I'm so excited that the weather will be in the 70s this weekend! A break in the heat. I don't have any plans yet which is okay. Last night I asked my knee replacement friend to go on a walk and then we sat at a picnic table and chatted for awhile, it was just lovely. I woke up incredibly sore today, I need to remember to stretch. My DS is working on his resume- I forgot you need that to apply for anything these days- so we will tweak it a bit today. DD has one more week at home and then is moving to her apt with all of her stuff so i'll get my living room back. So things are moving along.
I need to get going, i'm up later and its weights day which I try to get done in the morning. TGIF!

Today is a shopping day. It should be Whole Foods week, but I have plenty of chicken and other things that I get from there, so I'm going to the local supermarket which is closer, easier, and follows better health protocols.

Exercise +55, 635/1400 minutes for August

Good morning!

Yesterday was again overbudget, with a hike, and weight is up again.

I got my hair colored and, woah, a bit dark and unsettling. Good thing it's a wash out product.

Today I get a routine covid 19 testing for work. I'm ready for the q-tip to be jammed up my nose.

Onebyone, I know just what you're talking about. I got to experience doing that type of fire in a class I took.

Bill, good song! I had to read more about her and that line was inspired by her leaving the Jahovah Witness religion.

Curly, the walk sounds about what I did yesterday. My little hike includes a picnic table with a view. Good luck to your son's job hunt.

Joy, I'll be hitting up the store today too. I can't have hummus without bell peppers. It's a rule!

Good Morning,
Phone check in. Life is busy online. My brain is getting lots of food with all the new learning. On the whole I am happy I didn’t retire. It is good to work with the kids. I am sorry they are missing so much ( PE and welding class are online textbooks.) but at least I am here with them.

I have to really watch my food intake. I did go to the gym and walk yesterday.

Wave to all. Thanks for the shout outs.

Evening check-in with my coaches.

I am holding it together, barely, for a low cal day. It's incredible how 5-10 pounds makes such a big difference at the lower end. To go from svelte to bloated so quickly does inspire a more prompt return to goal range.

Maryann, I'm glad school is going well and you are happy with the work.

Coaches

Left for the guild at 6:45am to watch the kiln. The potter who loaded and set the kiln to fire misunderstood what I wanted. When I got there the kiln was where I thought it would be temperature wise at 8 am, not 7 am. It was a great mistake though as I was outta there and back home before 8:30am. I had expected to get back home close to 11.

Once home I felt lost. I didn't know what to do, so I did nothing and frittered the day away. I did read lots of U.S. news. I was alarmed.

Foodwise it was a good op day. Ate well and everything from scratch. Closed the kitchen early.

Weight held the lower number of 278.7. I will stay the course as it is working so long as I stay the course.

Diet Coaches/Buddies - A package arrived with a winter coat for the DGD. A WINTER coat! Seems that DW, in cahoots with the DD, have already chosen the winter coat that we will gift the DGD. Right here in August. "We're not the only ones; the size smaller was already sold out," DW chided me. I'm still waiting for the shorts and Polo shirts that I ordered last week. For summer wear. Takes all kinds, I suppose.

Excitement was DW announcing that her weed-wacker had expired just as she set out to do a chore. Not a great disappointment since she got a solid ten years of use. The challenge was finding a store that sold just the weed-wacker without the charger and battery that she owns in just the right quantity. Yay for the internet; a Home Depot only 11.9 miles away had one. So off we went in my electric car to get exercise by walking the aisles of a gigantic Home Depot to find the RYOBI 18-volt weed-wacker without battery and charger. Did so, but not without digging into the back of a stack of boxes. Feels odd that buying the thing we want is a triumph.

Eating was on plan with no daytime snacks, CREDIT moi. Tomato sandwich for lunch. Dinner on the patio was finishing the pizza from two days ago. Spent some time looking for the crysyllis made by our Monarch Butterfly caterpillar. No joy. We wish it well.


onebyone - Wish I'd avoid reading US News, myself. Kudos for, "Closed the kitchen early."

Joy (gardenerjoy) - Happy shopping day. Seems like a conflict between history and literature for a librarian: History records Macbeth being slain by Malcolm, eldest son of Duncan. Shakespeare, whom you want your kids to read, constructs: "Macduff was the only one who could essentially kill Macbeth as he was born of C-section. Therefore was not technically 'born' but rather taken out of his mother." Can you explain both to the kids without turning them off?

maryann - Glad that it's working for you to be teaching your kids. Massachusetts is still waffling. PE and welding must certainly be a challenge to teach under current restrictions.

curlyjax - I agree - a cool weekend is welcome. Congrats for taking your DS one more step toward adulthood with his first resume.

Penny. - Congrats for experimenting with how you want your hair to look. Ouch for the pain of the Q-tip test for COVID-19.

Readers -

I was feeling lonely last night so I went to get a hot fudge sundae, partly to get out of the house. I have unfortunately found a new place that gives you a lot of hot fudge. These also remind me of my mom since she loved them. I enjoyed every bite and got it out of my system. Then I came home and read a lot of posts about over 50 dating on the reddit site. I am so grateful for the internet; even if you aren't talking directly to other folks, you can know that others have your same feelings and experiences too. I'm not desperate to date, just lonely and frankly it gives me something else to think about.
Today is going to be a purposefully lazy day with some picking up as usual. I never got around to putting away the winter clothes so I guess they can stay put at this point!
Bill-your womenfolk sound on the ball! I always forget to do the seasonal stuff and then there are the dregs left for things like decent gloves. DS managed to destroy our weedwacker since it was a delicate string one, and the string is messed up. I'll let that go until next spring.
Joy- I'm suprised Whole Foods isn't following good protocols, they do in our neck of the woods. Although they don't have the one way arrows on the aisles which I'm glad of, those are a major pain and I'm not convinced it helps with anything.
Penny- the first time my hair was colored, it was really dark and I freaked out. I have come to really like it, and settled on a color which is quite similar to my original brown. Great job checking in when you needed it.
Maryann-good luck with the online teaching. I'm so glad my kids are out of k-12, it sounds very confusing what is going on.
Onebyone-yay for getting home early and for closing the kitchen at night. I have frittered away much time on tv/internet during the pandemic.
Karen-There are a lot of nice soup/stew recipes that use garbonzo beans, but you probably don't want that in the summer. I'm not super motivated to find new recipes right now either, I feel like I need cooler weather for that even though I do have air conditioning thank goodness!

Good morning!

I did manage to finish yesterday on plan. Weight is down a smidgen.

I have absolutely nothing planned for today. Staying on plan with low cal eating will probably take all my focus anyway.

Onebyone, I hope the kiln mistake didn't ruin the stuff.

Bill, that's a bummer you lost track of the caterpillar. I was enjoying reading about its progress.

Curly, I'm getting used to the hair color already. Dating during this pandemic is so weird. I had a virtual meetup yesterday and it was much better than the dry texting back and forth. But, found out quickly she just wanted to be friends and talk about our similar stories. I'm going to have to learn to be much more direct with communication, to know intentions right away.

Shopping went well -- I even got a small package of our brand of toilet paper!

Exercise +40, 675/1400 minutes for August

maryann: I have a friend who retired from teaching -- decision made last fall before any of this. He says that he never expected to feel overwhelming guilt upon retiring. It feels like he left the profession just at the time of its greatest need. So, I'm glad that you didn't retire, too, especially since your finding some satisfying ways of working with kids.

BillBlueEyes: Thanks for the Macbeth thoughts. I tend to forget that the play has a historical basis, so I haven't asked those questions. There's a good little research project some week when I need content for my Friday blog post.

Good afternoon coaches,

I've had a couple of on plan days and weight is trending down. It's amazing how much seeing a lower number lifts my spirits for the day. We took a family dog walk this morning. It was short, but nice to go with dh. I'll probably try to get out hiking again tomorrow. This afternoon we'll go in the pool. I made a vegetarian dish with tofu for dinner last night and we both liked it. I'm thinking the leftovers that are in the fridge will need to go in the garbage though. I purchased the Master Class ap and spent some time listening to David Axelrod and Karl Rove talk about Campaign Strategy and Messaging. It was very interesting to me. I've never been involved in politics, but my Dad was for years. It's something different to do and I can Air Play it onto the big television screen.

GardenerJoy Yay for your brand of TP. It's the little things these days.
Penny I'm glad you're getting used to your hair. I had mine cut quite a bit last time and it just takes a bit to get used to styling it.
Curlyjax A hot fudge sundae sounds delicious. I swear sometimes the best thing to do is just have what you want instead of futzing around eating this and that and eating more calories than the item you wanted would have been. At least that's what I do sometimes. I made a sandwich filling with some of the garbanzo beans. It has sesame seeds, red onion, mayo, dijon mustard and dill in it and is delicious. I'll probably use the rest of them in salads.
Bill Sounds like it's a good thing that dw ordered the winter coat for dgd. I don't even own a winter coat anymore. I hope your summer things arrive soon.
Onebyone Oh for heaven's sake don't read the U. S. News. It's nothing but a downer. I have friends who say if we are ready to move to Canada. One of my best friends lives in Vancouver and I think I'd go there in a minute.
Maryann I'm glad to hear you are busy and you are doing the online teaching. I know dh is so glad to have his work right now. I just hope this pandemic can be tamped down in the not too distant future so that students can be back in school and it will be safe for all.

I hope you're all having a nice weekend. I feel a bit like I'm wishing my life away waiting for cooler temps. I'm a little tempted to get in the car and head north, but I know I won't cause of dh and Otis. I guess I'll just dream about next year.

Karen

Hi Coaches

I was happy to see a new number appear on my scale this morning: 277.3

I am a smidge from 20lbs off.

A smidge I tell ya!!!

Don't know where it will be in the a.m. I had that kind of day that makes you get up and just stare at the contents of the fridge. And I had bits of on plan things at off plan times. My food plan is as much about time as it is about the food itself. So this kind of a bit here a bit there, the grazing, is very destructive if it doesn't get kept in check. Thankfully I reigned it in by reaching out to my sister who is doing what I am doing. I told her I was starting to graze and just saying that took the obsession over food away. It returned a few more times but was manageable. Credit for seeking support in my time of need.

Foodwise/food choice wise I was op.

Guess thats it. I can report I edited the images ony computer that I needed to do.
Tomorrow I will put them online where they need to go. Once done I get to tackle setting up my new WordPress website again. That job is driving me bonkers. I am --->thisclose<--- to hiring an acquaintance to just do it for me already. I resist this because it will serve me well going forward to know how to do this for myself. At this point that seems like wishful thinking... But I will keep going. I have a few more attempts in me yet.

Bye for now.

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Eating was on plan with no daytime snacks, CREDIT moi. Dinner on the patio was a bean, veggies, and pasta salad that we haven't had in years. Was splendid. DW gave it "4 spoons" in her cookbook the last time she made it - but neither of us can remember how long ago that was. After dinner watermelon was eaten inside because it was too chilly to sit longer outside. A welcome, but strange, situation. We continued to look for the caterpillar/chrysalis without finding it.

Walk, CREDIT moi, included stopping at the drugstore. Also planned to stop at a nearby Target so see if they had the dish soap and dishwasher detergent that my supermarket doesn't have. Before going there, I checked the drugstore. Voila! The drugstore, CVS, had the Cascade dishwasher detergent. But, unfortunately, it also had a "Buy one Get one at Half price." This is unfortunate because I don't NEED that much. But it was on sale. And, I had a fistful of coupons for even more money off. So offed me to the checkout counter with two boxes and my coupons. After much ado and the assistance of a store manager, I walked out with two $10 boxes of detergent for $7.50 total. Do love me a bargain.


​​onebyone - A smidge will come; I'm cheering with you. Super Kudos for finding someone to talk to when feeling the need to graze.

Joy (gardenerjoy) - Celebrating with you the small victory of getting your brand of toilet paper. Never, before 2020, would I have thought that I'd want to type that sentence, LOL.

Karen (karenrn) - Neat to get a family dog walk; I assume that no garbage trucks are on the road on weekends. Hope you get into politics. This year's election is so strange that everyone's help is needed.

curlyjax - Ouch for the draw of a hot fudge sundae - but Cheers for its power to satisfy. Neat notion that dating sites provide some satisfaction without having to immediately click the buttons.

Penny. - Kudos for putting your focus on low calorie eating.

Readers -

Good morning!

Yesterday was on plan and weight is back down in the acceptable decade. Two days on plan. Time to make it three.

Onebyone, credit for the weightloss. Smash through that 20 pounds loss goal!

Karen, two days on plan can be harder than one. Credit!

Bill, that is a pretty good deal. We use Cascade too, but I have no idea why, or why we care.

Joy, was it your back you hurt? I hope all is well and exercise is back to norm.

Good Morning, Coaches.

Penny: You really hit the nail on the head. In the lower weight range a few pounds make such a difference. I am four pounds up from ticker this morning. Some could be salt but the rest is simply too many calories. For today, my priority is sticking to a food plan. I will also go to the gym to walk on the treadmill on an incline and do some arm weights. I need to remember the secret is not taking away food but eating the right foods. That practice gets me into the right state of mind.

The boys are up in Tahoe which is beautiful and cool. I have a taste of what Karen is living through with our 108 degree weather yesterday. I have to stay at home today to catch up and prep for my school week. I need to get solid plans in place because on Saturday I fly back with the boys to drop my son at Michigan.

A funny story with online teaching. Our district requires Googlemeets daily. There have been many incidents of "Google bombing" when a kid steals the code, drops in, says profanity or racial slurs, than pops out. I had a kid hop in. I thought he was a second language kid confused so I admitted him. I was about to play a game I had created for a "getting to Know " exercise. Apparently the kid was making farting noises which I didn't hear because of the music in the game. A sweet kid stayed online after the meet to let me know the score. Here is the funny part. The bomber actually played the game and was frustrated by losing because he couldn't answer the final personal question "What trophy did the teacher when in 7th grade?" I thought it was hysterical that the kid stayed in. It is like a thief broke into the house, saw the family playing monopoly and sat down demanding to have his share of tokens and properties. My principal congratulated me on having such engaging curriculum that a student actually wanted to stay.

Wave to all. Beat the heat.