I just can't believe I'm finally getting on track and everyone is gone.
I got my workout in this morning at Curves and plan to walk around the soccer field this evening while the little one has practice. Water has been a breeze lately, drinking more than enough. Food is coming around slowly...dont want to throw my body into shock.
Hope all our peeps find their way home.

Well, I'm just gonna have to go off and pout....

Tigerlily, you are doing great - I hope everyone else is not hiding because... I hope you all have a great holiday and eat reasonably well. See you on Monday!

Happy Easter!

Sorry I have been absent for awhile.....have been in a really foul mood, and didn't want to take it out on you! Been doing a lot of thinking......I mean, I joined this group with my New Years Resolution of losing weight, and here I am 3 months later with little or no progress. The concept is so simple.....eat less, exercise more....and one that I can't seem to put into practice.

I have read all the books, studied the food pyramids, and looked at my family's health history .....and all point in the same direction. I have a supportive family and friend network (you folks have been super!).....good grief! why can't I get off ground zero? .

Maybe it's laziness.....or procrastination.....or weakness of character.......I won't bore you with the last weeks' worth of self-analysis crap. The bottom line is that I am not a quitter....stuff takes me a while, but I will get this accomplished :

It seems appropriate now.....at this time of Easter and springtime.....a time of renewal, if you will....to once again start my weight and exercise battle. The past few days I found myself choosing meals more wisely and walking and exercising more. It's a beginning.......

And thanks for listening.......

MsRD, welcome back! Everyone except me and Tigerlily seem to have gone AWOL for the past week. You know, we will never be perfect but as long as we keep trying, we will get better at what we are doing.

Have a great day!

Hello everyone - yes I'm still in the land of the living.

I can see it's been slow around here. I've been busy and tuned into other things since I came back from vacation - nothing earthshaking. <sorry>

Faye and I seem doomed to be ships that pass in the night - what with my whirlwind sleep-deprived trip to Memphis and us being in the same town for all of 10 hours in Nevada.

But I had a marvy time with my girlfriends and wish I could go back and do it again tomorrow. Since none of us play at the casinos and we were splitting 4 ways we decided to stay at the Bellagio - which was heaven. No husbands, no kids, 'nuff said.

Except that I have to sing the praises again of my all-time favorite store (not on the strip - have to drive) TRADER JOE'S. We went there our first day and brought bags back to our room of fruit and wine and cheese and nuts and chocolate and tins of smoked herring fillets and thin, savory rice crackers and... so we didn't have to eat out all the time - mostly we snacked for either lunch or dinner and went to restaurants when we were out or the mood struck us.

It was a good, good girl trip.

So not much to report on since then. Last week was a little tougher than I anticipated. DH and I were exhausted by the end of the week - back to the grind. So we had a relaxing weekend which is just what we needed. Taxes almost done. It's all good. Haven't lost, haven't gained. The sun is shining, the grass is getting green.

Projects this week are self-directed, low priority ones so needless to say I didn't accomplish too much yesterday. Better go make a list to give me some motivation.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hey There!

Okay, so my stupid 'puter is acting stupid!! It's so stupid!! I have DSL, yet it's taking 5 mins. to load a page, which is why I haven't been here, and probably won't be here much, until it gets fixed!! Luckily my SIL's hubby is an IT guy. It's a matter of when he'll find time to come over.

Dh's trip home was too short. We didn't get to do much, which made me very sad. I am SO ready to pack up the kids and go be with him.

The kids are fine. Zoey's cough is getting alittle better. It's been over 5 weeks, so I took her to the Dr., last week and was told that since my BIL has whooping (?) cough, if she has that, that the cough could last up to 10 weeks and there is nothing for it. So the very helpful doctor tells me that she's only half way there. Well, thanks for nothing!! Can you tell I'm a little bitter?

Okay, so I just looked at the icons on the right and they still haven't loaded. UGH!!

On a positive note, I had my weigh in and measurements taken at Curves on Monday. I have mixed emotions. I lost, but knew that I didn't do as well as I could have. Had many bad days. Having more and more of those, since I'm not getting enough sleep and my kids are driving me crazy. Then add Easter, and Aunt Flo coming next week, to the mix!! I CAN NOT control myself during that time of month! I become some kind of chocolate, salt monster!! My youngest sister works at See's, and my mom gave me a boat load, which I've already eaten!! I get sick to my stomach just thinking about it, but again, I have no control, NEVER have. Anyhoo, I saide this was a positive note.....So I'm down 8.5lbs and I lost a total of 9 1/2". I don't feel or see any difference, may be I'm bloated....I don't know. I know I should be thrilled about it, but for whatever reasons, I'm not. Just think I'm depressed, and haven't been able to log on sucks.

If anyone is around.....good luck, and I'll be back a.s.a.p!!

Dyan, congratulations on the loss. You can overcome chocolate - just keep trying. I was the dessert and candy queen and now I can pass it right up. After saying "no" for so long, I don't even like the taste anymore -- too sweet. Hope the little one is better soon - and your computer woes get fixed. We miss you!

Hi all,

Hope all are doing well. I have been busy with the pets, prom dresses, graduation preparations, and so on.

I'm still at my same weight---no gaining but no losing also. No serious walking yet while the puppy recovers from her girlie surgery. Stitches came out last night so we should be able to hit the sidewalks tomorrow night--SHE walks ME, of course!

I'll check back in probably over the weekend again.

Take care,

Bright

Hi all!

OK....I'm back and feeling better about myself. Sorry about the whining...but it sure is nice to have someone listen when I do. Quilter.....ty for the kind words.

Cafe.....your girl trip sounds like such fun! Girlfriends and I used to take a bus trip to outlet mall...hmmm....should try and schedule another one soon.....maybe I should set that as a goal - lose xx pounds and go to outlet mall for new togs!

Dyan.....you mean you binged on chocolate and still lost over 8 pounds? I don't think I would worry about the chocolate, hon.

BrighterDays....Love your quote!

Monday Funday! Hi everyone.

Dyan, girl, hang in there! Remember, just one thing at a time and prioritize your needs or you won't be able to carry on. You are doing awesome! It's like boot camp, but pretty soon you'll be in a new home with DH. 8lbs is a great start.

Hey Bright, nice to "see" you.

MsRD - Girl time is a NECESSITY!

OK, well I don't have too much to say for myself... But it's a new week and taxes are done and we had a big booming thunderstorm last night so it feels like spring is really in full swing...

Snowdrops lasted a LONG time this year but I think we'll move on to daffodils and tulips very soon now. The lilacs have budded out and have little tufts of leaves on them. The past few years spring has been a 3 weeks' fireworks show and over. So a slow spring is nice to savor. Everything is scrubbed fresh and it's cool and cloudy so the greens look more vivid today.

And other than that... Hope springs eternal and every day is a fresh start, but today feels fresher than usual.

So I hope the same is true for everyone else because we need some traffic here!

Hey girls, how you all doing? Boy what a trip then we came home and started redecorating the condo right away so I have been really busy.

Cafe: Did you have a good time? We had a spectacular time and are already planning to go again next year, probably in the fall. I wish we could have hooked up in our time frame. How did the airport go? Coming in was a nightmare for us as we were late getting in and had never been there so were dragging heavy bags all over the place trying to find a way to get to the hotel, but coming home was a breeze except for one thing. I still have to have a belt extension and Jack and I each had an aisle seat across from each other and there is now a rule that if you are wearing an extension you can't sit in an exit row. She made this huge deal so of course everyone is trying to find out what is going on leaning forward in their seats. They probably thought I had a bomb in my purse or something, then the nitwit young attendant says, "do you want me to call someone?" to the other attendant and everyone heard that so I blew! (the plane was completely full!) I told her I was standing NEXT to my husband when we booked the exit rows and the woman could see I was large so it was Northwest's fault not mine and I wasn't moving. I told her I was contacting NWA when I got home and she said not to do that. She said they would pretend it never happened blah blah blah. Bottom line, NWA stance is now that if you are fat you can't possibly help with exiting passengers in an emergency plain and simple. Let's see, you can be 85 and using a cane and sit in the exit seat, but not fat and sit in it! UGH! There is no other explanation for the dumb a$# rule! When we touched down she came back and apologized etc and I just blew past her and basically told her to kiss......... I told Jack that if we have to fly somewhere between now and the time I am small enough to fly I will purchase my own lap belt and still sit in the darn seat. Anyway, that was the only cloud to the trip. Wellllllll, there was the nosebleed I got while sightseeing, the rash I had from my chin to my breasts that didn't go away until the day we left and itched like crazy, my husband choking on meat at the restaurant in the Mirage with a huge table full of people and puking.....but other than those things it was great!

Here are a couple pics, me in front of this huge vase at the Bellagio, me with a street mime at the Paris, my hunky husband at the hotel before we left for the wedding, me at the hotel before the wedding in my red dress, and my son and new dil on their wedding day. It was a lovely wedding and great fun reception. The doofus old codger playing the organ in the chapel played "Back Home Again in Indiana" through the whole ceremony, how romantic . (they both live up by Tig)

Faye

OMGosh, Faye, everything happens to you! Yeah, we had a great time. The weather could have been a little better - didn't get much time by the pool (and you know I'd go bathing suit or not). One day we did too much exploring and I got tired, so I ditched my girls and went back to the room to put my feet up and have a glass of wine. Those were the only lousy parts. A very good trip. I'll see if I can find a picture for you... I didn't take any myself but the girls have sent me a few.

So - I suppose I need to accomplish a few tasks today. Things are starting to warm up here with workload and I'd like to keep the monkey off my back as much as possible.

More later...

Hello All!

Just stopped in for a minute to say hi!
Cafe - the daffodils are blooming here - which is just a testament to how tough they really are - it was down in the 30s here last night. They promise the daily highs will be in the 50s and 60s the rest of the week

Faye - you look fabulous in that red dress! It sounds like you had a great time.....well, ok, a couple glitches. It always amazes me how larger size folks are discriminated against in so many ways.....grrrrr.....like you become a non-person or something. Wish there was a way to educate people that weight has nothing to do with intelligence or abilities.

DH just told me a friend of his is flying in for the week. And 2 more buddies will join them on the weekend......yikes! This week is not going to be a good one for dieting! I will try and fix some food ahead of time......and use the grill for other stuff......and, being gentlemen that they are, I know they will take me out to dinner at least once or twice!
Guess I better go shovel out the guest room!

I am assuming the whole thread went on vacation together and left Cafe and me at home alone??????? Where is everyone at?

Cafe: I guess I will talk to you! We went to this great Brazillian restaurant in the Mirage while we were in Vegas. I think it was called Samba. It had this all you can eat thing, but most of it was MEAT! They had an unusual salad that was good if you just ate it without asking what was in it, the next course was carmelized plaintains, some kind of carrot and creamed spinach, which I detest. They then brought the meat out on big screwers and ask you did you want the apple cooked pork or the turkey roumalade (sp?) etc. There was two kinds of pork, 3 types of chicken, a turkey one, a salmon one and 3 types of red meat! I actually ate more salad and the bread and crackers with this great tomato relish stuff. That was fabo. I really loved the sightseeing a lot. We didn't do much night time stuff so when we go back I want to do more at night. I did find I have a fondness for Fuzzy Navel drinks though! My niece and sister got me hooked on them. We went to downtown, which I think is plain scary. The canopy was being worked on so we couldn't see it anyway, but the downtown area gave me the CREEPS! Hope work wasn't too stressful today.
Have a good evening and talk to you later

Faye