[bblessed]

I'll go first...



Last weekend DH's car got broken into while he was doing some volunteer work in West Philly and we had to get the whole passenger window replaced. The door wouldn't open after that and we had to take it back for adjustments. DH didn't get hurt but they took some nice sunglasses, his bluetooth (wireless headset for cell phone), expired car registration and school id. It freaked me out for awhile b/c I thought they took our portable GPS which has directions to our house. They didn't take it but our address is on the car registration so it still makes me feel uneasy.



Work has been extremely busy even though I have some help. We have new people that joined our department and some re-organization which creates more work for me. Yesterday I had a meeting with my manager and at the end of the conversation, she tells me that she has awarded me with $1000 to be paid out at the end of November for all my hard work since my colleague/mentor got sick and stopped working. It couldn't have happened at a better time because I seriously was thinking of leaving my job for all the added stress, work and responsibility for the same pay. I even told DH if I didn't get a promotion next year, I wanted to leave this position.



As a result of working longer hours and even on my days off, I haven't had as much time for "me" time to exercise and I've gained some weight. I'm hoping to get myself back in gear this week and make the time. I miss having my exercise routine. Exercise has taken a back seat since in my *spare* time, I have to catch up on everything else.



The kids are both doing well and are looking forward to Halloween. They went pumpkin picking with their schools and want me to carve their pumpkins this weekend.



DH is doing well in school and getting all A's so far in his classes. He spends most of his time studying or working on class projects. It's a very intense program and he told me that one of his classmates broke down in tears the other day because the guy in her group made her feel so bad. The guy keeps re-doing everyone's work and doesn't trust his team. Luckily, DH isn't in that guy's group right now because I'm sure they would not get along.



My sister is still engaged and my parents are both still in denial. I suggested to my sister that she and her fiance should have dinner or lunch with my parents. My mom can't seem to wake up and realize that her youngest daughter is really going to get married. She hasn't told any relatives or friends yet and I feel bad for my sister that she is feeling this way.



((Hugs)) and I'm thinking of all of you even if I'm not posting much,

[mngsskinnymomma]

WOW Winnie.. things are busy for you.. Congrats on the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ how great is that.. and a great time to get it too right at the Holidays....

I hear ya about gaining weight... I have done a bit too... about 10 punds in the past month or two .. I hate it and really have to buckle down or I will gain more back...

Mine is about my poor eating....

Come on Winnie let's keep each other accountable...

Michelle

[mngsskinnymomma]

Ok and here is a bit of an update from me....

As I said in Minnie's response.. I have put on about 10 punds in the past 2 months.. while that does not seem a lot.. it is to me.. as of my last wi.. last week.. I was up to 182.. and I want to be under 180... I would like to see about 172... sooooooooooooooooooo 10 pounds to drop.. I wanted to be down by the time we go to Chicago next weekend. OMG NEXT WEEKEND!!!! ( Jess are you coming in. or anyone else near chicago???)

I had my 3 month review at work.. and my bosses LOVE ME.. no really they are happy with my work and my review was really good!!!!! I still love my job and am glad that I made the change... it is stressful sometimes.. and at times I get upset with my partner as she is only 24/25... it is HARD to remember that... and that this is her first job out of grad school... and to keep from getting my supervisor hat on.. but at times I dont have a choice ... she told our sups she learns a lot from me and that she feels we are a good match.. we are.. there are times I wish she was more assertive and sure in her skills.. oh well when this happens she will probably be close to getting her hours and will either leave the agency or become a primary.. then I will get a new secondary....

Brad just finished his second week at UW Madison.. and is loving it... the first week sucked as he was leaving shortly before we did... then home after 7!!!! I hated it... ( the drive in is 1.5 hours... UGH) now he is out the door before the kids get up... but is home by 5 or 5:30 so this is really helpful.. things there are a lot different from UWP.. and he likes it a lot... I stopped there the other day... and I am thinking that once we get moved.. I am going to love it too... I LOVE MADISON.. and all that happens there.. and we will be sooooooooooooooooo much closer to the BIGT City life.. well as big city as Madison is!!!!!

I continue to work out every day... we have another run coming up in about 2 weeks.. the 4.5 miler in Lake Mills.. ( www.tyranena.com come do it with me.. anyone!!!!!!! anyone?????? ) I am pumped.. hope my ankle and the weather are both good!!!!! I feel a need to do something EXTRA for my workout.. INHALE.. my yoga show is not currently on the Oxygen channel and I am bummed.. I miss my yoga.... I took a YOGA class at Supreme Fitness on Friday and loved it.. I am going to try to get in there at least 2x a month to take it.... and hopefully dig out my yoga dvd here at home.. I can really tell the difference in my legs... thank god for PILATES though.. I did pretty good.. just need to work on my balance...

and the kiddos... they are doing well.. keeping me on my toes.. Gretchy has gotten rather sassy lately.. OMG what will I do when she is hits puberty... *LOL* and I at times lose my cool.. but she is a dolly anyhow!!! Maxy is also sassy.. has his mom's temper.. OMG.. and drives me batty sometimes.. but he too is sweet as pie and I love them dearly.

We got our Remeberance Service invite yesterday... it is December 9....Emma's 7th bday..... *sigh* hard to beleive 7 years has passed already.... I am going to get a new tatt the friday before her bday I think.... something to tie all of my kids together.. or maybe our entire family.. we will see.. but a new tattoo is to be had....

Remember when I had my endometrial ablation.. ?? well for some time I was not getting any tye of period at all... well the spotting has started again.. it is not a lot.. but there is definately dark staining when I wipe.. sometimes.. blood in the toilet.. and some lining.. tmi I know.. I need to keep track of how often this is.. it it is only once a month.. then I wont complain... if it gets worse and is more often then I am going to worry that something else is going on... ugh!!!!!! I hope I dont have to have the alternative... a hysterectomy... keep your fingers crossed...

I am here every day.. and I am sorry I dont always post.... I will try to do more about that!!!!

Michelle

who is quickly approaching 40

[bblessed]

So, I'm Minnie now, eh? LOL! Sounds like things are going well for you and your family! WTG on keeping up with your exercise routine and for signing up for another race!!

So, what other tattoos do you have? You have me curious now.

Sorry to hear about the troubles you've been having since you had the endometrial ablation. I hope it isn't anything serious and that you will find out some answers soon. (((Hugs)))

[Jess_jugs]

Wow Winnie, you've had a lot going on!!! Sorry about your dh's car being broken into, what a pain!!

Sorry your new job is taking up so much time & effort. Yeah for the $1000 though, and right before Christmas shopping too!

Thanks for taking the time to post an update!! Keep us posted on how things are going. I hope things work out w/ your sister too!!!

Hugs,
Jess

[Jess_jugs]

Um... let's see... doing some home renovations has kept us pretty busy this past week!!! But the flooring & molding are DONE!! It looks awesome, I'll post some more pics maybe tomorrow. I LOOOOOVE it, it made a huge change in our kitchen/ living room. We need some new furniture to fill it up now!! It seems so empty but I'm not moving our couch back in, I hate it! The kids are loving it, they were rolling marbles & match box cars all over this afternoon. Plus *skating* w/ their socks on all over the place.

We had special meetings at church Fri night, Sat night, and today w/ a potluck after the service so we were busy w/ that. It's our month to teach the Children's church so we had fun w/ the kids. They're such a good group, although a bit rowdy today!

I'm still fighting the IT band injury. It's better, but still there. I'm so glad that I discovered Cathe DVD's for some good cardio while I can't run. I'm pretty much about the same weight, but noticed as I was trying on some of my winter stuff that it seems a little bit bigger than last year, yeah!

Oh, and I have to share this funny story. Y'day we went to Wal*mart to pick up a few things & get our pumpkins to carve. Anyway.... I run into someone I know, Dawn. She is the sister-in-law of an old friend of mine that I haven't seen in a few yrs. (she moved away) She came over to say hi & tells me that she can't believe how tiny I am & how great I look (about 5 times! ) and that Tina (her SIL) won't believe how small I am now. She said that she'd seen in me on the infomercial a while back & ordered a whole bunch of Winsor after seeing my results. She said she never would have ordered it until she saw me & she remembered how heavy I used to be (yep, I sure was! ) & she's lost about 40 lbs now!!! Her dh went to Iraq for 9 mos & she said he couldn't believe how much she'd lost when he got back. Anyway..... I haven't run into someone I hadn't seen in a while like that... always a bit of an ego boost!

Um, what else? Oh, the girls are doing great. They're all excited for Halloween. We carved our pumpkins tonight & they're all ready to trick or treat. They started ice skating lessons last week & love it so far!!

I hope everyone else posts an update, it seems awfully slow around here lately!!

Hugs,
Jess

[rachinaz]

I've been so busy lately that I hardly get the time to lurk anymore, much less post. Work is hectic (that's good, though) and I've been traveling a lot. I'm lucky I have such a nice husband. My house is a complete disaster . . . that always seems to be the last thing on my list of priorities.

Still running quite a bit. I have a couple races planned this fall as training runs. A 10K on Thanksgiving Day that we do every year. This year DH will run it for time and I will run it as a strength workout with both kids in the double jogger! I'm nuts, I know. DH has picked up the running bug, too, and is training for his first 1/2 marathon in January. The kids have suddenly decided they like the play area at the gym so it's nice we can go work out together a few nights a week. They used to hate it so we had to trade off times working out.

I'm also scheduled for a 10-miler in early December. All leading up to my next marathon in February. My sis is coming down from Alaska again. This is a trail run that's pretty small, but it's local so I can train on the course. I'm looking forward to it. All my marathons have been city ones so far and I've heard the trail ones are fun.

I have a total of three marathons planned next year. We're spending a little over 2 weeks in Alaska next summer and I'll run one then (and I have my 20th HS reunion . . . eeeeek!). Then I'm running Chicago in October, hopefully with a bunch of friends (including Jess? anyone else is welcometo join us!). I'm also holding myself more accountable in doing pilates. It's helps my running so much but when I put so many hours into running it's hard to find the time for it. But I've been better the past few weeks and it makes a big difference. I'm back on a not-so-strict South Beach diet and that's helping, too. I was up about 6-8 lbs and in the past couple weeks I've lost about 5 so that's a good way to head into the holidays.

The kids are great. Ian is a King Tut mummy for Halloween. He's in kindergarten and he loves it. I'm so glad to have him in an environment with professional educators instead of the daycare. He's reading a lot of books now and sounds out every sign he sees. I just love it. The other day we were getting gas and it was right next to a Popeye's restaurant. Ian kept saying, "Pope yes" and we couldn't figure out what he was talking about. We finally saw the Popeye's sign and it just killed us! He sounded it out perfectly using all the rules . . .

Naomi is my little wild child and I can't get enough of her. She's a "pony" for Halloween. It's actually a unicorn/pegasus costume, but to her it's a "pony". She has become such a funny little person and we all get a kick out of her. She pretty much potty trained herself and was in panties all day for a while. Lately she's regressed a little in the pooping, but she's also had diarrhea the past week so I'm sure that's the problem. She's still about a year ahead of when Ian was finally out of diapers, so we can live with it.


Glad to read your update, Winnie (or are you going by Minnie now?). Sorry about your DH's car and all the extra work. Sounds like school is going great for him and I hope work continues to get better.

Good luck with the run, Michelle! And have a great b-day in Chicago.

This post has been edited by rachinaz: 29 October 2006 - 11:03 PM

[colnken]

I’m doing O.K., nothing new to report. Still busy with freelance work, PTA stuff , and DHs traveling schedule. Knee pain is still there and is actually worse, as it has moved beyond just the IT Band, but I’m learning to live with it. Dr. wants another MRI and cortisone shot, but I'm not ready for that again. Still wearing the cortisone patches. I hate them, but feel like I'm at least trying. Still working out every weekday and Saturday. Now that the kids are back in school I’ve found a great daily routine. It's the one area of my life that I feel like I have control of. Between treadmill intervals, step aerobics and biking I’m not missing running near as much as I thought I would. I’m still bitter when I see someone out running on a nice sunny day, though...
I've enjoyed reading everyone's updates. I wish I had more time to post every day, hopefully once my magazine deadlines at the end of November.

Lisa

[mngsskinnymomma]

[ooops...sorry WINNIE !!!!! WINNIE WINNIE... MInnie.. sounds the same!!! *LOL*

Just kidding.. as for the endo. abl. we will just have to see how it all works out.. I was hoping for nothing... KWIM??? but I am probably not going to be that lucky...

Michelle

[CrackofDawn]

I'm here just not around as much. I've been working more days each week, which I've got to cut back on. DH isn't liking it. I love my job but am ready to cut back too. I also am coaching my DD's 5th grade volleyball team. That's about 4 days a week after school and with DH's schedule, it's been hectic. Her first game is tonight. Wish us luck!

I've only been getting my exercise in a couple days a week so I want to get back to 3-5 days.

That's about it with us. Just busy!

[Lauren Sue]

Okay Minnie...here's my update. No apologies in advance for how long I know this will get. It's been a while and, well, you asked, lol.



This weekend was Daniel's baptism. Although I am methodist, my husband is catholic and he will raise our boys in the catholic church. Joey even attends a private catholic school. So this weekend was a turbo big deal for us and even more so for DH. I think Daniel should be baptized every weekend because it finally motivated DH to get the yard cleaned up. Up until this weekend, It seriously looked as if no one even lived in our home! We live on 5 acres and everything from the fence line to the fields and even the gardens were overgrown, unkempt and completely overrun with weeds. Even the brick walk leading up to the house looked like a carpet of weeds.

With 40+ people arriving from all over, DH finally got the house presentable. He hired some guy to do the job he's been unable to complete this past year, with everything that's come up from my health, to the arrival of Daniel to his many job changes (including buying a bar in Baltimore!). It feels so nice now when I pull up and see a clean yard. I'll post pictures later.

Meanwhile, it was my job to catch up on long over due cleaning inside the house. Between months of bedrest and a rough recovery, it's been nearly a year since the house has been this clean. I've been so busy over the past few weeks cleaning like a mad woman. What made the work even more difficult was my evil cats and their new habit of peeing and pooing all over the house, pissed off that a new baby lives in the house. I've scrubbed everything down, thrown out things I discovered they'd "marked", put alluminum foil in the places they favor (apparently that scares them away) and put air fresheners all over. Finally, my home looks and smells the way I've been longing for it to. Looks great. Yes, I've even taken cats to the vets...basically, they'll just need kitty prozac to get over this...

Speaking of prozac, my son had a relapse of sorts this fall with his mood swings. As you may recall, he was diagnosed bi-polar this year. He's currently taking Wellbuterin, Depakote, Lithium and Zyprexa. He attempted suicide twice in the spring and spent some time at a facility in Baltimore, which helped, but the end of September and most of October have been trying times with him. He almost attempted suicide again and we're back to adjusting the medications. We have wonderful social workers who are helping, so I don't feel so much like I'm dealing with this alone, but I'll admit at times I just feel so helpless. He's been really good for the past few days. I'll take whatever good days I can get. There's so much more to this part of the story, but I just can't go it this.

Which leads me to emotional eating. Why is it that we can find solace in sweets. i'm hoping that now that the baptism is behind us and the house and yard are clean and that Drew may be a bit better again, that I will finally be able to get myself back in shape.

Me...I'm doing okay. Daniel is 12 weeks old now. My Parkinson's is back. The tremor has returned and the weakness in my right leg is pretty profound. I'm hoping that as I exercise more I'll gain more strength and gain mobility again on my right side. Time will tell...I'm worse at night, especially at the end of a long day. It takes me forever to get up the stairs and my right side keeps locking up. I want to curse everytime I stumble on to myself on the infomercial or see my picture on magazine taken less than a year ago. I was the picture of health and I feel so far from that right now.

But it was all worth it: Daniel is such a blessing. His baptism was beautiful and he was so cute, smiling and cooing the entire time. I can't wait to share pictures...

Joey is jealous of all of the attention Daniel's been getting this past week, but he's doing better. He's excited about being an astronaut for Halloween this year...

Miranda just finished her last season on the middle school volleyball team. Her team was not only undefeated for the season but also came in first place this weekend in a county tournament. She broke her thumb during the game, but luckily the seasons over and now she can heal.

Brianne's last Varsity game is tonight. Today she is at the local hospital forher first day of the mentorship program she was accepted in to. She's shadowing both a general surgeon and an orthopedic surgeon (neurosurgeon wasn't available). She wants to be a doctor and find the cure for Parkinson's disease. She's busy applying to colleges, too. They grow up so fast.

Speaking of orthopedic surgeons, my sister had an accident a few weeks ago. Her 40 lbs shower door fell off its track and landed on her shin, just above her foot. She tore a tendon and has surgery this Thursday. She'll be unable to walk on it for 4 MONTHS!! Ouch!

And finally, I'm typing this on my new lap top! My old PC got a virus. Thank god I had backed up all of my photos and filed before hand. It happened at the perfect time because I needed all of the extra time away from my computer to get the cleaning done. I feel SO uncoordinated on this laptop and can't wait to purchase a mouse of it, but I'm thrilled to have a new machine and be BACK ONLINE!!! woo Hoo!!!!

So...i'm back to reality, back to PYBOING and hope to be back in shape soon.

HUGS all around...

[momto5doodlebugs]

Well, here's my update, although I feel totally lame about posting here since my exercise has been non-existent. Seems like I can hardly find time to breathe let alone do anything else!

I'm waiting to receive confirmation, but I believe the movers will be here on 11/13. In the meantime I'm just continuing to sort through things. We're selling a lot of stuff, especially toys. We'll be losing the massive bonus room we now have when we move down, as well as a lot of storage space. . I've been looking for an excuse to get rid of a lot of this stuff anyway, though!

Dave has essentially been gone since the week after he accepted the job offer. He was in training in WA for 3 weeks, came back for a couple of days, and then had to head down to Florida. He'll be working the week of the move, but hopefully the weekend after that he'll be able to take the kids down to FL so I can finish getting the house ready to put on the market. The entire interior needs to be painted, ugh, and the carpeting needs to be replaced. Of course I'll be scrubbing everything from top to bottom, as well.

As soon as I'm done with *this* house, I get to go down to FL and start on the IL's house that we'll be renting. Holy cow, is there a lot to do there!!! I honestly can't believe they've been trying to sell it in the condition it's in. Definitely no wonder they haven't had any interest. It actually makes me sick to my stomach to think about how dirty it is, but I'm just going to have to get over it. My MIL keeps talking about paying someone to clean it. I'm not sure how to go about telling her to save her money because there's no way I'm living there until *I've* scrubbed it myself!! That house needs to be painted as well, sigh, and one of our first projects will be to re-do the kitchen. It's looking like we might wind up buying the stupid thing eventually. The IL's can't afford to rent it out forever and the market totally sucks down there. Any house that's actually big enough for us would cost a fortune and would wind up being a really bad investment, so we might just buy their house for a lot less and then look into building a house in a year or so. We'll see!

Anyway, I simply can't wait until we're settled down there and I can get the kids and I back on a routine. There is an AWESOME YMCA that we're planning to join. The monthly fee even includes the child care center! My goal is to lose at least 30 pounds before I have to be a bridesmaid in my brother's wedding in May!

((HUGS)) to everyone who needs them!

[bblessed]

Thank you for posting all your updates...I've enjoyed reading all of them!



Kendra - Wow, you are mighty busy! I'm sure your house will sell quickly since you are so organized and keep everything in such immaculate condition! Sorry to hear your in-laws house is going to be so much work for you. Glad to hear your new YMCA includes childcare! You have plenty of time to lose those pounds and feel great at your brother's wedding in May.



Lauren Sue - So, it's Minnie now, eh? Glad to hear you're enjoying your nice cleaned up yard! (((Hugs))) , P&PT's for you and Drew....I hope he continues to have many more good days. Ah...emotional eating, I have to confess I've done a lot of that too lately. That stinks about your Parkinson's returning. I hope that as you return to exercising regularly, your strength will return. I saw your infomercial the other night while I was at my BIL/SIL's house babysitting my nieces. After they went to bed, the infomercial came on and I decided that I should pop in a pilates dvd. Maybe I need that commercial to come on tv all the time...lol! Hope your sister is getting better! Owie that sounded painful! Glad to hear the rest of your family is doing well.



Dawn - Glad to hear you're enjoying your job! Did you DD win her game? Hope she did! Sounds like everyone is keeping busy around here so you're not alone.



Lisa - Sounds like you're a busy bee too! Sorry to hear about your knee pain worsening! That really stinks! WTG on all the other exercise you're doing!!



Rachel - I completely understand about the lurking and not posting syndrome. I guess it's a good thing to be busy at work than not, right? I usually feel more job security when I'm busy. WTG for getting your DH into the running bug! How cool to run together this Thanksgiving with the kids! Good Luck to your DH in his half marathon training! How could he not get inspired to run a half marathon with you having done full marathons? Glad to hear your kiddos are doing well and how cute that Ian said 'Pop' 'Yes'! Congrats to Naomi on potty training herself!



Jess - Congrats on keeping up with your workout routine!! WTG on all the compliments while you were at Wal*Mart the other day! You certainly deserve it for all of your hard work!! Hope all the girls had fun trick or treating last week!



((Hugs)) ,

This post has been edited by bblessed: 06 November 2006 - 11:30 AM

[shmode]

I'll update too. I've been trying to keep from posting a lot on the bbs because I have schoolwork to do. I'm posting today because I'm awaiting a reply about an assignment. I will work ahead later, but for now, I'm gonna eat and post!LOL!

I've also been super busy because I'm a hunter's widow .... still. Hunting season started 2 months ago and out of the entire 2 months, I have only 2 deer in my possession (not mine, but my cooking possession, I didn't hunt this year). I hate being a hunting widow.

We had our pc in for a week in there, so I was also non-existent from that, and I've been having chest pains and back pains that are completely unexplainable, so I have to see a dr before I continue any aerobics (Pilates should be fine if I'm careful).

My weight .... well, I've gained back all I lost. Got seriously off track with eating and exercising so it came back full force. But I'm trying not to beat myself up too much, just getting back on the wagon slowly (eating is doing better, but due to the mysterious pains, I'm holding off on exercise).

That's my update for now.

jody

[Mellissa]

Not a whole lot new here. Work has been busy and I have been trying to keep up the workouts after 10 hour days at work and then rushing around for 2 hours at home to get dinner made and cleaned up, homework with DS and then pick up the house. I have put on a few pounds and also took my measurements for the first time in months and well, let's just say I was not thrilled. I am refocusing on Buns and Thighs for a while since I put on over an inch and a half in each of those areas and that makes me very uncomfortable. I am also training for the WDW marathon in January. We are confirmed and ready to go ; ) We leave January 1st at 9am and stay until January 8th. The kids can't wait and I can't either. I figure all that walking will be really good preparation for the marathon on January 6th.

Mellissa

[melissad]

I'm still lurking and loved reading the updates on everyone! Glad to know I'm not the only one who is crazy busy Life is going good, just flying by! I was doing super with exercise earlier this fall, and then cold/flu season hit & seems like life is one thing of mucus. Gross. The good news is that with my dedication to walking this fall I kicked started a loss of about 5 lbs, which is what I was going for, and toned my butt & thighs so that I'd wear a swimsuit proudly...unfortunately it is NOVEMBER in IOWA! What timing! Even though I've been slacking on exercise another lb or so has dropped off...I think because I have that muscle back on my body its burning fat quicker. I've also kept up with some good eating habits & drinking lots of water.
The girls are super busy, with Volleyball & soon it will be basketball season. And the oldest is only 6th grade! They've started 3rd/4th & 5th/6th grade teams in my dinky town, and I think its great - lets them get the basics & see if they like it before committing to be on "the team" in junior high. All three girls are also taking dance, which they love, so all in all, I'm a taxi!!
Melissa