99 Red Ballons

My dogs take the Patriot Act very seriously, and are willing to defend our air space with exceptional vigor. On Wednesday, three ballons -- a yellow and a blue regular ballow, and a Happy Birthday mylar ballon, got caught in our neighbors' tree which hangs over our driveway. For the last 4 days, they have been barking at these damn ballons. Finally, they worked themselves free, only to get caught on the tree in the yard behind us! To top it all off, the dogs felt it was their patriotic duty to notify the entire neighborhood that a blimp was invading their air space. The good news is that it looks like the offending ballons have moved on, only to (hopefully) never return to this corner of the world.

So, most of my day has been spent planning my new food plan into place. I went out and bought a George Forman grill, and have already put it to use. Here is the plan:

Breakfast: 2 oz. turkey, 1/2 grapefruit
Snack: 3 oz. tuna, 1 c. greens
Lunch: 3 oz. chicken, 1/2 potato, 1 c. green
Snack: 3 oz. tuna, 1 c. greens
Dinner: 2 oz. fish, 1 c. steamed veggies, 1 c. greens
Snack: 3 oz. tuna, 1 c. greens

Exercise: 5 days, 20 minutes walking / 2 days resistance training

Water: 100 ounces per day

I'm starting this tomorrow and will continue through Saturday, Snack #1, only because I am going to Del Mar racetrack for a friend's birthday. I will start again for another week and see where we stand. The big no-nos on this are sodium, fat (olive oil, butter, dairy), alcohol, red meat.

This is my first step on my journy through the 10% Challenge. We'll see how this goes.

What Do July & I Have in Common?

Well, July has two moons, and, well, I am having two "moons." Nothing like TTOTM twice in a month. It's kind of like on those two months a year that have 3 paydays, only not as good. Not nearly as good.

Here's an interesting article. Since my husband reads this site, I won't answer if I fall into the 70% category. Although Baja gets jealous when Don is kissing me, it's usually just barking at us. I don't think this is called for:

In these situations, Dodman describes his role of animal behaviorist as a combination of three things: first, a family counselor, sorting out the family dynamics that involve the pet; second, a psychologist, treating the disturbance using behavioral modification techniques; and third, a veterinary physiatrist, prescribing mood altering medication and dealing with underlying medical problems that may be fueling behavioral issues.

Thank you for all your nice comments about the photos. I could totally move there, and it's pretty close to heaven. Just thinking about it makes me want to start to count down to next year!

Nothing planned for the weekend. Don is working both days, but a 2P - 11P shift, so we can get a walk or two in and maybe even a trip to the dog park. I would like to get some things organized that have been piling up (replacing my books I took on vacation). I'd also like to order some of the photos from
Shutterfly for my album.

I am going to do some serious rethinking about my plan of attack regarding my diet and exercise program. I have some ideas, but when the scale has not budged in several months, despite eating right and exercising, something drastic needs to be done.

Smile, You're on Candid Camera!

I've posted the photos on a different blog since there were so many and I didn't want the page to load too slowly.

SB Photos

Floundering in a Sea of Red

Just when I think I am close to done with my e-mails, a flood of red overtakes me!  At least my boss is out of the office this afternoon so that should make it a little easier.  Plus, I'm leaving at 4:00 PM to go with Don to pick up his new car -- a Honda Civic Coupe LX.  We have to drive up to my old hometown of La Canada to pick it up, and we'll hit one of my favorite places for dinner -- Pepe's.  Growing up, Pepe's was one of the hot spots along Foothill Blvd.  It was always packed on a Friday night during football season.  The decor hasn't changed in over 20 years, and even some of the wait staff is the same.

I do have photos  to post from vacation, which I will try and do tomorrow.  I have some great ones of the dogs.  On our first day there, Jager spotted a lizard run into some bushes.  For the next 2 days, everytime I looked at her, she was staring into the plant bed just waiting for that darn lizard to come out.  We also came up with a "game" we called Pool Ball.  Don and I were in the pool and we would bounce the balls to the dogs, although we were trying to get them back into the pool.  It was silly, but it tired the dogs out!  Baja and Jager enjoyed their walk on the beach -- Jager even went into the ocean!  Baja slipped into the pool a few times.  It's actually a good thing he doesn't like to jump in after the balls -- we'd probably never get him out!

One of the best parts of the vacation was our 80 minute Hot Stone massage at the Four Seasons.  If you've never had a Hot Stone massage, I would highly recommend it.  They take large, smooth river stones and rub you with them.  It's really relaxing.  I could barely move after it was done.

We enjoyed some really good meals as well (hence the 6 pound gain, although I was down 1 1/2 pounds as of this morning).  I cooked most nights and made things like mussels, beef ribs, risotto, pork loins, etc.  Our dinner at the Wine Cask was very nice as well.  That was the only night I really felt close to overeating, partly because of the champange and wine we drank.

We also watched TV that we wouldn't normally, including getting hooked on VH-1's "I Love the 90's."  We caught some of the 80's as well.  Talk about bringing back memories.  The songs, the fashion, the trends!  What were we thinking??

Kicking & Screaming

I don't want to be back. I want to be still up in Santa Barbara, lying by the pool, watching Jager stalk a lizard. Seriously.

I had to come back to reality at some point I guess. Gazing lovingly at Don will not get the bills paid. We drove back yesterday afternoon since we both have today off. We're pretty much unpacked, although I still have some to do. I ran my errands -- gas, car wash, grocery store. I'm catching up on my blog reading. I still have to put my books away and finish reading my mail, but I should be ready to go back to work tomorrow (groan).

The reason for my coming into work on Thursday was actually a good one. I did get to meet my new boss, so that was nice. She will continue to live in Salt Lake City, and it's been awhile since I worked for someone who didn't sit in the same office, but I think I'll be able to adjust pretty well. Plus, now that we have a strong leadership team in our office, my job has become much easier. The big news was that one of my former employees who now reports to one of the other leaders in the office won one of our big giveaways. We always focus on our preferred suppliers and award prizes from those vendors -- airline tickets, hotel stays and car rentals. The big giveaway at the end of the quarter is a drawing from all the previous quater's winners. They gave away 3 Jeep Liberties!! It was very cool to watch the expression on the lucky employee's face. She drives about 80 miles roundtrip (Palmdale to LAX, for those who are familiar) each day, so having a new car is a great thing for her. I checked out the car when it was pulled up to the office -- I didn't get to check out all the goodies, but there was an in-dash 5-disc CD player.

Speaking of new cars, Don's lease on his Honda Civic is about up so he is in the process of looking at new cars. Since we don't like the whole negotiating process, we use a car broker. It's pretty cool -- we call up and let him know what we want and he can deliver the car. It works out well, and we don't have to dicker with the price. Plus when I have cost compared, it's very similar, and what we save in stress makes up for it. I will be in the market for a new lease come February. I will probably stick with Honda, most likely an Accord, which is what I have now. I would be tempted by the CR-V, though.

Of course, the worse part about coming back to reality is getting on the scale like I did first thing this morning, and found that I was up 6 pounds. I am going to have to do some serious re-thinking of my current health plan going forward and figure out how I can work on getting healthy. I've got to stop fooling myself and start getting real.

Vacation Update

Just a quickie update.....

The last 5 days have been wonderful -- playing in the pool, reading, relaxing, spending time with Don & the dogs. We had a great dinner at the Wine Cask on Saturday night to celebrate our 5 year wedding anniversary. The Wine Cask catered our wedding dinner and we make it an annual dinner. I also ordered a small replica of our wedding cake, which we had last night. It's just been very relaxing -- exactly what we needed.

Of course, I am typing this from home. Yes, I realize it's only Thursday, but there is a big pow-wow at the office at 10:00 AM and my new boss is going to be there, so I figured that it would be politically correct for me to drive down from Santa Barbara for the meeting -- especially in light of the fact I was told Friday that, at least for the forseeable future, I will have a job. My team is changing a little, but it keeps me employeed and the paychecks coming, and that's what's important. Plus, I am curious about meeting my new boss. I don't plan on spending more time in the office than I have to, although I am putting down 8 hours and taking Monday off. Hey, it's a 4 hour drive round-trip so it's the least they could do.

The weather has been grerat -- sunny, in the upper 70s, with a nice breeze. We've been spending a lot of time outside. We even got Baja in the pool a few times. He loves standing on the top step, but usually won't go in on his own. We've only seen some coyotes so far, although I think the dogs have sensed other animals.

That's about it from here. Better head into the office soon -- much to my chagrin...

I'm Leaving On a Jet Plane.....

OK, not a jet plane, but a car.  Regardless, I'm on vacation in 55 minutes.  I'm only working a few hours this morning to wrap a few loose ends.  I have errands and packing to do and we'll leave about 10:00 PM after Don's shift.  It will take us about 90 minutes to get to Santa Barbara, but at least we won't have traffic.
 
I'm not sure how often I will post as we'll be on dial up (see how spoiled I am??), but I will try and at least get some photos up.
 
Hope everyone has a great weekend!
 

All Patched Up

Although I have a knee wrap on, I'm actually getting around pretty well. According to the doctor I may have a slight tear in my lateral meniscus and it should heal on it's own with rest. The good news is that I will be by a pool all of next week so I can still do some exercise, even if it's not a treadmill.

I've been busy getting ready for our vacation. I have to laugh at what we take when we go to Santa Barbara. Since I will be cooking, I tend to take a bunch of food and beverages. I also take a lot of reading material. And, since there is a tub big enough for two (hee, hee), I also bring my stash of bath salts, oils, bombs, etc. I'm not taking a lot of clothing -- just some shorts, tee-shirts and a bathing suit. Regardless, it seems like we pack the trunk of my Honda to the gills every year.

I'm still waiting for word about my job. We are supposed to find out something the week of the 12th, but that never means early in the week. With my luck, the memo will come out Friday at 4:55 PM, and I'll be long gone by then. For some reason, I'm not all that worried about it. The decision doesn't have anything to do with how I am doing my job, it's just a corporation reorganizing. I'm sure if I found out I was losing my job I might be a little less relaxed.

Here's to a great Hump Day!

How Many Women Does It Take To Fix A Garage Door?

Normally, I would say one. However, after last night I would have to say none -- let your husband do it.

As I was closing up the house last night on my way to bed, I realized that the automatic garage door was off track and it wouldn't close. I couldn't quite reach the wheel to try and get it on track, so I decided that I would use the ladder. This, despite the fact that it was 9:00 PM and Don was at work until 11:00 PM, I thought was a good idea so Don wouldn't have to deal with it when he got home. My home repair tip for the day: Don't get on a ladder with flip flops on. I almost had it, but slipped, caught the back of my flip flop on the rung and fell from the 3rd rung. I had the wind knocked out of me and strained my knee. I am waiting to go in and see my doctor (she can't see me until 1:00 PM) since I can't put weight on it and it twinges every time I take a step. My guess is that I possibly strained/sprained some ligaments. I don't think it's anything serious, but I know I have to have it looked at and braced.

In the meantime, I am stuck on the couch watching bad morning T.V. Right now I am watching The Maury Show, which once again is doing paternity tests. This time it's women who have been on multiple times trying to figure who fathered their child. This amazes me. I can honestly say that if I ever got pregnant (in my single days, natch), I would have no problem identifying the father. This show is just sad. One woman has 4 kids and only knows the father of two of them, and only found that out after testing 7 guys. And, yes, the remote is within reach, but this is just too much like watching a train wreck. The song and dance is always the same....."look at the baby, look at this guy -- they look exactly alike." And the women are all 100% sure the man they have drug in is the father. When Maury says, "And you're not the father," the men all jump out of their seat and raise their hands in victory and get in the woman's face. Needless to say, I feel so sorry for the kids. Some of the men say they would be happy to take care of the kid, if it's theirs, which is nice to hear, since so many of these guys don't look like father material.

Anyway, no more high wire acrobatics for me for awhile. I just hope this doesn't interfere with my vacation plans....

Only 171 More Shopping Days Until Christmas

It's July, right? I mean, smack dab in the middle of summer. The weather outside may be frightful, but I don't smell snow in the air. So, why is Hallmark rolling out their Holiday Ornaments? Yikes! I actually feel like I'm behind!

Living With Pain

I haven't been sleeping well the last few nights. As I was walking in to work this morning, I realized I haven't been feeling "well" for several weeks. First, it was my allergies. Then it was my shoulder/elbow. What is scary is that I am too busy to take care of myself. I'm sure my allergies has transmorphed into a sinus infection. There is no reason why I should be taking pills and using nasal spray on a daily basis. I should not wake up at 3:00 AM with a major sneezing attack.

I was taught at a very early age to "play through the pain." I was a tom boy and played a lot of sports, and was always sporting bruises, cuts, strains, etc. and usually with pride. The only way I earned a trip to the emergency room was if the bleeding wouldn't stop or a bone was showing. Sprains, strains, pulled muscles, etc. were treated at home with aspirin and ice. So it's no wonder that, even though I feel crappy and I'm in pain, I don't do anything about it. This is how I was taught to treat my body. I don't think I'd cry over every hangnail or stubbed toe, but I need to listen to my body when it tells me it's not feeling well. And I need to do something about it. Having said that, I am going to try and get into my doctor's this week to get some antibiotics to treat the sinus infection. I'm also going to make sure I see my chiropractor to take care of my shoulder/elbow. I refuse to go on vacation in pain!

Time for my staff meeting. It's the first since we've gotten the new leader here in the office, and I'm actually pumped. The previous leader, with whom I did not get along, didn't believe in staff meetings, so while my team knew about initiatives and new programs, the other half of the office did not. This is going to be the first of many I am sure.

T-Minus 9 Days.....And Counting

I am really looking forward to my vacation. Although if rumors are correct, we will hear if we are impacted by the recent reorganization by 7/16 -- the day I'm supposed to leave. I also got a somewhat ominous e-mail from my boss stating that our next Leadership meeting was mandatory. Oppps....I'll be in Santa Barbara. I e-mailed her that, but haven't heard exactly how mandatory is mandatory. If it's important, maybe I can do it via conference call (I can take it by the pool.....).

Our weekend was nice, but it didn't seem long enough. We went to see Fahrenheit 911, which was very moving. I lost 17 people on 9-11, so the opening scene was very powerful. In my case, Michael Moore was preaching to the choir, but it gave Don and I something to discuss that night over dinner. I was surprised to see the theater so packed, especially with Spider-Man opening this weekend.

I did have to work yesterday, but we only took about 10% of our normal call volume, so I got a ton of paperwork, filing, e-mailing, etc. done.

Today, on the other hand, has really kicked my butt. The day after a holiday usually does as people return from the office and suddenly remember they need to make travel plans. They don't realize that all of our clients are in the same boat, and they can't understand why we are so busy, and can't I put them through to an agent right away? Hey, lack of preparation on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part. Ah, well, it's all part of the job.

I do have a funny customer service story that happened on Friday. One of my agents told me that he had an irate client on the other line. I took the call, and it was a Social Worker from the County of LA. She was steaming mad about one of my top VIP agents. She says, "How dare she tell me she has issues with me!!" I'm frantically looking through the record trying to figure out what the heck she is talking about. What I found was that when my agent faxed her the ticket confirmation, she had typed, "Sue - have issued e-tickets." What actually appeared on the fax was, "Sue - have issue," and Sue took this to mean that my agent had issues with her. She would not accept my explanation. I finally told her to ask for one of the other 3 agents on the desk. Man, oh, man.... I think she was really upset that my agent insisted she get authorization to spend well over $1000.00 on a ticket when we could get it for closer to $500.00 with connections. Heck, it is tax payer money, we should be concerned and trying to help them save where possible.

Anyway, that was my exciting weekend.....

Happy Independence Day

Just a quick post to wish everyone a safe and wonderful 4th of July.

Let Freedom Ring

Parties Do Not Fall Under "The Plan"

One of my agents is leaving for a new job and her last day is today. I'm sad about losing her, however I understand her reasoning. The account she works on was bought by a larger company and, within the next 3 months, we will probably lose the account. She didn't want to "wait and see," so she took a position with another travel company. Of course, this means good-bye parties and the fact that there are two cliques that don't play well together forces us to have two different dinners. One was last night at Paco's Tacos and tonight it will be P.F.Chang's. Since I am her boss, it's somewhat expected of me to attend both. In addition, I am getting her a Cold Stone Creamery cake this afternoon. Needless to say, this has not been a good few days for food or exercise. Which is why I am waiting to update my monthly weight chart. Hey, it's my blog, I'll update when I want.....

The most exciting thing is that Don actually has Saturday AND Sunday off. He's been working hard as Fox Sports just re-launched their web site with a new look. I plan on taking very good care of him this weekend. We are planning a dinner and a movie night on Saturday. We both wanted to go see Fahrenheit 9/11 and as much as I was willing to go by myself last weekend, I wanted to wait so we could see it together. Sunday, we will BBQ and hang out with the dogs so they don't get too freaked out from the fireworks. Luckily, we don't have anything exploding right over our house (actually one of the benefits of being so close to LAX).

Now if I could just get my allergies to STOP! I would be in great shape.