The Ongoing Adventures of Naked Girl

The story of my quest to look good naked -- really good.

Monday, February 28, 2005

Photo Monday


The Kids looking very cute.


Baja with his soccer ball.


Jager with her tennis ball.


Relaxing in the snow.


Jager being camera shy....

Saturday, February 26, 2005

Where Has The Day Gone?

I figured with Don out of town, I would get some chores done, but I have pissed away the day reading blogs! OK, so not the whole day -- it is only 1:00 here -- but a good portion of it. I have been out playing with the dogs and have some cute photos that hopefully came out, and I will post those later.

While I was out surfing, I did come across some fun stuff. I can't remember where I found everything, so I apologize in advance for not giving credit where credit is due. All I have to say is, "I love the internet."

First up, this article, which actually sounds pretty fun. We didn't do this as kids, but it's pretty inventive, and I know I would be up for a round or two, but at Target, not Wal-Mart.

Next, we have Stupid Guest Tricks about visitors to Disney. There is some funny stuff, and having been in customer service and the travel industry, most of it doesn't surprise me. This is good if you need to waste an hour...

Finally, run your blog through here. I got a huge laugh out of it.

The dogs are outside again. It's cold out, but sunny and they just want to play with their balls toys (sounded too x-rated the other way) and eat snow (probably poop-cicles too, but I cleaned up the yard this morning). I still don't trust Baja 100% unattended, so I don't let them out too long. I would be devestated if he re-injured his leg. But being outside keeps them quiet, otherwise they are in here whinning, wanting to go outside.

I do have laundry in -- in fact, I've done 5 loads. I still need to do some general clean-up -- trashes out, clean out the fridge, dishes, etc. I also have to come up with some story about Flat Stanley that my neice sent. I guess my SIL sent it to me instead of Don, figuring I would actually do it. We took Stanley to Mall of America and took a photo overlooking Camp Snoopy and one of Flat Stanley almost getting eaten by a shark at the Underwater Adventure. I'll also enclose a few postcards of Minnesota, a pencil and a ticket from "Sweet Charity." What I really want to do it toss Stanley out with the dogs and see how he would fare, but that would just be mean -- and my dogs would be branded as murderers.

Finally, I leave you with this site. Once again, an addictive site that will eat up an hour or more.

What did we ever do before the internet?

Friday, February 25, 2005

Everyone Else Is Doing It....

Seen pretty much on every other blog I've read in the past few days....

A two part meme.

Part 1.
I've never kissed a member of the opposite sex false
I've never kissed a member of the same sex false
I've never wrecked a friend's car true
I've never been to Japan true
I've never been in a taxi false
I've never been on a train false
I've never been in love false
I've never had sex in a public place false
I've never been dumped false
I've never done cocaine false
I've never shoplifted false
I've never been fired false
I've never been in a fist fight true
I've never snuck out of my parent's house false
I've never been tied up false
I've never regretted having sex with someone false
I've never been arrested false
I've never made out with a stranger false
I've never stolen something from my job false
I've never celebrated New Years in Times Square false
I've never gone on a blind date false
I've never lied to a friend false
I've never had a crush on a teacher false
I've never celebrated Mardi Gras in New Orleans true
I've never been to Europe false
I've never skipped school false
I've never slept with a co-worker false
I've never cut myself on purpose true
I've never had sex at the office false
I've never been married false
I've never been divorced true
I've never had sex with more than one person in the same week false
I've never posed nude false
I've never gotten someone drunk to have sex with them true
I've never killed anyone true
I've never received scars from my sex partner true
I've never thrown up in a bar true
I've never taken a hallucinogenic drug false
I've never purposely set a fire true (I’m assuming they mean outside of a fireplace or BBQ)
I've never eaten sushi false
I've never been snowboarding true
I've never had sex at a friend's house while they were throwing a party true
I've never had sex in a dressing room true
I’ve never been on television false
I’ve never slept with someone who was married false
I've never flashed anyone false
I've never met anyone from online false
I've never traveled overnight on a train false
I've never been in a limousine false
I've never dyed my hair false
I've never attended a funeral false
I've never been in a friend's wedding false
I've never seen a male stripper false
I've never seen a female stripper false (I've even been kicked out of a strip club before....)
I've never been in a porn shop false
I've never stayed in a hospital false
I've never worked out in a health club false
I've never been to a spa false
I've never climbed to the top of the Statue of Liberty false

Part 2 - you get to ask me for an explanation for any of my answers.

Wednesday, February 23, 2005

Why I Hate February

February tends to be the coldest month, and living in Minnesota that’s pretty cold. It’s the no-man’s land of months – its winter, but not holiday winter and it reminds you that spring is still many, many weeks away.

It’s also when those New Year’s Resolutions decide to go into hibernation. Sure, it was easy when the feeling of NEW was in the air, but now that we’re smack dab in the middle, those resolutions have become shackles. Why are we eating healthy? Why are we exercising? It becomes so much easier to forget we ever planned for a new beginning.

I fall into that category. I haven’t been tracking my expenses. I haven’t been journaling my food or staying consistent with exercise. In fact, I have been eating everything in sight, which includes dessert (twice over the weekend), beef 4 or 5 times a week instead of once, no fish, etc. The Plan is no longer being followed.

But I am going to stop RIGHT NOW and change this behavior. I can’t keep taking the easy way out.

I will be following the example of Peg and start doing a weekly progress check. I thought I could do without, but I become so NOT accountable. Hey, if no one knows I didn’t stay on plan then it doesn’t count, right? WRONG. It does count, and the scale is the one keeping the count. I am so very afraid of my weigh in next Tuesday. I lost 4 pounds the first month, and I really don’t want to take a step back. In fact, I am praying to keep it status quo, that’s how worried I am about the weigh in.

I guess the good news is that I did get on the treadmill last night – 30 minutes, 1.5 miles, 141 calories burned. I felt good when I got done, although that didn’t keep me from having a hunk of bread with my beef stew last night. I really need to refocus on planning my meals for the week, and making sure I get my fruit and veggies in. I’ve totally slacked on that part of the plan. Heck, I’m not even getting all of my water in! Water and vitamins are the easiest part of The Plan, and I’m not even succeeding there.

There is a posting out on the Internet, sometimes referred to as “The Awakening” and sometimes as “A Time Comes in Your Life.” But there is a line in it that rings true to me right now -- You learn that anything worth achieving is worth working for, and that wishing for something to happen is different from working toward making it happen. More importantly, you learn that in order to achieve success you need direction, discipline, and perseverance. I know I have the direction but it’s the discipline and the perseverance I need to work on.

The first step is not backing down from a slip down the hill. It’s about getting up, wiping the dirt off your knees and going back up that hill. No one is coming to pick me up and carry me up the hill. If I want it, I have to do it myself. Not that I won’t accept a little encouragement now and then.

So for today, I will take my vitamins (done!) and I will drink my water. I will consciously think about what I am putting in my mouth. I will not listen to that little voice in my head (which for some reason sounds like my mother, but I suspect that’s a different post) that tells me that I’ve failed again, that success is out of reach and I don’t really deserve to try again.

I will listen to the voice repeating a quote from Oliver Wendell Holmes – “I find the important thing in life is not where we are, but in what direction we are moving.”

I may be at the bottom of the hill again, but I am heading back up.

Monday, February 21, 2005

Monday Blues

What a whirlwind of a weekend (talk about your alliteration….). My dad and Dean got in on time, right as the snow was beginning to fall. We had a wonderful dinner Friday night and spend Saturday wandering around Mall of America. I was hot and a little achy since I had done 30 minutes on the treadmill (breaking it in). Dinner was great Saturday night and then we capped it all off by going to “Sweet Charity” starring Christina Applegate (for those not familiar with the musical, “Sweet Charity” has such songs as “Hey, Big Spender” and “If My Friends Could See Me Now”). Not one of my favorite musicals, but maybe they’ll make the necessary changes before taking it to Broadway this spring. Anyway, it was snowing pretty heavily when we left the theater, so they got a good taste of winter.

As much as I loved seeing my dad, I was pretty exhausted yesterday. I did romp with the dogs, now that Baja can play off leash. I tossed a couple of balls out for them, which they haven’t seen since Los Angeles. I didn’t think it would be fair to let Jager play with her toys while Baja was on leash, so they were both very excited to have some real play time. They also had the chance to run around with Don, and they were tired pups by the end of the day.

Because I put off so much yesterday, I will have plenty to do tonight – at least 2 loads of laundry (sheets & towels from the guest room), some general cleaning, getting my meals ready for the week, etc. Don leaves for Indianapolis on Wednesday, leaving me to my own devices. I’m working half days on Thursday and Friday. I thought about scheduling some doctor appointments, but opted to take my car in and get my nails done – the important things. I may also use part of my spa gift certificate for a facial.

Since the house is pretty clean, I may try and get some more photos up, organize my crafting supplies and do a serious clean on the fridge. Nothing too major, but I have a top freezer/bottom fridge and I tend to lose stuff. I like side-by-side much better, but a new fridge is kind of low on my Wish List.

I will be using the treadmill. I think I am going to try for 30 minutes every other day to start – maybe until next week and then think about adding distance and more days. I don’t want to overdo it and get discouraged, but at some point, I would like to be up to 60 minutes five times a week. I figure I can walk Monday/Wednesday/Friday/Sunday this week and see how that feels. I love being able to crank my iPod and take the time to get my thoughts together. I’ve been feeling a little frantic the past few weeks, mostly in anticipation of my dad getting here. I’m not sure, but I’d like to think I can meditate and exercise at the same time….

Thursday, February 17, 2005

I'm It!

Thanks to my friend, Denise I've been tagged. I love music, so this should be good....

Total number of music files on your computer: 884, although that only represents mabe 20 of my CDs (the rest are from downloads). I have about 500 CDs, so once those are all downloaded, I'll have much, much more.

Last CD you bought: I just got a delivery from Amazon, so the last 4 I bought (all by George Winston) are Night Divides The Day: Music of the Doors, Remembrance - A Memorial, The Plains, and
Montana: A Love Story
.

What is the last song you listened to before reading this message? Flaming Red by Patty Griffin

Write down 5 songs you often listen to or that mean a lot to you: This is a hard one, there are so many....so I am going to cheat, a little....

The soundtrack to Moulin Rouge

It's a Beautiful Day by U2

I'd Do Anything For Love by Meatloaf

This Used to be my Playground by Madonna (over the end credits of A League of Their Own)

Imagine by John Lennon

(trust me, if you asked me this tomorrow, you'd get 5 different songs)

Now, a few of my own questions....

How many CDs do you have? About 510

How do you store your CDs/records? Alphabetically in 2 binders (no jewel cases)

What's your most embarassing CD? Ace of Base

What group/singer would you recommend to others? Patty Griffin -- she's a great bluegrass artist.

I would like to tag Danelle, Jenniy and Dazed

Procrastination Has Its Place

Every month, our business unit has a high-level meeting in which they review the previous month’s statistics and numbers. The three admins gather the information and put together a 40-page document. Needless to say, there are always last minute edits and additions. As the newest admin, I have not been responsible for putting together the final document, although I have offered.

Yesterday, our group had a few edits at 4:30 PM (I usually leave at 3:30 PM) and since I had been here since 6:00 AM, I figured that the admin who was finalizing this month’s report could make the few edits we had (really, just deleting 3 pages, and pasting in the three new ones). She told me to send it to the other admin, which I did plus I left her a voicemail before I left for today. Apparently, she didn’t “get to it” last night and had a doctor’s appointment this morning, so I had to make the changes. No big deal, and it was done in about 5 minutes. I then made copies – 6 color, 15 black & white – for the meeting.

I then get a call from one of the other directors to let me know that she had made some more changes. Luckily it was only to one page, so I just had to reprint that, but I wish I had followed my instinct to wait until the last minute.

At least I’m not still in travel. I got confirmation yesterday that they are probably closing our office by year’s end. That depresses me greatly, as I was one of the most senior agents from that office (not with the company, just with that office). I had been through 2 moves, 3 managers, numerous reorganizations, and I couldn’t begin to count the number of accounts. It’s just sad to see it go down, and in a way I feel guilty for not being there. The leadership that’s in place is not doing a very good job, and I know morale is in the toilet.

I was sick on Tuesday. I had a sore throat, fever and body aches. When I get like that, the only thing I like to eat is soup, grilled cheese (sourdough bread with American cheese) and ice cream. Let’s just say Tuesday was no where near on plan. At least I feel somewhat better. I was tired and grumpy yesterday since I had to be in at 6:00 AM and then stay until 4:30 PM. Plus, when I got home, Don was up to his eyeballs in work and I spent most of the night alone grumbling about having to clean up the house before the maid service arrived today.

I am excited about seeing my dad on Friday. I don’t know why I’m so worked up about how the house looks. I guess I just like to be the perfect hostess – flowers on the nightstand, toiletries, favorite foods, etc.

The treadmill should be arriving before noon today, and I am really jazzed about that. I will have to put it to use tonight, and since my dad will still be on California time, I think I can squeeze in a workout at least once this weekend.

I’m a little afraid of the scale right now, mostly because of what I ate on Tuesday. I had hoped to be down another 3 or 4 pounds by now, but I think I will just keep focused on my monthly weigh-ins rather than trying to micro-manage the scale. I know if I can get consistent with my exercise that will be a huge step in reaching my weight loss goals. If I can average 5 pounds a month, that’s 60 pounds for the year and that will put me at 258 – a dream weight right now.

Monday, February 14, 2005

Fifty Things

Inspired by Michele, here is a Valentine's Day list just for the love of my life, Don.

In no particular order:

1. I love the way he plays and talks with the dogs
2. I melt when I see him with one of the dogs curled in his arms
3. He gets my sense of humor
4. He lets me call him a special nickname
5. I still smile when I come upon old cards he sent
6. He doesn’t laugh when I cry
7. There is no better feeling than being in his arms
8. I never have felt more loved than I do when I’m with him
9. He’s a good sport when I beat him at a game
10. He even lets me gloat on occasion
11. He says the sweetest things out of the blue
12. He loves my cooking
13. He pretty much lets me decorate the house how ever I want
14. He tells me to drive safely every day as I head out to work
15. He always gives me a kiss goodnight
16. He makes me laugh
17. He lets me get on my soapbox and rant when I need to
18. He’s smarter than me, but doesn’t rub it in
19. He has a very sexy chest
20. And he lets me rub it whenever I want
21. He warms my nose when it’s cold
22. He holds me whenever I need it
23. And sometimes when I just want it
24. He calls me his Woo-Hoo girl
25. He shares my passion for sports
26. He doesn’t get mad when I forget to put a withdrawal in the checkbook
27. He does a great load of laundry
28. He is the one who almost always makes the bed, even if I’m the last one out of it
29. He takes the dogs out when it’s cold
30. And when it’s not so cold
31. He lets me dream big
32. He’s the salt of the earth – my parents even think so
33. He’ll write me mash notes if I ask nicely
34. He puts me on a pedestal
35. He always puts the seat down
36. He wears the clothes I buy for him
37. He always gets me what I want
38. He’s not jealous of my family or friends
39. He’s concerned for my safety
40. He calls me his “personal briquette”
41. He is always telling me how pretty I am
42. He has the sexiest blue eyes
43. I still get excited when he comes home from work
44. He knows how to make me blush
45. He can still send shivers down my spine
46. I love coming home to him
47. I never doubt him
48. He gives me 100%
49. He makes me want to give him 100%
50. He makes my heart sing and my spirits soar every time he tells me he loves me
51. He thinks he's the lucky one

Don ~ I know you are busy working today, but I hope you take a moment this week to read this. I love you more than I can ever tell you. Thank you for loving me back.

Spoke Too Soon

I knew I jinxed it! After a lovely Saturday, it rained all day Sunday, and the rain turned into very wet snow around 6:00 PM and pretty much lasted past midnight. All in all, it was between 1 - 2 inches of accumulation. Our neighborhood looked very pretty this morning as I left at 6:15 AM. I wish I had some sunlight to do some photographs since it will have all melted by the time I get home.

Don and I had a great dinner last night. I also realized that I'm not finishing my main course most of the time when we go out. I guess that's a good thing (especially for the dogs!). I ordered the grilled meatloaf and mashed potatoes last night, and took home 1 of the meatloaf slabs and about 1/2 of the mashed potatoes. I did, however, eat 75% of the dessert. Guess I'll have to work on that.

I do have my breakfasts, snacks and lunches planned for the week, so I'm pretty confident I can stay on track. I know once my dad gets here we'll be eating out at least 3 times (2 dinners, 1 lunch) so I need to really focus on my eating during the week. I don't know how much exercise I'll be able to get -- a lot will depend on how clear the sidewalks are. I will be able to use my new treadmill when I get home on Thursday. I should wear my pedometer on Saturday. I want to do 1 hour on the treadmill in the morning before my dad gets up (he'll still be on California time), we're going to walk around Mall of America and we'll have to take the dogs for a walk Saturday afternoon so they'll be tired out for when we go to dinner and the musical.

I'm thinking about wearing a pedometer here at work one day. I know it's 150 steps from my desk to the restrooms and back, and I make that trip at least 4 times in a workday. It's at least that many steps to the lunch room, which I can visit 2 - 3 times a day, depending on how much water I'm drinking. Maybe I'll do it on Wednesday. I'm assisting with registering leaders at a workshop over at the Hilton, which is about 2 blocks away, so I will be getting in some walking there. Of course, part of that will depend on how early I'm running seeing how I need to be at the hotel by 6:15 AM, meaning I'll have to be on the road by 5:45 AM, which means getting up by 5:00 AM at the latest.

I'm going to try and stay away from all the candy that's about today. The head administrative assistant was already at my desk with a cute little pail of hearts & Hershey kisses. I'm hoping I can pawn it off on to someone else so it's not at my desk all day.

Saturday, February 12, 2005

The Smell Of Spring Is In The Air

For the second week in a row, it's going to hit 50. I'm really starting to look forward to spring when we can spend a lot of time outside with the dogs. As it is, all they want to do is play in the sun with the snow that's still on the ground. We will be taking them for a walk as soon as "Doc Hollywood" is over (love that movie). That usually tuckers them out for a few hours.

The party for work went off OK, at least as far as I could tell. I did have to laugh at how many people RSVP'd after the deadline -- like 30 people. Anyway, the food was pretty good (turkey & roast beef carving stations, pasta bar, Ceasar salad, mini pizzas, eggrolls and fish fingers) and there was plenty of it. The gambling was fun. You started with $3000 in chips and then you could buy raffle tickets for $500. We ended up with $7000 after about an hour or so at the blackjack tables (our dealer wouldn't last one shift in Vegas -- he couldn't add, paid double for any 21 not just true blackjack and paid out for ties). I dumped all my raffle tickets in the bowl for a $50 gift certificate to Ruth Chris Steak House. We'll find out Monday if we won.

Our treadmill will be delivered on Thursday. I can't wait! Molly Maids will also be here Thursday getting the house ready for our weekend visitors. I still have a lot to do, so I better get cracking. I can't believe it's after noon already!

Wednesday, February 09, 2005

Busy, Busy, Busy

Usually when my boss is out of the office at all day meetings, I have a pretty kick back day. The last two days have been just flat out busy, and tomorrow doesn't look much different. I'm not complaining -- it really makes the day fly by, plus I am scoring mondo points with my boss and the rest of the team. Except for the two people I screwed up their time cards -- one if part time, one is full time and I swapped their time. Opps. It's corrected, but I know that when I do time cards I need to focus more. So often, I allow people to interrupt me and I get distracted.

Still no word on the treadmill. Sears was supposed to contact us today to set up a delivery date. Guess I'll have to contact them tomorrow. At least tomorrow my boss AND the team leaders will be out of my hair from noon on.

Friday we have our big office party. I'm supposed to be printing the name tags, but the person who is supposed to get them to me has yet to do so. Hope he realizes tomorrow is THURSDAY! It's not like I can print 1700 name tags in a few minutes. I'm not 100% sure of his capabilities as a party planner. When I first agreed to help, he told me to expect about 2800 names. When I gave him the count of 1700, he seemed disappointed, so I asked how many invites went out. He said to all employees and I pointed out that there were only about 1300 employees, so even if we got a 100% response rate WITH guests, it would be a maximum number of 2600. He's all pissed now since the contracts with the hotel for food and beverage were written with a 2800 headcount. Oh, well. More food for the masses.

Dad and Dean are coming for a visit next Friday. There is still so much to do, but I have a cleaning service scheduled for next Thursday, so it's mostly just getting the house neatened up and all the bits put away. I hope we have nice weather, with maybe just a few flurries so they get the whole winter experience.

Gotta run -- Lost is on, and I'm addicted!

Sunday, February 06, 2005

Paralysis by Over-Analysis

I love football -- college or pro. My idea of a perfect weekend would be watching USC win (ideally over UCLA or Notre Dame) on Saturday and then watching the entire slate of NFL games on Sunday, with at least the Cowboys winning. I watch College Game Day, ESPN's pre- and post-game shows, HBO's Inside the NFL. I read Sports Illustrated, both on-line and the magazine, especially Peter King's Monday Morning Quarterback. I read NFL.com's Tuesday Morning Quaterback.

Today is the High Holy day of professional football -- the Super Bowl. I get very excited, no matter who is playing. I love the pagentry and the build up. I really did enjoy attending 3 Super Bowls when Don was working for the NFL (ahhh, now you know the secret to our relationship...). I cannot, however, understand 8 hours of pre-game hype. Four hours on ESPN followed by four hours on Fox. Of course, I'm plopped on the couch with ESPN "on in the background" (which is merely code for "I can't actually admit I'm watching this crap..."). Well, only five more hours until kickoff.

I did make a batch of Chex mix, I have my cornbread made, I have the fixings for the chili (thanks to Beth for what looks like a great recipe) and I just need to heat up my Buffalo wings. All the proper eats for game watching.

However, I do want to build on another good week -- one more pound down -- and don't want to overdo it. We'll take the dogs for a walk around 3:00 PM (to get them tired out so they won't need to go out during the game) and I may add another 1/2 mile loop on to the end just for me. Our treadmill should be here next week and I'm excited about setting up a routine for that.

Yesterday when I was at the mall for my eye appointment, I was wandering around, waiting for my glasses, and went into Bath & Body Works where they were highlighting their new Tutti Dolci line with scents like Cinnamon Frosting, Creme Brulee, Choclate Fondue. Man, they smelled good enough to eat. I didn't buy any -- didn't want to explain to Don while I was licking lotion off my arm. I did discover their new Pure Simplicity line which included the most amazing face care system I've using in a long time. The saleswoman told me my face would feel as smooth and soft as a baby's bottom, and she was right. I've been looking for something since what I had been using while living in Los Angeles wasn't working here -- the dry heat, lack of moisture in the air, the cold, etc. is really playing havoc on my complextion. OK, commercial over. But try it -- seriously.

Better go finish the laundry and dishes so I can give The Game (Go Eagles!) my full attention.

Friday, February 04, 2005

Lazy Day

I took today off so it's been a pretty kick back day. I did some more stuff around the house, mostly to get ready for my Dad's visit in 2 weeks. I also called a cleaning company and I'm hoping to arrange a full clean the day before he arrives. I still have a few things I can work on next weekend -- getting more photos and knick-knacks out, hanging some of my frame photos, etc.

Tomorrow will be all about errands -- gas, car wash, grocery store/CostCo, eye doctor, etc. I think we may try and catch "Sideways" as well as we try and get caught up on our Oscar movies. Of course, Sunday will be all about the Super Bowl. I'm going to make some Chex mix to snack on during the game and chili and cornbread for dinner. Don't want to go too overboard, but I do want to get into the mood just a little.

The one disappointing thing today was that I was supposed to have my year end review, given to me by my former boss since I've only reported to my new boss the last 2 months of the year. How we work it is the employee fills out a self-apprasial and then the boss adds her two cents. With the year I had in 2004, I went into great detail supporting my rating (we're rated on a scale of 1 - 5 with 3 "meeting expectations" which is what the majority of employees get, and what I've gotten the last 3 years -- not a bad rating) of an overall two -- "exceeding expectations." I figured with doing the job of two team leaders, leading the transition of manager and service platforms, etc. I deserved it, and thought I made a good case. My former boss e-mailed me the review with her "comments" as we were going to go over it by phone this morning. First of all, she didn't add ANY of her own observations. None. She didn't change any of my ratings (mostly 1s and 2s with a couple of 3s) except for the overall one, moving me from a 2 to a 3. I was very interested in hearing her logic. Well, she never got on the call -- she had the wrong call in number for the conference call. Now, it looks like we won't have our discussion for 2 more weeks. Grrr....

The one thing this has done is made it more clear that, with my division spinning off from AMEX, I think I will stay with the spinoff part. I had been considering going back into travel so I could stay with AMEX. It's apparent, at least to me, that no matter how hard I worked, I was never going to "exceed expecations." I was really upset about it this morning, but have come to realize that this might be the "sign" I need to move on. The funny part is that my new boss, in his assessment, gave me a rating of 2 -- and I've only been reporting to him for 2 months. I am finally in a job where I'm feeling a little more appreciated, and I think this spinoff could really be good for my career in the long run.

Don and I took the kids for a long walk yesterday since the weather has been so nice. Who would have expected 50 degrees in February? It's supposed to stay this sunny and warm through Saturday, with a cold front moving in on Sunday. The dogs are totally loving this weather. It's warm enough we can spend 20-30 minutes outside but there is still ice and snow on the ground in patches. They love to eat the ice. Baja will actually take a chunk and lie down in the snow with it while he munches on it. What a weirdo. Most of the backyard is either clear of snow or with just a thin coating of ice that hasn't melted yet. The one exception is a corner by the garage where there is still a large drift that's about 2 feet deep. It's the one corner that doesn't get much sun. It's also kind of dangerous because there is a water spout that empties right there and that ices over at night so when we go to bring the dogs out in the morning, it's rather treacherous. In fact, Don is out there right now with salt and a shovel trying to break it up.

Off to find a chili recipe for Sunday....

Wednesday, February 02, 2005

Movin' On Down

I didn’t get a chance to post yesterday. As I walked into the office building at 6:50 AM, I was handed a memo, and then all hell broke loose. My boss wasn’t even fully aware of this news, and I spent the day running around (should have worn my pedometer) passing out memos and updates and talking points. Trust me, we were tree mass murderers yesterday. I do have mixed feelings about this news. I’ve been with the company for 9 years and am worried about how this will affect my seniority, benefits, salary, etc. There are “town hall” meetings scheduled today, but I know it’s too early to answer all of my questions. Of course, I always have the option of returning to travel….

My monthly updates have been posted – down 4.2 pounds for the month. Not too bad considering I was not consistent with my exercise, although I am hoping that will change once we get our treadmill delivered next week. I’m doing better at tracking my foods, using a spreadsheet I created. I am finding, although I’m doing OK in some areas, I really do need to pay more attention to calories and sodium. I am eating about 700 – 900 too many calories and about two - three times the recommended sodium intake. At least my fat grams are below the guidelines. One good thing – I’m wearing a skirt that will probably have to go into the donation bin because it’s too big. In fact, I have to use my badge clip to hold the skirt and my undies together so my skirt doesn’t move around.

I would really like to lose 5 pounds before my Dad gets here on 2/18. Not that it would be noticeable, but I’d love to have that as my goal and inspiration. It may just be too much to ask, but it would be nice.

I do know, however, I am sucking at my water intake today. Man, that’s the easiest part of my whole Plan. Usually I have at least 1.5 L already in my system, and I’m just starting on my first one (at 10:45 AM).

Happy Groundhog Day, everyone! And, (un)Happy State of the Union Address Day. If Bush sees his shadow, does that mean 4 more years of war?