Hello!
Betsy maybe Toby should go to the beauty shop with you. So I have to ask (because it is me...) this friend that is coming to visit, is he an old work friend, childhood friend? What is the story because you know where my mind is going.
Terra when you finally get to use the video let me know. I have heard so many good things about it.
Fi that sounds so awesome. I like stuff like that so I am going to give it a try and recomend it to a friend. Thanks.
Silent I am so coming for a visit just to try all your diferent foods. So about this cabin. Is it on a lake? Is it where a bunch of friends hang out? Rustic or foo foo?
So my life is plowing right along. Moving but standing still. Know what I mean? No wonder I ate so much, it was my entertainment. Going to think of something to do. I'm off to think of what Silent would do in my shoes.

UbeeSending you lots of love my friend! Thank you so much for everything!!

Betsy I am so excited about planning this house idea...I know it's going to take a lot of hard work, but the idea of getting to live debt free will make it so worth while.

SilentThank you so much!! And holy crap do I love some poutine!! DH went to Canada back a few years ago with his band and he said he ate so much of it so when he got back he made it for me and I've been in love ever since....It is so bad for you but it's soo good...I haven't had it since last year sometime so I'm good at fighting the temptation lol...

I am so sorry that I haven't been keeping my promise to post everyday...I know I am a bad weight loss buddy lol...But I will tell you it isn't because I've been off plan or anything...I've been kicking *** and taking names with working out that I haven't even had time to breathe lol...DH and I have been doing a lot of hiking and on Tuesday we hiked and power walked the beach and ended up doing a total of 5 miles!! We have been out the house a lot lately and I literally haven't been on the computer except for at work, which has been really busy so I haven't been able to post while I'm there...

With all that being said I'm going to try and post every day...I don't want anyone to worry about me and the fact that some of you have means so so much to me!!! I guess even if it's just a sentence that says I'm here at least you know I haven't gone anywhere :P....But you all know I'm so long winded and detailed lol...

Anyway I'm headed to bed. It's been a long day. Moved my rest day for today and DH has had a migraine so I had to go grocery shopping all my own. I'm pooped and ready to sleep...Love you all! Good night!

Terra- Weather here is perfect unfortunately I have a sore throat, and well the mosquitos sort of cut the beautifulness of the day. It was windy enough that walking home from work was actually nice though.

betsy - I'm sure you AND your pup will look fab after the cuts

Ubee - It a grey little box. We don't have cottages, we have cabins, and mine and most of them are just a place to sleep, and store some stuff and they hold up better than the tent. No electricity, no plumbing we're all off grid... the grid doesn't extend past the end of our little hamlet. My cabin is near a river/the ocean on an esker (rock/sand left behind when the glaciers retreated)

As for the coment about what would silent do. Tonight I'm staying in and resting/studying going to get an early night trying to kick this cold. That said I was raised by a mother who said boredom wasn't an option, ever. I would talk more but I think it would get more personal and deep than I feel comfortable doing so on a public board.

Sam: You are rocking it, I am jealous of your drive. But applaud you for it. You are living the good life <3 Poutine is so hard to resist! LOL

Good Morning!
Sam you are a great wieght loss buddy. If we only all had your drive. So glad to see you with us!
Silent your cabin sounds wonderful! What are you studying? The comment about your mother makes you mysterious again.

As for what would Silent do in my situation... She has decided that today my husband and I will go to our favorite spot and have lunch on their patio. Tomorrow we will try to sneak in a movie. Now fingers crossed that the universe cooperates.

Yesterday afternoon was a day of doubt. Can I do this? I don't know how low I can go. I do know I need to at least keep off what I have lost until I get my mojo back. Thanks for being here.

Ubee— You can do it! Do your 10 minutes, even 5 minutes, of slow breathing every day, especially before the time of day when you face willpower challenges. (For lots of people that's late afternoon into the evening.) Last night I alphabetized all the big "cutter" and "scanner" books I use for collage in just 2 hours. I had the window unit a/c in my studio turned up high, but still I got drenched in sweat, head to toe, because some of those books weigh 20, 30 pounds. There is no WAY I could have powered my way through that tough job without doing my slow breathing beforehand! This technique works—both for things that are hard to make yourself do, and things that are hard to resist doing.

Procrastinating on cleaning and then I wasted time taking free IQ tests -- don't ask!

Ubee -- you can do this. And he's an old friend from high school. We dated in high school and when we were both home from college, and then lost touch for 40 years although I stayed in touch with his mom. He got back in touch after his divorce, but there's no spark there. I think my reason for dating him in high school was because he was taller than I was. We're good friends and enjoy doing things when we're in the same part of the country.

OK, must get it in gear.

Fi for how much I procrastinate doing things that need to be done AND for finding overeating all food a challenge I may have to breath 6 times an hour all day! You are a BERPing machine! Any word on the kittens?
Betsy if you think for one minute I am going to believe you about the no sparks thing well, YOU ARE WRONG! Also, how did you do on the IQ tests?

Hey everybody,

Little late posting tonight but I am here. Little down because my friend is more than likely not going to be able to make it down. She works for her parents at their Greek restaurant and they won't let her take off. She's living in their house again after a failed relationship so their house, their rules. I could never work for a family member or allow them to treat me like a little kid like they do her. I don't know how or why she does it.

I've been dealing with some bad abdominal pain since late last night...I'm pretty sure I have a UTI *sigh* its been a long time since I've had one and the pain id terrible. I managed to clean my kitchen and dining room and living room and sweep, mop and vacuum just in case at the last minute my friend gets to visit but decided not to work out since I had done all of that. DH and I will make up for it this weekend if I can get around better than I am right now. I took some antibiotics I found in the medicine cabinet and have been sipping on some cranberry/pomegrante juice. DH wants me to drink some fresh juiced apple juice to see if it helps so he's in the kitchen making me some right now.

Tomorrow I'm going to get my hair cut. It's long over due. My other friend is having her grand opening party of her salon so I am going to pop in there for a few minutes to say hello and wish her well. I'm very socially awkward and there won't be anyone there I know so I more than likely won't stay long. DH and I need to fit some exercise time into the day too so that can be my good excuse. I wish I could talk DH into going to the party with me but he's even more socially awkward than I am.

Well guys I'm turning in for the night. Thank you to everyone who is so happy I'm still on this journey. It means a lot.

Another hard BERP day in my collage studio. I peeked into a couple of boxes just to see what they had in them, and was appalled to see a confused mess of cosmetics, ointments, insurance papers, ragged garments, you name it. And a couple of others contain way too many saved articles about Patti Smith that I will have to go through piece by piece, just to make sure I don't throw out anything I would be heartbroken to lose. (Patti Smith has been my one and only idol for nearly 40 years.)

But I put the lids back on those boxes. I'm not going to deal with them now, even if they are taking up space in my collage studio. I've been peeling back the layers of the contents of this house that belong to me, and I'm back into the 1990s now. It's not easy to face stuff that old.

Tonight Bob moved the 11 remaining boxes of books we are giving to charity out to the porch, for a scheduled pickup of tomorrow AM. I added a couple of organizational doodads I never figured out how to use—still like new and in their original boxes. I've discovered over the years that all I need to stay organized is my brain, my iPad, and a whole lot of bookshelves.

Then I had the idea that it was time to take up the rug in my studio. Bob just vacuumed it this morning, so it looked bright and fresh. It's a strange rug because it's in the irregular shape of a tropical island, one big enough to have three different beaches, mountains in the interior, some huts, and various animals—all depicted on the rug in bright colors. I found it in a children's catalog back in 1996 and fell in love...I adore tropical islands, and have been to Hawaii three times so far—the last time for a whole month all by myself in a tin shack on the beach...paradise indeed.

But it's time to say goodbye to my tropical island rug, because I want floor space in my studio to set up a couple of easels and have paint & brushes & other art supplies on a rolling taboret I have. I'm going to be making larger collages, and I need open space in which to set them up as works in progress.

So we rolled up the rug and put it out with the books & other stuff, to be picked up tomorrow. Bob vacuumed the wood floor. My studio looks amazing, and I'm thrilled by all the creative doors that are opening in my head! The BERP, when finished, is going to be really good for my art.

And yet I have a sense of loss...oh well...

Ubee ~ Yeah Im looking forward to trying the WATP DVD.

Silent ~ Im glad the weather was perfect on Thursday, Im sorry to hear you have a sore throat though, I hope you feel better soon. The weather here has been rainy all week, which we need the rain but after a almost a week of it Im sick of it.

I chose to sleep in this morning so I didnt go for my morning walk but I will go for my morning walk tomorrow but I'll still go for my evening walk tonight though.

I woke up at 9:00 am this morning, I decided to sleep in this morning so I didnt go for my morning walk but I did take Clyde outside and I took my pills and thats all I've done so far this morning, Im about to have breakfast though. I think Im gonna clean the bathroom today and I still need to dust the computer desk and everything on it so thats what I'll do today.

Cleaning day. I managed to procrastinate all day yesterday on tackling this house for this non-spark company that's coming (that was for Ubee if you're wondering about the stranger-than-normal wording). So today I have a LOT of cleaning to do.

Terra Sleeping in is such a treat. And getting enough sleep is evidently as good for our bodies as the exercise that you missed. Odd how some of this stuff works!
Fi Wow! What wonderful progress you're making on BERPing. It's wonderful that you're planning on what you want to be able to do when it's finished in your studio and being able to visualize it actually happening. That's a HUGE step in this whole effort. Your rug sounds so neat. Could it go in a different room?
Sam UTI -- Ugh! Hope you're feeling better. Sorry your friend couldn't come down, but it sounds as though she said she would and then asked for the time off. In terms of treating her like a little kid, she might be acting like one. Obviously I don't know the situation, but you are so mature and work so hard. Maybe you could offer some suggestions to her on improving her situation. Just an idea and hopefully I didn't overstep here. In the meantime, you got your place all shipshape and that's out of the way for a while!
Ubee Sorry, Ubee, no sparks there. We're good friends, but that's it. It would drive me crazy to be around him frequently. My brain appears to still be working which was good reinforcement since there are days that I wonder.

Lots of cleaning and shampooing and straightening and fixing to do today. Tomorrow the outside gets a final push and eventually I need to get some groceries. Oh yeah. Guess I need to concentrate on eating right too!

Checking in. Hope to chat tomorrow.
I did not fall off the wagon, I knowingly jumped off.

Just a quick check in. I'm at the hotel, and will be flying out tomorrow morning.

I cannot wait to get home! I will do check ins with a more weight loss focus once I'm settled in at home

Hope you all have a good day

Hey Guys,

Just a quick check in. My friend did end up getting the time off to come down. She left not too long ago. I just had my breakfast and am enjoying some coffee..

DH and I are going to get some exercise in since I haven't for the past few days. Been busy working on the house and such so I didn't get any work out in on Friday or Last night.

Got on the scale this morning and it says I'm up 2 lbs...I'm not worried about it because I think with the UTI I have I've also gotten some constipation and that is probably part of it. Sorry TMI.

I hope everyone enjoys their day! We are expected to get some rain today so hopefully we'll be able to get out before it starts to happen.

Terra— I hope the weather cooperated for you to have some not-too-hot walks this weekend!

Melissa— If you see this before you go, have a great trip! I hope you'll find a way to check in with us some time this summer...

Betsy— Thanks for the moral support re. the BERP, which is especially welcome as tomorrow morning is the start of my 11th week at this. =pant pant=

Ubee— 'Sorry to hear you jumped off the wagon. I guess my expanded tips on how to do the slow breathing technique didn't work for you, huh? What can we do to make the wagon a warmer & friendlier place for you to hang out? Softer cushions? Seriously, what is it about weekends that makes them so much harder?

Silent— I bet you can figure out a way to talk about what's going on with you that won't feel too personal for this thread. Remember you are already protected by the anonymity of your UserID. The rest of us get pretty personal...well anyway, I'm listening.

Sam— Darn it with those pesky UTIs! My mom-in-law has one right now that's playing havoc with her already-brittle diabetes. Here's hopin' yours resolves pronto!

Other than our niece Margaret standing us up for dinner for the third time in a row (she's been really busy, so I forgive her), I had a really nice weekend. It was a treat to have those 11 boxes of books, plus some other stuff, plus the rug I no longer wanted, picked up by charity and gone, gone, gone. Now all we have in the downstairs hallway is a box I'm saving because it's a perfect size for kitten play, and I can start thinking about displaying the highlights of the mail art I've saved on the wall there. That would be yet another batch of stuff up off the floor. Wide open floor space is what it's all about!

My great-niece Grace came over on Saturday afternoon for another round of sorting clippings, and we had some terrific conversation about art. She's goin' great guns with her art journal, and I was able to give her some tips on fine-detail snipping, drawing with a smoother line, creating personal handwriting alternatives, and how to make collage postcards. I think the most rewarding part of the afternoon for me, though, was taking her into Bob's and my bedroom to look at the dozen or so large prints we have up by Van Gogh, Picasso, Kandinsky, Klimt, Gauguin, et al., and talk about composition. She seems not to have had much exposure to fine art, because her jaw was dropping in delighted amazement as we went from print to print and observed what they had to teach us. Nothing like looking at art with a newcomer to see familiar images with new eyes! It makes me want to schedule a trip with her this fall to hop the Metro into DC and visit the National Gallery. It's been way too long since I've paid homage to my favorite paintings there, and they rotate stuff a lot in the newer wing, so who knows what wonders we might encounter? =smile=

I don't have an update on the kittens 'cause Julie had to make a short trip, but I'm hoping to get one in a day or two. I think of little Oscar often, urging him to, "Get well, well, well" and "Grow like a weed!"