Sheila, I'm so sorry to hear of what you and your family are going through. My prayers are with you.

I am now procrastinating on mowing my yard. I play golf in a couples tournament tonite at 5:30PM. I have a partner named Todd that plays with me on the weeks DH is at work. I much prefer to have DH as my partner. Todd is not very good and is constantly trying to rush and give me instructions. He makes me nervous!

I am staying OP with my meal plan and I can tell my tummy is getting flatter. Just 4 more lbs. to go til I reach my goal again! I still can't wear my size 4's yet, but hopefully will be fitting into them again by the end of summer.

We don't have the beagles anymore. They kept digging out and eventually found their rightful owners again. Which is fine with me. (the lady who runs the dog pound let us know who they belonged to and that they are back home again now).

We do still have the stray black and white cat that showed up several months ago. She is really pretty now that she has plenty to eat and has filled out some. We had to change her name to Socks cause the girls named her Michael Jackson before they realized it was a female cat, LOL. She is still a little shy of the family, but she isn't hiding in the attic anymore.

I went to my 5 year old grandson's soccer game last night. It was hilarious. I think he spent more time climbing on the net than protecting the goal, LOL.

Megan, I wish we could meet IRL. We are so looking forward to our trip. We will be staying with the 3rd oldest SD that is in the Coast Guard. We had planned to go to the Gulf of Mexico instead , but she talked us into coming to Pensacola. (DH and Shelbey went to her Coast Guard A-School graduation last weekend). I didn't get to go cause Lacy had to work and I wasn't leaving her home alone all during Memorial Day weekend).

Hi everyone.

I'm working from home today since I had to take the dog to the vet and wait for the satellite tv guy to come. Carter (the dog) has been limping for a couple days so we took him in. They said it looks like he just sprained his leg from running around too much, so they gave him an anti-inflammatory/painkiller injection and sent him home with some painkiller chewables. $100! Taking care of my doggie is expensive, but worth it. My last family dog died of bone cancer which started out as a limp that came and went, so I wanted to make sure that Carter didn't have anything serious like that going on.

Yesterday when we got home, I turned on my DVR to watch some shows that I recorded a while back, and everything was gone! All my recorded shows (about 120 hours worth), all my timers, everything gone. The tech support guy said it was probably from a power surge from lightning storms, so they sent someone out today to check for other damage. It turns out that whoever installed the satellite (it was there when we moved in) didn't even ground it! So the guy rewired everything.

In other news, my weight is up today. Ugh! I was hoping for a loss but I'm up 1lb instead. I think my waistline is shrinking though, so maybe some of it is muscle from the NRLW workouts I've been doing.

Oh, Jessica~how sad to have lost your shows! I'm guessing they were probably end of season shows? Ugh. But, on the other hand, you can watch them on your computer--go to Surf The Channel--they have almost everything out there usually within a day of it airing.

Good that your fur friend is just suffering from a sprain. The things we do for our dogs! Gotta love them!

And don't stress over the weight. It'll be gone by Monday (fingers crossed for you).

Jessica, my son may also have had a power surge from lightening recently that blew out his very new expensive TV. He probably should have his satellite guy come and see if he might have the same problem going on that you had.

My golf game was good tonite, we finished 2 under Par. (came in 2nd place). I mowed my yard today and went and washed and vacuumed my car. My eating is still OP, I took my fruit and low-fat snack with me to the golf course. (all the food there is very fattening).

. . . that drinking alcohol and maintaining control over my eating doesn't work. I had ONE beer last night with DH's band while sitting on our patio. Then I came inside and started eating while they went to the garage to practice.

SIGH.

This is the hardest part of getting my mind around maintaining. I can't eat/drink much of anything any more.

Most of the junk I was consuming I can happily live without but I will really, really miss having a glass of wine at dinner on the weekend or a beer on the patio in the summer.

The good news is that I'm back OP today and will be for the weekend. We are going to see Terminator tonite (if we can get in) and I'm taking whole wheat pretzels and a bottle of water along as my "treats".

Jessica The vet is expensive! I took Mudpie in last night to have her suddenly itchy scabby ears looked at and paid over $100 for the exam and a bottle of ear cleaner.

Have you looked into pet insurance for Carter? My cats are too old to qualify but most young pets can benefit from being insured for about the first 3 years of their life, depending on how active they are.

Lily Congrats on the golf 2nd place (even with the not so helpful partner). I'm sure you would have won with your DH!

I'm off to do a million errands and to see my cousin's kids at their fun fair. We also have the Yard Sale for the Cure breast cancer event today throughout the neighbourhood I work in so I'm probably going to score some really good designer stuff at very low prices.

Have a great weekend all!

Dagmar

mudpie, yes alcohol is a problem. I never drink now that I have liver problems. But, when I did drink, we always went out and ate a fattening breakfast afterwards.

Yes, vets are very expensive. I know I've spent a fortune on our animals. .

Yeah, our golf game was fun. It was a 4 person team and we didn't use a single one of my partners shots. He was very grumpy cause he played so bad. I'll be happy to have DH back as my partner next Friday. DH can usually score even Par by himself, so he's a great partner and we usually win.

If Lacy has time today I'll have her post some pics of DH and SD #3, Taylor, at her Coast Guard graduation. DH is one handsome little fella! LOL. Although he did say last week that his weight is up (181 lbs.) and that he might need to do a few situps. LOL, he makes me sick, 45 years old and still has a washboard, 6-pack stomach!

mudpie, good job on deciding to take your own food along with you. That is what I'm doing too. I don't care what people think, I need badly to stick OP.

Happy Sunday! The cats and I are up early, not sure why. I take that back, they're pretty sure it's time to be fed. It's right before dawn and the birds are chirping up a storm. It's such a peaceful time of day.

I don't even want to think about what we've spent in vet bills. One of the cats has congenital heart problems and has seen a kitty cardiologist a few times. And she takes people heart medicine. $$$! Our old guy is 18 and needs blood work every few months for his kidneys and thyroid. But they're members of the family, so it's money well spent.

I need to finish the cleaning today, ironing, plan menus, and do some cooking for the week. In about another week we should have local strawberries and I can't wait! I usually buy a flat and freeze some for winter. I used to make jam too but those days are gone. Has anyone tried making jam with Splenda?

The gym doesn't open until 8 am and it will be packed, as always on weekends. Today will be a cardio only day so I can get in and out and not deal with the hordes of people. There's a forgotten elliptical in a corner that doesn't face any TV and everyone ignores, so I grab it. I love the quiet weight room at 6 am on weekdays so save my lifting for then.

Dagmar, how did you do at the yard sale? Any great bargains?

Meg Lots of good stuff all around the neighbourhood. I ended up not buy anything except two reusable nylon carry bags which I gave to my cousin's two girls (the bags have cat faces on them).

I did sign up for all sorts of things at the silent auction at the girls' school fun fair (which I attended after the sale) but haven't heard back if I won any of them.

I live in a small house and I think I really have enough stuff. The one and only thing I really need is a plastic tupperware type container to mix my kashi and puffed rice cereals in. I can get that at the dollar store.

DH and I went to see Terminator Salvation last night. He bought the snacks, not realizing I had pretzels in my purse. So I ate the large popcorn he got me and drank the vat of diet cola so his feelings wouldn't be deflated. He's really excited about the results he got on his mock exam and I want to help keep him in that mood. I'm hoping this injects a new intensity into his studying and he passes the real exam on June 16.

Hallelujah if he does!!! Our life can finally begin again after a whole year of this.

I'm off to throw the weights around - got a whole uninterrupted hour to just work. Then mani and pedi and some reading and then I wake DH.

Have a pleasant Sunday everyone!

Hi everyone,

Meg, I bought fresh strawberries this week and they are yummy. Also bought fresh cherries, apples, pineapples, grapes and bananas. I did plant my own strawberries this year but haven't produced any yet.

Mudpie, I love going to yard sales too. I find lots of cute baby clothes for my grandkids and keep them their own wardrobes here at my house so the parents don't have to send clothes with them when they come to visit us.

I weighed yesterday and am truly happy with my weight. I'm sticking to weight watchers and keeping my calories and fat grams down and it is working! For a short while there it seemed that nothing I was doing was working, but it is now. I think my body just needed a short break and then it was ready to lose weight again. I'm keeping my food log and sticking to 1600 calories and no more than 30 fat grams a day.

I am so very proud of my DD, Lacy. She is really working hard at losing the extra weight. She is down now to 178 lbs. (from somewhere in the 190's). I can already tell a huge difference in her waist and her double chin is tremendously better. All of her clothes are getting too big and she has many different smaller sizes already to choose from.

Lily your daughter has your example to follow. I'm sure she's very proud of what you've done and that you are an inspiration to her.

Dagmar