the next chapter begins

well, i'm all moved-in and completely exhausted (even after taking yesterday off - i still worked on unpacking/organizing for most of the day)... all in all - things went well, minus it raining on friday night and all day saturday, and i have to thank eric for being so incredibly helpful, patient, and just plain wonderful throughout this whole process... i totally redid the kitchen yesterday and he loved it, and continuously tells me that he's glad i'm there (and that max is finally with his brothers and no longer has to go back/forth every weekend)... i'm also limping because an 8-pound hand weight fell on my right foot on sunday afternoon, and now it's bruised and slightly swollen... i'm not sure if it's broken, considering that toe is fused together anyway, but i guess things could've been worse... i'm going to have to lay-low re: exercise until it's better, but don't feel bad since i got a ton this past weekend while moving... :)

next on our to-do list is paint the bedroom, so we can clear-out the garage... i was amazed that all my clothes actually fit into his closet (huggable hangers are a life-saver!) but could use about another 2 feet for my shoes... then it will be to tackle the pantry - it needs reorganized and painted so for now - my stuff will remain in boxes which is fine... i can live with that but could not live w/out having an organized kitchen - even my new mixer fits on the counter now and looks quite nice!

since i was out yesterday, i have some work to catch-up on but wanted to share some pics... i wish i would've taken some shots of eric's house and the utter chaos this weekend, but i was too busy wondering where all my crap was going to go... :)

yes, eric is actually using the vacuum...



my LR on saturday...



my LR on sunday...



max and i will miss our little balcony...



goodbye #226 - it's been fun but it's time to move on...

what is your mantra?

found this graphic on a website (see below) and thought i would share... it seems to have a lot of positive words/phrases and think we need to remember enjoy the simple things in life... i complain about having so much going on but seriously - life is what it is, and i'm going to make more of an effort to slow down... so if YOU had to pick 3, what would they be? even though there are some really good ones, i would chose:

> schedule ME-time
> remember, you only live once
> take nothing for granted

since i had some down-time at the chiro yesterday - i was flipping thru fitness magazine and found a few websites that are worth mentioning (and some i have found on my own)... i used to do this more often, so maybe i'll work on that too... :)

> wize.com - buying a new product? see what others have to say first...
> lobotome.com - cute notepads that you can use for all sorts of stuff...
> fmylife.com - having a bad day? there will always be someone who's had it worse than you...
> fatwallet.com - great bargains on all sorts of things...
> freecycle.com - looking for something or want to get of something? try this first...

eric came over last night and took a truck-load of bins/boxes back to the house... i had to put max on the balcony, so we could leave the door open, and he howled the whole time... he just hates being locked-out of anywhere, not sure why - and god forbid i close the door to the bathroom cus he has to be right there with you... :-o

happy thursday...

what time is it?

i am thrilled with this warmer weather, but not very happy that my allergies are starting-up and that i'm still adjusting to the time-change... it's so easy to forget how great it feels when daylight lasts longer - so much more can be done, especially outside... eric grilled steaks for dinner last night and i'm looking forward to doing that much more this spring/summer (i couldn't grill at my place)... we also took a nice ride in the country, on the harley, and still had plenty'o time to do other stuff when we got home... :)

we made a lot of progress this weekend but more on the moving side than the painting side, which is fine since that needs to be a priority anyway... yes, i still feel that it would be better to handle it beforehand but i'm going to work at being more realistic too - my life won't end if the walls are the same color come march 31 (ha!)... i should thank my lucky stars that he has a house and a full-basement, so it's not like storage space is hard to come by - granted, it's already filling up but there's still room... on saturday, we moved a load of bookshelves and boxes and then yesterday - we grabbed my oak hosier cabinet, table, and chairs... by 9:00 last night - i had completely unpacked all my dishes, and the cats had found their perspective chairs under the table... now that's making progress! :)

supposed to be in the mid-60s today so i'm going to make a point of getting outside for a nice, long walk... i didn't go for one this weekend but with all the moving and walking up/down the stairs - i think i did pretty well...

happy monday...

TGIF

21 points... no, that's not my total for yesterday but rather how many i had for dinner last night (and how many points i tracked in eTools, thank-you very much!)... let's just say it wasn't one of my best days, and since pizza is my ultimate comfort food and i knew i had some points to play with... and yes, i did compare brands and their nutritional value... so was having pizza THE best option? probably not, but i'm okay with that right now and i'm moving on... :)

eric and i were going to go see 'the watchman' tonight but decided against it since it's pretty long and i've read so-so reviews... we're still doing dinner w/some of his friends but then it's home to pack more stuff... eric's coming over with the truck tomorrow and we'll be taking what i have already boxed, and maybe some shelves, and who knows what else... part of my meltdown yesterday was realizing i have less than a month to get everything out and my apartment cleaned, as well as get things done at his house... his argument was that i'm trying to make things perfect and adding more stress to my life... my argument is that why move stuff into his place, to only have to move it back out to paint? and i KNOW things won't be perfect - but there's nothing wrong w/being practical... so maybe after moving tomorrow, we'll be painting as well - not sure yet... ;)

as for the rest of the weekend - i plan on getting my ass outside for a nice walk/jog and then we also plan on taking the harley out for a nice ride... it's supposed to be in the high 60s tomorrow and low 70s on sunday - crazy weather but i'm not complaining! :)

i hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and don't forget to turn your clock forward on sunday morning! :)

happy friday...

mine vs. his

last night didn't go as well as expected - because i had to work late, i had to cancel my chiro appt. so it will be another week until i can get adjusted and ask him about my constant lower back pain... he did tell me to do one stretch last week, when i asked - where you lay on the floor and then raise your legs up and over your head... that seems to help but i think i need a few more - just makes me mad, more than anything, that i was doing so well and now i'm almost back to where i started in november... :(

i still had to run by my place last night, and pick-up more clothes for the week - my mom called so we chatted for a while and i asked if she wanted to help me pack boxes on saturday... up until this point, i had not told her that i was moving-in with eric - my family is very old-fashioned and i've already gotten a lecture from my sister about living w/someone before getting married... after i graduated from college, i remember their reaction when i said i wanted to move to NYC to live w/my boyfriend... i didn't care what they thought because i loved this guy more than life itself, and nothing or no one was going to stop me... looking back, it may not have been the best idea but those 2 years were the best/worst times of my life and are responsible for making the person i am today... believe you me - my current situation isn't what i would call 'ideal', and would prefer to be engaged before the official move-in day... so i'm keeping my fingers crossed that everything will work out in the end... :)

oh - and the scale thing... well, i grabbed mine last night and put them side-by-side this morning to see how they matched-up... to much to my surprise - they were exactly the same so yesterday's weigh-in was indeed accurate... yay for me! :)

happy thursday...

p.s. how great was LOST last night? holy moly, i love me some john locke... ;)

TGIF

thanks for all the comments/advice - things seem to be improving so either i was being a bit paranoid, or he read my blog, or both... he told me that the DR closet has been cleaned-out, so now it can be painted with everything else (yay!)... i also told him that i don't expect everything to be perfect when i move in, but asking to organize or make room for me beforehand is a valid request... and since my back has been bothering me all week - the load of boxes in my car, will have to be my last for a while... i will just stack boxes and then when i can't take it anymore (since i detest clutter), he can come over and we'll load up the truck... we'll see how far i get w/the DR this weekend and if any decent progress is made, i'll take some pics... :)

tonight will be our valentine's day since i was out of town last weekend - we're going to our favorite cuban place... we would go there anyway but knowing that i have a $25 gift certificate is even better (got 2 of them online for $12 - restaurant.com baby!)... then tomorrow is busy for me - time to get the'ole hair cut and i have a bunch of stuff that needs to go to goodwill... i'm finding this whole packing-thing quite nice since i'm tossing stuff i haven't used or know i won't use in the future... like a ton of cookbooks - besides a few basics, i can just go online to find a recipe if needed... i do love my betty crocker one though - can't go wrong w/the basics... :)

food has been good but exercise - not so good... i did manage 45-minutes on the treadmill today but haven't been doing any weights... because of my back, i'm afraid to do anything strenuous so i'll just take it easy and make sure i do some stretches every night...

so what do YOU have planned for this weekend?

happy friday...

my life in boxes

after my horrendous eating-weekend at my sister's, i was going to skip my weigh-in this morning... but then i decided too and thought i wouldn't post the number, but i did anyway - i'm up .2 pounds from last week... it's not much but since i know i was back down the day after (last thurs), i know it was a hefty gain... from friday thru yesterday, i was off-plan and there was no turning back because for me - once you know you've gone over, there's no turning back... and because it snowed the whole time - i didn't get to exercise so there you go... i've had 3 great weeks and now 3 crappy weeks but know they even out eventually... just glad it's wednesday and that my slate has been wiped clean... :)

so besides the eating and the snowing - it was a good weekend at my sister's... got to spend some time w/my dad on saturday and for once, he was alert and talking (though it's hard to understand)... i fed him lunch and gave him a good shave, which i always enjoy more than him i'm sure... my sister's log cabin is about 75% done but they still don't have tv, so it was the movie 'dream girls' on sunday night... it's very open and airy but with the hardwood floors, it's also hard to be quiet and can get dirty very quickly... my mom and my sister got into a few times since my mom is very opinionated and thinks her way, is THE way - it's always fun to be around, that's for sure... my mom made all this crap to bring along - cake, chocolate bread pudding, etc. so eating healthy went right out the window... plus, we had mexican for lunch on monday and every single one of us, nieces included, had fried ice cream for dessert... oh the horror! :(

my back has been bothering me almost every day so i need to talk to the doctor about what's going on - either my body isn't liking this one-day a week adjusting OR i pulled something when i carried stuff to my car last week... i hope that's not the case because i'll be doing that a lot in the next few weeks, no way to get around it... last night i packed-up all my cds, dvds, books, photo albums, starbucks bears (from back in the day), and my boyds bunny collection (also from back in the day)... i just need to keep packing-up what i'm not using and get it over to his place so closer to moving-day, it's just furniture and basic stuff... honestly, i don't think eric is ready but i'm trying to not let that bother me... in my eyes - he has the easy part, since he's already there, and all i've asked is for him to organize a few closets and help me paint (when the time comes)... is that too much to ask? i mean really... it's almost been a month since i gave my rental office notice and even though what he does after work is none of my business, i feel that he should be helping just a little... or am i being a total b*tch about this? honestly, i don't think that i've asked for too much but maybe i have...

sorry for the rant, just had to get it off my chest...

happy hump day...

TGIF

it's been a busy week for me but today - things are rather slow, plus the boss is out (not that i'm complaining)... i was here late last night because i had to wait for a research report (that had to be posted on the website) so i went the gym and did about 30 mins on the treadmill... then i ran to home depot for paint swatches and a tape-gun thing, and then over to target for some bday cards, cereal, and cat food... exciting, let me tell you... :)

i found a woman on this website called freecycle.com (a yahoo group) that had some boxes she was willing to give-away - fine by me! she left them on her porch and i loaded them into my car the other night, after my functional training session... it went well i guess (he even said i was rather athletic! me? are you kidding?) but i'm just not feeling that it will be worth my while since i'd have to stop in 6 weeks anyway (because of moving)... we did a lot of ladder/floor exercises, some ball/balance moves, and dead-lifts on the machine (where i was told my form was as perfect as you could get!)... i can handle 1-night a week but 2-nights are ideal, and they'd have to be tues/weds which isn't the best scenario - decisions, decisions...

plans for the weekend: hit home depot and buy paint/supplies and window blinds; stop by a few estate/moving sales; organize some closets and laundry room; meet a girlfriend on sunday for lunch; workout at least ONE day; and relax... next weekend's a bust since my mom and i are going to see my sister, so i feel that we need to make SOME progress on the house sat/sun... why do i wish this was all over-and-done with already... :-(

have a great weekend, everyone... stay warm!

gotta take the bad with the good

i'm not surprised that the scale was up this morning (.4 pounds) but i was expecting it since (1) i only exercised twice last week and (2) i used more than a week's worth of flex points on sunday... such is life - no reason to freak-out or run for the hills, and so starts another week with a clean slate... amen to that! :-)

i have my first functional training session tonight - not sure what to expect or how it's even going to fit into my schedule... i would prefer mornings but there's just not enough time so i'm limited to evenings and even that will be touch & go because of work... i used to be able to leave at 5:00 most days but now it's busy and my roll has changed - staying later is just part of the game... we'll see how it goes - i'm not bound to any contract so if i decide it's not for me, then i can just stick to my adjustments... :-)

in other news - i made a spreadsheet of all the things i'd like to do before moving into eric's house... stuff like organize closets, basement, paint - you know, the usual stuff that girls need to do before they can feel settled and "at home"... i also asked him to figure out what my part of the monthly expenses will be - it HAS to be less than what i'm paying now so i'm excited about being able to save more $$ each month... i started having a brief freak-out moment last night, thinking about all the stuff i have to pack and how little time i really have (7+ weeks)... once we get things organized better at his place, i can start bringing over boxes of non-essentials but still the thought is daunting... guess i need to get boxes and start packing! ugh!

i've given up on watching 24 - i didn't watch the episode from two weeks ago and usually when that happens, it means my interest has disappeared... something about the bad'tony really being good, and that female FBI agent just irks me for some reason... maybe i'll come around and catch-up online but for now - i'm saying adios to jack... sorry guys... :-(

happy hump day...