Okay, there seems to be a theme here in my post titles. LOL And I’ve really gotta get better about posting to this thing each day. Especially since the more I post the sooner that mug of me lookin’ ridiculous from the hair show will drop off this first page. LOL Dawn did an awesome job taking the dark circles out from under my eyes and I’d thought about posting the cool before and after shots in here but decided that just means it’s that much longer before it drops off the first page. :)

Unfortunately, Shari & I have been challenging eachother to actually do the photography challenge over at SBB & get some self portraits so you’re stuck seeing my face again in this post. I had been using the excuse that I was having a bad hair day for the past week now so this morning I decided to take some before even blow-drying my hair. Figured that way maybe I couldn’t mess up the hair and wouldn’t have to take the blame for how it was styled. ;) Luckily I ended up with a more flattering shot than the earlier hairshow one especially after Shari’s miracle filters! I knew she’d have some!! :) And I normally HATE photos of myself but somehow this must be the ONLY angle that I should ever let anyone near me with a camera at. Before Shari fixed me up though I was convinced there had to be some crazy magnifying glass in my new digital Rebel. That thing found lines I had no clue I even had! YIKES! Rest assured, this will be the last post with a pic of me for a long time. I’ll also be better about posting here more often so these drop off into never never blog land. :)   

3-Hour Diet update: First of all, I am NOT one to weigh myself so there will never be an update including how many pounds I’ve lost or gained. To me the number doesn’t matter, it’s how I fit in the clothes that I have and when I shop for new clothes (hmmm, haven’t done that in way too long) I always hope to buy the same size or smaller. If things start fitting tight I know I should start watching what I eat or exercise more. So I think it’s too soon to tell if the diet works or not but I have been trying to stick to it. I’ve been having salads for either lunch or dinner the past 3 days. I’ve even made sure they had chicken in them so I get my protein. I’ve been starting to drink more water and I don’t think I’ve really eaten anything that’s strictly forbidden in the 3-hour diet. Okay, so the cheese stick I had last night at The Curragh was probably strictly forbidden but it was sooo worth it and I rarely eat there so I figured I could have just one. I’m still missing a couple of the snacks through the day I think so I’ve gotta figure out a way to do better about that. I plan to grocery shop today and I’ll pick up some more fruit and maybe some granola bars to have handy for mid-mornings and afternoons this week. I do think blogging about this new diet has helped me stick to it better so I’ll keep you posted. :)

Well, it’s a gorgeous day here (although a bit chilly) and my grass is getting long so I think I’ll go out and ride the mower around for a couple hours with my tunes. :)

Can you tell I’ve been avoiding posting a photo from the hairshow? LOL I thought about removing the mention of it from the first post but then I’d have to figure out how to edit any of the comments that referenced the dreaded photos as well. *sigh* Now when I’ve finally decided I can no longer avoid this 2nd post, wouldn’t ya know, my best bud Shari isn’t online to pretty me up. I just know being the fabulous photographer she is she’s gotta have a miracle filter that would make me look ten years younger and hopefully less shiny. (Consumer Report note – I’ve never had shiny/oily skin but this Truco makeup they used on me sure did a number by the end of the night. I’d have to advise against spending the ridiculous amount of money they get for that stuff.)

So I should probably give an explanation for this funky looking do. No I don’t normally get so done up. LOL I have a girlfriend who works for a local salon and each year they have a competition with all of the Panopoulos across the state. I’ve been Kelly’s guinea pig for over 10 years now, usually for the women’s contemporary competition but this year for the trend couples category with her husband. The judging is based on a completely look so each year I get dressed up in something really trendy, Kelly puts way more make-up on me than I normally wear in a week and styles my hair in a way that makes it embarassing to stop at the McDonald’s drive-thru on the way home. Then we go to the show, I have to smile for the judges till my cheeks are sore while they analyze my head without ever looking me in the eyes or probably even noticing my plastered smile. But it’s over, and because of the salon being bought out recently by Regis it’s sounding like this was probably the last year for the show. So I’m thinking I may TRY to grow my hair out longer. It’s not usually worth the effort ‘cuz just about when I’m getting past the most difficult growing out stage it’s hair show season and she chops most of it off. So we’ll see how this goes this time around.

I’ve also just signed up for my Jorge Cruise 3-Hour Diet Membership. I figure I can cancel the membership after a few weeks of figuring out the good things to eat but I saw this guy on Fox-n-Friends this weekend and his thoughts on weightloss seemed to really make sense to me. I’m a big believer in eating when you’re body is truly hungry and stopping when you feel full. I do pretty good at the ‘stopping when you’re full’ thing because I hate that overly-full feeling. The eating when you’re hungry thing is where I mess up. Sometimes it’s eating out of habit when I’m not really hungry and other times it’s getting past that hungry feeling ‘cuz I’m too busy to stop and eat. So I’m hoping by committing to this membership (at least till I cancel it in a few weeks – lol) and actually saying I’m doing it here on my blog that I’ll really stick to it. My other goal is to try and drink more water. I hate water so I know I don’t drink enough of it. I got a couple gallons of fresh water from the grocery store, not sure if I’ll like that any better but figured it was worth a shot. :)

Okay, off to work on some stuff for the store this week. Hoping to actually try something other than an alpha for once. :) I’ll post previews hopefully later tonight. :)

Okay, so I’m jumping in and making the first post finally. I have 9 days left in the free trial and I NEED to know for sure I’ll use this thing before I start paying for it, let ALONE start letting anyone know I even have it. I finally figured out the banner thing at the top. Funny how if I had just thrown one together at the beginning and tried posting it I would get to the part of the set-up where I could figure out what size to make it. It so bothered me that in all the FAQ’s and oodles and oodles of how-to’s on this site there was nowhere that told you what size banner it should be. *sigh* But is anyone else bothered by the fact that the thumbnail images of the favorite cd’s area are different sizes? I know it’s a ridiculous complaint but I’m seriously considering picking new favorite artists just so the album covers are all the same size. How ridiculous is that!

I guess this wasn’t so hard. It’s not like I read anywhere in the set-up instructions that your first post had to be anything earth-shattering or sum up the whole reason for blogging in one post. In fact they put much more emphasis on naming your blog. Which by the way took me an entire night and I’ve already decided it’s completely inadequate. I have a tendency to get side-tracked easily (complete understatement) so I’m thinking maybe side-tracked should somehow be a theme for my blog. And I also have a tendency to ramble (as if you can’t tell from this post) so maybe ramblings should be included somehow. Bits of me rhymed so I decided to just go with it at the time but now it seems totally cheesy.

Soooo this is my official first post. I gotta believe even those who know me well are probably a little bit scared right now. Maybe if I get brave enough (or find some miracle filter) I’ll post a pic from last nights hair show competition in post #2. Laughing or smart *@# comments would be strictly prohibited. I’m pretty sure since it’s my blog I can set the ground rules. :)

Okay, now I’m thinking I should have done more research on this blog thing. Is there proper etiquette for finishing one? Do I say goodbye? Ta ta for now? Don’t laugh. I know those of you with blogs of your own have wondered the same thing. In honor or American Idol I guess I’m just going to say … AuntiePea OUT