Merry Christmas!

Christmas Cats

Manny & Minky wish you all a Merry Christmas! They love the Christmas tree, ribbons and wrapping paper this time of year.

Happy Holidays!

I hope everyone has a happy holiday season! I am off to visit my family for a few days.

Time for a Break

Today is my last day at work until January 5th! I am so excited to have a break, even though I will need to do a little bit of work from home. I work in corporate finance, so quarter ends and year end are important...it just goes with the job. At least I can do my work in my pajamas on the couch. I leave tomorrow for Vegas (1 night) and then on to California for the rest of the week. When I get home I will have an entire week off work to relax. Yay!

Jenny Craig: Week 3

I lost 2.2 pounds this week bringing my total to 6.6 pounds in 3 weeks! I had a good week that balanced JC food and eating out/my own food. I went out to lunch twice and made a crustless pumpkin pie that I ate for dessert 5 nights since I love pumpkin pie this time of year. I am glad I had a good weigh in today because this next week is going to be hard. I am hoping to just stay the same over the next week since Christmas and being out of town will be a challenge. I am still really happy with the JC program.

Hoping for Good Weather

Who would have thought I would have to worry about the weather in Vegas??? My Christmas trip has us going to California with a one day stop in Vegas. My husband's parents are driving out to Vegas from CA as well. Hopefully the craziness will stop since we fly from here to Vegas on the 23rd, then Vegas to Orange County on the 24th and finally Orange County back to VA on the 26th. I am really hoping the weather across the country clears up and doesn't cause us any problems since we don't have any room for delays. I paid a fortune yesterday to ship all the gifts to get there by the 24th and I want to be there to see them opened.

Thursday Thirteen: Holiday Songs on My iPod

1. A Great Big Sled - The Killers

2. Merry Christmas (I Don't Want to Fight Tonite) - The Ramones

3. Christmas in Hollis - Run DMC

4. Last Christmas - Wham!

5. The Chipmunks Song - The Chipmunks

6. The Chanukah Song - Adam Sandler

7. Mele Kalikimaka - Jimmy buffet

8. All I Want for Christmas Is You - Mariah Carey

9. Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) - U2

10. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer - The Temptations

11. Christmas Wrapping - The Waitresses

12. Christmas Blues - Willie Nelson

13. Blue Christmas - Elvis Presley

No Blue Food

I don't like blue food...except things that are naturally blue, like blueberries. Well, I learned on Top Chef this week that there are NO blue foods because blueberries are purple...so says Tom Colicchio.

Jenny Craig: Week 2

Week 2 is over and I lost 0.8 for the week. I was hoping for more, but am ok with it since I had a good loss last week. I was not able to work out all week since I'm still recovering from a concussion and whiplash. There was some food that wasn't so great this week (shelf stable food rather than frozen) so I told my consultant that and I will avoid it in the future. I was able to choose all my own food today for week 3 so I have no excuse for choosing to eat something else.

Regifting

Ok, who out there is a regifter? I have heard a lot recently on the radio and on the internet about regifting. Some say there is a certain etiquette to it and some think it's not ok at all. I have received quite a few gifts that I have never used, but I didn't give them to someone else. I do admit I did once regift because we received 2 of the exact same thing when we got married so we gave one away because we really liked it and thought someone else would too. (We didn't register for gifts so there was no way for us to return it.) We weren't trying to get rid of something that we didn't like. Other than that, I think regifting is tacky because gifts should be thoughtful and if you give away something you don't like, it's showing you don't care about who you are giving the gift to (which may be the case). I am pretty sure I was the recipient of a regifted gift not once, but twice, by the same person two Christmases in a row! It actually bothered me since it is someone close to me. The gifts were so impersonal and not something at all I would like that I am pretty sure they were regifted. After the second time I just stopped putting a lot of effort into what I got this person going forward for gifts. I actually enjoy trying to find things people would like. So to everyone out there...don't take the easy way out...put some effort into it and get people something they would really like.

Update on My Head

My head is feeling a lot better, but not 100% yet. I am able to work today so that is a good sign. I am still trying to take it easy so I may leave early today.

Jenny Craig: Week 1

I consider week 1 on Jenny Craig to be a success. I lost 3.6 pounds and that includes the Thanksgiving weekend since my initial weigh in was the day before turkey day. I met with my counselor and she asked how things went and what challenges I have for the upcoming week. I have not experienced any of the negative things about JC that I read online. I have not been pushed to buy things and they are very accommodating about changes to the meal plans for things I do not like or things I want to add.

As for the food, it's not gourmet, but I like it. Some things better than others, but overall I would say it is a little better than the Lean Cuisine or Smart Ones from the grocery store. I like the convenience of not having to think about what I eat. I just look at the menu and eat what it says. I know this will eventually get boring, but JC is not forever.

Perspective

We need to do a CT scan on your head to make sure there isn't bleeding in the brain.

Uh oh. Hearing words like this makes you put everything in perspective. My head was still feeling weird today after hitting it in the car accident and I couldn't concentrate or focus on anything. I called Kaiser to get an appointment to see my Dr. I just wanted to go in and have them tell me there is nothing to worry about and I'll be fine in a couple days. Instead they told me I had to go to the emergency room. Really? I felt silly going to the ER and I didn't want to take time away from people who were really having a medical emergency. So I went and my husband went with me. Turns out my pupils were different sizes so that combined with my symptoms made them worry so I had a CT scan on my head. They said if there was any bleeding they would get me in a room ASAP...then it hit me that I may not be going home today. I went back out to the waiting room and told my husband and all of sudden the severity of the situation sank in. It all turned out to be ok though. I just have a concussion. That doesn't seem so bad now and everything else I have been worrying about lately doesn't seem so important. I am thankful to have my health and friends and family who care about me. Nothing else really matters.

Crash!

I was in a car accident last night. I got rear ended and didn't even see it coming so I hit my head and now my neck hurts. I am home today taking it easy and Minky is loving it since he has spent the day on my lap to stay warm.

It's Official

We are in a recession and have been for a year. Duh. This really can't be a surprise to anyone.

Southerners Taking Care of Southerners

The drive to the resort we went to for Thanksgiving was a little under a 4 hour drive away. Most of the drive was in Virginia and then we crossed over into West Virginia for the last 10 miles or so. Here in Virginia the police do not drive around in traffic looking for people driving in an unsafe manor. They hide....often in unmarked cars. If you get pulled over, you get a ticket, not warning to just slow down. We were driving anywhere from 75 to 84 MPH and the speed limit was 65. On the drive there we passed a couple cops hiding, but felt like we slowed down enough in time to not get a ticket. Phew! On the drive back, I got really nervous because we passed a couple cops while going well over 80 and still did not get pulled over. I finally figured it out...they were only pulling over people with out of state license plates! It became comical at how fast we would pass them and then see cars from other states pulled over. Every time we passed a car that was pulled over, I would look to see the plates and then laugh that none of them were from Virginia. I do believe this is one of the first perks I have found from living here. Unfortunately this rule doesn't seem apply during the morning or evening rush hour.