Happy New Year...A Little Early!

Happy New Year!!!!  I know it's a little early, but I have to work tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday (okay, so the whole weekend) and wanted to make sure to wish everyone that follows me or stops by a Happy New Year!

I'm still battling the crud and am on my 2nd round of antibiotics.  Keep your fingers crossed that this one will kick it, because I'm tired of being sick!  Thank goodness my drugs were still working last weekend during the Christmas holiday.  I took my last dose yesterday morning and by this afternoon, my sore throat was back, I'm all congested and starting to cough again.  I'm so thankful my doctor's office just prescribed me something over the phone, otherwise I wouldn't be able to get in to see him until Monday. 

But enough about me being sick.  I am actually excited for 2011 and anxious to see what the next year has in store for me.  This is the first year in ages where I won't have to make the resolution to lose weight and fail miserably within the first 2 weeks of the year.  It's a great feeling knowing that I'm going to lose the weight, I'm going to feel better and I'm going to succeed.  I am going to make a resolution to have a better attitude towards work and to just be more positive.  I like being happy and laughing, not bitchy.  Okay, so maybe I like being a bitch a little bit sometimes, but hey, don't all women?  LOL 

There's a lot to look back on in 2010, that's for sure, but I'm all about looking forward and being more positive!  I hope everyone has a safe and happy New Year!  I hope you're all blessed with happiness and good health in 2011 and may everyday be an exciting new day for you!

Mmmm...My House Smells Wonderful

I'm sitting here relaxing after my family Christmas and the smell of gingerbread is filling my house.  And even better, I didn't have to dirty a single dish or lift a finger...I got a Scentsy Warmer and Bricks for Christmas from my sister!  This little thing rocks!  I have looked at these a couple of different times, but never bought one.  It's stylish, fits into my decor and of course, the gingerbread smell is wonderful! 

I've been looking around on their website and I cannot believe all of the different smells and warmers they have and they are way reasonable (I'm starting to sound like I work for them...Hmmm, I could be onto something).  I'm thinking I might need a couple more for my house and of course more smell good scents!  If they made a mint chocolate smell, it would really be on! 

I also got a Wii gaming system and the Wii Fit Plus from my parents!  I was just like a little kid last night hooking up the Wii...I stayed up until 1am playing tennis and bowling!  I was jumping up and down when I got a strike, but very grateful that my blinds were shut LOL  I'm going to be hooking up the Wii Fit Plus here in a little bit, after I get another load of laundry done and a load of dishes out of the way.  I'm really excited to start using the Wii Fit Plus and to see what other fun games are out there.  I know that I want the Biggest Loser game, but want to see if I can rent it somewhere first.

We had a wonderful, white Christmas with family and friends on both days.  I am far enough along in my recovery that I could have just about everything for breakfast and dinner.  I made an egg dish for breakfast yesterday that used biscuits on the bottom and then you pour Egg Beaters, cheddar and mozzarella cheeses, onion and pepper over the top.  It was fabulous!

My mom made a ham for dinner, with cheesy crockpot potatoes, veggies in a cheese sauce and an orange Jell-o salad, and I made low-fat, low-sodium green bean casserole.  It was a wonderful meal and then we opened packages.  There were a lot of left overs for today, but I just grabbed some ham to bring home and will probably eat on it for lunch tomorrow at work.  Well, the dryer just went off, so I'm outta here to go finish that laundry so I can better my bowling skills on the Wii!  Have a wonderful night!

Happy Holidays and Best Wishes

As I sit here on the morning of Christmas Eve, I have a lot to reflect on as I watch the snow fall.  It truly looks and feels like Christmas today.  I have my Christmas tree up and decorated with the strings of glass beads my great aunts used to put on their trees.  Garland on the shelves with lights and of course the stockings for the puppies and myself.  The only thing missing are the wrapped packages....because I haven't wrapped a single thing yet! 

I just got back inside from clearing the snow from the driveway and sidewalks, I bet there's at least 5 inches out there.  It's the perfect snow too, light and fluffy and ready for a snowman.  My neighbors were out clearing the snow also and the one neighbor boy was going around in his coveralls and Santa hat helping us out.  I hate to sound all Norman Rockwell, but it was picture perfect. 

Tonight for Christmas Eve it's going to just be me and my parents at their house, which will be nice since this is the first Christmas Eve I've had off work in over 7 years.  We will be having some soup, sandwiches (I'll just be having the meat) and just relaxing before the true storm hits...my nieces and nephews tomorrow morning!  My sister, her husband and family should be here in the morning sometime and then let the fun begin!  Which reminds me I'd better charge my new Kodak camera (Merry Christmas to me!) and get it ready for the big event.  I guess that means I'd better get off of here and start wrapping packages.  But before I do, I just wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!  I hope Santa brings you everything you wished for and that you can all be with your family and loved ones this holiday season. 

HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND BEST WISHES FOR 2011

Feeling Yucky...Again *sigh*

I thought before I go lay down for a quick nap, I would check in with everyone.  Not much has changed, BUT I'm on my 2nd cold in less than a month.  Really?!  Just when I was feeling better and my weight was on the way back down, I get hit with this. 

My kitchen counter looks like a small pharmacy and my bathroom has 2 boxes of Puff's Plus with lotion tissues open...yes, count them 2.  I don't know why I have 2 boxes open, maybe I was hoping one would feel better on my poor sore nose than the other, but no such luck.  However, I have found that TheraFlu Nighttime Warming syrup is the next best thing to Diet Coke or fully loaded Chocolate.  Yep, it's that good!  

My BodyMedia Fit Armband told me I slept at 62% efficiency last night...really?  I was only up about every hour, I don't know why it would be so poor?  Weird. Even though I took my TheraFlu and it helped my cough, I was still up with that annoying runny nose.  Cross your fingers I get more sleep tonight. 

I did manage to get out of bed, shower and go for my walk this morning with my mom.  We even walked 45 minutes today.  That's 15 minutes more than usual!  Leave it to me to walk more when I feel like death.  Hopefully it will help kick this cold in the butt and I can get back to normal.  After all, I can't be sick next week...it's Christmastime!  No one should be sick on Christmas, right?

Christmas Spirit

Finally, after all of this time, it looks like we might be getting some good old fashioned Christmas spirit...SNOW!  It's no secret around here that I love the snow, especially before Christmas, but I have been waiting very patiently.  Looks like all my waiting is about to pay off!  My small little town has been placed in a Winter Storm Watch with Blizzard Warnings about 2 counties north of here.  With any luck, that will drop a little further south and BAM!!!!  We have ourselves one heck of a winter storm and I get to keep my happy rear stuck inside with my puppies and a bunch of Christmas decorating! 

Some of my best childhood memories include the huge snow storms that would come thru and dump inches of snow, school would be canceled and my mom would be home with my sister and I.  My dad always made it into work, he had to, he owns a clothing store and when it snows, everyone ends up there getting their winter gear...including the city road crew!  But when he would come home at 5pm he would always let me go outside with him while he would clear the driveway and let me "help".  Mom would be making dinner, usually a casserole of some sort and wait for us to be done.  More than likely that night, dad would start a fire in the fireplace and we all would be nice and warm.

That is just one of many winter memories that comes to mind.  Another one was when I was probably 5 or 6 and we had a huge snow storm come thru on Christmas Eve.  Dad could barely make it home from the store and no one could make it to our house that night for dinner.  My mom had been cooking and cleaning all day long and we were left with a bunch of soup and sandwiches for days.  That was the only time my sister and I were allowed to open a gift on Christmas Eve.  I would say that was one of my favorite Christmas memories growing up.    

Funny how all of those memories drift into your thoughts, all because of a simple snow flake or two.  So, while I wait for the storm to hit and walk down memory lane, I think I'd better go to the grocery store and pick something up to make just in case I can't get there tomorrow, now I just have to figure out what i want.

2 Months and 46 Pounds Later

That's right!  46 pounds down from my surgery date of October 5, 2010.  This picture was taken today for my 2 month post-op picture.  My mom has been taking my pictures and we started on the day before surgery, at one month and now 2 months.  I need to get the other pictures up on here too, but until then, you can see a couple of my before pictures near the bottom of my page under the Random Goodness of Me. 

I was pretty busy today, or at least I think I was considering it was my day off.  I started out with my walk at the hospital with my mom and the hospital was having a fundraiser...a sheet sale.  So, I picked me up some new 1200 count Egyptian cotton sheets.  Then I was off to Walmart for dog food and dryer sheets.  Up next was a hair cut and some much needed highlights (my hair would have been a little more spiked but it was WAY windy here today) and after that I had my pictures taken and lunch with a couple of friends.  I had to head to work to make copies of our contract for our dinner meeting tonight.  Went to that, Walgreens and then back to Walmart because my TV remote kept telling me it needed batteries.  Too bad I left there $40 later with new flannel pj pants (loving them) a Food Network Magazine (my porn), a new mug for work and 2 new sweaters for the puppies. 

Thank goodness I'm home because I spent way too much money and whats worse?  At my last Walmart trip, everything I bought fit into one bag *sigh*