Pics of the Week - November 7, 2012

Good morning everyone! Every Wednesday I share my week in pics. Just for fun.

This past weekend we made quite a bit of progress on our front porch. Our front porch posts were actually rotting away and needed to be replaced and the concrete was cracked in a couple places. So in exchange for a bunch of work one of hubby's friends paid him in vinyl decking (his business). Bonus!

The pic above is of the framing that took an entire weekend with lots of supervisors. LOL!

Here's how it looks with the vinyl deck boards finished except right near the front door. We needed to add a small step to close a gap under the door so no more critters got in the house. Don't get me started on the critters. Yuck!!!

The porch looks really long from this angle. Bowling anyone?!  I'm really thinking about changing out the wrought iron table and chairs in the pic. Maybe get a cute little bench to sit on or even just paint this set another color. Any suggestions?

We are still working on the porch, and next we are going to add a railing to the entire front and one side. Leaving the driveway side open.  I will post a pic when it's all done. Then lots of landscaping. Go figure I love gardening but hate landscaping.

Anyways, while hubby, my dad and I were working on Sunday my kids decided to ride their bikes. Here is my youngest on her brother's bike. It's a bit big for her, so not 5 minutes later I'm administering first aid. Just a scraped up hand - no biggie. Thank goodness.
 
I hope your week is going along well. Bye for now!

Wild Card Wednesday - April Fool's Day Tricks

Since tomorrow is April Fool's Day I figured I'd share a couple of my favorite pranks with you along with some really funny hoaxes. Have a fun day!

1. Put plastic wrap over the doorway - so the person walks right into it
2. Put plastic wrap over the toilet bowl, but under the seat.
3. Grease the doorknob with vegetable shortening, so they can't open the door.
4. Hoaxes - here are the top 100  http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/aprilfool/
5. Google Translate for Animals - Find out more about it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3I24bSteJpw 
6. Serve your family fake food. Ice cream mashed potatoes, rice krispie meatloaf, etc. There are tons of recipes online.
7. Get to work before your colleagues and turn their desktop display upside down through the display settings.
8. If your kid/hubby/coworker/friend likes to store files on their desktop, create a new folder called “Trash” and move all of their desktop icons to it. This won't really trash them just put the inside a new folder.
9. If your workstation is located really close to another person, unplug their mouse and plug your mouse into their computer. When they start up their computer and try to move their mouse cursor, move your mouse around instead. Try to keep a straight face! 
10. Take a screenshot of your colleague’s computer desktop, set this image as the background and then move all of their desktop icons to a folder elsewhere. The image of those icons will still appear on their screen but they will be unable to click them. 
11. Put a folded up sticky note over the ball of your friend's/coworker's mouse. Just make sure the sticky part of the note doesn't touch the ball. Fold the note small enough not to be seen when the mouse is lying flat on the desktop. The mouse won't work and they won't know why.

Here are a bunch of great practical joke ideas to try.
http://www.funmunch.com/events/april_fools_day/april_fools_day_pranks.shtml

Wild Card Wednesdays - Videos, Photos and Children Online

Are your children online? What about their pictures? Are they on Facebook? What about Flickr or YouTube? Those harmless photos and videos you have posted of your children may be online forever.

While they may look innocent to you - you never know who else may be looking at them.

Kids online are usually only thinking of kids their age accessing their profile or page. It's up to us as parents/adults to monitor what they are doing online. Yes, even teenagers. How many times do we have to hear about a teenager going to meet someone they met online only to find out they were a child predator?

While I personally don't recommend letting kids have their own Facebook, MySpace, etc. page online - they are your kids and you will do what you want.

My point is please monitor what your kids put online because any photo can be taken from any website. All you have to do is press the Print Screen button and paste it into a Paint program. There you have the photo to look at any time you wish or to illegally upload to another site. Would you really want some sleazy person looking at your son or daughter or posting it online?

Wild Card Wednesday - Weight Watchers Online

I decided to share with you how I am losing weight while still eating my fave foods. Just so you know, I am not getting paid to promote Weight Watchers or in any way compensated. The program is working for me  and that's why I'm sharing it. I hope it may encourage someone else to consider trying it now or in the future. I have always tried to share companies, links, and resources that I thought were helpful and good, so others could benefit like I have.

So anyways, I signed up for Weight Watchers Online on January 21, 2010. I do not attend meetings - it's a personal choice. I keep track of all the foods I eat online, and don't have time to attend meetings right now. I have my own family and friends as a support group and that is working for me. So far I have lost 17.9lb and I continue to eat all the same foods I did before.  The only difference is I'm learning about portion sizes, and surprising to me I don't feel the least bit hungry.

Another change I have decided to make is I cut out all sodas. This was not something required on the diet plan - it was a personal decision. I used to drink a  2ltr bottle of caffeine free diet soda every day or two. The big thing I noticed I was never full - NEVER. I could eat and eat and eat and never feel full. Since I've cut out the soda - I feel great and get full or satisfied pretty quickly. It's great. You, of course, could be totally difference. This is what I feel and has happened to me.

If you are considering losing weight please check out all the various programs and see what works best for you. Decide if it fits into your schedule, if it allows you to eat what you really love to eat (at least occasionally) and is something you can stick to and affords. Remember there is no one program that is right for every person.

It cost approximately $56 for the first 3 months when I signed up in January. At that time they were having a promotion. Once my 3 month promotion period is over I will need to pay $17 a month which to me is well worth it. I still have a ways to go in working toward my goal weight. Hope you will join me :)

Please feel free to email me if you have any questions, want to share your success stories or just need some encouragement in your own weight loss journey - I'd love to hear from you.

Wild Card Wednesday - My Final Weigh in at Work

Well today was my final weigh in - at work at least. My work was holding a Biggest Loser Contest and I participated along with about 20 coworkers. The contest lasted 8 weeks.

I entered this week with a little confidence because I was in first place. Narrowly passing the person in 2nd place by 1/10%. I had managed to lose 3 lb this week by sticking to my Weight Watchers diet for a total of almost 15lb in 8 weeks.

Well I must admit I am totally disappointed because I didn't win. A much slimmer lady in 2nd place managed to lose 5lb this week. So today I sit quite disappointed, but I've decided I'm absolutely going to stick to my diet.

Sorry, about the depressing mood of this post. I just needed to vent. Tomorrow I will be my normal cheerful self again I promise. :)