shrugged his shoulders and the other cat is still a bit pissy about her. Lots of hissing & growling but it's slowly tapering down.


Whew - I think it's time to turn in! Daisy is having to be fed every 4 hours or so, which means getting up during the night to do so. She gets crunchy kitten chow, but she also needs special soft food to help her gain some weight. She'd been off her feed for about a week, since she lost a sibling the week before we got her and was sad. A growing kitten needs plenty of food! And we can't leave it down for her to graze yet, since we have 3 other Hoovers in the house who would eat it all for her. So Mom gets that job. Yay me!

#SnS

Sunday, September 13, 2015

My little hemorrhoid...

(it's Sunday now, but I started writing this before midnight)

Weeelp, I'm a pushover. I said I didn't want another cat as long as my old man Chester was around...and I sure didn't want a baby if we did! So, say Hi to Daisy Mae!
I went out to my sister Laurie's house last Saturday to pick Miss Angela and her friend up from going tubing with Laurie and my other sister Linda. I couldn't help but visit the kittens! They were born in the barn on May 20 and Laurie brought them in the house about a month ago and they'd been in the basement pretty much since. Sadly one of the kittens didn't seem OK, so we took her to the vet and the poor thing ended up passing away before we could get her to the animal ER. (btw, x-rays showed something odd in her tummy so we think she hold of something she shouldn't have, but we don't know for sure what) So Angel and I went back out there Wednesday to help her wrangle the rest to the vet to get checked out. 

Protection in numbers
Cody is the little orange boy, Cassie is a long haired gray & white & Daisy is on the right. 
After being in the quiet, dim basement - there was a lot going on in the vet office! Anyway, I couldn't resist that little winky face! And it wasn't hard to convince Randy to let us adopt her. 
At the vet, they got wormed and were put on antibiotics and the plan was to bring her home in a week or so when the meds were done. But after the one kitty died, they all seemed off their feed and Daisy was particularly sad since they'd been partners in crime. Laurie didn't want to leave her at home when she wasn't eating well so Friday she had her at work and called me and asked what I wanted to do - she was going out of town Saturday morning and won't be back til Monday night. So here she is!
Randy experiencing the fuzz for the first time. He's as big a marshmallow as he looks!

I've been feeding her every 4-5 hours (NEEDY!) Until tonight, she hadn't been interested in eating on her own. I watered down some special high-calorie soft food and was feeding her with a syringe, giving her water the same way. But I'd offer her the bowl first and tonight she finally ate on her own!! Hooray!  Funny that she went after the crunchy kitten chow, tho. 

I'm still going to take her into my vet on Monday, now that she's officially MINE. Maybe they'll have some drops for that eye or something. 

Oooooo - what's that in there? 
She seems a bit odd for a kitten. She will explore around the house a little bit and I got her to bat at the strings on my hoodie tonight, but she's pretty content with just snuggling. She got up on the couch this afternoon before Randy and I went to eat and to 2 different stores - and she never left that spot! 
Jack had met her before, while he was at Laurie's.  He's just curious and would love to just sniff her and then he'd be OK.  She walked right by Chester, and he sniffed at her and I could just about hear him think "well, crap".  But he's surprisingly tolerant of her so far.  He did turn and attack Jack after Daisy went by.   Laurie said her adult indoor cat did the same thing to her dog when she first brought the babies inside.  Maddie however, isn't happy.  At first she acted like she couldn't believe her eyes!  Now they do a lot of growling and hissing at each other when they're in the same room.  Boy, for Daisy being so little, she tries to sound ferocious!  So they'll need to become adjusted.  Maddie is spending some quality time with her person Randy right now.

Last night, Daisy was locked in our bathroom with everything she needed and I could get up and feed her during the night, but tonight I saw her go into Angel's room.  Well, I'm not going in and looking for her.  A 2lb 6oz cat can hide pretty much anywhere!  She knows where the water bowl and litter boxes are.  But she may not know where the big cats' food is, since I never showed it to her.  I guess if she gets hungry enough, she'll come get me! 

#TFTLS

Saturday, September 12, 2015

Friday Funnies 091215 (on Saturday)

It didn't feel right to post these yesterday....


I laughed WAY too hard at this one!  #sorrynotsorry

...and in honor of Miss Angela starting her fall classes at the studio....

#TFTLS

Friday, September 11, 2015

Shall Not Forget...




(all images grabbed off FaceBook - I can't claim this awesomeness)

Darryl Worley - Have You Forgotten

#SnS

Shall not forget.....



(all images grabbed off FaceBook - I can't claim this awesomeness)

Darryl Worley - Have You Forgotten

#TFTLS

Thursday, September 10, 2015

Skywatch Friday 9/11

Sunset 9/9/15
Lapeer County, MI

And here's a first peek at the newest addition to The Love Shaque!
She's one of my sister's barn kittens and we could not deny the fuzz.  She's at the vet here (I took the pic above from the parking lot) being checked out.  She's on antibiotics & stuff right now (for that winky eye) so we'll bring her home in a week or so. 

Linking up over at Skywatch Friday

#TFTLS

Sunday, September 6, 2015

Happy long weekend!

I can't believe I haven't posted in well over 2 weeks! I guess because I don't have anything really good to report. I decided to skip my meeting last week because I had the urge to clean my kitchen - and when you get an urge like that, you can't pass it up!

This week coming up I'll have to hit the 4 pm meeting so I can go out to my sister's house to help wrangle kittens to the vet. Last winter, someone dropped off a cat at her place and she cautiously moved into the barn (being respectful of the resident barn cat) and of course, in late April she popped out 4 kittens. About a month ago, Laurie caught the kittens and brought them in the house and took Mama to the vet and got her spayed, and a week later she died! But before she did, she got all the kittens litter trained - amazingly overnight. So this past Friday, Laurie & my other sister, Miss Angela & a friend all went tubing (damn those co-workers who take off work so I can't!) and I went out Saturday to pick up the girls and to see the kittens. I noticed one seemed pretty lethargic, so we took her to the vet. They did what they could and we went back to Laurie's house for her to change for work before taking kitten to the pet ER - but the poor thing died in Angel's arms! The vet said she saw something odd on the x-rays in kittie's tummy so she must have eaten something she shouldn't have. Poor little nugget. So the rest are going in to get checked out and probably fixed. 

It's tough to see those adorable babies! I'd love to have another cat, but my old man Chester probably wouldn't like it much. He's been king of the castle for 12 years now. He's at least 15 years old - they didn't know for sure when he chose me from the Humane Society. He does tolerate Maddie pretty well.
Last Saturday was my birthday! We went out to dinner Friday night since I didn't have anything planned. I was bummed that both Cheeseburger in Paradise (owned by Jimmy Buffett - the only one in Michigan!) and the local Max & Erma's closed down! So we went to Texas Roadhouse. I always get the 6oz sirloin & grilled shrimp but those damn rolls & cinnamon butter always get me. They're irresistible! 
Saturday I woke up early to take the dog outside and while I was up, went online to see if Yankee Candle put their Boney Bunch stuff online yet - and they had....so I ordered a couple pieces that I really wanted. Then went back to bed. Once we all got up, Randy & Angel tagged along without complaining, anything I wanted to do or go to. We went to breakfast, then to the mall to see the actual Yankee Candle store and hit a couple other stores there. Then we went home with the intention of leaving Randy there while Angel & I got our nails did, but it was cool, & drizzly rain and I heard a nap calling me. So I took a glorious 3 hour nap and didn't feel the slightest bit guilty about it! Then I ran to the store to grab some meat to grill. Sunday Angel & I went to the nail salon where she got her tips filled and I got a pedicure. AaahhHH! 

So it was a nice birthday.  The Boney Bunch stuff was my birthday gift (thanks to Randy who is a lousy shopper) and I also got a pair of slippers and a stuffed blue octopus that is really cute.  Instead of cake, I opted for cupcakes.  Chocolate with peanut butter frosting, rolled in peanuts and a mini PB cup on top. On nom nom nom.  

Before I forget - here's my activity for the past 2 weeks.  Last week was pretty lousy, but the week before was decent.  

Oh yeah - I cut out steel cut oats and have been doing much better, altho I still find myself feeling HUGE after eating any meal.  I could be 100% perfectly on plan and still feel gross.  Grrr.  I probably need to do more smaller meals instead of 3 and a snack.  That sucks.  

I saw someone who added an egg to their oatmeal and was kind of interested, so (much to the amusement of the cleaning guy at work) I tried it.  He stood there and watched me crack an egg into my dry old-fashioned oats and stir it up.  But once I added the hot water, it made the oats almost custardy!  I couldn't taste the egg at all and the hot water cooked it so I hopefully won't die from salmonella.  

Its getting late and I feel myself starting to babble, so I'm going to sign off.  Later!

#SnS