Fitness on a Saturday

What a dumb title for today's entry. Oh well.

I dragged my ass onto my elliptical machine today. I did not want to exercise at all and I was going to stop after a wimpy 13 minutes but I completed the full 35 minutes and I felt great!!

Today was a slow day at work but I did get alot accomplished as far as cleaning and organizing. I'm thinking about cutting my hours of operation down a little on Saturdays. It's so dead. I guess that's what happens when you're in a small town.

I've been reading alot on fitness and I just came across something today, which really peaked my interest (from the Biggest Loser team)....

Your present weight X 7 = Your daily caloric needs for weight loss

Your calorie count should never be static; in fact, it's a moving target. As you lose weight, you'll need to readjust your daily calories downward in order to keep losing at a good pace and break through plateaus, should your weight loss ever seem stalled. Your online program will make this adjustment for you, and change your meal plans as necessary.Make sure you keep something in mind: Everyone is different, and we all burn different amounts of calories at different rates. So if you and a partner, friend, or buddy follow this diet, one of you might lose weight at a different rate, faster or slower, than the other from week to week.

Anyways, I don't have anything else to report. It's been a boring day. We'll see what tomorrow brings. Not sure what we're up to. Good Night!

And it's Friday....again!

So after awhile of slacking on eating right I'm back on track. Yesterday was okay and today is good. Why is it I always get my act together toward the end of the week? Taking lunch to work is also making me feel in control. This time I'm not going to step on the scale everyday...I'll only step on it once a week. Emily and I went for a walk last night. It felt good. I really enjoy being outside during the fall. Maybe I'll go for a walk again tonight.

I have a few menu plans to make for my clients.

Awww...

My clients are the best!!

One of my clients just said to me, "You're a good person. I hope people tell you that because you really are." I was like..."Awww, thank you!" It was a touching moment (sappy, I know). It makes me feel so good that my clients don't dread coming in to see me. They actually feel guilty when they cheat and gain weight because they say I'm so understanding and they don't want to disappoint me. How cute!

I'm blessed to be surrounded by good people.
It really doesn't feel like work (unless I'm having a bad day).

Human Pin Cushion

...that's what I feel like anyways. I donated blood last night. It was my 2nd time donating but my first 100% successful donation. And then when they took the needle out of my arm the room started to spin, I don't have a fear of needles it was just my body reacting. My hearing got all "foggy" and I made sure I mentally knew where the nearest garbage can was in case I lost it! LOL. A nurse came by and asked me if I was okay, the only thing I could do was shake my head in a "no" answer. Before I knew it I was laid back and had 4 nurses gathered around me, I had cold cloths over my face and on the back of my neck. It wasn't a big surprise to me that this happened, I do have low blood pressure. The only thing I hate is that you feel like a mack truck hit you after you nearly pass out.

Then today I got my Hep A shot for our trip in March. It's kind of like the flu shot (in which I'll get that the 2nd week in November). And in January I start my rounds of allergy shots. Phew!

For anyone who gets a flu shot: Do a heavy metal cleanse after your shot because flu shots contain mercury. Nice, hey?

I hope my daughter won't have to go through all the shots I do. So far she hasn't gotten the flu so she'll be okay to NOT get a flu shot this year. No sign of allergies yet for her. But she did get her Hep A shot for the trip as well. I hated the thought of giving her vaccinations as a baby but I figured if she got sick I'd regret it. Although I did opt for her to not get her 18 month shot.

I should go and do some work. My desk is a mess and the clients might think I don't do any work. ha ha. Not good. Only 4 more hours of work!!

My Past Comes Knockin'

One of my new clients came in today for her first visit. She was wearing a sweatshirt that said "P--- Welding". I mentioned to her that I knew a guy by the last name of "P---" and we came to the conclusion that it was the same guy (I'll call him 'C').

When I was in high school and working at one of the video stores here in town (would have been about 1999)...C would come in with a girl almost every weekend and rent movies. I swear it was love at first sight as it's never happened since then. But I knew my chances were slim as he was with someone and I might be a little too young. Fast forward a few years...I'm now of legal age (that doesn't mean anything this day in age). I run into 'C' during one of my nights at the bar (this was before I had my daughter) and he takes interest in me. Of course, I take interest in him. He asked me to be his girlfriend but I figured he's had a few too many drinks and think he's kidding. Actually he was serious. The "relationship" ended before it began! LOL. Over the next 2-3 years we had a few sexual encounters but nothing really came of it even though we both wanted to have a relationship.

Then came the night that bonded us forever.... my friend and I went into the city to go to our favorite bar (at this time, my daughter would have been about a year old and this was my first night out since the day I found out I was pregnant with her). After a few too many drinks but with no intention of slowing down I run into C. Wow! Him and I were talking...he was single, I was single. He had just graduated and was now a welder. My friend looked at me with huge eyes and whispered in my ear, "He looks soooo much like Emily!" C made a comment asking me if I was okay and if I had something to tell him. With Emily's due dates varying from August to October there was a slight possibility that she could have been C's. We now know that that's not the case anymore. So with all the alcohol flowing through my veins...I broke down. He dragged me outside. He told me that he heard through the grapevine about the possibility. He had been working in the Yukon and had returned to be closer to me if I needed him and if it turned out the baby was his. He had even broken up with a girlfriend he had been seeing up there to move back. I was touched. We spent that night together but nothing came of it after that. Since that moment we have had atleast one intimate encounter. Whenever I see him (which isn't often since the oil patch is booming) I want him.

But why aren't we together? Is it "fate" that my client came in wearing his company's shirt? She told me that she'd ask her husband to see what C is up to and if he's still around. If we have one more intimate encounter I'm going to demand that we just go out and get married. LOL. My ex-bf even worked with C at one point. He always crosses my path every couple years and when we meet....we're both single! I first laid eyes on him in 1999 and our last encounter would have been April 2004.

Are we meant to be together? Maybe I'll never know. Or maybe we'll end up together.
Time will tell.

Yuck!!

Yesterday I came to work and had to get into a spider killing spree. I don't know what it was...they all procreated while I was gone or something. I think I killed 6 of the little buggers. So this morning...I'm a little paranoid of spiders. I'm okay with spiders as long as they aren't ON me, but I still don't let them live free, they do die if they're around me.

I had an awesome weekend. Didn't really take pictures of where we went...just of mountains. And lots of them!! We stayed at the Radisson Hotel in Canmore. It was nice (lacking warm blankets though). We drank in almost every little pub in Canmore...okay, we didn't but it felt like it. We ended up eating at a little place called the Bears Paw (I think that's what it was called). Pathetic drinks but we had an awesome meal!! Sunday morning we headed to Banff. Visited the Spirit of Christmas. That place is HUGE. And toured the beautiful (& outrageously expensive) town of Banff. We then headed home from Banff towards Jasper and took pictures through the whole trip. It was really nice to just let loose and be tourists.

Apparently I didn't know something about my daughter. At the age of 4, she's a Shakira fan! She was singing one of her songs that came on while we were driving to her dayhome. I was surprised. She can also tell me that it's a Shakira song before any of the singing starts. Crazy! ha ha.

So far we're beating last months sales....as of yesterday we were on par with last month. We still have another 5 business days so we should end up having our best month yet (even though it's only been 3 months since we opened). I'm excited about that!

I have an appointment coming soon. I should go and finish a few files.

Stats

This is more for me than anyone else (if people even read this).
Note the time. Crazy, absolutely crazy!!

Friday, Sept 22:
Just finished 35 mins on my elliptical machine with weighted arms.
453 calories (according to the machine)
10 push-ups off stability ball (weakling, I know...just wait, I'll be pushin' 50 in no time!)
Sticker = 2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I just started this self-challenge....what do u expect?)

Off to have a cold shower before crawling into bed....go me!!

Beauty Queen

...almost but not quite.

I actually woke up this morning and exercised on my elliptical machine, woohoo! I'm getting back into a routine. Christmas is coming...FAST. And so is that damn cruise. As well as Corporate Meeting in early March. Gotta look SEXY!

I even tried to do some strength training using a stability ball but not recommended during "that time of the month". I went from having zero cramps to cramps from hell. Maybe I should have done my pilates video instead.

Everytime I exercise I put a sticker on the calendar. Let's see how many I collect (or don't collect! ha ha).

I'm going to bed...Nite!

It's Okay

Today is a better day than yesterday...by far!! I was able to take my daughter & her little friend to preschool again this week. Just getting out this morning and doing things other than work really helped clear my head.

I just need to be focused. Focused on organizing my little living space (aka: my bedroom), as well as focused on my health (losing weight & cleansing my body). I have to focus on today...not 7 days from now.

I'm okay.

P.S. - I'm going on a roadtrip this weekend to Canmore. I'll have some kick ass pictures of the beautiful Rocky Mountains!!

Bad Day!

I'm having a bad day. I think it's just a bad day caused by emotions. I'm so frustrated! Not only do I have an employee who is useless, I now have to hire and re-train another one.

Time is ticking to get our shots for our cruise coming up in March. They're telling me that I have to go to another city to get them done. How? I work Monday to Friday 9am to 7pm and Saturday 10am to 4pm. What freakin' clinic does travel shots on Sunday? NOBODY. I really don't want to go on the cruise but I have to. My grandparents are paying for this cruise and the WHOLE family is going. The tickets are purchased and everyone would frown on me for missing this opportunity.

Emily goes to preschool every Wednesday morning. And next week I'm supposed to be parent helper but my employee is taking the week of next week and I'll be stuck here and I can't close from 9am until noon. So I'll have to bail on that. I feel like such a horrible parent!

I volunteer for an animal rescue society (called ROAR). We're non-profit. We are also supposed to be doing a photo shoot next week. I was supposed to get my hair and makeup done at 1pm with my photos being done at 5pm. Once again, I'm without employees. They even asked me to close my business in order to do this photo shoot. Excuse me? I am NOT closing for 6 hours. So I feel like I let them down with that....even though I never did give them a definite "yes".

I am soooo tired. I'm starting to feel depressed because I just don't have the energy to exercise either at night or in the morning then I feel fat....and I make wrong food choices. I feel like a horrible role model for my clients!!

Most of my belongings are in storage since we've moved because Emily and I are essentially living in one tiny bedroom after moving from a house. I know I wouldn't have been able to be a good parent if we hadn't moved in with my parents. My business might not have even gotten off the ground as good as it has if Emily and I had moved into our own place. But now...it's depressing because I can't do whatever I want in the house. My parents are always there. I feel like I'm fighting in order to fight with my daughter (that sounds strange). But I have to keep a tight leash on my daughter or else my parents step in and try to parent her. I hate it! On top of that her toys are scattered all over the house...my mom is not very good at housekeeping and I hate clutter and mess! I've tried to keep on top of things for my mom but she tells me that I have to ask her to throw anything out and then she puts it in a big pile and sets it off to the side. I give up!!

My parents are also viewing having their granddaughter living with them as a 2nd chance at parenting because they say they did so crappy with my bro & I. Well, guess what? It's not. You got your chance...she's mine and I parent her the way I want to!

Yikes, I feel like such a baby complaining about this....but this is what's making me so depressed.

I've tried looking for a place to live. The subdivision that I want to build a house in isn't going to be developed for another 2-3 years. The houses that are here go for 3 times as much as they should and most of the houses for sale are 800 years old. I don't want anything that will give me huge problems. I've thought about buying a modular home but then I'm renting a lot to put it on...and I really don't want to live in a run down trailer park. I've thought about an apartment.

I've cried a few tears today. Now it's time to take things into my own hands. I have to develop a plan. I need to take charge. I'll have to update again when I find out what my plan will be.

Needing to take some happy pills...vitamins will have to do....

I'm Somebody's Mother?

I'm Somebody's Mother? This is what you ask yourself and begin to realize as the nurse comes to hand you your new little bundle of joy. It's one thing to have to look after yourself but when a little person is depending on YOU, it seems like a big pair of shoes to fill really fast. Chelsea's blog "I'm Somebody's Mother?" is a hilarious look at going from single life....to life with baby. I enjoy reading her spin on motherhood. She has some really cool links attached too.

It's Saturday. That means I don't have to work tomorrow. Woohoo! I have piles of files around me and it looks like such a daunting task. I have a menu plan to tackle as well for a client who just showed her face today after being gone for just over 2 weeks. She asked about her menu plan and I told her that I gave it to another client when in reality....I didn't do it because I didn't think she'd ever be back!! Oh well. I really have to do it this time, I like to feel I'm doing my job well when my clients are successful with their weight loss.

Emily's "donor" (really not a nice title but he doesn't do anything to deserve the title of anything better) phoned me the other night and I told him I'd phone him back when I put Emily to bed. I didn't phone him back because I ended up falling asleep with her. I wish I had one of those guys who wanted to see their child and did so on a regular basis. He's seen her 3 times in her whole life. The last time she saw him she told me she didn't want to see him again. It blew me away. I never have talked bad about him and him & I were nice to eachother when we met up with Emily at the park. Maybe she got a bad vibe from him. I guess I should phone him back to see what he wanted. And I'm only phoning him back because if he ever drags me to court then I would look bad if he said that he tried phoning and I never returned phone calls. ha ha. He'd be dumb to drag my ass to court...I have so much against him.

Anyways, I should go and do my tasks and get this place cleaned up so I don't have to do any of it come Monday morning (who wants to clean first thing on a Monday? not me). Then the rest of the time spent here can be "free" time surfin' the net or whatever I choose to do.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend! I know I will.
P.S. - 100 days until Christmas!

Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

Yes, I woke up this morning to SNOW! It has been raining a good part of the week but this morning was snow. And more snow for the weekend! Some places around here are reporting a full foot of snow. Yikes! I'm definately going to get that fireplace stoked up this weekend. By Monday the snow should be gone and we should have a high of 15. Summer is definately over. But it looks like we might skip fall this year!

So....my part-time person is getting the boot in early October. Thank god for the 3 month probation rule. Since August 14th, she's called in 3 times. And I've walked into the store twice now to see her and her sister chatting it up and doing absolutely nothing. Yikes! I dealt with the whole employee having friends at work thing when I had my coffee shop....that cost me SALES!! I really hope my full-time employee (if she takes the position) doesn't give me any problems.

Oh well...

Nothing New

Not much has been happening around here. Same old thing. It was Emily's first day of preschool yesterday. She's a mama's girl, definately. I had to stay with her the whole time which was okay. I think she'll be more comfortable next week. Since I was able to stay with her she did NOT want to go back to the babysitter's house after. I feel bad for having to work so much. By the time she goes to school next year, I'll be able to stay home with her on the days that they have no school due to teacher days or whatever.

Business has been slow this week partly due to weather. It's been raining the whole week (pretty much). It's supposed to be crappy this weekend too. Oh well. I find rainy days to be kind of comforting. The opportunity to make it a tea drinking day (even though most days I don't). I'm hoping that this month picks up, I want to almost double what I did last month and right now....we're on par with last month.

I'm hiring a new girl. She seems really nice, outgoing & used to be a personal trainer. I hope my clients learn valuable information from her personal training experience. Right now, I'm not sure when she'll be starting but soon!! I need a full-time person BAD.

Not much else to say. Only a few more hours left of my day. Then I'll go home and try and get a good workout in tonight after I put Emily to bed. I've been a workout maniac this week. I even notice the difference in my clothes with only one week of hardcore exercise! Woohoo!

Good Nite.

I can't believe it!

Our weight loss centre is in a strip mall. We have a Dairy Queen on one end and a Chinese food restaurant on the other end with us being in the middle. We always have people saying that they saw us when they were going to or leaving one of the restaurants. There's always people walking by eating ice cream cones.

So this guy parks pretty much in front of our store. He walks down the sidewalk right past us. On his way back to his vehicle he's carrying an ice cream cake. How rude! ha ha. He puts the ice cream cake into his SUV, shuts the door and comes right in here asking about a weight loss program!! You know what kind of comment(s) I could have made? He's lucky I know when to keep my mouth shut.

People amaze me.

Everyone Remembers

I couldn't believe the TV shows that were on last night (and probably today) about the 5th Anniversary of 9/11. I can't believe it's been 5 years since I lost my cousin. He wasn't anywhere near New York but the emotions of September 11th made him take his own life 7 days later.

I went onto People magazine's website and read an article about some of the ladies who had a baby after they had lost their husbands in the twin towers and where they are today. It was really uplifting to see that some had remarried while others were content just raising their children alone. They are definately strong women. I hope my daughter grows up to be a strong woman too.

I definately exercised my @$$ off this weekend. And for the first time in a long time I actually did Pilates. I'm a little sore this morning therefore I'm suffering from a little bit of water retention.

I confess...I'm obsessed! I've been hanging around on singleparentsmingle hoping to find a nice fellow who has similar interests to myself. I found someone who lives about...2 hours directly east of where I live. Mmmm. He's a cutie. He keeps sending me free smiles with a free note (of course pre-made notes) attached to it. It's lame but kind of exciting. I'm sure he doesn't go online during his working day but I keep checking. It's almost like being a little kid at Christmas again. ha ha.

Tomorrow night is the season finale of Big Brother 7: All Stars!! I can't wait!! I've watched it faithfully every week. It's been the highlight of my summer! So sad.

I guess I better go and pretend to work. ha ha.

Business

First day back to work after the long weekend. I look like shit and feel like a million bucks. I had such an awesome weekend. Business has been great today!! A good start to a new month. Sold a few programs. Lots of people came in and made program payments. A few people needed product so they loaded up. Woohoo!!

We ended August doing higher numbers than July. September I hope to do better than August. I'm stressing about opening the 2nd location already and we're not going to be opening it until 2007. Thank goodness we're opening in a beautiful Rocky Mountain resort town, it'll feel like I'm on vacation while working (picture above is of a portion of the town of Canmore). Head Office is on my ass to open it ASAP but I'm not going to. I never signed anything saying I'd open it before a certain date. So there!

To date we have 34 clients. We opened June 19th with 2 clients because they transferred from another centre to this one. Not too shabby! With school being back in and peoples lives getting back on a schedule our client base should start increasing. Yay!!

Anyways, it's nearing the end of my day.
Nite nite.

Happy Birthday to Me!!

I think this is the first year that I'm not bummed out about working on my birthday. I'm just so freakin' excited about my roadtrip tonight! My parents have the digital camera so I'll have to take crappy old school film pictures on my way there and digital pics while I'm at the cabin.

So I went for dinner last night. It was nice. I got a gift certificate to get my feet done. I'll use it when I get back. I ordered dessert (which I never do), and yikes, my cheesecakes do kick ass!! I could have made a cheesecake that is twice as good as that! I used to be the baker at 'The Cheesecake Cafe' which to my knowledge, no longer exists. We'd sell a whole cake for $50 and a slice for about $6. Which was definately worth the money!

Hmmm, I could turn my love for baking into a business. Sell cakes to restaurants. Back to reality....one business at a time. I truly believe I'll be one of those people with 2 businesses running at the same time. A weight loss company on one hand and a baking business on the other. Ha ha. How twisted!!

Anyways...my ex (maybe we'll call him 'T') and I went back to my parents house and I helped him download some tunes for his truck. I think he left at about 10:30pm. I figured we would eat and he would leave which I was kind of dreading, I didn't want to be by myself. So I was pleased that 'T' stayed.

I suppose I should go and accomplish a few things around here so time flies by! Yay!!
See you on the 5th!! xoxo

Almost September

Where has the summer gone? I worked it away with just opening my store June 19th. September is days away. Today is my auntie's birthday. Tomorrow is my birthday. September 1st is my mom's birthday. I really wanted my daughter to be born September 2nd but it wasn't meant to be. She was due September 25th and waited until October 8th.

It's a rainy day. I like days like this. Every once in awhile you just have to have a overcast day. Heat makes you tired. I'd like to curl up in a window seat with a warm cup of tea, a fuzzy blanket and a good book.

I'm going out for dinner tonight with a friend (actually, an ex-boyfriend) to celebrate my birthday. I'd really like to go out and celebrate on my actual birthday but I'll need some zzz's tomorrow before I hit the road to head to the cabin. I'm sooooooooo excited! I got an oil change done on my SUV this morning. I cleaned it on Monday morning. I downloaded a whole crapload of music so I can have some new tunes! Woohoo!! It'll be a party on the highway...alone!

Make sure you do some shopping. You know, it's almost that time of year. See...


...I'm off to finish my day!

Martha Stewart I am not!

What I would do to jump inside these pictures! I really like blue & white. It's crisp, clean & feels like home. Or blue, white & beige. My favorite magazine has got to be Style At Home. Ever heard of Colorstrology? It's an interesting site. I'm not really sure if I particularly *like* my color but they say it calms me. Maybe when I get my own place I'll try and paint that color somewhere....like in the storage room. ha ha! And just like the title says, I am not a Martha Stewart but I wish I was. Unfortunately, she walked all over her family to get where she is today. I don't want her fame or her money. I just want talent like that. A cross between Martha Stewart and Mary Poppins would be kinda cool. Maybe someday.

I found this too. Did you know that what you want in a dream home may depend on when you were born? Find out more. I'm right in the middle of Generation X and Generation Y. I found it interesting about my family too. My parents who were baby boomers had one child born in Gen-X (my bro) and one child born in Gen-Y (me). We're a mixed family....or a mixed up family? This is my top 5 list:

1) State-of-the-art kitchen

2) Gym/Fitness Room

3) Walk In Closets

4) Patios, Porches & Decks

5) Whirlpool Bath

And like a true Generation Y child I love color! And of course, I need a home office! I suppose I should go and do something productive. Or think about what I'm going to write about tomorrow...

My Princess

This is my princess.
I'd be lost without her.
She likes anything to do with Disney Princesses. She's starting to like her baby dolls now and wanting a sibling (not right now!). When asked if she'd like a baby brother or sister she says, "Both!" Don't let the cute face fool you though. She has a wicked attitude. Her list of boyfriends is always changing and growing! I definately give the girl credit, she can wrap those boys around her finger. Last but not least, she'll be the only princess playing baseball. It's sad, my 4 (almost) year old daughter throws a ball and I duck!

My mom, dad, my bro & Emily are all leaving me Sunday morning. I'll be alone and hating it. They're driving out to our cabin (which is a 10 hour drive away) to spend a week there. Thursday night (my b-day), I'll come home from work and sleep for a few hours then I'll hit the road and drive all night to be out there with them for a few days (only Friday to Monday). Next year I plan on taking 2 weeks and relaxing out there. This year I don't have the staff to go for a whole week. I'll post pictures, it's absolutely beautiful out there!!

I don't have a whole lot to post about today. It's Friday (even though the date says it's Thursday, I started this post on Thursday and finished it today), I have to work tomorrow. Might go into the city on Sunday to do some shopping...childless! wow!

P.S. - Thanks Brandy for taking this picture!