shannon, you make me want to call in sick and spend the day getting dirty! We're weeks from being frost-safe yet, but I want to PLANT!!!! I bought a big, beautiful 3-tiered basket system, and I"m really looking forward to filling it up. Just have to figure out ... with what?

allison, there is nothing that makes me feel worse than feeling like I wasted somebody's time because of my own goofup - I can empathize with DD! Still, good on her for planning the extra day; it's great she won't miss the big events.

dagmar, yikes. 4 times a day? Good grief. Doggie diapers?

Jen, shake it off, girl! Sunshine makes all things better! Sorry you had a fight with DH. You can get back to that great spot of last week.

DS and I ran the 2.6 miles again last night. It went much better than the first time - no wind, and I had my new Nano. I'm going to take the positive side: I have SO much room for improvement!

Oh so sorry Jen. Dh and I rarely fight so I know how terrible you must feel. Hope you have made up.....

I went to the endocrinologist today. He had checked my thyroid levels and hormone levels. He is changing my thyroid meds a bit and wants me to try testosterone cream (my levels were low which is a symptom of perimenopause but can cause other issues like body fat). As a result of my appointment, I was very late to work and I'm all out of kilter.....

Another bleary, gray, cold, rainy day - just plain yuck! I know all this rain is being put to good use, but I'll still be grateful for some sun on Friday. At least the forecast shows a good weekend coming up. My plans include attacking a very neglected flower bed, doing some more running, the long-awaited and postponed massage, and watching DS perform in the annual church musical. Yes ... I am droning through Wed-Fri, and focusing forward!

Maintainers all seem a bit down this week.

It's a BEAUTIFUL day but I feel super blue and can't identify why. I have been at a deficit, perhaps being back in diet mode is destroying my moods? Going for a run at lunch with BF, hoping that will "fix" me or at least get me feeling a bit happier until the endorphins wear off.

Jen I'm sorry you had a fight with DH - hope you will be able to make up tonight and it's not something very serious.

Unlike Bill, I am insecure and out of place. I didn't check my weight this morning but I'm watching my food intake carefully. I'm in Pennsylvania overnight at a very nice hotel with what I suspect is a really great gym.

Tomorrow I'm going to look at a tiger maple bookcase, which looks to have been bench-made by a craftsman cabinetmaker. It's not old, but appears to be mostly hand-done. I'll confirm this when I look at it in person, rather than in online photos. I need a bookcase. I have no place to keep surviving books that were stored at my mother's house. My former bookcases collapsed after the flood. Books absorb water and expand, and their redoubled weight was enough to crack the each bookshelf in the center.

Why does spring keep procrastinating on the job?

Hi all, For some reason I feel back on track again. All winter I was battling sugar cravings big time, got pretty bummed about it. But when all was said and done, for all the struggling, I kept off 20 pounds of the 30 pounds I lost last year. I kept trying and failing to lose those ten pounds I gained, but somehow now I can feel the track is back. Why? Maybe the extra daylight (certainly not the weather!!!), but it feels like a shift has occurred where I'm not battling and battling and often losing the battle every hour. The cravings are less intense for the first time since last November it seems. And I can say, not bad, considering that in the past I would often gain ALL my weight back in the winter that I lost that summer.

For all of us having rough patches now, believe me I've been there! We all have to struggle and I'm grateful for the support we all give each other. It's a big factor in my relative success.

Glad you got your mojo back Chris.

I'm in a weird funk. I thought I'd be able to take off my extra weight from my cruise while dh was gone. I'm eating well (too much maybe?) and working out. The weight isn't going anywhere. I'm mad and depressed in the mornings, but when I go to Bikram Yoga I feel empowered, strong, and proud that I'm able to do well-- I drip sweat-- I see muscles..... Therefore, I keep going back. I feel like I should change up my exercise but I like bikram and I don't know that other workouts will give me near the calorie burn. I *might* switch it up today-- we'll see.

In the meantime, I've already been on Amazon and bought the deal of the day--- Saucony running shoes-- and I bought a necklace from living social. I should probably get off the computer and get to work before I go broke!

I keep meaning to ask though. Anyone else on Instagram? I originally got on to share animal photos and started following other people with animals. Lately, though, I'm following a lot of fitness/motivational people. I really like to see the fit bodies, hear about people's workouts, see their healthy meals. Anyone else on there too?

Michele - those are the running shoes I'm currently wearing. I will tell you that they are light, not exactly a minimalist shoe but awfully close. I'm not sure if I can keep wearing them, I might need to go back to something with more padding. LOL

Michele~I had an instagram account, but closed it because I didn't really "understand" how to use it to follow things. I guess it's kind of like Twitter? I don't understand Twitter, either! And here I thought I was technologically savvy!

I don't do twitter so I can't comment on that. I "follow" friends and see their photos. You can search for other followers that have similar interests as you which is how I found all of the fitness/ motivational people to follow. I like to look at it in the morning-- people post photos of their workouts, their success stories, etc. I find it motivational. Maybe others wouldn't.

I have to admit this somewhere but I'm really slacking these past few weeks. I was at the gym 5-7 days a week, now it seems like I am hardly there. I have been totally consumed with a career change and worried sick about financial uncertainty.

Jolted nerves combined with a crappy spring (gloom/cold and rain) is killing my motivation. I just want to sleep all the time. I haven't gained any weight though thanks to stress. :/

I will try to get back into routine ASAP. Maybe set my mind that as of May 1st I have to be back at it full swing. I don't want to lose my jogging stamina.

Hey guys, I'm behind on the chat thread but wanted to let you all know what's going on. My water broke unexpectedly yesterday morning at 30 weeks 5 days, and now I'm going to be in the hospital until delivery, which could be as soon as tomorrow or as late as several weeks from now. The last 36 hours or so were kind of crazy with lots of unpleasant medications (to help mature babies), but things are stable now and I'm doing well. The plan is to keep an eye on things and wait, basically, If there's any sign of infection they'll deliver, and if I go into labor they will deliver, but if everything stays the same I'm basically on bed rest in the hospital for the foreseeable future.

This is a really good hospital with a level 3 NICU, so I'm trying to focus on the fact that my babies will have the best of care even if they come this early. Things look pretty stable at the moment, so I'm optimistic that we might make it a little longer, but then again everything seemed pretty stable at home until my water suddenly broke, so I guess pregnancy is just unpredictable. Tomorrow will make 31 weeks, and if we make it to 31, then we'll shoot for 32, then 33, etc. One day at a time!

DH has been really great and is staying with me at the hospital, and my mom is in town and will stay at our house and take care of Carter. Poor Carter was alone for one night last night and we forgot to turn off the alarm clocks, so he basically flipped out and shredded every piece of paper/tissue/etc he could find. Apparently he also relocated a bunch of stuffed animals from our bedroom downstairs, but didn't shred them.

I'm proud to say that I've exercised 3 times this week even though I was having trouble putting weight on my bad leg, which I seem to have worked through by standing on one foot whenever possible and making those muscles work. I need to get back to doing my PT exercises and my pilates. But I've been overeating so I feel I need to do cardio with my limited exercise time. Hmm, wonder how I could change that...

I've decided to take off a day or two a week from visiting my dad. It's a half hour drive so each visit takes 2-3 hours. It's a lot. He got moved to a sub-acute rehab facility that had a very bad reputation but it's under new management and is not as awful as we anticipated. It's old and run-down but it's being renovated and the staff is very friendly. Dad likes it there, even though he's not sure where he is a lot of the time. He has made some improvement but I doubt he'll ever be who he was.

We're finally getting some sunny, warm-ish weather here so I'm going to try to go for a walk this weekend. I need to mulch my garden, too, but the task seems too daunting this year.

Have a great weekend, all!

Good luck Jessica (paperclippy) maintaining your equanimity with this new turn of events. Hopefully the twins are just bored and want to come out to play.

Jessica, praying that all will go well and that those two babies will hang on and be delivered safely and at a healthy weight. You are doing every thing you can.