Betsy & Terra— Decatur, Illinois?! Seriously? My immediate roots are in Texas, but my deep, deep roots are in the Midwest, because my parents both grew up in central Illinois. When I was growing up much further south, I often visited relatives in Jacksonville, Springfield, Monmouth, out in the country on farms...and my beloved great-uncle—who in age was really more of an uncle, because he was a much younger brother of my grandmother—lived in Decatur all his life. I was closer to his son Steve, who is just my age, than to any of my first cousins, and we're still in touch. In an alternate timeline, if anything had ever happened to my parents, I would've been raised by my great-uncle and his wonderfully loving wife: my parents had it all set up that way in their will. Sometimes I longed for that alternate scenario, I kid you not. And Terra, I lived in Lawrence briefly as a baby, when my parents were making their way south, one state at a time, early in their marriage. Even my accent is more Midwestern than Texan—unless I'm talking to another Texan, of course—because those were the voices I heard when I was small.

Ubee ~ Yeah going to the doctor's every month does keep me motivated

Betsy ~ Yeah, Im still trying to get in the habit of staying under my calories so when I do its really an accomplishment

Fiona ~ Yeah I've always lived in Kansas, I was born in Texas but I was only there until I was 6 months old and then we moved here to Kansas.

I got my walks in today but I went way over my calorie limit today during dinner but tomorrow is another day and I'll do better tomorrow.

Morning Everyone,

Just a quick check in...Sorry I didn't post last night...DH and I ended up having a date that wasn't planned lol..We went to this gaming store and they had a lot of old school arcade games and they were only .25 each to play so we spent $2.25 and played for about an hour then he took me out to dinner..I had grilled chicken tacos...They are still OP for me because they weren't slathered in a lot of bad stuff...

I'm about to go spend the day at my friend's pool...I had to go get a new suit because mine doesn't fit anymore!! It just fits weird so I just took one of my gym tops that looks like a suit and bought some bottoms since I'm kinda short on cash right now lol...I made us a yummy fruit salad to go with lunch today and she's going to make a curried chicken salad for us

Today is also my grandmother's 83rd birthday! I'm going to call her on my way to my friend's to wish her a happy birthday and then tomorrow my mom and I are going to take her to lunch and to see a movie! I've got a big weekend planned but will still try and post!

Love ya'll and have a great day!!

PS: Fi You are right and I did ignore the troll...not worth my time, I've got too much awesomeness going on around here!! And yes, I am trying to lose weight to not only feel healthy but I want to have a child and I know with my condition and my weight it is going to be hard, DH also has hormone problems so I'm trying to do everything I can to ready my body. <3

Good morning all. They could have filmed Noah out here -- been raining for days now. I know I shouldn't gripe with so much of the country in a severe drought, but I'm so looking forward to next week when the temps go up and the rain goes away -- at least for a few days!

Sam What a great weekend you have planned and you do such a great job of planning your meals so that you can stay on plan and still be out and about. Love the fact that you need a new swimsuit -- actually love the fact that it's warm enough somewhere to be in a pool!
Terra It's definitely hard to be on plan day after day, but you do so well. If I'm over calories for the day and it was still healthy food (like I had too much fruit or an extra piece of chicken or fish) I don't get too upset -- but when it's the dangerous 3 (chips, ice cream, or chocolate) then I get made at myself. Good luck with today.
Fi It's a small world! I am very glad that I grew up in the Midwest, and I still think that the tall grass prairie is beautiful -- although one evidently has to have been raised there to think that flat land is pretty. I was actually born in Quincy and my grandparents lived there all their lives so I'm very familiar with the corridor from Decatur to Quincy.

Got my flowers yesterday although why I thought it would be dryer is beyond me. It's not unusual to get a little damp out here for 9 months of the year and you just figure you'll dry off. Yesterday I was so soaked through by the time I got home (this was with wearing water gear) that I just completely changed clothes. BUT it was a great day in terms of getting back on IF, had a major whoosh, and am amazed at how much better I feel about myself for sticking on plan one day! I also joined the May Day May Day Challenge so that I am more accountable for recording weight on a weekly basis.

The other great news in my life is that my younger nephew got offered a full time job yesterday. He worked at Pizza Hut as a manager for years (almost 20 years) and finally got his act together and went back to school to become an IT support specialist (works on both the network and PCs). He had to get an associate's degree, worked an internship where he got hired, volunteered there to keep his skills going, was offered a contract job dependent upon his finishing up two more certifications, and finally got hired yesterday. He's a great young man, but has drifted so much. So glad to see him make this turn around in his life. He's coming out tomorrow for a celebratory dinner. Sorry for the long ramble on this, but his mother (my sister) and I worried about him a lot, and I promised my sister that I would take care of her family for her.

OK. Time to get it in gear. I need to go to the store and get the house straightened up. I turned my back on the dogs this morning and went in to find two towels shredded and a bag of loops that you make hot pads with spread out all over the floor.

Betsy ~ Thanks, I'll be sure to stay under my calorie limit today, I agree though it is hard to stay on plan day after day.

Hey I'm still kicking around just keeping busy with other things than posting.

I can't even remember the last time I posted. Weds I went and made supper for a friend then visited another friend and came home and watched a movie.

Thursday I tried to workout, but since only two of us show up our step class was cancelled and ended up watching movies all night. Yesterday I worked out right after work it was pretty half hearted. I only stayed until 6pm just wasn't feelin it.

Stopped by a couple friends places, and ultimately went out for too many drinks and dancing.

So went with a friend for breakfast to motivate myself out of bed/off the couch. Using posting as an excuse to avoid housework but I'd better get too it. A friend is coming by in a couple hours to watch some movies so I guess you know the living room should be somewhat livable ... not going to aim for clean. I'm realistic lol.

Well wishes to everyone this weekend!

Good Day!
Silent nice to see you pop in! How is the weather? It is finally nice here! What kind of movies are you watching? FYI I am watching you in the moving thread and wondering how many minutes you will go above your goal.
Terra it has been windy here. That sure adds a lot more to our walks. I don't know about you but all this fresh air makes me tired!
Betsy by the time we get done worrying about our kids it is time for them to start worrying about us. (Though I'm sure they always wonder about us!) It must have been a comfort for your sister knowing you would be there.
Sam let us know how the pool and movie went.
Fi a while back you talked about maybe having a young relative (Great niece?) help you sort your project. Did you ever go any further with that? I think you would really have a positive influence on her life!
I got a lot done today, cooking, cleaning and even a good walk. I dug in my closet and pulled out a top I want to fit in. I can get it on BUT wowza! Sausage lady! It should look smashing in about 20 pounds. It is kinda bohemian and a little hippie.
Have a peaceful evening.

Not a stellar day for me, but not a total loss, either. After an intense morning session of clipping magazines at high speed—I really work up a sweat doing this!—I suddenly hit the wall. I got stressed out, spoke in an unecessarily querulous tone to my sweetheart, and from there quickly slid into depression pain. Not really severe, but bad enough that I had to take a couple Geodons and knock off for the afternoon, if not the rest of the day. 'Got up later to watch the qualifying round of Formula One in Barcelona with my fellow F1 fan, Bob. After that I took another long nap. I may just give up on today and go to bed early.

I still haven't assembled the birthday present for Ignace (formerly Robine), but surely I can slot that in tomorrow, my day off. Margaret & Gavin won't be coming over tomorrow, because they're up at Bob's mom's farm, so it will be a nice long day of rest and activities not related to the BERP.

Ubee— Yes indeed, I have spoken to the father of Grace, my great-niece, and he thought my idea of paying her a little bit (minimum wage, 'cause she's only 13) to help me sort my clippings sounds most excellent. I'm waiting for a call back from Grace herself, but it's getting near the end of the school year, so no rush...

That's my news, y'all! Have a good Sunday, everyone.

just wanted to send you greetings from tbe Alpes. We're staying for the night and i hope not to fall in to all this great austrian food...
there are high mountains covered with snow all around me.

I had a totall loss of 17.6 lbs before leaving and my goal is to not gain during the holidays...

I think of you and try to read...writing is a bit difficult on my small s M artphone that I just told 5 min ago how to work in a foreign country...

Take care everyone

Happy Mother's Day -- memories of my poor mother suffering through a series of good attempts at doing something special such as making her breakfast in bed. Found out years later, she was relieved when I got old enough that she could insist on eating at the table without worrying that she'd be damaging me for life. Good memories!

Sugar It sounds absolutely beautiful and I hope you have a wonderful time on your holiday. While great food is always a challenge, will you be doing a lot of walking around -- that will help with keeping the calorie count in check. Thanks for checking in with us.
Fi Glad that today is your day off. This BERP project is definitely one that seems to put you under a lot of self-imposed pressure. I understand the urgency, and am glad that your great-niece will be helping out. That will make it go faster and should be fun.
Ubee I think my nephews are already beginning to worry about me but more in terms of what wild hair will come up next. They seem to think that getting a puppy at this stage of life was idiotic. There's nothing like pulling out something we want to wear and finding that it's still a wee bit on the snug side to keep us going. I've got 3 tops that I bought in October that I'm going to get into......the fact that they're really more for mild temps and it's predicted that we'll have a really warm summer is a slight problem.
Silent You are definitely getting back in the groove of a busy social life so that Ubee and I can live vicariously through you. Glad you're posting -- it will happen.

Time to get a quick shower and start making dinner. My nephew doesn't know it, but he'll be helping me with carrying the hanging planters downstairs to hang outside and getting all the other flats of flowers unloaded and changing a few light bulbs for me. He's always willing to help -- he was a sweet kid and he's turned into a fine young man even if it did take him a long time to find his way. Hope everyone has a wonderful day.

Hey everyone,

Just a quick check in since I should be getting ready to go to the movies with my mom and grandma. Lost 1.2 lbs this week so I am officially down 45 lbs total! I was hoping for a bigger loss but any loss is better than a gain so I'll take it!

Yesterday was nice, my friend Ana and I went out to the pool but we were only there for about an hour before it started getting too hot. I didn't get much color on me, but it felt good to be out in the sunshine

Not sure what movie I'm going to see today, I told my mom to let grandma pick it out. She usually picks pretty good movies

I'll try to check back in later with you guys! Hope all the moms out there have a happy mother's day!

Ubee ~ Yeah its been really windy here too. I agree the windy does add to our walking, The fresh air makes me tired too.

I stayed under my calories today but I have yet to walk, Its too hot right now to walk but Im gonna wait the sun starts going down to walk. I need to get in the habit of walking in the morning too and then walk when the sun starts going down.

Just poking my nose in.

Happy Mother's Day and Future Mother's Day to you all!!!

Posting... Chatty Patty tomorrow.

I had a miserable day yesterday. Severe depression pain. I think the stress of the BERP is taking its toll. Only tentatively functional this morning.