Red Red Hot Head

#325 in balmy SoCal

2009-11-10T23:17:00.002-07:00

HOORAY! T and I are at my mom and dad's house. We had a nice flight. We almost always fly JetBlue. We like it because it's a good price, it flies directly to Long Beach, and there are TVs on the back on every seat. T and I watched "The Biggest Loser", which of course made me cry. I mean, Shay lost 17 pounds this week and is the woman who has reached 100 pounds lost faster than any woman on the show, and she still gets kicked out? It's not right!

Anyway, my son was cracking me up. He was laughing so hard at Jay Leno that I couldn't help but laugh too.

For dinner tonight we stopped at my favorite, In-n-Out Burger. So yummy! Mom and Dad's kitchen is gorgeous - so rich-looking with the beautiful granite countertops and backsplashes. It makes me want to cook something. :)

Mom has the day off tomorrow because it's Veteran's Day. I think we'll sleep in. I may try to get in a little exercise, either by taking a walk or even finding a gym where I can just pay for the day or something. My knee felt pretty good today, so I'm encouraged by that. Maybe, if it's a nice day, we can convince Mom and Dad to take us to the beach. I love the ocean. I also brought a couple of books with me, one that's almost finished and one to start. I don't have many big plans for this week except for going to D-Land on Friday.

I hope MT and Osi are doing ok.

#324 the second shot

2009-11-09T21:39:00.002-07:00

I had the second injection into my right knee this morning. This shot hurt a little more than the first for a couple of reasons. First, I still had a bruise from the first shot, and he did the second injection in the same area, so it was still a little tender. Second, last week, I came home and went to bed because I wasn't feeling well. Today I was up and at work right after the injection. So the injection site was a little sore, the knee is a little tender from the gel that's put in it, and it's kind of uncomfortable. It did start to feel better this evening. I've even been walking up and down the stairs here at home with laundry and feeling very little pain! HOORAY!

The real test will come on Friday when I plan to be strolling through DISNEYLAND with T!!

Yes, T and I are headed to sunny southern Cal for a few days of relaxation and visitation with my family. I'm looking forward to it. I'm a little concerned about MT and Osi. She hasn't exactly warmed up to him. In fact, when he is the first one downstairs in the morning, he will open her kennel door, but she won't come out until T or I go downstairs. I'm sure everything will be fine.

In other news, it looks like MT's family will be here for Thanksgiving. I knew that Jake and Linda were coming. They are headed off on a Panama Canal cruise the day after Thanksgiving and asked us to give them a lift to the airport. Then MT's brother Kevin said he'd be here with a friend or two (or three?), now maybe Kelly and Denise and their boys will be here too. We should have between 10 - 13 people. Whew! That's a lot! We're planning our menu and figuring out where to fit everyone. MT's in heaven thinking about it :P It makes me nervous, but I know everything will work out wonderfully.

Hopefully I can keep up my daily posts from Mom's house. Between her and Dad and T, I hope to be able to get a couple of minutes of computer time!

#323 Manu and the btat

2009-11-08T18:47:00.002-07:00

Did you hear about the bat that was flying around the court during a San Antonio Spurs basketball game? I was reading about it this morning, and I just watched the video. I don't know if you'll be able to watch the video from the link, but I attached it.

Anyway, a little bat was flying around the arena on Halloween night (!). It had disrupted the game a couple of times because it was flying near the court. Finally, Manu Ginobli reached out and swatted it out of the air and killed it. Then he picked it up, handed it to a trainer or someone, got a few squirts of hand sanitizer, and they continued to play basketball. It's a bit disgusting, but there you have it.

In the paper this morning, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) were all upset about Ginobli's murder of the bat. Their statement said, "Yes, it takes either a small man to bludgeon a 4-ounce animal to death or a totally unthinking one with no respect or consideration for lives humbler than his own."

I totally agree that animals should be treated ethically, but I have a hard time buying into the PETA thing. I had a bad PETA experience when I went to the circus a couple of months ago. I think PETA goes overboard with their message. Maybe it's just me.

I know that if there was a bat flying around me, I'd be swatting at the air and screaming at the top of my lungs. If I happened to make contact with it during my arm-flailing, I'd probably pass out.

Critters like bats don't belong in basketball arenas. It should have been outside. What the heck was it doing in the arena? I've seen bats flying around during baseball games at night. I don't like it very much, but it's where they live, and they are chasing little bugs for dinner, so who can blame them? I'd still swat my hands at them and scream if it flew my way, even outside at a baseball game.

I read another report that the bat didn't die. It flew away so it couldn't be tested for rabies, so Manu Ginobli had to get a rabies shot. So there, PETA. Manu had to pay for his misdeed by getting a rabies shot. Leave the poor man alone.

And I don't even like the Spurs! They are the most boring team (although they are very good) in the NBA. This is probably the most interesting story I've ever heard about them!

#322 Snowbird and my ups and downs

2009-11-07T21:00:00.011-07:00

MT, T and I went to the Snowbird ski resort this afternoon. Snowbird was doing a charity thing, and for a can of food, you could get a free ride on the tram. It was a really beautiful clear day, so we headed up Little Cottonwood Canyon.

There is a little bit of snow up on top, and I'm glad we took our winter coats because it was pretty cold and windy up there! I don't remember skiing at Snowbird back in the days when I did ski, so I've never seen the top. It's a very pretty view from up there. Here's some pics:

This is the view to the backside of the mountain when you get off the tram.

View of the valley

Coming back down the mountain. Steep, huh?

My boys. Notice how MT isn't looking at the camera.

Doesn't he look happy?

Me and my sweetheart. Notice how he's not looking at the camera. I don't know why!

MT is pointing out the double black diamond run he and Kevin skied last year. Again, not looking at the camera.

Anyway, it was a really fun outing. I enjoyed being up in the mountains with the boys and doing something different than going to a movie and the bookstore. Come to think of it, we did stop at the bookstore before we went to the Bird.

We had lunch at a cool little place at the bottom of the canyon called The Porcupine Grill. I've been there a couple of times, and the food is good. I had a french dip sandwich, T had chicken strips and MT had a salmon sandwich. It didn't sound very good, but he said it was delicious; so good that he wanted to order another one!

When we got home, I laid down on my bed, turned on the Utah football game, and took a long nap. What a delicious Saturday!

Now it's time for a WW update. Last Saturday I neglected to mention that I gained 2.8 lbs. I was pretty horrified by it and embarrassed, too. I haven't had that kind of gain since I started my journey, and I don't know how it happened. Well, obviously it happened because I wasn't paying enough attention to what I needed to take care of. I didn't drink enough water; I didn't eat right; I probably didn't get enough bang for my exercise buck, whatever, I had the big gain and I was unhappy about it.

This week I vowed that I would get back on track and have a loss. Then, of course, I was sick all week, so I missed a couple of workouts and generally felt bad all the time. So what happened at this morning's weigh-in? I lost 6 lbs. I started laughing. What else can you do? I know the loss was a result of not being able to keep any food in my system all week. But I'll take it when I can get it.

#321freaky Friday

2009-11-06T22:35:00.003-07:00

Today was strange. I haven't been feeling well this week, and I've been up in the middle of every night and been sick. Because of that, I've been tired in the morning, so I've skipped going to the gym today and yesterday. Skipping my workouts makes me feel a little cranky and "off," you know, like something just isn't quite right. This morning was extra bad. Work was strenuous on my brain yesterday, and I had a little work hangover from that, so I was finding it difficult to get in the groove this morning, in addition to my gastro-issues.

Then, around 3:00 or so, I suddenly kicked into gear. I started working on a project and I was full of energy and everything made sense and it was good. I got so carried away, I didn't leave the office until around 6:15, and I wasn't the last person there! The downside is that when I got home, I totally crashed again. I probably would have gone to sleep at 7:30, but then I thought that I would wake up at a really early time and be miserable tomorrow, so I roused myself for a bite to eat and a movie.

I watched "Rachel Getting Married." It stars Anne Hathaway, who I love, but this was not your typical Anne Hathaway movie. MT hated it and left about 30 minutes into it. I stuck with it, but I didn't love it.

Tomorrow we are going to ride the tram at Snowbird! I'll probably post some pics. Have a great weekend, everyone!

#320 is life passing me by?

2009-11-05T20:46:00.002-07:00

Do you ever get the feeling that life is just passing you by? MT and I were having a discussion about that feeling the other day, and I've kinda been thinking about it ever since. Then on the radio just yesterday, the guy was talking about how his life is pretty boring, but he thinks most everyone's life is probably pretty boring. He said, "I get up a go to work, go to the gym after work, then watch TV and eat cheese doodles."

The comment made me laugh, but he's not far off. That's what most of us do, right? We go to work, come home, make a little dinner, clean up, help with the homework, watch a little TV, go to bed to do it all again the next day. That's life, man! Maybe it's not LIVIN', but it's life.

I think MT misses hanging out with other people. I think that's why he likes to go on vacation so much, because he likes to socialize and talk. I've already heard most of his stories, so it's not as much fun for him to talk to me! I've been thinking of things that we could do to meet new people, but short of joining the Church, I don't have many ideas. ;p

Probably the key to not letting life pass you by is hobbies and interests and the willingness to say YES when opportunities come your way. I think you also have to find the joy in the little things that happen every day. It may be any old ordinary thing, but enjoy the moment.

Tonight when I was driving home, I noticed that the clouds were the most beautiful pink color. It was just at that moment before the sun completely sets, and the sky was just lovely. I was kind of proud of myself for recognizing the beauty in that moment. Maybe that's dumb, but that's what I do to make sure that life doesn't pass me by.

#319 a bit of this, a bit of that

2009-11-04T20:48:00.004-07:00

I was watching the World Series, but it seems nearly certain that the Yankees will win, so I decided to write for a minute before watching my new guilty pleasure "Eastwick." ;p

Work was really busy today. It's the first of the month, which means closing the previous month's books. It's always a little stressful, but since we're now coming up on the end of the year and we're trying to wrap everything up, I don't want to miss anything, so I am trying to be extra attentive. It's very tiring!

I missed doing Zumba this morning. I just spent time on the elliptical machine and it's good, but it's not the same fun level as Zumba. Oh well. I'll look forward to getting back to Zumba in a few weeks. It will probably be good to take a rest from it because it will be that much more fun when I go back.

My knee felt bad today. It was at the same old pain level. It's not that I expected the gel-stuff to work this quickly, but I guess part of me was hoping it would.

And I am still having a little gastro-intestinal distress. Yucky.

On a much, much brighter note, after a couple of months of pondering where to go on vacation next year, we have finally made a decision! We are going to Palm Island in the Grenadines. Our travel agent, Marcie, has been there and told me that it was her favorite place she's been on vacation. This lady has been pretty much everywhere, so I think her endorsement is a good thing. It's a private island resort with less than 40 rooms on the island. MT and I are really excited about the trip. We are leaving in mid-February and will be gone for 10 days! I'm sure I'll be writing more about the trip as we get closer.

Tomorrow I'll try to think of a topic instead of just these little details about what we are doing. Ooh! I just thought of something. I hope I can remember it until tomorrow!

#318 no leg work, my hair and my crazy dog

2009-11-03T21:03:00.002-07:00

I'm feeling better today. I started out the day at the gym with the muscle buster class. According to Dr. Ben's instructions, I didn't do squats or lunges. I did some extra ab work during those exercises. My knee doesn't feel any differently today, but there were a couple of times when I thought I was walking without limping. Maybe it's because I was in a hurry to get to the bathroom.

I had my hair cut at lunch-time today. It was a nice break. I've been going to Lanna for about ten years, I think. She's really great. She asked me if I was getting tired of the length of my hair. No way! I don't remember my hair being this long, and it's not really all that long. It's long for me, but not compared to Lizzie's! I just had Lanna trim off the ends and shape it up a bit.

Not much going on around here tonight. I made dinner (tacos) and we watched "The Biggest Loser."

Osi has been a little stir-crazy tonight. I feel bad because it was already dark when I got home from work, so I didn't take her for a walk. I'll have to make sure she gets out for a little stroll tomorrow night. She really needs the exercise to get all her puppy-crazies out.

#317 the first shot

2009-11-02T17:17:00.003-07:00

I had the first injection in my right knee this morning. I was a little worried about it because I'd been told by some people that the injection was very painful. It wasn't for me. The most painful part was the doctor kinda pushing my knee bones together so I could find the right injection spot. The injection itself didn't hurt. My knee felt a little weird because he numbed the spot where the injection happened and the knee has been a little tender today. I have a pretty nice bruise at the injection site, but other than that, all is well. I don't feel any differently. Like it hasn't immediately felt better or different. The doctor said that is normal, though. It will take some weeks, probably, to feel different.

In the meantime, Dr. Ben told me to take it a little easy. He said no squats or lunges in muscle buster class. In spinning, keep the resistance low. In other words, don't tax the knee too much. I think I'll skip Zumba for awhile. Zumba actually causes me the most knee pain of all the exercises I do. I will miss Zumba, though.

The worst part of the day was my intestinal discomfort. It began last night. At first I thought it was nerves about the injection, and maybe it partly was, but it never stopped, even after the injection. I stayed home from work today and spent the entire day sleeping and crapping. Nice, huh? And wouldn't you know that this was the week that I skimped on toilet paper and bought a cheaper brand. NEVER BUY THE CHEAPER BRAND!

The good news is that I finished a book today, "P.S. I Love You." The book is sooooooo much better than the movie. I really enjoyed it.

#316 happy NABLOPOMO!

2009-11-01T17:44:00.004-07:00

November is National Blog Posting Month, so I'll once again be attempting to post something every day.

I loved the way I started this day. I woke up without the help of my alarm clock and thought about what I wanted to do today. I took Osi for a walk over at the track around the Fitness Center. it was a beautiful morning, very clear and not too cold. In our puppy training class last week, we learned about loose-leash walking. Osi isn't very good at it, so we practiced this morning and she did very well. I also let her loose to run around the soccer field and she was great. She kept checking on me and came when I called her. I really love that about her!

When I got home, I had a little breakfast, then I took a cup of tea and the newspaper outside to the back porch. The sun was beating down and it felt so good to take in a little sunshine! After that, it was just regular old Sunday stuff, but at least there was a good start!

On Friday the three of us went to the home opener of the Jazz regular season. The Jazz won the game, which was great, but my favorite part might have been the opening "ceremony." First, the National Anthem was performed by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, all 360 of them. Can I just tell you that the performance was so beautiful, I cried? Yes, I was moved to tears by the MoTab. It was just glorious.

After the song, the lights went out and there was a video montage thing, then spotlights shone on the court and there were a dozen warrior type people who performed the haka. There is a large Pacific Islander population here in the Salt Lake valley. The haka is a traditional warrior dance performed by the Islanders. BYU football players sometimes do a haka dance before their games. Anyway, it was pretty cool. Then it was time for basketball. I like the Jazz and I'm glad it's NBA time again.

Last night, of course, was Halloween. T dressed up as a gladiator. Osi and I walked around the neighborhood with him. It was a gorgeous night. We have trick-or-treated in the snow before, so the clear night and the full moon were pretty great! He got lots of candy and we had fun. MT stayed home to hand out candy, of which I bought A LOT. There were many kids out when we were out, but we still have LOTS of candy. T and I were out for about an hour, then we had some pizza and watched the ball game. Have I ever mentioned that I hate the Yankees?

So tomorrow morning I'm having the first in the series of injections in my right knee. I'm very hopeful and optimistic that the injections will relieve the constant pain I feel in my knees because of my osteoarthritis. I have heard that the shot is painful, but I'm up for it. It can't be worse than the pain I feel most of the time and especially when the weather is cold and wet. Stay tuned for a full report in tomorrow's post.

Until then, enjoy the full moon and GO PHILLIES!

#315 first snow and orange food day

2009-10-27T18:49:00.002-06:00

We had our first winter storm of the season today. It was snowing pretty hard this morning when I came home from the gym at 6:30. Fortunately, it wasn't sticking to the road, so the commute to work wasn't too bad.

It was Osi's first experience with snow. I think she liked it. There was a little skiff of snow on the ground, and she ran all around the yard like a crazy dog, sticking her nose in the snow and eating little snowballs I threw at her.

She's so cute!

Today has been orange food day for me, although I didn't plan it that way. For breakfast I had peanut butter, which isn't exactly orange, I know, but work with me. For lunch, I had Sassy Salsa Pumpkin soup. I found the recipe in the Hungry Girl cookbook, and it's very tasty! When I described it to some friends, they grimaced and said it sounds disgusting, but, believe me, it's really good! I crushed up a few corn chips on it to add to the yum factor. It's filling, slightly spicy and perfect for a cold day like today.

For a snack this afternoon I had red pepper hummus. Between the garbanzo beans and the red pepper, it's orang-y.

For dinner tonight, we're having salmon. I snacked on a few nacho cheese doritos while I was prepping dinner.

For dessert I'm going to have some crustless pumpkin pie, also a Hungry Girl recipe.

I really like pumpkin!

I know my family is reading this and thinking, "My God! Red Red doesn't like any of those things! Who is this person?!"

#314 weekend in Las Vegas and other stuff, too

2009-10-18T16:11:00.010-06:00

Let's start with this...I lost 2.2 lbs this week bringing my total weight loss to 86.4!! Holy crap! I'll be honest with you: I did not expect this, at least when I started. I don't think I expected myself to still be working the Weight Watchers plan 16 months from when I began. I know I didn't expect to get close to losing 100 pounds. And now 100 is clearly within my sight. It's crazy and cool and I'm doing it!

What I eat and what I do is pretty much on my mind 100% of the time. Last weekend's road trip to Las Vegas was a test for me. Usually road trips mean constant snacking on things that aren't very healthy. I think I did pretty well. I ate almonds and drank water and diet soda. MT and I shared a cookie. I don't think I ate anything too differently from my friends while we were there, so I felt like I was eating like normal people. LA and I managed to get in a nice walk on Sunday morning in Mesquite. We walked all around Las Vegas, down the strip, through the casinos, etc. I don't really count that as exercise, but it was movement. I think I did ok. Even MT said he was watching what I was doing and he thought I did well in my choices.

Ok, enough about that (for now!) and more about the trip. We left SLC on Saturday the 10th and drove to Mesquite, Nevada where we hooked up with our oldest and dearest friends, Rob and LA. (Their son, Caz, did not come with them because he's a college guy now and had to go to school.) We spent the night at the Casablanca Resort. The best part of the evening was hanging out by the pool after dinner. It was dark, but quiet and a great place to chat. We were all laughing and talking and it was really fun. You know you are really good friends when you can meet up after not having seen each other for awhile and just start talking like you've seen each other yesterday, and there are no silences. It was awesome.

On Sunday morning, LA and I went for a walk around the resort, then we met the guys for breakfast and headed to Las Vegas. It's about an hour or so away from Mesquite. MT and Rob wanted to go rock climbing in the desert, so we split up from them just north of the Strip, and LA and I handled the check-in at Luxor with T.

I've never stayed at Luxor before. I hadn't even been in there for many years. It's really cool!

We checked in pretty early, around noon, with no hassle and even got rooms fairly close to each other. The elevators in the place are "inclinators" because the thing is a pyramid, so the elevators don't really elevate so much as inclinate. It's a strange sensation. And you have to make sure you get on the correct inclinator because not all of them access the same areas. I can see this being an issue if you are really drunk, which I never was. I'm just saying.

The view from our room was terrific.

After we checked out our rooms, we went to pick up our tickets for the Criss Angel show, "BeLIEve". The show was our purpose for coming to Vegas and we were all pretty excited about the show, especially T. He loves the "Mindfreak" TV show and we were keeping our eyes open for Criss around the casino. We didn't see him in person, though. Just all of his cool motorcycles and lots and lots of the ads for the show.

Finally it was time to get some sun and sit by the pool. I can't even tell you how great it felt to sit by the pool. We watched the people, I had a beer, and T had a hot dog and played in the water until his hands were totally pruny. We were only out there for about an hour and a half because we are WHITE! It's been awhile since it was warm enough to be out in the sun with skin exposed here in the northern climates.

About the time we got back to our rooms and cleaned up (or napped, in T's case), the boys were back from rock climbing. We went to meet them and escort them up to the rooms, which they thought were cool. After they showered, we headed out for food and a quick walk up the Strip. We ate at ESPN Zone in New York New York. I had the buffalo chicken sandwich and it was so spicy hot. Delicious. My mouth was on fire for awhile! By the time we left, it was getting dark, and I wanted to see the fountain show at the Bellagio, so that's where we headed. We didn't have to wait too long, either, and it was cool. I'm glad we saw it.

Quick note about walking on the Strip: there are tons of people handing out smut flyers on the Strip, and a lot of those smut flyers make their way to the ground, so the sidewalk is carpeted with pictures of bare breasts and other woman's parts. I kept telling T, "Don't look down!" MT had it the worst. I was holding hands with T, then MT was behind us, and Rob and LA were behind him holding hands, so poor MT was the single man in our group. He was offered the cards by every single person we passed. He didn't take any, but he was fending them off the whole way.

LA and I stopped at Sephora. LA has a serious perfume habit and loves the stuff. I like it and I have some perfume that I really like, but she's always been really into it. I did buy some cologne called Sugar and Lemon and here's why. I just finished reading the book "Best Friends Forever" by Jennifer Weiner. In the story, the guy falls for the girl and he says that he likes the way she smells, like sugar and lemons. I couldn't resist it when I saw the bottle. And it smells great, by the way. LA says I smell just like a lemon gumdrop. She also bought some cologne AND went back the next day to buy some perfume.

So we made our way back to Luxor and it was time for the Criss Angel show. Our seats were at the very back of the theatre, but they were still good. I was happy for T because he didn't have anyone sitting in the seat in front of him, so he had a nice clear view of the action.

What did I think of the show? I guess I would say that I enjoyed it, although I do wish there had been more magic, more illusions, more like the Mindfreak TV show. "BeLIEve" is a joint venture of Criss Angel and Cirque du Soliel. Maybe if it had more of the typical Cirque du Soliel stuff or more magic, I'd have liked it better. It was entertaining, though, I don't know that I would see it again. T loved it. MT, the skeptic, spent all the time figuring out how it was done. Breaking it all down was a big topic of conversation at the after-show ice cream social we held. I was a little annoyed with MT for nearly killing T's post-show buzz, but he stopped before much damage was done, thankfully.

The worst part about the trip? My bed was hard as a rock and the coils were like right on the surface of the bed, so it was a most uncomfortable night of sleep. I felt like I slept on the floor with rocks under my hips. In the morning I climbed into T's bed to see if his was the same way, and it wasn't. It was soft and comfy, of course. GRRR. Next time I'll choose the bed!

After breakfast, our family headed back to SLC. Rob & LA stayed an extra day, but we all had to get back to work and school. On the way home, we stopped in St. George for In-n-Out Burger. YUM!! (They are going to build an In-n-Out here is WVC. Can't wait!)

Osi was fantastically happy to see us. It was the first time we've left her alone. Our neighbor Spencer came over to feed her and let her out and play with her, but I know she missed her people. She was so excited that she had an accident on my bed, so I had to strip the sheets and the blankets and we ended up sleeping in the guest room that night. On Tuesday, though, I was happy to get back in my own bed with clean everything. It's all good.

So that's the trip to Las Vegas. It was a total blast. I really like to go there about every other year for about a day. There's so much going on there, it's total sensory overload. It's fun to visit.

One more quick story before I go:

T and I started puppy training classes with Osi on Thursday night. There was a mix-up with the scheduling, so there were only two other puppies on our class that night. (There will be five or six puppies total next week.) The classes take place in Petsmart in room with a door, so the puppies have time to socialize without running away. The other two puppies in our class are pit bulls and they are younger than Osi. The pit bulls were playing with each other and Osi was just sitting with T and I although I had dropped her leash so she could roam if she chose. Eventually, she did start to look around and showed interest in the other dogs. When they showed interest in her, she started to run because that is her way of playing. She loves to run. The other two couldn't keep up with her long strides, so they didn't run. Did I mention the floor is tile? Osi was slipping and sliding all over the place, and it was pretty funny to watch. The funniest part was watching T watch Osi. He was laughing so hard, practically falling off his chair, leaning on me, slapping my leg, then jumping around a little because he had to pee. i thought he'd wet himself, he was laughing so hard. The pair of them, Osi and T, were quite a sight. I giggle just thinking about it even now.

Needless to say, Osi is the cutest and smartest puppy in the class, if I do say so myself!

I guess that's all I have to say for now. Except one more thing: I was folding MT's clothes yesterday and decided, on a whim, to try on a pair of his shorts. Not underwear, shorts. And they fit!

It was pretty amazing considering I used to describe MT and I as Jack Sprat, who ate no fat and his wife who ate no lean. :P

#313 my new toy, talking to T and hoping for fun in the sun

2009-10-08T21:30:00.003-06:00

Guess what? I got my very own cell phone this weekend. I've been carrying a phone, but it's from work and I always felt bad when I took a personal call on it. MT was having an issue with his phone - he washed it and it didn't work anymore - but AT & T wouldn't sell him a cheap phone with the same phone number, so we switched service providers and I decided to get myself a phone. It's not fancy, it's just your basic phone. MT was toying around with the idea of getting an iPhone, but why? it's a cool toy, but nothing we really need.

The reason I went ahead and got a phone for each of us is because I'm thinking of cancelling the land-line. I haven't done it yet though. Wouldn't it be strange not to have a home phone? A lot of people I know don't have a land-line. Maybe I'll "cut the cordless" next week.

Things have been good around here. T has been playing his face off after school with his friends. MT and I are happy that his friends come over here and that he plays outside instead of playing video games all day long.

Last night T and I had a really great conversation about growing up and changing. He was sitting on my lap and just chatting away. It's true that he's getting a bit big to sit on my lap comfortably, but I sure wasn't about to say anything. I just savored the opportunity to listen and talk to him. I think that he has a pretty good head on his shoulders and I'm hopeful that he will make good choices in his teenage years.

We're looking forward to spending time with our friends Rob and LA in Las Vegas this weekend! LA and I always joked about how our favorite day is the day before the day before you leave. We like saying, "We're leaving the day after tomorrow!" I'm not sure how that came about, but she sent me an email today proclaiming that today was our favorite day and I knew exactly what she was talking about.

I probably won't write until we return from our mini-break, so happy weekend everyone!

#312 the week in review and pics

2009-10-04T21:59:00.007-06:00

Seems like I'm in a habit of writing once a week. What did I do this week that kept me away from my computer?

On Monday night I like to go to the turbo-kick class at the gym, then I watch "Big Bang Theory" (the nerds are funny!) and "Castle". Actually, T watches "Castle", and I check his homework.

On Tuesday I watch "The Biggest Loser". All the people, except Tracy, seem pretty cool this season. Tracy is a crazy woman. I cry every week when I watch that show. I love to watch at the very end when they show what the contestants who were sent home that week have been doing. I love it when they lose on their own, away from the show.

What did I do on Wednesday night? I don't remember much about it except that T and I watched the dvd of "Beauty and the Beast" and I fell asleep at the end. I sang all the songs, though! Oh, and I talked to my parents on the phone before the movie.

On Thursday T and I went to the first preseason Jazz game! Hooray! It's nearly basketball season again! The Jazz beat the Nuggets. I ate the guacamole in the suite. It is really good. Preseason is a little strange because you see the starters a little, but mostly the players are guys who are trying to make the team, so I didn't even know some of them. It's still great to go, though. We had fun.

On Friday the three of us went to Blockbuster to pick out a movie. MT and I chose "Observe and Report." We hated it so much that we turned it off after 45 minutes or so. None of the characters were likable at all. They were just foul and yucky. I just went to bed.

Last night we went to eat at El Habanero, then I watched the Rockies/Dodgers game. I was hoping the Rockies would pull out the miracle and beat LA, but that didn't happen. I'm still glad the Rockies are in the playoffs. I love October! A one-game playoff tomorrow between the Twins and Tigers determines who wins the AL Central, then playoffs begin on Wednesday. Awesome!

Yesterday afternoon I watched some of the Notre Dame/Washington game. I'm sure I've mentioned how much I enjoy my Saturday afternoon nap during football season. Yesterday I was especially tired because I gave blood in the afternoon and that always leaves my feeling drained. (hahahaha!) I did wake up in time to see ND score in overtime for the win. Good stuff.

Today I watched the New Orleans Saints beat up on the NY Jets. I really love Saints quarterback Drew Brees. I'm not sure why I love him so, but I do. He's just so cool!

Let's see what else...I lost 0.6 lbs at weigh in. I like that. I did take a few pics this weekend. T had his last soccer game. He came so close to scoring a goal! He didn't, but it was exciting. After I gave blood, I went to the mall and bought a cute sweater at Eddie Bauer. It's fun to buy things off the rack instead of having to buy larger sizes online since they don't carry the plus size in the store.

It is autumn here. Autumn got here on Wednesday when the temperature dropped about 30 degrees. It went from being 80 to being 50. That sucks, and explains why I had to buy a new sweater at Eddie Bauer. This morning I woke up to big thunder and lightning. It was cool and cloudy all day and it's raining again right now. Rain in the valley = snow in the mountains. BRRR. Current temp is 39 degrees.

Enough randomness! Here's some pictures!

Osi and Red. I took this in September.

On Tuesday T got to go to lunch with the principal in a limo for being one of the top cookie dough sellers in his school! Fun!

T playing soccer on Saturday.

Osi being goofy and T looking cute.

I guess that's all I've got for today. This week we're looking forward to the weekend when we go to Las Vegas with our BFFs the Alleys! WOO HOO!

#311 The Killers

2009-09-27T21:13:00.002-06:00

Last night MT and I went to see The Killers perform at the E Center. I love this band and I've been really excited about seeing them since I bought the tickets months ago. I wasn't disappointed.

The first song they did was my favorite from their latest CD, a track called "Joyride". It's catchy and bouncy and just plain good. They rocked through that tune and were starting on the next song when suddenly the lead singer, Brandon, announced that the band had to leave the stage for a few minutes.

I've been to many, many concerts and I have never seen anything like this happen before. The band left, and some official people came onto the stage, then a guy announced that there were "technical difficulties" and it would take a few minutes to make the repairs. Then a guy climbed up a rope ladder to the light thingee above the stage. He was up there for a little while, then he came back down and everyone cheered and the officials gave a thumbs up, then the band came back and played their next number, "Human," and everything was just fine.

From there, the band just flat out rocked. The show was loud and fun, the crowd was into it, singing along and jumping around. Brandon didn't do much talking, he just sang his skinny legs off. He was great! They played every song that I love and with feeling and gusto. MT knew about five songs, but he had a good time, too. He downloaded all their CDs onto his iPod this morning, so I think he liked it. I even bought a t-shirt! I'm wearing it now, in fact! I don't remember the last time I bought a t-shirt at a concert...maybe U2 a few years ago.

Now here's the dumb part: this morning I read a concert review in the Salt Lake Tribune and the writer talked about how bad the sound was and how you didn't get the depth and the I-don't know-what-else of the music because the sound was so poor. I wondered if I'd been to the same show. I thought the sound was exceptionally loud, but I thought the band sounded great. I was pleasantly surprised that they could rock so hard. I mean basically, The Killers' style, especially on their CD "Hot Fuss", is very synth-pop. The new CD is like that, too, so I was happy they rocked it out. I was bummed out by the review, and MT told me that it was just one dumb guy's opinion and he'd never read a review where the sound was called good. So there.

Anyway, I loved The Killers' show and I'd be happy to see them again :p

Did you have a good weekend?

#310 fun weekend

2009-09-20T20:43:00.002-06:00

We did something each night during this weekend, which is very unusual for us. It might not be much, but it was fun for us.

On Friday night I usually go to the gym, but I'd been to the gym on Monday and Wednesday night, so I decided to go on Friday morning so I could spend time with the boys on Friday night. We decided to go out for dinner and do something else to be determined. We went to Jordan Landing where we had dinner at Rumbi Island Grill. After that, we headed over to the bookstore for some browsing. Boring, you think? No way! We love to go to the bookstore. I went over to the self-help/fitness/health section and sat on the floor reading a book about hair. My hair is pretty curly and dry and frizzy, and I want my curls to look nicer, so I had to read about how to take care of it. After that I read from the book "Arthritis for Dummies", learning about the different types of arthritis, how to treat it, and the surgical options. One of the main recommendations is to lose weight, and I've been doing that, but the darn knee hurts ALL THE TIME. I think joint replacement will be in my future, but not for awhile, hopefully.

We did buy a book each. MT and I got the new Pat Conroy book, "South of Broad" and the new book by Dan Brown, " The Lost Symbol." T got a book too, "Candy Shop War." Have I ever mentioned what a great reader T is?

Saturday was busy. I went to cycling class in the morning, then to the WW weigh-in and meeting. Down 2.2 lbs this week! HOORAY!! After the meeting, T had soccer practice and his game. He played great, taking three shots at the goal. He hasn't made it yet, but it's only a matter of time. He was awesome! I took Osi to the game with me, because she had an appointment with the vet right after the soccer game. She did well. She mostly just laid down, sprawled out on the grass and watched the kids. Her vet appointment went well. She's now fully innoculated and ready to enroll in puppy training classes. More on that soon...

In the afternoon, MT went to the rentals and I cleaned the house. It needed it. I like it when the house is clean. While cleaning, I watched the Utah football game. It was sad to see the nation's longest college football winning streak come to an end. At least BYU lost too (and badly!)

In the evening MT and I went to see a movie at Brewvies. Brewvies is a movie place with food. We had beers and shared a giant plate of nachos while watching "The Hangover." Have you seen that movie? FREAKIN' HILARIOUS! We were laughing out loud, slapping our knee, wiping our eyes laughing so hard. I'd see that again. Good movie. And the nachos were good, too. We'll go to Brewvies again, I'm sure.

Last night there was a terrific lightning storm followed by a good rain. AHHH.

Today we were all moving kinda slow. I slept in until almost 9:00. Sunday is the one day a week that I don't turn on my alarm and I just wake up whenever I want. I did wake up around 7, then fell back to sleep. The same thing happened at 8. I only woke up because MT came in asking if something was beeping. I didn't know what he was talking about, but I guess the smoke detectors were chirping because they need new batteries. I didn't hear the one in my room chirp.

Around noon, my in-laws came over. They had dropped MT's bro Kevin off at the airport. We had some lunch, then hung out on the deck in the warm sunshine - it was a beautiful day! - then I went over to Kohls to buy gifts for a couple of baby girls. While I was there, I bought myself a new pair of pants, a couple of tops and some undergarments. I like Kohls.

Tonight the boys and I went to a golf club in Draper for a going away party for my friend Kyle. He and his wife and their new baby girl are moving to the Chicago area because Kyle got a new job. It was a nice gathering. T got a little crazy with his lemonade and I ended up wearing some of it, but it dried and was fine. T felt bad, poor little dude. It's ok, T! All the people that were there are super nice, and we had a good time.

Now we're home and the weekend o'fun is over. This week we're looking forward to going to the Ringling Bros circus on Thursday night and The Killers concert on Saturday!

#309 I want to be this guy

2009-09-18T22:13:00.004-06:00

If you have a few minutes, check out this clip. I love it! I saw it when I was at the gym this morning, and I was laughing and almost crying because the guy is so sweet. I hope that I would react with as much kindness and love as this guy does, but knowing me, I really doubt that I would.

PS I really hope this link works. If not, go to PhiladelphiaPhillies.com and click on WSH @ PHI Dad makes the catch video. Cutest dad ever!

#308 heavy thoughts about weight loss

2009-09-13T20:14:00.005-06:00

I didn't have a loss or a gain this week. Zero change once again. I'd rather have no change than a gain, that's for sure!

This morning when I woke up I was thinking about the whole weight loss journey, and I think I've made a serious mistake. All this time I've been thinking that once I reach my 100 lb weight loss goal, it will all be over and done, but it won't be. I realized that these changes I've made, from the way I eat to the workouts I do, are going to be part of my life forever or I will balloon right back up where I started and I WON'T LET THAT HAPPEN. I can't. Still, it was kind of a sobering thought.

But you know what? I don't miss the way I used to eat. I don't miss feeling full and bloated all the time. I don't think there's anything that I used to eat that I don't indulge in every now and again. I just don't have it all the time. About 15 months ago, I used to have a big Mexican food lunch every Monday. Now I might have that meal once every couple of months or so when I really feel like it. And if I do have that meal, I'm eating very light for the rest of the day.

It really is a lifestyle change. On a diet, you might tell yourself you'll only be doing it for 40 days or 3 months or whatever. You may get results in that amount of time, but what happens on the 41st day?

I think another mistake I've made is that earlier this year, I thought I would have no problem reaching the 100 lb lost mark by Christmas and I made some milestone notes in my planner of when I thought I'd hit each five pound increment along the way. Well, I was between -75 and -80 for two months. It's coming off, but it's slow. I realized in July when I didn't hit the -80 point that I was disappointed with myself and it bummed me out. That's not a good positive way to think.

I shouldn't have expected to have the same kind of results now that I did when I started. Everything is different. The number of points I have each day is way lower. My fitness level is much higher than it was a year ago at this time. The workouts that I did last September that made me so sweaty and tired and sore don't have that effect on me now. Things that I never thought I'd be able to do last year are much more possible now. Choices that I make about what I do or what I eat are no longer as surprising to me as they used to be.

A couple of weeks ago I was on the phone with my friend Cami in Chicago. When she was in school, she knew what she was going to be when she grew up: she'd work at Farmer's Insurance like her dad did, and she'd be in the Human Resources department and she'd be married to Jay. Sure enough, when she graduated, she and Jay got married and they moved to Chicago where she went to work in the Human Resources department at Farmer's Insurance.

As much as I love to plan, I've never had much of a plan for how things would work out in the long run. I've always just kinda floated along, going where the path took me. I hoped that MT and I would get married, but I was as surprised as anyone when we actually did. I wanted to be a mom, but T was unplanned. At both of the full-time jobs I've had, I started out at entry level, pretty much and worked my way up. Looking back, there are only two things that I wanted and that I worked for: graduating from college and losing this weight. Well, actually, I knew that I'd graduate from college. I wasn't so sure I'd be able to lose any significant amount of weight.

So I'm just gonna come right out and say it: I'm damn proud of myself for accomplishing what I've accomplished so far on this weight loss life change! YAY ME!!

#307 counter malfunction, Hall of Fame, and 9/11

2009-09-11T21:01:00.003-06:00

When I posted on Wednesday I checked my counter on the blog and it was over 11,000. I know that when I posted on Monday it was only around 2,500. That's a pretty giant increase in a couple of days, so I think there must have been a counter malfunction. If, for some strange reason 8,000 or so people checked in during those two days, HI! If my five known readers checked in over 1,500 times in those two days, GET A LIFE! LOL :-)

Today was surprisingly good. Out of nowhere my boss Brian told me to take half a day off. He said it was a reward for good work, but I'm not all the way sure that it wasn't an attitude adjustment time. I've been a little burned out and tired of work lately, and I know that it has shown. I like my work and I'm happy to be there, but for a few weeks now I've kind of felt just...I don't know...like I wasn't important or something. It started when we had that restructuring webinar and the corporate people talked about reducing redundancies and I had to look at what I was doing and wonder if I was/am redundant. I don't think I'm redundant at my office, but what about the big picture? So I haven't been feeling really great about work, and I'll be honest, having this afternoon off was really awesome.

Osi and I walked down to T's school to surprise him and walk home with him. That was really fun. Osi did great; no stopping for a rest along the way! When we got home, T and I decided to get some ice cream, so we went to Coldstone and shared a Like It size. Delicious and decadent! After that we wandered around Target and bought a few little things, like a pooper scooper and a bucket so T can start earning an allowance for doing some chores.

When we got home I was going to go to the gym, but then I realized that the Basketball Hall of Fame induction ceremony was on. Two members of the Utah Jazz were being inducted: Jerry Sloan and John Stockton. I love the Jazz and John Stockton is a hero to me. I loved the way he played. He never tried to get attention off the court even when he was stud on the court. He never wanted to talk about himself or what he did. When he did talk, it was about the team. I really wondered how he would handle the attention from the Hall of Fame and his induction speech.

Well, I'll tell you how he handled it. He was BRILLIANT! He was funny and self-deprecating and thankful and humble. It was just terrific. I love that he was inducted along with Coach Sloan, the man who coached John for all of his 19 years here in Utah. I only wish that Karl Malone was being inducted with them. I guess we'll have to wait for next year for Karl, since he played an extra season.

Oh yeah, and a guy named Michael Jordan was inducted too. Yes, MJ was the greatest player ever, but to me, he'll always be the guy who denied the Jazz the championship for two years. My fondest NBA dream is that the Jazz will win a championship before Jerry Sloan retires. I'm sad that Larry Miller will never see it happen.

Finally, today is the 8th anniversary of the terrorist attacks in New York and in Washington DC. I know that you remember that morning. For me, I was living in Kearns. T was four and he was sleeping in my bed. I was watching the local Fox news channel and getting ready for work when they showed the first tower on fire. I watched as the second plane crashed into the other tower. I remember thinking that it was some kind of mistake. I couldn't process what I was seeing. I remember driving to work and everyone had their headlights on. I remember getting to work and logging on the internet to find out what was going on and hugging my friend Heather and wondering what was going to happen next. I called MT. I sent emails to my mom and sister. I cried. You did too, right?

I hope you took a minute today to think about the people who lost their lives on that terrible day in 2001. I pray that we never see anything like that again.

#306 I like this date!

2009-09-09T21:55:00.002-06:00

I usually don't read everyone else's blog posts before I write mine, but I wasn't going to write tonight until I saw Dad's post about the cool date (9/9/09), so I decided to write too just so I could get in on the cool date action!

T went back to school yesterday. It was his second first day of school, I guess you could say. Although he says he wasn't ready, or didn't want to go, I really think he kind of did. He just hung out at home while he was off track, so he played with Osi and played video games and watched Disney Channel non-stop.

I have enjoyed the past couple of evenings. When I get home from work around 6, I take Osi for a quick walk around the neighborhood, then I hang out for a few minutes on the deck and relax. The weather has been wonderful for the past two days and it is so nice to sit out on the deck! Last night I made dinner, but tonight I started working with Tristan on his homework. He did a good job on his reading assignment which was to create a bookmark. We did it on the computer. He told me the words and I typed so we could get it done in a timely manner. For dinner tonight we scavenged, having whatever leftovers we could find. While T did math homework and MT read the paper, Osi and I played tug-of-war. Now we are all wandering off to bed. The best news is that tomorrow is Thursday, and there are only two more days until the weekend is here again!

Time for bed. I'm all tuckered out!

#305 next stop...Thanksgiving

2009-09-07T20:20:00.005-06:00

The weather today was perfectly gorgeous. I'm a little bummed that I wasn't out enjoying it more, but that's how it goes sometimes. I was incredibly tired after my marathon workout this morning. I went to cycling class which always kicks my bum, and followed it immediately with 45 minutes of Zumba, 20+ minutes of kickboxing and 20+ minutes of Pilates. OY! Total workout time was two and a half hours. I'm not sore, but I was really tuckered out at the end. I was also incredibly sweaty and smelly. I took a nice hot shower and washed my hair, them promptly took a mini-nap.

T and MT got home last night and brought along Kevin, MT's brother who lives in Arizona. Kevin caught a plane back to Tucson this morning while I was at the gym, so I didn't really spend much time with him. They did get in sort of late last night. MT spent the day at the rental. He is fixing up the mother-in-law unit. T and I watched Melanie Oudin win her match at the US Open. I was happy for her to win! It was a good match. T and I were going to see "Night at the Museum 2" but the place was packed and T wasn't really into it anyway, so we just came home and I took a nap for real. It was good.

While I was cooking dinner on the grill (brats for me and T, steak for MT - I got my packages confused!) I sat out on the deck and read my book and had a glass of beer. Osi laid on the deck, just chillin' out. She's a pretty good puppy. She behaved very well for me this weekend. Since T goes back to school tomorrow, Osi will have to be in her kennel while we're gone. I feel bad about it, but the vet says it is the best place for her. After all, she is a dog. I've been reading the book by the Dog Whisperer, and he says that all the time too. Your dog is a dog. Treat them like what they are. Don't humanize them. T will let her out and play with her when he gets home. Everything will be fine.

Back to work tomorrow but it's only a four day week. I think every week should only have four workdays. I'd be happy to work four ten hour shifts! I did for awhile when T was a baby and it was great. I don't really see it happening now, though. Tomorrow is Kelsie's first day back to work after her maternity leave. I know it will be a difficult day for her. It sucks for any new mom. I remember how sad I was when I left T at the daycare for the first time. I also remember how amazed I was that the workplace had continued on just fine without me! One of our old branch managers used to say that nobody is indispensible. I totally learned that lesson when I came back from maternity leave! I will be glad to have Kelsie back.

I think the next holiday time we have off is Thanksgiving. Is that possible? Wow.

#304 finally...80!

2009-09-05T20:54:00.003-06:00

In August I actually gained about half a pound over the course of the month. It happened in just one week; the other three weeks I had no gain or loss. Over the past week I employed "The Wendie Plan" to help me break my plateau. It seemed to work because I lost 2.4 lbs to get to a total of 81.4!!

I heard about the Wendie Plan at WW a couple of weeks ago. One of the ladies, Wendy (not the creator of the plan) talked about it and suggested people go online to check it out. Basically, it's sort of like muscle confusion except it's stomach confusion. With muscle confusion you do different exercises so your body doesn't get complacent about the activity that you do. I think the muscles get used to the same activities and then the muscles aren't as efficient about burning the fat and calories as you'd like it to be. The trick is to do different exercises so your muscles are confused. I think I do ok with that. I do different activities every day and even though I do the same classes week to week, the stuff that we do in the classes isn't the same every week.

The Wendie Plan is similar to that. It recommends that you switch up the number of Points you consume each day. See in WW, you get a certain number of Points that is determined by your age, gender, weight, height, and type of work. You also get 35 extra Points per week to use as you please. When I first started WW, I didn't touch those extra Points. I think it accelerated my losses at the start because I was working out and only taking in the daily Points. WW wants you to use the extra Points, though, so you don't feel hungry. I'm down to 22 Points a day now and really, that's not all that much, so it's nice to have the extras available. In the Wendie Plan, the points are not only available, you figure them into your weekly totals. I think I'll employ the plan again this week, then next week go straight points as much as I can.

I jumped around a little when I saw the number this week, and I made all the WW ladies give me high fives! I didn't get a star sticker, though, because our Leader, Shari, retired and so there was a little ceremony thing for her with the leader of Salt Lake WW, so nobody got a star. Next week. I really love my five pound star bookmark!

The boys are in Soda Springs tonight at Jake and Linda's cabin. Both of MT's brothers are there, too. I'm sure he's enjoying some beers with his brothers. T was excited to play with his cousin Garrett. I have enjoyed being alone. Twice in two weeks I'm on my own! Today I mowed the front lawn and whacked some weeds, then I went to the library and to Jordan Landing to do a little shopping, have an ice cream and see a movie. I saw "(500) Days of Summer". It was pretty cute. There were some funny parts, but it was kind of sad because the boy loved the girl, but she didn't love him back. I think tomorrow I may go see the new Sandra Bullock movie "All About Steve". Bradley Cooper is in it (he's Steve) and he's dang cute. I've got a few movies from the video store I can watch too. I may watch one tonight. I hope I don't fall asleep.

It's the first Saturday of the college football season. The BYU Cougars were playing the Oklahoma Sooners in Dallas at the new Cowboys Stadium. Oklahoma is ranked third in the country and I expected the Sooners to crush the Cougars. But no. Sam Bradford, the Heisman trophy winning Oklahoma quarterback gets hurt right before halftime and doesn't come back in the second half and BYU finds a way to win. There will be no living with Cougar fans this season. I don't think anyone expected BYU to upset Oklahoma. UGH.

Anyway...enjoy the weekend!

#303 the week in review

2009-09-02T21:46:00.003-06:00

What have I been doing in the past week since I last wrote?

Last Thursday I was really tired from being up so late, I remember that.
Friday night I mowed the front lawn and it looked really good, if I say so myself.
Saturday morning I was busy: cycling class at 7:00 (like spinning), WW meeting (0 again for the third week in a row = plateau), then T's soccer practice and game. MT had to work. After soccer, T and I went to the library then to the grocery store. I went to bed at 8:00 that night. I was beat!
Sunday I was in a bad mood, so it's a good thing I didn't write because I would have only spewed negativity into cyberspace and that's just bad karma. I did finish two books, though, so that was good. I didn't leave the house all day. It was hot.
I went to kickboxing class on Monday night and that was fun.
Tuesday was yesterday. The biggest thing I remember was a company-wide webinar at work announcing the restructuring of the company. They are doing it to increase efficiency and eliminate redundancy. I hope I'm not redundant.
Today I was in a cranky mood for most of the morning. I got back on track in the afternoon and was pretty productive. My mood stemmed from a less-than-stellar Zumba class; the teacher started a little early and they were already doing a warm-up when I got there one minute past the normal starting time, then I couldn't ever really get my brain and my feet to communicate and it wasn't pretty. Then T didn't like the sandwich I made for him and that made me not like him very much. I still love him, but dang! What was his problem? Tonight T and I played with Osi, took her for a little walk, then went to the grocery store. We had to buy many beverages because we are a thirsty family.

Oh yeah! Last night was great because my friend Cami from Chicago called me and we chatted for almost two hours. I hadn't talked to her for probably close to a year. She has a lot of stuff going on in her life and it's interesting to talk to her. We were good friends in college, but I haven't seen her since T was a little tiny baby. After talking to Cami I quickly got on the computer to check email and facebook and I have a new friend, a blast from the past: Ted, MT's old climbing partner! Trippy!! Not only did I talk to Cami and get friended by Ted, I also had a $10 email special manicure at the Spa Club! So yeah, last night rocked ;-)

#302 Nickelback

2009-08-27T20:58:00.002-06:00

Last night I went to see Nickelback in concert with my BFF LA and her son at USANA Amphitheatre. The show was sold out and the only tickets available were the general admission seats on the lawn. Since there were three other bands on the bill, Saving Abel, Papa Roach and Hinder, the price of the ticket, around $30, was a pretty good deal. We were concerned about sitting on the grass, but it was really great. We got there pretty early enough that we were able to stake out a pretty nice patch of grass with a good view of the stage and we were comfortable there all night. We were able to stand up and dance around without disturbing the people around us. I'd buy the general admission seats again!

Before I go any further, I must admit that I'm not a huge fan of any of the bands. I'd never heard of Saving Abel or Papa Roach before we got tickets to the show. I know one Hinder song, and all the Nickelback songs kind of sound the same to me, but they are ok. I don't love or hate them. But I do love my friend who loves Hinder, and her son who loves Papa Roach and I love live music, so what they hey? To prepare, I downloaded one song from each of the first three bands so I'd at least know one song they sing. I downloaded the iTunes Essentials Nickelback and it gave me all their hits plus some songs from their latest CD. It was a good download.

The show started at 5:30 and Saving Abel came out pretty promptly. They did a quick set that included the song I knew, "Addicted." I liked them. I was pretty preoccupied with my chicken nachos but I enjoyed their set.

Papa Roach was good. The song I know of them is "Forever" and I found I'd heard a couple of others, too. I just didn't know who sang it. Hinder was also pretty good. My favorite part of their set was when the lead singer came out into the audience (not up to the grass, but pretty far away from the stage) and sang. I thought that was pretty cool.

Finally it was time for Nickelback. They came out just as the sun was going down which must have been around 8:30. I think there is a curfew for bands at USANA because there are homes in the vicinity, although not right next to the venue. I think the cut-off time is 11:00. Anyway, Nickelback ROCKED!! Their first song was "Something in Your Mouth" from their latest CD. It's catchy. They sounded great. The lead singer, Chad Kroger, has a certain sound to his voice, and he was wonderful. He's chatty and funny. He seems to enjoy Jack Daniels and other alcoholic beverages.

One thing I don't love is the need these rock bands have to swear at me all the time. If I had a dollar for every time the F bomb was dropped by a musician last night, I'm quite sure the tickets for all three of us would have been paid for! This is coming from me, a known F bomber! It's a little much.

My favorite part of the Nickelback show was when the lead singer for Hinder came out and sang AC/DC's "Highway to Hell" with Nickelback. Rockin!

I really enjoyed the whole thing: the bands, the seating arrangements we had, the chicken nachos and especially hanging out with my friends. I doubt that LA and I will be hanging out with Caz like that much longer, and it was fun. Hopefully someday T will want to hang out with us!

I have never found Chad Kroger, Nickelback's lead singer, attractive. In fact, I think I saw a poll years ago that claimed that poor Chad was the ugliest rocker. I wouldn't go that far. BUT, he did his job as a rock star. I think that at the end of a show, if you're a girl, you should have a little crush on the rocker. If you're a guy, you should want to hang out and maybe have a drink with the rocker. Mission accomplished. I thought Chad was great last night. This morning I was back to my senses, but I loved him last night! (heehee)

Best show I've seen this summer by far!

#301 yes, I'm a nerd

2009-08-23T20:23:00.005-06:00

I think in my last post I outed myself as the biggest nerd ever. Thankfully, if you read this, you already know that.

I did enjoy my time with Elinor (that's the name of Emma Thompson's character!) and Edward and Emma and Mr. Knightley. I was too tired to watch all of "Pride and Prejudice" so I just checked some of my favorite scenes, then watched the whole thing this morning. Really, Elizabeth's mother and the two younger sisters are so irritating, I can barely stand to watch them at all. I do love Mr. Darcy, though!

You know that Police song, "The Bed's Too Big Without You"? That is just how I felt last night. I crawled to the middle of the bed, but I wasn't comfortable. The house was way too quiet without the boys. They had a good time, though. They walked about three miles in to a lake where they set up camp. A deer was in the area and stayed there most of the time. There are pictures that I think might be the deer, but it's too far away to identify. The meadow where they camped looked nice. It rained on them overnight and this morning. MT said that T was a real trouper and just walked his little tail off without complaining. Good for him! T enjoyed peeing on the trees.

They met a nice couple from San Diego on the trail who were hiking in with llamas, and the llama hikers took this pic of MT and T.

How cute is that?!

Osi and I enjoyed hanging out together. She was a very good puppy all weekend. She has a new toy that we call Red. Red is a squeaky toy and Osi loves to make Red squeak. It's kind of annoying, but funny too.

I have to post this picture because I think it's pretty cute. I was trying to wake T up one day and he was resistant, so I enlisted Osi's help.

AWWW!

This afternoon I went to see the movie "Julie and Julia". I really enjoyed it! I'm excited to read the book. First I'll have to actually finish one or two that I am currently reading.

A quick weight loss note...at my weigh-in this week, I was at zero pounds gained or lost. Strange. I really want to lose that one pound to get to minus 80! I didn't do myself any favors this weekend, though. I ate pizza and cookies. It was good at the time, but I feel pretty crappy right now. I'll be back on track tomorrow, though, with my intake and my activity. Hopefully on Saturday I can report a good result!