Well, huzzah to all the queenlies who inhabiteth this realm!

Was just lurkin' 'round here as oft times Am the Crone (as I style self these days) thinketh o' this palace and all o' ye 'n think she will always be with thee in spirit 'n should come 'n say huzzah more often.

Great apologies to be breezin' in 'n out every year or so but life gets away from one.

Shall be 'round more, methinks.

Not a lot to say 'bout moi as I am sort of always the same, though the winds o' fortune buffet moi as they do all us mortal ones (not sure that crones are mortal, but they are buffeted nonetheless)!

Woot! Folkettes, t'is nice seein' ye are still here at the same ol' palace!

Shall just leave a card 'n wander out again, not meanin' to intrude.

love the look of this thread
my plan this year:

build my self esteem through positive self talk & body image (working out and eating healthy really helps with this). i've come a long way in the last year or so but i still need to strengthen how i see myself in a positive way.

good grooming & styling of myself....dressing the size I AM, not the size i want to be...and taking care of myself..also really helps me with my mood.

I DEFINITELY need to put myself first this year. It sounds selfish, but I need to make sure my plans for life begin this year...

Losing 15 pounds would also be nice. lol.

Empress Am - so lovely to see you dropped by the palace. Your inspiration is sorely missed and it is nice to hear from you to know that all is still "well" - buffeted though you may be. And the Empress of our realm is NEVER an intruder.

And welcome, Summerlove. Thou hast hit upon our ly philosophy of treating ourselves as we deserve to be treated. In past lives, some of us did not put enough into caring for our souls, minds, bodies and now strive to satisfy our "needs" with other than food. It does require continual striving but we desire (as you) to be the best we can be.

Savying that, I must say I was a real wretch the last three days and am paying the numerical price for same. In a good and resolute mood this a.m. though despite rain. And more rain to come. Still 'tis a sign of Mother Spring here to awaken the earth so I will be happy about it.

I thoroughly enjoyed the presentation of "La Boheme" yesterday. It was not a staged effort but marvelous singers accompanied by the Symphony. Joy, joy.

But now off to the mundane. "Tis Monday, after all.

Couldn't have said it better, Anagram... back to business as usual on Monday! Our getaway was lovely, in spite of a rainy, rainy Friday. We saw a great show Thursday night, Lombardi, a six man (actually 5 man/1 woman) play about Vince Lombardi...which we both really enjoyed. Spent the major portion of Friday at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which wasn't nearly enough time, but there's always next time. I could have spent the entire day in the company of Van Gogh and his cronies, and definitely will take more time in that wing next time! We walked through Central Park to get to the museum, a good 25+ block walk. It rained on and off, but with umbrellas it wasn't bad at all, until we were about two blocks from our destination. Out of nowhere, TORRENTIAL, MONSOON-like rain came along, mocking our umbrellas, and completely soaking us from the feet UP, to about mid thigh! Ah well, we were dry by the time we left, hours later. According to my pedometer, I logged 18,000 steps on Friday alone! Balanced that nicely with thoughtful food choices, so I'm pretty pleased with the weekend over all. I didn't use it as an excuse to over-indulge, only to have to pay for my 'sins' later.

So good to see Amarantha breezing through the Palace! Not intruding at all, methinks! Here's hoping the winds buffet you back this way more often... tis a good, warm and welcoming place to land!

Welcome, Summerlove! Sounds like a good plan there, not selfish at all! Anagram put it so well: we strive to satisfy our "needs" with other than food... hence: lovely music, writing, art, gardening, books, spiritual pursuits, etc... that which makes us happy and content. Please make yourself at home here, and do tell what's working for you!

I never did make it outside today for my lunchtime walk... really feel deprived, too, mentally and physically, when I don't get out there! Will make up for that with a good session of something or other on the Wii.

Am off to sweat... have a good night, what's left of it!

Rainy, rainy - but bringing spring flowers, no?

Loved, loved, loved "The King's Speech". Don't get to movies as often as I'd like but made that one early and SO enjoyed it.

Arabella, how was your solo week? And DGS's sleep-in-the-big-bed?

And kat, how wonderful your get away sounds. And a walk in the rain in Central Park is the stuff of movies.

Got thinking about get aways and my not getting away. So yesterday, I went a little wild and took (getaway) money and made appointments like crazy. By the end of the month, I will have rewarded me with a facial, a massage, electrolysis, mani/pedi and a haircut. Of course, the last two I'd have done anyway. Business has been down, I guess, so there are many offers out there and so on three of these appts, I'll be paying discounted rates but it's still a WILD THING for conservative me.

Usually when I say I'm "shaking it up", I mean calorie wise so this is a different kind of shake up

Not that I've earned any "rewards" (I actually saw a 2 last Monday morning). But since I am recognizing my Royalty, well........what can I say?

I hit 200 on Monday after my wretched debacle and that scared me. I hit 196.4 yesterday and 197 today so it was the yo-yos but I brought it on myself.

Am finished with the prednisone and apparently with no major gain this time. Yay.

Thinking of wsw and Kaylets. Big to both. And hello again to Summerlove and previous Royals and all lurkers.

So off to a lazy day of catching up on little things (not that checking in at the Palace is a little thing).

Good grief, is it almost Friday already? Prithy, where did this week go?

Arabella, I am listening to "your" music as I type this, and it is truly lovely... Very challenging to perform, I'm sure, but I imagine how wonderfully satisfying it will be to recreate such a thing of beauty! <just re-played again, for the fourth time, I'm really loving this!>

Your getaways sound marvelous, Anagram, and well deserved! Treating Ourselves Royally, I believe, is the name of this thread, and so you shall! I need to make a few appointments for myself, thank you for reminding me: Definitely a haircut this weekend, and nails too. I have a gift certificate for a facial that I've been dying to use, just waiting for the 'right' time... not exactly sure when that will be. No time like the present, eh?

The wind & rain here are making quite the ruckus outside... quite tempestuous ... feels as though the roof is going to blow off any minute! Taking a moment here to thank the powers that be for that very roof, I can't imagine being outside in this weather. Kind of regretting asking my son to take the garbage out earlier, it must be a block away by now!

I just deleted a whole rant about our "Biggest Loser" group at work. I really don't like this group this time around... there I said it! That felt good. So much negativity there. Very unmotivated to do ANYTHING to change their habits, everyone has an excuse why they can't, but soooo angry because they're not seeing results, or not seeing results quick enough. Blah. If nothing else, they inspire me to NOT be like them! Moving on...

I think I'm going to treat myself to an early bedtime tonight. Yes, 10:30 is early for me! When I think that it wasn't too long ago that I was waking up at this time, and heading off to work, it boggles my mind. Don't know how I did that for so long, but you do what you have to do, I guess.

Good night to all!

Glad you had a LIFE day, Arabella. Seems we "coincided again" = surprised me with what I got done yesterday. Have done some yard cleanup this a.m. and will be off to shower and then enjoy the rest of the day. It's to be nice again but not as nice as yesterday and then tomorrow a little cooler but sunnier.

So we are on the way here in Central PA = Now that the snow's gone (for the nonce, at least), the little surprises are popping up. Lots and lots of branches to be cleaned up - wicked wind this year.

Spent Thursday trying to stay ahead of water seeping into basement. All in all, did a decent job but so tired by evening. Got to pool only once this week and only one tai chi class as instructor cancelled first one. Monday's cancelled too as he lives along the river and will be dealing with flooding at his home this weekend. Not as bad as some years but enough his basement will get a good hit and he'll be w/o power for a good while. My leakage seems minor

Niece will be having gammaknife surgery on Monday morning. It's like a one-shot radiation thing and then we'll be in WAIT mode for three months.

Another busy week coming up. Visitors from Arkansas and then, somewhat coinciding, from Alaska. I have no plans for major projects just muddling along on some of the old ones. Cleaned garage up a bit with warmer weather but oh, so much more to go.

Had a couple of run-ins this week with things I should have passed on. I let me down so much. And I certainly am old enough to know better.

198.4 and got haircut and a lovely, relaxing facial this week. Yoohoo!!!!

Well, Happy Belated Birthday, Miss wsw! So sorry to hear that you've been feeling poorly, and glad to know that you are on the mend! Spring will surely bring an end to the miseries!

It seems that I'm destined to these late Sunday night posts, but that's about all the time I seem to have lately. I did spend a large portion of this weekend doing what I absolutely love to do: SPRING CLEAN-UP! Not inside, good Lord, no! Outside, with my wheelbarrow, my clippers, my rake, and the most delightful first weekend o' Spring weather!! Filled three large bags with clippings, stoked the chiminea with the gazillion twigs strewn all over the lawn, gazed upon my daffodils and hyacinth about to bloom, and earned a good 16 activity points, today alone!

I faced the scale yesterday morning @ WW, for the first time in 3 weeks... not as disastrous as I had anticipated: up 2.8 lbs. (St Patricks day corned beef and beer may have contributed... ) It will be gone next week, I'm pretty sure, and hopefully take a few more with it when it goes. I am completely back on track, eating beautifully and tracking every morsel. I bought a nice new dvd that I've been using this weekend: 7 Minutes of Magic: AM/PM Qi Gong with Lee Holden. Very nice way to start the day. I haven't done the PM routine yet, but think as soon as I am done here, I will.

Arabella, I had a similar moment with myself as you: Gave myself a stern talking to and decided that FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION. Am I willing to put the work in? BTW, loved your story about dh and the dirty clothes! I cracked up over the image of you doubled over in laughter!


Anagram, I just love the way you put things: Had a couple of run-ins this week with things I should have passed on. I let me down so much. This is something I have been working on; 'passing on' those things that drive me crazy. Am successful a goodly portion of the time, but when I'm not, I hear those cookies call my name. I've noticed that I become very aware of an instant longing for a comfort food (cookies-I am the Cookie Monster) the minute something rrreally aggravates me. It passes, but it's an interesting feeling that I am recognizing the trigger, and am actually able to just acknowledge the feeling and move on. <most of the time!> I got my haircut too, this week! Shorter than usual, am embracing the curls this time around. Takes much less time than my usual attempts at de-curling!

Okay, my dears... time for bed for me (after my PM qigong) Monday has done rolled 'round again...

Have a great week all... keep your heads up and shoulders back; even if you are feeling down, this posture will fake you into a more positive frame of mind... try it!