Glad you're feeling better, Becky.
I also think (hopefully) your son won't mind his jacket so much.

I told dh today that I'm ready to move to Arizona. Our drought is SO over! We are floating away.
The dogs are not amused.

How is it only Tuesday???

Michele - how is Charlotte?

Shannon-- thanks for asking. She seems pretty well. She only had the one seizure (that we know of). The vet said he didn't think it was related to her kidney disease because her kidney levels are stable. She has been dehydrated though so we started giving her fluids at home on Saturday. She gets them once a day for now and we can do every other day if she seems fully hydrated. She does seem perkier and less dehydrated so I think it's helping. I haven't called my pet sitter yet to see if she thinks she can give them when we are gone-- I hope so!

Wednesday morning, at 155.3 with fluid retention in my ankles.

A week that began badly ended up with an odd day yesterday: Working for nine hours straight, but also finding a sealed bank envelope with $240 in cash within it on the sidewalk and getting an email from a recruiter at a rival brand-name consulting firm about a job opening up.

But I have a lot to do, a deposition scheduled for tomorrow and a Nor'easter snowstorm on the way.

Thanks for sharing this

That does sound interesting, Saef! Plans for the cash?

My weight was down this morning but I suspect it will rebound tomorrow as dh wants to eat out tonight. We will either do poke or a salad place, but it's still bound to be more calories and sodium than I'm used to.

Crazy Kindergarten day plus 5th grade classes with subs. I better get that coffee into me!

My youngest is 22 today. I really can't fathom how that is possible.

Michelle, I'm glad your kitty is feeling better with fluids, and has had no more seizures.

Shannon, how are you doing lately?

I'm not having the greatest month so far but I'm putting in more effort to stay healthy. Yesterday I rode to the gym in the dark and pouring rain to get an early AM workout. This morning I got up again at 5:45 but looked out the window at the rain and just couldn't do it. These long work days end in a frantic rush to get last-minute samples read, and I come home a tired and stressed mess. And I never see daylight, even the grey version they have here. This seasonal "depression" makes me unsure whether I'm awake or asleep and dreaming - it doesn't feel like depression so much as some other form of mental illness.

JZJ - I'm not great right now. My kitty seems to be holding stable, but I'm worried about her. Everyone who came over last weekend commented that she had lost weight, including my MIL who had just seen her four weeks earlier. I wonder if there is a noticeable difference and I just didn't see it. I, on the other hand, am 17 pounds heavier than I was on 11/06, which makes me higher than I have been since 2004. My nose still hurts from the fall, and I'm all around out of sorts. I'm trying to figure out how to shake it off and move forward again. I have been doing my headspace every day, that is my only consistent self care right now. I just don't know what to do now. On the grey all the time - I have a friend who uses a natural light lamp during the winter for just that reason, one might help you some there? I'm sorry you are so stressed at the new job.

Saef - I hope the deposition goes well tomorrow.

Michele - 22? Really? That seems odd even to me only seeing you guys from a distance.

Becky - glad you are feeling better!

Alice - why do people give him the hot sauce if he doesn't like it? That is a good use for it, though.

Allison - glad the golf shorts fit better! I need to find inspiration in your success. None of my clothes fit right now.

Dagmar - how if your face from the poodle incident? I thought about your busted lip this weekend and hoped it wasn't too bad.

Shannon, it may sound like inspiration, but it isn't. I, too, am WAY, WAY over redline. In fact, I'm higher than my highest weight. I have lost two pounds but just can't seem to get into the groove where I was losing 1 to 2 pounds a week. At less than .5 loss a week, it is really depressing and there are times when I feel like giving up and just being fat forever. But I don't want that! I want to be where I was! I just don't relish the slowness of it all. And to top it all off, I have to deal with my FIL who is just the opposite--his multiple hospitalizations and surgeries have left him below optimal weight and he "just can't gain" (his words). So, since we are together so much, I see him eat like a bird and say he is full and throw away half his meal while I desperately want more than what I have. I have a constant hunger that I try to satiate with water, but we all know that only masks it for a short while.

I'm sorry you are still struggling, Shannon. Big hugs!

Yes, I can't believe my dd is 22 either. My eldest is 26. I remember them being in elementary school like it was just last week. I will be 50 next month and married 30 years this year. I truly don't feel it's possible.... and I'm grateful and thankful.

Allison-- as someone who always has an appetite it was very weird to me in January when I had the stomach virus. I had zero appetite for 2 weeks which is so unlike me. It reminded me of my dad when he was aging and lost a ton of weight. He had always been heavy but then he was just thin and frail. The nurses caring for him said he looked like he'd always been tiny and they couldn't believe when I said he'd been obese all of my life.

I wish peace and serenity and strength to all who are suffering or otherwise struggling.

Michele, I too was completely floored by what it was like to spend a few weeks completely oblivious to, and even vaguely repulsed by, food. It makes me realize just how much time I spent/am back to spending in the realm of thinking about what I ate, what was next, and how I felt about all of what I ate and didn't eat.

Shannon, great big hugs! Thinking of you. Soon it will be time to garden again. That's a happy place. You and DH put a lot of time into your beautiful yard, and you get to get in there and dig and nurture a whole new batch of fresh yummies and pretties. Seed catalogs - the best part of winter!

Allison, a half a pound a week was pretty much my routine back in 2009 and it seems to be unchanged now - viruses aside. I agree, it's hard to see that for the positive change it is ... but it IS positive and it still beats the heck out of the status quo, right?

JZJ, I hope you get to see the sun soon. We had a GRAY January here and man, everybody I knew was edgy and grumpy. Recently had 3 days of much more sun and it helps so much. Consider the artificial light - they are fairly common in Michigan in winter, especially in the office spaces.

saef, I'd like to send you a big package of free time. Or a red emergency button that can stop time til you climb on top of all the things vying for your attention.

There may be hope for DS's jacket. Apparently the construction is not that solid (surprise, not) and it may not be major surgery to decrease the arm openings and tighten the chest measurement. We will hear more later in the week. Crossing fingers!

Shannon, DH likes hot sauce, but this is the mucho extreme stuff, where one drop is enough to heat up a whole pot of chili. It is actually dangerous to handle in my opinion. I wore latex gloves with it. His kids just love to find new and hotter concoctions to give him each year, so we've ended up with many bottles sitting on a shelf. DH's tastebuds are long gone (imo), burned up by eating so much uber hot stuff. I like a little heat, but still like to be able to discern the flavors in the food! Even if DH used hot sauce at every single meal it would take years to go through what we have. Painting it on wood is the best use ever Sorry you are still struggling Look for the very small things that show you are making some progress. If your kitty is eating, be optimistic. Loving pet ownership is often a rough road and I sympathize about the worry you have.

Allison, I think half a pound a week is more than adequate! Don't give up! Just be patient. You know you are making progress, so just don't sabotage yourself.

JZJ, I hope you can get a break soon and spend some time in the daylight. No wonder you feel so weird. Sorry

It got into the seventies today. Nice but it's too soon. I hope to have a nice garden this year with all the chickens finally gone.

JZJ I'm guessing you're somewhere in the Seattle/Oregon area? Apparently the seemingly never-ending wet grey weather is also prevalent on our west coast. I had considered a move to Vancouver a long time ago but 3 people who lived there told me they moved back east due to the depressing effect the weather had on them. The daylight lamp sounds like a good idea.

Shannon Most of us don't notice our pets gaining/losing weight unless it's very drastic. We see them every day and that desensitizes us to it. Gracie can be quite thin and still be in fairly good shape. I look after several old cats who are very skinny but doing well.

My lip is fine - thanks for asking. Still purple and starting to turn green/yellow around the bottom but no pain. I bruise if you look at me hard but heal up well from it usually.

Allison Tiny weight loss every week can be very frustrating but it IS real weight loss. Better than gaining yes?

Everyone else

Dagmar

Thursday morning, and when I awoke at 4 AM, the ground was bare. But about a half-hour later, while I was washing up after breakfast, I glanced out the window and the ground was already whitened over. I needed an umbrella against it when I walked to the gym. By the time I left the gym, the cars were rolling very slowly on the greasy, clogged-up roads. I hardly needed the 9:30 AM call from my lawyer telling me the deposition was cancelled because both law firms were closing their offices for the day.

I'm at 155.2, still with puffy ankles.

I feel vaguely exhilarated like a kid facing a snow day, but I have so much work to do, I can't really take off today.

Dagmar: yes, exactly. We haven't had more than about 8 hours of sunshine total since early October. I knew we would be facing short days (latitude is same as Maine or Michigan) but I didn't account for constant dark grey skies even when it's not raining (which isn't often). I have multiple "happy lights" and I use them in excess of recommendations; also take vitamin D supplements. Animals here die of vitamin D deficiency which is rare in some species, but it happens here.

Shannon: I'm sorry about your kitty's health; the very slow progressive diseases are the hardest to judge. But you know how her appetite, thirst, litter box habits (amount of urine etc), energy, and personality are and whether they are changing, and those are the best markers of her overall well-being. As far as your own health - it's great that you are using the meditation app. Have you tried journaling as well? I do it around once a month and I'm always surprised what floats to the top.

Confession: I haven't weighed myself for two months. The scale battery died and it continues to serve as my excuse.