Up, way way up, to 154.6 this morning, which put me in a gloomy mood, when I was already unhappy because I spent much of Sunday working and exchanging emails with the head of our branch of the service org, who was also working on Sunday. But there's no satisfaction in this, because it's simply expected.

It's rainy, I can't find any umbrellas in my packed-up apartment (I think they're in a closet that's behind several pieces of dining room furniture), I've got too much to do on deadline and meetings, and I am sad about the bombs going off this past weekend.

I immediately thought of you when I heard about the bombings, Saef. I remember a time when this didn't happen here in the US, and now it seems all too commonplace. Very sad. I'm sorry you are struggling. Any more updates on temporary housing or your apartment?

I forgot my lunch this morning in the flurry of getting out the door with DSS on the way to school. We had to suddenly fire the GM at our flagship location this weekend, so I've been running around crazy all morning dealing with the fallout and paperwork from that. At the same time, the payroll manager from the same location is off on a scheduled three day vacation and I'm covering her and running her payroll, and an employee on WC who has retained an attorney has been hounding me with calls all day that I can't answer. Not a great day to have no lunch. I don't need take out. I don't need take out. I have yogurt, canned salmon and a mini bag of popcorn in my desk drawer. I can make this work. (I'm saying this in my head to the 'just keep swimming' mantra sound.)

Quick check-in from the road. I'm doing pretty well at staying on track. The difference is, I think, that work has settled down. I have a steady client with interesting work - and that means I don't have to keep looking for new contracts. Having to do that fractures my attention and, as you know, I don't do well with multi-tasking. So I have spare capacity to focus on weight loss.

I weigh myself every day and I've just started to measure myself every week. Horrific figures. Remind me, if I lose weight (and lift weights), I'll get smaller, won't I??

Stick with it, everyone.

Birchie You will get smaller. :sklol:

Dagmar :dizzy:

My day turned out to be not so great at all. DH took Trixie for a walk to a local nature trail yesterday and a big unleashed dog ran up to them and smashed Trixie to the ground before DH could react. Trixie was on leash. The owner of the big dog had about 6 kids and another big dog with her and ignored the event.

Turns out Trixie was hurt, as I found out on our walk this morning. She probably has a bruised hip/leg. Fortunately I had some pain meds at home and started her on them after a gentle walk. Reduced exercise and on leash walks for her this week and I'm sure she'll be fine.

I was quite worried about her and didn't really enjoy this summery but cooler day. She seems a lot better this evening so I'm hoping tomorrow will be a good day for all of us.

Dagmar :(

Dagmar-- I hope Trixie is ok.
That is so frustrating!
I take my dogs on a trail walk multiple times a week. I always have them leashed. It is rare that we do the walk without seeing off leash dogs. It drives me crazy. Most will put a leash on when they see us coming but we've had nasty dogs run right up to us many times. Doesn't help Ellie with her anxiety issues. I have been known to say some not so nice comments out loud while walking-- like I'm talking to my dogs-- "Oh, yes, I see those dogs are off leash guys. No, I don't know why when there are leash laws"....

Speaking of dogs, I woke up at midnight when I turned over in bed and somehow tossed poor Dewey off the bed. He must have been tangled in the sheets or comforter. I felt awful but he seems fine today.

Picture day at school-- hope I smile pretty! I lost my name badge last week and it hasn't turned up so I've felt quite naked.

Dh comes home tomorrow.... the dogs will lose their mind. They always do when he's been gone for a long time. Like I think they give up on him ever coming back and then their dreams come true! I'm eager for him to see Charlotte, my kitty with kidney disease. I think she's doing okay but I'm not sure if it's wishful thinking on my part so I want to see what he thinks after not seeing her for several weeks. She is very tiny now.

I was 90.5 pounds today, which means that the screws in the scale platform need to be tightened. This is a shame because I'd thought I'd have lost a pound or so of water weight from Sunday's meal.

I have a tension headache of a kind that I haven't experienced in many months and of course, too much to do by the time the working day ends.

At my mother's. Two meals and two sets of indigestion. I am putting this down to little sleep last night (I got up early to avoid the rush hour in getting here) and a lot of driving. But it happens regularly here and I try to avoid it by eating less. Then I get both exhausted and ragingly hungry. I don't want that to happen this time.

I'm going to try my small amount of cider vinegar in warm water indigestion remedy.

It seems as though some of us are struggling with external forces at present.

External forces are battering me around right now, for sure.

OMG external circumstances! I woke up at 1 AM last night and tossed and turned for hours due to an external circumstance that I really have no way of controlling. Here's the deal: each year, when our general liability insurance is renewed, we have to provide an insurance certificate to the state contractor's license board. My insurance agent always emails it to them. They always claim they didn't get it and suspend our license until we send them a hard copy. This ALWAYS happens. No big deal, right? I get the letter of suspension, send in a copy and the suspension is lifted. Well, not this year. My insurance agent has emailed it THREE times (getting an automated email from them that they received it) and I have mailed in a copy of it FOUR times and still, six weeks later, our license is still suspended and now, I can't get my individual city licenses renewed because of the suspension. Tomorrow, I'm going to try and send them a certified letter with another certificate. Meanwhile, my insurance agent is going to start emailing in certificates three or more times a day until the problem is taken care of. This is beyond ridiculous. (And not to mention, you cannot call them and get a live person--all they have are lists of instructions to follow to do something by mail.)

I think a collective AAAARGGHH!$%*& is in order. There, hope we all feel a bit less frustrated now.

Dagmar :grouphug:

Trixie is much better today. I'm going to take her on a longer walk tomorrow morning with just one other older dog and see how she does. She is going up and down the stairs and getting on and off the furniture again with no apparent pain.

I, on the other hand, just had 5 more skin lesions frozen off and they are all aching now. I did a lot of unprotected tanning as a teenager and am now and will be paying for it for the rest of my life. The darn things just keep on coming. They are not dangerous but unsightly and cause problems when clothing rubs against them.

Tomorrow morning's shower will be an adventure. OUCH!

Dagmar :tired:

Oh dear, everyone.

Today was unusual. No need for tomorrow to be unusual. Mum suggests a fish pie she made a while ago which is in the freezer. My sister says it will be fine as long as it's Very Hot. OK. I will focus on not having indigestion. I will also focus on eating enough to keep myself going.

Good luck. These things are sent to try us.

Fish pie update. It could be a shepherd's pie. We shall see but Very Hot is still the name of the game.

As it's difficult, if not impossible, to get away from the causes of indigestion, I have a new plan*. My mother is 91 and a number of things have to be done immediately. That means I jump about a lot. And difficult subjects are discussed - not conducive to relaxed eating.

*New plan is to eat double breakfast, a time when I'm less likely to be disturbed. It's calorie loading for the day so I have fuel to do what's needed and can eat less later (as I want to) to avoid indigestion and raging hunger. I'll see how it goes. It's only for a few days.