Well, I moved.  We are now on the east coast, it’s raining today, but we have not yet had any snow.  I still don’t have a job yet.. :(((  And I, of course, have gained 6 pounds.  Well I have no one to blame on that except me.  I am still under 200, so that, at least, is good news.   I have no more junkfood in the house and I told Chris today to NOT let me buy anymore!  No more!!  I may not follow my Plan D that I was following earlier, but I’m going to follow it as best as I can and eat as healthy and non processed as possible.  One of the regular grocery stores here actually carries Ezekial bread and Odwalla bars, so I’m very happy about that!  There is no Sprout’s so a lot of things I am not being able to find, and it’s quite frustrating.  We do have a Whole Foods a couple of towns over, but it’s not anywhere near as good as Sprout’s, and it’s really quite expensive. 

I haven’t figured out my plan yet for exercise, but Nancy said to me last night, “At least start eating better again.  Keep track and keep accountable in the forums”  So that’s what I’m going to do!  I have a new buddy-up buddy for the next two weeks, so Jenn, you gotta help keep me on the straight and narrow here, k?  :D  

I have a lady coming over today to talk to me about becoming an Avon Representative.  I’ve always liked their products, and figured it can be a nice way to help bring in some extra money, too….   maybe help me meet some people around here.

News of my dad…   he told me yesterday that his doc wants him to go in for surgery.  Ideally they want to try and stretch out his achilles tendon..  if they can’t stretch it, then they will have to remove his leg-just below his knee.  It makes me sad for him, because I know it’s upsetting him, but all I can think is, if he took better care of himself, kept his diabetes under control, stopped smoking..  maybe it wouldn’t have gotten quite this  bad.  But I don’t criticize him.  I love him with all my heart, and he’s the only parent I have left, and Mikayla’s only grandparent.  I just want him as well as he can be.  Doc wanted him in for the surgery yesterday, but dad asked if he could at least have the holiday with us next week.  I asked him how long he’d be in the hospital..  worst case scenario is 3 months, best case is 3 weeks with home health aides…  since Christmas is just around the corner, I’m really hoping for the 3 weeks, but realistically…  it will probably be the 3 months.  :( 

Mikayla handled the move better than her worry-wort father, who has been having psychological stress issue almost since we got here.  Of course it doesn’t help that I don’t have a job yet either.   Mikayla has decided to try and start walking.  She will stand up by herself in the middle of the room, not holding on to anything.  Sometimes she will take a step from there, other times she will just fall back down, then crawl to something to stand up on, then take some steps from there.  She has taken roughly about 5 steps at a time on her own.  She’s probably going to be there by Turkey day.. that’s my prediction!

Ok, well this turned out to be a long blog..  I had been waiting to write it till I had a job.. but alas…  that hasn’t happened.  So I figured I will just write it and get it done, then next time it won’t have to be as long!   Happy Friday everyone!!

I don’t really know if any of this really makes much sense, but I guess it’s ok if it doesn’t.  This is just something that I needed to say.  If you plan on commenting and being negative, please don’t bother…  this is my blog, my thoughts, my feelings, my heart. 

Well yesterday at work our building was evacuated due to a serious deisel fuel leak.  Apparently all our electric/ac/heating is run by deisel, and the tank leaked right down through the building, through the pipes and out onto the upper parking deck.  The fumes started coming into all the offices and hazmat was called.  We had to go out down the stairs and go across the street.  The fireman said there is no way we can go back in the building, but we were ok to go into the parking garages under the building to get our cars…  so we all scooted off to get our cars.  Last night my bossman called and said that the fire dept had cleared the building…  oh well..  back to work!!  

Hope everyone has a great day!!

He then also went on in the letter saying how he had to cash out part of his IRA to pay for moms care (she was on medicaid, so he wasn’t paying, unless he let the medicaid lapse)and even if he did have to do that..  well guess what idiot - you’re her husband, that’s what you’re supposed to do!!  you’re supposed to take care of your wife!!!  and not complain about it and ask her kids to pay you back for it!!!   and he actually had the nerve to say that he and my mom were paying $52/mo for this life ins policy..  which he later said he found when going thru mom’s things.  So he didn’t know about the policy until then..  and yet he  was paying for?  Yeah, right..  good one.    He goes on to tell us what a financial hardship he’s in and how he has paid out of his pocket $4000 for mom’s funeral..  sorry, but no way did he pay that much for the basic funeral that he did… and addmitted that my Uncle - mom’s brother - and his wife paid for the church…  so what?  he spent $4000 on an urn (box) and crappy cheesy horrible food at the memorial meal following?  I highly doubt it!!!  And if he’s really in a financial hardship, I want to be in one just like him.  Since mom had been taken ill, he has bought a brand new 52″ flat screen HD TV, and laptop so fancy it uses your fingerprint to log in, a Garmin GPS system…  and who knows what else!!

So he wanted us to sign this paper just showing that we read it… not confirming we will give him any money.  So we signed it.  He also asked us straight out, if we plan on paying him back any money..  my brother and I both pretty much gave the same answer..  ‘I’ll have to wait and see whats left after getting my bills paid’..   he he he he….

 Oh yeah, he also told me he found me on Facebook..  and knows I am moving to New England..  I just said that we are thinking about it.  I now have to go on FB and change my settings so only my friends can see my info…  grrrr…  nosy bugger!!!

I got a copy of the death cert..  he’s got mom’s father’s name wrong and her place of birth.  Hopefully that won’t cause problems when filing the ins forms..  I’m going to call the ins co tomorrow to see what they say.  Don’t know what I can do though..  can’t change a death cert.  Dumb ass!! 

It should take them 5 days to process the request and get the checks out from when they receive the paperwork.  So as long as we don’t have a problem with him messing up the place of birth, we chould have the money next week!!  Whooooohooooooo!!!!  

Have a great week everyone!!!

Speaking of clothes…  Ron had me go to the house yesterday and go through mom’s clothes to see if there was anything I wanted.  Mom actually had some things that were mine, so I obvious got them.  Other than that I think I got a few of her Halloween t-shirts, a couple of Christmas shirts, and various others, like Red Sox, London, etc…  Chris asked me if I’d be ok wearing them, and to be truthful..  I don’t know.  I can’t probably fit in a lot of it right now anyway…  so who knows how I’ll feel by the time I can.  The neat thing though was that some of it was size XL, and I imagine I should be able to fit in those.  If I weren’t on this journey to lose weight, then it would have been totally pointless to take any of her stuff, cuz I’d never fit in it.

I was up 3 pounds last week, so I’m gonna try completely cutting out my dark chocolate and see if that makes a difference..   hope so.  Hopefully I’ll get more workouts in this week too.. 

Ok well off to work!!  Have a great Pre-Tuesday everyone!!  Love you!!!

Hospice called me Friday at work to tell me mom had taken a severe down turn.  She had not eaten, drank, or taken any of her medications since Wednesday.  This morning they put her on oxygen.  She could no longer speak with words, but she spoke volumes with her beautiful green eyes and did manage to grace us with several smiles today.  

She got to see Mikayla, Chris and I.  My brother managed to not be a total idiot and came down to see her.  I did have to put up with sitting with Ron all day, but we did manage to keep it pretty neutral.

They took her to the same mortuary that took care of her parents, so I know she will be in good hands.  My worry is that Ron now has the ultimate decision, to bury her proper in a casket, or have her cremated.  Mom and I are Catholic, so she needs to be buried properly…  I fear Ron will do as he wants, as usual.  He will most likely choose the cheapr path of cremation.  This does upset me, because I know it’s not what she would want.  Unfortunatly, as it’s gone this whole time, I will get absolutely no say in the matter.

I had to come on her and blog this.  In a way, it is also a tribute to my mom.  My mom was my best friend.  We did everything together.  Shopping, movies, you name it.  She was the most wonderful, giving person I’ve ever known, and I know she will be truly missed by a large amount of friends as well as our family in New England.

I do wish she had been better during my pregnancy, and that she had had more time with Mikayla.  It truly saddens me that my daughter will never really know her grandmother..  who would have spoiled her rotten and I would have loved it!!  Mom was so excited when I finally got pregnant last year.

Rest forever in peace Mom!  I love you forever and and going to miss you so much!!!

To all my buddies here, and especially my Tribe…  thank you from the bottom of my heart for being here for me.  To support me and love me through this journey.  I will most likely be taking the week off from work, but I don’t know how much I will be on BS.  Will see..  I’ll probably need you guys a lot. 

Do crunches in bed: You could burn about 20 calories in under 5 minutes just by drawing your knees to your chest 25 to 50 times, plus it strengthens your abs and gets your blood pumping. Check out these 10 ways to boost your calorie burn 

Dance around while getting dressed: Turn up the radio or listen to upbeat music on your iPod (if you can) while doing all your morning rituals—an hour of hip shakin’ can burn about 55 calories. Tired of the belly fat? Dance it off!
  Stand up! Don’t sit when you can be on your feet—you’ll burn about 40% more calories. So just take a stand—when you’re on the phone, watching kids at the playground, making small talk at a party.

Laugh: Watch something that’s consistently funny (like 30 Rock) and you could burn about 40 calories if you guffaw for 10 to 15 minutes straight.2 Minutes to a happier, healthier you!

Walk, pace, jog down the hall: In other words, MOVE! Doing little bits of activity all day—taking the stairs to use the restroom on another floor at work, doing an extra lap around the grocery store—can help you burn an additional 375 calories a day!

Now remember these are ways to burn EXTRA calories and not a substitute for actual workouts!!  You still want to get in your cardio sessions and weight training! 

Have a great day!!

For those of you wondering, I did get my tax refund money - finally!  Yeah!!  Now I’m just waiting for the stupid dealership to deposit my check!!  They were supposed to do it Monday, and they still haven’t.  I hope they don’t jerk me around.

On my eating, I am trying to get more into the flourless-sugarless eating of Plan-D: The Amazing Anti Diet (www.plandee.org for those interested).  I’m not selling it or anything, just sharing.  It sounds like a great plan, and Kama and I are going to hear the author speak at Sprout’s on Thursday.  I’m really looking forward to meeting her and asking her a couple questions.  I hope I can successfully do this change over.    I need something to help me start losing again, as I keep getting stuck.  I’ll lose a pound then gain 3, then lose 2 and gain 1 back and forth and it’s really annoying.  Ah well….   such is life, right?

Well I have a busy weekend ahead, and lord knows what’s going to happen food wise.  My worst part will be a baby shower I have tomorrow lunch time.  Other than that I should be good.  Fingers crossed!!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!!

As a lot of you know I had a 4 day weekend.  I had taken Friday and Monday off and the original plan was to go to California, visit and workout with Nancy and see a giant mouse.  Well as a lot of you know..  I still don’t have my tax refund, so that trip got canceled.  I did go into the IRS building last week and was told that the notice for Chris’ ITIN was just mailed out that day, so it was still going to be 4-6 weeks!!!!!  OMG!!!  I have that down payment check that they are going to try and cash just after the 4th of July weekend!!  They cash that without my refund in my account, I’m totally screwed!!!  No money for rent, groceries, or anything!!!!  I asked the guy if he could please put a rush on it, as I was told it was going to be 4-6 weeks 3 months ago!!!  He said he’d “try” it..  gee thanks.  I think he was new cuz he was so freakin slow!!  UG!!!

 Then a friend of mine from work told me about this place that can help you with you greencard..  financially and with the forms.  We go in there on Friday and he gives us a list of all the stuff we need to submit with the forms..  yeah, know all that.  Then he tells us the fees, yep we know that..  we came in because we were told you offer financial assistance for obtaining the card…  goes away from the desk, comes back and says that you can apply for a waiver of the fees, but for the type we need to file, it wounld almost guarentee a denial of the greencard, because I have to be able to afford to keep Chris off welfare!!!!!  Ok, I can afford to keep him off welfare, I just can’t afford the $1500 at one shot to pay all the stupid ass fees!!!  So basically, and sorry if this offends anyone, we are the wrong race!!!  If we were hispanic/Mexican, they would have helped no problem, but because we’re white, nope forget it!!  It really and truly pisses me off!!!

Yesterday we planned to go to the movies, something we haven’t done since November.  We were taking Mikayla, because quite frankly I don’t really have anyone to watch her.  I get people offering all the time, but then they never give me their phone #..  what’s up with that?  Anyway, we were sitting at home before we left and we got a knock on our door…  a lady from the apartment office..  “Did you realize you haven’t signed a new lease yet?”  um..  actually, yeah, but we’ve been waiting for the stupid tax refund to see if we were going to be able to afford to move to a 2 bedroom, less bug infested apartment, closer to work.  So we were talking to her about maybe transferring to a 2 bedroom apt here, and she said she’d look into it.  Turns out they are charging about $90 LESS for the rent on our apartment than what we are paying..  and a 2 bedroom?  We were last told it was $100 more than what we’re paying…  nope!  only about $10-20 more.. ok sign us up!!  Only thing is we have to come up with a $200 transfer fee…  so, not sure when we will have that.  Was thinking I might have it this Friday, but got to thinking about that downpayment check out there and thought maybe we should wait on that…  SUCKS!!!!

Saturday was Chris’ b-day.  We were supposed to go out to a late lunch with some friends..  they canceled and moved it to Sunday, after I’d already declared Saturday my cheat day and had eaten 2 donuts and a blueberry muffin!!!  I was quite mad to say the least!!  Ended up eating almost 3000 calories, because we then ended up getting chinese, and with my allergy to sesame, I’m super limited to what I can eat… (plus still not totally liking all veggies like broccoli) and don’t like seafood…    so Sunday I think I did ok, but I can’t find anything close to what I had on any of the websites to even give me a guesstimite on the calories..  oh well.. 

We saw Star Trek yesterday.  It was really good!!  Mikayla did really well!!  She was a little monkey, climbing all over me and wiggling around, but she only fussed once when her bottle was empty and I had to make another one… in the dark..  LOL  that was fun!!  Chris took her over to the hallway and walked with her there while I made the bottle so she wouldn’t fuss, and he could still watch the movie.    Now I know for Harry Potter to have at least 2 bottles already made up!!  She was totally fascinated with the giant “TV” screen though!!  LOL  She didn’t know where to look!!!

Well off to work, gonna hit the treadmill there today for some cardio.  Didn’t really get a workout in yesterday, just some walking around the mall a bit..  lite cardio..  hehe..  at a snails pace!! 

Hope everyone has a grerat Tuesday!!  Sorry this is sooooo long!!!