Day Three Hundred and Sixty.

    I had an absolutely horrible nights rest last night. I thought it would be such a great sleep, because I turned my heating pad on since after my workout yesterday my neck was hurting. Unfortunately, I was up for hours and didn't officially get up until around 11:30 this am. The first thing I did was make a cup of coffee, but I still felt really tired after I drank it. The rest of the morning went by so fast it's hard to even believe, in fact I was actually going to try to workout but I ran out of time:( I was doing some research about our honeymoon before I ate lunch and then, before I knew it, I had to shower in order to get to work on time. After my shower I folded the laundry from the previous day and then got ready for work.
    I am working in an area this week where I don't work a lot so I was slightly worried about what the evening would entail. However, it turned out to be a pretty decent night even though there were a lot of little issues going on. I even managed to get a coffee around 5pm and eat dinner by 8pm! I was a little bit late getting out of work because I was talking to some co-workers which I never get to see, but it was no big deal. I was thinking that I would stop and put gas in my car on the way home but since it was so late I figured I should just go tomorrow.
    I have to get up and take my dog to the groomers by 10am tomorrow morning so I'm trying not to be up too late. I'm really hoping that after I drop her off, I will have the energy to go right to the mall and do some clothes shopping. It's incredible how odd most of my clothing has gotten and it all needs a major up grade. I'm actually just hoping to find something new to wear for this Saturday at my bridal shower/engagement party. I think I just need to be more open to trying more things on instead of going for the same old things I usually buy. It's just so hard because I get very antsy about trying things on which other people have as well. Also, I'm always worried about feeling fat and sometimes going clothing shopping can make you feel that way, since certain sizes your accustomed to may or may not fit! Eh, well see how the day goes. As for now, that's all I've got to say:)
   

Day Three Hundred and Fifty Nine.

    For some reason I had a hard time getting to sleep last night so when my alarm rang at 10am, I was too tired to get up. I snoozed the clock until around 10:45am, but then reluctantly got out of bed. Originally I was going to immediately do my workout but I decided to have a cup of coffee first. While I was drinking my coffee I decided to start my internet research of wedding bouquets. I actually found several ones I liked and I now have a pretty good idea of what I want. My fiancé called me during my search and we had a real serious talk about the timeline of what needs to get done before the wedding. For some reason this morning was the first day, since we set a wedding date, that I actually started getting really stressed about getting everything done in time.
    When we were done with our conversation I put a load of laundry in and then did a workout. I ended up doing a 10 minute Tabata workout, which is very high intensity and extremely exhausting even though it's only 10 minutes. In fact I had planned on doing at least another 10 minute workout afterwards but I was so tired I could barely walk up the steps to my bedroom! I was going to do a longer workout today but right before I started my older sister said she would be stopping by my house in an hour to pick up her bridesmaid dress. I figured I didn't have enough time to do a long one because I wanted to get my shower in before she showed up. Luckily, I did get my workout and my shower in before she arrived. We had lunch together and then she left right before I had to get ready for work. It was nice spending some time with her and I was glad she stopped by before I had to go to work:)
    Work was definitely not as bad tonight as it was yesterday and I was glad about that. It was still pretty busy but I didn't have as many problems as yesterday and that makes a big difference. I ended up not getting home from work until about midnight because I was talking with my one co-worker in the parking garage for a while. I didn't think I washed my hands that much today but as I look at them now, apparently I must have. It's hard at work without having the sink in the common area because I have to walk to the break room every time I want to wash my hands. I guess I made the trip more than I thought this weekend:( Well, I'm tired so that's all I'll write for tonight.

Day Three Hundred and Fifty Eight.

    I'm sorry that it's been so long since I've updated my blog, but I've had a very busy past few days. Maybe inside I'm deliberately missing a few days because I'm already starting to have a hard time dealing with the fact the blog will almost be finished:( Work wasn't that busy on Thursday and it seemed to drag, although I was able to get a mini project I've been working on done. That was good and then it started to pick up the last few hours. I immediately drove home because my second to oldest sister was coming to visit me and I wanted to have time to get my shower over with prior to her arrival. Once I got home I sorted through the mail, gathered the trash up and then quickly got in the shower. Right after I was done with my shower I folded the laundry from the previous day. Before I knew it my sister was at my house! We went out to a local bar to watch the beginning of the game and have some dinner. Then we went to one of my favorite bars in the area and we were there for the rest of the evening.
    I had an absolutely fantastic time and it helped that Derek Jeter didn't disappoint in his final game. The atmosphere at the bar was great because everyone was cheering him on and got really into the game. Then there was karaoke, which is always fun to watch! I feel bad because I had my sister out way later than she needed to be, but I think she had fun too! I woke up the next morning with a horrible headache and I got out of bed only to get an ibuprofen. When I officially woke up around 12:30pm I was feeling amazingly better. My Mother called me and I spoke with her for a while then I spent some time researching for our honeymoon. At the same time I also gave my twin sister a call because I knew she'd be good at helping with traveling details, which she was. I'm still on the fence about our exact plans but hopefully I solidify them soon.
    The day kind of got away from me because by the time I was off of the phone with my twin sister I realized it was about 3pm already! I got in the shower then headed out to run some errands. They included the bank, Dunkin Donut's, Target, David's Bridal and finally Trader Joe's. I was actually really excited to be going to Trader Joe's and I got a lot of good food. The only thing I was disappointed about was the fact they didn't have any pomegranate seeds left:( Once I got home I had just finished getting the groceries put away when my fiancé arrived. We decided to go out and grab dinner at our favorite local eatery, then we came back home to watch a movie. The movie was really great, it was called "The Yards" and it had Mark Wahlberg, Joaquin Phoenix, Charlize Theron, and James Caan in it. I couldn't believe that I had never heard of it, but I'm glad that it was on because I definitely enjoyed it.
    Today we woke up around 11am and my fiancé made us a "lighter" Saturday morning breakfast since we're both on a wedding diet. We had eggs, watermelon and we shared an English muffin. My fiancé ended up spending the rest of the morning mowing the lawn and trimming the hedges while I continued with our honeymoon search. I also did some work on the wedding invitation list by starting to compile all of the addresses. My fiancé left for his house right before I started to get ready for work and then I went in. Work started out okay but progressively got worse and I have to say it ended up being a terrible night. I couldn't believe how many issues came up and we had a very good crew working. For lunch snacks I brought carrots and green beans, which I had gotten at Trader Joe's yesterday. I also had a Lean Cuisine for dinner and of course a coffee!
    I'm a little bit disappointed in myself for my two splurge days this last week, Thursday and Friday. As the wedding gets closer I am realizing that I'm going to have to be a lot better about not having splurge days so frequently. I think the real reason I'm beating myself up about this is because I haven't had time to workout the last few days. I also haven't had time to do a load of laundry and you'd be surprised how much I have to do! I must say that the last few days of not having to do laundry has been very pleasant. I'm going to have to do some tomorrow though! I've been doing pretty good with my hand washing I must say. I think it's because I haven't spent that much time around the house cleaning:) Alright, well I'm going to get going!

Day Three Hundred and Fifty Seven.

    I woke up today feeling pretty good because I got a great sleep last night. I had to get to work early because it was meeting day so I didn't piddle too much after getting out of bed. I was proud of myself for making the meeting and I even walked to the hospital, instead of taking the shuttle bus. The day was very busy but I've definitely had worse. I was glad that things calmed down right around 3pm so I didn't have to leave a lot of things for the next shift. I ended up covering the Wednesday meeting and I got a pretty time consuming phone call right around 3:15pm, which kept me there until 3:45pm. I didn't really mind though, and I was still home a little after 4pm.
    When I got home, after my snack, I took my dog for a walk around the block. She was very excited and it was nice to get out because the day was beautiful. Once we got back I sorted through the mail and then did a Pilates workout. My muscles were still pretty sore from my workout on Monday, but I was glad that I forced myself to do a workout today anyway. The Pilates workout I did really isn't that bad....only 20 minutes. Once I was done with that I put a load of laundry in and then took a shower. I was just about finishing up with my shower when my fiancé arrived. We got dinner together pretty quickly because we had marinated the chicken last night while we were making dinner, so all my fiancé had to do was throw it on the grill. I made a salad for us to have on the side and it was all very delicious. I was so surprised that it was only 8pm when we were all done with everything.
    The rest of the night was spent working on our registry and we also watched "The Three Faces of Eve". This last weekend my sisters were telling us that we needed to re-vamp our registry, so we had some work to do. I only added a few more items and am still search for some other things. I'm looking for matching comforters for the twin beds my fiancé will be bringing from his house and they're either too expensive or not warm enough. It would be nice if I could get some matching curtains as well. I didn't do too much cleaning today so my hands don't look terrible. Unfortunately, tomorrow I'm working in an area which makes me wash my hands a lot so I'm not sure how they will look by the end of the day. I'll let you know. I guess it's bed time:)

Day Three Hundred and Fifty Six.

    Before I went to bed last night, I folded the laundry I had started earlier in the evening. I was so tired when I went to bed but I got woken up a little bit after I fell asleep because my dog heard a weird noise. I was still able to get to back to bed pretty quickly after that, so it wasn't that big of a deal. My schedule was a little bit different today than most of my day shift weeks because I was working in an area where I had to be in at 9am, instead of the usual 7am. This meant that I would be working 9am-5:30pm. The other thing that was different about it was where I had to park. In this particular area you have to park in a parking garage that is further away than the normal one, which ended up being a pain. In fact, it almost made me late. All in all it wasn't a terrible day but it was pretty busy. I used to work in this area a lot but since they have recently trained so many other people, they haven't needed me to do it as much. I really didn't mind it at all, but it's not so fun getting home so late!
    I didn't get home until after 6pm and since I did so much yesterday around the house I only had to get in the shower. My fiancé arrived at my house shortly after I was done. Unfortunately, at that point it was already about 7pm so we decided to wait for tomorrow to grill the chicken I bought at the food store yesterday. Instead, we had chicken sausage and peppers with a side salad. It was actually very tasty and much better for us than if we had regular sausage. After we got dinner cleaned up we spent the rest of the evening watching the Yankee game and talking about the wedding a little bit.
    I mentioned that yesterday was bad on my hands and today was even worse:( The area I was working in today has always been a major source of anxiety for me because it's a place where you tend to see a lot of contaminated equipment. I tried to do the best I could but still ended up washing my hands a ton:( Then I cut up all of the vegetables for the salad and I ended up washing my hands a lot during that too:( I get very obsessive about making sure that I'm rinsing them all very thoroughly. I'm going to have to start being more conscious again about controlling my urges. There are a lot of special events coming up in the next few months and I don't want my hands to make me feel self conscious during them. That's all I'll write for now.

Day Three Hundred and Fifty Five.

    It's hard to believe that there's only 10 days left until I complete this blog. Sometimes I have a tendency to not finish things....like the 5 minute planking challenge where I couldn't make the last two times, so I'm not going to start celebrating yet! I will say that it certainly has been a challenge. There were a lot of nights where I really didn't want to write it, but honestly, I can say that it was always easy to finish once I got a few words down.
    So, my fiancé had a horrible nights sleep last night because he woke up with really bad acid reflux at 3am. I felt bad because I've only ever seen this happen to him once and I wasn't sure what to do. I just advised him to take an antacid, which he did, but I don't think he got back to sleep at all. I actually left for work a few minutes before he did:( I was extra on the schedule today but I managed to find plenty of things to get involved in. I actually didn't leave work until around 3:45pm, which really wasn't expected since I didn't even have a home today.
    There were so many things I had to do after work and the first of which was going to the food store. It seems like it had been a while since I've been there and I got a good amount of food items for the next two weeks. I was glad that chicken was on sale because I have an idea of my fiancé grilling up a whole bunch for me, so I can have it next week while I'm on evenings. Once I got home I put the groceries away, did a workout, put a load of laundry in, took a shower, then folded the laundry from yesterday. At that point I had dinner then cut the watermelon I had bought at the food store. I was really surprised that the store still had watermelons, so I was a little bit nervous about it. As far as watermelons go, it's not the best one I've ever had, but it's still delicious.
    After dinner, I realized that I had a bill due in a few days so I got that ready to mail. I spent the rest of the evening chatting with my fiancé on the phone and going through some emails while entertaining my puppy. My hands look really horrible right now because I ended up washing them a lot with everything I had to do today after work. It was also a lot cooler out and it's amazing how fast a little bit of colder temperatures can cause damage. Well, that's all I'll write for tonight!

Day Three Hundred and Fifty Four.

    So inevitably I didn't get a chance to blog over the weekend so I'm going to be covering the last three days in this one! I had such a busy day at work on Thursday that I was sure Friday would be just as bad, however it turned out to be pretty good. I was training a co-worker in one of my favorite areas to work in and my trainee was on his last day. Due to the fact it was his last day he probably could have done the job alone, so I felt like I wasn't doing much. Also, it ended up not being busy at all. I guess it was the break I need after the crazy day on Thursday! I managed to leave work right on time and got home around 4pm. I was glad because I was still hoping to get an early start for my twin sisters house.
    Once I got home I took a shower then folded the laundry from the day before while starting to pack. This weekend I was going to my twin sisters house for the annual sister Yankee game. My fiancé arrived at my house around 6:30pm and we were on the road around 7pm. We were the last to arrive at my twin sisters house and we weren't there very long until the pizza arrived! There was a lot to eat including pizza, wings, garlic knots, and my twin sister made a huge salad. I tried to eat a lot of salad as not to fill up on the other more fattening items and I did pretty well only eating one slice of pizza. However, I did indulge in plenty of beer, wings and garlic knots:( After dinner my sisters and I spent the night discussing the bachelorette party as well as making two posters for the Yankee game. The significant others were outside making a fire.
    The next morning I woke up around 10am and had a cup of coffee prior to taking a quick shower. My twin sister and her husband made a huge breakfast for everyone consisting of home made cinnamon buns, eggs, bacon, grapes, kiwi and mango. I ate a ton and everything was fantastic. I couldn't believe how quickly my twin sister made those cinnamon buns and they were perfect! After breakfast we had to get ready to catch the train in time for the game. We gave ourselves an hour to get to the train station on time and we didn't make it:( The first thing which slowed us down was when we stopped at the local gas station to pick up some beer for the train as well as some cash from the ATM, the alarm on my sisters car started going off. Apparently, my Brother-In-Law locked my twin sister in the car and when she went to open the door it set the alarm off. Unfortunately, the key fob which they had was broken and in need of a new battery, so a tool kit had to be taken out in order to get the beeping to stop. That didn't work because when they tried to turn the car on the beeping started again! Finally my oldest sister, who was driving separately with my second to oldest sister, drove back to my twin sisters house to get the spare key fob. That actually worked and we were all finally on our way, still with plenty of time!
    The second hurdle was that we ran into a huge amount of traffic which was going to make the 10 minute car ride turn into 30 minutes and we knew we weren't going to make the train at that point. So we ended up driving to the trains first destination and only our car made it on time:( It was so frustrating because there was a huge festival going on, so there was no parking spots at the station and that's the only reason my older sisters didn't make it to the train. I think we took the very last spot! So me, my fiancé, my twin sister and her husband took that train so we could get to Yankee stadium before the game started. I felt very bad leaving my older sisters at the train station but they only ended up missing the first 20 minutes of the game. The game went by very fast and it was a wonderful time. I ate some snacks, had some beers and ate a hotdog before the game was over. We ended up not getting home until around 11pm because we had to wait and take the later train. My twin sister heated the pizza up from the night before and I guess I was very hungry because I ate two slices! After we ate we played a game and then everyone went to bed.
    This morning I woke up around 10:30am and once again my twin sister and her husband made another wonderful breakfast. They made waffles and we also had the cinnamon buns with the left over eggs from yesterday. We spent the morning talking and then my older sisters both left. We originally were going to spend the day at my twin sisters house but since my fiancé and I haven't really been home much, we decided to head back early. When we got back it was around 4pm and my fiancé started making marinara sauce so we could have a spaghetti dinner. I figured I'd get back to my diet tomorrow! While he was cooking I put a load of laundry in and then took a shower.
    I thought I did a pretty good job this weekend of not over washing my hands. It can be hard on these Yankee trips because we take the train and it's never very clean. I can't believe how fast the weekend went and I'm a little bit down that the Yankee outing is already over. I have a feeling I'm not going to be in the best mood tomorrow, but there's a lot of fun weekends ahead of me this fall and I'm going to try to keep a positive attitude. I'm also going to get back into working out and I'm actually looking forward to doing that. When I get home from work tomorrow I'm going to try to do a longer workout and really start taking this diet seriously. Alright, that's all for now!

Day Three Hundred and Fifty Three.

    I woke up today feeling pretty refreshed because I went to be early last night. I ended up getting to work right on time and I was going to be working in an area I don't usual work in. It turned out to be an extremely busy day but I did mange to get some coffee a little bit after 10am. That was the only break I got due to how much I had to get done. I also ate my Protein Bar right after I got my coffee, which kept me full for most of the day. I didn't get my second lunch snack until on my drive home:( That happened to be well after 4pm because of how far behind I fell during the day. I couldn't believe how long it took me to get home, I guess because it was so much later than usual and there was traffic.
    When I got home I sorted through the mail and started gathering all of the trash up for trash day tomorrow. It's unbelievable that tomorrow is Friday already! These three day work weeks sure are nice:) I spent some time playing fetch with my dog and it got me energized to do a workout. I only did my arm workout because I thought my fiancé was going to be getting home at a decent time and I wanted to be done when he showed up. After my workout I put my last load of laundry in before the weekend, got in the shower, then folded the laundry from the day before. At that point in time it was already 7pm so I had dinner, which was just a Lean Cuisine.
    After dinner I called my Mother then took a break and watched some TV. The "Buddy Holly" movie was on so I was watching that until my fiancé told me he was on the way.  Obviously, I was a little frustrated that it was 9pm and I didn't do more of a workout because I thought he was going to be home early! I forgave him and we just talked a little bit for the rest of the night. I did a little better job today of not over washing my hands but I have to think it's just because I didn't do as many house chores as I did yesterday. I'm going to say now that I probably won't get a chance to update the blog this weekend, while I'm away. I will try though, well until later.

Day Three Hundred and Fifty Two.

    I was pretty tired when I got up this morning but luckily I was able to get some sleep last night, so I didn't feel that bad. When I got to work I was still extra on the schedule but didn't have trouble finding things to do all day. In fact, I only took a morning break which was just long enough to grab a coffee and eat my Protein One bar. Then as far as my lunch break was concerned it just consisted of me eating my Fiber One bar very quickly. Due to the fact that it was meeting day I didn't leave work until around 3:45pm. I went straight home and went through the mail as soon as I arrived because there was a lot of it, for some reason. Then I decided to clean the downstairs bathroom.
    Before taking a shower I took my dog for a nice walk around the block. She was very excited:) I feel bad because I decided not to workout today. I really should have, but since this was going to be my only night alone all week I wanted to spend some time catching up with the laundry. Therefore, I put a load in prior to taking a shower so I could get started on it. After my shower I sorted through some emails, got the deposit for the wedding DJ ready to mail, put the clothes in the dryer, then put another load of laundry in the washing machine. For dinner I had a piece of grilled chicken, which had been frozen, with some almond green beans on the side. It was all good and my dog was happy that she got a decent portion.
    After dinner I spoke with my fiancé on the phone then folded the first load of laundry. I don't usually do two loads of laundry in one day but I only have one more night at my house before I go away for another weekend. Today I was doing a lot of thinking about how badly I need a clothing upgrade. There really are very few articles of clothing that I have that I actually like to wear in the summer and even fewer when the weather is cold. I would really like to find a time this fall to go outlet shopping and hopefully upgrade my wardrobe. There are times I know I would dress better at work if I only had more options. I'm always very stressed about money and when it comes to clothing I have always had the thought that if it's still wearable, then I don't need anything new. I'm starting to realize that maybe I should adopt a different outlook since this last summer I felt like I was away a lot and always packing the same things. I think sometimes I even avoid taking pictures because I know I've had several other pictures with the same shirt on!
    Unfortunately, my hands look really sore right now but it's probably because I've done nothing but wash them since I've been home. I just had a lot of house chores I wanted to get done. Also, the weather is turning colder so I'm really going to have to be better about putting cream on them at times other than just bedtime. I feel like since this blog is winding down I should be spending more time re-capping my experience writing it, so hopefully I'll remember to start doing that:) Alright, that's all for now!

Day Three Hundred and Fifty One.

    I had a very hard time sleeping last night and I'm not sure why. I went to bed around 1:30am and ended up being wide awake when my second to oldest sister left the house at 5:30am. Then it took me forever to get back to sleep:( I finally got out of bed around 11am and it was a good thing to, because my twin sister had just pulled up in front of my house. I greeted her at the door and she brought me a cup of coffee so I drank that and chatted with both her and my Mother for a while. Then I took a shower and folded the laundry from the previous day. My twin sister and I started to work on discussions about wedding invitations after my Mother left at 1pm.
    My twin sister and I spent the rest of the day shopping for wedding invitation material as well as potential shoe options for the bridesmaids. It was a really long day and we went to pretty much every shoe store in our area. Unfortunately, we didn't find anything:( At that point we headed to David's Bridal to pick up the bridesmaid gowns which had come in. When we got there we found out that only two of the three dresses had come in and that the alterations for my twin sisters dress would be very pricey. We got the two dresses that were there, then headed home figuring we could get cheaper alteration options elsewhere.
    By the time we got home my fiancé had already mowed the grass and ordered dinner:) We all decided we were too tired to cook anything. We got some Chinese food then spent the rest of the night talking about the wedding. I am going to go back to work tomorrow and I'm a little nervous because last I checked I was still extra on the schedule. I hope it's a decent day. I got a little bit anxious today because I had to try on so many pairs of shoes and I also tried a dress on. I usually don't try clothes on unless I know I'm going to be coming home to shower but obviously I didn't have time for that today. When we got home I washed my hands for several minutes! Alright, until next time.

Day Three Hundred and Fifty.

    Today I slept in until around 12pm today even though I had planned on getting up much earlier. I had a bit of a difficult time getting to sleep last night and I'm not sure why. When I finally did get to sleep I had a lot of weird dreams, which kept me from having a very solid sleep. My Mother was already up when I got downstairs and I made myself a cup of coffee. For breakfast I had a single cup of cottage cheese. I spent most of the morning on the internet catching up with emails which I had been meaning to pay attention to all weekend. I also wrote my blog from this weekend and, obviously, spent time talking with my Mother. After I had my second cup of coffee I decided to gather my laundry up and put a load in the washing machine.
    Even though I was still feeling very sick I thought it would be a good idea to get a light workout in. I only did my arm workout and a "saddlebag eraser" workout which my twin sister had sent me the previous week. After I was done those workouts I took a shower and I really wasn't feeling well at all, at that point. I felt very warm as if I had a fever, so I took a few ibuprofens. I still had a lot I wanted to get done so I balanced my checkbook and paid my bills while I cooled down. Then, for some reason, I got a spark of energy to go through some old receipts and shred them. This process took forever because my paper shredder sucks and it clogs the first chance it gets. I was still trying to get through a huge mess of receipts when my second to oldest sister arrived. I feel a little guilty because I immediately put her to work! She helped me unclog the paper shredder and I was finally able to shred the rest of the box of receipts. Some of them dated back to early 2010, because I used to be really obsessive about keep every single receipt:)
    For dinner we ordered from my favorite local eatery and got a Caesar salad, a pizza, and a turkey club sandwich. My second to oldest sister picked up the food with me and the pizza wasn't done when we got there, so we had a beer and chatted. I feel so lucky getting to spend the last two days with her! My second to oldest sister and I have a lot in common so it's always so great getting to spend time with her. She definitely has helped me over the last several years with some of my insecurity problems as well as my obsessiveness and that means a lot to me. I only hope that I've been as supportive of her as she has been of me over the past several years. After dinner my Mother, sister and I all shared a bottle of wine and chatted. It was so nice having my Mother and sister with me tonight and it definitely cheered me up a lot. Even though I didn't work today I had the Monday blues for most of the day so this evening was a great pick-me-upper.
    In between my workout and my shower today I managed to clean the bathroom floor, which I've been meaning to do for a while. I didn't wash my hands that much and I think having my Mother around had something to do with it. She's always encouraging me to not over wash them, which drives me crazy, but in the long run I guess it's a good thing. My second to oldest sister has to leave early in the morning tomorrow for work but my twin sister will be coming before noon. We're going to discuss the design of the wedding invitations and I'm look forward to that! It seems like it's been a while since I've seen her. Alright, I'm going to go to bed.

Day Three Hundred and Forty Nine.

    I've taken the last weekend off of blogging because we were away on our wine tasting weekend. When I got up Friday morning before I could even get to the bathroom the doorbell rang and it was my Mother. She always heads to my house early in the morning to avoid traffic. I spent some time chatting with her but then I had to get laundry in and take a shower, so I could start packing for the weekend. When I was out of my shower we decided to run some errands which included the bank, the food store, the wine store and Dunkin' Donuts. I had previously spoken with my fiancé and he told me he would be getting out of work around 4pm, so when we got home from the errands, I had to hustle to get everything done.
    I packed while folding laundry and I was actually almost completely ready when my fiancé arrived! I had also packed for him so before I closed the suitcase I wanted to make sure he approved of what I had put in there for him:) We were on our way after that! Unfortunately, I had woken up with a sore throat and by the time we got to where we were going I had a complete cold....coughing, sneezing, plus chest congestion. I was very upset but really didn't think it would ruin the weekend. After we checked in we quickly dropped things off at our room then met up with a group of my fiancés co-workers at a local restaurant for dinner. I wasn't sure if I mentioned this before or not but the wine tasting weekend was with my fiancé's co-workers. The night was a whole lot of fun because we ended up going to a bar, across the street from where we ate, and singing karaoke for most of the evening. Well, I didn't do any singing but my fiancé stole the show:)
    So when I woke up Saturday morning I was in a horrible state of sickness; it's hard to describe how terrible I felt. I instantly asked my fiancé if he would go to the drug store and get me medicine, which he did. I took the medicine but realized that I was never going to be able to feel well enough to join the group for the wine tour, so I said I would stay in the room:( It was a hard decision to have to make because I was so looking forward to the day but I knew it would not be fun for me and I'd probably just get everyone sick. My fiancé took a shower and headed out with the group while I watched TV in the hotel room all day. I finally started feeling better around 1pm, so I eventually got up and took a shower. My second to oldest sister also called me and we spoke on the phone for a good hour, which was nice. I knew everyone would be going out to dinner later on so I figured that at least I would be able to join in for that.
    It was around 4pm when my fiancé got back to the room and he certainly was showing signs of drinking all day. I decided maybe it would be good for him to take a dip in the pool, so we did that. That was short lived and eventually he fell asleep in the hotel room. While he was sleeping I joined the group of his co-workers, who weren't napping, in a few rounds of cards. Then I woke my fiancé up and we all went out to dinner. It was a small town so we had dinner at the same place we sung karaoke at the previous night. We were there pretty late then walked back to the room. I'm glad I was feeling better and was able to at least participate in that group activity!
    Once we woke up yesterday we took a shower then got on the rode. Since we were going to be driving by my second to oldest sisters house we stopped by to visit with her for the afternoon. We ended up going out to a local bar which serves food and meeting up with her husband. We drove home from there around 4pm. My fiancé was so tired and so was I that we ended up taking a nap at a rest area for an hour before driving all the way home:) We didn't get home until after 7pm and spent the rest of the night talking with my Mother.
    Even though I didn't get to go wine tasting the weekend was a lot of fun. I have today and tomorrow off from work, so I have a lot I want to get done. I ate a lot more than I wanted to this weekend and I knew I would. I stepped on the scale at my sisters house and have gained a few pounds since my post op surgery appointment, which upset me. It was probably a bad time to step on the scale after all that drinking though. Also, I'm starting to workout again and muscle weighs more than fat, so I'm going to take the number with a grain of salt. Hopefully this week I'll get back on my diet. I didn't have much time this weekend to really over wash my hands. Especially since I spent most of the day on Saturday in bed! I guess that's a good thing. Well, until later:)

Day Three Hundred and Forty Eight.

    I had a terrible night of sleep last night and I knew from the second I woke up today that I was a little bit off. I tried to sleep in because it had taken me so long to finally fall asleep last night, but I ended up getting out of bed around 10:30am. The first thing I did was make a cup of coffee and have a protein bar for breakfast. Soon after my Mother called me to fill me in on her plans for this weekend. Originally, I had planned on having my sister watch my dog for the weekend, but my Mother told me she wanted to do it. Therefore she is going to be coming to my house tomorrow. Apparently she's going to come in the morning, so I'm going to have to try not to be up so late tonight. After I spoke with her I had some lunch, which was just a Lean Cuisine.
    I didn't really do much around the house this morning before work but I did manage to gather up all of the trash and put it on the curb for trash day. I got to work on time and it was a pretty slow evening to start, however it gradually got a lot busier as the night went on. In fact by 8pm I was running around like crazy! I even had to call the director to run something by him, which I've only had to do about once in my career! Even with everything going on I managed to get out on time but was late getting home because I was chatting with my co-worker in the parking garage again:)
    So, for some reason I was very emotional prior to going into work today and that's why I was ultimately useless this morning. I think it's because of how stressful my Mother is making me feel in regards to the wedding and everything else lately. I know that she doesn't entirely mean to, but she's definitely micromanaging my whole wedding and life right now. A good example is this weekend, where I had it all planned out for my sister to watch my dog and suddenly now my Mother is going to be watching her. I don't have a problem with that because she's perfectly capable of watching my dog but it sometimes infuriates me that she changes every plan I have already made. I don't mean to complain about my Mother, because I love her so much, but sometimes it helps to vent a little bit.
    Tomorrow I'm going to have to do a load of laundry and pack for this upcoming weekend. I'm actually pretty proud of the fact that I haven't washed clothes since Tuesday! I was trying to save it up for tomorrow and I think I have exactly enough clothes for one load. My fiancé told me he was going to try and get out of work a little bit early so that should give us a good start. I've been so busy I haven't really had time to look forward to this weekend but I think time away right now may be really good for me. Alright, that's all for now.

Day Three Hundred and Forty Seven.

    I went to bed last night a little bit after 1am and I didn't wake up until around 11am this morning. Sleeping in felt great and I was definitely feeling very refreshed when I got out of bed. I had a cup of coffee and a protein bar as soon as I went downstairs. Then I decided to take my dog for a walk right away because I was feeling very guilty about not walking her yesterday. It was just getting warm outside and it ended up being a wonderful stroll. My dog seemed thrilled! We also played fetch around the house for a while afterwards:) After quality puppy time I did a Pilates regimen, which felt extremely good. I got right in the shower after my workout and then I folded the laundry from the previous day. Before I ate lunch I called my twin sister and then discussed some wedding details with her. For lunch I ended up eating a Lean Cuisine.
    I headed to work a few minutes early today because there was a staff meeting and I wanted to make sure to catch up on what was going on. I got there in plenty of time. It was an unusual night at work because it wasn't that busy but what I did have going on took up a lot of my time. I had my coffee a little bit after 6pm then I ate dinner around 8pm. I was a little bit late getting home because I ended up chatting with my co-worker for half an hour after our shift was over. It was really nice catching up with her because we haven't really had a lot of time during work lately to do so.
    I felt very guilty about splurging for dinner last night so I was glad I got a workout in and ate well today. We're going away for a wine tasting event with my fiancé's co-workers this weekend and I have a feeling my diet is going to take the weekend off as well. I'm going to try to not overdo it but it's inevitable that I will be indulging in too much wine....that's for sure! I can definitely see a difference in my hands today over yesterday because I put cream on them last night. I also didn't really do that much cleaning around the house today. Alright, that's all for now.

Day Three Hundred and Forty Six.

    I got a very slow start this morning because I was up way to late last night! I ended up falling asleep on the couch and waking up around 10:30am. I realized that was way to early to get up, since it was probably around 5am when I went to sleep, so I went back to sleep and eventually work up at 1pm! It's been a long time since I've slept in that much and I felt a little bit guilty. When I finally got off of the couch I spent some time on the internet catching up on news. I was still feeling very sore from my workout on Sunday so I decided to wait another day until I worked out. Therefore I spent the extra time cleaning the downstairs bathroom and putting another load of laundry in. These weren't my regular clothes because I did them yesterday, but they were my throw blankets, which haven't been washed in a while.
    After I took a shower I had a long phone conversation with my Mother. I feel very upset with myself because I ended up losing my temper with her during the conversation. She was getting very adamant about some details regarding the wedding and I just don't understand why she feels the need to try to control every aspect of it. I apologized but I definitely hurt her feelings. It was already 5pm when I got off of the phone with her and I remembered I hadn't even run the errand I wanted to run. Since I hadn't heard from my fiancé at that point I figured I'd still have time to get what I needed before he showed up. I ended up running my errand and still getting home before my fiancé arrived! Once he got to the house we both went out together to go get the tuxedos for the wedding.
    I thought that getting the tuxedos was going to be a very long process but the guy helping us out was great and it only took an hour! After we were done with that we went to the Target to grab some items I needed, then we went to dinner. I would have went to Target earlier, but it was near the tuxedo store, so I figured we'd should just do it together so I wouldn't have to make an extra trip. I was very excited to find out that soap was on sale for $3.91 per bottle! That's an amazing deal since it's usually almost $5 a bottle! My fiancé does not encourage my soap habit at all but even he was agreeing that the price was good and I should load up while I could.
    We didn't get home until after 10pm and after I unloaded our purchases we just sat on the couch and watched some TV. Actually, he ended up falling asleep pretty soon! I've been washing my hands a lot the last few days and they certainly are starting to get a little bit sore. I'm really going to have to try and suppress the hand washing now so they don't get really bad. I just remembered that I didn't put hand cream on last night and I bet that's why they're so dry today. Even missing one night can affect them! I'm feeling a little bit guilty about eating out again tonight but it was pretty inevitable since neither of us wanted to cook so late. We ate at a local Tex-Mex place and I ate way too much. I really hope I can get up early tomorrow and get a workout in so I feel a little bit better about myself. Puppy also wants a walk! Alright, until next time.

Day Three Hundred and Forty Five.

    I got up around 10:30am this morning and proceeded to make a cup of coffee. Unfortunately, the process took a lot longer than usual and I was afraid I was going to have to give up! You see, my coffee maker is finicky at times and today it was acting up. My first cup of coffee was the darkest color I've ever seen produced from the single cup function of the machine and full of coffee grounds. For some reason the device punched a hole in the cup in the wrong position. After fiddling a little bit I got a cup of hot water and finally the third time I tried, I got a perfect cup of French Vanilla:) I also ate a protein bar with my coffee. After breakfast, I decided to take some time to balance my checkbook and pay some bills.
    Paying bills ended up taking a lot longer than expected and it was about 12:30pm when I was finally done. Then, I put a load of laundry in and took a shower. For lunch I had a Lean Cuisine followed by some grapes. Work was a lot better tonight than it was yesterday, but I still had a lot of issues. I feel like there were a lot of things which kept coming up that I didn't feel I had the professional experience to handle. That sort of thing frustrates me because I've been at my job now for 7 years and you would think I should know how to deal with all the problems. I just try to remind myself that I work in a field which changes everyday, so it's impossible to know everything! I got out of work a little bit before 11:30pm and when I got home my fiancé was there, which was exciting.
    My fiancé and I only had a few minutes to chat before he had to go to bed, but it was still nice catching up. We're going to go look for his wedding tuxedo tomorrow when he gets out of work, so I wanted to prepare him:) I didn't do much cleaning around the house today and even though it wasn't as busy as yesterday at work, I still didn't have much time to over wash my hands tonight. With that being said, my hands don't look bad at all. I'm certainly excited about my day off tomorrow but I have several errands I have to run. I feel really bad because I ran out of some of my dogs favorite treats and I can tell she's anxious about it. She can only eat one brand of rawhide and I ran out about 4 days ago. She only gets one once every other day and she has been acting like she's not sure why she hasn't gotten one. That's obviously on top of my errand list. Alright, well that's all for now.

Day Three Hundred and Forty Four.

    I woke up around 10am this morning and I had a lot I wanted to do so I got right out of bed. I had a protein bar for breakfast with a cup of coffee while I researched some hotel options for my friends upcoming nuptials next month. I didn't call to reserve the room because I'm still wondering if we can manage to go to the wedding without having to stay in a hotel. I'm feeling like it might not be necessary since we could take a taxi to my fiancés house for half of the cost of a hotel room. After my research I did a workout. I didn't do anything too hard, just a arm workout video and a saddlebag eraser regimen my twin sister had sent me the other day. I still can't believe how out of shape I'm feeling:( I hope I can stick to my working out so that I can start getting stronger and eventually back to where I used to be.
    I took a shower right after my workout, then had lunch which was just a Lean Cuisine. I was still feeling hungry after lunch so right before I left for work I had a Fiber One bar to keep me full until dinner time. Work started out deceivingly slow but then got really busy by the end of the night. In fact, I was there until 11:30pm trying to double check my work. I was so stressed at work that when I got home I had a glass of wine, which I usually only do if I have the next day off. Luckily, it calmed me down pretty fast and I was feeling a little bit better in no time.
    It was so incredibly busy at work tonight that I really didn't have time to wash my hands all that much. I did manage to have dinner around 6:30pm, which was another Lean Cuisine with a yogurt. When I got home from work I had a few pretzel sticks and a Fiber One cookie. So far this evening week I've been very good about my eating and I'm feeling pretty focused as far as the diet is going. Well, I have a lot that I want to get done tomorrow, mainly so that I won't have a ton to do on my day off, which is Tuesday. I guess that's all for tonight!

Day Three Hundred and Forty Three.

    I didn't go to bed that late last night and because of that I found myself awake at 8:30am. Instead of getting out of bed though I fell back to sleep and didn't wake up until around 10:30am. I was feeling pretty guilty about eating too much last night so I decided to just have oatmeal for breakfast while my fiancé had a bagel. We spent the rest of the morning talking about honeymoon possibilities and plans for later this week. I didn't do that much around the house today, except for emptying the dishwasher and folding the laundry from the previous day. My fiancé went home around 1:30pm and I got pretty sad because I didn't feel ready to not see him for another three days:(
    Work was very steady the entire evening. In fact it got progressively busier as the evening went on, which was frustrating since I started getting tired. It wasn't my usual evening crew so it was a bit of a different feel tonight. I had a Lean Cuisine for dinner and a yogurt as well. Even though I felt pretty full I had a Fiber One cookie when I got home as well as a few pretzel sticks.
    I spoke with my fiancé for a few minutes when I got home and that pretty much sums up the day. I didn't have time to get a workout in and am hoping that I will do it tomorrow. I'm also thinking that the weather will be a little bit cooler so I can take my dog for a walk. Since there's no sink in the main area at work anymore I actually didn't wash my hands too much tonight. They look pretty good compared to the beginning of the week. I've actually been trying to practice not hand washing around the house at times when I know it's not necessary. It's going pretty well! Alright, I don't want to sleep in too late tomorrow so I'm going to get to bed now.

Day Three Hundred and Forty Two.

    I stayed up until around 1am last night then fell asleep on the couch before heading up to bed around 3am. It felt very good to have a day at home to sleep in, yet I was proud of myself for getting out of bed around 10am. I had no idea about how I was going to time my day but I knew I really wanted to get my errands done early. With that being said I got dressed and headed out around 11am. I went to the bank, the food store, the dry cleaners and finally the Dunkin Donuts. It had been exactly a month since I dropped my goose down blanket and winter coat off at the dry cleaners and in the craziness of the past month I had almost forgetting to pick them up!
    I thought I would have some down time today but when I got home I was getting so annoyed with the fact that every where I stepped there was debris on the floor. I realized it was time to vacuum:( The first thing I did though was dust bust the couch and spray it with Lysol. This is something I try to do every once in a while because if you think about it, couches pick up a lot of germs and they never really get washed! Anyway, after I was done that I vacuumed the downstairs of my house. By the time I was done with all of that it was after 3pm already! I started a load of laundry and then took a shower. Obviously all of this cleaning meant I did a lot of hand washing today, but honestly my hands don't look too dry. I've been better about putting hand cream on them every night before bed and believe it or not that helps a ton.
    My fiancé was a little bit late leaving work so we ended up being about 15 minutes late for our appointment with the DJ. He didn't seem to mind! We had an hour interview with him and I left feeling very confident about hiring him. Unfortunately, my fiancé felt a little bit different. My fiancé didn't like how "goody two-shoes" he seemed, but I've been told by many that this is how these DJ's tend to be. I thought that he was very professional and is going to do a great job of organizing the entire reception. Ultimately my fiancé said if I liked him that he would be fine with it. Of course now that's something else we don't agree about and I can't imagine how I'll feel if this DJ doesn't do a good job.
    After our interview with the DJ we went to dinner at a place where we are considering having our reception dinner. It was a nice re-done house turned into a restaurant and it was such a warm evening out that we decided to eat out on the deck. We got breadsticks with mozzarella cheese inside for an appetizer, then I had a salad with a sandwich consisting of grilled chicken, provolone cheese, and balsamic vinaigrette on a ciabatta roll. I loved what I got but my fiancé didn't think his was so great. He got a breaded pork sandwich, that I thought was just so-so as well because it was pretty dry. The only problem with the place as far as a reception dinner goes is that the rooms where they do big parties are divided into two. Therefore our party would have to be split in order to fit all of us. Something to think about I guess.
    As if my eating for the day couldn't have gotten any worse I talked my fiancé into stopping to get ice cream on the way home. I got a hot fudge sundae and I ate most of it, but my eyes were bigger than my stomach because I had to throw some of it out. I felt really guilty for indulging but because I'm starting my evening shift I should be able to have a fairly good eating week. Another reason I felt really guilty was because I didn't even exercise today, but I suppose all that cleaning burned some calories. When we got home we just watched some TV together, which felt really nice. We've been so busy lately that the evenings in have been few and far between. Okay, until next time!

Day Three Hundred and Forty One.

    Once again this morning I woke up before my alarm and I think it was due to the same situation as yesterday, where I had to use the bathroom:( I wanted to get to work on time because I knew it was going to be a busy morning so I didn't sit in bed too long. As it turned out it was an incredibly busy morning and the odd thing was that it didn't go by as fast as you would expect, when it's busy. The afternoon got even busier and I found myself leaving a lot for the evening shift, which made me feel terrible. I think the days of leaving no problems for the next shift is over, since the hospital has expanded. Anyway, after work I went right home after a quick stop at the wine store.
    I stopped at the wine store because I wanted to bring a bottle of wine to dinner at my Mother's house. When I got home I tried to speed things along so it wouldn't be that late when I got to dinner. I quickly gathered the garbage up and then hopped in the shower. Once I was done I got on the road. After many considerations I decided not to bring my dog with my to my Mother's house. I knew that my Mom would be upset but my dog hates car rides and I didn't think it was worth it for only a short visit. Anyway, I picked my fiancé up on the way up to my Mother's house and we arrived around 7pm. My Mom made a wonderful dinner of cheeseburgers, Cole slaw, and fried squash. She also started things out with grapes and cheese:) We had a wonderful visit and I'm very glad we went!
    Actually, I have to be a little bit honest here, I wasn't looking forward to going up to my Mother's house at all today but it ended up being a lot of fun. It was really for selfish reasons such as not wanting to make the drive:( I feel very guilty that I was dreading the visit and even more guilty writing those feelings down. I got sad when we left, as I always do, and I think a lot of that has to do with nostalgia for the past. It makes me think about how much time it's been since I've actually lived there and where that time has gone. While I was living in the house time seemed to move so slowly and now, several years have gone by since I've lived there and time goes by so quickly. I couldn't help but think about all the times I would spend listening to the radio and talking with my sisters about the future. I was so lucky getting to spend so much time with them all as a child and it makes it harder now that I don't see them as often as I'd like. Another reason I get sad is because I have a sense of guilt that I'm leaving my Mother all by herself. Times like that makes me wish that my parents had been able to work things out, so at least they would have each other.
    It was about 11:30pm when we got home and my fiancé went right to bed because he has to work tomorrow. Luckily, my day off is tomorrow so I didn't have to rush right to bed. I have a lot of things I want to do tomorrow and I'm going to try to not get too obsessive about housework. I'd like to actually read my book and exercise during the day. I am inevitably going to put a load of wash in, but besides that maybe I'll take a day off of cleaning. My hands looked better today than they have all week and I think it's because I'm consciously trying to minimize the hand washing. We'll see how long this lasts:) Okay, that's it for this entry!

Day Three Hundred and Forty.

    I woke up at about 5am this morning and even though I had another hour I could sleep I just sat in bed wide awake. I wasn't sure why until I got up and then I realized I really had to go to the bathroom....haha! I had to get to work on time this morning because it was meeting day, so it worked out in my favor in the end. Today it was a clinical meeting, which was pretty interesting and I was glad I was able to go. I got a coffee right after the meeting, instead of waiting, because the area I was working in tends to get busy mid-morning. I've been treating myself to pumpkin coffee's:) As predicted, it got very busy this afternoon and I didn't end up leaving work until 4pm.
    I went right home after work today and I had a handful of things I wanted to get done. After I had a yogurt I took the sheets off my bed and threw them in the wash. Then it was time to get a workout in! I was excited to see that my twin sister sent me an email with some workout options included in it. Unfortunately, I decided I was a little too out of shape to jump right into those workouts, so instead I chose to do a introduction to Pilates video. It was a nice way to ease back into working out. I'm hoping that on my day off, which is going to be Friday, I'll be able to spend time tackling some of the new workouts. I was extremely exhausted after that little Pilates video today and it's left me slightly embarrassed that I'm so out of shape. I guess, this is all good motivation to get back into working out routinely so I can get myself in shape again! I took a shower after my workout and then put the sheets in the dryer.
    For dinner I heated up a piece of chicken I had in the freezer from a few weeks ago and made a frozen vegetable packet to have with it. It was a very light and simple dinner which I felt I needed after the weekend. Also, the next few days I'm inevitably going to be eating more than I should since I'm going to visit my Mother tomorrow and Friday we'll probably go out after out meeting with the DJ.
    I have to report that my hands are looking very dry and I hope my Mother doesn't point it out when she sees me tomorrow. I've just had so much to do and I've been so stressed that I can't seem to find my "no need" to wash zone. Oh well, I guess that's all I'll write about tonight!

Day Three Hundred and Thirty Nine.

    So as my loyal readers can tell, I took Labor Day weekend off. It's just recently become too hard trying to squeeze blog entries in, when in actuality, I don't have time to do it every single day during weekends like this last one. I was impressed with myself at the fact that I had a three day weekend ahead of me on Friday and I wasn't staring at the clock all day. It ended up being a pretty decent work day and I got a ton done. Actually, when my relief came in he yelled at me to go home so I left a few minutes early:) He knows that I am never the first one out and would only leave early if I was forced!
     The original plan for the weekend was to go to my fiancés house, but not until Saturday. I switched those plans late Thursday night because I found out for sure that he had two friends visiting from the City. I know these guys and they tend to get a little rowdy, which was making me nervous since my neighbor watches my every move. I felt that it would be a better idea to just spend the whole weekend at my fiancés house. I had told my fiancé the previous night that I would head to his house when I had mine ready to leave. Inevitably, I had a lot to do! Even though I left work early I got home late because I had errands to run including trips to the CVS, the bank, the wine store and the beer store! The first thing I did when I got home was throw a load of laundry in. I was already having nightmares at the thought of going all weekend without doing one load:) While that was in the wash I took a shower then started packing for the weekend. During the time which the laundry was being dried I balanced my checkbook so I would have that settled prior to the weekend as well. I thought I could make it out of my house by 7:30pm but it was definitely after 8pm when my dog and I headed out. There were just so many things I wanted to remember and I'm glad I didn't forget the watermelon!
    When I got to my fiancés house his friends had already arrived and they were making a delicious rib meal on the grill. I had a beer and contributed by getting a big salad together. After dinner we played some cards until my fiancé's Brother showed up, which was after 1am and finally it was time to sleep:) I woke up the next morning feeling very refreshed and excited for the day because we were going to go to the lake. Unfortunately, we didn't make it to his parent's camp until around 3pm so we didn't actually get down to the lake but it's also nice just sitting on the deck. What slowed us down was the fact that we decided to make breakfast, but we didn't have anything we needed, so we had to go to the food store. Also, my fiancé and his friend were trying to fix a motor he had gotten for this boat he got from work. They couldn't figure out what was wrong with it but we finally headed to the lake with the boat and the motor in the front seat of the car:)
    I spent a large portion of the afternoon talking with my fiancés Mother about the wedding. I was frustrated to hear that she is still very upset about the fact I won't allow children at my wedding. Apparently that means two of her cousins won't be able to attend. I really had to bite my tongue so that I wouldn't say anything that I regretted but I'm slowly realizing that this is probably going to come up a lot more:( We had dinner around 6pm which consisted of burgers, hot dogs, sausage, cole slow, potato salad, and beans. It was all good! Well, honestly I didn't eat the beans but I'm sure if you like them they would have been great. For dessert we had pound cake with fresh blueberries and whipped cream. After dinner we played a board game which I used to love called Balderdash. In fact, I remember always trying to get my sisters to play it, but they didn't like it as much as I did. I started out doing really terrible, but ended up finishing in second place, loosing only to my fiancé. I laughed a lot and it turned out to be a wonderful day. It was nice because my fiancés Grandparents hadn't left for Florida yet so we spent the day with them as well. It was a little bittersweet for my fiancé because his Grandfather's healh is declining rapidly and I think he is worried about when he'll see him again:(
    We headed back to my fiancés house when we were done at the camp and played some poker. We didn't play too late and got to bed around 2am, if I remember correctly. We played with quarters instead of chips so that made it more interesting! Playing poker reminded me of when my sisters and I used to play with my Dad. It's weird playing poker without my Dad's commentary throughout the entire game:) The next day my fiancé went with his friends to play Frolf while I spent the morning getting myself ready to go to his bosses Labor Day party. After I took a shower I went to the store to pick up some wine to bring as well as some beer. I was also thinking ahead and got what we would need to make French toast for breakfast the following morning. By the time I got back to my fiancé's house he was back from the game and we headed to the party after he showered. Well, the first thing we did was stop by the camp to say good bye to his Grandparents, since they would be going back to Florida early Monday morning. It was actually his Grandfathers Birthday so we gave him Birthday cards and sung him Happy Birthday.
    I was a little bit worried about the party because the weather was really rainy, but luckily it was warm outside, which made it tolerable. There were plenty of people there and it ended up being a lot of fun. There is quite a spread there because they get it catered, so there was definitely plenty to eat! I was a really impolite guest because I hadn't eaten anything prior to coming so eating was the first thing I did. I had a few meatballs, some baked ziti, some chicken Masala, vegetables and chips with seven layer taco dip. Let me get off of the subject for a minute here, seven layer taco dip is pretty much my favorite thing in the world and I have yet to make it in my lifetime. I'm going to have to try it at some point:) Anyway, so we spent time talking with my fiancés co-workers and like everything else the day went by really fast. My fiancé's Father came to pick us up so we didn't have to drive, which was nice. Once we got back to my fiancé's house we played poker for the rest of the night.
    I was already getting depressed about it being Monday already when I woke up the next day but it was beautiful out, so that cheered me up. My fiancé made French toast with bacon for the crew. After we ate we all went back over to the camp, which was now empty since his Father took his Grandparents and Mother to the airport. We spent the day down by the lake, which was wonderful. I didn't have my bathing suit on but I waited around the water. Then we went out on the motor-less boat and did some fishing. I was so excited since I always liked doing it when I was a kid but hadn't gotten a chance in my adult years. I didn't catch anything but it was still awesome. My fiancés Father had gotten home from the airport around 3pm and he made us dinner, which was pizza and leftovers. He had also made blueberry rhubarb pie the previous day, so we had that for dessert. It was really sweet that he made us dinner:) At that point I decided it was too late to drive back to my house so I just stayed over at my fiancés house.
    I had to get up at 5am this morning in order to get home in time to drop my dog off before work. I was so tired driving that it was scaring me. I made it home okay and did actually have some extra time to do some unpacking. Of course that made me a little bit late for work, but no one said anything:) The day wasn't too bad but you could tell that there was a three day weekend, since things that should have been taken care of on Monday weren't. It was also pretty busy, but it made the day go by fast. After work I drove to a local farm stand to get some potatoes and vegetables to have for dinner. My fiancé and I had previously discussed getting a steak:)
    By the time I got home I sorted through the mail, put a load of laundry in and then took a shower. I had about 5 minutes to myself after all of that until my fiancé arrived. He mowed the yard while I got the potatoes and vegetables grill ready. I put the potatoes in a little aluminum pouch with onions, garlic, cilantro, and olive oil. Then I did the same type of thing with the squash and zucchini, only I used low fat Caesar dressing for the marinade. Once my fiancé was done with the lawn he grilled everything up and it was fantastic! I ended up eating way too much:)
    So to wrap up the last several days as far as my hand washing is concerned I did terrible:( I usually do better when I go away about not over washing, but I have a hard time at my fiancés house suppressing my urge to clean. Sometimes I wish I could spend a few days in a row there just cleaning. It's not that he's that dirty of a person, but any house needs to have weekly cleaning, which he just doesn't have the time to do. Well, already I've written enough for one evening!