I agree Saef, post anything you want, good, bad, whatever. We're here.

saef, at least it's not the slough.

People who say "You can do anything you put your mind to" have never been in an actual disaster situation. They are talking about mundane things, the tiny challenges of daily life.

Most of us are facing only those daily challenges, but sometimes we treat them as though they really are a crisis. They're not.

saef, you know what a real disaster is. Whatever you are facing at work, it's not that.

Jay

saef, JZJ - I'm glad you found something you could use there. I've been in that low spot before, and the community at 3FC has always had a lifeline. I am just tossing out the ideas that have been tossed to me in the past. You may be in the trough - just know that all the rest of us are up here on the walls cheering you on!

Yeah, I have the same problem with certain sayings. They need some tiny print at the bottom, along the lines of "Exclusions where dictated by the laws of physics." If I could create teleportation or clone myself, I'd have done it by now.

Battling bad allergies or perhaps a cold.
I was at a library conference all day yesterday and didn't work out. I'm going to yoga today no matter what!

I've always loved handing out Halloween candy in the past but dh and I aren't in the mood. I think we will hand out to the early kids and then go out for sushi. We've never done it before but we'll leave a big bowl of candy on the front steps with a note. Dh leaves again for China on Saturday so we can't go out Friday night as he'll be packing.

I have a sore throat and a headache. I wasn't at work yesterday due to my conference so now I need to catch up. But first-- our Halloween parade. I'm dressed as the Library Dragon. Hope the kids get it.

Ok Michele, now I feel stupid -- the library dragon? Sorry you don't feel well, and I could TOTALLY go for sushi, but DH is out supervising a group of 8-9 year olds as they go around an adjacent neighborhood. Meanwhile, today is my birthday and, just like every year since I've had kids of trick-or-treating age, my birthday is spent eating leftovers (because everyone is too busy to cook, and I won't partake of the pizza that the kids get), answering the doorbell, and getting a quick "happy birthday" along with a card shoved into my hand as the boys run out the door on the stroke of 6 to get maximum candy opportunities.

Saef, know that I feel entirely empathetic to your pain, and guilty as ****. I feel like my posts were part of the instigation for your current mental state (I know you're attributing it to work stress), and I'm truly sorry for any role that I played.

Andrea... It's a children's book. I don't know how to link it here but you can google or look on amazon if you're interested. The author is Carmen Agra Deedy.

And happy birthday btw! Can you ask to celebrate your birthday on the weekend? I would hate my birthday being on Halloween.

Now I'm ticked and irritated. I drove to yoga and there was a sign that there was no class. I don't know if they couldn't get a teacher or they thought no one would come but several people were driving away. I'm waiting for dh to get home to go to sushi and he's already much later than he said he would be. I'm not feeling great and I've over eaten grapes today so I'm feeling huge. When I don't feel well I tend to overeat. Anyone else do that? I was hoping to sweat things out at yoga but no such luck.

If I'm smart I won't get on the scale tomorrow, but knowing me I will.

Happy belated birthday, Andrea.

No trick or treaters last night (as usual). DH and i had a nice relaxing dinner and watched TV without interruption, so that much was good.

I didn't go grocery shopping last weekend and my food reserves are running low. I can't get to the store until tomorrow, so we'll either have the very last vegetable I have (acorn squash) and team it with steak or scallops or we'll go out for dinner tonight.

I'm still hanging in there weight-wise. No loss, but no gain. Still not sure when I'll get back into the loss mode. I've been tracking and am coming in around 1800-1900 calories every day, but I think I need to look closer at the carb/protein/fat numbers.

Happy Belated Birthday, Andrea!

And happy Samhain for those so inclined.

We never have trick or treaters, and this year we didn't even have the neighborhood hayride the weekend before. So there is no candy in my house, for which I'm grateful. I have been dabbling in the sugars, and have not liked what it's done to my appetite or mindset (always thinking about it).

Andrea, a belated happy birthday, and please, do not feel guilty, as you simply posted information. I'm the one who took it to heart and provided the negative interpretation.

You are all so kind. Thanks for your patience with me during this rather self-absorbed period that I'm going through.

I'm feeling a little better, having lost just over a pound this Friday, compared with last Friday, while being fully hydrated and without being punitively restrictive.

It's probably not a coincidence that over the past two days, work feels more manageable, as my new hire should sign her offer letter and FedEx or fax it back today -- so I'll no longer be interviewing candidates on the phone, or suiting up and heading to our CT office to do in-person interviews, on top of everything else I've usually got to do.

But I have a lot of documents to read through and comment on, for my direct reports, and to write, so I'll get off here quickly.

Backwards progress on the scale last week by 0.9. We had our practice meet yesterday and I am seeing the benefits of coached workouts - most of my times are well within state top 3 already. I actually beat one of the times I had in Atlanta in 2010, much to my surprise! So, the lonely widdle scale gets to take a back seat, poor thing.

Congrats, what a great feeling! Put that scale in the WAY back seat.

Happy belated birthday Andrea! Hope you did something fun this weekend to celebrate.

My halloween went badly. I was riding my bike home from work and a car hit me. He only hit my front tire fortunately. The unfortunate thing is that I was going downhill pretty fast at the time. So I flew over the bars and landed on my hands and face. My guardian angel was with me, I only have a hairline fracture of a bone in the base of my thumb, a bad wrist sprain, and some impressive abrasions and bruises. I didn't even lose any teeth, only cracked a crown.

I spent the weekend feeling sorry for myself, and eating unhealthy things. I did go for two long walks though, so I at least got some exercise. I should be able to start running again soon, the soreness is wearing off and the splint shouldn't be a problem. I need to not let this be an excuse for total abandonment of healthy habits.

JZJ~OMG! How awful! I'm so glad you weren't hurt more!

Oh JayZee, I'm so glad that you are okay!

As I've just said to Michele, good gracious, JayZeeJay, how absolutely dreadful. Glad your guardian angel wasn't sleeping on the job.

Becky, you are a star. Quite excellent. And was it really 2010 that you were in Atlanta? oh oh oh.

Andrea, happy birthday! Have you thought about having a name day celebration instead? Or formalising some other day?

I am back from the Continent. I eat out so rarely but I'm always reading here about people who do. So that's how I've managed not to worry that I'm buckling my watch on a different hole. Salt, sodium, whatever you call it has to be at the back of this. I'm not weighing myself for ages yet.

It's busy here. The house is in uproar as the sitting room was replastered whilst we were away. It's damp as the plaster is still going off, there are mountains of laundry (holiday, before holiday, plaster dust impregnated). I've lit the fire, opened the windows, put the washing on the line, and shut the windows, put on the dehumidifier, taken in the washing. My aunt has died (expected but the effects of death on everyone else are never straightforward) so I'm waiting to hear when the funeral will be. It's at the other side of the country and we're going to have to plan logistics. I need a hair cut.

But. I have put a chicken and tomato casserole in the oven so we'll eat properly in an hour or so. And the SO and I have worked out new ways of making sure I don't do too much cooking/housework/etc/etc, and have time to do things I want to do. And work.

Yay on beating your times, Becky! Woo! Wow, has it been that long since you were here? Time sure flies.

Sorry about your aunt, Birchie.