Woo Hoo!

I started Quick Weight Loss Center's program last week. I won't tell y'all what I started at, but I just weighed in tonight and I have lost:

8.5 pounds in less than 7 days!

I never thought I could lose weight that fast, especially when I weighed in on day two and had only lost a half pound. Guess this program really works as advertised. They claim I can lose an average of 3-5 pounds per week. At this rate, I only have 79.5 more pounds to go. They also take your measurements every week. Here are my current stats:

12/29/09

Bust: 45 inches

Waist: 45 inches

Hips: 47.5 inches

01/04/09

Bust: 45 inches (like these puppies will ever disappear! Sigh...)

Waist: 39.5 inches (Yes, my dearies, that is 5.5 inches off my waist in less than a week!)

Hips: 47 inches

I'm practically starting to feel like I have an hourglass shape, but alas, I know from previous weight loss that I am actually an apple shape. Like I said, even when I was on Weight Watchers a few years ago and lost 84 pounds in about two years, I only lost 2.5 inches around my bust. I actually went up a cup size when I lost the weight. Gotta love those Bluemling Boobs (yeah, I know it's the other way around, actually the Seigfried [sp?] boobs and the Bluemling shakes, but it sounds better this way)!

They say it'll take me up to another 25 weeks to lose all the weight, but I sure wouldn't mind it coming off sooner. Hoping I'm still young enough that my skin won't sag too much. Unfortunately Mother Nature has already laid claim to the "Bluemling Boobs." I long ago began to fail the 'pencil test.' Wonder what my waist measurement would be if they did it without my bra on? :0!

Natalie

TX

BTW - I just used a pounds to kilogram converter website to tell Y how much I had lost (3.95553 kg) and his response was, "I no believe you! You kidding me!"

Happy Birthday to Y!

Happy 15th birthday, Y!

(OMG, you're gonna be driving soon.)

I wish I could have been there for you for the first fourteen years of your life, but alas that was not in the plan. I thought this morning about where I was on certain milestone birthdays for you:

Your 1st Birthday - I was preparing to survive a blizzard on Long Island, where were you?

Your 5th Birthday - I was happy that the Air Traffic Control world had survived the Y2K possible meltdown, where were you?

Your 10th Birthday - I was joining Weight Watchers and attempting to lose 84lbs, where were you?

Your 15th Birthday - I was snoozing on the couch downstairs, but I had set my cell phone alarm so that I could go upstairs and give you your birthday card, and a hug, and a kiss, (and more hugs and kisses than you wanted) and tell you "Happy birthday!" for only the second time in your life, where were you? Oh, yeah, you were sitting in front of your computer talking on the internet to one of your Russian friends, chatting away and watching each other on your webcams. And embarrassed that Mama wanted a hug and a kiss in front of your friend.

I promise I will be there for you on your other milestone birthdays, like your 21st, 30th, 40th, 50th, and by God's grace your 60th & 70th!

Love, Hugs, Kisses, and all that good stuff,

Mama

Natalie

TX

Merry Merry

Hope everyone enjoyed their holiday.

I learned from Thanksgiving to not expect Y to eat whatever I prepared for dinner! So, today I just made a ham steak under the broiler, some mashed potatoes and green beans. Nothing fancy, and he ate the ham and potatoes with no problem. Maybe he just doesn't like turkey and stuffing. Of course, this is Christmas, and he got gifts, too, so he was a little more willing to try things today. I guess a new PSP (PlayStation portable) with a game, a new blanket, new brain games, new clothes, a couple of new pellet guns and some good old cash money will do that for you.

Y was trying out his new pellet shotgun yesterday, and he kept telling me it didn't work right. He pulled the trigger several times in the kitchen (while I kept repeating, "No shooting in the house!") and nothing happened. Then he pressed the barrel of the gun against his calve and pulled the trigger. "Owwwch!" he said, as a small pellet left a big welt on his leg. Guess he it finally worked. And then we went over, again, the list of rules that go along with having a pellet gun or two or three:

#1. You must be outside and all pets must be inside.

#2. No shooting in the direction of any house.

#3. No shooting the deer.

#4. No shooting the squirrels.

#5. No shooting the rabbits, snakes ...

#6. If you shoot the guns in the backyard, and the pellets fall on the ground and are eaten by the dogs - YOU get to pick them back up in three days time when they've been properly processed and are just smelling lovely!

#7. Don't leave the container of 9000 pellets anywhere a cat or dog can get to it, even if you think it's completely closed.

#8. Absolutely no shooting any guns when no adult is present.

Y agreed will all but the last two. He sees no reason not to shoot a gun when he's by himself and he doesn't think an enterprising little cat or dog could figure out how to get a container of pellets open.

Y also got his birthday present a little early. (The big day is 1-1!) He wanted his own dedicated server to play Counter Strike Source online. It's not as expensive as you think. And, he gets to be the administrator, so he can make changes to the map any time he wants and he can boot other players off his server if they aren't playing nice, among other things. Good thing I gave it to him early. There were several kinks to be worked out of the system, since Y can only understand so much English and Mama can't understand any computer language. The site we used, www.counter-strike.com, would be relatively easy to use if I had any computer programming savvy whatsoever. Alas, I am lacking in that respect, so in comes the continual stream of support tickets. The service has been very helpful and quite patient with us. We will even be upgrading to a larger amount of players. It seems Y has more online gaming friends than he thought and several times this weekend he has had more people wanting to play with him than slots available on the server. Oh yeah, and he's also ranked 10,890 or something out of 542,000 players this past quarter. Not too shabby. Or, maybe he just plays too much, I'm not sure.

Back to work now. That seems to be all I'm doing lately. Even though I'm on the "Do Not Call" list for overtime at work, I've been called twice this month to work Monday day shifts. At least Y is in school then, so I came in for the extra money. My first paycheck next year is going to have an overtime and two and a half holidays on it, so that should be a sweet check! (President Obama gave federal workers 4 hours of holiday leave on 12/24 - because I'm an air traffic controller and had to work that shift, I get four hours of holiday pay.) 8 hrs OT and 20 hrs holiday pay!

Merry Merry and Happy Happy,

Natalie

TX

Got the Job

Bill starts his new job in about 3 weeks. He says he gets an expense account, a company truck and a gas card. He has about 100 techs that he will be supervising/QCing and his territory extends from Brazoria County, TX, through Beaumont/Port Arthur down I10-I12 through Baton Rouge and over to Gulfport, MS. And, he gets a decent starting salary with possible bonuses. I don't know if he gets benefits or not. The best part is, he doesn't have to move and his salary should comfortably cover the cost of the mortgage for his house and his car payment every month. Boy would that be a huge burden lifted off my shoulders if he could cover those two payments each month (not to mention taxes and insurance for each of those).

We're still working on the 'showing up at the house unannounced and walking in after knocking - but not waiting for an invite inside from a human (canines and felines don't count). Other than that, we puppy-proofed the backyard AGAIN last weekend. Michael has only escaped once, after one hour outside. All he did was come to the back door to be let into the house. I cannot figure out how he escaped this time, but he hasn't escaped again because we've been limiting his time outside to 30 minutes or less. Today he is stuck in his cage because he wouldn't wake up this morning and do his business outside before I had to take Y to school and go to work. Squirty wouldn't wake up either, but he's six and he'll hold it for 24 hrs if he has to. He absolutely will not potty indoors. Goofy is always up for a few minutes outside, so he wasn't a problem today. I bet Tigger and Daisy are happy Michael is caged up, they get a day of relaxation instead of a day of being attacked and hiding from him.

Speaking of how much "fun" Mikey always has, Y told me that last week he let Michael outside while I was on my way home from work and, "Michael play and play and run and play (which means he let him out front unleashed and Michael chased the squirrels), and I inside and go bathroom and I hear Michael open door - and Goofy outside and play with Michael! Is okay, Mama! Goofy and Michael good dogs!" Grrrr... Nothing like following the rules. Lucky for him Tigger didn't decide to join them. At least Goofy and Michael come back when you call them. Tigger usually takes a message, and he'll get back to you later.

Just wishing Christmas and Y's birthday were over and done with. Then I wouldn't have to hear, "Maybe you buy me for Christmas...," or, "Maybe you buy me for my happy birthday..."

Natalie

TX

A Prayer Answered?

Well, some news. Bill has a tentative job offer in Mississippi. He has worked for this man before when hurricanes came through the Gulf Coast. He wants Bill to come next week for a management interview. I asked Bill if he knows you and your work already, why can't you do the interview over the phone, but he doesn't know why. Maybe the guy just likes face to face stuff. The only question is, if Bill moves, what to do with the other house. I think we should try and sell it, if not then maybe a rent to own deal again. Only this time I would have a realty management company take care of everything.

Will blog more about what's been going on when I have more time. Also dealing with a torn tendon in my "very important" left hand middle finger due to the bike accident with Michael two weeks ago. The splint makes it very difficult to type.

Natalie

TX

Hell Hath Officially Frozen Over

Anyone who's been in Houston in July, August or September knows what I'm talking about.

We got snow today, with a high of about 42 degrees at 9am in the morning. Right now it's hovering around freezing, and it's been there most of the day. The prediction of 1-3 inches was pretty correct, with areas closer to the coast getting the most snow. At our house, it didn't even accumulate on the ground. At the airport there was about 1.5 inches, and my car doors were a little stiff when I went to open them.

We even had a full day of school, although several other districts started early dismissal around lunchtime. Y was so disappointed that he had to stay for a full day of classes. I was released from work 90 minutes early. (Hey, free leave, I'll take it no matter what they call it!) I got home just a few minutes before Y, and all he kept saying was, "Mama, you tell me no cold in Texas! Today is very cold!" (as he stood there in shorts, a t-shirt and a jacket) and, "Mama, you say no snow in Texas. Why you say?" The puppies seemed to like the cooler weather, though. I guess that's what happens when you wear a fur coat full-time in Houston.

I took two short videos of the snow flurries and accumulation at the airport, but I can't seem to transfer them to my computer. Here's two pictures; one of them is of an 8 inch snowman taken this evening when I returned to work the midnight shift, the other is my car this afternoon when I left work during the 'hazardous weather event.' Enjoy.

Plus, when I got back to work, there were still a gazillion planes waiting to go. They have been trickling out all night because they have to wait to be de-iced first. I asked one ExpressJet pilot how long it took from the gate until they were cleared for takeoff. He told me (at about 1:30am) that they waited at the gate for 3 hours, then they pushed back and waited in line for 2 hours and 15 minutes to de-ice and take off. Their flight was only 2.5 hours long. Yikes. Apparently they don't have enough de-icing equipment or maybe not enough experienced personnel for such nights as these here in Houston.

The ride home was uneventful, and the ride back to work was DRY. People were actually driving on the highway at 40 mph with their blinkers on because there might be ice somewhere. If you're that afraid to drive - Stay home!

Waiting for it all to melt away tomorrow morning.

Natalie

TX

Houston, Say It Ain't Snow!

Let the freak out begin. Just the suggestion that we might get 1-3 inches of snow has everyone down here in a tither. They even began pre-treating the bridges and overpasses about 12 hours before the tiny bit of snow is projected to get here. Guaranteed, I'll see most of my neighbors outside covering up their shrubs and other landscaping with sheets and blankets, like they're gonna get cold or something.

But: they'll leave their dogs in the backyard, 'cause they're just animals and they might leave dirty paw prints in the kitchen. (I admit, I woke up this morning with one 120lb lab on the other side of my king size bed; one 47lb boxer mix snuggled right up against me; one 14lb cat laying on my feet; one 65lb pit mix sleeping on the doggie bed in the corner of the room; and one 10lb cat sleeping under the bed - so the boxer mix wouldn't attack her; but, I'm just spoiled that way, I guess.)

And, I have people giving me suggestions about how to keep my pipes from freezing. People who've spent their entire lives living south of I-10 (runs east-west along the Gulf coast). These are the same people who've already made the decision to have 'early release' from certain local school districts, and canceled planned school dances and athletics for this evening. If they did this kind of stuff up north of the Mason-Dixon Line, kids would basically have to go to school from March until October.

Heck, even here at the airport they're kind of freaking out about having to de-ice the planes before they take off. I understand that, since it's icier up at altitude than it is down here on terra firma; but, they're talking about using one of the runways or major taxiways to hold the planes waiting to be de-iced. Lovely.

Y even said to me yesterday when I mentioned the possibility of snow, "Mama, you lie, why you tell me no snow in Texas?" (I had to explain it happens about once every 10 yrs or so.)

BTW, 42 degrees was our high today. Tomorrow it'll be back up in the 50's.

Chill, people!

Natalie

TX