I've been fighting off tired and lazy the past few days.  I blame the cooler weather as it seems to trigger a hibernate sensor deep in my brain.  The sudden shift is even bothering Saffy who is having bouts of reverse sneezing.  On other dog updates I've been forcing Vix to spend even more time than normal outside as it seems like she's peeing way too much, maybe I'm only noticing it because I have to clean it up in the basement much more often.  Yeah, not fun.  To round it out I'll say that Dani is well.  All three are still shedding quite heavily, more than normal in amount for this time of year and the length of time this has been going on.
 
I'm trying to shift up my workouts a bit. Yesterday and today I went in a little later than I've been (7:30 vice 7) and got a short period of time in on the treadmill instead. At least then I don't feel as bad if I don't get an hour in the evening. I did get through the core crusher workout on Tuesday here at work with only sore upper legs and slightly twinging abs so I think body sculpting is on the go list for today.
 
I've managed to talk to a few former coworkers that I hadn't seen or talked to in an extended period in the past few days and they both seem to be doing quite well.  Alas, there is life after "this place".  I've always said that the likelihood of looking back wondering why one didn't bail sooner is high, but there are a good number of people that are worth missing.

I think there is a purge spree brewing.  If I had allowed myself to continue last night I probably could have made some good progress, but I was in need of a workout and washed hair.  I also had some cleaning to tend to for my new toy (boy is she contrary).  Either way, I did at least toss some things from the bedroom that needed to go.
 
It's funny how your mind just suddenly snaps into place and things you needlessly held onto can easily make their way into a garbage bag.  Now, of course, I don't see that happening as easily with the huge pile of shoes that I really should whittle down.  Either way, I still really could use an attic just to clear the boxes of must keeps (like my books, I don't see purging those ever).

Niecey-poo and my sister were safely returned to the airport in the afternoon on Saturday.  I was quite pleased that the weather held, because they were calling for storms starting at 1pm.  Not only did I drive to Altoona and on to State College, I then headed to the burgh for a visit with my favorite Egg, and not a single drop of rain until after I arrived.  There was a little bit of rain on the way back today, but in the grand scheme I was very blessed for my travels.

There was a gun show nearby, so we spent a little time today checking things out there.  There was also some yummy coffee that he roasted which was about the perfect strength and flavor.  I took with me the makings for a sammie that he had spotted, it's evil incarnate, but pretty darn good.  Think grilled cheese including peanut butter, bacon, and jelly.  :)  Surprisingly despite all of that salty, rich, goodness I am still down a little at this evening's weigh in.  Yay for progress.  Double yay for good weekends.

I managed to find the time to sit down last night (for a little while) and enjoy a bonfire (smores are mandatory in such a situation) with the girl child.  I realized that I needed to run back to the mall thanks to a sales clerk leaving one of the alarm sensors on a purchase from the night before, so that ate a bit of the earlier part of the evening.
 
As such I only worked out for about half of the time I wanted to.  You know, I will miss Niecey-poo when she's gone, but it will definitely be easier to workout more and eat better after she goes.  Fortunately, I have 3 more weeks in this bet to make my progress.

We accomplished a good bit of running that was on the to do list last night and cleaned up the yard so it is ready for a long overdue mowing.  I also replaced the knob to turn the water from bath to shower in the tub since it miraculously broke and pieces evaporated.  Girl says she didn't break it, but the previous time I had to replace all of the handles was during one of her visits.  I think she doesn't know her own strength.
 
Today has that feel of "how can it only be Thursday" and "it's Thursday already" all at once.  I need to just put my head down and press forward and be as productive as possible (at work and at home), so I can truly enjoy my upcoming weekend.

My win on the diet bet doubled my money!  So 50% of the people didn't make it.  I just can't imagine not busting butt after coughing up cash.  That said, I did start another one w/ a $30 bet.  I think this time will be harder to make the weight goal, but I'll be giving it a hell of a run.
 
Girl and I tried the kool aid dip dye method last night w/ little success.  I suspect you need to use even less water than I did.  At least we don't look freakish.
 
Time to plan a few other little activities with girl this week.  Maybe trying out coal tubing, doing a bonfire in the little pit I own, and planning dinner w/ Uncle Leo and Aunt Donna.  That, my workouts, and trying to get some cleaning in will keep us busy.

I made my weigh in last night (thank goodness and only by a half a lb) despite ham, potato salad, and other bloating compounds that we ate at the family reunion.  The rain did give us a break other than a small sprinkle later in the day, so it was more pleasant than anticipated.  I'll account that to the fact that after we returned to my Mum's place my nephew (brother's son) arrived to town.  I haven't seen N since he was maybe a pre-teen, and he's only a couple of years younger than me.  Most excellent to see him and to know that he got to see his Gram.

Now I wait to see how many people did not make their weigh ins and see how much above my original bet I get back. I did give myself a 2 day reprieve between this and my next diet bet, which I'll do the same 4% in 4 weeks deal.  Which is really good since I now have kiddo back and we had some foodie activities today.  After church I had to head to Denny's to get my free birthday slam.  Then to Davey Ts for his cookout/croquet tourney, which included a couple of drinks and other delightful food.  I mentioned a while back on the whole "someone they wanted me to meet", and I was a bit worried they would be there... they were, but I skirted that situation thanks to the fact that they're in the same boat *laugh*

Then... we had to go for a real dinner for my birthday, and I picked Red Fishy.  Of course, half of my meal and salad is in the fridge for tomorrow's lunch, so bonus, right?  I would have made it even worse as it's not all that often you can score a funnel cake at a church festival, so off to St Benny's we went, but the funnel cake was done already. *sigh*  That's okay because Dani won me $25 on a $1 bet on the bingo pull tabs and a cute little round stuffed siberian.  Now if the birthday luck would last and I'd win the 50/50 that would be super!

Do I really have to go back to work tomorrow?

Overly emotional point in the month + family reunion.  Oh, and it's raining too, so everyone will be cramming in tight under the pavilion.  This could be the longest day ever.  Don't get me wrong, they don't all drive me crazy - but there are a few.

Today is final weigh in on my first diet bet competition.  Shy of having a major eating failure today I will be making weigh in with a little bit of cushion space (yay me).  I will be joining another bet that starts on the 21st or 22nd.  For now, since I'm awake at this insane hour, it's time for a workout.

Yesterday was so jam packed it makes me want to win the lottery and not need to work all the more.  Because my body hates me and now wakes up way too early regardless of an alarm clock I was up and got a 45 minute walk in on the treadmill before truly starting my day off.  I even had time to make scrambled eggs before heading down the mountain for a laser hair removal appointment.
 
It's been two years since I went, but I was due.  I've had good results.  I'm not hairless by any means, but my leg and armpit hair is much thinner and lighter, this is well worth the slight pain and smell of burnt popcorn.  I made this appointment after my sister scheduled her flight into SCE for the same day.
 
So, from there I headed to mom's for a short visit and running errands for her before Niecey-poo and I left for State College.  Sister obtained we went back to mom's and I got fed (smile) and visited a little while longer before it was time to head back up the mountain to catch up with The Law.
 
He and I went to break in my new little birthday gift to me and I got to try out a couple of other neat little toys.  As always it is lovely to get to chat and spend some time with him, the only disappointment was not also getting to share this evening with The Missus and The Boy-Child.
 
I'm psyched for today's lunch as it is a rare trip out for some lunch time grub, including Mexican, and a quick visit with Beff and Magic Hands before he heads out on a mission trip.  Yay for more time with good people.

Work has left me nothing shy of exasperated yesterday and today.  It's not like there is anything abnormal going on, and I recognize my patience is thin this week, which makes it seem worse.  I'm just back in that cycle of "remind me why I get everyone's grunt work again? - oh, right it's because I don't half-ass stuff, so I get to suffer more of it."
 
I did skip my evening workout last night because I left in a grumpy enough state that I just wanted to go home and go to bed, which I didn't do, but being a bum on the couch playing 2048 sufficed (dang you girl-child for showing me that game).  I tried to compensate today by doing the lunch time yoga class. (Have I  mentioned how much I loathe yoga?  I'm pretty sure there is a plane/circle of hell that is yoga 24-7.)  Yes, I will force myself back to my routine this evening, but I'm officially complaining about it right now.  Don't judge.  At least the scale was friendly again this morning.
 
I'm gonna go finish this work for someone else now...

As promised I put in 1h 45m on Saturday morning, which is good, because after going to see the Johnny Cash Review girl wanted dessert.  I couldn't resist a couple of bites.  Then today after taking kiddo to mum's today I headed back up to Indiana for the shared birthday dinner with Beff and Slips, including more dessert (bites lip).  I'm in serious risk of not making weigh in on Thursday, and that's after being BEYOND the loss I needed to be at before this weekend.  It's wayyy to easy to put weight back on.  I did get a shorter (40m) workout in this morning but I need to get back on there. I'm dressed but delaying.  Girl is staying at mum's for the week, so hopefully I can get back on track to make the deadline.

To not end on negatives:  The Johnny Cash review was a fun time, as was walking around since we were a little early and chilling on the benches outside of Bottleworks.  Today I scored new music, new books, new awesomeness on the ancestry research front, stuff for yummy cooking assistance, and lots of love from my gal pals.

Yesterday girl also ran into the sporting goods place with me where I purchased a little birthday gift to myself.  There are so many expensive things I should have bought first (new computer, new phone).  Shame on me.

But best of all... I've had a few messages coming and going, that's good for quite a few smiles.  Now if I could just put my hands on again. :)  Perhaps a valid procrastination method is to search for exercises to help give your booty oomph.

Last night the girl child and I joined the Wild One and Rex at Shakespeare in the Park.  We had a lovely evening with fluffernutters and wine.  Of course, this morning I felt half sick thanks to the blech that I was consuming after a few weeks of eating pretty darn healthy.

That should have been a warning to me... but it wasn't, so tomorrow I'm probably going to be miserable as I ate like complete ass today.  First there was lunch at the Italian Oven since Rex was in w/ other team members, then happy hour/dinner from Windber Hotel, more grease at the Alibi, and smores at the Laws'.  I'm willing to suffer the smores consequences any day.

So yea, tomorrow I'll be working out for a very very long time.

So excited to go pick up the niecey-poo from the airport today.  I love that kid way too much.  The good news is that her visit will be a nice little and needed distraction.  You see, I'm trying really hard to not be needy.

I'm readjusting to 'dating' a computer geek. Yes, I put dating in quotes because I hate putting a label on something since there hasn't been any type of exclusivity expectations discussion.  Fortunately, on a related note, the guy I had been talking to for a while in Altoona hasn't made any comments about meeting and the friends that wanted to introduce me to another one haven't said anything else - because I don't know how I should handle that if it comes up.  As the Beff has joked:  Should I put all of my Eggs in one basket? *ha ha*

Back to the topic at hand:  I say geek with all of the love in the world.  It is, after all, part of who I am, was a majority of my friends in college, and relevant to the most significant relationship to this point in my life.  I get them.  Or at least I really use to.  It's refreshing to not have the overly needy, status checking, climbing half way up your butt behavior of some of the non-geeks I've seen through the past 10 years, but I'll admit... I'm wanting to hear from him a little more and worry about bugging him.  You know how that goes.  They say that when you're thinking of someone to send them a small message is nice, but on the other hand you almost feel forced to play 'the game' as to not freak the other person out.  Yeah, I hate the phone, but the one night getting to chat was actually kind of nice (what on earth is wrong with me).  I wouldn't think I should feel like I'm bugging him as most all of my communications are things that prb would have occurred as friends, but call me paranoid.  Maybe I'm being mental because nothing is slated for the next 'date' and it makes me anxious to not have a timeframe to look forward to (sounds like me and my need to have the next cruise on the schedule).  Fear me, I actually sound like a girl right now, don't I?

Now here's where I make some generalizations that I've seen to hold water, not saying this applies 100% to the current guy, but it helps me calm my girl insanity - so don't yell at me for rolling w/ the stereotypes until I get to know this specific one in the context of a dating relationship well enough.  I keep reminding myself:  geek = quiet, smart, reserved, observant.  Once you get their focus on you they're very attentive and incredibly sweet, but at some point when you know them well enough you need to coordinate on a phrase or signal that says "I really need attention from you right now - give me 5 - and I'll let you get back to whatever holds your fascination", and they're willing to accommodate.  They have feelings, but they have to trust you before they'll spill them or tell you much deep about who they are.  Yes, I feel like I'm partially describing myself here too - especially in that last sentence.

Do guys think about this crap too?  Prb not.

Core crusher workout starts in less than 10 min.  Fear.

It's under 5k.  Die mortgage die.

After my previous post an acquaintance I met through another friend posted a free for all invite to a bon fire that I couldn't pass up.  They're a great couple that met my Mithy when she lived in their neighborhood (he avidly walks his dogs each night).  It reminded me of the evenings sitting on Mithy's back porch shooting the breeze with a fruity beverage.  It was nice to see Jeff as well as King and Ace!
 
I was up way too early on Sunday, skipped youth, but went to church to learn that two new kids were there - the children of a gentleman I met at the Pitt Alumni event, he just moved them here for his position w/ the university.  I remember him mentioning churches that evening, where I made my recommendation for Oakland.  It was a very pleasant surprise to put two and two together when he came in with his wife and sat down with the kids.  I do hope they enjoyed the service as it was slightly different from normal, not bad, just 'off' for me.
 
From there I headed to do some hedge trimming (by hand) that seemed overdue at Eggs' place, I figured it would take a few hours but that was cut down to an hour thanks to a nice neighbor who gave me his battery operated electric trimmer.  I love how quickly and easily you can spruce up the look of a place with hedge trimming and weed pulling.
 
Since I finished up faster than anticipated I headed to TJMaxx and Ross in the quest to find more workout tops.  I did find two that worked nicely, but I also found two more pairs of workout shorts.  The 'skinnier' workout clothes I have are a little too tight still while the larger stuff is starting to let me bounce around too much, so I needed to find something for now.  This morning's weigh in had me into another weight bracket of 10, so yay.  I can't believe how much weight has poured off in the past two and a half weeks.  This is fast for me.  I know I'll plateau though, so I have to enjoy it while I can.  I've not been hungry or craving either, so bonus.  Hopefully Mother will say something nice (I'm sure she'll observe and comment that I lost weight) and just stop there instead of adding the need to "keep it up" or indicating how much more I need to loose.

I had a very nice and relaxing weekend... and to think I still have one more full day.  I love long weekends (and having more reasons to like them).  Since I did a little bit of cleaning each night this past week I didn't have much I had to accomplish this weekend except for some laundry and dishes (as I did do a little bit of cooking).  I still have a roast to make tomorrow, which should be delightful.

Hit a really long auction on the morning of the 4th, it was nice, but a bit chilly - quite the departure from earlier in the week which required the air conditioner to be running.  Watched a couple of movies.  Went to the fireworks at the mall and had a drinkie.  Still worked out this morning and on Thursday night, but skipped on the 4th.  It was a holiday, I think that's fair, especially since I'm still noting drops on the scale.  This dietbet is in the bag.  Ya'll can prepare to welcome back a thinner Judy.

Is it too dorky to say that one thing I appreciate about my job is that a conversation could lead to someone referencing "the theoretical edge case where that could mathematically occur"?

New food chain announced today.  It could be better, it could be worse - either way my fear of change makes it feel worse.

I was ready to go to bed by the end of my work day yesterday but I still forced myself to start a workout, which woke me back up enough that I completed the whole thing (and that's on top of a 20 minute exercise video w/ the Wild one over lunch too.  Today I'm feeling a wee bit sore (legs and upper stomach).
 
Today is all about updating traceability of requirements from one version of a spec to a new one.  Let me tell you how enthralling that is - even Knife Party isn't keeping my eyes afloat.  I could really use a nap.
 
I started eyeballing what is going on around here for the next two weeks both to try and find something fun to do to celebrate the 4th and to find things that might interest my niecey-poo while she is in.  Many thanks to the Laws and their website http://DoJohnstown.com at least I shouldn't miss Shakespeare in the park this year.