Good afternoon GG's,

It has been sunny off and on today. Sunny right now

Almost time for Maddie to get off the bus.

I have recently started going to church again. I have enjoyed it. The people have been nice and welcoming. It is just the right size. Not too big and not too little. I feel like it is the size of one where the pastor knows each of his people. I like that size. They have a quilting group and I had planned on going to that today, but I decided I would wait. I won't be able to make it the next two weeks and I didn't want to start something and then start missing right away, so will start in a couple weeks.

I think they work on sewing projects ~ quilts and other things for giving away. And they also work on their own projects. They bring their sewing machines. I wasn't exactly sure what they do, so said the first time, I would just bring some cloth and cut the squares for something I am going to make. After I go once and get a feel for what they do there ~ then the next time I go, I will have a better idea what I should bring and what they might want me to do.

Today, I cut out strips and will cut those into squares there. I didn't want to haul a whole lot of cloth with me.

I am making some mini quilt/wall hanging things. A school mate of mine back home (Ohio) asked me if I might make a couple for a fund raiser for the grade school I went to growing up. That will be a good size project to learn on. Maybe the ladies at the group can teach me things.

Well, I hear a little voice, so I'd better get off here.

Hope you all have had a nice day.

Good morning GG's,

Sunny out right now. Love the sun shine.

As I was sitting here yesterday afternoon ~ I was kind of ~ I don't know ~ just couldn't seem to settle my mind to doing anything. Maybe actually I was kind of bored. Couldn't watch TV, because Maddie was doing homework. There was nothing new to read on the websites I look at. I don't like to read the news stuff ~ seems like it is so often upsetting stuff ~ don't need that. Read a little. I can't really work on anything while Maddie is there ~ because I couldn't do it without interruptions. I got to thinking ~ I waste so much time when I could be doing something. In particular some kind of exercise. So, I resolved to try to get in a routine of walking on the treadmill. 15 minutes in the morning (before Steve gets up and takes his turn on it) and 15 more minutes in the afternoon. I used to feel like I needed to stay nearby when Maddie is here, but she is busy with homework and doesn't really need me (Grandpa is the homework helper), so she probably wouldn't even miss me for that 15 minutes.

I have done the morning chunk of walking. Wanted to get it done before I found some excuse not to do it. Keeping my fingers crossed that I can make this a daily routine.

I've gotta do some cooking today. Pot of soup, cook a butternut squash, maybe a bean loaf.

Tomorrow I go to get the permanent crown put on my tooth. I'll be glad to get that done. The temporary one would feel better if it was smoother ~ it is tolerable, but anoying. The space between it and the tooth in front of it is bigger than what was there before ~ food gets caught in there and it is frustrating. I haven't been able to eat my raw vegetable plate I look forward to every afternoon. I did try a couple of times ~ tried chewing on the other (right) side and it made my gums feel sore, then tried on the left side and the food gets hung up in that space. Funny ~ you don't pay attention to which side you chew on (at least I didn't) until something like this. I think I must have always chewed on the left side. It feels funny chewing on the right side and I guess my gums on the right side weren't used to those raw vegetables.

I hope I can find a time when I can go to the hair cutting place at the same time that the lady I usually have is there. I missed her the other day. I don't like to check until I am ready, in case they say come on and I am not ready. I go to Supercuts. They have an app now that you can put on your phone ~ and by using the app, you can check to see which stylists are on duty that day, and you can tap on a place and get checked in and it will tell you what time you are to be there. It is really cool ~ that way you don't have to go there and sit and wait.

Hope you all are having a good day.

Hello Mary, Carol, Sandy, Karrine.

Good evening GG's,

A sunny day here today.

Got to visit with Jason.

My plan to walk 15 min in the morning and 15 min in the afternoon ~ well, I didn't keep up with it like I had hoped. I will just aim to do it when it works out that I can and not beat myself up about it when it doesn't work out.

Not much going on here. The usual. Vegetables tomorrow. Might get together with Sara, Maddie and Corbin on Monday to celebrate Maddie's birthday.

Hope you all are doing well.

Good morning GG's,

A sunny monring so far.

Just been doing puttery kinds of stuff. Can't settle my mind to tackling things here lately.

We went to Sweet Tomatoes last night for Maddie's birthday. I had small portions of some tuna pasta salad. And some of the broccoli salad ~ I like that ~ it is kind of sweet with raisins and cashews in it. A little bit of potato leek soup and ½ of a small baked potato with toppings. I wanted to save room for cake and ice cream I had two small pieces of cake and a small dish of soft serve ice cream with caramel sauce on it. Yum. I was gonna bring the left over cake home and cut it up and freeze it then wrap it so Maddie could have it for snacks after school. But, for some reason, she didn't like that cake ~ wouldn't eat any of it. I knew if I brought it home, who would end up eating it ~ me. So, I asked Sara if Corbin would eat it. She said he would ~ he and his friends. So, much as I would have liked to whittle away at that cake, I knew bringing it home would be a disaster for me.

I haven't been doing very well with my eating lately. I've fallen back into old habits ~ stress eating. Weight is creeping up.

I miss everyone ~ hope you all start posting again. It's lonely here.

Hi Gayle. I'm not doing as well with my food choices either, and it makes me angry with myself, because I know better. I think I have too many diet plans running through my head and I'm combining them, which doesn't work. I need to find the one that works for me and stick with it.

Happy Birthday to Maddie. Is she 8 or 9 now? I thought she was around the age of my grandson, who is 8 and in second grade.

Carol Sue ~ I understand completely the frustration with self over the eating ~ I know what to do, but sometimes, situations get the best of me and I turn to old habits to cope.

Yes, Maddie is close in age to your grandson. She turned 9 and is the 3rd grade.

We just arrived home from a trip last night. I'm very tired and also have so much to do to catch up on things. I didn't work much on the budget the whole time I was gone ...17 days and now I have to much updating to do.
All I did today was transfer some summer clothes to a drawer in our spare bedroom and then filled up the empty drawer with pants/leggings and go through all the mail we had held. Still have to process some of it more. I didn't gain weight..in fact I lost 1# from the day I left, but I'm just down again to my sig weight. My bs have been really good with only a few highs. We ate out tonight as I didn't get anything thawed out to cook. Talk more perhaps tomorrow.

Welcome home, Mary. Hope you enjoyed your trip. I have been starting to sort through my clothes too, to get some summer things put away. I didn't really do that last year and my closet and drawers were a mess with both summer and winter clothes mixed together. I will have to leave a few things out for a while as we ill probably have some more warmer days before it gets cold. We still have our air condition running because of the humidity.

My grandson is coming to stay over on Saturday night next week so I have to get his sheets changed and the room cleaned out a bit. I tend to use that room for storage. It's a good thing he stays over once in a while and gets me to clean it. LOL I really don't like him to stay over because he never wants to go to bed and DH lets him stay up as late as he wants. No one listens to me.

Was happy to see I maintained my weight (sig weight) despite dinner out last night. We have eaten in a lot of restaurants because of the trip but I guess I am beginning to learn how to handle it. Last night we went to a restaurant we haven't been to in a long time...just remembered it...and I had halibut fish and chips...there were two larger pcs and 2 smaller..I ate the two smaller and a few fries, plus 3 small slices of the yummy bread and had a margarita. I was SO full after that I couldn't possibly eat anymore...and didn't eat anything after I got home. I was more tired than anything, but tried to keep my eyes open to watch Hawaii 5-0 and then planned to go to bed but ended up working on the budget until dh went to bed too. Slept better last night...the first night home I had feet and leg cramps all night...last night only one cramp. I've been very sore all over since returning home. Not sure why...I had back pain/spasms the last few days of the trip and maybe that accounts for the soreness in my back but my butt and legs were also very sore and still are. I did some stretches today in hopes of making it go away...I have no explaination for it except perhaps the long sitting in the plane, but I've experienced far longer flights without that happening.

This morning, I've been working on the budget again and have it all balanced except for one account and that one shows we owe more money that the website does so I'm just waiting to see whether it will work itself out in time.
I'd rather it be that way than the other This was an expensive trip but still think it would have been more expensive if we had driven. I didn't get the adults kids gifts but did get gifts for the grandchildren who live up here.

It sure looks like fall here...cloudy and cool, but right now the sun is shining and dh is working in the yard. Also lots of flowers still in bloom and some that popped out while we were gone...so kind of a blend of seasons right now...precious days that will soon be gone.

Not sure I mentioned it but my glasses broke and I've been wearing an old pair. My vision is much worse recently and I'm assuming it is just that I'm wearing an old prescription...I think there have been 2 or 3 very slight increases since these glasses..so minor the doctor said I could ignore or get my lenses changed..up to me and I never did it. But now I think I'd better as I'm having a very hard time seeing anything close up and even some decline in distant vision. So that's our next bigger expense...since I'm high index I have to pay quite a lot for my lenses and I will need to get new frames too.
Since we are saving for fixing up our home I was trying to put it off but can't do that any longer.

Well, need to get on to the next thing...glad to be home, but it was sure hard to leave my ds and sil. They are so alone out there and I don't know whether we will see each other again in this lifetime.

Another good article ...some of you have liked these in the past...it is a Christian weightloss site, so will leave it up to you as to whether you want to read it or not.
http://takebackyourtemple.com/how-to...ptations-door/

Her articles seem to be helping me.

I liked that article, Mary. Last night at the restaurant, DH was the devil who tempted me to go through the door! LOL I was sorry when I came home and checked my BS.

My bs was 123 this morning...that's 3 over what it should be but it's GREAT for me! I think I'm finally after all these years learning how to eat for my health. I haven't been eating much or sometimes nothing in the evenings. I'm just too full and nothing sounds good. I've had the fullness for a long time now but I would still want to eat...now not nearly as much. I think of foods but they don't sound good. Of course I am not buying any sweets. On the trip once I bought a candy bar for hypoglycemia...it tasted kind of too sweet to me, but we were out and I ran out of my glucose tabs so I ate it and felt better. I had a few hypoglycemic episodes on the trip...once we had just gotten to a restaurant and I felt it so I ordered tea right away and put sugar in it...I haven't had sugar in my tea in many years!! I mostly have these episodes when traveling. Which reminds me I need to put some glucose tabs in my purse today. My weight is down to 165.5 again and since I am being careful about my eating, I did change my sig.

We've been getting up earlier than usual since we got home because we got up earlier on our trip. The sun shone in more there and that started it I think. Whether we will continue that here with less sunshine going into fall I don't know. It was cloudy and cool when we first got home but yesterday and this morning the sun is shining here too and it's supposed to get to 83 today...probably late afternoon though. Its still cool now.

Yesterday I didn't get as much done as I wanted but I did a few things. Some of our emergency water which I usually keep in our bedroom (in a shallow cardboard box) was leaking...and dh was upset with me because of the damage it could do to our carpet/floor...but it hadn't leaked into the carpet yet. I transferred it into the vanity of our small bathroom (off the master bedroom), but later we found more had leaked in there too, so he wiped that up and put the remaining jugs in a large shallow tub in the garage. Don't know where others keep their emergency water supplies The garage would not be handy if you didn't have much time which is why I had chosen the bedroom, but obviously I can't do that anymore. I used to keep it in the attic but that's also not convenient and dh complained it would weigh down the attic floor. After moving the water, I vacuumed the bedroom carpet and rearranged that corner. We have lots of RME food packages our son left here and some bagged water as well. Hopefully the small bags of water won't leak Maybe I should put them in the garage too.

I also continued working on the budget and got that one acct I was off closer to reality I think...but will continue to let it go for a while as I said yesterday. I transferred money to cover the extra expenses from the trip but will wait to see if I need more. I love my budget as it really keeps us straight! I also changed the black ink in my printer finally...it had been telling me it needed to be done but looked ok, so I put it off and yesterday it wouldn't print til I did it! Never had that happen before.

My sister's home is always so neat and clean even now with all her pain and problems. I always come home inspired to do better with mine but then I get lazy when I get home. One other thing I did yesterday was gather together some children's books the gc don't seem to care about, and will give them away. Haven't yet got a large bag or box to put them in though.

So many things to do right now...emails I need to respond to, a letter I need to finish writing and mail, carpets I need to clean. Seems I get very little done in a day even with getting up earlier, but I do a little bit each day. I got my weekly menus and grocery list planned yesterday. So one step at a time. I'm got a growing list of things I need to do now that I'm home in addition to my regular cleaning tasks. The cleaning as been put on hold so far while I'm catching up with other things.

Woke up this morning with my foot in a cramp, but that was the only one I had again. They seem to go in cycles so hopefully this one is almost over. My sister gets them too. We are a lot alike in many ways.

Well, almost time to get ready for church. It will be good to get back to our home church, however we enjoyed a good service at my sister's church too. She has a good pastor she really likes and who seems very loving.

New here, just saying hello.

Welcome Perunning! We are currently a small group and are happy to have you with us. I look forward to your next post and getting to know you. We don't just talk about weightloss, we mostly just share our lives and enjoy both our similarities and differences.

I'm working hard today on catching up with things since we returned from our trip. So far it's been mostly phone calls. I'm hoping to clean the carpet in my office and the hall but not sure I'll get it done today as also need to get my nails done and a haircut. Will see. Must cook tonight we have been eating out way too much. I did not maintain my weight loss (1#) but then figured I would continue to fluctuate a few pounds as I usually but at least I have a new "low point." Considering how much restaurant food I've been eating I'm surprised I lost at all.

Dh is giving Halo a needed bath today. It is to get to 87 degrees today so a good day for an outside bath. She has adjusted back into her routine here and seems happy to be home too.

Well I have much to do and even though I'm getting up earlier these days, I still haven't gotten as much done this am as I'd have liked so far. After being away from my home I'm always anxious to clean, organize and update things that I've neglected in the past even. My sister's home is SO clean and makes me see my house in a not-so-good light. At least it gets me busy improving things for a while. Like want to get back to de-cluttering for one.

Need new glasses so have called for my current prescription. I'm wearing old glasses as my other broke, so now I want to get both new frames and lenses.
We are continuing to get our kids mail and it's been 1 1/2 years now so hoping to get that straightened out and need to do some shopping...these are some of the things I need to do beyond housework.

Hope you are all having a good Monday.

Mary, I haven't gone for an eye exam for so long and now I'm afraid to go. I know I have to do it. I'm just procrastinating.

I don't know if you are able to take care of the mail problem with your kids or if they have to do it. If it's something important, I think they need to contact the sender and change their address.

Nothing is really new with me. I have accumulated some books from my spare room that I will donate to the library for their used book sale. I have cleaned some clothes out of my closet. I want to donate them to Goodwill, but want my step-daughter to go through them first to see if she wants anything.

Where did Halo stay while you were on your trip?