XTC2 (Ex-Thick-Chick Club)

Hello all....

This website changed my life. ( : Sounds overly dramatic, but it is true. I hope to look back a year or so from now and think, "I am forever grateful......"  Anywho, I think my favorite part of cc, aside from all the great educational information, is the overwhelming support and friendship I've found here. I guess most of my life I've only trusted and truly befriended a handful of unique women---I hold my friends in the highest regard and do not take camraderie lightly. The women I have met here are seriously my spiritual twins! I always felt very alone in my weight loss journey----no more!

That said, I think my cc girls, and you know who you are, are the best! ( :   My buddies, my pals, my soul sisters =P Chat away to motivate yourself and others! ( ;

~~Olivia

Hey ladies! 

Daizy~ I saw on FB that you completed your first half marathon, amazing!!!  Did you enjoy it?  How did it go?

Peanut & Val~ how are the novels coming?

Busy weekend and didn't get everything done I wanted too, house is still a wreck upstairs but the basement is clean and the wood is stacked and the kitchen appliances were broken in this weekend, just call me Betty Crocker!!

Hi Ring!!

Thanks!! I am still inordinately pleased with myself ;) I cannot believe I accomplished that yet! YAY! I'll do another one in the future for sure - especially now that I know I can!

I think you got quite a bit done by your journal entry! Wow! And new kitchen gadgets are always fun to play with ;)

Peanut & Val ~ where are you both at with NaNo? Come in and fill us in!!!

Oh my gosh we're having fun baking up a storm at our house!!  But that means tons of carbs right now!  I gotta get my butt in gear and move a little bit to counter act it. 

I think we're going to do a Thanksgiving dinner with D's parents and sister/BIL  the week after Thanksgiving.  The normal family meal will be up in Frederick, MD at his uncle's house but that never leaves us with left overs and this year his parents are going out of town because it's their anniversary and frankly, I just want to cook and use all my new stuff!!  So that's the plan, right now the menu is being mentally prepared and it consists of homemade bread, turkey, mashed potatoes/gravy, scalloped corn (similar to creamed corn but better) and something spectacular for dessert.  I'll probably have his mom make broccoli casserole since I suck at it and hate it but D loves it!  What else?  We need something green (broccoli casserole will be primarily yellow, aka covered in cheese).  Green bean casserole?  Fresh asparagus with a garlic reduction sauce?  And what about appitizers?  Fresh bread with spinach artichoke dip and stuffed mushrooms?  Dessert suggestions?  Doesn't have to be healthy but those are always considered :P

Peanut & Val~ I demand you take a sanity break and come in and chat with us for a little while!!  How go the novels? 

So I'm going to continue chatting to myself until you all come back :P  Today is a classic fall day: dreary, rainy and chilly.  Not cold enough to build a fire at home though, just chilly outside.  So I'm all in a funk today because of the weather. 

Tonight I'm meeting some of my Relay girls for dinner at the local pizza joint to gab and show them pics of my honeymoon.  D's all mopey because he's not invited because it's a girls night!  But if he were to come he'd sit there all brood-y anyway because we'd all just be chatting too much for his liking anyway so I dion't know why he wants to go or is being retarded about me going.  He'd be either quietly sitting there praying I'm ready to go, or rushing me out the door.  He's not a social person and I am. 

It feels like Friday because 65% of our building is out for Vet's Day.  The government has off but we get the day after Thanksgiving instead.  Fair trade in my opinion.  I'd take that friday off anyway so whatever.  This Friday is my CWS and I'm taking it!  It's my second appt with the LASIK dr's.  I didn't win free lasik but they gave me $1500 off which is more than friends/family discount for workers there so they'll probably never off it again so we decided to do it.  It's still $3K though!  In order to use the discount, I have to start the process in 2009 but we want to use my flex account to pay for it through work in 2010 so my appts are this year and the surgery is the first week in January.  I'm petrified!!  I don't want to know what they're going to do.  I don't want to watch videos on it and I certainly don't want to view the procedure on someone!!  But legally I must hear what they have to say and watch the video (I spend most of it with my eyes closed and D commentating to me) but opted out of viewing the surgery on someone else!

After that appt we're going back to the social security office with the right paperwork to get me a new social security card with my new name, woot! 

Well, hope everyone is having a fantastic day off!

Hiya Ring!

Sorry I was not in here today - I had the day off and spent a good deal of it in bed. I think I'm fighting off a cold and at this moment, I'm winning ;)

Hope you had fun tonight with your Relay gals! I'm sure D will be happy when you are home :)

My sister had lasik and loves the results! I'm sure you will too.

The gals have written all of their words required for NaNo, according to FB - so maybe we'll see them soon!!!

 

hi there! i am indeed back. not typing too much because my wrists still hurt from the NaNo madness , LOL.

I missed you girls! kris how did the marathon go? I am so proud of you!

Ring, did you apply for that Job?? I think you should go for it!

Well, I am right now taking a break from the book I wrote for this years nano, to work on the first book, which i want to be shopping with Agents by the end of the year. Here are brief synopsis of both, since you asked ;)

The Beach House: One day, Adelle wakes up to find that her boyfriend of 6 years has left her, without a word or any indication that he was unhappy. He leaves a note by the sink and is gone.  Having been left by her father when she was 12, this is not new for Adelle. With the help of her friends, she slowly begins the process of healing,  and of understanding who she is.  The story follows her progress as she learns to trust her feelings and let go of her worries, in order to enjoy her life. It also looks at what happens when two friends realize that what they have is more than just a friendship.  By the end of the book, Adelle must decide if she is too afraid to risk her heart and her friendship with Finn, and take a chance on loving him.

Ok, so not a great synopsis, but hopefully you get the point. I've never tried to synopsize my book before, if that is even a word, and it is really hard!

Ok, so the second book:

The End of May's, is the story of Caylin. We follow her as she travels accross the country. Each new , she has some new story of where she is from or who she is. But really, who she is a girl who is running away. One short month after her father's death, Caylin packed her bags and left her home. After more than a year of lonley cross country travel, she finds herself in Florida, where she meets Evan, a fellow server at the restaurant where she lives. Over the next few months, they fall in love. But Caylin can never forget that he doesn't really know her, and she is haunted by the lies she has told, as well as by the memory of her father.  When she goes home to help her best friend plan her wedding, she comes face to face with her worst nightmare, and has to decide whether she is capable of opening her heart to anyone else, and take a chance on being hurt once again.

 

So yeah, those are my books. LOL. Sorry for the terrible synopises. If that is a word either, :)

Peanut!!!~ your books sound great, I can't wait to read them someday!!  If you ever want a second pair of eyes, I volunteer mine!  I did apply for that job but haven't heard anything.  My friend who works there and sent me the link asked last week if I'd heard anything and when I said no she said she'd look into it.  I'll check back with her later this week and see if she found anything out.  It may be that I'm just not qualified for the position but like you said, at least I applied!

Daizy~ sounds like you had a great weekend!  To answer your LASIK question, yes, contacts change the contour of your eye and compress the ourter layers of your eyeball slightly.  They were going to scan my eye to tell the computer what corrections to make but since I'd worn my contacts then it would have changed my Rx.  So it's not a big deal or anything, just annoying that we drove all the way up there for nothing.  I know it's my fault I forgot to wear my glasses but when they call to remind me my appt is tomorrow, they could make those calls two weeks ahead (that's how long it takes to recover from continued contact wear) to remind me about my appt and to stop wearing contacts.  Oh well, it doesn't effect when my surgery will be so it's not a big deal.

Well, tomorrow night is the viewing in the evening so I'll probably be at work during the day but I'll be gone on Wednesday for the burial up north around DC. 

Ring, I hope that tomorrow and Wednesday go as well as possible for you all. Was this Uncle on D's Mom or Dad's side? Please know we'll be thinking of you all.

And thank you for the explanation about the contacts! That makes sense. I would never have thought of it, but I get it :) And it's good it doesn't change the surgery time, either.

Peanut ~ those DO sound interesting! I can't wait to read them either - and I volunteer my eyes, too, if you need 'em. If not, I'll just wait for my autographed copy to arrive in the mail ;)

I can't believe it's only Monday! AUGH! Too much to do, not enough time. But I am off home now, as I am still not feeling 100%. I think I might need sleep at this point...

I need motivation and a nap to get through the rest of my day!  About to warm up my plain pasta for lunch which is totally unhealthy but I LOVE plain pasta with salt!  Drinking lots of water as we speak.

ugh i have been writting and rewritting a synopsis of the first book, trying to get a query letter together. My eyes want to bleed. Plus i have a headache and am just way freaking exhausted for no reason at all. Bah!

Daizy- I hope your knee feels better. Trust me, I might be using your eyes soon. i am starting to send samples to people for critique and feedback.

Abbs- sometimes plain pasta just hits the spot. It cannot be helped.

Can i say that i have no deisre to journal when I can just chat with you two here? I like everyone on the website, but for some reason, journaling just feels like waaaay too much work today.

Hah! I know what you mean!! Just glad to see you in here :)

Bleeding eyes are NOT good. I'm sure of it. I'm glad you've taken a break from the book with the computer ;)

Ring ~ will be thinking of you tonight. Don't worry about the "healthy" food right now, just try to be mindful of overeating. I think that's enough to worry about with what's on your plate.....

'kbi! BBL

wait, did I miss something? what is going on tonight with ring? I must have not read journals carefully enough. I did read them, but lacked the energy to comment. Something is sucking the energy right out of my soul, I tell you. I am so tired and MEH today.

so, I thought I'd show you what I have so far as far as my synopsis for the first book goes. Let me know what you think, honestly

It is a Tuesday like any other when Adelle Santos wakes up to find a letter by the kitchen sink from Joe, her boyfriend of six years. With a few simple words, he turns her world upside down, telling her that he no longer loves her and is leaving her. Suddenly, Adelle finds herself in a place she has been before, discarded by the one who was supposed to love her most.

Adelle life has been wrought by desertions, beginning with her father, who abandoned  her and her mother when she was only twelve years old. In the wake of this betrayal, her mother retreated  behind a shell of cold and almost ruthless strength, leaving a young  Adelle  very much alone. Yet, as experienced as she is with duplicity, she finds that without Joe, she no longer recognizes the life that she so carefully built. It is not until her friends take her to her childhood home on the shores of LakeHuron that she begins the slow process of putting herself and her life back together. With her are Ally and Logan, college sweethearts who were married at the age of 22, two of the only people in the world Adelle thinks are capable of making a marriage work. Also with them is her impulsive and emotional  friend, Finn ,  whose naturally ebullient nature can light up a room, and his taciturn girlfriend, Clara. Finally, there is Caylin, Adelle’s roommate from college. Years younger than Adelle, Caylin is intelligent and brash, confident and outgoing- in so many ways her opposite. One night at the beach house, Finn challenges her to stop analyzing every aspect of her life and to learn to trust what she is feeling, leading to  a series of misguided choices that threaten her fragile new happiness and, ultimately, their friendship.  In the wake an impulsive night, she realizes that life comes with few guarantees, and learns that following your heart is easier than it looks.

At over 70,000 words, The Beach House is a Chick Lit novel about friendship and heartbreak, learning to trust your instincts, and taking a chance on love, even when the cards are stacked against you.

Hiya!

Ring is out today because D's Uncle passed away suddenly. He was young and had young children. Just tragic. They are having his services today, according to her post yesterday.

*HUGS* Ring! We're thinking of you :)

PEANUT ~ I can't WAIT to read this!! I think your letter sounds good! Of course, I don't know a thing about what the publisher's expect in a letter, but it's a nice synopsis and has me wondering what happened at the Lake to help her realize those things...

 

Ok.  Worst updated award goes to me.  I know!  haha, things have been crazy and really I just keep not signing on when I have a moment because I have been distracted.

Daizy-  I am so proud of you for finishing your half marathon!!!

Ring-  How is everything going? becoming eve

Ok here is my synopsis....

Becoming Everything is the name.  Allie is a girl who is in the not so perfect relationship, but she doesn't know that she can get out.  Then she catches her fiance's sleeping with someone else.   Allie leaves feeling like nothing.  She is distraught and numb.  She finds a way to rebuild her life, and to move on.  Eventually falling in love!

I know it is short!  I just don't know how else to describe it.  :)

Hi everyone!  I'm back once again.  See journal for last two days.

Peanut~ I really want to read your book!  I too am not sure what publishers are looking for in a synopsis but I liked what you wrote above. 

Val~ Hey, welcome back to Earth!!  Hope the girls are feeling better.  I like the synopsis of your book, Daizy and I are dying to read all of your books ladies!! 

Grrr, gotta get something done for work, be back tomorrow to write more.

hi ladies!quick check in, I have the flu and so am typing in bed. bah this stinks!

Ring how are you guys doing? how is d?

Daizy, is your injury any better?

Val, how is Phebe, I know she has the flu too....

Peanut~ hope you feel better soon!

Val~ hope the girls are doing better also!

Daizy~ are you ready to start P90X yet or no?  I'm not sure if I want to go back to it right now but I do want to do something, P is very time consuming. 

Geez, not much to chat about today!  I'm hungry, just finished my mac & cheese Lean Cuisine (it was alright) but that just didn't satisfy me.  I don't think I'm really hungry though, water time!

Who knew it takes so long for a stupid skinned knee to get better? I have possibly the ugliest scab ever on my knee and the stupid thing still aches a bit. But it doesn't hurt to run, so that's all the exercise I've been getting.

Ring ~ I am going to start P90X once my knee heals. I cannot put any weight directly on it (like I can't kneel down) and you probably don't need to kneel down for a lot of the stuff, but I'm just going to wait until it doesn't hurt anymore. I hope that's next week....and I need a cable that will allow me to run it from my computer to the TV. My bro gave me his copy which won't work in my dvd player, but works on my laptop dvd (don't ask, I have no idea why), and J said there's a cable we can buy so I can play it from my laptop on the tv. I'm going to try to grab it this weekend.

I also probably won't follow it strictly. I will be running 3-4 x week at lunch still and want to add in the other stuff 3 x week. Just trying to up my weights work to see if I can get the scale to drop some.

Peanut ~ Are you feeling any better at all? I'm so sorry you have the FlU! ICK! I hope it runs it's course quickly and you are back to your old self by the end of the weekend. Does P have it too?

Val ~ I agree with Ring! Your book sounds good too! You ladies know you have two good sales customers right here :) Can't wait!! Have you managed to avoid the flu?

 

hi there!

Daizy- I knew! I skinned my knee baaaaad when i was a kid, and it took ages to heal, especially since the scab is huge and unbendy, if you get what I mean. It sucks, I am sorry. I have a nice scar too.  Hopefully you'll be doing your new workout soon!

Ring- I am so picky about my frozen meals. I pretty much only like two- smart ones Spicy Szechuan chicken, and the brocoli and chicken one- although they changed the recipe on the last so it kind of sucks now.

I am feeling better. my last fever was yesterday at 7pm. So if I don't have another, I should be non contagious by tonight, I think. d has been taking care of Parker, and I haven't gotten to hold him or anything in days! They pop into the bedroom to say hello, and Parker has learned to  blow kisses! Oh it is so cute, but it breaks my heart. This morning he cried cause I wouldn't cuddle him! D took two days off work, so he has to go back. Luckily it is Saturday, so his mom will watch Parker and I will come pick him up at bedtime (7). We are trying to be super careful, cause Parker gets Viral Asthma, and he didn't get the H1n1 shot (I don't know that I have that flu, but we want to be very cautious).

Speaking of the h1n1 i am still so aggravated. Only certain doctors have it, based on a waiting list I guess. Parker is considered extremely high risk, but I can't get him the shot at another dr's office becaus the health department makes them promise to innocluate all of their current patients first. Why is there not a better system for people who are very high risk?

Ok, i am tired now, lol, so i am off!