Good morning everyone. Its another gloomy day here in Michigan. It was so disappointing to pick up my bike yesterday in the middle of the sleet and snow. I'm hoping I can take it for a short ride tomorrow. It'll be a bit chilly but I really want to ride.

I'm doing well with staying OP. I've caught the cold everyones been passing and I'm feeling a bit yucky today so I'm taking a break from exercise. I hope that helps me feel better for tomorrow. I'm taking a painting class this afternoon so I'm off to gather my materials.

Have a great one.

Hi everyone, I wish I hadn't weighed this morning. My scale is up a lb. and it did depress me. I've not been eating over 1300 cal's a day and exercising as much as I can. I actually felt thinner before I stepped on the stupid scale. I need to hide my scale and just not weigh until after my Dr.'s appt. on 4-27. All it is doing is making me depressed while I'm doing the best that I can possiibly do.

It's sunny outside today so I'm going now to plant my marigolds and tend to all the dead plants in my garden.

My 2 grandson's will be here this evening so I need to get everything done now that needs to be done.

Hi everyone,

Between work and my play that is 2 weekends from now I've been quite busy, which is why I've been MIA. Food has varied from good to ok to bad and back. There is something wrong with one of my feet - possibly tendonitis - and it's been growing steadily more painful for a few months so I've imposed my own no-impact cardio rule for a few weeks. I've been lifting weights, doing strength training, and trying to walk a mile or two here and there. Not working out has been hard for me, and working out helps keep me mentally on-track and motivated to eat well, so I've been having some more food challenges. The scale is at 145 today (still higher than I'd like, but about where I've been for several months) but it's been fluctuating up and down, and the only costume they could find for me for the play is sooo tight and can't be let out. So I'm doing ok, but am frustrated w/ my foot.

ArtsyGirl, I got a bike last summer and love it! Have fun with yours.

Lily, it is definitely possible to keep the weight off! There are many in this forum who are living proof.

joyofsix, I hope you feel better soon.

Pat, glad no one was hurt in the accident.

Hi to everyone else!

Lily - don't beat yourself up, maybe you should hide that evil scale if it makes you feel bad.
You're doing a great job.:D

-S

Tonight, my art group Fiber Revolution http://www.fiberrevolution.com is having an opening of our current exhibition. It's at least an hour and a half drive north for me and I've been feeling like a slug all day.

I know I'll enjoy being with my friends and seeing our artwork hung in two gallery spaces. I just need to get some zip in my step.

Carolyn, I feel like a slug today too!

I had to skip the gym yesterday because I needed to do extra work, and today I am just exhausted for some reason. My wrists are bugging me from the extra work last night and my neck hurts because I had to rearrange my monitors. Plus it is dark outside from clouds -- it was SNOWING this morning! :eek: What happened to the 80 degree temps from a couple weeks ago? Hopefully a workout after work will pick me up.

I'm going to the doctor tomorrow morning for my annual pap test and checkup... Hopefully I won't weigh in too much more than last time, but I am guessing it will be a few pounds. It's kind of bad that I am still suffering from the same problems as last year (wrists, etc), except that my hair has finally started growing in thicker instead of falling out.

Starting next month I will be traveling all over. May 10-13 NYC for my sister's law school graduation, May 26-28 Boston for a friend's wedding, June 8-10 Boston for another friend's wedding. Then a local wedding two weeks after that one. Plus somewhere in there I will need to be moving into our house assuming everything goes okay.

Does anyone else hate going to the optometrist? I hate how I have to go every year since my contact lens prescription expires. My eyes don't really change anymore, can't they just give me a two-year prescription? Mostly I'm just grumpy since I have to do it soon since I only have one pair of contacts left (2-week disposables, and I don't have recent glasses). At least it's not like when I was a kid and needed a new prescription every six months or I couldn't see.

There are just so many things to take care of lately it's overwhelming. We need to start moving on booking a honeymoon (wedding is Oct 6), which means we need to decide where we're going. Choices are limited because of the season, but we're leaning toward New Zealand at the moment. Anyone know of any neat places (outside the US) where the weather is still good in October?

Jessica~I hear you about going to the optometrist every year. My Dad is an optometrist, and it was much easier when he was still in practice (call him up and he'd send the lenses!). Now we have a guy locally and he's really nice but likes to talk a lot when we go in there....anyway, he changed the brand of my soft lenses and I swear, I can wear them for 3 days (I take them out at night) and by the 4th day I just can't see out of them very well. And I'm not going to want to throw them away after that short of time--too expensive! The other brands seemed to last longer. Oh, and the last appt, he decided I needed an eyedrop to help with seasonal allergies. Because he's an optometrist, he doesn't have a DEA license, so my insurance won't pay for the drops and a .5 ml bottle cost me $101.49!!! Next time I'll take the prescription to my general practitioner and have him re-write it so my insurance will cover it!!!

Oh, New Zealand! My DD went there 2 years ago--she loved it. Also nice that time of year is Mexico--on the western coast rather than the gulf coast (I think the gulf coasts might still be in hurricane mode at that time).

Jessica, there's always Australia, but that's as far and as expensive as NZ. I don't know much about southern European countries, temperature wise. I did go to Grand Caymans in early November once and it was very nice there, though we did later get caught at the edge of a hurricane (I was on a cruise) off east coast of Mexico.

Yesterday, I was finally able to get my act together and drive the almost 2 hours to the gallery opening. I'm so glad I went. The exhibition is hung beautifully and the artwork is wonderful. I'm so proud of my group.

Today, I must go to the post office and mail out our taxes. We owe $4,000 between 2006 & 2007 1st Quarter Estimate. Ouch! Then I have to get blood work done to make sure my meds haven't damaged my liver.

Tonight, DH comes back from our North Jersey apartment and we go to a Swing and Hustle dance party. Lots of fun.

Jessica ~ I've been to New Zealand twice while on the two world cruises. Loved it both times.

Carolyn, that's about what we wrote checks for too! My DH mailed them last week as we had another large check for our property taxes (due 4/2) so he did them all at once. Uncle Sam must have been surprised to get ours early - we usually pay them on the day! :) Glad the gallery exhibit was good.

Is everyone feeling less sluglike today? I had a good HIIT workout on the elliptical last night (and then cleaned house for an hour) so I am still feeling good from that. Tomorrow I do a 3 hour walk in training with my TNT team. I am a little concerned about dressing - we're starting at 8 am and the temps here have been in the 20's still at that hour. Guess I need several layers!

It sounds like fun weekend plans for everyone. I'm still sick. I've spent what seems like hours with my head over a steamer to breathe. I must have really clean pores by now though. I'm hoping a couple more days of rest will help me kick this thing. The weather is supposed to be yucky, so it's not like there's anything to do outside anyway. It also makes it easy to pawn off soup and sandwiches as dinner, lol.

You guys don't even want to know what we had to pay to the IRS! I'm thinking that it would pay for DD's 4 year college (tuition AND board). It is really sad. All the paperwork makes it look like we're really rollin' in the dough, but all the money we "made" ended up going to taxes. Sure we got our salaries, but not any more than that.

Carolyn~glad to hear the show went well! Congrats.

Lisa~so sorry you're still under the weather. It's all that much harder because you really can't take anything to ease the symptoms. Does herbal tea help at all (or even hot water with lemon and honey)?

I got lucky this year with the IRS -- since my income more than doubled halfway through the year (yay for real jobs instead of grad school stipends!) I got a refund!

Allison, your optometrist sounds like a pain! :lol: The only optometrist I feel comfortable with is the one I went to growing up, but since I moved out of California I obviously can't go to him anymore!

Lisa, I hope you feel better soon!

Pat, we are considering Australia too. We're avoiding the gulf coast because it will be still hurricane season and we really don't want to risk it! The pacific coast of Mexico might be an option though. At the moment we're both so stressed out from work that Tahiti is sounding better and better...

I don't feel like a slug as much today, but instead I've got a headache. :p One of my coworkers who I work closely with a lot has been sick and I'm afraid I might be getting her cold. Or maybe it is a reaction to the vaccines I had at the doctor's office this morning (2nd dose of Hep A, 1st of HPV).

Speaking of the doctor, they weighed me in at 141. :mad: Granted, I had eaten, was fully dressed including shoes and a sweater, and was wearing my splints on both arms. Still, I think last time I weighed in at 136 under similar conditions. Will I never lose these stupid 5 lbs?? I guess it doesn't help that I keep sneaking extra food.

Jessica~I can't say that my optometrist is a pain--he's actually good to work with. We often do "trades." Like when his kids throw the baseball through their window, we'll replace it and get some free exams and lenses. I think the last time he needed a new dining room table top (glass) and we got 4 exams, 4 pairs of glasses and 3 6-month supplies of soft contacts! And just this year, we sent my In-laws to him and it turns out we "might" be distantly related! Too funny! He's also from Salt Lake where we're from but moved to Palm Desert around the time we moved here.