Good evening Tera and Marie,

Had a nice Thanksgiving day. I cooked dessert here, then went over and helped Sara stuff the turkey and get it in the oven. Then came back home to get more stuff, then back over to Sara's house. Sara and Jason made a fire in the fire pit out back ~ we enjoyed a visit by that. Then I went in and played with Maddie. Corbin and Jason watched the football games. Steve came over later and we had the delicious meal.

Sara went out this evening, not to go shopping, but to meet scum boy with a couple dishes of thanksgiving food. I sort of figured something like that would happen. Wish she would let go of him and move on. Oh well, all we can do is pray.

Hope you both had a nice day with your families and enjoyed the wonderful foods. Like you said Marie, today is not a day for dieting.

Take care

Yippee ~ back to the biking (30 min). I did it this evening after it got dark, so I could enjoy seeing the Christmas lights in the neighborhood. That is something to look forward to

Marie ~ you'll get back on track. I am always in awe of your exercise efforts.

Tera ~ how are you doing? Did you survive Thanksgiving without too much damage?

Hope you both have had a nice weekend.

Take care

todays cals-?, ex-step class at the Y. I did not really want to post today. I ate too much and feel rather bad about it. However, I did get to the Y at least. Tomorrow will be better, right?!!!!

todays cals-? still not counting. ex-body sculpt class at the Y. DS hid the Christmas candy from me. I couldn't stop eating it! I am probably still on the high side for calories though. I am making my way through the leftovers but not quite done yet. I had the last sliver of pumpkin pie after work today.

My computer lies ~ it says it is 77* outside. So, I went out to ride my bike. Stepped out of the garage and decided I had better go back for a sweater. I was wearing capri length pants, and sandals. I finished my 1/2 hour, but wished I had worn regular pants, socks and shoes and mittens and a hat ~ LOL.

cals-still not counting. ex-body sculpt at the y. Still hanging in here, trying not to go too crazy just because it is the holiday season. It is kinda hard though.

Gayle-Isn't it kinda cold in your neck of the woods right now? Good for you for getting your bike ride in despite the conditions.

Hi Marie! Stop by and visit with us soon, okay?!

todays cals-2650, exerc-none. I have been riding a fantasy train to the Land of Make Believe where I eat whatever I want, whenever I want and not gain a pound. While overfilling my tummy with high calorie goodies, I have been filling my head with all kinds of fantastical notions about how what I am eating is not that much and I can make up the exercise I miss later. Hmmmm. Not good ideas there. I made myself make a stab at counting my calories today-I really wanted to skip it. Tomorrow is a new day-My goal is to make healthy food choices this week and wean myself off the holiday goodies and try to make it to the Y at least two times.

Marie-Too bad about being so busy at work. Job security at least. Great news about the Presidential Fitness Challenge successes. Keep up the good work there.

Hi Gayle! Have u been able to get out and exercise?

Hello Tera and Marie,

I got 20 minutes (2 ten minute chunks) in today on the treadmill.

I spent too much time online this weekend ~ but it was fun.

There is a group on Facebook (Mantua over the decades) ~ from my home town ~ Mantua, Ohio. One lady found a picture of a house in her deceased relatives pictures. She did not live in our town, so was asking people from the area if they knew where this house was. A lot of different people chimed in telling where they think it was. At first they thought it was a house in the little town, then a house outside of town. Now they are back to thinking it was in town. When they thought it was a house outside of town, it was thought that this house was one that my great grandparents had lived in.

The lady who posted the picture had been doing genealogy on her family for 20 some years, and knows how to find all kinds of information. She ~ in just a few minutes gave me names and dates of some of my ancestors. It was very interesting.

I had happened to mention to her that my grandpa was in the bee/honey business. Then, I happened upon a page on Facebook of a honey bee farm owned by people with the same last name as my grandpa. With the names, dates and locations the lady provided, as well as ancestry information that had been provided by a distant relative of my mom's, I am pretty sure that these people are somehow related to my grandpa. Small world.

The first picture is the one that started the discussion by people trying to figure out where this house is (I'm not sure if they have finally figured it out or not). The second picture was of the lady's ancestors ~ turns out this one was taken on the back porch not of the first house, but of the one where my great grandparents lived after these people. The third one is of that same back porch after it had been remodeled and the last picture is of the front of that house today. It was fun being part of trying to figure out this puzzle.

Hello Marie and Tera,

Got 30 minutes of bike riding done today. 10 minutes riding to and from my daughter's house, then 20 minutes after leaving her house this evening and got to ride around the circle and see the Christmas lights in the neighborhood.

It was not quite as cold today as it had been recently and the sun was shining ~ so I enjoyed that.

Had a nice day. Because of it being a little bit warmer and sun shiny, I finally got out and got a much needed hair cut. Ran a couple errands. Came home ~ made a Dr. call ~ I think I am going in to a flare up again of my Rheumatoid arthritis, but I think I caught it in time ~ asked the Dr. for a refill of the prednisone to get this inflamation under control. Then DD Sara invited me over to her place. I had a nice visit with her. Got to see DS Jason a little bit, and DGS Corbin and DGD Maddie. Sara invited me for supper. It was a nice day.

cals-not sure. exerc-none. I have been very busy with work and at home so weight maintenance has kind of gone by the wayside. The scale was kinder this morning but I figure that is a fluke. Time will tell-it should motivate me to be good today.

Gayle-I enjoyed your pics and stories related to the house. How interesting. Do u imagine someone in the future will contemplate our houses the same way someday? Glad to hear the weather has improved enough to allow bike riding again. Your DD sounds delightful.

Hi Marie! How did the scones come out?

Hello Marie and Tera,

Got a 30 minute bike ride in this morning. Glad I did, because later in the day it started getting colder.

I have got to be more disciplined about making time for the exercise every day. I do better if I get it done in the morning before I start on other stuff. Once I get started on some project ~ I get on a roll and I hate to stop and do something else.

Hope you both are having a nice weekend.

Take care

I am still "cheating" all over the place. I skipped lunch today in hopes that makes a difference. Nice try anyway. I am hoping to get back on track this week. I am pretty much done with the gift shopping and the house decorating for Christmas. Time to move on to baking, cards and LOSING WEIGHT. Ha, ha. Well, I need to try not to do too much damage anyway.

Gayle-Good job getting your bike ride in. I find scheduling workouts to be half the battle. I don't usually mind it at all once I am there. I believe Marie is on board with the morning workouts as well.