Saturday, August 25, 2007

Shut up and exercise!

You all know that I'm on a diet. And with said diet I am exercising every day. I started out doing 10 sit ups a day and built myself up to walking at least a mile a day. I'm proud to say that I've lost 36 lbs since January. And, I hope to lose a total of 60 lbs by the end of the year.

I started collecting exercise videos when I got bored with the sit ups, crunches, squats, & leg lifts. I tried them all. The Richard Simmons, the "of Steel" (Arms & Abs/legs/buns/ etc,) Tony Little, and the Walk away the lbs. Hated the Tony Little ones, was annoyed by the Richard Simmons, not coordinated enough to do the "of Steel" ones, and liked the Walked away the lbs ones. So every night before bed I pop in a tape and get walking.

I made some observations while watching all these tapes. 1. I don't think that the exercise leader ever sweats. They can exercise for an hour and are as dry as a bone. 2. Everyone on those tapes smiles through the whole thing. I'd never be able to make it on an exercise video. I'd be to busy huffing, puffing, and grumbling under my breath at the leader. (Shut up and exercise, you moron!) 3. Every video has some sort of gimmick. It can be anything from hand weights, exercise balls, oldies music, to a special jump rope. Heck, with the amount of $ we'd spend on all that, we could have had the bariatric surgery 3 times. And where does it all end up? Being sold at a garage sale for a quarter.

Well gang.. I did 3 miles tonight and it's time for me to hit the showers. See ya'll next time and remember "The more you sit, the more you want to sit. The more you move, the more you want to move" as Walk away the lbs Leslie Sansone says.

Friday, August 24, 2007

Lucky.....


I always enter every contest that I run across. The prize could be anything from a piece of candy to a trip, but it really doesn't matter. I don't ever plan on winning, but figure that it couldn't hurt to enter. I figure that the worst that can happen is that I don't win and I wasted 5 minutes of my time filling out the entry blank and the best being I win something.

Most times I don't win. But, sometimes I get lucky and they draw my name out of the box. I've won $200.00 shopping sprees, tickets to baseball and hockey games, a car care kit worth $200.00, an attache case, and the coup de grĂ¢ce being the time I won an all inclusive trip for 4 to Club Med in Sandpiper, Florida. (Valued at around $4,000.00.)

I won the Club Med trip from the Coca Cola company. They were having a "At Work Summer of Fun Promotion." Every time you purchased a 20 oz. Coke product, you were given an entry blank. All you had to do was fill out the entry blank and then drop it in the little box. At that time, I was drinking up to 3-4, 20 oz bottles per day. (I've cut back to 2 a day now.) I received a call at work one day saying that I had won the grand prize in the contest that took place in Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan.

The trip included round trip airfare, hotel accommodations, and all the food and drinks we wanted for 5 days and 4 nights. I asked my mom, older sister, and aunt to go along with me. (A girls week for all of us.) While there, we had gourmet food at every meal, got massages, went to shows, hung out at the bar, and lounged by the 5 different pools.

So, take the time to fill out the entry blanks when you get the opportunity. You can't win if you don't enter. And who knows, you just might win something!


BOGOF pt 2

At the tone, the time will be 12:55 AM. Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!

Ok, its time for me to officially turn back into a pumpkin. I just got back to my apartment from my day off of work. I spent my day doing some leg work on a project that I'm volunteering for. I volunteer for the Rotary that my mother is a member of. On September 25th, they are going to be hosting a radio auction to raise $ and will reinvest those funds back into the community. So far I've gotten some pretty cool stuff donated for the auction and hope to get a few more nice things before the auction.

For fun, I went to Dow Gardens and the mall in Midland. Unfortunately, the stop at the gardens was cut short by torrential downpour rains. (Note to self... They don't give refunds if the weather is bad.) I had borrowed my mother's car for the day since mine was/is critically low on gas and I have to pick up some stuff for her tomorrow that wont fit in my little escort. She drives a Lincoln town car. HUGE doesn't begin to cover the size of that behemoth. I felt like I was driving Moby Dick.. A enormous white whale of a vehicle. I can't wait to get my little sporty escort back tomorrow evening.

Well gang, enough rambling for tonight. I'm so tired that I can't form decent sentences anymore. And I have to get up for work in 4 hours. See ya tomorrow... Or later tonight if you want to be technical since it's past midnight. Cha Cha Cha!

Thursday, August 23, 2007

BOGOF!




BOGOF = Blog once get one free.

You might have noticed that I didn't blog last night. I fell asleep on the sofa last night and didn't wake up until this morning. Good thing that I have today off work cause there wasn't an alarm clock in the living room. So, today... you get 2 blogs for the price of one.




I baby sat my niece again last night, along with my 13 year old cousin. Grandpa treated us girls to a special dinner. We went to every child's favorite restaurant, McDonald's. Inexpensive food and entertainment all rolled into one. Leah ate her fries, drank her diet coke, and ran off to play in the giant play structure. Ok, admission time... I played in the structure with Leah and Daina (my cousin) and loved it. We climbed all through it, spun the spinning wheel, (A circle that goes round and round according to Leah) did the maze, and played peekaboo with each other through the windows. We had the place to ourselves and did whatever we wanted.



It was a welcome break from reality. No ringing phones, no deadlines, and no traffic. Just us girls having fun! Who says you have to act your age all the time? Sometimes you just need to go back to being a kid again.








Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Oh wise magic 8 ball....



Sitting on the corner of my desk in the Rehab Department is a magic 8 ball. It was given to my by one of my former coworkers when I left my previous job. She said it might come in handy one day. She couldn't be more prophetic if she tried.

As previously mentioned, I work in the Rehab Department at the local hospital. I order supplies for the department, make sure that the inpatients are covered by therapists, do all the secretarial projects for the therapists, register patients for their appointments, and most importantly schedule the outpatient appointments for 7 different offices. (along with a variety of day to day things that need to be done to keep the office going.) It's enough to keep ya hopping 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. We're closed for outpatients on the weekends.


How is the Magic 8 ball relevant to this story you might ask? Well, it gets put to use frequently when we (the other Admin. Assistant and myself) are dealing with patients on the phone. Most often for scheduling purposes. Often times things come up and for some reason or another, patent's can not make their scheduled appointments. Which is fine, we're happy to reschedule for the patient who calls. We however have patients and Dr.'s offices that call with some of the most outlandish requests for both scheduling and rescheduling appointments. It's not uncommon for people or Dr's offices to call and ask if they could get an appointment with a certain therapist on that same day and then get upset when we have to tell them that its not possible due to the therapists schedule already being filled for the day.

Here's where the 8 ball comes into play. When the calls come in with those same day requests or something equally outlandish, we listen to their story (or rant) and then politely place them on hold. Out comes the magic 8 ball and the fun begins. (Well, for us in the office anyway.) We ask the 8 ball things like "Can Mr. S. be worked in today?" or "Is it possible for Mrs. E. to reschedule her daughter's appointment for the 6th time today?" Then we flip the 8 ball over and get answers like " Signs point to yes", "Outlook not so good," or even "Reply hazy, try again." Then we pick up the phone and proceed to be as accommodating for the patient or Dr. as possible. Professional? probably not, Great stress reliever? definitely! It also gets used by the therapists (all 20 or so of them.) They usually ask if patient so and so is going to no show for the 4th time in a row, or if Dr. God's gift to the planet is going to do what they asked him to.

Working in the medical field is a high stress position for everyone involved. From the president of the hospital, to the docs, down to the secretaries and the housekeepers. You're on call 24/7 and stuck in a damned if you do and damned if you don't situation at all times. You're constantly dealing with insurance companies, other medical professionals, along with patients and family members. All of whom have their own "political" (for lack of a better term) agendas to follow. So, a good stress reliever like a magic 8 ball or using the teaching skeleton to hold the radio is a good thing. It helps keep our sanity in this dog eat dog world that we work in.

Well, it's time for me to call it a night. I'm hoping to get out of work early tomorrow. I have the day off of work on Thursday (Friday Eve) and want to get there as soon as possible. And 5:00 AM comes surprisingly early...

Monday, August 20, 2007

The Food Network!

Ever notice how when you're on a diet, there seems to be more food natured commercials on the radio and tv. I guess we just notice the ones that are already out there more because we're starving.

As I've written before, I've been on a diet since January 1st. (Lost 36 lbs, so far.) And ever since then, I've become hooked on the food network tv channel. Iron Chef and Ace of Cakes are my favorites. While Paula Deen I could live without. She's a great lady, just not my cup of tea. Unwrapped is also alot of fun. It's interesting to see the how our favorite foods are produced.

Usually, I don't watch much tv. Just hockey and an occasional show here and there. Preferring to read over just watching tv. (Averaging about a book and a half a day.) But lately, I can't seem to get enough of the food network. I'll flip it on intending to watch for a few minutes while folding laundry or something like that and the next thing you know it, 2 hours have past. Not the best use of my time in any stretch, but I now know how to grill fruit kabobs, make my own mayo, and how cheese curls are made. The irony is that I can't eat 90% of what I see on that show. I have multiple food allergies. (I'll write more about that in a later blog.)


Well gang, it's almost 11:00 PM and time for Alton Brown's Good Eats . (It's Fruit Compote night!) See you tomorrow!

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Breaking the Chain!


Ok, how many of you have gotten a chain letter email from your friends? You know the one... The How well do you know me email that one friend sends to you and their entire address book. And then all of those people (who are also friends of yours) send it to you expecting that you'll take the time to answer 30+ lame questions about yourself.

Well, I decided that I'm going to be the one who breaks the chain. I'm not going to forward this email on to every poor unsuspecting soul in my email address book. If anyone wants the answers to the questions, they'll have to read them here. I know its supposed to be bad luck if you break the chain and don't send it, but that's a chance I'm going to take. Maybe it will only be half bad since I'm answering the questions, just not emailing them back out. (Heck, I should get brownie points for not cluttering up peoples email boxes.)

Well, here goes.....How well do ya'll know me?

1. What is your occupation? = Admin. Assistant
2. What color are your socks right now? = White
3. What are you listening to right now? = Nothing right now
4. Can you drive a stick shift? = NO.
5. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? = Red
6. Last person you spoke to on the phone? = my Mom
7. Do you like the person who sent this to you? = Still debating on this one
8. How old are you today? = 30 something (a woman never reveals her age!)
9. What is your favorite sport to watch? = Hockey
10. Have you ever dyed your hair? = Yes, went from blonde to red, back to blonde
11. Pets? = Do dust bunnies count?
12. Favorite food? = Italian, Mexican and most everything mom makes.
13. What was the last movie you watched? = Rush hour 3
14. Favorite day of the year? = Christmas
15. What do you do to vent anger? = I talk big and grind my teeth
16. What was your favorite toy as a child? = Raggedy Anne and Andy along with my stuffed E.T.
17. What is your favorite fall or spring? = Don’t really have a favorite
18. Hugs or kisses? = Both as often as possible.
19. Cherries or Blueberries? = Blueberries
20. Do you want your friends to email you back? = if they want to
21. Who is most likely to respond? = who ever wants to
22. Who is least likely to respond? = who doesnt want to
23. When was the last time you cried? = a few days ago when my niece cracked a cupboard door into my head. Hurt like you wouldn’t believe!
24. What is on the floor of your closet? = Not exactly sure, but Jimmy Hoffa could be hidden in there with all the junk.
25. What did you do last night? = Went out to eat with my family and played with my niece.
26. Favorite smells? = good food, the smell of rain on hot pavement, and the smell of fall/winter (burning leaves.)
27. What inspires you? = anything I can take a picture of
28. What are you afraid of? = Seagulls, bugs, enclosed spaces
29. Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers? = Cheese burgers! But I’m on a diet, so plain burgers it is.
30. Favorite dog breed? = Stuffed… or beagles
31. How many years at your current job? = a little over 4 years.
32. Favorite day of the week? = Thursday (Friday eve!)
33. How many states/provinces have you lived in? = 3 (Oklahoma, Texas, & Michigan)
34. Ever driven a Motorcycle or heavy machinery? = Not yet!
35. Who's your favorite NFL team? = Green Bay Packers.
36. Do you own a phone that is NOT cordless? = Only have a cell phone
37. 10 inches of snow or 100 degree weather? = 10 inches… I’d rather be cold than hot anyday.

Well, I'm off to bed. It's amazing how one almost 2 year old can wear you out. It's exhausting playing with her; but so so so worth it. I'll see ya'll tomorrow.

P.S. Hey Leah... Aaaaaaa Chooooooo!