01gt4.6

a black eye for talkin' crazy.

cjohnson728

ROFLMAO!!!!

Now, pretend your car doesn't have a turn signal and make up your own traffic laws, and you'll be all set!

quinnesec

OMG, you guys are too funny!!! I'm sitting here laughing and my family thinks I'm nuts.

Mike,

Love the graphic! A hose pipe??? I wouldn't say that too loudly at some of our red-neck bars. God only knows what would happen to you!!! I was called a "Yankee" once in Sevierville, TN and, believe me, it wasn't a term of endearment! Actually, a few expletives preceded "Yankee". LOL Apparently, no one told this particular gentleman that the Civil War was over.

In our area, any kind of soft drink is pop. When we leave the area, we make sure we say Coke or soda because we've been teased mercilessly!

I've been wanting to ask you, how is New Orleans recovering as far as tourism is concerned? We had planned on going to Mardi Gras the year Katrina hit... obviously, we didn't make it. Some people tell us it's doing well and others say don't go. What's the true story down there?

blackrhino2

i'm pretty sure I have no accent, but my grandma was from Manhattan and she had the crazy "larchmont lock jaw" accent. Only really old people have it! I think it's going extinct. You can hear it in old movies w/ new yorkers in it. I've only heard of women having the accent though.

I say singles, Terri! I grew up outside of the city, so I think I have lots of NY/LI lingo. Also, thank you for your response to my earlier question regarding binging. I never saw your response till after I posted!

Native RI folks definitely have funny accents. I guess they sound kind of similar to some parts of the Boston accent..other times they just sound like hicks. I love accents and wish I was better at impersonating them!

blackrhino2

Hi Quinn, I thought I'd put my two cents in even though you asked Mike.

I never got a chance to see New Orleans before Katrina and Rita but I have been three times since the hurricanes it. All three times I had an absolute blast. The first time I went for 3 weeks in Nov of 2005 and it was still a mess but people had an amazing spirit and I loved being there, even though it was quite sad. I went back again in March of 2006 and spent another week trying to help w/ clean ups. I love that city! I was there for St. Paddy's day parade which really rowdy and crazy. I can't even imagine how rowdy Mardi Gras is! I went in 2007 for a conf. at Tulane too. I think I could live there, it's so awesome. I love the music too. Zydeco!

01gt4.6

Julia, thanks for coming down and lending a hand. I can assure you that the people of New Orleans, as well as myself are grateful! For you... I have some pics that I took that'll remind you of the beautiful city that you helped out.

St. Louis Cathedral


Inside the Cathedral




hell even a busted lamp on some crazy color walls looks good in the Big Easy!


Quinn,
N.O. is back in business. It's not near as crowded as it once was and probably never will be but I can promise you that one trip down for Mardi Gras and you will never forget it... if you ever remember it. Seriously though, the city is a blast, the people are friendly and the culture, well... it's New Orleans. The carriages still roll behind the donkeys, the street musicians still play, the tarot card readers are all there, you can walk down the street with an open beer, stop and have a conversation with a cop and me may ask you why you are drinking so slowly. Yep, it's still a nice place to come party and a great place to live. But one warning, not to be taken lightly, don't come down here if you don't play on eating! The food here is unreal!

If anyone plans on visiting New Orleans, let me know ahead of time. I hear that I make a great tour guide.

cjohnson728

Mike, your photos are breathtaking. Really wonderful work!

So, here is the day. My foot is better, somewhat, but still aches. I canceled my match for the morning (so long, expended calories ) but hope I can make up for it by getting on the stationary bike.

1. Calorie deficit of 350 daily, on average. 346, 353, 352, 348, 260
2. Balance the pie chart. Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes
3. 64 oz. water daily. 66, 70, 66, 64, 48, but I drank a lot of herbal tea today
4. Total 5 fruits and veggies daily. 5, 5, 4, 5, 5
5. 25 grams fiber daily (no supplements). 28, 32, 37, 26, 36
6. Exercise 6/7 days. Rest day, Tennis, Weights, Treadmill, Weights (none standing)

7. Be positive! Reframe stress and focus on what I'm thankful for (I'm truly in a funk lately; everything seems to be going wrong). Struggling, Little better, [/COLOR] Pretty good today, Pretty good, Marginal; being hurt does not make for a rosy outlook
8. Get shade garden done by end of weekend. Not yet
9. Work on cleaning garage before it gets too hot! Not yet
10. Paint one room's trim IFF no tourney this weekend. There's no tourney, so I gotta do it

Sooo tired and heading for bed. Before I eat anything I don't mean to; sometimes it starts when I'm tired and make bad decisions.

See y'all in the morning when I log my breakfast .

almeeker

Friday Report Card

Health & Fitness Goals:

1. Eat clean and kept calories 1,350-1,600, 50 push-ups for days I'm over. 1,521, 1,514, 2,561, 1,569, 2,054 There was a small chocolate cookie incident
2. Drink 96 oz of water. Y, Y, Y, Y, N
3. Exercise 6 hours. 0 min, 60 min, 60min, 60 min, 0 min (total 3:00)
4. Calorie deficit of 3,500 for the week. -503, -959, +266, -838, +20 (total -2,034)
5. Carbs 45% or lower, Protein 30% or higher. (55c/28p), (50c/30p), (53c/19p)(45c/24p), (55c/17p)
6. Log food and report every day even weekends. Y, Y, Y, Y, Y
7. Grain free 3 days. M-YES, T-YES, W-NO, T-YESF-NO

Non-Fitness Goals:

8. Get DD ready for State finals on Saturday. Y, N, Y, Y, N,
9. Call the autobody place and set up appointment. N, N, N, But I did make an appointment to get the oil changed and the tires rotated, and will likely make the body shop appointment at that time. NO
10. Call my doctor's office and work out the prescription problem. N, N, N, N, N
11. Smile more, bitch less and (stealing from Crimpet) instantly drop into a 2 minute plank for infractions. NO,YES & NO, NO, YES, YES
12. 1 hour of cleaning in the basement. N, N, N, N Hopefully on Sunday.
13. Order more parts for the money pit, um I mean elliptical. N, N, YES!!!
14. Housework:
Monday: down-stairs bathroom, up-stairs bathroom, laundry
Tuesday: kitchen, stairwell, hall, laundry
Wednesday living room, bedroomlaundry
Thursday dining room, bedroom, laundry
Friday den, master bedroom, laundry
Saturday, State Finals, gone all day
Sunday, basement, cupboard, laundry

Yesterday was nutty, and I was doing fine with my calories until I dropped the kids off to my parents house, and mom had a plate of "oops" treats. She actually had about 600 treats in plastic wrap, but the oops treats were the ones that were broken or didn't look nice and she left those on a platter in the middle of the kitchen table. She made them for a chicken dinner thing going on this weekend. So I'm over my calorie budget by 6 oops treats and a bowl of ice cream. Yikes!

Quin I can't believe you have that song on your MP3 player!!! How did you find it?

Mike, seriously they would hit a hungry Yankee girl for speakin' in her native language? Wow, I though you said folks was nice down there. And yes where I live they frequently call it "sodie-pop" or "diet cola", depending on what you order. And I'm going to second that advice from quinn on saying "hose pipe" up here in the north, especially in a red neck bar... Nice photos BTW.

As usual I have more to say, but alas I have to get moving, State Finals are today for National History Day and I have to go help round up DD's props and costume. She's not nervous, I'm a wreck.

taubele

Mike: Glad to hear you dodged a bullet on the pregnancy Your pictures of New Orleans are beautiful. I was there when I was 13 or so (I think the summer of '96) and the city left a huge impression on me. I haven't been back since I've been an adult, but I really REALLY want to go. I was supposed to go the year that Katrina hit; my Neuroscience conference was scheduled for New Orleans that November, though obviously the venue had to be moved. I'm glad the city still seems to be as I remember it from your pictures and words (though I have to admit, my stomach can't handle a lot of the spices in the food I keep trying, though!!). Can't wait to get back!

As for being "bred" -- the redneck country is the WEST part of MA, not the east, haha!

Cassie: GASP!!! I never heard anywhere else say jimmies! I could give you a huge cyber-hug. I've gotten relentless teasing for saying "jimmies" but I can't help myself. In particular, the chocolate sprinkles are jimmies - rainbow sprinkles are sprinkles. I hope your foot is feeling better and that maybe you just have a little strain - keep up the ice and drugs!

And goodness, the Southern words. I can't get over being called "ma'am" every five seconds (It makes me feel older than 27!) and 'ya'll' and 'Big 'ol' and a million other phrases I can't even think of this early in the morning. Sheesh.

jj: Way to go on the doc's appointment!!! Those look like awesome numbers! I'm sure doc was pleased, and you should be too!

On the cola thing... my grandmother, who is from South Boston, calls soda (or pop, or coke) "tonic" -- I picked that up from her when I was a kid. When I ask what kinds of 'tonic' people have, they think I want either tonic water or a "gin and tonic" and inform me that they're not a bar, haha! I've gotten to the point now where 'soda' is fairly natural, but the whole "What kind of Coke do you have?" thing drives me NUTS. COKE IS COKE! IT IS A NAME BRAND! lol.

Julia: High-five for singles! And no worries on thanking me, you're quite welcome, I just ramble and hope some of it makes sense And I agree with you on the RI accent - it's like a mash of Boston and redneck, it's really bizarre. I can always tell when someone is from RI.

almeeker: Good luck to DD!!!! Looking forward to knowing how it goes!

Friday Report Card

Food, Exercise and Lifestyle Goals:
1) Achieve a 7,000 calorie deficit by the end of the week M: -701 T: -786 W: -1,313 Th: -504 F: -1,017 (Week Total: -4,321)
2) Do not take off two days in a row from exercising. M: Day off, though I did go grocery shopping T: No gym W: one hour HIIT cardio Th: Day off F: roughly an hour on weights, 15 minutes cardio
3) Achieve a 30% protein average for the week M: 38% T: 24% W: 24% Th: 27% F: 28% (Weekly average: 28%)
4) Carbs at or below 50% average for the week M: 38% T: 56% W: 51% Th: 44% F: 37% (Weekly average: 45%)
5) Protein powder after every workout in a smoothie M: N/A T: N/A W: yes Th: N/A F: Yes
6) At least 104 oz. water daily M: yes (120) T: yes (112) W: yes (112) Th: yes (112) F: yes (112)
7) Report here each and every day M-F: Day after
8) Eat out/take out no more than twice for lunch and once for dinner M: Had take-out for lunch T: No takeout W: No takeout Th: Out to lunch F: No takeout (Lunch Total: 2 Dinner Total: 0)

Other Life Stuff:
1) When stressed, don't take it out on myself, or anything that does not have to do directly with the source of the stress. Deal with it directly, even if I don't want to. M: Yes! T: Big yes! W: Yes Th: Not much stress F: Wooo yes!
2) Make an effort on my appearance every day M: Yes T: yes W: yes Th: yes F: No...
3) Work on my embroidery for at least five hours M: 1.5 hours T-F: No (Week Total: 1.5 hours)
4) Don't worry, be happy! M: Mostly T: Stressful morning, much better evening W: Some afternoon stress, but I shook it off somehow! Th: Yes F: Yes!
5) Try two new recipes for dinner M: not yet T: No W: No Th: yes. Recipe needs tweaking. F: No

Yesterday was CRAZY at work but I managed to keep my head on my shoulders, and I was really proud of myself. A lot of my usual stressors were there: The ever-broken machine that needs constant tweaking, the one graduate student that is always stressed out and "needs someone to talk to" for an hour, my boss dumping what I thought was busy work on me last minute...

I handled them all, one by one!

I spent most of the morning dealing with the "busy work" and the grad student. I feel for her deeply; this girl reminds me of me a few years ago. She's got a messed-up family life, she's obsessive, frets about everything, and can't ever seem to LET GO. I try to help her as best I can. She's got a sinus infection (is always sick) and I shipped her off to the doctor before she passed out. I don't know how much of a difference I'm making, but I try to be sympathetic (though it does try my patience, especially on busy days).

I got the busy work finished (manuscript review) and shipped off to my boss, who surprised me by thanking me profusely and telling me about how overwhelmed she was with grading final papers etc., and that getting the review off of her back was a big weight off. That felt really nice and unexpected to hear, and I was really glad I didn't push it off until next week but got it done for her.

Dealt with the machine all afternoon, even though people were yapping behind me and I wanted to throw tools at their heads. After systematicallly testing for electronics problems I realized about 3.5 hours that the issue was probably a "stupid Terri mistake" and I fixed it

My body is sore from lifting weights yesterday, but I really want to hit the gym this morning! Gonna make me some eggs and bacon and rev myself up! Happy weekend everyone!!

~Terri

cjohnson728

Good luck to you and your daughter, almeeker. Sometimes I think it's harder to be a parent at these things than a competitor .