Happy New Year!!

I know.. I know... you were wondering if I was ever coming back to write. I wondered if I'd have any time myself but it's New Years Eve and I have a moment before I need to nap before the party. Yep. party. My parent's friends have a party every year and invite about 50 people and we were invited. Probably a little odd that two mid-30s folks want to hang out at a party with mostly people in their 60s but they're a fun crowd. I'm looking forward to it.

It's been a busy two weeks or so. We drove down here from Washington with no problems. Stopping over to visit a friend on Christmas Eve Eve (that's the 23rd, don'tcha know?) and then down here to O-side on Christmas Eve. My mom made it a special one, making sure to get everyone gifts (we got a blender and a mixer for the new house!), which was more than we got each other, if you can believe it. We finally just had to say - you know, can we agree that we won't be buying gifts this year? i'm so tired of shopping! - and after that, we were able to relax a bit.

So, some evenings we've been playing games (this stopped for about 20 years when I was 'too cool' to play games, now it's fun again) and one of them is called 'Catch Phrase'. You get a word and have to try and get your partner to guess the word. I got partnered with my dad, whose from Chile and doesn't really know a lot of normal words, I guess, because I'd give this great clue and he'd just sit there until time ran out, when M and my mom (who were the other team) answered it easily. Needless to say, we got slaughtered. When my dad couldn't remember the word safari, (I gave him a good clue too) I knew our goose was cooked. But it was fun. I have to say that it was fun.

So, that's all for now. M's heading back to WA on Wednesday and I start a month of work here in LA, Oxnard and Orange counties. It's going to be brutal but when it's done, I only have a few short weeks of work remaining. So I can't complain.

I hope you all have a Happy New Year and I'll make sure I write in a bit more often and check in on your sites. Take care.

Happy Holidays!!!

I wish I had more time to tell you how things are going but things are still crazy here.
Adding work to a mix of working out, buying more furniture, planning on the model for our bathroom, etc, etc has made things here even crazier than before. I am on my way to Southern California for a month to do work on my contract job - most likely I'll start writing there if I can fit it in.

In the meantime, happy holidays to you all!! Have a happy, safe time and a great new years!
See you in 2006!

anne

Post wedding high

Better than alcohol anyday. Holy cow! I can't believe it's all over. I can't believe that somehow, we managed to plan a wedding in less than 5 days and, somehow, it was beautiful. The day of the wedding I woke up, told my friend that was visiting that 'of course we will take you to the REI Flagship store so you can shop' even though it was across town and we still needed to get a cake, amongst other things. lol Apparently, someone was smiling on us because, after dropping her off there, we walked into Larry's Market on lower Queen Anne and we went to the bakery looking for a cake and we met Amy. She works there. She looked sort of like I used to in high school - kind of a black makeup, black nail polish, Doc Marten boot wearing sort of girl - so I liked her right away. She wanted to help us out so badly but we hadn't even thought about what we wanted. So the two of us went to the coffee shop and went through some books of pictures that she could project on the cake and then draw. We had all sorts of goofy ideas but came to a good conclusion, which she was able to help us with in under 30 minutes. You'll have to wait for the photos though, because I haven't gotten them loaded to this laptop, which is a work computer!

Anyhow, we managed to get myself, my mother, M's 'best man' (that same friend of the REI store), and my maid of honor to the nail salon where we proceeded to have manicures and pedicures. We were literally flying out of the salon and to the house at less than an hour to go before people arrived and Anne still had to take a shower. Thank god for the fact I have short wash-and-go style hair and my fiance (now husband! eep!!!) is used to seeing me without makeup. Anything would be 'dressing up'! I got ready in less than said hour, we had champagne flutes out and champagne poured as the guests were arriving. In total, there were 12 of us.

We had a nice toast on our deck with the sun setting in the background. Photos were taken and that sort of thing. Then we climbed into the limo (woo hoo!) and headed to the courthouse. There was more champagne in the overcrowded limo (that's the way it should be!) and we made it to the courthouse with 15 minutes to spare. We got to the designated courtroom but it was locked! lol The 'best man' ran off in search of some answers but after about 5 minutes the door opened and Judge K stepped out. She called M and I into her office, chatted with us briefly about where we met, her own trip to Peru, how she got to doing what she's doing (in between trying criminal cases) and how much she loves this part of her job. We could hear laughter in the courtroom - our friends and family - we found out later there was banging of the gavel and some attempt at singing in the microphone at the front of the room. lol The judge gave a really beautiful speech - including an excerpt from an Anne Morrow Lindbergh book - I'll write bits of it later when I think about it. I wish I could remember more but it all went in one ear and out the other. It had to do with being best friends and blah de blah de blah. Take my word for it, it was beyond anything we could have imagined. She even blew bubbles at us when she was finished!

After the ceremony, we hopped back in the limo and back to our neighborhood. We had found a lovely, intimate local Italian restaurant for dinner. It was a tiny place. We started in the bar which was barely big enough for the 12 of us but couldn't have been more perfect! We moved into the restaurant and had a small upper level to ourselves. There was a bottle of champagne waiting for us... M's sister had called.the.restaurant.to.order.it. (It was 3am Dublin time) and she even called back to congratulate us. It was pretty darn cool. The food was great, the cake turned out wonderful, the party ended about 9:30 - limo taking everyone back to our house, then taking us to the W Hotel in downtown. Pretty swanky. It was so lovely to hang out in bed and watch tv this morning and not have to do a thing. We stayed for the late checkout, then took our friend C out for lunch to thank her for loaning us everything but the kitchen sink during this holiday. It was great fun! I'm exhausted and heading to bed. I just wanted to let everyone know I'm Mrs. C now.

(ok, I'm not really changing my name but that's what I'm calling myself!)

What day is it again?

What a week (or two) this has been. We have shopped and shopped and shopped and shopped. I really hate shopping. And there's more to do. I mean, we only shopped so the house had some furniture, sheets, towels, pots/pans, toaster for when my parents arrived (which was a day early since they decided to fly at the last minute) and for Thanksgiving food. We still have this wedding thing...lol...and we are so unprepared. I was so hoping to have a dress before T-day so I didn't have to go out in the madness known as post-Thanksgiving shopping, but we didn't make it. So I have to go today. Somehow, I think I can get a wedding outfit and shoes in less than 5 days! We only make decisions to buy houses in less than 5 days, I've never shopped FOR a dress and found it so quickly. Maybe this will be my year. :) We have the justice/judge doing the ceremony, we found the restaurant (a little local italian place with gorgeous food, who don't want to charge us $3/person for slicing a cake that we will bring!), we are hoping to arrange a limo (we don't have a big enough car to transport ourselves, my parents, and my friend B) and then a hotel downtown for the two of us. As my lovely fiance is downstairs sawing into the pipe that drains our tub/bathroom sink, I am sure this will fall to me. As I seem to have a sinus infection or bad cold anyhow, I just want to sit around and do nothing. Ain't gonna happen. B arrives today, my mom and I are going shopping, my dad and M doing the work. It's pouring rain and I want to stay home!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Waaaaaaaaaaaaah. Ok there, I'm done with the pity. Again, can I say, what was I thinking???????????!

Oh, but this is sweet. My fiance's sisters, brother-in-law, and 2 couple friends of his are meeting for dinner on the 29th - to be with us in spirit on our wedding day. I thought that was pretty darn cool and I loved it. Even though we aren't there, they are celebrating us. :) Nice idea!

I haven't had a chance to weigh myself or work out in a couple weeks. When all this settles down, I will go. I'm doing okay with eating, although it's been harder with being out all day shopping and now my folks are here but I'm determined to keep going. So, I haven't given up. aside from yesterday, I haven't really indulged, I don't think. I guess I'll see the next time I get to the gym. But I won't be discouraged because, this time, it just has to continue. I love the weightloss and I want it to continue. The stress and the wackiness of this time has really thrown me off but I don't feel like I've collapsed, like I've given in, just that I've enjoyed myself and we'll get back to normal really soon. Well, until Christmas, when we are headed to San Diego! But that's another story for another time.

I hope you all had a great turkey day. I'm going to have a bit now, myself.

I'm here!! I'm here!!!!

(waving from seattle)

Sorry everyone, for the delay. We'll see if anyone is still actually reading my blog by this time.... lol

Weight on Nov 14th: 167.4
Weight lost: 7 pounds?

I can't actually remember what I weighed 2 weeks ago... (and god forbid i read my own blog....)
I spent 2 weeks on the road, eating really well with all the planning I did, and somehow managed to drop a few pounds. Now, truth be told, I know that's a lot to lose in 2 weeks, which means there's a distinct possibility that now that I am home and working out, I'll gain a bit back this week. But I'm satisfied that the scale is heading in the right direction! I think I've reached one of my goals too, so I get to buy myself a new workout outfit. Cool...

So the trip to SF was great. I have some great friends and they took good care of me, even though I was working 12 hour days and couldn't spend too much time with them. They provided couches, entertainment, food, gym workouts, coffee... They were wonderful. It's funny if you've lived some place, you never spend *that* much time with people, because you probably always go home at the end of the evening, and it's good to get a different view of them when you stay with them. In my case, this was good!! lol

The work for that area was finished and I got home in time to pick up my irish pressie (present, like Christmas present, for you americans) from the airport. He, of course, was the last one off the plane and on top of that always stops at the bathroom and 'freshen's' up - which is a nice thought but makes me start to wonder if he missed his flight or something. He looked as adorable as I remember and it didn't hurt that he said, 'wow! you look great' and patted the butt that has lost a few pounds. Girls, there are these men out there! Joe, I think you must be one of them. ;)

It's been nonstop shopping ever since he got here. Most girls would love that. I'm not most girls. I don't really like shopping but this hasn't been a bad experience. We are shopping for furniture, serious purchases for our new home and we actually agree on things! It's so cool. And we both won't settle so the fact that we manage to find things we both like is a pretty awesome thing. We've got a long way to go though, so I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

I need to run now. Off to get the hair highlighted and cut. Yes, you would've thought I'd done it before the boy arrived but I just couldn't fit it in. So he's had to see my skunk stripe of gray and wearing a stupid girlie clip to keep the hair out of my eyes. He'll be thrilled when he sees me tonight! hubba, hubba.

Talk with you soon!

Capturing a moment

...on my trip to say hello!

I *do* see to be the queen of spam! At least, that day. ..spamspamspamspam (always reminds me of monty python..)

So I've made it to the Bay Area... I drove down (don't ask me why but it was a lovely drive. well... except for the first 4 hours when it was pissin rain and everyone was still driving 75 mph. including me.) and the last 9 hours were in gorgeous 70 degrees temps. I know I've said it before but southern Oregon is gorgeous this time of year. Leaves changing, that sort of thing.

I've been here since Monday, I'm doing incredibly well with keeping my eating in control. It's truly organization, I have a cooler, I bought food, I have snacks and healthy things to eat every 3 hours or so. It's been working great actually. It would've been a disaster if I didn't prepare... Still.. there will be a couple lunches out and dinners out. The true test. Ah well. There will always be that, won't there?

I've enjoyed seeing my friends too. The one I am staying with now is probably as close to a best friend as I've got. She's actually managed to get me up at 5:15am to head to the gym to work out with her workout group... and I'm going to do it again tomorrow! I'm nuts. Must be all that healthy eating... This weekend I'll stay with a more sedentary friend and eat out. lol And the last two days with a vegan, gluten-free friend so I'll most likely be desperate to get home after that!

As M says, 8 more sleeps! (til he gets there that is!)

And Joe, the food is in the mail! Enjoy!

On the road again....

Today's weight: 175.2 (pounds lost 1.2)

Ok, that's fine. As long as it keeps going down... I've probably been drinking more wine than I should, when one is trying to lose weight. But it's okay. Only 2 more pounds and I reach my first goal and my new workout gear! The hard part is that Monday, I leave town, driving back down to the Bay Area. Nothing like challenging the diet by hanging out with friends and working an erratic schedule! But it's a good challenge and I am planning things out, so I think I'll manage to be successful!

Did I mention is exactly 2 weeks until M comes here??!!! Geez, I cannot wait! It seems like it's been forever since we've been together! I can't wait for the reunion (hubba, hubba..).

So, other than that, it's been quiet around here. Other than the friend I'm staying with, I don't have too many friends here. So, I haven't had a lot going on, which is fine. I'd love to go out to a pub or out to dinner or even just a wander through our fun new neighborhood, so I can't wait til M gets here. (It looks like they are having music at my favorite coffee shop, so this should be fun... I hope my typing isn't distracting! lol)

That's all for now. I'll keep you posted from the road when I get a chance.

Yes Joe, I'm afraid so...

Today's weight: 176.4 (loss of 1.6 pounds!)

Ok, I'm happy with that. I want it to be slow because I'm changing my lifestyle, not necessarily what I eat. I mean, this weekend we went to eastern Washington for a great wine tasting at an amazing little winery. So, of course, there was wine drinking and I partook. I've just decided that, for now, I'm working on portion control and just better eating habits. RG, I can't wait til we can meet up - I hope for your sake you are feeling better soon because I know all about not feeling good... Take care, you.

Let me share a bit about this weekend... My friend's co-worker bid on a wine tasting event at the Alexandria Nicole winery in Prosser, WA. He bid the highest, I guess, and got to invite 20 people over as well. It was a good group, all 30-40 somethings, fun, smart people. We went to the winery, a small estate winery, and we got to pick grapes as well as taste some wines in various stages of production. I really learned alot more than I ever knew about wine - like even the fact that an estate winery means that the wines produced only use grapes from that winery's vineyard. Fascinating! lol We tasted syrah and a really spectacular blend. A few hours after that finished, we sat down to dinner in the tasting room. They had organized a 5 course meal that highlighted each of their wines. The servings were just the right size so you didn't walk out feeling all bloated and the wines were really nice (even the whites and I'm not a white wine lover). My friend and I bought a couple bottles to enjoy later! We drove back yesterday, through the beautiful autumn colors that dot the Cascade mountains. I took a couple gorgeous photos... Here's the nicest one...



So that's it. I've had the top down on the car a bit, enjoying the sunshine that we've been having. Doesn't matter that it's 58 degrees (that's about 10 degrees C), with the heat turned up, it feels like summer!!

Deidre, I'm looking forward to getting to the Southwest again. I used to live in Phoenix and you're right about it. Not much personality. But there's some lovely areas around it!!

a sunny day in seattle

and I'm sitting inside.... go figure!

G, not much happening with the house. I've been checking the mail and mowing the lawn, that's about the extent of it! Waiting for M to get here and start buying furniture and that other domestic stuff. It's all good.

Can I just say that people are so fricken friendly here?! I love it. I love people just smiling at you randomly, making eye contact. It makes up for the fact that mostly, the weather has been dreary. Today, however, it's gorgeous. I'm thinking of places I can drive so that I can put the top down in my car and enjoy the sun on my face!

In lieu of having a job to go to, I've finally created a sort of 'schedule' for myself. I've bought an alarm clock to start waking up a little earlier (although all I do after I wake up is sit on the couch and drink coffee and read! lol). I try to get a morning workout in usually and sometimes if my roommie wants to go after work, I'll go with her and burn a few more calories. Since I've committed to losing weight, I figure it doesn't hurt.

I suppose I should mention a bit about this. Maybe if I mention it here for the world to see, you all will keep me honest and make sure I'm keeping at it (since I didn't keep at it last time I mentioned it. lol). Should I post my weight and loss each week? Eep! Then you will all know how much I weigh! But since I probably won't see any of you, it shouldn't really matter, should it? Ok, I'll start each post with it.. But in this case, I'll end the post with it. Anyhow, here's the thing: since I left high school almost 20 years ago, I have probably gained 14 pounds. I wasn't exactly my ideal weight in college but looking back, I'd take that now! lol So, here's my plan:

My goal is to lose 20 pounds. If I lost 25, that would be great, but I want to see how things go. I've had an easy time losing 5 pounds but after that, it gets difficult and I usually give up. Tortilla chips and mexican food and beer seem to be the main causes of that. lol BUT, this time I am determined. I am making a deal with myself to change my life eating habits. I will still eat mexican food on occasion but I need to be careful. It's something that I allow myself to overindulge in and frankly, that's what's gotten me here in the first place. Lots and LOTS of overindulgence. I seem to think it's okay to eat as much as my boyfriend.. doh!

Anyhow, I've always gone to the gym. Getting to exercise isn't a problem for me. Truly, it's eating. I love eating, I love food. I used to workout so I could eat what I wanted. I never took my weightloss seriously though. Now I'm getting serious. My reward to myself when I lose the 20 pounds (which I think will take at least 6 months to be maintainable) is to go to Canyon Ranch Health Resort in Tucson, AZ for 4 days.. I'm still working out the details but it's a place I've always wanted to go and it's supporting my commitment to losing weight so it's all good. I need to work out a few more details but I'll have some other goals to list in the future.

So that's it. I need to get out of here and get to the gym, now that we've talked about it. I need support so keep bugging me! But this blog won't be all about weightloss so don't worry. It's just on my mind today and I wanted to put it out there. THERE.

original weight august 7th: 182
last Saturday's weight : 178

now you really have to squint to read that! lol

Tuesday ramblings...

Here I am at my favorite little hideaway. I went for the Chamomile tea today, after coming here late yesterday and having coffee. I was unable to get to sleep last night, then once I did, I woke up and never really felt rested. So herbal tea it is.

Again, it's only Tuesday and I'm busy. It's hard trying to fit it all in. How do people work? lol

I think I will be okay getting my title and registration changed over. My dad is sending a letter and my credit union sent some information that shows that I paid sales tax. I also found some old information about my car insurance so if that doesn't show I used to own the car..... I'll be pissed! lol

This past weekend was a good one because my roomie was home. Usually she goes to her boyfriends cabin over the weekend. It was just like old times, working out together, hanging out and drinking (a glass of) wine and chatting til all hours... We went to Costco, I have to say I love that store. I got all sorts of things that I use on a daily basis (sure, I got a thousand of them, but I'll use 'em!) and I got a few things I didn't need either. Part of the whole weight loss thing is being prepared and not allowing myself to get too hungry. Yesterday I went to my local market to see if I'd saved any money (yep, I'm a nerd) and I did! Score!

Well, this is a boring post but I just wanted to say I'm alive. I need to get out of here and back to the house. I'll write again later... when something happens to me! lol

A new look

really girly, don't you think? I mean, I've moved, I'm getting married, I am on a quest to truly lose 25 pounds after all these years, I guess it's time to change things completely. Mix it up a bit. Why not?

I'm going to start by shamelessly plugging this fantastic coffee shop I mentioned earlier in the week. It's called C&P Coffee Company and it's in West Seatt1e. It's in an old house with odd pieces of furniture strewn about everywhere, funky art on the walls. People sit here for hours, online, drinking coffee. If I wasn't on a serious plan to be more aware of eating well, I'd try that darn coffee cake or the banana bread or whatever it is. It's not a measly little slice either but a big chunk. I love this place. It fits the slightly overcast day that is today, the only thing that would add to the mood would be a fire in that fireplace. I have a feeling I'm going to know people here after a few more days. LOL (oh yeah, did I mention that they allow dogs too?)

Ok, now I want to get down to my frustrations.. I went to get my new drivers license yesterday. Which was a pleasant experience that I certainly didn't expect. I had a nice chat with the DMV woman (her name was Enough, if you can believe that. I didn't want to ask her what it meant, but it seemed obvious.. lol) and she gave me all sorts of clues on how to get the title and registration changed (I had to go somewhere else for that), how to catch the bus into Seatt1e so that I didn't have to pay for parking, etc, etc. What she unfortunately didn't tell me what exactly how many hoops I was going to have to jump through to get my stuff accomplished. Sigh... I took a different bus than she suggested which still got me downtown but I didn't know exactly where it was going. When I finally realized that I was far away from my stop, I got off and walked back to the building I needed (probably about 10-11 blocks). I could've taken the bus back (it's free within downtown Seatt1e from 7-7) but it was a nice day so I walked. I got to the admin office and the woman told me I needed to go to the dept of revenue because I might have to pay sales tax on my car for bringing it into Washington. Of course the dept of revenue was back where I had just walked from, so I went outside, this time catching the free bus which took me most of the way. I had to walk the last 4 blocks which was fine. When I got there, I found out that I have to have proof that I bought the car, that I paid sales tax in CA, that I even owned the car (I transferred title to my dad since he was using it while I was gone), etc etc. If I can't show them I paid sales tax, I have to pay sales tax on the blue book value of my car. What a money making scam! Not only did I pay the car off 2 years ago, I don't have a majority of the papers that I got from my bank (HEL-LO! I'm in the process of moving! sigh). So... so much for me becoming legal anytime soon. Bloody hell. Am I really surprised? No, I guess not, this is a state organization, after all...

Besides that, I've been reviewing my options for cell phone service as well as phone/cable/internet to bring to the house. I don't know what the best option is yet but I'll figure it out. I have a few more weeks before it becomes imperative. The cell phone would be nice though - I'd love to send texts and stuff. I made a decision on the gym and since I joined yesterday, I haven't actually worked out! lol Hopefully I'll get to it this weekend. I'd also like to get out and look at furniture and a down comforter - at least so there's a little bit in the house when M arrives next month.

I guess that's it for now. I hope you like the new look. I hope to get back online and read your blogs one of these days but for now, I have to say hello from here. so, hello!