Hi everyone! I don't have time to stick around and do personals right now! I'm just stopping by and saying hello! I'm struggle to get fully on the wagon, but I refuse to give up. I hope everyone is doing well! I hope to be back and do personals soon!


Emily-I've been toying with the idea of switching to a protein heavy diet, and switching to breakfast being my biggest meal. I find that if I eat a small breakfast, I'm starving all day long. But, I just haven't been able to find an easy yet satisying breakfast food that's high in protein. That was to be something!

Hi ladies Just a quick post to say hi! I have been ridiculously busy the last few days and I am hoping to have some time to sit and reply to the personals over the next few days- please don't think I am rude! Thankyou to everyone who has given me advice on my loose skin, I really appreciate it! I am still hanging in there with the diet I had an excellent doctors visit today. 3 months ago, I got some truly shocking blood results back, telling me my cholesterol was 11.4 when it should be under 2. Today, after 3 months of light medication and some big lifestyle changes, and 15kg gone for good, my cholesterol is now 2.9. To say I am ecstatic is a huge understatement! My thyroid is fine, and my liver and kidneys have finally recovered from the pancreatitis and organ failure I had 12 months ago. I feel so grateful! Anyway, my beautiful partner comes home soon, and I need to get to the shops and make something nice for dinner, so I am off! I hope everyone is having a fabulous week, and I cant wait to catch up on the thread when I get a spare second to myself

Karen I'm not much of a gardener either. I don't have any land to plant things. I live in an apartment so we are trying container gardening for the first time this year. Last year we did herbs with not too many issues but hoping the rest will do good this year. My package has not been found and the post has basically said unless someone else got it and sent it back there isn't any way to track it down. I contacted the company who shipped me the products but not sure they can do anything either. I've since re-ordered my items today. They did e-mail me back and told me they would upgrade me to UPS shipping so that they can make sure I get my package. I e-mailed them back about the other order but not sure what's going to happen. Needless to say I bought 2 tubes of hair color, and reordered one to play it safe, and that has now cost me $40. Good times

Betsy I'm slowly but surely getting there! I gotta keep my head down and keep trucking along. As for the package, I paid with money I had in Paypal. I don't know if that is something I can dispute with them or not. Maybe I'll contact them to see what they say. Thanks for the advice on the tomatoes. I'm almost certain it's not over watering. It's just one plant that's doing it, and now the cucumber is getting a little yellow at the bottoms. I think I need to transplant them into something bigger. I wasn't expecting them to get as large. I've started watering them with some epsom salt in the water and that seems to be helping the yellowing a bit. May try the plastic or water tubes. Do you have any advice on keeping plants watered while you're gone for a few days?

Fi My heart aches for you dear. You aren't stupid. You just have a lot of things going on with you right now that it makes it easy for one's mind to slip. I'm sure we all would be the same, if not worse. You are a warrior. I really don't think I would have been able to put up with the pain for as long as you have. I hope your insurance company turns around for you. I really don't think when it comes to health insurance they should put a limit on what you can have covered or not. If they don't feel like they are charging accordingly to do that, and still keep it affordable (laugh) for people to have, then change it. I've been really beat up about fertility treatment not being covered under insurance. Why should women who need help having children have to pay for it out of their pockets when insurance covers people who are perfectly capable of having babies. Why do I have to be treated differently because my body decided to do this to me. It was not my choice. Even as an insurance agent, luckily not health or life insurance, there are a lot of rules I don't agree with. I hope you'll keep us updated. I worry about people when they leave. I need you Fi...We all do! But we understand your hard times, but please keep us in mind (((HUGS)))

Workinghard & Calda Hi ladies! Hope you both have a great week!

Sorry I didn't get a chance to post yesterday. Was kind of a long day. Left early to go to the post office and discuss my package. I had gotten a call earlier in the day and when I tried to call them back like they asked I could never get through. By the time I get there the lady I need to speak with basically treated me like a P.O.S. and made me feel like I was some kind of liar about my package. I could understand where she is coming from. I'm sure they get a lot of this, but why treat every single person the same way. Her immediate face upon seeing her was the eat $h*t and die look. I called again today and I guess after I said some colorful words as I was leaving she seemed to be more pleasant. There isn't really anything they can do about my package unless someone else sends it back or if it is randomly found. She said if there was insurance on it then I could file a claim so I'm waiting see what the company says about that. I ordered my hair color again, this time only one tube so I don't get screwed out of even more money. I heard from the company and they are upgrading my new package UPS, but I'm also having it sent to my job to make sure I don't have this problem again. My boss said I should do that from now on with all of my packages so that's what I'm going to do. My hair looks atrocious so I don't really have enough time to wait around to see where the other one is.

On a happier note DH spoke to his dad last night and he is sending us a key to the lake house that was his granny's. His dad now is the sole owner of the property. His aunts sold their shares to him. So now we'll be able to go there any time we want. With that being said we decided we are going to make our first trip up there for Memorial Day weekend! My FIL won't be there until Sunday. It will be a short visit with him since we'll have to drive back on Memorial Day, but it will be a nice little getaway for us and it won't cost much money at all except for gas and we can get there on one tank. I want my BIL to help us out with the plants while we are gone. We'll be leaving that Friday, but DH thinks he will kill them, or forget to water them. When we had to go up that way for the funeral last year I had to take all of my herbs to my grandmas. There are too many heavy plants out there, and I really don't want to have to take them there. I told him we need to figure it out and have something set up. I'm really excited because I've never been there when it isn't winter. There will be a lot of swimming in the lake. We may try to go to this pretty place up there called The Peaks of Otter and see what else is going on. So there will be plenty of activities to do to keep me active!!

Just finished my work out. Tomorrow I'm hoping to get some time in before DH has band practice, but I really need to get some filing done at work, so not sure what I'm going to do. If not I'll take it as a rest day like I normally would. Hope everyone has a great night!

Betsy: Life has changed dramatically. Hard to sum everything up, but here's a couple of things that come to mind:

- I generally wake up around 5:15 and I workout every morning (was never a morning person before).
- I have a lot more energy throughout the day and while I have always been a friendly and kind person, it shows a lot more now on the outside than it did before -- I'm not struggling to simply walk/stand/breathe. I was visibly struggling before. It also seems like random strangers are always striking up conversations with me now while standing in lines at the store.
- Blood levels are all normal, obstructive sleep apnea is gone, stage 2 hypertension is controlled.
- I've learned how to and am continually getting better at cooking (previously existed on fast food)
- I experiment with new dishes that contain foods I had never previously eaten (e.g., eggplant, avocado, squash, chickpeas, artichoke....had to google how to cook/cut these).
- I eat 3x a day (previously skipped breakfast/lunch and then ate ridiculous amounts at night)
- I meal prep in advance when I can
- I am starting to do physical activities with friends and alone I will take the long way to do something if I have time (park farther away, return carts to the store, etc).
- Also starting to 'find' my style of clothing instead of simply taking what's available in my size.

Wendy: I really, really like the focusing on protein and fiber because I never really feel hungry and I have a lot of energy. It's so much easier for me to do things when 1) I have energy throughout the day and 2) I'm not hungry. I didn't realize how little energy I had until I changed what I was eating. It's a night and day difference. As you can see on MFP journal, my breakfast is the same every day. It's very easy for me to cook + eggs are super nutritious + doesn't dirty many dishes + it keeps me full until lunchtime. I'm sure you will find something that works for you -- just keep experimenting until you do!

Gorgeous day here and I'm committed (or should be!) to getting the yard spring clean up finished....because I need to work on getting the RV cleaned up. I need a condo.

Fi -- I just read your post again and all I wanted to do was to give you a very gentle hug and wrap you in a cocoon of well being. I can't even imagine what you -- and Bob -- are going through. Then add on losing a post and pasting the wrong side of the collage piece and you've got good reason to be screaming. I have done some research on insurance payouts, and unfortunately everything I've read is bad news. Please don't shoot the messenger, but sometimes having an answer is better than not knowing at all or your pain doctor can continue to prescribe a cannabis product, but maybe one that is less expensive. Anyway, from what I could find, insurance companies won't pay for any medications unless they are FDA approved, including experimental drugs that are in trial. Supposedly the reason is that if they approved it and the person had problems, then the insurance company could be sued. My personal belief is that it's solely about money and profit. Don't know why the pain would fluctuate so much, and this probably has nothing to do with your circumstances, but I do know that when I eat refined foods and especially anything with sugars that my arthritis goes through the roof from the increased inflammation. Hope that we see you back here very soon telling us that things are once again getting back to where you're able to walk and have less pain.

Workinghard and Calda -- Thanks for swinging by. Totally understand that sometimes just saying hi is all there's time for and it's always good to hear from everyone. I'm a mother hen and I worry if we don't hear from each other for a few days.

Sam -- Paypal may have something to allow you to make a claim. Can't hurt to investigate. Good idea on having the packages delivered to work. Being able to go to the family cabin sounds wonderful. The other thing that could be causing the yellowing is possibly too little fertilizer. When I water, I use a diluted fertilizer. I use a gallon milk/water jug and then use half as much plant fertilizer as is recommended per gallon. I water with that each time. As for watering while you're away, I found this on youtube and I know that the glass bulbs she mentions work so this should as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRFuf7jsxME Easy to do, great way to recycle the plastic bottles and basically free. Free is always good!

EmilyFit -- Thank you for sharing your experiences with the weight loss. Your story and approach are very inspirational and you and Sam help the rest of us to know that this can be done.

My house is already a disaster area from having Becky staying with me. The dogs are both large (and Toby is huge) and they bring in LOTS of dirt, grass, mulch, etc. from outside. I just ordered a bunch of pants and tees for the Alaska trip along with a waterproof jacket and a fleece vest. It was time for some new clothes so this is a good excuse to get them.

Time to get it in gear. Hope everyone has a good day.

Hi ladies, how has everyones week been? Mine has been largely awful.. Problems at work, plateau in weight loss, and just generally feelling rundown, tired and sad. The only thing that is keeping me going at the moment is my gym routine. My partner has been going great on his medication, he is really trying with his diet and has lost a bit of weight which is so good, I am so proud of him and he feels proud too. Hope everyone has had a better week than mine, Firday the 13th struck today, causing massive issues with my social media account, it unblocked all of my block list so on top of rubbish at work, I was constantly paranoid about getting friend requests from undesirables and I have to wait for 48 hours before I can re-block them. Sigh.

Betsy - the green dress was my high school ball dress / aka senior prom I suppose for Americans - it was a style of dress I always loved and I had been ballroom dancing at the time so I had some lovely long dresses and it was different



My week has been really busy and next week wont be much better!
so dropping by - Hi All

So trying to stay focused and stick to my WW plan whilst being busy

The seasons are totally messed up here -- we had spring back at the end of winter, summer has arrived early, but the nights are still cold. And we're in the odd position of hoping it rains soon. It's May -- rainy season doesn't normally end until the 5th of July.

Calda -- Some weeks it would be easier to have just stayed in bed the whole week. Hope that the plateau ends soon. Others have tried things which have worked -- cycling calories (normal one day, very low the next; eating 5 apples one day and nothing else; cycling carbs; etc.) The theory is that the changeup will force your body to get back in the game. Such good news on your partner -- hope that together you'll be able to reinforce each other's successes.

Karencat -- Sounds like it's a very special dress. Plus trying it on and watching yourself gradually be able to wear it again is a great way to measure progress.

Back to the gym today. I still don't have all the yard work done, but I miss the gym enough that I'm heading in and then will do more outside planting and work.

Dietwise I'm stuck, but part of that is being willy-nilly on the eating. Time to get serious for this month of else I'll lose the challenge.

Hope everyone has a great day.

So I'm new here, and quite scared, not of you guys or this site, I'm scared of myself, see I've weighed over 400 lbs before, and i lost around 150lbs, but then about a year ago, i moved in with my boyfriend and he is what i like to call a snack hoarder. He has junk food everywhere, and i can't resist it. I stopped walking everywhere because he has a car and his brother whom we also live with further enables it by buying fast food for everyone all the time. I don't want to be this weight but I don't have the willpower to stop eating like this. And my boyfriend is completely set in his junk food eating ways. I'm scared that I'm going to die. And further more, I just broke a month old box spring which is like the one price of furniture I've never broken.

Betsy Paypal did have a thing to file a claim with so I did that. Surprisingly the next day the dang package showed up at my door!!! I cancelled the claim and contacted the company about the second order I had place and they were able to cancel it no problem. I can't believe how nice they were and went out of their way to ship out that one UPS and not charge me any shipping costs but right now there isn't any need for 3 tubes of color, and that extra $15 is going to help me with paying my vehicle tax this month. Sounds like you have a lot going on this week with all the housework. That's one of my POA today too.

I'm sorry I haven't checked in with you guys in a couple of days. Lots going on here. Wednesday was band practice for DH. I always drive him there just in case he wants to have a few drinks that way I don't have to worry about him getting pulled over on the way home. I'd rather be safe because getting a DUI is not cheap. My girlfriend and I went to Sam's with her kids while they did their thing. We got home late and I went right to bed.

Thursday was my yearly appointment with my OBGYN. I got some good news and some not so great news. The good news is my doctor thinks I should have no problem getting pregnant if I am having a cycle every month now. According to him that means I'm fertile, and suggested to take ovulation tests just to ensure I'm ovulating. I have little signs I notice when I'm pretty sure I am ovulating, but he said the tests will just confirm that and told me how to use them. Amazon will probably be the best place to buy them, they are so expensive. I also asked him about DH, since he too has hormone issues with low testosterone. He said it was good that he is taking medication for that, but should really get his semen analyzed to know whether or not if he has any active sperm at all. He said if he does but it isn't very high, we could try naturally and if that didn't work, they could do an IUI. The only down side of the IUI is that it ranges between $16-20K per time they try doing the IUI. My father in law has already offered to pay for any fertility treatments but to be honest as much as I want to have a child, I could never ask someone to pay that for me, especially not knowing if it will actually take on the first try. I'd rather have that money to help me with buying land so we can build our home, or help me with adoption. We aren't trying right now, so it's not something I'm too worried about, but I did tell DH that we may as well see how much it will cost to get the analysis done so we know what we're working with and if we even have a chance. I don't want to give up hope with it, but I'd rather not spend the next 5 years (that's my window for getting pregnant) and not ever know. The not so good news is that he found a small lump on my breast. He did not seem to worried about it, but would like me to have an ultrasound done just in case. When I told DH he reminded me that he felt that on me about a year ago and that it doesn't feel any bigger than then. I honestly didn't remember that, so I don't know whether that is a good or bad sign. I haven't told my mom or grandma yet. I'm going to see them this afternoon. I'm trying not to worry about it, but with everything going for me in the past 2.5 years, getting cancer would really stink. My aunt on my dad's side had breast cancer, so it does run in my family. They are supposed to call me to let me know when my appointment is. If not I plan to call them next week to find out.

Friday was a busy day at work, so I stayed a little bit late to get a few things that I needed done. Went to the grocery and by the time I got home I had a headache so I didn't work out. So that is 3 days off unfortunately. Today I have a lot of cleaning to do, so that should be a good bit of exercise for me. My house is a complete wreck and I want to get it in order. We also have some things to do in the garden. Hopefully tomorrow we're planning to go to Brookgreen Gardens as it's supposed to be a pretty nice day.

The other good news we have is we are going out of town for Memorial Day My FIL now owns his mother's old house out right. His sisters sold their shares, so he is sending DH and I a key to go up there any time we want. It's going to be an exciting trip, but also one that will probably bring a lot of tears. This is the first time we'll be going there since Granny passed last year. I was able to get off for that Friday so we'll be leaving early Friday morning and coming back Monday. Her house is on a beautiful lake called Smith Mountain Lake in VA. I also have a friend whose parents live on the lake too, and she's not too far away in Roanoke, VA. Not sure if I'll have time to visit her, but we are planning a visit to go to Roanoke. I have been craving Texas Tavern for like 3 years. It isn't on plan, but it is this TINY little diner type set up, has a total of I think 10 chairs, and they sell hamburgers and chili. You aren't allowed to put ketchup on their burgers, and if you do, they have a candy machine set up to where you have to pay .25 a packet ...This place has been around for a very long time and the atmosphere and people are so nice so that will be my little cheat while we're there. We'll be doing a lot of swimming and other activities so I'm sure I'll burn it off.

Well, time to get dress. DH and I have to take the car in for an oil change. Be well my friends! NotExactlyHuman Welcome to the group darling!

Finally, RAIN. My next door neighbor just found out that you really should close up the sun roof each night. I saw her wiping down the interior with a LOT of towels.

Notexactlyhuman -- First, welcome. Hopefully you'll be able to find some of the support and will power needed to get through each day staying on plan. In terms of living in a household with lot of junk food, lots of snack food, and an available car -- it would be the downfall of me, too. I think we can all sympathize/empathize with you. And being fearful of what the extra weight is doing to your health is very smart. My suggestion would be to try anything that will help -- setting goals, giving yourself rewards when you get to a goal, aversion therapy, etc. Good luck and please don't give up.

Sam -- Glad you posted -- it's been really quiet on here this week which makes me always worry about everyone. Your doctor's visit sounds like at least you got some answers. My BIL had a very low sperm count and they were told it was highly unlikely they would ever have children. So they adopted their first child and then five years later were in the process of adopting their second when my sister found out she was pregnant. Since he looks exactly like my BIL, evidently there was one little swimmer that had enough oomph to do its job. Sometimes things just happen when they're least expected. I'm glad you're getting that lump looked at. If the doctor didn't seem worried, he probably thinks it's a cyst, but getting tested is definitely the route to go. I know where Smith Mountain Lake is -- you're going to be doing a LOT of driving, but it is a beautiful lake and I know you will have so much fun.

Where's everyone else -- hope you're all doing well.

Lots to do today so I'd better get going. Hope everyone has a good weekend.

Hey everyone!

I hope you all are doing well! Phew! It's been a week here! This coming week is the last week of school for our area. I'm room mom for my daughter's class so I've been in the classroom a lot, and will be next week coming up also. They sure do pack a lot of activities into the last two weeks. I haven't been very good at staying on the wagon, and it's 100% my own fault. I failed to plan for me to have healthy things to eat this week. I need to do better with my meal planning. We did get to go swimming for the first time this year! My little girl is one happy camper. I did try Emily's tip about eating a heavier breakfast. I started eating a whole wheat waffle with some natural peanut butter on it, two eggs and a glass of milk for breakfast. I certainly do feel full longer. The struggle that creeps up on me, it's a habit I think. I find myself craving sweets or chips even though I'm not hungry. That's a mental struggle that I've got to work on.

Sam-my husband had a semen test done about six years ago when we were trying to conceive. It cost us $90. I'm happy to talk with you about our journey if you like! :-) I will warn you I got pregnant after I lost 100 lbs and we quit trying. We tried everything from ovulation kits, to cervical mucus testing, to basal temperature charts, even some fertility drugs. It was a struggle for sure! But, our little girl was a surprise!


I hope all of you are having a great week! With summer coming I'm craving some fresh veggies and fruits! I think I need to hit the farmers market or produce stand!

Hi everyone. My busy annoying week just got a little worse, now my car has decided to completely pack it in at the worst possible time. Sorry I have been a bit of a Debbie-Downer this week, I am just having a rough patch at the moment, and I don't feel like I can really talk to anyone as much as you guys.. I lost it completely on Friday at work; I am talking full blown, completely irrational, snot faced ugly crying in front of the boss. I am completely spent, at the end of my tether, and the woman at work had been horrid again, and I completely lost it. I just feel really fragile! Sorry for the whinge, like I said, no one else really wants to know about how things are going, they just keep piling more and more onto me and expecting me to continue plodding along. I have been going to the gym and following y schedule, and I am hanging onto that routine, but only just. Times like this really just make you want to throw the whole thing away, and go and eat a pizza the size of your face.. I have resisted so far and will continue to do so, as I don't think I could cope with dealing with the self loathing that would come from me having a massive binge.. I cant win, hoping the storm breaks soon and that the Universe cuts me a break!

Betsy adoption is definitely an option for us if we can't conceive where our chances are slim. Who knows maybe it will turn out like your BIL and sister in the future but if it never happens I'm beginning to be OK with it. It will still hurt for a while but at least I know there is always another option that I can give a child a home where they would need one more than anyone else in the world. I'm beginning not to feel so upset about the lump on my breast, you're right it may be a cyst especially if it's been about the same size since DH felt it. I plan to call them next week if I don't hear about my appointment. I'm curious as to how much this will cost me with insurance because I know I haven't met my deductible, but not sure if they would consider this preventative care like they do with your yearly Pap smear. I know with my insurance those come free and I don't have to pay anything. Sometimes the doctor forgets to call me so I will be sure to be on top again. I've been to Smith Mountain Lake several times and yes it does have a lot of driving LOL. Luckily they have done a lot of building up in the past several years so a lot is there now that wasn't there before. And the drive to Roanoke isn't that far either considering. Most of my family members that live in Virginia have a lot of distance between them and town so we're pretty used to driving a lot to get to where we want to go ha ha !

Workinghard thank you for being so kind and giving me your insight with your story. I'm surprised I haven't really given up on having a child yet because we wanted one for so long and I've gone so long with any type of protection that I thought I would definitely have gone pregnant by now. But is not something that I expect and I can't I'm just going with the flow with everything for now. Since I have to get skin removal surgery from the weight-loss I'm giving myself a five-year window to have children before I decide to go with the surgery. If I don't have kids by that point hopefully I will have enough money saved up to have the surgery or at least be able to get some help if I don't have the full amount of money to do it. I just need to get it done.

Calda i'm sorry that you've had a rough week. I've been in your shoes are way too many times so I definitely feel where you're coming from. A lot of people don't want to hear if you've had a bad day or if we're just going bad again or just things are bad in general. But please know that you can come here anytime and talk to us and will be here to listen. I hope things turn around for you soon dear you are such a good soul. The i'm sorry that you've had a rough week. I've been in your shoes are way too many times so I definitely feel where you're coming from. A lot of people don't want to hear if you've had a bad day or if we're just going bad again or just things are bad in general. But please know that you can come here anytime and talk to us and will be here to listen. I hope things turn around for you soon dear you were such a good soul.

Well my scale is up today now I am back up to 207 so I've gained 1.2 pounds this week. On the plus side I did lose quite a bit of inches in my measurements, 1.25 inches in my chest, 1.5 inches in my waist, and 1.25 inches in my hips so I'm pretty happy about that and it is definitely taking the blow of the weight gain a little less upsetting.

Yesterday DH and I took our card to have our oil changed. We decided to take a little walk around the area we were at although there was not many places to really go. We stopped at a gas station and got us a drink and walked over to this little on the side of bank to look at the ducks and turtles. To our surprise we found a TON of blackberry bushes where we were. We decided after we had finished our drinks that we would fill up our bottles with as many berries as we could find. We came home and put them in a ball and did not realize we actually had got as many as we did. There was still a lot of berries leftover that had not ripened yet and we are pretty sure that no one knows about it since it's not an area that people usually don't walk near. We plan to go back there in the coming weeks to pick some more. And make sure to leave some for the animals.There's also some in a wooded area behind my house that has a walking path to cut through to another neighborhood. We decided we would go check that out at some point to but there are no berries yet. After we got the oil change I came home and worked on our bedroom cleaning and organizing it. I worked for 3 1/2 hours getting it done and now my room looks really nice for once LOL! After all that work I still made time to color my hair even though it was close to 10 o'clock by the time I got finished. Needless to say I got a lot done and was super tired by the time it was bedtime.

DH is in the kitchen making breakfast for us. We're having omelettes. We decided that we are going to Brookgreen gardens today. We're going to pack a lunch and spend the day there I'm pretty excited. The weather is supposed to be nice not quite as hot as it has been so hopefully we don't get too hot and there's a nice breeze.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend! Ready to start the week again tomorrow. Hope everyone takes care and has a great start to the week tomorrow!

I'm thinking about turning on the furnace again it's so chilly here which is ridiculous considering I had the AC running on Friday. Just that time of year where the weather is definitely something that can change in a few minutes.

Workinghardatlosing -- Sounds like you've had a busy time with end-of-school-year work -- and it is very hard to stay on plan at times like those unless you pack meals for every single day. The sweets and chips cravings are normal. Part of what I learned in this journey is that our brain is literally hard wired to crave sweets and salt and some of us evidently got in line twice when it was being handed out. Part of what I try to do is to chew sugarless gum to curb the sweets and I'll eat canned soup to help with the salt (seriously -- check out the sodium content on some of those soups!). You can also try aversion therapy with a rubber band around your wrist. Just snap it when you get a craving. It actually works pretty well considering it's minimal pain but evidently just enough to switch our brains over to something other than wanting sugar and salt. I'm looking forward to summer veggie and fruit season, too. Yum!

Calda -- Sorry you're having such a horrible time at work as that makes for a very long day and always resulted in my wanting to assuage the emotional pain -- usually with food. Have you thought about looking for a different job? Also, is there an HR department. If this particular woman is causing you this much distress, talk to them about having to work in a hostile work environment. Offer to have a mediated session with the woman to try to work out what's causing all of the problems. Just some suggestions. I don't know how you managed to keep on plan with the eating, but that is a HUGE accomplishment. Good for you.

Sam -- Glad to hear that you're coming to peace with possibly adopting. I know intellectually that my older nephew is adopted, but emotionally he's the same as his brother. Don't you just love the weeks where there's a weight gain and since your measurements went down for no apparent reason! Your blackberry picking sounds like fun and the trip to Brookgreen Gardens sounds wonderful.

I finally got the planting done for the "upstairs" part. Now I need to do all the "downstairs" planters. My house is built on the side of a ridge so the front is a rambler and the back is a day light basement with 9' ceilings due to the slope of the hill. So I have planters at the front, "window" boxes on the deck railings, and planters on the downstairs patio. I like how it looks when it's all done, but getting all of them set up takes several days. I'm also slowly planting the garden because I'm trying to plant things so that it will be producing when I get back from Alaska. It's raining here today so I'm going to do the finances, dust and vacuum, and give myself a manicure.

I'm up and down and all over the place with eating. I finally printed off menus from 2013 when I seemed to be losing some serious weight. Well, in printing them off, I found that in the months that I lost I was keeping the calories between 900-1100 for the day. On the days when it ate 1200-1400, I would gain. What I love is when I tell the doctor that, he tells me that I'm mistaken. I have an appointment tomorrow, so I'm taking the darn diaries in for him to see.

And on that happy note, it's time for coffee and some breakfast. Hope everyone has a good remainder of the weekend.