Hey Megan! No criticism! Just seemed like a lot of work to find a good path between your family's TG traditions and the friends who had custody. Good outcome! :hug:

Shannon - you are quite right. Milk chocolate Santas are not worth it. They really do not cut the mustard at all. Well done!

:wave: to all.

Things are looking good here tho' scales are stuck. Work trip to London tomorrow & Friday - food could go either way. I'll let you know.

ICU, I didn't respond earlier to your pedometer question. I don't actually use one, so I can't recommend one. I know the mileage of my routes from paying attention when driving in my car, as these are roads I drive often, and also I've mapped some of then on this "mapping running routes" website.

I got a new iPod mini, the latest generation, a few months ago when my old one died, and it does have a pedometer which I believe is a new function with this generation, if you have a new iPod or are thinking of getting one. Actually that reminds me I meant to figure that function out, but was so busy when I got it didn't have time to sit and play too much, and forgot about it! I'll have to play with it later today as I've got a powerwalking/running workout planned.

Oh, I've been looking and :drool: over the new iPod minis/nanos. My 1gb is fine for the gym, but it's 5 years old, and doesn't have all the cool new things. :)

hey chicks, down to 129, progress...

I like the google maps mileage counter
www.gmap-pedometer.com

love it, in fact :)

POP yesterday! Woohoo!

Went for another run this morning since I knew it was going to rain in the evening. Didn't go very far -- I don't have good energy for running when I haven't eaten anything yet. My legs felt like lead weights! Even the dog didn't want to go, he went and hid behind a chair when he saw me putting on my running clothes! :lol: (He came out when I jingled his leash though, and pulled me along on the run.)

In other news, my arms and shoulders are super-sore after yesterday's NRLW workout. Legs, blissfully, are not (probably because I don't have barbells or a squat rack, so I couldn't use weights heavy enough for leg exercises). Maybe I should just only do upper body strength, that way I will never be too sore to run! :lol: JK.

I did sign up for the swimming lessons. It starts January 11!

Megan, thanks! I was going to do a 4-year anniversary post but totally forgot. 5lbs of water weight is a lot! I will change my xmas goal to 2lbs too. Much more reasonable, especially since I'm still hovering at 140.4.

Hi guys!
Congrats on the swim team, ICU! :cheer:
Shannon, WTG POP!!

I tend to have my routes already...I have 5 3-3.5 mile routes that I almost always run. I like GMAPS pedometer for when I venture out though. I've been trying to think of a Christmas gift for DD #1 (17 yo, doesn't have any burning desire for any particular gift) and I read on teh Dec Runners thread about the Garmin heart monitor/pedometer. I think I'll look into that for her.

I need to crack down on my food....so what else is new. The scale was inexplicably up 3 lbs today from yesterday. But I am also sore, TOM, and retaining water. Blah.

ETA: Have fun in London, sliver!! (I'm sooooo jealous!!! I'd like to trot off to London for a work meeting. Sigh.....)

About the running routes -- I use http://www.mapmyrun.com. It uses google maps and lets you keep a set of maps and a training log. Basic accounts are free, but if you have a GPS or something you want to integrate with it you can do it with a paid account (I'm cheap, I have the free account). It also records other types of workouts if you want a general training log, although with the free account you can only access three months of history. It has a bunch of variants (mapmyfitness, mapmyride, mapmytri) but they are all essentially the same thing.

Quick post to say I'm going to bed *slightly* hungry and that is always a good thing for me. We'll see.

Midwife: I'm leaving on the 9:22 train. You can make it if you hurry. I'm going to have my hair cut. OH YES!! Then we'll hit the West End.

Work? :rofl:

I'm jealous. The closest "big city" I could jet off to is Seattle, and that's a $400, 3.5 hr trip.

Pat, I'm hurt. :wink:

It's a 3.5 hour trip too. I actually do have a work meeting too but, well, I'm trying to fit in some other stuff too. Will lug a bale of hand-me-downs for the DB back from my friends.

Defensive? Moi?

I'll reserve a whole train carriage and we could have a 'works' outing!

Oh, oh, oh, shopping in London - I'm your gal!! :) Bet ya Midwife would come too. It's oh, only a 12 hour flight to London... Can I make it by tomorrow midday???

Can I come too??

I am here to electronically pat myself on the back. 2 days POP!!!! :)

have a great day, all :)

I never even thought about the iPod - THANKS! I bought an iPod Touch 3rd gen (32G) in mid-October when I went under 150 (my original goal) the first (ahem) time. As the commercial says - "there's gotta be an app for that"! The very first thing I loaded on it is the LoseIt app, and it's replaced my paper food journal.

Wow, am I tired from last night's swim. I forgot how incredibly unforgiving that swimming with handpaddles is - just a couple of degrees off on the hand entry and it's like dislocating your shoulder. Note to self- do the pulling at the BEGINNING of the workout before getting too tired to do it right ...

I want to go to London too!!! Too bad it is $900 and an 11-hour flight (or longer, depending on the layover, there are no direct flights from here). :p DH and I wanted to go to the UK for our honeymoon but weather-wise it was a bad time of year. We still want to go -- he wants to spend an entire week at the British Museum and I want to admire the scenery in Scotland! :lol:

Pat, my nearest really big city is Chicago which is a 3.5 hour drive from here. On the other hand, Indianapolis is bigger than Seattle! Although less popular. ;)

I have friends in London, I've threatened to come visit them before. One day I'm going to have to follow through on the threat. :)