A new week. Good morning!

It's Spring Bank Holiday today in the UK and Memorial Day in the US. Dagmar, you were ahead in Canada last Monday with Victoria Day and Journée nationale des patriotes, I think.

Today I plan to do my exercises, use the foot spa, buy groceries. And continue to wind up my uncle's estate. I'm at the notification stage which just has to be got through. The lawn is desperate to be cut but rain is forecast so that's that for another day. Finally, whatever food I make (unplanned) I'm going to make double or treble for the freezer.

A good 'on plan' Monday and a good 'on plan' week to us all!

Good morning Birchie and everyone else!

I am going off on a very long dog sit this coming Thursday - maybe. My clients might have to CANCEL a 3 week long trip to Spain because of work. Even though they are very wealthy people who have everything I feel sorry for them. All they do is work, work, work. They have no time to enjoy the great piles of money they make. Or their big beautiful house, or their three lovely pets, etc.

I would also like to do this sit as it was going to pay for our much needed new dishwasher (old one is 14 and I'm afraid every time I turn it on) and storm door (Nat took out the screen yet again yesterday - the new one will have a different design to prevent this).

Keeping my that it will work out for them and me.

Good week all!

Dagmar

Quite amazing that between my starting the thread and looking at Dagmar's post just now, there have been 60 views! lurkers! Do come and join us.

Yes, don't be shy! It's always good to hear new voices and new points of view.

Dagmar

Andrea-re last week's conversation...No need to butt out! I just know what I'm willing/not willing to do for life. Def. going for an IE approach, but realistically. I've seen those posts and relate to being "an intuitive overeater". Rather than relying on my own intuition (which will lead me to eat a bunch of cold flour tortillas, for example) I'm just wanting to work with broad guidelines most of the time. Of course I'm not losing wt doing it! I've been posting here and aiming at "volumetric" eating without any suffering or deprivation behaviors since April 4th, approximately, and I have been bouncing around in the same wt range that whole time, without any real change other than what can be explained by hormonal fluctuation. So, I seem to have found a way of eating that is comfortable and will allow me maintain this current wt...but this wt is about 10 lbs heavier than where I was when I bought my entire wardrobe...you can see where this is going.

I'd like to increase my exercise, but struggle to find something that works for my family. I'd also like to improve my housekeeping skills and be a more supportive wife. I've found myself in a funk in my marriage and I realize I haven't been making an effort to join DH in his interests much at all. I've been living a very self-centered lifestyle for a while in many respects.

I'm grateful for the time to reflect on all of this today! I have some new goals to work toward now.

Happy Memorial Day all and Spring Bank holiday!

I hope your dog sit happens, Dagmar.

I'm off from work today and enjoying not doing much with dh. We went to bikram yesterday and the teacher didn't show. Grrr. Trying again today.

Hopefully Ellie will let me get some reading done too.

I'm going to post my goals and focus for the week. I love having Monday off, gives me a chance to refocus!

1. Volumetric-style meals - more veggies and fruits than other components
2. Support DH. Concrete ways include working on reducing my personal house clutter and initiating more outdoor activities with him.

Good morning and happy Memorial Day to all!

Three days of golf! Day one was a bit disappointing as we were at a new course and didn't know what to expect. Day two is an unknown as someone forgot to write down two scores, but we had a good time. Day three was back at our old course and we rocked! One of my best scores this year.

Yesterday we stayed in and watched American Sniper on pay-per-view. Good movie, but it just reinforces my dislike of war. But also reinforces how much we should appreciate those who fight for our freedom.

Came home from golf this morning and did the first day of a new workout using weights and my new stability ball. Boy was that hard! I almost fell off the ball a couple times and didn't master a couple of exercises. I can tell why they're good for the core.

DH is in sewing some screens which he'll install on our gates to prevent DD's dog from escaping our yard. She's coming to visit next weekend.

We're staying in today for the rest of the day. I'll heat up leftover lamb sliders with a veggie and bean salad for lunch. I'm not sure if I'll cook dinner tonight or we'll do leftover vegetable lasagna.

In an effort not to be a lurker, I am posting despite feeling like I have nothing to say.

It is currently 5:30 pm and I am feeling that typical Sunday-late-afternoon disgruntlement (yes I know it's Monday) of knowing that very little time is left before I go back to work and feeling like nothing I can do is sufficiently wonderful to maximize the joy of the last few hours. I worked about 3 hours today, revising my NIH biosketch to the new format (required for all grant submissions), as well as adding some slides to the talk I have to give on Friday. It's still not complete, but now within spitting distance. I also feel virtuous for having worked out all 3 days of the long weekend. And tidied up/put away a variety of papers and odds and ends around the house.

I will now try to do some recreational reading before dinner. Have a good day everyone.

Haha, sometime lurker, rare poster on maintenance here...
I work nights so my schedule is sometimes a bit wonky as I try to live a 'normal' life with my husband (who gets up to go to work when I get home, lol) on my days off. That makes for somewhat weird eating and since I am going through menopausal symptoms (mainly unconventional periods at odd times - when they happen at all) that affects my food cravings too. I'm low carbing as that seems to work best for me. It's how I lost the weight in the first place and since I have to be gluten free, it's not really all that difficult. I've read some interesting studies on ketogenic eating for sport performance so I'm trying to incorporate that more into my lifestyle. My nightwork involves a lot of brisk walking as I do a Security beat for businesses and gov't offices and am on my feet 4 out of 8 hours - driving 80 km around town the rest of the time from site to site. I also like to go to Aquacize classes and work hard in them.
My bone density test a couple days ago was outstanding if I say so myself, lol. For a 51 y.o. I have healthy normal density 20 y.o. bones. This is actually an improvement over last year's test, as then I tested at 25 y.o. I will certainly never be one of those frail little old ladies who fall over and die from a broken hip. The technician/pharmacist thought I was a runner, but I explained the principle of resistance in the water making the big difference for me while still allowing me to work at a pain-free level (fibromyalgia).
So there you go... all you need to know about me
Time to get into the garden and pull rhubarb before the 3 plants totally take over my backyard...
Liana

Liana

Good to see you here! And now you're here, let me ask you about security. I'm the executor of my uncle's (Uncle A) will which includes an estate with a house. Uncle B has left the house with blinds open so you can see right through for four months. It was obviously unoccupied. I have now closed the blinds and the front bedroom curtains (normal behaviour along this row of houses in the summer as the sun beats in hard). I've put a low energy bulb in the light on the landing and left it on all the time. And I've put a timer on a bedside light (also low energy) in the back bedroom. Now I'm worrying about whether the 1960s wiring can take the landing light being on all the time. What do you think? What does anyone else think? It's a low crime area in a small town. It's probably silly of me to worry but I have a lot on my plate at present and I have to let the worry escape somewhere!

Andrea, good to see you and very interesting to have a peep into your holiday weekend. Recreational reading sounds lovely. I cram it in at the end of the day, before I turn out the bedside light.

Have a good Tuesday, everyone. I have a list a yard long which I intend to tackle one thing at a time. Talking of virtuous, I got up at 6.30 am and have done a full weights routine. I am hoping this will me through the day.

Birchie I deal with some security issues when I cat sit. To make a house look occupied I make sure all mail and flyers come inside with me when I arrive, different lights are left on on different days, grass is cut in summer, snow shovelled in winter (though now I leave that to the owner's other helpers), and I check the outside perimeter of the house quickly for signs of someone trying to enter through windows, doors, etc. every couple of days. If there are unlocked windows on the lower levels in back I check those every day. Most of my clients have blinds so I try to open and shut a selection of those as well.

Dagmar

Yesterday just seemed like an additional Sunday, and I felt the familiar unhappiness & uneasiness as the working week approached.

I got away to see a stylized, slightly trippy French film, "Saint Laurent," about the designer, but the rest of the day was all domestic chores.

Sometimes on Sundays, I feel like I'm running around on a ship that's in danger of sinking, trying to shore it up for the week to come: Provisions, clean quarters, clean clothes, errands run, etc.

As for making a home look lived-in, when my mother unexpectedly had to spend five months tending to me, her neighbors brought in mail, set timers on the lights and above all, made sure her driveway & sidewalk was shoveled. Sometimes they'd park their cars in her driveway, too.

I'm kind of dreading going into work today and I don't know why. Maybe it's because I'd prefer another day off. This week will be busy with paying month-end bills and sending out invoices to customers.

I can feel the results of my weight workout yesterday and I'm happy about that. I didn't get up early to work out today because I plan on doing the workout this evening while DH sews. He found some leftover solar material (used for outdoor window shades) in the warehouse last week and decided to create panels to put on our gates to prevent DD's dog from escaping between the grids. He did four yesterday and has one more to do. I want him to do it tonight (and maybe attach it tomorrow night). We don't have anything planned for tonight so it'll be perfect--him working on that and me working out. I plan on adding a few more exercises to the routine today.

Birchie~I think what you've done so far will be fine in the security department. I can't imagine that leaving a porch light on 24/7 would be bad. I would think the constant on/off would be worse for wiring.

My dd lives in Houston and was in San Antonio over the long weekend. She drove home yesterday and I was a nervous wreck due to all of the extreme weather Texas is having. She made it home safely and they have cancelled her school today so she is getting a vacation from her vacation.

Somehow Dewey hurt his paw yesterday playing with Ellie. He is such a baby. He just held it up last night and looked miserable. We gave him one of Ellie's pain pills (it's just an anti-inflammatory) and he is somewhat better this morning, though still favoring it. He has been hating her since the vet as she came home smelling FUNKY-- I assume it is the gas anesthesia they gave her. He was finally starting to like her again and then he did this. Poor Ellie is still wearing the cone of shame but she is pretty used to it now. She starts puppy class next Thursday and should still be wearing the cone (until her stitches come out) but we may give her a break so she isn't shunned by the other puppies!

I need to seriously focus on my healthy habits this week as I'm staying a couple of pounds over my redline.

Dh and I went to yoga yesterday and my least favorite teacher was there. I thought she had stopped teaching but I guess she was filling in for the holiday. Luckily the owner was also there taking class so she was much better than in the past-- the teachers are always on their best behavior when the owners are in the class.

I only have a few weeks until my cruise so I need to get focused!

My first day at work without classes. I have to get all of the books back, put back on the shelves, do inventory, etc. I'm hoping I'll get a good amount of steps registered on my fitbit!