Dagmar, dark chocolate has 58 calories in 10 grams. Milk chocolate has 54 calories in 10 grams. Got kitchen scale?

JayEll, as I cook my morning oatmeal, I feel envious of your breakfast buffet! I haven't moved for 33 years, and would not look forward to it. Hope you feel more settled soon!

My weight has stagnated but I'm still working on it!

JayEll, I remain impressed that you two have made the transition to a place where meals are available. What an enormous shift of work taken away. Not surprised that it takes a spell to get settled. My DW also stays at the same weight so I share your frustration. When she gains even a slight amount, she cuts back somewhere. Hard not to be jealous.

Alice, Thanks for the reminder that milk chocolate has almost as many calories as dark chocolate. With, in my humble opinion, none of the taste benefits, LOL.

Dagmar, Hot Cross Buns are food porn; when I become Czar, they'll be banned. So enjoy them while you can, LOL.

It's a huge life change. Those always take a lot longer than we think they will yes?

Dagmar

We might be facing a life change also. We live in Alpaugh, which is gaining national attention as the flood waters slowly rise and threaten the town. We're under an evacuation order but have chosen to stay. Whenever I think about relocating with 4 dogs, 4 cats, a few of which are old, and 2 rats, it's just overwhelming. I did take my remaining 16 sheep to auction, however, as they were just too much to worry about. They are not nice tame sheep that calmly walk into the trailer. DH and I have to manhandle each one to get them in, and DH turned 70 today! We are pretty sure our property will stay dry, however the roadways may flood to the point where we can't get out. This will probably continue all summer as the record snowpack melts off the Sierras and comes down into the San Joaquin Valley where we live. I will link to an article that explains it better than I can. I think you can read it, but let me know if a paywall blocks you. I'll copy and paste it.

California Flooding recreates Tulare Lake

We've lived here for 33 years, and I just can't imagine relocating. Plus the fact that our property will be near worthless. Some say it's a ploy by the giant JG Boswell farming corporation, who has historically controlled the water in such a way as to flood out the competition and buy up the farmland at rock bottom prices. I won't sell!!

I wish you guys well on your land, Alice. Hope your decision to stand down the evacuation order works out ok. Do you have a motor boat to make it out for shopping if the roads flood?

The history of Tulare Lake is a wild tale of human intervention. Thanks for the link.

Thanks, Bill! We don't have a boat, maybe we'll see about a kayak. We can count on one intrepid son-in-law who lives in Sacramento to trailer down a boat if it becomes necessary. We'd need a vehicle on each side of the floodwaters to make it work, but it's possible! The waters would basically be stagnant, so much safer than a running stream.

I looked up Lake Tulare and Alpaugh on Wikipedia. I hope you can stay on your property and work out the access to shopping etc. I can imagine how difficult it would be to relocate. Didn't know you had sheep - how interesting! And WOW that you and hubby were able to wrangle all 16 of them. That must have been exhausting.

Dagmar

I called by and found your post, Alice. You may remember me from ages ago.

Sending all good wishes to you, and hope that things work out for you. Good to have an intrepid son-in-law onboard, as it were. That was demanding work with the sheep which can certainly be mean old things. (They are in all the fields around this house at the moment and one or two really disapprove of me when they look into the bathroom when I'm cleaning my teeth or when I dare to go out of the door.)

Wave to all!

My monthly weigh in shows a drop of 1 lb. I'll take it! : It's going to be a long slog to lose these 5 remaining lbs. That will put me in the top of my "summer" weight range of 133 - 135. I think I'll make it but it's going to be hard. Apparently metabolism slows down with age so I have that working against me. I did up my workouts and my weights I'm using so I guess that explains the too tight pants now fitting. I'll take that as well.

Dagmar

Well hello there! I remember you very well. Good to hear from you!

Dagmar

Hello Dagmar! Glad to see you've still got the winter and summer weights. Good luck with getting to the summer weight, but you have form for that! I put on a lot of weight over the last few years as my mother became more infirm, plus one or two other challenges. It's proving pretty difficult to shift.

I'm sorry about your mother Silverbirch. It can be really hard caring for and watching someone you love decline. And caring for her must have been made all that more difficult due to the pandemic.

Dagmar

Thank you, Dagmar. The pandemic and associated disruptions certainly did make things more difficult and uncertain. Mum made it to her late 90s, though, at home and in reasonable health. And it's underlined for me the importance of keeping as fit as possible! The fitness bit is going well but the weight part is harder.

Holly and I celebrated her first "gotcha" day today. She and I did a lot of fun things. Here's one of the many photos from today. I think you can use the arrows and see all 5. https://scontent-ord5-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/339553330_192093703578024_5555791963222089230_n.jp g?_nc_cat=111&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=RDenJzViPuQAX8o6ccT&_nc_h t=scontent-ord5-1.xx&oh=00_AfDeriEmwXfBsbkIJwdTLE0oo2gRYxrVq0I0CZv 73PiSrg&oe=642E787F

I love my cute, cheerful, cuddly bundle-of-fun dog. She makes me laugh every day.

Dagmar

Dagmar, the link says "Content not available right now". I'll try again later!

Silverbirch, I do remember you, and thank you for your well-wishes! The evacuation order was downgraded to an evacuation warning yesterday, and we are breathing a bit easier. No telling what the coming months will bring as the snow melts off the high country, but now that the State people and even the Feds are involved, I have more confidence that what needs doing to divert the water will get done. Our flood story is gaining national attention and was even in the New York Times yesterday.

It does seem harder to drop the pounds lately. I think it may be because I'm not willing to apply the same effort I did before. But it is coming off, albeit at a snail's pace. I've lost 4, which puts me 2 pounds away from the top of my acceptable range.