Let the Celebrating begin.

I had been invited to my Future in-laws for a cookout over Memorial Day weekend. After lunch there was dessert, which turned out to be an ice cream cake. Ice cream cake is not all that "cakey." More like ice cream that is cake shaped. Either way it was good. I got a assortment of goodies from the FIL for my birthday.

All the ingredients to make Sugar cookies. Yum.

Yesterday I get a call from my friend Pam. She says"Happy Birthday Eve." She was on her way to Wal-Mart to get some paint and asked if I wanted to go. Sure why not. It's Sunday and Eric isn't home yet. Off the Wally World to get paint. She couldn't decide what color she wanted for her mud room. She wanted a gray/blue color to match the tiles on the floor. I picked out the color Blue Whale. Nice color, matches perfect. Pam had made some soup, tiny garlic rolls and Margarita's. Everything tasted great and look what I got for my birthday.

A journal and slippers in wedding colors no less.

I am not the only one to enjoy these fine examples of things of knit.

And they called it Puppy love.

Then my parents took me to dinner at the http://www.thefrogandturtle.com/. It is a very nice place to have dinner. One of the hostess (Christy) had gone to school with my daughter Samantha. Christy bought me a drink called Chocolate Cake. It was very good. My parents got me one of my gifts off my wedding registry.

The Magic Bullet

I was trying to figure out what I could make in 30 seconds or less. With Eric being gone, I don't have that much by the way of groceries in the house. The only thing that I could find was tequila and margarita mix. So.....

MANGO MARGARITA, OLE!

I got ready for work today. I picked up my phone to leave the house and there was a text message. I thought that it would be from Tracy as we share the same birthday but it was my honey, Eric saying Happy Birthday. Then I get another message, this one from my daughter in Texas. Happy Birthday.

I get home and stop by the mail box to pick up the mail. I noticed that there was a "card" sized envelope. I stopped short, looking at it. I thought I recognized the handwriting. I looked at the return address on it, it was my address. The handwriting belongs to Eric. He mailed me a card from Indianapolis. I got on my birthday. What a guy. He is the best in the whole wide world.

Another year has come and gone. What is a 46 year old woman who is getting married to the man of her dreams suppose to feel like? A million dollars. Wouldn't trade it for anything else.

My daughter says I need to "UPDATE."

The reason I haven't blogged in a while is because I didn't have anything to say. I know that comes as a shock to some people, but it is true.

My life has been the same the the last 2 months. Get up, pee and poo the dog, fill up the dogs pee and poo tanks with food, get ready for work, go to work, come home, pee and poo the dog, fill up the dogs pee and poo tanks with food, talk to Eric, get ready for bed and then go to bed. Then it starts all over again. Exciting huh?

I guess in between there has been wedding "stuff". Got pink and brown candles for the aisle candle holders. Still need to get tulle, light pink M&M's, rope lights and white lights to decorate the reception area. I got my dress fitting scheduled. I haven't been to the gym in those 2 months so when I start to go again tomorrow, I will be a hurting mass of muscle. I will be the old lady in the corner moaning. Got my hair and makeup appt's scheduled. Eric's parents are working on the reheasal dinner. (Going to starve myself just so that I can eat then. I can already smell the Autumn Chicken cooking.) Going to look for a wagon for the ring bearer to be pulled down the aisle with. I think my head is going to explode with all the "little" things that need to be done. Still have get my wedding ring to get off layaway. Invitations are at the Calligraphers for addressing and will be mailed in a few weeks. That reminds me I need to get stamps. The boys need to get measured for their Tux's. I know that's something I shouldn't worry about but I do. Got to meet with the DJ to get music picked out. WAIT.....STOP! What was that noise I just heard? It was my head. It just exploded. HELP ME.

I can list about a trillion and half of things that need to be done. I just keep telling myself it will all come together like pieces in a jigsaw puzzle. Good thing I am organized. If I keep on talking about this my head will explode like one of those balloons in the game Popit. Ouch. So this means I have go. Cuz if I don't I will keep going on about the things that need to be done for the wedding. I am trying to cut back on talking about it. It's like an addiction. At first you start talking about it a little here and little there, then all of a sudden in takes over your life. I can go on and on about things that need to be done.


Must.....make......myself.....stop.

Wedding Things

I finally ordered the invitations. Yeah. I got them online. Both Eric and I picked them out. Actually, I picked them out and Eric agreed that they were nice. We did the wording together. We work well together. The only thing that he didn't want was the proofing (extra $20) they send you via email and then you either approve it or make corrections.



I ordered them on Wednesday and yesterday (Friday) I got the proof. Yes, I had to make a few corrections but otherwise they were good. They even sent proofs of the reception card, response card and the return addresses on the envelopes. All was good.



I also ordered pink and brown tissue paper. The paper is to be used as "filler" in the favor boxes. Then pink and brown M&M's will fill the boxes. I already got the favor boxes, which are almost all folded, only the pink bottoms need to be done. I am way ahead of schedule with these. I even ordered the brown M&M's on Thursday and when I got my email at work confirming my order, there was another email saying that the M&M's were delivered. WHAT! How can that be? I just ordered them the day before. Sure enough, when I pulled into my parking space right by my door, there was the box.

Pretty box. I opened it and it was bubble heaven. A variety of bubble to be popped at a later date. Inside was 5 pounds of brown M&M's. I would have taken a picture of the bag but there was a little mishap. I don't know how and when it happened but the bag magically opened. Being a gracious hostess, I thought that it would be a good idea to "taste" them to make sure they didn't have a bad flavor. It wouldn't be a good idea to give the wedding guests bad chocolate. No, that would not do. Now I can honestly say that the M&M's will be enjoyed by everyone that will be at the reception and maybe a few before. I had purchased a few bags of M&M's at Valentines. In these bags were the colors of red, white, light pink and pink. I picked out the red ones and left the others thinking this would be good combination with the brown. Not when you mix them together. So, now I am going to have to order the light pink ones. Darn it. What am I going to do with all the other M&M's? I am kinda on a diet. If I ate all those M&M's I don't think that I could fit into my wedding dress. What to do? What to do? I could donate them to the Save a Sheep fund. This fund is for anyone who doesn't want any chocolate to go to waste (my waist). What a good idea.

Eric was just home this past week. He left on Wednesday and will be gone until the middle of July. We couldn't figure out a way were he can be gone for a few weeks and then be home for when Samantha come home for a visit with the grandbaby. It will be a long time but we can handle it.

Anyway, while he was home, we went to find him a wedding ring. Eric has very sensitive skin and he has a reaction when he wears gold. No gold ring for him. There are options out there that I didn't think about. Stainless Steel. Titanium. Silver. Platinum. Tungsten.

Since Eric is a truck driver we wanted a ring that would be durable. Titanium was a good choice. Strong metal but it does scratch. Stainless steel looked good. But once again if it gets scratch then it looks....well, scratched. The only ring that would hold it's style and grace was the Tungsten. That is what we got. Eric has his ring. Now, I need to get mine. We have been to countless jewelry stores. I couldn't find one that looked right with my ring. That is until we went to GM Pollack. We found one that looked amazing. It was beautiful with a capital B. They were even having a sale on top of a sale. It was meant to be until she told us the price. For me to have that ring, I am going to have to give up something else that is already planned for the wedding. The answer was no. I will find another wedding ring that will match my engagement ring. The moral of the story is......Patience is a virtue. I will wait. Good things come to those who wait.

Off to clean out the storage unit. Need to save more money.

Oh no, not another one?

Two posts in one week! My F.F.I.L is not going to be able to handle it. Good thing he sits down when he is at the computer.

Today was a busy day for me. I decided that I was going to do some errands and get the garden done. But from the look of the sky that wasn't going to happen. The weather person said that we are going to have showers. OK, I can do this in between storms. No problem. Off I go.

Got dressed, put my sneakers on and then it hit me or I should say Sargeant hit me. He knows when I put any type of footwear on, time to go out. He has this habit of jumping and springing off the my calves when I am walking. This really shouldn't be a problem since he is only 5 pounds. Right? Wrong. Every time he does it, I feel like my knee gives out. You know like when someone is walking behind you and thinks its funny to push on the back of your knee. Kinda like that. He does this EVERY single time. Then I start to feel guilty about not spending more time with him, so I decided to take him on some of my errands with me.

First stop, ATM to take the garden money out so I don't spend more than what I had allotted for this project. Stupid dog almost jumps out of the truck window because he is excited that he is out for a ride. Off to the next bank to make car payment.

This bank is nice. Every time I go there with the dog, the drive thru window bank lady gives Sargeant a treat. He KNOWS this. New lady at the window. Didn't give it a second thought. Out comes the draw. I put the payment in. In goes the draw. New DTWBL takes payment, walks away. Comes back. Puts receipt in the draw. Now Sargeant is all excited. Shes back, shes back. I can have me treat now, I was a good boy. I was even wagging my tail. Out comes draw. NO TREAT. Evil DTWBL. He looked at the draw, looked back at me, then at the draw again. Tail stops wagging, ears deflate, eyes droop. One sad dog. Instead of taking him on our weekly trip to Petco, we went home and I gave him a few treats to make up for the EDTWBL not giving him any. Then I put him in the crate and off I go to finish my errands.

Petco.....dog food, check.

Lowes.....dirt, rocks, rake, shovel, herbs and more dirt, check.

Highland Ave greenhouse......flowers and flowers, check.

Since I didn't see what I really wanted at Highland Ave, I thought I would just take a little ride to Broadway Gardens to have a look see. At this point my budget money is running low and I knew that I would have to stop soon. Ok, all I have left was $18.00. I had to look fast and not fall for anything that I wasn't looking for.

They didn't have what I wanted but I did get a beautiful Red Dahlia along with a few Petunia's. That should do it. Keeping my fingers crossed as I went up to the cashier, I hope I would go over the $18.00 that I had in my wallet. Total was $22.40. Not to bad but still over my budget. So what is a woman to do? Pull out the debit card, pay for the whole thing and keep the cash. So I was over by $4.40. It's not like I was over by $440.00. I did very well, even if I say so myself.

Got everything done with the garden with a few minutes to spare and only a few raindrops on me.

Pictures to be posted once I get my dancing frogs. You'll understand when we have a picture. Because right now I don't have the dancing frogs (which can be purchased at BJ's wholesale) and the garden is not complete without them. One day I will get them. They were meant to be in my garden. They are mine, all mine.

Until I get my frogs......

This one is for you, F.F.I.L

It seems that it has been a while since I've posted a line or two. I was asked by my Future Father-in-Law why I haven't posted anything.....answer is simple, I have been very lazy. I think I get that way when Eric isn't around. No one here to do things with, except for the dog. He doesn't talk much.

I have been out to California to see my new grandson. He is the most adorable little guy that I have seen in a long time. I got pictures to prove it.

Jarrid Layne Liles; The girls at work says he looks like me.

Baby boy sleeping with the blanket that Meme gave him.

Memere (meme) is the french word for grandmother. Both my mother and sister are giving me a hard time about being called Meme cuz we're not french. I went on the internet to find a name for grandmother that I think was appropriate for a young...er grandmother. But there aren't any that a little boy can pronounce. So we are sticking to Memere. Meme for short. My sister wanted to know why not be called nana? That still is a older sounding name. My mother is grammy. I just refuse to called anything but Meme. I am still young. Young, I say Young. Ok, denial is not just another river Egypt. But I am allowed. Aren't I?

As far as the diet goes. I am still on it more or less. More than less I suppose. I have been watching what I eat and drink. I drink plenty of water. Now that the weather is somewhat decent I go for walks with the dog.

But I think those walks are more along the lines of a "drag." The dog takes me on a "drag" instead of a walk. You know when you have a great big dog and he pulls so much that you think your arm is going to come out of the socket. Well, it's almost like that except my dog, Sargeant, is all but 5 lbs. (soaking wet) Yorkshire Terrier. These dogs have amazing strenght in their front legs. They were bred to hunt rats in foxholes so they had to dig. So that he is not being choked because he walks faster than I do, I have to walk a little faster which makes him walk faster, which makes me walk faster. Besides being tired after our walk, my right arm is now one inch longer. :) As far as weight loss goes.......drum roll please........a total of 12 pounds are now gone. Never to be seen again on this body.

This was a total shock to me. I didn't realize that I had lost that much until I went with the bridemaids to get sized for their dresses. After everyone was sized I decided that I would try on some wedding dresses myself. I saved the dress that I had picked out about 2 months ago for last. Showed them some dresses and then went to put on the dress that I had tried on before and it was too big. One size too big, yeah. Now I am happy that I had waited to buy the dress. I have bought my wedding dress. I guess there is no turning back now.

Eric is stuck with me.

Can't wait to show off the dress at my "October" wedding.

Here's Linda......

I guess it is time to up date the blog. I didn't realize how long its been since I've posted anything.

Nothing really has been going on. Just working, then going to work out and home again. I know, the excitement is killing you. That was my nickname in high school, Linda "Ms. Excitement" Henigan.

Eric was home about a week ago and all I did was eat, eat and eat some more. Gain 4 pounds. He is not very good at motivation. It didn't help that I didn't care what I ate either.

We did do something. Went to this paper store in Kennebunk to pick out invitations. Ok, I thought that it would be cheaper to do it that way. (I mean when I met the women at the Bridal show in Wells, she stated that she can do a good job for less money.) We picked out some nice paper, discussed ink colors and told her we only needed 80 invitations. When I called her to ask if she figured out the price, I almost fainted. $349.20 plus tax for 80 invitations? I can go online and pay less than that for 100 invitations. That was ridiculous. I talked to Eric about it and he agreed. I am going to have to look for other options. So the search is on. Maybe I'll get lucky and find a do-it-yourself kit for $35.00. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Anyway that is it for now. Was sneezing all day today. Hope I didn't catch Eric's cold. That would be a miracle since he got sick after he left. I know we are close but being sick together when we aren't together is a little crazy.

Don't you think?

Diet Diary

Dear Diary,

I know I haven't written in a while, but I have been very busy. Right now I am at a stand still. I have been working out 2 to 3 times a weeks. Using the treadmill and taking a weight class is about all that I have been doing lately.

This weight class is called Final Cut. I thought I could take this class and do some toning on the ole muscles. Well, the first 2 classes were great. The instructor was firm but gentle. Then she quit. The next instructor was like Attila the Hun. Maybe it was me and I was being a wuss so I decided to hang in there and see what happens. After the 3 rd class with Attila, I couldn't take it anymore. Having to use my muscle "to exhaustion" I decided that I didn't want to look like Arnold Schwarzenegger. So taking what I learned in Attila class, I am now doing it on my own. Hopefully this will work.

So as of today, I have lost a total of 8 pounds and a few inches. Yeah. Two more pound to reach my goal. Then on to the next goal.

I look at myself in the mirror at least once a week and say, "I will lose weight, I will lose weight."

I think it might be working.

A Week in Review plus two.

Saturday March 8, 2008

Went to lunch at Olive Garden: soup, salad, and breadsticks for $5.99. Can't go wrong with that. Headed to David's Bridal, just wanted to try on some dresses. Had an idea at what I wanted but when I tried on the dresses, they didn't seem right. Looked at a few in their catalog. Tried one more on. Got choked up. Teary eyed. I found the dress.......I think. That night talked to Eric

Sunday March 9, 2008

My sister Karen and I went to Boston. Actually Braintree and spent the night. Karen was having reconstruction surgery on Monday. Have to be at the hospital at 6:00 a.m. Went to Jimbo's South for dinner. Nice little restaurant. That night talked to Eric.

Monday March 10, 2008

Got up at 4:30 a.m. can't remember the last time I was up that early. Getting old (er). Drove into Boston. Only took one wrong turn before making it to the hospital. Not to bad. Got Karen all situated and they told me that the surgery is usually 18 hours, but Karen's doctor (Dr. Lee) was apparently good at this and is fast so the surgery would be between 10 and 12 hours. Karen told me to go home. So I did. Took me an hour to get out of Boston. Had to call my mother to figure out how to get out. Mom told me I needed a GPS. Ya' think!?!

Karen's surgery started at 8:00 a.m., Dr. Lee called me at 6:50 p.m. to let me know that everything went well and Karen will be in recovery until tomorrow. Then she will be in a room after that. Left messages during the day for Eric and then spoke to him at night.

Tuesday March 11, 2008

Not much going on this day. Woke up, got ready for work, went to work then went to the gym for a workout with Broomhilda. Workout Witch from Final Cut class. Decided that this was the last time I am taking this class. Will figure something else out. Talked to Eric about class. Good sport that he is, listening to me whine. Love him buckets and pails full.

Wednesday March 12, 2008

Much of the same thing as Tuesday. Go to work. Find out the provider that I am working with called out sick. Had to call and reschedule patients. Day off from gym. Good thing too. Just a tad lame. Hate that class. Went home during the daylight. WOW. Could actually see Sargeant when I let him out to P&P. Talked to my sister who was doing fine but not a hundred percent. Talked to Eric to end the day.

Thursday March 13, 2008

Same old thing, just a different day. Went to gym. DID NOT take Final Cut class. Will have to decide on what to do later. Did treadmill. Worked with weights. Stretched. Good workout. Called Karen doing ok. Very sore. Talked to Eric. He was in Texas, very warm there. Now in West Virginia. Will be home soon.

Friday March 14, 2008

Going today back to Boston to pickup Karen but first I have to work for a while. Got a call from my mom around 11:00. "Call your sister, she wants to come home." "I am leaving work at 3:00 to go to pick her up." Called my sister and in her most pathetic voice ever heard on the planet she says, "GET me OUT of here." I will try to leave work sooner. But can't promise anything. Got to leave work at 12:30. Drove to Boston and drove home. Talked to Eric on and off after getting home and running around to get my sister's prescriptions filled. I know, I know. What a good sister I am.

Saturday March 15, 2008

Had a few friends from work over. Good time was had by all. Might have something to do with the champagne punch but not sure and some finger food. Going back on diet tomorrow. Eric is at the OC (operating center) in PA waiting for trailer relay. Got to talk to him almost all day.
Talked to him again right before bed.

Sunday March 16, 2008

Not doing anything exciting today. Going to get groceries and the newspaper. And chilling all day. I might even take a shower.


Maybe, maybe not.

Ramblings

The only time I post a blog is when I have something to say. It has been a very exciting couple of weeks with the birth of my grandson and trying to figure out when I can go see him.

I got tickets to go to CA for May 1 to May 6. That will be an exciting time. I will take a zillion pictures and then after that, I am going to take a zillion more. Proud MeMe. Of course, I am going to have to take Sargeant with me. That should be fun. I hope the vet has a good quality doggie sedative because I am, I mean Sargeant is going to need it.

Last time Eric was home, we pick out Tuxedo's and as we were going to put down the deposit, I saw a little tiny tux. It was adorable. I asked how small they run and he said 0 to 9 month. My mind started to imagine Jarrid in a tux being pulled the aisle (by his dad) in a little red wagon all decorated for the wedding he would make a perfect ring bearer. Oh everyone can now say,"ahh" isn't that cute.

I ordered the favor boxes and ribbon with our names on it along with the wedding date last week. I got the boxes and thought that they would be put together. Boy I was wrong. The lids were like folding pizza boxes. A pain in the rear quarter. I had folded 14 lids before I realized an easier way. Then I folded the rest like a pro, actually I folded the brown covers like a pro. I am saving the pink covers for Eric fold.

The ribbons were two small to go around the boxes. Bummer. I have to go and find some ribbon at JoAnn's that will match. No problem. Got it covered. So to speak. Ha Ha I am so funny sometimes.

Now I have to order brown M&M's to go with the pinks that I all ready have for the favor boxes. I have to fill the boxes when Eric is not home, cuz he will eat them all before I get them in the boxes. Eric and chocolate is like his sister and chocolate, they get within 2 feet and it's all over. Cover the children eyes, it's not pretty.

As far as the diet goes, I lost a total of 7 pounds so far. Yeah. I am determined to lose at least 10 pounds or more. But for right now my goal is 10 pounds, 3 more pounds and I am there. When that happens then on to the next goal.

That's about all I have for now. Things are shaping up for the wedding. I still have to find a dress. I have time.

Maybe.

Oh Boy!

I just don’t know how to explain how amazing my daughter is. Yesterday she gave birth to our grandson. I am at a loss for words.

At 5:15 EST my cell phone rang. It was Jackson’s mother. “Hello Grammy listen to this.” She held the phone and I heard Jarrid crying in the background. It was the sweetest sound. Then Samantha got on the phone and told me that he weighted 5 lbs, 3 oz. and is 17 ½ inches long.

After I got off the phone with Samantha, I text everyone on my phone list. Between phone calls, emails and text messaging, Maine to Florida everyone knew about Jarrid.

We will be waiting for more pictures. I got some last night. Need more, want more.

Countdown to Jarrid's Birthday.

Here we go again.....this time the contractions are 8 minutes apart. Samantha is having back pain.

She is not a happy camper.

Not excited this time.

Just in pain.

They are on their way to the hospital.

Next update: When they get the to hospital and see the doctor.

Blonde Moment?!?

As you may know by now, Eric is home. Yeah. I wasn’t excepting him to be home until Tuesday. On Monday, I was at work doing what everyone is excepted to do….work. I happened to catch, out of the corner of my eye, someone moving around near the check-in window. To my surprise it was Eric and he was holding a bouquet of flowers. He had come home on Monday, one day early. I was so happy to see him. I missed him very much. I had the brightest smile on my face; we didn’t even need to have the lights on. Everyone at work watched me as I walked very fast out to the front to get the biggest and bestest hug. Nothing like having an audience watching making oohing and aahing noises. It was the best day of the month.

Lying in bed last night, we were talking about this last trip and how Eric thought it was one of the worst runs he has had. Then I remember about one of our phone conversations about Jell-O.

Eric had gone to Canada to make a delivery to some town I can’t remember the name of. Then he went to pick up a trailer full of gelatin. Gelatin is what makes Jell-O. As I was talking to him, he decides to tell me that he now knows what Jell-O is made of. I said I knew what Jell-O was made of and where it came from. Eric stated that he would never eat Jell-O again. Really? Really. I had told him that Jell-O was made out of gelatin that comes from the hoof of cows. “Oh contraire, monfraire” he says. (Something he says all the time when he “thinks” he is right) It is made out of something else. At this point I am trying to figure out what else gelatin is made out of.

At this point let me explain that Eric is not a cook. I think the only reason he asked me to marry him is so that he will have at least one good meal a day. I know that is not true but it could be.

Eric decided to give me some hints. He started to explain that it was a small, furry woodland animal. I said, “Squirrel?” Nope. I was trying to thing what else it could be. Chipmunk? What other thing in the forest would be considered a small woodland animal? After a few minutes I gave up. What is gelatin made out of? Eric said “porcupine”

WHAT??? No way you got to be kidding. I knew that wasn’t right. He said it was true. Eric went to pull out the bill of lading and started to spell P-O-R-C-I-N-E. Oh My God. You got to be kidding. I am laughing so hard; tears are coming out of my eyes. I am falling off the chair. After catching my breath, I said very sweetly, “Honey, that is pig not porcupine” I actually started to snort like a pig, I was laughing so hard.

He is so cute. Love him to pieces. More phone conversations like this one, would fill pages and pages of blog.

Until next phone conversation.

Countdown to Jarrid Birthday.

Spoke with Samantha this morning and the contractions have totally stopped. I guess this classify's as a false alarm.

Will keep everyone posted.

Countdown to Jarrid's birthday?

Well, it looks like things have stalled so to speak. Samantha has gone from every 20 minutes for contraction to every 45 minutes between contraction. I know, I know going the wrong direction and one would think that if Jarrid was lost he would ask for directions. Just like a man not to ask directions when lost.

Woo hoo, I know what he needs......an Edith (GPS) just like Papa Eric's.

Will continue with the updates as I receive them.

Countdown to Jarrid Birthday

It is now 10:00pm EST. Contractions have slowed down to 30 mintues apart, but the intensity is stronger. Going to be a loooong night for everyone in CA. Will keep posting as soon as I find out anything more. But right now this old woman is going to get some beauty sleep.

Count down to Jarrid's Birthday

Samantha just called me 3:00 EST. Doctor says she is in labor. Contractions 20 minutes a part. Will keep you all updated.

Weight Loss Diary

Dear Diary:

This week hasn't been all that good. Believe it or not, I think that I am not eating enough to lose weight. That's right not eating ENOUGH. I only lost 4 tenths of a pound (digital scale). One would think that eating less would make you lose weight, right? Wrong. If you don't eat enough, your body goes into starvation mode. Which means instead of losing, your body is saying "Danger, Danger Will Robertson." "We need to conserve. To much output, not enought input. We need to save the fat."

At this point I want to scream. That is not how it works. But the body knows. You can't fool it. The only way to lose weight is to keep to a calorie limit (back to slimfast calorie counter), to increase your exercise and drink plenty of water.

Now that my mind knows this, I would do better. Nope not me. But I am continuing to fight the endless battle of losing weight. Counting calories is like playing chess, all about the strategy. What and when to make the next move so that you can get enough to lose weight.

Even trying to think of finding a wedding dress right now is unthinkable. Well ok I do think about it, I might even have gone online and found a few (5) to try on. But I still have a couple of weeks left to lose at least 3 more pounds. Then I know I will be ready. Really ready to seriously start trying on wedding dresses.

That's about all I have for now. Keep the faith diary. I will lose weight, I will lose weight.

The Great Baby Watch '08

Well, it seems that Jarrid wants to arrive a little head of schedule. Late Thursday night I get a call from Samantha telling me that she was in the hospital. When I say late I mean 11:45 pm late. I was in the "sleep daze" when I answer the phone.

" 'ello"
" hi mom I just wanted to let you know that I am in the hospital." At this point you would think that I would wake right up, right? Nope, not me.
"ok" At this point, the conversation gets a little foggy for me so I don't remember all of it but I do remember Sam asking me if I wanted to know what hospital she was in. All I could think of was I had to get out of bed, get paper and a pen to write it down. My body didn't move, I couldn't make a sound.

Samantha said that she would call me on Friday and let me know where she was. Good idea. I think I mumbled good night, I love you and talk to you later.

Yesterday it took every fiber of my being not to call as soon as I got to work. The time difference is really a killer. Finally at 11:00 am EST, I call Jackson parents house. No one answered. They were either still asleep or at the hospital. I called Jackson's work phone and all it did was ring. Great. Just as I was starting to get into the panic mode my phone rings and it was Samantha.

She was home. At 32 weeks , it is too soon to have this baby. They had given her a shot to stop the contractions. Her second one in as many weeks. That must have went over like a ton of bricks. She is deathly afraid of needles. She faints when she has to have blood drawn. On top of all that, she has another bladder infection. She as given antibiotic and was put on bed rest for the rest of her pregnancy.

I read her blog today and started to freak out a little bit because she was having contractions again and went to play tea with Katie (Jackson's niece/sister) who is I believe 18 or 19 months. Something like that.

So I called and left a message for Samantha to call me. She called me back. She said that she only had two contractions yesterday and hasn't had any today. She still feels like crap but she is resting. I also told her no more playing tea unless it was on the bed. She kinda agreed.

She is stubborn. I have NO idea where she gets that from. It must be from Eric, yeah thats it, Eric. Blame the guy in the truck. LOL

Anyway, Samantha is fine. Jarrid is fine but he is wanting to see the world. He probably knows that Great Auntie Sheep has become a knitting factory for all things baby and wants to see what he is getting. He is just going to have to wait like the rest of us.

He will be the only baby with a glow-in-the dark blankie.

All the others will be jealous.

Weight Loss Diary

Dear Diary:

Today I am in the middle of week three of my diet. Yuck. Breakfast was 1 cup of Cheerios with 1/4 cup of low fat milk. No skim here. (I don't like white water and that is what skim milk tastes like to me.) 1 cup of OJ. Snack time was a chocolate chip muffin snack bar made by Slim Fast. Yummy for the tummy. ( not really....trying to psych myself out)

I have been craving a chicken salad with ranch dressing. So for lunch I had brought just that. I made the salad the night before, cooked the chicken in the GF grill, used a old tiny Tupperware container for the ranch dressing and wrapped a small red potato in plastic to cook in the microwave at work. I also brought along one of those 100 calorie snack thingies.

Then the drug reps brought in lunch. Panera sandwiches, some salads, kettle cooked chips and 4 boxes of cookies. I was brave, very brave. I walk into the kitchen cooked my potato and walked right back out. Good for me. I walked back down to my desk and sat there eating my salad and potato like a good girl. Go me.

I had to go back to the kitchen to wash my fork. I was done washing the fork and in walk one of my teammates.....she was eating a Chocolate chips cookie. How dare she. I walked up to her, took the cookie out of her hand and walked right out of the kitchen with it in my hand. Right in the trash it went. We are going to win this stupid little challenge that is going on at work if it kills me.

Afternoon came and went. So did my 100 calorie snack. Those things don't last long. It seemed I just opened it and pesto, gone. Oh well, maybe next time I will dream that it is a piece of chocolate cake.

I went to the gym after work and had a good workout. I really thing that I should go back to curves. I really enjoyed that but since I signed on at this gym for a year I thing I am stuck there until my contract is up.

Got home and was kind of hungry so I made myself a turkey sandwich. That was good. Hit the spot.

Then I had a 100 calorie Jello pudding. Now that was really good. Yummy.

The good thing about today was I step on the scale this morning before breakfast and I lost another pound. So total poundage lost 4. Not to bad for eating all that food.

Going to the gym again tomorrow. That makes 3 times this week. Which is my goal. Always have a goal to meet each week.

I will have to think of another one for next week.


Linda

PS dieting sucks

ALL RIGHT, ALL READY!!!

Geez Louise. Every time Eric checks the "blogs" he says, "it would be great if yours had some new content." Well, here it is. Not only am I posting, I changed the template. I was really tired of the pink.

Eric has been home for a WHOLE week. Seven days in a row. Holy cow! The only draw back is that I had to work. It was great having him home. Sargeant was happy, the fish were happy and I was very, very happy. The only thing that was bad....I had started a diet about a week before he got home. With Eric being home I kind of lost track of the diet. I didn't do to bad but it wasn't easy. Especially when we went to eat out. He orders the best looking chocolate cake I have seen in a lonnnnng time. With TWO forks. It was absolutely, completely not on my diet.

Wiping the drool from the corner of my mouth, started to reach for "my" fork. That is when the "good Linda" appeared. You shouldn't eat that, you lost 3 pounds since last Friday. You will gain that weight back. The team is depending on you. At this point I should explain about the team. At my work there are a lot of co-workers who are using the gym next door and are their way to losing weight. The management decided that we should have our own "Biggest Loser" contest. With teams of four, we were all weighed and the team with the biggest percentage of weight loss wins a year membership at the gym (with a friend) or a $150 gift certificate to Dick's Sporting Goods each.

The "Bad Linda" pops up and says, "Eric is leaving soon, you'll have 3 weeks to lose the weight again before the next weight-in." Decisions, Decisions. What is a girl to do? WWSAD? Actually, I know what Sheepish Annie would do. Eat the damn cake and pay for it later. So I am paying for it. I worked out at the gym an extra 10 minutes this week and will work out another 15 minutes next week. Was it worth the extra pain and suffering that I would have to endure? HELL YEAH. It was a 4 layer of chocolaty goodness and half of it was mine. All mine to do with as I please. It was very good. Of course when I went to work the next day, I had to see how much that cake cost me. Only one, yes just one pound was gained back. I rock. Now, it will be all business. My goal is to lose 5 pounds in the next 3 weeks. Not a big goal but I believe it is an attainable goal.

Eric leaves tomorrow. Just as I was getting used to sharing the bed with him again, he's gone. He was gone for 40 days this last time out and that was 38 days too long if you ask me.

It is now time to say good night as it is almost 10 pm and Eric has to be up early to go to Rumford (make sure you say that in a Maine accent) for a load of paper to take to somewhere not in Maine.

Good night.

Flash Back

January 3, 2007 As you know my daughter was home for a week during the holiday's along with my brother from GA. This is the day that they leave to go home. This is how the morning went.

My brother calls and says that they can't leave today because Kelley is sick. But the rental still had to be at the airport by 11:00 am. I needed to drive to Windham to pick up my father, have my nephew follow me with the rental to the airport. Samantha is to drive cousins car to airport so we don't have to drive him back to Windham. While I was waiting in the pick up lot at the airport, a red van pulls in beside us.

A man get outs of the van and starts to scrape stuff off of it. BTW it is below the freezing mark at this point. As I watch this guy scrape the van off I was thinking and kinda laughing to myself. This guy didn't take his van through a car wash? I said to my dad, "look at that van, that guy put it through a car wash and all the water and soap suds had frozen to the van." Now I am laughing. What an idiot. My dad didn't think that's what was on the van until the guys friend came to the van and I over heard him say he took the van to the car wash. I thought that everyone knew that the freezing point was 32 degrees. At least that is what I learn in science class. Maybe I was wrong. Then I took another look at the van. Nope, not wrong. I was trying to keep a straight face but couldn't do it. Even as I write this, I still chuckle and shake my head, "what were you thinking?"

So the rental is returned, Samantha gets into the car and off we head to the Turnpike. We or should I say "I" (since I was driving) headed to the closest exit to head south to go to Logan airport to drop Samantha off for her trip home. (I was on autopilot which sometimes we all do when we know the area so well.) I knew I had to take a left onto the "on ramp" to head south. So I came to the first on ramp and took a left. After merging into traffic I realized I was headed north. Oh crap. OK let me point out to you that there were two others in the car with me, my dad who was in the front seat and Samantha do you think one of them would have noticed I took the wrong on ramp? Nope. I had to go to the next on ramp to head south. What an idiot I was. Headed to the next exist and turned around. So we get to the next exist and Samantha says "Why don't you pull a u-turn here?" I stated that there was a no u-turn sign. As I said that there was a green van with Turnpike Authority plates on it in front of me stopped at the light. When the light turned green the van made a u-turn right there in plain sight. Damn, well if he can do it so can I and I did. Now we are headed in the right direction.

So for making fun of the guy who washed his van in freezing weather, I was made to take the wrong on ramp.

Is that Karma? Maybe, maybe not.

Head Cold Part Deux

My daughter Samantha just called me. "Mom, did I wake you?" "No, I have a cold." I said. Samantha says "you sound like crap." I said, "Geez thanks."

If anyone could hear me now, they would agree with Samantha. I think I did pretty well today. I got up this morning, took a shower, got dressed and went to work. I must have stood in the shower for at least 10 minutes before making a move to get clean. Slowly I turn, step by step, inch by inch, (sorry mind wanderings something to do with a 3 stooges skit) now I know I am sick. Remembering things from my childhood. Delirious from the fever. OK, OK.....so I got to work. Monday's, Tuesday's and Thursday's I answer the phones, schedule appts and do faxes, receptionist work. Wednesday's and Friday's I work as a Medical Assistant to the nurse practitioner.

As soon as the phone were taken off service, my head exploded. I couldn't think to save my life. "Maine Centers for Healthcare, how my I direct your call?" This usually tells people that you just answer the phone and that they need to speak with someone else. WELL, today was different. All I wanted to do was get the patients off my line and onto someone who can help. But NOOOOOO. I had to hear about the toilet bowl filled with blood because someone was stupid enough to wait 5 hours to call their doctors office instead of going to the EMERGENCY ROOM. Go to the ER you dumb ass. (Having a cold makes me a tad evil) Thats what I was thinking but what I said was (in my MA voice), "you really should have gone to the ER. They are better equipped at taking care of something like this than we are."
"Really, do you think I should have gone to the ER?"
"yes" was all that I could say.
"OK I will go to the ER."
Thank You Jesus. I think a little praying is good every now and then.

The phones rang and rang and before I knew it, it was lunch time. Yeah I get to go eat my tomato soup. No phones to answer. Wrong. The nurse practitioner was on the phone and wanted to talk to me. Great. Not bad though, only a 10 minute phone conversation. Now soup.

I know I took some DayQuil but I can't remember what time that was. Oh well. If I can find some NyQuil I will be one happy sick person. Will dig through every drawer in this house, if I don't find anything oh well too sick to care.

I might have to invest in a sick slave. One that only comes around when I am sick, picks up all the snotty tissues and things. Will have to talk to Eric about that one. Hey, a girl can wish can't she?

Speaking of Eric, he is very thoughtful in what he says and does. I admire him for all the work that he has done with raising money for MDA, giving blood when he can and even giving the last $2.00 that he has in his pocket to someone he has never met. He makes me what to be a better person. That is one of the reason why I love him. He also has a great sense of humor which makes us a great team. We are laughing all the time. What an amazing man. Love him buckets and pails.

Dog is bugging me to play, so off I go. But before I go I have some sad news.......the 2 foot Bobo didn't make it. After a week of tugging and pulling, the squeaker is gone along with a lot of stuffing that is still on the floor as I am ,you know, too sick to clean. ::cough, cough:: But on a positive note, the quacker (duck side) is still intact. Once again it is with great sadness...OK who I am kidding, I was sick of hearing the squeak, I am glad its gone....hee hee. Any hoo. Time to bid adieu.

Adios.

Holiday Blues?!?

I really haven't been in a good mood the last few days with Eric making a very short appearance at Christmas and Samantha leaving, I thought I was having the Holiday Blues.

Well, some of you might have heard about Postpartum Blues, well the HB is the same but without the labor pains and pushing out a head the size of a cantalope from somewhere something that big should never come out of. Ahh, the sweet sound of women screaming from giving birth. Memories.

I was back in bed trying to catch up on some extra R&R when the Future Mr called. The conversation went something like this: (I think)

Future Mr.: "You sleeping"
Future Mrs.: "I was."
Future Mr.: "I updated my blog."
Future Mrs.: " Oh really? What is it about?"
F-Mr.: "Well, if I told you that would ruin the surprise."
F-Mrs: "So that means I need to get up and go read it. Is it going to make me cry?"
F-Mr: "I hope so."
F-Mrs.: "Great."

So being the good fiancee that I am, I dragged my butt out of bed, turned on the computer, went to the Future Mr.'s blog: Roadside Manners. The first thing I saw as a picture of me. I said "OMG, what an ugly picture." "Oh, no" says F-Mr. "That is a good picture." "It's the 'your going to be home when?' look." Once I got past the picture, I started to read.

I really don't know when this happened but I am know an emotional basketcase everytime I read something heartfelt or see a romance movie, I cry. I don't seem to recall when that happened. I just turned in a big, huge bowl of mush. I used to be the strong one. Not letting a mushy story or movie get to me. I wonder if there is a support group out there for people like me. If not, I will have to start one. It would be called STRONG GONE WRONG. Ok, not a good name but its a start.

As I started to read, I started to cry. Not the big boo hoo's but the watery eye one that makes it hard to read. Now that the eyes were watering, the nose starts to run. Great. Grabbed a tissue, blew my nose and continued to read.

When Eric said that he wanted to drive truck for a living, I was behind him 100%. After the training that he had, he had to sign a contract for a year to work for the company that had trained him. Ok, it's only a year. I can do this. We decided that if he was going to make any money doing this he would have to be gone 3 weeks at a time and then be home for 5 days.

I know at times that I have not been the happiest of people and I know that puts extra stress on Eric when he is suppose to be home and is not. So that is why he said what he said in his blog. Don't get me wrong he says that stuff to me all the time. The holiday's have been difficult with him not here. We both understood that this was going to be difficult but I didn't realize how hard it was going to be.

So, that is why I thought I had the holiday blues. Yes, thats right "thought." I had a hard time with my contacts yesterday, couldn't see. I kept having to clean them. I didn't know what the problem was until I woke up this morning. I have a head cold. My sinus are full even though my nose is running which makes my eyes watery and hence the contact cleaning frenzy of Jan '08. So, as I write this my head is spinning telling me I need to lay down. Off I go to my nice soft and fluffly down comforter to snuggle my head cold away. I might even take some cold medicine.

If I can find some.

Home Alone

Today I will be bring Samantha to Boston so that she can fly home to CA. It has been nice to have her here but busy. Between birthday's and holiday's I am looking forward to having some R&R. I haven't even taken down the Christmas tree yet. Just been too busy. The plan is to take the tree down on Sunday so that on Monday the trash man can take the tree to it's new home. Yeah.

My brother who has been visiting from GA is flying back today. He is taking the "Killer Poodle" Rosie with him. Thank God. I had gone over to my parents on New Year's Day with Sargeant and Samantha. Once again the dog from hell wanted to make Sargeant part of a dog sandwich. Rosie kept on nipping at Sargeant and he wasn't d0ing anything. I have never seen a dog (Sargeant) ignore another dog (Rosie). Every time Rosie came near Sargeant, you can actually see Sargeant roll his eyes and walk away. Good boy.

You would think that since both Samantha and my brother are going home today that they would fly out of the same airport. Nope. My brother is flying out of Portland and as I had mentioned above Samantha is flying out of Boston. Oh well, another trip to Boston at least I don't have to drive back by myself. I am meeting my brother at the Jetport and picking up my father and we are taking Samantha to Boston.

The only thing that I forgot about was my CPR refresher course that is scheduled for tonight. Just one more thing. But this I need since my certification expires in May and this is the only time my office is offering it for free. So, do I go to the free course or do I pay for it at another time? No brainer, take the free course. After I get back to Maine I have to let the dog out to pee, feed him, take my dad home, go get something to eat and then go the learn how to save someones life. Busy day.

After all this is done, I might even start to think about planning the wedding again. Maybe I will
take a few days off first. That sounds like a fabulous idea.

I haven't been able to talk to Eric for more than 20 minutes the last couple of days. Looking forward to having a long conversation with him.

Happy New Year !!

I think the celebrating is finally over for a while. At least it better be. This morning both Samantha and I got ready to go over to my parents house so that Grammy H could buy Samantha some clothes for her birthday which is January 9th. Having her birthday 2 weeks after Christmas is a hard thing and since she is leaving on January 3rd to go back to California, I decided that we should celebrate her birthday today. Ice cream cake with the number 20 on it was served after a nice spaghetti dinner.

So Samantha, Grammy H and cousin Nicole went off to the mall. I went to Kohl's as my wonderful honey gave me a gift certificate to get me some new sneakers. There was so many choices to make. Do I get the Avias? Do I get the Reebok's? Do I get the Sketcher's? So many, How do I make a decision? After trying on various types of sneaker, I decided that I would go with the old stand by......Nike.

They fit perfect. I love a good fitting sneaker. Now, I can do the sneaking without any squeaking. Oh, did I mention that I got socks too. Yep, they are Nikes. Love the Nikes

Yucky picture of my new socks but hey I am not the professional in the family. You should have seen the picture I took with the socks on a WHITE background. Yup, thats right I can hear the gasps as I write this. Note to self: Do not take a picture of something white on a white background. Look, I just learned something new and it's almost 10:00 pm. Good for me.

Anyway, I only have one more day with Samantha. She is leaving on Thursday to go back to California. Won't see her again until after Jarrid is born. Which brings me to another subject. I am too young to be called Grammy. Grammy is my mother, Samantha's grandmother. I had thought that I would be called Meme. Thats French for grandmother, but there was a HUGE debate on that one with my family. I went on the good ole internet to find nicknames for grandmother. Nonna, Nona, Nanny, etc. I thought I could find one some what related to our Irish background. I looked at the name and decided that if I can't pronounce my own nickname, how would Jarrid. Then Mimi can into view. That had a certain ring to it. Maybe that would be it. Samantha was talking to Jackson's (baby's father) and his nieces. They came up with Gma. I might like the sound of that, just as long was Jarrid can pronounce it. We will see. He might come up with his own nickname for me. That would be nice. Time will tell.

Hope everyone has a Great and Happy New Year.