mixed emotions on that one - happy for her, a bit worried for her, but mostly miss my dad who passed away 3 years ago this June 2nd.

down to 139 first time under 140 in well over a year so that I guess is progress.

earthquakes and all - geeez - glad everyone is ok.

Nasty weather here in the northwest too.. snow in late April - set a record - not the kind we like to set though.

((hugs)) to all.

C.

I know, I know, it's been a long time. What can I say?? It's tax time and I am in the accounting business. In Canada we have until April 30 to file our returns. Things have been crazy around here. Working a lot, skating a lot and not losing any weight. Still at 139.5 --- it is driving me nuts. But, at least I'm not gaining.

I am reading the posts, just don't have a heck of a lot of time to post myself. Glad everyone seems to be keeping well and are always upbeat. It is great to see that.

Hopefully I'll be able to get back into posting soon.

Cheers
Chris

Chris
Nice to see you back again.

Silly
I do know how you feel. My mom remarried about 2 or 3 years after my dad died. I was happy for her of course. Nice going on the weight loss. Smile, let yourself feel good about that.

Ward, Hope your class went well.

Diane, Sounds like everyone had a great time. I hope you found some time for yourself this weekend too

sillycat4, Hugs to you. There must be a lot of emotion that goes along with the remarrying of a parent. Kudos on the weightloss.

Chris, You're active, you'll lose.

Rennie, What's shaking with you????

DS had a good time at Bible camp, but came back grumpy from lack of sleep. Our weather has been just beautiful. Sadly, I got no yard work done though...I just walked and played this weekend. Naughty! We had another cooking get together last night. I shared Greek Chicken and Vegetable Ragout....potatoes, carrots and chicken cooked in chicken broth, white wine, and loads of garlic in the crockpot. To finish you add artichoke hearts and a sauce made from lemon juice, egg yolk, and dill. I've never made it before, but I saw the recipe in the Eatingwell Magazine and it sounded yummy. Plus, it's heart healthy!!! Maybe I'll get that yard work done today.....

Good morning to all.

Well, celebrating Passover at my mother in law's on Saturday took its toll. Could not fit into a particular pair of pants this morning, but I'm not surprised. Back to the drawing board - again! *sigh* At least I had sense enough not to weigh myself - why pour salt into the wound?

Did not get suffiicient sleep all weekend; it seems that in the past few months I've become an extraordinarily light sleeper. If a hummingbird in Japan flaps its wings, I hear it in Connecticut and wake up. I can get back to sleep but it's ridiculous to keep waking up 5-6 times a night every night. I only get about 6 hours of sleep a night if I'm lucky - weekends as well - so this is an annoying development.

It seems extra hard to get moving this morning here at work. I've got a great job with wonderful people but boy oh boy, it's rough today! I'm not a coffee drinker so I can't use that to get me going! Oh well, onwards!

Letsgo - Hopefully it's just some water retention from eating rich/salty foods! Don't let it get you down ... you'll get back on track. The holidays are hard, I know!

Lovnmom - wow that recipe sounds great!! I love artichoke hearts and garlic and all those things. Would you mind sharing the recipe?

Silly - Hope your mom's wedding went well. I know how you feel - my dad remarried 9 months after my mom died. I photographed the wedding. It was an odd mix of emotions, I must say!

This weekend was busy busy busy. 3 sessions on Saturday, plus a lot of errand running. Then Sunday I couldn't take it any more and decided that the downstairs WILL get cleaned ... so I tore the house apart. Took the drapes down and washed them, dusted the baseboards and crown molding, moved all the furniture and vacuumed under, polished the wood floors, etc. About 7 hours of hard cleaning work and I'm exhausted and stiff this morning - but I can finally walk into the house w/out shuddering. And everything smells so fresh and clean and *not* dusty or covered in pollen.

Now ... the upstairs is next!

.

lovn
Since I have lost this much weight there is very little shaking with me hehehehe. Nothing special going on around here. I have a nasty sty on my eye if anyone is interested lol. Makes reading hard lol. I am in a bla mood. I have been doing my walking but not putting my heart into it. I seem tired and everything seems so hard the last few days. My eating is good so I am not worried about that except maybe that I am not eating enough. The scale isn't moving like it was and I think that has to do with not eating enough. Everything is just day to day so that is a good thing. Nice to have no commotion going on for awhile. Bible camp was always fun. I don't remember ever getting enough sleep there lol.

Hi girls.

LetsGo I'm having a terrible time sleeping the past few months. It seems to be getting worse. I think a lot of it is hormonal and my husband sounds like a freight train when he snores. I'm a very light sleeper.

We had another aftershock just after midnight.

Lovely temps at the moment. Got my walk in today 78 degrees not too hot the way I like it.

LetsGo and Clyde, I too am a "6 hour a night" club member. I'm actually ok on the 6 hours IF the 6 hours are straight through. The nasty nights are when you sleep from 10:30-1:30 and then lie awake until say 4 or so and then sleep until 7. Those wipe me out mentally and emotionally as well as physically. What helps me sleep from 11pm-5am is having a handful of walnuts about 9-9:30pm. About a month ago I read an article that they induce sleep and they do seem to help. When I do wake up at an odd hour and feel the "roll over and overs" coming on I drink Celestial Season's Sleepy Time EXTRA. I'm back out in like 30 min. The EXTRA is valerian and it really works for me as long as I don't drink it too often. Good luck. Sleepless nights wreak havoc with everything.

Photo, That's how my house was right before Easter it's back to almost needing a full overhaul. Our weather has just been glorious so I'm outside as often as I can be and with 6 of us it doesn't take long for the mess to build. What's a session consist of for you? Do you have a studio or do you go to homes for family photos or both??? I'll PM the recipe. Even my kids ate it up. It had a really clean spring taste not overloaded with flavors. My daughter and I both thought the sauce needed something until like the third bite and then we changed our minds. Nope, it's good the way it is.

Rennie, Too bad about the stye. Are they painful? I've never had one, but they look painful. You get that strapping man of yours to waite on you!!! I know how you feel when you say the oomph just isn't there for the walking. I go through that too. That's when I get brave and shake it up with some old Richard Simons' tapes or do more yoga or whatever until I get my groove back. Most important, you haven't stopped. Bravo for you!!! I'm calling you to the mat too girlfriend. You quit saying things like, "if anybodies interested." Yippee skippe we're interested. You're a part of this little community we got growing. Aren't any of the rest of us writing about saving the world or anything...your life is interesting and important too...besides it has to be nearly binocular season lol

Woke up this morning pleasantly surprised. I'd left 2 large windows open in the kitchen all night. With no furnace running it's still 65* in here this a.m. Whoopee! I don't care for the thunder I'm hearing right now. I'd like to walk to the library today. A farmer friend of our's raises red angus. On Sunday he had a cow birth twins. She seemed to not even realize she had had the second and just ignored it for the first 8 hours of it's life. That's when we got it. Our friends children are grown and gone and he and his wife both work out so they have no time to "save" this little guy. I got him to eat some yet Sunday night, but he wouldn't stand. I got him to eat a little more yesterday and was able to hoist him to his feet, tentatively. Finally late afternoon yesterday he walked some. Maybe 12-14 ft or so. Enough that I'm feeling confident he will make it. It was just what I needed. Even though my children are 8,11,12 and 14 some days I feel like they really don't need me. This little guy needed me. Now tell me, how weird is that?!?

Have a great day you awesome chicks!!

Good morning to everyone.

Lovnmom, I'm going to pick up some walnuts next time I'm at the supermarket, and will see if they help in the sleep department. It's ridiculous, I've never had this problem! My husband also snores horribly, although at least it's not every night. Last night, both the dog and the cat decided they needed their bodies draped over mine in order for them to sleep...so their weight and shifting kept me up. Now, I could've just booted them, but...I didn't have the heart!

I found it especially hard to get through my treadmill session yesterday. I will do a minimum of 30 minutes, ramping up the incline and speed at 5 or 10 minute intervals, and when things are going well, I'll keep going well past the 30 minutes. Not last night! I hopped off the split second I hit 30 minutes. But, I did work up a good sweat so it was better than nothing.

Weather's looking pretty darn nice here today in southwestern Connecticut...sunny and mild. My son's got his first Little League game of the season later today - just an exhibition game actually, playing a team from a few towns over. It should be quite nice to hang out for a few hours in this nice weather, I'm looking forward to it!

Morning girls.

Lovn I'm going out to buy some walnuts and celestial seasonings. Last night was just ridiculous. I get up so as I don't wake up hubs and try to sleep somewhere else. Then I wake up and go back to bed.

Got to go.

Thanks for understanding about my Mom. I'm happy for her - it's just sad for me & sis too.

Last night fell of the wagon and ate too much spaghetti.. but back on today - one night isn't too bad.

Anyway - back at it - and thanks too for the tips on natural sleep help - been struggling with that too - bed at 10 up at 2 then at about 4:30 fall asleep have to get up at 5 and man is that hard... ick..

C.

clyde - EARPLUGS!!! Seriously the soft kind that go in your ear will make a huge difference. I wore them when my guy was just out of surgery and snoring like crazy (which he usually doesn't do). They took a day or so to get used to, but after that, they saved my life.

lovn - All of my sessions are outside right now. With the gorgeous spring weather and the dogwoods in bloom and the fuschias in bloom, I couldn't bear to be stuck in the studio. Mostly right now it's a lot of engagement sessions - it's that time of year!

Sleep. Oy where to start. When you own your own business, sleep is optional, I think. Also I've been slacking going to the gym lately, so I know that's affecting my sleep patterns. One thing that really helps me is to take a warm (not hot) shower before bed. It just helps soothe me and settle me down for sleep. I also swear by chamomile tea - any brand as long as it's pure chamomile.

Failing that, there's always a shot of vodka!

.

I've been away for a week, and have just read through pages of posts - you've all been very busy! Unfortunately, my response was gobbled by the computer, and I don't have the heart to re-type it all. Suffice it to say that I'm glad everyone is doing so well, and I to anyone having trying moments (remember they don't last!!!).

We've skipped spring and gone straight into summer here, and it's been encouraging me to get out and more active. I've been able to get out on a couple of trails. There was rumour of a couple of pairs of nesting cranes, but I didn't see them To my knowledge, it would be highly unusual for this corner of the world, so I was hoping! I did get some great shots of a flying wild turkey (only because they don't fly high or far ) That was totally unexpected.

Hope everyone enjoys the rest of the week!

Sea
I have had that happen to me and I really hate it lol. Type a post to everyone and then poof it is gone. Oh a nest of cranes would have been great to see. Glad the weather is nice and you are able to get out.

I tend to be the sleep when I can lol. I go to bed and will have nights I sleep for about 6 hours but that isn't usual. Usually wake up every 3 hours or so. Is so much better since I have lost some of this weight. Use to wake up every two hours like someone set an alarm clock.