Biggest Loser 5

A blogging buddy Tiburon has been organizing Biggest Loser contests for a while now. Biggest Loser 5 starts this upcoming week, so I'm posting it here in case anyone reading this might want to jump in. You can get more information and sign up here.

In the interest in total disclosure, I will tell you that I am not participating. However, I think it's a great idea and I'm all for anything that helps even one person get in better shape! I know that for some of you, a competition of sorts is just the motivation you might need; for others, having to report your progress every week will be what keeps you on track; for others, it's the chance to win cold, hard cash that will help the pounds melt away....whatever it might be, the Biggest Loser might just offer it, so go check it out.

Oh, and if any of you need someone to nag you/hit you upside the head to keep you on track, let me know. I can be very good at that! :-)

I've Been Told I'm a Nut Before....

Now I know what kind.

You Are a Pistachio

You are funky, freaky, and a total character. You're very different than anyone you know. There's no way you're changing the way you are... Which is good, because no one wants you to change.

What Nut Are You?

Thankful Thursday

Yeah, I know. It's already Friday. Things have been crazy busy at work, followed by dance rehearsals to get a group performance ready that's less than a month away, so sometimes, things just slip a little on the schedule....Without further ado, things I'm thankful for this week include:

• Friday!! Every week needs one. And boy am I glad we've reached the one associated with this week!
  
  
• Reaching the point on this particular group routine where everyone has the actual choreography & can now practice it on their own. We will still need to get the group together to work on the "big picture", but we don't have to all get together every time in order to make progress from here on out! Yay!
  
  
• Finding easy costumes for this group routine. Better yet, the hardest part to find (usually) is on clearance & dirt cheap!! Woo Hoo!!
  
  
• Working in a fun place/with good people. Yeah, work has been crazy & probably will be even crazier for the next few months, but we still manage to have a good time & keep the atmosphere jovial, even while all heck is breaking out.
  
  
• Chocolate.....I can always find a good reason to be happy for chocolate!!
  
  
• Meeting a couple of good friends for dinner tonight. We haven't seen them in a while (much too long), so it'll be nice to catch up.

So how about you? What's made your week nice or a little more pleasant this week?

Parade of Nations

It seems appropriate, given the Olympics & all.

135

I could have named more if I could have typed faster.....or spelled better.

Thankful Thursday

I never got the chance to stop long enough last Thursday to make a "Thankful Thursday" post. It really is nice to spend a few minutes focusing on the good things around me, so I'm not going to let another week slip by without making it happen. This week, I'm thankful for:

1. The Olympics. I love the pagentry, the excitement, etc. I was completely enthralled by the opening ceremonies; I only wish I could get my dancers to be 1/2 as precise as the 2008 drummers or the people inside the boxes that created the "Great Wall" or the tai chi masters who made perfect circles, etc.
   
   


2. Great weather -- usually August is pretty unbearable around these parts. This year, however, we've had GORGEOUS weather. Thanks to low humidity, I've had the AC off and the windows open for the last week. It's been delightful!
   
   


3. My foster dog did get adopted and is doing really well in his new home. In fact, he's blossoming; ya see, around others, Harley is a submissive dog. If he were a human, he would have been the kid that always had the "kick me" sign on his back. In his new home, the only other dog in residence is a 12-yr-old blind Bichon Frise who follows him around like a lost puppy dog, so for the first time in his life, he gets to be top dog. As a result, he's really coming out of his shell & gaining confidence......People often ask me why I do rescue. Now ya know. His time was up at the shelter & if we hadn't taken him, he would have been euthanized. Instead, he's got a great new life, is finally becoming the dog he always had the potential to be, and his new family has filled the void that was left when their previous dog passed away. It's a win-win all around!!
   
   


4. No staff meeting today. 3rd (or is it 4th now?) week in a row! Gotta love a boss who doesn't hold meetings just to hold meetings!
   
   


5. Getting assigned to a really interesting new project at work. When I had my performance evaluation with my boss last week, we spent a lot of time talking about what type of things I enjoy doing/find interesting/would like to work on. This new one is definitely a good fit & a nice affirmation that he was listening to what I had to say & wants to make that happen for me.
   
   


6. A clean PET scan....I've mentioned before that my SO battled lymphoma last year. At his last PET scan, there were a couple of "spots" found. The good news was they weren't showing hypermetabolic (i.e. cancerous) activity, but they were definitely there. The docs didn't know what they were -- best guess was damaged tissue that resulted from the chemo or radiation, but it was possible that they could be the start of the tumor coming back. The decision that was made was to "wait and see". If they either showed cancerous activity or had grown by the next PET scan, then they'd go in and do a biopsy. (Since that would involve cracking the chest wall, not something one would really want to do.)
   
   The good news is that the PET scan was clear!! Not only had the spots not grown/weren't showing hypermetabolic activity, they had actually SHRUNK!! Most likely, they are evidence of collateral damage from the cancer treatment, but unlike what was first thought, the damage may not be permanent as it appears that his body is doing its best to heal itself!!
   

So, how 'bout you? What things are you thankful for today?

Missing In Action

I know I've been MIA lately. Sorry bout that. Work got crazy-busy between a server that went kablooey last week & an impending audit happening this week. The kaput server messed up everything my coworkers use on a daily basis, so there was much scrambling about to recover from that. That was further compounded by the scrambling about that always comes with an internal audit. So, even tho neither thing directly affected me, I ended up jumping in on some stuff that had to get done ASAP. (On the plus side, nothing like showing yourself to be a "team player" just before your boss conducts your annual performance review!)

As for the weekend, it was pretty busy since we ran a dance this weekend. Luckily, the weather was GORGEOUS, so it was very pleasant!! We took last night off & enjoyed the weather. Afterall, we don't get many low-80's, low-humidity days in August & my sweetie's convertible was just begging to be taken for a spin!! A "progressive dinner" (dinner in one place, dessert in another) plus a couple of errands made for a pleasant evening on a beautiful late-September-like evening.

Now, time to tackle the work that got pushed aside by all that scrambling...

Time for a Little Geometry Lesson!!

"They did a 360 degree turnaround".

I keep seeing this statement used to indicate a complete reversal of direction/attitude/whatever & it bugs me like nails being scraped on a chalkboard!!

Ok, people. Let's go back to about 5th-grade math, shall we? This is 360 degrees:




This is 180 degrees:
If someone were to do a 360 degree turnaround, they wouldn't have changed a bit. They'd end up right where they started & continue along the same exact path. If they were heading East to begin with, they'd still be going East after doing a 360 degree turn around. To indicate a complete reversal of direction/attitude/whatever, they need to make an 180 degree turnaround.

Thank you. That concludes the lesson for today. Tune in next time when I tackle the use of, "I could care less" as opposed to "I couldn't care less".