AH on the using gardening as a way to procrastinate. That's the way I use housecleaning. Whenever there's something I really don't want to do, I start cleaning. That way I can convince myself that I'm doing something productive and necessary! I live in a rather fancy-schmancy neighborhood, too, so I understand why you'd feel a need to keep up with the Joneses, so to speak. I think the idea of hiring a service to do the front yard for you makes perfect sense. Then you can focus your energy on what really matters to you--your vegetable gardens.


And I absolutely do not want to make a habit of them!!



If I had been drinking coffee on top of all that Diet Coke, I hate to think how wired I'd be. I'd be swinging from the chandeliers!! Interesting that you have reduced the caffeine so substantially and haven't noticed a significant difference. The fact that you are so sensitive to caffeine late in the day, to the point that it feeds your insomnia, says that you should feel a definite difference. Maybe, like you said, you are drinking so many extra cups that you end up consuming almost as much as you always did.

I created a new card today to address the credit issue. I would like to follow Beck's suggestion to get a clicker/counter to keep track of how many times I give myself credit in a day, but I don't know where I can buy one.



Yes, going into the breach just about sums it up!!

A big part of the reason my stomach is flatter is that I'm not consuming gallons of diet soda anymore. But I've also been working hard on abs exercises. I'm definitely noticeably more muscular.

The memory might stick with me, but it would be to haunt me!

YAY YOU for listening to the book. Although I've never tried it, I would bet that listening to the book without doing the exercises would be more beneficial than reading the book without doing the exercises, and I bet your mindset and behavior will begin to change even if you aren't explicitly practicing the skills.

That all sounds terrific. As gorgeous as the weather has been lately, it's almost hard NOT to want to get out and move around.

I'm glad to hear you are not trying to plan a huge party on top of everything else that you have on your agenda. How is Jane feeling about this big transition in her life? And how are you feeling about your last chick leaving the nest? Remember when women's magazines used to go on and on about "empty nest syndrome"?



Wow, that sounds like a long and exhausting day, with a number of food challenges, too. Is this the first time that Michael will be volunteering at the farmer's market? Is he home from school already?

my report: Weighed once (down .6). Stayed OP all day. Made an effort to give myself credit for every good choice, every helpful thought, and every desirable behavior. I read the next section of the book, about exercise. Although I obviously exercise much more than I ever did before, I think I still tend to be all-or-nothing about it, so I am going to work on making exercise a daily habit. Today I put on my gym clothes in the morning and told myself that I couldn't get dressed for the day or eat lunch until I hit the gym. I went for just 30 minutes, putting in 15 minutes on the rowing machine and 15 minutes on the elliptical, both at a moderate pace. But I still burned 150 calories! That could really make a difference over a long period of time. I read my cards before breakfast. Filled out my skills sheet. Contacted my diet buddy. Feeling much more in control again!

Hope your day was a happy and productive one despite the busyness!

Yeah, I wonder how you even find a service? Angie's list, maybe? I'll have to look into it.

It's possible...I guess I'll find out when I cut it again. Ideally I'd like to get both of us to the point we aren't drinking more than a cup's worth of caffeine a day. Right now I'm drinking probably a pot of weak (I use 7 scoops instead of the 10 that the coffeemaker specifies) 3/4 decaff. So 10 cups x .7 x .25, right? So that's 1.75 cups worth of caffeinated full-strength coffee. Not too bad.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_st?ke...rank_authority

So cool! I wonder what your friends will think about that?

That's what I'm hoping. Though I am not very good at listening. In college I used to have to take copious notes, nearly word for word, in lectures because when I stopped writing, my mind tended to wander.

Jane's been saying for weeks, maybe months, that she wishes she could just go to college now instead of having to finish up high school. At this point I think she's just plain anticipating it with excitement, though I'm sure she'll start feeling some anxiety as it gets closer. I'm mostly dreading the empty nest! I say mostly because I can see all the upsides to it -- I'll be free to travel with John whenever I want, for instance -- but I know it's going to feel very strange not to have any kids at home. When Michael left, I still had Jane. And Michael's quiet and undemanding and easy to get along with and stoic. Living without him is much like living with him. :) Jane's going to leave a giant gaping hole in our lives. OTOH, Jane at least will text me and return my texts. Michael forgets his phone, turns it off, doesn't think to check for texts and voice messages. I suspect I'll know a lot more about Jane's day-to-day life at school than I do for Michael.

Long day, but it was fun! And I didn't gain weight, even though there were numerous unique items that I've never eaten before, so it's all good. Michael worked at the fm last year for the coffee lady, but this year her son is working the booth. I wish the kid would get a job! He's applied for ONE job. Gah. I've told him he needs to find ten online applications he can fill out. He's been home since the 3rd. Muskingum gets out early and offers a May term.

Yay, you for getting to the gym! I'm gardening again today so I'm not going to worry about formal exercise. It's not a lot of calories burned, but it's -activity- so I count it as a day I've exercised.

So you leave Friday? How many of your friends are going to be on the trip? Are you going to the South Rim or the North? Staying inside the park or outside? And are you going to ride a mule? :)

Hope you had a great day!

Or just look up "landscaping" in the Yellow Pages! (My father was a landscaper.)

Nope, 1.75 cups of full-strength doesn't sound too bad. But ten cups of coffee made me go WHOA. That sounds like my Diet Coke habit!!

LOL! I should have known you would find one right away! Thanks!!

I have no idea what they will think, but I'm curious to find out. Realistically, though, they probably won't even notice. Or, if they do, they'll see it as evidence that I am obsessed with going to the gym. I really can't win.

I was exactly the same way as a student. I took copious notes as a way of forcing myself to maintain my attention. Taking notes while reading serves the same function for me.

Yep. Remember that avoidance motivation grows at a faster rate than approach motivation, so, as the date of starting college looms, Jane will most likely become more anxious than excited.

(I've been meaning to ask you--what does OTOH stand for? [I'm showing my ignorance of texting language, I realize.])

So you will feel Jane's leaving more than you did Michael's not only because your nest will now be empty, but also because their personalities are so different. But don't worry, in today's world, the nest generally has a revolving door. Late adolescents/young adults typically leave home and return many times before they finally fly away for good! Jane will be back!

YAY YOU for not gaining weight! Your strategy of sticking only to unusual items, and eating small portions, obviously works for you. Muskingum's semester ended the same day Kent's did. Has Michael ever had a paid job? I know you probably told me long ago what he is majoring in, but I can't remember. What are his long-term plans?

I remember well just how much work gardening is. I used to think it was a major workout (but of course that was when I weighed 220 pounds and was totally out of shape, so I was probably right!).

I leave early Saturday morning and will be traveling with three friends. I think it's the North Rim we're going to, and our hotel is inside the park. You are the third person today to ask me about the mule!!! I won't rule it out; remember, I'm supposed to be hungering for thrilling, memorable experiences, not fattening meals, and riding a mule definitely sounds memorable!!:D

I suddenly remembered today that you had asked me in a previous post if I substituted the bread in my Reuben sandwich because wheat bread is healthier than rye bread, and I never answered. The answer is that I ate the wheat bread because of my picky eating; rye bread is ICKY!! And it has SEEDS in it!! Blech!

report: Weighed once (up .6). Ate everything sitting at my kitchen counter. Read my cards before breakfast. Got on my treadmill for 15 minutes before breakfast. Made a new response card about the need to make exercise a daily habit. Recorded my food intake all day, something I hadn't done in quite some time. Contacted my diet buddy. Filled out my skills sheet.

Tomorrow I will go to the gym on my own before heading up to Kent for a meeting AND for another first date with an eHarmony match. I can't remember if I told you yet about this guy; he's actually a colleague who teaches at the main campus. He has been incredibly sweet to me, and we have wonderful, natural conversations. But I think he's a bit old for me (66), and his profile makes it very obvious that he is looking for a WIFE. That tends to scare me off. So I will see how it goes.

Hope you had a good day today!

[QUOTE=4EverLearning;4340781]Or just look up "landscaping" in the Yellow Pages! (My father was a landscaper.) It just seems like most landscaping companies want to come out and do a major project, then go away. Or they'll come out once a week to cut your lawn, but they don't want to come out and maintain beds. What I want is someone to come out once to get the beds in shape, then come out once a week for an hour or so and maintain them. I did find someone on Angie's List who seems to be willing to offer that, so I'm going to call them today and find out how much it would cost.

Very much so! It was what made me go half-decaff in the first place.

Wrong! :) Whether or not they agree, you've won! :)

I've always assumed it means I'm not an auditory learner.

I'm expecting that, although at this point she's so very excited about going to college that it'll be interesting to see.



On The Other Hand.



The coffee booth was sort of paid employment -- she can't legally sell the coffee, so she gives it away for tips. At the end of the day she'd take out her expenses and give Michael the rest, and he often made $10/hr. He's been counting it as paid employment on his job applications, as she'll be happy to give him a reference as if it were some formal paid job.


Oh, the North Rim is great! The lodge is very nice, and the crowds are MUCH smaller than on the South Rim. From the North Rim you can also take a 3-hour drive to Colorado City AZ/Hilldale UT, a Fundamentalist LDS town that straddles the border, and drive around goggling at the ginormous polygamist homes. If you're flying into Las Vegas you have to drive right past the exit. If you go, visit the Merry Wives Cafe which is run by polygamists and has good food.


Great day!

No, I don't think you've mentioned him -- so he's someone you've known before eHarmony?

Weighed (same), went to class this morning. Off I go to get some work done before it gets too hot! Hope you had a great day!

It just seems like most landscaping companies want to come out and do a major project, then go away. Or they'll come out once a week to cut your lawn, but they don't want to come out and maintain beds. What I want is someone to come out once to get the beds in shape, then come out once a week for an hour or so and maintain them. I did find someone on Angie's List who seems to be willing to offer that, so I'm going to call them today and find out how much it would cost.

Very much so! It was what made me go half-decaff in the first place.

Wrong! :) Whether or not they agree, you've won! :)

I've always assumed it means I'm not an auditory learner.

I'm expecting that, although at this point she's so very excited about going to college that it'll be interesting to see.



On The Other Hand.



The coffee booth was sort of paid employment -- she can't legally sell the coffee, so she gives it away for tips. At the end of the day she'd take out her expenses and give Michael the rest, and he often made $10/hr. He's been counting it as paid employment on his job applications, as she'll be happy to give him a reference as if it were some formal paid job.


Oh, the North Rim is great! The lodge is very nice, and the crowds are MUCH smaller than on the South Rim. From the North Rim you can also take a 3-hour drive to Colorado City AZ/Hilldale UT, a Fundamentalist LDS town that straddles the border, and drive around goggling at the ginormous polygamist homes. If you're flying into Las Vegas you have to drive right past the exit. If you go, visit the Merry Wives Cafe which is run by polygamists and has good food.


Great day!

No, I don't think you've mentioned him -- so he's someone you've known before eHarmony?

Weighed (same), went to class this morning. Off I go to get some work done before it gets too hot! Hope you had a great day!

Hmmm. My father's company used to do that kind of regular maintenance. But maybe that was a function of being in the hoity-toity Hamptons where no one wants to get their hands dirty!

I would think that the acid in that much coffee would be really hard on your stomach. But of course the same could be said of all diet soda I used to guzzle!

LOL!! I guess that's the way to look at it--I win either way. I can't control their reactions. And the truth is that I really don't care, or at least not nearly as much as I once did.

No, not necessarily; it just means that two sensory modalities (auditory AND kinesthetic) are better than one alone!

The more excited she is, the closer she will have to get to the actual event before the dread will overtake the excitement. And if she's excited enough, maybe the dread will never overtake it!



Of course! DUH.



I'd definitely count $10 an hour as paid employment. There are weeks that I doubt I make $10 an hour!!


Thanks for the tip!! It cracks me up that there is a restaurant that capitalizes on tourists' voyeuristic desires to see get up close and personal with polygamists--kinda like what the Amish do here!




Nope, I had never heard of him until we got matched on eHarmony. We had a great time today and are going to get together for dinner on Thursday.

I'm glad your weight is staying the same and that you went to class. YAY!

report: Weighed once (down .6). Read my cards before breakfast. Had planned to go to the gym but didn't make it there. Ate OP breakfast and dinner. Ate half of what was undoubtedly a fattening sandwich for lunch, and gave myself credit for pushing the other half aside. Contacted my diet buddy.

Until tomorrow!

I hadn't thought about the issue of acid...does decaff have the same amount of acid as regular coffee?



And this trip may represent the fitting-in-of-the-new-Robin. On the last trip, everyone was surprised, and the surprises represent changes that affected the group. This trip, maybe it'll feel more like no major changes need to be dealt with.

Let's hope it works out that way! :)

Exactly. And among the polygamists there's no particular religious aversion to doing so.

Nice!

Yay, you!

Weighed (down .8 to 117, so yay, at least I'm moving in the right direction, even if extremely slowly.) Gardened all morning.

Glad you had a nice time with your new match! Sorry this one's so far away again!

I would think they would be comparable, but I don't really know.



I can't tell you how much I hope you are right. I love my friends and miss the easy companionship I used to enjoy with them. But I am no longer willing to let what someone else thinks of me dictate my life.



And I bet they allow their pictures to be taken, too!

YAY for moving in the right direction!! Who cares how long it takes?

65 easy miles on the interstate doesn't feel far away to me, and Kent is like home to me, considering how much time I have spent there over the years. We're going to meet for dinner on Thursday.

report: weighed once (no change). Read my cards. Ate everything sitting down and slowly and mindfully. Filled out my skills sheet. Had an extra-intense training session. Contacted my diet buddy. Had a low calorie day (about 1180) and thankfully am not extremely hungry as a result.

Have a great day tomorrow!

WEDNESDAY: weighed once (no change). Read my cards. Stayed OP. Did not exercise. Ate everything sitting down and slowly and mindfully. Very busy day getting ready for my trip! Will check in tomorrow night before I leave. Hope you are just busy!

THURSDAY: weighed once (down .4). Had to get up super early because a plumber was coming and did not get up in time to read my cards (only got 3 hours of sleep last night and am exhausted). Had a very intense personal training session that was all cardio. Went on my second date with my latest match and had a nice time (had a half portion of fettucine alfredo with chicken and spinach, with the sauce on the side, so I barely tasted it). I had only eaten 680 calories before dinner, so I should be OK. Hope you are OK!

Fingers crossed, then!








Exactly. I figure any month I weigh less than I did the month before is a winner.



How did your dinner go?

Another great day for you! Yay, you!

Have a great day tomorrow!

Whoops, I swear I posted! Hm. I did have a crazy day, maybe I didn't!

Just getting in here late today! So glad you had a nice time with your latest match. Yum on the fettucine alfredo! That's a meal I have never successfully made. I either get the veggies overcooked or the sauce too thick.

Weighed (no change, yay), did an hour-long walk with a friend. Must dig compost into a bed tomorrow. Not sure I'll make it to my class, but I'm going to set my alarm. Sorry to go missing!

FRIDAY: Weighed, up .8, probably because I ate too much at dinner -- got way too hungry because the senior recognition program ran THREE HOURS. Seriously, Senor Spanish teacher, you need to summarize the plot of Don Quixote in order to hand out the award for the top Spanish student? I'm all for recognizing kids for academic achievement, but honestly THREE HOURS? Jane got Summa Cum Laude, which at Sycamore means she never had a quarter where she earned under a 3.6. Only about 5% of students got that, and with her struggles this year I'm very proud. :) She also was first in the state for some journalism thing; even she's not sure what it means exactly. :) Walked to class this morning, am going out now to dig that compost bed before it gets hot! Hope you had a great day! You leave tomorrow, right? Wow!

Me, too. We're easy to please, aren't we?



I had fun, and I like him, although I'm not sure I'm ever going to feel any chemistry. He seems to be feeling it, though. His facial expression when he gazes at me reminds me of the look on my cat's face when she was watching my pet rats!




I'm just glad you're OK! Yep, I hate Alfredo sauce that's too thick.

YAY!

WOO HOO, congratulations to Jane and to you, too! That is very exciting and a real accomplishment considering the rough year she has had. And that's great about the journalism "thing" too!! :D I completely agree about a three-your recognition program. I'd have been squirming and sighing and generally acting like a kid with ADD. YIKES!

Yep, I leave tomorrow. WOO HOO!! I'll be lucky to get three hours of sleep tonight, since I'm still packing, and I have to get up around 3AM. Not my favorite hour. I read my cards this morning. Weighed once (no change). Did not get any planned exercise but was in perpetual motion all day. Ate everything sitting down but not as slowly and mindfully as I should have. Ate about 1300 calories today. Hopefully I will come back from my trip no more than two pounds heavier; that's my plan, anyway! I will not have my scale or my computer with me, so this will be my last report until next Saturday night. I hope you have a great week!

LOL! Well, it's nice to find someone who appreciates you! Chemistry schmemistry. Chemistry fades. I believe in choosing someone you can be happy with, and that's more about the things you have in common and the way he interacts with you than whether he stirs your loins. :) It's nice to find both, of course.

When the kids first walked in, I was surprised to see nearly every one had a high honors cord. Then I realized, duh! Of course it's only the kids who are actually getting some sort of recognition who show up, and most of those are the same ones who pulled a 3.6 cumulative or better. There were a few students being recognized by the armed services for joining or going ROTC, but even the high-achieving artists and musicians tended to be wearing an honors cord of some sort.

Yow on getting up at 3am! Hope it went smoothly.

Report: weighed (updating for the week) and I'm down three pounds to 115.8, so once again safely under goal. Went to class Friday after having missed Wednesday because of a bad night's sleep and Monday because it was Memorial Day. (I actually got up and dressed and went to class Monday and only remembered it was Memorial Day when I found the studio closed!) Missed last Friday too -- I'd gotten up, dressed, went to class, then couldn't go in because I was upset over something that had happened to Jane and I knew I was going to be distracted by thinking about it. It's nothing, really -- her counselor had told her the afternoon before that an error had been made in the graduation program. They list all the scholarships the kids get, and the only two scholarships that anyone here would recognize (Kenyon and Emory) were left off Jane's listing. The reason I was so upset by this was that I really feel it's important to encourage kids to consider NOT choosing a school for its relative prestige but instead of consider fit more strongly. So many kids at Jane's school go to either Ohio State or the "best" (as in most highly ranked) school they get into. Jane's gotten a lot of incredulous questions from her friends about her choice of Colorado College over Emory. And I felt like here was a chance to show other kids that, look, it is actually possible to turn down Emory for Colorado College. And Kenyon same thing to a certain extent -- everyone here knows it as a really good school, where NO ONE has even HEARD of Colorado College. People keep asking Jane, "Isn't that a big party school?" No, that would be UC-Boulder you're thinking of. People PORE over those programs because there's nothing else to do while you sit there watching, and I know this unusual choice by a really bright kid would have sparked some family discussions. Oh, well. As John says, it's all rear-view-window stuff now. But it just left a bad taste in my mouth at the very end of our long relationship with Sycamore.

Hope your trip back was good and I hear from you tomorrow that you had a fantastic time!

SUNDAY: Hope the fact you didn't post last night when you got home means you were just exhausted from having too much fun rather than that you had a travel glitch and are sleeping in an airport somewhere! :)

I'd like a little loins-stirring, too, but I do agree that common ground and healthy interactions are much more important; those are the things that last.

I'm glad to hear that a high honors card actually means something at Jane's school!! I was on a committee recently that worked to change the standards for graduating with honors (cum laude, etc.) at KSU, since over 40% of graduates were getting at least a cum laude distinction, which is ridiculous!

I only got two hours of sleep, but it was fine!

YAY for getting back under goal! And for exercising, too! The fact that you went on Memorial Day says that you're establishing a good habit and that you responded mindlessly--in a good way!

I can certainly understand why you'd be upset about the omission, and you are probably right that it prompted some talk behind Jane's back. How did Jane react to it?

A little of each--I ended up spending most of the night in the airport (but got not even a wink of sleep), so when I did finally get home, I collapsed into bed and slept for 13 hours straight. I just had no energy to post.

I did have a wonderful time, better than I expected, in fact. I was in Las Vegas for 4 days and the Grand Canyon for 3. In Vegas we were walking (albeit at a leisurely pace) for many hours each day, wandering from hotel to hotel. There are many streets that have pedestrian bridges above street-level, with a choice of either escalators or stairs at either end. My friends always chose the escalators, and I chose the stairs every time, running up and down them. I made very good food choices overall. I ate one indulgent meal in a French restaurant (glass of wine, coq au vin, and a Napoleon for dessert), but it was planned. I also got plenty of walking in at the Grand Canyon. Also, our room was on the second floor of a hotel that has no elevators, and I ended up carrying everyone's luggage up and down the stairs. Everyone was huffing and puffing and struggling to breathe in the high elevation, but I was able to do everything with minimal effect. That told me just how much better shape I am in. Bev in particular was in rough shape. She has been struggling with a bad case of bronchitis, and an x-ray of her lungs showed a shadow that has to be investigated further. Her doctor advised her not to make the trip, but she refused to miss it. Her breathing was actually very labored and scary to listen to. And the best news is that my friends are finally convinced that I am not anorexic. The fact that I ate at least one large dinner, a big Napoleon, plus an ice cream cone almost every day, helped. So did the fact that I did not report to you every night, that I did not weigh myself, and that my hair now looks much healthier than it did a year ago. They didn't compliment me about my looks or my efforts at all (except that I overheard one of them comment to the others about how skinny I am when they thought I was out of earshot), but at least they didn't give me a hard time, and they did tell me that they are no longer worried about me (when I asked them directly).

My weight was only up .6 this morning, for which I gave myself lots of credit, considering that I was away for 8 days. YAY ME! Had a completely NS day today but did not exercise. I plan to get back to the gym tomorrow and will also start reading my cards again daily, focus on the Beck tasks I had already repeated, and prepare to move ahead to the next tasks. See you tomorrow night!

Yeah, I don't know how grade inflation has affected the number of kids getting honors cords. Sycamore stopped reporting class rank about ten years ago, but there were only about 40 kids (about 8%) who graduated summa cum laude. But I know that there were numerous kids who had GPAs the same and maybe even higher than Jane's who didn't get summa because they'd had at least one quarter below a 3.6. I guess it's one of the ways they motivate kids the third quarter of Senior year.

That's what I'm figuring, too. And between the market and gardening and walking much more, I always get a ton of exercise over the summer, so that helps.



She was pretty upset at first. All of her other scholarships are from colleges no one here has ever heard of -- Allegheny, Centre, Dickinson (Hamilton doesn't give merit scholarships and Carleton only gives a NMS if you go there) and she wanted the recognition of her hard work. And of course I wanted that for her, too. It sometimes feels a little petty to want that, but I used to work in the motivation field and our research showed that recognition was a CLEAR winner over merchandise and cash for actually producing results. Ask people what they want as a reward for hard work and they'll tell you cash every time. And they aren't lying -- they THINK that's what motivates them. But cash motivation -- commission, in effect -- is fungible and builds cumulatively. Even the most cash-motvated salesperson might decide to leave off the cold calling at 4 and go to happy hour. But recognition is on a toggle switch. You either get it or you don't, and everyone knows you got it or didn't. No one sees your paycheck. A salesperson going for that plaque or trip to Hawaii or ugly gold jacket or pink Cadillac will keep making calls. If you want to motivate your high performers to push a little harder, offer recognition. At any rate, it doesn't seem to be bothering her any more, at least not enough to mention it. I'm sure it still smarts a little. But in a week she leaves for camp, and in 2 months she'll be packing for college.

Is that the hotel that's right on the rim of the canyon? We stayed there -- or at least, we actually stayed in the little cabins surrounding it. Wonder if that was an eye-opener for anyone? My mom ended up on oxygen when we visited the GC, and afterwards she never got completely off it. Yay! I was hoping you'd reach the new normal on this trip! Did you all plan your next trip while you were together?

Did it seem like a complimentary kind of comment? Well, hallelujah! So no one mentioned the fact you were using the stairs instead of the elevators?

Bet Callie was happy to see you!

I worked for 45 minutes on a long reply and then somehow lost the whole thing right before submitting it. I'm too tired to try to reconstruct it now. Will be back tomorrow night.

I'm glad that graduating with distinction actually means something at Jane's school! Interesting approach to require consistently high performance as opposed to simply an overall high GPA, but I like it!

Yeah, it's much easier to move in the summer. You really have to make an effort not to--which I was once very happy to do!!



I don't think it's petty to want the recognition that she worked so hard for and totally deserves. And you are absolutely right that recognition is probably the most powerful reinforcer there is. Intrinsic motivation trumps extrinsic every time! What kind of camp is Jane going to?

I was mistaken earlier; we actually stayed on the south rim of the Canyon. None of the hotels had elevators. And my friends would have to have been blind in order not to notice how much easier of a time I was having dealing with the physical challenges.

Oh, wow, something else we have in common. My mom developed congestive heart failure in the Canyon and had to be flown out in a military helicopter from Canada to a hospital in Utah, where she spent a month in a coma before taking an air ambulance home. She lived several more years afterward, but she was never the same again. That trip was definitely the beginning of the end. My brother also developed altitude sickness when he recently visited the Canyon and ended up in the hospital. Considering my family history, I was a little concerned about how I would fare, but I am thrilled to say that I had no problem whatsoever!
We didn't make any definite plans, but tentatively talked about going to New Orleans for a few days and then leaving for a short cruise from there.

I didn't think so when I first heard it (which was before we talked about the anorexia issue, plus I figured that, if it was meant as a compliment, they'd say it to my face rather than talking behind my back). But after we talked, I think they have come to at least some level of equanimity about it. I just wish they could be genuinely happy for me and let me know that they are happy for me, but that would apparently be too much to ask for (although one of my friends did whisper to me that I look "totally hot" when she hugged me good-bye).

No, other than to gently tease me occasionally because when I was on the stairs and they were on the escalator alongside me, I always ended up getting ahead of them and then having to wait for them to get off the escalator. :D

Yes, she has been one happy kitty since she came home!

report: My weight was down .2 yesterday. Didn't weigh today. I was so tired last night but couldn't sleep for anything and didn't fall asleep until 8AM (ACK), so I barely woke up in time to race to my 1PM training session and didn't remember to weigh. Wasn't my best training session, between barely being awake and not having had one for 10 days or so. Read my cards today. Plan to go to bed very early and hopefully catch up on my sleep and get back to some semblance of normality.

How are YOU doing? I noticed that you didn't report in your last post. What's going on?