Good morning! How was everyone's weekend? Mine wasn't exciting but I finished everything I needed to and that makes for a good start to the week.
We've been waiting for a part for our stove for weeks and today hopefully we'll be back in business. It's made meal prep a little challenging. Then off to work. The spa has two new nail techs training today -- hooray! The demand for pedicures never lets up. Note to self: I need a pedicure!!
I am so loving summer fruit! Better than any cookie ever could taste.
What's going on this week -- anything special? Is it summer where you are? We're only warming up a bit here in Pittsburgh, but it's getting near 100 degrees for DD in New Mexico.
New week, new commitment to plan. I'm cat sitting this week - a sleep over - which I usually don't do. Got rather lonely and consoled myself with some junk last night.
Today I'm back to the fruit for snacks. I brought along my bathing suit and will try that on every time I get the urge to "comfort eat". No scale here but I know what I have to do.
Good morning, maintainers! Monday morning again! How did it get here so fast? The week-end was fun - Friday night I went out with my girlfriends from high school to celebrate our 45th birthdays. And then on Saturday my husband and I went and bought some used bikes we found on craigslist. I am excited that we can do family bike rides now. As for today it's back to the summer schedule: gym in the morning, lunch, pool in the afternoon. School starts back in less than a month now; it's unbelievable!
Meg, LOL about the pedicure. I got to the airport three hours early for my flight Friday so I had a pedicure at the travel spa!
Dagmar, good luck with the cat sitting.
Ward, yay for bikes! I was really excited when DH finally got a bike so we can bike together. Now I need to make him practice so I can take him on my favorite 10-mile route -- right now he's only comfortable with about 4 miles.
Good morning! I had a fun and exhausting weekend in NYC. Friday night was pretty sedate, just dinner and walking around a park with my friend who I was staying with. Saturday morning we headed into Brooklyn, went to the botanical garden, then met up with my sister and her fiancee for brunch, hung out with them for a while, and went to my friend's coworker's BBQ. After that it was back into Manhattan, where we picked up Vietnamese sandwiches for dinner and ate them while waiting in line for the concert I was in town to see.
After an extremely long wait in line, we finally got into the concert venue, and the concert was great! The crowd was super-excited because it was a Japanese rock band, and they almost never come to the US. In any case it was totally awesome, although it was so hot I feel like I must have burned 500 calories just standing in there sweating! Afterward we went back to Brooklyn to meet up with my sister again for drinks, then finally to bed. Sunday morning I had brunch with a couple friends from high school who I haven't seen in nearly ten years (hmm, my ten-year reunion should be next year!). It was a little awkward but it was good to see them. After that we walked around Central Park a little, then I headed to the airport to fly back home.
Even though I didn't do any actual exercise this weekend, I was on my feet walking around so much that my legs are sore. I didn't eat 100% OP, but I feel like I made good choices and I'm proud of myself for choosing eggs and veggies for breakfast instead of brioche french toast. Would you believe that one place had on their menu -- for BREAKFAST -- waffles with ICE CREAM on top?
Anyway I'm only up about 1.5lbs for the weekend so I'm sure it will go away in a couple days. That nasty bug bite I had last week is finally gone so I feel comfortable going to the pool again! Of course now I can't go running because I got another bug bite on my ankle.
I think my cold is finally waning. But I do wake up coughing at least three times each night despite my taking copious amounts of cough medicine before I go to sleep.
My weekend was so-so. Saturday after lunch I felt completely exhausted. We were going to go see a movie and instead DH sent me to bed for a nap. After that, I had no ambition to do much of anything. I ended up downloading a dozen CD's into iTunes for our iPods. I need to do this every weekend for a while to get my entire collection up.
Sunday we went to see the Proposal. Fun movie. I also did a little shopping but didn't find much of anything. I really want something like a cute sundress but they're all so short! My knees don't "do" short dresses!
Because of my cold, I have had no appetite and nothing I eat even tastes good. I love it! I thought for sure I'd gain weight on my trip to DC and instead came back at the same weight and now I'm finally back down to "ticker" weight. It's all downhill from here! Wednesday, however, I need to see the doctor and I wonder what he'll say. I am up from this time last year. But I am steadily going down and nothing will get in my way (you know how it is--it is so HARD to get re-started on a diet, but once you start, it's so easy).
I did mostly nothing all weekend. DH had to work Saturday, so I exercised, puttered around a little. Sunday I got up, cleaned the bathroom, ate lunch, took a nap, ate dinner, watched a movie, helped DH alphabetize his records, went to bed. Lazy. It was nice - we have had something scheduled to do pretty much every weekend for the last 12 weeks, so it was nice to have a break. I did sabotage my weekend eating again, made good choices all day both days and then ended the night with desserts... It was so hot in my house, and I was fussy and irritable, etc, etc... So back on plan today... Next weekend is a regular weekend with DSS, and those tend to come in under plan, so I just have to make it through the week...
Meg - it is pretty warm where I am! Inside & out!
Dagmar - good luck with trying on the bathing suit! I find it harder to stay on plan when I'm by myself sometimes, too.
Ward - bikes are so much fun! We have been thinking about getting some, too.
Jessica - glad your bug bite is better, and that you had a good trip!
Midwife - is it cooler where you are, too?
Allison - glad you are on the downward slide of the cold, hope the coughing clears up soon!
Yesterday ended up being a laundry day, and I froze about 6 quarts of strawberries. Eating was right OP and it's a good feeling.
It was hard to get up this morning at 5:30, but I'm glad to have my exercise done. I can tell my legs are going to be sore later on..... I finally connected with the trainer who does the body fat testing, and made an appt for Friday morning. The six-month program I'm on (well, 5 months left) wants a base line. I guess mine will only be a 5 month change.
Allison - hope your cold is about done. I've finallly pretty much stopped coughing - but nearly 2 weeks.....
Jessica - are your bites from mosquitos, or what? Maybe more bug repellant?
Happy Birthday Ward !
Midwife, I'm with Meg. 100 is waaaay too hot. We had 84 on Friday - which is nearly unheard of here - and DH and I were both toast....
Gotta get ready for a 10 am meeting. Have a great day all.
Thanks for the birthday wishes you guys, but my birthday's not until November. We just picked a day mid-year to celebrate all of our 45th birthdays!
And now for something completely different. I planted tomatoes in pots on my deck and they are being eaten by large green caterpillars. How do I get rid of them? (Other than picking them off one by one which is absolutely grossing me out!) Plus are these green things producing all the poo around the pots or do I have some other animal coming onto my deck to feast on my plants?
I have seen raccoons on the deck before (left some food out for the stray cats), but the tomatoes themselves don't appear to be nibbled on, only the leaves so far. I am looking forward to some yummy homegrown tomatoes but I don't need a rodent family moving in!
WardHog, it sounds like tomato hornworm. Is it a big green thing with some white stripes on the sides and a "horn" on one end? They do produce some good sized black droppings, which are called "frass," that accumulates around the plants.
To control them, you can pick them off the plants (not hard to find them!) and drown them in water. If you see one with lots of things on its back that look like white rice grains, these are eggs of a wasp that kills the hornworm. You want to leave that one so that the eggs can hatch and then kill more hornworms.
Edited to add: You can use insecticide on them also, but you need to use something specific to the hornworms that won't kill other, beneficial insects--or you!
Oh, dang - I just picked off a leaf that had a bunch of wasp eggs on it. I thought they were hornworm eggs and that I better get rid of them. Oh well, I'll leave them alone if I see any more. I am trying to avoid insecticide since I hope we'll be eating these tomatoes soon. Thanks, Jay!
Good Monday everyone. I love Mondays now as I get to catch up with all my maintaining friends! Just hard to find the time to read and post to everyone.
I'll try though...
WardHog-- gross on the caterpillars! Our tomatoes are going crazy and are just starting to ripen. I love tomatoes!! LaLaLaLa about school starting soon! I'm not listening. I feel like summer just started and I have to go back to work/school in a month. Not happy about it. I haven't gotten any of my projects even started that I wanted to do this summer. I feel like time is flying by.....
Hi Pat and Jay!!
Shannon-- sounds like a nice, relaxing weekend. Personally I don't know where my weekends go. I had great plans to clean the house and I did squat about it. Very frustrated.....
Allison-- glad you are feeling better and the scale is cooperating with your lack of appetite. We saw The Proposal and loved it too. Now we are waiting to see Harry Potter! I also want to see G-Force but I don't know if it will be cute or just stupid. If my dd doesn't want to go I may have to borrow a kid from someone!!
Hi midwife!
Jessica-- sounds like a great time in NYC!! Waffles with ice cream actually sounds pretty delish to me! I used to love belgian waffles with fruit and whipped cream on top but I haven't had any in forever. I'm sure all the walking around you did burned a lot of calories.
Enjoy your kitty sitting Dagmar and good luck staying OP. I wanted to kill my kitties the other night. Wilbur has bulimia (not really but he throws up after eating all the time!). So, I was dead asleep and heard him retching. Where? On my bed of course. So I sat bolt upright-- tossed him off the bed just in time-- and then had to play find the throw up in my bedroom. Once I finally got back to sleep, I was awoken by Charlotte doing this incredibly loud whistle snore (on the bed of course). I couldn't believe how loud it was!! Dd said the next day that she heard her snoring too-- it woke her up from across the hall!!
Meg-- I am LOVING the summer fruit too! I was grumpy last night that I was out of my nightly chocolate low cal fudgesicles but didn't feel like going to the store. So dh and I had big bowls of fruit instead-- I'd already had my morning fruit so I really had a ton of fruit yesterday! But still had it again this morning too!! I want a pedicure too. I had my nails done Saturday (I have acrylics) and they asked if I wanted a pedicure. I said no because I didn't want to spend the time or $$ but I really do want one!! I figure when I go back for my next fill it will be right before my cruise and I'll get pretty toes done then.
My weekend--- if I can remember-- Saturday I had my weigh-in. First time in over a month because I worked 2 Saturdays, was out of town for one, and one was 4th of July and WW was closed. I was up 2.6 pounds but I was fine with that as my previous weight was some low fluke that I've never seen before or since! Then I went to the gym and did the running club for the first time. I've only started running recently and only by myself on the treadmill so I was a little intimidated to try. There were only 4 of us and we ran 2.2 miles in about 21 minutes. I was gasping for air and my quads are very sore but I made it. I'll try it again I think. Two of the ladies that ran with us are from my other classes and they said they always watch me in class (both latin dance and boxing boot camp) because I have "great form"! Me?!?! The person who always felt so uncoordinated and klutzy my whole life? They don't know how good they made me feel. I had to choke back tears. The instructor is my fave instructor that I take boxing boot camp and latin dance from. He was trying to talk me into trying a spinning class which I've never done so I may try that soon as well. After that, I did my nails, cooked dinner.... the rest of the day is a blur so who knows what I did?!?!
Sunday I had to work..... I usually work 4-5 hours on Sunday but we had extra training (3 hours) for the new computer system they are rolling out. It looks like it will be great once we learn it but it is so different and I know it will take awhile to learn. The bad part is we just did a simulation and the real one will be with lines of members in front of me..... I was exhausted after that and debated skipping the gym but I've only missed one day so far in July so I dragged my sorry butt there.
Today I went back to the endocrinologist about my thyroid and my eye disease (Grave's eye disease). My thyroid results were fine but he is recommending I see an eye surgeon. Not to have surgery at this point but to get a baseline to see if I may need it down the road. My eyes are very dry and I'm experiencing double vision. I forgot they would make me get on the scale so I was pleased to see 126 with my clothes on and after breakfast. My BP was super low (98/56) and my pulse was 50. I expected them to congratulate me on how healthy I am but they never saw me heavy so they don't know how exciting it is to see great numbers!!
Thursday dd and I are going to go visit older dd in Southern California at the camp she is working at. Dd is grumbling about the long drive. I haven't driven myself for a long drive in forever and I think this will be the longest drive for me. I'm a little nervous especially since the doctor told me to be very careful driving. Older dd has her first real boyfriend. He is another counselor at the camp. I hope to meet him to see if he is a decent guy. We aren't overly excited because he is 1. too old for her (she is 18 and he is 25), 2. another race and religion from us (believe me we aren't bigoted but it can just complicate relationships). I hope it isn't too serious and it ends when the summer ends (though she will have her heart broken I'm sure-- that is just the kind of person she is). She is very overweight and I know she is liking the attention but I hope she isn't falling too far, too fast (as it sounds like when I talk to her). I met my dh when I was 18 and I tell her that was way too young even though it worked for us but I'm sure in her mind she is at least as mature as I was.... Oh, the joys and worries of parenting.
I guess I felt like writing a novel today. Sorry for the length!!
We need an icon of a chicken running around with its head cut off because that is what I feel like these days! Work is very busy, as usual. In addition to the person who left our office ~2 months ago and won't be replaced (budget reasons), giving me an extra project, another person is leaving at the end of the month. She will be replaced, but in the interim we will all be shorthanded. Adding to that, summer is our busiest field season. Anyway I'm going a little crazy.
BF and I went scalloping again yesterday with some friends. Lots of fun, but at the end of the day some nasty thunderstorms moved in. We'd driven the boat quite a ways and BF insisted on the rest of us riding home in a friend's car that was nearby while he drove the boat home through the bad weather (we had nowhere to leave the boat where we were, so leaving it just wasn't an option, and it was going to get dark if we tried to wait a few hours). I've told people on my boat "I'm the captain, this is my boat, and this is not up for discussion" before but having it told to me got me a bit upset! Funny how that works. We finally all got home safe and sound and I stayed up until almost midnight shucking scallops. They're fun to catch, fun to eat, not fun to shuck!
Ward, I was also going to suggest tomato hornworm but I'd do a google image search first to confirm that. If it's not them, I'd suggest googling "caterpillars + tomatoes" or something and start looking for an ID, or post a picture on a gardening web blog. Hand picking and squashing is really the best method if you don't want to use an all-out pesticide, and who wants to use pesticide on your food plants? Maybe just wear gloves if you're squeamish. I had an outbreak of armyworms on my tomatoes this year - they had babies, so there were hundreds of tiny caterpillars all over my tomato plants, way too many to pick by hand. I tried Bacillus thuringiensis, which is a bacteria that targets only certain species and is harmless to others, so it is less harmful than an all-out pesticide. It worked pretty well and I believe also works on hornworms, but if you really only have a few pick & squish!
Already behind, and I've got to get to the gym to work out before my book club at 6:00. I'll catch up tomorrow! Have a good evening all.
Megan - I would use the chicken icon today, myself... AC company finally called and the service tech is on the way. To diagnose the problem that has already been unofficially diagnosed and still can't be fixed until Wednesday. Not that I'm complaining or anything...
Michele - hope you have a good trip this week, and please be careful driving with blurry and double vision!
Pat - it is currently 84 degrees inside my house... I don't even want to know the temperature outside...
Ward - ouch on the worms... No other ideas than what has been mentioned... Good luck.
I'm poking my head in to say "hi". I've been on and off the board for several years, but have gotten off track this year and need to get back on. I've gained about 20 lbs and I've got to get that under control before I gain it all back! Panic is setting in now! I've got my Fitday back out, 3FC, and am re-reading my copy of Thin for Life to get me heading the right direction.
I'm looking forward to chatting with you all again and getting to know those that I haven't "met" before.
Maintainers Chat: Week Of July 13 - 19
How was everyone's weekend? Mine wasn't exciting but I finished everything I needed to and that makes for a good start to the week. 
Monday, Monday
I didn't eat 100% OP, but I feel like I made good choices and I'm proud of myself for choosing eggs and veggies for breakfast instead of brioche french toast. Would you believe that one place had on their menu -- for BREAKFAST -- waffles with ICE CREAM on top? 
To everyone else!
too. 
They're fun to catch, fun to eat, not fun to shuck!
