[BillBlueEyes]

DW is concerned that her Crocus'es have come up thinking it's Spring, which is not good if indeed we're going to have winter around here. Wouldn't think it winter yesterday when we went walking around an open fresh water lake with a Common Loon in the middle.

I'm still fighting having extra snacks in the evening - Ouch! I'm eating extra fruit as if good-for-me food doesn't have calories. My goal this week is to fight that even though I'll have the tension of working the numbers for doing our taxes.

[bargoo]

Love though Loons.My doctor has me on a no dairy, no fruit diet....I fantasize about fruit.....a glass of orange juice, a grape, anything instead I need to drink a yucky powder whuch I need to do right now.

[paperclippy]

Bill, our crocuses are up too (though not blooming yet), as are the daffodils. Hopefully it will only get warmer from here! I wouldn't mind an early spring and a long summer.

This weekend was spent mostly sitting at home for me. DH and I went out to run some errands and do a little shopping Saturday, but on our way home I started feeling really crappy and ended up sleeping most of the weekend. I think it was a reaction to the TDaP booster shot I got at my physical on Thursday. I feel better today so hopefully it's over (the info sheet they gave me said it could last 1-3 days). The swelling in my arm where I got the injection has gone down today too.

For some reason last night I had a bunch of dreams about yoga classes. I think my subconscious is annoyed with me for missing my usual Saturday yoga class!

[Megan1982]

Morning all,

I had a productive weekend. I cleaned a lot, worked out myself and the dog, relaxed a bit, and didn't drink any alcohol to derail my eating plans. I feel more prepared for the week ahead than I have in a while. I watched the first episode of "Downton Abbey" from Netflix. I like it so far. Anyone else watching it? My mom recommended it to me. I know BF definitely won't watch this one with me, though.

Allison, it sounds like you've got a really fun weekend planned with your old friends!

Bill, the weather is so confused here too. Even though it's less unusual here in NW FL, the trees shouldn't be budding until next month or so and are doing it now. My amaryllis are starting to flower, too. Usually don't do it until April. It's a strange winter.

No fruit is why I knew I couldn't do the low-carb diets. I love fruit so much! I do turn to it as dessert (measuring/counting the calories, of course) when I "need" something sweet in the afternoon at work or after dinner. Bargoo, that sounds horrible! Why has the dr. cut fruit out of your diet?

Enjoy the week everyone.

[saef]

Bill, did the loon have its checkerboard plumage in, or was it still in winter plumage? I haven't seen a loon yet this winter. I need to travel up to Oswego, to the harbor, and take a look around. I have not done any birding this winter. There is a spot where I could go to possibly see a Northern Shrike and it's less than two miles from my mother's house & I still haven't made it over there.

Yesterday I felt completely done in, and after coming back from the gym, I did very little except watch TV mindlessly. Oh, wait. One big project. I had a carton of letters going back 30 years and I opened them up and shredded them through an electric shredder borrowed from a neighbor -- one of those neighbors who owns all kinds of appliances & such that one only uses once or twice a year. This shredding operation took a long time as the machine would only take a few pages at a time. The shredder kept jamming. I had to keep unending it & picking out paper with my fingers, with a toothbrush, with a bent paperclip. What a mess, like a ticker tape parade had gone through the family room. I had little strips of paper sticking to my clothing and blowing over the floor. I am not done with the carton yet. This is part of the project that engaged me earlier this year, of ridding my mother's house of any stuff she'd been storing for me. All the papers that I had at my apartment drowned -- tax records, newspaper & magazine clippings of published stories, warranties, real estate transaction papers, etc. -- and since facing that loss, I'm willing to live without other papers that are far less critical but were in storage here.

Today I'm off to look at a cherry Stickley secretary, and to lay low as my mother will probably start cleaning and she becomes angry when she cleans. It's my stuff in storage around the house everywhere that irritates her. But when I offer to remove it & put it in storage, she gets angrier, because she thinks paying fees for storage is a waste and that people who do this are fools who aren't in control of their lives & own too much stuff. I finally burst out a few weeks ago, "Look, you can't have it both ways. I can either keep it here and save money, and annoy you with clutter, or I can store it and pay for storage, and annoy you with my profligacy. It has to be one ... or the other ... so just choose." I may have to remind her that she told me, at the time, that spending money upset her more than clutter, and therefore I should keep the stuff here, since it's only here temporarily.

Edited to Add: Oh, and about my mother cleaning while I lay low, which makes me sound like a lazy non-contributing household member. I have tried to clean here but I don't do it right apparently and I get corrected so much that I stop. I have tried to help, also, while she directs, but also I get snapped at a lot. So I tend to try to escape or, as I said, lay low until the storm passes.

[bargoo]

Megan , I have had a big problem for the last two months, not to give you TMI, i'll just say I spend a lof time in the bathroom and am afraid to leave the house. I have had a lot of tests and have been seen by my internist, oncologist and gastroenterologist and they don't quite agree with each other but all agree on no dairy, no fruit, no caffeine, no spice. It seems that I end up eating nothing but bread, potatoes, eggs and oatmeal a truly boring diet.

[Mudpie]

Good Morning all! I am on holiday for one more day. We had quite a commotion on Saturday night - Mudpie got left outside all night after slipping out while the back door was open. She seems to be fine, although she is constantly hugging the hot air vent and asking for food non-stop.

The detox/cleanse thing is going well. I couldn't manage this if I had to work though - very low energy through the weekend. And I cheated with fruit for snacks. bargoo, Bill and Megan - I too love my fruit! I tried the pineapple, kale, artichoke, etc. drink and . Definitely not snack food in my stomach.

DH is willing to join me in finishing the darn dinner stuff tonite - who knew 1/2 of a cabbage produced so much edible food? We will keep the bedroom door open through the night though . And I have to come up with something to do with all the rest of the cabbage. I think I should have my own reality show - "Kitchen Experimental".

saef "cherry Stickley secretary" - I with envy. I love all the arts and crafts stuff, particularly how they sometimes do the inlay work which is intricate and beautiful without being fussy.

And I suspect, if your mom is anything like my grandmother and mom were, your cleaning inadequacies are just about your mom's control issues. SIGH. That's why I so enjoy having housecleaners and never, ever do anything other than sweep up if it's particularly crunchy underfoot.

jessica . Glad you're feeling better. Shots can suck!

I am off to walk the "biggest dog" aka DH and we have made some progress on the job/ no job front as well. It's a great help to talk to each other calmly, rather than sniping and sulking (two things both DH and I excel at unfortunately).

Good Monday all!

Dagmar

[traveling michele]

Happy President's Day to those of us with the day off!

Dagmar- did dh quit the job or is he keeping it while looking for another?

I love my fruit a little too much! It is one of the things I'm blaming for a recent five pound gain. I'm not going to buy any more grapes as I can't eat a reasonable portion. I haven't been tracking consistently for months, so I started back yesterday. I really hate tracking, so I don't do it when my weight is where I want it. When it climbs, I go back to tracking.

I'm wondering about fluid retention though. I feel like I am very sodium sensitive, and lately every morning my fingers are very swollen--to the point of them hurting, and my rings so tight they won't budge. By the end of the day, the swelling subsides, only to repeat the next day. Anyone else have this issue? I don't know if it is normal, or potentially a health issue.

Off to bikram yoga this morning, then going to donate blood, and hopefully sell a bunch of used books.

Hello to everyone else!

[JayEll]

Michele, how much water/fluids do you drink?

Are you using hormonal birth control?

It wouldn't hurt to be checked out by your doc. That does seem like a lot of swelling.

Hope it's nothing more than salt!

Jay

[traveling michele]

Originally Posted by JayEll

Michele, how much water/fluids do you drink?

Are you using hormonal birth control?

It wouldn't hurt to be checked out by your doc. That does seem like a lot of swelling.

Hope it's nothing more than salt!

Jay

Jay-- I drink a lot! At least 64 oz a day and usually way more-- especially when I workout-- so far today, I've had a mug of coffee, two large hot teas, a bottle of ice tea, and 64 oz of water (at Bikram Yoga). It is 5 pm so I'll still have more to drink with dinner and later.

I do not use birth control so that isn't an issue (no uterus).

I need to schedule my yearly exam for June or July, but obviously I don't want to wait that long if there could be an issue.

Unrelated (?), I got rejected for blood donation today as I was slightly anemic. I'm always borderline anemic..... I was bummed!

[Megan1982]

Michele, I'm assuming you're not just eating a really salty dinner and would have thought of that already. When you track your food intake, do you include sodium? Have you tried to just cut out all possible salt for a few days, do a sort of "cleanse" to see if it helps, and/or track very closely your intake in a tracking site or program such as fitday? Is this a new thing, or has it been going on for a long time? Have you had a full blood workup done recently? That does seem like a lot of fluid - I would understand more if it follows a hormonal pattern but as you said it would be different in your case. At the very least you could call your doc's office, explain your symptoms, and ask if they think it's worth a visit. Especially if you do have health insurance, why not just go to the doctor's? (After living for 3 years without health insurance, and BF still not having it, I'm a big proponent of "just go to the doctor!").

[Mudpie]

I managed to get through the 2-day detox. I can't say it made me feel better but it did make me aware of what and how I was eating. And it again drove home how addicted I am to something in diet cola. It's not the caffeine (I did drink 2 cups of tea per day on the detox) but there is something that I "withdraw" from every time I try to quit drinking diet pop. Major headache all day yesterday. Not there today so now I have to get through the psychological part. Hard to do when DH is so anxious I can feel it radiating off him.

And no, he didn't quit the current job yet. I gave him a deadline for when he hands in his notice. Now that there is a quantified goal he has to actually DO something about getting different employment. I helped him rewrite his resume and composed 2 cover letters for him this weekend. He is still shuffling his feet about actually applying for other jobs so I will have to . I will NOT listen to him whining for another 10 years about how much of a b*tch is boss is etc. etc.

And the good news is that I took a look at my whole weight tracking chart for this year and I'm at or under my red line 7 out of 9 weeks.

I am determined to get down to 132 by my 55th birthday. 1 lb. loss for each of the next 2 weeks. :

Dagmar

[Megan1982]

Morning all,

I had a little food slip-up last night and ate a few bowls of cereal after dinner. I think I was anxious (I've been getting rather anxious about my eating plan, never good as it usually signals an impending big fall off the wagon), lonely (BF is out of town, supposed to meet a friend on the beach to walk dogs and missed connecting with her) and couldn't figure out what else to do with my hands or what to do to distract myself. (ETA: TOM/hormones probably not helping either.) I need to get a new needlepoint project going ASAP bc that is what I often reach for at times like that to keep my hands busy. Sometimes it's enough distraction to keep me out of the cereal box. I'm not exactly happy with myself, but I'm trying to move on and not beat myself up. It's put a little gray cloud over my mood today, but I'm trying to come up w something fun to do to distract myself.

I did do another NRLW workout yesterday and it felt good!

Has anyone else had trouble posting to 3fc at night? I've had trouble the last two nights, but I post from home at night versus work in the AM, so I'm not sure if it's something to do with my home connection or the site itself.

Bargoo, I hope your problem resolves itself soon. That sounds very uncomfortable. Hang in there.

Saef, Bill, we get a lot of loons down here at this time of year. They migrate from you to us. One of my most vivid memories from summer childhood visits to my grandparents cabin on a lake in Maine is the call of the loons. My grandmother loved birds and would always remark when we'd hear them call. They are beautiful birds.

Have a good Tuesday all.

[bargoo]

Megan, I started a new medication and am slowly going off the no dairy, no fruit etc,it is dairy I miss the most. I put coffee creamer in my coffee this morning, delicious !

[saef]

Yesterday I finished shredding that large legal-size storage box full of letters. They're all gone now. What's left is a small envelope with 10 photographs in it & my old undergrad college ID. (That's all that I allowed myself to keep.) It occurred to me that I'll never have occasion for such an undertaking again, since nearly all such personal correspondence now takes place through email.

Dagmar, don't drool over the cherry Stickley secretary. I went to downtown Syracuse to take a look at it. The guy whom I spoke with on the phone told me to go an historic Art Deco office building address. "Oh, the old _____ building?" I said. He'd never heard the name. "I used to work in a law firm there." Dead silence on the other end. So I went down there, thinking how weird that I'd be looking at furniture in an office suite. Turns out this is the final detritus of furnishings from a historic downtown luxury hotel, which went out of business. It was carted across a glassed-in skywalk into storage there. Lots of banquettes, a piano that was once in the lobby, a few antiques but mostly stuff from the nicer high-end furniture manufacturers like Stickley and Harden.

The guy from the phone call walked around with a clipboard and an earpiece phone. Young and brash -- and not native to the area, or he would have known something about the building. He gave the impression that he was the guardian of a cache of great value. But the thing is, such furniture is like a used car: The minute you drive it off the lot, it decreases in value drastically. So while he touted the secretary as a discontinued item, with a retail price of over $4,000, I knew a) that it was worth nowhere near that anymore, and that b) it was discontinued before the recession. Also, it had two gouges across the front. And scratches around the keyhole in the glass doors. Since the key was missing, people had to keep prying at the doors with small objects or their fingers, and their fingernails had marred the finish.

I was feeling these gouges with my fingertips to figure out whether some Old English would take care of masking them, still hopeful about the piece, when a local auctioneer/estate sales organizer walked in. I know this affable gentlemen from my auction-going and estate-going. He took one look around at the stuff and told the clipbook-bearer that this wasn't worth his time, that the guy's supervisors ought to just let people in and see what offers they get. The clipbook-bearer looked disappointed but unconvinced. I'd have been sorrier for him if he hadn't seemed so cocky.

I left an offer for the secretary, revised it upward when the young man said his supervisors had turned down higher offers. But then, driving away, I called him back and rescinded my offer completely. Those big gouges were bothering me, in retrospect.

Afterward, I don't know why, but the world looked bleak and my outlook on life turned very dark. I wondered why I am putting all this effort into getting stuff for my apartment. Even though I do need a desk to sit at, when I am working on my laptop from home three days a week.

And I'm still sad today, so low in spirits it feels practically hormonal in origin. I couldn't even get myself to the gym this morning. I don't know why. It couldn't be sunnier and it even smells earthy outside, like spring, and the house finches are singing as though we're four or five weeks further along on the calendar than we really are. It's like my psychological gas tank, which has gotten me through so much in the wake of the flood, is now running low. And I don't know how to refill it again.