gigglechick.com

okay, i ran over here from my goofy facebook vacuum and needed to post a quick "Rabbit, Rabbit" for the random stragglers that I still have roaming through gigglechick.com hither and tither... i keep saying that i'll start posting more... and i am sure at some point i will again. it's just that life has been bland and boring (and apparently redundant) i'm either taking gigglemom to the hospital or rehab, fetching her from the hospital or rehab, whining about her smoking again, kvetching about gaining weight, talking for a week or so about working out, yapping about how much i've eaten, yammering about how good i'm doing on weight watchers, moaning about eating 384 ww points in one sitting or posting about pets or people who've died. i don't get out much. i AM, however, still designing websites (yay!) and have kickass clients (woo!) so the "not getting out much" helps with that :} i've been toying... Read the rest of "TUMBLEWEED, TUMBLEWEED..."

Check it out TONIGHT (Friday, Nov. 27 at 9PM pst until 6am pst) --- besides Jimmy Pardo and a bunch of others, the kickarsely hilarious Maria Bamford will be on there!!! HERE'S THE LINK TO THE PARDCAST... and below is if you want to watch it here. ... Read the rest of "THE NEVER NOT FUNNY™ PARDCAST-A-THON"

Happy Thanksgiving one and all!!! I'm thankful that there are still one or two of you still checking this thing out. I promise to get back on the ball. Besides caring for gigglemom, it's been pretty boring around these parts...... Read the rest of "HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!"

okay... first let me update y'all. Gigglemom was in the hospital for 2 weeks. she's home. doing better. back to smoking. good for her. (yes. the last bit was sarcasm) I've decided that I am going to run a marathon before I turn 40 on June 21, 2010. There's a Jersey Shore Marathon in May... that gives me 6 months. To catch you up, I'm posting my facebook status updates from the past few days to let you know how the training is going. NOV 1, 2009 - Erin Gigglechick Bennett is getting a marathon bee in her bonnet again... i've wanted to run one before I turn 40 (next june) --- think i'm going to train for the NJ Marathon which is May 2nd --- http://www.njmarathon.org Sun at 4:54pm Erin Gigglechick Bennett just looked for my old copy of Dawn Dais "The Nonrunner's Marathon Guide for Women - Your guide to get you from recliner to race day" - it's under the clutter somewhere - 2 copies, in fact... I DID, however, find an 8 year old stick of Bodyglide and an EMPTY 2... Read the rest of "I'M RUNNING A MARATHON"

don't forget to Rabbit Rabbit first thing in the morning.... don't forget to set your clocks back tonight. i've gotta update this site more. i've had a paltry showing lately. Cliff note version of crap this month: gigglemom has been in the hospital twice in 2 weeks and has been home 11 hours in those same 2 weeks. (i'll get into that in another post) go yankees! happy halloween! that's about it. yeah. not much besides all that.... Read the rest of "11.1 RABBITx2"

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge. When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable. All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor. Those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind. They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly sto... Read the rest of "BLUEBERI BUCKLE | April 16, 1995 - October 5, 2009"

so i haven't posted on here as often as i had planned after "committing" to the 30 day challenge that Fizzy posed. for the past 18 days, Giggledog has not been well. started out with the skitters... then it was lack of appetite. took her to the vet, he gave Albon as a med and we kept an eye on Beri (giggledog) a week went by and she still wasn't eating. so I took her back to the vet who put her on antibiotics and said that her teeth & gums were really infected and that she also has an epulis (which is a tumor) inside her mouth that is affecting how/what she eats. so after a day or so on the antibiotic liquid (i had to use a syringe to get it down her throat) Beri started to eat a little bit and have a little spring back in her step. she was able to eat liverwust. it's soft. then she stopped eating. even the soft stuff. nothing. when she drinks water i've noticed that she's using the side of the bowl to try and get the water in her mouth and that most is going onto the floor - n... Read the rest of "NOT REALLY GREAT NEWS."

[i didn't create this... wish i had though ;]... Read the rest of "REST IN PEACE, PATR---"

... Read the rest of "IX.XI"

i'm sitting here typing when i SHOULD be scouring this hellhole of a house. gigglemom is COMING HOME TOMORROW... which is great. no, really, it's great... it's just that i've not really hunkered down and gotten this place back to rights as much as i should've tonight, i've got to declutter the kitchen and the living room... they're getting there, it's just that it's slow-going... especially since I've had to take a breather after carrying really heavy boxes and tables up & down the stairs by myself... the table i carried downstairs is the kitchen table of my aunt's that i'd had my computer on upstairs... it's now in the corner of the kitchen with the NEW computer that my neighbour gave me in exchange for my doing a website for him... (seeing as i've been working off my laptop since last october when my main desktop up and died... dead... was pining for the fjords. ) so, i've been slightly sidetracked by the setting up of the new machine --- and uploading my programs and such on... Read the rest of "GETTING DOWN TO THE WIRE..."

really quick - just to post something.... first... DON'T FORGET to Rabbit Rabbit first thing tomorrow morning. second... i didn't win the Mega Millions lottery (this time.) third... i ate an entire XXL pizza (Kerry & I went to Pete & Elda's and ordered 2 XXLs) --- so since that happened I received yet another "Whole Pie Eater's Club" t-shirt (I should wear that to Weight Watchers this Thursday when I gain a billion pounds) Yesterday, Giggleaunt Judy had a surprise party for my gigglecousin Kerry (who turns 40 on the 7th) --- so I was the "decoy" and took her to breakfast (IHOP) and then to church then back to her house where everyone was waiting for her. So, I started yesterday morning off with 4 Harvest Nut & Grain Pancakes with a bucket of Butter Pecan syrup... and 4 pc of pork roll. then ate at the party i think i was okay on saturday... didn't go hog wild. i'll get back on track tomorrow and wednesday... and also go walking tomorrow and do those dang sit-ups... Read the rest of "END O' THE MONTH..."

yes. i am. so, i weighed in at WW today. lost 0.8 pounds... not the whopping 6 pounder that i had last week, but after eating like an animal on Saturday at the BBQ, i'm kinda happy with it being on the losing side of the scale. so, in total, since July 16th I've lost 9.4 pounds. ~~SEE?? ~~~> yay!! just did day two of that frigging sit up challenge. set 1: 15 set 2: 18 set 3: 15 set 4: 15 set 5: 22 it's a bitch and a half, but, i have a feeling that if i keep up with the sit-ups, the abs might actually start to tone up. OH!!! AT THE REHAB WITH GIGGLEMOM TODAY!!! ~~~ LOOK !! ~~~~>>> ---------- OH OH! and today is my gigglecousin Jimmy's 50th birthday (he's a good gigglecousin) --- so a hearty Happy Bday to him!! xoxo... Read the rest of "UNDER CONSTRUCTION..."

So, there's a challenge on the Weight Watchers website (under challenges... go figure.) to do 200 sit-ups It's a challenge based on the training program on this site: http://twohundredsitups.com Day 1: Week 1 set 1: 15 set 2: 18 set 3: 10 set 4: 10 set 5: 20 my abs are like "what did we do to deserve this!!!???" Nice that it only took a few minutes and I'm sitting here (on my heavenly couch) sweating a bit from doing 73 sit-ups. Today was a good day. Stayed on plan. Haven't really even been thinking about food... okay, I DO think about it. But, earlier tonight, I was at the dog beach with giggledog and my cousin and her pup and I thought to myself "are you hungry?" and as I thought about it the answer came to me as "nope." It was a content feeling - and I hadn't eaten anything in a few hours at that point. I should probably get some sleep - I've got to Weigh In at noon and want to get up early to ease into my day... Read the rest of ""what did we do to deserve this!!!???""

well, ever since Ribfest at my aunt's, I've been on plan (barring a few points hither and tither on Sunday... but those were made up of light items and a skinny cow... not like a cheeseburger quesadilla or anything crazy like that) today, i had my protein shake in the morning - with a banana and strawberries all up in it! and had good intentions on walking around 11am... then I sat on my couch and rested my head for what i thought would be only a moment... when i woke up at 2pm, i was pissssssed... okay, it's not like i can't go walking later or that i can't go to the gym (in fact, i SHOULD head to the gym and pop on the elliptical.. i keep forgetting that I have a gym membership --- if that gives you any idea as to how often i've been going recently.) anyway... after I woke up, i had my hand on my tummy when i was putting giggledog outside. it could be just positive thinking, but, it felt slightly smaller. as of last thursday, i am 8.2 pounds down from whence I started on WW on J... Read the rest of "PROMISING...."

it seems like it was just yesterday that he passed away, but, 6 years. still makes me sad.... Read the rest of "6 YEARS"

so i just received a phone call from the social worker at the rehab that gigglemom is at right now. she set up a meeting for this thursday for she, gm and i to sit down and "see where she's at in her recovery"... then she said "would you be interested in discussing permanent care here or assisted living/respite care??" I asked what the rates were for that... even though GM would kill me i think. for the advanced care that's she's getting right now it's $325 per DAY. for the assisted living that doesn't have 24 hour nursing on staff - just aides - it's $5000 per MONTH... i gasped and she said "oh is that not within her means?" i said "it's not within MY means" and started crying. not that i planned on putting her into a home, but, it would've been nice to know that there was a feasible option. $5000 a month and no nurses. you're kidding right? gee, and on top of that i'd have to pay the mortgage... yeah i'm pretty much doomed to care for her here until the bitter end. not tha... Read the rest of "ABOUT GIGGLEMOM AT THE REHAB..."

so today was spent sleeping like a fish. wait. maybe that's not the correct analogy since I was not underwater. in any event, i slept like a log (like that makes ANY more sense than sleeping like a fish?) i woke up at noon. NOON. which, yeah, that's not that unusual for me, but, i had my alarm set for 9:30am because I'd planned on going to church. that didn't happen. so i woke up at noon, then laid on the couch and did a little work, watched Big Brother live feeds (yes. only a couple more weeks and then my BB addiction is over until next season) told gigglemom i was cleaning the house and that i would be over tomorrow... i had every intention of getting up and de-cluttering this hellhole... but, didn't. the couch attacked me and sucked me in. i wound up laying down (even more...) this time with my eyes closed because for an hour or so I was really dizzy. almost like i was 3 weeks ago, but without the fever, vomiting, sweating, poopin' and general blarghness. but since i was dizz... Read the rest of "RECOVERY..."

just got home from chowing down on the ribs, cheese grits, mashed potatoes, crackers with cheese, stuffed breads, apple crisp with vanilla ice cream and s'mores.... took alka-seltzer because i wasn't feeling very well. alka-seltzer apparently mixed with the ribs and tickled 'em so much that I became Mount Vesuvius and hurled everything up. i feel much better now... of course, please note that the retching was not on purpose (in case those angry bulimics from 7 years ago are still lurking around my site... i suspect that they're long gone by now though.) my body isn't used to eating that much anymore --- within a week and a half of being totally committed to WW it really started feeling ill. I must've eaten at least 60 points worth of food tonight. that said, i think i have a strawberry protein shake with my name on it waiting for me in the morning... Read the rest of "THE RIBFEST HOEDOWN"

I can't wait for Giggleaunt Toni & Giggleuncle Franky's Hoedown catered by Famous Dave's tomorrow! Did a little research on the food and calculated the points for certain foods... basically, bring on the 3 point spare ribs. I have 22 allowance points left for the week --- today I was doing well, had breakfast, then a few hours later I took a multivitamin and headed out to visit my gigglemom at the rehab (she's been sick) on the way i started feeling queasy and actually started gagging in the car. i know. i know, yuck. so, i almost puked... didn't... but made my way to a Wendy's to get something else into my stomach besides the stupid vitamin that was eating away at it. Had a plain Wendy's Single Cheeseburger and Large Fries and a giant unsweetened Iced Tea not the best choice from there, but, I also had just gotten my "friend" an hour earlier... so, i needed it. tonight for dinner i made ground turkey with green, yellow, re... Read the rest of "TICKLE YO' RIBS!!"

back in 2001, I was on the ol' Weight Watchers wagon from February til June (when i moved home to take care of Gigglemom after her Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm surgery - was there a few months) anyway - from Feb - June I went from 198 to 156. I'd lost 42 pounds and looked pretty damned good. then I fell off the wagon and the fat started creeping back. I've joined and re-joined WW since then about 11 times. Always with the mentality "hell, I know what I'm doing on this, I lost weight in '01, I can do it again" --- and I would get cocky and not track (write down what i ate and the points) and then get discouraged when - gee! surprise! - i wouldn't see any weight loss progress. as i've said, this time I re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-joined WW on July 16 and again started out the cocky way. Didn't journal/track the first 5 weeks. sure I lost a little... then i gained because i wasn't writing down the ribs, the cheese fries, the pizzas (not just slices, actual WHOLE pies) etc I... Read the rest of "IT'S FINALLY CLICKED"