day 31 - New Years Eve

Today is the last day of 2008 and hopefully the last day I eat like crap. I went to the gym and went swimming last night. I am hopeful that I'll be able to go in on Friday and exercise and start back full-time on Monday and want to start with taking Aqua aerobics at least 1 time a week and then WATP on days I don't go plus other videos from the library. Today I got Bellydance Boogie at the library.

Tonight it's just me and the boys. We're going to play Wii and board games and eat junk food and have fun.

day 30

2 days left of my blogging daily challenge and I almost forgot to do it. Horrible of me.

update

Cat is back...never really gone.

day 29

cat is gone

day 28

Today I'm not doing so well. I'm angry and annoyed and tired. I took down the Christmas tree and just want to go to sleep. I think I'm going to go lay in bed and watch a movie until I fall asleep

day 27

Blogging will be light for the weekend. We have guests staying with us for the duration. We've been playing Wii a lot and I can see how the Tennis game would help a person lose weight. I took the fitness age on the Wii Sports game and I am 78.

day 26

Today is a lazy day. The house is still clean except for some dishes. The kids are happily playing with the Wii. I have been playing as well and will probably go play some more when I'm done with this. Penelope is glad everyone is gone and she is attempting to attack Elijah. I had planned to spend the day in pajamas but I have to go to the library later.

Merry Christmas day 25

I will be busy today and there will not be a long post but I will say it's been a nice day even if I did get woke up too early by a 4 year old. Merry Christmas

day 24

Christmas Eve...can you believe I had to go to walmart? It was just to pick up a prescription but Walmart on Christmas Eve was madness and it was raining. I went to Kroger and someone deliberately hit me with her cart in my bad hip. I was beyond angry.

Mom came by to give the boys gifts from her. She got them each an individual gift and group gifts. Riley got Star Wars Monopoly, Jonathan got some skateboard thing that's mini skateboards, Elijah got his red light saber. Together she got them Twister, Clue, Trouble and Kerplunk. Kerplunk is a lot of work for a short game but they are playing it now. I really liked playing Clue and forgot how much I liked it. I really want the Harry Potter version. Jonathan is excellent at Twister since he's all arms and legs. I promised Riley we'd play Monopoly later and he called Anakin Skywalker. I just said I get the girl because I know nothing about Star Wars.

day 23

I am in full clean up the house mode for Christmas. I scrubbed the cabinets and garbage can, rearranged the kids room, getting ready to clean the living room and finish the decorating, ran the dishwasher, put dishes away, cleaned out the microwave and plan to clean the dining room before I quit for the night.

day 22

I am already fed up with this extreme cold.

Just a few days before Christmas. Today I bought the stocking stuffers. I spent $30 on CANDY. I love the dollar tree.

I also adore the song Today by Joshua Radin. I first heard it on the video that Ellen Degeneres showed of her wedding and I love the song so much. I've never really heard his music before but he's got an amazing voice. I am listening to some of it on youtube.

I am so mad. I love the BBC show Gavin & Stacey and they are airing a Christmas episode this week and I can't see it. I really hate missing out on things like that and the Doctor Who Christmas Special too. Why can't I live in the UK :(

day 21 continued

A 1st grade sleepover is on my agenda for the night. Oh what fun...can you sense the sarcasm?

I had so much to say earlier when I decided to add more to the blog but now I've run out of things to say.

day 21

Oh wow it is so incredibly cold. The sun is out though which is very helpful to keeping the house warm. I am so not meant for winter. My hands are incredibly dry and painful and no matter how much lotion I use it's not helpful. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that I wash my hands several times a day which is, of course, necessary but harmful to my skin.

Yesterday we went to Breathitt County, KY for a family Christmas dinner. We left at 8 am, got there at 11:30 am and were home by 8. It was a very long day. We had lunch at a buffet restaurant which was pretty decent. There were over 30 of us and it's just easier to go somewhere like that.

I've decided to start working on a list of personal goals for 2009. These will not be resolutions but just goals that are attainable.

Will finish this after we go visit Santa.

day 20

Going out of town today and will be unable to post

day 19

What a day and it's not even noon yet. At about 7:20 this morning my biggest brat comes in and says 'you have to see this' and so I think Penelope must be up to no good because she's discovered she's quite talented in that department. No such luck. Instead my new toaster oven, regular toaster and coffee (tea for me thank you) pot is covered in WATER. My brand new ceiling seems to have sprung a leak. Apparently the flushing around the chimney was no good and the guys came in the rain to repair it. I'm just glad it was today instead of tomorrow when we're going out of town.

I haven't been writing much. I've been stressing too much. Tired of stress. It seems to be all I do in December and January. I applied for a few jobs and posted my resume and Eric said no I didn't need to but money is worrying me lately. He had said he wanted to get a PT job at this other fire department because it'll help pay into his retirement and he'd get more out of it but he hasn't gone down there yet. The problem is that his fire district is apparently cutting overtime in 2009 so that stresses me. He can't go to drill or EMT class anymore which I thought were necessary to his continuing ed hours but I guess not.

I still feel like I have no free time even without a job. I was sick this week and still had a ton to do. My house is a disaster and laundry is 2 days behind but I'm going to get right on that...eventually.

Day 18

So today we went back to the doctor to follow up again for Eric's kidney's. Things are great and Dr. Davis said he couldn't be happier.

We finished Christmas shopping for the kids yesterday. Tomorrow I'm taking the movies back that we bought and using them to pick something else up for Jonathan.

I'm seriously sick. I had to double the dose of this tylenol stuff just to make my head stop pounding enough to focus.

day 17

So sick...going to bed

day 16

Hopeful that I can go shopping tomorrow for Christmas. Weather sucks though.

My poor hand looks like a pin cushion and my leg feels like one. Ms. Penelope Jane is a weird kitty. She thinks she's a bird and likes to perch on my shoulder but runs like a bunny.

day 15 with words

So I'm on Television without pity and they have a list of 10 television related disappointments this year and #10 is David Tennant leaving as the Doctor on Doctor Who and the rest of the list won't work so I'll just say I totally agree that it is disappointing.

Anyway, Penelope is very happy here. She thinks she gets to sleep with me though and she kept attacking Eric's armpit hair which was pretty funny. She wants to sleep in his slippers too.

day 15 and my new cat

day 14

I finally have gotten around to my Robin Hood marathon...I watched 5 minutes and wanted a nap, clipped coupons instead.

Penelope is settling in well and I need to do laundry...better post tomorrow after the roofers leave. They plan to start on the weak, leaking, holey part of the roof tomorrow which is the part over my head so I won't be on until they finish.

day 13

I got my kitty today. Her name is Penelope and she's a medium haired tabby/calico. She's gorgeous. She's only got white on her lower belly. She's currently sleeping in a box on a blanket because she wanted away from everyone and I'm not letting her in the bedrooms just yet. I need to do a major clean on the boys room first. She is very playful and tiny. She was born on Halloween and is 6 weeks 1 day old.

Last night we went to dinner at Barleycorn's and then went to the Shadowbox Cabaret. I'd heard all these great things about the place and it was a nice time but wasn't quite what I expected. Very small, crowded and louder than necessary. There were 24 of us there. I think I knew the bass player in the band but I'm not entirely sure. It was a nice time. I was stuck with 2 drunken fools. I won the raffle too. I won a $60 gift certificate to a restaurant and a discount on getting my nails done. I won 2 tickets to holiday fest at the Beach Waterpark but I gave them to Mason to take his new gf. I'm too delicate to be outdoors that long HAHAHA

Anyway, I finished rereading the Twilight saga and am now reading Thomas Beatie's 'Labor of Love: The story of One Man's Extraordinary Pregnancy.' I'll probably read most of it today and then watch Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 tonight. Graham Norton has Barry Manilow tonight and I have a few shows on DVR to watch, Santuary, OTH, CSI and Leverage plus 2 of the Librarian movies from TNT. I'm half done with CSI and OTH though and the 1st Librarian movie records tomorrow so I can't watch any of those until tomorrow.

The roof is going on and I'm really angry because yesterday they put a tarp on the side of the house for the garbage and they covered my AC unit but somehow turned on the faucet and it ran for a few hours before I noticed. Today they seem to have said forget the tarp and are just throwing the damn shingles in my yard. I have kids that play there so they better make sure they get EVERY single nail up.

day 12

going out tonight to the shadowbox cabaret...got a new outfit and new nail polish...color called The Good Earth...very very dark brown.

Penelope will be home tomorrow

day 11

Getting ready to put the Christmas tree up finally.

Penelope will be here Saturday.

Tired

day 10

So I haven't had a job in several weeks now and I thought I would have buckets of free time, do my maintenance cleaning and watch a ton of movies and tv and then exercise and relax the rest of the night after dinner...bull.

I am more exhausted than I've been in years, more stressed, barely have time to get things done. It's not a financial issue either...just life. Tomorrow I should get to rest some but Friday I have to go to the grocery and then we're going out in a group of 30.

They still haven't started the roof which is beginning to anger me. These guys came today to walk around and I told them my van is broke down and cannot be moved. We'll have the part in a week but that doesn't matter if they start before then.

day 9

today was long and isn't yet over. My grandfather had surgery to repair an abdominal aneurysm and I've never seen him look so frail and it scared me. I don't have much more to say today except that I am tired.

day 8...

AKA motivation and inspiration

Okay so I've been a bit stuck, just scribbling notes here and there to add to my book, haven't even typed up the pages of text I need to but that's just laziness on my part. Today I got inspiration for a secondary story and 2 more characters. I'm really thrilled by this and it will help to fill in some gaps I have. It also gives the characters a central meeting place for a lot of things that I was planning. I am beyond thrilled and think this may be the kick in the pants I was looking for.

Now if only I felt that way about my weight issues. I do realize that I see myself as much larger than I am and need to work on the mental as well as physical issues related to being overweight and losing weight.

Get Your Free Christmas Countdown

day 7

Okay so today was the first day I'd actually put on real clothes since Thursday. I spent 2 entire days home in my pajamas. Hell it's cold out there. Why go out if I don't have to do so. I did a lot of cleaning and catching up on things that needed done. I'm thrilled to be caught up to where it's mostly maintaining what's done. I'd say 20 minutes of cleaning is all I need to do a day.

I'm going to go curl up in bed and watch Wonderfalls. Boring day...maybe more exciting tomorrow.

day 6 with weight update

Okay so today I weighed myself since I'm starting over. I wasn't going to share exact numbers but oh well. You might read it and think 'ewww' but when I post my final results you'll think 'wow...good job'

So I weighed 236 in September and today I'm 226 so that's 10 pounds down. I'll just list it as of today (12/06/08)
weight 226 pounds
BMI 35.5
hip 50"
waist 45"
at belly button 47"
chest 44"
below breast 37.5"
right Thigh 29.5"
right calf 15.5"
left bicep 15"
neck 14.5"

I've lost inches and maintained that, even losing a couple since I last measured in October. I'm going to go now. I'm knackered from all the housechores today. I think I'll watch Wonderfalls or read a book.

day 5...

I have been thinking and come to the conclusion that when it comes to weight loss I've been all talk and very very little action. That could explain why it appears I'm right back where I started from. I am not thrilled by this but I can't complain when I've done nothing in over a month. I have all these exercise videos and I rearranged this room so I could just move the table and have a massive workout area. I just need to motivate to do so. I have the WATP from Taryn with 1 and 2 mile workout, 30 day shred that I bought a few months ago but dont' think I even took the plastic off. I have Bollywood Booty from netflix and Bollywood dance workout from the library. I know this will sound like an excuse but I'll start tomorrow. I have a ton of housework to do today and we're going to put up the Christmas tree tonight so I won't have time but I definitely will tomorrow. I just need to sweep and mop the whole house tomorrow. I'll have time.

Anyway, I haven't been doing much writing lately because things have been so hectic. I'll get back to that soon. I have ideas and I jot them down and put them with my stuff but with the holidays and car repair, roof repair, funerals I just haven't had time to do that either.

It's cold as can be outside. I better get some housework done.

4th

Okay so I got some new clothes today and am ordering more.

It's really cold.

The roof should be started on Monday.

Today was no good.

day 3

The fuel pump is off of the van but Auto Zone closed earlier than we thought so I'll go get it tomorrow.

Bad day...the end

day 2

I am going to blog every day this month no matter what, even if it's just 2 or 3 words.

Monday (today still in my head) was not a great day. We found out we're getting the roof done. Contracts will be signed tomorrow...materials were apparently going to be purchased today and roof should be on within a week I guess. I feel bad for guys having to work in the cold on my roof but hey I'll have a new roof.

Eric's friend's 4 1/2 month old daughter passed away Monday which is very sad. I hadn't yet gotten to go see her since she'd only been home from the hospital for a few weeks and too many germs around the house to want to take them near a preemie baby. I just have no words for that.

World AIDS day

Today is World AIDS Day. It is recognized every year on December 1 and is a day to reflect on those lost and those that are being lost every day to the horrible disease. Please take a moment today to think of those people. Today I think of Mike, a man I knew, he passed away on Father's Day 1999 with his children around him after being infected by his wife who chose to keep her status from him. I still often miss him...always protective despite his fragile state.

update, rant, general junk

So this might be a fairly long entry and I don't feel like going back to find the code to make it expand so it'll all be 1 page.

Anyway, Friday the man, Bob, from the animal rescue I was hoping to adopt from sent me an email that said "The foster families do not want to adopt as you don't have a vet reference." He went on to make suggestions to me about 2 adult strays to adopt at the shelter down the road and went on to give me advice such as not taking my children with me to see the cats because kittens are destructive and cost a lot and told me to ask to hold the two he suggested and I'll know which is right for my family. I found his advice to be against what he is supposed to be doing by running a rescue. I no longer want to adopt from him strictly because of his email to me and the fact that I don't think he runs a rescue correctly. I really wanted Mia though. I am not giving up on a cat but will probably wait until January and and until then I'll just start getting everything I need, collar, litter box, snacks, food dish, etc. I already have a kitty condo from Amanda. Thank you!!!

Yesterday was Eric's mom's 50th birthday. After Jonathan's basketball game (they won) we went to O'Charley's for dinner and I had a couple of Bahama Mama's which I liked. We had 21 people at O'Charley's and 18 of us went to the bowling alley. I didn't bowl but everyone else did. I had a few more drinks there and was in a really good mood. After they bowled me, mom, Eric and the kids came home and everyone else (11 people) went to the bar...Dianne came home EXTREMELY drunk. They had a DD and so did I. Mom, Eric and I played 90s Trivial Pursuit and I won.

Finally for the last 2 days I've been dealing with this horrible malware issue called Virtumonde. I couldn't figure out how to get rid of it but I believe I have finally gotten rid of it with a program called Malwarebytes Anti-Malware. This Virtumonde is a HUGE headache to get rid of without it...