To all of you messing around with the food: Knock it off. (In my best tough-love voice.)

If you have developed a cupcake habit, change up your routine and stop it.

If you didn't get the job, dammit, those who did not hire you are idjits and there's some other plan for you.

One of my spin instructors, who's big on an inspirational playlist, keeps playing this one song with a refrain that says: "Don't you worry, don't you worry, child/See Heaven's got a plan for you." I don't know how many times I've sprinted with heavy resistance to that song before the words sank in. I want to believe it's true for myself, and for all of us here, particularly in our most trying moments, when we feel there's no plan whatsoever and no reward for all our efforts.

Oh, boy, have I been hungry a lot over the past few days, still restricting as much as I'm able to. Nevertheless I've gone to bed at night with swollen legs and feet. This is probably due to salt content in the delicious but unsightly pork stew that I made in my slow cooker & have been eating for several nights in a row. The recipe is based on something that I found online & was inspired by my visit to Santa Fe earlier this year & called for a jar of tomatillo salsa, some green chiles, some lime juice, some tiny red jacket potatoes and a can of posole. Tastes wonderful, with that slightly sweet-acidic tang of the tomatillos. But it's a really unattractive color, so I'd hesitate before serving it to someone else. Sadly, it doesn't seem to take much sodium to make me bloat up, particularly after a mostly sedentary day, working on midyear evaluations for my team. That has pretty much eaten up my life this week. I need more sleep. Logging off now to try to get it ...

Jay, sorry you did not get your job. I have been rejected more times this last year than my entire job hunting career. Don't quite know what's going on other than a super sucky depressed economy.

jay, condolences. Now, step out of the kitchen.

I had a pretty good week after the rather appalling last Monday at 154.0, so the week average Mon-Sun came in at 151.8. I'll only have 4 days to average this week, as I don't expect to find a scale on the cruise ship (wouldn't that be something? ). We ran 9.65 miles last night, a number that sort of blows my mind. I did that? I am taking my running shoes and one sink-washable exercise outfit, but my real goal is to disconnect and really savor every minute of this experience - enjoy the regional cuisines and the visual feasts, and VACATION!!!

Have a great cruise, Becky! I'm counting the days until we leave for our European cruise!

Becky--- I missed that you were cruising-- enjoy! I love cruising!!

I'm mad at the scale and mad at myself. Enough said.

Dh and I are going to Napa overnight Sunday to Monday and planning to indulge. I'm cringing to think of what the scale will say after this getaway if I leave with it being so high. He also wants to "celebrate" my last day of school tomorrow with a nice dinner out, and to "celebrate" dd when she comes home from camp (she's a counselor) on Saturday. The thought of all of this celebrating terrifies me. I'm hoping once I'm off next week I can refocus myself.....

Ladies, thank you for the tough love. I'm stepping out of the kitchen now I'm cutting it off at four days of careless, depressed eating -

dstalksalot: I have two close friends who have both said the same thing, that this has been their worst job-hunting year ever. It seems like the stabilized economy should be helping with obtaining new jobs, but maybe there's such a large group of people who have been waiting for new positions to finally open, that the competition is extra fierce. They did tell me that they had never had so many qualified applicants before.

Jay, I see so many more qualified applicants than I used to see. A few years ago I would get hundreds of people applying for any position and could easily cull out most of them as obviously not qualified for the position. Things have shifted in the last 18 months and now all of the applicants are good ones. I don't know if the lesser qualified people are in lower skilled jobs now and not applying with me, or what. I've also figured that the more qualified folks have been waiting awhile for positions, so are really getting into looking. Sorry you didn't get your job, honey.

It's so funny (well, not really). On another chat board there's a discussion going on about how horrible the coworkers/employees are these days. Some saying that their coworkers just don't care to learn their jobs, etc. One saying they have a receptionist who refuses to answer the phone. Others talking about working with the "mentally retired" who just come in to collect paychecks but don't really contribute.

I'm just glad we have a 90 day trial period where we have the right to fire the person for any reason if they aren't working out.

Jay-- let me add my well wishes. Where was the job located? You can beat N. Cali!

I'm trying to remind myself of all that I have to be thankful for. Very grouchy that my "fat" jeans are tight and my tummy roll is spilling over them today. I was going to go to lunch with a co-worker and had planned on offering some healthy suggestions. She was late to work and we had a shorter time than planned so we went to the local Chinese place which I despise. I ordered a veggie dish but who knows what was in it. It came with a small cup of hot and sour soup which I also had. I had a small amount of the fried rice but didn't eat the crunchy cracker things or the fortune cookie. I was grouchy with her for limiting our choices but I didn't tell her so. I'm trying to wrap things up at work as I'm fed up in general!

Oh, one thing that can get me really irritated is having to go out to eat when I don't especially care for the menu and/or my menu options are limited (in terms of eating healthy). This is the problem I have during the summer. My husband LOVES going for breakfast, but I'm not a big fan of eating breakfast out; I figure, why pay for something that I can prepare more to my liking at home, that isn't all that difficult to make, and whose calories I can control and calculate more precisely if at home? (Dinner is a different story; at least some of the menu items are things I cannot easily prepare at home, so the calories are worth it). So, I've limited him to going out to breakfast twice a week (he would go almost every day if I were game). Sometimes when we go out, though, if I am hungry, I'll succumb to pancakes or something like that, and there's 800 calories or so easily (the minimum number of pancakes to fill me is three, and with syrup, it's a hefty chunk out of my daily calories).

I missed my regular workout today but I got in some treadmill time anyway.

I hope everyone is having a great week so far!

Jay
I think you are right. People are working, they are just under employed. So I think that is why the applicant quality has increased.

I've been absent from the forum and it (kind of) shows. I'm hoping I can jump in here with the rest of you maintainers. I put on a little bit of weight and I want to get it off. Nothing major, clothes still fit, etc. and I'm betting a lot of it is muscle because I am stronger

However, I DON'T want to be in the 120s and I definitely feel it (whether it's muscle or fat I just feel...heavy). 115 was a happy weight for me, so let's see if I can get back there

Welcome back!

Dagmar

DH and I booked a b&b in New Orleans for our anniversary in November last night. We usually rent a cabin here in the mountains, and last year didn't go anywhere to save money. This year we decided it had been a tough year and we were spending a week in NOLA. Probably not the smartest financial move yet as we are still in the middle of debt repayment, but I'm excited. We need a vacation.

Everyone needs to get away now and then. Have fun! I've never been to NOLA but my sister has been there many times.