Oh LisaMarie - wish you were closer and could teach me piano! I took lessons as a kid, but haven't had a piano since, but I can still pick out the right hand if it's in the key of C I do have a full sized electronic keyboard, and I keep threatening to take lessons..... Good luck with your 5K.

Allison, one of my church friends has a daughter who plays marimba and keeps hers at the church. She plays other things too in the school band, but I'm not sure what. The whole family is musical - oldest sings, middle plays tuba (and other brass), youngest (17) is the marimba player. Dad plays trumpet, mom sings and is our choir director.

I'm so glad this work week is over, over, over.... 15 minutes til I go home. I have no concrete plans for the weekend. I'd like to start with about 12 hours of sleep. DH is not sleeping well (as you might imagine) and when he wakes up, I wake up. Grrrrr. I like my sleep.

Have a good one

Good morning everyone! (Or maybe it is still the evening for some of you, I don't know.)

Shane -- Same question, shall we call you Aidyn here? (And I also find it's a nice name. Mine has desperately been around for centuries, haha. Old thing.)

Sweet Amor -- I hope the upcoming week will be less stressful for you for a change. Stress sucks.

And can someone please confirm that if I'm always cold these days, it's because I'm now 30 lbs under a weight that I had for 10-15 years or so? My sister's BF keeps on telling me it's because I don't eat enough, but I feel like I stuff myself enough as it is (I don't exactly leave the dinner table feeling still hungry, at least not given the tons of veggies & meat/fish I eat), and I know from experience now that if I eat more, I'll just gain on weight, period. (I'm on maintenance calories right now, not losing calories. I'll get back to that once I'm used to winter temperatures again. ) I don't know what else the reason could be, given that apart of this, my thyroid and all the rest is fine.

Also, speaking of food and of my sis, at whose home I was invited yesterday evening for dinner: anyone else here having this side-effect of not sleeping well when they eat something heavier than usual for dinner? I don't mean overeating and being uncomfortable per se, but simply eating dishes cooked in butter when usually you don't cook/eat like that, etc. (And now I'm the official pain in the neck of the family: I dared ask if I could have vegetables with the cream turkey and spaetzle pasta. Oh the drudgery. To think that I didn't even eat ice-cream after that under the pretense that I was full. )

I went all through public school with three Susans in my class. Strangley enough tho' ... the new gal who started in Sept is the first Susan I've worked with in years.

That repeating first name thing is very European. My Mom had three sisters and they're all Maria something. I've got a Mary tucked in my list and my sister has Maria.

Lisa, good luck on your race today! Be sure to come back and give us a report.

Kery, I'm always cold and so are a lot of people who have lost weight. No, I certainly don't agree that it means you're not eating enough! My theory is that it's a combination of a loss of insulation (fat) and the lowered metabolism that inevitably accompanies a significant weight loss. It's just something that happens when we lose weight and I don't think it means that anything is wrong.

I'm the queen of sweater sets, even in the summer time. And I tend to wear a warmup jacket around the house because I live with two guys who think I'm nuts. We have comforter on my half of the bed and I sleep in fleece PJs.

But I'll take being cold over hot flashes any day of the week!!

I was always a little cold when I was heavy too, so now I'm REALLY cold. When people ask me why, I just say it's because I lost my "fat blanket." Seriously, a blanket of 112 pounds had to provide a considerable amount of insulation!

I'll definitely come back with a race report, Meg! It's still drizzly out there and I have some aches and pains, so it may not be a glowing report, but that's ok! It'll be fun anyway! My poor husband may not be able to run the race because he thinks he broke his toe at his Muay Thai class last night. He comes home from that class (it's Thai kickboxing, and it's pretty hardcore -- they're sort of training him to be in actual fights, though I doubt I'll be able to stand that) with all sorts of bruises and injuries every time. He loves it, though, so what can I say?

I used to feel warm all the time--and now I feel cold sometimes. It's because I don't have my "fat suit" on. It's not because I don't eat enough--although I'm back to losing weight so am eating less.

Kery, if I eat rich foods too late, I have trouble sleeping. Sometimes if I eat too much carbohydrate too late, the same thing happens.

Hope you all have a good Saturday!

Jay

Kery - I was always the first to get cold before I gained the weight and now that I've lost it again, I'm cold once more. My fall/winter/early spring waredrob is filled with sweaters, turtlenecks, and jackets that I can layer on and then through an afgan over.

It's pouring here at the beach and it's work weekend at the club. DH is in charge and I feel sorry for him cause he has a whole crew of people hanging around in the club house unable to do all the tasks they need to to winterize the buildings and grounds. Sunday's weather is supposed to be better, but less people show up and this time, they'll have double the work to do.

DH went to his two week doctor check up on his 2nd surgery for his collarbone. The plate is still in the right place, but the bones haven't begun to knit yet. The doctor said 6 more weeks before he can think about dancing or driving. He's going to catch a ride back up to the apartment with one of our friends from the club, so I'll be able to head home for the first time in a week. Got to get the mail and pay those bills.

Tonight's our Halloween Party at the club. We're going as Holly Hunter and William Hurt in full red carpet attire. DH will wear his new studs and cufflinks that we got for his b-day with his white dinner jacket and tuxedo pants. He'll wear a royal blue bow tie and cumberbun to match my blue sequin sexy dress. If we get pictures, I'll try to post them. I'll be wearing a long, brown wig. I wanted to make us Oscars with their names on it to make it much more obvious who we are, but being up at the apartment, I didn't have access to any craft stores.

Gary~you're right, she has no time for boys. She's had one "date" if you can call it that. She does go out with a group now and then, though (much safer that way, IMO).

Lisa~DD is going to get her degree in music education. She might do a double major with computer science. She's kind of on the fence about it all. The double major was high on her list a month or so ago, but now that she might be able to join the university ensemble early, she's thinking of just doing music (and then getting a masters in music performance). We'll see.....it changes so quickly!

As for names, there were only 2 Allison's in my high school and the other one spelled hers Alyson. What's weird is how I find people trying to spell my name--the worst was Alycen! As for Dana, she has a bunch of them in her school--both boys and girls! And I thought I was being pretty original. DS is Nicky, but goes by James at school (full name James Nicklaus but DH is James and we didn't want a junior). Had I thought a little harder for his name, I would have picked Aiden James instead (after Aiden Quinn)--instead he's named after DH's favorite golfer.

I'm back from my 5K and I'm pretty excited! I posted a longer report in the Cool Runners thread and I won't bore you with all the details, but I finished in 28:26, so I hit my under-30 goal! Woohoo!

I didn't get a little trophy, so I was a little bummed. They did an under 40/over 40 split for the age groups, so you have to compete against teenagers! Not many people were there, though, so I placed 4th in the under 40 group and missed a trophy by one place!

This is kind of odd, but when I got home I kind of broke down. Not in a bad way, but I just sort of cried and cried. I don't know -- it's like I haven't really stopped to think about how far I've come. I think about it, sure, but it just really hit me today and I cried and cried from sheer joy. Something about hitting this goal today just made a huge difference for me. I felt amazing. Maybe it was a relief thing, too -- having something good happen after a few weeks of bad stuff.

I'm having some champagne tonight! Finally going to drink that "I hit 165" glass I haven't had yet. The scale was back to 165 this morning, so I can! Also, I can celebrate the fact that my husband won the race again this year, that speed demon!!

Hi everyone,

Lisa, I borrowed the hooker boots from the female bartender at our karaoke club. She couldn't wear them cause her legs were too big. I ended up using her knee-hi ones instead cause they aren't near as hard to walk in.
Also, they do have the reallly high ones here at Halloween Express. Lol, I've changed my choice of outfit a dozen times. But, the skirt has remained constant. I ended up buying some fishnet stockings and a bright red corset. LOL. Oh, I also borrowed a long blonde wig.

OMG, my sister called me last night just bawling. She was almost incoherent. She had just hit a deer in her new malibu. (It's the first brand new car she has ever had). I calmed her down and explained that her insurance will fix her car back to looking brand new. Her deer ran into the right front fender, broke the grille, headlights , hood and smashed her window. She was very lucky that she wasn't hurt.

Bad news is, sis sees a Dr. on Tuesday for possible surgery again. This time for prolapsed bladder. She has really had a rough time the last few years with needing several surgeries.

I'm gonna get off here now cause that skirt I'm wearing tonite dictates that some more walking is in order. LOL.

Hi guys,

I've been quiet this week! Hope everyone is doing well.

Lisa, congrats on your run! It's not at all fair that you have to compete against teenagers.

Lily, OMG, what is with all the deer hitting? Is there something about fall that brings all the deer out onto the roads? I'm going to be all paranoid if I drive somewhere at night.

I had a minor NSV yesterday. I had my appointment with the specialist about my mystery abdominal disease (that I mentioned a month or two ago) and while he was pushing all my organs around, he said, 'you're so skinny I can almost feel your backbone!'. He also told me that I had nice ear drums, so he might just be in the business of doling out compliments to patients.

I had been worried that the doc wouldn't take my complaints seriously, because my symptoms are so weird and don't seem to relate to any normal disease, but he was really great--he let me talk and he listened and asked questions and took me seriously. This is nice. Doctors are often so overscheduled (and unsympathetic) that they don't always let you explain what's going on. He didn't have any answers for me, but he's scheduled an ultrasound and if that reveals nothing, he'll do a CT scan. And he prescribed me painkillers on the grounds that if they can't figure out what it is, and if it isn't a giant health problem, the next best thing is pain management. I kinda hate painkillers though.

My eating is a total MESS at the moment. I don't know what's going on. I think I'm not going over my calories (I think), but I've stopped logging and I feel disordered and chaotic and out of control. I think it's about the winter. I don't have all the stuff in my fridge that I've had during the summer months AND I'm craving heavy, starchy dishes AND I've been feeling lazy about cooking AND I've been abusing the vending machine at the office. Someone give me some words of wisdom or a smackdown, please!

Today is the last day of our farmer's market, which is incredibly sad. I adore the farmer's market. But, I've got to get going so as not to miss that last bunch of baby carrots (or whatever.)

Have a great weekend everyone!

Hey everyone!

I'm about to go out for a run... to get the girlfriend some donuts HEY, it's still a run, right? Then, it's stair time! Stair time has become a tradition of mine over the weekends, though since the student athletes are out practicing all hours of the day, I've become a little less enthusiastic. I'm just SO afraid that they're going to laugh at my fat self jigging up and down those stairs. I can't get over the fact that I'm NOT FAT ANYMORE!

To everyone who wanted to know whether to call me Shane or Aidyn, I really don't care -whatever works for you; whatever you like more, I guess! Kery, what IS your name, anyway? And if Kery is really your name, then it is not that common.

Jay and Kery, I ALWAYS get cold SO easily. When I was fat, I was comfortable at pretty much any temperature, but since I've lost weight, I find myself constantly freezing! Apparently, this is a very common issue for people who have recently lost weight. When I was fat, I would wake up sweating. Now, I wake up shivering *BRRRR!!*

Lisa, congrats on getting under 30 on the 5K! And even though you didn't get a trophy, you were close. You're right; you've come SO far and it's quite alright to be overcome with emotions... I get the same way sometimes, and have to ask myself, "WHY am I CRYING?" I'm an overemotional sap, though.

Allison, your daughter sounds extremely talented. She's also probably going to decide several times throughout her college career to do different things. One of my friends went into college wanting to be a social worker, then decided psychology might be a better route, and NOW is getting her master's in... business administration. I initially just wanted to go to college for the social scene because I figured I would get a band together then quit and be a rock star

Pat, your DH is, without question, enforcing my statement that men are miserable patients. I'm glad he is doing better, though. I've never gotten shingles before, but after reading the posts here, I've now found out that they are more common than I initially assumed!

Shane/Aidyn -- No, Kery is not my real name. In the offline world, I simply go by the name of Isabelle (although my other names are that of my grandmothers', and pretty much old-fashioned; too bad).

Anyway, it looks like I was the one who was right then?--it's quite common that we feel cold more often than before, and it doesn't mean we don't eat enough. Glad to know that. Somehow, if my only options are being cold or being obese again, I'll take the cold anytime, kthxbye. (And pop a WATP DVD now and then to get a little warm. )

Kery(Isabelle! I love that name), I still freeze most of the time and I'm just about at my 6 year anniversary. My fleece lined slippers are my best friend. I also don't sleep if I've eaten poorly which for me is carbs or sugar at night. A small serving of brown rice or sweet potato is OK, but if I veer into candy or starchy sweets, I get really sweaty and can't sleep. It's about the only time I'm too toasty!

baffled- glad you found a doc who takes you seriously and will work with you to find some answers. Nice eardrums????

Lisa- Congratulations!

I need to get back to being super strict again I've been reworking some of my standard foods to squeeze a few more calories out of them.

Mel

LisaMarie! and on your run! Yes, you are different now--and in a way you probably never thought you'd be.

Jay