Weekend stuff
We’ve got the tree and all the decorations put away. We took most things down here and there over the last few days and everything today off of the tree. Then we boxed it all up and put it in the attic.
The living room is so bare with nothing in it! I cannot wait to get some furniture in there. We hope to have a couch and some end tables and a coffee table by late April. We’re thinking about a sleeper sofa, which would come in handy when company visits. Cindy and her crew may be here over Memorial Day weekend!
I’ve finally made the archive files for the family photos from Thanksgiving. I threw in Christmas on Jess’s archive. Now I’m uploading my SIL files to the website so she can grab them at her convenience. I’m currently making a DVD of our Christmas photos. I’m SUCH a dork! I was wondering where they were! I had them on the CF card in the camera! *ROFL* Never had a chance to take them out as Jess was sick and then I had that bad cold and then reformatting my desktop. So, now they are getting backed up on DVD and then I have to put some of those in Jess’s archive.
I got a little surprise this week from my ex-SIL. Greg’s brother was married to her for about 10 years. I never really liked her or got along with her to be honest. She’s on her 6th or 7th marriage and actually had her tubes UN-TIED to have another baby. Crazy to me…as she’s my age or just around there. Anyhow, she messaged me on My Space to add her as a friend! *LOL* How bizarre.
I ran 5K on the treadmill this morning, been a while since I’ve done the 5K. I can feel the pain in my thighs! But, I did it and I plan on running that weekly. It was a little busier today at the gym, I’m sure it has to do with NY resolutions, eh? All 8 treadmills were being used when I was running, which is really busy in my opinion. The ellipticals were being used too, as well as the bikes. There’s 6 or 8 ellipticals and about the same number of bikes. I wonder how many people will be there this time next month? I cannot believe it’s been nearly a year since I started going to the gym at least 4 times a week. It’s been 5 months since I starting running and you can see my last 5 runs here: My Runs I upload them to the Nike server through my Nike+ thing on my iPod. Pretty cool eh? Anyhow, that’s not up to date as I haven’t added the one from yesterday on there yet, but it’s pretty close. I’ve run 30 miles since my birthday in October! Wow!
This next week will be pretty busy for me. I have to get a necklace I’m making completed so I can start on the layouts I want to do at the crop on Saturday! There’s a crop from 3-11 p.m. I missed the one in December. I also want to sew the backdrop material I bought back in November. I have it all cut, but I have to pin it and get it sewn. It’s really pretty tan fleecey stuff. Thought it would be nice to offer something other than black or white when inside. I also have to figure out when I can drive up to DC and get my Nikon cleaned. And I have to drop by the tattoo shop with my portfolio and cards.
Melissa was nice enough to post about our Mary Kay transactions! I have been selling it since Halloween here and there in town, but she’s my first mail order person! If you want to look at the site, here’s the link to my personal page on the Mary Kay site. I was really happy to be able to help Melissa out without her being local. I sent her some little samples and some tubes of foundation along with my color matcher tool. I thought she would be the 204 color and I was right. It looks great on her and she loves it so much she’s ordering concealer too! Thank you again for your orders!
I usually place an order weekly if I don’t have something in stock, so if you are running low on something, give me a shout through the website, okay?
I will try to post again this week, hopefully tomorrow with more weight loss stuff!
Almost Christmas!
It’s almost Christmas, did you know this? I have just mailed out all the cards today. We were down and out for a couple of days with some sort of stomach bug, so I’m running a little late with them. Look for your card! I put a photo card and a letter in there, hopefully everything makes it okay to everyone. I have NONE of the gifts wrapped! ACK! I have a goal to wrap them up by Sunday night. Jess will be arriving sometime late on Monday from Richmond. All the gifts are in the guest room, so I do have a time factor here. Greg usually pitches in and helps. I just have to start with his and then he can help with the other ones. Jess is driving up from Atlanta tomorrow, spending a few days with Brian, then heading here for a week! I can’t wait! Christmas is my favorite time of the year.
The only good thing to come out of the sickness is that I dropped 3 pounds. I would much rather have lost it a different way, but, since I did lose it and that’s all over and done with, I’m happy. I’m now at 125, which puts me within 10 pounds of my goal weight! Holy cow! Hopefully I will get to go to the gym next week, at least a few of the mornings. I haven’t really been posting about my weight loss and JC as of late. I was stuck at a plateau for weeks. I maintained over Thanksgiving and have lost about a pound a week since then. I’ve been trying to work on my abs as there’s a lot of flab right there, but, not as much as when I’m not PMSing, it’s actually not too bad. Hopefully I will start off the New Year in a pants size smaller than I’m in right now. I’m currently wearing a 6 in Levi’s and I did try on a bunch of dress pants a few days ago, all 6’s. Some were tighter than others, which is totally hormonal and how they are cut. One day, hopefully, I can just buy something without trying it on. That would save so much time and since I hate shopping, maybe I will finally like it again. I used to, a long time ago when I was in a smaller size. I’ve given away 6 bags of clothes over the past few months. Everything I owned was too big! In fact the shorts I tried on in Sept. are now so big! I just did a house cleaning, all shorts, tanks and t-shirts are gone if they were too big. I have no need for things that I cannot wear. I need to get some new things, I have some long sleeved and short sleeved shirts, but, they are smalls and some are a little bigger since they aren’t all petite. Weird to think that I wear that size. Nothing has really clicked with me in that sense yet. I think it’s because it’s such a gradual change and even though others see me a certain way, I still see myself at 144 lbs. So weird! It’s definitely a mind set.
I delivered some photo prints to Tammy and her family on Wednesday and I have to say that I really think they turned out well. I’m going to order some clear bags to put the photos in for future deliveries. They aren’t really that expensive and I think that they will be nice to have. Even though I don’t get a lot of print orders, this was my first in fact, hopefully more are in the future! She’s also going to book a photo session for her uprising senior! So exciting!
I’m missing my Pay Pal debit card. I cannot find it anywhere. I’m not super concerned as there’s nothing in the account, it’s just annoying. I will have to order a new one, what a PITA! I’ve looked everywhere for it and it’s hiding, laughing at me. AND I know I will find it the exact second I order a replacement.
I have a few things to do in the craft room over the holidays and next month. I have to clean off the table for one thing, it’s a MESS! I have not even unpacked my crop bag from November. I hope to finish the few pages that I need to title and then start filling the new Creative Memories books that I ordered. Since Jess will be here it will be easy to get into the crafty mode. I have a Father Christmas to paint as well as the scrapbook stuff.
I’ve been reading blogs and trying to comment when I can. Usually I read and only comment if I have something to contribute. Don’t think I’m not reading, because I am.
Have a great weekend everyone!
15 more days!
Only 15 more days until Christmas! So, are you ready? We finally have the tree decorated, yay! I have to wrap presents on Friday and Saturday. I also have to address all the cards and mail them out. Violet and I may go to Target today and get them, I like taking her places.
I just have to write the letter to put into the cards! I’m finally in the Christmas spirit, somewhat. The weather is making it hard, since it’s in the high 50’s and 60’s here this week. It will be dipping down to the 30’s and 40’s for a few days, but, then next week, it’s warmer again. Doesn’t make sense! I did finally get some photos, I will upload them to Flickr this weekend. I took some of the front of our house with the outside lights on. And of the tree, it’s so pretty. We all decorated it the other night. We added the nativity set that Greg’s mom made when she was a teen, under it. For the past few years we haven’t been able to do that as there wasn’t really room in the townhouse for everything. This house is much more spacious and since the tree is in the living room, there’s a lot of room. The room is pretty empty except for a bookcase and a Lazy Boy! *LOL* We don’t put gifts under the tree until Christmas Eve and there aren’t any stockings hanging on the fireplace yet. We are getting some new ones this year. We usually fill those on Christmas Eve as well.
I was going to take my Nikon up to DC this morning for a few days at a spa. It needs cleaning, there’s some debris inside the viewfinder. I’ve tried everything, but, I cannot get it out of there with anything. Anyhow, I woke up at 2 a.m. and it’s now 5 a.m., so it’s not happening. The tech is off all of next week, so I will have to try to bring it up there after the holidays. There’s nothing on photos, thank God, so it’s okay. I’ve been living with it for a couple of months now, it’s just annoying y’know? I think it’s caught between the actual glass somehow. Everything is covered since it’s still under warranty, but, I have until May 2009 to get everything done under warranty, so I think it can wait until after the holidays.
Jac and Storm have ended their relationship as boyfriend and girlfriend. Really didn’t surprise Greg and I too much as there were some issues for the past few weeks with them. But, they are still friends and he’s over here every day, although it’s different and in shorter spurts. He’s a really nice guy, but just not right for her.
I received an email from my mom last night. I’m probably going to email her sometime this weekend. Maybe. I’m still undecided. Maybe email will be less stressful than the phone.
The Biggest Loser thing is bogus. I think I will vote for Ed, I cannot stand Heba at all. Either way if one of them win the prize, they share the money. I hope Michelle wins the entire thing, I’ve been rooting for her for the last 2 months! She’s such a fighter and so PRETTY! We rooted for Ali last season and look what happened there!
We are going to have a Redneck Party on February 7, 2009! Totally copying Cady’s idea.
It’s the Budweiser Shootout! I think we’ll have a beer tasting party, everyone bringing different kinds of beer. I think we can find a few people that will RSVP now for it, since they are big NASCAR fans! *LOL*
Have a good day!
Monday, Monday
Keeping busy around here!
This past weekend was nice, Greg was off on Friday as well. We did get a lot accomplished:
- Halloween/Fall things put away in attic.
- Oil changed in Impala.
- Saw new James Bond movie.
- Organized our DVD movies.
- Finished Christmas shopping for Jac and almost finished for Storm.
- Got a table and 2 chairs for Violet.
- Caught up on DVRed shows.
I went to a Creative Memories open house thing on Saturday and I had a good time chatting with Sami. I scrapped with her and some others last month. They are having a crop on Sat. from 3-11 and I’m going! There’s only 6 people that can go as it’s in her home this time. I did buy another coverset, this one is for Greg’s scrapbook.
Yesterday Jac and I went to a Slipada jewelry party. It was at Tammy’s house. She’s best friend with Sami. Jennifer is the jewelry and Pampered Chef gal. While I was getting directions from Tammy she told me that they would probably be using me in the very near future for a photo session! YAY! Breaking into this group would be great, just takes a few and then business will start rolling. Tammy and Sami’s kids are the same age, 15 and 17. Both girls are older, they will be uprising seniors next year. So, I will be busy this summer! Hopefully the referral incentives I have set up will bring in some of their friends as well. Anyhow, we had a good time at the party and I ordered two things, neither for me! I have a wish list though. Jen and I talking I’m going to have a Valentine’s open house for Mary Kay and have a Slipada party at the same time. My SIL did this and got a lot of jewelry free as well as some MK bookings!
I have booked 3 Mary Kay skin care classes for the first weekend in December. If you are local and wouldn’t mind me borrowing your face, let me know. I just need to get 15 faces done in 2 weeks and I get something called “Perfect Start”. No one in the unit I’m in has gotten it and there’s a lot of them, like 25 or so. I have 9 faces booked, including Jac! One of the gals at the gym used to use MK, but, her gal moved, so that’s very cool for me. Just going to do the class and then take reorders. I’m going to do a follow-up with her the next week for color. Storm’s mom is going to get some church gals together and I invited my friend Jen to a class with Jac. I need to borrow your face, Alisa, Ginger, Joanna.
I got weighed and measured at JC this morning. Didn’t gain, didn’t lose, but, I’ve lost a total of 16″. Wow, eh? It’s coming off, slowly but surely. I’m kicking it up a notch this week at the gym, varying my routine, not just running. I think I’m PMSing, so that’s probably why I didn’t gain or lose.
Violet has been sick since Thursday night. Not eating much, but still drinking and slept almost the entire day and night on Saturday. She’s a little better today, eating crackers and drinking milk and water along with juice. I think that Jac said she was going to call the doc today about her. Poor baby, she’s exhausted and so is her mommy. I’m a little worried, but not overly as she’s still got wet and dirty diapers, she’s not running a fever, no puking. Maybe it’s going around.
The movie on Saturday night was really good. Really, really good. I liked this one a lot more than the one before it with Daniel. He’s not the best looking guy, but, he’s alright body wise.
The trailers at the begining were good, even though it was a 20 minute time frame. We saw a few that we want to see when they come out, especially since Vin and Paul are back for “Fast and Furious” as well as my girl Michelle. The movie with Jim Carrey looks hilarious! It’s been a long time since Greg and I went to the movies, the last one we saw was The Dark Knight back in July! How did that happen?
Halloween
I originally was going to put up a Halloween layout this week, but, time just got away from me, oh well. I did however keep the house clean and actually detailed my Jeep this afternoon.
For Halloween, we have candy via The Dollar Tree, love that store. I spent $10 vs. $40 and I don’t like anything we’re giving to the trick or treaters, so that’s a good thing! Greg’s been gone since early Monday morning, we’re staying around the house tomorrow night handing out candy. Once it’s gone, it’s gone though. We do have pumpkins out front, some autumn things too, but no decorating as he wasn’t here and frankly we’re not in the mood for some reason to decorate. I guess because we have no little ones of our own.
I was in The Dollar Tree looking for alphabet magnets, but they didn’t have any. Anyone have an idea where to get some cheap? I looked at Target, they don’t carry them. As much as I despise shopping at Wal-Mart, I may have to go there for Violet. She’s got the entire alphabet, except for a “g”. do you know how many words need the letter “g”? A lot more than you think actually. Besides, with another set she will have double letters to spell more words.
Things have been busy here all week. I met with a client yesterday and have some auction items to photograph and burn to a CD. I deliver everything back to him on the 7th. I got paid though, all in advance! Woot! Nothing planned for the money, yet. Saturday I have a client meeting in the morning. I’m going to take photos of the family, next weekend. Hopefully the weather holds out and we can do it outside, otherwise I will have to get creative. I love challenges! The family has two little boys, a 4 year old and a 3 month old.
Saturday afternoon holds a Pampered Chef party invite, I can’t wait! I just placed a big order with Jess for her party, it’s this weekend or next. I need to get a few things, so I plan on seeing what I need. Almost my entire kitchen is run with Pampered Chef. I use something each day it seems like. Been using it for about 12 or 13 years. Anyhow, the crop that I went to earlier this month is where I met the gal that’s having me over. Hopefully I will get to meet more people! I’m way too excited about this, eh? One downside to working for yourself, you don’t really have day-to-day interaction with people that you work with.
I was going to meet with a client on Sunday, but, after chatting with her on the phone and in emails, I actually turned the job down. She wanted more than just a photographer and even though I could probably have designed the cards for her, I didn’t like the vibe I got from her at all. Very demanding, very precise. I totally get it, really, but, since I really can pick and choose my clients, I did.
Sunday is nothing, just shooting the auction photos and watching DVRed shows. I may make some Monkey Bread. I just bought a fluted pan from Bed, Bath and Beyond yesterday. I also found some king sized sheets with a 300 count for under $20 a set! They were missing from the rest of the set which probably included a comforter, shams and dust ruffle.
Happy Halloween everyone! Make sure you keep your kids safe and examine the candy before they eat it!
Monday
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It’s definitely a Monday. I haven’t really had a bad day, just a long one.
I went and weighed in today, down 2.8 more pounds for a loss of 10 pounds in 10 weeks! Go me! In 10 days it’s my bday and maybe I will keep my goal of 12 pounds by then, but if not, no biggie. I ran a 12:19 mile on the treadmill this morning! A new pace for me, I’ve been at 4.7 for a while on the speed, cranked it up to 5.0 so I can get more and more speed and get this weight off of me! I started working on my abs as well, I’ve been putting that off for a while. I’m going to take my own personal yoga mat to the gym and put it in my locker. I cannot stand using a mat with a towel. I have no idea who or how many people have been on the gym mat before me and I’m a germophobe that way! EW! Anyhow, I plan on working on them each time I’m at the gym, so by Christmas I should see some sort of improvement. I’ve been working out each weekday for the past two months! I just realized that today. I only skipped last Friday because there were a lot of things going on and it was Greg’s day off.
The weekend was good, we went to the race on Saturday. Jen and Matt went with us and we even got a photo taken of us there. I took one of them as well, you can see that on my Facebook and our Flickr account. There was a really bad accident early on Saturday morning, during qualifying. The girl riding the bike in the tower lane near us, wiped out so badly that we were all stunned and just sat there. (We later found out that she was fine, moving, talking, no injuries, thank God for that!) I thought I had gotten photos of it happening, but, didn’t know that I hadn’t until Rich Christensen asked me to let him see. Since I didn’t and there was a camera…I asked if it was okay to have a photo taken with him. Hubby took it and did a pretty good job I think. We had a good day, I took a lot of photos and got some great bikes speeding along at over 150 MPH in some cases. Jen and I walked around and saw all the bikes, went to the top of the track where everyone was lined up waiting and took some photos of some bikes and some of the guys and their kids too. Greg and I each bought at least one shirt. I think that was a great way to spend the day. It was sunny and in the low 70’s, not very humid either.
Sunday we got some stuff done around the house, then went and delivered the DVD in our old town to the “wedding” couple. I don’t do weddings. ‘Nuff said. We also went and shopped for some baby things for people we know having babies. I just have to wrap them up and send them off this week. Theresa has gotten her gifties by now, how about you Cheryl? It was SO weird to see our old town, really weird. I haven’t been back there since we moved I don’t think.
Jess is going to be visiting this weekend, I’m so excited!! She flies in on Friday night, so I’m off to meet Greg at Pentagon City Mall for dinner, then we’re picking her up! She flies out on Sunday evening. I know it will go SO quickly. We’re taking our Christmas family photo on Saturday and probably doing lunch somewhere as well. She hasn’t been here since the end of May for Violet’s birthday! We saw her for a brunch in mid-June and Greg and I saw her in August. But, Jac and Vi haven’t since June. Hopefully she will remember Violet.
We finally hung the photos on the wall in Violet’s room. She loves them. I took a bunch of photos that one day a few weeks ago and had them all printed up in 5 x 7’s. She can see Jac and Storm as well as Jess and Greg and I any time she wants. We just change them out as the family photos are done. There’s a little gallery on each wall and we put one right next to her line of sight on her changing table. Target had a HUGE sale on frames for college students and I ended up getting like 30 or 40 of them for about .50 each. I have a bunch to hang in my office as well.
Gotta run and get some food, then, time for laundry and then hopefully watching Prison Break tonight. TTFN!
Fall TV, finally!
Anyone else super excited to have some TV shows to watch? We’re watching “Fringe” and are really into it. These are the shows our DVR will be recording this season. You can find them all here: Fall Schedule
This doesn’t include: Entourage, Big Love, The L Word, The Tudors, Dexter or Weeds that we do watch on HBO/Showtime
Monday nights:
Samantha Who? Boston Legal How I Met Your Mother Two and a Half Men CSI: Miami Prison Break
Tuesday nights:
Fringe The Biggest Loser: Families
Wednesday nights:
Pushing Daisies Private Practice Old Christine *America’s Next Top Model *recorded on Friday nights*
Thursday nights:
Ugly Betty Grey’s Anatomy Survivor: Gabon CSI SNL Weekend Update Thur. 30 Rock
Friday nights:
The Ex List New Numbers
Sunday nights:
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition Desperate Housewives Brothers & Sisters Amazing Race
This makes me SO mad: DirecTV will premiere Friday Night Lights‘ third season starting Oct. 1. We have cable, so, I have to wait! Grrrrrrrrrrrr.
News and more news.
I just made reservations for our car for our next trip to Atlanta. We’re leaving here on the 26th of November for four days. I made the hotel reservations last month. Thanksgiving hopefully will be at my brother’s house with his family and then we’re going to see my sis-in-law and her family over the weekend. (We is including Jess who lives there. Jacqueline and Violet are flying down with us as well!) My mom was supposedly coming to join us, but, I don’t know what’s up with that. She keeps changing her mind about things. I haven’t talked to her in a while as she’s really aggravating to me right now. Hopefully we’ll be buying the plane tickets around my birthday next month. It will be good to see my niece and nephew. I saw Rachel in August, but I haven’t seen Steve in years, just on Facebook and My Space. We talk through texts sometimes. I also want to get some good family photos of Tina (Greg’s sister) and her family with ours.
We’ve never done that, so I thought it would be nifty-cool. We’re heading to the Aquarium on the Saturday after Thanksgiving with them, Violet will love that!
I went and got weighed and measured today at Jenny Craig! I’ve lost 9 pounds and 11 1/2″ in 9 weeks! I received a piece ribbon that was almost a foot long! So cool to actually see the inches like that. I’ve been running on the treadmill at least three times a week and I’m increasing both my speed and distance. I also work out on the bike some days after running and on the weight machines as well. I bought new shirts @ Target the other day in size SMALL, which is amazing since my boobs haven’t changed, just the way things fit. I also now own a pair of Levi’s 505’s. My first pair. :pinkgrin: They have NEVER fit me correctly, in my entire life. I have tried them on here and there, but, finally they fit. I hope to have this pair for a while, just fitting looser by my birthday in a few weeks. The food isn’t as expensive as it was when I first started as I get a discount and I also bought a coupon for $65 to use for 6 weeks. I get a free breakfast, lunch and dinner each time I use that and then after next week, I get even a bigger discount each week as I will be past week 10.
I sold my D40 the other day to a gal that I know through scrapbooking. I didn’t use it on my last two jobs and I haven’t used the lens at all since getting the 50mm, so I sold that as well. She’s giving it to her daughter to use. She’s taking photography classes and probably will next year at college too.
Cute Violet update: She now says Nana and finally Pap-Paw. It’s so adorable. I took out my phone the other day and recorded her saying Nana. Then, Greg came home and we were all in the kitchen when he walked in the door. I asked Violet who that was and she finally said “Pap-Paw”. He grinned from ear-to-ear and just melted. I think she’s got him around her little finger! I taped her saying that the other day and I have to make it into a ringtone. She’s definitely heading into the terrible twos, showing her stuborness every day if she can. It’s more pronounced any time she’s tired, so we take that into account. She’s eating pretty much all table food, just oatmeal at night to keep her belly full. We found some soy yogurt at the grocery store, but I cannot find a way to make a cake for her. Wendy, any clues? She’s allergic to both eggs and milk!
Jacqueline is doing well at the college courses she’s taking and just had her first test in all the classes. She’s doing well with the separation, so is Violet. Greg usually takes her to the backyard to swing and slide on Monday and Wednesday nights. He gets her so tired though! *LOL* We went and shopped today for some things and we walk around the grass while waiting for “mommmmmmmm” to get out of class. She loves walking around!
Hopefully I will be scrapbooking next Saturday for a while at the all day crop and then again on the 18th of October for CroptoberFest! I have all the photos, just have to put them with paper and scrapbook them.
I donated some things to a local women’s shelter recently and I offered to volunteer when I can. I just received a call from the gal today, I hope to be in touch with her tomorrow sometime and get a schedule pounded out. I have a lot of free time on Friday’s, so maybe once a month for a few hours. It’s a shelter for infants/toddlers as well as providing medical care. We gave away all of Violet’s little baby clothes to them along with food, diapers and wipes.
Quiet
It’s been so quiet here during the week, during the day. Jacqueline, Violet and Storm left mid-day on Monday and won’t be home until Friday night. They are down in Williamsburg. His mom has a time share thing and got them a place to stay for free, he bought him and Jac passes for Busch Gardens, Water Country and Colonial Williamsburg. I think they’ve been having a good time. It’s the first vacation they’ve taken together.
I went and saw “Mamma Mia!” yesterday afternoon. I was hopeful that it would get the songs out of my head, but, unfortunately it just cemented them in there even deeper. Pierce Bronson cannot sing. He looked like he was in pain actually, probably because he knew he could not sing. Other than that, I really liked the movie.
That’s about it really. I’ve just been keeping busy, working out at the gym and cleaning. I did catch up on some shows today. I really like “Swingtown” a lot. I have another one to watch tomorrow along with “Weeds”.
TTFN!