I broke 250.

FARK ME!

Whoohooo!!!!!!!!!! Yay Cuter!

woohoo!! Way to go cuter!
jane-the shoes I wore were great for about 6 hours but I took them off after 8 hours and my feet were sore for few days. Not looking forward to wearing them anytime soon. LOL

Scales are still up and Im getting aggrivated. I have been OP but know its tom causing it. I will stay the course and the scales will go back down.

anyone have exciting weekend plans? I plan to rest and maybe work outside a bit.

No exciting plans here. Just want to make sure my house and vehicle are clean and organized so that when all the wedding kerfuffle is over, I can relax a little before I have to go back to work.

I'm up .5 today. I know it's water, but it's a little frustrating.

Good morning all from the very chilly and rainy Northwest. What happened to our beautiful spring?!

Nancy -- hope your interview went well and that you were able to find a new interviewing outfit. Good news on swimming in the old one!

Jane -- hope the wedding shoes are broken in. Good idea as it's a long day.

Dgramie -- hope the TOM water leaves soon.

NoTurningBack -- congrats on the weight loss -- sounds like you're really doing well. Your hula hooping class sounds like it's fun and a great exercise routine.

CuterWithCurves -- way to go on getting below 250!!!!!

I had the cardioversion on Tuesday, but it didn't take so I'm still in a fib. Evidently people live with a fib for their entire lives, so that may be what I end up doing. There are still some other options, but I'll discuss them when I have my follow up appointment. Still feel 100% better since getting the sleep apnea diagnosed and addressed.

Off to the gym and hopefully some yard work today, but I have a feeling that it will be cleaning off my desk and continuing to wash the baseboards.

Nancy - sorry to hear that boy drama has erupted, but so glad it hasn't derailed you. How did the interview go? Did you find something that worked for you?

RadioJane - I HATE heels. Are the shoes required? I wonder if you get get something similar in a lower heel or perhaps a wedge? I find wedges are more stable. Though with practice you might get used to them. Fingers crossed.

Congrats! NoTurningBack - your success is awesome. I have to say I still come up with loads of excuses vis-a-vis exercise. I can't help it. That seems to be genetically ingrained in me. Or something, but the habit of it can be created, it just requires time!

Cuter - congrats! That's amazing. :) Hope you're enjoying it, too!

dgramie - mine are also up. I get this mid-to-late cycle invariably and it is aggravating. Hope that you can stick it out and will be able to watch them go down. I do not have exciting plans. I'm going to do more yard work and will probably have to go do some for my parents.

betsy - augh. So sorry the cardioversion did not work. That's very disappointing. Glad you're feeling so well, though - and you're still able to be active. Perhaps the most important thing!

I had a migraine yesterday (they are hormone related) and went home early, but the headache wasn't bad once the aura was gone so I put on a floppy hat and worked in the yard. Got a ton of stuff cleaned up. Then this morning I work up with an aura, ugh. It was gone by the time it was time to get on the treadmill, and 800 mg of ibuprofen zapped the headache, so I'm good. Just has a bunch of work to catch up on! So much. I need to focus.

Have a great day/weekend!

They're a wedge heel. I definitely couldn't do a heel at this weight. I think these will be fine, I just need to buy some pads for the balls of my feet and put some clear tape on some of the straps that dig in. They're the lowest shoe I could get that was dressy enough. I have a back up sandle style shoe I bought from sears that I know is comfortable, but they're a little too... I don't know, grandma ish? lol. I have nice black flip flops for the dance later on anyway, I really just need to make it through the ceremony and photos.

Im so thankful my daughter wasnt picky on what shoes people wore. She just said black sandals. THe heel height varied alot from person to person. Mine were a high wedge and the balls of my feet were sore for a few days. I took a back up pair also and ended up in them at the reception.

I am kinda having a bit of empty nest syndrome. Even though my daughter has ran in and out a few times its different with her being gone. Now mind you all her stuff is still here and will be for a few months. THey are still working on building a house.

Good morning all. Hope everyone is doing well and looking forward to a great Memorial Day weekend. Jane, did you celebrate Victoria Day last weekend?

Mnem -- Sorry to hear about your migraine, but glad you were able to get rid of it. You mentioned an aura -- do you get the ocular migraines before the pain sets in? I got a kick out of using yard work as a reward/therapy.

Jane -- Hopefully the wedge heels will work out and a back up plan sounds like a good idea. I have some friends who love to wear heels, but it's been years (maybe decades) since I made myself wear them. I have dress shoes, but they have maybe an inch or two inch low heel at the most. Your mentioning wearing flip flops for the dancing brings back good memories of dancing on the beach.

Dgramie -- Empty nest does take some getting used to. I did get a chuckle out of your saying that her stuff was still there. My parents finally got me to come get the rest of my stuff from their house (I'd been gone about 5 years) by selling the house and moving!

After having a glorious start to spring, it's returned to winter here. I'm at the 800 foot level, about 20 miles from Mt. Rainier. I have a gorgeous view of the mountain as I live on the side of a ridge. When I looked out the window yesterday, I realized that it had snowed in the foothills -- probably at the 1200 foot level. Plus, one of the ski resorts is opening up for the weekend because they had 8 inches of new snow. Crazy weather. Guess you saw where a span of I-5 fell into the Skagit River. I was just over that bridge a month ago to go camping. Sounds like an oversize truck hit the upper girders and that caused it to collapse. What a mess that is going to be as while this is a beautiful part of the country, we're hemmed in by the Cascades on the west and Puget Sound on the east......I-5 is the only main N-S route and about 70,000 vehicles cross that bridge each day. So glad I'm not going to be in that commute!

Dgramie You'll adjust and love having more space soon, still it is a little strange and bittersweet at first I'm sure.

betsey The bride actually purchased a whole bunch of cheap flip flops in different sizes to put in a basket at the reception for anyone to grab if they need them. Thought it was a cute idea.


Yoga kicked my butt yesterday, and I didn't get enough sleep yesterday, so I'm just dragging today. Looking forward to some quiet this weekend before everything goes nuts next week.

betsy- my older kids still have stuff left her also. I am storing everything my younger daughter got for her shower and will continue to store it until her house is finished up this fall sometime. She will have plenty of room for her own stuff once the house is ready.

Jane - oh, yeah. It sounds like those will be fine! I have some wedges but rarely wear them. I am strictly a flats girl (mostly), though lately I feel more comfortable with some shoes with a bit more heel, I still want flats.

dgramie - awww, were you expecting the empty nest syndrome? I suppose note in the excitement of the wedding. I hope you are able to find your groove soon!

betsy - yes! My migraines are ocular/headache. I get an aura that lasts for 30 minutes to an hour. It starts off as a single spot, then sort of expands in a widening circle until it is completely 'framing' my field of vision with the visual disturbance. I definitely cannot see to do much when I have the aura, and I find the aura is the worst part of my migraines. Once the aura goes away, I get the headache (if I am going to get one). I also often have some nausea. When I was a kid I would throw up, but not any more.

Anyway, I think they are hormone related. I started getting them during adolescence. I have had them more often since losing weight. But again, mine are relatively benign as to the headaches. I take advil and they go away. Sometimes I need to spend an afternoon napping, but mostly once the aura goes away I start feeling better.

Also, funny that it is winter again there! It was actually really cold here last night and this morning and I am on the other side of the country, but no snow for sure. I'm astonished by that bright collapse, though. That is SO scary, honestly. It makes you wonder how bad the rest of our infrastructure is, you know?

--

Anyone have memorial day plans? I'm going to work tomorrow. I'm also going to do a bit more planting and yard work, and go ahead and weed and get mulch put out. There will be alot of places where I'll want to plant more annuals when the pansies are finished, but they really need to be weeded now. I may also need to go do my mom's planting too. We'll see. O

I have my pansies in pots and if we have a mild summer mine will last all summer. IF we have a hot summer they will die back and I will put something else in the pots but look forward to their color in the fall.
I am starting to dig a garden spot since i cant find anyone to till for me. It will be alot of hard work but I will love having a garden again. I really feel behind but with our strange weather this year i htink it will be fine.
My glider and wishing well need staining also this year. I have a busy weekend planned in the yard. At least its a cool weekend and not miserable outside.
Im thinking hubby will grill at some point this weekend. I may break down and buy a good steak to grill.
Im thinking a nice glass of wine at the end of the day would be really nice.

Wow -- where has May gone?

Jane -- sorry that Yoga kicked your butt, but good for you for going. I want to start yoga because I think it would help with the arthritis pain so much. Have you noticed that you're able to move more easily since starting it. Of course, you go swimming, too, and that helps with keeping more limber. Good combination.

Dgramie -- I chuckled when you said that your daughter will have plenty of room at her house for her stuff when it's finished. Of course, since it's shower gifts, she may definitely want to move everything over there. My stuff was all the things from my childhood that I couldn't bring myself to part with, but didn't want to move out of my parents' house. I've now moved 3 of those boxes 12 times! The cooking out sounds like fun and a glass of wine would definitely be nice to have with that.

Mnem -- I get those ocular migraines too -- and I'm way past the hormone phase of life -- but I was lucky and they never went into headaches. Mine are half circles that are like rick rack on the edges and multi-colored flashing. A friend told me they were like tripping out -- I'll have to take her work on that.

It's not raining right now so I'll go work on the mulching and weeding and endless yard clean up. Can't remember if I mentioned it, but I am putting down rubber mulch on all of the planting beds. So, I bought two "bags" of the mulch, each of which weighs half a ton. They're sitting in my driveway and I have to fill up the wheel barrow or else the cart behind the lawn tractor and haul the mulch to where I'm spreading it. Not bad except I live on the side of a ridge so my yard has a 13% grade to it. Word of advice if you're planning your retirement: buy a condo! I'm also on some wild hair about cleaning all the woodwork in the house and am scrubbing the baseboards one room each day. Getting close to finishing that. Also need to start on doing a video inventory of the house -- been here 7 years and haven't done that and after the OK storms, it's time to get it done.

Nothing too exciting for the holiday. A movie with a friend tonight and maybe a trip up to Mt. Rainier tomorrow -- haven't been up there in a while and just need a mountain fix. Have a great weekend.

betsey

I'm definitely more limber and more aware of my breathing too.

I cleaned most of my house today. I put in a little extra effort so that I won't be too far behind after the wedding.

My plan for today is to go to church and then come home and dig and plant. I also need to start restaining my wishing well and glider. Its amazing how fast the sun can wear it off.
EAting was BAD yesterday, back at it today!

I think I'm in a plateau. Well, I really think I've fallen off the wagon. I know my eating habits have gotten worse, and I know that I'm not drinking as much water. I can't figure out why I've given in or up.

Don't know what's going on with me mentally, but I'm in binge mode. I am feeling so much better physically -- better than I've felt in months! -- but mentally I'm not in the game right now. I ate a whole container of ice cream yesterday. Wasn't hungry. Just wanted ice cream. The day before it was almond M&Ms. Normally this would have resulted in about a 10 pound gain overnight and that hasn't happened -- YET -- but it will if I don't get this under control. Time to get my head screwed back on straight.

It's raining here again today. Our rain reprieve lasted all of 20 hours yesterday so it's a good thing I got the grass cut. I'm going to finish up washing the wood work, color my hair, go to the crafts store for some yarn to make an afghan (maybe I just need to keep my hands busy at night) and maybe work on starting the video taping of the house inventory.

Hope everyone has a good holiday and if you have words of wisdom to get me back on track, they're more than welcome.

dgramie - I planted pansies EVERYWHERE in my garden last fall and was really rewarded this spring. So now to plant my annuals I have to dig them up! But, thinking about what you said about the pots (though really, when have we had a mild summer lately? HAH!), this weekend while I was digging up the pansies around the roses to plant marigolds, I thought, hey! I'll pot them. So I got out a bunch of old empty hanging baskets and filled them with dirt and ended up with four pots of pansies just from the ones around the roses.

I left most of the other pansies in the ground, and just planted/mulched around them. Hope you enjoyed your planting!

betsy - yes! that ocular migraine you are talking about is the exact aura I get. Mine start out as little flashing dots, then spread around my eyes until I basically have a flashing frame of multi-colored rick-rack stuff edge my vision all around. Then that fades and I get the headache (but again, they are not the super I need a morphine shot migraines - they are give me some advil headaches) and some nausea. It is annoying! The ocular symptoms are the worst part for me.

Heh, the 13% grade sounds very tough to deal with. I live on a hill and the front part of my yard is very steep but it's not a very long grade or a ridge or anything. Just the hills here. If I ever buy another house though my yard will be FLAT FLAT FLAT.

ALSO: re binge mode. Hmmm. I think that keeping your hands busy is a smart idea, but what I would say about the binging is that if you have that food in the house, maybe get it OUTSIDE the house when you are in binge mode? Are there other folks in your household who eat these things too? I normally don't bring anything tempting home, heh, since I have trouble with control in such situations.

But! I have found that even merely removing it from the house can help me. For example, last winter I had a jar of peanuts I used in Christmas baking. I have no idea why but I was fine with them in the house for weeks, then suddenly I was all PEANUTS PEANUTS PEANUTS. I hate throwing things away, so I decided to take them to work, but before I could do that I probably would've eaten them all, except I put them literally on my front porch. The physical separation was enough and I grabbed them on my way to work the next morning and was okay.

Jane - how goes the practicing wearing the shoes? Haha, sometimes when I have new shoes that I need to practice wearing I wear them while cleaning, cleaning my bedroom especially since the shoes are there. :)

workinghardatlosing - hmm. How much have they slipped? Can you get yourself back on track by spending a day or two planning and preparing for the upcoming week's meals?

--

My favorite greenhouse had flats for $10, so I bought three flats and a few other annuals and got 2/3 of those planted. I bought a flat of mixed-color marigolds, then a mixed flat of salvia and snaps and verbena, and another mixed flat including t-pots of coxcomb, gompheria (sp?), zinnias and a few others. I cleaned up a a bunch of beds, weeded and spread mulch, and other things. I have a few more places to plant/mulch, but the yard looks so lovely right now. Makes me happy.

Heh, and this year I think is my most diverse veggie garden. I have tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, eggplant, watermelon (just one plant), honeydew (again, just one plant), tomatillos and broccoli. I would love to plant squash and zucchini but have had trouble with fungus attacking them and then moving on to the other cucurbits so I'm giving them a rest and not even trying them this year.

I actually ended up with a blister on my toe that I let heal, so I'm going to wear them again tomorrow. I'm now armed with medical tape and ball of foot cushions, and I've actually figured out how to walk properly in them.

I wish I had space for a garden or lived in a city that had a communal one. My mom planted a huge one that I'll have to help harvest, so that will probably be enough work for me.

I bit the bullet and went to the Monday yoga class after going Thursday, so now I'm really really sore today. I'm hoping though that if I go more often when I can, I'll see more benefit from it.

I dug a spot and put in 2 bell pepper plants and a red hot pepper plant( hubby wanted it for looks). lol
I am sore from all the digging but I love walking outside and looking to see if any thing is growing yet. Cant wait for my squash to sprout. Still debating about cucumbers. I just hate having to dig more..its work when you dont have a tiller.

I got back on track after a few days off track. It feels good to be back OP and seeing the scales inch back closer to where they were before the wedding.

Have a great day!

Jane - heh, sounds like you are well armed, though OUCH, I really hate blisters. I bet you will start seeing more benefit from the yoga going more regularly, too. I am so impressed with you taking that up, though. I still don't think I could.

dgramie - have you considered a raised bed? I bought a raised container garden from some gardening catalogue. I actually have two. The larger one is 3' by 3' and the smaller is 3' by 1'. I did take off the sod and dig a bit before putting down the 3' by 3' one, then covered the dirt with newspaper and filled in with loads and loads of bags of garden soil from Wal-Mart. Anyway, having done that once, I don't have to till, really. They do get weeds but they are REALLY easy to plant/maintain. I grow 9 vegetable plants in my 3' by 3' garden (you couldn't have nine squash or zucchinis, of course) and in my 3' by 1' I have a pepper plant, a tomatillo plant, and four broccoli plants right now. Mine are both black plastic but they have more colorful ones now. I've seen some similar ones at Lowe's and Home Depot, too, but less variety.

I think they cost me $40 or $50, plus the dirt, but after that investment they are WAY less work than a bed in the ground, especially if you have limited room. My garden is really small.

You can see the smaller raised bed in one of the pictures of I posted today:

http://elizavieta.tumblr.com/

There is an angel statue in front of it.

Good morning all. It's another rainy, cold day here......want our sunshine back!

Mnem -- Your posts just ring with joy when you're writing about gardening -- obviously a passion in your life. The pansies in the pots sound like a great idea. Our pansies can last for 2-3 years here with our temperate climate, but when I lived in the Midwest and the South, they were strictly a one season plant. Love, love, love them though. Sounds like a great garden you have planted. Do you can, freeze, or give away?

Dgramie -- Sounds like you're a gardener as well. Congrats on getting back on plan. Hopefully, I'll be able to say that soon.

Jane -- The shoes and blister sounds painful, but glad you're getting them broken in. The yoga classes sound like they're really making you stretch. I ordered a yoga for arthritis book and want to start using it. The nearest yoga class is over 20 miles away, and I know that I would quickly lose interest in driving that far. Keep on going -- people who are into yoga swear it has changed their lives.

Yesterday was my grand nephew's 6th birthday. My sister passed away 4 years ago, so I've sort of assumed the matriarch role in the family -- fix all the holiday meals and serve as the grand for the little ones. He and his 3 year old brother will be here for the weekend while their parents coach their Special Olympics soccer teams. That will definitely get me up and off my rear this weekend. They bring such absolute joy to my life.

My garden is still in the some day phase as the earth just isn't warm enough to plant yet. We have to germinate our seeds in advance and then plant, but since it's been raining non-stop for two weeks, I ended up having to put all the germinated seeds in pots and hopefully will get them planted within the next week. We're supposed to get some sun next week. I'm putting in peppers, onions, zucchini, summer squash, cukes, pickling cukes, tomatoes (they're in pots on the porch already, but look kind of puny), sugar snap peas, sugar pumpkins, jack-o-latern pumpkins for the boys, 2 kinds of winter squash, beets, pole beans and bush beans and lettuce. If everything produces, I share with the neighbors. I've also got a peach tree which is loaded with buds, 2 apple trees and 4 blueberry bushes. And the grape vines are finally growing so I may have my first grapes this year if the deer don't get them. That ought to keep me out of trouble for the summer!

Off to the gym. I'm going back to the basics on this binging mentality. Mnem, normally I don't have anything in the house that is off plan, but lately I've been going to the store and buying it. Really resurrecting some old bad habits. So, I'll get my head on straight and my goal is to get through one day of staying on plan. Then two days and eventually string together a whole week. I know I can do this.

betsey: check out bodypositiveyoga.com as well. It's full of modifications for heavier people and I've found it helps me a lot. Also use blankets, bolsters, straps towels.... anything that will help.

Wow – all these gardeners! I have never really gardened and always though of myself as having a black thumb. :)

Mnem – Your garden is gorgeous!

Betsey – That is exciting you will have all those veggies. There is nothing like veggies fresh from the garden.

Dgramie – Maybe you have to dig more, but it is good exercise. :)

Jane – Thanks for the yoga link. That is a great site.

I am trucking along. My main problem right now is not spending enough time on the job hunt. I figure the fire will be under me shortly when severance runs out, but for now I still need to spend a bit more time looking and a bit less time doing other things. I am enjoying having extra time

I saw a doctor about my knees and the good news is that the x-rays don't show any major damage. Yay! I start physical therapy on Monday, but my knees actually already feel better. I think that adding walking has really been helping. In fact, I should probably go get in a short walk this afternoon. They keep saying it is supposed to rain so I wasn’t going to go, but it looks nice out and it is hot up in my apartment.

nmen-I have plenty of room for a garden and the spot I do now is so small compared to what I use to do. I just cant work a bigger garden alone and hubby just cant stand the heat since being on blood thinners. My garden is 12x8. I will do alot bigger one next year but just didnt get an early enough start for anything bigger this year. Plus we had so much rain this year. I was also so busy with wedding stuff the garden got put on a back burner. There is nothing I enjoy more than watching my garden grow. I love going out in the early morning and weeding it and looking for blooms.

I am back on track with eating and it feels so good even though scales are not back to where they were. Guess I will get out and dig a bit before it gets to hot and we are suppost to be getting alot of rain for the next 4 days.
Have a great day

Good morning all. The Betsy Taxi Service went to SEA-TAC last night to pick up my brother-in-law, and I go again this afternoon to pick up some neighbors. It's about 50 miles away and long term parking is exorbitantly expensive, so I end up driving a lot of people up there. Fortunately, it's a great little town where we all help each other!

Jane -- thanks for the link to the yoga site. I definitely need clues on how to adapt the yoga positions so that I can actually do them.

Nancy -- you'll get in the mood for the job search eventually. Sometimes you just need the time to recharge first. Good news on the knees.

Dgramie -- Sounds like you're a true gardener if you even enjoy the weeding! ;) I enjoy the fruits of my labors, but the laboring part is not at the top of my list.

I woke up this morning with some really bad sciatica pain. I'm hoping that maybe it's just some muscle tenseness that is causing the pain as it seems to be a little easier to move around now. I'll do the stretching exercises that I'm supposed to do every day (supposed to being the key phrase here!) as my grands are coming for the weekend so I need to be able to move around.

It has been awhile since I have posted here, but I decided to jump right back in. I'm doing okay with my eating plan. Where I am struggling horribly is with my exercise. I can't really afford a gym membership and it has been too rainy to get outside and walk. And those are mostly just excuses. I could probably find something to do, but I'm not great at motivating myself in the exercise department. Maybe coming here more often will help me be a little bit more accountable and make some friends along the way.

Living - Joining the exercise thread is a great way to feel motivated. Do you have enough space inside to do videos? There are some great ones out there. I have the luxury of a gym, but I supplement with those every once in awhile.

It got HOT here all of a sudden. I should probably get out for a walk now before it gets any hotter. Yesterday I went at about 2pm and it was around 90 and ugh. The heat is making me swell up like crazy and the scale isn't moving, but I can tell it is water retention due to how puffy I am. I swear I am part camel.

This thread is OVAH! Join us in the next installment!