Even if I had the time I don't think I'd do four classes a day! Who wants to live at the gym?

Came home yesterday and took Misty on a two-mile(isn) walk (I need to map it out to see the actual length). Had a light dinner after having gone out to lunch (which I did not finish--felt it was one of those NSVs). Weight this morning? Up .2 . I'm hoping it's salt and it'll be gone tomorrow.

Today we're driving down to San Diego area to meet one or two dogs for potential adoption. Wish us luck!

Good luck ! The right dog is waiting for you , I am sure.

JayZeeJay, I hope today seems a little better. I do second Dagmar's comments about all the different kinds of stress. Can you do something nice for yourself today?

Thanks, Bill, for commenting on my cheerful attitude to apricots. It stretches beyond dried fruit, I think. I do seem so much more cheerful and positive than I was, say, ten years ago. I catch myself sometimes and wonder.

No butter or peanut butter on Friday or Saturday. Streak is 39. I didn't have any on Wednesday, either, but didn't record it properly.

All is well in the Birch Household today. The weather is atrocious but we are not at sea, flooded out of the house, trying to get somewhere but the railway line has been washed away, or without power because an electricity sub-station has been surrounded by a river. The UK (particularly the south) is like this today. Nor are we lambing although they are next door. The newly born lambs keep getting stuck in the mud, apparently. Despite this, the farm next door have managed to find the time and energy to put up a temporary fence to stop the sheep getting into our garden and possibly escaping even further. I really appreciate this as my barricades are being blown down by the wind.

And despite the awful cold and draughts in the bathroom ... I am continuing to weigh myself every morning. And, so bravely, taking off my nightie to do this. This is a really good sign.

Looking forward to hearing what FUN some of you have been up to.

Today is going to be a low cal day as we've been gone for hours and forgot to eat lunch (shared an apple and some nuts instead).

The two snowstorms that hit us this past week have turned my urban neighborhood into a mess. It looks half-destroyed by the huge piles of filthy snow and the waist-high barrier reefs churned up by the plows, which have nearly buried some cars. Others are parked slantwise in half-dug-out caves. I sat in two different traffic jams today on roads narrowed to one lane by the heaped-up snow. There was great psychological relief in pulling onto one of the clear, bone-dry parkways & just gunning it for several miles.

I saw a not-so-great movie, "The Invisible Woman," about Charles Dickens leaving his wife for his teenage mistress, the actress Ellen Ternan, and lost a gorgeous new earring while unwrapping my scarf from around my neck. The earring was silver Art Deco filigree, with a sapphire in it. I didn't realize I was lopsided with one earring missing till much later. The rubber stopper on the back must've come off. Fortunately, I called the movie theater box office afterward and they have it, and are holding onto it for me.

I treated myself to a spa pedicure late this afternoon. It feels so good to get a hot stone massage on my calf muscles. A lot of other women had the same idea, and the nail salon was jammed. There was a 10-year-old boy on my left, getting a pedicure but totally absorbed with some game he was playing on a tablet. When I was that age, my mother cut my toenails & wouldn't have dreamed of taking me to a salon to have that done, but hey, the habits of the wealthy can be curious to observe sometimes.

No idea what I'm doing tomorrow, other than driving up & retrieving that earring and watching "The Walking Dead," which returns tomorrow night. I wish some of that snow would melt but we're going to freeze hard again overnight.

No idea what my weight was this morning, but probably about the same, since the legs and feet that the nail technician was working on didn't have a lot of fine articulation. I'm a true pear and all the weight & any bloat that I pick up goes right onto my hips, waist, thighs and calves.

saef~so glad the theater found your earring! And my teenage son wouldn't be caught dead getting a pedicure (but my husband loves them and I've met several other men who have no misgivings having one).

We're golfing in the morning and leaving now named Bogey in his kennel for the morning and then relaxing in the afternoon with a pay-per-view of Dallas Buyers Club since we failed to see it at the theater. We'll also take the dogs for a walk.

I'll post photos of Bogey soon. We're still getting used to him and the cats are still hiding.

I am glad you got out and had some fun, saef. That's a relief about your earring!

Welcome to Bogey, Allison. He sounds a nice dog and the cats will work that out soon enough.

No butter or peanut butter on Sunday. Streak is 40. All other eating has been on target today. I'm so moderate nowadays I have to pinch myself. Life always used to be like this so perhaps things are really settling down at last.

to all and sending my very best wishes for a good week.

saef - I thought of you yesterday at the Boston Globe Travel Show where I saw a live Frogmouth. I'd never heard of one. It's so odd that it nearly knocked me over. It just looks wrong.

Now, you'd think it would have been displayed by a travel agent for Tasmania, where it's found. Nope. Displayed by a rescue group from Orlando Florida. I didn't ask why. But now I've got one more reason for Tasmania to be on my Bucket List.

Those are too cool! I too would like to go to Tasmania. Perhaps we can all get together for a trip to view flora and fauna?

http://www.discovertasmania.com.au/

Dagmar

What the heck is that, Bill? At first, I thought of an owl, but when I REALLY look at it, it's more like a nightjar or a whipperwill. The big mouth has to be for catching bugs while it's flying.

The only good bird I've seen during my sequestration due to snow is the gorgeous male Hooded Mergansers floating on the frigid Bronx River with their crests fanned out.

And it's snowing again, but I'm brining a chicken in cider and peppercorns and allspice berries, and I'm eating cherries from South America, awaiting a new episode of "The Walking Dead" -- though I already know exactly what happens in it, because Microsoft leaked the episode on the Xbox accidentally for a few hours yesterday and the Internet is full of it.

I am SO.TIRED. of logging my food every day. Which is definitely not helped one bit by noting that my average daily intake the last 30 days has been closer to 1800 than to 1600 (that is, I eat at 1600 cal for 3-4-5 days, then have a 2000 cal day, then back to 1600, rinse and repeat), and that I am currently right back to 133 lbs, treading water going nowhere.

Silverbirch- congratulations on your stick-to-it-iveness.
JayZee - for heaven's sake, a month ago you were not even convinced you should try to lose weight for your wedding. Please don't start thinking you should cancel just because you are 5 (or 10) pounds over redline.
Michele- really good job heading downward on the scale. I wish that logging were doing me some good; glad it's helped you at least.

I think this is in order right now .

I too am joining those whose weight is going up and up and up. I vowed to never ever get close to 140 lbs. again and this morning I'm at 139 lbs. But I've known I was putting on weight by the way all of my pants are now tight at the waist. That's a new thing too - I used to put on all my weight in the hips.

Am I changing from a pear to an apple? Is that even possible?

ARRRGH! So hard to eat salad and count calories when working in blizzards every week.

Dagmar

I second the group hug. Thanks for being there, online friends.

Mudpie: Interesting about the body types - as I gain weight now, I'm turning into more of a pear. I've always gained as an apple, but now it's clearly a different distribution.

Bill: When we were in Melbourne a few years ago, we were headed to Tasmania when a big storm knocked the wind out of that plan. We were so disappointed -

Neurodoc: Re the wedding thing: I know, I know. It's a totally inane thing to think. It probably stems from the fact that neither one of us wanted a "real wedding", but both of our mothers did so it is a gift to them. It has nothing to do (in my mind) with symbolizing our commitment - in fact, I want to get married secretly ahead of time so that we can have the moment I DID want, where it's just the two of us.
Meanwhile my mother is pressuring me - "did you get your dress?" "what size is it?" etc. - in her own characteristic way. Given that I absolutely hate being in any public spotlight AND having my picture taken, I am entirely dreading this and I really regret that we made this decision. My weight heading the wrong way just adds to the anxiety.

Our new house is absolutely SATURATED in dog urine. I have no idea how they masked it during the open house, but we now realize that it's under floorboards and the (non-grouted) tiles. Plus, there are large stains, obviously dog diarrhea, on the main carpet. They cleverly masked them with furniture placement. It is a bummer. We are huge pet people but I would NEVER sell a house in that state. I suppose that happens to everyone who buys an older house - we knew about the electrical problems etc. but this was an unpleasant surprise.

My little kitty is still eating some - not a ton, but enough for me to rationalize keeping her going. But then I remember she has a tumor invading her jaw bone and then I feel like a monster again.

JayZeeJay-- hugs to you! That is terrible about the house. How disgusting. Sounds like you need some professional cleaners to tackle that.

I hear you on doing the wedding the way our parents want. I'm Jewish and my dh is Catholic. The Rabbi refused to marry us if my dh didn't convert. My mom refused to attend the wedding if it was in a Catholic church. Our compromise was to get married by a Catholic priest outside of the church, and the Rabbi came to bless the ceremony.

I've just come in from my Italian class and had a bowl of Armenian lentil soup. The SO had put a large bowl in to warm for me and I filled it with two ladlefuls. So far, so good. It was good (modestly, I must tell you that I made it). Then I thought that a medium-sized bowl would be quite full with two ladlefuls. On the whole, I think I prefer using the large bowl as there's lots of room to move things round. I also like a large plate for the same reason. What size of bowl or plate do you use?

Streak continues unabated. No butter or peanut butter on Monday. Streak is 41.

Dreadful, JayZeeJay. Get it cleaned professionally.

I'm on for Tassie. I hear it's a great place.