The race is on and here comes 30 on the back stretch!

20 lbs down and shedding the mortgage today!!! It is a GREAT day here in Charlotte, NC!!!! I’ve passed up yesterdays lunch at our quarterly financials meeting (which was Fried Chicken, garlic and cheese mashed potatoes, greenbeans cooked with fatback, and… the most delicious chocolate cake you’ve ever seen in your life) I was actually very content in my NS meal of choco/peanut butter bar. It’s getting easier and easier to do this thing. :-)
We FI NALLY go to closing today to finalize the sale of my house! So I’m shedding a mortgage to go along with my 20 lbs!!! Which that in itself feels like a huge boulder of weight just rolled off of me. The contract was signed back in February and the lawyers actually screwed up a few things in the papers, so they had to correct their mistakes and resend it back to the underwriters. Then, they get the papers back and Oops… forget to file the proper documents….. So.. Finally!! Almost two full months later, I’m passing along the keys of my dear friend, enemy, most responsibility, most hassle, most beautiful, most hideous, greatest joy, deepest pain…… My First House! I’ll never have another “First House” again. But I’m actually quiet excited about it. I’ve been there done that. Now it’s onto bigger and better things… Like….
My 30 lb mark!!!! :-) WOOOHOO!!!!! I’ll quit rambling. I just wanted to share all the great news!! :-) It’s ALL Good!!!!

Happy Girl!!!!

Alright!!!

So… 16 lbs lighter, and feeling mighty darn great about it!!! My mini goal is to reach
-20 lbs by next Wednesday! WOOHOOO!!!! I feel it.. I can do it!!! I want to be down by -30 lbs by Memorial Day weekend, because that’s when we’re gonna party!!! J And it’s my first “Cheat” day!!!! I’m allowing myself that day so that I don’t have to stress so much about what I eat and when, and I can enjoy just spending time with my family and friends!
Things at the office have been quite hectic! Not so much chaos, as it is just busy! One of our temp employees, who had been working here for almost 2 full years, got a job and left. Which added some more job responsibilities to my workload, but I can handle it. That’s what is so great about having ADD! I can do more than three things at one time! I may get sidetracked here and there, but overall, I’d say I’m doing pretty good.
I got my taxes back, and was able to boost up the savings account again, so that feels pretty great! I am thinking that I may need to buy a new car here in the next year or so. As much as I love my 95 Accord, she’s getting in her senior years and has hit the 150,000 miles mark. Granted, Hondas can run forever, but my trusty accord has been in an accident, has had an attempted break in, plenty of nails, plenty of sap, plenty of everything. That accident thing was the clincher though. She just hasn’t been the same since!

Well, I hate to not drag on and on on this blog, but I’ve got to get back to work. :-( BUMMER!!!! I’ll update you all next week, with another edition of… My Life as A Loser!!! :-)

I love being a Loser!

I got it!!

GOT IT!!! The bear that is…. The infamous 10 pound red bear from nutri system! For every 10 pounds you lose, Nutri System will send you a bear to say “congratulations” and keep you motivated. They do this until you reach goal! It is a little like a beanie baby. Which, seems a little cheesy, but 10 lbs is a lot! That is a huge goal! Especially when it’s so hard to lose! It is supposed to come in your food shipment, however, my bear did not come with my shipment this last time… much to my dismay! I opened the box, and was a little mad that my bear wasn’t in there. It’s not just any bear though… It’s an “I can do this” bear, a “You hit a milestone” bear, a “Keep up the good work” bear… and so much more. This bear has grown men getting upset if they don’t receive it with their food shipment! That’s how much this one bear means to those of us on the Nutri System diet.
So after I sorted all of my foods that I received in my last shipment, I got on the phone with Nutri system… feeling a little stupid for calling them up saying that I didn’t get a “stuffed bear” in my shipment, and that I would really appreciate it if they sent it to me. The lady on the other end was very polite and very helpful. She said she realized the importance of the bear. It’s not that it’s a “Trinket” or just a stuffed animal, that it was more so a trophy. The CSR told me that she would get my bear out in the mail.
Well, I received my “trophy” and I am proudly displaying it on my PC at work, so when ever anyone walks by, and looks at my screen like ‘what the hell is that?’ I can tell them that it means that I’ve lost “X” amount of pounds. It’s not me being childish for having what appears to be a “Beanie baby” displayed at a professional office, but more so like the Certificate of Achievement awards that I also have displayed in sheet protectors hanging in my humble cube (aka.. my home away from home).


Sooo… without further ado… I’d like to introduce you to…. “Pound”… My first original “nutri bear”. She represents my 10 pound weightloss, and encourages me to keep moving towards that 20 lb mark, so she can have a “Friend” up there with her on the top of my monitor!

Saying farewell to one of two officers killed in the line of duty!

I just have to post another blog. Last weekend, two of Charlotte’s policemen were murdered while on duty. The killer was a 25 year old repeat offender that had shown a resistance to authority in the past 12 convictions. Officer Sean Clarke was laid to rest today leaving behind a 2 year old son and a wife who is 6 months pregnant. The two year old son was quoted as being the light of his fathers life. Now this young boy will grow up without his Daddy to play catch with, to go fishing with, to tuck him in at night. His unborn child will never get a chance be held in it’s father’s arms as the child is gently rocked to sleep by “daddy”. One man, with a grudge against the world, took all of that away from Officer Clarke’s family!
My sister was able to watch the funeral procession as it passed by. She took pictures and stated that there were police officers from ALL over. Florida, Georgia, all over the Carolinas, and even New York City! I figured I would post some of these pictures.

Officer Sean Clarke was 34 years old.

So Good, So Good!

So this morning I woke up. I had been feeling a lot better, and not as water weightish (I know that’s not a word). I have been walking and trying to do as much exercise and stuff as possible. Not to mention drinking an ocean of water a day. I figured I’d go to the weight station, better known as the bathroom scale, and try my luck. Well, to my very excited amazement, I have lost FOUR pounds since Monday! I did a daring thing and actually WEIGHED WITH MY CLOTHES ON!! (that’s a huge thing to do in the weight loss world) I broke off of the plateau! THAT MEANS that I am almost to my 15 pound mark!!! WOOHOOO!!!! We still have a few more days left in the week, so who knows, maybe by weigh in day, I’ll have lost more!
Of course I’ve had temptations! Of course I’ve had the urge to just eat something that I’m not supposed to! Especially since Easter is right around the corner! Everyone keeps bringing in all sorts of candy to fill my candy basket up with. (I keep a candy basket on my desk for my co workers to graze on…. It’s a conversation piece and it breaks the ice a lot with the new employees). I haven’t had to buy the candy for it, because everyone keeps bringing it in and filling it up! There are now PayDay’s and Snickers in there, and I’ll have you all know, I have touched NOT A SINGLE ONE!! Very hard, but very rewarding, because I LOST FOUR POUNDS!!! :-) Just in case you forgot. Haha.
I have the song “I feel good”.. forgive me because I’m having a slight brain fart that is preventing me from remembering who sings this! JAMES BROWN. I love Google!!
Alright, I’m going to end this email, because I’m going to go refill my water bottle and eat lunch!
See ya’ll on the slim side! :-) (I think the weight loss has increased my cheese factor!)

"I'm walkin on Sunshine.."

I lost one more pound!!! It’s exciting! I just wish that I could lose it a little faster than this. I KNOW I KNOW… It didn’t come on over night and it’s not going to drop off over night. But hey… we’re all entitled to a little wishful thinking every now and then right?
Last week was a little difficult. I had a few cravings for a few different things, but I stuck to my guns and stayed on track with Nutri System. I’m very happy about that. The longer I do this, the easier it is for me. I’m feeling healthier every day. I haven’t had a soft drink in over a month. I’ve had more energy to do things. So overall, this is turning out to be a pretty good deal!! :-)
This weekend I went with Chris and Konrad to Concord Mills so that Chris could get some more stuff to finalize the baby room. They are expecting a little girl in May! :-) I’m very excited about that! Konrad is such a GREAT kid and he’s going to make a fantastic big brother. He keeps talking about how he is going to take his baby sister places and what not. I love that kid! He’s awesome!
On Sunday, Kelly, my old roomy from Appstate, she and I went walking at McAlpine Greenway Park here in Charlotte. It was overcast, but it turned out to be the perfect day to walk. We took Bella with us. I was concerned with how Bella would react to Kelly, because she hadn’t seen Kelly since she was a puppy. I told Kelly to ignore her completely, and what do you know…. Bella was actually GREAT! No barking or growling at Kelly. Heck, the dog didn’t even bark at the geese or the other dogs or people that were in the park! We walked for a GOOD hour and a half (maybe less, not sure). I think we did around 2-3 miles on the trails. I haven’t had a good walk like that since I lived in Boone, and we hiked all the time on the parkway. It felt good! Today it feels like my bone spurs are acting up, but I know it’s for the greater good! Haha… I think I’ll have to go get some new tennis shoes!
So all in all I’ve had a great week! I’ve survived the temptations of outside foods, and I’ve avoided situations that would allow me to “graze” on foods that weren’t that good for me. There were a few retirement and birthday parties last week that all had extra leftover cake, that we were invited to get a couple pieces. I did not go, and decided to enjoy my yogurt instead :-). Not the same great taste as yellow cake and white icing, but I’m sure it’s better for me. Lol
Well, so ends another week of my “Loser Ways”! Thanks again to all of you who read the blog and who are lending your support. I appreciate it all!!!! I’m doing this!! WOOOHOOOO!!!!! Love to you all!!!