It's Halloweekend!!!

A friend did this pumpkin and it's just too neat not to share. It took her a lot of time to do and required  a lot of rhinestones---approximately 1500!!!!

My best friend is a breast cancer survivor. While cancer is no joking matter, when you have been diagnosed with it, sometimes you have to joke a little. She had hers first and then I was diagnosed with cancer "down there". We had to laugh at the time that we do everything together and that with her having top and me bottom that we're covered! Thankfully we have both had clear checkups since!

I really enjoy candy Halloween and normally I have a costume all planned and places to go for the entire Halloweekend. We have plenty of options for parties, but things have been hectic that I have no idea what we will be doing. (Things are in a state of flux because of some recent changes at the j-o-b. It's just a weird and stressful time, but it will pass.)

Anyway, if I end up needing a costume, I guess I'll dig something out of the attic. I am kicking myself because there was this full zip up chicken costume (white fuzzy, with hood, wings and feet!) that was marked down to 40 - which sounds like a lot, but wasn't compared to full price - and to add insult to injury there were two. Man, do I wish I had those. They were hilarious!

PS - thanks for the comments on ideas for my 6-year post and I'll cover what you suggested Tessie Rose and Manda Panda. Cat - I owe you a reply! : )

Oh no she didn't!

Having to hit the "mark all as read" button really sucks, but now and then it has to happen. My excuses reasons:

• I got behind, then more behind, then outta control behind.
• Work. Nuff said on that. Other than: grrrrrrrr.
• Rangers. Ya, I'm one of "those" fans. I'm jumping on the band wagon now that they're in the WS. Go Rangers!
• I've been stressing about a lot of stuff. And, it was getting stupid. Stupid to the point that my unread list was adding stress. Ya, I told you it was stupid. 

So, just not enough time. But I didn't want a big empty spot that in hindsight I might be wondering what was going on with me, so that's the scoop.

And in other boring news: I am just keeping up with my normal routine.

My buddy Dawyna mentioned to me that her one year bandiversary was coming up on Nov 16 (yipeee!) the date just sounded familiar to me for some reason. Uh, duh. I figured out why and it's pretty cool, we were banded on the same day! Six years for me is almost officially here. Most likely I'll do my normal yearly post (boring in my opinion at this point), so if anyone has questions, ideas, whatever on something for that post that would be great!

Review: Pirate's Booty

Website

I've been a fan of the booty for quite some time. (ba-da bing!) Seriously, this snack is delicious and addictive. So it only enters the house on special occasions or in portion control bags which for me can also be dangerous.

Funny how the pirate just starts to call to me: "Come on! You know you want t' eat more o' this lovely treaaye. Yoo hoo, come eat me!"

So, hooks up on this one!  Nothin' bad t' say. Thanks for t' free swag!

What be you waitin' for? Go get some!

To do my part to ensure that vendors continue to contribute to b00bs, I will now and then be doing some product reviews of the items that we received in the swag bags. We received the product for free and are not being compensated for our reviews---regardless this is a no fluff zone, so my opinion good or bad is also provided free of charge.

Review: Detour Lower Sugar Bar

Website

To do my part to ensure that vendors continue to contribute to b00bs, I will now and then be doing some product reviews of the items that we received in the swag bags. We received the product for free and are not being compensated for our reviews---regardless this is a no fluff zone, so my opinion good or bad is also provided free of charge. :)

What I did like:

• It is visually appealing (probably cause it looks like a candy bar)
• It's lower in sugar (than the other bars) and doesn't have any Trans Fats or High Fructose Corn Syrup
• The chewiness of it was pretty good.

What I didn't like so much:

• The ingredient list is mind numbingly long. I didn't read them, but anything with a list that long is far from natural.
• While it looks like a candy bar, I don't expect it to taste like one as it is a protein bar after all, but I didn't like the after taste.
• It doesn't have Trans Fats, but it does have Saturated Fat (Boo).
• Looking at the nutrient stats - it's just not very impressive.

Fluff Bottom Line: I'd eat it again if it was free, I was hungry, and there wasn't anything else handy. My guess is that the price point is high enough that I could find an alternate bar that I'd prefer.

Hittin' the TX Wineries

The other weekend we went to Fredericksburg. It's a German town that is surrounded by a number of wineries. We decided to spend a few days there and check it out. By the time we arrived, there wasn't much time until our dinner reservation. The weather was beautiful, so we sat outside on the patio.

There was this big water feature throughout the patio area that had waterfalls and ponds full of fish. I spied what looked like a gumball machine, but when I looked closer it was fish food! Neat!

It was a perfect night and I didn't know that the next day it was supposed to be raining.

And, it did. There was not one person complaining though. The drought, while it should be great for the quality of the Texas wine for this year, hit the area hard. The peach trees didn't look so good and the ranches we passed on the drive down were so dry that they looked like they were clear cut.

I think we went to 7 or 8 wineries. The wine was pretty expensive, so I turned into a bit of wine snob and we held out only getting a few bottles that we could only get there and we both really loved.

I took pity on my husband and while we walked past a lot of shops, I only went into a few. My hunt for boots continues!

While I liked both of these, they are pretty limited use with my wardrobe. So, I passed on both.

It's a long drive, so after sleeping in and a very healthy breakfast, we hit the road back home.

Wellness Goals - 3rd Quarter Results

This sums up the week so far:

Work has been eating my lunch. I had a fun weekend and miraculously took pictures, but I haven't had the time to mess with them. Eh, oh well, right? 

I was curious where I was against my wellness goals before leaving for Chi and since it was essentially the end of the quarter, I went ahead and did them. So, of the 5 major goals I set for myself, I've completed 3 of the 5. I will hit the camp goal, but my revised running target might still be a miss. That's OK though. I'll take 4 of the 5. : )

I can't believe it, but I should start considering my wellness goals for next year! Change them? Keep them the same? I'll just add that to my growing to do list for now.

Wellness Goals - 3rd Quarter Results

1. Boot camps. Goal: 200 camps. Stretch Goal: 240.

• So far: 176 camps
• At the rate I am currently trending, I'll hit my goal! And, likely surpass it.

2. Training/Race Total Miles. Goal: 416 miles. Stretch Goal: 520 miles. Revised: 208 miles.

• So far: 132.02 miles
• I already knew I wasn't going to hit the original goal since I sidelined running pretty much entirely for the summer. Last quarter I had said I'd be happy if I hit 208 miles "ish" by the end of the year, but my running wasn't much this quarter. At this point, hitting my revised goal might be aggressive, but who knows.

3. Half Marathon(s). Goal: 1. Stretch Goal: 2.

• So far: 1 - Goal completed. : ) ... stretch goal - remains a maybe, but thinking no.

4. 5K or other races such as obstacle races. Goal: 3. Stretch Goal: 5.

• So far: 2 5K's  and 1 obstacle - goal completed. : ) A couple maybe 5K's, an obstacle, trot, etc. so it's possible that I might hit my stretch here, but I'm good with just hitting the goal.

5. Calorie Burn. Goal: 130,000 Stretch Goal: 150,000 (note: this is only "dedicated" exercise)

• So far: 130,036
• Yep, this goal was set too low. I should easily hit the stretch goal and will need to revisit this one next year if I use it for setting my goals again.

Related:

2nd Quarter Results
1st Quarter Results
2011 Wellness Goals

Part 3: Free Time & Events

Just a few highlights of what I did during free time. My main partners in crime - Angela and Island Bandit - this is such a great picture of both of them!

Shopping on Michigan Ave. My purchases - socks and a 20 buck sweater. Ya, not so impressive, but unless it was something I had to have I didn't want to deal with trying to get it home. I always love seeing the city. It's so clean and well maintained. While we were out and about they were working on all the median areas getting them all setup for fall. Love it!

Navy Pier where we rode the Ferris wheel! Thankfully while it was windy, the bucket(?) didn't move much so I was able to pretend it was no big deal. Well, other than cold!

View from the wheel.

China town - which I'm pretty sure all of us thought we could have skipped. But at least we can say we've been there.

 The Bean!

 Passing through the theater district.

Ramblings on planned activities...and the not so planned.

• The best part of the drag show for me was when the MC wanted to become a B00b. I am so on board with a tranny b00b. I think it's hilarious! Ms Ohio was also a hoot with her glow sticks. **Thanks again, Barbara. You know what for. : )

• My roomie Angela is a songbird! For real, the girl can sing. She belted it out at karaoke along with others after the drag show. I really got to know Read much better that night. LOVE her! ...might be kidnapping her. Seriously.

• I went to dinner with Stephanie M, Stacy, LapBandGal, Island Bandit, and Angela. It was great spending time with all of them. The waitress was a bit daft. She kept forgetting orders, but repeatedly it was Stacy's who had Peps1 and pepperoni. I think she returned 4 times. Seriously, how hard is that?

• I was nervous Friday night! I loved the meet and greet though. Again, the swag bag and the door prizes were awesome. Draz scored a Nan0 as one of the prizes and there was also a body bug!!!! Angela won the Nan0! (Angela also won the challenge! Congrats Angela!). I spent time getting to know Dawnya and more about her family. She is the sweetest. That night we went to the same karaoke bar we had been to on Thursday night, but it was packed. People went to various places, but my feet were killing me and I went back to the hotel. (Gilly - I have not forgotten. I just can't find the stupid thing. For the life of me, I don't know where it is or when I last saw it, but I'm not giving up!)

• Saturday was shopping and vegging for me. Then getting ready for dinner Saturday night. The restaurant was awesome. Again, the planners hit a home run. I sat at a great table which allowed me to get to know Kristin and Grace. There was talk of going out, but then pretty much everyone ended up back at the hotel in a common area for PJ time. I put in a suggestion to the planners to consider making this an "official" event. For me, everyone just seemed more relaxed at this point and we really got to laugh and share. I think it was Joey who scored WINE as part of the swag. (Thanks Joey!) I brought my bottle down and proceeded to twist Catherine's arm to share it with me. It was great getting to know this banded star and she's a wonderful person and beautiful too! Want to talk about pressure? Imagine sending a sisterhood package to Catherine! : ) Man, there were a lot of clothes people brought! Hat tip to Jen S for all of her hard work on it. Go Jen!

• Tessie Rose & Miss Vickie gave me one of the nicest (and funny) compliments. They said to me that they thought I was a party crasher and didn't believe that I was ever fat. Here's a link gals to one before pic. Much like Tessie Rose (I just think that's the cutest name and it fits Theresa perfectly that I am sticking with it. Love her hair!), I don't have many before pictures or ones that I do I am conveniently hiding behind people, etc.

• Sunday Angela and I took off with Jacquie and Miss Vickie to head to the bean. It was a great opportunity for me to get to know both of them. Jacquie's daughter has picked up running and completed her first 10k! She's planning on doing the Princess, so we're all hoping to be able to find one another there. Miss Vickie - she's just a delight! She lights up speaking of her children and especially her grandkids. Um, she does not look like she should have any grandkids! I was relieved to hear that her dad is doing better and hearing about her trips that she has coming up. At the bean we parted ways as we needed to head back to the hotel.

I'm not listing 8 million things that I learned about so many gals! Everyone was absolutely great. If anyone is on the fence about joining in, as someone that was going for the first time this year and anonymous, I encourage you to go. : )

Part 2: The Ladies

Wow! That's all I can say. As many have said, it was a bit overwhelming when we all got together, but definitely in a good way. It was so exciting to meet everyone in person! I did my best to at least say hi and identify my real self to everyone as I tend to be on the shy side. It's quite strange really, but being in a group of women makes me more shy(?) shyer(?). Regardless, you get the drift.

It certainly was a pleasure to meet everyone. This truly is a fantastic group. Here's a list to all of the blogs of the lovely ladies! (Thanks to Jenny, I'm even in the group photo. See me in the bottom left corner? Thanks Jenny! That's really awesome. )

1. Stephanie J., FL          
2. Justawallflower, OH    
3. Dawnya, TX               
4. Joey, CA                    
5. Deborah, IL               
6. Gilly, Toronto             
7. Drazil, WI                  
8. Jenny, IL                    
9. Carmen, CT               
10. Lynda, GA                 
11. Tina, OR                   
12. Sandy Lee, Ontario    
13. Robin, CO                 
14. LapBandGal, WA      
15. Stephanie M., FL       
16. Cindylew, NJ             
17. Barbara, PA               
18. Kerri, IL                    
19. Beth, TX                    
20. Linda, MD                 
21. Read, MD                 
22. Vickie, FL                 
23. Theresa, LA              
24. Jacquie, FL               
25. Jenny S., WA            
26. Maria, PA                 
27. Amey, ID                  
28. Julie, OR                   
29. Liz, NYC                  
30. Amanda, NC            
31. Ronnie, Texas          
32. Nancy, PA                
33. Donna, CA               
34. Jessica, Bahamas     
35. Stacey, CA               
36. Paige, Ohio               
37. Susan, CT                
38. Deb, MO                
39. Maria, MI                
40. Grace, MI                
41. Camille, TX              
42. Angela,TX               
43. Krystal, VA             
44. Debi                        
45. Justine, UK             
46. Shannon, IL            
47. Becky, IN               
48. Angie                      
49. Kristin                    
50. Nicole, NH             
51. Catherine, NYC      
52. Rhonda                   

Part 1: Thank You Planning Committee!!!!!!

The planners knocked it out of the park! First, these gals did this for FREE on their own personal time. And, I could easily tell it took a lot of time and effort.

The entire event was extremely well planned and organized. The hotel was in a perfect location. It allowed us easy access to all parts of the city and the planned events were nearby...and a heck of a lot of fun!

They also contacted many vendors and put together a great swag bag. I'm still digging through the loot they contain like a little kid!

Lynda - Thanks for the cheat sheet, too!

So, to each and every one of you (and anyone else that helped out, sorry if I missed you!) a heart felt thank you.