Those still under snow, including me, should consider that this thread will take us through Easter. It's hard to look for Easter eggs under snow. That's a fact. Not sure what you can do about it though, LOL.

My eating does better in those evenings when I go out. There's simply no opportunity to nibble. I guess the same is true when I'm extremely busy away from home. Perhaps I'll invent The Busy Diet to replace my failure to resist the temptation to nibble extra snacks.

That's an excellent idea for a diet Bill. I too tend to start nibbling in the evening if I have nothing to do but watch TV and I'm not engaged with the program. I hope the snow is gone before you start your easter egg hunt.

I am not weighing myself today. I know, by the way my body looks and how my pants fit, that I have gained quite a bit of "real" weight in the past month. I will buckle down and really start to monitor what goes in my mouth in the evenings now.

I think DH found us a great house. Unfortunately he found it after the open houses had finished and they are probably taking offers Tuesday. I won't have my funds until probably Thursday and it will be sold by then. I know there will be another house eventually but this one had real character, as well as all the stuff we need/want. Oh well.

Good day all!

Dagmar

Good morning!

This week I am having carpet taken up from my family room and living room, and hardwood floors installed. Then they will sand and re-finish the remaining areas of the main floor. The crew is not even here yet and I am already freaking out. My DH does NOT want hardwoods and refuses to help with this project in any way. sigh. They are supposed to be done with the whole thing by Friday. I will survive and I know I will love the end result.

Bill, I too find that idle time leads to munchy time. Your neck of the woods has certainly seen its share of snow this winter! I guess that's why the Easter eggs are dyed bright colors!

dagmar, good luck with the house hunting - strange things happen with purchase contracts and you just never know.

to all! I've been on lurk status for a couple of weeks, mostly due to a weird tidal wave of little bitty aggravations that all have to be handled immediately - furnace died, moved appointments, weekend commitments, travel plans, yadayadayada. I'm starting to see the light finally, and hoping to keep up this week. As is typical, the less I post, the more my weight average tends to tilt toward the upward direction.

Becky, it is always good to hear from you. You and Bill may call it idle time but I call it boredom eating and it happens to me. When I find myself standing in front of the open refrigerator I know I am not hungry, just bored.

Well in two weeks I have a diet challenge in NYC for a few days, but that will be the least of it! I'm an opera composer, and rehearsals for my opera "From The Realm Of The Shadow" begin April 9. I'll be there!!! Lots of dance elements in this work, so on the first day of rehearsal I will be surrounded by beautiful, lithe, 20-something New York dancers and actors. Vanity demands I look slim for them and what the hey I can use that for motivation to stay on focus with losing three more pounds by then! My opera has been out on Naxos Records since 2001 but never performed till now. Performances May 2-3 at Riverside Church at Broadway and 120th. I rescued a girl from a gang-rape when I was 19, and that was my introduction to the "Shadow," those parts of ourselves we don't want to look at. The opera begins in terrible violence and anguish and ends up in a field of love. Took 20 years to compose, then recorded with the National Symphony and Choir of Ukraine. You can find out more at www.fromtherealmoftheshadow.com. We're funding it through an Indie go-go campaign, hundreds of people donating $5-$10-$50+. It’s hard for me to ask, but I hope you’ll take a look at http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/1s...-of-the-shadow. Maybe I'll see some of you in NY when we open the show?

Good morning!

Drove home from SLC on Thursday morning--early. It was drizzling rain when I left my Dad's house and it rained off and on for the next hour and a half. When I arrived home I called my Dad who asked if I had any difficulty with the snow. Apparently by the time he woke up there were 3 inches of snow and as I understand it snowed every night for three nights. Glad I didn't witness that.

Ward, I love hardwood floors, but have tile here instead. Sorry you're freaking and that your DH doesn't want to help.

Dagmar, do houses really sell that fast up there? We have homes on the market in my neighborhood that have had for sale signs for over 6 months.

I have officially been given my first gray hair. DS was driving to Los Angeles yesterday with two friends to attend a Jr. Statesmen of America meeting or something at Loyola Marymount when he apparently took the onramp to the 605 freeway too fast, skidded out of control and ended up on the median. He attempted to drive away after it was deemed everyone was okay, but the car didn't cooperate and he had to call for a tow. I was on the tee box of the #5 hole when he called to tell me (normally he'd just text me to let me know he arrived on time, etc.). From there, he called at least four more times to let me know what was going on with the tow truck and whether or not he had a ride back or we had to drive in to pick him up (one of the other boy's moms drove out to collect the three of them--took them to lunch, too). He then texted me a dozen times to let me know where he was and when he'd be home. He was teary and shaky when he got home--went right to his room and curled up for a nap (which is totally NOT him). I felt so bad for him, but we're so thankful that it wasn't anything more serious. A boy he knew in middle school was injured in a skateboard accident here last week and died of his injuries yesterday (very sad, National Honor Society, Eagle Scout, athlete, etc.).

'

Dagmar, about the great house, I may have shared this before but will repeat it.
When I was first married we found the perfect house, to this day I can give you details of that house. I mean to tell you that house was a new brides dream. We made a verbal offer to buy that house and it was accepted but had not signed anything at this point., fortunately for us no papers had been signed as that house burned to the ground. This was a big disappointment but we were not hurt financially and were able to continue our house hunting.

ward, I commend you for going forward on something you want without spousal support. Hardwood floors look better, last longer, are less toxic, easier to clean, less allergenic ... hopefully he'll come around and you'll get to give him that "I told you so" smile.

bargoo, thanks - I haven't had a lot of time to do the boredom eating in the last couple of weeks, but I have certainly been snagging more snacks than I should, and taking the extra spoonful of "whatever" in between bites by various time vampires. I gave myself a stern talking-to over the weekend and caught back up to the wagon that was rapidly disappearing over the hill.

Chris, I forwarded your link home so I can check it out later. That's quite a story! I'm eager to learn more. I love how the web has made it so easy to show support for endeavors like this.

allison, that's really scary! Glad to hear DS is okay. I've had a couple white-knuckle rides on ramps myself - no fun! Hope you were able to keep the ball out of the woods while all that was going on!

Happy Passover to those who celebrate!

We are also in the midst of a late snow storm here -- started yesterday and is still coming down. It was fun watching Carter plow his way through the deep snow in our backyard this morning. It's nearly up to his chest, and he's a big dog! We've got about 8 inches so far, but it should be over soon.

Allison, glad your DS is okay! My sister totaled her car shortly after getting her driver's license when she was 16 (followed the person in front of her turning left without looking and got T-boned by a pickup) and she was terrified of driving for a while. I am lucky that the worst car accidents I've had while driving (knock on wood) were breaking my side mirror on a parked car and a low-speed collision in a parking lot, plus getting very gently rear-ended at a red light in the rain.

Chris, congrats on getting your opera performed!

Dagmar, can you not go see the house unless it's an open house? I don't know how it works in Canada but here you can arrange a private showing of any house on the market.

Ward, good luck with the floors!

Becky, good to hear from you! Hopefully you will not have more aggravations this week.

Bargoo, that is a pretty crazy story about the house burning down.

Our weekend was relatively uneventful. We had a meetup of our cooking club Saturday night which went well (and DH finally took advantage of me being his built-in designated driver since they had a lot of interesting wines he wanted to try). Sunday morning we had the first of what will probably be many trips to the hospital to get checked out "just in case." Everything is fine, but basically we spent the entire morning there with me hooked up to fetal monitors, which was uncomfortable and exhausting. I think the issue is that the babies have turned in some strange position where basically their backs are pushing against my belly and all their kicks are aimed at my internal organs where I can't really feel them, so I was worried that they weren't moving as much as usual.

In any case since the weather was crappy today our class at the hospital got cancelled, which means that we can attend the monthly meeting of our local twins club tonight. I will definitely ask in their expecting/new moms support group about whether other people have had this problem and if there's any way to encourage them to move to a better position. (My OB's only suggestion was to try gently rubbing them when they're balled up in a big lump, but it doesn't seem to be working very well.)

Good Monday all!

I've come to the chat threads so many times when things were bad that I wanted to spread some light. Not sure if any of you read my blog, but I had a revelation Friday night out of nowhere. I won't bore you with all the details, but basically I've determined that my rigidity and determining my worth by a number on the scale has been holding me back from truly enjoying my new-found life.

So I have made a committment to chilling out a little - not in terms of letting myself slack on diet and exercise, but realizing that once and a while I can have a piece of cake without needing to then berate myself for hours afterwards. I'm only on day 3 of this revelation, but I'm feeling fantastic. I weighed in this morning at 117 which I have constantly referred to as my "ideal" number, so I'm feeling really, really good - in control of my mind and body.

I'm sending these feel good vibes through cyberspace to any of you that might be struggling!!

Chris- I am so excited for you about your opera!!! Can I ask if it is a traditional type opera or the more modern type opera like Sweeney Todd or the like?

It's pretty cold here, but we are missing the snow storm which definitely makes me happy! I am ready for Easter and for March to get out of here and send in April and warmer temps!

Jen

Hi all,

Yesterday I said I need a "do-over Monday". I don't know how do-over this is, but at least this AM is better than yesterday. I haven't been getting enough sleep and didn't have time to catch up over my busy weekend. I told BF last night we needed to get into bed earlier, but he was at a volunteer fire meeting and then "got cornered by a friend" and I ended up in bed late again. I was very annoyed. Yes I could try to go to sleep wo him, but the dog makes so much noise when he gets home I would be awake again in an instant, and I'm such a light/nervous sleeper I have trouble falling asleep when I know he's coming in. Of course he gets to sleep in about 2 hours later than I do this time of year. So, grumble, complain. It is even harder for me to eat healthily and not overeat when I'm tired. We are getting another arctic blast here, too. At least it woke me up quickly when I took the dog out this AM! I'm going to make a pot of leek, onion, and white bean soup tonight to comfort me through the cold and my bitty basil seedlings have moved inside.

Jen, chilling out is important!

Jessica, did you get any answers or find anyone with similar experiences at your twins group last night?

Dagmar, who knows what will happen with this house. You will find the right one, and it may be a long process. That's ok. It's a big commitment.

Alison, glad DS is ok.

Chris, how great your opera is being performed after so many years of work! I'm at work but hope to check out your links later from my home computer.

Bill, The Busy Diet would work pretty well for me, too. I need a Busy Diet combined with Sleep Diet.

Have a good day everyone.

Jessica, I'm just loving all your pictures and updates! I don't know anybody who's had twins, and while it sounds exhausting and like pregnancyx10, I am really glad you're keeping us in the loop!

Jen, congrats on your breakthrough! I think there's a component of weight loss, especially on the scale (pun intended!) that you did it, that's "mental" weight - all the extra baggage that went with being really heavy that weighs just as much, if not more than the fat mass. I don't know how to formulate this idea too well, but maybe there's an emotional maintenance that has to be mastered along with the physical one. I only needed to lose a little weight on the scale; it was my mental weight that took forever to lose. And once that comes off ...

Megan, I hope there's great night's sleep in your very near future. Your soup plan is making me DH has about eight flats of seedlings going under the lights - he's planning 24 tomatoes this year! The ground's not even thawed, and our replacement cherry trees and the new grape vines have arrived. Small panic! The thing I'm looking forward to the most is having our big crabapple tree bloom - and seeing it absolutely covered in busy honeybees.

DH and DS sang together as part of a performance of Robert Ray's "Gospel Mass" on Palm Sunday. DH hasn't sung in 30 years, and it was so obvious on his face that he was rediscovering an old love. He received enough positive feedback that he's decided to join the church choir. I'm really happy for him - as the saying goes, his spiritual well was pretty empty and he needs something that just plain feels good.

After the performance, I met the mom of one of Alex's future Ambassador mates. Ya know how you get gut feelings about things? I'm suddenly concerned that I may be getting sucked into something that looks a lot like "Dance Moms" - which for those who haven't seen it, is one of those horrible exploitative reality shows about little prima donna dance girls with witchy/b*tchy moms. I really hope I'm wrong about this!

Jen, The music of my opera sounds traditional and melodious (a mix of Baroque and Romantic) but is also infused with a lot of ethnic elements. The main nontraditional elements are that it's all sung in vocalise (no words) and the production will be more of a multi-media presentation with video projections of flying angels etc. And the dancers will all be skinnier than me!

I read yesterday, but didn't comment. I wasn't in a great place yesterday, but I'm feeling a little better today.

Jen - I understand about the rigidity impacting your life. I hope the chilling out works.

Chris - congratulations on the opera, I hope it goes well. I went to your site yesterday and will chip in a little when I get paid on Friday. I'm all about art.

Allison - glad DS is okay! Whew.

Ward - the floors are going to look great. Your progress pics already look good.

Jessica - I'm glad that the babies are well. How did the twin meeting go?

Becky - I can see it now. We're going to turn on the tv to a new reality show and see Becky front and center. "Choir Moms" LOL Seriously, I hope it is better than you expect.

Megan - it is freezing here, too. I'm with you on the sleep - when I'm tired I don't want to eat right, don't want to exercise, don't want to do anything.

Dagmar - you will find the right house when it is the right house. I really believe that.

Bill - right there with you on the Busy Diet.

I'm surrounded by illness and trying not to get sick again. A coworker had the stomach flu and missed some days last week, now DH has some kind of stomach bug and has been sick for a few days. DSS had to come home early from school throwing up yesterday, but seems fine today. My uncle is getting his port put in today for his chemo treatment. It is still a bad time for staying healthy around me. I must be radiating bad karma. But, I'm trying to have a better week. Like Jen, I've commented a lot of negative. My next post will be a positive. I promise. LOL