Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from the most functioning dysfunctional family you will ever meet.

Relations

At 5.45am Central Standard Time I realized I was in fact related to my family when I could not find a single pair of scissors. Now I know why I can never find a pair of scissors at home even though have at least 4 pair I can think of off the top of my head.

Oops I forgot the chocolate shot

Yup I forgot the gratuitous chocolate shot. In the carrier bag is two huge boxes of Cadbury minis that I dumped in a bag to save room. The only problem I am going to have in customs is they are going to think I am a chocolate smuggler.

"Excuse me ma'am do you have a licence to be carrying this much chocolate"

"You don't understand officer my family threatened to not pick me up from the airport unless I brought them all of this"

"Ma'am we are going to have to confiscate all this chocolate but you can keep those flapjacks because on weird ex geography teachers who live in Oregon actually like those"

The Mathmatics of Packing

All of this minus the kitty

Plus two of these

Equals this.

Plenty of room. Should have bought more chocolate

The list is getting smaller, so is the amount of time I have to do it.

So after three night of crazy all out list doing my list has gotten quite a bit smaller. We like this. The only problem is I have added extra lists. What I am taking home and what I want to do while I am at home. There is something I want to do while I am at home that I always think of when I don't have my list handy and then when I do have my list handy I can't remember what it is. Needless to say this item will more than likely be forgotten because that is just how I roll.

Here in all it's glory is THE list.

Finish Pauline’s calendar
Wrap Philip,s Gifts
Wrap FIL gift
Wrap Pauline’s Gift
Finish Holiday Banners-if I have time.
Count chocolate items for taking home
Make money gift holder
Return Top to Dorothy Perkins
Caramel Shortbread from Thornton’s
Get Suitcase down from loft
Run Issy’s gift to her
Dinner at Deborah’s on Saturday
Write out thank you cards for gifts already received
Find or make the most fabulous card for my Husband!
Buy Grandma and Grandpa Anderson’s gift!
Laundry Laundry Laundry (if only we could all go around naked there would be a lot less laundry to do.)

To Pack

Green Jumper-wear on plane
Orange Jumper
Black Jumper
Blue Jumper
Cream Jumper
White Tuxedo Shirt w/ Brown jumper
New Look Jeans-wear on plane
Knickers
Purple Bra
Beige Bra
Floral Dress
Sheer Tights
Brown Heels
Brown Fuzzy Boots-wear on plane

Toiletries
Sm hair gel
Make up-find foundation lid
Round hair brush

Presents
Chocolate
Abbie
Gabe
Justin
Grandma
RaeLena
Ornament
Book
Pin
Pillow Boxes
Stocking




Other
Camera
USB cable for camera
IPod



List of things I want to do while in US

Go to Michael,s and Hobby Lobby
MS glitter
Marvy punches

Go to Chipotle Grill

Go to Coldstone creamery

Go to Sonic for Cranberry Lime aids daily

Have grandma help me with crochet pattern

Eat Fruit loops

Buy jars of Jiffy

Have Taco soup

Make Sesame chicken recipe for family

Make egg poppets for family

Have Pumpkin Pie Latte from Starbucks

Update:

I remembered the thing I can never seem to remember when I have my list with me

Go to the really cool bead shop by where my mom works!

Weigh in Wednesday

Weigh in Wednesday is on holiday until January 6th. I just don't have time to make it to meetings with all the holiday parties and family dinners and getting ready to go over the the US. I am also letting go a little for Christmas, I fully expect to gain some weight but I am okay with that as Christmas only comes once a year and 5lb should only take me about a month to shift. See you in the new year!

How did it go?

So here is my updated to do list

Done

In Progress

Have Not Started

Yeah Right I can't believe I thought I would have time!


To Do Friday

Check pantry for ingredients
Look for cookie box idea on blogs
Organize thoughts for Christmas banners
Look through letter stickers for Christmas banners
Organize thoughts for Peace card and make template
Finish Pauline’s calendar
Organize thoughts on Secret Santa’s calendar
Write out Justin’s Christmas card
Finish last of UK Christmas Cards

To Do Saturday

Start Laundry
Trip to Post Office
Trip to Asda
Trip to Hobby Craft
Make Holiday cookies
Make Holiday cookie boxes-They got put on festive holiday plates from Asda
Wrap niece’s birthday gift
Clean Kitchen
Start Secret Santa’s Calendar
Make Peace Card
Start Holiday banners
Organize stuff for making gift tags
Cut out pillow boxes to take home
Organize stuff for making wrapping paper

To Do Sunday

Finish Laundry
Put together Christmas cookie boxes and deliver to neighbours
Wrap Gifts for P’s family
Finish Holiday Banners
Finish Calendar for Secret Santa
Finish gift tags
Count chocolate items for taking home
Make money gift holder
Go to dinner at MIL
Tidy up crafting area
Iron enough shirts for work
Pass out

What are you doing this weekend?

Good news: I bought the last Christmas present today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am, I mean we (Mr Y in E and I) are done Christmas shopping.



Bad news: This is my shopping and to do list for the weekend-


Supermarket


½ cup shortening
2oz red food colouring
Baking soda
Vinegar
Buttermilk
8oz cream cheese
Powdered sugar lots
Chocolate bark
Digestives
1 ½ cup PB
Butter
12oz Chocolate chips


Hobby Craft

Ribbon for Calendars
Blue themed paper
Ribbon for Tag Banners
Supplies for Holiday cookie boxes


To Do Friday

Check pantry for ingredients
Look for cookie box idea on blogs
Organize thoughts for Christmas banners
Look through letter stickers for Christmas banners
Organize thoughts for Peace card and make template
Finish Pauline’s calendar
Organize thoughts on Secret Santa’s calendar
Write out Justin’s Christmas card
Finish last of UK Christmas Cards

To Do Saturday

Start Laundry
Trip to Post Office
Trip to Asda
Trip to Hobby Craft
Make these and these Holiday cookies
Make Holiday cookie boxes
Wrap niece’s birthday gift
Clean Kitchen
Start Secret Santa’s Calendar
Make Peace Card
Start Holiday banners
Organize stuff for making gift tags
Cut out pillow boxes to take home
Organize stuff for making wrapping paper




To Do Sunday

Finish Laundry
Put together Christmas cookie boxes and deliver to neighbours
Wrap Gifts for P’s family
Finish Holiday Banners
Finish Calendar for Secret Santa
Finish gift tags
Count chocolate items for taking home
Make money gift holder
Go to dinner at MIL
Tidy up crafting area
Iron enough shirts for work
Pass out
Remember that in the UK they use U in colour neighbour an honour so you can out smart the spell check

Good News: I leaned how to insert a hyperlink as a highlighted word. I have only been blogging for what six months now better late than never.

Weigh in Wednesday more than a little late

So I should first apologize for shamelessly ignoring my blog. I never knew how much time it would take to hand make so much stuff for Christmas. I am hoping to finish up all of my projects this weekend and get some pictures posted on my crafting blog.

What else have I been doing?

1. Making repeated trips to the post office to deal with the sub human species who work there. Loving that.
2. Writing out 60 Christmas cards. How do I know so many people?
3. Christmas Shopping
4. Making Decoration
5. Decorating
6. Making Gingerbread Cookies
7. Cleaning up Gingerbread Cookies after Kitty breaks them all into crumbs
8. Being social at Christmas drinks (really really hate this)
9. Helping at church Christmas Bazaar
10. Celebrating 2 Nieces and 1 nine year old cousin's birthdays that all fall way too close to Christmas
11. Making wrapping paper
12. Making gift tags
13. Wrapping presents
14. Killing Kitty for unwrapping presents
15. Trying to figure out if there is a dirty dish fairy and how I get a hold of her

So probably really no different than most of the Christian world right now.

So now for the exciting new, after being extremely strict with my Weight Watchers Kick start program last week I am down 3.5lbs. I think maybe a lb of that was the fact that I went to a lunch time weigh in instead of an evening weigh in but even so I am happy. I celebrated with having a Chinese take away last night! Don't worry I was a good girl I had chicken chow mien.

I am 1lb away from my goal of being at 170 for when I take a break and come back to the US for Christmas. That is very achievable in the next week especially if I am as disciplined as I have was last week.

Total weight loss 24lb

Weigh in Wednesday

So the scales have been unkind but it was expected. After a week of three trips to McDonald's, a mexican meal, 3 Margaritas, and uncountable number of gingerbread cookies I have put on a pound. This was to be expect and I had actually made peace with it before I went to my weigh in last night. Armed with a refrigerator of healthy food I have decided to do two weeks of the kick start program before I head off to the US at which point I will be taking a two week break from the program.

Current weight 12st 6.5lb or 174.5lb.

With any luck 2 weeks of the kickstart program will get rid of the 4.5lbs so I will be sitting at 170 when I go home for Christmas.

Total weight lost 21.5

Weigh in Wednesday

Down 2.5 Current Weight 12st 5.5lb

Total Weight lost 21.5lbs

Monday, Monday

Yesterday was definitely Monday no doubt about it. I got to work only to realize that I had put my knickers on inside out.

At 11:30 the fire alarm in the building went off, apparently when one of the air conditioning pipes bursts spilling water all over the second floor it triggers the fire alarm. No one could go back in the building until the fire brigade came, investigated, and turned off the fire alarm. Now I am not an expert but I am pretty sure that a flood is not the same as a fire, some may even go as far as to say it was the opposite. This did not keep me any warmer as we stood outside for 45mins. My coat of course was in the coat closet on the floor above me and my mother always said it was more important to get out of the building than grab your possessions.

At 2.15 the e-mail server went out for more than two hours. This is a big deal as we book all the meeting rooms on Outlook and I needed the information for the next day’s visitor list.

At 4.36 Outlook came back online and my inbox was promptly filled with meeting room requests for the next day which had to be dealt with before I could finish the visitors list for the next day which was already half an hour late.

I managed to e-mail the visitors list with out attaching it to the e-mail. Then I attached it to the wrong e-mail.

At 5:56 I arrived at Liverpool Street train station only to find out there where huge delays on the one night a week I really need to catch a train on time for class. I managed along with about 2000 other people to shove myself onto the 6.04 train and enjoy what I can only imagine a sardine enjoys, minus the oil, plus BO.

So yes yesterday was definitely Monday.

Random Thoughts

So just for fun today I figured out I need to loose another 20% of my body weight be be at a "healthy" weight. So I guess I am a third of the way there. 1 down 2 to go

Weigh in Wednesday

Down 1lb for a total of 19lbs. Weight 176.

For anyone keeping track (only me) that is officially 10% weight loss.

Come have a pitty party with me

So the last few weeks have been a little disappointing. I don’t think I can really cut anything else food wise from my diet. I have cut all sweets with the exception of 1 WW snack bar a day which is only a point and a half and I have a serious sweet tooth so I really don’t think I can cut that out on a regular basis with out feeling like I am be deprived of what I love. I don’t eat ice cream, chocolate or baked goods at all. I have also switched to the low fat or no fat options for everything we use. The veggie mince was another attempt to cut calories and fat it has about half the points of lean mince beef. I don’t think I would even recognize a potato chip or French fry anymore as it has been so long since I have had one.

This basically means I need to up the exercise. I don’t like planned exercise to say the least; the gym has never been one of my favourite places. I am quite lucky that I walk over a mile each day between going and coming to the train station, so it is a little more exercise than the normal person jumping in there car only to sit down at their desk all day. I did really good over the summer and the fall when the weather was nice to get out and do some walking for walking’s sake but now that it is bitter cold that seems like it is going to fall by the weigh side.

So I am not really sure where to go from here, there is a kick start program offered by WW that you do for 2 weeks that is suppose to rev you up and get you in the right frame of mind I think I will try this. I think I also need to look at the possibility that with out some serious exercise (which I will have to really consider before committing to) or a seriously restrictive diet (which again I would have to give great thought too as I want to be able to enjoy eating, if steamed chicken and vegetable are my only choice to loose weight the cons may out weigh the pros) this may be where I am going to platue for a while. I don’t look at this as a defeat; I am still going to use all of the healthy eating habits I have learned I am still going to go to meeting so I know the weight is not creeping back on. I have lost 18lbs in 16 weeks this is a huge accomplishment. I think that I am just going to post loss or gains each week and maybe do the whole big chart once a month as it fits into my life better at this time. So I will be back to post a weigh in later this evening.

Oh yeah MK5000 this is week two that you have not posted you weigh in. I am watching.

No animals were harmed in the making of this cottage pie!

So after much consideration I decided to make a go of veggie meat products. They are called Quorn over here after a name brand. So my first trial with textured vegetable protein was cottage pie. I have yet to try the finished project but I did taste the “meat” first after I was done sautéing it and then the whole base for the cottage pie to make sure I had the seasoning correctly. Did it taste exactly like my normal cottage pie? That is some what of a loaded question since while a few ingredients always make it into the pie the rest tend to be a clear out of whatever is in my vegetable drawer, last night was no exception. It is pretty safe to say if it was in my vegetable drawer yesterday afternoon it is probably not there tonight. This particular cottage pie had fresh chopped tomatoes, carrots, onions, orange bell peppers, frozen peas and because I only had 1 tin of tomatoes it got two tins of baked beans. So it did not taste like my normal cottage pie base even though I used two beef stock cubes but it tasted just lovely anyways. If one was to sit and ponder for long periods of time you could say that the texture was not exactly the same as mince. I think some of this was due to the fact that there were no cooking directions on the package of vegetable mince so I just kind of made it up when I was prepping the mince. It was close enough texture for government work. The most exciting part of my veggie cottage pie was that with the exception of the mince we already had all the ingredients. The veggie mince was a whopping £2 and I only used half. This yielded 1 smallish casserole size dish that will be our dinner tonight and 8 medium ramekin dishes that are probably 3 dinners for my husband and two for me. So for £1 output we have six dinners!

UPDATE: Cottage Pie was consumed last night to the delight of all those who tasted it (my husband and I). It was a big winner and veggie mince will be making repeat performances at the Y in E house hold.

Perks of living in England

I have to admit something shameful. Thanksgiving is my least favourite holiday, I know this makes me a bad American but I just don’t like Turkey. I don’t dislike the idea of spending time with family being thankful for the good things that have happened over the year, or being thankful that the Pilgrims made it through that hard winter so that my ancestors could come over to America. It really is the turkey, I have only ever had one really amazing Thanksgiving turkey and it was deep fat fried. Nothing says Thanksgiving like a gas canister and a five gallon pot of frying oil that you lower your turkey into. Cranberry sauce from a can also wigs me out a little. One of the benefits of living in England is I have no social or moral responsibility to celebrate Thanksgiving. So this year I am going to write out my list of things I am thankful for a little early and be done with it. Roll on Christmas music!

1. That I have successfully made it through one year of marriage. May all the next ones be better.
2. I have some of the best family a girl could ever wish for. I also have some of the weirdest but maybe you have to have one to have the other.
3. I have a husband who would do anything to make sure that we were provided for.
4. Little $*&", man I love my kitty.
5. A place to live that both my husband and I love.
6. Barrack Obama is the 44th president of the USA
7. Really great friends
8. A job that pays a decent wage and is stress free

Weigh in Wednesday, better late than never

Start Weight: 13st 13lb (195lb)
1st Weigh in: 13st 091b (191lb) -4
2nd Weigh in: 13st 07lb (189lb) -2
3rd Weigh in: 13st 5.5lb (187.5lb) -1.5
4th Weigh in: 13st 2.5lb (184.5lb) -3
5th Weigh in: 13st 1lb (183.0lb) -1.5
6th Weigh in: 13st 0lb (182.0lb) -1
7th Weigh in: 13st 1lb (183.0lb) +1
8th Weigh in: 12st 13.5lb (181.5lb) -1.5
9th Weigh in: 12st 11.0lb(179.0lb) -2.5
10th Weigh in: 12st 09.5lb(177.5lb)-1.5
11th Weigh in: 12st 09.5lb(177.5lb)0
12th Weigh in: 12st 09.5lb(177.0lb)-0.5



Total Weight Loss 18lb

So apparently slow and steady wins the race, well I should be winning then because I am loosing it half a pound at a time. Yes I am a little discouraged, more with myself because I know I am not being strict enough, at least not as strict as I was at the beginning when I was seeing really great weight loss each week. Some of it was when I started it was the only important thing I had on my plate and emotionally I was pretty stable. Right now I have lots on my plate with work, class, friends who are going through a life changing emotional event, I just learned my brother is heading of to Afghanistan, and there are some big changes going on in my husbands life. So basically what it boils down to is I need to find peace with the fact that I have new better eating habits that are allowing me to loose the weight slowly. No need to freak out until I plateau or start gaining weight. I also need to realize that while being overweight is bad that the majority of my extended family is overweight, I am probably predisposed to be overweight, this is something I am going to have to fight everyday of my life. Sometimes not loosing the race is just as good as winning.

Yay!

I can not tell how proud I am to be an American at this moment. I am so excited to see how Obama takes our country forward; he has a big job I know he can do it.

Y in E has big new too (not as big as winning the presidential election). I have changed jobs at the company I work for. It is a lateral move but one that makes a lot of sense for me. I will still be doing corporate reception but instead of being part of the cover team for 15+ sites I will just be cover for two sites to begin with, with the possibility for that to grow to four. I love the two sites which is mainly why I chose to apply for the position even though it was only a lateral move. When I heard they were looking for someone for those specific sites and I realized that once they hired someone I would no longer get to cover at them I knew it was a good move. I start officially on the first of December but will be placed at one on the two sites from the 17th of November.

I will post my weigh in result later tonight after weigh in.

Lost, walking, and gelato.

First I would just like to say holy crap batman it is cold. Really really chilled to the bone I broke down and actually turned the heat on to 15c cold. It has been getting down to almost 0c at night which is just not cool, or warm as it may be. This has certainly hampered my master plan to make up excuses to go walking. I don't really plan walks I just make sure I am really inefficient and make lots of trips to lots of places, I do try to walk over my lunch break and yesterday when I was at a site that has three building set up over 1/4 of a mile I made sure I volunteered to do the errand running between buildings. It payed off my pedometer said i walked 7.14 miles yesterday! Woo hoo.

This was somewhat negated by the fact that I found a gelato shop near where I was working. Good thing I probably won't be going back to that site for a very long time. I find that on a whole your normal everyday ice cream in England is &^%* so it is really not a temptation but who can resist gelato, apparently not me. I did order a small.

Lost, I am not sure if I am just over it or the fact that this was a short series due to the writers strike but I thought it fell short. Don't get me wrong I still find it much better than most programs on TV but it seems a little magic is gone. I guess we will have to see how the next series goes.

Weigh in Wednesday and Lost

So I stayed the same at my weigh in last night. I am finding it really hard now that it has gotten so cold to make myself walk more and eat well. All I want to do is eat chocolate, so I start another week fresh with the hopes I can beat my demons and loose the magical 1.5lb to reach my 10% goal.

I got the new series of Lost on DVD Tuesday night and have somewhat gone into hidding while I watch all the episodes. I should resurface sometime around Sunday.

Slacking off Sundays

So I realized that I had not posted any kitty picture recently so here you go kitty.



He nifty I can jump out the window using dads back!

Excuse me you are ruining my beauty sleep. I can't believe he was ever this small.

I kill you.

Look at the bargain I found at the supermarket.

Weigh in Wednesday

Start Weight: 13st 13lb (195lb)
1st Weigh in: 13st 091b (191lb) -4
2nd Weigh in: 13st 07lb (189lb) -2
3rd Weigh in: 13st 5.5lb (187.5lb) -1.5
4th Weigh in: 13st 2.5lb (184.5lb) -3
5th Weigh in: 13st 1lb (183.0lb) -1.5
6th Weigh in: 13st 0lb (182.0lb) -1
7th Weigh in: 13st 1lb (183.0lb) +1
8th Weigh in: 12st 13.5lb (181.5lb) -1.5
9th Weigh in: 12st 11.0lb(179.0lb) -2.5
10th Weigh in: 12st 09.5lb(177.5lb)-1.5

Total Weight Loss 17.5lb

So overall I am really happy as I missed two weigh ins and kind of lost control last week. Here is to being back in control. I am only 1.5lb off of my 10% weight loss.

Update on DorkFest 08

So there is really no hope for me to come even close on DorkFest but that’s okay if it has taught me anything it is that it okay to fly my dork flag. To take a look at some of the contenders head on over to www.michael5000.blogspot.com some real dorks hanging out over there.

Update on WW

So due to my schedule I have missed two weigh ins and I am feeling a little lost and having a hard time going it on my own. I am still at about the same weight but it is hard to tell as I have really stupid scales at home. I think this week’s errand will be to buy better scales so I can actually tell if I am loosing weight. I am back on the band wagon next Wednesday and will post accordingly. I am also going to try and drag my more than ample behind out of bed tomorrow AM and head on out to the meeting I tried to go to last Saturday.

A pumpkin hunting we will go.

So this weekend project involves pumpkins I am hoping to find some at a grocery store around here but I am not so sure as Halloween just isn’t that big here. If I can find some I will post pictures of my project on Yankee Crafts in England.

Christmas cards are also coming along well hoping to get most of them coloured in this weekend and start designing the ones I am donating to the Christmas Bazaar at the C of E my MIL attends. I was just going to copy mine exactly for the bazaar but then I realized we send a lot of cards to the members and I don’t want mine to match the ones they may have purchased.

Weekend meal plans.

I seem to be in a very Asian mood lately and this weekend will be no exception Saturday’s Dinner will be Funky Chicken on sesame noodles and Sunday’s will be Asian BBQed ribs as pork ribs are Mr Y in E’s favourite food. If I truly get all domestic the ingredients for carrot cake pancakes with cinnamon cream cheese are hanging around the house we will just have to see.

On a final note.

I was somewhat ambivalent when London was chosen to host the 2012 London Olympics. Not really my thing actually I have toyed with the idea of planning Spawn in England to coincide so that I would be on maternity leave while the games were going on. Now the building works have really gotten under work and my train journey takes 15 minutes longer due to the fact that there are speed restrictions in the area of Stratford I am not so ambivalent anymore. I am hoping these speed restrictions will not be continuing until 2012 because I really don’t enjoy having to get early trains than I am already getting.

Dork Fest 08

So MK5000 is holding his annual Dork Fest. I don’t think I really hold any chance of winning but in the spirit of self inflicted public humiliation I decided to make my post and fly my dork flag.

Compulsive Tendencies

I believe that to be truly dorky you must have a compulsive tendency or 30. So mine in no particular order are

I don’t ever use the first toilet stall in a public bathroom unless it is the only one available.

Spreadsheets are my friend I love them in a way that is sick and wrong. I make spreadsheets for everything. The finances, the Christmas budget, the Christmas card list, grocery shopping list.

I am already making my Christmas cards. One can never start too early.

Before I started doing the spreadsheet for groceries I actually wrote it out in order of how I would go down the aisles. If someone wrote out the shopping list I would have to rewrite it so it was in the correct order. Needless to say this caused great stress when I moved to England and had to learn the aisles.

It actually irritates me that they do no keep all of the dairy items in the same place in English grocery shops. Milk is on one aisle all other dairy is two aisles down.


Public Transport Dorkiness

I can’t sit on the window seat I must be on the outside.

I prefer to ride backwards on the train.

I figured out where each person joining a train carriage would need to sit to give the most people, the most amount of space, for the most amount of time.

I can tell you what time each train leave my station between 5.15 am and 9am M-Sat

I can name all of the stops on the Central line in Zone One both going from east to west and west to east. On the topic of the tube it is my ambition to ride each of the lines before I leave England. I am down to three I have not ridden. One is suspended until 2012 for works.

I actually know where to stand on most of the Tube platforms to be closest to the exit when I get off at the desired station. I weigh this with knowing where the least packed carriages are going to be at any given time of the day and choose depending on my mood to be close to the exit and being crushed alive during rush hour


Just plain weird

I read really weird books like a dissertation on Eleanor of Aquitaine when I was a teenager, or Ancient Pagan Religions of the United Kingdom

On the subject of the United Kingdom I can explain to you the difference of British Isles, The UK, and Britain. I also have a grasp on the whole Common Wealth thing.

In the tradition of Tom Leher and Weird Al Yackovich I make up song parodies when bored, drunk, or a mixture of both. My most recent was a parody of Queen’s I Want to Break Free to explain to my husband how much I needed to use the toilet at that very moment. This was followed by a parody of Under Pressure to explain just how my bladder was feeling

When choosing a name for my cat it was a toss up between Hemmingway and Faulkner. Both based on my love of short stories I had to read in my Expository Writing class in 10th grade. Yeah I know the writing class did not help you don’t have to point it out.

When I realized I could not do Soduku I bought a book to learn

I can now curse in American and British sign language and this gives me great pleasure because my victims have no idea what I am saying. Yes they are two separate languages if you want me to explain the whole thing to you leave a comment.

I watch Battlestar Galactica, Lost, Jericho, Heroes, and Doctor Who. Not only that I plan my life around when the last two will be on TV. If for some earth shattering reason I can not be home to see them I set up the VCR to record them.

Okay this is really embarrassing, I also watch Stargate SG1. I have not kept up with it since I moved to England but I watched it religiously when living in the US. I will however lie if anyone asks me outright.

My goggle reader must be organized at all times. I have more folders than can be imagined, because I can’t handle the cupcakes sites being in the same folder as the normal cake sites.

Socially I always turn up to the event wearing the wrong thing.

I own no heels over 3in high, um well my wedding shoes were but really when am I ever going to wear them again.

I actually really like comfy shoes like Clarks, Birkenstocks, and Doc Martin. I compete with my best friend to find the most comfortable shoes. I wore Dansko clogs before they were cool with Geeks, Nerds, Dorks, and the hippy crowd.

I practice saying what coffee I want to order from Starbucks before I go in. I actually contemplate which ingredients should be listed first but when I get up to the counter I open my mouth and stutter. If you are wondering it is a grande skinny latte with only one shot of espresso and sugar free hazel nut syrup. Why oh why does it never come out that easy?

There were only three grades in my world while in high school A which was the only one worth having. B did not work hard enough. C I must be a freaking retard because in my world that was failing.

I have an odd habit of saying commonly used phrases like she was raked over the coals wrong. In afore mentioned examples it came out she was raped over the coals. This has become somewhat of a game with friends where we make up new phrases such as if a “Is a bear Catholic?” and “Does the Pope shit in the woods?”


So as I said in the beginning I really don’t think I am a Dork, probably closer to a Freak or OCD. Well I will just have to wait for OCD Fest 08.

Hope on over to www.michael5000.blogspot.com to see the entries. I am voting for Rebel (only because I think she is cool in a dorky kind of way) and Rex because well he seems a little jaded he did not win last year.

Chchch Changes

Yeah so the dots were driving me crazy. I am more of a traditionalist anyways. So if you would like to leave a comment about the changes please do. I make no promises to heed those comments but I will consider.

Slacking off Sundays

Y in E Goes Punting!!!!!

Not long after I moved to the UK I saw a program on Cambridge and punting on the river Cams. Needless to say I was hooked and wanted to go punting. I love water and being on a boat so it was definitely up my alley. This got filed on a very long list of things Y in E wants to do while she is in England.

When the Paris trip fell through I knew there was only one other thing I could throw together in a week that I wanted to do as much. So on our anniversary Mr Y in E and I drove up to Cambridge and I was able to tick punting off my list. No I did not actually do the punting but I did enjoy watching our hunky college student do it for us and enjoyed the history lesson of the colleges the ran along the river.

PS for anyone keeping track I did get my sorry back side up in time to walk down to the Saturday WW only to find out that meeting had been canceled for this week so alas you will have to wait until Wednesday to have a weight update.

Press * if you have lost your mind

So while sitting on hold last night I heard something completely new. “To make you time on hold more enjoyable press one for pop. Press two for urban. Press three for R&B. Press four for Indie. Press five for smooth jazz. Press six if classical is more your style.” Can I press seven to just find out why all of a sudden my voice mail is not working?

Weigh in Wednesday

Sorry folks I learned last night that I was going to have to work a late tonight so I am not going to be able to make it to my WW meeting. I have a doctors appointment tomorrow after work so I won't be able to make one tomorrow evening. I am going to try and make the one on Saturday morning near my house just so I don't miss a whole week if I can help it. I will post my results if I go on Saturday

Stupid people explained

"Natural selection no longer has death as a handy tool." I found this quote in the newspaper this morning on my way to work. It was made by Prof Steven Jones, from the Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment at University College London. I have taken it slightly out of context but reading it this morning it gave me a good chuckle to think I had something to blame the stupid people I have deal with everyday on.

Going with the flow can be good

So it never ceases to amaze me how slow the ticket guy at my train station is. I know I should be more compassionate as he is from a time long before computers but my god it took me ten minutes to get my monthly ticket today, it normally takes me two when the other guy it there. Not only that but it comes with more chit chat than I care to have with a relative stranger at 5:55 am. Normally I get my ticket the weekend before it expires but alas this weekend it was raining and I forgot so I had to deal with slow poke.



I did something very un Y in E a few weeks ago and have been meaning to blog about it since then but have not had the time to sit still long enough to do so. Thursday before last I was out smoking a cigarette and contemplating my life in general. I would like to point out that even though I am polluting my lungs I am trying to have something positive come out of it. Anyways as I sat there pondering my life and the direction it was taking I decided that I did not want to be a corporate receptionist for the rest of my life. Not that there was anything wrong with being a corporate receptionist it works very well for what I need right now but I don't see it working in the future. Not the next year future but maybe in the 3-5 year future. This lead me to contemplate what I did want to do in the future. I came back to a thought I have had for the last 4-5 years of being a sign language interpreter. I had done and ASL course before I came to England and really enjoyed it, however when the move to England became permanent the problem became I no longer signed the right language. So as I finished my ciggie I decided to go back in and find out what I needed to do to get qualified in sign language interpreting. In the process I came across a class in my area called up the college and with in 20 minutes of my ciggie I was enrolled in BSL I which is a whole year course over hear in the UK. The following Monday I payed my dues (surprisingly cheap compared to tuition in the US) and started the class.



You might be asking yourself why this is so un Y in E. Well for anyone who does not know me very well I will tell you. Normally when I make a decision more important than what I am going to eat for dinner I think about it for a few weeks, then I research everything to do with it for a few more weeks, then I come up with a plan in my head and discuss it with Mr. Y in E or someone else who I trust to give me good advice, then I think about it some more. I really hate making snap decisions if it can be helped, I want to be able to figure out as best as possible what effect each major decision will have on my life, the life of those I care about, and my finances. So yeah I didn't really have the money to take the class but I stuck it on my credit card and payed half off this month and will pay the other half off next month. I don't like doing that as I had just cleared my credit card and only wanted to use it for emergencies but really if having£150 on my credit card for a month is the most sinful thing I do right now then so be it. It has caused no other serious financial burden than the interest that £150 will incur and I know I can pay it off.



There are benefits for me beyond the fact that I love learning and that is when I tend to keep myself busy at an optimal level I am more productive. When I am bored I tend not to get stuff done that I need to, however if I have planned activities I get the small stuff done better because I know that on certain days or times I won't be able to do it.

Weigh in Wednesday Part 2

Some reflections on last night blog post that I was just to excited to sit down and post at the time. Plus the new season of Hero’s was about to start and I have priorities. So for anyone not keeping track and that would be everyone but me 19lbs is my 10% weight loss goal. I am 3lbs away from that now, I hesitate to put an exact date on when I want this accomplished by because I can follow the plan to the T and exercise and only loose .5lb. I can also follow the plan to a T exercise the same amount as the week before and loose between 1.5 and 3lbs. So I am going with a broad goal of the end of October but as long as I am loosing steady then if it takes me six weeks of loosing half a pound each week so be it. I am more worried about learning new eating habits and being able to stick with them. As a gift to myself for hitting the one stone mark I bought one of the WW cookbooks that were on sale as I have had really good luck with their recipes. I do find that you need to figure out how to season them as most only call for salt and pepper and at the Y in E household we like fresh herbs and spices.

Someone asked me what my goal weight was the other day and I am still not able to answer that question. For my height and build WW says my healthy weight range is 118-145lbs. There is quit a difference in those numbers. I have been 125lbs at my lowest and I had people telling me I was too thin. When I was 140 I felt a little too chubby so I think I am going to aim for between 130-135 but I am not ready to set a final goal weight.

Finally a bit of good news from Mr Y in E, he stepped on the scales the other day and then replied he thought they were broken, when I asked why he said because they say I weigh less than normal, how much less I ask. About 10lbs since weighed my self last. When was that I asked. I don’t know a while back. Um sweetheart they are not broken you are loosing weight from all the healthy food you are eating I replied

Weigh in Wednesday

Start Weight: 13st 13lb (195lb)
1st Weigh in: 13st 091b (191lb) -4
2nd Weigh in: 13st 07lb (189lb) -2
3rd Weigh in: 13st 5.5lb (187.5lb) -1.5
4th Weigh in: 13st 2.5lb (184.5lb) -3
5th Weigh in: 13st 1lb (183.0lb) -1.5
6th Weigh in: 13st 0lb (182.0lb) -1
7th Weigh in: 13st 1lb (183.0lb) +1
8th Weigh in: 12st 13.5lb (181.5lb) -1.5
9th Weigh in: 12st 11.01b(179.0lb) -2.5


Total Weight Loss 16lb

To say I am happy with my results is an understatement. I had to stop doing the happy dance long enough to cut and paste everything for my post. 3lbs away from 10% weight loss. Happy Dancing will now resume

Slacking off Sundays

In honour of Mr and Mrs Y in E's marriage being 1 year old today you get the gag real of wedding photos. How you digging that very British way of spelling honour.

This scares me

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/skynews/20080925/tuk-first-uk-id-card-design-launched-45dbed5.html

With as good as the British Government is with "loosing" information I am not sure I want them to have so much of mine. Or the fact that foreign nationals will be the first to have to have them.

Kids say the darndest things

Friends 7 year old daughter walks up to her mother and says "Its time I had another brother or sister, you and dad need to start having sex" and walks away. How's that for knowing what you want and going after it.

Weigh in Wednesdays

So I was looking at my Weight Watchers weigh in card last night as I was waiting to be weighed and I realized that last week I actually gained a pound at weigh in so what I posted last week was incorrect. I am sorry this was not deliberate I think I was so caught up with all the crap of cancelling the Paris trip that I did not look at it correctly before I posted. So below is a correct table of my weight loss so far

Start Weight: 13st 13lb (195lb)
1st Weigh in: 13st 091b (191lb) -4
2nd Weigh in: 13st 07lb (189lb) -2
3rd Weigh in: 13st 5.5lb (187.5lb) -1.5
4th Weigh in: 13st 2.5lb (184.5lb) -3
5th Weigh in: 13st 1lb (183.0lb) -1.5
6th Weigh in: 13st 0lb (182.0lb) -1
7th Weigh in: 13st 1lb (183.0lb) +1
8th Weigh in: 12st 13.5lb (181.5lb) -1.5

Total Weight Loss 13.5lb

So my goal was to lose 1st or 14lb before we went to Paris which would have been tomorrow if all had gone correctly. Well I fell a little short but I am not going to beat myself up as in two months I have lost 13.5 pounds. I feel like I have a long term goal and lots of short term goals along the way. No one who is unaware of my weight loss has commented on noticing I lost weight. Mr. Y in E has been really supportive and in the last week or so has started to comment that you can notice I have lost weight, bless his pea picking heart. The big thing for me is that when I went out to buy a dress for MIL 60th birthday and our anniversary dinner I bought one that was one size smaller than what I have been wearing and if we were completely honest when I started WW I probably should have been wearing a size larger than I was as everything I owned was really tight. My next goal is 10% of my start weight which is 19.5lbs or 12st 8.5lbs. I hesitate to put a time frame on this goal as I don’t want to be disappointed if I don’t reach it I think for the moment as long as I am losing weight each week then I will let it happen as it happens.

Trying ot find a quiet place to die

I apologize for my lack of blogging lately I have been looking for a cave to crawl into and die. I have my biannual sinus infection and I feel like crap. On the upside since finding out it was easier to get an appointment for the nurse practitioner in my doctor’s surgery and also realizing that I liked her better than any of the doctors I have seen it is no longer such a hassle. I called up at 8am and had an appointment for 9am. I don’t think the masses really understand nurse practitioners over here since they are quite a new thing but to be quite honest anyone who can give me drugs makes me happy. The other two pros is she is a woman so I don’t feel funny talking to her about female issues (over here gynaecologists are specialist and you only see them for major problems on a whole you see your GP for everything) and English is her first language it makes communication a lot easier I really don’t think the last GP I saw understood what I was saying.

So a day and a half into the antibiotics and I feel better than before but the cave idea is still enticing. I guess the whole Eurostar/cancelling our trip to Paris was a good thing as I do not relish the thought of dragging my sorry sniffling ass around Paris.
My MIL 60th birthday was lovely. The weather was beautiful lots of good friends, family and food. She was really chuffed with the scrapbook I made her from the day we all went out to Danbury Lake and Hyde hall. I wish I could have enjoyed it more but the beginning of the sinus infection was taking hold.

I just have to make it through the rest of the day and then tomorrow and then I am off for four days. Can were say snooze fest 2008!

Sometimes life happens

Dear Anderson,

Following the fire in the Channel Tunnel last Thursday we were able to re-start limited operations on Saturday. We are currently running a restricted timetable with fewer services, longer journey times and intervals of several hours between some trains. We advise that you consider rearranging travel planned for the next two weeks unless absolutely necessary. This especially applies if you are travelling over the weekends of Friday 19th to Sunday 21st September 2008 and Friday 26th September to Sunday 28th September 2008. If your journey is essential, then you should check in for the train time given on your ticket and we will endeavor to put you on one of the next available trains. Please be aware that you could experience extended waiting times, particularly between Friday and Sunday when there may be a delay of up to several hours before boarding. Your journey time will also be significantly longer than normal.

Yeah so this is what I got when I went to check my e-mails last night on my way home from my Weight Watchers meeting. I had a look at the train schedules and basically they are only running 4 trains a day instead of 8-10. The closest one after our scheduled departure time was 4 hours later and took twice as long to get into Paris meaning we would be lucky to get into Paris by 8pm on Friday. Similar situation on the way home.

Last night I went through all the options we had in my head. The Eurostar tickets were refundable. The hotel most likely not as I had booked on Hotels.com. I was sick to my stomach at the prospect of being out £115. I looked into flights but all the airlines have jacked their prices up because they know they can due to a lack of Eurostar service. I spoke with Mr. Y in E about driving over but this would mean trying to find parking as our hotel did not have any and as gas prices are so high and ferry prices are almost as expensive as two Eurostar tickets it seemed a little backwards. Mr. Y in E was great, he said we try and get a refund from the hotel or at the very least see if we can switch dates to something a couple months in the future. If not we cut our loses it was just bad timing that one of only two fires in the tunnels 14 years of use for passenger rail happened two weeks before our anniversary trip to Paris. He suggested alternative places we could go but after six months of researching European cities deciding on Paris and then setting everything up I just did not have enough time to wrap my head around someplace else.

It looks like all my bitching and anger last night paid off. I woke up this morning with a much clearer head and decided that yeah it sucked but so what. Short of France declaring war on China I am relatively sure that Paris will be there in a few months time. My outlook was further boosted when after sending a carefully worded e-mail to hotels.com came back letting me know that a full refund would be granted and I could expect it back on my credit card within the next 8-10 days. May I just say I love you hotels.com thanks for making my day. Now that my head was much clearer I realized it would be lovely just to stay at home, I made a reservation at one of Mr. Y in E and my favorite restaurants locally and am now in the process of planning a day trip.

So I have made a list of Pro’s for not going to Paris.
1. Cheaper- Dinner in Paris was going to come to around £300 yeah I have a foodie for a husband.
2. The money we are getting back from Eurostar and the hotel not only pays for the dress I bought to go out to dinner but dinner at the Blue Strawberry where we will now be dinning and it covers Mr. Y in England’s anniversary gifts. So basically there will be nothing left on the credit card after our anniversary to pay off.
3. The restaurant in the UK we are going to does not have a dress code so Mr. Y in E does not have to wear a jacket and tie. This makes Mr. Y in E very happy. Mr. Y in E is more than willing to wear such shackles when it is appropriate but would prefer not to.
4. We have a million day trips on our to do list that somehow life always takes over and we never get to, now we will.

Weigh in Wensdays a little late

Sorry guys I had some really depressing news right after my WW meeting last night and was in no mood to post.

For anyone who is keeping track I stayed the same at 13st total of 131b weight loss. I was happy with this as I had two huge pig out this week when I lost control completely. Yeah sometimes you just need a huge cheeseburger with bacon fries and cheesy bread. Back on the wagon now though. Will try and post later about the depressing news.

Slacking off Sundays

I am working in the West End today. There is something very civilized about the West End compared to the City. The first being no one shows up until at least 9am. I have to be to work at 8am but it means that there is a quiet hour for you to get yourself together and get ready for the day. There is also a softness to the West End that the City lacks, some of it is the architecture some of it is just the fact that no one seems to be rushing around like a chicken with their head cut off, I enjoy the slower pace now and again. The best part is I am a five minute walk from Regent street and Oxford street, the shopping Mecca of London. There is nothing I can't get. This however is bad for my bank balance so I try not to let myself get swept away.



I fed the freezer last night. Earlier this week I made the most yummy carrot and tarragon soup. It was everything I never knew I wanted. Not being a great lover of carrots I was a little dubious but tarragon holds a joint first place as my favorite herb with cilantro so I thought I would give it a try. It was a great success and Mr. Y in E enjoyed it as well. It is also very cheap since there are only four ingredients carrots, onions, chicken stock(I use Knorr stock cubes, I know I know I am going to foodie hell but like I have to time to make stock from scratch) and tarragon. For my double batch that I made last night to feed the freezer the cost broke down like this.



1KG carrots .68p (could have purchased two kilos for £1.00 but what the heck would I do with all of them)

2 onions .35p

Tarragon .79p (I used the same bunch that I had purchased for the original trial run)

Stock Cubes .50p (this was the cost for the amount I used not the package of 8)



So anyone doing the math(or maths if your British) in you head that comes to a whoping £2.61 if you count all of the tarragon which I did because I am unlikely to find a use for it before it goes bad so there will be wastage. This made seven portions so that is a .37p a portion. Added to the cost was a one off £2.oo for the 8 containers I purchased to store it in. Even with the container cost figured in it still only comes to .66p per portion, not half bad. Next weeks freezer feeding project is curried butternut squash soup. Viva la Freezer.



Plans for the weekend



So what very exciting things is Y in E up to this weekend you ask. Well first there is the pile of laundry that has taken over the whole house since I was away last weekend. Then there is the weekly trip to the high street to run errands, no matter how I try I end up there almost every weekend. If that is not enough fun there is always housework because short of getting a maid I have not found a way to have a clean house without doing house work. When all of my chores are done I need to design my MIL birthday card and get her present all wrapped for her party next week. Yup I know I have a fun and exciting life and you are all envious.

So we are all still here

So they flip on the Large Hadron Collider and we are all still here. We have not been sucked into a black hole. I am a little disappointed to be honest, when all the end of the world loonies were going on and on about it I got a little excited. I know that is sick to admit but hey I figured if I was going to have to go out I might as well go out with a big bang, pun intended. Think about it, we are all going to die, how cool would it be to be sucked into a black hole. Beats being hit by a bus, or cancer, or a heart attack. I am at peace with myself I can handle it. The only irritating bit is no one would know, we would all be sucked in, there would be no legacy of the human race. That might be a little disturbing. Think about it if we blow the whole world up with nukes at least one day if some intelligent life happened to come across earth there might be a chance of a legacy. We suck ourselves into a black hole and we cease to exist.



Okay moving on to less hefty subjects of thought my laundry schedule is all screwed up since I was out of town at the weekend. This morning when I went to get dressed the only knickers I could find were of the wedgie inducing kind. Darn Darn Darn. So yup you guessed it I have a permanent wedge today. That will teach me to go out of town for the weekend.



I am going through one of those periods in my life where I have lost half my brain. I tend to get distracted easily and forget important things. This had lead to list making and setting reminders on my mobile phone. So now I am always running around with multiple lists and my phone consistently beeping. Sometimes my phone beeps to remind me that my phone is going to beep. When I go through these phases I also tend to loose things, last time this happened I lost my hairbrush for three days, I ended up finding it at the bottom of the stairs by the front door, this was pre kitty so I can't even blame the cat. I tend to reorganize everything in the hopes or not loosing my mind and then forget how everything has been reorganized so I can't find anything. In extreme fear of doing something catastrophic I have a before I leave the house checklist that includes making sure I have unplugged my straight iron and not left the bath tub running. Hopefully this will soon pass.

Weigh in Wednesday

Start Weight: 13st 13lb(195lb)
1st Weigh in: 13st 09lb(191lb) -4
2nd Weigh in. 13st 07lb(189lb)-2
3rd Weigh in: 13st 5.5lb(187.5)-1.5
4th Weigh in: 13st 2.5lb(184.5)-3
5th Weigh in: 13st 1lb(183.0)-1.5
6th Weigh in: 13st (182.0)-1


Total Weight Loss 13lbs

The good, the bad, and the ugly

The Good: So my fat jeans are WAY too big. I can wiggle them off with out much work even with my belt on the tightest hole. While this may be a great party trick not, so good for everyday life like walking down the street. My normal jeans are loose, not so loose they will fall off. Not tight might be a better description

The Bad: I don’t have any jeans in the next size down from what I am wearing now. I have jeans two sizes smaller. I hate to jean shop in a big bad way. In my 28.5 years on this planet I have only ever found one style of jeans that I truly like and I have my mom ship them to me. This seem kind of silly since I am going home in December so here is hoping that I don’t loose so much weight that my jean fall off or that I loose it at the right rate so I can fit into my jeans two sizes smaller before the size I am in now starts to fall off.

The Ugly: I locked myself out of the house last night. Before you ask how it happened it might be important to explain it is a miracle that it does not happen more. When I was living in Virginia we never locked our doors so I never needed house keys. I don’t even know that I had them. I left my car keys in my ignition at home and at work. Everyone I knew did. In the winter 10min before the shift ended one person would go out and start everyone’s cars to warm up. The parking lot was small and sometime you had to block people in, if you were blocked in you just moved the other person’s car. Where my parent are it is not uncommon to see a car running outside a shop. So yes I locked myself out of the house but I would like to point out I have only done it twice in the three years I have been living with Philip and I don’t think that is half bad.

We interupt your regualy scheduduled blog to bring you. . .

Weigh in Wednesday. Yup we are changing things around. I want to be able to post the results on Wednesdays when I go to my weigh in and I can't handle the fact that it would mean words on Wordless Wednesday. Do not dispare if you were a fan of Wordless Wednesdays it has been moved and renamed Slackin off Sundays, well because it is a hell of a lot easier than writing an actual post. So on to the weigh in.


Start Weight: 13st 13lb(195lb)
1st Weigh in: 13st 09lb(191lb) -4
2nd Weigh in. 13st 07lb(189lb)-2
3rd Weigh in: 13st 5.5lb(187.5)-1.5
4th Weigh in: 13st 2.5lb(184.5)-3
5th Weigh in: 13st 1.5lb(183.0)-1.5

Total Weight Loss 12lbs

I know my fellow blogger Michael 5000 is doing a similar thing so jump on over to his blog http://michael5000.blogspot.com and keep an eye on his progress as well. Hopefully we will both be 2 BIG FAT LOOSERS.

Top 10 Rush Hour Style

Okay so it is time for another list of things that really irritate Y in E. Rush Hour Style.

1. Strollers the size of SUVs on public transport in rush hour and the mothers who think they should have the right to take up that much space when I have Mr. Elbows in my chest sitting next to me.
2. Parents who don’t get their over 10 year old children to offer their seat to those who are elderly or physically less able to stand. Hell parents who don’t offer their seat.
3. Business men who ignore the world reading their newspapers in their overly expensive suits who don’t offer their seats to the heavily pregnant woman who gets on the bus or tube.
4. People who do not allow passengers off the tube before tying to board themselves.
5. People who don’t understand the stand to right walk to the left rule on the escalators. There are public service announcement about it for gosh sake.
6. Children on rush hour trains home in the evening. Yeah the last thing I want on the way home is some bratty snot nosed child running around making a lot of noise.
7. Whole familes spread across the platform or concourse so that you the one who knows where you are going and does not have to check the train times can not actually make it to the train you need to catch.
8. People who have arguments on their mobile phones on the train or bus. Yeah I really don’t want to hear about it and I am sure the person you are having the argument with would be mortified to know everyone in carriage number 1 on the 5.33pm train from Liverpool Street to Southend Victoria now knows that you forgot your anniversary.8.
9. The above mentioned Mr. Elbows. Those cushy things your elbows keep hitting are my breasts.
10. And finally the guy that practically knocks you over to get to the seat that is 2 inches from you that was just vacated.

The cat is out of the bag

Nope not the literal cat. The super secret location is not so super secret anymore. I was pretty sure that Mr. Y in E knew and he confirmed it on Saturday night when he suggested that I get our French speaking sister in law to call and make the reservation for the super secret restaurant in the not so super secret location. The restaurant is still a surprise. In a way it is more fun now because he can have a say on what we do before we get there.

I was a shopping queen this weekend and pick up a jacket for fall, new winter shoes, and a small over the shoulder hand bag for the trip to Paris. Sadly the jacket has already seen use and it looks like the hopes of an Indian summer in the place of the lack of a real summer seem to be squashed by the 10 day forecast.

For some reason I just can’t really get into the work week this week. I think the fact that we had our three day weekend last week it just seems wrong to already be back at work. I got a lot done over the weekend but should have done more. I was a terrible person and did not do my ironing last night because I still had two ironed shirts. I figured I would do it tonight. Then at 10:30 last night I got a call from a friend asking if I could help her move the last of her stuff into her new flat and set up her bed. I guess I will not do the ironing tonight either.

I am going a way for the weekend with my MIL. Just up to her mother’s place in Lincolnshire to do an end of the summer clean out of the house and try and get the garden in order for the fall. I am looking forward to doing something out of the ordinary but it also means that my normal weekend routine will be broken. This for most people would be no big deal but I am a little OCD. I am already running through plans and rearranging my normal routines in a way that disrupts them as little as possible.

So the Pepsi challenge. Well I have figure out that I need one dose of caffeine a day usually whether it is a small skinny latte or a Pepsi Max. This does not include diet cola as my tipple of choice at pubs and quite frankly I am not going to feel bad about drinking diet cola instead of booze, less calories, less stupidity inducing effects. I am happy to live with 20 oz of Pepsi Max or a small latte a day so I think I will just leave it at that.

And finally something you probably don’t give a crap about. I did my first French manicure on my own nails last night. It looks much better than I expect for the first try but it is not perfect so it is driving me mad. I am not sure if I should take it off and have another go at it or just leave it and deal with my OCD. I will probably just leave it, it is good for me to get over myself.

The Benifits of Being Married

So it started out as a joke, when my husband would do things I disliked or was not good at I would make a comment about well that the real reason I got married so I would never have to pick out fresh fruit and veg again. I realized the other day that marriage has come with a number of benefits.

1. I suck at picking out fresh fruit and veg Mr Y in E is excellent. Score.

2. I never have to pack the groceries or wheel around the really heavy cart.

3. Anything really heavy I just leave at the bottom of the stair and Mr Y in E brings up

4. I no longer have to change light bulbs.

5. I simply report any minor or major plumbing and electrical issues and these are fixed by Mr Y in E.

6. Trash is taken out on the appropriate day.

7. Mr Y in E is absolutely amazing at vacuuming. I have studied and watched his technique but no matter how hard I try my vacuuming is never as nice.

8. Mr. Y in E is a chef so when we have dinner parties I choose the menus invite the guests and host, Mr Y in E cooks. That is my kind of dinner party.

9. Mr. Y in E is amazing at putting garland on the Christmas tree. Try as I might mine just never looks good. Mr Y in E could work for Martha Stewart.

10. Being a chef Mr Y in E knows about all the best restaurants and at most know some one at the top working there so we always have a nice place to eat and either get stuff taken off the bill or get a great table.

11. Mr Y in E knows lots about cars and has many friends who know even more about car so I no longer have to worry about it.

12. Flat packs stress me out. I can do them just fine but then I need a fifth of vodka and a trip the the psychiatric ward. Mr Y in E is more than happy to put together flat pack while I am far far away.

I on the other hand am good at organizational stuff, I keep track of the finances, not because Mr Y in E i s not good at it he is just fine, however my love of spread sheets and graphs means in some really sick way I enjoy it.

I also organize the grocery shopping, winter and summer clothing rotation, decide when things are ready to go the charity shop and make sure that neither one of us run out of socks or underwear.

I also do things like keep our address book up to date, remember all family and friends birthdays and organize the Christmas card mailing. I should note that while I do remember all birthdays any cards that require going to the post office to mail ie international mailing tend the be late as I hate to go to the post office.

I usually do most or all of the Christmas and birthday shopping with input from Mr Y in E.

I set up appointments that we both need to get to and make sure he is aware of them.

I tend to organize vacations once a location has been chosen.

I tend to research large purchases or purchases where there are multiply options like phone service providers and appliances.

I think it all works well. You would have to ask Mr Y in E if he agrees but I think early on he learned it was just easier to agree with the majority of things because it just made life easier when you were married to a control freak.

Sleep Glorious Sleep

So I have decided what the worst thing about getting up between 5:15 and 5:45 am during the week is. No it is not getting up at the crack of dawn amazingly this does not really bother me. I give myself 10-15 min to stumble around like a retard while I wake up but I normally had to do that even when I woke up later.

The worst thing is that on the weekends I wake up at 6:30 and feel like I have had a lay in. There is something so wrong with being awake at 6:30 on the weekend but to feel like you have gotten to sleep in is even more wrong.

Kitty has a new toy/hideout. Mr Y in E did not break down his beer box when he emptied it and now Kitty has decided it is a great place to hang out. It make me laugh though because it was only a 12 can box so it is not that big, he curl all up in it and waits for you to walk by and pounces on you. I am still trying to get a picture but the little !*$% knows when you have the camera and refuses to be photographed.

It was payday yesterday and now I am off to the bank to pay the few bills that do no come out direct debit woo hoo can you hear the glorious sucking sound.

The really irritating thing is that we get our gas and electric bill quarterly and the last one came just as Mr Y in E was changing job so he did not get a pay check for a month and a half because of the fact that you get paid monthly over here, we called up the gas and electric company to explain this and ask if we could pay it the first of July instead of the end of May which they were kind enough to allow us to do since we had always payed our bills on time. The down side of this is since we payed late it is already time for another bill ick. Next quarter should be even more exciting as gas bills have all just gone up 30%. I already told Mr. Y in E that this winter the thermostat will not be going above 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Put another sweater on.

Me and My Fit Flops

I bought a pair of Fit Flops http://www.thefitflop.com at the beginning of the summer because well I could. They were going to change my life and I was going to drop 10 dress sizes and all that good stuff. So three months later what are the results

As far as weight loss and toning up I think they have failed miserably. As far as I can tell they do nothing, I saw no weight loss until I started to do WW. On the upside they are the most comfortable sandal I have ever worn. I had to stand on the train for almost an hour one day and my feet had never felt so good. I have worn them almost exclusively all summer with the exception of when I needed to dress up which was seldom. I wear them back and forth to work every day as well. I have also been using them for when I walk as exercise and they are really comfortable. I have to say that they are also still in really great shape for a pair of shoes that have been worn almost exclusively for three months. I am sure they will make it through next summer at least if not beyond. That ain't half bad for £36.

WW update

Start Weight: 13st 13lb(195lb)
1st Weigh in: 13st 09lb(191lb) -4
2nd Weigh in. 13st 07lb(189lb)-2
3rd Weigh in: 13st 5.5lb(187.5)-1.5
4th Weigh in: 13st 2.5lb(184.5)-3

Total Weight Loss 10.5lb

Wordless Wednesdays

The Anderson-Moore Wish List 2009

So the first rough draft of the Anderson-Moore 2009 Wish List has been drawn up. Mr. Y in E and I found that we were always saying we should do X or wouldn’t it be fun to go to Y but when free time and or money was around damned us if we could remember what it was that we wanted to do or buy and we seemed to buy stupid little things instead of saving for the big stuff. So here it is in all of it uncut glory divided by joint and personal. No item too small not item too big that is what the drafts 2-37 are for.

Joint:

Tuna

Lettuce

Cucumber

Oh wait that was the shopping list written on the back lets try this again

Joint:

Change Flats-ours it just too small for two people

New wardrobe- Huge double wardrobe with vanity between the two wardrobes will set us back £348 being able to have a dedicated make up space, priceless.

A weekend trip to Alton Towers-the largest theme park in the UK

A brother for kitty-this one comes and goes depending on how much kitty is pissing me off on any particular day. Plus now that the worst of the kitty stage is over and we are in the awkward teenage phase I wonder do I really want to start over with another kitten?

Weekend in the Lake District-causes its pretty and there is water, Emma likes water.

New mattress for bed-because Mr. Y in E bought a really cheap one before Mrs Y in E moved in with him. You could already feel the springs popping through when I moved in now it is just beyond sad.

Trip to South Africa-Mr. Y in E’s best mate is living down there he has been up twice since I have moved over to England we have been down zip. Plus when else are we going to go, if we wait to much longer there will be children to think about or what ever excuse so SA here we come.

New DVD player-ours is going on 6 years and sometimes just decides it does not like a DVD and will not play it. It does not seem to be prejudice in its choice and can go weeks with out doing it and then choose not to play a DVD it was playing the day before.

New TV-because hey we are getting a new DVD player so we must need a new TV, I think this is actually an excuse to get a giant mahungus flat screen HD enabled television that will cost more than any car I have ever purchased it may even cost more than all the cars I have ever owned put together, but as I said in the intro that is what drafts 2-37 are for.

Sky subscription-we tend to disagree on this one. There is never anything to watch on the five basic channels over here so why would there be something on the other three hundred I am more than happy to just have my online DVD rental which costs about the same a month and then I get to choose what I want to watch.

Phone with wireless head set- This is my WTF contribution. I have never been a sit and talk to someone on the phone kind of person and I want a wireless head set so that I can wander around the house and have my hands free to do as I please.

Mr Y in E’s list:

New car-why? Because he can

Go to a couple of car shows-why? Because it gets him out of the house a few weekends a year and that mean I have the bed all to myself.

Mrs Y in E’s list:

IPhone- cause I want one cause I want one. I have really struggled with this I have wanted a touch phone since they very first came out and I also want an IPlayer which I don’t have yet. If you had asked me last year any decent Mp3 player would have done but since then my husband has gotten an IPlayer and it just seems it would be easier to use the same programs. I do feel that my desire for an IPhone is totally consumerist so the jury on this is still out.

Cuttlebug-crafting accessory that embosses and does die cuts

Folding Table and chair- to use in crafting

Crafting Studio-my answer to Mr. Y in E’s new car


In totally unrelated new

We bought two new duck feather pillows. We had two nice ones but the other two pillows on our bed looked like there were one left around from before the Great War. They made a single sheet of paper look nice and fluffy. While we were doing a deep clean of the living room on Saturday we found a gift certificate from our wedding and decided that 11 months after we got married was as good a time as any to use it. Ah sleep was blissful last night.

Rat boy has decided that every one would love it if he slept on their heads. It make sense to him he can’t quite understand why no one else enjoys it.

Hoping that restaurant reservations at super secret restaurant in super secret location will be confirmed this week!!!! Very excited. I am not sure how Mr Y in E has not figured it out yet but he says he wants it too be a surprise.

A Christmas card design has been chosen and stamps have been ordered I just need to choose the paper I want to use on them this weekend! Watch my craft blog and hopefully I can keep it updated.

I have been working at a sight that uses a two computer screen system so you can have at least two windows up while you are working and you can drag between the two screens. This has changed my life like nothing else has since they invented those tab things on the internet so you did not have to have multiple windows open. The only problem with this is that I have only seen it at this one site and really I don’t think I could add a two screen system to our 2009 wish list. A girl can dream.

Things you could do with out knowing:

I finally figured where I lost the 7.5 pounds from this morning when I went to put on a figure hugging top and it did not hug my chest as much as it use to. Well beggars can’t be choosers.

Update on the Pepsi Challege and WW

A few weeks ago I realized that I had not had a Pepsi Max for 3 days and the only caffeine I'd had was a cup of tea that my Mother in Law had made me and it seemed rude not to drink it. When I realized that I had not had any ill fated 6pm snooze fests I decided to actually make a conscious effort not to drink diet cola with the exception of it being my drink of choice for pub outings. I was amazed at how easy it seemed for the first week or so. I was getting an average of two skinny lattes a week and replacing my Pepsi Max consumption with sparking water.



I some what fell of the band wagon this week when I had to do an 8 am shift at a site that was a two hour commute from my house. By lunch I was fading fast and my quick hop into a news agent to pick of ciggies with my defences down and all of a sudden I had a Pepsi Max in my bag. The next day I was at the same site and another Pepsi Max seemed in order. The site I am at today provides sparking water for the staff and I have seemed to resist the temptation of caffeine, hopeful it is just one slip and now I am back on the band wagon.



WW



At first I was reluctant to post about my Weight Watchers experiences but the more I read and see it seems like the more support and accountability you have the greater your chances of success. I don't think that anyone myself include would enjoy or want a blow by blow account buy I would like to post my weigh in results each week so here goes



Start Weight: 13st 13lb(195lb)

1st Weigh in: 13st 09lb(191lb) -4

2nd Weigh in. 13st 07lb(189lb)-2

3rd Weigh in: 13st 5.5lb(187.5)-1.5



Total weight lost 7.5 or just over half a stone.

Totally unrelated

I realized tonight for the first time maybe in all my working history I am working to live and not living to work. It is such a great feeling to be able to do things I have wanted to do for so long and not been able to afford or have time for. Is my job perfect? No, but it is close enough I can over look the small things. It has given me the time and energy to get back into paper craft and to take back control of my eating habits and weight. That is a wonderful feeling.

Wordless Wednesdays

Catching up

I have been neglecting my poor blog. It has been a busy couple of weeks. So what have I been up to instead of keeping my blog up to date you ask? Well here’s the list.

Spending lots of money

My plane ticket for my visit home at Christmas was purchased and I waved goodbye to £555. It seems like an insane amount but as I have not seen my parents since last September at the wedding and the rest of my family since last June I guess it will all be worth it. It is unfortunate that Mr Yank in England has to work over Christmas but to be honest we could not both afford to go home. This was my Christmas present from Mr. Y in E.

Hotel accommodations for the trip to a super secret location for our 1st anniversary were paid for. It is a surprise for Mr. Y in E so sorry dear blog readers but you will have to wait until we get back to find out where it is I promise lots of pictures though.

Finishing Mother in Law’s Birthday gift

Last weekend saw me putting the finishing touches on MIL scrapbook, and then cleaning up the big huge mess I had made in the process. Mr. Y in E is probably happy to have the big fold out table put away and all the accoutrements tucked neatly back in their boxes.

Joining Weight Watchers

I have struggled with my weight all my life while I don’t believe there is a fat gene I do believe there are genetic factors and if I look at both sides of my family I have the cards stacked against me. I reached an all time low and an all time high on the scale and decided I needed help in changing my life style. I went in as a sceptic and was adamant that I was not going to live with being hungry to loose weight to WW’s credit I have not. I have been very impressed with the program so far I am only in my third weeks but I can already see how they are building me up to learn how to live a healthy lifestyle. While there are WW meals and snacks you do not have to buy anything special and can follow the program very easily with normal foods you buy from your local supermarket. I have been to 3 weigh ins so far and have lost 6lbs and can honestly say I don’t miss anything. I do use some of their ready meals just for ease and convience for lunches but they tend to be cheaper than a sandwich and soda from sandwich shops so I can’t complain. I also use some of there goodies for when I get a sweet tooth other than that I just make better choices in regular food. It has been very easy to follow the plan and augment meals so that both Mr Y in E and I can have basically the same dinner. I am hoping that by the time we take our anniversary trip the end of September I will have lost a stone, for those of you not use to using Imperial that is 14lbs. I am very much on track if I can continue on the same track I have been.

Watching the Olympics

I am lucky that the site I have been at over the last few weeks has a TB in the lobby directly across from the reception desk that is set on BBC1. It has been so nice to be able to keep up with all the going on. Since the TV is on mute this has lead to some very comical commentating by my colleagues and I when we are board.

I am so impressed by Michael Phelps what an amazing human being. I was on the train on my way into work on Friday and privy to the conversation of a group of friends behind me. One brought up Michael Phelps and gave a monologue on how she thought he was inhuman and they should put a limit on how many metals a person could win. I was dumb struck. This was not a beauty contest; he was not getting any where based on something he was born with. I will concede that athletes may be born with a predisposition to do well in sport but most of them work extremely had at their talent. Michael Phelps spends 6hours a day in the pool everyday plus all the other weight training and such. I don’t care if he wins every gold medal in the summer Olympics if he puts in the effort to be able to do it. Nothing made me happier than to log on this morning and find out he had won his eighth gold medal. Yeah that V sign is for you lady on the train.

Making myself beautiful

I knew when I took this job that looks were very important I just did not realize how long it would take me to make myself look they way they wanted. Don’t get me wrong I enjoy looking nice but I was use to rolling out of bed and pulling on comfy clothes and heading out the door. Now I roll out of bed into my six minute shower then on to 20 min of hair styling another 15 min of face prep and make up and then there is all the other matinance. All the crap I put on my face has to come off at night. The nails have to be done at least once a week plus maintained during the week. Uniforms have to be washed and pressed and then lint rolled once on as black does not go well with white kitty hair. Shoes have to be polished though I know have a pair of black patent leather pair as well as a normal black leather pair so that cuts down some of the time. I feel very high maitaince. I look forward to the weekend when sometime I don’t even wash my hair yeah I know I am a rebel.

Finding the bed room

I don’t know why but our bedroom seems to be the dumping ground for everything we can’t figure out where else to put. This means every six months or so we have do dig it out reorganize it and get rid of all the crap we no longer need, no longer fits, or looks like it has been attacked by a shark. That day was today. Mr. Y in E and I changed sides of the bed a few months ago but did not swap over bedside drawers so I figured in the process of moving them we could move all the small stuff out of the bed room give it a good vacuum and a reorganization. This took less time than I thought but made a world of difference. I was also able to actually get to the bottom of both laundry hampers this weekend. Mr. Y in E was off on Friday so was able to get all of his work stuff done Friday during the day so that I had more washer time this weekend. The weather has also been perfect for drying on our clothes rack. I was able to get both bathrobes and the mattress cover through the wash.