SUE & CAROLINE ~ :lol: Ya, I just used those little asterisks in blue to represent snowflakes. Well, they don't have a snow emoticon, so I made my own. Not sure why they are showing up so weird on Sue's PC, but they just show up looking like little blue snowflakes on mine. And Caroline, I know that you are glad the snow is here, and not there ... :D

SUE ~ great news about DD's college acceptance and funding!!!

DIANE ~ glad that your DD is well, but losing her job sure stings; a lotta life lessons being learned there, I think. ;) Prayers that your DS's surgery goes perfectly well tomorrow; often things go a lot better than we imagine. Sending anti-stress vibes your way ... :hug:

CAROLINE ~ have a great time in NY; sounds like you have a good plan too!

LOL! And here I was picturing you swearing up a blue streak about the weather and getting censored! I KNOW that's not your personality at all, but I must admit it's made me smile on many a day!

Ya, I almost didn't want to ruin it for ya; but thought I'd better come clean ... ;)

..and now we return to our previously scheduled rated G 3FC...

Hi ladies!

Caroline - hope that you have a great time in NY - what a fun trip! Don't forget that when you get back we all want to hear about it - that will help you to get back on track!

Diane - so glad that DD is safe and sccounted for! Hope tha DS's surgery goes well!

mahtha - WTG on the scholarship - I know you are one happy family right now!

I had a horrible, stressful day at work yesterday. Our staff is going through some changes and I had to sit in when my boss fired someone. I know in my head it was best for the staff, but my heart still breaks. Anyway, my good news is that I did not cover my stressfullness and emotions with food. I felt every feeling, every heartache and just got through it.

Maybe I'm learning something this time.

Good morning! :wave:

texscrapper, it's always tough to see a co-worker lose their job regardless of the reason. Nice job dealing with the emotions rather than feeding them - that's a really big accomplishment!

Yesterday was another day OP. It was our monthly GNO so I planned for wine and a few munchies and stuck to my plan. Finished the day at 1479 calories and 32 points.

Today started with the great news that one of my staff sold her house (quickly!) so she came in bearing donuts to share her good fortune. They are almost literally outside my office door so I waited for a whole bunch of people to visit them before I peeked to determine all the good ones were gone. Now I'll have my fruit salad and HB egg for breakfast as planned :)

Diane, thinking of you and S16 today and hoping all goes smoothly.

Have a great day, everyone.

Texscrapper, sorry about the stressful work day. I hope things have settled down a little since then. It's never fun to let someone go, even if you're not the one doing the actual firing.

Sue, donuts are my kryptonite so I know how hard it is to resist them. Great job! My supervisor brings TWO dozen in for our monthly staff meeting (there aren't even a dozen of us there to begin with, but heaven forbid we don't have a variety, right?) Thankfully they're Krispy Kremes, which are much easier for me to resist than Dunkin Donuts. Krispy Kreme is vastly inferior.

Rosebud, I have gotten to be such a wuss about cold weather. I've been living in the south far too long. I was raised in New England and went to college in Minnesota, I know from bad weather! But my plan is to go back north eventually, so I'll have to get used to it again. It'll be worth it. Even after all these years I still don't understand southern culture.

Diane, I hope the surgery went smoothly and everyone is getting a chance to de-stress a little.

I'm up a whole pound this morning! Pretty excited about that. :rolleyes: I have no control over whatever whackadoodle things my body is doing, though, so I will just keep on keeping on and hope it comes down eventually. And if I don't make it into the 180s by the time my trip rolls around, it's not the end of the world.

Have a great Friday, everyone. I am off work today so I am going to work out and then run errands.

Thanks for all of the well wishes with my son's surgery. He is fine and really is doing great. I knew it shouldn't be a big deal, but if you think about things too long, you can imagine all kinds of issues. But it is over now and I told them that we will not have any more drama at our house for awhile.

Busy at work, though. Better get back to it.

Hey everyone :wave:

I can't remember when I've had a day this busy and I'm supposed to be off today - I've been emailing or on the phone since 6:18 this morning!

Made some sloppy decisions eating dinner out last night and ended my day at 1680 calories and 40 points! I'll finish the week with an average of 29 points and 1404 calories/day - I can live with that.

Prom prep is in full swing upstairs. Hair is done, D17's makeup is done, she's painting her best friend now and they'll be fluffed and buffed and ready for the runway in an hour. Pictures from 5-6 and the limo takes the 6 besties and beaus off to the country club. The school-sponsored after party will have them swimming and hot tubbing and midnight buffeting and playing volleyball until 5 am at which time we are allowed to collect them and tuck them in their beds for the requisite 24 hour nap that follows prom. I'm going to make myself a sensible dinner, pour myself a glass of wine, and express my gratitude that I will never have to face the drama named prom ever again :)

I hope everyone has a fantastic day and TGIF!

Well, it is still cold here :brr:, but we do have a little :sunny: out there right now. It is supposed to warm up by Monday and be sunny all weekend so that will be nice too. We did get up town to go shopping today, so glad that's all done. That gives me lots of walking in one day, but I actually felt good once I got out there (that happens a lot, doesn't it). It was very busy and crowded, but we always found a parking spot. :D

Got the groceries put away and we had lunch a bit late; so I had some fruit & nut mix to tide me over, then I put the rest of it in my homemade Meusli cereal. All those pine nuts, sunflower seeds and raisins are a perfect addition to it too.

Will just be having a light dinner tonight, I think. Well, it's time to have a nice hot cuppa tea; have a great weekend everyone ... :flow1:

Hello everyone :)

Oh my gosh, it's Friday and the beginning of a week's holiday for me. Work hasn't really got better this week - but I'm not going to harp on about it. Trying to keep positive and not let the stress around me spread! Tomorrow I really do want to get up early for a run, so right after I've typed this I'm heading to bed!

texscrapper - oh my, I can imagine that experience was tough for you. Hard decisions have to be made and carried out all the time, but it's rarely easy or pleasant.

mahtha - goodness! The fuss! I left the country to avoid my school prom, and on the evening in question was having dinner in a restaurant somewhere in France :D I hope your dd has a wonderful time!

thistoo - you're going to have a fabulous time on your trip, ticker weight or no ticker weight :)

I've not been thinking much about food recently (bad salsa!), but tomorrow I hope to make progress towards that. Ever since I moved to this flat (just before Christmas) I've been dillydallying on really making the place my own, if you get me. Well, over the past week or so (and partly to not have to think about nastiness at work) I've noticed myself really wanting to get things here at home just how I want it - new bookcases and books finally getting unpacked (any other bibliophiles?). Wanting to get things cleared away and noticing that seeing the floor and having that space back really does help lift my spirits.

So tomorrow I'm going to try and carry on this good streak: laundry, wc and the other part of the living room (which is a true bomb site!). It's not going to all get done...I just hope I can remember that and not expect the unreasonable of myself (perfectionists represent).

Oh boy this was a missive. Hope you're all well. Perhaps I can report to you all with a sensible meal plan next time I check in.

We had a family reunion yesterday - I ate what I wanted, but stopped when full. Not sure how I came out point wise, but the scale will let me know on Tuesday.

Work related issues seemed to have calmed down over the weekend; however, tomorrow is another day. Hope everyone is doing well this weekend!

Off to work now and then menu planning and grocery shopping this afternoon. Have a great day!

Hi everyone :wave: I hope everyone is having a great weekend. I survived prom, a bridal shower, and a whole bunch of yard work. I've stayed OP all weekend and had some success digging in my closet for an outfit to wear to the shower. I've expanded my wardrobe by a few pairs of pants, a half dozen skirts, and a handful of dresses I have not been able to wear for years. I can wiggle into and zip my favorite jeans. In a other few weeks I might even be able to breathe in them :)

It's been very quiet here, I hope it's because everyone is off enjoying time with family and friends.

Sorry, I've been trying to read, but I spent the weekend running around getting organized for the baby shower I'm throwing for a friend. It happens the weekend I get back from vacation, which isn't ideal, but she's due June 11th so we didn't have a lot of choice.

Between that and getting organized for my vacation I haven't made much time to check in here. But it's Monday morning and I'm back at work, and what better time to check in with you guys than while I'm getting paid, right? :D

So, April. April kind of sucked for me. It started off with a bang; I think I lost something like seven pounds in the first two weeks. Then TOM arrived and I have been struggling to get back down to my pre-TOM weight ever since. I never did make it, leaving me with a little less than four pounds lost for the month.

That's better than gaining or maintaining, I know. Plus, in spite of the fact that the scale refuses to budge, I'm fitting in smaller clothes recently. At the beginning of the month I still couldn't get into my next size smaller jeans, and as of Saturday morning I can pull them on and zip them. They're still a little snug, but that's still huge progress, considering.

So something is happening, regardless of what the scale says. May will likely be mostly a maintenance month, since I've got two weeks of vacation and then baby shower craziness right in the middle, as well as TOM arriving at the end of my vacation to join the party. But that's okay. I'm just going to chill out this month and try to maintain, and when I get back and things settle down I will get back at it.

Sue, congratulations on rediscovering some old clothes! I am right there with you with the jeans. It's really helpful to know that even if we're not losing numbers on the scale, at least we're losing inches here and there.

Texscrapper, I'm glad you chose to enjoy your family reunion without putting guilt on yourself. I bet it won't hurt you at all.

Salsa, I hope your organization/decorating went well this weekend! Nesting is really important, so it's definitely time you feel comfortable in your space. I need to follow your lead and do something about my kitchen/dining room. I love my house, but I have too many dishes for my cabinet space, and I can't bring myself to get rid of things I love just because of a storage issue.

Diane, glad everything went smoothly. I hope things are calmer for you this week!

Rosebud, I hope you have nice weather up there this week. It's getting warmer again here, so surely the warm weather must be on its way north. I'll try to aim some in your direction.

:carrot:It moved, it moved!:carrot: I FINALLY hit that elusive 20 pound mark. Next stop: Onderland!