August 29, 2000

Since eating out is not an option at my new work place, I’ve been eating some frozen dinners and I must share with you the best frozen meals out there: Weight Watchers. I don’t mean to plug things but their lines of Bistro Meals are excellent and tasty. I had the penne pollo meal today and it was the best-frozen dinner meal of their line. It has six points and it really filled me up. It’s kind of costly for a meal but at $2.79, you can’t go wrong.

I was going over my benefit coverage and Blue Cross / Blue Shield is in a partnership with Weight Watchers and all cardholders get some sort of discount. I guess that is across the board so you all should check it out. When things start to settle down, I am going to start going to some meetings. I feel as if I have been in a slump and maybe the in person meetings could help. Plus, it would be nice to have a leader to fly ideas by.

I met with my first client today! Amazingly, I was not too freaked out! I thought I was going to be a wreck because I have to drive out to the “CONSUMERS” home. Yup, they want me to call them consumers, but I’m old fashioned so I will secretly call them my client. It was way out in BFE. Though, on the way back, a stone hit my windshield and made a big crack! Argh, just my luck that I have a new vehicle for a couple of weeks then damage is done to it. Though, the good thing is that it’s on the passenger’s side…so it doesn’t bother me as much. Well that’s it for me today, take care all! Kellie

August 28, 2000

Wow, sorry about my absence. I was adjusting to work and searching for a new place. I looked all weekend and finally I secured an apartment today in Sparta. The rent is hefty $635 a month for a two bedroom but it’s the cheapest, closest, and one of the only available places around in the area so I guess they have a real tap on the market and basically they can ask what they want for the place. Though I guess I should not be complaining too much about the place because it’s 2 bedrooms but what can I say, I’m not used to forking out that kind of dough. My apartment in Louisville was beautiful and cheap ($425 so $635 seems like a lot). I must admit to feeling a bit drained over the last week. When I got home, I just didn’t feel like going near the computer, please forgive. I was just trying to adjust. It’s been hectic though the last couple of days and it’s going to be even more hectic this weekend when I go back to Louisville on Saturday to bring back my stuff up. I’m looking forward to having my own place again because I’m sick of the commute and when I live in Sparta, it will give me an extra hour because I was waking up at 5:40 which is pretty darn early. In a month or so, I will be purchasing a treadmill. I figure I can put it in the spare bedroom…my office, yup my own office in my place, so I can exercise again. Concerning I am very thankful that haven’t gained any weight because I’m pretty stressed out right now…I can’t go into too much details but Shawn is driving me bonkers! I need my space so it will be nice to be back on my own and be surrounded by my own stuff. Argh! Please tell me that things will soon settle down because I’m feeling like I am in a tornado just whirling around…Honey, I’m not in Kansas anymore!

August 21, 2000

My first day of work was today…it seems like it’s going to be a great place to work. Though, basically I just had to meet with people today and go over some books so it wasn’t that exciting. The one thing that is going to be tough is the commute. It’s 56 miles from Grandville to work so it’s a long jot up there. I started at 8:00 am so I had to wake up at 5:40 this morning. Let’s just say I’m pretty tired right now (and it’s only 8:30!) so as soon as I can find a place in Sparta, I am moving up there. The one thing about Sparta is that the housing is not abundant…it’s going to be tough to get a place to live. I don’t want to rush into a place but I can’t drive over 120 miles a day either because that’s going to get old real quick.

I finally lost a pound this week! Wow, it feels good to lose again. I feel this working thing is going to help me lose weight too because there are no fast food in the town I work in. the only options to eat out is the grocery store or the rite aid. Plus, I can start to work out again because they have a health club and it’s only $10 a month to join if you work there. I’ve truly missed the gym so watch out here I come. Finally things look like they are going to settle down. Thanks for sticking by me through this rough time. I know my stats are not impressive like they used to be, but I’m doing this slow…and thank goodness I didn’t gain a ton during this stressful, unsettling time…maybe now, I will be back on track. Take care all-Kellie

August 16, 2000

It’s been a wonderful couple of days off….I really missed my mom and dad and it is great to see them. We’ve had a couple of action packed days since I’ve been home. On Friday they were busy with their new home. They are building a smaller house in the back because they like the back of the property a lot better, they have 50 acres so the new owners of this home will not even know they are there because it is located at the front of the property. Anyways, when I got home, I was exhausted from the trip. Passing through Indianpolis (oh my Jill, I don’t know how you do it! 465, I think that’s it was a bear!) and Louisville was awful because of construction. My car doesn’t have air conditioning and it was hot!! So when I got home, I was tired because of the drive and the fact that I didn’t sleep a wink the night before. On Saturday, I went car shopping and I found me a 1996 Chevy Blazer, bright cherry red, 4x4, 70,000 miles, and fully loaded and they let me take it home on the weekend and I bought it on Monday. I got it $5,000 below blue book value and everything on it seemed okay according to my mechanic. She’s a beauty! Teresa (my best friend from grad school) came over yesterday and stayed the night so I’ve been extremely busy. Then tomorrow, I’m leaving again for Michigan…yhew! There’s a lot going on!

When I first got home, I weighed 193 but I weighed in today at 190 again. I have to be really careful because I was getting up there again. The good thing about working at my new job is that there is no where to eat out…no fast food or anything so it looks like I’m going to be taking my lunch which means I can get a better control on things. I notice that I eat a lot better around my folks because at Shawn’s, I know I haven’t given my weight loss goal 110% but now since I’m going to be settling down, maybe I can. Now I just have to get to pay checks and find a new place to live. I figure I’m going to live in the small village of Sparta which will be 25 minutes from my new job. I won’t be too far from Shawn, but I won’t be too far from work. It’s about time for me to move out too because I want to be surrounded by my stuff. It’s been nice living with Shawn bu we still have things to work on before we make that big commitment. We tend to argue a lot at times) but it’s been difficult since moving to his new place. It seems since his moved, he’s been a tad bit frazzled. I don’t know what it is but he seems to be a bit more irrated and edgy…maybe it’s the move, maybe not but hopefully he will be better when I get back. I just don’t understand at times…hum! Well that’s it for me today, take care all-Kellie

August 11, 2000

I GOT MY DREAM JOB EVERYONE!!!!! Yippy! Thanks for all of your help with the outfit and thinking happy thoughts for me last Monday because it worked! The job is excellent, I will be a home based therapist with full benefits, no copay, and 29 days off a year. I will be making a wage that is $10,000 more than my colleagues in KY. I will work in a positive team work environment (every social workers dream)…so things did work out for me…

We’ll since this news, I am heading town to KY today so I can visit with my folks and possible get a used Grand Cherokee. I’m looking for a 4x4 that is around 5 – 6 years old. I figure if I could get a vehicle down there, I could leave my mom and dad with my car so they could sell it because I wouldn’t get a cent for what its worth up here. I started too look for a vehicle on the computer and I think I’m going to use carfax.com for the title checks because I heard that it’s a great thing to use because it starts the major work history on the car, how many people have owned the car, etc. I don’t want to be stuck with a lemon especially when I will be driving a lot for a while because I will be living with Shawn until October so I can get some money built up to rent a place.

Well wish me a safe drive and I will keep y’all posted on what’s going on with me. Take care all-Kellie

August 8, 2000

The interview went smashing! I did great but I’m hesitant to say that I landed the job definitely because of the situation that occurred with my other interview in late June with that one agency in Grand Rapids called DA Blodgett. I went on one interview with them for a social worker therapist and the 1st interview went well. Then I got called back to a second interview and I thought I did super well but I never heard from them again. I even called, sent a note, and mailed another resume to them but I still didn’t hear from them…how rude is that? So this interview went extremely well but I’m still afraid to say that I landed the job because I don’t want to jinx it or get my hopes up. The funny thing is that this job is my dream job…I can envision myself working there. So if I don’t get it, I must admit I will be slightly crushed but I will get over it. I went on another interview today and it was a bust. I was over qualified for the position and it was in a bad area. When I got to that agency, I asked myself, “Can I get up and leave?” I didn’t but it was a waste of my time. The interviewers were very cold and I was just not into being there. Though, it’s kind of neat to see all the different agencies in the area…

Thanks for all the votes! It was great to hear from all of you out there…especially the new people who haven’t written before. Outfit 5 won by a landslide. The suit looked awesome and I felt very confident in it. The funny thing is that all but outfit 2& 3 was from Goodwill. I love Goodwill! It is the best store. I’ve been re- selling for 10 years now and you can find anything out there. I find a lot of Elisabeth clothes (that’s what the suit was) so I may pay$2.99 for the pants but they are high quality merchandise that would retail for a lot more. I found another size 16 suit today and it looked brand new….someone’s junk is someone’s treasure!

I’ve been running around a lot the last few days…the interview seemed like it took all Monday and last night we went to the mall. Shawn just moved to the SW corner of Grand Rapids and it’s amazing to see the boom out here. Down the road is a mall, a home depot , a lowes, a bust buy, and many other stores are coming in too. So we’ve been spending a lot of time at the mall to window shop and browse. I went to Kohl’s yesterday and I got some Capri khaki’s and a skirt for $6! Can you believe that? They are having their final summer sales. It’s strange to see the fall stuff coming in…I’m just not ready for it!

I’m the same this week. I guess that’s all I can ask for because at least I am not gaining. I’m eating okay but I feel that I am not eating what I need to eat to lose…I’m just maintaining. That’s it for me tonight, take care all-Kellie

August 4, 2000

Hi All!

Thanks for all your emails so far...the outfit in the lead is #4 with 13 votes, 3rd place is spend some money on a suit with 10 votes, 3rd place is outfit #1 with seven votes, 4th place is outfit #3 with 5 votes, and lastly outfit #2 with 2 votes.

Okay, so the 2nd place opinion made me wonder...do I have something else? Well after digging through my ebay stuff (I sell a ton of stuff on ebay, it's my income right now) I found an Elisabeth Suit Size 16 that I bought for $4.99 at goodwill. I had tried it on before but I thought it didn't fit right because of the skirt being tight in the tummy area. But after trying it on again this morning it was a great fit. So I am introducing outfit #5...don't kill me folks! Still I need your help and it's nice to meet all of you that I haven't chatted with before...and thanks to the regulars who I hear from because you all are great and thanks for your continued support. So check out outfit 5 and let me know. Take care all-Kellie

August 3, 2000

To all of my readers: I NEED HELP!!!!

Okay, I have these outfits to choose from. From your opinion, what outfit should I wear. Next Monday I have the 2nd interview for my dream job so I want to go in there and impress them. But I have no clue on what to wear. The atmosphere is very casual ie, khakis. So please help me!!! Either send me an email: Kellie's Email (misskellie@hotmail.com) or leave me a message on the buddy board…but PLEASE HELP ME. The outfit with the most votes will win and I will wear it. I don’t want to spend another $80 on a suit so I have to wear what I got. Thanks for your help! –Kellie

Outfit 1

Outfit 2

Outfit 3

Outfit 4

Outfit 5

August 1, 2000

New entry, new month…Sorry about my absence last week. The phone at the apartment was turned off unexpectedly last week because of the move so I was without a phone for five days! That was awful. To go without a phone that long is terrible because if I wanted to chat with someone, I couldn’t!

I feel like many of you right now, I’m slipping. Living with Shawn is challenging in the dieting sense. We are not eating out so much but I feel that I am NOT eating well. I want to get back on track and stick with it because I don’t want to gain. It’s scary because at times, I honestly feel out of control. Maybe it’s because of all the changes that I’m going through. I’m just happy that I am staying the same (pretty much). I have to give myself the control back because I’m letting my emotions control my eating patterns. It’s like I am overeating on good food…is that possible? Yes, it is. Since the move we haven’t been walking because we don’t have time for it at night…I guess we’ve both been making excuses. We’ve also down a lot of running in the past week because of the move…it seems like we eat dinner when he gets home and then we are off to Meijers, Wal-Mart, or Target getting items for the apartment. I can’t wait till things settle down because this is crazy. Shawn is also semi getting on my nerves because he is aggravating me. Like last night, we brought back my computer to the new apartment finally and he took one thing up and didn’t come back down to unload the rest of the car because WWF RAW was on. He said he would help me when a commercial came back on. Sorry but even though my computer is a year and a half old, I didn’t want to leave it in plain view of people. I bought my computer with my own hard-earned money so I really respect what I own. So I ended up bring up my stuff and my 45 pound monitor…the only bad thing about a 19inch is the weight! I was pissed off because I felt; ah I know where I land on the pecking order! Argh, things like that really piss me off! Besides that he is okay but I really am desperate to get back to my own space. It sucks not having anything of mine around me. I can’t wait till I have my own place again.

The job hunting is going good. I found my dream job! It’s for a home based therapist and it’s everything I want in a job and more. I have a second interview next week, Monday I think (he has to get back with me this week to let me know because one team member is out on vacation). Here is the specifics…I would be a home based therapist working with nine families to strengthen their communication and relations with each other. Pay is in the mid 30’s which blew my socks off because that type of pay is unheard of, 25 vacation and sick days a year, supervision so I could become a CSW (a certified social worker) in the state of Michigan, full benefits including health, vision, and dental, and the best of all: a positive work environment. I felt that throughout the agency…it really shows that they like their jobs. The job is only open because the person who had it was promoted. The agency has a low turnover rate. I hope this is it because this place is awesome.

I saw Carnie Wilson on VH1 and I was super impressed, she looks excellent. She had her stomach stapled last year and the results are just amazing. Though, I heard he say that it was the most painful thing she ever did but she needed to because she said she was killing herself with food. It’s a difficult procedure but kudos to her finding something that works….I found something that works but I just have to get my ass in gear. I’m just struggling, losing weight isn’t easy but I want to be healthy, and I will be. I just have to recommit to my lifestyle change. Hang in there guys because I’m going through the crap…lets just get focused again because deep down inside, I know what’s going on…the food is controlling me again, and life is not centered around the goodies…and solace in food is not happiness, just emptiness with a full stomach! Take care all-Kellie

My Vistors Since August 1, 2000

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