Cruising!

Thank God it's Thursday...

The past two weeks have been pretty busy, I just now realized it's been two weeks since I last posted.

Since then...Hub decided he wanted to go on a cruise!  We have never been on a cruise, and all of a sudden he is feeling so good (after all his surgeries in the past three years) that he says he wants to get his life back.  I was shocked as he's never been much interested in cruising.  But...he's always wanted to see the Panama Canal because it is one of the man-made wonders of the world.  I just want to lie in the sun, drink rum and diet coke, and be waited on hand and foot, so of course am totally on board (yes, that's a pun).

So we've booked a cruise with one of the major cruise lines.  We are leaving from Los Angeles, and the cruise is two weeks long.  We stop in several ports in Mexico and also in Costa Rica and Columbia, finally landing in Miami.  We have a balcony suite (Hub has claustrophobia and in case the ship sinks, he has to be able to escape out the balcony... hahaha).  Then we will spend another week in Florida before flying home.   Am I excited?  Yes...uh, I mean HELL YESSSSS!!!!!!

So, of course, I've been in a frenzy to lose weight.  Not trying to be too restrictive (don't want to get back into that crazy life), but I do want to lose maybe 10-15 lbs.  The most healthy for me is always low carb, so for the last two weeks, I've been eating fish, chicken, vegetables, salads, almonds, protein shakes, full fat yogurt (which has lower carbs than non-fat), and working out a few times a week.  I still can't do much walking because of the plantar fasciitis, so it's been mostly stationary bike and elliptical.  But  I already feel a lot better...more slim.  The jeans I've been wearing lately are already getting baggy.  I find myself standing taller and feeling a bit more confident about myself. 

In other news, I got a new iPhone 5S because my 4 was giving up the ghost.  It took a while to get it set up, plus a visit to our IT Department and a call to AT&T Customer Service (the young man who helped me was really good, BTW), as well as few false starts with pairing the phone with my car.  But now...I absolutely LOVE it!  I can't believe how fast 4G is compared to 3G.

So, for the next month, it's mostly work (busy) and babysitting Kermit & Olive (Buster's BFFs) for 2 weeks at the beginning of November (then he'll stay with them while we are away), and getting ready for our trip.

Fun times!  

Welcome to the Weekend

What a beautiful day it turned out to be!  After so much rain in September and just terrible weather in general, it is great to have a nice day, especially on a Friday.  This photo is from our deck, looking over at the park.  The little buckets on our lawn are mole traps...little buggers have been tearing up our lawn for the past two weeks.  Buster is not a very good hunter, in spite of being a terrier, and the Norwich terrier breed was supposedly "designed" for catching critters underground.  But apparently Buster did not get the genetic message.  In fact, he couldn't care less.     

Unfortunately, I'm having some issues with my neck, so I'm not enjoying the beautiful day as much as I probably should. I spent so much time on the computer this last week, trying to finish up the code review of the plans for a huge new building (for a very well known "multinational corporation specializing in Internet-related services").  I was staring non-stop at my computer screen at work for 3 days straight...I think the strain on my neck was too much.  I went to the chiropractor on both Wednesday and Thursday, it's a bit better today, but still hurts.  Anyway, I've pretty much been a slug all day, and believe me, we know about slugs here in the PNW!  I am glad I have a few days off to recover and relax before I have to go back to work. 

One of the things I enjoy doing during "slug time" is watching Say Yes to the Dress.  Sometimes I cannot believe the amount of money the young ladies spend on wedding dresses, and weddings in general.  All I can think is that the money could be better used for a car, a down payment on a house, or even sometimes just fixing the bride's teeth.  Priorities, people!  Okay, so now I'm switching to old Westerns...Have Gun Will Travel.  It beats watching the non-stop coverage of the so-called crisis in Washington DC.   Ugh.

I had a good session with Dr D on Wednesday, and we talked about how I'm being much more open with people about my thoughts and feelings.  The other day, I was talking to my mother on the phone, and she started "reminiscing" about what a quiet child I was vs. what a horrible child my brother was (I do think he had ADHD) and that the only way to deal with him was to beat him.  (And she says it in such a nonchalant fashion!)  Rather than just change the subject or gloss over what she said, I told her "Mother, I think my brother needed medication or love or something besides beatings.  And to tell you the truth, one reason I was such a docile child is because I watched you beat him, and I was scared to death if I did anything wrong that you would beat me too." (Which she often did, anyway, just not quite as violently as she beat my brother...)  She found that to be an interesting observation, and actually said that yes, she probably did get out of control sometimes, and she was sorry if she had scared me.  Not much of an acknowledgement, but it is something, and I felt better for having said it.

Well, I'm going to try to do a bit of laundry now...hopefully I will feel a bit less sluggy.  I hope everyone has a nice weekend!