Day 490...

Lots to catch up on today! I've gotten slack again...

OK, first off, I had such a great time last weekend! Ian, Krystal and I took the baby out to Stone Mtn. for the annual Highland Games, and we had a blast! Tracy came over from AL, along with Tess and Steph, from my Outlander Gathering group, and we were met out there by Micki, Julia, her friend Heidi, and Michelle. Other than the ones in our group who had not planned to attend, the glaring exception to our joy was the absence of our friend, Sherri, who had to bow out at the last minute due to work. She was justifiably upset by this (as were we), as we had all planned on getting together for this event for so long, and were so looking forward to spending the day together....and she was sorely missed by us all.

We spent all day at the games, laughing, talking, shopping, and watching all the events. And at the end of the day, me, Tracy, Julia, Heidi, and Micki left to have dinner in old town Norcross, where we were joined by another of our group, Yvonne. After dinner, Yvonne, Micki, Tracy and I said goodnight to Heidi and Julia (who had to preach the next morning) and went next door to a neat little coffee shop for coffee. They had a house band playing, so we holed up in a back corner and chatted away for an hour or two before heading our separate ways.

It was a great time, and a memorable one. I am profoundly glad to have had the opportunity to meet each one of these lovely ladies who have added so much to my life, and I know that they will continue to be in my life for a long time to come. Quality never goes out of style...

I can't wait until next year!

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This weekend....the drought is over! Yay!! With the gas prices finally getting respectable again, I finally get to go spend the weekend with my husband! It's been 7 weeks since we've been together...the longest time we've ever spent apart. And so help me, God...I will never go that long again. I can't stand it. And he's about to go up the wall. Never, ever again. Never.

In the future, should you ask me to go somewhere with you without my husband for an extended period of time, I give you fair warning now. The answer will probably be no, unless it's for no more than a day or so. I have lived far too long without him, and I don't intend to ever do it again once this trial is over in our lives. Simply put, I don't have to...and that's my perogative.

...But it doesn't mean that I will love any of you any less!

Day 497~~Oingo Boingo - It's a Dead Man's Party

Somebody sent me this today, and I thought it was perfect for Halloween. Enjoy!!! I did! ..

Day 504...

Ok, no positive talk today...unless you want to consider that I'm positively pissed. This is a rant session, plain and simple. I need to VENT.

So, I am responsible for Accounts Payable, right? That means that I cut all the checks for the company. Period. That's my territory. And that includes the petty cash checks for all four locations.

This past week, we had a crew go out to a gated community, and they took 20 bucks with them for the gate fee. Problem was, it wound up being 30 bucks, because they were met out there by another crew from our Athens location, and since we now had two trucks, the fees doubled.

Instead of the Athens crew going back to Athens for the 15 bucks, the guy took it out of his pocket and got reimbursed when he got back to Athens....from ATHENS' petty cash box. So now, there's 20 bucks out of Lithonia's box, and 10 out of Athens'. But it's for a Lithonia ticket.

The nazi that keeps the Lithonia box balanced kept trying to tell me that I needed to add that 10 bucks to Lithonia's box, because it was a Lithonia ticket. I kept telling her that it needed to be added to Athens' PC report to reimburse Athens, because the cash came out of their box. She went to my supervisor, who did not...repeat...did NOT come tell me I did it wrong. (I've been doing this for 6 years, now, btw...)

So this morning, I go give her the PC check for Lithonia, and she tells me I cut it wrong...it's 10 bucks short. I thought we were freaking done with this already! So I tell her no, it's not....and we start going round and round...again. I turn to walk out of her office, and she calls me dense. DENSE!

OK, sister...NOW who's being unprofessional, huh? WTF???!!!???

Holy cow. I told her that I may be dense, but at least I wasn't RUDE. I didn't come try to tell her how to do her billing....she doesn't need to tell me how to do my payables!

She actually followed me back across the hall into my office to try to convince me to recut this check. And when I said no, she took it to the BIG boss. Actually interrupted a meeting to take it to him...over ten freakin' bucks!!! Holy cow!!! She thinks she's entitled to call everybody's shots because she's been here since God was a child, so therefore she's the only one who has any sense.

My satisfaction came from the fact that she came out of that meeting, tail tucked between her legs, and went straight back to her office. I was NOT told to recut the check, thank you...

...Have I mentioned just how much I love my boss?

Day 505....

It's hard to believe we're about to go under the 500 day mark...whoo-hoo!

Ok...

I'm still on the wagon, folks...and we're hip-deep into week 4 already! That means I'm well past the mark where I usually bite the dust. The only other time I made it this far was back in '05 when I got so fit. This time, it FEELS different...and I know I'm going to succeed. To date, I've lost over 10 lbs.

Last night, we ran 3 1/4 miles. Both days this past weekend, we managed to put in 2 hours of track work, walking a total of 6 1/2 miles each day, 3 of those running. I feel great!! I have finally pushed past the initial soreness, and my muscles are finally responding as I knew they eventually would. They still get tired, mind you....but at least they don't give out on me.

Now...if I could just get my mind whipped into that good a shape, I'd be set!

Day 508...

Ok...I have to brag on my partner in crime, my future D-I-L, Krystal. She has matched me step for step on this journey I've been on for the past three weeks to get healthy, and I am so proud of her!

Two weeks ago, when she first started going out to the track with me, she couldn't even walk in pace with me for one lap without having to pull up, wheezing and gasping. I was continuously on her to speed up. She couldn't.

One week ago, she was keeping pace with me nicely on our walks, and asking me when I was going to let her start running with me. I assured her that I would let her start working on her running skills last Monday, which I did. I had to teach her how to pace herself, so that she could go the distance without burning out...a hard thing to learn if you've never done it. Along with her, I was trying to get back into the groove, myself. A year ago, I was running between 4 and 5 miles a day, but I hadn't run at all in the interim, so I was looking forward to retraining myself along with her...ya just can't jump back into it, ya know.

We started the week slowly...first, a lap. Then two. Then two, followed by four. Then a mile and a half. Last night, we did 26 laps on a quarter mile track. That's six and a half miles, folks. And three miles of it, we ran. Three miles. Three.

She's up to running three miles in less than a week!

I'm so freaking proud of her, I can't stand it. She's lost 21 lbs. so far, and last night, she pretty much finished her run ready to run more. I kept up with her, but I have to admit that I struggled the last three laps, and I'm feeling it today. I pushed too hard. Of course, the fact that I've got 24 years and 40 lbs. on her doesn't exactly help.

But you know what? I did it. And as bad as my body hurts right now, I will do it again today. Because I can. Because I need to. Because I must in order to survive and live the kind of life I choose to live. A healthy, active life, not a sedentary one. A long....VERY long life, in which to enjoy my children, and my grandchildren...and my husband. Always him.

The great thing about this is that he doesn't know about any of this. We're keeping it secret. And by the time I see him again, I will have lost twenty lbs.

Don't believe me? You better stay tuned....!

Day 509...

Day 509...
Current mood: grateful

Got a phone call of sorts last night from a very dear friend who I've been out of contact with lately. Not because I wanted to be, but because the circumstances of her life dictated that she put some distance between herself and everyone for a while. I didn't think it was good for her to do that, and I was right. Apparently, she's in the process of recovering from a suicide attempt. Thank God, she was unsuccessful!

I can't say that I didn't see this coming. I knew how depressed she was from the choices that she was forced...literally...to make. And I was powerless to help her. I know she was put into the situation that she's in by well-meaning people who love her dearly and feel that the choices they are forcing her to make are in her best interest, but they are not. They can't see all the pieces of the puzzle the way I can, and they will never be able to. But I do know that it was never their intention to push her so far, and even now, they have no idea that their actions were what drove her over the edge.

I will say, however, that I am glad that AT THE MOMENT, they are being as vigilant with her as they are, because she needs that stability in her life at the moment to be able to overcome the depression and get back on track, putting herself first for a change, which is something she has not been able to do for quite a long time. Thank God, she is now able to recognize that fact, and with help, is taking the steps she needs to in order to be able to get her life back together, and be healthy. Really healthy.

God is good. I can't imagine going forward in my life without her friendship. I've lost too many people in my life already who are near and dear to my heart. The loss of this dear friend would have crippled me horribly for a very, very long time.

Day 510...

Ok, so I feel like a real idiot right now, because I just deleted about seven or eight of my friends by accident....

Hopefully, they will forgive me and add me back, providing they are still willing to be associated with someone who would make such a stupid mistake!

I am now in the second half of week three, and still going strong, thank you. I passed a HUGE milestone last night...dinner with the family...and I am still here to tell the tale! So I am very proud of myself. I am also proud of Krystal, who is matching me step for step on this process. I am back up to running two miles, now, and she is already worked up to running a mile! We are determined to get healthy, and we are succeeding!

If you haven't seen my pics of Shanna's baby, check them out...I posted them last week.

Harmony is still doing well, she's decided that rolling across the floor to get a toy is her much preferred way to travel, so she is balking at the crawling thing, so far. No teeth yet, but we hold out great hope that it will happen eventually!

In other news, one of my coworkers suffered a house fire last week, so I've been very busy pulling double duty this past week. As a result, I have had little time for much else, but am happy that things are starting to get back to normal for her. Luckily, no one was hurt in the fire, and the damage was not a total loss. Please keep her and her family in your prayers as they try to rebuild what was destroyed, and rejoice over what was not.