In Chicago-

I am doing one of those under the covers in the dark typing things. My roomie Lynda is sleeping and as I am on west coast time it is not as late for me as it is for her. Tonight was fun. I met some people :) yup understating it just a tad!!

10 of us had dinner at Frontera. The company was awesome the food..hmm I am a harsh critic but Rick Bayless's customer service will not earn him a culinary star from me). Thankfully I found that I am not allergic to tequila after all. If you remember way back a couple of years when had a run in with a big old glass of cheap margarita..well I had to Tequila mojitos tonight and was just fine (albeit a little tipsy). When I asked for a Mojito with vodka in it the waiter said we could only order drinks off the menu..that is just plain old weird. The waiter said they had no vodka but then on the menu was a vodka filled drink. I am not sure what the delio was but customer service should be great. Now having said that the food was good and the prices were really good too so..he only gets dinged for the drinks :)

After dinner we walked back to the Walgreens and several of the 'BOOBS' bought false eyelashes to wear to the female impersonator show tonight. Lynda and I opted out of the drag show and walked around town and did a little window shopping and a little Chicago architecture spotting. There are some amazing looking buildings here from the mid 20's with lovely carvings and rooftops.

I have taken a few pics but you will have to wait...they are on my phone and I am too sleepy to mess with them.

xxxooo

EEK

So did I tell you I procrastinate? um...my suitcase is still packed from my San Francisco trip. I have worn some stuff out of it so it is not fit to just zip and put back on the plane. I don't know what to pack? I think I am going for layers and long sleeved tshirts. Shoes? hair dryer? makeup? jewelry? eek...I also will not be work free damn it all. My report will have to be uploaded on September 30th (what day is that anyway? :))...Can I do it from a bar?

I popped in to see my uncle yesterday. He is doing much better but still in ICU. Keep thinking good thoughts for him.

xxxooo

Oh Version 2 is Off My Desk.

Phew..up until 2am last night and then worked until noon on it. I volunteered to do this stupid thing. Why do I always forget I hate to write them? :)


I have not heard a status update on my uncle but I might just pop up there for a few to check in now that the paperwork is off my desk for a few.

Tonight-a get to see my grandson and hang out in their new dorm for an hour and then attend a math class as a student!! :)

xxxooo

Glad This One is Almost Over

I sure wish I had Sunday back :)

-My uncle took a turn for the worse. I spent most of today in ICU with my aunt supporting both of them and hoping he gets better. Gallstones can be evil beasts and he is suffering the consequences of a stone gone rogue. With these things there is a lot of wait and see and monitor. We are waiting...seeing..and monitoring but everyone is tired and I am now feeling bad that I am skipping off to Chicago. Think good thoughts that he is really doing better before Thursday.


-I was a sub for a math class tonight. We had a grand time doing geometry. Well I had fun anyway..I think the students did.

-I have round two of the big report..(picture me making raspberry noises here). I have to stay up until I have version two in.

-I need a new bra. I need to find one (Maybe I will find some time in Chicago? cause it ain't happening this week).

-I would like to do the spa thing in Chicago (a facial sounds nice) but I am not sure if I have any empty days left? I know there is a walking tour in there, a meet and greet, a trip to Frank Lloyd wrights museum or something, Coffee...Cofeee...Coffee..Vodka...Vodka....Vodka...I hope I can get a last minute facial tucked in there somewhere.

xxxooo

The Weekend is Over and I AM NOT ASLEEP

I had some diet coke this evening...I am wired. I need to go to sleep but I am playing on Facebook, then checking my blog, then checking one email after another with three login sequences that I have to go through to log out of and then into each of the different stupid colleges that have decided that Google is their friend. I like Google as my friend but I do not want them as a colleague too. I am going to have to waste some precious work time trying to figure out how to forward my emails from google account numbers one two and three to one account without any of my work people working their way onto my personal google life. I like my social life separate you see...well except for the few smarties who have already figured things out.

xxxooo

Sunday Sunday

I love weekends.

BOOBS:

Four more days until I go. Wahooo. I had a manicure today in preparation. My toenails were still looking fine. I still have no clue what to pack. I guess I will decide Wednesday night.

MONDAY: I get to sub for a class. I love teaching and miss it this term.

BANDEROO: My band is just fine again. Silly thing. I dropped down to 161 again and promptly was starving hungry. I guess I will carry on floating at this level of tightness. It is hardly worth getting more of a fill to drop below 160 although I had a moment on the scale last night when it read 159. It was quite thrilling but when I got on the scale a second time it said 164 (this was with my clothes on). I got on a third and it still read 164 so I think I had some weird balance thing.

This morning I was at 162 again so my hungries followed be eaties did the trick and my low of 161 went away.

SATURDAY NIGHT OUT: Grace spent the night at a friends and David and I lured my aunt from my uncles beside at the hospital to have dinner with us. We visited him before and after of course. We zipped over to the Pearl District and found a yummy place to eat dinner that was relatively inexpensive (for swanky anyway). David had Megage et gras (three different hours d devours made with foie gras). They were yummy as I tasted each. My aunt and I shared duck fat fried french fries with mayonnaise. David had Pork Belly with spinach while my aunt and I shared a porcini crusted halibut with blueberry compote and greens. It was all very good and I was soo grateful that we were both interested in the same meal and could share. David ordered a cheese plate with figs while my aunt and I shared a peach creme brûlée. The dessert wasn't very good really. They burnt that topping and the peach was a touch strong (tasted like they poured in some peach liquor. Everything else was delicious though.

THE REST OF TODAY: Nichole is finishing her move down to the dorms. We are going to help her finish cleaning out her apartment. Most is going to the charity shop but we will store some and take some down to her new place.

xxxoooo

Happy Band With a Bit of Spell Corrector and Panty Hose Rant

My band is a happy camper today. I was back down to 162 lbs this morning. I am still sticking to a much smaller Frappachino (just a grande this morning) but I got all three pills down with the thing and then went off to have a lunch meeting with a colleague. I had a southwest salad and even ate lettuce just fine. Yesterday must have totally been all night acid irritation.

Today I am not too tight and not too loose but pretty much just right with a small case of the tights (normal for me really).

THE RANT SECTION-

I have a new macbook laptop. I got it because i needed a light laptop to carry in my purse but something with a bigger screen then the old mini's I had used for the past 4 years. The problem is that this %@@##$ computer fixes my typos. Before If I had a typo (and I have them often) If would just leave it alone and not turn the stupid thing in to some crazy ass word that made no sense with the sentence at hand. Now posting on here, posting on facebook and in my emails I say the stupidest things all because of a typo or two or three :). Before I look like a sloppy typist..now I just look like an illiterate person! sheesh!!!!!. By the way-I have had to correct about 5 words in this paragraph alone that this $@%$ computer has decided should be something totally bizarre and wrong. just so you know I had to come back even after the five typo fixes and do it again because of this $%#%$ laptop function. I have got to figure out how to turn it off. It is driving me batty.

Yesterday I felt the urge to wear some of my new offic-ee clothes into work. I was looking mighty fine in a Calvin dress, a long jacket, hose and my black boots with a pair of double helix earrings. Well fine that is until I ran my damned panty hose. I have complained about this before I know. I love the thigh highs for comfort but what has happened to panty hose? I don't remember having toe runs within the first 10 minutes of wearing before? Has anyone found a good brand? It seems like the things are disposable but not at a disposable price. I bought two pairs last week for 4.50 and 7.50 dollars each...that is not a one wear price tag!! I guess I need to start wearing tights? or are they any better?

RANT OVER

It is a beautiful sunny day. I am sitting at my house and about to start back on draft two of the federal report I am charged with completing. I guess the day will be half nice :)

xxxooo

Fuckity Post Two

I have the tights-in a big way. You would think that here I am three years in to this band thing. You would think that I should know when the tights are creeping up. You would think that I would know enough that when having the tights (my monthly hell week of tightness) I would know better than trying to eat my dinner at 7pm instead of when I should at 6pm.

Well I didn't or chose not to listen to the common sense in my head and had a small serving of quinoa with fresh vegetables and start cheddar cheese. It was delicious. I chased this small meal with a small serving of Ice cream. I chose wrong. At midnight when I went to bed I seemed to be oK-sure I had a little bit of something still in my stomach but I was burping it down. At 5am I woke up coughing. I left the bedroom (because I did not want to wake up David with my hacking). I ended up being stuck and hurling in the garbage disposal.

I went back to bed and was fine for the extra hour I had left to sleep. I woke up tight though. Scary tight. I was scared today because I could feel the tightness all day. I had a tall mocha frappachino instead of my old Vente. I managed to get 2 of my three pills in the morning this way. When I arrived on campus I stopped off and bought a bottle of water and a protein bar. I worked on the water for the next couple of hours (and I also found out my kidneys are working very well..sheesh I spend all day on the toilet). I had my protein bar at around 11:30 and had a little pb. I had a very small taco at 2pm eaten very slowly. It stayed down. I got to the hospital to visit my uncle (who is doing much better by the way). I had another tall frap. I drank it too fast and almost hurled it (i took a walk and managed to get it down). I then had a bit of my aunts garbanzo bean stew and some cottage cheese. All seems to be well. I visited with my aunt and uncle for a couple of hours and went for a walk outside. We stopped off on our way back to the room and bought a bottle of water. Dinner seemed to be going through so I drank about a cup of water sipping slowly. It all seemed good. About the time my aunt gave me a lift down to town and the max train back home my tummy started complaining.

Once near the university she stopped at a light and I hopped out of her car and ran for the trolley that connects to the max down town. The $%#$@#$ driver saw me as I was running up and shut the doors in my face. He still sat for a while and then slowly took off with me standing on the sidewalk. I decided to walk the 9 or so blocks in the dark. My tummy felt worse and worse. I attempted a few stops at bathrooms but all of the restaurants either said no public toilet or were closed. Finally I ducked back behind a bush and had to pb some of the water. On my walk I spewed 4 more times spitting out spit and water each time. I finally made it to the downtown streets and ducked into my beloved Starbucks...I picked the only one in town with no freaking bathroom. The girl behind the counter told me to go down two blocks for one with an actual bathroom. I took off...spewed again on the way (with a lot of people nearby..eek). I popped into this Starbucks hit the bathroom and up came all of th food I had eaten for dinner (get a mental picture here of me shaking my head in disbelief). In the end the trolley car driver did me a favor..can you imagine hurling on a freaking trolley?

I really tried to be kind to my band today. I obviously failed miserably. I will give it tonight and drink a lot. I might call tomorrow for an until appointment. sigh...

xxxooo

I'm Baaack...and Finished-ish

I finished the first draft and am taking some well-deserved blogging break. I think I know why I procrastinate..it is an addiction. You get a little high when you actually manage to pull something off in all that chaos...it is not a healthy way to live just like my food addiction was not healthy either. sheesh...I think I need a shrink...or a new addiction?


xxxooo

Crazy Week

If you haven't figured it out yet I am a procrastinator. This week I am full on in writing mode for a big report that I have due on September 30th. I have known about it for months. Needless to say I cannot wait to turn it in until then because I will be in Chicago. I also have to have others edit the report and I start a math class on Tuesday. This needs finishing up ASAP.

But that is not all...because things are complicated. My uncle is in the hospital and I am trying to support my aunt in all the ways I can. Plus I want to...much more than I want to write the stupid report. My daughter is in a week of training however my grandsons's preschool is not open yet. All of my other daughters are both working and at school so guess who is babysitting? Add to all of that David is off on some hardcore worky thing (I do not know what exactly). I can tell because he goes al incommunicative and stops coming home in the evenings. Normally he rolls in at 5:30 or so. This week I have had to call to find out where he is..and he rolls in after those phone calls at 6:30 to 7pm.

Our meal cooking has gone down the tubes because David does that.

Now mix in to the chaos a pinch of tightness and PMS and it is just a lovely place to be right now :)

Oh and did I tell you I had two filling at the dentist this morning...the fun just keeps on coming :)

I will stay cheerful I will stay cheerful I will stay cheerful :)

Working Saturday

I worked it was fine but I still did not concentrate on what I was supposed to get done in the paperwork department. I feel as scatter brained as when I first had my children.

My uncle was moved to a hospital in Portland. He had a gallstone run amuck and it has caused problems with his other organs. He had dialysis today and seems to be making great improvement. I am trying to support my aunt and cousin. I spent this afternoon and evening up at the hospital.

My weight was up one pound this morning so some of the post traveling water has come off. More might..I am starving hungry today!! must be the ramp up to the tights to come! I am thinking I will have them during BOOBs...darn it all!

It is cold. I had to switch from my summer frappachino to a winter peppermint mocha today :(....I want my summer back.

I got to see my daughter's dorm room. She and my grandson will sleep in bunk beds and we are going to make his bottom bunk into a fort...I think he will like it. I was pleasantly surprised by the dorm room (not early as scary as I was worried about). I think he will be the only child in the building though.

xxxooo

Home Again

Our week of childless fun is over.

We are home (and back to a comfortable bet). The one at the hotel was rock hard.

I had a great time and we did one of those bonding marriage kinds of things. Nice really-

I think I actually gained weight a little but I cannot be sure until the next few days when the water comes off and I do my morning nakey routine on the scale.

I have to work tomorrow :( I will launch out of my front door at 7:30 am while David and Grace get to lie in. sigh :)

Sunday we will help my oldest daughter and grandson start to move into the dorms. She was accepted into the PH.D. program as an assistant. My grandson is going to live in a dorm at the age of 3...I am not sure if this is a good thing a great thing or scary :)

I start a math class in two weeks. I need to get some work done for my job so I can concentrate on school in a balanced way. Goodness knows if this class will solve my ongoing mid-life career crisis but I will keep you posted when/if I figure it out.

xxxooo

You Never Stop Learning

I figured some stuff out today-

I figure stuff out about my body and my head and this band when I really pay attention and slow my life down.

I really like this life I lead that allows me the occasional week to unwind and focus.

In the morning my stomach is flatter and during the day I swell up. My stomach pooches and my skin lumps become more noticeable. After I eat a semi big meal I get what my daughters and I call a 'food baby'. My stomach pooches up in a lump. Not so good when I am wearing body forming clothing. So the dilemma is do I only buy evening dresses after a meal to make sure I don't get so lumpy in the evenings that it looks bad orrrr Maybe rethink a tummy tuck? ;) Do you think that can be done before I go to Chicago?

I have been having some really painful deep shoulder pain. I finally figured out tonight that it is totally related to overeating. Big meal=shoulder pain. Crazzzzyyy. I was blaming my bike crash in December. Sleeping funny, lifting stuff...You name it and I blamed it. Now it is stinking too much food. duhhhh. I do not think that in all of the blogs and discussion forums I have read that no one has ever said that shoulder pain came up as a message that anyone had eaten enough. I obviously need to stop before the pain sets in-however it hits before any PB level. Hmmm...

On another note:

I did yarn shopping today. I left at my leisure. Had Coffee, Met David for lunch at the mall (really good food in SF at the mall). Went to a nifty yarn store in the Union Square area, Britex Fabric store and another yarn shop out in the Castro District.

David was done by this time and I changed my clothes (tonight I wore the suit slacks, a white shirt I got in June and my new Desagal jacket. We went to a small boutique hotel restaurant that served semi Italian/American food. It was really reasonably prices and VERY good. It was so good we of course over-ate (all of us) and thus I learned some new things about my band. DAvid and I were both somewhat uncomfortable after dinner and took a long walk Down Market and along the waterfront. After we had digested a bit we caught the tram back near our hotel. All in all this has been a great leisure (for me) and learning week.

One of the dresses I bought (Not Calvin) and my UK Shoes. The heel height is perfect but I do have some blisters. How does everyone take pictures of themselves in mirrors? Most of mine did not turn out at all. These were two acceptable ones but most made me look quite chunky and many were blurry.
xxxooo

Silly Me

Silly Me I wasn't tight this week I was freaking sick! who would had thought?? :) The tummy troubles moved onto the lower or downstream end of the pipes. I obviously have a bit of food poisoning. As I type I can feel whatever food and liquid stuff I have kept down rolling quickly through my intestines. It is funny eh? when I was a teenager I used to wish that I could skip a period because they were a pain. Then I reached child-bearing age and I always wished for one because that meant my birth control was doing its job. Now here I have a band and I am relieved that I have a tummy bug...kind of silly really.

Despite my tummy bug I have been out and about San Francisco and shopping away. Shopping at this size is so much fun! I know that I have now been this size for more than a few months but I am telling you it never gets old. I can physically feel in my bones all of the years where all of the shops along side me were not for me. I had to find the rare large size stores and focus my attention on shoe shopping. Well now..I can go into any shop and have been going into all of them! Before your start to worry that I have developed a shopping addiction to replace my food one (Well maybe a little :)). Regardless at each store there is a little part of me that pauses as I go in the door...that old memory is that strong.

I bought a fancy and expensive jacket at Desegal after Davids urging because he likes it too and I have had my eye on it since February. Then I went to Ross (a discount store) and communed with my new favorite man-Calvin. I purchased two of his dresses and a suit. The man has a tailored taste that I absolutely love. His clothes fit beautifully. The only down side is that in some cases his lack of size vanity means that I wear a 10 or 12 instead of the fake 8 that some stores allow me to wear. Best of all the dresses were under 30 dollars each and the suit was 50.

I also picked up some tummy controlling underwear a skirt, some yoga pants and a floating pretty purple dress that is likely to make its appearance at BOOBS unless of course I change my mind or find another dress between now and then.

Speaking of dresses. When I was big I could not wear them..I looked horrible i them. With big boobs and all of my weight in my midsection meant that any dress I wore just made me look bigger. Now..there is some shape under those drastically shrunken boobs. I can wear tailored dresses that hug my curves and with a little tummy holding (hopefully with a little extra help from my spanx) The skin I still carry around is hardly noticeable.

Tummy troubles be damned..shopping makes everything better :)

Even Too Tight for ME

Ok I like to wear my band on the tight side. I like it to help me keep my eating under control and keep me from creeping into the goodies. Well today and over the past few days the darn thing has been even too tight for my comfort. It is not that I am not keeping all my food down but more often than not it is my main and most nutritious meal of the day that seems to be coming back up or causing extreme discomfort going through the old pipes.

The weird thing is that my pills went down quite nicely today..the first one I didn't even feel..but tonight I felt tight so I was careful and ordered french onion soup for dinner. I had a bit of cheese out of it and some of the broth but left the mushy bread (it wasn't very good anyway) alone in the bowl. In all I managed three bites and I got the "is your soup all right" from the waiters and waitresses. I had a bite of Davids Fois Gras (not good either at the place we were at). So this is all coming to a head on the first night alone in San Francisco. After dinner I walked a bit an then shopped a bit (found a lovely coat at Desigal) and then we came back to the hotel. We sat in the bar. I ordered and did not drink a sangria (the food from dinner was just not clearing). I tried a couple of drinks and then carried my glass back to the room. Upon arrival I had to grab my trusty zip lock bag and immediately filled it with the drink and all of dinner. Even the stuff that had gone through my stoma. On a good note my stomach (the one on the bottom) can still hold plenty of food :) Thankfully that bag was gallon sized (haha).

I will see how I am in the morning but right now I am thinking I will need to track down someone to pull some fluid out of my band. Does anyone know a good doctor in the San Francisco area?

If things are this tight tomorrow I guess I can always call my surgeon and ask for a recommendation. I know he comes down here a lot for conferences.

On a good note-the dinner we chose was not good enough to feel any great loss of not being able to eat it.

I will see what tomorrow holds...and let you know.

xxxooo

Sundays

I love Sundays these days. I slept in until 10 (oh yeah....). David and Grace woke up before me and did their eating thing while I slept and then finished a book about the brain and addiction (very enlightening). I got up and we went to Starbucks for my breakfast and then off to the Sunday farmers market. After a swing around the market we walked around our new house (down the alley and then past the front). I found a lovely place in the back to grow my tomatoes next year and I decided that the front, even though it is north facing will work fine for peas and herbs.

When we arrived home Nichole dropped by with my grandson Grant. While Grant took a nap in Graces bed we cleaned our room (I had a bunch of laundry to fold and my closet to organize plus books and other clothes that needed sorting. In my search I ran across my fat pants again and tried them on :)






We are now off to the science museum to look at a games exhibit that Grace is interested in seeing.

Tomorrow David and I are leaving for San Francisco for a week child free!! :) My plan is to find a nice 40's or 50's style dress to wear with my UK shoe purchase, do some uninterrupted writing in my hotel room and eat in fancy restaurants with David. Maybe we will fit some romance in there as well :)

xxxooo

Hangin With Some Mathy's

Tonight I worked all day. I got on the train at 7:05 am and then drove after a meeting and a bunch of day long paper shuffling-with a colleague-to the opening dinner for our state math teacher-teachers' association meeting (actually titled teachers of teachers of math). I was hoping to see some people I knew from around the state. There was no one I knew. It was interesting to see how different mathies are from science-ies. My current job is with the science-ies so I have been out of the math people loop for a while. They are different. Different speech patterns, different ways of communicating and this group at least is much more relaxed than the science people I know (my random group might not be typical)...A little stats joke thrown in there.

Anyway. I don't know if I fit in with either group. I am a nerd..but is it a mathy nerd? or a science-y one now? or perhaps I don't fit in either group anymore...argh :)

In either case I did meet some new people and they were very nice and it made me miss working at the community college again. I got home at 9pm.

OH...the pill thing:

I slept better last night. I took my pills this morning and I am definitely seepy tonight. I have to wait a bit because dinner is lumped in my tummy still..but...I think...I might...sleeeeeppp.

On a side note..do any of you feel weirded out by people looking you in the eye and saying hello? like people I mean men...It never used to happen. People never used to look at me and if they did they looked away. It happened twice today. I find it discombobulating.

I have to be on the road at 6:30am tomorrow morning to carpool with a colleague into the conference. Wish me good sleeps please...

xxxooo

I want to Sleep....but the back to school thing is kinda good.

I am having one heck of a time sleeping again. I am trying to still work out if it is a caffeine issue, my Prozac or what. I fell asleep last night quite nicely but then woke David up with my twitching. Apparently my feet and shoulders were jerking about. I then could not go back asleep trying to work out why I am twitching so much.

I had this problem once before-it was after having Meghan. I had a c-section and they put Morphine in my epidural. I ended up allergic to the Morphine and broke out in hives. I was then given benadryl to counter the hives and discover I was allergic to benadryl..it makes me twitch and robs me of sleep. I did not realize this was the problem at the time. I just thought it was post birth hormonal weirdness but then 6 years later my lovely daughters gave me chicken pox and I medicated with the benadryl again...and again I had twitching and sleep issues.

So...I am beginning to wonder if I have not developed some allergy to my meds or coffee? Of course I should go to the doctor but I am not sure she will be any more help in figuring the thing out. Maybe it is time for a little web search eh?

On another note-even though I am not sleeping I kind of like this getting up and getting to work routine. It is now 3 and I have gotten a lot accomplished. Yesterday was at work and I was back home for the school bus. Today I went to a meeting in Salem and then came home and had a rapid house clean whirling through the kitchen, mopping, doing some laundry and then picking up and vacuuming in the living room. Before bed tonight I am hoping to get some paperwork done (in this organized clean area of the house) and make some progress on my messy room.

Foodwise I am in a funk...coffee and cheese and orange juice have become my mainstays and I am frankly getting sick of them. Today for lunch I had a bowl of blueberries and a bit of cream. I have also had a handful of cashews. (Don't worry I had my coffee for breakfast). I am going to attempt to skip the afternoon coffee today and eat a really good dinner (chicken and vegetables) to see if that doesn't help with the twitchy twitchy.

UPDATE: no sooner had I hit publish and I got the answer to my sleeplessness issues from my lovely training to a be a nurse daughter. She is studying mental health this term and is knee deep in the identification and side effects of drugs. I told her about my issue and she asked me (get a mental picture of me physically puffing up with motherly pride here)...she asked me-what time of the day are you taking your meds? My response-dinner. Well duh mom your prozac or commonly known as fluexetine pills are made to hamper selective serotonin re-uptake. One of the main side effects is insomnia. You need to take those pills in the morning mom. I then discussed with her how I am tight in the morning and she said tough..you will have to take them. When I was in the surgeons office for my yearly check in he suggested I open the capsule. I still don't know if that is OK or not but I guess it is time to do some investigating. My little nurse daughter said I would have to go to a higher power to get the answer to that one (more pride in that she knows her limits).


xxxooo

Here We Go....

Grace is in bed and it is the eve before the first day of school. I am sitting and messing about on my computer but need to cut up a cant elope and mango to prep for her lunches this week.

We accomplished a lot today. Went through a few boxes in the garage and filled both our garbage can and recycling plus took a load to Goodwill. We have a very large storage unit that will have to be emptied in the upcoming month because the house we bought will just not hold it all. We were brutal today but I am not sure if we will manage to cut everything by 50% as is our plan. I have a feeling this is going to hurt a lot :)

After we did some sorting and cleaning in the garage we went to drop off a few things at storage and Goodwill. We stopped for an afternoon coffee and then ran Grace to get a quick haircut and pick up some last minute school supplies. We then returned home and all three of us cleaned her room. I do not know if it is just plain old bad parenting on my part or if she has some genetic messy gene but it is TORTURE getting that child to clean up after herself. We filled two laundry baskets with presumably dirty clothing (I highly doubt these were dirty but she didn't want to fold them so tossed them into the basket). I filled two bags of garbage. We cleaned under her bed and vacuumed up a bucket load of tiny little beads. We boxed up a load of books to donate to her new school and another stack to mail to her cousin.

While Grace and I packed up her backpack for tomorrow David created potential lunch menus for Grace and dinners for all of us next week. We then walked to the grocery store and did a shop plus ate dinner. We walked home with our groceries to drop them off and then took off on a mile or so walk. Grace rode her scooter while we did a walk around the neighborhood and through the building site that I took pictures of the other night.

We set the air conditioner up in Graces room to help her sleep an sent her off to bed. She has already been up three times with questions and excuses to get out of bed. I remember that sense of anticipation and fear mingled with excitement :) I hope she manages to get some sleep so she isn't grouchy tomorrow.

On the topic of weightloss-I got back down to 162 today (Phew)...I would like to hit 161 or even 160. I really like how my waist feels at this lower end (not nearly as much muffin top-is it muffin top or skin top? or even mushroom top?)

Happy end of Summer to you all :) I hope we keep the sunshine even though school is on.

xxxooo

BYOC

BYOC – Bring Your Own Crazy….5 little questions we ask to get to know each other better and to give our blogging brains a break. Copy and paste to your own blog and enjoy!1.

1. please describe the contents of your purse.




I just bought a new purse to hold my new laptop (I got a bigger one so I could see the screen with my poor old eyes. The laptop was out being used to type this so it is not in the pile. I carry this purse to work everyday so it is full of worky stuff.

1.Thinking in systems book. I read it on the train and before I go to sleep. You missed Kitchen confidential. I finished reading it Wednesday night.
2. binder clips.
3. red memo book. So I can write down all of the things I will forget.
4. Fancy mechanical pencil (a mathematicians best friend)
5. yellow headphone set to listen to music on my phone (Pandora is the best)
6. plug for my computer
7. sunglasses in case
8. Keys and lanyard with my usb memory stick attached
9. frequent knitter punch card.
10. yellow note with all of the data I have to organize and get into work off my old computer.
11. File containing a list of missing data (yes more)
12. loose change
13. receipts that I stuffed in my purse on the fly
14. my eye prescription that I have forgotten to take out of my purse.

2. Repeat question: I’m going to pick a person not knowing if you have a relationship with this person or if the person even exists and you try to describe the person in 5 words or short sentences.

• Your kindergarten teacher

Mrs. Loucks
Old.
We did not learn to read (and I like that)
There was a play house corner
She had the coolest shoes that laced up but had heels (kind of those shoes that are popular now and I just bought a similar pair)
We sang this old man he played one...an it was probably the most fun I can remember having that year.

3. What’s your favorite guilty pleasure / trashy TV show you like to watch?

Well i don't consider TV a guilty pleasure so it would have to be Starbucks frappachinos now or chocolate. As far as TV is concerned I like British murder mystery programs (Midsommer murders, etc.)

4. A lot of you told me about your first day of school experiences when I posted about how my 5 year old going to kindergarten wasn’t causing me too much heartache. So now I’m officially asking – tell me about one of your first day of school experiences that sticks out in your mind the most. Who put you on the bus? Did you ride the bus? Did your parents take pics? Did they walk you into school? Drive you there? Cook you breakfast?

I do not know if this was the first day of school but it was during the first few days. I got up early and watched the moon landing before school started. I rode the bus. I do not remember my mom cooking breakfast so I probably had a bowl of cereal. Our bus stop was at the top of the street and my two neighbors (Lynn Wilson up from me and Laurie down from me was at the bus stop)

After lunch recess on the first day of school Lynn Wilson stole my chair next to Laurie and pushed me onto the floor. When I got mad at her and told her to give me my chair back Mrs. Loucks got mad at me. Spanked me and said that the three of us would never be placed in the same classroom again. We never were and that was probably a good thing. I was outraged at the time though.

5. Repeat question: Summarize your week in real life and in blog land.

I am swamped with work and planning various trips to various places-San Francisco in two weeks, Chicago in 4 and then New York in October. I had to buy all the tickets and make hotel reservations. I also am supposed to be working (yes I really am when I am not eating and taking pictures of my shoes). I am late paying my Chicago payments but am getting the money off today. I sent the Boobs money this morning and will figure out the walking and other money this afternoon. I vaguely thought it was all due September 1 but I was wrong and it was all due last week (a common problem for me as can be seen in the pile of undone to do lists in my purse).

eek!!!

xxxooo

Sunny Day Sweeping the Clouds Away

Friendly neighbors there thats where we meet..can you tell me how to get how to get to sesame street? :)

I worked today. It was fine. I was in a pleasant mood. The scale put me at 164 exactly (up a smudge of a pound from yesterday). My tummy is behaving itself (I can eat just enough). I cut back to two prozac a day (funny how you recognize a case of PMS after it is over eh?).

Today I have pictures of my neighborhood. This is what I get at the end of the max train ride home. Tomorrow I will snap a pic. of the max for you.

For your viewing pleasure:

The place I stop for breakfast each morning on my way to the train. and the cornerstone to this lovely new neighborhood I live in :) They seriously should pay me to advertise for them.


Brownstone houses on my walk to the grocery store to meet David and Grace. Ours will be up the road and around the corner.

David and Grace in the cheese aisle..Yum There were garlic cheese curds in that basket. I will treat them carefully from now on.


Our current rental house. It has its good points and bad. Great location but carpet that is driving me crazy and a very small kitchen.



Our soon to be new house. It looks just like those on Sesame street don't you think? It has a bigger kitchen and hardwood floors in the living spaces!! Just a tiny raised bed in the front and a flat roof I might be able to put a raised bed on. Even a place for a garbage can with Oscar the Grouch or a nest for Big Bird. Of course the neighbors would never allow it but it is fun to think about anyway.




Just outside our neighborhood is both a little bit of country (see the moon and grass). and a little bit of big construction. Intel is building a new fab. We went for a walk after dinner and David snapped this pictures.