Animated Sci-Fi - gets a thumbs up!!!

What do you get when you mate ET with R2D2? WALL-E!!!!!!!!! The Hubster and I took in the movie WALL-E last night. The theater was empty except for one other couple and one lone woman. So nice! No seat kickers. No teens texting during the movie. No babies crying. It was awesome! The Hubster and I are self-proclaimed overgrown kids (but we don't kick seats, text during movies or cry...not out loud anyways) and we loved WALL-E; he is adorable. He has a 'head' reminiscent of ET (with some amazingly similar vocals) and a body similar to that of R2D2 (and beeps and whistles like him too!). He has some packrat tendencies and a tender heart (powersource???) . The funniest characters are the humans who are hovering-lounge-chair-bound blobs (due to obeseness and diminishing bone structure due to lack of excercise) who wear StarTrek-like jumpsuits. Those characters helped me remember my Weight Watchers limit...about a cup and half of popcorn (no butter) and 6 peanut M&M's. That was plenty. (The good thing about being on WW is that after two weeks your stomache shrinks dramitically and reduced amounts of any treat can be satisfying!).

Back to the movie...WALL-E falls in love with Eve, who reminded me of a sleeker, quieter, less matronly Rosie (from The Jetsons). The corriders of speeding robots and hovering lounge chairs reminds me of the traffic in one scene of The Fifth Element. Cute movie, a bit long for animation, okay for little kids (wonderful animation, no bad words, no blood or guts, some giggles) and big kids and adults can enjoy also (wonderful animation, glimpses into the future, message about taking care of earth and ourselves, and a love story) - which is a Pixar trademark. It has elements of many of my favorite sci-fi movies, that's an extra! I give it a thumbs up.

Doing the Happy Jig!

Me and Arthur are doing the Happy Jig tonight! We attended our WW meeting and Arthur has lost a total of 9 lbs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have lost a total of 4.2 lbs and I am shocked! I wasn't sure I did so well this week, but I did pick up my intensity in jogging and walking. I drank more water. But I still ate! Smaller portions are key. Adding more exercise helps too. Just little things like lifting dumbbells and doing some sit ups. Parking a good ways from the grocery store is another small way to add some steps. A BIG change I have made is I eat breakfast even if I am not hungry. The rest of the day, I eat when I actually feel hunger pangs. And if I feel hungry at bedtime, I have a little snack and a glass of water. All these LITTLE changes are making a difference for me.

Arthur says the hardest thing to give up is sweet tea, but she has done it! And she has cut back on the creamer in her coffee. She orders WW meals from Applebees and keeps up with her points in a food journal. She eats better, but she still allows herself to have a 'treat' nearly every day. Obviously, these small things are working for her too! Nine pounds in 3 weeks is awesome!

One Man's Trash...

You know the saying...'One man's trash is another man's treasure'. Oh! How true this is! My most favorite Aunt, Judy, came over early this morning that we could go GARAGE SALE SHOPPING today! Oh! Oh! Oh! There were garage sales in abundance today! How I love to drive and see those neon yellow, green and orange poster-board signs announcing GARAGE SALE, YARD SALE, and my most favorite CHURCH SALE!!!!!!!!!!!!! At the very first sale I got a set of 40 paper punches - all in a carrying case for $4.00. I nearly fainted when I found this, because I have paid upward of $6.00 each for paper punches! (Judy spotted it first, but I convinced her if she would let me buy it and keep it at my house, she could come over and use it anytime. So now we have a scrapbooking session planned for one day next week!). Next, I found a perfectly gorgeous metal plant stand for Arthur's front entryway (now gotta get her a plant) - $3.00! Then, I found two cookbooks for 25 cents each (I made banana bread from a recipe in one of my new cookbooks - using very soft bananas given to me by a friend) - a box full of brand new plastic drink stirrers adorned with pelicans, pineapples, etc. for 25 cents (if I never use these, no big deal, they were 25 cents) and a replacement lid for a casserole dish for 25 cents. I got a tabletop, pre-lit, Christmas tree with gold ornaments for $2.50. (Rarely can I pass up a good deal on a Christmas deco). I got a BRAND NEW, tags on and everything, excercise bra for $1.00! I got an almost new pink t-shirt with sailboats for my Momma - 25 cents. Oh man! Those were my monetary treasures.

I also received treasures of the soul today. My best friend's dad, who is 88, said he liked my 'beehive' hair-do, that it made me look pretty. Had to hug and kiss him for that! (We stopped by his house in route to garage sales). An older couple (young 80's) commented to us in the Hardee's parking lot if we had 'left any food for them to eat'. I replied we left two biscuits and a few tater tots. We all had a good laugh. My father law, whom we also stopped by to see, who is 89, told us to watch out for the 'crazy B@$t@%#s' on the road (hey, he's a transplanted yankee, and he's Catholic on top of that - he curses like a sailor (actually he's a retired Airforce pilot), but I love him regardless). Yes, I love old people. (and Catholics. I am married to one, you know) The oldsters remind me of my granny, who is my angel soulmate.

We met all sorts of people today, who were doling out treasures of the soul in helpings of all sizes. One couple sat in there carport under a fan, hawking their wares (cast off household items); they had the sweetest shy smiles. One mother and daughter selling team who had the best dispositions even though some customers were trying to chew down their prices to near give-away. The worker at Hardees who called me 'sir', then we both laughed when he realized his mistake. So many wonderful people.

But, I did have a few episodes of Garage Sale Rage (yes, there is such a thing). Once at a sale with NO price stickers. I refuse to go up with an armload of stuff and have to ask 'How much is this?' I mean, what if they quote and outrageous price and I have to lay it back down??!! How embarrassing is that? Buy some pre-printed garage stickers folks! At another sale, Judy found a food processor before I did - $4.00!!!!!!! Brand new!!!!!!! But, that only lasted a few seconds. After a moment I felt all warm and fuzzy for her that she had found such a great bargain.

Then, there are the freebies. One lady wasn't having a yard sale, but she had a Jenny Lind type crib in her driveway marked FREE. I made an illegal u-turn to go back. My church needs a crib for the nursery. It was clean and mostly complete and in working order. Perfect! Now, I couldn't get it in my car. But this lady said she just HAPPEN to be coming to my neck of the woods later that day, she would deliver it to the church! When I gave her my phone number so she could call me to meet her at the church, (I ripped out a deposit slip from my checkbook, tearing off the account number of course) and she looked at my name on the slip and declared - 'we have almost the same last name' - was pronounced the same, but spelled differently by two letters. This woman so graciously gave away the crib, delivered the crib and provided an amusing story as to how she met her new husband. (She was walking around at an outdoor fundraising function looking to borrow sunscreen when a sweet, shy man offered her his!) Sometimes the freebies are the best treasures found!

Kitchen Cabinet Clean Out!

Today I am rejoicing because I DON'T have a job...I am getting so much done today! I have removed all the dishes from my kitchen cabinets and intend to weed out all the unused bowls, the stained Tupperware (and imitators), chipped coffee cups and lids with nothing to cover. I have too many cups, glasses, bowls, travel mugs and water bottles. I am CLEANING OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEEEAAAHHHH!

I also emptied out my 'spare cabinet' located in the garage. It is a holding place for out of season serving dishes, cupcake carriers, plastic pitchers and other little used items. The back of the cabinet was lose in all but about 3 places so for an hour I tacked little nails all around the perimeter of the back of the cabinet to reattach the backing. That is why there was so much dust on my stuff! Everytime I use something from that cabinet I have to wash it first. I am hoping I have fixed that problem!

Yesterday I was so bummed over how well I thought my job interview DID NOT go! Today I am just happy to have all this free time to do stuff I've never had time for!

Selling Yourself

I hate job interviews. It is all about selling yourself. It is about putting your best foot forward; putting on your best interview suit, having the perfect hair and makeup, having the perfect answers for those ridiculous questions they are going to ask-not to mention your resume needs to smartly list all your qualifications for this particular position in a one page format that will blow any manager's socks off.

I had a job interview today. I am not so sure I sold myself. The display just wasn't up to Neiman Marcus quality. It was more like an end-cap at Walmart.

I say this because, A) my interview suit felt a little outdated. My last job did not require me to dress to the 'Nines', and honestly, I just wore something hanging in my closet. I suppose I should go shopping for a real, stylish, interview suit. Something in navy blue, gray or black. And get some heels and maybe put on a string of pearls. Yeah, I wore brown today. With boring brown flats. Hoop earrings. B) The perfect hair didn't happen. I have not had a hair cut in about three months. I want to grow it out. Why? I don't know. I guess I like looking like a witch or something. So, shoulder length, baby-fine, gray at the roots hair, not so sharp. Yes, I did wash it and even put it up in hot rollers. The heat wilted the curl when I stepped outside to get my car. C) I forgot I was out of foundation. So I dug out what was left of the little pot and made do with what I could scrape out and powder and blush. Hmmm. D) The questions...oh man, I got tired of those after I realized my interviewer was asking the same question over and over, but just re-wording it so as to try to trick me. Or maybe she just wasn't getting the response she wanted?

Here are some of the questions....and the answers I WANTED to give, but didn't. Because I am too polite (a.k.a. chicken).

1) Why are you interested in our Accounting Position?

Because the economy really sucks right now and yours is one of the few job openings I have found that actually pertains to my area of expertise. I don't really want to drive this far for a job, but hey, I'm beginning to feel desperate. Unemployment benefits don't last forever you know.

2) Describe your job duties at your last job.

Well, I was the office manager and was in charge of accounts payable, receivables, billing, human resources, payroll, receptionist, and head doo-flunky. Of course, the last year I worked there, there may have been three checks received per week, four invoices to produce, six bills to pay, and only two other employees besides myself on payroll, so I spent most of my time reading for school or doing crossword puzzles on-line.

3. Describe a time you were challenged in your job to not lose your temper.

You see, we had this delivery person who delivered stuff to us that we had ordered and when he came in everyone in the office hid but I couldn't because I sat at the front desk and he was from Louisiana and he was very difficult to understand and he would go on and on about his pet dogs and pet cats and then he would see pictures on my desk of my kids and my cats and he would ask questions like what are their names, how are they, (not just the kids, the cats too) and then he would tell me about Poopsie who died twelve years ago and Fido who is eighteen years old and pukes up his food everyday and poops in the house but he loves him anyways and he and his wife let Fido sleep in the bed between them because they never had kids, they couldn't have kids and well, Fido was like a child to them....yeah, every time he came. It went on for at least 40 minutes each visit. I took the pictures of my kids and cats off my desk.

4. What did you do at your last job?

Hmmm. Well, I input cash received, I billed out the work we did, I paid the employees, I answered the phone. As long as it lasted.

5. Would you describe yourself as aggressive?

I don't think so. Once my boss told me what a relief it must be my Granny died, that I don't have that burden anymore. I wheeled around and said 'She was not a burden'. I felt really aggressive and ticked off. And he said, 'Did you say something?'. I said 'Excuse me. Gotta go to the bathroom'.

6. What would you say the most challenging part of your job was?

Uh, trying to stay busy and trying to look busy when I wasn't busy and trying to find something to do when I was tired of trying to look busy.

7. So, why did your boss lay you off?

Your kidding, right?

The Matchstick Reminder

Arthur and I had our 3rd WW meeting tonight. Arthur is doing so good. She lost another 1.8 lbs, for a total of 6.4 lbs (at the end of two weeks). Me, not so good. I had lost 1.4 lbs the first week. I gained .8 back. I think several things contributed to this gain...the fact that I was out of coffee creamer and couldn't rely on coffee as a nighttime snack. I only walked twice this week instead of the almost nightly walks I usually take. Me and the Hubster had two movie nights this week instead of one (which means popcorn and chocolate). Finally, the Hubster twisted my arm and made me eat at Waffle House Sunday evening. Yeah, Waffle House and Weight Watchers don't really sound good in the same in the sentence. So this week I brought home the 'magic journal'. This journal is used by a different person in the WW group for one week, and then passed on to someone else the next week, and so on and so on. The 'magic journal' makes you more accountable because you want to be a good example to someone else who uses it in the future. It makes you more diligent about food journaling. According to recent news reports, food journaling is a very helpful tool when attempting to lose weight. I won something from the drawing again this week, a chocolaty bar looking thing. I am hiding it from myself until I feel like I just HAVE to have something. (Which has been quite often this past 7 days). I wanted to win one of the the two WW magazines in the give-away, but others won those. I can't eat those, so they would be more helpful. But at the end of the meeting our leader hands everyone a match. After we all have a match she tells us to look at it, and each time we look at it to remember, 'You don't have to be stick thin to be red hot!' Kinda cute, huh?

All Tuckered Out!

Poor Lex! He is all tuckered out. He spent all morning watching out the back window, his eyes fixed on the bird bath, and tail swatting back and forth. He watched as the robin took her morning splash, the blue jay taking a long, leisurely drink, and the wren who took little sips and then wiggled her tail and took off. But mostly, he was captivated by the squirrel. The squirrel crawled several feet up the neighboring tree and then lept over onto the bowl of the bird bath. After looking left and looking right, he put his front paws just inside the rim of the bowl to brace himself, then lowered his head and drank. If Lex could have gone through the window, he would have gave chase. But the squirrel is lucky. Lex is strictly a house cat. He has been declawed and hasn't set foot outside in over two years, since he came to live with us. We can't let Lex or his companion, Blacky, out for two very good reasons. A) They might bring in fleas and the Hubster is extremely alergic to flea bites. B) They are declawed and it would be very hard for them to defend themselves. They can't climb trees and any attempts at swatting would be harmless.Also, we have two dog neighbors who would love to kill them. One is a chihuahua/terrior mix and the other is just a mutt. They are rather pampered and spoiled by their people. They are never leashed (even though we have a leash law in Walton County). They come into my yard and do their 'business' even if I am hanging out my window screaming and yelling and shaking my fist. (A whole nother post subject for another day). They once killed a stray cat that was hanging around my house. The kitty and about four of his siblings and mother had made a home on my front porch. I gave them food and water while I contemplated what to do with them. The neighbor dogs were let out about 11:00pm one night and they came on my porch and made much noise chasing and barking and knocking things over and they killed one kitty, leaving his lifeless body on my driveway. Leaving me saddened that my porch was not a safe haven. (I never saw the other kitties again). So, you see, I cannot let my cats outside. So, to compensate, I let the blinds up and leave water and food for the wildlife. The back window provides many hours of fun watching the birds, squirrels and chipmonks. The front window looks out onto the porch and they enjoy watching the tiny green lizards and the wasps that get trapped between the screen and window. We are having our porch screened in. When it is finished my cats will get a step closer to the great outdoors! (I am so excited for them). But for now, they have to be content with open windows. And some days, Lex is so tuckered out he just collapses on the sideboard. But after he rests, he'll be up again.