What better way to end a warm sunny day then with a nice barbecued supper! Yes… I barbecued supper myself last night. Normally I avoid the barbecue but ours is pretty easy. Just turn the gas on, turn the burners on and hit a button and it lights itself! I guess it’s not that impressive since a lot of them do that now. But I am used to the ones you have to turn the gas on and guess at how much you should give it before dropping a lit match into the barbecue and hope like hell that you don’t blow yourself, your house, or your friends, family and neighbors up! Those are the kind I am used to and I do not like them!

I cooked Pork sirloin chops and baked potatoes. And for once I didn’t just throw them on the grill and hope for the best. I actually brined them first and then added a dry rub I made with random spices. I don’t remember what I just grabbed what I thought would taste good and hoped for the best… see a pattern going on here?? I also did baked potatoes in foil. We picked up a garden salad mix and all in all it was a good supper and only took me about an hour and a half.

It was a nice way to spend my day off. I alternated between staying in the nice cool house. Which was cool until the sun went down then it started to feel like a sauna in there. The other night I made potatoes on the grill to go with hot dogs. I sliced up potatoes and added butter, garlic, dried onions, thyme and oregano and wrapped them in foil and threw them on the grill beside the hot dogs.

I haven’t gotten out walking a lot though. I need to go every night I think. I could either do longer walks every 2-3 nights or a shorter walk every night. I think I am going to go with the shorter walks, but still building up and going farther every day, as if I only do a few a week and make them longer then I keep making excuses for not wanting to go. If I get in the habit of every single night then once I get into the habit I will miss it when I don’t and therefor I will… Or that’s the plan anyway.

I made the mistake last night of looking into how much it would cost to join a gym (one with a pool) or other weight loss membership kinds of things. And I was surprised really surprised, at how much some of them cost! I was looking for Yoga classes or something like that as I don’t just want to loose weight but also tone and improve my flexibility as well. But it’s like $60 a month to join the YMCA (since when did they get so expensive?) or the local sportsplex. Yoga classes at a Yoga studio near me were like $200 for 5 classes plus another $100 for the initial consultation fee. I just can’t afford that so it looks like I am going at it alone.

Once we get the pool up I plan on swimming every day and going for a walk every day. Which I am hoping will be soon since we have summer-like weather already. Yesterday it went up to 33°C (91°F). Today is supposed to go to 20°C (68°F).  But it’s kinda overcast right now. We have to move the rest of our stuff this weekend but then next I hope to get started on where the pool is going so dad can order sand and gravel. And Keith can build a retaining wall to keep it from rolling down the hill since the backyard is not completely level and needs to be dug out on one side and filled on the other.

I can’t wait for the really warm weather since I am minutes from the ocean, actually at the bottom of my street there is a dock and cove we can swim in that is part of the ocean. But at the same time nice and sheltered. I plan on enjoying this summer! Even if I hate the thought of myself in a swim suit. Speaking of which I need a new one…

I fixed the theme a little more. It should now fit on 1024×768 and higher resolutions. I would have to really redo the whole thing to be able to get it viewable on 800×600 +. I may still do that in the next few days as it really wasn’t all that hard to make it fit 1024×768. I also fixed all xhtml errors and it is now XHTML 1.0 Transitional. And I fixed most of the CSS errors as well. There is still one error which I do not know how to get around and a few warnings but I will worry about them later. All in all I am extremely pleased with it.

Now it’s time to start working on a design for my portfolio and take some more pictures and create some more sites to use in it. I think I am going to do a weight loss blog. I know everyone seems to have one and I hate jumping on the bandwagon and doing it too but it will help me so I don’t really give a damn what other people think. They can read it or not…

I’ve been thinking really hard and I think as soon as I get a majority of my debt paid down I am going to apply to NSCC for either Graphic Design or Photography. I will probably apply to NSCAD as well but if I don’t get in there right away maybe I will go with NSCC first as they are both only one year programs. And then maybe it might be easier to get into NSCAD after that. I really enjoy designing and really want to go to school to do it. In the mean time I will just keep plugging away at it on my own.

I finished my first week of 9-5. What a difference! I always felt so tired and just didn’t feel much like doing anything on the 1-9′s but with 9-5 I get up easily in the morning and I feel awake and refreshed. I really don’t want to go back to 1-9. It’s amazing how much your work hours can affect your life and your health. As soon as we move in with my parents I am going to start walking every night and see if I can loose some weight. I am not sure exactly how much I weigh but I know I am overweight. If I watch what I eat then I should be able to do it easily. Since we are at my parents this weekend I am going to try and go for a walk somewhere tonight.

After a lot of deliberation and discussion and an offer from my parents, Keith and I decided the easiest way to get out of debt, besides trying to follow an impossible – impossible for me anyways – to follow budget is to move in with my parents for a year or so. I only say impossible, not because I have no idea how to follow a budget. Which I really don’t!  But because it’s hard to pay out more in bills, rent and debt then what you make in a month, that’s why I say impossible!

Therefor we decided to move into the 4th bedroom in my parents 4 bedroom home. It’s going to make for a bit of a crowded house.  There is my brother (he’s 19) in one bedroom. Mary Ellen (a friend of the family who lives with them… I mean us) in the second bedroom. And my parents in the 3rd. Luckily there is a rather large 4th bedroom/den downstairs on the main floor that has a half bath/laundry room attached to it. We are going to either put our stuff in storage here in Halifax. Or we will take it to Chester with us and store it at my parents house, in the basement. Speaking of which. We may finish off a room in the basement as well for storage/rec area for Keith and I. Just so we have a little more room.

The plan is to take the rent money, the phone/cable/internet which is all one bill, and the money we spend on power, groceries etc, and pay off the debt we both currently owe separately - as we haven’t got a whole lot of debt together yet thankfully – and give my parents $200 a month for groceries and just to help out. Meaning that we probably have an additional $600 to $700 a month to put on past debt and in our savings. So we are aiming for a year. Maybe a year and a half to pay off all or most of what we owe. Then in a year or so when we move back out and find a house to buy or rent we are either debt free or almost debt free. And hopefully with better credit ratings too. So that’s the plan. And we are hoping it works. In theory it’s a great plan.

We both get along with my parents really well. They treat Keith like a son. For the most part. They wont tell him off yet the way they do me when I piss them off. But I’m sure that’s not far away. They are comfortable with him and he is with them. Which is awesome since he’s the guy I plan on spending the rest of my life with. It makes me so relieved to know that they like him and approve of him. More then approve. They think he’s good for me. In so many ways.  I’m not sure I have ever admitted this to anyone before. And I’m not sure I want to admit it now But I am excited and happy to move home this time. I love my family and have always enjoyed their company but I hated the feeling that I could not rely on myself. That I always had to rely on someone else.

Now I feel like we are taking charge. Keith and I. Together. It’s a really nice feeling.

I went back to work yesterday for a 5 hour shift. I am feeling better but I wanted to be sure before doing a full shift. So I went in for 4 instead of 1. I have good news though! I am going to days in May! I will finally be working a 9-5 job Monday-Friday. Since I love the job this is great. I am glad to be back. I was a little concerned about missing time. I hate missing any time. But if your sick your sick…

This will also give me a chance to get out more and do things. I am going to set up a schedule for walking every week. 3-4 times a week. Maybe a day or two with Keith and a day or two without since he wants to walk to but enjoys walking alone sometimes. I also like to go places for a walk , like trails and hiking and he doesn’t so maybe I’ll take off and go find a trail somewhere. There are tons of trails around Halifax and Dartmouth both. I sometimes miss living in Dartmouth.

We’re going to go down to my parents today after he’s done at work. Need to get some laundry done and find out when they want to start building up the ground for the pool. I can’t wait! I want to loose weight so bad. I was doing so well last winter and summer but this winter I just let myself go and gained back some of what I lost the winter before. I am not going to let that happen next winter. I am buying season passes for Denton (my little brother) for our birthdays for Martock. Well I am going to get his for his birthday anyways and also see if my parents can get one for me for my birthday rather then anything else. Or even some money towards it as it’s $115 for the pass right now for next season. I need to also figure out if I am going to get a season rental pass for equipment again of if I am going to buy skiis.

I’m doing pretty good following my budget. I am out of money for the month but since I have only a week left it’s better then running out half way through like normal. Next month is going to be tough again cause my first pay is not going to be a full one. But I just have to re-think things and re-work things to fit. I’m getting there at least. I know where my money is going. Now it’s just a case of getting everything current and up to date so I have less to pay each month. I am really terrible with money and Keith is not much better. I don’t really know how people do it? Anyone care to share ideas?

It’s nice and warm and sunny out again. Last week was snow and – temperatures and the week before was rainy and warm and the week before that was hot and sunny. So it’s nice to have the sun back and the warmth. It’s a beautiful spring day! And I’m stuck inside instead of being out enjoying it.

I’ve been off work since Monday. I started having really sharp intense pains in my chest on Monday and was concerned when they would not go away so I went to the hospital. After 10 hours (and countless fights between Keith and the Doctors) I got sent home without knowing what was wrong. I went to sleep as soon as we got home and by Tuesday morning the pain had moved lower to the top of my abdomen on my right side. Near where my gallbladder is. I went to my family Doctor and she said got me to go get some more blood work done.

Yesterday morning I ended up at the hospital again because I still had the pains on my right side. And occasionally on my left. On top of that I was vomiting constantly and really nauseous. They still couldn’t figure out what was wrong and sent me home (more fights between Keith and the Doctors) and today I am still sick and still in pain. I think it might be getting a little better. I’m hoping by taking another day off and just laying on the couch and watching TV and not moving much that some or all of the pain and nausea will go away.

Anyways I put up the new layout. Hopefully I didn’t miss anything or mess anything up… I worked a long enough time on it that it shouldn’t be. I created it in illustrator and photoshop. My first illustrated layout. Or anything really.