Weight report: I'm currently at 152, which is .5 above what I was yesterday, but right where I hoped to be. Last week, there was one day that read 154 and that kinda suckedd.

I'm currently eating leftovers from dinner last night. I made a strange concoction, but it's actually pretty good: okra, tomatoes and corn with Tabasco over rice. There was hardly any rice leftover, so it's mostly spicy veggies.

Good luck with the writing assignment. I agree, it can be hard to write about yourself, but I'm sure you'll come up with a few things to say!

YAY!! Mazel tov!

Allison-- are you (and dh and dd) still doing Nutrisystem? Just wondering if you had tapered off or if you were still on it?

Yep, still on it 6 days a week (although last week it was only five days). DH is pretty much at goal, but he's continuing to do it to support me. We've both remarked that we wouldn't mind doing it 4-5 days a week to maintain, although I'm thinking that just breakfasts and lunches 5 days a week might be better. We'll see.

Congrats, bargoo!!

Allison, I love that dress - it looks great on you and I love the summery print. Also, Tabasco makes most things better in my opinion =)

ICUwishing, good luck on the writing assignment!

Saef, hormones make me crazy too. At least it's good to know that's the likely reason for the jump on the scale.

Between my hormones (TOM here, too) and allergies I'm feeling kind of miserable today. I want to go for a jog/walk with BF tonight but not sure it's a good idea to be outside and breathing heavily! Guess that's why I stocked up on sudafed and benadryl.... *sigh*

Stupid crazy busy!

However, I remembered to jump on the scale finally, and it flickered between 149.5 and 150.0, before finally choosing the bigger number. For a Tuesday ... very good news, and should portend a move into the final 10 by the end of the week. My "plan" is completely out the window. I am suddenly doing IF. Maybe that's a shakeup I needed?

Hello Maintainers, just checking in. I'm maintaining while secretly hoping I'll lose 5 lbs without having to try too hard. I have been fluctuating less lately - the majority of mornings I weigh somewhere between 130.0 and 132.5 according to my scale, which is "heavier" than other scales I've used.

I finally got a "real" job with health insurance and paid time off in the nonprofit world - still in the first week and feeling rather useless, like all I do is sit here surfing and getting in the boss's way. I need to sit him down and devise a list of ongoing projects I can work on.

I'm exercising fairly regularly again, which feels good. Trying not to get discouraged by my loss of fitness.

Hi guys! I am back from a long weekend in NY and up 2lbs. Not bad. Hopefully it is water that will wash away quickly. I had been doing really well and weight had been going down so hopefully this isn't too much of a setback. Mostly the problem is that I ate so much junk this weekend that now my body is in junk food mode, where it expects more junk and gets upset that it doesn't have it.

DH and I met with a genetic counselor last week and ended up getting DH's blood drawn for some tests. Five weeks to get the results. In the meantime, I didn't refill my birth control, so we will find out 1) if I am a crazy person without hormone regulation, and 2) if the birth control had anything to do with my other medical issues. In any case we are going to use non-hormonal methods until we get cleared on the genetic tests.

In other news we got our renewed passports which means we can actually plan the trip to England we've been talking about. We could go in May or September. May is cheaper, but coming up soon and perhaps not as good weather. September is probably better weather, and closer to our actual anniversary, but farther away. Decisions, decisions. We also need to get to work on getting a new dog sitter, especially if we decide to go in May.

Krampus, congratulations on the new job.
Jessica , hope the genetic testing comes out in your favor.
I went to Europe in May and weather was great, warm but not hot. It did rain little in Paris but not much to hinder our plans. We didn't go to England but went to Norway, The Netherlands, Denmark and France. I can say in May those countries were very nice in May.

Jessica, I've been to England for a two-week trip in May. It was often chilly. We did have some rain-out days. We also had some glorious days. And we had a surprising number of days where I experienced both extremes on exactly the same day. The weather is more changeable than Upstate New York, where leaden skies linger for a long time.

Actually, after a while, I was less worried about being caught by showers than by Morris dancers. We kept running into troupes of Morris dancers at every village and country house we went to. Soon I began backing up rapidly toward the car at the sight of men with ribbons at their knees and jinglebells in their hats: "Ah, we'll come back a little later."

I'm envying your long trip to New York. I miss my Saturdays. I will not have time for any fun this weekend. I'm all about the hairdresser's chair and walking around my apartment and consulting with the contractor. And I really need to drop off the 21 1/2 yards of gimp at the upholsterers and to look in on the furniture restorer. I am really hoping I'll have my kitchen table back by the time I move in. My sleigh bed would be nice, too, but there's always the good old air mattress.

Krampus, does this feel like a job where you want to spend some time? Personally, I like structure in a job. Like, at this time, I do this, and then later, by this time, I need to do this. I can be pretty flexible in between, but I need a series of marks to hit, or I finish the day feeling like I've done nothing. If you're at a nonprofit, IMHO, usually funding is a main concern. You can hardly ever go wrong if you focus on something to do with facilitating or organizing funding efforts, or dossiers on donors.

As for me, I am going to try to work while carpenters install crown molding in my mother's house today. (Must run upstairs and shower before they show up.)

Yay me! I'm down half a pound mid-week, which really never happens, but I'll take it.

DD is coming with a friend for dinner. She's bringing her Nutrisystem pizza and DH and I will have ours with a huge salad and I'll order Domino's for her friend and DS. I really can't wait to see her, she's half-way to her goal of a 50 pound loss.

I've never been to New England and would very much like to. But I'm sure I'd be all touristy and want to see the turning of the leaves in the fall--something that we really don't get here.

Holy cow - our Spring Fling has already hit 460 posts! We are very busy chicks!

Blipped up a pound, probably better hydration or could be the sushi I grabbed for a 10-minute dinner. I failed to notice in time that the wasabi that came with it was green because of the artificial blue and yellow colors. Grrr. I'm one of the few and lucky who don't retain water over salt ... but wow, I get paid back in spades for tangling with those colors! Such is life, and in the long run, I'm beginning to see this as a big advantage. I just laugh because most of the way I eat is focused around the brightest colors and best appearances. Yet now if something shows up on my plate and I don't know its exact origin, bright colors spook me.

I was watching Biggest Loser last night (guilty) and they had their cooking challenge. Neat idea - one player took a big portabella mushroom cap, sprinkled it with just a bit of cheese, and then used spiced (teriyaki) and diced beef tenderloin, maybe 1/2 cup on top of that, with a dusting of parsley on top. It looked phenomenal and now all I can think of is variations on that theme.

saef, it's good to hear there's movement on the apartment. Maybe this will be a great day like the one you had a few months back with the upholsterer, where you'll have a chance to see some passion and attention to detail. I'm glad also that you're looking forward to being back in Patrick's chair. How did you find him, and how long have you been his client? I remember your OLD avatar (before and afters) and I'm always curious to know how one goes about finding a stylist with "chops". I'm thinking hard about letting mine go to its natural gray, but it will take an incredible cut, plus I'll have to commit to a certain level of makeup, to pull it off decently.

iris, I hope your allergies abate. It sounds like the early spring did a real number on the sufferers around the country.

krampus, good to see you again! Congrats on the new job and the bennies that go with it. I completely understand the lack of fitness feelings - I have a mixture of frustration, a little guilt, a tinge of anger, and at times, downright depression. At 44, I keep forgetting that it takes longer and longer each year to get back into shape, which is why I'm trying very hard only to adopt a level that I know I can maintain for 44 more years.

Jessica, sending you continued good wishes for positive outcomes on all the testing! It sounds like lots of things are going well for you - yay!

bargoo, have you seen the new granddaughter yet? Is she as pretty as her name?

allison, a Michigan friend of mine who's been living in Colorado came for a visit last fall, and said he was blown away by how much color is out here. He'd been getting numb to the monotonous yellow of the aspen trees - and forgot about how a sugar maple in full fall regalia looks like it's on fire with oranges and reds. I think he took about 1000 pictures!

The stylist I've been with for about 16 years was found through a lot of trial and error and referrals from friends. I'll never forget one stylist who did a decent job cutting my hair, but she had asked how I like it styled. I indicated that I HATED curly hair. So what did she do? Proceed to whip out the curling iron after cutting my hair. I felt like poodle when I left. No wonder I didn't go back--you have to listen to your customer! My current stylist remembers everything and is so creative and flexible. Once I went in with a tiny photo showing only a front of a haircut that I liked. She did such a good job, but when she was all done, she realized i was disappointed. The blonde in my hair had been going mousy for years and it really showed with this cut. She offered to highlight and WOW! I went to a party that night and people didn't recognize me! (And yeah, I've been coloring ever since--hard habit to break.)

My DD convinced my MIL to go natural gray a couple years ago and it was a good move for her. She'd been coloring her hair for such a long time that no one really knew what it'd look like. It turns out that it's mostly blackish on the top and back with nice gray highlights right where one would put highlights. It really becomes her. Meanwhile, we accuse FIL of coloring his hair. DH is going gray but his dad isn't.

Hair !! If you ever find a stylist you like you need to adopt him/her or I have even considered marrying one of them although they are either already married or I am the wrong gender.lol.
saef, looks like things are progressing smoothly at the apartment. I hope there will be no more delays.
Allison good news on the loss every little bit is important.
I have stayed the same for almost 3 weeks , I am not terribly unhappy about this but am not terribly happy either. Evidently I am eating the right amount to maintain. I did go out to dinner this week, made fairly decent choices considering that it was a buffet. I had fish, fresh fruit and a small amount of potato salad and a tiny piece of bluberry pie. My belief is that if you can't have a piece of blueberry pie once in awhile, life is just not worth living.
Haven't seen Faith yet but will soon, she is a beauty according to her pictures.

Down one of the two vacation pounds today. Ate mostly clean yesterday, although I did do some (healthyish) snacking after dinner. Goal for today: if I snack after dinner, it must be on grapefruit.

Bargoo, congrats on the granddaughter!

I got my hair stylist through family recommendation. She is the owner of the salon, which is nice because I know she's not going to leave to go somewhere else. Also usually the salon owner is among the best and most experienced of the stylists. I have been thinking about not highlighting my hair and letting it go back to natural, but it is pretty boring-looking natural. I do have a tiny streak of white hair I've had since I was 12, but other than that I am not aware of any gray yet.