heather dw, I've gone from a size 32 to 24 and I've lost 65 lbs, if that helps you figure out how much you need to lose before you can buy smaller clothes. Of course our height and body type play into that alot too. But maybe it will help to give you an idea.
Good news on the 12lbs gone!!

Anne, That's so interesting that the birds will let you take pics like that. We hope to have lots of birds this year too. I've made some birdhouses to put out so I'm hoping with those, and some bird seed, we will get some interesting birds. Usually it's crows, but we've seen some eagles, hawks, and red robins. The river we live close to, is known for the eagles hangout.

Debi, I hope your getting thru the floods ok.That's awful that someone would dig up your backyard like that even if it is along the property line. He could of at least informed you.
Glad to hear you're feeling better too.
I think the Easter basket for your grandchild is a great idea,even if he isn't here yet.
Sorry to hear about the basement. Stay safe and try to stay dry

Battleax, :woohoo: on being back OP. Feels great, doesn't it? Clothes are always an incentive for me.

Lauren, my in-laws live in Paducah. Small world huh? I wish I knew all you Kentuckians lived there when we were there in December. It would of been fun to meet up. Stay safe

Bernice, love the sexy little avatar! Congrats to your daughter AND to you for having to be the taxi mom.

rainbowsmiles, you look maaaaaaaaaaavalous!

Catherine, I can't wait for your book to be published! That is just so exciting and amazing.

I'm feeling a bit under the weather today. We're still going to go to the dump though since it's sunshiny out there. Grab it while we can. Doing great OP and water wise, just did weights last night.
Have a great day,
Debbie

Hi Peeps - just checking in quick. The sun is finally shining making everyone in a better mood after not seeing it for nearly 2 weeks.

Normally by now we are talking about opening the pool - guess I should see temperatures above 40 first.

Move your bodies, drink your water and SMILE.

Hugs,
Carol

debi sorry to hear about your basement. we got rain since yesterday....we still had school though! I'm at work now waiting on DD to walk over from her's.....I will head out to the hallways to walk here in a few just wanted to respond to posts before I get way lost! LOL

rainbow!!!!! You both looked awesome!!! loved it!

better get walking talk toyou all later on
Bernice

Howdy, all. It's raining here, too -- blah. I love to be indoors in the rain, but at home, not the office! Last night I had to go back and frog everything I'd knitted on my husband's sweater that evening -- let's just say that I can't count and leave it at that! I was proud, though, that I have been able to resist starting on a baby blanket and have continued to work on the four (!) current sweaters. We'll leave all the other unfinished projects out of this, thanks...;)

I've been walking on my busted leg since Friday, and today I was able to walk around my office using just one crutch and the back of the chair. I could even get some water to drink, which is good because we've run out of bottled, and I've been getting thirsty!

BattleAx, I need to get back OP, too -- want to do it together? I have a huge project that I have to finish tonight and tomorrow, but how does Monday sound for hitting the trail again? I've been trying to be more thoughtful, again, of what I eat now that I'm not just trying to get through another day. My local pizza place (since I can't carry anything, and I can't go grocery shopping, we've been eating a LOT of take-out and delivery -- ugh!) makes a fantastic chicken sandwich with lime chicken, pico de gallo, and avocado and lettuce. Yum. Of course, I probably shouldn't have eaten a cookie with it, but baby steps, right :)?

Plum: Welcome. So glad you are here. The ladies on this site are so amazing and full of wonderful ideas and encouragement. Looking forward to getting to know you better.

Heatherdw: glad you are happier again with your weight loss.

Sandy: Hi girl. Got my computer back the other day so an email is coming.

Angie: Wow! Congrats on the -5 pounds. You are doing so well.

Anne: Your bird nest sounds neat.

Carol: Congrats on your weigh in. Maybe next week will be the "week" to get under 300.

Rat: Great job on the working out.

Lauren: Welcome. Looking forward to getting to know you.

Catherine: Yeah on the book deal. I can't wait to buy your book.

Tina: So glad that your tummy is better.

Debbie: Please don't send any rain my way. :) Well, any more rain I should say.

debimitch: So sorry that your place is flooding.

Battle: Hope you are feeling back to your old self again soon.

DMPLS: Thank you so much for the avatar with the puppy. I love it and will put it on when I am not in a hurry. You are so sweet.

Rainbow: You look amazing! Thanks for sharing the photos.

Well, One more day here at this job then I'm out job searching myself. I may go see my Dad and Mom on Friday morning for the weekend and come back home on Monday. We'll see.

Blessings all,
Annie

It's hubby's birthday today. Some of his employees bought him this cake. I had one little piece earlier but then a normal sized piece after lunch.
To compensate, I had Subway for supper, so I stayed under 2k calories, but just barely. :o

It's been a long time since I've had a piece of cake that good.

heather, Great job at making good choices to make up for the cake. I think that is what I love the most about counting calories...is if you eat to many one meal you can go lower the next meal.

Well I got the basement in pretty good shape and have fans drying it now. It could have been alot worse. Hubby had spent a few days in jan deep cleaning the basement so nothing was on the floor. Im hoping it warms up enough tommorow to open the windows down there.
After spending hours with a shop vac hubby decides today is the day i start back lifting...(it has been a week because of the flu) I was able to do my rountine but i can sure tell that i am weaker.
hope everyone has a great night.
debi

Good Afternoon everyone. It is still raining/snowing/confused in Ohio. Well first things first.... we signed the papers on the house. So shall begin the epic moving... uggh I hope I dont have to move for a very very very long time. Second, my stomach is so much better it is amazing. Of course I have completely avoided anything thing remotely related to dairy. Thirdly and the bad one... due to TOM and giving up dairy I have managed to find my way to the bottom of a bag of BBQ fritos this week. I will weigh when TOM is over and see where I am.

Catherine--- BIG congrats girl :carrot: FYI I am a boring housewife also :D

Annie -- Good Luck hon on the job hunt. I am going to start again myself here in about 2 months trying to get a teaching job for next year.

Heather -- Good job on eating, just remember dont cut your calories tooo low.

Well, off to snuggle with the puppy.

Tina

Hey all!
It was a good day for me today I about have all my water in. Yesterday I had a yearly checkup at the Dr. (you all know what that was!) Yeah! It went well so glad that is done for another year. Tomorrow the kids will be home for spring break until Tuesday! They may go to grand parents for a couple of days. The house would be quiet! Yeah! We are having trouble with the truck transmission and it is almost camping time! Hopefully we can get it done in the next week or so. My hubby said I have to keep working so we can pay for it HA! HA!. He is so funny. We are supposed to go and pick up the new transmission on Saturday, but the old one is not out yet. EEK! He only has a couple of days and he said today he was having trouble with the hoist in the shop. The mechanic was going to call around to a couple of friends to see if they could help him out. I sure hope so! I took Saturday off of work so we could leave early early! As it is a 6 hour trip one way to pick it up. So no stress here. Hubby is in San Francisco and not home until late Fri. night. He is not happy about it not being out yet! Good thing he is there and not here. I am the one with all the patience. Well, I hopeit will be a good week for everyone and I will check in when I can, as I put in a lot of hours at work and then the day begins when I get home. You moms know that! Keep exercising I am proud of all of you!!!!

I almost forgot!

<<<<<<<< look DMPLS I figured it out and put the avatar on! Thanks!!!

Just a note to say Hi
I was much more op today & yesterday than monday.
Lots of drama here. sd, my sister's and getting
business taken care of my the burial of my mom's ashes
in alabama 4/19.
pretty ugly by one sis.
then dh & i were interested in a business opportunity
and it looks like it was a scam. i do have plenty of time to
cancel my "membership" (2 more days & will do it tomorrow if
not tonight by paying to fax paper work.)
I've already talked to my credit card company, so they are aware,
but the charge has to be put through first and then a dispute filed.
i'm really bummed about it. i feel stupid for not trusting my initial
instincts, disappointed that some people are so dishonest.
i guess we'll see how this plays out with the dispute and all.
hope all of you are having a much better day than me.
ttfn

Carol. dmpls, Debi, penny

ok, all y'all's avatars are beautiful/gorgeous.
how do you do it??

Good evening all,

I'm so organized today it's not funny. Well, not organized but I did both sets of taxes and filed them electronically. We're both getting some money back so early is better! The long term forecast actually looks good (hooray), although I do know it's probably inaccurate. For now though, I'll take it.

Lauren - we all have bad days when we wonder if it's all worth it. I think the answer is that it is. Glad you're feeling better today.

Debi - We've worked so hard outside to try and avoid water (shoveling snow, chipping ice, and even putting a couple of bucket down to catch dripping water). Today I chucked about 5 gallons of water into the pool. Hey, it's not me who opens it! I suspect without that we would have water in the basement again. Of course, that won't help if the water table rises. Hope the new heater is fine.

Rainbowsmiles - the limo looks wonderful, as does the dress. So wonderful to have a night on the town.

Catherine - Are you going to tell us when it's out?

Debbie - some of the doves are far more laid back than others. That one was our first nester. I would talk to her everyday as I worked on the patio. She was pretty much there during the time I was cleaning out the raspberry patch, getting pots ready to plant. I don't know why but she liked me better than my mother. It could be because I was simply around her more, or that I talked to her. She had no issues with me getting close, but when my mother tried it she would fidget, and my mother would stop. Others have been a mixed bag, although the one at the front door was obviously less shy as well.

Annie - best of luck with the search. I thought you had a possible on the hook. Is it still a possible?

Tina - not that I'm recommending them as a steady diet, but some sorbets and gelatos don't have any dairy in them. There also used to be a soy product ice cream. I'm not sure that this is the one I've seen, but here's one: http://www.turtlemountain.com/index.html Just found the one I've had - http://www.sogoodbeverage.com/ (In fact I think the next time I'm craving ice cream I'll see if they have the boysenberry swirl in stock at the local store.)

Penny - I do hope that you get your truck problems sorted out. It never seems to be simple, does it.

Well gals, I should go collect the garbage and haul it to the curb. I should have done this earlier, but we both forgot. So much for being organized!

Battle – Happy belated birthday!!!!!!

Rainbow – You look absolutely gorgeous in your pic and how cool is your hubby for setting up such a special date!

Carol – Darn that scale! I am so sorry it is being such a meanie to you. Maybe you should use Catherine’s method of threatening it?

I have just caught up reading and I am now going to stop apologizing for not being around so much. It just is what it is at the moment. I do love knowing that this place is here and I still think of it in many ways as my anchor, but I am afraid I am a bit distracted at the moment. It is a good distraction though. I have been getting to know this new boy (well, I really shouldn’t call him a boy, but rather a man) and we are really hitting it off. I am getting more comfortable with feeling a bit out of control. I guess like anything else you just need to build up a skill for it.

I did have a few amazing workouts recently. Monday I did both my hour dance class and then an hour on the elliptical and yesterday my dance class went 70 minutes and I did another half hour. I am feeling pretty good and I am hoping to see the scale move soon, but I have also been eating out a good bit and consuming a bit more alcohol than normal, so that will make things tougher.

I am really looking forward to spring and getting out and enjoying the outdoors.

Nancy -- I haven't been around much later either! No need to apologize!

I'm on break from classes this week. I'm working, just not as hard. Getting lots of other errands -- and some clothes shopping! -- done. It's nice to have a little breather from the stress.