Neglect, expansion, redundancy and loss

So while we were out several weeks ago, I noticed a building that we must have passed several times over the 18 months or so we've been here. Actually, considering I'm at the dr's office once a week, it's more than just several times. When we first moved into the area, it used to be an Animal Clinic. Sometime in the last several months (probably a good 6-8 months ago), the clinic has closed down. Since then, it's taken a rather forelorn and neglected look. The day this picture was taken, the first thing I thought of when I saw it was the fact my account at Blogger has much began to resemble it. The pages don't get freshened as often and the entries...yeah right. We all see how that's been. *laffz* Now ya see why the building reminded me of my blog. Both are in desperate need of love and care.

Although several businesses have closed down around this area, but we've been seeing expansion as well. The furniture store that closed down in the strip mall behind our townhome is in the process of being taken over by the second hand book store, McKays (which is presently in the same strip mall but in a much smaller location). It's good to see that their business is doing so well that they can expand into a bigger space. I guess we can thank the economy for that. With things the way they are, the second-hand stores are doing better than usual. Not many people want to pay full price when they can get items that are next to new for a fraction of the price. That's fodder for another entry.....

In the line of expansion, the Walgreens near my dr's office is getting close to opening up. Kaiser (my dr's office) has built a new building and will be moving into it this weekend. I'll be going there next week for my shot. Just down the road from us is a store that's been empty for a while. The signs say an Aldi's is moving in. I'm looking forward to checking it out. One of these days I really should see if it's within walking distance. It'd beat crossing that busy street (4 lanes) to the new WalMart that's being built in the mall (I'm guessing it's about the same distance of a walk, too).

Some businesses are doing so well that they feel the need to build two of their company side by side, like the &-Elevens below. The only major difference between the two is that one has a gas station attached to it and the other does not. Gotta love redundancies.

Well, we've covered the neglect, expansion and the redundancy. You'll notice there isn't another picture, yet I do have one more word in that title. Jeannie, the good news I hinted to in my email (ya know, the "I know something you don't know" email)?

*points to the Weight Watch ticker above*

Yep. Thursday was a trip to the dietitian. Not that I really needed it, but after the last unofficial weigh-in (256.6) I decided that it was time to get one on file. Anyhow, I needed her to see I was still doing well and that I hadn't gained any of it back. I weighed in at a 253.....45 pounds gone in 10 months. I'm 13 pounds down since my last official weigh-in in February when I had to go in for that sinus infection. The weight loss is slow going and it seems to bounce around (not a straight downward slide, but an up and down with a downward trend....did that make sense?) but it aint coming back, so long as I behave myself....which I rarely do.