Well, that was an ordeal this past week. The site went down last Friday, and I called my webmaster, who was shocked because he had just been on it a few hours before. Then, when the site didn't pop back up like it has in the past, he and I discussed the options and made the decision to move to a different hosting company. That did the trick! But we moved the entire site, not just the members' section, so that took a bit of time. Luckily, everything is up and running smoothly just in time for Thanksgiving.

And I've been a busy bee this Thanksgiving holiday. I convinced my boss to let me have today off, which provided me with a four-day weekend, and I got caught up on e-mails. Would you like to know how many I wrote today? Guess. I bet you can't! Lol! Over 50! My fingers are about to fall off from all the typing, but I plowed through my inbox like our next door neighbor's chows would burrow through the dirt and into our backyard when I was growing up. I'm quite pleased, though. This allows me to start fresh and stay up to date with the e-mails. I like to be able to respond to everyone within 24 hours of receiving the mail, but sometimes it isn't possible. I can get about one or two written in the mornings while drinking my 25 ounces of water before cardio, but if I do anymore, then I'll be late for work. And I'll do a few at night either when I come home to change into my gym clothes and drink more water or while I eat my last meal of the night before going to bed. So, many of the e-mails are answered on the weekends. Thus, having this Friday off was very necessary, and I feel really good!

Anyway, yesterday was Thanksgiving and I spent the afternoon and evening at my parents. My mom made both duck and turkey along with homemade stuffing and green bean casserole (hers is truly the best, and the key is to use French style green beans rather than whole ones and to add in a ton of those crispy French onions and put the last layers of those on top for only the last few minutes of baking so that they get extra crispy and golden brown). She also made carmelized sweet potatoes. She has this delicious sauce that tastes like caramel and even has the consistency of it...nice, gooey, and yummy! I love to dip my turkey in that (I hate gravy, so I always skip over that and stick to the sweet stuff). There was homemade pumpkin pie with whipped cream and my mom's brownies. So basically, I'm busting out of the camouflage pants I'm wearing today. Literally! You think I'm kidding, but the snap keeps coming undone every time I sneeze, laugh, or move in the wrong way. Not funny, guys!

But the good thing (well, my tastebuds don't think it's good, but they don't have a say in the matter) is that I'm back on track today. No leftovers for me (I did shed a few tears over this), and I have about a week and a half before I get a yummy meal again. It's back to egg whites, chicken, asparagus, fish, and oats. But at least I'm not at school teaching and having to watch the kids eat or have their parents bake homemade Christmas cookies and bring them to me for gifts or skip over PTA Teacher Appreciation luncheons full of cheesecakes, brownies, pasta salads, lasagna, and other fun-filled foods.

Actually, the diet isn't that bad. Once I get the memory of my mom's cooking out of my mind, I'll be okay. She really is an awesome cook, and she loves to give me leftovers, so I'm glad I could at least use the turkey she made for a couple of my meals today and mix it with the broccoli and the asparagus I had to munch on as well. I try to go over to their house when I do have cheat meals and I'll tell her what I want to eat, and she'll make it. Ahhh, the joys of being an only child! Spoiled, you say? Never!!!

Now, onto the important matters. The Brian Moss photos will be up this weekend, and this is only phase one of the galleries. There are three more phases throughout December, and then there will be a whole other gallery for you to peruse. And I spoke with him while at the Olympia, and I might have another shoot with him in 2004. We shall wait and see! I'm quite anxious to know what you think of these photos.

And my physique is changing. At least, I think it is. I won't take photos now, but in about two months, I will begin those progress photos, and you'll get to see for yourself whether I have managed to make the necessary changes for the stage. I did have an incredible back workout this week! If you haven't tried to put together close grip pulldowns and cable lat extensions (try these with a rope...my god, they hurt!), then do so this week. The muscle fibers in my back were burning...on fire...stinging. It was unbelievable! If you need to know what lat extensions are, just post a message on the board, and I'd be happy to describe these, but they work a small muscle called the teres major, which is located right above the lats; thus, this exercise helps to widen your back (the point bodybuilders like to term as "wings") and with enough weight also thicken it. I love these, but they must be done properly or you'll feel it more in your triceps than in your back.

I had an interesting leg workout on Wednesday as well. I did squats with 115 pounds for sets of 20 to 25, concentrating solely on squeezing my glutes and trying to keep the tensing out of my quads. I'm not sure I did an excellent job of this, but I then hopped directly onto the leg press machine and did close stance leg presses for sets of 30. I was hobbling around the gym after that. I also did leg extensions and supersetted them with reverse lunges on the Smith machine and then moved on to lying leg curls matched with seated leg curls and jump lunges. I sat on the floor for quite a bit of time after that workout. My hamstrings are still tight and sore from that workout.

Speaking of sore, my calves were all bunched up and knotted up this entire week. I couldn't run at all and had to move leg day to the middle of the week rather than the beginning because I completely demolished those things. I've been doing standing calf raises with 315 pounds (I'm shocked!) and doing three sets of those. I do them slowly, really concentrating and squeezing with all my might, and then stretching all the way down before punching up again with each rep. After three sets of that, I moved on to seated calf raises with a 45-pound plate and a 25-pound plate on the machine. I hate that exercise, but I forced myself through three sets of 15 before moving on to the leg press machine and doing calf raises on that. The arches of my feet hurt when doing it, but it does work when I concentrate solely on my calves. Try the workout and let me know what you think. My calves are growing a bit from it, and I'm hoping that when I lean out in 2004, the veins in my calves will pop out a bit. They began to do it periodically this year at Figure Nationals, but not as much as I would like.

By the way, there are new height class changes to NPC Figure at the national level. I'm not exactly pleased, but I guess I should be glad that my class hasn't changed at all, so there aren't any surprises for me. I'll bring it up on the boards and see what y'all think, but there must be a better system for making decisions that affect thousands.

Okay, I'm off to eat my yummy six egg whites. I like to put a couple packets of Splenda on them and sprinkle cinnamon and nutmeg, then close my eyes and imagine. If I get creative enough, I can actually trick myself into thinking I'm eating French toast. See the mind tricks I can use to get myself through the tough moments of the diet?! I actually got this idea from Julie Palmer and Tracey Greenwood, both pro fitness competitors.

Take care and I hope you had as good of a Thanksgiving as I did! I'd love to hear Turkey day stories from everyone in the U.S. For everyone else, have a wonderful weekend, and I'm sure I'll pop back in before the weekend is out to tell you about my shoulder and calf workout tomorrow.

G'night!

Jodi :)