Wow, today was a great day. Slept in until 10, only had kidney stone issues for a short portion of the day, went for a walk/run, ate some flex points, watched play-off games, watched Morgan play with some friends. Ahh....Saturday. What a glorious day. My favorite day of the week.
I was just reading Roni's Weight Watchen pages (I was a little behind), and I noticed that she is having a contest that involves my favorite popcorn! I guess I missed it for January, but it says they are doing it monthly so I hope this counts. So, I have already written about how fantastic the Buttery Salt and Black Pepper popcorn by Orville Redenbacher is, so I guess I just have to link to Roni's site and to Orville's site. I really like Roni's site.
I did make it 3.1 miles again today, and I shaved 1 minute off my total time this week - still a snail but getting faster. I really like the bimactive program on my cell. It gives me encouragement every quarter of a mile. :) I love seeing the analysis of it after the run. :) Very inspirational. It even shows graphs of your speed over time, and it keeps a running odometer for the week, month, and year by activity! I honestly need to get a move on as I only have 6.2 miles walk/running and 3.1 biking. I don't have swimming there as my phone can't go in the water.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Friday, January 11, 2008
Thoughts on a Friday
Ok, this has got to be the funniest football funny ever. I laughed so hard, and I even made it my wallpaper. :) If you can't see it well, just double-click it to open it larger. It is too funny. SEC! SEC!
Now, on to my next topic. Lean Cuisine French Bread Pepperoni Pizzas. They are not quite as good as the black pepper popcorn, but they are close. I love pizza, and these give me the closest feeling to "normal" pizza of anything. They are really good. I am not sure how much different they are in calories and fat that normal french bread pizzas, but it is only 290 calories and 8 grams of fat. It is surprisingly filling and so yummy. It doesn't taste or feel like diet food. The Margherita Pizza by Lean Cuisine is also pretty good.
Blended families are challenging. Of course, I love Mike, and I love the kids. I am thankful that the kids get along so well. However, I will say that it has to be one of the most challenging situations that there can be. As if families aren't challenging enough, when you add different beliefs, different pasts, different rules, and add the fact that they are with you some of the time and with another whole belief system some of the time, it is interesting. For example, you might feel that you can make a difference, but then the child goes to the other house and gets a totally different outlook on things.
Lastly, I am realizing day after day how much the right organization helps productivity, morale,and efficiency. With the same people, the right structure really makes a difference. Also, I think having a strong leader makes a big difference more because they will enforce processes than anything else. If you give detailed instructions and goals, I think most people will try really hard to do a good job. If you just say to work hard, they will do something but not necessarily strive for the best.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
5000 Hits!
My blog has over 5,000 hits now. I have to say that I have really enjoyed the blog. Not that it has anything that exciting on it, but it is good to write about life, document the funny things, and post pictures. I love reading friends' blogs because it is fun to keep up with everyone and the changes. The biggest thing that has been fun to me is the statcounter. I put the statcounter on back in September I think, and it tells you areas that your visitors come from, the top searches used to find your site, and even the operating systems and browsers used most often. The top things I have laughed about in the stats.
1. I have had visitors in over 20 different countries and almost every state (Florida, California, and North Carolina have the most visitors)
2. The top things that people search for and come to my blog are kidney stones and stents (by far the number one search), quiting smoking, Misys (and Misys sucks - which of course I don't think I have ever said but my blog has Misys and the word sucks), Amy Gleason, couch to 5k, and Bond Clinician. I think that is pretty interesting.
3. The majority of people use 1280X1024 as their resolution.
4. People use IE7 10 times more than IE6 (at least in my visitors)
5. People use XP 35 times more than Vista (at least in my visitors)
I guess I never thought that my ramblings on life could provide so much information. I hope that people with kidney stones have found some information or at least the knowledge that someone else out there has been there. I hope that people quitting smoking or losing weight have gotten some strength from reading my experience as most people who know me thought I would smoke forever and that me running a 5k was less likely that me winning a million dollars. :) For those searching for Misys, it appears that most of you are trying to find someone you worked with or trying to find some dirt on the company (or as Histalk so eloquently said maybe you are taking the highway over Misys MyWay - that one cracked me up).
Chris did have a fracture in his fibula. Bummer. He is in a boot for 3 weeks to start. Mike took him to Shriner's, and I think he was as impressed with them as I was. They really do a great job there. Morgan's toes are still sore, but she survived the second day of cheer this week. :)
So, for my new thoughts, I decided that I will comment on my favorite weight loss snack - popcorn. Now, I have tried just about all kinds of popcorn in my day. I have always loved popcorn, and we used to make it in the pan, as jiffy pop, in the electric poppers with the yellow top, in air poppers, in containers you put in the microwave, in brown paper lunch bags, and in real microwave bags. I worked in a Carmike Cinema for years, and we used to experiment with the popcorn trying to make it bright yellow, pale yellow, white, and many other variations. So, I would say I am a pretty good judge of popcorn.
Back in October when I was starting Weight Watchers, I was in Publix and walked passed the sample stand. They had popcorn! I had to stop and see what they had. It was Orville Redenbacher's Natural Buttery Salt and Black Pepper Popcorn. It comes in a mini bag, and it is so good. Each bag is 2 Weight Watchers points and it is very flavorful and filling. I have at least one bag a day and have for the most part since late October. It has really been a valuable weight loss tool. I think the people at the office tell time by my popcorn popping. :) As this popcorn has become very popular, it is difficult to find. So, I have tried many other types. I have tried the simply salt variety of Orville Redenbacher's Naturals. It is very good, but it only comes in the big bags (not mini) so each bag is more like 8 points. Ick. Orville Redenbacher's 100 calorie bags are MUCH better than Pop Secret and Newman's. So, for microwave, I have to give it to the black pepper popcorn HANDS DOWN. I do also pop popcorn in the Presto Microwave Popcorn Popper (also Orville...hmmm... I see a trend here), and I use Pam, popcorn, and some salt. 4 cups of this is only 1 point. YUM...:) What kind of popcorn do you like?
1. I have had visitors in over 20 different countries and almost every state (Florida, California, and North Carolina have the most visitors)
2. The top things that people search for and come to my blog are kidney stones and stents (by far the number one search), quiting smoking, Misys (and Misys sucks - which of course I don't think I have ever said but my blog has Misys and the word sucks), Amy Gleason, couch to 5k, and Bond Clinician. I think that is pretty interesting.
3. The majority of people use 1280X1024 as their resolution.
4. People use IE7 10 times more than IE6 (at least in my visitors)
5. People use XP 35 times more than Vista (at least in my visitors)
I guess I never thought that my ramblings on life could provide so much information. I hope that people with kidney stones have found some information or at least the knowledge that someone else out there has been there. I hope that people quitting smoking or losing weight have gotten some strength from reading my experience as most people who know me thought I would smoke forever and that me running a 5k was less likely that me winning a million dollars. :) For those searching for Misys, it appears that most of you are trying to find someone you worked with or trying to find some dirt on the company (or as Histalk so eloquently said maybe you are taking the highway over Misys MyWay - that one cracked me up).
Chris did have a fracture in his fibula. Bummer. He is in a boot for 3 weeks to start. Mike took him to Shriner's, and I think he was as impressed with them as I was. They really do a great job there. Morgan's toes are still sore, but she survived the second day of cheer this week. :)
So, for my new thoughts, I decided that I will comment on my favorite weight loss snack - popcorn. Now, I have tried just about all kinds of popcorn in my day. I have always loved popcorn, and we used to make it in the pan, as jiffy pop, in the electric poppers with the yellow top, in air poppers, in containers you put in the microwave, in brown paper lunch bags, and in real microwave bags. I worked in a Carmike Cinema for years, and we used to experiment with the popcorn trying to make it bright yellow, pale yellow, white, and many other variations. So, I would say I am a pretty good judge of popcorn.
Back in October when I was starting Weight Watchers, I was in Publix and walked passed the sample stand. They had popcorn! I had to stop and see what they had. It was Orville Redenbacher's Natural Buttery Salt and Black Pepper Popcorn. It comes in a mini bag, and it is so good. Each bag is 2 Weight Watchers points and it is very flavorful and filling. I have at least one bag a day and have for the most part since late October. It has really been a valuable weight loss tool. I think the people at the office tell time by my popcorn popping. :) As this popcorn has become very popular, it is difficult to find. So, I have tried many other types. I have tried the simply salt variety of Orville Redenbacher's Naturals. It is very good, but it only comes in the big bags (not mini) so each bag is more like 8 points. Ick. Orville Redenbacher's 100 calorie bags are MUCH better than Pop Secret and Newman's. So, for microwave, I have to give it to the black pepper popcorn HANDS DOWN. I do also pop popcorn in the Presto Microwave Popcorn Popper (also Orville...hmmm... I see a trend here), and I use Pam, popcorn, and some salt. 4 cups of this is only 1 point. YUM...:) What kind of popcorn do you like?
Monday, January 7, 2008
School Starts Tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hallelujah!!! Christmas vacation is over!! School is back in session tomorrow. While it has been probably the best Christmas vacation I have had in many years, I am still very happy to put the kids back in school and to return to some normal days. That started today with Cheer resuming. Morgan had mini practice tonight where she limped through due to her toes hurting. It was only a little over two weeks, but it felt like longer. When you go somewhere every day, I guess two weeks seems longer. :)
I tried to get Chris into an Orthopedic today, but I didn't have any luck. He had been seen at Children's Healtcare of Atlanta, and they don't open until 11 for me to get the fax of the X-ray report. I called yesterday, but they wouldn't fax the report to me a lowly parent. The cited HIPAA as their excuse which is a bunch of bunk in my book. I think people just like to use HIPAA as an excuse. For some reason, she couldn't fax it to me, but when I called back and gave the Shriner's hospital fax it was fine. Now, how did she know that was Shriner's?? I could have given her my fax number, right? Bunk, I say. Bunk. For that matter, I didn't even have to give her a release or anything. Usually, you have to at least complete a form and sign it. Oh well. Back to the adventure today. So, I called 3 other offices, but they said he would need a referral from the insurance before they could see him. Of course, that would result in another visit and would reduce the time available to be seen. I thought we were going to make it at Shriner's, but they had to have the X-ray report in order to schedule him. So, they finally got that from those dorks in Atlanta at 11:10. Unfortunately, their clinic wasn't open in the afternoon. So, they did get him scheduled for 8:45 in the morning. :) I am glad that Chris will be seen by the great docs at Shriner's. I was really impressed with them when Morgan went there.
We had an e-prescribing seminar today for our providers. As much as providers talk about wanting to e-prescribe, I am not sure that they really do. We had only 30% of the registered providers "show" for the webinar. I am sure some of them didn't attend due to emergencies, but some probably forgot and some probably just weren't that interested. I think e-Rx is HOT, but it would be a lot hotter if scheduled drugs were included.
Well, I am off to the land of school starting back dreams. Today, my official weigh-in showed total loss of 30.5 pounds to date in just over 3 months. Woo Hoo! Go Amy, Go Amy, Go Amy...:)
The National Championship Game is on now. I am surprised at how it is going so far. Of course, I have to pull for the SEC even though I am not sure that it isn't harder for me to pull for LSU than it is to pull for Florida. I do feel badly for Dr. A who is the only Ohio State University (I refuse to put the The at the beginning) person I have EVER liked. :)
I tried to get Chris into an Orthopedic today, but I didn't have any luck. He had been seen at Children's Healtcare of Atlanta, and they don't open until 11 for me to get the fax of the X-ray report. I called yesterday, but they wouldn't fax the report to me a lowly parent. The cited HIPAA as their excuse which is a bunch of bunk in my book. I think people just like to use HIPAA as an excuse. For some reason, she couldn't fax it to me, but when I called back and gave the Shriner's hospital fax it was fine. Now, how did she know that was Shriner's?? I could have given her my fax number, right? Bunk, I say. Bunk. For that matter, I didn't even have to give her a release or anything. Usually, you have to at least complete a form and sign it. Oh well. Back to the adventure today. So, I called 3 other offices, but they said he would need a referral from the insurance before they could see him. Of course, that would result in another visit and would reduce the time available to be seen. I thought we were going to make it at Shriner's, but they had to have the X-ray report in order to schedule him. So, they finally got that from those dorks in Atlanta at 11:10. Unfortunately, their clinic wasn't open in the afternoon. So, they did get him scheduled for 8:45 in the morning. :) I am glad that Chris will be seen by the great docs at Shriner's. I was really impressed with them when Morgan went there.
We had an e-prescribing seminar today for our providers. As much as providers talk about wanting to e-prescribe, I am not sure that they really do. We had only 30% of the registered providers "show" for the webinar. I am sure some of them didn't attend due to emergencies, but some probably forgot and some probably just weren't that interested. I think e-Rx is HOT, but it would be a lot hotter if scheduled drugs were included.
Well, I am off to the land of school starting back dreams. Today, my official weigh-in showed total loss of 30.5 pounds to date in just over 3 months. Woo Hoo! Go Amy, Go Amy, Go Amy...:)
The National Championship Game is on now. I am surprised at how it is going so far. Of course, I have to pull for the SEC even though I am not sure that it isn't harder for me to pull for LSU than it is to pull for Florida. I do feel badly for Dr. A who is the only Ohio State University (I refuse to put the The at the beginning) person I have EVER liked. :)
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Biggest Loser Saturday
I was inspired by the Biggest Loser show this week. Supposedly, they exercise like 6 hours a day or something crazy like that. I needed to get back into my jogging/walking, and Morgan was still with Grams and Papa. Mike was off driving to get the kids in Valdosta, so I was all by myself which is very rare. So, I decided to have Biggest Loser Saturday. I jogged/walked a 5k, biked a 5k, swam 1/2 mile, and lifted weights. Woo Hoo! According to my Polar watch, it was well over 1000 calories burned through exercise. While it was not 6 hours worth of straight exercise, it was a lot more than I normally do.
I went to LA Fitness with Mark to see what I thought of it. I currently have a membership to Lifestyle Fitness which i actually bought mainly for the step aerobics classes. As I have gotten into the running/jogging stuff, I haven't done those as much. Unfortunately, the guy at LA Fitness was not so nice when I said that I didn't want to pay an enrollment fee. I think paying an enrollment fee AND the first month AND the last month is crazy. 2 of the 3 seems ok but all 3 is just over the top to me. I am torn because I really liked the personal trainer I had as my "free trainng sessions" at Lifestyle, and I would like to start working with a trainer. Also, you can't get any closer to my office than Lifestyle. However, LA Fitness is actually cheaper AND has a swimming pool (and is generally nicer and larger). Decisions, decisions.
Goals for 2008
1. Lose 50 pounds (for a total of 80 lost)
2. Start resistance trainng
3. Run a 5k in less than 40 minutes
Looking great in 08!
I went to LA Fitness with Mark to see what I thought of it. I currently have a membership to Lifestyle Fitness which i actually bought mainly for the step aerobics classes. As I have gotten into the running/jogging stuff, I haven't done those as much. Unfortunately, the guy at LA Fitness was not so nice when I said that I didn't want to pay an enrollment fee. I think paying an enrollment fee AND the first month AND the last month is crazy. 2 of the 3 seems ok but all 3 is just over the top to me. I am torn because I really liked the personal trainer I had as my "free trainng sessions" at Lifestyle, and I would like to start working with a trainer. Also, you can't get any closer to my office than Lifestyle. However, LA Fitness is actually cheaper AND has a swimming pool (and is generally nicer and larger). Decisions, decisions.
Goals for 2008
1. Lose 50 pounds (for a total of 80 lost)
2. Start resistance trainng
3. Run a 5k in less than 40 minutes
Looking great in 08!
Saturday, January 5, 2008
TGIF and Bowling
Woo Hoo! Friday! For a short week, I was very happy to see Friday. :) Work was very busy. Managing client expectations is difficult but I think we have made a ton of progress in the year. I am excited about 2008 and all it will bring. Remember the motto is Looking Great in 08!
After work, I went to happy hour (Morgan is still with Grams and Papa). It was so nice to be able to hang with friends. With my new choices, I did a fabulous job of moderation. I had 3 drinks all night (Bacardi and Diet coke - 2 points). We went bowling after happy hour. I hadn't been bowling in YEARS. We wanted Abhijeet to get to go since he had played it on the wii but not in real life. We bowled three games, and I won 2 of the 3. I am pretty sure Mike wishes he could go back to the day where he picked on my Wii bowling score to tell me that it wasn't really a good score in real bowling and how he kept telling me I needed a reality dose. He did beat me in the last game though by 16 pins. My high score (a whopping 123) was higher than his high score (119), so I am declaring myself the champion. :) I think Abhijeet had fun, Tony had fun, Mike had fun, and we even met a very cool couple who just moved here from Georgia. John from their group bowled EIGHT (yes, that is 8) strikes in a row!!!!!!!!! Amazing. Now, that my friends is a great score in real life bowling!
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Happy New Year!!!
Happy New Year to everyone! We had a fantastic time in Nashville with the kids and my parents. Grams and Papa ROCK!! We flew out early in the morning of the 26th, and we quickly adapted to "Grams World" which entitles you to desert after lunch! (Chris was amazed at desert after lunch!). We had taco soup, honey baked ham, Ho Ho Pie (Uncle Mark's fav - sorry Mark!), and peanut butter/chocolate fudge (Amy's personal fav). We had a great time playing with the Wii. Thursday, Mike went to visit a client, and we all went to see the Parthenon in Nashville (Athens of the South) and drove around downtown. We were trying to decide whether to continue driving, and Chris said, "We can always look it up on Google Earth which is just as good." The Parthenon is amazing to see, and I hadn't been there in a long time. The Athena statue inside was pretty amazing. It is 41 feet tall! On Friday, we made Christmas cookies and saw a movie (the girls saw Water Horse and the boys saw I am Legend). Water Horse was really cute. That night, we went to dinner at a Mexican place.
Saturday, we hung out, played Wii, and had a great time. Mississippi State played UCF anbd won!! Woo Hoo! Go SEC! Sunday, we all went to Opryland Hotel to view the Christmas decorations. Well, that was the goal anyway. The boys wanted to go see Ice (thankfully I didn't go as even Mike was cold in there!). While Mike, Chris, and Michael went to see Ice, Grams, Papa, Morgan, Katie, and I went to the mall. The girls were drawn to every webkinz and little kinz that was in the mall, and their Christmas money was burning holes in their pockets. Grams bought them one webkinz (they were only 12.99 for a Big kinz and 9.99 for a Little Kinz which is a DEAL), but they then proceeded to get many more. We finally convinced them to stop buying them. After arriving home, Mike, Chris, and I went to Best Buy with a detour through Macy's (poor Chris was so patient in getting to Best Buy). We found TravelPro suitcases for $59 AND we had a coupon for 15% off! What a deal.
Monday, Mike drove the kids to Dalton where their uncle picked them up. Morgan, Grams, and I went shopping. :) Then, my first boss called, and I went to see him. It was wonderful to catch up with him and to see his wife and son. He was a great mentor to me and certainly kept me out of a lot of trouble. That night, we went to dinner at Pie in the Sky Pizza. Ahhhh....pizza. I love pizza. Then, Mike and I went downtown for New Year's Eve. We planned to go to Tootsie's, but you had to have a reservation before 10. So, we went to Legend's. The band was fun, and I was amazed that it was non-smoking. Apparently, Tennessee passed a non-smoking ordinance, but then they left it optional (seems like it was already optional so that seems weird). Anyway, Legend's is now smoke-free. Odd. The Kentucky fans were there after the game, and they kept saying C-A-T-S, Cats, Cats, Cats as a cheer. It was cute, but the bands didn't play Rocky Top like they usually do because the Kentucky people were booing. I did meet a couple from Land O Lakes. Too funny.
Mike and I were about to leave, and my friend Street called. We love Street, and it was so great to see him and Breezy. We went back to Tootsie's. Finally, we left and had to do the traditional drive through White Castle on the way home. Unfortunately, I apparently had too much to drink and was hungover ALLLLLLLLL day on Tuesday. I also didn't realize that the Outback Bowl started at 10 Central instead of 11, so I was showering when it began. My Vols pulled it out (FINALLY won a bowl game again) and did their part for the SEC (7-2 so far proving that the SEC is best). I barely survived enough to watch the first half of the Georgia-Hawaii game (man did Georgia dominate that one - SEC, SEC, SEC!).
Wednesday was a good day back at work. Mike and I watched Biggest Loser. I felt bad for the girl in the green team. Her dad didn't want to be there, and she did. She worked SO hard, but she had the lowest weight loss of the girls. I don't like the purple girls. They are annoying, so I would rather them go home. Mike and I tried the new Zumba CD's I got for Christmas. I really like it! It will take me a while to get all of the moves down, but most of it is pretty straightforward. I gained 3 pounds in Nashville, but I lost it all already in 1 day - must have been mainly water. I think I am finally over my chest cold, so hopefully I can get back into my running this week.
Happy New Year - Looking Great in 08!
Saturday, we hung out, played Wii, and had a great time. Mississippi State played UCF anbd won!! Woo Hoo! Go SEC! Sunday, we all went to Opryland Hotel to view the Christmas decorations. Well, that was the goal anyway. The boys wanted to go see Ice (thankfully I didn't go as even Mike was cold in there!). While Mike, Chris, and Michael went to see Ice, Grams, Papa, Morgan, Katie, and I went to the mall. The girls were drawn to every webkinz and little kinz that was in the mall, and their Christmas money was burning holes in their pockets. Grams bought them one webkinz (they were only 12.99 for a Big kinz and 9.99 for a Little Kinz which is a DEAL), but they then proceeded to get many more. We finally convinced them to stop buying them. After arriving home, Mike, Chris, and I went to Best Buy with a detour through Macy's (poor Chris was so patient in getting to Best Buy). We found TravelPro suitcases for $59 AND we had a coupon for 15% off! What a deal.
Monday, Mike drove the kids to Dalton where their uncle picked them up. Morgan, Grams, and I went shopping. :) Then, my first boss called, and I went to see him. It was wonderful to catch up with him and to see his wife and son. He was a great mentor to me and certainly kept me out of a lot of trouble. That night, we went to dinner at Pie in the Sky Pizza. Ahhhh....pizza. I love pizza. Then, Mike and I went downtown for New Year's Eve. We planned to go to Tootsie's, but you had to have a reservation before 10. So, we went to Legend's. The band was fun, and I was amazed that it was non-smoking. Apparently, Tennessee passed a non-smoking ordinance, but then they left it optional (seems like it was already optional so that seems weird). Anyway, Legend's is now smoke-free. Odd. The Kentucky fans were there after the game, and they kept saying C-A-T-S, Cats, Cats, Cats as a cheer. It was cute, but the bands didn't play Rocky Top like they usually do because the Kentucky people were booing. I did meet a couple from Land O Lakes. Too funny.
Mike and I were about to leave, and my friend Street called. We love Street, and it was so great to see him and Breezy. We went back to Tootsie's. Finally, we left and had to do the traditional drive through White Castle on the way home. Unfortunately, I apparently had too much to drink and was hungover ALLLLLLLLL day on Tuesday. I also didn't realize that the Outback Bowl started at 10 Central instead of 11, so I was showering when it began. My Vols pulled it out (FINALLY won a bowl game again) and did their part for the SEC (7-2 so far proving that the SEC is best). I barely survived enough to watch the first half of the Georgia-Hawaii game (man did Georgia dominate that one - SEC, SEC, SEC!).
Wednesday was a good day back at work. Mike and I watched Biggest Loser. I felt bad for the girl in the green team. Her dad didn't want to be there, and she did. She worked SO hard, but she had the lowest weight loss of the girls. I don't like the purple girls. They are annoying, so I would rather them go home. Mike and I tried the new Zumba CD's I got for Christmas. I really like it! It will take me a while to get all of the moves down, but most of it is pretty straightforward. I gained 3 pounds in Nashville, but I lost it all already in 1 day - must have been mainly water. I think I am finally over my chest cold, so hopefully I can get back into my running this week.
Happy New Year - Looking Great in 08!
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