Weight Watchers

I joined WW over the summer...July 1st to be exact...and the short two months I stuck with the program I lost 17 LBS. WOW. Well, then everything went downhill -- we had potluck after potluck after potluck at work. NOT so easy...then came fall...then the holidays. OUCH. Back on came those 17 LBS. Luckily no more...Unfortunately no less.

SO...I joined back up again on January 20.

WW has started a new Points Plus plan. The basic concept is the same. You have a TARGET number of points that you can allow yourself a day. Each food and beverage you have contains a set number of points from 0 on up. You track the points and once you get to your TARGET number...you stop. Pretty simple concept.

What I really like about the new program is that fruits and MOST veggies (potatoes, corn, peas, avacados -- they all have points) are "free". They have no points value. This is great because before fruits had points. It was all too easy to eliminate fruits from your diet to save your points for something else.

Now I'm a fruit FEEN :)

Here's a typical day: (foods and snacks vary daily...)

BREAKFAST: 4 POINTS
* fiber one bar
* banana

SNACK: 7 POINTS
* CLIF BAR

LUNCH: 7 POINTS
* turkey sandwich
* cheese crackers
* orange

SNACK: 5 POINTS
* pretzel with salt

DINNER: 4 POINTS
* 4 oz chicken breast
* salad w/ff dressing

SNACK: 2 POINTS
* SKINNY COW ICE CREAM :)

WITH all of that I'm still above the alloted points for the day...

My first official weigh in for this new WW program will be tomorrow. Hopefully I'll be down some pounds. On the bathroom scale I'm down 3...so we'll see.


WISH ME LUCK!!!

Day of the Dimes

Dimes Dimes EVERYWHERE! Today, every time I turned around, a dime would somehow find its way into my life. Here are all the crazy dime moments of the day:

*After my morning shower I found a dime lying next to my hairdryer

*A gentleman gave me a bag of quarters to sort, and at the end there was $110 worth of quarters, and ONE dime.

*At one point in the day my drawer was off a dime, until I realized my counter was showing the incorrect amount.
*I found a dime in my paperclip holder when I was cleaning out my desk.
*An old couple brought in their granddaughter's piggy bank, and when I got done running the coin a beat up dime got stuck in the machine.
*A little while later a member found that same beat up dime on the ground and handed it to me!
*My husband put his change into his jar before work, and he left just a dime on the coffee table that I found this evening.
*My cat, Kytoo, was flipping around what I thought to be one of his toys while I was eating dinner. Nope...it was a stinkin' dime!
*I just got out of the shower, and there was a dime on the rug in the bathroom! (and yes, fyi, I am obsessed with showering!!!!)

So, can anyone tell me what all this dime business means?! I'm up for some suggestions...

Age DOES matter!

I believe that an important part of my life is the different groups of friends that I have. I have friends of all ages from twenty to fifty+ years of age. Each one of my friends brings something great to our relationship...

Friendships with people older than me bring OPTIMISM into my life. I listen to their stories and hear how they have gotten through the toughest of times. I get words of wisdom and encouragement. I am optimistic that things will always get better, and I will become stronger and more knowledgeable as time goes by.

Friendships with people my age bring UNDERSTANDING into my life. I see my friends go through many of the same life events that I am going through. I see the struggles, and I see the good times. I understand that we are all just trying to make it in life, and I see that we are all full of hope and questions about what's next.

Friendships with people younger than me bring CONFIDENCE to my life. I see my friends go through events that I have been through. I am able to give my friends optimism and understanding about what they are going through. I feel confident because I made it through that chapter of life, and I can help my friends keep going too!

Babies and Booze

What's on my mind today? Babies and Booze. (Hence the title!)

What do they have in common? Well....we all know of those people who had a few too many to drink one night...and 9 months later came a little bundle of joy to take care of for the next 18+ years. Let's move on.

Topic 1: BABIES

I think I missed out on the bandwagon. Babies come in threes? Yes, yes they do. And three's doesn't just mean three people...they mean 3,6,9, & even 12 people I know are having/had babies in the last year. Am I the only one my age that is totally not ready for a baby?

Top 5 Reasons I am **SO** Not Ready For A Baby:

1) I am grossed out by EVERYTHING disgusting. Having a baby puke, pee, or poop on me would seriously make me have a nervous breakdown.
2) I enjoy ME time. The thought of not getting all the time in the world to take long showers, read a book without interruption, or sleep in makes me cringe.
3) I work hard for my money. The last thing I want to do is spend it on diapers and hospital bills, when I can go out and buy a cute pair of Coach shoes and a new purse.
4) I enjoy Hubby and Wife time. We can travel, enjoy a night at the movies, or bond on the couch all day watching our favorite TV shows. We can do this anytime we want. We get to enjoy eachother's company without the stresses of another person in the house.
5) I'm just not ready!!!

This post is not intended to offend or anger any of my friends that have or had or are planning on having babies in the near future. This is just how I feel at this time. I think babies are cute, I love holding them and playing with them, and I love the fact that when I'm done I can hand the baby back and go about my baby-free business!

Topic 2: BOOZE

To start with ... I hate the word "booze". That's one of my biggest pet-peeves. From this point on we will be referring to "booze" as "alcohol".

What is the big deal with alcohol? It seems like in my age group if alcohol is not involved, people are not interested. Some examples:

*Going to a wedding - If there's not alcohol, people are less than excited and may even complain...
*Hanging out with friends - Most of the time it seems like the only thing people want to do is go to the bar or go to a friends house and party (drink)...
*Work events - The last two work events I went to had a bar. The last event even had an OPEN bar. Is this neccessary for an event for work???
*Class Reunion - Lately many of my friends have attended class reunions. It seems as though every reunion was at a BAR!!! This was even true of my 5 year reunion. Really???
*Going out of town - Every time I go out of town to see a friend, we end up going to a bar because...there's "nothing else to do" You mean I am in Chicao, IL and there is NOTHING else to do besides go to the bar?

I have decided that I want to be creative. More creative than the usual, "why don't you come over for dinner and drinks?" I want to become creative in NOT DRINKING.

I think drinking is boring. **Have a couple drinks. **Have a couple more. **Spend too much money. **Stay out too late. **Feel less than 100% the next day. **Do it again next weekend.

What a lifestyle. I'm not even saying this is my weekly routine. But more often than not, it's a variation of my weekends. We may go out for dinner and drinks, pool and drinks, a movie then drinks, watch the game and drinks, or come over for drinks.

BORING!!!!!!!!!!!

The bads way out the goods with drinking, anyways.
*$$$
*Acting stupid
*Blacking out
*Throwing up
*DUI
*JAIL TIME
*Losing your drivers license
*Losing your job
*Etc.


So all in all...at least for me...babies and alcohol (together or seperate) = no good!!!

From the Beginning...

I am new at the idea of "blogging". I think the word is silly, and at first I wasn't keen on writing my ideas for others to see.

I've had a change of heart. I see (and read) many of my friends posting blogs and getting feedback on their thoughts and stories. I kind of like that idea! Sometimes I have interesting ideas and thoughts that I'd like other people to see. too.

So, this first post is basically just an introduction. This blog really has no theme. I may write about a silly thought I have, or an awkward thing that happened to me (because this seems to happen a lot!), or a rant. I may be boring and just write about my day. Who knows. I'm sure there will be some humorous posts to keep the reader entertained, and there will also be some posts that many people could care less about.

Okay...so...let's get this started!