I love a bargain!

Brian took me out for lunch today so to repay him, I took him to Burlington Coat Factory to look at stuff for the new house. I'm sure he was super excited for me to do that for him. Or not. I wish he'd just go with me everytime we have to make a house purchase. With his input it saved me so much time and many phonecalls to him...."do you think you'd like this?" We walked down one isle and found the perfect duvet cover for our new bedroom. The walls are yellow already and the carpet is brown, so this matched perfectly. Better yet, there's a matching bathroom set so we don't even have to think of how we're going to decorate the attached bath. What could be better than that? The fact that we got it for $40. And shams were only $10 each. That's better than any deal I've seen online. And the purchase was completed painlessly in a matter of minutes.

Brandon has requested a military room for the new house, so we found him camouflage sheets and I'm going to get a neutral colored duvet to go over the comforter he already has. Instead of making his room super "kid-like" we're going to decorate it with momentos from his family members that were in the military over the years. He'll think its great. And if doesn't get the sentimental part of it, thats fine because we do.

WW: Day #3 going well. I ate all my points today at lunch, but surpringly I'm not really hungry now and its almost 8pm. Brian took me to Macaroni Grill. I didn't look at nutritional info prior to getting there, but I'm glad I made the lunch choice I did. It was narrowed down to some sort of cheese melt thing and pizza. At the last minute I chose pizza. Good choice. Half of the pizza was 10 points. Half of the serving of the melty thing was 27. I did bad by giving in to dessert....some apple deliciousness, but I only had half. And with that went my points for the day. Even if I eat something more tonight, I'm okay. I haven't had to dip very far into my 35 extras.

whammo

I know I've been this person before, but don't you just want to smack someone when they're pissed at you for something you definitely had nothing to do with? Here I am, minding my Ps & Qs and then whammo! I got slapped with someone else's "I'm pissed off" stick. Not very nice. Especially when trying to be the supportive one... like I said, I know I've been that person on more than one occasion, but not in a long time (in my opinion). Sometimes I think the phone should just be left unanswered.

Not many things gross me out

but after watching Modern Marvels: Coldcuts, I don't know that I will ever eat lunchmeat again.

Bye-bye cruise weight!

I'm down 5.4 lbs. I'm still in the 190s, unfortunately, but I guess I gotta get through them to find the 180s.

You know what's awesome?

When reviewing your daily food journal on eTools you find a duplicate entry and realize you're not at 31.5 points.....you're really at 25.5.

That's freakin' awesome. Well, maybe not for all of you. But for me, its freakin' awesome.

I thought I was doing well

Ever think you were doing so well for the day? Planning and journaling and then at 7 pm, you realize you've already eaten 31.5 points for the day when you're only supposed to have 25? And, you're hungry?? Its time for a walk, I guess.

So sad....

the cruise is over. Tomorrow AM, its back to reality. And Weightwatchers begins again. The food on the cruise was sooooo good and flavorful. I really was surprised. Anyway, all of that is over and tomorrow life is back to normal. That means my butt is headed to WW and the gym. We are going on another cruise in January with friends of ours and I'm not going to be embarrassed to wear shorts or a bathing suit in front of them. Means I gotta step it up a little bit. Its okay; I can do it. Brian's been doing so well at exercising faithfully. He's thinking about running a 5K which I think is awesome. I guess since he's headed in the right direction, I don't want to be left behind. Actually, I want to be his equal (less hairy though). Its gonna suck getting there though.

This time tomorrow

I'll be poolside with a foo-foo drink in my hand waiting to set sail to Progresso then Cozumel. Don't hate.

Now, I really want a gay friend.

I've always wanted a gay friend. You know, the flambouant guy that will take me shopping and pick out my clothes and teach me things like Jimmy Choo is not the name of a Chinese restaurant. What more would I want? A gay exercise buddy. I've been very good about exercising this week (all but 1 day). At the library, I found a whole bunch of workout DVDs. I figured instead of buying and hating them, I'd just borrow them and decide if they're worth the purchase. On a whim, I picked up Party with Richard or something. Yep....Richard Simmons. I swear to you, I have not had so much fun in my life as I did during that workout. I laughed because he's dressed up in spandex and glitter, we added "spirit fingers" and "rainbows" to lots of workouts. The music was totally 80's so I made an ass out of myself for 50 minutes to Like a Virgin and Hit Me With Your Best Shot. I would never do it in public though. Even the kids weren't allowed to watch. It definitely was a workout....my entire body hurt like hell the next day.

I feel like I have so much to write...

I don't know if I should start with the good or the bad.....

On the house front, all contracts are signed. The selling of our current home was easy. They're paying with cash and the funds are there....we sold for $5K less than asking, but $100 more than I bought 2 1/2 years ago. Better than $25K less. We put our offer in earlier this week for the house we want to buy. We're still waiting to hear back, but we're hopeful. The owners are going through a divorce, so its taking longer than usual to get them both together to sign paperwork and decide if they will take our offer or if they will counter. We're both super excited. The downfall to it all is we will be settling on two houses and moving all in one day. Brian's cousin is getting married a few days prior to our moving and family will be in town.....its just going to be super hectic between packing, entertaining, traveling, etc. It definitely won't be as relaxed a weekend as we envisioned it to be when planning stuff a year ago.

We are going on a last minute cruise next Sunday. We both have annual leave next week and decided to go on a last minute vacation. We were looking to just hang out in Baltimore or DC but once we added up hotels and meals and drinks, and touristy stuff for a few days it was cheaper for us to go on a cruise. We'll be sailing out of New Orleans to Progresso and someplace else that I can't remember for 5 days. I think it will be perfect. I could care less about the islands. I'm totally okay with laying poolside with a good book or two.

That being said, the bathing suit shopping has not been going as well as hoped. My stuff from last year is a little snug so I'm trying to find something more comfy. At the same time, I've been trying to eat better and move around more. I did PT at work yesterday. Not a lot but I ran a few laps around Cole Field House on campus. Ok, so my partner ran all the stairs in the place, but whatever. At least my legs weren't jello-y for the remainder of the shift. On my way home from work I stopped at the new library (BTW, don't like it, miss the old one) and picked up my Sugar Busters! book. I also got a few new workout DVD's to try for 3 weeks. I even stooped to Richard Simmons, but hey if the curly haired guy can keep me motivated to workout, I'll marry him. I say that, knowing he's probaby not that interested in me. Along that front, I think I was hit on yesterday by a girl. First off, I have absolutely NO issues with anyones sexual orientation. Just never had that happen to me before. Kinda weird.

Ok, the bad news. A 22 year old Brian and I work with was badly burned in a fire last night. He was taken to a burn center with face/head and respiratory burns. It struck close to home because Brian and I know him, are friends with his sister (she works for the FD too), and he's the brother in law of my former partner, Chris. The story is still vague as to what exactly happened, but the long and short of it is that we're praying he's on the mend. He's intubated now, but reportedly was being weaned off his sedation. The first 72 hours after a respiratory burn bascially determines what the outcome will be. I stopped by the burn center to see him late last night, but he was getting dressings changed. One thing about our job in the fire department is the gossip and bad talking may be worse than any soap opera you've ever seen, but the brotherhood is strong as can be. All differences are put aside and the family of the injured is taken care of 100%. (BTW, the injured FF's father was a Lt. Col. for our department and recently retired.) I read the guestbook last night and there were probably two hundred signatures in the book. I heard there were plenty of others that probably never knew a book existed to sign. I talked to Marshall this morning--he said he stopped by but there were so many people in the hallway there was no way to even get close to the room nor the family.

Anyway, keep Danny in his prayers and follow his progress. Oh, interesting note.....fire was arson, started over a domestic dispute. I heard one story saying someone left a note somewhere saying, "don't mess with my man." Are you f'ing kidding me? No guy is worth that, and I hope whoever is involved knows just who they hurt.....sometimes this place amazes me.

Recession?

Doesn't appear to be in this neck of the woods. We ended up with two offers on our house. We accepted a cash offer for $5K less than our asking price. So, I didn't make any major profit on the house ($100 more than I bought for) but in this market, I'm not going to argue. This afternoon I'm going to sign the contract on our current house and afterward Brian and I are going to put on offer on a townhouse near where the kids live. Its bigger than our present house and has lots of amenities---lakeside (our backyard backs up to it), pools, beaches, basketball/tennis courts, playgrounds, rec center.....We're pretty excited. If everything goes as planned, we'll be moving June 16th.

Activity Alert

I played basketball today. I forgot how much I love it. My lungs, however, did not remember. They tried choking me to death.

Yippppeeee!!

Brian called a little bit ago......our Realtor emailed him saying we'll have a contract on our house either tonight or tomorrow. I'm so excited!! Now we can put the offer in on the house we want!!

Not bad for a listing of 4 days. Brian thinks its directly related to the amount of HGTV he watches -- all the Househunters and Sell This House or whatever they're called. I think I'm supposed to be grateful we upgraded to Verizon FIOS. I think its just a way he's trying to justify watching too much TV.

doing better.

I still haven't read Sugar Busters!, but I really have been trying to eat better. OK, so that does include white flour products and some sugary stuff, but I'm not eating in it in excess. Believe it or not, I have been exercising. I found one 45 min DVD I enjoy doing and I'm going to do it til I hate it. Another advantage is the station I've been transferred to has a gym, so I can at least do some weights or walk on the treadmill. After completing only a few workouts I feel 10 times better. Makes me wonder why I put so much effort forth procrastinating....

Now its different.....The doctor told me to lose.

I went to my doctor today for a routine follow up and weight became a topic of discussion. I told her my concerns over the last few months. At my annual work physical in 2007 I weighed 168 and I was pretty happy with that. I weighed in at 178 at last years physical which was around Thanksgiving. Two days ago, I weighed in at 191.4. I'm not happy. I explained to her how this weight gain is messing with my head. Its not just a number. To me, its my body teasing me, saying, "that fat miserable girl you used to be is in there....she wants to come out." Really, she doesn't. The doctor COMPLETELY understood. OK, first off, she's like 100 pounds soaking wet. What does she know about being overweight? I felt myself getting that annoyed/pissed feeling inside, like "don't tell me you completely understand." She continued....

"I'm a lifetime member of WW," she said. At that point my insides started laughing at me saying, "way to go Sarah, get all pissed at the former fattie for saying she completely understands. Now how do you feel?" We talked for about 20 minutes about weight loss. She's aware I lost 70-75 pounds in 2002. It was obvious that was caused by a major life style change. This morning she told me its time for lifestyle change #2.

Ugh. I'm not ready for a lifestyle change. I've got houses to sell and buy, and packing, and you know, all that other stuff I do to procrastinate. Well, I left her office with a homework assignment. I have doctors orders to continue WW and go to meetings. She recommended I read Sugar Busters! to learn what to eat and what not to eat. (Her husband lost 50 pounds and her daughter lost 80 pounds following that book/WW.) When someone explains to you the best thing for your body is to eat natural stuff, it makes so much sense, doesn't it? Without even asking me she knew that I was the person that counted my points by that my points included things like chocolate and mini cupcakes. Sure, I counted my points, but all I ate was crap! It was explained to me in order to lose I have to increase my water, eliminate red meats and trade them for lean chicken, turkey and fish, and lose basically anything that is made with white flour. (I LOVE bread.) I also have to increase my fruits and veggies. I explained that I've been doing that. Then, she interjected, "oh, and these fruits don't count: pineapples, bananas, and watermelon." Awesome. I eat bananas every day sometimes two times a day and pineapple is one of my top fruits. I told her I started eating Dole Fruit Bowls (diced peaches) thinking I was on the right path. Yeah....she told me that's like eating pretend candy. She forgot to add no fruits or veggies from a can to the list of things I can't eat. Wow....this should be fun. Basically I have to clean out my kitchen (good thing we're moving) and start over. I started making faces at the appointment. She put it bluntly, "make a lifestyle change, lose weight and be more healthy or don't and don't complain about being overweight and the what happens to your body/health from it." That was a fine how do you do. And on that note, she made me an appointment in June to see my progress.

Did I mention she scares me? Like the way you were scared of your math teacher in middle school. I'm afraid if I show up at my appointment in June and I haven't done what she asked or made any progress, she's going to come after my knuckles with a ruler or something. I think I might call this so-called lifestyle change, "Mission: Save the Knuckles." Math teachers......ugh.