August 24, 2008

I am starting a new journal as I need to recommit to coming here to this wonderful site. So I figure this is the way to do it. :)
For those of you who don't know me I am 51 years old and started here in January of 2002 at 200 pounds. I now weigh 120 pounds and have maintained that weight for over 4 years. I am married with 2 children and 3 step children. I work as a lettercarrier and I am also the vice president of our local union. This keeps me extremely busy but I love what I do.
Summer time is my favorite time of the year. I am rarely indoors as I know I will have plenty of time soon to be inside when the snow and wind are howling. I spend my free time in our garden or in the pool. I go to the gym at least 5 days a week.
I recently just got back from North Dakota where my daughter attends college. We had a wonderful trip out stopping when we wanted and shopping til mom was ready to drop......lol This is my daughter's last year so although I am happy she will be finished I am also saddened as for 4 years we have had great times on the trip out there. It's a 26 hour straight drive from where we live but we have always taken 3 or 4 days to do it.
This year I was suppose to meet with GLC from here and we had it all arranged. The only thing I didn't count on was food posioning.........X-(
I did however get to know my daughter bathroom quite well........lol and the trip back home was not pleasant as all I wanted to do was get home start feeling better. So 3 days later I am feeling my self again. I will be going back out to North Dakota probably once in the fall to see my daughter play her last game of soccer and then back in May to watch her graduate. She will have a full plate this year not only with soccer...........studies..........but she is returning as the Student Body President this year. So a busy busy year for her. I am hoping to meet GLC at some point this year or next as it will be our last chance and I truly regret not being able to do it this time.
I have a ton of things to do today as I have litterly done nothing but sleep and rest to get strength back from my bout with the food posioning. So today I will get caught on the housework around here. Laundry is a priority for sure.........lol Hubby does well at everything else but laundry I don't let him touch...........I like my whites to still be white if you know what I mean.........lol
Also need to send off a package to my daughter as with every year she forgets something at home that should be with her.
This year she is not living on campus but has rented a house with 3 other friends. I shopped all summer long for things she would need there and also packed 4 boxes of canned goods and packages of her favorite foods. Things she cannot buy in the States. Two of the girls have lived there for the past 2 years and the other girl has always been my daughter's roomate in the dorm.
So Sarah's mom did the same thing with buying groceries. Those girls will not have to buy food for probably 4 months........lol Sarah's mom and I went out and also stocked them up on meat as we discovered they had a freezer which was a big bonus. The only thing they didn't have was a washer and dryer in the house but my daughter made a few calls to people she knew and found a excellent set for 100 dollars which the girls gladly split the cost to buy. I did have a few run in's with the landlord at this place thou..........It's a cute house but a few things needed repairing. And the 2 girls who already lived there didn't realise he should be the one fixing them. So I took him on a little tour and told him I would be there for a week to see that these things were done. He kept trying to tell me that the other girls would do this and that and I told him nope............your the landlord..........they pay rent and on time as you told me that yourself..........so you are the one who is going to fix these things. He only tried once to put it off till the week after I left but I said not sure how you run things here but in Canada I would call the city and make sure things were up to code so if I have to I am willing to bet this city is no different........The girls couldn't believe it when he was there the next morning with an electrician.......plumber.........and painter. They said they were calling me when they needed something done as they had never been able to get him to do anything in the past. Not to worry girls my daughter is like me and well she won't stand for it either.
I also cooked them supper for 4 nights and they thought they had died and gone to heaven..........they all have busy schedules and eat on the run........3 are going to be nurses and my daughter is going to be an accountant. Plus they all play sports...........2 soccer and 2 basketball. ..............and they all work part time. Good thing they are young is all I can say.
However I must admit they will make great nurses as I never got so much attention when I started to get sick after we had gone out for lunch and one good thing is I was the only one affected. Then again that's just my luck.....lol

Like I said earlier on in this long winded post I have started a new journal to get back here and post and be much more supportive to all the members here then I have in the past few months. You all mean so much to me and this site has been my life line for the past few years............for support and friendship.

Have a great day.

Judy2:ex:

Wow Judy so sorry about the food poisoning. That would suck big time..
And not getting to meet GLC??? that's just as bad...
Hopefully you will get a chance to eventually meet which I'm sure you will..
I've been in contact with a woman that used to frequent diettalk since 1996 and we have never met.. Even though she does live in Ontario..LOL.. We do chat online when we get a chance though.

Take care and have a wonderful day..

Hi, Judy:

Congratulations on the nice, new journal. Happy to hear that your DD is doing so well in college. Sorry about the food poisoning, and glad to hear that you have recovered.

And good for you on the maintaining bit. That, IMHO, is much more difficult than the losing of the weight.

I also want to mention that in my very much younger days I worked for the post office as a clerk/carrier.

Keep smiling -

So nice to see you back Judy.
Last year I drove from Edmonton to Halifax and went thtough the northern states. I crossed the border in North Dakota and just loved it there. too bad about the food posioning, it must have been terrible driving.

Hi Judy :wave:

LONGGGGGGGGG time no see :( ( in part my own fault, as I have not been around much either )

Great that you are back and super great you are feeling better :D

Judy,

Great to see your new journal, always love hearing your stories and getting caught up. Awesome job with the landlord, lol. Whoohoo!!!

You are always a tremendous support and inspiration to all of us here.

Hi Judy. I totally understand about the other night. Hopefully if you make it for her games we can get together. Glad you are feeling better.

August 26, 2008


Well it was back to work yesterday and nothing ever changes that's for sure. Twelve hours later I walked back in the door totally exhausted.Hubby and I did a quick BBQ of chicken breasts and I picked a few tomatoes from the garden and whipped up a nice salad to go with it. How I love fresh veggies picked right before you eat them.
Up early this morning as I am going to the gym before work. It's a good thing our gym is open 24 hours and I can go when I feel like it.
My son and his gf were over Sunday night for supper. They both work alot of hours also so it's great when we can get together.

GLC:

Thanks and we will get together before this daughter of mine is finished school out there for sure.

Crazy2, Beth, JoThrive, Joanne & Patricians2001:

So nice to see everyone. Thanks for visiting my new journal.


Have a great day all

Judy2:ex:

Hey Judy.. Hi.. I know what you mean about fresh veggies.. Our local grocers are now receiving 3 liter baskets of various fruits and veggies.. Oh MY GOD>. what a difference I tell ya.. My daughter has started her little 5 1/2 month old on veggies and she loves them.. Prefers them over her cereal..LOL
We have a place called Pick of the Crop that receives fresh veggies 2 a week all year round and they are a little more pricey but I love the taste of them.
Isn't it hard when the kids leave for college or University.. I mean both of mine are married and I still miss the days when they were little.
I truly admire your enthusiasm.. Wish I could get some of that back..
Have yourself a wonderful day..:hug:

August 31.2008

It's hard to believe that this is the last long weekend of summer. It goes by far too quickly anymore. I spent a busy day yesterday running errands and then cleaning the house and cooking. Finally around 5pm I thought yes it's time to relax a bit. LOL The phone rings and the 1st Vice of our union is saying she will pick me up in 45 minutes..........I'm like for what........lol
I totally forgot we had been invited to a BBQ and we need to attend this one. It's like yeah your right and I forgot so let me jump in the shower and get ready. Niether my hubby or hers were going as they bowed out on us and her hubby was coming here to have their computer fixed. So I said well since I forgot about this and your hubby probably hasn't eaten either I had steaks out for supper he may as well eat here. So off we went to this BBQ which was alot of fun but we both had to tell everyone no shop talk.......lol
That's the hardest thing now when I go to a party. Everyone has questions and they want answers. We did have one get a bit ticked at us for not wanting to talk shop. But was ok when I said....you know I worked 57 hours this week carrying mail..........20 plus hours at the union office plus not sure how many hours on the phone with different members......it's now Saturday and I need a break. She looked and me and the light bulb went on and she says omg your right.........you do need a break. So with telling her to email me with the problem I would look into this weekend if and only if I got tired of relaxing.......lol
By the time we got back to my place the guys had the computer fixed.........they were both full and we found them outside by the pool listening to the oldies.........lol The girl I went with her hubby is with our National Union which is why he doesn't attend a lot of local parties. He just never gets a break from the members. But since my hubby doesn't work for the post office he can come over and talk about anything and he knows it won't be about work.
They also worked on the one part of our yard that we have been trying to do all summer.............so it's almost finsihed and we will have an area for a fire pit and a small deck to sit around it.
Today after hubby and I get the grass cut I think we will take off and see my brothers. I haven't gotten down there in a couple of months.

Joanne:

I do miss the kids not being here all the time. Or I should say most of the time.......lol Took awhile getting used to them not being here that was for sure. But I also enjoy the fact hubby and I are not on a schedule for things either. We pretty well do what we want now when we want. And of course I do not miss the extra laundry at all........lol
I went to the big farmers market that they have every Saturday here yesterday also. I bought 3 bushels of tomatoes (I only grow enough to eat)......so on Monday I plan on doing stewed tomatoes for the winter and salsa sauce. Might make chili sauce if I get real ambitious.So far this summer I have canned over 100 jars of different things from jams to pickles. My kids love it when I can things. They come over and they feel like they are in a grocery store only it's free.......lol I took alot of jars for my daughter when we headed out for North Dakota to take her back to school. I was a bit worried we might not make it through the border so I called ahead and asked if we could take it across. And no problem what so ever.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Judy2:ex:

Hey Judy: good to see you.. Glad you are fien and all is right in your world.. They are still working you hard though ...
I was wondering when you would get annoyed at silly employees wanting help over a union issue on your time..I used to spend hours on the phone fro home with employees and do a grievance and then bring it to them to sign.. .well they changed their mind.. go figure.. As I said I did President for 10 years and they tried to push it on me for another I flat out said NO.. It is too much bull crap imo.. Unions serve a purpose but they were too strong here in QC really and there were always strikes...and they drove salaries up sky high When you drive up the benefits and the salaries everything goes up too..
Enjoy your weekend making salsa, sauce etc..
Once again welcome back...:)