Hi Stephanie, Oops, this turned into a novel, sorry. I think I forgot that I was not talking on the phone to one of my friends! I hope you like to read :-). Well, I had typed quite a bit back in response when I suddenly lost the forum, boooo! I'm a slow typer so I hate when that happens. I will start again! It is so funny to read your post, we have very similar hobbies! I also used to babysit, but no longer. I now volunteer at a school and the public library, between 4 and 30 hours a week depending on the time of year. I also enjoy gardening (except weeding :-)!) and I have always loved to cook, especially to bake! I do not bake much anymore, when I do I try to use less white flour and butter, and more whole grains and fruit. I also apply this to my cooking. Most recipes taste the same with much less fat, even in baked goods you can generally leave out half of the fat without effecting the recipe. Sometimes you need to add fruit puree to replace some of the fat, most of the time that is not needed. For cooking, I serve more vegetables and smaller portions of meat. For individual meals I usually serve about 4 ounces of meat. Then they can eat what they want of the sides. Vegetables, brown rice, mashed pot. with buttermilk and butter buds, baked potatoes with low fat sour cream, stuffing made with whole wheat bread... you get the idea. I also put out fresh fruit that is ready to eat, washed berries or grapes, and other fruit that is cut up. No, we don't eat as healthy as we should every night, but every little bit counts. Last night was tacos made with 96% lean ground beef, beans, lettuce, black olives, tomatoes (from the garden :-) ), low fat cheese, and low fat sour cream, with salsa and a bit of salsa queso on the side. Not a typical diet dinner, but much better for you than taco bell! I always use 93% lean or better ground beef, I do not deep fry, and I rarely pan fry. Does this sound preachy? I don't mean it too, I am not an over the top health nut, just trying to keep my family healthy and happy at the same time. My husband says he would be happier if I would make breaded pork tenderloin with fried breaded zucchini twice a month! He would also be 10 lbs heavier! I try to exercise some each day. Not always a video, sometimes a walk or walk/run outside, sometimes a bike ride, sometimes my Gazelle (it's fun and I can watch a TV show I want to see at the same time), sometimes I spend about ten minutes running up and down my stairs. I usually try to do some toning when I exercise, I alternate upper and lower body. I also have other videos when I want something completely different. I also like Kathy Smiths Step Workout, Time-saver Lift Weights to Lose Weight, and New Yoga video (I only do the standing portion - it is so relaxing! but I cannot do the floor portion - it's killer!). I also enjoy the Extreme Makeover Fitness video. I try to exercise for thirty minutes about five days a week, sometimes I don't manage that, sometimes I do more! But I find that as long as I do something and don't sit on the couch eating chips (like when I'm PMSing - this week, EEK!) that I like what I see in the mirror. If I slack off too much (don't do anything for days or weeks on end, it happens) then my bottoms start to get a little tight and when I look in the mirror I look like a slob. My husband says I look the same all the time! That is probably true, I dare say it is just guilt when I know I have been really bad that makes my think I don't look good. It could be the weekly Saturday trip to Dairy Queen, but you have to live! And I love ice cream! Oh yes, very important, I make sure I eat a good breakfast every day. Sometimes just a quick bowl of cereal, sometimes oatmeal with fruit, or whole grain toast with fruit. But something with fiber so it sticks with me for a while. Make sure you get your fiber. I was reading a study that said that most adults get less than half the fiber they need. It said if you started eating the recommended amount of fiber, you could lose 10 lbs in one year without changing anything else. Eating that much fiber would be a challenge, I try to eat more than I use to. Hmm, this got really long! I'm going to stop and go have some breakfast now that my son is up! If I missed a question let me know. Do you have any other hobbies? I also read, crochet, sew, do machine embroidery, quilt, paint, do puzzles, and help my husband and son with their hobby - collecting sports cards and memorabilia. Believe it or not, playing with sport cards is fun! Oh yes, I always sit on my yoga ball when I sort cards, I figure it should be good for my abs!

I went to lesliesansome.com and just bought the waist/arm belt a la carte. I believe you can buy single tapes, prices seemed fair to me and I didn't have to leave my house!

AHHHHHHH, my favorite subject!!!! The idea of turning around and going the other way, works great in theory better than reality. My suggestion is to first make your dog sit and stay and be calm BEFORE you walk out the door. You go out the door first and put your dog in a sit stay immediately after getting out the door - NOBODY moves until the dog sits and stays and IS CALM, before going out. If your dog wont wait until commanded do it again (ad nauseum if necessary) sometimes with dogs who a bit rambunctous, it can take an entire afternoon. Practice practice practice. My next suggestion is that you grab some kibble and take it with you in a ziplock bag. When your dog starts to pull, call it back to you and put it in a sit stay. As your dog gets better and better, just call it back and reward it. The next thing I suggest is that you pick up your pace and change up your routine alot. Dog walks should be brisk 20 minute walks with a scratch and sniff at the end to reward the dog for being good during walkies. Changing your routine will give your dog more stimulating sniffs and scenery to appreciate. This helps out alot more than most people think. Fact is that you have a working dog in your care and working dogs NEED more physical stimulation. If you can play catch for awhile before going on a walk or better yet take your dog to a local lake or creek for a swimming session - LABS LOVE WATER!!! We would often take our dogs out to the lake for an hour before taking them on a walk, no matter what the weather (this is Lake Tahoe) the dogs loved it. You can also work on training your dog to WATCH you instead of you having to constantly watch it. Go for a walk in a wooded place. Go with someone. After you have been out for awhile, wait until your dog is not paying attention (NOTE: This works best with a really long leash 8 -10 feet) as soon as your dog is immersed in a smell, have someone you or your boyfriend (one of the pack members of your dogs family) and when that person has hidden well, ask your dog to go find the perrson who has left. Sound frantic. Make a big deal of sayin "where's Waldo?" You will see your dog using his eyes at first, then hopefully his nose, keep asking again and again. Do this at least a couple of times a week. SOon enough your dog is going to start to watch you - we did this with my current dog (bullmastiff husky mix) and within a month he was never more than 20 feet from us, and always stopping to check on where we were. To this day he can be off leash anywhere and I have even been able to call him off a fresh bear and a fresh coyote scent (animals within 100 feet of where we were) He is now 13 and has never run off. Making YOU the most interesting thing on the walk is the key. I also suggest you keep up the good work in training, the more you train the better your dog will behave. If you have the time, tie the leash to you while doing errands around your place.....this helps your dog understand you want the dog at your side. Use your commands religiously - Good luck

carson - we didn't build new but we did gut our house down to studs and plywood and moved out for the 6 months of construction. I don;t know what your GC provides in terms of those services. Our GC has a complete firm which includes project manager/interior design teams. The interior designer took control of the kitchen and house in terms of floorplan and size, floor colours, paint colours, choices in the bathrooms, etc. She moved some walls throughout the house and that was all included in our contract price. I knew the basics of what I wanted and she fine tuned it, shoved me out of my conservative box, and gave me a great basis from which to decorate. When we moved back in I was in the position of your third choice. I needed an interior decorator to finish with window coverings, accessories, some furniture choices, placement of art, and to tie the rooms of the house together. We found our ID one day when I was out for a walk with a girlfriend and we happened to serendipitously (no other word for it) walk by their studio. We had some consulting hours at our home and then they presented their ideas in a portfolio with their suggested samples (fabrics, etc) or pictures of suggestions. Sometimes, for example our bedroom curtains, they gave us two suggestions both of which would work but it depended on how much we wanted to stretch our decorating style. We stretched it big time. We made our choices and then they gave us quotes for the various items. We only changed one thing and that's because of cost and they found us something that was less expensive. So I think your choice needs to governed by how much will be done by the time you move in, how confident you are in your ability to make choices and how much support you have now in making choices..