Tuesday

Since it was a vacation day for me, I slept in until 7:30. Walked on my treadmill when I got up. It's amazing how that lowers the blood sugar numbers.

We decided to go out to lunch. It was such a beautiful day. We decided on O'Doherty's Irish Pub and Grill for fish and chips. We had about a 1/2 hr before they opened so we went and walked around Boo Radley's and 4 Seasons Coffee Gift Shop which is always interesting. Lunch was delicious as always. It is definitely one of my favorite places.

After lunch we decided to take a drive because the weather was so perfect. We headed east and drove through Medical Lake up to Silver Lake. If I had known they had a photo contest going on I would have taken some pictures to enter.

When we got home I went to the Dollar Store and to Walmart and bought school supplies for my friend Joanna's daughter. My work is having a school supply drive for people I don't know, so I decided if I am going to buy school supplies I would rather give them to someone I know who needs the help.

Testing & Weight: Testing like I said above was low due to the walking. I was still at 11 this morning.

Mail Call: A very boring mail day. Only a letter from Banner Fuel about their keep fill program and a mayor candidate flyer.

TV Watching: I watched Hell's Kitchen while I was walking. I hope Bonnie wins. She should have picked Julia before picking the redhead. That will probably prove to have been a big error on her part. It will be interesting to see who finally wins. Tonight I watched last night's episode of Big Love. I know I've said it before, but, I love this show. It just gets better and better.

Big Brother update: I hope they send Kail home and not Eric. I cannot believe Jen keeps winning the POV to save herself or has someone else save her. All I can say is LUCKY!

I made hamburgers and macaroni and cheese for dinner tonight. It's too bad we both have to go back to work tomorrow. We both really enjoyed having the day off.

Monday

As always a busy Monday. Time just zipped by. After work I stopped at a mailbox place to ship Jacob's Birthday gift and my first Paperback Swap book. I walked down to Safeway and bought some lettuce before heading for home.

Testing & Weight: Good low numbers for both this morning and afternoon. Weight went up to 11.

Mail Call: Throw away catalogs, junk mail, an EOB for me and a notice from Capital One that they are increasing their costs for late fees.

TV Watching: I think I'm getting hooked on the Hogan Knows Best reality series. They are too funny. I also watched Dr. Phil to see the end of Man Camp and Judge Judy.

I made BLT's when M got home. He took tomorrow off too. Looking forward to another day off. Not sure what we have planned yet, except for fixing up the sewing room and a trip to Costco. I want to go and rent the movie Road Hogs.

Sunday

It was a pretty quiet day around home.

I mostly watched tv all day or played on the computer. I watched the 2 cooking shows I had DVR'd. We watched the movie, "The Perfect Man" starring Heather Locklear, Hilary Duff and Chris Noth (Big from Sex and the City) It was cute and light hearted.

We were going to go to M's friend Tom's house for a BBQ. First it was at 5:00 then they wanted to movie it up to 6:00. That is way too late for me. By the time we eat and visit I would be getting home far past my bedtime. 3:00 in the morning comes too quickly the later you go to bed. Mondays are always tough days, so I need my full night's sleep. So we took a rain check. I am taking a vacation day on Tuesday. That will be nice.

So instead of the BBQ I made fajitas with the left over steak from last night.

Weight: Still at 10 when I weighed this morning.

It is going to be an early evening for me tonight. I can't keep from yawning.

Saturday

We got up early this morning. Weather was perfect. I got most of the laundry done. Once we had showers taken and got dressed we took a drive to Coeur d'Alene to see where M might be going to work if he changes jobs. We stopped at Milliways Expresso for a sugar free irish cream mocha and a granita. Then we stopped at McDonald's for a breakfast biscuit. The drive was relaxing once we got around all the road construction going on in Spokane. The building M might go to work at is overlooking the river the runs from Lake Coeur d'Alene to the Post Falls dam. We drove around and looked at the condos and the new housing track right next to the place. The price for the houses range from $300,000 to $800,000 depending how close to the river you are. They were nice craftsman houses but a bit on the pricey side. On our way back home we drove through Post Falls and stopped at a grocery store. We bought the few things we needed and I bought a Powerball Ticket and a Country Gardens magazine.

When we got home I finished the laundry and watched some tv. Then we took a nap. It was a long week and I guess we both needed the rest.

For dinner tonight we BBQ'd steaks and with that we had sauteed mushrooms and baked potatoes. Since the weather was so nice we ate out on the deck. But all the wasps chased us back inside. We have killed quite a few in out traps but this is the time a year that they get so agressive. I did the dishes and then went downstairs and played on my laptop. I caught up on all the happenings going on on Big Brother. They all are starting to get under each other skins. I guess that's why we watch it. If they all got along it would be boring. I also paid bills.

Testing & Weight: I am so bad - I did not test at all today. Weight was still at 10 this morning.

Mail Call: Bill from Fashion Bug and the rest was junk which was tossed.

TV Watching: I watched mostly reality tv shows today. The only one I can remember is Hogan Knows Best on VH1.

Just another day in paradise.

Friday

Woke to sprinkles and thunder. Perfect weather to drive to work to. I love seeing the whole sky light up with flashes of lightning. Another busy day at work. We had our team meeting. Jim brought me more hollyhock seeds. He said these seeds were all different colors of flowers. I can't wait to plant them and see them grow next spring.

After work I took my car to Jiffy Lube and got her serviced. Then went and filled her up with gas and got her washed. It felt like this was Jiffy's gage when I looked at how much it costs to fill her up today. I'm glad my commute is just a few miles each way.

When I got home I tested, took my medicine, changed my clothes to take M out on a date night. We had an hour to kill before the restaurant I chose opened, so I went to Borders Books & Music and M went to Best Buy. I bought an amazing stenciling book for only $5.99 from a bargain table.

I also bought 3 magazines: Pirates; Northwest Travel; and Somerset Studio's Artful Blogging.

We went to dinner at Opa Greek Restaurant. The place was so cute. The walls are a sky blue with pictures of Greece and Italy. The entire dining room was filled with dark wood furniture, ficus trees and hanging baskets of ferns and ivy. They had a wonderful stocked wine rack that spanned across as a divider between the dining room and kitchen. I ordered the chicken marsalla and M had the spaghetti and meatballs. The garlic bread was incredible. The place was clean and the service was very good. We will definitely go back. The table behind us had ordered a pizza and it was HUGE and cheezy!

Testing & Weight: Testing was in the normal ranges again. Weight was at 10 but sure it has gone up since eating that wonderful rich dinner. Back on the treadmill tomorrow.

Mail Call: More political garbage, a Fashion Bug coupon postcard, registration notice for Jiffy, bill from Holy Family and junk mail to be shredded or tossed.

TV Watching: I watched the Top Chef newest episode that I had DVR'd. Bye bye cry baby Joey. Sara or Hung need to go next.

I am so happy it is the weekend. I think we are going to drive to Coeur d'Alene tomorrow, It will be a nice day for that. Only supposed to be in the eighties.

Thursday

Back to work today after the glorious vacation day yesterday. It started off slow but got steadily busy as the day progressed. Jim brought me a whole grocery bag of hollyhock seed heads. I am going to plant these next Spring all around the house. He said he will bring me more too. Kendra came back to work today after being off on disability for about 6 months. It was nice to see her. She has alot of catch up to do to get back up to speed. I found out our trainer Kim is on disability now. Need to send her a card. I looked at my quality scores today which were not too bad and I got an email from Holly, my team lead, that invited me to my 6 month review next week. Oh joy.

I didn't win the Lotto for 8 million, so I guess I will continue to work. Next chance is Saturday night for a chance at 8.2 million.

Testing and Weight: Normal ranges today. Weight went to 11. It figured after eating that big steak dinner the night before.

Mail Call: Political ads from two candidates running for mayor, my voting ballot and 2 bills. The monthly bill from Banner Fuel and the other from Healthcare Associates for the imaging I had done.

I have not made up my mind who am going to vote for mayor yet. I was going to vote for the current mayor, but he is campaigning to cut down all the aged trees around my favorite historic part of town just so the new garbage trucks can drive through without hitting the limbs. I say use the old trucks that fit those streets and under the trees and leave the trees and neighborhood alone. So he sort of lost my vote. I do not like any of the incumbents running for city council or council president, so maybe I will vote for a newcomer that no one has ever heard of.

I made steak, egg and cheese biscuits with the leftover steak for an early dinner this afternoon. The weather really got hot again today. Close to 100 degrees. But it supposed to cool down to the eighties this weekend. They have pushed the prediction of rain off until next Wednesday.

Tomorrow is Friday and it's M's payday. It's going to be a good day. My new computer is awesome. Started adding my favorite booksmarks to my list of favorites.

Wednesday

I can't say enough! I love vacation days! It was such a nice relaxing day. I watched tv, washed bed linens, cleaned the kitchen, played on my computer and just did what I wanted to do. It was nice this morning until around noon when it really heated up. The high was in the nineties.

Fed Ex delivered my computer. M has the next 2 days off from work to get it up and running perfect.

I went to Safeway and picked up prescriptions and a few groceries. I also went to Walmart and picked up a few things. I also bought Lotto quick picks - 8 million tonight!

Mail Call: We got a letter from a company we never heard of called Certegy Check Services. They explained how an employee had sold everyone's name and information to some direct mail outfit. They are not sure if any one's identify had been breeched so advised we should watch our bank account closely. Just what we need. I write very few checks from my own account. I use on-line banking so most all of the bills I pay only see the bank's account #. What really frightened me was Dateline's "To Catch An Identity Thief" show. It was just like their To Catch a Predator shows. It was amazing how fast they could acquire your information and then clean you out - all from overseas. The chances of them getting caught is slim to none. I also got a gift of 3 mini recipe booklets from Taste of Home a recipe magazine I subscribed to.

TV Watching: I watched Big Medicine which I dvr'd. I also watched the Big Brother episode from last night. I also watched a movie called Two Can Play That Game starring Vivica Fox. It was cute and next year they are coming out with a sequel called Three Can Play That Game.

Testing & Weight: I only tested this morning. I never got around to doing it this afternoon. The weight came down to 10. But after dinner tonight I bet it won't be that tomorrow morning.

I found a really neat site on a 43things.com members page. It is called Paper Back Swap. If you want to swap any of your books for other books and only pay postage this is the place.

We had a terrific dinner. BBQ steaks, mac n' cheese, beach salad (see recipe below) and fresh made french bread and cantalope for dessert.

Beach Salad:

2 large ribs of celery, sliced

1/2 red onion thinly sliced

1/2 cup chopped sweet pickles

1 tomato (no seeds) diced

beans (red or pinto) drained and rinsed

Dressing: 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar, 1/2 cup olive oil, 1/4 tsp crushed cloves, 1 tsp oregano,

1 tsp paparika and salt & pepper.

Sounds crazy, but try it - it really is good and yummy.

Maybe I will be updating this blog on my brand new spankin' computer tomorrow... peace!