Welcome to California

Well finally made it. I knew the airport in Santa Rosa was small but didn't realize how small until we landed. Everything is outdoors & anyone can walk in/out of the airport. There really is no security here.

Flights were all good and didn't have to wait long between them.

So lucky! I got my period - UG. Here I thought I had another week. Thank goodness I didn't have any accidents. There was a Walmart a few miles away so I walked over and bought a few more supplies.

The class of people around here is scary. This is the first time in a long time that I felt unsafe.

I came back to the hotel which is very nice and had a nap.

After my nap I walked a ways to a small grocery store and bought some apples and bottled water. I thought at least I could keep up with my apple a day routine while here.

I went & had dinner at this little restaurant. It was very good.

Gonna go to bed early tonight as I want to go to Santa Rosa in the morning and be back for the Beaglefest X registration @ 2pm.

Flowers in the Garden

I took some pictures of the various flowers growing in the garden for everyone to enjoy. It has been a late year for everything.

Lucy - aw the little angel

Here are a few pictures of Lucy's handy work. She is such an angel. I'm sure that dad actually did this and framed poor Lucy.

Mom & dad have this bird clock and for each hour it plays a different bird call. Noon has the owl. For some reason the owl just bugs Lucy and she has such a mournful howl it is pretty pathetic. Take a listen!

50 lb mark

Well I finally did it.... I have hit the 50 lbs weight lost. I have been struggling (more mental than anything) in reaching this point in my life. Don't get me wrong, contrary to what others think I have been losing weight and not plateauing. It hasn't been large amounts, but I'll take losing 0.6, 0.2, 0.8 lbs a week over gaining.

I have had this mental block for 2 months now. I started out great, losing 2-3 lbs a week. Then I missed my first goal at the end of April. I was off by 4.4 lbs. That's not a big deal really but at the time it seemed so to me. It didn't help that the week before my goal my boss got let go and I assumed half his responsibilities PLUS going to school 2 times a night! The past 2 months has been topsy turvey and stressful. But I made it. I was able to consistently lose the weight and not gain anything back. If I lost my focus during this time in my life I don't think I would be as successful as I feel today.

So today is a historical day for me... I have officially lost 51.4 lbs as of today.

I still have more weight to lose but I feel a 100% better than before. I'm sleeping better (when the dogs let me!), have more energy and now fitting into clothes with more options than before. YAY me!!

My journey is still a work in progress but I will never be big again. This change in lifestyle is easy to follow - no sugar & carbs - and when I hit my goal weight, it will be easy to maintain.

So to all you neigh sayers out there, all I can say is PLLLLTTTT.

I will succeed and you'll have to eat your words.

If you can't be supportive, I don't want to hear it. You can talk behind my back all you want. I will succeed!

Father's Day Adventure

So Dad & I took the dogs for a walk along the ridge on Father's day. We left the house around 9am and started walking on the pathway. It was a nice warm, sunny day. There were a lot of people around but enjoyable all the same.

The pathway we took follows the top of the ridge just by mom & dad's house. On the one side you see all the homes with their fancy yards and newly constructed houses. Some of these homes are huge with magnificant back yards.

Along the other side is a ridge down to the river. Parts are gently sloping with open fields and trees and other parts are a sheer drop off. The view is very beautiful - with the river, golf course across the river and the mountains as a back drop.

We walked along the ridge pathway to the very end. Basically a dead end until the newer construction is completed. Normally when we head home we walk back along the main street in the neighborhood. This time we decided to take the ridge back.

As we were rounding near the end, we came upon this young buck just eating grass along the top of the ridge right beside the pathway. We stopped to enjoy the view. A jogger came by and passed us and at the time the buck looked as if it was going to charge the jogger. Thank goodness it didn't. Instead the buck came closer to us. At that time Lucy saw it was coming close and started to let out an AROO and back as if to say stay away. Lucy isn't afraid of much.

The buck looked at us and then just walked away. It wasn't afraid, skittish or anything. Just turned away and went on his merry way. I thought this was very unusual as this was at about 10:30am and I thought it was late for him to be around such a busy place.

So I got to spend a precious encounter with my Dad. I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Happy Father's Day papa!

Scrap Quilt #1

This is one of the scrap quilts I made quite a while ago. Mom used her long arm quilting machine to quilt it for me. It turned out great.

I gave this quilt to the HR lady who quit as she was so helpful and I was so thankful for all she helped me with in the past 6 months.

Starting the wind down

Well I haven't posted for a while as I have been just a little busy - to say the least!

My little stress started back on April 26th...that was the day my boss got let go. I was told that it was almost impossible to get let go from work but I guess when you don't do your job for such a long time it finally catches up with you. So he was let go and I got half his duties.

A guy who has been there for a while and in a similar role to my boss got to split the duties with me. It has been an interesting ride and very enlightening. He is someone who I hardly interact with and have really enjoyed being mentored by him. He has taught me a lot and I'll never be able to repay that.

We've been running the technical services department for almost two months now. Wow, what a ride. Thankfully a new manager has been hired and starts on Monday - WOO HOO (doing the Snoopy dance). I did apply for my old boss' job but am really grateful I didn't get it! I don't think I could handle the stress. Ok that's not true. I'd be able to know what direction to take a few things instead of just keeping it above water. I know I would have been awesome but maybe it is for the better.

When I interviewed with the VP of Operations and my old boss' boss, they were both impressed. And when they told me I didn't get the job they said that I've been doing such a good job with projects, that they'd like to see me get my PMP - Project Management Professional - designation. This brings me to my second little stress...

I had started taking classes late last year and after humming and hawing it was suggested by my boss at the time that I should finish the courses and get my PM certificate. So I investigated it and signed up for an aggressive schedule of the 6 courses.... all within 2 months! There were only two day courses (all day Friday & Saturday) but most of the courses have been after work. From 6pm to 9:45pm. At the time I didn't think anything of it as my boss agreed to it and would be my backup and be able to cover things..... oh if I only knew he was going to get let go!

So for the past 2 months besides doing 2 jobs (1 I was just learning about) I've been going to school as well. One thing I am truly grateful for is my parents. I don't think I would have survived this if it wasn't for them. With them looking after Lucy (& Snoopy) it has been truly a blessing. Also a HUGE hug and thank you to my favourite sister for inviting me to her house the nights I had classes and feeding me dinner. I thank you from the bottom of my heart to both my parents and my sister.

I've been able to work on a few projects at work but we are also renovating the main floor. We are giving back half the space so there are major renovations underway. The facilities manager from out East has been having me do a lot of the work for him. It has been challenging. I tell you having to babysit contractors to get work done is stressful.

My final class was on Thursday and I was so tired I almost fell asleep in it! I had to keep getting up and walking around. Thank goodness it is over with and I just have to study and write my final paper in the fall.

Work done for another week and the new manager starting Monday I get to start to wind down.

Plus I'm taking a mini-vacation at the end of the month. I am going to a Peanuts Collectors Club conference in Santa Rosa California. I found about this on the Internet a while ago. I was again procrastinating whether to go or not but it is the 10th Anniversary for the conference and this being Peanuts 60th Anniversary I thought I'd go. Yes I'm going by myself as I don't want anyone to be bored while I'm paying homage to my heroes Charlie Brown & Snoopy!

I'm really looking forward to the event, don't know a soul and am gonna have a great relaxing time. I am staying in vineyard country so the weather will be good. None of this crazy rain we've been getting. I'm getting excited as I received the itinerary for the event and it sounds like so much Peanutty good fun!

We are going to have some exclusive time at the Schulz museum and other places.... oh I can't wait.

Well that has been my life for the past two months in a nutshell so I'm off to bed now to try to catch up on some much deserved sleep and relaxation.

Stay tuned for Peanuts pictures and adventures!