Monday, November 26, 2012

Friend Makin' Monday - Dear Santa

Whew - what a week!

I did not make it to weigh in, since I was never home! Miss Angela had to be at Ford Field every night for rehearsals of the halftime show for the Lion's game on Thanksgiving.

On the plus side....I saw her 3 times on TV due to being so close to the stage and practically at Kid Rock's feet and then the camera zoomed in on her & some of the other girls from the studio. Angel's best friend texted me this picture she took of her TV.....



That's Angel in the black shirt, silver shorts and gray bandana !!

And to make her even more excited, Kid Rock's keepers let him get close to the kids waiting in the tunnel, so she got to high-five him! And the Lions' players are all pretty cool when they pass by the kids. She also got to high-five Suh, Johnson and "one of the white guys". She's so classy, LOL! I wish I had words to describe the dance / gallop / run she did across the parking lot to my car, she was so excited.

Anyway, Thanksgiving is over, so bring on Christmas! We got our tree up but it only has lights & garland on it, since we didn't know what our newest cat would do to it. So far she's only sat on the coffee table and looked. Good! But we've also always been in the room with her.  Once we know she won't try to climb it, we'll finish with the ornaments.



Today's topic is going to be tough one!!

If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section over at: www.alltheweigh.com so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. Please invite your blog readers to add their links there too so everyone has to opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!

Dear Santa:
List at least ten things that you may or may not need that you’d love to find under your tree this year!

1.  a sewing machine (there is a very strong likely-ness that this will appear under my tree!)

2.  an e-reader of some sort. I dropped a very large hint months ago to the hubby about this!

3.  new slippers

4.  new bras (we always get new socks & underwear!)

5.  small LED spotlights for my Halloween display.  In blue & green, please!

6.  tickets to one or more Red Wings games (once the lockout is finally over, that is)

7......

8......

9......

10......
I can't think of anything else off the top of my head !!  I'm sure if I wasn't at work and didn't have annoying people and ringing phones around me, I could finish off the list.....

What do YOU want Santa to bring??

Monday, November 19, 2012

Friend Makin' Monday - Thanksgiving Edition

Is this week over yet?

There's going to be a LOT of driving this week! After work, I have to shuttle Angela and another girl to Ford Field in downtown Detroit Monday / Tuesday / Wednesday evenings. They, along with several hundred other kids, will be dancing at the halftime show with Kid Rock during the Lion's game on Thursday. I'm not looking forward to all this extra driving and for some reason several coworkers have lost their indoor voices over the weekend and I'm ready to go postal upon them!

Anyhoooooo, here's it this week's topic!


If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section over at: www.alltheweigh.com so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. Please invite your blog readers to add their links here too so everyone has to opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!

***Thanksgiving Edition***

1. Do you have any Thanksgiving traditions? For the last couple years, it's been as above. Thursday morning I'll take Angel to the mall to meet the rest of the studio and they'll ride a bus downtown and they will leave Ford Field right after halftime. So I pick her back up and we'll go out to my sister's house. I'm supposed to work Friday, but I really don't see that happening!

2. List at least three dishes that are on your family’s table every year. Hmm, pretty much what you'd expect. We'll have turkey, stuffing, rolls & salad, brussell sprouts, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, etc. etc.

3. Do you prefer pumpkin pie or pecan pie? I'd go for pumpkin, since that & apple is what we always have. with the requisite Cool Whip, of course.

4. Will you watch football on Thanksgiving Day?  The Lions game, of course!!! Well, the first half of it anyway. Granted we are envious because the Cowboys get Kenny Chesney for their halftime show. I know Angel would rather dance for him!
 btw - HERE is last year's adventure.

5. Do you plan to exercise Thursday? Probably not, since while Angel is gone I'll be getting the car packed up and such. By the time we get to my sister's it'll be almost dark and time to eat. However if I play hooky Friday......horses will be ridden and dogs will be walked!

6. Do you prefer ham or turkey? Ham, actually.

7. Will you shop on Black Friday? Hell . To . The . NO !

8. Do you take a nap on Thanksgiving? Probably not, although I'd like to!

9. Share one dish that probably won’t be on anyone else’s table. Hmm. I can't think of anything unusual. Maybe some of the gluten free items for my nephew's girlfriend.

10. What are you thankful for today? I'm thankful for many things every day, which is why I don't do one of those daily posts on FaceBook. My family, our health. The sunshine. My furry critters. A warm home, reliable car, steady job, etc, etc, etc.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!!!


Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Ugh.

This was an eye-opener for me.  

See that person with the rolled up jeans & black t-shirt?  That's me.  This picture was taken last Saturday at the craft show I was attending with my Mom (in the pink top) and my sister.  It was in the local newspaper.

~*~*~*~ oh, the horror ~*~*~*~

It really broke thru my wall of denial.   When I put on that outfit, (I'd been at my daughter's dance convention and returned later) I thought I looked good.  I like how the jeans fit & well, the t-shirt has the studio name across the front and "Competition Team Mom" on the back.   Apparently the jeans look much better from the front.  From the side....OMG.  I don't even want to imagine from behind.

I've been so complacent.  I'm back to feeling like I did before I started WW back in 2008.  I just feel fat & gross. My knees are OK most of the time.  I don't have heel spurs.  But my belly is currently resting on my legs as I sit & type.  And when I've been sitting for a while at work and then stand up. my hip hurts.  But it hurts in a weird place.  At the top of my hip bone, not the actual joint.  It takes a minute to work out, then I'm OK.

But I feel Blahhhh.   I just had lunch.  Tuna & light mayo on 2 SlimWich's and a cup of Chobani Greek yogurt. Good choices and I'm not over-full, but I still feel disgusting.

And to top it off, I'm having female issues again. Let's just say I could keep Always in business myself.   It's a good thing I have a doctor's appointment in 2 weeks, because I have lots of questions & concerns!

And I stood in front of the mirror in my bra & undies & took a long, objective look last night.  It was not a pretty sight.   And I took measurements last night.  Can't remember when I took them last.     My eTools charts are all wonky. but I was able to get beginning numbers.  Since August 2008, (this skims over the 18 lbs I put back on during winter 2011 when I took a break from WW) I've lost a total of 1.5 inches off my waist, 5 inches off my hips (DAMN!!), 1.5 off my arm and 2.5 off my thigh.  I don't know what happened with my bust #s, since it says I went up an inch, but I know darn well the girls have gotten smaller.  And I've lost a total of 47.4 lbs.

The lowest weight I've been has been 205.4 (Aug 2010) and it made me insane that I couldn't hit Onederland.  And now I'm stuck back around 220.  Granted I haven't been to a meeting since right before Halloween.  I find that it's rather discouraging when you're sitting there with 45+ lbs down and another 50+ to go and they make a big deal about some skinny bitch who lost a whopping 13 lbs and reached her goal.  But there are also people in the same boat as me.  But dammit, they need earlier meetings!  I hate getting home from work and be in the middle of doing housewifery stuff and them have to stop and leave again.  When I get home, I want to stay home!

This calls for some drastic measures.  Sigh.  We're going out to dinner tonight, since Randy is leaving for 10 days in Arkansas tomorrow.  But tomorrow I plan to drag out all my literature and books that I got when I re-started WW with the PointsPlus system and re-read it all and also check over the website to hopefully get me back in the saddle.  And I really need to figure out how to get my butt moving (note to self - rearrange the living room!) and also figure out how to get to a meeting regularly.

OK, the Pity Party has ended.  Please continue on with your irregularly scheduled blog reading!!  And here is a gratuitous, happy picture of Miss Maddie sleeping in the pike position on my unmade bed.


Beginning in January, I'm doing the 13 in 13 challenge with Rebecca at Weight Wars.  I haven't done this with her before, but it sounds pretty fun.  I'll have to come up with 13 goals and she'll send out mini-challenges and such.  Bring it, babycakes!

Monday, November 12, 2012

Friend Makin' Monday - What's in Your Fridge

Happy Monday!

We had a crazy weekend - Miss Angela had a dance convention all weekend with her studio competition team. Of course, if you ask any of them, it's a huge party. But from 8-5 Saturday and 9-3 Sunday, they're at the mercy of different choreographers, dancing their little butts off. They love it!

Saturday we were on the road by 6am to drive the hour to the hotel (which happens to schedule a hockey convention the same weekend every year - brilliant!!) Once we got checked in with our group and wristbands donned and requisite team pictures taken, I left her happily warming up with everyone else (there must have been around 10 other studios there) and went to meet Mom & one sister to go to a craft show. We go every year and I get a special ornament from one booth every year. So I had to go!

The Dancers Only Teens

I got back to the hotel in time to watch 1 1/2 of her classes. Then we went out to dinner and back to the hotel to watch the competitions and visit and have some adult beverages with the studio owner and other parents. (I love our studio - I don't think any other of the owners would take Mimosas to a competition for the parents). Sunday after classes, they had a faculty show that's always a lot of fun, since the choreographers and the travelling company are all amazing.

So I came home with a tired kid who managed to wait until dinner time to have a meltdown. Shower, eat, bed - NOW!

But now back to normal. Apparently it was a beautiful warm, sunshiny weekend, but I was stuck inside. Oh yes. Sunday morning, we went out with the intention of breakfast at Tim Horton's which should have been only about 3 miles straight down the road. But I managed to end up on the wrong road and then the WRONG part of Detroit, which I seem to do quite often. By wrong, I mean the burned out / boarded up houses / overgrown scary places / the works. ZOOOOOOOM back to the hotel - thank God for Google maps!! And sunlight.

If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section over at: www.alltheweigh.com so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. Please invite your blog readers to add their links here too so everyone has to opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!




What’s in Your Fridge?

1. List a few common items that can always be found in your fridge. milk, eggs, Coke & Coke Zero, fruit, canned cat food, common stuff.

2. What kind of milk do you drink? I drink skim, but hubby & the girl drink 2%.

3. Do you prefer fresh or frozen vegetables? I like them both. Canned is a distant third.

4. What do you currently have to drink in the fridge? milk, Coke, Coke Zero, a glass jug of water (a quirk of hubby's that I like), GatorAde, a couple bottles of Labatt Blue Light and a bottle of Witches Brew wine that I didn't drink at Halloween. btw, it was suggested to me that I try that warmed. Hmmmm!

5. How often do you clean out your refrigerator? Usually when it gets gross. I will look for questionable leftovers every Thursday before trash day.

6. What’s the healthiest thing in it right now? apples, carrots, squash

7. What’s the most unhealthy thing in it right now? this ventures into the freezer - the girl's Pizza Rolls. I think I'd starve to death before I ate that nastiness. But she loves them!

8. What do you wish you had in it that you don’t have now? food that is already prepared so I don't have to!

9. How often do you shop for groceries? About once a week.

10. What’s the weirdest thing in your fridge right now? I really can't think of anything that would really be considered weird. It all seems like normal food to me. Maybe in the freezer, where the girls wanted to try freezing Nutella, and put it in my silicone ice tray in the shape of skulls?

Bonus: If you could choose one thing to put in the fridge and make it calorie-free what would it be? German Chocolate Cake.

Now it’s your turn! Don’t forget to answer the questions and come back to post a link in the comments section! Happy Monday!

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Happy Veterans Day


Happy Veterans Day!

on my living room wall...

I wasn't home at all this weekend, so I didn't get to write a really heartfelt post, 
thanking all those who served in all branches of the military before me, with me and and after me. 




THANK YOU!


Happy Veteran's Day!

 on my living room wall...

I wasn't home at all this weekend, so I didn't get to write a really heartfelt post, 
thanking all those who served  in all branches of the military before me, with me and and after me.  




THANK YOU!




Monday, November 5, 2012

Halloween Recap & stuff

Sigh.  I'm rather sad that Halloween is over. Actually I wish we would have hit a couple haunted houses and I really wish we knew someone who was having a H'ween party or even better yet....had a big enough place to throw one ourselves!! 

At least we made it to Tillson Street

Even here in Michigan, we got hit by Sandy a little bit. Saturday & Sunday we got a lot of wind, but Monday morning our weather radio went off about wind advisories - so (before 6am) I took all the skeletons, ghosts & life sized figures into the garage and laid the taller stones down flat. Tuesday (before 6am again!) I took most of the blowmolds in. I took a half day off work Wednesday, so I was able to get everything put back out before trick-or-treating started.

Wednesday was decent, until the sun went down then the wind & rain started. Ew. We still got about 50 kids. I was surprised by the number of teenagers we got. But most were in costume and all were polite and said the magic words. I also heard a few comments that made me very happy and earned some kids extra candy.  I believe I'm getting the reputation as the Halloween house - Yay!!

"Wow- this is the coolest house!" - 2 little girls
"Dude! This is the house I was telling you about!" - one teenage boy to another
"I love your ghosts!" - a random little princess
"Wow - this is great!" - a mom

There were 4 who did NOT get extra candy. These are the ones who I had to yell at to STOP and go back out to the road and not cut thru my cemetery. If I couldn't see the web of extension cords that I knew were there in broad daylight, then running kids at night, in the rain sure couldn't see them! I made it sound like I was concerned about them possibly tripping, but really - I didn't want them to trip and mess up my stuff! And they all had adults with them! Buggers. 

So next year there WILL be a fence and I already acquired orange rope lights to go along it to light it up.




The skeletons are Terrance, Phillip & Ike. 
bonus points if you got the South Park reference!

My sister works at a banquet hall and brought me a leftover wedding centerpiece like 2 months ago. 
I kept the dead roses for this occasion!

Bobert & Billiam

Ded Fred & Jane (Mansfield)


Peeping Tom & Jose the un-Love-d


Walter & Matilda


Saturday we took everything down. Look how drab & dull & boring it looks now!


Next year I need to find a new place for the coffin. The grass never really filled in after 2011.
And it does not sit directly on the lawn - there are casters on it so I can roll it!

I can fit 8 skeletons, 2 hockey sticks and a random head in the coffin.

Of course, after we took all the blowmolds to the back yard - the mail lady showed up with the gargoyle that I won off an eBay auction. Today I'll probably get the purple witch that I also won.

This is my favorite piece that goes to work with me. 
That giggling JOL cracks me up!

I spent a couple hours putting indoor stuff away yesterday.  I need another tote so I had to stop.  I'm trying to keep like items together and did set quite a few things aside to get rid of. 

So, this weekend is the big Tremaine dance convention.  If you listen to these girls at the dance studio talk, it's a big party.  They actually spend most of Saturday & Sunday in classes, dancing their butts off!  But we'll stay at the hotel Saturday night and have pizza by the pool and do a lot of socializing.  For some stupid reason, the 2 years that we've gone, the hotel brilliantly schedules this (mostly girls) dance convention and a (all boys) hockey convention the same weekend!  At least they don't allow hockey sticks in the hotel at all and no kids out of the rooms without an adult after 11pm.  

Saturday is going to be a treat for me.  We're not going to the hotel Friday night like usual, so we have to be up at o' crap thirty to be there at 7 am (about an hour drive) and then I'm going to leave to meet Mom & the sisters to go to one of our annual craft shows.  Then I'll go back to the hotel.  But I have to go to this show!  I always buy a personalized family ornament from this one particular booth and I need to get one for little Miss Maddie to match all the rest I have.

Speaking of Miss Maddie, she's really settling in well.  A couple weekends ago, Randy was sick so he was in bed.  I was putzing around the house, but staying close in case Mr. Whiny-Ass needed me (he's such a guy, but he really was sick.  He even let me take him to the clinic!)  Chester was snuggled up against his leg and Maddie jumped up on the bed.  We could tell she was looking for trouble, she just had that look.  She went all around the bed and stopped when she saw Chester and stared at him.  Then she went over and started to lick his face.  He just rolled over and put his paw on her side.  Then she tried to bite his neck.  She jumped back when we laughed and they just stared at each other. Too cute!  

The next big event after Tremaine is the Detroit Lions Halftime show on Thanksgiving.  They haven't said anything about needing adults yet, so I'll see if I can send Angel to practices with someone else and just take her myself Wednesday for dress rehearsal (and to see who is performing!)  Last year was the "accident" that is still laughed about at the studio.  Yup.

So that's all that's going on right now.  I don't ever get all political on my blogs, but don't forget to get out there tomorrow & vote!  I don't care if you write in Willie Nelson for president - make your voice heard!  (LOL, can you imagine?)  

Friend Makin' Monday & Weekend Recap

Whew! That was a busy weekend! 

Saturday I had to miss my meeting, due to taking our cat, Chester to the vet for his checkup. He lost weight! He's 15 lb, 6.5 oz. Yup, a big boy! I have to take him back later this week, since he needs some dental work done - booo! Then I spent several hours taking the cemetery down & putting it away. Hours. 





My sister works for a banquet hall and a lot of times brings home wedding centerpieces. She brought me 2 dozen red roses from one about 6 weeks ago and I kept them just for this! 
Dead roses in the cemetery!


Ded Fred & Jane (Mansfield)


Peeping Tom (he usually spends a couple days staring in the kitchen window before he goes out in the yard.)  Freaks everyone out!
And Jose the un-Love-d.


Walter & Matilda


Here's after we took everything down.
Yawn!

How many skeletons fit in a coffin? 8 !!
I put casters on the bottom so it's easy to roll back to storage.

I need to decide on a new place for the coffin next year - the dead spot never filled in from 2011!

As I was putting stuff away, the mail lady pulled up with the gargoyle blowmold. I won him & a purple witch on an eBay auction. I would have laughed if the witch showed up, too! Probably today. 

This is my favorite piece that I take to work. 
That giggling jack o' lantern always cracks me up! 

I spent another couple hours on Sunday putting away indoor stuff. I'm not done. 
And I'll still find things when I'm putting up my Christmas decor! 



If you've taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section here at: www.alltheweigh.com so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. Please invite your blog readers to add their links here too so everyone has to opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!

Ten Reasons To Be Thankful

1. My family. Especially my hubby & daughter, Randy & Angela. 

2. My critters. Chester & Maddie the cats, Jack the Beagle and can't forget the fish.

3. A solid roof and 4 walls to call our own. And room to store all my holiday decor!

4. A reliable car.

5. A steady job with flexibility and a blind eye to goofing off! It's a family owned company, and my boss wants to adopt me so I'll always work for her. And she's ready to hire Angela when she's old enough!

6. My health and that of my family.

7. The ability to pay for Angela being on the competition team at her studio and the requisite conventions / costumes / comp fees / etc. 

8. I am a licensed amateur radio operator and have the ability to help others in times of need. (Ham radios are more reliable than cell phones!!!)

9. My open mind. 

10. My ability to see beauty in simple things. 

What are you thankful for?

I don't ever get all political in my blogs, but don't forget to vote tomorrow!  I don't care who you favor, just do it!