40-Somethings August Week 1 Thread
 

PatchworkPenguin - I thought that Julie & Julia had lots of laugh-out-loud moments, but I was definitely laughing *at* Julie and not with her. Have you finished? Because I have a comment to make, but not if you aren't done. Too funny about the cherry pit!

Jacquee - Glad to hear about the size 6 shorts -- you rock!

Marie - re: the contract. With the economy being so bad right now, and with raises likely frozen, I probably wouldn't bring it up right now. $2200 isn't *that* much money over, say, 24 pay periods a year. I'd probably mention it casually as in, "Hey, what every happened to..." and then wait until I felt the economy had picked up to revisit it...

As for me -- Oh my, is the Shenandoah area in VA gorgeous!! We had a wonderful vacation. Hiked twice with the kids (not Old Rag, though -- we did two "easy to moderate" hikes in the park because my youngest son (age 8) complains about hiking a lot so we wanted it to be as enjoyable as possible). The exercise highlight was that DH and I went on a 12-mile bike ride through the valley near our house and it was incredible. Absolutely gorgeous and VERY strenuous. So that felt great. We also went to Monticello (Thomas Jefferson's home) and all (including the boys) found it very interesting.

I'm nervous to step on the scale tomorrow since I ate with a vacation mindset. I was aware of the choices that I was making, but strongly believed that it was vacation, that I was going to enjoy those glasses of wine, the incredible local corn, etc. Now that we're home, tomorrow marks a new day and a rededication. I love having this long-term outlook. It makes all the difference.

Finally, my FIL's wife sent me some photos from their visit here last month. But she also included some photos from when we visited her last December. They made for some great comparisons -- before weightloss, and down 20 lbs. I hadn't realized how heavy my face had gotten. I'll post them, probably tomorrow.

It's great to be back. Sorry I couldn't reply to everyone personally, but going forward...

Here are the photos I referred to above.

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...789/before.jpghttp://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...89/minus20.jpg

In the BEFORE picture, it was the end of December, 2008. I weighed about 185. I came right home from that trip and meant to start losing weight immediately but I hurt my back and got sidetracked. I finally started losing weight about a month later. In the MINUS 20 LBS picture it was late June and I weighed 166. The picture was taken when my ILs were visiting. Remember the day I was grumpy about the Indian buffet?? This was taken the next day and I remember feeling very good about myself and my willpower. I haven't really lost any weight to speak of since then, but with vacation behind me, I'm motivated to get the loss kickstarted again.

I also remember buying that yellow shirt in Spring 2008 because I needed something new to wear. It was obscenely tight and I could only wear it under a sweater or jacket. Now I love the way it looks...

Hubby and I bought more Kilz and finished priming the chairs and table. We got the cream-ish colored paint for the set. They look so screaming white right now, its scary! I forgot about the leaf for the table {Hubby remembered?!?!?!?} so we have to prime that tomorrow, but hopefully we can get everything painted this weekend and be done with something.

Hubby says his back feels a little better, about time!

Newleaf, I like how the yellow shirt goes with your hair. Great pics, thanks for sharing! I finished J&J! Comment away. Thanks for starting a new thread.

PatchworkPenguin - thanks for the compliment! As for Julie & Julia, yeah, I didn't like Julie either. And I thought it was interesting that apparently Julia didn't either... as demonstrated through her lack of interest in what Julie was doing, and her lack of reply when Julie tried to reach her. Did you take a look at her website when it was done? Completely uninteresting...

Heidi ---- WELCOME BACK

Hearing you talk about my birth state made me a tad home sick. Virginia is a beautiful state and so rich in history. I was blessed to live outside of DC for 20+ years and then spend 13 years in Williamsburg. My previous employer while living in Williamsburg was an architect and his father was the mastermind behind the Blue Ridge Parkway. Yep.... I'm home sick.

Patch - we painted our dining room table & chairs several years ago and love how it turned out.

Mack and I did not hike with the group last night because of the heat; it was still 90+ at 5pm so we decided we would head up to the mountains this morning. We are going to hike up to Bertha Peak about 6.6. miles round trip. I'll post a few pictures when I get back; the views of the lake are spectacular. Mack has one of his communication sites up there and we have been many times, just never hiked.

Well I need to go eat so we can get on the road. I'll be back later.

Enjoy your Sunday.

Newleaf, welcome back! Glad to hear you had a great trip! The differences in your photos are quite obvious, especially the confidence that shines through! Photo one you are hiding behind your son (a trick most of us have used at one time!) Photo two, no more hiding! Way to go!

Walked this am, it's cool here again. Is this August? I have a friend visiting and we are just relaxing and enjoying talking together. Hope everyone has a great day!

CruiseCat - It was truly gorgeous. I would love for my kids to go to the University of Virginia so I could visit all the time! We were in Stanardsville, which is between Madison & Ruckersville. Very rural... Your hike sounds wonderful; I can't wait to see the pictures! Funny that it is hot where you are... dark and cool here in Pittsburgh.

OnMyWay - thanks for the compliment! Yes, the hide-behind we all know so well... It is cool here, too. We can't believe that it is August and our grass is lush green still. Usually it is a dust bowl around here come August. From our standpoint, it's a welcome change! Plus, all the rain kept my flowers alive while we were away, added bonus!

Back from our hike and wanted to post the link to an album I made.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/4106149...57621926561670

According to the rangers the hike is 7 miles round trip and the last .7 was a killer. I've got two blisters but nothing major. The boots are breaking in nicely just not real comfortable coming down a VERY steep incline.

I'll be back in the morning to catch up with everyone.

CruiseCAT - what great photos!! It looks like an incredible hike, and you and Mack look great! The trail was nice and wide, but it sure looked rocky and difficult. You rock! As for the discomfort coming down, I don't think there is anything you can really do about that other than buying bigger boots so you have more toe room at the end. Depending on how much space you have, maybe you could stuff a small rolled up sock, or wear double socks, for additional padding? It looks like you had a great day!

Painting project isnt' going very well. I wish I had this idea several years ago, but we are having a hard time picking the right color. I painted a cabinet several years ago and liked the color but apparently since we didn't prime before we painted over the dark wood it changed the color, so when we painted it onver the primer white we couldn't tell the difference in colors. We went back and got a 'wheat' color which when painted over the white primer looks beige. {I DON'T LIKE BEIGE}. We are going for a second coat but I'm REALLY disappointed its so light. We've already wasted so much time and money here, I'm really getting frustrated, not to mention sick of painting! This project isn't exactly building my confindence to choose colors for the rest of the things I want to repaint around here.

Newleaf, Although the book doesn't say a lot about Julia's feelings about Julie, I got the impression Julia felt Julie was trying to ride Julia's coattails to get her 15 min of fame. Less of an homage and more of a copycat. But who knows what Julia's real thoughts were, the reporter could have been just trying to get a reaction out of Julie. I have to confess I thought of looking up the blog, but lost interest.

:wave:

I'm a little afraid of my scale in the morning too. Food wasn't bad but it had too much salt!

SusanB - I just saw your last post in the abs result thread. I'm glad you made it over here!! :)

Thank you Heidi.

Most of the pictures of the trail itself were taken of the last mile up; it's actually the service road to the towers. Total elevation gain is around 1700 and I would guess that much if not most is in the last mile.

The trail was VERY rocky and you had to watch EVERY step. I feel GREAT this morning other than a stiff neck from looking down and a little soreness in my thighs.

My new boots I bought a little big because 1) my right foot is about 1/2 size bigger than my left and 2) when I travel my feet swell. I did wear two pair of socks and I think I would have done better to wear two on the left foot only. That will be my plan for our next outing. Now sure where we will go next weekend but I am really looking forward to cooler temperatures so we can start hiking here in the desert.

OK - 2nd try at an entry. :) Just discovered that the "Esc" key will wipe out everything you wrote. Sigh. Must be Monday ...

Penguin - agree, beige is a celebration of mediocrity. HATE it!

CAT - GREAT pics! Spouse is convinced the only way to break in boots is to put 'em on, stand in a tub of warm water til they're thoroughly soaked, and then walk them dry. I'm not convinced ... it might be helpful for leather, but he's stubborn. Maybe with your climate it's a realistic option? Otherwise ... the magic substance ... molefoam!

Heidi - welcome back! Wow, you look terrific in yellow! Sounds like you've had a great trip! Love what you said about the long-term outlook - it does modulate the day-to-day choices and leave room for special times. I think my greatest discovery this year has been that great food doesn't taste better just because you eat more of it. :)

SusanB - At least with salt, we know it's there, we know how to flush it out, and we know it's temporary. By Wednesday you'll be golden!

OMW - right - what summer??? I actually had to put my heavy comforter back on the bed last night - it went down to 52!!!! But it does make getting outside in the yard easier - I've probably spent more time outside this summer than any previous.

We had a great weekend - drove out to Grand Haven (MI's west coast). DS10 spent five solid hours in the lake playing in 6-foot waves - he was in heaven. Saw old college friends - some we haven't laid eyes on in 15 years ... and remembered why we like them so much. :) Funny though, I'm glad to be back to my weekday eating routine.

Newleaf - love seeing the before and after pics. Your face has so much more definition in the second picture - you're so pretty!

CAT - way to go on your hike - you are a complete stud! We hiked yesterday but didn't cover nearly as much ground. All hail to the CAT!

I'm a little stalled on weightloss as I've been at 178 for over a week but I'm ready to hit it hard this week so will probably be boring you guys with lots of posts as I try to stick to it. Happy Monday all!

Hubby is at the DMV trying to get new licence platss since he forgot to renew the old ones. {He's probably just trying to get out of painting...} He says the place is a madhouse and he'll be there a while, too!

We are resigned to the paint color, I guess. Its not quite matching up to the chip but we are on onlly one coat, so while Hubby is gone I'll put a second on the table and see what happens. Hopefully something that looks less like oatmeal and more like the oak floor. SIGH.

penguin - so sorry you're frustrated with your project - that's such a bummer. So beige table, oak floors - what other colors do you have going in that room? Can you liven it up (and make yourself like it more) with some bright accents?

CruiseCAT, I envy you all your hiking! You are doing great, and it looks like the scale is showing results for you! You are going to be in great shape for your Alaska trip...

ICUWishing, ugh re: the ESC key. Bummer! I hope Monday is going better for you now... Thanks for your compliments. I like your outlook, too -- that food doesn't taste better just because you eat more it. I will have to keep that in mind. I'm glad you had a great weekend!

DancerInDenver, thanks for the compliments. I hope you have a great week! I saw in another thread that you have the same goal for 2 weeks in a row. Are you going away on a trip?

PatchworkPenguin, bummer about all your painting. I hate to paint so I totally empathize with the frustrating results! Clever husband, stuck at the DMV all day... ;)

Good afternoon friends!

My friend left today and I'm ready to get back on track. Too much company and not enough self control! I have learned the I can't eat some of the things I used to eat. I feel lousy afterwards. My DH is gone til Saturday so I can eat as I please. I'm determined to finish what I started!

Patch, sorry your paint is not working out. It's so hard to choose from all of the small chips! If the color is too light can you add a wash or glaze over the top? I brought home some color samples today, I'm going to paint our master bedroom as my last project of the summer. Now I just have to choose a color!

Cat, Your hike sounds great. I'll check out your photos when I'm done here.

ICU, I'm the queen of lost posts! I know how frustrating it is!

dancer, post away! we're here for you!

SusanB, Glad to have you with us!

Newleaf, hope you're doing OK. When do your boys go back to school?

Newleaf - sharp eyes! Nope - done traveling for a few weeks thankfully. I was just building in some wiggle room as I don't seem to be able to count on 2lbs/week consistently - more like 1.5 on average and I didn't want to use half-pound increments in my goals. Did you find that your loss was even all the way along or did you bump into mini-plateaus occasionally?

Curious to hear what others have to say on this one as well. I think I've heard the comment that losses aren't always perfectly linear, even when you stick to plan.

OMW - just curious - what will you do differently while your hubby's away? Are there less food temptations around?

Dancer, While he is gone, I don't have to worry about cooking meals. I can make something easy for my DD and stick to salads or omelets for me.

As for losing a set amount each week. I found in the beginning I lost pretty steadily about 2 pounds a week. After I dropped below 200, things slowed to about 1 per week and then went to about .5 per week. Everyone is so different, and the body is not always cooperative!

newleaf - welcome back! I think there's a noticeable difference between your two pictures.

onmyway - my weight loss has definitely slowed down, although I seem to find my clothes getting looser, even as the scale shows little movement. Did you find that the case, too?

dancerindenver - good luck with upping your weightloss rate! I'll be trying to do the same thing.

ICUwishing - I find it easier to stay OP at home, as well.

CruiseCAT - great job on the hike! I hope to be doing that by next summer, too!

patchworkpenguin - sorry about your disappointment with your paint color. I've had the same problem before. Now, sometimes I'll go a shade darker just to compensate and I have to say that it seems to have helped. I'm usually pretty conservative with color, though, especially after having to paint over an eggplant purple colored living room and ceiling in our previous house (I only inherited the colors, but they made the living room feel lilke a cave). That took two coats of primer and 3 coats of paint to cover up.

I went to the gym for my first session with a personal trainer this morning. It felt great to get back to the weights, something I haven't done seriously in years, but I used to love it.

I also got the results from my midterm last week and I did really well. Maturity really helps with the whole learning process even if my brain isn't as young and sprightly as it was the last time I went to college.

presmaggie - congrats on the midterm results! And how cool to be working with a personal trainer. I bet it's very motivational.

OMW - thanks for the comments on loss patterns - it's so helpful to hear what other people have experienced even though we're all a little different. And on the SO being away, one of the main differences for me is that I don't mind a fair amount of repetition on my own but I'll never repeat the same dinner several nights in a row when my bf is eating with me. Sounds like you keep it simple on your own too!

Hubby got out of the DMV sooner than he thought {yay} :carrot: so we went shopping!

Dancer, Dining room~ the walls are a pale sage green I have one window with sheers and a fuffy valance that I made. The living room and d room open to each other in an L shape so I think they should match somewhat. I have the table and chairs which are getting the final coats of a color that ended up looking like a manila file folder. A hutch that is light oak in color and a huge 70's dark wood shelf/desk that we call the Monolith. The Monolith is getting moved to Hubby's office soon, but a treadle sewing machine {oak cabinet} is getting put in its place. However, the room would probably look better without the folded treadmill, Cathe High Step, and dumbbell rack! Sigh but I don't have anywhere else to put them. When we bought the house I didn't exercise, and so I wanted a sewing room, now my sewing room is too small for an exercise room so everything is spread around.

I made a wallhanging quilt recently that has the 'new color scheme' I'm trying for and today Hubby found a framed picture at TJMaxx that has those same colors. {pretty Italian cafe, at night, He did GOOD!} I bought new curtains tanish wheat color {hard to discribe} to get rid of the dustcatcher valance! so there is hope for us, afterall. I'm trying for a Tuxcan look without going too rustic or too theamish and no roosters. They wouldn't get along with the penguins!

Maggie, Ick on the eggplant! Glad you did well on the midterm! We have a small starter home with tiny rooms and I'm afraid to paint too dark. Even though I painted the kitcen and bath dark red.

OMW, The glaze is a good idea, we may try that later when we recover from this painting job, and live with the chairs for a while. At least they all match now.

OnMyWay - I like your determination; I'm sure you will reach your goal. You have come so far! My boys go back to school on 8/27. And your kids?

DancerInDenver - my loss has definitely not been linear. When I was focusing, it was usually 5 lbs a month, but even that was with a lot of ups and downs each week. When I haven't had the sharp focus, it's been a pound or 2 a month, but again with a lot of ups and downs.

PresMaggie - thanks for the compliment! Congratulations on your exam! That's great that you are picking up weights again... I bet you'll see some results soon!

Penguin - it sounds like it's all coming together for the room... yay!

I ment to post this but kept forgetting, Memphis was hit by a tornado on Thursday. It did some damage to a shopping center {houseing my favorite Ross store!} but no one was killed. Some of the stores were damaged {and still closed when we drove by today}, and some trees that were previously upright are now at a 45* angle to the ground. My parents electricity was off for a few hours but ours just blinked.

I took the gold curtains back and bought some choc brown, the color is okay but the material looks cheap. So I'll keep looking. Except for a few spots here and there the chairs are finished!

dancerindenver - now that I have the 2 boys, even if dh is away, I still have to have some variety with the food. It's too bad because there's never really a break from cooking, except when dh cooks which isn't too often.

patchworkpenguin - ooh, red rooms! I love red, but I've been way too cautious to try it on our walls. Are you happy you tried it? ;) Yikes on the tornado.

newleaf123 - I think I'm going to stop weighing myself for a week or so. The scale has fluctuated around the same weight for a month and I'm driving myself a bit nuts when I check it every morning. I'll see if I can manage to keep away while I wait for the weight training to do its magic.

Speaking of weight training, I hired a personal trainer for 6 sessions mainly to to learn good exercises to strengthen my knees (bad genetics on that area). I'm also getting a refresher on proper form for safety's sake. It's been about 6 years since I did weights, so I know I need some coaching. Luckily, I don't seem to have lost a lot of muscle. My lean body mass (total weight - fat), as per the testing they did, came out at 122.6 pounds. I guess there are times when it helps to have that extra testosterone due to my hormonal imbalance. ;) It also tells me that my original goal weight of 138 pounds would have been waaaaay to low.

I've been on the treadmill the last two morning and I feel great getting back to an early routine. It's nice to have it out of the way before I even feed the dogs at 5am.

Greetings all!

dancer - re the weight loss, mine bounces around so much that the only way I can keep sane is to look at where I was on the first day of the month. I used to graph it daily, but after I stopped and thought about why I was doing it, I had to quit it. But I do move my ticker for each new low. ;)

penguin - paint color is like haircuts. There's nothing you can do that's permanent, so there's not much point in sticking to something you don't like - change 'er up! I've been a "neutrals" person for a long, long time, and decided to do a bathroom in deep sage and burgundy. I was almost hyperventilating while painting because I was so far out of my comfort zone ... but dang, it turned out really, really nice! If you hate it, change it!

pres - congrats on the midterm score! I agree with you - it makes a huge difference to be more mature. I like to think we can focus better, and we also have so much more context to stick new information into.

Dunno what happened last night at dinner - it's like I was having a flashback to the eating habits that got me to my highest weight. It's a mood thing (I'm grouchy) that I knew I was compounding when I got into the Chardonnay. Looks like the damage was somewhere on the order of 4-500 calories - nothing that substantial, but boy, I don't want to string a few of those together! I know what's got me grouchy, too ... I'm procrastinating on things at work AND I owe a short story for my writing class. Guess I better kick myself in the butt and get to it!

Morning all. I have a list of things to do today that is very long; mostly laundry and cleaning. Yip-eee.

ICU, I've had a few days like that recently, mostly involing chocolate! I don't feel like I've had a good eating day since before my sis came to visit. And have put a few lbs back on, too. :o :(

Painting itself isn't the problem is the moving the stuff away from the walls to get to the walls to paint them that I find very daunting!

Maggie, I liked both red rooms, but I liked the bathroom color better. The bath and kitchen both have white trim while the other rooms still have the original oak, so I feel I can't go too dark or use some colors in the other rooms, or the oak would disappear.

patchwork - I have golden oak trim in the bathroom that I did the dark sage in - and it makes that oak POP! I'll have to see if I can get a decent picture of it.

Just wanted to pop in and say hi. Not sure why but I'm am not in a good place. To use Becky's word I am super "grouchy". Sure hope you are doing better Becky.

Yesterday I made the mistake of wearing my boots on the treadmill and one of my small blisters that I had drained got rubbed again and before I could drain it one of the dogs stepped on my foot and his claw dug into it. I never knew a blister could hurt so much, I seriously thought that maybe the toe was broken last night because it kept me awake most of the night..... probably why I am so grouchy today. Anyway I drained it again and used some neosporin with pain relief this AM and it's feeling better. Unfortunately my running shoes hurt my toe too so I will not be doing the treadmill today.

Well I'm off to clean the office and do 2 months worth of filing.

OH.... before I forget I wanted to share with you all some information. I am big into meteor showers and we are currently building to one of the best annual events and THIS year is suppose to be excellent. August 12th, my first night of the cruise, will be peak.

Here are a few links:

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2...rseids2009.htm

http://meteorshowersonline.com/perseids.html

and http://meteorshowersonline.com has a great deal of educational information and a monthly calendar.

Cruise, I've been trying to catch a good look at that shower for years but I either forget or its cloudly, etc. Thanks for the links. Hope your foot feels better and you are less grouchy

Jacque, Glad you found us.

ICU, You can see my wall color in my profile pic, they floors are the same color as the shelf in the background. And they show a little in the avatar pic which was taken in my sewing room and has a slightly different color green wall.

Exercise, baking, laundry, and some sewing planned for today.

Aw, Cindy!!! :( I sure hope it was the lack of sleep and not my mood being "catchable". ;) May the blister heal quickly! My gf who led us on the Isle Royale trip has a theory that even the best boots in the world require a bit of a "blood sacrifice" before they will become your friends forever. If so, you should be golden! Re the mood - just warn everybody you've got it, and then roll all over it. I like to pull weeds when pissed ... spouse prefers to clean. I'm still in a funk myself. I plan to terrorize a flowerbed tonight. Thanks for the info on the meteors!

penguin - Oak should be dandy! But I love all colors of natural wood, so I'm going to be really biased. :D I never got into the look of painted trim, and I still don't understand the current trend of really dark furniture. :dunno:

Hope everyone's having a dandy day!

ICU, When we bought our house I was proudly showing pictures of the inside to my parent's next door neighbors. The wife said "Oh, the first thing you need to do is paint all that trim white!" WHAT??? I 'nodded and smiled' but I really hated that idea. We were impressed that after 50 years {ouch, closer to 60 now} it was still umpainted! LOL, on terorizing a flowerbed

Not doing too well, here. Our cat is going for his last vet appt on Friday. :cry: We got news that there's no hope of him getting better. This will be our third cat loss in 10 months and we don't have any other cats. I think I need a break from having pets for awhile.

and I thought I was having a bad day. :hug:

I am a firm believer that being their with them in their final moments is the last loving & compassionate act we can show our fur babies. As difficult as it is know that you are doing the right thing.

presmaggie - hugs! So sorry to hear about your cat - that's really tough. Hang in there!

Maggie, I am so sorry about your cats, especailly this one!