Kery - make sure you take care of you. You can't care for the people around you if you wear yourself into a frazzle. (That sentence was as much for me as for you, too - pot, meet kettle... )

Megan - about the 'happy with poop' comment!

Jessica - my local park has been uber crowded this week, too, with the onset of spring. I've started parking 1/2 mile away at the overflow parking and just walking over. I see lines of cars waiting for the parking spaces and I just think 'why? why even come to the park if you are going to sit for 45 minutes to get the close parking space? why?'

Heather - hope you feel better. Spring colds are the worst... Teaching with a cold must be miserable...

Goal - on not turning to food during the stress!

I did 6.5 miles at the park last night - I was a little slower than Tuesday night, but I feel like I ran more total. I just couldn't run as long a distance to start and did a longer sprint interval period! I've discovered I really love it. I gave in and bought a treadmill for those rainy, cold, or 100 degree days... DH is about to run out of excuses... Pre-elliptical he said he liked ellipticals because they didn't hurt his knees. Once I got the elliptical he said he did better with weight lifting, bought a Weider... It got set up and he said he preferred stationary bikes - bought one on super sale and he then says he used to walk regularly on the treadmill when he and ex were married... So, I bought a treadmill - got a great deal on it. So, the only thing left is a weight bench with free weights, which I want. Then, he will have to tell me honestly he just doesn't want to exercise! I use all of the equipment multiple times per week, so my little home gym has definitely been a good investment from my standpoint!

My left elbow is sore today and I know it is from the lateral raises I did yesterday with 8 pound weights. I must have done something wrong, I could feel it at the end of the last set... Same thing happened last time I did them, too, as I remember...

Shannon - Yeah, I'll have to find the right middle-ground in all that. I know from experience I indeed can't care for other people if I'm myself worn down. :/

Pot and kettle go 'round the outside, round the outside, round the outside...

(Un-oh, I'm becoming silly, must mean I'm tired already. ^^)

Good morning everyone!!

I got a gift card from Chico's from my MIL for my birthday and went out the other day to use it. I had a hard time finding anything and ended up with a cute tee and some long black shorts. Each cost $58, but I had a $10 off coupon (birthday gift from Chicos) and since I'm a passport holder, the cashier announced I could use another coupon for half off one item. So he took half off of one, $10 off the other, used my $50 gift card and I ended up paying only $28 (which was fine since my Mom sent me a $50 check). I still have over $20 to spend somewhere!! Oh, and the good news. Despite this horrendous weight gain, I still fit in size .5 bottoms and a 0 top. I'm sure the stretch material helps!!!

Tonight is the big March birthday bash and tomorrow is the memorial golf tournament. Should be a fun weekend.

Kery - I'm tired today too so I appreciated the snicker I got from your little ditty!

Allison - cool on the Chico's trip! I've never been into a Chico's, good stuff?

My elbow is feeling much better as I go through the day... But I'm snacking like a fiend... I ate 1900 cals yesterday, but my HRM says I burned 1100 between my run and my weight training yesterday morning. Is that why I feel so crazy hungry today?

My mother looves Chico's and has many gorgeous outfits. Here is my mom wearing Chicos!

http://gloriana.myphotoalbum.com/vie...11&id=HPIM1049

My mom's FAVORITE thing about Chico's is the matching accessories. Notice how perfectly her jewelry matches in every picture! I gave her both the blue outfits and the green outfit and was with her when she bought the orange outfit. It's fun! I don't dress like that, but we're a similar size, so it's amusing to try on the clothes (when shopping for mother's day), pick out the PERFECT matching accessories and see Alternate Version Me.

I'll get a picture of her at Tom's memorial, she plans to wear the absolutely luscious black/silver/lavender jacket/shell/jewelry outfit I got her for her birthday.

So I go to Chico's website to show you what I got...it isn't there! Must be too early.

Nice pictures, Glory! (Love your smile, btw.)

I'm really wondering these days how fast and how far can a person change. Last year, at about the same period, I was seriously down with bingeing and crap... stress-eating several times a week... and now that there are MORE stressors in my life (the competitive exam, my friends breaking up and heavily relying on me...), I find myself, well, not losing my appetite, but NOT wanting to touch food outside of my 'regular' meals. And I swear I'm not doing anything in particular regarding that, save for trying to listen to my body/hunger and to ask myself "do I really want that?" before eating a given food.

And can stress cause a person to lose weight, when normally it used to make her *gain*?

I'm confused.

Glory - you guys look great! Your mom's jewelry is all very coordinated - I like that. I'm just starting to wear more jewelry, so accessories are important!

Allison - you are on the cutting edge of Chico's fashion, not even published yet!

Kery - I think a person can change a lot in a year, particularly with things like response to stress and high emotions. I know I have. I have some pretty big stressors in my life that are always going to be there - the situation with DHs ex is the big one, and the fact that my stepson has started beating on children at school and nothing we do seems to be helping with it... The entire situation with her and our stepson often make me feel completely out of control. A year ago I would have balled up and gotten angry, then snacked. And snacked and snacked and snacked. Today I dive tightly into my eating plan and my exercise. Like you, I don't want to touch food outside of my planned items at those times. Friends and family have theorized that I feel in control of that so I cling to my structure when I feel like everything else is spiraling crazy, and I think they are right. It gives me something positive for me that I am in total control of. You might be doing some of the same thing? Other things in your life are making you stressed and crazy, staying on your eating plan now makes you feel in control and more sane?

Heading out to exercise... going to work out on the Weider and then will probably head to the park. We get DSS at noon, so I might just tell the boys to go out for a daddy-son lunch and I'll get in a little exercise. Have a good day everyone!

Hi everyone, just checking in after an absence of a couple weeks. Things are starting to look up for my family. My son called on Thursday and he is finally out of Iraq. It was touch and go cause there was much talk that his unit was gonna be re-deployed immediately to Afghanistan. Very, very happy that he is now in Kuwait and leaves to Shelby, Mississippi today. We pick him up next Saturday in Harrison, Arkansas and he will finally be home to stay!

As for my eating it is pretty much on track. Exercise has been lacking due to illness, but I feel good today and am going to the gym to mainly walk the track cause it's raining here. Haven't gained any weight lately but haven't lost anymore either.

I had a scary incident last night with an allergic reaction after eating a banana. I've never had a problem with bananas before. Now, I'm scared to ever eat one again. A couple Benadryl's and a double dose of prednisone last night saved me from a trip to the ER.



Last Friday DH and I went and bought me a new Hyundai Santa Fe SUV. I love it. We kept my little Ford Focus that we bought 2 yrs. ago cause it is now paid off. It is now Lacy's car and she is happy to get it. I had only put 23,000 miles on it while I drove it. Shows I don't leave the house much, LOL. Does anyone remember the Bright Orange Ford Escort that we won in a drawing for a free car? Well, we sold it on E-Bay for $8500 dollars, LOL. That was great since we got it free. It only had 26,000 miles on it when we sold it and was in mint condition, although it was UGLY!

Lacy and Shelbey had a fun spring break trip in Las Vegas and I brought them home yesterday. We have a busy next few weeks. On March 27th, 2nd oldest SD , Whitney, is having a scheduled c-section for her new baby girl. On March 28th, we go pick up Shane and have a welcome home celebration scheduled. On April 1st I go back to my Hepatologist where I will also have another liver ultrasound and liver biopsy. On April 4th, oldest SD, Samantha, is having her baby shower. Her baby is due May 5th, and she probably won't make it to her due date. (She's already went twice to the hospital to have her labor stopped). Also, my birthday on March 25th and oldest grandson's birthday on March 27th. I have everything planned out on my calender and hope everything goes as sheduled.

I read the first few posts this week and Meg, I had a 2 furry creatures in my bed last night. It started storming and Molly and Lucy both jumped in my bed, LOL. After the bendadryl, I was too sleepy to protest, so they won and got to stay.

Lily -- These are good news to hear about your son.

Shannon -- Maybe it's the same thing, yes. I honestly can't tell. I don't have any plan per se (except 3 meals a day + snacks if I'm hungry in-between), I tend to always eat the same things because I like them anyway, so I guess I'm pretty much on auto-pilot, maybe it's part of this too... (Auto-pilot regarding healthy foods, that is--my omelets, my green beans, my fish, my muesli...--otherwise it'd surely be a catastrophe. ^^)

Happy Sunday morning! Let me grab another mug of coffee and catch up.

Lily, it's good to hear from you and what wonderful news about Shane! I'm sure it will be such a relief to have him out of harm's way. Congratulations on maintaining your weight during this difficult time. As we all know, maintenance is a triumph!

Kery, I think -- no, I know it's possible to dramatically change your life in a year, or less. When I went on the last diet, I changed everything just about overnight (obviously I'm NOT a babystepper!) It was a total 180 from being a cookie-eating couch potato to an egg white-eating weightlifting mom. And it's stuck since 2001, so I guess it's truly what we call a lifestyle change, even though the changes happened fast and intensely. I hear you on food being on autopilot -- that's what works best for me too. I never ask myself "self, what would taste good today?" because that opens the door to off-plan eating. I just eat my usual boring foods and am perfectly content.

Now that my work schedule is getting back to normal, I'm trying to catch up on everything that's slid in the past few months. First up is taxes! I did DS's yesterday and you'd think that a 23-year old student wouldn't have a complicated tax return. But we sold savings bonds and mutual funds to pay tuition, plus he has a lot of medical expenses because of his diabetes. So his taxes took all afternoon. Next up are DH and my returns. I have a bad feeling that 2008 will be the year that we lost half our retirement savings and we owe money.

But before taxes is the gym when it opens at 8:00 am. It's been so crowded on weekends that it's almost impossible to lift. At least I can get some cardio in! Then DS is coming over for dinner and I decided that since it's spring, we'll grill steak and shrimp.

Have a wonderful Sunday!

You have a wonderful Sunday too Meg!

Dagmar

Meg, yes, it's a wonderful feeling today knowing he is back in the U.S. and is safe. I can't wait to see him and have him home. About the taxes, I have had Shane's done, but mine and the girls taxes aren't done yet. I gotta get these done! The girls will each get a refund and DH And I will be Very lucky if we break even.

Yesterday afternoon I was able to get outside and clear out a small garden patch and plant my strawberries. Today I will be planting 2 blackberry bushes. I will have to wait til after April 1st to plant my tomatoes just to make sure there isn't one last freeze. I still love to grow stuff, even if I do have to wear a mask when I'm outside!

I had the strangest incident last night when the car dealership where I bought my new SUV called. They had accidentally sold me the wrong vehicle, or at least all my paperwork has the wrong VIN number. I have to go back there on Wednesday and have all the paperwork corrected. Apparently they found the mistake yesterday when someone else tried to buy a similar SUV and it came up on their computer that it was already sold. Luckily I hadn't bought the tags and registered it yet or otherwise I would have been registering with the wrong VIN number. I have bought at least 10 brand new cars in my life and never had this happen before! Very frustrating. I'm scared to leave the house now cause if I were to get stopped the VIN number wouldn't match my paper tag and it would look like the tag or car was stolen! Anyway they told me not to panic and they'll give me a free tank of gas and some custom floor mats for my trouble since it was their mistake. I will be keeping this vehicle, but just getting the paperwork fixed.

lilvbelle, I used to work for a lender, have done lots of car loans and I have seen mixups of all kinds regarding registration. Don't worry about it, they will straighten it out. Remember there is another buyer in this , too. It will tbe OK. Great news about Shane, norhing can be better than having him home.

Lily, good to hear that SHane is back on US soil. I'm sure you feeling much less worried.

We had another 1/2" of snow last night. I hope this is a last gasp of winter, I'm so ready for spring. DH is in New England and when he called last night, he said it's still cold there too. Boo, I leave to go there on Friday, and I was hoping for warmer weather.....

I'm reviewing applications for a new admin asst this weekend. I have 50 applications to go through. I'm down to about 10, and I feel kind of like my own March madness. :lol I'll narrow the finalists down to who gets interview this afternoon. I need to interview this week since I'll be gone til 4/8, and I want at least a week's overlap before my current assistant's last day is 4/17. I just keep thinking that each app is a real person, many without a job now. Sigh.

And I think Craig's list has come through with a buyer for my old desk. I just need to measure it for the person. It'd be nice to have it out of here - I'd probably give it away at this point.

Have a great Sunday all.