Vacation all I ever wanted...

I bet you thought I was gone...

Nah, I'm here.

Day two of my four day weekend.

The three day work week was a bear... but I made it through.

Yesterday I was a big goof - I spent most of the afternoon at University Village and accomplished the following...

actually this photo wasn't taken yesterday - it was earlier in the week in the elevator lobby of my office... 

 Wiener Dog wrapping paper...

Eames Chair - Only 3,285!

 Farmers market salad from Evolution Fresh...  meh.

Snail Ornament!

After University Village (where I also successfully avoided Trophy Cupcake)... I went to the gym to work out and then did some errands.

Nothing too exciting, but it was a nice day off.

Today I have a massage/acupuncture appointment... I'm really looking forward to that.  Then I will swing by to see my Dad and then come home and do laundry to top off my Friday evening right!

Tomorrow is going to be busy too.  I am working the SAIC (School of the Art Institute of Chicago) grad information day at the Seattle Art Museum... then I get to go out to dinner with everyone at Dahlia Lounge... yummy yummy...

Sunday it's back to teaching.

That's all I know  -  I may or may not post again this weekend... I guess we'll have to wait and see.

word to your mother...

What now?

Here are some photos I took over the weekend...

Snowberry from Interlake Park

 Cowbells that I was ringing for the runners of the Seattle Marathon - but then had to stop because some guys kid was trying to do homework... (why can she do homework at 8pm Sunday like everyone else???)

This is the woman who gave me the cowbells and then got into an altercation with the angry man whose daughter was trying to do homework...
I left before it got too crazy...

One of the leaders of the full marathon...

Nice legs...

Funghi!

This is my Christmas Tree Frederico... yes, he has a name.  I don't have many ornaments but that's alright.  It's just about perfect.

I don't have much to report... I think I may be getting a cold.  I had a sore throat yesterday, it's better today but still not 100 percent.

I think I need more coffee...

This is happening now.

Woke up normalish time - 5:30.

Weighed in at WW and managed to hit my 8 week ww Thanksgiving challenge.  I was actually down 2.2 for a total of 7 pounds for the week.

That's pretty cool.

After ww I got the car washed, I think it might be raining now... oh well.

I walked around Greenlake then... I didn't swing by to see my Dad (I'm going tomorrow..)... I bought some socks, went home, and then went to a big brother clothing party...

Now I'm home.  There's a birthday party I may go to tonight, but I'm kind of worn out.

The parade yesterday was fun....  I will post some photos.

What else happened yesterday? Oh yeah, we won't talk about the Apple Cup but we will discuss trapped in a closet... it was pretty good.

Here are dog/parade photos...

this was the breakfast I ate when we were done!

The Thrill is Gone

I used to be one of those people who would like to get up early and go shopping on Black Friday.  That's when I had no problem spending money that I didn't have.  Using credit cards and buying things to fill up the hole in my soul.

I still have a hole in my sole (although it's teensy tiny)...  I don't feel the need to buy things frivolously...  I feel as though I have enough.

there was a saying I heard once - "enough is as good as a feast" 

that sounds about right.

Yesterday went pretty well.  I actually slept in until 7:50!  Then I hung out at the apartment until 10 - then I went to visit dad.  It went pretty well...  he's just so little nowadays...  My sister and I were discussing it last night.  He's lost about 20 pounds in the last year.  I guess that's what happens when you quit drinking and it takes a lot longer to eat...  He was having some discomfort in his legs so I rubbed them a little bit.  Then I worked on his neck...  it was kind of sweet.  It's one of those things I think I will remember.

After my visit (which lasted about an hour) I walked around Greenlake twice, I made a halfway stop at Starbucks for a gingerbread latte...  finally I went over to my Momma's for dinner.  It was nice.  No trauma inflicted and I didn't overeat.

In WW land I have this to report.  I purchased a Fitness Link Activity Monitor on Tuesday - it's a device you wear and it measures your activity through accelerometers.  It collects data regarding your movements and then you plug it into your computer to download the data. It translates the data into Points Plus values and gives you goals to increase your activity. I am currently in the assessment phase which lasts a week.  The down side to this is that I can't track any of my activity points for the rest of the assessment period, so even thought I'm being active, I can't record it.  I am currently at negative 85 pp this week.  Luckily I start over tomorrow.

I took a survey of my ww friends in Chicago and they like the device a lot.  Anything that can give me more information I'm in to.

This morning my momma is coming over in about an hour - we're going to walk downtown and then marshal the parade...  then she's taking me out to breakfast. 

I think I'm also going to watch the Apple Cup and then the latest editions of R. Kelly's Trapped in a Closet on IFC.  if you don't know what Trapped in a Closet is you should probably look it up.  It's fairly entertaining...  it's on IFC from 4 - 7 - be warned it has crude graphic language and sexual situations... and midgets.  it's a hip hop opera...

Happy Buy Nothing Day!

Gobble

I am not going to be gobbling anything today... I am celebrating turkey day by sitting on my sofa in my jammies for a bit - Reading the ads in the newspaper, and then a walk around Greenlake and visit to my Dad.

This afternoon I will go to my mommas house...  I'm not usually excited about these things so I probably won't stay forever - but you never know.  There's always time to change things...

Five years ago this morning I was camped out in New York watching the real Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade... that was pretty fun.  Tomorrow morning I will be marshaling the Seattle one...  I'll be hanging out with the English Sheepdogs.

Okay, I'm going to sign out.  Everyone be good to one another..  Don't eat too much.  If you do, go out for a walk and work it off.

Gobble Gobble.

Hey There!

It's technically humpday in my three day work week. 

I'm pretty excited. 

I don't have much to say this morning, but thought I should check in so you regular visitors to my blog won't be disappointed (you know who you are).

Work was steady yesterday - the gym - same as always except I had an abnormally large amount of people in my class (17)... that's a big number for a Monday night.

Today I have a few things to do at the office but hopefully it will be quiet.

I am crossing my fingers that we will get an early dismissal tomorrow... half the office won't even be there... one of the attorneys failed to mention that he was taking the week off... not that I mind... but this lack of communication seems to be the norm as of late.

Thursday I am planning on running around Greenlake in the morning (after I sleep in until 7am!)... then a visit with my Dad and then I will steady my nerves to prepare for DINNER WITH THE FAMILY!  Actually I'm looking forward to it a little teensy tiny bit.

I've never been a big holiday fan.  One of my most memorable Thanksgivings was back in 2002 when I was in Rome.  Now that was a nice Thanksgiving...  I also like to remember my second year in Chicago - I went over to a schoolmate's place for a Thanksgiving potluck.. that was fun too... 

It's not that I don't like Holidays, it's just that they sometimes seem like a chore...  in general I'm feeling better about the prospects this year.

Hopefully we can figure out how to incorporate my Dad into the festivities for Christmas...  When I visited him on Sunday I helped him move from his wheelchair to the bed.  I must admit that I'm pretty good at moving him around...  he's heavy, but not unmanageable...  not that I would want to lug him around all the time.  He has a bit more mobility than when he first moved into the health center - so that's nice to see, but I have a whole new appreciation for healthcare workers.

Okay, enough about my Dad...

the day after Thanksgiving I will once again be marshaling the Thanksgiving Day parade downtown... my Mom bribed me with breakfast to do it.  I'm a sucker for bacon.  This year we get the dogs (English Sheepdogs I think).

I will take photos and post them this weekend...

Okay - it's time for me to finish my coffee and hose myself off for another day!

What was done/did this weekend.

Busy busy weekend - here's the rundown.

WW (up 1 pound - damn chocolate chips)
Workout
Waxing
Dinner with friends

Cycle
visit with Dad
Movie with friend - The Sessions - I highly recommend it.
Dinner
Sleep (in an hour and a half).

I'm looking forward to a three day work week.
it's going to be intense but then I have four days off in a row!
then the following week I only have to work three days and then four days off again!

good times.

That's all I got - not a lot to report... ready to go to bed, but I'm going to try to stay up til 9:00...

coming out the other end...

Here I am at Thursday again...

yesterday was the first morning that I actually woke up at 4:30 and didn't want to get out of bed.

I did though...

and I made it.

Tonight I think I will do laundry... sounds like fun to me.

This morning I am nursing a pot of french press coffee...  I bought a bag of Cafe Umbria Bizzardi Blend... it's one of my favorites..  I'm drinking a full pot. 

I had a moment(s) of weakness yesterday - I ate a whole bag of chocolate chips!  It was really really good too!  It only took me five hours to polish them off...  I am tracking it all though so I'm not going to stress about it.

I don't have too much on the horizon.  I am looking forward to a three day work week for two weeks in a row...  yes!  I'm actually taking two days off at the end of the month.  I don' have anything planned for that time with the exception of trying to sleep past 6am in the morning...  I'm looking forward to it.  Maybe I'll have an art-making movie fest.

Oh, I take that back - I have a birthday party to go to Saturday night.  It's so infrequently that I have something to do that I often forget when something is on the horizon... oh yeah... it's a get together of camp people so it should be fun.  I always like getting together with camp friends...

On the health front, I think my plantar fasciitis is almost gone, but it has been replaced my a soreness in the ball of my foot... knowing my luck I have a morton's neuroma...  (a nerve thing)...  I shall continue to ice, take ibuprofen, and wear my orthotics...

Okay - that's really it today...  what now to do...  I guess I will finish my coffee and then get ready for work!

When will it ever end?

I don't have a lot to report today...

things are rolling along as they usually do...

On Sunday after class I thought I might have been practicing flirting - but In retrospect I don't think that was the case...  hmmm... It happens so infrequently I usually have no idea when it's happening.

That's about all the excitement I've had.

Yesterday work was really busy - don't people know that you're supposed to chill out on Veterans Day?

I do have two three day weeks to look forward to in the near future.

Next week (Thanksgiving week) is the normal four day weekend...

Then the following week I'm taking Thursday and Friday off again... I have vacation days I have to use up!  I get a certain amount of days to take and I am rarely sick...

The only problem is working time off around the other people in the office.  Since I've been there the shortest length of time - I'm usually on the bottom of the totem pole.

AND I'm never sick - it's not like I take any sick days.  That's what good living will do for you.

What else?  NOTHING.  I've got nothing!

Nothing I tell you...

NOthing and everything.

The end.

Weekend Roundup.

What do I know.

Yesterday they finaggeled me into subbing the body sculpt class.

I did not die, nor did I kill anybody.

I accomplished laundry, dishes, and some cleaning around the place.

I was going to meet up with my sister today - but things didn't work out... well, at least I got some errands done instead and worked on a drawing that's been hanging around...

That's it.

I have to be up early tomorrow... I think I'm getting used to the weird schedule finally...  I have been waking up before my 4:30 alarm goes off so that's cool. 

now that's really all I know...

Fr Fr Fr Friday!

yep.
Friday night and I'm doing laundry!

I got the call to sub the Body Sculpt class tomorrow morning... you may know that I am totally unqualified to teach it, but they let me do it anyway!

Okay, I'm sure there are people out there that are teaching who have no idea what's going on... at least I have some sort of idea...

Anyway - this requires that I do laundry tonight.

It's been a long week and I'm ready to go to bed.  But I have to wait for the laundry.

Maybe I will work on my crock pot chicken recipe for tomorrow!

Here I am...

For those of you looking for post Monday - Wednesday I am sorry to say you may be out of luck.

It turns out with all the teaching I don't have much time to rant/complain...

I don't have much to complain about today...

If you hadn't guessed by the photo I posted the other day my political leanings are with the good old Democratic Party...  I'm not a crazy gung-ho democrat, but in general I believe in equal rights for all, that including people being able to marry who they want to marry, women being able to decide what they want to do with their bodies, and breaks for the middle class (which sort of includes me)...  Universal Healthcare...  I believe in being kind to people.

Yesterday I got into a little bit of a "conversation" with a Republican friend of mine on facebook...  I had mentioned something about my lady parts celebrating... she has very differing viewpoints of our President and his background (think a al Donald Trump) and the economy...  sometimes it's hard to see other people's points of view.  I've tried and I really can't see hers.. but we are friends and we will remain so.  We just have to realize people were raised differently with different values... I've gotten to the point where I'm stuck in my ways and beliefs, and no amount of arguing is going to change my mind. 

Tuesday I was not particularly worried about the outcome of the Presidency.  For the first time ever I found comfort in math.  I saw a story on CBS Sunday Morning last week about Nate Silver and his 538 Blog at the New York Times  He took all the polls and ran the numbers - he gave Obama a 92 percent probability of winning the election.  He was right... I found a lot of comfort in math for once.  That and a loaf of french bread....

So - that's all I know.

I think I would have been a good diplomat...

friends of mine said I handled by FB "conversation" really well...

Friends will remain friends... 

Oh, I do know that I believe in puppies too.

Yo!

I'm not quite sure the last time I posted... maybe it was Friday?  yeah, I think so...

Currently I was sitting on the sofa waiting for laundry to dry and watching the Seahawks play... they are in the lead.  so far....

this morning was my first class with all the new bikes at the gym... I had 20 people in my class.  I'm not used to that ...  It was a bit intimidating but I managed to make it... I maybe have to start cleaning my face up a bit... you never know - my future husband might be in class sometime...

You never know.

This I do know...  I've got Buffalo (hot wing type) chicken chili in the crock pot.

I bought a whole chicken for Crock Pot Wednesday - I don't yet know what I'm going to do with it.  I may just cook it and make stock from the remnants... (not exactly sure what I'd do with it though)...

I suppose that's all I know.

I'm really wanting to have a Susan Cookie... I wish I could just buy one.  I had a taste of a salted caramel top pot doughnut on Friday and it didn't do much for me....  I decided to stay away from the sugar...

At WW yesterday I was down again.. we're at 5 pounds in 5 weeks.  There was a Thanksgiving Challenge - 8 weeks to either be down a certain amount of weight or make a new habit... I decided I would like to be down 8 but I would be good with losing 6.  I'm almost there..

I'm sure some people look at me and think I don't need to lose any weight.. yeah, compared to others I'm doing alright... I just have those stinking muscles which make me heavier than I look.  I only have to lose 8.4 to get back within my ww goal range...  I'm at the top of my weight range for my height.. if I was a bit taller I'd be good... but I'm not.  I'm short, have muscles and it is what it is...  I still have some wiggle room.. my upper belly is still hanging out (yes, I named it - Upper Belly)... my arms are a big jiggly... (fleshy?? - ah whatever... I don't really care) but they would use a bit of toning..

I don't want you all to think I'm dissatisfied with how I look..  I'm not.  there are just a few things to work on.  If I never lose the upper belly I will be fine.  I'm never going to beat myself up because I don't fit into a certain image people think I should... they can just suck it.

I just want to feel my best...

okay - that's enough of that rant.

here's another one...

I may be starting to lose my hair.

I got my hair cut yesterday (by the owner of the salon I go to - I used to work for her)... she mentioned that I seemed to be losing a bit of hair.  great.  I thought it was just because I hadn't officially washed my hair in three days....  oh well - If I lose it, I lose it.  there are always really cute hats and I have always wondered what I'd look like as a blonde.

My hair is finally long enough to use a curling iron.  I came out of the salon looking like a girl.  Not that I don't always look like a girl, but this time more girly like than usual...

Okay - that's it... I have to go get the laundry before the second half of the game starts.

Are you looking for a good deed to do?

Above is a video for a friend of mine (and former UW Husky/Former SAIC Professor) who is trying to raise funds for a digital jaquard loom...  if you have some spare change and would like to donate I would appreciate it. (the video link did not work)

if the video doesn't work try this link...

or this link...

I donated so should you... if she doesn't raise the 30,000 your donation will go to USA Projects which helps fund artist projects...

okay - on another note... I went to 4Culture yesterday to check out my friend Julie Alperts show at the gallery...  I dig it.  I happened to be there when there was a dance performance among the work.. here's a few photos.  You should check it out if you're downtown...

2,998 - here you go.

This is post number 2,998... seems like I would have it down by now.

I don't have much time this morning as I have been engaged in losing Scrabble to my friend Patti.  I really suck at it, so why do I keep playing?

I don't know - maybe I'm a glutton for punishment.

The report from the Lake City club is that people are enjoying the fact that we have some new(er) bikes there...  I am glad.  I was getting a bit tired and telling everyone that we were working on a solution...  I almost cried once because people kept griping at me... I did find out after that incident that you burn a lot more calories when you're angry...

I'm thinking it would be nice to just sit here and do nothing this morning.. but that's not going to happen.  Too much to do at work today... there's a few big meetings, I have lunches to order, letters to send..  LLC renewals to send in... Corporate Minute Books to Create... the fun never ends!

Random photos here.... these were taken with Instagram... they would look nice in a blurb book don't you think???