Happy Reformation Day!

Reformation Day is a red-letter day in remembrance of the Protestant Reformation. It takes place on October 31 and is an official holiday in many countries. It coincides with Halloween, the eve before All Saints' Day.

More at Wikipedia.

The Atkins' Weigh is moving!

Due to circumstances beyond my control - and because I have had one too many run-ins with gunter the nazi promo deleter - I've decided I need more control over board content, etc. So I am moving to Invision boards. Please stop by and visit, sit a spell, and drop and read some posts.

http://atkinsweigh.3.forumer.com/.

Ebay Auctions

I won 90 Chocolate Peanut Butter Atkins Advantage bars on e-bay. I lost a couple other auctions, but I didn't want to win all of them. I either wanted the 3 auctions for the box of 15 bars, or the auction for the 90 bars. So the 90 is fine. It's $117.50 including shipping ($1.35 per bar).

I also won 22 Atkins Advantage Chocolate Delight shakes for $28.83 including shipping ($1.31 per can).

One box of bars is still waiting. I hope someone outbids me because as long as I have the 90 I don't want the box of 15.

I think I'm "set" for a while!

I'm back. Gunter got on my last nerve when he used his god-like powers to mess with my forum. So I'm moving off Delphi, though I haven't decided where yet. I can't leave Delphi all together because I have friends at CH Refugee.

Anyway, yesterday I was up 4 pounds even though I stuck to my diet, and today I was up another 2 pounds even though I really didn't go crazy on my cheat day. I thought I did pretty well as far as what I ate. So I'm now almost 10 pounds away from my goal again at 149.8. I think I will just diet until the end of the year and then maintain at wherever I am at that time. It is clear that my body does not want to weigh 140.

I'm even considering going low calorie for a while and just dealing with the hunger.

WTF?!?

Yesterday I was up 4 pounds even though I stuck to my diet, and today I was up another 2 pounds even though I really didn't go crazy on my cheat day. I thought I did pretty well as far as what I ate. So I'm now almost 10 pounds away from my goal again at 149.8. I think I will just diet until the end of the year and then maintain at wherever I am at that time. It is clear that my body does not want to weigh 140.

I'm even considering going low calorie for a while and just dealing with the hunger.

The diet challenge I participate in (weigh-in every Friday for me) shows a 0.4 pound loss for the entire month of October. :(

My body hates me!

147.8 today?!? WTF?!? I weight more than a did a month ago and I've stuck to my diet?!? I stayed within my calories and carbs. How the hell did I gain 4 pounds in one day?!? See? I told you my body hates me!

I actually didn't cheat yesterday! That's what sucks. I thought about cheating, but stayed in my calorie and carb limits. All I can think is too much wine. I counted it, but it could have dehydrated me and the nutritionist (well, she used to be one) who drives me to church says when that happens my body will hold onto more water. So I'm trying to drink more (plain water) today.

poem: The Journey Home

Found this and wanted to share.

date unknown, probably written when I was homeless in Berkeley

Untitled

The journey home is long and hard,
The journey home to your front yard.
The journey home through hopes and dreams,
The journey home through others' schemes.
The journey home though fate resists,
The journey home through rains and mists.
I must go now, I can't stay here,
It's far too far, but far too near.
It's far too near to safe and dry,
It's far too near from ground to sky.

The Chronicles of Narnia

Here's a web site about The Chronicles of Narnia from Moviefone, and of course, I must also have a link to the official web site. Check out the trailers!

New notebook!

Started a new notebook at church last week. I had bought it as a prayer journal, but it wasn't being used, so I decided to use it for sermon notes. Here's the Amazon listing for it: I Hope You Dance Journal. My last notebook was a 3 subject notebook from the grocery store's stationary aisle. At least it had pockets - handy at Conference where there are always handouts.

It's a blank journal, but has the words to the song I Hope You Dance inside the front cover (I love that song!). It also has a place to put your own picture in the window on the cover. I put in a picture from my trip to Conference in 2004.

If you click on the picture of the book in the link and go a few pages in you will see the words to the song. It is so beautiful. I hope I dance.

I put the CD on my Wish List. :)

What Number Are You?

I am the number 2 I am friendly _

what number are you?

this quiz by orsa

What Age Do You Act?

You Are 30 Years Old

Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe. 13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world. 20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences. 30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more! 40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

What Age Do You Act?

The funny thing is...I'm 34 - so close. I do look about 30 though. :)

Official first day of winter!

We got our first "good rain" of the season today, so to me, it's the first day of winter. It was raining when I got up, but started and stopped after that, mostly stopped. I managed to avoid it when I went to the gym and then to work. What a gray depressing day it's been!

Victoria the antichrist

Xena thinks I am the antichrist mom from hell and only lets me live because I feed her.

Other humans are better but I'm evil because I take her to the vet and put Advantage (or Frontline) on her and pick her up and kiss her and pet her and do other horribly abusive things.

I had to give her a dose of Frontline this weekend. I pinned her down and scruffed her to hold her still and started to apply it. She started crying...loudly. God...from the noise she made you'd think I was killing her. Abby was even harder and I think a good part of the Frontline hit the wall rather than her. What is it with cats and flea medicine that makes them think you're going to kill them?

The real antichrist can be found using this quiz.

Abby's collar

It's still on and still way too tight (and I swear getting tighter), but she's managed to lose the bottom half of her nametag tube. It's a little metal tube that you put your name and phone number in, screw it closed, and attach it to the collar. Xena doesn't have a problem keeping hers on, but Abby's now lost the bottom half of hers that had the paper in it. I have no way to reunite the two halves, so now she's doomed to wearing half the tube. She still has the ugly yellow plastic tag with her microchip number on it and that just duplicates the info. in the tube, so she's still tagged.

She's still scratching at the collar, but she'll get used to it eventually. It will just take her longer because it's so tight and she's never worn one before.

The "tube tag" mine wear is similar to this, though this one is two tone and mine are just plain gold-colored metal.

Bad girl

I was a BAD girl over the weekend. Back on plan today, but damn I have got to stop doing this to myself. :( I fell as far off the wagon as I could without going on an actual binge. Having only low carb foods around the house help in that way. Even the microwave popcorn is the lowest carb of all the ones in the store.

After hitting a new low on Friday I am now all bloated and feel sick and generally wish I were in bed asleep, out of my misery, instead of at work trying to find things to settle my tummy.

Really screwed up my diet right after hitting a new low on Friday (142.8). That blows my theory about only eating bad after a bad weigh-in.

I did run the stairs on Saturday evening. From 5:30 until 8 I'd get up and run the stairs every time there was a commercial break (3 flights down to the front entrance of my building, and 3 flights back up). It did no good. My eating was too horrible to be offset by anything.

I feel bloated and icky today. Bloated from the popcorn and Kahlua and other high carb and calorie stuff. Icky from one too many glasses of wine. I think I will skip my nightly glass tonight. I don't feel like it.

The good news is I'm not terribly hungry today. After two days of stuffing my face (albeit with low carb goodies), I don't have much of an appetite. I feel sick to my tummy and don't want to eat much. I think I want another diet soda, though.

Wish I had a diet 7-Up right now. 7-Up is good for upset tummies. (When I got sick to my tummy on the cruise in May my sister got me some kind of a drink with 7-Up in it. It didn't drink the whole thing because I knew it was sugary 7-Up, but I did sip at it. I would even drink sugar right then if it would help me feel better!)

No exercise today. It's a 12 hour workday for me. I was up at 8 this morning. :-p Way too early for a swing shift person like myself.

142.4!

New low today! 142.4! Woohoo! I know it won't hold, but I tapped it at least. I just gotta keep at this and I might make it. I just need to stay very focused until Dec. 31.

More Amazon reviews!

Spent quite a bit on time on Amazon.com today writing more reviews. Check out my new ones, plus an old one updated. :)

Breast Milk Saves Vet

A real-life supermom used a bottle of breast milk to douse an amputee yesterday after his wheelchair was set ablaze by punks on a Staten Island bus, cops said.

Full story here.

How dodgy are you?

Upstanding

How refreshing that there are still people around like you, who respect society and the law. Your Grandparents would be proud. You have a good knowledge of the law and a good public spirit, or you have rarely left the house… Either way - keep it up old fruit!

Based on your answers, we have calculated the maximum penalty for your crimes*:

Years in prison: 7 Potential fine: £2000

*Please note this is just a fun quiz so don't be alarmed by your score! The maximum penalty has been taken for each crime and no consideration for scale of crime committed.

http://www.thesite.org/flash/dodgy.html

Happy Anniversary, Sweetheart

Today marks three years since I walked into the backyard at my old house and found an orange tabby momcat and six kittens. That was the day you came into my life. Happy anniversary, Abby. I love you.

Tonight Abby and Xena will get toony fish for dinner. :)

15th Anniversary of 1989 quake

How could I end the day without mentioning that the earth shook for 15 seconds 15 years ago. :)

San Francisco Museum - '89 quake

For anyone who cares, I lived in San Mateo County at the time and felt the quake quite strongly!

Well, that sucks...

Looks like the photocopies of the book on Amazon are no longer available. It's been replaced by somebody else selling one used copy of the book in "acceptable" condition for $175! Yike!

Here's what the page looks like now:
The Exorcism of Anneliese Michel

Daylight Saving Time change

Daylight Saving Time will start earlier and end later starting in 2007. "DST will begin on the second Sunday of March, and end the first Sunday of November."

http://webexhibits.org/daylightsaving/b.html

Atkins: Have we had our fill?

I know this is kind of late, but I just "stumbled" across it today.

News that Atkins Nutritionals is seeking bankruptcy-court protection has some nutrition experts sounding the death knell for the low-carb, meat-lovers' diet — the hottest weight-loss craze of the past decade.

Full article here (USA Today).

I intend to keep eating this way because it has improved my blood cholesterol and I feel better. And of course I've lost 60 pounds. :)

Working on my Saturday

So here it is my Saturday (most people's Friday) and I'm spending it at work. Davina will be here around 5:30 and I can go home then. *sigh* But I really need the money so I can't complain. Today is day one of the new pay period, so today isn't actually overtime. It'll be overtime next Thursday when I come in for the 6th day in a week.

There is other overtime next week, too. Monday will be a 12 hour day. Just gotta rest up this Sabbath to get me through the next week. I'll need it!

Halloween carving fun!

This was sent to me by e-mail.

How To Carve A Pumpkin

Atkins discontinues journal section

Some people have received the following e-mail. Below I've quoted only the part pertenant to this blog entry:

Now that autumn's upon us, change is in the air--and Atkins.com is no exception! We're redesigning our site to reflect the new, inspirational face of ANI.

With a launch date planned for mid-October, the redesigned site offers valuable, hands-on tools and compelling nutrition information.

Since you're a MyAtkins user, we wanted to make sure you're aware that the tools provided through MyAtkins will no longer be available on the new version of Atkins.com. You will be able to access your MyAtkins information at Atkins.com for one more week following this email. Following that point, unfortunately, access will no longer be available. Also, within the next two to three weeks from this time, you will receive the MyAtkins data that you have not yet received to date. This way, you will have a record of your Atkins history.

We'd like to extend our gratitude to you for your continued support of Atkins, and we apologize for any inconvenience this change may cause. We invite you to take advantage of a special offer through Atkins.com. From now through November 30, 2005, you will receive 10% off any order from Atkins.com. Please enter Promo Code: MYATKINS at checkout (restrictions apply).

---

Colette had this to say on behalf of Atkins:

You may be aware that our company, Atkins Nutritionals, Inc., has undergone considerable change over the last six months. During this time, we have embarked on an aggressive program to reposition the company, our brands, and their position in the marketplace. These efforts were applied across all departments within the company with the goal being to answer the following set of questions, (I)f we started this company today, What would it look like? Which products would we prioritize? Where would we choose to compete? How would we communicate our relevance with our consumers?

We had to initiated a rigorous review of costs across the board. We have made a number of changes in the way we conduct business that have resulted in significant cost savings, while, at the same time, our customer service, inventory management, and fill rates have improved. We believe that we have converted many of our previously fixed costs to a variable basis, resulting in a nimbler, right-sized, and responsive organization. We have also undergone a rigid budget and cash forecasting review, and are pleased that we are performing to expectations and expect to emerge from Chapter 11 by the new year as a result of these changes.

I hope that the information that I have provided has helped to update you on the status of our company and all of the changes that we have executed over the last six months. We take great pride in the results that we are enjoying as a result of the efforts outlined above. I would like to thank you for your continued support and look forward to continue the Atkins University feature at no cost to you.

and also this:

Atkins University means a lot to us as well and will remain on line as a free service.

We wrote it into the business plan and it was approved to be part of our future .

This isn't something I've extensively used, but I'm sad to see it go and I know some people do use it to its full extent.

When Rights Collide

Too much hyperbole and biased articles I've found about this. After some searching I found a newspaper article that tries to be unbiased and present both sides. And of course, the truth is different than the spin the gay web sites give this.

Doctor and patient both say their liberty was violated

A Southern California lesbian who sued her doctors for discrimination after they refused to artificially inseminate her is now fighting both them and the state's largest medical association over whether doctors should have the right to refuse treatment on religious grounds.

Full article here.

Gotta side with the doctor on this one. The woman got what she wanted, but now has to fight this "on principle." [rolls eyes] What principle is that? If you are a Christian you can't be a doctor?

A little Halloween fun...

Received this by e-mail (may take a minute to load):

Abby the Feral Tabby, take 4

This last vet visit has changed the household dynamic. For one, she now has a collar on that won't easily come off. She's still shaking her head and scratching at it. It will take a while to get used to. Second, I have actually held her. The relationship is diffenent now and neither of us are sure how to act.

Last night I noticed the tail of her collar coming loose. So I did something I have never done before - I scruffed her and held her still that way for the few seconds it took to stick the tail of the collar back where it should have been. She had it completely out 5 minutes later and I'm just going to let it be (it doesn't effect the collar staying on), but the fact that I was able to scruff her...wow.

She avoided me to a great extent the rest of the evening, and didn't really trust me much. If I can scruff her I can do other horrible things to her, like the evil vet does. But by this morning all was forgiven and she was on my bed practically begging for lovies.

The only weird thing is I have a hard time giving her neck scritchies with the collar.

Six day week

Looks like I'll be working about 50 hours this week. I need the money for sure, but the four extra hours on Sunday ate into my gym time, and the six and a half extra hours on Friday (my day off) will eat into the only cooking time I have all week. I want to do tofu again for lunches next week and I have to cook it. Brad is going to a funeral so he's trying to get people to cover his shift, plus Friday he stays late because Davina can't get here until 5:30 pm when the shift normally starts at 3 pm. He wants me to come in at 11 a.m. I can't come in any earlier because I am up so late Thursday working and then doing laundry.

Abby the Feral Tabby, take 3

She still had the collar on when I got home last night. She keeps shaking her head and scratching at it, but this one won't loosen like the other one did. I am worried that it's SO tight, but she doesn't seem to have trouble eating or breathing. My other worry is that if she gets hung up, the collar may be too tight to come off even with the elastic. So I can only hope. I sure can't adjust it now.

She's freaked over me. I think because I held her for the nail clipping she now sees me in cahoots with the vet. She runs from me a lot.

And I know it's part of her being part Abysiannian, but I woke up during the night to find her under the covers with me. Of course, as soon as I stirred she came out, but that's the second time I've found her under there when I'm asleep. I know Abysiannians like to burrow under covers and it's just in her genes, but she wouldn't do it if she didn't like me, and she didn't start doing this until about a year ago. I woke up later in the night to find Xena curled up next to me.

Finished! Woot!

I finally finished today, and early! I finished my Bible reading project, the whole Bible in a year, and I finished early. Woot! Woot! I rock. I've moved the Bible link from under "What I'm Reading" to "books I've read in 2005." :-) Now I can get back to my Jon Krakauer book. And as soon as I finish that I can get started on the Emily Rose book.

Now if I could just finish my weight loss at my goal weight instead of consistantly hovering around 150...

Losing Bogie, take 2

Here's another pic of Bogie. The person with him is me. I was trying to get him to kiss me.

Abby the Feral Tabby, take 2

I never realized until I held her how glad I am she doesn't bite. When she's trapped and scared she just lets you do whatever to her. Cause if she wanted to, she could bite and claw and do some serious damage.

I'm at work now. I hope she will be feeling better when I get home and that her collar is still on. I've decided to keep feeding them in the vanity room so that it becomes "normal" for them.

It was sad and funny at the same time to watch Abby try to climb up the cat tree after her nails were clipped. Poor baby didn't have quite the traction and had to work a little harder. After that first time, though, she got it down and didn't have trouble after that.

She was really keyed up, climbing up and down the cat tree, walking all over the apartment. Poor thing couldn't sit still.

She's tried to get the collar off by the "conventional" methods: lowering her head and walking backward, scratching at it, shaking her head. Poor thing.

A bright pink collar on a light orange cat doesn't really flatter her, but if it'll stay on it's worth it. She can get off the nice black collar with the fake diamonds.

The vet is happy at the progress she's made with me - it makes his job easier. She has come a long way in her reactions to him. The last 2 times she hasn't tried to run, and this time after I trapped her she hardly meowed at all. Meowing and running don't work, so she scrapped them. She still tries to hide, but that's normal. I've seen Xena do some pretty funny things trying to keep herself from facing the vet. (Last time she tried to crawl UNDER the floor piece in her carrier - and was actually succeeding. The problem is the bag was dragging on the ground when she did that so I had to pry her out.)

Abby's 3 year anniversary with me is next week! :) They will get tuney fish. :)

Abby the Feral Tabby

I held her for the first time today!

Ok, so she was trapped in the vanity room and the vet had come and just given her a shot and tried to put a collar on her (again). I asked about clipping her claws and he said okay. He picked her up by the scruff and told me to hold her by the scruff and support her underneath. I did! Oh my gosh I could not believe I was holding her! I know she was scared out of her mind, but I was holding her!

She did very well with her appointment. She nearly got away when I tried to trap her, but I got the door closed fast enough. She hardly meowed at all and mostly just sat in the window in the room looking out.

When Dr. Martin went to get her she tried to fit in the tiny space between the screen and the window - and was succeeding - and dug her claws into the screen, ripping it as Dr. Martin pulled her out of the window. He placed her on the vanity table and did what he had to. When he was done he opened the door and she sprinted out of the room and under the bed. She's a very unhappy cat right now.

I also had him cut Xena's claws to save her the stress of a trip out to her regular vet in the carrier.

I put out some wet food as a treat, which Xena was happy to eat, but Abby is still hiding under the bed with that, "I am scared of you, Mom" look on her face.

Losing Bogie...

After having to put Kassie down less than a month ago, April has now found out that her other dog Bogie has terminal cancer. This is the part of the e-mail she talks about it: We got the biopsy results back for Bogie, and bad news was that he has terminal cancer. Something called hermangiesarcoma (sp?) that means he'll live 2-4 months without chemo and 5-9 months with it. Chemo costs about $3000 so not sure we want to go for that since it will not cure it-- there is no cure for this cancer, it's too agressive per the Vet.

Bogie was fine and then just collapsed one day. Why does she have to lose both her dogs so close together?

The picture here was taken at the wedding in August. It's the only picture of Bogie I have on hand (he's in the background). I think I have another one on my other computer.

Gosh, haven't posted in a while

Guess I just haven't had anything to say. My weight has jumped 5 pounds in the last 5 days. I was doing so well and then I just started gaining. Sure I was off plan one day, but I shouldn't keep gaining after I get back on plan! I'm convinced by body hates me. It doesn't help that I apparently ate either something wrong or not enough real food on Friday and felt like my intenstines were tied in knots Saturday. Not painful, just uncomfortable.

The first of my Christmas presents arrived - Eleanor's present of an orthopedic pillow. I got a great 2-for-1 deal so I have one for myself, too. :) I can post this because she doesn't have computer access and will never see my blog to know what I got her. After using an orthopedic pillow I will never go back to a normal pillow ever again.

My sugar alcohol free chocolate bars arrived, but I found out the mocha and latte drink mix I ordered has tons of sugar alcohols so I won't be able to use them except maybe on my cheat day. Sugar alcohols seem to stall me so I have cut back on eating food with them. Hense, why the chocolate bars are great - these only have Splenda, which doesn't do anything to me.

Got sick of meat so I'm on a tofu kick right now. Last week I fried it in Carb Options marinade. Yum. I get the extra firm, cube it, and fry it up. It's been on sale the last two weeks - $1 for a 14 oz. package (excluding water).

There's been a mix up with the Vicki boxes at the ABC forum this year. Conflicting reports on whether the person's name I was given is participating or not and she hadn't posted a bio so I had every reason to think she wasn't participating. Latest word is she is participating, but still no bio up. This is my third year participating and I have never had a problem before. I guess it's because we have someone new running it who hasn't kept after people to make sure everyone posts their bio.

I updated my Amazon list to include some music CDs I need for my iPod. I only have 178 songs on it and I know most of them by heart! Need. More. Music. (!!!)

My body hates me. I'm up 5 pounds today from my lowest weight last week. My intestines were all twisted up yesterday and are only a little better today and I feel so bloated. It's like I ate something wrong on Friday and my body just rebelled.

The vet comes over to give Abby her shot tomorrow. That means no dinner for the poor thing tonight so she'll be more hungry than she is fearful. God, I hope this works out. Everything with this cat is a one shot deal and you better do it right the first time cause there won't be a second time.

Three books on Terri Schiavo

Terri Schiavo's family writing book about her life, brain damage

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Terri Schiavo's parents and siblings are writing a book about their struggle in the epic end-of-life case that divided the country and captured the attention of everyone from the Pope John Paul II to President Bush.

Full story here.

The article also mentions a book by Terri's husband, due out the same month as the family's book (titled Terri: the Truth), and an already published book by Mark Fuhrman titled Silent Witness: The Untold Story of Terri Schiavo's Death.

30-Days of Prayer for the Muslim World

The Muslim month of Ramadan begins soon. Let's all pray for Muslims in this world during this time. A Christian lady from the Middle East gave me this link.

http://www.30-days.net/content/index.htm

Lots of information on this site not just about daily prayer points for Ramadan, but also information on the basic beliefs of Islam. Pray for Muslim and become educated, all at once!

I've placed a link in the links area on the left. It will remain there until Ramadan is over.

God bless you as you pray!

Coming out of my shell...

I now have a neat Halloween theme for my diet forum! Coming out from my past has been slow and trying to find the place of this one beloved holiday in my life has been hard. This year I come out of my shell a little more by using this theme.

So I present the Halloween theme at
The Atkins' Weigh

Check us out!

What Flavour Am I?

I tashte like Alcohol. Heh. Heh. I taste like beer. I like beer. Buy me a beer. I'm not drunk, I can drink plenty without... What was I saying? Beer. What Flavour Are You?

I may also be coffee.

What Kind of Coffee Are You?

You are a Black Coffee

At your best, you are: low maintenance, friendly, and adaptable At your worst, you are: cheap and angsty You drink coffee when: you can get your hands on it Your caffeine addiction level: high

What Kind of Coffee Are You?

"Crazy Dinner"

Yesterday I participated in a tradition at my church, the "Crazy Dinner." It's not done often, though, so even though I've been at the church 6 years, this was my first time. It was also Anita's first time, but her adult son had done it once before.

Old timers at the church served those who hadn't experienced this before. Teens weren't allowed because they will be doing this at a later time. The kids were shipped off to Jack in the Box.

We were given a menu with "selections" of real food disguised with titles like "Pig's Eyes" (which turned out to be green olives), "Eve's Delight" (apple pie), and "White Cloud" (large marshmallows). There were 24 choices. Some of the choices, such as "Manure Spreader," turned out to be utensils - you had to "order" your utensils. We filled in 16 blanks on an index card, ordering more or less blind. I had an idea that a couple were desserts, so I steered clear of those. (For example, I had seen the pies earlier snooping through stuff and figured that "Eve's Delight" was most likely apple pie.)

It was supposed to be fun, but I didn't know there was salad and that we could eat whatever we wanted after the activity, so I didn't have much fun trying to stick to low carb when there were few low carb choices. So I didn't really have fun. When we were released to eat whatever we wanted, I got a drunken log (pickle) and a lot of salad. Salad is all I can eat at church potlucks - salad and sometimes the soup.

Overtime=no workouts

No exercise. One of my co-workers asked me to come in 2 hours early so he could go to church, so there went the time I was going to workout. Tomorrow I am doing 4 hours overtime, so no workout then either. Looks like this will be another week getting in only one workout.