[sassyangies]

Just checking in.. Hey ladies. it's been a busy week. I have my God kids over for a sleep over. Usually when I just have one over (the boy) it's easier for me bc my son is a boy and they just keep themselves busy. This time I have both a boy and a girl and she is so sensitive and doesn't want to be with the boys all the time so she comes and scrapbooks with me into my room, or we play games together or whatever. So no relaxing for me this time When they leave today though my son is in big trouble. I can't believe the way he has been acting lately. Just talking back and yelling at us when he doesn't get his way. Yesterday he was so mad at my husband he started hitting him. So we need to have a big talk with him. He already lost his video games. But Im not sure that's enough.

I'm watching what I'm eating, but not counting calories. I'm still working on my new goal of not eating before bed. I've messed up a few times, but I think once I can get this down it will be so much easier to lose weight. I can have a great OP day and then eat 500 calories before I go to bed. I always wake up feeling awful the next day so I have to stop. So that's where I'm at right now.

Sam your new pic. Wow. you can so tell a difference. Good for you girl!! Fiona that wall looks amazing! How awesome!
Ubee good for you starting the wood pile again. Sounds like a tough job! Betsy, Hope your doing well. Haven't seen anything from ya in a few.

Have a great day everyone!!

[betsy2013]

Good morning everyone. Things are finally beginning to calm down a little here, so wanted to get off a few hellos before heading off to the gym and then cleaning the house.

Fi I absolutely love, adore, am amazed, in awe, and want your postcard collage wall. It's absolutely perfect in every way! And being able to describe where all the BERP was and there is now livable space -- just look at this picture every time you get that feeling that BERP will never end. BTW, only a pound difference from last month -- good for you!
Terra Looks like you're making good progress on your quilt -- hope you'll post a picture when it's all done. Walking any place interesting today?
Ubee Nate has stopped spiking the fever, but my nephew said that while he's playing and being a kid, he still isn't at 100%. Thanks for asking. And, yes, Toby enjoyed his birthday except for getting a bath. I'm going to look up Heavy and watch some episodes. I'm slowly getting things under control, but still have a tendency to just go off the deep end......and sink to the bottom!
Sam Your day off sounds like just what you needed. Sometimes we need to just recharge. Yesterday I didn't wake up until 9:40.....good thing I didn't have to be anywhere!
Angie Sorry your son is going through one of those phases -- and hope that getting back to "normal" comes quickly. I think your approach of setting and accomplishing goals is a great way to lose the weight. Changing our eating habits (like Sam's eating slowly) is every bit as important as counting the calories. The evening is a bad time for me, too!

We had a whole day of rain yesterday -- first rain in over a month and it was wonderful. It looks like it helped with fighting the wildfires in east central WA. I feel so sorry for all those people who have lost everything. Between the massive landslide and the wildfires, this has not been a good year for WA.
I took the RV in for servicing yesterday. The next door neighbor is going to borrow it this coming weekend and then I'm going to take a trip -- can't believe I haven't used it myself yet this year. Still struggling with getting eating under control, but am working on trying to change my eating habits as I know for me that's what's going to make the difference eventually with being able to maintain. Must get to the gym so I can get this house cleaned -- UGH! Have a great day everyone.

[SamIAm86]

Ubee Living on love lol...I was in a piss pants mood yesterday..could you tell LMAO It usually doesn't bother me but something about yesterday it just hit me like a ton of bricks.

Angie Hey love thanks so much!! I'm really proud of myself...Glad you came to check in with us. I hope everything works out after having a talk with your son

BetsyI think you're right. I really needed to recharge the batteries after going and going and going for so long....I really hate missing work out days when it's not a scheduled day but as one of my friends and weight loss partners said, you have to listen to your body, it knows what's best for you...So that's what I did, but I never skipped a beat with getting right back on the exercise wagon.

Today was a pretty good day except for getting a crazy woman in my office today...In a nutshell she was an obvious drug addict who tells me she's 4 months pregnant and when she needs to get insurance and can't afford what I could offer her, she proceeds to ask me for help paying the down payment for her insurance with another company!! Then when she was leaving she took a bunch of pens and sticky notes and then wanted to take folders of my boss's and my boss basically had to kick her out. This is the second time she's come in asking for an insurance quote...I hope she doesn't come back again.

My boss offered to buy me lunch today but I politely declined...I didn't want to eat anything to bad for me and I had lettuce wraps in the fridge anyway...I'm proud of myself for being able to turn down food when I know it won't be good for me.

I'm having a quick snack before I go to the gym with my friend...she should be picking me up soon so I better go finish getting ready....I am really pooped but I'm doing it anyway...ya'll know me!!

Have a great night everyone!

[Fiona W]

My enthusiasm over the wall of art (thanks for the kind comments, y'all!) has kind of obscured the fact that I've been pretty angry with Bob this week, and kinda messed up as a result. The deal is, he was planning to leave for the farm, to go up there for a week by himself and work on mowing away invasive plants every day. That was back last Thursday, when he planned to leave—not yesterday, but the week before. He dragged his feet, though, in the way he does, staying up until the wee hours, and even later, watching TV, then waking up day after day well into the afternoon. Then he really tried to pull himself together, and was planning to leave on Monday afternoon... and then Tuesday... and so on... until it's clear to me he's not going at all.

Arrrrggggh! This kind of behavior on his part drives me crazy, right now, for two reasons. One is that I was really counting on having some time by myself in the house to do a last-minute push on the BERP. There's a lot that remains to be done in the living room and dining room, even after all that I've accomplished. I don't have to "finish" the BERP before the kittens arrive, but I do want to beat back the visible mess. And then there's our bedroom, which is a zoo, and that room will be our fur-kids' first home after they arrive: we'll keep them in that room, feeding 'em there and having their litter box there and everything, to let them get adjusted to the move and bond with Bob & me in an intimate setting.

The other reason why Bob's foot-dragging crazy-sleep-schedule agoraphobia behavior drives me crazy is that it's a maddening re-run (after re-run, after re-run) of how he acted about everything during the worst of his depression, 2009-2012. He lost his job in the fall of 2012 because he was too sick to go to work, but that was proceeded by literally years of trying to get it together to go to work, doing so in spurts, then failing again, and so on ad nauseum. Just because I knew then, and know now, that he has an illness in his brain that is causing all the endless foot-dragging about doing anything, doesn't mean it isn't serious wear and tear on my nerves.

Unfortunately, my recent response to this not-going-to-the-farm business has been to get angry and scatterbrained, such that I stopped working on the BERP. It's like he gets frozen, so I get frozen. I've been doing all my old, pre-BERP stuff instead, like getting caught up on my correspondences and reading... not to mention running errands for Bob because in the last week he's become incapable of picking up prescriptions, buying shampoo, you name it...

This posting constitutes my announcement that for me, at least, these doldrums are over. Today I go back to work on the BERP, come h*ll or high water!

[Terra1984]

Ubee ~ I had penpals in 97/98 when I first started penpaling but I got back into it this year.

Sam ~ Yes I had a good day on Wed. I hope you did too.

Angelia ~ I love your profile picture

Betsy ~ Thanks, I will definitely post a picture when the quilt is all finished. Nope I havent walk anywhere interesting lately. Im waiting until I get my MP3 player before I start walking outside in the mornings again, I guess walking outside and using my hand held is making my cd's skip so I'll only use my hand held when Im not moving like if Im waiting for my mom at the doctor's or something like that.

I woke up at 6:30 this morning and of course I did my normal morning duties and now Im just eating breakfast while reading posts on facebook and posting on 2 other forums, About to start working out after I get done eating breakfast. I dont have any major plans for today just to get my 30 min walk in, I might do two 30 mins walks today, Depending on how Im feeling at 6 pm this evening when I would start working out for the 2nd time today. My mom and I are gonna go on a fast food run for dinner today too, We'll probably have Subway which I guess you could call it Healthy fast-food, Its healthy and its made fast so there you go lol.

[betsy2013]

Good morning all. It's a gorgeous day here today so maybe I'll be motivated to get something done.

Sam Your story about the troubled woman coming in was actually kind of scary. I'm glad that your boss was there with you. If your boss asks you to lunch again, do you feel comfortable suggesting a place that allows you to stay on plan? It's obvious that you're working on losing weight (duh!), so I'm sure she would understand. And you definitely give me incentive to get up and go to the gym after I read your posts.
Fi Hope that today goes better for both you and Bob.
Terra Love your comment on Subway about being healthy and fast. They do have some good items on their menu and it feels like such a treat when I "splurge" and let myself get a sub.

Not a lot planned for today. I really am going to start on the cleaning. I keep finding other tasks to do so I can avoid it, but the house needs a good cleaning. Next weekend the entire family will be here for a birthday and the local arts festival. That will be fun, but I need to get going on getting things done! Have a great day.

[Radiojane]

Whats up??

I'd like to give some long dramatic story to excuse my absence. Problem is I don't have one. I just slacked. And now I'm afraid to get on the scale and I'm stiff as a board. Not that I didn't know this was exactly what was coming.

Anyway- my two year weight loss anniversary is Aug 1 and I've taken great pride in not giving up, so back to clicking along.

How's everyone been? I see some ticker progress!

[silentarctic]

Hey gals,

Still not 100%, and nursing the cold, but drove up the road and jumped in the river with on eof my BFFS last night. Since it was so hot during the work day (we changed obviously before jumping in the water) so had my first swim of the summer which was good.

Stepped on a scale the past few days and I'm up afew lbs on average. I need to get back in gear but I keep making excuses obviously I'm just not ready. I feel so poofy, like I am huge. I thought I was at least in maintain mode but apparently not so much.

Betsy I am the queen of procrastination when I need to clean (always lol).

[Ubee]

Good Afternoon!
Silent your swim sounds so refreshing! I walked past a full length mirror today and realized I am still too puffy.
Jane thank God you are back! I missed you so much! I am so relieved that you did not give up.
Betsy how many are in the entire family? Are they all staying at your house? How long are they staying? Do you have to cook all the meals?
Terra how many pen pals do you have? Are they all in the US?
Fi perfect timing for your post. Bob and my cousin have a lot in common. She is a hoarder and I am attempting to help her clean out her home. She is showing improvement but it is a nice reminder that she has an illness and is doing the best she can. Hugs to you my friend.
Sam you have so much strength! I cave any time any one offers me food. Exercise is stopped with the first excuse. Keep going! You are doing great!
Angie good luck with your son. I spent a lot of time working on not eating at night and it has helped. You can do this!
As for me, I have more wood coming next week so I am going to cheat and have my daughter help me. I spent this morning with my hoarding cousin and I am exhausted. I am a little sad I still look so big in the mirror but I am pumped to see all of you back here to cheer us all on!!

[silentarctic]

Jane - Welcome back - I've been slacking too. I would maybe just try getting back into good habits for a while before stepping on the scale?

[Fiona W]

Ubee— What you are doing with your cousin who's a hoarder is very similar to the BERP, so I know personally how exhausting that is. They say that collage artists have to be hoarders of paper by the very nature of the medium, but the way our house was back in early April, before I started the BERP, was an utterly intolerable situation. Only one of the three futon couches in the living room was available for use, because the other two, plus a chair, were completely covered, piled two feet high, with mostly paper. And my book-hoarding behavior was completely out of control: they were choking both the upstairs and downstairs hallways, plus several of the stairs and the landing. Everywhere you looked, the floor space—and some of the rug space, even—was covered with overflowing stacks of magazines that needed to be clipped. Plus I can't tell you how many banker's boxes full of paper, stacked two or three on top of each other, were in every room of the house except the bathrooms—even making it difficult for more than one person to sit down at the kitchen table. And my collage studio was such a rat's nest of paper that needed to be sorted and squared away, I'm amazed I got anything done in there at all. There was almost nowhere a person could walk in our house without having to negotiate narrow little pathways, and the far corner of the dining room was completely inaccessible.

As you know well, I've been putting long hours, at least 8 hours a day and often more, for six days a week—ever since April 18 when the kittens were born—on this project. We gave away somewhere between 1500 and 2000 books to three separate charities, one of which required that all the books be neatly packed in boxes. (We're very lucky to live in the DC area, where book-distribution charities will come to your home and pick up books!) And every week, without fail, at least one, and sometimes both, of our large recycle bins on wheels have been filled to the brim with paper I discarded.

And I'm not finished yet: much remains to be done in the living room and dining room, plus our bedroom. I won't be done when the kittens arrive, but at least they will have places to run and play. =smile=

So if you're trying to help out with a hoarding situation, I feel for you, girl, 'cause you've got your work cut out for you! That's a very generous thing you are doing for your cousin.

[SamIAm86]

What up my ninjas!?!?! LOL!

Terra Glad you had a good day...mine was pretty good for the most part. Your pen pals remind me when I was in school I had one in Ohio..Her name was Marlyn or something like that...I can't remember it was so long ago but I still have her picture in my school photos box that I've kept over the years.

Fi I know exactly how you feel with Bob...I get like that with Rob too sometimes...He has schitzo effective disorder and he also likes to stay up late and sleep most of the day. It's really hard for me to get him to do anything other than playing music or video games...He is OCD when it comes to sorting things so when it comes to cleaning I have to do most of it because he'll spend 8 hours going through a box of receipts. Keep your head up and just be there for him, he'll love you even more for it in the long run.

Betsy Yeah, it was nice that my boss was there to help me because I have a hard time being rude to people lol...I am a total beyotch but when it come to my job it's a little hard for me to be like that nowadays. I could suggest somewhere that I could eat on plan..They did get Zacksby's and I could have gotten a salad but I knew with the dressing options it still wouldn't be on plan and I like to limit myself on how much off plan meals I eat which is usually one every couple of weeks. Most places out are not on plan for me so I try to just stay away as much as possible.

JANE I AM SO GLAD YOU'RE BACK!!! Don't worry about what the scale says...what matters most is that you didn't give up!! We're all still here for you so remember that!!! You can do this and I'll be here every step of the way that you need the support!

Silent I really hate that you still aren't better Makes me worry about you....Get back to tip top health and get to movin on the pounds lovely! You can do it, I know you can!!!

Ubee It's been a long hard road for me to get the strength that I have built up both physically and mentally...Do I still have cheat meals? **** yeah girl but I still make sure to get something within certain limits and I don't do it all the time and I also make sure I make up for it in the gym or working out when I do. I'm a freight train just rollin down the track and I'm not giving up anytime soon!!! You shouldn't either! Push your hardest and you will lose the weight, I promise...Sometimes you just gotta give yourself a good hard kick in the rear and push forward!! I still have a long ways to go but if I keep doing what I am doing and pushing as hard as I am I hope to make my goal by this time next year.

Well last night didn't go so well. My friend didn't get off work until much later than she had planned so we had to skip the gym but I did do about 45 minutes of leg work at home last night and boy do I feel it today. We made up for it by going to the gym tonight. I just got home and feel pooped. It's going to be a shower and dinner and bed night for me tonight.

My mom called me while I was in the gym to let me know a family friend's wife had finally died on Tuesday and the wake was tonight. She had gotten sick last year after her husband had the H1N1 virus and it put her in the hospital. Come to find out she was in stage IV lung cancer and has been in and out of the hospital. Her husband, who is also my auto mechanic had to take so much time from work and sell her car just to make ends meet. My mom just found out about it last week and they told him she only had a few days left. The funeral is tomorrow but I'm not sure if I'm going to go...I don't do well in funerals and he is closer to my ex step dad than me so I think I would feel more awkward. My mom is going to go so she was asking if I wanted to.

DH is making turkey chili for dinner and it smells so good!! I am in desperate need of a shower so I'm going to go enjoy a shower and relax for the rest of the night. Take care everyone and remember just take it one day at a time!!! You can do this!!!!

[Ubee]

Good Morning!
Sam you make me believe I can do this! Thanks! What are your plans for this weekend?
Fi thanks but I am not as generous as I sound. I am also doing this for me. As I work with her I observe how her brain works. It helps me to make better decisions with my food and exercise choices. We are both helping each other.
Today is the zoo and then a wedding. I will be tired tonight!
How is everyone doing?

[Terra1984]

Betsy ~ Yeah I love subway

Ubee ~ I have like 6 e-mail pals and 3 snail mail pals and most of them are from the U.S.

Sam ~ Thats cool that you used to have a penpal when you were in school and that you still have her picture.

I woke up at 8:00 AM and as always I did the usual morning duties, Now Im just eating breakfast and posting on 2 other forums and Im about to start working out afterI get done eating breakfast, Like yesterday I dont have major plans for today just to get my two 30 min walks in and thats it, I might do a little sewing tonight also.

[betsy2013]

Good morning all. It's an absolutely gorgeous day here so I have no excuse for not getting the house cleaned......finally. Yes, I have managed to procrastinate and waste the entire week and still not clean the house!

Jane SO GLAD YOU'RE BACK. We've missed you, been worried about you, hoped all was ok, etc. That's not trying to lay a guilt trip on you -- just letting you know that your online family is so glad you're back and posting. I'm on my 30th reboot for the year, so you know you don't have to worry about being alone in being challenged!
Ubee Sorry, I'm with Fi in that I think anyone who helps with decluttering might be a candidate for sainthood. I hate doing my own -- can't imagine trying to help someone else as the endless questioning over what stays and what goes would drive me nuts (nuttier???!). The entire family being here is just the 7 of us. It's the four dogs that are here as well that add that extra element of excitement to the event! And you are not too puffy to go swimming. If you enjoy it, do it.
Silent Man, that cold is hanging on for all it's worth! Hope that it goes away once and for all this coming week. Jumping in the lake sounds so refreshing or else shocking -- is it glacier/ice fed? My memories of northern lakes (which were a lot further south of where you are) is that they were all cold to the point of frigid even in the summer.
Fi Hi there. BERPing today?
Sam I don't do funerals either if I can avoid them. I will often contact the person after everything has calmed down and ask them over to dinner or just for a cup of coffee so they can talk. Assuages my guilt and hopefully helps them.
Terra How did you find your penpals? Do they share common interests with you? Sounds interesting!

Just heard barking in the yard and evidently I'm keeping my BIL's dog for the day. Don't mind doing it at all as I would have gone over and gotten her to play with Toby anyway, but for some reason it irritates me that I wasn't even asked if that would be ok. I imagine he thought I might still be in bed, but who knows. My big "adventure" for right now is trying to figure out which supplemental plan to take out when Medicare goes into effect for me at the beginning of October. Thrilled about going on Medicare as my out of pocket costs will go down significantly, but hate doing this kind of research and trying to figure out what they're really going to cover. Other than that, just need to get the house cleaned, water the plants, and try to stay on plan for the day! Have a great day everyone.