Amber's Get Healthy Journal (Comments Welcome)

[kmp1191]

Congrats on the "new" car! Be careful out there!!
Also congrats on the new shoes too! I'm getting anxious to start my walking again. Gonna be a few more days though!

Have a good week!
marie

 

[lindalinda]

hey Amber. I noticed the web site with the house pictures was gone. I had it bookmarked because I liked the title "incoherent ramblings"

We have a Lebowski festival here too, but ours is in the summer. Sounds like you had fun!


Congrats on the new car, its sounds great!

Have a nice week!

 

[kmp1191]

Hey Amber!!
Just wanted to stop in real quick and wish you a Happy Thanksgiving!!
Enjoy your day w/ the family!!

marie

 

[CJK]

Mmmmmm, white russians......... They're a favourite pasttime of mine!

How are the new shoes working out? I love getting new shoes when the fit/style are perfect. Makes me almost want to work out MORE....almost.

How goes the eating out these days? I LOVE eating out too so I understand how hard it can be sometimes. I'm thrilled that many places are offering lighter choices that I actually enjoy.

Have a terrific Thanksgiving!

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

Hello. I just wanted to post so thta I don't fall off the page. I haven't really been doing much of anything diet-wise lately. I did go for a mile walk today with DH. We didn't walk fast, but we did get out of the house at least.

Been pretty busy lately and it will most likely get worse before it gets better.

I am liking my new shoes so far.

well, here's hoping that by some miracle the workload gets lighter and I manage to get some exercise in before the new year

Hope everyone is doing well. I will try to get by to visit journals soon.

 

[kmp1191]

Amber -
just check in every now and then....let us know that you are ok and we won't have to make a road trip to hunt you down!!

Hang in there at work...there's a light at the end of the tunnel....just hope it's not a freight train!!

marie

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

It was a busy week at work... end of the month and all. I did get my end of the month stuff done in good time this month, but I'm WAY behind on other things instead. Oh well.

Yesterday was DH's birthday. He took the day off. I got off of work at 3:30 so that I could go to the chiropractor and still be home before it was super late. DH cleaned the living room and cooked dinner on his birthday! What a Great man! I bought him an ice cream cake cause that is what he wanted.

Food has been average this week. I actually skipped lunch Wednesday and yesterday which is something I almost never do. I was busy though and snacked early in the day so lunch just got past me.

I did walk on Thursday for about 15 minutes. It wasn't much, but something is better than nothing. I knew I didn't have much time, but I wanted to walk some. This morning I got up and did 2 miles. I started out really strong and at a pretty decent speed on the first mile. I did it in 17 minutes. But by the second mile I was getting tired. I can tell I've been WAY off my routine!! Half way through the second mile my left shin was hurting some and by the end it was really annoying. When I started out I was considering doing 3 miles but not with my shin hurting. So 2 miles in 38 minutes.

Wow if I keep going this rate I might actually get 100 minutes of exercise this month! that's me laughing so I don't cry

I know that my exercise is really in my own hands and that I shouldn't allow work to get in the way so much. It's just that I have been working overtime lately to try to get it all done and then when I get home its late and I'm exhausted. I know that exercise would give me more energy, but I just can't seem to fit it in right now.

On the transfering to a new office..... I talked with my supervisor the other day. She said that I can request the transfer after my 6 months is up (Jan 1st) BUT I can't leave unless all of my cases are in order and all my paperwork is caught up I am almost two months behind on some of my paperwork and December is a short month so it is only gonna get worse. I am working on a strategy to get caught up, but it is not going to be easy. Mostly my strategy involves working overtime Every week and taking work home over the weekend, which I am NOT happy about. I brought work home this weekend, but I have not decided yet if I will do it or not. On the one hand, I want to get it done and get out of there, but on the other hand I don't think I should sacrific all my free time for this stupid job! Also, I have built up ALOT of comp time for all the overtime I've been working... so I REALLY want to take of the last week of December cause DH will be off that week and HOPEFULLY we'll be in the house and can spend that time unpacking. BUT I can't take off unless I have done all of my work for the month by the Friday before Christmas, which gives me 15 work days to do All my Dec work & try to catch up on my Oct & Nov work! the last one is me dancing my way to the loony bin! So we'll see. I think I'm gonna try to catch up some of my cases and just get Dec done. SUPPOSEDLY we will get two workers in January. If so the workload would be more managable and I could catch up on everything. Then I could probably just transfer at the end of January. Makes me tired just thinking about it!!

The HOUSE.... Well.. They put our lights in this week and wired all the electrical outlets. They delivered the appliances, but they are not installed yet. They are still waiting on a plumbing contract to cut the line to the sewer! for some reason their regular plumber couldn't do it and they are having a hard time finding someone who can I don't get it Doesn't EVERY house get hooked to the sewer?!? (unless of course you have a septic tank, but we are in the city here) I think other than that they just have to insulate the attic, lay the carpet, and finish the paint in certain parts of the house. SO, they said like the first or second week in Dec.... BUT I have my doubts. DH talks to the guy like every other day now though. Wish us luck! I am SO READY to be in my house!!!

k, so think that's enough rambling for now. I will try to eat moderately and exercise at least 3 days this week (including today ). Have a great day!

 

[kmp1191]

Hey amber....sorry work is so crazy....just keep knockin' it out...you'll get caught up!!
I don't know how you've been so patient on the house thing....I'd go crazy!! Heck, I'm pretty much there anyway....building a house would just put me in the loony bin!!!

marie

 

[CJK]

Woweeee! Just when I think I'm busy, I read your post and my head positively spins!! Thanks for finding time to post on your thread. That in and of itself is a victory! Sorry to hear about how busy you are with work, but at least there's a goal or prize that you're striving towards. Hopefully you get caught up before you know it. And hopefully you get into that beautiful new house of yours sooner rather than later! Marie's right.........you've got the patience of a saint!

Hang in there!!! It's all worth it in the end!

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

Thanks, guys! I am here eating at my desk today... not working though during lunch. Just all my lunch buddies went out to lunch. We already went out twice this week and I just knew DH would kill me if I went out again.

Anyway, I have REALLY EXCITING news to share!! Yesterday I got a phone call and an email from one of the counties that I was considering transfering to asking if I still wanted to transfer!! I called them back and said "YES!!". Actually it was a co-worker that had called them but she found a position in a different county. I explained that and told them that I am definitely interested. They had already spoken with my Supervisor's supervisor (which is how they got my name) and know that my six months is up on Jan. 1st.

SO, I go to meet with them on Tuesday, but it is supposedly "not an interview"!! Then the lady said, "the 15th is right around the corner for you to put in your two weeks notice" Can you tell I'm a tad excited.

I need lots of pixie dust and prayers though, cause it isn't for sure that I will get the position.

So, that is really good news, but it comes with a downside.... I have to get all of my work here caught up so that I can leave I have been working hard and I will take some work home over the weekend also. I did end up doing a little last weekend too.

I asked my supervisor about maybe working one day during the week that I am off and she said that is my holiday time and that I will be able to catch up and not need to do that. Well... I'm glad she thinks it can be done... I'm not so sure though.

House news is a little more dreary... there is none. I don't think that they have done ANYTHING this week!! Luckily for me DH is dealing with that, so I will just not worry my pretty little head

Oh, yeah... I have the MOST AWESOMEST DH EVER!!! On his birthday last friday he took the day off. Well, he cleaned the house because he didn't want me to have to do it!! It gets better even though... I told some friends here at work and was crying because I feel guilty for being so overwhelmed at work and being a "bad" wife.. that's just how I feel about it. So then I was telling him about it and he said that he thought about what he wanted for his birthday and he decided what he wanted was for me to be happy and that is why he cleaned. He's just too sweet and awesome!! I don't always think that I deserve him. I am always grateful for him though!!

k, nuff babbling. See ya'll later!!

 

[CJK]

Congrats on the possible transfer!! It's nice to end the week on such a positive note. Fingers crossed that you get the position!!

Sounds like you've got an amazing dh there! I'm sure he feels the same way about you!! Have a great weekend and keep us posted on the transfer!

 

[kmp1191]

I feel the same way about my DH....he's awesome and wonderful and he has nice thighs!!!
I'm glad your DH is so attentive and can "read" you.

Congrats on the job possibility. I know what you mean about being anxious....we won't know anything until Jan/Feb!!

Keep up the good work at work!

marie

 

[lindalinda]

Hi Amber! Just stopping by! Hows the house coming? Hope it going again and you can at least have a happy new year in your new house!

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

Hi guys! Just one week til Christmas! Can you believe it!

It has been crazy around here. I did get an offer to transfer, but now my county is saying that they are too short handed and they are trying to put a freeze on transfers out of the county!! It was a lot of drama this week and it is still not all sorted out. The last word on Friday though was that they were trying to work on allowing me to get my transfer. So.... we'll see. I was told that even if they make me stay they can't keep me more than 30 days. If I have to I can handle another 30 days.... but I don't want to.

The aggravating thing was that I had planned to work my butt off this weekend and get all of my work caught up so that I would be ready to transfer on Jan 1. But if I'm not transfering I didn't want to waste my time. Well... I still am not positive that I am going to get to go on Jan. 1, but I did get myself all caught up. It took me ALL day yesterday, but it is done. Now all I have left is to finish up my Dec. contacts and document the ones since Dec. 11th and I will be ready to roll!!! I think I can do that all this week.. I hope!

House news: not too much to tell. They have been working on the sewer situation, but not making too much progress. That is about all that was done this week. I need lots of Pixie Dust that we might actually get in by the first... but I doubt it since they probably won't do much right here at Christmas. We'll see.

Diet = terrible... lots of bad foods and yummy cookies and chocolates
Exercise = non-existant unless you count running around like a chicken with your head cut off and typing 90 to nothing!

So, here's to starting fresh after Christmas and praying that I don't go up a full size before then! I actually don't think that I have gained much, but I haven't been to the gym to weigh in a long time either, so there is really no telling.

Well, I will try to get back before Christmas, but just in case:

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

 

[CJK]

How crazy busy are you! Between the transfer, or no transfer, house updates and work......I don't know how you even find time to come here to post! But we do appreciate it. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas and find some time to relax and enjoy it. I think many of us are going to get serious again in January, but in the meantime, hopefully we can watch our portions while enjoying some of the yummy treats all around us. Have a great week!

 

[lindalinda]

Merry Christmas AMBER!

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

Ok, so I survived work and Christmas! I have this week off, but Gee Wizz it is already half over!! I don't know where all the time goes.

I had a really excellent Christmas and managed to stay calm and relaxed the entire time. We go to DH's mom's for Christmas Eve lunch, My parent's for Christmas Eve dinner, DH's dad's for Christmas Day lunch, and then my cousin's house for my extended family gathering Christmas Day afternoon for dinner. Whew... It can be tiring just thinking about it. Some years I get stressed trying to be sure that I am on time, etc for everything. This year though I had enough stress leading up to Christmas, that I decided that nothing really mattered except enjoying my time w/ my family.

I got some really cool stuff, too! I have been asking for some Garden Gnomes for my house (if it EVER gets finished). I have been on a Gnome kick lately and really think they are cool!! Well, DH and his mom looked and could not find any Gnomes. My sisters looked and had told DH that they couldn't find any either, but at the last minute they came across some and gave me 3!! They are SO cool!! It was exciting! I also got 2 Indigo Girls CDs - they are my ALL TIME FAVORITE BAND! (listening to one now ) DH gave me a Rachel Ray cookbook and a book called Hungry Planet. Hungry Planet is this awesome book about the weekly food intake of family's all over the world and how wildly different it is! I got the "sister" book , Material World, last year for Christmas. It is about the possessions of family's around the world. Both offer a really different perspective on life. When you see what other people have or more accurately don't have, it really changes how you view your own life. That said... I got way to much stuff, but love it all!! We got a Giant George Foreman grill, towels, kitchen towels, an espresso cup & saucer set, a PS2 (to replace the one we had that broke), a couple of PS2 games, a couple of movies, I got LOST: the Game (its really weird).

We had really nice meals with our family's and really got to spend some quality time with our families also. It was all in all very nice.

Yesterday and today, DH and I have just been relaxing and playing with our new toys! We are both just big kids anyway!

The house is not done yet... they told us last week that since they couldn't get us in by the new year they were going to concentrate on finishing a couple of houses that could be done in that time frame. Whatever. I am only disappointed because I have to spend my entire 10 day vacation in my grandparents house!! It isn't too bad most of the time, but there are times when my grandma gets it in her head that because we are at home we want to do house chores like hang things, fix things, etc. UH, NO. I worked hard to earn this time off and I just want to CHILL, thank you very much. We did help her some, because it is hard not to when you are just sitting around playing games.

We considered going to the mountains for a couple of nights. We would have left today and come back Friday. We just wanted to get away and be alone for a couple of days. But we were having a hard time finding a cabin to rent. We wanted to get a cabin w/ a hot tub We also debated if we would feel more relaxed for going or if it would just feel like more of our vacation was gone. We ended up just staying home. I think in some ways it was the best decision and in others it was not. REALLY what we want is to have this week in our OWN HOME, by OURSELVES to do whatever WE want to do. But oh well... that is life. It is still time off of work with nothing in particular planned. I will enjoy every minute of it!

I am not sure if I updated about my work status or not.... They told me that they would let me transfer, but they really wanted me to stay for 30 more days. The director worked it out with my new county for them to hold my position so that I could stay through January, IF I was willing to stay. Well.... You know I wanted to LEAVE really badly, but I just didn't think that it would be the right thing to do. I agreed to stay until the end of January. So, I go back to Baldwin County on Jan 2nd and will report to Bibb County on Feb 1st. It is not the worst thing in the world and I think I got a few brownie points in the process. We are supposedly getting help on Jan 2nd also, which would be one or two people. That would lessen the load Tremendously and make Jan not nearly as bad as the last 5 months have been!!

DIET & EXERCISE.... Hmm... Isn't that what this journal is supposedly about? I have not exercised in so long I can barely remember and I have been eating like a mad woman!! I weighed myself on my parent's scale on Christmas Eve (don't ask why I did that? ) and I was at 193 ! So, I know that I have to get back on track!! I am going to be honest though and admit that it is not going to happen this week! We have lots of leftover goodies, etc, and I just want to be lazy. As of January 1st though, I will start anew! I am going to work on developing my goals this week. I will post them hear once I figure out what the plan is!

Well, I think that is enough for one post I'll check in again in a day or so!

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

DH and I decided to go to Athens for a night on Thursday. We went up and spent the day in the hotel room playing games and just not being here in my grandparents house w/ family bugging us. It was really nice!! We went out to this place called "Speakeasy" for dinner. It is a tapas bar and it was really neat. Friday we checked out of the hotel then went to eat at my FAVORITE,... The Grit. (you may recall I ate there ALL the time when I was in training for work). DH loved it also and we bought their cookbook!! I can't wait to try to make some of those recipes! I was bad and had a slice of one of their cakes... it was DEVINE!!! and Gigantic!! I had some at lunch, some last night for a snack and there is still some left!! It was called chocolate chip swip swap cake. It is a three layer chocolate cake. It had white icing w/ dark chocolate chips in between the layers and on the outside a brown icing w/ white chocolate chips in it. The actual recipe is not in the cookbook, but I think all of the components are there. I can't wait to try to make it.... not that I EVER need to eat another slice of it! I must agree w/ CJK though that you have to allow yourself regular chances to eat the bad stuff that you crave or else you will binge.

I have yet to start back on the right track. I do promise to get there though.

I plan to start January 1st!! NEW YEAR, NEW ME!!

I am having a hard time setting my new goals though. I am nervous because I know that I still have another month of working in Baldwin County left. I know that I should not let work derail my get healthy efforts, but it has in the past. BUT.. That was the past. It is only one month and I survived 5 months of insanity there so I can make it through one more!! (that's me kickin' butt and takin names! )

I am going to join the exercise challenge. I want to set up something that I think is reasonable. I was thinking 30 minutes 4 days a week, but that comes up to about 540 minutes for the month ( I figured 4 weeks + half a week for the last week of the month). That just doesn't seem like very much! I think maybe I will set a goal of 600 to push myself. I know that I am capable of MUCH more, but time just seems SO tight lately. I ABSOLUTELY PROMISE that once I transfer to Bibb County I will put in more time each week. I will cut out at least an hour of commute time and I plan to dedicate most of that time to my workouts!! That should make an extreme difference.

Foodwise... I don't have an exact plan. DH and I have agreed that we HAVE to cut back on our eating out!! I think we are going to try to get it down to once every two weeks. I will need to do better at resisting eating out at lunch also. If my house is EVER finished it will help ALOT. I just can't get motivated to cook in this kitchen anymore. I am just SICK of being in someone else's space in general!

I didn't finish telling about our Athens trip. After lunch we went to an art museum and then shopped in all the little downtown shops. It was very nice and peaceful. Half the reason we went was to be ALONE and not have anyone asking us to do anything w/ our time off. Well, we apparently couldn't have picked a better time to be gone. We got home and my grandma's first words were that her car wouldn't start and that she had needed me to take her places and that she had an awful time while we were gone. Plus, when I told her we were going to Athens Thursday about 11am she said, well, I was going to get you to drive me to Warner Robins (which is about 45 minutes away!). My grandpa's truck (that they NEVER drive) had been stolen and the police in Warner Robins found it. Now they didn't even know when it got stolen cause noone around here missed it, but as soon as it was ok to pick it up she insisted that she get it RIGHT then! OK... maybe I'm selfish, but this is my vacation. I wasn't really keen on spending the better part of an afternoon driving to Warner Robins. ANYWAY, I got out of that though because we were going to Athens. Well... as I mentioned her car wouldn't start now so she tells me that she HAS to go to SAM's and the grocery store. I agreed to take her today, but THANKFULLY my dad fixed her car this morning!! She left like 2 hours ago and is still gone!

Oh, yeah... to make my Welcome home from Athens just super duper when I get out of the car I see trash in the yard. I go to see what it is and it is the box from the Ferrer Roche chocolates that my mother-in-law gave me for Christmas. My grandma's dog ATE them!! This isn't the first time the dog has eaten my chocolates either!! I had some Kisses earlier in the season and she ate them too! I have tried to put things up where she can't get them, but I just didn't think about these. I was Beyond FURIOUS!! I just wanted to Kick the stupid dog!! I yelled at her and called her a bad name! I want to say I'm over it today. It just gets under my skin. There were other chocolates that I wouldn't have cared as much about, but she didn't eat them, NO she eats the best chocolates in the room. Then today I go upstairs and come back down and she (the dog) had gone in my purse and found some Oreos that I had from Athens and ate them!! DH had chocolates on the floor all week and the dog has not touched them, just mine!!! It's like she is out to get me! It's lame I know and stupid to be upset over chocolate. Chocolate is my favorite food though (as if you couldn't tell) and it was a gift. I keep trying to remind myself that I really don't need any of the chocolates around here and that she did me a favor by eating it, but that only partially works. My grandma insists that she is going to buy me more to replace the ones the dog ate. I told her not to. She thinks that I am mad at her. I told her that I am mad at the dog not her and that I know that she did not intend for the dog to eat them. It didn't help though that her two reactions to the dog eating my chocolates were "well, they are bad for her" and " you shouldn't have left them where she could get to them"! That was just icing on the cake. But whatever... what's done is done. I have put everthing up as high as I can and I need a calendar to count down when I can move out of this house.... but to do that I would need an estimate of when my house would be done and that's the biggest joke of all! (that's me laughing to try not to cry).

It must be TOM soon cause I've been overly emotional and touchy the last couple of days as proved by that last rant. I guess I'm just making a full circle back to where I was when I started this journal....tired of living under someone elses roof. I can't believe we have been here over a year now and we are still here! Hopefully not too much longer though.

At least I have had a nice vacation from work and I had a couple of nice days away from here. I am hoping that we will have the help that they promised us at work when I return Tuesday. That would be wonderful!

DH is at his mother's today. He and his friends are having a weekend long game session. Tomorrow they will play "everybody" games that we all can play like scattergories, trivial pursuit, cranium, etc. DH will stay tonight and tomorrow night. I may go out for a little while today, but I will most likely just go tomorrow. I will spend the night tomorrow night as we will be drinking. It should be a nice time. I am looking forward to being there and not here then also . When I got so upset yesterday DH told me that I should just get up and go with him today and stay all weekend, just to not be here. It was tempting, but I had things that I wanted to do around her and I wanted to be here for the cats cause we don't let them outside when we aren't here and they get Stir Crazy if they don't go out!!

Well, now I know why I don't post that often these days.... cause I don't know how to keep it short and sweet Oh, I went through and copied the entire year of my journal to Word so that I can keep it. I am a journal keeper, but haven't taken the time to do so (besides here) in a few years. I figure this journal has all of the important things from the last year in it so it is Absolutely worth keeping! I think that I will start a Fresh New journal on the first to kick the year off right.

Well... guess that is enough for now, I'm even starting to bore myself HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!

 

[CJK]

I think it's PURE GENIOUS to rent a hotel room for a night to get away from family for a little while in between all the business of the holidays. Sounds like you and dh had a wonderful time - just what the doctor ordered!! Some of that chocolate you had sounds DEVINE!!!!!!!!!! I must go to Athens sometime!!!

Sorry to hear about the dog eating your chocolates. I'd be mad too! It sounds like you're setting very reasonable goals for the new year with exercise and food. You can do it!!! Happy New Year!!!

 

[lindalinda]

Get Ambers House Done!


There, that should do it!


Hope you are having fun playing games and drinking (just a little).
Happy New Year!