Bathroom After Pics

Happy Beth?? HA, just kidding. Here are the after pics of the bathroom. You remember the before pics here, right? Much better now!!

I am so happy to be home. I got home last night and after about an hour Craig grabbed my hand and took me downstairs to my room. Much to my surprise, he had finished the entire room for me! He took out the old carpet, put in new carpet, painted and put up trim and put together the "furniture" that I had bought for it (storage stuff). I was so excited. Earlier in the week I had emailed him to see if he could paint the first coat of the trim while I was driving home from the airport and then I could paint another coat when I got home. He emailed back and said he would if he had time but he didn't think that he would....little did I know, he had already done it three days prior. I feel bad for getting annoyed that he couldn't start on it (when I thought he wasn't going to).

Today we spend most of the day chasing Lance around. We got up early and when we got to our first stop we had missed him by 5-10 mins...ugh. We followed the course for a while but then realized that we would never catch up because it was winding road and we kept getting stuck behind other bikers so we got off the course and headed down to another spot by taking the highway and then meeting up with the riders. We stopped at a McDonald's cause I had to pee and they said he was 4 miles away so we road on down and stopped down the road....we were literaly there for 8 mins before he came by....we were not really prepared. I was still testing settings and stuff but luckily it worked out. It was just Craig and I on the side of the road so I waved at Lance and he waved back :-) It had to be at me cause no one else was there. If you look in the picture you can see his right hand off the bike handle as he was putting it back down...I waved and then took the pic but didn't get him waving. Oh well. We went to two other places to see him and it was a fun but long day. We left at 7:30am and got back around 3 (the race was like 1.5 to 2 hrs from us). Tomorrow I have my first photography session in Ohio and I am excited. I hope it goes well!

One more day!!

Tomorrow I go home!! I am home for the next two weeks (sort of) and I am so excited. I can't wait.

Today/tonight Craig and I figured out how much vacation we had left and I think that we have decided to take another trip this year. We are trying to decide where to go and here are a couple of the suggestions he had (I will go almost anywhere and do anything):
--Southwest (New Mexico, Grand Canyon)
--Wisconsin/Canada/Michigan (mostly to the central part for the leaves, the center of Wisconsin is very much like New England with the lighthouses and the leaves and all that. Milwaukee is where Craig grew up and we would sneak in a Green Bay game while we were there. He said he wasn't sure I would like it because there isn't as much to do. I had to inform him that on most of my vacations I just chill..he is the one who always wants to go, go, go and I normally only run around when I am with him :-) )
--New England/Nova Scotia (leaves and such)
--Key West (I was SHOCKED that Craig suggested this since he is not a beach person).

I am not sure which I want the most. The Wisconsin or New England ones would be the cheapest because they don't involve flights or rental car. We spent a bit on our June trip and out little vacation nest egg from change isn't quite ready for another trip so I would like to do the cheaper option, but I have wanted to go to the Grand Canyon and Key West!

Craig finished the bathroom on Tuesday night, now we just need to find some guest towels and stuff we like....should be easy. I will take after pics and I am hoping to get mine done this weekend. We need to put the carpet and trim in and then I need to "build" all my furniture. I am planning on stopping by Ikea tomorrow on my way home from the Cincinnati airport to get the table. I think that it is supposed to rain all weekend (which should make watching Lance ride on Saturday tons of fun) so that will be a good time to get everything situated and with no traveling next week I will be able to be all set up and well rested for my visit from my sister's family!

In 24 hours I will be home!!!

rough day

Today was rough. I finally felt better and have been going to bed at a decent hour and gettimg plenty of sleep but around 9:45 today I got the screen that you never want to see. The "you are screwed" screen and that is exactly what I am. Screwed. My work computer's hard drive crashed today. The IT guy tried to breathe life into it with 0 success. Ugh. I did raise enough hell to have them overnight a new one to the location I will be visiting tomorrow but I still lost everything. I didn't have much personal stuff on there but I did have my tax software and therefore, my taxes. Not sure I have that anywhere else. I also lost all the emails that I had to archive or that I put in folders (I have a separate folder for all 80 something locations and lost all that stuff). It sucks. Craig said I will probably look for old stuff less than I think and I do have the super important stuff on the server but it just sucks!

I drove 2 hrs across VA with no working radio station for the first hour or so and am now in Harrisonburg for the next two days. I think I will get some more good sleep tonight and hopefully tomorrow will be better. The one good thing about this is that I talked to the guy that I was supposed to visit next week and he has it handled so now I don't have to go! A whole week in town and then my siste, Zach, and bb visit!!!! Yay!! I can't wait! We are going to take her to the zoo and the Air Force museum where we can go om President Clinton's Air Force One! Wonder if there is a bj room :-)

Sick

For real this time. I know I said that last week I thought I was getting sick (and I do) but yesterday it hit full force. It probably is due to all the travel lately (I think that I am going on my 7th straight week of being on a plane. UGH.) It was bound to happen. I also haven't been taking the Vitamin C. I heard of a couple studies that said it was all a myth so I slacked a little but I am going to start it back up for sure. I don't care if it is just all in my head. I feel better when I take it and I don't get sick.

I had a really productive weekend before I started feeling like crap (and a little after). I painted my craft room (3 coats and I was sweating...I wonder how many calories that burns. Since I was sweating I considered it a workout and didn't go to the gym), got the carpet for it, we finished the bathroom, I edited my client's photos from last week, and got all the suggestions on the photos for my new website done. I also ordered some news lights that I wanted and entered a photography contest. I think that the fact that I wrote stuff down helped me to get through it.

I was getting ready to take the after pictures yesterday of the bathroom but Craig wouldn't let me because he wanted to finish painting the cabinets (you won't really be able to see in the picture but he was so funny about it that I gave in).

I am in VA now and hopefully am going to meet up with Terah Kinser Defore tomorrow (depending on how I feel) in Richmond, then the next day a two hour drive to my next place.

I am glad that I will not be traveling as much the next couple weeks (sort of).....

Lists, lists, and more lists....

yep, my life is consumed by lists. I posted about this before and got a little consulting from Erin and have started to put all my big items on my planner (my rocks) and then fill in the smaller items when I have time (the sand). I have to say that I do feel less stressed about it all because I know when I am going to work on certain things. The problem that I have had is that my job is really unpredictable and I get calls all day and hundreds of emails that I have to answer, problems to deal with and conference calls that are last minute. I know most people's jobs are like that and I know it keeps things interesting but I sometimes envy people who can come straight in and work through their to do list with no interruptions or at least if the interruptions are there they are small. Then again, I would probably get bored with that. The one thing that I have not been good about completing are my weekend projects. I need to work on that. I was doing well until the home improvement projects came up unexpectedly. I need to reschedule them.

Yesterday I got almost everything on my to do list done but today I am already behind and it is only 9:45. Oh well, hopefully I will catch up.

I am not feeling very well, I think that it is allergies but not sure why it would be allergies right now. Anyone who has bad allergies know if they are bad right now? If it isn't that then it is probably just all the traveling. I have been on a plane at least once a week for the last 8 weeks....that will definitely wear you down.

The bathroom is making progress! I haven't seen it but Craig finished the counter Sunday night and had started the painting last night (mostly the filling in holes and all that stuff). I am hoping that he will be able to finish the painting tonight or tomorrow and I will have some after pictures for you when I get home on Thursday night.

Finally, I am really close to my 500th post and I am trying to think of something good to do for that post. I like the giveaway that Carrie did but I don't want to seem unoriginal and steal her idea. Then again, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right?

Time

I am a bit cranky tonight. I don't really want to be in Atlanta right now. Don't get me wrong, I like coming here, I like hanging out and I liked that I got to eat dinner with my mom and hang out with my sister but there is SO MUCH to do at home. I have been traveling like crazy and it doesn't really slow down anytime soon so it is hard to get stuff done in Ohio. I am moving in just a few weeks and I have a lot to get done in that time. I feel like I am starting to get rundown and I am worried that I am going to get sick soon :-(

I am also a bit annoyed by the chain of events today. I got a phone call at 9am and after I had sent a reminder to my one and only client (and the ONLY reason I came to Atlanta today and cut my weekend short as opposed to coming tomorrow) I knew it would be her. Sure enough, it was her and she wanted to know if there was any way to do the shoot earlier because she just started a new business and had a meeting today. While I understand that these things can happen, why didn't she let me know days ago? Why the day of? I think that I get annoyed because I feel like people have a complete lack of respect for other people's time (or at least mine). I am not a store that is open from 9 to 5 no matter whether people come in or not. I plan my travel, weekends, and to some extent, life around when I need to be at my studio for customers. I find it extremely rude when people are always late or think that they can just switch stuff around on me. Of course I always oblige when I can. I really like this family so I try to be understanding but part of me is just annoyed that they were 20 mins late and then we only spent 30 mins taking pictures when I could have used all the hours today to paint and partially set up my craft room. I also just felt flustered because the trains in the airport weren't working so you had to walk from the terminals and I was on C and then everyone had to walk so it was packed and some people just mosy....so, by the time I got home it was 2:55 and they were supposed to be here at 3. I felt so rushed. Oh well, it ended well, the kids were angels and I got to have dinner with my mom so that was all good.

In other news, I just finished reading My Sister's Keeper and I was PISSED at the ending. I mean PISSED. I HAVEN'T seen the movie and I know everyone says it is different so please don't tell me what happens. I am sure I will equally as pissed and I am not sure I can even make it through the movie because I will want to know how the ending is different. I think that I may get Craig to get it for Friday.

Also, I can't believe that football season starts in a couple of weeks! I looked into it last night and I think that I am going to get ESPN Gameplan so I can watch all the UGA games. I am so sad that I will only make it to one this year and if anyone is going from Atlanta to the Auburn game, I would love a ride :-) We watched the Greenbay preseason game yesterday and Lumpkin did well!! YAY!

I am thinking that it will be an early night tonight for me....

Remember this ugly yellow tub?? Well, look at it now. Obviously it is still in progress, but isn't that amazing? This stuff smells so strong it is ridiculous....I feel like I am going to get a little buzz just from being in the house...I had Craig open it up. Also included in the before picture for the craft room. I have no idea when I am going to have time to actually get it ready....I was going through my weekends and there is not a lot of time left in them. This weekend I am going to Atlanta, next weekend I will be here, the weekend after that is a race that Lance is in in Ohio so we are going to that, then my sister visits, then an off weekend, then girls' weekend and then I have to move all my stuff the following weekend. It is fast approaching. Where did the summer go?

PS: Sorry the pictures are so dark and crappy, I was using a point and shoot :-) They actually look a lot better on my computer before I put them on the blog....

Worn out...

that seems to be a theme lately. I just read Rebbeca's blog about her trip and just reading it wore me out :-) I fly back in from Philly last night. My visit there was pretty good and nowhere near as frustrating as the trips to SC were so that was good. I was not a fan of the airport or my flight home. When I flew in on Sunday and was riding the Hertz bus to my rental car the guy made an announcement that there were 2 gas stations that were a mile from the airport. He was one of those guys who thinks that he is an announcer on the Tonight Show, but really he is just driving a Hertz bus so I am thinking that this was some big joke that he was playing on all of us. When I got to he airport yesterday I didn't see a gas station anywhere. I normally would have just returned the car but they have been a stickler with the expense policy lately and I am sort of the business owner for our new expense system so I feel like I need to be on top of it. I ended up driving 10-15mins from the airport to get gas. When I finally got in the airport the security line was super long and really unorganized. Luckily I could go in the medallion line :-) There is this guy that works there (he was there last summer when I flew out of there too) and he is like the soup Nazi ...there is a sign that says stand here and wait and it is about 5 ft from the place where he checks ids. If people go right up to him he tells them to back up to the sign and then he will call them right up...takes his job WAY to seriously. Anyway, waiting in line there was a guy behind me who was pissed it was taking so long so he thought that banging into me 08344093280 times in security might help it all along....too bad he was wrong.

Once I got on the flight (delayed) there was a lady who got on with a row 14 seat...problem was, it ended at row 13. Weird. There was also another lady who had my same seat (and two people with the seat in front of me). I have never seen this happen. The lady sitting in my same seat too the seat behind us and I wish that I had. The guy seating next to me was like 6'6" and took up his whole seat, plus most of mine. Immediately when he sat down he put up the arm rest. I found that extremely rude. He could have at least asked. I would have said yes (cause I don't know what else to say and I have to sit next to him for the next 1.5 hours) but I just don't like it when people just do it without asking. I was so ridiculously squished it was not even funny. I couldn't move my legs for the whole flight and it was killing my back to be so contorted...ugh. I made it though and finally got home for a few days before I head to Atlanta on Sunday.

The bathroom tile "painting" turned out really well! I am very impressed by how much it really does look like tile. It is shiny and feels like it and everything. The tub and counter still need to be done and then I will get you guys some after pictures...hopefully by the weekend. I think that Craig is going to work on it some more tonight. I also think that I have decided on the green for the walls in my craft room! Rebecca convinced me.

Other than that, I am going to another sewing class tonight to learn how to make a tote (like the ones you get at publix). It is with a new teacher so I am a little worried. I sort of got used to my crazy quilt teacher and I was usually her only student so I would get the whole project done and didn't have to wait for people who couldn't catch on (I know, I am horrible). I also need to take a picture of the Georgia flannel quilt I made in my last sewing class :-)

Craft Room...Again

Sorry guys to post about this so much but I have been trying to figure it out for days and quite frankly, I don't have anything else exciting going on right now :-)

I like this green color. It is one of 6 colors (she tells what color it is in one of the pictures) that is hanging on the wall at Craig's house right now where I was staring at them trying to decide what I wanted. I think that I like it even better now. I will have white storage containers, not silver.

Here is the sort of yellow color I was thinking about. Here is another picture of a different room but I really think that after seeing the green in action I am going to do that one.....though when I looked up the feng shui thing it said whites and yellows....no white, but it makes me think about the yellow again....such decisions!

In Philly

I am in Philly today and tomorrow...the travel continues. Luckily after they said my flight would be delayed for 2 hours last night we only got in about 45 mins late. Lucky because I had an hour drive once I got here to the suburbs and to a place I had never been. I was really tired yesterday because that 3:40am wake up and all of that domestic stuff wore me out.

I talked to Craig last night and he said that the bathroom tile that he was painting was coming along and he thinks that it looks good. He also said he was a little sore today and had a headache which makes me worry a little. We have a vent in the bathroom but he has to keep the door closed because the kitties will get in there and explore right into the mess. I think that he has one more coat to go and I can't wait to see it. As soon as I finish some work tonight I am going to find some examples of what I want for my craft room and post for you guys.

In other news, I lost 2.4lbs last week :-) I was very good with my eating until the weekend but then I went out with a friend in Foxboro and had a few beverages. It is getting easier to eat healthy so hopefully I will continue this week :-)

Busy Saturday....

It all started today at 3:40am for me! I was in RI and MA for work and have a friend there who Morgan and I met on a cruise several years ago and wanted to visit with her last night so I stayed. The problem was that there are not many flights out of there and the later one was a lot more expensive so 5:30am it was. It wasn't too bad and I slept on the plane and then crawled in bed with Craig when I got home at 9am (after the hour drive from Cincy).

After my brief "nap" I got up and we started the home depot list...actually we went to Lowe's but being from Atlanta, Home Depot is sort of like saying Coke when you want soda. We had a modest list but ended up spending over $300 by the time we got out of there. I tried to take a picture of our lovely yellow counter on my camera to the store so we could choose a paint color for that room and someone in the process we decided to pretty much redo the whole bathroom. Not pulling anything out but painting the walls, getting an updated light fixture, the light switch, painting the cabinets, and bathmat and shower curtain and stuff. I picked out a nice neutral color that went really well with the yellow that I thought our counter looked like (though the picture on my camera had it a much uglier color). I actually liked the way the color looked with the yellow. Since I was in charge of the paint part Craig was MIA. He said I should pick some and then he would say if he liked them or not. So after I am standing there FOREVER he comes back and tells me to follow him. Turns out that he has found some product where you can actually cover your laminate counters! It was only $40! $40 for no ugly yellow, um, yes please! You tint it so we chose the taupe color (side note: I always think that taupe is a different color than it actually is) and decided that it would go really well with the color that we had already picked and liked. Craig is going to start trying it tonight...you have to wait 4 hours between applications and then let it dry for 3 days. Perfect project for him as I go out of town tomorrow for only a couple days :-) I am so excited that he not only agreed to let me paint it but that we get to update the whole thing and it only cost about $200 (the rest was just other random stuff we needed and bike stuff)! The reason I am extra glad is that when we got home I put the yellows up to the counter and the ugliest one...the one we hated in the store was the one that most closely matched our counter and the one that looked the worst with the wall color we picked. I feel like we are doing our own version of one of those HGTV shows. I asked Craig the same thing as we were leaving Lowe's and he just laughed, then looked at me and said "no". Oh well.

Here are the before pictures. I didn't get any before Craig took down the awesome olive green shower curtain so use your imagination if you will.


Let's hope the counter stuff works. I asked the guy at Lowe's and he said that a lot of people buy it and no one comes back to complain but no one has ever told him if they liked it either. I promised him that when I came back for my paint that I would let him know :-)I probably need to get another one of the lights but if you look at the picture you can see the lovely dressing room lights that come in an old house...we are replacing that as well. I don't feel like you can get a full appreciation for the color of the walls verses the color of the counter but it is awful!
Don't worry, the tub is just as ugly. Luckily we found a thing that you can use to refinish your tub..IN WHITE. YAY. It will look so great if it works and I am super excited. Maybe I should take a couple more photos of some of the detail so you can fully appreciate it when it looks so much better.

My craft room is still a mystery. It about 7.5 by 12 feet. The colors that I seemed to like when we were at the store were blue (but Craig already has two rooms upstairs that are blue, but we both really like that color) and yellow, which I didn't give a fair chance because I was so annoyed by the ugly yellow counter. I also found a kelly greenish color that I liked but I kept thinking that some of the colors I saw were too much for one room. I want it to be bright but not hideous. So, I am looking online now at some craft room designs to see what colors they use. After looking at them I realized that duh, I will have a big table and shelves/storage of some sort that can help tone down a bright color. I am going to try to find a few to show you guys. Anyone have strong feelings about the three colors that I mentioned above?

ugly bathroom

Ok, I need som$e more color suggestions. I got permission to repaint the bright blue walls in the bathroom that don't go with the olive green shower curtain or the 70's yellow counter. The counter has to stay for now cause we have other projects first. So, what color walls will match the 70's yellow? I was thinking a darker gray but any thoughts besides white?

craft room

So, I think we might do the painting this weekend. Any suggestions for wall colors for my craft room? Need something pretty bright because it is in the basement with no windows and I don't like neutrals anyway :-). Come on ladies, what are the suggestions?

My room grew

egotiations are going well. I actually measured the bedroom I was supposed to use and then told him that my bed wouldn't really fit. There is a bigger room across the hall so he said that we could switch the two rooms so I could use the bigger room (he had a roommate at one point that used it) and then I told him that my crafts wouldn't fit so he said I could use the room downstairs with the foozball table in it as my craft room. Sort of wish it wasn't in the basement but at the same time, it was really sweet of him to think of my crafting. And, truthfully I think that he just doesn't want to see the mess that is my craft area. I am pretty excited that I have two rooms now that will be all mine...not that the house won't be mine too but it will be nice to be able to keep my clothes in my dressers and to have a room where I can do my sewing and whatever else I want to do.

We also talked about the couches and I think that mine might replace the ones upstairs (yay cause mine are newer and so comfier). It seems to be all coming together. The last thing I will have to figure out is the whole photography thing. We will see.

Other than that, not much else going on....getting ready to go to Providence today to visit my senior there. I also have a friend there so we are all going to go out and crazy me booked a 5:30am flight on Saturday morning to come back. It was the only flight that was the same price so I didn't have to pay and I wanted to go out on Friday night. Not sure if I will sleep or not that night...should be interesting.

Oh, and my sister texted me last night and said that Ariyana just kept saying "lishla, lishla" all night last night. She was saying grandma "gamma" too and Alyson says that she thinks that Ariyana thought that we would be at their house waiting for her. She is just too darn cute!

Ok, here is the video of Ariyana saying Go Dawgs. The second video is when she was just saying it to herself over and over and then I started the camera and had to prompt her. Her words are a little hard to hear, but she is definitely saying. In the first video you can hear my sister in the background saying her daddy (Zach the Tech fan) is going to kill her :-)

My Room and Makeovers

You know how they always say that you should let guys think that something it their idea and it will go over better? Well, I had a little mini version of that this weekend. As I think that I have told everyone by now, I am moving in with Craig after my lease expires Sept 30th. I was a little nervous, not because of living with him but of finding a way to make the house seem like it was my home too and not just his. I didn't want to be that girl that moved in and immediately wanted to change everything. His place is not a complete bachelor pad or anything but he shares a different decorating style than I do. There are a lot of darker colors and minimalist type furniture, which looks fine and goes together, but just not my choice. For anyone who saw my condo in Atlanta, I am not a fan of neutral colors and I like soft and homey things. But, we are not married and I honestly don't feel like shopping and spending money on new stuff so I am content with the way it is (not like I have friends to come over anyway). There are a few things that I would change though that drive me nuts, well, three really. 1. The guest bathroom is awful. The counter tops are that 70's yellow color..you know the one that went with olive green and that burnt orange...ugh, but to top that off, Craig thought it would be 'funny' to paint the walls a color that didn't go at all. He said that since it was already ugly, why not make it worse....um, because. So, the walls are a sky blue and the shower curtain is an olive/hunter green. What the heck? It is not good. So, that is an easy fix, cream walls and a shower curtain that minimizes the ugly yellow...I am even hopeful that I can find one that will have pretty colors with only hints of the yellow. I don't know how this will go over so I haven't mentioned it yet. 2. He has a whole bedroom that is nothing but an exercise machine (one of those all in one deals) that I have seen him use once. He had mentioned a long time ago that he thought about getting rid of it but then it still sits there. 3. The basement. He has a full finished basement (well, 95%, there is a place for another bathroom but nothing is hooked up). There is an extra room or two down there (though they are so small, not sure what you could put in them, I think that he has stuff stored in one and a fooz (sp) ball table in the other. He also has a pool table down there and a bar with a refridgerator...cool. But then he has this awful southwestern furniture that his parents gave him. It is their hand-me-downs and it is ugly. He doesn't like it either, but needed something to fill the void so he used that. I haven't approached this one yet either but I am thinking that my pretty yellow couch and chair will replace those nasty sofas or I will get a studio out of the deal :-) Probably the sofas.

So, the one thing that I really wanted was that exercise thing gone so I could use that room to put my bed in, since we would now have two (and I wasn't sure he would go for putting my stuff in the main bedroom, though I have a set so it makes more sense) and I could use it as a craft room. I figured that maybe he would go for it (and I make him sound so uncompromising, and that isn't the case, I just want to be careful not to seem like I am taking over his house and critizing stuff) but I hadn't found the right time to discuss it. Well, on Saturday he said that he was thinking about taking the exercise thing out of there and then I could have that room! YAY!! I was so excited. I didn't even have to pick that battle so now I am free to pick another one! Of course my bed is pretty big so now I am wondering how I am going to get it in there and still have room for a little desk for my craft stuff, and still fit my dresser and stuff (I have one long one and a tall one and sadly they are both filled with clothes and stuff). I measure my stuff this weekend and now I need to measure the room to see what will work....I could always put the tall dresser in the basement in that storage room maybe and just put all the 'other stuff' in there and have my clothes in the long one....ah, decisions.

Anyone have any advice when combining stuff...especially since I am moving into his place and he has lived there alone for like 7 years?

On to makeovers. Apparently the Extreme Makeover Home Edition is in our neighborhood (well, actually across the street from our neighborhood) this week. They tore down the house (which was a perfectly good house in a nice neighborhood but the people getting it done have two people in wheelchairs so they are making it more accessible) on Saturday and are supposed to have the unveiling on Thursday!! I can't believe how fast it will be. I always thought those things were time lapsed but they aren't. It is nuts right now, they have closed roads and rerouted traffic (luckily in the opposite direction to the way Craig and I go to work) and they have a 'staging' area at a local school...nuts how much is there. On Saturday we rode our bikes to go see the house but they had a sign and policemen standing there that said no bikes or skateboards...annoying. What is the point of that? You could walk in, why not ride in? They have huge signs at the highway exit to visit it (maybe they should add "on foot" cause you can't drive there either). Tonight we plan on walking down there to see what we can see. I heard that you could take pictures but not publish them (though how would they know) until after the show airs. If anyone watches that show let me know and I will let you know when it will air :-)

Now for my makeover. The whole eating healthy and losing weight thing has not been going well. I actually have put on 3 more lbs. So, now definitely at my highest weight ever. I would say that I don't know how but I do....the traveling and eating when I wasn't hungry, the ice cream at the beach and the general lack of portion control are all to blame. I think that I realized at the beach that it isn't so much WHAT I eat, but the QUANTITY that gets me into trouble. So, I have decide to try weight watchers again. I hate the feeling of being on a 'diet' and all that but honestly, for me, that is just reality right now. I did ww before and I really did well on it because it made me realize that the portions I was eating were out of control when I never realized it. I never felt hungry or like I couldn't eat something, I just ate less of everything. I don't know why ww has such a negative connotation for me, but it does. I have always been proud of people who have done it and lost weight and it is really the only 'diet' that I have seen people be successful on long term but for some reason I feel embarassed that I have to do it. I will not be one of those people who talk about points all the time or tell everyone I know that I am doing it but I do hope that it will work for me. I realize that Craig will eat whatever I make so I can look up healthy meals and I just need to be prepared. I think that it will get easier when I live in the same house as him full time and don't have to grocery shop and take it to my place and then pack up what I want to make for dinner, but accidentally leave my fruit for snacks behind and that sort of thing. We will see. I am not going to tell him that I am doing it because I feel like boys don't understand (or maybe I just assume they don't) but I am going to tell him that I am trying to eat healthier...he has always been supportive of that. I am not actually joining ww because I have no interest in going to the meetings (though that might be a good way to meet people) so I am just going to do it on my own which is what I did before.

If anyone has any healthy recipes (specifically around chicken and pork) then I am all ears. The biggest problem I run into is that they all seem to involve tomatoes, which I don't like that much and Craig can't eat.

To end on a positive, cute story: Last week I rented a car to go to work on Thursday and because we were limited on parking passes at the condo, I returned it Thursday night and my mom, Richard, and Ariyana picked me up at the airport. My mom told Ariyana on the way that they were going to get Melissa and the whole way she sang "lishla, lishla" (this is what she calls me as she attempts to say "Melissa". Sometimes it comes out "lissa". When I got in the car I got a huge grin and lots of giggles. Well, yesterday they had to take my grandma to the airport and when they got there Ariyana said "lishla?" HA, she knew that was where they had gotten me the last time. Amazing what the little ones remember.

Whew, that was a long blog...hope you guys are still awake...I had to make up for lost time! Pictures coming soon..they are on my new camera which has a different card reader that I keep forgetting at my apartment!

Relaxing

Finally home and so glad. Not that the beach wasn't relaxing, because it was and I had a blast with my little Ariyana (notice she is mine now). I was there with her for 6 days and she was such an angel. She literally didn't have one single temper tantrum. I only remember one day where she cried a little but as soon as she realized that crying was not the way to let mommy have her book to rip apart she stopped and started playing again. She is such a good little one. I was a little afraid that if she was going through the terrible twos (she is almost there) then she wouldn't be as much fun because she would cry a lot and have an attitude, but she isn't that kind of gal (at least not yet). I have pictures and the video of her saying "go dawgs" that I will post later but I don't have time right now. I just wanted to do a quick post of some updates.

My dad was supposed to have a procedure last week and they had him stop taking his blood thinners in order to have it done (my dad had a stroke in 2001 at age 53). Well, on Wednesday when my mom got to the beach she said he had been acting funny and my sister thought something might be up. I called him and he had no recollection of my sister coming to get him and spending 4 hours going around to doctors, they ultimately decided not to do the procedure. This worried us so we sent him to the hospital. They ran all kinds of tests but what they determined is that not taking his medicine was causing problems. It was a relief to find it out but he was in the hospital for 2 days with tests...that was tough.

My sister also had surgery on Thursday. It was a planned outpatient procedure and she is doing fine but being an older sister means I always worry (well, probably being a sister in general). I talked to her yesterday and she sounded a lot better.

As for me, injured the neck again planning with Ariyana. Thank goodness I looked up chiropractors and there is a 9:30am appt waiting for me today...YAY. No sure I actually believe that chiropractors help but people swear by them and I am willing to try anything now. This time I actually felt the pull. It helps to have it rubbed so Craig was a trooper last night helping me with that. Hopefully this chiro can work some magic!

After that is off to the garden....we have had a bit of a growth spurt since I have been gone and it is getting a bit wild out there...I need to tame the beast!

Hope everyone has a great weekend, I will be back with beach stories and pics later.