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.

Soggy

It's been a very soggy Fourth of July here. Raining all day. I went to mom and dad's today with the puppies and I had to stay there until the rain let up.

I got my new glasses yesterday evening. I think I have one ear higher than the other one. I've thought this for a while but with these new glasses I'm even more convinced of it. I may have to bend these little nose pieces around a bit.

The I Can Make You Thin program is a struggle lately. I'm too convinced that it is a rest of your life plan and that makes me think that gee I can eat a little more today and I'll follow the plan tomorrow since skinny people occasionally do eat a bit more than they should. The key word being occasionally. That really shouldn't translate into every day.