DECEMBER 3, 2004

RESULTS FOR TODAY
Exercise – walked 9 minutes / stretched out 4 minutes
FOOD – 33.5 points today (range 29 – 34)
WATER – 72 ounces (goal for day (60-80 ounces)

{{{GROUP HUG EVERYBODY}}} Another successful day, wouldn’t you say? Right now it’s really hard for me to find food because I need to go grocery shopping. I know then how did I get to 33.5 points for today, right? I think it has to do with the pizza I had for dinner tonight. Anyways tomorrow I’m going to the store and purchase plenty of good healthy food. I have to be honest I’m a little bit nervous about making this trip. Because you all know my pattern when it comes to going to the store. Even though I don’t really want to go to the store tomorrow, it’s something that I have to do.

A couple weeks ago I ordered a pair of shoes online, and the other day I got an email saying that they were out of stock. Which doesn’t make sense to me. Because when I placed the order they were in stock, now all of sudden their out of stock. Well at least I think they were in stock. Oh well can’t cry of that. I called them today to cancel my order, because I didn’t want to wait until the middle of next month to have them shipped out. This weekend I’m going over to Becks for a pair of shoes.

Earlier tonight my grandma was on her way the restroom to empty her bag, and she got a little confused. The next thing I heard was a loud thump. I knew exactly what had happened. I went into her room, and saw my grandma laying on the floor face down. My grandma wasn’t hurt, I think she was more stunned then anything. For a women who’s 85 years old my grandma has really strong bones. She’s fallen a few times in the past, and has never broken a bone from one of her falls. Even the time when she fell in the bathtub a couple years back.

During this time my brother and mom were outside working on putting the lights up. My brother was getting frustrared because it was already dark, and my mom wanted the lights to go up tonight. Finally they both gave up and decided that next week and during the day would be better.

Meanwhile I was still in my grandma’s room. She rolled over onto her back, and placed a pillow on the floor for her. I wanted her to stay their for a few minutes just to get her breath. Then I heard my mom and brother come in the house. I told my mom that my grandma had fallen. Eric and my mom both came into my grandmas room. Then Eric tells me to get my grandma up off the floor. When he knows that I can’t lift her by myself. I told him that I can’t lift her by myself, I need some help. My mom and I were able to get my grandma off of the floor and back into her bed. Then my Eric was saying “well last time she fell I was able to pick her up” I just pretty much ignored him after that because I knew what ever was going to come out of his mouth was a total waste of his breath. I mean yeah of course he was able to pick my grandma up off of the floor, my brother is a lot stronger then me, but to tell me that I should be able to pick her up when he knows that I can’t it’s beyond stupid.
Well as you might of guessed tonight I started a new journal. I’ve entitled my journal “HEADING DOWN THE ROAD TO WEIGHT LOSS SUCCESS” because that’s exactly what this journey is. I’m heading down a road to better health. Along the way I may up end up making a couple of wrong turns and even a few U-turns. But as long as I find the correct road again success will be mine.

GOALS FOR DECEMBER 4, 2004
water 60 – 80 ounces
points 29 – 34

Time for me to get caught up with my threads.

:deer: Katherine

Good Morning Katherine,

I see you've started a new Journal ... so I want to make sure I read about your successes ... lol READ MY JOURNAL when you get a chance because I am going to have a big surprise .... lol NO I AM NOT PREGNANT ... Make it a great day. I am as always, Monica

hi Monica,
Congraulations on joining WW. That's so wonderful, and what a great present for yourself "the gift of health" My friend has been going to the meetings since 2001 and she loves them. Congraulations once again.

DECEMBER 4, 2004

RESULTS FOR TODAY

Water: 84 ounces (goal 60 – 80 ounces)
Points: 30 points / 4 points banked (points range 29-34)

In just about 35 minutes I’ll be receciving my emails from the threads that I subscribe to, in the meantime I thought I would write in my own journal now. Today I was on a mission a mission for a pair of shoes. However before I tell you all about my little mission, I need to first of all tell you what great idea I came up with this morning at breakfast.

My mom and I went out for breakfast this morning, and to make sure that I measured out everything properly I brought my own measuring spoon. Pretty smart idea don’t you think? The only things I had to measure out where the butter and powder sugar, for my pancake. I brought my spoon with me, so that I can make sure my points were accurate tonight.

After breakfast we drove in Sunnyvale, and went over to Avenue. It was 9:45am when we arrived their, and they didn’t open for 15 more minutes. In the meantime we headed over to Beck’s shoe store. I needed to get a pair of walking shoes, and I found a pair that I liked; however they didn’t have them in my size. Then the man who was helping us called two other stores and the second one had the shoes that in my size.

Once we were finished at Becks, my mom and I drove over to Avenue. I tried on several different blouses, but none of them I was really statisfied with. And my mom always says “Don’t buy something just to buy it” One style of blouse I tried on went a little to low in the front. I don’t think it’s really proper for me walking around with my bra showing lol. Then I tried on the blouse that was one size smaller, and it fit me really good on top. On the bottom it was a little tight. I have wide hips and I like for my shirts/blouses to be loose at the bottom. What I really wanted to get were some long sleeved blouses for winter like turtle necks, but they didn’t have any. Tomorrow my mom and I are going to try at a different Avenue. If I don’t have any luck their, I’m going to think about checking on line.

Next we headed over to the other Beck store and I got my shoes. Their the exact same shoes that I have now. I also got a pair of black ones which were a little bit dressery. I think my mom felt like she could finally breathe a sigh of relief because I finally went and got some new pair of shoes. My old shoes I’ve been wearing them for a few years now and their really starting to show their time.

Hey I got some great news. Today I made a tunafish sandwich for lunch, I know I’m going to be turning into a tuna fish lol! Anyways I used a light bread and I saved 1 point on my sandwich. Plus the fiber was really good 7 grams for 2 slices. The wheat bread I was eating the past couple of days had 3 grams of fiber for 2 slices. I’m so proud of myself tonight I had a well blanced dinner. Salmon, peas, and 1 biscuit. I know I need to eat more veggies, but I think tonight I did really good considering the past couple of days.

GOALS FOR DECEMBER 5, 2004
Water 60 – 80 ounces
Points 29 – 34
Exercise 9.50 walking with WATP 1 mile tape

:deer: Katherine

Hi Katherine. Just wanted to pop in to wish you well. Sounds like you're doing great.

Have you heard from Angie at all? I know you used to post in her journal. I really liked her and am concerned about her. I've tried PMing her but no response. Let me know if you've heard from her lately. Keep her in your thoughts. She was such a sweetheart.

Good luck on your own journey, Sue

Hi Sue,
Thanks for writing in my journal. No I haven't heard from Angie. I tried sending her a PM message too, but didn't have any luck. I'm keeping her in my thoughts.

DECEMBER 7, 2004
Good morning everyone! Sorry that I haven’t written in for a couple of days. I was going to write in last night but I was to cold to sit at my computer or to use the computer down in the garage. Instead I’m taking some time this morning to get caught up in my journal.

RESULTS FROM DECEMBER 5, 2004
Water – 68 ounces of water (goal 60-80 ounces)
Exercise – 9.5 minutes walking / some light stretching
Points – 33 points (range is 29-34 points) (banked points 5)

RESULTS FROM DECEMBER 6, 2004
Water – 48 ounces (goal 60-80 ounces)
Points 40 (range is 29-34 points) (banked points 0)

Yesterday afternoon around 11:45 I went into my grandma’s room to wake her up. I know from past experiences that she doesn’t always like going to the doctor, so I made sure to remind her the night before that she had to go yesterday. When I went to wake her up, she asked if she could sleep for another 30 minutes, and I was fine with that.

Thirty minutes later my grandma was up, I got warm suit for her to wear and helped her get dressed. Then she had a quick bit of oatmeal, and finished getting ready. By 12:55 we were heading out the door.

Her appointment was at 1:30pm, and we were running kind of late. So I was worried about the time. When we got near the clinic I had forgotten what the address was, so I just parked where I could. Then I realized I had parked in the wrong parking lot. However I didn’t worry about moving my car just then, I needed to get my grandma in for her appointment. I quickly headed over to their office, which was just two buildings over and got a wheelchair. Then I headed back to the car. By the time I got their I was totally of breath. While my grandma was in for her appointment I went and moved my car.

After my grandma’s doctor appointment we went to Carrows for a bite of lunch. From the senior menu we shared plain cheeseburger and fries. And for desert we shared a small chocolate sundae. I gave my grandma most of the sundae. For the cheeseburger and fries I had to use the average points that were listed in my book, and for the sundae I just took a guess at 4 points.

Next I headed over to the store to get some bread. Normally we do most of our shopping at Albertson’s; however this time I went to the Grocery Outlet store. Oh my gosh! Talk about savings. Normally a loaf of Wonder bread at Albertson’s is about $3.45. At the grocery outlet store $1.64 I also got 5 ff yogurts. They only had strawberry or banana crème, and I don’t care to much for banana so I got 5 yogurts at .34 cents each. Normally I pay .65 cents each for the Albertson’s brand unless theirs a sale.

Finally we were able to go back home again. My mom was already home by the time we got their. She was suppose to go to her class last night, but she was unable to make it. At the end of January her insurance runs out for these classes and I really hope that I can get her to continue with her workouts. If my mom and I can join a gym that would be great for both of us. Right now I just don’t’ see that happening with my mom. My mom is the type of person that as soon as she gets off work she likes to sit down and relax for the evening. So I told her “mom why not get up earlier to complete your workout in the morning. But she’s not willing to do that either. Well I’ll just have to wait and see what happens.

Since I didn’t eat lunch until 3:30 yesterday I wasn’t hungry for dinner last night. Instead I snacked a little bit. Once I started snacking last night I couldn’t’ get myself to stop. Finally I realized that this has to stop. I tossed aside my second bag of pretzels and that was it for the night. Which explains why my point level was so high yesterday. Since I didn’t have the actual points for my lunch yesterday I maybe went over with my banked points, but I’m not worried about it. The important thing is that today I’m focused and I’m totally back on track on again.

Last night I finally finished our Christmas letter. It’s about 2 ½ pages long. I was going to print it out last night but our printer isn’t working. Today after my mom gets home from work were going over to the library so I can print it out there. Then were going over to Target, to get some paper. Afterwards were heading to Kinko’s to make copies of the letter. This morning I have to call my mom to see who she wants to mail the letter out to. I volunteered to address the envelopes since my hand writing is neater then my moms, and that’s not saying much lol. My mom has actually gotten letters send back to her because of her hand writing.

Have a great day everyone!

:deer: Katherine

DECEMBER 7, 2004

Results for today:
Water – I drank a total of 68 ounces (goal is 60 ounces)

Exercise – Walked a total of 10 minutes with WATP 1 mile video, plus some gentle stretching

Points – I ate a total of 30 points (range is 29-34) (point banked 4)

Wow looking at my success from today compared to yesterday is just so amazing. I really feel stronger each day that I wake up. I can’t sit here and say that I haven’t been tempted because believe me I have been.

Earlier this evening my mom and I had to go to a couple of places. I had to go the library to print out a copy of the Christmas letter, our printer isn’t working right now. I tried reinstalling it but haven’t had any luck.

After the library we headed on over to Kinkos to make copies of the letter. Next we went to Albertson’s. My mom had to do a little shopping tonight and I needed to get a couple of items myself.

Oh my gosh! Being in the store tonight was a real challenge for me. I kept on telling myself to be strong, remember how well I’ve done these past few days. But then I started craving those drumstick ice cream cones, and their 9 points each yikes! I thought to myself okay what can I get to statsify my sweet tooth and at the same time is low in points. Then I found it. I got some Hunts chocolate pudding. At only 3 points a cup it’s low in points and I can get my chocolate fix on.

Well I’m seriously thinking about joining the gym at Lockheed. My mom received the information about it today in the mail, and I really liked everything they had to offer. Of course I do need to go down and see for myself that will help make my final decision. Oh but I haven’t told you the best part yet. The membership is only $20.00 a year, you can’t beat that.

:peace: Katherine

Hi Katherine, Wow! How successful you have been! It is good to read that you are checking points and really sticking with it. You really motivated me when i read your journal. I have been terrible. I just bought a bunch of Smart Start WW dinners. I like to take them for lunch. I don't do well with salads - I get too hungry. I have been to a workshop the last to days and ate WAY too mucy. today we had salad, turkey, potatoes, dressing, and a roll. I did skip dessert. But I did not have to eat all the other stuff. I hope I can go light tonight.

Congrats on your motivation. You are really doing well. :deer:

DECEMBER 8, 2004
Can you believe it in just about 95 minutes I’ll end my first week, on WW. I’m still in shock that I was able to go entire week without my Pringles chips. This past week I’ve learned just how important it is for me to watch my portions and to measure everything out. I suppose I get always get some Pringles chips and divide them up, but I don’t trust myself. I proberly would still eat all of them in one sitting. As long as their out of the house, their going to be a distance memory for me.

My mom is a firm believer that everything happens in 3’s. Like for example if 3 unlucky things happen to you, then the next thing will bring you luck. Well that’s happening to me now.

1) Guess what their going to put in right now the street from where I live. Okay it’s a couple miles away but it’s right next the store where I do my grocery shopping. Give up? Their going to be building a Krispy Kreme’s. Is that totally cruel or what? But I don’t have to worry about that right now because the construction hasn’t even started yet.

2) Today I realized that I had a total of 5 banked points and I was really excited about that. Then I remembered that since tomorrowBe I weigh in it wipes out my bank. Oh well I guess this actually is a good thing because I don’t have any excuse to over eat. Until I start banking points next week.

3) Tomorrow is my weigh in day, and I’m really nervous. It’s not because I haven’t been watching myself this week. It’s because Aunt Flow is paying me a visit.

So I’m crossing my fingers that tomorrow my luck will be good and the scale will be down.

Before I end this entry tonight I wanted to share with you my results from this week. BRB I need to get my notebook.

RESULTS FOR THE WEEK OF DECEMBER 2, 2004
Points: 233.5 points (weekly goal is 203 – 238)
Water: 346 ounces (weekly goal was 420 – 560 ounces)
Exercise: 41 minutes (weekly goal was 37.5 minutes)

All in all I would have to say that I had a terrific week, and I’m ready to face the next week head on.

GOALS FOR THE WEEK OF DECEMBER 9, 2004
Points: 29 – 34 points a day / plus banked points
Water: 70 – 90 ounces a day
Exercise: 54 minutes

:peace: Katherine

DECEMBER 12, 2004
On Thursday morning I weighed in, and I had gained 2 pounds. Their could have been a number of reasons why I had gained, but I think I’m going to go with the most logical reason of all. The scale is broken. Okay so maybe our scale isn’t broken, but I can dream can’t I LOL. Anyways even though the scale wasn’t in my favor during my weigh in, I know that I had a very successful week last week.

This week on the other hand is a different story. I’ve been off track for 3 ½ days now and I can’t seem to get back on track again. I guess you can say that I got off the main road on my weight loss journey. Now I need to find a map to help me relocate the proper road again. The only map that I have for this weight loss journey is my own. I have to make up my mind to get back on the road again and keep on heading down it. However since I’m already in this lovely town, I think that for today I might just stay and enjoy some of the scenery. Although this is a lovely town to visit, I’m much happier finding the town to better health. The only way that I’m going to do that is to get back on the correct road first thing tomorrow.

Do you remember when I was telling you about my mom and that money she might become into at work? It looks like it’s not going to happen. Since my mom hasn’t saved her paycheck stubs since she started working at her company, there is no way to prove rather or not she received the money for the cleaning of her uniform. My mom talked to somebody, properly, in payroll and they do keep paycheck stubs for a year. So where waiting to see if she gets anything at all.

I was so excited about joining the gym at Lockheed-Martin. I mean having to pay only $20.00 a year, where else are you going to find a deal that great. My mom called them on Friday to get some more information, and guess what. It’s not $20.00 a year, it’s $20.00 a month. I swear when I read the pamphlet it said $20.00 for a calendar year. And of course I was didn’t believe my mom so I had to double check the pamphlet myself. Sure enough it did say $20.00 a month for a calendar year. Don’t you hate it when your eyes play tricks on you? Or maybe I just wanted to see something that wasn’t really their.

Ever since my mom was 2 year old, she my grandma and my Aunt have been going to Fulton Street during the holiday season to look at the house decorations. It’s a time-honored tradition that still continues to this day. I’ve seen them every year since I was little and I always look forward to going. This tradition has started years before my mom was even born. My grandma says that it’s been going on for close to 100 years. All the houses on Futon Street are decorated for the holidays. And people come from all over the just to see these festival of homes. Last Friday we were going to go, but my grandma said that the houses aren’t going to decorated until the 15th. However we thought we would take a chance and go and see. The houses weren’t decorated yet, so we just headed back for home again. We’ll properly go this weekend, and I brought a camera to take some pictures.

Ta ta for now!

:rose:Katherine

DECEMBER 13, 2004
I’m really craving something different for dinner tonight. For the past week I haven’t been eating all that great, but we don’t need to get into that do we. Anyways I was thinking about what to cook tonight and then I thought of some of the recipes I have tried in the past, and I finally found on that I really liked and I’m going to make again.

The recipe is for Taco Pie which Joanne posted a couple years ago over at the boards. The last time I cooked it I used chicken instead of the ground beef; however tonight I’m going to use the ground beef. I haven’t cooked this in over a year so I’m really looking forward to having it again.

Yesterday seemed to be one adventure after another. At 2:00pm my mom and I drove down to Morgan Hill. We went to a cheese and wine tasting place. I’ve never been to anything like that before. While my mom was picking out some wine I was sampling the food. Oh my gosh it was so good, I tasted some different kinds of cheese and meats that I’ve never had before. My favorite was the Gorgonzola. I must have had 5 crackers and spread the gorgonzola on each of them. Their was also a lot of salami their and other kinds of meat as well. My only complaint was I didn’t see any juice, for those of us who don’t drink alcoholic beverages. Oh well I guess I can’t complain they did have some great food to snack on.

My mom and I took my grandma shopping yesterday. We went over to Mervin’s to get a pair of shoes for her. But taking my grandma shopping can sometimes be a nightmare. First of all they measured her foot to be a size 7; however my grandma insisted on not getting anything shorter then an 8. And their was no way you were going to fight her on this one. Then the sales girl who was helping us, found a pair of shoes for my grandma. My grandma said that they felt like they were to tight, meaning they were to narrow. So then she found a pair of wide width shoes. And my grandma was complaining about those as well. I asked my grandma what was wrong, but she couldn’t’ tell me. We must of tried 5 different shoes on my grandma before she finally, some what, satisfied.

When we were their my grandma didn’t have her cane so she didn’t really have a chance to try out the shoes walking. She did stand up and walk with my mom and me for a second. Tonight I’m going to have her put her shoes on and walk up and down the hall. If they seem uncomfortable then I’ll take her back to the store on Thursday.

My concern was the length of shoe. When I got my shoes they told me that the length in front shouldn’t be longer then a thumbnail, from your longest toes. Her old shoes are also a size 8, and she has so much room in them. So I really think a 7 would be better for her. If we do have to go back on Thursday, I’m going to make sure to bring her cane, so she can walk in the store.

Well I only have 18 minutes left on the computer, so I better post this.

TTFN,

:rose: Katherine

Hey Katherine!

Just wanted to pop in and say hello! Hope all is going well with you!

I hope you have fun going to see the decorated houses this weekend! :deer: My family and I are going to a christmas dinner show this weekend. Should be fun!

-Lindsey

DECEMBER 14, 2004
Oh my gosh! I can’t believe how cold it’s gotten in the past few days. I’m looking forward to hitting the covers tonight. Of course it’s only 9:00pm right now, so it’s way to early, but by 9:15pm I should be ready to hit the hay. LOL just kidding! Right now I’m trying to keep my mind off of the cold by writing in my journal and then afterwards I’ll respond to my threads. However those still haven’t showed up in my email inbox yet.

Yesterday I emailed my resume to several places that were listed on Craigslist. I haven’t heard anything back yet, but I’m crossing my fingers. Today I went over to the library to print out a copy of my resume. But for some reason when I printed it out, the spacing was all wrong. Then I viewed it on the computer screen and it didn’t look the way I wanted it to look. At home my resume is fine but our printer isn’t working right now. Well actually that may not be true, I’m going to test it tonight. Cross your fingers for me that it’s working out now.

Despite not being able to print out my resume today, my trip the library wasn’t a total waste. I checked out an exercise video by Richard Simmons “Sweatin # 2” I use to have a lot of videos, but I gave them away. Now I’m thinking that might have been a mistake. I’m serisoulsy thinking about giving them a try again. However first I want to borrow some from the library for a while just to make sure. And once I make up my mind to get them, if I do that is, I’m going to purchasing used copies. Hey as long as their in good working condition that’s all that I need.

Okay I know you’re all properly wondering about my eating. Well let’s just say that I never found my way back on the correct road again. So it looks like I’m going to be enjoying my stay here for a bit longer. How much longer, that’s not something I really can answer honestly. I would love to tell you that tomorrow I’m heading back towards the main highway again and going in the right direction, but I’m afaird I can’t. Because I don’t really know what’s going to happen tomorrow or how I’m going to feel when I wake up. I guess I’ll just take each day as they come.

:rose: Katherine

Hi Katherine, I havent talked to you in a long time, its nice to see you still on here, I have been away for a couple of months....boy did I miss this place, I have only lost 2lbs since then....I didnt realize what comfort it was to have everyone here as friends but it is...and as for you starting your food,, you will have to do that in your own time, no one can make you do that, it is hard, I still have more bad days with food than I have good ones...it is a constant battle everyday I wake up....and I suppose that it always will be for me...and probably you to....I know that doesnt sound very inspriring but it really should be because when people like you and me and alot of people on here get to where we want to be we will have accomplished so much and we and when I say we I mean everyone that has always struggled with weight problems, we will have traveled a long hard road, and a road that will have alot of bumps along the way but hopefully it will make us stronger, more self confident and healthier...anyway what I am trying to say is that it is better to try everyday and fail than it is never to try at all...here is a very good saying that I saw on oprah's website...I have found it to be helpfull when I feel as though I am failing very bad......

If you have made mistakes…there is always another chance for you…you may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing we call "Failure" is not the falling down but the staying down.


I think Wynonna Judd said that and to me it is so very true....anyway I hope you have a great day and like i said it is good to be back on here and to be able to talk to you again...
Angie

Hi Katherine, Just checking in to see how you are doing. Checking out those videos sounds like a great idea. hope you find something you enjoy. Take care of yourself!! :deer:

Hi Katherine,

I was in the "neighborhood" so I thought I might as well stop in for a brief visit and say hello. After all, you have visited me several times of late when I was not up to visiting anyone myself. I really have appreciated that too.

Oh yes, I received your card and Xmas letter today. Thanks so much for sharing with me. It was obviously a very busy and stressful year for all of you, and thank goodness it has ended on such a positive note. I was very glad to see that.

I am done my therapy for this week, and I'm seeing the surgeon tomorrow. I will probably be taking therapy for at least another month from the looks of it, but it will all be for my benefit and ensure a better recovery in the long run. I know it's a long drive back and forth, but we think it is well worth the effort.

Have a wonderful weekend dear. Take care now.

[b] DECEMBER 18, 2004 [B]
Good afternoon everyone! I’m so sorry that I haven’t been online for the past few days. Last week I was trying to log onto the Internet from my laptop, and I wasn’t having any luck. I uninstalled my ISP, but now I can’t reinstall it. I put the CD in my CD drive and it runs for like three seconds and then it stops. I’ve tried several times this week, but haven’t had any luck. Right now I’m using the other computer, so I can get caught up with everything. I also plan to download a setup icon for my ISP and hopefully that will help me to get back online again.

We finally got our tree up. My mom, Roberto, and I trimmed the tree last night. My mom sure is fussy about how things should be done. She insisted that we hang the ornaments in a certain way, so that they look nice. You had to put the small ornaments at the top. The medium ones in the middle and the large ones at the bottom. I told her what’s the difference, it’s not like anybody’s going to complain about how the tree is decorated. Then my mom said “Katherine there is a right way to do things and a wrong way to things” Oh well I guess I can’t complain to much, cause the tree does look really nice.

Oh and speaking of the tree it stands about 7 ½ feet tall, with the Angel on top. The top branches curve up so that it looks like a crown. And the rest of the tree is very bushy. At first we placed it in front of our patio window, but then it took up half of the living room. Then Katia suggested moving into a corner and that seemed to work out much better.

While everyone was out shopping today, except for my grandma, brother, and me. I decided to stay home and get some things done here. I’m so proud of myself I almost have my room completed organized. Today I’m going to get my CD’s and cassette tapes in order. I also have to wash my clothes today.

Right now I need to write my friend in Austria a letter, so have a great afternoon everyone.

:rose: Katherine

Merry Christmas and a
Happy New Year!!!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v67/nannerbanner/bow1.jpg
Just wanted to say thank you for your friendship here at diettalk and wish you a wonderful holiday!!!

Katherine, good work on the tree, lol. Hope your mom likes it. Have a great holiday!!!

Merry Christmas :)

Beth :peace:

Katherine, I am wishing you and yours the healthiest and merriest Christmas ever.... I am as always, Monica :hug:

Hi Katherine. Checking it to see how things are going. Hope you Christmas was a great one. :deer:

DECEMBER 26, 2004
Happy Holidays Everyone! I am so sorry that I haven’t been able to get online to catch you all up on what’s been happening with me and my family. As you all know I’ve been having problems with my computer. I wasn’t able to connect to my ISP. I thought if I uninstall it and then reinstall the program that would fix the problem. However I had another problem I wasn’t able to reinstall the program. I finally just cancelled my ISP, so right now I don’t have internet access on my computer. I’m going to give ISP by Netscape a try. I don’t know how good it’s going to be but all I can do is try. I called last Thursday about the CD and hopefully I should be receiving it this next week. In the meantime the only time I can use a computer is when my brother is at work.

A couple days before the 24th I went down to Kinko’s to pick up my Christmas gift for my mom. My grandma and I got her a calendar this year. Every month has a different picture on it from vacations that we’ve taken over the years. About an hour before I went down my mom went down to Kinko’s to pick up a calendar herself. When I went down their the sales women who was helping me said that my mom was just down their. Then she said they gave my calendar to my mom by mistake. My mom just saw the front cover and knew that it wasn’t mine. I think next year if I get anything done at Kinko’s for the holiday I’m going to another one out of town.

This year for Christmas Eve/Christmas Day we had a house full of people. Their was a total of 12 people over for Christmas Eve and 10 people over on Christmas day. For as long as I can remember every year on Christmas Eve we have lasagna for dinner. This is a real special treat because it’s the only time of the year she cooks it. During dinner I was sitting next to my grandma and I helped her cut up her food and serve her. She was so cute, after she had two peaces of lasagna she leaned over and whispered to me “we’ll I look like a little pig if I have another piece” I giggled a little bit and told her no that would be fine. My mom cuts the lasagna in pretty small piece so I knew another piece wouldn’t hurt her.

That night at midnight we all were gathered in the living room to open up our gifts. This year I received a gift card from Avenue. 40 dollars in cash. A popcorn popper, and a footbath. After all I’ll need to soak my little feet after shopping at Avenue LOL.

Christmas Day we had turkey and ham for dinner. Beatriz cooked the main courses. Everyone else helped out with the side dishes. I made the deviled eggs. For desert their was pie and home made cookies. Oh I almost forgot the cookies that I baked came out perfect. But I’ll be glad when their finally gone.

I took plenty of pictures this year and I can’t wait to show them to you all. I still have about 13 pictures in my camera and I’m saving those for Christmas in the park. I was hoping to go tonight with my mom; however it looks like the weather is against us.

Have a joyous season!

:rose: Katherine

ANGIE – It’s so great to see you posting again. A lot of people were asking about you. I know what you mean about how I’ll be able to get back on track again in my own time. At the beginning of the month I thought I was ready to go back on program again, but who was I kidding. Just before the holiday season starts next a good time to start on any kind of a weight loss plan. I know that I will get on track one day and finally be able to stay their but until that time comes I’m not going to stress out over what I should and shouldn’t eat.

SUSAN – Thank you so much for writing in. Can you believe that I haven’t even watched the video yet. I guess right now I just can’t get myself to do anything healthy for myself. And it’s not to say that I don’t plan to start again because I do. I’m just not sure when I’m going to get back on track. I could say that I’ll start on the 1st but that never works for me. I think first of all I need to learn to take thing slow and learn to change one habit at a time.

SANDIE – wow! I wish I knew you were here in my “neighborhood” of San Jose California. We could of gotten together, painted the town red. LOL anyways thank you so much for visiting my journal. Thank you so much for the Christmas card you send me both online and in the mail. I loved the one online with the snow falling. I’m glad to hear that your therapy is going well.

Nancy, Beth, Monica, Susan – thank you all for the wonderful Christmas wishes. I hope all of you had a great holiday.

Hi Katherine,

It sounds like you had a very busy, but delightful Holiday celebration, both Xmas Eve and Xmas day. I'm sure you all had a wonderful time being together and visiting and sharing.

When you do your shopping with your gift cards, you might want to consider purchasing one item in just one size smaller than you are wearing now. Something visable to work towards when you begin your weight loss program again.

Glad you enjoyed the cards. I enjoyed receiving yours as well.

Hope you all have a wonderful New Year's celebration too.

sounds like a wonderful Christmas day in your family, Kath!
i am thrilled that you had such a wonderful day. Cant wait to see your pictures.
hugs bell :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wow, sounds like you had the whole crew for Christmas, always makes for a good time. Make this rain go away, will you. :)

DECEMBER 27, 2004
Do you ever have one of those days when you feel like the whole world is against you. Okay maybe not the whole world but it sure felt like it today.

It all started this morning when I woke up. I knew by the sound of rain pouring down out of the sky and hitting the ground below that their would be no chance of going over to Christmas in the Park or Christmas Tree lane night. According to the weather schedule it’s suppose to rain here for the next several days. I don’t mind when it rains but I hate it when I have to miss out on things because of the weather. Tomorrow night my mom, grandma and I are going over to see the displays and houses. I’m hoping that we have a break in the rain so I can get out and take some pictures. However I have a feeling that mother nature is going to be against me tomorrow as well.

This afternoon my mom and I drove over to The Container Store. It’s a store that helps you to get organized. I wanted to spent some of the my Christmas money and get a vertical CD holder for my CD’s one that you can mount on the wall. I found one that I like but it cost $25.00 so I’m going to look around at a couple more places.

While I was in their my mom went over to another store. By the time I came out she was in front in the loading zone. Just as we were about to leave a major problem had occurred. My car wouldn’t start. My mom kept on telling me to put the key in and turn it. But the only thing that was happening was the alarm kept on going off. She and I both tried several times to disalarm the alarm but nothing was working. Then we thought it might be the battery in the remote so my mom walked over to Best Buy, right next store, to get a new battery. While she was gone I tried everything I could think of but nothing was working. Even my emergency flashers wouldn’t work – all they did was make a funny noise. My mom came back but nothing was happening still.

By this time my mom was getting stressed out because it was pouring down rain and we were stuck their in a loading zone with a 15 minute time limit. So we did the only thing we could do. My mom went inside The Container Store and told them what was going on. They called security to let them know what was going on with the car.

Then my mom called for a cab so that we could go home and get the road side number. I kept on telling my mom why don’t’ we just call information and they’ll help us. However by the time my mom was in no mood to argue and I know from experience when to back down. We took a cab home and I found a road side information in the phone book. I’ve never had any problems before so I’ve never used any kind of service like this. I found one that bills my insurance company directly so that was the one that I called. They said it would take about 30 – 45 minutes from them to get to the location.

My mom and I drove back to the location where my car was, but before we left I wrote the information down in my day planner just incase I ever need it again. We got their and didn’t have to wait to long for the tow truck to come. He towed my car to the Shell Gas station two blocks from our house. About an hour later we received a call and I found out what was wrong with my car. The battery was dead. So now I have a brand new battery in my car and it’s back safe and sound at home. I had a feeling that it might be the battery because my car will be 5 years old in February and I’ve never had to change the battery.

:rose: Katherine

Katherine,

I WANT TO WISH YOU A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR .... :balloons: ..... A YEAR FILLED WITH GOOD HEALTH AND MUCH HAPPINESS. I am as always, Monica :hug: :wave:

JANUARY 2, 2005
Happy New Year Everyone! I trust that everyone had a safe and happy holiday. I’m not sure how the rest of the country has been over the past week, but for those of us in California were drowning in water. It’s been raining, almost, nonstop for a week now. I guess it’s time to break out the old umbrella.

My new years eve was spent just the way that I like it. Sitting at home watching movies and pigging out on junk food. This year it was just my grandma and me at home. For dinner that night I made us some mini pizza’s and we each had 1 cupcake for dessert. Our movies consisted of She’s out of control – starring Tony Danza. And A Cinderella story – starring Hilary Duff. To snack on we chips with cheese dip and chicken wings. It was really nice spending the time with my grandma and I think she really enjoyed herself.

Right after midnight I was getting a little tried and wanted to go to bed. My grandma wanted to stay up for a while, and called me a party popper. But she knew she couldn’t stay out in the living room by herself. I helped her to her room and got her ready for bed. Funny thing is once I was in my room I wasn’t to tried. I guess I just needed to be under the covers where it’s warm. After watching TV for a bit I finally fell asleep around 12:50am.


Okay now I thought I would give you all something to think about! This is a true story a women gave birth to twin’s 1 year apart. How can that be?

I’ll post the answer in my journal tomorrow.

:rose: Katherine

What's up with the rain, huh? Well, if it is going to be bad weather let it rain, we need it anyway.

Hello Katherine!

Wow! I just hate it when I have car trouble!! I have learned to carry a phone book in my car. It has come in handy many times. Sometimes I just use it to call a place to find out where they are!

My cold is still leaving me all plugged up. I have been getting up at 4:00 a.m. the past few mornings and heading out to the couch/recliner to try to drain and breathe. I did go to a college basketball game (2.5 hrs. away) with my family. My youngest did not want to go unless I went. I was OK with lots of cough drops, nasal cream, and tissues. Back to work tomorrow! :c(

Sure hope you have a great week.

JANUARY 3, 2005
My day started out rather early this morning and I wasn’t a real happy camper about it. I went to bed around midnight last night and then at 4:30am this morning I heard my grandma for me. I stayed in bed hoping that I was only dreaming but then I heard my mom get up to check on her. I knew that I had to get up and see what was wrong too. My grandma had an accident so we had to get her cleaned up. Lucky their were pads down on the bed and it wasn’t to bad. I tried going back to bed, but after I was woken up like that I just couldn’t seem to fall asleep.

My grandma was scheduled to go in for an Ecko gram today on her heart, but since she wasn’t feeling 100% my mom rescheduled the appointment for her. At 7:15am my grandma had another accident this time her bed her to be completely stipped. Afterwards I doubled up two pads and places them down so she could lay on top of them. Last year my mom got a portable potty for my grandma and it’s such a help during times like this.

Through out the day I think my grandma had two more accidents. I was real careful about what she ate tonight. Just dry toast, and I did give her some oatmeal for dinner tonight. Hopefully she should be okay now because tomorrow she has to go and get her tube changed.

Today I went over to Westgate Shopping center to pick up some applications. Tomorrow I’m going over to the library to fill them out. I guess I could do that at home, but at the library I won’t have any distractions.

For the past few days we’ve been having problems with our toilet. It wouldn’t stop running unless you take the back of the tank cover off, and lift this ball that’s inside. I’m sure all toilets have them. Usually that did the trick, but then this morning my mom was in their and this time I won’t stop running. I had to hear that stupid toilet running all day long today. Now are toilet is fixed and I’ll be able to sleep peacefully tonight.

I also went over to Bryman College today, that’s the school I went too. I wanted to check their job board but they were closed today. I think it was because the holiday was on a Saturday.

Gosh! I was really hoping that somebody would take a shot at my question from yesterday; however I did promise to tell you the answer tonight.
A women gave birth to twins 1 year apart how can that be? I read this story in the newspaper yesterday and I thought I would share some of it with you.


By Julie Sevrens Lyons

Mercury News

Santa Clara County's first baby of 2005 has something in common with the last baby of 2004: They're twins.

Elijah Xavier Martinez was born at 11:56 Friday night, considerately giving his parents, Juan and Maria Martinez, an extra income tax deduction for 2004. At midnight, he was joined by younger brother Isaac Omar Martinez, who gave his parents something else: A great story to tell. Not only is Isaac the first baby born in the Bay Area in the New Year, but technically he also was born the year after his twin.

:rose: Katherine

JANUARY 4, 2005
This afternoon I had to take my grandma to the doctor to get her tube changed. I got her up and gave her a shower, but my poor grandma was so cold she was shaking. I worked as quickly as possible, and then helped her back to her room so she could get dressed. One thing I’ve realized over the past couple of months is that even with her cane my grandma’s balance is way off. When she’s walking by herself she’s leans to the side and is scared to take a step for the fear of falling. Sometimes what I’ll do is hold her hands and walk backwards. Holding my hands really helps with her balance. She has a walker with wheels that she’s starting to use outside. In the house it’s a little hard. I find the walker really great and it helps to give my grandma confidence with her walking.

The MA who usually works on my grandma quite her job a couple of weeks ago, my grandma got somebody new today. She was to pleased with her. It’s not that she didn’t know what to do because she did everything correctly. It’s just that my grandma felt like she was rushed today. For example when changing the tube she had my grandma just pull her pants and panties down to ankles. Usually you’d think they would be able to get to that area a lot easier without any clothes, oh well. In a way it was a good think because it was easy today in the sense that all she had to afterwards was pull everything up, nice and quick. However in the car my grandma was complaining about feeling like she was being rushed.

My name, Katherine, means “pure” but I think the new meaning is going to be “wrong way” on the ride home today we ended up going the long way. I made my first mistake when turned the wrong way on Grant Avenue. I was suppose to turn left, but turned right. It wasn’t my fault because my grandma told me that El Camino was to the right. It amazes me how well my grandma does with direction since she’s blind. Once I turned I thought I had maybe turned the wrong way but I kept on going. I came to Fremont and took a chance and made a turn on it. I know the Fremont runs into Wolfe but I wasn’t sure if I had turned the right way.

I ended up turning the wrong way because instead of going towards Sunnyvale I went towards Los Altos. Usually when things like this happen I freak out and start to panic but I just stayed calm and I kept on driving. We ended up driving past my grandma’s cardiologist so I new from their how to get back to El Camino. I found Springer and drove down that until it became El Monte and that took us back to El Camino from their it was smooth sailing. You’d think I’d be better with directions since I’ve been living her all my life LOL

My mom is feeling a little bit better today since she finally heard from my sister. The last time we heard from her was back in August when my mom was going through her heart surgery. Back then she was going through some hard times, and she asked my mom if she could move back in for about a month. My sister new the situation with my mom and all and she told her that if she said no then it would be alright. Everyone in our house talked it over and we all agreed with how my sister is it would be best if she didn’t come back home again. And my mom thought that she was fine with that.

Then the holidays came around and we realized it was a whole different story. First of all she didn’t even call us on Christmas and that really hurt everyone especially my mom. We finally received a card from her a week after Christmas, if you can call it a card. She enclosed a Christmas card and a letter to my mom.

Oh my gosh this letter was unbelievable she sounded so angry at my mom. She totally twisted things around and almost made it sound like everyone was against her. I won’t go into details with that the letter said but she wrote the letter out of rage. You can tell that she wasn’t in the right frame of mind because part of the letter she had scribbled out and used white out so I’m sure that was some things she didn’t’ want anybody to read.

Since receiving the letter my mom thought about writing my sister a letter to tell her how she felt. She supposly doesn’t’ have a house phone or a cell phone so theirs now way of getting in touch with her. My mom’s called her work a couple of times and my sister just asks like she can’t be bothered. My mom wanted to write her a letter to tell her exactly how she felt.

I thought this was a great idea because it gives my mom a chance to get her feelings out on paper and have my sister read them. Then today out of the blue my sister called my mom and they talked for a while. My mom said that she sounded really pleasant on the phone and she’s coming down at the end of the month so my mom can take her shopping for her birthday and for Christmas. My mom didn’t send her anything because she wasn’t sure what she needed so she wanted to wait until she came down, if at all.

I think her phone call today is a little bit strange. My sister is old enough to know the way my mom thinks. She knew that my mom was hurt by the letter and would most likely write her to express her opinions. Instead my sister thought she would be all sticky sweat and call her today and act like she could patch up the hurt that she’s caused. My mom was really glad that she called but she also agrees with me that it’s just a little to weird that she called right after sending that letter.

When my sister comes down my mom is going to sit down and have a talk with her. Talking everything out is really going to help my mom sort out her feelings. We’ve all complained about my sisters behavior and my mom feels like she’s being pulled in all directions. On the one hand she feels the way that we all do and on the other hand that’s still her daughter. I’m hoping that this get together will go smoothly and that we’ll get in touch more often. Not just for my mom but for my grandma too.

Last week I found the best present on my cable box. We now have the on demand. It’s the best. You can watch programs, movies, what ever any time during the day. Stop them, rewind, fast forward, pause. Tonight I was looking through the programs and found my youth again. Several programs are from the 70’s and I was having a blast watching them. Tonight I watched the pilot episode of Partiage Family and Diff’rent Strokes.

:rose: Katherine

hi, decided to drop in on journals and see if you still was here. glad. glad all went good with your grandma and the way home and all. hope things get all settled with your sister and all. is hard as family is so important. glad your there with your mother and grandma.. oh neat we like the old shows on tv to. watch them alot. well have another good day.. LaDean :)

Good Morning,

Just wanted to drop by and thank you for the warm welcome to chat last evening. It was a very nice way to get to know new folks. I wish you the best in "05", and on your weight loss journey. I will pop in from time to time for a visit. Have a great day. Sandi

JANUARY 7, 2005
do you ever have one of those days when you have totally high hopes only to have it all throw back in your face? Yesterday afternoon I got a call for an interview this afternoon, up in Redwood City. Last night my mom and I drove up there, so that I could see exactly where it was. First thing I didn't realize how far Redwood City was from San Jose, but the location of this place works out in my favor. The Caltrain station is right across the street about 0.2 of a mile away. When I found that out I knew that taking the train up to Redwood City out be ideal for me.

This morning my mom and I had another appointment, but before we went over their we went out for a bite to eat. After the appointment my mom drove me back home again and she headed on over to work.

This morning I left for the train station at 11:35 and the train came at 11:49am. I wasn't' worried if I missed that one because their was another one coming after that which would get me to my interview on time. I missed the 11:49am train, so I was going to have to take the next one.

When I arrived at the station the only parking was way in the back. I parked my car walked all the way down to where the machines were and tried to get a parking ticket. However I was having trouble with the machine. Every time I put my dollar in the machine would spit it right back out again. Then I saw a sign that said "this machine doesn't give change" so I thought tmyself maybe you need to have coins for this machines.


I then walked back to my car and got some money for the train ticket. I purchased a round trip for the day based on the zones I was going to be traveling in. Before I go on let me explain. The different stops for
Caltrain are bases on zones. I was going to be traveling from zone 4 to zone 2, so that would make a total of 3 zones that I would be traveling in during
the day. The day pay was only for those zones. Okay now where was I, oh yeah, I purchased the ticket which cost me $8.50. then I had two quarters change so I tried once again with the parking ticket machine, but I still wasn't have any luck.

Unforuntly their wasn't anybody else their who could assist me. The station that I was at didn't even have a train depot where you can ask somebody for help. I was getting frustraded because I had to get up to my interview and I didn't have a phone to call her and I didn't' see any pay phones near by.

After getting upset for a few minutes I realized that I wasn't' going to do me any good the train was already at the station. I spent the money on a ticket,
which is only good for one day for nothing. And I couldn't leave my car unattended without a ticket because I didn't' want to get fined. I drove back home and called over their. The women was really nice and asked if I could come in on Monday instead. I was so relived that she was so understanding and I apoglized once more before hanging up the phone, she said that it was alright and that she understood.

On Monday I do plan to take the train, but this time it's going to be a little different. My interview is at 10:00, so my mom is going to drop me off at 7:30am. And I'll catch the train by 8:45am. I'll arrive in Redwood City at 9:15am, this was the latest time I could arrive without risking being late for my interview.

In the afternoon my mom get a break from 2:00pm to 3:00pm so she's going to meet me at the station, which is 3 blocks from her work, and give me a ride home. I would just feel a lot better knowing that my mom is going to take me to the station on Monday because I don't' want the same thing to happen to me again. If I get this job I'll be getting the monthly passes so
that I won't have to worry about going through such stress.

I'm using the computer at the library right now, and I've already looked up the schedule for Monday and wrote all the information I needed down in my day planner. So hopefully everything will go smoothly this
time.

:rose: Katherine

Good luck Monday !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Keeping my fingers crossed. :)

Wow katherine, how frustrating! I wish you the best of luck with your interview.

SUSAN, SCOTT – Thank you both for the good luck today. I think the interview went really well, but only time will tell.

JANUARY 10, 2005
Can you believe that I still haven’t received my CD from netscape yet, I’m really beginning to get annoyed with them. Oh well I guess it’s just taking a few extra days with the holidays; however I finally figured a way around it. On Sunday I was using the computer down in my brothers room. I went to the netscape web site and I copied the setup icon on to the hard drive. Then I placed it on a CD. Once that I done I was able to download the setup icon onto my lap top, and now I have internet access again.

Today I was on the go from all in the morning until late at night. This morning I was up at 6:00am, which was a little hard for me, but I did go to bed earlier last night so that did help me. My mom dropped my off at the Caltrain station around 7:35 about 45 minutes later I caught the train and headed on up to Redwood City. Being in the train was actually really peaceful. I didn’t have to worry about the stress of being in the traffic.

When I got up their I had a little bit of time, so I walked over to Long Drug store and looked around for a while. At 9:30am I left so that I could get over to my interview on time.

The first thing I had to do was answer some questions. The page was all math problems, and I couldn’t use a calculator. Now math is not one of my strong subjects, so I just had to do my best. Then their were a couple pages of basic questions that I had t answer.

The interview it self I think it went pretty well. She told me that she’ll be making a decision by the end of the week. I plan to call back on Wednesday just to see where I stand and I’m going to send a thank you card out.

Around 11:00am I took the train back into Sunnyvale. I went to Round Table pizza for lunch, and had a personal pepporoni pizza. Oh my gosh, that pizza went right through me because 30 minutes later I was in the bathroom. A women was in their, so I was unable to use it just then, but I kept on saying, quietly to myself “hurry up, I’m not going to make it” I was shaking I had to go so bad. Then later on this afternoon I had a couple more meetings to attend.

Once I was finished with dinner tonight, I was back at again. I headed over to Valley Fair Shopping Center. A few months ago I got myself a frankincovey day planner. Tonight I went to a class that helps you have a better understanding of all that the day planner has to offer, and ways to use it. A lot of what she said I already knew from looking at the website, but she did give some really great tips.

Have a great day tomorrow everyone!

:rose: Katherine

Katherine,

Just wanted to thank you in person for stopping by my journal, it is always a delight when I come to post and find I had visitors. Hope your interview goes in your favor. Do you think maybe your pizza dilemma was in part to stress? I really need to head to bed have to be up early. You have a nice evening, and thank you again. Sandi

SANDI - No I don't think the pizza had anything to do with stress. I have a funny system and sometimes things like that happen.

JANUARY 12, 2005
Good evening everyone! It’s 11:04pm here out on the west coast, so I image that must everybody is most likely already fast asleep. I was going to write in my journal last night, but I was to cold. Funny thing is I usually write in my journal around 9:30pm at night, and here it is 90 minutes later tonight and I’m not cold at all. I’m just comfortable.

Yesterday I went down to the recycling center and turned in my bottles. I think the last time I was down their was in October. So with all the holidays their were a lot of glass bottles, 2 liter soda bottles, and of course the water bottles that we drink on a daily bases. I received $13.72, not bad.

After that I drove over to Comcast. We have 4 boxes in our house that are suppose to be receiving the on demand programming. Well of the boxes were receiving it except for mine. I called them the other day and they said that my box was to old, and I had to come down and get a new box. I went down and got a new box yesterday. However I’m still having problems, I’m getting an error message. Tomorrow I’m going to call them to see if they can reset the single. I really don’t want to have to take this new box back too.

Finally my last stop yesterday was over to JcPenney’s. My mom wanted to look at a couple of things there too, so we went together. I had a lamp in my room my switch broke on it. Instead of getting the switch fixed, which can be quite costly, I decided to get a new lamp. I didn’t find any in the store that I liked, so I thought the catalog like might help. I found this one lamp that I really liked. The shade is white, and the lamp is a rose color. It comes in several different colors but the rose goes best with my room. The cost of lamp was $49.00 with sales and tax, plus shipping it came to $60.00. While the sales lady was checking to see if it was available, I noticed something about the add in the catalog. I thought it said that you can get two lamps for $39.00 I was telling my mom that maybe this would be the way to go, because we can get two lamps and save $20.00 at the same time. The saleslady was still on the phone and she replaced the order for me, and now the total cost was $90.00 I was like “what are you talking about” She then explained that if you purchase 2 or more lamps their each $39.00 Guess I didn’t see the word “each” when I first looked at the add. But you’d think the sales lady would of said something to me since she was right their.

Well it’s now 11:35pm and I’m starting to get cold, so I’m going to log off now, get changed and hop into bed.

:rose: Katherine

JANUARY 13, 2005
Well before I begin tonights entry I have some great news. This evening I was taking out the recyclables, and for some reason I decided to peek in the mailbox. I know kind of weird since it was 8:30pm at night and the mail had already come that day. Inside the box was the netscape cd that I had been waiting for. Hey maybe I should look inside tomorrow evening and there might be a check for a million dollars for me. I know wishful thinking lol.

Today I went over to the library. I wanted to type a thank you letter, and send it up to the Maija. She was the one who interviewed me on Monday. After I finished typing the letter I realized that I had forgotten my print card. I could of gotten a new card, but that cost a dollar and then for each page that you print out it cost 0.17 cents. Then I decied that I’ll go over to the Saratoga library and print it out over their for free.

In the meantime at 2:30pm I had to hurry home. My mom was expecting a delivery at 3:00pm and somebody had to be their. The delivery was a bouquet of balloons. The Ortega’s came down tonight for Roberto’s 16th birthday. When I got home it was about 15 minutes to 3:00pm and the delivery hadn’t been dropped off yet. However I did luck out because my brother wasn’t home. I was able to print out a copy of my thank you letter, using the computer in my brother’s room.

By 4:30pm today, Katia and her parents had arrived. Roberto had no idea that they were going to be down here. Katia told him that she had to work tonight. Carlos and Beatrize were going to take Roberto out on Saturday. Around 5:30pm my mom and Roberto arrived. We all jump out and yelled “SURPRISE” Roberto was defiantly surprised, especially that his whole family was down at our house already.

For dinner night everyone had Chinese food, I had salmon and salad. For desert we had and ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins. Roberto received a couple of shirts, money, and a money jar with 16.00 in change. Oh yeah I almost forgot he
Also received two tickets to Harlem Globetrotters basketball game tomorrow night. He knows how much my mom loves the team, so he invited her to go.

The past few days I’ve had pain in my right leg. Today it’s been a lot worse. I can’t get up or move without having to flinch because of the pain. Right where the pain is I have a small bruise, so hopefully once the bruise fades away the pain will fade away right with it. It’s not a surface pain it feel more like it’s inside maybe at the muscle, but I’m not really sure.

Okay well now it’s time to get down to business. Were already half way into the month of January and I still haven’t gone on program. I’m going to enjoy these next few days and get myself ready to prepare myself for journey that I’m about to take. One thing I’m going to do differently this time is setting daily goals. I’m not going to set any weekly goals, for right now I need to focus each day.

:rose: Katherine

everyone else had chinese food and you had salmon and salad!!!!!!!! now thats willpower Kath!
Great job! Keeping everything crossed that you hear back about the job soon.
hugs bell :)

Sounds like things are going well. Great choices. You are being very positive! Keep up the great work. Have a great weekend. :)

BELL – I was pretty proud of myself last night. Having salmon and salad last night instead of Chinesse food was actually a real easy choice for me. I don’t care for Chinese food. I called about the job today, but their still interviewing applicants. Well at least I know that I’m still in the running.

SUSAN – thanks for visiting. You always make me feel really motivated. I saw that you stared a new journal, and tonight I’m going to post in it.

JANUARY 14, 2005
I can always tell what time of day I’m going to have by the way I feel when I wake up in the morning. This morning I woke up with a pain in the back of my neck. It’s just to the left of the middle of my neck in a very small spot. However my neck has been brothering me all day. Hopefully after a good nights rest my neck will be better in the morning.

So far I don’t have any news about the job interview that I went on last Monday. The women who interviewed me is till interviewing applicants, so at least I still in the running. Who knows maybe the thank you letter I mailed out just might put me over the top.

This afternoon my mom and I took my grandma to the doctor. Our doctor is watching my grandma real carefully right now. My grandma is loosing weight and getting weaker by the day. My mom is at the point now when it’s hard to for her to be around my grandma because she’s already seen this before with her grandmother and great-grandmother. Despite the fact that my grandma spends most of her time in bed now, she still has great out look on life. Plus the doctor says as long as she’s still eating that’s the important thing. One thing that has really been helping her is using the walker when she’s outside. Using the walker really does help her balance. Starting tomorrow she wants to walk outside up and down our driveway a few times. We have a huge driveway, so their will be plenty of room for her to walk. I’ll have to walk with her to help guide her.

While they were in the doctor’s office, I went down to HR to get an application. I was going to fill it out their, but I forgot to bring in my list of references. So I decided to fill it out this weekend. When I got back up waiting room I talked to one of the patient service representatives. I wanted her opinion on what she felt would be the best way to apply for a position their. Even though most people today fill out applications online, she felt that filling out an application and turning in would be best. Because it gives the personal touch. Since Monday is a holiday, I’ll have to call to see if HR is going to be open.

Tonight my mom took Roberto to the basketball game. I haven’t had a chance to talk to her about the game, but I’m sure they both had a great time.

Well I have some more posts to write, so I’m going to end this entry for tonight.

:balloons: Katherine

JANUARY 15, 2005
Last night after spending 90 minutes writing in my own journal, and writing in the journals to all of the thread that I subscribe too I made a decision. From now on I’m going to respond and to half of my subscribe threads at night and the other half the day in the afternoon. All the threads that I subscribe to are on a daily bases. And I don’t get the threads until 9:00pm at night. And some night I don’t actually start responding to my threads until almost 10:00pm. Last night at 11:30pm when I was still responding to my threads I made up my mind that from now on I’m splitting them up. Because of this new way I sometimes might be a day behind with my threads. I actually don’t read my threads until I receive them in my email box. However I’m going to do my best to always stay on top of things. After I finish writing in my own journal, I have 3 more journals to write in today. So I better get cracking with my own.

But before I do that I need to go and take care of my grandma. Be back in a few. Okay I’m back, well to be honest it was more then a few minutes that I’ve been gone. I think it’s been close to an hour.

I just got finished folding the towels in the dryer. Then she had to take her night medicine and I had to change her bag. After all that we sat and talked for a while. But now she’s resting and I’m back in here so I can finish writing in my journal for tonight.

I didn’t do much today during the morning. After my brother went to work, I was going to start washing my clothes, but then I saw all the towels that needed to be washed. I washed the towels and some sheets instead.

This afternoon my mom and I went over to JCPenney’s. My new lamp was in. I love the rose color of it. It goes really well with my walls. My walls are a faint pink color. So the color of my lamp really stands out.

After JCPenney’s we drove over to Target. My mom needed to get a electric can opener. We have hand held on, but it’s getting really hard to use. My mom has really good strength in her hands, and sometimes I have her help when I’m opening up a can. This new can opener should really help us out.

I had to turn in two rolls of film. They contain pictures from my birthday trip in Sonora, through the recent holidays. I can’t wait to share them with you all. Over at Target I got so blank address labels.

The other day I came up with the idea. Right now I’m sorting through all of my pictures. I mostly have photos from my trips. 40 years from now I may look at my pictures one day and have no idea where the picture was taken. Here’s my idea I’m going to put a label on each picture of where the picture was taken, who’s in it, and the date it was taken. This way I’ll always have that right in front of me, and if somebody is looking at my albums they don’t have to ask me about the picture they can just read the label. I just hope the addresses labels I got are going to be large enough to hold the information I need.

I know that I said I was going to write in some of my threads tonight, but it’s after 11:00pm here and I’m getting really sleepy. So it will have to wait until tomorrow.

:rose: Katherine

Hey there. Sounds like you're doing okay but I understand about problems with your siblings. My sister is raising havoc with my parents, too. But it's okay. Things will work out and I hope your sister realizes that your mom is more important then stupid arguments and grudges. How frustrating. Keep your head up though. Just thought I'd say hi and hope you're doing well.

Melinda :D

Just checking in to see if you had heard anything from the interview. Take care of yourself. I am just trying to stay warm. TOO cold here!! :)

Hi Katherine,

Just dropping in to say Hi! Was wondering if you had any news yet from the interview?
You sure are one busy lady......... how many hours are in your day? So is the weather still chilly by you? We have been frigid for past 2 days high only in teens......BRR! too cold for me. Hope you have a nice evening. Sandi

SANDI / SUSAN - Thanks so much for dropping by. I called again today, but the front office assistant said that she was interviewing someone at the time, so at least I know I still have a shot. I'm sure by now if she wasn't going to hire me, then I would of been told something. I'm going to call tomorrow afternoon, and hopefully this time I'll be able to talk to her. Last Friday I mailed out my thank you letter, and I'm sure that she'll receive it by tomorrow. Actually the weather here has been quite pleasant lately. As a matter of fact I wanted to try and talk my mom into barbarqueing last night for dinner, but it was a no go. Not because of the weather, it was because of somethign else. Which I'm going to write about in my journal entry tonight.

MELINDA - Thanks so much for stopping by. my sister is coming down for the day a week from this Friday. And I'm just hoping that she really listens when my mom talks to her. However my sister is bullheaded and won't take anything from anybody.

JANUARY 17, 2005

yesterday my mom and I decided to go for a ride in the car. My mom wasn't heading any place in particular. We just get in the car and go. She started heading North on I-280. Then we went over to US-101 North. As soon as we were on that freeway I was a happy camper. Krispy Kreme's is right off of that freeway. i didn't say a word to my mom about stopping there. I was hoping that the smile on my face would just say it all. She ended up driving right past the exit and kept on going. I told my mom "I thought you were going to stop at Krispy Kreme's for me" My mom said that I should of said something to her." Since we were already past the exit, my mom said that she would stop their on the way back.

We drove over to Atherton. Atherton is a small town just past Menlo Park. Both Menlo Park and Atherton are what I call rich towns. As a matter of fact, most of the houses in Atherton sit back so that they can't be seen by anybody. By the time we reached Atherton, my mom was ready to start heading back.

Before going home we drove over to the Farmers Market. We got their about an hour before closing, so their wasn't a huge selection of items to choose from. I was hoping to get some strawberries, but their weren't any. my mom and I got a 10 pound bag of oranges for $6.00

yesterday on the drive back home. I was telling my mom that it would be a great day for a barbarque. However by the time we got home, my mom decided that another time would be better.

I didnt' do much last night. My mom and I watched Strong Medicine on Lifetime TV, and before that we watched Hand that Rocks the Cradle using on demand.

I know that I have to write about my day today, but I have a show coming on in about 10 minutes and I don't want to miss it.

TA TA FOR NOW!

~ Katherine

Hi, just popping in to read your journal. always enjoy them. glad you and your mother had a nice drive and all. maybe a bbq some other day. my favorite love them. glad your day was a good one. the oranges sound so good. i love them. but no good ones in stores up here alot of the time. so enjoy. ha have one for me. hey have a good day to. have you decided on a plan yet. just watch portions and that will do it. start your exercise some just start out slow. you were doing it. just little bit helps. good luck to you. LaDean :)

Hope you get the job and a call. good luck.

LADEAN - I love oranges too. But I agree with you the oranges in the stores aren’t to good time of year. Do you have a farmers market where you live? I would recommend trying their. I’m not really sure how crops are up in OR, but it is an idea. Thanks for the advice it really helped. Yes I’ve decided on the WW winning points plan.

JANUARY 18, 2005
:ghug: you know it’s really strange, normally I start to get really motivated around March. I think it has something to do with the fact that Spring has started and that summer is just 3 months away. This year I’m actually motivated right now, and I don’t want to waste a moment of that. One think that really motivates me, is seeing how great the weather is outside. It’s a perfect time of year to go out for a walk.

I love walking outside, listening to my music because it helps me to escape from the world, and I don’t have to think about anything. As much as I love to walk outside, right now it’s a little difficult for me. I know this may sound crazy but using my walking tapes is a lot easier on me. It properly has do with the fact that I’m walking on carpet and not on cement.

What is all this adding up to? I’m going to start walking again, with my walking tapes. I’m hoping that if I walk in the mornings that will help me to stay motivated and eat healthy during the day. Oh and speaking of my eating! I’ve come to realize that just because I have days, weeks and okay let’s be honest months of unhealthy eating, it’s not an excuse not to measure out my food and count my points. From now on no matter what I put in my mouth, I’m writing it down. I want to be more accountable for what I’m eating.

Since I’ve been so inspired to start walking again, I’ve also have gotten inspired to get back on track again. It’s time for me leave this stop, get back on track, and race to the finish line of this journey of mine.

As you can clearly see right now I’m totally pumped for the journey that I’m about to take. The last time I weighed myself was back in December, during those few days when I was on program just before the holidays. BTW – here’s some advice never try to start any kind of a weight loss program just before the holidays. I don’t know what I was thinking lol anyways tomorrow morning I’m going step on my scale, and see what my starting weight is going to be.

Right now I’m not going to let anybody know what my weight is. I want to keep it a secret for me only. Eventually I’ll start posting my weekly weight, but I feel that this is something that I need to do for myself. In the meantime I, do promise, to post my goals every night and the results from those goals. Well as long as I’m thinking about them, here are my goals for tomorrow.

JANUARY 19, 2005 GOALS
WATER: no goal is set for tomorrow I want to see how I much water I drink and then go from their

EXERCISE my goal is to walk with my 1 mile tape. I don’t have a goal in mind as to how many minutes I’m going to complete, once I’ve worked out tomorrow I can take it from their.

WW POINTS for right now my goal is to write down everything that I eat, measure out my food, and watch my portions. I will be counting my points; however if I go over that’s not the issue for me. The most important thing right now is that I need to learn to make my food accountable.

Oh no I’m getting that feeling again. That feeling that maybe this isn’t the right time to do this. Don’t you hate that? Here I was all excited about taking this journey and now I’m beginning to feel a little car sick. I think most of it has to do with nervous. Because I know that I’m ready, otherwise I wouldn’t of spend the last 45 minutes writing all of this out and thinking about it too. Okay I’m back to reality! I know that I’m ready to do this and I know that all of you are going to be keeping a close eye on me to see that I follow through with my goals.

In yesterdays journal entry, I wrote about my day on Sunday. At the end I was going to write about my day on Monday, but I never got around to it. Now I’m drawing a total blank I can’t remember what I did yesterday. The only thing I remember about yesterday was that we didn’t’ get any mail because of the holiday and the library was closed. So I’m really sorry but I won’t be writing about my day yesterday.

Now I think it’s time for me to check my email, and see which journals I have to respond to tonight.

Take care! Katherine

No car sickness allowed Kath...dont expect perfection and there is nothing to be scared about..just take it a step at a time, a day at a time..
having goals is a great step in the right direction..maybe a reward for reaching your goals will help you to achieve them.
You have so many people supporting you my friend..you can do it!
hugs bell :)

BELL - thanky you so much. what you wrote really helped to cheer me up. I had a few mishaps today, with my food but i think i did pretty good.

JANUARY 19, 2005
:ghug: everyone! My day started off really good. I measured out my food and I wrote everything down, but then as the day went on I got real lazy and didn’t brother with it. And because of that I’m eating everything in sight and I can’t seem to stop. Until now – I’m sitting here at my computer typing right now, keeping my fingers busy, and my mind off of food. I’m sure that after I finish writing in my journal tonight and some of my threads the last thing on my mind will be eating. Actually now that I think about it, I’m pretty full, so I won’t be going into the kitchen anymore tonight.

RESULTS FROM 1/19/2005
WATER: I know that I drank 48 ounces, after that I forgot to mark it down, so I’m going with 48 ounces for the day

EXERCISE: this morning before I even started my work out, I told myself that if I only get 5 minutes done of my walking tape then that’s just fine. The important thing is that I did workout today. Okay well I think :cheers: are in order. I didn’t workout 5 minutes today. I didn’t workout 10 minutes today, not even 15 minutes. I completed 21 minutes today. Best of all I completed my 1 mile tape. I’m so proud of myself. I didn’t think I could do it but I just kept on going. For right now I’m going to continue with my 1 mile videos. I don’t think I’m ready to move on to my 2 mile video’s yet.

WW POINTS/FOOD:I didn’t count my points today, and I only wrote down what I ate for part of the day. Tomorrow is another day, and I’m going to kick butt.

My grandma was suppose to go and get her hair fixed today, but she had a headache. I called to cancel and made another appointment for next Wednesday. She’s feeling a little better now, but I know how much she hates to miss out on her hair appointments.

I’m so excited a week from this Sunday my mom and I are having a mother daughter day. Were heading up to San Francisco and seeing the hit musical “Grease” with special star Franklin Avalon. My mom is really excited about seeing him in person. Afterwards were going out for an early dinner.

GOALS FOR 1/20/2005
WATER – drink 48 ounces of water
FOOD – write down everything that I eat and measure out my food.

Take care everyone and make it a great day tomorrow!

:balloons: Katherine

Glad to see you are making yourself accountable with water and points. I am not setting the world on fire but am determined to write down my calories no matter what. At least I am learning what is adding to excessive calorie counting, etc.

Yes, I get excited this time of year, too. I just can't wait for spring to get here. It was in the 40s yesterday. So nice to get away from that 0 degree stuff!!!

Hope you continue to do well!! :)

Hi Katherine,

I wanted to stop by and say "hello," since I happened to be here anyway. I am thinking that maybe subconciously your Mom knew it was probably better for BOTH of you to avoid stopping at Krispy Kreme's place. Sometimes our feet are smarter than our eyes or mind! eh? hahaha

Have a great weekend now!

SUSAN - The past couple of days haven't been so good for me. I was talking to Monica in the chat room the other evening, and she sugguested that I focus with one goal at a time. Then I can build up from their. Right now my main focus is going to be with my exercising. I'm still trying to work on my eating and gettign in all my water. I guess you can say that the strong motivation i had last week is gone. Dont worry I'm not going to let that discourage me. I have an idea on how I want to set up my goals and I'm going to work on that tonight.

SANDIE - How are you feeling? It's so great to hear from you again. That day when my mom and I were out driving, she wasn't thinking about stopping at Krispy Kreme's at all. I don't go their very often, so I thought it would be okay. My mom just got a bottle of water. One thing that's really hard is that their buidling a Krispy Kreme's right down the street about 2 miles. Luckly for me they haven't started building it yet.

JANUARY 22, 2005
Good evening everyone! I hope that you all are having a great weekend. I swear it’s not one thing keeping me from going online it’s another. Last time I was having trouble, it was because of my ISP; however this time I had another problem. Two days ago I was trying to get online, and I kept on getting a message that says “no dial tone” I tried resetting my computer, but I was having the same problem. I then thought that it would be best to wait and see if the problem was still occurring on Friday. On Friday I was still having the same problem with the connection.

The phone line that I use for my dial up connection is just used for the computer line. I plugged a phone into the line, and their was a lot of noise and static. I then figured out that their was something wrong with the phone line. When I called the phone company, they said that somebody would be out here tomorrow, which was today. I just love these window frames that they give you. My time frame was from 8:00am to 10:00pm. Oh well nothing I could do about that.

This morning I woke up around 6:40am. Our cat, Smokie, was meowing in the hallway. I knew that my mom had already feed him, butthat little jerk wouldn’t let up. I got up and gave him just one more teaspoon of food. That usually settles him down for the day until he gets his dinner. My mom left for work already, and I was already woken up, so I just watched some TV.

Around 8:15am, I was walking past the living room, and I noticed that a telephone repair man was up on the pole, and that their was a ladder in the backyard. Now here’s the part that was confusing to me. The phone line that was having the problem is through ATT, and the repair guy was from SBC. I wanted to go and find out that the problem was, but I got tied up with something. By the time that I got back out to the living room, the repair guy was already gone. Well what ever was going on with the phone line it’s fixed now, because I can get online and post in my journal again.

Once again I called Marija up in Redwood City about the job. And she went with somebody else. Oh well can’t worry about that one. I had a feeling that she might have gone with somebody else if they don’t respond back with in a few days then you may as well just forgot it. I called a temp agency that I go through, and they had a temp job for me. It’s a for 3 days next week, and I’m really excited about it. When I was talking to my counselor she told me about their sister company. Their sister company mainly deals with front office work. I called over their and now I’m in their system too.

This weekend I’m going to register at a few temp agency’s online. I’m hoping that going through a temp agency will help me get a job. I wanted to get a job in the medical field because that’s what I went to school for. However it look like that’s going to have to wait for now. It seems that every place that I’ve interviewed at they want somebody who has the experience. And being that it’s been over a year since I finished school, naturally their going to with someone who’s recently finished school, or somebody who has the experience.

Tonight my mom and I went to the Hometown Buffett for dinner, and were never going their again. My mom and I each got one chicken leg, and some dishes. the salads and the side dishes were pretty good, the chicken was awful. The chicken legs weren’t even cooked all the way. The meat was a lovely shade of pink. My mom went and complained to the manager. He said that the chicken was cooked all the way. Then a couple other people came up and complained about the chicken not being cooked all the way. After that my mom and I were so disgusted that we just left their. We ended up going to Carrows for dinner.

Tomorrow my mom and I are going grocery shopping, and today I’ve been helping out. I got some terrific menus off the web. Most of them I got from this web site, and I can’t wait to try some of them this week. I’m not going to add these recipes to my collection until I try them. I need to make sure that their going to be keepers. I think they all are going to be. Tomrrow night I’m thinking about making chicken and zucchini stew which Monica posted. I might be in the mood for taco pie that Joanne posted a couple years ago. Then again the Rosemary chicken that Bell posted a couple years back sounds really good too. So many choices, so little time.

:rose: Katherine

JANUARY 25, 2005
Last night for dinner I made taco pie. Joanne posted it the recipe board a few years ago, and it is really good. I highly recommend it. It took me about 30 minutes to get all the veggies chopped up, cook the meat and grate the cheese. I’m now getting smarter when it comes to cooking dinner. Tonight for example, I already have my veggies chopped up, zucchini and green bell pepper, and chicken breasts cooked for tomorrow night. Now all I have to do is put everything together for my stew tomorrow evening. Monica wrote this recipe on the boards and I really hope that it’s good. I’ve been looking forward to having it for a week now.

Today I started a temp job, for 3 days, and it felt really good to be back at work again. I worked in one of the offices in back with 4 other people, and 2 supervisors. The work I had to do was rather simple. I had to pile papers and staple them together. Believe it or not that was pretty much I did all day today. It wasn’t much to do, but at least I was working.

I talked to one of the girls about the possibily of getting hired on full time, and she said that she was going to give me the address to human resources tomorrow. Next week I plan to go over their and talk to them.

GOALS FOR JANUARY 26, 2005
WORKOUT – walk 1 mile using my walk away the pounds video

I know that I should set a goal for my points and for my water too. However right now I want to focus on one goal at a time. I have an idea of what I plan to do, now all I have to do is put my plan into action.

:rose: Katherine

Kfoard, hey just popping in to day hi. thank you so much for dropping in on my board. as you will see started a new one today. as i am at goal and all. so go there when you can. i hope all is going good your way. Hey did you get that walk in???? i hope so. hope you also get one today... i just got back from mine. just a short one in the neighborhood. but had music to ear and got right along. ha that helps me so much. kids for christmas got me a cassett radio player. i had so many of them. i had the cd player i took walking. now got both. so is nice. i also plan to walk this evening to. trying to get in couple walks a day... working on my water to. eating plan is going ok. hope your day is going the way you want. i am enjoying this summer weather we are having. is it nice there to??? hope so. well have a good day. LaDean :)

JANUARY 31, 2005
Oh gosh! Where does the time go? It seemed like only yesterday it was the beginning of the year, and in a few short hours those of us out on the West Coast will enter into a brand new month. So tonight I’m taking the time to get caught up in my journal, and to read other journals as well, if I don’t get tried after writing in my own journal that is LOL.

Since were about to embark in a new month, that means for a lot of us starting over again, or setting new / old goals. I fall into both categories. January really wasn’t my month at all. I think I only workout like 3 days. I can’t say how much water I consumed, but I’m sure it wasn’t nearly enough. As far as my eating goes, well don’t even get me started on that one.

Now is the time to refocus on my mini goals that I can achieve my major goals. My mini goals for the month of February are:

FOOD – no Pringles chips / no snickers ice cream bars / keep track of all the food that I eat

EXERCISE – workout a total of 200 minutes / 14 days

The hardest for me is going to be giving up my Pringles chips and snickers ice cream bars. But I know that I’ll do it and at the end of the month I’m going to feel so good about myself. Beside I should really look on the bright side, February is only 28 days LOL

My mom once told me that she’s willing to do anything to help me loose weight, and I’m going to make sure that she sticks to what she says. Every other day were going to be walking in the afternoon with one of my 1 mile tapes. This way walking together will help motivate both of us.

After nearly 10 months my sister came down for a visit last Friday. At the last minute, she invited her boyfriend down. My mom meant him once, briefly, but on Friday it was like meeting him for the first time for all of us. I found him to be really nice and a very caring person. He was talking to my mom about how he felt that Jennifer didn’t call us for the holidays, and he agrees with my mom. Also about how, Jennifer may seem grown up by living out on her own; however she still needs her family.

For dinner that night my brother barbequed. Yes folks you heard right – we had a barbeque in the middle of winter. Not only that the weather was against us due to chance of rain. It think by the time the food was cooked just a few rain drops had fallen from the sky.

In the evening my mom and I drove up to Fairfield to take Jennifer and Dave home. It was a really nice ride for all of us because we got some more time to talk and get to know one another. By the time we got home it was midnight and I just crashed into bed.

Sunday was one of the best days of my life. My mom and I had a special girls day. We left the house around 10:30am and drove up to San Francisco. After the car was parked, I wanted to get some lunch. My mom and I shared a sandwich from Subway and a diet soda. At 12:00pm we entered into the theater. The show we saw was the hit Musical “Grease” with special star Frankie Avalon. My mom of course was thrilled to see Frankie in person. His part in the musical was really short, but afterwards he came out and sang some songs for us. If you love the movie “Grease” then I would highly recommend seeing this show if it ever comes to your area. After seeing the show we drove over to the Hard Rock Café for an early dinner. Then it was time to go home sweet home.

:rose: Katherine

kfoard, so happy your doing good with your plans. that is great. first step is say your going to do it. you have done that now . good for you. yes exercise you will feel great oh well you know you do. so go girl you can do this. hey get something else to place the pringles and ice cream bars. there is sugar free things out there that are good. then with the pringles , i get the pork rines. tehre good. oh you and your mom day sound so fun. i remember when my mom was here we had so many fun days. i tell you so thankful to as now i have all those memories. I decided i am not going to get another dog for now anyhows. if its God's will someday if something comes up. but right now i have decided against it. our road has gone through out here and more traffic and fast at times. miss him and his company but got lots of pictures and memories so that is helpful. i have friends and family pets i see and all. so give my love to them. i saw the movie greese and its so good. loved that movie. oh and frankie love his singing to. well hey ahve a good week and you go girl. it will happen. we just have to not give up and all. just move forward. what has happen put out of mind and a new meal or day... good luck. LaDean :)

FEBRUARY 3, 2005
talk about a day of total accidents. First a bottle of water was spilled in the car. Next liquid paper was spilled in a green bag. Finally to top things off, a sticky mess, gum sticking to hands. Oh my poor mom having to deal with all of that day. I guess you can say that today wasn’t’ my mom’s day.

Right now I’m uploading pictures to my photo page. So far I’ve uploaded half of the pictures from our Sonora trip, last October. Now I’m about to upload the other half from our trip. The one’s that were taking in Columbia Historic Park. I also have a couple other sets from the holidays as well. I should have them uploaded by this weekend, so you’ll be able to see them.

Today I faxed my resume over to several different places. Well one of them called me already for an interview. It’s for a front office position in a dentists office. The location is actually in the same medical complex where my orodonitist use to be. Wow just thinking about the years I wore braces takes me back. When my sister got her braces off, I totally remember saying these words to her “Did your braces shrink your teeth?” I guess when your teeth are covered by braces, what they look like naked can be a shock. I use to tease my sister when she wore braces. Hey she did the same thing to me, so she had it coming. But after she had the braces removed I teased her because her teeth looked like little pieces of gum. Don’t’ worry I’m much better now, I haven’t tease “chicklet” for a while, oops. Did I write that out loud LOL.

Well I guess I totally got off subject. Oh yea I was writing about the interview I have on Monday. When I was talking to the women, she asked me if I would interested in a class that goes into detail on the Dental terminology. I said that a class would be great, and she really seemed impressed with what I had to say.

I wasn’t sure if I should write this next part, but I feel that I have to get something off my chest. I’ve already blown my goals for the month. I’m sitting here right now eating some Pringles chips. Earlier tonight I was feeling like such a failure. I felt as if I’m never going to stick to any goals, and that I’m determined to stay this way for the rest of my life. We all can’t be thin. The world is made up of all different kinds of people. I guess I’m just going to have to face the facts, I’m going to one of the fat ones.

Why is it so difficult for me to stay on track? Why is that a lot of people have great success at loosign weight and then there is me? I just doesn’t make sense to me. I mean I want to loose weight, but I can’t seem to stop eating all the foods that are wrong for me. Even though I say that I want to loose weight, I guess deep down inside in my heart I know that my weight is my security blanket. And if I loose the weight, I loose my blanket.

:rose: Katherine

FEBRUARY 6, 2005
Well the funk I was in the other day is over now, and I’m feeling much better. I just needed a few days to get my thoughts together. Last week when I failed my goals for the month of February, no Pringles chips and no snickers ice cream bars, after only 2 ½ days I seriously thought about giving up and tossing in the towel.

Then today I realized that maybe right now I shouldn’t be focusing so much on my eating, there are other steps to achieving health that I could be focusing on instead. I’ve decided to focus on water and exercising. Now just because I’m not focusing on my eating doesn’t mean that I’m going to eat everything in sight because I’m not. When I feel ready to start focusing on my food intake I will, but I only can do that when I feel the time is right.

My mom and I aren’t football fans. Heck I had no idea who was playing in the Superbowl until a couple days ago; however we have a bet going. The looser has to cook dinner next Saturday night, winners choice. I’ve checked out the game and so far Philadelphia is winning. Of course I’m not even sure which team is which. I’m hoping that Philadelphia is wearing the green shirts because I love that color. Oh great I’m checking the game again and now it’s tied.

Last Friday I faxed my resume over to several different places, and I already got an interview. The interview is for a front office position in Sunnyvale. The women on the phone said that she’s really short of help, the front office person is leaving Friday, and that she was really glad to receive my resume. Somehow we got to talking and she said that she teaches a course in Dental terminology. I think what really impressed her was when I said that I would be willing to attend the class just so that I can help get my foot in the door.

Sorry this is so short but it’s almost 5:30pm and I’m getting hungry.

:rose: Katherine

FEBRUARY 8, 2005
I already know the outcome from the interview I went on last Monday. You remember when I wrote about the job for the front office position in a dental office. Well the interview itself went fairly well; however in the end she told me exactly how she felt. The manager felt that since didn’t really have the experience working in a dental office then I would not be the best person for the job. I was upset by this news but at least she was up front with me.

Tonight I was looking up jobs from 3 different websites and I found another 23 listing. Tomorrow my mom is going to fax my resume over to these places for me. I just wish the listings would also give a phone number so I can call them to keep tabs on what’s happening. I do have another temp job next week, for 3 days. It’s at the same place as before.

Talk about a day of being total frazzled. I updated my resume just a little bit. I changed the objective so that it fits a receptionist position in an office setting. I also have one for a hospital or clinic setting. Anyways I needed to print out a main copy of this new resume and make copies of it.

Since I couldn’t use the computer at home, I drove over to the Saratoga library. Only when I got their it was closed. Only for another 30 minutes. I didn’t realized that the library didn’t open up until 1:00pm. I thought I would wait around for the 30 minutes. Then I thought about going over to the Santa Clara library, but I had to go home first and get my print card. Before leaving the library I returned a book that I had checked out. Just as I was walking back to my car a Police Car was driving right behind me. My first thought was “oh my gosh is he after me” but I know that’s silly thinking all I was doing was walking back to my car. He drove down the aisle to the very end and meant up with another portal car. When I finally left, I found out what was happening. A young man was getting arrested. But for what I have no idea.

Okay well so I drove back home to get my print card. Then when I got home I remember that I left the card in my mom’s car the other day. But it was okay because the library in Saratoga was opening up in 10 minutes.

I drove back their again, but all the computers were taken. I had to use one in the children’s room. I opened the file with my resume and it didn’t look right on the computer screen. It added extra lines so instead of being 1 ½ pages my resume was 4 pages long. I tried fixing it but I wasn’t having any luck. I finally gave up and decided to print out a copy tonight after my brother goes to work.

Have a great day tomorrow everyone!

:rose: Katherine

FEBRUARY 12, 2005
The past couple of days I’ve had outstanding days. Before I went to bed on Wednesday night I made a decision that on Thursday I was going to have a great day. Well you know something it worked. On Thursday when I woke up, I had a healthy bowl of cereal with raspberries. Shortly afterwards I walked ½ a mile and toned my biceps (1 set of 8 reps) I know that it wasn’t to much, but I look at it this way. At least I’m making the effort to do something.

This week my goals are to workout every other day, drink at least 48 ounces of water a day, and to write down everything that I eat. Yesterday I drank over 48 ounces, so I made that goal. And you already know that I worked out, so I made that goal, and I did keep track of everything that I ate, so that goal was meant was well.

This weekend I’m just taking it easy with my eating. I’m not going over board with my food; however I’m not measuring anything out either. Don’t worry I’m still going to workout this weekend. Which I already did this morning YEAH FOR ME!!!

Now I have a question for all of you. When was the last time, you went to the movies and your ticket was only $3.50? Proberly like 20 year ago maybe 25. Anyways my mom and I went to the movies tonight, and our tickets were only $3.50 a piece. I mean is that unbelievable up or what? Prices at the cinema are just crazy, so my mom talked to my Aunt tonight, and she told us about this place. The snacks are about the same price, but hey I can’t complain between my ticket and my snacks I spent less money then I usually do at the movies for just my ticket alone.

Oh I’m sorry here I’m going on and on about this cinema and I never said what movie we saw. My mom and I saw Spanglish tonight. I’ve been wanting to see this movie for a long time, and I’m glad I finally got a chance to.

Sorry this entry is so short tonight, but I really don’t have anything else to write about it.

:rose: Katherine

Kfoard, so glad you are doing so good. i am so proud of you. keep it up that is great. your movie nite sound so fun. my daughter and i go some. i love going to movies. yes that is a good price. its so very spendy movies here to at the cinamas but here in our town i can go for $4 senior and if we go sundays its that for everyone. so we try to go to matinnee then. You have another good week. LaDean :cheers: :balloons:

LADEAN – Thank you so much for writing in, your friendship means so much to me. Yeah the movie nite was great, going to the movies at that price totally took me back. I felt like it was 1980’s again. Oh my gosh $4.00 for a ticket that’s great. At the cinema down the street I think my mom has to pay like $7.00 for her senior ticket. They do have matinee times as well; however you have to go Monday – Thursday before 4:00pm, so that’s not possible. And even then it’s still $7.00 for everybody. This new place we went to was excellent on the price.
FEBRUARY 13, 2005

today we had a little bit of an emergency with my grandma, the tube that’s up inside of her came out. Since it’s Sunday, the clinic where her urologist is located was closed. My mom and I took her up to main clinic, over to urgent care. Before going their, I gave my grandma a shower. We all were really cranky on the way up their, so my mom suggested that we stop and have bite to eat.

We went to the Fish Market. I had ½ an order of pesto pasta, a few French fries, and 3 chocolate dipped strawberries for desert. Which I thought was really good. Normally you get 6 of them, but I asked if they could cut the order in half.

Once we were finished with dinner, and felt a lot better, we drove over to the clinic. They said the wait would be about 45 minutes, but I don’t think we waited past 30 minutes.

When the nurse called my grandma’s name my mom went in the room with her. I stayed in the waiting room and briefly looked through some magazines. We actually went at a good time because it was rather quite and not to many people where their. The urgent care for children is right next door, and their pretty busy this time of year. You know colds and the flu that children get.

My heart really went out to this one little bit. I couldn’t see him because of where I was seating but I sure heard him. His mother brought him in and he was screaming. His mother explaining that her son was stabbed with pair of scissors. She said it was right above the eye, or almost in the eye. One of the girls in the front, paged a nurse over “STAT” and they came out right away to see what was going on. After that they all walked over to children’s side, so that he could be taken care of.

A little while after that my mom and grandma came back out again. On the way home we stopped over at Safeway to pick up some bread, luncheon meat, and some milk.
Were all back home again now and my grandma is doing much better.

:rose: Katherine

http://www.llerrah.com/images/happy_valentines_day.gif

Happy Valentines Day

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY KFOARD.... your so welcome. your a great friend and it helps me to see how great your doing. good for you. i love these boards we help someone and in return they help us. or other way around. its great working together with you. to cut back like with the strawberries that is great. i think we can eat what we want just allow for somethings and cut back then on others. you just hang in there now. hey your walking and exercise is great to. just do little bit each day. some days may be more and others less but that is better then none. it all averages out to. i read with my carbs. to one day have more then another less and it averages out which is good to. so have a great day do some now.. my day is going good . rode ex bike 2 miles this am. going to walk this afternoon. nice and frosty morning so means nice day. then scales are down. so that is good. love it. i am going to try to stay busy. hey glad your grandma is doing better. oh how sad the little kid . i know it was so hard to hear that and all. its great you all ate out and all. sometimes that helps to jsut get out and do things together... LaDean proud of you :ghug: :rose:

Hello Katherine,

Since I was in the area, I thought I would stop in to say hello and see how goes with you.

Jobs must be few and far between where you live. If not that, then they are extremely darn picky in their hiring practices. It must drive you nuts going for one interview after another and then continue to get the same response.......none!

My daughter went through a very, very rough time too. And she has a Master's degree in Business Managment, but for several months she was without any work and doing interviews right and left. Things got so bad, she almost had to file for bankruptcy, but then suddenly she got lucky and found a job. She has her own Condo, and she almost lost that too. So hang in there. There has to be the right job out there somewhere, and the two of you (yourself and the job) just have not managed to come together at the right time yet. But I'm sure it will happen when the time is right. Thank goodness you still have a place to live and exist, job or no job.

Good luck with your interviews, and with your water and exercise program. Right now I am concentrating more on my exercise than my exact diet as well. Today I broke new ground and managed to do 15 minutes on my treadmill. WooHoo!!

FEBRUARY 18, 2005
I’m sorry that I haven’t had a chance to write in the past few days. I’ve been real busy dealing with things around here. As you know last Sunday my mom and I took my Grandma to the clinic to have her bag fixed. While she was their she was telling the doctor about a pain that she’s been having down south. My grandma said that it felt like her insides, down south, were all tied up in knots. The doctor who was working with her, said that she had a bladder infection.

From past experiences we know to keep a running Rx of her medicine. Right away on Sunday evening we starting giving her the medication. Usually she starts to feel better in a coup