New Year's Eve

My New Year's eve consisted of shopping this morning. Then I came home and cleaned my dining room carpet and vacuumed the big bedroom where I lay in the floor and play with the dogs. It's also where the pilates machine would go if I order one from QVC tonight.

I also took a couple of naps today. One was at 5:30am - I went back to bed after I ate breakfast and let Fritz out and in. Then later, I took a nap because I knew I'd be up late watching QVC.

After I got up from my nap, I went to Mom and Dad's to pick up my Avon order. As you know I have everything shipped to their address so I can hopefully get it without it visiting the neighbors for a week or two first.

I think I'm going to stop ordering from Avon. I need to spend my money on other things. I figured if I say that instead of "I can't afford it" then I'm in keeping with the Law of Attraction.

Beginning Again

Another 5 day weekend began this evening. Yay! I'm off until Monday.

I got an email today from Tracfone telling me that my issue has been resolved. I never did have to enter in any codes to update the phone. Maybe they did it by remote. I left the phone on all day today.

I've had a headache most of the day. I tried to use the Law of Attraction to get rid of it, but so far it hasn't happened. Maybe it just takes a while for my receipt of a pain free head to manifest itself.

I do think the Law of Attraction works. Right now QVC is selling Tiffany Style Lamps. The other day, I happened to think 'when are they going to sell those lamps again?' So, the Law of Attraction must have brought this show to me :) Not that I'm buying any of the lamps. I just like to look at them. In order to attract money to me, I can't say that they are too expensive or that I can't afford them. But I can say there's better ways to spend my money than by buying those lamps.

Coming to An End

Well, this five day vacation is coming to an end. However, another one begins this coming Wednesday. Yes, I work two days and I'm off five more. I really could get used to a schedule like this, but no work would get done at work.

The dogs could get used to this too. I think they will have a hard time when I go back to work and I'm gone all day.

Out of all of my Christmas presents, I've only got the golf book yet to read. I have a stack of romance novels I bought a while back that I still haven't read yet. Maybe I'll get to those during my next 5 day break.

I don't know if I've said it here, but I've been planning to make a pilates machine my last big purchase before going into saving mode. Well, I think I will need to save up and buy seat covers for my new car. I'm getting tired of using the dogs' shedding tool to pick up the lint and fuzz off of my car seats, although the shedding tool does work well.

It's nice to not have to do my laundry today. Since I'm only working two days this week and only worked two days last week, I don't need to do laundry yet. I did wash a load of cleaning towels, dog towels and dog blankets. A ton of dog hair came out of the dryer but they needed washed.

Ecuador

I watched the Ecuador dvd I got for Christmas today. I was doing fine until they got to the deep fried guinea pig. They showed a cute white one living and squealing and I just had to skip some of the program to get past it. This is one of the GlobeTrekker dvds and I've seen it before so I knew it was on there. But, I still didn't like seeing it.

Guess What....

The new tracfone is working. How's that for funny in the ironic kind of way? Just yesterday I posted that I should use "The Secret" to see if I could get the phone working. Well, this morning I turned it on and was playing with it and saw that it had a phone number when the last time I checked it didn't. So, I called the number and it rang. Then I used the tracfone to dial my home number and my home phone rang. Cool, isn't it.

Then I got an email from tracfone telling me that the phone was activated but that they needed to update the phone with some new codes. They asked me to either reply to the email with times that I would be home to take their call or to just call their 1-800 #. So, I replied to the email.

I hope these codes will leave my minutes alone. I added some to the phone today and I hope to keep them.

Shopping: I bought some on sale christmas wrapping paper and bows today. I also got a remote control for outdoor electrical stuff. It's supposed to be used for christmas lights, I think, but I hooked my dusk to dawn light up to it so I don't have to plug it in and unplug it. So far it works. Don't know if it will burn out or anything. I'll have to ask dad how powerful that light is to see if the remote can handle it. I also bought a couple of mugs that were on sale and a couple of cargo cubes that you put in the trunk of your car. I have a milk crate in my car now, but it tears up the grocery bags.

Reading and Reading....

I read the Diana Palmer book I got for Christmas last night. And today I finished reading The Secret, a book I bought at walmart on Tuesday. This book is about the physics law of attraction and how you can use it to bring whatever you want into your life. There's a website for it too and you can google it to check it out. According to the website there are people who have used this to cure their eyesight problems, lose weight, help with relationships, finances etc. I should use it to see if I can get that worthless tracfone activated and working.

I might try that tomorrow.....

I have to go shopping tomorrow morning - regular grocery shopping and checking out the after Christmas sales, if there are any at walmart. But after that, I should be home all day.


Oh goody, I just saw a commercial for the National Body Challenge that's going to be on Discovery Health starting Jan 5th. I like that show but I liked it better when it ran for a whole 15 weeks or so and followed everyone on a weekly basis. Now they've shortened it to a week for everyone. You don't get a chance to get inspired by the participants.

Christmas Celebration

I'm back from Mom and Dad's where we celebrated Christmas today. It was warm and rainy today so I didn't have to worry about snow or ice on the roads. The puppies spent a long time at their Grandma's and Grandpa's. We got there around 8:30am and didn't leave until about 4pm.

Winnie barked and barked and barked. She was very upset because there were strange smells and sounds all over the house and crazy looking boxes in the living room. PJ didn't seem bothered by any of it.

Dinner was good. We had it around noon. Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, home made noodles, rolls, cranberry sauce. I only ate turkey, mashed potatoes, noodles and a hot roll. But the rest of it must have been good because Mom and Dad ate quite a bit. PJ begged and begged for food during dinner but Winnie wouldn't even come into the kitchen. It made me wonder if she really is a chihuahua (they usually are masters at begging for food).

Now for the presents: I am so excited about what I got: the ATP Calendar (pro tennis players - some without shirts and some who kinda need to put the shirts back on), a golf book called "The Scorecard Always Lies", two romance novels: Night of the Jaguar by Merline Lovelace and A Long Tall Texas Summer by Diana Palmer (two authors whose books I collect), a Globetrekker DVD of Ecuador (I love the Globetrekker show), a card with $20.00 in it and a little Santa magnet and a cute little stuffed Piggy. This was definitely a squeal with delight Christmas.

Mom and Dad got so many things that I don't think I can remember it all. They were very happy with everything they got. Smiles all around. My sister and brother in law got them a Web-Cam for their computer so they can talk to my niece and nephew. I hooked it up for them, but I don't know the first thing about actually using it. I'm not a web-cam kinda girl.

One cute anecdote from today: Dad said something about who got him something he opened and I said the kids? And he replied, "Jassie and Timmy". As if to differentiate from my kids Winnie and PJ. LOLOL. Because Winnie and PJ did some shopping for Dad too this year.

I brought home some peanut butter fudge, chocolate fudge, and brownies that Dad made. And I ate a bowl of vanilla ice cream for a snack after dinner. I should have brought home some of that ice cream.

And when I got home, Fritz practically cried for Winnie and PJ. He definitely does not like for them to be gone for that long. I think he was worried they weren't coming back. It's good that he likes them that well. Even though he does growl and snap at them at times.

It's a good thing I have four more days off so I can read all of my books I got today. And I'm in the middle of reading The Secret. It's a book about how the physics law of attraction is supposed to affect your whole life, from the kind of job you have to your weight. I read about it in a Womans World magazine and thought it sounded a lot like some beliefs that golfer Nick Faldo has, so I thought I'd read the book.

Now I'm off to see if Walmart is having any kind of after Christmas sale, other than selling their wrapping paper cheap.

Good Sunday

I read three romance novels, took a nap, gave the puppies a bath, washed dishes and did a load of laundry.

Only two days to work this week, then off until next Monday. Yay!!!

Too Much Money Spent

I was balancing my checkbook today and got the bad news that I've spent way too much money lately. I'm hoping to curtail my spending habits after the first of the year, but there is still one big ticket item that I might buy. A pilates machine from QVC. I've wanted one for about the last 5 years. One reason my checkbook looks bad is that I had to pay a whole year's worth of car insurance this month. That's a huge sum.

I took the puppies to mom and dad's today instead of tomorrow since tomorrow's weather is supposed to be worse than today's. Thanks to having half a day off yesterday I was able to go to the store yesterday which freed up my morning today. I also was able to wash my car yesterday. Yay! It needed it. The cat offered her seal of approval by walking on it with muddy feet.

I made another pillow for the puppies today so they don't have to compete for the first pillow I made for the couch. Now they both have pillow room and are very happy.

Tomorrow I might read some of these romance novels I've got stacked up waiting to be read.

Let's see if Blogger will publish this now. I tried before and it wouldn't publish and it lost the original post. I had to re-type everything from memory. Trust me, the original post was much more enjoyable to read.

Sad, Sad News

I read on E! News that Majel Barrett Roddenberry passed away. It's a sad day for all Trekkies everywhere, and all Earth Final Conflict fans and all Andromeda fans.

One of my favorite stories in the Trek universe is the one of the unrequited love between Nurse Chapel and Spock.

Avon Question

If anyone out there reading this blog knows the answer to this question, please either post a comment or email me: When do the prices in the Campaign 1, 2009 Brochure go into effect? I got this brochure with my last online order and apparently Avon never puts the dates on the cover like real life representatives do. Is there a place on the web that will list the sale dates for every campaign?

Calls and Walks

I was able to add a one year card to my existing Tracfone today. This isn't the phone that I can't get activated because Tracfone is a horrible company. This is the phone I've had for a few years. I had an extra one year card for the phone that doesn't work, so I sold it to mom today since she will need to add a year to her phone too.

I got on the treadmill tonight and walked for 50 minutes. The last time I was on the treadmill, I was having that horrible joint pain in November and thought that the treadmill was causing it. So, now that I know what the joint pain is about, I know I can get on the treadmill and just take an Aleve if I feel pain later on.

I needed to get on the treadmill. I spent the whole day eating candy. Chocolate covered peanut clusters. I'm taking the rest of them to work for my co-workers. I've made myself sick on them. Actually, I'm feeling a little bit hungry now. I think I'll wait a while longer and then see what I can find. I've got some applesauce in the kitchen. And some hot cocoa mix. Some orange juice.

Birthday

I had my little birthday party at mom and dad's today. We had cake and ice cream and I got a present from Mom and a few presents from my sister. From Mom I got Lock & Lock storage containers. I was the one to turn her on to Lock & Lock because I kept seeing it on QVC, but Mom was the first in the family to buy some. From my sister, I got a woven basket in the shape of a pig, a pop can cozy with a pig on it, a few little packs of designer chocolate, and a pretty bracelet. The bracelet was a timely gift since I bought a jewelry box on sale at walmart yesterday. The puppies even partook in the festivities - I gave them each a very small amount of chocolate ice cream.

I took the christmas presents to mom and dad's today. Again, they said that I spent too much, even though they don't know what I got them. They should be happy that I have the giving spirit at Christmas. I could be a selfish, give me-give me, type. I know someone like that. It's particularly sad since that person is an adult.

Cold, Cold, Cold

It is very, very cold this morning. About 20 degrees at 8:30am. It was really cold when I got up at 5am. Yesterday, the snow melted off the driveway with no help from me so I will be able to go shopping today. But I'm not going until it warms up. I'm thinking about a 10:00am start. Hopefully, it will be at least 32 by then.

I made more hard candy yesterday and a pillow for the couch. The puppies love the new pillow. They take turns laying on it.

Tomorrow, I'm going to take the Christmas presents I bought for mom and dad to their house so they will have them in case we get some bad weather around Christmas eve. I can always park my car at the main road and get in and out when it snows but I can't carry the christmas presents too. That would be a lot of walking.

Christmas Party

We had our christmas party at work yesterday. Dinner was provided by management and each employee got a gift from management. It was a nice time. One worker whined until she got the gift she wanted. She had marked the box previously so she would know which one had what she wanted in it but another worker got it before she did. So, she pouted and whined until that worker traded with her. That was sad. My present was nice. No photo album. No candle. I got a round metal tin in the shape of a bucket with a lid and inside there was a coffee mug, four packets of hot cocoa mix, two high fiber snack bars, and a packet of hot cider mix - I left the hot cider mix at work. The tin bucket and mug have snowmen on them and I'm not a fan of snowmen, but I can deal with that. The bucket is perfect for the hard candy I've been making.

I'm off tomorrow so I just have today to go. We are supposed to get some snow tonight and tomorrow so it will be nice to stay home and not have to worry about traveling in the bad weather. Even though it's supposed to warm up on Saturday to melt any snow we get, I might go out tomorrow and clean off the driveway anyway. It depends on how much we get.

Update on the Avon order

The order that was being shipped by UPS - the one UPS claimed was delivered yesterday, apparently was delivered to the post office instead of the house. The postal carrier delivered it to the house today. Along with what I purchased, there was another catalog with new sale items, so I just bought some more stuff. I might not have bought anything but I had a free shipping code I could use.

I've Had it With Customer Service

I ordered some stuff from Avon online and it was supposed to be delivered to mom's house. Well, the tracking info claims it was delivered to a dock and signed by someone named Vest. The detailed tracking says it arrived in Charleston, our state capital and not where I live, and that it never left there. So, I don't know where it is. I'm going to give it another day or two and then file a claim online for not getting the package.

This is really ridiculous. What's with all of these people? The US Post Office people didn't deliver a package to my sister's house and now Amazon has to send out a replacement. The UPS people either have bad tracking info online or they misdelivered my Avon order. And you've read all about my troubles with Tracfone.

You know, with all the bad things happening in America - failed banks, failed housing markets, failed auto industry, you'd think people would be trying to do their best in their jobs since jobs are scarce and money is tight. But it's like no one wants to do their job well anymore. It's sad. Americans should take more pride in their work than what they seem to be doing.

Rest of the Day

The puppies and I were able to go to mom and dad's this afternoon. I swept off the driveway, but the sun came out and melted much of it too. Then I waited around until 8pm for my 48 hour deadline with tracfone and after no one called me, I decided I was tired of calling customer service, so I sent an email to something called the Executive Resolution Department. They probably won't do anything either but at least I've done this so I can then say I've done everything when I file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.

I tried to make lemon hard candy today but something went wrong. It turned out brown and I think there's a problem with my thermometer. It reached 260 degrees and I put the food coloring in and then the temperature dropped and had to rise again. I was afraid to eat the candy in case there was something really wrong with the thermometer and it leaked or something. I plan to buy a new thermometer tomorrow.

Today was a pain free day. Even after sweeping off the driveway, which is a big job.

We weighed Winnie today at mom and dad's and she's just under 10 pounds. If she goes over 10 pounds I have to start buying separate worm medicine for her. So, she's on a diet. It doesn't help that Dad fed them both about a loaf of bread today. He thinks it's funny. He doesn't have to pay $24.00 for worm medicine.

Staying Home This Morning

Instead of going to mom and dad's this morning, the puppies and I stayed home. We got some snow yesterday and I figured it wasn't worth it to try to go visiting today. The sun's been out this morning and it's already up to 30 degrees so maybe the snow will melt off of the drive way and we can go this afternoon.

I read a romance novel this morning, ordered a present for my nephew's birthday, bought some books from Eharlequin - they are having free shipping on all orders today as part of their 12 days of Christmas. I've done a load of laundry and I'm making some hard candy. I have a batch of orange and cherry. Today I'm going to do Lemon and another batch of orange. I'll either split it all up and give my parents some or I'll be a pig and keep it all. I won't eat it all for a while because there's a lot of it.

Haven't heard anything from tracfone. But I don't expect to. I'll have to call them back. And if nothing is resolved after this 4th phone call, I'll call the executive relations # that I have. They are supposed to resolve problems quickly. It really is absurd that it's going to take at least 4 phone calls and two weeks to get this phone activated.

I did hear from the Discover card people. They wanted to sell me the protection plan service - where if you lose your job they will suspend applying finance charges to your account. The saleswoman just kept trying to enroll me in the plan and I kept telling her no. After maybe 4 or 5 times she finally ended the call. She asked me if I kept a balance on my card and I said no. She said, "This is perfect for you then." And I was thinking, why do I need this protection if I don't have a balance. I can freely lose my job and not have to worry about paying off the credit card. They really don't think these things through when they are writing up their sales scripts.

Found the Book Hole

It was in the walk in closet in the bedroom that my parents used to have when they lived here. It's now a storage closet. The books are in a storage tote that looks just like one that has christmas ornaments in it and I thought both of them contained christmas stuff.

Whoever called this snow we're getting 'a dusting' apparently has the same housekeeping habits that I do because this dusting is about a half an inch thick.

Pain free day

I had a mostly pain free day today without the aid of medication. Yay!! I had one sore spot on the side of my knee but that was it.

I'm working out in the mornings since I now have an extra half hour before work. Just walking in front of the tv, but it's activity. And I'm trying to follow the I Can Make You Thin system. I still snack a little bit, but I haven't over-eaten at meal times and I haven't felt stuffed at all.

I'm glad I have a couple of days off. Last month I spent three days training a new employee who is assigned to a different office. Well, these last two days, he's been emailing me constantly with questions. I can't get my own work done because of this. I told my boss that I'm not training anyone else. He just chuckled. He'll chuckle when he gets yelled at because my work isn't getting done. And I'll chuckle when I remind him and his boss that they are the ones who created this mess to begin with. It isn't like I went looking for someone to train. They sent him to me.

The Tracfone Saga Continues

I got the replacement sim card today. I put it in the phone and called tracfone like I'm supposed to. After 20 minutes and talking to two different people I get the news that I have to wait 24 to 48 hours so they can remove some kind of error from their computer system and then they will call me and I can reactivate the phone. Sure.

When this is all over, I'm sending one heck of an email to tracfone. I don't blame the customer service people because it doesn't appear to be an issue with their knowledge of their jobs. It seems to me that the whole tracfone system itself is screwed up and completely un-customer friendly.

At this point I can only say do not order a tracfone from the website. Maybe you'll have better luck if you buy one from a local store. Good thing I don't need this phone or I'd really be ticked. I'm glad I was smart enough to just try to activate this one without trying to transfer my number and minutes from my other tracfone to this new one. I'd be out both phones and all my minutes. Because I'm sure in all of this mess, they would lose whatever minutes I had on my other phone and wouldn't give them back to me.

The Book Hole

I just realized today that I haven't seen some of my Nora Roberts books during the many, many searches I've conducted through all of my storage containers full of books. I think my Roberts books might be with the Family Secrets books.

Missing Books

I started looking at Amazon.com for the books in that series that I'm missing. It's going to cost me a fortune to replace them I think. I want good copies that aren't all bent and torn up. I'm going to wait until after the first of the year to buy them all over again. I have a couple of 5 day weekends coming up by the end of the year and I'll have more time to turn the house upside down looking for them. I really, really hate not being able to find these books. Here's a list of them. I'll probably put them in the side bar until I either find them or buy them again:

Enemy Mind by Maggie Shayne
The Player by Evelyn Vaughn
The Bluewater Affair by Cindy Gerard
Her Beautiful Assassin by Virginia Kantra
A Verdict of Love by Jenna Mills
The Billionaire Drifter by Beverly Bird
Fever by Linda Winstead Jones
Blind Attraction by Myrna Mackenzie
The Parker Project by Joan Elliott Pickart
The Insider by Ingrid Weaver
Check Mate by Beverly Barton

As near as I can remember, A Verdict of Love and the Parker Project aren't necessary to get the full story of the series/theme. There is another book in this series, but I have that one in my hands as we speak so I don't need to list it here.

Il Divo

I guess I'm supposed to know all of these 'popular' songs they are singing in foreign languages on this concert that's airing on PBS. But aside from "Unbreak my Heart", I haven't recognized any of these songs. They could have at least put the song titles at the bottom of the screen.

Really Irritated!

I have searched the house over three times now looking for a whole series of romance novels that I collected back in 2003/04. It's the Family Secrets series. I only have one of them out in the open and I must have put the rest away somewhere. Somewhere really safe and secure since I can't find them anywhere. I guess I'll have to try to find them on the web and replace them all. That's one sure way of finding my set - after I've bought another set of them.

Other things to report today - I'm completely pain free right now. Yay!!! I think my joint pain is pms related since it's gone now. I did have a really bad headache this morning, but after a nap and some snacking on chocolate frosting, the headache went away. I spent most of the day renewing my mcafee virus protection software. I don't know if I was supposed to download the whole thing after I renewed it, but I did.

Last night I spent an hour on the phone with the Tracfone customer support. They finally found out that the phone number they had in their computer for my phone is different from the number that is on my phone. So, they are sending me another sim card. Hopefully that will fix it. Reading up on the web about tracfone, it sounds like this is a very common problem - customers getting phones from retailers and the website that aren't programmed for their area. I missed the second hour of the Celtic Woman concert on PBS over this. At least the phone has the sudoku puzzle game on it even if I can't use it to make calls.

So Far, Saturday

Saturday has been a lazy day so far. I've read a couple of books, opened up my battery charger and have it charging some batteries, searched the web looking for info on my disabled tracfone, and put up my clean dishes from Thanksgiving Dinner. It's sunny out and is supposed to reach about 50 degrees today. Yay!

I felt kinda bad when I got up but the pain diminished quite a bit within a short amount of time.

A Good Book by Helen Brooks

I just read "The Billionaire Boss's Secretary Bride" and it's a very good book. A true romance story. What was the best thing about it? No explicit love scenes. I wish there were more of these kinds of books out there. The LoveInspired line doesn't appear to have any explicit scenes in those books, but you have to be preached to about God. I do have to say that there was a bit too much arguing in the Brooks book, but all in all it was a very nice read. One, I'll read again.

Black Friday

I went to walmart at around 6am this morning and virtually everything was gone, even the stuff that was supposed to be on sale through Saturday. Mom wanted to get a crosscut shredder and we thought since it was a Friday-Saturday sale item that she would be able to go anytime to get one. Well, when I was there early this morning, there were only about 8 left. So, I got one for her. I did manage to find an mp3 player with video capability. So, I bought that - now I have three mp3 players. LOL. I also bought some luggage, but not the set that was on sale. Apparently Walmart never had that in stock. I heard one of the workers telling a customer than no one was ever able to find it. Imagine that. And I bought one of those papasan chairs. I brought it home and set it up and PJ got into it the first thing. That was so cute, seeing her laying in it like a little princess with her front paws crossed.

I took all of that home, with the exception of mom's shredder and then went to mom and dad's and dropped off their shredder. I stayed there while they got ready and went to walmart for their look around. They didn't buy anything worth mentioning. I had to stay there just in case my tracfone was delivered because the fed ex driver required a signature for it. But it didn't come until later in the day. More on that later.

Once mom and dad came back, I left and went to the bank, bought some things at Fruth's, stopped at Rite Aid and then ate lunch at the local Mexican restaurant. That was a nice change because usually I either finish up my shopping and am back home by 9am or I eat at Pizza Hut. After lunch I went to Family Dollar and bought a couple of things and then went back to Walmart for my regular grocery shopping. Some special things I bought there while shopping are a battery charger for AAA batteries (now that I have three mp3 players), some Lock & Lock storage containers, and the one year service cards for the Tracfones. I have two phones and I'm going to keep both active.

Now for the Tracfone story. I got it home and activated it. Or thought I had. I went onto the website to do it and once I thought I had activated it, I went back to the website and found that it said I had pending updates. So, I clicked on the link, ended up entering a code and got an Invalid Code message. The website kept telling me to reenter the code and after doing this three times, my service was disabled. So, I had to call customer service. They couldn't find the solution so they said to wait 24 hours and if the phone wasn't fully activated at that time, to call back and they gave me a call ticket number to use when I call back. It's a good thing I didn't transfer anything over to the new phone because I might be out two phones at this point.

As for Tracfone Customer Service, I could understand the guy very well, even though he had an accent, but it sounded like he was very far away from the phone. I ended up turning up the volume on my phone so I could hear him. Did they solve my problem? I won't know that for 24 hours. There is another number I can call if I wanted to go straight to the top, so to speak, but I thought I would try this number first. It's the direct sales number that was printed on my invoice. Not the number that you find plastered all over the website and in the tracfone info included in the package.

Turkey Day

Well, Thanksgiving Day dinner went very well. The turkey was moist, the noodles were good, the mashed potatoes were non-lumpy. Mom and dad came up just in time for dinner at 11am. They had planned to come earlier, but my uncle Charlie called them as they were getting ready. Mom said she told him that they were coming up here for dinner and he asked "Is she doing the cooking?" LOL ! Apparently, that was something unusual for him - offspring cooking for the parents. The cranberry sauce, the one dish I always ask Dad if it's good, was a little different this year. I added strawberries. Both mom and dad said it was good. The dogs were very, very happy to have company. Even Fritz jumped his front half up into mom's lap for petting and you could tell he was happy and smiling.

We watched the parade and the dog show, napped a little, had some dessert. It was a good day. And it was a warm, sunny day. I love sunny days.

The joint pain I've been experiencing is still there. I've been reading about joint pain on the web and it's apparently a symptom of just about every illness out there. Being active helps it so I've been doing pilates and yoga. And I've been soaking in epsom salt. I don't know if that's helping, but it's supposed to make my skin soft and stuff so I don't mind the soak.

Did I tell you I ordered a new tracfone from their website? I wanted to upgrade to a phone that doesn't have an antenna so I bought a new one. But after reading all of the horror stories about the Tracfone customer service, I don't know if I want to try to transfer my minutes over to the new phone. If the transfer goes okay, there's still a chance the phone will be bad and break. So, I might just activate it and keep both phones active. After a while, I could give the old one to Dad.

I'm planning to go shopping tomorrow. Not at 5am when the Walmart sale starts, but early. I need to go to the bank and do my regular grocery shopping anyway so I might as well see if there are any good buys still out there when I do go out. There isn't too much I'd be interested in buying this year from the ad. The Kitchenaid mixer is a good deal. The flash drives and SD cards are always good buys. I would like to get a Trivial Pursuit game but I don't want the 80s version and the others are too expensive for me to buy (ie don't throw money away on it because it isn't worth it). The 500 threadcount sheet set is a good buy, but I have sheets. I buy the high thread count sheets every year they are on sale. Someone on a website I visit claims the $249 Camcorder is a good sale, but it will probably be gone in less than a minute. The employees will probably take them all like they did the laptops last year. Having said all this, I'm not inspired at all to buy any of this stuff. So, we'll see what I actually come home with. I'd say the items at the top of the list will be Fish Oil supplements and BenGay ointment for my joint pain. LOL! My goal is still to avoid using my credit cards. I've read that the credit score likes it when you charge less than 30% of what you are able to charge and pay it all off at once. Well, I used my credit card back to back, two months in a row and paid it off in full each time so I decided to lay off the credit cards for as long as possible.

An Update

I just got an email from the folks who work with the museum of the Whydah Pirate Ship wreck. He said that they did recover and conserve "an usually fine teapot". Of course they can't say for sure that this is the teapot that Maria gave Black Sam but I would like to think so.

Don't you just love those sweet romance stories? Of course this would be a good feature film. Hugh Jackman would be a good Black Sam.

I Forgot the Noodles

I also make homemade egg noodles for the big family dinners. They are very good. Thick noodles in salty, thickened chicken broth. This year I bought a new stockpot to use for them. I usually borrow mom's stockpot because it's smaller than my very large stockpot I've had for a while. But this year, I bought a pretty, red, enamel coated one at walmart. It was expensive, but I figured the noodles wouldn't stick to the enamel.

Preparing for Dinner

I think I'm done with the grocery-buying for Thanksgiving Dinner. It's at my house this year and I'm doing the cooking. Today I bought the ingredients for Dad's cranberry sauce, the potatoes for mashed potatoes, and vanilla ice cream to go with the frozen chocolate cake I bought last week. Dad's cranberry sauce is homemade, of course. It's pretty easy to do. Mince up about a two cup bag of cranberries, a small can of mandarin oranges, and this year I'm throwing in some strawberries - not too many though. Pour some sugar on all of this (no, Poison didn't sing a cranberry sauce song), add a few drops of lemon juice, a little bit of vanilla, and let sit in the fridge overnight. Stir up and put back in the fridge until just before the big dinner, then serve. As you can tell, I make this the night before. A tip - you can freeze whole cranberries for up to one month. So, I buy two bags now and put one in the freezer to use for Christmas dinner.

The mashed potatoes are made from yukon golds. This is not in keeping with Alton Brown's belief that russets are the best. I was watching Food Network today and he was doing a Q&A on Thanksgiving Dinner and mentioned potatoes. I peel and boil them, then mash them using a Ricer. I hate lumps. Then I add butter and just enough milk to make them a little smooth. I hate runny mashed potatoes so I don't add a lot of liquid. Oh, and I salt them in the boiling stage and probably while I'm stirring them up. Taste as you go along.

The frozen chocolate cake is a Peppridge Farm multi-layer chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. I'm adding the vanilla ice cream to balance out the chocolate. It make be a bit more expensive than making a box-mix chocolate cake with ready-made frosting, but this way I can control the portions. There won't be a lot left over.

I also bought some frozen hot roll dough. I first thought I was going to buy ready-made rolls, but the more I thought about it, the more I thought I could go ahead and bake some. I just hope they rise in this house. I'll have to turn up the thermostat.

Last week I bought the turkey, green beans, gravy, sweet potatoes. I might have to sneak and steal some bacon fat out of mom's larder when I go there tomorrow to put on the green beans. That's how dad likes them. I might have to buy some bacon bits to add to them, but I think I might have bacon bits in the fridge.

I've been having some knee pain lately and I think it's because I've been sitting with my legs crossed. They are usually crossed, either because I have my dinner on my lap or because I have a dog on my lap. And at work, I cross them without thinking about it. My left knee is feeling better, but the right one wasn't feeling good today. I used the heating pad today and will probably do so again before I go to bed.

I went to the store early this morning, as usual, and couldn't believe how cold it was. My hands were completely frozen, i.e. numb. Finally, on my way home, I looked down at my dashboard and saw the temperature outside. 15 degrees!!!!! No wonder I was so freakin' cold. I had the heat in the car turned up to 90. LOL.

I read a new to me Diana Palmer book last night - Rawhide and Lace. It was very good. I think I like Tyson Wade the best of all of her heros. Cash Grier would have to be second now, even though he fell for Tippy and I don't really like her.

I Need Some Help

I was watching National Geographic last night. It was a show about Black Sam Bellamy, a pirate whose ship went down in a storm off the coast of New England way back in the 1700s. As the story goes, Sam fell in love with a lady named Maria. Maria's folks thought he was nice enough but didn't think a sailor would make enough money to provide for Maria so Sam decided to go off to find his fortune. Before leaving for the Caribbean, Sam was given a teapot by Maria - it was a beloved family item. Sam goes off to the Caribbean and becomes a very successful pirate. He was also apparently a democratic leader of sorts and fair minded and didn't kill a bunch of people. When he seized the ship he ended up going down on, he traded his old ship to the newly uprooted crew and captain. That was nice of him. After capturing about 50 ships by the time he turned 29, Sam decided it was time to go home. Possibly to Maria. So, he and his crew makes the trip to New England and apparently ran into a storm which sank the ship and killed all but maybe two people of the crew.

Here's where I need help. I was watching this show and when it got to the point where they were going to talk about how he died, I decided I didn't want to get so depressed over it, so I went to bed. I have one question that never got answered. If anyone out there knows the answer to my question, please post a comment and let me know. My question is: Did they ever find the teapot?

As you know I read romance novels. And the romantic reader in me wants the finders of the wreck to have found Maria's teapot.

Ouch

I woke up at 4am this morning needing to go to the bathroom and found that my ankles hurt, my knees hurt, my arms hurt. I can't believe that all of that was due to the time I spent on the treadmill last night. On the off-chance that I might have been poisoning myself with the poison I had hanging up to kill the moths, I decided to throw the poison out. It's double-bagged in plastic and on its way to be safely disposed of.

We had solid ice on the roads this morning thanks to some snow that fell overnight. The road crews apparently wanted to sleep in or something. I slid a little pulling out onto the road but drove slow and didn't have any other trouble. I was driving the LaCrosse and it didn't have studded tires. My Lumina will be road ready when I get the rear view mirror glued back on the window. The glue I have says it needs to be used in temperatures of 50 degrees to 75. It's quite a bit colder than that right now.

I had a headache slowly getting worse all day today and I finally took some Theraflu around 7pm. I wanted to get rid of the headache.

It's supposed to be pretty cold tonight. I hope my water doesn't freeze. Dad usually stuffs towels and stuff under my garage door when it gets cold, but he hasn't done that.

Update

A quick internet search claims that the oldest known iguana lived 29 years.

Re-reading Merline Lovelace Books

This week I have re-read the Codename Danger Series written by Merline Lovelace. I'm missing the first two books of the series, but put them on my Christmas Wish List. Maybe I'll get lucky and get them for Christmas. Anyway, there are a couple of things that bother me about the series: 1. While the books mention Adam and Maggie often, virtually nothing is said about Paige and David after Maggie's book. I would like to know what happened to them and it would be nice to see them re-appear in another book. A big question is why didn't they have any children other than Nick? 2. I'm having a hard time reconciling the time difference in the books. Elizabeth was old when the books began but she's still the secretary more than 26 years later. And Nick's age doesn't really appear to add up when you try to figure out when Maggie's kids were born. I'm trying to suspend disbelief on that one because you can't let a little thing like that get in the way of a good story. I hope there's going to be more to this series. The latest book, Undercover Wife, suggests that Nick will step down as director of Omega. I hope that doesn't mean the end of the series.

And I need to research iguanas. Can they really live more than 26 years?

Yay it's Friday!!!!

I'm so glad it's Friday. These last couple of days I've been suffering with pulled muscles and I don't know how some of them got that way. The only ones I can account for are the neck muscle and my mouse/telephone elbow pain. The neck I hurt by sleeping wrong on my pillow and the mouse/telephone elbow pain comes from reaching for the computer mouse and holding the phone while I'm talking to mom. The rest of the muscle pain is a mystery. I hope it goes away though.

I have been doing well watching what I'm eating these last three days. I bought that half priced halloween candy on Friday I think and I still have most of my share. I haven't eaten it all yet. And Wednesday evening I even got on the treadmill despite the killer headache I had. I didn't work out last night or tonight because of these pulled muscles. Hopefully I can get back to the treadmill this weekend. My new mp3 player helps a bit.

As you all might know, I've been attempting to follow the I Can Make You Thin plan developed by Paul McKenna. His US website has been offering a message board free to everyone, but on December 1st, people will have to pay and join a club to read and post messages there. Some people who post on that board regularly are a bit upset by this change, but I can see why McKenna would want to start charging the fee. I received an email from his website today explaining what the fee would include and pointing out that some other weightloss websites charge higher fees. If you join Jenny Craig, you pay a fee, if you do the Nutrisystem thing you pay for the food. I think the $14.95 month by month fee isn't a bad deal if they can get the website programming all worked out. I think I read that some people are experience glitches. I don't think I would be joining the 'club' but that doesn't mean that I think it's a bad idea all around. Just not the right thing for me to spend money on.

The moth infestation is, hopefully, gone. I found one dead moth this morning on my dining room hutch. I haven't seen any living ones for a couple of days. I am very happy about that.

I haven't thought about what I might do with my weekend. I have three new books I haven't read yet and I'm re-reading Merline Lovelace books. We're going to start getting snow starting on Sunday. Yuck. I hope there's no accumulation. I don't want to have to start driving my Lumina again, although it's a good car.

Gas prices have fallen to $1.98 a gallon here in my part of WV. It's probably less in other states because WV likes to tax it a lot.

Spending Way Too Much Money

That's me. This Christmas. Actually, it doesn't have to be Christmas related. I just ordered some books from Harlequin for myself and then from Amazon for myself. The other Christmas orders I had planned for. All I wanted was the Johnny Miller autobiography but I ended up with two or three other books to get the free shipping at Amazon.

Mom and Dad made it back from Indiana today. They are tired.

I gave Winnie and PJ a bath today. I'm going to have to get one now that I smell like a wet dog. I have a headache right now that I would love to get rid of. I took some tylenol earlier but it didn't do any good.

I've put some music on my laptop and then downloaded it to my new mp3 player. I hate the time it takes to do that.

Another Day Off

This is the last of my four days off in a row for this week. Yep, I get Veterans Day off so I took Monday off too. I had to go out yesterday to go to the bank thanks to the bank reducing the hours its lobby is open. I finished up my Christmas shopping yesterday and ate too much while I was out. I bought another little MP3 player and I'm planning to put some music on the laptop so I can eventually put them on the MP3 player.

Mom and Dad went out to Indiana yesterday. My uncle Harold, dad's brother, is in the hospital and it isn't looking good for him. Whenever I go on a trip, I always call home to let them know I made it to my destination okay. Mom and Dad? No calls. I tried calling her cell phone and got voicemail. And she says she keeps her phone on. They are planning on coming back today.

Love, Love, Love the Days Off

Another day off today - that was five in a row in case anyone is counting. I need to find a way to keep this going for good.

What did I do today? I vacuumed a bit to get some dog hair out of here. I did some laundry. Dad came up and put the studded tires on my Lumina. He also found out that the rear view mirror fell off the window in the Lumina. I have to get some really strong glue for it. I did the Christmas Shopping for my sister, brother-in-law, niece and nephew. All of the gifts are going to be wrapped and shipped by the online merchant so I don't have to worry about wrapping anything or going to the post office. I also wrapped the presents I had bought for Mom and Dad. I have a couple more things to get for Dad.

Yesterday I read three romance novels. So, I'm almost caught up on those. I have a few that I bought a while ago and never did read. I might have to get them out of storage and read them.

I still haven't balanced my checkbook yet. It's amazing how I can always find something to do to put off the checkbook.

A Warm Sunday

Today has been very warm for a November day. Over 70 degrees. I went out and walked for about an hour I think. That was after I went to bed for an hour trying to get rid of a headache. I had taken two tylenol at Mom and Dad's then took two more a couple hours later along with otc sinus medication and a headache pill that had caffeine in it. I went to bed where it was dark and covered up my head. Keeping my head warm seems to help sometimes. So, within about an hour, I had gotten rid of the headache. Yay!!

I was thinking about getting an Ipod but only if I could put video on it - like golf that I record from tv. Well, I played around with my laptop and found out that I can't copy dvds on the laptop. So, there's no reason to get the Ipod now. I don't need to carry around music to listen to. In order to use my laptop I would have to get some kind of decoder or something and even if I get that, it still might not work. So, I'm not going to worry about it. I don't need to spend money on that stuff anyway.

I still have moths. I hope they aren't coming from inside the ceiling because there's no way I can get rid of them if they are. I would just have to keep killing them when I see them. I'm not calling an exterminator.

Dad put air in my car tires today. They are supposed to have 32 pounds in them and he filled them to about 36 to 37. The car drove a bit differently with all of that air in them. They did have about 25 to 26 in them.

It looks like it's going to be another warm day tomorrow. Hopefully, I will be able to spend some time outside. Hopefully I won't get another headache.

My Thumb Hurts

Dad and I put plastic over my house windows today to prepare for the cold winter temperatures. We use thumbtacks to tack the plastic up inside the family room. Well, my thumb really, really hurts now because of having to push the tacks into the walls. It's so bad that I can barely use my tv remote. It really sucks that something is interfering with my tv viewing.

I washed some of the walls and cabinets today with some spicNspan. I have a moth infestation in the house and I figured if I washed the walls and cabinets I might get rid of some of them. Hopefully that works because I'm really tired and sore now from all of that work. I also dusted my dining room chairs today. I was going to do the buffet and hutch but I quit. I walked down to the mailbox to get my mail and after that I was done. I think I might be done for the rest of my little vacation. Laundry and dishes might be the only other work I do.

I made some brownies this morning. I tried a box mix by that Ghirardelli Chocolate company. It's so rich it made me sick. I gave the rest of the brownies to Mom and Dad.

I'm being reminded everywhere to turn my clocks back. I hope I remember.

The dogs were very happy to see Dad today. They all climbed on him and kissed him. He needs to come up more often. They miss him.

Another Day of Shopping

I took today off from work, so I went shopping again. Boy am I tired. I started out at around 6:45am and didn't get home until 3pm. I did my grocery shopping first. Came home and put the groceries away and then went out to the bank to get some money and then went to P-burg to shop. I went to a pet store and bought a couple of toys for the puppies. Winnie has wanted the little piggy thing that my sister got me for my blue bag I take to work. Every day she gets in the chair and stares at it. So, I found a piggy toy at the pet store and figured it might work as a substitute. I gave it to her tonight and she played a lot with it. Then I went to K-Mart and spent a bunch of money. I bought two coats, a pair of shoes, a rug for my car, two packs of puppy pads, a bag of doggie treats and I think that might be it. The coats are men's coats. They seem to be thicker than women's coats. The shoes are brown which will match my brown pants. The puppy pads are cheaper there at K-Mart than they are here in my town. And the doggie treats were on sale. Oh, and I bought two more doggie toys for the puppies. After K-Mart I went to the Dollar Zone store and got a heck of a deal on a baby blanket I bought for the puppies. The price tag said $5.00 but the lady at the register charged me $1 for it. I also got the puppies a couple more toys there.

Time for lunch and I went to a Pizza Hut. I wanted some breadsticks. Unfortunately, these weren't very good. They were all dried out. The waitress was very good. She brought me a second drink without even asking if I wanted one. So, she got a $3.00 tip.

After lunch I went to Borders Bookstore. I had never been there before today. It's a nice store. The golf books were out of order and intermixed with other sports books. I didn't buy any books there but I did find these very, very cute little pink pigs that have magnets in them. I have the pigs on my fridge. Big Lots was next on the list of stores to visit and I didn't really find anything there I wanted. I ended up buying some orange smelling bathstuff.

After Big Lots I drove back to my home town and stopped at the Rite Aid to get a reload pack for my prepaid Mastercard. I was also looking for a certain type of Theraflu which apparently no store wants to sell. So, I got the Rite Aid version.

I went home after that and put some of my purchases away. I didn't finish the job because I had to wash my car. This might be the last good car-washing day I get until next April.

So, you can see I was on the go pretty much all day. I'm happy to finally sit down and do nothing.

Walmart and Krogers employees dressed up for Halloween today. It was interesting to walk in the stores and see the employees.

I think I'm done with the shopping trips. At least for a year or so. It's much easier to buy the stuff online and not leave the house.

I don't have to go back to work until Wednesday so I'm going to enjoy my nice long break.

I Don't Like the Cold

It's gotten pretty chilly around here lately. Earlier in the week, my employer held an Appreciation event in a park next to a river and we all had to attend. It was freezing. Barely 58 degrees by the end of the day and we had to be there at 11:30am - when it was much colder. I loaned a pair of gloves to a co-worker and wore a pair myself. That co-worker also brought a blanket and wrapped up in it during the event. This shows I work for a bunch of idiots. Managers claimed that the majority voted to have this outside. Hah! I doubt that. Oh and the most idiotic part - an egg toss game. They wanted us to pair up and toss unboiled eggs at each other until they broke. It was freezing cold and the only sink available to wash hands was in the very dirty park bathroom that only had toilet paper with which to dry your hands. Someone handed me an egg and when I figured out what they were doing, I said "oh no. I'm not doing that." and put the egg down on a table. I then made it look like I was busy doing other things so I couldn't be roped into participating. My boss won two awards at the event: King Macho and King Boss. Boy do they fit. If they had a King Ego award, he would have gotten that one too.

On a related note, I've had bad sinus problems all week. Killer headaches that just wouldn't go away, even when I took OTC cold/sinus medicine. Today after I took my nap, I stayed in bed and covered my head up, hoping that the warmth would move the sinus around. This sinus has worn me out. All week, I've been very tired. I think I fight the headaches at night in my sleep and I don't sleep that soundly. The last couple of days, I've been going to bed at about 8:30pm.

I'm looking forward to another round of shopping next Friday. I've got a five day weekend coming up and I can't wait. There were some stores I didn't get to visit the last time I went shopping and I'm hoping to get to them this time.

Today, I saved $9.44 buying food on sale at Krogers. Granted, most of it I didn't need and only bought because it was on sale, but I'll use it.

My sister emailed her family's Christmas Wish List to mom earlier this week. Mom forwarded it to me but I haven't had a chance to really look at it. I got it on a day when my headache was really bad and I just couldn't spend too much time looking at a computer screen. Mom has already picked out a few things on the list, so I plan to look at it tomorrow while I'm at mom's and check out what's left. I need to finish up my Wishlists and email them to Mom and my sister. If I'm feeling good I might do that this weekend.

I'm thinking I should drag out some vampire/werewolf/witch romance novels out of my storage boxes to read this coming week, in honor of Halloween. Right now I'm reading Diana Palmer books, although I did by a new book today at Walmart that isn't a Palmer book. It's a romantic suspense book.

A Very Short Weekend

I don't like these 2 day weekends. Maybe the Presidential candidates can promise me a 4 - 8 hour a day work day for the same pay I get now.

Yesterday I had to sew a pillow cover for the puppies' dog bed. They had torn a hole, well three holes, in the pillow and have been having fun for about a month pulling out the stuffing. So, I made a cover for it yesterday out of red and yellow fabric - the colors of the Spanish flag.

Today, the puppies went to their grandparents' house for their weekly visit. I made biscuits and peanut butter fudge, both of which are still in the kitchen. I haven't eaten it all yet - good for me. I took the puppies out when it got warm enough and hooked them up to the tie-out stake I have. I bought cords made for 10 pound dogs so it was easier for them to move around. I stayed out there with them and tried to get them to come to me when I called them. After they had their time out in the sun, I brought them in and gave them a bath. I managed to wrestle PJ down in the baby tub and cut the nails on two of her paws.

And I've been working on my Christmas Wish List. It's been very hard to find items under $10.00. As I've said before on the blog, I make two lists, one for mom and one for my sister and include items of varying prices so they have a choice and don't have to spend a lot of money to get me something I will like. Most of the lists so far include books and dvds. When I get them finalized I'll email them to mom and my sister. Different items on each list so there's no danger of getting two of something.

I also did a bit of Christmas shopping today. While I've been looking at Amazon.com for Christmas Wish List ideas, I found a book for me and a couple of things for Mom for Christmas. I'm having everything shipped to Mom's house because the mail carrier and the UPS/Fedex people never can find my house and my packages end up at the neighbors and I might never get them. I still think the neighbor would have kept my I Can Make You Thin cds if I hadn't made an effort to go look for them.

Archway Cookies Files for Bankruptcy

I was very surprised to see a sign at my local grocery store informing the customers that Archway Cookies has gone out of business. These cookies were one of those products that, as I was growing up, we could only afford as a special treat. Otherwise, we bought the generic brand of chocolate chip and the like. And even as an adult that spending habit continued. I don't think I bought more than a couple of packages of Archway cookies in the last 5 years. I bought a package tonight. It's sad that the company had to file for bankruptcy because the cookies are very, very good. I read that the company started in the 1930s as a mom and pop operation. A true American tale of success only to be undone by rising food and gas prices. Thanks Congress and the Executive branch for helping to create the global food and energy crisis that has contributed to the demise of this American company. The candidates for President talk about job creation here at home to help stimulate the economy. They make promises about what they will do if they are president. Well, judging by what they've done in Congress (or more to the point what they haven't done), I don't think either one of them will do anything but make things worse. I do think McCain will hurt the country less, but I don't have much hope for either one. It's a shame that the candidates talk about creating jobs when they are allowing the jobs we already have to disappear. Talk about being out of touch with the American people.

One More Day

I have one more day off and I'm going to enjoy it. It's been sunny and in the 80s here and I've been out in it. There won't be many of these good days left before winter gets here so I'm going outside as much as I can.

I cut up the cake and found some square gladware containers to put it in. I've been eating the cake according to the I Can Make You Thin rules and it's been going well.

Winnie and I were watching Animal Planet last night and they had some chihuahuas on there. Winnie paid close attention to them. That was cute.

Here's a diet tip for you: get a lapdog. Winnie lays on my lap all the time and keeps me from going anywhere, let alone to the kitchen to get something to eat or drink. And when I am out of my chair, she's in it, waiting for me.

There was a quote on my laptop's homepage the other day that I thought was interesting. Here it is:

We are alone, absolutely alone on this chance planet: and, amid all the forms of life that surround us, not one, excepting the dog, has made an alliance with us. - Maurice Maeterlinck

A Week

I've been following the I Can Make You Thin plan for a week now! Instead of talking about it, I just did it. Yay for me! Today after work I had to stop at the store to get some milk. I had also been wanting chocolate chip cookies for a few days after reading in a romance novel about a housekeeper and a little girl making cookies. So, I bought some refrigerated cookie dough tonight as well. And I also bought orange sweet rolls in a Pilsbury can and a 2 layer 8 inch chocolate cake from the bakery section of the store - it was marked half off. I know you're thinking that I've blown the diet, but I haven't. I made the cookies, ate just 6 of them and got sick. So, now I don't want the rest of them. I just stuck them in the freezer. Usually I would eat them all and be sick too and then ask myself why I ate them all. So, this is progress. I don't know how to freeze the cake. I want to cut it up into pieces, but I don't have containers that will hold a slice of cake like that. I told my mom that I might just have to squish the cake in the round containers and forget about trying to keep it in picture perfect cake form. I haven't eaten any of the cake yet, which is also great for me. And the sweet rolls are still in the can.

I have Monday off for Columbus Day. I'm excited about my three day weekend. I hope to watch some golf this weekend. I recorded the European Tour event and I think I've mentioned on here that I never watch anything I record so I really want to make a special effort to watch this recording, otherwise it will just sit around collecting dust. And I don't want that to happen. PJ's honorary daddy, Jose Maria Olazabal, should be on the dvd somewhere.

Winnie and PJ got to go outside for a walk this evening. Winnie wanted to go yesterday but we had some rain on Wednesday and I didn't want to take the puppies out if it was still wet and soggy out.

A woman at work opened her home to a Boxer that her kids found and brought home. It's a well trained puppy and it's the 5th dog for this family. She said she was going to have to get a second job to feed him because he eats a lot. She thinks he's been without food for a while. I had several bags of dog food that the puppies would only eat a few bites out of and then never eat any again, so I took it all to work and gave it to my co-worker. I'm all for anyone keeping the pets they find instead of taking them to the pound. The pound told my co-worker that she could bring the dog to them, they would keep it for 5 days and if no one claimed it, they would put it up for adoption and she could adopt him (for a big fee). Well, she's got him now free and clear and if she wanted to find the owner, she could advertise for free on the local radio. And the pound told her that they preferred that the dog have his shots before she brought him to the pound. If she's going to pay to get his shots, she might as well keep him. Plus, a while back, when the pound was under different management, there was a letter to the editor in the local paper recounting a woman's experience with the pound. She too found a couple of dogs on the Interstate and took them to the pound. The pound told her too that she could adopt them after 5 days. Well she and her daughter went to the pound within two days to check on the dogs and the pound had killed them. They didn't even wait 5 days for anyone to inquire about them. I am 100% against our local shelter now because of this and I don't care that the woman who was in charge during this time is no longer there. I can't trust them anymore to do the right thing for those innocent little animals.

American Express Business Card Commercial

I have a bone to pick over this credit card commercial with the guy at the airport who has a credit card with cats on it. My point: If the guy's business was a pet-related one, then that credit card would fit right in with it.

First Two Days of my Little Vacation

Yesterday - went shopping. Bought some clothes, a Christmas present for Mom and Dad, and some odds and ends at KMart for me and the dogs. Today, I dyed my hair, took a nap, rolled up some pennies, sorted some books and put them into plastic storage containers, took the puppies outside for a walk - PJ has outgrown her harness. Luckily I have extras of different designs and sizes so she could still go out. I washed the clothes I bought yesterday and washed my dishes. And I read a book. I usually don't read the new books I buy because I usually read at work and in order to read at work, I have to be able to put the book down after my 15 minute breaks and lunch and get back to work. So, for that reason, I read books at work that I've already read before so I can put them down easier.

I like these days off. I need to take more of them.

AdAware

I downloaded Adaware onto my lap top since I didn't have a malware program other than whatever good my virus software does. I think it screwed up my Internet Explorer settings somehow. I deleted a bunch of crap on my laptop using adaware and then tonight I tried to come here to this create a post screen and couldn't get in because it said my cookies function had been disabled. I didn't do anything to IE and the only new thing I've done to the computer is the Adaware. Must be them. I had to reset my security settings to low to get to post to the blog.

I have four whole days off in a row starting tomorrow. I'm excited. I'm going shopping tomorrow. Usually when I go shopping I end up not buying a darn thing. But this time, I'm telling myself that I'm doing Christmas shopping for Mom and Dad so hopefully I will make the trip worthwhile and buy something.

I've finally turned the furnace on today. I picked up PJ and put her on my lap and her little paws were like ice cubes. So, I wiped off all of the vents, replaced the filters and turned the furnace on. At first, the furnace kicked on at 62 degrees. I left it there for a while but turned it up to about 68 later on. 62 is pretty cold. In the winter that would be freezing. The puppies got warm by laying on my lap when I talked to Mom tonight. They warmed me too.

We had a bake sale at work to benefit a co-worker's retirement party. I made peanut butter fudge and no bake cookies. Both sold out quickly. This one coworker liked the fudge so much she bought about half of the batch.

Announcement

Just so everyone knows, I subscribe to Dish Network because of the Golf Channel. NOT because of this crappy All Barack Obama Channel that has shown up on my program guide. I don't support Obama. I can see how the political spin doctors will claim that all Dish Network subscribers support him though since his channel is being sent out to everyone's tvs. Or at least to mine. I don't know what package it's been included in. Dish Network doesn't allow us an A la Carte option to pick only the channels we want. So we get stuck with whatever they give us.

Long Time, No Updates

Well, the I Can Make You Thin plan has been pretty absent from my days lately. It started with the Ryder Cup. I ate everything in the house because I was worried about the European Team. I'm slowly trying to get back into it. Tonight I went out and walked for about a half an hour. It's getting cooler here now that it's almost October.

More bad news family wise - my grandfather Wolfe passed away on Monday. Mom and Dad went to the visitation last night but Mom wasn't feeling up to going to the funeral today. Not in the missing grandpa way but in the physical, sore feet and legs way. Grandpa's obituary was in the paper today and it noted that there were 19 grandchildren. It's a sad commentary on the family dynamics that I can only identify 12 of them.

I'm looking forward to next week as I've got Thursday and Friday off next week. I can't wait. I haven't had an extra day off (other than Labor Day) since I went to the golf tournament at the end of July.

I've been doing a lot of Sudoku puzzles lately. They are sort of addictive, especially for a numbers girl like me. Hopefully, I can do those puzzles instead of eating.

Busy Day

I did my laundry today and vacuumed some of the rooms in the house. Then I went outside and cleaned out the flowerbed and trimmed some bushes and trees up. I also walked a couple of times today, once after lunch and once after dinner. I did some yoga too. This was on top of taking the puppies to mom and dad's this morning.

I listened to some of the mind programming sessions on my I Can Make You Thin cds. I have one mind programming cd I listen to at night, but it's been a while since I listened to these other ones.

We're supposed to get wind gusts of up to 30 mph or higher tonight until 9pm. There are a couple of trees belonging to the neighbor that have been leaning over my driveway onto the phone line. Maybe the wind will bring the trees on down and dad can cut them out of the way. I just hope if they do come down, I won't end up being late for work.

Sort of Busy, sort of not

I did a few things today, but I can't say I did a whole lot. I went to the store, made some sausage stuffing (I have about 10 one cup servings in the freezer to eat later), made outfits for Winnie and PJ, washed my dishes, and vacuumed my car's floor mat. That's about it.

I had to make the outfits for Winnie and PJ - they are inspired by the European Ryder Cup team flag (golf). Sergio Garcia and Jose Maria Olazabal are part of the team this year and they will be playing this coming week in Kentucky. Sergio and Jose Maria are Winnie and PJ's honorary daddies. I think the outfits turned out well considering I broke two needles on my machine and stuck myself about three times. Oh, and Winnie bit me when I tried to take the outfit off. I would post pictures of them here, but it took me about an hour to get them posted on my golf blog - blogger is acting up. So, if you want to see Winnie and PJ in their Ryder Cup outfits, check out the Even Par Round blog - link's over in the side bar.

I've been watching a lot of the Military Channel on tv lately. I haven't seen many of those shows before, but I'm starting to run into re-runs so I will probably have to find something else to watch soon. Today I actually watched the Miss Venezuela pageant on some Spanish channel. Pretty hair, pretty dresses, and a lot of crowns. They must really like their pageants in Venezuela. I think I saw on some travel show that they take it seriously down there.

As for the I Can Make You Thin plan, I'm still on it. I did eat a bit too much stuffing today, but I wasn't stuffed. Just somewhere between full and stuffed. I consider that a success. Before the plan, I probably would have eaten one more plateful. And after eating the stuffing, I followed the rules and didn't eat again until I was hungry - or in my case, a weird feeling tummy that felt like food would make it settle. It had been about 5 and a half hours so I considered it 'hungry'.

In Memory

This morning, Steffi, my oldest chihuahua, passed away. She was my dog from the start, laying up against me as a puppy and yelping whenever I left her even for a second. We had 16 years with Steffi and she will be missed.

Back on the Plan

I've been back on the I Can Make You Thin plan for about 6 days now. I couldn't work out any this week because my left knee was bothering me. Then when it got to feeling better, the right one started feeling bad. I finally got to work out today. I have two sort-of goals in mind - thirty days without going off the plan and following the plan 90% of the time. So, we'll see if I can follow through with either one.

I bought the first season of Burn Notice on dvd earlier this week. I've never seen the show but I like the guy who plays the lead character. He was in the Pretender. I found time to watch a couple of the episodes today and it's a pretty good show.

A Big Purchase

Well, I bought a big tv today. It's big to me, but probably small to some people out there. It's a 37 inch Sharp LCD HDTV. West Virginia has a no sales tax week going on this week so I got out of paying about $48.00 of tax by buying the tv today. I've been watching Sergio Garcia, Rafael Nadal and a bunch of other stuff today and boy is it all difference.

I'm still off the plan. Tomorrow, I will be back on it. I go back to work tomorrow and it will be easier.

Steffi still isn't eating anything. I offered her three kinds of meat and catfood tonight and she wouldn't eat any of it.

Off the Wagon

Well, I'm off the I Can Make You Thin plan for yesterday and today. I don't know why either when the plan gives me everything I would want. I think part of the problem was weighing myself. I saw that I'd lost weight and in my mind, I'm now thinking that I'm done for some reason. When the whole idea about this plan is that you're never done because you're creating new habits for a lifetime.

Tomorrow I will probably be buying a new tv. West Virginia is having a Sales Tax Holiday for the first week of September on anything that has the EnergyStar symbol on it. So, I'm thinking about getting a HDTV. The one I'm looking at is 37 inches big and I would be saving about $48 by not paying sales tax. I don't need a big tv since I sit pretty close to the one I've got now.

Steffi hasn't been eating well. Yesterday she didn't eat anything and today she's only had a little bit of catfood. I've tried everything: chicken, turkey and bologna.

I got the new Diana Palmer book this week and I've already read it about three times. It is a much better book than some of the more recent offers from her. But I still have a problem with the main characters coming from abusive or disadvantaged backgrounds. There has to be some other way to create obstacles between the male and female characters than to have the abuse be what keeps them apart.

Two Week Check-in

Today is my every two week weigh-in as part of the I Can Make You Thin system. Good news. In two weeks, I've lost 8 pounds! This is the easiest weightloss plan there is. Everyone should try it. Check out McKenna.Com for more info.

Curse NBC

I can only see rhythmic gymnastics once every four years. Contrastly, I'm going to be bombarded with images of the Presidential candidates and their running mates every single day for the next two months or more. What does NBC do during the rhythmic gymnastics coverage today? They cut away to show Obama and Biden. You know what's worse? The NBC Nightly news is supposed to be on today. Brian Williams couldn't wait two or three hours to put Obama and Biden on his show. This whole running mate thing was on MSNBC all morning long. There really was no reason to interrupt the Olympics on NBC for it. I think they did take the Olympics off MSNBC.

So far, so good

I'm still following the I Can Make You Thin system. A package of chips ahoy soft chocolate chip cookies has lasted me pretty much all week. I've been able to stop at 4 or 5 for a snack and haven't had that "eat them all now and you can start the diet again tomorrow" thought. I'm also doing some yoga most days. I think I'm going to end up taking today off from exercise. It is Friday and I have to celebrate the weekend somehow.

I've had that Leona Lewis song, Bleeding Love, in my head all day today after hearing it on the radio this morning. I have a feeling I'm going to end up buying that cd just for that song. It would have to be just for that song since I don't think I've heard any of her other ones.

The laptop is still working pretty well. I hope it continues.

As for the Olympics, those Chinese gymnasts do look like 12 year olds so I hope the investigation that seems to be in the works will result in some kind of action. Part of the Olympic spirit comes from following the rules and being honorable. I would like to see more rhythmic gymnastics. I don't know when it's on or if it's done. I get stuck watching water polo and of course they have to have boxing on every day for two solid weeks. But then, in a world of violence like we have on Earth, I shouldn't be surprised that there would be so many people wanting to beat each other up.

Quick Update

I'm still following the I Can Make You Thin system. I've been at it for 11 days now :)

I realized last night that I lost some email addresses when I lost my desktop pc. So, along with the screensaver I really liked, I lost those too.

The laptop still hasn't crashed. Maybe using it as often as I do is keeping dust from collecting inside. Who knows.

I've been watching the Olympics whenever possible. I don't know what I'm going to do in the mornings when there's no Olympics on. I guess I'll go back to watching QVC.

My Week

My desktop pc crashed and I think it's for good. I turned it on this morning and after pushing some buttons I got a message that the computer couldn't find the hard drive. I have no idea how I could fix that so I took the pc out of the living room and cleaned off my desk for my laptop. I'm going to loan my flat panel monitor to Mom.

Steffi's eating a little bit these days. Winnie, PJ and Fritz are about the same.

I'm thinking about getting a flat screen hdtv during the first week of September. There's supposed to be a sales tax free holiday for energy star products and that should include some tvs. It would be nice to avoid paying 6% sales tax.

My house is being swarmed by gnats, flies, bees and other bugs. Thanks to dad's peach trees which are shedding their peaches at a very fast rate. They all fall down right next to the porch and the steps and then I and the dogs have to fight the bugs. Today I raked the peaches and dead leaves and stuff away from the porch. Hopefully that will help some.

I've been following the I Can Make You Thin system for a week now. I have some things I need to improve on, but I haven't eaten recreationally at all this week. And I've gotten some exercise. I recorded some yoga episodes from tv to follow along with in the evenings. I also do some walking outside.

I don't know what to think about the mail carrier. For three straight days I didn't get any mail and that's unusual. I usually get at least some address labels from charities wanting me to donate.

Crashed

My desktop pc has crashed again. Usually, I can unplug it from the power source and after a bit, plug it back in and it will work. But that didn't fix it this time. I'm using my laptop tonight to surf the net. I will either have to buy a new desktop or spend the money I would spend on a new desktop and buy a new laptop. Remember, this laptop crashes too. But, knock on wood, it's been on for about 3 and a half hours and it hasn't crashed yet.

I Got My Cds

Well, I got my I Can Make You Thin cds sometime on Friday and I didn't notice because whoever left them at my house, put them on a white fence post and the box was white. I didn't see the box until Saturday morning when I looked out the window. I guess I should say I'm determined and committed to following through with the program. The program contains an instruction to take a 'before' picture of yourself. That would be motivation enough to stick with it for the 90 days I'm supposed to record my efforts in the 'Success Journal'. There's no way I would take a picture like that for nothing. I'd better have a good reason.

I'm watching a lot of QVC and the Olympics lately. But yesterday, I did a lot of little things around the house that needed done. I finally unpacked my luggage from my trip to Akron and cleaned off the porch to the house. It was nice not having to go anywhere yesterday.

Sorry, So Sorry

That's what the post office people said today. They didn't say they would try to find the package. In fact, they expect me to call the mail carrier and try to track down the package myself. That would be fine if I was the one who lost it, but I wasn't. I shouldn't have to do the extra work to find it. Whatever happened to people trying to do their jobs right? Did that go out of style with the people of my parents' generation?

Darn the Post Office!

The US Mail carrier today left a note in my mailbox that said my package was too large to put in the box so she left it at my front door. Well, there was no package at all anywhere at my house. I asked the neighbors and they hadn't seen a package either. So, now I have to go to the post office tomorrow after work and complain.

I have had it with shoddy delivery people. From now on, everything I order will be sent to Mom and Dad's house.

Oh, and there's more bad luck today - I opened a new half-gallon of milk tonight that had a sell by date of 8/15/08 on it, and it poured out like cottage cheese. That was a complete waste. The company was Broughtons, in case anyone was wondering.

Back From My Trip

Well, I got back on Friday evening. Had a lot of fun, saw all my favorite golfers and discovered that Ohio has a lot of plants I'm apparently allergic to. I posted a diary on the Even Par Round blog so if you want to check it out, the link's in the sidebar.

The puppies had fun with dad but there on the last day dad couldn't get pj to eat. She had just decided she didn't want what he was feeding her. She wasn't sick or anything. I tried feeding her bologna and she would spit it out. She just didn't want it. She wanted Steffi's turkey.

On Vacation and Out of Town

As of 4pm this past Friday, I was on vacation and as of about 7am tomorrow I will be out of town. I'm going to Akron, Ohio to see a golf tournament. Monday I will try to go to the zoo up there and check out a mall, but on Tuesday I will be at the tournament watching all the golfers. I'm very excited about my trip. This will be the second time I've gone to the tournament and the first that I've checked out the zoo and the mall. I'm hoping the zoo is open tomorrow. There's nothing on their website that says they might be closed. I'll also be able to try out the Onstar directions thing. While I was at mom and dad's this morning, I got google map directions to and from all the places so with those and Onstar hopefully I won't get lost. I will be out of town until Friday evening. I plan to be back around 9 to 10pm.

Other news: Steffi was up begging for food tonight and she not only ate her turkey, she ate a half a slice of bologna and some cat food. Good for her.

Dad is going to be dogsitting for me while I'm gone this week. The puppies will be so fat when I get home. Hopefully dad can do some things around the house and the farm while he's here. He does have plans to fill in some holes in the driveway.

When I get back from my trip, I'll try to download some pictures and post them here and on my golf blog.

I've been watching a lot of QVC lately. I don't buy anything, but I'm in a shopping mood.

The puppies got baths yesterday and I tried to cut some of their nails. PJ squirmed a lot and Winnie started growling after I got two of her nails. And earlier in the week, they had to go get their booster shots. They somehow acquired tapeworms and had to have medicine and an extra shot for that. We don't have fleas in the house so they must have picked one up on one of their walks outside.

Well, gotta go. I've got some packing to do........

Puppies' Day Out

Winnie and PJ had a lot of fun exploring more of mom and dad's house today. Mom put the gate up to block them from going into the kitchen but let the puppies go into the room where the computer is and into their bedroom where Dad was still sleeping. They barked at him and played and eventually he got up.

I found four of the kids' socks under the couch at mom and dad's today. Three of them didn't match. And I gave dad what I bought him yesterday at Walmart: the movie Anger Management on DVD. He's been looking for that movie for months every time he goes to Walmart and yesterday I saw it. So, I got it for him.

It's been a hot day and I think it's going to be hot all week. I might have to stop at Walmart on my way home tomorrow and get some ice cream. I have some in the freezer but I don't think it will last me all week.

Well, this time next week, I'll be making my final preparations for my vacation: my trip to Akron Ohio to see the Bridgestone Invitational Golf tournament. I'm planning to try to go to the zoo up there on Monday next week.

Ugh

Once again, I've eaten way too much. You would think after a few times like this I would catch on. But no.

I finally got my checkbook balanced. I've been putting it off for a while. Today in the mail I got a survey from Buick to fill out regarding my car buying experience. I'm going to think about it before I fill it out. Other dealerships won't give their salesmen a commission if that survey doesn't have 'fully satisfied' marked on every question. So, it's important to put a lot of thought in the answers.

Steffi pretty much gobbled up some shaved turkey I had in the freezer last night for supper. She had runny poo this morning, which I'm guessing is because of the change in diet. But, if she'll eat turkey, I'll feed her turkey. I bought some more today when I went to the store.

There's a big tv in the family room that dad brought up a while back. Right now, it's only picking up local channels with the use of rabbit ears. Since the puppies have taken over the big bedroom where I used to do pilates, I thought I would hook up my dvd player to the family room tv and work out in there. Unfortunately, this tv doesn't have anything to hook the dvd player up to. It's that old. So, I had to not only move my dvd player into the family room, but the tv it was hooked up to - my little 13 inch tv. Today I bought one of those 10 minute solution dvds for pilates. I tried one of the workouts and it's something that I'll have to practice I think.

Guess what - the Fed Ex driver found my house today. The package had my address on it and it came to my address. But it had some other woman's name on it. It wasn't my package. There's a handwritten number on the package to an antiques shop that's close to where I live. I think I'll call that number on Monday and see if they know who this woman is and if I can leave the box with them.

Off His Meds

Well, today, according to mom, dad went out for hours playing with his 4 wheeler and his lawn mower instead of helping with the kids. And then Jasmine did the unacceptable and dared to fall asleep and Dad came in, woke her up out of a sound sleep by yelling at her and then used very naughty language. I talked to her for a half an hour tonight on the phone and by the end of it she was telling me about her dreams and about the cats.

Dad has gotten crazy since he retired. It's like he doesn't have to conform to society's rules anymore so he doesn't and he thinks whatever he wants and says whatever he wants. He and I were at the dealership buying my car and he saw a short bald man in the hallway - dad said "there's a leprechaun. Rub his head for luck." And he didn't whisper that either. Of course, dad also has to take quite a few different medications for all of his ailments and I'm sure they affect his behavior.

It makes you want to take very good care of yourself so you don't end up with all those medical problems when you get old.

On a different note - Steffi has been begging for food lately. She's been up and active and wagging her tail. I am pretty shocked. Her poo has been runny but she's been eating.

Tonight starts the new episodes of Top Gear on BBC America. They are previously aired episodes from England but they are new to us here in the US. I have my dvd recorder ready to record the new episodes. I had to push an extra button or two because Timmy had gotten ahold of my dvd recorder when he was up here on Saturday.

I went out and walked tonight after supper. I'm trying my best to only eat when I'm hungry - following the I Can Make You Thin system. But it's been a challenge tonight. Part of the reason is this headache I have. I took tylenol and sinus pills so hopefully it will go away. But I always eat when I don't feel well, thinking that food will make the headache go away or whatever's wrong fixed. It's not that logical but a lot of what people think can't be called logical.

I watched the first hour of the Miss Universe pageant last night. I thought Miss USA would have trouble because it didn't look like she was walking all that gracefully during the swimsuit competition. And I was right. I read online earlier that she tripped on her evening gown. I was hoping Miss Australia would win. I liked her. But it was Miss Venezuela who took home the crown. That could also be why I have this headache. Not enough sleep. I don't think I got very much sleep at all last night.

The Onstar people sent me a plastic card to carry around with me. It has my account number, VIN number, and car phone number on it. I plan on using Onstar when I go on my vacation in a couple of weeks. I can get turn by turn directions to the zoo in Akron and to my hotel. I'm starting to look forward to my trip with great anticipation. Mom is too. It will be a vacation away from dad for her since he'll be up here dogsitting.

To Heck in a Handbasket

That's what's happened to the I Can Make You Thin system these last two days. I have been more than stuffed from eating way too much pizza. But I think I'm done now for a while.

Today I had mom, dad, and the kids up for lunch. I went out and got Pizza Hut, but I was good - I only bought one medium pizza, two orders of breadsticks and an order of those new Chocolate Dunkers. So, there's virtually no leftovers. Well, not since I ate the last breadstick and slice of pizza. I still have the chocolate Dunkers. They are good, but they are way too chocolatey. They might make you sick if you ate all of them. The kids are something else. Timmy dropped his pizza on the floor and Fritz ate it. Winnie didn't get as upset today as she did the first time they were here. Dad took Jasmine outside to play and Timmy stayed in the house. He watched some cartoons and played with one of my books. I tried to get the book away from him but he looked like he was about to launch into a royal fit so I let him carry it around. He mostly just carried it. I did manage to get him to sit down for a while and we went through his Winnie the Pooh coloring book and he told who everyone was and spelled out all the words in the book. In an attempt to tire him out I put him on my treadmill and we played. He would walk on it for a while then stop and glide to the end of it. Then I would pick him up and swing him back to the front of the treadmill and he would glide back again. I bought them a couple of cups that had built in straws and lids when I was at walmart this morning. They were only $0.50 each and I had mom take them home with her. She told me that Jasmine spilled a whole cup of tea on her (mom's) the other night. Maybe these cups won't spill too badly.

Better and Worse

Well, things were better tonight when I called mom. She and Dad have apparently asserted their authority over the grandkids. The worse part? That was work. My co-worker has had it worse than me this week, but we're both very, very tired of the bureaucracy. You know the type - you spend three days rehashing something that you spent 45 minutes a month ago doing instead of spending those three days getting more work done. A pox on them all, as they say in artsy theatric productions.

I found a new book to read at walmart this morning. It sounds pretty good but I haven't started reading it yet. I might read it this weekend. It's called Always a Thief and it's by Kay Hooper. I don't know if I've ever read any of Hooper's books before. She apparently wrote some romances so I might have read some of them.

I looked up the Akron Zoo on the web tonight. I'm going to the golf tournament up there at the end of the month and while I can get into the tournament starting on Tuesday of that week, I am also taking Monday of that week off. I thought I could go up early on that Monday and check out the zoo. I shouldn't get lost with my Onstar Turn by Turn directions - LOL. I might get some directions off the web just in case. Don't be surprised if I come back and tell you all that I've applied for a job cleaning out the lion cage or something. At this point, that is preferable to the job I've got.

I invited mom, dad and the kids over on Saturday for lunch. I'm going to get some pizza from Pizza Hut. They have these chocolate dipper things advertised this week in the paper and I want to try them.

Steffi didn't eat this morning but she ate tonight. I tried to feed her extra but she quit early and didn't eat the extra. She did get some catfood this morning, but not her breakfast.

The I Can Make You Thin system was working well until tonight when I got home. I decided to eat a bunch. I'm going to have to start sacrificing some time and going to Walmart to get foods I really want instead of just coming home to the foods I've got. Tonight I thought I would like to have a brownie, or a piece of cake. But I don't have anything like that here. So, I ate two poptarts and I'm starting on biscuits. But I want to get home as soon as I can so I can end my work day. It's a hard choice to make.

Tonight when I got home I had a message on my machine from the DMV. They finally got to my email I sent them about my sticker for my car. The person I have to call back works from 7:30am to 3:30 pm. When exactly am I supposed to call her? At 7:30am I'm on my way to work and I work until 4:00pm. I'm not making personal calls at work. I may have to use my Hands Free Calling thing in my car to call this woman on my way to work tomorrow to tell her that the dealership fixed their mistake.

Headaches and Bleeding Ears

That describes my evening phone call to mom. Jasmine and Timmy were screaming at the top of their lungs for most of the half an hour I was on the phone. They would apparently fight with each other, Jasmine would throw things at Timmy. Then Jasmine knocked over a lamp and mom put her in a time out that did absolutely no good. Jasmine's time out took place on the couch where she proceeded to toss cushions around or something. It was a bit quieter for those few minutes. I am so glad I have dogs and the kids, though they don't realize it, are equally as glad that I'm not watching them. My version of a time out would be on the hard dining room chair in the middle of a room with nothing around them to get into. I would probably make them recite "I will not knock over the lamp" several times too. Where was dad in all of this? He was playing solitaire on the computer in another room.

I'm sure the kids are better behaved with their parents and are just acting this way because they think they can get away with it. Mom and Dad are just going to have to be more firm with them. And I am going to go and hide my mini-trampoline. It will only take one flash of a second before dad gets the idea that the kids can play on it and then he will leave them to it and not watch them.

As for me, I have been doing a bit of yoga in the evenings. Even though according to the food scale I have in the kitchen my old pair of glasses weigh the same as my new pair, I think my new pair are heavier. The weight is probably distributed differently. My face has felt tired these last few days so I took off the glasses and did some yoga. Last night I also had sinus issues so that might have been my problem then.

The I Can Make You Thin system is about 85 to 90% in use right now. The whole premise is that you're supposed to eat like a thin person and I figure about 10 to 15% of the time a thin person might eat when he or she isn't hungry or eat to a point that is more than full. So, I'm doing better than how I was eating before the program and as the guy who created this system says, at any point in your life you are either getting better or worse and you should always choose to get better.

Chaos

Mom and dad brought my niece and nephew up to visit today. Winnie barked and barked and cried and cried. The kids were playing with her toys. Nevermind that she most usually never played with any of the toys the kids had in their hands, as far as Winnie was concerned they were her toys. Whenever the kids dropped one of the toys, Winnie would sneak around and get it and take it off to hide it. PJ was more calm around the kids. She even kissed them some. Jasmine sat down and watched some Spongebob and Timmy was obsessed with my dvds. He's going to think his name is "No Timmy" before too long. But he did spend a lot of time playing with one of the squeaky toys too.

All the dogs are sleeping now.

Car Care

Well, I got up this morning at the regular time - 5am and then after feeding the cat and letting Fritz and Steffi out and back in, I went back to bed. Got back up at 7am, tried to feed Steffi - she wouldn't eat. Fed Fritz, Winnie and PJ and then got started with the car washing. I washed the car, then the tires and wheels. After removing much of the beaded water from the car, I got out the chrome polish and polished up the chrome on the exterior. I'm going to look into dusting the interior and vacuuming the driver's side floorboard. And I have to clean the back glass - the idiots at the dealership don't know how to clean windows without streaking them.

Yesterday, I spent much of the evening at mom and dad's visiting my sister, brother-in-law, niece and nephew. Got home around 9pm and got to bed around 9:30. That's about a half an hour late on my regular routine. Kind of went off the I Can Make You Thin system yesterday since we had pizza for supper. But I still didn't eat until I was stuffed, just somewhere in between full and stuffed. So, that's still an improvement.

I think I may have broken a toe. I woke up yesterday and one of my toes was killing me. But it wasn't swollen, blue, purple or any shade of broken. It's still hurting today. I'm thinking I may have broken it in the past and this wet, soggy weather has just caused some arthritis to set in. I know I haven't done anything lately that would result in a breaking.

I bent one of the nose pieces on my glasses this morning. Yesterday I had a painful indentation on the right side of my nose from where the glasses were digging into me. Hopefully, I can stop that from happening again.

My bank sent me a letter yesterday with my quarterly savings account statement that said essentially that they had apparently sold out to some big company or something. The letter said that because of this they can reduce some of the fees they charge. I would prefer them to keep the fees where they were and increase the interest on my checking and savings accounts.