My lower weight seems to have stuck and be stuck-- I've been the same exact weight for 3 days in a row.
Thinking it will be higher tomorrow though as I'm going to dinner with a friend. It's a local restaurant that I've heard is great and she loves. She says I can eat healthy there but the menu looked limited and not too healthy. There was one fish option so I'll probably go with that. We are also eating late for me so weight will probably go up as a result. I am planning on the gym first so hopefully I'll get in a good workout at least.

154.7. Do I really have to move my ticker up to 155?

At the end of August, I'd wanted to be below 150.

I have an interview via Skype on Monday, though it's a preliminary screening, I know. This is what happens where I work, too: HR vets the candidates at least once before they get to me.

Good luck with the interview, Saef!!

As expected my stuck weight unstuck and moved higher after dinner out last night. At least it was only .8 higher so hopefully a weekend with good food choices and lots of exercise will move it back the other way.

Good luck with the interview, saef. Hopefully, this will turn into something good for you.

My weight remains unchanged after that quick little drop and then return. It's really sucky.

I'm at 154.6 this morning and daunted by the coming working week: That interview, and then teaching a day & a half class on writing for newly hired analysts. It's tiring to be on "on." The class format has changed since I last taught it, and the previous round, taught by my former protegee, got the best rating ever. So I feel like I have something to live up to.

I'll check on the apartment today and see how the mold remediation work is going.

Down a bit to 153.7.

Yesterday, at my apartment, two rooms were still tented in sheets of plastic with a Department of Health insignia, dehumidifiers roaring away, and a posted warning that no one but authorized personnel can enter those zones. This is progress. I feel weirdly vindicated by this, as I've second-guessed my decision to move out of my apartment almost immediately and into a hotel room that the insurance company reserved for me. The remediation company must have agreed it's bad. After having salvaged stuff in a similar environment after the major flood, I had a sense of how disgusting and unhealthy it was.

I'll see a play today, but the day off is difficult to enjoy when I know I'll have to be "on" for three days next week. I won't feel at peace until the class I've got to teach is over, maybe not till Thursday with the staff meeting is over. I keep telling myself, "Just do the best you can, that's all you can do, just be okay and average, don't worry so much about living up to the occasion." That only helps for a little while.

Down another fraction to 153.6. This wasn't a strenuous workout day, but I did spend the afternoon occupied. Saw a musical that I liked a lot. Someone's gone and made a musical of a large portion of Tolstoy's "War and Peace." It's called "Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812." It was funny, smart and very Russian-novelish. And maybe I am out of touch with the world because I didn't know who Josh Groban is, and he's playing Pierre.

My interview is this afternoon but I still don't know who's calling who or how we'll Skype.

I am also recovering from hearing that a colleague who worked for my company for nearly 25 years lost her job this past Friday due to a reorg. I'm surprised at my ability to be surprised.

(oops, thought I posted this last night but didn't)

Saef, best wishes for your teaching and for your interview. I completely understand what you mean about being "on". That is most of my day, in different formats and different areas/levels of expertise, and it's quite exhausting. And it's hard to follow a popular act. Here at my new job, one of my coworkers is very focused on the teaching as it's her primary function, and she's quite entertaining in her teaching sessions. Her style is totally different from mine, and I couldn't imitate her if I tried as it would be awkward and unnatural for me.

It was a pretty good weekend, the rain held off which was great (it's back now of course). We mushroom hunted all day Saturday with friends who are extremely knowledgeable in that area. Of course it took me an hour to clean the mushrooms afterward, then my first attempt at cooking the chanterelles wasn't very good anyway. Maybe they need to dry longer? Sunday I went for a 12 mile run. Ate a bit too much crap after but not terrible. Weight was up a bit to 145. I hate that it's entirely in my waist, the difference between here and 10 lbs lighter.

Thanks for the good wishes, JZJ. I do think there are many effective teaching styles. When I look back on teachers and mentors whom I've admired, mostly poets and novelists from my former MFA program, they've ranged from low-key questioners to high-energy types who paced across the front of the room. Every one of them offered something of value. This is what I'm telling myself this morning. I can't believe how much self-talk I seem to require to remain functional.

I'm at 153.2, a little bit more downward.

Yesterday's interview seemed to go well. The recruiter generally handles technical types, not "corporate," and she wasn't clear as I'd like on certain details of the job description. She said she'd be passing forward me and one other candidate for the hiring manager's consideration. I'll hear late this week or early next week about the next steps.

I'm second-guessing myself, as usual. I need to stop doing that. This interview felt exploratory, not real, but it could rapidly become real. But I need to sit back & let this happen, one step at a time.

Saef - glad the interview went well yesterday. I hope it works out for you. I know you haven't been particularly happy lately.

JZJ - the first difference is always in my waist, too. Meh.

I had an eye exam yesterday. My vision has significantly declined since last year. Which I knew already, as everything is now blurry. Ordered new glasses last night. That was exciting.

Just over two weeks til vacation. I can't tell you how ready for it I am.

Shannon, wait till you put on your new glasses. It's gonna be mind-blowing. I got eye exams yearly but skipped getting new glasses for three years. (I know, I know: Not good.) Just got a pair this past Saturday. I think I'm finally starting to adjust after several days of headaches and remarkable clarity.

I'm at 152 this morning from energetic pacing during yesterday's two-hour class and from having a salad for dinner and just a few tidbits from the hors d'oeuvres tables set up after class: Cold shrimp, cold asparagus, a bit of guacamole and three small stuffed mushrooms.

Saef - I hope so! I never quite got used to the last ones I had, took them on and off a lot. I'm hoping that this pair will adjust easier.

I was amazed at how great my distance glasses were. Hubby had a hard sell on those but, once I could actually see the TV and the movie in the theatre, I now love them.

Still working on the reading glasses though. They sit at an awkward distance down my nose and keep sliding past that. Again hubby - the glasses expert - says they can be adjusted but I keep finding other things to put ahead of that in the queue.

Dagmar

At 150.8 this morning, after that adrenalin-charged day of teaching an all-day class. This is partly from incessant pacing and also from partial dehydration, though I kept chugging from Poland Spring bottles. I expect a rebound, though I'd certainly like to stay down here and go lower. No ticker-changing yet.

The mold remediation work is complete at my apartment. The insurance adjuster will visit again and approve further disbursement of funds for the demolition to begin. The contractor is trying to make more money off this job and persuade me to chip in more $$ for upgraded counter tops, backsplash, cabinets. I'm deeply annoyed at this, not having wanted a kitchen renovation.

That sounds like you're making steps in the right direction, Saef. Hopefully the demolition and remodel can start quickly. I agree with you about the renovation.

I'm hopefully going to try a new class/ studio tonight. I have a yoga friend that told me she has started teaching Inferno Hot Pilates so I'm going to go to that studio and try a class. It's funny to me how nervous I can still get to a. find a new place b. try a new class c. worry about whether I can do the class/ whether I'll be dressed appropriately/ whether I'll bring the right stuff (water bottle, yoga mat and towel I think)....

We are expecting nasty weather later today so I'm also worried about driving and finding the studio. Plus, dh is expected back today but I'm worried the bad weather will delay him. If he's on time, he'll land at 7 pm, which gets him home probably at 9 pm so I hope he isn't too delayed. He's coming from Belgium, but he has a layover in Newark. I'm always nervous when he drives home at night/ in bad weather (though he has a service picking him up but I still worry).

Think I need some yoga since I see worrying as a theme today!!