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About this blog

THE SWEET SPOT My journal on my expedition to Bandlandia and my adventures there. I plan to stay forever (been to Onederland many times, but I never stayed long). Join me!:see

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9/11/09 Where were you?

What were you doing last night? I was watching the Steelers win the kickoff NFL game (BTW the Penguins were at the White House yesterday meeting the President)! But do you remember where you were and what were you doing on 9/11/01? I find it's sometimes cathartic to talk about traumatic events.   What a defining day in our lives. I think this day will resound with my generation as Pearl Harbour Day does with my parents. I’m sure most of you remember where you were. There are very few days in my life where I can tell you where I was and what I was doing at the time…Neil Armstrong walking on the moon, my wedding, the Challenger disaster, my three children’s births and a handful of other days. On 9/11/01 I was with DH on one of a handful of pre/post business trips I’ve joined him on. My Mom had come from Columbus to watch our 3 kids so I could join DH for two days before his convention in Las Vegas, of all places! It was my first trip there and I’d put our names on a waiting list for the Cirque du Soleil ‘O’ show (the one that is in/over a giant pool of water) and the second night they called to say they had tickets available for the late show…we went and if it hadn’t been such a great show we would have fallen asleep as it ended very late (our time). We slept in and DH got in the shower while I turned on the Today Show and started quickly packing for my return flight home that I needed to catch in about an hour. I remember screaming to DH as I watched the first plane hitting the tower...at first he thought I had it wrong…I was so riveted on the TV I couldn’t leave and kept screaming to him to come and see for himself. We watched in horror as the second plane hit. As soon as we knew what was really happening we were on the phone to the travel agent and even went downstairs to try and rent a car to get home. Others had beaten us there and even when we tried to rent a U-haul truck we were informed that everything in town was gone. People were trying to find others who had cars to pay them for a ride their direction. The phones were so tied up that I couldn’t get through to my Mom at home. All we wanted to do was get home. Unbenounced to me, my family was panicking wondering about us and by then they had all heard of a plane going down ‘somewhere in Western Pennsylvania’ (that was back when none of us but DH had a cell phone and the landlines were tied up). They didn’t know if that was my plane coming back to Pittsburgh or even if our home had been hit in Pittsburgh (there's a big memorial ceremony going on now near here at the Shanksville site). We eventually got through and all of us reconnected. We sadly watched with the rest of the country as the towers fell. I’m tearing up now remembering the tragic and devestating loss of life and horrors we all witnessed that day. I think it hit home even more to my kids as we’d all been to NY City on vacation just a few weeks before 9/11 in mid-August with DH’s sister’s family. We actually had reservations in the ‘Windows on the World’ restaurant at the top of one tower for lunch, which we decided to cancel in favor of having more time to take the kids to Ellis Island and past the Statue of Liberty via boat. Over 150 people; everyone present in the restaurant that morning perished. I'm glad, for the kids sake, that they hadn't been there. Windows on the World.     When I took DD back to NYC a few years ago for her spring break all she wanted to do was go to Ground Zero; even though she knew nothing was there but some fencing and excavated foundations.   It took DH a few days to track down his college roommate who worked in one of the shorter buildings in the WTC complex. His building suffered quite a lot of damage; windows all blown out, etc., but he was safe.   I’ll have to say being in Las Vegas was a very surreal place to be during this event. We were stuck there for an additional 3 days and were lucky (with our travel agent’s help) to get one of the first flights home. When we went downstairs to try to find ground transportation that first morning we walked through the casino and lobby to see a few TV’s with people gathered around them and right next to them were people still playing the slot machines…I wanted to scream at those still gambling ‘Don’t you know what is happening?’   We also had some wonderful moments of commeradery…we took a taxi out to the closest department store where I found the lengerie department packed with women like me looking to buy more underwear to get through the next days until we could get home. We were all helping eachother find sizes and discussing how many we might need. I only had clothing for two nights, so I bought a few more tops as well. I remember having discussions with the resort staff as well. Immediately every show was, of course, cancelled and by the second day the staff knew this event was going to be devestating to the economy in their town and were expecting huge lay-offs, which happened…their economy was devistated. There was lots of talk on that morning about the fact that Las Vegas might be a likely next target. It was certainly disturbing to later learn that a number of the 9/11 hijackers make at least six trips to Las Vegas immediately before the attacks.   I can tell you I was never so glad to get home and hug my family. Our lives will go on, but WE WILL NEVER FORGET.   Where were you, and what were you doing that day?
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9/10/09 Foul Mood

I'm in a foul (fowl) mood. It's just been 'one of those days'. DH is away on business this week, so I've been juggling everything with the kids. I realized last night we’d forgotten DS2’s Allergy shot appointment last week (he’s down to once every 3 weeks and we’d lost track with the vacation week). I’ll have to take him after school (they’re only in the office here on Thursday’s which makes it harder to get this in). They’re not going to be happy with me as he’ll have to start the last dose over again…grrr…bad Mom.   DS2 had his 6 mo. dental checkup recently and they found some small cavities. They filled the four of them they could get to (he had braces on), but they thought he had a few more under the braces. He just got the braces off (yay! after over 3 long years...even at age13, those final baby teeth just weren't going to fall out so they had to pull them to finish up his braces) and so this morning was his follow-up appointment with the Dentist. They took x-rays and he had 18 more (YIKES) small cavities between his teeth where the wires from the braces were (one of those was a regular larger/biting surface cavity). Holy Cow 22 cavities!!!!   No, that's not his mouth...yet! I'm 50 and didn't have my first cavity until I got in college (my 4 siblings and I were 'Crest Test Kids'...in the 60's we had piles of boxes of unmarked toothpaste tubes to use growing up). We have a great Dental office with 5 Dentists and they're known as being the best in the area. We're at the dentist every 6 months for check-ups and were at the Orthodontist every 4 weeks...how the heck did it get this bad without them knowing it?!!! I guess the braces made these impossible to get to or see?!! We made sure he brushed morning and night, but apparently he's just prone to them. Two shots of Novocain and 4 more fillings this morning (and an Rx for fluoride toothpaste) and will be back in a few weeks to get some more done...poor kid!   So we're walking out of the dentist and almost to the car and I remembered the note needed for the school...back in we go. Now off to the school with DS2 and luckily I remember my neighbor telling me that the bridge I usually take to the school is being replaced and so I'd have to get there another way. The school is 20 min. North on the Interstate and then about 5 min. more on back streets (by the old route) so I don't know the area well at all. DS2 told me he knew the way his bus goes so he directed me through about 12 turns to get there. Mission accomplished...I dropped him off praying and hoping I'd be able to find my way home. I made it almost through all the turns when I turned to find a slow moving train blocking my route. Others were turning around, so I figured there was another way over/under the tracks, but no way was I going to get lost…WHY didn't I bring my GPS with me? Dag, I even left my cell phone at home!! Now I’m nervous I’ll get lost. I turned the car off and waited. OK, train gone, just 2 more turns...wee! Last turn...I made it!!! Back on the Interstate ramp!!!   What's this? There's a police car with lights on coming up a distance behind me on the long ramp. I figured he was on his way somewhere so I quickly merged into traffic so he could get around me...NOT HAPPENING!!! HE'S NOW RIGHT BEHIND ME WITH THE LIGHTS BLAZING!!! QUICK...PULL OVER BEFORE HE STARTS THE SIREN!!! Yep, he's pulling over too...it's ME he wants??!!! 'Can I see your license and registration ma’am?' *Me (Not even noticing the dreaded “Ma’me” that always makes me feel old) fumbling through a million packets/pieces of paper, tire gauges and napkins in the glove compartment I never use* 'Sure, here they are...can I ask what this is about?' 'You made an illegal left turn.' 'Really? Where?' 'At *street name* and there are 4 signs saying NO left turn.' 'I'm so sorry. Really?! I missed 4 signs?!' (babbling now) I didn't know how to get to the school since the bridge is out so my son told me the way and I was so focused on coming back the same way...I can't believe I missed 4 signs! I'm sorry.' Well, a wait for him to check my license and one ticket (no points) later I'm home...in a foul (fowl) mood. I'm hoping with no points the insurance company doesn't get this info. (anyone know?) as we already had a big rate hike after DS1's 2nd fender bender this year...sigh.   Alright I'm searching for some good news (just my optimistic nature when I'm down)...I didn't have time to drink anything but coffee this morning and was absolutely ravenous by the time I made it home to my protein drink (I'm still on my 2 days of post-fill liquids). It was interesting and surprising to realize how long it's been since I've really been hungry like that...I'd almost forgotten what true hunger feels like...now there's some good news.
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8/18-21/09 Nesting and the Big College Move

I've lost 2.5 pounds of the 4 lb. I gained in the two weeks gone. My stomach is pretty much back to normal (had a few burning issues yesterday, but I'm staying on the Nexium until I see the doc next week). We're off to Columbus again for a nephew's college graduation party (from OSU). Yay, college football starts again! Mom's cooking all weekend...help me! Have a great loooong weekend all! OK, here's my journal from the week before last when I was swamped with getting ready for the college move and then vacation the next day.   8/18 I just got a call from my sister-in law. My niece/goddaughter is off to PSU tomorrow for her senior year and they're packing the car. She's so excited our DS1 is starting at PSU this year and she's meeting us Friday to help with his move in. I'm 'nesting'. I've been spending days buying and returning items (when I find something better) to stores, checking things off lists and organizing it all. He'll be almost 4 hours from home and it helps me to know he'll have everything he needs.   I'm a self-admittedly almost OCD organizer. I've got plastic bins all organized and labeled…I've written our last name in sharpie on most of his more expensive things…tiny, where no one will notice, but this totally irks DS1…it's not like I'm labeling his underwear or anything (although that isn't a bad idea LOL). I bought some more bins yesterday and I'm disappointed he doesn't seem to have anything to put in them…boys just need less than girls. We took the car and the van to move DD in her freshman year. I'm thinking we're going to get everything in the van…and probably without the roof-rack and car-top carrier.   I spent half a day trying to find pics of his dorm room setup online (finally found a few on Flicker). PSU missed the boat on this one…no pics, just a drawing of the layout with mislabeled room sizes (one dimension says 12'15"…took me finding other sites to realize it's 12'5" and it was a typo, like I suspected). The furniture isn't even to scale on their drawings (yeah, I plugged the room info. into my architect computer program to see how his things would fit). These freshman dorm rooms are TINY and the furniture is all bolted down, so correct dimensions are important when you're trying to figure out if the rug you bought will fit in the room (I think I have an inch leeway on one side as long as the radiator isn't deeper than 12"…no dimensions given). Luckily, I also got a 'heads-up' on a few things from my niece…like you can request a Twin XL bed instead of the Twin given (big deal if you're over 6' like DS1 is) and that the beds have 6 legs and not 4 (important if you're buying bed riser feet in packs of 4 so you can put big bins of things under the bed).   We've got 'extras' of several items…no way will we be standing in the 2 hour lines at Wal-Mart for more extension cords. I'm such a visual organizer that it helps me to feel that he's settled before we get there. I know where most things go and then when we're done placing it all I feel like the Momma bird who has feathered the nest and made it all cozy for her baby. Leaving your child at school for the first time is hard enough without feeling like you've left them without something they'll need. Do I get that he's a big-boy now and can certainly get to the store and buy things if he needs them…yep, of course I do, but it makes me feel better…and so I'm nesting… ---- 8/19 Side note; we finished the art projects for his room (I may have told you about these already, so sorry if I'm repeating?). DH and DS1 made a batik for the big wall over his bed. DD and I did a decoupage tissue paper triptych for her first dorm room with all her room colors, so I was trying to find something that DH could do with DS1…DH can't draw a straight line to save his life, but I remembered seeing some batiks that he had made in HS. I helped DS1 draw out the Nittany Lion paw print logo on the white fabric we bought and then they painted the wax and dyed it the PSU blue. I ironed it out and hemmed the edges (It was my sneaky way of getting a little color in the room with all the black, black, gray, and black…and now blue! hee-hee). I also surprised DS1 with taking some indoor/outdoor lights (just round white bulbs) and painting some little paw prints on those too with some glass paint…yes, you can bake light-bulbs in the oven. ---- 8/21 The move into college went well. We got permission to move in with the locals on Friday since we leave for vacation on Saturday morning. It was a super Looooong day....up and out by 5am, 4 hours there, unpack and lunch, 4 hours home, then repack the whole car for vacation. Everything for his move went really smoothly though. We arrived there 15 min. before the start of check-in time and thankfully they were already ready and unloading cars. PSU was very organized…we were sent right onto the grass parking for his dorm and students were there with dollies to take loads up to his room (we'd borrowed one from a neighbor also). Lucky for us I'm a little OCD about things as I'd looked and knew there was a good chance of rain in the morning and insisted we put everything not in plastic bins into plastic bags. It was drizzling when we arrived and then we had a hard shower while DH and DS1 were taking loads up as I unpacked the van. When they came back, they were happy that his giant pile of stuff on the sidewalk was protected from the rain as everyone around us was trying to hold umbrellas over their stuff.   My niece/god-daughter (also at PSU) came to the room to help and she was great. After struggling to get the rug down and under both beds, the rest of the move went smoothly. We got his batik up on the wall and my niece put up the lights I made him up on the ceiling. The two body pillows fit well along the wall and made the bed into a nice 'couch' of sorts. My son had insisted that he didn't want a bed-skirt as anything with the word 'skirt' in it had to be bad and he feared getting made fun of…I tried 'dust-ruffle', but that was even worse LOL. I whispered for my niece to come over while he was busy and we took the 2 curtain panels I'd bought (for the 'bed-skirt'), folded them and hung them from the bed frame/springs to the floor and overlapped them in the middle. Looks much nicer than seeing the bed risers and the big bins of food and stuff that are under the bed. He was really pleased with how everything turned out…and I don't think he even noticed the bedSKIRT!   *Pic 1 Attached: DS1 in the bed portion; note you can see part of the paw-print batik on the wall and the string of lights hanging (and see how you don't notice the bedskirt with all the other black?). *Pic 2 Attached: DS1 and I in the desk/closet portion; note I also got some more color (blue) in with some wrapping paper on the bulletin board. *Pic 3 Attached: Here's the lights up close with the little logos I painted, it's a 24 set (I made another set to send to my god-daughter as a surprise since she liked his so much).
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9/3/09 Home Alone

Yes folks, it’s that time of year again! School started today and finally…I’m home alone! DS2 went off to 8th grade, DS1 is safely tucked in at college and is having a blast, DD and DH went off to work. I don’t know what to do with myself! Sure, there’s the pile of supplies and stuff we brought back from DS1’s college move and the pile of stuff from our week at the beach that all needs to be put away. My white tiled kitchen floor (I must have been in a coma the day we picked white tile for a kitchen floor…one suggestion…DON'T) looks more like my lawn right now. The laundry is done only because DS2 made me do all his clothes yesterday because he needed everything to select from for his first day of school (I’m guessing all those girls who were texting him day and night last year are going to be a big distraction this year LOL). I have a pile of mail to catch up on and the bathrooms all need cleaning…but what to do?!   I’m making it a fun first day alone. I think I’ll start with painting the lights I want to make for my god-daughter (I’ll post my catch-up blog from two weeks ago on DS1’s and her move to college tomorrow, which will explain the lights). Then I’m going to bake some cookies to include with small gifts we bought DS1 on vacation. I’ll mail both their college care packages off tomorrow. But right now…excuse me while I run naked through the house…weee....
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8/22-27/09 Vacation (Part 1)

Details of Part 1 of my vacation   5:15pm Monday- I'm sitting pool-side on vacation right now...all I need is a drink with a little umbrella, but they don't have them at this pool. I know, I know…no sympathy…YOU'RE ON VACATION! …but I WANT my umbrella drink!   We've had a busy week….got up around 4am on Friday to take DS1 to PSU (college) for his big move in day (but I'll save the details as I wrote a blog for that one, but didn't get the pics loaded yet, nor did I have time to finish it). We got back home around 5pm (about a 4 hour drive from his college) and started loading the van again (and this time the car top carrier too) for our vacation (didn't I JUST load this van?). Saturday we were up early again and on the road for about 12 hours drive down to here (Seabrook Island, SC).   The in-laws own a place here so we vacation here sometimes. Sunday was DD's 22nd Birthday and we spent the day on the beach and then out to dinner for her birthday. The waves were as big as I've seen them here because of the hurricane going up the East coast. I made DS2 (age 14) wear a life jacket, after many protests, because there were rip-tide warnings in effect and there are no lifeguards here (surprisingly the beach patrol was sitting and watching the area, which is the first time I've seen them do that here…no lifeguard, so I'm not sure what a gal in clothing would have done if someone was in trouble)…luckily this is a mostly retirement age group now as most areas have started school because if there had been any other teen kids on the beach DS2 would have stayed out of the water vs. wearing the life jacket. Today we went swimming early and then into Charleston for lunch and shopping. *Pic attached DS2 and I at the Charleston Market (don't know the other dude).   6:30pm Monday- OK, that's as far as I made it in my blog when my in-laws came out of the Community house (the only place around here with internet access *end note-we never got back there, so no internet) to sit with me (DH and they were checking emails on their computers sitting inside in the AC). My ancient laptop battery died while we were chatting so I didn't get to post anything. I'm back at the place now and we're heating up chili we made at home for dinner tonight. It will be interesting to see how much weight I gain this week. I'm not eating huge amounts, but just not the better choices I usually make. MIL made waffles for breakfast (I thought I was eating OK, but had to run to their bathroom 2 steps away to PB) and I ate an appetizer for the lunch in Charleston…two small crab cakes on a tomato and corn chutney…not a lot, but VERY rich. No internet here, so who knows when I'll be able to post this. Anyway, I now have my glass of wine in hand so things are good. In-laws are here (we're staying just down the road as their place is a 2BR)…GTG   12:00 Tuesday- DD went for a horse ride on the beach this morning. She's done that a few times here and always enjoys it…they walk the horses on a trail to the beach and then gallop up and down the beach and in and out of the surf (just a little way in). We were at the pool again (the close one next to us- no internet building) and now the kids are fishing and crabbing with DH on the dock…these places are on the marsh side of the island with a view across the marsh and toward the inlet where the shrimp boats go in and out every day…it's a beautiful view. *Pic attached: Horses way down the beach in the am.   10:51 am Wednesday- Just got back from watching the gang play tennis…a few sun showers, but they cooled everyone off.   3:21pm Wednesday- More crab cake appetizer for lunch at the ocean club here. I've had a relaxing afternoon just lazing around.   9pm Thursday- We took my in-laws out to a nice place for dinner last night (The Sanctuary, at Kiawha Island). I had the Shrimp and Grits. The chef sent over some steak tartar appetizers and I had a few of those while others ate the wonderful breads with flavored butters. DD wanted to switch plates with me, so that worked well …although the ½ bottle of wine didn't help.   This morning we went to the Magnolia Gardens Plantation early. This was DD's one request here as she remembered the gardens there…except in August not much is blooming. We took the tram tour and then walked the gardens.   *Pics attached: Alligator in the old plantation rice fields, Butterfly & Live Oak Tree.
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8/21/09 Scale Whores Anonymous- Semi-Annual Meeting

AGENDA - Call to Order   - Creed: Submitted for the group's Changes & Approval o I am a Scale *****. I wear this title with pride. Keeping track of my weight and use of a scale is an important tool in my journey toward or at a healthy weight. I am only one of many others like me and together we are a group. Although our journeys and choices may be different, we are bonded together by the common strategy of keeping a careful eye on our weight. I will share freely and will educate others on my strategies so that others may learn from my experiences. I will accept, respect and support my fellow Scale Whores regardless of their choices and alternate strategies without passing judgment, regardless of my personal views. I will unite with this group to defend against the prejudices and intolerance of others in order to preserve the support and accepting atmosphere of this group. I am here to teach and to learn, to find support and give it, so that I can more successfully reach or maintain a healthy weight.   -Review of Qualifications for Joining SWA: o Join Us!!! If you're not sure whether you qualify as a Scale *****, read HERE on LBT. Otherwise, anyone who tracks their weight through use of a scale (either at home or at a Doctors) and enjoys doing so (OK, maybe 'enjoys' isn't the right word when getting on a scale) is welcome (so pretty much anyone who doesn't want help or doesn't think this is an affliction).   - Role Call and Reading of Minutes of Last Meeting: o If you'd like more information; HERE on LBT is our 1st meeting on LBT in February, '09. - Swearing in and Initiation of new members: o Scales and Measuring tapes will be involved…don't worry, it's all done in a pitch black room and we've all survived…so far. You may put on your blindfolds NOW. - Announcements, Reports, Business, Program, Open Sharing: o The floor is now open for sharing of WL tracking and methods. Share how you use a scale and/or track your weight. - Entertainment, Social Activities, Just for Fun: o Arts and Crafts, games, teambuilding, etc. Share yours here and the group will participate! - New Business, Suggestions: o For Our Next Semi-Annual Meeting in February (or suggestions for anything else).   - Closing Ceremony: o Dominoes Formation "Fall" with our Scales (symbolic of our weight falling down) o Until Next Time…   o Until Next Time…       *Portion of Post Deleted for Lap Band Book    
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8/4/09 Grand Canyon

Since recovering from the big party, I've been trip planning...two trips actually.   We've decided to take a summer vacation. DS1 would rather spend time with all his friends before they're all off in different directions for college so we've planned to leave the day after taking him to college; end of Aug., and before DS2 starts 8th grade here. We're meeting DH's parents at their condo (2nd home) at Seabrook Island, SC for a week. It's going to be a scorching hot week to go, but it's the perfect last-minute place and it's not an expensive trip for us (with the second one going to college there's no excess funds). We need a getaway...especially for DS2 as this summer has been all about his siblings, their graduations, and their new endeavours (college, jobs). It's going to be weird just having one kid on a family trip, but DD just started the new job so she can't go either. I told DS2 that it will be his chance to be spoiled rotten as an only child on this trip LOL. It's a beautiful island and they sit right on a marsh with a dock for crabbing and a swimming pool right down the street. In a 5 min. drive to the other side of the island you can get to a beautiful uncrowded beach on the ocean and it's less than 45min. from Charleston (sits right next to Kiawah Island). We can't wait. DH suddenly has lots of trips planned to Phoenix this year so I've decided to take advantage of DD living here and meet up with him after a trip this fall. I'm flying out Oct. 2 for 5 nights and I'm wildly trying to figure out what I need to book. I'm SO EXCITED that I'll finally get to see the Grand Canyon for the first time! I've been to Phoenix/Scottsdale on business before when I was working, but never got to see much.     We booked my FF airline tickets and 2 nights lodging (2nd, 3rd nights of the trip) inside the park (2 different lodges, since that's all that was available now). I think I'll plan the last 2 nights in Sedona, but I'm not sure where to stay the first night; somewhere on the way up to GCNP (maybe somewhere in Oak Creek Canyon?). I'm starting to think 5 nights may have been too many. DH was a Geologist (before he moved into the business world), so I'm trying to plan mostly outside things and outside of Phoenix. I'm looking for some easy hikes. DH has already hiked down and up the GC; good thing as there is no way my body/back could handle that hike...short hikes for me (maybe this will be the motivation I need to exercise more). You know me, I'm an anal planner and I love coming home from a vacation exhausted. I'm trying my best to make this an economical trip too.   If you have any suggestions/tips for me, please let me know! Back to my research!
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7/31/09 SWA Notice

-------------------------- SAVE THE DATE! -------------------------- SWA (Scale Whores Anonymous) -------------------------- Semi Annual Meeting -------------------------- When: Friday, August 21st Where: Right Here at LBT Bring: Your Scale, Your Spreadsheets or your mirror (Lena), and your adventures/tips to share   Alright all you SWA Members (and those that need to join), I’m getting ready for our semi-annual SWA Meeting. What? You don’t know if you qualify? Well, here are the qualifications for becoming a member. You only need to say ‘Yes’ to last one* and ‘Yes’ to any one other item listed below, and you’re in:   - Do you get on your scale often? This can be anywhere between every hour to more than once a week (I’m a daily girl myself). More often than that and you just need help and you’re too afflicted even for us (Don’t worry Spud.mama, getting on and off 3 times in a row to average doesn’t count as too much…hope that new scale solved this horrific problem).   - Do you find yourself trying to wear (or naked) basically the same thing every time you weigh yourself (Julie.Ann…I’ve been wondering when you wash that one workout outfit for your Wii weigh-ins)?   - Do you weigh yourself, or your clothing/shoes (You know who you are weighing those shoes and it doesn't matter if you don't weigh at home!) before you go to the doctor so you can figure your exact weight (I’ve found myself going to the garage to get my shoes and weigh in with everything before leaving…and I’ll even admit I won’t go to the bathroom until they weigh me)?   - Do you somehow chart or spreadsheet your weight (Julie.ann & Sunshine2), or track it on your bathroom mirror (Lena)?   - Do you try to somehow predict what your weight will be in the future? Those with magic crystal balls need not apply (that’s cheating and considered an unfair advantage…the rest of us are at the mercy of the Weight Loss Gods who take great pleasure in messing with our predictions daily). - *Do you NOT want help for any of the above? Meaning you’re secretly OK with the fact that you’re a Scale Whore?   Then come out of the closet (or bathroom) and sign up to join us!   Can you believe our first meeting was way back in February (time flies when you’re busy weighing yourself)? Meet me right here on LBT for our 2nd meeting. So shine up those scales and get your spreadsheets, charts, and mirrors (Lena) in order. Bring your tips to share (Julie.ann, please bring your three different spreadsheets to share as you’ll be covering the OCD portion of the meeting along with Sunshine2) and be ready to commiserate with other SWA members! Oh, and Lena requests that you bring a yardstick for an extra fun chair rail craft project (photos afterwards, optional).   *Suggestions and Volunteers for agenda topics now being taken (you suggest it, you've volunteered)*   See you here! Have a great weekend all!   Here’s a recap of our first meeting for those who missed it (let me tell you, it went on and on through other’s blogs too…) 2/22/09 Scale Whore - Lap Band Surgery and Lap Band Discussion Forum
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7/27/09 Murphy and the Grad Party- Part II

Part II...   Nothing to be done, but to move on…I started prepping for the party…by Wednesday I had the garage tables all covered, skirted and set up and DS2 had all the decorations and streamers up. Oh, and being a ‘visual’ person I had all the chafing dishes out with sticky notes everywhere showing where each item would be (OK, I say ‘visual’, you say ‘anal’…just remember, I now knew I had to get as ready as possible as the quilt was still waiting). I bought all the food I could early and then Thursday I cut and pinned as many pieces for the quilt as I could.   Sis arrived Friday at lunchtime and we got started on our “Quilting Bee”. Thank God for her as we always have a fun time and can get each other laughing in the midst of a crisis (OK, not life and death, but I’ve set the bar people…a quilt is expected!). I sewed, she unpinned and kept me sane (translation = make sure none of the T-shirt were upside down...whe was amazed at all the math involved and how I figured this out without a pattern...math is not my subject). By Friday night we had all the T-shirts and white canvas together. We even took a break to prep some of the food and watch the Weather Channel…Oh yeah, Mr. Murphy (Murphy's Law) was messing with me again….(or you can skip this part and just know I’m doubly cursed and I’m a huge klutz)   - We’d of course been watching the weather all week and it went from bad to worse… ‘60% chance of pm thunderstorms’.   - DH was trying to make more room in the fridge for all the food, so he poured me an enormous glass of red wine to finish off the bottle. I took it in to work on the quilt (on the Dining Room table) while he and Sis went to rent a movie. I was sewing along when the doorbell rang and startled me, so I quickly got up to get the door….as I was leaving I caught a pin on my clothing and the quilt followed me…at the edge of the table…yep, the red wine! It fell and hit the seat of a wooden chair from the kitchen Sis had been using and broke. My poor neighbor at the front door (he was bringing me tables for the party) must have thought I was nuts as I answered the door in hysterical laughter (what else can you do but laugh). Luckily, the only fabric that got wine on it was a bit of the black framing and backing, so no harm done when I washed it off, but there was wine all over the Dining Room and up the walls. - Sis laughed until she couldn’t breathe when she got back and heard the story and scolded me for putting the wine on the table with the quilt ‘What were you thinking?’…at that point I had no brain left ‘I wasn’t!’ We called it a night.   - Saturday morning broke and it was the day of the party. I awoke at 4am with a migraine (stress and lack of sleep are a deadly combination). I couldn’t even move until about 6am and by then DH was up and helped me out…I was able to choke down a piece of bread and took my medicine (can’t take it on an empty stomach). Then I was violently vomiting, well, make that heaving hard with nothing coming up (one of my least favorite side effects of the LB, but it kept the medicine down so it was a positive). I went back up to lie in a dark room. Two hours later I was able to move again, but barely.   - The weather forecast had gotten even worse as they added ‘Gale force winds and damaging hail possible.’ to the thunderstorm forecast. We watched as the red Doppler was headed straight for us. We watched the 'local on the 8's' so many times we were soon reciting it with them...everyone now...'60% chance of pm thunderstorms with GALE FORCE WINDS AND DAMAGING HAIL POSSIBLE!'   - We got whatever setup and food prepped that we could and then went to frame and back the quilt. That’s when I stepped on a piece of wine glass I’d missed the night before and cut my big toe. There were blood droplets all over the carpet and we couldn’t get the bleeding to stop. I finally stuck my foot up on the table to raise it as I was still sewing… ‘Quite the picture of determination! There’s blood, sweat and tears in this quilt!’ Sis said (I’m sending her a nice restaurant gift certificate as I would have thrown it away long ago without her).   - I got the framing done, batting in, and the back on. The opening on the back was only pinned together and the actual quilting stitching wasn’t done, but no one knew the difference. I was just so relieved when we hung it on the garage wall.   - Our families started arriving around 1pm with the pouring rain and winds. At 5pm (party started at 6pm) we had a break in the rain and I decided to chance it and made the decision to set up outside (against the judgement of others in my family who thought I was doomed for a big storm...hey, I'm the eternal optimist remember...and I was figuring we could always ask people to grab a chair to bring in if it rained). Our families were great help in that last hour and we got all the food set up on heat or ice in the garage and everything else done outside..   The party was great. We had neighbors, family and lots of DS1’s friends. I had balloons, decorations, the DVD going in the garage where the quilt was also hung. The buffet was huge (too much food as usual, please come over for leftovers or we’ll be eating it for a month). DS1 has a sweet tooth and so besides my two tables of food we had a third table with the cake, a chocolate fountain with lots of things to dip and an ice cream sundae/cone bar. Outside we had lots of balloons and covered tables/chairs on our big drive and on the patio. We setup volleyball, baggo sets, and the football toss (that new string/rungs game). DS1’s one request was for a cotton candy machine so we had one of those too.   It was all worth it when I saw DS1 watching the DVD with a group of his friends and caught him later in the evening reading all the messages his friends had been writing for him on the quilt. We were all amazed at what a hit the cotton candy machine was…he manned it many times during the night and the kids would line up for their cone of ‘candy floss’ (my 6 year old godson had 8)…DS1 was covered in sugar by the time he was done. As night fell we lit the tiki torches, candles everywhere even floating on the pone and the fire pit for s'mores. We only had a few sprinkles all night that lasted a few minutes each time, but not even bad enough to move inside, so the weather (and Murphy) was finally smiling on us and I got really lucky…it wasn’t even windy…it was the perfect evening. I didn't have time to take a single pic, but I made sure others were doing this for me, so hopefully I can post a few soon.   My party outfit...   I’m exhausted, but DH and I got almost everything back to normal yesterday. I have survived and am victorious! Well, everything but the stupid weight…yep, still not in Onederland…I’ve been up and down the same two or three pounds for weeks now (201.5 today...grrr). Third fill tomorrow!!!!
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7/27/09 Murphy and the Grad Party- Part I

Sorry, I've been gone from here for 10 days, so it's a two part blog.   Murphy’s Law: “If something can go wrong, it will”…seems to be the theme of my life the last few weeks. Nothing traumatic, just life picking on me again. I, however, have survived and am victorious…well, sort'a. As you know I’ve been preparing for DS1’s HS graduation party yesterday…and you’ve heard me whining about trying to make the DVD slideshow of his pics. It was going slowly, but I was learning and slowly but surely I rummaged through my half-unorganized photos and managed to sort them by year (quite the feat), scan, crop, and individually save about 500 photos. Then Muphy’s Law kicked in…it went something like this…(or you can skip this part and just know that I’m severely technologically impaired.).   - My program was an older version of the one my Sis (middle one) had and trained me on…this caused some great difficulties figuring it out and a few items my program couldn’t do.   - Imported a large group of photos into the slideshow program (Movie Maker)…it mixed them all up…had to move them back into chronological order and by then the originals were back in the albums or boxes in a jumbled mess. Remember, I’ve got ‘old-timers’ (as my kids say) and I can’t remember what I did 5 min. ago let alone what year a pic was taken…I’m sure I guessed some of the years wrong, but no baby pics in the teen years LOL...it was 'close enough'. - Set a group of about half the photos into a new folder after they were done, went back to the slideshow and the photos were now just big red “X’s”. After much hysterics…well…it took some undoing. - After importing about 200 photos the slideshow program decided to slow down and continued to do so as I went…by number 500 there was a 30 second delay between each click on my mouse and when finalizing the transitions it would freeze the computer every 15 min. or so…VERY slow going.   Yes, I was ready to lose my mind, but I was determined to win the battle and finally, last weekend I finished…it was beautiful…13 pieces of music…500 pics…cool transitions…even a title and ending! Now, all that was left was to burn the DVD’s! Murphy’s Law again…   - I read the notes from the training with Sis, and realized I now needed to import the whole thing into yet another program…problem was, I didn’t have the program. DH and I spent last Saturday downloading other programs online and trying to burn the DVD with them to no avail.   - I finally admitted defeat and called Sis. Three hours later and many attempts later we figured out my older version could burn straight from there, but my problem was I didn’t have enough RAM to do this with such a big slideshow.   - I’ll wrap this up by telling you that I had to save all the photos and copy them onto DS1’s new college computer we bought him for graduation (after many promises that I wouldn’t blow anything up). Then…yes…I had to REDO the whole slideshow program again from music to photo transitions. I’ll just say that I had Sis in hysterics laughing at all the things that had gone wrong…the only thing that hadn’t happened was the computer completely crashing.   The only thing that saved me from chucking the whole thing was the fact that DS1’s computer is lightning fast and had the newer version of the program on it…well, that and the fact that I had a slideshow for DD’s graduation (one where all I did was scan the pics and paid to have the rest done…money WELL spent folks) so of course DS1, and everyone else was expecting one.   On to the next fun part of my last week. My second big job for the party was the quilt…you know the one where I’ve been saving all my kids T-shirts from every sport/activity they’ve been in since they were a tot and made them into a quilt…I put bands of white canvas between the T-shirt squares and at the party everyone takes a sharpie and writes messages/signs the quilt there. Well, after the DVD’s were finally burned last Monday morning I got back to working on this…thought I’d have weeks to do the quilt as the DVD was only going to take a few days after the scanning part…HA HA. I had most of the shirts cut and started piecing in the canvas. I was zipping along happily and was finally thinking that I’d be able to get caught up and finally start working on the food and other parts of the party. Yep, Murphy’s Law again…(or you can skip this part and just know that I’m cursed).   - The belt that drives my 53 year old Brother sewing machine broke…well, it didn’t just break…it looked like the rubber had been rotting slowly for years and now it was in pieces. Yes, I screamed...Did you hear me on Tuesday? - Many phone calls later the only tidbit of help I got from any store was a name of a store about an hour away where they might be able to fix it if I brought it in and left it for their repair guy….but that would take at least a week.   - More phone calls to every friend and neighbor…do you realize that no one sews anymore? Not a single soul I could find had a portable sewing machine.   - I admitted defeat and called Sis again (more sympathetic laughter) and she agrees to pick up Mom’s portable and bring it on Friday when she arrives a day early to help me with the party.   On to Part II....
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7/17/09 Onederland is a Tease!

I've been super busy; I’m tired and there’s no end in site. I haven't had my shower yet and I need more coffee. I'm getting ready for DS1's huge graduation party a week from Saturday and I'm running behind on things. It's been a super busy summer and I got a late start on things. The house is a wreck (I’ve been in the basement, so a tornado must have come through here…no other explanation) and I haven’t started buying the food and supplies yet.   After finding out my DVD-slideshow lady is no longer in business I decided to tackle the project myself (with some tutoring from middle sister). The slideshow set to music runs in a loop in the garage where the buffet will be set up so people can view it for a short time or as long as they want while they’re getting their food (It’s almost ½ hour long…almost 500 pics). Yesterday I went downstairs right after breakfast to finish scanning pics and didn’t come up until dinnertime (never could have skipped lunch before the band!). I even forgot to drink any water until the evening…I was ‘in the zone’…gulped down three big glasses after dinner…yeah, I was up three times in the night. I do have the music all loaded, clipped and transitioned. Can’t believe I still have some pics left to scan today. It would have helped if all the photos were organized and in albums, but only about ½ are…we still have some that are just on CD’s and some that are sitting on our 5 scan discs…I hate all you scrapbookers that have every event in an album and with cute decorations too. My three sister’s/Mom keep trying to get me sucked in with all their rolling bags filled with cute scrapbook stuff, but I’m avoiding that cult like the plague. I wouldn’t be a good devotee as I can’t even seem to get my pics developed. As my neighbor friends have pointed out, I set the bar too high with DD’s HS Grad Party. Why did I have to do the slideshow in chronological order (real fun when you have pics sitting in boxes unmarked). My sister was smart…pull a pic out and scan it, who cares what order or if you even miss a year? Why did I have to make a giant quilt for friends to writ messages/autograph (I use T-shirts I’ve been saving from each of them from every sport, workplace, event they were in and put white borders around the T-shirt squares for people to write messages…framed in black and quilted). I HAVEN’T EVEN BOUGHT THE FABRIC YET FOR DS1’s!!! Stop snickering!!! I happen to hate sewing…no patience for it. So what am I doing here instead of getting busy on those pics? Well, one word…ONEDERLAND…I’m NOT there!   I’ve been up and down the same 3 pounds this week and I’ve been eating like a bird…probably too little, some days maybe too much, but I don’t have time to track things right now. My next fill isn’t for another week and a half so I’m just hanging in there. This morning was the kicker though…200.5…the closest I’ve gotten yet. I was thinking ‘Comon! Give a girl a break, like I don’t have enough stress! Can’t you give a girl one measly pound?!’ I know, it’s been another WhineFest…sorry. Off to finish the DVD….if you don’t see me in a few days send a search party down to the basement computer as I’ve probably shriveled up and keeled over (Just let my friends here know I finally reached Onederland)!
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