Come on fate – give me a break!

I am scheduled to leave on an 8:55PM flight to London tonight and if we get grounded due to snow I am going to be soooooooooo irritated. So I want all of you to think positive thoughts. Believe me, none of you are going to want to deal with me if I don’t get to take my vacation. It is in your best interest to hope my trip goes ahead.

And now I am heading off to the airport. Wheeee! I think I have everything I need – well actually I probably have 4 times as much as I need but oh well. I am not sure if posting everyday is going to be possible as Linda doesn’t have internet in her new apartment…er flat… yet. I am told there is an internet cafe in the vicinity so I will try to visit there once a day. I will write everyday regardless and will post when I get home if all else fails. I don’t want to leave my public with nothing to read – what a disaster that would be.

I’m on my way Linda – see you tomorrow!

Good-bye office – I won’t miss you

Woohoo! I am officially on vacation. I won’t point out that I will be doing some work tomorrow or that I will be reachable while away – we will just ignore that. We will just say that I am on vacation and I am sooooooooooooooooo happy about that! I am way overdue for a break. I normally have trouble getting all my vacation days used up but this year I am determined to do it. I am also learning how important the break is. The mind just can’t run at full capacity forever – and mine is screaming for a break. So good-bye office – see you in 12 days.

A little nature is a good thing

Having a rough time? Need a pick-me-up? Having trouble finding a reason to smile? Well I have a suggestion. Flowers. There is something about having flowers around that just makes me happier. On Saturday I picked up some yellow daises (if you read my Who I Am page you would know that daisies are my favourite flower) and each time I look at them sitting on my hall table, I feel a little more relaxed and I smile. They are just such happy flowers. When I first moved into my condo I used to have fresh flowers in my house all the time. Every Saturday morning I would grab coffee, go grocery shopping and pick up flowers. I miss that. I think it is time to restart that ritual.

I am finally first!

It has taken me over 100 days but I finally got to the top of the list. I did a search for my name on Google today and my site finally comes up first. I finally beat Mathew to the top. His site has been first in the Google search results since I started my blog – but no longer my friend, no longer. Wheee!

Dollhouse update

So it looks like the guy who was having candlelit dinners alone has found himself someone to share it with. A woman seems to have entered the picture there. Last weekend, they put up a Christmas tree. Awww.

As for the man who seems to be very much against wearing clothes while he is home – well he is still without clothes, still single I would imagine as I have never seen anyone visiting him and he still has the cat.

And that wraps up this instalment of “The Dollhouse“.

I can’t believe I made it!

I did it – I actually got through this week without inflicting physical pain on anyone (I won’t bring up the mental pain that many are dealing with thanks to me – all well deserved of course) and without quitting or getting fired. Although I have to admit that it was very touch-and-go for a while today. My entire week was filled with almost overwhelming challenges. Everything I touched turned to…uh, well, not gold. One problem after another, all week long. Today I spent a lot of the day yelling, while trying to keep the blood from bursting through the top of my head like a geyser. The day ended on a much higher note however. I played Texas Hold’em with some buddies and we had a great time. In game number 1, I was second and so I got to keep my money which was nice. Games 2 and 3 were not quite so lucky for me, but I still had a great time! It was a great end to a horrible week. Oh and I just thought of something – I only have 2 more work days before my vacation begins.

Well that’s strange…

I discovered a very odd thing this week. My shoes are too big. I am wearing the same socks and the same shoes and yet my shoes are really big. They were fine last week but this week it feels like they are someone else’s shoes. My feet have always been quite boney and I seriously doubt I have lost weight in my feet so I am a little concerned. Do I have some strange feet-shrinking disease? Am I going to wake up next week with feet the size of a child? Now I have to face a fate that I try to avoid at all costs – shoe shopping. I hate shoe shopping. However, I am beginning to feel like I am wearing clown shoes so the dreaded shoe shopping trip may be inevitable. Yuck!!

Quote of the day

“No matter how hard you work, someone else will always screw it up!”
Gwen Resmer

I’ve had about enough for one day

My day was completely derailed and so the long list of things I had to complete today didn’t get done. I spent the entire day battling fires and then the entire evening trying to get some of my real work done. Can you tell that I am about to go on vacation again? Every flippin’ time I plan to be away from the office, things go nuts – ARUGH!

What a difference a year can make

phone rings
“Hello, Gwen speaking”
“Hey, it’s me.”
“Oh hey, Linda. What’s up?”
“I was just watching Breakfast Television and I saw this book that I’d like to get.”
“Oh yeah, what’s it about?”
“It’s a weight loss book. Well actually it is more than just a diet. It is a lifestyle adjustment program.”
“O-kay”
“It’s a program that is laid out over 12 weeks. Each week you change something in your routine. You eat different foods and you do workouts.”
“Hmmm, sounds interesting.”
“Yeah, I’d like to read it. I don’t know when I will find the time to do it but I’d like to try it.”
“Oh, well maybe we could do it together.”
“Oh yeah? That would be great. We could help each other stay with it.”
“Alright then, I’ll go pick up copies of the book for us both and we will get started. The worst case scenario is we pay for the book and we spend 12 weeks on something that doesn’t work.”
“Okay, cool. Let’s do it.”

This is a real conversation that Linda and I had in late October last year. We did buy the book and on November 14 we started the Simply Woman program. That was a year ago today and man, what a year it has been.
I have had weight issues for my entire adult life. As a child I was actually really skinny – at least until Grade 6. I had Mononucleosis that year and it completely changed my metabolism. My battle with weight began after that. Well actually ‘battle’ may not be the right word. The fat attacked and I just didn’t fight back. My whole family (original recipe family not Ajax family) has weight problems – both my parents and 3 of my 5 siblings are overweight. That is not an excuse – I am just stating a fact. Although I have always been overweight, I was quite active and didn’t really let the extra weight stop me from doing things. However, by the summer of last year I had reached a point where my weight was beginning to affect my choices in life. There were things I wouldn’t do and places I wouldn’t go because of my size. Being overweight is one thing – missing out on life because of it is just unacceptable. Linda’s call came at the perfect time. It was time to make some lasting changes in my life – both physically and psychologically.

So Linda and I adjusted our lifestyles and one year later we are both happily enjoying the benefits. Some days were impossibly hard and had us struggling to continue but we did continue. And now we are healthier, more active and much lighter. As of this morning, I have lost a total of 96lbs and I am wearing clothes 4 sizes smaller than when I started. I will keep Linda’s numbers to myself (she can share them in a comment if she would like to share) but I will say that she looks amazing and is smaller than she has ever been. I had hoped to lose 100lbs by today but I have been motivationally challenged for the past month or so and wasn’t able to get there. But I am still quite proud of the 96lbs that I have lost. I still have a way to go before I reach my ultimate goal but I have made a very good start. My plan is to reach my goal by next year at this time.

I would like to say thank you to all of you who have supported me in the past year. I am truly blessed to have friends that were willing to listen to me talk about my program incessantly and who were willing to adjust their dining choices to accommodate my dietary requirements. Your support definitely made the adventure easier.

So Happy Anniversary Linda! I couldn’t have made it here without you. There were so many times that I would have given up if I didn’t have you to commiserate with. We shared both the pain and the triumph and I couldn’t have picked a better partner for the experience. You ROCK, sister/friend!!

Then and Now